Question

Which themes are portrayed in this excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich? Praskovya Fedorovna came of a good family, was not bad looking, and had some little property. Ivan Ilyich might have aspired to a more brilliant match, but even this was good. He had his salary, and she, he hoped, would have an equal income. She was well connected, and was a sweet, pretty, and thoroughly correct young woman. To say that Ivan Ilyich married because he fell in love with Praskovya Fedorovna and found that she sympathized with his views of life would be as incorrect as to say that he married because his social circle approved of the match. He was swayed by both these considerations: the marriage gave him personal satisfaction, and at the same time it was considered the right thing by the most highly placed of his associates. So Ivan Ilyich got married.

Answer 1

As usual in life, motives can be complicated. The theme of Ivan Illych marrying this woman because of her money and her social position is one possibility that he discusses (she comes from a "good" family and has some property). The other theme is that she is pretty and he fell in love with her and to some extent she complements his views on life. In choosing from the options, re the themes, I would say that a) conforming to social conventions and b) the necessity of companionshp should be the two main themes in this excerpt.