Question by Anonymous: What do you think Tolstoy meant by his “All happy families are alike” quote?
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own separate way.”
I have read Anna Karenina many times (it’s my favorite novel) but I wondered what other people thought.
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Answer by BBYGURL8829
Happiness will always come from good fortune, but sadness can come from so many things. Sometimes sadness is rooted in frustration or anguish, or, even happiness.
I think it also just kind of reflects the dismal state of Russia and people living in the country during the period, too, just how life was so unhappy and everything was full of misfortune.
If no one is happy, wouldn’t the happy ones all be happy for the same reason?
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Harry and Ginny fore says
I think that first line is ripe with irony, like with Jane Austen's "It is a truth universally acknowledged…" because not all happy families are alike, etc.