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 laughingstock. 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.

Nikolay 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, the ex-husband appears, the unfortunate “haggard, hunched 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, completely 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 -

Once the famous American writer, Nobel Prize winner in literature William Faulkner was asked to name the three best novels in world literature, to which he answered without hesitation: “Anna Karenina”, “Anna Karenina”, and again “Anna Karenina”.

On April 17, 1877, Leo Tolstoy completed his famous novel Anna Karenina, which he had been working on for over four years. If the great Russian classic called “War and Peace” a “book about the past”, in which he described the beautiful and sublime “whole world”, then he called Anna Karenina “a novel from modern life”, where chaos of good and evil reigns.

Tolstoy began writing one of the most famous novels in the history of Russian literature in 1873. He had long planned to write such a book in which he would describe the love and life of a fallen, from the point of view of society, woman. How to start a novel, the writer came up with almost immediately.

At the end of 1874, Tolstoy decided to give the first chapters of the novel (which was still very far from being completed) to the Russky Vestnik, and now he “involuntarily” had to study the book in order to keep up with the monthly magazine. Sometimes he sat down to work with pleasure, and sometimes he exclaimed: "Unbearably disgusting" or "My Anna has bothered me like a bitter radish."

All reading Russia burned with impatience in anticipation of the new chapters of Anna Karenina, but work on the book was difficult. Only the first part of the novel had ten editions, the total amount of work on the manuscript was 2560 sheets.

Tolstoy sat down to work on the book under the impression of Pushkin's prose. This is evidenced both by the testimonies of Sophia Tolstaya and the author's own notes.

In a letter to the literary critic Nikolai Strakhov, Tolstoy wrote: “... Somehow after work I took this volume of Pushkin and, as always (it seems to be the seventh time), re-read everything, was unable to tear myself away and seemed to be reading again. But more than that, he seemed to have resolved all my doubts. Not only Pushkin before, but I don’t think I ever admired anything so much: “The Shot”, “Egyptian Nights”, “The Captain’s Daughter”!!! And there is an excerpt "The guests were going to the dacha." I involuntarily, inadvertently, without knowing why or what would happen, conceived faces and events, began to continue, then, of course, changed, and suddenly it began so beautifully and abruptly that a novel came out, which I now finished in rough outline, the novel is very lively, hot and finished, which I am very pleased with and which will be ready, if God grants health, in two weeks.

But after two weeks, the novel was not ready - Tolstoy continued to work on Anna Karenina for another three years.

Tolstoy was repeatedly reproached for being too cruel to Anna, "forcing her to die under the car." To which the writer replied: “Once Pushkin said to his friend: “Imagine what kind of thing my Tatyana threw out. She got married. I didn't expect that from her." I can say the same about Anna. My characters do what they should do in real life, not what I want to do."

Tolstoy chose the Obdiralovka railway station near Moscow as the scene of action for Karenina's suicide, and he did it not by chance: at that time, the Nizhny Novgorod road was one of the main industrial highways, heavily loaded freight trains often ran along it. During the years of writing the novel, the station was used by an average of 25 people a day, and in 1939 it was renamed Zheleznodorozhnaya.

The appearance of Anna Karenina Tolstoy was largely copied from the daughter of Alexander Pushkin, Maria Hartung. From her, Karenina got both her hair and her favorite necklace: “Her hair was invisible. They were noticeable only, decorating her, these masterful short ringlets of curly hair, always knocking out at the back of her head and temples. There was a string of pearls on a chiseled strong neck.

Tolstoy met the heiress of the great poet in Tula 5 years before writing the novel. As you know, charm and wit distinguished Maria from other women of that time, and the writer immediately liked her. However, Pushkin's daughter, of course, did not throw herself under any train and even outlived Tolstoy by almost a decade. She died in Moscow on March 7, 1919 at the age of 86.

Another prototype for Karenina was a certain Anna Pirogova, who in 1872, in the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, threw herself under a train because of unhappy love. According to the memoirs of the writer's wife Sophia Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevich even went to the railway barracks to see the unfortunate woman.

In addition, in the Tolstoy family there were two women at once who left their husbands for lovers (which was a very rare occurrence in those days). Literary critics are sure that their fates had no less influence on the image and character of Karenina.

Also, the image of one of the main characters of the novel was close to the poet Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, for whose sake Sofya Andreevna Bakhmeteva left her husband - this story made a lot of noise in the world.

In the mid-1930s, while working on the jubilee edition of Tolstoy's writings, literary critics examined the manuscript fund of Anna Karenina and determined that the novel did not initially begin with the famous words "Everything was mixed up in the Oblonsky house", but from the scene in the salon of the future princess Tverskoy. This draft manuscript was called "Well Done Baba", and the main character was first called Tatyana, then Nana (Anastasia), and only later she became Anna.

How is the rating calculated?
◊ The rating is calculated based on the points accrued in the last week
◊ Points are awarded for:
⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
⇒ vote for a star
⇒ star commenting

Biography, life story of Karenina Anna

Anna Karenina is the heroine of the novel Anna Karenina.

Life story

Anna Karenina - a noble lady from St. Petersburg, the wife of Minister Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin. introduces us to Anna at the moment when she comes to her brother Stepan Oblonsky (Steve) in order to reconcile him with his wife. Stiva meets her sister at the train station. At the same time, a young officer Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky arrives at the station (he met his mother). Anna and Alexei pay attention to each other. However, the author does not allow the first emotions to completely overwhelm the characters. At the moment of the first meeting between Karenina and Vronsky, misfortune happens - the train car accidentally drives back and kills the watchman. Anna Karenina, a married lady and caring mother of her eight-year-old son Seryozha, considered this turn of events a bad sign.

The next meeting between Anna and Alexei takes place at the ball. There, some inexplicable chemistry flares up between them again. When Karenina returns to her native Petersburg, Vronsky, beside himself from the passion that has seized his mind, goes after her. There, Alexei Kirillovich becomes the shadow of Anna Karenina - follows her every step, tries to constantly be near her. At the same time, the officer is not at all embarrassed by the fact that Anna is married, and her husband is a man of high social status. On the contrary, Vronsky's love was strengthened by the fact that his chosen one turned out to be a woman from high society.

Anna Karenina, who never had anything but deep respect for her husband, falls in love with Alexei Vronsky. Falls in love and is ashamed of his vicious feelings. At first, Anna tries to escape from herself, return to her usual life and find peace of mind, but all her attempts at resistance ended in failure. A year after they met, Karenina becomes Vronsky's mistress. Over time, the connection between Karenina and Vronsky becomes known throughout St. Petersburg. Alexey Karenin, having learned about his wife's infidelity, punishes her in the most cruel way - he forces her to continue to play the role of his loving wife.

CONTINUED BELOW

Soon Anna learns that she is pregnant by Vronsky. The officer invites her to leave her husband, but Karenina does not agree. Immediately after the birth of her daughter, she almost dies. The tragedy forces Alexei Alexandrovich to forgive his wife and her lover. He allows Anna to continue to live in his house and bear his last name. Yes, and Anna herself, in her dying state, begins to treat her husband warmer. But after recovery, everything returns to normal. Anna, whose conscience could not stand Karenin's generosity, leaves with Vronsky for Europe. Lovers take a newborn girl with them. Anna's son stays with his father.

After a short absence, Vronsky and Karenina return to St. Petersburg. There, Anna Karenina sadly realizes that now she is a real outcast for secular society. But Vronsky, on the contrary, is happy to see in any company. Separation from her son caused Anna additional suffering. But on Seryozha's birthday, Anna secretly sneaks into the boy's bedroom. The meeting was very touching - mother and son cried with happiness. They wanted to say so much to each other, but they failed to talk - a servant came into Serezha's room and said that Alexei Karenin would enter here any minute. When the official entered the nursery, Anna fled, leaving Seryozha sobbing.

Relations between Karenina and Vronsky gradually began to deteriorate. Contributed to the extinction of their warm feelings and the attitude of society towards Anna. The high society pointed fingers at Anna, and some secular ladies did not hesitate to publicly insult her. Tired of constant pressure, Anna, Alexei and their little daughter Anya move to Vronsky's estate. Far from the bustle of the city, Anna hoped to establish relations with her lover, however, Alexei himself tried to create all the conditions for his beloved. However, it was difficult for them to get along with each other. The officer regularly went to business meetings and social events in St. Petersburg, while Anna, like a leper, had to stay at home. Because of Vronsky's constant absences, Karenin begins to suspect him of treason. Scenes of jealousy have become an indispensable addition to dinner in their house. In parallel, life is overshadowed by a protracted divorce process. In order to solve this problem, Anna and Alexey move to Moscow for a while. Earlier, Karenin promised that he would give Seryozha to Anna, but changed his mind at the last moment. He did it solely to hurt the woman who betrayed him. Upon learning that the court left Seryozha with her ex-husband, Anna almost went crazy with grief ...

Lost, unhappy Anna Karenina swears more and more with Vronsky. Once Anna Karenina suspected him that he intended to marry another. Tired of constant tantrums, Alexei leaves for his mother. As soon as Vronsky left, Anna clearly felt a burning need for reconciliation with her beloved. She rushes after Vronsky to the station.

Arriving at the place, Anna Karenina recalls her first meeting with Vronsky, their timid glances at each other, that incomprehensible feeling that swallowed her up. Anna also remembered the watchman who died under the carriage. At the same moment, Anna understands - this is it, the solution to all problems! This is how she can wash away the shame and get rid of the shame that constantly oppresses her for her deeds! This is how she, having exhausted herself and those around her, will be able to throw off the burden that has already become unbearable! A second of delay - and Anna throws herself under a moving train.

After Anna's death, Vronsky repented - late, senselessly, but repented. Deciding to follow Karenina's example, Alexey began to look at death as a deliverance. He volunteers for the war, hoping that he will never come back.

Prototype

Anna Karenina is an image created on the basis of three prototypes. The first is Maria Hartung, daughter

Anna Karenina "The book is essentially about a woman who, in a sense, behaves meanly and meanly, and playing her role without trying to embellish or simplify anything is not an easy task." Keira Knightley, actress

“Anna Karenina is an inexhaustible role. This is a total woman and there is enough work for all the actresses. Tolstoy's Karenina is close to me, and the rest are just variations on a theme. Tatyana Drubich, actress

“Have you not noticed that the main idea of ​​this great
the work is as follows: if a woman divorced her lawful husband and got together with another man, she inevitably becomes a prostitute. Don't argue! Exactly!". Anna Akhmatova, poet, writer, literary critic

“Now, when they say “Russian style”, there are only two associations. The first is Anna Karenina, when sable, muff, fitted coat, high hat, astrakhan fur. The second is connected with Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago", when revolutionary everyday life, an overcoat, on the one hand, are red, on the other - white ... ". Alexander Vasiliev, fashion historian

“I really want to play Anna Karenina. I also really like War and Peace - I would like to play Natasha Rostova, but I already missed this chance. Nicole Kidman, actress

"The greatest misfortune of my life is the death of Anna Karenina." Sergey Dovlatov, writer

“In Anna Karenina, a look at human guilt and criminality is carried out ... It is clear and understandable to the point that evil lurks in humanity deeper than socialist doctors suggest, that in no structure of society you can avoid evil, that the human soul will remain the same, that abnormality and sin come from within herself…”. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, writer

"Anna Karenina is a heavy drug addict!". Katya Metelitsa, writer

“For me, she personifies the mystery of femininity, the possibility that I felt within myself. I felt that women can do absolutely anything for love. And Anna is the highest personification of this.” Sophie Marceau, actress

“All working robots are alike, every broken robot does not work in its own way.” Quote from Android Karenina by Ben H. Winters

“The husband is an exemplary family man, a child to the joy of his mother, well-fed, shod, everything is with her, what more could you want? And not heard by anyone in her heartfelt drama, Anya decided to end her life forever. Sergey Trofimov (Trofim), singer

“It seems to me that Karenin was ready for his heart to be broken. I have a feeling that the more Karenin learns, the more he does to save the marriage. He is not obliged to give passion and romance, this may not be in him, but he was brought up that way, he observed this in the behavior of his parents. He lets his heart rule him as much as possible." Jude Law, actor

“Tolstoy in Anna Karenina is a completely new, unusual writer. Not even a psychologist, but the deepest psychoanalyst who made the thinnest immersion into the subconscious of a person. He discovered what later came to be called Freudianism." Boris Eifman, choreographer, choreographer

"Anna is a liberated woman who protests against stiff hypocrisy and is free in the manifestations of her honest, righteous feelings." Tatyana Samoilova, actress

"I wrote everything in Anna Karenina - nothing is left." Leo Tolstoy, writer, author of the novel "Anna Karenina"

April 17, 1877 Lev 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 entire 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 scene of the meeting between Anna and Vronsky in the light (Part II, chapter VI). Drawing by Elmer Boyd Smith, 1886 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

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 her 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 development of their relationship is watched by all high society - 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.

Vasily Meshkov. "L. N. Tolstoy at work in the library in Yasnaya Polyana. 1910 Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

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 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 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

Mikhail Vrubel. Anna Karenina's appointment with her son. 1878 Photo: reproduction

As wrote Sergei Tolstoy, the son of a classic, “From a realistic novel, what is Anna Karenina, what is required, first of all, is truthfulness; 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 Alexey Tolstoy married Sofia 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 of her features are reminiscent of Maria Hartung- daughter Pushkin, 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 - the cohabitant of Tolstoy's neighbor in Yasnaya Polyana died under the train - Anna Pirogova. 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 novel", where Vronsky is "a bull in love", and Nikolai Nekrasov wrote an epigram:

Tolstoy, you proved with patience and talent

That a woman should not "walk"

Neither with the chamber junker, nor with the adjutant wing,