The image of Pierre Bezukhov in the novel "War and Peace". Composition based on the novel by Tolstoy - War and Peace. Pierre Bezukhov, by his nature, by his disposition, is predominantly an emotional person. Its characteristic features are a mind prone to "dreamy philosophizing", free-thinking, absent-mindedness, weakness of will, lack of initiative. This does not mean that Prince Andrew is incapable of experiencing a deep feeling, and Pierre is a weak thinker; both are complex natures. The terms "intellectual" and "emotional" in this case mean the predominant traits of the spiritual forces of these extraordinary personalities. Pierre stands out sharply from among the people in the Scherer salon, where we first meet him. This is "a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, in light trousers in the fashion of the time, with a high frill and in a brown tailcoat." His look is "smart and at the same time timid, observant and natural." Its main feature is the search for "tranquility, harmony with oneself." Pierre's entire life path is an incessant search for the meaning of life, a search for a life that would be in harmony with the needs of his heart and would bring him moral satisfaction. In this he is similar to Andrei Bolkonsky.

The way of Pierre, like the way of Prince Andrew, this is the way to the people. Even during the period of passion for Freemasonry, he decides to devote his energies to the improvement of the peasants. He considers it necessary to release his serfs to freedom, thinks about establishing hospitals, shelters and schools in his villages. True, the cunning manager deceives Pierre and creates only the appearance of the reforms carried out. But Pierre is sincerely convinced that his peasants are now living well. His real rapprochement with the common people begins in captivity, when he meets the soldiers and Karataev. Pierre arises a desire to simplify himself, to merge completely with the people. The lordly life, secular salons, the luxury of tomyagi do not satisfy Pierre, He painfully feels his isolation from

Images of Natasha and Princess Marie in the novel "War and Peace". But Natasha and Princess Marya also have common features... They are both patriots. Natasha did not hesitate to donate the riches of the Moscow house of the Rostovs for the sake of saving the wounded. And Princess Marya abandons the estate to the mercy of fate when the French approach. When the homeland is in danger, family traits awaken in it - pride, courage, firmness. So it was in Bogucharovo, when a French companion invited her to stay on the estate and trust the mercy of a French general, the mercy of the enemies of Russia, her homeland. And “although it was all the same for Princess Marya wherever she stayed and whatever happened to her, she felt at the same time a representative of her late father and Prince Andrey. She involuntarily thought them with thoughts and felt them with feelings. And one more feature makes Natasha and Princess Marya related. Princess Marya is getting married to Nikolai Rostov, and Tolstoy, drawing their family life, speaks of the happiness that she, like Natasha, found in the family. This is how Tolstoy decides the question of the appointment of a woman, limiting her interests to the framework of family life.

Let's remember another episode of the meeting of Nikolai Rostov with Sonya, when he, having arrived on vacation, does not know how to behave with his girlfriend. "He kissed her hand and called her you - Sonya, But their eyes, meeting, said" you "to each other and kissed tenderly."

Favorite heroes of Tolstoy are people with a complex mental world... In revealing such characters, Tolstoy resorts to different methods: to direct characterization from the author, to auto-characterization of the hero, to internal dialogues and reflections, etc. Internal monologues and internal dialogues allow the author to discover such intimate thoughts and moods of the heroes, which can be conveyed in a different way ( for example, using direct author's characteristics) would be difficult without violating the laws of artistic realism. Tolstoy resorts to such monologues and dialogues very often. The reflections of the wounded Prince Andrey in chapter XXXII of the third volume of the novel can serve as an example of an "internal monologue" with elements of dialogue. Here is another example of an "internal monologue" - the reflections of Natasha, childishly directly talking about herself: "What a lovely Natasha!" she said to herself again in the words of some third collective male face. “She is good, her voice is young, and she does not bother anyone, leave only her alone” (Chapter XXIII of the second volume).

The image of Andrei Bolkonsky. The external world with its things and phenomena is also skillfully used by Tolstoy to characterize heroes. So, describing Natasha's mood after the unexpected departure of Andrei Bolkonsky (before the matchmaking), Tolstoy reports that Natasha completely calmed down and "put on that old dress that was especially known to her for the joy she brought in the morning." Tolstoy is a brilliant landscape painter. He will notice young "green sticky leaves" of birch, and shrubs greening somewhere, and "juicy, dark green oak", and moonlight bursting into the room, and the freshness of a spring night. Let us recall the wonderfully described hunting in Otradnoye. People, animals, and nature act here as indicators of the powerful force of life, its full blood. The landscape performs various functions in the novel. The most common feature of Tolstoy's landscape is the correspondence of this landscape to the mood of the hero. The disappointment, the gloomy mood of Prince Andrey after the break with Natasha colors the surrounding landscape in gloomy tones. “He looked at the strip of birches, with their motionless yellowness, greenery and white bark, shining in the sun. "To die ... to be killed, tomorrow, so that I would not be ... so that all this would be, but I would not be ..." He is tormented by terrible forebodings and painful thoughts of death. And these birches with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke of bonfires - all this around was transformed for him and seemed to be something terrible and threatening. And the poetry of Natasha's nature, on the contrary, is revealed against the background of a moonlit spring night in Otradnoye. In other cases, the landscape directly affects the person, enlightening and wisdom him. Prince Andrew, wounded at Austerlitz, looks at the sky and thinks: “Yes! Everything is empty, everything is deception, except for this endless sky. " The oak, which Prince Andrey meets twice on his way, reveals to him the “meaning of life” in completely different ways: in one case it seems to Prince Andrey the personification of hopelessness, in the other - a symbol of joyful faith in happiness.

Finally, Tolstoy uses the landscape as a means of characterizing the real situation. Let us recall, for example, the heavy fog that spread like a continuous milky-white sea over the outskirts of Austerlitz. Thanks to this fog, which covered the positions of the French, the Russian and Austrian troops were put in a worse position, since they did not see the enemy and unexpectedly faced him face to face. Napoleon, standing at a height where it was completely light, could unmistakably lead the troops.

The image of Napoleon in the novel "War and Peace". Napoleon confronts in the novel Napoleon... Tolstoy debunks this commander and an outstanding historical figure. Drawing the appearance of Napoleon, the author of the novel says that he was a "little man" with an "unpleasantly feigned smile" on his face, with "fat breasts", "round belly" and "fat spoons of short legs." Tolstoy shows Napoleon as a narcissistic and arrogant ruler of France, intoxicated with success, blinded by glory, attributing to his personality a driving role in the course of historical events. Even in small scenes, in the slightest gestures, one can feel, according to Tolstoy, Napoleon's insane pride, his acting, the conceit of a man accustomed to believing that every movement of his hand scatters happiness or sows grief among thousands of people. The servility of those around him lifted him to such a height that he really believed in his ability to change the course of history and influence the fate of peoples.

In contrast to Kutuzov who does not attach decisive importance to his personal will, Napoleon puts himself above all, his personality, considers himself a superman. “Only what was happening in his soul was of interest to him. Everything that was outside of him did not matter to him, because everything in the world, as it seemed to him, depended only on his will. " The word "I" is Napoleon's favorite word. In Napoleon, selfishness, individualism and rationality are emphasized - features that are absent in Kutuzov, the people's commander who thinks not about his own glory, but about the glory and freedom of the fatherland. Revealing the ideological content of the novel, we already Tolstoy "" noted the originality in Tolstoy's interpretation of certain themes of the novel. Thus, we have already said that Tolstoy, going against revolutionary peasant democracy, obscures in his novel the acuteness of the class contradictions between the peasantry and the landowners; revealing, for example, Pierre Bezukhov's restless thoughts about the plight of serfs, he at the same time paints pictures of idyllic relationships between landowners and peasants in the estate and house of the Rostovs. We also noted the features of idealization in the image of Karataev, the originality of the interpretation of the role of personality in history, etc.

How can these features of the novel be explained? Their source must be sought in Tolstoy's worldview, which reflected the contradictions of his time. Tolstoy was a great artist. His novel "War and Peace" is one of the greatest masterpieces of world art, a brilliant work in which the breadth of an epic scope was combined with an amazing depth of penetration into the mental life of people. But Tolstoy lived in Russia in a transitional era, in an era of breaking the social and economic foundations of life, when the country was moving from a feudal-serf system to capitalist forms of life, violently protesting, according to Lenin, "against any class domination", Tolstoy, a landowner and an aristocrat , found a way out for himself in the transition to the position of the patriarchal peasantry. Belinsky, in his articles about Tolstoy, revealed with remarkable depth all the contradictions that were reflected in the worldview and work of Tolstoy in connection with his transition to the position of the patriarchal peasantry. These contradictions could not but be reflected in the artistic structure of the novel "War and Peace". Tolstoy, the great realist and Protestant, ultimately defeated Tolstoy, the religious philosopher, and created a work unparalleled in world literature. But while reading the novel, we still cannot help but feel the contradictions in the worldview of its author.

The image of Kutuzov in the novel "War and Peace". In the novel, Tolstoy ridicules the cult of "great personalities" created by bourgeois historians. He correctly believes that the masses of the people decide the course of history. But his assessment of the role of the masses takes on a religious connotation. He comes to the recognition of fatalism, arguing that all historical events are predetermined from above. Tolstoy makes the commander Kutuzov the expresser of his views in the novel. The basis of his view is the consciousness that the creator of history, historical events is the people, and not individuals (heroes) and that all rationalistically constructed theories, no matter how good they may seem, are nothing in front of the force, which is the mood, the spirit of the masses.

"Long-term military experience- Tolstoy writes about Kutuzov, - he knew and with his senile mind understood that it was impossible for one person to lead hundreds of thousands of people fighting death, and he knew that the fate of the battle was not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not the place on which the troops were stationed, not the number guns and killed people, and that elusive force, called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it, as far as it was in his power. " Tolstoy also attributed to Kutuzov his erroneous fatalistic view of history, according to which the outcome of historical events was predetermined in advance. Andrei Bolkonsky says about Kutuzov: “He will not invent anything, will not undertake anything, but he will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, will not interfere with anything useful and will not allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will - this is the inevitable course of events - and he knows how to see them, knows how to understand their meaning and, in view of this meaning, knows how to renounce participation in these events, from his personal will aimed at other ... "

Denying the role of personality in history, Tolstoy tried to make Kutuzov only a wise observer of historical events, only a passive contemplator of them. This, of course, was Tolstoy's mistake. It inevitably had to lead to a contradictory assessment of Kutuzov. And so it happened. In the novel, a commander appears who extremely accurately evaluates the course of military events and unmistakably directs them. With the help of a well-thought-out plan of counter-offensives, Kutuzov is destroying Napoleon and his army. Consequently, in a number of essential features, Kutuzov is shown historically correctly in the novel: he possesses great strategic skill, thinks through the campaign plan for long nights, acts as an active figure, hiding tremendous volitional tension behind external calmness. So the realist artist overcame the philosophy of fatalism. The bearer of the people's spirit and the people's will, Kutuzov deeply and correctly understood the course of things, in the midst of events he gave them a correct assessment, which was subsequently confirmed. So, he correctly assessed the significance of the Battle of Borodino, saying that it was a victory. As a commander, Kutuzov is superior to Napoleon. To wage the people's war, like the war of 1812, Tolstoy says, such a commander was needed. With the expulsion of the French, Kutuzov's mission was completed. The transfer of the war to Europe required a different commander-in-chief. “The representative of the Russian people, after the enemy was destroyed, Russia was liberated and placed on the highest level of its glory, the Russian person, as a Russian, had nothing more to do. The representative of the people's war had no choice but death. And he died. "

Portraying Kutuzov as the people's commander, as the embodiment of people's thoughts, will and feelings. Tolstoy never falls into schematism. Kutuzov is a living person. This impression is created with us primarily because Tolstoy clearly, vividly draws us a portrait of Kutuzov - his figure, gait and gestures, facial expressions, his eyes, now glowing with a pleasant affectionate smile, now taking on a mocking expression. Tolstoy gives it to us either in the perception of persons different in character and social position, or draws from himself, delving into the psychological analysis of his hero. Kutuzov's scenes and episodes depicting the commander in conversations and conversations with people close and pleasant to him, like Bolkonsky, Denisov, Bagration, his behavior on military councils, in the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino, make Kutuzov deeply human and alive. Kutuzov's speech is diverse in its lexical composition and syntactic structure. He is fluent in high society speech when he speaks or writes to the king, generals and other representatives of the aristocratic society. “I say only one thing, General,” says Kutuzov with a pleasant gracefulness of expression and intonation that made you listen attentively to every leisurely spoken word. would have been fulfilled long ago. But he is also fluent in simple folk language. “And that's what, brothers. I know it's difficult for us, but what can we do! Be patient: it's not long left ... Let's see the guests out, we'll rest then, ”he said to the soldiers, meeting them on the way from Krasnoye to Dobry. And in a letter to old man Bolkonsky, he discovers archaic features of the clerical style of this era: “I flatter myself and you with the hope that your son is alive, for otherwise, among the officers found on the battlefield, about whom the list was submitted to me through parliamentarians, and he would was named ".

M. M. Blinkina

THE AGE OF THE HEROES IN THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"

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

1. INTRODUCTION

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

The very concept of "age" has, of course, several aspects. First, the age of a literary character is determined by the time of the novel, which often does not coincide with the real time. Secondly, the numerals in the designation of age, in addition to their main (actually numerical) meaning, often have a number of additional ones, 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 add an ironic connotation to the story.

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

Section 7 proposes a mathematical model reflecting the aging features of Tolstoy's heroes.

2. AGE PARADOXES: TEXT ANALYSIS

While reading Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, one cannot 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 with a muslin skirt...

In the same August 1805, we get to know all the other children from this family, in particular, with the older sister Vera: The Countess's eldest daughter was four years older than sister and already behaved like a big one.

Thus, in August 1805 Vere seventeen years... Now fast forward to December 1806: Faith was twenty year old beautiful girl ... Natasha half-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 not eighteen or nineteen; she's twenty at once. Natasha's age in this fragment is given metaphorically, and not by a number, which, as it turns out, is also not without reason.

Exactly three more years will pass, and we will receive the last message about the age of these two sisters:

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

So, during these four years Natasha has grown by three, as, incidentally, was expected. Instead of seventeen or even eighteen, she is now sixteen. And there will be no more. This is the last mention of her age. And in the meantime, what happens to her unhappy older sister?

Faith was twenty four years, she traveled everywhere, and, despite the fact that she was undoubtedly good and reasonable, so far no one has 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 a little over four years Vera has grown 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. Its age is never said 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 from childhood, were some years ...

Nicholas in January 1806 was nineteen or twenty years old:

How strange it was to the Countess that her son, who was slightly perceptibly tiny twenty years ago, now a courageous warrior ...

It follows that in August 1805 Boris is nineteen or twenty years old. And now let's estimate his age from the point of view of Pierre. 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 the age of twenty .

On the other hand, we know that Pierre left Boris fourteen year old boy and definitely did not 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, one more, quite amusing example: the age of Nikolenka Bolkonsky. In July 1805, his future mother appears before us: ... the little princess Volkonskaya, who got married last winter and now has not gone out into the big world because of her pregnancy ... waddling, she walked around the table with small quick steps ...

From general 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 the novel's life. So in 1811 he will be six years old, and in 1820 - fifteen.

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

Tolstoy has numbers everywhere, and the numbers are exact, fractional. Age in War and Peace is undoubtedly functional. No wonder Dolokhov, beating Nikolai at cards, decided to continue playing until this record grows to forty-three thousand. This number was chosen by him because forty-three was the sum of his years added up over the years of Sonya .

Thus, all the age mismatches described above, and there are about thirty of them in the novel, are deliberate. What are they caused by?

Before proceeding to answer this question, I will note that, on average, in the course of novel time, Tolstoy makes each of his characters a year older than they should be (this is shown by calculations, which will be discussed later). Usually, the hero of a 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 age.

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

From the very beginning, it becomes obvious that good and bad characters age differently, disproportionately. ("Positive and negative" is, of course, a conditional concept, however, in Tolstoy, the polarity of a character is in most cases determined almost unambiguously. The author of "War and Peace" is surprisingly frank in his sympathies and antipathies). As shown above, Natasha matures more slowly than expected, while Vera, on the contrary, is faster. Boris, as a friend of Nikolai and a friend of the Rostov family, appears in his twenties; he, in the role of a secular acquaintance of Pierre and future husband of Julie Karagina, turns out to be much older in parallel. At the age of the heroes, it is as if a certain loose order, or rather, anti-order, is set. There is a feeling that the heroes are "fined" with an increase in age. Tolstoy, as it were, punishes his heroes with disproportionate aging.

There are, however, in the novel characters 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 disorder 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 charm of a freshly blossomed flower... It is her age that the calculating Dolokhov wins against Rostov in cards, adding to his own. But Sonya is rather an exception.

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

The question is not how old the hero is, the question is what age is fixed in the novel. Natasha is not entitled to more than sixteen; Marya is impermissible for a positive heroine, so not a word is said about her age; Helene, on the other hand, is defiantly young for a negative heroine, therefore, we will not know how old she is.

In the novel, a boundary is set, after which only negative characters already exist; the border, crossing which, the obviously positive hero simply ceases to exist in the space of age. In a completely symmetrical way, the negative character walks through the novel without age until he passes this border. Natasha loses her age at the age of sixteen. Julie Karagina, on the contrary, is gaining age, being no longer the first youth:

Julie was twenty seven years... After the death of her brothers, she became very rich. She was completely ugly now; 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, so as not to compromise her and not bind himself, now he went to her boldly every day and talked to her not as a young lady-bride, but as with an acquaintance who had no sex.

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

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

Or maybe Prince Vasily is not to blame? Maybe his purely negative children did not have a childhood at all. And it is not for nothing that Pierre, before making an offer to Helene, convinces himself that he knew her as a child. Was she even a child?

If we go from lyrics to numbers, then it turns out that there are positive characters in the novel at the age of 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, as well as 40, 45, 50, 58. The negative is 17, 20, 24, 25, 27. That is, the goodies from early youth immediately fall into respectable old age. For negative characters, senile age also, of course, happens, but the fractional age in their old age is less than that of positive ones. So, positive Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova says: Fifty eight years lived in the world ... The negative prince Vasily evaluates himself with less accuracy: to me sixty, a friend of mine...

In general, accurate calculations show that the aging coefficient in the space "positive-negative" 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.

Now let's talk about two heroines who are emphatically ageless. These heroines are Helene and Princess Marya, which in itself is not accidental.

Helene symbolizes eternal beauty and youth in the novel. Her righteousness, her strength is in this inexhaustible youth. Time seems to have no power over her: Elena Vasilievna, so she and at fifty will be beautiful... Pierre, persuading himself to marry Helene, as her main virtue also leads to her age. He recalls that he knew her as a child. He says to himself: No, she is beautiful young woman! She is not bad female!

Helene is the eternal bride. With her husband alive, she chooses a new groom with charming spontaneity, and one of the applicants is young, and the other is old. Helen dies under mysterious circumstances, preferring the old adorer to the young, that is, as if she chooses old age and death, giving up her privilege of enduring youth, and dissolves into nothingness.

Princess Marya also has no age, and it is not possible to calculate it from the final version of the novel. Indeed, in 1811, she, dry old 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 this moment she is in no way less than thirty-five years old, an age not 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 concreteness and “final directness,” the uncertainty in the images of Helene and Marya is partly removed. There, in 1805, Marya was twenty years old: the old prince himself was engaged in the education of 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 there, too, dies not from an excess of youth ...

4. FIRST COMPLETED VERSION OF THE ROMAN

The first version of War and Peace helps solve many of the riddles posed in the final version of the novel. What is very vaguely read in the final version appears in the early version with striking clarity for the novel's narration. The space of age here is not yet saturated with that romantic understatement that the modern reader encounters. Deliberate precision borders on banality. It is not surprising that in the final version of the novel Tolstoy refuses such meticulousness. Mention of age becomes one and a half times less. Behind the scenes, there are a lot of interesting details, which will not be superfluous to mention here.

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

Thus, at the beginning of the novel, Anatol is twenty-two years old, his friend Dolokhov is twenty-five, 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 emphasized.)

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

The early version also clarifies the age for us. Boris: Hélène called him mon hage and treated him like a child ... Sometimes, in Pierr's rare moments, the thought occurred to him that this patronizing friendship for an imaginary child who was 23 years old had something unnatural.

These considerations refer to the fall of 1809, that is, at the beginning of the novel Boris is nineteen years old, and his future bride Julie - twenty one if you count her age back from the moment of their wedding. Initially, Julie, apparently, was assigned the role of a prettier heroine in the novel: A tall, plump, proud-looking lady with pretty daughter, rustling 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 is her original name) will already be that "sexless" being as we know her from the final version.

Dolokhov in the first version of the novel wins over Nicholas 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 at my time.

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

“And you are singing,” said Prince Andrew. He spoke these simple words, looking straight into the beautiful eyes of this 15 year old girls.

Such a number of age occurrences allows us to establish that Natasha was born in the autumn of 1791. Thus, at her first ball, she shines at eighteen, and by no means 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, promised nothing more than what was in her, but that was enough.

In fact, Natasha is in her twenties at this moment, and Sonya is at least a year and a half older.

Unlike many other heroes, Prince Andrew does not have an exact age in the first version of the novel. Instead of the textbook thirty-one, 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 believe that Natasha and Pierre in the first edition are the same heroes 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, an early version of the novel allows us to verify the accuracy of the calculations made for the final text, and to ensure that these calculations are correct.

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

It's not long left to live -

I am 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 from age" in the novel is 0.097, which translated into human language means the year of the novel's aging by ten lived years, that is, a ten-year-old hero may 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 gives the ages of his heroes, how he evaluates them on the scale of "young - old". Let's start from the very beginning.

5.1. Up to ten years

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was very fond of children.

Sometimes they brought him a full room. Step

there is nowhere to step, and he still shouts: More! Yet!

D. Harms

Harms is certainly right. There are many infant characters in the novel. What they have in common is, perhaps, that they do not seem to be independent units, endowed with their own problems and experiences. The age of up to ten years is, as it were, a signal that the hero will, in fact, be a small mouthpiece for the author. Children in the novel see the world surprisingly subtly and correctly, they are engaged in a systematic "defamiliarization" of the environment. They, not spoiled by the burden of civilization, are more successful than adults in solving their moral problems and, at the same time, they are, as it were, completely devoid of reason. Therefore, such young characters, whose number will grow to incredible limits by the final, look very artificial:

In five minutes little black-eyed three-year Natasha, her father's favorite, having learned from her brother that papa was sleeping in a 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, - papa wants to sleep.

- No, mom, he doesn't want to sleep, - little Natasha answered convincingly, - he laughs.

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

Only Andrey's granddaughter, Malash, six year old girl, to whom the Most Serene Highness, having caressed her, gave a lump of sugar for tea, remained on the stove in a large hut ... Malasha ... otherwise understood the meaning of this advice. It seemed to her that it was only a personal struggle between the "grandfather" and the "long-sex", as she called Beningsen.

Amazing insight!

The last character in age who shows signs of the same "childish-unconscious" behavior as all Tolstoy's juvenile characters is the eternally sixteen-year-old Natasha Rostova:

In the middle of the stage were girls in red bodices and white skirts. They all sang something. When they finished their song, the girl in white approached the prompter's booth, and a man in tight-fitting silk trousers with thick legs, with a feather and a dagger, came up to 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. Not for their age, adult children look like young old people. Striving for globality, the author of "War and Peace" loses little things, the individuality of babies, for example, Lev Nikolayevich's children do not go by piece, but in a set: At the table were mother, old woman Belova who lived with her, wife, three children, governess, tutor, nephew with his tutor, Sonya, Denisov, Natasha, her three children, their governess and old man Mikhail Ivanovich, the prince's architect, who lived in the Lysyh Gory alone.

Individuality in this enumeration is due to everyone, even to the old woman Belova, whom we meet for the first and last time. Even the tutor, and the governess, and even the tutor do not merge into the generalizing concept of "tutors". And only children, sexless and faceless, go in a crowd. Kharms had something to parody.

A.E. Bersom in 1863 wrote a letter to his friend, Count Tolstoy, in which he reported on a fascinating conversation between young people about the events of 1812. Then Lev Nikolaevich decided to write a grandiose work about that heroic time. Already in October 1863, in one of his letters to a relative, the writer wrote that he had never felt such creative powers in himself; the new work, according to him, would not be similar to any that he had done before.

Initially, the main character of the work should be a Decembrist returning from exile in 1856. Then Tolstoy postponed the beginning of the novel to the day of the uprising in 1825, but then the artistic time shifted to 1812. Apparently, the count was afraid that the novel would not be missed for political reasons, because even Nicholas the First tightened the censorship, fearing a repetition of the riot. Since the Patriotic War directly depends on the events of 1805, it was this period in the final version that became the foundation for the beginning of the book.

"Three pores" - this is how Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy called his work. It was planned that in the first part or time it would be told about the young Decembrists, participants in the war; in the second - a direct description of the Decembrist uprising; in the third - the second half of the 19th century, the sudden death of Nicholas 1, the defeat of the Russian army in the Crimean War, amnesty for the participants of the opposition movement, who, returning from exile, expect changes.

It should be noted that the writer rejected all the works of historians, basing many episodes of "War and Peace" on the memoirs of participants and witnesses of the war. Materials from newspapers and magazines also served as excellent informants. In the Rumyantsev Museum, the author read unpublished documents, letters from maids of honor and generals. Tolstoy spent several days in Borodino, and in his letters to his wife he enthusiastically wrote that if God gave him health, he would describe the Battle of Borodino in a way that no one had described before.

The author devoted 7 years of his life to the creation of War and Peace. There are 15 variations of the beginning of the novel, the writer has repeatedly abandoned and re-started his book. Tolstoy foresaw the global scope of his descriptions, wanted to create something innovative and created an epic novel worthy of representing the literature of our country on the world stage.

Themes "War and Peace"

1. Family theme. It is the family that determines the upbringing, psychology, views and moral foundations of a person, therefore it naturally occupies one of the central places in the novel. The forge of morals forms the characters of the heroes, influences the dialectics of their souls throughout the entire narrative. The description of the Bolkonsky, Bezukhov, Rostov and Kuragin family reveals the author's thoughts about domesticism and the importance that he attaches to family values.
2. The theme of the people. The glory for a won war always belongs to the commander or the emperor, and the people, without whom this glory would not have appeared, remains in the shadows. It is this problem that the author raises, showing the vanity of the vanity of military officials and elevating ordinary soldiers. became the theme of one of our compositions.
3. War theme. Descriptions of hostilities exist relatively separate from the novel, on their own. It is here that phenomenal Russian patriotism is revealed, which became the guarantee of victory, the boundless courage and fortitude of a soldier who goes to great lengths to save the homeland. The author introduces us to war scenes through the eyes of this or that hero, plunging the reader into the depths of the bloodshed taking place. Large-scale battles echo the spiritual torment of the heroes. Being at the crossroads of life and death reveals the truth to them.
4. The theme of life and death. Tolstoy's characters are divided into "living" and "dead". The former include Pierre, Andrei, Natasha, Marya, Nikolai, and the latter include old Bezukhov, Helen, Prince Vasily Kuragin and his son Anatole. The "living" are constantly in motion, and not so much physical as internal, dialectical (their souls come to harmony through a series of trials), while the "dead" hide behind masks and come to tragedy and internal split. Death in "War and Peace" is presented in 3 hypostases: bodily or physical death, moral and awakening through death. Life is comparable to the burning of a candle, someone's light is small, with flashes of bright light (Pierre), for someone it is tirelessly burning (Natasha Rostova), the vibrating light of Masha. There are also 2 hypostases: physical life, like that of “dead” characters, whose immorality deprives the world within the necessary harmony, and the life of a “soul” is about heroes of the first type, they will be remembered after death.

main characters

• Andrey Bolkonsky- a nobleman disenchanted with the world and seeking glory. The hero is handsome, has dry features, short, but athletic build. Andrei dreams of being famous like Napoleon, so he goes to war. He is bored with high society, even a pregnant wife does not give comfort. Bolkonsky changes his outlook when, wounded at the battle in Austerlitz, he collided with Napoleon, who seemed to him a fly, along with all his glory. Further, the love that flared up for Natasha Rostova also changes the views of Andrei, who finds the strength to re-live a full and happy life after the death of his wife. He meets death on the Borodino field, since he does not find in his heart the strength to forgive people and not fight them. The author shows the struggle in his soul, hinting that the prince is a man of war, he cannot get along in an atmosphere of peace. So, he forgives Natasha for treason only on his deathbed, and dies in harmony with himself. But the acquisition of this harmony was possible only in this way - for the last time. We wrote more about his character in the essay "".
• Natasha Rostova- a cheerful, sincere, eccentric girl. Knows how to love. He has a wonderful voice, captivating the most picky music critics. In the work, we first see her as a 12-year-old girl, on her name day. Throughout the entire work, we observe the growing up of a young girl: first love, first ball, Anatole's betrayal, guilt before Prince Andrei, the search for his “I”, including in religion, the death of her lover (Andrei Bolkonsky). We analyzed her character in the composition "". In the epilogue, from a cocky lover of "Russian dances", Pierre Bezukhov's wife, his shadow, appears in front of us.
• Pierre Bezukhov- a plump young man who was unexpectedly bequeathed a title and a large fortune. Pierre reveals himself through what is happening around him, from each event he brings out morality and a life lesson. Confidence is given to him by a wedding with Helene, after disappointment in her, he finds interest in Freemasonry, and in the finale he gains warm feelings for Natasha Rostova. The battle of Borodino and the capture of the French taught him not to philosophize onion and find happiness in helping others. These conclusions led to his acquaintance with Platon Karataev, a poor man who, while awaiting death in a cell without normal food and clothes, took care of the "little man" Bezukhov and found the strength to support him. we have already considered.
• Graph Ilya Andreevich Rostov- a loving family man, luxury was his weakness, which led to financial problems in the family. The softness and weakness of his disposition, his inability to live, make him helpless and pitiful.
• Countess Natalia Rostova- the Count's wife, has an oriental flavor, knows how to present herself correctly in society, loves her own children excessively. A calculating woman: trying to upset the wedding of Nikolai and Sonya, since she was not rich. It was her cohabitation with a weak husband that made her so strong and firm.
• Nickolay Rostov- the eldest son is kind, open-minded, with curly hair. Wasteful and weak in spirit, like a father. Wastes the family's fortune into cards. He longed for glory, but after participating in a number of battles, he realizes how useless and cruel war is. Family well-being and spiritual harmony finds in marriage with Marya Bolkonskaya.
• Sonya Rostova- the count's niece - small, thin, with a black braid. She had a reasonable character and a kind disposition. All her life she was devoted to one man, but let go of her beloved Nikolai, having learned about his love for Marya. Tolstoy elevates and values ​​her humility.
• Nikolay Andreevich Bolkonsky- a prince, has an analytical mindset, but a heavy, categorical and unfriendly character. Too strict, therefore he does not know how to show love, although he has warm feelings for children. Dies from a second blow to Bogucharovo.
• Marya Bolkonskaya- modest, loving relatives, ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of loved ones. L.N. Tolstoy especially emphasizes the beauty of her eyes and the ugliness of her face. In her image, the author shows that the beauty of forms does not replace spiritual wealth. detailed in the essay.
• Helen Kuragina- Pierre's ex-wife is a beautiful woman, a socialite. She loves male society and knows how to get what she wants, although she is vicious and stupid.
• Anatol Kuragin- brother Helen - good-looking and well-suited to high society. Immoral, lacking moral principles, he wanted to secretly marry Natasha Rostova, although he already had a wife. Life punishes him with martyrdom on the battlefield.
• Fedor Dolokhov- an officer and leader of the partisans, not tall, has bright eyes. It successfully combines selfishness and care for loved ones. Vicious, passionate, but attached to the family.

Favorite hero of Tolstoy

In the novel, the author's sympathy and antipathy for the heroes is clearly felt. As for female images, the writer gives his love to Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya. Tolstoy appreciated the real feminine principle in girls - devotion to a lover, the ability to remain always blooming in the eyes of her husband, the knowledge of happy motherhood and caring. His heroines are ready for self-denial for the good of others.

The writer is fascinated by Natasha, the heroine finds the strength to live even after Andrei's death, she directs love to her mother after the death of her brother Petit, seeing how hard it is for her. The heroine is reborn, realizing that life is not over as long as she has a bright feeling for her neighbor. Rostov shows patriotism, without a doubt helping the wounded.

Marya also finds happiness in helping others, in feeling herself needed by someone. Bolkonskaya becomes a mother for Nikolushka's nephew, taking him under her "wing". She worries about ordinary men who have nothing to eat, letting the problem through herself, does not understand how the rich can not help the poor. In the final chapters of the book, Tolstoy is mesmerized by his heroines, who have matured and found female happiness.

Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky became the favorite male characters of the writer. For the first time, Bezukhov appears before the reader as a clumsy, plump, short youth who appears in Anna Scherer's drawing room. Despite his ridiculous, ridiculous appearance, Pierre is smart, but the only person who accepts him for who he is is Bolkonsky. The prince is brave and stern, his courage and honor come in handy on the battlefield. Both men risk their lives to save their homeland. Both are rushing about in search of themselves.

Of course, L.N. Tolstoy brings his favorite heroes together, only in the case of Andrei and Natasha, happiness is short-lived, Bolkonsky dies young, and Natasha and Pierre find family happiness. Marya and Nikolai also found harmony in each other's society.

Genre of the work

"War and Peace" opens the genre of the epic novel in Russia. The features of any novels are successfully combined here: from family and everyday life to memoirs. The prefix "epic" means that the events described in the novel cover a significant historical phenomenon and reveal its essence in all its diversity. Usually in a work of this genre there are a lot of storylines and characters, since the scale of the work is very large.

The epic character of Tolstoy's work is that he not only invented a plot about a well-known historical accomplishment, but also enriched it with details gleaned from the memories of eyewitnesses. The author did a lot to ensure that the book was based on documentary sources.

The relationship between the Bolkonsky and Rostovs was also not invented by the author: he painted the history of his family, the merger of the Volkonsky and Tolstoy clans.

Main problems

1. The problem of finding real life... Let's take Andrei Bolkonsky as an example. He dreamed of recognition and glory, and the surest way to earn authority and adoration was military exploits. Andrei made plans to save the army with his own hand. Bolkonsky constantly saw pictures of battles and victories, but he was wounded and went home. Here, in front of Andrei's eyes, his wife dies, completely shaking the prince's inner world, then he realizes that there is no joy in the murders and suffering of the people. Not worth it a career. The search for oneself continues, because the original meaning of life has been lost. The problem is that it is difficult to find it.
2. The problem of happiness. Take Pierre, who is being torn away from the empty society by Helene and the war. In a vicious woman, he soon becomes disillusioned, illusory happiness deceived him. Bezukhov, like his friend Bolkonsky, tries to find a vocation in the struggle and, like Andrei, abandons this search. Pierre was not born for the battlefield. As you can see, any attempts to find bliss and harmony turn into a collapse of hopes. As a result, the hero returns to his former life and finds himself in a quiet family haven, but only making his way through the thorns, he found his star.
3. The problem of the people and the great man... The epic novel clearly expresses the idea of ​​commanders-in-chief, inseparable from the people. A great man must share the opinion of his soldiers, live by the same principles and ideals. Not a single general or tsar would have received his glory if this glory had not been presented to him on a "silver platter" by the soldiers, in whom the main strength lies. But many rulers do not cherish it, but despise it, and this should not be, because injustice hurts people painfully, even more painful than bullets. The people's war in the events of 1812 is shown on the side of the Russians. Kutuzov takes care of the soldiers, sacrifices Moscow for them. They feel this, mobilize the peasants and unleash a partisan struggle, which exterminates the enemy and finally drives him out.
4. The problem of true and false patriotism. Of course, patriotism is revealed through the images of Russian soldiers, the description of the heroism of the people in the main battles. The false patriotism in the novel is represented by Count Rostopchin. He distributes ridiculous pieces of paper in Moscow, and then escapes the anger of people by sending his son Vereshchagin to certain death. We have written an article on this topic called "".

What is the meaning of the book?

The writer himself speaks of the true meaning of the epic novel in his lines about greatness. Tolstoy believes that there is no greatness where there is no simplicity of the soul, good intentions and a sense of justice.

L.N. Tolstoy expressed greatness through the people. In the images of battle paintings, an ordinary soldier shows unprecedented courage, which causes pride. Even the most fearful awakened in themselves a sense of patriotism, which, like an unknown and violent force, brought victory to the Russian army. The writer protested against false greatness. When put on the scales (here you can find their comparative characteristics), the latter remains flying up: its fame is lightweight, since it has very flimsy bases. The image of Kutuzov is "popular", none of the generals has ever been so close to the common people. Napoleon, on the other hand, is only reaping the fruits of fame, it is not for nothing that when the wounded Bolkonsky lies on the Austerlitz field, the author shows Bonaparte with his eyes like a fly in this vast world. Lev Nikolaevich sets a new trend of a heroic character. It becomes the "people's choice".

An open soul, patriotism and a sense of justice won not only in the war of 1812, but also in life: heroes who were guided by moral postulates and the voice of their hearts became happy.

Family Thought

L.N. Tolstoy was very sensitive to the topic of the family. So, in his novel "War and Peace" the writer shows that the state, as a family, transmits values ​​and traditions from generation to generation, and good human qualities are also sprouts from roots that go back to the forefathers.

A brief description of families in the novel "War and Peace":

1. Of course, the beloved family of L.N. Tolstoy were the Rostovs. Their family was famous for its cordiality and hospitality. It is in this family that the author's values ​​of real home comfort and happiness are reflected. The writer considered the destiny of a woman to be motherhood, maintaining comfort in the home, devotion and the ability to sacrifice. This is how all the women of the Rostov family are depicted. There are 6 people in the family: Natasha, Sonya, Vera, Nikolai and parents.
2. Another family is the Bolkonskys. Restraint of feelings reigns here, the severity of Father Nikolai Andreevich, canonicity. Women here are more like "shadows" of husbands. Andrei Bolkonsky will inherit the best qualities, becoming a worthy son of his father, and Marya will learn patience and humility.
3. The Kuragin family is the best personification of the proverb "oranges will not be born from an aspen." Helene, Anatole, Hippolyte are cynical, looking for benefits in people, stupid and not a bit sincere in what they do and say. "The show of masks" is their lifestyle, and with this they completely went into their father - Prince Vasily. There are no friendly and warm relations in the family, which is reflected in all its members. L.N. Tolstoy especially dislikes Helene, who was incredibly beautiful on the outside, but completely empty on the inside.

The thought of the people

She is the central line of the novel. As we remember from the above, L.N. Tolstoy rejected the generally accepted historical sources, basing his "War and Peace" on memoirs, notes, letters from maids of honor and generals. The writer was not interested in the course of the war as a whole. Individuals taken separately, fragments - that's what the author needed. Each person had his place and meaning in this book, like pieces of a puzzle, which, when assembled correctly, will reveal a wonderful picture - the power of national unity.

The Patriotic War changed something inside each of the characters in the novel, each made his own small contribution to the victory. Prince Andrei believes in the Russian army and fights with dignity, Pierre wants to destroy the French ranks from their very hearts - by killing Napoleon, Natasha Rostova immediately gives carts to crippled soldiers, Petya bravely fights in partisan detachments.

The people's will to win is clearly felt in the scenes of the Borodino battle, the battle for Smolensk, and the partisan battle with the French. The latter is especially memorable for the novel, because volunteers from the ordinary peasant class fought in the partisan movements - the detachments of Denisov and Dolokhov personify the movement of the entire nation when "young and old" stood up to defend their homeland. Later they would be called "the cudgel of the people's war."

War of 1812 in Tolstoy's novel

The war of 1812, as a turning point in the lives of all the heroes of the novel "War and Peace", has been said more than once above. It was also said that it was won by the people. Let's look at the issue from a historical perspective. L.N. Tolstoy draws 2 images: Kutuzov and Napoleon. Of course, both images are drawn through the eyes of a native of the people. It is known that the character of Bonaparte was thoroughly described in the novel only after the writer was convinced of the just victory of the Russian army. The author did not understand the beauty of war, he was its opponent, and through the lips of his heroes Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov, he speaks of the senselessness of its very idea.

The Patriotic War was a national liberation war. She took a special place on pages 3 and 4 of volumes.

General-Field Marshal Prince, Adjutant Wing Count, son-in-law of the commander Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. All three led the soldiers into the attack under heavy fire with a battle banner in their hands. All three were wounded, only Prince Volkonsky survived. 1

Tolstoy about the hero: “There I will be sent,” he thought, “with a brigade or a division, and there, with a banner in hand, I will go forward and break everything in front of me.”

“At that time a new face entered the drawing-room. The new face was the young prince Andrei Bolkonsky, the husband of the little princess. Prince Bolkonsky was short, a very handsome young man with definite and dry features. ... not only were acquaintances, but he was so tired of him that he was very bored to look at them and listen to them. "

Take a look at the painting by Adolph Ladürner, The Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace, with Prince Pyotr Volkonsky in the center. See how accurate Tolstoy is.

All photographs of the heroes of the novel are taken from the film "War and Peace" (1965).

Count Nikolay Rostov

Prototype: father of the writer, count.

Tolstoy about the hero: "... So much nobility, true youth, which you meet so rarely in our age between our twenty-year-olds! .."

Count Pierre Bezukhov

Tolstoy about the hero:"... When moments of cruelty were found on him, like those in which he tied the quartermaster with a bear and let him float, or when he challenged a man to a duel for no reason, or killed a driver's horse with a pistol ..."; "... Dolokhov (also a partisan with a small party)."

Princess Helen Kuragina (Countess Bezukhova)

Prototype: H; beloved of the chancellor, Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov, who became the morganatic wife of Duke Nikolai Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg, grandson of Nicholas I (Tolstoy has a "young blond man with a long face and nose") 3.

Tolstoy about the heroine: "In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed the special patronage of a nobleman who held one of the highest positions in the state. In Vilna, she became close to a young foreign prince. When she returned to Petersburg, the prince and nobleman<>both claimed their rights, and Helen presented herself with a new task in her career: to maintain her close relationship with both, without offending either one. "

Vasily Denisov

Prototype:, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, a hussar who, like the hero of the novel, fought in a partisan detachment.

Tolstoy about the hero: "... Denisov, to Rostov's surprise, in a new uniform, pomaded and perfumed, appeared in the living room as dandy as he was in battles ..."

Artillery Staff Captain Tushin

Prototypes: Major General of Artillery Ilya Timofeevich Radozhitsky and Staff Captain of Artillery Yakov Ivanovich Sudakov. In character he resembled the brother of the writer Nikolai Nikolaevich.

Tolstoy about the hero:"... Tushin appeared on the threshold, timidly making his way from behind the generals. Walking around the generals in a cramped hut, confused, as always, at the sight of his superiors ..."

Baron Alphonse Karlovich Berg

Prototype: Field Marshal, Baron, then Count 4. In the rank of second lieutenant of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, he was wounded at Austerlitz in his right hand, but, having shifted the sword to his left hand, remained in the ranks until the end of the battle. For this he was awarded the Golden Sword "For Bravery" 5.

Tolstoy about the hero: “It was not for nothing that Berg showed everyone his right hand, wounded in the Battle of Austerlitz, and held a completely unnecessary sword in his left. ".

Anna Pavlovna Sherer

Prototype: maid of honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of the great poet.

Tolstoy about the heroine:"... The famous Anna Pavlovna Sherer, maid of honor and close to Empress Maria Feodorovna ..."

Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova

Prototype:, which had a scandalous reputation in high society. "She was portrayed with photographic precision, right down to the surname and the pumping of the sleeves, as is known, by Leo Tolstoy in" War and Peace "6.

Tolstoy about the heroine:Akhrosimova is known "not for wealth, not for honors, but for her directness of mind and frank simplicity of treatment."

LEVOCHKA MAY BE WILL DESCRIBE US WHEN HE IS 50 YEARS OLD. SA TOLSTAYA - TO SISTER. NOVEMBER 11, 1862

1. The Patriotic War of 1812 and the liberation campaign of the Russian army in 1813-1814. Encyclopedia: In 3 volumes. T. 1. M .: Russian political encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2012. P. 364; In the same place. T. 3.P. 500.
2. The Patriotic War of 1812 and the liberation campaign of the Russian army in 1813-1814. Encyclopedia: In 3 volumes.Vol. 1.M .: Russian political encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2012. P. 410.
3. Ekshtut S.A. Nadine, or the Novel of a High-class Lady through the Eyes of the Secret Political Police. M .: Consent, 2001.S. 97-100.
4. Patriotic War of 1812 and the liberation campaign of the Russian army in 1813-1814. Encyclopedia: In 3 volumes.Vol. 1.M .: Russian political encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2012. P. 623.
5. Ekshtut S.A. Everyday life of the Russian intelligentsia from the era of the Great Reforms to the Silver Age. M .: Molodaya gvardiya, 2012.S. 252.
6. Gershenzon M.O. Griboedovskaya Moscow. M .: Moscow worker, 1989.S. 83.

Andrey Bolkonsky.

One of the main characters in the novel is Andrei Bolkonsky. A handsome prince who dreams of military glory. For Andrey, the most important thing in life is his duty to the Motherland. The mature prince was in love with the young Countess Natasha Rostova. He suffered many emotional experiences, as well as betrayal on the part of Natasha. But when a lot of time passed, and fate brought them together with Natasha again, but this time life turned out to be unfair. The hero's life ends tragically, he dies from a bullet wound received in battle.

Natasha Rostova.

The young heroine, who is surrounded by wealth, is loved by her parents. The girl is very lively, cheerful, sincere. She is educated. She was in love with Andrei Bolkonsky. But life prepared them many tests. Her fate was brought down by the war. The lovers were never meant to be together. Later she married Pierre Bezukhov, gave birth to children and found peace in family life. But this was not as bright and active Natasha as several years ago.

Pierre Bezukhov.

Another important hero who inherited a valuable fortune from his father after his death. The hero is kind and naive, he was of a strong constitution. Previously, he was married to a beautiful woman Helene, this led to bad consequences. Later he married young Natalia Rostova. Pierre's personality changed over time and later he became a confident man who is able to achieve his goal and has his own views on life.

Ilya Andreevich Rostov.

He is a count, he is a kind and sympathetic person. He loves to live in luxurious conditions. He often organized fabulous balls. He is very fond of his spouse, as well as children.

Nikolay Rostov.

He is the eldest son of the Rostovs. He is honest, kind and helpful. He was married to Maria Bolkonskaya. And he found personal happiness and peace with her.

Sonya.

A fragile slender girl, she is kind and smart. She was in love with Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, but after learning that his heart belonged to another woman, she decided not to interfere with his happiness.

Helen Kuragina.

The heroine is Pierre's first wife. The woman did not differ in particular intelligence, but thanks to her bright appearance and sociability, she was able to open her salon in St. Petersburg.

Anatoly Kuragin.

He is the brother of Helen. Outwardly, he is as adorable as his sister. He preferred to live for his own pleasure. Being married, you want to steal Natasha and marry her.

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