Interesting post. I just saw the film and am almost finished reading the novel for the first time. I disagree with one statement in your post about "One wonders what would have happened had Anna invested the energy she expended in her affair into her marriage to Karenin, who is not an altogether bad man." He comes across much more sympathetic in the film than in the book. The book character is much more concerned with outward appearances than in trying to understand his wife. I am in no way excusing Anna's choices or condoning her sin but I believe Karenin was not free of blame. If he truly loved Anna, he had a strange way of showing it...or not showing it.

Yes, that's a good point about Dolly- it was good to keep on loving her family. Goodness is not easy for her, but it is better....she herself sees that when she visits Anna. And the city/country dynamic is so important too, it's true. Such a rich story; thank you for the post!

Amy, thanks for your thoughtful insights. In the book, I saw Anna withholding from divorce because of Seryozha. Unfortunately, I don't think this came across in the movie at all--which was the big disappointment in the film. The complexity of Anna's character--the depth to which she was truly tortured--didn't come across. She makes some attempts to see Seryozha, but that's it. She's more concerned that people won't come to visit her in Petersburg. There are so many other important layers to the story--ones that can't be acknowledged in a brief post. Like how Anna is treated by society compared to her brother and Vronsky. Shameful. As for your point about Dolly, yes, her life did seem a bit sad. But was it good? Was it good to keep on loving her children, her family, despite the disappointment in her marriage? I don't think we can know *for sure* what Tolstoy thought the answer was for Anna, but we do know that when he wrote this, he was in the midst of the deepest spiritual struggle of his life. We also know that Levin is the most autobiographical sketch--great portions of the AK text are autobiographical, and Levin's family happiness is pitted against Anna's unhappy one. We also know Tolstoy wasn't just making a point about fidelity in family life; he was issuing an indictment on the kind of lifestyles people lived in the cities. Levin wasn't just faithful to his family, he was also a rich landowner that shunned city life to live and work shoulder to shoulder with peasants, as Tolstoy actually did. But all these complexities are too much for a single post. But they're great fun to talk about! @ Angelina, I like the quote as well! That is only the script version of the movie, but I'm sure Levin says something similar in the book.

One of the best best pieces of literature ever written. Have recommended it for years as a primer on the glory of fidelity and utter devastation that results from abandoning God's laws. Worth re-reading once or twice a decade.

Like Levin, I have chosen the simple, rural life--which I wouldn't trade for all the riches in the world. One drawback, however: Anna Karenina isn't playing here! One way or another, I will see it. And I will read it again, too. Thanks for an insightful post. I hope it draws many to this important story, Halee.

“Impure love is not love, but a form of gluttony. Sensual desire indulged for its own sake is the misuse of something sacred.” I really love this quote from Levin. Is it in the book as well? Such wisdom is desperately needed in this society, for young adults especially! I have never read the book nor seen the film, but I am going to have to read the book now. It sounds like a must-read! Great post.

Great piece. A good reminder that it is in the daily, moment-by-moment choices, however small, amount to a changed life. Thanks, Katelyn.

Halee - have you read the book, and if so, was it recently? I read the book earlier this year, and I haven't seen the film (I've shunned anything with Keira since Pride & Prejudice, an affront to the stellar BBC depiction), but this review, which also highlights what's problematic about movie versions of books (using both AK and LOTR as examples), draws quite a different conclusion, and one that resonates with me more: http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/annakarenina.html

I liked this post a lot and I love Anna Karenina. But Anna Karenina is also a tragedy, and Anna herself is very complicated, which is what I love about Tolstoy. There is no question that Kitty and Levin's marriage is the good, life-creating source of happiness, but Karenin is not a very sympathetic character, and in the book at least it is made clear that Anna married him under pressure when she was extremely young. It is also suggested a number of times that he is not very capable of actual love. Her previous years of marriage to Karenin, during which she did put all the effort she could into it, brought her only resignation. This is also what we get from the story of Dolly, whom I love perhaps most of all as a character. Dolly finds much more real happiness in her children than Anna does in her frivolous life with Vronsky, but the book also makes clear that Dolly's path is a hard and often sad one as well. To make things even more ambiguous, the possibility is also implied that Anna and Vronsky could have made a real life together had Anna gotten a full divorce and been able to commit herself to Vronsky. But she can't, partly because of Karenin but mostly because of herself-- she can't bring herself to trust Vronsky; she is always questioning him, and she destroys her own happiness. Does she do it because the affair is based on selfishness and not actual love? Or because she is separated from her son and never recovers from that? Or is she just unable to be happy-- destructive and depressed like so many people? The book leaves it open. That's why I don't think Tolstoy's message is as simple as that Anna should have stuck with Karenin at all costs. But there is no question that he shows that a marriage founded on real, deep love, trust, and faithfulness from the beginning-- like Kitty's and Levin's and unlike either Anna's marriage or her affair-- is the way to happiness.

Here is a full-of-wisdom post. I am sharing it! Thanks Halee.