Anna Karenina Real Story
Anna Karenina is Leo Tolstoy’s portrait of a society in flux. It combines domestic drama with broader social and political currents, examining gender politics, family dynamics, and the consequences of defying Russia’s rigid social conventions.
A world classic, Anna Karenina is an examination of the human soul. Content warnings: Contains descriptions of suicide, postpartum illness, childbirth and death.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton is one of the most successful country music artists and songwriters ever. Her hits include “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You.” She has been awarded numerous honors, including Female Vocalist of the Year from the Country Music Association. She is also a feminist and has advocated for women’s rights. In 1974, Dolly started her solo career and quickly became a successful entertainer. Her first two singles “Jolene” and “I Will always Love You” were both big hits on the country charts. She is a pioneer for female singers, and her music has influenced many young artists.
Dolly is a loving friend of Anna Karenina. Unlike Princess Betsy and Lidia Ivanova, who distance themselves from Anna once she becomes a respectable member of society, Dolly never judges her for her moral wrongdoings. She considers her a good woman, a sister and a friend. Dolly is also a mother and she understands the difficulties of raising children.
When Dolly visits Anna Karenina at her home, she is surprised that Anna Karenina husband has not yet divorced her. She asks Anna Karenina if she feels a desire for Vronsky, but Anna Karenina denies it. She reveals that she has been secretly excited that Vronsky might fall in love with her. Dolly doesn’t reprimand her and instead delights in knowing that Anna Karenina has weaknesses of her own.
Anna Karenina visit to Dolly reminds her of her son’s birthday. Anna Karenina refuses to ask for a divorce and she continues visiting her husband’s house. Her relationship with Levin becomes strained. She has trouble reconciling her feelings for him with her desire to maintain her status in society. She has a difficult time accepting that her son will grow up without her.
Kostya
A major theme in Anna Karenina is infidelity. Anna’s affair with Vronsky seals her fate in the eyes of Russian society, and Anna Karenina is shunned as a result of her blatant adultery. The novel also explores the infidelity of the other characters, including Dolly and Kitty. While many members of high society engage in affairs, it is unusual for them to be so blatant about it. This is what makes Anna’s infidelity so controversial and ultimately fatal.
The story opens with the Oblonsky family in turmoil. Stephan Arkadyich Oblonsky, or Stiva, has been unfaithful to his wife, Dolly. She has been unable to bear the guilt of his infidelity and has sought comfort from her younger sister, Princess Katerina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, or Kitty. Kitty has been betrothed to Kostya Levin, a wealthy landowner.
Kitty and Kostya begin to live together on the family estate, but their marriage is difficult in its first few months. She chafes at the restrictions of her family life and tries to break free into independence. She soon finds that her newfound freedom has come with the cost of alienation from society and her family.
During this time, Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin (Kostya) arrives in Moscow with the aim of proposing to Kitty. He is a passionate, restless, but shy aristocratic landowner. His family lives in Moscow, but he prefers to live at his country estate. He discovers that Kitty is being pursued by Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, a cavalry officer. Kostya and Kitty quickly fall in love. Kostya is initially displeased that his return to faith does not bring him a complete transformation toward righteousness, but he comes to realize that human beings will continue to make mistakes and that they must try to minimize those mistakes.
Kitty
Kitty is a wealthy socialite who loves Count Vronsky and expects him to propose to her. She is devastated when he instead pursues Anna, leaving her to fall ill. Her family sends her to a German spa over the winter to recover. While there, she meets a pure and high-minded woman, Madame Stahl, who takes her under her wing. The two fall in love, but her wild friend Yashvin spoils it by losing money at gambling and becoming a brothel runner.
Despite her best efforts, Kitty can’t hide her feelings for Yuri and he for her. At the end of the season, Kitty and Yuri both realize their true feelings and end their relationship maturely. Yuri also admits his feelings for Juliana, which makes Kitty realize he’s truly devoted to her.
Cath cart has played Kitty since she was a young girl, but playing her at a different stage in her life has been a challenge. She says, “Kitty has always been very confident, like she knows everything and has all the answers. To play her at a time where she doesn’t have that same level of confidence is hard.”
Kitty’s story is connected to that of Anna Karenina in several ways. Tolstoy modeled Kitty’s courtship with Levin after his own marriage. Kitty’s adherence to moral principles, reflected in her refusal of Vronsky’s advances, is a key contrast to Anna’s degraded morals. She also resembles Sonya, Tolstoy’s wife. Although she once embraced spiritualism, Kitty eventually accepts her feminine destiny and embraces motherhood. She is a model of Tolstoy’s ideal of the successful woman, and her womenliness is directed toward the goals of family happiness. Tolstoy’s own experiences, such as his summer on the steppe witnessing the poor implementation of agrarian reforms, informed many of his character developments.
Seryozha
Seryozha is a young boy who has been living with his mother since the death of her husband. He has been spoiled and is quite naïve. He often draws pictures and is a little savage. His father, Yevgeny Petrovitch, tries to explain that smoking is bad for children, but the boy does not understand. He begins to draw and tells his father about how the cook cut her finger and she sucked it instead of washing it.
The father then tries to teach his son that he should not take things from other people and he should ask before taking something. The son does not understand this and he starts to draw again, this time a picture of a soldier who is carrying a basket. He then gets on his knees and wiggles around for awhile to make himself more comfortable.
At one point, the boy accidentally knocks over a siskin that is stuck in the cage that he is cleaning. The bird is freed and flies all over the room and lands on a window ledge. The bird is so happy that it thrashes its wings against the glass of the window.
As a whole, Panova’s story feels very authentic and the writing is simple. There is a mixture of humor and pathos, and it captures the sense of being lost in a world that does not make sense. The characters are well-developed and believable, and the story is a perfect portrait of its time. Princess Elizaveta “Betsy” Tverskaya is Anna’s morally loose society friend and Vronsky’s cousin. The countess, Lidia Ivanovna, is a leader of the high society circle and shuns Princess Betsy and her friends.
Vronsky
Vronsky is a strapping military officer, and Tolstoy depicts him as a typical romantic protagonist. He lives by his passions and does not commit to anything more permanent than a relationship with Anna. His mother initially approves of the affair, as a way to distinguish her son among his peers. However, she becomes jealous of the attention Vronsky gives her and the recurring dreams that involve her and Karenin together in bed touching each other.
Although he promises to be discreet, Karenin learns about the affair and becomes angry. He attempts to forbid it, but it does not work. He hires a French clairvoyant, whom Lidia Ivanovna recommends, to help him understand what is happening. The clairvoyant provides a message in a dream that indicates Vronsky is the innocent party and that he will not be punished for his infidelity.
After their tour of Europe, Vronsky and Anna return to St. Petersburg where they are shunned by high society. They live in his country estate, and Anna grows paranoid that Vronsky is no longer in love with her and is having affairs. She is desperate for social acceptance and attends a theater show where she is openly rejected by former acquaintances.
Tolstoy’s use of inner monologue adds to the book’s status as a realist novel. In the past, Tolstoy’s novels had employed an outsider narrator to convey action and character thoughts. In Anna Karenina, the characters speak to one another as if they were in the presence of the other characters. This adds to the sense of reality and helps readers to connect with the characters. Moreover, the narrator’s absence helps to avoid tarnishing the characters’ dignity and allows them to focus on the story at hand.