He not only wrote a wonderful work "War and Peace", but also showed Russian life for several decades. Researchers of Tolstoy's work have calculated that the writer depicted more than 600 characters on the pages of his novel. Moreover, each of these characters has a clear and accurate description of the writer. This allows the reader to draw a detailed portrait of each character.
In contact with
Character system in the novel "War and Peace"
Of course, the main character of Tolstoy's work is the people. According to the author, this is the best thing in the Russian nation. According to the novel, the people include not only ordinary people who have nothing, but also nobles who live not for themselves, but for others. But the people in the novel are opposed by aristocrats:
- Kuragins.
- Salon visitors Anna Scherer.
It can be immediately determined from the description that all these characters are the negative characters of the novel. Their life is unspiritual and mechanical, they perform artificial and lifeless actions, they are incapable of compassion, they are selfish. These heroes cannot change even under the influence of life.
In a completely different way, Lev Nikolayevich portrays his positive characters. Their actions are guided by the heart. These positive actors include:
- Kutuzov.
- Natasha Rostov.
- Platon Karataev.
- Alpatych.
- Officer Timokhin.
- Officer Tushin.
- Pierre Bezukhov.
- Andrei Bolkonsky.
All these heroes able to empathize, develop and change. But it is the war of 1812, the trials that it brought, that makes it possible to understand to which camp the characters of Tolstoy's novel can be attributed.
Pyotr Rostov is the central character of the novel
Count Peter Rostov is the youngest child in the family, Natasha's brother. At the beginning of the novel, the reader sees him as a very young child. So, in 1805 he was only 9 years old. And if at this age the writer only notices that he is fat, then the characterization of Peter at the age of 13 is added to the fact that the teenager turns out to be handsome and cheerful.
At the age of 16, Peter goes to war, although he had to go to university, and soon becomes a real man, an officer. He is a patriot and worries about the fate of his Motherland. Petya spoke excellent French and could feel sorry for the captured French boy. Going to war, Petya dreams of doing something heroic.
And despite the fact that at first his parents did not want to let him go to the service, and then they found a place where it was safer, he still joins the army with a friend. As soon as he was appointed assistant general, he was immediately taken prisoner. Deciding to take part in the battle with the French, helping Dolokhov, Petya dies, having been wounded in the head.
Natasha Rostova will name her only son after him, who will never be able to forget her brother, with whom she was so close.
Minor male characters
There are many minor characters in the novel "War and Peace". Among them, the following characters stand out:
- Drubetskoy Boris.
- Dolokhov.
Tall and blond Boris Drubetsky was brought up in the Rostov family and was in love with Natasha. His mother, Princess Drubetskaya, was a distant relative of the Rostov family. He is proud and dreams of a military career.
Having got into the guard thanks to the efforts of his mother, he also participates in the military campaign of 1805. The characterization of him by the writer is unflattering, since Boris tries to make only “useful” acquaintances. So, he is ready to spend all the money to pass for a rich man. He becomes the husband of Julie Kuragina, as she is rich.
Guards officer Dolokhov is a bright secondary character in the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Fyodor Ivanovich is 25 years old. He was born a respectable lady Marya Ivanovna, belonging to a poor noble family. Women liked the officer of the Semyonovsky regiment, because he was handsome: medium height, with curly hair and blue eyes. A firm voice and a cold look were harmoniously combined in Dolokhov with his education and intelligence. Despite the fact that Dolokhov is a player and loves a revelry life, he is still respected in society.
Fathers of the Rostov and Bolkonsky families
General Bolkonsky has long been retired. He is rich and respected in society. He performed his service during the reign of Catherine II, so Kutuzov is his good friend. But the character of the father of the Bolkonsky family is difficult. Nikolai Andreevich happens not only strict, but also severe. He takes care of his health and appreciates order in everything.
Count Ilya Andreevich Rostov is a positive and bright hero of the novel. His wife is Anna Mikhailovna Shinshina. Ilya Andreevich is raising five children. He is rich and cheerful, kind and self-confident in character. The old prince is very trusting and easily deceived.
Ilya Andreevich is a sympathetic person, a patriot. He receives wounded soldiers in his house. But he did not follow the state of the family at all, therefore he becomes the culprit of ruin. The prince dies in 1813, trying to survive the tragedies of his children.
Minor female characters
In the work of Leo Tolstoy there are many minor characters that make it possible to understand the events that the author describes. In the work "War and Peace" female characters are represented by the following heroines:
- Sonya Rostova.
- Julie Kuragin.
- Vera Rostova.
Sonya Rostova is the second cousin of Natasha Rostova, the protagonist of the novel War and Peace. Sofya Alexandrovna is an orphan and a dowry. For the first time, readers see her at the beginning of the novel. Then, in 1805, she was barely 15 years old. Sonya looked beautiful: her waist was thin and miniature, a large and thick black braid wrapped around her head twice. Even the look, soft and withdrawn, bewitched.
The older the girl got, the more beautiful she looked. And at 22, according to Tolstoy's description, she was somewhat like a cat: smooth, flexible and soft. She was in love with Nikolenka Rostov. She even refuses her love to the “brilliant” groom Dolokhov. Sonya knew how to read skillfully in front of different audiences. She usually read in a thin voice and very diligently.
But Nicholas chose to marry Marya Bolkonskaya. And the economic and patient Sonya, who managed the household so skillfully, remained to live in the house of the young Rostov family, helping them. At the end of the novel, the writer shows her at the age of 30, but she is also not married, but is busy with the Rostov children and caring for the sick princess.
Julie Kuragina is a minor heroine in the novel. It is known that after the death of her brothers in the war, left with her mother, the girl becomes a rich heiress. At the beginning of the novel, Julie is already 20 years old and the reader learns that she is from a decent noble family. Her virtuous parents raised her, and in general, Julie was familiar to the Rostov family from childhood.
Julie did not have any special external data. The girl was chubby and ugly. But she dressed fashionably and always tried to smile. Because of her red face, poorly covered with powder, and wet eyes, no one wanted to marry her. Julie is a bit naive and very stupid. She tries not to miss a single ball or a theatrical performance.
By the way, Countess Rostova dreamed of marrying Nikolai to Julie. But for the sake of money, Boris Drubetskoy marries her, who hates Julie and hopes to see her very rarely after the wedding.
Another minor female character in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is Vera Rostova. This is the eldest and unloved daughter of Princess Rostova. After her marriage, she became Vera Berg. At the beginning of the novel, she was 20 years old, and the girl was four years older than her sister Natasha. Vera is a beautiful, intelligent and well-mannered and educated girl with a pleasant voice. Both Natasha and Nikolai believed that she was too correct and somehow insensitive, as if she had no heart at all.
M. M. Blinkina
AGE OF HEROES IN THE NOVEL "WAR AND PEACE"
(Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences. A series of literature and language. - T. 57. - No. 1. - M., 1998. - S. 18-27)
1. INTRODUCTION
The main goal of this work is mathematical modeling of some aspects of plot development and establishing relationships between real and novel time, or rather, between the real and novel ages of the characters (and, in this case, the relationship will be predictable and linear).
The very concept of "age" has, of course, several aspects. Firstly, the age of a literary character is determined by the novel time, which often does not coincide with the real time. Secondly, the numerals in the designation of age, in addition to their main (actually numerical) meaning, often have a number of additional ones, that is, they carry an independent semantic load. They can, for example, contain a positive or negative assessment of the hero, reflect his individual characteristics, or bring an ironic tinge to the narrative.
Sections 2-6 describe how Leo Tolstoy changes the age characteristics of the characters in War and Peace depending on their function in the novel, how young they are, what gender they are, and also on some other individual characteristics.
Section 7 proposes a mathematical model that reflects the features of the "aging" of Tolstoy's heroes.
2. AGE PARADOXES: TEXT ANALYSIS
Reading the novel by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy "War and Peace", one cannot but pay attention to some strange inconsistencies in the age characteristics of his characters. Consider, for example, the Rostov family. August 1805 is outside - and we meet Natasha for the first time: ... ran into the room thirteen girl, wrapping something in a muslin skirt...
In the same August 1805, we met all the other children from this family, in particular, with the elder sister Vera: The eldest daughter of the countess was four years older than sister and acted like a big.
Thus, in August 1805 Vere seventeen years. Now fast forward to December 1806: faith was twenty years old beautiful girl ... Natasha half-lady, half-girl...
We see that over the past year and four months, Vera has managed to grow by three years. She was seventeen, and now she is neither eighteen nor nineteen; she's twenty. Natasha's age in this fragment is given metaphorically, and not by a number, which, as it turns out, is also not without reason.
Exactly three more years will pass, and we will receive the last message about the age of these two sisters:
Natasha was sixteen years, and it was 1809, the same year until which four years ago she counted on her fingers with Boris, after she kissed him.
So, over these four years, Natasha has grown by three, as, however, was expected. Instead of seventeen or even eighteen, she is now sixteen. And there will be no more. This is the last mention of her age. And what happens to her unfortunate older sister in the meantime?
Faith was twenty four years, she traveled everywhere, and despite the fact that she was undoubtedly good and reasonable, so far no one has ever proposed to her.
As we can see, over the past three years, Vera has grown by four. If we count from the very beginning, that is, from August 1805, it turns out that in just over four years, Vera has grown by seven years. During this time period, the age difference between Natasha and Vera doubled. Vera is no longer four, but eight years older than her sister.
This was an example of how the ages of two characters change relative to each other. Now let's look at a hero who at some point in time has different ages for different characters. This hero is Boris Drubetskoy. His age is never directly stated, so let's try to calculate it indirectly. On the one hand, we know that Boris is the same age as Nikolai Rostov: Two young men, a student and an officer, friends since childhood, were one year old ...
Nicholas in January 1806 was nineteen or twenty years old:
How strange it was for the countess that her son, who was moving in her very tiny penises twenty years ago, now a courageous warrior ...
It follows that in August 1805 Boris was nineteen or twenty years old. Now let's estimate his age from Pierre's point of view. At the beginning of the novel, Pierre is twenty years old: Pierre from the age of ten was sent with the tutor-abbot abroad, where he stayed up to the age of twenty .
On the other hand, we know that Pierre left Boris fourteen year old boy and decidedly did not remember him.
Thus, Boris is four years older than Pierre and at the beginning of the novel he is twenty-four years old, that is, he is twenty-four years old for Pierre, while for Nikolai he is still only twenty.
And, finally, one more, already quite funny example: the age of Nikolenka Bolkonsky. In July 1805, his future mother appears before us: ... little princess Volkonskaya, who got married last winter and now did not go out into the world because of her pregnancy ... waddling, walked around the table with small quick steps ...
From universal human considerations, it is clear that Nikolenka should be born in the autumn of 1805: but, contrary to worldly logic, this does not happen, he is born March 19, 1806 It is clear that such a character will have problems with age until the end of his novel life. So in 1811 he will be six years old, and in 1820 - fifteen.
How can such inconsistencies be explained? Maybe the exact age of his characters is not important for Tolstoy? On the contrary, Tolstoy has a fondness for numbers and sets the ages of even the most insignificant heroes with amazing accuracy. So Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova exclaims: fifty eight years lived in the world ...: No, life is not over at thirty one, - says Prince Andrew.
Tolstoy has numbers everywhere, and the numbers are exact, fractional. Age in War and Peace is undoubtedly functional. No wonder Dolokhov, beating Nikolai in cards, decided to continue the game until this record increased to forty-three thousand. This number was chosen by him because forty-three was the sum of his years plus Sonya's. .
Thus, all the age discrepancies described above, and there are about thirty of them in the novel, are deliberate. What are they due to?
Before I begin to answer this question, I note that on average, over the course of the novel, Tolstoy makes each of his characters a year older than they should be (this is shown by calculations, which will be discussed later). Ordinarily, the hero of a classic novel will always be twenty-one years old instead of twenty-one years and eleven months, and on average, therefore, such a hero turns out to be half a year younger than his years.
However, even from the above examples it is already clear, firstly, that the author "ages" and "youngens" his characters differently, and secondly, that this does not happen randomly, but in a systemic, programmed way. How exactly?
From the very beginning, it becomes obvious that the positive and negative characters age differently, disproportionately. (“Positive and negative” is, of course, a conditional concept, however, in Tolstoy, the polarity of a character in most cases is determined almost unambiguously. The author of “War and Peace” is surprisingly frank in his likes and dislikes). As shown above, Natasha matures more slowly than expected, while Vera, on the contrary, grows faster. Boris, as a friend of Nikolai and a friend of the Rostov family, appears as a twenty-year-old; he, in the role of a secular acquaintance of Pierre and future husband of Julie Karagina, turns out to be much older at the same time. At the ages of the heroes, it is as if a certain non-strict order is set, or rather, an anti-order. There is a feeling that the heroes are "penalized" by an increase in age. Tolstoy, as it were, punishes his heroes with disproportionate aging.
There are, however, in the novel characters who grow older strictly in accordance with the years they have lived. Sonya, for example, being, in fact, neither a positive nor a negative heroine, but completely neutral and colorless, Sonya, who always studied well and remembered everything, matures exceptionally carefully. The whole mess of ages that takes place in the Rostov family does not affect her at all. In 1805 she fifteen year old girl , and in 1806 - sixteen year old girl in all the beauty of a freshly blossomed flower. It is her age that the prudent Dolokhov beats Rostov in cards, adding to his own. But Sonya is rather an exception.
In general, characters of "different polarity" grow up in different ways. Moreover, the extremely saturated space of age is divided between positive and negative characters. At the age of sixteen, Natasha and Sonya are mentioned. After the age of sixteen - Vera and Julie Karagina. No more than twenty happens to Pierre, Nikolai and Petya Rostov, Nikolenka Bolkonsky. Strictly more than twenty Boris, Dolokhov, "ambiguous" Prince Andrei.
The question is not how old the hero is, the question is exactly what age is fixed in the novel. Natasha is not supposed to be over sixteen; Marya is unacceptably old for a positive heroine, so not a word is said about her age; Helen, on the contrary, is defiantly young for a negative heroine, therefore, we do not know how old she is.
In the novel, a boundary is set, after which only negative characters already exist; the boundary, having stepped over which, a deliberately positive hero simply ceases to exist in the space of age. In a perfectly symmetrical way, the negative character walks through the novel without age until he passes this boundary. Natasha loses her age at the age of sixteen. Julie Karagina, on the contrary, is gaining age, being no longer her first youth:
Julie was twenty seven years old. After the death of her brothers, she became very rich. She was completely ugly now; but I thought that she was not only just as pretty, but even more attractive now than she was before ... A man who ten years ago would have been afraid to go every day to the house where she was seventeen year old lady, so as not to compromise her and not to tie himself up, now he boldly went to her every day and talked with her not as with a young lady-bride, but as with an acquaintance who had no sex.
The problem, however, is that Julie in this novel was never seventeen years old. In 1805, when this chubby lady guest appears in the Rostovs' house, nothing is said about her age, because if then Tolstoy honestly gave her her seventeen years, then now, in 1811, she would not be twenty-seven, but only twenty-three, which, of course, is also no longer an age for a positive heroine, but still it is not yet the time for the final transition into asexual beings. In general, negative heroes, as a rule, are not supposed to have childhood and adolescence. This leads to some funny misunderstandings:
Well, Lela? - Prince Vasily turned to his daughter with that careless tone of habitual tenderness, which is assimilated by parents who caress their children from childhood, but which was only guessed by Prince Violence by imitating other parents.
Or maybe Prince Vasily is not to blame? Maybe his purely negative children had no childhood at all. And it is not for nothing that Pierre, before proposing to Helen, convinces himself that he knew her as a child. Was she even a child?
If we move from lyrics to numbers, then it turns out that in the novel there are positive characters aged 5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, as well as 40, 45, 50, 58. Negative is 17, 20, 24, 25, 27. That is, positive heroes from early youth immediately fall into respectable old age. Negative heroes also, of course, have senile age, but the fragmentation of their age in old age is less than that of positive ones. So, the positive Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova says: fifty eight years lived in the world... The negative prince Vasily evaluates himself with less accuracy: to me sixth decade, a friend of mine...
In general, accurate calculations show that the aging coefficient in the "positive-negative" space is -2.247, i.e. other things being equal, the positive hero will be two years and three months younger than the negative one.
Let's talk now about two heroines who are emphatically ageless. These heroines are Helen and Princess Mary, which in itself is not accidental.
Helen symbolizes eternal beauty and youth in the novel. Her rightness, her strength in this inexhaustible youth. Time seems to have no power over her: Elena Vasilievna, so she at fifty beauty will be. Pierre, persuading himself to marry Helen, also cites her age as her main advantage. He remembers knowing her as a child. He says to himself: No, she's beautiful young woman! She is not stupid woman!
Helen is the eternal bride. With a living husband, she chooses with charming immediacy a new groom for herself, and one of the applicants is young, and the other is old. Helen dies under mysterious circumstances, preferring the old admirer to the young, that is: as if she herself chooses old age and death, renouncing her privilege of eternal youth, and dissolves into non-existence.
Princess Mary also has no age, and it is not possible to calculate it from the final version of the novel. Indeed, in 1811, she, old dry princess, envious of Natasha's beauty and youth. In the finale, in 1820, Marya is a happy young mother, she is expecting her fourth child, and her life, one might say, is just beginning, although at that moment she is no less than thirty-five years old, an age not very suitable for a lyrical heroine; that is why she lives without age in this novel, soaked through with figures.
It is curious that in the first edition of "War and Peace", which differs from the final version in its extreme concreteness and "last directness", the uncertainty in the images of Helen and Marya is partly removed. There, in 1805, Marya was twenty years old: the old prince himself was engaged in the education of his daughter and, in order to develop in her both main virtues, up to twenty years gave her lessons in algebra and geometry and distributed her whole life in uninterrupted studies.
And Helen also dies there, not from an excess of youth ...
4. THE FIRST COMPLETED VERSION OF THE NOVEL
The first version of "War and Peace" helps solve many of the riddles given in the final version of the novel. What is very vaguely read in the final version appears in the early version with amazing clarity for a novel narrative. The space of age here is not yet saturated with that romantic understatement that the modern reader encounters. Deliberate accuracy borders on banality. Not surprisingly, in the final version of the novel, Tolstoy renounces such meticulousness. Mentions of age becomes one and a half times less. Behind the scenes is a lot of interesting details, which would not be superfluous to mention here.
Princess Mary, as already noted, at the beginning of the novel twenty years. Age Helen is not specified, however, it is obviously limited from above by the age of her older brother. And in 1811 Anatole was 28 years. He was in full splendor of his strength and beauty.
Thus, at the beginning of the novel, Anatole is twenty-two, his friend Dolokhov is twenty-five, and Pierre is twenty. Helen no more than twenty-one. Moreover, she probably no more than nineteen because, according to the unwritten laws of that time, she should not be older than Pierre. (The fact, for example, that Julie is older than Boris is emphasized.)
So, the scene in which the socialite Helen tries to lead young Natasha Rostova astray looks completely comical, given that Natasha is twenty years old at this moment, and Helen is twenty-four, that is, they, in fact, belong to the same age group. categories.
The early version also clarifies the age for us Boris: Hélène called him mon hage and treated him like a child ... Sometimes, in rare moments, Pierr "got the idea that this patronizing friendship for an imaginary child who was 23 years old had something unnatural.
These considerations refer to the autumn of 1809, that is, at the beginning of the novel Boris is nineteen years old and his future bride Julie - twenty one years old, if you count her age back from the moment of their wedding. Initially, Julie, apparently, was assigned the role of a prettier heroine in the novel: Tall, stout, proud-looking lady with pretty daughter, rustling dresses, entered the living room.
This pretty daughter is Julie Karagina, who at first was thought to be younger and more attractive. However, in 1811, Julie Akhrosimova (as she was originally called) will already be that "sexless" creature, as we know her from the final version.
Dolokhov in the first version of the novel beats Nikolai not forty-three, but only forty-two thousand.
The ages of Natasha and Sonya are given several times. So, at the beginning of 1806, Natasha says: to me fifteenth year, my grandmother got married in my time.
In the summer of 1807, Natasha's age is mentioned twice: Natasha passed away 15 years and she is very prettier this summer.
“And you sing,” said Prince Andrei. He said these simple words, looking directly into the beautiful eyes of this 15 year old girls.
Such a number of age occurrences allows us to establish that Natasha was born in the autumn of 1791. Thus, at her first ball she shines at eighteen, and by no means at sixteen.
To make Natasha younger, Tolstoy also changes Sonya's age. Thus, at the end of 1810 Sonya was already twentieth year. She had already stopped getting prettier, she did not promise anything more than what was in her, but that was enough.
In fact, Natasha is in her twentieth year at this moment, and Sonya is at least a year and a half older.
Unlike many other characters, Prince Andrei does not have an exact age in the first version of the novel. Instead of the textbook thirty-one years, he about thirty years.
Of course, the accuracy and directness of the early version of the novel cannot serve as an "official clue" to age shifts, since we have no right to believe that Natasha and Pierre of the first edition are the same characters that Natasha and Pierre are in the final version of the novel. By changing the age characteristics of the hero, the author partly changes the hero himself. Nevertheless, the early version of the novel allows us to check the accuracy of the calculations made on the final text and to make sure that these calculations are correct.
5. AGE AS A FUNCTION OF AGE (AGE STEREOTYPES)
So little time left to live
I'm already sixteen years old!
Y. Ryashentsev
The tradition of aging older characters compared to younger ones has its roots in the depths of centuries. In this sense, Tolstoy did not invent anything new. Calculations show that the coefficient of "ageing with age" in the novel is 0.097, which in human language means a year of novel aging for ten lived years, that is, a ten-year-old hero can be eleven years old, a twenty-year-old hero is twenty-two, and a fifty-year-old hero is fifty-five. The result is not surprising. It is much more interesting how Tolstoy gives the ages of his heroes, how he evaluates them on a scale of "young - old". Let's start from the very beginning.
5.1. Up to ten years
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was very fond of children.
Sometimes they would bring him a full chamber. step
there is nowhere to step, but he keeps shouting: More! More!
D. Kharms
Harms is certainly right. There are many infant characters in the novel. What they have in common is, perhaps, that they do not seem to be independent units endowed with their own problems and experiences. The age of up to ten years is, as it were, a signal that the hero will, in fact, be a small mouthpiece for the author. The children in the novel see the world surprisingly subtly and correctly, they are engaged in a systematic "defamiliarization" of the environment. They, not spoiled by the burden of civilization, are more successful than adults in solving their moral problems and, at the same time, they seem to be completely devoid of reason. Therefore, such young characters, whose number will grow to incredible limits by the end, look very artificial:
Five minutes later, little black-eyed three-year Natasha, her father's favorite, having learned from her brother that papa was sleeping in a small sofa room, unnoticed by her mother, ran to her father ... Nikolai turned around with a tender smile on his face.
- Natasha, Natasha! - I heard the frightened whisper of Countess Marya from the door, - papa wants to sleep.
- No, mother, he does not want to sleep, - little Natasha answered with persuasiveness, - he laughs.
Such an instructive little character. Here's the next one, a little older:
Only one granddaughter of Andrei, Malasha, six year old girl, to whom the most illustrious, after caressing her, gave a piece of sugar for tea, remained on the stove in a large hut ... Malasha ... otherwise understood the significance of this advice. It seemed to her that it was only a personal struggle between "grandfather" and "long-sleeved", as she called Beningsen.
Amazing insight!
The last character in age who shows signs of the same "childish-unconscious" behavior, like all the juvenile characters of Tolstoy, is the eternally sixteen-year-old Natasha Rostova:
In the middle of the stage were girls in red corsages and white skirts. They all sang something. When they finished their song, the girl in white went up to the prompter's booth, and a man in tight-fitting silk pantaloons on thick legs, with a feather and a dagger, came up to her and began to sing and shrug...
After the village, and in the serious mood in which Natasha was, all this was wild and surprising to her.
So, Natasha sees the world in the same childish, unreasonable way. Not by age, adult children look like young old people. Striving for globality, the author of "War and Peace" loses the little things, the individuality of babies, for example, the children of Lev Nikolayevich do not come individually, but in a set: At the table were the mother, the old woman Belova who lived with her, his wife, three kids, governess, tutor, nephew with his tutor, Sonya, Denisov, Natasha, her three kids, their governess and old man Mikhail Ivanovich, the architect of the prince, who lived in Bald Mountains in retirement.
Individuality in this enumeration relies on everyone, even the old woman Belova, whom we meet for the first and last time. Even a tutor, and a governess, and even a tutor do not merge into the general concept of "tutors". And only children, sexless and faceless, go in a crowd. Kharms had something to parody.
In this article, we will introduce you to the main characters of Leo Tolstoy's work "War and Peace". Characteristics of the characters include the main features of appearance and inner world. All the characters in the story are very interesting. Very large in volume is the novel "War and Peace". The characteristics of the heroes are given only briefly, but meanwhile, a separate work can be written for each of them. Let's start our analysis with a description of the Rostov family.
Ilya Andreevich Rostov
The Rostov family in the work are typical Moscow representatives of the nobility. Its head, Ilya Andreevich, is known for his generosity and hospitality. This is a count, the father of Petya, Vera, Nikolai and Natasha Rostovs, a rich man and a Moscow gentleman. He is motivated, good-natured, loves to live. In general, speaking of the Rostov family, it should be noted that sincerity, goodwill, lively contact and ease in communication were characteristic of all its representatives.
Some episodes from the life of the writer's grandfather were used by him to create the image of Rostov. The fate of this person is aggravated by the realization of ruin, which he does not immediately understand and is unable to stop. In its appearance, there are also some similarities with the prototype. This technique was used by the author not only in relation to Ilya Andreevich. Some internal and external features of Leo Tolstoy's relatives and friends are also guessed in other characters, which is confirmed by the characteristics of the heroes. "War and Peace" is a large-scale work with a huge number of characters.
Nikolai Rostov
Nikolai Rostov - son of Ilya Andreevich, brother of Petya, Natasha and Vera, hussar, officer. At the end of the novel, he appears as the husband of Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. In the appearance of this man one could see "enthusiasm" and "swiftness". It reflected some of the features of the writer's father, who participated in the war of 1812. This hero is distinguished by such features as cheerfulness, openness, goodwill and self-sacrifice. Convinced that he is not a diplomat or an official, Nikolai leaves the university at the beginning of the novel and enters the hussar regiment. Here he participates in the Patriotic War of 1812, in military campaigns. Nicholas takes his first baptism of fire when the Enns is crossed. In the battle of Shengraben, he was wounded in the arm. After passing the test, this man becomes a real hussar, a brave officer.
Petya Rostov
Petya Rostov is the youngest child in the Rostov family, the brother of Natasha, Nikolai and Vera. He appears at the beginning of the work as a small boy. Petya, like all Rostovs, is cheerful and kind, musical. He wants to imitate his brother and also wants to join the army. After the departure of Nikolai, Petya becomes the main concern of the mother, who only realizes at that time the depth of her love for this child. During the war, he accidentally ends up in the Denisov detachment with an assignment, where he remains, because he wants to take part in the case. Petya dies by coincidence, showing before his death the best features of the Rostovs in relations with his comrades.
Countess of Rostov
Rostova is a heroine, when creating the image of which the author used, as well as some circumstances of the life of L. A. Bers, the mother-in-law of Lev Nikolayevich, as well as P. N. Tolstoy, the writer’s paternal grandmother. The Countess is used to living in an atmosphere of kindness and love, in luxury. She is proud of the trust and friendship of her children, pampers them, worries about their fate. Despite external weakness, even some heroine makes reasonable and balanced decisions regarding her children. Dictated by love for children and her desire to marry Nikolai to a wealthy bride at any cost, as well as nit-picking Sonya.
Natasha Rostova
Natasha Rostova is one of the main characters of the work. She is the daughter of Rostov, the sister of Petya, Vera and Nikolai. At the end of the novel, she becomes the wife of Pierre Bezukhov. This girl is presented as "ugly, but alive", with a big mouth, black-eyed. Tolstoy's wife and her sister T. A. Bers served as the prototype for this image. Natasha is very sensitive and emotional, she can intuitively guess the characters of people, sometimes selfish in manifestations of feelings, but most often capable of self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness. We see this, for example, during the removal of the wounded from Moscow, as well as in the episode of nursing the mother after Petya died.
One of the main advantages of Natasha is her musicality, beautiful voice. With her singing, she can awaken all the best that is in a person. This is what saves Nikolai from despair after he lost a large amount.
Natasha, constantly carried away, lives in an atmosphere of happiness and love. After meeting Prince Andrei, a change occurs in her fate. The insult inflicted by Bolkonsky (the old prince) pushes this heroine to be infatuated with Kuragin and to refuse Prince Andrei. Only after feeling and experiencing a lot, she realizes her guilt before Bolkonsky. But this girl feels true love only for Pierre, whose wife she becomes at the end of the novel.
Sonya
Sonya is the pupil and niece of Count Rostov, who grew up in his family. She is 15 at the beginning of the story. This girl fits perfectly into the Rostov family, she is unusually friendly and close to Natasha, she has been in love with Nikolai since childhood. Sonya is silent, restrained, cautious, reasonable, she has a highly developed ability for self-sacrifice. She attracts attention with moral purity and beauty, but she does not have the charm and immediacy that Natasha possesses.
Pierre Bezukhov
Pierre Bezukhov is one of the main characters in the novel. Therefore, without him, the characterization of the heroes ("War and Peace") would be incomplete. Let us briefly describe Pierre Bezukhov. He is the illegitimate son of a count, a famous nobleman, who became the heir to a huge fortune and title. In the work, he is depicted as a fat, massive young man, wearing glasses. This hero is distinguished by a timid, intelligent, natural and observant look. He was brought up abroad, appeared in Russia shortly before the start of the 1805 campaign and the death of his father. Pierre is inclined to philosophical reflections, smart, kind-hearted and gentle, compassionate towards others. He is also impractical, sometimes subject to passions. Andrei Bolkonsky, his closest friend, characterizes this hero as the only "living person" among all representatives of the world.
Anatole Kuragin
Anatole Kuragin - officer, brother of Ippolit and Helen, son of Prince Vasily. Unlike Ippolit, the "calm fool", Anatole's father looks at Anatole as a "restless fool" who must always be rescued from various troubles. This hero is stupid, impudent, dapper, not eloquent in conversations, depraved, not resourceful, but he has confidence. He looks at life as a constant amusement and pleasure.
Andrey Bolkonsky
Andrei Bolkonsky is one of the main characters in the work, the prince, the brother of Princess Marya, the son of N. A. Bolkonsky. Described as a "quite handsome" young man of "small stature". He is proud, intelligent, looking for great spiritual and intellectual content in life. Andrey is educated, restrained, practical, has a strong will. His idol at the beginning of the novel is Napoleon, whom our characterization of the heroes will also introduce to readers just below ("War and Peace"). Andrei Balkonsky dreams of imitating him. After participating in the war, he lives in the village, raises his son, and takes care of the household. Then he returns to the army, dies in the Battle of Borodino.
Platon Karataev
Imagine this hero of the work "War and Peace". Platon Karataev - a soldier who met Pierre Bezukhov in captivity. In the service, he is nicknamed the Falcon. Note that this character was not in the original version of the work. His appearance was caused by the final design in the philosophical concept of "War and Peace" of the image of Pierre.
When he first met this good-natured, affectionate man, Pierre was struck by the feeling of something calm emanating from him. This character attracts others with his calmness, kindness, confidence, as well as smiling. After the death of Karataev, thanks to his wisdom, folk philosophy, expressed unconsciously in his behavior, Pierre Bezukhov understands the meaning of life.
But they are not only depicted in the work "War and Peace". Characteristics of heroes include real historical figures. The main ones are Kutuzov and Napoleon. Their images are described in some detail in the work "War and Peace". The characteristics of the heroes we mentioned are given below.
Kutuzov
Kutuzov in the novel, as in reality, is the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. Described as a man with a plump face, disfigured by a wound, with heavy steps, full, gray-haired. For the first time on the pages of the novel appears in an episode when a review of troops near Branau is depicted. He impresses everyone with his knowledge of the matter, as well as the attention that is hidden behind external absent-mindedness. Kutuzov is able to be diplomatic, he is quite cunning. Before the Battle of Shengraben, he blesses Bagration with tears in his eyes. A favorite of military officers and soldiers. He believes that time and patience are needed to win the campaign against Napoleon, that it is not knowledge, intelligence, or plans that can decide the matter, but something else that does not depend on them, that a person is not able to really influence the course of history . Kutuzov contemplates the course of events more than intervenes in them. However, he knows how to remember everything, listen, see, not interfere with anything useful and not allow anything harmful. This is a modest, simple and therefore majestic figure.
Napoleon
Napoleon is a real historical person, the French emperor. On the eve of the main events of the novel is the idol of Andrei Bolkonsky. Even Pierre Bezukhov bows before the greatness of this man. His confidence and complacency are expressed in the opinion that his presence plunges people into self-forgetfulness and delight, that everything in the world depends only on his will.
This is a brief description of the characters in the novel "War and Peace". It can serve as a basis for a more detailed analysis. Turning to the work, you can supplement it if you need a detailed description of the characters. "War and Peace" (1 volume - the introduction of the main characters, subsequent - the development of characters) describes in detail each of these characters. The inner world of many of them changes over time. Therefore, Leo Tolstoy presents in dynamics the characteristics of the heroes ("War and Peace"). Volume 2, for example, reflects their life between 1806 and 1812. The next two volumes describe further events, their reflection in the fate of the characters.
Characteristics of heroes are of great importance for understanding such a creation of Leo Tolstoy as the work "War and Peace". Through them, the philosophy of the novel is reflected, the author's ideas and thoughts are transmitted.
- 33.44 KbAnatole Kuragin
He is the son of Prince Vasily, the brother of Helen and Hippolyte. Prince Vasily himself looks at his son as a "restless fool" who constantly needs to be rescued from various troubles. A. is very handsome, dandy, insolent. He is frankly stupid, not resourceful, but popular in society, because "he had both the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence." A. friend of Dolokhov, constantly participating in his revelry, looks at life as a constant stream of pleasures and pleasures. He doesn't care about other people, he's selfish. A. treats women with contempt, feeling his superiority. He was used to being liked by everyone, without experiencing anything serious in return. A. became interested in Natasha Rostova and tried to take her away. After this incident, the hero was forced to flee from Moscow and hide from Prince Andrei, who wanted to challenge the seducer of his bride to a duel. The last time they see each other is in the infirmary, after the Battle of Borodino. A. was wounded, his leg was amputated.
Andrey Bolkonsky
This is one of the main characters of the novel, the son of Prince Bolkonsky, the brother of Princess Mary. At the beginning of the novel, we see B. as an intelligent, proud, but rather arrogant person. He despises people of high society, is unhappy in marriage and does not respect his pretty wife. B. is very restrained, well educated, he has a strong will. This hero is going through a big spiritual change. First we see that his idol is Napoleon, whom he considers a great man. B. goes to war, goes to the active army. There he fights on an equal footing with all the soldiers, shows great courage, composure, and prudence. Participates in the Battle of Shengraben. B. was seriously wounded in the battle of Austerlitz. This moment is extremely important, because it was then that the spiritual rebirth of the hero began. Lying motionless and seeing the calm and eternal sky of Austerlitz above him, B. understands all the pettiness and stupidity of everything that happens in the war. He realized that in fact there should be completely different values in life than those that he had until now. All feats, glory do not matter. There is only this vast and eternal sky. In the same episode, B. sees Napoleon and understands all the insignificance of this man. B. returns home, where everyone thought he was dead. His wife dies in childbirth, but the child survives. The hero is shocked by the death of his wife and feels guilty before her. He decides not to serve anymore, settles in Bogucharovo, takes care of the household, raises his son, reads many books. During a trip to St. Petersburg, B. meets Natasha Rostova for the second time. A deep feeling awakens in him, the heroes decide to get married. B.'s father does not agree with the choice of his son, they postpone the wedding for a year, the hero goes abroad. After the betrayal of the bride, he returns to the army under the leadership of Kutuzov. During the Battle of Borodino, he was mortally wounded. By chance, he leaves Moscow in the Rostovs' train. Before his death, he forgives Natasha and understands the true meaning of love.
Anna Pavlovna Sherer
Maid of honor close to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Sh. is the mistress of a fashionable salon in St. Petersburg, the description of the evening in which the novel opens. A.P. 40 years old, she is artificial, like all high society. Her attitude to any person or event depends entirely on the latest political, court or secular considerations. She is friendly with Prince Vasily. Sh. "is full of revival and impulse", "to be an enthusiast has become her social position." In 1812, her salon displays false patriotism by eating cabbage soup and being fined for speaking French.
Bagration
This real historical person, one of the most famous Russian military leaders, the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, bears the title of prince. Tolstoy says that B. is "short, with an oriental type of hard and motionless face, dry, not yet an old man." In the novel, we mainly see him as the commander of the Shengraben battle, whom Kutuzov blessed to save the army. Just the presence of B. on the battlefield already helps the fighters. Everyone loves and respects him for his determination and courage. During the most decisive moment of the battle, B. does not give visible orders, but dismounts and goes into battle in front of the entire army. During the Battle of Austerlitz B. also showed his heroism. He alone repulsed the enemy, who was clearly twice as strong, and then, during the retreat, withdrew his column from the battlefield undisturbed. Tolstoy notes that when a dinner was given in honor of B., in his face "honor was saluted to a fighting, simple, without connections and intrigues, Russian soldier ...".
German, first the groom, and then the husband of Vera Rostova. This is a "fresh, pink Guards officer, impeccably washed, buttoned and combed." At the beginning of the work, B. is a lieutenant, and at the end of the work he becomes a colonel, from which it can be seen that B. made a good career. He is precise, calm, courteous, but very selfish and stingy. He loves and can only talk about himself and his successes. Those around him laugh at him, he is a stranger in the Rostovs' house. They do not understand his prudence, stinginess. B. makes an offer to Vera and demands the promised dowry from the old count, despite the difficult financial situation of the Rostovs. This hero is clearly unpleasant and alien to Tolstoy himself.
Boris Drubetskoy
Son of Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya. From childhood he was brought up and lived for a long time in the house of the Rostovs, to whom he was a relative. B. and Natasha were in love with each other. Outwardly, this is "a tall, blond young man with regular, delicate features of a calm and handsome face." B. from his youth dreams of a military career, allows his mother to humiliate himself in front of his superiors, if this will help him. So, Prince Vasily finds him a place in the guard. B. is going to make a brilliant career, making many useful acquaintances. After a while, he becomes Helen's lover. B. manages to be in the right place at the right time, and his career and position are established especially firmly. In 1809, he meets Natasha again and is carried away by her, even thinking of marrying her. But it would hinder his career. Therefore, B. begins to look for a rich bride. He eventually marries Julie Karagina.
Vasily Kuragin
Prince, father of Helen, Anatole and Hippolyte. This is a very famous and quite influential person in society, he occupies an important court post. The attitude towards everyone around Prince V. is condescending and patronizing. The author shows his hero "in a courtly, embroidered uniform, in stockings, shoes, with stars, with a bright expression of a flat face," with a "perfumed and shining bald head." But when he smiled, there was "something unexpectedly rude and unpleasant" in his smile. Especially Prince V. does not wish harm to anyone. He simply uses people and circumstances to carry out his plans. V. always strives to get close to people who are richer and higher in position. The hero considers himself an exemplary father, he does everything possible to arrange the future of his children. He is trying to marry his son Anatole to the rich Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. After the death of the old prince Bezukhov and Pierre receiving a huge inheritance, V. notices a rich fiancé and by cunning gives his daughter Helen to him. Prince V. is a great intriguer who knows how to live in society and make acquaintances with the right people.
Count Rostov
Rostov Ilya Andreevy - Count, father of Natasha, Nikolai, Vera and Petya. A very good-natured, generous person who loves life and is not very able to calculate his means. R. is best able to make a reception, a ball, he is a hospitable host and an exemplary family man. The count is used to living in a big way, and when the means no longer allow this, he gradually ruins his family, from which he suffers greatly. When leaving Moscow, it is R. who begins to give carts for the wounded. So he deals one of the last blows to the family budget. The death of Petit's son finally broke the count, he comes to life only when he is preparing a wedding for Natasha and Pierre. In the same year, R. dies and leaves a good memory behind.
Countess of Rostov
The wife of Count Rostov, "a woman with an oriental type of thin face, forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children ... The slowness of her movements and speech, which came from the weakness of her strength, gave her a significant look that inspires respect." R. creates in his family an atmosphere of love and kindness, he cares very much about the fate of his children. The news of the death of the youngest and beloved son of Petya almost drives her crazy. She is accustomed to luxury and the fulfillment of the slightest whims, and demands this after the death of her husband.
The author describes Fyodor Dolokhov as follows: “Dolokhov was a man of medium height, curly-haired and with light, blue eyes. He was about twenty-five years old. He did not wear a mustache, like all infantry officers, and his mouth, the most striking feature of his face, was all The lines of this mouth were remarkably finely curved. In the middle, the upper lip fell energetically on the firm lower lip in a sharp wedge, and something like two smiles constantly formed in the corners, one on each side; and all together, and especially in combination with a hard , with an impudent, intelligent look, made such an impression that it was impossible not to notice this face. This hero is not rich, but he knows how to put himself in such a way that everyone around respects and fears him. He likes to have fun, and in a rather strange and sometimes cruel way. For one case of mockery of the quarter, D. was demoted to the soldiers. But during the hostilities, he regained his rank of officer. This is a smart, brave and cold-blooded person. He is not afraid of death, is reputed to be an evil person, hides his tender love for his mother. In fact, D. does not want to know anyone except those whom he really loves. He divides people into harmful and useful, sees mostly harmful people around him and is ready to get rid of them if they suddenly stand in his way. D. was Helen's lover, he provokes Pierre to a duel, dishonestly beats Nikolai Rostov at cards, and helps Anatole arrange an escape with Natasha.
Captain Tushin
This is the staff captain, the hero of the battle of Shengraben. T. - a man of small stature with a thin voice, there was something "non-military, somewhat comical, but extremely attractive" in him. This hero is shy in front of his superiors, feels guilty, small. On the eve of the battle, T. speaks of the fear of death and what awaits after it. But during the battle, the hero is transformed. He feels like "a huge, powerful man who throws cannonballs at the French with both hands." Battery T. was forgotten during the battle. During the battle, the staff captain is no longer afraid of death or injury, he becomes more and more cheerful, the soldiers obey him like children. Soldiers miraculously survive thanks to the heroism of T.
Princess Mary
Daughter of the old Prince Bolkonsky and sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. M. is ugly, sickly, but her whole face is transformed by beautiful eyes: "... the eyes of the princess, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves), were so good that very often, despite the ugliness of the whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty. Princess M. is very religious. She often hosts all kinds of pilgrims, wanderers. She has no close friends, she lives under the yoke of her father, whom she loves, but is incredibly afraid of. The old prince Bolkonsky was distinguished by a bad character, M. was absolutely crammed with him and did not at all believe in her personal happiness. She gives all her love to her father, brother Andrei and his son, trying to replace the dead mother for little Nikolenka. M.'s life changes after meeting Nikolai Rostov. It was he who saw all the wealth and beauty of her soul. They marry, M. becomes a devoted wife, fully sharing all the views of her husband.
Kuragina Helen
Kuragina Helen is the daughter of Prince Vasily, and then the wife of Pierre Bezukhov. A brilliant St. Petersburg beauty with an "unchanging smile", white full shoulders, glossy hair and a beautiful figure. There was no noticeable coquetry in her, as if she was ashamed "for her undoubtedly and too strong and victorious acting beauty." E. is imperturbable, giving everyone the right to admire herself, which is why she feels, as it were, gloss from a multitude of other people's views. She knows how to be silently worthy in the world, giving the impression of a tactful and intelligent woman, which, combined with beauty, ensures her constant success. Having married Pierre Bezukhov, the heroine discovers in front of her husband not only a limited mind, coarseness of thought and vulgarity, but also cynical depravity. After breaking up with Pierre and receiving a large part of the fortune from him by proxy, she lives either in St. Petersburg or abroad, then returns to her husband. Despite the family break, the constant change of lovers, including Dolokhov and Drubetskoy, E. continues to be one of the most famous and favored by the St. Petersburg ladies. She is making very great progress in the world; living alone, she becomes the mistress of the diplomatic and political salon, gaining a reputation as an intelligent woman. Having decided to convert to Catholicism and considering the possibility of divorce and a new marriage, entangled between two very influential high-ranking lovers and patrons, E. dies in 1812.
A real historical person, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army. For Tolstoy, he is the ideal of a historical figure and the ideal of a person. “He will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, will not interfere with anything useful and will not allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will, this is an inevitable course of events, and he knows how to see them, knows how to understand their meaning and, in view of this meaning, knows how to renounce participation in these events, from his personal will directed to something else. K. knew that “the fate of the battle is not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place on which the troops stand, not by the number of guns and killed people, but by that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it as far as it was in his power." K. merges with the people, he is always modest and simple. His behavior is natural, the author constantly emphasizes his heaviness, senile weakness. K. - an exponent of folk wisdom in the novel. His strength lies in the fact that he understands and knows well what worries the people, and acts in accordance with this. K. dies when he has fulfilled his duty. The enemy has been driven out of the borders of Russia, this folk hero has nothing else to do.
Lisa Bolkonskaya
Prince Andrew's wife. She is the darling of the whole world, an attractive young woman whom everyone calls the "little princess". “Her pretty, with a slightly blackened mustache, her upper lip was short in teeth, but the sweeter it opened and the more cute it sometimes stretched out and sank to the bottom. her special, actually her beauty. It was fun for everyone to look at this full of health and liveliness, pretty future mother, who so easily endured her situation. L. was a universal favorite due to her constant liveliness and courtesy of a secular woman, she could not imagine her life without high society. But Prince Andrei did not love his wife and felt unhappy in marriage. L. does not understand her husband, his aspirations and ideals. After Andrei left for the war, L. lives in the Bald Mountains with the old prince Bolkonsky, for whom he feels fear and hostility. L. foresees his imminent death and really dies during childbirth.
Napoleon
This is a real historical person, the French emperor. Tolstoy decided to debunk the legend of Napoleon from the standpoint of real humanism. At the beginning of the novel, this man is the idol of Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov considers N. A great man. But gradually these best heroes of Tolstoy become disillusioned with their idol.
Description of work
Anatole Kuragin
He is the son of Prince Vasily, the brother of Helen and Hippolyte. Prince Vasily himself looks at his son as a "restless fool" who constantly needs to be rescued from various troubles. A. is very handsome, dandy, insolent. He is frankly stupid, not resourceful, but popular in society, because "he had both the ability of calmness, precious to the world, and unchanging confidence." A. friend of Dolokhov, constantly participating in his revelry, looks at life as a constant stream of pleasures and pleasures.
Tolstoy gave the broadest panorama of Russian life at the beginning of the 19th century. Genre - epic novel: life is depicted on a national-historical scale. The history of the country is portrayed through private life. The main theme is the historical fate of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. More than 550 characters, both fictional and historical, are bred in the novel. Tolstoy depicts his best heroes in all their spiritual complexity, in a continuous search for truth, in the pursuit of self-improvement. Such are Prince Andrei, Pierre, Natasha, Princess Mary. Negative heroes are deprived of development, dynamics, movements of the soul: Helen, Anatole.
The philosophical views of the writer are of paramount importance in the novel. Publicistic chapters anticipate and explain the artistic description of events. Tolstoy's fatalism is connected with his understanding of the spontaneity of history as "the unconscious, common, swarming life of mankind." The main idea of the novel, in the words of Tolstoy himself, is "the thought of the people." The people, in Tolstoy's understanding, are the main driving force of history, the bearer of the best human qualities. The main characters go the way to the people (Pierre on the Borodino field; "our prince" - the soldiers called Bolkonsky). Tolstoy's ideal is embodied in the image of Platon Karataev. The ideal female - in the image of Natasha Rostova. Kutuzov and Napoleon are the moral poles of the novel: "There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth." “What is needed for happiness? Quiet family life ... with the ability to do good to people ”(L.N. Tolstoy).
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In the center of the novel L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is an image of the Patriotic War of 1812, which stirred up the entire Russian people, showed the whole world its power and strength, put forward simple Russian heroes and the great commander - Kutuzov. In the same time...
