By surrounding herself with those at the top of the social circle, she rises above her actually smart husband in perceived intelligence, which leads me to question these salons. Is Helene's salon successful because "stupidity was just what was needed to run such a salon, or because those who were deceived found pleasure in the deception"? (Tolstoy, 387) I lean towards the side that stupidity was actually needed. What do you think?
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Helene's Salon
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the significance of the Helene's salon. How could a woman like her ever be perceived as clever? However, learning the difference in class the other day between "clever" and "smart" in the Russian language was enlightening. If clever implies manipulative, while smart implies intelligent, then a case could be made for Helene's cleverness. She rises to the top only through manipulating those around her, a very "clever" move. Helene tricks people into thinking she is also intelligent, shown when Tolstoy says, "...she could say the emptiest and stupidest things and yet 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" (Tolstoy, 387). It is very interesting that these supposedly intelligent elite of Russia allow themselves to be tricked like this.
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I agree that Helene is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think that her superficiality is the essential trait to such a successful soirée, as opposed to her stupidity. I think her superficiality and intellectual indifference has a strong allure for Russian aristocrats. Pierre explains that Helene's smile "was the same as for everybody[...]" (p.387) I believe that the aristocrats are in a sense numbed by the superficial atmosphere that Helene creates in her salon. It provides them with an escape from reality. In this environment Helene is able to create the illusion that she is smart. Poor Pierre...
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy is making a comment about the stupidity of the Russian nobility as a whole by writing about them this way. He is clearly portraying them as either foolish, self deceptive, or both. One thing I find interesting is that Helene's French characteristics or tendencies are always emphasized. I was wondering if Helene's deception of Russia's upper class is a parallel to Napoleon's deception of Russia as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy does all this to show how superficial the aristocracy is. They see Helene's pretty face and don't bother to look any further. She gets what she wants and is thought to be clever because she looks good and knows how to use that to her advantage. She knows how to play the social game just like her father. She finds success in these inner circles because she is the epitome of these circles; self centered and superficial.
ReplyDeleteI think both suggestions are probably correct for different people. Stupidity was certainly needed for the guests to buy into her Salon, but I also think people took great pleasure in deception. We see several characters in War and Peace who look the other way when terrible things are happening because they prefer to be superficially happy. Pierre is an example of someone who prefers deception to reality, especially when it comes to Helene, because he would rather not confront the issues of their marriage, similar to how the many characters enjoy the Salon despite its deep flaws.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jordy, that it is fitting for Hélène to have a salon because of her superficiality. Tolstoy makes a point of depicting Hélène as shallow to the reader through out the novel, so the natural occupation for such a superficial woman would be to host a salon- a meeting ground for the superficial and those who love them. Hélène's definitive characteristic to most people is her beauty, and salons perpetuate people's interest in the superficial.
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