Anna and Emma and the Arts
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The arts, in many different forms, played a major role in the events and outcomes of both Emmas and Annas life. The arts impacted major decisions in both of the characters lives. Whether it was an initial spark or a driving force, art played many roles.
Even though they initially met at the train station, the met once again at a ball they both attend. While they were at the ball they fell into their routine of dancing and socializing. Vronsky sought out Anna when he saw her but when they finally came together for the first time, that would be the beginning of the end for Anna. They were in the moment and the music helped put both of them in a trance with each other. This was the first time that the arts were involved in Anna and Vroksky coming together. This ball caused Anna great excitement inside her but also caused some pain to Kitty. When Kitty saw them together she knew, right at that moment, she had lost Vronsky to Anna. She apologized to Dolly for any hurt feelings that may have arose at the ball with Kitty. I think that underneath her talk with Dolly, Anna enjoyed the affect that she had on Vronsky. When she finally returns home from the exciting ball, her life at home does not excite her as she thought it would.
These balls and types of parties are something that were normal to Anna. In her class, society, and near friends, these events are of everyday occurrence. The only art that Anna takes part in is only the best her class has available to her. She is very high in status in her marriage with Karenina. They have a status and look to uphold. They drag each other to these great dancing balls or enormous parties and drink and talk about the same old thing every time.
Vronsky knows about this type of class enough to know the right person who knows the right people. It was all about who you were friends with and who you were connected with. The society of balls and parties was the preference for Anna. Vronsky knew they would meet at these types of events. Vronsky played the arts the right way to conquer his “fair maiden.”
Anna also has a chance to see Vronsky in a different way when they went to the races. Anna was there with her husband and was gazing at him on his horse and watch him play in a masculine race that only distinguished gentlemen were to ride in.
With Anna, the arts did play a big role in her life but only as a guide. What drove Anna was her passion and wanting for what she thought was the man that would make her happy for the rest of her life. Especially since she gave up her previous life for one with Vronsky.
With Emma it is obvious that the arts were the driving force that caused her to suffer her own suicide. The ironic part is that the one aspect that was the initiator and the main reason for Emma to become the way she ended up was reading. See, who says that reading cannot
harm you With Emma, she read all the time. The kind of books she read may have been of a sleazy type of novel. They did influence her none the less.
In the end of chapter 5 she starts to question her marriage already. She was disappointed that what she felt at that moment was not how her books described it to be. She just gave herself to Charles and she is immediately second guessing it. That is a major influence if her books make her question the rest of her life. “Emma sought to find what exactly what is meant by felicity, passion, and rapture.” Again in chapter 6, when she sees Charles after thinking of her childhood, she is disappointed her life in not like her novels. Usually marriages go bad in the middle when the relationship becomes monotone. Then the two people involved do not try hard or give the extra effort and the marriage falls apart. In Emmas case, she is going through this in the very first part of her life with Charles. One of the reasons is because her life does not meet the expectations that the books gave her. Emma started to then develop a detachment towards Charles because he was not what she envisioned.
Then the ball happened. This was the main event that led to her downfall in her actions.
When Emma was at the ball she was in a whole different world then she was living in. She was around the kind of people that she thought she should be a part of. When she was there the other guests mocked her and looked down at her. With Charles, she looked down at him. She compared him to the people in the room as well as to characters in books. She saw Charles as a great disappointment. This scene is one out of one of her novels. This puts the image deeply in her head of the life that she wants and expects from Charles. Its like when you drive someone elses car that is nicer than yours. When you give it back and return to your old unattractive car, you experience the same feeling that Emma went through when she returned from the ball.
Emma then goes into fantasies about living in Paris where she can be around the kind of life she wants all the time. She wants to be part of the world of parties, balls, and among royalty. Its always about wanting something more or nicer that what she has. She