F U L L T I T L E Anna Karenina

A U T H O R Lev (Leo) Nikolaevich Tolstoy

T Y P E O F W O R K Novel
G E N R E Novel of ideas; psychological novel; tragedy
L A N G U A G E Russian
T I M E AN D P L A C E W R I T T E N 1 8 7 3 1 8 7 7 ; the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, near Moscow
D ATE O F F I R S T P U B L I C ATI O N 1 8 7 3 1 8 7 7 (serial publication)
P U B L I S H E R M. N. Katkov
N A R R ATO R Tolstoy uses an unnamed, omniscient, detached, third-person narrator
P O I N T O F V I E W The nameless narrator of the novel presents both facts and inner thoughts of characters that no single

character in the plot could know. Chiefly with regard to Anna and Levin, but occasionally to others as well, the narrator
describes characters states of mind, feelings, and attitudes. For a lengthy section at the end of Part Seven, the narrator enters
directly into Annas mind.
T O N E As in many realist novels of the same time period, the narrator maintains an impersonal but sympathetic tone,

focusing on both facts and feelings but without authorial commentaries on the fates of characters. Unlike War and Peace and
some of Tolstoys other earlier novels, Anna Karenina does not include explicit philosophical generalizations, except in the
opening sentence of the novel.
T E N S E Past
S E T T I N G ( T I M E ) The 1 8 7 0 s
S E T T I N G ( P L A C E ) Various locations throughout Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Russian provinces,

with brief interludes in Germany and Italy

P R O T AG O N I S T S Anna Karenina; Konstantin Levin
M A J O R C O N F L I C T Anna struggles between her passion for Vronsky and her desire for independence on the one hand,

and her marital duty, social convention, and maternal love on the other; Levin struggles to define his own identity and reach an
understanding of faith in an alienating and confusing world

R I S I N G AC T I O N Anna meets Vronsky in the train station, initiating an acquaintance that grows into adulterous passion

and family upheaval; their consummation of the affair leads to Annas abandonment of her husband and son. Meanwhile, Kitty
rebuffs Levins marriage proposal, prompting him to withdraw to his estate in the country and reflect on the meaning of life.
C L I M A X Anna makes a public appearance at the opera, forcing a confrontation between her desire to live life on her own

terms and the hostile opinions of St. Petersburg society, which scorns and rejects her; this episode seals her fate as a social
outcast and fallen woman. Meanwhile, Levins search for meaning is rewarded by marriage to Kitty, stable family life, and an
understanding of faith.
FAL L I N G AC T I O N Anna commits suicide, unable to bear her lack of social freedom and the jealousy and suspicion arising

from her unstable relationship with Vronsky. Meanwhile, Levin continues his new life as enlightened husband, father, and
landowner.
T H E M E S Social change in nineteenth-century Russia; the blessings of family life; the philosophical value of farming
M O T I F S The interior monologue; adultery; forgiveness
S Y M B O L S Trains; Vronskys racehorse; Levin and Kittys marriage
F O R E S H A D O W I N G A man dies at the train station when Anna first arrives, foreshadowing her own death at a train station

years later; Vronskys actions cause the fall and death of his horse Frou-Frou, foreshadowing the later death of his beloved
Anna.