Just finished Anna Karenina, one of Tolstoy's incredible Novels. I've yet to read any formal analyses, so forgive me if I either report oft repeated themes, or am extremely off base, but I wanted to offer my personal input on some of the major messages from this work of art. 
The 2 main characters in the story are Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin. There are several other important plots/characters that surround these two protagonists, but their stories are obviously the driving narratives throughout the book
At the beginning of the book, Anna is portrayed as the the ideal female: incredibly beautiful, the paragon of fashion, married to a powerful statesman, a loving mother of a healthy child, wealthy, elegant, and at the apex of Moscow/Petersburg society.
Levin on the other hand is portrayed being at the bottom: a bachelor, rejected by the love of his life, frustrated with his dwindling estate, at odds with his peers socially/intellectually/politically, feels he's an outcast, and despondent about his listless future
What's interesting is how these 2 characters switch positions; in the end, Levin becomes incredibly happy and at peace with his external/internal troubles, whereas Anna falls into deep existential despair, which ultimately destroys her. The questions is, why/how did they switch?
Anna's life unravels as she makes a series of selfish decisions: what starts as "innocent intrigue" develops into disloyalty, infidelity, and ultimately ruin. She loses everything: her husband, her son, her position, estate, her dignity, and, ultimately, her life.
Levin's life becomes elevated as he determines to look outside of himself and to sacrifice for others. He befriends the down trodden, refuses the indulgences of the wealthy, aligns himself with the sick and the needy, and as he loses his life - he finds it.
In the end, Tolstoy weaves a beautiful tale of tragedy and redemption, centered on "doing what's right". No one will force us to choose the right; but each decision, though seemingly insignificant, will lead us to redemption, or ruin. We must, like Levin, choose to do good!
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