Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Order to Adventure. Adventure to Order.


Up until Book Five, Tolstoy had presented the Rostov and Bolkonski as in direct contrast with each other. In his distinction between the two, he seemed to bringing up the ever debated question of Romantic versus Classical. I recognize that these exact terms are not used in Tolstoy's discourse; however, I do still think that the ideas are present in Tolstoy's writing. The Rostov's are seen as the ultimate Romantic family: loving, artistic (singing and dancing in their household), individualist (Nicholas' reverence of the Tsar). The Bolkonski family, in contrast, is known for their high standards of education, mathematic reasoning, and efficiency based routine. As I was reading Book Five, I noticed that the distinction between the two families was no longer so stark. The old prince leaves his routine life to get out in the world and serve as a recruiting officer. He also, for the first time in the novel, shows emotion with the possible death of Andrew and the actual death of Lise. Prince Andrew also has a shift away from strict Classical thinking when realizes his love for his newborn son. In the Rostov family, Tolstoy also presents some shifts away from their Romantic nature. The language he uses to describe Nicholas on page 345, when Nicholas rejoins his regiment, is very similar to some of the old prince's traits. Nicholas describes that in the regiment "all was clear and simple" (345)  and that "everything was definite." Just as the old prince clings to regularity and predictability, Nicholas is also beginning to seem emotionally drawn to order and defined. As the book continues, will these families continue to stray from their Romantic and Classical characteristics? If so, will Tolstoy portray these changes in behavior as positive and productive or as detrimental to the individual and their family?

4 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I would classify the other side of the debate as classical. I would argue that Tolstoy is trying to show the war between Enlightenment thinking and the Romanticism era. It's clear that the old count strongly believes in the ways of the Enlightenment, especially with his disgust with Marya's religion. Further, it would be more socially relevant for Tolstoy to address the Enlightenment and Romanticism. The Enlightenment had ended recently, and War and Peace was published toward the middle-end of the age of Romanticism. It's clear that the Rostov family follows what 19th century Russians would have understood to be the ideal, romanticized family. The Bolkonski's are moving toward the more romantic way of life as the children of their enlightenment era father become old enough to dictate their own ways of life. As the old count and his children grow older, his influence decreases, just as was happening with the deaths of those who had lived and thought in the Enlightenment era, as thoughts were moving toward the romanticism of the next generation.

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  2. Really good observation! I agree with this observation of book 5, but I think in book 6 Andrew begins acting much more like his old father. He is very calculating and focuses a lot on logic. However, Andrew also seems quite taken by Natasha, and love can cause people to do crazy things. I believe that Andrew will become more and more of a romanticist throughout the rest of the novel especially if Andrew becomes involved with the wild and unpredictable Natasha. However, this may just be my hope for him :)

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  3. I think that the two families will remain stuck in their old ways. In the case of the parents, I don't think there's much hope of change. They've grown up and had years to think through their ideologies. However, the children of those families (Andrew, Marya, Nicholas, and Natasha) will probably change to some extent. They're young, and just beginning to see the world and learn how to handle it. If none of the characters changed, it would be a very boring book.

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  4. I definitely agree with Lizzie that it will be very interesting to see how Prince Andrew and Natasha's romance influences each of their characteristics. It will also be interesting to see how their families react and change, as I'm assuming if Natasha and Prince Andrew marry, then their families will meet and spend some time together. Since we've also read so much more about Pierre recently, I'm wondering how he might be placed in this spectrum of ideologies. To me, he seems so unpredictable and ever changing.

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