Anna Karenina, the protagonist of this classic tragedy, is the wife of Karenin, a respected government official from St. Petersburg. Conflicts arise when Anna is moved by the love of a bachelor, Vronsky. Willing to take a divorce, Anna approaches her husband only to be rebuffed on grounds of social norms and moral values of the Church. To escape from the Russian society, Anna and Vronsky elope to Italy, only to be tormented by the same social typecasting there as well. Returning to Russia, Anna stays confined to her house with Vronsky socialising like always, which makes Anna anxious and upset. With the rising complexes inside her, Anna's life transforms from that of a comfortably settled married lady to that of a shunned, paranoid woman. This classic beautifully describes the social atmosphere prevailing in Russia at the time when the story is set and the bearing it had on a woman who defied its norms. It makes the readers think about the differences in the treatment of the two genders on the basis of the same set of issues, through a tragic yet engrossing story.