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Part 5, Chapter 1
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
On the day of his wedding, Levin is not allowed to see Kitty, so he dines with three bachelor friends. The men tease Levin about his loss of freedom, but Levin is so happy that he doesn’t see any loss because he loves Kitty so much. After the men leave, Levin panics, thinking that Kitty is only marrying him to get married, not because she loves him. He runs to see her, and she tells him that she loves him; five minutes later, everything is fine. Levin returns home, late, to prepare for the wedding.
Levin is highly sensitive and emotional; even the slightest teasing can send him swirling from bliss to panic attack. However, the benefit of Levin’s volatility is that his fear is easily assuaged, particularly as there is no reason for him to have any jealousy—he and Kitty share a deep, nonverbal bond.
Themes
