Anna Karenina
(Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina
(AHN-nah)
Book 1, Chapter 18. The title character, she is a very attractive, intelligent and sensitive women married to a high ranking government official Alexey Karenin. They have one son together. She has a love affair with Count Vronsky and bears his daughter. She and Karenin separate and she and Vronsky live together.
Alexei Vronsky
(ah-LEKS-ay)
Book 1, Chapter 14. Vronsky is a young Count from a privileged background but not a long lineage who takes life and love affairs lightly. When he falls in love with Anna Karenina, he sacrifices his position in society and they move in together. He later raises a squadron to fight for the Servians against the Turks.
Stepan Oblonsky
(styeh-PAHN)
Book 1, Chapter 1. Oblansky is a very privileged prince who lives a life beyond his means and enjoys it with great enthusiasm and little introspection. He is the father of a large family and manages to escape the most pressing demands of his wife and children. He has little sense of practical finances and almost spends all his family’s money.
Darya Oblonskaya
(DAHR-yuh)
Book 1, Chapter 4. Darya, known as Dolly, is the daughter of Prince and Princess Shtcherbatsky and sister of Katerina (Kitty) and Natalia. She is married to Count Oblonsky and the mother of a large family. Her feelings for Stepan are tested by his infidelity and lack of character.
Alexei Karenin
(ah-LEKS-ay)
Book 1, Chapter 30. Karenin is the husband of Anna who is twenty years her senior. He is government minister, he is very conventional and conservative. Deeply hurt and outraged over his wife’s infidelity, he vacillates about giving her a divorce. He keeps his son with him after Anna moves out. Eventually he turns to religion.
Konstantin Levin
(kahn-stahn-TEEN)
Book 1, Chapter 5. Konstantin is a serious minded land owner, in love with Kitty Shtcherbatskaya. He introspective, sensitive and conscientious but sometimes lets his emotions rule his rationality. His name Konstantin (“constant”) indicates his steady and dependable character.
Nikolai Levin
(nee-kah-LYE)
Book 1, Chapter 24. Nikolai is Konstantin’s brother and is something of the black sheep of the family. He lives an unconventional life in near poverty and is interested in communism. Has a lover, Marya (Masha) whom he treats rather badly. He is in very poor health.
Sergius (Sergey) Koznyshev
(syehr-GAY)
Book 1, Chapter 8. Sergius, or “Sergey” is the older half-brother of Konstantin Levin, the son of Levin’s mother from a first marriage. He is a writer and intellectual, and lives in Moscow. He and Konstantin, who is much more emotional, do not always see eye-to-eye.
Ekaterina Shtcherbatskaya
(yeh-ka-tyeh-REE-nah)
Book 1, Chapter 9. Ekaterina, known as Kitty, is eighteen years old at the beginning of the novel. She is the youngest of the three daughters of Prince and Princess Shtcherbatskys. After coming out in society she falls for the dashing Count Vronsky. In time she comes to appreciate Konstantin Levin, who is in love with her.
Princess Elizaveta Tverskaya
(yeh-lee-zah-VYEH-tah)
Book 2, Chapter 4. The Princess, an important woman in Russian society, she is known as Princess Betsy; she is cousin of Count Vronsky’s. A close friend of Anna’s, she is instrumental in the couple being able to meet clandestinely.
Lidia Ivanovna
(LEE-dee-yah)
Book 2, Chapter 4. Countess Lidia Ivanovna, a woman in late middle age, is the social leader of the government set of Petersburg. She has been divorced for many years after a brief youthful marriage. She helps Alexei Karenin in many ways after Anna leaves and decides she is in love with him. She has a religious influence on Karenin.
Countess Vronskaya
Book 1, Chapter 18. The imperious mother of Count Vronsky, she has had a lot of influence on her son and still exerts control over him. She does not approve of his affair with Anna and wishes he would marry someone “suitable”.
Sergei Karenin
(syehr-GAY)
Book 2, Chapter 27. The young son of Anna and Alexey Karenin, known as Seryozha, he suffers emotional trauma due to his parents’ separation. Neither of his parents truly put his needs first.
Annie Karenin
Book 4, Chapter 17. Annie, is the daughter of Anna and Vronsky, born as a result of their affair. Legally she bears the name of Anna’s husband, Alexei Karenin, and he seems to have more feeling for her than her own mother, who never bonds with her.
Varenka
(var-EHN-kah)
Book 2, Chapter 30. Varenka is a Russian girl, a companion to Madame Stahl at a vacation spa in Soden, Germany. Kitty goes there with her parents to recover from her broken heart over Vronsky. Varenka is a very good person who Kitty tries to emulate by helping others. Later she is courted by Konstantin’s brother Sergey.
Marya Nikolaevna
(mah-REE-yah)
Book 1, Chapter 24. Marya, also known as Masha, is the common-law partner of Nikolai Levin, Konstantin’s brother. He claims he rescued her from a brothel. Marya is of a low social standing and feels uneasy around the aristocratic Russians. Kitty helps her nurse Nikolai when he is dying.
Agafea Mihailovna
(ah-GAH-feea)
Book 1, Chapter 27. Agafea is the kind and loving housekeeper of Konstantin Levin who is always there to listen to him. She had been his nurse when he was a child. She provides a continuity and faithfulness and is always supportive of Konstantin.
Princess Barbara
(VAHR-vah-rah)
Book 6, Ch. 17. Princess Barbara, known as Varvara in Russian, is the aunt of Stepan Oblonsky. She has declared herself Anna’s champion. Dolly has little respect for her and believes Varvara is only at Anna’s to take advantage of her rather than really help her.
(elder) Princess Shcherbatskaya
Book 1, Chapter 14. The mother of three daughters, she is typical of her generation in that her marriage was arranged. Her greatest worry is getting her daughters well-married. Early on she prefers Vronsky for Kitty over Konstantin as she is charmed by his personality.
(elder) Prince Shcherbatskaya
Book 1, Chapter 14. The father of three daughters, he is a genial and affectionate man. His marriage, arranged when he was a young man, is successful. He prefers Konstantin Levin over Count Vronsky as a husband for his daughter Kitty.
Madame Stahl
Book 2, Chapter 30. Madame Stahl is a Russian invalid at the spa in Soden, Germany. Her companion is the excellent Varenka who Kitty Shcherbatskaya looks up to and befriends.
Mihailov
(mee-kha-EEL-ov)
Book 5, Chapter 9. Mihailov is a talented painter that Vronsky and Anna meet in Italy who despises the rich dilettantes who he believes they are. He eventually paints Anna’s portrait which is hung in their Moscow home.
Petritsky
Book 1, Chapter 34. Petritsky is a friend of Vronsky’s, and is in the Russian army with him. He shares his barracks. He is a typical member of the upper class – his concerns revolve around drinking, horse-racing, and womanizing.
Vasily “Vassenka” Veslovsky
(vah-SEE-lee)
Book 6, Chapter 6. Vassenka is a cousin of Stepan’s; he brings him to Konstantin’s to shoot. Konstantin is at first jealous, thinking Vassenka is interested in Kitty. He is a careless, happy-go-lucky young man, seeming not to have a serious thought in his head.
Countess Nordston
Book 1, Chapter 14. The countess is a friend of the young unmarried Kitty Shtcherbatskaya and is a rather snippy, gossipy member of Moscow’s society. She and Konstantin Levin dislike each other.
Nikolai Sviyazhsky
(nee-kah-LYE)
Book 3, Chapter 26. A fellow land-owner and neighbor and friend of Konstantin’s, Sviyazhsky holds many ideas Konstantin does not agree with but he enjoys his company and knows at times he must rely on him as a neighbor.
Jules Landau
(Shuhl)
Book 7, Chapter 21. Landau is also known as Count Bezzubov. He has been taken under the wing of Lidia Ivanovna and Alexei Karenin and they are consulting him as a clairvoyant and spiritual adviser concerning Alexei’s possible divorce from Anna.
Fyodor Katavasov
(FYAW-dahr)
Book 7, Chapter 3. A professor friend of Konstantin’s, known for his intellectual accomplishments.