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Part 1, Chapter 21
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 arrives at the ball, beautifully dressed in pink and bedecked with roses and a black velvet ribbon. Vronsky dances the first dance with her. Anna arrives in a low-cut black velvet dress, and even though Kitty had imagined her in lilac, Kitty realizes that Anna’s loveliness relies on standing out from what she wears, not standing out because of a bold color.
An officer asks Anna to dance, and she initially refuses. Vronsky approaches and bows to her, but Anna does not respond to the bow, turning to the other officer and dancing with him instead. Kitty is puzzled. As Vronsky and Kitty prepare to waltz, Kitty looks lovingly at him, but he does not respond to her gaze.
Anna dances with the other officer to make Vronsky jealous, rebuffing Vronsky’s advances. Anna plays the game to perfection. The earnest Kitty, meanwhile, looks with all her heart at Vronsky, but he does not return the glance, indicating that he does not love her as she loves him.
Themes
