Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky Character Analysis in Anna Karenina

Anna’s brother and Dolly’s husband, Stiva Oblonsky, is a well-liked, social, merry aristocrat. Even though he has had an affair at the beginning of the novel, and even though his servants know that they should all be on Dolly’s side, they can’t help but still remain loyal to Oblonsky because of his joy in life and good humor. Even though Oblonsky himself knows he should feel guilty—he tries his hardest to feel guilty—he’s too constitutionally merry and loves life too much to become obsessively buried by consequences and anxiety. Oblonsky can smooth over nearly any awkward social situation. He lives for pleasure and spends beyond his means. Oblonsky does not have many moral scruples, but he’s not a bad person: he simply doesn’t seem to feel anything extremely deeply, content to live always on a sparkling surface.

Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky Quotes in Anna Karenina

The Anna Karenina quotes below are all either spoken by Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky or refer to Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Viking edition of Anna Karenina published in 2000.

But even without looking in the mirror she thought it was still not too late. She remembered Sergei Ivanovich, who was especially amiable to her, and Stiva’s friend, the kindly Turovtsyn, who had helped her take care of her children when they had scarlet fever and was in love with her. And there was also one quite young man who, as her husband had told her jokingly, found her the most beautiful of all the sisters. And Darya Alexandrovna pictured the most passionate and impossible love affairs.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 608

Explanation and Analysis:

Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky Character Timeline in Anna Karenina

The timeline below shows where the character Prince Stepan (Stiva) Arkadyevich Oblonsky appears in Anna Karenina. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” the novel begins. The Oblonsky household is in turmoil: Stiva Oblonsky has been having an affair with the children’s former... (full context)

...fight, Dolly has refused to leave her rooms. On the third day after the quarrel, Oblonsky wakes up on his sofa in the study, having just had a dream about a... (full context)

Oblonsky can’t trick himself into pretending that he feels guilty about his behavior: he only feels... (full context)

Oblonsky’s valet comes in with the barber, who shaves Oblonsky. A telegram arrives to say that... (full context)

Oblonsky opens his mail and his newspapers. He reads the liberal newspapers because the fashionable society... (full context)

Two of Oblonsky’s children come into the study, and he gives his eldest (his favorite child) chocolates to... (full context)

...up her mind which action she wants to take. She knows that she should punish Oblonsky, yet she still loves him and feels that it would be impossible to leave him. (full context)

Oblonsky comes in and tries to look penitent and guilty, but he can’t help but radiate... (full context)

Oblonsky got his job through Anna’s husband, Karenin, though he wouldn’t have had a difficult time... (full context)

Levin comes to Oblonsky’s office, interrupting a council meeting. Levin and Oblonsky are friends from childhood, but they have... (full context)

Oblonsky introduces Levin to his partners, saying that Levin works for the zemstvo, or village advisory... (full context)

Blushing furiously, Levin asks Oblonsky how the Shcherbatskys––Oblonsky’s in-laws––are doing. Oblonsky knows that Levin is in love with Kitty, Dolly’s... (full context)

Physical Activity and Movement Theme Icon

Oblonsky forms a plan: he tells Levin to go to the Zoological Gardens, where Kitty goes... (full context)

...family. He began to fall in love with Dolly, the eldest sister, but she married Oblonsky. Then, he began to fall in love with Natalie, the middle sister, but she married... (full context)

...philosophical writer whose dense conversation sometimes confuses Levin. When Levin comes home after talking to Oblonsky, Koznyshev is having a debate with a philosophy professor over whether or not there is... (full context)

...herself that she is not in love with him. Levin goes off to dinner with Oblonsky, conflicted by his encounter. He is worried about Kitty’s turn of mood toward him, but... (full context)

At the restaurant, everyone is happy to see Oblonsky. Oblonsky orders an elaborate meal, speaking in Russian rather than French. Though Levin eats the... (full context)

Oblonsky tells Levin that a rival suitor is courting Kitty: Count Vronsky, a rich, handsome charming... (full context)

Oblonsky broaches a hypothetical discussion of infidelity to Levin that mirrors his own actual situation. Suppose... (full context)

The next morning, Oblonsky and Vronsky both arrive at the train station: Oblonsky is there to fetch Anna, and... (full context)

Vronsky tells Oblonsky that he met Levin and found him somewhat angry and edgy. Oblonsky suggests that his... (full context)

Vronsky’s mother, the Countess Vronsky, introduces her to him. The woman is Anna Karenina, Oblonsky’s sister. The Countess tells Vronsky that the two women chatted about their sons for the... (full context)

Ever since she found out about Oblonsky’s affair, Dolly has remained alone with her children, isolating herself from society. Nevertheless, she has... (full context)

Dolly tells Anna that she never thought that Oblonsky could be unfaithful. The worst part of the affair, in Dolly’s perspective, was that it... (full context)

Anna convinces Dolly to forgive Oblonsky if Dolly still has love in her heart. Dolly asks Anna if Anna could forgive... (full context)

Anna spends the whole day with Dolly and insists that Oblonsky dine at home. There is potential for reconciliation. After dinner, Kitty arrives. Kitty as well... (full context)

Dolly and Oblonsky seem to have reconciled. Everyone has tea. Anna goes to her room to fetch a... (full context)

...home, she tells him about her journey to Moscow. Karenin says that he cannot excuse Oblonsky’s actions, even though Oblonsky is Anna’s brother, and Anna likes this feature in Karenin. Karenin... (full context)

...daughter, and another child has fallen ill. Dolly is stressed and anxious, constantly suspicious of Oblonsky, but the pain is familiar, rather than debilitating. (full context)

Oblonsky pays Levin an unexpected visit at his estate, and Levin is pleased to see him.... (full context)

Levin and Oblonsky go shooting, and Levin finally works up the courage to ask Oblonsky directly whether or... (full context)

Levin begins to ask Oblonsky for details about Kitty’s situation but then cuts him off, saying he has no right... (full context)

Levin dislikes the dealer who is buying Oblonsky’s wood. The dealer tries to bargain down the price, but when Levin says that he’ll... (full context)

Oblonsky is cheerful after the sale of his wood, but Levin is even more out of... (full context)

Even though Oblonsky recognizes that he might have gotten a bad deal on his land, he doesn’t care,... (full context)

Levin asks Oblonsky about Vronsky. Oblonsky says that Vronsky is the perfect aristocrat, and Levin disagrees, saying that... (full context)

...finishing the meadow. Levin eats a late supper, and Koznyshev gives Levin a letter from Oblonsky, which asks Levin to help Dolly on her country estate. Koznyshev tells Levin that he... (full context)

Oblonsky is in Petersburg, and Dolly has moved with the children to their country estate for... (full context)

...the bathing house to find that Levin has arrived. Although Levin feels somewhat uncomfortable that Oblonsky has sent him, he is tactful, and Dolly is happy to see him. The children... (full context)

...distant provinces to investigate the matter himself. On the way, he stops in Moscow, where Oblonsky and Dolly see him in the street. They invite him over for dinner. Karenin is... (full context)

The next day, Oblonsky goes to a ballet rehearsal to give a dancer a necklace, then goes to the... (full context)

Oblonsky speaks briefly with Levin, who begins telling him all about workers in Europe, saying that... (full context)

...the lawyer to act at his discretion, enclosing the love letters from Vronsky to Anna. Oblonsky arrives, and Karenin turns down the dinner invitation, telling Oblonsky that he is starting divorce... (full context)

Oblonsky is late to his own dinner party; when he arrives, things seem stiff and awkward,... (full context)

...The discussion turns to women’s education. Koznyshev and the other guest are for it, whereas Oblonsky and Karenin voice doubts. (full context)

Princess Betsy bumps into Oblonsky, who flirts with her, and they discuss Anna. They agree that Anna is wasting away... (full context)

Oblonsky tells Anna that she made a mistake in marrying an older man, and that there... (full context)

Oblonsky feels, unusually for him, embarrassed when he goes to talk to Karenin. Oblonsky begins to... (full context)

Dolly and Oblonsky’s country house has fallen apart due to lack of money and attention, Dolly and the... (full context)

During the children’s tea, the adults talk. Oblonsky is expected on the train, and Kitty’s father might be coming as well, though likely... (full context)

Oblonsky arrives: not with the Prince, however, but with a handsome young man named Veslovsky. Levin... (full context)

...out for their shooting expedition. Veslovsky wears brand-new clothes to go with his brand-new gun; Oblonsky has the well-weathered clothes and excellent gun of a seasoned hunter. Levin, late to leave... (full context)

...arrive at the big marsh while it’s still too hot to shoot. Both Levin and Oblonsky plot separately how they might rid themselves of the bumbling Veslovsky; Oblonsky manages to saddle... (full context)

Levin and Oblonsky join Veslovsky at a peasant’s cottage, where Veslovsky is enjoying himself tremendously. They discuss wealth... (full context)

Vronsky, Oblonsky, Levin, Sviyazhsky, and Koznyshev, among others, are all eligible to vote in the provincial elections.... (full context)

...to them, but both of these men have already been nominated and Sviyazhsky has lost. Oblonsky and Vronsky, on the contrary, love the election. (full context)

...All the men—even Sviyazhsky, who has not been elected—are celebratory. The men send celebratory telegrams; Oblonsky sends one to Dolly, whose only thought upon receiving it is to muse ruefully about... (full context)

...Levin remembers as they’re all leaving the house that Kitty had wanted him to discuss Oblonsky with them, but they never quite get around to it. (full context)

...porter knows exactly who he is and who his friends are; he joins his crowd. Oblonsky arrives late, and they all relax and joke. Levin is even friendly and warm towards... (full context)

...room,” where men are discussing politics, but Levin is bored and goes off to find Oblonsky and other friends. Oblonsky is discussing Anna with Vronsky, and Oblonsky insists that Levin and... (full context)

...in the carriage, he begins to have second thoughts about going to visit Anna, but Oblonsky reassures him that it will be fine. Anna’s divorce has been dragging on for months;... (full context)

As Levin talks to Kitty’s father and Oblonsky, all he can think about is Kitty and his son, Mitya (a nickname for Dmitri),... (full context)

Oblonsky essentially has no money at all, and he begins to search for a new government... (full context)

Oblonsky turns the subject to Anna and the divorce. Karenin says that he thought the matter... (full context)

Before Oblonsky leaves, Anna’s son, Seryozha (now called Sergei Alexeich), comes in; Karenin says that the boy... (full context)

Oblonsky refreshes himself in Petersburg after the stuffiness of Moscow. In Petersburg, attitudes are much more... (full context)

Oblonsky visits Princess Betsy and, flirts with her, but he starts inadvertently taking the flirting too... (full context)

When Oblonsky arrives at Lydia’s, Karenin and the clairvoyant, Landau, are there. Countess Lydia speaks to Oblonsky... (full context)

As Lydia reads, Oblonsky is baffled by the whole situation, and he begins to fall asleep. He snaps awake... (full context)

...her. Vronsky receives a telegram and initially hides its contents from her. Although it’s from Oblonsky, the concealment makes Anna imagine that he is communicating with other women by telegram. Anna... (full context)

...comes out alone to receive Anna. Anna asks to read the letter that Karenin sent Oblonsky refusing the divorce, but when she reads it, she says nothing. Dolly says that Kitty... (full context)

...war. Someone makes a speech, and the crowd grows wild in support of the volunteers. Oblonsky sees Koznyshev and encourages him to make a speech as well, but Koznyshev says he’s... (full context)

When Oblonsky sees Vronsky, he forgets about the Vronsky who sobbed over Anna’s dead body and only... (full context)

...She knows her husband is kind and good because of all his help with the Oblonskys’ financial strain: he persuaded the desperate Dolly to sell part of her estate rather than... (full context)