Anna Karenina - Week 11 / Part 6, Chapters I - XVI

[Gem , Moderator]

Week 10 covers the first half of Part 6 (Chapters I - XVI).

I'm posting this early as we will be busy tomorrow, it's my youngest grandbaby's first birthday party tomorrow.

Week 10, wow this read has flown by, I'm really enjoying it and will be sad to see it end. We've got three more weeks and we'll be done.

1. When you heard that Dolly was spending the summer with Kitty, what was your first thought? What is your impression of the relationship between the two? Is there anything about their relationship with each other that strikes you as different, better, or worse than other relationships between the women in this novel?

2. Much of this section is focused on the women of the novel. Is there anything important that you learned about Russian women, women in the 19th century, or women in general from the beginning of Part Six? Are these women very different from who we are today? Are the female characters simply caricatures of (Russian, 19th century) women in general?

3. Do you feel that Levin's jealousy over Veslovsky's amorous attentions towards his wife is in character?

4. Think about the period details in this section—Levin's estate, the shooting "contests," the muzhik cottages, and the country in general. What did you find the most interesting or intriguing about them? Does any of this feel anachronistic to you or do you feel the author was true to the reality of life at that time as you understand it?

5. How do you see Levin's philosophies about his life and land at the beginning of Part Six to be different from the way he thought of things before he married Kitty? Why do you think his philosophies changed?

6. What do you think of Dolly as a mother to her somewhat unruly children? What seems similar or different about Dolly and Kitty in their approaches to motherhood? Based on what we know of Kitty and Levin, what would you expect to see with regards to their children behaviorally? With their education?

[Francis]

4) I think Tolstoy, much like Dickens, writes about what he knows. The period details are real because he lived the. I think the descriptions about the common people (muzhiks) were the most interesting to me.

5) Levin's perspectives have changed and his philosophies have evolved. He is now a married man and feels not only responsible for himself but for Kitty also.

[Gem , Moderator]

Francis wrote: "4) I think Tolstoy, much like Dickens, writes about what he knows. The period details are real because he lived the. I think the descriptions about the common people (muzhiks) were the most interes..."

I haven't read enough Dickens to compare the two, good to know. I have been wanting to read Dickens now I know a bit more of what to expect.

[Bonnie]

Heheh!

Another bird flew up from under the dog. Levin fired. But it was not his lucky day; he missed, and when he went to look for the one he had killed, he could not find that either. He trawled through all the sedges, but Laska did not believe he had shot anything, and when he sent her to search, she pretended she was searching, but was not really searching.

(Part 6, Chapter 10, Rosamund Bartlett translation)

[Bonnie]

What were the kids doing in the bushes, Playing Doctor?
Did children do that in the 1800s, and if so would Tolstoy write about it?

‘She and Grisha went into the raspberry bushes, and there . . . I can’t even bring myself to tell you what she did. Vile things. It’s a thousand pities Miss Elliot left. The new one doesn’t supervise at all, she’s a machine . . . Figurez-vous qu’elle . . .’ And Darya Alexandrovna recounted Masha’s crime.

‘That doesn’t prove anything, it’s not vile inclinations at all, just mischievousness,’ Levin reassured her.

(Chapter 15)

[Gem , Moderator]

Bonnie wrote: "Heheh! Another bird flew up from under the dog. Levin fired. But it was not his lucky day; he missed, and when he went to look for the one he had killed, he could not find that either. He trawled t..."

I loved that he gave the dog a voice.