Anna Karenina | Russian literature, 19th century, tragedy

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class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anna-Karenina-novel">Anna Karenina</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anna-Karenina-novel/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Anna-Karenina-novel">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-quizzes"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Quizzes </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/famous-literary-first-lines-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/48/228448-131-2A77AABD/A-student-looking-quizzical.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/famous-literary-first-lines-quiz" >Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/famous-novels-last-lines-quiz"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/63/238563-131-4099EC55/Young-woman-with-glasses-reading-a-book-student.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Young woman with glasses reading a book, student" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/famous-novels-last-lines-quiz" >Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz</a> </div> </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/quiz/the-literary-world-famous-novels"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/04/129404-131-7B0C654F/Textbook-chalkboard-apple-History-and-Society-Fruit-2009.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Textbook chalkboard and apple. Fruit of knowledge. Hompepage blog 2009, History and Society, school education students" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div> <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="/quiz/the-literary-world-famous-novels" >The Literary World (Famous Novels)</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-related-questions"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 pb-0 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-15"> Related Questions </div> <ul> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/Why-is-Leo-Tolstoy-significant">Why is Leo Tolstoy significant? </a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-was-Leo-Tolstoys-childhood-like">What was Leo Tolstoy’s childhood like? </a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/How-did-Leo-Tolstoy-die">How did Leo Tolstoy die? </a> </li> <li class="link-gray-900 mb-15"><a class="" href="/question/What-are-Leo-Tolstoys-achievements">What are Leo Tolstoy’s achievements? </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="mb-30 tlr-read-next"> <div class="text-gray-900 p-5 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-10 mb-10"> Read Next </div> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal tlr-img-with-side-link ml-15 link-gray-900 mb-10" > <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="/story/britannicas-book-bingo"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/52/242652-050-EB37F33D/summer-reading-bingo-card.jpg?w=200&h=200&c=crop" alt="Britannica's Book Bingo. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-01-14T00:00:00CST" >Jan 14, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anna-Karenina-novel/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref1103214"></span>Anna Karenina</strong>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/novel" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">novel</a> by <span id="ref1121838"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Tolstoy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Leo Tolstoy</a>, published in installments between 1875 and 1877 and considered one of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="pinnacles" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinnacles" data-type="MW">pinnacles</a> of world literature.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The narrative centres on the adulterous affair between Anna, wife of Aleksey Karenin, and Count Vronsky, a young bachelor. Karenin’s discovery of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="liaison" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liaison" data-type="MW">liaison</a> arouses only his concern for his own public image. Anna promises discretion for the sake of her husband and young son but eventually becomes pregnant by Vronsky. After the child is born, Anna and the child accompany Vronsky first to Italy and then to his Russian estate. She begins making furtive trips to see her older child and grows increasingly bitter toward Vronsky, eventually regarding him as unfaithful. In desperation she goes to the train station, purchases a ticket, and then impulsively throws herself in front of the incoming train. A parallel love story, involving the difficult courtship and fulfilling marriage of Kitty and Levin, provides a rich counterpoint to the tragedy and is thought to reflect Tolstoy’s own marital experience.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">There is an inevitability about the tragic fate that hangs over the adulterous love of Anna and Vronsky. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” is the epigraph of the novel and the leitmotif of the story. Anna pays not so much because she transgresses the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="moral" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moral" data-type="MW">moral</a> code but because she refuses to observe the proprieties customarily exacted in such <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="liaisons" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liaisons" data-type="MW">liaisons</a> by the hypocritical high society to which she belongs.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/famous-literary-first-lines-quiz" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/48/228448-131-2A77AABD/A-student-looking-quizzical.jpg" alt="Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Famous Novels, First Lines Quiz</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/Kathleen-Kuiper/6741">Kathleen Kuiper</a>.</span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-simplify-root"></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":1,"pageId":26077,"pageLength":236,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.48"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.48' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"SMALL","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true,"hasAiTopQuestions":false,"hasSimplifyButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Anna Karenina | Russian literature, 19th century, tragedy | Britannica