Hélène is described as being in her early to mid-twenties and is considered a great beauty. Within Petersburg society, she is considered very cultured and intelligent on account of her social graces, despite actually being quite vapid. Early in the novel, it is rumoured and later implied that Hélène has had an incestuousaffair with her profligate brother, Anatole.
After Pierre Bezukhov is legitimized as the heir to his father's title and fortune, Hélène's father, Prince Vasily Kuragin, arranges for the two of them to be married. Despite finding Pierre odd, Hélène goes through with the marriage for the sake of social and financial advantage. Pierre is at first thrilled to be married to such a beautiful woman, but he quickly sours on the match, especially after Hélène tells him she will never have children with him. Not long after they are married, Hélène has an affair with their houseguest, the crude but fearless soldier Dolokhov, who flaunts the romance. Pierre fights Dolokhov in a duel, and in a stroke of luck wins by wounding him. Pierre sinks into depression, losing all love for his wife. He leaves her and goes to St. Petersburg. Hélène begs him to maintain the marriage, which he does only for appearances, while she continues to engage in sexual affairs, most notably with Boris Drubetskoy. Continuing to pursue her social ambitions, she frequently hosts dinner parties for the elite, and her salon becomes extremely popular. Later, she conspires with Anatole to help him seduce Natasha Rostova, to whom Anatole is powerfully attracted.
Late in the novel, Hélène forsakes the Russian Orthodox Church and adopts Catholicism, believing a large donation to the church will lead the Pope to annul her union with Pierre so she can remarry. Soon afterward, Hélène falls ill due to pregnancy and dies; it is implied that she died from a drug overdose in an attempted abortion.
hélène, kuragina, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, march, 2019, learn, when, remove. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Helene Kuragina news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Princess Yelena Helene Vasilyevna Kuragina Russian Elena Ele n Vasi levna Kura gina is a fictional character in Leo Tolstoy s 1869 novel War and Peace and its various cinematic adaptations She is played by Anita Ekberg in the 1956 film by Amber Gray in Natasha Pierre amp The Great Comet of 1812 and by Tuppence Middleton in the 2016 BBC miniseries Cropped screenshot of Anita Ekberg from the trailer for the film War and Peace Helene KuraginaWar and Peace characterCreated byLeo TolstoyPortrayed byAnita EkbergIrina SkobtsevaFiona GauntTuppence MiddletonAmber GrayViolante PlacidoCarol BezerraHiromu KiriyaIn universe informationFull nameYelena Vasilyevna KuraginaAliasthe Queen of societyNicknameHeleneGenderFemaleTitlePrincess by birth Countess by marriage FamilyVasily Kuragin father Anatole Kuragin brother Hippolyte Kuragin eldest brother SpousePierre BezukhovRelativesCatiche Bezukhova cousin Pierre Bezukhov cousin ReligionRussian Orthodox by birth Roman Catholic by convert NationalityRussianBiography EditHelene is described as being in her early to mid twenties and is considered a great beauty Within Petersburg society she is considered very cultured and intelligent on account of her social graces despite actually being quite vapid Early in the novel it is rumoured and later implied that Helene has had an incestuous affair with her profligate brother Anatole After Pierre Bezukhov is legitimized as the heir to his father s title and fortune Helene s father Prince Vasily Kuragin arranges for the two of them to be married Despite finding Pierre odd Helene goes through with the marriage for the sake of social and financial advantage Pierre is at first thrilled to be married to such a beautiful woman but he quickly sours on the match especially after Helene tells him she will never have children with him Not long after they are married Helene has an affair with their houseguest the crude but fearless soldier Dolokhov who flaunts the romance Pierre fights Dolokhov in a duel and in a stroke of luck wins by wounding him Pierre sinks into depression losing all love for his wife He leaves her and goes to St Petersburg Helene begs him to maintain the marriage which he does only for appearances while she continues to engage in sexual affairs most notably with Boris Drubetskoy Continuing to pursue her social ambitions she frequently hosts dinner parties for the elite and her salon becomes extremely popular Later she conspires with Anatole to help him seduce Natasha Rostova to whom Anatole is powerfully attracted Late in the novel Helene forsakes the Russian Orthodox Church and adopts Catholicism believing a large donation to the church will lead the Pope to annul her union with Pierre so she can remarry Soon afterward Helene falls ill due to pregnancy and dies it is implied that she died from a drug overdose in an attempted abortion See also EditList of characters in War and Peace This article about a fictional character from a novel is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Helene Kuragina amp oldid 1088080318, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
