Anna Karenina

• Who wrote Anna Karenina?

  Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
• Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

  • Considered one of the giants of Russian literature 
  • A master of realistic fiction and one of the world's greatest novelists. 
  • Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views
• • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1877, provides a rich portrayal of various social issues, including those concerning women. 
  • Tolstoy offers a critique of the oppressive social norms and gender roles prevalent in 19th-century Russian society. 
  • He invites readers to reflect on the constraints imposed on women and the consequences of their rebellion against these constraints
• Key Women’s Issues Depicted in the Novel

  1. Marriage and Society
  2. Double Standards
  3. Limited Agency
  4. Motherhood
  5. Social Status and Reputation
  6. Dependence on Men
  7. Isolation and Loneliness
• Traditional Concepts about Female Roles

  1. Mother
  2. Wife
  3. Woman Alone
  4. The Young Girl
  5. Women on a pedestal
  6. The Sex Object and Sexual Politics
  7. The Educated Woman
  8. The Lady
• Mother

  • Bringer of life, comforting, a source of delight and comfort. The Blessed Virgin Mary can be seen as a representation of this description.
  • Has gained respectability for being married and producing a child.
  • An epitome of submission and a constant willingness to please.
  • Mothers can also bring pain, death, temptation, and sin. Classic example of this is Eve.
• Wife

  • Controlling, over the top, and can be susceptible to nagging; is disappointed easily when her man shows vulnerability and weakness; is overprotective and territorial.
  • Hera from Greek mythology is its classic example.
• Woman Alone

  • Carries a negative connotation; pitied or ridiculed, queer, thin, and unattractive.
  • Possesses withdrawal from life, prim, highly conventional, excessively curious, and quarrelsome.
  • May manifest great piety or religiosity, but not spirituality.
• The Young Girl

  • Determined by their passivity, incompetence, fearfulness, docility and dependence.
  • They can be asexual, silly, and flirtatious.
• Women on a pedestal

  • Uses beauty to attain power.
• The Sex Object and Sexual Politics

  • Women are seen as prey, which can be entrapped, tamed, and molded to become the person that they want her to be.
• The Educated Woman

  • A woman who is intelligent and smart, yet seen as unattractive and dull
• The Lady

  • Her importance is recognized for her social class rather than the prestige glued to her name or ancestors. They are idle, rich women who are pampered and secured.
• Anna Karenina

  • Considered as one of the greatest realist fictions of all time. 
  • Widely enjoyed by readers and critics. 
  • Not just about Anna’s illicit affair with a much younger man
  • Its theme centers around the writer’s POV on the sociopolitical conditions of Russia during the early 19th century, philosophical views on life and death, the emancipation of slaves, power struggles, and women’s role in society