I haven't written a blog in a while, a long while and the reasons are - well, I just haven't. Now that I'm past the explanation I'll get to this blog subject which is, why some of the great love stories worked because of the times they happened in. By that I mean that the decisions that were or were not made by the star-crossed lovers would not necessarily apply today. Some might doubt this and I would have to say in response to that, "you've come a long way baby" - enough said.
This subject, "oh, you’re not sure what the subject is," well here it is - if Anna Karenina lived today, would she have felt the need to jump under that damm train? There are going to be mixed responses from some on this. And as to why I choose this subject? Not so sure, other then the fact that my daughter in a recent conversation told me she was reading what some say is Tolstoy's greatest novel. I know when I read it years ago, I was so sad for Anna and angry that the very ones who claimed to be her friends, shunned her even though some of them also had an extramarital affair. When I saw Garbo's film of Anna, it only made me more sad for her. What a face! But that's a subject for another blog.
Sure Anna had her own insecurities later when she felt Vronsky would go out and 'socialize' and she could not. Who among us could tolerate being shunned without developing depression and later suicidal thoughts and actions. I have digressed a little regarding the original subject of this blog to wit, great love stories worked then and not now. Anna's story is the love story here, not Vronsky’s and hers but hers alone. She died because she felt he no longer wanted her and because of his selfish inability of not being able to assure her of this love, due to his need to go out alone without her, since she was the one shunned, not him. This is at the heart of this love story.
Not only would she not have been shunned, if this story was in the present but her husband, Count Alexei Karenina would have to show more grounds in order to keep her son, Sergei from her. Plus, there is the little fact (really a big one for this story) that a divorce would have been a rather simple matter. She did not need his money, her lover was well off but she did need her son and the threat of not seeing him kept her from saying publically that she had an affair, which is what she had to do in order to get the divorce. I'm sure most of you know, whether you've read it or not, that this is a very thick book, so I can't go into all the plots and subplots here but suffice to say that if our heroin lived today, here is a brief synopsis of what might and certainly should happen.
Anna is pursued by Vronsky and finally excepts his advances since her husband, Count what’s-his-name (way too long) spends too much time in his affairs and dotes on her rarely, mostly in public. Even though he feels he has great love for her, the man is clueless as to how to show this to her. What's a woman to do, especially if you look like Garbo? Sorry she is the only Anna Karenina for me. Now keep up because I'm condensing 853 pages, small print into this blog. This is how I feel it would play out today.
Anna finds Vronsky's advances to her attractive and gives in, having genuine feelings for him soon after. She is persuaded to go away with him. Torn by her female desires and wanting to be with her son, she decides this will be a short holiday with her lover. Soon, it's on Facebook and well that's just the beginning, (damm that pesky social media). Her husband pleads with her to end the affair, for the sake of their marriage, community property can be quite an incentive and of course their son.
Soon she grows tired of her husband’s threats of keeping her son from her. She hires a fabulous lawyer, (like the one Katie Holms had) and decides to move to New York for the arts and of course this would certainly be good for Sergei. She stays there long enough to establish residency and BAM! hits her soon to be ex-husband with papers. Now all this time Vronsky wants to go out and party and he does not seem interested in being with Anna's son. This concerns her and annoys her also. Soon Anna grows weary of Vronsky and his selfish ways. She confronts him but he is blind to her needs, just as her husband was. Not too keen on marrying again, especially with these signs of failure showing up in their relationship before she is even divorced, she kicks him out.
Now divorced in Manhattan, she realizes that the arts are one of the many things she has missed out on, others being a damm good deli and great book stores. Sergei loves the city and they go for walks daily in Central Park and he rides the carousal. And in case you remember that pregnancy from her lover. She has a girl. He sends money for her upbringing but sees her only rarely. Anna becomes a writer of course and she is still writing her great novel on the Upper West side. You can see them daily around four in the park, just look around the Carousal on the West side of the park. You can't miss them, just look for Garbo.
This subject, "oh, you’re not sure what the subject is," well here it is - if Anna Karenina lived today, would she have felt the need to jump under that damm train? There are going to be mixed responses from some on this. And as to why I choose this subject? Not so sure, other then the fact that my daughter in a recent conversation told me she was reading what some say is Tolstoy's greatest novel. I know when I read it years ago, I was so sad for Anna and angry that the very ones who claimed to be her friends, shunned her even though some of them also had an extramarital affair. When I saw Garbo's film of Anna, it only made me more sad for her. What a face! But that's a subject for another blog.
Sure Anna had her own insecurities later when she felt Vronsky would go out and 'socialize' and she could not. Who among us could tolerate being shunned without developing depression and later suicidal thoughts and actions. I have digressed a little regarding the original subject of this blog to wit, great love stories worked then and not now. Anna's story is the love story here, not Vronsky’s and hers but hers alone. She died because she felt he no longer wanted her and because of his selfish inability of not being able to assure her of this love, due to his need to go out alone without her, since she was the one shunned, not him. This is at the heart of this love story.
Not only would she not have been shunned, if this story was in the present but her husband, Count Alexei Karenina would have to show more grounds in order to keep her son, Sergei from her. Plus, there is the little fact (really a big one for this story) that a divorce would have been a rather simple matter. She did not need his money, her lover was well off but she did need her son and the threat of not seeing him kept her from saying publically that she had an affair, which is what she had to do in order to get the divorce. I'm sure most of you know, whether you've read it or not, that this is a very thick book, so I can't go into all the plots and subplots here but suffice to say that if our heroin lived today, here is a brief synopsis of what might and certainly should happen.
Anna is pursued by Vronsky and finally excepts his advances since her husband, Count what’s-his-name (way too long) spends too much time in his affairs and dotes on her rarely, mostly in public. Even though he feels he has great love for her, the man is clueless as to how to show this to her. What's a woman to do, especially if you look like Garbo? Sorry she is the only Anna Karenina for me. Now keep up because I'm condensing 853 pages, small print into this blog. This is how I feel it would play out today.
Anna finds Vronsky's advances to her attractive and gives in, having genuine feelings for him soon after. She is persuaded to go away with him. Torn by her female desires and wanting to be with her son, she decides this will be a short holiday with her lover. Soon, it's on Facebook and well that's just the beginning, (damm that pesky social media). Her husband pleads with her to end the affair, for the sake of their marriage, community property can be quite an incentive and of course their son.
Soon she grows tired of her husband’s threats of keeping her son from her. She hires a fabulous lawyer, (like the one Katie Holms had) and decides to move to New York for the arts and of course this would certainly be good for Sergei. She stays there long enough to establish residency and BAM! hits her soon to be ex-husband with papers. Now all this time Vronsky wants to go out and party and he does not seem interested in being with Anna's son. This concerns her and annoys her also. Soon Anna grows weary of Vronsky and his selfish ways. She confronts him but he is blind to her needs, just as her husband was. Not too keen on marrying again, especially with these signs of failure showing up in their relationship before she is even divorced, she kicks him out.
Now divorced in Manhattan, she realizes that the arts are one of the many things she has missed out on, others being a damm good deli and great book stores. Sergei loves the city and they go for walks daily in Central Park and he rides the carousal. And in case you remember that pregnancy from her lover. She has a girl. He sends money for her upbringing but sees her only rarely. Anna becomes a writer of course and she is still writing her great novel on the Upper West side. You can see them daily around four in the park, just look around the Carousal on the West side of the park. You can't miss them, just look for Garbo.