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Part 8, Chapter 17
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
Throughout the rest of the day, everyone—especially Levin—is in the best of spirits. Koznysehv expounds on political questions, and everyone listens delightedly; Levin doesn’t understand completely, but he doesn’t really care, since he’s so transported by joy and reassurance. He goes to visit Kitty and Mitya in the nursery, and Kitty shows Levin that Mitya recognizes his parents. As an experiment, they bring in a maid, but Mitya still smiles for his parents, not for the maid. Levin says that during the storm, he realized how much he loved Mitya.
The burst of rain has broken the tension and the arguments. The prayer in the forest has also reaffirmed for Levin the power of God, which makes him cheerful and reassured in his answer. Though Levin shouldn’t require external affirmation if he followed all the tenets of his faith to the fullest, a sign is a nice affirmation for him, suggesting, perhaps, that Levin might need to continue relying on these signs in the years to come.
Themes
