Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Character Analysis in Doctor Zhivago

Tonya Zhivago is the wife of Yuri Zhivago, mother of Sashenka and Masha, and daughter of Alexander Alexandrovich and Anna Ivanovna Gromeko. Tonya and Yuri grow close when Yuri is taken in by the Gromeko family, as they share an aversion to both high society and politics, preferring the quiet satisfaction of art and family life. Tonya marries Yuri soon after her mother’s death, and though she loves him deeply, she quickly grows used to living without him. Immediately after Sashenka is born, Yuri is sent to the frontlines of World War I and does not return until the summer of 1917. Tonya is a practical woman and manages the family excellently in his absence, perhaps better than Yuri is capable. She initiates the family’s departure for Varykino because she reasons that they will have a better chance of survival there, but also because she feels drawn there by the idyllic vision of Varykino her mother’s stories created in her mind. For a time, Tonya is happy in Varykino, until Yuri is taken away again. Tonya is also prone to fits of intense jealousy provoked by her husband’s relationship to Lara Antipova. Though Tonya reconciles with Lara in Yuri’s absence, she ultimately accepts the (perhaps untrue) idea that her husband never truly loved her, an admission she reveals in the letter she writes to Yuri to inform him of her deportation.

Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Quotes in Doctor Zhivago

The Doctor Zhivago quotes below are all either spoken by Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) or refer to Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

They were driving down Kamergersky. Yura turned his attention to a black hole melted in the icy coating of one window. Through this hole shone the light of a candle, penetrating outside almost with the consciousness of a gaze, as if the flame were spying on the passersby and waiting for someone.

“A candle burned on the table. A candle burned…” Yura whispered to himself the beginning of something vague, unformed, in hopes that the continuation would come of itself, without forcing. It did not come.

Related Characters: Yuri Andreevich Zhivago (speaker), Larissa “Lara” Fyodorovna Antipova (neé Guichard), Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko), Pavel “Pasha” Antipov (Strelnikov)

Related Symbols: Burning Candle

Page Number and Citation: 94

Explanation and Analysis:

Yuri and Tonya are traveling by coach on their way to the Sventitskys’ Christmas party. They unknowingly pass by Pasha Antipov’s apartment as he attempts to calm an extremely agitated Lara down inside. Lara, who is contemplating her confrontation with Komarovsky, asks Pasha to light only a single candle, the same candle Yuri sees from the street. In this candle, Yuri finds one of his first and most enduringly powerful poetic images (and the first line of what will become one of his poems). However, the candle also becomes the first link in the chain of fate that, unbeknownst to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum volup

Outside the window it began to snow. Wind carried the snow obliquely, ever faster and ever denser, as if trying all the while to make up for something, and the way Yuri Andreevich stared ahead of him through the window was as if it were not snow falling but the continued reading of Tonya’s letter, and not dry starlike flakes that raced and flashed, but small spaces of white paper between small black letters, white, white, endless, endless.

Yuri Andreevich involuntarily moaned and clutched his chest. He felt faint, made several hobbling steps towards the couch, and collapsed on it unconscious.

Related Characters: Yuri Andreevich Zhivago, Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko), Alexander Alexandrovich Gromeko

Related Symbols: Winter

Page Number and Citation: 495

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage follows Yuri’s reading of Tonya’s letter, in which she informs him that Alexander Alexandrovich and the rest of his family are being deported from Russia and sent into exile—and in which she accuses Yuri of having never truly loved her. Yuri is surprised and devastated by this news and by Tonya’s accusation, perhaps even more so because on some level he must have expected it. Yuri’s quest to return to Lara long ago displaced his quest to return to his family, and the difficult circumstances that prevented him from traveling onward to Moscow have conveniently allowed him to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore i

It snowed, it snowed over all the world
From end to end.
A candle burned on the table,
A candle burned.

Related Symbols: Winter, Burning Candle

Page Number and Citation: 635

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage is the first stanza of one of Yuri Zhivago’s poems, “A Winter Night.” Though Yuri did not write this poem until much later in his life—the exact date is unclear, but he probably wrote it during one of his stays in Varykino—the initial idea for this poem was one of Yuri’s earliest compositions. The third line came to Yuri as he and Tonya passed by Pasha Antipov’s apartment on Kamergersky Lane on their way to the Sventitskys’ Christmas party in 1911, and the young Yuri noticed a candle in the window. Unbeknownst to him, the candle lit the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut.

Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Character Timeline in Doctor Zhivago

The timeline below shows where the character Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) appears in Doctor Zhivago. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...lives with the Gromekos, a happy and well-adjusted family with a daughter the same age, Tonya, and has become good friends with his classmate Misha Gordon. (full context)

Russian Culture and Christianity Theme Icon

...of health issues culminating in pneumonia. By 1911 Anna Ivanovna is bedridden. Yuri, Misha, and Tonya are all in their last year of university, studying medicine, philology, and law, respectively. Yuri... (full context)

...resurrection. Moved by Yuri’s speech, Anna Ivanovna starts to recover. She frequently tells Yuri and Tonya about her childhood in the Urals. Yuri and Tonya begin to entire high society and... (full context)

...tell Pasha the full truth, but she urges him to marry her immediately. Yuri and Tonya, also on their way to the Sventitskys’ party, pass by Pasha’s apartment. Yuri is struck... (full context)

...are renowned as raucous all-night affairs. The ballroom is buzzing with excitement, but Yuri and Tonya avoid it, preferring to spend the evening in the side rooms with the children and... (full context)

Anna Ivanovna is already dead by the time Yuri and Tonya return. Tonya is distraught, while Yuri, long since accustomed to losing a parent, stoically supports... (full context)

...and will soon be a father, but he cannot stay at the maternity ward with Tonya—there are too many wounded soldiers to care for at his own hospital. When Tonya goes... (full context)

...unable to secure a place on a train back to Moscow. He writes letters to Tonya, but his description of Lara and their tangled history provokes a histrionic response—Tonya angrily insists... (full context)

...him a duck as a parting gift, insisting Yuri take it home to his wife (Tonya). (full context)

...useless luxury goods than food. At home, it takes several rings of the bell for Tonya to open the door. She apologizes for her letters and explains that she has rented... (full context)

Back home, Tonya tells Yuri about an eerily similar clock incident, prompting the doctor to joke about getting... (full context)

...relieved, only to discover that the sentries have kept them fully informed about his detainment. Tonya introduces Yuri to a new passenger, Anfim Efimovich Samdevyatov. Samdevyatov asks Yuri about his meeting... (full context)

...the landmarks of burning, bombed-out Yuriatin in the distance. He tells Yuri that he recognized Tonya’s resemblance to her grandfather at once. Yuri struggles to square Samdevyatov’s irreverent character with his... (full context)

...a Christian mystic. Samdevyatov finishes his story as they reach his stop, then he disembarks. Tonya is confident that they have found a friend and ally, but Yuri remains apprehensive about... (full context)

...for their first night in the countryside. Yuri is already planning ahead and discusses with Tonya how they will renovate the building Mikulitsyn will settle them in and what food they... (full context)

...resting and rereading the few books they have with them. Yuri begins to suspect that Tonya is pregnant again. He feels closer to her than ever, especially after their long wartime... (full context)

...to Varykino on horseback after a visit to Lara. Yuri feels increasingly guilty for deceiving Tonya, whom he still loves deeply. Yuri resolves to confess everything to her and to promise... (full context)

...discovers the other side, on which Lara explains that the Zhivagos are in Moscow and Tonya has given birth to a daughter. Yuri falls asleep and has two nightmares: first, he... (full context)

...with the party and gone into hiding. Lara explains that in Yuri’s absence, she and Tonya became close. In fact, Lara was there when Tonya gave birth to her second child,... (full context)

...between Christian judgement and forgiveness. Glafira arrives with a letter for Yuri . In it, Tonya informs him that Alexander Alexandrovich and the family are being sent into exile. She expresses... (full context)

...move in together, although they cannot marry, as the doctor is still legally married to Tonya. They have two daughters together. Yuri maintains his old friendships with Gordon and Dudorov, but... (full context)

...new family. He gently concedes the point. Before he leaves, Yuri tells his friends that Tonya, who is in Paris, has finally started answering his letters. (full context)

Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Character Analysis

Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Quotes in Doctor Zhivago

Part 3: The Christmas Party at the Sventitskys’ Quotes

Part 13: Opposite the House with Figures Quotes

Part 17: The Poems of Yuri Zhivago Quotes

Antonina “Tonya” Alexandrovna Zhivago (neé Gromeko) Character Timeline in Doctor Zhivago