Anna Of Byzantium

Is Anna a sympathetic protagonist? How does she become more of a complex character throughout the story? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

The nuns that Anna lives with represent a starkly different archetype of Byzantine femininity than the imperial women that she grew up with (including herself). Write an essay comparing and contrasting these two groups of women in the text. What do the differences and similarities suggest about femininity in the Byzantine Empire more broadly?

Research the actual story of Anna Komnene and identify a change to historical events that Barrett wrote into the novel. What is the purpose of this change, and how would the narrative of the novel be affected if the author had adhered to historical facts?

Anna has an affinity for the hymns of Kassia (810-865), a Byzantine nun and saint notable for her contributions to liturgical music. Read some of these hymns and analyze them in the context of Anna’s story. What significance do they have to the book?

In Chapter 12, Anna has a nightmare filled with symbolism and foreshadowing. Analyze this dream and determine its significance to the rest of the story. Use examples from the text to support your claim.

Anna shares a name with her grandmother, Anna Dalassene. Are there any other similarities between the two characters, and if so, what do they suggest about Anna Komnene?

Despite being very preoccupied with the greatness of her family’s empire, Anna spends most of her life within the confines of the palace or the convent. What might “empire” mean to Anna, given that she has never seen her own empire? How do other characters in the novel understand and relate to the empire?

Anna Komnene is famous for writing the Alexiad, an achievement that Anna of Byzantium refers to several times. Read excerpts of the Alexiad and compare Anna’s voice in that text to her voice in this one. In what ways does the historical Anna line up with the literary Anna, and in what ways do they diverge?