A. Parallel plot
The complexity and sweep of Anna Karenina derives from Tolstoy's use of the double plot. While Anna is the central symbolic figure of the story, Konstantin Levin is its hero. Anna and those around her derive their life experience from the highly developed standards of urban civilization, while Levin is a product of the less rigid, individualistic circumstances that obtain in the country. His values derive from his deep-rooted attachment to his ancestral property, while Anna's depend upon her social role as a high society matron. Despite their opposite backgrounds, both protagonists seek a deeper meaning for life beyond the socially defined restrictions of contemporary society. Primarily, Anna and Levin seek love as their basic fulfillment.
Through the vehicle of their parallel careers, Tolstoy seeks to relate and contrast the opposing values of urban life and country life. This dualism lies at the center of his art. For him, the distinction between city life and life on the land represents the fundamental tension between good and evil, between "the unnatural and inhuman code of urbanity" and the "golden age of pastoral life" (quoting Steiner). Developing Anna Karenina in terms of this duality, Tolstoy investigates two planes of human experience: the personal and the cultural. This allows him not only to provide insight into the day by day experiences of human beings, but to present a panorama of Russian life at that time.
