Intermedial Performance: Staging Anna Karenina in Tolstoy’s Novel and Wright’s Film

Abstract

In the following thesis Anna Karenina, the novel by Lev Tolstoy and the literary film adaptation by Joe Wright, are discussed. The theatricalization of the upper class society in the novel was developed in the film narrative, and became a key for the analyses. The diegetic discourse of Wright’s new film appeared as an inspiration to re-inverstigate Anna’s character and her microcosm. As a result, my interpretation of Anna, different from the ‘traditional’ readings, is offered. I state that Anna is playing the role of a ‘diva’ within an artificial and staged society. The intermedial approach provided in this thesis involves visual, verbal and musical representations in the literary adaptation, which defines the relevancy of this thesis in both literary and film studies fields