Anna Karenina Eng

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ANNA KARENINA

Lev (Leo) Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born into a large and wealthy Russian landowning family in 1828 on the famil

estate of !asnaya "olyana# Tolstoy$s mother died when he was only two years old and he ideali%ed her memory

throughout his life# &ome critics s'eculate that the early loss of his mother colors Tolstoy$s 'ortrayal of the young&eryo%ha in Anna Karenina. hen Tolstoy was nine the family moved to oscow# &hortly afterward his father die

murdered while traveling# *eing or'haned before the age of ten albeit without financial worries left Tolstoy with a

acute awareness of the 'ower of death+an idea central to all his great works and es'ecially evident in the strong

association of the character of ,nna -arenina with mortality#Though an intelligent child Tolstoy had little interest in .academics# /is aunt had to work hard to 'ersuade him to g

to university and he failed his entrance e0am on his first attem't# ventually matriculating at -a%an niversity at t

age of si0teen Tolstoy studied law and 3riental languages# /e showed interest in the grand heroic cultures of "ersiTurkey and the 4aucasus+an interest that 'ersisted throughout his life# /e was not 'o'ular at the university and w

self.conscious about his large nose and thick eyebrows# ltimately Tolstoy was dissatisfied with his education and

left in 1856 without a degree# The social awkwardness of -onstantin Levin at the beginning of Anna Karenina refleTolstoy$s own discomfort in fancy social surroudings at this time in his life#

7n 181 Tolstoy visited his brother in the Russian army and then decided to enlist shortly afterward# /e served in th

4rimean ar (185918:) and recorded his e0'erience in his Sevastopol Stories (18)# Tolstoy was able to writeduring his time in the army 'roducing a well.received autobiogra'hical novel Childhood (182) followed by two

others Boyhood (185) and Youth (186)# /e ultimately evolved antimilitaristic feelings that can be seen in his im'criticism of enthusiasm for the &lavic war in the final section of Anna Karenina.

7n 18:2 Tolstoy married &ofya ,ndreevna *ehrs# /e devoted most of the ne0t two decades to raising a large familymanaging his estate and writing his two greatest novels War and Peace (18:918:;) and Anna Karenina (1869

1866)# Levin$s courtshi' of -itty &hcherbatskaya in Anna Karenina was modeled on Tolstoy$s own courtshi' of &o

,ndreevna down to details such as the forgotten shirt that delays Levin$s wedding#7n the years <ust 'rior to his marriage Tolstoy had visited western uro'e 'artly to observe educational methods

abroad# 'on returning he founded and taught at schools for his 'easants# /is contact with his 'easants led to a

heightened a''reciation for their morality camaraderie and en<oyment of life# 7ndeed Tolstoy became =uite criticathe su'erficiality of u''er.class Russians as we can see in Levin$s discomfort with urban high society in Anna

Karenina. ltimately Tolstoy develo'ed a desire to seek s'iritual regeneration by renouncing his family$s 'ossessi

much to the dismay of his long.suffering wife#Tolstoy$s life s'anned a 'eriod of intense develo'ment for his home country# *y the time of Tolstoy$s death in 1;1>

Russia had transformed from a backward agricultural economy into a ma<or industriali%ed world 'ower# This 'erio

witnessed ma<or debates between two intellectual grou's in Russia? the &lavo'hiles who believed Russian culture

institutions to be e0ce'tional and su'erior to uro'ean culture and the esterni%ers who believed that Russia needto follow more liberal estern modes of thought and government# e see traces of this debate about the destiny of

Russia+whether it should <oin uro'e in its march toward secular values and scientific thought or re<ect

moderni%ation and cherish the traditional ,siatic elements of its culture+in Anna Karenina. Levin$s 'easants$'reference for sim'le wooden 'lows over more efficient modern agricultural tools symboli%es Russia$s re<ection o

est# e also see this cultural clash in the novel$s 'ortrait of the highly rational and ultra.estern bureaucrat .-are

+cool and efficient but also 'assionless#

@uring this time Russia was also undergoing a crisis of 'olitical thought with a series of authoritarian tsars 'rovokliberal and radical intellectuals who demanded uro'ean constitutional rights+or even revolution+in Russia#

Tolstoy$s ambivalent 'ortrayal of the local elections in Anna Karenina demonstrates his uncertainty about the 'oten

for democracy in Russia? the vote evokes much enthusiasm among the noblemen but it also a''ears ineffectual andeven 'ointless#

Tolstoy$s eventual turn to religion in his own life left an im'rint on all his later writings# orks such as A Confessio

(1882) and The Kingdom of God s Within You (18;A) focused on the biblical Bos'els$ ideals of brotherly love andnonresistance to evil# Anna Karenina is often viewed as the turning 'oint in Tolstoy$s career the 'oint at which he

shifted away from fiction and toward faith# The tug.of.war between these two forces hel's create the rich 'ortrait o

,nna whom Tolstoy both disa''roves of and loves# Levin emerges as the voice of faith in the novel with his finalstatement of the meaning of life corres'onding closely to Tolstoy$s own 'hiloso'hy#



*y the 18;>s Tolstoy$s re'utation as a 'ro'het of social thought attracted disci'les to his estate at !asnaya "olyana

seeking his wisdom# 7n 18;8 Tolstoy 'ublished a radical essay called What s Art!" in which he argued that the soleaim of great art must be moral instruction and that on these grounds &hakes'eare$s 'lays and even Tolstoy$s own

novels are artistic failures# Crustrated by the dis'arity between his 'ersonal moral 'hiloso'hy and his wealth and by

his fre=uent =uarrels with his wife Tolstoy secretly left home in November 1;1> at the age of eighty.two# /e fell iwith 'neumonia along the way and died several days later in a faraway railway station# Tolstoy was mourned by

admirers and followers around the world and to this day is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in history#

A Note on Russian Names

To nglish.s'eaking readers the names of the characters in Anna Karenina may be somewhat confusing as there anumber of name.related conventions in Russian that do not e0ist in nglish#

ach Russian has a first name a 'atronymic and a surname# , 'erson$s 'atronymic consists of his or her father$s fi

name accom'anied by a suffi0 meaning Dson ofE or Ddaughter of#E /ence Levin is addressed as -onstantin @mitri(son of @mitri) -itty is called katerina ,le0androvna (daughter of ,le0ander) and so on# 4haracters in the novel

fre=uently address each other in this formal manner using both the first name and 'atronymic#

hen characters do not address each other formally they may use informal nicknames or diminutives# &ometimesthese nicknames bear little resemblance to the characters$ full names# Cor instance Levin is sometimes called -osty

(the standard nickname for -onstantin) and Fronsky is sometimes called ,lyosha (the diminutive of ,le0ei)#

Curthermore surnames in Russian take on both masculine and feminine forms# 7n Anna Karenina" for instance-arenin$s wife$s surname takes the feminine form -arenina# Likewise 3blonsky$s wife has the surname 3blonska

and their sons have the surname 3blonsky while their daughters have the surname 3blonskaya#-ee'ing these conventions in mind hel's to distinguish characters as they are addressed by different names through

the novel# /owever the use of these conventions varies in different editions of Anna Karenina" as some translatorschoose to sim'lify or eliminate name variants in order to make the novel more accessible to an nglish.s'eaking

audience#

"art 3ne 4ha'ters 1916

Summary

,ll ha''y families are alikeG each unha''y family is unha''y in its own way#

4onfusion reigns in the 3blonsky household in oscow# &tiva 3blonsky has been unfaithful to his wife @olly wittheir children$s former governess# &tiva is distraught but not overly remorseful# @olly meanwhile is devastated and

refuses to leave her rooms# The servants advise &tiva to a'ologi%e re'eatedly 'redicting that @olly will calm down

&tiva finally visits @olly begging her to remember their nine years of marriage# @olly is inconsolable telling herhusband he is disgusting and a total stranger to her#

&tiva goes to his office# /is <ob is res'ectable and comfortable thanks to his charm and good connections# /e recei

a sur'rise visit from an old friend -onstantin Levin who lives in the country# &tiva introduces Levin to his busines

'artners saying that Levin is active in the #emstvo" his village administrative board# Levin reveals that he has =uit h'ost on the board and tells &tiva that he has an im'ortant matter to discuss# They arrange to meet for dinner# &tiva

guesses the matter has something to do with his sister.in.law -itty &hcherbatskaya with whom he knows Levin is

love#hile in oscow Levin stays with his half.brother -o%nyshev whose 'hiloso'hical mindset sometimes 'er'le0es

Levin# The brothers discuss Levin$s 'lan to visit their estranged and sickly third brother Nikolai who is back in

oscow with a girlfriend# -o%nyshev advises Levin not to go saying Levin cannot hel' Nikolai who wishes to be

alone#Levin goes to the skating rink at the Hoological Bardens where he is sure he will find the charming -itty# &he is at

rink as e0'ected# Levin and -itty en<oy one another$s com'any together on the ice until Levin confesses that he fee

more confident whenever -itty a less accom'lished skater leans on him for su''ort# -itty$s mood suddenly darkenand she sends Levin away# Levin grows u'set and goes off glumly to his dinner with &tiva#

3ver the lu0urious meal Levin confesses to &tiva his 'assionate love for -itty# &tiva encourages Levin to be ho'ef

but warns him of a rival for her affections an officer named ,le0ei Fronsky# &tiva then discusses his own 'roblemainfatuation with his children$s governess# Levin gently chastises &tiva for his behavior but &tiva laughingly calls L

a moralist#

-itty$s mother "rincess &hcherbatskaya weighs the relative merits of Fronsky and Levin as suitors# &he isdisconcerted by Levin$s awkwardness and generally favors Fronsky# *ut the "rincess is also aware that young Russ



noblewomen of the new generation 'refer to choose their husbands for themselves rather than submit to their 'aren

arrangements#That evening Levin calls at -itty$s home and finds her alone# -itty is aware that she feels affection for him but sh

loves Fronsky# &he considers avoiding Levin entirely but then bravely meets him and declines his marriage 'ro'osa

"rincess &hcherbatskaya is relieved to see that no engagement has been declared# Fronsky arrives and the devastatLevin is im'ressed with this rival suitor# That night -itty cannot slee' haunted by Levin$s face# -itty$s father has

learned about the rebuffed 'ro'osal and is u'set as he 'refers Levin to Fronsky#

The ne0t morning Fronsky goes to the train station to meet his mother arriving from &t# "etersburg# There he meet

&tiva who has come to meet his sister ,nna -arenina# Fronsky tells &tiva he has met Levin whom he finds nice bsomewhat awkward# &tiva defends Levin hinting that Levin might have 'ro'osed to -itty# Fronsky states that -itty

can find a better match# eanwhile the train arrives and Fronsky awaits his mother#

Analysis

,lthough Anna Karenina is renowned as a study of romantic 'assion the novel shows us the dark and discouraging

side of romance from the first 'age# Tolstoy$s novel begins when the honeymoon is already over# @ece'tion and

disa''ointment mar the marriage of &tiva and @olly two attractive rich cultured sensitive and likable 'eo'le# ee0'ect them to be the ideal ha''y cou'le but they are miserable and the source of the 'roblem is their marriage# 7n

fact the o'ening of the novel with its threat of a marital breaku' casts a dark shadow over all the love and romanc

Anna Karenina. This dark shadow e0tends over many romantic moments in the novel# Cor e0am'le LevinIs and -iturn at the skating rink ends with -itty rebuffing Levin$s advances killing any sense of romance in the scene# Crom

these early scenes of &tiva and @olly and Levin and -itty love seems doomed from the start#&tiva is a crucial character because he is in many ways an advance introduction to his sister ,nna -arenina# /is

adultery o'ens the novelG her later adultery is the novel$s main focus# oreover they share 'ersonality traits and mattitudes# Cor one thing there is an ine0'licable aura of innocence around &tiva# /e has made mistakes but is far fro

villain# *ecause Tolstoy 'resents &tiva as such an affable and sincere character it is nearly im'ossible even for the

most moralistic of us to condemn &tiva wholeheartedly even if we disa''rove of his adulterous liaisons# @es'ite hilack of restraint he is not a bad man and is even =uite charming# /is flaw is not willful cruelty or meanness but sim

his DamorousE nature as Tolstoy eu'hemistically 'uts it# &tiva likes se0ual adventure and in his mind it is not wron

/e regrets not having hidden the affair more thoroughly but does not regret the affair itself which brought him'leasure as he o'enly admits# The =uestion of a right to se0ual 'leasure is further e0amined later in his sister ,nna

situation#

Though Anna Karenina is on the surface a novel about romantic love and courtshi' it is actually far more wide.ranging in its focus delving into 'ublic and social to'ics such as technology agriculture and administration# Tolsto

e0'lorations of social themes strike many readers as annoying interru'tions of the love story but in fact the novel$s

social concerns and its love theme often reinforce each other# The train for e0am'le is a symbol of moderni%ation

uro'ean efficiency# *ut it is also recurrently associated with ,nna and her Dtrans'ortE of 'assion u'on meetingFronsky# ,nna a''ears in the novel near a train and thrillingly meditates on Fronsky as she rides the train to &t#

"etersburg# "erha's most im'ortant a train is involved in ,nna$s final fate at the end of the novel# The train like

,nna$s adultery is for Tolstoy an unfortunate 'roduct of the modern world# The novel$s social themes intersect withromantic themes again in the discussion of the &hcherbatskys$ confusion about -itty$s courtshi'# 7t is no longer

'ossible for Russian 'arents to arrange marriages but at the same time children like -itty cannot choose for

themselves# The result is that no one knows how to 'roceed and the risks seem huge# oderni%ation may im'rove t

=uality of Russian life but it also disru'ts the fabric of Russian society and courtshi'#

Summary

7t was as if a sur'lus of something so overflowed her being that it e0'ressed itself beyond her will now in thebrightness of her glance now in her smile#

Fronsky waits for his mother at the train station# *efore she a''ears Fronsky sees a woman with gentle shining gr

eyes whose face becomes animated at the sight of him# This is ,nna -arenina whom &tiva has come to the station meet# ,nna and Fronsky briefly e0change glances# Fronsky$s mother a''ears and introduces Fronsky to ,nna# ,s t

are leaving the station a worker is run over by a train and killed+whether it is suicide or an accident is unclear# ,n

gloomily views the death as a bad omen#



&tiva takes ,nna to his home where @olly devastated by grief over her husband$s adultery wishes to see no one# *

,nna having heard about the betrayal insists on seeing @olly and meets her warmly and com'assionately# &he doenot attem't to console @olly but is dee'ly sym'athetic# &he tells @olly that &tiva is suffering and that he is ca'able

total re'entance# @olly feels much better#

Later that day -itty arrives at the 3blonsky residence and ,nna receives her warmly# ,nna hears about -itty$s intin Fronsky and says she met Fronsky at the station and liked him# ,t teatime @olly emerges from her rooms and

-itty and ,nna understand that @olly and &tiva have been reconciled# They discuss the u'coming ball and -itty ur

,nna to wear a lilac.colored dress# Later Fronsky sto's by the 3blonsky household and seems ashamed when he s

,nna#,t the ball held not long afterward Fronsky dances the first dance with -itty who looks radiant# ,nna a''ears

dressed not in lilac but in black which -itty immediately reali%es is ,nna$s best color# -itty is 'u%%led by ,nna$s

refusal to res'ond when Fronsky bows to her# -itty dances many walt%es with Fronsky but later finds ,nna andFronsky dancing together# ,nna looks elated and trium'hant# Cor the final ma%urka -itty turns away her suitors

e0'ecting Fronsky to ask her to dance# &he is stunned to see that Fronsky has s'urned her to dance the last dance w

,nna#eanwhile Levin gloomily reflects on his life after -itty$s re<ection# /e decides to 'ay a visit to his brother Nikola

'on arriving Levin finds his sickly brother much thinner than he remembered# Nikolai introduces Levin to his

com'anion arya Nikolaevna whom he saved from a whorehouse# 3ver dinner Nikolai s'eaks at length about hissocialist views# arya 'rivately tells Levin that Nikolai drinks too much# Levin leaves having made ary 'romise

write to him in case of need# Levin returns to his country estate grateful for the blessings of his 'eaceful e0istence#,t the 3blonskys$ ,nna and @olly dine together by themselves# ,nna is unwell and -itty sends word that she has

headache# ,nna e0'resses her ama%ement at having danced with Fronsky# &he is confident that Fronsky will still'ursue -itty but @olly is not so sure# ,nna leaves for &t# "etersburg relieved to esca'e Fronsky# 3n the train she i

tormented by self.doubt unsure of who she is# ,s the train 'auses at a station ,nna glim'ses Fronsky on the 'latfo

and feels a <oyful 'ride# /e has followed her from oscow#,rriving in &t# "etersburg ,nna meets her husband -arenin at the station# Fronsky watches them together and can

see that ,nna does not love -arenin# ,nna introduces the two men and Fronsky asks if he may call at the -arenin

home# ,t home ,nna$s son &eryo%ha runs u' to greet her and ,nna feels a sudden 'ang of disa''ointment in herson# &he s'eaks to her morally u'right friend Lydia 7vanovna and feels secure that nothing scandalous has ha''ened

her relations with Fronsky# ,nna dismisses her an0ieties#

hile in &t# "etersburg Fronsky sociali%es with his colleague "etritsky to whom he has lent his a'artment and"etritsky$s lady friend *aroness &hilton# They lightheartedly chat before Fronsky leaves to make a''earances at

various 'laces where he ho'es to encounter ,nna#

Analysis

7n his de'iction of ,nna$s a''earance at the train station during her first meeting with Fronsky Tolstoy em'hasi%es,nna$s s'iritual rather than 'hysical attributes# This method of characteri%ing her is im'ortant for it reinforces the

intellectual and 'hiloso'hical as'ect of this novel of ideas# hile ,nna and Fronsky are clearly attracted to each ot

their mutual interest is more abstract than bodily more about attractiveness of 'ersonality and manner than aboutse0ual fantasy# Though ,nna$s figure is ravishing Fronsky is drawn 'rimarily to her Dgentle and tenderE eyes# /er

eyes are not a sultry brown or co=uettish blue but rather a subtle gray the same color as the eyes of ,thena Breek

goddess of wisdom+hardly a symbol of unbridled 'assion# (,lthough Tolstoy may also have had in mind

&hakes'eare$s writing in which gray eyes re'resent the 'aragon of female beauty#) ,t the ball ,nna a''ears not inarchety'al red of a femme fatale but rather in a stunning but tasteful black dress# These clues tell us from the very

beginning that although Tolstoy may harshly condemn adultery on an abstract level he does not 'ortray ,nna as a

'assion.cra%ed vi0en+as 'o'ular novels of the time often re'resented the straying wife#,nna$s a''earance also reinforces the im'ortance of family life in the novel# ,nna is not a vam' who thwarts old.

fashioned Russian family values or shows hostility to domestic harmony# 3n the contrary her initial a''earance in

oscow+and in the novel+is 'rom'ted by her desire to see a family stay together# ,nna$s mission to reconcile hebrother and his wife is successfulG she brings a cou'le on the verge of se'aration back together# ,nna is also natura

motherly? in her conversations with @olly$s children she shows that she is aware of their individual 'ersonalities

almost as much as their own mother is# oreover ,nna is clearly devoted to her own eight.year.old son &eryo%hafrom whom she is a'art for the first time in his life when she goes to oscow# ven more im'ortant ,nna has no b



to 'ick with society$s e0'ectations of 'ro'riety# &he does not willfully flout 'ublic norms of behavior# hen she fin

herself dancing with Fronsky she is startled by her own actions#The 'arallel structure of ,nna$s and Levin$s story lines+one of Tolstoy$s strokes of genius in com'osing Anna

Karenina +allows us to make subtle and continuous com'arisons and contrasts between the two characters and the

fates# 3n the most obvious level their stories begin on very different notes? ,nna finds love with Fronsky <ust at thmoment when Levin loses love with -itty# ,nna$s decision to act on her feelings brings her thrills and e0citement

whereas Levin$s decision brings him de<ection and de'ression# These contrasts however only 'oint out how simila

the two characters are# *oth ,nna and Levin seek truth in their 'ersonal relationshi's unwilling to settle for anythi

less# ,nna discovers that she would 'refer to suffer with her true love rather than continue to lead a life of lies anddeceit with a man she does not love dee'ly# ,nna$s unconventional actions are 'rom'ted by a desire not for rebellio

for its own sake but for absolute sincerity in her emotional life# &imilarly Levin after -itty$s rebuff does not go af

the ne0t girl on his list but resigns himself to eternal bachelorhood and withdraws to the country# Like ,nna Levinwants all or nothing in love#

"art Two 4ha'ters 1916

Summary

The &hcherbatskys are concerned about -itty$s health which has been failing ever since the ball at which Fronsky

slighted her# Though secretly convinced that love is the cause of -itty$s ill health the &hcherbatskys consult numer

doctors# @olly attem'ts to talk with -itty about her feelings# -itty is initially resistant but then breaks down in tear@olly intuits that -itty has re<ected Levin only to be forsaken by Fronsky and that the 'ain of this turn of events ha

devastated her#,nna fre=uents a different social circle now 'referring the com'any of Fronsky$s worldly cousin *etsy Tverskoy t

that of her former com'anion the morally righteous Lydia 7vanovna# ,t a 'arty rumors about ,nna$s liaison withFronsky s'read and ,nna falls 'rey to some vicious gossi'ers though others defend her#

,nna and Fronsky meet at *etsy$s# ,nna begs Fronsky to dro' their relationshi' and ask for -itty$s forgiveness#

Fronsky affirms his ho'e for ha''iness with ,nna as her eyes assure him that she loves him# -arenin enters but soleaves while ,nna decides to stay at *etsy$s for su''er# ,t home -arenin meditates on his feeling that something i

amiss# /e feels <ealous though he knows <ealousy is illogical# hen he tries to 'icture ,nna$s 'ersonal life to hims

he becomes confused and uncomfortable#hen ,nna arrives home from *etsy$s her husband confronts her warning her about the risks of her behavior# ,nn

becomes mildly indignant affirming her right to a little merriment# -arenin states that some things should lie hidde

one$s soul im'lying that ,nna$s attraction to Fronsky is one such thing# -arenin tells ,nna he loves her but shewonders what this means# &he tells him she wants to go to bed and withdraws#

The narrative ski's forward almost a year to the 'oint at which ,nna and Fronsky have finally consummated their

affair# ,fter the deed is done ,nna sobs saying that all she has now is Fronsky# &he tries to drive away her thought

&lee'ing she dreams that both -arenin and Fronsky are her husbands#eanwhile Levin$s sadness about -itty$s re<ection lingers# /e busies himself with farm 'lanning on his estate and

sends his brother Nikolai who suffers from tuberculosis off to a s'a in uro'e for treatment# Levin feels frustrated

with his farm work and with the stubbornness and stu'idity of his 'easant workers#hen the bell rings one day Levin wonders whether his brother Nikolai has come for a visit# /e is 'leased to see t

it is &tiva 3blonsky# Levin grateful for a 'otential source of information about -itty takes &tiva out to hunt birds#

ne0'ectedly Levin blurts out a =uestion about -itty unable to restrain his curiosity# hen &tiva re'lies that -itty

ill Levin is oddly 'leased thinking that he has had an effect on her#3n the way home Levin and &tiva discuss a forest that &tiva 'lans to sell# Levin claims the deal is shady and accus

the merchant buyer of intending to cheat &tiva# Fisiting the merchant along with &tiva Levin refuses to shake the

merchant$s hand# &tiva makes the sale anyway and later 'layfully accuses Levin of snobbery#

Analysis

7n these cha'ters we see a number of characters who recogni%e or deny their feelings# motional self.knowledge

becomes a crucial theme# ,nna and Levin are at one end of the emotional s'ectrum acknowledging what they feel acce'ting the troubling conse=uences that accom'any their feelings come what may# 3ther characters however ar

less able to admit their inner emotions to themselves or to others# -itty with her evasive and roundabout attitude

toward Levin serves as a direct contrast to ,nna and her un=uestioning acce'tance of her feelings for Fronsky# Theimage of Levin haunts -itty both while he courts her and after she re<ects him but all the while she is unable to adm



to herself that she cares for him# -itty$s alleged illness is a clear cover.u' for and result of her emotional 'ain# &he

thinks she feels humiliation when in fact she feels a dee' affection that reveals itself as Anna Karenina unfolds# -itconversation with @olly in which -itty breaks down in tears on the sub<ect of Levin marks one stage in -itty$s

gradual acce'tance of her feelings# Cor -itty this is a slow 'rocess# The difference is striking? ,nna acknowledges

love for Fronsky in a matter of days whereas -itty takes years to acce't her feelings for Levin#-arenin contrasts even more e0tremely with ,nna$s and Levin$s emotional self.honesty# hereas -itty stifles her

feelings -arenin locks them away entirely even going so far as to re<ect the very idea of emotional truth# ,fter ,n

returns home from *etsy$s -arenin in reference to ,nna$s fantasies about Fronsky tells her that some things in a

'erson$s soul are best ke't hidden# This word choice is revealing? -arenin does not mind that his wife may havefeelings for another man+he only ob<ects to her acting on them in a way that other 'eo'le can see# Cor -arenin

re'ression is a way of life? he has ke't his feelings so =uarantined that his a''roach to life and love is wholly coldl

rational# hen coming to terms with his <ealousy of Fronsky -arenin does not succumb to 'assion or violence buttries to convince himself that <ealousy is DillogicalE as if his troubles with ,nna were a math 'roblem rather than a

dee'ly 'ersonal matter# This dry analytical a''roach defines not only -arenin$s relationshi' to his wife but also his

'rofession and attitude toward his work# uch like his character Levin Tolstoy hated bureaucrats such as -areninre<ecting their way of transforming the whole of life into e=uations rules and =uotas# Cor Tolstoy such cold rationa

was anti.Russian# /e believed that those like -arenin 'resented not merely romantic failure but a social threat as w

The most crucial 'lot event in the novel+the consummation of ,nna$s and Fronsky$s love+'asses almost unnotichether Tolstoy chose to leave this love scene undevelo'ed for reasons of censorshi' or artistry the event is marke

only by an elli'sis between 4ha'ters 1> and 11# hatever the reason this omission forces us to see that titillation iTolstoy$s aim in writing the novel# Anna Karenina is a novel of ideas much more than a tale of lust# ,s such it focu

on the thoughts and feelings this love affair elicits rather than on what actually ha''ens in the bedroom# The bleaknof 4ha'ter 11 the scene immediately after the affair begins highlights how far from se0y the situation is# Fronsky$

seduction of ,nna is marked by sadness rather than ha''iness contrary to all our e0'ectations# ,nna is not <oyful b

grieving sobbing and declaring that she has lost everything+right at the moment when she gets everything she haswanted# ,nna$s emotions are those of a <ilted lover not a fulfilled one# e reali%e what a tragic figure ,nna is and s

that her love is marked not by 'leasure but by des'eration#

"art Two 4ha'ters 189A5

Summary

Fronsky continues life as usual in his regiment# Though he never lets sli' that he loves ,nna the whole of &t#

"etersburg high society knows about his feelings for her# The women who once 'raised ,nna as righteous now waia chance to sling mud in her face#

Fronsky hears about an u'coming officers$ stee'lechase so he buys a new mare named Crou.Crou to ride in one o

the races# 3n the day of the races Fronsky visits Crou.Crou in the stable and she grows more agitated as he

a''roaches# Fronsky reflects on everyone 'estering him about ,nna#Just before the horse race Fronsky visits ,nna at her nearby summer house# &he has been thinking about him and

seems somewhat distraught# /er son &eryo%ha is absent as Fronsky had ho'ed# ,nna informs Fronsky that she is

'regnant# /e urges her to leave her husband and live with him instead# Fronsky cannot imagine how ,nna can wishcontinue living in such deceit not reali%ing that the reason is her love for her son# &uddenly Fronsky reali%es he is

for the races#

Fronsky arrives at the racetrack <ust as Crou.Crou is being led out of the stable# Fronsky$s brother ,le0ander

a''roaches him and tells him to answer a letter their mother has recently sent# Fronsky is e0'ected to do well in therace as his only serious rival is another officer akhotin who rides a horse named Bladiator# Nonetheless Fronsk

agitated# The race begins# ,fter a slow start Crou.Crou out'aces all the horses e0ce't Bladiator# ,t last Crou.Crou

'ulls ahead of Bladiator and is in the lead# Fronsky is ecstatic# *ut during a <um' over a ditch he shifts in the saddincorrectly causing Crou.Crou to fall# The horse breaks her back and must be shot#

eanwhile the -arenins$ relationshi' on the surface has remains <ust the same as before# nable to face or admit

own feelings for his wife -arenin treats ,nna with an offended hostility# /e hardly ever sees her as she goes awaythe summer living near *etsy Tverskoy$s home in the countryside# ,t the officers$ stee'lechase which ,nna and *

attend together -arenin observes that his wife only has eyes for Fronsky# hen Fronsky falls ,nna wee's with al

and then with relief after hearing that he is safe# -arenin offers to take ,nna home but she 'refers to stay# -arenin ,nna that her visible grief u'on Fronsky$s fall is highly im'ro'er# Cinally on the carriage ride home ,nna frankly



confesses to -arenin that she loves Fronsky and hates -arenin# The shocked -arenin demands that she continue to

observe the outward conventions of marriage for a''earances$ sake until a suitable solution is found#eanwhile -itty and some of her family are at a s'a in Bermany# The &hcherbatskys en<oy sociali%ing with uro'

aristocrats as they await an im'rovement in -itty$s health# 3ne of the s'a guests is a snobby elderly Russian inval

named adame &tahl who is famously devout and is accom'anied by a young girl named Farenka# -itty likesFarenka immensely but is nervous about meeting her# -itty$s mother learns that two s'a guests a tattered Russian

gentleman and his female com'anion are in fact Levin$s brother Nikolai and Nikolai$s girlfriend# 3ne day -itty$s

mother is so im'ressed with Farenka that she allows -itty to meet the girl# -itty is delighted and both mother and

daughter are enchanted by Farenka$s goodness#Collowing Farenka$s e0am'le of charity -itty throws herself into devotion and good deeds# &he befriends a sad 'ai

named "etrov visiting him often# /owever "etrov$s wife eventually becomes <ealous of -itty who is u'set that he

good intentions have gone astray# Near the end of -itty$s treatment her father "rince &hcherbatsky returns from htravels elsewhere in Bermany# /e entertains his family and various others at the s'a with his easy manner and funn

<okes# The "rince chats with adame &tahl who he claims is bedridden not from illness but from vanity merely

because her legs are stubby# /er ideali%ed 'ious image of adame &tahl deflated -itty never sees the old woman the same way again#

Analysis

3ne of Tolstoy$s main concerns in Anna Karenina is the conflict between inner and outer life between 'rivate 'assand the 'ublic social conventions that bind those 'assions# e see this tension in -arenin$s reaction to the news of

,nna$s adultery# nlike ,nna -arenin has no e0'ectation that outward a''earances should match the heart$s innerfeelings+he is content to live with a glaring dis'arity between the two# /e tells ,nna that she must maintain the st

=uo until he finds a suitable solution which effectively means living the same life of deceit and lies with which ,nnhas struggled 'rior to her confession# -arenin$s 'osition ensures that ,nna$s admission of adultery changes nothing

Nothing changes later either when -arenin insists on formally maintaining his marriage# ,lthough ,nna has done

wrong she at least is aligned with the side of truth# 7n contrast -arenin who technically has done no wrong is guiin the sense that he 'refers falsity <ust for the sake of maintaining a''earances#

Fronsky$s disaster in the horse race is a brilliant symbol of the difficulties he faces as ,nna$s lover# Tolstoy fills the

scene with im'licit com'arisons between the horses$ obstacle course and the love affair# Fronsky is on 'ublic dis'laas he rides in the officers$ stee'lechase <ust as his love affair with ,nna is on 'ublic dis'lay des'ite all his efforts to

kee' it secret# /e struggles to control Crou.Crou a creature he does not know well <ust as he struggles to understan

the still.unfamiliar intricacies of his relationshi' with ,nna# oreover much like a romantic relationshi' Fronskyrelationshi' with his horse is more of a 'artnershi' than a situation of mastery and submission# /e cannot rule the

horse com'letely but can only ho'e for the best# Crou.Crou and Fronsky seem to have a strong ra''ort but the hors

grows increasingly nervous as Fronsky a''roaches her <ust before the race+<ust as the relationshi' between Frons

and ,nna becomes more unsettled as the lovers grow closer# Fronsky$s troubling conversations with ,nna and hisbrother before the race im'air his concentration and his ability to ride em'hasi%ing still further the connection betw

his horse race and his relationshi'# 7n light of these 'arallels the race is darkly 'ro'hetic# Fronsky$s false move on

saddle which inadvertently breaks Crou.Crou$s back and leads to her death foreshadows Fronsky$s unintentional ydisastrous wounding of ,nna#

-itty$s involvement with Farenka and adame &tahl demonstrates Tolstoy$s ability to a''roach the central themes

concerns of Anna Karenina from various angles so subtly that we are hardly conscious of it# -itty$s stay at the Ber

s'a offers a 'arallel tale of a character swe't away by illusions and then rudely awakened to disillusionment# Tolsto'resents -itty$s disenchantment with adame &tahl in a way that makes us think twice about ,nna$s infatuation w

Fronsky# hen -itty becomes enamored with Farenka and adame &tahl she is gloriously ha''y to have found a

higher aim for her life a transcendent vision of charity and 'iety to lift her u'# *ut as -itty$s father 'oints out to helater adame &tahl is less an invalid angel of virtue and goodness than a vain woman who stays in bed because he

legs are stubby# 7n imitating adame &tahl -itty 'erforms acts of goodness that are not sincere as she herself adm

eventually# 7ndeed -itty causes more harm than good when she makes "etrov$s wife <ealous and u'set# 7n 'resentinthis se=uence of infatuation and disillusionment Tolstoy im'lies that ,nna may be in love with an illusion as well

causing unnecessary harm to those around her# e see what ,nna may not yet see? Fronsky is not a "rince 4harmin

but rather an ordinary man with the same limitations as everyone else including ,nna$s own husband#"art Three 4ha'ters 1918



Summary

Levin$s half.brother &ergei -o%nyshev takes a break from his intellectual work by visiting Levin at his country esthereas -o%nyshev sees the countryside as a 'lace of leisure Levin sees it as a 'lace of hard labor# The brothers a

have different attitudes toward the 'easantry? -o%nyshev is naKvely affectionate whereas Levin has a close familiar

with the 'easants that makes him occasionally critical# *ut if one were to ask Levin whether or not he loved the'easantry he would be unable to answer#

3n his walks with Levin in the country -o%nyshev wa0es lyrical about the beauty of nature while Levin 'refers

sim'ly to look at his surroundings without comment# The men discuss the #emstvo board and the sad state of local

affairs# -o%nyshev wonders why nothing good comes from the money landowners 'ay to local bureaucrats as thereno schools doctors or midwives to show for these 'ayments# /e chastises Levin for withdrawing from the #emstvo

where he might have e0erted a 'ositive im'act# Levin asserts that such bureaucratic work was futile and frustrating

him# The ne0t day Levin works through his troubles by doing hard labor mowing his fields alongside forty.two'easant men# The work e0hilarates him and he feels a higher force moving his scythe# *ack home -o%nyshev han

Levin a letter from @olly in which she writes that she is at her nearby estate of !ergushovo#

@olly has moved to the country to reduce household e0'enses but she finds the hardshi's of rural life almostunbearable# 3nly with the hel' of the nanny atryona is @olly able to set u' house decently# 3ne day Levin visit

@olly who eagerly broaches the sub<ect of -itty# Levin reveals that he had 'ro'osed to -itty and been refused#

4ontrary to Levin$s assum'tion @olly did not already know about his re<ected 'ro'osal# @olly affirms that -itty issuffering even more than Levin# @olly attem'ts to talk about the future of a relationshi' between Levin and -itty b

Levin gets angry saying that such 'ossibilities are dead forever#The ne0t day Levin ins'ects his hay reserves finding that the 'easants have been cheating him of a considerable

'ortion of his income although they all cheerfully deny his claim# @es'ite this annoyance Levin feels that thecountryside is where he belongs and that he is not destined to marry# *ut when he glim'ses -itty 'assing by him in

carriage one day his love for her suddenly returns#

-arenin sticks to his routine doggedly after ,nna$s revelation of her adultery attem'ting to live as if nothing haschanged# 7nwardly however the 'ain he feels and re'resses leads him to curse ,nna as a Dde'raved woman#E /e a

grows more distant and cold toward his son &eryo%ha# -arenin recites to himself the long list of men whom wome

have ruined over the course of history from ancient to modern times# /e considers challenging Fronsky to a duel bre<ects the idea out of fear of 'istols# -arenin reasons that the best 'unishment for ,nna is to kee' her bound to him

unable to divorce# /e writes a letter to her e0'laining this 'lan to her formally#

,nna is utterly sur'rised by -arenin$s decision disa''ointed that the divorce for which she yearns will not come to'ass# &he is enraged at the 'ros'ect of 'rolonging her life of lies with -arenin# &he writes a letter to him telling him

she is leaving the house and taking her son with her but in the end she does not send the letter#

,t a 'arty at *etsy$s ,nna talks to some young members of the fashionable &t# "etersburg set and is struck by how

bored they are des'ite their merry lives# 3ne of the 'arty guests Li%a asks how ha''y one can be lolling around onsofa all day#

Analysis

Though Levin$s e0tended meditations on farming may at first a''ear to be a digression away from the 'rimaryconcerns of the novel this focus on agriculture much like -itty$s e0'eriences at the s'a leads us toward =uestions

are relevant to ,nna$s story# Levin struggles with the dilemma of how to establish a sustainable relationshi' with th

natural world which he finds beautiful rich and giving and which he loves dearly# /is love for the countryside is

evident from the bliss he e0'eriences in mowing all day# !et Levin reali%es that bliss is not enough and that hisrelation to nature is threatened on all sides by others including the 'easants who mistrust him and the westerni%ed

agricultural theorists who counsel fruitless so.called im'rovements# Levin tries hard to 'ractice good husbandry bu

always seems to fail# Levin$s 'roblems with his land have elements in common with ,nna and Fronsky$s 'redicam,nna and Fronsky$s love is true and natural and their early s'iritual delight in each other is com'arable to Levin$s

feeling of ra'ture and fulfillment when mowing# !et we see that like Levin Fronsky and ,nna have trouble manag

this love that should be so sim'le and natural but that society resists from all sides# The central =uestion in bothsituations is whether society can ever learn to accommodate nature+whether grain fields or love+without loss or

sacrifice#

7t is symbolically im'ortant that @olly suddenly a''ears in the countryside after being associated with the city u' tothis 'oint in the novel# Cor Levin @olly is a sort of stand.in for her sister -itty# Levin was once in love with @olly



as well as with the rest of the &hcherbatsky family# e learn that Levin viewed the &hcherbatsky girls as goddesses

dreams fleetingly descending to greet him# ,fter -itty re<ects Levin he kee's her on her dreamy 'edestal as anuntouchable figure# *ut when @olly moves to the more rugged Russian countryside+where she can no longer be a

ideali%ed dream but must deal with daily hardshi's+she brings the &hcherbatskys down to earth for Levin# @olly

re'resents a ho'e that the two things Levin loves most -itty and the countryside may be united# hile Levin stilloutwardly insists that his relationshi' with -itty is over we feel that the flame of his love for her still burns# 7deal l

and real life may <oin for Levin eventually#

Tolstoy$s re'resentation of -arenin changes gradually but drastically so that by this 'oint in the novel we are likely

have a very different image of him from the image we had earlier without fully reali%ing that our 'erce'tion of himaltered# -arenin is a com'etent but colorless statesman? a 'erfectly nice 'erson but too absorbed in 'olicy decisions

and abstract issues to develo' much of a distinct 'ersonality# Tolstoy initially de'icts -arenin in neutral situations w

characters referring to his 'ublic role as one of the most im'ortant men in &t# "etersburg# *ut at this 'oint in the noTolstoy reveals more of -arenin$s feelings which do not enhance our res'ect for him# -arenin believes himself to b

rational but when he thinks of ,nna as a Dde'raved womanE we feel he e0aggerates irrationally# &imilarly when

-arenin reviews the list of men whom women have wronged throughout history he comes across as 'retentious andcomical <ust as he does when he re<ects the idea of a duel because he is scared of 'istols# 3ur regard for -arenin si

<ust as ,nna$s regard for him does# This shift is 'recisely Tolstoy$s intention making us feel as if we evolve along w

the heroine of the novel#"art Three 4ha'ters 1;9A2

SummaryFronsky brings his financial accounts into balance# @es'ite rumors of his huge fortune he actually leads a hand.to.

mouth e0istence# /owever he adheres to a rule he im'osed on himself long before and refuses to ask his mother foloan# Fronsky obeys his rules of conduct rigorously and it is only with the recent a''earance of ,nna in his life tha

has felt conflicted about 'ro'er behavior#

'on learning of ,nna$s 'regnancy Fronsky feels that he should resign from military service# /e is reluctant to givu' his 'rofessional ambitions however es'ecially because his old school friend+and friendly rival+&er'ukhovsk

has recently found fame# &er'ukhovskoy warns Fronsky to be wary of women as they can hold a man back from h

full career 'otential#Fronsky sets off for ,nna$s country house where she has arranged a meeting with him# 3n the way he feels he lov

her more than ever and his 'ulse =uickens u'on his first glim'se of her# ,nna reveals to Fronsky that she has told h

husband about their adulterous affair# Fronsky fears a duel but after reading -arenin$s letter to ,nna he does not knhow to react# Fronsky thinks about &er'ukhovskoy$s advice to him but knows he cannot tell ,nna about it# /e advi

,nna to abandon &eryo%ha her son with -arenin and 'ut an end to the humiliating situation by obtaining a divorce

,nna bursts out sobbing saying that she is not humiliated but 'roud#

-arenin delivers a s'eech before the commission on the relocation of the Russian native tribes and it is a brilliantsuccess# ,nna goes to her home in &t# "etersburg to talk with her husband# &he reaffirms to him that she is the one a

fault but says that she cannot change anything# -arenin e0clusively concerned about defending his honor makes o

one demand+that Fronsky never set foot in his home# ,nna and -arenin 'art#eanwhile Levin has come to loathe the farm work he once en<oyed# /e feels worn down from his unending strug

with the 'easants over their reluctance to ado't new technological innovations for farming# ore tormenting is the

nearby 'resence of -itty at !ergushovoG Levin yearns to see her but feels he cannot# @olly tries to lure Levin to vis

and encounter -itty+by re=uesting to borrow a saddle from him# Levin merely sends the saddle by courier withouvisiting @olly$s house 'ersonally#

The torture of being near -itty but not with her eventually becomes unbearable so Levin takes off to visit his frien

&viya%hsky who lives far away# 3n the way Levin sto's to eat at the home of a 'ros'erous 'easant# The 'easant anhis healthy family im'ress Levin as does the farmer$s obvious financial success# The old farmer asserts that

landowners cannot rely on hired men for 'easants handle a farm best on their own#

,t &viya%hsky$s house Levin$s host seems intent on arranging a marriage between Levin and his sister.in.law# Levdoes his best to avoid talking to the sister.in.law knowing in his heart that he can marry only -itty or no one at all#

,t dinner &viya%hsky entertains two old.fashioned landowners who miss the bygone days of serfdom in Russia# 3

of the landowners claims that farming was better in those days and that the emanci'ation of the serfs has ruined



Russia# Levin meditates on the fact that in virtually all as'ects of &viya%hsky$s life there are huge contradictions

between what &viya%hsky inwardly believes and what he outwardly lives#&viya%hsky argues that all farming should be done under a rational scientific system whereas one of the landowne

guests asserts that farming sim'ly re=uires a firm authority looming over the 'easantry# Levin agrees that his attem'

to introduce farming innovations to the 'easants have been disastrous# &viya%hsky maintains that serfdom is a thingthe 'ast and that hired labor is the future that all Russian landowners must acce't# /e asserts that education is the k

to winning over the 'easants but Levin disagrees# Thinking about the matter afterward Levin believes the answer

treat the 'easants not as an abstract workforce but as s'ecifically $ussian 'easants whose s'ecific traditions and na

must be factored into all decisions involving labor# Levin is determined to 'ut his new theory into 'ractice on hisestate making the 'easants financial 'artners in the harvest# The 'easants resist however sus'ecting Levin of

somehow trying to cheat them#

,s Levin makes 'lans to visit farms in western uro'e to research his new agricultural theory his brother Nikolaivisits# Nikolai who is even sicker than before has abandoned arya Nikolaevna# &ince only one room in the house

heated Levin allows Nikolai to slee' in his own bedroom# Nikolai$s incessant coughing and cursing kee' Levin aw

all hours of the night# ith his brother obviously dying Levin can think of nothing but death# /e gets u' to e0aminhis graying tem'les affirming that he has a few good years left in his life# /e goes back to bed wondering whether

there is anything he can do to hel' his brother#

The ne0t day conversation between the brothers is strained as the des'airing and self.'itying Nikolai 'ur'oselyirritates Levin by mocking his ideas about agricultural im'rovement# Nikolai leaves but at the last minute asks for

Levin$s forgiveness# Levin later meets a friend to whom he s'eaks about death# Levin is aware that he must live ouhis life to the end come what may#

Analysis

7n this 'ortion of the novel Tolstoy shows us some of the une0'ected and seemingly contradictory as'ects of

Fronsky$s character# Though Fronsky$s methodical accounting 'ractices a''ear to be at odds with his devil.may.ca

image we see that they are as integral to his character as his wild horse.racing style# Fronsky divides all the bills hreceives into three distinct categories ranked in order of urgency of 'ayment and he never deviates from this syste

/e likewise has strict moral regulations for himself? he may lie to a woman but never to a man and so on# 3n the

whole Tolstoy suggests that Fronsky is 'erha's as much of a stickler for rational systems as the other ,le0ei ,nnaanalytical husband# -arenin a''lies his methods to 'ublic 'olicy whereas Fronsky a''lies his to his finances#

Regardless it is clear that both men value intellectual systems over intuition instinct or whim# Tolstoy thus thwart

our e0'ectation of a stark contrast between a cold rational -arenin and a stormy 'assionate Fronsky# The two arecertainly different but not absolute o''osites# ,nna who has little interest in a''lying systems of thought to her

'ersonal life may be less similar to either of them than they are to each other# 7ndeed she never once a''eals to an

rule or 'rocess of deduction to determine her actions# 7n her ruling instincts ,nna resembles Levin more than her

husband or her lover#Fronsky$s conversation with ,nna at the country house is the first hint at a decline in the intimacy of their relations

Cor the first time in the novel we are aware of Fronsky having a thought that he fails to share with ,nna+his mem

of &er'ukhovskoy$s warning about the dangerous effects of women on men$s ambition# Tolstoy heightens the dramthis moment at the country house by showing us Fronsky$s thought and then telling us of his inability to communic

it to ,nna# &er'ukhovskoy$s advice itself is not necessarily valid for ,nna has 'roved herself a ca'able wife to the

e0tremely ambitious -arenin# hat is more im'ortant is that the advice cannot be shared which signals the formati

of a boundary between Fronsky$s mind and ,nna$s# ,s the novel 'rogresses this boundary becomes increasinglyinsurmountable and foreshadows the end of their union# ,nother hint of a bleak future comes in Fronsky$s referenc

,nna$s DhumiliationE a very 'ublic form of shame# ,nna rightly re<ects this term saying she does not feel humiliat

&he is aware only of love a 'rivate emotion# Fronsky$s focus on humiliation suggests that he feels beholden to the'ressure of social values+a 'ressure that re'resents a clear danger to their love#

Just as Fronsky$s rationality comes as a sur'rise so do Levin$s thoughts of mortality and of his own death# Though

Levin is a healthy and vigorous man abla%e with future 'lans Tolstoy has him meditate on death for several reasonCirst Levin$s thoughts reveal his dee' em'athy with his critically ill brother# Like ,nna Levin is unable to distance

himself from the suffering of anyone close to him# &econd Levin$s reflections on mortality endow him with a wise

humility that other characters such as -arenin and even Fronsky lack# Levin is no frailer than they yet somevainglorious =uality about those other men makes it hard to imagine either of them contem'lating his own demise#



ven Fronsky who has come near death in the horse race has not let the e0'erience noticeably alter his views# Lev

is different? his closeness to his ailing brother causes him to reali%e and acce't his human nature and limited life s'aCinally Levin$s thoughts of death align him with ,nna who thinks about death the first moment we meet her after

casualty in the train station# Levin and ,nna are linked not only in the intensity of their lives but also in their

recognition of the closeness of death#"art Cour 4ha'ters 1911

Summary

The -arenins continue to live in the same house but are almost com'letely estranged from each other# -arenin mak

a rule to see ,nna every day+in order to avoid s'reading rumors of se'aration among the servants+but he neverdines at home# *oth husband and wife fervently ho'e that their 'ainful situation is tem'orary#

Fronsky endures a dull week entertaining a visiting foreign dignitary who wishes to e0'erience the true s'irit of

Russia# 4arousing with gy'sy girls the foreigner believes he is discovering Russian culture# Fronsky is 'ained by tresemblance between the foreigner and himself? both are healthy confident rather em'ty noblemen#

Returning home one night Fronsky finds a note from ,nna saying that she must see him inviting him to her home

when -arenin is to be at a meeting# Fronsky goes to ,nna at the a''ointed time but is shocked to run into -areninwhose meeting has ended early# ,nna is grouchy making barbed remarks about Fronsky$s night with the foreigner

the gy'sy girls# Fronsky is sadly aware of how ,nna has changed both morally and 'hysically? she is irritable and

'ut on weight#,nna eru'ts in anger toward -arenin calling him a 'u''et and an Dadministrative machineE and re'roaching his la

of guts# &he says that in his 'lace she would have killed a wife like herself# Fronsky attributes ,nna$s moodiness to'regnancy and asks when the baby is due# ,nna says that it should not be long# &he adds that soon everything will

resolved as she will die shortly# Fronsky accuses ,nna of s'eaking nonsense but she declares that she has had a'ro'hetic dream+a vision of an old 'easant man rummaging in a sack and talking about the necessity of beating ir

The 'easant in the dream told her that she would die in childbirth#

-arenin 'asses a slee'less night after his run.in with Fronsky angered that ,nna has violated the only condition he'laced on her+that she never receive Fronsky in -arenin$s house# -arenin tells ,nna he 'lans to initiate divorce

'roceedings and sei%es her love letters from Fronsky to use as evidence# ,nna begs -arenin to allow her to kee'

custody of &eryo%ha# -arenin re'lies that although he no longer loves the boy he will take him anyway#The ne0t day -arenin visits a divorce lawyer who assumes -arenin wishes to 'ursue a mutually consenting divorc

-arenin e0'lains that he wants to 'rove involuntary e0'osure of an adulterous affair using the love letters as evide

The lawyer warns him that such cases re=uire the involvement of religious authorities and that often letters are notsufficient evidence# The lawyer asks -arenin for freedom to 'roceed with the s'ecifics of the divorce as he thinks b

and -arenin agrees#

,fter being thwarted by a rival at work -arenin decides to set out for the 'rovinces in an attem't to redeem his

'rofessional re'utation# /e encounters &tiva and @olly one day and treats them coolly# &tiva who is in good s'iritsis en<oying his new ballerina mistress invites -arenin Levin -itty and others to a dinner 'arty# -arenin initially

declines revealing his 'lans to divorce ,nna# Though &tiva is shocked and worried about his sister he insists that

-arenin come nonetheless# ,t the dinner 'arty -arenin is cold toward the others# ven so the food is e0cellent and'arty is successful# -itty and Levin see each other for the first time since the failed marriage 'ro'osal and their mu

love is overwhelmingly evident# 3ver dinner the guests discuss education and the rights of women#

Analysis

,nna$s bi%arre dream and her 'ro'hecy that her life will soon end dee'en her association with death# "rior to this 'in the novel ,nna has been linked to death only symbolically through the death of the workman at the train station

through the black dress she wears when dancing with Fronsky# hen ,nna straightforwardly announces that she is

convinced she will die in childbirth the connection between her illicit love and her death is cemented# /er sense thdeath is a''roaching is not rational as it is based solely on a dream+but ,nna has never done anything for rationa

reasons so her certainty about dying carries a great deal of weight# 7n one sense this dream is a sim'le device

foreshadowing ,nna$s eventual death accom'anied by a note of the su'ernatural that suggests a divine force that'unishes wrongdoers# *ut her death may be more than a tragic side effect of her love# Tolstoy hints that ,nna may

actually yearn for her own demise# hen ,nna re<ects -arenin$s restraint saying that in his 'lace she would have

killed a wife like herself her suicide fantasy is obvious# @eath may come not as a 'unishment but as the only o'tionfor a des'erate woman#



The s'ecter of dishonesty 'ervades the -arenins$ domestic life as they still live together in 'ur'orted harmony des'

the reality of their near.com'lete estrangement# -arenin is so intent on maintaining the outward a''earance of'ro'riety that he makes a 'oint of visiting ,nna once a day merely so rumors will not s'read among the servants#

,nna$s worst nightmare+'rolonging her deceitful e0istence+is unfortunately now her way of life# &he knows tha

this charade may continue indefinitely if -arenin refuses a divorce#Tolstoy artfully broadens Anna Karenina into a social criti=ue by showing how the -arenins$ false lifestyle is not a

anomaly but actually =uite ty'ical of other aristocratic Russians in the same social circle# &ubtly and without

commentary or value <udgment the narrator mentions &tiva$s new ballerina mistress showing us that &tiva has not

re'ented of his earlier offense to @olly but has 'erha's only learned to hide his misdemeanors more carefully#&imilarly Fronsky is aware that he is only mimicking ty'ical Russian life with his foreign guest 'laying at being th

stereoty'ical high.living nobleman his guest e0'ects to see# This universality of deceitful living among the Russian

nobility makes their u'coming re<ection of ,nna all the more hy'ocritical#&tiva$s society dinner 'arty seems a bit <arring as it shows us that the carefree &tiva 'ursues his social calendar as

usual even after receiving the shocking news that divorce 'roceedings are in the works against his sister# Though

divorce may be common'lace in our society in 186>s Russia it carried a great stigma ty'ically leaving the guilty 'socially shunned unable to remarry and without custody of his or her children# 7n this light we might e0'ect a mor

sensitive brother to cancel his dinner 'arty u'on hearing such devastating news# &tiva however carries on with his

soiree as scheduled# e cannot wholeheartedly blame &tiva though as he clearly loves his sister# Curthermore wesense that he may be ho'ing to use the 'arty to dissuade -arenin from divorce though a 'rivate and solemn meetin

home would likely be more fitting than a festive dinner# &till we have lingering doubts about the way &tiva and theother male characters in Anna Karenina treat women# ,s a novelist Tolstoy was enormously sensitive to the situati

of women in Russia# /ere he im'licitly critici%es the womani%ing and oblivious &tiva? ,nna may be ruined but &tilets the 'arty go on#

"art Cour 4ha'ters 1292A

Summary

3ver dinner at the 3blonskys$ a guest makes a remark that dis'leases -arenin who leaves the table# /e finds @oll

the drawing room and reveals to her his firm 'lans for divorce# /earing that ,nna has cheated on -arenin @olly

'rotests that ,nna will be ruined# -arenin claims there is nothing he can do#,t the same dinner Levin and -itty s'eak to each other for the first time since her re<ection of his marriage 'ro'os

4learly still caring for each other greatly they 'lay a word game on a card table through which they a'ologi%e to ea

other for their 'ast errors# Levin 'ro'oses to -itty again and she acce'ts# Later Levin tells his brother &ergei of hisengagement and wanders slee'lessly in the streets over<oyed# hen morning comes Levin visits the &hcherbatsky

house and embraces -itty# 7n a ha''y da%e Levin goes off to buy flowers and 'resents for the engagement celebrat

Levin wishing to be fully honest with -itty shows her his <ournals which divulge the fact that he is agnostic and h

not been chaste 'rior to marriage# -itty is u'set but ultimately forgiving#-arenin is 'assed over for a government 'ost he has been coveting# Just after receiving this bad news he receives a

telegram announcing that ,nna is gravely ill# /e arrives to learn that ,nna has delivered a baby girl and that she is

suffering from a fever from which she is not e0'ected to recover# Fronsky is 'resent at ,nna$s bedside# ,nna is surshe is dying so she begs -arenin for forgiveness# &he also im'lores -arenin to forgive Fronsky which -arenin

tearfully does#

hen Fronsky is about to leave the house -arenin tells him that he has forgiven ,nna and will stay by her side#

Fronsky de'arts with the feeling that his love for ,nna which has flagged lately is reviving# *ack at his home hecannot slee' tormented by the 'ossibility of ,nna$s death# 3nly half.aware of his actions Fronsky aims a 'istol at

chest and fires# /e is gravely wounded but survives as one of his servants =uickly discovers him and sends for doc

-arenin meanwhile is sur'rised by how sincerely he was able to forgive ,nna and by the tenderness he feels towaher newborn daughter who is also named ,nna# Later -arenin overhears a conversation between ,nna and *etsy

Tverskaya# *etsy im'lores ,nna to say goodbye to Fronsky before he leaves for the 'rovincial ca'ital of Tashkent

where he is to be stationed# ,nna refuses saying that there is no 'oint in seeing Fronsky again# 3n the way out *ebegs -arenin to allow Fronsky to visit ,nna one last time# -arenin answers that such a matter is solely his wife$s

decision# 7n des'erate grief ,nna 'rivately affirms to -arenin that there is no 'oint in seeing Fronsky again# -aren

says he is willing to allow the affair to continue 'rovided that the family and children are not disgraced#



&tiva arrives at the -arenin house# ,nna 'rivately tells him that she cannot stand -arenin any longer# &tiva says the

'roblem is sim'le? ,nna married someone whom she did not love and who was twenty years her seniorG now she loanother man and she must decide whether or not to stay with her husband# ,nna says she does not know what to do

&tiva s'eaks to -arenin who shows him a letter he has begun writing to ,nna# The letter tells ,nna that the decisio

about the future of their marriage is entirely in her hands# &tiva says that only divorce will satisfy ,nna but -arenireminds him of the disgrace she will suffer if she chooses such a 'ath# &tiva mentions that -arenin could allow ,nn

esca'e 'ublic shame by taking res'onsibility for the disgrace himself+by 'retending that it was he rather than ,n

who committed adultery# -arenin tearfully says that he is willing to acce't this o'tion#

Fronsky hearing that -arenin has granted a divorce visits ,nna# They acknowledge their mutual love# ,nna says t-arenin is being too generous with her so she cannot acce't his magnanimity in granting her wish for divorce

'roceedings# Fronsky resigns his commission and he and ,nna set off on a tri' abroad abandoning the idea of

divorce#

Analysis

Levin$s bliss at confirming his love for -itty and hearing her confirm it in return is one of the most unforgettable

'ortrayals of romantic love in all of literature# !et this scene also fulfills a key function in the novel reminding us oTolstoy$s interest in e0'loring the relationshi' between reason and instinct in human life# Levin$s <oy is irrational# /

state a''roaches delirium as he loses control over his body and mind# /e walks in the frigid Russian air without a c

yet he does not feel cold# /e tries to eat but feels no need of food even though he has not eaten since the day befor/e has not sle't for two nights when he shows u' in the morning at the &hcherbatsky residence in a blissful da%e# T

irrational e'isode 'uts Levin in stark contrast to -arenin who we sus'ect has never had an irrational moment in hlife# 7t also se'arates Levin from Fronsky who always tries to maintain control over his life as we see in his attem'

to master Crou.Crou and settle his financial accounts methodically# hereas Levin throws himself into love blindlyfreely Fronsky enters it in a controlling and self.'ossessed s'irit# e ultimately sense that Tolstoy admires Levin$s

love far more#

3ur view of -arenin is <olted in these cha'ters when he breaks into tears and volunteers to acce't guilt in the divor'roceedings# The tears themselves are a shock as we have been told that -arenin hates nothing more than crying

which he considers irrational and odious# /ere however -arenin$s intellectual and logical armor is 'ierced and w

get a glim'se of an emotional man within# oreover his assum'tion of guilt is une0'ectedly and e0traordinarilyaltruistic# ,s an im'ortant 'ublic 'ersonage -arenin is well aware of the disgrace that would fall u'on him and

undoubtedly destroy his career# /onor is a 'aramount 'ersonal consideration for him+he says <ust a few cha'ters

earlier that he is even willing to allow ,nna to carry on her liaison as long as she does not threaten the honor of thefamily# /ere however -arenin is willing not only to acce't a divorce for ,nna$s sake but also to sacrifice his own

honor in the bargain# This sudden selflessness utterly shakes u' our view of -arenin$s character derailing our more

cynical <udgments about his attitude toward ,nna$s adultery# -arenin is no 'assionate hero but he is not a machine

,nna calls him either#,nna$s deathbed 'lea for forgiveness for herself and Fronsky and -arenin$s sur'rising assent raise im'ortant

=uestions about the moral and theological im'ortance of forgiveness in this novel# &everal of the sta'le 4hristian

teachings of selflessness+turning the other cheek to wrongdoers giving away one$s cloak when one$s coat has beestolen and so on+are re'eatedly cited in Anna Karenina. -arenin in his sudden generosity e0em'lifies these tene

in his willingness to forgive and forget everything# e see similar generosity in Levin$s and -itty$s forgiveness of e

other$s 'ast decisions and actions# *ut forgiveness does not have a sim'le function in the novelG it is not a cure.all t

can be universally offered and acce'ted# 7ndeed the e'igra'h that begins Anna Karenina is a =uotation from the NeTestament (Romans 12?1;) that evokes the harsher morality of the 3ld Testament from which it is borrowed

(@euteronomy A2?A)? DFengeance is mineG 7 shall re'ay#E This em'hasis on vengeance the very o''osite of

forgiveness suggests that violent retribution may ultimately win out over meek humility# 7ndeed we see that ,nna for -arenin$s forgiveness but does not necessarily acce't it fleeing abroad with Fronsky at the end of "art Cour# Th

role of forgiveness is not a clear.cut one in the world of the novel? though a 'owerful healing force in Levin and -i

relationshi' it may ultimately be re<ected in favor of vengeance in -arenin and ,nna$s#"art Cive 4ha'ters 191:

Summary

,s Levin and -itty$s wedding date is set Levin remains in his blissful da%e# /e 'erforms all the duties e0'ected ofbut is almost mad with <oy# &tiva reminds Levin that he must go to confession before his wedding# Levin meets wit



the 'riest and confesses that he doubts everything including the e0istence of Bod# The 'riest sternly warns Levin th

the 4hristianity of his future offs'ring is at stake# Later Levin en<oys a bachelor 'arty with his brother &ergei and&ergei$s university friend -atavasov# The bachelors ask Levin if he is 're'ared to give u' his freedom for the

constraints of marriage# Levin feeling insecure and wondering why -itty should ever love him at all asks -itty

whether she wants to go through with the wedding# They have a brief argument but are reconciled#That evening the wedding guests await the groom in the church# Levin is late because a mi0.u' involving his cloth

has left him without a 'ro'er shirt to wear# The ceremony is delayed and the guests become im'atient but Levin fin

arrives at the church# -itty cannot understand the 'riest$s words as she hears them for she is swe't away by love#

Levin cries during the ceremony# The wedding concludes ma<estically and Levin and -itty leave for his country esFronsky and ,nna meanwhile travel in 7taly for three months together and settle down and rent a 'ala%%o# Fronsk

seeking distraction is delighted to meet an old school friend Bolenishchev# Bolenishchev and ,nna get along well

Fronsky listens as Bolenishchev e0'ounds on the book he is writing and ,nna tells Bolenishchev that Fronsky hastaken u' 'ainting#

,nna for her 'art has been very ha''y# Car from Russia she feels no more disgrace# Fronsky is less contented

however? all his desires are satisfied so he misses desire itself# /e begins to 'aint a 'ortrait of ,nna# /earing of aRussian 'ainter named ikhailov who lives in their town Fronsky reflects on the new generation of Russian

intellectuals who have talent but lack education# ,nna intrigued 'ro'oses visiting ikhailov#

hen Fronsky and ,nna arrive at ikhailov$s studio the artist is flattered to receive attention from wealthy Russia/e shows them a 'ainting in 'rogress a scene from the life of Jesus 4hrist# ,nna and Fronsky 'raise ikhailov$s

rendering of "ontius "ilate and ,nna delights in the e0'ression of 'ity on Jesus$ face# The visitors en<oy even morelandsca'e 'ainting of Russian boys rela0ing by a river# Fronsky asks whether the latter 'ainting is for sale and hires

ikhailov to 'aint ,nna$s 'ortrait# Fronsky abandons his own 'ortrait of ,nna and becomes dissatisfied with their7talian life#

Levin slowly ad<usts to married life# /e imagines that -itty needs only to be loved forgetting that she has desires a

as'irations of her own# -itty throws herself into housekee'ing with gusto in a way that initially annoys Levin but th'leases him# uarrels occasionally eru't# 3ne day Levin gets lost on the way home from the fields and -itty is

<ealous and sus'icious of where he has been# /e is offended but then forgives her#

eanwhile Levin continues work on his book about the Russian agricultural system but his slow 'rogress distresshim# /e chastises himself for being s'oiled by married life and silently re'roaches -itty for her lack of interest in

anything other than housekee'ing# Levin receives a letter from arya Nikolaevna saying that she is back with his

brother Nikolai who is dying of consum'tion# Levin says he must visit Nikolai and -itty insists on going with himLevin does not want her to come resenting his lack of freedom and shuddering at the idea of -itty meeting a forme

'rostitute# Levin and -itty fight but finally he allows her to come along#

Analysis

Levin$s confession to the 'riest brings religion out from the background+where it has been consistently throughouAnna %Karenina& and into focus in the foreground# Like many thinkers of his era Tolstoy was ske'tical of religiou

faith but also yearned for its 'otential for transcendence# 7n the novel Tolstoy gives Levin+his namesake in the no

as Lev is Tolstoy$s first name+this same ambivalence toward religion# Levin is a dee'ly soulful 'erson as we see his ecstasy in both farming and marriage# /owever though he has the s'irituality that faith demands he lacks belie

its dogma and rituals# ith characteristic candor Levin tells the 'riest that he doubts the e0istence of Bod+a

remarkable statement even for Levin# This contradiction however is e0actly Tolstoy$s 'oint? Levin is in the church

because of faith but because of social convention as a confession certificate is re=uired for marriage# Tolstoy inviteto see religion as divided between s'irituality on one hand and social e0'ectations on the other# /e does not attack

religion but merely suggests that observance of its social institutions often re'laces true s'irituality#

eanwhile the account of Fronsky and ,nna$s time in 7taly hints at the lovers$ future difficulties as refugees fromRussian social conventions# ,t first glance they seem to live in an e0'atriate 'aradise? they are wealthy have serva

and a beautiful 'ala%%o and 'ass their time strolling and 'ainting with no enemies to attack or demean their love#

,nna is ha''ier than she ever imagined and Fronsky feels that all his desires are satisfied# Nonetheless there istrouble in this seeming 'aradise# Fronsky misses desire+in 'articular we feel he misses the 'rofessional ambition

that guided his life in Russia# ven in e0ile Russia draws the lovers back into its gri'# &ignificantly the 'eo'le

im'ortant to ,nna and Fronsky in 7taly are Russians+Bolenishchev and ikhailov# No 7talians are significant enoto be named in the novel# The 'ainting that Fronsky loves most is not the 'ortrait of Jesus+a rebel like him and ,n



+but rather a Russian landsca'e# Cor all his love of 7taly Fronsky is 'ulled back toward the very country where he

and his lover are damned defiled and e0cluded# &ocial conventions we see are not easy to esca'e# They are 'art ous and we continue to live within them even when suffering because of them#

,s Tolstoy continues to develo' the 'lots involving Levin and ,nna in 'arallel he invites us to com'are the differi

honeymoons of the novel$s two recently formali%ed romantic relationshi's# @es'ite the fact that Levin$s ma<esticchurch wedding contrasts starkly with ,nna$s scandalous flight to 7taly the two unions are sur'risingly similar# The

difference between their res'ective legal statuses hardly matters when we focus on their internal dynamics# *oth

cou'les settle in the countryside leaving behind social ambitions and both struggle with the disorientation that com

from having their desires satisfied# Fronsky finds total satisfaction to be irksome and Levin admits to -itty that hediscontented even though he is ha''y# *oth men are unable to do the work they dream of doing? Fronsky is antsy a

resigning from his regiment and Levin cannot bring himself to work on his book on agriculture# The similarities

between Fronky and Levin remind us not to e0aggerate the im'ortance of ,nna$s so.called immorality# Relationshiare relationshi's whether or not they bear social or religious stam's of a''roval# Tolstoy encourages us to look bey

social rules and to e0amine the inner workings of romantic unions with an o'en mind#

"art Cive 4ha'ters 169AA

Summary

7n a dingy hotel in the 'rovinces Levin meets Nikolai who is clearly at death$s door# -itty insists on seeing Nikola

too and he greets her 'leasantly# Levin cannot bear to look at Nikolai but the more 'ractical -itty immediately getdown to work to lessen the dying man$s suffering dis'laying remarkable com'assion and em'athy for him# -itty$s

tenderness touches Nikolai# Levin meditates on how he fears death more than -itty even though he is more intelligthan she# /e concludes that he is self.centered whereas she is selfless#

The ne0t day Nikolai takes communion and feels better 'assing a half.hour without coughing# *ut then the coughreturns# Nikolai tells -itty+whom he calls by her Russian name -atia+to leave the room as he will die soon# /e

continues to linger between life and death however# -itty meanwhile feels ill and vomits# ,fter several tedious da

of waiting Nikolai finally 'asses away# The doctor tells -itty that she is vomiting because she is 'regnant#-arenin meanwhile cannot gras' what has led him to his current misery# ,sked to 'ay one of ,nna$s overdue bills

nearly breaks down# /is career is at a standstill# The narrator fills us in on -arenin$s childhood? an or'han -arenin

grew u' with many awards and distinctions but without intimacy in his life# Now his friend Lydia 7vanovna urges hto trust in Jesus and offers to run his household# Corlornly in love with -arenin herself Lydia 7vanovna has re'lace

erotic 'assion with religious love# /owever she is s'iteful toward ,nna refusing to acknowledge ,nna$s letter

'leading to see &eryo%ha# Lydia 7vanovna informs -arenin that ,nna is in &t# "etersburg which makes -arenin glu/e asserts that he cannot thwart ,nna$s maternal love for her son# Lydia 7vanovna maliciously asks whether ,nna t

loves her son#

&eryo%ha$s birthday arrives and his <oy in getting gifts is heightened by his 'ride that his father has received an off

award# The boy bombards his tutor with =uestions about his father$s award but the tutor insists he concentrate onschoolwork# &eryo%ha wonders why the tutor does not love him# Lydia 7vanovna has told &eryo%ha that his mother

dead to him but he still ho'es to see ,nna again# -arenin visits &eryo%ha and =ui%%es him on his religious lessons#

&eryo%ha does not do well and -arenin is disa''ointed in his son$s 'rogress#'on returning to &t# "etersburg Fronsky and ,nna stay in a fine hotel# They ho'e to resume their social life but ar

thwarted# veryone shuns them even *etsy Tverskaya who e0'lains that she cannot risk the 'ublic shame of

sociali%ing with ,nna# ,nna receives -arenin$s denial of her 'lea to see &eryo%ha and is devastated# @etermined to

her son anyway she buys him toys for his birthday and visits the -arenin home one morning hiding her face until has entered#

The servants recogni%e ,nna and bring her to &eryo%ha# other and son chat and ,nna cries with <oy and regret#

&eryo%ha$s former nanny also visiting him informs ,nna that -arenin is soon to enter the room# ,nna hurries awabut encounters -arenin on her way out# ,s she leaves she reali%es that she never got the chance to give &eryo%ha h

toys# Returning to the hotel in a da%e ,nna is unable to fathom her 'resent situation# oreover she suddenly feels

love toward her infant daughter ,nnie# ,nna mentally re'roaches Fronsky for abandoning her lately#Fronsky returns to the hotel to find ,nna with "rincess 3blon.skaya an old unmarried aunt of ,nna$s with a bad

re'utation# ,nna announces that she 'lans to attend the o'era that evening# Fronsky begs her not to warning her of

fact that the members of high society at the theater will scorn and humiliate her# /e believes that she wishes todeliberately 'rovoke and insult conventional society#



Nevertheless ,nna leaves for the o'era# Fronsky follows later and watches in horror as ,nna is insulted by

ac=uaintances in the neighboring bo0# ,nna returns home angry and des'erate# Fronsky reassures her of his love athe two de'art for the countryside#

Analysis

Just before we see ,nna reach the de'ths of humiliation in her 'ublic disgrace Tolstoy shows us a glim'se of ,nna'rivate at her most tender and maternal moment# The author <u0ta'oses the two e0tremes of ,nna$s 'ersonality? <u

we have never seen her so bra%enly in the 'ublic eye as during her time at the o'era so too have we never seen her

=uite so loving and motherly as when she secretly brings birthday 'resents to her son# e have fre=uently heard tha

she loves &eryo%ha but her tears of <oy at seeing him 'rove that love# The birthday scene is crucial because it reminus that the love for which ,nna lives is not <ust romantic love but 'arental love as well# /er life is defined by the fa

that she cares for certain 'eo'le and does not care for others# 7n this regard she is not a di%%y romantic dreamer like

Claubert$s deluded adame *ovary# ,nna does not throw away her 'ast in 'ursuit of a dashing love interest but simand 'assionately tries to find and stick by true love in all its forms whether lover or son#

These cha'ters all center on human isolation e0'loring this conce't from different angles through the e0'eriences

different characters# -arenin$s loneliness nearly 'ushes him to a nervous breakdown as his family life and 'rofessiocareer fall a'art# The man who once seemed invincible now a''ears sur'risingly frail# Tolstoy suggests that isolatio

can to''le even giants# e learn that -arenin was an or'han raised without 'arental intimacy# 7n giving us -arenin

childhood history the author invites us to conclude that -arenin$s later 'ursuit of status and honor is an attem't to fthe void left by the lack of family love# &eryo%ha may well feel this same lack of love and we fear that he may grow

u' to be <ust like his father# hen &eryo%ha asks his tutor about official awards and wonders why the tutor does notlove him more we see that the boy mi0es intimacy and honors in his mind as much as his father does#

,nna$s humiliation in the theater is of course another case of isolation+a 'ainful forced ostracism# The dyingNikolai is isolated as well and -itty$s com'anionshi' is like a medicine to him# Though Nikolai does not recover

-itty$s kindness makes his final days far less lonely and frightening than they might have been# The healing 'ower

-itty$s com'any for Nikolai reminds us that sim'le togetherness can have a miraculous effect in curing the great illisolation that afflicts mankind#

"art &i0 4ha'ters 191:

Summary

@olly unha''y with her own run.down estate moves in with Levin and -itty for the summer# -itty$s friend Farenk

and Levin$s half.brother &ergei are also 'resent# &ergei is friendly des'ite the others$ awe of his fame# @olly and -

even discuss the 'ossibility of setting him u' with Farenka# Levin is ske'tical of this idea e0'laining that &ergei isused to a s'iritual life whereas Farenka is more earthy# Levin tells -itty that he envies &ergei who lives for duty an

thus can reach satisfaction# -itty asks why Levin is not satisfied himself# Levin mentions his work frustrations but

affirms he is ha''y overall#

&ergei and Farenka do indeed like each other greatly and &ergei fantasi%es about 'ro'osing marriage# 3ne day thego out 'icking mushrooms together and both of them suddenly reali%e &ergei is on the verge of 'ro'osing# ,t the l

minute however he is unable to bring himself to do so as he wishes to be loyal to the memory of a deceased lover

from his youth# The o''ortunity gone &ergei and Farenka both reali%e they will never marry each other#3ne day &tiva arrives with a friend the handsome Feslovsky# &tiva mentions that Feslovsky has visited ,nna# @ol

asserts that she will visit ,nna too though -itty is reluctant to go# Feslovsky flirts with -itty which makes Levin

insanely <ealous# Levin and -itty =uarrel and Levin a'ologi%es 'romising to make Feslovsky feel welcome on thei

hunting tri' the ne0t day#&etting out with &tiva and Feslovsky Levin is ashamed of his earlier anger for he now finds Feslovsky comical and

good.natured# *ut once they begin hunting the 'resence of the somewhat ha'less Feslovsky again bothers Levin

distracting him and causing him to shoot badly# The others bag far more game and Levin$s irritation grows# Feslovstu'idly sets his gun off accidentally and gets their cart stuck in a marsh#

The men discuss a railroad magnate neighbor whose fortune Levin disdains considering it ill gotten the 'roduct of

financial tricks not hard work# &tiva mocks Levin for being a nobleman who does not work for his fortune and Leis irked# Levin goes to bed frustrated while the other two go off in 'ursuit of farm girls which &tiva says is acce'ta

as long as his wife does not find out#

aking early the ne0t morning Levin goes off hunting alone# /is dog flushes out several enormous sni'e whichLevin kills effortlessly# @elighted Levin returns hours later with nineteen birds# /is <oy dis'erses however when h



learns that &tiva and Feslovsky have eaten all the food# -itty then discusses her need to go to oscow to see an

obstetrician# Levin initially resists believing doctors to be unnecessary but finally assents# Feslovsky engages -ittya conversation about whether love can be above social conventions but she finds his tone ob<ectionable# -itty and

Levin =uarrel and make u' once more# Cinally Levin again annoyed at Feslovsky$s flirtation with -itty kicks him

of the house des'ite his awareness that such an action is ungracious#@olly sticks to her 'lan of visiting ,nna# &he 'lans to hire her own horses rather than ask for Levin$s as she is

reluctant to seek his aid for a 'otentially shameful mission# Levin however insists on giving @olly his horses# @uri

the tri' @olly reflects on love and marriage remembering a 'easant girl$s comment that motherhood is bondage# &

understands ,nna$s need to live her life on her own terms and wonders whether she too could love and be loved inreal way#

Analysis

7t might seem 'u%%ling that Tolstoy suddenly chooses to focus on the courtshi' of two fairly marginal characters&ergei and Farenka at a 'oint in the novel when Levin$s and ,nna$s relationshi's are in full swing# /owever the

endearing and awkward romance between these two minor characters offers us an im'ortant contrast to other instan

of love we glim'se in the novel and makes us reflect on the nature of relationshi's in general# &ergei and Farenka both s'iritual creatures? &ergei is a born intellectual and Farenka is often termed a born saint# They both seem to dw

in the air rather than in the flesh# Levin and -itty are both aware of their differences from these two? Levin cannot

follow &ergei$s highly analytical a''roach to life$s =uestions and -itty cannot follow Farenka$s e0am'le of moralgood works at the Berman s'a# *ut Tolstoy suggests that s'iritual gifts may be a disadvantage in life and love as w

watch &ergei and Farenka$s touching but 'athetic attem't to make romantic contact# &ergei dreams of declaring hislove but ultimately can only dare talk about mushrooms# Their limitations are clear# Tolstoy may value 'urity of mi

and heart but he a''reciates the worldly wisdom of 'hysical beings still more#Levin$s hunting frustrations give us an interesting insight into his 'syche# /is difficulty in bagging game may be

attributed to sim'le bad luck or to the annoyance of having others nearby+but it may also go much dee'er# hen

Tolstoy shows Levin$s annoyance with Feslovsky we sus'ect that the reason for Levin$s 'oor shooting may beunconscious anger# /e certainly resents Feslovsky$s flirtations with -itty as we have seen earlier# Levin$s irritation

however may also have a 'hiloso'hical and social dimension? he may be angry at the irres'onsible lifestyles these

Russian noblemen en<oy# Feslovsky+whose name contains the Russian word for DmerrilyE veselo& lives for 'leasand thinks only of himself# /e nearly shoots his comrades by accident and laughs about it later and he gets the cart

stuck in the marsh through 'ure obliviousness# Feslovsky and &tiva also gobble u' the food meant for Levin again

sim'ly without thinking# 3n the whole Feslovsky$s womani%ing and 'leasure seeking are e0aggerations of similartraits in &tiva and they symboli%e the harmful selfishness of the Russian noble classes that Levin generally dislikes

Levin wishes to care for and be mindful of something larger than his own urgesG these other men do not#

@olly$s decision to visit ,nna is an e0traordinarily significant event# 7t reveals not <ust @olly$s strength of character

she dares to call on a woman shunned by society sim'ly because she loves her+but also a dimension of @olly$s inthoughts that we have not seen before# /er willingness to hire her own horses rather than use Levin$s for fear of

shaming him shows that she is well aware of the stigma that her visit may bring# e never doubt @olly$s true love

,nna in 'aying her this visit as @olly is nothing if not sincere in her e0'ression of affection# *ut on a dee'er level@olly mentally 'uts herself in ,nna$s 'lace throughout her tri' vicariously trying out ,nna$s e0'eriences# ,lthoug

ha''ily devoted to her children @olly wistfully recalls overhearing a 'easant say that motherhood is bondage# @oll

goes on to associate ,nna with a freedom from this bondage for ,nna has abandoned her son# ,nna re'resents

freedom and ha''iness for @olly and her e0am'le is 'rovocative 'rom'ting @olly to think about her own life'hiloso'hically# The clima0 of @olly$s interior monologue comes when she wonders whether she could be loved in

real way+hinting that she knows that the slick &tiva does not have real love for her#

"art &i0 4ha'ters 169A2

Summary

n route to ,nna$s house @olly encounters ,nna Feslovsky "rincess 3blonskaya and Levin$s friend &viya%hsky

horseback# @olly is startled by ,nna$s boldness in riding horseback which society considers im'ro'er for ladies# @dislikes "rincess 3blonskaya who s'onges off of her rich relatives# @olly knows that she looks older than ,nna# ,

s'eaks of her great DunforgivableE ha''iness? having survived 'ast fears and torments she says she only wants to

&he talks about Fronsky$s estate management and the first.class hos'ital he is building for the local 'easantcommunity#



@olly stays in a room that ,nna calls inferior but that is in fact very lu0urious# @olly feels very self.conscious abou

her shabby clothes# ,nna 'resents her baby daughter who is illegitimate but technically a -arenin# @olly is troublethe child$s disagreeable governess and by ,nna$s ignorance of nursery matters# 7ndeed ,nna even admits she feels

su'erfluous in the infant$s u'bringing# 3verall ,nna$s life 'leases @olly who envies ,nna$s freedom and love# 7n

'rivate Fronsky im'lores @olly to 'ersuade ,nna to get a divorce+which -arenin had agreed to earlier+so thatFronsky and ,nna might 'etition the em'eror for a legal ado'tion of their daughter# @olly 'romises to s'eak to ,nn

later#

3ver a costly dinner the grou' discusses such to'ics as ,merican efficiency in building government abuses and th

#emstvo system# hen someone mentions that Levin has retired from #emstvo activity Fronsky asserts that it isim'ortant for a nobleman to fulfill his duties as he does in serving as <ustice of the 'eace# @olly annoyed by Frons

slighting of Levin affirms Levin$s res'onsible character# ,nna remarks that Fronsky$s official duties are distancing

him from her#"laying cro=uet afterward @olly dislikes Feslovsky$s flirtations with ,nna# Later ,nna in=uires about Levin want

the best for -itty# @olly mentions ,nna$s 'ossible divorce for the sake of future children# ,nna announces that beca

of her illness she can have no more children saying she thinks it is for the best# @olly wonders how ,nna will holdto Fronsky when her beauty inevitably fades# ,nna says she cannot humiliate herself by writing to -arenin for a

divorce# @olly suddenly reflects on her own family life with warmth noting that ,nna takes medicine to fall aslee'

Rather than stay several days as 'lanned @olly decides to return home the ne0t day#hen Fronsky announces he must travel to -ashin 'rovince for some im'ortant local elections ,nna receives the

news with a strange calm# Levin now living in oscow because of -itty$s 'regnancy also goes to the elections# /frustrated by the bureaucratic 'roceedings but &ergei e0'lains to him the im'ortance of the elections in which the

guard marshal of nobility will be re'laced by a younger man more su''ortive of the #emstvo system# hen the votecast the younger 'arty wins# Levin runs into the landowner he met during his visit to &viya%hsky$s house and has a

conversation with him# The landowner says that the elections have little significance and re'orts that he is still farm

at a net lossG in fact he is 'essimistic about the state of Russian landowners in general# Levin tells &viya%hsky whoalso 'resent at the elections that the local court is an idiotic institution#

&oon Levin grows de<ected and yearns to flee the elections# ltimately a venomous nobleman named Nevedovsky

elected marshal of the nobility# Fronsky hosts a 'arty for the victor but receives a worried note from ,nna telling hito return home immediately as their infant daughter is ill# ,t home ,nna fumes over her utter lack of freedom her

inability to travel on a whim as Fronsky can# Fronsky returns and asks why ,nna is irritable once again affirming

love for her# ,nna says she refuses to be se'arated from Fronsky again# &he agrees to write -arenin for a divorcewhich they e0'ect him to 'ermit#

Analysis

7n this section Tolstoy uses the dinner 'arty discussion of local 'olitics to e0'lore the notion of social commitment

Fronsky comes across as high.minded in his elo=uent assertion that Russian nobles must serve their governmentalduties affirming a vital 'olitical and social role for the aristocracy# *ut his 'raise of social duty may be hollow an

'ut forth for show but lacking substance+<ust like Fronsky$s state.of.the.art hos'ital which seems to have been

constructed more with the aim of being an architectural wonder than a 'ractical facility# Fronsky may feel lofty socsentiments but we trust Levin more understanding his com'laints that the local courts are bureaucratic and ineffic

Levin has had more hands.on 'olitical e0'erience than Fronsky having served on a #emstvo" so we give his cynicis

about Russian local 'olitics more weight# oreover the local elections at -ashin make us feel the futility of local

social institutions even more shar'ly# @es'ite all the fanfare most local landowners a''ear to agree that the vote ismeaningless# ,ll the bluster and attention leads to nothing of im'ortance# ,s Fronsky figures large in the elections

may associate this em'ty bluster with his character#

Tolstoy$s brand of feminism in the sense of attention to the 'olitical and social o''ression of the women of his erastrongly evident in these cha'ters beginning with the unforgettable 'ortrait of @olly meeting the ha''y ,nna on

horseback# ,t the time as the narrator hints it was almost scandalous for a grown woman to ride on horseback# Tol

thus 'ur'osely 'ortrays ,nna in a radically unconventional 'ose# The symbolic contrast with @olly is noticeable# note that @olly$s <ourney to ,nna$s house is enabled entirely by men? @olly is trans'orted by a male driver on hors

borrowed from another man Levin# ,nna on the other hand is in control of her own movement guiding the horse

directly# hen @olly com'ares herself to ,nna immediately u'on meeting her noting the differences in the aging otheir faces we feel that @olly is already envious of ,nna$s inde'endence and its benefits# !et Tolstoy reminds us th



,nna$s inde'endence is far from com'lete noting how she fumes over the fact that Fronsky en<oys far greater righ

than she# Fronsky can travel at will while she is stuck at home# &ymbolically ,nna is on the road to women$semanci'ation but has not yet arrived#

Tolstoy$s treatment of motherhood here may indicate the limitations of his feminist sym'athies# ,s ,nna 'ursues h

freedom Tolstoy de'rives her of a maternal role+not only does she lose custody of &eryo%ha and feel ambivalencetoward her baby girl but her illness also leaves her unable to have any more children# &ome readers feel that Tolsto

demonstrates an old.fashioned se0ism in insisting that an inde'endent woman automatically becomes both infertile

a bad mother# *ut we should not necessarily label Tolstoy a misogynist# The se0ist ideas that a''ear here+such as

@olly$s idea that ,nna will be unable to kee' Fronsky after her beauty fades which e=uates a woman$s desirabilityonly with her 'hysical a''earance+are not necessarily Tolstoy$s# The author may circulate ideas that 'rovoke disse

and reflection in the reader without agreeing with them himself# 7n any case we must e0ercise caution in assessing

Tolstoy$s views toward women#"art &even 4ha'ters 191:

Summary

7n oscow Levin and -itty await the birth of their child# -itty notes how an0ious and wary Levin is in the citycom'ared to the countryside# /e dislikes the men$s club and its attendant sociali%ing but has few other ways to 'ass

time# 7n her condition -itty rarely goes out# 3n one occasion however she does leave the house and encounters

Fronsky whom she addresses calmly 'leased at her ability to master her former romantic feelings for him#Levin is uncomfortably aware of the e0'enses of city life noting that the cost of his city servants$ uniforms could '

for two summer workers on his farm# /e meets the scholars -atavasov and etrov and discusses his book on Russagriculture with them# etrov is agreeable but understands agricultural issues solely in terms of ca'ital and wages

ignoring the cultural factors that are central to Levin$s thinking# Levin concludes that intellectual advancement cancome only from each scholar following his own ideas to the end# /e leaves to visit Lvov the di'lomat husband of

-itty$s sister Natalie# Lvov com'lains about the studying re=uired to kee' u' with his children$s education which h

su'ervises#Levin then goes to a concert and hears an orchestral 'iece based on &hakes'eare$s King 'ear. Levin dislthe 'iece$s random connection of dis'arate moods and the audience$s enthusiastic a''lause 'er'le0es him# Later a

rece'tion Levin discusses a recently concluded trial and finds himself re'eating words that he heard someone else

the day before# Then Levin goes to the club where he en<oys lewd and drunken conversation with &tiva Fronsky aothers laughing so loudly that others turn to look# Levin decides he likes Fronsky# &tiva asks Levin whether he like

the gentlemen$s club+their Dtem'le of idlenessE+and notes how la%y some of the members are# Levin gambles an

loses forty rubles# &tiva suddenly 'ro'oses a sur'rise visit to ,nna whom Levin has never met# Levin agrees# &tivae0'lains ,nna$s loneliness in oscow saying that she 'asses her time writing a children$s book and assisting in the

education of the daughter of an im'overished nglish family#

&tiva and Levin reach ,nna$s home where Levin immediately notices ikhailov$s 'ortrait of her# ,nna delights Le

with her sincerity beauty and intelligence# The two discuss a variety of to'ics in an easy and familiar way and Levis ama%ed by ,nna$s grace and facility in conversation# Levin asks why ,nna su''orts the nglish girl but not Russ

schoolchildren# ,nna re'lies that she only loves this 'articular girl and love is 'aramount# 3n 'arting ,nna tells L

that she does not wish -itty to forgive her for forgiveness would be 'ossible only if -itty were to live through thesame nightmare ,nna has e0'erienced# Levin blushes and agrees to tell -itty#

Levin returns home aware of his fascination with and attraction to ,nna# /e tells -itty he has met ,nna and -itty

<ealously 'rovokes a =uarrel# eanwhile ,nna alone wonders why Fronsky is colder to her than Levin# hen

Fronsky returns she chastises him for 'referring his male friends to her# Fronsky notes the clear hostility in her ton,nna s'eaks vaguely and ominously about a disaster she is nearing and about her fear of herself#

&ur'rising even himself Levin grows accustomed to his e0'ensive and su'erficial city life# 3ne night -itty awake

him with news that her labor has begun# Levin is da%ed aware only of her suffering and the need to alleviate it# /e'icks u' the doctor frustrated by delays# @uring the long labor Levin becomes convinced that -itty will die during

childbirth# hen the doctor announces that the birth has taken 'lace Levin can hardly believe he has a son# -itty is

fine but the sight of the red shrieking infant makes Levin feel a bi%arre mi0 of 'ity and revulsion#

Analysis

The meeting between ,nna and Levin is a key structural 'oint in the novel as the 'arallel story lines converge and

two most emotionally intense characters in the work finally come face to face# Lost in the immensity of Tolstoy$snovel we may not even initially reali%e that this is the first time the two 'rotagonists meet# "ost'oned for so long t



encounter ac=uires symbolic im'ortance# The result is harmonious as Levin and ,nna like each other and connect

easily# 7ndeed it is hard to avoid s'eculating on what a marriage between ,nna and Levin might have been like#*eyond a 'hysical attraction they seem to share a social and s'iritual connection# The fre=uently awkward Levin h

no difficulty conversing with ,nna and he never finds her artificial as he finds many others# Levin$s awareness tha

,nna there is DtruthE as he calls it highlights the dogged search for sincerity that both these 'rotagonists have ledthroughout the novel# Levin knows he is besotted with ,nna as his reflections on the way home make clear# oreo

-itty$s <ealousy of ,nna hints that she feels Levin$s infatuation too# 3f course nothing comes of this interaction

between ,nna and Levin# The meeting sim'ly invites us to com'are their characters directly and to note the affiniti

between their res'ective searches for truth#These cha'ters also give us a glim'se into ,nna$s increasingly strange and unstable mindset as she begins to sli' in

suicidal feelings# &he is clearly tormented yet it is striking how little ob<ective cause for torment there is# To be sur

,nna$s social life is no bed of roses but earlier we see her radiantly ha''y in her outsider status when @olly meets on horseback# ,nna blames Fronsky for coldness toward her yet Fronsky$s readiness to ada't to her 'lans and his

'rom'tness in answering her telegrams hardly a''ear coldhearted# &he re'roaches Fronsky for s'ending time with

male friends but his sociali%ing does not a''ear e0cessive# 7t would surely be unreasonable for her to e0'ect Fronsto s'end every waking moment with her# 7ndeed ,nna admits in her a'ologetic note that her accusations are unfair

we should not <udge ,nna too harshlyG for it seems cruel to accuse her of making it all u' hysterically inventing

reasons to be anguished# /er need for love at this time in her life+having abandoned son husband friends andsociety+is overwhelming# ,s she re'eatedly tells Fronsky love is all she has left# e may feel that nothing is

ob<ectively wrong in ,nna$s life but for her sub<ective feelings of love are more im'ortant than ob<ective 'hysicalwell.being#

King 'ear on the (eath" the fictional musical fantasia that Levin hears 'erformed is based on &hakes'eare$s greattragedy about isolation and mistrusted love in which the hero Lear s'ends an anguished night on the moors

confronting his own madness# Lear ends u' alienated from others+an alienation that we see mirrored in both Levin

and ,nna$s e0'eriences# *oth Levin and ,nna seek 'eace of mind in the country yet both are disa''ointed when thwithdraw into solitude only to discover their 'rivate demons+Levin$s dissatisfaction with his un'roductive life and

,nna$s furiously <ealous fits# oreover Lear$s re<ection of the love of his affectionate daughter 4ordelia reminds u

,nna$s forthcoming re<ection of Fronsky$s love# 7n both ,nna$s and Lear$s stories a 'owerful emotion is the turnin'oint of the 'lot# The reference to King 'ear reminds us of the intensely sub<ective focus of Anna Karenina. The st

of Tolstoy$s novel as a realist work full of historical references sometimes threatens to obscure the fact that it is

centrally about the human heart# hile social themes are clearly 'resent Anna Karenina is anchored in the'sychological states of its main 'rotagonists and the way they 'erceive reality colors the entire swee' of the novel

"art &even 4ha'ters 169A1

Summary

DRes'ect was invented to cover the em'ty 'lace where love should be# *ut if you don$t love me it would be better more honest to say so#E

The 3blonskys$ finances worsen and @olly demands control over her 'ortion of their fortune# The family does not

have enough money to 'ay the bills# &tiva resolves to get a cushy a''ointment on a railroad commission# /e goes t"etersburg to s'eaks to -arenin about the <ob as well as about his sister ,nna# -arenin claims that ,nna$s life no

longer interests him but 'romises to give &tiva a definitive answer about the divorce the ne0t day# 3n his way out

&tiva meets &eryo%ha who is now an older schoolboy who claims not to remember his mother# &tiva then visits *e

Tverskaya and talks to the freethinking "rincess iagky# The latter calls -arenin stu'id saying he has become afollower of a famous Crench 'sychic named Landau#&tiva visits Lydia 7vanovna and meets -arenin and Landau# &t

tries to talk about ,nna but Lydia will talk only of religion# They discuss theology at length# Lydia believes that m

saved by faith alone+not as &tiva believes through good deeds# hen Lydia reads aloud from a religious tract &tand Landau fall into a slumber# &tiva awakens to hear Landau+who is allegedly talking in his slee'+tell an

unidentified woman to leave the room# The ne0t day -arenin informs &tiva that he has decided based on Landau$s

dream s'eech to refuse ,nna$s re=uest for a divorce#,nna and Fronsky continue to reside in oscow though theirrelationshi' is tense and unha''y# ,nna is dee'ly <ealous and 'aranoid feeling that Fronsky no longer loves her an

making unfounded assertions that he must be involved with another woman# ,nna knows she is being unfair but ca

control her emotions# &he and Fronsky argue about women$s rights and women$s education which he dismisses#Fronsky tries to hide &tiva$s telegram informing him that -arenin will not grant a divorce but ,nna demands to kn



-arenin$s decision and says she acce'ts it#,nna decides that she and Fronsky must go to the country immediately#

Fronsky agrees to go but says he must finish some business with his mother first# ,nna demands that he go now or at all and she even slights Fronsky$s mother# Fronsky asks ,nna to res'ect his mother but ,nna critici%es the who

idea of res'ect calling it a re'lacement for love# ,nna becomes more miserable and Fronsky$s attem'ts to a''ease

fail# Cor the first time ever they =uarrel for an entire day# ,nna is convinced their relationshi' is over and she fallsdes'air# Fronsky de'arts to visit his mother#

,fter Fronsky leaves for the train station ,nna regrets her unfair treatment of him and sends an a'ologetic note ask

to s'eak to him# &he reflects that she wants only to live and that she knows they love each other dee'ly# Later ,nna

sends Fronsky a telegram re=uesting he return immediately#Restless and not having received a res'onse ,nna drives to @olly$s to say farewell# -itty hesitates to greet ,nna b

finally emerges and feels sym'athy for her# ,nna drives home reflecting on the fact that all humans hate one anoth

&he receives a curt telegram from Fronsky saying he cannot return before ten o$clock# ,nna grows furious inter'rethe re'ly as a cold dismissal# &he resolves to go meet Fronsky at the station#

No you$re going in vain# # # # !ou won$t get away from yourselves#E

3n the way ,nna reflects on the oscow citysca'e and on the fact that Fronsky$s love has faded# &he thinks he feeonly duty+not love+toward her# ,t the station ,nna feels disoriented focusing on the fakeness of the 'eo'le in t

crowd and hardly knowing why she is there or what destination to re=uest# &he boards the train and des'ises the

artificiality of her fellow 'assengers#&te''ing off the train as it sto's at 3biralovka ,nna walks along the 'latform in a des'airing da%e finally resolvin

throw herself under an a''roaching train in order to 'unish Fronsky and be Drid of everybody and of herself#E , traa''roaches and ,nna im'ulsively throws herself under the wheels begging Bod for forgiveness and feeling a 'ang

confusion and regret when it is too late# The candle of her life is e0tinguished#

Analysis

The sur'rising revelation that -arenin+seemingly the most rational of 'eo'le+is under the sway of a Crench 'syc

forces us to reassess his character# /is slide from a res'onsible and 'owerful government minister to a lonely andconfused man with a stalled career 'roceeds with startling ra'idity# e see the e0tent of -arenin$s fall in the ridicul

scene in which he goes to slee' under Landau$s influence# The very man who e'itomi%es rationalism and normalcy

early in the novel is now guided by the flighty comments of a man who is likely a com'lete scam# Tolstoy highlighthe Crench nationality of the 'sychic and has him deliver his odd 'ro'hecies in Crench (even within the original

Russian te0t)+gestures that 'oke fun at the Crench cultural tradition which 'rides itself on being rational# Tolstoy

suggests that an e0cessive cult of reason in any culture may be <ust as misguided as the most outrageous occultism#*oth e0tremes are o''osed to the grounded e0'erience of life from which Levin learns# Levin devotes himself sim'

to his wish to live life rather than to visionary or mathematical theories of e0istence# 4onse=uently Tolstoy im'lie

Levin succeeds where others 'roduce em'ty 'hrases and+like -arenin in the end+lead em'ty lives#

Tolstoy$s brilliance as a literary 'sychologist is evident in the last and biggest of the =uarrels that 'lague ,nna andFronsky$s relationshi'# 7n literal terms ,nna$s anger makes no sense# Fronsky has shown himself to be agreeably

fle0ible in assenting to ,nna$s travel 'lans only re=uesting that they leave a bit later so he can finish some transact

for his mother# ,nna e0'lodes in res'onse to this seemingly reasonable re=uest# /er outburst is not logical but suggsomething dee'er ha''ening in her 'syche# ,nna$s fury at Fronsky$s mother and her resentment at his re=uest that

Dres'ectE 4ountess Fronsky stem from ,nna$s criticism of the very notion of res'ect# &he makes this criticism e0'l

when she says that res'ect is a 'oor substitute for love# 7t is likely that ,nna briefly identifies with the 4ountess as

reci'ient of Fronsky$s dutiful res'ect rather than his 'assionate love# hat ,nna fears more than anything is what sabhorred in -arenin+that Fronsky feels duty toward her but nothing more#

,nna$s death scene is <ustifiably considered one of the greatest of Tolstoy$s achievements in the novel and in Russ

literature as a whole# /er suicide is not merely the end of her life but also its summation? she acts inde'endently analone and she seeks to esca'e the falsity of the 'eo'le around her <ust as she did in life# !et ,nna is not a diva in

death any more than she was in life# &he does not 'ity herself or a''eal to the sym'athy of the crowdG she does not

care about what other 'eo'le think of her# ,nna does not fancy herself su'erior to anyone but rather includes herselthe grou' of 'eo'le that she wishes to get rid of+she esca'es not <ust the world but ,nna -arenina as well# Tolstoy

'ortrayal of ,nna$s final minutes is filled not with the wrath and vengeance that the novel$s e'igra'h foretells but

rather with great tenderness# /is descri'tion of ,nna$s life as a candle being illuminated and then snuffed out forev



e=uates her life with light and truth# Tolstoy 'ays a =uiet tribute to this character of whom he disa''roves but whom

loves nonetheless#"art ight

Summary

D# # # My life now # # # is not only not meaningless as it was before but has the un=uestionable meaning of the goowhich it is in my 'ower to 'ut into itOE

Two months 'ass after ,nna$s death# &ergei -o%nyshev$s book on statehood in Russia and uro'e on which he s'e

si0 years of work is 'ublished to virtually no 'ublic recognition# &ergei tries to forget his failure by focusing his

attention on the movement to liberate the &erbs ontenegrins and other &lavic grou's from the uslim rule ofTurkey+a cause that seemingly occu'ies the whole Russian nation#&ergei and -atavasov accom'any a large numb

of Russian volunteers who are traveling to occu'ied &erbia to offer military su''ort to the &lavs# , bystander affirm

that Fronsky is among the volunteers and that he has even outfitted a s=uadron at his own e0'ense# &tiva a''ears frthe crowd and greets &ergei# DBod &ave the TsarE resounds from the 'atriotic crowd# &ergei meets Fronsky$s mothe

who is accom'anying her son# The 4ountess Fronsky insults the dead ,nna as Dmean and lowE and says that -aren

has taken custody of ,nna$s young daughter# Cinally &ergei s'eaks to Fronsky who is ready and willing to die for &lavic cause as nothing in life has value for him now#&ergei and -atavasov visit Levin$s estate# -itty greets them a

feeds her infant son itya while waiting for Levin to come home# &he is glad Levin has visitors for she has been

worrying about his gloomy mood which she attributes to his lack of religious faith# Levin has been more focused o'hiloso'hical =uestions ever since marriage and fatherhood searching for the meaning of life# /e has read the clas

of 'hiloso'hical idealism seeking a non.materialist answer to his =uestion# nable to find any he has flirted withsuicide# hen Levin sto's thinking and sim'ly lives he finds himself ha''y#The day &ergei arrives Levin is

tormented by seeing his 'easant workers and imagining them dead and forgotten in a few years# Levin s'eaks to a'easant Cyodor about a local innkee'er who rents some nearby farmland# Cyodor e0'lains that the innkee'er lives

only for his belly unlike many who live for Bod and goodness#

Cyodor$s words galvani%e Levin# /e recogni%es that living for Bod and goodness is the answer to his =uestions abothe meaning of life# /e feels freed from life$s dece'tions# Living for oneself and aiming only to satisfy one$s own

desires is childish as Levin notes when he catches his children behaving mischievously# Life is good whereas think

is bad# The sky is not infinite but a vault overhead however irrational that may be#Lying on his back in a field ga%ing u' at the sky Levin knows he has found faith and thanks Bod for it# /e resolve

never to allow =uarrels or estrangement to divide him from other 'eo'le# Just a few minutes later however Levin

argues with his driver on the way back home after meeting &ergei and -atavasov# Levin feels self.critical but knowthat his faith will survive des'ite his little moral failures# ,t home he meets @olly and her children tells her the ne

about Fronsky$s de'arture with the volunteers and takes everyone on a 'icnic# @iscussing the &lavic cause with

&ergei Levin states his o''osition to the war and e0'resses ske'ticism about the Russian 'eo'le being unanimously

behind it# /e tries to argue but reali%es he is hel'less against the wits of the more intellectual &ergei and -atavasov, sudden violent thunderstorm overtakes the 'icnickers who run for the house# Levin learns that -itty and itya a

not inside as he believed but are still out in the woods# &eeing a giant oak to''ling over near where -itty and the c

were sitting he fears they have been killed but runs to them and finds them safe# Levin reali%es the e0tent of his lovfor his son and -itty is grateful that he finally feels 'aternal emotions# Ceeling another surge of faith Levin

contem'lates telling -itty of his newfound s'irituality but decides not to concluding that faith is 'rivate and

ine0'ressible# /e feels once again that the meaning of life lies in the goodness that one 'uts into it#

AnalysisTolstoy$s decision to end the novel with Levin$s religious regeneration rather than with ,nna$s demise 'er'le0es

many readers who e0'ect the novel to be first and foremost about ,nna and her tragedy# The ending shows us yet a

that Anna Karenina is a novel of ideas rather than merely a tragic love story# The final cha'ters recounting Levin$sthoughts and feelings as he discovers the meaning of life are more abstract than any other 'art of the novel and som

'aragra'hs read like a 'hiloso'hy treatise# The result is striking? ,nna is hardly mentioned in the last 'art of the no

that bears her name# ,s Tolstoy clearly intends this omission we must conclude that he means us to forget or by'as,nna$s life+at least in 'art+in the conte0t of the novel$s search for higher meaning# hen Levin comes to re<ect

life lived sim'ly to satisfy one$s own desires he does not mention ,nna but we inevitably think of her# Tolstoy inv

us to think that ,nna like &tiva and @olly$s naughty children who destroy things in 'ursuit of 'leasure has 'ursued



her 'assion selfishly and destructively# ,nna is the negative e0am'le of what Levin 'ositively illustrates+the abili

live one$s life in commitment to something higher than oneself#The =uestion of the meaning of life confronts not only Levin but &ergei and Fronsky as well and the latter two me

come u' with =uite different answers to the =uestion than Levin does# Fronsky$s res'onse is the sim'ler of the two?

concludes that life has no meaning whatsoever+a notion that Levin fleetingly embraces during his thoughts of suic7ronically this 'essimistic idea fuels Fronsky$s courageous show of valor in traveling to fight in the &erbian war#

Fronsky frankly informs &ergei that the 'ros'ect of losing one$s life is easy to acce't when nothing in life has valu

&ergei$s conclusion is more com'le0# /aving tried and failed to ac=uire meaning through intellectual achievement

&ergei masks his 'rivate disa''ointment by throwing himself into a 'ublic 'atriotic cause# &ergei is not e0actlyinsincere in su''orting the &erbians but his fervor a''ears shallow es'ecially when Levin cross.e0amines him on

whether the news'a'ers have sensationali%ed the &erbian affair to boost their circulation# &ergei tries to connect wi

something larger than himself but does so in the wrong way# The humans for whom he cares are abstract not real# LFronsky &ergei is unable to find good in actual relationshi's with living humans#

&ome feminist critics feel that Anna Karenina" though it fre=uently 'resents the issue of women$s rights with sym'

and fairness betrays a misogynistic streak at the end# Tolstoy$s 'arallel 'lot device disa''ears as the female story livanishes+,nna is hardly mentioned+leaving the male Levin the star of the show# /is re'roach to -itty for taking

baby to the woods against his orders suggests that father knows best not mother# Likewise Levin e0'eriences relig

enlightenment but decides not to share it with his wife on the grounds that she would not understand it# No woman the novel has any grand 'hiloso'hical illuminationG they sim'ly have children and busy themselves with domestic

concerns# ven ,nna$s rich e0'erience seems dismissed at the end of the novel# ,ll the com'assion with which Tolhas re'resented the com'le0ity of ,nna$s situation goes u' in smoke when 4ountess Fronsky is given the last word

calling ,nna lowly and mean# e know the 4ountess is wrong aware of ,nna$s high.mindedness and nobility yetnobody in the novel defends ,nna or refutes the 4ountess# 7n the end it is as if Tolstoy condemns the female right t

seek 'assion and autonomy+even after leading us to su''ort ,nna$s claim to that right#

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