Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. Characteristics of Marya Bolkonskaya from the epic novel "War and Peace"

This is the romantic and impulsive Natasha Rostova, the secular and vicious Helen, and, of course, Marya Bolkonskaya, whose characteristics will be presented in more detail.

Heroine's family

The characterization of Marya Bolkonskaya should begin with a description of her immediate environment, which influenced the formation of the character of the heroine. The princess lived constantly on the Bolkonsky estate, which was located in the Bald Mountains. Her father, Prince Nikolai, was involved in raising the girl.

He was a nobleman of Ekaterina, exiled by Paul the First, and since then has not traveled anywhere. He was a stern man, despotic, pedant. The prince often insulted his daughter, calling her a fool, or somehow pointing out her ugly appearance. In raising the princess, he placed great emphasis on exact sciences.

Despite excessive severity and contempt, he could not imagine his life without Princess Marya. The girl never thought that her father was treating her unfairly. She admired everything he did and found all his actions to be right. Such devoted love and worship were incomprehensible to her brother, Prince Andrei.

Unlike their father, the prince was gentle towards his sister and took pity on her. He knew about the despotic character of their father and could not understand how she lived in such a wilderness and was satisfied with everything. Andrei Nikolaevich admired the dedication of his sister, the way she took care of the prince.

Princess Marya loved her brother as much as she loved her father. The only thing that upset her was that Prince Andrei was not as religious as she would like. The girl loved all the people around her: both the “little princess” Elizaveta Bolkonskaya and her French companion. And she not only loved all the people close to her, she was always ready to protect them.

Marya Bolkonskaya had, like her father and brother, prudence and fortitude. But unlike them, she was more open and sincere to those around her; there was always more cordiality and warmth in her communication.

Appearance of the princess

In the characterization of Marya Bolkonskaya, it is necessary to give a description of her appearance. The princess was not a beauty; she had a thin, weak body. Her gait was always heavy because she had the habit of stepping on her heels first. Even her father believed that his daughter would only be able to marry because she was rich and of noble birth.

When Anatol Kuragin came to woo the Bolkonskys, Andrei Bolkonsky’s wife and a Frenchwoman tried to dress the princess according to latest fashion. But it didn’t turn out at all as they expected: the dress looked ridiculous and didn’t flatter the girl at all. And this was not due to the fact that the outfit was of the wrong style or color, the princess simply had an ugly figure.

Marya Bolkonskaya never had any illusions in terms of her appearance. And in other people, what they looked like didn't matter to her. Much more she valued the spiritual qualities of a person, the purity and nobility of his heart. That is why she liked Pierre Bezukhov.

In characterizing Marya Bolkonskaya, it should be noted that the most remarkable thing about her appearance was her eyes. They were extraordinarily beautiful, they seemed to glow from within. And it was precisely the spiritual beauty that the princess possessed that illuminated them. And sometimes these radiant eyes caused more admiration than beauty.

The inner world of the heroine

IN brief description Marya Bolkonskaya needs to be emphasized that she was very selfless, kind and merciful to people. And this distinguishes her from the other heroes of the novel. Social entertainment was alien to her, she did not know how to flirt and valued people not for their beauty or their position in society.

Most of all she loved her nephew and religion. The princess often invited wanderers, pilgrims, and holy fools to her house. Sometimes the girl thought that her destiny was to one day leave their estate and go wandering and praying. But the earthly dream of family happiness and love prevented this dream from coming true.

Princess Marya was so unsure of herself that she considered herself unworthy of love. After an unsuccessful acquaintance with Anatole, the girl decided to completely devote her life to her father. But she could not completely give up thoughts about family. And this struggle - sublime and earthly feelings - is the basis of the heroine’s character. Princess Marya was the purest, most sublime creature in the novel.

Comparative characteristics of Natasha Rostova and Marya Bolkonskaya

It seems difficult to find more opposite characters in this novel than Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova. But let's try to compare them anyway.

Relations with Anatoly Kuragin

In characterizing the hero Marya Bolkonskaya, it should be noted that it was Anatole’s betrayal that revealed the selflessness of her nature. Of course, the princess liked this secular young man - after all, she had never met anyone or traveled abroad. But Marya did not overestimate herself; she understood that she was unlikely to be able to interest such a person.

But even after his flirtation with the Frenchwoman, the princess acted very nobly: she forgave them and even dreamed of arranging family happiness for them! Acquaintance with Kuragin showed the reader all the inner spiritual wealth that Princess Marya possessed.

Family life with Nikolai Rostov

In the description of Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, it is necessary to talk about how her future life with Rostov. For her, he became the embodiment of the dream of love and marriage. Having shown himself to be a true knight during their first meeting, he could not help but impress the princess.

Marya Bolkonskaya and Nikolai Rostov are getting married. Rostov loves his wife, although he does not show much tenderness. He admires her spirituality and sublimity, realizing that in this regard she surpasses him. Marya takes care of her beloved husband, trying to make him more elevated. In the same way, she raises their children, developing religiosity and kindness in them.

Princess Marya Bolkonskaya is pure kind character from the novel "War and Peace". Despite the fact that not everyone around her was able to discern her beautiful and sublime nature, she managed to start a family and become happy.

Ferrero, A. N. Shuranova, N.A.  Grebenkina

Princess Maria Bolkonskaya

- the heroine of L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”, daughter of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky. Daughter of old Prince Bolkonsky and sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. Maria is ugly, healthy, and her whole face is transformed by beautiful eyes: “... the princess’s eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves), were so beautiful that very often, despite the ugliness of everything their faces and eyes became more attractive than beauty.” Vasily Kuragin decides to marry his son Anatoly.

who leads a wild lifestyle,

Maria Bolkonskaya

In November 1805, Prince Vasily was supposed to go to an audit in four provinces. He arranged this appointment for himself in order to visit his disturbed estates at the same time, and taking with him (at the location of his regiment) his son Anatoly, he and him would go to Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky in order to marry his son to the daughter of this rich man old man. During the visit, Anatole Kuragin began to flirt with Mlle Bourienne, the princess's companion. Mlle Bourienne fell in love with a rich groom. She [the princess] raised her eyes and, two steps away, saw Anatole, who was hugging the Frenchwoman and whispering something to her. Anatole with a terrible expression on

beautiful face

Princess Maria is distinguished by her great religiosity. She often hosts all kinds of pilgrims, or as she calls them “God’s people,” wanderers. She has no close friends, she lives under the yoke of her father, whom she loves but is incredibly afraid of. Old Prince Bolkonsky was different bad character, Maria was absolutely overwhelmed by him and did not believe in her personal happiness at all. She gives all her love to her father, brother Andrei and his son, trying to replace little Nikolenka’s deceased mother.

Maria's life changes from the moment she meets Nikolai Rostov. He “saved” her from the courtyard men who did not want to let the princess out of the estate where her father died. It was Nikolai who saw all the wealth and beauty of her soul. They get married, Maria becomes a devoted wife, completely sharing all the views of her husband.

The female image in the novel “War and Peace” by L. N. Tolstoy is, one might say, a theme separate work. With its help, the author shows us his attitude to life, understanding of a woman’s happiness and her purpose. The pages of the book present many characters and destinies of representatives of the fair sex: Natasha Rostova, Maria Bolkonskaya, Lisa Bolkonskaya, Sonya, Helen Kuragina. Each of them is worthy of our attention and shows the attitude of the great writer towards this. So, let’s try to remember who embodies the female character in the novel “War and Peace”. We will pay attention to several heroines who appear on the pages of the work.

Natasha Rostova at the beginning of the novel

This female image in the novel “War and Peace” requires the greatest attention of the author; it is to Natasha that he devotes many pages of his creation. The heroine, of course, arouses the keenest interest of readers. At the beginning of the work she is a child, but a little later a young enthusiastic girl appears before us. We can see her gracefully twirling in a dance, smiling, looking at life as if it were a just-opened book, full of mysteries, miracles, and adventures. This is an amazingly kind and open young lady who loves the whole world and trusts it. Every day of her life is a real holiday, she is her parents' favorite. It seems like this easy character will definitely give her a happy, carefree life with a loving husband.

She is fascinated by beauty moonlit night, she sees something beautiful in every moment. Such enthusiasm wins the heart of Andrei Bolkonsky, who accidentally overheard a conversation between Natasha and Sonya. Natasha, of course, also falls in love with him easily, joyfully, selflessly. However, her feeling has not stood the test of time; with the same readiness she accepts the courtship of Anatoly Kuragin. Andrei cannot forgive her for this, which he confesses to his friend, Pierre Bezukhov. It is difficult to blame Natasha for infidelity, because she is so young and so wants to learn more about life. This is the young female image in the novel War and Peace.

Natasha Rostova. Trials in life

However, the girl faces many trials that greatly change her character. Who knows, maybe if Natasha had not encountered life's difficulties, she would grow into a narcissistic egoist, thinking only about her own interests and joys, unable to make her husband and children happy.

She readily undertakes to care for the dying Andrei Bolkonsky, showing herself as a completely mature, adult person.

After Andrei’s death, Natasha is very grieving and has a hard time experiencing his passing. Now we are no longer looking at a cheerful coquette, but a serious young woman who has experienced a loss.

The next blow in her life is the death of her brother Petya. She cannot indulge in grief, since her mother needs help, almost because of the loss of her son. Natasha spends day and night at her bedside, talking to her. Her gentle voice calms the countess, who has turned from a youthful woman into an old woman.

We see before us a completely different captivating female image in the novel War and Peace. Natasha Rostova is now completely different, she easily sacrifices her interests for the sake of the happiness of others. It seems as if all the warmth that her parents gave her is now poured out onto those around her.

Natasha Rostova at the end of the novel

For many, the favorite female character in the novel “War and Peace” is the image of Natasha Rostova. This heroine is loved by the author himself; it is not without reason that he pays so much attention to her. At the end of the work we see Natasha as the mother of a large family who lives by caring for loved ones. Now she does not at all resemble the young girl who was in front of us on the first pages of the work. The happiness of this woman is the well-being and health of her children and husband Pierre. Empty pastime and idleness are alien to her. She gives back with even greater force the love she received at a tender age.

Of course, Natasha is now not so graceful and beautiful, she doesn’t take very good care of herself, and wears simple clothes. This woman lives in the interests of people close to her, devoting herself entirely to her husband and children.

Surprisingly, she is absolutely happy. It is known that a person is capable only when he lives in the interests of loved ones, because loved ones are an extension of ourselves. Love for children is also love for oneself, only in a broader sense.

This is how L.N. Tolstoy described this amazing female image in the novel “War and Peace”. Natasha Rostova, it’s difficult to talk about her briefly, is the ideal woman of the writer himself. He admires her graceful youth, admires the matured heroine and makes her a happy mother and wife. Tolstoy believed that the greatest happiness for a woman is marriage and motherhood. Only then will her life be filled with meaning.

L.N. Tolstoy also shows us how different female attractiveness can be. IN at a young age admiration for the world, openness to everything new, of course, delight others. However, such behavior in an adult lady may seem ridiculous. Just imagine if it was not a young girl who admired the beauty of the night, but a lady of a more mature age. Most likely, she would look ridiculous. Every age has its own beauty. Caring for loved ones makes an adult woman happy, and her spiritual beauty makes others admire him.

When high school students are asked to write an essay on the topic “My favorite female character in the novel “War and Peace”,” everyone, without exception, writes about Natasha Rostova, although, if desired, of course, they could write about someone else. This once again confirms that generally accepted human values ​​have been defined in the world for a long time, and the heroine of a novel written more than a hundred years ago still evokes sympathy.

Marya Bolkonskaya

Another beloved female character by the author in the novel “War and Peace” is Marya Bolkonskaya, Andrei Bolkonsky’s sister. Unlike Natasha, she did not have the liveliness of character and attractiveness. As Tolstoy writes about Marya Nikolaevna, she was ugly: weak body, thin face. The girl meekly obeyed her father, who wanted to develop her activity and intelligence, being confident in her daughter’s absolute unpretentiousness. Her life consisted of classes in algebra and geometry.

However, the extraordinary decoration of this woman’s face were her eyes, which the author himself calls the mirror of the soul. It was they who made her face “more attractive than beauty.” Marya Nikolaevna's eyes, large and always sad, radiated kindness. This author gives them an amazing description.

The female image in the novel “War and Peace”, embodied by Marya Nikolaevna, is an absolute virtue. From the way the author writes about her, it becomes clear how much he admires such women, whose existence is sometimes unnoticed.

Andrei Bolkonsky’s sister, like Natasha, loves her family, although she was never pampered, she was brought up in strictness. Marya tolerated her father and respected him. She couldn’t even think about discussing Nikolai Andreevich’s decisions; she was in awe of everything he did.

Marya Nikolaevna is very impressionable and kind. She is saddened by her father's bad mood, she sincerely rejoices at the arrival of her fiancé, Anatoly Kuragin, in whom she sees kindness, masculinity, and generosity.

Like any kind woman Marya, of course, dreams of children. She endlessly believes in fate, in the will of the Almighty. Bolkonsky’s sister does not dare to desire anything for herself; her noble, deep nature is incapable of envy.

Marya Nikolaevna's naivety does not allow her to see human vices. She sees a reflection of herself in everyone pure soul: love, kindness, decency.
Marya is one of those who are truly happy with the happiness of others. This smart and bright woman is simply not capable of anger, envy, revenge and other base feelings.

So, the second delightful female character in the novel “War and Peace” is Marya Bolkonskaya. Perhaps Tolstoy loves her no less than Natasha Rostova, although he does not pay so much attention to her. She is like the ideal author that Natasha will come to after many years. Having neither children nor family, she finds her happiness in giving warmth to other people.

Women's happiness of Marya Bolkonskaya

Bolkonsky’s sister was not mistaken: without wanting anything for herself, she nevertheless met a man who sincerely loved her. Marya became the wife of Nikolai Rostov.

Two, it would seem, completely different people fit each other perfectly. Each of them experienced disappointment: Marya - in Anatol Kuragin, Nikolai - in Alexander the First. Nikolai turned out to be the person who was able to increase the wealth of the Bolkonsky family, making his wife’s life happy.

Marya surrounds her husband with care and understanding: she approves of his desire to improve himself through hard work, through housekeeping and caring for the peasants.

The female image in the novel "War and Peace", embodied by Marya Bolkonskaya, is a portrait real woman, accustomed to sacrificing herself for the well-being of others and being happy because of this.

Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova

Natasha Rostova, whom we see at the beginning of the work, is absolutely not like Marya: she wants happiness for herself. Andrei Bolkonsky’s sister, like her brother, puts a sense of duty, faith, and religion first.

However, the older Natasha gets, the more she resembles Princess Marya in that she wishes happiness for others. However, they are different. Natasha’s happiness can be called more down-to-earth; she lives by everyday chores and activities.

Marya is more concerned about the mental well-being of loved ones.

Sonya

The niece of Natasha Rostova's father is another female image. In the novel War and Peace, Sonya seemingly exists only to show best qualities Natasha.

This girl, on the one hand, is very positive: she is reasonable, decent, kind, and ready to sacrifice herself. If we talk about her appearance, then she is very good. This is a slender, graceful brunette with long eyelashes and a luxurious braid.

Initially, Nikolai Rostov was in love with her, but they were unable to get married because Nikolai's parents insisted on postponing the wedding.

A girl's life to a greater extent subject to reason, not feelings. Tolstoy does not really like this heroine, despite all of her. He leaves her lonely.

Lisa Bolkonskaya

Liza Bolkonskaya is, one might say, a supporting heroine, the wife of Prince Andrei. In the world they call her “the little princess.” She is remembered by readers thanks to her pretty upper lip with a mustache. Lisa is an attractive person, even this small flaw gives the young woman a unique charm that is unique to her. She is good, full of vitality and health. This woman easily endures her delicate position, and everyone around her has fun watching her.

It is important for Lisa to be in society; she is spoiled, even capricious. She is not inclined to think about the meaning of life, leads the usual lifestyle for a society lady, loves empty conversations in salons and at evenings, and enjoys new outfits. Bolkonsky's wife does not understand her husband, Prince Andrei, who considers it important to benefit society.

Lisa loves him superficially, as if they were just about to get married. For her, he is a background that fits into the ideas of society ladies about what a husband should be like. Lisa doesn’t understand his thoughts about the meaning of life; it seems to her that everything is simple.

It's hard for them to be together. Andrei is forced to accompany her to balls and other social events, which becomes completely unbearable for him.

This is perhaps the simplest female character in the novel War and Peace. Liza Bolkonskaya remained unchanged from the first edition of the novel. Its prototype was the wife of one of Tolstoy’s relatives, Princess Volkonskaya.

Despite the complete lack of mutual understanding between the spouses, Andrei Bolkonsky, in a conversation with Pierre, notes that she is a rare woman with whom you can be calm about your own honor.

When Andrei leaves for the war, Lisa moves into his father's house. Her superficiality is once again confirmed by the fact that she prefers to communicate with Mademoiselle Bourrienne rather than with Princess Marya.

Lisa had a presentiment that she would not be able to survive childbirth, and so it happened. She treated everyone with love and did not wish harm to anyone. Her face spoke of this even after death.

Lisa Bolkonskaya's character flaw is that she is superficial and selfish. However, this does not prevent her from being gentle, affectionate, and good-natured. She is a pleasant and cheerful conversationalist.

However, Tolstoy treats her coldly. He does not like this heroine because of her spiritual emptiness.

Helen Kuragina

The last female character in the novel “War and Peace” is Helen Kuragina. Or rather, this is the last heroine we will write about in this article.

Of all the women who appear on the pages of this grandiose novel, Helen is certainly the most beautiful and luxurious.

Behind her beautiful appearance are selfishness, vulgarity, intellectual and spiritual underdevelopment. Helen realizes the power of her beauty and uses it.

She achieves everything she wants through her own appearance. Having become accustomed to this state of affairs, this woman stopped striving for personal development.

Helene becomes the wife of Pierre Bezukhov solely because of his rich inheritance. She doesn't really seek to create strong family, give birth to children.

The War of 1812 finally puts everything in its place. For the sake of her own well-being, Helen converts to Catholicism, while her compatriots unite against the enemy. This woman, whose image can be called “dead,” really dies.

Of course, the most beautiful female character in the novel “War and Peace” is Helen. Tolstoy admires her shoulders at Natasha Rostova’s first ball, but he interrupts her life, considering such an existence meaningless.

Lisa Bolkonskaya, Helen Kuragina and Natasha Rostova

As mentioned above, the deaths of Lisa and Helen were not accidental. They both lived for themselves, were capricious, selfish.

Let's remember what Natasha Rostova was like at the beginning of the novel. Just like Liza Bolkonskaya, she admired balls and high society.

Like Helen Kuragina, she was attracted to something forbidden and inaccessible. It was for this reason that she was going to run away with Anatole.

However, Natasha’s high spirituality does not allow her to remain forever a superficial fool and plunge, like Helen, into a depraved life. main character Romana accepts the difficulties that befall her, helps her mother, and takes care of the terminally ill Andrei.

The deaths of Lisa and Helen symbolize that passion for social events and the desire to try the forbidden should remain in youth. Maturity requires us to be more balanced and willing to sacrifice our own interests.

Tolstoy created a whole gallery female images. He loved some of them, others not, but for some reason he included them in his novel. It is difficult to determine what is the best female character in the novel War and Peace. Even negative and unloved heroines were invented by the author for a reason. They show us human vices, the inability to distinguish between what is feigned and superficial from what is truly important. And let everyone decide for themselves what the most attractive female character in the novel “War and Peace” is.

Image of Maria Bolkonskaya. One of the most attractive, warmly described heroines of L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is Marya, the sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. The princess received an excellent education, but the only entertainment in her monotonous life was mathematics. Only her father was involved in her upbringing - an intelligent, but unsociable and despotic person. Andrei Bolkonsky’s sister was very different from her peers. She was smart, well-mannered, but completely ugly. However, the author constantly emphasizes her inner spiritual beauty, which was reflected in her large, radiant, light eyes.

Tolstoy often uses the expression “radiant eyes” when describing Marya. Outwardly unattractive, from the first minutes of communication she amazes her interlocutor with the nobility and beauty of the spiritual world. Princess Marya's gaze is “loving, warm and meek.”

The closest person to Marya was her brother, Prince Andrei, although it is not customary in the Bolkonsky family to show feelings. Despite her father's strictness, the princess loves him very much. She denies any sympathy from her brother for her life. Marya considers herself the most happy man and wants Andrei to be as happy as she is.

The rich princess was a very enviable bride in society. Therefore, Prince Vasily Kuragin is trying to marry his dissolute son Anatole to the clever Marya. It turned out that in the soul of this girl there lives not only boundless love for God, but also dreams of earthly love, husband and children.

The kind and dreamy princess hoped that she would fall in love with Anatole, and in her dreams she began to imagine their future together. But Prince Vasily immediately saw who his son liked. It was a young and beautiful maid - Mademoiselle Burien. Soon Marya also found out about this. In the garden she saw Anatole hugging her companion. She was not offended by this, saying that she wanted Anatole to marry “poor Amelie.”

The War of 1812 quickly broke into Bald Mountains. After sudden death Maria's father is left alone, awaiting the arrival of the enemy. In a critical situation, Count Nikolai Rostov, who came to the estate to buy hay for the horses, becomes the unwitting savior of the princess. He helps the princess, and pretty soon a special relationship arises between them. They produce on Nikolai strong impression Marya’s big eyes, which in moments of emotional stress illuminate with a beautiful light, transforming the girl’s entire appearance.

The epilogue tells that Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov got married. The house in Bald Mountains was rebuilt, and Nikolai Ilyich manages the house very well. He loves his wife very much and admires her rich inner world. Countess Marya also takes care of the house, and also raises children and keeps a diary in which she writes down her thoughts.

Marya does not always agree with her husband. She tries to explain to him that he needs to engage not only in material enrichment, but also in enriching his spiritual world. Marya sees that Nikolai does not always understand this truth, but her love intensifies more and more, even when she realizes that she and her husband are completely different.

Using the example of this heroine, Tolstoy shows us how much more important and valuable than physical attractiveness is spiritual beauty. A person who has a truly beautiful soul will always be worthy of love and admiration, while outer beauty over the years it invariably fades and disappears.

The image of Princess Marya is one of L.N.’s favorite female images. Tolstoy. The prototype of the image of Princess Bolkonskaya was the author’s mother, whom he did not remember, but in his imagination he imagined her spiritual appearance. Tolstoy prayed to her soul, and this prayer helped him in difficult moments of his life.

The external characteristics of the heroine, like all of Tolstoy’s favorite heroes, are unattractive, she seemed to herself completely ugly, and social dandies did not find her beautiful. However, her eyes, “large, deep, radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves)” spoke of rich and beautiful inner world which is much more important than external beauty. Princess Marya's eyes shone when she began to talk about what she loved, they “were so beautiful that very often, despite the ugliness of the whole face... they became more attractive than beauty.”

Princess Marya lives on the Bald Mountains estate with her father Nikolai Andreevich, a Catherine nobleman who was exiled under Paul, after which he did not leave the estate.

Bolkonskaya's father is pedantic, often rude and grumpy. He often mocks his daughter, but she loves him tenderly and deeply.

The author has prepared an amazing fate for the girl. She goes through a difficult journey, but all her romantic dreams come true. Princess Bolkonskaya is ready for self-sacrifice, which is her moral principle. She lives according to Christian morality: she loves everyone and forgives everyone. Marya Bolkonskaya is highly educated, she loves music and reads a lot. The father tries to prepare the children for independent life, strives to teach them to think and make responsible decisions. “...mathematics is a great thing, my madam. And I don’t want you to be like our stupid ladies,” Nikolai Andreevich repeats.

But the princess is not like these young ladies. Living locked up in the village, not participating in pleasures social life, corresponding with Julie Karagina, a childhood friend, Marya sincerely consoles and supports her. The friend’s letters contain only secular gossip and empty chatter.

Princess Marya knows how to feel deeply and her nature is so subtle that she is able, with some kind of inner instinct, to understand what is happening to her loved ones. It was she who refused to believe that Prince Andrei died at Austerlitz. The princess is worried about Pierre, who has suddenly become rich, and not in vain; in fact, too many difficulties arise on his path. Marya feels that her brother is unhappy in his marriage. She tries to understand and find excuses for the “little princess.” It is Princess Marya who blesses and spends her last minutes with Prince Andrei before he leaves for the war. And Princess Marya owns the main ideas about war and peace in the novel. Even on the first pages of the novel, Marya writes to Julie that the war is evidence that people have forgotten God. Prince Andrei expresses the same idea much later.

The rich Princess Bolkonskaya was an enviable bride. Arrival at the house Bolkonsky Prince Vasily Kuragin with his unlucky son Anatoly and his matchmaking became the reason for a big change in the girl’s inner world. If before this she believed that her life was filled with love for God, now she understands that there is also earthly love. The princess is ready to fall in love with Anatole, but, fortunately, he quickly demonstrates his true nature. She is destined for a completely different person - Nikolai Rostov, who appears at the most difficult moment for her. But the relationship between them is complicated. Nikolai feels that he has no right to love Princess Marya, because he gave his word to Sonya, in addition, Bolkonskaya’s wealth embarrasses him. Marya Nikolaevna also believes that having lost her father and brother, she cannot think about personal happiness. But as soon as they see each other, all doubts go away.