Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is a lengthy work of fiction that is typically split into two volumes and consists of more than eight hundred pages (depending on the translation and publisher). The novel is divided into eight parts and features more than a dozen major characters. It explores topics such as treachery, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and the contrast between life in the countryside and in the city. The affair between Anna and the dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky is at the heart of the story. The affair causes a scandal in the social circles of Saint Petersburg, which forces the young lovers to flee to Italy in search of happiness. However, once they return to Russia, their lives continue to fall apart. 

Symbols in Anna Karenina: 

Trains: 

The story uses trains as a metaphor for the bad impacts of progress, which undermine old values while giving the appearance of bringing people together. People are transported from one location to another via rail, making it more simple for them to visit their loved ones and acquaintances along the way. On the other hand, those who use the train are forced to leave their homes, as well as their families and communities, and as a result, they constitute a disruption to the conventional social order. The chance encounter between Vronsky and Anna was made possible by the train; without it, it could never have taken place. Gary Jahn, a researcher of Russian literature, makes the observation that the train can also stand for society. When Anna is on her way back to Petersburg, she is protected and comfortable inside her carriage. However, it is only when she exits the carriage to use the restroom that she runs into Vronsky. The peril of the clandestine relationship is confronted outside of the train, and Anna and Vronsky’s affair will grow beyond the bounds of what can be considered legitimate in the end. 

Frou-Frou: 

Anna and what will become of her as a result of Vronsky and Anna’s connection are represented by the horse Frou-Frou, which belongs to Vronsky. Vronsky has high expectations that his gorgeous, high-strung horse, Frou-Frou, will carry him to victory in the steeplechase. However, by the time he gets to the race, he is preoccupied with other things and is not paying much attention. He is actually in the lead but he wants to finish the race with a large advantage, so he continues to push the horse further and lets Frou-Frou get ahead of him. This causes him to lose his seat and fall off the horse, which ultimately results in the death of the horse and the loss of the race. This provides a glimpse of what may transpire between Anna and Vronsky in the future. Anna is also stunning and high strung, but Vronsky doesn’t pay her nearly enough attention despite these qualities. In his haste to gain her love, he fails to consider the potential repercussions of their romance, in particular with regard to her. He is under the impression that she may easily escape from Karenin, but in reality, it is not that simple. In the end, he makes an effort to get a divorce, which has the effect of hastening the relationship’s downward spiral. This scene gives the impression that Vronsky was ultimately to blame for Anna’s demise, and it’s not hard to see why. 

Farming: 

Farming is a metaphor for man living in peace with nature and fulfilling one of his most fundamental roles: supplying food. The country lifestyle is depicted in the book as being synonymous with virtue, contentment, happiness, and family. Levin lives without any pretence and engages in actual work while he is in the country, in contrast to Stiva, who stays in Moscow and spends all day pushing paper. The fact that high society and the government both call Petersburg their home makes the situation much more dire. It is in Petersburg that Anna and Vronsky carry on their affair, and it is also there that Stiva engages in a number of extramarital actions. When Vronsky moves to his estate and gets involved in the management of the land there, he finds that he is able to find happiness for the first time in his life. However, when he and Anna move back to Moscow, they find that they are both unable to find happiness. 

Dwarfish, Disheveled Muzhik: 

A squat, filthy, and unkempt muzhik, sometimes known as a peasant, serves as both a symbol and a motif throughout the book. Near the railroad lines, Vronsky observes a muzhik carrying a sack over his shoulder at the beginning of the story, and Anna sees a dirty peasant near the tracks on the day that she passes away. In one of her reoccurring dreams, she sees a peasant who is initially searching through a sack and then stating that he has to pound or knead iron. When Anna tells Vronsky about her first dream, which she had quite some time ago, Vronsky also has a dream in which he is a dirty peasant. Anna tells Vronsky about her dream. Anna has a dream in which Karenin’s valet warns her that the dream portends that she would pass away while giving birth.

The reoccurring image of the peasant has been interpreted variously as a representation of sin, death, or the unrelenting power of sex. On the other hand, the peasant can also be seen as a representation of the Trickster archetype. A figure that can be playful and humorous while still bringing qualities of spontaneity and inventiveness to a situation is known as a trickster. But the negative aspect of Trickster is that he unleashes chaos upon the world and sets in motion a destructive cycle. This is the Trickster’s dark side. 

Conclusion: 

Trains serve as a recurring metaphor throughout the entirety of the book, with several pivotal events in the plot taking place on passenger trains or at stations in Saint Petersburg or elsewhere in Russia. The events that take place in the novel take place against the backdrop of the liberal reforms that were launched by Emperor Alexander II of Russia and the dramatic socioeconomic transformations that followed. The story has been adapted for use in a wide variety of mediums, such as the stage, the opera, film, and television, as well as ballet, figure skating, and radio drama.