Understanding Social Double Standards
After Anna's death Vronsky's mother tells the story on a provincial platform. Six weeks he would not speak or eat. The death was low and vulgar. Anna was a bad woman. What a noble act on his part, someone says, noticing he is not even in the compartment. The official version has already reassigned the blame.
Key Insight
The last double standard is narrative. The rooms that laughed at Stiva write Anna as the entire moral. Vronsky becomes the man who suffered. Mutual choices disappear.
“What a terrible thing it was!”Explore full theme analysis
