Tolstoy's /Anna Karenina/

Acclaimed by many as the world’s greatest novel, Anna Karenina provides a vast panorama of Russian life in the 19th-century and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in literature. They play out dramatic contrasts between city and country life and numerous variations on love and family happiness. We will supplement the reading of the novel with selections from Tolstoy’s early and late fiction as well as his letters and diary. Students will write two short papers and take a required final examination.