Anna Karenina Ch. 17: Chapter 17

Summary

The morning after the Shtcherbatskys, Vronsky drives to the Petersburg railway station to meet his mother and finds Oblonsky on the steps waiting for the same train. Oblonsky teases him with verse about a youth in love; Vronsky deflects but admits he went straight home, content with no desire for cabarets or companions. Oblonsky says he has come to meet a pretty woman, his sister Anna Karenina.

Vronsky knows the name dimly as something stiff and tedious and shrugs off praise for her husband Karenin as not in his line. They plan Sunday supper for a diva; Oblonsky asks whether Vronsky knows Levin, who left early and unhappy. Oblonsky hints Levin may have proposed to Kitty and been refused or wounded after months of careful courtship.

Vronsky straightens, says she might aim higher, compares rejected courtship to a blow to one's dignity unlike paid liaisons with Klaras, and feels like a conqueror chest out, eyes flashing. He forgets his mother until the guard names Countess Vronskaya's compartment. The train rolls in through frost, steam, and bustle. Only then does duty return: he respects and obeys his mother outwardly while feeling little inward love, a split his education makes normal and invisible to himself.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Spotting Borrowed Triumph

Another person's setback is not your character reference. Vronsky hears Levin may have failed with Kitty, arches his chest, and feels like a conqueror while Anna Karenina is still a vague name.

When your confidence spikes because a rival lost, check whether you have been honest with the person still waiting on your answer.

Coming Up in Chapter 18

Vronsky steps to his mother's carriage door and yields to a lady getting out; one glance will make the name Karenina impossible to forget. At the carriage door Vronsky steps aside for a lady and must look again: not classic beauty alone, but a face with something caressing and soft that overflows despite her effort to hide it. Their eyes meet; gray eyes under..

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Chapter 17

The morning after the Shtcherbatskys, Vronsky drives to the Petersb...

Next day at eleven o’clock in the morning Vronsky drove to the station of the Petersburg railway to meet his mother, and the first person he came across on the great flight of steps was Oblonsky, who was expecting his sister by the same train. “Ah! your excellency!” cried Oblonsky, “whom are you meeting?” “My mother,” Vronsky responded, smiling, as everyone did who met Oblonsky. He shook hands with him, and together they ascended the steps. “She is to be here from Petersburg today.” “I was looking out for you till two o’clock last night. Where did you go after…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

10 minutes

Close the Distance

Think of a current situation where you're justifying a choice that might hurt someone else. Write down three specific ways you're maintaining emotional distance from that person. Then imagine their actual face and feelings - what would they say if they knew the full truth about your actions or intentions?

Consider:

•Notice how your justifications sound different when you picture the real person
•Pay attention to any discomfort that arises - that's your conscience working
•Consider whether your choice would change if you had to explain it face-to-face

Journaling Prompt

Write about a time when you realized the real impact of your actions on someone else. How did that recognition change your behavior going forward?

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Chapter 17

Summary