Anatol Kurakin. Characteristics and image of Anatoly Kuragin in the novel War and Peace essay

For Tolstoy, the world of family is the basis of human society. The Kuragin family in the novel appears as the embodiment of immorality. Self-interest, hypocrisy, the ability to commit crime, dishonor for the sake of wealth, irresponsibility for one’s actions in personal life - these are the main distinguishing features of this family. Among the characters of "War and Peace" the Kuragins live, knowing throughout the world only their own personal interests and

energetically pursuing him with intrigue. And how much destruction the Kuragins brought - Prince Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, the Rostovs, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!

Kuragins are devoid of generic poetry. Their family closeness and connection is unpoetic, although it undoubtedly exists - instinctive mutual support and solidarity, a kind of mutual guarantee of almost animal egoism. Such a family connection is not a positive, real family connection, but, in essence, its negation. Real families - the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys - have, of course, an immeasurable moral superiority on their side against the Kuragins; but still, the invasion of base Kuragin egoism causes a crisis in the world of these families.

The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize moral standards, living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires.

Vasily Kuragin

The head of this entire family is Prince Vasily Kuragin. We first meet him in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He was "in a courtier's embroidered uniform, stockings, shoes and stars, with a bright expression on his flat face." The prince spoke in that refined French language, in which our grandfathers not only spoke, but also thought, and with those quiet, patronizing intonations that are characteristic of a significant person who has grown old in high society and at court,” “he always spoke lazily, like an actor speaking a role.” old play."

In the eyes of secular society, Prince Kuragin is a respected person, “close to the emperor, surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic women, scattering social pleasantries and chuckling complacently.” In words he was a decent, sympathetic person, but in reality there was a constant internal struggle in him between the desire to seem like a decent person and the actual depravity of his motives.

Tolstoy's favorite technique is the contrast between the internal and external characters of the heroes. The image of Prince Vasily very clearly reflects this opposition.

The episode of the struggle for the inheritance of the old Count Bezukhov most accurately reveals the two-faced essence of Vasily Kuragin.

The prince forced Pierre to marry Helen, while pursuing his own selfish goals. At Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s proposal to “marry the prodigal son Anatole” to Princess Maria Bolkonskaya, having learned that the princess is a rich heiress, he says: “She has a good name and is rich. Everything I need.” At the same time, Prince Vasily does not think at all about the fact that Princess Marya may be unhappy in her marriage to the dissolute scamp Anatole, who looked upon his entire life as one continuous amusement.

Prince Vasily and his children absorbed all the base, vicious traits.

Helen Kuragina

Helen is the embodiment of external beauty and internal emptiness, fossilization. Tolstoy constantly mentions her “monotonous,” “unchanging” smile and “ancient beauty of body,” she resembles a beautiful, soulless statue.

Helen personifies immorality and depravity, marries only for her own enrichment.

She cheats on her husband because the animal nature predominates in her nature. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless.

Even as Pierre’s wife, Helene, in front of the whole society, is organizing her personal life.

Helen Bezukhova is not a woman, she is rather an animal. No novelist has ever encountered this type of high-society libertine who loves nothing in life except her body. In addition to a luxurious bust, a rich and beautiful body, this representative of high society had an extraordinary ability to hide her mental and moral poverty, and all this was thanks only to the grace of her manners and the memorization of certain phrases and techniques.

As Helen said, in the world after the duel and departure everyone considered Pierre a naive fool. She began to live with her husband again and created her own salon.

“Being accepted in the salon of Countess Bezukhova was considered a diploma of intelligence.” This incredibly surprised Pierre, who knew that Helen was very stupid. But she knew how to teach herself so well that no one thought about it.

She also played a negative role in the fate of Natasha Rostova. For the sake of fun, an empty whim, Helen ruined the life of a young girl, pushing her to cheat, and did not even think about it.

Helen is completely devoid of patriotic feelings. While the whole country rose up to fight Napoleon, and even high society took part in this fight in its own way (“they didn’t speak French and ate simple food”), in Helen’s French circle, rumors about the cruelty of the enemy were refuted and war and all Napoleon's attempts at reconciliation were discussed." When the threat of the capture of Moscow by Napoleon's troops became clear, Helen went abroad. And there she shone at the imperial court. But the court returned to St. Petersburg. "Helen, returning with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg , was in a difficult situation. In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed the special patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state.

In Vilna, she became close to a young foreign prince."

For her own good, she betrays the most sacred thing - faith, and accepts Catholicism. By this, it seemed to her, she was freeing herself from the moral obligations given to Pierre by becoming his wife. Helen decides to throw in her lot with one of her two admirers. At the beginning of August, everything was completely decided, and she wrote a letter to her husband (who loved her very much, as she thought) in which she informed him of her intention to marry NN and that she was asking to fulfill all the formalities necessary for a divorce. But Pierre did not receive the letter; he was at war.

While waiting for an answer from Pierre, Helen spent her time idly. She still shone in the world, accepted the courtship of young people, despite the fact that she was already going to marry one of the most influential nobles, but, unfortunately, an old man.

In the end, Helen dies. This death is a direct consequence of her own intrigues.

Ippolit Kuragin

"... Prince Hippolyte struck with his extraordinary resemblance to his beautiful sister, and even more so because, despite the similarity, he was strikingly ugly... his face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident disgust, and his body was thin and weak. Eyes, nose, mouth - everything seemed to shrink into one vague, boring grimace, and the arms and legs always took an unnatural position."

Hippolytus was unusually stupid. Because of the self-confidence with which he spoke, no one could understand whether what he said was very smart or very stupid.

At Scherer's reception, he appears to us "in a dark green tailcoat, in trousers the color of a frightened nymph, as he himself said, in stockings and shoes." And such absurdity of the outfit did not bother him at all.

Despite the oddities of his character, Prince Ippolit had success with women and was a ladies' man. So at the end of the evening in the living room, Scherer, Ippolit, as if innocently courting the little princess, Bolkonsky’s wife, arouses the prince’s jealousy.

Father Prince Vasily calls Ippolit "a dead fool." Tolstoy in the novel is “sluggish and breaking.”

These are the dominant character traits of Hippolytus. Hippolyte is stupid, but at least with his stupidity he does not harm anyone, unlike his younger brother Anatole.

Anatol Kuragin

Anatol Kuragin, according to Tolstoy, is “simple and with carnal inclinations.” These are the dominant character traits of Anatole. He looked at his whole life as a continuous entertainment that someone like that for some reason had undertaken to arrange for him.

“He was unable to consider how his actions might affect others, nor what might come of such or such an action.” He is sincerely convinced, instinctively, with his whole being, that everything around him has the sole purpose of entertaining him and exists for this. No regard for people, their opinions, consequences, no long-term goal that would force one to concentrate on achieving it, no remorse, reflection, hesitation, doubt - Anatole, no matter what he does, naturally and sincerely considers himself an impeccable person and highly bears its beautiful head: freedom is truly limitless, freedom in actions and self-awareness.

Such complete freedom is given to Anatole by his senselessness. A person who consciously approaches life is already subject, like Pierre, to the need to understand and decide; he is not free from life’s difficulties, from the question: why? While Pierre is tormented by this difficult question, Anatole lives, contented with every minute, stupid, animalistic, but easy and fun.

Marrying the “rich, ugly heiress” Maria Bolkonskaya seems to him like just another amusement.

He and his father come to Bald Mountains to make a match.

Marya and her father feel offended by the excitement that the arrival of the prospective groom has caused in them, and which they cannot overcome within themselves.

The beautiful big eyes of the fool Anatole "attract to themselves, and Princess Marya, and the little princess, and Mlle Bourienne do not remain indifferent to the beauty of Kuragin. Everyone wants to appear before him in the best light. But for Princess Marya it seems insulting that she is forced dress up and behave inconsistently with their habits. The longer her friends picked out outfits, the less the princess wanted to meet Anatole. She understood that now she was being put on display, that she would not be able to interest anyone with her appearance, and the more inappropriate the efforts of her friends seemed to her Having achieved nothing, the friends left the princess alone. She not only did not change her outfit, but did not even look at herself in the mirror.

Anatole, paying attention to the pretty mlle Bourienne, decided that it would not be boring in the Bald Mountains.

In a conversation with the father of Princess Marya, Anatole again reveals himself to be a complete fool, a reckless rake.

Anatole seemed kind, brave, decisive, courageous and generous to Princess Marya. She was convinced of it. Thousands of dreams about a future family life arose in her imagination. Anatole thought: “Poor thing! Damn bad.”

Mlle Bourienne thought that this Russian prince would take her away and marry her.

Anatole was not at all interested in the princess as a person; he needed her rich dowry.

While Princess Marya went to her father at the usual hour, Mlle Bourienne and Anatole met in the winter garden.

After talking with her father, the princess went to her place through the winter garden and saw Anatole passionately hugging Mlle Bourienne.

When the father and Prince Vasily invited Princess Marya to give an answer, she said: “I thank you for the honor, but I will never be your son’s wife.”

Thanks to Anatole's reckless behavior, Prince Vasily was left with nothing.

In St. Petersburg, Anatole led the life of a riotous rake. A gambling society would gather in his house, after which there would usually be a drinking party. He leads the good-natured, trusting Pierre astray with his feigned simplicity.

Anatole also played a negative role in the fate of Natasha Rostova. His base, vicious desire to instantly have what he wants, regardless of the interests of others, led to Natasha’s break with Prince Andrei and brought mental suffering to the Rostov and Bolkonsky families.

Knowing that Natasha is engaged to Prince Andrei, Anatole still confesses his love to her. What could come out of this courtship, Anatole could not know, since he never knew what would come out of each of his actions. In a letter to Natasha, he says that either she will love him, or he will die. And, if Natasha says “yes,” he will kidnap and take her to the ends of the world. Impressed by this letter, Natasha refuses Prince Andrei and agrees to escape with Kuragin. But the escape failed, Natasha’s note fell into the wrong hands, and the kidnapping plan failed.

The next day, in a conversation with Natasha, Pierre revealed to her that Anatole is married, so all his promises are deception. Then Bezukhov went to Anatoly and demanded that he return Natasha’s letters and leave Moscow. The next day Anatole left for St. Petersburg.

Having learned about Natasha's betrayal and about Anatole's role in this, Prince Andrei was going to challenge him to a duel and searched for him throughout the army for a long time. But when he met Anatole, whose leg had just been taken away, Prince Andrei remembered everything, and enthusiastic pity for this man filled his heart. He forgave him everything.

Anatol Kuragin in the novel “War and Peace” is the character who is the opposite of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov. His life is light and bright, like an ongoing holiday: women, games, entertainment, revelry. For aimlessly wasting his life and broken destinies, the author “punishes” the hero fairly and terribly - his leg is amputated after the Battle of Borodino, and later he dies.

Family and education of Anatoly Kuragin

Anatole's father is Prince Vasily, a cunning and calculating man. His moral “inheritance” is passed on to all three children. An amazingly handsome young man has an empty, immoral nature. He is a stupid and superficial person, has no goals, does not strive for anything, and does not respect the feelings of other people. The lack of real human warmth, support and love in the family has led to the fact that Anatole does not know how to love, he does not become attached to women, they serve as a means of entertainment. He is responsible for many broken hearts and destinies. The young man was raised abroad, including in Paris. However, an aristocratic upbringing and education did not help the stupid son of Prince Vasily - he constantly gets into trouble, from which his father pulls his child out, pays his debts, and saves his reputation.

Anatole and Helen, his sister, are absolutely identical in terms of moral principles: they achieve their goals by any means. Such people are not created for a family, they do not have children, the author does not allow their lives to continue in their descendants.

Characteristics of the hero

Anatole has an impeccable appearance and figure, he is amazingly handsome. Despite the fact that the hero is not particularly intelligent, he is fluent in the science of seduction. It is important to note the fact that the author repeatedly mentions in various episodes the special beauty of the young man. As you know, L.N. Tolstoy’s favorite characters have an unattractive appearance, their beauty lies in their spiritual qualities and moral position. Anatole's attractive appearance is nothing more than a contrast with his inner world, empty and callous. Love is a feeling that Anatole has never experienced; in this sense, he is a moral invalid.

For the hero, flirting and courting girls is the same game as cards - the result can be different, Anatole is passionate about the process itself. Young, inexperienced girls fall in love with him at first sight, including the naive Natasha Rostova. Fortunately, Marya Dmitrievna finds out that Natasha has decided to run away with Anatole (who, as it turns out, is hiding the fact that he is married to a Polish woman) and saves the girl from shame. Anatole is forced to leave Moscow; he takes the separation from Natasha easily.

Anatoly Kuragin’s best friend is Dolokhov, he always supports his friend in carousing, drinking and fights. Anatole, as the author notes, is not just a “fool”, but a violent, “restless” fool. Being drunk, he strives for destruction - breaks things, breaks glass, gets into fights. The characterization of the hero is as follows: “He did not miss a single revelry with Dolokhov and other merry fellows of Moscow, drank all night long, outdrinking everyone, and attended all the evenings and balls of high society...”.

In St. Petersburg, Anatole was famous for the same “exploits” and has a reputation as a famous rake and reveler. Nature did not reward him with the ability to conduct eloquent conversations, sing, dance, art is alien to him. Anatole is in love with his own person; self-satisfaction and narcissism are especially characteristic of his nature.

Life principles and fate of Anatoly Kuragin

The hero has no firm life principles: he enjoys life, sheer fun, and no responsibility to anyone. This is precisely the reason that Anatole is satisfied with life, he is not sad about the past and does not worry about the future... The hero is absolutely sure that he is a good, kind person: “in his soul he considered himself an impeccable person, sincerely despised scoundrels and bad people and with a clear conscience he carries his head high...” He is not characterized by the desire for self-knowledge, repentance or self-flagellation. He simply lives like any egoist, overstepping the feelings of others.

Anatol Kuragin is a secondary hero of the work, representing a contrasting image to the main characters of the novel.

The writer describes Anatole as a handsome, fashionable young man, a military officer of aristocratic origin, whose life is subordinated to idleness, entertainment and joy. Anatole's father, Prince Vladimir, is experiencing many problems, including financial ones, due to his son's revelry and is forced to constantly extricate him from unpleasant stories.

The young man spent a long time abroad, receiving an education, and his character is characterized by selfishness, self-confidence, and narcissism. Kuragin is not characterized by obedience to the laws of morality and morality, he completely lacks a spiritual principle, in conversations he is not eloquent and not resourceful, but skillfully enjoys the favor of the female half of society, since he stands out for his external splendor and surroundings, while not endowed with musical, literary and dance talents. abilities.

Kuragin is distinguished by a cheerful disposition, lack of career ambitions and determination, he is not interested in the structure of his own life, Anatoly is satisfied with life on one holiday.

However, in relationships with women, Anatoly is only interested in the process of play, because he perceives each of his beloved as another toy and object of pleasure. He is not characterized by feelings of tender love, sincere respect for a woman, while he does not even realize that he is doing something bad and vicious. Therefore, he becomes the culprit of many broken women’s hearts, while not shying away from arranged marriages.

The writer vividly illustrates Anatole’s consumerist and vicious view of women at the time of his affair with Natasha Rostova, when the young man, taking advantage of the girl’s inexperience and her confusion due to separation from her fiancé Andrei Bolkonsky, tries to take Natasha away from the capital, but he fails. Realizing that he has tarnished the girl’s reputation, Kuragin does not regret or suffer at all, since he has a hardened heart and a vile, deceitful nature.

The author talks about the main test in the life of a young man, which was the inevitable retribution for the unseemly acts committed. Anatole participates in the Battle of Borodino, not distinguished by valor and military ingenuity, and is seriously wounded, as a result of which his leg is amputated. And before the reader there is no longer an exquisite dandy, a seducer of women’s hearts, but there is only an exhausted, suffering man, whose selfish character has completely destroyed a person from the inside.

Revealing the image of Anatoly Kuragin, the writer, using his example, gives a negative assessment of the human qualities that are inherent in this hero, and clearly illustrates the moral decline of individual representatives of Russian society, arguing that selfishness and love cannot coexist together, thereby expressing his humanistic position towards genuine , the enduring values ​​of life.

Essay by Anatol Kuragin

In L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” the image of Anatoly Kuragin is one of the most important, helping the author to reveal the characters of other characters.

Anatole Kuragin is a handsome officer who is the son of Prince Vasily Kuragin and the brother of Helen and Hippolyte. He is a very spoiled and selfish person, and just like everyone else in his family, he is used to using people to achieve his goals. In appearance, Anatole is a rather attractive young man. He is tall, he has beautiful eyes and brown hair, he has the appearance of a good-natured man, accustomed to his victories. However, his appearance is deceptive, since he is deprived of inner beauty, inside he is empty. He has enormous self-confidence and calmness, which is very welcome in high society, even despite the fact that in fact Anatole is a very depraved, stupid and arrogant person. Relationships with other people do not concern Kuragin at all; he lives for his own pleasure, having constant revelries. Even his father complains that his son costs him too much.

Kuragin is spoiled by the attention of women, so they only cause him contempt, because he himself never truly loved anyone, he felt that he was superior to women in everything. The father tried to arrange a marriage between Anatoly and Marya Bolkonskaya, whom he initially also made a strong impression on, but this marriage was not destined to happen, since the girl recognized Kuragin’s narrow-mindedness and depravity in time.

Prince Vasily sends his son to Moscow, hoping that he will receive a good position there under the commander-in-chief and, perhaps, marry successfully. However, some people closest to Anatoly knew that when his regiment was in Poland, he married the daughter of a landowner, only he very quickly left his wife and, having agreed with her father that he would send him money, again began to call himself single .

Even Natasha Rostova, like everyone else, succumbed to Anatole’s external charm and decided to run away with him. But when she found out that he was married, she abandoned this idea, even though it caused her severe mental trauma. Andrei Bolkonsky, having learned that Natasha and Anatoly are having an affair, decides to take revenge on him and challenges Kuragin to a duel. Only they met when Prince Bolkonsky was seriously wounded and Kuragin lost his leg. Kuragin receives Prince Andrei's forgiveness and this is where his role in the novel ends.

Anatol Kuragin is a man with an attractive appearance, but internally empty. In the novel, he plays an important role, since the heroes who encounter him learn life lessons from him, thanks to which they find the right path.

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Anatol Kuragin - son of Prince Vasily, officer, ladies' man. Anatole always gets into some unpleasant situations, from which his father always pulls him out. His favorite pastime is playing cards and carousing with his friend Dolokhov. Anatole is stupid and not talkative, but he himself is always confident in his uniqueness.

He is very handsome and dresses fashionably, so he is popular with women. Anatole is used to what women like, so he treats them with contempt, realizing his superiority. He does not know how to experience strong feelings, he does not know what love is. Anatole is an arrogant and depraved person, he charms Natasha Rostova and wants to take her away and secretly marry her, although he himself is already married to a Polish girl and hides this from everyone. Dolokhov warns him that he could end up on trial for bigamy, but this does not scare him, he just wants to get the girl he likes, although in his heart he does not have strong feelings for her, otherwise he could simply ask for her hand. The kidnapping is foiled and Pierre expels him from the city.Kuragin has to hide from Andrei Bolkonsky, who wants to challenge him to a duel because Anatole took his bride away from him. Their meeting took place only in the infirmary: Andrei lay with a mortal wound, and Kuragin’s leg was amputated.

Family
Prince Vasily Kuragin.
For Tolstoy, the world of family is the basis of humanity
society. The Kuragin family in the novel appears as the embodiment of immorality.
Selfishness, hypocrisy, capacity for crime, dishonor for the sake of wealth,
irresponsibility for one's actions in one's personal life - these are the main distinguishing features
features of this family.
And how much destruction the Kuragins caused - Prince
Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, Rostov, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!
The Kuragins are the third family unit in the novel -
deprived of generic poetry. Their family closeness and connection is unpoetic, although she
undoubtedly there is - instinctive mutual support and solidarity, a kind of
mutual guarantee of almost animal egoism. This kind of family connection is not positive,
a real family connection, but essentially a negation of it. Real families -
The Rostovs, Bolkonskys - have, of course, against the Kuragins on their side
immeasurable moral superiority; but still an invasion
Kuragin's base egoism causes a crisis in the world of these families.
The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize
moral standards, living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant
desires.

Prince Vasily Kuragin The head of this entire family is Prince Vasily
Kuragin. For the first time we meet Prince Vasily in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He
was "in a courtier's, embroidered, uniform, stockings, shoes and stars, with
with a bright expression on his flat face." The prince said "on
that exquisite French language, which was not only spoken, but also thought
our grandfathers, and with those quiet, patronizing intonations that
characteristic of a significant person who has grown old in high society and at court,” “said
always lazy, like an actor speaking the role of an old play." In the eyes of secular society, the prince
Kuragin is a respected person, “close to the emperor, surrounded by a crowd
enthusiastic women, scattering social pleasantries and complacent
chuckling." In words he was a decent, sympathetic person,
but in reality there was constantly an internal struggle in him between desire
appear to be a decent person and the actual depravity of his motives.
Prince Vasily "knew that influence in the world is capital that is necessary
take care that he does not disappear, and, once realizing that if he asks for
everyone who asks him, then soon he will not be able to ask for himself, he rarely
used this influence." But at the same time, he
sometimes I felt remorse. So, in the case of Princess Drubetskaya, he
felt "something like a remorse" as she reminded him
that “he owed his first steps in the service to her father.” Prince Vasily is not alien to fatherly feelings, although
They are expressed rather in the desire to “attach”
their children rather than giving them fatherly love and warmth. According to Anna Pavlovna
Scherer, people like the prince should not have children.
"…And for what
Will people like you have children? If you weren't the father, I
I couldn’t reproach you for anything.” To which the prince replied: “What
what should I do? You know, I did everything I could to raise them.
maybe father." Prince
forced Pierre to marry Helene, while pursuing his own selfish goals. At Anna Pavlovna Sherer's proposal to "marry
the prodigal son Anatole" on Princess Maria Bolkonskaya,
Having learned that the princess is a rich heiress, he says:
"she
has a good name and is rich. Everything I need." At the same time, Prince Vasily
does not think at all about the fact that Princess Marya may be unhappy in her marriage
with the dissolute scoundrel Anatole, who looked upon his entire life as one
continuous entertainment.
Absorbed all the base, vicious traits of the prince
Vasily and his children.

Helen Kuragina
Helen is the embodiment of external beauty and internal
voids, fossils. Tolstoy constantly mentions its “monotonous”, “unchanging”
smile and “antique beauty of the body”, she resembles a beautiful,
soulless statue. Helen Scherer enters the salon “noisily with her white ballroom
robe, decorated with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of the shoulders, the gloss of the hair and
diamonds, passed without looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and as if kindly
giving everyone the right to admire the beauty of their figure, full shoulders, very
open, according to the fashion of that time, chest and back, and as if bringing with it shine
bala. Helen was so beautiful that not only was there not even a shadow noticeable in her
coquetry, but, on the contrary, she seemed ashamed of her undoubted and
too powerful beauty. It was as if she wanted and could not diminish
the actions of this beauty."
Helen personifies immorality and depravity.
The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize any moral standards,
living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires. Helen enters
into marriage only for their own enrichment.
She cheats on her husband because her nature is dominated by
animal origin. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless. "I
“I’m not such a fool as to have children,” she admits. Also,
being Pierre's wife, Helene, in front of the whole society, is engaged in the construction
your personal life.
In addition to a luxurious bust, a rich and beautiful body,
this representative of high society had an extraordinary ability to hide
his mental and moral squalor, and all this thanks only to grace
her manners and memorization of certain phrases and techniques. Shamelessness manifested itself in her
under such grandiose high-society forms that aroused in others a little
Isn't it respect?
Helen is completely devoid of patriotic feelings. At that
while the whole country rose up to fight Napoleon, and even the high society
took part in this struggle in his own way (“they didn’t speak French and
ate simple food"), in Helen's circle, Rumyantsev, French, were refuted
rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war and all of Napoleon's attempts to
reconciliation."
When the threat of capture of Moscow by Napoleonic troops
became obvious, Helen went abroad. And there she shone under the imperial
yard But now the court returns to St. Petersburg.
"Helen,
Having returned with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg, she was in
difficult situation. In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed a special
patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state.
In the end, Helen dies. This death is direct
a consequence of her own intrigues. "Countess Elena Bezukhova
died suddenly from... a terrible disease, which is commonly called chest
angina, but in intimate circles they talked about how the queen’s life physician
Spanish prescribed Helen small doses of some medicine to produce
known action; but like Helen, tormented by the fact that the old count
suspected her, and because the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved
Pierre), did not answer her, suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed to her and
died in agony before help could be given."
Ippolit Kuragin.
"...Prince Hippolyte amazed with his
extraordinary resemblance to her beautiful sister, and even more so, despite
similarity, he was amazingly bad-looking. His facial features were the same as those
sister, but with her everything was illuminated by a cheerful, self-satisfied, young,
an unchanging smile and extraordinary, antique beauty of the body. My brother, on the contrary,
the same face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident
disgust, and the body was thin and weak. Eyes, nose, mouth - everything was shrinking like
as if in one vague, boring grimace, and arms and legs always took
unnatural position."
Hippolytus was unusually stupid. Because of self-confidence
to whom he spoke, no one could understand whether what he said was very smart or very stupid.
At Scherer's reception he appears to us "in
in a dark green tailcoat, in trousers the color of a frightened nymph, as he himself said, in
stockings and shoes." And such an absurdity of attire is not at all his
didn't bother me.
His stupidity was manifested in the fact that he sometimes
spoke, and then understood what he said. Hippolytus often spoke and acted
inappropriately, expressed his opinions when no one needed them. He
liked to insert phrases into the conversation that were completely unrelated to the essence of the discussion
Topics.
The character of Hippolytus can serve as a living example of
that even positive idiocy is sometimes presented in the world as something having
meaning due to the gloss attached to knowledge of the French language, and that
the extraordinary property of this language to support and at the same time mask
spiritual emptiness.
Prince Vasily calls Ippolit "deceased
a fool." Tolstoy in the novel is "sluggish and breaking."
These are the dominant character traits of Hippolytus. Ippolit is stupid, but he is his
stupidity at least does not harm anyone, unlike his younger brother
Anatoly.

Anatol Kuragin.
Anatol Kuragin, according to Tolstoy, is “simple
and with carnal inclinations." These are the dominant traits
Anatole's character. He looked upon his whole life as a continuous amusement,
which someone like that for some reason agreed to arrange for him. The author’s characterization of Anatole is as follows:
"He was not
unable to think about how his actions might affect others, nor
what might come out of such or such an act of his.”
Anatole is completely free from considerations
responsibility and consequences of what he does. His selfishness is immediate,
animal-naive and good-natured, absolute egoism, for he is not constrained by anything
Anatole inside, in consciousness, feeling. Kuragin simply lacks the ability to know
what will happen beyond that moment of his pleasure, and how will it affect his life?
other people, as others will see. All this does not exist for him at all.
He is sincerely convinced, instinctively, with his whole being, that everything around him has
Its only purpose is entertainment and it exists for this. No looking back
people, on their opinion, on the consequences, no distant goal that would force
focus on achieving it, no remorse, no thoughts,
hesitation, doubt - Anatole, whatever he did, naturally and sincerely
considers himself an impeccable person and holds his beautiful head high: freedom is truly limitless, freedom in actions and self-awareness.
Such complete freedom was given to Anatoly
meaninglessness. A person who consciously relates to life is already subordinated, like
Pierre, the need to understand and solve, he is not free from life's difficulties, from
question: why? While Pierre is tormented by this difficult question,
Anatole lives, content with every minute, stupidly, animalistically, but easily and
funny.
Marriage to a "rich ugly heiress" -
Maria Bolkonskaya seems to him like just another amusement. "A
Why not marry if she is very rich? It never gets in the way" -
thought Anatole.