Show Notes
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.
The newspapers had reported the defeat at Austerlitz in brief and vague terms -- after months of detailing a series of optimistic and brilliant engagements. Nikolai was able to read between the lines and intuited the extent of the defeat. Eventually came a correspondence from Kutuzov: “Your son fell before my eyes, a standard in his hand and at the head of a regiment—he fell as a hero, worthy of his father and his fatherland.” However, no body was recovered.
The elder Bolkonsky became grim and withdrawn and revealed what he learned to his daughter. He focuses on the likelihood that Andrei is dead. Marya embraced her father with great love and empathy. She wished to mourn together, but her father exhorts disgust about the use and fate of the Army. “Scoundrels! Destroying the army and men! And why?" He instructs Marya to convey what is known to Andrei’s wife. The princess sank into an armchair and wept. She visualized her brother as he had been when he left -- when he was tender and amused as she placed the little icon on him. She wondered if he grasped a faith of The Almighty and repented of any unbelief. She deliberated whether he was now in the realm of "eternal peace and blessedness." Nikolai focuses on his belief that Andrei was likely killed as so much of the Glory of the Country.
Marya tries to speak to her sister-in-law. At first, Lise was caught up thinking and speaking about the wonder of baby she was about to have, how beautiful it felt within her and how much she would love it.
Marya thinks it best to break the news in small doses –– and first conveys, through tears, how worried she has been over her husband. Before dinner, Nikolai, whom Lise was always afraid of, made an awkward attempt to visit his ailing daughter-in-law. Lise, lost in a world of thought only seen in pregnant women, began to cry and asked if there was word about Andrei. Neither Father or Daughter could pull up the curtain and Marya eventually relayed it was “too soon for news.” It would be better to wait until after the baby arrived, who was expected in a few days.
Marya and her father carried and hid their grief in their own way. The old general would not cherish any hope. In one sense, he made up his mind that his son had been killed, but nevertheless sent an official to Austria to seek for any traces of his son. He would tell his acquaintances that his son had been killed and ordered a monument to his memory. He tried not to change his routine but his strength failed him. He walked, ate, and slept less. He became weaker. Marya still held out hope.
The mood of the household became one of general sorrow. The Little Princess absorbed the mood and started to look sickly and pale. She became overwhelmed by the inevitable pain to come. The midwife, was sent for – as well as a German physician from Moscow. The midwife springs into action and preparations were made for the birth – such as furniture being arranged.
Marya prayed. An old Nurse, a household serf, was keeping Marya company. She light candles for the Saints. An unspoken anxiety kept everyone awake and alert.
It was determined that the Labor had begun. Tolstoy describes that “the most solemn mystery in the world continued its course.” Night came, which was a harsh March night with winter unleashing on of her last storms with desperate fury. No one slept. This was not an easy Labor.
Men were sent in the storm to try to meet the doctor who was expected. Marya sat silent, her luminous eyes fixed on her nurse’s wrinkled face. The Nurse tried to assure Mary: “God is merciful, doctors are never needed.”
Soon there was an arrival making his way to the provincial. It was thought to be the doctor. Marya dressed to meet him and started to go out. However, this was not the doctor
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.
This episode examines some likely influences in Tolstoy’s writing of the Duel between Pierre & Dolokhov.
Pierre wins the Duel and thereafter cannot stand to be in the presence of his wife. The night after the conflict he avoids the marital bedroom in preference of his late father’s room. Pierre desires to fall asleep and forget all. Yet a storm of emotions prevents any rest.