Chapter 86
Princess Tverskaya's croquet party gathers the new Petersburg set n...
The croquet party to which the Princess Tverskaya had invited Anna was to consist of two ladies and their adorers. These two ladies were the chief representatives of a select new Petersburg circle, nicknamed, in imitation of some imitation, les sept merveilles du monde. These ladies belonged to a circle which, though of the highest society, was utterly hostile to that in which Anna moved. Moreover, Stremov, one of the most influential people in Petersburg, and the elderly admirer of Liza Merkalova, was Alexey Alexandrovitch’s enemy in the political world. From all these considerations Anna had not meant to go,…
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Key Quotes & Analysis
"From all these considerations Anna had not meant to go, and the hints in Princess Tverskaya’s note referred to her refusal. But now Anna was eager to go, in the hope of seeing Vronsky."
Context: Anna's motive for attending a hostile croquet party shifts overnight
Social risk and political enmity shrink beside the need to see Vronsky. Her eagerness explains why she will accept Betsy's circle and every performance that follows.
In Today's Words:
She had every reason to stay away from that guest list, including people tied to her husband's enemies, but one hope changed the math: she might see the man she loves. That is how desire rewrites prudence. You can know a room is bad for your reputation and still arrive early because the alternative is not knowing where he is.
"Without a moment’s thought, Anna sat down to the table with Betsy’s letter, and, without reading it, wrote below: “It’s essential for me to see you. Come to the Vrede garden. I shall be there at six o’clock.”"
Context: Betsy asks Anna to seal an invitation to Vronsky
Anna uses Betsy's envelope as cover, acting on impulse because the party offers no direct path to Vronsky. The forgery-by-appendix shows how secrecy becomes action, not only anguish.
In Today's Words:
When Betsy stepped out, Anna did not hesitate. She used someone else's envelope to add a meeting place and time, then sent it as if it were routine. People in crisis often borrow legitimate channels for private messages because open requests feel impossible in a room full of watchers.
"This playing with words, this hiding of a secret, had a great fascination for Anna, as, indeed, it has for all women. And it was not the necessity of concealment, not the aim with which the concealment was contrived, but the process of concealment itself which attracted her."
Context: Anna and Betsy speak of Vronsky as if he were only a croquet partner
Tolstoy names the psychological reward of double talk. Anna is drawn to the game of hints, which makes society bearable even when it blocks what she wants.
In Today's Words:
Anna realizes the coded conversation is not only a burden but a kind of thrill. The hiding matters as much as the secret. In modern life that shows up when people treat affair logistics like a puzzle, or when office politics becomes addictive because the performance feels sharper than the truth.
"How I should like to know other people just as I know myself!” said Anna, seriously and dreamily. “Am I worse than other people, or better? I think I’m worse.”"
Context: After Betsy says Anna may view things too tragically
Anna's moral self-knowledge has no social mirror. She judges herself with brutal clarity while everyone else performs innocence or amusement.
In Today's Words:
She wishes other people were as transparent to her as her own conscience is. She cannot tell if she is unusually corrupt or unusually honest, and she lands on worse. That is the loneliness of being the one who cannot pretend the arrangement is light.
Thematic Threads
Hostile hospitality
In This Chapter
Anna enters les sept merveilles territory where Stremov, Karenin's enemy, will share her table, yet she stays because the party might reach Vronsky.
Development
Her social exile deepens: she needs the very circle that judges her world.
In Your Life:
Notice when you accept an invite from people who dislike your partner because the guest list might include someone you need to see.
Secrecy as craft
In This Chapter
Anna is fascinated by hiding itself, not only its goal, and uses Betsy's envelope to smuggle a meeting request.
Development
Deceit becomes skill and even pleasure, which makes honesty harder to choose later.
In Your Life:
Watch when managing a secret starts to feel cleverer than fixing the underlying situation.
Tragic versus light reading
In This Chapter
Betsy urges Anna to view scandalous arrangements humorously; Anna insists she is worse than others and knows herself too sharply for that ease.
Development
Anna cannot share the fashionable pose of innocent amusement that protects Liza and Sappho's set.
In Your Life:
Ask whether someone is telling you to lighten up because the story is simple or because their comfort requires your pain to stay invisible.
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 Anna want to attend a party she had previously refused?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
She hopes to see Vronsky after learning he might send word through Betsy. The hostile guest list matters less than the chance of contact.
- 2
What does Anna do with Betsy's letter to Vronsky, and why is it risky?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
She adds a meeting at the Vrede garden at six and sends it in Betsy's presence. She uses social trust as cover, which could expose both women if the note is traced.
- 3
When have you used a public setting to pass a private message you could not send openly?
application • mediumOne way to read it
One parallel is coordinating a sensitive talk through a host's email thread or a shared calendar invite. Anna's croquet party works the same way: manners hide urgency.
- 4
Why does Anna say she is fascinated by hiding a secret, not only by the aim of concealment?
application • deepOne way to read it
The process itself gives her control and distraction in a world that blocks direct action. That fascination can make secrecy feel skillful rather than unbearable.
- 5
How does Betsy's advice to view things humorously clash with Anna's closing self-judgment?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
Betsy offers lightness as protection; Anna believes she knows herself too well to pretend and thinks she is worse than others. They disagree on whether clarity or pose is survival.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map the Hidden Message
Recall a social event where you needed something you could not ask for directly. Write what you said in public, what you did in private at the same event, and who held the power to deliver or block your real request. Compare Anna's invented errand and appended letter to your own tactics.
Consider:
- •Note whether performance made you feel competent or merely delayed a harder choice
- •Identify whose envelope, introduction, or guest list you relied on
- •Ask what would have happened if the hidden message failed
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time you added your agenda to someone else's official communication. What did it achieve, and what exposure did it create?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 87
Sappho Shtoltz and her devoted Vaska arrive at Betsy's party, and Anna must watch a new fashionable world perform intimacy while she waits for the man who will not come.
