tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1917722747536655397.post2114278480330692476..comments2023-08-02T01:48:35.439-07:00Comments on The Grinnell College Russian Literature Blog: To love or not to love AnnaKelly Heroldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13484703304084014289noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1917722747536655397.post-54844563251188095202014-04-14T21:08:45.522-07:002014-04-14T21:08:45.522-07:00I'm not sure how I feel about Anna. I liked he...I'm not sure how I feel about Anna. I liked her much more when she was first introduced but the closer she gets to Vronsky the more frustrated I get with her. Part of this impression might be that I don't find Anna and Vronsky's affair very romantic- it was like watching an acquaintance you like falling in love with someone you hate. In a way, it reminds me slightly of how I felt about Pierre towards the end of War and Peace, wishing that he would quit being quite so foolish and just find his path in life already. <br /> Alosha, in terms of punishment, Anna's self-destructiveness could be her way of subconsciously punishing herself along with her guilt. She has cut herself off from her old life and is uncertain about her new one; she does not see any way to improve things, even if she really loves her son, so she may as well dig herself deeper into the mess she's created. That may be part of why Tolstoy is not as harsh as we might expect in his treatment of her as a mother.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00225688554288071353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1917722747536655397.post-22804964973946811042014-04-14T11:38:42.599-07:002014-04-14T11:38:42.599-07:00I have conflicting feelings about Anna; at times I...I have conflicting feelings about Anna; at times I find her behavior to be frustrating and almost childlike, but at the same time, she has a genuine quality about her (similar to Natasha) that endears her to the reader. I find Tolstoy's treatment of Anna as a mother to be very interesting. On the one hand, Anna basically forfeits her relationship with Seryozha in favor of her capricious affair with Vronsky. Knowing how devoted Tolstoy was to the idea of family and to children especially, I am surprised that he does not condemn her more harshly for this. Instead, we see a loving reunion between mother and son when Anna sneaks in to visit on Seryozha's birthday, and we see that Anna herself suffers because of the guilt she feels about abandoning him. Is a guilty conscience punishment enough? Alosha Southernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13365535526950846258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1917722747536655397.post-62268001837304858842014-04-13T23:37:31.808-07:002014-04-13T23:37:31.808-07:00So far, I've also found it difficult to sympat...So far, I've also found it difficult to sympathize with Anna or approve of her actions. I definitely agree with you that her actions seem largely to be destructive of her self and those close to her. However, given Tolstoy's intricate characterization of Anna, I think that perhaps the "point" is not to judge her as an egoistic, morally reprehensible, or overly hedonistic person, but to observe her development and her reactions to her desires. Certainly, her seemingly selfish actions starkly contrast with Karenin's magnanimity, but it seems to me that, rather than express a moral lesson, Tolstoy is simply attempting to show us two contrasting ways of life through this juxtaposition.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01898380804834562186noreply@blogger.com