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Part 7, Chapter 15
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
As Levin talks to Kitty’s father and Oblonsky, all he can think about is Kitty and his son, Mitya (a nickname for Dmitri), and he leaps up to see them. The midwife cleans the baby and hands him to Levin, but Levin feels oddly squeamish and distant. He’s so afraid for this new vulnerability that has entered his life that he barely notices the joy and pride he feels when the baby sneezes.
As when Levin fell in love with Kitty, or as when Nikolai died, Levin is thrown into an extreme state of emotional turmoil with the birth of his son, and it takes a long period of adjustment before he is able to consider the day-to-day practicalities of life again—even to adjust to the fact that he has a son.
Themes
