Hélène’s social standing rises, but Borís is always nearby.
Summary:
Hélène, as soon as she had settled in Petersburg with her husband, assumed a very prominent place in high society. She was visited by the members of the French embassy and by many belonging to that circle and noted for their intellect and polished manners. Her social reputation as a lovely and clever woman became so firmly established that she could say the emptiest and stupidest things and everybody would go into raptures over every word of hers and look for a profound meaning in it of which she herself had no conception. Pierre was quite indifferent to Hélène’s new social status. He entered his wife’s drawing room as one enters a theater, was acquainted with everybody and equally indifferent to them all. But Borís Drubetskóy, who had already achieved great success in the service, visited frequently, and this began to bother Pierre. It recalled to Pierre Hélène’s former relationship with Dólokhov.
quote from the chapter:
To be received in the Countess Bezúkhova’s salon was regarded as a diploma of intellect. Young men read books before attending Hélène’s evenings, to have something to say in her salon, and secretaries of the embassy, and even ambassadors, confided diplomatic secrets to her, so that in a way Hélène was a power. Pierre, who knew she was very stupid, sometimes attended, with a strange feeling of perplexity and fear, her evenings and dinner parties, where politics, poetry, and philosophy were discussed.
Book 6, Chapter 9
Hélène’s social standing rises, but Borís is always nearby.
Summary:
Hélène, as soon as she had settled in Petersburg with her husband, assumed a very prominent place in high society. She was visited by the members of the French embassy and by many belonging to that circle and noted for their intellect and polished manners. Her social reputation as a lovely and clever woman became so firmly established that she could say the emptiest and stupidest things and everybody would go into raptures over every word of hers and look for a profound meaning in it of which she herself had no conception. Pierre was quite indifferent to Hélène’s new social status. He entered his wife’s drawing room as one enters a theater, was acquainted with everybody and equally indifferent to them all. But Borís Drubetskóy, who had already achieved great success in the service, visited frequently, and this began to bother Pierre. It recalled to Pierre Hélène’s former relationship with Dólokhov.
quote from the chapter:
To be received in the Countess Bezúkhova’s salon was regarded as a diploma of intellect. Young men read books before attending Hélène’s evenings, to have something to say in her salon, and secretaries of the embassy, and even ambassadors, confided diplomatic secrets to her, so that in a way Hélène was a power. Pierre, who knew she was very stupid, sometimes attended, with a strange feeling of perplexity and fear, her evenings and dinner parties, where politics, poetry, and philosophy were discussed.
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