3 Thought-Provoking Questions Found in Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"- Part I

I absolutely loved taking a Russian literature class this past semester. We studied so many brilliant, innovative, and thought-provoking writers. (Who I will surely write about later.) The period of authors we studied, though, was after the great, infamous Tolstoy. I have heard primarily about his two novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina since I was a child, but I had yet to read anything by him. I felt like I couldn’t really consider myself an enthusiast for Russian culture if I hadn’t actually read anything by Tolstoy himself. So, I decided to do a little “light” summer reading (hah, I laugh because the book is like 1000 pages..) and finally read Anna Karenina.

I am about 450 pages in, and I’m hooked. What I love most about the novel is the philosophy behind it. Or rather, the philosophical and practical questions that it continuously brings up. (Did I mention Philosophy is my second major?) It’s quite difficult to summarize the plot of the novel- other than to say the book covers many characters who are struggling to find happiness in their own way, and this often rubs against accepted societal standards. But to me, what is more interesting than the plot, are the deeper questions about life behind it.

Here are 3 interesting questions or dilemmas from the first 100 pages of the novel:

1. Should you forgive your husband or wife if they have cheated?

The very first pages of the novel deal with adultery. Prince Stepan Oblonsky has just been caught by his wife having an affair with their governess. (I presume that means she helps take care of the children and lives in their house.) Because of this discovery, the entire household is in disarray- the servants are either fighting with each other or quitting their positions all together, the children (of which there are 5) are missing meals, Oblonsky rarely comes home, and his wife rarely leaves her room.

Oblonsky’s wife goes between grief and rage, thinking about what her husband did, and who he did it with. Until now, she thought he was incapable of such a thing. (She even admits later that she had thought she was the only woman that he had ever been with.) It is a crushing blow to her entire reality. Her mind is tortured with this one question: Should I stay or should I leave him? She sifts through reasons for staying: she still loves him, they have a good life together, what will society think?, they have 5 children together, etc. Those surrounding the couple urge them to stay together. It is Oblonsky’s sister- who is the Anna Karenina for which the book is named- who convinces the wife to stay with her husband.

But should she have stayed? Tolstoy does not clearly condemn one choice or the other in the novel, in my opinion. Is infidelity the highest offense in a marriage and does it automatically demand a separation? What if, otherwise, the cheating partner is a good husband? What if you have been together years, have navigated through countless of life’s trials and tribulations together? And the big question- what if there are children involved? Is that a good reason to stay or actually a good reason to go? I don’t think the answer is simple, and depends entirely on the couple involved, their relationship, and their views on fidelity. In the novel, the Oblonsky’s stay together, order is restored to the household, but Tolstoy briefly mentions that things between the two were never the same, despite appearances.

2. If you do not find love within your marriage, is it ever justifiable to find love outside of it?

Oblonsky plainly states that he is not sorry for having cheated on his wife, he is only sorry that she found out. Furthermore, he knows that he no longer loves his wife and she is past her prime, while he is still handsome and full of life. For him, the affair was the best course of action- they get to keep their happy family and home life, and he gets to feel passion. No heartbreak. No embarrassing divorce in high society. No splitting of the family. No tricky financial situations. For Oblonsky, he sees the affair as the only way- he says, “It’s my own fault and yet I’m not to blame!”

I have a feeling that, for Tolstoy, the ultimate answer is no to this question- that if true love is there and the marriage is taken seriously as a sacrament before God, then both parties cannot and will not stray. That’s my feeling- but I’ll have to keep reading the book to find out his final answer.

3. What is the best way to get over tragedy?

Oblonsky is alone in his room, in despair, asking himself what he can do to improve the situation. He cannot find any answers and feels totally helpless. Tolstoy then writes, “There was no answer except the usual answer life gives to the most complicated and insoluble questions. The answer is: carry on with your everyday affairs, that is to say, put it out of your mind.” I think Tolstoy definitely was against wallowing in one’s grief. It does not make you feel better and it serves no purpose. The best thing a person can do is to get up, get dressed, and get back to work. Tolstoy would later add that physical labor also helps in dealing with tragedy in our lives. Not only does it take our mind off our sorrow, but it will even leave us happy after a hard day of toil.

I identify with Tolstoy’s answer. After a really hurtful breakup in my early 20’s, I decided not to work during the summer so I could “figure things out.” The only thing I accomplished was being miserable (and lazy). When I realized this time off was only making things worse, I went straight back to work full-time until school started again. And, you guessed it, I immediately felt better. Work helped keep my mind off of the breakup, and slowly but surely I figured out how exactly I wanted to move forward. For me, I couldn’t agree more with Tolstoy.