Life in the Karenin family is languid and unhurried. But the heart of Anna, the lady of the house, is suddenly inflamed by passion, which destroys the comforts of domestic harmony. Anna surrenders to Vronsky’s seductions and leaves her husband and beloved son.

The temperate rhythm of the Karenin family's daily existence - the government service of the head of the household and the family's strict observance of the socially accepted norms of the upper classes - has created an illusion of harmony and peace.
Yet Anna's passion for the attractive Vronsky destroys their accustomed way of life. The honesty of the lovers' feelings is frightening in its frankness. Karenin's hypocrisy is acceptable to everyone except Anna. She gives the upper hand to an all-encompassing passion for her beloved, leaving behind her maternal duty toward her children and thus condemning herself to the life of an outcast.
She doesn't find any happiness in travel or in the familiar amusements of the upper classes. Anna's tragic enslavement and her dependence on a relationship with a man take over her life. This dependence, just like all others, is a sickness that only brings suffering. Anna ends her life by committing suicide, in order to liberate herself and terminate her gruesome, agonizing life.