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Count Rostov
Countess Rostov, wife of Count Rostov and mother of Vera, Nikolai, Natasha, and Petya, is painfully aware of her family’s tenuous financial and social situation and has a sharp eye for her children’s best interests, especially when it comes to potential spouses. For example, she interferes in Natasha’s courtships and quashes Nikolai’s hopes of marrying his poor cousin Sonya, knowing advantageous marriages are her children’s best hope in life. She is, however, particularly indulgent of Natasha’s outspoken, impulsive teen behavior. She is emotional and sometimes falls ill under stress. When Petya gets killed in the War of 1812, she is maddened by grief and prematurely ages.
Countess Rostov Quotes in War and Peace
The War and Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Countess Rostov or refer to Countess Rostov. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Volume 4, Part 4: Chapters 1–3
Quotes
The wound in the mother’s soul could not heal. Petya’s death tore away half of her life. A month after the news of Petya’s death, which had found her a fresh and cheerful fifty-year-old woman, she came out of her room an old woman— half-dead and taking no part in life. But the same wound that half killed the countess, this new wound called Natasha to life. […]
[A] wound in the soul, like a physical wound, can be healed only by the force of life pushing up from inside. This was the way Natasha’s wound healed. She thought her life was over. But suddenly her love for her mother showed her that the essence of life— love— was still alive in her. Love awoke, and life awoke.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Countess Rostov Quotes in War and Peace
The War and Peace quotes below are all either spoken by Countess Rostov or refer to Countess Rostov. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Volume 4, Part 4: Chapters 1–3
Quotes
The wound in the mother’s soul could not heal. Petya’s death tore away half of her life. A month after the news of Petya’s death, which had found her a fresh and cheerful fifty-year-old woman, she came out of her room an old woman— half-dead and taking no part in life. But the same wound that half killed the countess, this new wound called Natasha to life. […]
[A] wound in the soul, like a physical wound, can be healed only by the force of life pushing up from inside. This was the way Natasha’s wound healed. She thought her life was over. But suddenly her love for her mother showed her that the essence of life— love— was still alive in her. Love awoke, and life awoke.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
