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Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Five (Vol. II, Parts III-IV) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-09 19:09:39
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

'You know the soul is immortal... Well, if I'm going to live for ever, that means I've lived before. I've been living all through eternity.'

Today, as we continue to cycle through the seasons in Tolstoy's masterpiece, we are discussing modernism, defamiliarisation, depression, archetypes, symbolism, nature, eternity, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 expressing love for Tolstoy
  • 2:00 echoes & foreshadowing
  • 4:00 centre of the Modernist web
  • 5:30 on defamiliarisation
  • 7:00 Tolstoy and Modernism
  • 8:42 differing scales & allusions
  • 11:00 how Tolstoy depicts change
  • 13:00 the cycle of the seasons
  • 13:53 stream of consciousness
  • 17:00 introspection, memory, insight
  • 19:00 symbol, nature & meaning
  • 23:30 how to understand symbolism
  • 25:00 Andrei and Natasha
  • 27:29 contemplating the oak tree
  • 30:00 sympathy with nature
  • 33:00 Tolstoy & the natural world
  • 38:00 Pierre’s state of despair
  • 41:50 Tolstoy’s depiction of women
  • 47:00 female archetypes & male eyes
  • 48:55 Natasha’s character development
  • 51:00 on peaks of happiness
  • 53:00 Natasha & the soul of Russia
  • 56:52 Andrei & Natasha’s engagement
  • 1:00:00 hunting and dancing
  • 1:07:20 eternity & the immortal soul
  • 1:11:20 reading assignment

Our Tolstoic Journey:

Film & Music Appreciation:

  • Film Appreciation: You may find it rewarding to continue viewing our recommended film adaptation for War and Peace, paying particular attention to how beautifully they have depicted Natasha's dance around the fifty-minute mark.
  • Music Appreciation: If you fancy expanding your musical appreciation, you might enjoy listening to Natasha's favourite opera: Les deux journées by Luigi Cherubini.
  • Recommended Reading: If you find symbolism, dream interpretation, psychology, and man's relation to the natural world to be of interest, I highly recommend exploring the writings of Carl Jung. Man and His Symbols is a great place to start.

Reading Assignment:

You are making incredible strides through Tolstoy's masterpiece. The next discussion will focus on part five of volume two, and the first part of volume three. This takes us up to page 755 in the Briggs.

Questions to Consider:

1) What do you make of Tolstoy’s representation of men and women?

2) Has a symbol ever taken on new meaning for you?

3) Can you see Tolstoy’s influence on other writers?

And please do share with us your impressions and favourite passages from these parts of War and Peace.

Happy reading, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Tolstoy's War & Peace - Lecture Five (Vol. II, Parts III-IV)

0:00 expressing love for Tolstoy 2:00 echoes & foreshadowing 4:00 centre of the Modernist web 5:30 on defamiliarisation 7:00 Tolstoy and Modernism 8:42 differing scales & allusions 11:00 how Tolstoy depicts change 13:00 the cycle of the seasons 13:53 stream of consciousness 17:00 introspection, memory, insight 19:00 symbol, nature & meaning 23:30 how to understand symbolism 25:00 Andrei and Natasha 27:29 contemplating the oak tree 30:00 sympathy with nature 33:00 Tolstoy & the natural world 38:00 Pierre’s state of despair 41:50 Tolstoy’s depiction of women 47:00 female archetypes & male eyes 48:55 Natasha’s character development 51:00 on peaks of happiness 53:00 Natasha & the soul of Russia 56:52 Andrei & Natasha’s engagement 1:00:00 hunting and dancing 1:07:20 eternity & the immortal soul 1:11:20 reading assignment

Comments

Joelle A Godfrey

I can't relate to people are who say they can't get into the characters. I find myself aggravated, frustrated and worried about some the things they get involved in. Natasha and Pierre. The entire Rostov family. Infuriated at the amorality of Anatole and Helene. This would be a great soap opera. I find myself yelling at the book, only to remember that none of this is real. Tolstoy is a master at pulling the reader in and dragging them under the waterline of the story. %) I'm not sure whether I prefer the Ballroom or the Battleground yet. I think the next section will help me make up my mind. Thanks for your lectures and the book recommendations - they add more context and significantly improve the experience.

Christina Bennett

Reading of a creature being chased after by hounds, horses and people was haunting rather than exciting. The stringing up of the live wolf for viewing and touching was cruel and made me queasy. This description is quite unsettling to me and I have thought of it often: “. . .they laid the old wolf, alive, on a horse that shied and snorted in alarm, and, accompanied by the hounds yelping at her, took her to the place where they were all to meet…. and everyone came to look at the wolf, who with her broad-browed head hanging down and the bitten stick between her jaws, gazed with great glassy eyes at the crowd of dogs and men surrounding her. When they touched her, she jerked her bound legs and looked wildly yet simply at them all.” This took me right back to the eyes of Princess Lisa when she was in labor. I half expected Tolstoy to repeat part of the quote, “I have done no one any harm: why must I suffer like this? Help me!” Tolstoy takes us from the hunt with its hypermasculinity and cold cruelty to an incredible description of the gathering at Uncle’s – the incredible food, drink, Uncle playing his guitar and Natasha dancing – which was bold, rich, and life affirming. I fell so far into those words of Uncle’s gathering that I could not believe the party was only over a few pages. I am absolutely loving this book. Benjamin, I also absolutely love your lectures and how you are taking our reading experience beyond the book and into history, culture, psychology, spirituality, and so on. I am so inspired by this journey I am on in HLBC! Thank you!