Julie Karagin Drubetskoy Character Analysis in War and Peace

Julie Karagin is a wealthy young woman of Moscow. Young Nikolai Rostov flirts with her, provoking Sonya’s jealousy. Julie is friends with Princess Marya Bolkonsky and often exchanges letters with her. As Julie grows older and inherits wealth, however, she becomes more preoccupied with men and soirées, and it also becomes clear that her friendship with Marya isn’t genuine. She ends up marrying Boris Drubetskoy, who shares her obsession with social status.

Julie Karagin Drubetskoy Character Timeline in War and Peace

The timeline below shows where the character Julie Karagin Drubetskoy appears in War and Peace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

When Nikolai flirts with the guest Julie Karagin, Sonya storms out of the room, and Nikolai hurries after her. Countess Rostov says... (full context)

...Later, at the dinner table, Nikolai defends the war with awkward warmth, earning praise from Julie Karagin (which makes Sonya blush). Natasha, dared by her little brother Petya, speaks out of... (full context)

...her that the Countess would never consent to the marriage and that Nikolai will marry Julie instead. Natasha comforts and reassures her friend, and they run back to the drawing room... (full context)

Happiness and the Meaning of Life Theme Icon

...and also gives her a letter “from Héloïse,” which is what he calls her friend Julie Karagin. As always, Princess Marya is too nervous to grasp the geometry lesson and gives... (full context)

European Culture vs. The Russian Soul Theme Icon

Princess Marya returns to her bedroom and opens the letter from Julie Karagin, her closest childhood friend. Julie opens the letter with warm, heaping praise for Marya,... (full context)

Marya returns to the letter. Julie writes that in Moscow, people talk of nothing but war; her own brothers have enlisted.... (full context)

Marya replies at once. She assures Julie that she doesn’t disapprove of Julie’s feelings for Nikolai Rostov; it’s only that, never having... (full context)

...Marya about his engagement. After he goes abroad, she writes a letter to her friend Julie Karagin, who’s currently mourning the death of her brother in Turkey. (She’d always dreamed that... (full context)

...hope is for Nikolai to marry a rich bride. She decides this bride should be Julie Karagin, who’s now a wealthy heiress because of her brother’s death. (full context)

...or friends. Even Mlle Bourienne has become disagreeable to her, and despite their long correspondence, Julie Karagin seems a stranger to her. (Julie is now a wealthy, eligible woman who spends... (full context)

...the express goal of marrying a rich wife, and he’s torn between pursuing her or Julie Karagin. Marya doesn’t really care about that, but she longs to confide her unhappiness in... (full context)

...to find one in Petersburg, and now he struggles to choose between Princess Marya and Julie Karagin. Feeling rebuffed by Marya, he focuses his attentions on Julie who, at 27, is... (full context)

Anna Mikhailovna attends the Karagins’ parties and gathers information about Julie’s properties, which she passes to Boris. Every day, Boris tells himself he’ll propose to Julie,... (full context)

At the Karagins’, Boris starts arguing with Julie about women’s inconstancy, but seeing her irritation, he rapidly shifts to declaring his love for... (full context)

...knowing Natasha is engaged to one of Russia’s most eligible men. Natasha spots Boris and Julie in their own box, evidently talking about her, with Anna Mikhailovna sitting radiantly behind them,... (full context)

Julie Karagin, now Princess Drubetskoy, has resumed writing to Princess Marya—patriotic letters in Russian, as she... (full context)

In Julie Drubetskoy’s circles, people have taken to speaking Russian only; if someone utters French by mistake,... (full context)

...for Petya, who’s joined the Cossacks but is soon to be transferred to Pierre’s regiment. Julie teases Pierre about Natasha, calling him her “knight,” and Pierre gets annoyed. Julie changes the... (full context)