Love Against Society - Anna Karenina and Awakening (set of 2 books)

The set includes 2 books: "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy and "Awakening" by Kate Chopin.

The work combines several themes, one of which is the depiction of women as individuals with desires and needs that were unacceptable for women to experience at that time.

"Anna Karenina". The classic is relevant in any historical era because it addresses themes that are personally close to every individual. The author does not necessarily have to give direct answers to the pressing questions; it is even better if this opportunity is provided to the reader. Tolstoy does not give them. On the contrary, aphoristically introducing us to the matter with the single sentence, "All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," he immediately mixes everything up, not even choosing special words: "Everything is mixed in the Oblonsky house." And then — it is up to the reader to traverse all the paths of the plot with the burden of their life experience and to find those answers themselves. They are different for everyone. And that is the classic.

"Awakening". Edna Pontellier spends the summer with her husband and children on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico at the Lebrun family's boarding house. Her acquaintance with Robert Lebrun changes something in Edna, their friendship awakens in her thoughts and feelings unfamiliar to her before, and her former passion for painting is rekindled. But as summer comes to an end, the boarding house residents return home, and Robert suddenly announces that he is leaving to seek his fortune in Mexico and wants to stay there forever, which deeply saddens Edna, though she does not understand why. Upon returning to New Orleans, Edna longs for Robert, re-evaluates her family life, and decides to engage less in the duties of a hostess and more in painting. She increasingly distances herself from her family and the usual circle of social interactions, which worries her husband Léonce. The candid depiction of a woman who refuses to accept the role of wife and mother imposed on her by society and seeks herself as an individual shocked American society. This novel can be placed in the same row as "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert and "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy.