Vronsky returns to the hotel to find Anna with Princess
Oblon-skaya, an old, unmarried aunt of Anna’s with a bad reputation. Anna
announces that she plans to attend the opera that evening. Vronsky
begs her not to, warning her of the fact that the members of high
society at the theater will scorn and humiliate her. He believes that
she wishes to deliberately provoke and insult conventional society.
Nevertheless, Anna leaves for the opera. Vronsky follows
later and watches in horror as Anna is insulted by acquaintances
in the neighboring box. Anna returns home angry and desperate. Vronsky reassures
her of his love, and the two depart for the countryside.
Analysis
Just before we see Anna reach the depths of humiliation
in her public disgrace, Tolstoy shows us a glimpse of Anna in private,
at her most tender and maternal moment. The author juxtaposes the
two extremes of Anna’s personality: just as we have never seen her
so brazenly in the public eye as during her time at the opera, so
too have we never seen her quite so loving and motherly as when
she secretly brings birthday presents to her son. We have frequently heard
that she loves Seryozha, but her tears of joy at seeing him prove
that love. The birthday scene is crucial because it reminds us that
the love for which Anna lives is not just romantic love but parental
love as well. Her life is defined by the fact that she cares for certain
people and does not care for others. In this regard, she is not a
dizzy romantic dreamer like Flaubert’s deluded Madame Bovary. Anna
does not throw away her past in pursuit of a dashing love interest
but simply and passionately tries to find and stick by true love
in all its forms, whether lover or son.
These chapters all center on human isolation, exploring
this concept from different angles through the experiences of different
characters. Karenin’s loneliness nearly pushes him to a nervous breakdown
as his family life and professional career fall apart. The man who
once seemed invincible now appears surprisingly frail. Tolstoy suggests
that isolation can topple even giants. We learn that Karenin was
an orphan, raised without parental intimacy. In giving us Karenin’s
childhood history, the author invites us to conclude that Karenin’s
later pursuit of status and honor is an attempt to fill the void
left by the lack of family love. Seryozha may well feel this same
lack of love, and we fear that he may grow up to be just like his father.
When Seryozha asks his tutor about official awards and wonders why
the tutor does not love him more, we see that the boy mixes intimacy
and honors in his mind as much as his father does.
Anna’s humiliation in the theater is, of course, another
case of isolation—a painful, forced ostracism. The dying Nikolai
is isolated as well, and Kitty’s companionship is like a medicine
to him. Though Nikolai does not recover, Kitty’s kindness makes
his final days far less lonely and frightening than they might have
been. The healing power of Kitty’s company for Nikolai reminds us
that simple togetherness can have a miraculous effect in curing
the great ill of isolation that afflicts mankind.
