Topic > The novels "Anna Karenina" and "We": in search of love

Sexual relationships have different social implications depending on the society in which they take place. Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is a 19th century novel, and Yevgeny Zamyatin's Envy is a 20th century novel. Both novels depict the imperfect realities of mating, but in very different ways. Anna Karenina focuses more deeply on the third-person relationships between characters, while We tells D-503's perspective. Both give the reader the understanding that society affects the value of relationships between men and women. The consequences of such actions are also illustrated. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To have imperfect relationships, there must be an ideal. Both novels inexplicitly explain an unidentifiable perfect couple. In Anna Karenina it is about a married man and woman, who interact peacefully socially and in the bedroom. Our flawless couple includes a male Number and a female Number who have no emotional connection and “have the right of access to any other Number as a sexual product” simply to satisfy the human need for sex (Zamyatin p. 22). These are very different social implications: one insists on an emotional bond and the other disapproves of this aspect. Yet in both books social perfection is desirable. To maintain the image of perfection, the characters in both books endure discomfort. “The Karenins, husband and wife, continued to live in the same house, met every day, but were completely strangers to each other,” because this supports their image of an ideal couple (Tolstoy p. 353). Tolstoy writes: "The Karenins, husband and wife", emphasizing their role in each other and the fact that they both participate in the creation of the image. They have to endure it because Anna decides to love a different man. This is not socially acceptable, so instead of dealing with the embarrassment of both of them, they pretend that everything is normal. In Anna Karenina the ideal couple is happy and married. In Us there is not the image of perfect unity, but rather the ideal estrangement. D-503 and O try to maintain this, regulating the rules of Sex Day and not calling each other "mine". D-503, however, became infatuated with another number, I-330. Because in their society, in theory, "there is no longer the slightest reason for envy", so when D-503 hurts O with his affection towards another Number, he must recognize the flaws of both himself and the system (Zamyatin p.23). O loves D-503, and when he admits it, D thinks to himself: “What wild terminology - “mine”. I never was… But suddenly I recovered: it occurred to me that before I was, it's true, but now...” (Zamyatin p. 76) Here he understands the difference between society's ideal and reality. Socially it was not his, but emotionally he loves the I-330, what which should not happen. Call the word “mine” because it comes from the “Ancient Times” and has been socially discarded; feeling of 'mine' is represented in a way drastic in every novel. In Anna Karenina, when Anna and Vronsky consummate their relationship, rather than the ideal perfect union, their coupling is compared to a corpse, underlining the unnatural reality of their relationship, he writes: "And how l The murderer throws himself upon this body with animosity, as if with passion, drags it away and tears it to pieces, so he covers her face and shoulders with kisses" (Tolstoy pp. 149 -150). This is a truly horrific scene. In addition to the word “killer,” other words such as “animosity,” “drag,” and “cut” give the reader the understanding that Anna has killed her potential for the ideal relationship. Yes.