III explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Land Ownership and Economic Injustice

  Nekhlúdoff's internal conflict over inheriting large estates while believing in the injustice of private landholding, as argued by Henry George and Herbert Spencer.

• Moral Awakening and Redemption

  Nekhlúdoff's discomfort with his past actions and his current moral dilemmas regarding his affair and his treatment of Máslova.

• Hypocrisy of Religion and Morality

  The contrast between Nekhlúdoff's luxurious lifestyle and his professed ideals about land and justice.

Characters to notice

• Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhludoff

  Awakens in his apartment, reads letters, and reflects on his past and present moral conflicts.

• Agraphena Petrovna

  The housekeeper brings Nekhlúdoff a letter from Princess Korchágin.

• Missy

  Writes a note reminding Nekhlúdoff of his jury duty and inviting him to dinner.

• Katerina Maslova

  Mentioned as the woman Nekhlúdoff seduced and abandoned ten years ago.

• Countess Katerina Ivanovna Tcharsky

  Missy's mother, who sends word that Nekhlúdoff's place will be kept at dinner.

Key passages

• “they had not better increase their stock and farm all the land now rented by the peasants themselves. The steward wrote that this would be a far more profitable way of managing the property; at the same time, he apologised for not having forwarded the 3,000 roubles income due on the 1st.”

  The steward suggests that Nekhlúdoff should take over the land from the peasants and farm it himself for greater profit, and apologizes for not sending the 3,000 rubles owed.

  Highlights the economic tension between Nekhlúdoff's ideals and the practical management of his estate.

• “Being himself heir to a large property, he was especially struck by the position taken up by Spencer in Social Statics , that justice forbids private landholding, and with the straightforward resoluteness of his age, had not merely spoken to prove that land could not be looked upon as private property, and written essays on that subject at the university, but had acted up to his convictions, and, considering it wrong to hold landed property, had given the small piece of land he had inherited from his father to the peasants.”

  Nekhlúdoff, influenced by Spencer and Henry George, once believed land should not be privately owned and even gave away his father's land, but now faces a conflict with his inherited wealth.

  Illustrates Nekhlúdoff's ideological struggle and the theme of land ownership.

• “Recalling the evening he had spent with the Korchágins, a wealthy and aristocratic family, whose daughter everyone expected he would marry, he sighed, and, throwing away the end of his cigarette, was going to take another out of the silver case; but, changing his mind, he resolutely raised his solid frame, and, putting down his smooth, white legs, stepped into his slippers, threw his silk dressing gown over his broad shoulders, and passed into his dressing-room, walking heavily and quickly.”

  Nekhlúdoff sighs as he remembers his evening with the Korchágins, then gets up decisively to begin his morning routine.

  Shows Nekhlúdoff's reluctance about the expected marriage and his disciplined morning habits.

• “This note was a continuation of that skilful manoeuvring which the Princess Korchágin had already practised for two months in order to bind him closer and closer with invisible threads.”

  Nekhlúdoff sees Missy's note as part of her mother's strategy to entangle him in marriage.

  Reveals Nekhlúdoff's awareness of the social pressures and manipulation around him.

• “It was not that ten years previously he had seduced and forsaken Máslova; he had quite forgotten that, and he would not have considered it a reason for not marrying. No! The reason was that he had a liaison with a married woman, and, though he considered it broken off, she did not.”

  Nekhlúdoff's hesitation to marry Missy is not due to his past with Máslova, which he has forgotten, but because of his ongoing affair with a married woman.

  Highlights Nekhlúdoff's moral blindness and the complexity of his relationships.