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L. Tolstoy created great picture, where he described the problems of war, as well as peace. Women's images in the novel "War and Peace" they reveal the inner side of social vicissitudes. There is a global war - when peoples and countries are at war, there are local wars - in the family and within a person. The same is true with the world: peace is between states and emperors. People also come to peace in personal relationships; a person comes to peace by trying to resolve internal conflicts and contradictions.

Prototypes of female characters in the epic novel “War and Peace”

Leo Tolstoy was inspired by the people who surrounded him in everyday life. There are other examples from the biographies of writers that indicate that authors, when creating a work, borrow traits for book characters from real personalities.

For example, Marcel Proust did this - French writer. His characters are a synthesis of the traits that people around the author possessed. In the case of L. Tolstoy, female characters in the epic “War and Peace” are also written out, thanks to the appeal to women from the writer’s social circle. Let's give examples: the character of Maria Bolkonskaya, the sister of Andrei Bolkonsky, L. Tolstoy created, inspired by the personality of Maria Volkonskaya (the writer's mother). Another, no less lively and vibrant female character is Countess Rostova (the eldest), based on the author’s grandmother, Pelageya Tolstoy.

However, some characters have several prototypes at the same time: Natasha Rostova, already familiar to us, for example, as literary hero, has common features with the writer’s wife, Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy, as well as Sofia’s sister, Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya. The fact that the prototypes of these characters were close relatives of the writer explains the warmth and tender attitude of the author towards the characters he created.

Leo Tolstoy showed himself to be a subtle psychologist and expert human souls. The writer understands equally well the pain of young Natasha Rostova when the girl’s doll breaks, but also the pain of a mature woman, Natalya Rostova (the eldest), who is experiencing the death of her son.

The title of the novel says that the writer constantly turns to contrasts and oppositions: war and peace, good and evil, masculine and feminine. It seems to the reader (due to stereotypes) that war is a man’s business, and home and peace, accordingly, are women’s business. But Lev Nikolaevich demonstrates that this is not so. For example, Princess Bolkonskaya shows courage and masculinity when she defends her family estate from the enemy and buries her father.

Note that the division of characters into positive and negative is also based on contrast. However, negative heroes remain endowed negative traits throughout the novel, and positive characters undergo internal struggle. The writer calls this struggle a spiritual quest, and shows that positive heroes come to spiritual growth through hesitation, doubt, pangs of conscience... A difficult path awaits them.

Let us dwell in more detail on the characteristics of young Natasha and Countess Rostova, as well as on the figure of Maria Bolkonskaya. But before that, let’s briefly turn to the image of Andrei Bolkonsky’s wife.

Lisa Bolkonskaya

Lisa is a character who balanced the inherent gloom and depression of Prince Andrei. In society, Andrei was perceived as a closed and silent person. Even the prince’s appearance hinted at this: dry and elongated features, a heavy gaze. His wife had a different appearance: a lively princess, short in stature, who constantly fussed and minced with small steps. With her death, Andrei lost his balance and a new stage in the prince’s spiritual quest began.

Helen Kuragina

Helen is Anatole’s sister, written as a depraved, selfish character. Kuragina is interested in entertainment, she is young, narcissistic and flighty. However, she is frivolous and does not show patriotic feelings, continuing to lead her usual way of life in Moscow, captured by Napoleon’s troops. Helen's fate is tragic. An additional tragedy in her life is brought by the fact that she was never able to break out of the vicious circle of low morality.

Natasha Rostova

The younger Rostova is, of course, one of the central female characters. Natasha is beautiful and sweet, at first she is characterized by naivety and frivolity. Prince Andrei, having fallen in love with her, understands that between them there is an abyss of life experience. This thought of the prince is justified when Natasha succumbs to a fleeting infatuation with Anatoly Kuragin.

The reader may be interested in observing how Natasha's image changes: at first - a small, lively, funny and romantic girl. Then - at the ball - the reader sees her as a blossoming girl. Finally, during the retreat from Moscow, Natasha shows her patriotism, empathy and compassion. Rostova's maturity awakens when she takes care of the dying Andrei Bolkonsky. In the end, Natasha becomes a wise and loving wife and mother, although she loses some of her former beauty.

Natasha is no stranger to mistakes: this is her passion for Kuragin. Spiritual improvement and deepening of the inner world is connected with Natasha’s relationship with Prince Andrei. Calm and harmony come to the heroine when she marries Pierre Bezukhov.

Natasha is characterized by empathy and mercy. The girl feels people's pain and sincerely tries to help those who need help. During the war, Natasha realizes that material assets- nothing compared to human life. Therefore, she sacrifices her family property to save the wounded soldiers. The girl throws things off the cart and transports people in this way.

Natasha is beautiful. However, her beauty comes not from physical data (of course, also outstanding), but from her soulfulness and inner world. Moral beauty Rostov is a bud that at the end of the novel turns into a rose.

Countess Rostova (senior)

Countess Natalya, as a mother, tries to appear strict and serious. But she shows herself to be a loving mother, who only feigns anger and annoyance at the excessive sentimentality of her children.

Countess Rostova depends on the rules accepted in society. Breaking these rules is awkward and difficult for her, but Natalya does this if close relatives or friends need help. For example, when Annette, her friend, found herself in a difficult situation, the Countess, embarrassed, asked her to accept the money - this was a sign of attention and help.

The Countess raises her children in freedom and liberty, but this is only an appearance: in fact, Natalya cares about the future of her sons and daughters. She doesn't want her son to marry a homeless woman. The eldest Rostova is doing everything to end the looming relationship youngest daughter and Boris. Thus, a strong feeling of maternal love is one of the main qualities of Countess Rostova.

Vera Rostova

Sister of Natasha Rostova. In Lev Nikolaevich’s narrative, this image is always in the shadows. However, Vera did not inherit the smile that adorned Natasha’s face, and therefore, Lev Nikolaevich notes, the girl’s face seemed unpleasant.

Vera is described as a selfish nature: the eldest Rostova does not like her brothers and sister, they irritate her. Vera loves only herself. The girl marries Colonel Berg, who was similar to her in character.

Marya Bolkonskaya

Andrei Bolkonsky's sister is a strong character. A girl lives in a village, all her steps are controlled by an evil and cruel father. The book describes a situation when Marya, wanting to look beautiful, puts on makeup and dresses up in a masaka-colored dress. The father is dissatisfied with her outfit, expressing despotism towards his daughter.

Dear readers! We invite you to familiarize yourself with Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

Marya is an ugly, sad, but deeply thinking and intelligent girl. The princess is characterized by uncertainty and tightness: her father always says that she is not good-looking and is unlikely to get married. What attracts attention to Marya’s face are her large, radiant and deep eyes.

Marya is the opposite of Vera. Altruism, courage and patriotism, as well as responsibility and fortitude distinguish this woman from War and Peace. The female characters in the novel “War and Peace” have something in common - they are strong personalities.

Princess Bolkonskaya initially rejects Rostova (the youngest), but after the loss of her father and brother, the princess’s attitude towards Natasha changes. Marya forgives Natasha for breaking Andrei's heart by being carried away by Anatoly Kuragin.

The princess dreams of happiness, family and children. Having fallen in love with Anatole Kuragin, the girl refuses the vile young man, because she feels sorry for Madame Burien. Thus, Marya expresses nobility of character and sympathy for people.

Later, Marya meets Nikolai Rostov. This connection is beneficial for both: Nikolai, having married the princess, helps the family with money, because the Rostovs lost a fair share of their fortune during the war. Marya sees in Nikolai salvation from the burden of a lonely life.

A high society lady who embodies the falsehood and hypocrisy often found in salons.

Thus, Leo Tolstoy portrays both good and bad female characters in the epic War and Peace, making the work a separate world.

Great Russians writers XIX centuries, creating positive female images, always focused attention not on perfect facial features or the beauty of the figure, but on the richness of the inner world of their heroines, which spiritualizes their appearance. Such, for example, are Pushkin’s Tatyana Larina or Turgenev’s Liza Kalitina. This same one artistic principle when creating female characters in his novel, he used L.N. Tolstoy. Female images in the novel "War and Peace" play an important role. They not only determine the behavior of the main characters, but also have independent meaning. Same as men's images, they reveal the author’s idea of ​​beauty, good and evil. When depicting his heroines, the writer used the technique of opposition. Comparing girls who were completely different in character, upbringing, aspirations and beliefs - Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya and Helen Kuragina, Tolstoy sought to express the idea that behind external beauty there is often hidden emptiness and pretense, and behind visible ugliness - the wealth of the inner world.

Natasha Rostova and Maria Bolkonskaya- Tolstoy’s favorite heroines with opposite characters. Emotional, charming, full of life and her movements, Natasha immediately stands out among the reserved, well-bred noblewomen. She first appears in the novel as a thirteen-year-old, black-eyed, ugly, but lively girl who, flushed from running fast, literally bursts into the living room, where adults are having a boring conversation. Together with Natasha, a fresh breath of life bursts into this orderly world. More than once Tolstoy will emphasize that Natasha was not beautiful. She can be beautiful, or she can be ugly - it all depends on her state of mind. In her soul, hard work, inaccessible to prying eyes, does not stop for a second.

Natasha's spiritual beauty, her love of life, her thirst for life spread to people close and dear to her: Petya, Sonya, Boris, Nikolai. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky unwittingly found himself drawn into this same world. Boris Drubetskoy, a childhood friend with whom Natasha was bound by a childhood oath, could not resist her charm. Natasha dates Boris when she is already 16 years old. “He traveled with the firm intention of making it clear to both her and her family that the childhood relationship between him and Natasha could not be an obligation for either her or him.” But when he saw her, he lost his head, because he also plunged into her world of joy and goodness. He forgot that he wanted to marry a rich bride, stopped visiting Helen, and Natasha “seemed to still be in love with Boris.” In any situation, she is extremely sincere and natural, there is not a shadow of pretense, hypocrisy or coquetry in her. In Natasha, according to Tolstoy, “an inner fire was constantly burning and the reflections of this fire imparted to her appearance something better than beauty.” It is no coincidence that Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov love Natasha, and it is no coincidence that Vasily Denisov falls in love with her. The development of these qualities of the heroine is facilitated by the atmosphere of the Rostov house, full of love, respect, patience and mutual understanding.

A different atmosphere reigns on the Bolkonsky estate. Princess Marya was raised by her father, a proud and self-satisfied man with a difficult character. It is worth remembering the lessons of mathematics, which he not so much taught as tormented his daughter. Princess Marya inherited his secrecy, restraint in expressing her own feelings and innate nobility. The old Prince Bolkonsky is despotic and strict with his daughter, but he loves her in his own way and wishes her well. The image of Princess Marya is particularly attractive. The author constantly reminds of her ugly face, but the reader completely forgets about it in those moments when the best part of her spiritual being emerges. In the portrait of Marya Bolkonskaya, extremely laconic, one remembers her radiant eyes, which made the princess’s ugly face beautiful in moments of strong spiritual uplift.

Marya Bolkonskaya is the owner of a lively mind. Her father made a significant contribution to the development of her mental abilities, giving great value education. Natasha Rostova has a slightly different mindset. She does not reflect on events the way Marya does, seriously and deeply, but with her heart and soul she understands what another person cannot understand. Pierre answers the question about Natasha Rostova’s intellectual abilities perfectly: she “does not deign to be smart” because she is much higher and more complex than the concepts of intelligence and stupidity. Natasha differs from the searching, intelligent and educated heroes in that she perceives life without analyzing it, but experiences it holistically and imaginatively, like an artistically gifted person. She dances superbly, causing the delight of those around her, as the plastic language of dance helps her express her fullness of life, the joy of merging with it. Natasha has a beautiful voice that enchants listeners not only with its beauty and sonority, but also with the strength and sincerity of the feeling with which she devotes herself to singing. When Natasha sings, for her the whole world lies in sounds. But if this impulse is interrupted by someone else’s intrusion, for Natasha it is blasphemy, a shock. For example, after her enthusiastic younger brother ran into the room while she was singing with the news of the arrival of the mummers, Natasha burst into tears and could not stop for a long time.

One of Natasha's main character traits is her amorousness. At her first adult ball in her life, she entered the hall and felt in love with everyone. It cannot be otherwise, because love is the essence of her life. But this concept in Tolstoy has a very broad meaning. It includes not only love for the groom or husband, but also love for parents, family, art, nature, homeland, and life itself. Natasha acutely senses the beauty and harmony of nature. Charm moonlit night evokes in her a feeling of delight that literally overwhelms her: “Oh, how lovely! “Wake up, Sonya,” she said almost with tears in her voice. “After all, such a lovely night has never, never happened.”

In contrast to the emotional and lively Natasha, the meek Princess Marya combines humility and restraint with a thirst for simple human happiness. Unable to experience the joys of life, Marya finds joy and consolation in religion and communication with God's people. She meekly submits to her eccentric and oppressive father, not only out of fear, but also out of a sense of duty as a daughter who has no moral right to judge her father. At first glance, she seems timid and downtrodden. But in her character there is hereditary Bolkon pride, an innate sense of self-esteem, which manifests itself, for example, in her refusal of Anatoly Kuragin’s proposal. Despite the desire for quiet family happiness, which this ugly girl deeply conceals within herself, she does not want to become the wife of a socially handsome man at the cost of humiliation and insult to her dignity.

Natasha Rostova is a passionate, impetuous person who cannot hide her feelings and experiences. Having fallen in love with Andrei Bolkonsky, she could not think about anything else. Separation becomes an unbearable test for her, because she lives every moment and cannot postpone happiness for any set period. This quality of Natasha’s character pushes her to betrayal, which in turn gives rise to a deep feeling of guilt and remorse in her. She judges herself too harshly, refusing joys and pleasures, because she considers herself unworthy of happiness.

Natasha is brought out of her state of painful crisis by the news of the threat of the French approaching Moscow. A common misfortune for the whole country makes the heroine forget about her sufferings and sorrows. Like other positive heroes of the novel, the main thing for Natasha is the thought of saving Russia. In these difficult days Her love for people and her desire to do everything possible to help them becomes especially strong. This selfless love of Natasha finds its highest expression in motherhood.

But, despite the external differences, the dissimilarity of characters, Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya have a lot in common. Both Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha are endowed by the author with a rich spiritual world, inner beauty, whom Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky loved so much in Natasha and whom Nikolai Rostov admires in his wife. Natasha and Marya completely surrender to each of their feelings, be it joy or sadness. Their spiritual impulses are often selfless and noble. They both think more about others, loved ones and loved ones, than about themselves. For Princess Marya, all her life God remained the ideal to which her soul aspired. But Natasha, especially during difficult periods of her life (for example, after the story with Anatoly Kuragin), gave herself up to a feeling of admiration for the Almighty. They both wanted moral purity, a spiritual life, where there would be no place for resentment, anger, envy, injustice, where everything would be sublime and beautiful.

Despite all the dissimilarities in their characters, Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova are patriots, pure and honest natures, capable of deep and strong feelings. The best features of Tolstoy's favorite heroines were especially clearly manifested in 1812. Natasha took to heart the disaster that befell Russia with the advent of Napoleon. She committed a truly patriotic act, forcing them to throw off their property from the carts and give these carts to the wounded. Count Rostov, proud of his daughter, said: “Eggs... eggs teach a chicken.” With selfless love and courage, amazing those around her, Natasha looked after Prince Andrei until her last day. The strength of character of the modest and shy Princess Marya manifested itself with particular force these days. A French companion suggested that Princess Bolkonskaya, who found herself in a difficult situation, turn to the French for help. Princess Marya considered this proposal an insult to her patriotic feelings, stopped communicating with Mademoiselle Burien and left the Bogucharovo estate.

The human essence of Tolstoy’s heroines is defined by the word “femininity.” This is Natasha’s charm, tenderness, passion, and beautiful, filled with some kind of inner light, radiant eyes of Marya Bolkonskaya. Both of Tolstoy's favorite heroines find their happiness in the family, caring for their husband and children. But the writer takes them through serious trials, shocks and mental crises. When they first met (when Natasha was the bride of Prince Andrei), they did not understand each other. But having gone through a difficult path of disappointment and resentment, Princess Marya and Natasha became related not only by blood, but also by spirit. Fate accidentally brought them together, but they both realized that they were close to each other, and therefore they became not just true friends, but spiritual allies with their enduring desire to do good and give light, beauty and love to others.

The family life of Marya and Natasha is an ideal marriage, a strong family bond. Both heroines devote themselves to their husbands and children, giving all their spiritual and physical strength raising children and creating home comfort. Both Natasha (now Bezukhova) and Marya (Rostova) are happy in family life, happy with the happiness of their children and beloved husbands. Tolstoy emphasizes the beauty of his heroines in a new capacity for them - a loving wife and a tender mother. Natasha Rostova in the finale of the novel is no longer a charming thin and active girl, but a mature one strong woman, loving wife and mother. She devotes her whole being to caring for her husband and children. For her, her whole life is centered on the health of her children, their feeding, growth, and upbringing. Their relationship with Pierre is surprisingly harmonious and pure. Natasha's spontaneity and heightened intuition perfectly complement Pierre's intelligent, searching, analyzing nature. Tolstoy writes that Natasha does not particularly understand her husband’s political activities, but she feels and knows the main thing - its kind, fair basis. Another happy union is the family of Marya Bolkonskaya and Nikolai Rostov. Princess Marya's selfless, tender love for her husband and children creates an atmosphere of spirituality in the family and has an ennobling effect on Nicholas, who senses the high morality of the world in which his wife lives.

Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya are contrasted in the novel by Helen Kuragina. Behind the external brilliance of this heroine hides an evil and immoral creature. Before the readers' eyes, Helen consistently commits several betrayals. Like all representatives of the Kuragin family, she lives by the unchanging law of fulfilling personal desires and does not recognize any moral standards. Helen marries Pierre only for the purpose of enrichment. She openly cheats on her husband, not seeing anything shameful or unnatural in this. She doesn't want to have children because family means nothing to her. The consequence of her intrigues in the world is death. The author does not see a future for this heroine.

Helen's coldness and selfishness are contrasted with Natasha's naturalness and changeability. Helen, unlike Natasha, is not able to feel guilt or condemn herself. Incarnated in the image of Helen external beauty and inner emptiness. More than once in the novel we see her “monotonous,” “unchanging smile,” and more than once the author draws our attention to the “antique beauty of her body.” But not a word is said about Helen’s eyes in the novel, although it is known that they are the mirror of the soul. But Tolstoy writes about the eyes of his favorite heroines with great love: Princess Marya’s are “big, deep,” “always sad,” “more attractive than beauty.” Natasha’s eyes are “lively”, “beautiful”, “laughing”, “attentive”, “kind”. Both Natasha and Marya’s eyes are a reflection of their inner world.

The epilogue of the novel reflects the writer's idea of ​​the true purpose of a woman. According to Tolstoy, it is inextricably linked with the family, with caring for children. Women who find themselves outside this sphere either turn into emptiness, or, like Helen Kuragina, become carriers of evil. L.N. Tolstoy does not idealize family life, but shows that it is in the family that all eternal values ​​are contained for people, without which life loses its meaning. The writer sees the highest calling and purpose of a woman in motherhood, in raising children, for it is a woman who is the keeper of family foundations, that bright and good beginning that leads the world to harmony and beauty.

Essay on literature. Female images in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”

L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” shows the life of Russian society at the beginning of the 19th century during the War of 1812. This is a time of active social activity for the most different people. Tolstoy is trying to comprehend the role of women in the life of society, in the family. To this end, he displays in his novel a large number of female characters, which can be divided into two large groups: the first group includes women - bearers of folk ideals, such as Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya and others, and the second group includes women high society, such as Helen Kuragina, Anna Pavlovna Scherer, Julie Kuragina and others.

One of the most striking female images in the novel is the image of Natasha Rostova. Being a master of depicting human souls and characters, Tolstoy embodied the best features of the human personality in the image of Natasha. He did not want to portray her as smart, calculating, adapted to life and at the same time completely soulless, as he made the other heroine of the novel, Helen Kuragina. Simplicity and spirituality make Natasha more attractive than Helen with her intelligence and good social manners. Many episodes of the novel talk about how Natasha inspires people, makes them better, kinder, helps them find love for life, and find the right solutions. For example, when Nikolai Rostov, having lost a large sum money into cards for Dolokhov, returns home irritated, not feeling the joy of life, he hears Natasha’s singing and suddenly realizes that “all this: misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all nonsense, but here she is real ....”

But Natasha not only helps people in difficult life situations, she also simply brings them joy and happiness, gives them the opportunity to admire herself, and does this unconsciously and disinterestedly, as in the episode of the dance after the hunt, when she “stood up and smiled solemnly, proudly and cunningly.” - fun, the first fear that gripped Nikolai and everyone present, the fear that she would do the wrong thing, passed, and they were already admiring her.”

Just like she is close to the people, Natasha is also close to understanding the amazing beauty of nature. When describing the night in Otradnoye, the author compares the feelings of two sisters, closest friends, Sonya and Natasha. Natasha, whose soul is full of bright poetic feelings, asks Sonya to go to the window, peer into the extraordinary beauty of the starry sky, and inhale the smells that fill the quiet night. She exclaims: “After all, such a lovely night has never happened!” But Sonya cannot understand Natasha’s enthusiastic excitement. She does not have the inner fire that Tolstoy sang in Natasha. Sonya is kind, sweet, honest, friendly, she does not commit a single bad act and carries her love for Nikolai through the years. She is too good and correct, she never makes mistakes from which she could learn life experience and receive an incentive for further development.

Natasha makes mistakes and draws from them the necessary life experience. She meets Prince Andrei, their feelings can be called a sudden unity of thoughts, they suddenly understood each other, felt something uniting them.

But nevertheless, Natasha suddenly falls in love with Anatoly Kuragin, even wants to run away with him. An explanation for this can be that Natasha is the most ordinary person, with their weaknesses. Her heart is characterized by simplicity, openness, and gullibility; she simply follows her feelings, not being able to subordinate them to reason. But true love woke up in Natasha much later. She realized that the one she admired, who was dear to her, lived in her heart all this time. It was a joyful and new feeling that absorbed Natasha entirely, bringing her back to life. Pierre Bezukhov played an important role in this. His “childish soul” was close to Natasha, and he was the only one who brought joy and light into the Rostov house when she felt bad, when she was tormented by remorse, suffered, and hated herself for everything that happened. She did not see reproach or indignation in Pierre's eyes. He idolized her, and she was grateful to him for being in the world. Despite the mistakes of her youth, despite the death of her loved one, Natasha’s life was amazing. She was able to experience love and hate, create a magnificent family, finding in it the much-desired peace of mind.

In some ways she is similar to Natasha, but in some ways she is opposed to Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. The main principle to which her whole life is subordinated is self-sacrifice. This self-sacrifice, submission to fate is combined in her with a thirst for simple human happiness. Submission to all the whims of her domineering father, a ban on discussing his actions and their motives - this is how Princess Marya understands her duty to her daughter. But she can show strength of character if necessary, which is revealed when her sense of patriotism is offended. She not only leaves the family estate, despite Mademoiselle Burien's proposal, but also forbids her to let her companion in when she learns about her connections with the enemy command. But to save another person, she can sacrifice her pride; this is evident when she asks for forgiveness from Mademoiselle Bourrienne, forgiveness for herself and for the servant on whom her father’s wrath fell. And yet, by elevating her sacrifice to a principle, turning away from “living life,” Princess Marya suppresses something important in herself. And yet, it was sacrificial love that led her to family happiness: when she met Nikolai in Voronezh, “for the first time, all this pure, spiritual, inner work with which she had lived until now came out.” Princess Marya fully revealed herself as a person when circumstances prompted her to become independent in life, which happened after the death of her father, and most importantly, when she became a wife and mother. Her diaries dedicated to her children and her ennobling influence on her husband speak about the harmony and richness of Marya Rostova’s inner world.

These two women, who are similar in many ways, are contrasted with ladies of high society, such as Helen Kuragina, Anna Pavlovna Scherer, and Julie Kuragina. These women are similar in many ways. At the beginning of the novel, the author says that Helen, “when the story made an impression, looked back at Anna Pavlovna and immediately took on the same expression that was on the maid of honor’s face.” The most characteristic sign of Anna Pavlovna is the static nature of words, gestures, even thoughts: “The restrained smile that constantly played on Anna Pavlovna’s face, although it did not match her outdated features, expressed, like spoiled children, the constant awareness of her sweet shortcoming, from which she wants, cannot, does not find it necessary to get rid of it.” Behind this characteristic lies the author's irony and hostility towards the character.

Julie is a fellow socialite, “the richest bride in Russia,” who received a fortune after the death of her brothers. Like Helen, who wears a mask of decency, Julie wears a mask of melancholy: “Julie seemed disappointed in everything, told everyone that she did not believe in friendship, love, or any joys of life and expected peace only “there.” Even Boris, preoccupied with searching for a rich bride, feels the artificiality and unnaturalness of her behavior.

So, women close to natural life and folk ideals, such as Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, find family happiness after going through a certain path of spiritual and moral quest. And women, far from moral ideals, cannot experience true happiness because of their selfishness and adherence to empty ideals secular society.

L. N. Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” is a grandiose work not only in terms of the monumentality of the historical events described in it, deeply researched by the author and artistically processed into a single logical whole, but also in terms of the variety of created images, both historical and fictional. In depicting historical characters, Tolstoy was more of a historian than a writer; he said: “Where historical figures speak and act, he did not invent and used materials.” Fictional images are described artistically and at the same time are conductors of the author’s thoughts. Female characters convey Tolstoy's ideas about the complexity of human nature, about the peculiarities of relationships between people, about family, marriage, motherhood, and happiness.

From the point of view of the system of images, the heroes of the novel can be conditionally divided into “living” and “dead”, that is, developing, changing over time, deeply feeling and experiencing and - in contrast to them - frozen, not evolving, but static. There are women in both “camps”, and there are so many female images that it seems almost impossible to mention them all in the essay; perhaps it would be wiser to dwell in more detail on the main characters and characteristic secondary characters who play a significant role in the development of the plot.

The “living” heroines in the work are, first of all, Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya. Despite the difference in upbringing, family traditions, atmosphere at home, character, in the end they become close friends. Natasha, who grew up in a warm, loving, open, sincere family atmosphere, having absorbed the carelessness, dashing, and enthusiasm of the “Rostov breed,” has been winning hearts since her youth with her all-encompassing love for people and her thirst for reciprocal love. Beauty in the generally accepted sense of the word is replaced by mobility of features, liveliness of the eyes, grace, flexibility; her wonderful voice and ability to dance captivate many. Princess Marya, on the contrary, is clumsy, the ugliness of her face is only occasionally illuminated by her “radiant eyes.” Life without going out in the village makes her wild and silent, communication with her is difficult. Only a sensitive and insightful person can notice the purity, religiosity, even self-sacrifice hidden behind external isolation (after all, in quarrels with her father, Princess Marya blames only herself, not recognizing his temper and rudeness). However, at the same time, the two heroines have much in common: living, developing inner world, craving for high feelings, spiritual purity, clear conscience. Fate brings them both into contact with Anatoly Kuragin, and only chance saves Natasha and Princess Marya from a connection with him. Due to their naivety, the girls do not see Kuragin’s low and selfish goals and believe in his sincerity. Due to the external difference, the relationship between the heroines is not easy at first, misunderstanding, even contempt arises, but then, having gotten to know each other better, they become irreplaceable friends, forming an indivisible moral union, united by the best spiritual qualities of Tolstoy’s favorite heroines.

In constructing a system of images, Tolstoy is far from schematism: the line between the “living” and the “dead” is permeable. Tolstoy wrote: “For an artist there cannot and should not be heroes, but there must be people.” Therefore, female images appear in the fabric of the work, which are difficult to definitely classify as “living” or “dead”. This can be considered the mother of Natasha Rostova, Countess Natalya Rostova. From the conversations of the characters, it becomes clear that in her youth she moved in society and was a member and welcome guest of salons. But, having married Rostov, she changes and devotes herself to her family. Rostova as a mother is an example of cordiality, love and tact. She is a close friend and adviser to the children: in touching conversations in the evenings, Natasha devotes her mother to all her secrets, secrets, experiences, and seeks her advice and help. At the same time, at the time of the main action of the novel, her inner world is static, but this can be explained by a significant evolution in her youth. She becomes a mother not only for her children, but also for Sonya. Sonya gravitates towards the camp of the “dead”: she does not have that seething cheerfulness that Natasha has, she is not dynamic, not impulsive. This is especially emphasized by the fact that at the beginning of the novel Sonya and Natasha are always together. Tolstoy gave this generally good girl an unenviable fate: falling in love with Nikolai Rostov does not bring her happiness, since for reasons of the well-being of the family, Nikolai’s mother cannot allow this marriage. Sonya feels gratitude to the Rostovs and focuses on her so much that she becomes fixated on the role of the victim. She does not accept Dolokhov’s proposal, refusing to advertise her feelings for Nikolai. She lives in hope, basically showing off and demonstrating her unrecognized love.

A short essay-discussion on literature on the topic: “War and Peace” - female characters: Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya, Helen Kuragina. My favorite hero of the novel "War and Peace". The beauty of the soul in Tolstoy's novel.

L. N. Tolstoy created one of the most large-scale and universal works in Russian literature, touching on almost all the “eternal” problems in literature: good and evil, love and hate, honor and baseness. The writer showed the whole picture of life, in all its contrasts (this is clear from the title). In his epic novel, L.N. Tolstoy created a whole gallery of images. In total, there are 550 heroes in War and Peace, each with individual traits. The main characters are drawn with special care, their joys and sorrows are experienced by the readers as if they were their own. Therefore, it is interesting to analyze Tolstoy’s approach to revealing female images - a complex and incomprehensible skill.

Natasha Rostova is one of the main heroines of the epic. As a child, she was a thin, black-eyed, lively girl with a big mouth. By nature, although she is spoiled, she is honest, open and brave: “Well, you see, if I kept her strictly, I forbade her... God knows what they would do on the sly (the Countess meant, they would kiss), and now I know her every word. She will come running in the evening and tell me everything. Maybe I’m spoiling her, but really, this seems better...” The heroine’s home life is cloudless and unclouded by anything, which is why it seems to Natasha that the whole world is at her feet. She carries these thoughts to herself in her early youth: “Natasha walked in her purple silk dress with black lace the way women know how to walk - the calmer and more majestic the more painful and ashamed she was in her soul. She knew and was not mistaken that she was good.” Natasha has good taste, a talent for singing and dancing, but her most important quality is sensitivity, which is why she is able to understand with her heart what she does not understand with her mind.

Natasha Rostova

Her calmness ended with her childhood. At her first ball, the heroine saw Andrei Bolkonsky and fell in love. Or rather, it seemed so to her. Natasha herself could not understand her feelings, and prematurely committed herself to an engagement with Andrei. But it was not love, which is why Anatol Kuragin almost seduced the inexperienced girl. Bolkonsky could not forgive this, so he broke off all relations with the bride. This plunged Natasha into a deep mental crisis. And tragedy helped her pull herself together, become closer to real life, and not to dreams, and get rid of selfishness - Patriotic War 1812. The heroine met Andrei again, but he was already on his deathbed, and she selflessly looked after him, their love turned into a kindred, Christian, universal love. But losses were not limited to Bolkonsky; Natasha lost both her brother Petya and her house in the Moscow fire. The heroine endured everything steadfastly, and fate gave her happiness in her family: she finally found true love where she was not looking for, with a person who was always there, with Pierre Bezukhov. Natasha was created for the family: “She grew plump and wider, so that it was difficult to recognize in this strong mother the former thin, active Natasha. Her facial features were defined and had an expression of calm softness and clarity. In her face there was not, as before, that incessantly burning fire of revival that made up her charm. Now only her face and body were often visible, but her soul was not visible at all. One strong, beautiful and fertile female was visible.” Her energy was finally directed in the right direction, the heroine found harmony.

Marya Bolkonskaya is the complete opposite of Natasha, but causes no less positive emotions from the author. The heroine’s appearance is far from charming, only her eyes were good: “Ugly, weak body and thin face. The eyes, always sad, now looked at themselves in the mirror especially hopelessly<…>The princess’s 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 entire face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty.” The girl also did not have secular talents, but her main gift was a deeply loving, pure soul. Marya is ready to take care of everyone, to feel sorry for everyone, but in the face of the harshness of life, in situations where humility and patience will not help, she is lost. The heroine is ready to renounce herself for the benefit of others: she selflessly raises her nephew Nikolenka and takes care of her extravagant father. The Patriotic War of 1812 changed her life: she was left completely alone, without protection, but she was also able to endure it, and still became stronger. A tragedy like war gave her the opportunity to find happiness in the person of Nikolai Rostov. Finally, Marya is loved and loves the way she needs it. She deserves it, because she has never done harm to anyone, something that even Natasha cannot boast of.

In contrast to the “favorite” heroines, whom the author led to happiness and harmony, it is worth paying attention to Helen Kuragina (Bezukhova). She expresses the whole world: luxurious, but deceitful and empty. Outwardly, the heroine is impeccable: dark eyes, blond hair, a radiant, calm smile, “extraordinary, antique beauty of the body.” She is aware of her beauty, emphasizes it with revealing outfits, uses it as a means of influence (this is how she seduced Pierre and married him, although she did not love him for a second). But there is nothing behind this beauty. Helen knows how to seem and not be. To seem dignified while being simply an immoral and soulless woman. Appearing smart and erudite in all matters, being limited and fixated on secular pleasures. Seeming graceful and airy, while being mean and vulgar (she tried to push Natasha into the arms of her brother, with whom, according to rumors, she herself had a relationship). Helen is unpleasant to the author, so he cannot lead her to happiness. She cheats on her husband, leaves him, renounces Orthodox faith, divorces Pierre, and then dies from an unknown illness: “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 (chest sore throat).”

L.N. Tolstoy depicts the ideal of a woman in his novel. This ideal should combine the features of Marya and Natasha and exclude even a hint of Helen. First of all, the author considers spirituality and sensitivity to be the main qualities in a person. Such a woman will definitely come to happiness, despite all the trials. To forget about the soul, to seem and not to be - all this leads to the abyss, to where Helen found herself.

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Female images in the novel "War and Peace"

In the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy draws, masterfully and convincingly, several types female characters and fate. Impetuous and romantic Natasha, who becomes a “fertile female” in the epilogue of the novel; beautiful, depraved and stupid Helen Kuragina, who embodied all the advantages and disadvantages of metropolitan society; Princess Drubetskaya is a mother hen; the young “little princess” Liza Bolkonskaya is a gentle and mournful angel of the story and, finally, Princess Marya, the sister of Prince Andrei. All heroines have their own destiny, their own aspirations, their own world. Their lives amazingly intertwined, and in different life situations and problems they behave differently. Many of these well-developed characters had prototypes. Reading a novel, you involuntarily live life with its characters.

In the novel huge amount beautiful images of women early XIX centuries, some of them I would like to consider in more detail.

Marya Bolkonskaya

"right"> "right">The beauty of the soul gives charm "right">even a plain body "right">G. Lessing

It is believed that the prototype of Princess Marya was Tolstoy's mother. The writer did not remember his mother, even her portraits were not preserved, and he created her spiritual appearance in his imagination.

Princess Marya lives constantly on the Bald Mountains estate with her father, an illustrious nobleman of Catherine’s, exiled under Paul and who has not gone anywhere since then. Her father, Nikolai Andreevich, is not a pleasant person: he is often grumpy and rude, scolds the princess as a fool, throws notebooks and, to top it all off, is a pedant. But he loves his daughter in his own way and wishes her well. Old Prince Bolkonsky strives to give his daughter a serious education, giving her lessons himself.

And here is the portrait of the princess: “The mirror reflected an ugly, weak body and a thin face.” Tolstoy does not tell us the details of Princess Marya's appearance. An interesting point - Princess Marya “always looked prettier when she cried.” We know about her that to society dandies she seemed “bad.” She also seemed ugly to herself when she looked at herself in the mirror. Anatoly Kuragin, who immediately noted the merits of Natasha Rostova’s eyes, shoulders and hair, was not attracted to Princess Marya in any way. She does not go to balls because she lives alone in the village, she is burdened by the company of her empty and stupid French companion, she is mortally afraid of her strict father, but she is not offended by anyone.

Oddly enough, the main ideas about war and peace are expressed in Tolstoy’s book by a woman - Princess Marya. She writes in a letter to Julie that war is a sign that people have forgotten God. This is at the beginning of the work, even before 1812 and all its horrors. In fact, her brother, Andrei Bolkonsky, a professional military man who laughed at his sister and called her a “crybaby,” will come to the same thought after many brutal battles, after he saw death face to face, after captivity, after severe wounds. "

Princess Marya predicts to Prince Andrei that he will understand that there is “happiness in forgiving.” And he, who saw the East and the West, experienced happiness and sorrow, drew up laws for Russia and the disposition of battles, philosophized with Kutuzov, Speransky and others the best minds who has read a lot of books and is familiar with all the great ideas of the century, he will understand that he was right younger sister, who spent her life in the outback, did not communicate with anyone, was in awe of her father and learned complex scales and cried over geometry problems. He really forgives his mortal enemy - Anatole. Did the princess convert her brother to her faith? It's hard to say. He is immeasurably superior to her in his insight and ability to understand people and events. Prince Andrei predicts the fate of Napoleon, Speransky, the outcome of battles and peace treaties, which more than once caused the amazement of critics who reproached Tolstoy for anachronism, for deviations from loyalty to the era, for “modernizing” Bolkonsky, etc. But this is a separate topic. But the fate of Prince Andrei himself was predicted by his sister. She knew that he did not die at Austerlitz, and she prayed for him as if he were alive (which probably saved him). She also realized that every minute counted when, without having any information about her brother, she set out on a difficult journey from Voronezh to Yaroslavl through the forests, in which detachments of the French had already met. She knew that he was going to his death, and predicted that he would forgive his worst enemy before his death. And the author, mind you, is always on her side. Even in the scene of Bogucharov’s rebellion, she is right, the timid princess who has never managed the estate, and not the men who assume

that they would be better off under Napoleon's rule.

It can be said that the princess herself almost made a fatal mistake in Anatole. But this mistake is of a different kind than Natasha’s mistake. Natasha is driven by vanity, sensuality - whatever. Princess Marya is driven by Duty and Faith. So she can't be wrong. She accepts fate as a test that God sends her. No matter what happens, she will bear her cross, and not cry and not try to poison herself, like Natasha Rostova. Natasha wants to be happy. Princess Marya wants to be submissive to God. She does not think about herself and never cries from “pain or resentment,” but only from “sadness or pity.” After all, you cannot hurt an angel, you cannot deceive or offend him. You can only accept his prediction, the message he brings, and pray to him for salvation.

Marya Bolkonskaya is certainly smart, but she does not flaunt her “learning”, so it is interesting and easy to communicate with her. Unfortunately, not everyone can understand and appreciate this. Anatol Kuragin as typical representative secular society cannot, and, most likely, simply does not want to discern this truly rare beauty of a soul. He sees only the plain appearance, not noticing everything else.

Despite different characters, views, aspirations and dreams, Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya are strong friends at the end of the novel. Although both of them had an unpleasant first impression of each other. Natasha sees Prince Bolkonsky's sister as an obstacle to her marriage, subtly feeling negative attitude the Bolkonsky family to his person. Marya, for her part, sees a typical representative of secular society, young, beautiful, having enormous success with men. It seems to me that Marya is even a little jealous of Natasha.

But it brings the girls closer together terrible grief- death of Andrei Bolkonsky. He meant a lot to his sister and ex-fiancée, and the feelings that the girls experienced during the prince’s death throes were understandable and similar for both.

The family of Marya Bolkonskaya and Nikolai Rostov is a happy union. Marya creates an atmosphere of spirituality in the family and has an ennobling effect on Nikolai, who feels the sublimity and high morality of the world in which his wife lives. In my opinion, it could not be otherwise. This quiet and meek girl, a real angel, definitely deserves all the happiness that Tolstoy awarded her at the end of the novel.

Natasha Rostova

Natasha Rostova is the central female character in the novel “War and Peace” and, perhaps, the author’s favorite. This image arose in the writer when the initial idea for a story about the Decembrist who returned to Russia and his wife, who endured with him all the hardships of exile, arose. The prototype of Natasha is considered to be the writer's sister-in-law Tatyana Andreevna Bers, in her marriage Kuzminskaya, who had musicality and in a beautiful voice. The second prototype is the wife of the writer, who admitted that “he took Tanya, mixed it with Sonya, and it turned out to be Natasha.”

According to this characterization of the heroine, she “does not deign to be smart.” This remark reveals the main distinguishing feature of Natasha's image - her emotionality and intuitive sensitivity; No wonder she is unusually musical, has a voice of rare beauty, is responsive and spontaneous. At the same time, her character has inner strength and an unbending moral core, which makes her similar to the best and most popular heroines of Russian classical literature.

Tolstoy presents us with the evolution of his heroine over the fifteen-year period of her life, from 1805 to 1820, and over more than one and a half thousand pages of the novel. It’s all here: the sum of ideas about a woman’s place in society and the family, and thoughts about the female ideal, and the disinterested romantic love of the creator for his creation.

We first meet her when the girl runs into the room, happiness and joy on her face. This creature cannot understand how others can be sad if she is happy. She doesn't try to restrain herself. All her actions are dictated by feelings and desires. Of course, she's a little spoiled. It already contains something characteristic of that time and for secular young ladies. It is no coincidence that Natasha thinks that she already loves Boris Drubetsky, that she will wait until she turns sixteen and she can marry him. This imaginary love is just fun for Natasha.
But little Rostova is not like other children, not like her in her sincerity and lack of falsehood. These qualities, characteristic of all Rostovs, with the exception of Vera, are especially clearly manifested when compared with Boris Drubetsky and Julie Karagina. Natasha knows French, but she does not pretend to be a Frenchwoman, like many girls of noble families of that time. She is Russian, she has purely Russian features, she even knows how to dance Russian dances.

Natalya Ilyinichna is the daughter of the well-known Moscow hospitable, good-natured, bankrupt rich Counts of Rostov, whose family traits receive from Denisov the definition of “Rostov breed”. Natasha appears in the novel perhaps as the most a prominent representative this breed, thanks not only to its emotionality, but also to many other qualities important for understanding the philosophy of the novel. Rostova, as it were, unconsciously embodies that true understanding of life, participation in the national spiritual principle, the achievement of which is given to the main characters - Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky - only as a result of the most complex moral quests.

Natasha appears on the pages of the novel at thirteen years old. Half child, half girl. Everything about her is important to Tolstoy: the fact that she is ugly, and the way she laughs, what she says, and the fact that she has black eyes and her hair hangs back in black curls. This ugly duckling, ready to turn into a swan. As the plot develops, Rostova turns into a girl attractive with her liveliness and charm, sensitively reacting to everything that happens. Most often, it is Natasha who gives the most accurate characteristics of other characters in the novel. She is capable of self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness, high spiritual impulses (burns her hand with a hot ruler to prove her love and friendship to Sonya; actually decides the fate of the wounded, giving carts to take them out of burning Moscow; saves her mother from insanity after Petya’s death; selflessly cares for dying Prince Andrei).The atmosphere of happiness, universal love, play and gaiety in the Moscow house of the Rostovs is replaced by idyllic landscapes estates in Otradnoye. Landscapes and Christmas games, fortune telling. She even looks, and, I think, not by chance, similar to Tatyana Larina. The same openness to love and happiness, the same biological, unconscious connection with Russian national traditions and principles. And how Natasha dances after the hunt! “Clean business, march,” the uncle is surprised. It seems that the author is no less surprised: “Where, how, when did this countess, raised by a French emigrant, suck into herself from that Russian air that she breathed, this spirit... But the spirit and techniques were the same, inimitable, unstudied, Russian, which her uncle expected from her."

At the same time, Natasha can be very selfish, which is dictated not by reason, but rather by an instinctive desire for happiness and fullness of life. Having become the bride of Andrei Bolkonsky, she cannot stand the year-long test and becomes interested in Anatoly Kuragin, ready in her passion for the most reckless actions. After a chance meeting in Mytishchi with the wounded Prince Andrei, realizing her guilt and having the opportunity to atone for it, Rostova is again revived to life; and after Bolkonsky’s death (already in the epilogue of the novel) she becomes the wife of Pierre Bezukhov, who is close to her in spirit and truly loved by her. In the epilogue N.R. Tolstoy is presented as a wife and mother, completely immersed in her family concerns and responsibilities, sharing her husband’s interests and understanding him.

During the War of 1812, Natasha behaves confidently and courageously. At the same time, she does not evaluate and does not think about what she is doing. She obeys a certain “swarm” instinct of life. After the death of Petya Rostov, she is the head of the family. Natasha for a long time takes care of the seriously wounded Bolkonsky. This is very difficult and dirty work. What Pierre Bezukhov saw in her immediately, when she was still a girl, a child - a tall, pure, beautiful soul, Tolstoy reveals to us gradually, step by step. Natasha is with Prince Andrei until the very end. The author's ideas about the human foundations of morality are concentrated around it. Tolstoy endows her with extraordinary ethical power. Losing loved ones, property, experiencing equally all the hardships that befell the country and the people, she does not experience spiritual breakdown. When Prince Andrei awakens “from life,” Natasha awakens to life. Tolstoy writes about the feeling of “reverent tenderness” that gripped her soul. It, remaining forever, became a semantic component of Natasha’s further existence. In the epilogue, the author depicts what, in his opinion, is true female happiness. “Natasha got married in the early spring of 1813, and in 1820 she already had three daughters and one son, whom she wanted and now fed herself.” Nothing in this strong, broad mother reminds me of the old Natasha. Tolstoy calls her “a strong, beautiful and fertile female.” All Natasha’s thoughts are around her husband and family. And she thinks in a special way, not with her mind, “but with her whole being, that is, with her flesh.” Pierre speaks beautifully about her intellectual abilities, saying that she “does not deign to be smart,” because she is much higher and more complex than the concepts of intelligence and stupidity. It is like a part of nature, part of that natural incomprehensible process in which all people, land, air, countries and peoples are involved. It is not surprising that such a state of life does not seem primitive or naive to either the heroes or the author. Family is mutual and voluntary slavery. “In her house, Natasha put herself on the foot of her husband’s slave.” She only loves and is loved. And in this the true positive content of life is hidden for her.

"War and Peace" - the only novel Tolstoy, having a classic happy ending. The state in which he leaves Nikolai Rostov, Princess Marya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha is the best that he could come up with and give them. It has its basis in Tolstoy’s moral philosophy, in his unique but very serious ideas about the role and place of women in the world and society.

Socialite ladies

(Helen Bezukhova, Princess Drubetskaya, A.P. Sherer)

Each person has his own advantages and disadvantages, 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 ladies of high society in his novel

Helen Kuragina 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. 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. She is like a 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, but This means there is no response and warmth.

Among the characters Tolstoy disliked, one can single out Anna Pavlovna Sherer. On the very first pages of the novel, the reader gets acquainted with Anna Pavlovna’s salon and with herself. Her most characteristic feature is the constancy of deeds, words, internal and external gestures, even thoughts: “The restrained smile that constantly played on Anna Pavlovna’s face, although it did not match her outdated features, expressed, like spoiled children, the constant awareness of her dear shortcomings, from which she wants, cannot and does not find it necessary to correct herself.” Behind this characteristic is the author's irony.

Anna Pavlovna is a maid of honor and close associate of Empress Maria Feodorovna, the hostess of a fashionable high-society “political” salon in St. Petersburg, with a description of the evening in which Tolstoy begins his novel. Anna Pavlovna is 40 years old, she has “obsolete facial features,” expressing a combination of sadness, devotion and respect every time the empress is mentioned. The heroine is dexterous, tactful, influential at court, and prone to intrigue. Her attitude towards any person or event is always dictated by the latest political, court or secular considerations; she is close to the Kuragin family and is friendly with Prince Vasily. Scherer is constantly “full of animation and impulse”, “being an enthusiast has become her social position”, and in her salon, in addition to discussing the latest court and political news, she always “treats” guests to some new product or celebrity, and in 1812 her the circle demonstrates salon patriotism in the St. Petersburg world.

It is known that for Tolstoy, a woman is, first of all, a mother, the keeper of the family hearth. The high society lady, the owner of the salon, Anna Pavlovna, has no children and no husband. She is a "barren flower". This is the most terrible punishment that Tolstoy could come up with for her.

Another lady of high society is Princess Drubetskaya. We first see her in the A.P. salon. Scherer, asking for her son, Boris. We then watch her ask Countess Rostova for money. The scene in which Drubetskaya and Prince Vasily snatch Bezukhov’s briefcase from each other complements the image of the princess. This is an absolutely unprincipled woman, the main thing for her in life is money and position in society. For their sake, she is ready to go to any humiliation.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” begins with a description of high society gathered in the salon of the maid of honor Anna Pavlovna Scherer. This is “the highest nobility of St. Petersburg, people very different in age and character, but the same in the society in which they all lived...”. Everything here is false and for show: smiles, phrases, feelings. These people talk about their homeland, patriotism, politics, but are essentially not interested in these concepts. They only care about personal well-being, career, peace of mind. Tolstoy tears away the veils of external splendor and refined manners from these people, and their spiritual squalor and moral baseness appear before the reader. There is neither simplicity, nor goodness, nor truth in their behavior, in their relationships. Everything is unnatural, hypocritical in the salon of A.P. Scherer. Everything alive, be it a thought or a feeling, a sincere impulse or a topical wit, extinguishes in a soulless environment. That is why the naturalness and openness in Pierre’s behavior frightened Scherer so much. Here they are accustomed to “decently pulled masks”, to a masquerade. Tolstoy especially hated lies and falsehood in relationships between people. With what irony he talks about Prince Vasily, when he simply robs Pierre, appropriating income from his estates! And all this under the guise of kindness and care for the young man, whom he cannot leave to the mercy of fate. Helen Kuragina, who became Countess Bezukhova, is also deceitful and depraved. Even the beauty and youth of representatives of high society take on a repulsive character, because this beauty is not warmed by the soul. Julie Kuragina, who finally became Drubetskaya, and people like her lie, playing at patriotism.

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creative female image During the “happy” period, a fantastic world in which Poe’s consciousness found refuge in the years early childhood, did not break up. On the contrary, it has expanded, become more complex and richer. It included another deity - Jane Stanard...

Female images in the novels by G. Flaubert "Madame Bovary" and L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"

The plot of Flaubert's novel is based on a banal collision: a wife, an unloved husband whom she deceives first with one lover, then with a second, an insidious moneylender who traps a victim in his net in order to profit from someone else's misfortune...

Female images in F. M. Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment"

There has always been a special attitude towards women in Russian literature, and until a certain time the main place in it was occupied by a man - a hero, with whom the problems posed by the authors were associated. N...

Female images in Sholokhov's novel "Quiet Don"

In Russian cultural tradition there is its own specificity in understanding the relationship between masculine and feminine. Firstly, in Russian theology of gender, the differentiation of male and feminine seen as a spiritual principle. Secondly, different...

Ideal female images in medieval Rus' of the 11th-15th centuries

Image system in the story by I.S. Turgenev "Spring Waters"

There are two main female characters in the story, these are two women who took a direct part in the fate of Sanin: his bride Gemma and the “fatal” beauty Marya Nikolaevna Polozova. We first learn about Gemma in one of the first scenes of the story...

Patriotism in Russian literature of the 19th century

The novel "War and Peace" in terms of genre is an epic novel, since Tolstoy shows us historical events, which cover long segment time (the action of the novel begins in 1805 and ends in 1821, in the epilogue)...

The problem of man and society in Russian XIX literature century

Let us also remember that in 1869, from the pen of L.N. Tolstoy published one of the brilliant works of world literature - the epic novel War and Peace. In this work, the main character is not Pechorin, not Onegin, not Chatsky...

The theme of crime and punishment in Dickens's novel Dombey and Son

Main character novel - Florence is a bright, almost biblical image symbolizing spiritual purity, love that can melt even the icy heart of her father. Communication with her changes the proud, unapproachable Edith, reviving warmth and affection in her soul...

Chekhov A.P.

Two beautiful sisters live in a rich noble estate. The youngest, Zhenya (her family calls her Misyus), is a poetic person. She is spontaneous, receptive and impressionable. Reading books is her main activity. She hasn't figured out life yet...

What do we know about Leo Tolstoy's language? The fact that there are a lot of liberties in it (the language) (both in word usage and in grammar), for example: ““He’s his!” “This crowd of pronouns could be recognized,” testified K. Fedin...

Linguistic features of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"

In linguistic works devoted to the description and study of the lexical-semantic field of color terms, researchers, to one degree or another, also consider the vocabulary of light...