Analysis of Tolstoy's novel “Anna Karenina”

History of creation

In February 1870, L.N. Tolstoy came up with the idea of a work about the spiritual quest and personal life of representatives of the Russian nobility, and the impetus for the creation of “Anna Karenina” was inspired by Pushkin’s prose.

The novel is named after the main character, whose image seems to attract attention. Anna is beautiful and educated, but Tolstoy's original plan was different. In an early edition, the novel bore the daring title “Well done, Baba,” and the central character looked different: the heroine’s name was Tatyana Stavrovich, and her character was distinguished by vulgarity and cowardice.

Work on the work began in 1873, the novel was published in parts in the Russian Messenger magazine, and in 1878 the work was published in its entirety.

Arguments on the topic: Kindness and cruelty in the novel “Anna Karenina” (L. N. Tolstoy)

L. N. Tolstoy in the world famous novel “Anna Karenina” touched upon all the problems of our time. It is difficult to name a topic that the writer did not cover in a real masterpiece of Russian literature. The spectrum of Tolstoy’s thoughts included the clash of kindness and cruelty in each individual person.

( Why are people cruel? ) What causes cruel behavior in a person? There are many answers to this question. In the novel Anna Karenina, the reason for cruel behavior was the desire to impress and win favor. At the very beginning of the work, Vronsky falls in love with Kitty, without serious intentions. The hero deliberately often visits the Shcherbatsky family, strives to prove himself from the best side. But the only thing that drives Vronsky is vanity. He gets pleasure from the fact that a young girl shows interest in him, that her parents welcome him so much, that there are rumors in society about his next victory. The character does not care at all about the feelings of Kitty, who is in love, or her reputation. At the ball, he devotes all his time to another girl, Anna, not caring at all that such an act would hurt young Shcherbatskaya. Vronsky shows his frivolity and treats Kitty cruelly. Thus, the thirst for universal worship can become the reason for cowardly and cruel behavior towards other people.
( Who can be called kind ) What kind of person can be called good-natured without a doubt? The answer to this question can be given based on the wording of the question itself. This is someone who has a kind soul. The one who is able to forgive a person the most severe offense. In the novel Anna Karenina, several characters have such qualities. Dolly is one of them. Stiva Oblonsky, her husband, committed an immoral act - he cheated on his wife. For the faithful, sincerely loving heroine, this was a real blow. Tolstoy describes Dolly’s mental torment, her torment. She didn’t know what to do: destroy the family without forgiving the betrayal, or forget about this infidelity of the flighty Oblonsky. Anna's arrival helps the heroine make a decision: Dolly was able to get over herself and closed her eyes to the event that happened. She forgave her husband. Only a person with a kind heart can forget the insult and give a second chance in order to save the family.
( Is kindness a sign of strength or weakness? ) A person’s ability to do a kind deed certainly speaks to the strength of his character. Not everyone is able to step over their principles and meet others halfway. The personality of Karenin in Tolstoy's novel is ambiguous. In the first mentions, the author describes him as an indifferent official who has long lost interest in his family. However, after Anna's infidelity, the best traits of his character are revealed. Karenin acted generously towards his wife. He not only forgave Anna for her betrayal, but also fell in love with Karenina’s daughter from Vronsky with all his heart (after Anna’s death he took him in for upbringing). With his noble deeds, the hero evokes respect from readers. In his benevolent attitude towards the fallen woman, in his attempt to return the family, we see precisely the strength of male character, because it is much easier to erase Anna from life, to despise her, as many of her “friends” did. Of course, only a strong person is capable of generosity and forgiveness.
( What can make a person kinder? ) The brightest, most sincere feelings reveal a person’s ability to be kind. Love can change a hero from the inside, make him look at life with different eyes. This happened to the character of Tolstoy’s novel, Karenin. At first, the author described him as an indifferent person with a “cold gaze.” But, having let love into his heart, Alexey changed his attitude towards Anna and Vronsky. He did a kind, strong deed - he forgave the betrayal. He not only turned a blind eye to his wife’s betrayal, but was also able to accept her daughter, born from her lover. Thus, love revives a person from the inside, gives him the strength to be generous and forgive other people.
( How not to become bitter if you were offended ) The hero of L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina,” Levin received a harsh refusal from his beloved. He drove to her for a long time, carefully selected his words, was worried and thought how good it would be if she agreed. And indeed, they knew each other, communicated, and the man could hope for reciprocity, but the young and inexperienced Kitty preferred a brilliant dandy from high society to the inconspicuous Konstantin. She fell in love with Alexei Vronsky and was already waiting for his proposal, because everything pointed to it: his frequent visits and admiring glances. And so the reliable, smart, but rejected Levin left with nothing. After such an insult, he could have withdrawn into himself and not allowed women near him, but the man overcame his anger and jealousy and did not become bitter. He was able to do this because he took time to distract himself from fruitless regrets. The hero was engaged in housekeeping, self-development and other matters. Therefore, nothing prevented him from repeating his proposal and achieving success.

Author: Anastasia Smetanova

Genre and direction

The genre of Anna Karenina is a novel, the focus of which is very broad. One of the main vectors is philosophical. The characters reflect on such categories as life, its meaning, love, faith, truth. It is noteworthy that in the novel book wisdom interacts with folk wisdom. It is the peasant’s words that help Levin answer troubling questions.

The definition of “social” is not alien to the work. The novel describes the fate of three families, completely different from each other. But the participants in the novel are not limited to only the circle of relatives and friends: the whole society is also a protagonist. The opinions of others not least determine this or that action of the characters.

The essence

The novel opens with well-known words about the Oblonsky house: the Guest is waiting there - Anna Karenina, the sister of Stiva Oblonsky, the head of the family. Dolly, betrayed by her husband, wants to save the family and hopes for help from her sister-in-law. But for Anna this trip also becomes fateful: on the platform she meets Vronsky, her future lover. The young count came to propose to Kitty Shcherbatskaya. The girl has feelings for Vronsky and prefers him to Levin, who is in love with her.

Anna, along with the Oblonskys and Shcherbatskys, goes to the ball, where she meets Vronsky again. Kitty's dreams are shattered: she understands that she cannot compete with the splendor and charm of Karenina.

Anna returns to St. Petersburg and realizes how disgusted she is with her life. The husband is disgusting, we don’t love the child.

A romantic relationship begins between Karenina and Vronsky, the deceived husband is outraged, but does not agree to the divorce. Anna decides to leave her husband and son and leaves with her lover for Italy. They have a daughter, but motherhood does not bring joy to the heroine: she feels that Vronsky treats her colder. This experience pushes the young woman to a desperate act - suicide.

Briefly about the essence of Tolstoy’s work

A summary of the novel allows you to refresh your memory of the main points of the work. The novel begins in the house of the Oblonsky family, where the owner of the family meets his sister, Anna Karenina. She is called to help save her brother's family and rid him of bad thoughts towards other girls.

At the same moment, Count Vronsky appears to carry out an engagement to Kitty Shcherbatskaya, the younger sister of the mistress of the family. The girl dreams of becoming Vronsky’s wife, but they want to marry her to Levin, who has loved her for many years.

Count Vronsky has a nice conversation with his future bride and leaves. The main character, being a married woman, falls in love with a young man at first sight. He responds with sympathy.

Later, she, along with her brother, daughter-in-law and Kitty, comes to the ball, where she meets Vronsky again. Kitty dances with Vronsky, but he pays all his attention to Anna. Realizing that she is no match for her competition, Kitty retreats.

Returning to her homeland in the cultural capital, the central heroine of the novel realizes that she does not love her husband, but wants to stay with him because of the child. Her feelings for Vronsky have not subsided, and she begins to secretly meet with him.

Soon the deceived husband finds out the truth, but does not dare to divorce his wife. She, meanwhile, leaves with her lover for an Italian town, where she gives birth to a daughter from her beloved. Gradually she begins to notice that her lover is cooling off towards her and begins to cheat on her. Karenina cannot stand it and throws herself under the train, leaving her husband, son and daughter.

The main characters and their characteristics

One of the central characters of the novel is Anna Karenina . Her image is very complex and multifaceted (we wrote more about it in a short essay ). The heroine is good-looking, educated, she has great potential, which is not allowed to be realized. As a wife, she could not create a happy family with the insensitive Karenin, but she also had to pay a big price for her relationship with Vronsky - expulsion from secular society. Motherhood also does not bring joy to the heroine: Anna dreams of a different life, envying the characters in the novels.
Vronsky sees something extraordinary in Anna, admires her, but he himself is nothing special. This is a supporter of quiet, calm happiness, consistent with the best English traditions. He is young, hot, ardent, but the first serious trials change his character: Alexey becomes as inattentive and indifferent a person as Anna’s wise husband.
Dolly is somewhat shy about Anna. Daria Alexandrovna sets off Karenina - this bright and capricious character. She is modest, submissive, life forces Dolly to endure and steadfastly endure all the trials prepared by fate: her husband’s betrayal, poverty, children’s illnesses. And she can’t change anything.
There is an opinion that Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” could be called after Tatyana, and a similar situation has developed around “Anna Karenina”, where significant attention is paid to Levin. The prototype for this character is L.N. Tolstoy himself. Many situations, such as the marriage proposal scene, are autobiographical. Konstantin Levin is a thoughtful, modest and reasonable person. He strives to know the meaning of life and find his calling, but the truth always eludes him.
Stiva Oblonsky is a loving, fickle and fussy person who achieved a good position only thanks to his sister’s successful marriage. He is good-natured, cheerful and talkative, but only in company. In the family he does not pay due attention to his wife and children.
Karenin is a high-ranking official, a prim and serious person. He rarely shows feelings and is cold towards his wife and son. Work occupies a central place in his life. He is very dependent on public opinion, values appearances rather than substance.

Genre, plot, composition

L.N. Tolstoy used Pushkin’s term and called his work “a broad and free novel.” This is a clear indication of the genre features of the work. In the novel, the main importance belongs to the creative concept, and not to plot completeness. The creative concept determines the selection of material and the freedom to develop plot lines. One of the artistic goals of the free novel is to overcome literary conventions.

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Course work Tolstoy L.N. "Anna Karenina". Brief analysis 480 ₽ Abstract Tolstoy L.N. "Anna Karenina". Brief analysis 240 ₽ Examination Tolstoy L.N. "Anna Karenina". Brief analysis 200 ₽

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The composition of the novel revolves around three families - the Karenins, the Oblonskys, the Levins:

The Karenins are a family whose split was caused by the wife’s infidelity;
The Levins are an example of proper family relationships, where spouses remain faithful to each other and support each other in everything;
In the Oblonsky family, Dolly finds out about Stiva's betrayal, but forgives him.

The plot circles in Tolstoy's work are arranged in such a way that the reader's attention is focused on the social and moral core of the novel. “The History of the Human Soul,” which comes into conflict with the laws and prejudices of its era, is the plot of this work. Some cannot withstand this difficult struggle and die, others come to understand the people's truth and realize the ways to renew society.

The chapters of the work are arranged in cycles, connected both thematically and in plot. Each part of the novel has its own “ideological node”. The supporting points of the novel's composition are the plot and thematic centers, which successively replace each other. The cycles in the first part of the novel are formed in connection with conflicts in the family life of the Oblonskys, Shcherbatskys, and Levins. The development of further actions is determined by the events associated with Anna Karenina's arrival in Moscow, Levin's decision to leave for the village, Anna's arrival in St. Petersburg, where Vronsky came to pick her up. Following each other, these cycles expand the scope of the work, while revealing patterns in the development of conflicts. The writer maintains the proportionality of the cycles in volume. Each cycle in the first part occupies five to six chapters, which have their own boundaries of content, which creates a rhythm of scenes and episodes.

Note 2

A distinctive artistic feature of this novel is the repetition of situations and images that play the role of harbingers and predictions. Anna meets Vronsky on the platform, where someone has just been hit by a train. At the end of the novel, Anna throws herself under a train. The snowstorm during which Vronsky and Anna meet is also symbolic. The blizzard here is a sign of fatal, unbridled passion.

The novel uses the technique of internal monologue, describing the impressions, observations and thoughts of the main character.

Themes

Love. For L.N. The theme of love has always gone beyond romantic relationships. So in the novel “Anna Karenina” we see how, for example, two feelings struggle in the main character: love for a child and passion for Vronsky.
Family. Family thought is at the heart of the novel in question. For the author, home is the most important goal of a person. The writer brings to the reader's attention the fates of three families: one has fallen apart, the other is on the brink, the third is ideal. This approach cannot but refer us to folklore motifs, when the ideal hero was shaded by two negative ones.
Philistinism. A brilliant career in Tolstoy’s novel contradicts the opportunity to create a strong family. Anna suffers twice from the accepted orders in society: this is Karenin’s inability to communicate in the family circle, as well as the non-acceptance of her affair with Vronsky in the highest circles.
Revenge. It is the desire to take revenge on Vronsky that pushes Anna to commit suicide. For her, this was the best way to punish her lover for not paying enough attention to her, for not understanding her. Was this really the case? It’s hard to say, but this is exactly how Anna saw their relationship before the fatal step.

Theme, problem, idea and meaning of the work

There are two main lines in the novel Anna Karenina:

denunciation of secular and bourgeois culture and the life of society of that time. this line in the novel is revealed through the story of Anna, Vronsky and Karenin
depiction of the patriarchal estate way of life. this line in the novel is revealed through the story of Levin and Kitty.

Note 1
The main theme of this great work is the family theme. L.N. Tolstoy, using examples of the life destinies of the heroes of this novel, shows examples of happiness and unhappiness in marriage and family.

As for the problems of the work, in the novel these are primarily issues of love, family and marriage. These problems are considered in connection with various aspects of the reality in which the heroes live - a time when the existing political and moral foundations of the serfdom system were replaced by new ones - the foundations of the bourgeois system.

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The novel "Anna Karenina" is recognized as a classic of Russian literature. L.N. Tolstoy managed to combine many different destinies in his work, without losing artistic and compositional integrity. Tolstoy managed to convey the drama of the life destinies of his heroes, their conflicts and experiences with the subtlety of a talented psychologist. The theme of the novel is not only family relationships. The novel traces many issues, including public, social and philosophical.

The novel “Anna Karenina” is not only a work with deep philosophical meaning. This work is topical. The author responds to exciting topics - the novel touches on peasant reform, military reform, the introduction of an independent court, and the volunteer movement in support of the rebel Serbs. Using the novel, one can explore the processes of the post-reform era, which was full of serious contradictions and internally explosive and changeable.

Problems

Treason . This phenomenon is considered as a crime against the most important and sacred thing in a person’s life - the family. Tolstoy does not give a recipe for how to avoid this, but he shows what adultery can lead to. Dolly and Karenin have different attitudes towards betrayal, but the criminals themselves do not find happiness from this.
Indifference. Many characters in the novel adhere to the rules of etiquette when interacting with each other, without giving any free rein to their feelings and without showing sincerity. In a minister’s office or at a social reception, such behavior is quite appropriate, but not in the home circle. Her husband's coldness poisons Anna, and Vronsky's misunderstanding leads to death.
Public opinion. The problem of following public opinion was posed at the beginning of the 19th century by Griboyedov in his famous comedy. Tolstoy gives more dramatic illustrations of how secular judgments affect the destinies of people. Anna cannot get a divorce, and an illegal relationship closes the door to high circles.

Meaning

Anna Karenina becomes a victim of her own crime. Happiness based on the destruction of the family turned out to be impossible. She begins to be overcome by jealousy, the thought that Vronsky is losing interest in her becomes an obsession that drives her crazy.

Blindly following passion is not a favorable path for a person. The search for truth and meaning is the ideal for Tolstoy. The embodiment of such an idea is represented by Levin, who manages to avoid the most serious sin, thanks to the revealed wisdom.

The meaning of the novel "Anna Karenina"

The main character is a victim of her own crime against family values. She destroyed her family and is now forced to reap the consequences of what happened. Anna is forced to go crazy with grief, jealousy and the thought of being unable to be with her lover.

The meaning that the author put into the work is clear from the first page; you cannot follow blind passion, since this adherence will not lead to anything good.

Searching for the truth and meaning of life is the ideal for the author. It is this ideal that Levin represents, who avoids blind passion for Kitty and comprehends the right path.

Criticism

Not the entire literary world warmly welcomed Tolstoy’s new novel. Only Dostoevsky emphasized the merits of Anna Karenina in his own. For this essay, he awarded the writer the title “god of art.” Other critics, for example, Saltykov-Shchedrin, called L.N.’s creation a high-society salon novel. Discrepancies also arose on the basis of the ideological trends that existed at that time: the novel was much closer to Slavophiles than to Westerners.

There were also complaints about the text. So A.V. Stankevich accused the author of the lack of integrity of the composition and inconsistency with the genre of the novel.

Today Anna Karenina occupies a special place in world literature, but disputes about the structure of the work and the characters of the main characters still exist.

Author: Alexandra Barbashova
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