Nikolai Rostov

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Nikolai Rostov" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
Find sources: "Nikolai Rostov" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2019)

|

(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Fictional character

Nikolai Rostov

War and Peace character
Created by| Leo Tolstoy
Portrayed by| Jeremy Brett
Oleg Tabakov
Sylvester Morand
Jack Lowden
In-universe information
Full name| Nikolai Ilyich Rostov
Gender| Male
Title| Count
Occupation| Soldier; quits the army and becomes a farmer.
Family| Ilya Rostov (father)
Natalia Rostova (mother)
Vera Rostova,
Natasha Rostova (sisters)
Petya Rostov (brother)
Sonya Rostova (cousin)
Spouse| Maria Bolkonskaya
Children| Andrei, Mitya, and Natalia
Nationality| Russian

Count Nikolai Ilyich Rostov (Russian: Николай Ильич Ростов) is a character in Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace.

Count Nikolai is the brother of Vera Rostova, Natasha Rostova and Petya Rostov. At the start of the novel, Nikolai is aged 20 and a university student. He gives up his studies in a zealous desire to serve his country as a Hussar in the fight against Napoleon's French invading forces.[1] He dreams of manly success and glory in battle, although these dreams are somewhat undermined after he falls and is injured in the Battle of Schöngrabern. Nikolai is initially easily influenced and acts out of emotional responses; unlike his childhood friend, the social climber Boris Drubetskoy, who writer Dimitri Pisarev regarded "as the complete antithesis".[2]

He refuses to use his family's contacts to improve his rank in the army, and comes under the influence of the libertine Dolokhov, losing large amounts of money to him at cards. Nikolai promises to marry his cousin Sonya but on his first leave home he pays no attention to her, and regularly goes to visit a courtesan. When Nikolai's friend Dolokhov proposes to Sonya and is rejected, Nikolai is easily led to financial ruin and social humiliation by Dolokhov, who manipulates him into again losing 43,000 Rubles at cards. Later, Sonya releases Nikolai from his promise to marry her. The book ends with his successful marriage to Maria Bolkonskaya and the couple's close friendship with Natasha and Pierre Bezukhov. Also, Nikolai's mother and Sonya live with him and his family at Bald Hills.

## See also

[edit]

* List of characters in War and Peace

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tolstoy, Leo (1869). War and Peace. Part I Chapter 8.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. ^ A. V. Knowles, Leo Tolstoy: The Critical Heritage (Routledge, 1997), 114.

3.| ((SHOWTIME™)) (April-May, 2024) A "Gentleman In Moscow" Series Episodes

## External links

[edit]

* "Nikolai Rostov (Character) from War and Peace (1956)," The Internet Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (1869)

Fictional characters|

* Pierre Bezukhov
* Andrei Bolkonsky
* Natasha Rostova
* Marya Bolkonskaya
* Nikolai Rostov
* Hélène Kuragina
* Sonya
* Anatole Kuragin
* Petya Rostov
* All characters

Historical characters|

* Napoleon
* Mikhail Kutuzov
* Barclay de Tolly
* Pyotr Bagration
* Fyodor Rostopchin
* Alexander I of Russia
* Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov

Events|

* Napoleonic Wars
* Battle of Schöngrabern
* Battle of Austerlitz
* Treaties of Tilsit
* French invasion of Russia
* Battle of Borodino
* Fire of Moscow
* Battle of Krasnoi
* Great Comet of 1811

Film|

* War and Peace (1915)
* War and Peace (1956)
* War and Peace (1966–67 series)

TV|

* War and Peace (1972 series)
* War and Peace (2007 miniseries)
* War & Peace (2016 series)

Other adaptations|

* War and Peace (1942 opera)
* Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2012 musical)

Related|

* War and Peace (1980 board game)
* War and Peace: 1796–1815 (2002 video game)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template