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Part 8, Chapter 5
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
Kitty greets Koznyshev and Katavasov when they arrive at Levin’s house. She is sitting with her father and sister, and Levin is not at home. She shows the dusty travelers where they can wash. She feels an influx of milk in her breast, meaning that the baby needs to be fed, and she goes to the nursery; though it takes a while, they finally get settled into a feeding. Kitty talks with Agafya, the old nursemaid; Kitty feels a spiritual bond with her son, even though the others in the family only see him as a creature with material needs.
The guests are dusty both from travel and the moral turpitude of the city, and they arrive at the country to be cleansed in body and soul. Kitty’s family is fully integrated into the household, fulfilling Levin’s initial dream of marrying not only a Shcherbatsky daughter but the whole family. As opposed to Anna, who gave Annie to a wet nurse and had essentially no bond with her daughter, Kitty’s spiritual connection with her son is strengthened through breast-feeding.
Themes
