ipl-logo

Anna Karenina Analysis

884 Words4 Pages

Annotated Bibliography
Thesis: An in-depth analysis of Anna Karenina, Doctor Zhivago, and War and Peace, yields significant insights into the expectations of women throughout the course of Russian history, thereby showcasing the esteemed virtues conventional of Russian feminine culture during each of the respective eras. (Anna Karenina: Victorian, Doctor Zhivago: Soviet, and War and Peace: Realist)
Christian, R. F. “Tolstoy’s War and Peace: A Study.” Novels for Students, Clarendon Press, 1962, pp. 293-298. Professor R. F. Christian is one of the most notable scholars of Russian literature in the past century. In addition to graduating from Oxford University with a first-class honors degree in Russian and authoring numerous publications concerning …show more content…

“Critical Essay on Doctor Zhivago.” Novels for Students, Thomson Gale, 2008, pp. 18-20. Joyce Hart is a freelance writer and published author who has received numerous print offers over the course of her career. In the aforementioned essay, Hart examines the possible reasons as to why Pasternak’s protagonist, Yuri Zhivago, finds such difficulty in maintaining lasting relationships with the women in his life. In her essay, Hart argues that the political struggles of the novel foreshadow the developing tensions throughout the narrative. She asserts that the role of failed ideals, in addition to the collapsing social order and fractured political state in which the novel is set, are ultimately responsible for the shattering of Zhivago’s psyche, noting familial detachment and emotional distance as symptoms of his inability to maintain interpersonal relationships. Hart’s essay lends a unique perspective through which one can analyze the role of women in Russia during the Soviet era. Throughout the novel, many traditional Russian views regarding the role of women prevail, providing interesting contrast to the Victorian female featured in the works of …show more content…

“The Judgement of Anna Karenina: Feminism Criticism and the Image of the Heroine.” Framing Anna Karenina: Tolstoy, the Woman Question, and the Victorian Novel, Ohio State University Press, 1993, pp. 34–57. Amy Mandelker’s feminist interpretation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina challenges previous assertions of Tolstoy’s misogyny by interpreting Tolstoy as a radical feminist at the frontline of Russia 's “woman question.” By debating Anna Karenina as a modernist novel that breaks with preceding Russian tradition, Mandelker shows how Tolstoy compares the theme of female representation in society to the representation of women in art, critiquing the bourgeois traditions that downplay feminine beauty as a commodity within society. In Anna Karenina, Tolstoy examines the liberation of the individual. Consequently, Mandelker contends that the liberation of the heroine rejects the conventions of realism and the typical representation of women, thus acting as a leading feminist symbol in opposition of the societal norm of the Victorian Era. Amy Mandelker is an associate professor of comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is known for her numerous publications regarding Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and her work serves as an essential for scholars and students of nineteenth-century Russian and Victorian literature from a feminist

Show More
Related

  • Oppression In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    1315 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the late 1800s, nearly all women were viewed as subservient, inferior, second class females that lived their lives in a patriarchal and chauvinist society. Women often had no voice, identity, or independence during that time period. Moreover, women dealt with the horrors of social norms and the gender opposition of societal norms. The primary focus and obligation for a woman to obtain during the 1800s was to serve her husband and to obey to anything he said. Since women were not getting the equality, freedom, or independence that they desired, Kate Chopin, an independent-minded female American novelist of the late 1800s expressed the horrors, oppressions, sadness, and oppositions that women of that time period went through.

    Read More

  • Diction In Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilyich

    141 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the novel of The Death of Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy conveys his thematic focus through his unique use of diction. Tolstoy examines several factors that have altered Ivan Ilych’s lifestyle. The only way to enhance our understanding of these factors is to observe how Tolstoy portrays Ivan’s evolving comprehension of what death means to him. Evidently, such portrayal can be thoroughly observed and understood by carefully analyzing Tolstoy’s use of diction. Furthermore, there are several themes that Tolstoy focuses on primarily, which are often associated with the depiction of the human existence as a conflict between different sides of the spectrum and Ivan’s tendency to alienate himself from the world.

    Read More

  • Comparing Miss Havisham In The Intended And The Savage Queen

    1013 Words  | 5 Pages

    From its very beginning, the genre of the novel developed in literature with the intent of describing fictional human experiences built in an imaginary world, but that can be based upon a true story, as they always enclose a slight realism. In the novels, female characters are portrayed in many different ways. In the books analyzed, these females are not the protagonists of the tales, however, they are described, more or less, as influential women, who have significant roles in the evolving of the stories; in particular, their function in the narrative is crucial and it shifts from supportive and inspirational to adversary and puzzling. The actions that these women take, the words they say and the connections they make, have the power to influence the protagonist’s thoughts and shape the novel. Both Great

    Read More

  • Catherine The Great's Influence On Russia

    916 Words  | 4 Pages

    The central 18th century Russian ruler, Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great, has retained a place in the pages of history as one of the brightest and most influential women of not only her time, but of more recent history altogether. Catherine the Great ’s accomplishments had effectively transformed Russia and led to its so-called golden age, touching upon nearly every aspect of Russian society. This resulted in praise and admiration from many central figures of the time, including renowned philosophe Voltaire, who had once described her as the “first of all women, who is putting so many men to shame,” (Dixon 196).

    Read More

  • Anna And Bennett Character Analysis

    1522 Words  | 7 Pages

    In this photograph, it depicts the location that the two main characters--Anna and Bennett--first met each other, even though they did not know this until later in the novels. Each and every morning, Anna wen to the track at the nearby university to practice, and one morning she saw a figure in the bleachers, staring at her. “When I’m completely alone. And then I realize I’m not. I see someone in the bleachers [...] watching me.

    Read More

  • Sexuality And Feminism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    834 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 19th century, a group of people launched the suffrage movement, and they cared about women’s political rights, their property and their body liberty. Born in that age, Kate Chopin was aware of the importance of setting an example for those who were taken in by the reality and poor women to be an inspiration. So we call her a forerunner of the feminist author for every effort she put in advocating women’s sexuality, their self-identity and women’s own strength. When people were ashamed of talking about sexuality, Kate Chopin stood out and call for women’s sexual autonomy.

    Read More

  • Realism In 'The Cave' By Yevgeny Zamyatin

    1140 Words  | 5 Pages

    The nature of Russian society is characterized by a sense of idealism. Russia’s beliefs of the potential for an ideal future have been pervasive throughout history. In 1920, Yevgeny Zamyatin wrote the short story “The Cave” during the midst of the Russian Civil War, a time when nationalism was at an all time low and people were hoping for a brighter future. In contrast to the goals that sparked the revolution, Zamyatin argues that the Russian Civil War will result in a primitive and decimated society that is ultimately worse off than the society that existed prior to the rebellion.

    Read More

  • Gender Norms In The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin

    632 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale By Virginia Woolf

    1141 Words  | 5 Pages

    From the outset, literature and all forms of art have been used to express their author’s feelings, opinions, ideas, and believes. Accordingly, many authors have resorted to their writing to express their feminist ideas, but first we must define what feminism is. According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, feminism is “the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state”. As early as the fifteenth century is possible to find feminist writings. Centuries later, and although she never referred to herself as one, the famous English writer Virginia Woolf became one of the greatest feminist writers of the twentieth

    Read More

  • St. Petersburg In Crime And Punishment

    1052 Words  | 5 Pages

    Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace.

    Read More

  • Women And Their Rights In Kate Chopin's The Story Of An Hour

    791 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kate Chopin reveals how language, institutions, and expected behavior restrain the natural desires and aspirations of women in patriarchal societies. In 1894, when this story was formed, culture had its own structure on marriage and the conduct towards women. Gender roles play a major role throughout our history. They would decide whether a woman in colonial times would be allowed to join the labor

    Read More

  • Anna Akhmatova Requiem Poem Analysis

    1636 Words  | 7 Pages

    Akhmatova’s melancholic diction initially reveals her sorrow, but the tone transitions to serious and introspective when she uses allusions to religious martyrdom and imagery of fixed objects. These contemplations are later resolved when she integrates imagery of liberation to portray an ultimately triumphant and optimistic outlook towards the future. Within the first sections, Akhmatova employs melancholic diction to convey her grief. In “Prologue,” she writes “that [Stalin’s Great Purge] was a time when only the dead could smile” (Prologue, Line 1), which suggests it was preferable to die than to live and emphasizes her despondency.

    Read More

  • Role Of Women In Literature

    1495 Words  | 6 Pages

    The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

    Read More

  • Summary Of A Respectable Woman And A Story Of An Hour

    1469 Words  | 6 Pages

    Women in the 1890s were expected to work at home to keep their husbands comfortable and bear him children. Kate Chopin wrote most of her short stories during this time period. Her stories “A Respectable Woman” and “A Story of an Hour” show a female protagonist who want their freedom and control over their own lives. Her characters pushed the bounds of the roles that society gave them and showed the brutal reality of how women were treated in the 1890s. In “A Respectable Woman” the female protagonist Mrs. Baroda is married and lives on a plantation with her husband, who invites a friend to spend a week or two with them.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of A Room Of One's Own By Virginia Woolf

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    One of the most significant works of feminist literary criticism, Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One`s Own”, explores both historical and contemporary literature written by women. Spending a day in the British Library, the narrator is disappointed that there are not enough books written by or even about women. Motivated by this lack of women’s literature and data about their lives, she decides to use her imagination and come up with her own characters and stories. After creating a tragic, but extraordinary gifted figure of Shakespeare’s sister and reflecting on the works of crucial 19th century women authors, the narrator moves on to the books by her contemporaries. So far, women were deprived of their own literary history, but now this heritage is starting to appear.

    Read More

More about Anna Karenina Analysis

Open Document