The multifaceted prose canvas created by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a true picture of the life of the Russian people in the first quarter of the 19th century. The volume of the work and the scale of the description characteristically evoke the multifaceted problems of the novel. One of the problems that is solved by L.N. Tolstoy is the study of the moral essence of secular society in the novel “War and Peace”.

Artistic technique of opposition

One of the main artistic techniques used by the author is opposition. This catches your eye even before reading the epic novel, because this technique already emphasizes the title of the work. Through a parallel image based on the opposition of war and peace, Lev Nikolaevich depicts actual problems the era of the early 19th century, human vices and virtues, the values ​​of society and the personal dramas of the heroes.

The technique of contrast affected not only the image plans, but also the images. In the novel, the author created images of war and peace. If the author depicts the war through battles, the characters of commanders, officers and soldiers, then the world personifies the image of Russian society in the first decades of the 19th century.

In describing the characteristic secular world in the novel “War and Peace,” the author does not deviate from his stylistic manner, which is characterized not only by philosophical digressions, where the author’s assessment of the events described is traced, but also Comparative characteristics phenomena, images, spiritual qualities. This is how the author depicts representatives of the two main cities of the Empire – St. Petersburg and Moscow – in a hidden contrast.

Characteristics of metropolitan society in the novel

In that historical period, which is described in the work, St. Petersburg was the capital Russian Empire, with the pretentious society characteristic of such a high rank. St. Petersburg is a city characterized by architectural splendor combined with cold gloominess and inaccessibility. The author transfers his peculiar character to St. Petersburg society.

Social events, balls, receptions are the main events for representatives of the capital's secular society. It is there that political, cultural and secular news are discussed. However, behind the external beauty of these events, it is clear that representatives of the nobility do not care or care at all about these topics, nor the opinions of their interlocutors, nor the outcome of conversations and meetings. The exposure of true and false beauty, the essence of metropolitan society is revealed in the novel from the first price in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer.

St. Petersburg high society in the novel plays familiar roles, speaks only about what is customary to talk about, and acts as expected. Using the example of the Kuragin family, who are characteristic representative metropolitan society, the author, with undisguised disappointment and irony, emphasizes the theatricality, affectation and cynicism of the social life of St. Petersburg and its representatives. Only those who are inexperienced or who have lost interest in role-playing find the approval of the author on the pages of the novel, through whose lips the author gives his assessment: “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot get out.”

Description of Moscow social life and its representatives

For the first time, the author introduces the reader to the customs and atmosphere of the Moscow nobility at the morning reception of the Rostov family. At first glance, it may seem that the social picture of Moscow is not much different from the society of the Northern capital. However, the conversations of representatives of the nobility are no longer so generalized and empty; in them one can also hear personal opinions, disputes and discussions, which indicates the sincerity of their views, true concern for the fate of their region and the state as a whole. At social events there is a place for children's pranks and good-natured laughter, sincere amazement, simplicity and directness of thoughts and actions, trust and forgiveness.

At the same time, one should not assume that Tolstoy, who undoubtedly sympathizes with Moscow society in the novel, idealizes it. On the contrary, he emphasizes many of his qualities that do not find approval from the author, such as envy, ridicule, passion for gossip and discussion of other people's private lives. However, creating an image of the secular society of Moscow, the author identifies it with the characteristic both positive and negative features inherent in the Russian people.

The role of the image of secular society in the novel

One of the main issues that underlies the work and my essay on the topic “ Secular society in the novel “War and Peace” is the essence of the Russian people, with all its versatility, shortcomings and advantages. In the novel, Tolstoy's goal was to show true face society of the early 19th century, in order to depict against its background the essence of the Russian soul and the main national values, such as home, family and state.

The image of society serves not only as a force that shapes views, opinions, principles of thinking and ideals of behavior, but also as a background for expression through it. bright personalities, thanks to high moral qualities and whose heroism the war was won, which largely affected the future fate of the state.

Work test

PICTURE OF SECULAR SOCIETY IN THE NOVEL “WAR AND PEACE” The work was completed by 10th grade students of MAOU Secondary School No. 11 Olga Tsygankova, Angelina Mazurina G. Kaliningrad

Tolstoy recalled that he was inspired to write the novel “WAR and PEACE” by “folk thought.” It was from the people that TOLSTOY himself learned and advised others to do the same. Therefore, the main characters of his novel are people from the people or those who stood close to ordinary people. Without denying the merits of the nobility to the people, he divides them into two categories. The first category includes those who, by their character, outlook, worldview, are close to the people or come to this through trials. The best representatives of the nobility in this regard are Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre BezuKHOV, Natasha Rostova, Princess Marya Bolkonskaya.

But there are other representatives of the nobility, the so-called “secular society,” who constitute a special caste. These are people who recognize only a few values: title, power and money. Only those who have one or all of the listed values ​​are allowed into their circle and recognized as their own. Secular society is completely empty, just as its individual representatives are empty and insignificant, people without any moral or ethical principles, without life goals. Their spiritual world is just as empty and insignificant. But despite this, they have great power. This is the elite that runs the country, the people who decide the destinies of their fellow citizens.

Tolstoy tries in the novel to show the entire nation and all its representatives. "War and Peace" begins with scenes depicting the highest noble society. The author shows mainly the present, but also touches on the past. Tolstoy paints the nobles of this bygone era. Count Bezukhov is one of their representatives. Bezukhov is rich and noble, he has a good estate, money, power, which he received from the kings for small services. A former favorite of Catherine, a reveler and a libertine, he devoted his entire life to pleasure. He is opposed by the old Prince Bolkonsky, his peer. Bolkonsky is a loyal defender of the fatherland, which he served faithfully. For this he was repeatedly in disgrace and out of favor with those in power.

“Secular society,” even with the onset of the War of 1812, changed little: “calm, luxurious, concerned only with ghosts, reflections of life, St. Petersburg life went on as before; and because of the course of this life, it was necessary to make great efforts to recognize the danger and the difficult situation in which the Russian people found themselves. There were the same exits, balls, the same French theater, the same interests of the courts, the same interests of service and intrigue...” Only the conversations changed - they began to talk more about Napoleon and patriotism.

In War and Peace all layers of Moscow noble society are represented. Tolstoy, characterizing noble society, strives to show not individual representatives, but entire families. After all, it is in the family that both the foundations of integrity and morality, as well as spiritual emptiness and idleness, are laid. One of these families is the Kuragin family. Its head, Vasily Kuragin, occupies a fairly high position in the country. He is a minister called to take care of the people. Instead, all the elder Kuragin’s concerns are directed towards himself and his own children. His son Ippolit is a diplomat who cannot speak Russian at all. For all his stupidity and insignificance, he craves power and wealth. Anatol Kuragin is no better than his brother. His only entertainment is carousing and drinking. It seems that this person is completely indifferent to everything except indulging his own whims. His friend Drubetskoy is Anatole’s constant companion and a witness to his dark deeds.

Thus, by depicting noble society, Tolstoy shows its inactivity and inability to rule the country. The noble nobility has outlived its usefulness and must leave the stage of history. The necessity and inevitability of this was convincingly demonstrated Patriotic War 1812. The highest nobility differs from the people even in their language. Language noble nobility- This is a Frenchized language. He is as dead as the rest of society. It preserves empty cliches, once and for all established expressions, ready-made phrases that are used in convenient cases. People have learned to hide their feelings behind common phrases.

Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” allows us to judge what Russian society was like at the beginning of the 19th century.

The writer shows the reader not only representatives of high society, but also the Moscow and local nobility, and creates amazing images of peasants. Thus, almost all social strata of Russia are represented in the novel.

Pictures of Russian society in the novel “War and Peace”

Historical figures

• Emperor Alexander I,
• Napoleon,
• Kutuzov,
• marshals of France,
• generals of the Russian army.

Showing historical figures, Tolstoy is authorially biased: for him, Kutuzov is a truly historical, majestic personality. Both Emperor Alexander and Napoleon think first of all about themselves, their role in history, therefore their role in real history ghostly. Kutuzov feels the spirit of providence and subordinates his activities to the service of the Fatherland. Tolstoy writes:

“There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.”

Therefore, Kutuzov is great and Napoleon and others like him are insignificant.

Images of Russian nobles in the novel “War and Peace”

Revealing the images of Russian nobles, the writer uses his favorite technique of contrast. The St. Petersburg nobility, the high society of St. Petersburg are opposed to the Moscow and to the local nobility the desire for one's own benefit, career, narrow personal interests.

The personification of such a society is the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, whose description of the evening begins the novel. The hostess herself and her guests are likened to a workshop where machines make noise and spindles spin. Pierre's behavior and sincerity seem like bad manners to regulars of the salon.

A symbol of deceit high society the Kuragin family also becomes. External beauty is not necessarily an attribute of internal beauty. The beauty of Helen and Anatole hides their predatory nature, which is aimed only at obtaining their own pleasure. Pierre's marriage to Helene, Natasha's false love for Anatole - mistakes for which they pay with disappointment in life, a fragile fate.

The essence of high society is manifested in relation to the War of 1812. During the Battle of Borodino, St. Petersburg is more occupied with which of the two contenders for her hand will be chosen by Princess Bezukhova, Helen, while her husband is alive. The patriotism of this society is expressed in the refusal to speak French and the inability to speak Russian. The deceitfulness of this society is clearly visible in the behavior of Prince Vasily Kuragin during the struggle for the appointment of Kutuzov as commander of the Russian army. Kuragins, Bergs, Drubetskys, Rostopchin, even in war, seek only profit; true patriotism, unity of the nation.

Moscow nobles and locals are close to the people. Moscow treats the War of 1812 differently. The nobles gather the militia, seized by a single impulse of patriotism, they meet Emperor Alexander. Pierre equips an entire regiment of militia and demands that the carts, which are intended for transporting things during the retreat, be given to the wounded. Tolstoy admires a single family house, where masters and servants represent a single whole (scenes of name days in the Rostovs’ house, Natasha’s hunt and dance in Uncle Rostov’s house).

Images of the people, merchants "War and Peace"

For each of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes, a man of the people becomes the measure of truth:

• for Andrei Bolkonsky this is a meeting with Tushin in the Battle of Shengraben,
• for Pierre - with Platon Karataev in captivity,
• for Denisov - with Tikhon Shcherbaty in the partisan detachment.

The unity of the nation is also represented by the image of Muscovites, in particular the Moscow lady who leaves the city

“with a vague awareness that she is not Bonaparte’s servant.”

The merchant class is represented in the novel by the character Ferapontov, who opens his barns to residents and soldiers during the retreat from Smolensk, shouting:

“Take everything...Raseya has decided.”

The images of peasants are extremely interesting. Tolstoy shows the diversity of Russian folk characters.

• This is Tikhon Shcherbaty - “the most the right person in Denisov’s detachment, a man who can walk the same distance as a horseman, pull a horse out of a swamp, take a prisoner.

• This is only the elder Vasilisa mentioned by the writer, who led the partisan detachment.

• This is Captain Tushin, small, nondescript, thanks to whom it was possible to save the Russian army in the Battle of Shengraben.

• This is Captain Timokhin, an unnoticed war worker on whom the Russian army rests.

• This is the philosopher and sage Platon Karataev, whose contradictory image still confuses critics. Plato was a good soldier, but he also takes captivity as a given, as life, while maintaining a sense of self-esteem.

Tolstoy would not have been Tolstoy if he had not shown the contradictory attitudes of the peasants towards the invasion. The revolt of the Bogucharovsky peasants, their reluctance to go into captivity, speaks of the hopes of the peasantry for liberation from serfdom.

“In War and Peace,” Tolstoy will say, “I loved popular thought.”

Russian families in the novel

But family thought also plays an important role in the novel. Tolstoy considers the family to be the basis of the state.

The families of Rostov, Bolkonsky, at the end of the novel the families of Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya are moral ideal families where there is kinship of souls, unity and mutual understanding.

It is in these families that talented children grow up, the basis of the future of Russia.

He wrote that his novel was

“a picture of morals built on a historical event.”

The novel gives a lot for understanding the mysteries of the Russian soul and Russian national character, the amazing strength of the nation, the people in the broad sense, during deep national upheavals.

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L.N. Tolstoy initially wanted to write a short novel about a Decembrist who returned home from exile. About his views on life, changes in worldview. But in the process of work, I realized that it was impossible to do without the previous history. It was necessary to reveal the origins of the Decembrist movement, the character of the Russian nobility and the common people. But this world is so multifaceted that the work resulted in a voluminous, truly legendary epic novel.

Attitude to war

Showing the war, Tolstoy describes Napoleon's attack on Russia, the Battle of Borodino, the slow return of the Russian army, the French conquest of Moscow, the fire in the capital and the return of Napoleon's army during the harsh winter. The French commander had to flee from Russia under fire from Russian soldiers. His army is suffering from cold and hunger, since the Russians have destroyed all food supplies. Napoleon's capture of Moscow proved futile, and ultimately destroyed most of his army.

Along with these historical events Tolstoy describes the different classes of Russian society in terms of their participation in the war and the impact the war had on their lives. At the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class insists on Russian participation in the war. They wanted a quick victory, pride in the Russian nobility. But they did not expect that the war would destroy houses, agriculture, and take many lives of compatriots. However, the majority of this class did not plan to participate in the war themselves, but intended to win the battles through the hands of the peasants.

At the beginning of the novel, representatives of the aristocracy dream of war, admiring the genius of Napoleon. It doesn’t matter to them how many battles will take human lives, how many people will be crippled, how many orphans will be left. During bloody and protracted confrontations, the nobility makes other pathetic speeches, scolding the French commander. The attitude towards the French language, so praised only recently, is also changing. Fines are being introduced for this speech.

Character antagonism

Tolstoy leads the reader to an awareness of true and false moral values, patriotism, honor and dishonor. People like Drubetskoy are eager to go to war only for their own benefit. By killing hundreds of people, they want to get a high officer rank. Their aspirations are base, vile, vulgar, and deceitful. But simple, inconspicuous people, like Tushin, really care about victory, have compassion for people, love, and are deeply rooted for their Motherland. The same applies to women in the novel. Young Natasha Rostova, whom many considered flighty and unconscious, gives her carts to the wounded, realizing that because of this she will not be able to evacuate in time. The author gently pushes us to compare Helen Kuragina and Marya Bolkonskaya. Everyone considers Helen a beauty, many are in love with her. She is in demand in secular society. Maria, on the other hand, has an inconspicuous appearance, is modest and quiet. But she has a sensitive soul, is virtuous, and internally beautiful. You understand this only after reading the novel in its entirety.

Attitude towards peasants

All Moscow and St. Petersburg nobility of that time were landowners. But only a few of them treated the peasants as people. Then it was easy to sell a person, trade him or lose at cards. And the peasants were measured by “souls.” This suggests that the aristocrats imagined themselves almost as gods, thinking that they owned human souls. Meanwhile, the Russian people are the true hero of the great work.

Conclusion

The writer paid a lot of attention to the depiction of the noble class. Lev Nikolaevich makes us understand the insignificance of these people. They are cold, arrogant, prim. Personal gain, money, rank, gossip are more important to them than honor, truth, and morality. It is not customary here to express one’s thoughts openly, out loud, and personal opinion must correspond to the opinion of the crowd. Any sincere manifestation of feelings is only condemned here. Some of them, such as: Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, through physical and moral suffering, were able to cleanse themselves and come to inner harmony after brutal self-analysis. But there are only a few of them.

The writer also reveals the role of women in society. She should not be a coquette, like Helen Kuragina, or a society lady, like Anna Scherer, but a mother and wife. It becomes like this main character novel - Natasha Rostova.

The image of secular society in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

In the novel “War and Peace,” Tolstoy created a truthful and holistic picture of Russian life in the first quarter of the 19th century. During this period in Russia, the main social role was played by the nobles, so a significant place in the novel is given to the description of secular society. It should be noted that high society at that time was represented mainly by two metropolitan societies, quite different from each other: St. Petersburg and Moscow.
St. Petersburg is the capital, a cold, inhospitable city, on par with European cities. The St. Petersburg high society is a special world with its own laws, customs, morals, the intellectual center of the country, oriented towards Europe. But the first thing that catches your eye when describing relationships in this society is unnaturalness. All representatives of high society are accustomed to playing roles imposed on them by society or taken by them voluntarily; it is not for nothing that Prince Vasily is compared to an actor in the novel.
One of the main types of pastime for members of high society were social receptions at which news, the situation in Europe and much more were discussed. It seemed to the new person that everything being discussed was important, and all those present were very smart and thoughtful people, seriously interested in the subject of the conversation. In fact, there is something mechanical and indifferent in these techniques, and Tolstoy compares those present in the Scherer salon to a talking machine. An intelligent, serious, inquisitive person cannot be satisfied with such communication, and he quickly becomes disillusioned with the world. However, the basis of a secular society is made up of those who like such communication and for whom it is necessary. Such people develop a certain stereotype of behavior, which they transfer into their personal and family life. Therefore, in their relationships in the family there is little cordiality, more practicality and calculation. A typical St. Petersburg family is the Kuragin family.
Moscow secular society appears to us completely different, which, however, is still similar in some ways to St. Petersburg. The first image of Moscow light in the novel is the description of the name day in the Rostov house. The morning reception of guests is reminiscent of social receptions in St. Petersburg: discussion of news, although not on a global scale, but local, feigned feelings of surprise or indignation, but the impression immediately changes with the appearance of children, who bring spontaneity, happiness, and causeless fun into the living room. At dinner with the Rostovs, all the qualities inherent in the Moscow nobility are manifested: hospitality, cordiality, nepotism. Moscow society in many ways resembles one big family, where everyone knows everything, where they forgive each other’s small weaknesses and can publicly scold each other for mischief. Only in such a society could a figure like Akhrosimova appear, and Natasha’s outburst be condescendingly appreciated. Unlike the St. Petersburg nobility, the Moscow nobility is closer to the Russian people, their traditions and customs. In general, Tolstoy’s sympathies, apparently, are on the side of the Moscow nobility; it is not for nothing that his favorite heroes, the Rostovs, live in Moscow. And although the writer cannot approve of many of the traits and morals of Muscovites (gossiping, for example), he does not focus on them. In depicting secular society, Tolstoy actively uses the technique of “detachment,” which allows him to look at events and characters from an unexpected point of view. So , when describing an evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s, the writer compares the salon with a spinning workshop, illuminating the social reception from an unexpected angle and allowing the reader to penetrate into the essence of the relationships at it. French in the speech of the heroes is also a technique of “detachment,” making it possible to more fully create the image of a secular society that at that time spoke mainly French.
The novel “War and Peace” was created in the second half of the 19th century. This means that Tolstoy was familiar with the life of secular society at the beginning of the century only from the literature of that time or from the stories of contemporaries of that era. Poets and writers early XIX centuries often turned to the depiction of the nobility in their works, that is, in literature at that time there already existed a certain tradition in the depiction of high society, and Tolstoy in many ways continues this tradition, although he often departs from it. This allowed him to create very. a complete and reliable image of the secular society of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.