Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina («Анна Каренина») is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written, Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1875 to 1877, all but the last part appearing in the periodical The Russian Messenger. The novel deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. urban life. The story centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes the social circles of Saint Petersburg and forces the young lovers to flee to Italy in a search for happiness, but after they return to Russia, their lives further unravel. Trains are a motif throughout the novel, with several major plot points taking place either on passenger trains or at stations in Saint Petersburg or elsewhere in Russia. The story takes place against the backdrop of the liberal reforms initiated by Emperor Alexander II of Russia and the rapid societal transformations that followed. The novel has been adapted into various media including theater, opera, film, television, ballet, figure skating, and radio drama. 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, cavalry officer. Prince Stepan "Stiva" Arkadyevich Oblonsky (Степан "Стива" Аркадьевич Облонский): civil servant and Anna's brother, man about town, 34 years of age. (Stepan and Stiva are Russianized forms of Stephen and Steve, respectively.) Princess Darya "Dolly" Alexandrovna Oblonskaya (Дарья "Долли" Александровна Облонская): Stepan's wife, 33 years of age. Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin (Алексей Александрович Каренин): senior statesman and Anna's husband, twenty years her senior. Konstantin "Kostya" Dmitrievich Levin/Lyovin (Константин "Костя" Дмитриевич Лёвин): Kitty's suitor, Stiva's old friend, landowner, 32 years of age.

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Related concepts (2)

Anna Karenina

Novel

A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The English word to describe such a work derives from the novella for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of novellus, diminutive of novus, meaning "new". According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance novella.