Show Notes
Prince Vasíli is on the precipice of enticing Pierre to ask for his daughter’s hand. He hardly let a day go by without hosting an event at which Pierre was present. For six weeks, the new Count was lured into making a home of Vasíli’s mansion.
Vasíli was planning to get two of his children married, Anatole as well as Hélène. Vasíli felt compelled to finalize matters with Pierre before touring his neglected provincial estates. He then desired to pick-up Anatole from his regiment and take him to Smolensk to arrange a match with Gen. Bolkónski’s daughter.
Pierre’s conduct was as a young lover’s should be - excited and foolish. Vasíli thought, “Youth, frivolity... God be with him.” He surmised the right time to push for resolution was at Hélène’s upcoming name-day celebration. Pierre’s mixed emotions persisted. He realized how devastating it could be to tie his fate to Hélène. Yet he had no ability to leave her orbit. He was overpowered by desire.
In Society’s eyes Pierre was more and more connected with Hélène. All were waiting for him to propose. Terror seized Pierre upon realizing how close he was. When the celebration arrived, the guests included close friends and family. All were in high spirits. Vasíli merrily went round the table, chatting about the Imperial Council, where the military governor read a missive about the war from Czar Alexander. The governor was overjoyed the letter was directed to him.
As much as such trifling interests united the aristocrats, all this was sideshow to Pierre and Hélène. Pierre found the dynamic intoxicating. He thought, “They are all expecting it, so…I cannot disappoint them!” He considered himself a Paris possessed of Helen of Troy. Deep down, Pierre knew that only since becoming the Count did he receive favor. Still, in the moment, he believed that it was he who was unusually striking. He was taken out of this mindset when Vasíli asked when he last heard from Andrei, who had written from Olmütz.
After supper, Pierre & Hélène followed others to the drawing room. Pierre had had never spoke to Hélène of love but knew it was time to. He first made some small talk. Vasíli, hovering, came up to them and again brought up the proud governor. Pierre smiled and gave a look that assured he was doing what was expected. In the next room, the Kuragin family spoke on how “marriages are made in heaven.”
The couple kept the family waiting and eventually Vasíli lost patience and decided to drag Pierre across the line. Vasíli’s manifested a triumphant countenance upon his approach and congratulated Pierre on what Pierre could not bring himself to do. He proclaimed, “Thank God! My wife has told me everything!” (though his wife did no such thing). He put his arms around the two and continued, “My dear boy... Lëlya... I am very pleased. I loved your father...and she will make you a good wife...God bless you!” He embraced and kissed them.
Pierre reflected. “All this had to be…so it is useless to ask whether it is good or bad.” At least he was rid of the doubt. Pierre held Hélène’s hand and confidently called her name. He knew “something special is always said in such cases”. He looked deep into her eyes and she drew nearer to him and told him to take of his spectacles. Pierre did so and was about to stoop and kiss her hand but with a rapid movement of her head, Hélène intercepted his lips with her own. “It is too late now, it’s done, besides I love her,” thought Pierre. He then uttered those forgotten special words, Je vous aime, but they sounded so weak he was ashamed.
Six weeks later Pierre was married, and settled in his newly furnished Petersburg mansion.
More from War & Peace Podnotes, A Study Guide
As War & Peace delves into to fiction to a much greater degree than the previous section, exploring the Rostov family dynamic throughout 1806, there is a great deal that historically transpired which Tolstoy does not bring you through. In this stretch, Bonaparte was a continental Behemoth, who sets his sights on Prussia, then an industrial power with a highly organized military. The centers that made up the Prussian Kingdom were: Berlin, Potsdam, Königsberg and Danzig. You should recall that based on the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon replaced the Habsburg Family as the principal authority in Central Europe. Austria never again reached such heights of power. Over the next 70 years Austria would lose influence over the dozens of German states while Prussia gained in this regard. It was Prussia, under Otto Von Bismarck, who in 1871 established the nation we know as Germany. In the start of 1806, France remained in a state of war against Russia, England and even Sweden. It was a busy and productive year for "the man of destiny." In February, Napoleon sent General André Messéna to Naples to overthrow the Bourbon King, Ferdinand IV, and install his brother, Joseph. Messéna was successful though fighting continued for months. In the Summer, Napoleon consolidated control of Holland and placed a crown on another brother, Louis. By mid-July, Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine of mostly southern German states, where he compelled alliances. The expanded territory gave the French 60,000 more troops. Napoleon was reshaping Central Europe to assure French influence and limit that of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain. Napoleon’s desire was to marginalize Britain economically after the Brtis won control of the seas at the Battle of Trafalgar, which preceded Austerlitz by a month. Just off the Southwest coast of France, the French Navy was decimated. The English controlled the water, but Napoleon was dominant on land and wanted to implement the Continental Commerce System. He had success in spreading French administrative, legal and social reforms—including the Napoleonic Code. When possible and practical, he moved to end the remnants of feudalism. The Code abolished a plethora feudal privileges, dismantled manorial courts and freed some peasants, granting basic civil rights and a semblance of equality before the law. To continue to foster his ambitions, Napoleon set his sights on Prussia, which included former Polish territory. Poland was a former Kingdom cut up (partitioned) by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, where many Polish nobles committed allegiance to the Czar or King of Prussia. While the Czar worked with much of the nobility of Poland, the peasants filled the ranks and endured. Czar Alexander was 27 in 1806. Despite the historic loss at Austerlitz, Alexander, would rule for nearly two more decades. He was fortunate that his population was forgiving. Alexander did not enter into serious peace negotiations nor publicly concede the loss. Many among the Russian nobility blamed the result on the Austrians. There are memoirs from Phillip Vigel, then a 20 year-old Russian diplomat, who detailed his observations of the mood in Moscow and Petersburg. The Muscovites were more vocal in castigating the Czar. Some would even laud Napoleon. There, Bonaparte earned nickname befitting a Russian Conqueror, Napoleoskha. In Petersburg, the population shared the humiliation. They would explain the result as a turn of luck. Vigel expressed that Petersburg society felt the desire to get themselves off the floor and prove themselves. He sensed a general optimism of youth. He also notes how the English desired Russia as allies against the French and Czar was their lifeline from French domination. Consequently, Russia spent the summer of 1806 preparing for a new war -- reorganizing and refilling their ranks. General Kutuzov fades into obscurity for a time. Just prior to Austerlitz, in the Fall of 1805, Alexander made a notable a
We now get taken from March of 1806, through the warmer months and then to the end of the year. Quite the fast-forward!
We have reached the pivotal chapter involving the death of the Little Princess and birth of the Andrei’s son.
We move further into March of 1806 and return to Bald Hills, the estate of Andrei’s father. Despite letters and official inquiries, Andrei’s body had not been found nor was he on the list of prisoners.
This episode examines some likely influences in Tolstoy’s writing of the Duel between Pierre & Dolokhov.