Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy

• moral philosopher, notable for ideas on nonviolent resistance through his work
• Anna noted for its scope, breadth and realistic depiction of Russian life

ANNA the Book

• dual protagonists (Anna and Levin) - each of the novel's eight sections contains internal variations in tone: it assumes a relaxed voice when following Stepan Oblonsky's thoughts and actions and a much more tense voice when describing Levin's social encounters.
• Much of the novel's seventh section depicts Anna's thoughts fluidly, following each one of her ruminations and associations with its immediate successor. This section, and, to a lesser degree, the rest of the novel, is one of the earliest examples of stream-of-consciousness literature. The stream-of-consciousness form would be utilized by such later authors as Virginia Woolf and William Faulkner.

Stream of consciousness

"Consciousness is always interested more in one part of its object than in another, and welcomes and rejects, or chooses, all the while it thinks" - William James ( taken from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/jimmy11.htm)

• a literary technique which seeks to describe an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes.
• characterized by associative (and at times dissociative) leaps in syntax and punctuation that can make the prose difficult to follow, tracing a character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings.
• the speaker's thought processes are more often depicted as overheard (or addressed to oneself) and is primarily a fictional device.

Confessions of Tolstoy

• Every time I tried to display my innermost desires – a wish to be morally good – I met with contempt and scorn, and as soon as I gave in to base desires I was praised and encouraged.
• A dear old aunt of mine, the purest of creatures, with whom I lived, was always saying that she wished for nothing as much as that I would have a relationship with a married woman. 'Rien ne forme un jeune homme comme une liaison avec une femme comme il faut.' ("Nothing forms a young man properly like an affair with a married woman.")
• For in the end what are we, who are convinced that suicide is obligatory and yet cannot resolve to commit it, other than the weakest, the most inconsistent and, speaking frankly, the most stupid of people, making such a song and dance with our banalities?

Anna herself

• A common way to interpret Anna's tragedy, then, is that she could neither be completely honest nor completely false, showing a Hamlet-like inner conflict that eventually drives her to suicide.

The INNER conflicts:

• she is guilty of desecrating her marriage and home, but is noble and admirable nonetheless
• we are ultimately impressed less by Anna’s ideal attributes than by her passionate spirit and determination to live life on her own terms.
• Anna is a feminist heroine of sorts, riding on horseback in an era when such an activity was deemed suitable for men only. Disgraced, she dares to face St. Petersburg high society and refuses the exile to which she has been condemned, attending the opera when she knows very well she will meet with nothing but scorn and derision.
• Anna is a martyr to the old-fashioned Russian patriarchal system and its double standard for male and female adultery. Her brother, Stiva, is far looser in his morals but is never even chastised for his womanizing, whereas Anna is sentenced to social exile and suicide. Moreover, Anna is deeply devoted to her family and children, as we see when she sneaks back into her former home to visit her son on his birthday.
• Anna’s refusal to lose Seryozha is the only reason she refuses Karenin’s offer of divorce, even though this divorce would give her freedom.

The governing principle of Anna’s life is that love is stronger than anything, even duty. She is powerfully committed to this principle. She rejects Karenin’s request that she stay with him simply to maintain outward appearances of an intact marriage and family.

Her exile from civilized society in the later part of the novel is a symbolic rejection of all the social conventions we normally accept dutifully. She insists on following her heart alone.

Anna’s insistence on the dictates of her heart’s desires makes her an unforgettable pioneer of the search for autonomy and passion in an alienating modern world.

Useful websites:

the entire novel can be found in: http://www.literaturepage.com/read/annakarenina-1.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/anna/canalysis.html



ok i have to compare this with Hedda Gabler.
i wanna go along the lines of INNER CONFLICT observed from both protagonists respectively (Anna and Hedda), as a result of their role in society and their personal beliefs.

gd luck...this is my assignment 1. so still can relax a bit.

sigh lots of work to do...have yet to complete 'life and obligations' post. no time.


guess everything is just weighing down on us now...everything that should have been done earlier, everything that should have been sorted out earlier. now is the point of accumulation. we were aware. we were prepared for this. but now that it has come, im falling under its weight, into a point of collapse.

yet i look around. people have more than what i have. sigh.


nvm sure can. step by step. small thing by small thing. things will always turn out just alright.