Why does Anna Karenina throw herself under a train? The image of Anna Karenina. L.N. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The author of the novel "Anna Karenina" is the national educator, psychologist, classic of romance, philosopher and Russian writer L. N. Tolstoy. The beginning of his literary activity falls on 1852. It was then that his autobiographical story "Childhood" was published. It was the first part of a trilogy. Somewhat later, the works "Boyhood" and "Youth" appeared.

Another one of the most famous works of Leo Tolstoy is the epic novel "War and Peace". The reason for writing the work was the Sevastopol and Caucasian events. The novel describes the military campaign and the family chronicles unfolding against its background. This work, the main character of which the author considers the people, conveys to the reader the "people's thought".

Problems of married life Leo Tolstoy reflected in his next work - the novel "Anna Karenina".

The meaning of Tolstoy's creativity

The works of the outstanding Russian writer have greatly influenced world literature. Tolstoy's authority during his lifetime was truly irrefutable. After the death of the classic, his popularity grew even more. Hardly therea man who will remain indifferent if he falls into the hands of "Anna Karenina" - a novel that tells not only about the fate of a woman. The work vividly describes the history of the country. It reflects both the morality that secular society adheres to and the life of the very bottom. The reader is shown the splendor of salons and the poverty of the village. Against the background of this ambiguous Russian life, an extraordinary and bright personality is described, striving for happiness.

The image of a woman in literary works

The representatives of the beautiful half of humanity often became the heroes of the classics of the past. There are many examples of this. This is Ekaterina from "Thunderstorm" and Larisa from "Dowry" by the writer Ostrovsky. The image of Nina from "The Seagull" by Chekhov is vivid. All these women in the struggle for their happiness oppose public opinion.

The same topic was touched upon in his brilliant work by L. N. Tolstoy. Anna Karenina is the image of a special woman. A distinctive feature of the heroine is her belonging to the highest level of society. She seems to have everything. Anna is beautiful, rich and educated. She is admired, her advice is taken into account. However, she is deprived of happiness in her married life and experiences loneliness in her family. Probably, the fate of this woman would have been different if love had reigned in her house.

The main character of the novel

In order to understand why Anna Karenina throws herself under the train at the end of the work, you need to carefully read the work of the great writer. Only understanding the image of this heroine will allowdraw certain conclusions. At the beginning of the story, Anna Karenina appears before the reader as an attractive young woman belonging to high society. Leo Tolstoy describes his heroine as benevolent, cheerful and pleasant in communication. Anna Karenina is an exemplary wife and mother. Most of all she loves her little son. As for the husband, outwardly their relationship is simply exemplary. However, upon closer examination, artificiality and falseness are noticeable in them. A woman is connected with her husband not by love feelings, but by respect.

How old is Anna Karenina? The author does not give an exact answer to this question. However, there are obvious clues in the novel that the woman is twenty-five or twenty-six years old.

Meeting with Vronsky

With her unloved husband, Anna lived in luxury and prosperity. They had a son Serezhenka. It seems that life is good. However, the meeting with Vronsky radically changes everything. The image of Anna Karenina from this moment is undergoing fundamental changes. The heroine awakens a thirst for love and life.

The emerging new feeling inexorably pulls her to Vronsky. His strength is such that Anna is simply not able to resist. Anna Karenina appears to the reader as honest, sincere and open. An analysis of the work gives an understanding that she is simply not able to live in a false and difficult relationship with her husband. As a result, Anna succumbs to the passionate feeling that has arisen.

Parting

The image of Anna Karenina is contradictory. Confirmation of this lies in her life outside of marriage. According to the concepts of the heroine, happinesscan only be possible when the laws are strictly enforced. She tried to start a new life. At the same time, the misfortune of people close to her served as the basis. Anna feels like a criminal. At the same time, generosity emanates from Karenin. He is ready to forgive his wife and save the marriage. However, this high morality of her husband causes only hatred in Anna.

Through his wife, the author compares Karenin with an evil and soulless machine. This dignitary checks all his feelings with the norms of the law, which is established by the church and the state. Undoubtedly, he suffers from the fact that his wife cheated on him. However, it does so in a unique way. He just wants to shake off the “dirt” with which Anna “splashed” him, and calmly continue his life path. At the heart of his feelings are not heartfelt experiences, but a cold mind. Karenin's rationality allows him to find a way of cruel punishment for Anna. He separates her from her son. The heroine is faced with a choice. And she goes to Vronsky. However, this path proved disastrous for her. He led her to the abyss, and this may explain the fact that Anna Karenina threw herself under the train.

The second protagonist of the work "Anna Karenina"

Alexey Vronsky is a brilliant representative of the highest circles of Russia of the period described in the novel. He is handsome, rich and has great connections. The aide-de-camp Vronsky is kind and sweet by nature. He is smart and educated. The lifestyle of the protagonist of the novel is typical for a young aristocrat of that time. He serves in the guards regiment. His spending per yearamount to 45,000 rubles.

Vronsky, who shares the habits and views of the aristocratic environment, is loved by his comrades. After meeting with Anna, the young man reconsiders his life. He understands that he is obliged to change her usual way. Vronsky sacrifices freedom and ambition. He resigns and, parting with his usual secular environment, is looking for new life paths. The restructuring of the worldview did not allow him to get satisfaction and peace.

Life with Vronsky

Why does Anna Karenina throw herself under a train at the end of the novel, because fate connected her with a wonderful young man, giving her a sincere and deep feeling? Despite the fact that love came to the main character, after leaving her husband, the woman cannot find peace.

Neither Vronsky's deep feeling for her, nor the born little daughter, nor entertainment and trips bring her peace. Anna's mental discord is further aggravated in connection with the separation from her son. Society does not understand it. Her friends turn away from her. Over time, Anna increasingly comes to realize the depth of her misfortune. The character of the heroine changes. She becomes suspicious and irritable. As a sedative, Anna begins to take morphine, which further enhances the feelings that have arisen. The woman begins to be jealous of Vronsky without any reason. She feels dependent on his desires and love. However, Anna is well aware that Vronsky, because of her, abandoned many important things in life. That's whyshe seeks to replace his whole world with herself. Gradually, it becomes more and more difficult to unravel the tangle of complex relationships, and thoughts of death begin to come to the heroine. And this is in order to stop being guilty, shifting the feeling that has arisen onto Vronsky, and at the same time freeing himself. All this will serve as an answer to the question: “Why does Anna Karenina throw herself under a train?”

Tragedy

In the image of the main character of his novel, Tolstoy showed a direct and whole woman who lives by feeling. However, it would be wrong to explain the whole tragedy of fate and situation only by her nature. It is much deeper, because it was the social environment that caused Anna Karenina to feel the alienation of society.

The characterization of the image of the main character indicates that she cares only for personal problems - marriage, love and family. The situation that developed in her life after leaving her husband did not suggest a worthy way out of the situation. Why does Anna Karenina throw herself under a train? Her desperate step can be explained by the unbearable life that came due to the rejection of her act by society.

The origins of the tragedy

The hard fate of women is described in many literary works. She did not pass Pushkin's Tatyana and Turgenev's Elena, Nekrasov's Decembrists and Ostrovsky's heroines. What they have in common with Anna Karenina is the naturalness and sincerity of actions and feelings, the purity of thoughts, as well as the deep tragedy of fate. The experiences of his heroine Tolstoy showed the readers most deeply, fully and psychologically subtly.

Anna's tragedy didn't even begin when she, a married woman, posed a real challenge to society. Dissatisfaction with her fate arose even at the time when she, still a very young girl, was married to a royal official. Anna sincerely tried to create a happy family. However, she did not succeed. Then she began to justify her life with her unloved husband with love for her son. And this is already a tragedy. Being a lively and bright person, Anna realized for the first time what true love is. And it is not surprising that a woman tried to break free from the world that was disgusting to her. However, she lost her son in the process.

The mental anguish of the heroine

Anna did not want to hide her new life from others. Society is simply shocked. A real wall of alienation has grown around Karenina. Even those who acted much worse in their lives began to condemn her. And Anna could not come to terms with this rejection.

Yes, the high society has shown its hypocrisy. However, the woman had to be aware that she was not in a vacuum. Living in a society, one has to reckon with its laws and orders.

Tolstoy is a wise psychologist. He describes the mental anguish of the heroine of his novel simply amazingly. Does the author condemn this woman? No. He suffers and loves with her.