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Part 7, Chapter 9
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 feels at ease in Anna’s company. He praises paintings that prize realism rather than invention. Anna’s other guest says that Anna should put her energy into educating Russian children, rather than the English family, but Anna argues that energy comes from love, and that it can’t be ordered. Levin finds himself obsessed with Anna’s every movement and fascinated by what she is thinking and feeling. When he regretfully takes his leave, Anna tells Levin to send Kitty her love. Levin blushes.
By praising realism in paintings in the abstract, Levin is actually praising the portrait of Anna as well as its model in specific. Levin has developed an enormous crush on Anna, and so he is embarrassed when Anna mentions Kitty because he knows how his crush on Anna will affect Kitty. Levin’s blush tells all: the blush throughout the novel is always a sign of physical reactions that appear at a subconscious level.
Themes
