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  • Essay / "Anna Karenina”: Actions Mean More Than Words

    Facial expressions and body language communicate a person's intentions and emotions far better than words. Leo Tolstoy, in Anna Karenina, describes a plethora of physical descriptions, allowing the reader to better understand the emotional state of mind of the characters. Other characters and the narrator frequently describe Anna's shoulders. When Vrosnky and Levin look at them, they are filled with excitement and are impressed. discontent or pain. In all three cases, Anna's shoulders represent the mood at the time of the interaction. Anna's shoulders are a tangible manifestation of her mental and emotional state and the type of energy she expresses. Say no to plagiarism. -essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get original essay When Anna's shoulders are first described, Anna also acts promiscuously for the first time, dancing with Vronsky, who should propose to Kitty. Kitty admires Anna's dress, which exposes her shoulders and chest. She pointed out that “the black dress with luxurious lace was not seen on her; it was only a frame, and we saw only her – simple, natural, graceful and at the same time cheerful and animated” (p. 79). Anna's choice of clothing reflects her mood; she wanted to fit within the “frame” of society’s expectations of her, while exposing her exuberant nature. While conforming to society's expectations, she sympathizes with the socially excluded and foreshadows her future affair. At the ball, as Anna exposes her shoulders, Kitty walks over to Anna and interrupts a conversation during which Anna says, "No, I don't throw stones" (p. 79). This is a reference in the Bible when a woman is caught in adultery. The woman is dragged in public, completely naked. The crime of adultery at the time was stoning. “He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. » (John 8:7). When Anna says: I don't cast stones, she is saying that she is not without sin, but also that she can sympathize with a woman who commits adultery. The circumstances – her flirtatious mood, revealed. shoulders and conversation - foreshadow that she will leave her husband in favor of Vronsky, her future lover. Once Anna feels more comfortable with his expressive mannerism, Vronsky follows the occasion until they consummate their relationship. The murderer falls on this body with animosity, as if with passion, tears it off and cuts it, so [Vronsky] covered [Anna's] face and shoulders with kisses” (pp. 149-150). In this graphic description, the reader becomes aware of the toxic physical relationship that the characters have created. Anna's shoulders – a tangible revelation of her previous mental restraint – inform the reader of the characters' actions. By comparing their physical relationship to murder, Anna – and the reader – are forced to recognize that Vronsky killed her once admired social position because of “those kisses” on her shoulder (p. 150). Yet she holds tightly to Vronsky's love. He killed her mental resistance and, in doing so, encouraged her promiscuous behavior to flourish. After a long period of time, Anna dies of puerperal fever and she reconsiders the growth of her scandal. She no longer considers her defiance a cherished trait, as evidenced by the way she now carries her shoulders. As she lay in bed, "the doctor removed her arms, carefully laid her down on the pillow, and covered her shoulders" (p. 413). She is no longer in a position of physical power, represented by the doctor who covers her shoulders, as if to say that we must stop exposing ourselves and return to our way of lifeprior. Physical recovery establishes verbal control, which she had easily before. She demands that Alexi Alexandrovich discover Vronsky's face and forgive him, which he does. Once this operation is completed, she prepares to die. Contrary to her plan, Anna lives miraculously and resorts to her previous risky relationship with Vronsky, much to the delight of society gossip. Repressed by lies and exclusion, Anna decides to go to the opera to prove that she doesn't care about society's expectations of her. Vronsky describes Anna as she sits in a dressing room during the performance; “The placement of her head on her broad, beautiful shoulders, the restrained excitement and brilliance of her eyes and her whole face reminded him of her, as he had seen her at the Moscow ball” (p. 546 ). Her shoulders are described as broad, which could mean they attracted more attention than usual. Interestingly, the singer's shoulders are the only other shoulders depicted in this scene. Obviously, being the lead performer, the singer is attention-seeking. Also wearing a revealing dress, Anna competes for attention with the performer. She succeeds. Vronsky, who is not looking for Anna, knows where she is sitting "in front of everyone" (p. 545). Anna is the center of all attention. She finds herself in a cyclical process: Anna is excited to prove that she can act however she wants, so she dresses revealingly exposing her shoulders, then when people stare at her and chat, she becomes even more excited . By showing her shoulders, she physically displays her emotional state of excited defiance of social expectations. In the last moments of Anna's life, she loses her mental vigor. While she is at the station looking for Vrosnky, completely agitated, she suddenly thinks of the train as a way to end her unhappiness. “Exactly at the moment when the space between the wheels came in front of her, she dropped the red bag, and bringing her head back to her shoulders, fell on her hands under the car, and lightly, as if she were going to get up again immediately: fell to his knees” (p. 768). Tolstoy describes Anna as "drawing her head into her shoulders", which may be a metaphor for her physical and emotional ordeal. Throughout her relationship with Vronsky, there has been a struggle between what she says verbally and what her body reveals. When she first meets Vronsky, “she deliberately extinguished the light in his eyes, but it shone against her will” (p. 61). At a party, she encourages him to leave her alone, and when he refuses, she tells him: "That just shows you don't have a heart"... But her eyes said she knew that he had a heart, and that's why she was afraid of him." (p.139). This is a recurring struggle, so when Anna finally no longer has the mental strength to fight against oppression of her situation, she simply acts as her body wanted all along. In her final moments, her head, which represents her mental strength, falls on her shoulders, which represent her physical desire. Her final moments are the mental end. of his internal struggle expressed externally This struggle may be linked to Vronsky's attention and Anna's resistance. It is no coincidence that Anna's shoulders and promiscuity appear at the same time; are described, and when they are not, are based on her intentions At the station, when she first arrives in Petersburg and meets Vronsky, "she deliberately extinguished the light in her eyes, but it shone. against his will” (p. 61). When they meet, his shoulders are not shown. All other characteristics are described: its silhouette, its expression, its head, its eyes, its.