After the duel, Anna Pávlovna’s soirées continue as before. Pierre is less favorably looked upon. Hélène and Borís are well regarded.
After the duel, Anna Pávlovna’s soirées continue as before. Pierre is less favorably looked upon. Hélène and Borís are well regarded.
Book 5, Chapter 6
After the duel, Anna Pávlovna’s soirées continue as before. Pierre is less favorably looked upon. Hélène and Borís are well regarded.
Summary:
No one was directly punished for the duel between Pierre and Dólokhov , but the duel along with his separation from his wife really lowered Pierre’s status in polite society. Pierre’s usefulness to a lot of people was over, so they made Pierre an outsider. Russian high society rolled on without him. Anna Pávlovna has another of her soirées. Talk of the war and international politics, and alliances figured largely in the conversation. As usual, Anna continued to invite a few new and interesting persons to each soirée, to make the evening more interesting. One such special guest at one of these soirées was Borís, who was adroitly rising in importance and who as an aid de camp knew a lot about what was happening at the time. Borís lives up to expectations, makes a good impression on everyone, speaking well, and interesting everyone with his conversation. Later, Hélène privately asks Borís to come see her.
quote from the chapter:
The greatest attention of all to Borís’ narrative was shown by Hélène. She asked him several questions about his journey and seemed greatly interested in the state of the Prussian army. As soon as he had finished she turned to him with her usual smile. You absolutely must come and see me, she said in a tone that implied that, for certain considerations he could not know of, this was absolutely necessary.
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