The image and characterization of Elena Kuragina in the novel War and Peace by Tolstoy. Marya Bolkonskaya: problems of spirituality, inner work

Leo TOLSTOY in his works tirelessly argued that the social role of women is exceptionally great and beneficial. Its natural expression is the preservation of the family, motherhood, caring for children and the duties of a wife. In the novel “War and Peace”, in the images of Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya, the writer showed rare women for the then secular society, the best representatives of the noble environment of the early 19th century. Both of them devoted their lives to their family, felt a strong connection with it during the War of 1812, and sacrificed everything for the family.
Positive images of women from the nobility acquire even greater relief, psychological and moral depth against the backdrop of the image of Helen Kuragina and in contrast with it. In drawing this image, the author spared no expense in color in order to more clearly highlight all its negative features.
Helen Kuragina is a typical representative of high society salons, a daughter of her time and class. Her beliefs and behavior were largely dictated by the position of a woman in noble society, where a woman played the role of a beautiful doll who needed to be married off on time and successfully, and no one asked her opinion on this matter. The main occupation is to shine at balls and give birth to children, multiplying the number of Russian aristocrats.
Tolstoy sought to show that external beauty does not mean inner, spiritual beauty. Describing Helen, the author gives her appearance ominous features, as if the very beauty of a person’s face and figure already contained sin. Helen belongs to the light, she is its reflection and symbol.
Hastily married by her father to the absurd Pierre Bezukhov, who suddenly became rich, whom people in the world were accustomed to despise as illegitimate, Helene becomes neither a mother nor a housewife. She continues to lead an empty social life, which suits her quite well.
The impression that Helen makes on readers at the beginning of the story is admiration for her beauty. Pierre admires her youth and splendor from afar, and Prince Andrei and everyone around her admire her. “Princess Helene smiled, she rose with the same unchanging smile of a completely beautiful woman with whom she entered the drawing room. Slightly rustling with her white ball gown, decorated with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of her shoulders, the gloss of her hair and diamonds, she walked between the parting men and straight, not looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and, as if kindly granting everyone the right to admire the beauty of her waist, full shoulders, very open, according to the fashion of that time, chest and back, as if bringing with it the sparkle of the ball.”
Tolstoy emphasizes the lack of facial expressions on the heroine’s face, her always “monotonously beautiful smile”, hiding the inner emptiness of the soul, immorality and stupidity. Her “marble shoulders” give the impression of a stunning statue rather than a living woman. Tolstoy does not show her eyes, which apparently do not reflect feelings. Throughout the entire novel, Helen was never frightened, was not happy, did not feel sorry for anyone, was not sad, was not tormented. She loves only herself, thinks about her own benefit and convenience. That's what everyone in the family thinks
Kuragin, where they don’t know what conscience and decency are. Pierre, driven to despair, says to his wife: “Where you are, there is debauchery and evil.” This accusation can be applied to the entire secular society.
Pierre and Helen are opposite in beliefs and character. Pierre did not love Helene; he married her, smitten by her beauty. Out of kindness and sincerity, the hero fell into the nets cleverly placed by Prince Vasily. Pierre has a noble, sympathetic heart. Helen is cold, calculating, selfish, cruel and clever in her social adventures. Its nature is precisely defined by Napoleon’s remark: “This is a beautiful animal.” The heroine takes advantage of her dazzling beauty. Helen will never be tormented or repent. This, according to Tolstoy, is her greatest sin.
Helen always finds justification for her psychology of a predator capturing its prey. After Pierre’s duel with Dolokhov, she lies to Pierre and thinks only about what they will say about her in the world: “Where will this lead? So that I become the laughing stock of all Moscow; so that everyone will say that you, drunk and unconscious, challenged to a duel a person whom you are jealous of without reason, who is better than you in all respects.” This is the only thing that worries her; in the world of high society there is no place for sincere feelings. Now the heroine already seems ugly to the reader. The events of the war revealed the ugly, unspiritual nature that was always the essence of Helen. The beauty given by nature does not bring happiness to the heroine. Happiness must be earned through spiritual generosity.
The death of Countess Bezukhova is as stupid and scandalous as her life. Entangled in lies and intrigues, trying to marry two suitors at once while her husband is alive, she mistakenly takes a large dose of medicine and dies in terrible agony.
The image of Helen significantly complements the picture of the morals of the high society of Russia. In creating it, Tolstoy showed himself to be a remarkable psychologist and a keen expert on human souls.

My desire is to try to unravel all that is compatible and incompatible, internal and superficial in one of the characters in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” - the beautiful Helen. Maybe we will eventually come to this very phrase: beauty and the beast. Each person has his own strengths and weaknesses, some of which we sometimes don’t even notice, we simply don’t pay attention to them. Rarely is the balance of good and bad balanced; most often from each other we hear about someone: good, evil; beautiful, ugly; bad, good; smart, stupid. What makes us pronounce certain adjectives that characterize a person? Of course, the predominance of some qualities over others: evil over good, beauty over ugliness.

At the same time, we consider both the inner world of the individual and the external appearance. And it happens that beauty is able to hide evil, and goodness manages to make ugliness invisible. When we see a person for the first time, we don’t think about his soul at all, we notice only his external attractiveness, but often the state of his soul is opposite to his external appearance: under a snow-white shell there is a rotten egg. L.N. Tolstoy convincingly showed us this deception using the example of Helen.

Helen is the soul of society, she is admired, praised, people fall in love with her, but only... and because of her attractive outer shell. She knows what she is like and that's what she takes advantage of. And why not?.. Helen always pays great attention to her appearance. The writer emphasizes that the heroine wants to remain beautiful in appearance for as long as possible in order to hide the ugliness of her soul. Helen is a beauty, but she is also a monster. Pierre revealed this secret, however, only after he became close to Kuragina, or rather, after she married him to herself. No matter how mean and base it was, Helen forced Pierre to utter words of love. She decided for him that he loved her as soon as Bezukhov turned out to be rich. Having set a goal for herself, Kuragina coldly achieves it through deception, which makes us feel the cold and danger in the ocean of her soul, despite the superficial charm and sparkle. Even when, after her husband’s duel with Dolokhov and the break with Pierre, Helen understands what she has done (although this was part of her plans) in the name of achieving her goal, she still accepts it as inevitable, at least she is convinced that she did the right thing and In no case is she guilty of anything: these, they say, are the laws of life. Moreover, the money did not leave her - only her husband left. Helen knows the value of her beauty, but does not know how monstrous she is in nature, because the worst thing is when a person does not know that he is sick and does not take medicine.

“Elena Vasilievna, who has never loved anything except her body, and one of the stupidest women in the world,” thought Pierre, “seems to people to be the height of intelligence and sophistication, and they bow before her.” One cannot but agree with Bezukhov. A dispute may arise just because of her intelligence, but if you carefully study her entire strategy for achieving a goal, then you won’t even notice much intelligence, rather, insight, calculation, and everyday experience. When Helen sought wealth, she got it through a successful marriage. This is the simplest, most common way for a woman to get rich, which does not require intelligence. Well, when she desired freedom, then again the easiest way was found - to arouse jealousy in her husband, who in the end is ready to give everything so that she disappears forever, while Helen does not lose money, and also does not lose her position in society. Cynicism and calculation are the main qualities of the heroine, allowing her to achieve her goals.

People fell in love with Helen, but no one loved her. And this is yet another proof of her monstrosity. Personally, she seems to me like a divinely beautiful statue made of white marble, which they look at and admire, but no one considers her alive, no one is ready to love her, because what she is made of is stone, cold and hard, there is no soul there, which means there is no response and warmth. Each person has his own advantages and disadvantages, some of them we sometimes don’t even notice, we simply don’t pay attention to them. Although there are times when in a loved one whom you know very well, you notice something completely new that you didn’t even suspect. Again, the positive is very different from the negative. Rarely is the balance of good and bad balanced; most often we hear from each other: good, evil. Beautiful, ugly. Bad, good. Smart, stupid. What makes us pronounce certain adjectives that characterize a person? Of course, the predominance of some qualities over others: evil over good, beauty over ugliness.

But we consider both the inner world of the individual and the external appearance. And it happens that beauty is able to hide evil, and goodness manages to make ugliness invisible. When we see a person for the first time, we don’t think about his soul at all, we notice only his external attractiveness, but often the state of his soul is opposite to his external appearance: under a snow-white shell there is a rotten egg. L.N. Tolstoy convincingly showed us this deception using the example of Helen.

Helen is the soul of society, she is admired, praised, people fall in love with her, but only... and because of her attractive outer shell. She knows what she is like, she knows what she is worth, and that is exactly what she uses. And why not?.. Helen always pays great attention to her appearance. Most often you will hear from her: “This suits me...”, but not: “I love...” The author of the work “War and Peace” pointed out the fact that Helen herself wants to remain beautiful in appearance for as long as possible in order to hide the ugliness of the soul. Helen is a beauty, but she is also a monster. Pierre revealed this secret, however, only after he approached her, after she married him to herself. No matter how mean and base it was, Helen forced Pierre to utter words of love. She decided for him that he loved her. This very dramatically changed our attitude towards Helen, made us feel the cold and danger in the ocean of her soul, despite the superficial charm, sparkle and warmth.

Further, L. N. Tolstoy again very specifically and without any doubt gives us evidence of the monstrosity of Helen, who does not live, but exists, and rather not even as a person, but as an animal that needs food, shelter, and only... Helen sets before herself goal, while her aspirations are not too different from those that probably any person is trying to achieve, but the way she comes to the goal makes the heart clench with indignation, you immediately want to turn away from the dirt left behind on the road of life, in the destinies of other people. And when Helen understands what she has done (although this was part of her plans) in the name of achieving her goal, she still accepts it as inevitable, at least she is convinced that she did the right thing and is in no way to blame for anything: These, they say, are the laws of life. Helen knows the value of her beauty, but does not know how monstrous she is in nature, because the worst thing is when a person does not know that he is sick and does not take medicine.

“Elena Vasilievna, who has never loved anything except her body, and one of the stupidest women in the world,” thought Pierre, “seems to people to be the height of intelligence and sophistication, and they bow before her.” One cannot but agree with Pierre. A dispute may arise just because of her intelligence, but if you carefully study her entire strategy for achieving a goal, then you won’t notice much intelligence, rather, insight, calculation, and everyday experience. When Helene sought wealth, she got it with the help of Pierre. This is the simplest, most common way for a woman to get rich, which does not require intelligence. Well, when she desired freedom, and again the easiest way was found - to arouse jealousy in her husband, who in the end is ready to give everything so that she disappears forever, while Helen does not lose money, and also does not lose her position in society. Everything remained with her only thanks to her guess that there are two religions. It was not a surprise for the reader to hear Helen’s words: “Having entered a true religion, I cannot be bound by what an outdated religion has imposed on me,” because this was one of the main points of her plan to achieve her intended goal.

Leo Tolstoy in his works tirelessly argued that the social role of women is exceptionally great and beneficial. Its natural expression is the preservation of the family, motherhood, caring for children and the duties of a wife. In the novel “War and Peace”, in the images of Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya, the writer showed rare women for the then secular society, the best representatives of the noble environment of the early 19th century. Both of them devoted their lives to their family, felt a strong connection with it during the War of 1812, and sacrificed everything for the family.

Positive images of women from the nobility acquire even greater relief, psychological and moral depth against the background of the image of Helen Kuragina and in contrast with it. In drawing this image, the author spared no expense in color in order to more clearly highlight all its negative features.

Helen Kuragina is a typical representative of high society salons, a daughter of her time and class. Her beliefs and manner of behavior were largely dictated by the position of a woman in a noble society, where a woman played the role of a beautiful doll who needed to be married off on time and successfully, and no one asked her opinion on this matter. The main occupation is to shine at balls and give birth to children, increasing the number of Russian aristocrats.

Tolstoy sought to show that external beauty does not mean inner, spiritual beauty. Describing Helen, the author gives her appearance ominous features, as if the very beauty of a person’s face and figure already contained sin. Helen belongs to the light, she is its reflection and symbol.

Hastily married by her father to the absurd Pierre Bezukhov, who suddenly became rich, whom people in the world were accustomed to despise as illegitimate, Helene becomes neither a mother nor a housewife. She continues to lead an empty social life, which suits her quite well.

The impression that Helen makes on readers at the beginning of the story is admiration for her beauty. Pierre admires her youth and splendor from afar, and Prince Andrei and everyone around her admire her. “Princess Helene smiled, she rose with the same unchanging smile of a completely beautiful woman with whom she entered the drawing room. Slightly rustling with her white ball gown, decorated with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of her shoulders, the gloss of her hair and diamonds, she walked between the parted men and straight, not looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and, as if kindly granting everyone the right to admire the beauty of her figure , full shoulders, very open, in the fashion of that time, chest and back, as if bringing with it the sparkle of the ball.”

Tolstoy emphasizes the lack of facial expressions on the heroine’s face, her always “monotonously beautiful smile”, hiding the inner emptiness of the soul, immorality and stupidity. Her “marble shoulders” give the impression of a stunning statue rather than a living woman. Tolstoy does not show her eyes, which apparently do not reflect feelings. Throughout the entire novel, Helen was never frightened, was not happy, did not feel sorry for anyone, was not sad, was not tormented. She loves only herself, thinks about her own benefit and convenience. This is exactly what everyone in the Kuragin family thinks, where they do not know what conscience and decency are. Pierre, driven to despair, says to his wife: “Where you are, there is debauchery and evil.” This accusation can be applied to the entire secular society.

Pierre and Helen are opposite in beliefs and character. Pierre did not love Helene; he married her, smitten by her beauty. Out of kindness and sincerity, the hero fell into the nets cleverly placed by Prince Vasily. Pierre has a noble, sympathetic heart. Helen is cold, calculating, selfish, cruel and clever in her social adventures. Its nature is precisely defined by Napoleon’s remark: “This is a beautiful animal.” The heroine takes advantage of her dazzling beauty. Helen will never be tormented or repent. This, according to Tolstoy, is her greatest sin.

Helen always finds justification for her psychology of a predator capturing its prey. After Pierre’s duel with Dolokhov, she lies to Pierre and thinks only about what they will say about her in the world: “Where will this lead? So that I become the laughing stock of all Moscow; so that everyone will say that you, drunk and unconscious, challenged to a duel a person whom you are jealous of without reason, who is better than you in all respects.” This is the only thing that worries her; in the world of high society there is no place for sincere feelings. Now the heroine already seems ugly to the reader. The events of the war revealed the ugly, unspiritual nature that was always the essence of Helen. The beauty given by nature does not bring happiness to the heroine. Happiness must be earned through spiritual generosity.

The death of Countess Bezukhova is as stupid and scandalous as her life. Entangled in lies and intrigues, trying to marry two suitors at once while her husband is alive, she mistakenly takes a large dose of medicine and dies in terrible agony.

The image of Helen significantly complements the picture of the morals of the high society of Russia. In creating it, Tolstoy showed himself to be a remarkable psychologist and a keen expert on human souls.

“War and Peace” evokes two opinions among literature lovers. Some people read a bulky novel avidly, while others do not have the strength to read the entire work, so this book often gathers dust on the top shelves of the bookcase. Those who managed to read the entire work from cover to cover claim that “War and Peace” is the pinnacle of Russian literature. After all, Tolstoy was able to show readers not only the contrast between peacetime and wartime, but also colorful characters who have both positive and negative character traits.

We can say that Lev Nikolaevich, as in “Dead Souls,” identified human psychotypes. But if some antagonists command respect and acquire the love of fans (for example, from “”), then the carefree Elen Kuragina is unlikely to have loyal fans, because she combines hypocrisy, immorality, lack of spirituality and indifference. However, in any case, Lev Nikolaevich introduces bookstore regulars to this character quite closely, because only smart people learn from the mistakes of others, even fictional ones.

History of creation

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy worked on his seminal work from 1863 to 1869. Initially, the novel was supposed to tell about a Decembrist who returns with his family to the Russian Empire. But when the author began to think out the description of the main character, he, willy-nilly, moved the action to 1812. As you know, this was a difficult time for the fatherland, because due to the refusal to support the continental blockade, the Patriotic War began in Russia.

The writer was inspired by the bloody events of past years and even visited the village of Borodino, where the great battle took place. In order not to be unfounded and to support his thoughts with facts, the literary genius relied on the scientific works of historians and the records of memoirists.

The works of Sergei and Fyodor Glinka, Mikhail Speransky, Auguste Marmont and other writers fell into his hands. But Tolstoy's main goal was not to describe the feuds between the Russian Empire and supporters of France or the actions of commanders and soldiers. He wanted to show the thinking and change of a person in an era of loss and failure. The master managed to write out 550 characters, but readers remembered only the main characters: , and , Helen and .

Biography

Although Lev Nikolaevich loved to scrupulously describe even seemingly unremarkable details, the biography of Helen Kuragina, an anti-heroine with an extravagant appearance, is mentioned in passing. All we know is that the girl is not yet 25 years old. However, the reader can easily draw a logical conclusion based on the extraordinary behavior of this young lady: her parents did not make any effort to give their daughter a proper upbringing.

This woman has an unpleasant demeanor and does not value love and family well-being; all she needs from men is material wealth. Helen herself does not build goals and means of achieving monetary wealth, because she is not used to working, but dreams of shining at balls.

Therefore, a beauty with black eyes and blond hair, without a twinge of conscience, is ready to change life partners like gloves; she is a clear antipode to Natasha Rostova, who is guided not by reason, but by the dictates of her heart. From the plot of “War and Peace” it becomes known that Helen accepted a marriage proposal from Pierre Bezukhov, having learned the news that this young man received an inheritance from his father.

Bezukhov, intoxicated by Helen's beauty, walked her down the aisle, and after some time he learned about her infidelities with officer Dolokhov, to whom Kuragina's official husband soon threw down the gauntlet. The wife's lover was wounded, but not fatally.

Next, the girl learns that her “lover” wants to move to the city on the Neva. Helen does not grieve over this, because she is waiting for only one thing - part of the inheritance. When Kuragina herself ended up in St. Petersburg, she created for herself the image of an unhappy woman who was abandoned by her “mean” husband to the mercy of fate.

Before this heroine had time to forget Bezukhov, she immediately plunged into the vicissitudes of love. She accepts courtship from her own “page” Boris Drubetsky. In addition, when the Countess ends up in Lithuania, she begins a romantic relationship with the young prince. But when her lovers end up in the same place, she finds herself in an awkward position.

It is worth noting that Tolstoy had an interest in changing a person’s character and his personal growth, and the character, one way or another, should have life goals. There are heroes who realized that their behavior does not correspond to the principles of justice, virtue and rationality. However, this does not happen with Elen Kuragina; she, like no one else, personifies the proverb “the grave will correct the hunchback.”

To get out of the incident, the girl had to hide her essence under the guise of a victim. The cunning young lady talked to Drubetsky so that he urgently consolidated his relationship with her by marriage, and she promised, in turn, to convert to Catholicism. Exactly the same conversation was held with the young prince.

Between the beauty there was a choice of two prominent men, but the desired was not destined to come true, since in 1812 the countess was overcome by illness. Kuragina, not used to trusting Russian medicine, turned to an Italian doctor, who prescribed a “miracle” remedy for the heroine.

“Everyone knew very well that the lovely countess’s illness was due to the inconvenience of marrying two husbands at once, and that the Italian’s treatment consisted of eliminating this inconvenience,” wrote Lev Nikolaevich.

Although this is not mentioned in the novel, some researchers think that the Countess wanted to have an abortion. Others, who have put forward two official versions of the cause of Kuragina’s death, do not agree with the speculation about termination of pregnancy. Therefore, the question of why Helen Kuragina died can be answered this way: either from an overdose of a medicine prescribed by an Italian, or from an unexpected attack of angina.

Film adaptations and actresses

The writer was skeptical about his creation and once wrote to a colleague in a letter:

“How happy I am... that I will never write verbose rubbish like “War” again.”

But Lev Nikolaevich would have known that the novel “War and Peace” would serve as material for a film adaptation not only in Russia, but also in Hollywood. There are a lot of films based on the epic, so let’s look at famous works.

"War and Peace" (1956)

In 1956, “Factory of Dreams” delighted avid moviegoers with a film of the same name based on Tolstoy’s novel, and the film director was the well-known King Vidor, who tried to comprehend the Russian soul.

It is noteworthy that the picture is not much different from the original manuscript, but pays more attention to fidelity and betrayal, as well as the personal experiences of the main characters. The role of Kuragina went to actress Anita Marianne Ekberg, who shared the set with Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman and other actors.

"War and Peace" (1967)

• The British series “War and Peace” helped popularize the Russian work among foreign readers. According to The Guardian, residents of London and other cities have begun buying printed editions of War and Peace. Within a week, bookstores sold about 3,500 copies of the original volumes.
• It is not surprising that after the 2016 series, Tolstoy’s work began to be in demand. After all, the viewer was shown not the philosophical depth of thought and the change of characters, but the plot of a love relationship.

• In addition, director Tom Harper took pains to keep the actors naked; It’s worth remembering the scene where Andrei Bolkonsky bathes with the battalion. The filmmaker also changed the character of Ellen Kuragina, who looks not like a representative of high society, hungry for money, but like a nymphomaniac, throwing herself at the necks of men.
• Lev Nikolaevich described the platonic love of Helen and Anatole, but the producer of the British series Andrew Davis tried to place these characters on the same bed. To justify the creator, we can say: a narrow circle of researchers believes that the writer actually hinted at an intimate relationship between brother and sister.

Quotes

“Obligations come before pleasures.”

“Try to cry: nothing makes you feel better than tears.”

“How easy it is for some people!”

“Yes, is there a family without its own grief?”

“All thoughts that have great consequences are always simple.”

/ / / The image of Helen Kuragina in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

The novel “War and Peace” shows readers many female images that lead us into delight and bewilderment.

Positive heroines, such as and, win the sympathy of not only the author, but also all readers without exception. These beautiful ladies are ready to do anything for their family, for the sake of their children. They are loyal, they are modest and they are kind.

The personality of Elen Kuragina is absolutely contrasting and opposite. And when creating this heroine, Lev Nikolaevich does not spare his words at all, does not maintain any limits of decency.

Helen can be called a typical representative of the upper class, she is a social beauty, sophisticated, chic, mannered. And there were a huge number of women like Helen in those days. She is married off without asking. And the groom becomes an absurd, sluggish one, who was despised in the highest circles. However, the inheritance that suddenly fell on his head decided everything.

Of course, Helen does not become a faithful spouse, a loving wife, much less a mother. She continues to lead her dissolute life, changing lovers like gloves.

The author repeatedly describes the beauty and chic of this woman. She delighted men, she attracted attention and attracted hundreds of glances. However, behind such beauty there was not a drop of soul and sensuality. Inside Helen there was emptiness, love only for her person and for wealth.

Lev Nikolaevich does not describe the look, the eyes of this woman, because there is nothing in them, only emptiness.

With his dirty deeds, Kuragin almost brings Pierre to the grave, who, in an emotional outburst, challenged Dolokhov to a duel. After the duel, Pierre breaks off relations with this terrible woman, openly comparing her with evil and depravity. The married couple of Pierre and Helen could not exist. This was just a cleverly calculated move by Prince Vasily.

Taking advantage of the naivety and kindness of Pierre, who was blinded by the beauty of Helen, it was beneficial for the leaders of secular society to create such a marriage union and nothing more. Naturally, there could be no talk of mutual feelings of love and sympathy.

Events that follow drag Helen into even greater intrigue. She is afraid of the ridicule of the whole society for the stupid act of her husband Pierre.

The death of the Countess can be called as stupid as her whole life. She, without calculating the required amount, mistakenly takes a large dose of medicine, after which she dies in severe pain. I think that Lev Nikolaevich punished his heroine in this way for such a dirty and useless life.