The novel Anna Karenina, written by Leo Tolstoy in 1873, explores the debilitating effects societal pressures can have within relationships, confining the freedom of the individual. The storyline follows two main protagonists, both of which strive to find meaning in their relationships despite society’s expectations that force them to adopt roles oppressing their individuality. Through the constant utilisation of biblical quotes Tolstoy gives the novel an undertone of Christian morality, and thus elucidates the reader’s understanding of the judgement society passes onto relationships of different natures such as that with Kitty or Anna. This is seen in attitudes toward marriage where love is not expected nor required, and is instead seen as a way to establish a respectable position and fulfil the requirements of being a member of society. A particular example of this attitude is expressed in a conversation between married upper-middle class ladies, discussing the eligibility of a marriage for a man who ‘occupies such a position in society that he has absolutely no need for a wife with a fortune or social position. He needs one thing – a good and sweet wife, a peaceful one’. This suggests that men can marry into fortune or social standing, but for those who possess both, they are obligated to marry preconceived gender constructs of a perfect wife perpetuated by society. These responsibilities may be a burden and those seeking to escape this façade of a perfect marriage, face the disapproval of society and experience isolation. The author illustrates this through the character of Anna, who, rejecting her husband’s offer of keeping up appearances, comes public about her affair and suffers subsequent rejection. A recurrent motif throughout the novel, trains symbolise the desire to break free from the oppressive nature of relationships that society enforces. When Count Vronsky and Anna Karenina first meet, it is in the setting