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Part 1, Chapter 20
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
Dolly and Oblonsky seem to have reconciled. Everyone has tea. Anna goes to her room to fetch a picture album. While she crosses the landing, a visitor arrives: it is Vronsky. They glance at each other and feel both pleasure and fear. Vronsky finds out the details of an upcoming dinner and leaves without coming inside. Even though there is nothing explicitly strange in the episode, the situation feels tense.
Many of the deepest emotions throughout the novel happen under the surface. Dolly and Oblonsky reconcile without needing to make huge speeches; instead, they simply resume their normal rhythms and spousal patter. Vronsky and Anna’s glances contain deep passion that has not yet bubbled to the surface.
Themes
