War and Peace is sometimes described as a billingsgate man (this is a German term meaning, roughly,
a novel of education) in which the text is concerned with the way(s) in which the main character(s)
gradually, through their experiences, learn to understand and deal with the life experiences which the
narrative assigns them.
Describe the general outline of the development of the character of Pierre Bezukhov in War and Peace
from this point of view, and enlarge upon the particular role played by Andrey Bolkonsky, Joseph
Bazdeev and Platon Karataev in that development. What are the main stages of Pierres education,
and what is its culminating effect?
