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Rarely in literature is a character so utterly ruined as Anna
Karenina. Beautiful and unaffected, she becomes deceptive,
jealous, and spiteful. The change in her will probably horrify
you, yet even when Anna is destructive she arouses your
compassion. In conflict with her mixed-up society, she has no
resources against the turmoil within her.
She fights a magnificently tough but losing battle. As you
will note, there are numerous angles from which to examine her
downfall.
1. ANNA IS FATALLY FLAWED.
Following this interpretation of Anna\'s ruin, readers
generally contrast her to Levin, the hero of the book. Levin
thirsts for spiritual enlightenment, while Anna seeks personal
happiness. Levin attains his goal, Anna does not. In her
quest, Anna does not think of others. Levin, on the other hand,
is obsessed with trying to establish peace and equilibrium
between himself and others.
Anna\'s quest is purely emotional, and by the end her reason
fails her. She is described as having \"an excess of feeling,\" a
trait shared by many of the female characters in Tolstoy\'s
books. Levin is above all lucid, as are all of Tolstoy\'s
heroes. Tolstoy has often been criticized for endowing his
female characters with feelings that tend to overpower their
brains. Even Anna, arguably the most intelligent and
well-educated female character Tolstoy ever created, can\'t hold
on to her wits.
2. ANNA BETRAYS THE FUNCTIONS OF HER SEX.
Anna is seen in relief against two other female
characters--Dolly and Kitty. The primary function of sex,
believes Tolstoy, is to create children, not personal pleasure.
Both Dolly and Kitty are wives and mothers before all else.
Anna refuses to have children after she and Vronsky begin living
together. Not only does Anna refuse her societal role, but she
breaks the natural cycle of birth-life-death.
Dolly and Kitty both make meaningful lives for themselves,
Anna does not.
3. ANNA IS A VICTIM OF HER SOCIETY.
Following the custom of her social set, Anna\'s marriage to
Karenin was arranged by relatives. Love--which Anna needs and
desires before all else--was never a factor in this match.
There is no passion in her marriage with Karenin; their life
contributes to Anna\'s emotional delicacy because it suffocates
and frustrates her.
Adultery is accepted in Anna\'s social circle, so long as it
is carried on in the proper style. It is understood that most
husbands and wives have lovers, but they\'re expected to be
discreet. Anna finds this hypocritical, and Vronsky, madly in
love, makes no attempt to hide it either.
Yet her society has a strong hold on Anna. When Karenin asks
what will give her peace, she feels too guilty to say, \"To
divorce you, keep our son, and live with Vronsky.\"
Although Anna and Vronsky retire to their own world, Anna is
again tripped up by convention. Her friends abandon her because
she is \"living in sin.\" Vronsky, though, can go where he wishes.
Anna is enraged at the double standard. Loneliness drives her
nearly insane. Reeling from the brutal treatment of her former
friends, she\'s unable to believe in Vronsky\'s love. Where once
her love for him was passionate and tender, it becomes
possessive and vengeful. Pathologically insecure, Anna destroys
herself in order to spite Vronsky.
You could also say that neither Karenin nor Vronsky is a
perfect match for Anna, for both men, in different ways, are
products of their society. False and corrupt, such a society
could never produce a worthy man for a woman as intelligent and
honestly passionate as Anna.
Tolstoy made no secret of his contempt for city life and
\"society.\" Anna\'s death--which he based on a true incident--can
therefore be seen as his way of indicting the society that
destroyed her.
4. ANNA REPRESENTS THE CITY.
For Tolstoy, the city denotes alienation and corruption. He
believes that cities and urban values would ultimately destroy
Russia. As a woman of society, Anna embodies the sparkle,
sophistication and seductiveness--as well as the depravity--of
the city. By destroying her, Tolstoy scores a small victory in
his battle to save Russia.
5. ANNA REPRESENTS TOLSTOY\'S DARK SIDE.
Like Anna, Tolstoy had an adulterous affair, with a peasant
woman on his estate. And, like Anna, he abandoned the child he
had with his extramarital lover.
Tolstoy felt terrible guilt over this affair. His death
sentence for Anna has been interpreted as a gesture of
self-loathing.
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