Vasily Kuragin

Anatol Kuragin

Kuragina Elen

Anna Pavlovna Sherer

Boris Drubetskoy

Count Rostov

Countess of Rostov

The wife of Count Rostov, “a woman with an oriental type of thin face, about forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children... The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspires respect.” R. creates an atmosphere of love and kindness in his family and is very concerned about the fate of his children. The news of the death of her youngest and beloved son Petya almost drives her crazy. She is accustomed to luxury and fulfillment of the slightest whims, and demands this after the death of her husband.

Natasha Rostova

Daughter of Count and Countess Rostov. She is “black-eyed, with a big mouth, ugly, but alive...”. Distinctive features N. - emotionality and sensitivity. She is not very smart, but she has an amazing ability to read people. She is capable of noble deeds and can forget about her own interests for the sake of other people. So, she calls on her family to take out the wounded on carts, leaving their property behind. N. takes care of his mother with all his dedication after Petya’s death. N. is very beautiful voice, she is very musical. With her singing, she is able to awaken the best in a person. Tolstoy notes N.'s closeness to the common people. This is one of her best qualities. N. lives in an atmosphere of love and happiness. Changes in her life occur after meeting Prince Andrei. N. becomes his bride, but later becomes interested in Anatoly Kuragin. After a while, N. understands the full force of her guilt before the prince; before his death, he forgives her, she remains with him until his death. N. feels true love for Pierre, they understand each other perfectly, they feel very good together. She becomes his wife and completely devotes herself to the role of wife and mother.

Nikolay Rostov

Son of Count Rostov. “A short, curly-haired young man with an open expression on his face.” The hero is distinguished by “impetuousness and enthusiasm”, he is cheerful, open, friendly and emotional. N. participates in military campaigns and Patriotic War 1812. In the Battle of Shengraben, N. goes on the attack very bravely at first, but is then wounded in the arm. This wound causes him to panic, he thinks about how he, “whom everyone loves so much,” could die. This event somewhat diminishes the image of the hero. After N. becomes a brave officer, a real hussar, remaining faithful to duty. N. had a long affair with Sonya, and he was going to do a noble deed by marrying a dowry woman against the will of his mother. But he receives a letter from Sonya in which she says that she is letting him go. After the death of his father, N. takes care of the family and retires. She and Marya Bolkonskaya fall in love and get married.

Petya Rostov

The youngest son of the Rostovs. At the beginning of the novel we see P. as a small boy. He is a typical representative of his family, kind, cheerful, musical. He wants to imitate his older brother and follow the military line in life. In 1812, he was full of patriotic impulses and joined the army. During the war, the young man accidentally ends up with an assignment in Denisov’s detachment, where he remains, wanting to take part in the real deal. He accidentally dies, having shown his best in relation to his comrades the day before. best qualities. His death - greatest tragedy for his family.

Pierre Bezukhov

Sonya

Dolokhov

Nikolai Bolkonsky

Andrey Bolkonsky

Son of Prince Bolkonsky, brother Princess Marya. 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 his marriage and does not respect his pretty wife. B. is very reserved, well educated, and has a strong will. This hero is experiencing great spiritual changes. First we see that his idol is Napoleon, whom he considers a great man. B. gets into war and is sent to the active army. There he fights along with all the soldiers, showing 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 that’s when it started spiritual rebirth hero. Lying motionless and seeing the calm and eternal sky of Austerlitz above him, B. understands all the pettiness and stupidity of everything that is happening in the war. He realized that in fact there should be completely different values ​​in life than those that he had until now. All exploits and glory do not matter. There is only this vast and eternal sky. In the same episode, B. sees Napoleon and understands 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 towards her. He decides not to serve anymore, settles in Bogucharovo, takes care of the household, raising his son, and reads a lot of 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 his son's choice, they postpone the wedding for a year, the hero goes abroad. After his fiancee betrays him, 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' convoy. Before his death, he forgives Natasha and understands the true meaning of love.

Lisa Bolkonskaya

Princess Marya

Kutuzov

Every book you read is another life lived, especially when the plot and characters are so well developed. “War and Peace” is a unique epic novel; there is nothing like it in either Russian or world literature. The events described in it take place in St. Petersburg, Moscow, foreign estates of nobles and in Austria over the course of 15 years. The characters are also striking in their scale.

"War and Peace" is a novel in which more than 600 characters are mentioned. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy describes them so aptly that the few apt characteristics bestowed upon the cross-cutting characters are enough to form an idea about them. Therefore, "War and Peace" is whole life in all the fullness of colors, sounds and sensations. It's worth living.

The birth of an idea and creative quest

In 1856, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy began writing a story about the life of the Decembrist who returned after exile. The time of action was supposed to be 1810-1820. Gradually, the period expanded until 1825. But by this time the main character had already matured and became a family man. And in order to better understand him, the author had to return to the period of his youth. And it coincided with a glorious era for Russia.

But Tolstoy could not write about the triumph over Bonaparte's France without mentioning failures and mistakes. Now the novel already consisted of three parts. The first (as conceived by the author) was supposed to describe the youth of the future Decembrist and his participation in the War of 1812. This is the first period of the hero's life. Tolstoy wanted to devote the second part to the Decembrist uprising. The third - the return of the hero from exile and his later life. However, Tolstoy quickly abandoned this idea: the work on the novel turned out to be too large-scale and painstaking.

Initially, Tolstoy limited the duration of his work to 1805-1812. The epilogue, dated 1920, appeared much later. But the author was concerned not only with the plot, but also with the characters. "War and Peace" is not a description of the life of one hero. The central figures are several characters at once. And the main character is the people, which is much larger than the thirty-year-old Decembrist Pyotr Ivanovich Labazov, who returned from exile.

Work on the novel took Tolstoy six years, from 1863 to 1869. And this does not take into account the six that went into developing the idea of ​​​​the Decembrist, which became its basis.

The system of characters in the novel "War and Peace"

The main character in Tolstoy is the people. But in his understanding, he represents not just a social category, but a creative force. According to Tolstoy, the people are all the best that is in the Russian nation. Moreover, this includes not only representatives of the lower classes, but also those of the nobles who have a desire to live for the sake of others.

Tolstoy contrasts representatives of the people with Napoleon, the Kuragins and other aristocrats - regulars at Anna Pavlovna Scherer's salon. These are the negative characters in the novel "War and Peace". Already in the description of their appearance, Tolstoy emphasizes the mechanical nature of their existence, lack of spirituality, “animality” of actions, lifelessness of smiles, selfishness and inability to compassion. They are incapable of change. Tolstoy does not see the possibility of their spiritual development, so they remain forever frozen, distant from the real understanding of life.

Researchers often distinguish two subgroups of “folk” characters:

• Those who are endowed with “simple consciousness”. They easily distinguish right from wrong, guided by the “mind of the heart.” This subgroup includes such characters as Natasha Rostova, Kutuzov, Platon Karataev, Alpatych, officers Timokhin and Tushin, soldiers and partisans.
• Those who are “looking for themselves.” Upbringing and class barriers prevent them from connecting with the people, but they manage to overcome them. This subgroup includes such characters as Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky. It is these heroes who are shown capable of development and internal change. They are not without shortcomings; they make mistakes in their life quests, but pass all tests with dignity. Sometimes Natasha Rostova is included in this group. After all, she too was once carried away by Anatole, forgetting about her beloved Prince Bolkonsky. The War of 1812 becomes a kind of catharsis for this entire subgroup, which makes them look at life differently and discard the class conventions that previously prevented them from living according to the dictates of their hearts, as the people do.

The simplest classification

Sometimes the characters in War and Peace are divided according to an even simpler principle - their ability to live for the sake of others. Such a character system is also possible. “War and Peace,” like any other work, is the author’s vision. Therefore, everything in the novel happens in accordance with Lev Nikolaevich’s worldview. The people, in Tolstoy’s understanding, are the personification of all the best that is in the Russian nation. Characters such as the Kuragin family, Napoleon, and many regulars at the Scherer salon know how to live only for themselves.

Along Arkhangelsk and Baku

• “Life-wasters,” from Tolstoy’s point of view, stand farthest from correct understanding being. This group lives only for themselves, selfishly neglecting those around them.
• "Leaders" This is what Arkhangelsky and Buck call those who think they control history. For example, the authors include Napoleon in this group.
• “Wise men” are those who understood the true world order and were able to trust providence.
• "Ordinary people". This group, according to Arkhangelsky and Buck, includes those who know how to listen to their hearts, but do not particularly strive for anything.
• “Truth Seekers” are Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky. Throughout the novel, they painfully search for the truth, strive to understand what the meaning of life is.
• The authors of the textbook include Natasha Rostova in a separate group. They believe that it is at the same time close to “ ordinary people", and to the "wise men". The girl easily comprehends life empirically and knows how to listen to the voice of her heart, but the most important thing for her is family and children, as it should be, according to Tolstoy, for an ideal woman.

You can consider many more classifications of the characters in War and Peace, but they all ultimately come down to the simplest one, which fully reflects the worldview of the author of the novel. After all, he saw true happiness in serving others. Therefore, positive (“folk”) heroes know how and want to do this, but negative ones do not.

L.N. Tolstoy “War and Peace”: female characters

Any work is a reflection of the author's vision of life. According to Tolstoy, the highest purpose of a woman is to care for her husband and children. It is the keeper of the hearth that the reader sees Natasha Rostova in the epilogue of the novel.

All positive female characters in War and Peace fulfill their highest purpose. The author also imparts happiness to motherhood and family life to Maria Bolkonskaya. Interestingly, she is perhaps the most positive hero of the novel. Princess Marya has practically no flaws. Despite her varied education, she still finds her purpose, as befits a Tolstoy heroine, in caring for her husband and children.

A completely different fate awaited Helen Kuragina and the little princess, who saw no joy in motherhood.

Pierre Bezukhov

This is Tolstoy's favorite character. "War and Peace" describes him as a man who by nature has a highly noble character, so he easily understands the people. All his mistakes are due to the aristocratic conventions instilled in him by his upbringing.

Throughout the novel, Pierre experiences many mental traumas, but does not become embittered or become less good-natured. He is loyal and responsive, often forgetting about himself in an effort to serve others. Having married Natasha Rostova, Pierre found that grace and true happiness that he so lacked in his first marriage to the completely false Helen Kuragina.

Lev Nikolaevich loves his hero very much. He describes in detail his formation and spiritual development from the very beginning to the end. The example of Pierre shows that the main thing for Tolstoy is responsiveness and devotion. The author rewards him with happiness with his favorite female heroine - Natasha Rostova.

From the epilogue one can understand Pierre's future. By changing himself, he strives to transform society. He does not accept the contemporary political foundations of Russia. It can be assumed that Pierre will participate in the Decembrist uprising, or at least actively support it.

Andrey Bolkonsky

The reader first meets this hero in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He is married to Lisa - the little princess, as she is called, and will soon become a father. Andrei Bolkonsky behaves extremely arrogantly with all the regulars of Sherer. But the reader soon notices that this is only a mask. Bolkonsky understands that those around him cannot understand his spiritual quest. He talks to Pierre in a completely different way. But Bolkonsky at the beginning of the novel is not alien to the ambitious desire to achieve heights in the military field. It seems to him that he is above aristocratic conventions, but it turns out that his eyes are just as blinkered as those of others. Andrei Bolkonsky realized too late that he should have given up his feelings for Natasha in vain. But this insight comes to him only before his death.

Like other “searching” characters in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” Bolkonsky spends his entire life trying to find the answer to the question of what is the meaning of human existence. But he understands the highest value of family too late.

Natasha Rostova

This is Tolstoy's favorite female character. However, the entire Rostov family seems to the author to be the ideal of nobles living in unity with the people. Natasha cannot be called beautiful, but she is lively and attractive. The girl has a good sense of people's moods and characters.

According to Tolstoy, internal beauty does not combine with external beauty. Natasha is attractive due to her character, but her main qualities are simplicity and closeness to the people. However, at the beginning of the novel she lives in her own illusion. Disappointment in Anatol makes her an adult and contributes to the heroine’s maturation. Natasha begins to attend church and ultimately finds happiness in family life with Pierre.

Marya Bolkonskaya

The prototype of this heroine was Lev Nikolaevich’s mother. It is not surprising that it is almost completely devoid of flaws. She, like Natasha, is ugly, but has a very rich inner world. Like others positive characters novel "War and Peace", at the end she also becomes happy, becoming the keeper of the hearth in her own family.

Helen Kuragina

Tolstoy has a multifaceted characterization of his characters. War and Peace describes Helen as a cutesy woman with a fake smile. It immediately becomes clear to the reader that there is no internal content behind external beauty. Marrying her becomes a test for Pierre and does not bring happiness.

Nikolay Rostov

The core of any novel is its characters. War and Peace describes Nikolai Rostov as a loving brother and son, as well as a true patriot. Lev Nikolaevich saw in this hero the prototype of his father. Having gone through the hardships of the war, Nikolai Rostov retires to pay off his family's debts and finds his true love in the person of Marya Bolkonskaya.

The image of Pierre Bezukhov in the novel “War and Peace”. Essay based on Tolstoy's novel - War and Peace. Pierre Bezukhov by his character, by his make-up, is predominantly an emotional person. His characteristic features are a mind prone to “dreamy philosophizing,” free-thinking, absent-mindedness, weakness of will, and lack of initiative. This does not mean that Prince Andrei is not capable of experiencing deep feelings, and Pierre is a weak thinker; both are complex natures. The terms “intellectual” and “emotional” mean in this case the predominant features of the spiritual forces of these extraordinary individuals. Pierre stands out sharply from the crowd of people in the Scherer salon, where we first meet him. This is “a massive, fat young man with a cropped head, glasses, light trousers in the fashion of the time, a high frill and a brown tailcoat.” His look is “intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural.” His main feature is the search for “calmness, agreement with oneself.” Pierre's entire life path is a constant search for the meaning of life, a search for a life that would be in harmony with the needs of his heart and would bring him moral satisfaction. In this he is similar to Andrei Bolkonsky.

Pierre's path, like the path of Prince Andrei, this is the way to the people. Even during the period of his passion for Freemasonry, he decides to devote his energies to the improvement of the peasants. He considers it necessary to set his serfs free; he is thinking about establishing hospitals, orphanages and schools in his villages. True, the cunning manager deceives Pierre and only creates the appearance of reforms. But Pierre is sincerely confident that his peasants are now living well. His real rapprochement with the common people begins in captivity, when he meets the soldiers and Karataev. Pierre begins to feel the desire to become simpler, to completely merge with the people. The lordly life, the social salons, the luxury of the tomyaga do not satisfy Pierre. He painfully feels his isolation from

Images of Natasha and Princess Marie in the novel “War and Peace”. But Natasha and Princess Marya also have common features.. Both of them are patriots. Natasha did not hesitate to sacrifice the wealth of the Moscow Rostov house to save the wounded. And Princess Marya abandons the estate to the mercy of fate as the French approach. When the homeland is in danger, family traits awaken in it - pride, courage, firmness. This is what happened in Bogucharovo, when her French companion invited her to stay on the estate and trust the mercy of the French general, the mercy of the enemies of Russia, her homeland. And “although it didn’t matter to Princess Marya no matter where she stayed and no matter what happened to her, at the same time she felt like a representative of her late father and Prince Andrei. She involuntarily thought with their thoughts and felt them with their feelings.” And there is one more feature that makes Natasha and Princess Marya similar. Princess Marya marries Nikolai Rostov, and Tolstoy, drawing them family life

, speaks of the happiness that she, like Natasha, found in the family. This is how Tolstoy solves the question of the purpose of a woman, limiting her interests to the framework of family life. Let us recall another episode of Nikolai Rostov’s meeting

with Sonya, when he, having arrived on vacation, does not know how to behave with his beloved girl. “He kissed her hand and called her you - Sonya, but their eyes, having met, said “you” to each other and kissed tenderly.” Tolstoy's favorite heroes are people with a complex spiritual world

. In revealing such characters, Tolstoy resorts to various techniques: direct characterization from the author, self-characterization of the hero, internal dialogues and reflections, etc. Internal monologues and internal dialogues allow the author to discover the innermost thoughts and moods of the characters, which can be conveyed in another way ( for example, using direct authorial characterization) would be difficult without violating the laws of artistic realism. Tolstoy resorts to such monologues and dialogues very often. An example of an “internal monologue” with elements of dialogue can be the reflections of the wounded Prince Andrei in Chapter XXXII of the third volume of the novel. Here is another example of an “inner monologue” - the reflections of Natasha, childishly and spontaneously reasoning about herself: “What a charm this Natasha is!” - she said again to herself in the words of some third collective male person. “She is good, has a voice, is young, and she doesn’t bother anyone, just leave her alone” (Chapter XXIII of the second volume). with his things and phenomena is also skillfully used by Tolstoy to characterize the heroes. Thus, describing Natasha’s mood after the unexpected departure of Andrei Bolkonsky (before the matchmaking), Tolstoy reports that Natasha completely calmed down and “put on that old dress that she was especially known for the gaiety it brought in the morning.” Tolstoy is a brilliant landscape painter. He will note the young “green sticky leaves” of the birch, and the bush turning green somewhere, and the “juicy, dark green of the oak,” and the moonlight bursting into the room, and the freshness of the spring night. Let us remember the wonderfully described hunt in Otradnoye. Both people, animals, and nature appear here as indicators of the powerful force of life, its plethora. The landscape serves various functions in the novel. Most common feature Tolstoy's landscape is the correspondence of this landscape to the mood of the hero. The disappointment and gloomy mood of Prince Andrei after the break with Natasha colors the surrounding landscape in gloomy tones. “He looked at the strip of birch trees, with their motionless yellow, green and white bark, glistening in the sun. “To die... so that they would kill me, tomorrow, so that I wouldn’t exist... so that all this would happen, but I wouldn’t exist...” He is tormented by terrible premonitions and painful thoughts about death. And these birches with their light and shadow, and these curly clouds, and this smoke from the fires - all this around was transformed for him and seemed something terrible and threatening. And the poetry of Natasha’s nature, on the contrary, is revealed against the backdrop of a spring moonlit night in Otradnoye. In other cases, the landscape directly affects a person, enlightening and making him wise. Prince Andrei, wounded at Austerlitz, looks at the sky and thinks: “Yes! Everything is empty, everything is deception, except this endless sky.” The oak tree, which Prince Andrei meets twice on his way, reveals to him the “meaning of life” in completely different ways: in one case it seems to Prince Andrei the personification of hopelessness, in the other - a symbol of joyful faith in happiness.

Finally, Tolstoy uses landscape as a means of characterizing the real situation. Let us just remember the heavy fog that spread like a continuous milky-white sea over the outskirts of Austerlitz. Thanks to this fog, which covered the French positions, the Russian and Austrian troops were put in a worse position, since they did not see the enemy and unexpectedly came face to face with him. Napoleon, standing at a height where it was completely light, could accurately lead his troops.

The image of Napoleon in the novel "War and Peace". Napoleon confronts in the novel Napoleon. Tolstoy debunks this commander and outstanding historical figure. Drawing appearance

Napoleon, the author of the novel says that he was a “little man” with an “unpleasantly feigned smile” on his face, with “fat breasts,” “a round belly,” and “fat spoons of short legs.” Tolstoy shows Napoleon as a narcissistic and arrogant ruler of France, intoxicated with success, blinded by glory, attributing to his personality a driving role in the course of historical events. Even in small scenes, in the slightest gestures, one can feel, according to Tolstoy, the insane pride of Napoleon, his acting, the conceit of a man accustomed to believing that every movement of his hand scatters happiness or sows grief among thousands of people. The servility of those around him raised him to such a height that he truly believed in his ability to change the course of history and influence the destinies of nations. In contrast to Kutuzov, who does not attach decisive importance to his personal will, Napoleon puts himself, his personality above all else, and considers himself a superman. “Only what happened in his soul was of interest to him. Everything that was outside of him did not matter to him, because everything in the world, as it seemed to him, depended only on his will.” The word "I" - favorite word Napoleon. Napoleon emphasizes selfishness, individualism and rationality - traits that are absent in Kutuzov, the people's commander, who thinks not about his own glory, but about the glory and freedom of the fatherland. Revealing

ideological content novel, we have already noted the originality of Tolstoy's interpretation of individual themes of the novel. Thus, we have already said that Tolstoy, going against the revolutionary peasant democracy, obscures in the novel the severity of the class contradictions between the peasantry and the landowners; revealing, for example, the restless thoughts of Pierre Bezukhov about the plight of the serf slaves, he at the same time paints pictures of the idyllic relationships between landowners and peasants on the Rostov estate and house. We also noted the features of idealization in the image of Karataev, the originality of the interpretation of the role of the individual in history, etc. How can these features of the novel be explained?. His novel “War and Peace” is one of the greatest masterpieces of world art, a work of genius in which the breadth of epic scope was combined with an amazing depth of penetration into the spiritual life of people. But Tolstoy lived in Russia in a transitional era, in an era of disruption of the social and economic foundations of life, when the country was moving from a feudal-serf system to capitalist forms of life, violently protesting, in the words of Lenin, “against all class domination.” Tolstoy, landowner and aristocrat , found a way out for himself in the transition to the position of the patriarchal peasantry.

Belinsky, in his articles about Tolstoy, revealed with remarkable depth all the contradictions that affected Tolstoy’s worldview and work in connection with his transition to the position of the patriarchal peasantry. These contradictions could not help but be reflected in the artistic structure of the novel War and Peace. Tolstoy, the great realist and Protestant, ultimately defeated Tolstoy, the religious philosopher, and created a work that has no equal in world literature. But reading the novel, we still cannot help but feel the contradictions in the worldview of its author. The image of Kutuzov in the novel "War and Peace". In the novel, Tolstoy ridicules the cult of “great personalities” created by bourgeois historians. He correctly believes that the course of history is decided by the masses. But his assessment of the role of the masses takes on a religious overtones. He comes to accept fatalism, arguing that everything

historical events“, Tolstoy writes about Kutuzov, “he knew and with his senile mind understood that it was impossible for one person to lead hundreds of thousands of people fighting death, and he knew that the fate of the battle is not decided by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place where the troops stand, not by the number guns and killed people, and that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he watched over this force and led it, as far as it was in his power.” Tolstoy also attributed to Kutuzov his erroneous fatalistic view of history, according to which the outcome of historical events was predetermined. Andrei Bolkonsky says about Kutuzov: “He won’t come up with anything, won’t do anything, but he will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, won’t interfere with anything useful and won’t allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will - this is the 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 aimed at other..."

Denying the role of personality in history, Tolstoy sought to make Kutuzov only a wise observer of historical events, only a passive contemplator of them. This, of course, was Tolstoy's mistake. It inevitably had to lead to a contradictory assessment of Kutuzov. And so it happened. The novel features a commander who extremely accurately assesses the course of military events and unerringly directs them. With the help of a well-thought-out plan of counter-offensives, Kutuzov destroys Napoleon and his army. Consequently, in a number of essential features, Kutuzov is shown historically correctly in the novel: he has great strategic skill, spends long nights thinking through the campaign plan, acts as an active figure, hiding enormous volitional tension behind external calm. This is how the realist artist overcame the philosophy of fatalism. A bearer of the people's spirit and people's will, Kutuzov deeply and correctly understood the course of things, in the midst of events he gave them the correct assessment, which was confirmed later. Thus, he correctly assessed the significance of the Battle of Borodino, saying that it was a victory. As a commander, Kutuzov stands above Napoleon. For reference people's war, what the war of 1812 was like, and such a commander was needed, says Tolstoy. With the expulsion of the French, Kutuzov's mission was completed. Transferring the war to Europe required a different commander in chief. “The representative of the Russian people, after the enemy was destroyed, Russia was liberated and placed on the highest level of its glory, the Russian person, as a Russian, had nothing more to do. The representative of the people's war had no choice but death. And he died."

Portraying Kutuzov as people's commander, as the embodiment of people's thoughts, will and feelings. Tolstoy never falls into schematism. Kutuzov is a living person. We get this impression primarily because Tolstoy clearly, vividly paints us a portrait of Kutuzov - his figure, gait and gestures, facial expressions, his eyes, now glowing with a pleasant, affectionate smile, now taking on a mocking expression. Tolstoy gives it to us either in the perception of persons of different character and social status, or draws it from himself, delving into the psychological analysis of his hero. What makes Kutuzov deeply human and alive are scenes and episodes depicting the commander in conversations with people close and pleasant to him, such as Bolkonsky, Denisov, Bagration, his behavior at military councils, in the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino. Kutuzov's speech is diverse in its lexical composition and syntactic structure. He is fluent in high society speech when speaking or writing to the tsar, generals and other representatives of aristocratic society. “I say only one thing, General,” says Kutuzov with a pleasant elegance of expressions and intonations, forcing you to listen carefully to every leisurely spoken word. “I only say one thing, General, that if the matter depended on my personal desire, then the will of His Majesty Emperor Franz would have been completed long ago." But he is also excellent at simple vernacular. “Here’s what, brothers. I know it’s difficult for us, but what can we do! Be patient: there’s not long left... We’ll see the guests out, then we’ll rest,” he told the soldiers, meeting them on the road from Krasny to Dobroye. And in a letter to the old man Bolkonsky, he reveals the archaic features of the clerical style of this era: “I flatter myself and you with hope that your son is alive, for otherwise, among the officers found on the battlefield, about whom the list was submitted to me through parliamentarians, he would was named."

Introduction

Leo Tolstoy in his epic depicted more than 500 characters typical of Russian society. In "War and Peace" the heroes of the novel are representatives of the upper class of Moscow and St. Petersburg, key government and military figures, soldiers, people from common people, peasants. The depiction of all layers of Russian society allowed Tolstoy to recreate a complete picture of Russian life in one of the turning points in the history of Russia - the era of the wars with Napoleon of 1805-1812.

In War and Peace, the characters are conventionally divided into main characters - whose fates are woven by the author into the plot narrative of all four volumes and the epilogue, and secondary - heroes who appear sporadically in the novel. Among the main characters of the novel are central characters- Andrei Bolkonsky, Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov, around whose destinies the events of the novel unfold.

Characteristics of the main characters of the novel

Andrey Bolkonsky- “a very handsome young man with definite and dry features”, “short stature.” The author introduces Bolkonsky to the reader at the beginning of the novel - the hero was one of the guests at Anna Scherer's evening (where many of the main characters of Tolstoy's War and Peace were also present). According to the plot of the work, Andrei was tired of high society, he dreamed of glory, no less than the glory of Napoleon, which is why he goes to war. The episode that changed Bolkonsky’s worldview was the meeting with Bonaparte - wounded on the field of Austerlitz, Andrei realized how insignificant Bonaparte and all his glory really were. The second turning point in Bolkonsky’s life is his love for Natasha Rostova. The new feeling helped the hero return to a full life, to believe that after the death of his wife and everything he had suffered, he could continue to live fully. However, their happiness with Natasha was not destined to come true - Andrei was mortally wounded during the Battle of Borodino and soon died.

Natasha Rostova- a cheerful, kind, very emotional girl who knows how to love: “dark-eyed, with a big mouth, ugly, but lively.” An important feature of the image of the central character of “War and Peace” is her musical talent - a beautiful voice that even people inexperienced in music were fascinated by. The reader meets Natasha on the girl’s name day, when she turns 12 years old. Tolstoy depicts the moral maturation of the heroine: love experiences, going out into the world, Natasha’s betrayal of Prince Andrei and her worries because of this, the search for herself in religion and the turning point in the heroine’s life – the death of Bolkonsky. In the epilogue of the novel, Natasha appears to the reader completely different - before us is more the shadow of her husband, Pierre Bezukhov, and not the bright, active Rostova, who a few years ago danced Russian dances and “won” carts for the wounded from her mother.

Pierre Bezukhov- “a massive, fat young man with a cropped head and glasses.”

“Pierre was somewhat larger than the other men in the room,” he had “an intelligent and at the same time timid, observant and natural look that distinguished him from everyone in this living room.” Pierre is a hero who is in constant search of himself through knowledge of the world around him. Every situation in his life, every life stage became a special life lesson for the hero. Marriage to Helen, passion for Freemasonry, love for Natasha Rostova, presence on the field of the Borodino battle (which the hero sees precisely through the eyes of Pierre), French captivity and acquaintance with Karataev completely change Pierre’s personality - a purposeful and self-confident man with own views and goals.

Other important characters

In War and Peace, Tolstoy conventionally identifies several blocks of characters - the Rostov, Bolkonsky, Kuragin families, as well as characters included in the social circle of one of these families. Rostov and Bolkonsky as goodies, bearers of truly Russian mentality, ideas and spirituality, are contrasted with the negative characters Kuragin, who had little interest in the spiritual aspect of life, preferring to shine in society, weave intrigues and choose acquaintances according to their status and wealth. It will help to better understand the essence of each main character a brief description of heroes of War and Peace.

Graph Ilya Andreevich Rostov- a kind and generous man, for whom the most important thing in his life was family. The Count sincerely loved his wife and four children (Natasha, Vera, Nikolai and Petya), helped his wife in raising their children and did his best to maintain a warm atmosphere in the Rostov house. Ilya Andreevich cannot live without luxury, he liked to organize magnificent balls, receptions and evenings, but his wastefulness and inability to manage economic affairs ultimately led to the critical financial situation of the Rostovs.
Countess Natalya Rostova is a 45-year-old woman with oriental features, who knows how to make an impression in high society, the wife of Count Rostov, and the mother of four children. The Countess, like her husband, loved her family very much, trying to support her children and bring up the best qualities in them. Due to her excessive love for children, after Petya’s death, the woman almost goes crazy. In the countess, kindness towards loved ones was combined with prudence: wanting to improve the financial situation of the family, the woman tries with all her might to upset Nikolai’s marriage to the “unprofitable bride” Sonya.

Nikolay Rostov- “a short, curly-haired young man with an open expression on his face.” This is a simple-minded, open, honest and friendly young man, Natasha’s brother, the eldest son of the Rostovs. At the beginning of the novel, Nikolai appears as an admiring young man who wants military glory and recognition, however, after participating first in the Battle of Shengrab, and then in the Battle of Austerlitz and the Patriotic War, Nikolai’s illusions are dispelled and the hero understands how absurd and wrong the very idea of ​​war is. Nikolai finds personal happiness in his marriage to Marya Bolkonskaya, in whom he felt a like-minded person even at their first meeting.

Sonya Rostova- “a thin, petite brunette with a soft look, shaded by long eyelashes, a thick black braid that wrapped around her head twice, and a yellowish tint to the skin on her face,” the niece of Count Rostov. According to the plot of the novel, this is a quiet, reasonable, kind girl, able to love and prone to self-sacrifice. Sonya refuses Dolokhov, because she wants to be faithful only to Nikolai, whom she sincerely loves. When the girl finds out that Nikolai is in love with Marya, she meekly lets him go, not wanting to interfere with the happiness of her loved one.

Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky- Prince, retired General Chief. He is a proud, intelligent, strict man of short stature “with small dry hands and gray drooping eyebrows, which sometimes, as he frowned, obscured the brilliance of his intelligent and youthful sparkling eyes.” Deep down in his soul, Bolkonsky loves his children very much, but does not dare to show it (only before his death was he able to show his daughter his love). Nikolai Andreevich died from the second blow while in Bogucharovo.

Marya Bolkonskaya- a quiet, kind, meek girl, prone to self-sacrifice and sincerely loving her family. Tolstoy describes her as a heroine with “an ugly weak body and a thin face,” but “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 faces, these eyes became more attractive than beauty.” The beauty of Marya’s eyes later amazed Nikolai Rostov. The girl was very pious, devoted herself entirely to caring for her father and nephew, then redirecting her love to her own family and husband.

Helen Kuragina- a bright, brilliantly beautiful woman with an “unchanging smile” and full white shoulders, who liked male company, Pierre’s first wife. Helen was not particularly intelligent, but thanks to her charm, ability to behave in society and establish the necessary connections, she set up her own salon in St. Petersburg and was personally acquainted with Napoleon. The woman died of a severe sore throat (although there were rumors in society that Helen had committed suicide).

Anatol Kuragin- Helen's brother, as handsome in appearance and noticeable in high society as his sister. Anatole lived the way he wanted, throwing everything away moral principles and foundations, organized drinking parties and brawls. Kuragin wanted to steal Natasha Rostova and marry her, although he was already married.

Fedor Dolokhov- “a man of average height, curly hair and light eyes,” an officer of the Semenovsky regiment, one of the leaders of the partisan movement. Fedor’s personality amazingly combined selfishness, cynicism and adventurism with the ability to love and care for his loved ones. (Nikolai Rostov is very surprised that at home, with his mother and sister, Dolokhov is completely different - a loving and gentle son and brother).

Conclusion

Even short description heroes of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" allows us to see the close and inextricable relationship between the destinies of the characters. Like all events in the novel, the meetings and farewells of the characters take place according to the irrational, elusive law of historical mutual influences. It is these incomprehensible mutual influences that create the destinies of the heroes and shape their views on the world.

Work test

In his novel, Tolstoy portrayed a number of heroes. It is not for nothing that the author presents detailed descriptions of the characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which entire noble families represent to the reader a reflection of the people who lived during the war with Napoleon. In "War and Peace" we see the Russian spirit, the features of historical events characteristic of the period of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. The greatness of the Russian soul is shown against the background of these events.

If you make a list of characters ("War and Peace"), you will only get about 550-600 heroes. However, they are not all equally important to the narrative. "War and Peace" is a novel whose characters can be divided into three main groups: main, minor characters and simply mentioned in the text. Among them there are both fictional and historical figures, as well as heroes who have prototypes among the writer’s circle. This article will introduce the main characters. "War and Peace" is a work in which the Rostov family is described in detail. So let's start with it.

Ilya Andreevich Rostov

This is a count who had four children: Petya, Nikolai, Vera and Natasha. Ilya Andreevich is a very generous and kind-hearted person who loved life. As a result, his excessive generosity led to wastefulness. Rostov - loving father and husband He is a good organizer of receptions and balls. But living in grand style, as well as selfless help to wounded soldiers and the departure of Russians from Moscow, took a toll on his condition. fatal blows. Ilya Andreevich’s conscience constantly tormented him because of the approaching poverty of his relatives, but he could not help himself. After Petya's death, youngest son, the count turned out to be broken, but perked up, preparing the wedding of Pierre Bezukhov and Natasha. Count Rostov dies a few months after these characters get married. “War and Peace” (Tolstoy) is a work in which the prototype of this hero is Ilya Andreevich, Tolstoy’s grandfather.

Natalya Rostova (wife of Ilya Andreevich)

This 45-year-old woman, the wife of Rostov and the mother of four children, had some oriental. Those around her regarded the focus of sedateness and slowness in her as solidity, as well as her high significance for the family. However the real reason These manners lie in a weak and exhausted physical condition due to childbirth and the energy devoted to raising children. Natalya loves her family and children very much, so she was almost driven crazy by the news of Petya’s death. Countess Rostova, like Ilya Andreevich, loved luxury and demanded that everyone follow her orders. In her you can find the features of Tolstoy’s grandmother, Pelageya Nikolaevna.

Nikolay Rostov

This hero is the son of Ilya Andreevich. He is loving son and brother, respects his family, but at the same time faithfully serves in the army, which is a very important and significant feature in his characterization. He often saw even his fellow soldiers as a second family. Even though Nikolai was in love for a long time to Sonya, his cousin, nevertheless marries Marya Bolkonskaya at the end of the novel. Nikolai Rostov is a very energetic man, with open and curly hair. His love for the Russian emperor and patriotism never dried up. Having gone through the hardships of the war, Nikolai becomes a brave and courageous hussar. He retires after the death of Ilya Andreevich in order to improve the financial situation of the family, pay off debts and finally become a good husband for his wife. Tolstoy sees this hero as a prototype of his own father. As you have probably already noticed, the presence of prototypes in many heroes is characterized by the character system of “War and Peace”. a work in which the morals of the nobility are presented through the characteristics of the family of Tolstoy, who was a count.

Natasha Rostova

This is the Rostovs' daughter. A very emotional and energetic girl who was considered ugly, but attractive and lively. Natasha is not very smart, but at the same time she is intuitive, as she could “guess people” well, their character traits and mood. This heroine is very impetuous and prone to self-sacrifice. She dances and sings beautifully, which was the case at that time important characteristic a girl belonging to a secular society. Leo Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes Natasha's main quality - closeness to the Russian people. It absorbed nations and Russian culture. Natasha lives in an atmosphere of love, happiness and kindness, but after a while the girl is faced with a harsh reality. Blows of fate, as well as heartfelt experiences, make this heroine an adult and ultimately give her true love to her husband, Pierre Bezukhov. The story of the rebirth of Natasha’s soul deserves special respect. She began attending church after becoming the victim of a deceitful seducer. Natasha is a collective image, the prototype of which was Tolstoy’s daughter-in-law, Tatyana Andreevna Kuzminskaya, as well as her sister (the author’s wife) Sofya Andreevna.

Vera Rostova

This heroine is the daughter of the Rostovs ("War and Peace"). The character portraits created by the author are distinguished by their diversity of characters. Vera, for example, was famous for her strict disposition, as well as for the inappropriate, although fair, remarks she made in society. Her mother, for some unknown reason, did not love her very much, and Vera felt this acutely, and therefore often went against everyone. This girl later became the wife of Boris Drubetsky. The prototype of the heroine is Lev Nikolaevich (Elizaveta Bers).

Peter Rostov

The Rostovs' son is still just a boy. Petya, growing up, was eager to go to war as a young man, and his parents could not stop him. He escaped from their tutelage and joined Denisov’s regiment. In the very first battle, Petya dies before he has even had time to fight. The death of their beloved son greatly devastated the family.

Sonya

With this heroine we finish the description of the characters ("War and Peace") belonging to the Rostov family. Sonya, a nice miniature girl, was Ilya Andreevich’s own niece and lived her whole life under his roof. Love for Nikolai became fatal for her, since she failed to marry him. Natalya Rostova, the old countess, was against this marriage, since the lovers were cousins. Sonya acted nobly, refusing Dolokhov and deciding to love only Nikolai all her life, freeing him from the promise given to her. She spends the rest of her life in the care of Nikolai Rostov, under the old countess.

The prototype of this heroine is Tatyana Aleksandrovna Ergolskaya, the writer’s second cousin.

Not only the Rostovs in the work are the main characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which the Bolkonsky family also plays a large role.

Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky

This is the father of Andrei Bolkonsky, general-in-chief in the past, in the present - a prince who has earned a nickname in Russian secular society"Prussian king" He is socially active, strict like a father, pedantic, and a wise owner of the estate. Outwardly, he is a thin old man with thick eyebrows that hang over intelligent and penetrating eyes, wearing a powdered white wig. Nikolai Andreevich does not like to show his feelings even to his beloved daughter and son. He torments Marya with constant nagging. Prince Nicholas, sitting on his estate, follows the events taking place in the country, and only before his death he loses the idea of ​​the scale of the Russian war with Napoleon. Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, the writer’s grandfather, was the prototype of this prince.

Andrey Bolkonsky

This is the son of Nikolai Andreevich. He is ambitious, like his father, and is reserved in expressing his feelings, but he loves his sister and father very much. Andrei is married to Lisa, the “little princess.” He made a successful military career. Andrey philosophizes a lot about the meaning of life, the state of his spirit. He is in constant search. In Natasha Rostova, after the death of his wife, he found hope for himself, because he saw a real, and not a fake, as in secular society, girl, and therefore fell in love with her. Having proposed to this heroine, he was forced to go abroad for treatment, which became a test of their feelings. The wedding ended up being cancelled. Andrei went to war with Napoleon, where he was seriously wounded and died as a result. Until the end of his days, Natasha devotedly looked after him.

Marya Bolkonskaya

This is Andrei's sister, daughter of Prince Nikolai. She is very meek, ugly, but kind-hearted and also very rich. Her devotion to religion serves as an example of meekness and kindness to many. Marya unforgettably loves her father, who often pesters her with his reproaches and ridicule. This girl also loves her brother. She did not immediately accept Natasha as her future daughter-in-law, since she seemed too frivolous for Andrei. After all the hardships, Marya marries Nikolai Rostov.

Its prototype is Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, Tolstoy’s mother.

Pierre Bezukhov (Peter Kirillovich)

The main characters of the novel "War and Peace" would not be fully listed if Pierre Bezukhov were not mentioned. This hero plays one of the most important roles in the work. He has experienced a lot of pain and mental trauma, and has a noble and kind disposition. Lev Nikolaevich himself loves Pierre very much. Bezukhov, as a friend of Andrei Bolkonsky, is very responsive and devoted. Despite the intrigues weaving under his nose, Pierre did not lose trust in people and did not become embittered. By marrying Natasha, he finally found the happiness and grace that he lacked with his first wife, Helen. At the end of the work, his desire to change the political foundations in Russia is noticeable; one can even guess from afar Pierre’s Decembrist sentiments.

These are the main characters. "War and Peace" is a novel in which big role allocated to such historical figures as Kutuzov and Napoleon, as well as some other commanders-in-chief. Others are presented social groups, except for the nobility (merchants, burghers, peasantry, army). The list of characters ("War and Peace") is quite impressive. However, our task is to consider only the main characters.