Progress Report Number 3
Karenin was having more than troubles with his marriage. In spite of being awarded a very great honor for his outstanding civil service, his career was suddenly "in the toilet," as our current expression goes. He remained employed, but no one would take him seriously anymore. He found solace in religion, at the hands of Countess Lydia. She adopted him, and his son Seryozha, as well, by coming to live in their house and supervise the servants. This was not an intimate relationship, mind you. In fact, there is even some hint that Karenin is not altogether heterosexual, though there is absolutely no details of any sexual relationships in his life after Anna. No. There are some rather sad reminiscences of his and Anna’s courtship. He allowed himself to become totally in Countess Lydia’s control. He might have cracked up had it not been for her.
After some time in Italy, Anna and Vronsky made a trip back to Petersburg. Countess Lydia convinced Karenin that it would be a bad idea to allow Seryozha to see his mother, and Anna’s request was denied. Anna had to sneak into her old house, bribing the servants and wearing a dark veil, to see her son, now 9 years old. She was only able to stay a few minutes, and was never able to give him the birthday presents she had chosen and bought with such loving care. Seryozha had been living a very regimented life with tutors and schedules in his father’s house. After this meeting, he had to be sent away to special schools and rehabilitation to forget this traumatic meeting with his mother.
Social life, or rather, REJECTION, in the big city is too much for both Anna and Vronsky, and they left Petersburg to take up residence in Vozdvizhensk, Vronsky’s late father’s estate. Vronsky began the building of a hospital there and he and Anna enjoyed a truly elegant, if secluded, lifestyle there with their few friends who didn't mind associating with them as long as they could share their comforts. Anna was visited by her sister-in-law, Dolly, at this wonderland estate. Dolly made the trip from her sister Kitty’s country home while Kitty was still expecting her baby. Dolly’s thoughts during her carriage ride were extremely interesting and revealing of the secret thoughts of the care-worn mother and housewife and what might have become of her dreams and what still might. During Dolly and Anna’s visit, the subject of birth control was discussed! This is really interesting. Dolly was too shocked for words, and horrified that Anna had learned how to do this from her doctor after her daughter’s difficult delivery. "Isn’t that immoral?" Dolly asked. Following Vronsky’s suggestion, Dolly tried to persuade Anna to get a divorce from Karenin so that Vronsky might give legal title to his children after he and Anna marry. When Dolly is unsuccessful at this, and learns Anna’s true feelings, she was glad to leave early the next day and get back to her numerous children.
During this time at Vozdvizhensk, it is noted that Anna begins to use morphia to get to sleep, almost every night. Although her daughter was there in the house, she was under the care of servants, and Anna almost never saw the child. She did not love her daughter, and there was no explanation of why this was so. After Dolly left, Anna analyzed her true dilemma: she "cannot unite her only two loves"-- Seryosha and Alexis (Vronsky). And her desire to do this, and frustration from accomplishing it, began tearing her to pieces.
Copyright 1998, Herman Fontenot
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