Anna Karenina (SparkNotes Literature Guide)

by Tolstoy, Leo; SparkNotes

• ISBN13: 9781586638238
• ISBN10: 1586638238
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-15
• Publisher: SparkNotes
• More Book Details
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Summary

When beautiful, aristocratic, and married Anna falls madly in love with the dashing Count Vronsky, their affair shocks Russian society, tears her family apart, and leads, inevitably, to tragedy. Count Leo Tolstoy's epic story of passion, infidelity, vengeance, and retribution has held readers spellbound since it was first published in the late 1800s. Set against the fatal attraction of Anna and Vronsky, unfolding in perfect symmetry, is another love story: of the melancholy nobleman Constantin Levin and his devoted wife, Kitty. In doubt about the meaning of life, haunted by thoughts of suicide, Levin's struggles echo Tolstoy's own spiritual crisis. Filled with unforgettable characters, rich in history and social realism, "Anna Karenina" is a masterpiece of world literature, a story that fires the imagination and touches the heart.

Table of Contents

Context	p. 1
A Note on Russian Names	p. 3
Plot Overview	p. 5
Character List	p. 8
Analysis of Major Characters	p. 13
Anna Karenina	p. 13
Konstantin Levin	p. 14
Alexei Karenin	p. 15
Alexei Vronsky	p. 16
Stiva Oblonsky	p. 17
Themes, Motifs & Symbols	p. 19
Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Russia	p. 19
The Blessings of Family Life	p. 20
The Philosophical Value of Farming	p. 20
The Interior Monologue	p. 21
Adultery	p. 22
Forgiveness	p. 23
Trains	p. 24
Vronsky's Racehorse	p. 25
Levin and Kitty's Marriage	p. 26
Summary & Analysis	p. 27
	p. 27
	p. 30
	p. 33
	p. 36
	p. 39
	p. 42
	p. 46
	p. 49
	p. 52
	p. 55
	p. 58
	p. 61
	p. 64
	p. 67
	p. 71
Important Quotations Explained	p. 75
Key Facts	p. 80
Study Questions & Essay Topics	p. 83
Review & Resources	p. 87
Quiz	p. 87
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 92
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