i used to be better

#1: Bolkonskys

Marya Volkonskaya, Tolstoy’s mother and the prototype for Princess Marya in the novel lost her mother at the age of two (if we accept the same for Princess Marya, Prince Andrei would have been around nine years old upon losing his mother)

Princess Marya’s age is stated to be 21 in 1811 in an early draft- later, the events of this draft were moved to 1805- we can safely assume

Prince Andrei was one of the last characters to appear in any form as the novel was being drafted

Mlle Bourienne was based on the real life companion of Marya Volkonskaya, Louise Henissienne

In one draft, Prince Bolkonsky had five illegitimate children by a mistress, all of whom lived in other homes.

If it seemed he couldn’t have gotten much worse to start, Prince Andrei originally began the novel as drastically worse of a husband, abandoning Lise alone in Moscow, pregnant and without resources.

In this draft, she was rescued by Princess Marya

As a result, Andrei was disowned by his father and cut out of existence to the family

(Presumably, Tolstoy decided it would be easier to make him turn out okay if he wasn’t a completely, irredeemably despicable person to start with)

Boris and Andrei were originally one character, named Boris Zubstov, who more closely resembled Andrei in character

Prince Ippolit’s sending of love letters to Lise in an early draft caused outrage, leading to Andrei challenging him to a duel

In one draft, where Marya could not marry Nikolai if Natasha married Andrei according to Orthodox Law, Andrei sacrificed himself in order to see to the happiness of his sister

neutral good: andrei

chaotic good: andre

lawful neutral: andrushka

true neutral: andré

chaotic neutral: andryusha

lawful evil: andrew

neutral evil: andrej

Sources: 1, 2, 3

the song starts with anatole’s narration “waiting at the door/waiting at the door/waiting”, and it’s very clear that this section is in simple meter (i think it’s ¾ but i can’t be sure) but then when we get into natasha’s inner thoughts “i am seized by feelings of vanity and fear” we switch into complex meter, most likely 6/8. it makes sense that natasha’s thoughts here would be in complex meter because No One Else, her big ‘i want’ number, is also in complex meter. so right away we’re set up with the idea that natasha’s meter is complex, and conversely, anatole’s meter is simple meter.

the song continues with natasha’s narration, and in accordance with that, in complex meter, until Anatole’s next big chunk, beginning “gaze in my eyes/i love you”. what’s interesting about this section is that the accompaniment is still in complex meter, as are parts of what anatole is saying, but we also get him doing duplets, or simple meter on top of the complex meter of the accompaniment. these can be heard most clearly at “don’t lower your eyes i love you/i am in love dear/i am in love” but throughout that section. what’s interesting about that is that musically speaking, it reads like anatole trying to overpower her meter with his, and only really succeeding in causing musical confusion.

natasha continues in her own meter “don’t say such things/i am betrothed/i love another” and anatole follows her into complex meter in their next exchange: “don’t speak to me of that/when i tell you that i am madly, madly in love with you?/is it my fault that you’re enchanting?” Having failed to musically overpower natasha, he next tries to speak to her in her own language, as it were. what’s really interesting is that in her next line, “i’m so frightened”, natasha switches into anatole’s meter, doing duplets over the complex metered accompaniment. his musical assault has tripped her up.

the next section, with natasha and anatole interrupting each other, is all in simple meter, giving the sense that musically, natasha has lost her footing and is in anatole’s meter out of confusion more than anything else.

the kiss comes next, leaving natasha in simple meter as she narrates her inner turmoil in the section “burning lips pressed to mine” as she processes what’s happened. it’s important to note that she’s, by her own words, still not on a good footing mentally. she’s in anatole’s meter not of her own volition. when she does recover her footing in the next section, “but i love him” she’s back in triple meter, meaning that whatever she does next, it’s her own choice.

so then when she sings the next line, “i will love you, anatole” in simple meter, anatole’s meter, it means that she’s making the deliberate choice to do so. she’s not acting as a frightened little girl, but making a choice as an adult.

Here are some interesting language things I’ve noticed so far:

1. Some high society characters seem to speak way more French than Russian: Ippolit Kuragin, Julie Karagina, Lise Bolkonskaya. Ippolit’s first appearance involves him telling a story in terrible Russian (I.i.4). I haven’t seen Tolstoy explicitly comment on Lise’s Russian yet, but it’s been mentioned several times already that she usually speaks French.

2. In contrast, Marya Dmitriyevna always speaks Russian (I.i.15). And that makes sense, given her blunt manner and disregard for social niceties. The first time she appeared in the story, I immediately decided that I like her. She does her own thing, doesn’t care about fitting in with society, and society has come to both respect and fear her. It’s interesting that they call her le terrible dragon, instead of the equivalent in Russian.

3. I’ve seen two instances so far where Andrei pointedly shifts into Russian to show his disdain for frivolous people: with Ippolit (I.i.5), and Zherkov (I.ii.3). He seems comfortable with both languages, and often pretty aware of how he switches between them. But Tolstoy describes him unconsciously shifting completely into French when talking military strategy with his father (I.i.23) – I’m guessing this means he’s read more books on the subject in French.

4. Shinshin, Countess Rostova’s eccentric bachelor cousin, is another character who seems very aware of his own code-switching. He’s only made one appearance so far (the Rostovs’ party, I.i.15-16), but he has the most fascinating speech patterns of ANYBODY – shifting freely between Russian folk expressions and very flowery French, often with a wink at his listeners. He’s being clever and entertaining and he knows it. I think he’s basically doing a sort of aristocratic 19th-century Russian equivalent of what TV Tropes calls “Sophisticated As Hell”.

5. The Kuragins apparently speak some English! I’m curious about how/where they would have learned it, and just how much they know. Early chapters show Anatol translating for an Englishman (I.i.6), and Ippolit randomly exclaiming “Capital!” at Anna Pavlovna’s soirée (I.i.4).

6. I was surprised to discover that Pierre and Andrei address each other with different levels of formality. Pierre addresses Andrei as вы (formal “you”), and Andrei addresses Pierre as ты (informal “you”). This is one of those things that just plain don’t translate into modern English. I guess it makes sense: Andrei’s older and a somewhat higher social class. But I was still surprised, and this makes me view their friendship a little differently.

he did not suffer in silence because he thought to make himself some sort of martyr. love was meant to be this gentle, understanding thing but instead it gnawed at him, painful, hollowing him from the inside out. it crowded his tongue every time he spoke, that awful longing rising up and choking him.

now, though, they teeter on a knife’s edge. andrei, flush with the joy of new love, watches pierre flounder, his smile fading into something that pierre fears is understanding. andrei sighs, “oh, dear friend.”

pierre says, “don’t-”

Akhrosimova (if this is updated as a series like I planned I’ll note that) Marya, Ilya; 1775; w&p

Count Bezukhov’s Son Pierre, Andrei; 1800; w&p

Until They Both Fell Asleep Andrei, Princess Marya; 1806; w&p

We Write Letters (co-written with theparadigmshifts) Natasha, Pierre; 1812; great comet + w&p

That Dreadful Last Step Natasha, Pierre; 1813; w&p

Anatole: