Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina

by

Leo Tolstoy

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Anna Karenina: Part 1, Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
While preparing for the party in which she knows she will likely receive a marriage proposal, Kitty is compared to a young man preparing for battle. Levin sits down with Kitty and proposes to her. Love floods through her for a moment, but then she remembers Vronsky and says, “It cannot be...forgive me.”
Tolstoy likens the preparations of a woman getting ready for marriage to a soldier approaching war. Although Kitty is instinctively filled with love when Levin proposes, she believes that she is in love with Vronsky, so she refuses him.
Themes
Marriage and Family Life Theme Icon
Society and Class Theme Icon
Compassion and Forgiveness Theme Icon