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Part 3, Chapter 25
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Anna Karenina, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Marriage and Family Life
Adultery and Jealousy
Physical Activity and Movement
Society and Class
Farming and Rural Life
Compassion and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Levin has not visited Sviyazhsky in some time because his friend has a sister-in-law whom he wants Levin to marry, which makes Levin uncomfortable. However, Levin wants to measure his feelings against her. Sviyazhsky is something of a contradiction: even though he looks down on peasants as a class, for example, he supports individual peasants at elections. The snipe-shooting that day is not very good. At tea afterwards, Levin blushes and feels awkward around the sister-in-law, who is wearing a dress with a plunging neckline.
Levin visits his friend to distract himself from his emotions about Kitty, but the visit backfires when his friend’s sister-in-law comes out with her plunging cleavage and clear desires to ensnare a husband. Levin is embarrassed around Kitty, but he’s not looking for a substitute bride. Unlike his friend, who freely practices hypocrisy, Levin is too emotionally honest to say one thing and do another.
Themes
