I wrote an essay about the role of women in the nvoel and how they exuded the suffering tht war camn bring and the irony that they are the ones in the novel powerless to change their situations.
I wrote an essay about the role of women in the nvoel and how they exuded the suffering tht war camn bring and the irony that they are the ones in the novel powerless to change their situations.
Would like to read your essay.
My initial thought of role of women in the novel is:
To get married!!!
I think that the novel lacks a strong woman, but it is not surprising at all considering what Tolstoy thought you should be looking for in a female
I'm not really sure how much stronger the women could be in the novel to be honest, given the context there's no way any of the female characters could have an influence on the military aspects, but in other areas the female characters are quite influential. Anna Mikaylovna, Countess Rostov and Helene are both quite important at times - Anna Mikaylovna during the old Count's death at the start and Helene in the Anatole-Natasha incident amongst others (though Helene is continually referred to as some kind of idiot throughout). I think the women play a fairly strong role in the society aspects of the novel and virtually no role in the military aspects but there's no way they could play a role in that given the period.
what I've noticed about women in war and peace is that their first concern is to marry a rich man , I exclude Princess Maria because she didnt necessarily
want to marry a rich man but she wanted to fall in love and of course get married!
and about their role in the society I dont think it was a big role they just opened their houses for men to let them discuss about the war and politics
and the lady house role is to make sure that everything as it should be
like anna mikaylovna at the begining of the novel .
My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear—a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and thee from my negligence.I would not have thee believe in what I say nor trust in what I do—for my words are naught but thy own thoughts in sound and my deeds thy own hopes in action.
Khalil Gibran
It's not that so many women don't have the power, it's that so may women are unaware of the power that they DO have.
Both, men and women in the story, and in life, do have power. Perhaps even equal power, but in no way the same kind of power.
I have just finished the book and in many ways I loved it but I was at times disappointed with his noticeably condescending attitude towards women. For instance Andrei at first no longer loves his wife then after getting wounded comes home to find her dying while in labor. After she dies he quickly moves on to a teenage girl and never gives his wife a second thought not even on his own deathbed. Her son never mentions or thinks of her again either.
And though Natasha is a sweet girl what is this strange Natashafest going on in the book where the teen mananges to capture the heart and interest of nearly every man there? It was getting a bit weird.
Many times women are mentioned in a disdainful manner in the book especially the Rostov matriarch of the family who was treated by the end of the book like an old cow put out to pasture though it appears she is only in her 50s. There are also many mentions of her being old and wrinkled even when she was clearly still in her 40s .
Pierre's faithfullnes to his second wife was treated as a though he gave in to her demands ... not something he should be doing.
Sonya the Rostov cousin who was at first shown to be a well liked sweet woman who couldnt do enough for her family was in the end treated like someone nobody could love or even like anymore and was avoided.
Many rich woman were pursued by useless fortune hunters who barely even liked them let alone loved them and yet determined to marry they took them anyway. it goes on and on ...
Loved the book but if Mr Tolstoy was still alive I would have a few things to say
Lisa
Last edited by Rosestars; 03-28-2008 at 05:31 PM.
Mr Tolstoy didn't do nothing wrong, that's how things were in those days.(Sonya, Pierre, rich womens)
Maybe problem was in Andrei and not in his wife.
I think it's normal that smart and handsome young girl makes impact on her environment, especially in male population. (Natasha)
At thunder and tempest, At the world's coldheartedness,
During times of heavy loss And when you're sad
The greatest art on earth Is to seem uncomplicatedly gay.
To get things clear, they have to firstly be very unclear. But if you get them too quickly, you probably got them wrong.
If you need me urgent, send me a PM
Originally Posted by Rosestars
Bazarov is right --- that's the way things were at that time --- remember, this is 1812 !!! --- for women.
Women in their 40's were considered old bats, who were no longer attractive to men. As well, Mme. Rostov had given birth to 12 kids, 8 of whom had died : hence her " tired " and " old " look. By the end of the book when she's 50, she loses Petya, her youngest and the baby of the family --- Tolstoy clearly attributes her sudden aging to that tragedy. And in the Epilogue, she had lost her husband as well, so her peevishness and decrepitedness can be attributed to her losses in life.
Extreme youth in a woman --- adolescence --- was considered very sexy and the woman's " prime ". Tolstoy in particular was attracted to the childlike characteristics of the adolescent stage in a woman : many of his heroines attract his heroes due to some childish aspects in their appearance or personalities.
Thus, a wounded Andrey remembers Natasha as a figure from the " world of childhood ". However, he doesn't quickly forget his wife --- she dies in March of 1806, he then goes through a period of regret and deep depression over her, then bounces back in the spring of 1809, then meets and falls in love with Natasha in January of 1810 --- almost 4 years after the death of his wife ! That's a pretty long time !
He doesn't give her a second thought on his deathbed --- probably because he never really loved her : Natasha is the love and joy of his life, ( Tolstoy clearly wants to demonstrate that ), and at the end of his life he is clearly overwhelmed with his feelings for her and the regret that he will not survive to be with his true love.
Nikolushka never mentions her or thinks of her at the end of the book because he never met her --- she died giving birth to him --- and he never had a relationship with her.
The most important thing for a woman of that time ( occupation-wise and status-wise ) was to get married : that's why women were so determined to marry, even men who didn't love them and only wanted their money. That's also why Sonya was treated disrespectfully : she was an old maid, with no status or occupation. Also, she had no dowry, so she was considered as someone with no marriage prospects at all and thus, totally useless.
Natasha was highly attractive to men because she was not only physically attractive, but also had a great love of life --- again, that is a very important trait for Tolstoy ! In particular for Andrey, that would be highly attractive, since he needed to be rejuvenated and brought back to life !
Last edited by olichka; 03-31-2008 at 01:51 PM.
What I notice about women in the novel is that none of them seems to have realistic notions about what to expect from marriage, and all of them end up transformed by the institution in ways they did not anticipate.
My only comment about the women in the novel is I was sad how Sonya ended up. Tolstoy could find no one for this women with no means, though she is described early on in almost as endearing terms as Natasha.
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