Anna Karenina (Russian: Анна Каренина, IPA: [ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə]) is a novel written by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It was first published in book form in 1878. Many people consider it one of the greatest works of world literature, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. Before its book release, the story was published in parts from 1875 to 1877 in a magazine called The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy felt very troubled while writing the final parts and did not want to finish the story, but he completed it anyway.

The novel explores themes such as betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Russian society, personal desires, and the differences between life in the countryside and in cities. The story follows an affair between Anna, a married woman, and Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, a cavalry officer. Their relationship causes controversy in Saint Petersburg’s social circles, leading the couple to flee to Italy in search of happiness. However, after returning to Russia, their lives become more complicated.

Trains appear often in the novel, with important events taking place on trains or at train stations in Saint Petersburg and other parts of Russia. The story happens during a time when Emperor Alexander II of Russia introduced major changes to society, leading to fast and significant transformations. Anna Karenina has been adapted into many forms of media, including theatre, opera, films, television, ballet, figure skating performances, and radio dramas.

Main characters

• Anna Arkadyevna Karenina (Анна Аркадьевна Каренина): Stepan Oblonsky's sister, Karenin's wife, and Vronsky's lover.
• Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky (Алексей Кириллович Вронский): Anna's lover and a cavalry officer.
• Prince Stepan "Stiva" Arkadyevich Oblonsky (Степан "Стива" Аркадьевич Облонский): A civil servant, Anna's brother, and a well-known member of society. He is 34 years old.
• Princess Darya "Dolly" Alexandrovna Oblonskaya (Дарья "Долли" Александровна Облонская): Stepan's wife. She is 33 years old.
• Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin (Алексей Александрович Каренин): An important government official and Anna's husband. He is 20 years older than Anna.
• Konstantin "Kostya" Dmitrievich Levin/Lyovin (Константин "Костя" Дмитриевич Лёвин): Kitty's suitor, Stiva's old friend, and a landowner. He is 32 years old and is often seen as representing Tolstoy's own views and experiences.
• Nikolai Dmitrievich Levin/Lyovin (Николай Дмитриевич Лёвин): Konstantin's older brother. He struggles with alcoholism and financial problems.
• Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev (Сергей Иванович Кознышев): Konstantin's half-brother, a famous writer, and 40 years old.
• Princess Ekaterina "Kitty" Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya (Екатерина "Кити" Александровна Щербацкая): Dolly's younger sister and later Levin's wife. She is 18 years old.
• Prince Alexander Shcherbatsky (Александр Щербацкий): Dolly and Kitty's father.
• Princess Shcherbatsky (no name or patronymic given): Dolly and Kitty's mother.
• Princess Elizaveta "Betsy" Tverskaya (Елизавета "Бетси" Тверская): Anna's wealthy and socially active friend, Vronsky's cousin, and known for her relaxed moral standards.
• Countess Lidia (or Lydia) Ivanovna (Лидия Ивановна): Leader of a high society group that includes Karenin. She supports Russian Orthodox beliefs, mysticism, and spiritual practices.
• Countess Vronskaya: Vronsky's mother.
• Sergei "Seryozha" Alexeyich Karenin (Сергей "Серёжа" Каренин): Anna and Karenin's son. He is 8 years old.
• Anna "Annie" (Анна "Ани"): Anna and Vronsky's daughter.
• Agafya Mikhailovna (Агафья Михайловна): Levin's former nurse and now his trusted housekeeper.

Plot introduction

The novel Anna Karenina includes more than the story of Anna Karenina, a married woman who is popular in society, and her relationship with Count Vronsky, a wealthy man. Their romance is an important part of the story, but the novel also begins with Anna arriving as her brother’s family faces problems caused by his dishonest behavior with other women, which hints at challenges Anna will later experience.

Count Vronsky, who is not married, is willing to marry Anna if she agrees to leave her husband, Karenin, a high-ranking government official. Although Vronsky and Anna travel to Italy to be together, they must leave behind Anna’s child from her first marriage. While in Italy, they struggle to make friends. When they return to Russia, Anna faces rejection and loneliness because of her relationship with Vronsky. Meanwhile, Vronsky continues to enjoy social events, while Anna becomes more controlling and worried that Vronsky is being unfaithful.

Another story in the novel follows Konstantin Levin, a rich landowner who wants to marry Kitty, the sister of Dolly and the sister-in-law of Anna’s brother, Stepan Oblonsky. Levin must ask Kitty to marry him twice before she agrees. The novel describes Levin’s challenges in managing his estate, his marriage to Kitty, and his efforts to understand and accept the Christian faith, which change after the birth of his first child.

The novel covers many topics over its about 1,000 pages. These include an examination of how land and farming worked in Russia at the time, as well as politics in the Russian government and within the lives of the characters and their families. It also explores religion, moral choices, differences between men and women, and the roles of different social classes.

Summary

The novel is divided into eight parts and 239 chapters. Its opening quote is "Vengeance is mine; I will repay," from Romans 12:19, which is based on a verse from Deuteronomy 32:35. The story begins with a famous line:

Prince Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky, also called Stiva, is a Moscow aristocrat and government worker. He has been unfaithful to his wife, Princess Darya Alexandrovna, known as Dolly. Dolly discovered his affair with the family’s governess, and the household is in chaos. Stiva tells the family that his married sister, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, is coming from Saint Petersburg to help fix the situation.

At the same time, Stiva’s childhood friend, Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin, also called Kostya, arrives in Moscow. He plans to propose to Dolly’s youngest sister, Princess Katerina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, known as Kitty. Kostya is a passionate, restless, and shy aristocrat who lives on a large estate in the countryside. He learns that Kitty is also being courted by Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, an army officer.

While at the train station to meet his sister Anna, Stiva meets Vronsky, who is there to see his mother, Countess Vronskaya. Anna and Vronskaya traveled together in the same carriage. When the family reunites and Vronsky sees Anna for the first time, a railway worker is accidentally killed by a moving train. Anna sees this as a bad omen.

At the Oblonsky home, Anna talks openly to Dolly about Stiva’s affair. She convinces Dolly that Stiva still loves her despite his betrayal. Dolly is moved by Anna’s words and decides to forgive Stiva.

Kitty, who is 18, visits Dolly and Anna. This is her first season as a debutante, and she is expected to find a suitable husband. Vronsky has shown her much attention, and she expects to dance with him at a ball that evening. Kitty is deeply impressed by Anna’s beauty and personality, and she becomes just as infatuated with Anna as she is with Vronsky. When Kostya proposes to Kitty at her home, she refuses him awkwardly. She believes Vronsky will propose to her, as encouraged by her mother, Princess Shcherbatskaya, who thinks Vronsky is a better match than Kostya (unlike Kitty’s father, who prefers Kostya).

At the ball, Kitty expects Vronsky to propose, but he dances with Anna instead, choosing her over a shocked and heartbroken Kitty. Kitty realizes Vronsky has fallen in love with Anna and has no intention of marrying her, despite his flirtations. Vronsky sees his interactions with Kitty as a source of amusement and assumes she feels the same. Anna, overwhelmed by her emotions and physical reaction to Vronsky, returns to Saint Petersburg immediately. Vronsky travels on the same train. During the overnight journey, the two meet, and Vronsky confesses his love. Anna refuses him, though she is affected by his attention.

Kostya, heartbroken by Kitty’s rejection, returns to his estate, giving up hope of marriage. Anna returns to her husband, Count Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, a government official, and their 8-year-old son, Seryozha, in Saint Petersburg.

The Shcherbatskys consult doctors about Kitty’s health, which has worsened since Vronsky rejected her. A specialist suggests Kitty should go abroad to a health spa to recover. Dolly talks to Kitty and understands she is suffering because of Vronsky and Kostya, whom she cares for but has hurt. Kitty, humiliated by Vronsky and tormented by rejecting Kostya, upsets her sister by mentioning Stiva’s infidelity, saying she could never love a man who betrayed her. Meanwhile, Stiva visits Kostya on his estate while selling land nearby.

In Saint Petersburg, Anna spends more time with Princess Elizaveta (“Betsy”), a fashionable socialite and Vronsky’s cousin. Vronsky continues pursuing Anna. Though she tries to resist him at first, she eventually gives in and begins an affair. Meanwhile, Karenin reminds Anna that it is improper for her to pay too much attention to Vronsky in public, as people are gossiping about their relationship. He is worried about their public image, though he mistakenly believes Anna is above suspicion.

Vronsky, a skilled horse rider, participates in a steeplechase. He pushes his mare, Frou-Frou, too hard, causing the horse to break its back. Anna is visibly upset during the accident. Before this, Anna had told Vronsky she is pregnant with his child. Karenin is also at the race and tells Anna her behavior is improper. Anna, overwhelmed with emotion, confesses her affair to Karenin. Karenin asks her to end the relationship to avoid further gossip, believing their marriage can still be saved.

Kitty and her mother travel to a German spa to help Kitty recover from her illness. There, they meet Madame Stahl, a wheelchair user who follows Pietist beliefs, and her adopted daughter, Varenka, who is kind and virtuous. Influenced by Varenka, Kitty becomes deeply religious and caring for others. However, when her father joins them, Kitty becomes disillusioned after learning Madame Stahl is faking her illness. She returns to Moscow.

Kostya continues working on his estate, which is closely tied to his spiritual thoughts and struggles. He wrestles with the idea of falseness, wondering how to rid himself of it and criticizing falseness in others. He develops ideas about agriculture and the unique relationship between Russian peasants and their land and culture. He believes European agricultural reforms will not work in Russia due to the differences between Russian peasants and those in Europe.

When Kostya visits Dolly, she tries to understand what happened between him and Kitty and explain Kitty’s actions. Kostya is upset by Dolly’s talk about Kitty and begins to feel distant from her, believing her love for her children is false. Kostya resolves to forget Kitty and considers marrying a peasant woman. However, seeing Kitty in her carriage makes him realize he still loves her. Meanwhile, in Saint Petersburg, Karenin refuses to separate from Anna, insisting their relationship will continue. He threatens to take their son, Seryozha, away if Anna continues her affair with Vronsky.

When Anna and Vronsky continue their relationship, Karenin consults a lawyer about getting a divorce. In Russia at that time, a divorce could only be requested by the innocent party in an affair and required either the guilty party to confess or be caught in the act of adultery. Karenin forces Anna to hand over some of Vronsky’s love letters, but the lawyer says they are not enough proof. Stiva and Dolly argue against Karenin’s push for a divorce.

Karenin changes his plans after learning Anna is in danger from a difficult childbirth that results in the birth of their daughter, Annie. At Anna’s bedside, Karenin forgives Vronsky. However, Vronsky, embarrassed by Karenin’s kindness, tries to commit suicide by shooting himself but fails. As Anna recovers, she cannot bear living with Karenin despite his forgiveness and his bond with Annie. When she hears Vronsky is about

Style and major themes

Tolstoy’s writing style in Anna Karenina is often described as a bridge between two different types of novels: realist and modernist. Many critics believe his style changed during the writing of the book. According to Ruth Benson, who wrote about Tolstoy’s female characters, Tolstoy’s diaries show that he was unhappy with his early drafts of the novel. He once said, “I hate what I have written. The pages of Anna Karenina for the April issue of Russkij Vestnik are now on my table, and I don’t have the strength to fix them. Everything in them is so bad, and the whole thing should be rewritten. It should be destroyed and forgotten (1876, JI 62: 265).”

Anna Karenina is often seen as a story that examines many themes, such as dishonesty, jealousy, faith, loyalty, family, marriage, society, progress, physical desire, and the relationship between people who live on farms and those who live in cities. Literary theorist Kornelije Kvas wrote that in the novel, “groups that are not officially part of the system, like social gatherings, act as tools of control that help manage the chaos caused by Anna’s emotional actions, which represent a challenge to the rules of society.” Translator Rosemary Edmonds noted that Tolstoy does not directly tell readers what is right or wrong in the book. Instead, the themes come naturally from the “wide picture of Russian life.” She also said one of the book’s main messages is that “no one can be happy if it causes pain to someone else.”

Konstantin “Kostya” Dmitrievich Levin is often seen as a character based partly on Tolstoy’s own life. Tolstoy’s first name was “Lev,” and the Russian surname “Levin” means “of Lev.” According to notes in the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation, the ideas Levin shares in the book match Tolstoy’s own strong opinions on the same topics. W. Gareth Jones wrote that Levin proposed to Kitty in the same way Tolstoy proposed to Sophia Behrs. Also, Levin asked his fiancée to read his diary to share his mistakes and past experiences, just as Tolstoy asked his fiancée Behrs to read his diary.

Historical context

The events in the novel occur during a time of major changes caused by new laws introduced by Emperor Alexander II of Russia. These changes include freeing serfs in 1861, creating a jury system in courts, reforming the military, establishing elected local governments called zemstvos, building railroads and telegraph lines, growing banks and industries, the rise of new business leaders, the decline of the old noble class, more freedom for newspapers, the growth of public opinion, the Pan-Slavism movement, discussions about women's roles, and Russians helping Serbia in its war against the Ottoman Empire in 1876. Characters in the novel often argue about these changes.

The suburban railway station of Obiralovka, where one character dies by suicide, is now called Zheleznodorozhny, a town in Moscow Oblast.

Reception

When Anna Karenina was first introduced in the United States, people had different opinions about it. Some praised the book's themes and its main character, while others criticized its long length and the way it described suicide.

When writer William Faulkner was asked to name the three greatest novels, he answered, "Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, and Anna Karenina."

Translations into English

• Anna Karénina, translated by Nathan Haskell Dole (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1887)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Constance Garnett (London: William Heinemann, 1901). Still widely reprinted by various publishers. Revised by Leonard J. Kent and Nina Berberova as Anna Karenina (Random House, 1965), republished by Modern Library (2000)
• Anna Karénin, translated by Leo Wiener (Boston: The Colonial Press, 1904)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Rochelle S. Townsend (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1912; New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1912)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Aylmer and Louise Maude (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1918). Revised by George Gibian (Norton Critical Edition, 1970)
• Anna Karenin, translated by Rosemary Edmonds (Penguin, 1954)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Joel Carmichael (Bantam Books, 1960)
• Anna Karenina, translated by David Magarshack (New American Library, 1961)
• Anna Karénina, translated by Margaret Wettlin (Progress Publishers, 1978)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Penguin, 2000)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Kyril Zinovieff and Jenny Hughes (Oneworld Classics, 2008)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Rosamund Bartlett (Oxford University Press, 2014)
• Anna Karenina, translated by Marian Schwartz (Yale University Press, 2015)

In 2000, academic Zoja Pavlovskis-Petit compared different translations of Anna Karenina. She noted that the 1965 revision of Constance Garnett’s 1901 translation by Leonard J. Kent and Nina Berberova corrected errors, tightened the writing, and added details Garnett missed. This version included full Russian names and footnotes to explain cultural details. She recommended it as a reader’s first choice.

She also mentioned the Maudes’ translation: while the revised Garnett and Magarshack versions were better, the 1995 World’s Classics edition included a detailed character list and notes based on the Maudes’ work. She said Edmonds’ translation had strong scholarship but missed some subtleties in Tolstoy’s language. Carmichael’s version was readable but had errors. Magarshack’s translation used simple, clear English but had some awkward moments. Wettlin’s Soviet version was steady but uninspired, though it included few cultural details.

In In Quest Of Tolstoy (2008), Hughes McLean compared seven translations. He said the Pevear and Volokhonsky version was good but not clearly better than others. He recommended the Garnett–Kent–Berberova revision and the Pevear and Volokhonsky version. He criticized the Maudes for errors and said Magarshack and Carmichael were not consistently better. He also noted Edmonds’ version had no notes and sometimes changed Tolstoy’s style.

McLean said the Garnett–Kent–Berberova version used an older Russian text but had thorough notes. He criticized Pevear and Volokhonsky for not using the best critical text and for flawed notes.

Reviewing translations by Bartlett and Schwartz, Masha Gessen noted that each version highlighted different aspects of Tolstoy’s writing. Garnett’s version made Tolstoy sound like a British gentleman, while Pevear and Volokhonsky used conversational American English. Bartlett’s version used updated British-style language, and Schwartz’s version was closer to the original Russian but included many details.

The title has been translated as Anna Karenin and Anna Karenina. The first version uses the masculine form for all names, while the second is a direct transliteration of the Russian name. Vladimir Nabokov explained that in Russian, surnames ending in consonants add an "a" for women, but English does not use gendered surnames. Most translators keep the Russian name, including Aylmer and Louise Maude, who lived in Russia. Constance Garnett and Rosemary Edmonds, who were not Russian, preferred the first version.

Adaptations

The novel has been made into different types of media, including operas, movies, TV shows, ballets, and radio plays. The first movie version came out in 1911, but it no longer exists.

• 1911: Anna Karenina (1911 film), a Russian version directed by Maurice André Maître
• 1914: Anna Karenina (1914 film), a Russian version directed by Vladimir Gardin
• 1915: Anna Karenina (1915 film), an American version starring Danish actress Betty Nansen
• 1918: Anna Karenina (1918 film), a Hungarian version starring Irén Varsányi as Anna Karenina
• 1927: Love (1927 film), an American version starring Greta Garbo and directed by Edmund Goulding. This version changed many parts of the novel and had two different endings, with a happy one for American audiences
• 1935: Anna Karenina (1935 film), starring Greta Garbo and Fredric March; directed by Clarence Brown
• 1948: Anna Karenina (1948 film), starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson; directed by Julien Duvivier
• 1953: Anna Karenina (1953 film), a Russian version directed by Tatyana Lukashevich
• 1953: Panakkaari (Rich woman), a Tamil language version directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan, starring T. R. Rajakumari, M. G. Ramachandran, and V. Nagayya
• 1960: Nahr al-Hob (The River of Love), an Egyptian film directed by Ezz El-Dine Zulficar, starring Omar Sharif and Faten Hamama
• 1961: Anna Karenina (1961 film), a BBC TV version directed by Rudolph Cartier, starring Claire Bloom and Sean Connery
• 1967: Anna Karenina (1967 film), a Russian version directed by Alexander Zarkhi
• 1977: Anna Karenina, a 10-episode BBC TV series directed by Basil Coleman, starring Nicola Pagett, Eric Porter, and Stuart Wilson
• 1975/1979: Anna Karenina (1975 film), a version of the Bolshoi Ballet production directed by Margarita Pilikhina, first shown in Finland in 1976 and in the U.S. in 1979
• 1985: Anna Karenina (1985 film), a TV movie starring Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Reeve, directed by Simon Langton
• 1997: Anna Karenina (1997 film), the first American version filmed entirely in Russia, directed by Bernard Rose, starring Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean
• 2000: Anna Karenina (2000 TV series), a British version by David Blair, starring Helen McCrory and Kevin McKidd
• 2012: Anna Karenina (2012 film), a British version by Joe Wright from a screenplay by Tom Stoppard, starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law
• 2013: it:Anna Karenina (2013 miniseries), an English-language Italian/French/Spanish/German/Lithuanian TV co-production by Christian Duguay, starring Vittoria Puccini, Benjamin Sadler, and Santiago Cabrera; also presented as a two-part miniseries or a single 3-hour and 15-minute film
• 2015: The Beautiful Lie (2015 miniseries), an Australian modern version of Anna Karenina by Glendyn Ivin and Peter Salmon, starring Sarah Snook, Rodger Corser, Benedict Samuel, and Sophie Lowe
• 2017: Anna Karenina: Vronsky's Story, a Russian version directed by Karen Shakhnazarov
• 2023: Volver a caer, a Mexican version by Almudena Ocaña and Aurora García Tortosa, starring Kate del Castillo, Maxi Iglesias, and Rubén Zamora

• 1992: Helen Edmundson adapted Anna Karenina for a production by Shared Experience, which toured the UK and internationally; Edmundson won a Time Out Award and a TMA Award
• 1992: Anna Karenina, a musical with book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by Daniel Levine. It opened on Broadway at Circle in the Square on August 26, 1992, and closed on October 4, 1992, after 18 previews and 46 performances
• 1994: Anna Karenina, a musical by Hungarian authors Tibor Kocsák (music) and Tibor Miklós (book and lyrics)

• 1979: Anna Karenina, choreography by André Prokovsky, with music by Tchaikovsky
• 2005: Anna Karenina, choreography by Boris Eifman, with music by Tchaikovsky
• 2019: Anna Karenina, choreography by Yuri Possokhov, with music from Ilya Demutsky

• 1949: The MGM Theater of the Air, starring Marlene Dietrich and directed by Marx Loeb

• 1978: Anna Karenina, composed by Iain Hamilton
• 2007: Anna Karenina, composed by David Carlson