Note that Bazarov has finally let his guard drop and he is affected by something outside of himself. Anxiety begins to appear and he changes significantly. This is one of the most crucial chapters of the novel because Bazarov’s inner nature conflicts with his intellectual nature for the first time. Love in the romantic sense has always been mere tomfoolery to him, but now he seems captured by Odintsova. He lacked the “strength to turn his back on her.”
The two pairs of lovers almost seem star-crossed. Arkady thinks that he is in love with Odintsova but more and more he is attracted by Katya’s charm. Arkady is as yet still unaware of many things about himself. “Without noticing or confessing to himself that such nonsense interests him too,” he is aroused or affected somewhat by the music, poetry, etc. Furthermore, he thinks that he is in love with Madame Odintsova, but feels uncomfortable in her presence. On the contrary, he is quite at ease with Katya.
Intellectually, Bazarov still continues to fight any feelings of love. He still believes that “love in the ideal sense, or, as he expressed it, the romantic sense, was nonsense—an unforgivable stupidity.” But nevertheless, “his blood began to burn as soon as he thought of her.” His change is even noticed by Arkady, who begins to lose faith in his friend. He noticed that Bazarov spoke more reluctantly, and often looked angry and more than anything else, Bazarov fidgeted and looked ill at ease. Bazarov had always maintained that “If you take a fancy to a woman, try to gain your end or leave her.” But with Madame Odintsova, he knows that he can never gain his end, and yet he can’t leave her either. Thus, as noted earlier, he is trapped in love in the same way as was Pavel, but the difference between them is that Bazarov condemns himself later almost as much as he condemned Pavel. His failure to see the similarities in the situations is perhaps a flaw in his character,
The more human aspect of Bazarov’s nature is seen when the old Bazarov servant comes to inquire about him. Bazarov dismisses the servant as soon as possible, but nevertheless, we see that he is affected by the desires of his parents. If Arkady had shown the same desire to respect the wishes of his parents, Bazarov would have criticized him severely. Thus, gradually, we note more and more of a change in the nihilist.
Philosophically, according to nihilism, Bazarov should be the person who can live totally alone, without dependence on another person. Yet in this chapter, we see that it is more Madame Odintsova who can and who will be able to live without love or human companionship. Suddenly, we realize that in this respect, she is more the nihilist than “Mr. Nihilist” himself, who craves the company and love of Madame Odintsova. But at the same time, her life is also similar to that of Pavel’s because she has indeed experienced so many things in the past and has traveled and done so many things that she expects no new adventure. But Bazarov philosophically believes that there is no such thing as a new experience in the same way that he believes that there is no new birch tree.
The breach between Arkady and Bazarov is heightened at the end of the chapter as their separation is caused by the two ladies. Arkady is still jealous of the time that Madame Odintsova spends with Bazarov, even though he thoroughly enjoys the hours he spends with Katya.
