“All happy families are alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (1.1.1)Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay In this famous first sentence of Anna Karenina, Tolstoy alludes to the two types of family happiness, almost comically simplifying the idea of ​​“family”. However, this formula cannot be tested because the families in Anna Karenina are not happy families and the reader is dealing with people almost broken by adultery and scandal. Tolstoy presents the Oblonskys' plight as lighter because the adulterer is a man, suggesting that the success of a family depends on the immobility of the wife and not that of the husband. Even though Stiva, Vronsky and Karenin divide their time between their home and their entertainment, women (like Dolly) must make the home the central point of their lives. However, Tolstoy emphasizes Anna Karenina's liveliness when he introduces her in chapter 18 and connects her constant movement to her sexuality and independence outside the home. By tracing Tolstoy's descriptions of Dolly Oblonsky and Anna Karenina throughout the novel, we discover Tolstoy's "ideal" woman: one who unconditionally accepts the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of her role as mother and wife. Anna Karenina begins with infidelity. Stepan Oblonsky enters his home and finds "his Dolly, always busy and worried about the details of the house... sitting perfectly still... looking at him with an expression of horror..." (1.1.3) The wife of Stiva is mobile only. within the household and is carried out by “feminine” occupations; it's only when he finds her sitting still that he realizes something is wrong. Throughout Anna Karenina, Tolstoy is merciless in his description of Dolly's manners and appearance, describing her as "exhausted, already aging, prettier and in no way remarkable, in fact, a completely ordinary woman ". (1.1.6) Her physical appearance, her piety, and her inability to satisfy her husband's sexual desires define the sad life Dolly leads. Tolstoy, while sympathetic to Dolly's plight, seems to approve of her. Her devotion to her children makes her an effective wife and mother, but her age and appearance prevent her from achieving the happiness she seeks. Although she is heartbroken, Dolly says, “I can't leave [Stiva]: there are the kids and I'm tied down. » (1.19.67). Dolly is rendered immobile by her duties to her family and home but, despite Stiva's infidelity, Dolly quickly forgives her husband and returns to her domestic responsibilities. Tolstoy uses Dolly as a foil for Anna: in many ways, Dolly embodies the "perfect" wife and mother in a way that Anna can no longer embody after meeting Vronsky. Tolstoy uses Dolly to show the life available to stationary, virtuous and pathetic women. Presenting a contrast to Dolly Oblonsky's features, every aspect of Anna Karenina appears to be in abundance. Tolstoy writes that “it was as if a surplus of something so overflowed from his being that it expressed itself beyond his will, sometimes in the brightness of his gaze, sometimes in his smile. She deliberately extinguished the light in her eyes, but it shone against her will in a barely perceptible smile. (1.18.50) Anna comes in excess, characterized by a vitality and energy beyond her conscious control, and her constant movement speaks to her inherent sexuality. Unlike Dolly, her introduction to the novel is independent: in the first chapters of Anna Karenina, the reader gets to know her simply as.