War and Peace Volume 2, Part 5, Chapter 9 Summary

  • Natasha is way out of it and we get the opera from her perspective. It’s a very strange description – just a literal explanation of what each person on stage is doing, without any emotional or plot context. Clearly she’s not really thinking about the performance and is instead having a bizarre out-of-body experience.
  • Suddenly Natasha notices Helene looking at someone and then sees a really handsome man strolling down the aisle. It’s Helene’s brother Anatole.
  • Like Zoolander, he is ridiculously good-looking and knows it. He walks up to his sister, checks out Natasha, then goes to hang out with Dolokhov.
  • Natasha enjoys being checked out by this guy, and she sees that he and Dolokhov are clearly talking about her. 
  • Next thing we know, Helene is asking Count Rostov to send Natasha over for the third act of the opera – which he does.