A lot of great comments so far. I have always thought
Anna Karenina deserves its ranking as a classic novel, though truth be told I have always enjoyed
War and Peace more. It is hard to put ones self into the characters of novel, especially Anna, as we live in such different times. The constraints of religion and society were so much more overwhelming, back then marriage really was thought to be until death do part, not until one decides that he or she just doesn't want to be married anymore.
Tolstoy certainly was writing about and from the point of view of the upper class. Even in Levin's interactions with peasants he [Levin] takes a paternalistic attitude and does not really question his right to profit from their labor.
I thought that at times Tolstoy's character development was brilliant. As an example the entire Chapter 8 of Part II which is devoted to who Alexey Alexandrovitch Karenin was as a person and his relationship to Anna.
I also felt that the religious awakening of Levin at the end of the novel did not sit well. To have ended with the suicide of Anna would have been too abrupt, but I would have been fine with it ending with Chapter 5 in Part VIII. The fate of Vronsky (at least in the near term) was settled at that point. I think though that Tolstoy developed the contrast between Vronsky and Anna on one hand, and Levin and Kitty on the other to make an over arching moral statement. What I have always taken away from Tolstoy (both from
AK and W
ar and Peace) is that he believed there was such a thing as “The Russian Soul” and that was intimately tied to the land and agriculture, and also to faith in the traditional church. Levin and Kitty are rewarded for adherence while Anna an Vronsky are punished for straying. The remaining part of the novel, including Levin becoming religious was part of this.
A telling quote:
Quote:
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Vronsky would have been perfectly satisfied with his life. The role he had taken up, the role of a wealthy landowner, one of that class which ought to be the very heart of the Russian aristocracy, was entirely to his taste; and now, after spending six months in that character, he derived even greater satisfaction from it.
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(Part VI Chapt. 25).
Of less importance, but I found it interesting that Tolstoy wove in two trends prevalent in the sort of upper class society of the time, not just in Russia but Europe and America as well. One was the high interest in spiritualism and mysticism. Charlatans like Landau thrived in that atmosphere.
Also Tolstoy certainly implied that by the time of her death Anna was addicted to morphine. Perhaps contributing to her suicidal state?