Topic > How differences and parallels are used as literary devices

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is, in many ways, a story of love and relationships. Two couples, Kitty and Levin, Anna and Vronsky, find some form of love and passion over the course of the novel, but their personalities determine the success of their relationships. In Part VI of the novel, the two couples both spend the summer on their country estates, and their behaviors and reactions to parallel circumstances reflect the ultimate fate of their love stories. Kitty and Levin are able to have a more secure and emotionally fulfilling relationship than Anna and Vronsky because they understand each other and because, despite this, they each have their own genuine concerns. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The contrasting ways in which Kitty and Anna treat their domestic roles reflect the stability of their respective relationships. During a gathering of the women of the family on the balcony, Kitty is "presenting [a] new way" of making jam, "which [was] used in her old house," (502) to Agatha Mikhaylovna, who had managed the Levin's household before the wedding. Kitty, after moving into Levin's house, almost immediately took over the management of the house and took over Agatha's work. The scene where they make jam according to Kitty's instructions, although ironically mocks the seriousness with which women approach household chores, as seen in the mention of “Agatha Mikhaylovna's Wrath” (502) if the jam goes bad, it also portrays the mild attrition that is inevitable with the sudden addition of a family and the change of hands in running a household. Thus, small conflicts like this mark Kitty's integration into her domestic role as Levin's wife. She makes Levin's house her own by bringing practices from her "old house" (502) and thus establishing a permanence in their relationship that is missing in Anna and Vroknsky's relationship. During Dolly's visit to Vozdvizhensk, she concludes that the management of Vronsky's house "had everything done and depended on the care of the master” (570-571). While Levin keeps informed of his family, asking for jam for example, seems content to leave decisions to Kitty. Vronsky, on the other hand, seems to have always run his household, and Anna's arrival in his life has not changed this fact princess and Veslovsky were all equally guests" (571) in Vronsky's house. Anna's status, therefore, is not that of a wife, but of a mistress on whom nothing and no one in Vronsky's house depended except Vronsky himself. The only reason Anna can call this house home is Vronsky's love for her. In fact, she has convinced herself that she only loves her son and Vronsky, and that if they are both in her life, she won't need anyone. other human interaction. Unlike Kitty, who attaches herself to Levin's house and makes it her home in all aspects, including the presence of her mother and sister, Anna has nothing tangible around her to root herself into and make them feel like they belong. Therefore, Kitty is more confident in her love and relationship than Anna is because her place in the world is no longer based solely on a man's emotions. On the contrary, because Kitty feels more secure in Levin's love for her, she is able to settle into his home and make her presence permanent, while Anna, fearing that Vronsky will stop loving her, continues to feel like a guest. Levin has tasks and thoughts to take care of in the other's absence, Anna does everything in her life thinking about Vronsky, contributing to her obsessive relationship with him. At some point, Kitty is focusing all her energy onmaking a pair of Varenka and Koznyshev, and Levin is worried about his new wagons. Their casual exchange about where they will be that afternoon exemplifies their casual interactions when both are occupied with matters of interest to them. They both understand their ability to go through daily life, separated and involved in their own thoughts, while still being a loving couple. Furthermore, they mostly interact freely and comfortably with their hosts, Kitty especially with the women she loves, and this love coexists with her love for her husband. Anna, however, can't focus on anything other than Vronsky's love and attention. Although she and Vronsky seem busy with various activities, their bond rarely involves other people, and Anna's “chief concern” is still “herself, insofar as Vronsky held her dear” (583). Everything she has depends on Vronsky's love and she feels she can keep it only with her physical beauty. While she remains beautiful, however, she is still extremely insecure about Vronsky's feelings towards her and tries everything she can to convince him to stay by her side lest he leave her. In the parallel scenes in which both women take leave of their husbands who are going to the elections in Kashin, Vronsky "prepares for the fight" (584) because he knows that Anna cannot bear to see him enter society without her. On the contrary, it is Kitty who advises Levin to go to the elections, even buying him a uniform, because she fears he will be bored. Kitty is obviously comfortable with her husband away from her, because she has faith in his love and has other methods to occupy herself in his absence, while Anna's insecurities flare up every time Vronsky has to leave because he is everything to her. In his absence he can only worry about where he is. Although both Anna and Levin are prone to bouts of jealousy and anger, Levin and Kitty understand each other and Levin expresses his feelings, while Anna hides her emotions from Vronsky, who does not understand. his. Levin and Kitty are able to understand each other without communicating verbally, and Levin reflects that Kitty "would understand what he meant from a simple suggestion" (507). Levin, seeing Vaskena flirting with Kitty, is overcome by extreme jealousy. Kitty is able to see immediately that "something was wrong with her husband", despite his best efforts to hide his anger, and when she asks him even once, he "gave vent to his feelings and told her everything " (519). . This frankness in their relationship prevents both of them from hiding hostile feelings and therefore prevents deep-rooted conflicts and misunderstandings from arising between them. Their candid relationship is also contrasted with the relationship between Anna and Vronsky, in which Anna never wants to discuss difficult issues, the most pressing of which is divorce, because it “irrits her” (568) when Vronsky talks about it. She and Vronsky also often misunderstand each other's intentions, as when Anna returns from her conversation with Dolly. Vronsky “looked questioningly into her eyes” to ask her about his encounter, but she misinterpreted it as a look of longing, and instead merely “smiled” at him (581). These misunderstandings are common between the couple and, combined with Anna's refusal to address difficult issues, create an atmosphere of restlessness and mistrust. Furthermore, Levin, as a man, is able to act to alleviate his jealousy of Vasenka by driving him away. of his house. In this way Levin no longer feels “insulted and tortured” (547) by her presence, and is able to give vent to his feelings. Anna, on the other hand, does not have the power to free herself from jealousy because she cannot know what Vronsky does when he leaves her to take care of his business affairs in society. Every time he leaves it is difficult for her, and before he leaves for.