Resurrection · Chapter
The Sentence explained
The court pronounces its verdict: Kartinkin is sentenced to eight years of penal servitude, Maslova to four years, and Botchkova to three years of imprisonment.
What happens
The court pronounces its verdict: Kartinkin is sentenced to eight years of penal servitude, Maslova to four years, and Botchkova to three years of imprisonment. Maslova protests her innocence, crying out that she is not guilty. Nekhludoff, shaken by the injustice, confronts the president to seek a rectification, but the president explains that without the phrase 'without intent to cause death' the sentence stands, and advises him to consult an advocate for an appeal.
Themes in this chapter
Injustice of the Legal System
The chapter highlights the arbitrary and irreversible nature of the court's decision, where a minor omission in the jury's wording condemns an innocent woman to Siberia.
Social Class and Inequality
Maslova's powerless position as a peasant woman is contrasted with the president's casual dismissal of her fate, reflecting class-based disparities in justice.
Characters to notice
- Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhludoff
Horrified by the verdict, he pursues the president to argue for a correction, realizing his own omission in the jury's answer.
- Katerina Maslova
Upon hearing the sentence of four years of penal servitude, she cries out in protest, insisting on her innocence, and breaks down sobbing.
- Simeon Kartinkin
Sentenced to eight years of penal servitude; he stands silently moving his lips.
- Euphemia Botchkova
Sentenced to three years of imprisonment; she appears perfectly calm.
- The Judges
The president reads the sentence and later speaks with Nekhludoff, explaining the legal technicality that led to the harsh verdict.
Key passages
“Máslova, when she heard the sentence, blushed scarlet. 'I'm not guilty, not guilty!' she suddenly cried, so that it resounded through the room.”
Upon hearing the verdict, Maslova turned red and shouted loudly that she was innocent.
Her desperate outcry underscores the shock and injustice of the sentence.
“'No; it is impossible to leave it as it is,' said Nekhlúdoff to himself, utterly forgetting his bad thoughts.”
Nekhludoff resolved that he could not let the verdict stand, setting aside his earlier personal concerns.
This marks a turning point in Nekhludoff's moral awakening.
“'Had you but added the words, 'without intent to cause death,' she would have been acquitted.'”
The president explained that if the jury had included the phrase 'without intent to cause death,' Maslova would have been set free.
Reveals the technicality that sealed her fate.