M. M. Blinkina

AGE OF CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"

(Izvestia AN. Series of literature and language. - T. 57. - No. 1. - M., 1998. - P. 18-27)

1. INTRODUCTION

The main goal of this work is the mathematical modeling of certain aspects of plot development and the establishment of relationships between real and novel time, or more precisely, between the real and novel ages of the characters (and, in this case, the connection will be predictable and linear).

The very concept of “age” certainly has several aspects. Firstly, age literary character determined by novel time, which often does not coincide with real time. Secondly, numerals in the designation of age, in addition to their main (actually numerical) meaning, often have a number of additional meanings, that is, they carry an independent semantic load. They can, for example, contain a positive or negative assessment of the hero, reflect his individual characteristics, or introduce an ironic shade into the story.

Sections 2-6 describe how Leo Tolstoy changes the age characteristics of the characters in War and Peace depending on their function in the novel, how young they are, what gender they are, and also on some other individual characteristics.

Section 7 proposes a mathematical model that reflects the features of the “aging” of Tolstoy’s heroes.

2. AGE PARADOXES: TEXT ANALYSIS

Reading Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace", one cannot help but pay attention to some strange inconsistencies in the age characteristics of his characters. Consider, for example, the Rostov family. It's August 1805 - and we meet Natasha for the first time:... ran into the room thirteen year old girl, wrapping something in her muslin skirt...

In the same August 1805, we meet all the other children from this family, in particular, the older sister Vera: The countess's eldest daughter was four years older than my sister and behaved like a big girl.

Thus, in August 1805 Vere seventeen years. Now fast forward to December 1806: There was faith twenty years old beautiful girl... Natasha is half young lady, half girl...

We see that over the past year and four months Vera has managed to grow by three years. She was seventeen, and now she is neither eighteen nor nineteen; she's twenty at once. Natasha’s age in this fragment is given metaphorically, and not by number, which, as it turns out, is also not without reason.

Exactly three more years will pass before we receive the last message about the ages of these two sisters:

Natasha was sixteen years, and it was 1809, the same year that she and Boris counted on her fingers four years ago, after she kissed him.

So, over these four years, Natasha has grown by three, as, indeed, was expected. Instead of seventeen or even eighteen, she is now sixteen. And there won't be any more. This is the last mention of her age. Meanwhile, what happens to her unfortunate older sister?

I had faith twenty four years old, she went everywhere, and, despite the fact that she was undoubtedly good and sensible, until now no one had ever proposed to her.

As we can see, over the past three years, Vera has grown by four. If we count from the very beginning, that is, from August 1805, it turns out that in just over four years Vera grew by seven years. During this time period, the age difference between Natasha and Vera doubled. Vera is now not four, but eight years older than her sister.

This was an example of how the ages of two characters change relative to each other. Now let's look at a hero who at some point in time has different ages for different characters. This hero is Boris Drubetskoy. His age is never stated directly, so we will try to calculate it indirectly. On the one hand, we know that Boris is the same age as Nikolai Rostov: Two young men, a student and an officer, friends since childhood, were one year old ...

Nicholas was nineteen or twenty years old in January 1806:

How strange it was for the countess that her son, who was barely noticeable with his tiny limbs, was moving inside her twenty years ago, now a courageous warrior...

It follows that in August 1805 Boris was nineteen or twenty years old. Now let’s estimate his age from Pierre’s perspective. At the beginning of the novel, Pierre is twenty years old: Pierre from the age of ten was sent abroad with the tutor-abbot, where he stayed up to twenty years of age .

On the other hand, we know that Pierre left Boris fourteen year old boy and definitely didn’t remember him.

Thus, Boris is four years older than Pierre and at the beginning of the novel he is twenty-four years old, that is, he is twenty-four years old for Pierre, while for Nikolai he is still only twenty.

And finally, another, completely funny example: the age of Nikolenka Bolkonsky. In July 1805, his future mother appears before us: ... little princess Volkonskaya, who got married last winter and now did not go out into the big world because of her pregnancy... waddled around the table with small, quick steps....

From universal human considerations, it is clear that Nikolenka should be born in the fall of 1805: but, contrary to everyday logic, this does not happen, he is born March 19, 1806 It is clear that such a character will have problems with age until the end of his novel life. So in 1811 he will be six years old, and in 1820 - fifteen.

How can such discrepancies be explained? Maybe the exact age of his characters is not important for Tolstoy? On the contrary, Tolstoy has a passion for numbers and, with amazing accuracy, sets the ages of even the most insignificant heroes. So Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova exclaims: Fifty eight years old lived in the world...: No, life is not over at thirty-one, - says Prince Andrey.

Tolstoy has numbers everywhere, and exact, fractional numbers. Age in War and Peace is undoubtedly functional. No wonder Dolokhov, beating Nikolai at cards, I decided to continue the game until this entry increased to forty-three thousand. He chose this number because forty-three was the sum of his years added up with Sonya's years .

Thus, all the age discrepancies described above, and there are about thirty of them in the novel, are intentional. What are they due to?

Before starting to answer this question, I note that on average, over the course of the novel’s time, Tolstoy makes each of his characters a year older than they should be (this is shown by calculations that will be discussed later). Usually the hero classic novel will always be twenty-one years old instead of twenty-one years and eleven months, and on average, therefore, such a hero turns out to be six months younger than his years.

However, even from the above examples it is already clear, firstly, that the author “ages” and “youngens” his heroes unequally, and secondly, that this does not happen randomly, but in a systemic, programmed way. How exactly?

From the very beginning, it becomes obvious that positive and negative characters age differently and disproportionately. (“Positive and negative” is, of course, a relative concept, but in Tolstoy, in most cases, the polarity of a character is defined almost unambiguously. The author of “War and Peace” is surprisingly frank in his likes and dislikes). As shown above, Natasha matures more slowly than expected, while Vera, on the contrary, grows up faster. Boris, as Nikolai's friend and friend of the Rostov family, appears to be twenty years old; In the role of Pierre's social acquaintance and Julie Karagina's future husband, he simultaneously turns out to be much older. The ages of the heroes seem to have been given a certain loose order, or rather, an anti-order. There is a feeling that the heroes are being “fined” by increasing their age. Tolstoy seems to punish his heroes with disproportionate aging.

There are, however, characters in the novel who grow older strictly in accordance with the years they have lived. Sonya, for example, being, in fact, neither a positive nor a negative heroine, but completely neutral and colorless, Sonya, who always studied well and remembered everything, grows up exceptionally neatly. The whole confusion of ages that takes place in the Rostov family does not affect her at all. In 1805 she fifteen year old girl , and in 1806 - sixteen year old girl in all the beauty of a newly bloomed flower. It is her age that the calculating Dolokhov wins against Rostov at cards, adding to his own. But Sonya is rather an exception.

In general, characters of “different polarities” grow up in different ways. Moreover, the extremely saturated space of age is divided between positive and negative heroes. Natasha and Sonya are mentioned under the age of sixteen. After the age of sixteen - Vera and Julie Karagina. Pierre, Nikolai and Petya Rostov, Nikolenka Bolkonsky are no more than twenty. Boris, Dolokhov, and the “ambiguous” Prince Andrei are strictly over twenty.

The question is not how old the hero is, the question is what age is recorded in the novel. Natasha is not supposed to be over sixteen; Marya is inadmissible for positive heroine old, so not a word is said about her age; Helen, on the other hand, is defiantly young for a negative heroine, therefore we do not know how old she is.

The novel sets a boundary after which only negative heroes exist; border, crossing which, obviously positive hero simply ceases to exist in the space of age. In a completely symmetrical manner, the negative hero walks through the novel without age until he passes this border. Natasha loses age, reaching sixteen years old. Julie Karagina, on the contrary, is gaining age, being no longer in her first youth:

Julie was twenty seven years old. After the death of her brothers, she became very rich. She was now completely ugly; but I thought that she was not only just as good, but even much more attractive now than she was before... A man who ten years ago would have been afraid to go every day to the house where she was seventeen year old lady, in order not to compromise her and not to tie himself down, now he boldly went to her every day and communicated with her not as a young lady-bride, but as an acquaintance who does not have a gender.

The problem, however, is that Julie was never seventeen in this novel. In 1805, when this chubby young lady guest appears in the Rostovs' house, nothing is said about her age, for if Tolstoy had honestly given her seventeen years old, then now, in 1811, she would not have been twenty-seven, but only twenty-three, which is also, of course, is no longer the age for a positive heroine, but still not yet the time for the final transition to asexual beings. In general, negative heroes, as a rule, are not entitled to childhood and adolescence. This leads to funny misunderstandings:

Well, what, Lelya? - Prince Vasily turned to his daughter with that careless tone of habitual tenderness, which is acquired by parents who caress their children from childhood, but which Prince Violence only guessed through imitation of other parents.

Or maybe Prince Vasily is not to blame? Perhaps his purely negative children had no childhood at all. And it’s not for nothing that Pierre, before proposing to Helene, convinces himself that he knew her as a child. Was she even a child?

If we move from the lyrics to numbers, it turns out that in the novel there are positive characters aged 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, as well as 40, 45, 50, 58. Negative characters are 17, 20, 24, 25, 27. That is, positive heroes from early youth immediately end up in venerable old age. U negative heroes old age, of course, also happens, but the fraction of age in their old age is less than in positive ones. So, positive Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova says: Fifty eight years old lived in the world... The negative Prince Vasily evaluates himself with less accuracy: To me sixth decade, My friend...

In general, accurate calculations show that the aging coefficient in the “positive-negative” space is equal to -2.247, i.e. all other things being equal, the positive hero will be two years and three months younger than the negative one.

Let's now talk about two heroines who are emphatically ageless. These heroines are Helen and Princess Marya, which in itself is not accidental.

Helen symbolizes eternal beauty and youth in the novel. Her rightness, her strength in this inexhaustible youth. Time seems to have no power over her: Elena Vasilievna, that’s how it is at fifty years old she will be a beauty. Pierre, persuading himself to marry Helen, also cites her age as her main advantage. He remembers knowing her as a child. He says to himself: No, she's beautiful young woman! She's not bad woman!

Helen is the eternal bride. With a living husband, she chooses a new groom with charming spontaneity, one of the applicants being young and the other old. Helen dies under mysterious circumstances, preferring an old admirer to a young one, that is: as if she herself chooses old age and death, giving up her privilege of eternal youth, and dissolves into oblivion.

Princess Marya also has no age, and it is not possible to calculate it from the final version of the novel. In fact, in 1811, she old dry princess, envies Natasha's beauty and youth. In the finale, in 1820, Marya is a happy young mother, she is expecting her fourth child, and her life, one might say, is just beginning, although at that moment she is no less than thirty-five years old, an age not very suitable for a lyrical heroine; That’s why she lives without age in this novel, thoroughly saturated with numbers.

It is curious that in the first edition of War and Peace, which differs from the final version in its extreme specificity and “ultimate directness,” the uncertainty in the images of Helen and Marya is partly removed. There in 1805 Marya was twenty years old: the old prince himself was engaged in raising his daughter and, in order to develop both main virtues in her, up to twenty years gave her lessons in algebra and geometry and distributed her whole life in continuous studies.

And Helen, too, dies there, not from excess of youth...

4. FIRST COMPLETED VERSION OF THE NOVEL

The first version of War and Peace helps solve many of the mysteries posed in the final version of the novel. What is very vaguely read in the final version appears in the early version with a clarity that is amazing for a novel narrative. The space of age here is not yet imbued with the romantic understatement that the modern reader encounters. Deliberate precision borders on banality. It is not surprising that in the final edition of the novel Tolstoy refuses such meticulousness. Mentions of age become one and a half times less. Behind the scenes there is a mass interesting details, which would be worth mentioning here.

Princess Marya, as already noted, at the beginning of the novel twenty years. Age Helen is not specified, but it is obviously limited from above by the age of her older brother. Moreover, in 1811 Anatoly was 28 years. He was in full splendor of his strength and beauty.

Thus, at the beginning of the novel, Anatole is twenty-two years old, his friend Dolokhov is twenty-five, and Pierre is twenty. Helen no more than twenty-one. Moreover, she probably no more than nineteen, because according to the unwritten laws of that time, she should not be older than Pierre. (The fact, for example, that Julie is older than Boris is especially emphasized.)

So, the scene in which socialite Helen tries to lead young Natasha Rostova astray looks completely comical, considering that Natasha at this moment is twenty years old, and Helen is twenty-four, that is, they, in fact, belong to the same age categories.

The early version also clarifies the age Boris: Hélène called him mon hage and treated him like a child... Sometimes in rare moments Pierre thought that this patronizing friendship was for an imaginary child who was 23 years old there was something unnatural.

These considerations relate to the autumn of 1809, that is, at the beginning of the novel Boris is nineteen years old, and his future bride Julie - twenty-one years old, if you count her age back from the moment of their wedding. Initially, Julie, apparently, was assigned the role of a more sympathetic heroine in the novel: A tall, plump, proud-looking lady with pretty daughter, rustling with dresses, entered the living room.

This pretty daughter is Julie Karagina, who was initially thought to be younger and more attractive. However, in 1811, Julie Akhrosimova (that’s her original name) will already be the “asexual” creature that we know her in the final version.

In the first version of the novel, Dolokhov wins from Nikolai not forty-three, but only forty-two thousand.

The ages of Natasha and Sonya are given several times. So, at the beginning of 1806 Natasha says: To me fifteenth year, my grandmother got married in my time.

In the summer of 1807, Natasha's age is mentioned twice: Natasha has passed 15 years and she has become very prettier this summer.

“And you sing,” said Prince Andrei. He said these simple words, looking straight into this beautiful eyes 15 year old girls.

This number of age entries allows us to establish that Natasha was born in the fall of 1791. Thus, at her first ball she shines at eighteen, and not at all at sixteen.

To make Natasha younger, Tolstoy also changes Sonya’s age. So, at the end of 1810 Sonya was already twentieth year. She had already stopped getting prettier, she didn’t promise anything more than what was in her, but that was enough.

In fact, Natasha is twenty years old at this moment, and Sonya is at least a year and a half older.

Unlike many other heroes, Prince Andrei does not have an exact age in the first version of the novel. Instead of the textbook thirty-one years old, he about thirty years old.

Of course, the accuracy and directness of the early version of the novel cannot serve as an “official clue” to age shifts, since we have no right to assume that Natasha and Pierre in the first edition are the same characters as Natasha and Pierre in the final version of the novel. By changing the age characteristics of the hero, the author partly changes the hero himself. However, the early version of the novel allows us to check the accuracy of the calculations made on the final text and ensure that these calculations are correct.

5. AGE AS A FUNCTION OF AGE (AGE STEREOTYPES)

There's only so long left to live -

I'm already sixteen years old!

Yu. Ryashentsev

The tradition of aging older characters compared to younger ones goes back centuries. In this sense, Tolstoy did not invent anything new. Calculations show that the coefficient of “aging with age” in the novel is 0.097, which translates into human language means a year of novel aging for ten years lived, that is, a ten-year-old hero may turn out to be eleven years old, a twenty-year-old hero twenty-two, and a fifty-year-old fifty-five. The result is not surprising. It is much more interesting how Tolstoy presents the ages of his heroes, how he evaluates them on the “young - old” scale. Let's start from the very beginning.

5.1. Up to ten years

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy loved children very much.

Sometimes they would bring him a full room. Step by step

There’s nowhere to step, but he keeps shouting: More! More!

D. Kharms

Kharms is certainly right. Characters infancy there are many in the novel. What they have in common, perhaps, is that they do not seem to be independent units, endowed with their own problems and experiences. The age of up to ten years is a signal that the hero will, in fact, be a small mouthpiece for the author. The children in the novel see the world surprisingly subtly and correctly; they engage in systematic “defamiliarization” of their surroundings. They, not spoiled by the burden of civilization, are more successful than adults in solving their moral problems and at the same time seem to be completely devoid of reason. Therefore, such young characters, the number of which will grow to incredible limits by the end, look very artificial:

Five minutes later the little black-eyed three year old Natasha, her father’s favorite, having learned from her brother that daddy was sleeping in the small sofa room, unnoticed by her mother, ran to her father... Nikolai turned around with a tender smile on his face.

- Natasha, Natasha! - the frightened whisper of Countess Marya was heard from the door, - daddy wants to sleep.

“No, mom, he doesn’t want to sleep,” little Natasha answered convincingly, “he’s laughing.”

Such an edifying little character. But the next one is a little older:

Only Andrei’s granddaughter, Malasha, six year old girl, to whom His Serene Highness, having caressed her, gave her a piece of sugar for tea, remained on the stove in the large hut... Malasha... understood the meaning of this advice differently. It seemed to her that it was only a matter of personal struggle between “grandfather” and “long-haired,” as she called Beningsen.

Amazing insight!

The last character in age to show signs of the same “childish-unconscious” behavior as all of Tolstoy’s juvenile characters is the eternally sixteen-year-old Natasha Rostova:

In the middle of the stage sat girls in red bodices and white skirts. They were all singing something. When they finished their song, the girl in white approached the prompter's booth, and a man in tight-fitting silk trousers on thick legs, with a feather and a dagger, approached her and began to sing and spread his arms...

After the village and in the serious mood in which Natasha was, all this was wild and surprising to her.

So, Natasha sees the world in the same childish, unreasonable way. It’s not because of their age that adult children look like young old people. Striving for globality, the author of “War and Peace” loses the little things, the individuality of babies, for example, Lev Nikolaevich’s children do not come individually, but as a set: At the table were her mother, the old woman Belova who lived with her, her wife, three children, governess, tutor, nephew with his tutor, Sonya, Denisov, Natasha, her three children, their governess and the old man Mikhail Ivanovich, the prince’s architect, who lived in Bald Mountains in retirement.

Individuality in this enumeration is due to everyone, even old lady Belova, whom we meet for the first and last time. Even the tutor, and the governess, and also the tutor do not merge into the general concept of “tutors”. And only children, sexless and faceless, go en masse. Kharms had something to parody.

He not only wrote the wonderful work “War and Peace,” but also showed Russian life over several decades. Researchers of Tolstoy’s work have calculated that the writer depicted more than 600 characters on the pages of his novel. Moreover, each of these characters has a clear and apt description of the writer. This allows the reader to draw a detailed portrait of each character.

In contact with

The system of characters in the novel "War and Peace"

Of course, the main character of Tolstoy’s work is the people. According to the author, this is the best thing that the Russian nation has. According to the novel, people are treated not only simple people who have nothing, but also nobles who live not for themselves, but for others. But the people in the novel are contrasted with aristocrats:

1. Kuragins.
2. Visitors to the salon Anna Scherer.

From the description you can immediately determine that everything these heroes are the negative characters of the novel. Their life is soulless and mechanical, they commit artificial and lifeless actions, are incapable of compassion, and selfish. These heroes cannot change even under the influence of life.

Lev Nikolaevich portrays his positive characters in a completely different way. Their actions are guided by their hearts. These positive actors include:

1. Kutuzova.
2. Natasha Rostova.
3. Platon Karataev.
4. Alpatych.
5. Officer Timokhin.
6. Officer Tushin.
7. Pierre Bezukhov.
8. Andrey Bolkonsky.

All these heroes able to empathize, develop and change. But it was the War of 1812, the trials it brought, that makes it possible to understand which camp the characters in Tolstoy’s novel belong to.

Peter Rostov - the central character of the novel

Count Pyotr Rostov is the youngest child in the family, Natasha's brother. At the beginning of the novel, the reader sees him as just a child. So, in 1805 he was only 9 years old. And if at this age the writer only notices that he is fat, then to the description of Peter at the age of 13 is added the fact that the teenager turns out to be handsome and cheerful.

At the age of 16, Peter goes to war, although he should have gone to university, and soon becomes a real man, an officer. He is a patriot and worries about the fate of his Fatherland. Petya spoke excellent French and could feel sorry for the captive French boy. Going to war, Petya dreams of doing something heroic.

And despite the fact that his parents at first did not want to let him go to serve, and then found a place where it was safer, he still joined the active army with his friend. As soon as he was appointed assistant general, he was immediately taken prisoner. Having decided to take part in the battle with the French, helping Dolokhov, Petya dies, having been wounded in the head.

Natasha Rostova will name her only son after him, who will never be able to forget her brother, with whom she was so close.

Minor male characters

There are many minor characters in the novel War and Peace. Among them, the following heroes stand out:

1. Drubetskoy Boris.
2. Dolokhov.

Tall and blond Boris Drubetsky was brought up in the Rostov family and was in love with Natasha. His mother, Princess Drubetskaya, was a distant relative of the Rostov family. He is proud and dreams of a military career.

Having entered the guard thanks to the efforts of his mother, he also took part in the military campaign of 1805. The writer’s characterization of him is unflattering, since Boris tries to make only “useful” acquaintances. So, he is ready to spend all the money to become known as a rich man. He becomes the husband of Julie Kuragina, since she is rich.

Guard officer Dolokhov is a bright secondary character in the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Fyodor Ivanovich is 25 years old. He was born to a respectable lady, Marya Ivanovna, belonging to a poor noble family. Women liked the officer of the Semenovsky regiment because he was handsome: of average height, with curly hair and blue eyes. Dolokhov's firm voice and cold gaze harmoniously combined with his education and intelligence. Despite the fact that Dolokhov is a gambler and loves a carousing life, he is still respected in society.

Fathers of the Rostov and Bolkonsky families

General Bolkonsky has been retired for a long time. He is rich and respected in society. He performed his service during the reign of Catherine II, so Kutuzov is his good comrade. But the character of the father of the Bolkonsky family is difficult. Nikolai Andreevich happens not only strict, but also harsh. He monitors his health and values ​​order in everything.

Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov is a positive and bright hero of the novel. His wife is Anna Mikhailovna Shinshina. Ilya Andreevich is raising five children. He is rich and cheerful, kind and self-confident by nature. The old prince is very trusting and is easy to deceive.

Ilya Andreevich - man of heart, patriot. He receives wounded soldiers in his home. But he did not monitor the family’s condition at all, so he becomes the culprit of ruin. The prince dies in 1813, trying to survive the tragedies of his children.

Minor female characters

In the work of L.N. Tolstoy there are many secondary characters who allow us to understand the events that the author describes. In the work "War and Peace" female characters are represented by the following heroines:

1. Sonya Rostova.
2. Julie Kuragina.
3. Vera Rostova.

Sonya Rostova is Natasha Rostova’s second cousin, main character novel "War and Peace". Sofya Alexandrovna is an orphan and homeless. Readers first see her at the beginning of the novel. Then, in 1805, she was barely 15 years old. Sonya looked beautiful: her waist was thin and miniature, her large and thick black braid wrapped around her head twice. Even the look, soft and withdrawn, was captivating.

The older the girl got, the more beautiful she looked. And at 22, according to Tolstoy’s description, she was somewhat like a cat: smooth, flexible and soft. She was in love with Nikolenka Rostov. She even denies her love to her “brilliant” groom Dolokhov. Sonya knew how to read skillfully in front of different audiences. She usually read in a thin voice and very diligently.

But Nikolai chose to marry Marya Bolkonskaya. And the thrifty and patient Sonya, who managed the household so skillfully, remained to live in the house of the young Rostov family, helping them. At the end of the novel, the writer shows her at the age of 30, but she is also not married, but is busy with the Rostov children and caring for the sick princess.

Julie Kuragina is a minor heroine of the novel. It is known that after the death of her brothers in the war, remaining with her mother, the girl becomes a rich heiress. At the beginning of the novel, Julie is already 20 years old and the reader learns that she is from a decent noble family. She was raised by virtuous parents, and in general Julie had known the Rostov family since childhood.

Julie had no special external characteristics. The girl was chubby and ugly. But she dressed fashionably and tried to always smile. Because of her red face, badly powdered, and wet eyes, no one wanted to marry her. Julie is a little naive and very stupid. She tries not to miss a single ball or theater performance.

By the way, Countess Rostova dreamed of marrying Nikolai favorably to Julie. But for the sake of money, Boris Drubetskoy marries her, who hates Julie and hopes to see her very rarely after the wedding.

Another minor female character in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace is Vera Rostova. This is the eldest and unloved daughter of Princess Rostova. After marriage she became Vera Berg. At the beginning of the novel, she was 20 years old, and the girl was four years older than her sister Natasha. Vera is a beautiful, intelligent, well-mannered and educated girl with a pleasant voice. Both Natasha and Nikolai thought that she was too correct and somehow insensitive, as if she had no heart at all.

In the novel “War and Peace,” Leo Tolstoy conveyed the author’s vision of morals, the state of thoughts and worldview of the advanced stratum of Russian society at the beginning of the 19th century. Problems of the state arise as a result of great world events and become the concern of every conscious citizen. The main characters of the novel “War and Peace” are representatives of influential families at the emperor’s court.

Andrey Bolkonsky

The image of a Russian patriot who died in the fight against the French occupiers. He is not attracted to a quiet family life, social receptions and balls. The officer takes part in every military campaign of Alexander I. The husband of Kutuzov's niece, he becomes the adjutant of the famous general.

In the Battle of Schoenberg, a soldier rises to attack, carrying a fallen banner, like a real hero. In the Battle of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky is wounded and captured, freed by Napoleon. In the Battle of Borodino, a shell fragment hits a brave warrior in the stomach. The ladle died in agony in the arms of his beloved girl.

Tolstoy showed a man life priorities which are national duty, military valor and the honor of the uniform. Representatives of the Russian aristocracy have always been bearers of the moral values ​​of monarchical power.

Natasha Rostova

The young countess grew up in luxury, surrounded by parental care. A noble upbringing and excellent education could provide a girl with a profitable match and a cheerful life in high society. The war changed the carefree Natasha, who suffered the loss of dear people.

Having married Pierre Bezukhov, she became a mother of many children, finding peace in family concerns. Leo Tolstoy created a positive image of the Russian noblewoman, patriot and keeper of the hearth. The author is critical of the fact that after giving birth to four children, Natasha stopped taking care of herself. The author wants to see a woman unfading, fresh and well-groomed throughout her life.

Maria Bolkonskaya

The princess was raised by her father, Potemkin’s contemporary and friend of Kutuzov, Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky. The old general attached importance to education, especially the study of technical sciences. The girl knew geometry and algebra and spent many hours reading books.

The father was strict and biased, he tormented his daughter with lessons, this is how he demonstrated his love and care. Marya sacrificed her youth to her parent's old age and was with him until his last days. She replaced the mother of her nephew Nikolenka, trying to surround him with parental tenderness.

Maria met her fate during the war in the person of her savior Nikolai Rostov. Their relationship developed for a long time, both did not dare to take the first step. The gentleman was younger than his lady, this embarrassed the girl. The princess had a large inheritance from the Bolkonskys, which stopped the guy. They made a good family.

Pierre Bezukhov

The young man was educated abroad and was allowed to return to Russia at the age of twenty. High society accepted young man wary, because he was the illegitimate son of a noble nobleman. However, before his death, the father asked the king to recognize Pierre as the legal heir.

In an instant, Bezukhov became a count and the owner of a huge fortune. The inexperienced, slow and gullible Pierre was used in selfish intrigues; he was quickly married to his daughter by Prince Vasily Kuragin. The hero had to go through the pain of betrayal, humiliation of his wife's lovers, a duel, Freemasonry and drunkenness.

The war cleansed the count’s soul, saved him from empty mental ordeals, and radically changed his worldview. Having gone through fire, captivity and the loss of dear people, Bezukhov found the meaning of life in family values, in the ideas of new post-war political reforms.

Illarion Mikhailovich Kutuzov

Kutuzov's personality is a key figure in the events of 1812, because he commanded the army defending Moscow. Leo Tolstoy in the novel “Vona and Peace” presented his vision of the general’s character, his assessment of his actions and decisions.

The commander looks like a kind, fat old man who, with his experience and knowledge of conducting large battles, is trying to lead Russia out of a difficult retreat situation. The Battle of Borodino and the surrender of Moscow was a cunning military combination that led to victory over the French army.

The author described the famous Kutuzov as ordinary person, a slave to his weaknesses, who has experience and wisdom accumulated over many years of life. The general is an example of an army commander who takes care of the soldiers, worries about their uniforms, food and sleep.

Leo Tolstoy tried to convey through the image of the main characters of the novel difficult fate representatives of Russian high society who survived the European military storm early XIX century. Then a generation of Decembrists was formed, who would lay the foundation for new reforms, the result of which would be the abolition of serfdom.

The main feature that unites all the heroes is patriotism, love for the Motherland, and respect for parents.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his epic novel “War and Peace” provided broad system images His world is not limited to a few noble families: real historical characters are mixed with fictional ones, major and minor. This symbiosis is sometimes so confusing and unusual that it is extremely difficult to determine which heroes perform a more or less important function.

The novel features representatives of eight noble families, almost all of them occupy a central place in the narrative.

Rostov family

This family is represented by Count Ilya Andreevich, his wife Natalya, their four children together and their pupil Sonya.

The head of the family, Ilya Andreevich, is a sweet and good-natured person. He has always been wealthy, so he does not know how to save; he is often deceived by friends and relatives for selfish purposes. The Count is not a selfish person, he is ready to help everyone. Over time, his attitude, reinforced by his addiction to card games, became disastrous for his entire family. Due to the father's squandering, the family has been on the brink of poverty for a long time. The Count dies at the end of the novel, after the wedding of Natalia and Pierre, a natural death.

Countess Natalya is very similar to her husband. She, like him, is alien to the concept of self-interest and the race for money. She is ready to help people who find themselves in difficult situations; she is filled with feelings of patriotism. The Countess had to endure many sorrows and troubles. This state of affairs is associated not only with unexpected poverty, but also with the death of their children. Of the thirteen born, only four survived, and subsequently the war took another one - the youngest.

Count and Countess Rostov, like most of the characters in the novel, have their own prototypes. They were the writer’s grandfather and grandmother – Ilya Andreevich and Pelageya Nikolaevna.

The Rostovs' eldest child's name is Vera. This is an unusual girl, unlike all the other family members. She is rude and callous at heart. This attitude applies not only to strangers, but also to close relatives. The rest of the Rostov children subsequently make fun of her and even come up with a nickname for her. The prototype of Vera was Elizaveta Bers, daughter-in-law of L. Tolstoy.

The next oldest child is Nikolai. His image is depicted in the novel with love. Nikolai is a noble man. He approaches any activity responsibly. Tries to be guided by the principles of morality and honor. Nikolai is very similar to his parents - kind, sweet, purposeful. After the disaster he experienced, he was constantly concerned about not being in a similar situation again. Nikolai takes part in military events, he is repeatedly awarded, but still he leaves military service after the war with Napoleon - his family needs him.

Nikolai marries Maria Bolkonskaya, they have three children - Andrei, Natasha, Mitya - and a fourth is expected.

The younger sister of Nikolai and Vera, Natalya, is the same in character and temperament as her parents. She is sincere and trusting, and this almost destroys her - Fyodor Dolokhov fools the girl and persuades her to escape. These plans were not destined to come true, but Natalya's engagement to Andrei Bolkonsky was terminated, and Natalya fell into deep depression. Subsequently, she became the wife of Pierre Bezukhov. The woman stopped watching her figure; those around her began to speak of her as an unpleasant woman. The prototypes of Natalya were Tolstoy’s wife, Sofya Andreevna, and her sister, Tatyana Andreevna.

Youngest child Rostov was Petya. He was the same as all the Rostovs: noble, honest and kind. All these qualities were enhanced by youthful maximalism. Petya was a sweet eccentric to whom all pranks were forgiven. Fate was extremely unfavorable for Petya - he, like his brother, went to the front and died there very young and young.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the summary of the second part of the first volume of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”.

Another child was raised in the Rostov family - Sonya. The girl was related to the Rostovs; after the death of her parents, they took her in and treated her like their own child. Sonya was in love with Nikolai Rostov for a long time; this fact did not allow her to get married on time.

Presumably she remained alone until the end of her days. Its prototype was L. Tolstoy’s aunt, Tatyana Alexandrovna, in whose house the writer was brought up after the death of his parents.

We meet all the Rostovs at the very beginning of the novel - they all actively act throughout the entire narrative. In the “Epilogue” we learn about the further continuation of their family.

Bezukhov family

The Bezukhov family is not represented in such a large number as the Rostov family. The head of the family is Kirill Vladimirovich. The name of his wife is not known. We know that she belonged to the Kuragin family, but it is unclear who exactly she was to them. Count Bezukhov has no children born in marriage - all his children are illegitimate. The eldest of them, Pierre, was officially named by his father as heir to the estate.

After such a statement by the count, the image of Pierre Bezukhov begins to actively appear in the public sphere. Pierre himself does not impose his company on others, but he is a prominent groom - the heir to unimaginable wealth, so they want to see him always and everywhere. Nothing is known about Pierre's mother, but this does not become a reason for indignation and ridicule. Pierre received a decent education abroad and returned home full of utopian ideas, his vision of the world is too idealistic and divorced from reality, so all the time he faces unimaginable disappointments - in social activities, personal life, family harmony. His first wife was Elena Kuragina, a minx and a fidgety woman. This marriage brought a lot of suffering to Pierre. The death of his wife saved him from the unbearable - he did not have the power to leave Elena or change her, but he also could not come to terms with such an attitude towards his person. The second marriage - with Natasha Rostova - became more successful. They had four children - three girls and a boy.

Princes Kuragin

The Kuragin family is persistently associated with greed, debauchery and deceit. The reason for this was the children of Vasily Sergeevich and Alina - Anatol and Elena.

Prince Vasily was not a bad person, he had a number of positive qualities, but his desire for enrichment and gentleness of character towards his son brought all the positive aspects to naught.

Like any father, Prince Vasily wanted to provide a comfortable future for his children; one of the options was an advantageous marriage. This position is not only in the best possible way affected the reputation of the entire family, but also later played a tragic role in the lives of Elena and Anatole.

Little is known about Princess Alina. At the time of the story, she was a rather ugly woman. Her distinguishing feature was her hostility towards her daughter Elena out of envy.

Vasily Sergeevich and Princess Alina had two sons and a daughter.

Anatole became the cause of all the family’s troubles. He led the life of a spendthrift and a rake - debts and rowdy behavior were a natural pastime for him. This behavior left an extremely negative imprint on the family’s reputation and financial situation.

Anatole was noticed to be amorously attracted to his sister Elena. The possibility of a serious relationship between brother and sister was suppressed by Prince Vasily, but, apparently, it still took place after Elena’s marriage.

The Kuragins' daughter Elena had incredible beauty, like her brother Anatoly. She skillfully flirted and after marriage had affairs with many men, ignoring her husband Pierre Bezukhov.

Their brother Hippolytus was completely different from them in appearance - he was extremely unpleasant in appearance. In terms of the composition of his mind, he was not much different from his brother and sister. He was too stupid - this was noted not only by those around him, but also by his father. Still, Hippolytus was not hopeless - he knew well foreign languages and worked at the embassy.

Princes Bolkonsky

The Bolkonsky family occupies far from the last place in society - they are rich and influential.
The family includes Prince Nikolai Andreevich, a man of the old school and unique morals. He is quite rude in his interactions with his family, but still not devoid of sensuality and tenderness - he is kind to his grandson and daughter, in a peculiar way, but still, he loves his son, but he is not very good at showing the sincerity of his feelings.

Nothing is known about the prince's wife; even her name is not mentioned in the text. The Bolkonskys’ marriage produced two children – son Andrei and daughter Marya.

Andrei Bolkonsky is somewhat similar in character to his father - he is hot-tempered, proud and a little rude. He is distinguished by his attractive appearance and natural charm. At the beginning of the novel, Andrei is successfully married to Lisa Meinen - the couple gives birth to a son, Nikolenka, but his mother dies the night after giving birth.

After some time, Andrei becomes Natalya Rostova’s fiancé, but there was no need to have a wedding - Anatol Kuragin translated all the plans, which earned him personal hostility and exceptional hatred from Andrei.

Prince Andrei takes part in the military events of 1812, is seriously wounded on the battlefield and dies in the hospital.

Maria Bolkonskaya - Andrei's sister - is deprived of such pride and stubbornness as her brother, which allows her, not without difficulty, but still to get along with her father, who is not distinguished by an easy-going character. Kind and meek, she understands that she is not indifferent to her father, so she does not hold a grudge against him for his nagging and rudeness. The girl is raising her nephew. Outwardly, Marya does not look like her brother - she is very ugly, but this does not prevent her from marrying Nikolai Rostov and living happy life.

Lisa Bolkonskaya (Meinen) was the wife of Prince Andrei. She was attractive woman. Her inner world was not inferior to her appearance - she was sweet and pleasant, she loved to do needlework. Unfortunately, her fate did not work out in the best way - childbirth turned out to be too difficult for her - she dies, giving life to her son Nikolenka.

Nikolenka lost his mother early, but the boy’s troubles did not stop there - at the age of 7 he lost his father. Despite everything, he is characterized by the cheerfulness inherent in all children - he grows up as an intelligent and inquisitive boy. The image of his father becomes key for him - Nikolenka wants to live in such a way that his father can be proud of him.

Mademoiselle Burien also belongs to the Bolkonsky family. Despite the fact that she is just a hangout companion, her importance in the context of the family is quite significant. First of all, it consists of pseudo friendship with Princess Maria. Mademoiselle often acts meanly towards Maria and takes advantage of the girl’s favor towards her person.

Karagin family

Tolstoy does not talk much about the Karagin family - the reader gets acquainted with only two representatives of this family - Marya Lvovna and her daughter Julie.

Marya Lvovna first appears before readers in the first volume of the novel, and her daughter also begins to act in the first volume of the first part of War and Peace. Julie has an extremely unpleasant appearance, she is in love with Nikolai Rostov, but the young man does not pay any attention to her. Her enormous wealth does not help the situation either. Boris Drubetskoy actively draws attention to her material component; the girl understands that the young man is being nice to her only because of money, but does not show it - for her, this is actually the only way not to remain an old maid.

Princes Drubetsky

The Drubetsky family is not particularly active in the public sphere, so Tolstoy avoids a detailed description of the family members and focuses readers’ attention only on the active characters - Anna Mikhailovna and her son Boris.

Princess Drubetskaya belongs to an old family, but now her family is going through difficult times. better times– Poverty became the Drubetskys’ constant companion. This state of affairs gave rise to a sense of prudence and self-interest in the representatives of this family. Anna Mikhailovna tries to benefit as much as possible from her friendship with the Rostovs - she lives with them for a long time.

Her son, Boris, was Nikolai Rostov's friend for some time. As they grew older, their views on life values ​​and principles began to differ greatly, which led to distance in communication.

Boris begins to show more and more selfishness and the desire to get rich at any cost. He is ready to marry for money and successfully does so, taking advantage of the unenviable position of Julie Karagina

Dolokhov family

Representatives of the Dolokhov family are also not all active in society. Fedor stands out brightly among everyone. He is the son of Marya Ivanovna and best friend Anatoly Kuragin. In his behavior, he also did not go far from his friend: carousing and an idle way of life are a common occurrence for him. In addition, he is famous for his love affair with Pierre Bezukhov’s wife, Elena. Distinctive feature What separates Dolokhov from Kuragin is his affection for his mother and sister.

Historical figures in the novel "War and Peace"

Since Tolstoy’s novel takes place against the backdrop of historical events associated with the war against Napoleon in 1812, it is impossible to do without at least partial mention of real-life characters.

Alexander I

The activities of Emperor Alexander I are most actively described in the novel. This is not surprising, because the main events take place on the territory of the Russian Empire. First we learn about the positive and liberal aspirations of the emperor, he is an “angel in the flesh.” The peak of its popularity falls during the period of Napoleon's defeat in the war. It was at this time that Alexander’s authority reached incredible heights. The Emperor could easily make changes and improve the lives of his subjects, but he doesn't. As a result, such an attitude and inactivity become the reason for the emergence of the Decembrist movement.

Napoleon I Bonaparte

On the other side of the barricade in the events of 1812 is Napoleon. Since many Russian aristocrats received their education abroad, and French was an everyday language for them, the attitude of the nobles towards this character at the beginning of the novel was positive and bordered on admiration. Then disappointment occurs - their idol from the category of ideals becomes the main villain. Connotations such as egocentrism, lies, and pretense are actively used with the image of Napoleon.

Mikhail Speransky

This character is important not only in Tolstoy's novel, but also during the real era of Emperor Alexander.

His family could not boast of antiquity and significance - he is the son of a priest, but still he managed to become the secretary of Alexander I. He is not a particularly pleasant person, but everyone notes his importance in the context of events in the country.

In addition, the novel features historical characters of lesser importance than the emperors. These are the great commanders Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail Kutuzov and Pyotr Bagration. Their activities and the revelation of the image take place on the battlefield - Tolstoy tries to describe the military part of the story as realistically and captivating as possible, therefore these characters are described not only as great and unsurpassed, but also in the role ordinary people who are subject to doubts, mistakes and negative character traits.

Other characters

Among the other characters, the name of Anna Scherer should be highlighted. She is the “owner” of a secular salon - the elite of society meet here. Guests are rarely left to their own devices. Anna Mikhailovna always strives to provide her visitors with interesting interlocutors; she often pimps - this arouses her special interest.

Adolf Berg, the husband of Vera Rostova, is important in the novel. He is an ardent careerist and selfish. He and his wife are brought together by their temperament and attitude towards family life.

Another significant character is Platon Karataev. Despite his ignoble origins, his role in the novel is extremely important. Possession of folk wisdom and understanding of the principles of happiness gives him the opportunity to influence the formation of Pierre Bezukhov.

Thus, both fictional and real-life characters are active in the novel. Tolstoy does not burden readers with unnecessary information about the genealogy of families; he actively talks only about those representatives who actively act within the framework of the novel.

In his novel, Tolstoy portrayed a number of heroes. It is not for nothing that the author presented detailed characteristics characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which entire noble families represent to the reader a reflection of the people who lived during the war with Napoleon. In "War and Peace" we see the Russian spirit, features historical events, characteristic of the period of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. The greatness of the Russian soul is shown against the background of these events.

If you make a list of characters ("War and Peace"), you will only get about 550-600 heroes. However, they are not all equally important to the narrative. "War and Peace" is a novel whose characters can be divided into three main groups: main, minor characters and simply mentioned in the text. Among them there are both fictional and historical figures, as well as heroes who have prototypes among the writer’s environment. This article will introduce the main characters. "War and Peace" is a work in which the Rostov family is described in detail. So let's start with it.

Ilya Andreevich Rostov

This is a count who had four children: Petya, Nikolai, Vera and Natasha. Ilya Andreevich is a very generous and kind-hearted person who loved life. As a result, his excessive generosity led to wastefulness. Rostov - loving father and husband He is a good organizer of receptions and balls. But living in grand style, as well as selfless assistance to wounded soldiers and the departure of Russians from Moscow dealt fatal blows to his condition. Ilya Andreevich’s conscience constantly tormented him because of the approaching poverty of his relatives, but he could not help himself. After Petya's death, youngest son, the count turned out to be broken, but perked up, preparing the wedding of Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha. Count Rostov dies a few months after these characters get married. “War and Peace” (Tolstoy) is a work in which the prototype of this hero is Ilya Andreevich, Tolstoy’s grandfather.

Natalya Rostova (wife of Ilya Andreevich)

This 45-year-old woman, the wife of Rostov and the mother of four children, had some oriental. Those around her regarded the focus of sedateness and slowness in her as solidity, as well as her high significance for the family. However the real reason These manners lie in a weak and exhausted physical condition due to childbirth and the energy devoted to raising children. Natalya loves her family and children very much, so she was almost driven crazy by the news of Petya’s death. Countess Rostova, like Ilya Andreevich, loved luxury and demanded that everyone follow her orders. In her you can find the features of Tolstoy’s grandmother, Pelageya Nikolaevna.

Nikolay Rostov

This hero is the son of Ilya Andreevich. He is a loving son and brother, respects his family, but at the same time faithfully serves in the army, which is a very important and significant feature in his characterization. He often saw even his fellow soldiers as a second family. Although Nikolai was in love for a long time with Sonya, his cousin, he still marries Marya Bolkonskaya at the end of the novel. Nikolai Rostov is a very energetic man, with open and curly hair. His love for the Russian emperor and patriotism never dried up. Having gone through the hardships of the war, Nikolai becomes a brave and courageous hussar. He retires after the death of Ilya Andreevich in order to improve financial situation of the family, pay off debts and finally become good husband for your wife. Tolstoy sees this hero as a prototype of his own father. As you have probably already noticed, the presence of prototypes in many heroes characterizes the character system. "War and Peace" is a work in which the morals of the nobility are presented through the features of the family of Tolstoy, who was a count.

Natasha Rostova

This is the Rostovs' daughter. A very emotional and energetic girl who was considered ugly, but attractive and lively. Natasha is not very smart, but at the same time she is intuitive, as she could “guess people” well, their character traits and mood. This heroine is very impetuous and prone to self-sacrifice. She dances and sings beautifully, which was an important characteristic of a girl belonging to secular society at that time. Leo Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes Natasha's main quality - closeness to the Russian people. It absorbed nations and Russian culture. Natasha lives in an atmosphere of love, happiness and kindness, but after a while the girl is faced with a harsh reality. Blows of fate, as well as heartfelt experiences, make this heroine an adult and ultimately give her true love for her husband, Pierre Bezukhov. The story of the rebirth of Natasha’s soul deserves special respect. She began attending church after becoming the victim of a deceitful seducer. Natasha is a collective image, the prototype of which was Tolstoy’s daughter-in-law, Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya, as well as her sister (the author’s wife) Sofya Andreevna.

Vera Rostova

This heroine is the daughter of the Rostovs ("War and Peace"). The character portraits created by the author are distinguished by their diversity of characters. Vera, for example, was famous for her strict disposition, as well as for the inappropriate, although fair, remarks she made in society. Her mother, for some unknown reason, did not love her very much, and Vera felt this acutely, and therefore often went against everyone. This girl later became the wife of Boris Drubetsky. The prototype of the heroine is Lev Nikolaevich (Elizabeth Bers).

Peter Rostov

The Rostovs' son, still just a boy. Petya, growing up, was eager to go to war as a young man, and his parents could not stop him. He escaped from their tutelage and joined Denisov’s regiment. In the very first battle, Petya dies before he has even had time to fight. The death of their beloved son greatly devastated the family.

Sonya

With this heroine we finish the description of the characters ("War and Peace") belonging to the Rostov family. Sonya, a nice miniature girl, was Ilya Andreevich’s own niece and lived her whole life under his roof. Love for Nikolai became fatal for her, since she failed to marry him. Natalya Rostova, the old countess, was against this marriage, since the lovers were cousins. Sonya acted nobly, refusing Dolokhov and deciding to love only Nikolai all her life, freeing him from the promise given to her. She spends the rest of her life in the care of Nikolai Rostov, under the old countess.

The prototype of this heroine is Tatyana Aleksandrovna Ergolskaya, the writer’s second cousin.

Not only the Rostovs in the work are the main characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which the Bolkonsky family also plays a large role.

Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky

This is the father of Andrei Bolkonsky, general-in-chief in the past, in the present - a prince who has earned a nickname in Russian secular society"Prussian king" He is socially active, strict like a father, pedantic, and a wise owner of the estate. Outwardly, he is a thin old man with thick eyebrows that hang over intelligent and penetrating eyes, wearing a powdered white wig. Nikolai Andreevich does not like to show his feelings even to his beloved daughter and son. He torments Marya with constant nagging. Prince Nicholas, sitting on his estate, follows the events taking place in the country, and only before his death he loses the idea of ​​the scale of the Russian war with Napoleon. Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, the writer’s grandfather, was the prototype of this prince.

Andrey Bolkonsky

This is the son of Nikolai Andreevich. He is ambitious, like his father, and is restrained in expressing his feelings, but he loves his sister and father very much. Andrei is married to Lisa, the “little princess.” He had a successful military career. Andrey philosophizes a lot about the meaning of life, the state of his spirit. He is in constant search. In Natasha Rostova, after the death of his wife, he found hope for himself, because he saw a real girl, and not a fake one, as in secular society, and that’s why he fell in love with her. Having proposed to this heroine, he was forced to go abroad for treatment, which became a test of their feelings. The wedding ended up being cancelled. Andrei went to war with Napoleon, where he was seriously wounded and died as a result. Until the end of his days, Natasha devotedly looked after him.

Marya Bolkonskaya

This is Andrei's sister, daughter of Prince Nikolai. She is very meek, ugly, but kind-hearted and also very rich. Her devotion to religion serves as an example of meekness and kindness to many. Marya unforgettably loves her father, who often pesters her with his reproaches and ridicule. This girl also loves her brother. She did not immediately accept Natasha as her future daughter-in-law, since she seemed too frivolous for Andrei. After all the hardships, Marya marries Nikolai Rostov.

Its prototype is Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, Tolstoy’s mother.

Pierre Bezukhov (Peter Kirillovich)

The main characters of the novel "War and Peace" would not be fully listed if Pierre Bezukhov were not mentioned. This hero plays one of the most important roles in the work. He has experienced a lot of pain and mental trauma, and has a noble and kind disposition. Lev Nikolaevich himself loves Pierre very much. Bezukhov, as a friend of Andrei Bolkonsky, is very responsive and devoted. Despite the intrigues weaving under his nose, Pierre did not lose trust in people and did not become embittered. By marrying Natasha, he finally found the happiness and grace that he lacked with his first wife, Helen. At the end of the work, his desire to change the political foundations in Russia is noticeable; one can even guess from afar Pierre’s Decembrist sentiments.

These are the main characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which a large role is given to such historical figures as Kutuzov and Napoleon, as well as some other commanders-in-chief. Others are presented social groups, except for the nobility (merchants, burghers, peasantry, army). The list of characters ("War and Peace") is quite impressive. However, our task is to consider only the main characters.