In February 1870 Leo Tolstoy considered writing a story about a married woman whose reputation was ruined because of a sexual scandal. His intention was to portray her "not as culpable, but as uniquely worthy of pity"; however nothing came of the idea at that time.

Two years later Tolstoy’s neighbour cast off his mistress, Anna Stepanovna Pirogova, who threw herself under a train. Tolstoy saw the mangled remains of her body, and within a year he had begun his novel Anna Karenina’.

The book was also inspired by Pushkin’s Tales of Belkin, in particular by a section beginning "[t]he guests were arriving at the country house...". These words conjured up in Tolstoy’s mind certain characters and events.

In the earliest version of the novel the focus was simply on Anna herself, her husband and her lover. At this stage the heroine was plain, and in a note Tolstoy even described her as "disgusting". Levin and Kitty were subsequent additions – indeed the former is based upon Tolstoy himself, whose first name in Russian is actually Lev.

Ultimately Anna was to be depicted as both beautiful and charming, and her tragic story unfolds against the backdrop of the major changes which were taking place in contemporary Russian society.

The opening sentence of the novel is famous, and may perhaps provide a starting point for the forum discussion. For those who are interested in follow-up work, worthy texts for comparison would be Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence.

Content last updated: 30/08/2005

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