The Art of Social Performance — War and Peace

The Rostovs await Marya Dmitrievna, le terrible dragon, while the count entertains men in his smoking room with Turkish pipes. Shinshin needles Lieutenant Berg about making rentes from the state; Berg answers with serene arithmetic about Guards pay, seniority, and sending money to his father, oblivious to irony.

Pierre sits awkwardly in the drawing room, answering in monosyllables until Anna Mikhaylovna is asked to entertain him. Marya Dmitrievna arrives, blesses the name day, scolds the count, calls Natasha a Cossack, then corners Pierre: his father lies dying while he amused himself putting a policeman on a bear; she orders shame and war instead.

At dinner the seating maps power while Berg woos Vera, Boris names guests to Pierre, Natasha watches Boris, Sonya burns with jealousy over Nicholas and Julie, and Pierre eats through every dish and wine without noticing he blocks the room. Shinshin finally tells Berg he will get along foot or horse; the chapter ends on appetite, flirtation, and gossip while war remains something talked about, not yet lived.