"Anna Karenina": interesting facts about the great novel. What does Anna Karenina talk about Anna Karenina message

Russian literature has been highly valued since ancient times. The masterpieces of writers conquered more than one country in the world and became real bestsellers. Based on many works, excellent films were made - premieres occupy a leading position in the ranking of the best. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is no exception - a unique Russian writer who created many amazing novels. Among them, such as "Anna Karenina", "War and Peace", "Resurrection" and others stand out clearly.

Today, the works of Leo Tolstoy are studied in schools. This is due to the fact that they carry a deep meaning that can teach the younger generation the truth of life and feel all the emotions with which a talented man wrote. Very often the question arises regarding the work "Anna Karenina": "Who wrote the divine novel?" Tolstoy worked on this wonderful book for four years. In 1878, the first edition of the sentimental novel took place.

The birth of a bestseller

One February morning, Leo Tolstoy decided to write a novel about the relations of the nobles, private life, but he realized his dream three years later. A little later, after finishing the book, he tried to publish it in Russkiy vestnik, and the idea was a success - the first volume went to press. Gradually, Tolstoy's novel became very popular, readers liked the manner in which Lev Nikolayevich described his characters and their share, the sensitivity and depth of the work.

Naturally, everyone was looking forward to the continuation of the novel "Anna Karenina", since it was known that the work consisted of three volumes. By 1878, Leo Tolstoy had completely published his offspring. The last part was not so much liked by readers, since it contained a description of the Serbo-Montenegrin-Turkish war, to which officer Vronsky, Anna's lover, was sent.

Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" combines the most contradictory feelings and customs of people. The writer himself noted several times that with the help of the work he wants to show how the present and future world is divided into two parts: good and evil, who fight against each other every day and try in vain to destroy the enemy.

The uniqueness of the novel

The work "Anna Karenina" appeals to many people. After all, it is about the tragic love of a married woman and a brilliant officer. At the same time, it is impossible not to experience a deep feeling directly for the family life of the nobles. The story takes place in the second half of the nineteenth century in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But the writer reflects as clearly as possible all the emotions, principles and morals of his novel.

Many adored Anna Karenina, namely because most people saw themselves in this woman, they were close to the story of the writer, which penetrated into the very depths of the soul. Therefore, Tolstoy wrote modern literature, a book that, in his opinion, could always be popular - for all times and peoples.

Oddly enough, but Lev Nikolaevich foresaw that changes were coming, namely for the nobles. He knew, felt that the current society and customs were beginning to crumble, and people should prepare for this.

novel idea

All the people surrounding Leo Tolstoy became the idea for the birth of a completely different novel. The writer's society could be recognized by the environment of Anna Oblonskaya-Karenina. Observing the thoughts of his acquaintances, their feelings and concepts, Tolstoy created his first characters, who in the future were so fond of readers.

Many who are not familiar with the work "Anna Karenina", the author of which tried to create a real masterpiece for different age categories of people, have repeatedly heard about the unique novel. But for some reason, most people get the impression that this is a book about a woman who committed suicide because of bright and passionate feelings for her lover, whom her honor and conscience did not allow her to be with.

In fact, it is not at all what is described in the novel "Anna Karenina". The content of the book consists of dozens of interesting chapters, descriptions of past noble life, the struggle between good and evil, the nature and morality of people who lived in the nineteenth century.

Getting to know the characters

Wonderful work "Anna Karenina". Who wrote it is known to almost every resident of the CIS countries, but it was not read by everyone. Although many have heard about the unusual novel and know the main characters of the book.

Let's start with the fact that the main character - Anna - comes to Moscow to reconcile her brother Steve, who was allegedly convicted of treason, with his wife. As soon as Karenina got off her train, she learns that a watchman is dying on the railway tracks. This is considered a terrible omen. After a while, the main character will understand what this sign meant - she will be considered a "criminal woman", and she will not be able to live with it in peace. Nevertheless, charming, kind and gentle Anna Karenina (the author at first portrays her as a pure, honest and ideal woman) goes to visit her brother and tries to reconcile him with his wife Dolly.

Meanwhile, the young and charming Count Alexei Vronsky comes to visit Stiva. Do not forget to visit his beloved Princess Kitty Shcherbitskaya and Konstantin Levin, who wholeheartedly wants to marry a sweet girl. But, in his opinion, this is impossible, since he is a simple landowner, and his main rival is the brilliant Petersburg representative Vronsky. In fact, Count Alexei did not even intend to propose to Kitty, since all his thoughts were occupied by a guest who had just arrived from Petersburg.

The work written by Leo Tolstoy - "Anna Karenina" - clearly and deeply describes the feelings and emotions experienced by the main character. She is unusually in love with Count Vronsky, but offers him only friendship, as a loving husband and child are waiting for her at home. Anna's main dream, which cannot come true, was to be with the two most beloved people on earth - Alexei and son Serezha.

Lyubov Karenina

As already noted, Anna Karenina arrived from St. Petersburg with an already clouded mood. On the train, she met a sweet woman who kept telling her about her beloved son, Alexei. At that time, Karenina did not attach the slightest importance to this, but a little later it became clear to her that the adored child of a fellow traveler was her inaccessible Count Vronsky.

After meeting with her lover, she firmly decided to go back to Petersburg, because she knew that trouble awaited her in Vronsky's lovely and deep eyes, which could swallow a woman's soul entirely. But young Alexei follows right behind her: he longs for a meeting, not paying attention to extraneous contemptuous glances, the presence of a husband and a child with his beloved. Noticing the count, who is spinning near Karenina, the society begins to suspect their relationship. Anna, whose heart is breaking inside, could not restrain herself and nevertheless indulged in love with her sweet, gentle and sensual Alexei. Everyone in the district soon learned about this, including the legal husband of the main character.

A little later it became known that Karenina was expecting a child from Vronsky. Upon learning the news, Alexei asked her to leave her husband and leave with him. At the same time, Vronsky's recently friendly and kind mother is no longer so reverent towards Anna. On the contrary, she is outraged by what is happening and does not wish her son such a fate. Karenina, an exhausted woman, would be glad to give up everything and leave with the count, but she loves Alexei as much as she loves her son Seryozha. Anna falls into despair, she is tormented by the most conflicting feelings. Karenina doesn't know what to do...

During childbirth, the main character became very ill and miraculously survived. Seeing her condition, the lawful husband shows compassion and pity for his wife, after which he allows her to live in his house. Karenin forgives Anna and her act and even agrees to keep everything a secret so as not to disgrace the honest name of their family. Karenina, however, cannot stand her husband's generosity and runs away with Vronsky to Europe. Soon, two people who once loved each other realize that they are perfect and they have nothing in common. It is at this moment that Anna realizes what a mistake she made and how much she betrayed and dishonored her husband. Nothing good awaits her in Petersburg, where she is now an outcast. Gaining courage, Karenina nevertheless returns.

The problems with Vronsky are becoming more and more serious, and it is simply impossible to live on like that. If the count got away with everything, then everyone in society despises Anna. She sleeps badly, suffers for her son, realizing that she will never see him again.

The fate of Anna Karenina

After the kiss with Vronsky, Karenina's state changed: she became happy, rejuvenated, inspired, but it couldn't go on like this! Attempts to keep her son and divorce her despotic and strict husband were not successful. Poor Anna, not knowing herself from grief, became completely lifeless. She rushes between two fires: an evil husband who hates her for treason and a young, gentle and charming Alexei, who promises to give her the whole world. But the mother would never leave her son, so Karenina believed that she could not surrender to carefree love and leave with Vronsky far from her husband.

But fate turned in such a way that, on the one hand, Anna got what she wanted - love, Vronsky, happiness, and on the other, she lost the most important thing - her son Seryozha. The oppressive atmosphere, unsuccessful relationships, society's hatred for her person push the woman to a desperate act - suicide.

Often people do not want to read the entire Anna Karenina novel. The description is a few pages from a huge work that succinctly and superficially talk about the characters and the events taking place. But in order to feel all the emotions with which Tolstoy wrote, to change your worldview and become a little better, it is recommended to read the novel from cover to cover. This is not difficult to do, since it absorbs completely, and time flies unnoticed.

Evaluation of the novel "Anna Karenina"

Many critics did not like Anna Karenina and her fate. Some considered her a symbol of dishonor and shame, others did not like the image of Vronsky. There were also those who considered the novel scandalous, empty and representing nothing. Of course, the work of critics is to find inaccuracies, to be dissatisfied and to write reviews about works. But, fortunately, there were those who believed that the novel that Leo Tolstoy brought to life, Anna Karenina, was the best hope for Russian literature. Critics supported the writer and ridiculed the main character. Then they said that such feelings that were in Anna's soul should plunge every woman who dared to cheat on her husband, having a child and a family respected in society.

Among critics admiring Tolstoy's work was Nikolai Nekrasov. He saw in the writer a real talent, a man with an inexplicable gift who could change the lives of other people with his works. Nekrasov correctly predicted everything, since today few are wondering who Anna Karenina is, who wrote the novel. This is because a large part of the population has read a book or watched brilliant plays, films that have influenced the worldview of people and, perhaps, even changed their lives. The novels of Leo Tolstoy have always produced an extraordinary effect on their fans. You will not find such creations written by a talented thinker anywhere else.

Theatrical productions and film adaptations of the novel

Creativity L. Tolstoy was noticed already in 1910. A few years later, people could attend the first performances of Anna Karenina. Time passed, and various directors improved the plays, changed actors and experimented with productions. Original performances, dramatic musicals were created by such professionals as R. Viktyuk, O. Shikshin, M. Roshchin and others.

Many readers and viewers liked Anna Karenina, whose quotes were even recorded and recited at parties and meetings. As for the adaptation of the popular novel, the first film about tragic love was made in Germany in 1910. Then representatives of such countries as Russia, Hungary, Italy, USA, Great Britain, India and others tried to portray the picture. In total, more than three dozen films about Karenina were made. The last of them was presented by British directors. The main role was played by Keira Knightley, who played Anna with unusual subtlety and sensuality. Also today you can find series about Karenina.

It is impossible not to say that there are performances of the ballet "Anna Karenina". In 2010, the premiere took place at the Mariinsky Theatre. Nevertheless, the best production is considered to be the work that received the award for "Best Performance in Ballet" in 2005.

In our time, the novels of L.N. Tolstoy are very popular, and various musicals, plays, and films are made based on them. But Anna Karenina broke all sorts of records and became a real masterpiece in Russian literature and art in general.

It is believed that Pushkin's daughter (Maria Alexandrovna Gartung) is the main character of the novel - Anna Karenina. L. N. Tolstoy was inspired by the appearance of the girl and decided to transfer her image to paper.

It is also interesting to know that in 1916 they tried to shoot a continuation of the sentimental story about tragic love called "Anna Karenina's Daughter". In addition, the principle of the novel is often used in science, which is based on the aphorism that opens the work: “All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Everything was mixed up in the Oblonskys' house.

In 2013, a kind of continuation of the novel was published under the title "Anna Karenina-2". The author was Alexander Zolotko, who told readers the story of the daughter of the main character, who was named the same as her own mother. This caused a lot of emotions and indignation among some critics, because it is completely unknown what happened to the girl who was born from a relationship with Count Vronsky. And Leo Tolstoy did not mention the name of the newborn. However, these are just some of the opinions of critics, the author himself has the right to change the details of the plot. There are those who think that the novel "Anna Karenina-2" is worth reading.

Nevertheless, the second part of the book is simply incomparable with the first, since this is a completely different story and a different heroine, although with the same name - Anna Karenina. Few people know who wrote it, since Alexander Zolotko's edition is rather small, and he himself did not try to create a masterpiece that could outshine the work of Leo Tolstoy.

The role of Tolstoy's novel in the life of each of us

The novel by L. N. Tolstoy was written in the genre of realism. He clearly conveyed the character traits and intentions of the people of the second half of the nineteenth century. In the character of Levine, he saw himself, which he repeatedly mentioned. The hero himself was endowed with the best character traits, which made him an example to follow. This is what the writer wanted to tell his fans - that no matter what place a person occupies in society, he must always remain a person: worthy, honest, fair and kind.

"Anna Karenina" is a novel of all times that has won thousands, millions of hearts around the world. For the first time, the writer so accurately conveyed the relationship between people who are familiar to almost every person. 137 years have passed since the publication of the work, but not for a single day has it been forgotten by readers. I want to read and re-read it, watch it on the screen and on the stage, admire the heroine's courage and sincerely sympathize with her. The simple language, the inimitable style of writing and the depth of the characters' characters are truly masterpieces. No wonder the novel belongs to the classics of world literature.

To which Vronsky is sent.

So, the novel was published in full. The next edition (in its entirety) was in 1878.

Therefore, a "live, hot and finished novel" will be contemporary in any historical era.

The novel, affecting "personally close to everyone" feelings, became a living reproach to contemporaries, whom N. S. Leskov ironically called "real secular people".

Leo Tolstoy described the era of "the decline of the ancient civilization", the writer felt the approach of changes in the life of the noble society, but could not foresee what a catastrophe they would turn into in less than half a century.

In the last, eighth part, L. N. Tolstoy just shows the lack of interest in the "labor" called "The experience of reviewing the foundations and forms of statehood in Europe and in Russia." A review of the book, on which Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev (Lyovin's brother) worked for 6 years, was written by a young ignorant feuilletonist, making him a laughing stock. Due to the failure of his book, Koznyshev devoted himself entirely to the Slavic question in the Serbian war.

He admitted that the newspapers printed a lot of unnecessary and exaggerated things, with the sole purpose of drawing attention to themselves and shouting down others. He saw that with this general upsurge of society, all the unsuccessful and offended jumped forward and shouted louder than others: commanders-in-chief without armies, ministers without ministries, journalists without magazines, party leaders without partisans. He saw that there was a lot of frivolous and funny ...

The characters of the novel

Leo Tolstoy's entourage is the modern society of Anna Oblonskaya-Karenina. Tolstoy's observations of the feelings and thoughts of real people became the "artistic depiction of life" of the characters in the novel.

There are no coincidences in Tolstoy's novel. The path begins with the railway, without which communication was impossible. On the way from Petersburg to Moscow, Princess Vronskaya tells Anna Karenina about her son Alexei. Anna comes to reconcile Dolly with her brother Stiva, convicted of treason, and who is "to blame". Vronsky meets his mother, Stiva meets his sister. The coupler dies under the wheels... The apparent "event orderliness" only reveals and shows the state of internal chaos and confusion of the characters - "everything is mixed up". And the “thick whistle of a steam locomotive” does not make the heroes wake up from their far-fetched dream, it does not cut the knot, on the contrary, it increases the anguish of the heroes, who subsequently go through the brink of final despair. The death of the coupler under the wheels of a steam locomotive became a "bad omen", the "beautiful horror of a snowstorm" symbolized the imminent destruction of the family.

How nightmarish the situation of Anna becomes, from whom the world has turned away, and whose representatives do not risk communicating with the "criminal woman" at home, is evident from the sequence of events.

Blinded by love, the young Count Vronsky follows her like a shadow, which in itself seems quite nice for discussion in the secular drawing room of Betsy Tverskaya's house. Married Anna can only offer friendship and does not approve of Vronsky's act towards Kitty Shcherbatskaya.

There were no signs of big trouble. The secular princess advised Anna Arkadyevna: “You see, you can look at the same thing tragically and make torment out of it, and look simply and even fun. Maybe you tend to look at things too tragically."

But Anna saw signs of fate in all events. Anna sees in a dream death during childbirth: “you will die in childbirth, mother”, she constantly thought about death and the absence of a future. But fate gives a second chance (like Vronsky, when trying to shoot himself), Anna does not die, but the doctor eases her pain with morphine.

For Anna, the loss of her son will become unbearable, who will grow up in the house of a strict father, with contempt for her mother who left him.

She dreams of the impossible: to unite in one house the two dearest people, Alexei Vronsky and son Seryozha. All attempts by the gentle and sensible brother Stiva to get a divorce from Karenin and leave Anna a son were unsuccessful. All the actions of the statesman Karenin took place under the influence of the laws of secular society, flattery to his vanity of Countess Lidia Ivanovna, and "according to religion."

The choice was this: "The happiness of generous forgiveness" or the desire to love and live.

Tolstoy clearly criticizes the "old custom", the legally complex divorce process, which is becoming almost impossible and condemned in the world.

Rather, she wanted to rid everyone of herself. Anna brings misfortune to everyone, "breaking apart" the personalities in pieces, depriving them of their inner peace.

Prototypes. Characters. images

Konstantin Levin

Leva, Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. He was drawn in the novel as a typical image of a Russian idealist, but he shows far from the best part of his "I".

The revelations of Lev Nikolaevich's diary, in which he conscientiously recorded all his intimate experiences, made a depressing impression on Sofya Andreevna before the wedding. Tolstoy felt his responsibility and guilt before her.

Levin handed over his diary to her, not without an inner struggle. He knew that there could not and should not be secrets between him and her, and therefore he decided that it must be so; but he did not give himself an account of how this could work, he did not transfer himself into her. Only when that evening he came to them in front of the theater, went into her room and<…>understood the abyss that separated his shameful past from her dove-like purity, and was horrified at what he had done.

Two days after marrying 18-year-old Sofya Bers, 34-year-old Lev Nikolaevich wrote to his grandmother: “I constantly feel as if I have stolen an undeserved, not assigned happiness. Here she comes, I hear her, and it's so good"(from a letter to A. A. Tolstoy on September 28, 1862). These experiences are reflected in the moods of Levin and Kitty:

She forgave him, but from then on he considered himself even more unworthy of her, bowed down morally before her even lower, and valued his undeserved happiness even more highly.

Nikolai Levin

Dmitry Nikolaevich Tolstoy. He was ascetic, strict and religious, in the family he was nicknamed Noah. Then he began to revel, bought and took away the corrupt Masha.

Anna Karenina (Oblonskaya)

In 1868, in the house of General Tulubyev, L.N. Tolstoy met Maria Aleksandrovna Gartung, Pushkin's daughter. Tolstoy described some of the features of her appearance: dark hair, white lace and a small purple garland of pansies.

According to the appearance and marital status described by L. N. Tolstoy, the prototype could be Alexandra Alekseevna Obolenskaya (1831-1890, ur. Dyakova), wife of A. V. Obolensky and sister of Maria Alekseevna Dyakova, who was married to S. M. Sukhotin .

Character

Fate

Anna Stepanovna Pirogova, whom unhappy love led to death, in 1872 (because of A. N. Bibikov) From the memoirs of Sofya Andreevna:

L. N. Tolstoy went to the railway barracks to see the unfortunate.

Situation

Divorce was very rare. And the story of the marriage of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy to S. A. Bakhmetyeva, who left her husband L. Miller (nephew of E. L. Tolstoy), made a lot of noise in the world. Before her marriage to L. Miller, Sofia Bakhmeteva gave birth to a daughter, Sophia (married Khitrovo) from Prince G. N. Vyazemsky (1823-1882), who fought in a duel with her brother and killed him. A. K. Tolstoy dedicated the lines to her: “In the midst of a noisy ball ...”.

Also, the situation in the Tolstoy-Sukhotin-Obolensky family turned out to be a difficult story:

The wife of Chamberlain Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin (1818-1886) Maria Alekseevna Dyakova in 1868 achieved a divorce and married S. A. Ladyzhensky.

His son, Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin (1850-1914), married the daughter of L. N. Tolstoy, Tatyana Lvovna, and his first wife was Maria Mikhailovna Bode-Kolycheva, from whose marriage there were five children (later daughter Natalya married Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (1872-1934), son of L. N. Tolstoy's niece Elizabeth, previously married to his daughter Maria).

Combining in Anna Karenina: the image and appearance of Maria Hartung, the tragic love story of Anna Pirogova and cases from the life of M. M. Sukhotina and S. A. Miller-Bakhmetyeva, L. N. Tolstoy leaves precisely the tragic ending. " Revenge is mine, and I will repay” (Deut 12:19).

Image development

In the original plan of L. N. Tolstoy, the heroine of the novel was Tatyana Sergeevna Stavrovich (Anna Arkadyevna Karenina), her husband was Mikhail Mikhailovich Stavrovich (Aleksey Aleksandrovich Karenin), her lover was Ivan Petrovich Balashev (Alexey Kirillovich Vronsky). The images are slightly different.

"There was something defiant and daring about her dress and walk, and something simple and humble about her face, with big black eyes and a smile like Stiva's brother."

In the penultimate, ninth version of the manuscript of the novel, L. N. Tolstoy already describes Anna's nightmare:

She fell asleep with that heavy dead sleep that is given to a person as salvation against miscarriage, that sleep that one sleeps after an accomplished misfortune from which one needs to rest. She woke up in the morning not refreshed by sleep. A terrible nightmare presented itself in her dreams again: an old peasant with a disheveled beard was doing something, bending over the iron, saying Il faut le battre le fer, le broyer, le pétrir. She woke up in a cold sweat.<…>“One must live,” she said to herself, “you can always live. Yes, it’s unbearable to live in the city, it’s time to go to the countryside.

Work on the novel weighed heavily on L. N. Tolstoy (“I involuntarily sat down to write”), he often put it off, doing educational programs (“I break away from real people to fictional ones”); and was indifferent to its success. In a letter to A. A. Fet, he said that “boring and vulgar Anna K. is disgusting to him ... My Anna is tired of me like a bitter radish”

In addition, she embarrassed the publishers with her revelation, in which "an impossible, terrible and all the more charming dream came true, but turned into a feeling of physical humiliation for Anna."

In February 1875, L. N. Tolstoy wrote to M. N. Katkov: “I can’t touch anything in the last chapter. Bright realism is the only weapon, since I can not use either pathos or reasoning. And this is one of the places on which the whole novel stands. If it is false, then everything is false.”

However, on February 16, 1875, after reading this chapter by B. N. Almazov, and a meeting of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature on this occasion, L. N. Tolstoy received a welcome telegram on behalf of the members of the Society.

In the original version of the novel, the heroine gets a divorce and lives with her lover, they have two children. But the way of life is changing, they are "surrounded like moths by ill-bred writers, musicians and painters." Like a ghost, an ex-husband appears, an unfortunate “haggard, hunched-over old man”, who bought a revolver from a gunsmith to kill his wife and shoot himself, but then comes to his ex-wife’s house: “He comes to her as a confessor and calls her to a religious revival ". Vronsky (Balashev) and Anna (Tatyana Sergeevna) quarrel, he leaves, she leaves a note, leaves, and a day later her body is found in the Neva.

Alexey Vronsky

Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, in the original version of the novel - Ivan Petrovich Balashev, then Udashev, Gagin.

Prototype

The image of Vronsky in the light.“Vronsky was endowed with rare qualities: modesty, courtesy, calmness and dignity. According to family tradition, Vronsky wore a silver earring in his left ear, at the age of 25 he wore a beard and began to go bald.

The image of Vronsky at the races. L. N. Tolstoy has a very detailed and figurative description of the races, according to the stories of Prince D. D. Obolensky. "A stocky figure, a cheerful, hard and tanned face, shining, forward-looking eyes."

Vronsky through Anna's eyes.“Hard gentle face. Submissive and firm eyes, asking for love and arousing love.

Vronsky at war (after the death of Anna). Two months have passed ... Russian officers are participating in the Serbo-Montenegrin-Turkish war, which began in June 1876. On April 12, 1877, Russia declared war on Turkey. At the station, Steve meets Vronsky “in a long coat and in a black wide-brimmed hat, walking arm in arm with his mother. Oblonsky walked beside him, saying something animatedly. Vronsky, frowning, looked in front of him, as if he had not heard what Stepan Arkadyevitch was saying.<…>He looked back ... and silently raised his hat. His face, aged and expressing suffering, seemed petrified.. - L. N. Tolstoy

Alexey Alexandrovich Karenin

In the original version of the novel - Mikhail Mikhailovich Stavrovich.

Character

The name of the hero comes from the Greek Kareon - head. With Karenin, reason prevails over feeling. Since 1870, Leo Tolstoy studied Greek and could read Homer in the original.

Prototypes

According to the plan, Karenin was “a very kind person, wholly withdrawn into himself, absent-minded and not brilliant in society, such a learned eccentric”, he painted the image of L. N. Tolstoy with obvious authorial sympathy. But in Anna's eyes - he is a monster, besides, "he is stupid and angry."

Countess Lidia Ivanovna

Instead of Countess Lidia Ivanovna, Leo Tolstoy's manuscript features Karenin's sister, Maria Alexandrovna Karenina (Marie), who is carefully raising his son, whose name is Sasha.

Marie's virtuous inclinations turned not to good deeds, but to combat those that hindered them. And as if on purpose, lately everyone has been doing everything wrong to improve the clergy and to spread the true view of things. And Marie was exhausted in this struggle with false interpreters and enemies of the oppressed brothers, so close to her heart, finding consolation only in a small circle of people.

She also resembles in some ways the daughter of Anna Andreevna Shcherbatova and the chairman of the State Council under Alexander II D. N. Bludov, Antonina Dmitrievna (1812-1891), a religious lady involved in charity work. Her sister's name was Lydia.

A noteworthy fact: in the novel, a certain Sir John, a missionary from India, who was related to Countess Lydia Ivanovna, is mentioned in passing.

A missionary from India, Mr. Long, dull and uninteresting, who constantly asked in bad French: "Avez-vous été à Paris?"

Steve Oblonsky

Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky, brother of Anna Karenina

Image and prototypes

Character

Hello, Stepan Arkadyevitch," said Betsy, meeting the man who came in. radiant complexion, sideburns and white waistcoat and shirt, dashing Oblonsky<…>Stepan Arkadievich, smiling good-naturedly answered the questions of ladies and men ... Willingly described his adventures, told anecdotes and a bunch of news ... Stiva was always en bonne humeur (in the mood)

Dolly Oblonskaya

Wife of Stiva Oblonsky, mother of six children. Reminds me of her immersion in domestic family affairs and caring for numerous children Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya. "Name, not character" coincides with Daria Trubetskoy, wife of D. A. Obolensky.

Prince Shcherbatsky

The prototype is Sergei Alexandrovich Shcherbatov, director of the Moscow moose factory, adjutant of General I.F. Paskevich-Erivansky, friend of A.S. Pushkin. His wife was a lady-in-waiting to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Kitty

Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, later - Levin's wife

Princess Myagkaya

The prototype of Princess Myagkaya was described in the chapter "Well done woman", she also owned the words about Karenina: "She will end badly, and I just feel sorry for her." But as the book was being written, the images changed, including Princess Myagkaya, she did not envy Anna at all, on the contrary, she stood up for her. The phrase “but women with a shadow end badly” Tolstoy put into the mouth of one nameless guest of the salon, and Princess Myagkaya retorts: “Pip on your tongue ... and what should she do if they follow her like a shadow? If no one walks behind us like a shadow, then this does not give us the right to condemn. The character of Princess Myagkaya is characterized by simplicity and rudeness of treatment, for which in the world she received the nickname enfant terrible. She said simple, meaningful things; the effect of loudly spoken phrases was always the same. The soft first said about Karenin "he is stupid."

Similar in character to D. A. Obolenskaya (1903-1982), wife of D. A. Obolensky, who was part of the circle of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna

Betsy Tverskaya

Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna Tverskaya, Vronskaya, cousin of Alexei Kirillovich, wife of cousin Anna Oblonskaya (Karenina).

In the original version - Mika Vrasskaya.

For Anna Karenina, Betsy's salon demanded expenses beyond her means. But it was there that she met Vronsky.

Betsy took care of Anna and invited her into her circle, laughing at the circle of Countess Lidia Ivanovna: “It’s too early for a pretty young woman to go to this almshouse ...”.

Betsy had a hundred and twenty thousand income, her salon was the light of balls, dinners, shiny toilets, a light that held on to the yard with one hand so as not to go down to half light, which the members of this club despised, but with which tastes were not only similar, but same…
Betsy's husband is a good-natured fat man, a passionate collector of engravings.<…>Inaudibly, on a soft carpet, he approached Princess Myagkaya ...

In early sketches, Tolstoy describes the appearance of Princess Vrasskaya (Tverskaya), nicknamed “Princess Nana” in the light: “A thin long face, liveliness in movements, a spectacular toilet ... A straight lady with a Roman profile”, which says about Anna: “She is such a nice sweetheart ... And what should she do if Alexei Vronsky is in love and follows her like a shadow.

The beginning of the story

Lev Nikolaevich read Pushkin's passage "" and began to write a novel with the words: "After the opera, the guests came to the young princess Vrasskaya."

It was the stage (by Miki Vrasskaya) after an opera performance in a French theater.

Pushkin discusses Volskaya: “... But her passions will destroy<…>Passion! What a big word! What is passion!<…>Volskaya was alone with Minsky for about three hours in a row ... The hostess said goodbye to her coldly ... "

In Tolstoy's living room, first the Karenins (Stavrovichs), then Vronsky (Balashev) appear. Anna Arkadyevna (Tatyana Sergeevna) retires with Vronsky (Balashev) at a round table and does not part with him until the guests leave. Since then, she has not received a single invitation to balls and evenings of high society. The husband, who had left before his wife, already knew: “the essence of the misfortune has already happened ... In her soul there is a devilish brilliance and determination<…>she is full of thoughts of an early date with her lover.

And Tolstoy began with the words:

« Everything was mixed up in the Oblonskys' house," and then he added the line above: "All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.».

Plot

Anna Karenina in the painting by G. Manizer

The novel begins with two phrases that have long since become textbooks: “All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Everything was mixed up in the Oblonskys' house.

The sister of Stiva Oblonsky, a noble St. Petersburg lady Anna Karenina, comes to Moscow to visit the Oblonskys. Stiva meets Anna at the station, the young officer meets his mother, Countess Vronskaya. At the entrance to the car, he lets the lady go forward, and a premonition makes them look at each other again, their eyes already shone against their will. It seemed that they had known each other before ... At that moment, a misfortune happened: the car leaned back and crushed the watchman to death. Anna took this tragic incident as a bad omen. Anna goes to Steve's house and fulfills her mission for which she came - to reconcile him with his wife Dolly.

The lovely Kitty Shcherbatskaya is full of happiness as she looks forward to meeting Vronsky at the ball. Anna, contrary to her expectations, was in black, not purple. Kitty notices a flickering gleam in the eyes of Anna and Vronsky and realizes that the world has ceased to exist for them. Having turned down Levin on the eve of the upcoming ball, Kitty was depressed and soon fell ill.

Anna leaves for Petersburg, Vronsky rushes after him. In Petersburg, he follows her like a shadow, looking for a meeting, he is not at all embarrassed by her marriage and her eight-year-old son; because in the eyes of secular people, the role of an unfortunate lover is ridiculous, but the relationship with a respectable woman whose husband occupies such a respectable position seemed majestic and victorious. Their love could not be hidden, but they were not lovers, but the world was already discussing with might and main lady with shadow, looking forward to the continuation of the novel. An uneasy feeling prevented Karenin from concentrating on an important state project, and he was offended by that impression, which is so important for the significance of public opinion. Anna, on the other hand, continued to go out into the world and for almost a year met with Vronsky at the Princess of Tverskaya. Vronsky's only desire and Anna's charming dream of happiness merged in the feeling that a new life had begun for them, they had become lovers, and nothing would be the same as before. Very soon everyone in St. Petersburg became aware of this, including Anna's husband. The current situation was painfully difficult for all three, but none of them could find a way out of it. Anna informs Vronsky that she is pregnant. Vronsky asks her to leave her husband and is ready to sacrifice his military career. But his mother, who at first was very sympathetic to Anna, does not like this state of affairs at all. Anna falls into despair, the birth is difficult and Anna almost dies. Her lawful husband, Alexei Karenin, who was firmly planning to divorce her before Anna's illness, seeing her suffering during childbirth, unexpectedly forgives both Anna and Vronsky. Karenin allows her to continue to live in his house, under the protection of his good name, so as not to destroy the family and not shame the children. The forgiveness scene is one of the most important in the novel. But Anna cannot stand the oppression of generosity shown by Karenin, and taking her newborn daughter with her, she leaves for Europe with Vronsky, leaving her beloved son in the care of her husband.

For some time, Anna and Vronsky travel around Europe, but soon they realize that they actually have nothing to do. Out of boredom, Vronsky even begins to indulge in painting, but soon gives up this empty occupation, and he and Anna decide to return to St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, Anna realizes that she is now an outcast for high society, she is not invited to any of the decent houses, and no one, except for her two closest friends, visits her. Meanwhile, Vronsky is received everywhere and he is always welcome. This situation increasingly unwinds Anna's unstable nervous system, which does not see her son. On Seryozha's birthday, secretly, early in the morning, Anna sneaks into her old house, goes into the boy's bedroom and wakes him up. The boy is happy to tears, Anna is also crying with joy, the child hastily tries to tell his mother something and ask her about something, but then a servant comes running and frightenedly reports that Karenin will now go into his son’s room. The boy himself understands that it is impossible for his mother and father to meet and that his mother will now leave him forever, crying, he rushes to Anna and begs her not to leave. Karenin enters at the door, and Anna, in tears, overwhelmed by a feeling of envy for her husband, runs out of the house. Her son never saw her again.

A crack opens in Anna's relationship with Vronsky, pulling them further and further apart. Anna insists on visiting the Italian opera, where all the great light of St. Petersburg gathers that evening. The entire audience in the theater literally points their fingers at Anna, and the woman from the next box throws insults at Anna in the face. Anna leaves the theater in hysterics. Realizing that they have nothing to do in St. Petersburg, and they move away from the vulgar world to the estate, which Vronsky turned into a secluded paradise for the two of them and Anya's daughter. Vronsky is trying to make the estate profitable, introducing various new methods of farming and doing charity work - he is building a new hospital on the estate. Anna tries to help him in everything.

In parallel with the story of Anna, the story of Konstantin Levin unfolds, Tolstoy endows him with the best human qualities and doubts, trusts him with his innermost thoughts. Levin is a rather rich man, he also has a vast estate, in which he manages all the affairs himself. What is fun for Vronsky and a way to kill time, for Levin is the meaning of existence for himself and all his ancestors. Levin at the beginning of the novel is wooing Kitty Shcherbatskaya. At that time, Vronsky courted Kitty for fun. Kitty, however, became seriously interested in Vronsky and refused Levin. After Vronsky followed Anna to Petersburg, Kitty even fell ill from grief and humiliation, but after a trip abroad she recovered and agreed to marry Levin. Scenes of matchmaking, weddings, family life of the Levins are permeated with a bright feeling, the author makes it clear that this is how family life should be built.

Meanwhile, the situation in the estate is heating up. Vronsky travels to business meetings and social events, at which Anna cannot accompany him, but he is attracted to his former, free life. Anna senses this, but mistakenly assumes that Vronsky is attracted to other women. She constantly arranges scenes of jealousy for Vronsky, which test his patience more and more. To resolve the situation with the divorce process, they move to Moscow. But, despite the persuasion of Stiva Oblonsky, Karenin cancels his decision, and he leaves his son, whom he no longer loves, because his disgust for Anna as a "contemptible stumbled wife" is connected with him. The six-month wait for this decision in Moscow turned Anna's nerves into taut strings. She constantly broke down and quarreled with Vronsky, who spent more and more time outside the house. In Moscow, Anna meets with Levin, who realizes that this woman can no longer be called otherwise than lost.

In the month of May, Anna insists on an early departure to the village, but Vronsky says that he has been invited to his mother for important business matters. Anna, however, comes up with the idea that Vronsky's mother has planned to marry Vronsky to Princess Sorokina. Vronsky fails to prove to Anna the absurdity of this idea, and he, unable to constantly quarrel with Anna, goes to his mother's estate. Anna, realizing in an instant how hard, hopeless and meaningless her life is, wanting reconciliation, rushes after Vronsky to the station. The platform, the smoke, the whistles, the knocking and the people, all merged into a terrible nightmare of a welter of associations: Anna recalls her first meeting with Vronsky, and how on that distant day a lineman was run over by a train and was crushed to death. Anna comes up with the idea that there is a very simple way out of her situation, which will help her wash away the shame and untie everyone's hands. And at the same time it will be a great way to take revenge on Vronsky. Anna throws herself under the train. Anna chose death as a deliverance, it was the only way out that she, exhausted by herself and exhausting everyone, found.

Two months have passed. Life is not what it used to be, but it goes on. Station again. Stiva meets the doomed Vronsky on the platform, and the train leaves for the front. Heartbroken, Vronsky volunteered for the war to lay down his life there. Karenin took Anna's daughter to him and raised her as his own, along with his son. Levin and Kitty had their first child. Levin finds peace and meaning in life in kindness and purity of thought. This is where the novel ends.

Literary criticism

“The giant and the pygmies. Leo Tolstoy and Modern Writers. Caricature // Gr. Leo Tolstoy, the great writer of the Russian land, in portraits, engravings, painting, sculpture, caricatures / Comp. Pl. N. Krasnov and L. M. Wolf. - St. Petersburg: T-vo M. O. Wolf, 1903

Theatrical performances

Film adaptations of the novel

In total, there are about 30 adaptations of Anna Karenina in the world.

Silent movie

• 1910 - German Empire
• 1911 - Russia. Anna Karenina (director and screenwriter Maurice Meter, Moscow). Anna Karenina - M. Sorotchina
• 1912 - France. Anna Karenina. Directed by Albert Capellani. Anna Karenina - Jeanne Delve
• 1914 - Russia. Anna Karenina (director and screenwriter Vladimir Gardin). Anna Karenina - Maria Germanova
• 1915 - USA. Anna Karenina. Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Anna Karenina - Betty Nansen
• 1917 - Italy. Anna Karenina. Directed by Hugo Falena
• 1918 - Hungary. Anna Karenina. Directed by Marton Garas. Anna Karenina - Irene Varsanyi
• 1919 - Germany. Anna Karenina. Directed by Frederic Zelnick. Anna Karenina - Lia Mara
• 1927 - USA. Love (directed by Edmund Goulding). Anna Karenina - Greta Garbo

Talkies

• 1935 - USA. Anna Karenina (Director Clarence Brown) Anna Karenina as Greta Garbo, film consultant Count Andrei Tolstoy
• 1937 - the USSR. Film-performance (directors Tatyana Lukashevich, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Vasily Sakhnovsky)
• 1948 - Great Britain. Anna Karenina (directed by Julien Duvivier). Anna Karenina - Vivien Leigh
• 1953 - the USSR. Anna Karenina (director Tatyana Lukashevich, film adaptation of the performance of the Moscow Art Theater). Anna Karenina - Alla Tarasova
• 1961 - Great Britain. Anna Karenina (TV). Directed by Rudolf Cartier. Anna Karenina - Claire Bloom
• 1967 -

Anna Karenina
ANNA KARENINA - the heroine of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877); one of the most popular female images of Russian classical literature. Tolstoy wanted to write a novel about a woman from high society who "lost herself", around whom many male types easily grouped, awakening the writer's creative imagination. In many ways, the motives of Pushkin's creativity, in particular, the unfinished prose passages "At the corner of a small square" and "Guests gathered at the dacha" pushed Tolstoy to implement this plan. The heroine of the latter, Zinaida Volskaya, can be partially correlated with A.K. This circumstance allows literary critics to consider the work of Tolstoy's "Pushkin novel", and to the prototypes of A.K. relate Tatyana Larina, mentally continuing the story of her life in the world (B.M. Eikhenbaum). It is reliably known that the appearance of the heroine was formed by the writer under the impression of a meeting with Pushkin's eldest daughter M.A. Gartung. However, A.K. there were other prototypes, including the sister of Tolstoy's close friend M.A. Dyakova-Sukhotina, who survived the divorce proceedings and had a second family. Contemporaries found many other prototypes, some of the circumstances of life and death of which correlated with the storyline of the heroine of the novel, in particular, the history of the relationship between the actress M.G. Savina and N.F. Sazonov is mentioned.
Interpretations of the image of A.K. in literary criticism, they are most often determined by one or another understanding of the meaning of the epigraph to the novel (“Vengeance is mine, and I will repay”), and also depend on the historically changing attitude to the role of women in family and public life. The character, the fate of the heroine was influenced not only by the socio-historical conditions of life that Tolstoy actually saw in the 1870s, the tragedy of the disunity of people in the family and society, but also by the traditional folk religious and moral ideas underlying the author's interpretation of the events of the novel. A.K. at the same time attractive, truthful, unhappy, pitiful and guilty. In modern assessments of the image of A.K. the traditional folk-moral approach begins to prevail, in contrast to the unconditional justification of the heroine in her right to love. In the works of V.E. Vetlovskaya and A.G. Grodetskaya, for example, the dependence of the internal content of the image of A.K. from gospel and hagiographic motifs, plots and moral assessments.
In the first part of the novel, the heroine appears as an exemplary mother and wife, a respected society lady and even a conciliator of troubles in the Oblonsky family. Anna Arkadyevna's life was most filled with love for her son, although she somewhat exaggeratedly emphasized her role as a loving mother. Only Dolly Oblonskaya sensitively caught something false in the whole warehouse of the Karenins' family life, although the attitude of A.K. her husband was built on unconditional respect.
After meeting with Vronsky, without giving vent to the emerging feeling, A.K. she realizes in herself not only the awakened thirst for life and love, the desire to please, but also some power beyond her control, which, regardless of her will, controls her actions, pushing her closer to Vronsky and creating a feeling of being protected by the “impenetrable armor of lies”. Key and Shcherbatskaya, carried away by Vronsky, during the fatal ball for her sees a “devilish gleam” in the eyes of A.K. and feels in her "something alien, demonic and charming." It should be noted that, unlike Karenin, Dolly, Kitty, A.K. not at all religious. The truthful, sincere A.K., who hates all falsehood and lies, has a reputation in the world as a fair and morally impeccable woman, herself gets entangled in a false and false relationship with her husband and the world.
Under the influence of the meeting with Vronsky, A.K.'s relations change dramatically. with everyone around her: she cannot tolerate the falsity of secular relationships, the falsity of relationships in her family, but the spirit of deceit and lies that exists against her will drags her further and further to the fall. Having become close to Vronsky, A.K. recognizes himself as a criminal. After the generosity repeatedly shown by her husband towards her, especially after the forgiveness received during the postpartum illness, A.K. more and more begins to hate him, painfully feeling his guilt and realizing the moral superiority of her husband.
Neither a little daughter, nor a trip with Vronsky to Italy, nor life on his estate give her the desired peace, but only bring awareness of the depth of her misfortune (as in a secret meeting with her son) and humiliation (scandalously humiliating episode in the theater). Most of all, A.K. feels from the impossibility of bringing together his son and Vronsky. The deepening spiritual discord, the ambiguity of the social position, cannot be compensated either by the environment artificially created by Vronsky, or by luxury, or by reading, or by intellectual interests, or by the habit of sedative drugs with morphine. A.K. she constantly feels her complete dependence on the will and love of Vronsky, which irritates her, makes her suspicious, and sometimes induces coquetry that is unusual for her. Gradually A.K. comes to complete despair, thoughts of death, with which she wants to punish Vronsky, remaining for everyone not guilty, but pitiful. The life story of A.K. reveals the inviolability of the "family thought" in the work: the impossibility of achieving one's own happiness at the expense of the misfortune of others and forgetting one's duty and moral law.

Question 5
VRONSKY - the central character of Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877), a count, an aide-de-camp, a rich man and a handsome man. Before Tolstoy's novel, the name V. is found in A.S. Pushkin's sketch "At the corner of a small square", which served the author as one of the sources for the idea of ​​the work. The circumstances of life, appearance, character of the hero and his storyline can be correlated with the tradition of depicting the heroes of "secular stories" of the 30s of the 19th century.
Alexei Kirillovich V. was brought up in the Corps of Pages, did not know family life, lost his father early, was emphatically respectful of his mother, but did not love and respect her for her endless connections and frivolous secular lifestyle. Among his comrades in the service in the brilliant Guards Regiment, V. was reputed to be an impeccably honest man, a kind fellow, and even had a somewhat romantic reputation, because. even as a child, he saved a woman from the water, then he wanted to give his fortune to his brother, and before living together with Anna, he really refused 1 in his favor from most of his income.
Despite the integrity of character, kindness, firmness, courage and real nobility, V. is a shallow person, practically devoid of serious intellectual requests. It is distinguished by stereotyped ideas about life and in relation to people, typical for secular youth, when sincere actions and feelings, chastity, the strength of the family hearth, fidelity seem ridiculous and outdated values, and people of lower social circles seem unworthy of interested attention and respect. It was these qualities of the hero that fully affected his relationship with Kitty Shcherbatskaya, whom V. deliberately carried away for the pleasure of seeing the power of his influence, but without serious intentions, without caring about her feelings and reputation.
After a chance meeting with Anna, under the influence of love for her, V. changes: in addition to a strong feeling, sincerity and the ability for compassion and pity are manifested in him. The impression of meeting with Anna acts on V. almost spontaneously: an expression of “lostness and humility” unusual for him appears on his face, he goes after her to Petersburg, pursuing her everywhere and seeking rapprochement. Gradually, his feeling turns into true love. There is something spontaneous and even terrible, independent of reason and will, in V. and for the heroine: the first acquaintance during the tragic death of a railway worker, a sudden emergence from darkness and a snowstorm on the way to St. Petersburg. Tolstoy constantly emphasizes disturbing details in the appearance of V.: the habit of “exposing” teeth when smiling; beginning to bald head. In the scene of V.'s approach to Anna, his resemblance to the murderer, bending over the body of his victim, is directly indicated. Directly connected with this episode is another, key to understanding the character of the hero and his plot role - the races, during which V., who selfishly thought only of himself, due to careless negligence, destroys his beloved horse Frou-Frou. This episode has a symbolic meaning, because Tolstoy's contemporaries associated the horse's nickname with the title of the French melodrama Frou-frou (1870) by Meilock and Halévy, whose heroine died as a result of her betrayal of her husband.
Having become close to Anna, V. was for a long time internally satisfied with the current situation, which did not require any decisions and changes in his life from him, especially since love distracted him for a while from ambitious official plans. The birth of his daughter, Anna's illness and, most importantly, the forgiveness of her husband forced V. to see in Karenin's act something inaccessible and incomprehensible to him. Despair from the loss of his beloved, subconscious moral humiliation prompt V. to attempt suicide, after which the lovers again approach each other and leave after V.'s resignation to Italy, and then to his estate.
Living together with Anna does not absorb all the interests of V.: he enthusiastically and successfully engages in transformations according to the European model in his household, participates in noble elections, and in every possible way defends his male independence and freedom. Despite the strong feeling, pity and attention to Anna, V. does not fully understand either her torment or the complexity of her ambiguous position, which leads to frequent quarrels, mutual irritation, alienation and, finally, the death of the main character. V. takes her death hard, is morally broken and leaves as a volunteer for Serbia with a clear desire to die.

KARENIN - the central character of the novel by Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877), the husband of the heroine of the work of Anna Karenina, a high-ranking St. Petersburg official. The prototypes for creating the image of K. Tolstoy were his good friend "reasonable" S.M. Sukhotin, who survived a similar family drama, and the writer's brother-in-law A.M. Kuzminsky. It is generally accepted that the character's surname is "speaking" and comes from the Greek word "karenon" (head), which emphasizes one of the main character traits - rationality, the predominance of will and orderliness of behavior over feeling. However, the image of K. is far from being so unambiguous, and it would be erroneous to see in him only a “ministerial machine”, as Anna sees it. At the beginning of the novel, Alexey Alexandrovich K. is a successful official, constantly rising in the ranks and strengthening his court and secular position. He is very influential and respected in society for honesty, decency, diligence, dispassion and justice. K. is not distinguished by emphasized secularism and courtesy, but at the same time, he is somewhat proud of his impeccability and moral superiority. In relations with his wife and son, sincerely loved and close, K. adheres to an ironic and dismissive manner, deliberately moving away from them and thereby drowning out possible manifestations of genuine feelings. Being confident in himself and his family, he directs all his efforts to the implementation of official interests, where genuine zeal for the benefit of the cause is often intertwined with ambition and vanity. K. was unable to feel the change in his wife's attitude towards him until he noticed the reaction of the light. As the family drama develops and deepens, K. wants to find a solid foundation for his behavior in the current conditions, out of habit trying to resort to a reasonable solution to all issues, to think everything through, streamline and subordinate the behavior of all participants in the conflict to this order. But behind the external line of behavior lies a tragedy deeply experienced by K. and a confused state of mind, which erupts when explaining with his wife a ridiculous confusion in the word “suffered” (“suffered”), in hesitations when deciding on a divorce, in reaction to the news of childbirth and illness Anna. Seemingly dry and impassive, K. turns out to be capable of truly Christian philanthropy and forgiveness of his wife and her lover. Recognizing his daughter Anna, however, he secretly hoped for the death of his wife. Relations with his wife are further confused by the fact that K. too straightforwardly understands his religious and moral duties in relation to his fallen wife. Feeling like an unfortunate, deceived husband, having risen to true compassion, K. gradually becomes ridiculous in the eyes of the world, simultaneously losing his official prestige. The need to feel morally superior to people who despise him gradually makes the hero push further and further away the desire to be honest with himself. This desire leads to the strengthening of religious feelings and to rapprochement with a circle of people who are under the influence of fashionable at that time in the light of religious and mystical moods, where the hero essentially loses his will. In dramatizations and film adaptations of the novel, the role of K. was played by N.P. Khmelev (1937), N.O. Gritsenko (1968), Paul Scofield (1990).

LEVIN is the hero of Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877). One of the most complex and interesting images in the writer's work, who pronounced the hero's surname as Levin, thereby indicating a connection with his name, the autobiographical origins of the character. L. can and should be considered among other heroes of Tolstoy, who have either some autobiographical features or an analytical mindset (Nekhlyudov from The Morning of the Landowner, Dmitry Olenin from The Cossacks, partly Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhoe). The character and storyline of L. are most closely connected with the circumstances of life and the way of thinking of the writer himself. It is known that while writing the novel, Tolstoy practically did not keep diaries, since his thoughts and feelings were quite fully reflected in the work on the image of L. F. M. Dostoevsky in the “Diary of a Writer” for 1877 wrote that L. is the main character of the novel and brought out by the author as a carrier of a positive worldview, from the positions of which "abnormalities" are revealed, leading to the suffering and death of other heroes. Konstantin Dmitrievich L. - a provincial landowner, belonging to a good noble family, living on his estate, not an employee, seriously keen on farming. Behind the outwardly measured life and everyday worries, the hard work of the hero’s thoughts, deep intellectual inquiries and moral quests are hidden. L. is distinguished by sincerity, poise, a serious and benevolent attitude towards people, fidelity to duty, and directness. From the very beginning of the novel, he appears as a hero with a well-established character, but an evolving inner world. Readers get acquainted with L. in a difficult period of his life, when he, having arrived in Moscow to propose to Kitty Shcherbatskaya, is refused and leaves home, trying to regain his peace of mind. The choice of Kitty was determined for L. not only by a feeling for her, but also by his attitude towards the Shcherbatsky family, in the curtain he saw an example of the old, educated and honest nobility, which was very important for the hero, since his ideas about true aristocracy were based on the recognition of rights honor, dignity and independence, in contrast to the modern worship of wealth and success. L. painfully worried about the fate of the Russian nobility and the obvious process of its impoverishment, about which he talks a lot and with interest with Oblonsky and his landlord neighbors. L. does not see any real benefit from those forms of management that they are trying to bring in from the West; negatively relates to the activities of zemstvo institutions, sees no point in the comedy of noble elections, as, indeed, in many achievements of civilization, considering them evil. Constant life in the countryside, observation of the work and life of the people, the desire to get closer to the peasants and serious farming develop in L. a number of original views on the changes taking place around him, it is not for nothing that he gives a capacious and accurate definition of the post-reform state of society and the features of its economic life , saying that "everything turned upside down" and "only fits." However, L. seeks to contribute to how "everything will fit." Management methods and reflections on the peculiarities of the national way of life lead him to an independent and original conviction of the need to take into account in agriculture not only agronomic innovations and technical achievements, but also the traditional national warehouse of the worker as the main participant in the whole process. L. seriously thinks about the fact that with the correct formulation of the case on the basis of his conclusions, it will be possible to transform life, first in the estate, then in the county, province, and, finally, in all of Russia. In addition to economic and intellectual interests, the hero relentlessly faces problems of a different kind. In connection with his marriage to Kitty and the need to confess before the wedding, L. thinks about his attitude towards God, not finding sincere faith in his soul. The most important events turn to the circle of moral and religious questions and reflections on the meaning of life, on the mystery of the birth and death of L.: the death of a brother, and then the wife's pregnancy and the birth of a son. Not finding faith in himself, L. at the same time notices that in the most serious moments of his life he prays to God for the salvation and well-being of his loved ones, as was the case during Kitty's birth and during a thunderstorm that caught her with her little son in the forest. At the same time, L. cannot satisfy the recognition of finiteness, and, consequently, some meaninglessness of human existence, if it is based only on biological laws. The persistence of these thoughts, the desire to find the enduring purpose of life, sometimes bring L., a happy husband, father, a successful landowner, to desperate moral torment and even thoughts of suicide. L. seeks answers to his questions in the works of scientists and philosophers, in observations of the lives of other people. A serious moral support, an impetus for searching in a new, religious and moral direction, is the remark he heard about the peasant Fokanych, who "lives for God", "remembers the soul." The search for moral laws and the foundations of human life makes L. related to Anna Karenina, whose fate depends on the attitude to the moral foundations of life. The search for the hero does not end at the end of the novel, leaving the image as if open.

Central characters
Vronsky, Alexei Kirillovich, Count. 1, XIV
Karenin, Alexei Alexandrovich, Anna's husband. 1.XXX
Karenina, Anna A. 1, XVIII
Koznyshev, Sergei Ivanovich, writer, brother of Levin. 1, VII
Levin, Konstantin Dmitrievich. 1,V
Oblonskaya, Daria Aleksandrovna (Dolly), wife of Stepan Arkadyevich. 1, IV
Oblonsky, Stepan Arkadievich (Stiva), Anna's brother. 1,I
Shcherbatskaya Ekaterina (
etc.................

137 years ago, Leo Tolstoy completed Anna Karenina, a novel that became a classic of world literature, but for which at the end of the 19th century both critics and readers “pissed off” the author.

On April 17, 1877, Leo Tolstoy finished work on the novel Anna Karenina. Real people became the prototypes of many characters - the classic “painted” some of the portraits and characters from the friends, relatives and just acquaintances around him, and the hero named Konstantin Levin is often called the alter ego of the author himself. AiF.ru tells what Tolstoy's great novel tells about and why Anna Karenina has become a "mirror" of its era.

Two marriages

“All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” this phrase opens the first volume of Anna Karenina and sets the mood for the whole novel. Over the course of eight parts, the author describes the joys and hardships of individual families: adultery, marriages and the birth of children, quarrels and experiences.

The work is based on two storylines: a) the relationship between the married Anna Karenina and the young and passionately in love with her Alexei Vronsky; b) the family life of the landowner Konstantin Levin and Kitty Shcherbatskaya. Moreover, against the background of the first couple, experiencing passion and jealousy, the second is a real idyll. By the way, in one of the early versions of the novel was called "Two Marriages".

On someone else's misfortune

The life of Anna Karenina, it would seem, can only be envied - a woman from high society, she is married to a noble official and raises a son with him. But her whole existence is turned upside down by a chance meeting at the train station. Leaving the carriage, she exchanges glances with the young count and officer Vronsky. Soon the couple collides again - now at the ball. Even Kitty Shcherbatskaya, who is in love with Vronsky, notices that he is drawn to Karenina, and she, in turn, is interested in her newfound admirer.

But Anna needs to return to her native Petersburg - to her husband and son. Persistent and stubborn Vronsky follows her - not at all embarrassed by her status, he begins to court the lady. Throughout the year, the heroes meet at balls and social events until they become lovers. The entire high society is watching the development of their relationship, including Alexei Karenin, Anna's husband.

Despite the fact that the heroine is expecting a child from Vronsky, her husband does not give her a divorce. During childbirth, Anna almost dies, but a month after her recovery, she goes abroad - along with Vronsky and their little daughter. She leaves her son in the care of his father.

But life with her lover does not bring her happiness. Anna begins to be jealous of Vronsky, and he, although he loves, is weary of her and yearns. Returning to St. Petersburg does not change anything - especially since former friends avoid their company. Then the heroes go first to the village, and then to Moscow - however, their relationship does not become stronger from this. After a particularly violent quarrel, Vronsky leaves to visit his mother. Karenina follows him and at the station she comes up with a decision on how to resolve this situation and “untie” everyone’s hands. She throws herself under the train.

Vronsky takes the loss hard and leaves as a volunteer for the war. Their little daughter is taken in by Alexei Karenin.

Levin's Second Chance

In parallel, Tolstoy unfolds another storyline: he describes the story of Kitty Shcherbatskaya and Konstantin Levin. The 34-year-old landowner was in love with the 18-year-old Kitty and even decided to propose to her, but she was then carried away by Vronsky and refused. Soon the officer left for Anna, and Shcherbatskaya was left "with nothing." On a nervous basis, the girl fell ill, and Levin drove off back to the village, to manage his estate and work together with the peasant peasants.

However, Tolstoy gave his heroes a second chance: the couple met again at a dinner party. Kitty understands that she loves Levin, and he realizes that his feelings for the girl have not faded at all. The hero for the second time offers Shcherbatskaya a hand and a heart - and this time she agrees. Immediately after the wedding, the couple leaves for the village. Despite the fact that at first life together is not easy for them, they are happy - Kitty supports her husband when his brother died, and gives birth to Levin's child. This is exactly what, according to Tolstoy, a family should look like, and between spouses there must certainly be spiritual closeness.

Mirror of the era

As Sergei Tolstoy, the son of the classicist, wrote, “From a realistic novel, like Anna Karenina, truthfulness is required first of all; therefore, not only large, but also small facts taken from real life served as material for him. But what could prompt the author to such a plot?

Divorce was rare in the 19th century. Society severely condemned and despised women who dared to leave their families for another man. However, there were precedents, including in the Tolstoy family. For example, his distant relative Alexei Tolstoy married Sofya Bakhmeteva - when the couple met, Bakhmeteva was already married to another and had a daughter. To some extent, Anna Karenina is a collective image. Some features of her appearance are reminiscent of Maria Hartung - Pushkin's daughter, and the character of the heroine and the situation in which she found herself, the author "wove" from several different stories. The spectacular ending was also taken from life - Anna Pirogova, the cohabitant of Tolstoy's neighbor in Yasnaya Polyana, died under the train. She was very jealous of her lover, but somehow she quarreled with him and left for Tula. Three days later, the woman handed over a letter to her cohabitant through the coachman, and she herself threw herself under the wheels.

Nevertheless, critics were outraged by Tolstoy's novel. Anna Karenina was called immoral and immoral - that is, “in reality”, readers treated her in exactly the same way as secular characters in the book. A number of attacks were also caused by the description by the author of the scene of intimacy between his heroine and Vronsky. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin spoke of Anna Karenina as a "cow romance", where Vronsky is a "bull in love", and Nikolai Nekrasov wrote an epigram:

Frame from the film "Anna Karenina" (2009)

In the Moscow house of the Oblonskys, where "everything was mixed up" at the end of the winter of 1873, they were waiting for the owner's sister, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina. The reason for the family discord was that Prince Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky was caught by his wife in treason with a governess. Thirty-four-year-old Stiva Oblonsky sincerely regrets his wife Dolly, but, being a truthful person, does not assure himself that he repents of his deed. Cheerful, kind and carefree Stiva has long been no longer in love with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and has long been unfaithful to her.

Stiva is completely indifferent to the work he does while serving as a boss in one of the Moscow presences, and this allows him to never get carried away, not make mistakes and perfectly fulfill his duties. Friendly, condescending to human shortcomings, charming Stiva enjoys the favor of the people of his circle, subordinates, bosses and, in general, everyone with whom his life brings him. Debts and family troubles upset him, but they cannot spoil his mood enough to make him refuse to dine in a good restaurant. He is having lunch with Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin, who has arrived from the village, his peer and a friend of his youth.

Levin came to propose to the eighteen-year-old Princess Kitty Shcherbatskaya, Oblonsky's sister-in-law, with whom he had long been in love. Levin is sure that such a girl, who is above all earthly things, like Kitty, cannot love him, an ordinary landowner, without special, as he believes, talents. In addition, Oblonsky informs him that, apparently, he has a rival - a brilliant representative of the St. Petersburg "golden youth", Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky.

Kitty knows about Levin's love and feels at ease and free with him; with Vronsky, however, she experiences an incomprehensible awkwardness. But it is difficult for her to understand her own feelings, she does not know who to give preference to. Kitty does not suspect that Vronsky does not at all intend to marry her, and her dreams of a happy future with him make her refuse Levin. Meeting his mother, who has arrived from St. Petersburg, Vronsky sees Anna Arkadyevna Karenina at the station. He immediately notices the special expressiveness of Anna’s whole appearance: “It was as if an excess of something so overwhelmed her being that, against her will, it was expressed either in the brilliance of her eyes, or in a smile.” The meeting is overshadowed by a sad circumstance: the death of a station watchman under the wheels of a train, which Anna considers a bad omen.

Anna manages to persuade Dolly to forgive her husband; a fragile peace is established in the Oblonskys' house, and Anna goes to the ball together with the Oblonskys and the Shcherbatskys. At the ball, Kitty admires Anna's naturalness and grace, admires that special, poetic inner world that appears in her every movement. Kitty expects a lot from this ball: she is sure that during the mazurka Vronsky will explain himself to her. Unexpectedly, she notices how Vronsky is talking with Anna: in each of their glances, an irresistible attraction to each other is felt, each word decides their fate. Kitty leaves in despair. Anna Karenina returns home to Petersburg; Vronsky follows her.

Blaming himself alone for the failure of the matchmaking, Levin returns to the village. Before leaving, he meets with his older brother Nikolai, who lives in cheap rooms with a woman he took from a brothel. Levin loves his brother, despite his irrepressible nature, which brings a lot of trouble to himself and those around him. Seriously ill, lonely, drinking, Nikolai Levin is fascinated by the communist idea and the organization of some kind of locksmith artel; this saves him from self-contempt. A meeting with his brother exacerbates the shame and dissatisfaction with himself, which Konstantin Dmitrievich experiences after the matchmaking. He calms down only in his family estate Pokrovsky, deciding to work even harder and not allow himself luxury - which, however, had not been in his life before.

The usual life in St. Petersburg, to which Anna returns, causes her disappointment. She had never been in love with her husband, who was much older than her, and had only respect for him. Now his company becomes painful for her, she notices the slightest of his shortcomings: too big ears, the habit of cracking his fingers. Nor does her love for her eight-year-old son Seryozha save her. Anna is trying to regain her peace of mind, but she fails - mainly because Alexei Vronsky is trying to get her location in every possible way. Vronsky is in love with Anna, and his love is intensified because an affair with a lady of high society makes his position even more brilliant. Despite the fact that his whole inner life is filled with passion for Anna, outwardly Vronsky leads the usual, cheerful and pleasant life of a guards officer: with the Opera, the French theater, balls, horse races and other pleasures. But their relationship with Anna is too different in the eyes of others from easy secular flirting; strong passion causes general condemnation. Alexey Aleksandrovich Karenin notices the attitude of the world to his wife's romance with Count Vronsky and expresses his displeasure to Anna. Being a high-ranking official, “Aleksey Alexandrovich lived and worked all his life in the spheres of service, dealing with reflections of life. And every time he encountered life itself, he pulled away from it.” Now he feels himself in the position of a man standing above the abyss.

Karenin's attempts to stop his wife's irresistible desire for Vronsky, Anna's attempts to restrain herself, are unsuccessful. A year after the first meeting, she becomes Vronsky's mistress - realizing that now they are connected forever, like criminals. Vronsky is burdened by the uncertainty of relations, persuades Anna to leave her husband and join her life with him. But Anna cannot decide on a break with Karenin, and even the fact that she is expecting a child from Vronsky does not give her determination.

During the races, which are attended by all the high society, Vronsky falls from his horse Frou-Frou. Not knowing how serious the fall is, Anna expresses her despair so openly that Karenin is forced to immediately take her away. She announces to her husband about her infidelity, about disgust for him. This news produces on Alexei Alexandrovich the impression of a diseased tooth pulled out: he finally gets rid of the suffering of jealousy and leaves for Petersburg, leaving his wife at the dacha awaiting his decision. But, having gone through all the possible options for the future - a duel with Vronsky, a divorce - Karenin decides to leave everything unchanged, punishing and humiliating Anna with the requirement to observe the false appearance of family life under the threat of separation from her son. Having made this decision, Alexey Alexandrovich finds enough calmness to give himself over to reflections on the affairs of the service with his characteristic stubborn ambition. The decision of her husband causes Anna to burst into hatred for him. She considers him a soulless machine, not thinking that she has a soul and the need for love. Anna realizes that she is driven into a corner, because she is unable to exchange her current position for the position of a mistress who left her husband and son and deserves universal contempt.

The remaining uncertainty of relations is also painful for Vronsky, who in the depths of his soul loves order and has an unshakable set of rules of conduct. For the first time in his life, he does not know how to behave further, how to bring his love for Anna into line with the rules of life. In the event of a connection with her, he will be forced to retire, and this is also not easy for him: Vronsky loves regimental life, enjoys the respect of his comrades; besides, he is ambitious.

The life of three people is entangled in a web of lies. Anna's pity for her husband alternates with disgust; she cannot but meet with Vronsky, as Alexey Alexandrovitch demands. Finally, childbirth occurs, during which Anna almost dies. Lying in childbed fever, she asks for forgiveness from Alexei Alexandrovich, and at her bedside he feels pity for his wife, tender compassion and spiritual joy. Vronsky, whom Anna unconsciously rejects, experiences burning shame and humiliation. He tries to shoot himself, but is rescued.

Anna does not die, and when the softening of her soul caused by the proximity of death passes, she again begins to be burdened by her husband. Neither his decency and generosity, nor touching concern for a newborn girl does not relieve her of irritation; she hates Karenin even for his virtues. A month after her recovery, Anna goes abroad with retired Vronsky and her daughter.

Living in the countryside, Levin takes care of the estate, reads, writes a book on agriculture and undertakes various economic reorganizations that do not find approval among the peasants. The village for Levin is "a place of life, that is, joys, suffering, work." The peasants respect him, forty miles away they go to him for advice - and they strive to deceive him for their own benefit. There is no deliberateness in Levin's attitude towards the people: he considers himself a part of the people, all his interests are connected with the peasants. He admires the strength, meekness, justice of the peasants and is irritated by their carelessness, slovenliness, drunkenness, and lies. In disputes with his half-brother Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev, who came to visit, Levin proves that zemstvo activities do not benefit the peasants, because they are not based either on knowledge of their true needs, or on the personal interest of the landowners.

Levin feels his merging with nature; he even hears the growth of spring grass. In the summer, he mows with the peasants, feeling the joy of simple labor. Despite all this, he considers his life idle and dreams of changing it to a working, clean and common life. Subtle changes are constantly taking place in his soul, and Levin listens to them. At one time it seems to him that he has found peace and forgotten his dreams of family happiness. But this illusion crumbles to dust when he learns about Kitty's serious illness, and then sees her herself, going to her sister in the village. The feeling that seemed dead again takes possession of his heart, and only in love does he see an opportunity to unravel the great mystery of life.

In Moscow, at a dinner at the Oblonskys, Levin meets Kitty and realizes that she loves him. In a state of high spirits, he proposes to Kitty and receives consent. Immediately after the wedding, the young people leave for the village.

Vronsky and Anna are traveling through Italy. At first, Anna feels happy and full of the joy of life. Even the knowledge that she is separated from her son, that she has lost her honorable name and that she has become the cause of her husband's misfortune, does not overshadow her happiness. Vronsky is lovingly respectful towards her, he does everything to ensure that she is not burdened by her position. But he himself, despite his love for Anna, feels longing and grabs at everything that can give his life significance. He begins painting, but having enough taste, he knows his mediocrity and soon becomes disillusioned with this occupation.

Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Anna clearly feels her rejection: they do not want to accept her, acquaintances avoid meeting her. Insults from the world poison Vronsky's life, but, busy with her experiences, Anna does not want to notice this. On Seryozha's birthday, she secretly goes to him and, finally seeing her son, feeling his love for herself, she realizes that she cannot be happy apart from him. In despair, in irritation, she reproaches Vronsky for falling out of love with her; it costs him great efforts to calm her down, after which they leave for the village.

The first time of married life turns out to be difficult for Kitty and Levin: they hardly get used to each other, charms are replaced by disappointments, quarrels - reconciliations. Family life seems to Levin like a boat: it is pleasant to look at sliding on water, but it is very difficult to rule. Unexpectedly, Levin receives news that brother Nikolai is dying in the provincial town. He immediately goes to him; despite his protests, Kitty decides to go with him. Seeing his brother, experiencing tormenting pity for him, Levin still cannot rid himself of the fear and disgust that the nearness of death arouses in him. He is shocked that Kitty is not at all afraid of the dying man and knows how to behave with him. Levin feels that only the love of his wife saves him in these days from horror and himself.

During Kitty's pregnancy, about which Levin learns on the day of his brother's death, the family continues to live in Pokrovsky, where relatives and friends come for the summer. Levin cherishes the spiritual closeness that he has established with his wife, and is tormented by jealousy, fearing to lose this closeness.

Dolly Oblonskaya, visiting her sister, decides to visit Anna Karenina, who lives with Vronsky on his estate, not far from Pokrovsky. Dolly is struck by the changes that have taken place in Karenina, she feels the falsity of her current way of life, especially noticeable in comparison with her former liveliness and naturalness. Anna entertains guests, tries to take care of her daughter, reading, setting up a village hospital. But her main concern is to replace Vronsky with herself for everything that he left for her sake. Their relationship is becoming more and more tense, Anna is jealous of everything that he is fond of, even of the Zemstvo activities, which Vronsky is engaged in mainly in order not to lose his independence. In the fall, they move to Moscow, waiting for Karenin's decision on a divorce. But, offended in his best feelings, rejected by his wife, finding himself alone, Alexei Alexandrovich falls under the influence of the well-known spiritualist, Princess Myagkaya, who persuades him, for religious reasons, not to give the criminal wife a divorce.

In the relationship between Vronsky and Anna there is neither complete discord nor agreement. Anna accuses Vronsky of all the hardships of her position; attacks of desperate jealousy are instantly replaced by tenderness; quarrels break out every now and then. In Anna's dreams, the same nightmare is repeated: some peasant leans over her, mutters meaningless French words and does something terrible to her. After a particularly difficult quarrel, Vronsky, contrary to Anna's wishes, goes to visit his mother. In complete dismay, Anna sees her relationship with him as if by a bright light. She understands that her love is becoming more and more passionate and selfish, and Vronsky, without losing his love for her, is still weary of her and tries not to be dishonorable towards her. Trying to achieve his repentance, she follows him to the station, where she suddenly remembers the man crushed by the train on the day of their first meeting - and immediately understands what she needs to do. Anna throws herself under the train; her last vision is of a mumbling peasant. After that, “the candle, under which she read a book full of anxieties, deceptions, grief and evil, flared up with a brighter light than ever, illuminated for her everything that had previously been in darkness, crackled, began to fade and went out forever.”

Life becomes hateful for Vronsky; he is tormented by an unnecessary, but indelible remorse. He leaves as a volunteer for the war with the Turks in Serbia; Karenin takes his daughter to her.

After Kitty's birth, which became a deep spiritual shock for Levin, the family returns to the village. Levin is in painful disagreement with himself - because after the death of his brother and the birth of his son he cannot resolve for himself the most important questions: the meaning of life, the meaning of death. He feels that he is close to suicide, and is afraid to walk around with a gun so as not to shoot himself. But at the same time, Levin notices: when he does not ask himself why he lives, he feels in his soul the presence of an infallible judge, and his life becomes firm and definite. Finally, he understands that the knowledge of the laws of good, given personally to him, Levin, in the Gospel Revelation, cannot be grasped by reason and expressed in words. Now he feels himself able to put an undeniable sense of goodness into every minute of his life.

retold