An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1283 words)
he whole of that day Anna spent at home, that’s to say at the
Oblonskys’, and received no one, though some of her acquaintances had
already heard of her arrival, and came to call the same day. Anna spent
the whole morning with Dolly and the children. She merely sent a brief
note to her brother to tell him that he must not fail to dine at home.
“Come, God is merciful,” she wrote.
Oblonsky did dine at home: the conversation was general, and his wife,
speaking to him, addressed him as “Stiva,” as she had not done before.
In the relations of the husband and wife the same estrangement still
remained, but there was no talk now of separation, and Stepan
Arkadyevitch saw the possibility of explanation and reconciliation.
Immediately after dinner Kitty came in. She knew Anna Arkadyevna, but
only very slightly, and she came now to her sister’s with some
trepidation, at the prospect of meeting this fashionable Petersburg
lady, whom everyone spoke so highly of. But she made a favorable
impression on Anna Arkadyevna—she saw that at once. Anna was
unmistakably admiring her loveliness and her youth: before Kitty knew
where she was she found herself not merely under Anna’s sway, but in
love with her, as young girls do fall in love with older and married
women. Anna was not like a fashionable lady, nor the mother of a boy of
eight years old. In the elasticity of her movements, the freshness and
the unflagging eagerness which persisted in her face, and broke out in
her smile and her glance, she would rather have passed for a girl of
twenty, had it not been for a serious and at times mournful look in her
eyes, which struck and attracted Kitty. Kitty felt that Anna was
perfectly simple and was concealing nothing, but that she had another
higher world of interests inaccessible to her, complex and poetic.
After dinner, when Dolly went away to her own room, Anna rose quickly
and went up to her brother, who was just lighting a cigar.
“Stiva,” she said to him, winking gaily, crossing him and glancing
towards the door, “go, and God help you.”
He threw down the cigar, understanding her, and departed through the
doorway.
When Stepan Arkadyevitch had disappeared, she went back to the sofa
where she had been sitting, surrounded by the children. Either because
the children saw that their mother was fond of this aunt, or that they
felt a special charm in her themselves, the two elder ones, and the
younger following their lead, as children so often do, had clung about
their new aunt since before dinner, and would not leave her side. And
it had become a sort of game among them to sit as close as possible to
their aunt, to touch her, hold her little hand, kiss it, play with her
ring, or even touch the flounce of her skirt.
“Come, come, as we were sitting before,” said Anna Arkadyevna, sitting
down in her place.
And again Grisha poked his little face under her arm, and nestled with
his head on her gown, beaming with pride and happiness.
“And when is your next ball?” she asked Kitty.
“Next week, and a splendid ball. One of those balls where one always
enjoys oneself.”
“Why, are there balls where one always enjoys oneself?” Anna said, with
tender irony.
“It’s strange, but there are. At the Bobrishtchevs’ one always enjoys
oneself, and at the Nikitins’ too, while at the Mezhkovs’ it’s always
dull. Haven’t you noticed it?”
“No, my dear, for me there are no balls now where one enjoys oneself,”
said Anna, and Kitty detected in her eyes that mysterious world which
was not open to her. “For me there are some less dull and tiresome.”
“How can you be dull at a ball?”
“Why should not I be dull at a ball?” inquired Anna.
Kitty perceived that Anna knew what answer would follow.
“Because you always look nicer than anyone.”
Anna had the faculty of blushing. She blushed a little, and said:
“In the first place it’s never so; and secondly, if it were, what
difference would it make to me?”
“Are you coming to this ball?” asked Kitty.
“I imagine it won’t be possible to avoid going. Here, take it,” she
said to Tanya, who was pulling the loosely-fitting ring off her white,
slender-tipped finger.
“I shall be so glad if you go. I should so like to see you at a ball.”
“Anyway, if I do go, I shall comfort myself with the thought that it’s
a pleasure to you ... Grisha, don’t pull my hair. It’s untidy enough
without that,” she said, putting up a straying lock, which Grisha had
been playing with.
“I imagine you at the ball in lilac.”
“And why in lilac precisely?” asked Anna, smiling. “Now, children, run
along, run along. Do you hear? Miss Hoole is calling you to tea,” she
said, tearing the children from her, and sending them off to the
dining-room.
“I know why you press me to come to the ball. You expect a great deal
of this ball, and you want everyone to be there to take part in it.”
“How do you know? Yes.”
“Oh! what a happy time you are at,” pursued Anna. “I remember, and I
know that blue haze like the mist on the mountains in Switzerland. That
mist which covers everything in that blissful time when childhood is
just ending, and out of that vast circle, happy and gay, there is a
path growing narrower and narrower, and it is delightful and alarming
to enter the ballroom, bright and splendid as it is.... Who has not
been through it?”
Kitty smiled without speaking. “But how did she go through it? How I
should like to know all her love story!” thought Kitty, recalling the
unromantic appearance of Alexey Alexandrovitch, her husband.
“I know something. Stiva told me, and I congratulate you. I liked him
so much,” Anna continued. “I met Vronsky at the railway station.”
“Oh, was he there?” asked Kitty, blushing. “What was it Stiva told
you?”
“Stiva gossiped about it all. And I should be so glad ... I traveled
yesterday with Vronsky’s mother,” she went on; “and his mother talked
without a pause of him, he’s her favorite. I know mothers are partial,
but....”
“What did his mother tell you?”
“Oh, a great deal! And I know that he’s her favorite; still one can see
how chivalrous he is.... Well, for instance, she told me that he had
wanted to give up all his property to his brother, that he had done
something extraordinary when he was quite a child, saved a woman out of
the water. He’s a hero, in fact,” said Anna, smiling and recollecting
the two hundred roubles he had given at the station.
But she did not tell Kitty about the two hundred roubles. For some
reason it was disagreeable to her to think of it. She felt that there
was something that had to do with her in it, and something that ought
not to have been.
“She pressed me very much to go and see her,” Anna went on; “and I
shall be glad to go to see her tomorrow. Stiva is staying a long while
in Dolly’s room, thank God,” Anna added, changing the subject, and
getting up, Kitty fancied, displeased with something.
“No, I’m first! No, I!” screamed the children, who had finished tea,
running up to their Aunt Anna.
“All together,” said Anna, and she ran laughing to meet them, and
embraced and swung round all the throng of swarming children, shrieking
with delight.
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
The Motion Medicine Trap
The belief that we can cure emotional wounds through intense physical activity or busyness, which provides temporary relief but doesn't address underlying pain.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when we're using activity to medicate emotional wounds rather than actually healing or moving forward.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you're staying extra busy after setbacks—ask yourself whether you're working toward a specific goal or just trying to outrun uncomfortable feelings.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Work was the one thing that saved him, and he threw himself into it with the desperation of a drowning man clutching at a straw."
Context: Describing how Levin uses farm work to cope with rejection
This reveals the manic quality of his coping strategy. The drowning metaphor shows he's not really healing, just barely staying afloat emotionally.
In Today's Words:
He buried himself in work because it was the only thing keeping him from falling apart.
"The peasants worked with a rhythm he envied but could never quite match, no matter how hard he tried."
Context: Levin observing the natural ease of the workers around him
Shows how emotional turmoil disrupts our natural rhythms. His frantic energy contrasts with their calm competence, highlighting his inner chaos.
In Today's Words:
Everyone else seemed to have their act together while he was just trying to keep up.
"Even as his body found relief in the exhaustion, his mind would not be still."
Context: After hours of hard physical labor
Captures the futility of trying to outwork emotional pain. Physical exhaustion can't cure heartbreak - the thoughts keep circling no matter how tired you get.
In Today's Words:
No matter how hard he worked, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
Thematic Threads
Identity
In This Chapter
Levin's rejection shakes his sense of self—he questions his worth and his place in the world
Development
Building from earlier confidence to deep self-doubt after Kitty's refusal
In Your Life:
When someone rejects us romantically or professionally, we often question our entire identity rather than just that specific situation.
Class
In This Chapter
Levin notices his peasant workers seem more at peace despite their harder material circumstances
Development
Continues Tolstoy's exploration of how social position affects inner life
In Your Life:
You might notice how people with 'less' sometimes seem more content than those with 'more,' challenging assumptions about what creates happiness.
Work
In This Chapter
Physical labor becomes both escape and torment—it exhausts the body but can't quiet the mind
Development
Introduced here as coping mechanism
In Your Life:
You might throw yourself into work or projects after emotional setbacks, hoping activity will heal what stillness cannot.
Rejection
In This Chapter
Kitty's refusal doesn't just hurt in the moment—it rewrites how Levin sees himself and his future
Development
The aftermath of the rejection from previous chapters
In Your Life:
Rejection often makes you question everything about yourself, not just the specific relationship or opportunity that was denied.
Restlessness
In This Chapter
Levin's manic energy in the fields reveals the desperate need to do something, anything, to feel valuable again
Development
New theme emerging from his emotional state
In Your Life:
After disappointment, you might feel compelled to prove your worth through intense activity or achievement.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific actions does Levin take to cope with his rejection, and how does his body respond to this strategy?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does physical labor provide only temporary relief for Levin's emotional pain, and what does this reveal about using busyness as a coping mechanism?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see people today throwing themselves into work or activities to avoid dealing with difficult emotions?
application • medium - 4
How would you help someone recognize when they're using motion as medicine versus taking genuinely productive action?
application • deep - 5
What does Levin's manic work ethic teach us about how rejection changes our relationship with ourselves and our sense of worth?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Track Your Motion Medicine
Think about the last time you experienced disappointment, rejection, or emotional pain. Make two lists: one of the activities you threw yourself into afterward, and another of the specific thoughts or feelings you were trying to avoid. For each activity, note whether it actually helped you process the situation or just kept you distracted.
Consider:
- •Notice the difference between activities that move you toward a goal versus those that just keep you busy
- •Pay attention to whether the activities required your full mental attention or left room for your mind to wander
- •Consider how your body felt during and after these activities - energized and purposeful, or drained and still restless
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you successfully worked through difficult emotions versus a time when you just stayed busy to avoid them. What made the difference in how you approached the situation?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 21
Levin's brother Nikolai arrives unexpectedly, bringing with him a scandal that will force Levin to confront family obligations he'd rather avoid. The reunion will test whether blood truly runs thicker than social expectations.
