# The Crystallization of Society explained — Anna Karenina > Chapter companion for Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. ## What happens Kitty, at a German spa with her mother, observes the rigid social stratification of the resort. Bored by her established social circle, she becomes fascinated by a Russian girl, Mademoiselle Varenka, who attends to the invalid Madame Stahl and other sick visitors. Kitty idealizes Varenka, seeing in her a model of a meaningful, dignified life independent of the marriage market. Her romantic illusions are shattered, however, when she learns that a disagreeable-looking Russian man is Nikolay Levin, Konstantin's brother, whom her mother describes as 'a bad man'. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Conventions vs. Individual Desire The spa's rigid social 'crystallization' contrasts with Kitty's inner desire to break free from the conventional marriage market and find a life of authentic meaning, which she projects onto Varenka. ### Search for Meaning Kitty's attraction to Varenka stems from her painful search for 'interest in life, a dignity in life' apart from worldly relations with men, seeing Varenka's selfless work as a model. ### Isolation and Misunderstanding Kitty's idealization of strangers (first the Levins, then Varenka) highlights her isolation and misunderstanding of others' true natures and circumstances. ## Character check-ins ### Kitty Shcherbatskaya Deeply bored by the spa's social routine; idealizes Varenka as a model of purposeful living and is revolted by the 'shameful hawking about' of the marriage market. ### Mademoiselle Varenka Described as selfless, constantly busy caring for the sick, including Madame Stahl. Seen by Kitty as a 'fine flower' past its bloom, unattractive to men but possessing a dignified purpose. ### Nikolay Dmitrievitch Levin Appears at the spa with Marya Nikolaevna; his twitching and 'terrible eyes' arouse intense disgust and an 'irrepressible feeling of disgust' in Kitty after she learns his identity. ### Marya Nikolaevna Appears with Nikolay Levin; described as pockmarked and kind-looking, dressed tastelessly. ### Princess Shcherbatskaya Ensures the family is placed in the correct social stratum at the spa, presenting Kitty to a German princess and providing negative information about Nikolay Levin. ### Madame Stahl An invalid Russian lady of high society who keeps to herself out of pride, attended by Varenka. ## Key lines > She was like a fine flower, already past its bloom and without fragrance, though the petals were still unwithered. Varenka's beauty is faded and no longer alluring, though not yet decayed. _Metaphor for Varenka's perceived lack of sexual attractiveness but enduring quality._ > the usual process, as it were, of the crystallization of society went on, assigning to each member of that society a definite and unalterable place. Spa society quickly and rigidly sorted everyone into fixed social ranks. _Central metaphor for the chapter, describing the inflexibility of high society._ > she was now so painfully seeking: interest in life, a dignity in life⁠—apart from the worldly relations of girls with men, which so revolted Kitty, and appeared to her now as a shameful hawking about of goods in search of a purchaser. Kitty wanted a meaningful, respectable life, separate from the degrading process of finding a husband, which she saw as being like selling merchandise. _Core expression of Kitty's disillusionment with her prescribed social role._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/anna_karenina_se/chapters/part-ii-xxx - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/anna_karenina_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/anna_karenina_se/chapters