A distinctive feature of the work of Leo Tolstoy is the constant search for answers to moral questions that inevitably arise in the life of every person. We offer for consideration an analysis of the work of L. N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”, which will be useful to students in grade 8 in preparing for a lesson in literature. In the story “After the Ball”, the analysis includes a full disclosure of the topic, as well as features of composition, genre and direction.
Brief analysis
Year of writing- 1903.
History of creation- The plot is based on a real story that happened to the writer's brother. He, being in love with the daughter of a military commander, was going to propose to the girl. However, he changed his mind when he witnessed her father's extreme cruelty towards a soldier.
Subject– The main theme of the work is morality, which fully reveals the problems of the structure of society in tsarist Russia.
Composition– The composition is built on the antithesis - the opposition of the ball and the scene of the punishment of the fugitive soldier.
Genre- Story.
Direction- Realism.
History of creation
The story “After the Ball” was written by Lev Nikolaevich in 1903, but it was published after the death of the writer, in 1911. As a basis for the plot, Tolstoy took the story of his brother, Sergei Nikolayevich, which he shared with him in his youth.
Sergei Tolstoy was passionately in love with Varenka, a charming girl whose father served as a military mayor. The young man's intentions were serious enough, and he was going to tie the knot with his beloved. However, these plans were not destined to come true. Sergei Tolstoy accidentally witnessed his future father-in-law's brutal treatment of a runaway soldier. The spectacle of the brutal reprisal against the unfortunate shocked the young man so much that he suddenly changed his mind about marrying.
Lev Nikolaevich was shocked by the story he heard, but he was able to put it on paper only years later. He was not immediately able to decide on the name of his work, criticizing each of the options. Among them were "Father and Daughter", "The Story of the Ball and Through the Line", "And you say ...".
The meaning of the name"After the ball" lies in the ambiguity and inconsistency of life. After the bright lights of the ball, people find themselves face to face with the realities of reality. Behind the outward splendor and gloss lies unjustified cruelty and hardness of human hearts, and not everyone can come to terms with this fact.
Subject
The work, despite its small volume, fully reveals issues moral and philosophical nature, which has always been close to Lev Nikolaevich.
central theme"After the ball" - morality. The author poses questions to the reader: what are honor, dignity, decency, justice? For many generations, they have worried and continue to worry Russian society.
At the heart of the conflict works lies the dual nature of the Colonel. This is a stately, handsome, mature man, attracting attention with his youthfulness and military bearing. His aristocratic essence is emphasized by impeccable manners, beautiful speech and a pleasant voice. The colonel could easily win over anyone - he showed himself so sweet and amiable during the ball.
But already in the early morning, all this complacency was torn off, like a mask, during the procedure for punishing a fugitive soldier. Varenka's father appears as a formidable, cruel boss, capable of the most terrible deed.
The protagonist, in love with Varenka, having witnessed this reincarnation, is no longer able to continue to have bright feelings for the girl. The spectacle of the inhumane execution of a soldier forever changes his worldview. He comes to the conclusion that he is not in a position to be involved in this evil, and renounces his personal happiness.
Main thought works - exposure of falsehood and feigned complacency of society, behind which lies cruelty towards people who are in a dependent position. If there is no way to change this world for the better and defeat evil, then each person is able to make a conscious choice - to take part or not in this evil. To be honest with yourself is what Tolstoy's work teaches.
Composition
The plot of the story fits into the framework of one night, which abruptly turned the whole life of the protagonist. The composition of the work is a “story within a story”, and consists of several parts: exposition (dialogue leading to the described events), tie-in (ball scene), culmination (scene of the punishment of a soldier) and denouement (the final remark of the narrator).
The main feature of the composition is the opposition of two main parts: the ball and the punishment of the soldier. At first, the reader discovers all the charm of a sparkling ball - a real celebration of love, beauty and youth. Light and sparkling, like splashes of champagne, it turns your head and captivates.
But the very next morning, a completely different picture opens up to the reader's eyes. Against the background of deepening dark colors and to the accompaniment of hysterical, nerve-wracking music, a soldier is severely punished. Such a sharp contrast as an artistic means is the best way to reveal the main idea of the work.
Main characters
Genre
The prose work "After the Ball" is written in the genre of the story. This is evidenced by the small volume and disclosure of one storyline (one incident from the life of one hero). Since the work has the form of a "story within a story", it describes two eras - the 40s of the 19th century, and the sunset of the 19th century. This technique used by the author is intended to show the reader that during this time the problems in society have not changed in any way.
The story is realistic, because it is based on a real life event that, through the prism of the protagonist's experiences, reflects the weaknesses of society.
Artwork test
Analysis Rating
Average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 1043.
History of creation. What is happening in the story is directly related to the events that took place in the family of Leo Tolstoy. In his student years, the writer lived in Kazan with his brother Sergei. The brother was in love with Varvara, the daughter of a high-ranking military Koreish.
He often visited the family of his chosen one. However, one day he saw how, under the leadership of this chief, the regiment mocked a soldier. And then Sergei was disappointed in his love and left Varvara.
This story sunk so deeply into the soul of the writer that he carried it through his whole life, until, at an advanced age, he made it the basis for his story. At first the story was called "Daughter and Father", then - "And you say." In the end, Tolstoy settled on the title by which the story is known today.
Plot. Compositionally, the story is divided into two parts. The first part depicts a downright idyllic picture. The protagonist is in love with Varenka, the general's daughter; the general arranges a magnificent ball, at which the hero is also present. He meets the father of his beloved, whom he really liked.
The general is handsome, healthy and vigorous, despite his advanced age. And most importantly - he loves his daughter so much that for the sake of her well-being he saves on himself; for example, he orders shoes for himself from a simple army shoemaker, instead of purchasing new ones. The second part contrasts sharply with the first.
The next morning, the hero sees how the general, this beautiful person in soul and body, carries out a brutal reprisal against a Tatar soldier who tried to escape. When the soldier who carried out the execution did not hit the offender hard enough, the general began to beat him. This seemed so wild to the hero that his feelings for Varenka completely faded away. Apparently, the general only seemed kind and loving, and in the "working environment" showed his true face.
Issues. The story has several layers of meaning. And the hypocrisy and depravity of the general is only the very top layer, a kind of tip of the iceberg. First ball - light and luxury, smiles and good mood, beautiful music. And in the morning - a gray foggy sky, the beat of a drum and a flute, a stern colonel. Two different scenes - a ball and a parade ground, where the image and characteristics of Varenka's father are revealed. There was an ideal, loving father, but turned into a cruel officer.
The narrator is amazed by such behavior, he seems to have seen the light, having seen the behavior of a person in different situations. He is even more disgusted that the colonel pretended not to recognize him. Having witnessed a vile scene, he is ashamed and sick.
It is characteristic that the story depicts the time of the writer's youth - the years of Nicholas I. Apparently, Leo Tolstoy, by creating his work, wanted to hint that nothing had changed in society many decades after the events described. Did the hero renounce love after parting with Varenka? Obviously not. On the contrary, he broke up with her for love, because he realized that there could no longer be any love in a relationship with her.
The genre of the work.“After the Ball” is a small prose work, a story. At first glance, he continues the traditions of Russian realism of the XIX century. However, the very deep symbolism of the story, coupled with some superficiality and “pamphletery” of the external plan, makes it related to the literature of the new era. The description of a long love story fits into just a few pages, and the sharp contrast between the first and second parts of the composition only enhances the symbolic meaning of the story.
The meaning of the name. It is noteworthy that the story is called "After the Ball." This already introduces some intrigue into the first half of the work, which describes the ball itself. The event itself, which the author focuses on, takes place in the final part of the narrative, but only it contains its main idea: everything that happened before the event that occurred after the ball turned out to be just vanity.
Heroes. The story has three main characters. Firstly, the narrator himself is Ivan Vasilyevich. This is a young man, in love, not devoid of compassion and decency. True love for him is a universal feeling. Thus, in the image of Ivan Vasilyevich, Leo Tolstoy also portrayed himself.
Secondly, this is a general. Happy loving father, good family man. For a long time, the general is admired, Ivan Vasilyevich downright worships him. However, in the end, the true essence of this society is revealed.
Varenka, beloved of the narrator. She personifies the Christian virtues - faith, hope and love. At some point, these Christian attitudes turn out to be devoid of real meaning, which is expressed in the fading of the narrator's love for Varenka.
A distinctive feature of the life and work of the great Russian writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy is his constant moral quest. What is the true purpose of a person, how to relate to other people and generally accepted "truths" - all these issues are addressed to one degree or another in his works. The writer speaks about them especially sharply and uncompromisingly in novels, stories and short stories created by him after the spiritual crisis experienced in the late 70s of the 19th century. These include the story "After the Ball."
History of creation
In early April 1903, a major Jewish pogrom took place in the city of Chisinau, Bessarabian province of the Russian Empire. L. N. Tolstoy spoke out with a sharp condemnation of the rioters and the inactive authorities. The Pogrom Relief Committee organized a fundraiser. At the end of April, the well-known Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem asked Leo Tolstoy to "give something" for a literary collection he was preparing for the same purpose. In a response letter, Lev Nikolaevich promised to fulfill his request.
On June 9, Tolstoy decided to write a story about an incident in the life of his brother Sergei Nikolayevich, which evokes certain associations with the Kishinev pogrom. The 75-year-old Lev Nikolaevich remembered this story from his student days, spent together with his brothers in Kazan.
The plan for the future story was outlined in a diary entry dated June 18, 1903. The first version of the story, entitled "Daughter and Father", was written on August 5-6. Then Tolstoy changed the title to "And you say". The final version of the story entitled “After the Ball” was completed on August 20, 1903. The work was published after the death of the writer in the “Posthumous Artistic Works of Leo Tolstoy” in 1911.
Description of the artwork
The narration is conducted on behalf of the main character - Ivan Vasilyevich. In familiar surroundings, he told two incidents from his life when he was a student at a provincial university. They were supposed to illustrate his assertion that the determining factor in the fate of a person is not the environment, but the case.
Most of the story is occupied by the experiences of the hero, who visited on the last day of Maslenitsa at the ball of the provincial leader. All the cream of the provincial society gathered there, including Varenka B., with whom the student was madly in love. She became the queen of the ball, and she was admired not only by men, but also by women, whom she pushed into the background. So, at least, it seemed to the student Vanya. A beautiful girl favored him and presented most of the dances with her.
Varenka was the daughter of Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich, who was also at the ball with his wife. At the end, those present persuaded the colonel to dance with his daughter. The couple was in the spotlight. Pyotr Vladislavovich remembered his former prowess and danced dashingly in a young way. Vanya watched the couple with increased attention. The old-fashioned colonel's boots especially touched his soul. They guessed savings on themselves in order not to refuse anything to their beloved daughter.
After the dance, the colonel said that he had to get up early tomorrow, and did not stay for dinner. And Ivan danced with Varenka for a long time. An unearthly feeling of happiness and absolute harmony of being seized the protagonist. He loved not only Varenka and her father, but the whole world, in which, as it seemed to him at that moment, there was nothing bad.
Finally, the ball is over. Returning home in the morning, Ivan realized that he would not be able to fall asleep from an excess of feelings. He went out into the street and his feet themselves carried him to Varenka's house, located on the outskirts of the city. As they approached the field adjacent to the house, drum rolls and unpleasant, screeching sounds of a flute sounded, drowning out the dance melodies that still sounded in Ivan's soul. There they let a runaway Tatar soldier through the ranks. Other soldiers from both sides beat the unfortunate man on his bare back, and he only muttered exhaustedly: “Brothers, have mercy.” His back has long turned into a bloody mess.
And Varenka's father led the execution, and he did it as diligently as he had danced with his daughter the day before. When one undersized soldier hit the Tatar not hard enough, the colonel, his face twisted with anger, began to beat him in the face for this. Ivan was shocked to the point of nausea by what he saw. His love for Varenka began to wane. The bloody back of the soldier tortured by her father stood between them.
Main characters
The hero of the story, Ivan Vasilyevich, is endowed with a sense of compassion and the ability to put himself in the place of another person. Human misfortunes did not become for him simple life scenery, as for the vast majority of representatives of the privileged classes. Ivan Vasilyevich's conscience is not drowned out by false expediency in life. These qualities were highly characteristic of Tolstoy himself.
Colonel Pyotr Vladislavovich is a caring father and a good family man. Most likely, he considers himself a true Christian, serving God, the sovereign and the fatherland. But he, like most people at all times, is absolutely deaf to the main thing in Christianity - the great moral law of Christ. According to this law, you should treat people the way you would like them to treat you. Regardless of class and property partitions.
It is difficult to make a psychological portrait of the beautiful Varenka. Most likely, it is unlikely that her external attractiveness was combined with the same soul. After all, she was brought up by her father, who turned out to be a real fanatic in the public service.
Story analysis
The compositional dominant of the story is the opposition of its two parts, describing the events at the ball and after it. First, a ball sparkling with light colors is a celebration of youth, love and beauty. It takes place on the last day of Maslenitsa - Forgiveness Sunday, when believers must forgive each other mutual sins. Then - dark colors, "bad music" hitting the nerves, and a cruel reprisal against the unfortunate soldiers, among whom the main victim is a non-believer (like the Jews of Chisinau).
There are several main ideas in the story. First of all, it is an absolute rejection of any violence, including those justified by state necessity. Secondly, contrary to the will of God, the division of people into those worthy of respect and likened to cattle.
Other motives are less obvious. In torturing a non-believer on Forgiveness Sunday, Tolstoy allegorically continues to reproach the official church, which justifies state violence, from which he was excommunicated two years before.
The image of the enamored and careless Ivan Vasilyevich reminds Tolstoy of his own youth, to which the writer was critical. Oddly enough, but the young Tolstoy had common features with the colonel. In his other work (“Youth”), the writer writes about his own division of people into worthy and despised.
Leo Tolstoy wrote After the Ball in 1903, but it was first published in 1911, after the death of the great Russian writer. The story is based on a true story that happened to the writer's older brother, Sergei. While still a student, Lev Nikolaevich lived with his brothers in Kazan. His brother Sergei Nikolaevich was in love with Varvara, the daughter of the military mayor Andrei Petrovich Koreysha, and often came to visit them. But one day Sergei Nikolaevich saw how, under the leadership of Father Varya, a runaway soldier was beaten. The whole picture so shocked him that the desire to marry the young man immediately disappeared. And now, in fact, you can take up the summary of "After the Ball." So, a few people are making small talk and thinking about everything.
"After the ball". Summary
The esteemed Ivan Vasilievich was a master of all sorts of stories. And then, one day, being among his friends, he started a conversation about the fact that a person cannot always understand what is good and what is bad, since for his improvement it is necessary to change his environment, they say, it seizes a person. And he immediately added that in his situation, which he will talk about later, chance, and not environment, played a big role in fate.
Ivan Vasilyevich describes two paintings. On the first one, everything is beautiful, happy and dressed up guests dance at the ball, having come to honor the tribute of the provincial leader, whom the author describes as a very sweet and good-natured person who constantly cared for his daughter Varenka. The old man really treats her very carefully and even saves on himself for her sake. The summary “After the Ball” notes that the Dance of the “mazurka” of the father and daughter causes deep tenderness and admiration among the entire audience present at the ball. The festive atmosphere is complemented just before Lent by the last day of Maslenitsa.
Love
The summary of “After the Ball” further tells that the then very young Ivan was head over heels in love with the beautiful Varenka. He couldn't even be without her for a minute. Then, after the ball, he could not sleep for a long time and kept fiddling with the feather from the fan she had given him. However, the situation changes when he decides to take a walk in the fresh air. Varenka's house could be seen in the distance, and some incomprehensible music and noise could be heard from there. Ivan decided to come closer and saw a cruel picture there. Under the leadership of Varenka's father, a massacre of soldiers with sticks takes place over a fugitive Tatar soldier, who was groaning and writhing in pain, and already represented something red, wet and unnatural.
Analysis of the work
The summary of Tolstoy “After the Ball” indicates that the writer in this work conveys his condition before parting with formal faith, because he was anathematized because of his religious beliefs. The writer emphasizes that the execution takes place on Forgiveness Sunday. By this, he emphasizes the completely merciless and non-Christian nature of society, since a Muslim is beaten. In this case, the Christian faith is taught in the form of violence for non-believers. Tolstoy in many ways wanted to see the ideal, and from this he suffered all his life with his thoughts and desires. Humility and repentance were not a top priority for him in his Christian life, and he decided to choose his own path.
Before proceeding directly to the analysis of the story "After the Ball", we will briefly consider the history of its creation. In this article you will also find the compositional features of the work and its plot. The story "After the Ball" was published after the death of Leo Tolstoy in 1911, although he wrote it in 1903. This trend of returned prose was typical of that literary period. The story is based on real events. Living with his brothers in Kazan, Tolstoy learned from his brother Sergei the details of his personal life. The brother fell in love with the daughter of a military commander, but seeing the cruelty of her father, he forgot about marriage and did not appear in their house again. This story made a huge indelible impression, and later became the basis of the plot of the story "After the Ball".
Tolstoy thought for a long time about the title of the story. But he called it that way, and this is important in the analysis of "After the Ball", because it was important for Tolstoy to show how a person would behave after certain circumstances, how it will behave in the new environment.
The genre of the story and its theme
The work "After the Ball" by Tolstoy is a story, because it tells about one event and one main character. There is one story line. It was the stories that Tolstoy wrote in the heyday of his literary activity. But this story describes two eras: the era of the past, i.e. 40s of the XIX century, and the end of the XIX century. The author used this technique to show that nothing has changed in the social fabric.
When analyzing Tolstoy's "After the Ball", it is important to take into account the theme of the work. The main theme of the story is morality. The way one incident radically changes a person's worldview. The sub-theme is the life of a soldier. The service is described as twenty-five years long, unquestioning, the severity of the conditions.
Other Analysis Details
The idea in the story is revealed through a system of images. This is Ivan Vasilyevich and the colonel. They are a stumbling block. With the help of these images, Tolstoy shows that it is not chance that decides fate, but the consequences of social life and society. You can see the severity of that time. The story is based on antithesis. The whole work is built on contrast. Starting from the beauty of a polished floor and to a terrible punishment; the refinement of Varenka and the sullenness of the Tatar; flute and drum sounds. The image of the father, who initially caused tenderness, and then turned into an evil old man. Such a technique vividly showed how life and its perception have changed for Ivan Vasilyevich.
Let's see who are the main characters of the story "After the Ball":
- Ivan Vasilievich. A pleasant young man in love with Varenka. He made a reassessment of his life and actions, seeing the brutal harshness. He thought about what humanity is and how people should be treated. After what he saw, he decided that he would never hurt anyone.
- Peter Vladislavovich. A strong old man who sincerely loves his daughter. The man is courteous and gallant at the ball, a kind host, but in the scene with the massacre he appears before the readers in a completely different light.
Plot and composition
We have carried out a brief analysis of the story "After the Ball". What is the essence of the plot and the composition of the work? Before us opens a picture of the ball, in which a well-groomed colonel dances with love and tenderness with his daughter. It was on this evening that Ivan Vasilievich met Varenka. They dance together, you can't take your eyes off them. In the morning, the main character goes home to his beloved. Passing through the city, he notices that the soldiers are leading the Tatar to the place of punishment. It is a great surprise for him that Varenka's father is leading this action. It opens up for him from another, secret side. A cold, angry and insensitive colonel gives instructions on how to beat the offender. Seeing his daughter's fiancé, he pretended they were strangers. After what he saw, the young man changes his attitude not only to this family, but also to society as a whole. The duration of the story is one day.
