Anna Karenina Readalong, 2023

Kitty seems very, very young in this chapter. I really hope she does not end up with Levin.

Just completed chapter 12, I wonder why Tolstoy wrote such short chapters.

Today’s chapter made me think about how good Tolstoy is at inner voices. He can have a large cast of characters and keep a feeling of intimacy with the complex inner voice.

I have read to the end of chapter 11 and I am find the men rather annoying. It seems the perfect woman is a virginal young girl who suddenly, after a few years of marriage and child bearing, turns into a has been. Should she make an error along this path, she is an unlikeable fallen woman. In a world in which it was hard for a woman to support herself or have any independence, this is a hard place to navigate.

Dolly is 33 I think, one year younger than her husband who is 34.

So wait... the Shcherbatsky's have been married 30 years and, whilst I guess it wouldn't be unheard of, I presume that they waited until marriage to start their family? So Dolly, as the first born, is under 30??? And washed up - and how young was she when she started having children...

I know timelines can be a bit wooly in yhr classics and it was a different time yadda yadda yadda... but jeez - I get the feeling the whole 'fallen women' spiel reflects Tolstoy's own views very closely!

Part 1, Chapter 12

•	We now get a recap of what's been going on in Kitty's social life:
•	She came out at the age of eighteen. (Coming out for women in the 19th Century, meant that they were socially eligible to marry.)

•	All the men courted her, and two were serious about it: Levin and Vronsky.

•	Kitty's mother doesn't approve of Levin because she doesn't understand his country ways, and thinks that he's socially awkward and has too much pride.

•	Kitty's father thinks that Levin is a fine match.

•	Kitty's mother approves strongly of Vronsky.

•	Vronsky, it turns out, has been very attentive to Kitty, which makes the elder Princess Shcherbatsky (Kitty's mom) hopeful of a pending engagement.

•	There is a slight digression into Princess Shcherbatsky's thoughts on the difficulty of marriage, since the current social climate condemns arranged marriages as old-fashioned, while complete liberty for women is not an option. The Princess is confused about the best way to marry off her last daughter.

•	The Princess knows that Kitty is in love with Vronsky, but is worried that Vronsky is just flirting with her.

•	Kitty tells her mother that Vronsky has said he never makes any important decisions without first consulting his mother, and that his mother will be arriving soon.

•	Kitty's mother thinks this means the decision—to marry Kitty or not to marry Kitty—may be made soon.

•	The Princess is further afraid that Levin will propose to Kitty and that Kitty will say yes out of some sense of honor. She tries to broach the subject with Kitty, but Kitty gets shy, and refuses to talk about it.

There's a real double standard at work: they themselves sleep around with prostitutes, but want to marry women whom they imagine to be virginal and pure.
I was going to say that's a very prevalent 19th century view but unfortunately there are plenty of men who still subscribe to it.

I agree, Fuzzy, there are definitely similarities between Levin and Pierre when it comes to their views on sexuality and women! There's a real double standard at work: they themselves sleep around with prostitutes, but want to marry women whom they imagine to be virginal and pure. Levin's views do seem more extreme though. I'm curious to discover how Anna herself will be represented -- will she fall somewhere between the adulterous Helene and the pure Natasha and Marya?

This chapter did not endear the main male character to me. Isn't is about time Anna turned up by the way? I'm holding out hope for an ass-kicking heroine who will sort the idiots out!

That's very clever, Piggy, on your part as well as Tolstoy's!

Echoing 'run, Kitty, run!' The talk about 'fallen women' reveals a very unpleasant side to Levin, in my view. He reminds me of Pierre from W+P in his idealism ('His special feeling had been defiled by talk of rivalry with some Petersburg officer...') although Pierre never expressed such awful views about women that I remember. He fell out of love with Hélène very quickly and had Natasha on a pedestal, but I think he loved women.

I was idly looking t the notes in the back today in order to understand all Oblonsky's references and allusions. Upon doing so I discovered that Tolstoy mildly mocks him by ensuring they are generally somewhat wrong ! I guess Tolstoy assumed his highly intelligent readers would spot this...

Bit like Mrs Malaprop - Mr Malaquote.

Oops... was going to just add how perfect this sentiment is! So so true!

Men, misinterpreting women being kind as them being interested since the 1800s

I was surprised that Levin was expected to foot half the bill after Oblonsky's excesses, I'd got the impression he was going to treat Levin.

The reference to Our Mutual Friend was funny, can't get my head round Tolstoy and Dickens being contemporaries.

This bit was irritating, obviously men haven't changed much in the intervening 150 years as MN can testify!

“The wife is getting old, and you’re full of life. Before you have time to turn round, you already feel that you can’t love your wife as a lover, however much you may respect her. And here suddenly love comes along, and you’re lost, lost!’ Stepan Arkadyich said with glum despair."

Part 1, Chapter 11

•	Oblonsky orders another bottle of wine, and then tells Levin about a man named Count Alexis Kirillovich Vronsky, who is pursuing Kitty. Vronsky is rich, handsome, and charming.
•	Oblonsky advises Levin to propose to Kitty tomorrow morning.

•	Levin is suddenly awkward and wants to change the subject. He invites Oblonsky to the country to go shooting with him.
•	
•	Oblonsky broaches the subject of infidelity by asking Levin about a hypothetical situation involving man, wife, and the temptations of other women.

•	(Specifically, he's worrying over what he should do about the governess. He can't ruin his family by staying with her, but he feels like he should leave her something in recognition of what they've been to each other.)

•	His wife is getting older and yet she insists on him being faithful, while the other woman has sacrificed her honor for him and demanded nothing in return. Doesn't the other woman deserve some recompense?

•	Levin doesn't think infidelity is okay, under any circumstances. What's more, he thinks all fallen women are not worthy of any further notice.

•	Levin's not one for compromise. For him, there are two kinds of love: Platonic, and non-Platonic. The latter kind of love is all about drama (this would be the kind of love Oblonsky's talking about, being torn between two women). But the former kind, Platonic love, is always pure and clear.

•	Still, in the midst of this moralizing, Levin remembers his past sins and feels guilty pronouncing judgment on Oblonsky's questions.

•	Oblonsky points out that since Levin has an extremely consistent and solid character, he wants life to be the same all the time. But life's not like that, Oblonsky says.
•	All of a sudden, the two men feel alienated from each other and absorbed in their own problems.
•	
•	Oblonsky calls for the bill.
•	He goes and talks with some other friends, which feels like a relief from the tiring intellectual and spiritual conversations he has with Levin.

•	Levin goes to call on the Shcherbatskys.

We are already getting a rounded picture of the people we are getting to know. Each are complex and neither good nor bad. Just like real people. And it shows Tolstoy had a good understanding of how mysoginistic society could be? Or am I being too generous?

No wonder he's after a teenager then.

Levin doesn't think "fallen" woman are people at all it's really sad.

Levin has a serious Madonna/whore complex going on in today’s chapter. Run Kitty, run!

I loved the excessive meal description, I enjoy that sort of period detail very much. This morning's chapter includes the bill - 26 roubles. Given that Oblonsky earns 6,000 roubles a year (described as a very good salary) that's a lot.

I've just read Buddenbrooks and there are descriptions of massive meals with umpteen courses in there too.