How doe s Janine feel when she first sees Daniel after spending months apart from him? Do you think Janine's affair is really about her feelings for Lev, or is it something else?

How does Janine feel when she first sees Daniel after spending months apart from him? Describe her feelings for Lev - what attracts her to him? In what ways is he different from Daniel? Do you think Janine's affair is really about her feelings for Lev, or is it something else?

Janine's affair is about something else. She is in the city she loves, there is excitement in this atmosphere and in her idolization of Florence, and I think she wants to create something new and different for herself.

Janine just wants more from her marriage and Daniel than she is getting. Having an affair with Lev is not really what she wants either. She just needs to figure out who she is and go from there.

She feels strained. She remembers that whenever they were separated in the past, "the experience of coming together reminded her of the simple fact he wasn't her type." He's so "male." All her past love interests were intellectuals: Trotsky, Chips Ahoy and now Lev. Lev represents the "life of cultural excitement, a life of conversation, a life in which you kept meeting people who made you think", which is what she has wanted for a long time. New York City represents all of this to her. That's also why she's so in awe of Florence. Thus, her attraction to Lev doesn't seem sexual, but almost maternal. Yet when they are together, Daniel and Janine engage each other and there appears to be real affection between them.

I don't think it was really an affair she wanted, just something different and exciting. I got the feeling that she thought life was passing her by

Janine has become comfortable just being with her daughter and feels her husband is intruding, is to "male" too noisy, he is invading her new turf. I experienced a similar feeling when my husband is out of town and it's just me and my daughters; when he comes home he is messier than us, wants to set new rules and rhythms while we have become comfortable in a girly groove.

I think her affair is about boredom, looking for the thrill of the unknown, and I think that the affair is her way of getting out of her stale marriage. She knows what she is doing doesn't make sense, i don't think she wants to marry this guy, but she is willing to, even wants to get caught and either get her husband's attention or get out of her marriage.

I doubt this would be an actual affair. Since she was away from Daniel she is looking for companionship. The things she is doing with Lev. remind her of her other boyfriends -things like sharing ice cream. Going to a trip with him was also exciting and she may not have wanted to gnomon the trip alone.

I think Janine has some feelings for Lev, but I also think she feels tied to Daniel. She's looking for excitement and Lev offers that, where Daniel doesn't.

Janine is a restless soul who knows she loves her work, but is not sure of much beyond that. She cannot be true to herself because she hasn't yet defined her self. This lack of self-knowledge appears to lie at the heart of Florence's distaste for Janine. Lev is an exploration for Janine. In her daydreaming, she embellishes on Lev and his feelings for her, an example of her inability to accept what is. She seems to want more, but of what?

Janine seems like a lost soul. She seems to idol worship her mother-in-law and is not fulfilled by her marriage. The only place she has an identity and is respected is at work. It is no wonder she has an attraction to Lev. It is only through her work and her affair with Lev that she has a complete life.

I got the feeling that Janine was comfortable with Lev without the sexual part of things. She only had sex because it seemed the next logical step in their relationship. She seemed to me to be a little disappointed afterward. I thought she was glad to see Daniel, but uncomfortable with the changes his presence made in the life she and her daughter had made for themselves, and didn't know how to include him in the new situation.

I agree with other comments above, I think she really enjoyed life in the city and without Daniel had established a life alone. along with her daughter. When Lev came into the picture she was just bored, I really don't think she considered it truly an affair. Once Daniel came to town she was rightfully confused.