Anna Karenina: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

{{quote|''"Happy Families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."''|The opening line of the novel}}

 

{{quote|'' "The central theme of Anna Karenina is that a rural life of moral simplicity, despite its monotony, is the preferable personal narrative to a daring life of impulsive passion, which only leads to tragedy."''|Klaus Baudelaire's take on the book's central theme, in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' }}

 

 

One of the main threads of the novel centers on Anna Arkadaevna Karenina who is a good, kind, empathetic, but impulsive person and a loving mother who dotes on her son. Like the majority of the women in her social circle, her marriage was determined not by love, but by polite courtship and social convenience. She's married to the much older, cold, and highly respected diplomat Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin (Russian last names generally get altered by gender). One day, after traveling from St. Petersburg to Moscow on a train, she meets the brave officer Alexei Krillovich Vronsky at the train depot, who at the time appears to be on the fast track in his military career. It's [[Love At First Sight]], though the fact that Anna is married -- and cannot be granted a fair divorce in the Russian legal system -- complicates matters significantly. Gradually, the pair sacrifice ''everything'' else they value for each other. Unfortunately, this is not a typical Western romance, but a tragedy: giving everything up for love may not be worth it, as the reactions of friends and family show, especially when said love may be transient.

 

This book is a Russian classic and tends to be considered a classic love story, though it also contains touches of satire of contemporary Russian society. There are several [[Film of the Book|films of the book.]]

{{tropelist}}

* [[Arcadia]]: The country, where Levin lives, is quite idealized.

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: Averted ''hard'' with Karenin.

* Jerkass: Vronsky

* [[Kick the Dog]]: Happens all the time, especially when Anna is around.

* [[Les Yay]]: Between Kitty and Anna early on (some translations describe Kitty has having "fallen in love" with Anna, and Kitty and Varenka later.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Anna, upon revealing her affair with Vronsky.

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Anna's husband Karenin and her lover Vronsky have the same first name, Alexei. And Vronsky has a brother with the similar name Alexander.

* [[Panicky Expectant Father]]: Levin, when Kitty gives birth.

* [[The Philosopher]]: Levin

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: Of course it's Russia, but adaptations are certainly this trope.

* [[Quest for Identity]]: Anna goes through a number of these, as does Vronsky. Most characters only seem to come to their true characterizations in the country.

* [[Royally Screwed-Up]]: With the exceptions of Levin and Kitty, Kitty's parents, and Vronsky's brother and wife, nearly all of the royalty and aristocrats have unhappy and estranged families, or marriages that end in affairs or cold detachment.

* [[Screaming Birth]]: Justified with Kitty's giving birth: she's young, it's her first baby, and medicine at that time wasn't exactly the most sophisticated thing around.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Romance Novel]]

[[Category:School Study Media]]

[[Category:Literature]]