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Describe without further ado...

War and peace, the rule of sovereigns,

Holy miracles for the saints,

Prophecies and signs from heaven...

A.S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov"

SYSTEM OF LESSONS ON THE NOVEL L.N. TOLSTOY

"WAR AND PEACE"

(to the anniversary of L.N. Tolstoy)

COMPLETED BY: Prisyazhnyuk I.V.

MINES 2016

UDC 820. 89.0

BBK 83.3.

Reviewer: – Candidate of Philological Sciences Bogacheva E.V.

Compiled by Prisyazhnyuk I.V.

System of lessons based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” (for the anniversary of L.N. Tolstoy)/ Comp. I.V. Prisyazhnyuk; Shakhty Pedagogical College. - Shakhty, 2016. - 56 p.

The writer's work is considered in the cultural and historical context of the era. Variable lesson developments are presented that allow you to address the topic being studied in a secondary school or in elective classes. The manual is aimed at studying literature as the art of words, at students’ thoughtful work with the text. A sample analysis of a work is given in the unity of content and form. These guidelines will enable students to independently organize work on studying the novel “War and Peace.” Designed for students and teachers of Russian language and literature

© Shakhty Pedagogical College, 2016

© Prisyazhnyuk I.V., 2016

Preface……………………………………………………………..4

1. SECTION 1.Lesson notes…………………………………….5

1.1. Lesson notes for studying the novel “War and Peace”............5

1.2. Lessons from the past (L.N. Tolstoy’s story “Hadji Murad”)………23

2. SECTION 2 Materials for lessons……………………………………31

2.1.Ways to search for the meaning of life by A. Bolkonsky………………………31

2.2.Pir in captivity…………………………………………………….......35

2.3.Image of Natasha Rostova………………………………………………………...40

2.4. “Honor your father and your mother”……………………………......45

2.5.Features of portrait characteristics in Tolstoy’s works...47

3. Literature……………………………………………………………..59

PREFACE

We call “War and Peace” a great multifaceted work not only because it contains many characters with unique characters and speech manners, but that it skillfully interweaves plots, situations, scenes, destinies, which makes the narrative fascinating. This novel is great primarily for its historical, moral and social content of conflicts that unfold plastically before the reader.

This is a grandiose canvas that depicts the most difficult period of Russian history from 1805 to 1820. Imbued with a high patriotic feeling, it is also incomparable in its high artistic skill.

The novel “War and Peace” is also a hymn to the Russian people, their valor and honor, their selfless perseverance and devotion to their homeland. For the first time in literature, Tolstoy portrayed thinking heroes with high intelligence, seeking answers to the most complex problems of the movement of history, human existence, and depicted their personal lives in conjunction with historical processes. The novel “War and Peace” is fraught with inexhaustible possibilities for research, study, and discovery.

Our goal is to assist a novice literature teacher in studying the most complex work of L.N. Tolstoy. Many, especially novice teachers, find it difficult to solve the most pressing pedagogical problems: clearly and clearly formulate the topic and goals of the lesson, determine the tasks of moral and aesthetic education in literature lessons.

Drawing up a lesson outline indicating all its elements is undoubtedly an individual task for the teacher; he must approach the educational material creatively and write a lesson summary, guided by the appropriate methodological and didactic rules.

SECTION 1

LESSON SUMMARY

STUDY LESSON SUMMARY

NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"

LESSONS 1-4 are devoted to the study of volume 1 of the novel “War and Peace”.

Lessons 1 and 2 – group laboratory work.

TOPIC: “Critical depiction of high society. High society and middle nobility. Contrast as a basic artistic technique. Tolstoy's likes and dislikes.

The class is divided into seven groups.

1 group. Evening at the Scherer salon:

The social status of the heroes and their attitude towards each other;

Topics of conversation: how interesting they are to those talking;

Highlight the comparisons used by the author, what do they indicate?

Pierre's behavior and the hostess's attitude towards him;

Look at the illustrations by artist Nikolaev. Do you think it illustrates the episode well?

2nd group.Pierre Bezukhov visiting Prince Andrei:

Andrey at the evening at Sherer's;

Lisa Bolkonskaya at an evening at Sherer's;

The attitude of Andrei and Pierre towards each other;

Andrey's monologue about Bonoparte. How did you understand it?

3 group.Entertainment for secular youth:

Dolokhov's behavior;

Anatol Kuragin in the characterization of his father, in his behavior at the evening;

Fun with a bear and its consequences;

The attitude of Andrei Bolkonsky and Count Rostov to such a pastime.

4 group.Name day at the Rostovs:

The attitude of Count and Countess Rostov to guests and to each other;

Behavior and interests of children in the Rostov house;

The atmosphere during the birthday dinner (the topic of conversation; how interesting they are to those talking, the general atmosphere);

The attitude of Count and Countess Rostov towards the servants;

Look at the illustrations by artist Nikolaev, to what extent do you think they correspond to the pages of the novel.

5 group.Events in the house of Count Bezukhov:

The behavior of Prince Vasily Kuragin, his interests;

The behavior of Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, its reasons;

Boris Drubetskoy and Pierre Bezukhov in this situation;

Unction: consider the illustration by artist Nikolaev. What does he emphasize in this ritual?

6 group.The Bolkonsky family in Bald Mountains:

The past of the old prince;

Occupations and interests of the local nobleman;

Princess Marya Bolkonskaya;

Relationship between father and children.

7 group.Andrey's arrival in Bald Mountains:

Andrei's thoughts and feelings before his father awakens;

Topics of conversation between father and son: do they understand each other?

Andrey's farewell to Marya;

Consider the illustrations of the artist Nikolaev: what does he emphasize in the characters?

During the discussion of the topic, you can ask questions:

1. How does Tolstoy depict a social evening with Anna Pavlovna Scherer?

2. Why did Prince Vasily appear in the salon first? What can you say (and what does the author himself say) about the manner of speech of Vasily Kuragin and the owner of the salon?

3. What is the purpose of A.M.’s visit? Drubetskoy for the evening with Scherer? Is this typical?

4. Hosts and guests with Scherer and Rostov. What literary device does the writer use as the main one?

5. What and how do they talk about Scherer, Rostov and Bolkonsky? How does Tolstoy relate to his heroes?

6. What and how does Tolstoy expose the metropolitan nobility?

7. What is the compositional significance of Scherer’s evening scene? Why does the novel begin with this scene?

8. How does the story about the entertainment of secular youth characterize the life of high society?

9. What are the similarities between all Rostovs? How does the writer relate to them?

10. In the story “Childhood” by L.N. Tolstoy wrote: “...In one smile lies what is called the beauty of the face: if a smile adds beauty to the face, then the face is beautiful; if she does not change it, then as usual; if it spoils it, then it is bad. How is this portrait detail used to characterize the characters?

11. What is the Bolkonsky family like? How do you rate the members of this family?

12.How does the artist reveal the uniqueness of the characters’ characters (for example, the father, son and daughter of the Bolkonskys; members of the Rostov family, etc.) through their appearance?

13. How does the behavior of the Kuragins in the Bald Mountains characterize representatives of high society? How are they different from the Bolkonskys?

14.Can the word “world” in the title of the epic be attributed to the scenes of part 1 of volume 1? Why?

LESSON 3. SUBJECT: “War as depicted by Tolstoy. A man at war. The essence of courage."

While working on this topic, pay attention to the fact that Tolstoy shows two periods of the Russian war with Napoleon: the war of 1805-1807 and the Patriotic War of 1812. Tolstoy, comparing the two wars, emphasizes that in the first “we had no need to fight,” the ineptitude of the allies, confusion among the troops, the soldiers’ lack of understanding of the goals and objectives of the war - hence the defeat of the Russian troops and the retreat of the allies at Austerlitz. At the same time, the writer contrasts the behavior of Tushin and his batteries with the behavior of Bolkonsky and other adjutants, and poses the problem of the purpose of heroic behavior. Pay attention to how in this war courage, heroism, a sense of responsibility for one’s actions, a sense of duty, loyalty to the oath of the soldiers and the best Russian officers are manifested: a) the state of the Russian army and the vigor of the Russian soldiers in the picture of the review in Branau; b) the good mood of Russian soldiers in the heroic battle near Shengraben; c) the fortitude and courage of Russian soldiers in the heroic battle near Shengraben; d) modest, inconspicuous heroes Timokhin and Tushin; e) Prince Andrei’s interest in the general course of military affairs (his reprimand to Zherkov), courage, integrity (behavior in the Battle of Austerlitz); f) Dolokhov’s courage; g) heroism of Bagration; h) Kutuzov’s behavior (his love for Russian soldiers, confidence that the battle will be lost); i) careerism, selfishness, cowardice of staff officers.

QUESTIONS proposed during the analysis of part 2 of volume 1:

1.What did the episode of the Battle of Shengraben reveal to you? Has he captured you? How?

2. How do they feel about the War of 1805 and how do its participants - officers and soldiers - behave?

3. The behavior of Captain Tushin on the eve and during the Battle of Shengraben. How does Tolstoy convey his attitude towards him? Why does the author emphasize Tushin’s non-military, even unprepossessing appearance?

4.What dreams did Prince Andrey go to the army with and what did he understand after two battles?

5.Analyze the attitude of Prince Andrei towards Napoleon before and after Austerlitz.

6. How should a real person behave in war, from Tolstoy’s point of view?

7.Did Andrei Bolkonsky manage to accomplish a feat in the Battle of Austerlitz? Give reasons for your answer.

8.Analyze the behavior of Zherkov and Dolokhov in battle. How do you evaluate these heroes of the work?

9. Why was the Russian army defeated at Austerlitz? How does Tolstoy answer this question?

10.What, in your opinion, is the defeat of Pierre Bezukhov?

LESSON 4. TOPIC: « Search for truth by Tolstoy's heroes"

Exercise : prepare monologue answers on the following topics:

« The image of Andrei Bolkonsky and his life quests»

PLAN.

1. Origin (son of Prince Bolkonsky, father fell into disgrace after the death of Catherine 11, lives on his estate, is engaged in farming and raising children);

2.Appearance;

3. Personal qualities:

a) natural behavior, absence of lies and falsehood (hence the hatred of the world, the contemptuous, bored expression on his face at social events, but it completely changes when he talks to Pierre, his sister, and people he likes);

b) intelligence, sobriety of outlook on life (“lack of dreamy philosophizing”);

c) pride, sense of dignity (behavior with father, while serving at headquarters);

d) efficiency, ardent, honest attitude to service and business;

e) patriotism (answer to his adjutant friends, Zherkov and Nesvitsky, that they are not slaves who do not care about the affairs of their masters, but Russian officers);

f) ambition (dreams of “your Toulon”, and glory and fame);

4.Search for the meaning of life (Andrei’s life path is a constant search for the meaning of life: light, marriage, disappointment in the world and family life, joining the army, thoughts about personal glory, contempt for those of lower rank (“This is a crowd of scoundrels, not an army "), courage, heroic behavior at Schöngraben, acquaintance with Tushin and sympathy for him, pain for the Russian soldiers, desire for glory before Austerlitz (“he respected his own interest in the course of a common cause”); injury (“the high sky of Austerlitz”).

« The image of Pierre Bezukhov and his life’s quests.”

PLAN

1. Origin (the illegitimate son of Catherine’s nobleman, from the age of ten he was raised abroad, before the death of his father he was adopted by him and, according to his will, becomes the heir to a huge fortune);

2. Appearance.

3. Personal qualities:

a) simplicity and naturalness of behavior (A.P. Scherer is always afraid for his behavior at the evening, since Pierre is sincere, does not know how to pretend - “he did not know how to enter the salon and even less knew how to leave it”);

b) simplicity, naivety (believes that Vasily Kuragin cares about his interests, that Helen loves him, says what he thinks);

c) lack of willpower (cannot resist the proposals of Prince Vasily, Anatoly);

d) kindness (“heart of gold”, loves to help friends, relatives, acquaintances);

e) search for the meaning of life: the life of the “golden youth”, the death of his father, an attempt to choose a service according to his heart, marriage to Helen, social life, faith in the love of others, gullibility, the search for happiness in the family, a duel, disappointment in family life, breaking up with his wife , trip to St. Petersburg.

LESSONS 5-8 are dedicated to volume 2.

LESSONS 5-6. TOPIC “Rostov and Bolkonsky. Life of the mind and heart."

Natasha Rostova on the way to happiness

1.Meeting Natasha (vol. 1, part 1, chapters 8,10, 16-17, part 3, chapter 6. Volume 2, part 1, chapters 10-12, 15).

2. Fullness of life, poetic nature, heightened sensitivity, attentiveness. (volume 2, part 3, chapters 12-17, 19).What feelings is Natasha filled with at her first ball? Why did Prince Andrey immediately like Natasha?

What is most important in Natasha: reason or feeling?

3. National, folk traits in the development of Natasha’s character:

Consider the hunting episode (chapters 3-7, part 4, volume 2).

How do the young Rostovs feel with their uncle? Why does Natasha, returning from her uncle, say: “I know that I will never be as happy and calm as I am now”?

What quality of Natasha was manifested in her dance?

How is this scene connected to the entire hunting episode?

4. Expensive testing price. (Vol. 2, part 4, ch. 9-10, 13; part 5, ch. 6-22.).

QUESTIONS proposed when analyzing the topic: “Rostov and Bolkonsky.”

1. How do Tolstoy the philosopher express his thoughts about family?

2. How is the family thought reflected in Tolstoy the writer in the novel “War and Peace”?

3.What characteristic features make the Rostov family attractive?

4.What is the essence of the Rostovs’ complacency?

5. Father and children Bolkonsky.

Which family would you like to live and be raised in: the Bolkonskys or the Rostovs?

How are the Bolkonsky house and the Rostov house similar?

Going to war and saying goodbye to his father, Andrei Bolkonsky asks: “If they kill me and if I have a son, do not let him go from you... so that he can grow up with you... please.”

Like Prince Andrei, who would entrust his unborn child to his father?

Why is the personality of old man Bolkonsky interesting to Tolstoy and to us, the readers?

Why is old Bolkonsky demanding of his daughter to the point of despotism?

Tell us about the life of Princess Marya. How do you rate it? When and how will paternal pride manifest itself in Princess Marya?

How does the Bolkonsky breed manifest itself in Prince Andrei?

6. What makes Tolstoy’s favorite heroes beautiful?

7. How does Tolstoy the writer prove his idea: if there is no moral core in parents, there will be none in children?

7.What are Berg's goals and ideals in life? Compare him with the comedy hero A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit".

LESSON 7 TOPIC: “The eternal search for truth and complacency mediocrity (Pierre, Andrey – Drubetskoy, Nikolai Rostov).”

Pierre's image: meeting in Torzhok with the freemason Bazdeev, joining “Freemasonry”, desire to believe and obey the “Charter”; a trip to the southern estates with the goal of doing good deeds,” the “organization” of the peasants, faith in one’s own benefit, donation, reconciliation with his wife, gradual disillusionment with Freemasonry, especially after Boris Drubetsky joined there.

Andrey's image: after being wounded, the death of his wife, the birth of a son, softening up, farming, retirement, raising his son, the desire to live for himself, Andrei’s views on the peasant question are of an estate-noble nature (the abolition of serfdom is necessary only because serfdom is the source of moral torment for the peasants ), reforms on the estate in 1808. Conversation with Pierre on the ferry, life is “a particle in the overall universe.” First meeting with the oak tree, visit to Otradny, Natasha, second meeting with the oak tree, “life for others”, hopes for the draft of a new military manual, audience with Arakcheev, light, St. Petersburg, social activities, work in the Speransky commission with the aim of changing the norms of the peasants’ situation, disappointment in Speransky, love for Natasha, thoughts of happiness, travel abroad, breakup with Natasha.

Analyze the relationship between Dolokhov and Nikolai Rostov.

Analyze the episode of the duel between Pierre and Dolokhov.

Why did Pierre join the Masonic Society?

Analyze Pierre's attempt to improve the situation of his serfs. How is this episode connected with the life of the writer himself?

Analyze the impressions and feelings of Nikolai Rostov in the hospital in Tilsit.

Analyze the episode of Prince Andrei's trip to the Ryazan estates.

How do Prince Andrei characterize his activities in the village?

How does Tolstoy prove his thesis about “real life” by depicting Andrei Bolkonsky’s activities in St. Petersburg?

What rules guided Boris Drubetskoy’s life? What has he become?

Analyze the episode of Boris Drubetsky’s marriage. How is the Russian nobility characterized here?

Why does Pierre leave the Masons? What conclusion does he arrive at?

LESSON 8. TOPIC: “Philosophical theses and artistic narration. What is real life - social activity, love? What is true beauty? Human and nature. What is happiness - personal happiness or selflessness?

When I read Tolstoy, I think: this happened to me too; and when Dostoevsky - it’s good that this didn’t happen to me. Have you ever experienced this?

Tolstoy writes the rules, Dostoevsky the exceptions. But both explore the soul. But where does the soul reveal itself more, in the rules or exceptions?

What place does love occupy in the life of Tolstoy's heroes? How is this related to the writer’s philosophical reasoning about “real life”?

What is real life, according to Tolstoy?

How does nature influence Tolstoy's heroes? How is Tolstoy's worldview reflected here?

L. Tolstoy’s favorite thought: “To live honestly, you have to struggle, get confused, struggle, make mistakes, start and give up, and start again, and give up again, and always struggle and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness.”

How do you understand these words? To what extent do the heroes of L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” reflect this motto of the writer himself? In what way in your life did this manifest itself most clearly?

Do you agree with the words of Pierre Bezukhov:

“If all vicious people are connected with each other and constitute a force, then honest people need to do the same. It's so simple..."

Is it simple? Where and on what occasion were these words spoken?

Define the following moral categories: unselfishness, loyalty to duty, pride, humanity, dignity, responsibility, patriotism, modesty, conscience, comradeship, honor, courage, love, mercy, posturing, rivalry, individualism, hatred, cowardice, vanity, bigotry, ambition , selfishness, arrogance, careerism, false patriotism, hypocrisy.

Assignment: choose one of the moral categories and, using the example of any episode (scene) in the novel, show how this moral quality is manifested in the actions and actions of the character (or characters).

LESSONS 9-11 are dedicated to volume 3 of the novel.

LESSON 9. TOPIC: “Tolstoy’s views on history and the role of the individual in it.”

1. Tolstoy argues that the development of historical events cannot be explained by the will, desires, and actions of individual great people - “historical figures.” History, Tolstoy argues, is the result of the coincidence of interests and actions of many people who make up the masses.

However, the actions of the masses, he says, are carried out as if unconsciously, spontaneously, but in fact they are subordinate to a supernatural, mysterious force - providence, fate, fate. According to Tolstoy, “fatalism in history is inevitable” (vol. 3, part 1, chapter 1), history is “the unconscious, general, swarm life of humanity.” (Ibid.).

If the historical life of peoples is controlled by “fate,” then what can a great personality do? “She can only play the role of an obedient executor of the will of mysterious rock and fate.

Do you share this point of view?

2.Reread ch. 1 part one, ch. 1 of part two and chapter 1 of part three of the third volume of the novel, focusing on the following questions: how does Tolstoy characterize the war that began in 1812?

Why, he thinks, is it impossible to find its cause?

Can a person even comprehend the laws of history or is fatalism inevitable in history?

What, according to Tolstoy, is the main mistake of historians?

What two sides of a person’s life does Tolstoy talk about?

To what extent is a person free?

Why is “the king a slave of history”?

3.L. Tolstoy’s views on history were embodied in artistic descriptions of the novel “War and Peace.”

Can it be said that the novel establishes a truly democratic, truly humane view of history? What is this?

Was Tolstoy a fatalist in his understanding of history?

Remember how Kutuzov is depicted in the episode of the Battle of Borodino. Is it possible to talk about Tolstoy’s complete denial of the role and significance of the individual in history?

What, according to Tolstoy, is the meaning of human activity? Which of the novel's heroes embodies Tolstoy's understanding of activity to the greatest extent?

LESSONS 10-11. TOPIC: “Tolstoy on the justice of the War of 1812 on the part of the Russians. The Battle of Borodino is the compositional center of the novel. The national character of the war. The true greatness of the people and the commander. False greatness. The theme of the feat."

Group work.

1 group. Topic: “The fire of Smolensk and the behavior of its residents y".

The situation in Smolensk.

Analyze the behavior of the merchant Ferapontov.

Andrei Bolkonsky's attitude to what is happening in Smolensk.

Berg's reaction to what is happening.

The influence of the fire of Smolensk and the behavior of its inhabitants on Bolkonsky.

2nd group. Topic: “Battle of Borodino. Battery Raevsky».

Pierre's impression on the road from Mozhaisk.

The impression made on Pierre by the batteries.

The attitude of the artillerymen towards Pierre. Causes.

The condition of the battery during the entire course of the Battle of Borodino.

The result that Pierre comes to on the Raevsky mound.

3 group. Topic: “Prince Andrei’s regiment in reserve».

The behavior of Bolkonsky's soldiers. Remember the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov’s “Borodino”, comparing it with the description made by Tolstoy.”

Bolkonsky's thoughts and feelings during the battle.

Andrey's behavior at the moment of danger.

Description of the field hospital.

4 group. Topic: “Kutuzov during the Battle of Borodino».

Conversation between Prince Andrei and Kutuzov and Bolkonsky’s feelings.

Kutuzov during a prayer service before the battle.

Kutuzov's behavior during the battle.

Kutuzov's behavior at the council in Fili. Remember him at the military council before Austerlitz. Compare.

Does Kutuzov's behavior correspond to Tolstoy's views on the role of the individual in history?

5 group. Topic: “Napoleon in the time of Borodin.”

Napoleon's behavior before the battle, his interests.

The French Emperor's view of the upcoming battle.

Trace the change in Napoleon's mood from the beginning of the battle to its end.

What, according to Tolstoy, is the outcome of the battle and its causes.

Does Napoleon's behavior correspond to Tolstoy's views on the role of the individual in history?

6 group. Topic: “Pierre’s meeting with the soldiers at the fire».

The state of mind in which Pierre was on the road to Mozhaisk.

The attitude of the resting soldiers towards him.

Pierre's feelings, his internal struggle.

The meaning of the landscape in this episode.

LESSON 12. TOPIC: “The idea of ​​universal brotherhood and love. Fire of Moscow."

Questions that may be asked during lessons (10-12).

1. How did the French army treat its emperor? Why?

2.Did the Russians expect war and how did Tsar Alexander prepare for it? In what artistic manner does Tolstoy depict the Emperor?

3.Analyze the behavior of the residents of Smolensk.

4.Trace the change in Prince Andrei’s mood from the beginning of the war to the Battle of Borodino.

5.What is the meaning of the episode of the riot in Bogucharovo?

6.Analyze the behavior of Nikolai Rostov in the episode of the “rescue” of Princess Marya.

7. How did the events of the war affect the life of high society? What is Tolstoy’s position in assessing the capital’s nobility?

8. How is the Battle of Borodino perceived by Pierre Bezukhov? Why does the author depict the battle through his perception?

9.Analyze the behavior of Prince Andrei during the Battle of Borodino. What is the writer’s attitude towards this hero?

10.Analyze the council scene in Fili. How does the writer feel about Kutuzov and how does he convey his attitude?

11. Analyze the episode of the Rostovs getting ready to leave Moscow. Compare their behavior with the behavior of the merchant Ferapontov in Smolensk. Draw conclusions.

12.Tell about Pierre’s meeting with the soldiers at the fire. What significance did she have for Pierre? How is Tolstoy's worldview reflected here?

13. Compare the behavior of Berg and Natasha Rostova in Moscow.

14. Why did Pierre stay in Moscow? Did he fulfill his intention?

15. Why L.N. Does Tolstoy consider Borodino a moral victory for the Russians?

16. Compare the attitude of Princess Marya, Natasha Rostova and Julie Karagina-Drubetskaya to the war. What conclusion is Tolstoy leading us to?

LESSONS 13-15 are devoted to volume 4 and the epilogue.

LESSON 13. TOPIC: “Pierre and Platon Karataev. The idea of ​​universal love"

LESSON 14. TOPIC: “The role of the people in the War of 1812. Guerrilla warfare».

LESSON 15. TOPIC: “The meaning and meaning of the epilogue”

QUESTIONS.

1.Who is Platon Karataev? What influence did he have on Pierre?

2. The role of the people in the war of 1812 using the example of the actions of the Denisov and Dolokhov detachments.

3.What truth was revealed to the dying Prince Andrei? How does Tolstoy's worldview manifest itself here?

4. How did the events of the war affect St. Petersburg society?

5.What place does love occupy in the life of Tolstoy’s hero? Why did Nikolai Rostov fall in love with Princess Marya and not Sonya?

6. How did Pierre’s appearance change in captivity? Where does he see his happiness now? What is your opinion on this idea?

7.What was Kutuzov’s goal after the expulsion of the French from Moscow? How does this characterize a commander?

8.What was, according to Tolstoy, the historical role of the partisans? How does the writer portray the partisans?

9. Petya Rostov in Denisov’s detachment. Your attitude towards him.

10.Petya Rostov's dream. What is the meaning of this dream?

11. How was Kutuzov treated at the top and at court? How does this high society characterize this?

12. The attitude of Kutuzov and Russian soldiers towards the defeated enemies. What idea is Tolstoy expressing here?

13.What kind of owner did Nikolai Rostov become? What did he consider the most important thing in the household? How is Tolstoy's worldview reflected here?

14.What did Natasha Rostova become? How does Tolstoy solve the problem of the social role of women?

15.What does Pierre say about the political situation in Russia and what does he propose?

16.Analyze the dispute between Pierre and Nikolai about the secret society.

17. How does Nikolenka Bolkonsky perceive the conversation about a secret society? What is the significance of this image in the novel?

18.What is the fate of Marya Bolkonskaya? How does Tolstoy solve the problem of women's happiness in this way?

19.What is the fate of Elen Kuragina?

20.What does it mean for Tolstoy’s heroes to “live honestly”?

21. The role of each volume in the composition of the novel, in revealing the meaning of the title “War and Peace.”

LESSON 16. TEST. MAKING PLANS BY TOPICS (individually).

1. Problems that Tolstoy solves with female images in the novel.

2.The theme of heroism in the novel.

3. The Russian army and people in the war of 1812.

4. Tolstoy's mastery of the novel.

5. How does the novel “War and Peace” enrich our contemporary experience?

6.Nature in Tolstoy’s novel.

7.The theme of art in the novel.

8.Andrei Bolkonsky and Anatol Kuragin.

9.Natasha Rostova is Tolstoy’s favorite heroine.

10. Contrast as the main artistic device in the novel.

11.Kutuzov and Napoleon.

12.Patriotism in Tolstoy’s novel.

13. Problem solved by images of the Rostov and Bolkonsky families.

14. Pierre Bezukhov and Platon Karataev.

15. Tolstoy’s moral ideals.

16.War as depicted by Tolstoy.

17. Russian national character as depicted by Tolstoy.

18. Platon Karataev and Tikhon Shcherbaty.

19. Questions of life and death in the novel.

TEST QUESTIONS ON THE NOVEL

L.N. TOLSTOY'S "WAR AND PEACE"

1.Tell us about the history of the creation of the novel “War and Peace.”

2. What caused the appearance of Tolstoy’s preface “A few words about the book “War and Peace”.

4.What are the features of the genres “epic novel” and family chronicle? Which of these genres do you think “War and Peace” belongs to?

5.What main historical events were reflected in “War and Peace”?

6.What is the meaning of the novel's title?

7.How is the principle of opposition expressed in the artistic structure of the novel?

8.What is Tolstoy’s view on the role of a historical figure in the fate of the people?

9.What is the peculiarity of Tolstoy’s depiction of a historical figure?

10. How is Tolstoy’s view of the personality of Kutuzov and Napoleon expressed in the novel?

11.What, in your opinion, is the main difference between these commanders?

12.What is the difference between the “crowd” and the “people” in the novel?

13. Why is Napoleon a protege of the “crowd”, and Kutuzov - the people?

14. How does Kutuzov’s military leadership correspond to Tolstoy’s formula “and there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth”?

15.What did Tolstoy mean by the concept of “people's war”?

16.How, in your opinion, is “popular thought” expressed in the novel?

17.How is the “family thought” embodied?

18. Tell us about the Bolkonsky, Rostov, and Kuragin families. How do you see their similarities and differences?

19. How do the historical fate of the people and the fate of an individual correlate in the novel?

20.What is the impact of historical events on the personal lives of the heroes?

21. Determine the place of the images of Timokhin and Tushin in the novel and characterize them.

22. How did the events of the Battle of Borodino affect the fate of the heroes of the work?

23.What are the features of Tolstoy’s psychologism. Give examples.

24.What is “dialectics of the soul”?

25.What is the path of search of Pierre Bezukhov?

26.What role does Platon Karataev play in Pierre’s fate?

27. How does Karataev’s love of life differ from the love of Prince Andrei

28.Is the death of A. Bolkonsky inevitable?

29.How are Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov close and far from each other?

30. How does the character of Prince Andrei change from Austerlitz to the Battle of Borodino?

31. Why is Natasha’s love for Prince Andrei tragically doomed?

32. Is it by chance that Prince Andrei dies in 1812, and Pierre is carried out into life by war?

33. How did you find the images of Nikolai Rostov, Fyodor Dolokhov, Vasily Denisov, Anatoly Kuragin?

34..What is the meaning of the image of Natasha Rostova.

35.What moral ideals did Tolstoy embody in the image of Maria Bolkonskaya?

36. Give a comparative description of Natalia and Helen.

37. Describe St. Petersburg and Moscow societies.

38.What distinguishes Natasha Rostova from the intellectual heroes of the epic novel? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

39.What is the meaning of the epilogue in the novel War and Peace?

LESSONS FROM THE PAST

(story by L.N. Tolstoy “Hadji Murad”)

And with secret and heartfelt sadness

I thought: "Pathetic man,

What does he want!.. the sky is clear,

There's plenty of room for everyone under the sky,

But incessantly and in vain

He alone is at enmity - why?

M.Yu. Lermontov

Teacher's word.

The last work of L.N. Tolstoy's story "Hadji Murat" There are 23 beginnings of the story, 10 editions of the works, 25 times Tolstoy worked or, as he said, “struggled” on the chapter about Nicholas 1, 2152 draft pages of the story have been preserved, while in its final form it occupies only 250 written pages. But the story was never published during the writer’s lifetime.

The history of the creation of the work shows the great importance Tolstoy attached to this work. Today let’s try to comprehend the story “Hadji Murat”, let’s reflect on the problems raised in this work, let’s think about what the writer warns us about, because the topic of the lesson is defined exactly like that.

In the center of the story are the events of the Caucasian War, the year 1851 (the author accurately indicated); historical figures act in the work. Let's not forget that Tolstoy had his own view on the development of history, on the role of the individual in history. But what was really happening in the Caucasus then?

Speech by a student about the history of the war in the Caucasus.

Many Russian writers and poets addressed the topic of the Caucasus. How does the Caucasus appear in the works of A.S. Pushkina, M.Yu. Lermontov? Let's try to understand what new things Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy brought to this topic.

To understand what worried Tolstoy, why he turned specifically to these events, it is necessary to turn to history of the work. Listening to the history of the work, try to understand why Tolstoy did not publish it during his lifetime.

A student’s presentation about the history of the creation of the work.

(Written in the 74th year of his life, this story is the result of 5 years of creative experience and therefore one of the most perfect works. The fate of the story is unusual. Even before writing it, Tolstoy decided not to publish the story during his lifetime. Not a single work of his was previously he did not doom it. In addition, he studied “Hadji-Murat,” as he himself said, “in between times,” “in moments of leisure,” “for himself,” calling it “a trifle,” “indulgence.” Despite this, Tolstoy worked extremely hard on the story, achieving its perfection.

The setting of the story is the Caucasus “with its majestic and gentle nature,” which Tolstoy loved very much from his youth. The story “Hadji - Murat” is to some extent the writer’s memory of the best time of his life spent in the Caucasus. He named one of the versions of the story: “Memoirs of an old military man” and wrote it in an autobiographical form.

Tolstoy first heard about Hadji Murat at the age of twenty-three in the Caucasus, in 1851, the same year that, as the historian of the Caucasian War V.A. Potto, "the year of Hadji Murad's greatest glory." In addition, the lines about Hadji Murat, a participant in the Caucasian War V.A., date back to 1851. Poltoratsky: “What miracles are trumpeted about this Avar grip! If you half believe what they sing about his insane courage and incredible audacity, then even then you have to wonder how Allah saved his crazy head. The military glory of Hadji Murad is unrivaled by anyone and his popularity thunders from the Caspian to the Black Sea. Subsequently, in one of the versions of his story, Tolstoy also spoke about this popularity of Hadji Murad. “For people who were not in the Caucasus during our war with Shamil, it is difficult to imagine the significance that Hadji Murat had at that time in the eyes of all Caucasians.” However, young Tolstoy does not mention the name Hadji Murat either in his letters or in his diary during the first months of his stay in the Caucasus.

On November 15, 1851, in the newspaper “Caucasus”, in Tiflis, where Tolstoy was in those days, a message was published about “an important discord between Shamil and Hadji Murad,” and on December 11, 1851 it was reported that as a result of this discord, Hadji Murad fled from Shamil and went over to the Russians. After going over to the Russians, Hadji Murat came to Tiflis. He was received here “with great triumph, caressed...amused with balls and lezginkas...” Hadji Murat often appeared on the streets, and “everyone got used to seeing him,” “everyone wanted to look at this monster that had finally humbled himself.” But Tolstoy did not see Hadji Murat at that time (he was ill). In addition, he had a negative attitude towards Hadji Murat, about which he wrote to his brother Sergei Nikolaevich on December 23, 1851: “If you want to show off news from the Caucasus, you can tell me that the second person after Shamil, a certain Hadji Murat, recently handed himself over to the Russian government . He was the first reckless driver in all of Chechnya, but he did something mean.”

There is no basis for the assumption of a meeting between Tolstoy and Hadji Murad and his words in the prologue to the story: “I remembered an old Caucasian story, part of which I saw...” Of course, here we are not talking about Hadji Murad, but about a number of episodes of the Caucasian War , which Tolstoy witnessed, and some of the characters in the story, like Vorontsov, Poltoratsky, Kozlovsky, Baryatinsky and others, whom Tolstoy met in his youth in the Caucasus.

Undoubtedly, the most captivating thing about Hadji Murad for Tolstoy was his will to fight, inflexibility, invincibility, fearlessness in the fight - “alone, and does not give up”)

Express your impressions after reading the story by L.N. Tolstoy's "Hadji-Murat"?

Let's turn to the problems of the work. After all, this is the sphere in which the author’s concept of the world and man is manifested, where the writer’s thoughts and experiences are captured, where the topic is viewed from a certain angle. At the level of problems, the reader is offered a dialogue and questions are posed. The problem can be called the central part of the artistic content, because it, as a rule, contains what we turn to the work for - the author’s unique view of the world.

Let us highlight the main problems of works of Russian literature.

National-historical (the problem of the essence of national character, depiction of turning points in the history of the people)

The problem of the relationship between government and people

Ideological and moral problems.

• What key problems can be identified in the story by L.N. Tolstoy?

(Problems of the relationship between man and government and the problem of war, what makes a person fight?)

Let's try, by analyzing these problems, to find out the author's vision of these problems: what is Tolstoy warning us about?

At the center of the story is the image of the main character Hadji Murat. (Working with the epigraph).

How does Hadji Murat appear in the story? What motivates him in his actions?

(Desire for power. Tolstoy understands that everything is not so simple in the character of Hadji Murat, in his moods, goals. The hero’s decision to go over to the Russian side in order to go to Shamil, capture him and thereby take revenge on him is openly selfish , for which “the Russian Tsar will reward him, and he will again rule not only Avaria, but all of Chechnya, which will submit to him.”

Hadji Murad is a warrior merciless to his enemies. This is exactly what the soldiers are talking about: “How many souls have you ruined, you damned one…”.

But the tragedy of Tolstoy’s hero is that he seemed to fall into the gap between two despotic worlds and their rulers - Nikolai and Shamil).

Let's turn to the analysis of these images. Tolstoy devotes almost the same number of pages to each of them.

The writer struggled with the image of Nicholas, asked for books about him, read everything. Why didn’t the image of Nikolai work out?

(Tolstoy later wrote: “He was needed as an illustration of my understanding of power”)

What was this understanding?

(Power for Tolstoy was always a stranger to man, whether he spoke about Napoleon, Nikolai, Chernyshov, Vorontsov. Nikolai especially came out as a caricature:

“The fact that the debauchery of a married man was bad did not even occur to him, and he would be very surprised if someone condemned him for this... He began to think about what always reassured him: about what kind of person he was. great person".

Find in the text key words that most clearly reveal the despotism of Nicholas 1, his narcissism

What is important to emphasize in the portrait of Nicholas 1?

Both Shamil and Hadji Murat were the opposite of Nikolai and Vorontsov, like the Asian branch of the same despotism. But they were written brighter, more courageously, more directly, and, perhaps, against the will of the artist, they aroused the sympathy of the reader.

What makes Shamil and Nikolai 1. As emphasized in the description of the hero’s portrait.

(Neither of them thinks about peace on earth, about human brotherhood; on the contrary, in an uncontrollable desire to usurp power, they walk through the blood of their own and others’ people. They are both driven by a manic idea of ​​​​the greatness of power. Shamil incites a fratricidal war. The Tsar orders the destruction of the village of Makhket .)

What does L.N. warn us about? Tolstoy, drawing images of Nicholas 1 and Shamil?

(Any cruelty begets cruelty. People who take responsibility for the fate of an entire people must bear this responsibility).

Unlimited power and despotism give rise to such a terrible phenomenon as war. We know Tolstoy's attitude towards war as an event unnatural to the human race. Which key episodes of the story especially clearly emphasize Tolstoy’s rejection of war?

(g. 7, 8, Avdeev’s attitude towards the Chechens, Marya Dmitrievna’s words about Hadji Murad, the burned village, the Avdeev family)

What does the writer warn about when he paints terrible pictures of war?

( People can and should be united in their desire for good. Love and goodness can resist hatred and death. Therefore, the kind, childish smile continues to shine on Hadji Murad’s dead face. Therefore, there is no justification for what divides people, turning them into monsters. "War! - Marya Dmitrievna screamed. -What war? Livers, that's all...")

It helps to understand the concept of the relationship between man and the world in the story composition of the story. What's unusual? And how did it help us make sense of the issues we were discussing?

(Ring, story within a story, elements of composition: letter, fairy tale, reports, song).

To summarize, we can say that the essence of the story “Hadji-Murat” is not only in the denial of evil, violence, cruelty, not only in affirming the best in man, but also in a warning to everyone living today.

LITERATURE FOR THE LESSON

1. Vashchenko V.Ya., Polyakova T.M. Writer's warning. L.N. Tolstoy. “Hadji Murat” Russian language and literature in secondary educational institutions of the Ukrainian SSR //. – 1990. - No. 3.

2. Kurbatov V. The ABC of Truth. “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Hadji – Murat” by L. Tolstoy // Literature at school. – 1999. - No. 7.

APPLICATION

You can offer to work with draft manuscripts. Assignment: compare the draft and the final version, answer the question: how the meaning of the phrase has changed due to the author’s careful work on the word.

WORKING WITH DRAFT MANUSCRIPTS

First phrase:

It was an early autumn morning.

It was a cold but quiet November evening.

It was a clear November evening.

It was a bright, cold, clear, quiet November evening without snow.

On a cold, clear November evening.

Second phrase

Along a steep stone road... Hadji Murat was approaching with a young Avar named Safedin.

Hadji Murat and Safedin, riding exhausted horses, rode into the village along a steep rocky road.

Hadji Murat and Safedin entered the village. The road went along a steep rocky ascent.

Hadji Murat drove into the peaceful Chechen village of Makhket, which was smoking with fragrant dung smoke.

“Marya Dmitrievna persuaded her husband to give Hadji Murat a gold, non-running watch” - “non-running” is thrown out.

“Here it is,” said Kamenev, reaching out with both hands, pressing it behind the ears, a human head” - the words: “with two hands, pressing it behind the ears” are thrown out.

SECTION 2

MATERIALS FOR LESSONS

2.1. WAYS OF SEARCHING FOR THE MEANING OF LIFE BY A. BOLKONSKY

The author of the novel “War and Peace” always portrays thinking heroes who are looking for answers to the most complex questions of human existence. But the fundamental difference between Tolstoy’s artistic method and Dostoevsky’s artistic method is that the former does not seek the truth with his heroes, he initially knows it. The pathos of Lev Nikolaevich's novel lies in the collision of the author's knowledge and the painful search for the characters, because, probably, only from the position of higher knowledge can the author endlessly deeply explore the psychology of the characters, analyze and explain to the reader the dialectics of the human soul. And the more complex this dialectic is, the deeper the hero’s personality, the more confusing and painful his path and the more valuable the final victory of truth over lies. All of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes make terrible, tragic mistakes, but it is important for the author how they atone for their guilt, how they condemn themselves for these mistakes. Let's try, together with Andrei Bolkonsky, to walk along the road of life in search of the truth to which he so strives.

Let us remember how Prince Andrei appears in the novel: “At this time a new face entered the living room. The new face was the young Prince Andrei Bolkonsky... He was small in stature, a very handsome young man with definite and dry features... Of all the faces that bored him, the face of his pretty wife seemed to bore him the most. With a grimace marring his handsome face, he turned away from her.” The portrait of the prince is deeply psychological; the author is interested in the character of the hero. Every feature of his appearance testifies to the complexity of his soul, the contradictory nature of his thoughts: where is the real deal... “Dry features”, “grimace” - these key words emphasize Andrei’s aristocracy, pride, and coldness.

The prince openly dreams of a career and fame; bowing before Napoleon, he himself carries some of his traits - arrogance, a thirst for worship of him and power over others. Bolkonsky went to the war of 1805 because he was tired of secular idle talk, but not only for that reason. It is there, on the battlefields, that he will be able to become like his idol, to find “his Toulon.” For Tolstoy, war is only blood and dirt, pain and forced murder. He leads his hero to this truth, freeing him from lies and illusions; through disappointment in the generals - on the field of Austerlitz.

In the revival of the prince, nature plays the main role: the sky of Austerlitz, meetings with an oak tree, night in Otradnoye. Invading Andrei's life, she opens the way for him to understand the moral meaning of life. The sky of Austerlitz is shown in the novel as a symbol of a fair and good beginning. It took a serious injury for Bolkonsky to recognize this high and distant sky, that is, to understand the insignificance of his ambitious, ultimately petty dreams of glory, of power over people, the insignificance of his idol Napoleon Bonaparte: “How come I haven’t seen this high sky before?” ..? Yes! Everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky...” The hero is happy that he finally felt liberation from the consciousness of his exclusivity. Bolkonsky seems to be reborn, surrendering to the “strict and majestic order” of thought,” to “what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it.” Together with Andrei, lying in half-oblivion and at the same time in a state of perfect spiritual clarity, we learn what is truly great for man and in history. He will turn his gaze to his heavenly savior more than once: “... leaving the ferry, he looked at the sky that Pierre pointed out to him, and for the first time, after Austerlitz, he saw that high, eternal sky that he had seen while lying on the Field of Austerlitz, and something better that was in him suddenly awakened joyfully and youthfully in his soul.” The sky becomes for the hero a symbol of faith in the harmony of life; the rinsing of the waves convinced him to believe in the moral value of life.

The path of moral and spiritual formation of Prince Andrei is complex and thorny. Before Borodin, these are losses, unfulfilled hopes, abandonment of one’s ideals and beliefs. The disappointment in Speransky’s activities is no less powerful than the awareness of the imaginary greatness of the universal idol. Love for Natasha is like a lofty truth, like the sky of Austerlitz: it forced Andrei to rethink and reevaluate everything once again: Speransky with his “white, tender hands” seemed false to him, which “Prince Andrei involuntarily looked at, as they usually look at the hands of people, having power..." Love for Natasha will also turn out to be a deception, as if it opened up the possibility of happiness and harmonious existence for Prince Andrei. And it is no coincidence that in none of the drafts for the novel, or in its initial versions, Tolstoy does not connect the fates of Prince Andrei and Natasha. This would contradict the artistic idea of ​​the novel: only after everything he has experienced will peace and love come to him.

The War of 1812 finds Prince Andrei at the moment of his greatest spiritual crisis, but it is the nationwide misfortune that befalls Russia that brings him out of this state. Participation in the Patriotic War of 1812 was for Bolkonsky the true form of existence, to which he had been moving so long and hard. In war, for the first time, he realizes the influence of ordinary soldiers on military operations, the outcome of which is determined by their spirit, behavior and mood: “Success has never depended and will not depend on position, weapons, or even numbers... But on what? From the feeling that is in me... in every soldier...” Therefore, having forever abandoned the career of a courtier, not wanting to be a staff officer, he goes to the regiment, where, according to his current concepts, he can only benefit his fatherland. The prince understands that a real feat is accomplished without thinking about one’s own glory, about oneself, but in the name of “others,” simply, modestly, like the feat of Captain Tushin. And Prince Andrei on the Borodino field wants one thing with all the strength of his soul: the victory of the Russians over the French. But even at a very important moment in events, he remains not only himself, but also his father’s son - a man with a heightened sense of honor. He receives a mortal wound because he remembers all the time: they are looking at him, which means his behavior must be impeccable. During the wound, a struggle takes place in the prince’s soul between duty and the thirst for life that has finally awakened. The main thing becomes not glory, not revenge, but the earthly world: “I can’t, I don’t want to die, I love life, I love this grass, earth, air...”

Yes, he had to survive the invasion of Napoleon, the death of his father, receive a mortal wound, see Anatoly Kuragin bleeding in order to fully understand not only his own, but also the feelings of other people. Only now the meaning of love, and therefore forgiveness, is revealed to him. Waking up after the operation and seeing Anatoly Kuragin on the next table, whose leg had just been amputated, Prince Andrei “remembered everything, and enthusiastic pity and love for this man filled his happy heart. Prince Andrei could no longer hold on and began to cry tender, loving tears over people, over himself and over them and his delusions.” And just as the old prince, dying in the house, in the face of misfortune and death, for the first time says to his daughter tender words: “Thank you... daughter... for everything, forgive me for everything... And tears flowed from his eyes...”, so does Prince Andrei in a moment of the highest emotional tension, realizing that his life was ending when Natasha came to him at night in Mytishchi, he spoke to her words that he could never have said before: “I love you more, better than before...”

He leaves us for the natural world, having found a truth that is probably impossible to live with here. Nothing in nature disappears without a trace, and Prince Andrei will find his continuation in Pierre and his son. The path of Andrei Bolkonsky reflects the writer’s favorite thought: “To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, fight, make mistakes... And calmness is spiritual meanness.”

2.2. PIERRE IN CAPTIVITY

In captivity, in a booth, Pierre learned not with his mind,

and with all my being, life,

that man was created for happiness,

for happiness within himself...

L. Tolstoy

The life path of the main characters of L. N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” is a painful search, together with Russia, for a way out of personal and social discord to “peace”, to a reasonable and harmonious common life of people. Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova will definitely make mistakes, but will not stop in search of the truth: “What is bad? What well? What should you love, what should you hate? Why live and what am I?”

My favorite hero Pierre Bezukhov will travel the roads of searching for the meaning of life. Let's try to follow him through the pages of the novel. Episode by episode reveals to us the character of one of the central characters of the epic. Nothing can be accidental in the work; every fragment of the plot helps to understand the process of the hero’s moral development. All elements of the narrative are connected by a common philosophical concept. Thus, each individual link of the work is a milestone in the hero’s life. Therefore, Tolstoy’s novel can only be understood by understanding the role of each individual episode. “Pierre in Captivity” is one of the most important among them for the development of the author’s thoughts and plot.

Pierre's first tragic mistake will be his marriage to Helen. But here he will win his first victory: he will blame himself. The second most serious test for the count will be a duel, after which he will be very dissatisfied with himself and will want to build his life on new, good principles. Pierre's appeal to the Freemasons is clear: Bazdeev offers him the opportunity to start life “from scratch”, to be reborn in a new, purified state. Bezukhov will remain in Moscow to kill Napoleon and save the girl, and awaken Davout, the man, in the real killer. And, finally, in captivity, deprived of freedom, he will find the path to inner freedom, will partake of the people's truth and people's morality. The meeting with Platon Karataev is an era in Pierre’s life. Like Bazdeev, Karataev will enter his life as a spiritual teacher. However, the entire internal energy of Pyotr Kirillovich’s personality, the entire structure of his soul is such that, joyfully accepting the offered experience and life concept of his teachers, he does not obey them, but, enriched, goes further - his own way. Thus, we can conclude that the episode telling about Pierre’s time in captivity is key to understanding our hero’s search for the meaning of life. Pierre returns from captivity as a different, renewed person. What contributed to this renewal and revival?

Let us remember the main moments of his stay in French captivity. The first days spent under arrest were painful for him not so much physically as spiritually. “Pierre heard with sadness that he was mocked.” In captivity, the soldiers are surprised by his “incomprehensible ability to sit still and, without doing anything, think.” It is he who declares: “Nicholas says we shouldn’t think. Yes, I can’t.” He felt like a stranger among the arrested, who, having learned that he was a gentleman, immediately began to alienate him. Pierre was interrogated by a whole commission, and he felt that the commission had one goal: to accuse him. And he seems to himself to be an insignificant chip caught in the wheel of a well-oiled machine.

Then he appeared before Marshal Davout. “For Pierre, Davout was not just a French general; for Pierre Davout was a man known for his cruelty.” And Tolstoy does not try to portray Pierre as a fearless hero. What saves Pyotr Kirillovich is not his noble name, not the evidence of his innocence, which could be confirmed by the French officer Rambal, but something completely different. What? “Davout raised his eyes and looked intently at Pierre... This look saved Pierre.” Perhaps Davout saw in Pierre’s gaze not only fear, but also the spiritual strength that had developed in him as a result of the intense life of his soul, mind and conscience, and therefore was forced to spare him?

In captivity, Pierre had to experience a lot of hard things. For the first time in his life, he suffers deprivation, suffers from hunger, but also gains a sense of true value and meaning of life, inner freedom and agreement with himself. He will know the joy of satisfying the most ordinary desires. “...Pierre fully appreciated the pleasure of food when he was thirsty, sleep when he wanted to sleep, warmth when it was cold...” Previously, when he lived in luxury and idleness, where “the excess of the comforts of life destroys all the happiness of satisfying needs,” it was for him not available. Tolstoy puts Pierre in unprecedented conditions of existence that bring him closer to the people. Captivity is Pierre's introduction to people's life, to his psychology, worldview. Pierre Bezukhov experiences the enormous influence of the spiritual strength, naturalness and wisdom of Russian soldiers, their steadfastness, modesty and courage, which he witnesses. This awakens in his soul the deepest interest in the people, pushing him to get closer to them.

Everything collapses in Bezukhov’s soul, “faith in the improvement of the world, and in humanity, and in one’s soul, and in God is destroyed... The world has collapsed in his eyes, and only meaningless ruins remain. He felt that returning to faith in life was not in his power.” But the hero is saved by a simple soldier as the indestructible embodiment of “everything Russian, good, round.” Pierre feels something pleasant and soothing in his measured “round” movements, in his thorough peasant housekeeping, in his ability to build a nest for himself under any circumstances of life. But the main thing that captivates Pierre in Karataev is his loving attitude towards the world: “Have you seen much need, master? A? - the little man suddenly said. And there was such an expression of affection and simplicity in the man’s melodious voice that Pierre wanted to answer, but his jaw trembled and he felt tears.” The Count, for the first time placed in the same living conditions as a peasant, suddenly discovers his kindness and mental health, his vitality and responsiveness - that is, all those qualities that Tolstoy himself so admired in the Russian peasant. And it is no coincidence that Platon Karataev appears in the novel precisely at the moment when Pierre needs something to rely on in order to regain his faith in goodness and truth, which he lost after the French shot the Russians accused of setting Moscow on fire. Thanks to Plato, writes Tolstoy, “the previously destroyed world was now being erected in his soul with new beauty, on some new and unshakable foundations.”

The writer does not hide his sympathy for the common man and conveys his attitude to Pierre. Plato knows how to do everything “not very well, but not badly either.” He lives without thinking about anything, like a bird. He enjoys everything and knows how to find the bright side in everything. Karataev is a symbolic embodiment of the peaceful, protective properties of the indigenous peasant character, “an incomprehensible, round and eternal personification of the spirit of simplicity, goodness and truth.” This is a person who is able to withstand any test and not break down or lose faith in life. The cheerful peasant religiosity, based on a selfless and all-consuming love for the earthly world, which does not require any rewards, triumphs in it. Plato “loved and lived lovingly with everything that life brought him to, and especially with a person - not with some famous person, but with those people who were before his eyes.” And “his life, as he himself looked at it, had no meaning as a separate life. It made sense only as a part of the whole, which he constantly felt.” His very attitude towards the world is expressed in a single word - love: “He loved his mongrel, he loved his comrades, the French, he loved Pierre...”. This is a special love - not for any qualities or merits, not for the kinship of souls, not for the proximity of interests. Love for God's world itself, for every God's creature. Christian, Orthodox love. This attitude towards the world, this all-encompassing love, is the main mystery for Tolstoy.

The narrative in “War and Peace” proceeds in such a way that the description of the last days of the life and death of Prince Andrei echoes the spiritual turning point in Pierre, with the life-loving essence of Platon Karataev. Bolkonsky experiences a feeling of connection with everyone only when he renounces life. By giving up the personal, Andrei stops living. And vice versa, as soon as the feeling of personal love for Natasha awakens in him, drawing him into earthly life, the prince’s sense of connection with everyone instantly disappears. He cannot be a part of the whole. Karataev lives in complete harmony with everything earthly. He is a drop in the ocean of life, not death. Complete agreement with life brings peace to Pierre’s soul. Thanks to Plato, a new worldview arises in his soul, designed not to deny earthly life, but to illuminate and spiritualize it. “He learned another new, comforting truth - he learned that there is nothing terrible in the world...” The Christianity of Karataev and Count Bezukhov illuminates the joyful smiles of life, the poetry of family feelings. When Natasha asks Pierre whether Platon Karataev would approve of his actions, she hears in response: “No, he would not approve... That he would approve, this family life of ours... He so wanted to see beauty, happiness, tranquility in everything, and I am with I would be proud to show him us.” There is no man of God, but he disappeared into life and remained nearby forever. Like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, describing his beloved hero, calls on the reader to love life in living spontaneity, before understanding its meaning. Let us remember Alyosha Karamazov’s aphorism: “You are already half saved if you love this life.” Thus, thanks to Platon Karataev, Pierre learns the true values ​​of life, and the writer, together with a simple soldier, tries to build a model of an ideal world order, dropping faith, hope, and love into the reader’s souls.

The episode “Pierre in Captivity,” in my opinion, highlighted all the best that is in the hero’s soul, showing what internal forces are hidden in Bezukhov. In addition, thanks to this fragment of the plot, we came to the writer’s understanding of the meaning of human existence. It was also not only an important link in the storyline, but also a vivid expression of the author’s idea: you need to live in harmony with yourself and with the world. Even the first months after returning from captivity, Pierre still continues to feel internally free, valuing primarily the natural values ​​of everyday existence, without high demands and interests. "…Nothing. I will live. Oh, how nice!” - says Pierre.

2.3. IMAGE OF NATASHA ROSTOVA

There is probably no girl or woman in the world who, having read “War and Peace,” would not dream of becoming at least a little like Natasha Rostova!

Here she is, thirteen years old, choking with laughter, quickly running into the living room, disrupting the prim conversation between her mother and the guest, “a dark-eyed, big-mouthed, ugly, but lively girl, with her childish open shoulders... with her black curls bunched back, thin bare arms...” This is how Natasha appears on the pages of the novel - the embodiment of love of life, the desire for goodness, happiness, fidelity and love.

Each writer creates his own, unique artistic world in his work. Tolstoy's man does not stop for a minute, and at every moment he is different. The narrator always followed and most of all looked at this incessant course of the running moods of the heroes. Chernyshevsky defined this property of Tolstoy’s psychological drawing, calling it “dialectics of the soul.” All the author’s works represent a “history of the soul” over a certain period of time. And in order to more fully reveal the secrets of human character, the writer resorts to special techniques for showing the inner life of his heroes. Let's try to get into the creative workshop of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

The dynamics of character development and its inconsistency are reflected in the portrait characteristics of Natasha Rostova. Through a description of her appearance, her gestures, facial expressions, voice, eye expression, smiles, Tolstoy reveals the psychology of the heroine. The writer does not paint the entire portrait, but throughout the entire novel he gives individual portrait details, which helps us understand how the image develops.

Describing in detail Natasha's appearance at her first appearance, the author thereby immediately distinguishes her from the other Rostov children. About the rest it is simply said: “At the same moment a student with a crimson collar appeared at the door... a guards officer, a fifteen-year-old girl...”

The portrait is a means of showing, in Tolstoy's words, the "fluidity" of a person. Natasha, seeing Sonya crying, begins to cry herself: “opening her big mouth and becoming completely bad, she roared like a child, not knowing the reason and only because Sonya was crying.” At this moment, when the heroine becomes outwardly ugly, her responsiveness and sensitivity to the grief of others manifests itself.

Tolstoy was always characterized by the use of contrast. Rostova is contrasted with Helen. Her agile young body, movements, ennobled by excitement, benefit from the stony beauty of Countess Bezukhova. “Natasha’s bare neck and arms were thin and ugly in comparison with Helen’s shoulders. Her shoulders were thin, her breasts were vague, her arms were thin; but Helen already had a varnish on her from all the thousands of glances sliding over her body,” and this makes it seem vulgar. This impression is strengthened when we remember that the “Queen of St. Petersburg” is soulless and empty, that in her body, as if carved from marble, lives a stone soul, without a single movement of feeling. The contrast in the description of appearance once again emphasizes Natasha’s exclusivity.

Tolstoy's gesture and smile have multifaceted meaning. Natasha’s smile at the ball expresses her happiness, her pride in success: “she was tired and out of breath and, apparently, thought of refusing, but immediately again cheerfully raised her hand on the gentleman’s shoulder and smiled at Prince Andrei.” The key word of the episode is the word "smile". But Natasha survived the Patriotic War, the death of loved ones; grief lay in her heart. The author psychologically convincingly conveys this state of mind of the heroine, drawing a smile and facial expression: “the face with attentive eyes, with difficulty, with effort, like a rusty door opening, smiled.” A very succinct comparison shows us the instantaneous internal movement of the hero. This example once again proves that Tolstoy the portrait painter is interested not so much in the external features of the character’s face as in the reflection of the inner world and state of mind in these features. I believe that I am close to Tolstoy in Goncharov’s portrait method: through the portrait, an analysis of the character of the characters is given. But the latter’s portrait is static; from the first glance, a certain impression of the hero remains, which is not the case in Tolstoy’s novels.

A significant role in depicting the spiritual world of Tolstoy’s heroes belongs to internal monologues. Inner speech was also used by Lev Nikolaevich’s predecessors as a creative technique. For example, A.S. Pushkin in the work “Dubrovsky,” revealing the true motives of the hero, gives an internal monologue: “So, it’s all over, in the morning I had a corner and a piece of bread...” The reflections of the hero Gogol Chichikov perform the function of the author’s assessment of the characters. Almost all authors (including Turgenev and Dostoevsky) write monologues that are correct, consistent, drawn out like a thread, consistent. Did the heroes think so when left alone with themselves? Not at all like that! Hence, Tolstoy’s monologues are distinguished by incorrect construction of sentences, reticence, and emotionality. The narrator, through an internal monologue, reveals the changes in the heroine’s views, helps her understand herself and the world, and find the true content of life.

The flow of Natasha’s thoughts during and after the meeting with Anatole shows how the heroine suffers and worries, how she tries to find the truth in the situation in which she finds herself. “Natasha undoubtedly knew that he admired her. And she was pleased, but for some reason his presence made her feel cramped and heavy.” The inconsistency of the condition is precisely defined using the words “cramped and difficult.” Further, Tolstoy explains this “for some reason,” finding the reason for the state, incomprehensible to the heroine: “Looking into his eyes, she felt with fear that between him and her there was absolutely no barrier of modesty that she had always felt between herself and other men.” . This is the reason for the “tight and heavy” feeling: Natasha intuitively felt the immorality of the situation and her own desires. “She sat for a long time, covering her flushed face with her hands, trying to give herself a clear account of what was happening to her, but could not... Everything seemed dark, scary, unclear to her.” The emotional and moral meaning of experiences is clarified with the help of synonyms. In the soul of the heroine there is a confrontation between good and evil. And here, in her internal reflections, the girl seeks moral peace: “Did I die for the love of Prince Andrey or not? – she asked herself. - Oh, my God, my God! Why isn’t he here!” The writer guides the heroine in search of truth, showing the beauty and poetry of feelings.

Pictures of nature are organically included in the sphere of the psychological state of the hero. The hero’s communication with nature, as a rule, is associated with turning points, peak moments in the spiritual evolution of the main characters. Turgenev's landscapes are more emotional than Tolstoy's; they serve as a means of characterizing the social conditions of life, a source of the writer's philosophical reasoning, and a form of psychological characterization. Tolstoy’s pictures of nature are more epic, devoid of reticence and mystery. The writer’s favorite heroine is shown in communication with nature: the description of a moonlit night in Otradnoye, which enchanted young Natasha, and the hunting scene convey the poetry of estate life. It is this girl who has the highest sense of closeness to her native nature.

Let us remember the famous scene in Otradnoye:

No, look what a moon it is!..Oh, how lovely! Darling, my dear, come here.

Come on, you'll fall.

Sonya’s indifference to the beauty of the moonlit night and Natasha’s delight do not show that Natasha is “good” and Sonya is “bad”, but that one of them is endowed with a sense of beauty, poetic and her life should be brighter, more expressive, happier - beyond depending on how fate turns out. After all, one of the reasons, I think, why a person is a person, why he can feel like “not a stranger in the world” is the ability to see the beauty of the world around him. The absence of this instinct is associated with a certain inferiority and spiritual dryness of a person.

Tolstoy was also a master of speech characteristics of characters. Natasha Rostova feels poetically and sometimes speaks like a poet: in words that are fresh and elusively precise in meaning. Behind the words and speeches of the heroine you feel not reason, but heartfelt wisdom, generous spiritual life. In a conversation with her mother, in response to the latter’s reproach for being flirtatious with Pierre, Natasha replies: “No, he’s a Freemason, I found out. It’s nice, dark blue and red, how can I interpret it?” If we interpret these words of Natasha literally, then we will have to admit that they make little sense. What does the Freemason have to do with it? And how is Pierre’s affiliation with the Freemasons connected with the fact that he is “dark blue and red” and “glorious”? Natasha always has her own uniquely individual laws for the use and connection of words, since they are most often subordinated not to rational logic, but to the logic of emotional movements, the truth of feelings.

So, using any element of a literary work, Tolstoy sought to show that his heroine is in constant search for life. Of course, in one essay it is impossible to dwell in detail on the features of the writer’s skill. Dozens of literary works are devoted to this issue (Bocharov S.G., Gromov P.P., Skaftymov A.P., Khrapchenko M.B. and others).

2.4. “HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER”

(based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”)

At L.N. Tolstoy has cycles of stories, short stories and fairy tales, where the truths of the Gospel are revealed in the thickness of everyday, rapidly flowing everyday life: “If you let the fire go, you won’t be able to put it out,” “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” “The Kreutzer Sonata,” “Father Sergius” and others. Sometimes the author places the corresponding texts of Scripture at the beginning of the work. The ideological and plot-forming significance of the Gospel in the novel “Resurrection” is obvious: everything that happens to Nekhlyudov and Katyusha Maslova is correlated with the gospel covenants, and the evolution of the heroes represents a transformation in the light of these covenants, which is predicted by the title of the novel. Going through in your memory everything that is familiar to the reader from what Tolstoy wrote, you can be convinced that the view of life through the prism of the Gospel never leaves him and is most of all reflected in the dynamics of the narrative: in the movement of events, in the destinies of the heroes. Reading the novel by L.N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, you constantly remember one of God’s commandments: “Honor your father and your mother, may it be good for you...”

Every family is a whole world. Special, unlike anything else, full of complex relationships, with its own joys and sorrows, its own anxieties and hopes. Tolstoy's ideal is a patriarchal family with its sacred care of the elders for the younger and the younger for the elders, with the ability of everyone in the family to give more than to take; with relationships built on “goodness and truth.” Two families, two houses form the basis of the “family thought” of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. These families do not duplicate each other, but in many ways they oppose: it is no coincidence that the elder Rostovs are alien to Prince Andrei, Nikolai is unpleasant; It is no coincidence that Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky will not accept Natasha and will be so opposed to his son’s marriage.

The houses of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys differ primarily in their internal atmosphere. They openly rejoice and openly cry in the Rostov family, openly fall in love, and everyone experiences each other’s love dramas together. Their hospitality is famous throughout Moscow, they are ready to accept and treat anyone: in the family, in addition to four natural children, Sonya and Boris Drubetskoy are being raised. The family never condemns or reproaches each other even when an act committed by one of its members deserves condemnation, be it Nikolai, who lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov and put him in danger of ruin, or Natasha, who tried to escape with Kuragin. Here they are always ready to rush to the rescue and stand up for a loved one at any moment. Everything is different at the estate in Bald Mountains. There is a spirit of isolation and Spartan restraint reigning there; It is not customary there to be frank: only in decisive moments of life do they utter Bolkon’s words of love sparingly and carefully and open their souls. The Bolkonskys love each other, but this love for them is a source of irritation (the old prince), and fear (Princess Marya), and compassion (Prince Andrei), and, often, suffering. The Rostovs, in contrast to the Bolkonskys, do not boast of their birth and wealth; they accept everyone indiscriminately. Here the poor relative Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya and the noble Shinshin will be treated equally kindly, regardless of their position in society. But it’s not just a matter of different lifestyles; these families live in different systems of moral values. And, going out into the world, each hero carries within himself not only the usual family way of life, but also the morality accepted in his home, the attitude towards himself and the world brought up by his parents.

The hospitable and generous house of the Rostovs cannot but charm the reader. Tolstoy describes the Count and Countess with tenderness: these are elderly people who have lived their lives together, lovingly and reverently loving each other; they have wonderful children; in their house it is comfortable for friends and strangers: “The Count met and saw off guests, inviting them to dinner.

I am very, very grateful to you (he said to everyone, without exception, without the slightest shade, both above and below him) for himself and for the dear birthday girls.” And we are ready to ignore several dissonant notes in this family harmony: the coldness of Vera, who despises everyone: Sonya’s passionate desire to sacrifice herself to benefactors. Nikolai surprises: sincere, kind, brave, honest and sensitive - but not interesting, colorless! He does not know how to think at all, he is afraid to think: this is revealed in the case of Denisov, when loyal enthusiasm completely obscures Nikolai Rostov’s thoughts about the broken fate of his unjustly convicted friend. And in the way Natasha, without reasoning, obeying only physical attraction, rushes to Anatoly, this Rostov desire to “live by feelings” will also manifest itself, this freeing of oneself from the obligation to think and be responsible for one’s actions.

Not at all like the Bolkonskys. Let us remember how Prince Andrey was escorted to war by his father:

Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt me, an old man... - He suddenly fell silent and suddenly continued in a loud voice: - And if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, I will be... ashamed! – he squealed.

“You don’t have to tell me this, father,” the son said, smiling.”

These are the moral foundations in the Bolkonsky family, where first of all they think about the soul, about honor, and then about life and well-being. The old prince loves his son endlessly, but prefers to see him dead than dishonored and his name besmirched. And therefore, Prince Andrei can make mistakes, he can succumb to the hypnosis of Napoleonic ideas, but he cannot afford to chicken out, sit out in the bushes - as Nikolai Rostov allowed himself to do in the first battle. He thought, hiding from the bullets: “Who are they? Why are they running? Really to me? Are they really running towards me? And for what? Kill me? Me, whom everyone loves so much? the thoughts of young Rostov are natural - for the sense of self-preservation is natural. It was at this moment that the immorality of the blind love of the old countess manifested itself in him.

First of all, moral principles are brought up in a person by the family. Old Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is not ideal. He is proud, and not always fair, and stern: “with the people around him, from his daughter to the servants, the prince was harsh and invariably demanding, and therefore, without being cruel, he aroused fear and respect in himself...”, and his character is difficult this man. Even Princess Marya, who adores her father, sometimes, hating herself for it, waits for his death as deliverance. The hero cannot insure his children from life's mistakes, completely protect them from the influence of the environment, from the penetration of Napoleonic ideas into their minds and souls, but he gives them a powerful weapon: the desire for absolute honesty before oneself, unconditional respect for the moral precepts of humanity, a dominant sense of duty, responsibility for every step and every thought.

And in the epilogue of the novel we see two wonderful families - Natasha and Pierre and Marya and Nikolai. Almost all of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes stand at the origins of the new – third – generation. We see the peaceful flow of life - beautiful, full of pure joys and creative works. But for the author, only one family is ideal - the Bezukhov family. She is absolutely harmonious, having overcome all temptations, conquered low instincts in herself, made terrible mistakes and atoned for them, Natasha and Pierre enter a new phase of life. Each of them condemned himself so severely for the crimes committed against morality and his own soul, as no one could condemn them. And this - the only - way to overcome errors led them to the true light. In the Bezukhov family, Pierre is the head, the intellectual center, the spiritual support of the family, its foundation is Natasha. The birth and raising of children, caring for her husband for the heroine is her life, her only and most important work. The human equivalence of Pierre and Natasha is the basis of the harmony of the Bezukhov family; the new Rostov family, the family of Nikolai and Marya, is deprived of this. The novel “War and Peace” is a reflection of the versatility of the personality and breadth of the worldview of the author himself. That’s why we find so many similarities in Tolstoy’s favorite heroes, the constant work of the soul unites Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, Marya, Nikolai, makes them related, makes the relationship between them friendly, “family.”

2.5. FEATURES OF PORTRAIT CHARACTERISTICS

IN THE WORK OF TOLSTOY

Everything is possible, and everything succeeds, but the main thing is to sow souls in people.

A. Platonov.

There are artists whose life and work represent constant and intense internal movement, development, and search. These are the artists of the path, and the most outstanding of them is Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

The concept of “path” implies both variability and unity at the same time. This is a moving unity, when the beginning of the path in the most important way presupposes subsequent development, and between its stages, sometimes hidden, sometimes obvious connections and interdependence are discovered. Thomas Mann noted that Tolstoy’s spiritual evolution “is striking in its iron regularity, the psychological predetermination of later facts by original facts.” The writer himself wrote in his diary on September 24, 1906: “The secret is that every minute I am different and still the same.”

The path of an outstanding classic is not only a biography of a person and an artist, but alsohistory in its personal expression. This is a big story - the history of the country and the world,reflected in the fate of the brilliant artist. The success of the works of the Russian classic owes much to the new method of psychological analysis, which was called by Chernyshevsky “dialectics of the soul.” INarticle “Childhood and adolescence, op. gr. L. Tolstoy" he wrote: "Attention of Count TolMost of all, it is focused on how some feelings and thoughts develop from others;... one feeling passes into another and again returns to the previous originalpoint, and wanders again, changing throughout the entire chain of memories. Psychological analysis can take different directions, but the main thing remains the mentalThe Chinese process, its forms, laws, dialectics of the soul, to put it simply, are definedterm." This property of psychologism will forever remain “definetelny" feature of the works of the master of words. The author conveys the “dialectics of the soul” of hisheroes, their relationship to their surroundings with significant details of the portrait, accompanying them

Sections: Literature

Class: 10

Lesson objectives:

• Help students determine the main method of constructing an epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".
• Develop the skill of analyzing an epic work.
• Cultivate interest in the subject.

Equipment:

• silhouette of L.N.'s face Tolstoy, cut from white paper;
• place the word “clutch” in the center of the board, attach a question mark just above it (where the topic of the lesson is usually written);
• texts of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".

Advance task for the lesson:

Find statements from literary scholars about the composition of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".

During the classes

I. Goal setting.

Who can answer the question: what technique (principle) underlies the construction of L.N.’s novel? Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at all individual levels (thematic level, level of individual episodes, scenes, detailed level, figurative, etc.)?

Are you silent? Not a single hand? Well done! And there’s nothing wrong with that, because no one will answer – neither you nor me. Let's think and reflect together. Write down the topic... Although not. We will write down the topic at the end of the lesson, formulating it together based on an analysis of the literary material.

So, during the lesson we will have to answer the question: what technique underlies the construction of the novel “War and Peace”? To help you somehow, I want to give you a little hint. The key word for today's lesson should be the word " clutch"(pay attention to the board).

II. Motivation of students (introduction to the topic of the lesson, the mood for serious work).

“Printing a work for which I have devoted four years of incessant labor under the best living conditions and the best period of life, I would like readers to receive at least a small share of the pleasure that I experienced during this work,” wrote the author of “War and Peace” .

Every responsive reader can fulfill the author’s wishes without setting himself any study goals. But “War and Peace,” starting from the title, leads the reader into such vast spaces, draws him into such an unstoppable flow of life that he inevitably becomes a researcher. Humanity has books in its great literatures that rise like the greatest peaks of the Earth. Climbing to these heights, where hundreds of millions have already been, is an untrodden path for everyone. This test is necessary and desired, an anxious and - let's believe - happy test of oneself.

III. Checking homework.

In the novel, Tolstoy traces the fates of individual characters and the fates of entire families. His characters are connected by family, friendship, and love relationships. The writer constantly transfers the action from one place to another. The novel develops many plot lines.

Let's listen to what famous literary scholars say about the composition of an epic novel. Maybe these statements will help us get closer to the answer to the question (we present only some statements).

Already the first readers of the novel “War and Peace” were amazed by the perfection of its composition. Here, for example, is what N.N. said. Strakhov: “What a bulk and what harmony! No literature presents us with anything like this. Thousands of faces, all possible spheres of public and private life, history, war, all the horrors that exist on earth, all passions, all moments of human life, from the cry of a newborn child to the last flash of feeling of a dying old man, all the joys and sorrows available to man, all kinds emotional moods, from the feelings of a thief who stole chervonets from his comrade, to the highest movements of heroism and thoughts of inner enlightenment - everything is in this book. Meanwhile, not a single figure obscures another, not a single scene, not a single impression interferes with other scenes and impressions, everything is in place, everything is clear, everything is divided and everything is in harmony with each other and with the whole. Such a miracle in art, moreover, a miracle achieved by the simplest means, has never happened in the world.” (N.N. Strakhov. “War and Peace.” Work by Count L.N. Tolstoy. 1869).

“Continuity of plot development, plot flow is the basic principle of the composition of War and Peace. The narrative form holds all the episodes together and cements the entire composition. This is the foundation on which the entire work is built.” (A.A. Saburov. “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy. Problematics and Poetics. 1959).

“The episodes of War and Peace are connected among themselves primarily not by the unity of action, in which the same characters participate, as in an ordinary novel; these connections are secondary in nature and are themselves determined by another, more hidden, internal connection. From the point of view of the poetics of the novel, the action in War and Peace is very unfocused and uncollected. It diverges in different directions, develops in parallel lines; the internal connection that constitutes the “basis of cohesion” lies in the situation, the basic situation of human life, which Tolstoy reveals in its most diverse manifestations and events.” (S. Bocharov. L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. 1978).

“Of course, this is not a fresco, and if we stick to comparisons from the same series, “War and Peace” is rather a mosaic in which each pebble sparkles on its own and is included in the brilliance of the entire composition.” (P. Weil, A. Genis. Native speech. 1995).

As we can see, in all studies devoted to “War and Peace” attention is drawn to the complexity and at the same time harmony of the composition. And in one of the excerpts from critical works the children read, our word flashed through - the clue “clutch”. Let us also try to open at least a little and enter into the secrets of Tolstoy’s stylistics.

IV. Analysis of literary material.

First training situation.

In the first chapters, Tolstoy, it would seem, calmly and leisurely describes a social evening that has no direct relation to everything that happens next. But here - unbeknownst to us - all the “threads”, storylines (SL) are tied up.

Identify these lines, themes - there are about a dozen of them. Reflecting on them, we can see one of the already mentioned compositional foundations of the novel - what Tolstoy called “cohesion.” (Students draw up their answers schematically in their notebooks, leaving space for writing down the topic and drawing up a diagram of “links”).

Here are possible student answers.

Pierre looks at the beautiful Helen for the first time with “almost frightened, enthusiastic eyes,” “when she passed by him.”

SL: Pierre – Hélène

Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya comes here to place her son in a warm place in the guard. “The elderly lady bore the name of Princess Drubetskaya, one of the best surnames in Russia, but she was poor, had long since left the world and had lost her previous connections. She has now come to secure a placement in the guard for her only son.”

SL: Boris Drubetskoy, careerism in the army, “true” and “false” warriors

Here Pierre makes one discourteous thing after another and, leaving, is going to put on the general’s cocked hat instead of his hat. “... he (Pierre), as they say, did not know how to enter the salon and even less knew how to leave it, that is, before leaving, say something especially pleasant. Besides, he was distracted. Getting up, instead of his hat, he grabbed a triangular hat with a general's plume and held it, pulling the plume...

- Well, have you finally decided to do something? Will you be a cavalry guard or a diplomat? – asked Prince Andrei after a moment of silence.

Pierre sat down on the sofa, tucking his legs under him.

– You can imagine, I still don’t know. I don’t like either one.”

SL: Pierre and the search for a place in life

Here it becomes clear that Prince Andrei does not love his wife and has not yet known true love - she can come to him in her own time, much later, when he meets and appreciates Natasha. “He apparently not only knew everyone in the living room, but was already so tired of him that he found it very boring to look at them and listen to them. Of all the faces that bored him, the face of his pretty wife seemed to bore him the most. With a grimace marring his handsome face, he turned away from her.”

SL: Prince Andrey and finding the meaning of life

Here they decide to marry Anatole to Princess Marya. “Have you ever thought about marrying your prodigal son Anatole... I have onepetitapersonne, who is very unhappy with her father, is a girl... our relative, Princess Bolkonskaya. “Prince Vasily did not answer, although with the quickness of thought and memory characteristic of secular people, a movement of his head showed that he had taken this information into account.”

SL: Bolkonskie and Kuragin

“... Austria has never wanted and does not want war. She's betraying us. Russia alone must be the savior of Europe.”

“The main theme of the novel is “people's thought”, Russia is a liberator.

“...I often think how unfairly the happiness of life is sometimes distributed.” (Anna Pavlovna Sherer).

The theme of happiness in human life.

“You know, my husband is leaving me... He is going to his death. Tell me why this nasty war."

The theme of war as an anti-human phenomenon, the continuation and development of the theme stated in “Sevastopol Stories”, etc.

Now read the concluding phrase of Chapter IV of Part I of Volume I. (“…when and where will I see someone…”).

See how this relates to our keyword. Themes, ideas, plot lines stated literally in the first lines of the novel will develop, intersect, and reveal themselves in the future. This means that we can conclude that coupling occurs, as the examples you gave show, at several levels. Which ones? (thematic level, hero level). Let's fill out our diagram (teacher on the board, children in notebooks).

But there are other levels in the work. Is it possible to find “clutches” there? Let's look for the answer together.

Second training situation.

The class is divided into three groups and completes one of the tasks below.

1. Episode “Salon A.P. Scherer” is “linked” (using Tolstoy’s own word, denoting the internal connection of individual paintings) with a description (Chapter VI) of the entertainment of St. Petersburg’s “golden” youth. What is the point of describing youth? ( This is “salon stiffness” in reverse. This description complements the characteristics of a secular society).
2. Episode “Salon A.P. Scherer" is linked by contrast (a characteristic compositional device) with the episode "Name Day at the Rostovs" (chap. XIV-XVII, part I, vol. I). How is the atmosphere in the Rostovs’ house different from the atmosphere in A.P.’s salon? Scherer? How are the young Rostovs contrasted with the St. Petersburg “golden youth”?
3. Episode “Salon A.P. Sherer" and the episode "Name Day at the Rostovs" are in turn linked to the last chapters of the first part, depicting the Bolkonsky family nest (chap. XXII-XXV). Try to establish an internal connection between these episodes. How do the atmosphere and relationships of people in Bald Mountains contrast with their depiction in A.P.’s salon? Scherer, and in what - in the Rostovs’ house?

(In order to save time in the lesson, these tasks can be given as advance ones. Regardless of when the task is offered - a lesson, homework - it is useful to recommend to the children the following plan for analyzing episodes, recalling that L.N. Tolstoy is a writer-psychologist , a master of artistic detail, for whom the slightest gesture, tilt or turn of the head, the shine of the eyes, etc. are important:

a) portrait characteristics of the characters in the episode (details of appearance, clothing);
b) the relationship of the characters with each other in the analyzed episode;
c) behavior, gestures, feelings, facial expressions, mood of the characters, variability, staticity.

In general, students’ answers to questions 2 and 3 were as follows: these episodes are “linked” according to the principle of contrast. The Bolkonsky and Rostov families are real, natural heroes, guests of A.P. Scherer and she herself are masks, puppets; everything about these “people” is artificial.

The “real life” of the Rostov family is inextricably linked with the House, the estate. It is no coincidence that the daily life of the Rostovs in the Moscow house, and the Bolkonskys in the Bald Mountains estate, is described in such detail. The artificial life of the “cream of society” takes place in St. Petersburg salons. Visitors to these salons do not have family life, there is only an imitation of it.

The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole. Love binds all family members (the dissonance is cold Faith). It manifests itself not in sentimental exaltation of feelings, but in sensitivity, attention, and closeness (“Only the heart is vigilant.” Exupery). With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, it comes from the heart. Name day scene in the Moscow house of the Rostovs. At this moment, one can feel the spiritual harmony reigning in the heroes’ house. Love breeds trust. Parents raise their children by giving them all their love. They can understand, forgive and help. And children answer their parents in the same way. Rostovs are simple. Life of the heart, wise intuition, lack of mentality, honesty and decency determine their relationships and behavior.

In contrast, the Bolkonskys are proud. These are aristocrats in the best sense. The Bolkonsky family is described with undoubted sympathy. From generation to generation, all the best spiritual qualities and character traits are passed on in this family: patriotism, closeness to the people, a sense of duty, nobility of soul. The Bolkonskys are extremely active people. Each of the family members is constantly busy with something; there is not a drop of laziness and idleness in them, which are characteristic of families of high society. The old prince Nikolai Andreevich, who believes that in the world “there are only two virtues - activity and intelligence,” tirelessly tries to follow his conviction. He himself, an honest and educated man, wants to “develop both virtues in his daughter”, giving her lessons in algebra and geometry and distributing her life in continuous studies. Princess Marya is afraid of her father. However, internally these people are very close to each other. A distinctive feature of the Bolkonskys is high spirituality, “pride and direct honor.” The life of the old prince is a continuous activity (writing memoirs, working on a machine, managing the estate, raising children). In Prince Andrei we also see this trait, inherited from his father. Prince Andrei respects and highly honors his father, who was able to instill in him a high concept of honor(The guys confirm their thoughts and reasoning with examples from the text).

We have considered only some of the “connections” of episodes that can be found in Part I of the novel. In the novel as a whole, these stage episodes are included in “an endless labyrinth of connections, which is the essence of art,” according to L. N. Tolstoy. Let's try to verify this by reading two scenes: “The Hunting Scene” (Chapter III-VII, Part IV, Vol. II) and “The Attack Scene of Nikolai Rostov’s Squadron” (Chapter XV, Part I, Vol. III).

Reading chapters. Discussion.

What unites, “links” these two scenes?

(It would seem that the hunting scene has nothing to do with the main theme of War and Peace. However, it is here that the psychology of a person in war is revealed, when he pursues the enemy (in the episode of the attack of Nikolai Rostov’s squadron, Tolstoy will not talk about Nikolai’s experiences, noting as if in passing: “it was the same as on a hunt”), and at the same time the psychology of a wounded animal, with which the behavior of Napoleonic troops after Borodin is then directly compared).

– So, at what level does “coupling” still occur? What is the meaning of such “links”?

(“Coupling” occurs at the level of episodes. Such “coupling” allows us to give a complete description of one episode through coupling with another; expand the idea of ​​some characters in comparison with others; refer readers to events that have already occurred and draw analogies).

We continue filling out the diagram.

Third training situation.

So, we just have to consider the last level at which the clutch occurs - this is the level of the part. Find and read the description of the appearance of Andrei Bolkonsky, Napoleon and Speransky.

Prince Andrey: "What did you do withMademoiselle Scherer? “Now she’s going to be completely ill,” said Prince Andrei, entering the office and rubbing his small white hands.”(Chapter V, Vol. I).

Napoleon: “Napoleon, hammering out each syllable with a calmness and confidence that was outrageous for Rostov, looked around the rows of Russian soldiers stretched out in front of him... Bonaparte, meanwhile, began to take off the glove from his small white hand...”(Chapter XXI, Part II, Vol. II).

Speransky: “Prince Andrei observed all the movements of Speransky, this man, recently an insignificant seminarian, and now in his own hands - these white, plump hands - who had the fate of Russia, as Bolkonsky thought”(Chapter V, Part III, Vol. II). “Everything was so, everything was good, but one thing embarrassed Prince Andrei: it was Speransky’s cold, mirror-like gaze, which did not let into his soul, and his white, gentle hand, which Prince Andrei involuntarily looked at...”(Chapter VI, Part III, Vol. II).

What do the descriptions of these three seemingly different heroes have in common? ( They are united by one detail - “a small, white hand”).

What does this seemingly insignificant detail mean? ( With the help of this detail, Tolstoy internally brings these three heroes closer together: they are ambitious, strive for power, have contempt for people, etc.)

Thus, our “linkage” diagram looks like this.

V. Summing up.

No research is complete without conclusions; let us summarize some results. So how did you understand what clutch is? ( Cohesion is the internal connection of individual episodes, characters, themes, details).

Look at the diagram and notes made during the lesson and try to answer the question: what are the functions of a “clutch”? (“War and Peace” are endless connections. “Connection” is the main compositional technique for constructing an epic novel. Analyzing the form, we get closer to the content. “Connections” complement the characteristics of heroes, events...).

Thus, the ideological and artistic meaning of each scene and each character of War and Peace becomes completely clear only in their compositional connections with the comprehensive content of the epic. (We recommend writing down the conclusions of students and teachers).

Title auction.

You and I have one task left unfulfilled. Look at the hanging question. Every lesson should have a title, but we don't have one. Let's have an auction of lesson titles. So, your lots are names.

The following options were proposed:

“Coupling”, “Coupling as the main method of constructing a novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”, “Endless Labyrinth of Links”, etc.

In the end, we decided to name the lesson in the words of the author of the epic novel L.N. Tolstoy: “An endless labyrinth of connections.”

VI. Homework.

Give examples of clutches of any level:

Level 1 – grade “4”: give examples of “links” of the sky image, explain their meaning.

Level 2 – score “5”: independently find examples of “clutches” and explain their functions.

This lesson can be conducted as an introductory lesson before studying the novel (then it is necessary to give advanced tasks) or as a general lesson after studying the novel, then the homework can be counted as a test.

L.N. Tolstoy himself called the principle of depicting the characters’ characters « dialectic of the soul."
Personal in relation to the heroes is that

• change, improve, strive for an unattainable ideal,
• Least favorite heroes are static.

As a means of revealing the characters of the heroes of the novel “War and Peace,” the writer, in addition to the expressed author’s position, also uses a number of artistic techniques.

Artistic means of revealing characters in a novel

Portraits of the novel's heroes

In the portrait of his heroes, Tolstoy emphasizes one recurring detail: the thickness of Pierre, the marbling of Helen’s shoulders, the radiant eyes of Princess Marya, the trembling of Napoleon’s thighs, the decrepitude of Kutuzov...

Tolstoy is not afraid to show the ugliness of his heroes. Natasha can

“to loosen your big mouth, becoming completely bad”,

Princess Marya's ugliness is constantly set off by her radiant eyes. In moments of great upheaval, transformation can occur to the characters. Describing the meeting of Natasha and Andrei in Mytishchi, Tolstoy writes that his face was scary for Rostova, but at the same time the most beautiful feelings unite the heroes. When Princess Marya fell in love with Nikolai Rostov,

“for the first time, all that pure spiritual inner work with which she had lived until now came out”:

the heroine’s appearance becomes beautiful: chesty feminine notes appear, femininity and grace are manifested in her movements.

Characteristics

Another hero can give a characterization of a particular character. So, Pierre thinks about Helen:

“Elena Vasilievna, who has never loved anything except her body, and one of the stupidest women in the world, appears to people as the height of perfection, and they worship her.”

The author himself can highlight the dominant character.

“The essence of her life—love—is still alive in her,”

- Tolstoy says about Natasha.

Tolstoy, explaining the mistakes of his heroes (Pierre, Natasha), each time talks about an intuitive feeling of something bad, repeats words synonyms: “disgusting”, “forbidden”, “unnatural”, “dishonest”, “something indecent”, "indecent intent."

Contrast as an artistic device in the novel “War and Peace”

One of Tolstoy’s favorite techniques for revealing the characters of his heroes is contrast.

So, at the reception of contrast, there is a description of Natasha Rostova’s first ball, when her living, pure beauty is compared with the marble beauty of Helen and contrasted with her, like true - false. The images of Kutuzov and Napoleon appear as antagonists in the novel (see:).

Nature in revealing characters

The character of the hero is also determined by his ability to feel.

This ability is possessed by:

• Prince Andrey (sky of Austerlitz, oak on the road to Otradnoye),
• Pierre (starry sky),
• Natasha (night in Otradnoye)

- all the writer’s favorite heroes. The dialogue between Natasha and Sonya at night in Otradnoye is based on contrast. The charm of a summer night is alien to Sonya.

Speeches of heroes as characteristics

The speech of the character himself can also serve as his characteristic. The order of the old Prince Bolkonsky to his son before leaving for the army speaks of high moral requirements for noble honor and service to the Motherland, of hidden love for his son, of concern for his fate:

“Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt me, an old man... and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, I will be... ashamed!”

Comparison as a tool

Often, the writer uses comparisons to characterize the hero or his condition:

“he always spoke lazily, like an actor speaking the role of an old play”

(about Prince Vasily Kuragin),

An evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer's is compared to a spinning workshop, in which

“spindles made noise evenly and incessantly from different sides,”

about Pierre's condition:

“It was as if the main screw on which his whole life was held had turned in his head.”

Description as a technique for revealing the characters of War and Peace

Important events in the hero's life can be commented on through the episode description. About Prince Andrei:

“A new, gratifying and calming feeling came over him when, looking at these girls, he realized the existence of other, completely alien to him and just as legitimate human interests as those that occupied him.”

When describing the character of the hero and his actions, the author's irony may appear, as, for example, when describing the behavior of Prince Vasily when Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief.

Showing the dialectic of the soul of his heroes, Tolstoy allows us to penetrate into the aspirations, experiences, and essence of the actions of people whose lives are separated from ours by almost two hundred centuries.

All the characters in the epic novel can be quite clearly divided into two camps, or two worlds - “living” and “dead”. The action in the novel takes place in two parallel planes - the plane of “peace” and the plane of “war”. For each of the planes, the author selects certain differentiations of the heroes, and their belonging to the “dead” or “living” principle is determined.

When describing the world, the dominant criterion on the basis of which the characters are contrasted is the attitude towards the family and children. In a “dead” world, where everything is subordinated to a single goal, which is to increase one’s own fortune by any means, marriage acts only as one of the possible means. It is not difficult for anyone belonging to this camp to step over the family, as well as through other moral principles. In this regard, the most striking is the image of Helen. The only purpose for which she married Pierre Bezukhov, the heir to the entire fortune of Count Bezukhov, was to receive part of the inheritance. Breaking up with her husband and receiving more than half of his wealth is the logical conclusion of the intrigue she has built.

As an example of the absolute insignificance of moral principles for representatives of the “dead” world, one can cite the scene of the “fight” for the mosaic briefcase of the dying Count Bezukhov. The “battle” actually unfolds before the eyes of the dying man, but this circumstance has no significance for either Prince Vasily or the princess Drubetskaya, equally striving to win the “battle” by any means necessary.

A completely opposite attitude towards moral values ​​reigns in the “living” world. For its representatives, family and children represent the highest ideal and become the true goal of human life. The most indicative in this regard is the Rostov family, the atmosphere in which - love and complete mutual understanding - is directly opposite to the intrigue, envy and anger in the Kuragin family. The Rostov house is open to everyone, and anyone who comes to them will be received with due kindness and cordiality. It is no coincidence that after returning from the front, Nikolai Rostov goes to his parents’ house. The difference between the attitude towards children in the Kuragin and Rostov families is also characteristic. Prince Vasily’s only desire is to quickly get rid of the “calm fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole, while also increasing his fortune. On the contrary, for the Rostovs, children are of important value and no child can be unloved.

But in addition to the plane of the world, in the novel there is a plane of war, where the heroes appear in a completely different form. Tolstoy chooses the main criterion in this regard, by which people are divided into “camps,” to be their attitude towards the Motherland, the manifestation of patriotism.

The “living” world is the world of true patriots, whose feelings towards the Motherland are completely sincere and genuine. Andrei Bolkonsky is not guided by any other considerations other than thoughts of defending the Fatherland when he tries to resist general panic and retreat at Austerlitz. Prince Andrei does not think about promotion or awards; he obeys only his own sense of duty. The complete opposite of Andrei Bolkonsky is Boris Drubetskoy. He sees his main task not as defending the Fatherland, but as promotion, not through merit on the battlefield, but through flattery, hypocrisy, and sycophancy towards his superiors. The fate of people means nothing to him; he is ready to sacrifice them for the sake of his own promotion and nomination for an award.

The Rostovs show patriotism in a slightly different form. Nikolai cannot kill a person, regardless of which side he is on, but when retreating from Moscow, the Rostovs sacrifice their own property to save the wounded. Berg behaves completely differently. Taking advantage of the general distress and confusion, he manages to purchase a “dressing room” for a negligible price, and this “deal” becomes a source of his pride.

True patriotism is also demonstrated by heroes who do not belong to any of the worlds and act only in the plane of war, but are also opposed to the “dead” camp. The most indicative in this regard is the feat of Captain Tushin, and especially his perception of his heroism. Tushin did not even think about the heroic essence of his act - on the contrary, he is trying to justify himself and asks for help from Andrei Bolkonsky. According to Tolstoy, a true patriot does not even notice the fact that he is performing a feat - for him it is only a duty to the Motherland, devoid of any heroic flair. The feat of both Tushin’s battery and Raevsky’s battery, accomplished by the most ordinary, unremarkable people, fits this definition.

Thus, the technique of antithesis is basic for constructing a system of images of the novel and characterizing the main characters.

In fact, the antithesis, the opposition of two worlds - “dead” and “living” - forms the basis of the work and determines its structure. And, building the novel on the principle of antithesis, L.N. Tolstoy debunks the “dead” world, shows its inconsistency and affirms the human and Christian ideals that guide the “living” world.

Report

Genre features of the novel “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy

Iva Zyuzina

III year, Ph.D. 4636

Russian philology

The novel "War and Peace" is a work of large volume. It covers 16 years (from 1805 to 1821) of the life of Russia and more than five hundred different heroes. Among them there are real characters in the historical events described, fictional characters and many people to whom Tolstoy does not even give names, for example, “the general who ordered”, “the officer who did not arrive.” In this way, the writer wanted to show that the movement of history occurs not under the influence of any specific individuals, but thanks to all participants in the events. To combine such a huge material into one work, the author created a genre that had not been used by any writer before, which he called an epic novel. This is one of the few works in world literature of the 19th century to which the name epic novel is rightfully proposed. Events of a large historical scale, general life, not private life, form the basis of its content, the historical process is revealed in it, an unusually wide coverage of Russian life in all its layers has been achieved, and as a result of this, the number of characters, in particular characters from the people's environment, is so large.

The novel describes real historical events: the Battle of Austerlitz, Shengraben, Borodino, the conclusion of the Peace of Tilsit, the capture of Smolensk, the surrender of Moscow, partisan warfare and others, in which real historical figures manifest themselves. Historical events in the novel also play a compositional role. Since the Battle of Borodino largely determined the outcome of the War of 1812, 20 chapters are devoted to its description, it is the culminating center of the novel. The work contained pictures of battle, giving way to images of the world as the complete opposite of war, peace as the existence of a community of many, many people, as well as nature, that is, everything that surrounds a person in space and time. Disputes, misunderstandings, hidden and overt conflicts, fear, hostility, love... All this is real, living, sincere, like the heroes of a literary work themselves.

The breadth of coverage of the Russian nation in the work is amazing: noble estates, aristocratic metropolitan salons, village holidays and diplomatic receptions, the greatest battles and pictures of peaceful life, emperors, peasants, dignitaries, landowners, merchants, soldiers, generals. We meet more than 500 characters on the pages of the novel. All of them, especially the positive heroes, are in constant search. Tolstoy's favorite heroes are not flawless, but they strive for improvement, search for the meaning of life, tranquility for them is tantamount to spiritual death. But the path to truth and righteousness is difficult and thorny. The characters created by Tolstoy reflect the moral and philosophical research of the author of the novel himself. The novel tells about the events taking place during three stages of Russia's struggle with Bonapartist France. Volume 1 describes the events of 1805, when Russia, in alliance with Austria, waged a war on its territory with France. In the 2nd volume of 1806-1807, when Russian troops were in Prussia. The 3rd and 4th volumes are devoted to a broad depiction of the Patriotic War of 1812, which Russia waged on its native soil. In the epilogue, the action takes place in 1820.

The most complex artistic, historical and philosophical fabric of the novel is woven from everyday life and historical paintings, from the depiction of epoch-making events in the life of the people and the culminating moments of the life of private individuals - great and unknown, real and fictional; from the speech of the narrator and the passionate monologues of the author himself, who seemed to come to the fore and remove his heroes, stopping the action of the novel in order to talk about something most important with the reader, sharply challenge the generally accepted point of view of professional historians, and justify his principles.

The very first and general theme of any epic is war and peace. The title is highly consistent with the “spirit of the epic” that Tolstoy’s book is universally recognized to embody. What the theme and main event of the book tells about is war and peace, and in the composition the main division is carried out into chapters into “peaceful” and “military”, replacing each other. At the same time, the meaning of the title seems to be doubled - namely, the meaning of the second concept: peace. Here it is no longer so unambiguous and simple - the question arises in what sense the word “peace” is given, for the text of the book provides the basis for this. After all, this word not only appears in the title, but also permeates the entire text of the novel, covers a wide range of content and forms a whole network of meanings. “The world” in the text of Tolstoy’s novel, in its essence, is untranslatable. This is not only the “peace” that is opposite to war, a sign of silence, peace and harmony, but also the “peace” that is in the sense of the cosmic meaning - “the whole world” or “all people”.

In the “world” the author gives the specific meaning of worldly life, all the limitlessness of connections in human life with its diversity of relationships, opinions, events, goals comprehensible or not, in which it is necessary to navigate and make decisions. This life “in the world,” which is an image of the “disorder of the free world,” is contrasted with another meaning of “world” in Tolstoy’s novel. In the context of the novel, another meaning of “world” is the antipode of the word “earth”, which is already close in meaning to the word “sky” and reassembles with the concepts of God, faith and death. The world is not just the general connection of human life, which more than once seemed to the characters in Tolstoy’s books as chaos, a game of chance, but it is also a special purposeful connection, a harmonious whole, the “kingdom of truth.” Within the boundaries of the original text, this difference is conveyed by the different spellings of a specific word - “mir” and “mir”, where the concept of “peace” appears in places where it is clearly opposed to war, and “mir” is used to mean “the whole world / all people”.

There are many attempts to study the basic composition of the novel, fundamentally different in their approach. At first, researchers saw their task as finding in the novel the most important stages of the development of action, as they should be according to generally accepted concepts of composition - beginning, climax, denouement. Among the author's works on this topic, T.L. Motyleva can be noted, who clarifies in her research that despite the absence of a plot in the generally accepted sense of the word - the initial event that would determine the further development of the action, even from the first pages of the work there is a brewing conflict , which lies at the heart of the epic. Namely: the contradiction and brewing war between the Russian state and Napoleonic army. The mainspring of the action is the specific deepening and development of this storyline; the culmination of the narrative can be considered the Battle of Borodino, and the denouement is the expulsion of Napoleon from Russia. In this case, the place of the denouement itself is quite unusual - since the action of the novel does not stop after it. This traditional view of the composition of the novel, according to other researchers, is too general a scheme that does not cover the completeness and logic of the novel’s plot lines, nor does it subordinate many of the life processes depicted in the book.

Another attempt to interpret the composition of the novel can be noted in the works of B. Bursov, who decides to move away from the traditional theoretical and literary scheme. He adheres to the theory of individual compositional centers of “War and Peace”, which are the most significant moments of a historical event in it, but taken separately. In the first volume, such a center, according to Bursov, is the Battle of Austerlitz, and in the third - Borodino. What does the significance of the Battle of Borodino have to do with this, not only as the compositional center of the third volume, but also of the entire work as a whole.

A completely different principle for considering the features of the novel’s composition is outlined in A. Saburov’s monograph. The culmination of the work is recognized as the episode of the Battle of Borodino, but the leading role in this development is occupied by its so-called “external structure”. This development examines the relationship in the novel between fact and fiction, war and peace, the author’s reasoning and the narrative part, the scenic and descriptive elements. As a result, this work examines the features of the genre composition of the novel separately from the writer’s specific views on life, from the features of his worldview. A method that was not accepted by another part of the researchers, who emphasized in their developments precisely the moral and philosophical ideas of the author and Reeve. The development was accepted. describes the features of the novel's novel composition separately from the writer's specific views on life, a specific novel (V. Selinov, S. Leushev).

Of course, without taking into account the philosophical basis of the novel, it is impossible to understand the methods of its construction. Here everything is determined by the writer’s desire to artistically substantiate his view of people, life, and society. The author's fiction occupies no less place in the novel than reliable material in importance, and also contains many philosophical premises in understanding not only military actions, but also in the everyday civil and everyday life of people. Particular attention is paid to the role of the masses in history, the ethical ideas of the best and thinking people from the leading families of the nobility, the material and careerist motives of the ruling class, problems of love, marriage and family.

The fiction in the novel also expands from the writer’s intentions, in addition to the historical event, to show in its entirety the lives of people, which are not always directly connected with the war that took place. According to the writer himself, reflected in the draft version of the preface, he distinguishes his task from the task of a historian: “The historian and the artist, describing a historical era, have two completely different subjects. Just as a historian will be wrong if he tries to present a historical person in all his integrity, in all the complexity of his relationships to all aspects of life, and thereby unwittingly misses and obscures his main task - to indicate the person’s participation in a historical event, then the artist will not fulfill his task , understanding a person the way a historian would, always presenting him in a historical meaning” (13.57). These exact words of the author himself show that he considers it his duty to touch on all aspects of life and, of course, illuminate them from a philosophical point of view. The writer set the task of creating an epic, i.e. as it seems to him, a complete picture of the life of society at the beginning of the century with all types of life and customs of serf Russia. Mainly, this intention explains the exceptional completeness of the description of everyday phenomena of life - the birth and death of a person, the experiences of lovers, hunting, a card game, a duel, illness, disobedience of peasants to their mistress, the experiences of a soldier's mother, the poisoning of a lover, the religious feelings of a person - in a word, everything that there lived a man then. Throughout the reading of the entire novel, one can see how the writer tries to fully embrace the life of the era, describe the life of humanity at a certain historical stage, show the sequence of events and how exactly people lived then.

The author assigns two equal halves a place in the novel, both military actions and events of civil life. In this regard, the alternation of military and everyday scenes is given in approximately equal parts; it is in balance in relation to the whole volume of the novel. Interrupting descriptions of military operations, the narrative describes the development of almost all lines of the family chronicle - the lives of the Kuragins, Bolkonskys, Bezukhovs, Rostovs. In the work on the first half of the novel, the description of all families occurs as a rule - for example, after the Battle of Shengraben, in connection with the development of the plot, the Kuragins, Pierre Bezukhov and Bolkonskys are shown. There are no mentions of any events in the Rostov family life, but the author mentions them, observing the accepted procedure for keeping them in the field of view of the narrative.

In the author’s mind, the two halves of the novel – military-historical and civil – correspond to the meaning of the title - “War and Peace” and serve as its clarification, i.e. peace here is again thought of not only as a state opposite to war, but also as the everyday civil, non-military life of people. In the comparison of one and the other, however, there are also semantic shades that speak of the impact of war on the world, people, their views, feelings and behavior.

The combination of a family chronicle with the events of the people's war represents the main core of the development of action in the novel. In a skillful interweaving of two-sided action, the author, with vital observation, traces the private destinies of people, finding out how people of different positions, views and characters withstood the great test and behaved, what influence the crucial historical moment had on them.

In accordance with this, the novel begins with a show of the world, and then moves on to pictures of war. In this way, the reader gets to know the main characters before they become participants in the war. And this already affects the very perception of the description of war as a phenomenon - it is no longer just a war, but a war with the participation of familiar faces who have their own lives, thoughts and aspirations.