Family Happiness (Tolstoy)
Short summary
Russian countryside estate, mid-19th century. After her mother's death, seventeen-year-old Márya fell into deep depression at the family estate, refusing visitors and abandoning her usual activities.
When their guardian Sergéy Mikháylych arrived in spring, Márya's spirits revived. The thirty-six-year-old family friend no longer treated her as a child, and she discovered she understood him perfectly.
They fell deeply in love during idyllic summer evenings. After initially hesitating due to their age difference, Sergéy confessed his feelings and they married quickly in a simple ceremony. Their first months passed in perfect happiness at his estate, completely absorbed in each other. However, Márya grew restless with their quiet life and craved excitement. They moved to Petersburg where she discovered unexpected social success, becoming intoxicated by admiration and flattery.
All is over between us two! But you shall not torture me any longer! I was a fool, when I...
Their relationship grew cold and formal over three years. After bearing their first child and his mother's death, Márya remained absorbed in society while Sergéy withdrew. At Baden, an Italian marquis pursued her boldly. When he kissed her, she felt terrible temptation but fled immediately to her husband. Back at their estate, they lived as polite strangers until one evening they finally spoke honestly. Sergéy explained their old love could never return. As they talked, their baby was brought outside. Taking the child in her arms, Márya realized that while romantic love had ended, a new foundation of maternal love and family life had begun.
Detailed summary by parts and chapters
Part subtitles and chapter titles are editorial.
Part 1. Courtship and engagement
Chapter 1. Mourning and the arrival of Sergey Mikhaylych
Following her mother's death in autumn, seventeen-year-old Márya Alexándrovna spent a dark winter at the family estate of Pokróvskoe with her governess and younger sister. The house felt heavy with grief and death, her mother's room remained locked, and few visitors came to break the oppressive silence. As winter progressed, the young woman fell into deep depression, refusing to leave her room, play piano, or read books. She felt her youth and beauty were being wasted in solitude, with no prospect of the Petersburg society life her mother had planned for her.
In March, their guardian Sergéy Mikháylych arrived to settle their affairs. Kátya urged Másha to rouse herself for his visit, knowing how fond he had been of the family. When he appeared, Másha was struck by how much he had changed in six years - older, darker, with whiskers that didn't suit him, yet retaining his simple manner and boyish smile.
Chapter 2. Spring renewal and the beginning of love
Spring brought transformation to Másha's spirits. Her depression vanished, replaced by restless energy and vague dreams. She wandered the garden alone at night, sometimes in only a wrapper, feeling alive again. When Sergéy Mikháylych returned from his travels in May, she found herself completely changed in his presence. He no longer treated her as a child but spoke to her seriously, and she discovered she could understand him perfectly. His presence illuminated everything around her - books became pleasurable, lessons with Sónya became joyful, and even the servants seemed different.
During their summer evenings together, Másha felt perfectly happy. She would lie awake at night, overwhelmed by joy, feeling that her dreams and thoughts were living things hovering around her bed. She believed this feeling could last forever, not yet understanding that this was love or that it would have consequences. Every thought seemed to be his thought, every feeling his feeling.
He alone existed on earth for me, and I considered him the best and most faultless man in the world; so that I could not live for anything else than for him.
Chapter 3. Summer happiness and the declaration of love
One day during harvest time, Másha waited in the garden with Kátya and Sónya for Sergéy Mikháylych's visit. When he arrived in high spirits, she saw him in one of his moods of 'wild ecstasy' - boyish and carefree. They went to pick cherries in the orchard, where Másha climbed over the wall to join him. Hidden among the trees, she overheard him murmur her name tenderly to himself. When he discovered her listening, both were embarrassed, but she felt a new power over him.
That evening, as they sat on the veranda after tea, he began speaking in hypothetical terms about a man who might fall in love with a young girl. He suggested it would be a misfortune for both, given their difference in age and experience. When Másha protested that it wouldn't be a misfortune, he walked away. Later, when he returned to say goodbye, she played piano for him in the moonlit drawing room, feeling his presence intensely.
They took a magical walk in the moonlit garden, where everything seemed transformed and beautiful. The night was so perfect that Másha felt they were moving through an enchanted world. When they encountered a small frog on the path, Sergéy Mikháylych asked if she was afraid, and she understood his look to mean 'I love you.' Though he made no direct declaration, she knew from that night that he was hers and she would never lose him.
The next morning, Másha confided in Kátya about her love. She spent the day walking through the same garden paths, reliving every moment of the previous evening. Though troubled by his indirect approach, she resolved to fast and take communion on her birthday, somehow believing this would lead to their betrothal.
Chapter 4. Spiritual preparation and religious awakening
During the Fast of the Assumption, Másha underwent a spiritual transformation. She rose early each day to attend church, where familiar objects took on profound meaning. The old priest, the altar cloth her mother had embroidered, and the icons all seemed charged with significance. She listened intently to every prayer, wept for her sins, and felt a mysterious light and warmth fill her heart. Outside church, she sought opportunities for self-sacrifice, secretly giving money to poor peasants and asking forgiveness from those she had wronged.
Her thoughts of Sergéy Mikháylych became part of her spiritual life. She no longer saw him as superior to herself but as an equal, understanding his character completely. She looked forward not to fashionable society but to a quiet family life in the country, with constant self-sacrifice and recognition of Providence's hand in all things.
On her birthday, after taking communion, Másha felt transformed. When Sergéy Mikháylych arrived to congratulate her, she was completely at ease with him for the first time. He seemed to understand her spiritual state, praising the 'sweetest of all music' in her soul and refusing to let her play piano lest she spoil her mood.
Chapter 5. Wedding preparations and marriage ceremony
When Sergéy Mikháylych announced his departure for Moscow, Másha confronted him directly about his reasons. In their frank conversation on the veranda, he finally confessed his love, explaining his fears about their age difference and his attempts to suppress his feelings. Másha declared her love in return, and they became engaged. Little Sónya ran upstairs to announce the news to the household.
They decided on a simple wedding within a fortnight, despite the protests of both mothers who wanted elaborate preparations. Tatyána Semënovna worried about the lack of proper furnishings and celebrations, while Kátya fretted over linens and underclothing. During their engagement, Sergéy Mikháylych visited daily but maintained formal relations, still addressing her as 'you' rather than 'thou' and avoiding excessive displays of affection.
The wedding ceremony itself felt strange and disappointing to Másha. Nothing extraordinary seemed to happen during the sacrament, and she felt only frightened and insulted by the formal proceedings. However, as they drove away from the church in their carriage, her initial fear transformed into a new, deeper love when she realized that her fear was actually love itself - 'a new love still more tender and stronger than the old.'
Part 2. Marriage and its transformations
Chapter 1. Newlywed bliss and the move to Petersburg
The first two months of marriage passed in complete happiness at Nikólskoe. Rather than the life of duty and self-sacrifice Másha had imagined, they lived in selfish contentment, entirely absorbed in each other. Sergéy Mikháylych found all other occupations meaningless in her absence, while she could think of nothing but him. They lived under the watchful eye of Tatyána Semënovna, whose old-fashioned household ran like clockwork with its abundance of servants and strict routines.
How can a man, as happy as I am, be dissatisfied with anything? Better to give way myself than to put compulsion on others; of that I have long been convinced.
As winter deepened, Másha began to feel restless despite her happiness. She craved movement, excitement, and the chance to sacrifice herself for love, but their calm existence offered no such opportunities. When she expressed these feelings, Sergéy Mikháylych proposed a trip to Petersburg, though she initially resisted changing their perfect life.
I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love.
After a quarrel about a police inspector's harassment of their peasants - during which Másha felt excluded from his concerns - they decided to leave for Petersburg. The journey and settling into city life passed like a dream, filled with new experiences and surrounded by his love and attention.
Chapter 2. Society life and growing tensions
In Petersburg society, Másha discovered unexpected success. Everyone received her with warmth and admiration, making her feel she was the center of attention. Princess D——, a middle-aged society figure, took special interest in her and invited her to balls. Despite Sergéy Mikháylych's initial reluctance about society life, he eventually agreed to attend social events, taking obvious pleasure in her success.
Másha became intoxicated by the attention and flattery, feeling more confident and independent than ever before. She believed her success pleased her only because she could sacrifice it for her husband's sake. However, tensions began to emerge when Sergéy Mikháylych grew bored with their social life while she remained enchanted by it. At one reception, a foreign prince expressed admiration for her, leading to their first serious quarrel.
The argument revealed deep differences in their perspectives. He accused her of losing her dignity and self-respect in pursuit of social admiration, while she felt he was unfairly restricting her freedom. Though they reconciled superficially, a gulf had opened between them that would never fully close. Their relationship became more formal and distant, each judging the other by external standards rather than with their former unconditional love.
Chapter 3. Estrangement and the passage of years
Three years passed with their relationship fundamentally changed. They maintained polite, affectionate relations but had lost their former intimacy and passion. Two significant events occurred during this period: the birth of their first child and the death of Tatyána Semënovna. While motherhood initially filled Másha with joy, the feeling gradually weakened until it became mere habit and duty. Sergéy Mikháylych, conversely, transferred his old tenderness to the child.
They spent most of their time in town, with Másha fully absorbed in fashionable society. At twenty-one, she was the best-dressed woman in Baden, where they spent a summer. There she encountered an Italian marquis who pursued her boldly, resembling her husband but with a coarser, more animal nature. During a visit to castle ruins with a Russian companion, she overheard the marquis and a French friend discussing her dismissively, comparing her unfavorably to the beautiful Lady S——.
When the marquis cornered her alone and kissed her cheek, Másha experienced a moment of terrible temptation. She felt both horror and pleasure, recognizing her dangerous attraction to this forbidden experience.
I felt an irresistible longing to surrender myself... I was tempted to throw myself headlong into the abyss of forbidden delights that had suddenly opened up before me.
Overcome with shame and self-loathing, she immediately left Baden to join her husband in Heidelberg. Though she intended to confess everything, when she saw his calm expression, she realized she had nothing to confess and instead asked to return home to Russia permanently.
Chapter 4. Return to the country and mature love
Back at Nikólskoe, they lived as strangers under the same roof. The house, once full of life under Tatyána Semënovna's management, now felt empty and cold. Másha's health suffered, and she bore a second son, Ványa. They maintained cold courtesy toward each other, each living separate lives with no real intimacy or shared purpose. The children were too young to bridge the gap between them.
One evening at Pokróvskoe, Másha's childhood home, she sat alone playing the Moonlight Sonata while her husband was away. When he returned and found her at the piano, they had their most honest conversation in years. She confessed her unhappiness and blamed him for not guiding her properly, while he acknowledged his mistakes but explained that their old love could never return.
The past can never come back, never... Love remains, but not the old love; its place remains, but it all wasted away and has lost all strength and substance.
Don't let us try to repeat life... Let us be thankful that there is an end of the old emotions and excitements. The excitement of searching is over for us.
As they talked on the veranda during a spring shower, Másha gradually accepted the truth of his words. When the nurse brought baby Ványa outside, she took him in her arms with overwhelming maternal love. Her husband joined her in admiring their child, and she realized that while their romantic love had ended, a new foundation had been laid.
That day ended the romance of our marriage... but a new feeling of love for my children and the father of my children laid the foundation of a new life.