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Book 1, Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Resurrection, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Moral and Spiritual Resurrection
Class and the Penal System
Double Standards and the Abuse of Women
The Role of Conscience
Hypocrisy and Self-Deception
Summary
Analysis
As Nekhlyudov gets ready to go to court, he walks through his art studio and feels frustrated by the unfinished paintings, reminded that he once gave up a military career to become an artist but now doubts his talent. Then, on the way out, his carriage driver makes a comment that shows even he knows about Nekhlyudov’s visits to the Korchagins, making Nekhlyudov think again about whether he should marry Mary Korchagina. He likes that she’s well-mannered, comes from a good family, and clearly admires him—but he also worries about giving up his freedom and feels bothered by the idea that she might have loved someone before him. Ultimately, he tells himself it is fine to delay the decision.
Nekhlyudov drifts through his own life without conviction. The sight of his unfinished paintings does not provoke reflection or renewed purpose, only irritation at his own inadequacy. Even his thoughts about marriage reduce Mary Korchagina to a checklist of social traits rather than a person he might love. His vanity flares at the thought that she might have had other lovers, exposing his possessiveness and insecurity. He avoids action not out of principle, but because postponement costs him nothing. He is a man who no longer believes in much of anything but still wants to be admired.
Active
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