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Joëlle T.'s avatar

You forgot the 4th married couple in the book: Dolly & Stiva Oblonsky. Stiva cheats on Dolly (with the governess, if I remember it correctly), yet they manage to keep their marriage together.

The Cultural Concierge's avatar

Excellent point. And I think Stiva’s behavior foreshadows Anna’s.

Joëlle T.'s avatar

It does, and yet it was a quite different type of situation, because I don't remember any indication in the book that Stiva and the governess were attached to each other in any serious way. Unlike Anna & Vronsky who had a deep connection.

Xenia's avatar

Powerful and penetrating analysis! It’s been a few years since reading it, but I also remember a considerable amount of character change in Levin through out the book; difficult self examination, repentance rather than mere regret. Definitely a book to re-read! Thank you!

Jonathan's avatar

Please find a thorough-going reality based assessment/criticism of the usual marriage

http://www.adidaupclose.org/Crazy_Wisdom/anthony1.html

Two related references on the invisible script that patterns everyone's emotional-sexual dramatizations

http://beezone.com/current/beyoedip.html

http://beezone.com/adida/transcendyourinvisiblescriptedit.html

David Black MD's avatar

I'm glad you did not declare Tostoy to be an example of a good husband. I'm told his wife, over a lifetime, copied WAR AND PEACE for hm NINE times 8n longhand. Yes, i can con rationalize tostoys strengty and weaknesses.

Mark Kabakov's avatar

Nostalgia:Fascinating insights into Tolstoy's philosophy. My own work, 'Nostalgia', touches upon similar themes—the way our origins and memories serve as the architecture for our current lives. Thank you for this deep dive!

https://markkabakov.substack.com/p/nostalgia?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7omes6

Red Margin's avatar

The cruelest irony in the novel is that Anna’s jealousy is so structurally sound. She knows what betrayal looks like from the inside. Tolstoy doesn’t give her paranoia — he gives her pattern recognition. Which makes her destruction feel less like punishment and more like a kind of terrible lucidity.

John C. Hancock's avatar

It's annoying that we don't know, and that we can't tell, who wrote this article. It could have been AI for all we know.

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May 3
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Frau HausMaus's avatar

A quote comes to mind, which I hesitate to post because I don't remember who said it. "...Forget yourself, there is great freedom in that choice."