Comment on the ending of the novel “Anna Karenina.”

Answer

Comment on the ending of the novel “Anna Karenina.”

Leo Tolstoy’s (1828-1910) novel “Anna Karenina” (1878) ends with the tragic and emotional suicide of Anna Karenina. It tells the story of Anna, a married woman whose love for Vronsky leads her to break society’s rules and finally to her death. The novel begins with the famous line, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna’s family becomes one of these unhappy ones. Her search for love and freedom turns into loneliness, guilt, and despair, ending in tragedy.

Anna’s Growing Isolation: As the story moves toward the end, Anna becomes more and more lonely. Her love affair with Vronsky begins with passion but slowly turns into pain. Society rejects her for leaving her husband and son. Even Vronsky, whom she loves deeply, becomes distant. She starts to feel that everyone is against her.

Tolstoy presents her as a woman caught between her heart and society. She cannot go back to her husband, and she cannot find full happiness with Vronsky. Her home becomes full of doubt and argument. This growing isolation destroys her inner peace and prepares the way for her tragic end.

Emotional Breakdown and Despair: Anna’s mental struggle becomes worse when her hopes for a divorce are refused. Her brother Stiva clearly says,

“The question of divorce in her situation is for her a question of life and death.”

This line expresses how trapped Anna feels. She is not free to live as she wishes. Society gives her no respect.

Anna’s heart is full of jealousy and fear. She thinks Vronsky no longer loves her as before. Her letters to him show confusion and sadness. She feels that death is the only door to escape her pain.

Anna’s Suicide and Its Meaning: Anna’s death scene is the most powerful part of the novel. She throws herself under a train — a symbol that had appeared earlier when a