Anna Karenina

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of suicide and death. 

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Were you familiar with the plot and ending of Anna Karenina before you started reading? If not, were you expecting a happy ending for Anna and Vronsky? Do you think that if the novel were published today, it would still be popular with readers?

2. To what extent would you call Anna Karenina a love story? 

3. Have you read other works of 19th-century literature? How does this one compare, particularly in its treatment of the mores surrounding women’s sexuality at the time (you might, for instance, compare it to Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles)?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Consider Anna Karenina’s famous opening proclamation about happy families. Do you agree with this statement? In your experience, what traits characterize happy and unhappy families?

2. Kitty initially rejects Levin but subsequently regrets this decision Why do people sometimes change their perspective after making a decision? Do you think this tendency is more common when individuals are young, as Kitty is?