Anna Karenina Ch. 191: Chapter 191

Summary

At eleven o'clock Kitty tells Levin go, please, go then and call on the Bols; she knows he dines at the club where papa put his name, but morning is for Katavasov and social duty. Levin protests paying calls feels horrible: a complete outsider sits, wastes time, and he would sooner skip dinner than call.

Kitty laughs, insists, and sends him with frock coat for Countess Bola. When he rises she mentions only fifty roubles left; he shows dissatisfaction cough, says Sokolov will sell wheat and borrow on the mill, yet the money in the bank had gone and he cannot quite tell where next installment comes from.

Kitty worries they waste money in Moscow; he consoles without thinking, then remembers confinement near and drives off thinking of Katavasov and Metrov. Tolstoy pairs social shame with hidden financial strain under pregnancy wait.

Kitty laughs at Levin's horror of paying calls and sends him to the Bols with frock coat for Countess Bola. Morning social duty feels worse than club dinner; he would sooner skip dinner than waste time as outsider.

Tolstoy closes the chapter on that beat without easy moral, only the next consequence waiting.

Countess Bola's drawing room and Katavasov's study bookend a morning designed to prove Levin can still be a Moscow gentleman.

In this chapter: Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Not Reassuring When The Account Is Empty

Partners ask for social duty and mention dwindling cash; it is tempting to soothe while the bank is empty. Kitty sends Levin calling; he says all is fine though money in the bank had gone.

Before you drive off to work you prefer, tell the truth about what the balance can bear.

Coming Up in Chapter 192

Levin's day of calls and scientific meetings will expose more city absurdities and costs. Levin visits Professor Katavasov and likes in him the clearness and simplicity of his conception of life. At Znamenka he meets Metrov, whose article he admired, and hears of a scientific jubilee while Petersburg gossip swirls around university questions and nationality debates with Pestsov and others..

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Chapter 191

At eleven o'clock Kitty tells Levin go, please, go then and call on...

“Go, please, go then and call on the Bols,” Kitty said to her husband, when he came in to see her at eleven o’clock before going out. “I know you are dining at the club; papa put down your name. But what are you going to do in the morning?” “I am only going to Katavasov,” answered Levin. “Why so early?” “He promised to introduce me to Metrov. I wanted to talk to him about my work. He’s a distinguished scientific man from Petersburg,” said Levin. “Yes; wasn’t it his article you were praising so? Well, and after that?” said…

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Critical Thinking Exercise

12 minutes

Split Levin's Morning Pressures

List Kitty's requests, Levin's objections, and what he hides about money before driving to Katavasov.

Consider:

•Include call on the Bols
•Include fifty roubles
•Include money in the bank had gone

Journaling Prompt

Write about a morning when social duty and money worry arrived together.

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Chapter 191

Summary