The Second Commandment: Do Not Commit Adultery

The Second Commandment: Do Not Commit Adultery, as interpreted in the Sermon on the Mount, forms a foundational moral law in Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection. It is not merely a prohibition of the physical act of adultery but a radical extension of that prohibition to the very desire that precedes it. This commandment, which Nekhludoff encounters in the Gospel of Matthew during his climactic spiritual awakening, becomes the lens through which he judges his own past and the standard he believes must govern a just and holy life.

Definition and Scope

The commandment, as Nekhludoff reads it in the Gospel, states that a man should not only refrain from committing adultery but should not even seek enjoyment in a woman's beauty. If a man has once come together with a woman, he should never be faithless to her. This interpretation, which Nekhludoff absorbs as one of the five clear, practical laws he discovers, condemns the lustful gaze and the objectification of women as a violation of divine will. It is a law that addresses the inner state of the heart, not merely outward behavior.

Violation and Consequences

The novel's central catastrophe is a direct violation of this commandment. Nekhludoff, as a young officer, seduces and abandons Katusha, the half-ward, half-servant of his aunts. This act is not a single, impulsive mistake but a deliberate transgression born of the "animal man" that had come to rule him. After the seduction, he gives her a 100-rouble note, an act he later recalls with horror and disgust, recognizing it as the payment of a prostitute. The consequences are devastating: Katusha becomes pregnant, her child dies, and she is driven into a life of prostitution, which culminates in her false conviction for poisoning and a sentence of four years' hard labor in Siberia. The violation of the commandment thus generates the entire tragic plot of the novel.

The Commandment as a Standard of Judgment

Throughout the novel, the commandment serves as an implicit standard against which the moral corruption of society is measured. The life of prostitution that Katusha is forced into is described as a "life of chronic sin against human and divine laws," a life sanctioned by the government. Nekhludoff's own subsequent liaisons, particularly with Mary Vasilievna, the wife of the Marshal of Nobility, are presented as a continuation of the same pattern of faithlessness and deceit. His inability to break free from this relationship is a direct obstacle to his moral progress. The commandment thus exposes the hypocrisy of a society that punishes the victim while the perpetrator remains unpunished and respected.

The Path to Redemption

Nekhludoff's spiritual awakening is triggered by his recognition of his violation of this commandment. His decision to marry Katusha, even after she has been condemned, is an attempt to fulfill the law's demand for faithfulness. However, Katusha herself refuses this sacrifice, choosing instead to follow Valdemar Simonson, a political exile who loves her platonically. Her refusal is a complex act of both self-sacrifice and a rejection of a marriage that would be a constant reminder of the original sin. Ultimately, Nekhludoff's final understanding of the commandment is not as a legalistic rule but as part of a larger ethic of universal forgiveness and love, which he finds in the parable of the unforgiving servant. He realizes that the only way to break the cycle of sin and punishment is to forgive infinitely, just as God forgives.

Thematic Significance

The Second Commandment is not an isolated rule but a key component of the five laws Nekhludoff discovers, which he believes, if obeyed, would establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It is a law that directly challenges the sexual exploitation that was endemic in the society Tolstoy depicts. By making the violation of this commandment the engine of the plot, Tolstoy argues that personal moral failure has profound social consequences, and that true justice cannot be achieved through legal punishment but only through personal repentance, forgiveness, and a radical change of heart.