The life path of Elena Kuragina. The image and characteristics of Elena Kuragina in the novel War and Peace by Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was a true connoisseur of the Russian soul, and like no one else, he knew how to emphasize this with details invisible to the common eye. For example, Helen Kuragina, married to Bezukhova, is one of the most famous socialites in the capital.

The writer managed to describe this lady, literally erasing everything Russian from her. This is evident even from the “French” address to her, although she is a Russian noblewoman, whose name sounds like Elena Vasilievna Kuragina. Throughout all the episodes where Helen plays a role, only her negative sides are shown.

Having first appeared in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, she creates, however, as always, a sensation - everyone looks at her as if she were a very expensive and valuable product. Describing her white marble shoulders, posture, and constant indifferent smile, Tolstoy emphasizes that behind this external beauty there is nothing inside. Helen herself was accustomed to the fact that a good painting needed an expensive frame.

A kind of deal took place between her and Anna Pavlovna. For the Scherer salon, Helen is an excellent bait, where you can freely “spin” empty chatter, and thereby give respectability to society. And for Helen, Anna Pavlovna’s living room is an excellent place to choose a suitable groom. Raised by people similar to her, in an atmosphere of lies and depravity, Helen does not know that it is possible to live differently. She is sincerely perplexed when Pierre, having become her husband, compared her to “real evil.” For Helen, such a life is normal, where everyone smiles falsely at each other, thinks one thing and says another. She deliberately marries Pierre, selling her beauty for a fortune. Moreover, she considers it right and wise. Even her father approved of it!

Helen treats Pierre's love as a stupid joke. This is even natural - she herself does not believe in her, she has never loved her, her environment consists entirely of the same people “frozen” in their appearance. In this regard, one scene is very indicative - when she dedicates to Natasha Rostov that Anatoly Kuragin, Helen’s brother, is infatuated with her. Moreover, Countess Bezukhova does this with such shamelessness and indifference that Natasha feels undressed under Helen’s frank glances and smiles.

For Helen herself, such hobbies do not seem vicious; they are ordinary and primitive, like all her smiles. This is also evidenced by the way she used Pierre, stipulating the use of all his estates as a condition for separation. And this despite the fact that almost the whole world knew about the existence of the Countess’s lover!

However, Helen's death is not an enviable one. To emphasize the dullness and narrowness of her thinking, the emptiness and baseness of the soul of this socialite, Tolstoy deliberately “erased” the cause of her death, indicating only that “they say that the countess suffered from an illness due to the inconvenience of being married to two people at the same time.”

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.

Countess Elena Bezukhova died suddenly from this terrible disease, which was so pleasant to pronounce. Officially, in large societies, everyone said that Countess Bezukhova died from a terrible attack of angine pectorale, but in intimate circles they told details about how le médecin intime de la Reine dʼEspagne prescribed Helen small doses of some medicine to produce a certain effect; but how Helene, tormented by the fact that the old count suspected her, and by the fact that the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved Pierre) did not answer her, suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed for her and died in agony before help could be given .

I’m ashamed to admit that for the first time the death of Helen Kuragina made me think only when watching the new British film adaptation. The novel itself gives only a very vague description of what happened. I admit, when I read it at school, I didn’t even think that there was something fishy here; the teachers in class didn’t explain all these hints, which were too subtle for an unclouded mind, but only said that “Tolstoy kills characters that he no longer cares about.” needed under one pretext or another” - like Andrei’s first wife.

That Kuragin had nowhere to go and it was necessary to rid Pierre of her is understandable. However, what exactly happened to her?

On August 26, it becomes known that Helen fell ill and began to miss meetings. Moreover, her illness was discussed with interest, but in a veiled form, because:

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

Academic commentaries avoid the topic, but most readers see this as an indication of pregnancy and a desire to terminate it. But let's leave this version for last, as the main one.

Version 1. Such a vague description has no intimate connotation, but describes a vague disease - banal nervous disorder. At that time, the medicines prescribed by the Italian quack doctor were narcotic, for example, Laudanum (tincture of opium with alcohol). It was indeed recommended to take it in small doses over a period of time and it is easier for them to cause a dangerous overdose.

Disadvantages of the theory:

Why hide and veiledly discuss a banal female nervous disorder? That women are weak and nervous creatures, that their uterus wanders around the body, puts pressure on organs and causes nervous disorders - everyone already knows this, especially since the 19th century was very sentimental and passionate emotions were not shy then (remember, every second nobleman, if If he’s not a nihilist, he’ll definitely cry). So why not openly discuss someone's stress?

Is Helen Kuragina such a woman as to suffer from a nervous disorder? She appears to be a completely pragmatic and self-confident bitch.

If she had died from a drug overdose, it is unlikely that her death would have been painful, rather the opposite.

Finally, Helen “was tormented by the fact that the old count suspected her, and by the fact that the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved Pierre) did not answer her.” What could the count suspect her of? And it’s unlikely that she was tormented by the lack of attention from her husband, whom she doesn’t care about; most likely, it was due to an acute lack of time.

Which brings us to version No. 2. Helen was pregnant and died while trying to get rid of the child. This version seems to me the most reasonable, but there is one problem: That's not how abortifacients work!

We are obviously talking about a fairly late period, at least the second trimester. Since the whole society is already aware, the old count began to suspect. Therefore, the pregnancy was already noticeable and empire fashion, which did not imply corsets (bare backs), could no longer hide it. “Drink me” abortifacients only work in the early stages. And since this, which was available at that time and quite strong, was most likely either knotweed or ergot, it acted immediately after ingestion, causing spasms and bleeding.

Version 2.1. Why does the doctor prescribe them at a later date, and even in small doses every day? Apparently because a real abortion was not in his plans. A woman approached him about 4-5 months ago with an understandable request. The doctor understands that there is only a needle in one place, that is, an operation, that is, the risk of complications and death is high. Does he need it? And he gives her some tincture of knotweed in alcohol for a cough, telling her to take small doses, knowing full well that nothing will come of it. Or maybe, without understanding, he simply gives what they ask. Seeing that there is no result, Helen freaks out and drinks a loading dose, causing banal poisoning with poisonous knotweed or another abortifacient component. Yes, they are all quite poisonous, in fact, that is why abortions are caused - as a side effect to everything else. Death in agony is quite likely, regardless of whether the abortion ends up happening or not.

Version 2.2. Tolstoy did not like medicine or doctors and was not very knowledgeable. He has some mistakes or at least very strange descriptions of illnesses - the same disease of Ivan Ilyich, unknown to science. And I didn’t delve into the effects of abortifacients, simply because... well, how would a man even know? Moreover, the topic is fiercely taboo, don’t ask Italian quack doctors!

Version 3. Venereal disease. Since there was no AIDS then, there is basically only one sexually transmitted disease that can kill: syphilis. However, syphilis is not something instantaneous, like smallpox or the plague. He needs:
a) a month for the incubation period
b) one and a half - two for the primary period (in which it can be detected)
c) from three to five years for the secondary period (in which it begins to manifest itself in the form of a rash and minor malaise)
d) finally, only after 10-20 years without treatment in the tertiary period, having turned the body into a walking fucker, syphilis in relatively rare cases still leads to death. In all other cases, the patient manages to die from other diseases, since only marginal individuals reached the third stage, and in principle they did not live for a long time.

Hélène died before the age of 30, probably around 25. When she married Pierre, he did not notice any signs in her, he did not become infected from her, that is, have congenital syphilis or be in the second stage of sexual infection at the time of marriage I could not.

Considering that the first signs of illness appeared in her a couple of months before her death, it could not have been syphilis, even if she became infected immediately after the breakup with Pierre, and in the summer of 12th her nose fell off, she would have lived to see her without a nose. Decembrists.

Yes, there really was an epidemic of syphilis in Russia at that time, but this means that the doctors knew the symptoms well and Helen would have been diagnosed at the stage of primary chancre, and even then they would have started treating with mercury (and not by mouth).

Version 4. Helen died of chest sore throat, angina pectoris, or God knows what kind of mutant is hidden behind this description. And secular society, which has nothing to do, invented and inflated everything.

Just like I did this article.

The epilogue has been read, the last page of the grandiose epic novel by L.N. has been turned over. Tolstoy's War and Peace, but I still have a lot of questions. What if everything is completely different? What if it's the other way around? What if our brilliant author wanted to say much more than we thought?

Despite its apparent simplicity, L.N. Tolstoy was never a mediocre person. An integral part of his life were secrets and riddles; he was as if woven from contradictions. And when you think about this, the genius of his time, Leonardo da Vinci, involuntarily comes to mind. These two people, although they lived in completely different times, left behind not only the most valuable cultural heritage, but also a very long trail of secrets, riddles and myths.

Some paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in mirror reflection carry a hidden meaning. So the kind old man becomes the image of the devil, and the demon becomes a sweet girl. That is why I allowed myself to look at War and Peace “in a mirror image.” What if Lev Nikolaevich embodied something similar in his work?..

First, I decided to look at the most, in my opinion, controversial character - Helen Kuragina. This girl is a brilliant St. Petersburg beauty and noblewoman. Stately and imperturbable, she excites the minds of many men. She is loved and admired in the world. But is everything as bright and brilliant in her life as it seems at first glance?

In any description of Helen Kuragina, the following words sound: “under the shell of a beauty sits a monster,” “she hides the ugliness of her soul with her external beauty,” “a stupid doll that everyone likes,” “Helen married Pierre.”

But what can you say about the soul of this girl without trying to look at everything through her eyes? Yes, she is beautiful, and always has been. And beauty became her curse, because her beliefs and behavior were largely dictated by the position of a woman in noble society, where she 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 nobles.

As for Pierre's marriage to Helen, the girl was forced to obey her father and marry a rich nobleman, and no one really asked her opinion on this matter.

From childhood, Helen was an instrument in the hands of Prince Vasily. She knew that no one would give her the right to choose her husband, like, for example, Maria Bolkonskaya. Constant pressure from parents and society, frequent attention and understanding of the inevitability of one’s fate did their job. Helen became cruel and calculating. And it seems to me that she was not stupid at all, but simply skillfully hid her intelligence, because at that time, educated women, although admired, were not valued. And how could a stupid person so skillfully rule high society and please everyone?..

After marriage, Helen's life did not change much. Pierre, who seemed to be in love with her, now did not pay attention to her and was only engaged in searching for his path in life. Therefore, the girl gave all her attention to the world, where she was admired more than before.

Am I saying that Helen was an angel? No, of course not. She was cruel, selfish, proud and very calculating. With my thoughts I just wanted to show that maybe she is not as bad as we think about her. And perhaps we could understand the motives for her actions. Helen was a woman, an ordinary woman, of that cruel time in her own way. And as a woman, she was deeply unhappy in her soul. She participated in her destiny as best she could, as much as was allowed. And maybe all her bad and stupid actions can be explained by only one thing - she wanted to be happy, no matter what.

One of the most striking personalities of the work is undoubtedly Pierre Bezukhov. At the very beginning of the book, his image evokes a smile rather than a serious attitude: “A massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of that time, with a high frill and a brown tailcoat.” Imagining this character, you involuntarily wonder if he could Will he fit into that beautiful and graceful society? And it soon becomes clear that Pierre is a stranger in this high-society salon. His “intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural look” has no place among the “mechanical” guests of Anna Pavlovna’s “workshop”.

But in the eyes of this very world, and in the eyes of readers, Pierre has always been and remains a sweet and kind person. But, as often happens, such patient and calm people like Pierre have their own skeletons in the closet.

I understand perfectly well that there are no ideal people, and everyone has their own weaknesses, but I did not expect many things from such a reasonable person as Pierre. And the first of them is his marriage to Helen. In this whole situation, the hero behaves weak-willed and completely unfailing. He couldn't refuse the wedding, although he wanted to. He followed the lead of Prince Vasily and was forced to obey his skillfully drawn up plan. The Kuragin family is personal kryptonite for Pierre, which he cannot resist. Just remember the case when Pierre succumbed to the persuasion of Anatoly Kuragin and almost lost his life... All these cases show the smart and reasonable Pierre from the other, less attractive side.

All his life, Pierre Bezukhov has been looking for meaning in it. Fate leads him to a variety of places, from the Masonic lodge to the organization of the Decembrists. His wanderings accompany us throughout the book, and after every significant event in life, the hero changes. Take, for example, the Battle of Borodino. Personally, I don’t understand why Pierre, a civilian and completely far from the war, decided to take this step, because he considered himself, no less, the savior of Russia. In the heat of battle, Pierre does not behave like a hero at all - he runs from the battlefield, frightened by shots and bloody wounds of people. No, I don’t condemn him in any way, it’s just that for me Pierre’s decision to go to war was unexpected and meaningless, because he was always a humane person.

The next and, in my opinion, the most important stage in Pierre’s life was captivity. There he met Platon Karataev, who was able to change his outlook on life. All the hardships and adversities helped Pierre acquire new spiritual qualities. “He learned to see the great, the eternal and the infinite... and joyfully contemplated around him the ever-changing, ever-great, incomprehensible and endless life.” He became stronger in spirit and gained character. Pierre was even able to refuse the Frenchman who demanded money from him, which he would never have done before.

Having married Natasha Rostova, the hero seemingly finds complete happiness. In the epilogue we see a joyful and harmonious family. But is everything so rosy in their little world? In fact, Pierre does not abandon his spiritual quest and leaves Natasha and four children for a long time, and he himself leaves on business. It soon becomes clear that Pierre's rebellious spirit brings him into contact with the Decembrist society. Despite this, “all happy families are happy the same, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

In the end, I would like to say that the truth is not always what we see it at first. And if you want to find something that is hidden from many eyes, you need to look deeper, into the very essence of things. After researching the characters of Helen and Pierre, I realized something: bad is not always so, and good often does not live up to our expectations.

Seeing the true essence of things is not so easy, but don’t let yourself throw dust in your eyes, but look with the help of a “mirror” as the great da Vinci and Tolstoy “bequeathed”.

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

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, 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.

Kutuzov and Napoleon as two moral poles in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

The very title of Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” speaks of the scale of the topic under study. The writer created a historical novel in which major events in world history are interpreted, and their participants are real historical figures. These are Russian Emperor Alexander I, Napoleon Bonaparte, Field Marshal Kutuzov, generals Davout and Bagration, ministers Arakcheev, Speransky and others.

Tolstoy had his own specific view of the development of history and the role of the individual in it. He believed that a person can only influence the course of the historical process when his will coincides with the will of the people. Tolstoy wrote: “Man consciously lives for himself, but serves as an unconscious instrument for achieving historical, universal goals.” At the same time, the writer was a fatalist. In his opinion, everything that happens to humanity is programmed from above. This is how the inexorable law of historical necessity is fulfilled.

The positive and negative poles of the War of 1812 are Kutuzov and Napoleon. In the novel there is no complete coincidence of the characters of these characters with real people. For example, Tolstoy exaggerated the senile passivity of Kutuzov and the narcissism of Napoleon, but he did not strive to create reliable images. The author applies strict moral criteria in assessing both, trying to figure out whether Napoleon really is a great commander.

Tolstoy deliberately gives an ironic portrait of Napoleon: “fat thighs of short legs”, “fat short figure”, fussy movements. He is limited and narcissistic, confident in his genius. For him, “only what was happening in his soul” is important, “...and everything that was outside of him did not matter to him, because everything in the world depended only on his will.” Napoleon is depicted by Tolstoy as an invader who kills thousands of people in order to achieve world domination. He takes majestic poses, not understanding that “the king is a slave of history”; he mistakenly thinks that it was he who started the war. In fact, he is just a toy in the hands of history. Tolstoy writes that it is unlikely that Napoleon would have withstood this sad and difficult test of fate if his mind and conscience had not been darkened.

Napoleon's inner world consists of illusions about his own greatness. He wants to impose his will on the whole world and does not understand that this is impossible. He calls his own cruelty courage; he loves to “look at the dead and wounded, thereby testing his spiritual strength (as he thought).” While crossing the Neman, Napoleon looks displeased at the drowning Polish lancers who give their lives for the sake of his glory. He doesn’t see anything surprising in people’s deaths. Tolstoy emphasizes that Napoleon is an unhappy, “morally blind” man who no longer distinguishes between good and evil. Tolstoy points out Napoleon’s responsibility to the peoples whom he led: “He, destined by providence for the sad, unfree role of the executioner of nations, assured himself that the purpose of his actions was the good of the peoples and that he could guide the destinies of millions and do good deeds through power! .. He imagined that by his will there was a war with Russia, and the horror of what happened did not strike his soul.”

Field Marshal General Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, His Serene Highness Prince of Smolensk, is the antipode of Napoleon in everything. He is the embodiment of “simplicity, goodness and truth.” Kutuzov is endowed with the greatest wisdom; he believes: what should happen will happen. In the novel, Tolstoy shows Kutuzov's inaction, meaning that one person cannot influence the course of historical events. But the Russian commander understands better than Tsar Alexander the First and his entire generals the situation the country has found itself in and how the decisive battle could end. Kutuzov at the military council sees only ostentatious patriotism and hears false speeches. He understands that Napoleon has more troops, that the Russians will inevitably lose and this will be a shameful end for the country.

Kutuzov’s main thought before the Battle of Borodino was how to raise the morale of the army. He understands his people, knows that this is the only force capable of resisting the enemy. The cowardly tsarist generals were already ready to sell themselves to Napoleon. Kutuzov alone understands that in case of defeat, the people will lose their homeland, lose their freedom, and turn into slaves in their native land.

The author portrays the great commander as a living, deeply feeling person. He can worry, get angry, be generous, and sympathize with grief. With the soldiers who are ready to give their lives for him, he speaks like a father, in a language they understand. “They will eat my horse meat!” - he says about the French and fulfills this prophecy. Prince Andrei sees tears in the old man’s eyes in moments of emotional excitement for the fate of Russia: “What... what have they brought us to!” “Kutuzov suddenly said in an excited voice.”

At the council in Fili, Kutuzov courageously spoke out alone against everyone, proposing to surrender Moscow. This decision cost him great mental anguish. The capital of Russia at that time was not Moscow, but St. Petersburg. The king and all the ministries were there. Moscow was the Mother Throne City, kings were crowned there, and a large population lived there.

The opposing armies were approximately equal in strength, but Kutuzov correctly calculated the situation. He decided not to risk it and retreat, hoping to gain time and gain strength. After the retreat, soldiers were quickly recruited and trained. Weapons were supplied from Tula factories, food and uniforms were stocked. Kutuzov was on his native land, justice was on the side of the Russians, it was not they who came as invaders to a foreign country. Kutuzov understood that the French would quickly weaken without supplies of weapons and food, which could not be brought from France thousands of kilometers away.

There were smart people at Napoleon's headquarters. The Emperor was asked not to enter Moscow, they were warned that this was a trap, but pride and conceit pushed him onto the wrong path. Tolstoy sarcastically depicts how Napoleon waits on Poklonnaya Hill for the Russian “boyars” with the keys to Moscow. Without waiting for anyone, the French emperor decided to give the city to his mercenaries for plunder. In the absence of military action, the army decays - this is the law. Napoleon was persuaded to go further, but he waited for Russia to admit its defeat. Numerous Russian partisan detachments brought victory over the “invincible”, “brilliant” Napoleon closer. As a result, only 5% of the French army, which had 600 thousand people at the beginning of the campaign, returned from Russia.

Contrary to the historians of his time, Tolstoy considers the victory to be the merit of Kutuzov and the Russian people, who bore all the sorrows of wartime on their shoulders.

“Family Thought” in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

Tolstoy considered family to be the basis of everything. It contains love, and the future, and peace, and goodness. Families make up society, the moral laws of which are laid down and preserved in the family. The writer’s family is a society in miniature. Almost all of Tolstoy’s heroes are family people, and he characterizes them through their families.

In the novel, the life of three families unfolds before us: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, the Kuragins. In the epilogue of the novel, the author shows the happy “new” families of Nikolai and Marya, Pierre and Natasha. Each family is endowed with characteristic features and also embodies its own view of the world and its values. Members of these families participate in one way or another in all the events described in the work. The novel covers fifteen years of life, families are traced through three generations: fathers, children and grandchildren.

The Rostov family is an example of an ideal relationship between loved ones who love and respect each other. The father of the family, Count Ilya Rostov, is depicted as a typical Russian gentleman. The manager Mitenka constantly deceives the count. Only Nikolai Rostov exposes and fires him. No one in the family accuses anyone, suspects anyone, or deceives anyone. They are one whole, always sincerely ready to help each other. Joys and sorrows are experienced together, together they look for answers to difficult questions. They quickly experience troubles; the emotional and intuitive principles predominate in them. All Rostovs are passionate people, but the mistakes and mistakes of family members do not cause hostility and hostility towards each other. The family is upset and grieving when Nikolai Rostov loses at cards, experiences the story of Natasha’s love for Anatoly Kuragin and an attempt to escape with him, although the entire secular society discusses this shameful event.

In the Rostov family there is a “Russian spirit”, everyone loves national culture and art. They live in accordance with national traditions: they welcome guests, are generous, love to live in the countryside, and take part in folk festivals with pleasure. All Rostovs are talented and have musical abilities. The courtyard people who serve in the house are deeply devoted to the masters and live with them like one family.

During the war, the Rostov family remains in Moscow until the last moment, while it is still possible to evacuate. Their house houses the wounded, who need to be taken out of the city so that they are not killed by the French. The Rostovs decide to give up their acquired property and give away the carts for the soldiers. This is how the true patriotism of this family is manifested.

A different order reigns in the Bolkonsky family. All living feelings are driven to the very bottom of the soul. In the relationship between them there is only cold rationality. Prince Andrei and Princess Marya do not have a mother, and the father replaces parental love with over-demandingness, which makes his children unhappy. Princess Marya is a girl with a strong, courageous character. She was not broken by her father’s cruel attitude, she did not become embittered, and did not lose her pure and gentle soul.

Old Bolkonsky is sure that in the world “there are only two virtues - activity and intelligence.” He himself works all his life: he writes the charter, works in the workshop, studies with his daughter. Bolkonsky is a nobleman of the old school. He is a patriot of his homeland and wants to benefit it. Having learned that the French are advancing, he becomes the head of the people's militia, ready to defend his land with arms in hand, to prevent the enemy from setting foot on it.

Prince Andrei looks like his father. He also strives for power, works in Speransky’s committee, wants to become a big man, to serve for the good of the country. Although he promised himself never to participate in battles again, in 1812 he went to fight again. Saving his homeland is a sacred matter for him. Prince Andrei dies for his homeland like a hero.

The Kuragin family brings evil and destruction to the world. Using the example of the members of this family, Tolstoy showed how deceptive external beauty can be. Helen and Anatole are beautiful people, but this beauty is imaginary. External shine hides the emptiness of their low souls. Anatole leaves a bad memory of himself everywhere. Because of money, he wooes Princess Marya and destroys the relationship between Prince Andrei and Natasha. Helen loves only herself, destroys Pierre's life, disgraces him.

Lies and hypocrisy, and contempt for others reign in the Kuragin family. The father of the family, Prince Vasily, is a court intriguer, he is only interested in gossip and vile deeds. For the sake of money, he is ready to do anything, even commit a crime. His behavior in the scene of the death of Count Bezukhov is the height of blasphemy and contempt for the laws of human morality.

There is no spiritual relationship in the Kuragin family. Tolstoy does not show us their house. They are primitive, undeveloped people, whom the author portrays in satirical tones. They cannot achieve happiness in life.

According to Tolstoy, a good family is a reward for a righteous life. In the finale, he rewards his heroes with happiness in family life.

Family way of life of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys

In his novel War and Peace, Tolstoy traces the lives of three generations of several Russian families. The writer rightly considered the family to be the basis of society, and saw in it love, the future, peace and goodness. In addition, Tolstoy believed that moral laws are laid down and preserved only in the family. For a writer, a family is a society in miniature. Almost all the heroes of L.N. Tolstoy are family people, so characterizing these characters is impossible without analyzing their relationships in the family. After all, a good family, the writer believed, is a reward for a righteous life and its indicator. It is not surprising that in the finale he rewards his heroes with happiness in family life.

The Rostov family invariably evokes warm feelings among readers of different generations. Here reigns the ideal relationship of loved ones who love and respect each other.

Count Ilya Rostov, the head of the family, personifies the typical image of a Russian master who is deceived by the manager Mitenka. Truly idyllic orders and relationships reign in the family: no one accuses anyone, suspects anyone, or deceives anyone. The Rostovs are always sincerely ready to help each other: they experience joys and sorrows together, together. All family members are emotional and are most often guided by intuition.

Natasha Rostova is the most lively character in the novel. The author's sympathy for Natasha is noticeable from the first pages of the book. Leo Tolstoy encourages readers to admire the ardent, impetuous, cheerful, charming girl. Natasha appears in the novel at the age of thirteen, when the teenage girl turns into a young woman. Her image appears on one and a half thousand pages, and her life is traced over fifteen years. Natasha is a spiritual person, full of thirst for happiness.

The writer carefully reveals all periods of Natasha Rostova's growing up, her childhood, youth, maturity, marriage, motherhood. Tolstoy pays special attention to the evolution of the heroine, her emotional experiences. Natasha is light and spontaneous, looking at the world with wide open eyes. The author paints a deep image, open to everything new, filled with feelings, with strong emotional impulses. The portrayal of Rostova in the novel is Tolstoy’s artistic discovery and discovery. He shows in one character the wealth of soul, exceptional sincerity and disposition towards people and nature.

All Rostovs are emotional people, prone to emotional outbursts. Their mistakes and blunders do not affect the harmony of family relationships and do not cause quarrels and hatred. The loss of Nikolai Rostov at cards or Natalya’s shameful love for the family with Anatoly Kuragin, with whom she is trying to escape, are experienced together and only together by all the Rostovs.

National Russian culture and art occupy an important place in the Rostov family. Despite the craze for everything French, the “Russian spirit” means quite a lot to the Rostovs: they welcome guests, are generous, love to live in the countryside, and take part in folk festivals with pleasure. All Rostovs are talented and love to play music. It is noteworthy and surprising for this era that the servants are deeply devoted to their masters; they are practically one family.

The real patriotism of the Rostovs is tested by war. The family remains in Moscow until the last moment before evacuation. They place the wounded in their family nest. When it becomes clear that they need to leave, the Rostovs decide to abandon everything they have acquired and give away the carts for the wounded soldiers.

In many ways, the opposite of the Rostovs in the novel was the Bolkonsky family. Different orders reign here. Cold relationships, power of reason over emotions. All living movements of the soul and feelings are condemned. Prince Andrei and Princess Marya do not have a mother, so the father replaces parental love with excessive demands on the children, which makes them deeply unhappy.

Princess Marya Bolkonskaya is a meek and gentle girl, removed from the life of secular society. She is not corrupted by modern mores and is pure. The image of the princess is characterized by subtle psychologism and realism at the same time. Marya's fate is in many ways typical of an ugly girl. At the same time, her inner world is drawn out carefully and naturally. Tolstoy tells the reader even the most intimate thoughts of Princess Bolkonskaya.

Her father, Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, is famous for his difficult character. He is a despotic and evil man, a capricious egoist. Formerly an influential nobleman of Catherine, he was exiled during the reign of Tsar Paul I to his estate Bald Mountains. Bolkonsky practically turned his daughter into a maid and nurse instead of trying to arrange her personal happiness. The prince regularly drives Marya into hysterics, mocks her, humiliates her, throwing notebooks and calling her a fool. Only on the verge of death does the old prince realize how unfair he was to his daughter.

Old man Bolkonsky is sure that there are only two virtues in the world - activity and intelligence. He himself works all his life, embodying two core values ​​for him at once. The prince writes the charter, works in the workshop, and studies with his daughter. Bolkonsky is a nobleman of the old school. He is a patriot of his homeland and wants to benefit it. Having learned that the French are advancing, he becomes the head of the people's militia, ready to defend his land with arms in hand, to prevent the enemy from setting foot on it.

Constant humiliation from her father did not kill Marya’s simple and understandable desires for female happiness. Princess Bolkonskaya is in constant anticipation of love and the desire to have a family. The girl knows that she does not shine with beauty. Tolstoy draws her portrait: “The mirror reflected the princess’s ugly, weak body and thin face; her eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves), were so beautiful that very often, despite the ugliness of her whole face, her eyes these became more attractive than beauty.” At the same time, external unattractiveness is compensated by moral perfection. The princess's soul is beautiful, like her eyes, which radiate with kindness and tenderness. Because of her appearance, the princess suffers humiliation. She doesn't have to choose from hundreds of worthy suitors. She is unable to forget the scandalous matchmaking of the secular libertine Anatole Kuragin, who at night invited his French companion Burien on a date.

Princess Marya is a girl with a strong, courageous character. She was not broken by her father’s cruel attitude, she did not become embittered, and did not lose her pure and gentle soul. The princess has the true gift of forgiveness. She treats everyone equally well: the servants, relatives, father, brother, daughter-in-law, nephew, Natasha Rostova.

Prince Andrei is in many ways similar to his father and considers it his duty to serve his homeland. He also strives for power, works on Speransky’s committee, and wants to occupy a prominent position. At the same time, the younger Bolkonsky is by no means a careerist. Although he promised himself never to participate in battles again, in 1812 he went to fight again. Saving the fatherland is a sacred duty for him. Prince Andrei dies heroically without violating his principles.

The Rostov and Bolkonsky families depicted in the novel, according to the author, are the healthy basis of Russian society. They are equally ready to follow the path of good, and in difficult times to defend their homeland.

Themes, plots and problems of Chekhov's stories

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a remarkable master of the short story and an outstanding playwright. He was called “an intelligent man from the people.” He was not ashamed of his origins and always said that “a man’s blood flows in him.” Chekhov lived in an era when, after the murder of Tsar Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya, persecution of literature began. This period of Russian history, which lasted until the mid-90s, was called “twilight and gloomy.”

In literary works, Chekhov, as a doctor by profession, valued authenticity and accuracy. He believed that literature should be closely connected with life. His stories are realistic, and although they are simple at first glance, they have a deep philosophical meaning.

Until 1880, Chekhov was considered a humorist; on the pages of his literary works, the writer struggled with the “vulgarity of a vulgar person,” with its corrupting influence on the souls of people and Russian life in general. The main themes of his stories were the problem of personality degradation and the philosophical theme of the meaning of life.

By the 1890s, Chekhov became a writer of European fame. He creates such stories as “Ionych”, “The Jumper”, “Ward No. 6”, “The Man in a Case”, “Gooseberry”, “The Lady with the Dog”, the plays “Uncle Vanya”, “The Seagull” and many others.

In the story “The Man in a Case,” Chekhov protests against spiritual savagery, philistinism and philistinism. He raises the question of the relationship between education and the general level of culture in one person, and opposes narrow-mindedness and stupidity. Many Russian writers raised the issue of the inadmissibility of working in schools with children of people with low moral qualities and mental abilities.

The image of the Greek language teacher Belikov is given by the writer in a grotesque, exaggerated manner. This person is not developing. Chekhov argues that the lack of spiritual development and ideals entails the death of the individual. Belikov has long been a spiritual dead man, he strives only for a dead form, he is irritated and angry by living manifestations of the human mind and feelings. If it were his will, he would put every living thing in a case. Belikov, writes Chekhov, “was remarkable in that he always, even in very good weather, went out in galoshes and with an umbrella, and certainly in a warm coat with cotton wool. And he would have an umbrella in a case, and a watch in a gray suede case...” The hero’s favorite expression, “No matter what happens,” vividly characterizes him.

Belikov is hostile to everything new. He always spoke with praise about the past, but the new frightened him. He stuffed his ears with cotton wool, wore dark glasses, a sweatshirt, and was protected by several layers of clothing from the outside world, which he feared most. It is symbolic that Belikov teaches a dead language at the gymnasium, where nothing will ever change. Like all narrow-minded people, the hero is pathologically suspicious and takes obvious pleasure in intimidating students and their parents. Everyone in the city is afraid of him. Belikov's death becomes a worthy ending to his “case existence.” The coffin is the case in which he “lay, almost happy.” The name Belikov has become a household name; it denotes a person’s desire to hide from life. This is how Chekhov ridiculed the behavior of the timid intelligentsia of the 90s.

The story “Ionych” is another example of “case life”. The hero of this story is Dmitry Ionovich Startsev, a young doctor who came to work at the zemstvo hospital. He works “without a free hour.” His soul strives for high ideals. Startsev meets the residents of the city and sees that they lead a vulgar, sleepy, soulless existence. The townsfolk are all “gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing,” they irritate him “with their conversations, their views on life and even their appearance.” It is impossible to talk to them about politics or science. The doctor encounters complete misunderstanding. In response, ordinary people “start such a philosophy, stupid and evil, that all that remains is to wave your hand and walk away.”

Startsev meets the Turkins family, “the most educated and talented in the city,” and falls in love with their daughter Ekaterina Ivanovna, whom the family affectionately calls Kotik. The life of the young doctor is filled with meaning, but it turned out that in his life this was “the only joy and... the last.” Kitty, seeing the doctor's interest in her, jokingly makes an appointment with him at night at the cemetery. Startsev comes and, having waited in vain for the girl, returns home, irritated and tired. The next day he confesses his love to Kitty and is refused. From that moment on, Startsev’s decisive actions stopped. He feels relief: “his heart has stopped beating restlessly,” his life has returned to normal. When Kotik left to enter the conservatory, he suffered for three days.

By the age of 35, Startsev turned into Ionych. He was no longer annoyed by the local inhabitants; he became one of their own. He plays cards with them and does not feel any desire to develop spiritually. He completely forgets about his love, becomes depressed, gets fat, and in the evenings indulges in his favorite pastime - counting the money he received from the sick. Kotik, who returned to the town, does not recognize the old Startsev. He has cut himself off from the whole world and does not want to know anything about it.

Subject Training and metodology complex

... topic"what should be the way poet"(in the works of A.S. Pushkin). Exercise 1. Subject poet And poetry touched upon in the poem “ To the poet! A.S. Pushkin. Like this subject ...