David and Marry Margarets book.

[asr128]

So Daniel read a little of this theory that I had come up with last night on the podcast, but here is the rest of what i have.

Anna Karenina is a story focusing on the Oblonskaya family in Moscow is torn apart by adultery. The story focuses around Dolly, Stiva, and Anna Karenina. Dolly finds out that Stiva (the husband) is having a affair with their children’s nanny. Anna Karenina is introduced as Stiva’s sister, a woman from St. Petersburg, who is married to Karenin. I found this interesting because not only because of the parallel between Emma, Mary Margaret, David, and Kathryn (a.k.a. the nag with the bad attitude), but also because of what happens later in the story.
In the novel Anna Karenina is the peace maker/mediator in the midst of all the stress caused by the entire affair. In a way we see parallels between Emma the heroine of storybrook and Anna, because they are both striving to keep the peace among their fellow characters. As the story progresses Anna helps to resolve the issues of the affair, and Dolly and Stiva go back to being a happy couple together.
However after this it is revealed that Dolly’s younger sitter, Kitty, is courted by two very different men Levin a landowner, and Vronsky, a military man. Kitty ends up choosing Vronsky, however unbeknownst to Kitty Vronsky and Anna have meet and Vronsky is now in love with Anna, as well as she is with him. In this part of the story we can see two more parallels between Mary Margaret and Anna, and also David and Vronsky. Because in once upon a time David is not with who he is “supposed” to be with, just a Vronsky is not with who he was originally supposed to be with (a.k.a. Dolly). Mary Margaret has come between David who is the Vronsky of storybrook and Kathryn who is the Dolly.
Anna returns to her home and reflects upon this new found love that she has developed for Vronsky. She ends up just deciding that it is only a crush and she must move on. However Vronsky follows Anna back to her home and their love begins to grow, their relationship beginning to strengthen. However Anna knowing how Dolly feels and that she is a married woman tells Vronsky to ask for Kitty’s forgiveness and for him to ask for her hand in marriage and be happy. This request that Anna makes goes over about as well as it did for Mary Margaret when she told David that they couldn’t be together because of Kathryn, and in the story Anna and Vronsky end up having an affair.
I believe that Tolstoy’s novel could possibly be a road map or blue print of how the love triangle of Mary Margaret, David and Kathryn could play out.

I am still doing research on the novel, so this is just my first thoughts of the book and how it is being used in the T.V. show.

[obisgirl]

Interesting.

[jlab]

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.

[jlab]

Also, there’s no way Anna Karenina could be an actual blueprint for the story- It’s a tragic novel and not based off any fairy tails

[Author]

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