Chapter 118
When Old Promises Collide with New Ambitions
Natásha was sixteen and it was the year 1809, the very year to which she had counted on her fingers with Borís after they had kissed four years ago. Since then she had not seen him. Before Sónya and her mother, if Borís happened to be mentioned, she spoke quite freely of that episode as of some childish, long-forgotten matter that was not worth mentioning. But in the secret depths of her soul the question whether her engagement to Borís was a jest or an important, binding promise tormented her. Since Borís left Moscow in 1805 to join the army…
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Now let's explore the literary elements.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"But in the secret depths of her soul the question whether her engagement to Borís was a jest or an important, binding promise tormented her."
Context: Natásha's private doubt about the childhood kiss
Public dismissal hides a promise she still cannot classify.
In Today's Words:
Natásha jokes about Borís before Sónya and her mother, yet secretly asks whether their childhood engagement was jest or binding promise. We often perform indifference while an old tie keeps pulling in private. Notice what you still need named before a visitor from the past returns.
"Nowadays old friends are not remembered,"
Context: Whenever Borís is mentioned in the family
Hurt pride speaks as worldly cynicism about forgotten loyalty.
In Today's Words:
The countess says old friends are not remembered whenever Borís's name comes up, masking years of absence with a bitter proverb about forgotten loyalty. Families protect pride by pretending they never expected more than silence. Ask whether the proverb is wisdom or wound before you repeat it at dinner.
"But he went with the firm intention of letting her and her parents feel that the childish relations between himself and Natásha could not be binding either on her or on him."
Context: Borís driving to the Rostóvs after their Petersburg arrival
He plans a clean exit and walks into renewed entanglement.
In Today's Words:
Borís arrives intending to show Natásha and her parents that childhood ties bind neither of them anymore after four years apart. Clear resolutions often collapse when the person has changed more than the script allowed on the drive over. Write your exit line before emotion rewrites the whole meeting.
"He left off visiting Hélène and received reproachful notes from her every day, and yet he continued to spend whole days with the Rostóvs."
Context: Closing summary of Borís's drift
Avoidance of one talk costs him the patronage he courted.
In Today's Words:
Tolstoy says Borís stopped visiting Hélène, read her reproachful notes daily, and still spent whole days at the Rostóvs without clarifying his intent to anyone. Drift taxes every account you meant to keep open while you avoid one talk. Count what you are losing before the notes pile up.
Thematic Threads
Childhood Promise
In This Chapter
Natásha mocks the old engagement in public while it torments her privately
Development
Borís's return forces the joke to meet adult stakes
In Your Life:
You might dismiss an old bond as silly until the person reappears with power to hurt or hope.
Performance vs. Purpose
In This Chapter
Borís displays gloves, spurs, and salon gossip while failing his stated errand
Development
Petersburg polish masks paralysis about Natásha and Hélène
In Your Life:
You might look composed in a room while avoiding the one sentence that would end the confusion.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
This is not a test. Five prompts guide you through the chapter, from how it opens to how it closes, so you notice context and rhythm rather than facts to memorize. Sit with each question in your own words. When you see "One way to read it," treat it as a starting point, not the only answer.
- 1
What does Natásha say about Borís in public versus what she feels privately?
analysis • surfaceOne way to read it
She calls the engagement childish before others while secretly asking whether it was jest or binding promise.
- 2
Why is Borís astonished when Natásha enters the drawing room?
analysis • mediumOne way to read it
He remembered a laughing child in a short dress and met a handsome young woman whose gaze unsettled him.
- 3
When have you kept visiting or texting while avoiding a defining conversation?
application • mediumOne way to read it
Name what you planned to say and what you did instead. Andrew maps Borís's daily Rostóv visits.
- 4
What does Natásha notice about how Borís sits and speaks?
application • deepOne way to read it
His uniform, gloves, tie, and salon name-dropping show practiced Petersburg performance aimed above the Rostóvs.
- 5
What price does Borís pay by the chapter's end?
reflection • deepOne way to read it
He alienates Hélène, risks his career match, and still has not released or claimed Natásha.
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Own Strategic Drift
Think of an area in your life where you have a clear goal or plan, but you keep making small compromises that pull you off course. Draw a simple timeline showing where you started, where you wanted to go, and where these daily choices are actually taking you. What's the emotional pull that keeps you drifting?
Consider:
- •What are you telling yourself about these small compromises versus what they're actually costing you?
- •What would happen if you set a firm decision deadline like 'I'll choose by Friday'?
- •Who or what benefits from keeping you in this state of indecision?
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you got caught between what you knew you should do and what felt good in the moment. How did that tension resolve, and what did you learn about your own decision-making patterns?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 119: Mother-Daughter Midnight Confessions
Boris's daily visits to the Rostovs keep complicating the plans he thought he had under control. Meanwhile, unspoken truths accumulate in every room, and the next chapter brings a midnight conversation that mother and daughter can no longer avoid.
