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A character in War and Peace

Pierre Bezukhov

The illegitimate son of a rich count, educated abroad, who inherits a fortune and spends the book looking for a reason to live.

What they want

He wants to know how to live a good life, and he keeps expecting someone else to tell him.

The book

War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy, 1869

Three young Russians grow up while Napoleon's armies march from Austerlitz to a burning Moscow and back out again.

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Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Pierre is large, short-sighted and awkward, and he says what he thinks at the wrong moment. He comes home from years abroad, inherits his father's title and money, and is married off to Hélène Kuragina almost before he notices.

He tries drink, Freemasonry, charity and a plan to kill Napoleon. What finally steadies him is a few weeks as a prisoner of the French, sharing a hut with a peasant soldier.

How Pierre Bezukhov Is Portrayed

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • First reception in RussiaIn Book I, Chapter II, he arrives at Anna Pavlovna's party straight from his education abroad. He gazes around like a child in a toyshop and keeps drifting towards the cleverest talk.
  • Married by othersIn Book III, Chapter II, Prince Vasili arranges for him to be left alone with Hélène, and Pierre hears himself say Je vous aime because it is what has to be said.
  • The duelIn Book IV, Chapter IV, he challenges Dolokhov, asks how the trigger works because he has never held a pistol, and then wounds him.
  • The cometIn Book VIII, Chapter XXII, driving home at night after comforting Natasha, he looks up at the great comet of 1812 and feels it answers what is happening in his own soul.
  • A white hat at BorodinoIn Book X, Chapters XXXI and XXXII, he walks onto the battlefield in a civilian coat and white hat. On the gun battery of the Raevski redoubt he runs off to help fetch ammunition under fire.
  • PrisonerIn Book XII, Chapters XII and XIII, he shares a hut with Platon Karataev, who talks in proverbs and makes Pierre feel that life still has meaning.

Pierre Bezukhov quotes

Lines spoken by or about Pierre Bezukhov, each verified verbatim against the text and located in the book.

It seemed to Pierre that this comet fully responded to all that was going on in his own tender and uplifted soul now blossoming into a new life.
— Narration · Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace (1869), Book VIII, Chapter XXII, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude
Their ending, and the commentary — spoilers aheadHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Partisans free Pierre from the retreating French column. Hélène dies, and after the war Pierre meets Natasha again and marries her. In the first epilogue they have four children, and Pierre is involved in the secret societies that will lead to the Decembrist revolt.

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