One of literature’s most beloved works is Anna Karenina, written by the famous Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy in 1877. Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author who wrote many epic-length novels as well as short stories in the genre of realistic fiction. As a writer, Tolstoy tends to focus on the major and minor details of everyday Russian events, and in the space of a single page can enlighten the reader of a character’s entire past and lifestyle. He is a master of close-ups: short segments in a novel that describe something in great detail. Through analyzing two of Tolstoy’s close-ups from Anna Karenina, one can decipher much more information from a character’s background than what is read on the surface of the novel.
While observing Anna and Count Vronsky dance together at the ball, Kitty can’t help but become envious and saddened immediately upon seeing the excitement and happiness portrayed on Vronsky’s and Anna’s faces. She is heartbroken now, and many thoughts are swimming through her mind while she watches them dance around the large, illuminated ballroom. Kitty’s disposition in the novel ranges from sweet-natured to envious throughout. She has an extremely attachable personality, and is damaged easily when somebody leaves her behind.
Furthermore, Anna and Vronsky seem to be exhilarated about dancing with each other, as seen upon their facial expressions. As Anna steps back and forth lightly, a “joyous light flashed into her eyes, and the smile of happiness curved her red lips” (Tolstoy 96). Instead of focusing the passage only on Kitty’s behavior toward Anna and Vronsky, Tolstoy implements the poor, harassed man whom Kitty shuns while paying more attention to her friends’ happiness rather than to the person she is dancing with...
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...s during which Tolstoy describes her death as a candle, “and the light by which she had read the book filled with troubles, falsehoods, sorrow, and evil, flared up more brightly than ever before, lighted up for her all that had been in darkness, flickered, began to grow dim, and was quenched forever” (Tolstoy 918). It is a powerful way to represent the life in Anna, and gives a prominent image of how quickly one’s life can be taken away from them. Just like a candle’s flame, Anna instantly has disappeared forever.
Tolstoy’s description of the two close-ups brings out the essence to his style of writing. It is short, yet it brings out the detail of each character’s story and each event taking place. Through analyzing two close-ups from Anna Karenina, one can decipher much more information from a character’s background than what is read on the surface of the novel.
While the main narrative as well as the title of the novel favor the character of Anna Karenina, the main plot line is mirrored by Konstatin Levin, who has a plot all his own. Levin, in many ways, reflects Tolstoy himself and holds the same philosophy and has the same reservations. Levin is a farmer whose search for happiness and satisfaction leads him to ask stark questions about...
The language that Tolstoy uses engages the audience by making them feel like they are actually a part of the story. With death being a main subject in the story, Tolstoy practically forces the reader to live, breathe, and smell death. Tolstoy knew exactly how to pull his audience in with descriptive language and made them understand Ivan’s point of view successfully.
Chekhov reminds the readers that Anna is young compared to Gurov. Chekhov’s novel states, “As he went to bed he reminded himself that only a short time ago she had been a schoolgirl, like his own daughter” (3). The images of Anna being a schoolgirl not too long ago, when Gurov has a daughter of similar age, brings the sense of abnormality between the relationship of Gurov and Anna. It’s hard to imagine such a huge difference in lovers especially in the strict culture of Russia in the late 19th century where these occasions were unthought-of. The uncomforting thought of the difference in age goes back to differ the meanings of love and romance in the novel because against all odds and differences, Anna and Gurov hide away from these obvious facts. The thought of love in this culture is between a man and woman of similar age. According to Chekhov’s novel, “He was sick of his children, sick of the bank, felt not the slightest desire to go anywhere or talk about anything” (9). Chekhov’s description of sickness reveals that Gurov has a huge moment of denial, denial of family and denial of age. This denial of age, helps Gurov cope with the oddities of their relationship, the oddities of the love they had with the characteristics of a romance. Gurov was trying to change the definition of their relationship on his own mental terms. While Gurov was trying to bring out a spontaneous, younger
Tolstoy establishes his satire instantly after the death of Ivan through the cruel and selfish reactions of his friends. The death of a friend would normally conjure feelings of grief and compassion, yet for Ivan’s close associates, thoughts of their futures drowned out any thoughts of death. “So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych's death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in ...
Few authors can convey the raw emotion of world changing events in such a moving and simplistic fashion. Anna Ahkmatova is able to capture this through her almost tangible use of imagery. Her words can transport the reader through time, allowing them to feel the same pain and fear she survived in Russia during Stalin’s reign of terror. Ahkmatova’s writing is known for its abrupt changes in point of view, and quickly shifting stanzas. Her unique style and poetic form can be attributed to the emotional turmoil of the world changing events she and her nation suffered through; and her innate love for music, as found in Mussorgsky’s Russian Opera, Boris Godunov.
The period is the early 19th century; those involved and discussed in this essay are for the most part Russian gentry. Increasingly relaxed social mores in the “developed” world, including the greater freedom to choose to whom one gets married to as well as increased women’s sexual rights, were much more uncommon during the time that War and Peace takes place. Tolstoy, an outspoken critic of arranged marriages, uses the characters in his novel as a way of exploring the various types of love, and in general the interactions between men and women of the time. This essay will attempt to focus on these relationships in an effort to get a better idea of Tolstoy’s views on the proper roles that men and women should play as friends, lovers, or spouses. By exploring the male/female relationships among the noble families, a detailed picture of both the expectations and realms of acceptable behavior will be established.
Tolstoy's Anna Karenina By examining the character list, one immediately notices the value Tolstoy places on character. With one hundred and forty named characters and several other unnamed characters, Tolstoy places his central focus in Anna Karenina on the characters. He uses their actions and behavior to develop the plot and exemplify the major themes of the novel. In contrast to Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Tolstoy wishes to examine life as it really is.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a novel about love and marriage among the Russian aristocracy in the 1870s. Anna is young, beautiful woman married to a powerful government minister, Karenin. She falls in love with the elegant Count Vronsky and after becoming pregnant by him, leaves her husband Karenin and her son Seryozha to live with her lover. Despite the intervention of friends such as her brother Oblonsky, an adulterer himself, she is unable to obtain a divorce, and lives isolated from the society that once glorified her. As a man, Vronsky enjoys relative social freedom, which causes Anna to have increasingly intense fits of jealousy. Because of her constant suspicion, she thinks that Vronsky’s love for her is dwindling. Their story is ended by an exciting finale that moves the reader.
Morson, Gary. "Marriage, Love, And Time In Tolstoy's Anna Karenina." Journal Of Family Theory & Review 2.4 (2010): 353-369. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New York, NY: Penguin, 2000. Print.
The following paper will focus on one of the most characteristically types of work for Chekhov: “The Lady and the Pet Dog”. Our aim is to portrait the character of Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, in the context of the story, extracting those elements that are characteristic for the period in which Chekhov wrote the story.
First, the characters understand that their relationship is based on future aspirations and second, they have historical relationship disappointments. This third insight into the psychology of love supports the fact that many relationships and marriages often fail because of unrealistic expectations. Psychology research SHOWS that individual expectations for relationships actually sows the seeds of discontent. People are expected to provide not only provide safety, security and support, but also facilitate personal growth and freedom. Even though they come from an older period in history, Anna and Dmitri are stereotypical people who have unhappy pasts and hopeful futures. They are thrown into an intense relationship with limited mutual understanding. Chekhov’s limited dialogue and straightforward narrative leaves plenty of cognitive room for readers to ruminate about their own experiences and how they relate to the
Through this book, we can see his perspective towards what’s happened to him and his country at that time. We can see the symbols, motifs and strand of imagery from the book representing of the situation in Russia back then when the World War 2 happened to the people who are imprisoned. From the history we’ve all familiar with how cruel and barbaric the war was, just from what happened to all the innocent people. Now imagine what happened to those who are imprisoned for their crime. What we meant by crime was activity such as speaking up your mind, practicing your religion or having contact with
Then novel War and Peace was written by a famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy in 1865. The novel describes the war with Napoleon in which many countries were involved such as Russia, Austrian, Prussia, Spain, Sweden, and Britain. The novel mainly focuses on Russia. It reflects the different views and participation in the war of Russian aristocracy and peasants and also shows Tolstoy’s negative viewpoint on the war.
The story “The Darling” by Anton Chekhov, illustrates a woman that is lonely, insecure, and lacking wholeness of oneself without a man in her life. This woman, Olenka, nicknamed “Darling” is compassionate, gentle and sentimental. Olenka is portrayed for being conventional, a woman who is reliant, diligent, and idea less. Although, this story portrays that this woman, known as the Darling needs some sort of male to be emotionally dependant upon, it is as if she is a black widow, she is able to win affection, but without respect. Only able to find happiness through the refection of the beliefs of her lovers, she never evolves within the story.