Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy

BACKGROUND

Count Leo Tolstoy lived from 1828-1910 in Russia. He studied languages, law, and then joined the army and actually served in a regiment in the Crimean war. Following the war, he wrote his first collection of stories. He was interested in the education of peasant children, and set up his own school. He had thirteen children of his own! Later in life he wrote and passed out pamphlets rejecting the concepts of church and state, and private property. He was so radical he was excommunicated in 1901. He is also the author of "War and Peace". Some consider "Anna Karenina" to be the world’s greatest novel.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Anna: Karenin’s wife. A young woman in a loveless marriage. She is sexy, passionate. Men all want her, and she needs their attention. She leaves her husband for Vronsky and lives in sin with him. Also very insecure, winds up a morphine addict who chucks herself under a train.

Karenin: Anna’s husband, 20 years older than she. Very cold, sarcastic, sneering dude, who works all the time. Refuses to let Anna be with her son when she leaves.

Kitty: Pretty, sensitive, sweet young thing. Loves Levin, then Vronsky, then Levin. Marries Levin, has babies, becomes a good little country wife.

Levin: Thirties, landowner, obsessed with his ideas on peasant life and agriculture. Talks about these ideas to everyone, bores people to tears. Marries Kitty. Prone to mood shifts and uncontrollable jealousy.

Dolly: Kitty’s sister, married to Oblonsky. Has six kids, stays with Oblonsky, even though he cheats on her constantly.

Oblonsky: Good-natured, high-spirited, friend to Levin, and cheating husband.

Nikolai: Brother to Levin. Drinking and gambling problems, very gruff, very sick, dies.

Seriozha: Son of Anna and Karenin, (about 6-8 years old), loves Mom no matter what.

Vronsky: Once suitor to Kitty, then lover to Anna. Very wealthy army man, very ambitious, but gives it all up for Anna. Can seem cold and proud, but inside is loving and passionate.

Varenka: Sad friend of Kitty’s.

Countess Ivanovna: Very religious woman, hopelessly obsessed with Karenin, moves in on him when Anna leaves.

PLOT

The book is not very plot-heavy, but rather follows in minute detail, the lives and relationships of several people. Both stories occur simultaneously, but for simplicity’s sake, I will summarize each one separately, and you can look to the chapter-by-chapter summaries for the actual chronology.

The first, and title, relationship is between Anna and Vronsky. Anna Karenina, a beautiful, seductive young woman is married to a cold, distant older man named Karenin. While visiting her sister-in-law, Dolly, she meets the young, handsome Vronsky ( who is supposed to be courting Dolly’s sister Kitty). Anna and Vronsky fall in love and begin an affair. Eventually Anna becomes pregnant with Vronsky’s baby. She leaves Karenin and Vronsky leaves his military career, and the two go abroad. The rest of the story chronicles their relationship: the difficulties of being social outcasts both while living abroad and in Russia; Anna’s desire to get a divorce which her husband refuses to grant; the jealousies and suspicions that build up in Anna’s mind; her dissolve into hopelessness and finally, her suicide.

The other relationship followed is that of Kitty and Levin. Levin, a mid-thirties landowner and farmer, has been, for years, searching for the meaning of life. He has also been desperately in love with Kitty, a tender sweet young thing. Levin was courting her, when Vronsky stepped in. Levin retreats, then comes back to try again. He asks Kitty to marry him, she says no. Levin returns to his farm and immerses himself in his work. Meanwhile, Kitty has realized that Vronsky has no intention of marrying her. When he goes off with Anna, Kitty falls into despair and illness and has to be taken abroad. Finally, Levin and Kitty get it together and get married. Kitty moves to Levin’s farm, and the two of them adjust to married life. Kitty helps him through the difficult death of his brother, and he helps her through the difficult birth of their child. Levin is disconcerted because the work that was once so important to him, no longer matters as much, and he is also prone to fits of jealousy over his young bride. In the end, they find happiness and Levin discovers a new religious faith which gives him the meaning of life he was searching for, and the ability to enjoy all that he has.

CHAPTER BY CHAPTER

PART ONE

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

PART TWO

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

PART THREE

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

PART FOUR

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

PART FIVE

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

. Finally, they exchange vows

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20 - Death (note that this is the only chapter in the whole book with a title)

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

PART SIX

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

PART SEVEN

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

PART EIGHT

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

THINGS TO MAKE YOU LOOK SMART