The role of the disappointed lover of a maiden or of any single woman might be ridiculous; but the role of a man who was pursuing a married woman, and who made it the purpose of his life at all cost to draw her into adultery, was one which had in it something beautiful and dignified and could never be ridiculous.

The Works of Leo Tolstoy...: Anna Karénina, tr. by Louise and Aylmer Maude (ed. 1937)