Anna Karenina · Chapter
XXVII explained
Levin, alone in his old family home, reflects on his ideal of marriage and family life, which he feels he must now give up after his rejection by Kitty.
What happens
Levin, alone in his old family home, reflects on his ideal of marriage and family life, which he feels he must now give up after his rejection by Kitty. He reads, listens to his housekeeper Agafea Mihalovna's gossip, and drifts into daydreams of a future farm and family. He resolves to live better despite his disappointment, finding a moment of peace with his dog Laska.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Domesticity
Levin's entire reverie is centered on the family as the 'chief affair of life.' His ideal is modeled on his parents' life, and he fantasizes about future domestic scenes with a wife and children, even amidst his current solitude.
Search for Meaning
Levin seeks purpose and happiness primarily through founding a family and working his land. His intellectual reading on heat and electricity is interrupted by more meaningful visions of his herd and future family, showing where he truly finds significance.
Characters to notice
- Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin
Reflects deeply on his ideal of marriage and family, inspired by his parents' life. He daydreams about a future farm and family life, resolves to move forward after his disappointment, and finds solace in his home and dog.
- Agafea Mihalovna
Serves Levin tea, gossips about the drunken peasant Prohor, and perceptively notes Levin's low spirits, offering him simple, comforting wisdom.
- Laska
Seeks comfort from Levin, her presence and peaceful repose at his feet contribute to his moment of calm and resolution.
Key passages
“For Levin it was the chief affair of life, on which its whole happiness turned. And now he had to give up that.”
Levin considered marriage and family the central purpose of life, the source of all happiness, and he now felt forced to abandon that dream.
Highlights the depth of Levin's personal crisis after Kitty's rejection.
“He felt that in the depth of his soul something had been put in its place, settled down, and laid to rest.”
He sensed an inner turmoil beginning to calm and resolve itself.
Marks the beginning of Levin's psychological recovery and acceptance.
“"It's nonsense to pretend that life won't let one, that the past won't let one. One must struggle to live better, much better."”
It's foolish to blame life or the past for one's troubles; one must make an effort to improve one's life.
Shows Levin's resolve to move forward and his active, striving nature.