Anna Kareina

            In his novel Leo Tolstoy's main character has an inconsistent personality. When first mentioned in the novel, Anna is a confident woman that seems as though she is content with her love life. As the story progresses, Anna's inner passion causes her to become jealous, deceitful, and devious.
             When Vronsky first views Anna at the train station in the early part of the story, he describes her as a very attractive woman with an "unassuming grace, which was evident throughout her whole figure." Vronsky's mother, who has just finished traveling with Anna on the train, explains to her son how pleasant it was for her to ride with Anna. She cannot seem to say enough about Anna and Vronsky is seen falling in love at the first site of her. Vronsky's mother goes on to say that she could go on traveling throughout the world and never get sick of being with Anna. During the first part of the story, Anna seems to be a very kind woman who is delightful to be around all the time.
             After Vronsky and Anna first start their relationship a change is evident in Anna's character. The two fall in love while managing to sneak around to avoid Anna's husband's presence. After the two are seeing each other for some time, Anna eventually becomes pregnant. Anna soon realizes that she made a mistake in marrying her husband. She comes to the conclusion that she and her husband never loved each other, and they had wasted eight years of her life. She thinks her husband does not care about anything she has to say as long as society views their relationship as proper. Then, one night when she can no longer stand it, she tells her husband that she hates him and is in love with Vronsky. When Anna becomes ill and nearly dies, she apologizes for what she has said and hopes that she can be forgiven. Her husband accepts her apology, but as soon as she recovers Anna continues the affair. Anna no longer has any regard for other people's feelings and is only concerned about herself.