Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

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. In contrast to Flaubert's

Madame Bovary, Tolstoy wishes to examine life as it really is. Both novels have

relationships and adultery as a central theme. However, Tolstoy gives us a much

more lifelike representation in Anna Karenina by creating characters, both

major and minor, that contribute to the sense of realism.

The most striking feature of Tolstoy's minor characters is that although

they may only appear briefly, they still possess a sense of lifelikeness. When

a character is introduced, Tolstoy provides the reader with details of the

characters appearance and actions that give a sense of realism. For example,

the waiter that Stiva and Levin encounter at their dinner, although a flat

character is definitely presented in a manner which allows him to have a sense

of lifelikeness and fullness. From the speech patterns the waiter uses to the

description of the fit of his uniform, one is presented with the details that

allow the waiter to contribute to the novel in means beyond simply the presence

of a minor character. His description and actions provide the novel with a

sense of "real life".

Another way in which Tolstoy gives the minor character a sense of life

is by making them unpredictable. One sees this in the character of Ryabinin.

When initially discussed, the reader is told that upon conclusion of business,

Ryabinin will always say "positively and finally" (p161). However upon

conclusion of the sale of the land, Ryabinin does not use his usual tag.

This tag would normally be characteristic of the flat, minor character

such as Ryabinin.

However, Tolstoy wishes to add to the lifelikeness of even his minor

characters and allows them to behave as one would expect only major, round

characters. The detail Tolstoy gives to all of his characters, including the

minor characters, contributes to the realism of both the novel and the

characters.

Perhaps the most realistic of Tolstoy's major characters is Konstantin

Levin. Throughout the novel, the reader witnesses the trials of Levin's life

and his response to them. Unlike Flaubert, Tolstoy reveals Levin in a manner