Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living... in the late 1800s with her husband Alexei Karenin, one of the most important government officials in St. Petersburg, where they live. Alexei, who is twenty years older than Anna, provides everything she could possibly need. But he is cold and distant, leaving Anna feeling alone even when they are together.
Profession... stay-at-home mother. Anna deeply loves her eight-year-old son, Seryozha. She finds such pleasure in “the sensation of his nearness, when she meets his simple, confiding, and loving glances.”
Interests... books. Anna is a voracious reader, and is also writing a children's book. But she doesn't talk about her book to anyone but her brother, Stepan. Stepan gave her manuscript to a publisher who says it's an amazing piece of work.
Relationship Status... married to Alexei Karenin, but in an adulterous, passionate, and loving affair with Count Alexei Vronsky, a military officer. Although Anna initially resisted Vronsky’s charms when they first met, she finally gave in to her desires. As she says, "The time came when I knew that I couldn't cheat myself any longer, that I was alive, that I was not to blame, that God has made me so that I must love and live.”
Challenge... enduring the fallout after telling her husband and others the truth about her affair. Anna has been exiled from the society circles she used to run in, but Anna refuses to hide – she makes a special point of going to the opera with Vronsky when she knows her former “friends” will be in attendance. Many people despise Anna for what she has done, but she doesn't believe she deserves their contempt. After all, she had the courage to follow her heart and tell the truth. So many people she knows, including her brother Stepan, lie about their secret affairs. It’s a double standard that causes Anna much pain.
Personality... elegant, intelligent, and strong-willed, but incredibly depressed. Before her affair, Anna was beloved by nearly everyone she knew. Her wit along with her beauty made her the toast of St. Petersburg society. Although it is debatable whether Anna should have entered into the affair in the first place, one thing is certain – she was brave to admit the truth and stand up to societal norms. But she is paying a high price for the affair, going from a confident and optimistic woman to one who is bitter and miserable.
Get to Know her in...
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Trapped in a loveless marriage, aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.
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Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and thereby exposes herself to the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness.
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The film centers around a tragic story of love and infidelity, the destiny of a woman who irrevocably changes her life for the sake of a passion. Anna Karenina finds it impossible to renounce her feelings for the loved one. She rejects the morals of society and tries to defend her right to love.
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Anna (Marceau) is a wife and mother who has an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky (Bean). Based on the novel by Tolstoy.
