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War and Peace Volume 3, Part 1, Chapter 16 Summary

  • Meanwhile, Natasha is so sick that even Countess Rostov comes to Moscow, and they all rent a house to wait for Natasha to get better.
  • There are lots and lots of doctors. Each one prescribes some different medication.
  • Shmoop aside: obviously, this is in the days before medicine became the evidence-based science that it is today. Back then “medicine” could be just about anything – often things we now consider harmful, like opium or cocaine.
  • The doctors seem to have an effect, mostly because Natasha feels taken care of. Since her problem is basically mental, she just needs some time and love to feel better.
  • The family rallies around her and eventually she perks up and stops being so catatonic all the time.