Literary Study of Leo Tolstoy’s "Anna Karenina"

Title:  “Anna Karenina”

Characters:

• Anna Karenina

• Alexis Karenin

• Count Alexis Vronsky

• Constantine Levin (Levin)

• Koznyshev

• Nicholas Levin

• Kitty Shcherbatskaya

• Dolly Shcherbatskaya Oblonsky

• Seroyzha Karenin

• Prince (Stiva) Oblonsky

• Countess Lydia Ivanovna

• Princess Betsy

• Princess Barbara

• Countess Vronsky

• (elder) Princess Shcherbatskaya

• (elder) Prince Shcherbatskaya

• Varenka

• Madame Stahl

• Mikhailov

• Masha

• Theodore

• Petritsky

• Vasenka Vaslovsky

• Countess Nordston

• Sviyazhsky

Settings

·         Russian Empire.

·         Various locations throughout Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Russian provinces, with brief interludes in Germany and Italy

Conflict:

• Man vs. man
• Man vs. society

Anna struggles between her passion for Vronsky and her desire for independence on the one hand, and her marital duty, social convention, and maternal love on the other; Levin struggles to define his own identity and reach an understanding of faith in an alienating and confusing world.

Tone:

• sympathetic tone
•  horrible
• Restless
• Complex
• Romantic
• Naughty
• Tragedy 

Point of view

Third-person narrator

Style:

Foreshadowing.  A man dies at the train station when Anna first arrives, which where she would also end up.  

Series: 

Divided into 8 parts.  

Theme

Love itself is confusing, we tend to confuse it with human needs and ideal satisfaction we get from it. 

 Plot

Anna meets Vronsky in the train station, initiating an acquaintance that grows into adulterous passion and family upheaval; their consummation of the affair leads to Anna’s abandonment of her husband and son. Meanwhile, Kitty rebuffs Levin’s marriage proposal, prompting him to withdraw to his estate in the country and reflect on the meaning of life.

Anna makes a public appearance at the opera, forcing a confrontation between her desire to live life on her own terms and the hostile opinions of St. Petersburg society, which scorns and rejects her; this episode seals her fate as a social outcast and fallen woman. Meanwhile, Levin’s search for meaning is rewarded by marriage to Kitty, stable family life, and an understanding of faith.

Anna commits suicide, unable to bear her lack of social freedom and the jealousy and suspicion arising from her unstable relationship with Vronsky. Meanwhile, Levin continues his new life as an enlightened husband, father, and landowner.

 Reflection

It is okay to love, but never make any mistakes just for the sake of loving. If that love will hurt and destroy you, then run away from it. There’s no wrong in loving but what we do for it is what makes a mistake. Look, we deserve to love and be loved, but be cautious of the consequences it will bring to you. To prevent the worst thing to happen, make sure we decide with love and truth. We have to assess ourselves if we truly love the person before entering something serious with them, we have to know what we truly want because sometimes we think we love the person because he's ideal for us, but never did we love them because we are happy with them. After all, love isn't enough to live in this world and in the eyes of God, but rather believing that he exists and that we should be good too.