# XII explained — Resurrection

> Chapter companion for Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

Nekhlúdoff recalls his first summer with his aunts, where he met Katúsha as a pure young student. He describes their innocent flirtation during games, the growing attraction between them, and his departure, marked by Katúsha's tears. The chapter reflects on his youthful idealism, his reading of Spencer, and his decision to give up his land to the peasants.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Sacrifice

Nekhlúdoff's pure, innocent love for Katúsha is contrasted with his later guilt; his youthful idealism includes sacrificing his land to the peasants.

### Land Ownership and Economic Injustice

Nekhlúdoff's reading of Spencer leads him to recognize the injustice of private land ownership and to resolve to give up his inherited land.

## Character check-ins

### Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhludoff

Recalls his first summer with his aunts, his youthful idealism, and his innocent attraction to Katúsha.

### Katerina Maslova

Appears as the young Katúsha, a half-ward half-servant, who shares playful moments and a kiss with Nekhlúdoff.

### Matrona Pavlovna

The old servant in whose room Nekhlúdoff and Katúsha sometimes talked.

### Princess Sophia Vasilievna

One of Nekhlúdoff's aunts, who fears he might marry Katúsha.

### Maria Ivanovna

Another aunt, who fears Nekhlúdoff might form an intimacy with Katúsha.

### Herbert Spencer

His views on land tenure influenced Nekhlúdoff's decision to give up his land.

## Key lines

> He not only did not feel any desire to possess her, but the very thought of it filled him with horror.

He felt no lust for her; the mere idea of it horrified him.

_Highlights Nekhlúdoff's pure, idealistic love for Katúsha during his youth._

> He decided not to retain property rights, but to give up to the peasant labourers the land he had inherited from his father.

He resolved to surrender his inherited land to the peasants, rejecting private ownership.

_Reflects Nekhlúdoff's early moral awakening and commitment to social justice._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters/xii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/resurrection_se/chapters