Anna Karenina Ch. 158: The Smothered Home

Summary

Dolly spends the summer at Pokrovskoe with Kitty and Levin because her own house is in ruins. The old princess watches over pregnant Kitty; Varenka keeps her promise to visit; Oblonsky's family fills the rooms. Levin likes them all yet regrets how the influx of the Shtcherbatsky element smothers his Levin world. Only Sergey Ivanovitch remains of his relations, and even he is Koznishev rather than Levin stamp, so the Levin spirit feels obliterated.

The house overflows. The princess counts guests at dinner and seats the thirteenth grandson or granddaughter at a separate table. Kitty labors to feed summer appetites with chickens, turkeys, and geese. At dinner the children plan a mushroom hunt. Sergey Ivanovitch, revered for intellect, startles everyone by asking to join: I am very fond of picking mushrooms, he says, looking at Varenka. She colors; Kitty and Dolly exchange glances that confirm Kitty's busy theories.

After dinner Sergey Ivanovitch watches the door while finishing coffee. Tanya runs up with his hat; he goes to Varenka waiting in yellow print and white kerchief. Kitty, loud enough for him to hear, praises Varenka's refined beauty and calls toward the mill copse. When Varenka approaches flushed and eager, Kitty whispers she would be very happy if a certain something were to happen, blessing the proposal she expects in the wood.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Naming Loving Invasion

Good marriage can still feel like a takeover. Levin likes every guest yet calls them the Shtcherbatsky element smothering his world, while Sergey says he is fond of picking mushrooms to walk beside Varenka and Kitty whispers that a certain something should happen.

When your home fills with someone else's people, admit what you miss before resentment finds the wrong target.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Sergey

Sergey startles the dinner by joining a mushroom hunt with the children, looking at Varenka as he claims a simple fondness for picking them. Kitty blesses the match aloud before the wood has been asked. A mind treated as above errands has chosen a child's game as its courtship.

Continue this thoughtTwo Lives, and Only One Is Pardoned

Coming Up in Chapter 159

On the terrace the ladies will hold a feminine parliament over jam while Kitty declares she fancies Sergey will make Varenka an offer today. After dinner the ladies gather on the terrace to sew baby clothes and make jam. Kitty's waterless method offends Agafea Mihalovna, who had secretly added water and now simmers raspberries while hoping they fail..

PreviousPrevious Chapter NextNext Chapter

Original text

992 wordscomplete

Chapter 158

The Smothered Home

Darya Alexandrovna spent the summer with her children at Pokrovskoe, at her sister Kitty Levin’s. The house on her own estate was quite in ruins, and Levin and his wife had persuaded her to spend the summer with them. Stepan Arkadyevitch greatly approved of the arrangement. He said he was very sorry his official duties prevented him from spending the summer in the country with his family, which would have been the greatest happiness for him; and remaining in Moscow, he came down to the country from time to time for a day or two. Besides the Oblonskys, with all…

Public-domain chapter text, formatted for reading.

Master this chapter. Complete your experience

Purchase the complete book to access all chapters and support classic literature

Buy atAmazon.com

Available in paperback, hardcover, and e-book formats

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Also by Leo Tolstoy

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Explores morality & ethics

The Idiot

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Explores love & romance

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Explores morality & ethics

Love & Relationships Social Class & Status Moral Dilemmas & Ethics

Lessons from Anna Karenina

Theme-by-theme analyses that connect this book to modern life skills.

Deep diving the literary elements.

The Smothered Home

Summary

Why This Matters