The main idea in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” along with folk thought,” there is “family thought.” The writer believed that the family is the basis of the entire society, and it reflects the processes that occur in society.
The novel shows heroes who go through a certain path of ideological and spiritual development; through trial and error, they try to find their place in life and realize their purpose. These characters are shown against the backdrop of family relationships. So, the Rostov and Bolkonsky families appear before us. Tolstoy depicted the entire Russian nation from top to bottom in his novel, thereby showing that the top of the nation had become spiritually dead, having lost contact with the people. He shows this process using the example of the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children, who are characterized by the expression of all the negative qualities inherent in people of high society - extreme selfishness, baseness of interests, lack of sincere feelings.
All the heroes of the novel are bright individuals, but the members of the same family have a certain common feature that unites them all.
Thus, the main feature of the Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of them, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, is characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The image of the head of the family, the old prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, embodies the best features of the ancient Russian nobility. He is a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, his character bizarrely combines the morals of an imperious nobleman, before whom all the household are in awe, from the servants to his own daughter, an aristocrat proud of his long pedigree, the traits of a man of great intelligence and simple habits. At a time when no one required women to display any special knowledge, he teaches his daughter geometry and algebra, motivating it like this: “And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies.” He educated his daughter in order to develop in her the main virtues, which, in his opinion, were “activity and intelligence.”
mysl_semeynaya_v_romane_l.n.tolstogo_voyna_i_mir.ppt
mysl_semeynaya_v_romane_l....tolstogo_voyna_i_mir.ppt
His son, Prince Andrei, also embodied the best features of the nobility, the progressive noble youth. Prince Andrei has his own path to understanding real life. And he will go through errors, but his unerring moral sense will help him get rid of false ideals. So, . Napoleon and Speransky turn out to be debunked in his mind, and love for Natasha will enter his life, so unlike all the other ladies of high society, the main features of which, in his opinion and the opinion of his father, are “selfishness, vanity, insignificance in everything” . Natasha will become for him the personification of real life, opposing the falsehood of the world. Her betrayal of him is tantamount to the collapse of an ideal. Just like his father, Prince Andrei is intolerant of simple human weaknesses that his wife, a very ordinary woman, has, a sister who is looking for some special truth from “God’s people,” and many other people whom he encounters in life.
A peculiar exception in the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya. She lives only for the sake of self-sacrifice, which is elevated to a moral principle that determines her entire life. She is ready to give all of herself to others, suppressing personal desires. Submission to her fate, to all the whims of her domineering father, who loves her in his own way, religiosity is combined in her with a thirst for simple, human happiness. Her humility is the result of a peculiarly understood sense of duty as a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father, as she says to Mademoiselle Burien: “I will not allow myself to judge him and would not want others to do this.” But nevertheless, when self-esteem demands, she can show the necessary firmness. This is revealed with particular force when her sense of patriotism, which distinguishes all Bolkonskys, is insulted. However, she can sacrifice her pride if it is necessary to save another person. So, she asks for forgiveness, although she is not guilty of anything, from her companion for herself and the serf servant, on whom her father’s wrath fell.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings. Natasha is little guided by the requirements of decency, she is spontaneous, she has many child traits, which is highly valued by the author. He emphasizes many times that Natasha is ugly, unlike Helen Kuragina. For him, it is not the external beauty of a person that is important, but his internal qualities.
The behavior of all members of this family shows high nobility of feelings, kindness, rare generosity, naturalness, closeness to the people, moral purity and integrity. Local nobility, unlike the highest St. Petersburg nobility, is true to national traditions. It was not for nothing that Natasha, dancing with her uncle after the hunt, “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.”
Tolstoy's great importance attached to family ties, the unity of the whole family. Although the Bolkonsikh clan should unite with the Rostov clan through the marriage of Prince Andrei and Natasha, her mother cannot come to terms with this, cannot accept Andrei into the family, “she wanted to love him like a son, but she felt that he was a stranger and terrible to her Human". Families cannot unite through Natasha and Andrei, but are united through the marriage of Princess Marya to Nikolai Rostov. This marriage is successful, it saves the Rostovs from ruin.
The novel also shows the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily and his three children: the soulless doll Helen, the “dead fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Prince Vasily is a calculating and cold intriguer and ambitious man who claims the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, without having a direct right to do so. He is connected with his children only by blood ties and common interests: they care only about their well-being and position in society.
The daughter of Prince Vasily, Helen, is a typical social beauty with impeccable manners and reputation. She amazes everyone with her beauty, which is described several times as “marble,” that is, cold beauty, devoid of feeling and soul, the beauty of a statue. The only thing that occupies Helen is her salon and social receptions.
The sons of Prince Vasily, in his opinion, are both “fools.” His father managed to place Hippolytus in the diplomatic service, and his fate is considered settled. The brawler and rake Anatole causes a lot of trouble for everyone around him, and, in order to calm him down, Prince Vasily wants to marry him to the rich heiress Princess Marya. This marriage cannot take place due to the fact that Princess Marya does not want to part with her father, and Anatole indulges in his former amusements with renewed vigor.
Thus, people who are not only related by blood, but also spiritually, unite into families. The ancient Bolkonsky family is not interrupted by the death of Prince Andrei; Nikolenka Bolkonsky remains, who will likely continue the tradition of moral quests of his father and grandfather. Marya Bolkonskaya brings high spirituality to the Rostov family. So, “family thought,” along with “folk thought,” is the main one in L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace.” Tolstoy's family is studied at turning points in history. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, the writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to such families as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives of which each go through their own path of rapprochement with the people.
“War and Peace” is one of best works Russian and world literature. In it, the author historically correctly recreated the life of Russian people in early XIX century. The writer describes in detail the events of 1805-1807 and 1812. Despite the fact that the “family thought” is the main one in the novel “Anna Karenina”, in the epic novel “War and Peace” it also occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. The author brilliantly outlined many of the characters in the novel, showed their formation and development, which is called the “dialectics of the soul.” Tolstoy, paying great attention to the origins of the formation of a person’s personality, has similarities with Goncharov. The hero of the novel “Oblomov” was not born apathetic and lazy, but life in his Oblomovka, where 300 Zakharovs were ready to fulfill his every desire, made him so.
Following the traditions of realism, the author wanted to show and also compare various families that are typical of their era. In this comparison, the author often uses the technique of antithesis: some families are shown in development, while others are frozen. The latter include the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait, appearance. This is no coincidence: the external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. There are many human vices in this family. Thus, the meanness and hypocrisy of Prince Vasily are revealed in his attitude towards the inexperienced Pierre, whom he despises as an illegitimate. As soon as Pierre receives an inheritance from the deceased Count Bezukhov, his opinion about him completely changes, and Prince Vasily begins to see in Pierre an excellent match for his daughter Helen. This turn of events is explained by the low and selfish interests of Prince Vasily and his daughter. Helen, having agreed to a marriage of convenience, reveals her moral baseness. Her relationship with Pierre can hardly be called a family one; the spouses are constantly separated. In addition, Helen ridicules Pierre's desire to have children: she does not want to burden herself with unnecessary worries. Children, in her understanding, are a burden that interferes with life. Tolstoy considered such a low moral decline to be the most terrible thing for a woman. He wrote that the main purpose of a woman is to become a good mother and raise worthy children. The author shows all the uselessness and emptiness of Helen's life. Having failed to fulfill her destiny in this world, she dies. None of the Kuragin family leaves behind heirs.
The complete opposite of the Kuragins is the Bolkonsky family. Here you can feel the author’s desire to show people of honor and duty, highly moral and complex characters.
The father of the family is Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a man of Catherine’s temperament, who places honor and duty above other human values. This is most clearly manifested in the scene of farewell to his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is leaving for the war. The son does not let his father down, does not lose honor. Unlike many adjutants, he does not sit at headquarters, but is on the front line, in the very center of military operations. The author emphasizes his intelligence and nobility. After the death of his wife, Prince Andrey was left with Nikolenka. We can have no doubt that he will become a worthy person and, like his father and grandfather, will not tarnish the honor of the old Bolkonsky family.
The daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky is Marya, a person of pure soul, pious, patient, kind. The father did not show his feelings for her, since it was not in his rules. Marya understands all the prince’s whims and treats them resignedly, because she knows that her father’s love for her is hidden in the depths of his soul. The author emphasizes in the character of Princess Marya self-sacrifice for the sake of another, a deep understanding of daughterly duty. The old prince, unable to pour out his love, withdraws into himself, sometimes acting cruelly. Princess Marya will not contradict him: the ability to understand another person, to enter into his position - this is one of the main traits of her character. This trait often helps save a family and prevents it from falling apart.
Another antithesis to the Kuragin clan is the Rostov family, showing whom Tolstoy emphasizes such qualities of people as kindness, spiritual openness within the family, hospitality, moral purity, innocence, closeness to people's life. Many people are drawn to the Rostovs, many sympathize with them. Unlike the Bolkonskys, an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding often reigns within the Rostov family. This may not always be the case in reality, but Tolstoy wanted to idealize openness and show its necessity between all family members. Each member of the Rostov family is an individual.
Nikolai, the eldest son of the Rostovs, is a brave, selfless man, he passionately loves his parents and sisters. Tolstoy notes that Nikolai does not hide from his family his feelings and desires that overwhelm him. Vera, the Rostovs' eldest daughter, is noticeably different from other family members. She grew up an outsider in her family, withdrawn and angry. The old count says that the countess “did something tricky with her.” Showing the Countess, Tolstoy focuses on her trait of selfishness. The Countess thinks exclusively about her family and wants to see her children happy at all costs, even if their happiness is built on the misfortune of other people. Tolstoy showed in her the ideal of a female mother who worries only about her cubs. This is most clearly demonstrated in the scene of the family's departure from Moscow during the fire. Natasha having kind soul and heart, helps the wounded leave Moscow, giving them carts, and leaves all the accumulated wealth and belongings in the city, since this is a gainful business. She does not hesitate to make a choice between her well-being and the lives of other people. The Countess, not without hesitation, agrees to such a sacrifice. Blind maternal instinct shines through here.
At the end of the novel, the author shows us the formation of two families: Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. Both the princess and Natasha, each in their own way, are morally high and noble. They both suffered a lot and finally found their happiness in family life and became the guardians of the family hearth. As Dostoevsky wrote: “Man is not born for happiness and deserves it through suffering.” These two heroines have one thing in common: they will be able to become wonderful mothers, they will be able to raise a worthy generation, which, according to the author, is the main thing in a woman’s life, and Tolstoy, in the name of this, forgives them some of the shortcomings characteristic of ordinary people.
As a result, we see that “family thought” is one of the fundamental ones in the novel. Tolstoy shows not only individuals, but also families, shows the complexity of relationships both within one family and between families.
“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which is reflected national character of the Russian people at the moment when their historical fate was being decided. L.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer’s attention was attracted not only by historical events, but also by the private, family life of the characters. Tolstoy believed that the family is a unit of the world, in which the spirit of mutual understanding, naturalness and closeness to the people should reign.
The novel “War and Peace” describes the life of several noble families: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins.
The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole, where the heart prevails over the mind. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, and closeness. With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, it comes from the heart. Cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign in this family, and the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved.
Parents raised their children, giving them all their love. They can understand, forgive and help. For example, when Nikolenka Rostov lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov, he did not hear a word of reproach from his father and was able to pay off his gambling debt.
The children of this family have absorbed everything best qualities“Rostov breed”. Natasha is the personification of heartfelt sensitivity, poetry, musicality and intuitiveness. She knows how to enjoy life and people like a child.
Life of the heart, honesty, naturalness, moral purity and decency determine their relationships in the family and behavior among people.
Unlike the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys live with their minds, not their hearts. This is an old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness.
At first glance, the relationships in this family are difficult and devoid of cordiality. However, internally these people are close to each other. They are not inclined to show their feelings.
Old Prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of a serviceman (nobility, devoted to the one to whom he “sworn allegiance.” The concept of honor and duty of an officer was in the first place for him. He served under Catherine II, participated in Suvorov’s campaigns. He considered intelligence and activity to be the main virtues , and his vices are laziness and idleness. The life of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is a continuous activity. He either writes memoirs about past campaigns, or manages the estate. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky greatly respects and honors his father, who was able to instill in him a high concept of honor. road-road honor,” he says to his son. And Prince Andrei fulfills his father’s instructions both during the campaign of 1806, in the Battles of Shengraben and Austerlitz, and during the War of 1812.
Marya Bolkonskaya loves her father and brother very much. She is ready to give all of herself for the sake of her loved ones. Princess Marya completely submits to her father's will. His word is law for her. At first glance, she seems weak and indecisive, but at the right moment she shows strength of will and fortitude.
Both the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are patriots, their feelings were especially clearly manifested during the Patriotic War of 1812. They express the people's spirit of war. Prince Nikolai Andreevich dies because his heart could not stand the shame of the retreat of the Russian troops and the surrender of Smolensk. Marya Bolkonskaya rejects the French general's offer of patronage and leaves Bogucharovo. The Rostovs give their carts to the soldiers wounded on the Borodino field and pay the most dearly - with the death of Petya.
Another family is shown in the novel. This is Kuragin. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, callousness, greed, and immorality. They use people to achieve their selfish goals. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely cut off from people's life, they live in a brilliant but cold world, where all feelings are perverted. During the war, they lead the same salon life, talking about patriotism.
In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought kindness and tenderness, high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai shows kindness in his relationships with those closest to him.
By showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys.
“People's thought” and “family thought” in Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. The problem of the role of the people and the individual in history.
With its gigantic volume, "War and Peace" can give the impression of chaos, scatteredness and uncoordinatedness of many characters, plot lines, and all the varied content. But the genius of Tolstoy the artist was manifested in the fact that all this enormous content was imbued with a single thought, a concept of the life of the human community, which is easy to discern with thoughtful, attentive reading.
The genre of "War and Peace" is defined as an epic novel. What is the meaning of this definition? Through the infinite number of destinies of many people, taken in various circumstances of life: in war and peacetime, in youth and in old age, in prosperity and sorrow, in private and general, swarm life - and woven into a single artistic whole, the main artistically mastered the antithesis of the book: natural, simple and conventional, artificial in people's lives; simple and eternal moments of human existence: birth, love, death - and the conventions of the world, the class of society, property differences. The author of "War and Peace" was reproached for a fatalistic understanding of history and life in general, but in his book the concept of fate and fate, characteristic of the ancient, classical epic, was replaced by the concept of life in its spontaneous flow and overflow, in eternal renewal. It is not for nothing that there are so many metaphors in the novel related to the ever-changing water element.
There is also a main, key verbal and artistic “image” in “War and Peace”. Under the impression of communication with Platon Karataev, the embodiment of everything eternal and round, Pierre has a dream. “And suddenly Pierre introduced himself to a living, long-forgotten, meek old teacher who taught Pierre geography in Switzerland.
“Wait,” said the old man. And he showed Pierre the globe. This globe was a living, oscillating ball that had no dimensions. The entire surface of the ball consisted of drops tightly compressed together. And these drops all moved, moved, and then merged from several into one, then from one they were divided into many. Each drop sought to spread out, to capture the greatest possible space, but others, striving for the same thing, compressed it, sometimes destroyed it, sometimes merged with it.
This is life,” said the old teacher. “How simple and clear this is,” thought Pierre. “How could I not have known this before... Here he is, Karataev, now he has spilled over and disappeared.” This understanding of life is optimistic pantheism, a philosophy that identifies God with nature. The God of the author of War and Peace is all life, all existence. This philosophy determines the moral assessments of the heroes: the goal and happiness of a person is to achieve the roundness of a drop and spill, merge with everyone, join everything and everyone. The closest to this ideal is Platon Karataev; it is not for nothing that he was given the name of the great ancient Greek sage, who stood at the origins of the world philosophical thought. Many representatives of the noble-aristocratic world, especially the court circle, depicted in the novel, are not capable of this.
The main characters of “War and Peace” come to exactly this, they overcome Napoleonic egoism, which became the banner of the era at the time described in the novel and finally became it during the writing of the novel. By the way, Dostoevsky also wrote “Crime and Punishment” at the same time. The main characters overcome class isolation and proud individuality. Moreover, at the center of the novel Tolstoy places such characters whose movement along this path proceeds especially dramatically and strikingly. These are Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre and Natasha.
For them, this path full of drama is the road of acquisitions, enrichment of their personality, deep spiritual discoveries and insights. A little further from the center of the novel are the supporting characters, who lose more along the way. This is Nikolai Rostov, Princess Marya, Petya. The periphery of "War and Peace" is filled with numerous figures who, for one reason or another, are not able to take this path.
Numerous female characters in War and Peace are depicted using the same principle. The answer to this question will be specific, i.e. you just need to know and retell the text, the content of the novel; there is no need to look for any special ideological concept here. Tolstoy created the images of Natasha and Sonya, Princess Marya and "Buryenka", the beautiful Helen and old Anna Pavlovna in the era of the 60s, simultaneously with Chernyshevsky's novel "What is to be done?", in which the ideas of women's freedom and equality with men. Naturally, Tolstoy rejected all this and looked at women in a patriarchal spirit.
Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below
Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
Posted on http://www.allbest.ru
ASTRAKHAN BASIC MEDICAL COLLEGE
ON LITERATURE
ON THE TOPIC: "Family Thought" in the epic novel "War and Peace"
Performed:
student 1 f/l 9 gr. 1st year
Lukmanova A.S.
Checked:
Boeva M.F.
Astrakhan-2010
- Introduction
- 1. “Family Thought” in the epic novel “War and Peace”
- 2. The connection between “family thought” and “folk thought”
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Introduction
- The makeup of a person’s psychology, his views and fate, according to Tolstoy, are largely determined by his family environment and tribal traditions, which constitute a kind of soil for him. And it is not surprising that many chapters of the epic novel are devoted to the home life of the heroes, their way of life, and intra-family relationships. Although Tolstoy sometimes depicts discord between people who are closely related (the strained relationship between Princess Marya and her father during the time they lived in Moscow; the estrangement between Nikolai and his mother because of his intention to marry Sonya), the main thing in the family episodes of War and Peace is genuine -live communication between people who are dear and close to each other. Throughout the novel, the family world opposes, as a kind of active force, extra-family discord and alienation. This is the stern harmony of the orderly, strict way of life of the Lysogorsk house, and the poetry of warmth that reigns in the Rostov house with its everyday life and holidays (remember the hunt and Christmastide, which form the center of the fourth part of the second volume). The Rostov family relations are by no means patriarchal. Here everyone is equal, everyone has the opportunity to express themselves, intervene in what is happening, and act initiatively.
- The family, according to Tolstoy, is a free-personal, non-hierarchical unity of people. This Rostov tradition is also inherited by newly established families, about which we're talking about in the epilogue. The relationship between husband and wife in the novel is not regulated either by custom and usual etiquette, or by newly introduced rules. They are naturally installed anew each time. Natasha and Pierre are completely different from Nikolai and Marya: the right to the first vote is not predetermined by anything except the individual traits of people. Each family member freely and fully expresses his or her personality.
1. "FAMILY THOUGHT" IN THE EPIC NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
Dostoevsky, in his drafts for The Adolescent, contrasted the newly emerging, “random family” with the “clan family.” As an example of the latter, he named the Rostovs. For Tolstoy's heroes, their “family” community and involvement in family legend, the traditions of their fathers and grandfathers are indeed invaluable. When the French were about to approach Bogucharov, Princess Marya felt “obliged to think for herself with the thoughts of her father and brother”: “... whatever they would do now, she felt it necessary to do.” Similar concerns completely take possession of Nikolai Rostov during a difficult time for his family: he does not refuse the obligation to pay debts, since the memory of his father is sacred to him.
And in this, Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is akin to the works of Pushkin, who called love for the “native ashes” a sacred feeling and argued that “happiness can only be found on the beaten path” (to Kravtsov, February 10, 1831). In the prosaic continuation of the poem “It’s time, my friend, it’s time...” Pushkin spoke as if in the spirit of the heroes of the epilogue of Tolstoy’s novel: “Youth has no need for home, mature age is horrified by its solitude. Blessed is he who finds a girlfriend - then you are successful he's home.
The family, according to Tolstoy, is not a closed clan, not isolated from everything around it, patriarchally ordered and existing over a number of generations (monastic isolation is most alien to it), but uniquely individual “cells”, renewed as generations change , always having their age. In War and Peace, families are subject to qualitative changes, sometimes quite significant ones.
In crisis circumstances (if life demands it), the heroes of the novel are ready not only to sacrifice their family property (the Rostov carts, intended for removing things, were given to the wounded), but also to put themselves and loved ones in danger. The Bolkonskys perceive service in the army of Prince Andrei as a severe necessity, the Rostovs perceive Petya’s departure to war. By participating in the St. Petersburg opposition to the government, Pierre consciously goes towards the most serious trials for himself and his family.
A wide range of extra-family connections are involved in the peaceful life of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs. Trips to neighbors, receiving guests, long stay in the houses of relatives and friends, going out into the world - all this organically becomes part of the “everyday life” of the Rostov family. The everyday life of a Rostov house (both Moscow and Otradnensky) is unthinkable without live contacts between the gentlemen and the servants.
In the home life of Tolstoy's "heroes" there is a place for discussion of "general" problems, moral and philosophical reflections, disputes on military and political topics. A similar "tone" in the Bolkonsky family is set by Nikolai Andreevich, who, despite the fact that he is constantly in Bald Mountains , knows the “state of affairs” in Russia and Europe better than many inhabitants of the capital. One can recall the discussions about the war in the Rostov house, and Pierre’s philosophical conversation with Andrei Bolkonsky in Bogucharovo. Inquisitive, searching, anxious thought, endless. moral quest, so characteristic of the Bolkonsky family, also appear in the epilogue: Countess Marya keeps a diary, recording her thoughts about raising children. It appears inconspicuously and naturally in the Bald Mountains in 1820. dispute - in the traditions of the Bolkonskys - about modern Russia, about its further development paths. The moral and philosophical thoughts of Countess Marya and the civic enthusiasm of Pierre naturally enter into the everyday life of Tolstoy’s heroes.
Atmosphere family peace in Tolstoy's novel is enduring, but it is most clearly presented in the epilogue. The “Rostov” element of unity (no matter what crisis situations may test the lives of Ilya Andreevich’s children) is noticeably strengthened here: the families of Nikolai and Pierre harmoniously combine “Bolkon-Bezukhov” spirituality and “Rostov” artless kindness. This synthesis of two family and clan traditions is conceived by the author as viable and durable. The “Rostov breed,” having been enriched by the experience of the Bolkonskys and Bezukhov, in the epilogue seems to overcome its former narrowness and defenselessness: Nikolai, as the head of the new Rostov family, is much more viable and practical than his father Ilya Andreevich.
In "War and Peace", as you can see, everyday life with its stable way of life is poeticized. Tolstoy's heroes need to exist in some stable reality, close and dear to them, to live, metaphorically speaking, in their home. About Pierre in the troubled days of 1812. it says: “Only in ordinary conditions of life did he feel that he would be able to understand himself and all that he saw and experienced. But these ordinary conditions of life were nowhere to be found.”
For the author of War and Peace, as for A. N. Ostrovsky, everyday life exists “as being, as a way to live and not die in the world.” At the same time, the writer, as stated in the drafts of the novel, is convinced that the best people, wholly focused on solving immediate, integral life problems, are most often unknown;
"Nobody knows them." And in the finale of the epic novel, Pierre, who acts in St. Petersburg in full view of the public, is by no means placed above Natasha, Nikolai Rostov, Countess Marya, whose life’s work is carried out within the “narrow” confines of the family, home life, and their household.
In “War and Peace,” where the “people’s thought” is central, as can be seen, the “family thought” is also important, which later, in “Anna Karenina,” will acquire dramatic poignancy.
In the 60s years family - in Tolstoy's focus. “A writer,” notes N. N. Gusev, “unhappy and restless in his family life, could never create a work so grandiose in size and imbued with such a peaceful, calm, cheerful mood”! “War and Peace,” - - states another biographer of Tolstoy, - created in the family, she came out of the family. The family, it would seem, did not contribute in any way to creativity, but at the same time it was she who gave birth to it." The prototypes of the central characters were the people who made up the immediate family and family circle of Lev Nikolaevich. In Rostov there is a lot from Tolstoy and Bersov (in Nikolai Rostov - from the writer's father, in Natasha Rostova - from the Bers sisters: Sonya and Tanya), in the Bolkonskys - from the Volkonskys (the family of the writer's mother); information about the life and characters of Lev Nikolaevich’s ancestors and parents.”
Certain facets of the personality and activity of the writer himself are recreated in the images of Pierre Bezukhov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Nikolai Rostov. Most importantly, the family episodes of “War and Peace” (especially those dedicated to the Rostovs) convey the atmosphere of the Tolstoy house during the writer’s childhood and youth, as evidenced by his later “Memoirs”.
The family theme of “War and Peace” had for Tolstoy not only a programmatic and ideological significance (to proclaim an ideal), but also a deep personal meaning, largely dramatic. In the novel, the writer talked about what he himself lacked, what he wanted with all his soul for himself, but could not achieve and find. “War and Peace” indirectly captures one of the most serious and intimate problems of the fate of the author himself, who always yearned for spontaneity. Lev Nikolaevich's introduction to the world of artlessness and love that beckoned him was intense and reflective. In “Memoirs,” Tolstoy admitted that he “was completely deprived” of the inner independence from the opinions of others about himself, which was inherent in his mother and brother Nikolai. The writer, with his characteristic frankness and mercilessness towards himself, talked about his painful pride, his desire to join in spontaneity - either loving-altruistic, inherent in Ergolskaya, or naive-egoistic (the embodiment of which he saw in his brother Sergei).
A. Maurois, a master of the biographical genre, aptly said that Pierre of the epilogue is Tolstoy, “as he would like to become.” After reading the memoirs of S. A. Tolstoy, you begin to think that Natasha, who, having gotten married, “gave up all her charms at once,” realizing that they “now would only be funny in the eyes of her husband,” is shown as exactly that the woman the writer would like his wife to be. Sofya Andreevna recalls her first Yasnaya Polyana years; life went on “without art and without any change or fun. This is how L.N. arranged it and strictly observed it.” This was a burden to Lev Nikolayevich’s wife, who tended to get carried away by “music, books, painting, or people who are worth it” U. Reading the lines of S.A. Tolstoy’s memoirs, you clearly see that the image of Pierre and Natasha in the epilogue was a kind of lesson and edification from the author to his wife ( to the first and so important reader of “War and Peace”): the writer talks about what he considers an exemplary family, the creation of which he dreamed of even in the happy 60s.
Of course, one cannot equate people close to the writer with the heroes of War and Peace. Nevertheless, Tolstoy’s family and people close to him represented the prototype of the life atmosphere of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs. And this is important to keep in mind for readers of Tolstoy’s novel. Publishers of Sofia Andreevna’s memoirs note: "Social, political life Russia of that time found its surprisingly deep and vivid reflection in the life of L. N. Tolstoy’s family.” The same can be said about the way of life of the writer’s parents and their families - the Volkonskys and Tolstoys.
The breadth of intellectual interests and the intensity of the spiritual life of Lev Nikolaevich’s mother, obsessed with moral demands on herself and loved ones; the alienation of the writer’s father from the world of the bureaucratic hierarchy and his inherent sense of independence; the atmosphere of goodwill and love in the house; the warm attitude towards servants, peasants, holy fools; the absence of ( unusual at that time) corporal punishment in the family of the writer’s grandfather, Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy - all this was uniquely Tolstoy, and at the same time in its own way characteristic of the Russian nobility of the first half of the 19th century V.; all this created the moral “microclimate” that shaped Tolstoy as a person and was reflected in family paintings"War and Peace".
The Tolstoy family, thus, not only provided prototypes for the author of “War and Peace”, it constituted the most important subject of artistic knowledge, and acted as a certain value of Russian moral and everyday culture. The writer turned this value into the highest example of world art. People close to Tolstoy - both those who lived next to him and ancestors known to him from memories - acted as if they were “co-creators” of the epic novel.
2. CONNECTION OF “FAMILY THOUGHT” WITH “PEOPLE’S THOUGHT”
folk family thought tolstoy
Researchers of L.N. Tolstoy's work have repeatedly noted that the main characters of War and Peace follow the path of rapprochement with the people. We will not once again list the facts from the lives of the Rostovs, Bolkonskys and Bezukhovs that confirm this. Let's try to outline Tolstoy's "logic" of comparing the main characters with people's life.
In the drafts for the novel, the writer noted that the life of men, like officials, merchants, and seminarians, was “uninteresting and half incomprehensible” to him. It was probably about the social and everyday life, but not about moral character the majority of Russian people, which Tolstoy was always deeply interested in. In "War and Peace" the writer's attention to the peasant family and village life as such is not honored. People from the people are depicted outside their usual conditions: in the manor’s house, on the battlefield, settling down for the night after a military transition, in a barracks for prisoners, etc. And this is not difficult to explain. Russian peasants were not protected from despotism and violence in Everyday life. And their inherent ability for unforced free unity, which so attracted the writer, could be fully reflected only outside their everyday conditions.
Tolstoy persistently turns to contacts between people of different classes and social positions.
These contacts most often turn out to be short-term. On the pages of War and Peace, groups of people appear and disappear every now and then, seemingly disregarding class, corporate and other social boundaries. This is the communication between Prince Andrei and Tushin during the Battle of Shengraben, Pierre with Karataev in the barracks for prisoners, Bezukhov and Bolkonsky with Timokhin on the eve of Borodin. The writer finds “zones” of spiritual openness, mutual disposition, sympathy and warmth, intimate and trusting communication everywhere. At the Raevsky battery, where Pierre ended up during the Battle of Borodino, “one felt the same and common to everyone, like a family revival.” There is a similar atmosphere at the Tushin battery during the Battle of Shengraben, as well as in the partisan detachment when Petya Rostov arrives there. In this regard, let us remember Natasha Rostova, who was helping the wounded during the days of her departure from Moscow: she “liked these relationships with new people, outside the usual conditions of life.”
Short-term human communities, suddenly arising and ready to immediately disappear, are like drops in the symbolic ball from Pierre’s dream. It is they, in Tolstoy’s way, changeable, susceptible to external influences, that make up Life with a capital “L” in the novel.
The element of common life is noticeably different from the family life itself. Contact between people here is not selective. And its cessation does not constitute a crisis, does not cause anyone’s suffering: human communication does not leave any trace behind. “Interhuman” connections of this kind are more instinctive than personal.
But the similarity between the family and similar “swarm” communities is also important: both unities are non-hierarchical and free, have an organic basis, and the main thing is based not on choice, but on a sense of internal necessity. The readiness of the Russian people, primarily peasants and soldiers, for non-coercive free unity is most similar to “Rostov” nepotism.
The central characters of the novel and the people depicted in it live according to the laws common to them. In Tolstoy's awareness of this, his closeness clearly made itself felt. national life, first of all, to the peasantry - “that layer of the population of contemporary Russia, which was the most persistent bearer of thousand-year-old Russian cultural traditions.”
People's life, as we see it in War and Peace, is diverse and complex. In the images of Bogucharov’s peasants, who were suspicious of Princess Marya’s initiative to move away from their habitual place. reflected the conservative principles of the patriarchal-communal world, inclined to resist all kinds of changes: the Bolkonsky serfs at that time were not yet imbued with the feeling of the disaster approaching them. The moral and philosophical views of the people of the community are imprinted in Platon Karataev, who, as A. V. Gulyga noted, “was unlucky in literary criticism: Karataev is usually either hushed up or debunked.”
The soldiers with whom fate brought Pierre together on the Borodino field and in Mozhaisk clearly showed a national feeling and readiness for patriotic feats.
Comparison of folk, peasant life with destinies in "War and Peace" central characters full of deep meaning. The unreflective involvement of people from the people in the collective experience and the “independence” of a person in a complex, no longer patriarchal world appear in Tolstoy as different, in many ways not similar friend on each other, but complementary and equivalent principles of national existence. They constitute the facets of a single, indivisible Russian life and are marked by a deep internal kinship: the main characters of the novel and the people depicted in it share the same inclination towards free, non-forced unity.
Conclusion
“People's thought” and “family thought” constitute an indissoluble unity in “war and peace”. The condition for people to be rooted in their national culture, according to Tolstoy, is their organic commitment to their own tribal and social way of life. The deep involvement of the heroes of the novel, as they are shown in the epilogue, with their family and their nation, the writer believes, makes their life happy and harmonious.
But this harmony appears as relative and unreliable. On the very last pages of War and Peace, a deeply dramatic note suddenly sounds: the relationship between Nikolai Rostov and Pierre Bezukhov signifies that Tolstoy’s world, strong and whole, is at the same time showing cracks that could eventually lead to a split. Pierre's civic experience and Nikolai's everyday practical experience are fatally inconsistent with each other" and lead these people to mutual misunderstanding, even hostility.
Bibliography
1. Bocharov S.G. "War and Peace". L.N. Tolstoy. M., 1987
2. Vinogradov V.V. About Tolstoy’s language. M., 1979
3. Gromov P. About the style of Leo Tolstoy “Dialectics of the soul” in “War and Peace”. L., 1977
4. Ermilov V. Tolstoy the artist and the novel “War and Peace”. M., 1961
5. History of Russian literature. T. II. / Ed. CM. Petrova. M., 1963
6. Romain Rolland. Collected works in 14 novels. T. 2. P. 266
7. Khalizov V., Kormilov S. Roman N.L. Tolstoy "War and Peace". M., 1983
8. Khrapchenko M. B. Leo Tolstoy as an artist. M., 1988
Posted on Allbest.ru
Similar documents
The work analyzes the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Tolstoy poeticizes the simplicity, kindness, and morality of the people. He sees in the people the source of morality necessary for the whole society. "People's Thought" - main idea novel "War and Peace".
essay, added 06/06/2008
Psychological direction in the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and the reasons for his appeal to the genre of family novel. Chronotope as artistic medium V family romance. The motive of confession in the novel "The Golovlevs." Family as a social category.
abstract, added 12/01/2009
The creative idea of the socio-psychological novel "Anna Karenina". Description L.N. Tolstoy's diversity of attitudes towards marriage and family in the storylines of Kitty - Levin, Anna - Vronsky. Reflection of the cult of the woman-mother in the image of Daria Alexandrovna Oblonskaya.
abstract, added 10/24/2010
Analysis of the work of M. Sholokhov, a writer of the Soviet era, a successor to the realistic traditions of the classics in Russian literature. “Family Thought” in the novel by M. Sholokhov as a reflection of the inner world of the main character in the novel “Quiet Don”. The tragedy of G. Melekhov.
abstract, added 11/06/2012
Historical theme people's war in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Events of the Patriotic War of 1812. Analysis of the history of the creation of the novel. Moral and philosophical research of the author. Collective heroism and patriotism of the people in the defeat of the French.
abstract, added 11/06/2008
"Christian and highly moral thought" in late creativity Dostoevsky, in his novels from Crime and Punishment to The Brothers Karamazov. The originality of Dostoevsky's genius is in the openness of being. Spiritual experience of ontology as the source of originality.
abstract, added 07/25/2012
Determining the functions of artistic details in the historical novel "War and Peace". The role and originality of the costume of the 19th century. Identification of the features of the use of costume parts in the work of L.N. Tolstoy. Content load of the image of costumes in the novel.
abstract, added 03/30/2014
The theme of beauty in Leo Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace". A comparative analysis of the images of Helen, who was considered the ideal of high society, and Maria Bolkonskaya, devoted to her family. The wealth of the inner world is a guideline to which one should strive.
essay, added 10/29/2013
A book that cannot be forgotten. Female images in the novel. Natasha Rostova is Tolstoy’s favorite heroine. Princess Marya as moral ideal women for the writer. Family life of Princess Marya and Natasha Rostova. Multifaceted world. Tolstoy about the purpose of a woman.
abstract, added 07/06/2008
M. Sholokhov's skill in depicting family and love relationship(Grigory and Natalya, Gregory and Aksinya). From prototype to image: the role of female images and prototypes in the epic novel by M. Sholokhov " Quiet Don". Usage historical events in the novel.
With its gigantic volume, "War and Peace" can produce
the impression of chaos, scatteredness and uncoordinated multitude
characters, storylines, all the varied content. But
the genius of Tolstoy the artist was manifested in the fact that all this
human community, which is easy to spot with thoughtful,
careful reading.
The genre of "War and Peace" is defined as an epic novel. What's the point
this definition? Through an infinite number of destinies
people taken in different circumstances of life: military and peaceful
time, in youth and in old age, in pleasure and in sorrow, in private and
common, swarm life - and woven into a single artistic whole,
the main artistically mastered antithesis of the book passes through:
natural, simple and conventional, artificial in people's lives;
simple and eternal moments of human existence: birth, love,
death - and the conventions of the world, the class of society, property
understanding of history and life in general, but in his book the characteristic
ancient, classical epic, the concept of fate, fate is replaced
the concept of life in its spontaneous flow and overflow, in the eternal
update. It is not for nothing that there are so many metaphors in the novel related to forever
changing water elements.
In "War and Peace" there is also a main, key verbal and artistic
"image". Impressed by communication with Platon Karataev,
the embodiment of everything eternal and round, Pierre has a dream. "And suddenly
Pierre introduced himself as a living, long-forgotten meek old man
the teacher who taught Pierre geography in Switzerland.
“Wait,” said the old man. And he showed Pierre the globe. This globe was
a living, oscillating ball that has no dimensions. Whole surface
The ball consisted of drops tightly compressed together. And all these drops
moved, moved, and then merged from several into one, then from
one were divided into many. Every drop tried to spill,
to capture the greatest space, but others, striving for the same,
they squeezed it, sometimes destroyed it, sometimes merged with it.
This is life,” said the old teacher. “How simple and clear it is,”
thought Pierre. - How could I not have known this before... Here he is, Karataev,
it overflowed and disappeared." Such an understanding of life is an optimistic one.
pantheism, a philosophy that identifies God with nature. God of the author
“War and Peace” is all of life, all of existence. Such a philosophy
determines the moral assessments of the heroes: the goal and happiness of a person -
reach the roundness of a drop and spill, merge with everyone,
to join everything and everyone. The closest to this ideal is
Platon Karataev, it is not for nothing that he was given the name of the great ancient Greek
a sage who stood at the origins of world philosophical thought.
Many representatives of the noble and aristocratic world, especially
The court circle depicted in the novel is not capable of this.
The main characters of “War and Peace” come to exactly this, they
overcome Napoleonic egoism, which becomes as described in
in the novel, time became the banner of the era and finally became one during
novel writings. By the way, at the same time he wrote “Crime and Punishment” and
Dostoevsky. The main characters overcome class isolation and
proud singularity. Moreover, at the center of the novel Tolstoy puts such
characters whose movement along this path proceeds especially
dramatic and striking. This is Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre and Natasha.
For them, this path full of drama is the road of acquisitions,
enriching their personality, deep spiritual discoveries and insights.
they lose more on this path. This is Nikolai Rostov, Princess Marya,
Peter. The periphery of "War and Peace" is filled with numerous
figures who, for one reason or another, are unable to take this path.
Numerous women are depicted using the same principle.
characters from War and Peace. The answer to this question will be
specific character, i.e. you just need to know and retell the text,
the concept is not necessary. Tolstoy created the images of Natasha and Sonya,
Princess Marya and "Buryenka", beautiful Helen and old Anna
Pavlovna in the era of the 60s, simultaneously with Chernyshevsky’s novel
“What to do?”, in which the most fully and consistently expressed
ideas of women's freedom and equality with men. All this is Tolstoy,
Naturally, he rejected her and looked at the woman in a patriarchal spirit.
His ideals of female love, family and parental happiness
embodied not only in the character and fate of Natasha, most vividly of all
characters (including male ones) expressing his idea of
"real life", but also reality, having married in 1862
young Sofya Andreevna Bers. And we must admit with regret,
that the “deception that elevates us” of Natasha’s image turned out to be much
prettier and more attractive "themes of low truths" of a family drama
Tolstoy. Despite the fact that Tolstoy purposefully raised
young wife in the spirit of his ideals, the very ones that so convince us
while reading "War and Peace", the wife of the great writer, and then
grown numerous children have done the last thirty years
Tolstoy's life was unbearable. How many times did he make a decision?
get away from them!.. We can say that “real life” with its
"bizarreness, surprises, sudden whims and
whims - what any female nature contains - turned out to be
even more “real” than Tolstoy imagined. And it doesn't matter about whom
We are talking about the resigned and meek Princess Marya or the daring
demanding, victoriously confident in her strength Helen. Very
soon after writing "War and Peace" life showed its author that
extremes female characters, so confidently separated by him on the scale
moral assessments (Natasha - “excellent”, Princess Marya -
"mediocre", Helen - "poor") in reality they can agree on the face
one, closest, most beloved person - wife, mother
three children. Thus, for all its depth and comprehensiveness
"living life", "real life" is more complex, richer, with it
you can deal with the stroke of a pen at your discretion, at your request
artistic unity, as Tolstoy did, quickly
"killing" which had become unnecessary for his ideological and moral construction
Helen, so attractive and invincible in her immorality.
The idea of “real life” also permeates the depiction of historical
characters. The spirit of the army, which Kutuzov feels and which dictates
to him, strategic decisions, in essence, are also a form of inclusion,
merging with the ever-flowing life. His antagonists are Napoleon,
Alexander, learned German generals are incapable of this. Simple,
ordinary war heroes - Tushin, Timokhin, Tikhon Shcherbaty, Vaska
Denisov - do not strive to make all humanity happy, because
deprived of a sense of separateness, why, they are already merged with this world.
The antithesis idea revealed above, permeating the entire huge novel,
is already expressed in its name, which is very capacious and polysemantic. Second
the word of the novel's title denotes a community of people, the whole people,
life with the whole world, in the world, with people in contrast
monastic solitude. Therefore, it is wrong to think that the name
the novel indicates the alternation of military and peaceful, non-military
episodes. The above meaning of the word world changes, expands
the meaning of the first capital word: war - not only as a manifestation
militarism, but also in general the struggle of people, the battle of life
disunited, divided into atomic drops of humanity.
In 1805, which opens Tolstoy's epic, human
the community remains disunited, fragmented into classes,
the noble world is alienated from the people as a whole. The culmination of this
conditions - the Tilsit peace, fragile, fraught with a new war.
The antithesis of this state is the year 1812, when “all the people
they want to pile on" on the Borodino field. And then from volumes 3 to 4 the heroes
novels find themselves on the brink of war and peace, every now and then committing
transitions back and forth. They are faced with the real, complete
life, with war and peace. Kutuzov says: “Yes, they reproached me a lot
me... both for war and for peace... and everything came on time,” and these concepts
are connected in his mouth into a single title way of life. In the epilogue
the original state returns, again disunity in
the upper class and the upper class with the common people. Pierre
outraged by the “shagism, settlements - they torture the people, they stifle education,”
he wants "independence and activity." Nikolay Rostov will be here soon
"chop and strangle everything from the shoulder." As a result, “everything is too tense and
will certainly burst." By the way, Platon Karataev would not approve
the moods of the two surviving heroes, and Andrei Volkonsky
would approve. And now his son Nikolenka, born in 1807, reads
Plutarch, highly valued by the Decembrists. His future fate
Unity and inclusion remain a desirable ideal, but an epilogue
Tolstoy shows how difficult the path to it is.
According to Sofia Andreevna, Tolstoy said that he loved
"War and Peace" "people's thought", and in "Anna Karenina" - "thought
family." It is impossible to understand the essence of both Tolstoy formulas without
comparisons of these novels. Like Gogol, Goncharov,
Dostoevsky, Leskov Tolstoy considered his century a time when in the world
people, disunity triumphs among people, the disintegration of the common whole. AND
his two “thoughts” and two novels are about how to return lost
integrity. In the first novel, paradoxical as it may sound, the world
united by war, a single patriotic impulse against a common enemy,
It is against him that individuals unite into a whole people.
In Anna Karenina, a unit of society opposes disunity -
family, the primary form of human unification and inclusion. But
the novel shows that in an era when “everything is mixed up,” “everything
turned upside down," the family with its short-term, fragile merger
only increases the difficulties on the path to the desired ideal of human
unity. Thus, the disclosure of “people's thought” in “War and
world" is closely related and largely determined by Tolstoy's response to
the main question is “what is real life?”
As for the role of the people and the individual in history, the solution to this
issue is particularly heavily contaminated with Marxist-Leninist
literary criticism. Tolstoy, as already mentioned, was often accused of
historical fatalism (the view that the outcome
historical events are predetermined). But it's not fair
Tolstoy insisted only that the laws of history are hidden from
individual human mind. His view on this problem
very accurately expresses the famous quatrain of Tyutchev (1866 - again
time working on "War and Peace"):
"You can't understand Russia with your mind,
The general arshin cannot be measured:
She will become special -
You can only believe in Russia."
For Marxism, the importance of the masses as the engine is not decisive
history and the inability of the individual to influence history otherwise than
how to sit at the tail of these masses was an immutable law.
However, to illustrate this “law” with material from military episodes
"War and Peace" is difficult. In his epic, Tolstoy picks up
relay of the historical views of Karamzin and Pushkin.
Both of themshowed extremely convincingly in their works (Karamzin in
"History of the Russian State"), which, in the words of Pushkin,
chance is a powerful tool of Providence, i.e. fate. It is through
the random act natural and necessary, and even so they
are recognized only retroactively, after their action. And the carrier
An accident turns out to be a personality: Napoleon, who turned destinies upside down
throughout Europe, Tushin, who turned the tide of the Battle of Shengraben. That
there is, to paraphrase famous saying, we can say that if
Napoleon did not exist, it would be worth inventing him, in much the same way as
Tolstoy “invented” his Tushin.
171. CRITICAL IMAGE OF SECULAR SOCIETY ACCORDING TO THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
The gallery of noble types in the novel "War and
world." "Light" and society are depicted by Tolstoy in generous colors.
High society appears in the novel as the force that rules the country. If
the people live in suffering, then the top of society, despite the losses,
caused by the war, is still thriving.
The center around which they are grouped is the royal court,
and above all Emperor Alexander. Alexander, according to Tolstoy,
just a puppet. The fate of Russia is decided by numerous advisers,
favorites, temporary workers, ministers, courtiers. Ordinariness
the emperor is that he does not have his own opinion, under
under the influence of certain persons makes different decisions. Alexander how
personality is not only weak, he is hypocritical and false, loves to accept
poses. Tolstoy believes that luxury does not contribute to the development of the mind, but
the habit of living in idleness devastates the personality. Around Alexander
The struggle of the “parties” for influence does not stop;
intrigue. The courtyard, headquarters, ministries are filled with a crowd of untalented people,
greedy, power-hungry people. Government and generals
losing one war after another. Army being robbed
quartermasters, starves, dies from epidemics and in senseless
battles. Russia entered the War of 1812 unprepared. On
Throughout the war, Alexander did not commit a single reasonable
action, limiting itself to stupid orders and spectacular
Tolstoy brings courtiers, ministers, diplomats,
generals, staff officers, foreigners working at court in
as the king's confidants. So exhaustively characterizes
Tolstoy the illusory power of the country’s rulers, whose mediocrity
revealed the twelfth year with all the revealing ruthlessness.
The writer denounces the courtiers and high circles with their official
with enthusiasm. This part of high society is infinitely far from fighting
people. Despite the capture of Moscow, life in St. Petersburg goes on
old. It’s still the same in the salons, the highest nobility gathers, it’s still the same
points are given. Empress, Tsarevich, Rumyantsev, all courtiers
drones trumpet in every possible way about the patriotism of the people, but they themselves lead
well-being.
One of the representatives of high society was Prince Vasily Kuragin,
minister His desire for enrichment knows no bounds. Sighing, he
says Scherer: “My children are the burden of my existence.” His son
Ippolit holds the position of diplomat, but he speaks Russian with
with difficulty, he is not able to string together three words, his jokes are always stupid and
are meaningless. Prince Vasily catches a rich groom for his daughter
Ellen Kuragina. In his network of naivety and natural kindness
Pierre hits. Later he will tell Helen: “Where you are, there is depravity and evil.”
Anatole Kuragin, another son of Prince Vasily, lives an idle life.
Anatol is a guards officer who does not know which regiment he is in
According to him, he made the main meaning of his life “a trip to
pleasures." His actions are guided by animal instincts.
Satisfying these instincts is the main driver of his life. Wine
and women, carelessness and indifference to everything except their own
desires become the basis of his existence. Pierre Bezukhov says
about him: “Here is a true sage. Always happy and cheerful.” Experienced in
love affairs Helen Kuragina helps her brother hide it
inner emptiness and worthlessness. Helen herself is depraved, stupid and
deceitful. But despite this, she enjoys enormous success in the world,
the emperor notices her, there is a constant buzz in the countess's house
admirers: the best aristocrats of Russia, poets dedicate poems to her,
diplomats become more sophisticated in their wit, the most prominent government officials
figures dedicate treatises. The brilliant position of the stupid and
depraved Helen is a damning expose of noble morals.
The image of Prince Boris created by Tolstoy deserves special attention.
Drubetsky. This young man on his way to fame and honor
"called upon" to replace older generation Russia. Already according to the first
steps one can understand that Boris will “go far.” He gives birth, has
cold-minded, free of conscience, very attractive in appearance.
His mother helps him take the first steps towards a brilliant career.
hypocrite and hypocrite. The Drubetskys owe a lot to the Rostov family, but
they forget about it very quickly, because Rostov is ruined, not so
influential, and in general, are people of a different circle. Boris is a careerist. His
the moral code is not very complicated: the end justifies the means.
A profitable marriage and useful connections open the doors for him to the very
powerful society. The ending of his life is clear: Boris will reach
high positions and will become a “worthy” replacement for the older generation,
rulers of Russia. He will be a faithful support of autocratic power.
Tolstoy vividly painted the image of the adventurer, nobleman Dolokhov.
Duels, drinking bouts, "pranks" in the company of "golden youth", playing their
and other people's lives become an end in themselves for him. His courage is not
has nothing to do with the heroism of such people as Denisov, Rostov,
Timokhin, Bolkonsky. The image of Dolokhov is an example of noble
adventuristic belligerence.
The image of the Moscow governor Rostopchin is also very remarkable. He
reveals itself with all its brightness in the scenes preceding the introduction
Frenchmen to Moscow. “Rastopchin,” writes Tolstoy, “had neither
the slightest idea of the people he was supposed to govern."
The leaflets he distributes are vulgar, his orders about
organization of people's defense of Moscow. Rastopchin is cruel and proud.
With one stroke of his pen he exiles innocent people suspected of
treason, executes the innocent young man Vereshchagin, handing him over
divert popular anger from the real culprits disasters in the country.
An artistic expression of Tolstoy's view of the people as creators
history, the belief that the people conceal within themselves an inexhaustible source of strength
and talents, recognition as legitimate of all forms of struggle, to which
people resort to defend the Fatherland - all this puts a great
Tolstoy's epic ranks among the best works of world literature. IN
This is the enduring significance of the great epic.
172. IMAGES OF RUSSIAN WOMEN IN THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
The enormous popularity of Leo Tolstoy’s talent has long crossed boundaries
our country. The whole world knows him. No wonder Gorky wrote: “Without knowing
to the novel? What makes people of different nations turn to him?
distant from his heroes by time, social environment, and other
problems. We never tire of repeating what is equal to Tolstoy in literature
No. Why? A huge gift and artistic uniqueness allowed
To show Tolstoy the life of an entire people, an entire nation, an entire country, the name
which is Russia. History comes to life on the pages of the novel, people stand up
flesh and blood, with their thoughts, joys and sorrows, quests and
delusions, love and hate, with victories and defeats,
Tolstoy's creative quests were always connected with life. Heroes of "War and
world", both positive and negative, relate primarily to
among the highest, ruling nobility. Tolstoy painted a broad picture
life of noble society, depicted it with all its inherent
alienation from the people. The merit of the writer is that, mercilessly drawing
noble society, showed a few families of the best nobles, in
including their enlightened part (Volkonsky and Bezukhov).
Everything advanced among the nobility was an exceptional phenomenon. How
As a rule, Tolstoy’s positive images have precisely the traits
exclusivity, and their destinies in the novel develop in a collision with
the “big world”, which Tolstoy portrays negatively.
Anna Pavlovna Scherer, Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, Julie Karagina, Helen
Bezukhov bear, first of all, the features of his class. Tolstoy
emphasizes that each of his heroes is a product of the environment, flesh of its flesh,
and everyone feels like a fish in water in this environment. According to Tolstoy,
Natasha is the ideal woman.
This is a rich, generously gifted nature. Wheredid this sensitive, touching, wonderful girl come from? The Rostov family, like
the Volkonsky family, and among them Maria Bolkonskaya, stand out sharply among
ordinary noble families. The Rostov family is similar to those families from which
the wives of the Decembrists and many other advanced people XIX century.
The Rostovs’ way of life, customs, likes and dislikes - all this is Russian,
national. They absorbed the spirit of the people with their cheerfulness,
the ability to suffer steadfastly, to easily make sacrifices not for show, but with all
spiritual breadth. The most striking feature in Natasha is her poetic
attitude, kindness, openness to everyone who surrounds her.
Appearing at the ball for the first time, Natasha looks so little like society ladies,
the contrast between her and the “light” is so clear. Having barely crossed the threshold of the family,
Natasha turns out to be deceived. To the Rostovs, and above all to the general
favorite Natasha, the best people are reaching out - Andrei Volkonsky, Pierre
Bezukhov, Vasily Denisov. Natasha's passion for Anatoly Kuragin, this
an empty socialite, speaks of her inexperience. Natasha - nature
generously gifted, her actions are original, no
prejudices, she is guided by her heart. Natasha is a captivating image
Russian woman, Natasha feels lonely, alien among
metropolitan aristocrats. Flattery, playing on gullibility and inexperience
Kuragin captivates her, and his depraved sister Helen helps him in this.
Kuragina. After a serious illness resulting from mental
shocks, Natasha returned to life renewed. Trouble didn't break her
the light did not defeat her. Natasha takes an active part in
events of 1812. Breadth, independence, courage, passion
to all phenomena of life - these are the features that fill this image. He
captivated his contemporaries and captivates us. Stands apart in the Rostov family
Vera is Natasha's older sister. Cold, unkind, a stranger in the circle of brothers and
sisters, she is a foreign body in the Rostovs’ house. Pupil Sonya, plump
selfless and grateful love for the whole family, completes the gallery
Rostov family. Just like Natasha Rostova, Princess Marya -
representative of the galaxy of the best women noble Russia early XIX
century. This image is unusually complex. In terms of artistic brightness he
occupies one of the first places among Tolstoy's heroes. Moral height,
strength of character and femininity distinguish Princess Marya among many
female characters of world literature.
Tolstoy makes this image, despite the complexity and inconsistency,
unusually poetic, whole, complete, charming. Princess
Marya - artistic embodiment Tolstoy's ideal of femininity.
The best representatives of the nobility, and among them Natasha and Princess Marya,
as a rule, generously gifted natures. They stand out from their environment
class, first of all, humanity, genuine patriotism, high
morality. The traits of the Russian character are clearly manifested in them. And in this
great merit of Tolstoy.
173. PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS IN TOLSTOY'S NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
"War and Peace" was written in the 60s of the last century. Government
Alexandra canceled serfdom, but did not give the peasants land,
they rebelled. Russia and the West, the historical destinies of Russia and its
people - these were the most pressing issues of the time. They
constantly worried Tolstoy. Tolstoy was always against the revolution,
but hoped through enlightenment, reforms, constitutions, that is,
to build an ideal social system in a utopian way. "War and
world" is one of the most remarkable works of literature. Years
Working on a novel is a time of intense labor for a writer.
Tolstoy's creative quests were always connected with life. Novel
conceived as a grand study of half a century of history
Russia in its sharp clashes and comparisons with Europe, as
comprehension of the national character of the Russian people and their entire structure
life. The novel deals with psychological, social,
historical, moral issues, speaks about the truth and
false patriotism, about the role of the individual in history, about national
the dignity of the Russian people, about the nobility, in the novel they act from above
two hundred historical figures. Representing events with human,
moral side, the writer often penetrated into their true
historical essence.
Napoleon laid claim to a great role in history and expected to create
history, subordinating it to his own will. Tolstoy says that he
a despot not only by position but also by conviction. He debunks
his greatness. “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth,”
wrote Tolstoy.
In "War and Peace", this novel-research, a huge role
was devoted to the picture of characters and morals. He recreates spiritual
experiences different people this time, their spiritual aspirations.
The best representatives of the nobility are Pierre Bezukhov and Andrey
Volkonsky. They both strive for a reasonable structure of society, both
tirelessly strive to get to the truth. Eventually they get there
before turning to the people, to the consciousness of the need to serve them,
to merge with it, they deny all forms of liberalism. It is characteristic that
in general, the noble culture of that time is presented in the novel
mainly by these mental and moral quests
"educated minority". The inner world of man, research
souls are one of them philosophical problems that concern Tolstoy. U
Tolstoy's own view of history. Philosophical
reasoning in his novel is his thoughts, his thoughts, his
worldview, his concept of life.
One of the important problems of "War and Peace" is the relationship of personality
and society, the leader and the masses, private life and life
historical. Tolstoy denied the role of personality in history. He
refused to recognize the force guiding historical development
humanity, any "idea", as well as desires or power
individual, even “great” historical figures. He said,
that everything is decided by the “spirit of the army,” argued that there are laws
event managers. These laws are unknown to people. One of
The philosophical problems of the novel are the question of freedom and necessity.
Tolstoy solves this question in his own and original way. He says that
freedom of a person, a historical figure - apparent, person
free only in not going against events, not
impose your will on them, but simply correspond to history, change,
grow and in this way influence its course. Tolstoy's thought is profound:
that a person is less free the closer he is placed to power. IN
In his philosophical and historical views, Tolstoy was close to Herzen.
The novel is called "War and Peace". The meaning of the title: the world denies war.
Peace is work and happiness, war is the separation of people, destruction,
death and grief.
The topic of the essay is very difficult, it is more suitable for graduates
institute Faculty of Philology or graduate students who
engaged in research into Tolstoy's works.
I did not fully reflect in my essay all the philosophical
problems of the 4-volume novel "War and Peace", and this is understandable: it is impossible
fit all the thoughts of Tolstoy on two sheets, he is a genius, but the main ones are
still reflected.
One could also add about how Tolstoy solves the question of the role
women in society. He had a negative attitude towards emancipation
women, if Turgenev, Chernyshevsky considered a woman in
In another aspect, Tolstoy believes that for a woman the place is
home. Therefore, Natasha Rostova is just a mother and wife in the end
novel. It's a pity! She was not just a girl, but a gifted
a person radiating warmth and light, she sang well. In this position I am with
I can’t agree with being fat, because it’s not enough for a smart woman to be
just a domestic “goose”, she still wants more. And if you
Natasha had a rich spiritual world, then where did it go, went to
home life? In this Tolstoy is a conservative. He wrote little about
the plight of the serf peasantry, just a few
pages for the entire enormous epic. Scene of the Bogucharov riot -
the only bright episode of this plan. I think this would be reflected in
his other novel "The Decembrists".
174. PEOPLE AND PERSONALITY IN TOLSTOY'S NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
There is no Greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth. Tolstoy
The great writer and philosopher Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy writes his
theory about the role of personality in history.
Fairly arguing withbourgeois scientists who created the cult of a great personality,
historical hero, by whose will, supposedly, world wars are carried out
events. Tolstoy claims that the course of world events is predetermined
from above, and the influence of the individual on the course of these events is only external,
fictitious. Everything happens not according to the will of people, but according to the will of Providence.
This means that Tolstoy is trying to poeticize spontaneous laws
life. He claims that everything is decided by feelings, not reason, which is
rock, fate. Theory of predestination, fatalism, inevitability
historical events also affected the interpretation of Kutuzov’s images
and Napoleon. Tolstoy considers the role of personality in history insignificant
small role, equating it to the purpose of a “label”, that is, to give
naming events, facts and phenomena.
During his lifetime, Napoleon received the title of invincibility and genius
commander. Tolstoy debunks Napoleon morally,
accusing him of lack of humanity towards ordinary soldiers
and the people. Napoleon - invader, enslaver of the peoples of Europe and
Russia. As a commander, he is the indirect killer of many
thousands of people. This gave him the right to greatness and glory.
Napoleon's state activities in this light of production
the question was simply immoral. Europe could not
to oppose Napoleon, "no reasonable ideal", and only
the Russian people are burying his extravagant plans to take over the world
states. Tolstoy writes: “Instead of genius there is stupidity and
meanness, without example." Napoleon's entire appearance is unnatural and
deceitful He could not meet high moral standards, so he
there is no true greatness in him. The epitome of all this is
Kutuzov. Tolstoy notes in him not only a “wise observer
events", but also the talent of the commander who led the most important thing -
morale of the troops. Tolstoy writes: “For long-term military
he knew from experience that one cannot lead hundreds of thousands of people alone
the person who decides the fate of the battle is not orders
commander-in-chief, not the place where the troops are stationed, not the number of guns
and killed people, and that elusive force called the spirit of the army."
Contradictions in Tolstoy's views on his portrayal of Kutuzov
manifest themselves in the fact that, on the one hand, Kutuzov is wise,
passive observer of the course of military events, leader of the spirit
troops, and, on the other hand, is a commander who actively
interfering in the course of military events. Kutuzov suggested
Napoleon a general battle and with numerical superiority
Napoleon won the military and moral victory of Kutuzov at
the next day orders a counter-offensive to boost morale
troops, but then cancels the order in order to preserve the army and forces. AND
there are many such examples. After Napoleon was expelled from Russia, Kutuzov
resigns, considering his mission completed. So realism
Tolstoy prevailed over the shackles of his fatalistic philosophy and
artistically presented true face great commander, his
ebullient energy, active participation in the course of military events. War
acquired a nationwide, national character, therefore, at the post
the commander-in-chief should not have been a foreigner (Barclay), but
Russian commander - Kutuzov. With his arrival to this post, the Russians
perked up. They even made up a proverb: “Kutuzov came
beat the French." The superiority of the Russian army militarily and
the military genius of Kutuzov showed in 1812 that the Russian
the people are invincible. In Pushkin’s vivid assessment of the personality of the great
commander contained the seed of the plan for the image of Kutuzov in the novel
Tolstoy. The indomitable spirit of Suvorov’s “science” lived in the Russian army
win", were alive national traditions military school
Suvorov. The soldiers remember him both during the battle and around the fire.
Both to the assessment of the actions of individual people, and to the assessment of historical
events, Tolstoy approaches the criteria of good and evil. Unleashing
He considers wars to be the greatest manifestation of evil. "People's Thought"
permeates both Tolstoy's philosophical conclusions and the image
specific historical events, historical figures, and
depicting ordinary people, assessing their moral character.
The most important conclusion that follows from artistic paintings And
theoretical reasoning of the writer - a conclusion about the decisive role
masses in history. Depicting the war of 1805-1807, Tolstoy
explains the reason for the defeat of the Russians precisely because the soldiers
The meaning of this war was unclear to the masses, its goals were alien. Completely different
depicts the mood of the army in the War of 1812. This war was
national character because the Russian people defended their home and
your land. Genuine heroism, unnoticeable and natural, like
life itself - this quality is manifested both in battles and in soldier’s everyday life,
and in the relations of Russian soldiers to each other and to the enemy. The people appear
before us as a bearer of the highest moral values. Common goals
and common misfortune unite people, no matter what
they belong to the class circle, therefore the best national
The traits of a Russian person come to light during a nationwide disaster.
"War and Peace" embodies true nationality - the greatest
Russian conquest classical literature. About people, about life, about
the writer judges historical events from the point of view of the interests of everything
people, who is essentially the main hero of it
works. Trying to understand the patterns of human
life, the historical process, the writer not only draws living
pictures, images and destinies of people, but also argues as a philosopher,
a scientist-historian who speaks the language of science. Writer's Favorite Thought
lives in every image, in every scene, in every detail created by him
great epic.
175. CRITICAL IMAGE OF THE MILITARY-BUREAUCRATIC ENVIRONMENT IN THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
L.N. Tolstoy created many works, but especially important
his epic novel War and Peace. This novel tells how
mental quests of the most advanced part of the nobility, and about
"society". Portraying these “stupid uselessnesses” and exposing them
mediocre entity in the novel "War and Peace", L.N. Tolstoy reaches
what he did not fully achieve in Anna Karenina and Resurrection,
The most complete image of the “vulgarity of a vulgar person.”
The first thing that catches your eye when you read the novel is this
complete destruction by the writer of any secular authority
society. Before us is the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin with his sons:
Hippolyte, Anatole and daughter Helen.
Prince Vasily Kuragin is a representative of the ruling elite. home
The purpose of the prince's actions is personal gain. He said to himself: “Here is Pierre
rich, I must lure him to marry my daughter..." If a man could
to be useful to the prince, he became close to him, said pleasantries to him,
flattered. According to L.N. Tolstoy, Prince Vasily was constantly attracted to
people are stronger and richer than him. So, the purpose of his stay at the evening
Anna Pavlovna Sherer; there was an intention to arrange for the son of Hippolytus
first secretary in Vienna. When it was not possible to steal the count's will
Bezukhova, Prince Vasily, taking advantage of the impracticality of Pierre and his
inexperience, marries him to his daughter. Prince Vasily enjoys
respect from society, which fully characterizes him. Ippolit, Sr.
the son of a prince is a fool. But this does not prevent him from “doing diplomatic
career." After all, he is rich and noble! The youngest son of Prince Vasily,
Anatole, a narrow-minded, depraved “well done” whose selfishness
manifests itself in an attempt to kidnap Natasha Rostova.
The prince's daughter, Helen, is also worthy of her father, stupid, cunning and
depraved woman. “Where you are, there is debauchery, evil,” Pierre tells her.
We see how mercilessly L.N. Tolstoy lifestyle
high society ladies who deal exclusively with toilets,
men, each of whom consists of "necessary, foolish"
who, surrounded by the "indispensable envoys with extremely intelligent
they look like they are listening to political speeches, which, of course, are incomprehensible to them.”
Salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer L.N. Tolstoy compares it to a spinning mill
workshop in which “spindles are evenly distributed from different sides and not
falling silent, they made noise." From the first picture of the evening reception, it is felt that
the life of the salon's regulars is filled only with external gloss, everything
living things are extinguished in this soulless environment. Anna Pavlovna with fear
watches Pierre: is he talking too loudly, laughing. AND
when Pierre manages to strike up a conversation with the abbot, Anna Pavlovna
terribly worried.
Beneath the outer brilliance of the highest light is hidden or empty
phrase-mongering, or feigned interest, or intrigue, calculations,
falsehood and hypocrisy always reign in Scherer's salon. Petty intrigues
being an integral part of the life of secular society, only
complement the whole gallery of his shortcomings and indicate
the unprecedentedly low level of morality of these people. And me
Even love for the Motherland is characteristic. From their side we only observe
the pseudo-patriotism they flaunt. We see these people in
such a difficult time as the period of the war with Napoleon. And these people with
with amazing hypocrisy they were engaged in “pinching lint for
the good of the fatherland." That's all their "love" for the fatherland. Hypocritical
posters calling to “stand up for the fatherland”, once again
prove how contemptuous they are of their people, of
their heroic homeland, existing but not living secular
But these are people who themselves are not involved in waging war. However, not
people present a less disgusting picture
belonging to high society and using war as a means
profit! Let us remember Berg, who, not noticing the horrors of war, is looking for
"mahogany wardrobe". Berg is unfazed by the tragedy
the battle of Austerlitz - he benefited from it: he received
award. He managed to “distinguish himself” in the Finnish war, raising
a fragment of a grenade that killed the adjutant. But this is from the living rooms
light came to active army"golden youth" behind the ranks
and orders, replenishing the ranks of the “drones”. They are not alone. Such
There were a lot of “bergs” and “zherkovs” among the staff officers, they
flooded the army and weakened it. Are those representatives better than them?
military nobility who chose the military field to satisfy their
career desires? They go to war as "to catch happiness and
officials." They are not interested in the fate of the Motherland and the outcome of the war. Such as
Drubetskoy, Zhirkov, Berg, Nesvitsky and many other “heroes” are deaf to
call to Russia. They are not characterized by even short-term emotional
gusts. How unclean their conscience is before their Motherland!
Their life at the front is worthless social life, they are not
are heroes of social intrigue, they do not challenge anyone to a duel and
no one is killed, but their animal existence, formal
presence on the battlefield, their monstrous despotism we regard
as an incomparably more serious crime.
But let's return to brilliant St. Petersburg. Of course, it cannot be compared with
Borodin: the whirlwinds of secular gossip and intrigue are in full swing, but
no one remembers those who go to death to save
worthless life of light, for the sake of preserving court tinsel.
Some "advanced" members of secular society, trying
to diversify the life of the court nobility, they introduce unnecessary
innovations: “secret Masonic organizations” appear.
Realism L.N. Tolstoy satirically ridicules "important religious
Masons", stigmatizes such a pastime. What can be
say about organizations if the head of the Masonic lodge was himself
Tsar Alexander II?
The image of Pierre Bezukhov, who, at first carried away by the ideas of the Freemasons,
but then, realizing their insolvency, he leaves the organization, L.N.
Tolstoy calls on people to lead a different way of life, to
the desire to be useful to society, and not to escape from real life
problem of contemporary society.
L.N. Tolstoy, as a realist writer, tearing off “all and every mask” from
"existents", calls on progressive people to break with the courtiers
relics, keep up with the times, have a clear goal in front of you.
So Pierre Bezukhov, whose mental quest has undergone great and
difficult changes, becomes a fighter for better life. At the end
novel, he is already, as we assume, a member of one of
secret societies. He firmly believes that the leading people of his time
should be with them. And indeed it is. By content
novel - one feels that if Prince Andrei Volkonsky were alive,
then his place, the place of a real patriotic fighter who gave his
a wonderful life for the liberation of his native land, it would be on
Senate Square, together with the Decembrists.
The action of the novel, the search for the meaning of life by the best representatives
nobility reveal new topic in the works of L..N. Tolstoy - theme
Decembrism, a theme posed by real life.
A huge credit goes to L.N. Tolstoy is that he, like no one else,
the other, managed to show the growth of a leading man of his era, his
thoughts, feelings, experiences. L.N. Tolstoy and his geniuses
works will live forever in the hearts of people.
176. "NATASHA ROSTOVA AND MARYA BOLKONSKAYA"
Leo Tolstoy's four-volume "War and Peace" - grandiose in concept
more than five hundred: from Napoleon, Alexander 1, Kutuzov to simple
Russian peasants, townspeople, merchants. Every character in the novel
even if it is secondary, it is interesting to one’s own,
unique destiny, which has received special significance in the light
significant events.
And Emperor Alexander, and who claimed world domination
Napoleon and the illiterate serf Platon Karataev
unusual worldview.
Speaking about "War and Peace", one cannot, of course, not talk about the main characters
novel: Andrei Volkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Princess Marya, family
Rostov. Their inner world, constant work on oneself,
relationships with others actors the novel is forced
a lot to think about.
ABOUT female images in nineteenth-century novels it is customary
say "captivating". It seems to me that Natasha Rostova and Princess
This definition suits Marya, despite all its
banality.
How different they seem at first glance, thin, agile,
graceful Natasha and clumsy, ugly, uninteresting Marya
Bolkonskaya! Natasha Rostova is the personification of love, life, happiness,
youth and feminine charm. Princess Bolkonskaya is sad,
an unattractive, absent-minded girl who is ready for marriage
can count only thanks to his wealth.
And the characters of both Tolstoy’s heroines are not at all similar.
Princess Marya, brought up by the example of her proud,
arrogant and distrustful father, and she herself soon becomes like that.
His secrecy, restraint in expressing his own feelings and
innate nobility is inherited by the daughter. Natasha
characterized by gullibility, spontaneity, and emotionality.
Old Count Ilya Andreich is good-natured, simple-minded, loves to laugh
from the heart, in the Rostov house it is always noisy and fun, there are many guests,
who sincerely love this hospitable house. In the Rostov family
children are not only loved with natural parental love, but also
pamper, do not restrain their independence and freedom.
The mutual understanding in this family is amazing, its members understand each other
A friend at a glance, without insulting even little Petya and Natasha
suspicion or disrespect, which cannot be said about the prince
Volkonsky in relation to the resigned Marya. The princess is afraid of her father,
does not dare take a step without his knowledge, does not obey him, even when
he's wrong. Marya, who passionately loves her father, cannot, for fear
cause an explosion of fatherly anger, even caress or kiss him.
Her life, still a young and intelligent girl, is very difficult.
Natasha’s existence is only occasionally overshadowed by funny
girlish grievances. Natasha's mother is her best friend. Daughter tells
tell her about all your joys, sorrows, doubts and disappointments. In their
there is something touching about intimate evening conversations. Close
Natasha and her brother Nikolai and her cousin Sonya. And the princess
Marya's only consolation is letters from Julie Karagina, whom Marya and
knows more from letters. In her solitude, the princess only gets closer to
with his companion Miss Bourienne. Forced seclusion
the heavy character of her father and the dreamy nature of Marya herself make her
devout. For Princess Volkonskaya, God becomes everything in life: her
assistant, mentor, strict judge. At times she feels
ashamed of her own earthly actions and thoughts, and she dreams
devote oneself to God, go somewhere far, far away, to
free yourself from everything sinful and alien.
Such thoughts do not occur to Natasha. She is cheerful, cheerful
and full of energy. Her youth, beauty, involuntary coquetry and
one cannot help but admire. Her freshness, grace, poetic appearance,
simplicity and spontaneity in communication contrast with
pomposity and unnatural manners of society ladies and young ladies.
At the very first ball, Natasha was noticed. And Andrei Bolkonskiy suddenly
understands that this young girl, almost a girl, has turned his whole
life, filled it with new meaning, that everything that he had previously considered
important and necessary, has no meaning for him now.
Natasha's love makes her even more beautiful, charming and
more unique. The happiness she dreamed of so much overwhelms her
Princess Marya does not have such an all-consuming feeling of love for
one person, so she tries to love everyone, still
spends a lot of time in prayer and everyday concerns. Her soul is like
and Natasha, waiting for love and ordinary female happiness, but
The princess does not admit this even to herself. Her restraint and
patience helps her in all life's difficulties.
It seems to me that, despite the external dissimilarity, the dissimilarity
characters given not only by nature, but also formed under
the influence of the conditions in which Natasha Rostova and Princess lived
Marya, these two women have a lot in common.
peace, inner beauty, which was so loved in Natasha Pierre
Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky and whom Nikolai Rostov admires
in his wife.
Natasha and Marya give themselves over to every feeling to the end, be it
joy or sadness. Their spiritual impulses are often selfless and
noble. They both think more about others, loved ones and loved ones
people than about yourself.
For Princess Marya, God remained throughout her life the ideal to which
her soul yearned. But Natasha, especially in difficult periods of her
life (for example, after the story with Anatoly Kuragin), was given
a feeling of admiration for the Almighty and Almighty. Both of them
I wanted moral purity, a spiritual life, where there would be no place
resentment, anger, envy, injustice, where everything would be sublime
and wonderful.
In my opinion, the word “femininity” largely defines human
the essence of Tolstoy's heroines. This is Natasha’s charm, tenderness,
passion, and beautiful, filled with some kind of inner light,
radiant eyes of Marya Bolkonskaya.
Leo Tolstoy speaks especially about the eyes of his favorite heroines. At the princess's
Marya they are “big, deep”, “always sad”, “more attractive
beauty." Natasha's eyes are "lively", "beautiful", "laughing",
"attentive", "kind". They say that the eyes are the window to the soul,
Natasha and Marya, they really are a reflection of them
inner world.
The family life of Marya and Natasha is an ideal marriage,
strong family bond. Both Tolstoy heroines devote themselves
husbands and children, giving all their mental and physical strength
raising children and creating home comfort. I think Natasha too
(now Bezukhova), and Marya (Rostova) are happy in their family life,
happy with the happiness of their children and beloved husbands.
Tolstoy emphasizes the beauty of his heroines in a new quality for them
Loving wife and tender mother. Of course, you can not accept
“grounding”, “simplification” of the poetic and lovely Natasha. But she
considers herself happy, having dissolved in her children and husband, which means that
“simplification” is not a simplification at all for Natasha, but just a new one
period of her life. After all, even today they still argue about the purpose of women, about
her role in society. And Tolstoy's solution to this problem, I think, is
one of the options.
The influence of both women on their husbands is striking, their
mutual understanding, mutual respect and love.
I believe that Princess Marya and Natasha became related not only by
blood, but also in spirit. Fate accidentally brought them together, but both of them
realized that they were close to each other, and therefore became true friends.
Even more than just friends, Natasha and Princess Marya,
in my opinion, they became spiritual allies with their persistent
the desire to do good and bring light, beauty and love to people.
Introduction
The novel “War and Peace” by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is considered a historical novel. It describes real events military campaigns of 1805-1807 and Patriotic War 1812. It would seem, except battle scenes and discussions about the war should not worry the writer. But central storyline Tolstoy prescribes the family as the basis of all Russian society, the basis of morality and ethics, the basis of human behavior in the course of history. Therefore, the “family thought” in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is one of the main ones.
L.N. Tolstoy presents us with three secular families, which he shows for almost fifteen years, revealing family traditions and culture of several generations: fathers, children, grandchildren. These are the Rostov, Bolkonsky and Kuragin families. The three families are so different from each other, but the fates of their pupils are so closely intertwined.
Rostov family
One of the most exemplary families of society presented by Tolstoy in the novel is the Rostov family. The origins of family are love, mutual understanding, sensual support, harmony of human relationships. Count and Countess Rostov, sons Nikolai and Peter, daughters Natalya, Vera and niece Sonya. All members of this family form a certain circle of living participation in each other’s destinies. The elder sister Vera can be considered a certain exception; she behaved somewhat colder. “...beautiful Vera smiled contemptuously...” Tolstoy describes her manner of behaving in society; she herself said that she was raised differently and was proud that she had nothing to do with “all sorts of tenderness.”
Natasha has been an eccentric girl since childhood. Childhood love for Boris Drubetsky, adoration for Pierre Bezukhov, passion for Anatoly Kuragin, love for Andrei Bolkonsky - truly sincere feelings, absolutely devoid of self-interest.
The manifestation of true patriotism of the Rostov family confirms and reveals the importance of “family thought” in “War and Peace.” Nikolai Rostov saw himself only as a military man and enlisted in the hussars to go defend the Russian army. Natasha gave up carts for the wounded, leaving behind all her acquired property. The Countess and Count provided their home to shelter the wounded from the French. Petya Rostov goes to war as a boy and dies for his homeland.
Bolkonsky family
In the Bolkonsky family, everything is somewhat different than in the Rostovs. Tolstoy does not say that there was no love here. She was there, but her manifestation did not carry such a tender feeling. The old prince Nikolai Bolkonsky believed: “There are only two sources of human vices: idleness and superstition, and that there are only two virtues: activity and intelligence.”
Everything in their family was subject to strict order - “the order in his way of life was brought to the utmost degree of precision.” He himself taught his daughter, studied mathematics and other sciences with her.
Young Bolkonsky loved his father and respected his opinion, he treated him worthy of a princely son. When leaving for war, he asked his father to leave his future son to be raised, since he knew that his father would do everything with honor and justice.
Princess Marya, Andrei Bolkonsky's sister, obeyed the old prince in everything. She lovingly accepted all her father's strictures and cared for him with zeal. To Andrey’s question: “Is it difficult for you with him?” Marya answered: “Is it possible to judge my father?.. I am so pleased and happy with him!”
All relations in the Bolkonsky family were smooth and calm, everyone minded their own business and knew their place. True patriotism Prince Andrei showed this by giving his own life for the victory of the Russian army. Old Prince before last day he kept notes for the sovereign, followed the progress of the war and believed in the strength of Russia. Princess Marya did not renounce her faith, prayed for her brother and helped people with her entire existence.
Kuragin family
This family is presented by Tolstoy in contrast to the previous two. Prince Vasily Kuragin lived only for profit. He knew who to be friends with, who to invite to visit, who to marry children to in order to get a profitable life. In response to Anna Pavlovna’s remark about his family, Sherer says: “What to do! Lavater would say that I don’t have the lump of parental love.”
The secular beauty Helen is bad at heart, the “prodigal son” Anatole leads an idle life, in revelries and amusements, the eldest, Hippolytus, is called a “fool” by his father. This family is incapable of loving, empathizing, or even caring for each other. Prince Vasily admits: “My children are a burden to my existence.” The ideal of their life is vulgarity, debauchery, opportunism, deception of people who love them. Helene destroys the lives of Pierre Bezukhov, Anatole interferes in the relationship between Natasha and Andrei.
We are not even talking about patriotism here. Prince Vasily himself constantly gossips in the world about Kutuzov, now about Bagration, now about Emperor Alexander, now about Napoleon, without having a constant opinion and adapting to circumstances.
New families in the novel
At the end of the novel “War and Peace,” L.N. Tolstoy creates a situation of mixing of the Bolkonsky, Rostov and Bezukhov families. New strong, loving families connect Natasha Rostova and Pierre, Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya. “Like in every real family, in the Lysogorsk house several completely different worlds lived together, which, each maintaining its own peculiarity and making concessions to one another, merged into one harmonious whole,” says the author. The wedding of Natasha and Pierre took place in the year of the death of Count Rostov - the old family collapsed, a new one was formed. And for Nikolai, marrying Marya was salvation for both the entire Rostov family and himself. Marya, with all her faith and love, preserved family peace of mind and ensured harmony.
Conclusion
After writing an essay on the topic “Family Thought in the Novel “War and Peace”,” I became convinced that family means peace, love, and understanding. And harmony in family relationships can only come from respect for each other.
Work test