Let us not engage in amateur Freudianism. Let's put it more simply. Levin's love for Kitty is truly spiritual, not physical. But that's exactly why he is in love... not wth Kitty. In the novel it is explicitly stated that Levin alternately fell in love with all three Shcherbatsky's daughters. But two elder sisters got married as they grew older. Strictly speaking, it didn't matter to him which one to marry. Levin was not in love with them personally, but with the Shcherbatskys’ house as a whole, which, in his mind, most closely corresponded to his ideal of a family home. Therefore, when there was no other choice left, he proposed to Kitty. From his perspective, she was the embodiment of perfection! And not because she was really perfect, but because in his mind she was bound to be perfect. Just like his mother, whom he either didn’t know at all or barely remembered. Levin's mother was married twice. First time to some Koznyshev, and second time to some Levin. During her first marriage, the half-brother of Konstantin and Nikolai Levin was born - Sergei Koznyshev. We don't know what kind of people their fathers were. There is not a single word about them - neither in the novel, nor in the drafts. And we know nothing about the mother of Sergei, Nikolai and Konstantin; in the early drafts of the manuscript as well as in the final edition there is nothing about her either. So, what conclusion can we draw from this? Levin, previously known as Ordyntsev, formed his idea of a bride and future wife, relying on the image of a non-existent woman. Yes, this is “Platonism” to the highest degree, and it is no coincidence that Levin mentions Plato’s “Symposium” during lunch with Stiva at the “England” restaurant. But at the same time (should his imagination be toned down), Levin shows immense cruelty towards the girl herself. As soon as some Udashev, also known as Vronsky, invades the aforementioned idealistic image - Ordyntsev, whom you might also know as Levin, gets nervous and starts to hate everyone around him. Including Kitty. Until Kitty declined Levin's proposal, his self-esteem was extremely low in comparison to hers. For him, she was an unreachable ideal...