The issue of judgment and sympathies in Anna Karenina is one that, each time I read the novel, seems to become more complicated and fraught with obscurations. The fundamental problem with locating the voice of judgment is that throughout the novel there are places where we feel less comfortable with the seemingly simple, sometimes even didactic presentation of Anna and Vronsky's downfall in sin alongside Levin's constant moral struggle. As Anna's story unfolds episodically within the context of the rest of the novel, Tolstoy seems to be trying to make us understand her guilt more and more clearly; But at the same time, we have more and more difficulty determining the precise location of this guilt. In a novel as perfectly constructed as this, we are tempted to look for the places where the undercurrents of the text, the places where the text takes on a life and force of its own, clash with, or at least complicate, the author's discernment. judgement. By closely examining Tolstoy's treatment of Anna's moral crisis in relation to his treatment of Levin, we might attempt to unravel the book's rather complex and complex system of condemnation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The epigraph of the novel sets a certain tone for us before we even begin reading; The biblical formula “Vengeance is mine; I will repay”, plants in our heads the idea that the harm will be done and that punishment will be exacted. Indeed, we find an error from the first lines of the first chapter, in the alliance of Stepan Arkadyich with the French governess, which plunged the Oblonsky house into "confusion".(1) Tolstoy describes Stepan Arkadyich as a pleasant man and honest. , appreciated bon vivants sometimes seem to be dripping with contempt. He is "lazy and mischievous"(14), his life "dissipated"(14), and "the distributors of earthly goods, in the form of positions, leases, concessions and the like, were all his friends and could not pass for one of theirs ... Oblonsky did not need to particularly strive to obtain a profitable position it was enough for him not to refuse, not to envy, not to argue, not to argue; get offended, which, because of his natural kindness, he never did anyway” (14) Stiva is basically a completely harmless, even sympathetic, character, but at the same time we are very aware. that he is one of the moral wimps of the novel There is something very evocative in the “stupid smile” (3) that Stiva gives to Dolly as she confronts him with the evidence of his flirtation: he is done. appearing constitutionally incapable of responding appropriately In an irony almost too blatant to call irony, Anna enters this scene in the role of restorer of her brother's family harmony. But before she got off the train from Moscow, before her name even appeared in the text, the seduction began. From the moment Vronsky lays eyes on her, the narrator makes it clear that the attraction and flirtation are, on Anna's part, genuine and unintentional. When she looks at Vronsky as he has stepped aside to let her out of the car, Tolstoy, through Vronsky, notes "the restrained animation that played on her face and floated between her bright eyes and the barely perceptible smile who curled her red lips. It was as if a surplus of something overflowed so much from his being that it expressed itself beyond his will, sometimes in the brightness of his eyes, sometimes in his smile. She deliberately extinguished the light in her eyes, butit shone, against his will, in a dazzling manner. barely perceptible smile."(61)It is significant that our introduction to Anna is through Vronsky. Vronsky's response to her is instantaneous, and the reader shares her gaze as he "follows her from eyes until her graceful figure disappears” (63) while we recognize what has happened between them, we are also made to instinctively feel the force of attraction If Anna can be said to cast a spell, Tolstoy s. ensures that the reader falls under the spell, as does Vronsky. She continues to exude an almost magical charm through her impressions of the members of the Oblonsky family. During her first conversation with Dolly, she is presented as filled with a. genuine empathy and compassion for her sister-in-law is soon “in love with her, as young girls are capable of being in love with older married ladies” (71) Admiration comes from all sides – the story. he himself seems to be in love with her. troubled family ("God is merciful" (71), Anna writes meaningfully to her brother, inviting him to dinner at his house), in time for the big ball, during which Anna's charm, at its peak, becomes almost sinister. Our view of her during this scene is that of Kitty, who is of course very threatened by Anna as soon as men, notably Vronsky, enter the scene. Even if his enchantment is still presented as natural and naive, there is now “something terrible and cruel” (83). Nevertheless, the moments between Anna and Vronsky as they fall in love, at the ball and then later on the train platform, are among the most electrifying in the novel. There are certainly shades of judgment about Anna's narcissism; Kitty describes her as "demonic" (83), and when Anna unexpectedly sees Vronsky through the snow on the platform, even though she apparently told herself that she "wouldn't even allow herself to think about him" ( 102), she is “overcome by a feeling of joyful pride” (102) when she sees the admiration on his face. But the exhilaration and sexual excitement that comes through in the writing about these two is unmistakable and utterly engaging. Their affair becomes desirable for the reader, because the passages where they are together, at the beginning of their relationship, are very charged. We can safely assume that there was no such intensity or narcissism in Stepan Arkadyich's affair with the French governess, as we think. I can feel that the quality of Levin's feelings for Kitty are presented very differently. Far from seeming fatal or inevitable, Levin's love for Kitty is an inheritance, it has escaped his older sisters and is now vested in him. Nor is it an impetuous love. Vronsky follows Anna the day after the ball on a whim, simply to be where she is; Levin spends a good part of the novel alone, rejected by Kitty, but thinking of her. When he sees her again, his love therefore appears stable, measured and true, contrasting with the uncertainty which torments the mutual love of Anna and Vronsky. All of the book's overt signs (one might even say there's a "protest-too-" (many of them), point to Levin as the moral center of the book. He is too naive to be a “success” in society. He is a “worker of the earth,” a profession to which Tolstoy clearly grants a kind of Edenic (if perhaps slightly condescending) value. He places great value on family. He is not looking for love of the kind that Vronsky and Anna had; almost as an extension of his feeling for the earth and soil, Levin is not looking for a great passion, but a family life. Perhaps most importantly, he is always working on himself, questioning himself, questioning himself, collecting seriously.