These questions were prepared by my predecessor in teaching this course, Hilde Hoogenboom and I might add to or change them as we move along--please keep up the latest version. I do not guarantee that we will discuss ALL these questions in class and certainly welcome YOUR own questions and discussion topics--don't let these limit you!.

BOOK ONE
1805
1. /3 Anna Schérer’s soireeA salon is much more than a party. What are some of the functions it serves in Petersburg society?
2./19 Pierre at Prince Andrew’s
This intimacy of this chapter contrasts with the public nature of relationships in the previous chapter. How does Tolstoy distinguish the public from the private? Where are those boundaries permeable?
3./25 Pierre at Anatole Kuragin’s. Dolokhov’s bet.
Contrast the male friendship in this chapter with that in the previous chapter.
4./30 A name day at the Rostovs’
Here we move to Moscow. How does Tolstoy contrast Moscow culture from that in St. Petersburg?
5./33 Natasha and Boris
This chapter introduces the younger generation, especially Natasha, who will be the novel’s heroine. In what ways are these adolescents both children and adults?
6./42 Anna Mikhaylovna and Boris go to the dying Count Bezukhov’s
Examine Boris’s performance with Prince Vasili, who treats him more respectfully than his mother. Why? Characterize Anna Mikhaylovna’s performance.
7./45 Pierre at his father’s house; talks with Boris
Analyze Boris’s performance with Pierre – why does he not identify himself, and then make Pierre feel uncomfortable?
8./48 Countess Rostova and Anna Mikhaylovna
How does Tolstoy characterize older female friendship? How is it different from Pierre and Andrew’s male friendship?
9./50 Dinner at the Rostovs’. Marya Dmitrievna
This is one of the key dinner scenes in the novel. What are some of the things that make it important?
10./56 Sonya and Natasha. Nicholas sings. The Daniel Cooper
Natasha’s charm derives from how she combines her roles as child and adult. What is the key to her charm for Tolstoy?
11./60 At Count Bezukhov’s. Prince Vasili and Catiche
The machinations in anticipation of inheriting Count Bezukhov’s fortune are exposed. How does Tolstoy depict society people taking their gloves off for a fight?
12./66 Anna Mikhaylovna and Pierre at Count Bezukhov’s
Tolstoy would later devote a famous story to death, “The Death of Ivan Ilych.” How does he portray the Count’s impending death?
13./72 Anna Mikhaylovna and Catiche struggle for the inlaid portfolio
How does Tolstoy contrast Pierre’s behavior with that of everyone else?
14./75 Bald Hills. Prince N.A. Bolkonski. Princess Mary’s correspondence with Julie Karagina
Characterize the correspondence and its significance given Princess Mary’s education.
15./81 Prince Andrew at Bald Hills
Prince Bolkonski’s household is peculiar in ways that Tolstoy suggests belong to a previous generation. What are some of the principles of this household?
16./88 Prince Andrew leaves to join the army. Princess Mary gives him an icon
Like his father, Andrew is against religion, yet Mary has the opposite view. How does Tolstoy portray generational differences through religion?

BOOK TWO
Oct 23-Nov.16, 1805: Kutuzov inspects regiment near Braunau. Le malheureux Mack arrives; The Russian army crosses the Enns; Fight at Amstetten; The Russian army crosses the Danube; Defeats Mortier at Dürrenstein; Napoleon writes to Murat from Schönbrunn; Battle of Schön Grabern
1./95 Review near Braunau. Zherkov and Dolokhov
Tolstoy characterizes the conversation between Zherkov and Dolokhov as somehow different because of the song of the men in the background. Why?
2./104 Kutuzov and an Austrian general. Le malheureux Mack. Zherkov’s foolery
Prince Andrew has “two quite opposite reputations,” and Tolstoy shows his complex personality in action in this chapter. Is Prince Andrew contradictory or consistent? What do you think interests Tolstoy in this issue of character?
3./109 Nicholas and Denisov. Telyanin and the missing purse
Why do Telyanin and the captain (in the next chapter) address Nicholas as Count?
4./115 Nicholas in trouble with his fellow officers
Nicholas’s predicament shows us three kinds of honor: personal, regimental, and military – why does Tolstoy show these in conflict?
5./117 Crossing the Enns, where officers on hill talk fun. Burning the bridge. Rostov’s baptism of fire
Compare the opening and the conclusion of this chapter. How does Tolstoy use the scene of the Danube differently?
6./128 Prince Andrew sent with dispatches to the Austrian court. The Minister of War not very interested and asks why Russians haven’t captured French general
Prince Andrew mentally prepares to tell the tale of what happened on the battlefield, a process that interests Tolstoy greatly. Why?
7./132 Prince Andrew and Bilibin discuss the Austrian perception of the Russian victory, for more important that Vienna has fallen and beloved General Schmidt is dead
Bilibin’s diplomatic subtleties include how he talks. How do you understand his conversation with Prince Andrew, who hopes to talk with a Russian who is on Russia’s side?
8./136 Hippolyte Kuragin and les nôtres
While the differences between Prince Andrew and the diplomats may be obvious, their similarities also create tensions because both are from the elite of the elite. How does Tolstoy convey this?
9./138 Prince Andrew received by the Emperor Francis. Bilibin’s story of the Tabor Bridge, where Napoleon tricked the Austrians into letter the French cross the bridge under the pretext of a truce
This chapter contains different ideas about heroism. What are they?
10./142 Prince Andrew returns to Kutuzov with the news. Bagration sent to Hollabrünn to stop Murat and French. Napoleon’s letter to Murat: their latest fake truce in fact has worked to the Russians’ advantage and to attack immediately
Throughout W&P we will see Kutuzov retreat. While this was true historically, it seems most unheroic. Nevertheless, what makes Kutuzov a hero?
11./148 Prince Andrew reports to Bagration and surveys the battlefield. Captain Tushin is artillery and without boots. Soldiers at the front orderly. Dolokhov talks to a French grenadier and it is clear that the men would all lay down their arms and go home were the matter up to them.
Why does Tolstoy show the Russian and French soldiers talking to each other?
12./152 Prince Andrew surveys the position. The first shot
Prince Andrew’s thoughts are interrupted by a deep conversation that interests him and resonates throughout W&P. What are the issues?
13./153 Bagration in action. Tushin’s battery. Setting Schön Grabern on fire
In the person of Prince Bagration, we have the first indication of Tolstoy’s ideas on the great man in history as subject to circumstances and chance rather than in control of fate. Still, Bagration’s presence matters greatly. How?
14./157 Battle scenes. Quarrelsome commanders. Nicholas injured
Rostov undergoes a transformation on the battlefield from innocence to experience. How does Tolstoy show the transition?
15./163 Panic. Timokhin’s counterattack. Dolokhov’s insistence. Tushin’s battery. Prince Andrew set to order him to retreat
Why does Tolstoy focus on the men’s feelings and on “moral hesitation?”
16./167 Withdrawal of the forces. Nicholas rides on a gun carriage. Tushin called to account by Bagration. Prince Andrew defends him. Nicholas’ depression
Both Prince Andrew and Nicholas come away from the battle depressed, without their former elation. What has changed their emotions?

BOOK THREE
Nov. 1805: The Council of War at Ostralitz; Battle of Austerlitz
1./175 Prince Vasili and Pierre. A soirée at Anna Pavlovna’s. Hélène’s name day. Pierre’s marriage
Tolstoy will use the image of a dreadful abyss later in Anna Karenina and in Confession to signal spiritual trouble. What is Pierre’s dreadful abyss here?
2./187 Prince Vasili and Anatole visit Prince N.A. Bolkonski. Princess Mary’s appearance
Why does Tolstoy significantly belabor the problem of Mary’s appearance?
3./192 Lise, Mademoiselle Bourienne, Mary, Anatole, and old Bolkonski
Mlle Bourienne’s ideal story of her life and her actual life seem to be coming together, but not quite. What does Tolstoy emphasize in her response and that of the others present at this awkward evening?
4./198 Her father’s opposition to Mary’s marrying. She finds Mademoiselle Bourienne and Anatole in the conservatory; declines marriage
A girl’s marriage raises questions of love, family, and society. Several possible scenarios for a girl’s fate are presented in this chapter. What are they?
5./202 A letter from Nicholas. Sonya and Natasha
Sonya and Natasha play out contrasting ideas of love as girls that will have real consequences quite soon. What seem to be the differences?
6./206 Nicholas visits Boris and Berg in camp. Nicholas tells of Schön Grabern. His encounter with Prince Andrew
Nicholas again nearly gets himself into a duel, with Prince Andrew. Tolstoy represents his emotions as conflicted. What upsets him?
7./212 The Emperor reviews the army. Enthusiasm of Nicholas
Tolstoy depicts the Emperor both as a symbol and as an individual. How does he do this?
8./215 Boris visits Prince Andrew at Olmütz. Prince Dolgorukov
Describe the unwritten law that Boris now understands, and that Prince Andrew uses.
9./219 Nicholas not in the action at Wischau. The Emperor. Nicholas’ devotion to him
Tolstoy here and in chapter 10 represents the Emperor as symbol and individual. Like the Emperor, Tolstoy feels that war is terrible. Does the Emperor speak for Tolstoy?
10./223 Preparations for action. Dolgorukov’s opinion of Napoleon and of his position. Kutuzov’s depression
What does Tolstoy mean by the slow clock of human history?
11./226 The Council of War. Weyrother’s plans. Kutuzov sleeps. Prince Andrew’s reflections
Prince Andrew thinks about death more seriously than in the previous battle, but is swayed by considerations of glory. Tolstoy concentrates these important themes in Prince Andrew. Why?
12./230 Rostov at the front. Visit of Bagration and Dolgorukov. Rostov sent to reconnoiter. Napoleon’s proclamation
Rostov continues to dream and act out ideas of honor. What are they?
13./234 Battle of Austerlitz. Prince Andrew badly wounded
As the battle goes horribly wrong, what are the different ways that Tolstoy depicts the terrors of the situation?

BOOK FOUR
1806
1./257 Nicholas home on leave
How does Tolstoy represent “the warm rays of love” and “that world of home and childhood?”
2./263 Preparations for Club dinner
Tolstoy here contrasts the society of men from the society of women. How?
3./267 The dinner. Bagration as guest of honor
What makes this a good party, or what reflects well on Rostov? Is there something particularly Russian about this evening at the English club?
4./270 Pierre challenges Dolokhov
When Pierre challenges Dolokhov to a duel, Tolstoy writes that the act of saying these words confirms Hélène’s guilt. How?
5./274 The duel
Why does this duel take a “course independently of men’s will?”
6./275 Pierre’s separation from Hélène
What makes Hélène a terrible woman?
7./279 Andrew considered dead
How can Princess Mary feel joy while grieving?
8./281 Lise’s confinement. Andrew arrives
The arrival is “too extraordinary.” Why did Tolstoy permit himself to do it?
9./284 Death of Lise
What does Andrew feel he is guilty of?
10./286 Denisov and Dolokhov at the Rostovs
How can Dolokhov both be so bad and so good at the same time? Is he really this contradictory?
11./288 Sonya declines Dolokhov’s proposal
Why does Sonya not do what is best for her and everyone?
12./290 Iogel’s ball. Denisov’s mazurka
The mazurka was the wild, sexy Polish dance. What is the significance of Denisov and Natasha doing it?
13./292 Nicholas loses 43,000 rubles to Dolokhov
Why does Nicholas not understand what Dolokhov is doing to him and why?
14./296 Nicholas at home. Natasha sings
Natasha’s singing will later (bottom of 1020) signify her essential charm. What is it about her singing that is so attractive? Why does Tolstoy place all this fun against the background of Nicholas’s great problem?
15./299 Nicholas tells his father of his losses. Denisov proposes to Natasha
Why does Tolstoy arrange the father/son and mother/daughter conversations together?

BOOK FIVE
1806-7: Battles of Preussisch-Eylau and of Friedland; the Emperors meet at Tilsit
1./303 Pierre meets Bazdeev
Pierre is looking for answers and Bazdeev gives him answers. How does Tolstoy represent transformation from unwilling to willing listener?
2./310 Pierre becomes a Freemason
What does Tolstoy suggest, directly or indirectly, might be the obstacles to “fraternity and equality of men” among Freemasons?
3./317 Pierre repulses Prince Vasili
Why is saying an unpleasant thing to someone’s face the hardest thing for Pierre?
4./318 A soiree at Anna Pavlovna’s. Hélène takes up Boris
Boris has figured out how to do all the right things to get ahead. What are they?
5./321 Hippolyte at Anna Pavlovna’s
What are the different gifts, concrete and abstract, in this chapter? Discuss their significance from an anthropological viewpoint.
6./322 Old Bolkonski as commander in chief of the conscription. Andrew’s anxiety. A letter from his father
Prince Bolkonski on the battlefield at home, Prince Andrew in the nursery – what does this changing of roles mean?
7./325 Bilibin’s letter about the campaign. The baby convalescent
Tolstoy frames Bilibin’s letter from the thick of things with Andrew’s sick child in the nursery. Why?
8./329 Pierre goes to Kiev and visits his estates. Obstacles to the emancipation of his serfs
Why does Tolstoy make such a point of showing Pierre’s inability to understand his estate and income, and the harm this causes?
9./332 Pierre visits Prince Andrew
We finally hear what is on Prince Andrew’s mind – summarize his new philosophy of life.
10./338 Pierre’s and Prince Andrew’s talk on the ferry raft
What is the significance of the setting for Pierre’s and Andrew’s discussion?
11./340 “God’s folk” at Bald Hills
The men are skeptical of Princess Mary’s pilgrims – how does Tolstoy represent them?
12./343 Old Bolkonski and Pierre
Why is it significant that Pierre’s friendship with Andrew extends to his family?
13./345 Nicholas rejoins his regiment. Shortage of provisions
Why is Nicholas now more at home in his regiment almost than he was at home in Moscow, where his initial arrival was so extraordinarily warm?
14./348 Denisov seizes transports of food, gets into trouble, is wounded
Denisov battles for his men as fiercely as he battles the French. Why does Tolstoy show us this side of Denisov?
15./351 Nicholas visits Denisov in hospital
The hospital scene is horrendous, but Tolstoy takes us to the ward and we meet Tushin, whom we know and love, again. Why?
16./356 Boris at Tilsit. Nicholas’ inopportune visit
Tolstoy repeats three times that Boris has a veiled look. Why?
17./359 Nicholas tries to present Denisov’s petition at the Emperor’s residence, but fails
Nicholas further develops his complex relationship with the Emperor, both so near and so far. What are the new complications and what do they mean?
18./361 Napoleon and Alexander as allies. Perplexity of Nicholas. “Another bottle”
Nicholas becomes further confused by what he sees around the Emperor and in his despair, shouts that we should not judge everything, or there will be nothing sacred left. What has upset him?

BOOK SIX
1808-10
1./367 Real Life. Prince Andrew’s occupations at Bogucharovo. His drive through the forest – the bare oak. His visit to the Rostovs at Otradnoe. Overhears Natasha talk with Sonya. Return through the forest – the oak in leaf. He decides to go to Petersburg.
This of course is a key scene in the novel and is laden with symbolism. What are the parallels between the oak tree and what happens to Prince Andrew?
2./372 Speranski, Arakcheev, and Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew tries to take Speranski’s measure as a man and finds in him an ideal. Explain that ideal and why it might be important to Prince Andrew.
3./381 Pierre and the Petersburg Freemasons. He visits Joseph Alexeevich. Reconciliation with Hélène
Pierre muses on the “endless variety of men’s minds” and the problem of “truth.” What does Tolstoy mean here?
4./386 Hélène’s social success. Her salon and relations with Boris
Helene’s success as a bluestocking (a learned woman) surprises Pierre (and us too). How is it possible that everyone thinks a stupid woman is smart? What do you think Tolstoy thinks?
5./388 Pierre’s diary
Can you interpret Pierre’s dreams?
6./391 The Rostovs in Petersburg. Berg engaged to Vera and demands her dowry
How does money function in this society? Which attitudes toward money reflect badly, and conversely which reflect well, on people?
7./394 Natasha and Boris
Why is it important that Boris, like Andrew and Pierre, feels such a strong attraction to Natasha? Why is it important for understanding Boris, and why is poor Boris in such rich company?
8./396 Natasha’s bedtime talks with her mother
The Countess’s relationship with her daughter is intimate and touching. Nevertheless, there is a very businesslike side to it for the Countess. Discuss these tensions.
9./399 Natasha’s first grand ball. She dances with Prince Andrew
Based on this representation of a ball, what are the various social functions of a ball and why were they so important in literature and in life?
10./407 Bitski calls on Prince Andrew. Dinner at Speranski’s. Prince Andrew’s disillusionment with him and his reforms
Speranski’s transformation in Prince Andrew’s eyes is sudden and complete. How can the question, Can all that make me any happier or better?, produce such a strong effect?
11./411 Prince Andrew calls on the Rostovs. Natasha’s effect on him
If you recall the effect of Natasha’s singing on Nicholas (p. 298), compare it to the effect on Prince Andrew, as it leads both men to philosophizing about life.
12./412 The Bergs’ evening party
Tolstoy is contemptuous of the Bergs’ social aspirations to be comme il faut (as one should). Why does he make their party the setting for the drama of Natasha and Prince Andrew falling in love?
13./416 Natasha consults her mother. Prince Andrew confides in Pierre
Why are Natasha and her mother afraid of what is a fabulous match for Natasha and the Rostovs? Contrast their fear with Prince Andrew’s joy.
14./419 Prince N. Bolkonski insists on postponement of his son’s marriage. Natasha’s distress at Prince Andrew’s absence. He returns and they become engaged
The proposal involves not only the lovers, but their families. What are the tensions between these parties and what do they mean?
15./423 Prince Andrew’s last days with Natasha
Although they are engaged, why do they feel complex mixtures of fear, shame, joy and terror?
16./425 Prince N. Bolkonski’s treatment of Mary. Her letter to Julie Karagina.
Princess Mary feels her lot in life is to endure and love, but her letter makes clear that while she endures Lise’s death and her father’s old age, she does not wish to endure the “little Rostova.” Why does she contradict herself here? What is at stake for her?
17./427 Prince N. Bolkonski threatens to marry Mlle Bourienne
Prince Bolkonski’s strange threat serves some purpose. What might that be?

BOOK SEVEN
1810-11
1./431 Nicholas Rostov returns home on leave. His doubts about Natasha’s engagement
Why does Nicholas think there is “something not quite right” about Natasha’s marriage and why does Countess Rostova have “that latent grudge a mother always has in regard to a daughter’s future married happiness?”
2./434 Nicholas settles accounts with Mitenka
The family’s attitude towards money is maddeningly impractical. What are the things that apparently matter more than money?
3./435 Nicholas decides to go hunting
Why does the hunt exercise such a powerful attraction on Nicholas, Natasha, and Petya?
4./437 The wolf hunt begins
While the snuffbox (Tolstoy repeats this twice 179 and 182) is central to the scene where Hélène snares Pierre, here the snuffbox (repeated thrice 440, 441) lets the prey (a wolf) get away from the Count. What different things do these snuffboxes represent, and how are they linked to their respective scenes?
5./441 The wolf is taken
Nicholas experiences what he thinks is “the happiest moment of his life” and we experience everything through his eyes. Yet Tolstoy seems to rain on his parade: “He prayed with that passionate and shamefaced feeling with which men pray at moments of great excitement arising from trivial causes.” What is major, what is trivial?
6./445 The fox hunt and the huntsmen’s quarrel. Ilagin’s courtesy. Chasing a hare. Rugay’s triumph
What are the undercurrents of the post-mortem conversation?
7./449 An evening at “Uncle’s.” The balalayka. Natasha’s Russian dance.
How is it that Natasha can dance a Russian dance? How does this relate to why Nicholas and Natasha so extremely happy at the end of the evening?
8./His Mother urges Nicholas to marry Julie Karagina, and grumbles at Sonya
After all the happiness of the previous chapter, everyone is grumbling in this chapter. How does self-sacrifice function in these intricate negotiations over relationships?
9./458 Christmas at Otradnoe. Natasha is depressed and capricious
Here Natasha sings a chorus of Cherubini’s “rescue” opera, The Water Carrier (1800) about a faithful wife Constance rescued by her virtuous husband Armand, as Sonya walks by carrying … a glass of water. The water carrier in the opera enables the couple to escape. Tolstoy here prefigures Book 8, chapter 15 and you should answer this question for Wed. Oct. 15th. Compare this song (the chorus) to Natasha’s other songs (58-9, 297-8).
10./460 Nicholas, Natasha, and Sonya indulge in recollections. Dimmler plays and Natasha sings. The maskers. A troyka drive to the Melyukovs
Everyone gets dressed up, but Sonya seems to change the most. What is going on?
11./466 At Melyukovka. Sonya goes to the barn to try her fortune
Tolstoy has Sonya and Nicholas change sexes in this scene. What is the effect and why?
12./469 The drive home. Natasha and Sonya try the future with looking glasses
Tolstoy here describes folk customs for young girls, who try to predict their future husbands. Tolstoy seems cynical, for Sonya only pretends to see something and they all believe it. Why does it matter to Sonya that she see something, even if it is meaningless?
13./472 His mother opposes Nicholas’ wish to marry Sonya, and he returns to his regiment. Natasha becomes restless and impatient for Prince Andrew’s return
“Passionate love” faces great obstacles in this chapter. How passionate in fact are these lovers, and what is Tolstoy up to?

BOOK EIGHT
1811-12
1./475 Pierre’s life in Moscow. Asks himself “What for?” and “Why?”
Pierre’s problem of finding an occupation, of something to do, recurs full force, but he can’t find anything to do with any satisfaction. What do you think Tolstoy thinks is wrong with his approaches?
2./478 Prince N. Bolkonski in Moscow. His harsh treatment of Princess Mary. She teaches little Nicholas. The old prince and Mlle Bourienne
How does Tolstoy show us Princess Mary in an ever more unhappy position at home? Why does he do this?
3./481 Dr. Métivier treated as a spy by the old prince. The dinner on the prince’s name day
Why is it taboo to criticize the Emperor, although everyone at Prince Bolkonski’s agrees and the Prince is the center of the Moscow opposition to the government?
4./485 Pierre and Princess Mary discuss Boris and Natasha
Princess Mary seeks relief by talking with Pierre, but then changes her mind. Why?
5./487 Boris and Julie. Their melancholy. Boris proposes and is accepted
Why does a Boris and Julie’s courtship founded on base calculations nevertheless require the window-dressing of melancholy, feelings, and love?
6./490 Count Ilya Rostov, Natasha, and Sonya stay with Marya Dmitrievna in Moscow
Why is Natasha reluctant to ingratiate herself with the Bolkonski family?
7./493 Count Rostov and Natasha call on Prince N. Bolkonski. They are received by Princess Mary. Prince Bolkonski’s strange behavior. Mary and Natasha dislike one another
Tolstoy finally states the real reasons Princess Mary dislikes Natasha, but what upsets Natasha, who does not understand her own behavior?
8./495 The Rostovs at the Opera. Hélène in the next box
Why do we first see Hélène through Natasha’s eyes? What does Natasha’s response, that one could easily fall in love with her, suggest?
9./498 The Opera described. Anatole and Pierre arrive. Natasha makes Hélène’s acquaintance. Duport dances
This famous scene makes the opera “strange.” What is the function of the opera in this chapter?
10./502 Hélène presents Anatole to Natasha. He courts her
We are told why Natasha cannot talk about her feelings to Sonya, but why could she talk about them with her mother? What has Natasha “let” Anatole do?
11./504 Anatole and Dolokhov in Moscow
Tolstoy’s portrait of a rake is remarkably evenhanded, especially given the harm Anatole is poised to do. Why?
12./505 Sunday at Marya Dmitrievna’s. Hélène calls and invites the Rostovs to hear Mlle George recite. She tells Natasha that Anatole is in love with her
Why is Natasha fair game for this brother and sister, when we know that Anatole avoids marriageable girls?
13./508 The reception at Hélène’s. Mlle George. Anatole dances with Natasha and makes love to her. Her perplexity as to her own feelings
Why can Natasha not understand her feelings? Would it be better if she did?
14./510 Princess Mary’s letter to Natasha, who also receives one from Anatole
The two letters both express strong yet false feelings. How do we know they are false from the contents of the letters? Nevertheless, Marya Dmitrievna, the voice of reason, says Princess Mary’s letter is true. How can this be true?
15./512 Sonya finds Anatole’s letter and remonstrates with Natasha, who writes to Princess Mary breaking off her engagement with Prince Andrew. A party at the Karagins’. Anatole meets Natasha. She is angry with Sonya, who resolves to prevent her elopement.
In good novelistic fashion, Sonya fears for Natasha’s ruin and decides to act, while two men plot Natasha’s abduction. What makes this and the next two chapters so thrilling?
16./516 Anatole at Dolokhov’s. Balaga
Even Dolokhov tries to discourage Anatole, but Anatole seems truly taken by Natasha. Why does Dolokhov even bother?
17./520 Anatole sets off to abduct Natasha, but encounters Marya Dmitrievna’s footman
This chapter gives some indication of Tolstoy’s initial emphasis on sensationalism. How would you characterize the writing?
18./522 Marya Dmitrievna reproaches Natasha. Count Ilya Rostov is kept in ignorance
What do you make of the Marya Dmitrievna’s and Count Rostov’s roles in this chapter?
19./524 Pierre at Marya Dmitrievna’s . He tells Natasha that Anatole is married.
Pierre’s reaction
Pierre resolves his contradictory impressions of Natasha negatively, but the narrator comes to her defense. Several times already the narrator has told us that at difficult moments, Natasha’s cold face does not reflect her true feelings. Where does this cold face come from? What does it represent?
20./527 Pierre’s explanation with Anatole
Why does Tolstoy emphasize that their whole conversation took place in French?
21./529 Natasha tries to poison herself. Prince Andrew returns to Moscow and Pierre talks to him
Why can’t Prince Andrew take Pierre’s advice and be “very noble?”
22./532 Pierre and Natasha. He tells her of his devotion. The great comet of 1812
Pierre feels the pity for Natasha that Prince Andrew cannot, and somehow it will lead him to the next phase of his life. Why is this an answer to his questions at the start of Book 8?

BOOK NINE
May-July 1812: Napoleon moves from Dresden to Russia; Alexander sends Balashëv to Napoleon and the Pavlograd hussars in action at Ostovna
1./535 The year 1812. Rulers and generals are “history’s slaves”
Tolstoy here unveils his argument about history and its kings. Compare Tolstoy’s distinction between our free and our hive life, with Ginzburg’s analysis of Tolstoy’s characters.
2./538 Napoleon crosses the Nieman and sees Polish Uhlans drowned swimming the Viliya
Compare Tolstoy’s representation of Nicholas’s devotion to Alexander and that of the Poles to Napoleon.
3./541 Alexander I at Vilna. The ball at Count Bennigsen’s. Boris overhears the Emperor speaking to Balashëv and learns that the French have crossed the frontier. Alexander’s letter to Napoleon.
By what strange mechanism does Alexander impede war preparations?
4./544 Balashëv’s mission to Napoleon. He meets Murat, “the King of Naples”
What are the essential elements of Murat’s get-up?
5./547 Balashëv taken to Davout, who treats him badly, but he is at last presented to Napoleon in Vilna
Discuss how Tolstoy here shows us the reversal of Russia’s position in a number of ways.
6./549 Balashëv’s interview with Napoleon
Discuss how Tolstoy is very careful to show us how Napoleon talks as a key to who he is.
7./554 Balashëv dines with Napoleon
Why is Napoleon so concerned about his relationship with Alexander, despite everything he has done?
8./557 Prince Andrew on Kutuzov’s staff in Moldavia. He is sent to Barclay’s army. Visits Bald Hills. His talks with his father and Princess Mary.
The issue of judgment would become central to Anna Karenina. Why is Prince Andrew quick to judge?
9./561 Prince Andrew in the army at Drissa. Eight conflicting parties.
Why are court relations so fluid and indefinite, despite the rigid hierarchy, and thus the wrong paradigm for military structures?
10./567 Prince Andrew is introduced to Pfuel
This is our first real contact with the German element in Russian culture, and Tolstoy presents it in an unattractive light. What were the attractive aspects that Tolstoy was arguing against?
11./569 An informal Council of War. Pfuel’s dogmatism.
Discuss how the “polyglot talk” in this chapter represents a Russian phenomenon that Prince Andrew understands in a particular way.
12./572 Nicholas writes to Sonya. He and Ilyin in a storm
How does Tolstoy show us a more mature Nicholas?
13./575 Mary Hendrikhovna. The officers and the doctor
What is the role of a lady at the front?
14./577 Courage. Rostov goes into action at Ostrovna
How does Tolstoy depict Rostov’s mind working on the eve of battle?
15./580 Rostov’s hussars charge the French dragoons. He wounds and captures a prisoner
Tolstoy explicitly compares Nicholas at the front with him at the hunt. Why?
16./582 Natasha’s illness. The use of doctors
Tolstoy does not appear to care for doctors. What is their function?
17./584 Natasha and Pierre. She prepares for communion with Belova. The church service. Her health improves.
Like Prince Andrew and Pierre, Natasha experiences a rebirth. Compare them.
18./586 Natasha attends Mass and hears the special prayer for victory
Natasha has not been religious before. What is the effect of church on her?
19./590 Pierre’s relation to life altered by his feeling for Natasha. 666. Napoleon as Antichrist. Pierre’s belief that he is destined to end Napoleon’s power. He gets news for the Rostovs.
Why is Pierre going in for apocalyptic calculations, just when he has been so happy with Natasha? What do you think Tolstoy thinks of this kind of reasoning?
20./593 Pierre at the Rostovs’. Natasha again takes up her singing. Sonya reads Alexander’s manifesto. Petya declares that he will enter the army. Natasha realizes that Pierre loves her. He decides to cease going to the Rostovs’
What is different about Natasha’s singing this time?
21./597 Petya goes to the Kremlin to see the Emperor. He gets crushed. He secures a biscuit thrown by the Emperor after dinner
Why do we see the Emperor through Petya’s eyes?
22./601 Assembly of gentry and merchants at the Sloboda Palace. A limited discussion. Pierre’s part in it
Discuss how this assembly of the nobility gives us some idea of how it functions as a group.
23./605 Count Rostopchin’s remarks. The offer made by the Moscow nobility and gentry. The Emperor’s speech. Pierre offers to supply and maintain a thousand men.
Why is Pierre “ashamed of his speech with its constitutional tendency?”

BOOK TEN
Aug. 16-Sept. 7, 1812: Battle of Smolensk; Prince Nicholas Bolkonski leaves Bald Hills for Bogucharovo; Kutuzov appointed Commander in Chief; Prince Andrew’s column abreast of Bald Hills; Kutuzov reaches Tsarev-Zaymishche and takes command of the army; Nocholas Rostov rides to Bogucharovo; Battle of the Shevardino Redoubt; Battle of Borodino
1./607 Reflections on the campaign of 1812. The course of events was fortuitous and unforeseen by either side
Everyone thought they were doing one thing (fighting each other), when in fact Russia retreated and allowed Napoleon to overextend and ruin his army. What is “providence,” or the bigger plan of “history?”
2./611 Prince N. Bolkonski and his daughter. His break with Mlle Bourienne. Mary’s correspondence with Julie. The old prince receives a letter from Prince Andrew but does not grasp its meaning and confuses the present invasion with the Polish campaign of 1807
How does this chapter create further heroinic difficulties for Princess Mary?
3./614 The old prince send Alpatych to Smolensk with various commissions, and does not know where to have his bed placed. He remembers Prince Andrew’s letter and reads and understands it.
What is Tolstoy up to in creating a delay in the prince’s understanding? What is the function of this delay?
4./616 Princess Mary sends a letter to the Governor of Smolensk. Alpatych sets off on August 4; reaches Smolensk that evening and stays at Ferapontov’s inn. Firing heard outside the town. Next day he does his business, but finds alarms spreading, and is advised by the Governor that the Bolkonskis had better go to Moscow. The town bombarded. Ferapontov’s cook has her thigh broken by a shell. Retreating soldiers loot Ferapontov’s shop and he declares he will set his place on fire himself and not leave it to the French. Alpatych meets Prince Andrew, who has an encounter with Berg.
Morson (1157) argues that Alpatych frustrates us and we should learn from our frustration about what Tolstoy thinks is really important. Do you agree?
5./624 Prince Andrew passing Bald Hills with his regiment. The retreat: heat and terrible dust. He rides over to the house. The little girls and the plums. The soldiers bathe in a pond. “Cannon fodder.” Bagration’s letter to Arakcheev.
Contrast the first half of this chapter with the second half.
6./629 Matter and form. Anna Pavlovna’s and Hélène’s rival salons. Prince Vasili’s opinion of Kutuzov.
How does Tolstoy depict the salon as form rather than content?
7./632 Napoleon orders an advance on Moscow. Napoleon’s conversation with Lavrushka.
Discuss Napoleon’s encounter with Russian “other” in the form of the Cossack Lavrushka.
8./634 Prince Nicholas Bolkonski has a paralytic stroke and is taken to Bogucharovo. Princess Mary decides that they must move on to Moscow. Her last interview with her father. His affection for her. His death.
Princess Mary cannot feel what she wants to feel and is horrified at what she does feel over her father’s dying. Why is Tolstoy so interested in this process of dying?
9./640 Character of the Bogucharovo peasantry and the baffling undercurrents in the life of the Russian people. The village Elder, Dron. Alpatych talks to him. The peasants decide not to supply horses or carts.
This is a very unsympathetic view of peasant relations, when we know that Tolstoy worked very hard to improve their lives. Why the contradiction?
10./644 Mlle Bourienne advises Princess Mary to appeal to the French for protection. Princess Mary speaks to Dron.
Princess Mary finally acts and ironically cannot get anywhere. Why?
11./647 Princess Mary addresses the peasants. They distrust her and refuse to leave Bogucharovo.
How do you understand the peasants?
12./649 Princess Mary at night recalls her last sight of her father
Why does her father’s transformation by dying affect Princess Mary so strongly?
13./651 Nicholas and Ilyin ride to Bogucharovo. They are asked by Alpatych to protect the princess. Nicholas makes her acquaintance and places himself at her service.
What are the romantic elements of Nicholas’s meeting with Princess Mary? Why is their meeting so stylized when other couples meet more naturally?
14./654 Nicholas calls the peasants to account and intimidates them. Carts and horses are provided for Princess Mary’s departure. Princess Mary feels that she loves him.
Why does Nicholas’s approach work with the peasants?
15./657 Prince Andrew goes to headquarters and meets Denisov, who wants guerrilla troops to break the French line of communication. Kutuzov’s reception of them. He transacts business.
Kutuzov at the height of his powers is quite a character. Compare him with the Kutuzov of Tolstoy’s ideas in the first chapter in this book.
16./662 The priest’s wife offers Kutuzov “bread and salt.” He has a further talk with Prince Andrew, who declines a place on the staff. Patience and Time. Prince Andrew’s confidence in Kutuzov
Tolstoy has Kutuzov reading French novels when those less patriotic have given up French. What does the French theme mean here?
17./664 Moscow after the Emperor’s visit. Rostopchin’s broadsheets. Julie’s farewell soiree. Forfeits for speaking French. Pierre hears of Princess Mary’s arrival in Moscow
Julie understands Pierre through a French novel and still uses French phrases despite swearing off French. How does French function here?
18./668 Rostopchin’s broadsheets. Pierre and the eldest princess. Leppich’s balloon. A public flogging. Pierre leaves Moscow for the army.
Just as Prince Andrew first went to war gladly, now Pierre is joyful about leaving for the front. Compare them.
19./671 Senselessness of the battle of Borodino, and the erroneousness of the historians’ accounts of it. Where and how it was fought.
How does Tolstoy (like Kutuzov) turn a defeat at Borodino in terms of men killed into a victory?
20./675 Pierre encounters cavalry advancing and carts of wounded retiring. He talks to an army doctor. Pierre looks for the “position” occupied by the army. Peasant militia digging entrenchments.
Why does Tolstoy emphasize how Pierre is dressed, especially his hat?
21./677 Pierre ascends a knoll at Gorki, surveys the scene, and inquires as to the “position” occupied. A procession carrying the “Smolensk Mother of God.” The reverence of the crowd and of Kutuzov.
This chapter might be called, “Locations and Dislocations.” Discuss the different representations of place.
22./681 Boris meets Pierre. Dolokhov makes his way to Kutuzov. Kutuzov notices Pierre. Dolokhov asks Pierre to be reconciled.
Discuss the different kinds of heroism in this chapter.
23./684 Pierre rides to the left flank with Bennigsen, who explains the “position” in a way Pierre does not understand and changes one of Kutuzov’s dispositions
Why does Tolstoy make Pierre understand nothing of what he hears or sees?
24./685 Prince Andrew’s reflections on life and death. Pierre comes to see him.
Why is this last meeting between the two men again quite awkward?
25./687 Timokhin’s opinion of Kutuzov. Prince Andrew on Barclay de tolly. War and chess. The spirit of the army. Wolzogen and Clausewitz. “The war must be extended widely.” Pierre understands the importance of this war. “Not take prisoners.” What is war? Prince Andrew thinks of Natasha.
Discuss the surprise ending of this chapter. Where does it spring from?
26./692 De Beausset brings a portrait of the “King of Rome” to Napoleon. Napoleon’s proclamation.
This is the closest we come to seeing Napoleon as a family man. What is Tolstoy’s aim?
27./696 Napoleon’s dispositions for the battle of Borodino. They were not carried out.
Why does Tolstoy go into great detail here to prove Napoleon did not know enough? After all, no one did.
28./698 Napoleon’s cold. Why the battle had to be fought.
Although Tolstoy criticized Napoleon’s orders in the last chapter, here they are perfect and perfectly fine. What gives?
29./700 Napoleon’s talk to de Beausset and Rapp. The game begins
Napoleon’s question about the Guards was in fact very serious (they oversaw the security of the supply lines), but Tolstoy is dismissive in a particular way. What is Tolstoy doing by emphasizing Napoleon’s cold when he dismissed it in the previous chapter?
30./702 Pierre views the battle field from the knoll at Gorki
How does Tolstoy describe battle technically?
31./705 Pierre at the Borodino bridge. Under fire. Goes to Raevski’s Redoubt. His horse wounded under him. The Raevski Redoubt. The young officer. Pierre is accepted at the redoubt as one of the family. The flame of hidden fire in the men’s souls. Shortage of ammunition. Pierre sees ammunition wagons blown up.
What seems to be important about Pierre’s experience of battle here?
32./710 The redoubt captured by the French. Pierre’s conflict with a French officer. The redoubt retaken by the Russians.
Pierre fights for his life in hand-to-hand combat without understanding the context. Why does Tolstoy emphasize his terror, fear, and horror in all the confusion?
33./712 The course of the battle. Difficulty of discerning what was going on. Things take their own course apart from the orders issued.
How is Tolstoy using Napoleon’s field glass as a metaphor?
34./714 Reinforcements. Belliard appeals to Napoleon. De Beausset proposes breakfast. Friant’s division sent in support. The expected success not secured. Continuous and useless slaughter.
Discuss why Tolstoy dwells on Napoleon’s realization that he has lost when clearly no one knows what is happening.
35./718 Kutuzov. His rebuke to Wolzogen. An order of the day for an attack tomorrow. The spirit of the army.
Kutuzov, unlike Napoleon, refuses to believe he has lost. Why?
36./721 Prince Andrew with the reserve under fire. Hit by a bursting shell. Outside the dressing station.
Prince Andrew is wounding not in battle, but while waiting to fight. Discuss this seemingly unheroic scene.
37./724 The operating tent. Portion of Prince Andrew’s thighbone extracted. Anatole’s leg amputated. Prince Andrew pities him.
Discuss Prince Andrew’s revelation about compassion as the key to life.
38./726 Napoleon is depressed. His mind and conscience darkened. His calculation that few Frenchmen perished in Russia.
Discuss Napoleon’s vision, in Tolstoy’s hands, of what victory would have meant.
39./728 Appearance of the field at the end of the battle. Doubt maturing in every soul. Only a little further effort needed to secure victory, but such effort impossible. Could Napoleon have used his Old Guard? The Russians had gained a moral victory.
Tolstoy now returns to the very important question of Napoleon’s decision not to use the Guards from chapter 29 and is again dismissive, but for different reasons. Discuss.

BOOK ELEVEN
Sept. 13, 1812: Kutuzov orders retreat through Moscow
1./731 Continuity of motion. Achilles and the tortoise. The method of history; its explanation of events compared with explanations of the movement of a locomotive
Tolstoy posits that the integration of infinitesimally small elements will yield the laws of history. What do you think Tolstoy means by laws of history?
2./733 Summary of campaign before Borodino and explanation of Kutuzov’s subsequent movements
Although Kutuzov cannot “freely decide,” he does make decisions. What are their parameters?
3./736 Kutuzov and his general at the Poklonny Hill. Council of War at Fili
Discuss the role of the idea of Moscow in this chapter.
4./740 The author’s reflections on the abandonment of Moscow. Rostopchin’s conduct and that of private individuals.
Discuss the different representations of patriotism in this chapter.
5./742 Hélène in Petersburg. Conversion to Catholicism and plans for remarriage.
Although Hélène has gained her reputation as a clever woman in her salon, which Pierre and Tolstoy consider a very dubious distinction, she now embarks on a venture that shows she deserves this reputation. How is she like a really great man?
6./748 Pierre walks to Mozhaysk. His night lodging there. His dream, and his return to Moscow.
Pierre’s dream allows him to do something he would like to, but cannot do, in real life. What is his dilemma?
7./751 Pierre at Rostopchin’s. The affair of Klyucharëv and Vereshchagin. Pierre leaves home secretly.
Why do we hear the about Klyucharëv and Vereshchagin?
8./755 The Rostovs: packing up and leaving Moscow. They allow wounded officers to stay in their house and avail themselves of their carts to leave Moscow. Berg’s wish to borrow a cart. Natasha when leaving Moscow sees and speaks to Pierre. Prince Andrew travels in their train of vehicles.
Natasha swings into action finally on p. 767. What does it mean to be a German in this case (don’t’ forget that Berg has a German name and is referred to as a German on p. 51), and consequently, what does it mean to be a Russian (by not being German)?
9./772 Pierre at Bazdeev’s house. He wears a coachman’s coat.
Discuss the contrast between Pierre’s plans and the setting he finds himself in.
10./774 Napoleon surveys Moscow from the Poklonny Hill. He awaits a deputation of les boyars.
How does Tolstoy represent Moscow as a mother and as feminine? Contrast Tolstoy’s view with Napoleon’s.
11./777 Moscow compared to a queenless hive. The army’s departure. Looting by Russian soldiers. The Moskva bridge blocked, and cleared by Ermolov. A brawl among workmen. Reading a Rostopchin broadsheet to a crowd. Scene with the superintendent of police.
Compare Honoré de Balzac’s (description of Paris at the end of Old Goriot (Le Père Goriot, 1834) as a hive with Tolstoy’s.
“Rastinac, remaining alone, took a few steps towards the top of the cemetery and saw Paris torturously lying along the two banks of the Seine, where the lights were beginning to reflect. His eyes were almost avidly fixed between the column at the Place Vendôme and the dome of the Invalides, there were high society lived and which he had wanted to penetrate. He cast on this humming hive a look that already seemed to suck the honey from it, and said these grandiose words: “It’s now just the two of us.”
And as the first act of defiance against Society, Rastignac went to dine with Madame de Nucingen.”
12./786 Rostopchin. The killing of Vereshchagin. The released lunatics. Rostopchin’s encounter with Kutuzov at the bridge.
Why does Rostopchin’s encounter with the insane trigger his conscience about the murder of Vereshchagin?
13./795 The French enter Moscow. Shots from the Kremlin gate. The Fire of Moscow discussed.
Unlike Berlin and Vienna, Moscow was and could be abandoned. Why?
14./799 Pierre: his plan to kill Napoleon. Bazdeev’s drunken brother fires at Captain Ramballe, who regards Pierre as a friend
Pierre is possessed by the “quite Russian feeling of contempt for everything conventional, artificial, and human” (800), at the same time that he befriends Ramballe, who considers him French, and tells the whole story of his life. Discuss these paradoxes.
15./810 The Rostovs at Mytichshi. Natasha sees Prince Andrew.
Pierre and Ramballe discuss love in the previous chapter, and now Prince Andrew muses on love, while Natasha feels love. Discuss the different kinds of love.
16./819 Pierre sets out to meet Napoleon. He saves a child, defends an Armenian girl from a French soldier, and is arrested as an incendiary.
Pierre seems to find himself in the chaos of Moscow in flames. Why?

BOOK TWELVE
1812
1./827 Anna Pavlovna’s soiree. Talk of Hélène’s illness. The Bishop’s letter. Victory at Borodino reported. Death of Hélène. News of the abandonment of Moscow. Michaud’s report.
Tolstoy criticizes the St. Petersburg life as “concerned only about phantoms and reflections of real life” (827), and that real life is the battle of Borodino and knowledge of it. However, Maude reminds us (p. 830) that Tolstoy got his dates wrong here about the various reports from the front. In what other ways does Tolstoy’s work contradict this idea that a “real life” actually exists?
2./834 Nicholas sent to Voronezh. An evening at the Governor’s. Nicholas and Princess Mary. A letter from Sonya.
Princess Mary is all aglow like a “painted lantern” (841), Nicholas feels a powerful attraction to Princess Mary’s “moral beauty” (843), and instead of a pure, quiet love, Sonya has “a passionate feeling.” Explore these undercurrents.
3./848 Pierre’s treatment as a prisoner. He is questioned by Davout. Shooting of prisoners. Platon Karataev.
Discuss the “system” that Pierre feels is killing him (853) and his response to the dilemma by the end of the chapter.
4./861 Princess Mary goes to the Rostov’s in Yaroslavl. Prince Andrew’s last days and death.
In this chapter Tolstoy explores the state of being half dead at great length, creating constant tension between physical bodies (Andrew’s and Natasha’s), their thoughts, and feelings. What is being expressed and what is being suppressed?

BOOK THIRTEEN
Oct-Nov. 1812: Battle of Tarutine, the French leave Moscow, Battle of Malo-Yaroslavets; Cossacks harry the French at Vyazma
1./873 The cause of historical events. A survey of movements of the Russian army after leaving Moscow. Napoleon’s letter to Kutuzov. The camp at Tarutino. Alexander’s letter to Kutuzov. Ermolov and others absent when wanted. The battle postponed. Kutuzov’s wrath. The action next day. Cossacks surprise Murat’s army and capture prisoners, guns, and booty. Inactivity of the rest of the army.
Tolstoy maintains what appear to be two important yet contradictory claims: that it is “the essential attitude of the masses”(877) that determines the course of war, and that “a countless number of free forces (for nowhere is man freer than during a battle, where it is a questions of life and death) influence the course taken by the fight” (885). Discuss.
2./885 Napoleon’s measures. Proclamation in Moscow. Effects of pillage on French discipline.
Tolstoy keeps repeating Napoleon’s love for the phrase “Maison de ma Mère” (776, 889). Discuss this phrase and comment on it from a metaliterary point of view (as a phrase).
3./892 Pierre: four weeks in captivity. Karataev and a French soldier. The French leave Moscow. The drum. Pierre’s mental change; he recovers his grip on life. Exit of troops and prisoners. The road blocked. Pierre’s reflections.
What are important features of Pierre’s newfound peace of mind?
4./902 The Russian army. Dokhturov. News of the French having left Moscow reaches Kutuzov at night. His emotion. Cossacks nearly capture Napoleon at Mal-Yarolslavets. He retreats by Smolensk road. A third of his army melts away before reaching Vyazma.
Discuss the men who are like “unnoticed cogwheels” (905).

BOOK FOURTEEN
Nov. 9-14, 1812
1./911 National character of the war. The duelist who drops his rapier and seizes a cudgel. Guerrilla warfare. The spirit of the army.
Tolstoy’s arguments about guerrilla war resonate with the situation we find ourselves in in Iraq today. To what purpose is Tolstoy making his arguments?
2./915 The partisans or guerrillas. Denisov, Dolokhov, Petya Rostov, and Tikhon. A French drummer boy. A visit to the enemy’s camp. Attack on a French convoy. The death of Petya.
Discuss Petya’s death and your response to it.
3./935 Pierre’s journey among the prisoners. Karataev. His story of the merchant. His death. Pierre rescued.
Discuss Karataev’s story, which seems to make no sense. Tolstoy seems to create a parallel between Karataev’s death and Petya’s, with that of the merchant’s. Perhaps you want to apply some of your newfound theoretical approaches.
4./943 The French retreat. Berthier’s report to Napoleon. Their flight beyond Smolensk.
Discuss Tolstoy’s theoretical disagreement with the historians over the meaning of greatness. Again, consider you newfound theoretical approaches.
5./946 Why the French were not cut off by the Russians.
How might you reframe Tolstoy’s debate with historians over “beautiful words” versus “the history of events” from current theoretical perspectives?

BOOK FIFTEEN
Nov.16-Dec. 18, 1812-13
1./951 The Rostovs. Natasha’s grief. The news of Petya’s death. Natasha leaves with Princess Mary for Moscow.
Discuss the function of love in this chapter using your sophisticated theoretical eye.
2./957 Analysis of Kutuzov’s movements.
Discuss the “false mold of a European hero” (962) in a sophisticated theoretical way (if you are interested in thinking in this way).
3./962 Kutuzov at Krasnoe; his speech to the army. Encampment for the night: solider scenes. Ramballe’s appearance with his orderly. The song of Henri Quatre.
Discuss the singing of the song in the context of this chapter and other songs in the novel.
4./970 The crossing of the Berëzina. Vilna. The Emperor Alexander. Kutuzov; his failing health.
The death of Kutuzov is amazingly unspectacular. Why?
5./975 Pierre. Illness and recovery at Orël. His new attitude to life and his fellow men. His affairs. He goes to Moscow; the town’s animation and rapid recovery. Pierre meets Natasha at Princess Mary’s. Love.
This is a bittersweet happy ending. What has changed since the last time Pierre fell in love with Natasha?

FIRST EPILOGUE
1813-20
1./997 Discussion of forces operating in history. Chance and genius. The ideals of glory and grandeur. Alexander’s renunciation of power. The purpose of a bee.
2./1006 Death of old Count Rostov. Nicholas in retirement. His mother. His meeting with Princess Mary. Their wedding; estate management in the country; their family life. Sonya a sterile flower. Denisov. Nicholas’ name day.
3./1020 Natasha’s and Pierre’s family life. His return after a visit to Petersburg. The old countess in decay. Conversation about social tendencies, and indignation at reactionary trend of the government. Views of Pierre and Nicholas.
4./1035 The two married couples and the mutual relations. Natasha’s jealousy. Young Nicholas Bolkonski’s aspirations.

SECOND EPILOGUE

/1043-74
A general discussion on the historians’ study of human life, and on the difficulty of defining the forces that move nations. The problem of free will and necessity.

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Last updated 9/10, 2006