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1-Page Summary of Anna Karenina
The Oblonsky family is in chaos because of adultery. Dolly Oblonskaya has found out that her husband, Stiva, had been having an affair with the governess for their children and she’s threatening to leave him. He feels remorseful but mostly confused about it all. His sister Anna Karenina comes from St Petersburg to help mediate the situation between them. She eventually brings them back together again.
Meanwhile, Dolly’s younger sister, Kitty, is courted by two men: Konstantin Levin and Alexei Vronsky. She turns down Levin in favor of Vronsky but soon after falls for another man named Alexei Vronsky instead. This ruins her relationship with Levin who then goes back to his estate depressed and heartbroken. Anna Karenina returns home from St Petersburg and realizes she has fallen in love with a married man but decides that it was just a passing crush.
Vronsky and Anna meet again in St. Petersburg, where she is now living with her husband Karenin. Vronsky continues to pursue Anna, who starts spending time at the home of his cousin Betsy Tverskaya. She asks Vronsky to speak with Kitty about their relationship; he refuses but tells her that he loves her for the first time.
Later, Vronsky participates in a horse race and accidentally breaks his horse’s back. Karenin notices Anna watching the race with interest, so he confronts her afterward. She admits to having an affair with Vronsky, who is stunned by this news.
Meanwhile, Kitty is recovering from her illness at a spa. She meets two other people there: Varenka and Nikolai.
Levin’s brother from a different mother, Koznyshev visits him at his country estate. He criticizes Levin for quitting the local council and tells him to return to it because he’s good at what he does. Levin explains that he left because the job was too monotonous and pointless. However, when working with the peasants on his own estate, Levin finds it more enjoyable. He feels frustrated by their resistance to new technologies but this is offset by Dolly’s attempts of seducing him back together with Kitty. At her home party later in life we find out that they both still love each other after much time has passed since they were last together as lovers as well as partners (engaged). They get married shortly after this event is revealed.
Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is a novel about an unhappy married woman who falls in love with another man. She tries to convince her husband, Konstantin, that they should separate. However, he refuses and demands that they maintain the appearance of a happy marriage by staying together. Anna then moves away from her husband to their country home but continues seeing Vronsky often. When she tells him that she’s pregnant he considers resigning his military post but decides against it because of his old ambitions.
Karenin, finally agreeing to divorce Anna after she gives birth, leaves the decision in her hands. Anna asks for his forgiveness and he grants it. He decides that they should live apart from each other but allow their young son to visit Karenin’s home on special occasions such as a birthday party. The two eventually separate and go their separate ways, with Vronsky taking part in society while Anna is kept at home and ostracized by others because of her adultery.
When Levin gets married, he becomes less free. He is called away to visit his dying brother Nikolai and his wife Kitty insists on joining him. At first, Levin refuses but then he lets her join him. It turns out that she was a comfort to Nikolai when Levin wasn’t able to be a help at all.
Kitty discovers she is pregnant. Her family and Levin’s join her at his country estate for the summer. Stiva shows up with a friend named Veslovsky, who annoys Levin by flirting with Kitty. Finally, Levin asks him to leave. Dolly decides to visit Anna and finds that she is radiantly happy despite still not being divorced yet.
