Miriam Goldstein

April 4, 2014

Womens Kingdom: Defying Male Dominance in Late Imperial Russia

Im sorry Ive disturbed your womens kingdom, Konstantin Levin says upon
interrupting a conversation between his wife and his mother- and sister-in-law.1 He states this
almost mockingly, as if they were discussing something that could not have possibly interested
him. In late imperial Russia, it was not uncommon for men to cast off the world of women as
trivial and superfluous. However, they should not have been so quick to do so. In a society where
male privilege was a given, women were still able to find ways to claim their independence.
Within the confines of the larger male-dominated sphere, women could weave their own web,
one in which they could assert their dominance not only over other women, but sometimes over
the very men who felt so secure in their position of power. Ultimately, Leo Tolstoys epic novel
reveals that, despite their subordinate status in the late imperial world, Russian women were far
from powerless.
In late imperial Russia, women frequently controlled men without even trying. This sort
of control is not unique to the country or age but has existed since the beginning of time: the
ability for women to bewitch the men in their midst. Of course, one cannot deny the fact that
men can have a similar sway over women it comes to love. Anna Karenina eventually becomes
almost as enchanted with Count Vronsky as he is with her, and Kitty Shcherbatsky literally falls
lovesick following Vronskys rejection.2 However, at least according to Vronskys old school
friend and rival Serpukhovskoy, Women are all more material than men. We make something
enormous out of love, and theyre always terre--terre (down to earth).3 Indeed, attempting to
be sensible, Anna denies Vronsky many times before finally giving in.4 It would therefore seem
that love, or rather lust, may not hold as much power over women as it does men. Regardless of
the truth of this statement, it is important to note that womens ability to govern the hearts of
men just as much or more as these men ruled over theirs shows one way in which women were
equal to men in this predominately paternalistic society.
If there was any way a man in late imperial Russia could be ruined, it was through his
almost insatiable hunger for women. Women are the main stumbling block in a mans
activity, Serpukhovskoy warns Vronsky, whose affair with Anna Karenina is known to the
whole town, despite his never speaking of it.5 This friend, along with many other individuals in
Vronskys life, most notably his mother and elder brother, express their concern over his
obsession with Anna, which they fear is destroying him.6 His face, always so firm and
independent, had acquired a new expression of lostness and obedience, all thanks to Anna.7
From Vronskys first encounter with Madame Karenina at the train station, she is able to lure
him to her, despite the fact that she had never intended or even wanted to do so.8 In fact, this is a
major reason why Anna eventually gives in to Vronskys pursuit of her: she enjoys the ease with
which she can control him. He presents a great contrast to her husband, Alexei Karenin, a man so
obsessed with the important government work he constantly brings home that he has little time

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (New York: Penguin Books, 2002),
557.
2
Ibid. 464, 122.
3
Ibid. 312.
4
Ibid. 103-102, 127-128, 149.
5
Ibid. 311, 174.
6
Ibid. 174.
7
Ibid. 83.
8
Ibid. 61.

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April 4, 2014

for his wife.9 When Karenin greets Anna at the train station upon her return from Moscow, Anna
is once again struck by the feeling of dissatisfaction with herself that always arose in her
whenever she was in his presence. He makes a mockery of his love for her, it seems to Anna, and
this she cannot handle.10 Vronsky offers something entirely different. Far from ignoring her, he
will not leave her alone and even goes so far as to stalk her on the way back to Petersburg:
Why am I going? [Vronsky] repeated, looking straight into [Annas] eyes. You know I am
going in order to be where you areI cannot do otherwise. Vronskys passion for Anna excites
her more than she could imagine, for he had said the very thing that her soul desired but that her
reason feared.11 The thing that she needed most was a mans undivided attention, something she
and many other late imperial women, also the wives of distant ministry or military men, did not
find in their husbands. No wonder Anna was only one of hundreds of other [fallen] women
found in this society.12 Further proof that control over her lover was one of the most important
factors in Annas relationship with Vronsky comes from her ever increasing frustration that he is
spending too much time away from her, something he does to prove to [Anna] that his love for
[her] shouldnt hinder his freedom.13 When Anna becomes paranoid that Vronsky has started
seeing other women, that is the last straw.14 Fearful that she has lost the ability to possess him
fully as she had so enjoyed and required, Anna decides that she must end it all.15 And, in a final
act of control over her lost lover, she brings Vronsky down with her.16
The concerns of Vronskys friends and family turn out to be far from unfounded. In the
end, he, like many Russian society men before him, is destroyed by a woman.17 Following her
death, the ghost of Anna still haunts him. Crushed by Annas suicide, Vronsky no longer cares
whether he lives or dies.18 But even long before Annas candlewent out for ever,19 Vronsky
had sacrificed his ambition for her.20 His career had suffered when refused an important post
just so that he could stay in town and continue to see Anna.21 When Anna almost died after
giving birth to his daughter, Vronsky attempted suicide, at that point so enamored of her that he
could not see the point of living in a world without her.22 My poor son gave her all of
himself, laments Vronskys mother. He abandoned everything career, me and even so she
took no pity on him but deliberately destroyed him completely.23 As most mothers would,
Vronskys mother puts the blame for her sons downfall not on him but on his now-deceased
mistress. Whether or not Anna deliberately destroyed him, Vronskys life would have certainly
taken a different path if it had not been for this woman.
Vronsky is far from the only late imperial man whose life was ruled and ruined by his
love for a woman. Another who comes close is Stepan Arkadyich, or Stiva, Annas brother,
9

Ibid. 14, 109.

Ibid. 104.
11
Ibid. 102.
12
Ibid. 529.
13
Ibid. 704-705.
14
Ibid. 739-740, 747.
15
Ibid. 464, 744-745.
16
Ibid. 768.
17
Ibid. 312.
18
Ibid. 780.
19
Ibid. 768.
20
Ibid. 464.
21
Ibid. 174.
22
Ibid. 417.
23
Ibid. 778.
10

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April 4, 2014

whose love for multiple women is almost his undoing. Like Serpukhovskoy, Stiva recognizes
that women [are] the pivot on which everything turns.24 A good wife can make a man, but a
mistress can destroy the happy home he has built and everything he has worked for.25 That is
Stivas problem. He is too tempted by pretty girls, including (but not limited to) his childrens
French governess.26 His wife, Dolly, discovers this affair and threatens to leave him, a possibility
so real that he calls in his sister Anna to intervene. Thanks to Anna, the couple reconcile.27
Despite this ultimate happy ending, the situation still reveals a way in which women living in
late imperial Russia could assert their dominance. A wife may have been unable to control her
husbands philandering (A mistress was not secure in her position either.), but at least when
presented with it, she did not have to sit by idly.28 She could depart, leaving her husband with his
guilt, as well as the knowledge that he was at the mercy of not one, but two women his mistress
and his wife.29
Even in more respectable situations, late imperial Russian women still could influence
the men in their lives. When Levin, undoubtedly an upstanding and for the most part very
grounded individual, sets his sights on Kitty Shcherbatsky, Dollys younger sister, no one else
will do. He is just as crazy in love with her as any man, despite his more sensible considerations
when it comes to almost everything else.30 Levin comes to Moscow to propose to Kitty, only for
her to turn him down in favor of an anticipated proposal from Vronsky.31 A woman in this
society may not have been able to propose to a man, but she could choose from among her many
suitors.32 No matter how obsessed a man such as Levin may have been with a girl, he could not
have her unless she accepted. Thankfully for Levin, Kitty does eventually realize her love for
him, and the second time around, his proposal is a success.33 For a period of time, however, a
mans (Levins) chance at happiness had been held in a womans (Kittys) hands.
Before Levin and Kittys wedding, a bachelor party is held for the lucky groom. Levins
friends and half-brother, Sergei Ivanovich, inform him about the ways marriage will restrict his
freedom. And from now on its good-bye to bear hunting your wife wont allow it! quips
Sergei Ivanovich. Levin confesses that he is so happy that this loss of freedom does not concern
him in the least, only to be told that however happy one may be, one still regrets ones
freedom.34 Although this loss of freedom may have been variable from marriage to marriage, it
was still always present to some degree in the late imperial Russian world. A man had a duty to
respect his wife, and this often meant giving in to at least some of her demands.35 Some wives
ruled their husbands more than others. In fact, the possibility of the woman being the dominant
one in the relationship was so widely accepted in this culture that the deciding of this dominance
had become part of the marriage custom: Often and much [Levin and Kitty] had both heard
about the belief that whoever is first to step on the rug [that is spread out in the middle of the
24

Ibid, 40.
Ibid. 555.
26
Ibid. 1, 5, 10, 11.
27
Ibid. 71, 99.
28
Ibid. 638.
29
Ibid. 2.
30
Ibid. 22.
31
Ibid. 37, 48.
32
Ibid. 43.
33
Ibid. 398.
34
Ibid. 443-444.
35
Ibid. 305.
25

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April 4, 2014

church] will be head in the family36 Superstition aside, women really did exhibit control
within their marriages, especially concerning the appropriate behavior of their husbands and
children and by extension of that, other women in society.
In late imperial Russia, a society woman was really in her element when attending balls,
going to the theatre, or otherwise interacting within and between the various social circles.37 If a
mans duty was to serve his country, a womans was to serve her family by maintain its proper
place in society. 38 After Anna is shunned from this world that was previously so large a part of
her life, Vronsky decides to ask his sister-in-law, Varya, if she might call on Anna, hoping that
her doing so will permit Annas reentry into the social world. However, despite Vronskys initial
confidence in this woman, her answer disappoints him: You want me to see her, to receive her,
and in that way to rehabilitate her in society, but you must understand that I cannot do it. I have
growing daughters, and I must live in society for my husbands sake.39 Although Varya admits
that she herself does not think poorly of Anna, she is afraid that if she goes to see her, it will look
bad for her and her family, and she cannot risk their reputation to save Annas. Part of a
womans obligation to her family was to keep the individuals within it in line. That is why, for
example, Madame Kartasov feels compelled to prevent her husband from interacting with a
disgraceful woman such as Anna and also why Vronskys mother attempts to control her
grown son, insisting that he leave Anna and marry Princess Sorokin instead.40 However, through
their attempts to control their own families, women also inevitably wound up keeping other
women in check. Everyone within society knew each other and knew what each individual was
up to at all times such was the function of gossip, to keep society members up to date with each
others lives.41 That is why Varya, already mentioned above, could not comply with her brotherin-laws request: too many eyes were staring at her. Because they were constantly being watched
by each other, society women felt compelled to agree with each other, or to at least assert their
acceptance of the existing social norms, knowing that by doing so, they and their families would
be safe from criticism: The majority of young women, envious of Anna and long since weary of
her being called righteous, were glad of what they surmised and only waited for the turnabout of
public opinion to be confirmed before they fell upon her with full weight of their scorn. They
were already preparing the lumps of mud they would fling at her when the time came.42 It was
specifically the Russian ladies who Anna and Vronsky avoided while abroad, knowing all too
well that it was from them, and not the men, that the majority of the scorn came.43 Vronsky even
acknowledges that men, for the most part, understood [his relations with Anna] in the right
way, a statement that is affirmed by Vronskys old military friends positive treatment of the
situation and Anna herself: Golenishchev behaved himself with Anna, when brought to her, just
as Vronsky would have wished. He avoided, obviously without the least effort, any conversation
that might have led to awkwardness.44 Of course, there are also a few women who do not treat
Anna with disdain. As promised, Dolly still goes to visit Anna in her new home, and Princesses
Betsy and Varvara, whose reputations were already subpar among Annas virtuous friends,
36

Ibid. 457.
Ibid. 126-127.
38
Ibid. 145-146.
39
Ibid. 529.
40
Ibid. 546-547, 174, 740.
41
Ibid. 126-127, 134.
42
Ibid. 174.
43
Ibid. 464 (emphasis added).
44
Ibid. 460-461.
37

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April 4, 2014

also initially accept Anna for what she is.45 Whether truly meaning it or not, Princess Varvara
nonetheless acknowledges that [Anna and Vronsky] live just like the best of couples. Its for
God to judge them, not us.46 Unfortunately, few society women in late imperial Russia would
have agreed with this statement.
However, many of these women should not have been so quick to throw stones. Anna is
far from the only woman in this society to have betrayed her husband.47 Vronskys Petersburg
acquaintance, Baroness Shilton, is one such example. She is the lady-friend of Vronskys good
friend Petritsky and is in the process of seeking a divorce from her noncompliant husband.48
Even Vronskys mother, so forthcoming with her scorn of Anna, had indulged in many love
affairs in her time.49 Why was adultery by women so common in the late imperial Russian
world?: It was yet another way women could escape from the control of men. Once a woman
decided that she was going to have an affair, her husband could do nothing to stop her. The fact
that Annas husband occupied one of the most important positions in the ministry to which the
office belonged does not matter: Alexei Alexandrovich, such a strong man in affairs of state,
here feels himself powerless.50 Karenin explicitly tries to put a stop to his wifes affair many
times throughout its course, only to fail at each attempt. The first time Karenin does this is
following a bit of gossip about Anna and Vronskys chumminess at a recent social event.51
Although at this point, Karenin does not doubt his wifes innocence, he still feels it is his duty to
warn [her] about a mistake in the eyes of society. Anna could care less about his concern and
becomes defensive. 52 Even if she had sincerely listened to what he had to say, it would not have
affected her, for the depth of her soulwas now closed to him, having already been handed
over to another man.53 Anna also gets an earful from Karenin after her outburst over Vronskys
fall at the races.54 It is then that she admits to her affair with and love for Vronsky, to which her
husband can only reply, So be it!55 Although Karenin briefly contemplates challenging
Vronsky to a duel, he ultimately decides against it in favor of refusing Anna a divorce and
keeping her chained to him as if nothing has happened.56 Karenin recognizes that he [cannot]
have any moral influence on wife, yet he still tries to possess her, even if in body and nothing
more.57 Why he should have ever thought that he would be able to do so makes little sense, for
Anna is so strong-willed that she will let no man get in her way. Anna and Vronsky run away
together, and once again, Karenin is powerless to stop her.58 If a late-imperial age-Russian
woman was determined enough, she could achieve essentially complete freedom from her
husband. Freedom from the rules of society, however, was another story.
Many women, more realistic in their assessment of the boundaries society placed on their
freedom, chose not to indulge in extramarital affairs. However, even if they did not perpetrate
45

Ibid. 605, 127, 695.

Ibid. 620.
47
Ibid. 280.
48
Ibid, 112-113.
49
Ibid. 56.
50
Ibid. 14, 148.
51
Ibid. 140, 142.
52
Ibid. 146.
53
Ibid, 146.
54
Ibid. 212.
55
Ibid. 213.
56
Ibid. 280-284.
57
Ibid. 282.
58
Ibid. 459.
46

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this adultery themselves, they all dreamed of it: As [Dolly] thought about Annas love affair,
she imagined, parallel to it, an almost identical love affair of her own, with an imaginary
collective man who was in love with her. She confessed everything to her husband, just as Anna
had done. And Stepan Arkadyichs astonishment and perplexity at the news made her smile 59
And why should women not image themselves leaving their husbands when married life even
the children it produced frequently caused little else but suffering for them?60 Neither Dolly
nor Vronskys sister-in-law Varya can disapprove of Annas affair, for both admit that they
might have done the same.61 Dolly continues: How is she to blame, then? She wants to live.
God has put their in our souls.62 Indeed, a womans drive to live, and not merely be alive
(which is a different thing entirely), was so strong that it could wipe out life itself when no other
options were available.
If both exerting her control within a marriage and then outside of it failed her, a woman
always had one last option: escape from the world entirely. During the last phase of her life,
Anna takes morphine at night to block out her incessant fears that her spell over Vronsky has
worn off and he is going to leave her. But even this drug cannot block out life entirely.63 When
Anna feels that Vronsky is slipping out of her fingers, she sees no option but to end it all to
commit suicide.64 This is Annas final act of autonomy, a womans final assertion of freedom
from mans control over her: No, I wont let you torment me.65 With this, Anna affirms in
her own mind that she will allow no man, not even Vronsky, to cause her to suffer. She has
been given reason in order to rid [her]self of that which troubles [her], and she intends to use
it.66 Annas ability to think for herself, to make the final decision to take her life, shows that no
matter how desperate the situation of a woman in late imperial Russia, she was never entirely
powerless, neither over herself nor the men who had controlled her. Annas last thought before
she jumps onto the train tracks is this: Ill punish him and be rid of everybody and myself.67
This ultimate act is not just one of liberation. It is a final testament to the last man who has made
her life miserable: You can never get away from me.
As women in late imperial Russia in their defiance of the male-dominated power
structure were proving a force to be reckoned with, men were finding it increasingly difficult to
get away from the issue of womens subordination entirely. Men found questions about the
inequality of rights in marriageticklish to discuss in front of ladies.68 They must have realized
that there was something wrong with womens comparatively limited rights, and therefore they
felt guilty about it. These men were gaining an awareness that women are people too, a fact that
was difficult to reconcile with their inequality.69 Some things were already improving for
women: [Kittys mother] saw that much had changed lately in the ways of society.She saw
that girls of Kittys age formed some sort of groups, attended some sort of courses, freely
associated with men, drove around by themselves, many no longer curtsied, and worse still, they
59

Ibid. 608.
Ibid. 606-607.
61
Ibid, 529, 608.
62
Ibid. 608.
63
Ibid. 666.
64
Ibid. 744-745.
65
Ibid. 767.
66
Ibi. 766.
67
Ibid. 768.
68
Ibid. 391.
69
Ibid. 559.
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were all firmly convinced that choosing a husband was their own and not their parents
business.70 However, women still required many more advances if they were ever to achieve
equality with men. And because the society was still male-dominated, it would ultimately be up
to the men to realize the importance of womens rights, not only for the women themselves but
for the future of the country. It was through their personal experiences with women that men
could truly learn their value. Stiva, already one step ahead of many men in his previouslymentioned understanding that women [are] the pivot on which everything turns,71 could look
at his sister Anna and see not a mere female, une couveuse (a broody hen) busy with her
children, but an intelligent, thinking being.72 Even Vronsky, who ridiculed the idea of womens
high schools, still turned to Anna, voracious reader that she was, with questions of agronomy,
architecture and, occasionally, even horse-breeding and sports. He was amazed at her
knowledge, her memory73 Even if Vronsky was not certain of the capabilities of women as a
whole group, he could see from Anna that some women were just as smart or smarter than many
men, a recognition that marked an important step in the right direction. Anna was even able to
impress Levin, a man so typically bored with womens talk that, even in conversation with his
beloved Kitty, he listened more to the sound of her voice than to what she was saying74 From
Anna, Levin gained a newfound understanding that the words, the thoughts, the actions of
women can sometimes be of great importance.75 No longer can he, nor any other man in Russia,
ignore the womens kingdom. It is coming, whether they want it to or not.

70

Ibid. 44.
Ibid. 40.
72
Ibid. 695.
73
Ibid. 740.
74
Ibid. 559.
75
Ibid. 698.
71

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Bibliography
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. New
York: Penguin Books, 2002.