Over more than 1,300 pages, Tolstoy's War and Peace presents characters who disappear as quickly as they appear. But each of them has a particular significance within the broader themes addressed by War and Peace, whether it be love, society, personal identity or truth. Although she ends up disappearing from the story, Liza Bolkonskaya, the wife of Prince Andrei, plays a very important role in many ways: she offers a foil to Pierre's relationship with Hélène, she is the bridge between the rural and the urban, and she develops the theme of forgiveness through Andrei. Particularly important is her role as Andrei's wife and the importance this status has for War and Peace. Through her relationship with Andrei and his death, Liza helps show why sexual love should not be chosen over other, “truer” forms of love. Indeed, Tolstoy depicts different types of relationships, from those that are purely physical, to those that seem completely fake, to those that seem perfect. Liza's role in all of this is to help us better understand why sexual love might be less preferable than spiritual love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayLiza, or the "young little princess Bolkonskaya", (8) appears as one of the first characters in the novel, before the Andrei's introduction in Chapter IV. Tolstoy calls her "the most attractive woman in Petersburg" (8) and strives to make her appear beautiful, innocent and unpretentious. Liza is the social butterfly of St. Petersburg, adored by everyone except her husband. Andrei seems extremely annoyed by her, turning his face away from her, "with a grimace that distorted his beautiful face" (15). At first, there is no clear explanation as to why Andrei doesn't like her very much, other than the fact that she doesn't seem particularly intelligent or interesting, in his opinion. Later, Tolstoy alludes to the fact that he has changed since Liza became pregnant and points out that this could be a reason for him to distance himself. Given this, the reader begins to sympathize with her, making her one of the only "sympathetic" characters, especially compared to Prince Vasili or Anna Pavlovna. Through her connection to Andrei and her presence in the outside world, Liza acts as a bridge between different sets of worlds, making her one of the most important minor characters. The first of these is the world of the social elite, as opposed to that of those who do not want to be part of it (Anna, Vasili versus Andrei, Pierre). Liza brings these two spheres together, because she is intrinsically part of the first and is in contact with the second through Andrei. She is one of the only characters to occupy this position: the two worlds don't have many overlapping characters beyond her. Indeed, if we consider the rest of Tolstoy's characters, all members of the Rostov family are extremely social and people-oriented; Pierre, for his part, is part of the elite but cannot join it. Liza is also the connection point between the rural and urban landscape. Indeed, she likes the urban setting of Petersburg and feels very confident there, but when Andrei goes to war, he sends her to live on his family estate, outside the city. She blames Andrei for locking her up alone in the countryside, but by sending her there, she brings these two worlds together. Other characters associated with a rural environment stay there throughout the novel (Count Bolkonskaya, Maria) and those associated with the urban environment of Petersburg stay there or commutebetween there and Moscow. It can be argued that Andrei also acts as such a liaison, but the connection is less clear as he moves between the two, due to his enlistment in the war. Although Liza brings the two sets of opposing worlds together, she is unable to bridge the gap between sexual and non-sexual love as far as Andrei is concerned. By this inability, Liza serves as an example of the consequences of an essentially sexual love, consequences which could be even worse than those of false social interactions. Indeed, an essential theme of the novel is the intersection of women, love and lust. Tolstoy draws inspiration from Plato to show the different types of love that exist, ranging from purely physical ones to much more spiritual ones. With the variety of characters that Tolstoy presents to us, he demonstrates how a relationship of lust, a relationship of love or an arranged relationship can play out. Liza enters this topic to show Tolstoy's view on sexual relationships, which can be defined as relationships that have an element of physical intimacy, either from the beginning or after a period of development. The relationship between Liza and Andrei can fall into this category since there is no longer a psychological, romantic connection between them: thus, all that remains of their relationship is a child, the result of physical intimacy. There are other relationships like this, which can be described as solely sexual, and Tolstoy uses these relationships to show what a "bad" relationship is. Take for example that of Natasha and Anatole. In their case, the relationship is clearly bad because it causes Natasha extreme pain and guilt and reveals Anatole as a soulless person. For Pierre and Hélène, it is not their own sexual relationship that is the problem, but rather the fact that Hélène is sexually attracted to other men and possibly cheats on Pierre. However, the relationship between Liza and Andrei is particularly important because Tolstoy takes the idea further by showing how their sexual intimacy is not only wrong, but can also hinder something positive that was in place before. Indeed, their sexual intimacy which resulted in a child has alienated Andrei, making the princess believe that he does not “feel for [her]” (29). She even adds that during her pregnancy, Andrei "changed a lot" (29) and now treats her like a child (a fact emphasized by the many uses of the word "childish"). Liza thinks that's why he abandoned her by going to war. In doing so, Andrei flees his commitment as a father. Even after Liza's death, this trend continues as Andrei fails to take care of his son. Furthermore, Tolstoy depicts the evils of sexual intimacy through the death of the princess. Although death during childbirth was quite common in the era depicted in the novel, the sadness surrounding it (given Andrei's dissatisfaction with his marriage and the preemptive negative feelings the princess was experiencing to the idea of ​​having your child in the countryside) makes it all the more meaningful. . Tolstoy gives us a lot of detail when describing Liza's death, saying: "She lay dead, in the same position in which he had seen her five minutes before and, despite the staring eyes and the paleness of the cheeks, the same expression was on her. charming childish face with his upper lip covered with tiny black hair. (351) The repetition of Andrei's reaction that "he was guilty of a sin which he could neither remedy nor forget" (351) seems to indicate some kind of intimidating aspect to the manner in which Liza died. By presenting Liza as this kind of martyr, Tolstoy wants to show the dangers of sexual intimacy as the main basis..