Why is Tolstoy so cynical about love?
Love in War and Peace so far has been an enigma- it
is inexplicable, unachievable, or unreciprocated. Is this theme of unrequited
love based on his own disillusionment? Tolstoy married his wife for the same
reasons that Prince Andrew married Lise, and Pierre married Helene- sexual
attraction. Clearly this was never foundation enough for a marriage, and he
reinforces this throughout the novel.
However, admittedly, Tolstoy and his wife were very happy while the
novel was still being written. Why then is the novel riddled with the theme of
love governed by passion that doesn't come to anything? Was it perhaps a
foreshadowing of the future of love for him? Towards the end of his life
Tolstoy and his wife were very unhappy— Perhaps his writing in War and Peace
was an unconscious foreshadowing of this.
All characters seem to be governed by passion and not logic. Pierre and
Helene got married spontaneously, in a daze of passion. Natasha’s love for
Anatole cost her the person whom she was truly in love with- Prince Andrew.
These instances seem to repeatedly reinforce the stereotype of young love and
rushed decisions. Perhaps this is why War and Peace has so often been called a
novel for the young- it encapsulates adolescent passion like no other.
Love is a complicated theme and it has been explored by so many writers in so many different ways. The characters in War and Peace are three dimensional and are therefore so realistic. Love like anything else is affected by multiple things. Yes, we got to see multiple characters in the novel fall in and out of love but they were going through other things at the same time. I think War and Peace can be considered a novel for the young because it doesn't only look at love- that is not necessarily a characteristic only for the youth but Tolstoy also explores familial ties and obligations, social class and even war!
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, love definitely isn't the only theme that the young can relate to. But I do think that the way he portrays youthful passion does have something to do with it as well!
DeleteI don't really think that the force that brought Pierre and Helene and Natasha and Anatole together was love. I think it was mostly external manipulations that were trying to force a kind of love. However, it wasn't the real thing and so the relationships failed. I think that Tolstoy did believe in romantic love and that that's shown in his creation of Natasha/Andrew and Nicholas/Mary and even Count/Countess Rostov. These loves are serious and almost planned. And I think that Natasha/Andrew could be described as passionate, but in a different, better way than Natasha/Anatole.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I was trying to say was that it was "youthful passion", and I do agree with you that what brought them together wasn't love. Tolstoy seems to have captured the spontaneity of youth and the "love" that results from it. Only when they grow more mature does this love become more serious and well established.
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