Anna Karenina

The waiting-room of the celebrated Petersburg lawyer was full when Alexey Alexandrovitch entered it." The lawyer is famous, his office crowded with clients. "Three ladies—an old lady, a young lady, and a merchant's wife—and three gentlemen—one a German banker with a ring on his finger, the second a merchant with a beard, and the third a wrathful-looking government clerk in official uniform, with a cross on his neck—had obviously been waiting a long while already." A cross-section of society, all waiting. "The appurtenances of the writing-tables, about which Alexey Alexandrovitch was himself very fastidious, were exceptionally good. He could not help observing this." Even in crisis, Karenin notices office equipment quality - his bureaucratic eye is always working. One clerk asks rudely: "'What are you wanting?'" Karenin has come to discuss divorce. The lawyer listens to his case and finds it amusing. "'In a week's time. Your answer as to whether you will undertake to conduct the case, and on what terms, you will be so good as to communicate to me.' 'Very good.' The lawyer bowed respectfully, let his client out of the door, and, left alone, gave himself up to his sense of amusement." The lawyer is entertained by the case. "He felt so mirthful that, contrary to his rules, he made a reduction in his terms to the haggling lady, and gave up catching moths, finally deciding that next winter he must have the furniture covered with velvet, like Sigonin's." The lawyer is so amused by Karenin's marital troubles that he gives a discount to another client and decides to redecorate his office. This is darkly comic - Karenin's personal tragedy becomes entertainment for the professional who will handle it. The chapter shows how divorce cases are routine business to lawyers, even when they're life-shattering crises for the people involved. Karenin's formality and the lawyer's amusement create a jarring contrast between the gravity of divorce and its treatment as just another case.