Anna Karenina MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

Anna Karenina MCQs
Updated on: November 1, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 18 min

Anna Karenina MCQs

1. Who is Stepan Arkadyevitch’s valet who understands his master’s domestic troubles?

A. Kouzma
B. Matvey
C. Ignat
D. Kritsky

B. Matvey.
Matvey is Stepan Arkadyevich’s attentive valet, who discusses papers from the office with him.

2. What is the profession of the petitioner Stepan Arkadyevitch helps with before going to the office?

A. Carriage-jobber
B. Staff captain’s widow
C. Governess
D. Landowner

B. Staff captain’s widow.
Stepan Arkadyevitch assisted the staff captain Kalinin’s widow with advice and a confident note.

3. What does Stepan Arkadyevitch forget when leaving home after helping a petitioner?

A. His hat
B. His brother
C. His wife
D. His office papers

C. His wife.
He remembered everything he needed except his wife, whom he wished to forget due to their conflict.

4. What is Darya Alexandrovna (Dolly) busy trying to drown for a time by attending to daily duties?

A. Her boredom
B. Her poverty
C. Her grief
D. Her husband’s sins

C. Her grief.
Dolly drowned her grief in daily duties after confronting Stepan Arkadyevitch about his infidelity.
5. Who helped Stepan Arkadyevitch obtain his lucrative government post in Moscow?

A. Konstantin Levin
B. Sergey Koznishev
C. Alexey Karenin
D. Prince Shtcherbatsky

C. Alexey Karenin.
Stepan Arkadyevitch received his position through his sister Anna’s husband, Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin.

6. Why did Levin say he was no longer a district councillor?

A. He found the meetings dull
B. He was too busy farming
C. He quarrelled with them all
D. He moved to Petersburg

C. He quarrelled with them all.
Levin quarrelled with all members and stopped attending meetings because he found the councils useless.

7. How does Levin characterise the district council activity to Oblonsky?

A. A profitable endeavour
B. A political plaything
C. A necessary evil
D. A means for coteries to make money

B. A political plaything.
Levin viewed the district council as a plaything and a means for coteries to gain unearned salaries.

8. What is Sergey Koznishev’s public reputation, according to the excerpts?

A. Government official
B. Author well-known in Russia
C. Philosophy professor
D. District marshal

B. The author is well-known in Russia.
Sergey Koznishev is Konstantin Levin’s elder half-brother and a renowned author, known throughout Russia.

9. Why did Levin come to Moscow?

A. To work on his book
B. To see Koznishev
C. To make a marriage offer to Kitty
D. To attend agricultural meetings

C. To make a marriage offer to Kitty.
Levin blushed when asked, because he came expressly to make an offer of marriage to Kitty Shtcherbatsky.
10. What philosophical question were Koznishev and the professor debating upon Levin’s arrival?

A. Materialism vs. faith
B. Psychology vs. physiology
C. Origin of man
D. Ethics in science

B. Psychology vs. physiology.
They were debating the line to be drawn between psychological and physiological phenomena in man.

11. Why was Levin initially in love with the Shtcherbatsky household?

A. It was a complete, noble family
B. He admired their wealth
C. He respected their French tutor
D. They had excellent parties

A. It was a complete, noble family.
Having lost his parents, Levin loved the inner life of the old, noble, cultivated, and honourable family.

12. Who told Levin that Dolly believed Kitty would be his wife?

A. Countess Nordston
B. Kitty
C. Stepan Arkadyevitch
D. Prince Shtcherbatsky

C. Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Oblonsky told Levin that Dolly not only liked him but was certain Kitty would become his wife.

13. What does Levin feel when comparing his past sins to Kitty’s innocence?

A. Pride
B. Joy
C. Unworthiness
D. Indifference

C. Unworthiness.
He felt unworthy because he, who was old with a past of sins, was brought near an innocent creature.

14. What was Kitty’s immediate response to Levin’s marriage proposal?

A. Enthusiastic acceptance
B. An ambiguous refusal
C. Silence and averted eyes
D. A firm rejection

C. Silence and averted eyes.
Kitty dropped her head and remained silent, which Levin interpreted as a refusal (“It was bound to be so”).
15. Why was Princess Shtcherbatskaya (Kitty’s mother) pleased that Kitty refused Levin?

A. She disliked his strange opinions
B. She found him too shy
C. She preferred Vronsky
D. She wanted Kitty to travel

C. She preferred Vronsky.
The mother preferred Vronsky, who was wealthy, clever, and on the high road to a brilliant career.

16. What poison contaminated Kitty’s happiness immediately after refusing Levin?

A. Her mother’s anger
B. Doubts and remorse
C. Vronsky’s absence
D. Her physical illness

B. Doubts and remorse.
Kitty felt sorry for Levin, and doubts and remorse over the refusal poisoned her happiness.

17. Where does Anna first meet Vronsky upon arriving in Moscow?

A. At the Shtcherbatskys’
B. At the ball
C. At the railway station
D. At her brother’s office

C. At the railway station.
Anna met Vronsky at the railway station and had traveled with his mother, who talked about him.

18. What did Kitty realise about Anna and Vronsky during the ball, causing her despair?

A. They were discussing marriage
B. They had an invisible bond of adoration
C. Anna disliked Vronsky
D. Vronsky was flirting with many women

B. They had an invisible bond of adoration.
Kitty saw in their faces an invisible, spiritual bond, marking Vronsky’s adoration for Anna.

19. What troubled Anna during her train ride home from Moscow?

A. Her husband’s reaction
B. Her inability to follow her novel
C. A growing feeling of shame near Vronsky’s memory
D. The severe snowstorm

C. A growing feeling of shame near Vronsky’s memory.
A feeling of shame intensified when she recalled Vronsky and their interactions at the ball.
20. What did Alexey Alexandrovitch plan to stress in his talk with Anna about her conduct?

A. Her lack of purity
B. Religious significance of marriage
C. His personal sorrow
D. The need for a divorce

B. Religious significance of marriage.
He planned to expound the religious significance of marriage and the value of public opinion.

21. What did Alexey Alexandrovitch feel was the consequence of Anna’s “too animated conversation” with Vronsky?

A. It was a crime
B. It attracted attention
C. It showed her love
D. It was meaningless

B. It attracted attention.
He warned her that her too animated conversation with Count Vronsky had attracted the attention of society.

22. What emotion did Alexey Alexandrovitch eventually confess he had felt when first starting divorce proceedings?

A. Doubt
B. A desire to revenge himself
C. Joy
D. Spiritual emptiness

B. A desire to revenge himself.
He confessed that in beginning the divorce, he was pursued by a desire to revenge himself on them.

23. What word was Anna unable to pronounce when talking to Vronsky about leaving her husband?

A. Divorce
B. Shame
C. Son
D. Adultery

C. Son.
Anna could not bring herself to pronounce the word “son,” which was the chief cause of her deceit.

24. After Vronsky’s accident at the races, what did Alexey Alexandrovitch criticise about Anna’s behaviour?

A. Her loud cheering
B. Her attire
C. Her despair over the rider’s accident
D. Her speaking in French

C. Her despair over the rider’s accident.
Alexey Alexandrovitch criticized Anna for the despair she was unable to conceal at the accident to one of the riders.
25. Why did Kitty travel abroad to a German watering-place?

A. To avoid Vronsky
B. To study languages
C. To recover from illness
D. To join her sister Dolly

C. To recover from illness.
She was taken there to recover, as the celebrated doctor suggested drinking Soden waters and travel.

26. What was the central realization Kitty gained by trying to emulate Varenka?

A. That piety is necessary
B. That one must forget oneself and love others
C. That sorrow is inevitable
D. That working for the poòr is fulfilling

B. That one must forget oneself and love others.
Kitty realized one must forget oneself and love others to be calm, happy, and noble.

27. What specific act of spiritual devotion particularly fascinated Kitty during her time abroad?

A. Giving money to the poòr
B. Reading the Gospel to criminals
C. Nursing the sick
D. Going to confession

B. Reading the Gospel to criminals.
The idea of reading the Gospel to criminals, as Aline did, was particularly fascinating to Kitty.

28. Who did the old Prince Shtcherbatsky prefer Kitty marry over Vronsky?

A. Vassenka Veslovsky
B. Sergey Koznishev
C. Konstantin Levin
D. Prince Kaluzhsky

C. Konstantin Levin.
The prince believed Levin was a thousand times the better man than the “Petersburg swell” Vronsky.

29. What vice did Konstantin Levin find tortured his brother Nikolay?

A. Gambling
B. Debauchery
C. Alcoholism
D. Lying

C. Alcoholism.
Marya Nikolaevna whispered to Konstantin that Nikolay drinks vodka, and it is bad for him.
30. What was the lawyer’s advice to Alexey Alexandrovitch regarding obtaining a divorce?

A. Get Anna’s consent
B. Prove desertion
C. Detection in the fact by eye-witnesses
D. Provide written documentation

C. Detection in the fact by eye-witnesses.
The lawyer explained that direct detection in the act by eye-witnesses was necessary for the church court.

31. How did Kitty and Levin finally communicate their mutual love and settle their future?

A. Through a long letter
B. By writing initial letters on a table
C. By talking for hours
D. A dramatic public declaration

B. By writing initial letters on a table.
They communicated complex ideas and feelings by writing initials on a card table using chalk.

32. What was the painful incident of the engagement period that caused Kitty to weep?

A. Levin’s proposal
B. Levin’s confession of his past
C. The dress fittings
D. Her mother’s disapproval

B. Levin’s confession of his past.
The confession he had written in his diary about his lack of purity set Kitty weeping bitterly.

33. What did Kitty tell Levin in response to his question about what she loved him for?

A. His kindness
B. His intellect
C. She understood him completely
D. His plans

C. She understood him completely.
She told him she loved him because she understood him completely, knowing that what he liked was good.

34. What ritual did Levin dread during his engagement due to his unbelief?

A. The engagement party
B. The wedding ceremony
C. Going to confession
D. Meeting the priest

C. Going to confession.
As an unbeliever, Levin found the inevitable act of hypocrisy required for confession exceedingly disagreeable and impossible.
35. After her husband’s letter agreeing to divorce, what seemed worse to Anna than any calamity she had conceived?

A. His silence
B. His seeming Christian generosity
C. Vronsky’s reaction
D. Losing her son

B. His seeming Christian generosity.
His letter, seeming Christian and generous, was awful to her, confirming his mean and cruel character.

36. Who was the only woman of Anna’s former friends, besides Princess Varvara, who visited her at Vozdvizhenskoe?

A. Countess Nordston
B. Kitty
C. Dolly (Darya Alexandrovna)
D. Countess Lidia Ivanovna

C. Dolly (Darya Alexandrovna).
Vronsky noted that Dolly was the only woman of Anna’s former friends who visited her in the country.

37. What did Anna tell Dolly regarding her intention to have more children with Vronsky?

A. She was seeking a divorce first
B. She would have no more children
C. She desired a daughter
D. She was unable to conceive

B. She would have no more children.
Anna told Dolly that she would have no more children because she did not wish to, using preventive measures.

38. What was Vronsky’s primary goal in managing his estate after settling with Anna?

A. To spend immense sums on luxury
B. To adopt new Russian farming methods
C. To be accepted by the aristocracy
D. To increase his substance, not waste it

D. To increase his substance, not waste it.
He was convinced he was not wasting, but increasing his substance through careful management and large-scale operations.

39. What did Anna interpret Vronsky’s desire for children to mean?

A. He sought to legitimize his status
B. He did not prize her beauty
C. He desired a family life
D. He sought to bind her to him

B. He did not prize her beauty.
She viewed his desire for children as proof that he did not prize her beauty, which caused her irritation.
40. What action by Levin at the election ballot box caused embarrassment and laughter?

A. He voted for the wrong man
B. He asked where to put the ball
C. He refused to vote
D. He lost his ballot

B. He asked where to put the ball.
Levin, embarrassed and confused, asked his brother, “Where am I to put it?”, which was overheard.

41. What item did Levin use to justify the expense of his costly uniform for the elections?

A. His brother’s urging
B. His wife’s desire
C. The fact that he had already paid seven pounds for it
D. His sense of duty

C. The fact that he had already paid seven pounds for it.
Kitty ordered the uniform, and the seven pounds already paid was the chief cause that decided Levin to go.

42. What public question replaced other fashionable distractions in society, engrossing Sergey Ivanovitch?

A. The woman’s question
B. Universal military service
C. The Slavonic question
D. Education reform

C. The Slavonic question.
The Slavonic question, which related to the Servian War, became the main public interest, absorbing Koznishev.

43. What did Konstantin Levin experience in the midst of his family’s bustling summer visit (the Shtcherbatsky element)?

A. Pure delight
B. A regret for his own Levin world and ways
C. Renewed connection with his brother
D. Inspiration for his book

B. A regret for his own Levin world and ways.
He regretted his own “Levin world and ways,” which felt smothered by the influx of his wife’s relations.

44. What interrupted the marriage proposal that Varenka hoped Sergey Ivanovitch would make?

A. Kitty’s sudden arrival
B. A lengthy discussion about mushrooms
C. Sergey Ivanovitch’s embarrassment
D. Varenka’s refusal

B. A lengthy discussion about mushrooms.
Sergey Ivanovitch was annoyed when Varenka spoke of mushrooms, and the moment for the declaration was lost.
45. What did Levin conclude was the only way to attain general good, rather than by human judgment (like the war question)?

A. By following the law of right and wrong revealed to every man
B. By listening to the intellectual elite
C. By adopting the will of the people
D. By supporting the Slavonic cause

A. By following the law of right and wrong revealed to every man.
He believed general good came only from strictly observing the universal law of right and wrong.

46. What subject did Vronsky and Anna’s friends suggest Anna should apply her energy to, instead of her English protégée?

A. The Slavonic question
B. The education of Russian children
C. Writing her novel
D. Organizing a hospital

B. The education of Russian children.
Vorkuev suggested that she should devote her energy to the public question of Russian children’s education.
47. What did Anna conclude was the only force that holds men together in life during her final carriage ride?

A. Love
B. Falsehood
C. The struggle for existence and hatred
D. Religion

C. The struggle for existence and hatred.
She mused that, as Yashvin said, the struggle for existence and hatred were the only binding forces.

48. What did Anna think of her relationship with Vronsky, comparing their trajectories?

A. They were growing closer in spirit
B. His love was growing and hers waning
C. They were irresistibly drifting in different directions
D. They were both trapped by duty

C. They were irresistibly drifting in different directions.
She felt her love was growing egoistic while his waned, meaning they were irresistibly drifting apart.

49. What was Anna’s final action just before being hit by the train?

A. She screamed out Vronsky’s name
B. She crossed herself
C. She dropped the red bag
D. She ran towards the light

B. She crossed herself.
The familiar gesture of crossing herself brought a rush of childhood memories before she fell.
50. How did the peasant Mihalitch believe people should address their troubles (like war)?

A. By trusting the Emperor’s wisdom
B. By giving money for a pious object
C. By following the scientific explanation
D. By expressing their feelings

A. By trusting the Emperor’s wisdom.
Mihalitch believed the Emperor had thought for them in all things, as it was clearer for him to see.

Brief Overview

Anna Karenina is a novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. It is a realist novel that also incorporates elements of a psychological novel, a novel of ideas, and a tragedy.

The novel begins with Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky’s family crisis in Moscow. His wife, Dolly, discovered his affair with a governess. Konstantin Levin, a thoughtful man, loves Dolly’s sister, Kitty, but she initially rejects him because she is focused on Count Vronsky, a charming officer.

Anna Karenina, Oblonsky’s sister, visits from Petersburg. She is married to the official Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin. Anna and Vronsky fall deeply in love after meeting at a ball, which crushes Kitty. Meanwhile, Levin returns to his country estate to resolve his shame, but later returns to propose again; Kitty accepts by writing with chalk.

Anna and Vronsky openly continue their affair, and Anna becomes pregnant. She confesses to her husband, Karenin, who demands she keep up appearances to avoid public scandal.

After Vronsky’s horse is killed in a steeplechase, Karenin confronts Anna. Anna and Vronsky live abroad, but Anna fears his love is fading.

Driven by isolation and despair, Anna goes to a railway station and throws herself under a train, dying instantly. Levin finds peace after marrying Kitty, realizing that love and family matter more than intellectual debates.

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