(Audio file HERE) AK concerns marriage. This lecture provides an overview about marriage in the book. Russia’s marriage system is confused, with three interlocking visions of marriage at issue. The old ways where the family is in charge of matchmaking (the French way) or where a matchmaker is in charge (the Russian way) are on the wane, while a new way, the English way, where individuals decide for themselves is ascendant. This means that individual character decides the character of the marriage, but where do the opinions of the characters come from. I provide several sources of individual character, related to geography and culture and human nature/conscience. Oblonsky is THE modern character, while Levin is THE (modified) traditional character informed by natural conscience. (1:00) Called AK 2 on website.
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