A summary of book eight of War and Peace -Callie

 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 

Book eight

*The following contains spoilers for book eight of War and Peace and minor spoilers for the other books. 

To preface this blog post it is necessary to not only give a summary of this specific section but inform you of the structure of War and Peace as a whole. 

My specific edition of War and Peace is published by Wordsworth Classics and is divided into books that are divided into chapters. Each one of these books is essentially a BIG chapter. I will insert a photo of a page example so you can get a better idea of what I am talking about. For my analysis, I will specifically be talking about book eight because I find it most interesting. I am also going to provide a list of characters and their background so you are not confused. To quote The Great Comet of 1812 “...it’s a complicated Russian novel. Everyone’s got nine different names”. 

Natasha Rostova- 17 years old. She comes from a wealthy family. She is naive and often falls in love quickly. Engaged to Prince Andrew. Staying in Moscow (at Marya’s house) while she is waiting for Prince Andrew to arrive. 

Anatole Kuragin- He is a handsome man who catches the attention of Natasha. 19th century equivalent of a “playa”.

Sonya- A couple of years older than Natasha. Orphaned cousin of Natasha whom the Rostovas have taken in. A fairly uptight, tell-it-as-it-is character but has a love for her cousin. Accompanying Natasha in Moscow. 

Pierre Bezukhov-  Rich, socially awkward man who is always thinking about “SoCiEty”. Very rich though. 

Marya Dmitriyevna Akhrosimova- A family relative of the Rostovas. She lives in Moscow. An Aunt figure to Natasha and Sonya. I would describe her as sassy but classy.

Prince Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky (Prince Andrew)- Engaged with Natasha although currently absent on a trip.

Princess Mary- Sister of Prince Andrew. She is very simple, plain, and emotionally unstable. Minor character. 

Hélène Kuragina- Anatole’s sister. Married to Pierre. Minor character. 

Book eight opens with five chapters just about how much Pierre hates life. He thinks “Moscow society” is stupid and he hates living in his huge house. He also hates his wife who is probably cheating on him. “‘Helene, who has never cared for anything but her own body and is one of the stupidest women in the world’ though Pierre ‘is regarded by people as the acme of intelligence and refinement, and they pay homage to her’”. That sums up most of chapters 1-3. The next 3 chapters are set up for the rest of the book. We learn the Bolkonskys are at their residence in Moscow. We meet Prince Andrew’s father and his sister Princess Mary. Princess Mary is very boring and very emotional, especially about her brother's engagement. She wants her father to like Natasha and she makes a plan to make that happen and tells it to Pierre. Finally, in chapter six the Rostovas arrive in Moscow. They are staying at relative Marya Dmitriyevna’s house who gives Natasha advice on how to talk to Prince Andrew’s family. Although Natasha hopes to please his family and make them like her when she meets them his father and Princess Mary both dislike her. This leaves Natasha extremely upset and makes her miss Andrew even more.

From chapters eight on is what my critical analysis will be on. Natasha and her family go to the opera, although Natasha did not want to go due to her bad mood. In order to be kind to Marya, she goes anyway. Once there Natasha, who hasn’t been seen in Moscow in a long time, is the center of attention since her engagement is well known. As she walked to her family's box, whispers surrounded her.  As soon as the opera starts Natasha is very intrigued, calling it “grotesque and amazing”. As Natasha is overwhelmed by the production on stage Anatole Kuragin walks down the center aisle to his box. She notices him, as does everyone else, but after sitting down, he begins to stare at Natasha. Later at the opera, Helene introduces Natasha to Anatole. They talk of “most ordinary things'' but Natasha is taken by him. Natasha has also caught his attention and he is smiling at her. He invites her to a party he is hosting and basically flirts with her. This interaction leaves her miserable and she feels terrible about it, calling herself “spoiled for Andrew’s love”. Anatole, talking to his friend, speaks of how attracted he is to and he says some pretty misogynistic things about her. He intends to pursue Natasha despite her engagement. Natasha spends a whole day worrying and thinking about him. 

The next day she goes to the party at Anatole's house and she sees him there. As she is dancing with him he confesses that he loves her. She is overwhelmed yet happy, and tells him she is betrothed and runs away. The evening goes on until Anatole kisses her and asks her if she loves him. She still doesn’t respond and runs away yet again. Natasha is extremely stressed that night and the day she contemplates if she loves Anatole or Andrew. Natasha later that night receives a letter from Anatole talking about his love for her. Natasha then writes a letter to Princess Mary telling her she can no longer wed Andrew. Natasha mistakenly falls asleep, leaving the letter next to her. When Sonya comes home she finds the letter and wakes Natasha up. Natasha assures her this is the right decision but Sonya is very upset over it. Sonya tries to convince Natasha that Anatole doesn’t actually love her and even tells her she is “going to your ruin”. 

Later that evening Sonya realizes Natasha has a plan to escape and get eloped to Anatole. This plan is foiled when Marya finds Sonya crying and Sonya tells her about everything. Marya SCOLDS Natasha. Natasha is extremely upset and after hearing that Anatole ran away SHE POISONS HERSELF. So now Natasha is ill and Marya calls Pierre to get him to find Anatole. Pierre tells Marya that Anatole IS LITERALLY ALREADY MARRIED. Pierre finds Anatole and tells him to leave Moscow. He leaves for Petersburg. Prince Andrew finally arrives in Moscow to THIS MADNESS. Pierre tells him about everything that has happened. Prince Andrew, heartbroken, decides to leave Natasha alone. Pierre then goes and visits Natasha who is still sick. She complains to him about how her life is over and he, being the philosophical man he is, says this whole spiel about how “if he were not himself but the best man in the world he would ask for her love yada-yada-yada”. I can’t entirely tell if he says this because he likes her or because he is trying to soothe her but I am assuming the latter. As he is leaving he sees a comet that he takes as a symbol of a new beginning.

My thoughts:

This is my personal favorite book of War and Peace for a few reasons. First I like the drama of it. I think that the book can get so boring when all they are talking about is politics and war (which I am aware it is literally about). The depiction of rich Russian society in the 1800s is so interesting. The whole concept of going to the opera or a ball is foreign to me and I find it interesting to read about. I also liked this book because of its standout writing. I feel like out of all the books in War and Peace this one had the best quotes. Tolstoy got really poetic with this one. One thing that is noteworthy about this book is how fast the plot moves. Natasha meets Anatole, talks to him twice, and then is planning to elope. It is RIDICULOUS. Like does she seriously think this guy's in love with her after 5 days?! I get that her whole character is being young and naive but seriously it is not very believable. Despite this I still find this book really entertaining so I give it 5/5 stars