War and Peace Ch. 27: Dinner Table Power

Leo Tolstoy

Dinner Table Power Dynamics

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Summary

At the appointed hour the powdered prince enters the dining room where Lise, Mary, Bourienne, and the architect Michael Ivanovich already wait. The architect is admitted to prove all men are equal, though he still goes into a corner to blow his nose on a checked handkerchief. Footmen stand behind each chair. Andrew looks at a new gilt frame of the Bolkonski genealogical tree opposite a badly painted ancestor in a crown, alleged descendant of Rurik, and laughs at how thoroughly like his father it is. Mary does not understand the joke; everything her father does inspires reverence.

The dinner becomes a duel about Napoleon. The old prince, isolated at Bald Hills yet sharp on European campaigns, dismisses Bonaparte as a lucky upstart and asks where this great commander has shown his skill. Andrew insists he is a great general and will not change. The father jeers, calls Bourienne another admirer, hums off-key, and quits the table while Lise sits frightened and silent through the storm. Andrew, listening, wonders how an old man living alone for so many years can know recent events so minutely.

Afterward Lise tells Mary her father-in-law is clever and therefore terrifying; Mary answers that he is kind. Power used ritual. The people without a script knew it first.

In this chapter:Terms Characters Key Quotes Modern Story

Why This Matters

Reading Performative Equality

Inclusion offered from the top is often a loyalty test, not shared power. The old prince seats Michael Ivanovich to prove equality, then dominates dinner and mocks Andrew for respecting Bonaparte.

When someone invites a junior voice to the table, notice who still chooses the topic and the exit.

This chapter

Inside the Mind: Prince Andrei

He laughs at the gilt genealogical tree opposite a badly painted Rurik, then will not drop the claim that Bonaparte is a great general. The old man seats the architect to prove equality and still chooses the exit. Andrei needs a genius to exist: if Napoleon is only a lucky upstart, then going to war is a whim, not a vocation.

Continue this thoughtAndrei Wants the Wound More Than the Marriage

Coming Up in Chapter 28

Prince Andrew, in a travelling coat without epaulettes, packs with his valet in the rooms assigned to him. After inspecting the carriage and seeing the trunks put in, he orders the horses harnessed. Only a small box, a silver-fitted canteen, two Turkish pistols, and a saber from Ochakov remain in his room.

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Chapter 27

Dinner Table Power Dynamics

At the appointed hour the prince, powdered and shaven, entered the dining room where his daughter-in-law, Princess Mary, and Mademoiselle Bourienne were already awaiting him together with his architect, who by a strange caprice of his employer’s was admitted to table though the position of that insignificant individual was such as could certainly not have caused him to expect that honor. The prince, who generally kept very strictly to social distinctions and rarely admitted even important government officials to his table, had unexpectedly selected Michael Ivánovich (who always went into a corner to blow his nose on his checked handkerchief)…

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Dinner Table Power Dynamics

Summary

Why This Matters