The story of Anna Karenina takes place in a 19th century
Russian patriarchal society in which men are dominant, and females are seen as weak.
Tolstoy punishes Anna throughout the novel. First, he gives her manly attributes such as
her bawdy treatment Karenin, and her tendency to go on horseback as a point of
dislike.
Then, he punishes her psychologically with her
disillusionment with life, and her lack of passion in
marriage.
Additionally, he kicks her out her world
with her destitution from society, the
way she was shun by friends and family. After that, he places her in a very bad place
with her desolation after the affair, the removal of her children and, the end of the
passion in her affair.
In the end, not enough satisfied
with al the stuff he puts her through, he kills her off in a cruel and semi
sadistic suicide. Not once, but twice we taste the death of Anna, first when she throws
herself on the rails, and then when she gets hit.
This
tells us one thing: Either Tolstoy detested Anna or reflected his disdain about women in
Anna's character.
Does she have redeeming characters? Very
little. We are not given many opportunities to connect with her past as an unloved
woman, nor do we get any chances to like her thoroughly before another calamity happens
as a result of her behavior.
These characteristics are also
shared by the rest of the females, whom shun, suffer, and are given as much lack of
reader connection as Anna herself.
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