Part One Summary:

Prince Stephen Oblonsky, known as Stiva, wakes up from pleasant dreams to an unfortunate memory: he has slept on the sofa in his study, because he and his wife Dolly have had a serious quarrel. Three days earlier, Dolly discovered that he had an affair with their children's French governess. Since her discovery, she has refused to see him or leave her quarters, and subsequently the house has been chaotic. Though, as he claims, he is only sorry for being caught, Oblonsky despises the uproar that he has inflicted on his house, and, on the advice of Matrona, the children's nurse, he makes a rather comic attempt at begging for forgiveness. Dolly, sensing his insincerity, reaffirms her threat to leave for her mother's house with their children. Though upset that his attempts to smooth things over with Dolly have failed, Oblonsky goes on about his duties as head of a Government Board in Moscow. He is partially optimistic for his sister, Anna Karenina, will be coming to visit the next day, and he anticipates that her presence will have a soothing effect on Dolly. Anna's husband is a distinguished government minister in St. Petersburg and Anna herself is renowned as a lovely and charming woman; they move in the highest circles of society.

During his lunch break, Oblonsky runs into his friend Constantine Levin, who has just arrived from his country estate and gone straight to Oblonsky's office. Levin has an urgent matter to discuss, but he is a shy man and does not wish to talk in front of Oblonsky's business friends. Oblonsky, whose tact and camaraderie with men is well-renowned, quickly discerns that Levin is in town to see Oblonsky's sister-in-law, Kitty Shcherbatskaya, for Levin is rather smitten with the eighteen-year-old girl. Oblonsky suggests a meeting with Levin later that evening at the park where Kitty ice-skates. Levin has been a particularly reticent suitor, even though he has been in love with the entire Shcherbatskaya family for many years and has considered marrying all three of the sisters. After meeting Oblonsky, Levin goes to his half-brother's house. Sergius Ivanich Koznyshev is a well-known writer and intellectual, and he and Levin have trouble getting along. This happens again when Levin arrives; Koznyshev is entertaining a professor and the three of them have a philosophical argument. After the professor leaves, Levin and Koznyshev talk about their other brother, Nicholas, the ruined and impoverished pariah of the family.

Levin goes to the park. He skates with Kitty and flirts with her boldly, but she sends him mixed signals. Her mother also appears rather lukewarm about Levin's obvious intentions. Oblonsky arrives and Levin leaves for dinner with relief. They eat at a fine restaurant named the Angleterre. Tolstoy describes the ritual of the meal in great detail. Over dinner, Oblonsky teases Levin about Kitty, and they discuss the matter of his proposal. Though he encourages Levin, Oblonsky also tells him about his rival: Count Alexis Kirilovich Vronsky, a wealthy, dashing young officer and Imperial aide-de-camp. Oblonsky also admits that he feels little pain at the idea of adultery (on behalf of men).

Meanwhile, at the Shcherbatskys' house, the (elder) Princess Shcherbatskaya frets over Kitty's marriage opportunities. Though she prefers Vronsky, considering Levin peculiar and awkward in public, she fears that Vronsky is not interested in marrying Kitty. Levin arrives and immediately proposes to Kitty; she rejects him in the hopes that Vronsky will make his proposal soon. Other guests soon arrive, and one of them, Countess Nordston, mocks Levin for his country manners. Levin banters with the Countess until Vronsky arrives in the hopes of learning more about his rival. Vronsky is charming; Levin leaves feeling dejected. After all the guests have left, Kitty's parents argue over her future. Her mother still prefers Vronsky, while her father prefers Levin.

When Oblonsky goes to the railway station to meet Anna the next morning, he runs into Vronsky, who is waiting for his mother to get off the same train. It turns out that Anna and Vronsky's mother were seatmates in the same compartment, and his mother is quite taken with Anna. So is Vronsky, at once, charmed by Anna's spirit and vitality. As the four of them exchange banalities, a railroad guard is run over and killed by a passing train. At the urgings of Anna, Vronsky leaves 200 roubles for the guard's widow.

Oblonsky's optimism is well-placed: Anna ably convinces Dolly not to leave. She also charms Kitty. But at a ball the next night, Kitty notices that Vronsky is distracted and inattentive to her. The source of this inattention becomes clear when she watched Vronsky waltz with Anna. The two of them are completely smitten, and Kitty's heart is shattered. She realizes that her hopes are shot; Vronsky never wanted to marry her.

Levin goes to see his elder brother Nicholas, who is sickly and lives in depraved conditions. Disgusted with the entire trip, Levin leaves Moscow for his country estate. At home he feels comforted by his servants, his house and his lands, and he swears that he will be happy without marriage. Anna leaves the same day as Levin, on the train for St. Petersburg. She is distressed over her new acquaintance. During a brief stop in the middle of a snowstorm, Vronsky emerges on the platform and tells her that he is in love with her and will follow her. He follows her to St. Petersburg, where he makes his presence known immediately to Karenin upon arrival, asking for the privilege of calling on them. Karenin dislikes him on sight. Anna, anxious to resume her life, throws herself into routine, but finds that she is constantly displeased with Karenin, her social circle, and her beloved son Serezha for reasons that she cannot comprehend.

Vronsky keeps a large apartment in St. Petersburg, which he has let out to his disreputable but dashing friend, a lieutenant named Petritsky. He goes to reclaim this apartment, and then dines with Petritsky and his lover, Baroness Shilton. Meanwhile he plans his entrée into the circles where he will meet Anna.

Part One Analysis:

Anna Karenina is a novel about many things: love, the idea of romance, marriage, nation, the changing state of Russia, Society, morality and justice. All of these things are featured in Part One of the novel. We are also introduced to all the major characters and the most important elements of their personalities.

Before the novel even begins, however, it is important to consider the epigraph, taken from the Book of Romans: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." This is one of the most famous epigraphs in Western literature, because the object of the Lord's anger in this book could be so many different things and so many different people. The most obvious target is Anna, but there is also Vronsky, for his selfish role in causing her downfall. Another potential subject is Russian Society itself, for its hypocrisy and its inflexible, narrow-minded rules. In his diaries, Tolstoy claimed that he intended the epigraph to encapsulate one of his major themes: the importance of leaving the judgment of other people to the Lord.

That said, the novel opens with a scene of chaos caused by infidelity. The Oblonskys' problems and Dolly's pain are an apt way to begin Anna Karenina; these opening scenes will be echoed on a far higher level with Anna's own marriage. There are important differences between the Oblonskys' situation and Anna's own, though. First of all, the infidelity is a man's, and therefore Oblonsky is treated indulgently by society. Dolly, burdened by many children (and the promise of another, she is pregnant at this time in the book), is willing to live with contradictions in her life in order to save the household. Throughout the book, their marriage‹intact though unhappy‹will form a deliberate contrast to Anna's all-or-nothing attitude. Tolstoy draws out this comparison with a deliberate irony: Anna's arrival in the book is to save her brother's marriage, which she does at the cost of her own.

Before we even meet Anna, we meet Levin, whose story will run parallel to Anna's over the course of the book. He is Anna's double in the book, and indeed they share many personality traits: generosity and compassion, occasional irrationality, and an all-or-nothing attitude when it comes to "living life." Just like Anna, Levin cannot stand the idea of living his life with contradictions between his actions and his beliefs. The differences are that Levin is able to find socially acceptable outlets for his personality needs and desires, and that Levin is not constrained to the same world that Anna is. Levin lives in the countryside, where the narrow rules of the social order do not apply. The contrast between city and country will also form an important theme in this book.

Just as Stiva and Dolly's marriage is shown in contrast to Anna's romantic chaos, the courtship and marriage of Levin and Kitty provide another model for love and marital relations. The fact that Vronsky was originally attached to Kitty lingers over the book, a tantalizing "What if?" that is echoed as Anna's romance descends further and further into chaos.

The scene in which we are introduced to Anna (Chapter 18) is one of the most important ones of the novel. It forms a composite of the entire novel, a thumbnail sketch, if you will, and all the action is foreshadowed in this one scene. Anna is first introduced to us as she steps off a train. The train is an important symbol for Anna and also for Russian society in general: just as trains in the 1870s represented something new, terrifying, and disruptive, so bourgeois Russian society is in the midst of great change, although they do not recognize it. We are shown the essence of Anna's vitality, which both sustains and destroys her. "It was as though an excess of something so filled her whole being that it expressed itself against her willŠShe deliberately tried to extinguish that light in her eyes, but it blazed out against her will in that faint smile." We also come to recognize the limitations of Vronsky, limitations that will doom his love affair with Anna. He lacks the emotional depth and richness of Anna and therefore cannot sustain her or himself when he is cut off from the social world he loves. This is shown in subtle ways. For example, when the railroad guard dies, Anna immediately shows compassion and practical concern for his widow, but "Vronsky was silent; his handsome face was grave but quite calm." The death of guard, of course, foreshadows Anna's own death at the end of the book.

As in War and Peace, Anna Karenina is as much about a particular world and a particular historical time as it is about the many people moving through its pages. Tolstoy fleshes out the novel with an extraordinarily rich portrait of bourgeois Russia: dinners, balls, social propriety, manners, the importance of expected conduct and the role of economics. Some critics have argued that the plot of Anna Karenina is melodramatic, even ridiculous: it is the portrait of Russia that makes the book a classic. While this is not completely true‹Tolstoy also creates an incredible portrayal of love in all of its different appearances‹it is true that one of the reasons Anna Karenina lives to this day is because Tolstoy made it the story of a crumbling society as well as a crumbling marriage.

Part Two Summary:

Kitty Shcherbatskaya remains shattered at the beginning of this section; her heartbreak has made itself known in a number of physical symptoms. Her entire family, especially her mother, feels distressed and guilty over their roles in forcing proposals from the two men. Kitty is particularly emotional during the early pages of Part Two. Irritable, distraught, and free to say what she likes under the cloak of illness, she vents her feelings to Dolly. She feels, Kitty says, coarse and vulgar, and she also claims that she will never do as Dolly has done: to continue to live in the same house as a man who has been dishonest. Kitty almost immediately regrets the cruelty of this last statement, coming as it does at a time when Dolly is already feeling insecure about Oblonsky's past and future infidelities. The two sisters have an emotional reconciliation and Kitty returns home with her sister to nurse the Oblonsky children through an outbreak of scarlet fever. But Kitty's own health does not improve, and her family decides to take her to a spa in Germany.

Chapter Four opens with a detailed description of the three different social circles Anna has at her disposal. The first is the business circle of her husband's associates, the second is a small group of learned and pious men and women, nicknamed "the conscience of Petersburg society." And the third is the largest circle of grand society: balls, dinners, playing at cards, etc. Previous to her Moscow trip, Anna had typically consorted with the second circle, but upon her return, she begins circulating more frequently in the third circle, where she is sure to meet Vronsky. They share a mutual friend, Princess Betsy Tverskoy, who is also Vronsky's cousin and takes great delight in watching their passion progress. Anna at first believes that she is merely allowing Vronsky to pursue her, but soon she admits to herself that his feelings constitute the whole passion of her present existence.

Their behavior quickly escalates into the realm of the Socially Unacceptable. This is clear one evening at Princess Betsy's house. While the other guests amuse themselves in conversation and the Princess Myagkaya holds court with her wit and her blunt sense of humor, Anna and Vronsky withdraw to their own table and engage in a lengthy, private conversation. This would not be unusual, but they do so in the presence of Karenin, Anna's husband, and so others take notice. Eyebrows begin raising all over St. Petersburg.

With his typical disinterest and naivete, Karenin does not believe there is anything wrong with Anna's behavior, but he notices the effect of her conversation on others. Karenin is a man vitally concerned with external appearances, and it is for this reason that he confronts Anna about the incident. She arrives home very late, much to his displeasure, and then proceeds to cheerfully disregard his concern. Frustrated by his inability to communicate with his wife, Karenin withdraws from Anna, and she from him. From this point on, Anna's primary attachment is to Vronsky.

Vronsky and Anna consummate their love in heavily coded language (which was shocking for the time‹and the censors) and Anna, with more clarity than she has ever had about the affair before, says, "Everything is finished. I have nothing but you now. Remember that." She leaves immediately, and when she goes to bed that night, she dreams of being married to both Vronsky and Karenin, and being ravished by them at the same time. She is horrified by this dream.

Meanwhile, Levin prepares his estate for the arrival of spring. Unlike many estate owners, Levin delights in doing heavy labor on his estate; Tolstoy gives many descriptions of Levin's physicality and his deeds during this section. Levin does the work not only because it gives him pleasure, but also because it distracts him from thoughts of Kitty. A visitor arrives at his estate: fearing that it is his brother Nicholas, Levin is delighted when it turns out to be Oblonsky. With characteristic aplomb, Oblonsky announces his three intentions: to visit, to shoot and to sell one of his forests to a local dealer named Ryabinin. The deal goes through and Ryabinin takes advantage of Oblonsky by paying far less than the forest is worth. Levin is furious at Oblonsky and takes advantage of the opportunity to lecture Oblonsky on his financial affairs. Oblonsky laughs him off. Before he leaves, Oblonsky tells Levin that Kitty is ill and that Vronsky has left Moscow in pursuit of Anna.

In Petersburg, Vronsky and Anna's affair is rapidly becoming common knowledge. Though the affair is condoned because they remain discreet, the women of Petersburg Society are waiting eagerly for Anna to make a mistake, and Vronsky's family is becoming concerned that this affair is distracting him from progressing in his career. In the midst of all this concern, Vronsky is preparing to ride in the annual horse race for officers of his regiment. Right before the race, Vronsky visits Anna in the garden of her house. He pauses to admire her, looking beautiful and tragic on the terrace, but she tells him a piece of startling news: she is pregnant. He does not sense the import of this announcement, but rashly proposes that they elope. Anna refuses, claiming that she cannot bear to unleash the forces of civic, political and religious society upon her and her son. They make plans to meet later, and Vronsky then hurries to the race. He meets his brother, who makes several insinuating comments about his affair with Anna. Anna and her husband both attend the race, but sit separately in the stands. Vronsky begins the race in the lead, but he fails to remain in motion with his nervous mare, Frou-Frou during a hurdle. The horse falls and breaks her back; Vronsky, in anger, kicks the dying mare, though he himself is unhurt.

Karenin, who has been conducting relations with his wife much as before, sees a doctor before the race about his health. The doctor prescribes cures that are impossible for Karenin‹no worrying, little intellectual activity and a great deal of physical labor‹and then leaves, disturbing Karenin. At the race, he watches Anna's reactions from across the stands. He is furious to see her openly fawn over Vronsky as he is riding and then to see her react physically when he falls. With great difficulty‹for Anna does not know if Vronsky is hurt or not‹he manages to force her to come home with him. In the carriage, he confronts her about her affair, with more strength this time. Not only does Anna confess her feelings for Vronsky, but she lashes out at Karenin, saying that she hates him. Karenin demands that she observe "external conditions of propriety" until he can protect himself, presumably through a divorce.

At the German spa, Kitty makes the acquaintance of Varenka, a young woman who cares for Madame Stahl, her adoptive mother. Stahl is a mysterious figure, a member of the highest society who is too ill, and, the old Princess Shcherbatsky claims, too proud, to consort with other Russians. Varenka is pious, with a deep sense of morality, and she devotes much of her time looking out for the less fortunate. Kitty is taken with Varenka and tries to imitate her sense of deep spirituality. Nicholas Levin and his female companion, Masha, are also at the same resort. He is poorly dressed and has no social graces. Kitty is repulsed, not just because he is unpleasant but also because he reminds her of Levin.

Varenka assures Kitty that there are far more important things in the world than marriage. Thus shamed, Kitty aspires to be charitable and begins looking after Petrov, a sickly painter. This backfires when Petrov falls in love with Kitty and his wife gets angry at the girl's attentions. At first Kitty is sad that she cannot be like Varenka, but then she meets the mysterious Madame Stahl and discovers that Stahl, who claims to be pious, is actually hypocritical and rather cruel towards Varenka. Her father makes fun of Stahl and does a great deal to restore Kitty's spirits. Thus assured, Kitty prepares to return to Moscow with a greater understanding of herself. She retains her love for Varenka, begging her to come visit. Varenka promises she will as soon as Kitty is married.

Part Two Analysis:

Part Two helps readers to understand the seriousness of Anna and Vronsky's affair. The theme of family relations is strong in this portion of the book. Not only are the stakes raised with Anna's pregnancy, but Tolstoy's portrayal of the complicated emotional networks between families shows how Anna and Vronsky's behavior will hurt the people around them in addition to themselves.

In order to understand the depth of these networks, it is important to understand a few legalities, de juro and de facto, of Russian society. At this time, divorce was granted only for the most serious conditions of adultery or abuse. A divorce was only obtainable by the innocent party, and the guilty party was neither allowed custody of any children nor the right to marry again. For Anna, then, a divorce would mean losing access to her beloved son. It would also mean living as Vronsky's mistress. As a mistress, not only would she be a permanent social outcast, but she would lack legal power in all of her social relationships. Vronsky's children would not have legitimacy, and therefore they would be unable to inherit any of his property or titles.

In addition to this legality, Russian society had its own rules. Although affairs were common and perfectly acceptable for both men and women, they were condoned only so long as what Karenin called "external conditions" were maintained. Neglect of one's spouse in public in order to pay attention to one's lover was considered a breach of those conditions, as was outward disrespect for the wronged husband or wife. If those conditions were breached, especially by a woman, Russian society would turn upon the offender with full force. Anna risks not only her own social humiliation and ruination but that of her son as well.

Under such dire circumstances, it is understandable that Anna hesitates at Vronsky's rash suggestion. Vronsky, whether from ignorance or naivete, fails to understand what these two powerful rules will mean for himself and Anna, and he goes off to the race barely disturbed beyond a serious feeling of "disgust" at the entire situation.

The most powerful figure in this equation, then, is Anna's husband Karenin. Though critics have demonized Karenin for his coldness towards Anna and his preoccupation with "external conditions" rather than "internal conditions"‹for his hypocrisy‹he is one of the more complicated figures in the book. He may be cold, but he is willing to suffer public humiliation if Anna will simply behave herself. This is truly generous of him and speaks well of his selflessness. Anna senses the greatness of his gesture, and this is one reason why she hates him. Indeed, her dream of having both men as husbands reflects on her own wish to have not both men but both sets of personalities‹Vronsky's passion and Karenin's generosity‹at her disposal. Of course, they cannot merge in the same man, and this is part of Anna's tragedy.

Vronsky, meanwhile, showcases some of his less flattering aspects during the race. He rushes off to the race after Anna's pronouncement with barely a concern beyond the condition of his horse. And when, due to his own mistake, the horse, fails him, his cruelty is startling. Despite his later regret, Vronsky is shown to be a man of great passions but limited emotional depth.

While Anna and Vronsky begin their descent into chaos, Kitty gradually grows in maturity and independence. Through the figure of Varenka, she comes to understand another vision of life that does not center around marriage, but good deeds, as the purpose of a woman's life. Though she does not chose this route, her exposure to it lessens her concerns about Vronsky's humiliation and allows her to envision a new life for herself. The role of her family, especially her father, in supporting Kitty forms an alternative portrayal of familial relations to the debacle in St. Petersburg.

Part Three Summary:

In the summer, Levin's half-brother Koznyshev decides to take a break from his intellectual labors in order to visit Levin in the country. Levin is happy to see his brother, though their differences regarding the purpose of a country estate annoy him. Levin is actively involved in everything regarding his farm, while Koznyshev regards the country as an opportunity for rest and idleness, "a useful antidote to depravity." There are also differences between the two brothers regarding the peasants. Koznyshev likes "the people," even to the point of idealizing their simplicity and good attitude, while Levin is more familiar with their weaknesses as well as their strengths and therefore cannot idealize them or their role in the labor market. Koznyshev also wants Levin to assume a position of responsibility in the area and criticizes him for abandoning the district council. Levin gets rid of some of his annoyance by mowing his fields with the peasants.

The physical activity is invigorating and puts Levin in a good humor; relations between himself and Koznyshev improve as a result.

Meanwhile, Oblonsky has gone to Petersburg for necessary bureaucratic functions, sending Dolly and the children to their country estate in Yergushovo to save money. While Oblonsky attends the horse races and lives like a bachelor in Petersburg, his family has a difficult time adjusting to the hardships of country life. After a week, the country house is in working order and Dolly has a moment of matriarchal triumph at her children's excellent behavior at Mass. Levin visits after Communion, and Dolly suggests that he propose to Kitty again. The suggestion embarrasses Levin, and they argue for a bit. Their bad humor seems to affect the children, whose good behavior earlier in the day disintegrates. Levin, inwardly scoffing at Dolly's mothering skills, leaves quickly. He goes next to deal with the sale of his sister's hay-harvest in a village some fifteen miles from Pokrovsk. After he has settled the business accounts, he observes a cheerful peasant family working hard at their labor. Their seeming happiness affects him greatly, and he returns to his questions about economics and spiritual happiness. As he leaves the fields, he glimpses Kitty passing in a carriage, and he realizes that he still loves her.

Karenin struggles with Anna's revelation about Vronsky by pondering his options. He does this in a very clinical, bureaucratic way. The traditional response would be to challenge Vronsky to a duel, but he considers duels dishonest and foolish besides. The most important thing to him is to "safeguard my reputation, which I need in order to continue my career unhindered." In order to gain a divorce, he would have to provide "proof" of Anna's infidelity, and he considers such things coarse. Plus, the divorce would be disruptive and publicly humiliating for him. So he decides that the only option is to force Anna to break off relations with Vronsky and stay with him. Outwardly at least, this will preserve the status quo. Inwardly, he also recognizes this as punishment for her. He writes to tell her of his decision and throws himself into his bureaucratic duties with relish.

Anna wakes up the morning after her outburst in the carriage seized by fear. Frightened that Karenin will throw her out of the house, she hatches a desperate plan to flee with her son, without Vronsky. She writes Karenin a letter to this effect. Then she receives Karenin's letter, and is chilled by both his generosity and his coldness. She leaves for a croquet match at Princess Betsy's. Betsy has arranged for a number of high-society women with lovers to attend, in order that Anna might "learn" from their example. The women show up with both their lovers and husbands in tow. The match temporarily distracts Anna, but she remembers what awaits her at home and leaves.

The same morning, Vronsky spends the morning putting his financial affairs in order. His calculations reveal that he has many debts and a limited income. A visit from his friend Serpukhovskoy sparks Vronsky's jealousy, Serpukhovskoy is a general expecting an even higher appointment, while Vronsky's career has stagnated.

But when Serpukhovskoy offers him the chance to jump-start his career by leaving the regiment, Vronsky refuses because it will take him away from Anna. After his meeting, he finds Anna. She tells him about Karenin, and Vronsky is excited, but Anna suggests that everything will remain the same. Vronsky believes a duel is inevitable, but she knows better. Sure enough, Karenin does not challenge Vronsky to a duel. He is absorbed in his work, and a temporary triumph over a political enemy distracts him from family matters. When Anna comes to him in emotional despair, his manner is chilling and vindictive. He tells her in no uncertain terms that she will remain with him and break off relations with Vronsky.

Levin spends the rest of the summer contemplating economic and agricultural strategies while he attempts to avoid thoughts of Kitty, who is staying with Dolly less than twenty miles away. He visits Sviyazhsky, the owner of a nearby estate, to go shooting, and they engage in an involved discussion of peasant labor. Though he disagrees with Sviyazhsky, who wishes to reintroduce serfdom (abolished in 1861), the conversation sparks Levin's thinking about the peasants. Levin believes the best way to inspire them is not to force them to work, but to give them a stake in their work through ownership. He develops a "theory" of economic labor that involves cooperative labor and ownership. He attempts to implement this theory on his farm, but the peasants respond with far less enthusiasm than Levin does.

At the end of September, Levin receives a surprise visit from his brother Nicholas. Nicholas is emaciated and obviously very sick; his death is imminent. Though Levin is horrified by his brother's appearance and concerned about his future, Nicholas' fate is not a topic for discussion. Nicholas even claims that his health is improving. Instead, they fight about Levin's economic theory. Nicholas scoffs at his brother's beliefs, calling them a distorted form of communism. This disillusions Levin about the potential of his idea. Nicholas leaves, and Levin sinks into moroseness. He begins seeing death everywhere and is depressed about his own soul.

Part Three Analysis:

It is here, in part three, that Tolstoy develops his remarkable secondary story of Russia's changing economic society in addition to the story of relationships within Russia's High Society. Many critics have argued that Tolstoy's work here is what makes Anna Karenina such a lasting piece of literature; there is no doubt that his descriptions of agricultural life and his complex understanding of economic and historical forces, rendered in lucid prose, deepen and richen the novel. At the same time, some critics believe that Tolstoy's in-depth look at economics and agriculture‹he relates every speech and every theory‹is monotonous and distracts us from the "real" action. Regardless of critical debate, Tolstoy's goal in writing Anna Karenina was not just to tell a story but to provide "a slice of life." The agricultural focus‹which certainly would have been a large topic in 1870s Russia‹is a part of that.

Part Three is where, as one critic claims, Tolstoy has "images of life overthrowing theories." Or, to be more specific, "mowing wheat" overthrows theories. The simultaneous stories of Anna and Vronsky and Levin and Kitty are subordinated to Tolstoy's look at the Russian economic order. But in doing so, Tolstoy also provides us with valuable character development. We cannot take Koznyshev and Nicholas' theories about economics and peasants seriously because they do not, like Levin, have the experience of tilling the earth. The theme of the earth runs strongly through this part, and we are meant to judge characters by how they respond to the earth. Only characters who have a sensuous relationship to the earth‹Levin, Dolly‹are considered sympathetic in this section. Characters who do not have a relationship to the earth‹Koznyshev, Nicholas, Oblonsky‹seem misinformed and depraved. Indeed, it has been argued that some of Anna's depravity stems from her lack of a relationship to the earth; her inability to leave large urban centers is partially responsible for bringing her down.

The problems of the landowner's station are of prime importance in this section, and much of what happens is a reflection of Tolstoy's own reactionary beliefs. Though he did not favor a return to the slave-like conditions of serfdom, Tolstoy believed in the primacy of the landowner's patriarchal relationship to his peasants and his lands. At least some of the failure of Levin's theory is based on Tolstoy's own rebuke of communism. Nonetheless, Levin is a deeply conflicted man of ethics and human understanding (he does not make the mistake of idealizing the peasants, nor does he consider them inferior), and this creates difficulties in his vision of economics. How can he, Levin, make his living off the labor of others?

This question and a serious obsession with death tortures Levin throughout the novel. It is very important to keep these two matters in mind, particularly the latter, as they form the crux of Levin's development as a spiritual being later in the novel.

Karenin's behavior in this part of the novel shows both his cruelty and his bizarre sense of morality. It is true that he does the most generous thing by inviting Anna to come back into the fold rather than throwing her to the wolves, but it is also true that in doing so, he inflicts on her a punishment that is psychologically far more terrifying. Anna sought her relationship with Vronsky in order to liberate some of the repressed "animation" that, as we saw in Chapter 18 of Part One, is her natural state. Karenin's solution is to stifle that animation completely. Karenin knows that his generosity will punish Anna further, and he takes great vindictive delight in "doing the right thing." The irony of this situation also works to Karenin's self-interest. He coldly calculates pros and cons in a scene that is terrifying for the lack of emotion Karenin brings to an essentially emotional affair. If he gets a divorce from Anna or challenges Vronsky to a duel, the disruptive outcome may affect his career. And his career, as we see from his manner, is the most important thing.

Betsy's party is an amazing "slice of life," and frequently undiscussed part of the novel. Betsy brings two women, both placed high in society, with their lovers and husbands, to a croquet match. Her intention is to show Anna how women can conduct affairs in a non-damaging way. But although both women have retained their positions and their lovers, neither of them are positive models for Anna. One woman suffers from insomnia and boredom; the other is whorish. Juxtaposed against such examples, Anna's passionate, all-or-nothing manner is positively refreshing.

It is no accident that Levin spots Kitty just as he is feeling invigorated by the lives of the peasants. Just as their simple life inspires him, Kitty represents something child-like and innocent to him. But in Part Three, they are still not ready to meet for the purposes of love and marriage. An important theme in Anna Karenina is that of making choices‹just as Anna follows through with her destructive love affair to the bitter end, Levin and Kitty must be ready to commit themselves to a life together. This will take a bit more growth for both persons.

Part Four Summary:

As this portion of the book opens, the Karenins are living together in a state of tension. They are "utter strangers" and Anna continues to see Vronsky outside the house. Karenin is aware of this and does nothing. One night, Anna can barely stand her loneliness, and asks him to come at seven, when Karenin has a council meeting. Vronsky appears and literally runs into Karenin in the doorway. Karenin, who looks like a death's head, storms past him. Somewhat abashed, Vronsky goes into Anna, but he is forced to recognize that her jealous fits and pregnancy make her less attractive to him. Anna takes joy in mocking her husband to Vronsky and tells him of a nightmare she had concerning a dirty old peasant muttering about how "it must be beaten, the iron, pounded, kneaded." Vronsky had the same nightmare shortly before coming to see Anna and is terrified.

While Vronsky was in his house, Karenin went to the opera as he had planned, and sat through the first two acts as social propriety recommended. But he cannot rest for his fury, and he leaves for home. The next morning, he confronts Anna again. Faced with her implacable resolve, he tells her that he intends to begin divorce proceedings. She begs him to leave her Seryozha. Karening goes to see a famous Petersburg lawyer about divorces, and learns that he will still have to provide physical evidence of Anna's infidelity. He decides to consider this carefully. At the same time, faced with resistance with colleagues at work, he leaves for the provinces on official business.

On his way to the provinces, Karenin stops in Moscow for meetings. By chance he runs into Oblonsky and Dolly, and reluctantly accepts an invitation to dinner. Oblonsky delights in giving dinner parties and goes about the preparations with glee, including the invitations for Kitty and Levin. When he goes to remind Karenin about the invitation, however, Karenin bluntly tells Oblonsky that he is seeking a divorce with Anna, Oblonsky's sister. Oblonsky encourages Karenin against hasty decisions and urges him to come to dinner and discuss the matter with Dolly.

At the dinner, the guests mingle amiably, thanks to Oblonsky's excellent host techniques. Karenin, Koznyshev, and a man named Pestsov discuss politics while Levin and Kitty enjoy a happy reunion. Levin marvels that Kitty seems completely different‹more fragile‹and they tune the others out, forming their own little enclave of conversation. As their feelings deepen, Dolly unsuccessfully tries to talk Karenin out of divorcing Anna. Meanwhile, Kitty and Levin play a word game in which Levin discovers that Kitty will marry him if he asks again. For two nights he does not sleep and the material concerns of the world seem frivolous. Then he visits the Shcherbatskayas to ask for, and receive, Kitty's hand in marriage. But Levin is tortured that Kitty does not know two things about him: that he is not a virgin, and that he does not believe in God. In the interest of full disclosure, he gives her his diaries. Though she is horrified, she accepts him anyway.

After Oblonsky's party, Karenin receives a telegram from Anna: "Dying, beg, implore you come. With your forgiveness will die more tranquilly." He weighs the pros and cons and finally decides to go back to Petersburg that night. There, he rushes in to find Anna very ill from giving birth to Vronsky's daughter. The doctors claim she may be dying. Vronsky is in an outer room, weeping. Seeing Anna in her agitated state stirs Karenin to forgiveness. Weeping freely, he forgives both her and Vronsky in a state of great joy and happiness. Then Anna spends three days alternating between comatose and writhing in pain. As she suffers, Karenin shames Vronsky by saying that no matter how the two of them humiliate him, Karenin will not leave Anna. Devastated by Karenin's nobility, Vronsky goes home and attempts suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. The bullet misses his heart, and he recuperates with the help of his sister-in-law.

Anna recovers from her illness slowly. Karenin become the parent to both children‹especially the daughter, also named Anna, for whom he feels a special affection. Anna remains awed by her husband's generous feelings, but she still feels stifled, especially once she hears news that Vronsky has been offered a prestigious military post in Tashkent. Oblonsky, sensing the torture of the situation, visits Karenin and encourages him to begin divorce proceedings again‹but by accepting blame himself, so that Anna has the moral authority in the settlement. In an emotional moment, Karenin agrees. Upon hearing this news, Vronsky immediately abandons his military duties and rushes to the Karenins' house. But though Anna is elated to see him, and though she agrees to leave for Italy, she says that "nothing matters now," and that she will not accept Karenin's offer of a divorce.

Part Four Analysis:

If Part Three was perhaps slow and loaded with economic and social affairs, Tolstoy makes up for this lapse with Part Four. Things begin to move tremendously fast now, as the relationship between Anna and Vronsky reaches a climax, Kitty and Levin reunite and discover that they have a future together, and Karenin comes forth as a powerful character in the action.

This is the section wherein Anna and Levin divurge. No longer will they both hold the status of frustrated romantics; Levin begins to flourish in a happy and healthy relationship. Throughout the novel, these two act as "doubles" for each other. Only Levin has the resources of passion that Anna can claim, but his are not destructive for a number of reasons. He certainly has more outlets for his passion. One of those outlets is his land, as shown in part three. But he also has a greater idea of the humility and compromise it takes for a relationship to grow in a healthy, socially acceptable way, as his persistent wooing of Kitty shows. Although Levin eventually finds peace and happiness in the novel and Anna is consumed by her passion, they are two sides of the same coin. Their tales contain a great deal of simultaneous convergence, albeit with different outcomes. Levin's story is merely Anna's story with a morally acceptable ending.

The emergence of the twain is underlined by Anna's assumption of Levin's death obsession. This is a portion of the book overwhelmed with portents, dreams and death imagery. Vronsky stumbles on Karenin in the doorway looking like a death's head: "bloodless, worn faceŠmotionless, dull eyes." Anna's dream foreshadows her death in Part Seven; the "iron" the peasant discusses is the iron of the railroad tracks, and the "pounding" he is talking about is her body on the rails. This dream is brought out by Anna's actual death scene: the last thing she sees is a peasant on the railroad tracks. Finally, both Anna and Vronsky brush with death in this part: although they recover, these brushes with death foreshadow their ruin later in the book.

Critics are conflicted about Karenin's emotional scene of forgiveness. It is certainly out of character: for the first four hundred pages of the book, he has proven himself a cold and calculating bureaucrat, far from evil, but far from loving as well. Some critics hold that the entire scene is merely Tolstoy lapsing into melodrama; others believe that it proves the authenticity of Karenin's humility and good heart. At any rate, it inspires the appropriate shame and awe in Anna (who spends the next three days writhing in bed, as much out of her mental turmoil as out of her physical anguish) and Vronsky (who, confronted with the greatness of his rival, makes a cowardly attempt at suicide). It also proves to be Karenin's undoing: from this point on, he is considered a cuckolded laughingstock in society, while Vronsky regains some of his honor from the suicide attempt. After Anna leaves with Vronsky, without even giving Karenin the closure of a divorce, he sinks even lower in public opinion.

Though Anna leaves with Vronsky for Italy, readers are meant to hold the idea of a lasting union in doubt. Vronsky is clearly too egotistical for the great sacrifices that such a relationship will require; Anna, because of her ruined social position, is completely at Vronsky's mercy. Their obvious counterpart is Kitty and Levin, whose slow and maturing love and commitment is the model for a relationship that can go the distance. Although both of them still have a great deal to learn‹especially Levin‹their humility is admirable.

One of the things that Levin has to change is his vision of Kitty. He idolizes her as child-like and the embodiment of a perfection that he cannot attain; as if to prove this, he gives her his diaries. As expected, her horrified reaction makes him feel even more base and unworthy of her love. When Levin comes to accept God later on in the book, his relationship with Kitty become all that much stronger, for he stops seeing her as a heavenly figure.

Whirlwinds of preparations ensue for Levin and Kitty's wedding. To fulfill the Church's requirements for marriage, Levin goes through the motions of fasting and taking communion. The priest's insistence on the existence of God disturbs him, even to the point of making a last-ditch attempt at talking Kitty out of marrying him, but the wedding goes ahead in all its elaborate glory. Levin is overwhelmed with joy and love at the ceremony. Both Levin and Kitty are overwhelmed with love, but a number of other guests inject a note of seriousness into the scene by musing on failed marriages‹their own included.

Anna and Vronsky travel in Italy for three months before settling in a small town. There, Vronsky meets an old friend, a Russian intellectual named Golenishchev. Golenishchev is writing a book called Two Principles, in which he claims that Russia's secret heritage is Byzantium. He also encourages Vronsky's new interest in painting. Vronsky has begun painting a portrait of Anna. Vronsky and Anna also meet a famous painter named Mikhailov. Though Golenishchev disapproves of his work, Vronsky and Anna are impressed, although both of them turn their heads away from Mikhailov's masterpiece, Pilate's Admonition, in favor of a bucolic study of two handsome young boys fishing. Mikhailov agrees to do Anna's portrait. But when Mikhailov's portrait is superior to Vronsky's, he decides to give up painting. They will leave Italy and return to spend the summer on Vronsky's country estate. They plan a stop in Petersburg for Vronsky to handle some property business and Anna to see her son.

After three months of marriage, Levin and Kitty are still struggling to get used to sharing a household. Levin is happy, but disillusioned that his marriage seems to consist of petty quarrels that he had once laughed at in other married couples. They are at the whim of each other's moods and remain passionately involved with each other, yet fail to understand each other's roles and demands. Things do not begin to go smoothly until Levin receives news that his brother, Nicholas, is on the verge of death in Moscow. Distraught, he leaves at once, and Kitty insists on going along. At first annoyed that Kitty will witness the depravity in which his brother lives, Levin comes to gain an incredible appreciation for Kitty after watching her make Nicholas comfortable during the agonizing days it takes him to die. Nicholas responds to Kitty as he will not respond to Levin or anyone else. Seeing Kitty in this light helps Levin to understand what Kitty's future role contains. And that role opens up right after Nicholas' death: Kitty announces that she is pregnant.

As Karenin suffers under the humiliations of public opinion and a stagnated career, he falls prey to the ecstatic seduction of a socialite, Countess Lydia Ivanovna. Lydia believes in a fashionable sort of emotional Christianity, and although he senses the foolishness behind her posing, Karenin finds a kind of solace in her words and her attentions. But Lydia is also vindictively hateful towards Anna: she tells Seryozha that his father is a saint and his mother is dead, and when Anna sends a message asking for permission to see Seryozha, she convinces Karenin to refuse.

Despite this injunction, Anna slips into the house to see her son on the morning of his birthday. Seryozha has been suffering dreadfully in Anna's absence‹he is doing badly in his schoolwork, understands unconsciously the strained nature of his father's feeling for him, and misses his mother. They have an emotional reunion, interrupted by the arrival of Karenin. Though he had refused to let her see the child, he too is overwhelmed by the scene and merely bows his head and allows her to pass. In a passion, Anna leaves her son behind. She returns to her hotel and her daughter, whom she has been unable to love with the same passion she feels for her son.

Vronsky makes social rounds to feel out how Petersburg Society will accept him and Anna. He receives a cold reception, and is assured that Anna is especially outcast. Though Vronsky can still enjoy the company of men, such as his old friend Yashvin, Anna is confined to her rooms and Vronsky's company. Jealous and irritated at this lack of freedom, she decides to commit social suicide by attending the opera. The scene is shown through Vronsky's eyes as he gazes up at her box: Anna creates a scene and is insulted by members of society. Though Vronsky had advised her against it, Anna blames him for her social position, making it necessary for him to soothe her with constant assurance of his love. They leave the very next day for the country.

Part Five Analysis:

Part Five is purposely arranged to demonstrate the contrast between the lawful, Christian love of Levin and Kitty and the illicit passion of Anna and Vronsky. The slow growth of love between Levin and Kitty blossoms while the love of Anna and Vronsky slowly collapses into jealousy and hate. We also see the important role of society in this: Levin and Kitty are able to grow into love, at least in part, because they have been accepted in their roles as husband and wife by all of High Society. Anna and Vronsky, however, forced to sustain a highly individualized romantic relationship in a vacuum and deprived of their roles in society, begin to falter. This contrast serves to underline Tolstoy's thematic warning about the destructiveness of all-consuming passion.

This deprivation of role, of occupation, is shown clearly by the example of Vronsky's interest in painting while he and Anna spend a honeymoon period in Italy. Tolstoy makes it immediately clear that while Anna is content merely possessing Vronsky, Vronsky is restless and needs stimulation‹he needs, in effect, something to do. He dabbles in painting, but the introduction of the spartan painter Mikhailov shows the futility of Vronsky's vague ambitions. Art is a stern mistress, and Vronsky would never have the emotional resources to please both art and Anna.

The scene wherein Vronsky and Anna miss Mikhailov's masterpiece in order to admire a brief sketch of two handsome young boys is a telling example of Tolstoy's brilliance. Though a brief scene, it is rendered so skillfully that there have been multiple critical readings of its meaning. They turn away from a painting of Pilate condemning Jesus to the cross. This can be interpreted to mean that they, like those who condemned Jesus, are unaware of the moral impact of their actions upon innocents. Then again, it can also be interpreted to mean that Tolstoy is suggesting Anna must cease gazing at an imaginary summer and stop denying the assumption of her own cross. Finally, it can be interpreted to mean that society must stop judging innocents like Anna, and leave the final judgment to God. The reason for these multiple judgments consists in the quiet subtlety of the scene and Tolstoy's skill in handling it with a detached eye.

The full wrath of society's judgment is rendered with a heavy hand in this section. The hypocrisy of people like Princess Betsy, who initially encouraged the affair between Anna and Vronsky but now refuses to see Anna in company, is shown in all of its ugliness. Tolstoy rails against hypocrisy in general throughout this section of the book; his portrait of Countess Lydia (who is practically a caricature) also shows disdain for Christian posturing. Though Anna's actions are never condoned by anything in this book, it is clear that her actions, if not honorable, are at least free of contradictions. She follows her emotions out of a loveless marriage and feels the full force of hypocritical society. The Marxist critic Engels used Anna Karenina as an example of how the "deceits, failings, and miseries" of bourgeois marriages are less the fault of individuals than of the ways societies organize sexuality. Anna's rejection of this organization proves her downfall.

But while it is tempting to champion Anna's self-possession, readers can never lose sight of the devastating effect of her actions. Anna's brief reunion with Seroyzha is a fine example of this. This highly emotional scene shows how traumatized Seroyzha has been by the breakup of his family; and it hints at the long-term loss the boy will struggle with for the rest of his life. It is difficult, as well, not to feel sorry for Karenin, who hangs by a thread both in society and in his career.

Kitty's kind, thoughtful behavior towards the dying Nicholas foreshadows the care and attention she will bring to her role as a mother. The narrative is purposely arranged to place Nicholas' death right before Kitty's pregnancy, so that Levin might notice how Kitty will function in the other important role that follows marriage. Armed with this knowledge, he is able to understand both her and his own vision of marriage better. Levin grows more realistic in this section: he stops idealizing marriage as a potentially perfect institution and begins subjecting it to natural rules of compromise and change.

Part Six Summary:

For various reasons, Levin and Kitty have to make room in their country house for lots of people. Dolly and her children are visiting, in large part because their own country house is in ruins. Varenka, Kitty's pious friend from Part Two, makes good on her promise to come visit when Kitty is married. The (elder) Princess Shcherbatskaya is determined to stay with Kitty throughout her first pregnancy. And Koznyshev, as usual, seeks his yearly relief from the stress of the city. Koznyshev is attracted to Varenka, and this excites the whole house. Kitty and Dolly eagerly scheme about the possibility for Koznyshev's proposal, while the elder Princess worries after Kitty, telling her that excitement is bad for her health and insisting on all sorts of excessive precautions for the health of the unborn child.

When Varenka and Koznyshev go out to pick mushrooms, Koznyshev decides that this is his opportunity to propose. But when he approaches Varenka, his timidity takes over, and they wind up having a banal conversation about the mushrooms. The moment passes, and both know that it will never happen again.

Oblonsky arrives with a Vasenka Veslovsky, a handsome young playboy. Levin is irritated because he was expecting the old Prince Shcherbatskaya, and because he notes immediately Veslovsky's attraction to Kitty. He rapidly feels very jealous of Veslovsky and feels insecure about his relationship to Kitty. He is prone to exaggeration, as Tolstoy notes, "He already saw himself as a deceived husband, who was needed by his wife and her lover only in order to provide them with the comforts of life and with pleasures." He agrees to go on a hunting trip with Oblonsky and Veslovsky, and Veslovsky's ineptitude comforts him. But when they return to the house, Veslovsky continues to flirt brazenly with Kitty. Dolly tries to tell Levin that he has nothing to be worried about, but Levin is livid and throws Veslovsky out. Everyone is shocked, but Levin feels better, and eventually everyone except the elder Princess Shcherbatskaya sees the humor in the situation and is able to laugh.

Dolly goes to visit Anna at Vronsky's country estate, a day's travel by carriage from Levin's house. She worries about her children‹everything from their health and behavior during the day she is gone to the question of how she will get them started in life. She feels nervous leaving them, but is determined to fulfill her promise to visit Anna. When Dolly pulls up, Anna gallops up to the carriage on a horse and throws herself at Dolly with a great deal of joy. Dolly is at first impressed by the luxurious surroundings of Vronsky's estate and Anna's vitality, but she gradually becomes disturbed as the visit wears on. Though they are surrounded by people‹Princess Barbara, Veslovsky, and an old friend, Sviyazhsky‹their visitors are "sponging" off of them and are of a lower class than they usually associate with. Vronsky seems to be happy and occupied with multiple occupations‹he relishes in the role of the large landowner, is getting involved in local politics, and enjoys making grand gestures like building a hospital for the peasants. But soon Dolly realizes that there is a great deal of turmoil beneath the surface of their lives.

Anna still refuses to accept Karenin's offer of a divorce despite Vronsky's urging. He wishes that his children will be legitimate so that they may inherit his lands. Dolly tries to convince Anna as well, but Anna refuses to consider it. Dolly also notes with concern that Anna does not seem at all interested in her little girl. Anna and Dolly have an extended tete-a-tete in which Anna reveals that she is practicing birth control. She cannot get pregnant again, she says, because Vronsky will not find her attractive if she does. Dolly, naïve about such matters, is horrified and fascinated. We also learn that Anna has been taking morphia at night in order to sleep. Dolly leaves the next day feeling distinctly uncomfortable, and is relieved to return to the Levins. But she continues to defend Anna to everyone else.

Vronsky goes to Moscow for the provincial nobility elections, leaving Anna at home. He expects a struggle, but she does not argue at all. This fact makes Vronsky even more nervous, but he decides to deny his feelings and appreciate the peace. The Levins also move to Moscow for the last month of Kitty's pregnancy. A few other nobles from the province‹Sviyazhsky, Oblonsky, and Koznyshev‹also converge in Moscow for the elections. Levin, who is expected to participate in the energy and excitement surrounding the election, is bored and impatient with the entire affair. The debate is endless and the highly bureaucratic process contains not even a scrap of concern for merit. Levin lacks the temperament for the elections and makes several social mistakes. Levin and Vronsky meet; the latter is charming as usual, but Levin is rude to him. Vronsky stays one day longer than he had planned and throws a dinner party for the victors. Reveling in the masculine company and discussion, Vronsky is extremely satisfied with everything until he receives a rather hostile note from Anna enjoining him to return at once. The note claims that little Annie is sick.

At home, Vronsky learns that the note was a ruse for Anna. Princess Barbara complains that Anna takes morphia when he is gone. Anna wished him to return home because she was jealous and lonely. They reunite passionately, but Vronsky feels increasingly irritated and hemmed in by her constant demands. Anna recognizes that he craves freedom, what he calls "my masculine independence," and that the future of their relationship depends on it, but she is unable to conceive of giving him more space. Her own loneliness and the high degree of insecurity in her position make it impossible for her to act other than clinging to him. But she agrees to write Karenin for a divorce, and the couple moves to Moscow.

Part Six Analysis:

The contrast between the two couples continues in this section. Both couples, we see, are clinging to surface tranquilities that threaten to explode‹except in the case of the Levins the explosion is farce and in the case of the Vronskys we will see that it is tragic.

The lovely, delicate story of Varenka and Koznyshev shows with Chekhovian observation that the power of the intellect can turn into putty when faced with the power of the heart. Koznyshev, who has an answer for everything, cannot ask a simple question of a guileless and good-hearted girl. Their story shows the failure of a marriage before it even begins and represents, in some ways, Levin's own yearnings for an untouchable bride.

Both families go through jealous rages during Part Six. Levin, still refusing to compromise on anything, flies into a rage at the sight of a foolish young man flirting with his wife. Veslovsky is ridiculous and Kitty's faithfulness is never in doubt, at least by her‹but Levin's response is to his own fears rather than to reality. Reacting to his own doubts about his ability to make Kitty happy, and to his own fears about the problems with marriage, he puts the house into an uproar. But the result is pure comedy‹Veslovsky fleeing as he attempts to tie one of his great foppish ribbons, Levin throwing his luggage around‹and the rest of the house reacts accordingly, making it the great tale of the evening.

The result of Anna's jealousy, however, is not funny at all, and we are meant to recognize the difference in the two situations immediately. Unlike Levin, Anna does not have a specific target to focus her jealousy on, and she lashes out at Vronsky instead. While she is perhaps right to resent Vronsky's "masculine independence," her rage only drives him further and further away. She senses this, and it causes her to create even greater scenes of fury to convince herself of his love.

Feminist critics have written that Anna may have masochistic tendencies. Her behavior at the opera is one of their favorite examples, but they also use the fights with Vronsky during this chapter to illustrate this point. This is an interesting reading because Anna certainly does have a tendency towards self-destruction, if nothing else, and many of her choices deliberately bring pain to herself. She also has a mild obsession with death, and her dreams about the peasant (who symbolizes carnal excess and death) underline this point.

But Anna's refusal of a divorce should not be equated with her tendencies towards self-destruction. Anna refuses a divorce because to marry Vronsky and start a new family would merely place her back in the situation she was already in. Though it seems odd, considering her passion for Vronsky, it is no accident that Tolstoy gave both Karenin and Vronsky the same first name. Anna insists on maintaining a highly individualized romance in order to avoid the stifling tedium of another bourgeois marriage, even though she is merely trading one type of torture for another.

We see proof of Anna's decline vividly during Dolly's visit. Dolly, poor, long-suffering Dolly, is drawn in strict comparison to Anna in this section. Anna is rich, beautiful, and supposedly happy while Dolly is unattractive, wane, and burdened by financial problems as well as a large family, but Dolly senses that she is much better off than Anna. She is particularly concerned about Anna's refusal to have more children because it will make her less attractive to Vronsky. As Dolly aptly notes, "If that's what he's looking for he'll find women whose dresses and manners are even gayer and more attractive." Anna is desperate to keep Vronsky, but she will never accomplish it by such means. Dolly, despite her husband's infidelities, recognizes the goodness in her situation and would not wish to have Anna's.

Anna's death is also hinted at by her use of morphia. Her growing dependence on the drug in order to function normally foreshadows her eventual conclusion that it is too difficult to go on living.

Part Seven Summary:

As this portion of the novel opens, the Levins have been in Moscow for over two months. Kitty's child is past due, to the alarm and concern of everyone except Kitty. The relationship between Levin and Kitty is improving; they rarely argue once they get to Moscow. While visiting a family friend, Kitty and her father meet Vronsky. Kitty impresses herself by treating him calmly and civilly, but without interest. Levin is far more upset, though he manages to calm himself and decides that he will treat Vronsky with kindness the next time he sees him, now that he has no reason to be jealous.

As always, Levin is uncomfortable in the city. He is annoyed at the large, seemingly frivolous expenses that come with living in an urban center. He finds it difficult to work on his agricultural theory book and is awkward when it comes to making social calls. He renews his friendship with old University friends like Katavasov and meets new intellectuals, like Metrov. He visits with Kitty's family, including her sister, Nataly, whom he escorts to a concert. During a particularly awkward visit to the Bols family, he meets Oblonsky, who sweeps him away with typical charm. Under Oblonsky's influence, Levin not only makes peace with Vronsky but also agrees to visit Anna, whom he has never met.

Levin steps into the Vronskys' home and meets not Anna, but her portrait‹ravishingly done by the Italian painter, Mikhailov. He is completely taken by the otherworldly beauty of the portrait and the real-life woman, who charms him completely. Anna seems, to him, to be the epitome of woman‹worldly, educated, charitable (she is taking care of an orphaned English girl) and interested in a variety of subjects. When he returns home, Kitty is distraught that he went to see Anna‹"She's bewitched you," she claims. He stays up late comforting Kitty and assuring her of his love.

After Levin leaves, Anna analyzes her situation. She put on a special effort to charm Levin, in an effort to test her powers. She is bitter and angry because she feels neglected and deprived of love. She realizes that her hold over Vronsky is crumbling; they typically greet each other with hostility. Anna knows this is destructive but cannot stop herself. She feels that their fighting has become necessary‹"she felt that together with the love that bound them together some evil spirit of strife had grown up between them that she could not cast out of his heart, and still less her own." She has not heard from Karenin about her request for a divorce, and this makes their relations still more tense.

That night, Kitty wakes Levin and says that she is not feeling well. She goes into labor. The midwife, Mary, is sent for, and Levin rushes to fetch the doctor. The doctor keeps him waiting for several hours and then appears indifferent, which enrages Levin, but the doctor explains that there is no rush. Indeed, the birth takes 22 hours, during which Levin troubles the midwife, Dolly, and the elder Princess with his dramatic demands and outbursts. But he also prays, for the first time in years, and thinks of his brother Nicholas. When the child is born (a boy), Levin experiences a feeling of profound joy and happiness.

Plagued by debt, Oblonsky sets off towards Petersburg that spring in order to obtain a more lucrative post as a committee member for a railroad company. Obtaining the post requires self-abasement in a number of humiliating ways. While he is in town, he visits Karenin to press him about divorcing Anna. Karenin reacts with great emotion and claims that his Christianity will not allow him to do such a thing. He sees Seryozha, who has painfully adjusted to his mother's absence by casting her out of his mind. Despite his efforts, he is upset by Oblonsky's appearance and cries after he leaves.

Oblonsky hears from Princess Betsy that the fate of his sister depends on Jules Landau, a half-wit mystic who supposedly gives remarkable advice while he is asleep.

This turns out to be true. During a business visit to Princess Lydia, in an effort to procure his job, he finds Lydia and Karenin in the company of Landau. Lydia champions Karenin's newfound Christianity. A bizarre scene follows when Landau offers his sage advice while asleep. Oblonsky flees the scene, only to receive a definite "no" from Karenin the next day. He realizes that Karenin's answer is in response to Landau's unconscious advising.

Relations between Anna and Vronsky continue to sour. Anna grows more jealous, and Vronsky goes colder and more distant. Vronsky spends more time out of the house, and his mother encourages him to marry the young Princess Sorokin. Anna wishes to move back to the country, where bachelor temptations will not be so great. Vronsky agrees, but does not wish to leave right away. He is expected to pay a visit to his mother the next day. At this news, Anna's jealousy sparks. She suspects his mother is attempting to arrange a marriage between Vronsky and Princess Sorokin; her fury provokes another devastating fight. They quarrel that night and then again the next morning; Vronsky leaves in disgust. Anna takes a dose of morphia and writes Vronsky a note begging his forgiveness and pleading with him to return at once. Then, despairing, she goes to visit Dolly.

The next several chapters take place mostly in Anna's head. She goes to see Dolly, but Kitty is there. The two sisters react to Anna awkwardly, and they have little to talk about. Anna does not have the opportunity to have her talk with Dolly. She leaves and returns home, where she finds everything and everyone repulsive. Desperate to see Vronsky, she leaves for the Nizhni train station. She hopes to catch a train out to his mother's estate and confront all three of them‹Vronsky, his mother, and the Princess Sorokin.

On the way to the train station, Anna is in a terrifying mental state. To her, everything is despicable and the world is full of ugliness, misery and hate. She reviles the people in the station and on the train. A couple who sits across from her on the train seem to be false and ridiculous; a little girl on the platform is full of grimaces and vulgarity. Overwhelmed, she gets off the train after one stop. She runs into Vronsky's coachman, who gives her a cold note from Vronsky. Insane with misery, she wanders along the platform. Suddenly, she remembers the porter who died the first day she met Vronsky, and decides what she must do. She descends onto the tracks and waits for the oncoming train. She begs God for forgiveness, and then looks up--her last vision is of the dirty peasant from her dream.

Part Seven Analysis:

The novel‹and Tolstoy's narrative brilliance‹come to full fruition in Part Seven. This section contrasts birth and death and makes a remark on the type of relationship which will foster the former rather than the latter.

The section begins with Levin in Moscow. Tolstoy takes advantage of his narrator to remark on urban society once again: under Levin's gaze it seems corrupt and costly. Levin's brush with Moscow degenerates him briefly. He drinks and becomes infatuated with a sensuous woman. Fortunately, thanks to his strong attachment to the country, his love for Kitty, and his own good sense, he has the wisdom to shake off these influences. Though temporarily taken by Anna, he recognizes the goodness of Kitty and manages to shake loose of her spell. His growing Christian consciousness will come to a head later on in the section, but he manages to shake loose of Anna's admittedly strong charm because of his own recognition that passionate attachments without concern for God are wrong. He is rewarded for this with life‹a son. Anna, meanwhile, as a consequence for her behavior, spirals lower and lower into madness and death.

Many critics have speculated on the potential of a Levin-Anna relationship. The possibilities are intriguing, because of all the characters in the book, Levin comes closest to equalling Anna in terms of passion. There is evidence that he would be most likely to understand Anna's tremendous vitality and complex personality. For example, the first scene in which Levin sees Anna‹and it is important that he does not see her at first, but her portrait‹he recognizes with excitement that here is a remarkable woman. His ensuing conversation with her underlines his first impression, and he is charmed as much by Anna herself as the prospect of meeting someone with similar depths of emotion and feeling.

Unfortunately, Anna is too far-gone by this point in the book to possibly sustain the idea of a relationship with Levin. Devoured by jealousy and paranoid about losing Vronsky's love, she is completely unaware of anyone or anything that she is doing. What she is doing, in fact, is sabotaging herself, a fact she realizes but is unable to resist. Again she dreams of the peasant on the railroad tracks, another premonition of her death.

After Levin's visit, the contrasts between the two relationships become clear. He experiences genuine contrition for his behavior towards Anna in contrast with Vronsky's hostile acquiescence to Anna's demands. Levin and Kitty honestly discuss their problems and jealousies rather than allowing them to fester. And in a striking portrayal of choosing life rather than death, Levin finds God while the Vronskys continue their death dance.

The one bright spot in this book is the birth of the Levins' child. The birth of his son sparks a religious breakthrough in Levin‹an epiphany. He considers the inevitability of death while he waits anxiously for the birth, thinking of his brother Nicholas, and yet he finds, in prayer, something to live for. The birth of his son gives him an even stronger reason to believe in the goodness of God. Though Tolstoy fell out with the Greek Orthodox Church, he believed that God was the answer to the type of carnal excess and groundless passions found in a relationship like the Vronskys'. Levin's breakthrough represents a serious stage in his personal growth. From here on, he will no longer look for the answer to his doubts in his relationship with Kitty or in other worldly matters. It is this belief, Tolstoy maintains, that makes his long-term relationship with Kitty successful where Vronsky's relationship with Anna has failed.

The chapters leading up to Anna's suicide take the reader straight into Anna's head. Tolstoy powerfully prefigures 20th-century modernist techniques with these chapters, which are practically stream-of-consciousness. We follow Anna into her final descent, and the path is terrifying. She is completely dislocated from reality. The ugliness of her relationship, her deeds, and her behavior all crush Anna as she runs frantically around Petersburg. The entire world has become ugly, and the only thing Anna can think of is to end the filth and misery by killing herself. That she commits suicide in part to punish Vronsky is unquestionable; that she does it to punish herself is equally true, though not as apparent. Two things that were used earlier in the novel to foreshadow her suicide both appear: her memory of the murdered porter and her vision of the dirty peasant. And yet, even at the end, we can never completely condemn Anna; she is too fully a character in our imaginations. The fact that her last thought is a prayer proves that Tolstoy has not abandoned her either.

Although Tolstoy intended to have a strong Christian message underlying Anna Karenina, he did not blindly believe in every form of Christian religion. The Landau episode satirizes overblown postures of Christian belief. Landau is another merciless jab at Countess Lydia courtesy of Tolstoy. It also serves to show how fall Karenin has fallen. Once decisive and calculating, he has turned to the services of a French mystic for advice on how to handle his wife. His decline is almost as severe as Anna's.

Part Eight Summary:

It is the middle of the summer. Koznyshev is getting ready to move to Levin's country estate, far behind schedule. Koznyshev has experienced many life changes over the past year; the biggest being the publication of his book on theories of government. He spent six years writing the book and was very invested in its reception; he is very upset that it barely made a stir in any circles. No one seems to have read it, and it garnered only one printed review, which was negative. Luckily, the publication of his book coincides with a movement of Russian sympathy towards the Slavic peoples ruled by the Serbs. Although Koznyshev recognizes that the Slavic question "had been turned into one of those fashionable diversions that in constant succession always serve society as a focus of interest," he throws himself into the cause.

When Koznyshev and Katavasov go to the train station to head into the country, there are several groups of men who are volunteering to fight with the Slavs. One of the women who have come to send off the volunteers tells them that Vronsky is volunteering. Before Koznyshev can find out more, Oblonsky pops up in the crowd with his usual cheers and jests. Everyone is annoyed by his presence, including Vronsky, whom he bothers while the latter gets on the train.

During the ride, Katavasov has conversations with the volunteers and finds them to be spoiled, dissolute, and unpleasant. Meanwhile, Koznyshev speaks with Vronsky's mother, who is escorting him part of the way on the train. She tells him that the volunteer movement is Vronsky's only hope; he has been a wreck since Anna's death. The fight has given him something to be interested in, and the Countess is thankful for that, although she is worried about her son's safety. Alexis Karenin has taken Vronsky's daughter, and Vronsky is unable to get her back. When Koznyshev speaks to Vronsky later on the trip, he understands the Countess' words. Vronsky has aged many years and acts as though he is living in a mental prison.

The Levins' home is a portrait of domesticity and happy, effective labor. Kitty is so in tune with her baby that she knows to feed him when she feels her milk gush to her breasts. Dolly, who has recently sold off part of her own estate in order to pay Oblonsky's debts, and her children are also staying with the Levins. Levin himself remains very active on his farm and continues to study various subjects. Yet he is tortured by religious doubts and spiritual strivings, and these matters are so clearly troubling to him that even Kitty has begun to question what is going on in her husband's head. Levin's basic question, as he puts it, is this: "If I don't accept the answers given by Christianity to the questions of my life, what answers do I accept?" He wonders about his moment of prayer during Kitty's labor and constantly questions and tortures himself about his doubts. At times it becomes so bad that he wishes to kill himself. He attempts to distract himself with his family and farm duties, and in this he is moderately successful.

He is in a particular state of anguish the day of Koznyshev's arrival. It is the hardest three weeks of the harvest‹the peasants are required to work twenty hours a day in order to mow, reap, and cart the rye and oats. As Levin rides up and down, watching the peasants strain themselves, he asks over and over again what the meaning of life is. He stops to correct a peasant named Theodore, and in the midst of their conversation he asks him a question about God. Theodore's answer‹"he lives righteously, in a godly way"‹provides Levin with the answer he is looking for. He experiences an epiphany and realizes that he has already been living for God. By appreciating his family and his workers, and dedicating himself to the well-being of others around him, he is behaving the way God wishes him to. He feels that because he knows the answer now, his life will be perfect.

Almost immediately, Levin is corrected in this last belief. Katavasov and Koznyshev approach, and the old hostility between the brothers re-emerges. At first Levin is plunged into doubt, but his faith holds. The brothers, Katavasov, the (elder) Prince Shcherbatskaya and Dolly debate faith and the Serbian War. Then, suddenly, a tremendous thunderstorm interrupts the discussion. Dolly rushes her children into the house, and Levin discovers from the maid that Kitty has taken the baby to the woods. Horrified that they have been harmed, he runs into the forest. While he hunts for them, lightening strikes a tree in front of him. The tree is scorched and tumbles in front of him.

When he finds them a moment later, unhurt, he is overcome with relief. The experience renews his belief in God.

That night, the discussion continues between the members of the household. As Levin is engaged in the conversation, Kitty calls him to the nursery. The baby has shown his first signs of recognizing the people around him, another moment that fills Levin's heart with love. Later that night, Levin reflects once more on the nature of his questions, and decides that his belief in God belongs to him alone, and that he has no right to remark on others' relationships with the Lord. Kitty comes in and asks him what he is thinking about, but he demurs to talk to her about it. It is a personal matter, he realizes, one that may not affect his external life but that will make all the difference to his inner peace.

Part Eight Analysis:

Part Seven ended the story of the book's heroine‹Anna‹with death. To complete the story of the book's hero‹Levin‹Tolstoy shows how one may choose life rather than death. With the completion of these two stories, the doubling of the novel is complete, and the novel comes to a neat, equitable closure. It also completes Tolstoy's portrayal of Russian Society and offers his final remarks on the book's other characters.

The section opens with a disapproving look at the movement to help the Slavs. It is difficult to say whether this disapproval is for the cause itself or for the elements in Russian Society trying to "help," but Tolstoy takes advantage of the opportunity to jab at the superficiality and shallowness of Russian society once again. The volunteers are also failures. They are not volunteering for the good of the Slavs, but for their own self-advancement.

The volunteers are failures, and Vronsky is among them. Like them, he is merely going to save himself. There is little doubt that Anna has made a tremendous impact on his life‹his suffering and pain are real‹but the blame that both Vronsky and his mother place on Anna is unfair. Vronsky ignores his own role in Anna's downfall and behaves as if his ruination was caused by her will alone. He goes off to destroy himself again, perhaps causing his own death this time.

The scenes of the volunteer movement conclude the motif of trains running through the novel. As in the earlier sections, trains represent death and the invasion of Western progress. No fewer than six scenes of death and carnal excess occur on trains in this novel. Vronsky's final breakdown, in front of Koznyshev, occurs on the train platform. And he leaves on another train to fight a potentially hopeless cause, and possibly to meet his death.

The main character in this section, though, is Levin. Critics have questioned the credibility of Levin's spiritual conversion in this last section, especially since Tolstoy was in the midst of his long feud with the Greek Orthodox Church during the composition of Anna Karenina. And though it was hinted at earlier in the book, the conversion itself is rather hasty and unconvincing, given the torturous nature of Levin's doubts. Though this may create head-scratching, the continual debate over Levin's conversion is one of the reasons that Anna Karenina continues to be of interest to scholars and critics. The combination of Levin's ambivalent conversion and the incredible appeal of Anna as a character make it difficult to position the book as a simple parable of good and evil.

The success of Levin and Kitty's marriage, though, provokes little debate. They succeed where others have failed because they respect each other while allowing each other room for private reflection and growth. They inhabit separate social spheres, which is healthy for their relationship. A couple, Tolstoy is saying, needs room to have private thoughts and feelings. A stifling relationship, such as the one between Anna and Vronsky, fails because the two people are not allowed to grow on their own. This theory, obviously, comes with conditions--the same "space" could be said of, say, Dolly and Oblonsky. But while Levin and Kitty respect each other's roles, they also grant each other respect and aim to treat each other with concern. Within the sphere of marriage, these things are more important and lasting than carnal desire.

• Biography of Leo Tolstoy
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