Headscratchers / Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

• "A Polish landowner of some small means had forced him to marry his daughter"; "I'll send you a letter from Poland" ; "No one abroad is gonna know a thing about [the marriage]!" These things, taken together, confuse me... If Anatole's wife and father-in-law are Polish, why would he flee to Poland under the assumption that no one there will know of his marriage? Even if "Polish" refers to the father-in-law's original nationality or ancestry rather than his current residence, how can he so securely assume that no one in Poland will know of Anatole's in-laws or the marriage? Particularly since said marriage came about as the result of a scandal?
  • They did say they were going to use a defrocked priest and only have two witnesses.
  • Plus, well... Anatole's an idiot. Many characters point out the various reasons why the elopement was never going to end well for anyone involved; the fact that they were planning to head to Poland is probably the least stupid aspect of the plan.
• What do people who haven't read the book think about Pierre and his relationship to Natasha as of the end of this play? It's sort of the very beginning of a character arc for both of them, not an end, though that whole passage about the comet was just waiting to be made into the finale of a musical. All the same, it's a beginning, not an end.
  • Before I found out how the book ends, I took it as a Bittersweet Ending — the circumstances are bitter (Natasha's alone, Pierre's still in a loveless marriage, Anatole basically gets away scot-free), but the surrounding emotions are a little sweeter (Pierre has finally been able to find love with a good woman, Natasha knows that she can be loved and her reputation has been saved, meaning there's still hope for her to find a better man, and the two are, at the very least, friends). It's sad that Natasha and Pierre don't get together (if you haven't read the book), but I got the impression Natasha, at least, would be okay.