Major+Themes

Authors: Joshua, Aaron
** Major Themes**

 1. **Society and Classes: Countryside VS Cities**



In Anna Karenina, one of the more prominent themes can be considered to be "Society and Classes".  - Tolstoy seemed to imply that countrymen are looked down upon by those living in the city.  - Lenin was mocked and laughed at by those living in the city (examples include Countess Nordston)  -"Something out of the common has happened to him,' thought the Countess Nordston, scrutinising his stern and serious face, 'why does he not start on one of his discourses? But I'll draw him out, I do love to make a fool of him when Kitty's about, and I will." (Page 46)

2. **Stereotypical Roles in Society**



Tolstoy believes that different people have specific roles that they are meant to fulfill in society which can be uncomfortable for modern audiences. -The nobility in the novel is given land, where they stay and govern, while the peasants work the fields. Gender roles, particularly with women are also evident. -Consider Kitty and Miss Agatha's (Levin's former nurse) instinctive ability to care for Levin's sick brother Nicholas. -Tolstoy seems to view a woman's responsibility to be with her family and women who abandon these responsibilities, such as Anna Karenina, are faced by many challenges.

3. **Love** In Anna Karenina, Love seems to play a vital role in the form of either a productive or destructive force.  -Feeling that his love for Anna cannot be compared to Karenin's, Vronsky contemplates suicide as a way to escape his affections for Anna. Moreover, he goes to further extremes by refusing the offer of a post at Tashkend, showing the reader how love is able to quite literally destroy a man's career and his way of living. On the other hand, Levin and Kitty manages to find true happiness by marrying each other. Despite first being pessimistic about the outlook on life, in that nothing is worth doing, through his love for Kitty, Levin finally finds out life's meaning. Therefore, this can clearly show how love can be a productive force if channeled in the right direction.

4. **Jealousy**



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">-Anna goes mad with jealousy as a result of her guilt: having committed adultery, she can't believe that anyone would be faithful to her anymore. As a result of this, she becomes incapable of trusting her lover, Vronsky which drives him away. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">-Her husband Karenin is initially not prone to jealousy, and is played out as a rational character. However, later in the novel, Karenin starts to loose his 'cool' and slight hints of his jealousy emerges once Anna stops obeying him. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">-Kitty and Levin are two other characters that also face jealousy. Their petty jealousies can be seen with Kitty over Anna and Levin over Vronsky; but they do overcome this due to their strong relationship and the strength of their attachment to one another.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">5. **Religion**



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> The theme of religion is a very prominent one in //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Anna Karenina //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">-Tolstoy focuses on the "real faith" behind religion, instead of the actual spiritual belief itself, which is represented by Karenin's forgiveness of Anna, Varenka's good deeds, Kitty's spirituality, and eventually, Levin's self-discovery at the end of the novel. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">-Tolstoy is open about his opinion that the <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">form <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> of the religion is less important than the faith behind it, and that it is that faith that truly carries us through difficult times. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> -Levin acknowledges this when he tells the priest he does not believe in God. However, in the end he does come to his epiphany through Christianity, but mostly from the idea of "living for good" that stems from the religion, instead of the idea of living for one's self pleasures.