Tolstoy implies that intellectuality leads to a self-centered sterility. Koznyshev's rational approach to life, and Varenka's abstract piety, prevent them from experiencing an intense human relationship. As these passion-denying individuals accept their lonely destiny, Tolstoy compares their empty existence with the flesh and blood love Kitty and Levin experience and which enriches their lives with significance and self-fulfillment. The emphasis here is on the "natural life" where one loves and procreates, as opposed to the "unnatural life" where one lives by abstract principles. Natural man, says Tolstoy again and again, grasps life through all its realities and can then understand death. Intellect and spirit merely bypass essential truths.
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