What a Woman!!!
“She is a bad woman, such desperate passions! Only to prove something different. Well she proved it. She ruined herself and two splendid men, her husband and my unfortunate son”, says Vronsky’s mother – a fitting description of our leading lady Anna Karenina.
Anna Karenina is a victim of Love. Her story is like every other triangular love story, but her passion is unique only to her – It is her ultimate salvation. Karenina is attracted to Vronsky, though married to Karenin (her husband does not have time for her) and her intense love for him (Vronsky) ruins her. Her love for Vronsky is entirely different- She loves him for the sake of love and her love for him intensifies so much that she creates in her a feeling that Vronsky does not love her as passionately as she does ( though he does very much) . Now this slowly becomes a morbid feeling and she begins to feel that everything is untrue, deception and evil. In her the romantic force of her love turns to violent force of passion and “violent delights have violent ends” – Anna dies with words “God forgive me for everything”.
What we need to understand is that her sin is not intentional, it is out of inadvertence. Her relationship with Vronsky is never defined and with her husband she has always been unhappy, the only comfort to her is her son (Serezha) but it becomes a strain when Vronsky enters her life. Anna’s character is too fatalistic and may be to strike a balance Tolstoy has a beautiful subplot – the romantic and secure love between Dolly and Levin.
What stuck me was Anna and her Passion – the drive behind every human being, but not every human being can become Anna. She is one of the most famous feminine characters immortal in the world of literature.