War and Peace: Volume II, Part III
Leo Tolstoy's Masterpiece on Russian Society in the Time of Napoleon
May 26, 2008
Prince Andrei Moves to St. Petersburg
By the beginning of Volume II, Part III, Prince Andrei has spent two years in relative solitude on his estate. He has occupied himself by freeing his serfs and improving their daily lives (a revolutionary move at this time).
Andrew feels dead inside until he sees Natasha on a business visit to her father. When he arrives, she seems to Andrei lost in her own happy ignorance. But when he overhears her at the window late at night, singing and talking with Sonya about how overwhelmingly beautiful the night is, Andrei begins to feel full of life again.
Prince Andrei moves to St. Petersburg, where he becomes active on high-level military and social planning committees. In Petersburg, Andrew greatly admires his new friend Speranski for his intellectually superior attitude.
Courting at the Rostov House
The Rostov family move to St. Petersburg due to their new financial constrictions, but continue to overspend. They are not as welcome in Petersburg society as they always are in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the Rostov parents worry about marrying their daughters to wealthy men to counter their rapidly dwindling dowries. Berg arrives to Petersburg in search of a wealthy bride and, despite his aversion to her, proposes. Vera is somewhat attractive but aging and has not received any other proposals, so she accepts Berg’s. Count Rostov provides a minimal dowry with a promise of a greater one (that he probably cannot afford) later. When Berg and Vera later hold a soiree, they are pleased that their house looks just like every other house and that their party is like all other parties.
Boris begins to frequent the Rostov house because he has once again become enchanted with Natasha. He realizes that he needs to marry somebody richer and better connected that she, but cannot help falling for her. Natasha is excited by Boris’s attentions and mistakes it for something more. However, the Countess Rostov tells Natasha and Boris that they can never be married and Boris stops visiting.
The Romance of Natasha and Prince Andrei
The Rostovs attend a New Year’s Eve ball, and Natasha is nervous that nobody will dance with her at her debut. Prince Andrei, with a little push from Pierre, invites Natasha to dance. They are both enchanted with each other, and Natasha spends the whole evening blissfully dancing with various partners and unaware even of the tsar’s presence.
After the evening with Natasha, Speranski’s egotistical intellect and his own reform work all seem foolish to Prince Andrei. He considers marrying Natasha and begins to visit the Rostov house, where he hears Natasha sing. After talking it over with Pierre, Andrei discusses marriage with his father. The old Count Bolkonsky is outraged that Andrei would consider marrying and says that he will not recognize the union unless Andrei waits a year to marry.
Andrei returns to Petersburg, where Natasha has been worried over his unexplained absence. Prince Andrei confesses his love and proposes, but makes it clear that they must wait a year until they are married. To Natasha, a year seems like a lifetime. However, she accepts. Andrei will spend the year away and tells Natasha that, while he considers his own proposal binding, she is still free to marry another.
For a few weeks, Natasha feels that the world has come to an end. Soon, however, things go on just as before.
Pierre’s Reunion and Jealousy
Early in the section, Pierre returns from studying with Freemasons in Western Europe. He counsels the Petersburg Masonic community with the ideas he has learned in the West, but outrages most of the brothers. Pierre has begun to doubt Masonry.
Meanwhile, Helene and the Kuragins attempts to reunite with Pierre. Helene returns from abroad, where she gained a high reputation in Western European society, and moves back in with Pierre. Amidst his wife’s parties and intrigues, Pierre continues his spiritual search.
When Prince Andrei and Natasha begin courting, Pierre does not want to admit to himself that he is depressed and jealous of his friend’s happiness with Natasha. He counsels Andrei to marry Natasha and says that, while she is not ‘intelligent’ in the intellectual sense, she is enchanting and special.
Chaos at Bald Hills
At the Bolkonsky estate, the old Prince cannot fathom why his son would want to marry again. He takes his anger out on Princess Marya, telling her that everything she does is wrong and threatening to marry Mademoiselle Bourienne. Marya forgives her father and wishes that she could escape her life by devoting herself to God like the wanderers. However, she laments, she loves her family more than she loves God.
Marya is also not happy about this second engagement and believes that Andrei will not go through with it, judging by his declining health.
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Next Article: War and Peace: Volume II, Part IV
Tolstoy, Leo, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. War and Peace. New York: Knopf, 2007. ISBN 978-0-307-26693-4.
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