War and Peace: Volume 4, Part 4: Chapters 15–20 Summary & Analysis

Pierre arrives in Moscow at the end of January. The capital is full of life. Everyone is glad to see Pierre, but he is a bit guarded with everyone, reluctant to commit to any definite plans. A few days after his arrival, he goes to visit Princess Marya. The last time he saw Prince Andrei, Andrei was in a bitter mood. Pierre wonders if Andrei died in the same state.

Princess Marya admits Pierre to her room. A lady in a black dress is also there, but Pierre doesn’t pay much attention to her. Princess Marya greets him warmly as they talk of Pierre’s rescue and Andrei’s death. Marya keeps shifting her gaze to her companion, and when Pierre doesn’t acknowledge the other woman, Marya asks, “Don’t you recognize her?” Pierre sees something sweetly familiar in the woman’s expression, but her pale, aged face puzzles him. Marya says, “Natasha,” and, “like a rusty door opening,” the woman smiles. A forgotten happiness envelops Pierre, and he knows that he loves Natasha. His happy blush and stumbling words tell both women how he feels. He feels that his freedom is gone, but he doesn’t mind.

Grateful to hear that Prince Andrei “softened” before he died, Pierre tells Natasha that her reunion with Andrei was a happy thing. She frowns but agrees, and then suddenly pours out all her feelings about the evacuation from Moscow and the weeks in Yaroslavl. Pierre watches her with tear-filled eyes, feeling compassion for her suffering. When she finishes the story and rushes out of the room, Pierre feels bereft. Marya invites him to stay for a late supper and adds, “It’s the first time she’s spoken of him like that.”

When Natasha enters the dining room, she’s calm. After the heartfelt conversation, everyone feels a little awkward, but gradually Pierre begins talking about his return to Moscow. He wryly notes that he’s become an “interesting person” and that others seem to know more about his adventures than he does. He also talks about Hélène’s death and his sorrow about her lonely end, despite the fact that they weren’t “exemplary spouses.” The women coax the story of his captivity out of him, and though he begins speaking in a self-deprecating way, he gradually becomes more earnest. Natasha is riveted by the account, and it seems to Pierre that she understands everything he can’t convey in words.

Pierre continues talking about rescuing the little girl and witnessing the executions; Natasha urges him not to leave any details out. When he describes Karataev, Pierre’s voice trembles. As he tells his story and Natasha listens, sensitively taking in each word and gesture, Pierre feels that the details acquire a new significance. Pierre finishes the story at three o’clock in the morning. He tells Natasha that suffering makes a person think all is lost, but that as long as there’s life, happiness is possible. Natasha starts to cry but smiles as she bids Pierre goodnight.

When Natasha and Princess Marya go to bed, they talk about Pierre. Natasha says it feels good to have talked about everything, and that Pierre seems somehow morally renewed, as if fresh from the bathhouse. A mischievous smile lights her face—one Marya hasn’t seen for a long time. At home, Pierre paces up and down. By morning, he’s convinced that he and Natasha must marry.

Arriving at Princess Marya’s, Pierre feels a momentary doubt about what happened yesterday, but he soon senses Natasha’s presence, like an “instant loss of freedom.” Now, though she’s dressed the same as yesterday, she looks youthful, her eyes bright and her smile mischievous. In the coming days, Pierre visits often, and he finally asks the Princess for help. He knows he’s unworthy of Natasha, but may he hope nevertheless?

Princess Marya thinks for a minute and starts to say that it’s too soon to speak to Natasha of love, but she realizes that’s not true: for the past three days, Natasha has been completely different. She tells Pierre to leave things to her—she knows that Natasha loves him or will love him. Pierre jumps up with excitement and kisses Marya’s hands in gratitude. The next day, before he leaves for Petersburg, Natasha bids him farewell, adding in a whisper, “I’ll be waiting very much for you.”

During his time in Petersburg, Pierre relives his visits with Natasha over and over. He wonders at his joy and occasionally fears it’s all a dream. When other people speak of politics or the war, Pierre feels sorry for them, that for them happiness depends on such things. Pierre holds forever the views he forms during these weeks of “happy insanity,” later believing that during this time he truly understood all that’s worth knowing in the world. His “insanity” consists of the fact that, instead of loving people based on their merits, he loves without reason. In so doing, he discovers the reasons why people are worth loving.

Ever since her reunion with Pierre, something new has awakened in Natasha’s soul. She forgets her grief and no longer dreads the future. At first, the change in Natasha troubles Princess Marya—did Natasha love Andrei so little? But Marya can’t begrudge Natasha’s irrepressible happiness; she knows there is nothing to be done.

When Natasha hears that Pierre has gone to Petersburg, she begins to cry and begs Marya to teach her—she’s so afraid of being “bad.” Marya forgives her immediately. Natasha says they’ll both be so happy someday, when she marries Pierre and Marya marries Nikolai, but Marya doesn’t want to talk about that. Natasha wonders why Pierre went to Petersburg, but she concedes that it had to be so.