After three months, Levin’s life is not as he had expected it to be. He finds his former dreams disappointed while experiencing new and unexpected surprises of happiness. Levin is happy, but family life is not what he expected it to be. It is as if he had been admiring a little boat floating on a lake and now he is in the boat, discovering that there are things he must do to maintain balance, account for the fluidity of water, steer a safe course, and deal with sore hands. Looking at it was easy; actually doing it is quite delightful but quite difficult.

He always though the petty squabbles and quarrels he had seen in other marriages were for others, and he had smiled contemptuously, knowing his married life would be different. His idealistic view of marriage was that he would do the work and find his rest in the happiness of his love, and his wife would be beloved of him and nothing more. Levin, like most men, did not account for a woman’s equal desire to work.

From their first days of marriage, Levin is surprised that Kitty is so consumed by every detail of keeping their house. He loves her, but he does not understand Kitty’s need to involve herself in every detail of running their home. It is a new experience for Kitty to be able to order anything she likes in whatever quantities she wishes without having to answer to anyone. Kitty is delighted at the thought of her sister Dolly and all of her children coming to visit them, imagining herself ordering all of their favorite foods and making them feel comfortable in her home. It is evident that Kitty senses the coming of spring and potentially rough weather and is making haste to build her nest as she is learning how to build it.

At first this is one of the unpleasant surprises Levin is disappointed to discover about his wife; however, it is now one of the happiest surprises. Another example of a disappointment-turned-surprise is their quarreling. Their first spat arose from Levin’s arriving home late because he had tried to take a shortcut home but then got lost. All the way home, Levin thought only about Kitty, her love and happiness, and the closer he got to their home the stronger those feelings grew.

When he arrived, Levin was met with a dour expression on his wife who pushed him away when he tried to kiss her. Out of her mouth spewed a stream of reproach based on fear and jealousy, and the division between them in that instant was agonizing. For the first time Levin understood that he is not only close to Kitty, but he no longer knows where he ends and she begins. He can no longer be offended by her because she is himself and there is no one to be angry with any more. After that they quarreled only because they do not yet know what is important to the other. Both of them look back at their first month of marriage as one of the most bitter and humiliating periods of their lives. They tried to forget that month in Moscow, and life went more smoothly for them once they arrived home.