Masterpiece Theatre | Anna Karenina

Using This Web site

The Web site for Anna Karenina offers a wealth of resources for your students.

Essays and Interviews
Includes essays about the roots of the novel, the status of women in Russian society, and Tolstoy's own challenging marriage, as well as interviews with the screenwriter and with Helen McCrory, the actress who plays Anna. These essays can provide background for your teaching and give students a context for viewing the series and for completing related research projects.

Tolstoy Timeline
Helps students grasp Tolstoy's life in the context of his work and major world events. Exploring the timeline can help students understand how Tolstoy's work reflects his world and serves as social commentary, and also provides information about historical events referenced in the novel.

Who's Who
Provides information about the different characters and actors, including text descriptions of the characters from the novel, and an introduction to Russian naming conventions, which will help students navigate the text if they are reading the novel.

Novel to Screen
Pairs sections of Tolstoy's text with the screenplay and actual footage clips from the film. Students can use this section to explore the challenges of adapting a novel, especially taking one with so much narration and translating it primarily into dialogue. You could assign students to go through a similar process, taking part of another novel or short story and turning it into a screenplay (and even videotaping it!).

Links and Bibliography
Offers additional Web and book-based resources for teacher background and student research projects.

Forum
Have your students send in their thoughts about Anna's predicament for posting at The Forum. Do they find the actors' portrayals convincing?