I went yesterday to see the ballet Anna Karenina ин Boris Eifman. Everyone danced spectacularly, and the music was amazing (by Tchaikovsky).
Here is a small video of a part the ballet - including an interview with Eifman.
As when reading the novel, I sympathized most with Karenin, her husband. Of course, he should have known that with such an age difference, the relationship could not be a very stable one. But on the other hand, since Anna married him, there is such a thing as loyalty, which she obviously didn't have.
She decided to stay with Vronsky, who was closer to her age and more attractive, and wealthy. I can understand that from her point of view.
The thing that I do not understand at all is when she throws herself under a train after she feels that Vronsky doesn't love her anymore. First of all, he did still love her, only he didn't reply to a note she sent because he was busy. Secondly, she had two children who needed her. But did she think about them? No. Her thoughts were only about herself, and that (in her perception at the moment) her relationship with Vronsky had failed. I suppose at times feelings can be truly overwhelming.
Some good quotes from the book
“Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
“Sometimes she did not know what she feared, what she desired: whether she feared or desired what had been or what would be, and precisely what she desired, she did not know.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
"And in that same instant she was horrified at what she was doing. "Where am I? What am I doing? Why?" She wanted to rise, to throw herself back, but something huge and implacable pushed at her head and dragged over her. "Lord, forgive me for everything!" she said, feeling the impossibility of any struggle.
-Leo Tolstoy
On that day, she needed a friend, someone to just give her a hug and tell her that what she was about to do was a terrible idea, and that she was loved, but she had no one, which is probably the point Tolstoy was trying to make - that society killed her as much as she herself did, by rejecting her.
It was such a double standard (and still is), that somehow if a man is a 'player' (Vronsky) it is seen as almost a positive thing, an affirmation of his masculinity in a way, but if a woman should fall in love and leave her husband - it is seen as a terrible crime against society. Shouldn't the same standards of morality apply to everyone equally?
What do you think?
Here is a small video of a part the ballet - including an interview with Eifman.
As when reading the novel, I sympathized most with Karenin, her husband. Of course, he should have known that with such an age difference, the relationship could not be a very stable one. But on the other hand, since Anna married him, there is such a thing as loyalty, which she obviously didn't have.
She decided to stay with Vronsky, who was closer to her age and more attractive, and wealthy. I can understand that from her point of view.
The thing that I do not understand at all is when she throws herself under a train after she feels that Vronsky doesn't love her anymore. First of all, he did still love her, only he didn't reply to a note she sent because he was busy. Secondly, she had two children who needed her. But did she think about them? No. Her thoughts were only about herself, and that (in her perception at the moment) her relationship with Vronsky had failed. I suppose at times feelings can be truly overwhelming.
Some good quotes from the book
“Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
“Sometimes she did not know what she feared, what she desired: whether she feared or desired what had been or what would be, and precisely what she desired, she did not know.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
"And in that same instant she was horrified at what she was doing. "Where am I? What am I doing? Why?" She wanted to rise, to throw herself back, but something huge and implacable pushed at her head and dragged over her. "Lord, forgive me for everything!" she said, feeling the impossibility of any struggle.
-Leo Tolstoy
On that day, she needed a friend, someone to just give her a hug and tell her that what she was about to do was a terrible idea, and that she was loved, but she had no one, which is probably the point Tolstoy was trying to make - that society killed her as much as she herself did, by rejecting her.
It was such a double standard (and still is), that somehow if a man is a 'player' (Vronsky) it is seen as almost a positive thing, an affirmation of his masculinity in a way, but if a woman should fall in love and leave her husband - it is seen as a terrible crime against society. Shouldn't the same standards of morality apply to everyone equally?
What do you think?
I liked this entry. And yeah, sometimes I think society is to blame for how they judge and treat others, it's just hard to ever "prove" society guilty.
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