Princess Marya Nikolaevna Bolkonsky (Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

:Марья Болконская Mar'ia Bolkonskaia) is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...

's novel War and Peace

War and Peace

War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...

.

Princess Maria, the sister of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, is a deeply religious young woman who has resigned herself to an unmarried life, without sensuality, to be with her domineering father, Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky. Princess Maria is a very plain woman, whose ugliness is offset by her beautiful eyes - she is overshadowed by her beautiful French companion, Mademoiselle Bourienne. An attempt to marry her off to the profligate Prince Anatole Kuragin fails.

Princess Maria's father dies during the days leading to the battle of Borodino

Borodino

Borodino is a rural locality in Mozhaysky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located west of Mozhaysk.The village is famous as the location of the Battle of Borodino, which occurred in what is now known as the "Borodino Battlefield" . The State Borodino War and History Museum and Reserve is...

. The peasants on her estate threaten to become violent and Maria is rescued by Nikolai Rostov

Nikolai Rostov

Count Nikolai Ilyitch Rostov is a character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.-Brief background:...

. They fall in love, but several situations keep them apart and eventually they both forgo any hope of marriage. Maria's brother, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, is seriously wounded in battle and chances to fall under the care of Natasha Rostova

Natasha Rostova

Countess Natalya "Natasha" Ilyinichna Rostova is a central fictional character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.-Biography:...

, with whom Princess Maria becomes close friends. Andrey Bolkonsky's death brings Maria and Natasha closer together. Maria marries the impoverished Nikolai Rostov

Nikolai Rostov

Count Nikolai Ilyitch Rostov is a character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace.-Brief background:...

in the autumn of 1814, and eventually the couple have four children. Nikolai Rostov relies on his work and her moral support, not financial, to become a wealthy and content estate owner.

External links

• Princess Maria Bolkonskaya (Character) from Voyna i mir (1967), The Internet Movie Database