Less Could be More in Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina was well-written, with a good plot, and valuable themes. But it fell short in each of these categories, because Tolstoy simply tried to do too much. The language was beautiful but, at times, far too descriptive. The plot was also well written, but tedious and hard to follow in many parts of the … Read more

Anna Karenina – Part 2 Chapter 3

In part two chapter three, Kittys broken heart causes her health to decline. There is a moment in this part of the story that Tolstoy adds to show that money and social status should not be the reasons for marriage. Kitty realizes this when she finds out about Anna and Vronsky. Kitty has something that … Read more

Anna Karenina – The Complex Character of Constantine Dmitrich Levin

In the novel Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy, both major and minor characters played important roles through out the story. One protagonist, Constantine Dmitrich Levin, caught my interest as being a compassionate, moral character. Constantine Dmitrich Levin is a complex character whose direct and indirect characterization emphasizes a search for balance. Constantine Dmitrich Levin, … Read more

Madama Bovary & Anna Karenina: Compare

Reading provides an escape for people from the ordinariness  of everyday life. Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina, dissatisfied with  their lives pursued their dreams of ecstasy and love through reading.  At the beginning of both novels Anna Karenina and Emma Bovary made  active decisions about their future although these decisions were not  always rational. As … Read more

Anna Karenina- Characters in the Life Novel

By examining the character list, one immediately notices the value Tolstoy places on character. With one hundred and forty named characters and several other unnamed characters, Tolstoy places his central focus in Anna Karenina on the characters. He uses their actions and behavior to develop the plot and exemplify the major themes of the novel. … Read more

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The world of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is a world ruled by chance. From the very opening chapters, where a watchman is accidentally run over by a train at Moscow’s Petersburg station, to the final, climactic scenes of arbitrary destruction when Levin searches for Kitty in a forest beset by lightning, characters are brought together and … Read more