Anna Karenina

The novel became a best-seller in the United States 2004 after a recommendation by TV personality Oprah Winfrey. It was this film and another groundbreaking film, Blowup, that led Jack Valenti to begin work on the MPAA film rating system that went into effect in 1968. Adaptations include:. In order for the film to be released with the MPAA approval, the releasing studio Warner Brothers agreed to minor deletions of certain profanities and to have a special warning placed on all advertisement indicating adult content in the film. The novel has been filmed more than a dozen times. At the time, Jack Valenti, who had just taken over as president of the MPAA in 1966, had just thrown out the old Hays Code. A public domain version of it is here (http://www.ccel.org/t/tolstoy/confession/confession.html). The film is considered groundbreaking for having a level of profanity and sexual implication unheard of at that time.

The Confession contains many other autobiographical insights into the themes of Anna Karenina. The film also won for Black and White Cinematography and is consistently on the top 250 films list at the Internet Movie Database. For in the end what are we, who are convinced that suicide is obligatory and yet cannot resolve to commit it, other than the weakest, the most inconsistent and, speaking frankly, the most stupid of people, making such a song and dance with our banalities?. Each of the four main actors were nominated for an Oscar but only Taylor and Sandy Dennis (playing the mousy wife) won for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively. There is even one passage that could possibly be interpreted as a sign of Anna's eventual redemption in Tolstoy's eyes:. In the play, each scene takes place in Martha and George's house while in the film, a few scenes take place at the inn and outside the house. (Another theme in Anna Karenina is that the aristocratic habit of speaking in French instead of Russian is another form of society's falseness.). The play features only the four characters listed above while in the film there are two other characters, the host of an inn who appears briefly and says a few lines, and his wife, who serves a tray of drinks and leaves silently.

'Rien ne forme un jeune homme comme une liaison avec une femme comme il faut.'. The film version differs slightly from the play. A dear old aunt of mine, the purest of creatures, with whom I lived, was always saying that she wished for nothing as much as that I would have a relationship with a married woman. It was released in 1966. Tolstoy also details the acceptability of adulterous "liaisons" in aristocratic Russian society:. A film adaptation of the play was directed by Mike Nichols and starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Every time I tried to display my innermost desires – a wish to be morally good – I met with contempt and scorn, and as soon as I gave in to base desires I was praised and encouraged. I am".

He describes his real-life dissatisfaction with the hypocrisy of his class:. The play ends on a slightly less dark note, with George singing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" to Martha, whereupon she replies, "I am, George.. Many of the novel's themes can be found in Tolstoy's Confession, his first-person rumination about the nature of life and faith, written just two years after the publication of Anna Karenina. George and Martha in fact have created their son; he does not exist as George and Martha could not have children. George says that he "killed" their son because Martha broke their rule that she could not speak of their son to others - but George also says that "it was...time". Thus scholars usually assume that Levin's thoughts reflect Tolstoy's own. "Truth and illusion...Who knows the difference?". The character Levin is recognized as a stand-in for Tolstoy himself, whose first name in Russian is "Lev." He incorporated other details of his life into the character, such as Levin's insistence that Kitty read his journals before they marry, something Tolstoy made his own wife do. But - if their son was real, what has George supposed to have done? The circumstances of their son's death was touched on before, though in a different context.

In many ways, Anna Karenina was the most personal novel Tolstoy wrote up to that point. As this progresses, George begins to recite sections of the Dies Irae (part of the Requiem, the Latin mass for the dead), and in the end:. But one of the most prominent themes Tolstoy expounds upon in the novel is the relationship between love and honesty, both the different varieties of them as well as the different degrees to which they coexist, and the happiness that does or doesn't result. George starts to talk about this son, how "Martha...climbing all over the poor bastard, trying to break the bathroom door down to wash him in the tub when he's sixteen," then George prompting Martha for her "recitation", in which they describe their son's upbringing in an almost duet-like fashion:. He also draws contrasts between the peace and wholesomeness of the country and the decadence of urban society. George and Martha supposedly have a son, which George has instructed Martha to keep quiet about to which she failed. Tolstoy skewers religious hypocrisy and insincerity in several characters, especially Karenin, Anna's husband, and the moralizing Countess Lydia Ivanovna. George calls Nick to bring back his wife for the final game, "bringing up baby".

Anna Karenina is filled with themes and imagery that illustrates Tolstoy's disdain of his aristocratic peers, and of a litany of human weaknesses. George then continues to say how he was in the Mediterranean when the moon went down and came up again: Nick asks whether it was after George killed his parents:. So by the time Anna throws herself under a train at the end of the story, Tolstoy likely did not want readers to sympathize with her supposed mistreatment, but rather to recognize that her inability to truly commit to her own happiness or self-truth led to her ignominious end. The doorbell rings: It is George, with a bunch of snapdragons in his hand, calling out "Flores par los muertes" (flowers for the dead, in a reference to A Streetcar Named Desire). Martha and George argue about whether the moon is up or down: George insists it is up while Martha says she saw no moon from the bedroom. The joyous, honest and solid relationship of Levin and Kitty is continually contrasted in the novel with that of Anna and Vronsky, which is marked by constant upheaval, backbiting, and suspicion. Nick joins her after a while, recalling Honey in the bathroom winking at him. Levin tries unsuccessfully to fit into high society when wooing the young Kitty Scherbatsky in Petersburg; he wins her only when he allows himself to be himself. In the third act, Martha comes out, with no one on stage, in an almost-soliloquy like speech.

Levin was a wealthy landowner from the provinces who could move in aristocratic circles, but who preferred to work on his estate in the country. This gives George an idea, and leads into the next, crucial act of the play. But the novel contains the parallel and contrasting love story of Konstantin Levin. At the end of the act, Honey comes out, hearing Martha and Nick brush against the doorchimes, wondering who rang. A common way to interpret Anna's tragedy, then, was that she could neither be completely honest nor completely false, showing a Hamlet-like inner conflict that eventually drives her to suicide. George however, sits calmly, quietly, even reading a book:. Unable to accept Vronsky's rebuff, and unable to return to a life she hates, she kills herself. At the end of this act, Martha starts to seduce Nick blatantly in front of George.

But when Vronsky's love cools, Anna cannot bring herself to return to the husband she detests, even though he will not permit her to see their son until she does. She feels as she is about to be sick and runs to the bathroom. By falling in love, they go beyond society's acceptance of trivial adulterous dalliances. Honey, thoroughly drunk, does not realize that George's story about the "Mousie's father" and Honey, who "tooted brandy immodestly and spent half of her time in the upchuck", with her hysterical pregnancy is in fact about her. Petersburg society until she leaves her husband for the handsome and charming military officer, Count Vronsky. While Nick and George were talking, Nick described the story about how they ended up in New Carthage and their marriage. Anna is the jewel of St. George is quick off the mark in an indirect retort, however (the next game, "Get the Guests").

However, Tolstoy was both a moralist and severe critic of the excesses of his aristocratic peers, and Anna Karenina is often interpreted overall as a parable on the difficulty of being honest to oneself when the rest of society accepts falseness. This brutal event consists of the game "Humiliate the Host". The novel, set among the highest circles of Russian society, is generally thought by the casual reader to be nothing more than the story of a tragic romance. Is the "boy who shot his mother" in fact George and he was lying to Nick about the asylum, is the asylum something metaphoric, or is Martha lying about the book, or is something else afoot? The immediate truth is not in fact clearly evident. And in the joys and fears of fatherhood, Levin at last develops faith in the Christian God. Albee only suggests. Some Russian volunteers, including Vronsky, who does not plan to come back, leave to help in the Serbian revolt that has just broken out against the Turks (see also History of Serbia, 1877). But Nick is the only one who has a spark of realization to the matter.

Stiva gets the job he wanted, and Karenin takes custody of Annie. Martha begins to describe a novel that George wrote recently: "a novel about a naughty boychild...who killed his mother and his father dead." Martha continues: "Georgie said...but Sir, it isn't a novel at all...this really happened...TO ME!". George and Martha physically fight: George grabs Martha by the throat. Part 8 continues the story after Anna's death. Later, George tells a story about a boy who shot his mother (by accident), who was driving in the countryside, who "swerved the car, to avoid a porcupine, and drove straight into a large tree...when they told him that his father was dead...he was put in an asylum" This theme is important, as it recurs later in the play. (Tolstoy reportedly was inspired to write Anna Karenina by reading a newspaper report of such a death.). Nick talks about his wife Honey and her hysterical pregnancy - and:. They plan to return to the country, but in a jealous rage Anna leaves early, and in a parallel to part 1, commits suicide by throwing herself in the path of a train. In Walpurgisnacht, the next act, Nick and George are alone, talking.

Anna and Vronsky become increasingly bitter towards each other. Martha, in the first act, "Fun and Games," taunts George in stressing his failures, in an almost brutal fashion, even after George exhibits violence:. Stiva, while seeking Karenin's commendation for a new job, again asks him to grant Anna a divorce; but Karenin's decisions are now governed by a "clairvoyant" – recommended by Lidia Ivanovna – who apparently counsels him to decline. These games are referred to with sarcastically alliterative names, "Humiliate the Host," "Get the Guests," and so on. In part 7, the Levins are in Moscow for Kitty's benefit as she gives birth to a son. The play involves the two couples playing "games," which are not exactly games in the conventional sense but are, in a sense, savage verbal acts against one or two of the others at the party. So she writes to Karenin, and leaves with Vronsky for Moscow. Throughout the play, there are many darker veins running through the dialogue, with recurring themes suggesting the border between created fiction and reality is continually challenged.

Yet again, Dolly seems unsuccessful; but when Vronsky leaves for several days of provincial elections, a combination of boredom and suspicion convinces Anna she must marry Vronsky. Nick and his wife are fascinated and embarrassed, and stay even when the abuse turns periodically towards them as well. In part 6, Dolly visits Anna, and at Vronsky's request, she asks Anna to resume seeking a divorce from Karenin. Martha is the daughter of the president of the university where George works as a history professor; Nick is the biology professor whom Martha insists teaches math, and Honey is his mousy, brandy-abusing wife. Shortly afterward, she and Vronsky leave for the country. In the play, a Martha and George, a bitter erudite couple, invite a new professor and his wife to their house after a party and then continue drinking and engage in relentless, scathing verbal and sometimes physical abuse in front of them. However, Anna manages to visit Seriozha unannounced on his birthday, but is discovered by the furious Karenin, who had told their son that his mother was dead. It was directed by Alan Schneider.

Karenin is comforted – and influenced – by the strong-willed Countess Lidia Ivanovna, an enthusiast of religious and mystic ideas fashionable with the upper classes, who counsels him to keep Seriozha away from Anna. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. In Europe, Vronsky and Anna struggle to find friends who will accept them and pursue activities that will amuse them, but they eventually return to Russia. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The couple go to him, and Kitty nurses him until he dies, while also discovering she is pregnant. President George Washington and his wife Martha. A few months later, Levin learns that his brother Nikolai is dying. There is a strong belief that the main characters' names (at least) are based on the first U.S.

In part 5, Levin and Kitty marry. Much more straightforward is Stiva's matchmaking with Levin: a meeting he arranges between Levin and Kitty results in their reconciliation and betrothal. Vronsky at first plans to flee to Tashkent, but changes his mind after seeing Anna, and they leave for Europe without obtaining a divorce after all. However, Anna recovers, having given birth to a daughter she names Annie. Stiva finds himself pleading on her behalf for Karenin to divorce.

At her bedside, Karenin forgives Vronsky, who, in remorse, attempts suicide. Again, Dolly seems to be unsuccessful, but Karenin changes his plans after hearing that Anna is dying in childbirth. Anna's brother Stiva argues against it, and persuades Karenin to speak with Dolly first. By part 4, however, Karenin is also finding the situation intolerable and begins seeking divorce.

Back in Petersburg, Karenin exasperates Anna by refusing to separate with her, and threatens not to let her see their son Seriozha ever again if she leaves or misbehaves. Dolly seems to be unsuccessful, but a chance sighting of Kitty makes Levin realize he still loves her. Part 3 examines Levin's life on his rural farming estate, a setting closely tied to Levin's spiritual thoughts and struggles. Dolly also meets Levin, and attempts to revive his feelings for Kitty. When Kitty learns that Vronsky prefers Anna over her, she travels to a resort at a German spring to recover from the shock.

Anna's anguish when Vronsky falls from a racehorse makes her feelings obvious, prompting her to confess to her husband. In part 2, Karenin scolds Anna for talking too much with Vronsky, but she returns Vronsky's affections nonetheless, and becomes pregnant with his child. Levin returns to his farm, abandoning any hope of marriage, and Anna returns to her husband Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin, a senior government official, and their son Seriozha in Petersburg. There a man commits suicide by jumping in front of a train.

Kitty turns him down, as she is expecting an offer from army officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky. Vronsky has no intention of marrying, however, and falls in love with Anna after meeting her at the Saint Petersburg railway station. Meanwhile, Stiva's childhood friend Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin, a serious young aristocratic landowner who actually lives on and manages his estate, arrives in Moscow to offer marriage to Dolly's sister Katerina Alexandrovna Shcherbatsky ("Kitty"). Anna Karenina, Stiva's sister, persuades Dolly not to leave him. Part 1 introduces Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky ("Stiva"), a civil servant who has been unfaithful to his wife Darya Alexandrovna ("Dolly").

The novel is in eight parts. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy's contemporary, in reviewing the book, declared it to be "flawless as a work of art". Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered this book his first true novel. Consequently, the novel's first complete appearance was in book form.

The novel initially appeared serially in the periodical Ruskii Vestnik ("Russian Messenger"), but Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment. Anna Karenina (Анна Каренина) is a novel by Leo Tolstoy that was first published in 1877. 2000: A 4 part British TV adaptation directed by David Blair. 1997: The first US version to be filmed on location in Russia, directed by Bernard Rose and starring Sophie Marceau.

1985: Starring Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Reeve, directed by Simon Langton. 1977: A 10 part British TV miniseries directed by Basil Coleman. 1967: A Russian version directed by Alexander Zarkhi. 1953: A Russian version directed by Tatyana Lukashevich.

1948: Starring Vivien Leigh and directed by Julien Duvivier. 1935: The most famous and critically acclaimed version, starring Greta Garbo and Frederic March and directed by Clarence Brown. This version featured significant changes from the novel and had two different endings, with a happy one for American audiences. 1927: An American version titled Love, starring Greta Garbo and directed by Edmund Goulding.

1915: An American version starring Danish actress Betty Nansen. 1914: A Russian adaptation directed by Vladimir Gardin.