THE KREUTZER SONATA

A summary

Told in the first person perspective, the beginning of the novel is set in a train, introducing the passengers with which a lively discussion is taken place: whether divorce is acceptable, if education is necessary, if it is better to marry and whether love should be present in marriage. One of the passengers, a nervous gentleman, spoke up about it, disagreeing on the last statement. His name was Posdnicheff.

He was a well-off man and abstained marriage well into the age of thirty until he fell in love. Soon after, he married this young woman and they quickly realized how little they got along. They got into quarrels - and despite having children, carried on fighting in front of them. He was constantly consumed my anger and jealousy as well as misplaced concern.

And then a new man appears, Troukhatchevsky – a violinist. His wife took a liking to him. Music lessons soon took place and the two performed Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata. During the course of the lessons, Posdnicheff felt as though the lessons were a sham and that the two were involved in an affair. The day after the performance, Posdnicheff left for the countryside on a business trip. But with a bad feeling in his gut, he returned home early only to see the two together. Blinded with jealousy, he rushed to them with a dagger he grabbed beforehand and as Troukhatchevsky escaped, Posdnicheff stabbed his wife.

After that, Posdnicheff went to his room in a sort of haze, as though he was not fully aware of what he had done. His wife’s sister soon discovered the scene and summoned him. As he approached his dying wife, he expected repentance, but all he received was hatred in her eyes and delirium which lasted until her death.

In the end, he had realized the horror of his actions and sobbed in his hands as his listeners and fellow passengers sat in a long silence.