Leo Tolstoys

Anna Karenina

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Born in September 9, 1828 at Yasnaya Polyana and died November 20, 1910 at Astapovo) The fourth son of an aristocratic family. He briefly studied law and oriental languages, then joined the army, then started writing.

 A former gambler and debaucher who later became known for being radically Christian. He had 13 children with his wife Sophia Bers. 8 survived, but their home life worsened as he became more radical. Two of his most famous works are War and Peace and Anna Karenina

Main Characters
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina Count Alexei Vronsky Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky (Stiva) Princess Darya Oblonskya (Dolly) Alexei Karenin Konstantin Levin (Kostya) Princess Ekaterina Shcherbatskaya (Kitty)

Part 1
We are introduced to Stiva and Dolly. They are married, but Dolly is angry at Stiva because she discovered that he had an affair with their governess.

A letter announces that Stivas sister Anna will visit, and Stiva hopes she will help him work things out with Dolly.
Meanwhile, Kostya hopes to marry Kitty, but he learns that Count Vronsky is also courting her. Anna and Vronsky meet at the train station by chance. Anna convinces Dolly to forgive Stiva. Kitty rejects Kostya because she loves Vronsky, but when she attends a ball with Anna, she realizes that Vronsky has fallen for Anna. Anna feels attracted to Vronsky, so she rushes back to St. Petersburg to avoid falling further for him.

Part 2
Kittys health suffers because of Vronsky, and she regrets rejecting Kostya.

Anna befriends Princess Elizaveta to get closer to her cousinCount Vronsky. While in St. Petersburg, she tries to avoid Vronsky, but she eventually begins an affair with him.
Annas husband Karenin doesnt suspect anything, but he tells her to behave properly in society. In a steeplechase event, Annas feelings are revealed. Vronsky has an accident while riding, causing Anna to tell him she is pregnant with his child. She confesses her affair to Karenin, who tells her to break it off.

Part 3
Kostya broods on the idea of falseness, both in himself and others, and on agricultural reform.

Kostya visits Dolly. Dolly tries to explain Kittys behavior to him, but he is disturbed by the subject as well as Dollys airs around her children, like when she talks to them in French instead of Russian. He tries to forget Kitty, but he realizes that in spite of everything, he still loves her and will try to propose again.
Karenin, meanwhile, threatens Anna by refusing to divorce her and saying that he will keep their son, Sergei, away from her if she pursues her affair with Vronsky.

Part 4
Anna wont end the affair, so Karenin discusses divorce with a lawyer. He forces Anna to give him letters Vronsky sent her as proof of infidelity, so he can finalize the case. Stiva tells him to speak to Dolly though, and she argues against it in vain. Karenin, however, changes plans when he learns that Anna is very ill after a hard childbirth. Karenin forgives both Anna and Vronsky. Vronsky, ashamed, tries to kill himself, but only wounds himself.
Karenin becomes attached to the new baby girl, also named Anna, but Anna cant bear to live with him anymore, so she runs off to Europe with Vronsky. Stiva arranges for Kostya and Kitty to meet, and they reconcile and are engaged.

Part 5
Kitty and Kostya are married. Kostyas brother, Nikolai, is mortally ill. Kostya doesnt want her to go to his sickbed with him, but Kitty accompanies him and is a good nurse to Nikolai till his death. She also discovers that she is with child. Anna and Vronsky feel suffocated in Europe. Since theyre not accepted by polite society, especially by Russians from their social set, they return to Russia. Anna begins to have doubts and grows increasingly jealous, because while society accepts Vronskys situation, she can no longer move as freely as she used to.

Part 5 (continued)
Karenin is convinced by Countess Ivanovna to keep Sergei away from Anna. He tells Sergei that Anna is dead, but she visits him unannounced on his ninth birthday. Anna tries to regain her former social standing by going to the theatre. Vronsky cautions her to stay put out of the public eye, but he cant explain to her why. When she arrives, she is openly snubbed by old friends. Vronsky and Anna leave for his country estate.

Part 6
Dolly spends the summer with her mother and children at Kostya and Kittys estate. A visitor, Vestlovsky, flirts with Kitty, and he is made to leave by a jealous Kostya. Dolly then visits Anna and Vronsky, where she notices that though they live luxuriously, all is not right in their relationship. Vronsky begs Dolly to convince Anna to arrange a divorce so he and Anna can live together normally. Anna grows even more jealous, and his little trip away for the provincial elections only feeds her jealousy. She is now convinced that he will only stay with her if they marry. Anna writes to Karenin and she leaves with Vronsky for Moscow.

Part 7
Kostya and Kitty stay in Moscow to prepare for her labor. Kostya is seduced by fast city life, and Kitty accuses him of falling for Anna after he confesses to visiting her with Stiva. They reconcile and realize how bad city life really is. Kitty later gives birth to a son, Dimitri. Karenin, under the influence of a clairvoyant recommended by Countess Ivanovna, rejects Annas request for divorce. Annas sleeplessness and jealousy leads to morphine addiction. She accuses Vronsky of colluding with his mother to get married to a rich society woman and be rid of Anna. They part badly. She sends a telegram to Vronsky asking him to come home, and visits Kitty and Dolly one last time. She throws herself under a train and dies.

Part 8
Stiva obtains a much-desired job, and Karenin takes custody of baby Anna. Vronsky sets off to fight in a Serbian revolt against the Turks. A lightning storm makes Kostya realize how much he loves Kitty and their son Dimitri.

Kostyas issues with Christianity as a path to goodness are resolved when he concludes that other religions are also possible ways to righteous life,