Anna Karenina Quotes Flashcards
(34 cards)
pg 10 “He smiled joyously: not because he was thinking of anything particularly agreeable; the joyous smile was evoked by good digestion”
The narrator here is speaking about Stiva at home reading the newspaper.
Themes:
Habits - Stiva smiled because of the reflex in his brain, body has a mind of its own
Further context:
Stiva had an affair with the governess for his children. Most people think Stiva is friendly until they see it from Dolly’s point of view.
Evil is forgetting. Real evil doesn’t require malice. It can be fun, if it weren’t fun, why would we do so much of it?
pg 30 “the professor in annoyance looking as though the interruption had caused great suffering, glanced at the strange inquirer more like a bargeman than a philosopher“
This is the narrator narrating an interaction between the narrator and Levin’s half brother Sergei
Sergei, Levin, and the Professor are having a philosophical discussion (figure out when?)
The professor here didn’t see Sergei as a philosopher, and thought “what is one to say to him” as how do you explain to a non-academic?
Themes:
Authenticity - inauthentic intellectual argument
pg 41 “Instantly flinging a fresh cloth over the round table under the bronze chandelier, even though it already had a tablecloth over it”
Levin and Stiva went to a restaurant, (who?) throws the tablecloth. Stiva insists on naming the dishes in Russian here even though their waiter speaks French and French is the trendy language, which makes Levin pretty uncomfortable.
Themes:
Simple yet natural
Inauthentic/Authentic thinking
pg 49 When they talk about all the pleasures, women, cigar, good food, wine
Levin and Stiva are drinking wine (at the restaurant) and Stiva tells Levin here about Count Vronsky. Stiva then tells Levin he thinks it’s best for Levin to propose tomorrow morning, then Levin is let in on Stiva talking about his governess (who he had the affair with)
Themes:
Honestly(or lack thereof) - For Stiva, honesty is passive as opposed to active
They make themselves think what they want to think because of what they feel - they get carried away and Levin talks about how he believes all women are two classes, women, and the fallen beings.
Kitty being smitten by Vronsky
One of the side effects of romantic love is neglect, which in turn causes evil to occur
“she had fallen in love, she had no control” -> but is that really true? or was she acting as if she had no control
bottom of pg 56 “He had come early on purpose to find her alone and to propose to her. And then for the first time the whole thing presented itself in a new, different aspect; only then did she realize that the question did not affect her only – with whom she would be happy, and whom she loved – but that she would that moment have to wound a man whom she liked. And to wound him cruelly.”
Levin and Kitty met up after dinner and Kitty knew that Levin was going to propose and was going to reject her.
There is no ethics without empathy -> “that cannot . . . forgive me” is what Kitty says to Levin when she rejects him
When Anna is away for the first time (since she had her son)
Habit is what gets you to keep doing what you’re supposed to be doing. When you upset your habit, you’re particularly vulnerable to temptations (notably foreshadowing Anna and Vronsky’s affair)
Narrator is speaking that her hair is in perfect order except for a couple willful tendrils
“Her shining gray eyes, white looked dark from the thick lashes, rested with friendly attention on his face, as though she recognized him, and then promptly turned away to the passing crowd, as though seeking someone … her nature was so brimming over with something that against her will …”
Anna is first at the train, and Vronsky is looking at her
Willful tendrils is symbolic of the theme of “simple yet natural” how so much effort is taken just to look “natural”
Themes:
Simple Yet Natural
Anna’s Narcissism
She lives life with a sort of “grace” which causes men to fall in love with her, notably into “romantic” love
pg 71 “A dashing guard jumped out, giving a whistle, and after him one by one the important passengers began to get down . . . a nimble merchant with a satchel, smiling gaily: a peasant with a sack over his shoulder
Context:
Narrator is talking about what Vronsky sees right as the train with Anna and Countess Vronsky pulls in, and Vronsky mentions a peasant with a sack over his shoulder.
Theme:
Omen/Fatalism/Foreshadowing
-> her dream will consist of a peasant with a sack over his shoulder and a muffled figure
-> she starts believing her omen more and more because of her guilt tied to her affair with Vronsky
pg 79 “Dolly, she said, he has told me”
Anna is talking to Dolly about Stiva telling her about the affair
Book I Chapter 18
Themes:
Honesty (or lack thereof)
Anna is saying whatever she thinks is correct without fact checking, which is indicating a sense of dishonesty
Stiva is clearly not capable of remorse, he’s evil in his neglect and lack of attention.
“Kitty gazed at her in dismay as she went up. Anna looked at her with drooping eyelids and smiled, pressing her hand. But noticing and Kitty responded to her smile only with a look of despair and amazement, she turned away from her, and began gaily talking to the other lady.
Kitty and Anna are interacting with each other at the ball.
Themes:
Honesty -> Anna is being dishonest
Authenticity -> Inauthentic
“What is it, Anna? He asked, when they had driven several hundred yards. It’s an evil omen, she said.”
After Anna, Vronsky, Stiva, and Vronsky’s mother all leave the train station, they get word that a watchman/railroad worker gets hit by a train and run over
Theme:
Omens/Fatalism/Foreshadowing
Explanation:
Anna believes that this is an omen and that there is backward causation that this event might affect her
pg 120 “Oh my God! Why do his ears look like that? She thought, looking at his frigid and distinguished figure, and especially the ears that struck her at the moment as propping up the brim of his round hat.”
Context:
Anna gets off the train (after visiting Stiva) and sees Karenin, who is her first husband and notices that his ears look off.
Themes: Honesty or a lack thereof Authenticity - Inauthentic thinking Extremism Love -> Romantic specifically
Explanation:
This starts Anna’s ultimate collapse for the rest of the book
Anna has an affair with Vronsky and is guilty of it
In turn, she starts perceiving Karenin as a monster in order to justify her feelings and allow her to feel less guilty about it
pg 162 - 163 “Why one ought to have confidence – that is to say, complete conviction that his young wife would always love him – he did not ask himself. But he had had no experience of lack of confidence, because he had confidence in her, and told himself that he ought to have it
Context: Part 2 Chapter 6
Narrator is speaking from Karenin’s perspective via free indirect discourse. Karenin is at home after a dinner in which he witnessed Anna sitting at a table with Vronsky.
Themes:
Jealousy
Brutal Force (of society) -> I have complete confidence because people should have complete confidence, and because people have complete confidence, I should have complete confidence too
pg 166 - 167 Conversation between Anna and Karenin about Vronsky:
“He doesn’t care, she thought. But other people noticed it, and that’s what upsets him” “You’re not well”
Context: Part 2 Chapter 9
Karenin is trying to convince Anna that it’s not him who’s jealous about Anna’s behavior, but rather that others are noticing what’s going on with Anna and Vronsky. Anna takes it as that Vronsky doesn’t actually care about her but cares about what society thinks of them
Theme:
Authenticity - This is inauthentic actions and thinking since Anna is deliberately misconstruing what she’s saying
Honesty - Anna knows perfectly well she’s doing something she isn’t supposed to be doing but chooses not to engage
pg. 177 Levin’s reforms with peasants
Context: Part 2 Chapter 13
Levin and Stiva are in an extended discussion.
Levin is a reformer and believes Russian agriculture is not productive
He wants to introduce all sorts of scientific techniques developed in Western Europe (notably England) such as new fertilizers, new machines, which he believes will make the peasants more productive
Theme:
Authenticity
Elemental Force
Theoretical/Practical Knowledge
Explanation:
Levin is authentic here because he wants to find out why his reforms fail precisely because he wants to find out what will succeed (the cause of failure here is brutal and elemental forces)
You can tell if someone really cares about the purpose by how they examine the effects of their action. If you don’t seek out the best data or facts or put in effort to test your theories, you don’t care about it
Levin is trying to apply the model used in England but it doesn’t work. This is because the machines require certain habits for the machines to work effectively, and they were built around English habits which Russians do not have.
In other words, if you try to bring in theory that runs agains the habits of society, it will not work. Element force is the sum of total habits
“he doesn’t know, he doesn’t care”
“he’s not a man but a machine”
Context: Part 2 chapter 23
Vronsky comes to the countryside where Anna lives to visit her. Anna tells Vronsky that she’s pregnant and Vronsky tells Anna that she should run away with him. Anna is split and disagrees because she does not want to leave Seryozha without a mother.
Themes:
Authentic/Inauthentic Thinking
Honesty (or lack thereof)
Explanation:
She states that Karenin is not a man but a machine in order to cope with her guilt. Unlike Stiva, Anna has a conscience so as a result she uses this thought to cope with her guilt. “he’s a spiteful machine” is a contradiction. The whole point of being a machine means that you do not feel anything, but spite is a human emotion, so in other words, she cannot believe what she says.
pg 238 Horse race scene
Context: Book 2 Chapter 28
Karenin is looking at Anna, who is focusing on only Vronsky. Anna knows Karenin is focused on her, but is annoyed because she thinks Karenin only cares about going forward in his career. Ultimately this is the point in the novel where Karenin will confront Anna about Vronsky.
Themes:
Looking as a means of action
Looking and listening are actions that have moral value (false listening/inauthentic listening)
pg 244 Kitty is at the German spa
Context:
Kitty initially decides to imitate Varenka (adopted daughter of Madame Stahl) because she thinks “if I live like her, I can live a good life too”
Themes: Theoretical/Practical Knowledge Habits Elemental and Brutal Force Inauthentic Thinking
Explanation:
This is a direct parallel to Levin’s agricultural monologue of how adopting English machines and agricultural technology will improve Russia’s agriculture and peasant conditions. Later on though, she makes this inauthentic thinking and then realizes that she hasn’t been living true to herself all along.
Part 3 Dolly goes to countryside with her 2 children
Context:
Dolly goes to the countryside to save money with the children
Theme:
Evil from neglect
Explanation:
Stiva can only think about how he’d get the place ready for his mistress
pg 299 “…the children themselves were even now repaying her in small joys for her sufferings. Those joys were so small that they passed unnoticed, like gold in sand, and at bad moments she could see nothing but the pain, nothing but sand; but there were good moments too when she saw nothing but joy, nothing but gold.”
Context:
Dolly is living in the countryside with her two kids in order to save money. Grisha, one of the kids, was sent to supper with no pie for bad behavior, but Tanya, the other child shared some of her pie with him.
Themes:
Small joys in life -> gold in sand symbolism
Explanation
The gold in the sand is representative of the good things in life and how they aren’t always framed in the bigger picture. This is also in part done through the literary technique of open camouflage.
pg 218 “Aleksey Aleksandrovich could not hear or see a child or woman crying without being moved.”
Context:
Not sure - you should look this up. . . .
Karenin is not unfeeling. He’s so moved that all he can do is run away from it. He’s consumed with remorse (deep guilt)
pg 334 “ … I knew that I couldn’t cheat myself any longer, that I was alive, that I was not to blame, that God has made me so that I trust love and live …
Context:
Anna speaks about this after she receives the letter from Karenin demanding that she return to live their lives as a married couple
Themes:
Honesty (lack thereof)
Romantic Love
Explanation
“that i was not to blame” is part of the romantic love cliche that because of this backward causation, you are no longer the cause of your actions/beliefs
She had also schooled herself to despise Karenin and change her approach of him as the novel goes on
pg 379 Levin meets his friend Sviazhsky and a peasant family Petrovich who introduced modern agricultural techniques
Context: Part 3 Chapter 27
Levin believes that the modern production of farming is goind down, while Sviyazhsky says that the quality of farming was low simply because serfs didn’t have good machinery or accounting systems. Levin doesn’t believe this because he has spent lots of money at a loss
Themes:
Habits and their effects on elemental and brutal forces
Theoretical knowledge vs practical knowledge
Body has a mind of its own
Explanation:
Go from the bottom up, show people and ask them what they can work with (figure out what their habits are)
Best way to make greater change is to change habits
Reforms don’t work unless you apply them uniformly because people are different
