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The main theme of the work after the ball. "After the ball" analysis (idea, theme, genre)

The history of the creation of Tolstoy's work "After the Ball"

The story "After the Ball" was written in 1903, published after the death of the writer in 1911. The story is based on a real event, which Tolstoy learned about when he was a student living with his brothers in Kazan. His brother Sergei Nikolaevich fell in love with the daughter of the local military commander L.P. Koreysha and was going to marry her. But after Sergei Nikolaevich saw the cruel punishment commanded by the father of his beloved girl, he experienced a strong shock. He stopped visiting Koreish's house and gave up the idea of marriage. This story lived so firmly in Tolstoy's memory that many years later he described it in the story "After the Ball." The writer thought about the title of the story. There were several options: “The Story of the Ball and Through the Line”, “Daughter and Father”, etc. As a result, the story was called “After the Ball”.
The writer was concerned about the problem: man and environment, the influence of circumstances on human behavior. Can a person manage himself or is it all about the environment and circumstances.
Genus, genre, creative method of the analyzed work
“After the Ball” is a prose work; written in the genre of a story, since the center of the story is one important event in the life of the hero (the shock of what he saw after the ball) and the text is small in volume. It must be said that in his later years Tolstoy showed a special interest in the genre of the story.
The story depicts two eras: the 40s of the XIX century, the reign of Nicholas and the time of the creation of the story. The writer restores the past to show that nothing has changed in the present either. He opposes violence and oppression, against inhuman treatment of people. The story “After the Ball”, like all the work of L.N. Tolstoy, is associated with realism in Russian literature.

The subject of the work

Tolstoy reveals in the story "After the Ball" one of the bleak aspects of life in Nikolaev Russia - the position of the tsarist soldier: a twenty-five-year term of service, senseless drill, complete disenfranchisement of soldiers, being carried through the ranks as punishment. However, the main problem in the story is related to moral questions: what forms a person - social conditions or chance. A single incident rapidly changes a separate life (“The whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning,” says the hero). In the center of the image in the story is the thought of a person who is able to immediately discard class prejudices.

The idea of the story is revealed with the help of a certain system of images and composition. The main characters are Ivan Vasilievich and the colonel, the father of the girl the narrator was in love with, through whose images the main problem is solved. The author shows that the society and its structure, and not the case, influence the personality.
In the image of Colonel Tolstoy exposes objective social conditions that distort the nature of a person, instilling in him false concepts of duty.
The ideological content is revealed through the image of the evolution of the narrator's inner feeling, his sense of the world. The writer makes you think about the problem of human responsibility for the environment. It is the consciousness of this responsibility for the life of society that distinguishes Ivan Vasilyevich. A young man from a wealthy family, impressionable and enthusiastic, faced with a terrible injustice, dramatically changed his life path, giving up any career. “I was so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if I had been caught in the most shameful act, I lowered my eyes and hurried to go home.” He devoted his life to helping other people: “Tell me better: no matter how many people are good for nothing, if you weren’t there.”
In the story of L.N. Tolstoy, everything is in contrast, everything is shown according to the principle of antithesis: a description of a brilliant ball and a terrible punishment on the field; the situation in the first and second parts; graceful charming Varenka and the figure of a Tatar with his terrible, unnatural back; Varenka's father at the ball, who evoked enthusiastic emotion in Ivan Vasilievich, and he is also a vicious, formidable old man, demanding that the soldiers obey orders. The study of the general construction of the story becomes a means of revealing its ideological content.

The nature of the conflict

Analysis of the work shows that the basis of the conflict of this story lies, on the one hand, in the image of the two-faced colonel, on the other, in the disappointment of Ivan Vasilyevich.
The colonel was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. Affectionate, unhurried speech emphasized his aristocratic essence and aroused even more admiration. Varenka's father was so sweet and amiable that he endeared himself to everyone, including the protagonist of the story. After the ball, in the scene of the punishment of the soldier, not a single sweet, good-natured line remained on the face of the colonel. There was nothing left of the person who was at the ball, but a new one, formidable and cruel, appeared. Only one angry voice of Peter Vladislavovich inspired fear. Ivan Vasilievich describes the punishment of the soldier in this way: “And I saw how with his strong hand in a suede glove he hit the face of a frightened, short, weak soldier because he did not put his stick on the red back of the Tatar enough.” Ivan Vasilievich cannot love just one person, he must certainly love the whole world, understand and accept it as a whole. Therefore, along with love for Varenka, the hero also loves her father, admires him. When he encounters cruelty and injustice in this world, his whole sense of harmony, the integrity of the world collapses, and he prefers not to love in any way than to love partially. I am not free to change the world, to defeat evil, but I and only I am free to agree or not agree to participate in this evil - this is the logic of the hero's reasoning. And Ivan Vasilievich deliberately refuses his love.

Main heroes

The main characters of the story are the young man Ivan Vasilievich, who is in love with Varenka, and the girl's father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich.
Colonel, a handsome and strong man of about fifty, an attentive and caring father who wears homemade boots to dress and take out his beloved daughter. The colonel is sincere both at the ball, when he dances with his beloved daughter, and after the ball, when, without reasoning, like a zealous Nikolaev campaigner, he drives a fugitive soldier through the ranks. He undoubtedly believes in the need to punish those who have broken the law. It is this sincerity of the colonel in various life situations that most of all puzzles Ivan Vasilyevich. How to understand someone who is sincerely kind in one situation and sincerely angry in another? “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know ... If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” Ivan Vasilyevich felt that society was to blame for this contradiction: "If this was done with such confidence and recognized by everyone as necessary, then, therefore, they knew something that I did not know."
Ivan Vasilyevich, a modest and decent young man, shocked by the scene of the beating of soldiers, is not able to understand why this is possible, why there are orders that sticks are needed to protect. The shock experienced by Ivan Vasilyevich turned his ideas about class morality upside down: he began to understand the Tatar's plea for mercy, compassion and anger, sounding in the words of a blacksmith; without realizing it, he shares the highest human laws of morality.

Plot and composition

In the course of the analysis of the work, we come to the conclusion that the plot of the story is straightforward. Ivan Vasilyevich, convinced that the environment does not affect a person’s way of thinking, but the whole thing is in the case, tells the story of his youthful love for the beautiful Varenka B. At the ball, the hero meets Varenka’s father, a very handsome, stately, tall and “fresh old man” with ruddy face and luxurious mustache, Colonel. The owners persuade him to dance the mazurka with his daughter. During the dance, the couple attracts everyone's attention. After the mazurka, the father brings Varenka to Ivan Vasilyevich, and the young people spend the rest of the evening together.
Ivan Vasilievich returns home in the morning, but cannot fall asleep and sets off to wander around the city in the direction of Varenka's house. From afar, he hears the sounds of a flute and a drum, which endlessly repeat the same shrill melody. On the field in front of B.'s house, he sees how some Tatar soldiers are driven through the ranks for escaping. Varenka's father, a handsome, stately colonel B. Tatarin, is in command of the execution, begging the soldiers to "have mercy", but the colonel strictly ensures that the soldiers do not give him the slightest indulgence. One of the soldiers "rubs". B. hits him in the face. Ivan Vasilyevich sees the back of the Tatar, red, motley, wet with blood, and is horrified. Noticing Ivan Vasilievich, B. pretends to be unfamiliar with him and turns away.
Ivan Vasilyevich thinks that the colonel is probably right, since everyone admits that he is acting normally. However, he cannot understand the reasons that forced B. to beat a man severely, and not understanding, he decides not to enter the military service. His love is waning. So one incident changed his life and views.
The whole story is the events of one night, which the hero remembers many years later. The composition of the story is clear and precise, it logically distinguishes four parts: a large dialogue at the beginning of the story, leading to the story of the ball; ball scene; the execution scene and the final remark.
"After the Ball" is built as a "story within a story": it begins with the fact that the venerable, who has seen a lot in life and, as the author adds, a sincere and truthful person - Ivan Vasilyevich, in a conversation with friends, claims that a person's life is one way or another not at all from the influence of the environment, but because of the case, and as proof of this he cites the case, as he himself admits, that changed his life. This is actually a story, the heroes of which are Varenka B., her father and Ivan Vasilyevich himself. Thus, from the dialogue of the narrator and his friends at the very beginning of the story, we learn that the episode that will be discussed was of great importance in a person’s life. The form of the oral story gives the events a special realism. The mention of the sincerity of the narrator serves the same purpose. He talks about what happened to him in his youth; this narrative is given a certain “flavor of antiquity”, as well as the mention that Varenka is already old, that “her daughter is married”.

Artistic originality

Tolstoy the artist always took care that in the work "everything should be reduced to unity." In the story “After the Ball”, the contrast became such a unifying principle. The story is built on the technique of contrast, or antithesis, by showing two diametrically opposite episodes and, in connection with this, a sharp change in the experiences of the narrator. Thus, the contrasting composition of the story and the corresponding language help to reveal the idea of the work, tear the mask of good nature from the face of the colonel, and show his true essence.
Contrast is also used by the writer when choosing language means. So, when describing the portrait of Varenka, white color prevails: “white dress”, “white kid gloves”, “white satin shoes” (such an artistic technique is called color painting). This is due to the fact that white is the personification of purity, light, joy, Tolstoy, using this word, emphasizes the feeling of a holiday and conveys the state of mind of the narrator. The musical accompaniment of the story speaks about the holiday in the soul of Ivan Vasilyevich: a cheerful quadrille, a gentle smooth waltz, a perky polka, an elegant mazurka create a joyful mood.
In the scene of punishment, there are other colors and other music: "... I saw ... something big, black, and heard the sounds of a flute and a drum coming from there .... it was ... harsh, bad music."

The meaning of the work

The meaning of the story is enormous. Tolstoy poses broad humanistic problems: why do some live a carefree life, while others drag out a beggarly existence? What is justice, honor, dignity? These problems have worried and are worrying more than one generation of Russian society. That is why Tolstoy remembered an incident that happened in his youth and made it the basis of his story.
2008 marked the 180th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Hundreds of books and articles have been written about him, his works are known all over the world, his name is honored in all countries, the heroes of his novels and short stories live on screens, on theater stages. His word is heard on radio and television. “Without knowing Tolstoy,” M. Gorky wrote, “you cannot consider yourself knowing your country, you cannot consider yourself a cultured person.”
Tolstoy's humanism, his penetration into the inner world of man, his protest against social injustice do not become obsolete, but live and influence the minds and hearts of people today.
A whole epoch in the development of Russian classical fiction is associated with the name of Tolstoy.
Tolstoy's legacy is of great importance for the formation of the worldview and aesthetic tastes of readers. Acquaintance with his works, filled with high humanistic and moral ideals, undoubtedly contributes to spiritual enrichment.
In Russian literature, there is no other writer whose work would be as diverse and complex as the work of L.N. Tolstoy. The great writer developed the Russian literary language, enriched literature with new means of depicting life.
The world significance of Tolstoy's work is determined by the formulation of great, exciting socio-political, philosophical and moral problems, unsurpassed realism in the depiction of life and high artistic skill.
His works - novels, short stories, short stories, plays - are read with unflagging interest by more and more generations of people all over the globe. This is evidenced by the fact that the decade from 2000 to 2010 was declared by UNESCO as the decade of L.N. Tolstoy.

This is interesting

The episode describing the punishment of the soldiers had a backstory. It first appeared in an article by L.N. Tolstoy "Nikolai Palkin", written in 1886.
The writer learned about the details of the cruel punishment with gauntlets when, together with N.N. Ge-junior and M.A. Stakhovich walked from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana. For the night we stopped at the 9 5-year-old soldier, who told them this story. Although Tolstoy himself never witnessed such a punishment, the story made a huge impression on him. Lev Nikolaevich on the same day made an outline of the article in his notebook.
The article "Nikolai Palkin" is a dialogue between the author and the soldier, which gradually turns into the thoughts of the lyrical hero about the events of those years.
Every word in Tolstoy has extraordinary expressiveness and capacity. So, in the story there is an epithet that is extremely significant in its meaning: "a flexible stick of such the highest approved thickness ...". It was included by Tolstoy with a specific purpose - to indicate that despotism and cruelty come from the tsar himself, are determined by the autocratic system. The indication that the thickness of the gauntlets was approved by the king himself is based on documentary data.
It is known that Tolstoy was familiar with the note of Nicholas I, in which the tsar prescribed the rite of execution of the Decembrists with all the details. Regarding this note, Tolstoy wrote indignantly that "this is some kind of refined murder."
In his article “Nikolai Palkin”, the author mentions a familiar regimental commander who “on the eve of a beautiful daughter danced a mazurka at a ball and left earlier in order to order early the next morning to drive a fleeing Tatar soldier to death through the ranks, spot this soldier to death and return have dinner with the family.
This scene represents, as it were, an intermediate stage between the article "Nikolai Palkin" and the story "For what?", closer to the latter.
The emotional impact of this scene on the reader intensifies from work to work (“Nikolai Palkin” - “After the Ball” - “For what?”). Here Tolstoy manages to most vividly convey the feelings, thoughts, experiences of the characters during the execution, their mental and physical suffering.
We advise you to read
Babaev E.G. Essays on aesthetics and creativity of L.N. Tolstoy. - M., 1981.
Kuzina L.N. Artistic testament of Leo Tolstoy. Poetics L.N. Tolstoy, late 19th - early 20th century. - M., 1993.
L.N. Tolstoy in the memoirs of contemporaries: In 2 volumes. M.: Fiction, 1978.
Lomunov KN. Leo Tolstoy in the modern world. - M., 1975.
Khrapchenko M.B. L. Tolstoy as an artist. - M., 1975.
Fortunatov N.M. Creative laboratory of L. Tolstoy: Observations and reflections. - M., 1983.

Story analysis
Leo Tolstoy "After the Ball" (Grade 8)

Illustration by V. Kozhevnikova

The story of Leo Tolstoy "After the ball"- this is a vivid protest against the unnaturalness of the inner world of a person who does not separate good and evil. This is regret about the impossibility of finding happiness in the world that gives rise to this unnaturalness.

History of creation

The writer was concerned about the problem: man and environment, the influence of circumstances on human behavior. Can a person manage himself or is it all about the environment and circumstances.

Genus, genre, creative method

“After the Ball” is a prose work; written in the genre of the story, since the center of the story is one important event in the life of the hero (the shock of what he saw after the ball), and the text is small in volume. It must be said that in his later years Tolstoy showed a special interest in the genre of the story.

The story depicts two eras: the 40s of the XIX century, the reign of Nicholas and the time of the creation of the story. The writer restores the past to show that nothing has changed in the present either. He opposes violence and oppression, against inhuman treatment of people. The story "After the Ball", like all the work of JI.H. Tolstoy is associated with realism in Russian literature.

Subject

Tolstoy reveals in the story one of the bleak aspects of the life of Nikolaev Russia - the position of the tsarist soldier: a twenty-five-year term of service, senseless drill, complete disenfranchisement of soldiers, passing through the ranks as punishment. However, the main problem in the story is related to moral questions: what forms a person - social conditions or chance. A single incident rapidly changes a separate life (“The whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning,” says the hero). In the center of the image in the story is the thought of a person who is able to immediately discard class prejudices.

Story Composition

compositional permission is aimed at the possibility of full self-disclosure of the hero: the work is built as a story within a story. In a frame frame, the story is told from Ivan Vasilyevich, wise over the years and life experience. This is a wise man, due to the way his fate has developed, he has thought a lot about the purpose of human existence.

And in central part works again his voice, but still young, rich, longing for new experiences, emotions. His whole being is permeated with the delight of the first feeling, love for Varenka. Therefore, the usual provincial ball, from which the story begins, is seen by the hero as something beautiful and amazing: “I was happy and blissful ... I hugged the whole world at that time with my love”

And how beautiful the feeling, whirling like good champagne, is how charming Varenka is, graceful and airy. Her regal appearance is charmingly wonderful, and the pink and white colors accompanying her image create a feeling of flight.

Varenka's father is also charming, "colonel with silver epaulettes". He and his daughter are very similar, and Tolstoy, deliberately using the same details of the portrait, brings these images as close as possible, making them inseparable in the eyes of readers.

Despite the outward lightness of events, some details already prepare the reader for how further events will develop. For example, in the colonel, the narrator is latently annoyed by his desire to resemble Nicholas the First and the suede glove pulled over his hand during the dance, because the rules require it. An ardent and enthusiastic lover does not realize that there are things that irritate him, but they are clearly understood by a person who has rethought that same evening many times.

sharp antithesis sounds the second part of the story of Ivan Vasilyevich. The first encounter with a real, unadorned life teaches a cruel lesson to a young man who dreamed of happiness. climax story - a description of a cruel execution, this moment becomes a turning point in the fate of the hero. Among the black uniforms, the slashed back of the punished soldier stands out brightly, this spectacle shows all the abomination of life, unstoppable and impossible. The feeling of bitter shame experienced by Ivan Vasilyevich for involuntary complicity in this insane cruelty is contrasted with the feelings of the colonel, for whom this execution is a completely ordinary matter.

A terrible sight and the understanding that harmony is unattainable in a world where one person, by law, has the right to torture another, completely change the hero. His whole life is a painful search for the meaning of existence and bitter disappointment, because he is unable to change anything.

Ivan Vasilyevich chooses the path non-resistance to violence, his moral choice is to protect his soul from evil.

The nature of the conflict

The basis of the conflict This story is based, on the one hand, in the image of the two-faced colonel, on the other, in the disappointment of Ivan Vasilyevich.

The colonel was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. Affectionate, unhurried speech emphasized his aristocratic essence and aroused even more admiration. Varenka's father was so sweet and amiable that he endeared himself to everyone, including the protagonist of the story. After the ball, in the scene of the punishment of the soldier, not a single sweet, good-natured line remained on the face of the colonel. There was nothing left of the person who was at the ball, but a new one, formidable and cruel, appeared. Only one angry voice of Peter Vladislavovich inspired fear. Ivan Vasilievich describes the punishment of the soldier in this way: “And I saw how with his strong hand in a suede glove he hit the face of a frightened, short, weak soldier because he did not put his stick on the red back of the Tatar enough.” Ivan Vasilievich cannot love just one person, he must certainly love the whole world, understand and accept it as a whole. Therefore, along with love for Varenka, the hero also loves her father, admires him. When he encounters cruelty and injustice in this world, his whole sense of harmony, the integrity of the world collapses, and he prefers not to love in any way than to love partially. I am not free to change the world, to defeat evil, but I and only I am free to agree or not agree to participate in this evil - this is the logic of the hero's reasoning. And Ivan Vasilievich deliberately refuses his love.

Main heroes

The main characters of the story are the young man Ivan Vasilievich, who is in love with Varenka, and the girl's father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich.

The colonel, a handsome and strong man of about fifty, an attentive and caring father who wears homemade boots to dress and take out his beloved daughter, the Colonel is sincere both at the ball, when he dances with his beloved daughter, and after the ball, when, without reasoning, like a zealous a campaigner, drives a fugitive soldier through the ranks. He undoubtedly believes in the need to punish those who have crossed the law. It is this sincerity of the colonel in various life situations that most of all puzzles Ivan Vasilyevich. How to understand someone who is sincerely kind in one situation and sincerely angry in another? “Obviously, he knows something that I don’t know ... If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” Ivan Vasilyevich felt that society was to blame for this contradiction: "If this was done with such confidence and recognized by everyone as necessary, then, therefore, they knew something that I did not know."

Idea

story idea is revealed with the help of a certain system of images and composition. The main characters are Ivan Vasilievich and the colonel, the father of the girl the narrator was in love with, through whose images the main problem is solved. The author shows that the society and its structure, and not the case, influence the personality.

In the image of Colonel Tolstoy exposes objective social conditions that distort the nature of a person, instilling in him false concepts of duty.

The ideological content is revealed through the image of the evolution of the narrator's inner feeling, his sense of the world. The writer makes you think about the problem of human responsibility for the environment. It is the consciousness of this responsibility for the life of society that distinguishes Ivan Vasilyevich. A young man from a wealthy family, impressionable and enthusiastic, faced with a terrible injustice, dramatically changed his life path, abandoning any career: “I was so ashamed that, not knowing where to look, as if I had been caught in the most shameful act, I lowered my eyes and hurried to go home”. He devoted his life to helping other people: “Tell me better: no matter how many people would be good for nothing, if you weren’t there.”

In the story of L.H. Tolstoy, everything is in contrast, everything is shown according to the principle of antithesis: a description of a brilliant ball and a terrible punishment on the field; the situation in the first and second parts; graceful charming Varenka and the figure of a Tatar with his terrible, unnatural back; Varenka's father at the ball, who evoked enthusiastic emotion in Ivan Vasilievich, and he is also a vicious, formidable old man, demanding that the soldiers obey orders. The study of the general construction of the story becomes a means of revealing its ideological content.

Based on materials from the Goldlit website

It makes no sense to read a work, knowing in advance that it "exposes" or "castigates" the vices of society. Do you remember why a soldier is punished? What is in common between a punished soldier and Ivan Vasilievich?
Get acquainted with the experience of carefully reading the story of Leo Tolstoy "After the Ball".

It is important to understand that a writer cannot write anything. He submits to his talent, which means that there will definitely be some details in the work that the writer might want to miss ( detail in a work of art - the smallest detail with which an artistic image is created), but did not do this, for example, because of his civic convictions, which seized him at the time of writing the work.

That is why Gogol burned part of his "Dead Souls", and Tolstoy later said that he would never have written such rubbish as "War and Peace":

“How happy I am that I will never write verbose rubbish like “War” again.”

From a letter to A. Fet

“People love me for those trifles -“ War and Peace ”, etc., which seem very important to them”

In the summer of 1909, one of the visitors to Yasnaya Polyana expressed his delight and gratitude for the creation of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy replied: "It's like someone came to Edison and said:" I respect you very much because you dance the mazurka well.

That is, Tolstoy's position changed over time, but at the time of writing the works, he was subject to a certain mood, inner harmony.

To get started, check out Nabokov's quote (see Figure 2) about readers:

The reader should notice the details and admire them. The cold light of generalization is good, but only after all the little things have been carefully collected in the sunlight. To start with a ready-made generalization means to start at the wrong end, to move away from the book without even beginning to understand it. What could be more boring and unfair to the author than, say, taking on Madame Bovary, knowing in advance that the bourgeoisie is denounced in this book.

V.V. Nabokov. "Lectures on Foreign Literature"

If we project this thought onto the story “After the Ball”, then we can put it this way: “ What could be more boring and unfair if you know in advance that Tolstoy exposes the cruelty and injustice of serfdom and the same cruelty, but already in the army.

The main place in the story is the punishment of the soldier, the attitude towards this punishment, the way it turned the life of Ivan Vasilyevich. First you need to figure out what he is being punished for. Many read about the punishment, forgetting to find out what crime he committed. Here it is worth remembering how punishment measures changed in different eras and that corporal punishment was abolished only at the end of the 19th century. The reader should note the following details:

- What are they doing? I asked the blacksmith who had stopped next to me.

“They are chasing the Tartar for escape,” the blacksmith said angrily, looking at the far end of the rows.

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

The important word in this quote is "the escape", because it is for this act that the soldier is punished. The crime itself is so hidden in the story that everyone talks only about punishment.

Escape from the barracks in the army is a very serious crime, it has always been punished severely. Because if a person ran away from the barracks, then he can run away from the battlefield. And escape can provoke panic. Tolstoy, as an artilleryman and military man who went through the Crimean campaign, certainly understood what an escape was.

It was only when he was very close that I heard these words. He did not speak, but sobbed: “Brothers, have mercy. Brothers, have mercy."

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

A man asks for pardon, but he asks for it those whom he might betray tomorrow. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate cruelty in some relative terms.

The events described took place 170 years ago, so it is wild for a modern person to read about it. But if we count another 170 years from the moment the story was written, it turns out that then the punishment in general was the infliction of serious injuries. Everything changes, the degree and measure of punishments also change over time. Torture was gradually abolished, self-mutilation was abolished, and now they came to abolish the punishment with gauntlets (even from the name it is clear that this type of punishment was not invented in Russia).

The gauntlet punishment came to us from the Swedish army in the 18th century. Spitzruten It was a long, flexible, thick rod of wicker or a metal ramrod. The Swedes borrowed the method of punishment with gauntlets from the British. In Britain there was a form of punishment gantler- when a person was led between two rows of soldiers who beat him with sticks (see Fig. 3).

For mistakes and negligence in the exercises, it was supposed to be 100 hits with gauntlets, for drunkenness - 30-500 hits, for theft - 500 hits, and for escaping you could get 1000 or more.

Rice. 3. T.G. Shevchenko. "Kara with gauntlets", 1856 ()

Ivan Vasilievich says that he was in love with a girl:

“Just as it happens that after one drop poured out of a bottle, its contents pour out in large jets, so in my soul love for Varenka freed all the ability to love hidden in my soul. I hugged the whole world at that time with my love.

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

But he was prevented from moving on by the fact that he was an idealist. Ivan Vasilyevich belongs to the category of people who don’t even want to live, just give them a reason to hide from something. He refused to go to the service, he was in love, but refused any relationship:

“But without knowing it, I could not enter the military service, as I wanted to before, and not only did not serve in the military, but did not serve anywhere and, as you see, was no good.”

"- Love? Since that day, love has waned. When she, as often happened with her, thought with a smile on her face, I immediately remembered the colonel in the square, and I felt somehow awkward and unpleasant, and I began to see her less often. And the love just faded away.

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

We can say that this was not love, he created for himself a certain image, a myth. Reminiscent of the legend of Pygmalion, a sculptor in Greek mythology, who created a beautiful statue of ivory, the girl Galatea, and fell in love with his creation (see Fig. 4). He fell in love so much that Aphrodite took pity and revived this statue.

Rice. 4. Jean-Leon Gerome. "Pygmalion and Galatea", 1890 ()

The hero of the story was lucky: he had a love. But love requires spiritual strength, and Ivan Vasilyevich does not have them. All he is capable of is to admire his beloved a little and take romantic walks. And as soon as an occasion arises, he refuses everything. We can say that the girl was lucky, because they could get married. You shouldn't marry such a person. Ivan Vasilyevich cannot separate what is desired from what is due, he is infantile and weak.

Consider the scene where the colonel for some reason beats a soldier who smears:

Suddenly the colonel stopped and quickly approached one of the soldiers. “I will anoint you,” I heard his angry voice. - Will you smear? Will you? And I saw how, with his strong hand in a suede glove, he hit the face of a frightened, short, weak soldier because he did not put his stick on the red back of the Tatar enough.

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

It is important to understand what is the meaning of such an execution. When a person was punished, the entire regiment was present, absolutely everyone beat them. It was important that everyone hit hard and thereby separate himself from this person, so that the punished person would become a stranger (see Fig. 5). This is a strong psychological moment when a person thinks that this will not happen. The "friend or foe" mechanism has been sitting in us very deeply, since the time of primitive people. All hitters indicate that the punished person is a stranger to them, which means that they will not be like that. Naturally, everyone should hit hard, the colonel is watching this. But protests against corporal punishment were growing in society, and Tolstoy reflected them in his story.

Rice. 5. I.I. Pchelko. "Through the system" ()

The colonel did in peacetime what an officer does in battle. And in battle, an officer can simply shoot a running man.

Ivan Vasilyevich considers life as an ideal construction, he does not know that the state is a mechanism, and in the mechanism something (or someone) must act rigidly and clearly. And punishments are part of that harshness. They still exist, but in a different form.

In the army, today's weakness can turn into tomorrow's numerous loss. The colonel is one of the cogs in a large mechanism called the "state".

In the summer of 1942, order No. 227 was issued under the title "Not a step back" and detachments were introduced. Imagine that people are sitting in a trench and they know that if they run away from the enemy, then their own people will shoot at them (see Fig. 6). Both a man of strong will and a waverer can sit in a trench. The detachment works for both, because the one who has the will to resist and is not going to run knows that his neighbor will not run away either. But it is also useful for those who are thinking of running away, because they will not become a traitor and a coward (and, perhaps, thereby save the lives of themselves, their relatives and friends). These were such harsh but effective methods in the army. Although from the point of view of peacetime, the idea that you can shoot at your own is terrible.

Rice. 6. I.E. Repin. "Deserter", 1917 ()

Before the reader on the surface lies the storyline of the story: the Tatar escaped from the barracks. But Ivan Vasilievich also escaped. He ran away from life. He says that he never served anywhere, never got married, was in some advisers, perhaps a teacher. Remember how he idealizes everything, how indignant he is when someone hinted that dance is when people touch each other (see Fig. 7):

- And I waltzed again and again and did not feel my body.

“Well, how could they not feel, I think they really felt when they hugged her waist, not only their own, but also her body,” said one of the guests.

Ivan Vasilievich suddenly blushed and shouted angrily:

- Yes, that's you, today's youth. You see nothing but the body. It wasn't like that in our time. The more I was in love, the more incorporeal she became for me. You now see legs, ankles and something else, you undress the women you are in love with, for me, as I saidAlphonseKarr, a good writer was, on the subject of my love there were always bronze clothes. We not only undressed, but tried to cover up our nakedness, like the good son of Noah. Well, you don't get it...

L.N. Tolstoy. "After the ball"

Rice. 7. M. Zichy. "A ball in the concert hall of the Winter Palace during the official visit of Shah Nasr-ed-Din in May 1873" ()

Calf boots - boots made from the skin of a young calf.

This detail is at the beginning of the work. Having met her, the reader understands that something difficult and difficult will follow (after all, a young calf was killed to make boots, in which the colonel now walks).

There are more than ten times in the story the words tenderness, tenderness. With such excessive “sweetness”, the author, apparently, wanted to emphasize that Ivan Vasilyevich is hovering in some kind of sweet molasses, in his dreams.

Great people call to read many times. Looking at the picture, pay attention to the combination of colors. It is impossible to write them at once, the artist applies them gradually. The writer does this with the help of various techniques, in particular, the details that are needed to emphasize a certain thought or idea of the author. But the meaning and shape of the part may change over time. And that detail, which should not attract attention, will begin to bulge out of the main background. It is important to pay attention to details when reading any author. After all, it is they who open the full picture of what the author wanted to convey.

The story "After the Ball" is small in volume, but raises problems of a general philosophical and moral level related to Tolstoy's worldview, who saw in a simple plot a deep contradiction between the external and the internal, what lies on the surface and what is hidden from prying eyes. Discord in feelings and actions becomes the object of close attention of the writer, who explores the areas of the obscure human soul.

The plot was based on a real story, which, according to one version, during his student days, Tolstoy heard from his brother Sergei. The basis of the future story was the incident that happened to Sergei Nikolaevich. In love with the daughter of the military commander - Varvara Koreysh, he was going to propose to her, but when he saw the cruel punishment of the soldier commanded by the girl's father, he abandoned his intention.

What he saw shocked him, and the story itself haunted Leo Tolstoy for a long time, who embodied the plot in a story only years later. The work was published a year after the death of the writer.

The meaning of the name

The story did not immediately receive its final title. Tolstoy considered several drafts, among which were "The Story of the Ball and Through the Line", "Father and Daughter", "And you say ...". The result of a long search was the title "After the Ball."

The meaning of the title "After the Ball" is ambiguous. Tolstoy in many of his works raised the problem of man and society. The object of his interest is the circumstances that influence human decisions and actions, as well as the principles, rules and motives that guide him in his choice. On the one hand, the title emphasizes the double-mindedness of one of the main characters, the unnaturalness of his life, in which, with the change of scenery, there is also a change in personality. After the ball, the masks change. The behavior of the hero changes, and his life itself, ugly on the inside, has nothing to do with the brilliance and magnificence of the title side. On the other hand, after the ball, the hero-narrator also comes to understand the people with whom he wanted to connect his life, the realization of the contradictory nature of life, in which unjustified cruelty peacefully coexists with elegance and imaginary nobility.

Genre and direction

“After the Ball” is a prose work; written in the genre of a story and takes out of the context of the hero's life one single event that became a turning point for him, ambiguous both for the character himself and for readers.

The story is realistic, since the plot is based on a real, even everyday case, reflecting the inner world of the hero and, at the same time, setting the social tone.

Main characters and their characteristics

Ivan Vasilievich- narrator. Already being old, he tells about the events of his past youth. The protagonist at the time of the described event was a provincial student, but a rich and handsome dandy. He is distinguished by conscientiousness, a sense of justice and impressionability. He could not forget about the beating of the Tatar and therefore did not connect his life with his beloved girl. The young man was very emotional: he almost vomited when he wandered home after seeing the sight.
Varenka- Lover of the protagonist. This is a tall, stately and "majestic" secular girl who conquered gentlemen with a captivating and affectionate smile. She had a regal appearance, but her kind soul did not allow anyone to be shy in the presence of the heroine. She, too, favored the narrator's advances.
Colonel(Peter Vladislavich - Tolstoy's spelling is preserved) - a handsome and stately military man. A tall and ruddy elderly man with an affectionate smile and pleasant manners. For the sake of his daughter, he saves on himself: he wears only official boots, for example. However, in the scene with corporal punishment, the hero looks angry and cruel: he hits the soldier in the face, who weakly hit the offending Tatar.

Topics and issues

The theme of the story can be considered at once at several levels, taking as a basis both the socio-psychological and general philosophical aspect, and the deeper one - moral, ethical, personal.

In the first case, consider the problem of man and his environment which he can obey or, on the contrary, resist. Does the environment completely shape the personality, or is there another entity that cannot be suppressed, free and capable of fighting what seems wrong and alien to it? Tolstoy here opposes the equation of personality and the violation of its natural rights. The writer reserves the right to independently decide for himself what is good and what is bad for every person capable of free choice.

Another external theme is slavery. soldier position during the reign of Nicholas. The complete lack of rights of the common man, the most difficult conditions of service and corporal punishment to which those who served the motherland were subjected, return not only to the topic of suppression of the individual, but also to the problem of social inequality in Nikolaev Russia.

The question of the moral, personal level of comprehension of this work is entirely connected with the image of the military. Duplicity and hypocrisy a colonel, a family man and a caring father, on the one hand, on the other, a merciless and ruthless commander, indifferent to the pain of others. The horror of the situation for the hero-narrator is not so much in the fact that the colonel arranges for the torture of an innocent soldier, but in his calm indifference to what is happening. Trembling in relation to his daughter coexists in him with undisguised cruelty. The ratio of these sides in one person is impossible to imagine, so great is the discrepancy between one and the other. Tolstoy shows a rare, but no less stable human type of people-masks, capable of cruelty, covered with ostentatious good manners.

Idea

The main idea of the story “After the Ball” is in following humanistic ideals, appealing to truly good feelings, in which universal human should prevail. To counteract the evil inclination is possible only through self-improvement, the search for real, not clouded by the imagination and false impression of meanings. Tolstoy calls to remain a man even in those situations when one can afford lawlessness due to status and position.

It is no coincidence that the hero of the story becomes ashamed of what he saw. He feels his involvement in what is happening, responsibility for the cruelty of another. According to Tolstoy, this is how it should be. Lawlessness begins with an individual, the fight against it is the task of everyone who is not indifferent to someone else's grief.

Tolstoy's creative method, based on the study of the contradictions of the human soul, has always deserved high praise. The psychologism of the story, the emotional richness and the writer's own artistic style make a relatively small work a carrier of many meanings, contradictory, like human nature itself.

Morality

L.N. Tolstoy is known to the average reader as a great master of the word, a writer who entered Russian literature as the creator of monumental psychological novels. However, his influence on Russian literature and culture is much deeper than one can imagine. Tolstoy is not just a great writer, but also a thinker, the founder of religious and philosophical teachings. The desire for moral perfection, the ideal of sacrificial love that casts out fear - the program of Tolstoy, who saw the meaning of life in selfless service to one's neighbor, based on pure perfect love. He conveys these thoughts to the public through the story "After the Ball", where the hero did not turn away from someone else's grief, could not come to terms with him. In his refusal to get acquainted with the cruel military leader - a fair reaction of society, which should show its members how to behave.

The conclusion is simple: it is necessary to be responsive and fair in any situation, even if personal interest is at stake. The hero was fascinated by the daughter of a military leader, but made a choice in favor of moral duty. Also, one should not abuse a high position and justify vices with it.

Subject: “L.N. Tolstoy "After the Ball".

Goals: 1) to acquaint students with basic biographical information about the writer; the history of the creation of the story "After the Ball";

2) to reveal the compositional features of the work through the analysis and analysis of individual episodes;

development of coherent speech of students, the ability to select material on the topic and coherently express thoughts;

work on the linguistic means of the work;

3) the formation of a concept in schoolchildren about the personal responsibility of a person for everything that he does in life.

Lesson equipment:

1. Computer presentation. Illustrations based on the work of L.N. Tolstoy;

2. Classroom decoration:

Tables with tablecloths, on the tables there are volumes of books with the story “After the Ball”.

Quotes:

– “The moral meridian of the world ran through Yasnaya Polyana”;

– “Without my Yasnaya Polyana, I can hardly imagine Russia and my attitude towards it” - (L.N. Tolstoy);

– “Tolstoy is really a great artist” (V. Korolenko);

– “There is no person more worthy of the name of a genius, more complex, contradictory and beautiful in everything” (M. Gorky);

Portraits of L.N. Tolstoy:

– photo set “Yasnaya Polyana”

To the left of the board is “Lev Nikolaevich's Corner”, various editions of books by L.N. Tolstoy.

There is also a “lonely candle” here, which the student will light in the last minutes of the lesson, as a symbol of eternal and unquenchable memory of the great Talent of the great Writer.

3. During the lesson, musical accompaniment is used:

Lesson type: Teacher's story, heuristic conversation on questions (during the conversation, new knowledge is “discovered”), commented reading, expressive reading, student messages.

During the classes:

1) Organizational moment

(greeting students, setting lesson goals)

Introductory speech of the teacher

The work of Leo Tolstoy is one of the brightest pages in the history of Russian literature. The writer told us almost as much about Russian life as the rest of our literature.

Over two hundred works written by him. Each of them is a reflection of an entire era of Russian reality. Who is this amazing person, what kind of life did he live?

We will learn about this from your messages prepared at home.

2. Poll for children "L. Tolstoy - a man, a thinker, a writer"

3. Study of new material. Contrast as a technique that reveals the idea of the story "After the Ball".

Epigraph to the lesson: “So you say that a person cannot understand on his own what is good, what is bad, that the whole thing is in the environment, that the environment is jamming. And I think it's all about…”

(L.N. Tolstoy, from the story "After the Ball")

-Association. Today's lesson will start with music. Listen and try to imagine the situation: where and when can we hear this music?

The music of P. Tchaikovsky "Waltz of the Flowers from the ballet" The Nutcracker " sounds.

Students' responses after listening main answer: at the ball)

What kind of music is this, describe it, pick up epithets.

( whiteboard writing: magical, exciting, airy, light, kind, etc.)

What else can you hear at the ball? (Light rustle of dresses, slippers on the floor, conversations, fun, etc.)

What do you think is the purpose of today's lesson?

Education of mercy, humane attitude towards a person, rejection of violence against a person.

4. Checking knowledge of the text of the work.

Poll method"Right and False Questions"

- The story is told on behalf of Ivan Vasilyevich (yes).

- He was deeply in love with Varenka B. (yes).

- The ball took place at the provincial leader on Christmas Day (no, on the last day of Maslenitsa).

- Ivan Vasilyevich did not like the ball (no, “The ball was wonderful”).

- All evening I. V. danced with Varenka B. (no)

- Varenka danced the mazurka with her father (yes).

- At 3 o'clock in the morning they danced a quadrille (yeah)

- After the ball, the narrator could not sleep (yes).

- Walking in the early morning, I.V. saw a scene of soldiers being punished in the field (yeah)

- The Tatar shouted: "Help!" (Yes)

- Colonel B. walked nearby and scolded one soldier (yes)

I. V. married Varenka B. and went into military service (no).

5. Question for students:

You remember that at first the story was called "The Story of the Ball and Through the Line", "Daughter and Father", "And you say ...". Why was the title of the story changed?

(“The whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning,” says Ivan Vasilievich, which means that the main thing in the story is what happened in the morning, after the ball”).

What events are described in the story?

(Two main events: a ball at the provincial leader and a scene of punishment of a soldier after the ball).

5.1. Conversation on the content of the story

Questions:

What is the conversation at the beginning of the story?

(About what is good, what is bad, about the circumstances of life).

What two main events underlie Tolstoy's story?

A ball at the governor's and a scene of punishment of a soldier.

Let's start with the ball.

5.2. Let's turn to the genre of the work. Frontal survey

Why is this work a short story in its genre?

What is the peculiarity of the construction of the story, its composition?

Highlight the main parts of the story.
(The following main parts are distinguished in the story: introduction, ball, after the ball, conclusion. The story is thus enclosed in a “frame”. This compositional technique is called “a story in a story”, because the work is written in such a way that we learn about all the events from the narrator)

What is said about the main character at the beginning of the story?

Ivan Vasilievich is a respected person, he recalls the days of his youth, when he was in love.

What idea does Ivan Vasilyevich assert in the first lines of the work?

He is sure that the fate of a person can be influenced not only by the environment, but also by chance.

What event is described in the work? A ball in the house of the provincial leader, the hero's falling in love, shock from the cruelty of what happened after the ball, disappointment.

What is the idea behind this story?

The personal responsibility of a person for everything he does.

What historical era is depicted by the author in the work?

The era of the reign of NicholasI, 40s of the 19th century, the time when soldiers in the tsarist army were severely punished for the slightest fault

6. Group work on cards. Watching a video clip.

Task: using the plan given in the card, write out key words-epithets from the text of the story in a notebook.

Upon completion of this work, transfer the content of the episode,

using the written words.

1 group - episode "At the ball"

2 group - episode "After the Ball"

(The ball is wonderful, the hall is beautiful, the buffet is magnificent, the musicians are famous, the cheerful motive of the music sounds continuously.) (In the spring wet fog, something black, mottled, wet; soldiers in black uniforms, an unpleasant screeching melody is heard.)

1 PART

Let us, together with the heroes of Tolstoy, plunge into the solemn and exciting atmosphere of the ball.

Who gave the ball described in Tolstoy's story?

Give a description of the ball (music played at the ball). What epithets does Tolstoy use?

Describe the appearance and state of mind of the characters in the story during the ball:

Ivan Vasilyevich;

Varenki;

Colonel Peter Vladislavovich

2 PART

1. What did Ivan Vasilyevich hear when he left the house?

2. What did Ivan Vasilievich see when he left the house?

3. At what time of the day does Ivan Vasilyevich witness a terrible picture - the beating of a Tatar?

Morning, symbolizing, as a rule, the beginning of a new life, in this case acts as a collapse of hopes, love.

The magical night described in part 1 is opposed to the realities of the morning.

What do you think: the colonel is a two-faced person? Where is he real: at the ball or after the ball?

Why does the colonel, seeing Ivan Vasilyevich, turn away and pretend that he did not recognize him?

What made the colonel be cruel? (“a military commander like an old serviceman of the Nikolaev bearing”, confident that “everything must be done according to the law”, the colonel is sincere in both scenes.)

Why did the love of Ivan Vasilyevich and Varenka not take place?

Why did Ivan Vasilyevich give up his military career?

Having decided not to serve anywhere, Ivan Vasilyevich makes his moral choice. He doesn't want to be as cruel as the colonel. Tolstoy was concerned that arbitrariness and cruelty reigned in the army. To save his soul, Ivan Vasilyevich refuses a military career.

What compositional device underlies Tolstoy's story? Prove your claim

So, after analyzing these two episodes, draw a conclusion about how they relate.

These two episodes are opposed to each other.

Word U. Guys, such a technique in revealing the idea of a work in which events or characters are opposed to each other is calledcontrast.

Which of the two parts do you consider the main, carrying the main content of the work?
- And why did the writer need the first part?
- What is the name of this technique?
(Antithesis is opposition. In the story, the main plot points are contrasted - the scene of the ball and the execution).

Execution - order of enforcement of telen. punishment or death. executions.

What images, situations are opposed by the writer?
(Ball at the provincial leader = execution,

hall at the leader = description of the street, hosts of the ball = soldiers, Varenka = punished).
The whole story is built on contrasts - a description of the events of the ball and after, the psychological state of the characters.

Did the contrast help reveal the author's intention?

The composition of the story gives the reader the opportunity to feel all the horror, all the injustice of what is happening, precisely because the punishment scene is shown after a delightful ball full of love and joy. By arranging the events in this order, L. N. Tolstoy helped us better and deeper understand the idea and meaning of the story.

At what time of the year does Ivan Vasilievich witness the abuse of a person?

In the spring, on Maslenitsa week. Maslenitsa is the preparatory week for Lent. It is dedicated in the Christian sense to one goal - reconciliation with others, forgiveness of offenses, preparation for repentance. Maslenitsa is a time to devote to good fellowship with neighbors, relatives, friends, and charity.

7) Consolidation of the studied

Test

1) What artistic technique underlies the composition of the story "After the Ball"?

a) sequence of events

b) contrast

c) cyclical events

2) With what feeling does the main character describe the scene

"At the ball"?

a) outrage

b) neglect

c) delight

H) What dress did Varenka wear at the ball?

a) a white dress with a pink belt

b) velvet puce (dark brown)

c) pink

4) With the help of what artistic detail the author

proves the sincerity of the colonel's feelings for his daughter?

a) white mustache and sideburns

b) suede glove

c) sparkling eyes and a joyful smile

d) homemade calf boots

5) Determine the main idea of the story

a) condemnation of despotism

b) condemnation of the thoughtless execution of the rules

c) the idea of a person's personal responsibility

b) On the eve of which holiday a ball was held in the house

provincial leader

a) carnival

b) christmas

7) Why is the colonel, kind and sensitive during the ball,

turns out to be cruel and heartless towards

to the soldiers?

a) faithfully perform their duties

8) What sounds, melody are heard during a cruel

reprisals against a runaway soldier?

a) trumpet sounds

b) flute whistle and drum roll.

8. Compilation of syncwine.

What discoveries did you make in today's lesson? What was especially important?

What did you take away from this lesson?

9. Lesson summary

Each of you will have to make a choice at some point. I would like it to be correct. We studied the content, structure and artistic features, we saw in Ivan Vasilyevich partly the author himself, in his eternal and desperate desire to destroy all evil in people ...

We will light this “lonely candle” not just as a symbol of eternal and unquenchable memory of the great Talent of the great Writer. We will light a candle to forever keep in our hearts the image of a real living person who has managed to be an artist, a thinker and a person at the same time.

10. Homework

Make a comparison:

2. Answer questions No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 pages of the textbook

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