Anna Karenina Ch. 152: Hands Raised for Him

Summary

Anna and Vronsky arrive in Petersburg and take separate hotel floors: he below, she above with the baby, nurse, and maid. Vronsky tells his brother he treats Anna as his wife, hopes to divorce and marry her, and demands family accept her on equal terms. If the world disapproves, I don't care, he says, but relations who want him must accept his wife.

Vronsky wrongly believes modern progress has softened society. He tests whether friends will receive them and learns the world stays open for him and closed for Anna. Tolstoy compares it to crossed legs: you can sit that way indefinitely if you know you may shift, but if you must stay still, cramps come. In the cat-and-mouse game of Petersburg, hands raised for him were dropped to bar the way for Anna.

Cousin Betsy greets him warmly until she hears divorce is not settled; she visits Anna ten minutes, priding herself on courage, and leaves with cold gossip about starchy people. Sister-in-law Varya admits affection but refuses to receive Anna at home or rehabilitate her: I can't raise her, she says, with daughters growing up and a husband's career to protect. Vronsky must live like a stranger in his own city, and he notices a new mood in Anna: loving, then cold, hiding something he cannot read.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Spotting the Double Standard in Shared Scandal

Partners often assume disgrace hits both equally until one still gets invited and the other does not. Vronsky declares he does not care if the world disapproves, yet Petersburg opens for him while hands drop to bar Anna's way and Varya says she cannot raise her.

When your name is on the same story but only one of you keeps access, map who still holds the keys.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Varya

Varya admits affection for Anna and still refuses to receive her, with daughters growing and a husband's career to protect. Betsy's brave ten-minute visit has already ended in cold gossip. Vronsky expected one modern standard for them both, and Varya's refusal is the career interest that keeps the welcome uneven.

Continue this thoughtThe Room Needs Her Gone

Coming Up in Chapter 153

Anna came to Petersburg above all to see Seryozha, and Lydia Ivanovna's silence will push her toward a desperate birthday visit. Anna returned to Russia chiefly to see her son. Since Italy the thought never left her; near Petersburg the meeting grew huge in her imagination..

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Chapter 152

Hands Raised for Him

On arriving in Petersburg, Vronsky and Anna stayed at one of the best hotels; Vronsky apart in a lower story, Anna above with her child, its nurse, and her maid, in a large suite of four rooms. On the day of his arrival Vronsky went to his brother’s. There he found his mother, who had come from Moscow on business. His mother and sister-in-law greeted him as usual: they asked him about his stay abroad, and talked of their common acquaintances, but did not let drop a single word in allusion to his connection with Anna. His brother came the…

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Hands Raised for Him

Summary

Why This Matters