Karenin

Also known as: A. Karenin / Alexey / Alexey Alexandrovitch / Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin / Anna's husband · Family: Karenin · Role: government official · First appears: PART ONE · Chapter 5

Karenin, a government official, held one of the most important positions in his ministry and used his influence to secure Stepan Arkadyevitch’s presidency of a Moscow government board. He married Anna after pressure from her aunt and devoted to his betrothed and wife all the feeling of which he was capable. Through him, Anna was closely connected with the Petersburg circle centered on Countess Lidia Ivanovna.

In Petersburg, Karenin formally received Vronsky and allowed him to visit their home, while continuing his official work and receiving ovations for an act he had passed. When Anna refused to leave a gathering with him, he began to suspect that she loved Vronsky, warned her of the danger, and insisted that their marriage could be severed only by a crime. After the race, Anna confessed that she loved Vronsky and hated Karenin; he first sought to preserve the marriage by concealing the affair and demanding that she end the relationship, but later announced his intention to pursue a divorce and take Seryozha.

Karenin’s political triumph over Stremov was followed by defeat when Stremov pushed his measures to an extreme and turned public opinion against him. He prepared to investigate the issue in remote provinces, authorized divorce proceedings, and told Stepan Arkadyevitch that he was beginning an action against Anna, but after seeing her remorse and illness he forgave both her and Vronsky. “I will not abandon her, and I will never utter a word of reproach to you,” he declared, later consenting to take the disgrace and even give up his son so that Anna could obtain a divorce.

After Anna left, Karenin remained in Petersburg with Seryozha, while Countess Lidia Ivanovna took charge of his household and care of the boy, and Korney quietly managed the house. Karenin’s official career came to an end, though he received the Alexander Nevsky and devoted himself to Seryozha’s education; after a serious illness, the boy recovered and went to school. Anna later asked for a divorce again, but Karenin delayed his answer and finally refused, influenced by Landau; he also took the deceased woman’s daughter.