Chapter 123
Stiva visits Karenin with unusual timidity and finds him drafting a...
Stepan Arkadyevitch, with the same somewhat solemn expression with which he used to take his presidential chair at his board, walked into Alexey Alexandrovitch’s room. Alexey Alexandrovitch was walking about his room with his hands behind his back, thinking of just what Stepan Arkadyevitch had been discussing with his wife. “I’m not interrupting you?” said Stepan Arkadyevitch, on the sight of his brother-in-law becoming suddenly aware of a sense of embarrassment unusual with him. To conceal this embarrassment he took out a cigarette case he had just bought that opened in a new way, and sniffing the leather, took a…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"I see that my presence is irksome to you."
Context: From the letter he gives Stiva to read
Karenin accepts Anna's revulsion without retaliation.
In Today's Words:
Karenin writes that he knows his presence torments Anna and that he cannot pretend otherwise. The admission is painfully clear and without self-pity. Such language shows how some people pursue moral truth even when it costs them every claim to the marriage. Tolstoy uses this moment to show how private feeling becomes visible through ordinary social language, and readers can apply the same lens when interpreting everyday speech around major life transitions.
"Divorce,” Alexey Alexandrovitch interrupted, in a tone of aversion."
Context: Interrupting Stiva with aversion
The word itself triggers Karenin's disgust before details even arrive.
In Today's Words:
Karenin repeats the word divorce with audible aversion before Stiva can explain procedure. For him the concept is not neutral logistics but shame, religion, and loss of son. Tolstoy captures how a single word can condense an entire moral universe for someone who lives by public dignity.
"Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also"
Context: Karenin's inward thought before accepting disgrace
Gospel language authorizes self-humiliation for Anna's freedom.
In Today's Words:
Karenin thinks of turning the other cheek as he prepares to take public blame for adultery he did not commit. Religious language enters a legal maneuver. Readers can ask when meekness becomes genuine sacrifice and when it enables a system that should never have required lies.
"I will take the disgrace on myself, I will give up even my son, but ... but wouldn’t it be better to let it alone?"
Context: After Stiva explains divorce procedure
Meekness and anguish collide in one breath.
In Today's Words:
Karenin suddenly agrees to bear disgrace and even lose his son, then immediately wavers, asking whether it might be better to leave everything alone. The swing shows spiritual breakthrough fighting against instinct, law, and love for Seryozha. Decisions this large rarely arrive as clean certainty.
Thematic Threads
Law versus conscience
In This Chapter
Divorce requires lies Karenin's religion and dignity resist.
Development
Sets terms for Anna and Vronsky's eventual departure without divorce.
In Your Life:
Just outcomes sometimes require performances integrity rejects.
Meekness
In This Chapter
Karenin turns the other cheek in negotiation.
Development
Continues his post-forgiveness transformation.
In Your Life:
Sudden moral elevation can coexist with anguished reversal.
Stiva's limits
In This Chapter
He succeeds yet imagines a dinner riddle.
Development
Shows his emotional range and moral shallow depth.
In Your Life:
Fixers may care sincerely and still treat crisis as anecdote.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
What does Karenin's letter reveal about his state after Anna's illness?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
He no longer seeks control or blame. He admits his presence hurts Anna and asks what would truly serve her good, even if he failed to achieve it before.
- 2
Why does Karenin first reject divorce so strongly?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
Russian procedure requires fictitious adultery and public shame, threatening Anna, his dignity, religion, and above all Seryozha's place.
- 3
What changes when Karenin thinks of turning the other cheek?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Religious meekness authorizes accepting disgrace. He agrees to bear blame and even lose his son, though he immediately wavers in anguish.
- 4
How does Stiva's final thought complicate his sympathy?
application • deepOne way to read it
He is genuinely moved, yet his mind turns to a clever riddle about success. Tolstoy shows sincere feeling coexisting with social triviality.
- 5
When have you seen a fair outcome require someone honest to perform a lie?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
Karenin's maze exposes how law can punish truth. Naming that pattern helps us critique systems that export moral cost onto the wrong person.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Price the Divorce
List every cost Karenin names for divorce and every cost he accepts in his sudden yes. Decide whether Stiva's solution is mercy, manipulation, or both.
Consider:
- •Include Seryozha
- •Include fictitious adultery
- •Include Karenin's tears and wavering
Journaling Prompt
Write about a rule that made the honest path impossible.
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 124
Vronsky will recover from his wound and abandon his resolutions the moment he hears divorce may be possible. Vronsky recovers from his self-inflicted wound and immediately instructs Varya to call it an accident. The shame of purposeful suicide is worse to him than the act itself.
