War and Peace, end of Book Two

[osprey_archer]

OH NATASHA NO. I have been screaming this at Natasha Rostova for the last fifteen chapters or so, but did she listen? Noooooo, she went ahead and got infatuated with that cad Anatol, and planned an elopement with him - he didn't bother to tell her he was already married - and probably would have managed it if it were not for the interference of her loving cousin Sonya, not that Natasha's likely to ever forgive Sonya for it.

Poor Sonya. I have heard vague rumbling that happiness is not in store for Sonya (that, indeed, all Sonyas in Russian literature tend to get shafted), so I am worried for her.

Prince Andrei is trying to drown his pain in bitterness, which means that a reconciliation is probably impossible, and his relations are beside themselves with joy at the engagement's dissolution.

I had hoped for better from Princess Marya. But I think that the disappointment of all her own hopes has curdled her religious faith into something cramped and narrow, so I can't blame her too harshly.

In happier (possibly?) news, Pierre has found a new object in life! He had lost his earlier enthusiasm for Freemasonry and was adrift on a listless sea of despondency, but now he's fallen in love with Natasha (everyone is in love with Natasha). I predict that having a new obsession to distract him from brooding will pep him right up.

And now - onward to the invasion of Moscow!

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

OH NO

NATASHA :(

One thing Tolstoy does over and over again, and does really well (at least it gets me every time) is portraying how easy it is for well-meaning characters to be misled by the UNSHAKABLE CONFIDENCE of someone unscrupulous. It happens with Pierre and his father-in-law, and it happens with Natasha here.

Natasha knows that something is wrong with Anatol's instant display of intimacy, but he doesn't seem to be embarrassed, and maybe this is just how things are done among important people, among real grown-ups -- and once you've hesitated to take offense, you can't take delayed offense, can you?? It would be wrong if there weren't something between you that was more important than anything else, and if you weren't in love with him, you would be angry, wouldn't you? But he isn't embarrassed and you aren't stopping him so IT MUST BE LOVE OH NO WHAT NOW

That whole thought process is so meticulously described that I could practically feel it happening to me. Poor Natasha. If she thought her life was over before, what now? I have to laugh at Pierre's declaration to Natasha, because it's classic Pierre, but I also get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it. The way his heart just falls on the floor in front of her.

I love all these galvanizing moments in Tolstoy. They come suddenly and break you in half and fill you with music, and then you have to get up and go to dinner, or politely excuse yourself because the rest of your life isn't going to stand still just because you had yet another revelation, jeez.

Poor Sonya. :(

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Not only is Anatol not embarrassed, but no one else seems embarrassed either! (Her father is not a very noticing person, alas, and of course Ellen thinks everything is hunky dory.) So Natasha just... goes along with it, and gets terribly confused, and she doesn't have anyone to talk it over with and just gets herself in a horrible knot.

And then everyone is mad at her! And I think of someone, anyone, was kind and understanding, it would help her so much to figure things out, but no one even tries it till Pierre at the end of the chapter, and of course he muddles it all up with his declaration of love.

I hope Natasha finds comfort in it anyway. At very least it will give her an example of love to contrast with Anatol's behavior - one that won't hurt as much as contemplating Prince Andrei's love would, now that it's lost to her.

I also hope that Pierre does not decide to settle down and pine hopelessly for Natasha, but knowing Pierre that's exactly what he's going to do, at least until the French march on Moscow.

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

*double-buttoning my lips to keep the spoilers in*

And Ellen is so elegant, and everyone admires her!

Oh, Rostov Sr.. :| Like so many of Tolstoy's characters, I'm glad he's fictional so I don't have to be angry.

I wish she could have talked it over, too. But it's too late for that almost as soon as she has anything to talk over, as far as Natasha can see. If it's wrong, to admit it would be to expose herself to their disapproval, and if it's right, she has to protect it from them! either way they'll turn her beautiful agony to ashes and mud.

:( :( :(

if someone, anyone, was kind and understanding, it would help her so much to figure things out

:(

:(