I think you’re confusing the story of Anna Karenina. Dolly is not at all similar to Kathryn, who you rightfully described as “the nag with the bad attitude.” The first chapter of Anna Karenina is about how Dolly Oblanskaya discovers her her husband Stepan “Stiva” Arkadyevich Oblanksy is having an affair. Dolly plans to divorce him, but her sister-in-law, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, convinces her to forgive him. Dolly does so, but later on in the novel she actually feels jealous of Anna and the fact that she escaped her loveless marriage and found a man utterly devoted to her. She wishes to escape for Stiva and his cheating ways, but feels trapped by her children and society. Moreover, after Anna and Vronsky run off together, Dolly is the only person who remains loyal to Anna. All of Anna’s friends shun and gossip about her, turning her into a societal reject. Regardless, even though Dolly is upset with Anna for having an affair, she tells her that she believes if you love a person you cannot judge them, you just have to accept them.
The parallel between the coupling of Anna and Vronsky and then Mary Margaret and David does follow the book, but not because of Vronksy and Kitty. Kitty is more or less a side note in Anna and Vronsky’s story, where her character only really comes to prominence once she moves on and marries Konstanin Levin. At absolutely no point in the novel does Anna ask for Kitty’s forgiveness. She did at one point tell Vronksy that he acted badly towards Kitty, but he personally did not care enough to even so much as apologize.
In the story it is Anna’s marriage to Alexei Karenin that most exemplifies Mary Margaret and David. Anna entered into an arranged marriage very young, with a kind man, whom she never loved. Similarly, David woke from a coma, married to a woman he did not know or love. He met Mary Margaret and fell quickly in love, just as Anna did with Vronsky.
I highly doubt (and REALLY hope) Anna Karenina is not a blueprint for the show, as the novel ends with one of the characters you repeatedly commented on committing suicide.
I’ve tried not to give anything about the novel away, aside from refuting a few inaccuracies in the parallels you listed – it’s an excellent novel that i would highly recommend to anyone.
In my opinion, the novel is most definitely not a blueprint for the series, but rather a demonstration of the love Mary Margaret and David have for one another. Mary Margaret recommended it to David because Anna Karenina is an epic love story about a woman married to a man she doesn’t love, but who doesn’t realize it until she she falls in love with another man. She’s trapped by society and her own conscience, but can’t help how she feels. If anything, David parallels Anna, as he is in her situation. Luckily, he’s in modern day Storybrooke, USA, not 19th century Russia.
Anna Karenina is a love story that, for the first part, they both can relate to. True love, in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.