Anna Karenina

The narration turns to Levin, who is still tormented by his unmarried state and Kitty’s rejection. He resolves to live a good life, thinking of his support for his brother who has gone to Europe for treatment. Levin is distracted and happy to experience the beauty of rural spring. He is full of plans for planting and plowing and frustrated with the peasants’ pace of work and distaste for his innovations.

Levin arrives home, certain he has a guest, and is happy to discover it is Oblonsky because he can learn whether Kitty has married Vronsky. Oblonsky is there to hunt and to sell a wood that belonged to Dolly’s dowry in order to clear some debts. The two men do not immediately speak of this and instead, Levin discusses the ideas for which he has no other outlet as he lives alone. Levin is considering writing a book on farming and the relationship between work and the laborer. Oblonsky waxes poetic on the joys of a life of harmless passion—or so he considers his own adultery.

After successful bird hunting, Levin finally asks about Kitty, stunned to hear she has gone abroad for her health and is unmarried. Levin is somewhat relieved, and even darkly glad Kitty is now unhappy as he is, but soon insists on a change of subject. The two friends squabble because Stiva is paying too little for his land, and Levin forces the local merchant to stick to his original terms, not haggle for less. Levin remains out of sorts, feeling as if Kitty’s illness is somehow an “insult” (170). Outwardly Levin rants about nobles undervaluing the land and rural life.

Finally, Levin asks about Vronsky, surprised to learn he has gone to Petersburg. Oblonsky assures him he could have fought for Kitty, who was distracted by her mother’s preferences, but Levin goes back to his rant about class, disparaging Vronsky as the kind of noble who does not labor. Levin admits he is tortured by his failed proposal.

Vronsky is torn between his passion for the military, his new love for Anna, and the social scandal around him. Most are happy to see Anna fall from grace, and Vronsky’s mother is worried about his career, as he has recently passed up a promotion. His mother calls the affair “Wertherian” (174), alluding to Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, in which a young man dies by suicide over his love for a married woman. Vronsky also owns racehorses and is preparing for a steeplechase event that all of society will attend.

On the day of the races, Vronsky has lunch with his friend Yashvin—a dissolute gambler Vronsky loves for his quiet support of his affair. Vronsky is angry to find letters from his mother and brother reproaching him for his affair. He listens to good-natured teasing from his friends and leaves for the stables. As he looks in on his horse, Vronsky reflects that much as he resents his family’s views, they are right that his love for Anna is intense and a kind of torment, as the two long to be together but cannot.

Vronsky goes to the Karenin home, knowing Alexei is away. Vronsky is anxious to avoid Serezha, whose presence prevents the couple from intimately speaking. The narrator suggests Anna’s child reminds each of them that they have strayed far from what is morally right. Anna is afraid to tell Vronsky she is pregnant, not because she fears rejection, but because she recognizes it as a watershed moment in their lives that he, as a man and the unmarried party, may not.

Vronsky tells her that this is merely proof their untenable circumstances must end somehow, that she must “leave [her] husband and unite [their] lives” (188). Vronsky has previously found it difficult to broach this topic with Anna. She insists that Karenin will only lecture, impersonating his language and tone. Vronsky does not see that her chief concern is that divorce would mean loss of her parental rights to her son. Unable to face this, she urges him to stop speaking of any change to their situation. She does, however, beg him to understand that she loves him, and they make plans to meet later.

Vronsky leaves for the stables, preoccupied only by the coming race. He lovingly looks at his horse, Frou-Frou. Out on the grounds, he sees the crowd of notable people, knowing Anna is watching. He sees his brother, who speaks to Vronsky of his scandalous position; Vronsky angrily reminds his brother not to interfere.

The race begins and Vronsky is in close competition with his chief adversary, Makhotin. Vronsky’s horse falls; her injury requires euthanasia. Vronsky is inconsolable, having “for the first time in his life experienced a heavy misfortune, a misfortune that was irremediable and for which he himself was to blame” (200).

The narrative turns to Karenin, who refuses to speak more to Anna about their marriage conflict, not recognizing he has become frosty to his son and also buried in his work to avoid reality. He cannot confront that Anna is in the country to be near Vronsky, though “in his heart he knew he was a deceived husband, and it made him deeply unhappy” (202), with some effect on his physical health. The spouses have tea, talking of Karenin’s health, and nothing is outwardly amiss, though Anna later reproaches herself for her false cheer.

Karenin and Anna sit together at the races, as she inwardly chastises him for talking of mundane matters when their lives are a lie. The narrator says his garrulous nature is because he, too, is uncomfortable.

The race ends in general uproar due to Vronsky’s accident, and Anna openly weeps when she learns he is unhurt. In their carriage home, Karenin tells Anna, “I must tell you that you behaved improperly today” and in an outburst she declares, “‘I love him, I am his mistress, I cannot stand you’” (212-213). Karenin informs her he expects her not to create more scandal. Anna thinks of Vronsky.

The narrative turns to Kitty’s sojourn in Germany at a spa. Her group joins a defined social circle, including other Russians. Kitty becomes particularly taken with a spiritual invalid named Madame Stahl and her companion, Varenka. Varenka is devoted to others, and Kitty is particularly interested in the idea of selfless service as an antidote to her own suffering. Kitty meets Levin’s brother Nikolai and his companion, repulsed by Nikolai’s odd manner once she learns who he is. After Varenka helps end a conflict between Nikolai and the resort doctor, Kitty convinces her mother that Varenka would be a suitable friend for her.

Kitty learns that Madam Stahl is an abandoned wife who was given Varenka to raise after her own child died. Kitty is impressed with Varenka’s mild nature and lack of pride in her skills, and is fascinated to learn Varenka has also known heartbreak. As Kitty turns to her own past, Varenka tries to convince her there is no “shame” (221) in it and there is more to life. Kitty is also drawn to Madame Stahl’s spiritual beliefs. These yield unwanted results as her mother is displeased with Kitty’s new piety. Her efforts to help sick artists inspire jealousy in the man’s wife.

Kitty’s father joins the family, and tries to cultivate a Russian manner in the European atmosphere. He is concerned about new influences on Kitty, and disconcerted by being a healthy man among ill people. He likes Varenka, but informs her he has long known Madame Stahl, who he claims is not disabled but merely sits to hide her body. He tells Kitty it is better to be devoted to others without seeking a reputation for it. Her ideals of a new life inspired by the older woman begin to fade. Kitty decides to return home, urging Varenka to visit her.