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 today's and future world 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 family life 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, which readers would love so much in the future.

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, the charming, kind and gentle Anna Karenina (the author initially 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 the 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 connection. 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 once loving friend other people understand 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 most best features character, which made him a role model. 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.

Almost all researchers and literary critics unanimously call the novel "Anna Karenina" among the greatest and most significant Russian novels of all time, and they call it justifiably. There are many reasons for this: the most accurate cast of the Russian high society of the 70s made by the author, and the authentic psychologism of the characters, and the inimitable plot harmony, and the multi-layered narration, demonstrating an accurate cut of the layers of Russian life (moral, family, social and political).

The theme of the work is indicated already in the first phrase of the novel (“ All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”) is the crisis of the modern Russian noble family to Tolstoy.

There are two main characters in the novel - this is a conspicuous Petersburg lady Anna Karenina, the wife of a prominent statesman Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, and a noble landowner Konstantin Levin. Both characters have real prototypes. The surname Levin (in the original edition of the book - namely “Levin”) was formed on behalf of Count Tolstoy himself, and the hero in many ways is his artistic alter ego. Even brother Nikolai is the brother of the writer Dmitry Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who in his youth dreamed of reorganizing the peasantry, but then suddenly changed, went on a spree and cohabited with a girl bought from a brothel. Karenina is a purely collective image: she owes her secular manners and beauty to Pushkin's daughter Maria Hartung, the collision with a divorce - Maria Sukhotina and Sofya Bakhmeteva, and the tragic ending - to a certain bourgeois Anna Pirogova, who threw herself under a train at a station near Yasnaya Polyana.

In creating the plot, Tolstoy uses three favorite plot devices that are well known to us from War and Peace: opposition, parallelism, ascending and descending lines of heroes.

Parallelism in the narrative is seen everywhere and is expressed in the intentional similarity of collisions. Adultery in the Oblonsky family and Karenin's adultery; the anguish and timidity of Levin before confession and the indecisiveness of his brother Koznyshev, who was afraid of an explanation with Varenka; Vronsky's suicide attempt and Anna's suicide; Levin's jealousy of Vassenka Veslovsky and Karenin's jealousy of Vronsky. Parallel and two main plot lines - the fate of Anna and Levin. But more on that below.

Tolstoy is no doubt a master of antithesis. The novel is full of contrasting images. Of course, the first thing that catches your eye already at the beginning of the book is the insurmountable gaping abyss between the city and the countryside. According to Tolstoy, the city is a gloomy, boring, extremely cramped space where, it seems, there is no sky at all, no streets and fresh air, but only covered carriages and halls, endless receptions, evenings and balls. People there do not say what they think, and communicate with notes. Empty and vulgar idleness reigns in the city, the heroes do nothing worthwhile there, and if they work, then it is absolutely impossible to see, evaluate the result of that work. The inhabitants of the city are mainly busy squandering money: Vronsky is counting debts, Stiva has long been bogged down in them, and even the ascetic and stingy Levin, who arrived at the birth of his wife, quickly spent money. The author does not like the city pathologically, the city is alien to him, and therefore Levin's alter ego does not like the city, he absolutely does not know how to behave there, he is awkward and uncomfortable. Therefore, he and many other heroes (Steve, Dolly, Vronsky and even Karenin) are subconsciously and irresistibly drawn to the village.

The village according to Tolstoy is a special place. This is an area of ​​tranquility, desirable physical labor and spiritual rest, blessed contact with the earth and nature, with the Russian people. It is no coincidence that the images ordinary people We meet us only in the village, where they are talkative, friendly and calm, but in the city you don’t see commoners - only servants, and even that one is silent.

The second important contrast is created by the rough contrast between the love stories of Karenina and Levin. Tolstoy draws and develops two kinds of love, two types of sensual relationships. The novel of Anna and Vronsky is a kind of passion: merciless, criminal and all-consuming. Passion, which begins as a spontaneous and uncontrollable phenomenon, grows, sweeps away everything in its path - breaks destinies, marriages and relationships. Passion according to Tolstoy is always egocentric, always cruel, it does not allow anything superfluous into its orbit. Passionate lovers are focused on each other: Anna leaves the family, leaves her son, surrenders herself to the censure of society, Vronsky donates military career, moves away from the mother, and even their common child - the newborn Ani - does not interest parents. Passion gives rise to a feeling of hypertrophied obsessive jealousy, brings both to nervous exhaustion, and as a result ends in tragedy.

The love of Levin and Kitty, on the contrary, is a timid, subtle, in many ways, platonic feeling, following the well-trodden path of the traditional way of life - through parental approval for the wedding and marriage. Tolstoy likes this path: the descriptions of the Levins' love line are bright, pure and extremely touching.

Contrasting characters are also visible inside the given pairs: the fragile, young and impressionable Kitty is opposed to the socialite Karenina; the high-browed statesman Alexei Karenin, who solves all difficulties with his mind and most of all cares about his appearance in the eyes of others, is opposed to the impetuous bold Vronsky, for whom only feelings are an argument. Contradictions are visible even in parallel events. During Anna's birth, all the witnesses are waiting for her death (how painfully Levin waited for death at the bedside of his intolerable brother), but in Kitty's birth there is a different tone - everyone is filled with happiness before the appearance of a new life. And this is by no means accidental. Plot oppositions create the necessary depth and versatility in the novel, demonstrate the same phenomenon (love, childbirth, betrayal or marriage) from different angles, endowing the material of life with one or another emotional charge.

We can easily follow the ascending and descending lines of heroes on the examples of Anna and Levin, whose destinies are rapidly drifting to opposite poles - to enlightened happiness and inglorious death. Lewin's line is an ascending line of spiritual search, the search for happiness and one's own place in the world. At the beginning of the hero's journey, a serious blow awaits, but then - the long-awaited reciprocity, a wedding, then another blow - the death of a hopelessly ill brother, but after great happiness - the birth of a child and gaining that very desired understanding that gives meaning to his whole life. In contrast, the line of Anna develops, a descending line of spiritual decay, self-denial and complete loss of oneself. And indeed, in the course of history, the heroine loses and refuses everything that was once dear to her: from a noble husband, from a family, from honor, from a son, even from self-esteem, sinks to causeless manic jealousy, and, in the end finally gives up on life. "Anna Karenina" is the story of a woman who threw herself, her whole prosperous life under the wheels of passions, who rejected traditional family ideals for the sake of love.

About the image of the railway in the novel, probably only the lazy did not speak. The railway in our case is an image of change, a change in states. Karenina's life changes dramatically after a trip to her brother in Moscow, she sees Vronsky for the first time in a train carriage, and on the way back he actually declares his love for her at the station. Defiantly, two deaths echo each other: a worker who fell under the wheels of a train, and Anna's suicide (here, a technique is used that can conditionally be called a "premonition" when a similar minor event precedes the main event). And, of course, the departure of Vronsky to the Serbian war at the end of the book. Implicitly implied are changes both historical and, in the author's opinion, very premature - it is not for nothing that Levin in his reasoning opposes rapid construction railways believing that they undermine the development of agriculture and the Russian countryside.

For me personally, the person of the young Kitty Shcherbatskaya seemed especially curious and mysterious. There is some kind of cunning in her image, a significant authorial innuendo. Kitty is in love with the irresistible Petersburg Count Vronsky and is already waiting for an offer from him, but there is no offer, and Vronsky unexpectedly leaves, preferring Karenina to her. Kitty's world is crumbling, she gets sick. And having survived this mental blow, the girl accepts the offer of Levin, a good friend, whom, however, she had already managed to refuse once. And this is a clear discrepancy between the act and the feeling, Levin's choice that has happened looks somewhat illogical. However, it harmoniously fits into the line of "Kitty-Dolly-Karenina", which, it seems to me, personifies the tragic path of marriage without love.

The main idea of ​​the novel, in my opinion, boils down to the possibility of achieving personal happiness only through family happiness. Levin, who was refused by Kitty and vegetates in the village, is deeply unhappy and even thinks about death. He seeks deliverance in simplification, in closeness to the people, but he knows that the people will not accept him, will not make him happy. Anna, plunged into an abyss of passion, having left her husband and sacrificing a child, is waiting for only one thing - a divorce and a legal reunion with Vronsky, and until then, even given into the arms of her beloved, she is deeply unhappy. Unfortunate is Karenin, whose public career went to dust after the departure of his wife. Dolly is unhappy, forced to endure her husband's betrayals. But Stiva, the cutest character in the novel, seems to be quite pleased, but his happiness is created by a meek and patient wife. And only when Levin marries Kitty, when he knows the special feeling of fatherhood, when he takes his family to his house, only then does he gain confidence and peace.

Summing up, I just want to recommend this book to all lovers and connoisseurs of literature, regardless of genre preferences. I am sure that everyone will find something of their own in it and will not remain indifferent. For novice authors, I advise you to look at the text with special attention, because Anna Karenina is a brilliant example of plot construction and the creation of living, inexplicably believable characters.

Result: 10 out of 10.

For sim bow. As always, I look forward to your opinions about the book itself and about the article in the comments. See you soon!

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, 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. 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 get back peace of mind, but she does not succeed - mainly because Alexei Vronsky seeks 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 all of it inner life 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 the entire elite, 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 after going through everything possible options 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 behavior. 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 about 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 great riddle 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

Under the influence of ideology, we were told that Anna Karenina was a sensitive person, capable of sacrificing for love. But did the author think so?

Anna Karenina is a poignant drama about eternal values. Schoolchildren are not assigned a book, and graduates often do not even know who wrote Anna Karenina. it first in Russian literature a work of such magnitude, where the ethics and psychology of family life come to the fore. So-called modern man, educated, not alien to civilization, no longer believes in God too much, is not too afraid of sin and often neglects traditional values: loyalty, duty, honor. The 19th century, following the Age of Enlightenment, brought a frivolous attitude to vice into society, and Leo Tolstoy draws how these new types interact with those who remained faithful to the Domostroy traditions.

storylines three, and in no case should one think that one of them is the main one, and the others are secondary: the love of Anna and Vronsky, the love of Levin and Kitty, the dislike of Stiva and Dolly. All characters are important, all carry a semantic load, and there are no passing characters in the novel.

Summary Tolstoy's novel "Anna Kerenina" (if, of course, the word "brevity" is acceptable in relation to a masterpiece) can be stated as follows. Anna, a prosperous lady living in a marriage with a respected and worthy man and raising her ardently adored son, meets Vronsky, falls in love with him and embarks on the path of adultery. Since Vronsky had courted Kitty before meeting this fatal beauty, now a break follows. And Kitty literally the day before refused Levin, who proposed to her, only because I was hoping for an offer from Vronsky. A whole bunch of tragedies.

Against the backdrop of these passions, Kitty's older sister Dolly quarrels with her windy husband Stiva, again because of adultery. Stiva is Anna's brother, frivolity is their family trait. Not without reason, in the episode, the author also shows us their mother - a charming old woman who has something to tell about her young years. Anna, trying to reconcile the spouses, easily puts on any masks. She says one thing to her brother, but quite another to Dolly.

But giving advice is not in her position. The longer her romance with Vronsky drags on, the more people learn about him, and now her husband is forced to remind her of decency. And, as if to spite, Anna does not want to remember decency. Karenin decides to divorce is by no means as easy as it is shown in a hundred film adaptations. Tolstoy made this hero a serious and solid person. He solves a moral dilemma, he suffers that he has to go to an extreme measure, he went through all possible and impossible ways to solve this extremely delicate problem. And he forgives everything when, due to puerperal fever, the wife is near death.

But Anna survived and again went into all serious trouble. During her illness, she became addicted to morphine. Moreover, she no longer wants to get a divorce. She wants to live with Vronsky and their common daughter, while remaining Karenin's wife. No wonder Tolstoy called them both - husband and lover - by one name - Alexei. In conversations, she argues her unwillingness to divorce by the fact that during a divorce, her husband will take away her son, Serezha. But Seryozha is already with his father, and in any case, his father would not have allowed Anna to take him into her new family. Yes, and the daughter, whom the heroine took root from her lover, cannot be said to love very much ...

The climax comes not at all because of Seryozha, but because Vronsky allegedly began to love her less. She neglected the opinion of the world for his sake, and he is ashamed of her. Meanwhile, Vronsky buried his career because of this "inappropriate connection", lost his acquaintances and terribly complicated relations with his relatives. Because of a quarrel with her lover, because of an extra dose of morphine, because of a date with her son on his birthday, emotionally unstable Anna throws himself under a train e. In deep repentance, Vronsky signs up as a volunteer and goes to fight in the Balkans.

The main characters of the novel and analysis of the ending

However, the epic novel does not end there. Tolstoy is important and his other characters. Levin will marry Kitty after all, and their marriage, no doubt, will be based on traditional values. Dolly forgave her husband, not because he changed for the better, but because she is a good Christian and loves her children. One thing can be said with certainty that Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy is a most powerful classic writer and Anna Karenina is one of his the best works.

moral side

It is these truths that are affirmed in Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina. Under the pressure of ideological morality, it was long believed that this was a novel about an advanced, sensitive woman who neglected the rotten conventions of secular society, of course, through and through hypocritical, for the sake of free love.

This point of view assumed that the author's sympathies were entirely on the side of Anna Karenina, but on closer reading it turns out that this is not the case. All the author's sympathies belong to Dolly, Kitty and Levin, and these characters consider Anna to be false and immoral, and it is the author's attitude that is expressed in this assessment.

The only one after Tolstoy and his novel Anna Karenina who wrote the most psychologically deep and detailed study is Natalia Vorontsova-Yuryeva, who in 2006 presented the article Anna Karenina. Not God's creature."

Video.
In video clip interesting material about the time this work was written.

Lev Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

Novel "Broad Breath"

"Anna Karenina" struck contemporaries with "everyday content." The extraordinary freedom and looseness of the narrative were surprisingly combined in this novel with the integrity of the author's artistic view of life. He acted here as an artist and thinker, and saw the purpose of art “not in undeniably resolving the issue, but in making one love life in countless, never exhausted all its manifestations” (61, 100).

In the 70s, a venerable writer (apparently, Goncharov) said to Dostoevsky: “This is an unheard of thing, this is the first thing. Who among us writers can equal this? And in Europe - who will present at least something like that? F.M. Dostoevsky found in Tolstoy's new novel "an enormous psychological elaboration of the human soul", "terrible depth and strength" and, most importantly, "a realism of artistic representation hitherto unprecedented in our country."

Time has confirmed this high assessment. From articles and books in all languages ​​of the world, devoted to "Anna Karenina", you can make a whole library. “I have no hesitation in calling Anna Karenina the greatest social novel in all of world literature,” wrote Thomas Mann.

The significance of Tolstoy's novel lies not in the aesthetic value of individual paintings, but in the artistic completeness of the whole.

1

Tolstoy called War and Peace a book about the past. At the beginning of 1865, he asked the editor of the magazine "Russian Messenger" M.N. Katkov in the table of contents and even in the announcement do not call his work a novel: “... this is very important for me, and therefore I ask you very much about it” (61, 67). Tolstoy could justify his definition of genre (“book”) by referring to Hegel, whom he carefully re-read during the years of work on War and Peace. Hegel called the epic works connected with the “whole world” of a certain people and a certain era a book. The book, or "original epic", gives a picture of national self-consciousness "in the moral foundations of family life, in the social conditions of the state of war and peace(our italics. - E.B.), in his needs, arts, customs, interests ... ”.

Tolstoy called Anna Karenina a novel from modern life. In 1873, just starting work, he spoke to N.N. Strakhov: “... this novel is it is the novel(italics ours. - E.B.), the first in my life, took my soul very much, and I am completely passionate about it ”(62, 25).

Epoch Patriotic War allowed Tolstoy to portray in War and Peace the life of the Russian people of the great era as a "whole world", beautiful and sublime. “I am an artist,” writes Tolstoy, reflecting on the events of 1812, “and my whole life is spent in searching for beauty” (15, 241). The social upsurge of the 1960s, when peasant slavery was abolished in Russia, filled the author of War and Peace with a sense of spiritual vigor and faith in the future. In the 70s, in the era of a deep social crisis, when Anna Karenina was written, Tolstoy's worldview was different. “Everything is apart” - this is how F.M. Dostoevsky. Tolstoy saw before him a "fragmented world", devoid of moral unity. “There is no beauty,” he complained, “and there is no leader in the chaos of good and evil” (62, 25).

If "War and Peace" is dominated by moral integrity and beauty, or poetry, then "Anna Karenina" is characterized by fragmentation and chaos, or prose. After "War and Peace", with its "universal content" and poetic simplicity, the idea of ​​"Anna Karenina" seemed to Tolstoy "private", "not simple" and even "vile" (62, 142).

The transition from "War and Peace" to "Anna Karenina" has a historical, social and philosophical justification. In the novel, in contrast to the "book", as Hegel wrote about it, "there is no original poetic state of the world": "the novel in the modern sense presupposes a prosaically ordered reality." However, here "again, the richness and diversity of interests, states, characters, life relationships, the wide background of the whole world, and the equally poetic depiction of events come into full play." The circles of events in the novel are narrower compared to the "original epic", but the knowledge of life can penetrate deeper into reality. The novel as an art form has its own laws: “a plot, an ever-complicating interest, and a happy or unhappy denouement” (13, 54). Starting with the fact that “everything was mixed up in the Oblonsky house”, Tolstoy tells about the destruction of the Karenin house, about the confusion of Levin, and finally comes to the fact that in all of Russia “everything has turned upside down” ... “Increasing interest” takes the plot of the novel beyond the limits of “family history ".