Anna Karenina Psychological Analysis
26 March 2013
Anna Karenina Psychological Aspect The psychological aspect of this novel appears in Part Three in the relationship between Anna and Vronsky. This is the first time since they met that we begin to see a disconnect in their relationship. “At that time he had considered himself unhappy, but happiness lay ahead; while now he felt that his greatest happiness already lay behind him. She was completely different now from what she had been when he saw her first. Both morally and physically she had changed for the worst” (431). Vronksy sees his relationship with Anna getting worse as time goes on. At the beginning, the love they had was so strong and passionate, and now she has changed. Along almost the same lines, Anna is becoming unhappy because of her own thoughts. “She was doing what she always did when she saw him- comparing the image of him in her imagination (incomparably superior, and impossible in reality) with him as he was” (429). In her mind Anna has created this image of how Vronksy should be. By creating this image in her head and comparing reality to her imagination, Anna is making her own happiness impossible. Vronksy can’t live up to the perfect man she has envisioned; nobody ever will. This problem that Anna faces is the beginning of the journey that will eventually lead to her suicide. One could argue that the cause of her action is Vronksy and his decision to leave her. Even from the beginning, she sees her love for him as a beautiful thing, and he sees is as being humiliating for her. “’For God’s sake, which is better? To leave your son or to continue in this humiliating position?” (379). This meeting is the beginning of the disconnect in their relationship that will eventually lead to the end.
Anna Karenina Psychological Aspect The psychological aspect of this novel appears in Part Three in the relationship between Anna and Vronsky. This is the first time since they met that we begin to see a disconnect in their relationship. “At that time he had considered himself unhappy, but happiness lay ahead; while now he felt that his greatest happiness already lay behind him. She was completely different now from what she had been when he saw her first. Both morally and physically she had changed for the worst” (431). Vronksy sees his relationship with Anna getting worse as time goes on. At the beginning, the love they had was so strong and passionate, and now she has changed. Along almost the same lines, Anna is becoming unhappy because of her own thoughts. “She was doing what she always did when she saw him- comparing the image of him in her imagination (incomparably superior, and impossible in reality) with him as he was” (429). In her mind Anna has created this image of how Vronksy should be. By creating this image in her head and comparing reality to her imagination, Anna is making her own happiness impossible. Vronksy can’t live up to the perfect man she has envisioned; nobody ever will. This problem that Anna faces is the beginning of the journey that will eventually lead to her suicide. One could argue that the cause of her action is Vronksy and his decision to leave her. Even from the beginning, she sees her love for him as a beautiful thing, and he sees is as being humiliating for her. “’For God’s sake, which is better? To leave your son or to continue in this humiliating position?” (379). This meeting is the beginning of the disconnect in their relationship that will eventually lead to the end.