Anna Karenina by Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

671 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Feminist perspective by Anna Karenina

One of literature’s most beloved works is Anna Karenina, written by the famous Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy in 1877. Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author who wrote many epic-length novels as well as short stories in the genre of realistic fiction. As a writer, Tolstoy tends to focus on the major and minor details of everyday Russian events, and in the space of a single page can enlighten the reader of a character’s entire past and lifestyle. He is a master of close-ups: short segments in a novel that describe something in great detail. Through analyzing two of Tolstoy’s close-ups from Anna Karenina, one can decipher much more information from a character’s background than what is read on the surface of the novel.
While observing Anna and Count Vronsky dance together at the ball, Kitty can’t help but become envious and saddened immediately upon seeing the excitement and happiness portrayed on Vronsky’s and Anna’s faces. She is heartbroken now, and many thoughts are swimming through her mind while she watches them dance around the large, illuminated ballroom. Kitty’s disposition in the novel ranges from sweet-natured to envious throughout. She has an extremely attachable personality, and is damaged easily when somebody leaves her behind.
Furthermore, Anna and Vronsky seem to be exhilarated about dancing with each other, as seen upon their facial expressions. As Anna steps back and forth lightly, a “joyous light flashed into her eyes, and the smile of happiness curved her red lips” (Tolstoy 96). Instead of focusing the passage only on Kitty’s behavior toward Anna and Vronsky, Tolstoy implements the poor, harassed man whom Kitty shuns while paying more attention to her friends’ happiness rather than to the person she is dancing with...

... middle of paper ...

...s during which Tolstoy describes her death as a candle, “and the light by which she had read the book filled with troubles, falsehoods, sorrow, and evil, flared up more brightly than ever before, lighted up for her all that had been in darkness, flickered, began to grow dim, and was quenched forever” (Tolstoy 918). It is a powerful way to represent the life in Anna, and gives a prominent image of how quickly one’s life can be taken away from them. Just like a candle’s flame, Anna instantly has disappeared forever.
Tolstoy’s description of the two close-ups brings out the essence to his style of writing. It is short, yet it brings out the detail of each character’s story and each event taking place. Through analyzing two close-ups from Anna Karenina, one can decipher much more information from a character’s background than what is read on the surface of the novel.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Nicole Krauss 'The Young Painters'

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Upon the dancer’s departure, “the dancer, who though older was still languid and full of grace, reached out and tapped me with two fingers on the cheek, turned, and walked away” (185). Krauss uses this odd gesture by the dancer helps reinforce the strange quirks of the dancer and the author’s thought of the gesture containing “something condescending in it, even meant to humiliate” (185). The use of the words, “languid and full of grace” continues to strengthen the narrator’s fascination in the dancers beauty but also how the narrator feels uncomfortable with her interactions with the dancer. After the narrator’s encounter with the dancer, she walks by a crowded park “until a cry rang out, pained and terrified, an agonizing child’s cry that tore into[her] as if it were an appeal to [her] alone” (186). The author’s use of the painful and terrifying cry reintroduces the theme of a screaming child from the first passage which reinforces the author’s incapability to manager her guilt. The use of the word “agonizing” in this context suggests the overwhelming amount of guilt the author contains but in form as a youthful shrilling scream. Towards the end of the short story, the agonizing

    Read More

  • Sevastopol In May By Tolstoy

    1892 Words  | 4 Pages

    The readers discover that Tolstoy’s motivation for writing “Sevastopol in May” was to provide Russia with an honest war narrative, not a literary cornerstone or a piece of light reading material. This realization is the clean ending that gives readers the they closure desire. By including an explicit declaration of theme and purpose at the

    Read More

  • The Grand Inquisitor, By Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Frederick Nietzsche’s The Death of God, his madman cries, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us?”(The Madman) To Nietzsche, the phrase "God is dead" is not to be take literally in the sense that he believed in an actual God who existed and then died. Rather, he is implying that the Christian God is no longer the go to for absolute moral principles. In a way, Nietzsche’s The Death of God is explaining that because people are starting to no longer believe in god, their morality isn't tied up in the idea of some imaginary being. It seems that Nietzsche's intended purpose was to do away with the traditional idea of “Christian” morality as he believed that because people were evolving to a place where they could create their own morality, God was unnecessary and irrelevant.

    Read More

  • Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilych

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story “The Death of Ivan Ilych” is about a man who realizes he is dying and that no one in his life cares about him. Even more disappointing for Ivan is the realization that besides his success as a high court judge, he has done nothing else to make his life worth saving. The death of Ivan Ilyich, sadly, comes as a release of stress to all. In the end, Ivan is soothed by the release of death, his family and friends are relieved of having responsibility of Ivan taken off their shoulders, and the reader is released from the stressful journey. Tolstoy teaches the audience through the structural elements of the “black sack” metaphor and pathos about the unavoidability of death and the relief of accepting it.

    Read More

  • Characterization of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our aim is to portrait the character of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, in the context of the story, extracting those elements that are characteristic of the period in which Chekhov wrote the story. True love is a reason for everything, even deleting the laws of life. People's mistakes and weaknesses are part of life and, without contradictions, the world would not have evolved.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fear is only one of the emotions that drive people. Society and even religion uses fear in the form of consequences to persuade people to control their EGO. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy allows the readers to learn the consequences of living a completely selfish, non-Christian life without actually having to make Ivan’s mistakes. At face value, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy is not a Christian novel. There is no mention of spirituality until the final chapter of the book, ****** there are only vague references to life after death with no mention of Christianity. However, fiction is about telling a story; it is about leaving the reader changed by the end of the book. In this regard, Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a masterpiece and should be celebrated by Christians as a work of art.

    Read More

  • The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    140 Words  | 1 Pages

    identical.  Both characters were in isolation prior to the initial plot of the books, but for

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Vronsky's Love By Tolstoy

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    price of shame" (Tolstoy, 135). Anna is struck by guilt and sobs in surprise when Vronsky describes what has happened between the two of them as bliss. She is disgusted and horrified by the word and requests Vronsky not to say any other word (Tolstoy, 136).

    Read More

  • Anna Ahkmatova's Requiem Analysis

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Few authors can convey the raw emotion of world changing events in such a moving and simplistic fashion. Anna Ahkmatova is able to capture this through her almost tangible use of imagery. Her words can transport the reader through time, allowing them to feel the same pain and fear she survived in Russia during Stalin’s reign of terror. Ahkmatova’s writing is known for its abrupt changes in point of view, and quickly shifting stanzas. Her unique style and poetic form can be attributed to the emotional turmoil of the world changing events she and her nation suffered through; and her innate love for music, as found in Mussorgsky’s Russian Opera, Boris Godunov.

    Read More

  • Imagery In Lady With Lapdog, By Anton Chekhov

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chekhov reminds the readers that Anna is young compared to Gurov. Chekhov’s novel states, “As he went to bed he reminded himself that only a short time ago she had been a schoolgirl, like his own daughter” (3). The images of Anna being a schoolgirl not too long ago, when Gurov has a daughter of similar age, brings the sense of abnormality between the relationship of Gurov and Anna. It’s hard to imagine such a huge difference in lovers especially in the strict culture of Russia in the late 19th century where these occasions were unthought-of. The uncomforting thought of the difference in age goes back to differ the meanings of love and romance in the novel because against all odds and differences, Anna and Gurov hide away from these obvious facts. The thought of love in this culture is between a man and woman of similar age. According to Chekhov’s novel, “He was sick of his children, sick of the bank, felt not the slightest desire to go anywhere or talk about anything” (9). Chekhov’s description of sickness reveals that Gurov has a huge moment of denial, denial of family and denial of age. This denial of age, helps Gurov cope with the oddities of their relationship, the oddities of the love they had with the characteristics of a romance. Gurov was trying to change the definition of their relationship on his own mental terms. While Gurov was trying to bring out a spontaneous, younger

    Read More

  • Symbols In One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through this book, we can see his perspective towards what’s happened to him and his country at that time. We can see the symbols, motifs and strand of imagery from the book representing of the situation in Russia back then when the World War 2 happened to the people who are imprisoned. From the history we’ve all familiar with how cruel and barbaric the war was, just from what happened to all the innocent people. Now imagine what happened to those who are imprisoned for their crime. What we meant by crime was activity such as speaking up your mind, practicing your religion or having contact with

    Read More

  • Tolstoy's War and Peace

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    A. The Epic of Russian Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. 309-346. Tolstoy, Leo. "

    Read More

  • Cinderella Stage Analysis

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, in this ballet concert, the choreographer had designed the scenes to be more like a comedy. The movement of the sisters are more amusing than cruel. For example, when they pulled each other for being eager to dance with the prince, or when they tried to hurt and bully the Cinderella, these movements are not that cruel but amusing. Even the stepmother was drunk and danced comically in the prom scene. Moreover, the movements of all the girls who wanted their feet to fit in to the ballet shoe which Cinderella had dropped in the prom are also very funny. These kinds of design successfully made the audience laugh out loud and without hurting the hearts of the little girls who went to see the performance with their

    Read More

  • War And Peace By Leo Tolstoy

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Then novel War and Peace was written by a famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 1865. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, Austrian, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Britain. The novel mainly focuses on Russia. It reflects the different views and participation in the war of Russian aristocracy and peasants and also shows Tolstoy’s negative viewpoint on the war.

    Read More

  • Feminist Analysis of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite the criticism that Anna Karenina is actually two novels, Tolstoy insisted that it is one novel. Although certain characters hardly ever interact, they are still aware of each other and one’s actions have even the smallest influence on the other.

    Read More

More about Anna Karenina by Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Open Document