Anna Karenina, Part 7, Chapter 30 summary

Part 7, Chapter 30 of 239 · 6 min to read the chapter

In Chapter 30, Anna travels to the railway station while convincing herself that her love for Vronsky grows stronger as his love fades, and that marriage cannot relieve her misery. She buys a ticket to Obiralovka, but while waiting for the train, she still moves between despair and the hope that happiness remains possible.

What happens

During her carriage ride, Anna interprets passing strangers through her belief that hatred governs human relationships.
She decides that Vronsky chiefly values the pride of winning her and now wants distance from her demands.
She imagines divorce, marriage, and reunion with Seryozha, but rejects each imagined change as a remedy for her unhappiness.
Her thoughts turn against her own maternal love as she remembers giving up Seryozha for Vronsky.
At the Nizhny Novgorod station, Pyotr’s question recalls her destination, and she gives him money for a ticket.
Waiting for the train, she imagines confronting Vronsky while alternating between hope, love, hatred, and despair.