Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself. He was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he repented of his conduct. He could not at this date repent of the fact that he, a handsome, susceptible man of thirty-four, was not in love with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and only a year younger than himself. All he repented of was that he had not succeeded better in hiding it from his wife. But he felt all the difficulty of his position and was sorry for his wife, his children, and himself. Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact. He had even supposed that she, a worn-out woman no longer young or good-looking, and in no way remarkable or interesting, merely a good mother, ought from a sense of fairness to take an indulgent view. It had turned out quite the other way. "Oh, it’s awful! oh dear, oh dear! awful!" Stepan Arkadyevitch kept repeating to himself, and he could think of nothing to be done. "And how well things were going up till now! how well we got on! She was contented and happy in her children; I never interfered with her in anything; I let her manage the children and the house just as she liked. It’s true it’s bad her having been a governess in our house. That’s bad! There’s something common, vulgar, in flirting with one’s governess. But what a governess!" (He vividly recalled the roguish black eyes of Mlle. Roland and her smile.) "But after all, while she was in the house, I kept myself in hand. And the worst of it all is that she’s already ... it seems as if ill-luck would have it so! Oh, oh! But what, what is to be done?" There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to all questions, even the most complex and insoluble. That answer is: one must live in the needs of the day—that is, forget oneself. To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life. "Then we shall see," Stepan Arkadyevitch said to himself, and getting up he put on a gray dressing-gown lined with blue silk, tied the tassels in a knot, and, drawing a deep breath of air into his broad, bare chest, he walked to the window with his usual confident step, turning out his feet that carried his full frame so easily. He pulled up the blind and rang the bell loudly. It was at once answered by the appearance of an old friend, his valet, Matvey, carrying his clothes, his boots, and a telegram. Matvey was followed by the barber with all the necessaries for shaving. 5 "Are there any papers from the office?" asked Stepan Arkadyevitch, taking the telegram and seating himself at the looking-glass. "On the table," replied Matvey, glancing with inquiring sympathy at his master; and, after a short pause, he added with a sly smile, "They’ve sent from the carriage-jobbers." Stepan Arkadyevitch made no reply, he merely glanced at Matvey in the looking-glass. In the glance, in which their eyes met in the looking-glass, it was clear that they understood one another. Stepan Arkadyevitch’s eyes asked: "Why do you tell me that? don’t you know?" Matvey put his hands in his jacket pockets, thrust out one leg, and gazed silently, good-humoredly, with a faint smile, at his master. "I told them to come on Sunday, and till then not to trouble you or themselves for nothing," he said. He had obviously prepared the sentence beforehand. 10 Stepan Arkadyevitch saw Matvey wanted to make a joke and attract attention to himself. Tearing open the telegram, he read it through, guessing at the words, misspelt as they always are in telegrams, and his face brightened. "Matvey, my sister Anna Arkadyevna will be here tomorrow," he said, checking for a minute the sleek, plump hand of the barber, cutting a pink path through his long, curly whiskers. "Thank God!" said Matvey, showing by this response that he, like his master, realized the significance of this arrival—that is, that Anna Arkadyevna, the sister he was so fond of, might bring about a reconciliation between husband and wife.
Use the excerpt to answer the question. Tolstoy is known for emphasizing morals and ethics in his works, and he lived during a time period when women had little say over their lives. How do you think this context contributed to Tolstoy’s development of Stepan and Dolly’s marriage? Use details from the passage to support your response. Your answer should be one paragraph in length.
The context of Tolstoy’s time period, where women had little say over their lives, likely influenced his development of Stepan and Dolly’s marriage. In the passage, Stepan Arkadyevitch is depicted as a man who is incapable of deceiving himself and feels sorry for his wife, children, and himself. However, his actions and thoughts suggest a lack of respect and consideration for his wife. He believes that his wife should have taken an indulgent view of his infidelity due to her age and appearance, and he even justifies his flirtation with the governess. This suggests a societal expectation and acceptance of men's infidelity and a lack of agency for women in their marriages. Tolstoy’s emphasis on morals and ethics may have been influenced by the unequal power dynamics and lack of autonomy experienced by women during his time, highlighting the need for reform and equality in relationships.
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Inland” People that build their houses inland, People that buy a plot of ground Shaped like a house, and build a house there, Far from the sea-board, far from the sound Of water sucking the hollow ledges, Tons of water striking the shore,— What do they long for, as I long for One salt smell of the sea once more? People the waves have not awakened, Spanking the boats at the harbor's head, What do they long for, as I long for,— Starting up in my inland bed, Beating the narrow walls, and finding Neither a window nor a door, Screaming to God for death by drowning,— One salt taste of the sea once more?
Use the poem to answer the question.
What makes the poet’s voice stand out as longing?
A. the reference to God
B. the first-person point of view
C. the use of rhetorical questions
D. the evocative description of the ocean
E. the sense of pity toward inland people
The correct answer is C. the use of rhetorical questions. The poem is filled with rhetorical questions that express the poet's intense longing for the sea. By asking what inland people long for, the poet highlights her own longing for "One salt smell of the sea once more." The rhetorical questions emphasize the poet's sense of yearning and create a poignant and longing tone in the poem.
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias”
I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Use the poem to answer the question.
Shelley was not a supporter of the King of England, George III. Which sentence best explains how this idea is expressed in the poem?
A. Shelley uses a fearful tone to highlight threats posed by the king.
B. The phrase “wrinkled lip” suggests Shelley thinks the king is unattractive.
C. Shelley sees himself as the traveler, reflecting his desire to be away from court.
D. The phrase “the hand that mocked them” shows that he felt the king mistreated artists.
E. The phrase “sneer of cold command” reflects Shelley’s idea that a king may harm his subjects.