War and Peace Lesson Plan

Why do you think there is so much conversation in French between the Russian characters? Why do you think it is not translated in the main body of the text? What impact does this have on you as a reader and how you understand these characters?

French was the language used among members of the Russian aristocracy during this time. Because their education and social conversations took place primarily in French, some aristocrats had limited language skills in Russian. This is referenced several times in Book 1, Part 1 as characters switch out of Russian into French because it is easier for them.

When Tolstoy originally published War and Peace in Russian, there were long...