Count Rostóv plans a large banquet to honor Bagratión. Nicholas lives the life of a young gentleman. Hélène and Dólokhov are rumored to be lovers.
Count Rostóv plans a large banquet to honor Bagratión. Nicholas lives the life of a young gentleman. Hélène and Dólokhov are rumored to be lovers.
Book 4, Chapter 2
Count Rostóv plans a large banquet to honor Bagratión. Nicholas lives the life of a young gentleman. Hélène and Dólokhov are rumored to be lovers.
Summary:
Still in Moscow on leave, Nicholas gains prominence in fashionable circles. His father goes yet deeper into debt to make this lifestyle possible for his son. Nicholas and Sónya are drifting apart. The elder Count is very busy arranging a large, lavish honorary dinner for Prince Bagratión at the English Club, which will also be quite costly to the father. He is spending borrowed money to do this. It seems the elder Rostóv will spare no expense on Bagratión’s fete. As usual, the old Count lives far beyond his means to make a good impression in society. The city is concentrating on Bagratión because the news of the Russian defeat at the battle of Austerlitz was so very hard to accept. To compensate, everyone preferred to act as if Bagratión had been the victorious hero of the day. The old Count plans to invite Pierre and Hélène to the dinner, but learns that Pierre’s new wife Hélène is rumored to be having an affair with Dólokhov. Also, Andrew is presumed dead, he not having been found after Austerlitz.
quote from the chapter:
But after a while, just as a jury comes out of its room, the bigwigs who guided the club’s opinion reappeared, and everybody began speaking clearly and definitely. Reasons were found for the incredible, unheard-of, and impossible event of a Russian defeat, everything became clear, and in all corners of Moscow the same things began to be said. These reasons were the treachery of the Austrians, a defective commissariat, the treachery of the Pole Przebyszéwski and of the Frenchman Langeron, Kutúzov’s incapacity, and (it was whispered) the youth and inexperience of the sovereign, who had trusted worthless and insignificant people. But the army, the Russian army, everyone declared, was extraordinary and had achieved miracles of valor. The soldiers, officers, and generals were heroes. But the hero of heroes was Prince Bagratión, distinguished by his Schön Grabern affair and by the retreat from Austerlitz, where he alone had withdrawn his column unbroken and had all day beaten back an enemy force twice as numerous as his own.
Click here to read full text of this chapter.
Please help improve this shared document by posting your suggested corrections, clarifications, and changes below. Thank you!