2025-05-05 Monday: Anna Karenina, Part 3, Chapter 20

Chapter summary

All quotations and characters names from Internet Archive Maude.

Summary courtesy u/Honest_Ad_2157: Like Omar Little, Vronsky is a man with a code. Vronsky’s code is complex and may seem nonsensical to an outsider, but it has served him well up until now. Anna’s condition isn’t covered by it. And Vronsky’s career misstep of refusing an offered assignment two years ago has slotted him into a slower track than his childhood friend, who Captain Vronsky must now address as General Serpukhovskoy. Vronsky was once ambitious. Now, Vronsky can’t afford to leave the service and take full responsibility for Anna’s and their child. She’s told him she doesn’t want to leave Karenin, anyway. He seems to think that the situation is solved, he can resume his ambitions, and goes about his day.

Characters

Involved in action

• Vronsky, a man with a code

Mentioned or introduced

• Anna Karenina, last mentioned prior chapter, last seen two chapters ago, desperate to see Vronsky
• Alexei Karenin, Anna’s husband, last seen 3.14 writing a letter to Anna, awaiting her reply
• Society, last mentioned two chapters ago
• Unnamed Vronsky child, a fetus at first mention, Anna’s and Vronsky’s, last mentioned 2.23 when Vronsky and Anna were in her garden before the race
• General Serpukhovskoy, “playmate of [Vronsky’s] childhood, and his fellow-pupil at the Cadet Corps”, first mention

Please see the in-development character index, a tab in the reading schedule document, which has each character’s names, first mentions, introductions, subsequent mentions, and significant relationships.

Prompts

1. Is Vronsky’s code is stated outright as such. Karenin also has a code, implicit in his requests to Anna in Part 2 and the chapters we’ve read in Part 3. Are they that different? How about Stiva’s code, which we ran into in Part 1?
2. Anna’s and Vronsky’s baby isn’t covered by Vronsky’s code. How does it affect his thinking?

Past cohorts' discussions

• 2019-10-19
• 2021-05-16
• 2023-05-10
• 2025-05-05

Final Line

He shaved, had a cold bath, dressed, and went out.

Words read	Gutenberg Garnett	Internet Archive Maude
This chapter	1,273	1,148
Cumulative	133,008	127,747

Next Post

3.21

• 2025-05-05 Monday 9PM US Pacific Daylight Time
• 2025-05-06 Tuesday midnight US Eastern Daylight Time
• 2025-05-06 Tuesday 4AM UTC.