what is the moral of the story?

[booksaremyworld]

hey i read the story but i didn't get the moral..is there one?
and can anyone tell me the time of the story?

[Gladys]

Moral: Stay on the straight and narrow like Levin and all will be well.

[bazarov]

Moral of story is it's intro sentence; quote from Bible.

[loe]

The moral is: Don't marry!
Just kidding. ;)

In my opinion the main message is the attack against the strict rules of the society that especially prohibited women of living their own life.

Time of the story is the second half of the 19th century, if I'm not mistaken.

Best regards

[Gladys]

In my opinion the main message is the attack against the strict rules of the society that especially prohibited women of living their own life. Is the narrator or Tolstoy sympathetic to Anna's plight? Doesn't she rather get her just deserts?

[loe]

Is the narrator or Tolstoy sympathetic to Anna's plight? Doesn't she rather get her just deserts?
It's hard to answer with a straight Yes or No to this question.
I think when it's about breaking the rules of society Tolstoy is on Anna's side. But there are also some interpersonal complications or complications in Anna herself (maybe also as a result of society?). And due to this Anna's imagination made up things/thoughts that let her finally decide to commit suicide. And in this case she gets what she deserved.

Maybe society rules are a complex web of different factors or attitudes that infiltrate the human being so deeply that sometimes it seems so hard or even impossible to break these rules and still stay alive?

I'm deeply sorry for the impossibilty to express exactly what I mean.

Best regards

[Uberzensch]

Does there have to be a moral?

I don't know that Tolstoy is trying to tell us anything. He gives us a slice of life, different perspectives and windows into experience.

I'm not sure there necessarily is any moral axe to grind.

[horizonrusted]

Does there have to be a moral? No, but with Tolstoy, there likely is an intended moral. With Anna Karenina Tolstoy wanted to write a cautionary tale about a society woman who falls from grace. In my opinion, more important than the moral is what Tolstoy seems to try and teach us. That is that we our the masters of our destiny, and the seemingly insignficant things we do and think lead to actions that ellaborate on those thoughts. This is what I get from Tolstoy.

[Scheherazade]

If you cheat on your partner, you might end up under a train.

[horizonrusted]

That too Scheherazade!

[Scheherazade]

Actually I would like to change that:

If a woman is unfaithful to her partner, she might end up under a train!

[horizonrusted]

Makes me wonder what the poetic equivalent for a cheating man would be. A steamroller perhaps?