Slide 4

The purpose of the lesson

Today we are devoting two lessons to analyzing a fragment from A. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great”, preparing for an essay such as an analysis of the episode.

The lesson is general in nature.

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Find errors

1. 1. Vasily Golitsyn leaned on the stool and looked around his mother’s bedchamber with annoyance. Sophia, sitting opposite him, smiled affectionately...

   I want to marry you...

   Vasily quickly jumped up, waving his arms, and ran from the illuminated faces of the saints to the door at random around the bedroom. Sat down. He shook his head...

   Large feet turned toes inward.

2. Peter's blue eyes sparkled with excitement. The hour was decisive - a new king had to be named. Whom? Alexandra or Ivan? Is it Naryshkina’s son or Miloslavskaya’s son? Both are still unintelligent boys, and both have strength in their family. Ivan is hot in mind and strong in body. Alexander is weak-minded, sick, put ropes out of him... What to prefer? Whom?

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Episode Definition

Episode (Greek: incoming, extraneous) - one or another to a certain extent completed and independent part literary work, which depicts a completed event or important point in the character's fate.

Episode - part (excerpt, fragment) work of art, which has relative completeness and represents a separate moment in the development of the topic.

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Synonyms

Excerpt, fragment, part

Slide 9

Repetition

The role of the episode in the text

We are always trying to understand why any fragment in the text is needed, what its role is in the work.

What functions of an episode can be in the text?

Determine the role of such episodes: last meeting Onegin and Tatyana, Oblomov's dream, the first meeting of Natasha Rostova and Anatoly Kuragin.

Give your own examples.

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The role of the episode in the text

1. Characterological.
   The episode reveals the character of the hero, his worldview.
2. Psychological.
   The episode reveals state of mind character.
3. Rotary.
   The episode shows a new twist in the characters' relationship.
4. Estimated.
   The author gives a description of a character or event.

Slide 11

Repetition

Episode as part of the plot

• The episode is part of some plot element.
• Name a set of plot elements.
• What element of the plot includes such episodes: the duel of Onegin and Lensky, the death of Bazarov, the life of Natasha and Pierre.
• An episode may be an extra-plot element. Name this set.
• Give examples of such fragments.

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Plot elements

1. Exposition
2. The beginning
3. Development of action
4. Climax
5. Fall action
6. Denouement
7. Epilogue

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Extra-plot elements

1. Description:
   • portrait
   • interior
   • scenery
2. Author's digressions
3. Inserted episodes

Slide 14

Repetition

• Essay - reasoning
• The analysis of the episode is constructed as a reasoning.
• Let us recall the reasoning scheme.

Slide 15

Essay structure - reasoning

I. Thesis (the main idea of ​​the essay)

Because, since.

II. Justification: arguments and examples

What follows from this?

Therefore, therefore, thus, thus.

Echoes the thesis.

Slide 16

Repetition

Episode Analysis Flowchart

Let us recall the episode analysis scheme.

What's not clear?

Now let's move on to a specific episode.

Book 3, chapter 2 (5)

Slide 17

Introduction

1.What is an episode? Give a definition.

2. Assumption about the role of this episode in the work (essay thesis).

Slide 18

Essay plan - reasoning “The role of the episode in the text.”

Main part (arguments and examples)

1. A condensed retelling of this fragment.
2. The place of the episode in the composition of the text.

Why is this episode located here? What are the episodes before and after? What is the connection with other fragments?

3. The place of the episode in the plot of the work.

Plot, exposition, development of action, climax, denouement, epilogue.

4.What themes, ideas, problems (questions) of the text are reflected in this episode?

Slide 19

Scheme for analyzing an episode of a prose text.

Essay plan - reasoning “The role of the episode in the text.”

5. Arrangement of characters in this fragment. New in the characters' characters.

6. What is objective world works?

Landscape, interior, portrait.

Why exactly this in this episode?

7. Motives of the episode.

A meeting, an argument, a road, a dream, and the like.

Associations.

Biblical, folklore, ancient.

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Scheme for analyzing an episode of prose text

8.On whose behalf is the story told?

9.Organization of speech.

Narration, description, monologue, dialogue.

10.Language means.

Paths and figures.

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Conclusion (conclusion)

1. The role of the episode in the work (similarity with the introduction).

2.What themes of the work are developed in this episode?

3. The significance of the fragment for revealing the idea of ​​the text.

Slide 22

At the blackboard

Make an episode outline (simple or quotable).

Come up with several episode titles (reflecting a theme or idea).

Slide 23

Checking homework

Several people read a condensed recap of the episode.

What's successful? What can be changed?

Slide 24

Episode Analysis

Essay introduction

• What could be the introduction?
• Propose a thesis statement.
• There may be another thesis.
• Read part of the article by literary critic M. Sverdlov about the novel “Peter the Great”.
• What role does this episode play?

Slide 25

Thesis - 1

New Russia is being built, but what a terrible price.

Complex relations between the king and the people.

Slide 26

M. SverdlovQuestion about the meaning of life

What is taking up space? moral quest V

"Peter the Great"? Professional searches. Are the characters in the novel looking for the meaning of life?

Yes, in the professional field.

The meaning of life for the heroes of “Peter the Great” is professionalism. Why are the boyars superfluous? Because they're slackers. The boyars are opposed by specialists - the best in their field, professionals: merchant Artyom Brovkin (the most cunning and resourceful), officer Alexey Brovkin (the most efficient),

blacksmith Zhemov (the most skillful), painter Golikov (the most talented).

Slide 27

In Peter’s Russia, as Alexei Tolstoy describes it, a person is either a professional or “cannon fodder.” Therefore, everyone around Peter must become professionals: the old boyar Romodanovsky - become a professional in detective and inquiry (the most cruel), Princess Natalya (the most artistic) - master the theater business, boyar Buynosov (the stupidest) pays for idleness - the role of a professional jester.

Slide 28

And the professional above the professionals is Tsar Peter himself; because he is at the same time a carpenter, a shipbuilder, an artilleryman, and a blacksmith, because the profession of the king (“father of nations”), according to the logic of the novel, is the sum of all other professions plus the superhuman will that generalizes all professions.

So, let’s summarize: the question about the meaning of life for the heroes of “Peter the Great” is not moral, but

"technical question; their choice is not between good and evil, but between useful and useless.

Slide 29

Thesis - 2

Professionalism is the basis of the state of Peter I; reforms are impossible without professionals.

Slide 30

Episode Analysis

Main part of the essay

• The main part begins with a condensed retelling. We've already heard it.
• What place does the episode occupy in the composition of the text?
• What happens in chapter 4?
• What happens in chapter 6?
• How are all these episodes connected?

Slide 31

Event in chapter 4

The Tsar is visiting Menshikov, talking about preparations for war with Charles XII.

Slide 32

Event in chapter 6

Peter returns home, tells Menshikov about Golikov, and the ice begins to drift.

"analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, issues and other issues are discussed in this article.

"Peter the Great" and Russian literature. Russian literature is often for various reasons turned to the image of the tsar-transformer, the tsar-revolutionary. In the 18th century the heroic-odic tonality prevailed: the poem by M. V. Lomonosov “Peter the Great”, “Lamentation on the Death of Peter” by V. K. Trediakovsky, poems by M. M. Kheraskov, G. R. Derzhavin, “Dithyramb” by A. P. Sumarokova (“Founder of our glory, oh, creator of great deeds! See the end of your power and the happy limit”). IN XIX century However, assessments of the activities of Peter I were divided. Unlike Pushkin, who perceived Peter’s acts as a feat, the Slavophiles pointed to negative consequences exaggerated and violent, in their opinion, Europeanization of Russia. Leo Tolstoy treated the figure of Peter in a similar way. Having conceived a novel from the era of Peter, he gave up writing it because, by his own admission, he hated the personality of the king, “the most pious robber, murderer.” Such a negative assessment was later picked up, already in the new century, by symbolists, which was especially clearly manifested in D. S. Merezhkovsky’s novel “Peter and Alexey” (1905) from his trilogy “Christ and Antichrist”.

Peter and Pushkin. However, through all the contrasts and contradictions of the Peter the Great era, the Pushkin tradition shows us the vector of movement. Pushkin, as A.I. Kuprin said, “was, is and will be the only writer who could, with his divine inspiration, penetrate the gigantic soul of Peter and understand, feel its supernatural dimensions... No, Pushkin was not blinded or intoxicated by the beautiful and terrible the appearance of Peter. In the words of a cold mind he speaks about the actions of the transformer of Russia: “The difference between government agencies Peter the Great and his temporary decrees. The first are the fruits of a vast mind, full of goodwill and wisdom; the latter - often cruel - are capricious and, it seems, written with a whip. The first were for eternity, or at least for the future; the second - escaped from an impatient, autocratic landowner." This is how truthful and careful Pushkin is, how sharp his eyes are."

The theme of Peter in early Tolstoy. Working on a novel about Peter, Tolstoy followed from Pushkin's source. But he turned to this topic, one might say the theme of the artist’s life, long before writing his grandiose work. “I have been targeting Peter for a long time,” Tolstoy wrote. “I saw all the stains on his doublet, but Peter still stood out as a mystery in the historical fog.”

Russian history, feeling of the Fatherland, native land form the core of Tolstoy's nature. This deeply national essence of talent was characterized much later by Bunin: “Tolstoy knew and felt everything Russian (Tolstoy - O.M.) like very few.” His burning interest in Russia’s past and its history was dictated by the desire to better understand the present, to understand what was happening. "The Tale of Troubled Times" (1922), stylized as " handwritten book Prince Typenev”, dedicated to the turbulent events of the early XYII century, when in a bloody tangle palace coups, foreign invasions, peasant revolts “settled” Russian state and when in immeasurable suffering the most amazing biographies, like the transformation of the murderer Naum into Saint Nifont - another repetition in Rus' of the story with Kudeyar, in whom, in the words of Nekrasov, “the Lord awakened his conscience.” This gave the artist a historical runway, although direct, albeit distant approaches to Peter’s theme were the stories “Obsession” (1917), “The Day of Peter” (1917), and then historical play"On the Rack" (1928).

Actually, the figure of Peter itself is not yet in “Obsession”: it depicts tragic death the innocently accused Kochubey and the unhappy love of his daughter Matryona for the traitor - Hetman Mazepa. But in the next story, the personality of the king-transformer is at the very center of the story. But how does Peter appear against the backdrop of the “paradise” under construction - St. Petersburg? This is a destroyer of national foundations, the centuries-old way of Russian life. “With his face twisted with anger and impatience, the owner galloped from Holland to Moscow, swooped in with annoyance... Now, on this very day, turn everything over, reshape it, cut their beards, put on a Dutch caftan for everyone, wise up, start thinking differently. And with little resistance - they only stuttered that, they say, we are not Dutch, but Russians... we cannot be Dutch, for mercy - where is that! The royal soul became enraged at such persistence, and the heads of the Streltsy flew.”

It is significant that for the story “The Day of Peter” Tolstoy, among other sources, turned to the diary of a foreigner, a chamber cadet at the court of the Duke of Holstein F. Berchholz, who was very hostile to Peter and his activities. And in general, the writer gives a negative assessment of Peter’s transformations, drawing closer to the Slavophiles and D. S. Merezhkovsky. As Tolstoy believes, the entire Russian land, all classes, all the people were against the drastic reforms of Peter, who, “sitting on wastelands and swamps, alone terrible will strengthened the state, rebuilt the land.” In this one can hear topical echoes of the upheavals that Russia experienced in the terrible year of 1917.

Working on a novel. Historicism and topicality. The first book of the epic "Peter the Great" was created in a situation when Soviet Russia The centuries-old foundations were being broken, when, in a heroic-labor and at the same time tragic atmosphere, marked by millions of victims, industrialization and collectivization were carried out with an iron hand and the foundations of the cult of I.V. Stalin were laid. In the early 30s, talking about his work on Peter the Great, Tolstoy emphasized the topicality of his historical narrative:

“I could not pass indifferently by the creative enthusiasm that engulfed our entire country, but I could not write about modernity, having visited our new buildings once or twice... I decided to respond to our era as best I could. And again he turned to the past, this time to talk about the victory over the elements, inertia and Asianism.” But at the same time, the writer strongly protested against the attempts of vulgarizing critics to present the novel “Peter the Great” as an artistic encryption of his time: “What led me to the epic “Peter the Great”? It is not true that I chose that era for the projection of modernity - this would be a false-historical and anti-artistic device on my part. I was fascinated by the feeling of fullness, “unkempt” and creative power that life when the Russian character was revealed with particular brightness.”

Influence historical school M. N. Pokrovsky. At the end of the 20s, when Tolstoy began work on the novel, historical science The views of M.N. Pokrovsky prevailed. He believed that Russia in the 17th century. developed under the auspices of merchant capital in the Monomakh cap. In other words, Pokrovsky believed that everything external and domestic politics Peter served to strengthen the “merchant bourgeoisie,” and as a result, the monarch himself appeared in the role of a merchant king fighting against the “Thermidor of the boyars.” While working on the first book of the novel, Tolstoy was influenced by this vulgar Marxist concept, which sometimes manifested itself quite straightforwardly. Thus, the wise clerk Vinius teaches the king: “Glorify the merchant people, pull them out of the mud, give them strength, and the merchant will be honored in one thing.” honestly, - feel free to rely on them.” And further: “The same words were spoken by Sidney, and Van Leyden, and Lefort. The unknown seemed to Peter in them, as if a vital vein was being felt under his feet...” In accordance with this doctrine, the image of Ivashka Brovkin is created, a beggar serf, who, thanks to the support of the tsar, breaks out “into the people”, becomes one of richest people country and gives his beautiful daughter away former master Boyar Volkov.

However, such examples occurred during the reign of Peter. And Rus' itself, like a sleeping princess, needed a powerful shake-up. And here Tolstoy sharply disagrees with Pokrovsky in assessing the results of Peter’s reforms, summing up which the scholar-historian concluded: “The death of the reformer was a worthy finale to this feast during the plague.” Meanwhile, from the first to the last page, the epic is permeated by a deep conviction that all initiatives and reforms will find a happy end, because they are useful and necessary for Russia. In essence, Tolstoy returns us to the optimistic, Pushkin tradition in assessing the activities of Peter the Great.

Composition of the novel. Image of Peter the Great. Tolstoy's innovation. According to the established tradition in literature, dating back to Walter Scott, decisive events, the so-called “big history,” served only as a background for the history of another, “small”, and private human destinies. The clearest example of this is Leo Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace,” where what is happening is conveyed through perception fictional characters- Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, etc., while historical figures- Kutuzov, Napoleon, Bagration, Rostopchin, right up to Emperor Alexander I - are relegated to the background. Going against the tide, Alexei Tolstoy makes the hero of his epic precisely “ big story"and Peter himself.

“A historical novel cannot be written in the form of a chronicle, in the form of history...” the author himself noted. - It is necessary first of all, as in everything artistic canvas, - composition, architectonics of the work. What is this composition? This is, first of all, the establishment of a center, the center of the artist’s vision... In my novel, the center is the figure of Peter I.” As in Pushkin’s “Poltava,” the monumental figure of the Tsar-Transformer, as if cast from bronze, becomes the core of the work. On the contrary, wide historical background filled in by fictional characters - the Brovkins, Buinosovs, Vasily Volkov, Golikov, Zhemov, Gypsy, Fedka Wash Yourself with Mud, etc.

At the same time, the multiplicity of plot lines creates, as it were, several planes in the work, growing from rough, working outlines: “Peter’s Line (war, construction). Monet's line (love). Sanka (Brovkin) line. Golikov Line (split). Line of Flap, Overyan (revolutionary protest]).” However, the versatility of the composition, the contrast of the chapters, the continuously changing author's tonality - all this adds up to a mosaic panorama of the era. Decisive events in the life of the country become plot basis epic novel: the Streltsy uprising in Moscow, the reign of Sophia, the unsuccessful campaigns of Golitsyn and the Azov campaign of Peter, the Streltsy revolt, the construction of St. Petersburg, the capture of Yuryev and Narva. The very movement of the era, a series of its key events over a huge period of time, starting from 1682 to 1704, forms, as it were, the internal framework of the unfolding narrative. The action moves with cinematic swiftness from the poor hut of Ivashka Brovkin to the noisy square of old Moscow; from the room of the imperious and predatory princess Sophia to the Red Porch in the Kremlin, where little Peter becomes an eyewitness to the brutal reprisal of the boyar Matveev; from the boring chambers of the Tsar’s mother Natalya Kirillovna in the Preobrazhensky Palace to a clean, well-groomed German settlement on Kukui, and from there to the scorched steppes southern Russia, along which the army of Prince Golitsyn wanders, etc., etc.

From book to book, the composition is improved and verified, reaching in the last, third, special harmony and coherence. " Individual chapters, subchapters, episodes, descriptions, notes the researcher historical novel

A. Tolstoy A. V. Alpatov, - succeed each other not just in order of general chronological sequence. In their movement and tempo one can feel the setting for a certain artistic expressiveness; one can even feel some kind of orderliness in the very rhythm of the narrative.” At the same time, the patriotic sound is growing. The third book was created in the context of the heroic rise of the Great Patriotic War. In it, the theme naturally comes to the fore military exploits Russian soldier, Russian person, clearly revealed in the description of the storming of Narva. The figure of Peter appears even larger in the third book. “Character only benefits from boldly applied shadows,” said Leo Tolstoy. Peter reveals himself in all his grandeur contradictory nature- generous and cruel; brave and subject to attacks of fear coming from childhood; broad and merciless towards dissenters; a revolutionary tsar and truly the first landowner of Russia, he precedes the entire Russian eighteenth century - “a century that is crazy and wise” (A. N. Radishchev).

Image of Peter. Personality formation. Creating the image of Peter, Tolstoy traces the process of personality formation, the formation of his character both under the influence of historical circumstances and the principles inherent in him by nature: will, energy, perseverance in achieving a goal. He cannot stand the “spirit of the old woman” and from an early age he feels disgust for all old customs, for everything patriarchal, the personification of which for him are mothers, nannies, hangers-on and firecrackers. This well-fed, but empty life without thought and work is contrasted with the vigorous activity of Peter, who always had “no time.” “You gave birth to a good son,” Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn says to Natalya Kirillovna, “you’ll turn out to be smarter than everyone else, give it time.” His eye is awake." Peter greedily strives for a new life, for new people, not like those who surround him in the Preobrazhensky Palace.

From the first pages of the novel, Tolstoy emphasizes external resemblance Peter with people of the “mean” breed: “Peter, covered in dust, in the ground, sweaty, like a peasant,” stood under the linden tree in front of Nikita; “To the left stood lanky Peter, as if at Christmas time they dressed a man in a royal dress that was not his height.” Life in the village of Preobrazhenskoye allowed him to communicate closely with the people; friendly relations between him and the peasant boys of his own age. “You... read the divine more with him,” mother Natalya Kirillovna says with concern to Peter’s first teacher Nikita Zotov. - Otherwise, he doesn’t even look like a king... He still hasn’t learned to walk with his feet. Everything runs like a simple person.” Among the ossified boyars, who boast of their “high birth”, even greater fear for the fate of the tsar and the state is caused by the lack of arrogance in relations with ordinary people, friendship with peers of the “vile rank” (Alexashka Menshikov, Alyoshka Brovkin), indifference to the royal rank, love of work and the desire to be able to do everything himself (from pulling a needle through the cheek to building a ship).

“To understand the secret of the Russian people,” wrote L.N. Tolstoy, “you need to know its past well and deeply: our history, its fundamental nodes...”

From here it becomes clear why it was the era of Peter the Great, a time of stormy and decisive transformations and changes in Russia, that could attract the creative attention of A.N. Tolstoy for so long. As is known, Alexei Tolstoy worked on the historical novel “Peter the Great” and on the preparation of its individual volumes for about two decades.

In the first book of the novel (1930), Peter as a transformer is shown to be closely connected with his time and environment. The writer reveals in him the bright talent of a great statesman, sees in his bold thoughts, perseverance and perseverance a reflection of the best features of the Russian national character. At the same time, the author truthfully shows what an unbearable burden the costs of reforms fell on the shoulders of common people. The Tsar-Reformer appears to the reader as an unprepared, already established personality. The writer depicts his hero in dynamics, in development, in the process of his complex formation.

The first volume captures the most early childhood king For the first time, the reader sees Peter as a frightened child in Monomakh’s hat slid to one side, when, at the request of the rebellious archers, the queen shows him from the porch to the people. Here he is - a twelve-year-old teenager, “a boy with a muffled voice and unblinking owl eyes”, whom Aleksashka Menshikov, his future favorite, teaches the “trick” of threading a needle through his cheek... Then this is Peter, already spreading his wings, giving the first rebuff to his claims elder sister Sophia: during the ceremonial procession in the cathedral he enters into an argument with her, a sharp dispute over the right to carry the icon.

Next, this is an awkward, lanky young man, with a barely visible mustache on his tanned face, who awkwardly and shyly tries to dance an overseas dance with Ankhen Mons on fun party at Lefort's in the German settlement. Then there is the young king, returning from a trip to Europe. With indomitable fury, he dealt with the rebellious archers in October 1698, participating in brutal executions himself.

The plot of the novel emphasizes that Peter's youth and early life were full of sharp, dramatic clashes and intense struggles for power. Peter gradually gains strength, accumulates experience, experiences the inevitable stage of first failures and defeats, and only then comes close to implementing the transformations he has planned.

In the second volume (1934), the reader sees Peter in the heat of his government endeavors - in the preparation of new laws and regulations, in measures to rearm the Russian army, in the construction of the fleet. Tolstoy shows him in an atmosphere of exciting work at the Voronezh shipyard, in the forge, where Peter himself participates in forging the anchor for the new forty-gun ship “Fortress”:

Near Narva we see Peter loading a cannon with calm efficiency; He shoots accurately, successfully hitting the wall of the Swedes' fortress tower.

By showing all this, A. Tolstoy completely avoided the idealization of the “carpenter king.” Already one meeting of Peter near Azov with the boyar Streshnev, whom the tsar cruelly “teaches” for his negligence in supplying the troops with food - one such scene excludes the possibility of reproach for the idealizing make-up of Peter.

From chapter to chapter, from one part to another, more and more new touches are revealed in the image of Peter. It is as if before our eyes he is turning into a mature statesman, carrying out his difficult political program with calm prudence.

In the third book (1945), when A. Tolstoy depicts Peter’s arrival in newly rebuilt St. Petersburg, or when Peter is shown in the context of the victorious assault on Narva, in the scene of the official surrender of the Swedes, he seems to grow on his head; it emphasizes the majestic posture, imperious calm, self-confidence of the ruler of one of the strongest European states... What gives special relief and volume to the figure of Peter is that next to him, or rather, around him, the writer gives a whole series of portraits of his contemporaries - the rulers of neighboring states, political enemies of Peter or his closest associates.

A. Tolstoy's novel is densely populated by people, each of whom has not only his own appearance, but also his own destiny. But they are all united by a progressive and steady movement forward and up the ladder of life. Tolstoy admires how Alexander Menshikov, who came from a humble background, became the first dignitary, right hand sovereign; how the village girl Sanka Brovkina turns into the noble noblewoman Volkova, and the indentured servant Ivashka Brovkin grows into a major merchant; how a modest icon painter from Palekh, Andryushka Golikov, goes to Italy itself to learn his craft.

A. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great” remained unfinished. The worsening illness and death of the writer (1945) interrupted the work. The last thing he managed to write was the sixth chapter of the third volume.

In the novel, the writer depicts a wide stream of historical life, a whole panorama of the country, the fate of not only individual heroes, a narrow circle of people, but also the entire people in their big movement. This determines a number of such essential points artistic structure the entire work, like the wide scale of the drawing; highlighting historical rather than fictional characters; the presence of chronicle elements in the development of the plot; versatility of the composition, etc.

The content of the third book is the success of the transformations, the first tangible fruits of Peter's reforms. Shows the strength of Peter's army and the growing military power of Russia early XVIII century, and at the same time a cultural upsurge in Russian society is depicted, the imperious penetration of a new, secular principle into the ascetic medieval way of life of old Russia. The third book of Peter the Great, created during the Great Patriotic War, especially vividly develops the theme of the glory of Russian weapons, the theme of heroism and exploits of Russian soldiers.

Behind all this there is one thing - cherished dream the tsar to make Russia a rich power, and the Russian people happy. In the statement of this humanistic idea and Tolstoy found a solution to his doubts regarding the veracity of both the past and the present of his Motherland. Any, the most serious, bleeding problems, he believed, must retreat before the highest truth: “The goal of all efforts is man, the highest created and creative form of nature.”

Alexei Tolstoy dedicates the novel early period reign of Peter the Great. It depicts the suppression of the Streltsy revolt, the tsar’s struggle with unwanted boyars, the old order, military events (the Azov campaign, the storming of Narva).

To better understand Alexei Tolstoy's intention when writing this work, let's do brief analysis the novel “Peter the Great”, which will help you look at the text from a slightly different angle.

The history of the creation of the novel “Peter the Great” by Tolstoy

The bulk of the work was created in the 1930s, although Tolstoy worked on the novel Peter the Great, which we are analyzing, until his death in 1945. Tolstoy did not agree when direct parallels were drawn between the beginning of the reign of Peter and the formation of a new state in the 1920-30s. However, he emphasized that there are certain similarities: these are colossal changes that took place in the country, when the way of life completely changed. This idea becomes obvious when we analyze the novel “Peter the Great”.

The third part of the novel was written during the Great Patriotic War, so Alexey Tolstoy pays the main attention to the military exploits of the Russian people, the unbroken spirit, despite the hardships of the Azov campaign.

While working on the novel Peter the Great, Tolstoy used a variety of historical sources: archival documents, memoirs of witnesses to events, notes from foreigners about Russia in those years, court reports, diaries and private letters, as well as historical songs, jokes and legends.

Genre of the novel “Peter the Great” by Tolstoy

An analysis of the novel “Peter the Great” would be incomplete without discussing the genre of the work. The genre of historical novel involves artistic image any period of history separated by time distance. Characters are historical figures(Peter the Great, Alexei Menshikov, Princess Sophia and others), the events that actually took place are shown.

The genre requires true portrayal life and customs of the era. Considerable attention is paid to the features of the language, reflecting the flavor of the time.

Analysis of the composition of the novel “Peter the Great”

Main feature the compositions can be called an interweaving of many storylines. The depiction of Peter's activities is given parallel to the stories about the life of the most ordinary people: Brovkins, Loskut, Overyan, Golikov. This shows the versatility of the era (new construction, schism, love, protest and rebellion).

It's interesting how Tolstoy relates to each other storylines- skillfully, subtly and historically accurate. Even if you read summary novel, you will notice this. However, continuing the analysis of the novel “Peter the Great” by Tolstoy, let’s move on to the image of the main character.

The image of Peter in Tolstoy's novel

The identity of Per the First is far from clear. Alexei Tolstoy is interested in the formation of the tsar’s character, the reasons, methods of carrying out and consequences of reforms. He notes the sovereign’s hatred of Moscow Rus', the morals of the boyars, and church customs. The reasons for this lie in the childhood and youth of the tsar, who observed the struggle for power, became accustomed to fearing the boyars and ran away from boring life at court to a cheerful, as it seemed to him, German settlement, where the carousing continued for several days.

Subsequently, we see a young man who enters into a power struggle. He suppresses the Streltsy rebellion and himself participates in the merciless massacre of people, and imprisons his sister, Princess Sophia, in a monastery. Tolstoy does not hide the cruelty and injustice of the sovereign. In the third book we see a self-confident, decisive person who cares about Russia’s military achievements.

Analysis of the novel "Peter the Great" shows that the most important positive feature The king is the thirst for activity, energy, desire for something new. For example, it is important for Peter that Russian ships are no worse than the foreign ones that he saw in Arkhangelsk, so he attaches great importance to the training of Russian masters abroad. Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes that the tsar, in his appearance and manner, resembles a man of low rank; he himself works to create a fleet, communicates with ordinary people.

The military achievements of Peter the Great are shown in the final part. They open up the future prospect of victories for Russia.

An analysis of the novel “Peter the Great” by Tolstoy allows us to conclude that the main contradiction in the image of the tsar is that historically justified, serious and necessary transformations are carried out by barbaric methods, the new is built with the complete destruction of the old. However, Tolstoy emphasizes that many of the results of Peter’s activities deserve respect - a strong fleet, the construction of St. Petersburg, military victories.

You can think a lot about this work, you can analyze it a lot, but in this article our goal was to make a brief analysis of the novel “Peter the Great”. Alexey Tolstoy created a real masterpiece, and we hope that you will now love this book even more. Our literary blog contains many articles on similar topics, visit this section of our website. You may also be interested in

Analysis of "Peter the Great"

Tolstoy aelita prose historical

Characters and portrayal historical events, the conveyed atmosphere of the time make “Peter the Great” an exceptionally exciting read, despite the fact that there are no such elements of adventurism, “set up” by the author of meetings of the same characters with each other or with their acquaintances who know about them, as in “Walking Through Torment” , “Ibicus” or especially in “The Tale of Troubled Times”, the novel does not contain about Peter. The time depicted was not distinguished by sophistication, which allowed the writer to do without detailed psychologism, in which he was not strong. “Stream of consciousness” is given the only time when a woman murderer is shown buried up to her neck, whom Peter, ashamed of the barbaric custom in front of foreigners, orders to shoot. But Tolstoy makes it possible to guess what his characters feel and experience. Vasily Volkov after the seditious speeches of Mikhaila Tyrtov, who is spending the night with him, and the question: “Are you going to report on my conversation?” - turns to the wall, “where the resin appeared” /slowdown/, and “long later” answers: “- No, I won’t tell.” Menshikov tells the tsar after Anna Mons's betrayal with Koenigsek about Catherine living in his palace. “Peter,” I can’t understand, “listening or not... At the end of the story he coughed. Alexashka knew all his coughs by heart. “I understand,” Pyotr Alekseevich listened attentively.” Twice in the novel physiological signs of fear are shown in the danger of death from enemy weapons. During the Azov campaign, when you can get a Tatar arrow from the darkness: “Your toes were curling.” At the end of the novel, near Narva, Lieutenant Colonel Karpov is glad that he remained alive after the salvo: “And the overcoming fear, from which his shoulders rose, fell away...” In general, Tolstoy did not strive to be a battle painter in Peter the Great; his descriptions of battles are usually short; the confusion and turmoil of a mass deadly fight is best conveyed.

The novel has many characters, but none cameo character does not get lost among others. Tolstoy is inventive in anthropomimicry. So, satirical image Boyar Buinosov is created, in particular, by an absurd, comic surname (the character is “buen”, but only with his nose). The loving character is given the nickname Varena Madamkin. And Fedka’s colorful nickname, Wash Yourself with Mud, forcing the reader to imagine a face that can be washed even with mud, could hardly have been invented by anyone other than Tolstoy. The writer was not afraid to belittle the strong, talented person from a people with an extremely dramatic fate.