Anna Karenina Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Anna Karenina

A brilliant, magnetic Petersburg society woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a senior statesman. She risks everything for Vronsky, is destroyed by the society that condemns her and by her own jealousy, and dies under a train.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train; Part 2: Gossip, Races, and a Confession; Part 3: Fever, Forgiveness, and Two Marriages; Part 4: The Shunned Woman and the Starry Sky
Themes:: The double standard; Jealousy as self-destruction; Work, land, and the body; Faith and the meaning of life; Hypocrisy and appearances

Count Alexei Vronsky

A wealthy, polished cavalry officer who abandons career and society for Anna. After her suicide he seeks death as a volunteer in the Serbian-Turkish war and finds only continued life.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train; Part 2: Gossip, Races, and a Confession; Part 3: Fever, Forgiveness, and Two Marriages; Part 4: The Shunned Woman and the Starry Sky
Themes:: The double standard; Jealousy as self-destruction; Work, land, and the body; Hypocrisy and appearances

Alexei Karenin

Anna's husband, a cold, formal government minister who governs his heart by procedure. His deathbed forgiveness of Anna becomes a magnanimity she cannot bear, and he ends up raising her daughter Anya.

Appears in:: Part 2: Gossip, Races, and a Confession; Part 3: Fever, Forgiveness, and Two Marriages; Part 4: The Shunned Woman and the Starry Sky
Themes:: Jealousy as self-destruction; Work, land, and the body; Hypocrisy and appearances

Konstantin Levin

An awkward, sincere landowner who despises city life and loves farming. Rejected by Kitty, he wins her back, and after a brush with despair finds the meaning of life in goodness and faith.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train

Kitty Shcherbatskaya

Dolly's younger sister, a young princess humiliated when Vronsky ignores her at the ball. Restored by learning selflessness abroad, she marries Levin and shows her strength by nursing his dying brother.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train; Part 2: Gossip, Races, and a Confession; Part 3: Fever, Forgiveness, and Two Marriages

Nikolai Levin

Konstantin's dying brother, a ruined idealist living with Masha, a former prostitute. His slow death from consumption tests and ultimately deepens the Levin household.

Appears in:: Part 2: Gossip, Races, and a Confession; Part 3: Fever, Forgiveness, and Two Marriages

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Stiva Oblonsky

Anna's charming, unrepentant brother, whose affair with the governess opens the novel. Forgiven by Dolly, he goes on unchanged, the book's picture of amiable moral weightlessness.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train
Themes:: The double standard; Hypocrisy and appearances

Dolly Oblonskaya

Stiva's wronged wife, who swallows her resentment for the sake of the family. She alone understands what Anna's choice costs, and she stays in a marriage she has learned to accept.

Appears in:: Part 1: A Broken Household and a Fatal Train
Themes:: The double standard

How they are connected

Key relationships

Anna Karenina Count Alexei Vronsky
She risks everything for Vronsky, is destroyed by the society that condemns her and by her own jealousy, and dies under a train.
Alexei Karenin Anna Karenina
Anna's husband, a cold, formal government minister who governs his heart by procedure.
Konstantin Levin Kitty Shcherbatskaya
Rejected by Kitty, he wins her back, and after a brush with despair finds the meaning of life in goodness and faith.
Kitty Shcherbatskaya Count Alexei Vronsky
Dolly's younger sister, a young princess humiliated when Vronsky ignores her at the ball.
Kitty Shcherbatskaya Dolly Oblonskaya
Dolly's younger sister, a young princess humiliated when Vronsky ignores her at the ball.
Stiva Oblonsky Anna Karenina
Anna's charming, unrepentant brother, whose affair with the governess opens the novel.
Stiva Oblonsky Dolly Oblonskaya
Forgiven by Dolly, he goes on unchanged, the book's picture of amiable moral weightlessness.
Dolly Oblonskaya Anna Karenina
She alone understands what Anna's choice costs, and she stays in a marriage she has learned to accept.
Nikolai Levin Konstantin Levin
Konstantin's dying brother, a ruined idealist living with Masha, a former prostitute.

Go deeper

Anna Karenina themes & symbols

The double standard · Jealousy as self-destruction · Work, land, and the body · Faith and the meaning of life

Themes explained

Read the full Anna Karenina summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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