Anna’s Growing Isolation: As the story moves toward the end, Anna becomes more and more lonely. Her love affair with Vronsky begins with passion but slowly turns into pain. Society rejects her for leaving her husband and son. Even Vronsky, whom she loves deeply, becomes distant. She starts to feel that everyone is against her.

Tolstoy presents her as a woman caught between her heart and society. She cannot go back to her husband, and she cannot find full happiness with Vronsky. Her home becomes full of doubt and argument. This growing isolation destroys her inner peace and prepares the way for her tragic end.

Emotional Breakdown and Despair: Anna’s mental struggle becomes worse when her hopes for a divorce are refused. Her brother Stiva clearly says,

“The question of divorce in her situation is for her a question of life and death.”

Anna’s heart is full of jealousy and fear. She thinks Vronsky no longer loves her as before. Her letters to him show confusion and sadness. She feels that death is the only door to escape her pain.

Anna’s Suicide and Its Meaning: Anna’s death scene is the most powerful part of the novel. She throws herself under a train — a symbol that had appeared earlier when a railway worker died at her first meeting with Vronsky. That earlier death foreshadows her own. Tolstoy also writes,

“This body deprived of life was their love.”

Before her death, Anna feels emptiness and regret. She realizes that her love has brought her only shame and despair. The train, a symbol of modern society’s coldness and unstoppable power, destroys her as society has destroyed her soul. Tolstoy does not judge her but shows how social cruelty and emotional pain drive her to this tragic end.

Contrast with Levin’s Spiritual Ending: After Anna’s death, the novel turns to another path — the peaceful story of Levin. Though he too suffers from sadness and confusion, he finds meaning in family and faith. But unlike Anna, Levin chooses life. He understands that happiness comes not from passion or wealth but from moral goodness and belief in God.

This contrast is very important. Anna and Levin both face despair, but their endings are opposite. Anna dies searching for love outside society’s rules, while Levin finds peace by living within faith and simplicity. Through them, Tolstoy shows two sides of human life — destruction through selfish desire and salvation through moral truth.

To sum up, the ending of “Anna Karenina” is both tragic and meaningful. Anna’s death is not only a personal loss but also Tolstoy’s criticism of a society that punished women for following their hearts. Her despair, isolation, and death show the heavy cost of breaking social rules. By ending the novel with Levin’s peace, Tolstoy gives hope after sorrow. He teaches that true happiness lies in faith, honesty, and moral living.