Reflection on family values ​​(based on L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”)

Family is one of the greatest values ​​in the life of every person. Family members value each other and see in loved ones the joy of life, support, and hope for the future. This is provided that the family has the correct moral principles and concepts. The material values ​​of a family are accumulated over the years, but the spiritual ones, reflecting the emotional world of people, are associated with their heredity, upbringing, and environment.

In the novel L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" in the center of the story are three families - the Kuragins, the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs.

In each family, the tone is set by the head of the family, and he passes on to his children not only character traits, but also his moral essence, life commandments, concepts of values ​​- those that reflect the aspirations, inclinations, goals of both older and younger family members.

The Kuragin family is one of the well-known in the highest circles of St. Petersburg. Prince Vasily Kuragin, an insincere and narrow-minded man, nevertheless managed to build the most advantageous position for his son and daughter: for Anatoly - a successful career, for Helen - a marriage with one of the richest people in Russia.

When the soulless handsome Anatole talks with the old Prince Bolkonsky, he can hardly restrain himself from laughing. Both the prince himself and the old man’s words that he, young Kuragin, must serve “the Tsar and the Fatherland” seem “eccentric” to him. It turns out that the regiment to which Anatole is “assigned” has already set out, and Anatole will not be “in action,” which does not bother the secular rake at all. “What do I have to do with it, dad?” - he cynically asks his father, and this arouses the anger and contempt of old Bolkonsky, a retired general-in-chief, a man of duty and honor.

Helene is the wife of the smartest, but extremely naive and kind Pierre Bezukhov. When Pierre's father dies, Prince Vasily, the elder Kuragin, builds a dishonest and vile plan, according to which the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov might not receive either an inheritance or a count's title. However, Prince Vasily’s intrigue failed, and he, with his pressure, cynicism and cunning, almost by force unites the good Pierre and his daughter Helen in marriage. Pierre is struck by the fact that in the eyes of the world Helene was very smart, but only he knew how stupid, vulgar and depraved she was.

Both the father and the young Kuragins are predators. One of their family values ​​is the ability to invade someone else's life and break it for the sake of their selfish interests.

Material benefits, the ability to appear but not be - these are their priorities. But the law comes into play, according to which “... there is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” Life takes terrible revenge on them: on Borodin’s field, Anatoly’s leg is amputated (he still had to “serve”); Helen Bezukhova dies early, in the prime of her youth and beauty.

The Bolkonsky family is from a noble, most famous family in Russia, rich and influential. Old Bolkonsky, a man of honor, saw one of the most important family values ​​in the extent to which his son would fulfill one of the main commandments - to be, and not to appear; correspond to family status; do not exchange life for immoral actions and base goals.

And Andrei, a purely military man, does not stay as the adjutant of “his Serene Highness,” Kutuzov, since this is a “lackey position.” He is at the forefront, in the center of the battles of Shengraben, in the events of Austerlitz, on the Borodin field. Uncompromisingness and even rigidity of character make Prince Andrei a person extremely difficult for those around him. He does not forgive people for their weaknesses, as he is demanding of himself. But gradually, over the years, wisdom and other life assessments come to Bolkonsky. In the first war with Napoleon, he, being famous person at Kutuzov’s headquarters, he could cordially meet the unknown Drubetsky, who was seeking the patronage of influential people. At the same time, Andrei could afford to treat the request of a military general, an honored man, carelessly and even with contempt.

In the events of 1812, young Bolkonsky, who suffered a lot and understood a lot in life, serves in the active army. He, the colonel, is the commander of the regiment both in thoughts and in the way he acts together with his subordinates. He takes part in the inglorious and bloody battle near Smolensk, walks a difficult road of retreat and in the battle of Borodino receives a wound that becomes fatal. It should be noted that at the beginning of the 1812 campaign, Bolkonsky “lost himself forever in the court world, not asking to remain with the sovereign, but asking permission to serve in the army.”

The kind spirit of the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya, who, with her patience and forgiveness, concentrates in herself the idea of ​​love and kindness.

The Rostov family are L.N.’s favorite heroes. Tolstoy, which embody the features of the Russian national character.

The old Count Rostov with his extravagance and generosity, the addicted Natasha with a constant readiness to love and be loved, Nikolai, who sacrifices the well-being of the family, defending the honor of Denisov and Sonya - they all make mistakes that cost them and their loved ones dearly.

But they are always faithful to “good and truth”, they are honest, they live with the joys and misfortunes of their people. These are the highest values ​​for the whole family.

Young Petya Rostov was killed in the first battle without firing a single shot; at first glance, his death is absurd and accidental. But the meaning of this fact is that the young man does not spare his life in the name of the Tsar and the Fatherland in the highest and heroic sense of these words.

The Rostovs are completely ruined, leaving their property in Moscow, captured by enemies. Natasha passionately argues that saving the unfortunate wounded is much more important than saving material values families.

The old count is proud of his daughter, the impulse of her beautiful, bright soul.

On last pages in the novel Pierre, Nikolai, Natasha, Marya are happy in the families they have built; they love and are loved, they stand firmly on the ground and enjoy life.

In conclusion, we can say that the highest family values ​​for Tolstoy’s favorite heroes are the purity of their thoughts, high morality, and love for the world.

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The novel “War and Peace” very clearly emphasizes the huge role of the family in the development of the individual and society as a whole. The fate of a person largely depends on the environment in which he grew up, because he himself will then build his life, following the attitudes, traditions and moral standards adopted in his family.
War and Peace focuses on three families, completely different in the nature of the relationships between people within each of them. These are the Rostov, Bolkonsky and Kuragin families. Using their example, Tolstoy shows how strongly the mentality developed during growing up influences how people build their relationships with others and what goals and objectives they set for themselves.

The first to appear before the readers is the Kuragin family. The nature of the relationship that has developed in it is typical for secular society- coldness and alienation from each other reigns in their home. The mother experiences jealousy and envy of her daughter; the father welcomes his children's arranged marriages. The whole atmosphere is permeated with falsehood and pretense. Instead of faces there are masks. The writer in this case shows the family as it should not be. Their spiritual callousness, meanness of soul, selfishness, insignificance of desires are branded by Tolstoy in the words of Pierre: “Where you are, there is depravity, evil.”

Relationships in the Rostov house are structured completely differently - here sincerity and love of life are manifested in every family member. Only eldest daughter, Vera, with her cold and arrogant demeanor, isolates herself from the rest of the family, as if wanting to prove to herself and those around her her own superiority.

But she is nothing more than an unpleasant exception to the general situation. The father, Count Ilya Andreevich, radiates warmth and cordiality and, when meeting guests, greets and bows to everyone equally, not paying attention to rank and title, which already very much distinguishes him from representatives of high society. Mother, Natalya Rostova, “woman with oriental type thin face, about forty-five,” enjoys the trust of her children, they try to tell her about their experiences and doubts. The presence of mutual understanding between parents and children is a distinctive feature of this family.

Having grown up in such an atmosphere, Natasha, Nikolai and Petya sincerely and openly show their feelings, not considering it necessary to hide themselves under an artificial mask, they have an ardent and at the same time soft and kind disposition.

Thanks to these qualities, Natasha made a huge impression on Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who saw her for the first time at a time when he was in a state of mental devastation and loss of strength. He did not feel the desire to live further and did not see the meaning in his existence, but she was distinguished by the fact that she did not occupy herself with the search for her higher purpose, and simply lived on the wave of her own feelings, radiating the warmth and love of life that Prince Andrei so lacked.

The main distinguishing feature of the Bolkonsky family was their proud, unbending disposition. Self-esteem is heightened in all members of this family, although this manifests itself differently in each person. A lot of attention was paid here to intellectual development. The old prince, Nikolai Bolkonsky, had a great passion for order. His whole day was scheduled minute by minute, and “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 for himself, which the most cruel person could not easily achieve "

The old prince raised his children in severity and restraint, which taught his children to also be restrained in expressing their feelings. However, this coldness was external, and the father’s enormous love still made itself felt. “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei,” he says to his son, seeing him off to war, “If they kill you, it will hurt me, an old man.” It was thanks to this upbringing that Prince Andrei was able to feel sincere love for Natasha, but the habit of being restrained and a mocking attitude towards emotional fervor made him doubt the sincerity of her love and agree to his father’s demand to postpone the wedding for a year.

The innocence and breadth of soul characteristic of the Rostov family, in which there was something childish and naive, gave these people, on the one hand, extraordinary strength, and on the other hand made them vulnerable in the face of other people's deceit and lies. Natasha failed to recognize the vile motives of Anatoly Kuragin, who was courting her, and the cold cynicism of his sister Helen, thereby exposing herself to the danger of shame and death.

Bolkonsky was unable to forgive Natasha for her betrayal, regarding her actions as a manifestation of depravity and hypocrisy, which he was most afraid of discovering in her. “I said that a fallen woman must be forgiven, but I did not say that I can forgive.”

But the strength of her soul did not allow her to be disappointed in people. Natasha remained just as sincere and open, which attracted the love of Pierre to her, who experienced a feeling of enormous elation after an explanation with her, realizing that all the actions of this girl were dictated by her open, tender heart. “All the people seemed so pitiful, so poor in comparison with the feeling of tenderness and love that he experienced; in comparison with the softened, grateful look with which she looked at him the last time because of her tears.”

Natasha and Pierre were united by a sincere love for life without artificial embellishments, embodied in the family they created. Marriage to Natasha helped Pierre find inner peace after a painful search for the purpose of his existence. “After seven years of marriage, Pierre felt a joyful, firm consciousness that he was not bad person, and he felt this because he saw himself reflected in his wife.”

We find the same feeling of harmony in the family of Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya. They successfully complement each other: in this union, Nikolai plays the role of the economic head of the family, reliable and faithful, while Countess Marya is the spiritual core of this family. “If Nikolai could be aware of his feeling, he would have found that the main basis of his firm, tender and proud love for his wife was always based on this feeling of surprise at her sincerity, at that sublime, moral world, almost inaccessible to Nikolai, in where his wife always lived."

It seems to me that the author wanted to show how fruitful the atmosphere reigns in houses like those of Natasha and Pierre and Marya and Nikolai, in which wonderful children will grow up, on whom the future development of Russian society will depend. This is why Tolstoy attaches such great importance to the family as the fundamental unit social progress– the correct moral principles and principles inherited from their ancestors will help younger generations build a strong and powerful state.

Babkina Ekaterina

CREATIVE PROJECT

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Students 10 B class of Yesenin gymnasium No. 69 Babkina Ekaterina CREATIVE PROJECT on the topic: “Family thought in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace”

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy great writer-philosopher. In his works he raises a lot of important moral and personal issues that remain relevant to this day. The pinnacle of his creativity was the epic novel War and Peace. Many pages of this novel are devoted family theme one of the writer's favorites. Lev Nikolaevich shows his views on the relationships of close people, on the family structure using the example of several families: the Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Kuragins, Bergs, and in the epilogue also the Bezukhov (Pierre and Natasha) and Rostov families (Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya). These families are very different, each is unique, but without the common, most necessary basis of family existence - loving unity between people - a true family, according to Tolstoy, is impossible. Comparing Various types family relationships, the author shows what a family should be like, what true family values ​​are and how they influence the formation of personality. Introduction

Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov Countess Natalya Rostova is the wife of Ilya Rostov. Count Nikolai Ilyich Rostov (Nicolas) is the eldest son of Ilya and Natalya Rostov. Vera Ilyinichna Rostova is the eldest daughter of Ilya and Natalya Rostov. Count Pyotr Ilyich Rostov (Petya) is the youngest son of Ilya and Natalya Rostov. Natasha Rostova (Natalie) is the youngest daughter of Ilya and Natalya Rostov, married Countess Bezukhova, Pierre's second wife. Sonya (Sophie) is the niece of Count Rostov, brought up in the count's family. Andryusha Rostov is the son of Nikolai Rostov. Rostov family

The Rostov family The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole. The invisible core of their family is spiritual life. These people are warm-hearted and simple, there is something childish in them all. The pride of the Bolkonskys is alien to them; they are natural in all their emotional movements and, like no one else, they know how to enjoy life. The Rostovs can never restrain their emotions: they constantly cry and laugh, forgetting about decency and etiquette. In general, the brightest and most sincerely lyrical scenes of the novel are associated with the Rostovs. Holidays and balls are their element. No one knows how to organize dinners so generously and on such a scale as Ilya Andreich Rostov, who is famous for this even in hospitable Moscow. But the most fun in the Rostov house is not crowded gatherings, but family holidays in a narrow family circle, sometimes improvised and even more memorable (such as Christmastide with mummers). However, they generally live in a festive atmosphere: Nikolai’s arrival from the army, Natasha’s first ball, the hunt and the subsequent evening at his uncle’s turn into a holiday. For Nikolai, even Natasha’s singing after his terrible loss to Dolokhov becomes an unexpectedly bright, festive impression, and for the younger Petya Rostov, the arrival in Denisov’s partisan detachment, the evening with the officers and the battle the next morning, which became his first and last, becomes a holiday.

Dance of Count and Countess Rostov on name day

Name day of Countess Natalia Rostova and youngest daughter Natasha

The head of the family, Ilya Andreevich, is the kindest man who idolizes his wife, the countess, adores children, is trusting and generous, and does not know how to run a household at all. His material affairs were in a state of disarray; all his estates were remortgaged. But, despite this, he could not limit himself and his family to their usual luxury. Count Rostov is noble; his own honor and the honor of his children are above all for him. No matter how hard it was for him to pay the forty-three thousand lost by his son Nikolai, Ilya Andreevich did it. Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov

At the beginning of the novel, Natasha is thirteen years old, she is an ugly, but lively and spontaneous girl, living in an atmosphere of constant love, falling in love with young people, with her parents, with everything that surrounds her. As the plot develops, she turns into a girl attractive with her liveliness and charm, sensitively reacting to everything that happens. Yes, she makes mistakes sometimes. This is the characteristic of the young, but he admits his mistakes. Natasha knows how to love sincerely and devotedly, in this L.N. Tolstoy saw the main purpose of a woman. Natasha Rostova

“The eldest, Vera, was good, she was not stupid, she studied well... she had a pleasant voice...” Vera is too smart for this family, but her mind reveals its inferiority when it comes into contact with the emotional and spiritual element of this house. She exudes coldness and exorbitant arrogance; it’s not for nothing that she will become Berg’s wife - she is a match for him. Vera Ilyinichna Rostova

Son of Count Rostov. "A short, curly-haired young man with an open expression on his face." The hero is distinguished by “impetuousness and enthusiasm”, he is cheerful, open, friendly and emotional. Nicholas takes part in military campaigns and Patriotic War 1812. In the Battle of Shengraben, Nikolai goes on the attack very bravely at first, but is then wounded in the arm. This wound causes him to panic, he thinks about how he, “whom everyone loves so much,” could die. This event somewhat diminishes the image of the hero. Afterwards, Nikolai becomes a brave officer, a real hussar, remaining faithful to duty. Nikolai had a long affair with Sonya, and he was going to do a noble deed by marrying a dowry girl against the will of his mother. But he receives a letter from Sonya in which she says that she is letting him go. After the death of his father, Nikolai takes care of the family, resigning Nikolai Rostov

Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky - the old prince Prince Andrei Nikolaevich Bolkonsky (André) - the son of the old prince. Princess Maria Nikolaevna (Marie) - daughter of the old prince, sister of Prince Andrei Liza (Lise) - first wife of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky Young Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky (Nikolenka) - son of Prince Andrei. Bolkonsky family

Bolkonsky family A slightly different family of Bolkonskys, serving nobles. Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky most of all valued two virtues in people: activity and intelligence. Raising his daughter Marya, he develops these qualities in her. True love to the Motherland and the consciousness of one’s duty to it are heard in the old prince’s parting words to his son: “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei, if they kill you, it will hurt me, the old man... And if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, it will hurt me. .. shame!” In this family, too, words do not differ from deeds, which is why both Andrei and Princess Marya are best representatives high society environment. The fate of the people is not alien to them, they are honest and decent people, sincere patriots. These people try to live in harmony with their conscience. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy shows that these families are related, for spiritual kinship united them from the very beginning.

Bolkonsky Nikolai Andreevich - prince, general-in-chief, was dismissed from service under Paul I and exiled to the village, where he lives with his family the rest of the time on the Bald Mountains estate. He is the father of Andrei Bolkonsky and Princess Marya. He is a very pedantic, dry, active person who cannot stand idleness, stupidity, or superstition. In his house, everything is scheduled according to the clock; he has to be on the job all the time. The old prince did not make the slightest changes to the order and schedule. Nikolai Andreevich is short, “in a powdered wig... with small dry hands and gray drooping eyebrows, sometimes, as he scowled, obscuring the brilliance of his intelligent and youthful sparkling eyes.” The prince is very restrained in expressing his feelings. He constantly torments his daughter with nagging, although in fact he loves her very much. Nikolai Andreevich proud, clever man, constantly cares about preserving family honor and dignity. He instilled in his son a sense of pride, honesty, duty, and patriotism. Despite his withdrawal from public life, the prince is constantly interested in political and military events taking place in Russia. Only before his death does he lose sight of the scale of the tragedy that happened to his homeland. Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky

At the beginning of the novel we see Bolkonsky as an intelligent, proud, but rather arrogant person. He despises people of high society, is unhappy in his marriage and does not respect his pretty wife. Andrey is very reserved, well educated, and has a strong will. This hero is experiencing great spiritual changes. First we see that his idol is Napoleon, whom he considers a great man. Bolkonsky ends up in the war and goes into the active army. There he fights along with all the soldiers, showing great courage, composure, and prudence. Participates in the Battle of Shengraben. Bolkonsky was seriously wounded in Battle of Austerlitz. This moment is extremely important, because it was then that the spiritual rebirth of the hero began. Lying motionless and seeing the calm and eternal sky of Austerlitz above him, he understands the pettiness and stupidity of everything that is happening in the war. He realized that in fact there should be completely different values ​​in life than those that he had until now. All exploits and glory do not matter. There is only this vast and eternal sky. In the same episode, Andrei sees Napoleon and understands the insignificance of this man; he returns home, where everyone considered him dead. His wife dies in childbirth, but the child survives. The hero is shocked by the death of his wife and feels guilty towards her. He decides not to serve anymore, settles in Bogucharovo, takes care of the household, raising his son, and reads a lot of books. During a trip to St. Petersburg, Bolkonsky meets Natasha Rostova for the second time. A deep feeling awakens in him, the heroes decide to get married. The father does not agree with his son’s choice, they postpone the wedding for a year, the hero goes abroad. After his fiancee betrays him, he returns to the army under the leadership of Kutuzov. During the Battle of Borodino, he was mortally wounded. By chance, he leaves Moscow in the Rostov convoy. Before his death, he forgives Natasha and understands the true meaning of love. Andrey Bolkonsky

Princess Marya represents a “feminine”, contemplative type of spirituality - religiosity. She lives entirely by faith and Christian ideals, confident that true happiness is not in earthly goods, but in connection with the source of “all breath” - with the Creator. The main thing in life for her is selfless love and humility, so she is very close to Tolstoy’s philosophical ideals of the world. She is not alien to earthly feelings: like a woman, she passionately desires love and family happiness, but she completely trusts the will of God and is ready to accept any fate. She catches herself with bad thoughts about her father, who fetters her freedom and dooms her to loneliness. But every time she manages to overcome herself by doing the usual spiritual work in prayer: faith in her is stronger than all other feelings, in which she is unexpectedly similar to her father, who also considers all human feelings to be weakness and subordinates them to the highest imperative of duty. Only the old prince identifies duty with reason, and the princess with religious commandments, which again oblige her to feelings, but of a higher order: to love God with all her heart and mind, and her neighbor as herself. As a result, for Princess Marya, the duty to obey her father is inseparable from sincere love for him. Princess Marya Bolkonskaya

Prince Andrei's wife. She is the darling of the whole world, an attractive young woman whom everyone calls “the little princess.” “Her pretty upper lip, with a slightly blackened mustache, was short in teeth, but the more sweetly it opened and the more sweetly it sometimes stretched out and fell onto the lower one. As is always the case with quite attractive women, her shortcomings - short lips and half-open mouth - seemed to be special, actually her beauty. It was fun for everyone to look at this pretty expectant mother, full of health and liveliness, who endured her situation so easily." Lisa was everyone's favorite thanks to her always liveliness and courtesy of a society woman; she could not imagine her life without high society. But Prince Andrei did not love his wife and felt unhappy in his marriage. Lisa does not understand her husband, his aspirations and ideals. After Andrei leaves for the war, she lives in the Bald Mountains with the old Prince Bolkonsky, for whom she feels fear and hostility. Lisa foresees her imminent death and really dies during childbirth Lisa

Prince Vasily Sergeevich Kuragin, a friend of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, spoke about his children: “My children are the burden of my existence.” Elena Vasilievna Kuragina (Helen) is the first unfaithful wife of Pierre Bezukhov, the daughter of Prince Vasily Anatole Kuragin is the youngest son of Prince Vasily, “a restless fool » Ippolit Kuragin - son of Prince Vasily, “the deceased fool” Kuragin family

The Kuragin family in peaceful life appears in all the insignificance of its selfishness, soullessness, immorality; it evokes only contempt and indignation in Tolstoy. Its members play the most negative role in the destinies of the other heroes. All of them are people of high society, and therefore are false and insincere in all their words, deeds and gestures. The head of the house, Prince Vasily, is a cunning, dexterous courtier and an inveterate intriguer. Tolstoy emphasizes his deceit and duplicity in every possible way. He thinks first of all about his successes at court and about advancement in career ladder. He never has his own opinion, turning like a weather vane in his judgments behind the political course of the court. During the war of 1812, Prince Vasily at first speaks of Kutuzov with contempt, knowing that the emperor does not favor him; the next day, when Kutuzov is appointed commander-in-chief, Kuragin begins to extol him, in order to renounce him at the first dissatisfaction of the court due to abandonment named after Moscow. Kuragin also perceives his family as a means for gaining social position and enrichment: he tries to marry his son and marry off his daughter as profitably as possible. For the sake of profit, Prince Vasily is even capable of crime, as evidenced by the episode with the mosaic briefcase, when Kuragin tried to steal and destroy the will of the dying Count Bezukhov in order to deprive Pierre of his inheritance and redistribute it in his favor. During these hours, as Tolstoy describes, “his cheeks twitched nervously” and “jumped” “first to one side, then to the other, giving his face an unpleasant expression that never appeared on the face of Prince Vasily when he was in the living rooms.” . This is how his predatory nature inadvertently comes out. When the intrigue breaks down, Prince Vasily immediately “restructures” so as to still maintain his own benefit: he instantly “marries” Pierre to his daughter and, under the guise of a family and trusting relationship, deftly puts his hands into his son-in-law’s money, and then becomes the main character face in the daughter's salon. Tolstoy specifically emphasizes that Prince Vasily was hardly guided by conscious calculations: “Something constantly attracted him to people stronger and richer than him, and he was gifted rare art to catch exactly the moment when it was necessary and possible to take advantage of people.” Thus, when describing Kuragin’s psychology, the author again focuses our attention on feeling, intuition, instinct, which come to the fore, being more important than conscious will and reason. Kuragina family x

The fight for the mosaic briefcase

Hélène, having married Pierre, soon opened a chic salon in his house, which quickly became one of the most fashionable and prestigious in St. Petersburg. She is not distinguished by intelligence or originality of judgment, but she knows how to smile so charmingly and meaningfully that they consider her the smartest woman capital, and the cream of the intelligentsia gathers in its salon: diplomats and senators, poets and painters. Pierre, being much more educated and deeper than his wife, finds himself in her salon as something like necessary furniture, the husband of a famous wife, whom the guests condescendingly tolerate, so that Pierre gradually begins to feel like a stranger in his own home. Helene is constantly surrounded by men courting her, so Pierre doesn’t even know who to be jealous of and, tormented by doubts, comes to a duel with Dolokhov, whom his wife clearly singled out more than others. Helen not only did not feel sorry for her husband and did not think about his feelings, but made a scene for him and severely reprimanded him for an inappropriate “scandal” that could undermine her authority. In the end, having already broken up with her husband and living separately from him, Helen starts an intrigue with two admirers at once: with an elderly nobleman and with a foreign prince, wondering how she could get married again and settle down in such a way as to maintain a connection with both of them. For this reason, she even converts to Catholicism in order to declare Helen’s Orthodox marriage invalid.

Anatole is the brilliant idol of all secular young ladies, the hero of the golden youth of both capitals. A slender, tall, handsome man, he drives all women crazy with his proud posture and ardent passion, behind which they do not have time to discern his soullessness and thoughtlessness. When Anatole came to the Bolkonskys, all the women in the house involuntarily became eager to please him and began to intrigue against each other. Anatole does not know how to talk to women, because he never finds anything smart to say, but he has a bewitching effect on them with the look of his beautiful eyes, like Helen’s smile. Natasha, even during her first conversation with Anatole, looking into his eyes, “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. She, without knowing how, after five minutes felt terribly close to this man.” Anatole

Hippolytus becomes a symbol of the spiritual ugliness of this family. Outwardly, he is surprisingly similar to Helen, but at the same time he is “amazingly bad-looking.” His face was “foggy with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident disgust. He cannot say anything smart, but in society he is greeted very kindly and all the absurdities he says are forgiven, because he is the son of Prince Vasily and the brother of Helen. In addition, he very boldly courtes all pretty women, since he is unusually voluptuous. Thus, his example reveals the inner ugliness of Helen and Anatole, hiding under their beautiful appearance. Hippolytus

Count Kirill Vladimirovich Count Pyotr Kirillovich Bezukhov (Pierre) - son of Count Bezukhov, the only heir to his fortune Bezukhov family

With the heir to the huge fortune of his deceased father, Pierre is from poor, funny, of no interest to anyone young man turned into an enviable groom. He is gullible, does not know how to resist secular intrigue and deceit, and quickly falls into the marriage “net” of the experienced, calculating Prince Vasily. The scene of Pierre’s “matchmaking” is depicted in a comic spirit, since, in fact, there was no matchmaking: Bezukhov is congratulated on a proposal that he did not make. However, Pierre's relationship with his wife develops dramatically and almost leads to a tragic ending: Pierre shoots himself in a duel with Dolokhov, his wife's lover, and miraculously does not die himself or become a murderer. He manages to divorce Helen, leaving her most of his fortune. According to Tolstoy, a marriage that is not sanctified by love cannot be happy. After all, Pierre was attracted only by beauty in his future wife, and on Helen’s part there was only calculation. Having become free from Helen, Pierre is skeptical about the possibility of family happiness for himself. Earless family

The Drubetsky family Anna M Mikhailovna Drubetskaya - Princess Boris Drubetskoy - son of the Princess

The Drubetsky family From the very beginning of the story, all the thoughts of Anna Mikhailovna and her son are directed towards one goal - the arrangement of their material well-being. For this sake, Anna Mikhailovna does not disdain either humiliating begging, or the use of brute force, or intrigue.

Son of Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya. From childhood he was brought up and lived for a long time in the house of the Rostovs, to whom he was a relative. Boris and Natasha were in love with each other. Outwardly, he is “a tall, blond young man with regular, delicate features of a calm and handsome face.” Since his youth, Boris has dreamed of a military career and allows his mother to humiliate herself in front of her superiors if it helps him. So, Prince Vasily finds him a place in the guard. Boris is going to do brilliant career, makes many useful contacts. After a while he becomes Helen's lover. Boris manages to be in the right place in right time, and his career and position are especially firmly established. In 1809 he meets Natasha again and becomes interested in her, even thinking about marrying her. But this would hinder his career. Therefore, Boris begins to look for a rich bride. He eventually marries Julie Karagina. Boris Drubetskoy

The family in Tolstoy's novel War and Peace is examined at turning points in history. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, the writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to such families as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, who embody sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives who each go through their own path of getting closer to the people. War and Peace is a broad and truthful picture of life in Russia in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The work is not outdated even today, as it raises and resolves universal human eternal questions of good and evil, love and death, heroism and pseudo-love for the Motherland. Tolstoy is not just a writer of everyday life, he is an artist with a certain position. You can agree or argue with her, but you will never remain indifferent, and this, it seems to me, main value his works. The writer shows ideals that need to be strived for, but are unlikely to be achieved. conclusion

"From the usual family romance Tolstoy’s novel is distinguished by the fact that it is, so to speak, an open family, with an open door - it is ready to spread, the path to the family is the path to people,” N. Berkovsky writes about the novel “War and Peace.”
In the novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy talks about different families - these include the Bolkonskys, who preserve aristocratic traditions; and representatives of the Moscow nobility Rostov; the Kuragin family, deprived of mutual respect, sincerity and connections; the Berg family, which begins its existence by laying the “material foundation”. And in the epilogue of the novel, Tolstoy presents to the readers two new families - Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya - families based on sincere and deep feelings.
Let's try to rank the families presented in the novel according to their proximity to Tolstoy's idea of ​​an ideal family.
Bergi.
Berg himself has much in common with Griboyedov’s Molchalin (moderation, diligence and accuracy). According to Tolstoy, Berg is not only a philistine in himself, but also a part of the universal philistinism (acquisitive mania takes over in any situation, drowning out the manifestation of normal feelings - the episode with the purchase of furniture during the evacuation of most residents from Moscow). Berg “exploits” the war of 1812, “squeezing” the maximum benefit out of it for himself. The Bergs try with all their might to resemble the models accepted in society: the evening that the Bergs throw is an exact copy of many other evenings with candles and tea. Vera (although she belongs to the Rostov family by birth) even as a girl, despite her pleasant appearance and development, good manners and “correctness” of judgment, pushes people away with her indifference to others and extreme selfishness.
Such a family, according to Tolstoy, cannot become the basis of society because... The “foundation” underlying it is material acquisitions, which are more likely to devastate the soul and contribute to the destruction of human relationships rather than unification.
Kuragins- Prince Vasily, Hippolyte, Anatole, Helen.
Family members are only related external relations. Prince Vasily does not have a fatherly feeling for children, all Kuragins are disunited. And in independent life, the children of Prince Vasily are doomed to loneliness: Helen and Pierre have no family, despite their official marriage; Anatole, being married to a Polish woman, enters into new relationships and is looking for a rich wife. Kuragins organically fit into the society of the regulars of Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon with its falsehood, artificiality, false patriotism, and intrigue. The true face of Prince Vasily is revealed in the episode of dividing the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, which he does not intend to refuse under any circumstances. He actually sells his daughter, marrying her to Pierre. The animal and immoral principle inherent in Anatol Kuragin is especially clearly manifested when his father brings him to the Bolkonskys’ house in order to marry Princess Marya to him (episode with Mademoiselle Burien). And his attitude towards Natasha Rostova is so low and immoral that it does not need any comments. Helene completes the family gallery with dignity - she is a predatory woman, ready to marry for money and position in society for the sake of convenience, and then treat her husband cruelly.
The lack of connections and spiritual closeness makes this family formal, that is, people living in it are related only by blood, but there is no spiritual kinship or human closeness in this house, and therefore, it can be assumed that such a family cannot cultivate a moral attitude to life.
Bolkonsky.
The head of the family, the old Prince Bolkonsky, establishes a meaningful life in Bald Mountains. He is all in the past - he is a true aristocrat, and he carefully preserves all the traditions of the aristocracy.
It should be noted that real life is also in the field of attention of the old prince - his awareness of modern events surprises even his son. An ironic attitude towards religion and sentimentality brings father and son closer together. The death of the prince, according to Tolstoy, is retribution for his despotism. Bolkonsky lives “by the mind”; an intellectual atmosphere reigns in the house. The old prince even teaches his daughter the exact and historical sciences. But, despite a number of the prince’s eccentricities, his children - Prince Andrei and Princess Marya - love and respect their father, forgiving him some tactlessness and harshness. Perhaps this is the phenomenon of the Bolkonsky family - unconditional respect and acceptance of all senior family members, unaccountable, sincere, in some ways even sacrificial love of family members for each other (Princess Marya decided for herself that she would not think about personal happiness , so as not to leave the father alone).
The relationships that have developed in this family, according to Tolstoy, contribute to the education of such feelings as respect, devotion, human dignity, and patriotism.
Rostov.
Using the example of the Rostov family, Tolstoy presents his ideal of family life, good relations between all family members. The Rostovs live the “life of the heart,” without demanding special intelligence from each other, treating life’s troubles with ease and ease. They are characterized by a truly Russian desire for breadth and scope. All members of the Rostov family are characterized by liveliness and spontaneity. The turning point in the life of the family is leaving. Moscow in 1812, the decision to give up the carts intended for the removal of property for the transport of the wounded, which actually resulted in the ruin of the Rostovs. Old man Rostov dies with a feeling of guilt for ruining his children, but with a sense of fulfilled patriotic duty. Children in the Rostov family inherit from their parents best qualities- sincerity, openness, selflessness, the desire to love the whole world and all humanity.
And yet, it is probably no coincidence that in the epilogue of the novel Tolstoy talks about two young families.
Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya.
The love of these people arises at the moment of trouble hanging over the fatherland. Nikolai and Marya are characterized by a commonality in the perception of people. This is a union in which husband and wife mutually enrich themselves spiritually. Nikolai makes Marya happy, and she brings kindness and tenderness into the family.
Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov.
The purpose of their love is marriage, family and children. Here Tolstoy describes an idyll - an intuitive understanding loved one. The charm of Natasha the girl is clear to everyone, the charm of Natasha the woman is clear only to her husband. Each of them finds in love and family exactly what he has been striving for all his life - the meaning of his life, which, according to Tolstoy, for a woman consists of motherhood, and for a man - in the awareness of himself as a support for a weaker person, his necessity.
To sum up the discussion, it can be noted that the theme of family, its significance in the development of a person’s character for Tolstoy in the novel “War and Peace” is one of the most important. The author tries to explain many of the features and patterns in the lives of his characters by their belonging to one or another family. At the same time he emphasizes great importance family in the formation of both a young person and his character, and an adult. Only in the family does a person receive everything that subsequently determines his character, habits, worldview and attitude.

“Family Thought” in the novel “War and Peace”

In the epic novel “War and Peace,” family thought occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. Using the example of his heroes, Lev Nikolaevich clearly showed the diversity of family relationships, their positive and negative sides.

All the families in the novel are so natural, as if they existed in real life. Even now, two centuries later, we can meet the friendly Rostov family or the selfish “pack” of the Kuragins. Members of the same family have a common feature that unites them all.

So, main feature The Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of the Bolkonskys, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, are characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The Bolkonsky family belongs to the old Russian aristocracy. Old Prince Bolkonsky embodies best features serving nobility, devoted to the one to whom he “sworn allegiance.” Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky most of all valued “two virtues in people: activity and intelligence.” Raising his children, he developed these qualities in them. Both Prince Andrei and Princess Marya differ in their spiritual education from other noble children.

In many ways, the worldview of this family is reflected in the words of the old prince, who sends his son to war: “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt the old man... and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, it will hurt me. .. ashamed!" (clear moral criteria, the concept of honor of the family, clan). The behavior of Princess Marya evokes respect, feeling a deep sense of responsibility for her family, infinitely respecting her father (“Everything her father did aroused in her a reverence that was not subject to discussion”)

Different in character, all members of the Bolkonsky family are one thanks to their spiritual connection. Their relationship is not as warm as the Rostovs, but they are strong, like the links of a chain.

Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings, their family is filled with love, tenderness, and care. Everyone is frank with each other, they have no secrets or secrets. Maybe these people are not distinguished by special talents or intelligence, but they glow from within with family happiness. Unfortunately, the Rostovs will face terrible troubles and trials. Maybe this way they will have to pay for the happiness that was in the house for many years?.. But, having lost everything, the Rostov family will come to life again, only in another generation, preserving the tradition of love and comfort.

The third family is the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait, appearance. The external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. This family contains many human vices: hypocrisy, greed, depravity, stupidity. Every person in this family has sinfulness in them. Their affection is not spiritual or loving. She is more animal than human. They are similar to each other, that's why they stick together. Tolstoy shows us that families like the Kuragins are ultimately doomed. None of its members is capable of being “reborn” from filth and vice. The Kuragin family dies, leaving no descendants.

In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai continued to honor the value of family comfort and cordiality.

By showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys. Such families will never die.

The Rostov family in the novel "War and Peace"

In War and Peace, family associations and the hero’s belonging to a “breed” mean a lot. Actually, the Bolkonskys or Rostovs are more than families, they are entire ways of life, families of the old type, with a patriarchal basis, old clans with their own special tradition for each family,” wrote (“War and Peace.” - In the book: Three masterpiece of Russian classics. M., 1971. p. 65).

Let's try to consider the Rostov family in this aspect, the features of the “Rostov breed”. The basic concepts that characterize all members of this family are simplicity, breadth of soul, life with feeling. The Rostovs are not intellectual, not pedantic, not rational, but for Tolstoy the absence of these traits is not a disadvantage, but only “one of the aspects of life.”

The Rostovs are emotional, generous, responsive, open, hospitable and friendly in the Russian way. In their family, in addition to their own children, Sonya, the niece of the old count, is being brought up; Boris Drubetskoy, the son of Anna Mikhailovna, who is a distant relative of them, has lived here since childhood. IN big house on Povarskaya there is enough space, warmth, love for everyone; there is that special atmosphere that attracts others.

And people themselves create it. The head of the family is the old count, Ilya Andreevich. This is a good-natured, eccentric gentleman, carefree and simple-minded, the foreman of the English club, a passionate hunter, and a lover of home holidays. He adores his family, the count has relatives, trusting relationship with children: he does not interfere with Petya’s desire to join the army, he is worried about the fate and health of Natasha after her breakup with Bolkonsky. Ilya Andreevich literally saves Nikolai, who is caught in unpleasant story with Dolokhov.

At the same time, the Rostov household is left to chance, the manager deceives them, and the family gradually goes bankrupt. But the old count is not able to correct the current situation - Ilya Andreevich is too trusting, weak-willed and wasteful. However, as V. Ermilov notes, it is precisely these qualities of the hero that appear in a “completely different, new sense and meaning” to a greater, heroic era(Tolstoy the artist and the novel “War and Peace.” M., 1961, p. 92).

In difficult times war time Ilya Andreevich abandons his property and gives up carts to carry the wounded. Here in the novel there is a special internal motive, the motive of “transformation of the world”: liberation from the world of material things is liberation “from all the wardrobes of the old, evil, stupid world that Tolstoy was sick of with its deathly and deadening egoism - that happiness of liberation that he dreamed of for myself” and the writer himself. Therefore, Tolstoy sympathizes with this character, justifying him in many ways. “...He was a most wonderful man. You won’t meet such people these days,” friends say after the death of the old count.

The image of Countess Rostova, who has a real gift for teaching, is also remarkable in the novel. She also has a very close, trusting relationship with her children: the Countess is the first adviser to her daughters. “If I had kept her strictly, I had forbidden her... God knows what they would have done on the sly (the Countess meant, they would have kissed), but now I know her every word. She’ll come running in the evening and tell me everything,” says the countess about Natasha, who is in love with Boris. The Countess is generous, like all the Rostovs. Despite the difficult financial situation of her family, she helps her longtime friend, Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, by obtaining money for uniforms for her son, Boris.

The same warmth, love, and mutual understanding reign in the relationships between children. Long intimate conversations in the sofa are an integral part of this relationship. Natasha and Sonya open up for a long time when left alone. Natasha and Nikolai are spiritually close and tenderly attached to each other. Rejoicing at the arrival of her brother, Natasha, a lively, impetuous girl, cannot remember herself from delight: she has fun from the bottom of her heart, kisses Denisov, tells Nikolai her secrets and discusses Sonya’s feelings with him.

When girls grow up, that special elusive atmosphere is established in the house, “as it happens in a house where there are very nice and very young girls.” “Every young man who came to the Rostovs’ house, looking at these young, receptive, smiling girlish faces for something (probably their happiness), at this animated running around, listening to this inconsistent, but affectionate to everyone, ready for anything, full of hope the babble of female youth... experienced the same feeling of readiness for love and expectation of happiness that the youth of the Rostov house themselves experienced.”

Sonya and Natasha standing at the clavichord, “pretty and happy”, Vera playing chess with Shinshin, the old countess playing solitaire - this is the poetic atmosphere that reigns in the house on Povarskaya.

It is this family world that is so dear to Nikolai Rostov, it is he who gives him one of the “best pleasures of life.” Tolstoy remarks about this hero: “gifted and limited.” Rostov is simple-minded, simple, noble, honest and straightforward, sympathetic and generous. Remembering his former friendship with the Drubetskys, Nikolai, without hesitation, forgives them their old debt. Like Natasha, he is receptive to music, to a romantic situation, to goodness. At the same time, the hero is deprived creativity in life, Rostov's interests are limited to the world of his family and the landowner's economy. Pierre's thoughts about a new direction for the whole world are not only incomprehensible to Nikolai, but also seem seditious to him.

The soul of the Rostov family is Natasha. This image serves in the novel as that “arch”, “without which the work could not exist as a whole. Natasha is the living embodiment of the very essence of human unity.

At the same time, Natasha embodies selfishness as a natural beginning human life, as a property necessary for happiness, for real activity, for fruitful human communication. In the novel, Natasha’s “natural egoism” is contrasted with the “cold egoism” of Vera and Helen, the sublime altruism and self-denial of Princess Marya, and Sonya’s “selfish self-sacrifice.” None of these properties, according to Tolstoy, are suitable for living, authentic life.

Natasha intuitively feels the very essence of people and events, she is simple and open, close to nature and music. Like the other Rostovs, she is not very intellectual, she is not characterized by deep thoughts about the meaning of life, or the sober introspection of the Bolkonskys. As Pierre remarks, she “doesn’t deign to be smart.” Main role For her, feelings play, “living with the heart” and not with the mind. At the end of the novel, Natasha finds her happiness in marriage with Pierre.

The Rostov family is unusually artistic and musical; all members of this family (with the exception of Vera) love singing and dancing. During a dinner party, the old count famously dances “Danila Kupora” with Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, captivating the audience with “the surprise of deft twists and light jumps of his soft legs.” “Our father! Eagle!" - exclaims the nanny, delighted with this wonderful dance. Natasha’s dancing at her uncle’s in Mikhailovka and her singing are also extraordinary. Natasha has a beautiful raw voice, captivating precisely with its virginity, innocence, and velvet. Nikolai is deeply touched by Natasha’s singing: “All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... My God! how good!... how happy!... Oh, how this third trembled and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this something was independent of everything in the world and above everything in the world.”

The only difference from all the Rostovs is the cold, calm, “beautiful” Vera, whose correct remarks make everyone feel “awkward.” She lacks the simplicity and warmth of the “Rostov breed”; she can easily offend Sonya and read endless moral lectures to children.

Thus, in the life of the Rostov family, feelings and emotions prevail over will and reason. The heroes are not very practical and businesslike, but they life values- generosity, nobility, admiration for beauty, aesthetic feelings, patriotism - worthy of respect.