Anna Karenina · Chapter
Chapter XVI explained
Levin and Oblonsky return from hunting.
What happens
Levin and Oblonsky return from hunting. Levin is secretly pleased to hear Kitty is suffering after her rejection. Their conversation shifts to Oblonsky's sale of a forest to the merchant Ryabinin. Levin, an experienced landowner, argues passionately that Oblonsky is being swindled, but Oblonsky, trusting the merchant's urban business acumen, finalizes the deal. The chapter contrasts Levin's deep, practical connection to the land with Oblonsky's careless, city-bred financial dealings.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Social Pretense
Ryabinin's obsequious manners ('your excellency') and claims of buying for 'glory' thinly veil his predatory business tactics. The transaction is framed in gentlemanly terms while being fundamentally exploitative.
Isolation and Misunderstanding
Levin's profound understanding of the land's value and merchant tricks isolates him from Oblonsky, who dismisses his advice as mere ill temper. Their different worldviews create a communicative chasm.
Characters to notice
- Konstantin Dmitrievitch Levin
Reveals a bitter satisfaction at Kitty's suffering. His detailed knowledge of forestry and merchant practices highlights his practical, rural values versus Oblonsky's urban carelessness. He is openly contemptuous of the deal and Ryabinin.
- Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky
Finalizes the sale of his forest to Ryabinin, dismissing Levin's warnings. His good-humored, trusting nature in business contrasts with Levin's suspicion, showing his financial imprudence and detachment from his estate's true value.
- Ryabinin
The merchant who purchases Oblonsky's forest. Portrayed as shrewd, obsequious, and ultimately predatory. His speech about buying for 'glory' masks his exploitative nature, confirming Levin's assessment of him as a speculator.
Key passages
“"I have no right whatever to know family matters, and, to tell the truth, no interest in them either."”
Levin cuts off Oblonsky's discussion of Kitty's illness, claiming disinterest to mask his painful, lingering feelings.
Shows Levin's defensive pride and unresolved emotional wound regarding Kitty and Vronsky.
“"Oh, these farmers!... But when it comes to business, we do it better than anyone."”
Oblonsky playfully dismisses Levin's rural expertise, asserting the superiority of city-bred business sense.
Highlights the central conflict of the chapter: practical, rooted knowledge vs. arrogant, abstract urban confidence.
“"It's all youthfulness—positively nothing but boyishness. Why, I'm buying it, upon my honor, simply, believe me, for the glory of it..."”
After Levin storms out, Ryabinin dismisses his anger as childishness and claims his motive is prestige, not profit.
Reveals Ryabinin's manipulative rhetoric, using flattery and false sentiment to justify a shrewd business coup.