An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 1432 words)
oon after the doctor, Dolly had arrived. She knew that there was to be
a consultation that day, and though she was only just up after her
confinement (she had another baby, a little girl, born at the end of
the winter), though she had trouble and anxiety enough of her own, she
had left her tiny baby and a sick child, to come and hear Kitty’s fate,
which was to be decided that day.
“Well, well?” she said, coming into the drawing-room, without taking
off her hat. “You’re all in good spirits. Good news, then?”
They tried to tell her what the doctor had said, but it appeared that
though the doctor had talked distinctly enough and at great length, it
was utterly impossible to report what he had said. The only point of
interest was that it was settled they should go abroad.
Dolly could not help sighing. Her dearest friend, her sister, was going
away. And her life was not a cheerful one. Her relations with Stepan
Arkadyevitch after their reconciliation had become humiliating. The
union Anna had cemented turned out to be of no solid character, and
family harmony was breaking down again at the same point. There had
been nothing definite, but Stepan Arkadyevitch was hardly ever at home;
money, too, was hardly ever forthcoming, and Dolly was continually
tortured by suspicions of infidelity, which she tried to dismiss,
dreading the agonies of jealousy she had been through already. The
first onslaught of jealousy, once lived through, could never come back
again, and even the discovery of infidelities could never now affect
her as it had the first time. Such a discovery now would only mean
breaking up family habits, and she let herself be deceived, despising
him and still more herself, for the weakness. Besides this, the care of
her large family was a constant worry to her: first, the nursing of her
young baby did not go well, then the nurse had gone away, now one of
the children had fallen ill.
“Well, how are all of you?” asked her mother.
“Ah, mamma, we have plenty of troubles of our own. Lili is ill, and I’m
afraid it’s scarlatina. I have come here now to hear about Kitty, and
then I shall shut myself up entirely, if—God forbid—it should be
scarlatina.”
The old prince too had come in from his study after the doctor’s
departure, and after presenting his cheek to Dolly, and saying a few
words to her, he turned to his wife:
“How have you settled it? you’re going? Well, and what do you mean to
do with me?”
“I suppose you had better stay here, Alexander,” said his wife.
“That’s as you like.”
“Mamma, why shouldn’t father come with us?” said Kitty. “It would be
nicer for him and for us too.”
The old prince got up and stroked Kitty’s hair. She lifted her head and
looked at him with a forced smile. It always seemed to her that he
understood her better than anyone in the family, though he did not say
much about her. Being the youngest, she was her father’s favorite, and
she fancied that his love gave him insight. When now her glance met his
blue kindly eyes looking intently at her, it seemed to her that he saw
right through her, and understood all that was not good that was
passing within her. Reddening, she stretched out towards him expecting
a kiss, but he only patted her hair and said:
“These stupid chignons! There’s no getting at the real daughter. One
simply strokes the bristles of dead women. Well, Dolinka,” he turned to
his elder daughter, “what’s your young buck about, hey?”
“Nothing, father,” answered Dolly, understanding that her husband was
meant. “He’s always out; I scarcely ever see him,” she could not resist
adding with a sarcastic smile.
“Why, hasn’t he gone into the country yet—to see about selling that
forest?”
“No, he’s still getting ready for the journey.”
“Oh, that’s it!” said the prince. “And so am I to be getting ready for
a journey too? At your service,” he said to his wife, sitting down.
“And I tell you what, Katia,” he went on to his younger daughter, “you
must wake up one fine day and say to yourself: Why, I’m quite well, and
merry, and going out again with father for an early morning walk in the
frost. Hey?”
What her father said seemed simple enough, yet at these words Kitty
became confused and overcome like a detected criminal. “Yes, he sees it
all, he understands it all, and in these words he’s telling me that
though I’m ashamed, I must get over my shame.” She could not pluck up
spirit to make any answer. She tried to begin, and all at once burst
into tears, and rushed out of the room.
“See what comes of your jokes!” the princess pounced down on her
husband. “You’re always....” she began a string of reproaches.
The prince listened to the princess’s scolding rather a long while
without speaking, but his face was more and more frowning.
“She’s so much to be pitied, poor child, so much to be pitied, and you
don’t feel how it hurts her to hear the slightest reference to the
cause of it. Ah! to be so mistaken in people!” said the princess, and
by the change in her tone both Dolly and the prince knew she was
speaking of Vronsky. “I don’t know why there aren’t laws against such
base, dishonorable people.”
“Ah, I can’t bear to hear you!” said the prince gloomily, getting up
from his low chair, and seeming anxious to get away, yet stopping in
the doorway. “There are laws, madam, and since you’ve challenged me to
it, I’ll tell you who’s to blame for it all: you and you, you and
nobody else. Laws against such young gallants there have always been,
and there still are! Yes, if there has been nothing that ought not to
have been, old as I am, I’d have called him out to the barrier, the
young dandy. Yes, and now you physic her and call in these quacks.”
The prince apparently had plenty more to say, but as soon as the
princess heard his tone she subsided at once, and became penitent, as
she always did on serious occasions.
“Alexander, Alexander,” she whispered, moving to him and beginning to
weep.
As soon as she began to cry the prince too calmed down. He went up to
her.
“There, that’s enough, that’s enough! You’re wretched too, I know. It
can’t be helped. There’s no great harm done. God is merciful ...
thanks....” he said, not knowing what he was saying, as he responded to
the tearful kiss of the princess that he felt on his hand. And the
prince went out of the room.
Before this, as soon as Kitty went out of the room in tears, Dolly,
with her motherly, family instincts, had promptly perceived that here a
woman’s work lay before her, and she prepared to do it. She took off
her hat, and, morally speaking, tucked up her sleeves and prepared for
action. While her mother was attacking her father, she tried to
restrain her mother, so far as filial reverence would allow. During the
prince’s outburst she was silent; she felt ashamed for her mother, and
tender towards her father for so quickly being kind again. But when her
father left them she made ready for what was the chief thing needful—to
go to Kitty and console her.
“I’d been meaning to tell you something for a long while, mamma: did
you know that Levin meant to make Kitty an offer when he was here the
last time? He told Stiva so.”
“Well, what then? I don’t understand....”
“So did Kitty perhaps refuse him?... She didn’t tell you so?”
“No, she has said nothing to me either of one or the other; she’s too
proud. But I know it’s all on account of the other.”
“Yes, but suppose she has refused Levin, and she wouldn’t have refused
him if it hadn’t been for the other, I know. And then, he has deceived
her so horribly.”
It was too terrible for the princess to think how she had sinned
against her daughter, and she broke out angrily.
“Oh, I really don’t understand! Nowadays they will all go their own
way, and mothers haven’t a word to say in anything, and then....”
“Mamma, I’ll go up to her.”
“Well, do. Did I tell you not to?” said her mother.
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Let's Analyse the Pattern
When external barriers block a relationship's natural progression, partners turn their frustration on each other instead of the real obstacle.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when you're fighting about the wrong thing because the real problem feels too big to tackle.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when arguments escalate over small things—ask yourself what larger constraint or frustration might be the real culprit.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"You don't love me. You love someone else."
Context: Anna's paranoid accusation during their increasingly toxic argument
This shows how Anna's isolation has made her paranoid and desperate. She's projecting her fears onto Vronsky because she can feel their relationship dying but can't admit the real reasons why.
In Today's Words:
You're cheating on me, aren't you?
"What did I sacrifice everything for, if not for you?"
Context: Anna reminding Vronsky of what she gave up when their argument escalates
Anna is using her sacrifice as emotional leverage, which shows how their relationship has become transactional. She's keeping score of what she lost, which poisons any remaining love.
In Today's Words:
I gave up everything for you, so you owe me.
"I cannot go on living like this."
Context: Vronsky's frustrated response to their impossible situation
This reveals that Vronsky is reaching his breaking point. He's realizing that passion alone isn't enough to sustain a relationship when there's no legitimate future possible.
In Today's Words:
This isn't working anymore and we both know it.
"We torture each other, and torture ourselves."
Context: A moment of clarity about their destructive dynamic
Anna briefly sees their relationship clearly - they're both victims and perpetrators in a cycle of mutual destruction. It's one of her few moments of honest self-awareness.
In Today's Words:
We're toxic for each other and we know it.
Thematic Threads
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Society's refusal to accept Anna and Vronsky's relationship traps them in limbo, unable to marry or be fully accepted
Development
Evolved from earlier defiance to crushing reality - social rules aren't just inconvenient, they're destructive
In Your Life:
You might feel this when your relationship doesn't fit others' expectations and you start doubting it yourself.
Identity
In This Chapter
Both Anna and Vronsky are losing sense of who they are - she's neither wife nor single, he's neither bachelor nor married man
Development
Deepened from earlier chapters where identity crisis was emerging - now it's consuming them
In Your Life:
You might experience this when major life changes leave you feeling like you don't fit anywhere.
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Love becomes a source of mutual torture as external pressures turn partners against each other
Development
Transformed from passionate connection to destructive cycle - shows how relationships evolve under pressure
In Your Life:
You might see this when stress makes you fight with the people you're closest to instead of addressing the real problem.
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Both characters are regressing instead of growing - becoming more paranoid, resentful, and trapped in destructive patterns
Development
Reversed from earlier growth - shows how impossible situations can stunt development
In Your Life:
You might notice this when you're stuck in circumstances that prevent you from moving forward in life.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific behaviors show that Anna and Vronsky's relationship is deteriorating? What are they fighting about versus what's really bothering them?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does their isolation make their problems worse instead of bringing them closer together? How does having no legitimate future path poison their present?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see this same pattern today - couples, coworkers, or family members turning on each other when they're really frustrated by external circumstances they can't control?
application • medium - 4
When you're in a situation where external constraints are creating relationship tension, what specific steps could you take to address the real problem instead of attacking each other?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter reveal about how social pressure affects our most intimate relationships? When is love not enough to overcome systemic barriers?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Name the Real Enemy
Think of a current conflict in your life - with a partner, family member, coworker, or friend. Write down what you usually argue about, then dig deeper to identify the external constraint or pressure that's actually driving the tension. Map out how that outside force is affecting both people involved.
Consider:
- •Look for systemic issues like money, workplace policies, family expectations, or social pressures rather than personality conflicts
- •Consider how both people might be feeling trapped or frustrated by the same external circumstances
- •Notice if you're blaming each other for problems neither of you actually created
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you realized you were fighting with someone about the wrong thing. What was the real issue, and how did naming it change your approach to the relationship?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 37
Anna's emotional spiral deepens as she grapples with the impossible choice between holding onto Vronsky and facing the reality of their doomed situation. Meanwhile, Vronsky must decide whether their love is worth the continued sacrifice of everything else in his life.
