Resurrection

Resurrection (1899) is the final novel by Leo Tolstoy, and one of his most overtly philosophical works. The novel explores the moral awakening of Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov, who is serving on a jury and discovers that one of the defendants, Katerina Maslova, is a woman he once seduced and subsequently abandoned. As Maslova faces unjust imprisonment, Nekhlyudov undergoes a deep spiritual transformation, exploring The Importance of Moral and Spiritual Awakening, The Injustice of the Judicial and Penal Systems, The Impact of Personal Actions on Others, and The Possibility of Redemption and Transformation. Written after his religious and moral transformation in the 1880s, the novel reflects Tolstoy’s deepening commitment to Christian anarchism, pacifism, and social justice. 

Tolstoy is one of Russia’s most influential writers, best known for War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Though Resurrection is less widely read today than his earlier masterpieces, the novel has inspired multiple stage and film adaptations and remains an important milestone in late 19th-century Russian literature and Tolstoy’s own spiritual evolution. 

This guide uses a digitized version of Resurrection, translated by Louise Maude, and published by Progress Publishers in Moscow in 1977.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death by suicide, racism, gender discrimination, sexual violence and harassment, rape, child sexual abuse, child death, and death.

Plot Summary

Resurrection opens with Prince Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov, a wealthy Russian nobleman, serving on a jury in a criminal trial. To his shock, the defendant is Katerina Maslova, a former servant he once seduced and abandoned. The encounter, which occurred when she worked at his aunts’ estate, led to her pregnancy and eventual descent into poverty and sex work. Nekhlyudov is haunted by guilt, realizing his direct role in her suffering. Despite recognizing the injustice of her situation, he participates in a flawed trial that results in her wrongful conviction for murder. She is sentenced to hard labor in Siberia, even though the jury intended a more lenient punishment. The case prompts a deep moral awakening in Nekhlyudov, who resolves to follow her into exile and redeem both her life and his own.

As Nekhlyudov prepares to intervene on Maslova’s behalf, he navigates a complex and impersonal legal system in an attempt to reverse her sentence. His efforts take him from one government office to another, where he submits petitions, consults with attorneys, and tries to speak with influential officials, including senators and members of the judicial bureaucracy. At each step, he encounters delays, formalities, and institutional roadblocks. Along the way, he becomes reacquainted with the people and customs of his own aristocratic social circle. He is expected to fulfill his previous engagement to a well-connected noblewoman, Missy, whose mother has long hoped for a socially advantageous marriage. Friends and family express confusion and concern over his actions, especially when he announces his intention to marry Maslova out of a sense of obligation.

Despite their objections, Nekhlyudov withdraws from high society life and refuses the expected marriage. He instead focuses on assisting Maslova and other prisoners whose cases he learns about, including those wrongly convicted, victims of unjust laws, or held without proper cause. He meets a variety of side characters during this process, including other female prisoners, a prison inspector, a religious sectarian, and political activists. Many of these individuals reveal to him the human cost of imprisonment, the uneven application of justice, and the daily hardships endured by those caught in the lower tiers of Russian society. Nekhlyudov begins accompanying Maslova and other convicts on their long journey across Russia to Siberia, where she is to serve out her sentence. His role shifts from that of a distant benefactor to a direct participant in the realities of transport and incarceration.

On the journey, he interacts with a variety of prisoners and officials, each representing different aspects of the social order. He meets innocent men wrongly accused, peasants driven to crime by poverty, and political prisoners with revolutionary ideologies. Maslova initially resists Nekhlyudov’s help, suspicious of his motives and deeply ashamed of her past. However, as they travel and face hardships together, her attitude softens. She begins to rebuild her sense of self-worth, bolstered by the kindness of other political prisoners, particularly Maria Pavlovna, a noblewoman turned revolutionary, and Vladimir Simonson, an idealistic intellectual who gradually falls in love with her.

Over time, Nekhlyudov’s romantic feelings for Maslova evolve into something deeper and more selfless. He proposes marriage to her as a way to repair the wrong he did to her. However, Maslova refuses, believing the offer is driven by guilt rather than love, and not wanting to ruin his future. Instead, she forms a quiet emotional bond with Simonson, who offers her a new life grounded in shared beliefs and mutual respect.

During the journey east, the convicts suffer from hunger, illness, and cruel treatment. Nekhlyudov witnesses several deaths and experiences firsthand the dehumanization inherent in the penal system. One of the most impactful relationships he forms is with Kryltsov, a terminally ill political prisoner whose passionate integrity leaves a lasting impression. Kryltsov’s death deeply affects Nekhlyudov, underscoring the senseless cruelty of the system and the spiritual cost of indifference.

In Siberia, Maslova’s sentence is unexpectedly mitigated thanks to a petition Nekhlyudov submitted to the Emperor. Her punishment is reduced from hard labor to exile, giving her some freedom and allowing her to choose her future. She decides to remain with Simonson, who is willing to follow her to the place of exile and live as her partner. Nekhlyudov accepts her decision with humility, realizing that his role in her life is no longer to fix her fate, but to respect her agency.

Alone, Nekhlyudov turns inward, struggling with despair at the vastness of the injustice he has witnessed. He questions his ability to make a difference, reflecting on the thousands of lives destroyed by the machinery of the state. One night, after visiting a prison overflowing with suffering and disease, he opens a New Testament left by a British prison reformer. The teachings of Christ—particularly the call to forgiveness, humility, and universal love—reignite his spiritual purpose. He comes to see that transformation must begin within, and that the only way to confront systemic evil is by living in accordance with a higher moral law.

The novel ends not with a resolution to society’s problems but with Nekhlyudov’s personal resurrection: A spiritual rebirth grounded in a commitment to love, truth, and active compassion. Though he cannot undo the past, he embraces a life of conscience, stepping away from the comforts of his class and into a future of moral service.