The ideal family according to Tolstoy. “What is an ideal family in the understanding of L

Despite the fact that L. N. Tolstoy in the novel "War and Peace" loved "people's thought", he paid quite a lot of attention to "family thought". The writer was very concerned about this topic, and he had his own system of views on what an ideal family should be. He gave a happy family life only to his most beloved heroes, leading them through incredibly difficult trials and forcing them to “deserve” family happiness.
What should be the family in the understanding of Tolstoy, we learn only at the very end of the novel. The novel begins with a description of an unsuccessful marriage. We are talking about Prince Bolkonsky and the little princess. We meet them both in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer. It is impossible not to pay attention to Prince Andrei - he is so different from the others: “Apparently, all those who were in the living room not only knew him, but he was already tired of him so much that it was very boring for him to look at them and listen to them.” Everyone else is interested in this living room, because here, in these conversations, gossip, their whole life. And for the wife of Prince Andrei, a lovely little woman, here is her whole life. And for Prince Andrei? “Of all the faces that bored him, the face of his pretty wife seemed to bore him the most. With a grimace that spoiled his handsome face, he turned away from her. And when she turned to him in a flirtatious tone, he even “closed his eyes and turned away.” When they returned home, their relationship did not become warmer. Prince Andrei does not become more affectionate, but we already understand that the point here is not in his nasty character. He was too soft and charming in dealing with Pierre, whom he sincerely loved. With his wife, he treats "with cold courtesy." He advises her to go to bed early, supposedly worrying about her health, but really wanting only one thing: that she leave as soon as possible and let him talk to Pierre in peace. Before she left, he stood up and "politely, like a stranger, kissed her hand." Why is he so cold with his wife, who is expecting a child from him? He tries to be polite, but we feel that he is rude to her. The wife tells him that he has changed towards her, which means that he used to be different. In Scherer's living room, when everyone was admiring "this pretty future mother, full of health and liveliness, who so easily endured her situation," it was difficult to understand what irritated Prince Andrei in her. But everything becomes clear when she continues to talk to her husband at home “in the same flirtatious tone with which she addressed strangers.” Prince Andrei was sick of this coquettish tone, this light chatter, this unwillingness to think about his own words. I even want to stand up for the princess - after all, she is not to blame, she has always been like that, why didn’t he notice this before? No, Tolstoy answers, it's my fault. Guilty because he doesn't feel. Only a sensitive and understanding person can approach happiness, because happiness is a reward for the tireless work of the soul. The little princess does not make efforts on herself, does not force herself to understand why her husband has changed towards her. But everything is so obvious. She only needed to become more attentive - to take a closer look, listen and understand: you can’t behave like that with Prince Andrei. But her heart told her nothing, and she continued to suffer from her husband's suave coldness. However, Tolstoy does not take the side of Bolkonsky: in relations with his wife, he does not look very attractive. Tolstoy does not give an unequivocal answer to the question of why the life of the young Bolkonsky family turned out this way - both are to blame, and no one can change anything. Prince Andrei says to his sister: “But if you want to know the truth ... you want to know if I am happy? No. Is she happy? No. Why is this? I don't know...” One can only guess why. Because they are different, because they did not understand: family happiness is work, the constant work of two people.
Tolstoy helps his hero, freeing him from this painful marriage. Later, he will also “save” Pierre, who also drank adversity in family life with Helen. But nothing in life is in vain. Probably, Pierre needed to get this terrible experience of life with a vile and depraved woman in order to experience complete happiness in his second marriage. No one knows whether Natasha would have been happy if she had married Prince Andrei or not. But Tolstoy felt that she would be better off with Pierre. The question is, why didn't he connect them sooner? Why did you make me go through so much suffering, temptations and hardships? It is clear that they are made for each other. However, it was important for Tolstoy to trace the formation of their personalities. Both Natasha and Pierre did a great spiritual job, which prepared them for family happiness. Pierre carried his love for Natasha through many years, and over the years so much spiritual wealth has accumulated in him that his love has become even more serious and deeper. He went through captivity, the horror of death, terrible hardships, but his soul only grew stronger and became even richer. Natasha, who survived a personal tragedy - a break with Prince Andrei, then his death, and then the death of her younger brother Petya and her mother's illness - also grew spiritually and was able to look at Pierre with different eyes, appreciate his love.
When you read about how Natasha has changed after marriage, at first it becomes insulting. “Puttener and wider la,” rejoices at the baby diaper “with a yellow instead of green spot”, jealous, stingy, she abandoned singing - but what is it? However, it is necessary to understand why: “She felt that those charms that instinct had taught her to use before, now would only be ridiculous in the eyes of her husband, to whom she surrendered herself from the first minute - that is, with her whole soul, without leaving a single corner open to him. She felt that her connection with her husband was held not by those poetic feelings that attracted him to her, but was held by something else, indefinite, but firm, like the connection of her own soul with her body. Well, how can one not remember the poor little princess Bolkonskaya, who was not given to understand what was revealed to Natasha. She considered it natural to address her husband in a flirtatious tone, as if to an outsider, and Natasha seemed stupid to “beat her curls, put on robrons and sing romances in order to attract her husband to her.” It was much more important for Natasha to feel Pierre's soul, to understand what worries him, and to guess his desires. Left alone with him, she spoke to him “as soon as a wife and husband talk, that is, with extraordinary clarity and speed, knowing and communicating each other’s thoughts, in a way contrary to all the rules of logic, without the mediation of judgments, conclusions and conclusions, but in a completely special way. way." What is this method? If you follow their conversation, it may even seem funny: sometimes their remarks look completely incoherent. But it's from the outside. And they do not need long, complete phrases, they already understand each other, because their souls speak instead of them.
How is the family of Marya and Nikolai Rostov different from the Bezukhov family? Perhaps because it is based on the constant spiritual work of Countess Marya alone. Her “eternal spiritual tension, which has only the moral good of children as its goal,” delights and surprises Nikolai, but he himself is not capable of it. However, his admiration and admiration for his wife also make their family strong. Nikolai is proud of his wife, understands that she is smarter than him and more significant, but does not envy, but rejoices, considering his wife a part of himself. Countess Mary, on the other hand, simply tenderly and submissively loves her husband: she has been waiting for her happiness for too long and no longer believed that it would ever come.
Tolstoy shows the life of these two families, and we can well conclude on which side of his sympathy. Of course, the ideal in his view is the family of Natasha and Pierre.
That family where husband and wife are one, where there is no place for conventions and unnecessary affectation, where shining eyes and a smile can say much more than long, confusing phrases. We do not know how their life will turn out in the future, but we understand: wherever fate throws Pierre, Natasha will always and everywhere follow him, no matter how hard and hard it threatens her.

The family for Tolstoy is the soil for the formation of the human soul, and at the same time, in War and Peace, the introduction of the family theme is one of the ways to organize the text. The atmosphere of the house, the family nest, according to the writer, determines the warehouse of psychology, views and even the fate of the characters. That is why, in the system of all the main images of the novel, L. N. Tolstoy identifies several families, on the example of which the author's attitude to the ideal of the hearth is clearly expressed - these are the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs and the Kuragins.

At the same time, the Bolkonskys and Rostovs are not just families, they are whole ways of life, ways of life based on Russian national traditions. Probably, these features are most fully manifested in the life of the Rostovs - a noble-naive family, living with feelings and impulsive impulses, combining both a serious attitude to family honor (Nikolai Rostov does not refuse his father's debts), and cordiality, and warmth of intra-family relations, and hospitality, and hospitality, always characteristic of the Russian people.

The kindness and carelessness of the Rostov family extend not only to its members; even a stranger to them, Andrei Bolkonsky, being in Otradnoye, struck by the naturalness and cheerfulness of Natasha Rostova, seeks to change his life. And, probably, the brightest and most characteristic representative of the Rostov breed is Natasha. In its naturalness, ardor, naivety and some superficiality - the essence of the family.

Such purity of relations, high morality make the Rostovs related to representatives of another noble family in the novel - with the Bolkonskys. But in this breed, the main qualities are opposite to those of Rostov. Everything is subject to reason, honor and duty. It is precisely these principles that the sensual Rostovs, probably, cannot accept and understand.

The feeling of family superiority and proper dignity are clearly expressed in Marya - after all, she, more than all the Bolkonskys, inclined to hide her feelings, considered the marriage of her brother and Natasha Rostova unsuitable.

But along with this, one cannot fail to note the role of duty to the Fatherland in the life of this family - protecting the interests of the state for them is higher than even personal happiness. Andrei Bolkonsky leaves at a time when his wife is due to give birth; the old prince, in a fit of patriotism, forgetting about his daughter, is eager to defend the Fatherland.

And at the same time, it must be said that in the relations of the Bolkonskys there is, albeit deeply hidden, love natural and sincere, hidden under the mask of coldness and arrogance.

The straight, proud Bolkonskys are not at all like the comfortably homely Rostovs, and that is why the unity of these two clans, in Tolstoy's view, is possible only between the most uncharacteristic representatives of families (the marriage between Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya), therefore the meeting of Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky in Mytishchi serves not to connect and correct their relationship, but to complete and clarify them. This is precisely the reason for the solemnity and pathos of their relationship in the last days of Andrei Bolkonsky's life.

The low, "vile" breed of the Kuragins is not at all like these two families; they can hardly even be called a family: there is no love between them, there is only the envy of the mother for her daughter, the contempt of Prince Vasily for his sons: the “calm fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Their proximity is the mutual guarantee of selfish people, their appearance, often in a romantic halo, causes crises in other families.

Anatole, a symbol of freedom for Natasha, freedom from the restrictions of the patriarchal world and at the same time from the boundaries of what is permitted, from the moral framework of what is permissible...

In this "breed", unlike the Rostovs and Bolkonskys, there is no cult of the child, there is no reverent attitude towards him.

But this family of intriguing Napoleons disappears in the fire of 1812, like the unsuccessful world adventure of the great emperor, all Helen's intrigues disappear - entangled in them, she dies.

But by the end of the novel, new families appear that embody the best features of both families - the pride of Nikolai Rostov gives way to the needs of the family and the growing feeling, and Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov create that home comfort, that atmosphere that they both were looking for.

Nikolai and Princess Marya will probably be happy - after all, they are precisely those representatives of the Bolkonsky and Rostov families who are able to find something in common; “Ice and fire”, Prince Andrei and Natasha, were unable to link their lives - after all, even in love, they could not fully understand each other.

It is interesting to add that the condition for the connection of Nikolai Rostov and the much deeper Marya

Bolkonskaya was the lack of relations between Andrei Bolkonsky and Natasha Rostova, so this love line is activated only at the end of the epic.

But, despite all the outward completeness of the novel, one can also note such a compositional feature as the openness of the finale - after all, the last scene, the scene with Nikolenka, who absorbed all the best and purest that the Bolkonskys, the Rostovs and Bezukhov had, is not accidental. He is the future...

What is needed for happiness? Quiet family...

with the ability to do good to people.

L. N. Tolstoy

“My ideal is the life of a simple working people, the one who makes life, and the meaning that it gives to it” - this is the statement of L. N. Tolstoy, a brilliant thinker, subtle psychologist, humanist writer. Truth and beauty are synonymous for Tolstoy the philosopher. He learned the truth of life from the people and nature. Truth-seeking is the most important, according to Tolstoy, feature of the people. The people are closer to nature, purer in soul, more moral. Being himself in a relentless search for truth, the writer believed: “In order to live honestly, one must be frightened, fight, make mistakes, start again and quit ... And fight and suffer forever.” What is bad, what is good? Why live and what am I? Everyone must answer these eternal questions for himself. A subtle researcher of the human soul, Tolstoy argued that "people are like rivers": each has its own channel, its own source. This source is the native home, family, its traditions, way of life.

What expression do Tolstoy, the philosopher, find in thoughts about the family?

Yes, the novel "War and Peace" is a reflection of the versatility of the personality and the breadth of the writer's worldview. Therefore, we find so many similarities in Tolstoy's favorite heroes, the prototypes of which were members of the family of the writer himself and Sofya Andreevna Bers. The constant work of the soul unites Pierre, Natasha, Andrey, Marya, Nikolai, makes them related, makes the relationship between them friendly, “family”.)

How does Tolstoy, the writer, reflect family thought in the novel "War and Peace"?

Tolstoy stands at the origins of folk philosophy and adheres to the folk point of view on the family - with its patriarchal way of life, the authority of parents, their concern for children. Therefore, in the center of the novel are two families: the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys. The author denotes the spiritual community of all family members with one word - Rostovs, and emphasizes the closeness of mother and daughter with one name - Natalya. “The Rostovs had birthday girls Natalia - a mother and a younger daughter ...” Standing on the popular point of view, the author considers the mother to be the moral core of the family, and the sacred duty of motherhood to be the highest virtue of a woman: “The countess was a woman with an oriental type of thin face, 45 years old, apparently exhausted by the children, of whom she had 12 people. The slowness of her movements and speech, which came from the weakness of her strength, gave her a significant air that inspired respect. After the death of her son Petya and her husband, Tolstoy calls her old age "powerless and aimless", will make her die spiritually first, and then physically: "She has already done her work of life." Mother is a synonym for the world of the family in Tolstoy, that natural tuning fork by which the Rostov children will test their lives: Natasha, Nikolai, Petya. They will be united by an important quality laid down in the family by their parents: sincerity, naturalness. Rostov greeted all the guests with the same kindness ... dear or dear spoke to everyone without exception, without the slightest hint, both above and below him standing people, he laughs with "sonorous and bassy laughter", "laughing, shouting ...", He - "dissolute kindness itself."

Rostova, the eldest, is hard on the stiffness of the guests on the name day: “These visits tortured me.” The same simplicity will be with the children of the Rostovs. The finest lyricist, Tolstoy warms with special warmth and light the appearance of children on the pages of the novel: the children run noisily into the living room, bringing animation, and “a ray of sunshine that penetrated the living room along with the younger generation” disappeared with them. The eyes of Tolstoy's favorite heroes also radiate, glow, because (according to popular belief) the eyes are the mirror of a person's soul: "The eyes look and speak to you." And the author conveys the life of the soul of the heroes through radiance, radiance, sparkle of the eyes.

For Tolstoy the writer, a person's eyes are a window into his soul. Show this with two or three examples.

(Marya's eyes radiate, her face becomes beautiful: "as if rays of warm light came out" from her eyes, "these eyes became more attractive than beauty." In moments of deep excitement, the face of Tolstoy's favorite heroes lights up with the light of eyes: Marya "always looked prettier when she cried." Eyes radiate, Andrei's face in Scherer's salon revives at the sight of Pierre, Natasha looks at the world with shining eyes, Nikolai's eyes shine with delight when Natasha sings.The lack of spirituality, the emptiness of life, according to Tolstoy, on the contrary, extinguish the sparkle of the eyes, make the face a lifeless mask: a soulless beauty Helen - a "beautiful statue" with a frozen smile - glistens and shines to everyone except her eyes: "shining with the whiteness of her shoulders, glossy hair and diamonds", "calmed down in a radiant smile". The beautiful Vera has a cold face, calm, which a smile makes unpleasant " “Boris Drubetskoy has a calm and beautiful face, everything in the handsome Berg is “somehow very correct”, but his eyes seem to be not.)

“There is no beauty where there is no truth,” Tolstoy will say, and we will witness the transformation of the ugly Mary into a beauty in family scenes, we will see the complete reincarnation of Natasha in the presence of her loved ones. We will look at Helen's face and, together with the author, will be surprised that, with all the similarity of features, the face of the beautiful Helen will be exactly the same as that of her brother, Hippolyte.

What makes Tolstoy's favorite characters beautiful?

(The beauty of Natasha and Marya is from spiritual overwhelm, which Andrey, Pierre, Nikolai will fully understand. On the day of her name day and her mother, Natasha, “laughing and blushing,” invites Pierre to dance; “Look at dad,” Natasha shouted to the whole hall (completely forgetting that she was dancing with a big one), bending her head to her knees and bursting with her sonorous laughter throughout the hall, "" she burst out laughing so loudly and loudly that everyone, even the prim guest, laughed against her will. " Petya, "squinting, shaking from soundless laughter." Nikolai's "face expressed swiftness and enthusiasm." At the birthday table, "Sonya and fat Petya were hiding from laughter." Natasha loudly asks about ice cream, "forward confident that her trick will be received well," boldly and capriciously - cheerfully". Seeing Sonya crying, "Natasha roared like a child, not knowing the reason and only because Sonya was crying." The epithets given to Natasha are confirmed: "Cossack girl", "potion", "gunpowder".

Surprisingly subtly, poetically, Natasha perceives the beauty of a summer night in Otradnoye, which is why her desire to fly on such a magical moonlit night is so natural.

And even the familiar winter forest becomes for her fantastic, fabulous, mysterious on Christmas night... A person is rich with such a spiritual world, not closed on the ordinary. The author endows his beloved heroine with a happy gift to “read the secret” of people and nature: “Natasha, of the whole family, is most gifted with the ability to feel shades of intonations, looks, facial expressions”, “Natasha, with her sensitivity, also instantly noticed the state of her brother.”

Nikolai Rostov is also open to people, surprisingly straightforward: "... I am not a diplomat, not an official, I cannot hide what I feel." “Please, Denisov, take my money, because I have it,” said Rostov, blushing. He is absolutely sure that it is a shame to study when everyone goes to war, he is really frightened and directly admits this to himself when, having remained in the rear guard, he stumbled upon the “French patrol”, he is honest with himself on the bridge over the Enns River: “I am a coward ". And he will convict officer Telyatin of theft with the straightforwardness inherent in them, Rostov.

They tend to win over good (in the high, Tolstoyan sense of the word) people. Natasha's pure, bright, poetic world of the soul will be felt not only by the family, but also by uncle and aunt Akhrosimova (they are also from the Rostovs), and Aksinya, and Pierre, and Andrei, and Denisov. Only her elder sister Vera will not accept her. But the parents themselves feel her alienation: “We were too smart with the eldest and do not like the “correct” Vera ... even sixteen-year-old Petya, having voluntarily gone to war, will cause reciprocal love from Denisov and officers. Just a boy, this son of the good-natured and hospitable Rostov will find a family in an officer's circle and will want to warm everyone with childish love. He cannot restrain his delight in front of Denisov's responsiveness: “Let me kiss you, my dear. Ah, how wonderful! How good!” “And, kissing Denisov, he ran into the yard” (Denisov allows the captive drummer boy to be called to the officer’s table) ...

Why is it impossible to be different in the Rostov family?

(Because the openness of the soul, cordiality is its main property: name day - 80 kuverts (cutlery at the ceremonial dinner), a full house of relatives, even in Otradnoye "full of guests", a holiday is arranged in honor of Denisov's guest; a dinner in an English club in honor of Prince Bagration was entrusted to Count Rostov: "rarely anyone knew how to make a feast in such a big way, hospitably."

Hence, from home, this ability of the Rostovs to attract people to themselves, the talent to understand someone else's soul, the ability to experience, to participate. And all this is on the verge of self-denial. The Rostovs do not know how to feel “slightly”, “halfly”, they completely surrender to the feeling that has taken possession of their soul. Petya will take pity on the French drummer and invite him to dinner: “... blushing and looking frightened at the officers, wouldn’t there be mockery in their faces, he said: “Can I call this boy who was taken prisoner? Give him something to eat…”

Natasha the girl will understand the feelings of Sonya and her brother and arrange a date for them; as a sign of love and devotion to Sonya, Natasha will burn her hand with a red-hot ruler. With an enthusiastic love for life, Natasha will revive Andrei's heart after a trip to Otradnoye: "No, life is not over at 31." Natasha will share her mother's grief after Petya's death; Natasha will beg her parents to give carts for the wounded; “Natasha did not leave the wounded Andrey, and the doctor had to admit that he did not expect from the girl either such firmness or such skill in walking after the wounded.” Nikolai will protect Princess Marya on his brother's estate from a mutiny of peasants.

The openness of the soul of the Rostovs is also the ability to live one life with the people, to share their fate; Nikolai and Petya go to war, the Rostovs leave the estate for a hospital, and carts for the wounded. And the evening in honor of Denisov, and the holiday in honor of the war hero Bagration - all these are actions of the same moral order.

The feeling of patriotism will make Nicholas overcome fear, become a courageous person, receive a cross. And the desire for a feat will take Petya out of life.)

But will the openness and gullibility of the younger Rostovs lead only to joy and happiness?

(Natasha will believe in the sincerity of Anatole's feelings and agree to escape, Nikolai will turn into an unreasoning grunt, believing the false idea of ​​officer honor.

The Rostovs are not capable of lying, secrecy disgusts their honest natures: Nikolai will inform his father about the loss of 43 thousand to Dolokhov, Natasha will tell Sonya about the upcoming escape with Anatole. And then he will write to Princess Mary about the break with Andrei, sincerely repent, will not forgive himself, will poison himself.

Natasha's strength is in the ability to live on. Her soul can be renewed. Natasha's spirituality is manifested even in the way she sings and dances, revealing here a rare gift of kinship, spiritual unity with the elements of the people, the harmony of sound and movement.

But the main talent of her soul - to love - will open later. And Natasha will take the difficult family burden on her fragile shoulders.)

But is it only through the fault of Natasha that her love with Andrey did not take place?

(Natasha was waiting for love, and she came. But three weeks of separation and a year of waiting! “A year! I can’t bear it! I want to love now!” Natasha’s immense despair, separation is unbearable.

Andrei, who has experienced a lot, knows that the feeling of love can also be resurrected, so he can wait. He decided. Both for himself and for her.

Both Natasha and Nikolai will be deeply, humanly fully happy in family life. It is here that the beauty of the souls of the heroes will be especially clearly manifested: “All the strength of her (Natasha’s) soul was aimed at serving her husband and family” ... “the subject into which Natasha completely immersed herself was her family, that is, her husband ...and children…".

Nikolai seeks to get rid of his temper, ardor under the influence of his wife, Princess Mary: “The main basis of his firm, tender and proud love for his wife was always based on this feeling of surprise in front of her sincerity, in front of that, almost inaccessible to Nikolai, sublime, moral world, where his wife always lived.

“He was proud that she was so smart and good, realizing her insignificance before her in the spiritual world, and all the more rejoiced that she, with her soul, not only belonged to him, but was part of him.”

A part of the Rostov home - love for Natasha, his younger sister - he will transfer to his daughter, beloved Natasha.)

(In Natasha, the girl, the fire of revival constantly burns, which is her charm. She is overflowing with vital energy, endowed with many talents: she sings, dances, heals souls, gives friendship. In Natasha, the mother “very rarely ignited ... now the former fire. This it happened only when, as now, the husband returned when the child was recovering ... "And in those rare moments when the old fire was lit in her developed beautiful body, she was even more attractive than before."

“It was important for Tolstoy to show through the fate of Natasha that all her talents are realized in the family. Natasha, a mother, will be able to instill in her children both a love for music and the ability for the most sincere friendship and love; she will teach children the most important talent in life - the talent to love life and people, to love selflessly, sometimes forgetting about themselves; and this study will take place not in the form of notations, but in the form of daily communication of children with very kind, honest, sincere and truthful people: mother and father. And this is the real happiness of the family, because each of us dreams of the kindest and most just person next to him. For Pierre, this dream came true ... ")

OPTION 2

How often Tolstoy uses the word family, family to designate the house of the Rostovs! What a warm light and comfort emanates from this, such a familiar and kind word to everyone! Behind this word - peace, harmony, love.

How are the houses of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs similar?

(A sense of family, spiritual kinship, a patriarchal way of life (general feelings of grief or joy are seized not only by family members, but even by their servants: “The Rostov lackeys joyfully rushed to take off his (Pierre) cloak and take a stick and a hat”, “Nikolai borrows money from Gavrila for a cabman "; the Rostovs' valet is as devoted to the Rostovs' house as Alpatych is to the Bolkonskys' house. "The Rostov family", "Bolkonsky", "Rostov House"; "Bolkonsky's estate" - already in these definitions the sense of unity is obvious: "In Nikolin day, on the name day of the prince, all of Moscow was at the entrance of his (Bolkonsky) house ... ". "The prince's house was not what is called "light", but it was such a small circle, which, although it was not heard in the city , but in which it was most flattering to be accepted ... ").

Name the distinguishing feature of the Bolkonsky and Rostov houses.

(Hospitality is a hallmark of these houses: “Even in Otradnoye, up to 400 guests gathered”, in Lysy Gory - up to a hundred guests four times a year. Natasha, Nikolai, Petya are honest, sincere, frank with each other; they open their souls to their parents, hoping for complete mutual understanding (Natasha - to his mother about self-love; Nikolai - to his father even about losing 43 thousand; Petya - to everyone at home about the desire to go to war ...); Andrey and Marya are friendly (Andrey - to his father about his wife). Both families are very different care of parents about children: Rostova - the eldest hesitates between the choice - carts for the wounded or family heirlooms (future material security of children). Son - a warrior - mother's pride. She is engaged in raising children: tutors, balls, trips to society, youth evenings, Natasha's singing , music, preparation for studying at Petit University, plans for their future family, children.The Rostovs and Bolkonskys love children more than themselves: Rostova - the eldest cannot stand the death of her husband and younger Petit; old man Bolkonsky loves children passionately and reverently , even his strictness and exactingness come only from the desire for good for children.)

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

(Bolkonsky attracts both Tolstoy and the modern reader with his originality. “An old man with keen intelligent eyes”, “with a gleam of intelligent and young eyes”, “inspires a sense of respect and even fear”, “was harsh and invariably demanding.” A friend of Kutuzov, he even in his youth he received general-in-chief. And disgraced, he did not cease to be interested in politics. His energetic mind requires an exit. Nikolai Andreevich, honoring only two human virtues: "activity and mind", "was constantly busy writing his memoirs, then calculations from higher mathematics, turning snuffboxes on the machine, then working in the garden and observing buildings ... ". "He himself was engaged in raising his daughter. " No wonder Andrei has an insistent insistence on communicating with his father, whose mind he appreciates and whose analytical abilities never cease to amaze. Proud and adamant, the prince asks his son “to hand over the notes... to the sovereign after... my death.” And for the Academy, he prepared a prize for the one who writes the history of Suvorov’s wars n ... Here are my remarks, after me read for yourself, you will find something useful.

He creates a militia, arms people, tries to be useful, to apply his military experience in practice. Nikolai Andreevich sees with his heart the sacredness of his son and himself helps him in a difficult conversation about his wife and unborn child.

And the year unfinished by the old prince to test the feelings of Andrei and Natasha is also an attempt to protect the son’s feelings from accidents and troubles: “There was a son whom it was a pity to give to a girl.”

The old prince was engaged in the upbringing and education of children himself, not trusting and not entrusting this to anyone.)

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

(The key to the puzzle is in the phrase of Nikolai Andreevich himself: “But I don’t want you to look like our stupid young ladies.” He considers idleness and superstition to be the source of human vices. And the main condition for activity is order. A father who is proud of his son’s mind knows that between Marya and Andrey there is not only complete mutual understanding, but also sincere friendship based on the unity of views... Thoughts ... He understands how rich the spiritual world of his daughter is, knows how beautiful she can be in moments of emotional excitement. Therefore, it is so painful for him the arrival and courtship of the Kuragins, that "stupid, heartless breed.")

When and how will paternal pride manifest itself in Princess Marya?

(She will be able to refuse Anatole Kuragin, whom her father brought to marry the Bolkonskys, she will indignantly reject the patronage of the French General Roma; she will be able to suppress her pride in the scene of farewell to the bankrupt Nikolai Rostov: “do not deprive me of your friendship.” She will even say with her father’s phrase: “I it will hurt.)

How is the Bolkonsky breed manifested in Prince Andrei?

(Like his father. Andrey will be disappointed in the world and go into the army. The son will want to realize his father’s dream of a perfect military charter, but Andrey’s work will not be appreciated. outstanding officer. The courage and personal courage of the young Bolkonsky in the battle of Austerlitz do not lead the hero to the heights of personal glory, and participation in the battle of Shengraben convinces that true heroism is modest, and the hero is outwardly ordinary. Therefore, it is so bitter to see Captain Tushin, who, according to Andrey's conviction, "we owe the success of the day," at a meeting of officers ridiculed and punished.Only Andrey will stand up for him, be able to go against the general opinion.

Andrey's activity is as tireless as his father's work... Work in the Speransky commission, an attempt to draw up and approve his plan for the deployment of troops at the Shengraben, the liberation of the peasants, and the improvement of their living conditions. But during the war, the son, like his father, sees the main interest in the general course of military affairs.)

In what scenes will the feeling of fatherhood manifest itself with particular force in the old man Bolkonsky?

(Nikolai Andreevich does not trust anyone, not only fate, but even the upbringing of his children. With what “outward calmness and inner malice” does he agree to Andrei’s marriage to Natasha; the impossibility of being separated from Princess Marya pushes him to desperate acts, malicious, bilious: with the groom will tell his daughter: "... there is nothing to disfigure yourself - and she is so bad." By courtship of the Kuragins, he was offended for his daughter. The insult is the most painful, because it did not apply to him, to the daughter whom he loved more than himself.")

Reread the lines about how the old man reacts to his son's declaration of love for Rostova: he screams, then "plays a subtle diplomat"; the same methods as in the courtship of the Kuragins to Marya.

How will Marya embody her father's ideal of a family?

(She will become paternally demanding of her children, observing their behavior, encouraging good deeds and punishing evil ones. A wise wife, she will be able to instill in Nikolai the need to consult with herself, and noticing that his sympathies are on the side of his youngest daughter, Natasha She will reproach herself for not enough, as it seems to her, love for her nephew, but we know that Marya is too pure in soul and honest, that she never betrayed the memory of her beloved brother, that for her Nikolenka is a continuation of the prince Andrey She will call her eldest son “Andryusha”.)

As Tolstoy proves his idea, there is no moral core in parents - will there not be one in children?

(Vasily Kuragin is the father of three children, but all his dreams come down to one thing: to attach them more profitably, to get away with it. All Kuragins endure the shame of matchmaking easily. with a beautiful smile, she condescendingly treated the idea of ​​\u200b\u200brelatives and friends to marry her to Pierre. He, Anatole, is only slightly annoyed by the unsuccessful attempt to take Natasha away. Only once will their "restraint" change them: Helen will scream from fear of being killed by Pierre, and her brother will cry like woman, having lost her leg. Their calmness - from indifference to everyone except themselves: Anatole "had the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence." like a shot: "Where you are, there is debauchery, evil."

They are alien to Tolstoy's ethics. Egoists are closed only on themselves. Empty flowers. Nothing will be born from them, because in a family one must be able to give warmth and care to others. They only know how to take: “I’m not a fool to give birth to children” (Helen), “We must take a girl while she is still a flower in a bud” (Anatole).)

Arranged marriages... Will they become a family in Tolstoy's sense of the word?

(The dream of Drubetsky and Berg came true: they married successfully. In their houses everything is the same as in all rich houses. Everything is as it should be: comme il faut. But there is no rebirth of heroes. There are no feelings. The soul is silent.)

But the true feeling of love regenerates Tolstoy's favorite heroes. Describe it.

(Even the “thinking” Prince Andrei, in love with Natasha, seems different to Pierre: “Prince Andrei seemed and was a completely different, new person.”

For Andrei, Natasha's love is everything: "happiness, hope, light." "This feeling is stronger than me." "I wouldn't believe anyone who told me that I could love like that." "I can't help but love the light, it's not my fault", "never experienced anything like it." “Prince Andrei, with a radiant, enthusiastic and renewed face, stopped in front of Pierre ...”

Natasha wholeheartedly responds to Andrei's love: "But this, this has never happened to me." "I can't bear the separation" ...

Natasha comes to life after Andrei's death under the rays of Pierre's love: “The whole face, gait, look, voice - everything suddenly changed in her. Unexpected for her, the power of life, hopes for happiness surfaced and demanded satisfaction”, “Change ... surprised Princess Marya”.

Nikolai "got closer and closer to his wife, discovering new spiritual treasures in her every day." He is happy with the spiritual superiority of his wife over him and strives to be better.

The hitherto unknown happiness of love for her husband and children makes Mary even more attentive, kinder and more tender: “I would never, never have believed,” she whispered to herself, “that you can be so happy.”

And Marya worries because of her husband’s temper, she worries painfully, to tears: “She never cried from pain or annoyance, but always from sadness and pity. And when she cried, her radiant eyes acquired an irresistible charm. In her face, “suffering and loving,” Nikolai now finds answers to his questions that torment him, is proud of him and is afraid of losing her.

After the separation, Natasha meets Pierre; her conversation with her husband takes a new path, contrary to all the laws of logic... Already because at the same time they were talking about completely different subjects... This was the surest sign that "they fully understand each other.")

Love gives vigilance to their souls, strength to their feelings.

They can sacrifice everything for the beloved, for the happiness of others. Pierre belongs undividedly to the family, and she belongs to him. Natasha leaves all her hobbies. She has something more important, the most precious - family. And the main talent is important for the family - the talent of care, understanding, love. They are: Pierre, Natasha, Marya, Nikolai - the embodiment of family thought in the novel.

But the epithet "family" in Tolstoy is much broader and deeper. Can you prove it?

(Yes, the family circle is Raevsky’s battery; father and children are Captain Tushin and his batteries; “everything is like the children looked”; the father of the soldiers is Kutuzov. And the girl Malashka Kutuzov is her grandfather. from Andrey about the death of Nikolai Andreevich, he will say that now he is the father for the prince. The soldiers stopped the words Kamensky - father to Kutuzov - father. "A son worried about the fate of the Motherland" - Bagration, who in a letter to Arakcheev will express his son's concern and love to Russia.

And the Russian army is also a family, with a special, deep sense of brotherhood, unity in the face of a common misfortune. The spokesman for the people's attitude in the novel is Platon Karataev. He, with his fatherly, paternal attitude towards everyone, became for Pierre and for us the ideal of serving people, the ideal of kindness, conscientiousness, a model of “moral” life - life according to God, life “for everyone”.

Therefore, together with Pierre, we ask Karataev: “What would he approve of?” And we hear Pierre’s answer to Natasha: “I would approve of our family life. He so desired to see beauty, happiness, tranquility in everything, and I would proudly show him us. It is in the family that Pierre comes to the conclusion: “... if vicious people are interconnected and constitute a force, then honest people only need to do the same. It's so simple.)

Perhaps, Pierre, brought up outside the family, did he place the family at the center of his future life?

(Amazing in him, a man, is childish conscience, sensitivity, the ability to heartily respond to the pain of another person and alleviate his suffering. “Pierre smiled his kind smile,” “Pierre sat awkwardly in the middle of the living room,” “he was shy.” He feels his mother’s despair who lost her child in burning Moscow; empathizes with the grief of Marya, who lost her brother; considers himself obliged to reassure Anatole and asks him to leave, and in the salon of Sherer and his wife, he will deny rumors about the escape of Natasha with Anatole. Therefore, the purpose of his public service is good, "active virtue".)

In what scenes of the novel is this property of Pierre's soul manifested most clearly?

(The big child is called Pierre and Nikolai and Andrei. Bolkonsky will entrust him, Pierre, with the secret of love for Natasha. He will be entrusted with Natasha, the bride. He will advise her to turn to him, Pierre, in difficult times. Pierre will be a friend in the novel. It is with him that Natasha's aunt, Akhrosimova, will consult regarding her beloved niece. But it is he, Pierre, who will introduce Andrei and Natasha at the first adult ball in her life. He will notice the confusion of Natasha's feelings, whom no one invited to dance, and asks his friend Andrey to engage her.)

What are the similarities and differences in the mental structure of Pierre and Natasha?

(The structure of the souls of Natasha and Pierre is in many ways similar. Pierre, in a confidential conversation with Andrei, confesses to a friend: “I feel that, besides me, spirits live above me and that there is truth in this world”, “we lived and will live forever there, in everything (he pointed to the sky)". Natasha "knows" that in a previous life everyone was angels. Pierre was the first and very keenly felt this connection (he is older) and involuntarily worried about Natasha's fate: he was happy and for some reason sad, when he listened to Andrei's confession of love for Rostova, he seemed to be afraid of something.

But after all, Natasha will also be afraid for herself and for Andrei: “How I am afraid for him and for myself, and for everything I am afraid ...” And Andrei’s feeling of love for her will be mixed with a sense of fear and responsibility for the fate of this girl.

This will not be the feeling of Pierre and Natasha. Love will revive their souls. There will be no place of doubt in the soul, everything will be filled with love.

But the insightful Tolstoy saw that even at the age of 13, Natasha, with her responsive to everything truly beautiful and kind soul, noted Pierre: at the table she looks from Boris Drubetskoy, whom she vowed to “love to the very end”, to Pierre; Pierre is the first adult man whom he invites to dance, it is for Pierre that the girl Natasha takes a fan and plays an adult out of herself. "I love him so much".

The "unchanging moral certainty" of Natasha and Pierre can be traced throughout the novel. “He did not want to curry favor with the public,” he built his life on internal personal foundations: hopes, aspirations, goals, which were based on the same family interest; Natasha does what her heart tells her to. In essence, Tolstoy emphasizes that "doing good" with his favorite characters means responding "purely intuitively, with heart and soul" to those around him. Natasha and Pierre feel, understand, “with their characteristic sensitivity of the heart,” the slightest falsehood. Natasha, at the age of 15, tells her brother Nikolai: "Don't be angry, but I know that you won't marry her (Sonya)." “Natasha, with her sensitivity, also noticed her brother’s condition”, “She knew how to understand what was ... in every Russian person”, Natasha “does not understand anything” in Pierre’s sciences, but attributes them to great importance. They never “use” anyone and call for only one type of connection - spiritual kinship. They truly blow it, experience it: cry, scream, laugh, share secrets, despair and again look for the meaning of life in caring for others.)

What is the significance of children in the Rostov and Bezukhov families?

(Children for people, "non-family" - a cross, a burden, heaviness. And only for family they are happiness, the meaning of life, life itself. How happy the Rostovs are for the return of Nikolai, a favorite and a hero, from the front on vacation! With what love he takes children in his arms Nicholas and Pierre! Remember the same expression on the face of Nicholas and his favorite - black-eyed Natasha? Remember with what love Natasha peers into her younger son's facial features, finding him similar to Pierre? Marya is happy in the family. Not a single similar to happy family pictures we will not find it among the Kuragins, Drubetskoys, Bergs, Karagins. Remember, Drubetskoy was “unpleasant to remember childhood love for Natasha”, and all the Rostovs are absolutely happy only at home: “Everyone screamed, talked, kissed Nikolai at the same time”, here, at home, among relatives, Nikolai is happy as he has not been happy for a year and a half. The family world for Tolstoy's favorite heroes is the world of childhood. In the most difficult moments of their lives, Andrei and Nikolai remember their relatives: Andrei on the Austerlitz field talk about the house, Marya; under the bullets - about the order of the father. The wounded Rostov, in moments of oblivion, sees his home and all his own. These heroes are living, understandable people. Their experiences, grief, joy cannot but touch.)

Is it possible to say that the heroes of the novel have a child's soul?

(They, the author's favorite heroes, have their own world, a high world of goodness and beauty, a pure children's world. Natasha and Nikolai transfer themselves to the world of a winter fairy tale on Christmas Eve. In a magical waking dream, 15-year-old Petya spends the last night in his life at the front Rostov. "Come on, our Matvevna," Tushin said to himself. "Matvevna" was imagined in his imagination by a cannon (large, extreme, old-fashioned casting ...). And the world of music also unites the heroes, elevating, spiritualizing them. Petya Rostov directs an invisible orchestra in a dream, "Princess Marya played the clavichord", Natasha is taught to sing by a famous Italian. Nikolai gets out of a moral impasse (losing to Dolokhov in 43 thousand!) Under the influence of his sister's singing. And books play an important role in the lives of these heroes. Andrey stocks up in Brunn "on a trip with books. Nikolai made it a rule not to buy a new book without first reading the old ones. We will see Marya, Natasha with a book in her hands, and never Helen.)

Results

Even the purest word "childish" is associated in Tolstoy with the word "family". “Rostov again entered this family children's world of his” ... “Rostov felt, as under the influence of these bright rays of Natasha's love, for the first time in a year and a half. On his soul and on his face bloomed that childish and pure smile, which he had never smiled since he left home. Pierre has a childlike smile. The childlike, enthusiastic face of Junker Nikolai Rostov.

The childishness of the soul (purity, naivety, naturalness), which a person preserves, is, according to Tolstoy, the heart - the guilt of morality, the essence of beauty in a person:

Andrey, on the Pratsenskaya height, with a banner in his hands, raises a soldier behind him: “Guys, go ahead! he shouted in a child's voice.

Childishly unhappy eyes will look at Andrei Kutuzov, having learned about the death of the elder Bolkonsky, his comrade-in-arms. Marya will respond with a childish expression of extreme resentment (tears) to her husband's outbursts of unreasonable anger.

They, these heroes, even have confidential, homely vocabulary. The word "darling" is pronounced by the Rostovs, and the Bolkonskys, and Tushin, and Kutuzov. Therefore, class partitions are broken, and the soldiers on the Raevsky battery accepted Pierre into their family and called him our master; Nikolai and Petya easily enter the officer family, the families of the young Rostovs - Natasha and Nikolai are very friendly. The family develops in them the best feelings - love and self-giving.

The main idea in L. N. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace", along with the thought of the people, is "the thought of the family." The writer believed that the family is the basis of the whole society, and it reflects the processes that take place in society.

The novel shows the characters who go through a certain path of ideological and spiritual development, through trial and error they try to find their place in life, to realize their destiny. These characters are shown against the backdrop of family relationships. So, the Rostov and Bolkonsky families appear before us. Tolstoy depicted in his novel the entire Russian nation from top to bottom, thus showing that the top of the nation has become spiritually dead, having lost contact with the people. He shows this process on the example of the family of Prince Vasily Kuragin and his children, who are characterized by the expression of all the negative qualities inherent in people of high society - the utmost selfishness, baseness of interests, lack of sincere feelings.

All the heroes of the novel are bright individuals, but members of the same family have a certain common feature that unites all.

So, the main feature of the Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of them, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, is not characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The image of the head of the family, the old Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, embodies the best features of the old Russian nobility. He is a representative of an ancient aristocratic family, his character whimsically combines the mores of an imperious nobleman, before whom all households tremble, from servants to his own daughter, an aristocrat who is proud of his long pedigree, features of a man of great intelligence and simple habits. At a time when no one required any special knowledge from women, he teaches his daughter geometry and algebra, motivating it like this: “I don’t want you to look like our stupid ladies.” He was engaged in the education of his daughter in order to develop in her the main virtues, which, in his opinion, were "activity and intelligence."

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His son, Prince Andrei, also embodies the best features of the nobility, the advanced noble youth. Prince Andrei has his own way to understanding real life. And he will go through delusions, but his unerring moral instinct will help him get rid of false ideals. So, . Napoleon and Speransky are debunked in his mind, and love for Natasha will enter his life, so unlike all the other ladies of high society, the main features of which, in his opinion and the opinion of his father, are “selfishness, vanity, insignificance in everything” . Natasha will become for him the personification of real life, opposing the falsehood of light. Her betrayal of him is tantamount to the collapse of the ideal. Just like his father, Prince Andrei is intolerant of simple human weaknesses that his wife, a very ordinary woman, a sister who seeks some special truth from “God’s people”, and many other people with whom he encounters in life.

A peculiar exception in the Bolkonsky family is Princess Marya. She lives only for the sake of self-sacrifice, which is elevated to a moral principle that determines her whole life. She is ready to give herself to others, suppressing personal desires. Submission to her fate, to all the whims of her imperious father, who loves her in his own way, religiosity is combined in her with a thirst for simple, human happiness. Her obedience is the result of a peculiarly understood sense of duty of a daughter who does not have the moral right to judge her father, as she says to Mademoiselle Bourienne: “I will not allow myself to judge him and would not want others to do so.” But nevertheless, when self-respect demands, she can show the necessary firmness. This is revealed with particular force when her sense of patriotism, which distinguishes all Bolkonskys, is offended. However, she can sacrifice her pride if necessary to save another person. So, she asks for forgiveness, although she is not guilty of anything, from her companion for herself and a serf servant, on whom her father's anger fell.

Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings. Natasha is little guided by the requirements of decency, she is spontaneous, she has many features of a child, which is highly appreciated by the author. He emphasizes many times that Natasha is ugly, unlike Helen Kuragina. For him, not the external beauty of a person is important, but his internal qualities.

In the behavior of all members of this family, high nobility of feelings, kindness, rare generosity, naturalness, closeness to the people, moral purity and integrity are manifested. The local nobility, unlike the highest St. Petersburg nobility, is true to national traditions. No wonder Natasha, dancing with her uncle after the hunt, “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.”

Tolstoy attaches great importance to family ties, the unity of the whole family. Although the Bolkonsikh family should unite with the Rostov family through the marriage of Prince Andrei and Natasha, her mother cannot accept this, cannot accept Andrei into the family, “she wanted to love him like a son, but she felt that he was a stranger and terrible for her Human". Families cannot be united through Natasha and Andrei, but are united through the marriage of Princess Marya to Nikolai Rostov. This marriage is successful, he saves the Rostovs from ruin.

The novel also shows the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily and his three children: the soulless doll Helen, the “dead fool” Ippolit and the “restless fool” Anatole. Prince Vasily is a prudent and cold intriguer and ambitious man who claims the inheritance of Kirila Bezukhov, without having a direct right to do so. He is connected with his children only by blood ties and common interests: they only care about well-being and position in society.

The daughter of Prince Vasily, Helen, is a typical secular beauty with impeccable manners and reputation. She amazes everyone with her beauty, which is referred to several times as “marble”, that is, cold beauty, devoid of feeling and soul, the beauty of a statue. The only thing that occupies Helen is her salon and social receptions.

The sons of Prince Vasily, in his opinion, are both “fools”. The father managed to attach Hippolyte to the diplomatic service, and his fate is considered arranged. The brawler and rake Anatole causes everyone around him a lot of trouble, and in order to calm him down, Prince Vasily wants to marry him to the rich heiress Princess Mary. This marriage cannot take place due to the fact that Princess Mary does not want to part with her father, and Anatole indulges in his former pastimes with renewed vigor.

Thus, people between whom there is not only blood but also spiritual kinship are united in families. The old Bolkonsky family is not interrupted with the death of Prince Andrei, there remains Nikolenka Bolkonsky, who will probably continue the tradition of the moral search of his father and grandfather. Marya Bolkonskaya brings high spirituality to the Rostov family. So, "family thought", along with "people's thought", is the main one in L. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace". Tolstoy's family is being studied at turning points in history. Having shown three families most fully in the novel, the writer makes it clear to the reader that the future belongs to such families as the Rostov and Bolkonsky families, embodying sincerity of feelings and high spirituality, the most prominent representatives of which each go through their own path of rapprochement with the people.

“War and Peace” is one of the best works of Russian and world literature. In it, the author historically accurately recreated the life of Russian people at the beginning of the 19th century. The writer describes in detail the events of 1805-1807 and 1812. Despite the fact that the “family thought” is the main one in the novel “Anna Karenina”, it also occupies a very important place in the epic novel “War and Peace”. Tolstoy saw in the family the beginning of all beginnings. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but the family and the atmosphere that dominates inside it makes him such. The author brilliantly described many characters in the novel, showed their formation and development, which is called the “dialectics of the soul”. Tolstoy, paying great attention to the origins of the formation of a person's personality, has similarities with Goncharov. The hero of the novel "Oblomov" was not born apathetic and lazy, but life in his Oblomovka, where 300 Zakharovs were ready to fulfill his every desire, made him such.

Following the traditions of realism, the author wanted to show and also compare with each other various families that are typical of their era. In this comparison, the author often uses the technique of antithesis: some families are shown in development, while others are frozen. The latter include the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, whether it be Helen or Prince Vasily, pays great attention to the portrait, appearance. This is no coincidence: the external beauty of the Kuragins replaces the spiritual. There are many human vices in this family. Thus, the meanness and hypocrisy of Prince Vasily are revealed in his attitude towards the inexperienced Pierre, whom he despises as illegitimate. As soon as Pierre receives an inheritance from the deceased Count Bezukhov, his opinion about him completely changes, and Prince Vasily begins to see in Pierre an excellent match for his daughter Helen. This turn of events is explained by the low and selfish interests of Prince Vasily and his daughter. Helen, having agreed to a marriage of convenience, reveals her moral baseness. Her relationship with Pierre can hardly be called family, the spouses are always apart. In addition, Helen makes fun of Pierre's desire to have children: she does not want to burden herself with unnecessary worries. Children, in her understanding, are a burden that interferes with life. Such a low moral decline Tolstoy considered the most terrible for a woman. He wrote that the main purpose of a woman is to become a good mother and raise worthy children. The author shows all the futility and meaninglessness of Helen's life. Not fulfilling her destiny in this world, she dies. None of the Kuragin family leaves behind heirs.

The complete opposite of the Kuragins is the Bolkonsky family. Here one can feel the author's desire to show people of honor and duty, highly moral and complex characters.

The father of the family is Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a man of Catherine's hardening, who puts honor and duty above other human values. This is most clearly manifested in the scene of farewell to his son, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who is leaving for the war. The son does not fail his father, does not drop his honor. Unlike many adjutants, he does not sit out at headquarters, but is on the front line, in the very center of hostilities. The author emphasizes his mind and nobility. After the death of his wife, Nikolenka remained with Prince Andrei. We can be sure that he will become a worthy person and, like his father and grandfather, will not tarnish the honor of the old Bolkonsky family.

The daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky is Marya, a man of pure soul, pious, patient, kind. The father did not show his feelings for her, as it was not in his rules. Marya understands all the whims of the prince, treats them resignedly, because she knows that paternal love for her is hidden in the depths of his soul. The author emphasizes in the character of Princess Marya self-sacrifice in the name of another, a deep understanding of filial duty. The old prince, unable to pour out his love, withdraws into himself, sometimes acting cruelly. Princess Mary will not contradict him: the ability to understand another person, to enter into his position - this is one of the main features of her character. This feature often helps to keep the family, does not allow it to fall apart.

Another antithesis to the Kuragin clan is the Rostov family, showing which Tolstoy focuses on such qualities of people as kindness, spiritual openness within the family, hospitality, moral purity, integrity, proximity to folk life. Many people are drawn to the Rostovs, many sympathize with them. Unlike the Bolkonskys, an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding often reigns within the Rostov family. Perhaps this is not always the case in reality, but Tolstoy wanted to idealize openness, to show its necessity between all family members. Each member of the Rostov family is an individual.

Nikolai, the eldest son of the Rostovs, is a brave, disinterested man, he passionately loves his parents and sisters. Tolstoy notes that Nikolai does not hide from his family his feelings and desires, which overwhelm him. Vera, the eldest daughter of the Rostovs, is noticeably different from other members of the family. She grew up a stranger in her family, withdrawn and vicious. The old count says that the countess "has done something to her." Showing the countess, Tolstoy focuses on such a feature of her as selfishness. The Countess thinks exclusively of her family and wants to see her children happy at all costs, even if their happiness is built on the misfortune of other people. Tolstoy showed in her the ideal of a female mother who worries only about her cubs. This is most clearly seen in the scene of the family's departure from Moscow during the fire. Natasha, having a kind soul and heart, helps the wounded to leave Moscow, giving them carts, and leaves all the accumulated wealth and belongings in the city, since this is a business to come. She does not hesitate to make a choice between her well-being and the lives of other people. The Countess does not hesitate to agree to such a sacrifice. There is a blind maternal instinct here.

At the end of the novel, the author shows us the formation of two families: Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha Rostova. Both the princess and Natasha, each in their own way, are morally high and noble. They both suffered a lot and, finally, found their happiness in family life, became the guardians of the family hearth. As Dostoevsky wrote: "Man is not born for happiness and deserves it with suffering." These two heroines have one thing in common: they will be able to become excellent mothers, they will be able to raise a worthy generation, which, according to the author, is the main thing in a woman’s life, and Tolstoy for the sake of this forgives them some of the shortcomings inherent in ordinary people.

As a result, we see that the “family thought” is one of the fundamental ones in the novel. Tolstoy shows not only individuals, but also families, shows the complexity of relationships both within one family and between families.

“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which reflects the national character of the Russian people at the moment when their historical fate was being decided. L. N. Tolstoy worked on the novel for almost six years: from 1863 to 1869. From the very beginning of work on the work, the writer's attention was attracted not only by historical events, but also by the private, family life of the characters. Tolstoy believed that the family is a cell of the world, in which the spirit of mutual understanding, naturalness and closeness to the people should reign.

The novel "War and Peace" describes the life of several noble families: Rostovs, Bolkonskys and Kuragins.

The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole, where the heart prevails over the mind. Love binds all family members. It manifests itself in sensitivity, attention, cordial closeness. With the Rostovs, everything is sincere, comes from the heart. Cordiality, hospitality, hospitality reign in this family, the traditions and customs of Russian life are preserved.

Parents raised their children, giving them all their love, They can understand, forgive and help. For example, when Nikolenka Rostov lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov, he did not hear a word of reproach from his father and was able to pay the card debt.

The children of this family have absorbed all the best qualities of the “Rostov breed”. Natasha is the personification of cordial sensitivity, poetry, musicality and intuitiveness. She knows how to enjoy life and people like a child.

The life of the heart, honesty, naturalness, moral purity and decency determine their relationships in the family and behavior in the circle of people.

Unlike the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys live by reason, not by heart. This is an old aristocratic family. In addition to blood ties, the members of this family are also connected by spiritual closeness.

At first glance, relations in this family are difficult, devoid of cordiality. However, internally these people are close to each other. They are not inclined to show their feelings.

The old prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of the service (nobility, devoted to the one to whom he “sworn.” The concept of honor and duty of an officer came first for him. He served under Catherine II, participated in the campaigns of Suvorov. He considered the main virtues to be mind and activity ", and vices - laziness and idleness. The life of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is continuous activity. He either writes memoirs about past campaigns, or manages the estate. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky greatly respects and honors his father, who was able to instill in him a high concept of honor. "Your the road is the road of honor," he says to his son. And Prince Andrei fulfills his father's parting words during the campaign of 1806, in the Shengraben and Austerlitz battles, and during the war of 1812.

Marya Bolkonskaya loves her father and brother very much. She is ready to give all of herself for the sake of her loved ones. Princess Mary completely obeys the will of her father. His word for her is law. At first glance, she seems weak and indecisive, but at the right moment she shows firmness of will and fortitude.

Both the Rostovs and the Bolkonskys are patriots, their feelings were especially pronounced during the Patriotic War of 1812. They express the national spirit of war. Prince Nikolai Andreevich is dying because his heart could not stand the shame of the retreat of the Russian troops and the surrender of Smolensk. Marya Bolkonskaya rejects the French general's offer of patronage and leaves Bogucharov. The Rostovs give their carts to the soldiers wounded on the Borodino field and pay the most expensive - the death of Petya.

Another family is shown in the novel. These are Kuragins. The members of this family appear before us in all their insignificance, vulgarity, heartlessness, greed, immorality. They use people to achieve their selfish goals. The family is devoid of spirituality. For Helen and Anatole, the main thing in life is the satisfaction of their base desires. They are completely cut off from the life of the people, they live in a brilliant, but cold light, where all feelings are perverted. During the war, they lead the same salon life, talking about patriotism.

In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. These are the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought kindness and tenderness, high spirituality into the Rostov family, and Nikolai shows spiritual kindness in relations with the closest people.

Showing different families in his novel, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to such families as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, Bolkonskys.

Introduction

Leo Tolstoy is one of the greatest prose writers of the 19th century, the "golden age" of Russian literature. For two centuries now, his works have been read all over the world, because these amazingly lively and vivid verbal canvases not only occupy the reader, but make you think about many important questions for a person - and provide answers to some of them. A vivid example of this is the pinnacle of the writer's work, the epic novel "War and Peace", in which Tolstoy touches on topics that are burning for any thinking person. The theme of the family in the novel "War and Peace" by Tolstoy is very important, as well as for the author himself. That is why Tolstoy's heroes are practically never alone.

The text most fully reveals the structure and relationships of three completely different families: the Rostovs, Bolkonskys and Kuragins - of which the first two for the most part correspond to the opinion of the author himself on this issue.

Rostovs, or the great power of love

The head of the large Rostov family, Ilya Andreevich, is a Moscow nobleman, a very kind, generous and trusting person, who adores his wife and children. In view of his extreme spiritual simplicity, he does not know how to run a household at all, so the family is on the verge of ruin. But Rostov Sr. cannot refuse anything to the household: he leads a luxurious life, pays his son's debts.

The Rostovs are very kind, always ready to help, sincere and responsive, so they have many friends. It is not surprising that it was in this family that the true patriot of the Motherland Petya Rostov grew up. Authoritarianism is not inherent in the Rostov family at all: here children respect their parents, and parents respect their children. That is why Natasha was able to persuade her parents to take out not valuable things from besieged Moscow, but wounded soldiers. The Rostovs preferred to remain penniless rather than transgress the laws of honor, conscience and compassion. In the images of the Rostov family, Tolstoy embodied his own ideas about the ideal family nest, about the indestructible connection of a real Russian family. Isn't this the best illustration that can show how big the role of the family is in War and Peace?

The "fruit" of such love, such a highly moral upbringing is beautiful - this is Natasha Rostova. She absorbed the best qualities of her parents: from her father she took kindness and breadth of nature, the desire to make the whole world happy, and from her mother - caring and thriftiness. One of the most important qualities of Natasha is naturalness. She is not able to play a role, to live according to secular laws, her behavior does not depend on the opinions of others. This is a girl with a wide-open soul, an extrovert, capable of completely and completely surrendering to love for all people in general and for her soulmate. She is the ideal woman from Tolstoy's point of view. And this ideal was brought up by an ideal family.

Another representative of the younger generation of the Rostov family, Nikolai, does not differ in either depth of mind or breadth of soul, but he is a simple, honest and decent young man.

The "ugly duckling" of the Rostov family, Vera, chose a completely different path for herself - the path of selfishness. Having married Berg, she created a family that did not look like either the Rostovs or the Bolkonskys. This cell of society is based on external gloss and a thirst for enrichment. Such a family, according to Tolstoy, cannot become the foundation of society. Why? Because there is nothing spiritual in such a relationship. This is the path of separation and degradation, leading to nowhere.

Bolkonsky: duty, honor and reason

The Bolkonsky family, serving nobles, is somewhat different. Each of the members of this genus is a remarkable personality, talented, whole and spiritual. This is a family of strong people. The head of the family, Prince Nikolai, is a man of an extremely harsh and quarrelsome nature, but not cruel. Therefore, he is respected and feared even by his own children. Most of all, the old prince appreciates smart and active people, and therefore he tries to instill such qualities in his daughter. Andrei Bolkonsky inherited nobility, sharpness of mind, pride and independence from his father. The son and father of the Bolkonsky are diversified, intelligent and strong-willed people. Andrei is one of the most complex characters in the novel. From the first chapters of the epic to the end of his life, this person goes through the most difficult spiritual evolution, trying to comprehend the meaning of life and find his calling. The theme of the family in "War and Peace" is fully revealed at the end of Andrei's life, when he nevertheless understands that only a family man surrounded by people dear to his heart can become happy.

Andrei's sister, Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, is shown in the novel as an absolutely whole physically, psychologically and morally person. A girl who is not distinguished by physical beauty lives in constant expectation of quiet family happiness. This is a boat filled with love and care, waiting for a patient and skillful captain. This smartest, romantic and extremely religious girl dutifully endures all the rudeness of her father, never for a moment ceasing to love him strongly and sincerely.

Thus, the younger generation of the Bolkonsky family inherited all the best qualities of the old prince, ignoring only his rudeness, imperiousness and intolerance. Therefore, Andrei and Marya are able to truly love people, which means they are able to develop as individuals, climb the spiritual ladder - to the ideal, to the light, to God. Therefore, the war and peace of the Bolkonsky family are so difficult to understand for most of their contemporaries, therefore neither Maria nor Andrei love social life.

Kuragins, or the abomination of empty egoism

The Kuragin family is directly opposite to the two previous genera. The head of the family, Prince Vasily, hides the rotten nature of a greedy, through and through false brute behind an external gloss. For him, the main thing is money and social position. His children, Helen, Anatole and Hippolyte, are in no way inferior to their father: outwardly attractive, superficially smart and successful young people in society are in fact empty, albeit beautiful, vessels. Behind their own egoism and greed, they do not see the spiritual world - or do not want to see. In general, the Kuragin family are vile toads dressed in lace and hung with jewels; they sit in a dirty swamp and croak contentedly, not seeing the beautiful endless sky above their heads. For Tolstoy, this family is the personification of the world of the "secular mob", which the author himself despised with all his heart.

conclusions

Finishing the essay “The Theme of the Family in the Novel War and Peace”, I want to note that this topic is one of the main ones in the text. This thread permeates the fate of almost all the heroes of the work. The reader can observe in action the causal relationship between upbringing, the atmosphere in the parental home, the future fate of an adult person - and his influence on the world.

Artwork test

In the eyes of secular society, Prince Kuragin is a respected person, "close to the emperor, surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic women, scattering secular courtesies and chuckling benevolently." In words he was a decent, sympathetic person, but in reality he constantly had an internal struggle between the desire to appear a decent person and the actual depravity of his motives. Prince Vasily knew that influence in the world is a capital that must be protected so that it does not disappear, and, once realizing that if he begins to ask for everyone who asks him, then soon he will not be able to ask for himself, he rarely used this influence. But at the same time, he sometimes felt remorse. So, in the case of Princess Drubetskaya, he felt "something like a reproach of conscience", as she reminded him that "he owed his first steps in the service to her father."

Tolstoy's favorite technique is the opposition of the internal and external characters of the characters. The image of Prince Vasily very clearly reflects this opposition.

Fatherly feelings are not alien to Prince Vasily, although they are expressed rather in the desire to "attach" their children, rather than to give them fatherly love and warmth. According to Anna Pavlovna Sherer, people like the prince should not have children. "... And why will children be born to people like you? If you weren't the father, I wouldn't be able to reproach you for anything." To which the prince replies: "What should I do? You know, I did everything that a father can for their upbringing."

The prince forced Pierre to marry Helen, pursuing selfish goals. To Anna Pavlovna Scherer's proposal to "marry the prodigal son Anatole" to Princess Maria Bolkonskaya, he says: "she has a good surname and is rich. Everything I need." At the same time, Prince Vasily does not at all think about the fact that Princess Marya may be unhappy in marriage with the dissolute varmint Anatole, who looked at his whole life as one continuous amusement.

Absorbed all the vile, vicious traits of Prince Vasily and his children.

Helen, the daughter of Vasily Kuragin, 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. Here is how the master of words describes the appearance of Helen in the Scherer salon: “Noisy with her white ballroom robe, trimmed with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of her shoulders, with the gloss of her hair and diamonds, she passed, not looking at anyone, but smiling to everyone and as if kindly giving everyone the right to admire the beauty of her figure, full of shoulders, very open in the fashion of that time, chest and back, and as if bringing with her the splendor of the ball.Helen was so good that not only was there no trace of coquetry in her, but, on the contrary, she as if she was ashamed of her undoubted and too strong acting beauty. She seemed to want and could not belittle the effects of this beauty.

Helen personifies immorality and depravity. Helen only marries for her own enrichment. She is cheating on her husband, because her nature is dominated by the animal nature. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless. "I'm not stupid enough to have kids," she admits. Still, being the wife of Pierre, Helen, in front of the eyes of the whole society, is arranging her personal life.

She loves nothing in life except her body, gives her brother a kiss on her shoulders, and does not give money. She cold-bloodedly chooses her lovers, like dishes from the menu, knows how to maintain the respect of the world and even acquire a reputation as an intelligent woman thanks to her air of cold dignity and social tact. This type could develop only in the circle where Helen lived. This adoration of one's own body could develop only where idleness and luxury gave full play to all sensual impulses. This shameless calm is where a high position, providing impunity, teaches to neglect the respect of society, where wealth and connections provide every means to hide intrigue and shut up chatty mouths.

In addition to a magnificent bust, a rich and beautiful body, this representative of the big world possessed an extraordinary ability to hide her mental and moral squalor, and all this was due only to the elegance of her manners and the memorization of some phrases and techniques. Shamelessness manifests itself in her under such grandiose high society forms that it excites, in others, almost respect.

Helen eventually dies. This death is a direct consequence of her own intrigues. "Countess Elena Bezukhova died suddenly from ... a terrible disease, which is commonly called chest sore throat, but in intimate circles they talked about how the physician of the Queen of Spain prescribed Helen small doses of some kind of medicine to produce a well-known action; like Helen, tormented by the fact that the old count suspected her, and because the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved Pierre) did not answer her, she suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed for her and died in agony before help could be given.

Ippolit Kuragin, Helen's brother, "... strikes with his extraordinary resemblance to his beautiful sister, and even more so because, despite the resemblance, he is strikingly ugly. His features are the same as those of his sister, but everything was illuminated by her cheerful, self-satisfied On the other hand, my brother's face was hazy with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident squeamishness, and his body was thin and weak. , and the arms and legs always assumed an unnatural position."

Hippolyte was extraordinarily stupid. Due to the self-confidence with which he spoke, no one could understand whether what he said was very smart or very stupid.

At the reception at Scherer, he appears to us "in a dark green tailcoat, in pantaloons the color of a frightened nymph, as he himself said, in stockings and shoes." And such an absurd outfit does not bother him at all.

His stupidity was manifested in the fact that he sometimes spoke, and then he understood what he said. Hippolyte often expressed his opinions when no one needed them. He liked to insert phrases into the conversation that were completely irrelevant to the essence of the topic under discussion.

Let us give an example from the novel: “Prince Ippolit, who had been looking at the viscount in a lorgnette for a long time, suddenly turned with his whole body to the little princess and, asking her for a needle, began to show her, drawing with a needle on the table, the coat of arms of Cande. He explained this coat of arms to her with such with a significant look, as if the princess asked him about it.

Thanks to his father, Hippolyte makes a career and during the war with Napoleon becomes the secretary of the embassy. Among the officers in the service of the embassy, ​​he is considered a jester.

The character of Hippolyte can serve as a living example of the fact that even positive idiocy is sometimes presented in the world as something of importance due to the gloss attached by knowledge of the French language, and that extraordinary property of this language to support and at the same time mask spiritual emptiness.

Prince Vasily calls Ippolit "a dead fool." Tolstoy in the novel - "sluggish and breaking." These are the dominant character traits of Hippolytus. Hippolyte is stupid, but at least he does not harm anyone with his stupidity, unlike his younger brother Anatole.

Anatole Kuragin, the youngest son of Vasily Kuragin, according to Tolstoy, "simple and with carnal inclinations." These are the dominant character traits of Anatole. He looks at his whole life as an uninterrupted entertainment that someone like that for some reason undertook to arrange for him.

Anatole is completely free from considerations of responsibility and consequences of what he does. His egoism is direct, animal-naive and good-natured, absolute egoism, for Anatole is not constrained by anything inside, in consciousness, feeling. It’s just that Kuragin is deprived of the ability to know what will happen next for a minute of his pleasure and how it will affect the lives of other people, how others will look. All this does not exist for him at all. He is sincerely convinced, instinctively, with his whole being, that everything around him has the sole purpose of entertainment and exists for this. No looking back at people, their opinions, the consequences, no long-term goal that would force them to focus on achieving it, no remorse, reflection, hesitation, doubt - Anatole, no matter what he does, naturally and sincerely considers himself an impeccable person and highly bears its beautiful head.

One of Anatole's character traits is slowness and lack of eloquence in conversations. But he has the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence: "Anatole was silent, shook his leg, cheerfully observing the princess's hairstyle. It was evident that he could remain silent for a very long time. which most of all inspires curiosity, fear and even love in women is the manner of contemptuous consciousness of one's own superiority.

At her brother's request, Helen introduces Natasha to Anatole. After five minutes of talking with him, Natasha "feels terribly close to this man." Natasha is deceived by Anatole's false beauty. In the presence of Anatole, she is “pleasant, but for some reason cramped and hard,” she experiences pleasure and excitement, and at the same time, fear from the absence of a barrier of modesty between her and this person.

Knowing that Natasha is engaged to Prince Andrei, Anatole nevertheless confesses his love to her. What could come out of this courtship, Anatole could not know, since he never knew what would come out of his every act. In a letter to Natasha, he says that either she will love him or he will die, that if Natasha says yes, he will kidnap her and take her to the ends of the earth. Impressed by this letter, Natasha refuses Prince Andrei and agrees to escape with Kuragin. But the escape fails, Natasha's note falls into the wrong hands, and the kidnapping plan fails. The day after the unsuccessful kidnapping, Anatole comes across Pierre on the street, who knows nothing and is driving at that moment to Akhrosimova, where the whole story will be told to him. Anatole in the sleigh sits "upright, in the classic pose of military dandies", his face is fresh and ruddy in the cold, snow falls on his curled hair. It is clear that all that was yesterday is already far from him; he is pleased with himself and life now and is handsome, in his own way even beautiful in this confident and calm contentment of his.

In a conversation with Natasha, Pierre revealed to her that Anatole is married, so all his promises are a lie. Then Bezukhov went to Anatole and demanded that he return Natasha's letters and leave Moscow:

... - you are a scoundrel and a bastard, and I don’t know what keeps me from the pleasure of crushing your head ...

Did you promise to marry her?

I, I, I didn't think; However, I never promised...

Do you have her letters? Do you have letters? - Pierre repeated, moving towards Anatole.

Anatole looked at him and reached into his pocket for his wallet...

- ... you must leave Moscow tomorrow.

- ... you should never say a word about what happened between you and the countess.

The next day Anatole left for Petersburg. Having learned about Natasha's betrayal and about the role of Anatole in this, Prince Andrei was going to challenge him to a duel and searched for him for a long time throughout the army. But when he met Anatole, whose leg had just been taken away, Prince Andrei remembered everything, and enthusiastic pity for this man filled his heart. He forgave him everything.

5) The Rostov family.

"War and Peace" is one of those books that cannot be forgotten. “When you stand and wait for this tense string to burst, when everyone is waiting for an inevitable revolution, you need to take hand in hand as closely as possible and as many people as possible in order to resist the general catastrophe,” L. Tolstoy said in this novel.

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-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.

"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. Episode by 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 the episode of the name day in the Rostov house will be considered.

A curious and absurd incident with a bear and a quarter will evoke good-natured laughter in the Rostovs’ house (from Count Rostov), ​​others - curiosity (mainly among young people), and someone with a maternal note (Marya Dmitrievna) will sternly scold poor Pierre: "Good, nothing to say! Good boy! Father is lying on his bed, and he is amusing himself, putting the quarter on a bear astride. Shame on you, father, shame on you! It would be better to go to war." Oh, if there were more such formidable instructions to Pierre Bezukhov, perhaps there would be no unforgivable mistakes in his life. The very image of the aunt, Countess Marya Dmitrievna, is also interesting. She always spoke Russian, not recognizing secular conventions; it should be noted that French speech in the Rostovs' house sounds much less frequently than in the St. Petersburg drawing room (or almost does not sound). And the way everyone respectfully stood in front of her was by no means a false rite of courtesy in front of the "unnecessary aunt" Scherer, but a natural desire to express respect to the honorable lady.

What attracts readers to the Rostov family? First of all, this is a pronounced Russian family. Way of life, customs, likes and dislikes - all this is Russian, national. What is the basis of the "Rostov spirit"? First of all, a poetic attitude, boundless love for one's folk, Russian, for native nature, native songs, holidays and their prowess. They absorbed the spirit of the people with its cheerfulness, the ability to suffer steadfastly, to easily make sacrifices, not for show, but with all the spiritual breadth. No wonder the uncle, listening to Natasha's songs and admiring her dance, is amazed at where this countess, brought up by French women, could so understand, feel the authenticity of the Russian, folk spirit. The actions of the Rostovs are immediate: their joys are truly joyful, their grief is bitter, their love and affections are strong and deep. Sincerity is one of the main features of all family members.

The life of the young Rostovs is closed. They are happy and easy when they are together. Society with its hypocrisy remains alien and incomprehensible to them for a long time. Appearing for the first time at the ball. Natasha bears so little resemblance to secular young ladies, the contrast between her and the "light" is so distinct.

Barely stepping over the threshold of the family, Natasha is deceived. The best people are drawn to the Rostovs, and above all to their common favorite Natasha: Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Vasily Denisov.

Let us turn to the characteristics of individual members of the Rostov family. Consider first the representatives of the older generation.

The old Count Ilya Andreevich is an unremarkable man: a shady gentleman, a fan of setting a feast for all of Moscow, a destroyer of fortunes, leaving his beloved children without an inheritance. It seems that in all his life he did not make a single reasonable act. We have not heard from him smart solutions, but meanwhile he excites sympathy, and sometimes charms.

The representative of the old nobility, who does not understand the management of estates, who trusted the rogue clerk who robs the serfs, Rostov is deprived of one of the most disgusting features of the landowner class - acquisitiveness. This is not a master predator. There is no lordly contempt for serfs in his nature. They are people for him. To sacrifice material wealth for the sake of a person does not amount to anything for Ilya Andreevich. He recognizes no logic; but with the whole being, that a person, his joy and happiness are higher than any blessings. All this distinguishes Rostoy from the environment of his circle. He is an epicurean, he lives by the principle: a person should be happy. His happiness lies in the ability to rejoice with others. And the feasts that he sets are not a desire to splurge, not a desire to satisfy ambition. It is the joy of bringing happiness to others, the opportunity to rejoice and have fun yourself.

How brilliantly the character of Ilya Andreevich is revealed at the ball during the performance of the old dance Danila Kupor! How charming the Count is! With what prowess he dances to the surprise of all those gathered.

"You are our father! Eagle!" - say the servants, admiring the dancing old man.

“Quicker, faster and faster, more and more, and more and more, the count unfolded, now on tiptoe, now on heels, rushing around Marya Dmitrievna and, finally, turning his lady to her place, made the last step ... bowing his sweaty head with a smiling face and roundly waved his right hand amid the roar of applause and laughter, especially of Natasha.

This is how they danced in our time, mother, ”he said.

The old count brings an atmosphere of love and friendship into the family. Nikolai, and Natasha, and Sonya, and Petya are indebted to him for the poetic-love air that they absorb from childhood.

Prince Vasily calls him a “rude bear”, and Prince Andrei calls him a “stupid old man”, the old Bolkonsky speaks unflattering about him. But all this does not reduce the charm of Rostov. How vividly his original character is manifested in the hunting scene! And youthful joy, and excitement, and embarrassment in front of the arriving Danila - all this, as it were, merges into a complete characterization of Rostov.

During the events of the twelfth year, Ilya Andreevich appears from the most attractive side. True to himself, he gives carts to the wounded while leaving Moscow, leaving property. He knows he will be ruined. The rich put up a militia, confident that it would not bring them much. damage. Ilya Andreevich hands over the carts, remembering one thing: wounded Russians cannot stay with the French! It is noteworthy that the entire Rostov family is unanimous in this decision. So did the truly Russian people, who left the French without hesitation, for "under the French everything is worse."

On the one hand, Rostov was influenced by the loving and poetic atmosphere of his own family, on the other hand, the customs of the “golden youth” - revels, trips to gypsies, playing cards, duels. On the one hand, it was shaped by the general atmosphere of patriotic enthusiasm and tempered military affairs, the camaraderie of the regiment, on the other hand, reckless orgies with debauchery and drunkenness were poisoned.

Under the influence of such opposing factors, the formation of the character of Nicholas went on. This created the duality of his nature. In it - and nobility, and ardent love for the motherland, and courage, and a sense of duty, camaraderie. On the other hand, contempt for work, for intellectual life, loyal moods.

Nikolai is characterized by the features of the time: unwillingness to reach the cause of phenomena, the desire to evade answers to the questions: why? Why so? neither the rude morality of society kills humanity in him. Tolstoy reveals the complex experiences of Nikolai in the so-called Ostrovnensky case. For this case, he received the St. George Cross, was known as a brave man. How did Rostov himself regard his behavior in this battle? Faced in battle face to face with a young a French officer, Nikolai stabbed him with a saber.The question arose before him: why did he hit the boy officer? Why would this Frenchman hit him too?

“All this and the next day, friends and comrades of Rostov noticed that he was not boring, not angry, but silent, thoughtful and concentrated ... Rostov kept thinking about this brilliant feat of his ... And he could not understand something ". However, when confronted with such questions, Rostov tends to evade the answer. He confines himself to emotions and, as a rule, tries to exterminate the painful feeling of unrest in himself. So it was with him in Tilsit, when he was busy with Denisov, and his reflection on the Ostrovny episode ended the same way.

His character is especially convincingly revealed in the scene of the liberation of Princess Marya from the rebellious peasants. It is difficult to imagine a more historically accurate depiction of the entire conventionality of noble morality. Tolstoy does not directly express his attitude to Rostov's act. This attitude emerges from the description. Rostov beats the peasants with swear words in order to save the princess and does not hesitate for a minute, inflicting such reprisals. He does not feel a single reproach of conscience.

The son of his age and his estate, Rostov leaves the stage. - As soon as the war passed - the hussar changed his uniform to a jacket. He is a landlord. The extravagance and extravagance of youth are replaced by stinginess and prudence. He now does not resemble in any way a good-natured, stupidly wound-up father.

At the end of the novel, two families are formed - the Rostovs and the Bezukhovs. Whatever the views of Nicholas, when he turns out to be a landowner, no matter how many of his actions, the new family, with Marya Bolkonskaya in the center, retains many of the features that distinguished the Rostovs and Bolkonskys from the circle of noble society before. This new family will become a fertile environment in which not only Nikolenka Bolkonsky, but, perhaps, other glorious people of Russia will be brought up.

The bearer of the "Rostov spirit", the brightest person in the family, is undoubtedly the favorite of all Natasha, the center of attraction to the Rostov house of all the best that exists in society.

Natasha is a generously gifted person. Her actions are original. No prejudice hangs over her. Her heart rules. This is a captivating image of a Russian woman. The structure of feelings and thoughts, character and temperament - everything in it is pronounced, national.

For the first time, Natasha appears as a teenager, with thin hands, with a large mouth, ugly and at the same time charming. The writer, as it were, emphasizes that all her charm lies in her inner originality. In childhood, this originality was manifested in stormy fun, in sensitivity, in a hot reaction to everything around. Not a single false sound escaped her notice. Natasha, according to those who know her, is “gunpowder”, “Cossack”, “sorceress”. The world in which she grows up is the poetic world of a family with a peculiar system of friendship and childish love. This world is a sharp contrast to society. As if a foreign body appears at a birthday party among the dear youth of the Rostovs, the stiff Julie Karagina. A sharp contrast to Russian speech sounds French dialect.

How much enthusiasm, energy in the willful-playful Natasha! She is not afraid to break the secular-decent course of a birthday dinner. Her jokes, childish stubbornness, bold attacks on adults - this is a game of talent sparkling with all facets. Natasha even flaunts her unwillingness to accept generally accepted conventions. Her young world is full of poetic fantasy, she even has her own language, understandable only to the youth of the Rostovs.

Natasha's development is booming. At first, the wealth of her soul finds an outlet in singing. She is trained by an Italian, but all the charm of talent comes from the very depths of her temperament, building her soul. Gusar Denisov, the first truly fascinated by Natasha, calls her "Sorceress!" Alarmed for the first time, by the closeness of love, Natasha is tormented by pity for Denisov. The scene of her explanation with Denisov is one of the poetic pages of the novel.

The time of Natasha's childhood ends early. Quite a girl she is taken out into the "light". Among the glitter of lights, dresses, in the thunder of music, after the poetic silence of the Rostov house, Natasha feels shocked. What can she mean, a thin girl, in front of the dazzling beauty of Countess _Helene?

Departure to the "big world" turned out to be the end of her cloudless happiness. A new time has begun. Love has come. Just like Denisov, Prince Andrei experienced the charm of Natasha. With her characteristic sensitivity, she saw in him a man who was not like the others. “Is it really me, that child girl (they said so about me), thought Natasha, “can I really be a wife from now on, equal to this strange, sweet, intelligent person, respected even by my father.”

The new time is a time of complex inner work, spiritual growth. Natasha finds herself in Otradnoye, among village life, among nature, surrounded by nannies, courtyards. It was they who were her first educators, they conveyed to her all the originality of the national spirit.

The time spent in Otradnoye leaves a deep mark on her soul. Children's dreams are intertwined with a feeling of ever-increasing love. At this time of happiness, all the strings of her rich nature sound with special force. Not one of them has yet been cut off, not a single blow has yet been dealt to her by fate.

Natasha seems to be looking for where to use the energy that overwhelms her. With her brother and father, she rides hunting, enthusiastically indulges in Christmas fun, sings, dances, daydreams. And in the depths of the soul there is an ongoing work. Happiness is so great that anxiety rises next to it. Inner restlessness gives Natasha's actions a touch of strangeness. She is now concentrated, then all is given to her overwhelming feelings.

The scene of Natasha's singing in the family circle is wonderfully vividly written. In singing, she found an outlet for the feeling that overwhelmed her. "... for a long time, before and for a long time after, she did not sing the way she sang that evening." Count Ilya Andreevich left his affairs and listened to her. Nikolai, sitting at the clavichord, did not take his eyes off his sister, the countess mother, listening, thought about Natasha: “Ah! How I fear for her, how I fear ... "Her maternal instinct told her that there was too much in Natasha, and that she would not be happy from this."

Happy in this world are Kuragins, Drubetskoys, Bergs, Elena Vasilievna, Anna Pavlovna - those who live without a heart, without love, without honor, according to the laws of "light".

Tolstoy achieves great power by drawing Natasha visiting her uncle: “Where, how, when she sucked into herself from that Russian air that she breathed - this countess, brought up by a French emigrant, this spirit, where did she get these techniques?... But these spirit and methods were the same, inimitable, not studied, Russian, which uncle expected from her.

And in troika races on a frosty Christmas night, and in dancing with mummers, and in games, and in singing, Natasha appears in all the charm of her original character. What captures, enchants in all these Otradnensky scenes is not what is done, but how it is done. And this is done with all Russian prowess, with all the breadth and passion, in all the brilliance of Russian poetry. The coloring of national life, moral health, a huge supply of mental strength enchants. And it is no coincidence that V. I. Lenin reread the hunting scenes with such pleasure. And asking which of the writers of Europe can be put next to Tolstoy, he concluded - "There is no one!" -

In the brilliant depiction of the national Russian folk character, in the sound of the most dear and deepest strings of the Russian heart, the unfading charm of Otradnensky scenes is contained. So understandable and close is the life of the Rostovs, despite the remoteness of the era, the complete alienation of the environment in which the heroes act. They are close and understandable to us, just as Anisya Feodorovna (uncle’s housekeeper) was close and understandable, who “shed a tear through laughter, looking at this thin, graceful, educated countess so alien to her, in silk and velvet, who knew how to understand everything what was in Anisya, and in Anisya's father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.

Natasha feels lonely, alien after Otradny in the theater, among the capital's aristocrats. Their life is unnatural, their feelings are false, everything that is played out on the stage is far and incomprehensible!

The evening at the theater turned out to be fatal "for Natasha. She, noticed by the light, liked Anatole Kuragin with her "freshness", "untouchedness", turned out to be the subject of intrigue.

With flattery, playing on gullibility and inexperience, Kuragin captivated her. In a short-term passion and in the grief that befell her, Natasha remained the same strong-willed and resolute nature, capable of desperate deeds and able to steadfastly face trouble.

After a serious illness, which was the result of mental upheavals, Natasha returned to a renewed life. The trouble did not break her, the light did not defeat her.

The events of the twelfth year give Natasha back her energy. With what sincerity she regrets that she cannot stay in. Moscow. How ardently she demands from her father and mother to give carts to the wounded, leaving property!

The old count with tears says about her: “Eggs ... eggs teach a chicken ...”

Leaving Moscow coincides with the upcoming maturity of Natasha. These days many, many Russian people are being severely tested. For Natasha, it is also time for great trials. With what determination she goes to the wounded Andrey! He is not only the man she loves, he is a wounded warrior. What better way to heal the wounds of a hero than the selfless love of a patriotic woman! Natasha appears here in all the beauty of her feminine and undoubtedly heroic character. She is guided only by the dictates of her heart. She paid heavily for her inexperience. But what is given to others by years and years of experience, Natasha learned immediately. She returned to life capable of resisting society, did not lose faith in herself. She did not ask others how to act in one case or another, but acted as her heart told her.Natasha sneaks to the sick Andrey and asks his forgiveness, because she knows that she loved and loves only him, that he cannot but understand her. with "decencies", Natasha takes care of the dying.

The illness and death of Prince Andrei, as it were, regenerate Natasha. Her songs were silenced. Illusions were dispelled, magical dreams faded. Natasha looks at life with open eyes. From the spiritual height that she reached, among hundreds of people, she noted the wonderful "eccentric" Pierre, appreciating not only his "golden heart", but also his mind. all its complex and deep nature. Love for Pierre was Natasha's victory. This Russian girl, not bound by the fetters of tradition, not defeated by the "light", chose the only thing that a woman like her could find in those conditions - a family. Natasha is a wife-friend, a wife-companion, who took on her shoulders part of her husband's business. In her character, the spiritual world of Russian women is guessed - the wives of the Decembrists, who followed their husbands to hard labor and exile.

In world literature, there are many female images marked with bright national features. Among them, the image of Natasha Rostova occupies its own, very special place. Breadth, independence, courage, poetic attitude, passionate attitude to all phenomena of life - these are the features that fill this image.

Little space is given in the novel to young Petya Rostov: However, this is one of the charming, memorable images. Petya, in the words of Denisov, is one of the representatives of the "stupid Rostov breed." He resembles Natasha, and although he is not as generously gifted by nature as his sister, he has the same poetic nature, and most importantly, the same indomitable efficiency. Petya strives to imitate others, adopting the good from everyone. In this he also resembles Natasha. Petya, like his sister, is sensitive to goodness. But he is too trusting, and sees the good in everything. Cordiality, combined with impetuous temperament, is the source of Petya's charm.

Appearing in the detachment of Denisov, young Rostov, first of all, wants to please everyone. He is imbued with pity for the captured French boy. He is affectionate with the soldiers, he does not see anything bad in Dolokhov. His dreams on the night before the fight are full of poetry, colored with lyricism. His heroic impulse is not at all like the “hussarism” of Nikolai Petya strives for a feat not for the sake of vanity, he sincerely wants to serve his homeland. It is not for nothing that in the first battle he does not feel, like Nicholas, neither fear, nor split, nor remorse that he went to war. Making his way with Dolokhov to the rear of the French, he behaves courageously. But it turns out to be too inexperienced, without a sense of self-preservation, and dies in the first attack.

Sensitive Denisov immediately guessed the beautiful soul of Petya. His death shocked the shelled hussar to the very depths. “He rode up to Petya, dismounted from his horse, and with trembling hands turned towards him Petya’s already pale face, stained with blood and dirt.”

“I'm used to anything sweet. Excellent raisins, take them all,” he recalled. And the Cossacks looked back in surprise at the sounds similar to the barking of a dog, with which Denisov quickly turned away, went up to the wattle fence and grabbed it. The animation of the young generation of the twelfth year, which has just entered into life, is clearly manifested in it. It was this generation, which grew up in an atmosphere of general patriotic upsurge, that carried a passionate, energetic love for the motherland, a desire to serve it.

Standing apart in the Rostov family is Vera, the eldest daughter of Ilya Andreevich. Cold, unkind, a stranger in the circle of brothers and sisters, she is in the Rostovs' house - a foreign body. The pupil Sonya, full of selfless and grateful love for the whole family, completes; gallery of the Rostov family.

6) The relationship between Pierre Bezukhov and Natalya Rostova is an idyll of family happiness.

Pierre Bezukhov's letter to Natasha Rostova

Dear Natasha, on that magnificent summer evening,

when I met you at the emperor's ball,

I realized that all my life I wanted to have

a wife as beautiful as you. I looked at

you all evening, without stopping for a minute,

peered at your slightest movement, tried to look

in each, even the smallest, hole

your soul. I didn't take my eyes off it for a second.

your gorgeous body. But alas, all my efforts

to get your attention were unsuccessful. I think that

will be just a waste of time

all prayers and promises from my side.

For I know that I have too little

status in the empire. However, I would like to assure you that

you are the most beautiful being in the world.

I never, never met such

homeland. And only your greatest

modesty hides it.

Natasha, I love you!

Pierre Bezukhov

After the death of Prince Andrei, Natasha “thought that her life was over. But suddenly love for her mother showed her that the essence of her life - love - is still alive in her. And the author does not deprive her of new happiness, which comes to her rather accidentally and at the same time unexpectedly quickly (because the writer is aware that dooming Natasha to a long wait is fraught with unpredictable consequences).

Pierre, having returned from captivity and having learned that his wife has died and he is free, hears about the Rostovs, that they are in Kostroma, but the thought of Natasha rarely visits him: “If she came, it was only as a pleasant memory of the past.” Even having met her, he does not immediately recognize Natasha in a pale and thin woman with sad eyes without a shadow of a smile, who was sitting near Princess Marya, to whom he arrived.

Both of them, after tragedies, losses, if they crave something, then not new happiness, but rather oblivion. She is still all in her grief, but it is natural for her to speak out without concealment about the details of the last days of her love for Andrei in front of Pierre. Pierre “listened to her and only felt sorry for her for the suffering that she was now experiencing while telling.” For Pierre, it is a joy and a “rare pleasure” to tell Natasha about his adventures during captivity. For Natasha, the joy is listening to him, "guessing the secret meaning of all Pierre's spiritual work."

And having met, these two people, created by L. Tolstoy for each other, will no longer part. The writer came to the desired goal: his Natasha and Pierre took with them the bitter experience of past mistakes and suffering, went through temptations, delusions, shame, hardships that prepared them for love.

Natasha is twenty-one years old, Pierre is twenty-eight. The book could begin with this meeting of theirs, but it is coming to an end ... Pierre is now only a year older than Prince Andrei was at the beginning of the novel. But today's Pierre is a much more mature person than that Andrey. Prince Andrei in 1805 knew only one thing for sure: that he was dissatisfied with the life he had to lead. He did not know what to strive for, he did not know how to love.

In the spring of 1813, Natasha married Pierre. All is well that ends well. It seems that this was the name of the novel when L. Tolstoy was just beginning War and Peace. The last time Natasha appears in the novel in a new role - wife and mother.

L. Tolstoy expressed his attitude towards Natasha in her new life with the thoughts of the old countess, who, with her “motherly instinct”, understood that “all Natasha’s impulses began only with the need to have a family, to have a husband, as she, not so much joking as really, screamed in Otradnoe. Countess Rostova "was surprised at the surprise of people who did not understand Natasha, and repeated that she always knew that Natasha would be an exemplary wife and mother."

The author, who created Natasha and endowed her with the best qualities of a woman in his eyes, also knew this. In Natasha Rostova-Bezukhova, L. Tolstoy, if we switch to high-flown language, sang the noble woman of that era, as he imagined her.

The portrait of Natasha - wife and mother - completes the gallery of portraits of Natasha from a thirteen-year-old girl to a twenty-eight-year-old woman, mother of four children. Like all the previous ones, Natasha’s last portrait is also warmed by warmth and love: “She grew stout and wide, so it was difficult to recognize the former thin mobile Natasha in this strong mother.” Her facial features "had an expression of calm softness and clarity." The “fire of revival” that had been constantly burning before was lit in her now only when “the husband returned, when the child was recovering, or when she and Countess Marya remembered Prince Andrei”, and “very rarely, when something accidentally involved her in singing” . But when the old fire was kindled in her “developed beautiful body”, she “was even more attractive than before.”

Natasha knows “Pierre’s whole soul”, she loves in him what he respects in himself, and Pierre, who with the help of Natasha found a spiritual answer in the earthly, sees himself “reflected in his wife”. Speaking, they “with unusual clarity and speed”, as they say, on the fly grasp each other’s thoughts, from which we conclude that they are completely spiritually united.

On the last pages, the favorite heroine has the share of becoming the embodiment of the author's idea about the essence and purpose of marriage, the basics of family life, the appointment of a woman in the family. Natasha's state of mind and her whole life during this period embody the cherished ideal of L. Tolstoy: "the purpose of marriage is the family."

Natasha is shown in her concern and affection for her children and her husband: “Everything that was a mental, abstract business of her husband, she attributed, without understanding it, of great importance and was constantly in fear of being an obstacle in this activity of her husband.”

Natasha is both the poetry of life and its prose at the same time. And this is not a “beautiful” phrase. More prosaic than in the finale of the book, the reader has never seen her, either in grief or in joy.

Having depicted in the epilogue an idyll, from the point of view of L.N. Tolstoy, Natasha’s family happiness, the writer turns her “into a strong, beautiful and prolific female”, in which now, as he himself admits, the former fire was very rarely lit. Disheveled, in a dressing gown, with a diaper with a yellow spot, walking with long steps from the nursery - such Natasha L. Tolstoy offers as the truth of the book at the end of his four-volume narrative.

Can we, following L. Tolstoy, think the same way? A question that I think everyone will answer for themselves. The writer, to the end of his days, remained true to his point of view, no, not on the “women's issue”, but on the role and place of women in his own life. Such and no other, I dare to believe, he wanted to see his wife Sofya Andreevna. And for some reason, she did not fit into the framework intended for her by her husband.

For L. Tolstoy, Natasha is the very life in which everything that is done is for the better, and in which no one knows what awaits him tomorrow. The finale of the book is a simple, uncomplicated thought: life itself, with all its anxieties and anxieties, is the meaning of life, it contains the result of everything and nothing can be foreseen and predicted in it, it is the truth sought by the heroes of Leo Tolstoy.

That is why the book is completed not by some great figure or national hero, not by the proud Bolkonsky, and not even by Kutuzov. It is Natasha - the embodiment of life, such as the writer understands and accepts at this time - and Pierre, Natasha's husband, we meet in the epilogue.

Conclusion.

Based on the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. True history, as L. Tolstoy sees and understands it, is life itself, simple, measured, consisting - like a gold-bearing vein with placers of precious grains of sand and small ingots - of ordinary moments and days that bring happiness to a person, like those interspersed in the text of "War and Peace": Natasha's first kiss; she met her brother, who had come on vacation, when she, “holding on to the floor of his Hungarian coat, jumped like a goat, all in one place and squealed piercingly”; the night when Natasha does not let Sonya sleep: “After all, such a lovely night has never, never happened”; the duet of Natasha and Nikolai, when singing touches something better that was in the soul of Rostov (“And this something was independent of everything in the world and above everything in the world”); the smile of a recovering child, when “Princess Marya’s radiant eyes, in the matte half-light of the canopy, shone more than usual from happy tears”; one view of a transformed old oak tree, which, “spread out like a tent of juicy, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun”; a waltz tour at Natasha's first ball, when her face, "ready for despair and delight, suddenly lit up with a happy, grateful, childlike smile"; an evening of Christmas fun with riding on troikas and divination of girls in mirrors and a fabulous night when Sonya was “in a lively and energetic mood unusual for her”, and Nikolai was fascinated and excited by Sonya’s proximity; the passion and beauty of the hunt, after which Natasha, “not taking a breath, squealed joyfully and enthusiastically so piercingly that her ears rang”; the sedate merriment of the uncle’s guitar picks and the Russian dance of Natasha, “in silk and velvet of the countess, who knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father, and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person” ... For the sake of these happiness-bringing minutes, much less often - hours, a person lives.

2. Creating "War and Peace", L. Tolstoy was looking for a foothold, allowing him to find an internal connection, a cohesion of images, episodes, paintings, motives, details, thoughts, ideas, feelings. In those same years, when pages memorable to everyone came out from under his pen, where smiling Helen, shining with black eyes, demonstrates her power over Pierre: “So you still haven’t noticed how beautiful I am? .. You haven’t noticed that I am a woman? Yes, I am a woman who can belong to anyone, and to you too”; where Nikolai Rostov, at the moment of a quarrel and a possible duel with Andrei Bolkonsky, “thought about how pleased he would be to see the fright of this small, weak and proud little man under his pistol ...”; where the enchanted Natasha listens to Pierre talking about active virtue, and one thing confuses her: “Is it really such an important and necessary person for society - at the same time my husband? Why did it happen like this?”, - in those very years he wrote: “The goal of the artist ... is to make you love life in countless, never exhausted all its manifestations.”

3. Not great historical events, not the ideas that claim to guide them, not the Napoleonic leaders themselves, but a person “corresponding to all aspects of life”, stands at the foundation of everything. They measure ideas, events, and history. This is the kind of person L. Tolstoy sees Natasha. She, being the author, and he puts forward in the center of the book, he recognizes the family of Natasha and Pierre as the best, ideal.

4. The family in the life and work of Tolstoy is associated with warmth and comfort. Home is a place where everyone is dear to you and you are dear to everyone. According to the writer, the closer people are to natural life, the stronger the intra-family ties, the more happiness and joy in the life of each family member. It is this point of view expressed by Tolstoy on the pages of his novel, depicting the family of Natasha and Pierre. This is the opinion of a writer who still seems modern to us today.

List of used literature.

1. Bocharov S. G. The novel by L. N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”. - M .: Fiction, 1978.

2. Gusev N.N. Life of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. L.N. Tolstoy at the height of his artistic genius.

3. Zhdanov V.A. Love in the life of Leo Tolstoy. M., 1928

4. Motyleva T. On the world significance of Tolstoy L. N. - M .: Soviet writer, 1957.

5. Plekhanov G. V. Art and literature. - M .: Goslitizdat, 1948

6. Plekhanov G. V. L. N. Tolstoy in Russian criticism. – M.: Goslitizdat, 1952.

7. Smirnova L. A. Russian literature of the 18th - 19th centuries. - M .: - Enlightenment, 1995.

8. Tolstoy L.N. War and Peace - M .: - Enlightenment 1978

Bocharov S. G. Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace". - M .: Fiction, 1978 - p. 7

Gusev N.N. Life of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. L.N. Tolstoy in the heyday of artistic genius, p. 101