Anna Karenina Characters

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Author of War and Peace

Sergius Koznyshev

Seryozha (Sergei) Karenin

Countess Vronskaya

Lidia Ivanova

Countess Varenka

Dolly

Princess Betsy

Nikolai Levin

Son of Anna Karenina and Alexei Karenin

Wife of Oblonsky

Anna Karenina

Kitty Scherbatsky

Oblonsky

Alexei Karenin

Vronsky

Konstantin Levin

Husband of Kitty, brother of Nikolai Levin

Love interest of Kitty, lover of Anna Karenina, son of Countess Vronskaya.

Interested in Vronsky, Wife to Konstantin Levin, Sister to Dolly

Husband of Anna Karenina, Father of Seryozha Karenin

Wife of Alexei Karenin, Lover of Vronsky, Mother to Seryozha Karenin

Husband of Dolly, Brother of Anna Karenina, Had an affair with governess

Anna Karenina's friend, Vronsky's cousin

Brother of Constantin Levin

Vronsky's mother

A german royal that kitty meets at a spa

Leader of high society circle that includes Karenin

Konstantin Levin's half-brother, a celebrated author

Part 1

Stepan Arkadyevitch consoles his wife after she finds that he had an affair with the house governess. He calls upon his sister, Anna Karenina, for help.

Konstantin Levin reconciles with his love for Kitty Scherbatsky with Oblonsky. They converse about this over lunch and Stepan Arkadyevitch convinces him to pursue Kitty.

Levin proposed to Kitty, and she decliined.

Vronsky met Stepan Arkadyevitch at the train station, where he first met Anna Karenina.

Anna spoke with Vronsky's mother, Countess Vronskaya, the entire time. Vronskaya took a liking to Anna.

While Anna, Vronsky, Oblonsky, and Countess Vronskaya were leaving the station, a man was struck by a train and killed. Vronsky gave the family money, which drew Anna's attention to him .

Anna spoke with Dolly about Oblonsky's affair, and convinced her to reconcile with her husband, repairing their relationship for the entirety of the book.

Kitty convinces Anna to attend her ball

Anna meets Vronsky at the ball and, much to Kitty's displeasure, danced the mazurka together. This initiated their love for eachother.

Anna leaves Moscow the day after the ball

Vronsky appears at the train, asking if he can do anything for Anna, and tells Anna that he knows they are both meant to be together.

Anna realizes that she no longer has feelings for her husband, Alexei Karenin

Part 2

Kitty is extremely ill and the doctor says she could face death

Her sister, Dolly, talks with her about how she's feeling. Kitty is infuriated at the mention of Vronsky and Levin. She breaks down in front of her sibling

Anna goes to a few parties at Princess Betsy Tverskaya's house only to see Vronsky, as he is Betsy's counsin, only to find that he is not there.

Vronsky and Anna watch eachother at an opera

Princess Betsy notices Anna and Vronsky's blooming affair and supports it

Vronsky and Anna meet at Betsy's party and converse alone, recognizing their love

Alexei Karenin notices how close Anna and Vronsky are and questions his wife about it after the party when she returns home after him.

Anna ignores his remarks and tries to steer him away from any idea about an affair.

Konstantin Levin wants to learn how to sow

Stepan Arkadyevitch visits Levin, and Levin is anxious to hear about Kitty

Vronsky visits Anna before a race, and Anna tells him she is pregnant with his child

Kitty watches Countess Varenka at a german spa, interested in who she is

Kitty laments to Varenka about her unfortunate losses of love, and Varenka tells her they are unimportant

Kitty is angered at both Countess Varenka and Madame Stahl.

Vronsky is about to win the race when his horse collapses, breaking her back. He is angered and kicks the horse

Anna believes Vronsky is injured and is visibly upset, she refuses to leave with her husband.

Kitty is cured of her illness

Part 3

Anna confesses her affair with Vronsky to her husband

Levin sees Kitty in a carriage and realizes his love for her

Levin continues to work on his estate while pondering life and hard work

He develops love for agricultural ideals and ponders the politics around them

Levin envys the life of a russian peasant

Levin visits Dolly and she tries to figure out why he and Kitty did not work out

Levin gets frustrated at this and questions Dolly's love for her children

Levin decides to forget Kitty and marry a peasant girl

Karenin refuses to let Anna divorce him because it doesn't end well for either of them

Karenina threatens Anna that if she divorces him he won't ler her see Seryozha

Part 4

Karenin consults a lawyer about seeking a divorce

The lawyer told him that doing so would ruin Anna's social identity

Anna continues seeing Vronsky despite Karenin's warnings

Karenin forces Anna to give him Vronsky's love letters

The lawyer deems the love letters as insufficient evidence

Stiva and Dolly argue about Karenin wanting a divorce

Anna almost dies after the birth of her daughter, Annie

Karenin forgives Vronsky

Vronsky attempts suicide, but fails

Anna cannot bear to be with Karenin, and is in agony when Vronsky wants to leave on a military pursuit

Anna and Vrosnky reunite and leave for Europe, leaving behind Seryozha

Stiva arranges for Levin and Kitty to meet again

Levin and Kitty reconcile and elope

Part 5

Levin and Kitty marry and move to the countryside

At first they struggle with their marriage. Kitty wants to spend alot of time with Levin, while he wants to do more agricultural work

When their marriage starts to repair, Levin finds out that his brother is dying

Kitty nurses Nikolay greatly, and Levin's love for her grows

Kitty learns that she is pregnant

Anna Karenina Theme

A life of simplicity is preferable to a life of daring passion, which only leads to tragedy

Anna is happy in Europe, while Vronsky is bored and feels suffocated

Vronsky takes up painting but finds that it also lacks passion, much like his relationship

Anna and Vronsky decide to return to Russia

Anna becomes extremely anxious that Vronsky does not love her anymore

Her closest friends avoid her presence

Karenin is comforted by Countess Lidia. Lidia and Karenin tell Seryozha that Anna is dead, but he refuses to believe them

Anna visits Seryozha on his birthday, and is caught by Karenin

Anna goes to the theatre against Vronsky's wishes and is ridiculed by her friends.

Anna and Vronsky go to Vronsky's estate

Part 6

Princess Schterbatsky, Dolly, and Dolly's children stay with Levin and Kitty and Levin becomes anxious with so many guests

Levin becomes jealous when a visitor, Veslovsky, openly flirts with Kitty. He tries to be okay with it, but ulitmately kicks him out.

Dolly visits Anna and is shocked by the difference in Levin's simple but elegant estate and Vronsky's extravagant estate

Dolly finds that Vronsky and Anna are unhappy

Dolly notices Anna is increasingly anxious and has forced flirtations with Veslovsky

Vrosnky asks Dolly to convince Anna to divorce Karenin so they can lead normal lives

Anna is intensely jealous of Vronsky and can't bear for him to leave for even a short while

Vronsky leaves for a few days, and Anna is convinced that she must marry him to keep him with her

Vronsky and Anna leave the countryside for Moscow

Part 7

Levin grows accustomed to the fast paced life of Moscow

Levin accompanies Stepan to a gentleman's club, where he meets Vronsky.

Anna is fostering an orphan girl when Levin and Stiva visit

Anna flirts with Levin, who is tempted by her beauty. Ultimately, nothing comes of it

Levin admits to Kitty that he visited Anna, and they get into a quarrel. They eventually leave Moscow, deciding it is not good for them

Anna wonders why she can seduce Levin, but not Vronsky

She feels trapped with every passing day. Vronsky can go out freely in Russia, but she is locked out of society

Anna uses morphine to sleep and is dependent on it

Kitty gives birth to a boy named Dmitri. Levin struggles with finding love for this child

Stiva finds Karenin and asks him to grant his sister a divorce, but a clairvoyant convinces him not to

Anna becomes extremely irrational and is convinced Vronsky will marry a rich societal girl

Anna and Vronsky engage in a huge fight that leads Anna to believe their relationship is over

Anna visits Kitty and Dolly and sends a telegram to Vronsky that is unanswered

Anna parallels the death in part 1 and throws herself under a railroad carriage, dying

Part 8

Sergei's book is ignored by critics

Stiva gets the post he desired

Karenin took custody of Anna and Vronsky's baby, Annie

Vronsky leaves with a group of Volunteers to fight in the Orthodox Serbian revolt

Levin and his family are out in a forest when a storm begins

Levin speaks at length with a peasant about his religious beliefs

Kitty's family is worried about her being with a man who does not believe in god

Levin has a change of heart and believes the christian ideals he was taught in his youth

He decides not to tell Kitty about his revelations

Levin is discouraged when he is not 100% transformed after his revelation, but comes to terms that he is human and will make mistakes

While searching for Kitty and Dmitri, he realizes he does love his son

Levin is on a path to true happiness with his life and righteousness