Tolstoys Anna Karenina is considered by many to be one of the greatest novels ever written. This study of its morally ambiguous protagonist, Anna, discusses Tolstoys troubled relation to the feminine in terms of the fantasies, hopes, and fears that she represents.
In Reflecting on Anna Karenina, first published in 1989, Mary Evans presents an original, feminist reading of Annas life and times for both students and the general audience. She argues that Anna is the embodiment of all those female characteristics that so captivated Tolstoy, and which he felt so compelled to punish in his writing. Evans indicates how author and central character are locked in a contradiction which can only be resolved in the novel by Annas death, but which in real life must be overcome by womens assertion of their moral and sexual autonomy.
1. Who is Anna? What is She? 2. Anna and the Others 3. Other Women 4. What is a Good Woman? Notes
![Reflecting on Anna Karenina [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/8/6/0/2_907467.jpg)