Anna Karenina Summary

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a successful novel that received honorable mentions and even published in a Russian newspaper.

Here is How the Story Goes

Anna Karenina, the main character, is a beautiful Russian lady living in Moscow. She is elegant and the envy of those around her. Anna is married and to a man named Alexis Alexandrovitch. Her husband holds a high position in the state department. She also has a son. Anna does not like her husband. She sees him as a robot who lacks emotion, and hence, their relationship lacks passion.

Anna goes to her elder brother named Stephan Arcadievitch, who lived in St. Petersburg.  Stephane is unfaithful to Dolly, his wife, and as a result, Dolly intends to leave him. Anna intends to try and reconcile the two. She is successful, and Stephane and Dolly return to being happy together.

Anna responds to an invitation while still in St. Petersburg. She meets a handsome gentleman by the name Count Vronsky. He is quite impressed with Anna like all the others attending, and Anna likes him. However, Vronsky is involved with a woman named Kitty, who is Stephan’s sister in law. Levin is also interested in Kitty, and he is a close friend to Stephane. Kitty rejects the advances and proposal of Levine after being influenced by her mother. Her mother, the princess, wants Vronsky for her daughter, who seemed more promising as a soldier, unlike the poor Levine.

Anna and Vronsky develop a strong connection. They attend invitations together and spend lots of time with each other oblivious of what anyone else thought of them. Everyone talks about the two, but they are happy and do not care. Anna gets affected after some time and decides to stop the relationship before it went further. She heads home. Vronsky is adamant and follows her and boards the train Anna leaves in. He is in love and does not care about what happens in the future because of it.