Anna Karenina, the wife of a Russian imperial minister, creates a high-society scandal by an affair with Count Vronsky, a dashing cavalry officer in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Anna's husband, Alexei, offers her a difficult choice: go into exile with Vronsky but never see her young son again, or remain with her family and abide by the rules of discretion. Meanwhile, a farmer named Levin pines for Princess Kitty, who only has eyes for Vronsky.