Chapter 163
During children's tea the grown ups sit on the balcony talking as t...
During the time of the children’s tea the grown-up people sat in the balcony and talked as though nothing had happened, though they all, especially Sergey Ivanovitch and Varenka, were very well aware that there had happened an event which, though negative, was of very great importance. They both had the same feeling, rather like that of a schoolboy after an examination, which has left him in the same class or shut him out of the school forever. Everyone present, feeling too that something had happened, talked eagerly about extraneous subjects. Levin and Kitty were particularly happy and conscious of…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"shut him out of the school forever."
Context: On Sergey and Varenka's feeling after the failed proposal
Negative event shared silently.
In Today's Words:
The narrator compares Sergey and Varenka to a schoolboy after an examination shut out of the school forever. Everyone pretends nothing happened while they alone know a negative event of very great importance occurred. Tolstoy makes failure social: the balcony keeps talking of extraneous subjects while two hearts hold the same exam result. Levin and Kitty's happiness adds a guilty contrast.
"kissing Kitty’s hand."
Context: When Veslovsky greets the party on the steps
Gallantry that ignites jealousy.
In Today's Words:
The narrator says Levin saw Veslovsky with a particularly warm and gallant air kissing Kitty's hand as the party gathered. Your wife and I are cousins and very old friends follows, but the gesture has already poisoned Levin's mood. Tolstoy shows secure love does not prevent irrational suspicion when a handsome guest performs intimacy.
"It’s all holiday for them,”"
Context: Fleeing Kitty to the counting house
Work versus guest leisure.
In Today's Words:
Levin thinks it is all holiday for them as he hurries from Kitty toward estate business that will not wait. Guests treat the country visit as pleasure while he carries responsibility. Tolstoy pairs jealousy with class of labor: resentment at gaiety he cannot afford emotionally or practically. The counting house becomes refuge and punishment.
"sainte nitouche_ making the acquaintance of this gentleman, while all the while she was thinking of nothing but getting married."
Context: Surveying everyone who displeases him on the steps
Virtue reclassified as performance.
In Today's Words:
Levin finds even Varenka hateful with her sainte nitouche air making Veslovsky's acquaintance while thinking of marriage. Jealousy rewrites innocent behavior as false innocence. Tolstoy shows how one dark mood stains every face: the same Varenka Kitty praised becomes butter would not melt performance when Levin needs targets for rage.
Thematic Threads
Negative great events
In This Chapter
Balcony pretends normalcy after failed proposal.
Development
School forever feeling lingers through supper jealousy.
In Your Life:
Groups often perform calm after shared silent failures.
Empty nest
In This Chapter
Princess miserable since last daughter married.
Development
Explains her quiver about the old prince.
In Your Life:
Useful visiting parents may still grieve emptied homes.
Jealousy's contagion
In This Chapter
Levin dislikes everyone after Veslovsky's greeting.
Development
Builds to forced amiability at supper.
In Your Life:
One gesture can recolor an entire evening.
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
Why does everyone talk as though nothing happened on the balcony?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
The failed proposal is a negative event of great importance that Sergey and Varenka feel like being shut out of school forever, so the group fills silence with extraneous subjects.
- 2
Why do Levin and Kitty feel a prick of conscience about their happiness?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
Their conscious love seems a disagreeable slur on those who would have liked the same and could not, especially Sergey and Varenka after the woods.
- 3
What changes when Veslovsky kisses Kitty's hand?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Levin passes from happiest frame of mind to dark suspicion, rereading Stiva, the princess, Sergey, Varenka, and Kitty's answering smile as unpleasant.
- 4
Why does Levin call Varenka sainte nitouche in his thoughts?
application • deepOne way to read it
Jealousy makes him reinterpret her modest manner as false innocence because he needs every face to match his anger after Veslovsky's gallantry.
- 5
When have you disliked everyone because one person threatened your security?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
The hand kiss trigger pattern shows how one gesture can spread suspicion across an entire room before reason catches up.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Two Moods on the Balcony
Contrast Sergey and Varenka's silence about the woods with Levin and Kitty's happiness, then trace what Veslovsky's arrival changes.
Consider:
- •Include shut out forever
- •Include kissing Kitty's hand
- •Include all holiday for them
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time one guest's behavior changed how you saw an entire gathering.
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 164
Summoned to supper Levin will join shooting talk while jealousy reads every glance Kitty gives Veslovsky. Levin returns only when summoned to supper. Kitty asks what is the matter on the stairs but he strides ruthlessly to the dining room and joins Veslovsky and Stiva's lively talk with forced amiability she knows is out of keeping with him.
