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Simile

Explanation and Analysis—Obedient as a Bull:

After a massive argument between Karenin and Anna, Karenin feels powerless and compares himself to an obsequious bull with a simile:

Outwardly things were the same, but inwardly their relations had changed completely. Alexei Alexandrovich, such a strong man in affairs of state, here felt himself powerless. Like a bull, head lowered obediently, he waited for the axe that he felt was raised over him.

When Anna refuses to admit to Karenin that she has feelings for Vronsky, their entire marriage changes for the worse. Anna, now clearly keeping secrets from her husband, is always around Vronsky and hardly even sees her husband anymore. Karenin tells Anna that he loves her, but he cannot seem to express his true feelings of exasperation. And so, Anna continues to see Vronsky, and Karenin feels powerless to stop her.

Anna is a very powerful and influential character, having captured the hearts of two different men in the novel. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Karenin lowers himself to her like a bull and that life without her feels like his death sentence. Karenin is so enraptured by Anna that not even a love affair can make him despise her or cause him to erupt in anger. To the woman he loves, no matter her transgressions, he will accept the pain and let her walk all over him.

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Original

Romeo

(aside) She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Modern

Romeo

(to himself) She speaks. Speak again, bright angel! For tonight you are as glorious, there up above me, as a winged messenger of heaven who makes mortals fall onto their backs to gaze up with awestruck eyes as he strides across the lazy clouds and sails through the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and give up your name. Or, if you won’t change your name, just swear your love to me and I’ll give up being a Capulet.

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