Anyone familiar with literature knows that Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is a classic of a love affair gone awry. In this novel, Tolstoy offers a captivating and complex story of complex relationships, social convention and moral struggle that’s both timeless and thought-provoking.
Anna Karenina focuses on the titular character, an aristocrat living in 19th-century Russia. Anna has all the trappings of a happy life – a beautiful home and wealth, a good husband and two children – yet she feels unsatisfied with her situation. Anna is bored and ignores her husband, leading her to strike up an affair with Count Vronsky, a dashing military officer.
Anna’s romantic liaison quickly turns complex, as she experiences internal turmoil over her situation. She has to contend with her husband’s increasing animosity towards her and her inner conflict over abandoning her responsibilities. What’s more, she also has to face the judgement of the members of Russian high society, who have a strict set of rules regarding matrimonial fidelity.
Meanwhile, Levin, a mild-spirited landowner, has also been affected by Anna’s affair. He is hopelessly in love with his neighbor and childhood friend, Kitty Shtcherbatsky. Kitty, however, is swept away with Vronsky, whom she has set her sights on for weeks. After her relationship with Vronsky ends in heartache, Kitty accepts Levin’s marriage proposal.
The consequences of Anna’s affair eventually leads to a tragedy, forcing readers to come to terms with the difficult moral questions the novel raises. Through Anna and Levin, the story paints a picture of two ways of life – one constrained by social convention and another shaped by one’s own emotional struggles.
Ultimately, Anna Karenina is a powerful exploration of love and morality, demonstrating the influence and power of social convention. It is both a classic saga of forbidden love and a timeless rumination on the intricacies of emotional struggles. Tolstoy’s brilliant prose, complex characters and captivating story weave together to create a masterpiece that is sure to delight any reader.
