K.D. Fox
Independent Reading Report
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy was born on August 28 in 1828 on his family’s estate in the Tula region of
Russia. His parents died when he was very young, leaving him and his siblings to be
brought up by other family members. In school, he was unwilling to learn and did not
finish his university education. After building up debts and joining the army, Tolstoy
finally started writing. All of his writing has social, familial and economic themes, based
on certain points of his life and the things he was exposed to. In the book
Anna Karenina
,
he obviously used his life as a basis on what themes to include, like religious thoughts,
military involvement, and politics.
His wife, whom he married in 1862, was much younger than him, but praised him
endlessly for his work. She helped as his proofreader in their young marriage- as he wrote
both of his classics,
War and Peace
and
Anna Karenina
, during this time. He went on to
write many others. However, his later life with his wife was constantly strained. He died
in 1910 after abandoning his family. Being unhealthy when he left home, he soon came
down with pneumonia. After his death, thousands of peasants came to his funeral,
dubbing him one of the most popular writers from Russia.
Historical and Social Context
During this time, Russia was undergoing a crisis of political thought, with a series
of royalty and intellectuals demanding European constitutional and revolution in Russia.
The portrayal of democracy in
Anna Karenina
shows how uncertain the practice could
be- how would the peasants vote without education and knowing what they were voting
for? Enthusiasm came from the noblemen and elite, but much less elsewhere.
Development in Russia was prevalent during Tolstoy’s lifetime. Intellectual groups were
battling over the future of the country. Some believed that Russian culture was superior to
all others, while many believed that Russia needed to westernize to keep up its reputation
as a world power.
Plot
Anna Karenina
follows the lives of the Karenin and Levin families, and how love
and society affects their lives. The book mirrors Konstantin Levin and Anna Karenina’s
lives, comparing and contrasting the situations that they run into. Anna falls to shame
after having an adulterous affair with the dashing Vronsky, eventually leaving her
husband and son to stay with him. Her reputation becomes ruined due to her actions.
Levin, after being rejected from a proposal to the love of his live, Kitty, he throws
himself into his farm life. However, they both meet again and end up marrying,
presenting the modern woes of married life. Each present different sides of society: Anna
is of the elite based in the city, while Levin is a landowner in the countryside. By
illustrating the lives of both, Tolstoy is able to accurately portray the many parts and
political status of Russia during this time period.
