Anna Karenina Part 1, Chapter 30 Summary

  • Snow is falling and everything is indistinct. People shout directions at each other.
  • All of a sudden, Vronsky materializes in front of Anna.
  • He asks if she needs anything.
  • She feels happy and proud. There is no need to ask why he has come, but she does anyway.
  • Somewhere, a romantic soundtrack swells as Vronsky tells Anna that he needs to go wherever she is.
  • Anna's heart is happy with this love confession but her mind is not: she tells Vronsky that what he's saying is wrong, and that he must forget about her. He tells her that he will not, and she shouts, "Enough!" and returns to her train compartment.
  • She can't sleep all night because she's so tense.
  • The first person she sees in Petersburg is her husband. It's not exactly a happy reunion. The way he talks to her is half-mocking and hypocritical. Suddenly, she feels dissatisfied with Karenin's physical appearance and manner; this feeling had always been there, but she is only just noticing it consciously.
  • The first question Anna asks is whether her son is well.