Plots, characters and relationships in Anna Karenina “Reason was given to man to enable him to escape from his troubles. »1 These words, spoken by an unknown woman on a train a few minutes before Anna committed suicide, which proved to be little comfort for Vronsky's mistress. Unable to reason out of her despair, she threw her body under a train in an act of revenge and escape. She has failed in her personal quest, a quest for fulfillment that she shares with the novel's other main protagonist, Levin, who consequently attempts to reason through his own dilemmas. Anna Karenina is an epic through which parallel narratives of Anna and Levin's personal struggles are intertwined, developed in tandem. One ends in death and tragedy, the other in spiritual fulfillment. It is a novel of balances; not only plots, but also characters and relationships between characters. Tolstoy's choice of title immediately creates expectations in the reader; expectations that are doomed to be disappointed. Although the reader may expect a straightforward story about a woman's descent into adultery, he or she will find that this element is enclosed and permeated by the equally dominant story of a man's quest for love. harmony and love, and many foreign elements. Levin serves as a spokesperson for Tolstoy's beliefs, and his activities sometimes take on a pseudo-biographical aspect. At times it seems that Anna's involvement in the novel is minimal - episodes involving her are sparsely distributed - and the reader may wonder why the novel has such a title. Although it is difficult to be certain of Tolstoy's motivations, this essay will argue that he so named the novel because of its utterly crucial and essential...... middle of paper ...... An independent and thoughtful character, there is a nuance that runs throughout the novel which suggests that she has failed to adopt the social role appropriate to a woman. Ultimately, she is portrayed as irrational and emotionally labile, driven by insatiable desires: "I don't know myself," Anna says as she sinks near her lowest ebb; "I only know my appetites, as the French say."15BibliographyTolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina, translated by Edmonds, Rosemary, Penguin, London, 1978. Endnotes1 Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina, translated by Edmonds, Rosemary, Penguin , London, 1978, p. 799.2 Ibid., p. 508.3 Ibid., p. 588-9.4 Ibid., p. 796-7.5 Ibid., p. 490.6 Ibid., p. 491.7 Ibid., p. 798.8 Ibid., p. 532.9 Ibid., p. 672.10 Ibid., p. 800.11 Ibid., p. 853.12 Ibid., p. 832.13 Ibid.14 Ibid., in “Introduction”.15 Ibid., p.. 793