In the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy draws many female images. Natasha Rostova, one of the author's favorite heroines, Marya Bolkonskaya, to whom Tolstoy treats with the same warmth and sympathy, is opposed by the beautiful, depraved and pathologically stupid Princess Helen Kuragina, who embodied all the filth of the capital's society, Princess Drubetskaya is a mother hen, young "Little Princess" Lisa Bolkonskaya is a gentle and mournful angel. Less space is given in the novel to Vera Rostova, Sonya, a pupil of the Rostov family, and other women who play an episodic role. Tolstoy's attitude towards all women is rather peculiar. Gorky noticed this when he wrote about Tolstoy: “Most of all, he spoke about God, about a man and a woman. To a woman, in my opinion, he was irreconcilably hostile and loves to punish her - if she is not Kitty and not Natasha Rostova, a woman is a limited creature ... ”Yes, Tolstoy really loved his heroine Natasha Rostova. Her image is most fully revealed in the novel. Who is Natasha Rostova?
When Marya Bolkonskaya asked Pierre to tell about Natasha, he was at an impasse: “I definitely don’t know what kind of girl this is. She is charming. Why, I don't know. That's all there is to say about her." Natasha is not at all interested in intellectual life and public interests. One cannot even say whether she is smart, “she does not deign to be smart,” as Pierre put it in the same conversation with Princess Mary. But it surprisingly exerts a powerful influence on the moral formation and mental life of Prince Andrei and Pierre. For Natasha, there is no difficult question about the meaning of being, which Andrey and Pierre are thinking about and trying to solve. But it decides this question, as if by the way, by the very fact of its existence.
After meeting with Natasha, Andrey's views on life change dramatically.
Natasha is always sweet, beautiful. Being close to another person, she heals and renews him, and no one can understand how she does it. Natasha, unaware of that, determines the social behavior of people - such is her role in the life of Prince Andrei and Pierre. By her behavior, Natasha separates people from everything false, helps them to unite on some common basis. Even Drubetskoy is attracted by the force emanating from Natasha. Firmly at first intending to make it clear to Natasha that the relationship that once connected them, quite back in childhood, cannot be renewed, Boris finds a completely different Natasha, whom he knew before. Now he can no longer see her, visits Helen less often, leaves as if in a fog, not knowing how it could end, and is completely confused.
Natasha sincerely loves Andrei Bolkonsky, brings him back to life. The episode with Anatole Kuragin is nothing more than a mistake. Her pure soul could not see the falsity of this person, because she could not allow impure thoughts in other people.
In the epilogue, we see a happy Natasha. Tolstoy draws her as a loving and beloved wife and caring mother, and he himself admires this new role of hers.
Also, Tolstoy's favorite heroine is Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. The meek and gentle Princess Marya was brought up without a mother, her father, although madly in love with her daughter, made increased demands on her. Nevertheless, she always meekly endured the whims and nit-picking of her father, never contradicted him and did not consider the punishments unfair. Submission and religiosity, over which her father teased, are combined in her with a thirst for simple human happiness. Her obedience is that of a daughter who has no moral right to judge her father. But at the same time, she is a strong and courageous person with a developed sense of self-worth. It was this feeling that helped her to show the necessary firmness when Anatole Kuragin wooed her. Marya longs for happiness, but she cannot marry the unloved.
Marya shows the same fortitude when her patriotic feelings are offended. She even forbade her French companion to be allowed in, having learned that she was connected with the enemy command. The richness of her inner world is evidenced by her diary dedicated to children, and her ennobling influence on her husband. Tolstoy lovingly describes the "radiant eyes" that make beautiful her ugly face. Princess Marya is a deep and sincere nature, she, like Natasha, is alien to pettiness, envy, falsehood, hypocrisy. Her spiritual softness, inner nobility aroused sincere love in Nikolai Rostov. The softness of Marya has a beneficial effect on their family life.
In the images of Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya, Tolstoy reflects the typical features of the best representatives of the noble environment of the 19th century.
If Natasha and Marya are beautiful inner beauty, then Helen Kuragina is very beautiful in appearance, but there is no sublime in her beauty, she excites disgust. Helen is selfish and therefore in all her actions she is guided only by her own whims. Helen is really beautiful on the outside, but mentally ugly, undeveloped and vulgar. Helen is well aware of her beauty and knows how it affects others. Yes, they admire it, but they admire it only as a beautiful and precious thing. She uses it for personal purposes. Let us recall the episode when Helen seduces Pierre. Did she love him? Hardly. She loved his money. After all, when Pierre was just the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov, few people from Helen's society and her ilk were interested in him. Only after receiving the inheritance did he become desirable in all homes. Helen set a trap for him. She, one might say, forced him to say: "I love you." The outcome was predetermined. She married Pierre, became rich, which means she got power in her hands.
Helen is also tested by the war of 1812, which reveals in her a vile and insignificant creature. She dreams of a new marriage with a living husband, for which she even converts to Catholicism, while the whole people unite against the enemy under the banner of Orthodoxy. Helen's death is natural and inevitable. Tolstoy does not even indicate the exact cause of her death, it is no longer important to him. Helen is spiritually dead.
Vera Rostova plays an episodic role in the novel. This is Natasha's older sister, but they are so different from each other that we are even surprised at their relationship. Tolstoy draws her as a cold, unkind woman who values the opinion of the world too much and always acts in accordance with its laws. Vera is unlike the entire Rostov family.
Another woman of the Rostov family is Sonya. Tolstoy condemns and dislikes this heroine, makes her lonely at the end of the novel and calls her a "barren flower". But, in my opinion, she is capable of evoking sympathy. Sonya sincerely loves Nikolai, she can be kind and selfless. It is not she herself who is to blame for their break with Nikolai, but Nikolai's parents are to blame. It is the Rostovs who insist that the wedding of Nikolai and Sonya be postponed. Yes, Sonya does not know how, like Natasha, to admire the beauty of the starry sky, but this does not mean that she does not see this beauty. Let's remember how beautiful this girl was at Christmas time during fortune-telling. She was not hypocritical and did not pretend, she was sincere and open. This is how Nikolai saw her. I do not quite agree with the author's statement that her wings are clipped for love. Sonya could do a lot with her love, even with a man like Dolokhov. Perhaps, with her devotion and selflessness, she would have revived and cleansed this person. After all, he knows how to love his mother.
Lisa Bolkonskaya is the little heroine of the novel, the wife of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. Tolstoy showed us very little of her, her life is just as short. We know that their family life did not go well with Andrei, and her father-in-law considered her the same as all other women who have more flaws than virtues. Nevertheless, she is a loving and faithful wife. She sincerely loves Andrey and misses him, but dutifully endures her husband's long absence. Liza's life is short and imperceptible, but not empty, little Nikolenka remained after her.
Tolstoy's attitude towards his heroines is also shown in the epilogue. Natasha is happy with Pierre, they have three daughters and a son. Marya and Nikolai are also happy. The family of Nikolai and Princess Marya Tolstoy is generally considered ideal, a model of family happiness. It is not for nothing that everyone is drawn to them and everyone gathers under the roof of the Lysogorsk estate: the Bezukhovs, and Denisov, and the old countess, and Sonya, who found the meaning of life in the service of the house, and Nikolenka Bolkonsky, who has long been orphaned. Even the peasants of the surrounding villages ask the Rostovs to buy them and thus include them in their world.
The female image in the novel "War and Peace" by L. N. Tolstoy is, one might say, the topic of a separate work. With its help, the author shows us his attitude to life, understanding of the happiness of a woman and her destiny. On the pages of the book there are many characters and destinies of the fair sex: Natasha Rostova, Maria Bolkonskaya, Lisa Bolkonskaya, Sonya, Helen Kuragina. Each of them is worthy of our attention and shows the attitude of the great writer to such a person. So, let's try to remember who embodies the female image in the novel "War and Peace". We will pay attention to several heroines that are found on the pages of the work.
Natasha Rostova at the beginning of the novel
This female image in the novel "War and Peace" requires the greatest attention of the author, it is to Natasha that he dedicates many pages of his creation. The heroine, of course, causes the most keen interest of readers. At the beginning of the work, she is a child, but a little later, a young enthusiastic girl appears before us. We can see how she gracefully dances, smiles, looks at life as a just ajar book, full of mysteries, miracles, adventures. This is an amazingly kind and open young lady who loves the whole world, trusts him. Every day of her life is a real holiday, she is the favorite of her parents. It seems that such an easy character will definitely give her a happy, carefree life with a loving husband.
She admires the beauty of the moonlit night, she sees something beautiful in every moment. Such enthusiasm wins the heart of Andrei Bolkonsky, who accidentally overheard the conversation between Natasha and Sonya. Natasha, of course, also falls in love with him easily, joyfully, selflessly. However, her feeling has not passed the test of time, with the same readiness she accepts the courtship of Anatole Kuragin. Andrei cannot forgive her for this, which he admits to his friend, Pierre Bezukhov. It is difficult to blame Natasha for infidelity, because she is so young, so she wants to learn more about life. Such is this young female image in the novel "War and Peace".
Natasha Rostov. Trials in life
However, the girl has a lot of trials that greatly change her character. Who knows, perhaps, if Natasha had not encountered life's difficulties, a narcissistic egoist would have grown out of her, thinking only about her own interests and joys, unable to make her husband and children happy.
She readily undertakes to take care of the dying Andrei Bolkonsky, showing herself as a completely mature, adult person.
After Andrey's death, Natasha grieves a lot and is very upset by his death. Now we are no longer a cheerful coquette, but a serious young woman who survived the loss.
The next blow in her life is the death of her brother Petya. She cannot indulge in grief, as her mother needs help, which is almost due to the loss of her son. Natasha spends day and night at her bedside, talking to her. Her gentle voice soothes the countess, who has turned from a youthful woman into an old woman.
We see before us a completely different captivating female image in the novel "War and Peace". Natasha Rostova is now completely different, she easily sacrifices her own interests for the sake of the happiness of others. It seems as if all the warmth that her parents gave her is now pouring out on those around her.
Natasha Rostova at the end of the novel
The favorite female image in the novel "War and Peace" is for many the image of Natasha Rostova. This heroine is also loved by the author himself, it is not without reason that he pays so much attention to her. At the end of the work, we see Natasha as the mother of a large family, who lives by taking care of her loved ones. Now she does not at all resemble the young girl who was in front of us on the first pages of the work. The happiness of this woman is the well-being and health of her children and her husband, Pierre. She is alien to empty pastime and idleness. She gives even more force to the love received at a tender age.
Of course, Natasha is not so graceful and beautiful now, she does not take care of herself very much, she wears simple clothes. This woman lives in the interests of people close to her, giving herself entirely to her husband and children.
Surprisingly, she is absolutely happy. It is known that a person is capable only when he lives in the interests of loved ones, because loved ones are an extension of ourselves. Love for children is also love for oneself, only in a broader sense.
This is how Leo Tolstoy described this amazing female image in the novel War and Peace. Natasha Rostova, it is difficult to talk about her briefly, is the ideal woman of the writer himself. He admires her graceful youth, admires the matured heroine and makes her a happy mother and wife. Tolstoy believed that the most great happiness for a woman, it is marriage and motherhood. Only then her life is filled with meaning.
L.N. Tolstoy also shows us how different female attractiveness can be. At a young age, admiration for the world, openness to everything new, of course, delight others. However, such behavior in an adult lady may seem ridiculous. Just imagine if the beauty of the night was admired not by a young girl, but by a lady of a more mature age. Most likely, she could look ridiculous. Every age has its own beauty. Caring for loved ones makes an adult woman happy, and her spiritual beauty makes others admire.
When high school students are asked to write an essay on the topic “My favorite female character in the novel War and Peace,” everyone, without exception, writes about Natasha Rostova, although, if desired, of course, one could write about someone else. This once again confirms that the generally accepted human values defined in the world for a long time, and the heroine of the novel, written more than a hundred years ago, still evokes sympathy.
Marya Bolkonskaya
Another favorite female character in the novel "War and Peace" is Marya Bolkonskaya, Andrei Bolkonsky's sister. Unlike Natasha, she did not have a lively character and attractiveness. As Tolstoy writes about Marya Nikolaevna, she was ugly: a weak body, a thin face. The girl resignedly obeyed her father, who wanted to develop activity and intelligence in her, being sure of the absolute clumsiness of her daughter. Her life consisted of classes in algebra and geometry.
However, the unusual decoration of the face of this woman was the eyes, which the author himself calls the mirror of the soul. It was they who made her face "more attractive than beauty." Marya Nikolaevna's eyes, large and always sad, radiated kindness. Such an author gives them an amazing description.
The female image in the novel "War and Peace", embodied by Marya Nikolaevna, is an absolute virtue. By the way the author writes about her, it becomes clear how much he admires such women, whose existence is sometimes imperceptible.
The sister of Andrei Bolkonsky, like Natasha, loves her family, although she was never spoiled, she was brought up in strictness. Marya tolerated her father, respected him. She could not even think of discussing the decisions of Nikolai Andreevich, she was in awe of everything he did.
Maria Nikolaevna is very impressionable and kind. She is upset by her father's bad mood, she sincerely rejoices at the arrival of her fiancé, Anatole Kuragin, in whom she sees kindness, masculinity, generosity.
Like any kind woman, Marya, of course, dreams of children. She endlessly believes in fate, in the will of the Almighty. Bolkonsky's sister does not dare to wish anything for herself, her noble deep nature is not capable of envy.
The naivety of Marya Nikolaevna does not allow her to see human vices. She sees in everyone a reflection of her own pure soul: love, kindness, decency.
Marya is one of those who are truly happy with the happiness of others. This smart and bright woman is simply not capable of anger, envy, revenge and other base feelings.
So, the second amazing female image in the novel "War and Peace" is Marya Bolkonskaya. Perhaps Tolstoy loves her no less than Natasha Rostova, although he does not pay much attention to her. She is like that ideal of the author, to which Natasha will come after many years. Having neither children nor family, she finds her happiness in giving warmth to other people.
Female happiness of Marya Bolkonskaya
Bolkonsky's sister was not mistaken: wanting nothing for herself, she nevertheless met a man who sincerely fell in love with her. Marya became the wife of Nikolai Rostov.
Two seemingly perfect different person matched perfectly. Each of them experienced disappointment: Marya - in Anatole Kuragin, Nikolai - in Alexander the First. Nikolai turned out to be the person who was able to increase the prosperity of the Bolkonsky family, making his wife's life happy.
Marya surrounds her husband with care and understanding: she approves of his desire to improve himself through hard work, through housekeeping and caring for the peasants.
The female image in the novel "War and Peace", embodied by Marya Bolkonskaya, is a portrait real woman who is accustomed to sacrificing herself for the well-being of others and from this to be happy.
Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova
Natasha Rostova, whom we see at the beginning of the work, is absolutely not like Marya: she wants happiness for herself. The sister of Andrei Bolkonsky, like her brother, puts a sense of duty, faith, and religion in the first place.
However, the older Natasha becomes, the more she resembles Princess Marya in that she wishes happiness for others. However, they are different. Natasha's happiness can be called more mundane, she lives with everyday chores and affairs.
Marya is more concerned about the spiritual well-being of loved ones.
Sonya
The niece of Natasha Rostova's father is another female image. In the novel "War and Peace" Sonya, it would seem, exists only to show best qualities Natasha.
This girl, on the one hand, is very positive: she is reasonable, decent, kind, ready to sacrifice herself. If we talk about her appearance, she is very good. This is a slender graceful brunette with long eyelashes and a luxurious braid.
Initially, Nikolai Rostov was in love with her, but they could not marry because Nikolai's parents insisted on postponing the wedding.
The life of a girl in more subject to reason, not feelings. Tolstoy does not really love this heroine, despite all her He leaves her lonely.
Lisa Bolkonskaya
Liza Bolkonskaya is, one might say, the heroine of the second plan, the wife of Prince Andrei. In the world, she is called the "little princess." She is remembered by readers thanks to a pretty upper lip with a mustache. Liza is an attractive person, even this small flaw gives the young woman her own unique charm. She is good, full of vitality and health. This woman easily endures her delicate position, everyone around is happy to look at her.
It is important for Lisa to be in the world, she is spoiled, even capricious. She is not inclined to think about the meaning of life, leads the usual way of life for a secular lady, loves empty talk in salons and at evening parties, enjoys new outfits. Bolkonsky's wife does not understand her husband, Prince Andrei, who considers it important to benefit society.
Lisa loves him superficially, as if they were just about to get married. For her, he is a background that fits into the ideas of secular ladies about what a spouse should be. Lisa does not understand his thoughts about the meaning of life, it seems to her that everything is simple.
It's hard for them to be together. Andrei is forced to accompany her to balls and other social events, which becomes completely unbearable for him.
This is perhaps the simplest female image in the novel "War and Peace". Liza Bolkonskaya remained unchanged from the first edition of the novel. Its prototype was the wife of one of Tolstoy's relatives, Princess Volkonskaya.
Despite the complete lack of understanding between the spouses, Andrei Bolkonsky, in a conversation with Pierre, notes that she - rare woman with which you can be calm for your own honor.
When Andrei leaves for the war, Liza settles in his father's house. Her superficiality is once again confirmed by the fact that she prefers to communicate with Mademoiselle Bourrienne, and not with Princess Mary.
Lisa had a presentiment that she would not be able to survive childbirth, and so it happened. She treated everyone with love and did not want harm to anyone. Her face spoke about this even after death.
The flaw in the character of Liza Bolkonskaya is that she is superficial and selfish. However, this does not prevent her from being gentle, affectionate, good-natured. She is a pleasant and cheerful companion.
However, Tolstoy treats her coldly. He does not like this heroine because of her spiritual emptiness.
Helen Kuragina
The last female image in the novel "War and Peace" is Helen Kuragina. Rather, this is the last heroine, which we will write about in this article.
Of all the women who appear on the pages of this grandiose novel, Helen is by far the most beautiful and luxurious.
Behind her beautiful appearance are selfishness, vulgarity, intellectual and spiritual underdevelopment. Helen realizes the power of her beauty and uses it.
Everything she wants, she achieves at the expense of her own appearance. Having got used to this state of affairs, this woman stopped striving for personal development.
Helen becomes the wife of Pierre Bezukhov solely because of his rich inheritance. She does not really seek to create a strong family, to give birth to children.
The War of 1812 finally puts everything in its place. For the sake of her own well-being, Helen accepts Catholicism, while her compatriots unite against the enemy. This woman, whose image can be called "dead", really dies.
Undoubtedly, the most beautiful outwardly female image in the novel "War and Peace" is Helen. Tolstoy admires her shoulders at the first ball of Natasha Rostova, but he interrupts her life, considering such an existence meaningless.
Lisa Bolkonskaya, Helen Kuragina and Natasha Rostova
As mentioned above, the deaths of Lisa and Helen were not accidental. They both lived for themselves, were capricious, selfish.
Let's remember what Natasha Rostova was like at the beginning of the novel. Just like Lisa Bolkonskaya, she admired the balls, the high society.
Like Helen Kuraginu, she was attracted to something forbidden, inaccessible. It was for this reason that she was going to run away with Anatole.
However, Natasha's high spirituality does not allow her to remain forever a superficial fool and plunge, like Helen, into a depraved life. main character novel accepts the difficulties that have fallen to her lot, helps her mother, takes care of the terminally ill Andrei.
The deaths of Lisa and Helen symbolize that the passion for social events and the desire to try the forbidden must remain in youth. Maturity requires us to have more balanced behavior and a willingness to sacrifice our own interests.
Tolstoy created a whole gallery of female images. He loved some of them, others not, but for some reason he included them in his novel. It is difficult to determine what is the best female image in the novel "War and Peace". Even negative and unloved heroines were invented by the author for a reason. They show us human vices, an inability to distinguish between the superficial and the really important. And let everyone decide for himself what is the most attractive female image in the novel "War and Peace".
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Essay on literature on the topic
Women's images in "War and Peace"
prepared by: Gavrilova Uliana
checked: Khavrus V.V.
Introduction
War and Peace is one of those books that cannot be forgotten. In its very name - all human life. And also “War and Peace” is a model of the structure of the world, the universe, and therefore appears in the IV part of the novel (Pierre Bezukhov's dream) the symbol of this world - a globe - a ball. "This globe was a living, oscillating ball, without dimensions." Its entire surface consisted of drops tightly compressed together. The drops moved, moved, now merging, now separating. Each sought to spread, to capture the largest space, but others, shrinking, sometimes destroyed each other, sometimes merged into one. “Here is life,” said the old teacher, who once taught Pierre geography. “How simple and clear it all is,” thought Pierre, “how I could not know this before.” “How simple and clear it all is,” we repeat, rereading our favorite pages of the novel. And these pages, like drops on the surface of the globe, connecting with others, form part of a single whole. Thus, episode after episode, we move towards the infinite and eternal, which is the life of man. But the writer Tolstoy would not have been a philosopher Tolstoy if he had not shown us the polar sides of being: life, in which form prevails, and life, which contains the fullness of content. It is from these Tolstoy ideas about life that we will consider female images in which the author highlights their special purpose - to be a wife and mother. For Tolstoy, the world of the family is the basis of human society, where a woman plays a unifying role. If a man is characterized by an intense intellectual and spiritual search, then a woman, having a more subtle intuition, lives with feelings and emotions. The clear opposition of good and evil in the novel was naturally reflected in the system of female images. Contrasting internal and external images as a writer's favorite technique is indicative of such heroines as Helen Kuragina, Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya.
Helen is the embodiment of external beauty and internal emptiness, a fossil. Tolstoy constantly mentions her "monotonous", "unchanging" smile and "ancient beauty of the body", she resembles a beautiful soulless statue. Helene Scherer enters the salon “noisily with her sick white robe, trimmed with ivy and moss,” as a symbol of soullessness and coldness. It is not for nothing that the author does not mention her eyes, while the “brilliant”, “shining” eyes of Natasha and the “radiant” eyes of Marya always attract our attention.
Helen personifies immorality and depravity. The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not know any moral standards, living by the inexorable law of the fulfillment of their insignificant desires. Helen only marries for her own enrichment. She constantly cheats on her husband, because the animal nature prevails in her nature. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless. "I'm not such a fool as to have children," she utters blasphemous words. Helen, in front of the whole society, is busy arranging her personal life while still being Pierre's wife, and her mysterious death is connected with the fact that she got entangled in her own intrigues.
Such is Helen Kuragina with her dismissive attitude to the sacrament of marriage, to the duties of a wife. It is not difficult to guess that Tolstoy embodied in her the worst feminine qualities and contrasted her with the images of Natasha and Marya.
fat woman image romance
It is impossible not to say about Sonya. The peaks of Marya's spiritual life and Natasha's "peaks of feeling" are inaccessible to her. She is too mundane, too immersed in everyday life. She is also given joyful moments of life, but these are only moments. Sonya cannot compare with Tolstoy's favorite heroines, but this is more her misfortune than her fault, the author tells us. She is an "empty flower", but, perhaps, the life of a poor relative, the feeling of constant dependence did not allow her to blossom in her soul.
3. Natasha Rostova
One of the main characters in the novel is Natasha Rostova. Tolstoy draws Natasha in development, he traces Natasha's life in different years, and, naturally, her feelings, her perception of life change over the years.
We first meet Natasha when this little thirteen-year-old girl, "black-eyed, with a big mouth, ugly, but alive," runs out into the living room and runs into her mother. And with her image, the theme of “living life” enters the novel. Tolstoy always appreciated in Natasha precisely the fullness of life, the desire to live interestingly, fully and, most importantly, every minute. Overwhelmed with optimism, she strives to be in time everywhere: to console Sonya, to declare her love for Boris in a childishly naive way, to argue about the type of ice cream, to sing the romance “Key” with Nikolai, to dance with Pierre. Tolstoy writes that "the essence of her life is love." It combined the most valuable qualities of a person: love, poetry, life. Of course, we do not believe her when she "in all seriousness" says to Boris: "Forever ... Until death." And, taking him by the arm, she quietly walked beside him into the sofa with a happy face.
All Natasha's actions are determined by the demand of her nature, and not by a rational choice, so she is not just a participant in a certain privacy for it belongs not to one family circle, but to the world of general movement. And perhaps this was what Tolstoy had in mind when speaking about the historical characters of the novel: “Only one unconscious activity bears fruit, and a person who plays a role in a historical event never understands its significance. If he tries to understand it, he is amazed at the barrenness." She, not trying to understand his role, thereby already defines it for herself and for others. “The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one is she, and everything is there - happiness, hope, light; the other half is everything where it is not, there is all despondency and darkness, ”says Prince Andrei four years later. But while she is sitting at the birthday table, she looks at Boris with a childishly loving look. “The same look of her sometimes turned to Pierre, and under the look of this funny, lively girl he wanted to laugh, not knowing what.” This is how Natasha reveals herself in an unconscious movement, and we see her naturalness, that quality that will be an invariable property of her life.
The first ball of Natasha Rostova became the place of her meeting with Andrei Bolkonsky, which led to a clash of their life positions, which had a huge impact on both of them.
During the ball, she is not interested in either the sovereign or all the important persons pointed out by Peronskaya, she does not pay attention to court intrigues. She is waiting for joy and happiness. Tolstoy unequivocally singles her out among all those present at the ball, opposing her to secular society. Enthusiastic, fading with excitement, Natasha is described by L. Tolstoy with love and tenderness. His ironic remarks about the adjutant-manager asking everyone to move aside “somewhere else”, about “some lady”, about the vulgar fuss around the rich bride, make the light petty and false, while Natasha among all of them is shown as the only natural being. Tolstoy contrasts the lively, ebullient, always unexpected Natasha with the cold Helen, a secular woman who lives according to established rules, never commits rash acts. “Natasha's bare necks and arms were thin and ugly compared to Helen's shoulders. Her shoulders were thin, her chest indefinite, her arms thin; but on Helen it was already like varnish from all the thousands of glances that glided over her body, ”and this makes it seem vulgar. This impression is intensified when we remember that Helen is soulless and empty, that in her body, as if carved from marble, lives a stone soul, greedy, without a single movement of feeling. Here, Tolstoy's attitude to secular society is revealed, Natasha's exclusivity is once again emphasized.
What did the meeting with Andrei Bolkonsky give Natasha? As a truly natural being, although she did not think about it, she aspired to create a family and could find happiness only in the family. The meeting with Prince Andrei and his proposal created the conditions for achieving her ideal. Preparing to form a family, she was happy. However, happiness was not destined to last long. Prince Andrei strove for Natasha, but did not understand her, he did not have a natural instinct, so he postponed the wedding, not realizing that Natasha should love all the time, that she should be happy every minute. He himself provoked her betrayal.
The portrait characteristic makes it possible to expose the main qualities of her character. Natasha is cheerful, natural, spontaneous. The older she gets, the faster she turns from a girl into a girl, the more she wants to be admired, to be loved, to be in the spotlight. Natasha loves herself and believes that everyone should love her, she says about herself: "What a charm this Natasha is." And everyone really admires her, loves her. Natasha is like a ray of light in a boring and gray secular society.
Emphasizing the ugliness of Natasha, Tolstoy argues: it's not about external beauty. The riches of her inner nature are important: giftedness, the ability to understand, to come to the rescue, sensitivity, subtle intuition. Everyone loves Natasha, everyone wishes her well, because Natasha herself does only good to everyone. Natasha lives not with her mind, but with her heart. The heart rarely deceives. And although Pierre says that Natasha “does not deign to be smart,” she has always been smart and understood people. When Nikolenka, having lost almost the entire fortune of the Rostovs, comes home, Natasha, without realizing it, sings only for her brother. And Nikolay, listening to her voice, forgets about everything about his loss, about the difficult conversation with his father that is coming to him, he only listens to the wonderful sound of her voice and thinks: “What is this? .. What happened to her? How does she sing today? .. Well, Natasha, well, my dear! Well, mother." And not only Nikolai is enchanted by her voice. After all, Natasha's voice possessed extraordinary virtues. “In her voice there was that virginity, untouchedness, that ignorance of one’s own strengths and that still undeveloped velvety, which were so combined with the shortcomings of the art of singing that it seemed that nothing could be changed in this voice without spoiling it.”
Natasha understands Denisov very well, who proposed to her. She desires him and understands that "he did not want to say, but he accidentally said it." Natasha has an art that is not given to everyone. She knows how to be compassionate. When Sonya roared, Natasha, not knowing the reason for her friend's tears, "spreading her big mouth and becoming completely ugly, roared like a child ... and only because Sonya was crying." Natasha's sensitivity and subtle intuition "didn't work" only once. Natasha, so smart and insightful, did not understand Anatole Kuragin and Helen and paid dearly for the mistake.
Natasha is the embodiment of love, love is the essence of her character.
Natasha is a patriot. Without hesitation, she gives all the carts for the wounded, leaving things, and does not imagine that it is possible to do otherwise in this situation.
Natasha is close to the Russian people. She loves folk songs, traditions, music. From all this we can conclude that the ardent, lively, loving, patriotic Natasha is capable of a feat. Tolstoy gives us to understand that Natasha will follow the Decembrist Pierre to Siberia. Isn't that a feat?
4. Princess Maria
We meet with Princess Marya Bolkonskaya from the first pages of the novel. Ugly and rich. Yes, she was ugly, and even very bad-looking, but this, according to outsiders, distant and almost ignorant of her people. All those few who loved her and were loved by her knew and caught her beautiful and radiant look on themselves. Princess Mary herself did not know all his charms and strength. This look by itself illuminated everything around with the light of warm love and tenderness. Prince Andrei often caught this look on himself, Julie recalled in her letters the meek, calm look of Princess Marya, so, according to Julie, that she lacked, and Nikolai Rostov fell in love with the princess precisely for this look. But at the thought of herself, the sparkle in Marya's eyes dimmed, went somewhere deep into the soul. Her eyes became the same: sad and, most importantly, frightened, making her ugly, sickly face even uglier.
Marya Bolkonskaya, the daughter of General-in-Chief Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, lived without a break in the Bald Mountains estate. She had no friends or girlfriends. Only Julie Karagina wrote to her, thus bringing joy and variety to the gray, monotonous life of the princess. The father himself was engaged in raising his daughter: he gave her lessons in algebra and geometry. But what did these lessons give her? How could she understand anything, feeling the gaze and breath of her father above her, whom she feared and loved more than anything in the world. The princess respected him and revered him and everything he had done with his hands. The main consolation and, perhaps, the teacher was religion: in prayer she found both comfort, and help, and the solution to all problems. All complex laws human activity concentrated for Princess Marya in one simple rule - a lesson in love and self-affirmation. She lives like this: she loves her father, brother, daughter-in-law, her companion, the Frenchwoman Mademoiselle Bourienne. But sometimes Princess Mary catches herself thinking about earthly love, about earthly passion. The princess is afraid of these thoughts like fire, but they arise, arise because she is a person and, be that as it may, a sinful person, like everyone else.
And so Prince Vasily and his son Anatole come to Bald Mountains to woo. Probably, in secret thoughts, Princess Marya had long been waiting for just such a future husband: handsome, noble, kind.
The old prince Bolkonsky invites his daughter to decide her own fate. And, probably, she would have made a fatal mistake by agreeing to the marriage if she had not accidentally seen Anatole hugging Mademoiselle Bourienne. Princess Mary refuses Anatole Kuragin, refuses, because she decides to live only for her father and her nephew.
The princess does not perceive Natasha Rostova when she and her father come to meet the Bolkonskys. She treats Natasha with some internal hostility. She probably loves her brother too much, values his freedom, is afraid that some completely sensitive woman can take him away, take him away, win his love. And the terrible word "stepmother"? This alone inspires dislike and disgust.
Princess Mary in Moscow asks Pierre Bezukhov about Natasha Rostova. "Who is this girl and how do you find her?" She asks to tell "the whole truth." Pierre feels "Princess Marya's ill will towards her future daughter-in-law." She really wants that "Pierre did not approve of the choice of Prince Andrei."
Pierre does not know how to answer this question. “I definitely don’t know what kind of girl this is, I can’t analyze her in any way. She is charming,” says Pierre.
But this answer did not satisfy Princess Mary.
“Is she smart? - asked the princess.
Pierre considered.
I think not, he said, but yes. She does not deign to be smart.”
“Princess Mary again shook her head disapprovingly,” notes Tolstoy.
5. All Tolstoy's characters fall in love. Princess Marya Bolkonskaya falls in love with Nikolai Rostov. Having fallen in love with Rostov, the princess during the meeting with him is transformed in such a way that Mademoiselle Bourrienne almost does not recognize her: “chest, feminine notes” appear in her voice, grace and dignity appear in her movements. “For the first time, all that pure spiritual inner work which she has lived until now, came out" and made the face of the heroine beautiful. Caught in a difficult situation, she accidentally meets Nikolai Rostov, and he helps her cope with the intractable peasants and leave the Bald Mountains. Princess Mary loves Nikolai in a completely different way than Sonya loved him, who had to constantly do something and sacrifice something. And not like Natasha, who needed the beloved person to be just there, smiling, rejoicing and saying loving words to her. Princess Mary loves quietly, calmly, happily. And this happiness is increased by the realization that she finally fell in love, and fell in love with a kind, noble, honest person.
And Nicholas sees and understands all this. Fate more and more often pushes them to each other. A meeting in Voronezh, an unexpected letter from Sonya, releasing Nikolai from all obligations and promises made by Sonya: what is this if not a decree of fate?
In the autumn of 1814, Nikolai Rostov marries Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. Now she has what she dreamed of: a family, a beloved husband, children.
But Princess Marya did not change: she was still the same, only now it was Countess Marya Rostova. She tried to understand Nikolai in everything, she wanted, really wanted to love Sonya and could not. She loved her children very much. And she was very upset when she realized that something was missing in her feelings for her nephew. She still lived for others, trying to love them all with the highest, Divine love. Sometimes Nicholas, looking at his wife, was horrified at the thought of what would have happened to him and his children if Countess Mary had died. He loved her more than life, and they were happy.
Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova become wonderful wives. Not everything is available to Natasha in Pierre's intellectual life, but with her soul she understands his actions, seeks to help her husband in everything. Princess Mary captivates Nicholas with spiritual wealth, which is not given to his uncomplicated nature. Under the influence of his wife, his unbridled temper softens, for the first time he realizes his rudeness towards the peasants. The harmony of family life, as we see, is achieved where the husband and wife, as it were, complement and enrich each other, making up a single whole. In the Rostov and Bezukhov families, mutual misunderstanding and inevitable conflicts are resolved by reconciliation. Love reigns here.
Marya and Natasha are wonderful mothers. However, Natasha is more concerned about the health of children, and Marya penetrates into the character of the child, takes care of his spiritual and moral education.
Tolstoy endows the heroines with the most valuable, in his opinion, qualities - the ability to subtly feel the mood of loved ones, share someone else's grief, selflessly love their family.
A very important quality of Natasha and Marya is naturalness, artlessness. They are not able to play a predetermined role, they do not depend on the opinions of strangers, they do not live according to the laws of the world. At her first big ball, Natasha stands out precisely for her sincerity in expressing feelings. Princess Mary, at the decisive moment of her relationship with Nikolai Rostov, forgets that she wanted to be aloof and polite, and their conversation goes beyond secular conversation: "the distant, the impossible suddenly became close, possible and inevitable."
With the similarity of the best moral qualities, Natasha and Marya, in essence, are completely different, almost opposite natures. Natasha lives avidly, catches every moment, she lacks words to express the fullness of her feelings, the heroine enjoys dancing, hunting, singing. She is highly endowed with love for people, openness of soul, talent for communication.
Marya also lives in love, but there is a lot of meekness, humility, selflessness in her. She often rushes in her thoughts from earthly life to other spheres. “The soul of Countess Marya,” writes Tolstoy in the epilogue, “strives to the infinite, eternal and perfect, and therefore could never be at peace.”
It was in Princess Marya that Leo Tolstoy saw the ideal of a woman, and most importantly, of a wife. Princess Mary does not live for herself: she wants to make and makes her husband and children happy. But she herself is happy, her happiness consists in love for her neighbors, their joy and well-being, which, by the way, should be the happiness of every woman.
Tolstoy solved the issue of a woman's place in society in his own way: a woman's place in the family. Natasha created a good, strong family, there is no doubt that good children will grow up in her family, who will become full-fledged and full-fledged members of society.
In Tolstoy's work, the world appears multifaceted, there is a place for the most diverse, sometimes opposite characters. The writer conveys to us his love for life, which is in all its beauty and fullness. And considering the female images of the novel, we are once again convinced of this.
“How simple and clear it all is,” we are once again convinced, turning our eyes to the globe ball, where there are no longer drops destroying each other, and they all merged together, making up one big and bright world, as at the very beginning - in the Rostovs’ house . And Natasha and Pierre, Nikolai and Princess Marya with the little Prince Bolkonsky remain in this world, and “it is necessary to take hand in hand as closely as possible and as many people as possible in order to resist the general catastrophe.
Literature
1. Newspaper "Literature" No. 41, p. 4, 1996
2. Newspaper "Literature" No. 12, pp. 2, 7, 11, 1999
3. Newspaper "Literature" No. 1, p. 4, 2002
4. E. G. Babaev "Leo Tolstoy and Russian journalism of his era."
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Great Russians 19th writers century, creating positive female images, have always focused not on the perfect facial features or the beauty of the figure, but on the richness of the inner world of their heroines, which spiritualizes their appearance. Such, for example, are Pushkin's Tatyana Larina or Turgenev's Lisa Kalitina. The same artistic principle when creating the female images of his novel, L.N. Tolstoy. Women's images in the novel "War and Peace" play an important role. They not only determine the behavior of the main characters, but also have an independent meaning. As well as male images, they reveal the author's idea of beauty, good and evil. When depicting his heroines, the writer used the technique of opposition. Comparing girls who are completely different in character, upbringing, aspirations and beliefs - Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya and Helen Kuragina, Tolstoy sought to express the idea that emptiness and pretense often hide behind external beauty, and behind visible ugliness - the wealth of the inner world.
Natasha Rostova and Maria Bolkonskaya- Tolstoy's favorite heroines with opposite characters. emotional, charming, full of life and movements Natasha immediately stands out among the restrained, well-bred noblewomen. For the first time, she appears in the novel as a thirteen-year-old black-eyed, ugly, but lively girl who, flushed from a quick run, literally bursts into the living room, where adults are having a boring conversation. Together with Natasha, a fresh breath of life bursts into this sedate world. More than once Tolstoy emphasizes that Natasha was not beautiful. She may be beautiful or she may be ugly, it all depends on her. state of mind. In her soul, hard work does not stop for a second, which is not accessible to the prying eye.
Natasha's spiritual beauty, her love of life, her lust for life extend to those close and dear to her: Petya, Sonya, Boris, Nikolai. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky unwittingly became involved in the same world. Boris Drubetskoy, a childhood friend with whom Natasha was bound by a childhood oath, could not resist her charm. Natasha meets Boris when she is already 16 years old. “He rode with the firm intention of making it clear to her and her family that the childish relationship between him and Natasha could not be an obligation either for her or for him.” But when he saw her, he lost his head, because he also plunged into her world of joy and goodness. He forgot that he wanted to marry a rich bride, stopped going to Helen, and Natasha "seemed still in love with Boris." In any situation, she is extremely sincere and natural, there is not a shadow of pretense, hypocrisy and coquetry in her. In Natasha, according to Tolstoy, "an inner fire was constantly burning and the reflections of this fire told her appearance something better than beauty." It is no coincidence that Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov love Natasha, it is no coincidence that Vasily Denisov falls in love with her. The development of these qualities of the heroine is facilitated by the atmosphere of the Rostovs' house, full of love, respect, patience and mutual understanding.
A different atmosphere reigns in the Bolkonsky estate. The upbringing of Princess Marya was carried out by her father, a proud and self-satisfied man with a difficult character. It is worth remembering the lessons of mathematics, which he not only taught, but tormented his daughter. Princess Mary inherited his secrecy, restraint in expressing his own feelings and innate nobility. The old Prince Bolkonsky is despotic and strict with his daughter, but in his own way he loves her and wishes her well. The image of Princess Marya is particularly attractive. The author constantly reminds of her ugly face, but the reader completely forgets about it at those moments when the best part of her spiritual being is revealed. In the portrait of Marya Bolkonskaya, extremely laconic, her radiant eyes are remembered, which made the ugly face of the princess beautiful in moments of strong spiritual uplift.
Marya Bolkonskaya is the owner of a lively mind. A significant contribution to the development of her mental abilities was made by her father, who gave great importance education. Natasha Rostova has a slightly different mindset. She does not reflect on events in the same way as Marya, seriously and deeply, but with her heart and soul she understands what is not given to understand by another person. When asked about the intellectual abilities of Natasha Rostova, Pierre perfectly answers: she “does not deign to be smart,” because she is much higher and more complex than the concepts of intelligence and stupidity. Natasha differs from the searching, intelligent and educated heroes in that she perceives life without analyzing it, but cognizes it holistically and figuratively, like an artistically gifted person. She dances superbly, evoking the delight of those around her, as the plastic language of dance helps her express her overflowing with life, the joy of merging with it. Natasha has a beautiful voice that captivates the audience not only with its beauty, sonority, but also with the strength, sincerity of the feeling with which she gives herself to singing. When Natasha sings, for her the whole world is in sounds. But if this impulse is interrupted by someone else's intrusion, for Natasha this is blasphemy, a shock. For example, after an enthusiastic younger brother ran into the room during her singing with the news of the arrival of the mummers, Natasha burst into tears and could not stop for a long time.
One of the main character traits of Natasha is amorousness. At her first adult ball in her life, when she entered the hall, she felt in love with everyone. It cannot be otherwise, because love is the essence of her life. But this concept in Tolstoy has a very broad meaning. It includes not only love for the groom or husband, but also love for parents, family, art, nature, homeland, and life itself. Natasha keenly feels the beauty and harmony of nature. The charm of the moonlit night evokes in her a feeling of delight that literally overwhelms her: “Oh, what a charm! Wake up, Sonya, - she said almost with tears in her voice. “After all, there has never, never been such a lovely night.”
In contrast to the emotional and lively Natasha, in the meek Princess Mary, humility and restraint are combined with a thirst for simple human happiness. Not being able to know the joys of life, Marya finds joy and consolation in religion and communication with God's people. She meekly submits to her eccentric and despotic father, not only out of fear, but also out of a sense of duty as a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father. At first glance, she seems timid and downtrodden. But in her character there is hereditary Bolkon pride, an innate sense of self-worth, which manifests itself, for example, in her refusal of Anatole Kuragin's proposal. Despite the desire for quiet family happiness, which this ugly girl is deeply fraught with, she does not want to become the wife of a handsome secular man at the cost of humiliation and insult to her dignity.
Natasha Rostova is a passionate, impulsive person who cannot hide her feelings and experiences. Having fallen in love with Andrei Bolkonsky, she could not think of anything else. Separation becomes an unbearable test for her, because she lives every moment and cannot postpone happiness for some fixed period. This quality of Natasha's character pushes her to betrayal, which in turn gives rise to a deep sense of guilt and remorse in her. She judges herself too harshly, refusing joys and pleasures, because she considers herself unworthy of happiness.
Natasha is brought out of a state of painful crisis by the news of the threat of the French, who have approached Moscow. The common misfortune for the whole country makes the heroine forget about her sufferings and sorrows. As for others goodies novel, for Natasha the main idea is the salvation of Russia. In these difficult days, her love for people becomes especially strong, her desire to do everything possible to help them. This selfless love of Natasha finds its highest expression in motherhood.
But, despite the outward difference, the dissimilarity of the characters Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya have a lot in common. Both Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha are endowed by the author with a rich spiritual world, inner beauty, which Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky loved so much in Natasha and which Nikolai Rostov admires in his wife. Natasha and Marya give themselves to each of their feelings to the end, whether it be joy or sadness. Their spiritual impulses are often selfless and noble. They both think more about others, loved ones and loved ones than about themselves. For Princess Marya, all her life God remained the ideal to which her soul aspired. But Natasha, especially in hard periods of her life (for example, after the story with Anatole Kuragin), she gave herself up to a feeling of admiration for the Almighty. Both of them wanted moral purity, spiritual life, where there would be no place for resentment, anger, envy, injustice, where everything would be sublime and beautiful.
With all the dissimilarity of characters, Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova are patriots, pure and honest natures, capable of deep and strong feelings. The best features of Tolstoy's favorite heroines were especially pronounced in 1812. Natasha took to heart the disaster that befell Russia with the advent of Napoleon. She committed a truly patriotic act, forcing them to dump property from the carts and give these carts to the wounded. Count Rostov, proud of his daughter, said: "Eggs ... eggs teach a chicken." With selfless love and courage, impressing those around her, Natasha looked after Prince Andrei until the last day. The hardness of character of the modest and shy Princess Marya manifested itself with particular force these days. The French companion suggested that Princess Bolkonskaya, who found herself in a difficult situation, turn to the French for help. Princess Marya considered this proposal an insult to her patriotic feelings, stopped communicating with Mademoiselle Bourienne and left the Bogucharovo estate.
The human essence of Tolstoy's heroines is defined by the word "femininity". This is Natasha's charm, tenderness, passion, and beautiful, filled with some kind of inner light, radiant eyes of Marya Bolkonskaya. Both beloved heroines of Tolstoy find their happiness in the family, caring for her husband and children. But the writer takes them through serious trials, upheavals and mental crises. When they first met (when Natasha was the bride of Prince Andrei), they did not understand each other. But having passed the difficult path of disappointment and resentment, Princess Marya and Natasha became related not only in blood, but also in spirit. Fate accidentally brought them together, but both of them realized that they were close to each other, and therefore they became not just true friends, but spiritual allies with their enduring desire to do good and give others light, beauty and love.
The family life of Marya and Natasha is an ideal marriage, a strong family bond. Both heroines devote themselves to their husbands and children, giving all their mental and physical strength to raising children and creating home comfort. Both Natasha (now Bezukhova) and Marya (Rostova) are happy in family life, happy with the happiness of their children and beloved husbands. Tolstoy emphasizes the beauty of his heroines in a new quality for them - a loving wife and tender mother. Natasha Rostova in the finale of the novel is no longer a charming, thin and agile girl, but a mature one Strong woman, loving wife and mother. With all her being, she is given to the care of her husband and children. All life is focused for her in the health of children, their feeding, growth, education. Their relationship with Pierre is surprisingly harmonious and pure. Natasha's spontaneity and heightened intuition perfectly complement Pierre's intelligent, searching, analyzing nature. Tolstoy writes that Natasha is not particularly versed in her husband's political activities, but she feels and knows the main thing - her good, fair basis. Another happy union is the family of Marya Bolkonskaya and Nikolai Rostov. The selfless tender love of Princess Mary for her husband and children creates an atmosphere of spirituality in the family, ennobles Nikolai, who feels the high morality of the world in which his wife lives.
Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya are contrasted in Helen Kuragina's novel. Behind the external brilliance of this heroine lies an evil and immoral creature. In front of readers, Helen consistently commits several betrayals. Like all members of the Kuragin family, she lives by the immutable law of the fulfillment of personal desires and does not recognize any moral standards. Helen marries Pierre only for the purpose of enrichment. She openly cheats on her husband, not seeing anything shameful and unnatural in this. She does not want to have children, because the family means nothing to her. The consequence of her intrigues in the world is death. The author sees no future for this heroine.
Helen's coldness and selfishness are contrasted with Natasha's naturalness and changeability. Helen, unlike Natasha, is not able to feel guilty, to condemn herself. In the image of Helen embodied outer beauty and inner emptiness. More than once in the novel we see her “monotonous”, “unchanging smile”, more than once the author will draw our attention to the “ancient beauty of her body”. But not a word is said about Helen's eyes in the novel, although it is known that they are the mirror of the soul. But Tolstoy writes about the eyes of his beloved heroines with great love: Princess Marya has them “big, deep”, “always sad”, “more attractive than beauty”. Natasha's eyes are "lively", "beautiful", "laughing", "attentive", "kind". Both Natasha and Marya's eyes are a reflection of their inner world.
The epilogue of the novel reflects the writer's idea of the true purpose of a woman. According to Tolstoy, it is inextricably linked with the family, with the care of children. Women who find themselves outside this sphere either turn into a void, or, like Helen Kuragina, become carriers of evil. L.N. Tolstoy does not idealize family life, but shows that it is in the family that all eternal values are contained for people, without which life loses its meaning. The writer sees the highest vocation and purpose of a woman in motherhood, in the upbringing of children, for it is the woman who is the guardian of family foundations, that bright and kind beginning that leads the world to harmony and beauty.
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"War and Peace", without a doubt, is one of the pinnacles of Russian literature. Leo Tolstoy touches on acute social and philosophical problems. But also noteworthy are the female images in the novel "War and Peace", which represent the roles of female characters - both in the period of war and peace.
Prototypes of female images of "War and Peace"
We invite inquisitive readers to familiarize themselves with what is described in the novel by Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”
Leo Tolstoy admitted to Mitrofan Polivanov, a childhood friend and ex-fiance of Sofya Andreevna, that his family served as inspiration for creating the image of the Rostov family. In correspondence with Polivanov, the memoirist Tatyana Kuzminskaya, Sofya Tolstoy's sister, notes that Boris is written off from the image of Mitrofan himself, Vera from Liza (especially the features of gravity and attitude towards others). The writer endowed Countess Rostova with the features of a mother-in-law - the mother of Sofya Andreevna and Tatyana. Kuzminskaya also found common features between herself and the image of Natasha Rostova.
In addition to the fact that Tolstoy took many of the features and qualities of characters from real people, the writer also mentioned many events in the novel that took place in reality. For example, Kuzminskaya recalls the episode of the wedding with the Mimi doll. It is known that Leo Tolstoy highly appreciated the literary talents of the Berses, that is, his wife, Tatyana Kuzminskaya and his own children. Therefore, Berses occupy significant place in War and Peace.
Viktor Shklovsky, however, believes that the issue of prototypes is not resolved unambiguously. The critic recalls the stories of the first readers of "War and Peace", who really recognized the images of people in the work - their friends and relatives. But now, according to Shklovsky, we cannot adequately say that such and such a person served as the prototype of this character. Most often they talk about the image of Natasha Rostova and that Tolstoy chose Tatyana Kuzminskaya as the prototype for the heroine. But Shklovsky makes a remark: modern readers did not know and could not know Kuzminskaya, and therefore it is impossible to objectively judge how Tatyana Andreevna corresponds to the features of Natasha (or vice versa - Natasha - Tatyana). There is another version of the “origin” of the image of the younger Countess Rostova: Tolstoy, allegedly, borrowed the “template” of the character from some English novel, providing the qualities of Sofya Andreevna. In letters, Lev Nikolayevich himself reports that the image of Natasha Rostova is a mix, a “mixture” characteristic features women who mattered in the writer's life.
Maria, the sister of Andrei Bolkonsky, was written off from the writer's mother, Maria Volkonskaya. It is noteworthy that in this case Tolstoy did not change the name of the heroine, leaving it as similar as possible to the name of the prototype. The senior Countess of Rostov bears a resemblance to the author's grandmother: we are talking about Pelageya Tolstoy. The attitude of the writer to these heroines is emphasized tender, warm. It can be seen that Tolstoy put a lot of effort and emotion into the creation of female characters.
Dear book lovers! We bring to your attention in the novel by Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace".
A separate place is occupied by Rostov. The surname of the family was formed by transforming the surname of the writer himself. This explains why among the images of the Rostovs there are so many similarities with the family and relatives of Leo Tolstoy.
Interesting details surround another prototype of the heroine of War and Peace, Lisa Bolkonskaya, the wife of Prince Andrei. Readers sometimes ask why Tolstoy treated this character so cruelly: as we remember, the literary Liza Bolkonskaya is dying. This image was generated by the personality of the wife of the second cousin of the author of "War and Peace" (Alexander Volkonsky) - Louise Ivanovna Volkonskaya-Truson. Tolstoy describes unusual and "best" memories that relate specifically to Louise. There is a version that the 23-year-old Tolstoy was in love with a 26-year-old flirtatious relative. It is curious that the writer denied that Louise Volkonskaya was the prototype of Lisa. However, Sofya Andreevna, the author's wife, wrote that she found similarities between Lisa and Louise Ivanovna.
The reader will certainly find many similarities between the people who surrounded Tolstoy and the images created by the writer. But it is worth mentioning one more thought of Viktor Shklovsky: prototypes are the tragedy of the author, who tries to hide from the prototypes in the novel, to avoid parallels with real people, which never works out.
Women's theme in Leo Tolstoy's novel
The title of the work forces the writer to divide the novel into two parts - war and peace. War is traditionally associated with masculine traits, with cruelty and rudeness, the coldness of life. The world is identified with regularity, the predictable calmness of everyday life and the image of a woman. However, Lev Nikolaevich demonstrates that during periods of the highest tension of human forces, in a situation, for example, of war, masculine and feminine traits are mixed in one personality. Therefore, the women in the novel are meek and patient, but at the same time, strong in spirit, capable of bold and desperate deeds.
Natasha Rostova
The young Countess Rostova is the favorite of the writer. This is felt in the tenderness with which the creator of "War and Peace" approaches to write out the image of the heroine. The reader becomes a witness to the changes taking place with Natasha as the events of the novel unfold. Something in the younger Rostova remains unchanged: the desire to love, devotion, sincerity and simplicity, intricately combined with the refinement of nature.
At the beginning of the story, the countess appears as a child. Natasha is 13-14 years old, we know something from the girl's background. Natasha's first childhood love is Boris Drubetskoy, who lived next door to the Rostov estate. Boris will later leave his father's house to serve under Kutuzov. The theme of love will continue to occupy a significant place in Natasha's life.
The reader first meets the young countess in the Rostovs' house. Episode - the name day of the eldest countess and the youngest daughter - both Natasha. The younger Rostova behaves coquettishly and a little capriciously, because she understands that everything is allowed for a sweet child on this day. Parents love their daughter. Peace reigns in the Rostov family, an atmosphere of hospitality and friendliness.
Further, before the eyes of readers, Natasha turns into a girl who grows up, forms a worldview and a picture of the world, studying her awakening sensuality. From a small, lively, ugly, constantly laughing, large-mouthed girl, an adult, romantic and sophisticated girl suddenly grows up. Natasha's heart is ready to open up to great feelings. At this time, the countess meets Prince Bolkonsky, who lost his wife and experienced a spiritual crisis after the military events. Prince Andrei, who, it would seem, is the direct opposite of the younger Countess Rostova, proposes to the girl. The decision of the prince is accompanied by an internal struggle and doubts in Natasha.
Natasha is not depicted as ideal: the girl is not alien to mistakes, frivolous acts, what can be called humanity. Rostova - amorous and windy. At the insistence of his father, Andrei Bolkonsky postponed the engagement with Natasha for a year, but the girl did not pass the test, being carried away by the handsome but womanizer Anatoly Kuragin. The betrayal of Anatoly Rostov is going through hard, even trying to commit suicide. But music, a craving for art help Natasha withstand the wind of life's difficulties.
After the war with Napoleon, Natasha again meets an old childhood friend - Pierre Bezukhov. Rostova sees purity in Pierre. In one of the dialogues of the novel, Bezukhov, who returned from the war, was in captivity, rethought life, is compared with a man bathed in a bath. In relations with Pierre, Natasha shows completely different features from her youthful image: now she is a woman, mature, confident in her feelings, a devoted mother and wife, serious, but still in need of love.
A separate emphasis should be placed on Natasha's patriotism. During the retreat from Moscow, the girl insisted that the wagons on which the family belongings were transported be freed for the wounded. By donating property, Natasha demonstrates an understanding of the value of the life of a simple soldier. This image is reminiscent of the story of how the daughters of the last Russian emperor, during the First World War, worked in the hospital as ordinary nurses, changing bandages for sick and wounded soldiers.
Natasha is full of passion for life, she is a charming, light, cheerful girl. Rostova manages to maintain this lightness even while taking care of the dying Prince Andrei. Despite the past, Natasha selflessly cares for the seriously wounded Bolkonsky: the prince dies in the arms of his former bride.
Elder Princess of Rostov
Natalya, mother of Natasha Rostova, is described as a wise and mature woman. The heroine, the mother of the family, is supposed to be strict. In fact, the woman is kind and loving, only pretending to show anger at capricious children - for educational purposes.
It is typical for the Rostovs not to draw a moral line between themselves and the common people. This is combined with the liberal tendencies that prevailed among the nobles at that time. Contrary to the accepted rules of good manners, the elder Rostova is a compassionate nature, seeking to help friends and acquaintances in need.
At first glance, Natalia Rostova gives children complete freedom of choice. But, if you take a closer look, the Countess, like a mother, worries about the future of her children. Natalya tries to keep Boris Drubetskoy away from her youngest daughter, to make sure that Nikolai makes a profitable game. For this, Natalia does not allow her son to marry his beloved Sophia. The girl was a relative of Nikolai Rostov, but did not have a penny behind her, which embarrassed the young man's mother. The image of the senior Countess Rostova is an expression of pure and all-consuming maternal love.
Vera Rostova
The image of Natasha's sister - Vera - is on the map of the characters of "War and Peace" a little to the side. The beauty of Vera is oppressed by the coldness of the girl's nature. Leo Tolstoy emphasizes that Natasha, with her ugly features, gave the impression of a very pretty person. This effect was achieved due to the beauty of the inner world. Vera, on the other hand, was pretty outwardly, but inner world girls was far from perfect.
Vera is described as a young lady, unsociable, closed. The girl's face sometimes became even unpleasant. Vera is a selfish and self-centered nature, so Vera did not like the company of her younger brothers and sisters.
The character trait of Vera Rostova is self-absorption, which distinguished the girl from the rest of her relatives, who are more likely to have a sincere attitude towards others. Vera becomes the wife of a certain Colonel Berg: this party is very suitable for a girl in character.
Lisa Bolkonskaya
Prince Andrew's wife. A hereditary aristocrat who came from an influential noble family. For example, Lev Nikolaevich writes that Kutuzov himself was the girl's uncle. In girlhood, the heroine's name was Lisa Meinen, but the reader is not told anything about Lisa's childhood, parents, and youthful life. We know this character only from "adult life".
Liza's relationship with the Bolkonskys is neutral. Lisa appears as a miniature, light and cheerful girl, balancing the difficult nature of Prince Andrei. However, Bolkonsky is tired of his wife's company. In a fit of mental confusion, the prince leaves for the war. Pregnant Liza awaits her husband's return. But marital happiness was not destined to come true, since on the day of Andrei's arrival, Liza dies in childbirth. It is tragic that, returning, Andrei firmly decided to try to start a relationship with his wife from scratch. The death of Lisa upsets Bolkonsky: the prince falls into a state of gloom and depression for a long time.
The cheerful Liza is liked by all the guests who came to the Bolkonsky's house. However, the relationship with her husband is not the most in the best way. Before marriage, romance reigned between the future spouses, but in the process of family life disappointment comes. Liza and Andrei are not united by a common outlook on life or common goals: spouses live as if separately. Lisa is a big kid. The woman is capricious, a little eccentric, the princess is not characterized by observation. In general, the princess is kind and sincere.
Marya Bolkonskaya
The sister of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is a merciful and deep girl. The first impression about Princess Marya is that she is an unhappy girl suffering from her own unattractiveness, sad and withdrawn. The princess, meanwhile, is kind and caring, devotedly caring for her dying father, who has always been emphatically rude and despotic with his daughter.
Marya is distinguished by intelligence and wisdom, maturity acquired in an isolated life. The girl is adorned with eyes that focus all attention on themselves - so that the ugliness of the princess becomes invisible. The uniqueness of the image of Marya Bolkonskaya requires attention to mental life girls. Gradually, the reader sees how strong the nature of the heroine is, how strong her character is. Marya protects the estate from being plundered by the French, burying her father.
The girl's dreams, meanwhile, are simple, but unattainable. Marya wants family life, warmth, children. The princess is described as a rather adult girl who is about to get married. Anatole Kuragin seems to Bolkonskaya a suitable candidate in terms of status. But later the princess finds out that the chosen one is married. Because of sympathy for the unfortunate woman - Anatole's wife - Marya refuses to marry. However, family happiness still awaits the girl: the princess will marry Nikolai Rostov. Marriage with Nikolai is beneficial to both: for the Rostov family it is salvation from poverty, for Princess Bolkonskaya it is salvation from a lonely life.
Marya does not sympathize with Natasha. Relations between the girls are getting better after the death of Prince Andrei. Natasha's selflessness, shown during the wounding of her brother, helped the princess change her mind about Rostova.
Helen Kuragin
Elena Vasilievna Kuragina is a beautiful princess who became the first wife of Pierre Bezukhov. The princess looked like an antique statue, and the girl's face was enlivened by deep, black eyes. Helen was well versed in fashion and was known as a lover of dresses and jewelry. The princess' outfits were always distinguished by excessive frankness, bare shoulders and back. The reader is not told anything about Helen's age. But the manners of the heroine are truly aristocratic and majestic.
A graduate of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, Helen showed calmness of character, endurance, upbringing, worthy of a real secular lady. The heroine is characterized by sociability, love for noisy receptions that Helen arranged at home, hosting "the whole of St. Petersburg."
Helen's appearance, attention to her beauty, smile and bare shoulders characterizes the girl's soullessness, fixation solely on physicality. Helen is a stupid woman, not distinguished by intelligence and high moral qualities. Meanwhile, the princess knows how to present herself, because those around her have an illusion about Helen's mind. Meanness, heartlessness, emptiness - that's what distinguishes the girl. In moral terms, she did not go far from her brother - Anatole.
The narrative unfolds in such a way that the writer demonstrates Helen's propensity for debauchery, hypocrisy, and deceit. The princess turns out to be a rude and vulgar woman, but purposeful: Kuragina gets what she wants.
Helen starts numerous affairs on the side and even accepts the Catholic faith in order to divorce Pierre Bezukhov and remarry. As a result, Kuragina dies very young from an illness, presumably of a venereal nature.
