“All happy families are the same. 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an 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 treated as people almost destroyed by adultery and scandal. Tolstoy presents the Oblonskys' plight as lighter because the adulterer is male, suggesting that a family's success depends on the wife's immobility, not that of the husband. Although Stiva, Vronsky, and Karenin divide their time between home and entertainment, the women (like Dolly) must make the home the focal point of their lives. However, Tolstoy emphasizes Anna Karenina's animation when introducing her in chapter 18 and links her constant movement to her sexuality and independence outside the home. Retracing Tolstoy's descriptions of Dolly Oblonsky and Anna Karenina throughout the novel we discover Tolstoy's "ideal" woman: one who unconditionally accepts both the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of her role as mother and wife. Anna Karenina begins with infidelity. Stepan Oblonsky enters the house and finds "his Dolly, always agitated and preoccupied with domestic details... sitting perfectly still... looking at him with an expression of horror..." (1.1.3) The wife of Stiva is only mobile within the family unit and is achieved through “female” occupations; only when he finds her sitting still does he understand that something is wrong. In Anna Karenina, Tolstoy is merciless in his description of Dolly's mannerisms and appearance, describing her as "worn out, already aged, no longer pretty and not at all extraordinary, in fact, a rather ordinary woman." (1.1.6) Her physical appearance, her piety, and her inability to satiate her husband's sexual desires define the sad life that Dolly lives. Tolstoy, while sympathetic to Dolly's plight, seems to approve of it. 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 heartbroken, Dolly says, "I can't leave [Stiva]: there are children and I'm tied down." (1.19.67). Dolly is rendered immobile by her duties to 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 ways that Anna can no longer do after meeting Vronsky. Tolstoy uses Dolly to show the life available to stationary, virtuous, and pathetic women. In contrast to Dolly Oblonsky's features, every aspect of Anna Karenina seems to be in abundance. Tolstoy writes that “it was as if a surplus of something so overflowed in his being that it expressed itself beyond his will, now in the brightness of his gaze, now in his smile. He deliberately extinguished the light in his eyes, but it shone against his 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: for the first few chapters of Anna Karenina the reader knows her simply as Anna, not as someone's wife or sister. The cold severity of Anna's husband makes the reader root for Vronsky and Anna's union, no matter the cost. But Tolstoy.