Views on Marriage and Divorce in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

2267 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: War and peace tolstoy essay

Marriage and family are prevailing themes in the major works of Tolstoy. In War & Peace the marriage of Pierre to Hélène is later contrasted with that of Pierre's later marriage with Natasha (among others) and in Anna Karenina, the novel is in some ways two separate stories of two separate marriages. On one hand is the union between Levin and Kitty and on the other is Anna Arkádyevna and Alexéy Karenin. One is a marriage coming together, while the other is one breaking apart. Based on the characterization of the players involved, coupled with parallels to Tolstoy's own life it is possible to discern his philosophy towards marriage and therefore why each character's fate was chosen at the outset.

Although there are two main marriages in the novel, other marriages undergo scrutiny as well. The first character we are introduced to is Stiva Oblonsky, a government clerk portrayed as a likeable character who is also at odds with his wife due to an act of infidelity with their French governess (part I, chapter 1, pg. 1). His wife, Dolly, wishes to leave him as she can not stand to live with a man who has defamed their love, especially with someone under their own roof. At the same time, Levin has come from the country in order to ask for the hand of Kitty, Dolly's sister. Shortly after arriving in town, Levin and Oblonsky had a talk in which Oblonsky's philosophy towards marriage was expounded on: "'a woman, a dear, gentle affectionate creature, poor and lonely, sacrifices everything. Now when the thing is done...just consider, should one forsake her? Granted that one ought to part with her as not to destroy family life, but oughtn't one to pity her and provide for her and make things easier?'" (part I, chapter 11, pgs. 37-38). His op...

... middle of paper ...

...en Anna can no longer quell her jealousy and throws herself beneath the train, she has come full circle. Her end occurs in a similar place to where her fall began. There was no other moral way out for Anna in the Tolstoyan view. She had already ruined the sanctity of marriage, and in fact had conceived a child not of her own husband while still married to him. His view called for her to obey, but she instead gave way to lust. Going back to her husband would not have undone the damage done to him, and whether or not he was made to appear ridiculous at the close of the novel does not change her transgression. Vengeance was God's, and he did repay.

Works Cited

Maude, Aylmer. "The Life of Tolstoy" Oxford University Press (July 16, 1987)

Tolstoy, Leo. "Anna Karenina." Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator) Penguin Classics, 2004.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Stanley Milgram's Obedience Experiments

    1187 Words  | 3 Pages

    On numerous accounts, Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments have proven to be unethical and incomparable to authentic examples of obedience (Baumrind 90; Parker 98-100). So persuade authors Ian Parker and Diana Baumrind in their respective articles, “Obedience” and “Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on obedience.” In “Obedience,” Parker reasons via multiple scenarios that the trials conducted by Milgram do not provide a realistic presentation of the scenarios in which people will obey or disobey (101). Utilizing arguments such as the fact that the subjects might not have fully believed in the legitimacy of the shock machine used by Milgram and that the experiment merely compares what is expected to happen with what actually happened

    Read More

  • Evaluating the Beck Anxiety Inventory

    2111 Words  | 5 Pages

    The BAI consists of 21 descriptive statements of anxiety symptoms. The test taker indicates how often the symptoms have occurred within the last week. The scoring sheet has four columns which are rated on a 4-point scale with the following correspondence: Not at all = 0, Mildly = 1, Moderately = 2, Severely = 3. The test taker marks the appropriate colum...

    Read More

  • Stanley Milgram Case Study

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1963, Stanley Milgram of Yale University created one of the most well- known and famous studies on obedience. Milgram conducted this study in order to figure out if there were similarities involving obedience in the systematic killing of Jews from 1933 to 1945. The question Milgram was trying to answer was whether the Nazi's excuse for the murders of millions was a valid excuse and if the mass killings were because of orders the Nazi’s obeyed. According to Milgram, “obedience is the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose”. Essentially obedience means compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority. Obedience in society is both a good and bad thing in terms of it being an act of kindness or in terms of it being destruction. Milgram then creates a procedure consisting of a subject shocking a victim. This electric shock is caused by a generator used with 30 marked voltage levels that all range from 15 to 450 volts. In other words, these shocks vary from “Slight shock to Danger: Severe Shock”. The subject administers these shocks to the victim and if at a certain point in the experiment the subject refuses to go on with the experiment resulting in the act of "disobedience". Continuing the experiment is considered “obedience”. The subjects of his experiment were 40 males from New Haven and the surrounding areas. Participants all were from ages 20 to 50. Subjects responded from a newspaper advertisement and mail solicitations and believed that they were participating in a study of memory and learning at Yale. The men of this study all had a wide variety of jobs and all ranged in education levels. The men were paid $4.50 to participate in the study and no matter the ...

    Read More

  • adolg hitler: his monstrosity

    3289 Words  | 7 Pages

    Adolf Hitler’s rise to power as the chancellor of Germany is one of history’s great political success stories. He was known to be an uneducated common soldier in World War I, who had been a failure in all in his undertakings. He eventually rose to power in 1933, in a country that was devastated both socially and politically. Within five years, he had given his nation stability and hope. They started to hail him as the leader and savior because he eradicated unemployment, stabilized the currency, provided social legislation, and reformed the military. He also built magnificent freeways and promised automobiles to every laboring man. If Hitler had died before World War II, he may well have been remembered as the greatest and one of the most outstanding leaders in German history. However, later on his political career, he ordered and also committed atrocities like the order for the extermination Jews and the elimination of every potential enemy in the occupied Eastern territories. He was fully aware of mass executions of Jewish civilians in these territories that make him one of the most monstrous leaders in world history. A look at his benevolent work at the beginning of his political career and his malevolence at the peak and towards the end of his life lead us to view him in two perspectives; thus he seemed to be once a mentally ill person and a brilliant political leader. I refuse to see him from just one perspective since he was human and he had evil in him. In the book, Psychopathic God by Robert Waite, a leading German Biographer, A. J. P. Taylor has come to the conclusion that Hitler was “a neurotic character who was imprisoned by an overpowering neurotic psychosis” (Waite xvi).

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Deception Essay

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marriage can be seen as a subtle form of oppression, like many things which are dictated by social expectations. In Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour, Louise Mallard finds herself in distress due to the event of her husband’s death that makes her question who she is as a person. The author cleverly uses this event to create the right atmosphere for Mrs. Mallard to fight against her own mind. As the short story progresses, we see that Mrs. Mallard moves forward with her new life and finds peace in her decision to live for herself. This shows that marriage too is another chain that holds oneself back. Not wanting to admit this to herself, Louise

    Read More

  • Blindly Obeying Authority

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Milgram, Stanley. Issues in the Study of Obedience: A Reply to Baumrind. From American Psychologist. Vol. 19, pp.848-852, 1964.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    394 Words  | 1 Pages

    Marriage oppressed her, she needed freedom, freedom to grow and do what she wanted to do, and marriage took that away from here. Chopin didn't believe that one person should take away another's freedom.

    Read More

  • Criticism of The Storm by Kate Chopin

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    While it has traditionally been men who have attached the "ball and chain" philosophy to marriage, Kate Chopin gave readers a woman’s view of how repressive and confining marriage can be for a woman, both spiritually and sexually. While many of her works incorporated the notion of women as repressed beings ready to erupt into a sexual a hurricane, none were as tempestuous as The Storm.

    Read More

  • Test Critique

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...sessment should not be used solely for making any diagnostic decisions or decisions related to treatment of any kind but the findings do indicate that the BAI is useful in using as a supportive tool in screening for common anxiety disorders in mental health settings. The assessment would be most effective if used in a tiered diagnostic system, if time constraints interfere with conducting a tiered study then a subsample of individuals would be a suggested option for clinics who are looking for a more time efficient assessment.

    Read More

  • Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... This woman suffers a tremendous amount from the commitment of her marriage, and the death of her husband does not affect her for long. A marriage such as this seems so unbelievable, yet a reader can see the realistic elements incorporated into the story. This begs the question of how undesirable marriage was during Chopin’s life. The unhappiness felt by Mrs. Mallard seems to be very extreme, but Chopin creates a beautiful story that reflects upon the idea of marriage as an undesired relationship and bond to some women in the nineteenth century.

    Read More

  • Marriage In Louise Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many, marriage is the most important steps in life because it doesn’t just represent two people taking a vow to be with each other. But marriage also exemplifies purity and singularity because it gives people the strength to overcome any temptations by engaging in a love that can be given and received physically, emotionally, and spiritually. However, in The Story of an Hour, Chopin also displays how all marriages can be oppressive, even the “kindest and loving” ones, which implies that people just want to be free physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She does this by having Louise Mallard react to her husband’s death with joy and also not having any sort of bitterness or contempt over his passing either.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Being Earnest Marriage Theme Analysis

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    To give a little background on the play; the pursuit of marriage is the driving force behind the play. “I now pronounce you, man and wife.” This traditional saying, commonly used to announce a newlywed couple during a wedding ceremony, marks the happily ever after that many dream of today. In today’s society, marriage is an expression of love between two individuals. Marriage has not, however, always been an act of love. In the Victorian era, marriage was almost a chore. Most people married out of need rather than want. In the Play this is evident when Lady Bracknell objects to Gwendolen and Ernest’s engagement on the basis of his lack of legitimate background. On the other hand, Jack objects to the marriage of Cecily and Algernon’s

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Oppression Analysis

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    “There is no perfect relationship. The idea that there is gets us into so much trouble.”-Maggie Reyes. Kate Chopin reacts to this certain idea that relationships in a marriage during the late 1800’s were a prison for women. Through the main protagonist of her story, Mrs. Mallard, the audience clearly exemplifies with what feelings she had during the process of her husbands assumed death. Chopin demonstrates in “The Story of an Hour” the oppression that women faced in marriage through the understandings of: forbidden joy of independence, the inherent burdens of marriage between men and women and how these two points help the audience to further understand the norms of this time.

    Read More

  • Three Readers Response to The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    My belief on marriage is a sacred vow taken by two people which joins them in union. Most people carry the belief that marriage should occur only when two people are in love; although this belief is common it is not always the case and people marry for a variety of reasons. In the short story "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin suggests that in the case of Mrs. Mallard and Mr. Mallard, love was not a deciding factor for their reason to get married. Though the response of three readers, one being myself, we will explore the character of Mrs. Mallard and the idea of love in her marriage. Kate Chopin has given little detail about the Mallards and therefore left much to the imagination of the reader. Although there are similarities in details between readers such as: point of view, setting, and character, each reader brings new perspective and ideas. This type of analysis of the text allows a richer and more knowledgeable outlook; not only by enhancing ones own ideas by introducing new ones.

    Read More

  • Marriage In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marriage is seen as one of the most beautiful things that two people can agree upon. Marriage is where two people who are in love agree to commit to be together through thick and thin for the rest of their lives. Although marriage is a very beautiful moment in life it does not necessarily mean that the people in the marriage are happy. In American society marriage comes across a very beautiful moment but also it comes across of a tie down. In American society many people feel that in marriage you are not free or you will no longer be able to do anything you prolong wanted or simply you cannot be yourself. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, Mrs. Mallard undergoes series of emotions once she finds out her husband had died. However one

    Read More

More about Views on Marriage and Divorce in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

Open Document