Anna Karenina · Chapter
The Prince's Perspective explained
Prince Shcherbatsky returns to his wife and daughter at the spa.
What happens
Prince Shcherbatsky returns to his wife and daughter at the spa. His cheerful, robust Russian outlook contrasts sharply with the European invalid society. He meets Kitty's friends, including Varenka and Madame Stahl. His skeptical, ironic observations cause Kitty to see Madame Stahl not as a saintly figure but as a flawed, short-legged woman who tyrannizes her companion, shattering Kitty's idealized image.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Social Pretense
The prince's skepticism exposes the potential hypocrisy beneath Madame Stahl's saintly, suffering persona, suggesting her piety and invalidism may be affectations.
Family and Domesticity
The prince's deep, protective love for Kitty and his influence on her worldview highlights the powerful, sometimes disruptive, bond within the family unit.
Characters to notice
- Prince Shcherbatsky
Returns in good humor but finds the spa's invalid society 'melancholy' and 'unseemly.' His ironic, worldly perspective dismantles Kitty's idolization of Madame Stahl.
- Kitty Shcherbatskaya
Recovered and initially defensive of her new friends, but her father's observations permanently shatter her heavenly image of Madame Stahl.
- Mademoiselle Varenka
Presented as 'angel number one,' she is natural and unshy with the prince, who likes her despite his general skepticism.
- Madame Stahl
Revealed through the prince's eyes as a possible hypocrite; her pious image is undermined by the suggestion her illness is due to a 'bad figure' and she is demanding of Varenka.
- Petritsky
Mentioned in passing as one of the invalids the prince and Kitty observe at the spa.
Key passages
“She thought everything delightful... and so she was affected, which did not altogether suit her. The prince, on the contrary, thought everything foreign detestable... and purposely tried to show himself abroad less European than he was in reality.”
The princess adopts European airs unnaturally, while the prince defiantly clings to his Russian identity.
Highlights the clash between genuine and affected social personas.
“'I only know that she thanks God for everything, for every misfortune, and thanks God too that her husband died. And that’s rather droll, as they didn’t get on together.'”
The prince sarcastically defines a Pietist as someone who gives insincere thanks, even for a husband's death when the marriage was unhappy.
Direct critique of religious hypocrisy.
“All that was left was a woman with short legs, who lay down because she had a bad figure, and worried patient Varenka for not arranging her rug to her liking.”
Kitty's idealized vision of Madame Stahl collapses, leaving only the image of a petty, demanding invalid.
The moment of disillusionment for Kitty.