Analysis of the epic War and Peace. “People's Thought” and the theme of patriotism

On the eve of the 60s, the creative thought of L.N. Tolstoy struggled to solve the most significant problems of our time, directly related to the fate of the country and people. At the same time, by the 60s, all the features of the art of the great writer, deeply “innovative in its essence”, had been determined. Wide communication with the people as a participant in two campaigns - the Caucasian and Crimean - and also as a school leader and world mediator enriched Tolstoy. artist and ideologically prepared him to solve new, more complex problems in the field of art. In the 60s, the period of his broad epic creativity began, marked by the creation of the greatest work of world literature - “War and Peace.”

Tolstoy did not come to the idea of ​​“War and Peace” right away. In one of the versions of the preface to “War and Peace,” the writer said that in 1856 he began to write a story, the hero of which was supposed to be a Decembrist returning with his family to Russia. However, no manuscripts of this story, no plans, no notes have been preserved; Tolstoy's diary and correspondence also lack any mention of work on the story. In all likelihood, in 1856 the story was only conceived, but not started.

The idea of ​​a work about the Decembrist came to life again in Tolstoy during his second trip abroad, when in December 1860 in Florence he met his distant relative, the Decembrist S. G. Volkonsky, who partially served as a prototype for the image of Labazov from the unfinished novel.

S. G. Volkonsky, in his spiritual appearance, resembled the figure of the Decembrist, which Tolstoy sketches in a letter to Herzen on March 26, 1861, shortly after meeting with him: “I started a novel about 4 months ago, the hero of which should be the returning Decembrist. I wanted to talk to you about this, but I never had time. “My Decembrist should be an enthusiast, a mystic, a Christian, returning to Russia in 1956 with his wife, son and daughter and trying on his strict and somewhat ideal view of the new Russia. - Please tell me what you think about the decency and timeliness of such a plot. Turgenev, to whom I read the beginning, liked the first chapters.”1

Unfortunately, we do not know Herzen's answer; Apparently, it was meaningful and significant, since in the next letter, dated April 9, 1861, Tolstoy thanked Herzen for his “good advice about the novel”1 2.

The novel opened with a broad introduction, written in a sharply polemical manner. Tolstoy expressed his deeply negative attitude towards the liberal movement that unfolded in the first years of the reign of Alexander II.

In the novel, events unfolded exactly as Tolstoy reported in the above-quoted letter to Herzen. Labazov with his wife, daughter and son returns from exile to Moscow.

Pyotr Ivanovich Labazov was a good-natured, enthusiastic old man who had the weakness of seeing his neighbor in every person. The old man withdraws from active intervention in life (“his wings have become difficult to wear”), he is only going to contemplate the affairs of the young.

Nevertheless, his wife, Natalya Nikolaevna, who accomplished a “feat of love” by following her husband to Siberia and spent many years of exile with him, believes in the youth of his soul. And indeed, if the old man is dreamy, enthusiastic, and capable of getting carried away, then the youth are rational and practical. The novel remained unfinished, so it is difficult to judge how these very different characters would have developed.

Two years later, Tolstoy returned to work on a novel about the Decembrist, but, wanting to understand the socio-historical causes of Decembrism, the writer comes to 1812, to the events preceding the Patriotic War. In the second half of October 1863, he wrote to A.A. Tolstoy: “I have never felt my mental and even all my moral powers so free and so capable of work. And I have this job. This work is a novel from the time of 1810 and 20s, which has been occupying me quite since the fall. ...I am now a writer with all the strength of my soul, and I write and think as I have never written or thought before.”

However, for Tolstoy much of the planned work remained unclear. Only in the autumn of 1864 was the concept of the novel clarified? and the boundaries of the historical narrative are determined. The writer’s creative quests are captured in brief and detailed summaries, as well as in numerous versions of the novel’s introductions and beginnings. One of them, relating to the very initial sketches, is called “Three Pores. Part 1. 1812." At this time, Tolstoy still intended to write a trilogy novel about the Decembrist, in which 1812 was supposed to constitute only the first part of an extensive work covering “three periods,” i.e., 1812, 1825 and 1856. The action in the passage was dated to 1811’ and then changed to 1805. The writer had a grandiose plan to depict half a century of Russian history in his multi-volume work; he intended to “guide” many of his “heroines and heroes through the historical events of 1805, 1807, 1812, 1825 and 1856”1. Soon, however, Tolstoy limits his plan, and after a number of new attempts to begin a novel, among which was “A Day in Moscow (Name Day in Moscow 1808),” he finally creates a sketch of the beginning of a novel about the Decembrist Pyotr Kirillovich B., entitled “ From 1805 to 1814. Novel by Count L.N. Tolstoy, 1805, part I, chapter I.” A trace of Tolstoy’s extensive plan still remains here, but from the trilogy about the Decembrist the idea of ​​a historical novel from the era of Russia’s war with Napoleon, in which several parts were supposed to stand out, stood out. The first, entitled “The Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Five,” was published in No. 2 of the Russian Messenger for 1865.

Tolstoy later said that he, “going to write about the Decembrist who returned from Siberia, returned first to the era of the revolt of December 14th, then to the childhood and youth of the people who participated in this matter, became carried away by the war of the 12th year, and since the war of the 12th -th was in connection with the year 1805, then the whole essay began from that time.”2.

By this time, Tolstoy's plan had become significantly more complicated. The historical material, exceptional in its richness, did not fit into the framework of the traditional historical novel.

Tolstoy, as a true innovator, is looking for new literary forms and new visual means to express his ideas. He argued that Russian artistic thought does not fit into the framework of the European novel, and is looking for a new form for itself.

Tolstoy, as the greatest representative of Russian artistic thought, was seized by such quests. And if earlier he called “1805” a novel, now he was bothered by the thought that “the writing will not fit into any frame, no novel, no story, no poem, no history.” Finally, after much torment, he decided to put aside “all these fears” and write only what “needs to be expressed,” without giving the work “any name.”

However, the historical plan immeasurably complicated the work on the novel in one more respect: the need arose for an in-depth study of new historical documents, memoirs, and letters from the era of 1812. The writer is looking in these materials, first of all, for such details and touches of the era that would help him historically truthfully recreate the characters of the characters, the uniqueness of the lives of people at the beginning of the century. The writer widely used, especially to recreate peaceful pictures of life at the beginning of the century, in addition to literary sources and handwritten materials, direct oral stories of eyewitnesses of 1812.

As we approached the description of the events of 1812, which aroused enormous creative excitement in Tolstoy, work on the novel began at an accelerated pace.

The writer was full of hopes for the speedy completion of the novel. It seemed to him that he would be able to finish the novel in 1866, but this did not happen. The reason for this was the further expansion and "deepening of the concept. The widespread participation of the people in the Patriotic War required the writer to rethink the nature of the entire war of 1812, sharpened his attention to the historical laws that "governed" the development of mankind. The work decisively changes its original appearance: from family -a historical novel like “The Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Five", as a result of ideological enrichment, it turns at the final stages of the work into an epic of enormous historical scale. The writer widely introduces philosophical and historical reasoning into the novel, creates magnificent pictures of the people’s war. He reconsiders everything until now written parts, abruptly changes the original plan for its ending, makes corrections to the development lines of all the main characters, introduces new characters, gives the final title to his work: “War and Peace.”1 While preparing the novel for a separate publication in 1867, the writer revised entire chapters, throws out large chunks of text, makes stylistic corrections “which is why,” according to Tolstoy, “the essay wins in all respects”* 2. He continues this work of improving the work in proofreading; in particular, the first part of the novel was subjected to significant reductions in proofs.

While working on the proofs of the first parts, Tolstoy simultaneously continued to finish writing the novel and approached one of the central events of the entire war of 1812 - the Battle of Borodino. On September 25-26, 1867, the writer makes a trip to the Borodino field in order to study the site of one of the greatest battles, which created a sharp turning point in the course of the entire war, and with the hope of meeting eyewitnesses of the Borodino battle. For two days he walked and drove around the Borodino field, made notes in a notebook, drew a battle plan, and looked for old men who were contemporaries of the War of 1812.

During 1868, Tolstoy, along with historical and philosophical “digressions,” wrote chapters devoted to the role of the people in the war. The people deserve the main credit for expelling Napoleon from Russia. The pictures of the people's war, magnificent in their expressiveness, are imbued with this conviction.

In assessing the war of 1812 as a people's war, Tolstoy agreed with the opinion of the most advanced people of both the historical era of 1812 and his time. Tolstoy, in particular, was helped to understand the popular nature of the war against Napoleon by some historical sources that he used. F. Glinka, D. Davydov, N. Turgenev, A. Bestuzhev and others speak about the national character of the war of 1812, about the greatest national upsurge in their letters, memoirs, and notes. Denis Davydov, who, according to Tolstoy’s correct definition, “with his Russian instinct” was the first to understand the enormous significance of partisan warfare, in “The Diary of Partisan Actions of 1812” came up with a theoretical understanding of the principles of its organization and conduct.

Davydov’s “Diary” was widely used by Tolstoy not only as material for creating pictures of the people’s war, but also in its theoretical part.

The line of advanced contemporaries in assessing the nature of the war of 1812 was continued by Herzen, who wrote in the article “Russia” that Napoleon aroused an entire people against himself, who resolutely took up arms.

This historically correct assessment of the war of 1812 was continued to be developed by the revolutionary democrats Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov.

Tolstoy, in his assessment of the people's war of 1812, which sharply contradicted all official interpretations of it, relied largely on the views of the Decembrists and was in many ways close to the statements of revolutionary democrats about it.

Throughout 1868 and a significant part of 1869, the writer’s intense work continued to complete “War and Peace.”

And only in the fall of 186’9,\ in mid-October, he sent the last proofs of his work to the printing house. Tolstoy the artist was a true ascetic. He put almost seven years of “incessant and exceptional work, under the best living conditions” into the creation of “War and Peace”2. A huge number of rough drafts and variants, exceeding in volume the main text of the novel, dotted with corrections and proofreading additions, quite eloquently testify to the colossal work of the writer, who tirelessly searched for the most perfect ideological and artistic embodiment of his creative concept.

The readers of this work, unparalleled in the history of world literature, were exposed to an extraordinary wealth of human images, an unprecedented breadth of coverage of life phenomena, a profound depiction of the most important events in the history of the whole

people. , J

The pathos of “War and Peace” lies in the affirmation of the great love of life and the great love of the Russian people for their homeland.

There are few works in literature that could stand next to “War and Peace” in terms of the depth of ideological issues, the power of artistic expressiveness, the enormous socio-political resonance^ and educational impact. Hundreds of human images pass through the huge work, the life paths of some come into contact and intersect with the life paths of others, but each image is unique and retains its inherent individuality. The events depicted in the novel begin in July 1805 and end in 1820. Ten years of Russian history, rich in dramatic events, are captured on the pages of War and Peace.

From the very first pages of the epic, Prince Andrei and his friend Pierre Bezukhov appear before the reader. Both of them have not yet finally determined their role in life, both have not found the work to which they are called to devote all their strength. Their life paths and quests are different.

We meet Prince Andrei in Anna Pavlovna Sherer's living room. Everything in his behavior - a tired, bored look, a quiet measured step, a grimace that spoiled his handsome face, and the manner of squinting when looking at people - expressed his deep disappointment in secular society, fatigue from visiting living rooms, from empty and deceitful small talk. This T~ attitude towards the world makes Prince Andrei similar to Onegin and partly to Pechorin. Prince Andrey is natural, simple and good only with his friend Pierre. A conversation with him evokes in Prince Andrei healthy feelings of friendship, heartfelt affection, and frankness. In a conversation with Pierre, Prince Andrei appears as a serious, thoughtful, widely read man, sharply condemning lies and the emptiness of social life and striving to satisfy serious intellectual needs. This is how he was with Pierre and with the people to whom he was sincerely attached (father, sister). But as soon as he found himself in a secular environment, everything changed dramatically: Prince Andrei hid his sincere impulses under the mask of cold secular politeness.

In the army, Prince Andrei has changed: pretense, // fatigue and laziness have disappeared. Energy appeared in all his movements, in his face, in his gait. Prince Andrei takes the progress of military affairs to heart.

The Ulm defeat of the Austrians and the arrival of the defeated Mack cause him to worry about the difficulties the Russian army will face. Prince Andrey proceeds from a high understanding of military duty, from an understanding of everyone’s responsibility for the fate of the country. He is aware of the inseparability of his fate with the fate of his fatherland, rejoices at the “common success” and is sad about the “common failure.”

Prince Andrei strives for fame, without which, according to his concepts, he cannot live, he envies the fate of “Natto-Leon”, his imagination is disturbed by dreams of his “Toulon”, about his “Arcole Bridge” Prince Andrei in Shengrabensky. in battle he did not find his “Toulon”, but at the Tushin battery he acquired true concepts of heroism. This was the first step on the path of his rapprochement with ordinary people.

Du?TL£y.?.TsZ. Prince Andrey again dreamed of glory and of accomplishing a feat under some special circumstances. On the day of the Battle of Austerlitz, in an atmosphere of general panic that gripped the troops, in front of Kutuzov, with... a banner in his hands, he carried an entire battalion into the attack. He gets hurt. He lies alone, abandoned by everyone, in the middle of a field and “moans quietly, like a child. In this state, he saw the sky, and it aroused in him sincere and deep surprise. The whole picture of his majestic calm and solemnity sharply set off the vanity of people , their petty, selfish thoughts.

Prince Andrei, after “heaven” was opened to him, condemned his false aspirations for glory and began to look at life in a new way. Glory is not the main stimulus of human activity, there are other, more sublime ideals. Napoleon now seems to him to be his petty vanity an insignificant person. There is a dethronement of the “hero” who was worshiped not only by Prince Andrei, but also by many of his contemporaries.

■ After the Austerlitz campaign, Prince Andrei decided never i j | no longer serve in military service. He returns home. Prince Andrei's wife dies, and he concentrates all his interests on raising his son, trying to convince himself that “this is the only thing” he has left in life. Thinking that a person should live for himself, he shows extreme detachment from all external social forms of life.

At the beginning, Prince Andrei’s views on contemporary political issues were largely of a clearly expressed noble-class character. Speaking with Pierre about the emancipation of the peasants, he shows aristocratic contempt for the people, believing that the peasants do not care what state they are in. Serfdom must be abolished because, according to Prince Andrei, it is the source of the moral death of many nobles corrupted by the cruel system of serfdom .

His friend Pierre looks at the people differently. Over the past years, he has also experienced a lot. The illegitimate son of a prominent Catherine nobleman, after the death of his father he became the largest rich man in Russia. The dignitary Vasily Kuragin, pursuing selfish goals, married him to his daughter Helen. This marriage with an empty, stupid and depraved woman brought Pierre deep disappointments. . is hostile to secular society with its false morality, gossip and intrigue. He is not like any of the representatives of the world. Pierre had a broad outlook, was distinguished by a lively mind, keen observation, courage and freshness of judgment. The spirit of freethinking was developed in him. In the presence of the royalists he praises the French revolution, calls Napoleon the greatest man in the world and admits to Prince Andrei that he would be ready to go to war if it were a “war for freedom." A little time will pass, and Pierre will reconsider his youthful 'hobbies with Napoleon; in the Armenian and with a pistol in his pocket, among the fires of Moscow, he will seek a meeting with the Emperor of the French in order to kill him and thereby avenge the suffering of the Russian people.

“A man of violent temperament and enormous physical strength, terrible in moments of rage, Pierre was at the same time gentle, timid and kind; when he smiled, a meek, childish expression appeared on his face. He devotes all his extraordinary spiritual strength to the search for the truth and meaning of life Pierre thought about his wealth, “about” money, which cannot change anything in life, cannot save from evil and inevitable death. In such a state of mental confusion, he became an easy prey for one of the Masonic lodges.

In the religious and mystical spells of the Freemasons, Pierre's attention was attracted primarily by the idea that it is necessary to “with all our might resist the evil that reigns in the world.” And Pierre “imagined the oppressors from whom he saved their victims.”

In accordance with these beliefs, Pierre, having arrived at the Kyiv estates, immediately informed the managers of his intentions to free the peasants; he laid out before them a broad program of assistance to the peasants. But his trip was so arranged, so many “Potemkin villages” were created on his way, deputies from the peasants were so skillfully selected, who, of course, were all happy with his innovations, that Pierre already “reluctantly insisted” on the abolition of serfdom. He did not know the true state of affairs. In the new phase of his spiritual development, Pierre was quite happy. He outlined his new understanding of life to Prince Andrei. He spoke to him about Freemasonry as a teaching of Christianity, freed from all state and official ritual foundations, as a teaching of equality, brotherhood and love. Prince Andrei believed and did not believe in the existence of such a teaching, but he wanted to believe, since it brought him back to life, opened the way for him to rebirth.

The meeting with Pierre left a deep mark on Prince Andrei. With his characteristic energy, he carried out all the activities that Pierre had planned and did not complete: he transferred one estate of three hundred souls to free cultivators - “this was one of the first examples in Russia”; on other estates, corvee was replaced by quitrent.

However, all this transformative activity did not bring satisfaction to either Pierre or Prince Andrei. There was a gap between their ideals and the unsightly social reality.

Pierre's further communication with the Freemasons led to deep disappointment in Freemasonry. The order consisted of people who were far from selfless. From under the Masonic aprons one could see the uniforms and crosses that the members of the lodge sought in life. Among them were people who were completely non-believers, who joined the lodge for the sake of getting closer to influential “brothers”. Thus, the falsity of Freemasonry was revealed to Pierre, and all his attempts to call on the “brothers” to more actively intervene in life ended in nothing. Pierre said goodbye to the Freemasons.

Dreams of a republic in Russia, of victory over Napoleon, of the liberation of the peasants are a thing of the past. Pierre lived in the position of a Russian gentleman who loved to eat, drink and sometimes lightly scold the government. It was as if not a trace remained of all his young freedom-loving impulses.

At first glance, this was already the end, spiritual death. But the fundamental questions of life continued to disturb his consciousness. His opposition to the existing social order remained, his condemnation of the evil and lies of life did not weaken at all - in this lay the foundations of his spiritual revival, which later came in the fire and storms of the Patriotic War. l ^The spiritual development of Prince Andrei in the years before World War II was also marked by an intense search for the meaning of life. Overwhelmed by gloomy experiences, Prince Andrei looked hopelessly at his life, expecting nothing for himself in the future, but then comes a spiritual revival, a return to the fullness of all life’s feelings and experiences.

Prince Andrei condemns his selfish life, limited by the family nest and disconnected from the lives of other people, he realizes the need to establish connections, spiritual community between himself and other people.

He strives to take an active part in life and in August 1809 he arrives in St. Petersburg. This was the time of greatest glory for the young Speransky; Many committees and commissions under his leadership prepared legislative reforms. Prince Andrey takes part in the work of the Commission for drafting laws. At first, Speransky makes a huge impression on him with the logical turn of his mind. But later, Prince Andrei not only becomes disappointed, but also begins to despise Speransky. He loses all interest in the Speransky transformations being carried out.

Speransky as a statesman and as an official. the reformer was a typical representative of bourgeois liberalism and a supporter of moderate reforms within the framework of the constitutional-monarchical system.

Prince Andrei also feels the profound disconnect between all of Speransky’s reform activities and the living demands of the people. While working on the section “Rights of Individuals,” he mentally tried to apply these rights to the Bogucharov men, and “it became surprising to him how he could do such idle work for so long.”

Natasha returned Prince Andrei to genuine and real life with its joys and worries, he gained the fullness of life’s sensations. Under the influence of a strong feeling he had not yet experienced from Her, the entire external and internal appearance of Prince Andrei was transformed. “Where Natasha was,” everything illuminated for him with sunlight, there was happiness, hope, love.

But the stronger the feeling of love for Natasha, the more acutely he experienced the pain of her loss. Her infatuation with Anatoly Kuragin, her agreement to run away from home with him dealt Prince Andrei a heavy blow. Life in his eyes has lost its “endless and bright horizons.”

Prince Andrei is experiencing a spiritual crisis. The world in his view has lost its purposefulness, life phenomena have lost their natural connection.

He turned entirely to practical activities, trying to drown out his moral torments with work. While on the Turkish front as a general on duty under Kutuzov, Prince Andrei surprised him with his willingness to work and accuracy. Thus, on the path of his complex moral and ethical quest, the light and dark sides of life are revealed to Prince Andrei, and so he undergoes ups and downs, approaching the comprehension of the true meaning of life. t

IV

Next to the images of Prince Andrei and Pierre Bezukhov in the novel there are images of the Rostovs: a good-natured and hospitable father, embodying the type of old master; touchingly loving children, a little sentimental mother; judicious Vera and captivating Natasha; enthusiastic and limited Nicholas^; playful Petya and quiet, colorless Sonya, completely lost in self-sacrifice. Each of them has their own interests, their own special spiritual world, but on the whole they make up the “world of the Rostovs,” deeply different from the world of the Bolkonskys and from the world of the Bezukhovs.

The youth of the Rostov house brought excitement, fun, the charm of youth and falling in love into the life of the family - all this gave the atmosphere that reigned in the house a special poetic charm.

Of all the Rostovs, the most striking and exciting is the image of Natasha - the embodiment of the joy and happiness of life. The novel reveals the captivating image of Natasha, the extraordinary liveliness of her character, the impetuosity of her nature, the courage in the manifestation of feelings and the truly poetic charm inherent in her. At the same time, in all phases of spiritual development, Natasha shows her vivid emotionality.

Tolstoy invariably notes the closeness of his heroine to the common people, the deep national feeling inherent in her. Natasha “knew how to understand everything that was in Anisya, and in Anisya’s father,” and in her aunt, and in her mother, and in every Russian person.” She is captivated by the manner of singing of her uncle, who sang the way the people sing, that’s why he the unconscious chant was so good.

The images of the Rostovs undoubtedly bear the stamp of Tolstoy’s idealization of the “good” morals of patriarchal landowner antiquity. At the same time, it is in this environment, where patriarchal morals reign, that the traditions of nobility and honor are preserved.

The full-blooded world of the Rostovs is contrasted with the world of secular revelers, immoral, shaking the moral foundations of life. Here, among the Moscow revelers led by Dolokhov, the plan to take Natasha away arose. This is the world of gamblers, duelists, desperate rakes, who often committed criminal crimes. gentlemen! But Tolstoy not only does not admire the riotous revelry of aristocratic youth, he mercilessly removes the halo of youth from these “heroes”, shows the cynicism of Dolokhov and the extreme depravity of the stupid Anatoly Kuragin. And the “real gentlemen” appear in all their unsightly guise.

The image of Nikolai Rostov emerges gradually throughout the novel. At first we see an impetuous, emotionally responsive, courageous and ardent young man who leaves the university and goes to military service.

Nikolai Rostov is an average person, he is not prone to deep thoughts, he was not disturbed by the contradictions of a complex life, so he felt good in the regiment, where he did not have to invent anything and choose, but only obey the long-established way of life, where everything was clear, simple and definitely. And this suited Nikolai quite well. His spiritual development stopped at the age of twenty. The book does not play a significant role in the life of Nikolai, and, in fact, in the life of other members of the Rostov family. Nicholas is not concerned about social issues; serious spiritual needs are alien to him. Hunting, a common pastime for landowners, fully satisfied the unpretentious needs of Nikolai Rostov’s impetuous but spiritually poor nature. Original creativity is alien to him. Such people do not bring anything new into life, are not able to go against its current, they recognize only what is generally accepted, easily capitulate to circumstances, and resign themselves to the spontaneous course of life. Nikolai thought of arranging life “according to his own mind”, marrying Sonya, but after a short, albeit sincere internal struggle, he humbly submitted to “circumstances” and married Marya Bolkonskaya.

The writer consistently reveals1 two principles in Rostov’s character: on the one hand, conscience - hence the internal honesty, decency, chivalry of Nicholas, and, on the other hand, intellectual limitations, poverty of mind - hence ignorance of the circumstances of the political and military situation of the country, inability think, refusal to reason. But Princess Marya attracted him to her precisely because of her high spiritual organization: nature generously endowed her with those “spiritual gifts” that Nikolai was completely deprived of.

The war brought decisive changes to the life of the entire Russian people. All the usual living conditions had shifted, everything was now assessed in the light of the danger that hung over Russia. Nikolai Rostov returns to the army. Petya also volunteers to go to war.

Tolstoy in “War and Peace” historically correctly reproduced the atmosphere of patriotic upsurge in the country.

In connection with the war, Pierre is experiencing great excitement. He donates about a million to organize a militia regiment.

Prince Andrei transfers from the Turkish army to the Western army and decides to serve not at headquarters, but to directly command a regiment, to be closer to ordinary soldiers. In the first serious battles for Smolensk, seeing the misfortunes of his country, he finally gets rid of his former admiration for Napoleon; he observes the growing patriotic enthusiasm in the troops, which was transmitted to the residents of the city. (

Tolstoy depicts the patriotic feat of the Smolensk merchant Ferapontov, in whose mind an alarming thought arose about the “destruction” of Russia when he learned that the city was being surrendered. He no longer sought to save his property: what was his shop with goods when “Russia decided!” And Ferapontov shouts to the soldiers who were crowding into his shop to carry everything, “don’t get it from the devils.” He decides to burn everything.

But there were other merchants. During the passage of Russian troops through Moscow, one merchant of the Gostiny Dvor “with red pimples on his cheeks” and “with a calm, unshakable expression of calculation on his well-fed face” (the writer, even in sparse portrait details, expressed a sharply negative attitude towards this type of self-interested people) asked the officer to protect his goods from the plunder of soldiers.

Even in the years preceding the creation of “Warrior and Peace,” Tolstoy came to the conviction that the fate of the country is determined by the people. Historical material about the Patriotic War of 1812 only strengthened the writer in the correctness of this conclusion, which had especially progressive significance in the conditions of the 60s. The writer's deep understanding of the very foundations of the national life of the people allowed him to historically correctly determine its enormous role in the fate of the Patriotic War of 1812. This war was by its nature a people's war with a widely developed partisan movement. And precisely because Tolstoy, as a great artist, managed to understand the very essence, the nature of the war of 1812, he was able to reject and expose its false interpretation in official historiography, and his “War and Peace” became an epic of glory for the Russian people, a majestic chronicle of his heroism and patriotism. Tolstoy said: “For a work to be good, you must love the main, the main idea in it. So in “Anna Karenina” I love the family thought, in “War and Peace” I loved the people’s thought...”1.

This is the main ideological task of the epic, the very essence of which is the depiction of the historical destinies of the people, is artistically realized in pictures of the general patriotic upsurge of the people, in the thoughts and experiences of the main characters of the novel, in the struggle of numerous partisan detachments, in the decisive battles of the army, also captured by patriotic inspiration. The idea of ​​a people's war penetrated into the very midst of the masses of soldiers, and this decisively determined the morale of the troops, and consequently the outcome of the battles of the Patriotic War of 1812.

On the eve of the Battle of Shengraben, in full view of the enemy, the soldiers behaved as calmly, “as if somewhere in their homeland.” On the day of the battle, there was general excitement at the Tushin battery, although the artillerymen fought with extreme dedication and self-sacrifice. Both Russian cavalrymen and Russian infantrymen fight bravely and bravely. On the eve of the Battle of Borodino, an atmosphere of general animation reigned among the militia soldiers. “The whole people want to rush in; one word - Moscow. They want to make one end,” says the soldier, deeply and truly expressing in his ingenuous words the patriotic upsurge that gripped the masses of the Russian army, preparing for the decisive Battle of Borodino.

The best representatives of the Russian officers were also deeply patriotic. The writer clearly shows this by revealing the feelings and experiences of Prince Andrei, in whose spiritual appearance significant changes took place: the features of a proud aristocrat faded into the background, he fell in love with ordinary people - Timokhin and others, was kind and simple in his relations with the people of the regiment, and he was called "our prince". The sounds of the Rodinets transformed Prince Andrei. In his reflections on the eve of “Borodin, gripped by a premonition of inevitable death,” he sums up his life. In this regard, his deep patriotic feelings, his hatred of the enemy who is robbing and ruining Russia are revealed with the greatest force.

Hi>ep fully shares the feelings of anger and hatred of Prince Andrei. 1After GrZhShbra "with" "him, everything he saw that day, all the majestic pictures of preparations for battle, seemed to illuminate for Pierre with a new light, everything became clear and understandable to him: it is clear that the actions of many thousands of people were imbued with a deep and pure patriotic feeling. He He now understood the whole meaning and significance of this war and the upcoming battle, and the soldier’s words about the nationwide resistance and Moscow acquired a deep and meaningful meaning for him.

On the Borodino field, all the streams of patriotic feeling of the Russian people flow into a single channel. The bearers of the patriotic feelings of the people are the soldiers themselves and the people close to them: Timokhin, Prince Andrei, Kutuzov. Here the spiritual qualities of people are fully revealed.

How much courage, courage and selfless heroism the artillerymen of the Raevsky battery and the Tushino battery show! All of them are united by the spirit of a single team, working harmoniously and cheerfully! -

no matter what. Tolstoy gives a high moral and ethical assessment to the Russian soldier. These simple people are the embodiment of spiritual vigor and strength. In his depictions of Russian soldiers, Tolstoy invariably notes their endurance, good spirits, and patriotism.

Pierre observes all this. Through his perception, a majestic picture of the famous battle is given, which only a civilian who had never participated in battles could feel so keenly. Pierre saw the war not in its ceremonial form, with prancing generals and waving banners, but in its terrible real appearance, in blood, suffering, death.

Assessing the enormous significance of the Battle of Borodino during the Patriotic War of 1812, Tolstoy points out that the myth of Napoleon's invincibility was dispelled on the Borodino field, and that the Russians, despite heavy losses, showed unprecedented perseverance. The moral strength of the French attacking army was exhausted. The Russians discovered moral superiority over the enemy. The French army near Borodino was inflicted a mortal wound, which ultimately led to its inevitable death. For the first time, at Borodino, Napoleonic France was struck by the hand of a powerful enemy. The Russian victory at Borodino had important consequences; it created the conditions for the preparation and conduct of the “flank march” - Kutuzov’s counteroffensive, which resulted in the complete defeat of Napoleonic army.

But on the way to the final victory, the Russians had to go through a number of difficult trials; military necessity forced them to leave Moscow, which the enemy set on fire with vengeful cruelty. The theme of “burnt Moscow” occupies the most important place in the figurative system of “War and Peace,” and this is understandable, because Moscow is the “mother” of Russian cities, and the fire of Moscow resonated with deep pain in the heart of every Russian.

Talking about the surrender of Moscow to the enemy, Tolstoy exposes the Moscow Governor-General Rostopchin, shows his pathetic role not only in organizing resistance to the enemy, but also in saving the material assets of the city, confusion and contradictions in all his administrative orders.

Rastopchin spoke with contempt about the crowd of people, about the “rabble”, about the “plebeians” and was expecting indignation and rebellion from minute to minute. He tried to rule a people he did not know and whom he feared. Tolstoy did not recognize this role of “manager” for him; he was looking for incriminating material and found it in the bloody story of Vereshchagin, whom Rostopchin, in animal fear for his life, handed over to be torn to pieces by the crowd gathered in front of his house.

The writer with enormous artistic power conveys the inner turmoil of Rostopchin, rushing in a carriage to his country house in Sokolniki and pursued by the cry of a madman about the resurrection from the dead. The “blood trail” of the crime committed will remain for life - this is the idea of ​​​​this picture.

Rastopchin was deeply alien to the people and therefore did not understand and could not understand the popular nature of the war of 1812; he stands among the negative images of the novel.

* * *

After Borodin and Moscow, Napoleon could no longer recover; nothing could save him, since his army carried within itself “as if the chemical conditions of decomposition.”

Already from the time of the fire of Smolensk, a partisan people's war began, accompanied by the burning of villages and cities, the capture of marauders, the capture of enemy transports, and the extermination of the enemy.

The writer compares the French to a fencer who demanded “fighting according to the rules of art.” For the Russians, the question was different: the fate of the fatherland was being decided, so they threw down the sword and, “taking the first club they came across,” began to nail the dandies with it. “And it is good for that people,” exclaims Tolstoy, “... who, in a moment of trial, without asking how others acted according to the rules in similar cases, with simplicity and ease lifts the first club that comes their way and nails it with it until in his soul the feeling of “insult and revenge will not be replaced by contempt and pity.”

Guerrilla warfare arose from the very midst of the popular masses; the people themselves spontaneously put forward the idea of ​​guerilla warfare, and before it was “officially recognized,” thousands of Frenchmen were exterminated by peasants and Cossacks. Defining the conditions for the emergence and nature of guerrilla warfare, Tolstoy makes deep and historically correct generalizations, indicating that it is a direct consequence of the popular nature of the war and the high patriotic spirit of the people._J

History teaches: where there is no genuine patriotic upsurge among the masses, there is and cannot be a guerrilla war. The War of 1812 was a patriotic war, which is why it stirred the masses of the people to the very depths and raised them to fight the enemy until his complete destruction. For the Russian people there could be no question whether things would be good or bad under French rule. “It was impossible to be under French rule: it was the worst of all.” Therefore, during the entire war, “the people had one goal: to cleanse their land from invasion.” ■"The writer, in images and paintings, shows the techniques and methods of partisan warfare of Denisov's and Dolokhov's detachments, creates a vivid image of a tireless partisan - the peasant Tikhon Shcherbaty, who attached himself to Denisov's detachment. Tikhon was distinguished by his heroic health, enormous physical strength and endurance; in the fight against the French he showed agility, courage and fearlessness.

Petya Rostov was among Denisov’s partisans. He is completely filled with youthful impulses; his fear of not missing something important in the partisan detachment and his desire to certainly be in time / “to the most important place” are very touching and clearly express the “restless desires of his youth.”—J

-< В образе Пети Ростова писатель изумительно тонко запечатлел это особое психологическое состояние юноши, живого; эмоционально восприимчивого, любознательного, самоотверженного.

On the eve of the raid on the convoy of prisoners of war, Petya, who had been in an excited state all day, dozed off on the truck. And the entire world around him is transformed, taking on fantastic shapes. Petya hears a harmonious choir of music performing a solemnly sweet hymn, and he tries to lead it. Petya’s romantically enthusiastic perception of reality1 reaches its highest limit in this half-dream, half-reality. This is a solemn song of a young soul rejoicing at its inclusion in the life of adults. This is the anthem of life. And how exciting are the half-childish ones on the left that arose in Denisov’s memory when he looked at the murdered Petya: “I’m used to something sweet. Excellent raisins. Take all..." Denisov burst into tears, Dolokhov also did not react indifferently to Petya’s death, he made a decision: not to take prisoners.

The image of Petya Rostov is one of the most poetic in War and Peace. On many pages of War and Peace, Tolstoy depicts the patriotism of the masses in sharp contrast with the complete indifference to the fate of the country on the part of the highest circles of society. The warrior did not change the luxurious and calm life of the capital's nobility, which was still filled with the complex struggle of various “parties,” drowned out “as always by the tdv-beating of the court drones.” ’

d So, on the day of the Battle of Borodino, it was evening in A. P. Scherer’s salon, they were awaiting the arrival of “important persons” who had to be “shamed” for traveling to the French theater and “inspired to a patriotic mood.” All this was just a game of patriotism, which is what the “enthusiast” A.P. Scherer and the visitors to her salon were doing. The salon of Helen Bezukhova, which Chancellor Rumyantsev visited, was considered French. There Napoleon was openly praised, rumors about the cruelty of the French were refuted, and the patriotic rise in the spirit of society was ridiculed. This circle thus included potential allies of Napoleon, friends of the enemy, traitors. The link between the two circles was the unprincipled Prince Vasily. With caustic irony, Tolstoy depicts how Prince Vasily got confused, forgot himself and said to Scherer what should have been said to Helen.

The images of the Kuragins in “War and Peace” clearly reflect the writer’s sharply negative attitude towards the secular St. Petersburg circles of the nobility, where double-mindedness and lies, unprincipledness and meanness, immorality and corrupt morals reigned.

The head of the family, Prince Vasily, a man of the world, important and official, in his behavior reveals unprincipledness and deceit, the cunning of a courtier and the greed of a self-seeker. With merciless truthfulness, Tolstoy tears off the mask of a secularly amiable man from Prince Vasily, and a morally vile predator appears before us. F

And “The depraved Helen, and the stupid Hippolyte, and the vile, cowardly and no less depraved Anatole, and the flattering hypocrite Prince Vasily - all of them are representatives of the vile, heartless, as Pierre says, Kuragin breed, bearers of moral corruption, moral and spiritual degradation

The Moscow nobility was also not particularly patriotic. The writer creates a vivid picture of a meeting of nobles in a suburban palace. It was some kind of fantastic sight: uniforms of different eras and reigns - Catherine’s, Pavlov’s, Alexander’s. Low-blind, toothless, bald old men, far from political life, were not truly aware of the state of affairs. The speakers from the young nobles delighted in their own eloquence. After all the speeches

ononat “BeSaHHe: I was wondering about my participation in the organization. The next day, when the tsar left and the nobles returned to their usual conditions, they, grunting, gave orders to the managers about the militia and were surprised at what they had done. All this was very far from a genuine patriotic impulse.

It was not Alexander I who was the “savior of the fatherland,” as government patriots tried to portray, and it was not among those close to the tsar that one had to look for the true organizers of the fight against the enemy. On the contrary, at court, in the tsar’s inner circle, among the highest-ranking government officials, there was a Group of outright traitors and defeatists, led by Chancellor Leo Rumyantsev and the Grand Duke, who feared Napoleon and stood for concluding peace with him. They, of course, did not have a grain of patriotism. Tolstoy also notes a group of military personnel who were also devoid of any patriotic feelings and pursued in their lives only narrowly selfish, selfish goals. This “drone population of the army” was occupied only with

that caught rubles, crosses, ranks.

There were also real patriots among the nobles - among them, in particular, was the old Prince Bolkonsky. When bidding farewell to Prince Andrei, who was leaving for the army, he reminds him of honor and patriotic duty. In 1812 he energetically began to raise a militia to fight the approaching enemy. But in the midst of this feverish activity, he is overcome by paralysis. Dying, the old prince thinks about his son and about Russia. In essence, his death was caused by the suffering of Russia in the first period of the war. Acting as the heir to the patriotic traditions of the family, Princess Marya is horrified by the thought that she could remain in the power of the French.

According to Tolstoy, the closer the nobles are to the people, the sharper and brighter their patriotic feelings, the richer and more meaningful their spiritual life. And on the contrary, the further they are from the people, the drier and callous their souls, the more unattractive their moral character: these are most often lied to and completely false courtiers like Prince Vasily or hardened careerists like Boris Drubetsky.

Boris Drubetskoy is a typical embodiment of careerism; even at the very beginning of his career, he firmly learned that success is brought not by work, not by personal merit, but by “the ability to handle”

those who reward service.

The writer in this image shows how careerism distorts human nature, destroys everything truly human in him, deprives him of the opportunity to express sincere feelings, instills lies, hypocrisy, sycophancy and other disgusting moral qualities.

On the Borodino field, Boris Drubetskoy displays precisely these disgusting qualities: he is a subtle swindler, a court flatterer and a liar. Tolstoy reveals Bennigsen’s intrigue and shows Drubetsky’s complicity in this; Both of them are indifferent to the outcome of the upcoming battle, even better - defeat, then power would pass to Bennigsen.

Patriotism and closeness to the people are most important; Essences to Pierre, Prince Andrei, Natasha. The people's war of 1812 contained that enormous moral force that purified and reborn these heroes of Tolstoy, burned out class prejudices and selfish feelings in their souls. They became more humane and nobler. Prince Andrei becomes close to ordinary soldiers. He begins to see the main purpose of man in serving people, the people, and only death ends his moral quest, but they will be continued by his son Nikolenka.

Ordinary Russian soldiers also played a decisive role in the moral renewal of Pierre. He went through a passion for European politics, Freemasonry, charity, philosophy, and nothing gave him moral satisfaction. Only in communication with ordinary people did he understand that the purpose of life is in life itself: as long as there is life, there is happiness. Pierre realizes his commonality with the people and wants to share their suffering. However, the forms of manifestation of this feeling were still of an individualistic nature. Pierre wanted to accomplish the feat alone, to sacrifice himself to the common cause, although he was fully aware of his doom in this individual act of struggle against Napoleon.

Being in captivity further contributed to Pierre's rapprochement with ordinary soldiers; in his own suffering and deprivation, he experienced the suffering and deprivation of his homeland. When he returned from captivity, Natasha noted dramatic changes in his entire spiritual appearance. Moral and physical composure and readiness for energetic activity were now visible in him. Thus, Pierre Trich went to spiritual renewal, having experienced, together with all the people, the suffering of his homeland.

And Pierre, and Prince Andrei, and Hajauia, and Marya Bolkonskaya, and many other heroes of “War and Peace” during the Patriotic War became familiar with the foundations of national life: the war made them think and feel on the scale of the whole Russia, thanks to which their personal lives were immeasurably enriched .

Let us remember the exciting scene of the Rostovs’ departure from Moscow and the behavior of Natasha, who decided to take out as many of the wounded as possible, although to do this it was necessary to leave the family’s property in Moscow for the enemy to plunder. The depth of Natasha's patriotic feelings is compared by Tolstoy with the complete indifference to the fate of Russia of the mercantile Berg.

In a number of other scenes and episodes, Tolstoy mercilessly exposes and executes the stupid soldiery of various Pfulls, Wolzogens and Benigsens in the Russian service, exposes their contemptuous and arrogant attitude towards the people and the country in which they were located. And this reflected not only the ardent patriotic feelings of the creator of “War and Peace,” but also his deep comprehension of the true ways of developing the culture of his people.

Throughout the epic, Tolstoy wages a passionate struggle for the very foundations of Russian national culture. Affirmation of the originality of this culture, its great traditions is one of the main ideological problems of War and Peace. The Patriotic War of 1812 very acutely raised the question of the national origins of Russian culture.

f the traditions of the national military school, the traditions of Suvorov, were alive in the Russian army. The frequent mention of Suvorov’s name on the pages of War and Peace is natural because his legendary Italian and Swiss campaigns were still vivid in everyone’s memory, and in the ranks of the army there were soldiers and generals who fought with him. The military genius of Suvorov lived in the great Russian commander Kutuzov, in the famous general Bagration, who had a saber named after him.

Reading and re-reading Tolstoy’s novel these days, we cannot help but recognize that Tolstoy created a hymn to Russia, its people and the class of nobles to which he belonged by birth, upbringing, tastes, habits, especially in his youth.

Tolstoy, painting terrible, bloody pictures of war, clashes of political interests, events that capture human destinies in their whirlpool, constantly emphasizes that each person holds his own “universe” within himself, and in the end this “universe” is above everything else.

“Life... real life... went on, as always, independently and outside of political affinity or hostility... and all possible transformations.”

Having taken on the creation of a national epic, creating it, filling it with the roar of war, the thunder of guns, the explosion of shells, involving hundreds of people in the events, the writer sometimes casts a kind of spotlight on individual people, their private lives, letting us understand that in life, unrest , the concerns and feelings of these private individuals are the main interest and the main essence of the story. In the foreground, of course, is the noble environment, to which he himself belonged by birth and way of life, which he knew and, perhaps, loved then.

His class brothers, the nobles, especially the elite, court circles, considered him an apostate from class interests, a traitor. Among them was Pushkin’s old friend, who had once sinned with liberalism, P. A. Vyazemsky. They saw in the novel an unworthy criticism of the highest nobility, but they could not help but appreciate the pictures that were close to their hearts of noble living rooms, secular salons, the splendor of balls, social conversations, the description of their familiar and dear life. The opposite camp condemned the novel for its lack of exposure of serfdom and all social ills.

As for military specialists, they were delighted with the battle scenes. Tolstoy fills the novel with extensive multi-page discussions about the military actions of Kutuzov and Napoleon. Here he acts as a scholar-historian, argues with military strategists who, in one way or another, reflected on the war of 1812. He finally debunks Napoleon, finding the most primitive incompetence in his orders for the army, laughing at the title of genius that flatterers and French historians assigned to him . He is indignant that not only the French, but also the Russians succumb to the charm of his personality.

As a historian, he also ridicules the Russian generals who surrounded Kutuzov and pushed him into unnecessary battles with the “wounded beast.” They boasted that in the battles near Krasnoe they captured so many cannons and “some kind of stick, which was called the marshal’s baton,” from Napoleon.

Only Kutuzov understood the uselessness of these battles, which brought great losses to the Russian troops, when it was clear to everyone that the enemy was defeated, was fleeing, and only one thing was needed - not to interfere with his escape from Russia.

Tolstoy always valued naturalness and impartiality above all human qualities. His Kutuzov possessed these qualities, in which he was the complete opposite of Napoleon, who, according to Tolstoy, was constantly portrayed theatrically.

Tolstoy's Kutuzov is a sage who does not admire his own wisdom, who is not aware of this quality in himself, who understands by some kind of inner intuition what and how to do in a given situation. In this respect, he was like ordinary soldiers, like the people who, for the most part, intuitively comprehend the truth.

When, after the victory at Krasnoye, Kutuzov made a short speech to the soldiers, a simple, old-time colloquial, as if everyday “homely” speech, with obscene words, he was understood and cordially received primarily by the soldiers: “... this very feeling lay in the soul of every soldier and was expressed in a joyful, long-lasting cry.”

The spontaneity of feelings comes from nature itself, and the more natural a person is, the more directly his feelings are expressed, the nobler his actions. This view of man also reflected Tolstoy’s long-standing passion for Rousseauism. Falsehood, hypocrisy, vanity are brought up by civilization. The savage, close to nature (“natural man”, according to Rousseau’s theory), did not know these qualities.

All Tolstoy’s heroes whom he loved: Natasha, Princess Marya, Pierre Bezukhov, Andrei Bolkonsky, the entire Rostov family, Platon Karataev, a man of the people, have this spontaneity of feelings, and false, hypocritical, selfish and simply vile people do not have it. Such are Prince Vasily Kuragin, his son Philip, daughter Helen.

Pictures and images drawn with life-like convincingness by Tolstoy’s truly magical pen are forever imprinted in our memory. Ask everyone who has read the novel “War and Peace” what he remembers and clearly sees in his memory. He will answer: Natasha on a moonlit night and Andrei Bolkonsky, who unwittingly overheard the girl’s enthusiastic feelings. I will meet and introduce Natasha and Bolkonsky at the ball. Natasha's Russian dance, which she learned God knows where, respectfully observed by her in the dances of the peasants. Dying Andrei Bolkonsky. The amazing and sacred act of death as something mysterious.

Since ancient times, wars have seen grandiose turns in the history of nations. In wars, states, nations, and peoples perished or were revived. Cities, palaces and temples created with great labor were mercilessly destroyed, individuals and heroes were exalted in glory, and countless nameless warriors, the healthiest and most active part of the population, passed away. The madness of humanity! Tolstoy contrasted all the ambitions of the warlike heroes with the eternal, beautiful and peaceful sky that Prince Andrei saw.

The pictures of battles were painted by Tolstoy with irresistible authenticity. It’s as if we ourselves are participating in it, and with our hearing and vision there, on the battlefield, we hear the hot breath of heated people, screams and groans and desperate shooting.

Prince Bolkonsky, wounded and losing consciousness, felt a strange calm. Eyes are directed to the sky. All human passions, ambitious dreams, and he had been so recently overwhelmed by them, suddenly appeared in all their insignificance before this great and eternal calm of the sky. Here is already the philosophy of Tolstoy, the philosophy of life. It affects, as it were, imprints on everything that he describes, on his likes and dislikes. Everything natural in people, everything immediate in them, not burdened by hypocrisy, is beautiful. That is why the characters of Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, and the ugly Marya Bolkonskaya with her beautiful eyes at other moments are so good.

Tolstoy returns to one idea again and again. It worries him, the vanity of human passions, old, since the time of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities and all kinds of vanity!” Prince Andrey realized this when he lay wounded on the battlefield, holding the regimental banner in his hand. “EN VOILA LA BELLE MORT,” his idol Napoleon said over him, believing him to be dead. Napoleon led the enemy army. but he was a genius of military art, a great commander. Everyone recognized this, and Prince Andrei could not hide his admiration for him. But now, when he understood the value of life itself and the futility of everything outside of life, he saw in the brilliant commander a little man, and nothing more.

People fight, kill each other, not thinking that they are people, that they fight over insignificant things, that they give their lives for ghosts, for phantoms, and only sometimes, as if by inspiration, a vague comprehension of the truth comes to them.

Tolstoy constantly reminds the reader of the significance of some higher purposes of life, that above the futility and vanity of his everyday worries and troubles rises something eternal and universal that he cannot comprehend. The understanding of this eternal and universal came to Andrei Bolkonsky at the moment of death.

The entire novel is permeated with a humane feeling of kindness towards people. She is in Petya Rostov, she is in the countess, his mother, helping her impoverished friend, she is in the simple-minded ignorance of Count Rostov’s self-interest, in the kindness of Natasha, who insisted on freeing the carts and giving them to the wounded. She is in the kindness of Pierre Bezukhov, who is always ready to help someone. She is in the kindness of Princess Marya. It is in the kindness of Platon Karataev, in the kindness of Russian soldiers and in this expressive gesture of Kutuzov, in his speech to the soldiers.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that a person is born good, but his environment, society, and vicious civilization spoil him. This idea of ​​the Genevan philosopher was disputed by many, declaring, on the contrary, the inherent depravity of human nature.

Tolstoy agreed with his idol. He showed the pure souls of children. In “Childhood” it is Nikolenka Irteniev, here it is Petya Rostov with his childish enthusiasm, passionate desire to do something in this world, to distinguish himself, and in essence to give his life, to sacrifice himself, to give it generously, as generously he gave everything, what he had, in Denisov’s detachment.

In Petya Rostov’s behavior, in his worldview, everything is colored by a feeling of some kind of enlightened and comprehensive love for everyone and everything. His childish heart, which does not know selfishness, seems to respond to universal love for him. Such is the love and tenderness of the girl Natasha for all people in general, her spontaneity, the purity of her thoughts.

Friendship - camaraderie - this blissful feeling is also soulfully described by Tolstoy - Denisov’s friendly disposition towards Nikolai Rostov, Rostov’s reciprocal feeling towards him. Denisov, a warrior, a brave man, rude as a soldier, but an internally kind, honest and fair person, is literally devoted to the Rostov family, comprehending with his soul its noble moral foundations.

Parental love has never before been shown in literature in its aching power. Balzac dedicated his novel “Père Goriot” to her, but it sounded like a theoretical thesis that should show the ingratitude of children to their parents and the blindness of parents in their irrepressible affection for their children. Love itself remained undisclosed beyond the scope of this thesis.

It is enough to read the pages of the novel “War and Peace” about those minutes when Countess Rostova learned of Petya’s death to feel the piercing power of this maternal love and the great grief of the loss of a beloved being. We will not find this theme either in Stendhal or in Flaubert. French, English, German authors did not touch upon this topic. Whereas Tolstoy found irresistible colors for her.

Tolstoy's novel is filled with a bright and blissful feeling of human love. We are filled with pride for a person who is capable of love. How far is this from our days, when artists - writers, poets, painters, actors rush to reveal to us pictures of nightmares and horror, the dark sides of the human soul and convince us that this is the whole world and such are all of us! One involuntarily recalls the dying words of the sick Gogol: “Oh God! It’s become creepy in your world!”

Analysis of the epic novel "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy for those who take the Unified State Examination in Russian language and literature.

Problems of the novel "War and Peace"

Meanings of the word "peace" in the novel

Each person lives in many of these worlds, this is how the connections of an individual with other people, in the family, in society, etc. are manifested. The search for the meaning of life by Tolstoy’s heroes comes down to their comprehension of the deep connections between people. His favorite characters tend to strive to find harmony in communicating with people. All of them ultimately come to the idea of ​​the need for spiritual unity of people (Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov). This is the most important criterion for the moral assessment of a person. People from the people come most directly to spiritual unity, since it is the people, according to Tolstoy, who are the bearers of spiritual values. In spiritual unity, Tolstoy saw the path to overcoming the contradictions of contemporary life. The War of 1812 is a real historical event where the ideal of spiritual unity of people was realized.

“War and Peace” as a work of the 60s of the 19th century.

The image of Kutuzov and Napoleon. The role of personality in history.

The question of the role of personality in history is raised at the beginning of the third volume (first part, first chapter):

a) In relation to history, a person acts more unconsciously than consciously;
b) A person is more free in his personal Life than in his public life;
c) The higher a person stands on the rungs of the social ladder, the more obvious is the predetermination and inevitability of his fate.

Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that “the tsar is a slave of history.” Tolstoy's contemporary historian Bogdanovich primarily pointed to the decisive role of Alexander the First in the victory over Napoleon, and completely discounted the role of the people and Kutuzov. Tolstoy’s goal was to debunk the role of the kings and show the role of the masses and the people’s commander Kutuzov. The writer reflects in the novel the moments of Kutuzov’s inaction. This is explained by the fact that Kutuzov cannot dispose of historical events at his own will. But he is given the opportunity to understand the actual course of events in which he participates. Kutuzov cannot understand the world-historical meaning of the war of 12, but he is aware of the significance of this event for his people, that is, he can be a conscious guide to the course of history. Kutuzov himself is close to the people, he feels the spirit of the army and can control this great force (Kutuzov’s main task during the Battle of Borodino was to raise the spirit of the army). Napoleon lacks understanding of the events taking place; he is a pawn in the hands of history. The image of Napoleon represents extreme individualism and selfishness. The selfish Napoleon acts like a blind man. He is not a great man; he cannot determine the moral meaning of an event due to his own limitations. Tolstoy's innovation was that he introduced a moral criterion into history (a polemic with Hegel).

“People's Thought” and the theme of patriotism.

Patriotism is a property of the soul of any Russian person, and in this regard there is no difference between Andrei Bolkonsky and any soldier of his regiment. Captain Tushin is also close to the people, in whose image “small and great”, “modest and heroic” are combined. Often the participants in the campaign are not named at all (for example, “drummer-singer”). The theme of the people's war finds its vivid expression in the image of Tikhon Shcherbaty. The image is ambiguous (the murder of the “language”, the “Razin” beginning). The image of Platon Karataev, who, under conditions of captivity, again turned to his roots, is also ambiguous (everything “alluvial, soldierly” falls away from him, everything remains peasant). Watching him, Pierre Bezukhov understands that the living life of the world is above all speculation and that happiness lies in himself. However, unlike Tikhon Shcherbaty, Karataev is hardly capable of decisive action; his good looks lead to passivity.

In scenes with Napoleon, Tolstoy uses the technique of satirical grotesquery: Napoleon is filled with self-adoration, his thoughts are criminal, his patriotism is false (episodes with Lavrushka, awarding the soldier Lazarev with the Order of the Legion of Honor, a scene with a portrait of his son, morning toilet in front of Borodin, waiting for the deputation of the “Moscow boyars”) . The depiction of the lives of other people, also far from the people - regardless of their nationality (Alexander the First, Anna Pavlovna Sherer, the Kuragin family, Bergs, Drubetskys, etc.) is also imbued with undisguised irony. The path of heroes belonging to the aristocracy to spiritual unity with the people, depicted by Tolstoy in his inconsistency and ambiguity. The writer ironically describes the delusions and self-deception of the heroes (Pierre's trip to the southern estates, idealistic fruitless attempts at innovation; the peasant rebellion in Bogucharovo, Princess Marya's attempt to distribute the master's bread, etc.).

Historical and philosophical digressions: man’s responsibility to history, attitude to war.

In his work, the question of the moral responsibility of a person - a historical figure and every person - before history is especially acute. According to Tolstoy, a person is less free the closer he is to power, but a private person is not free either. Tolstoy emphasizes that one must be able to go broke for the sake of protecting the Fatherland, as the Rostovs do, and be ready to give everything, sacrifice everything, as Pierre Bezukhov can do. , but the eminent merchants and noble nobility who came to the building of the noble assembly do not know how.

"Family Thought"

Rostov

Bolkonsky

Kuragins

Bergi

Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya

Pierre and Natasha

Drubetsky

Female images in the novel

Natasha Rostova

According to Tolstoy, Natasha is the Russian national character - she has absorbed the spirit of the people since childhood (Christmas time, a trip to her uncle and dancing). False secular society is alien to Natasha (after marriage she practically ceases to be in society). An important moment in Natasha’s life is her acquaintance and friendship with Marya Bolkonskaya. In this pair, Marya personifies the Christian principle, and Natasha – the pagan one. Only through love for Pierre and finding a family does Natasha finally find peace.

Marya Bolkonskaya

Helen

Spiritual quest of Tolstoy's heroes (Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov)

Stages of Andrei Bolkonsky's spiritual quest.

Stages of spiritual quest by Pierre Bezukhov.

The threshold of Decembrism (Initially, the novel was conceived by Tolstoy as a narrative about contemporary reality. However, having realized that the origins of the contemporary liberation movement lie in Decembrism, Tolstoy begins a novel about the Decembrists. Reflecting on the reasons for the emergence of Decembrism, Tolstoy comes to the conclusion that they lie in the spiritual uplift that the Russian people experienced during the Patriotic War of the 12th year). “War and Peace” is an epic novel (genre originality) Epic is an ancient genre where life is depicted on a national-historical scale. The novel is a new European genre associated with interest in the fate of an individual. Features of the epic in “War and Peace”: historical in the center! the fate of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of the 12th year, the meaning of their heroic role and the image of a “holistic” existence. Features of the novel: “War and Peace” tells about the private lives of people, showing specific individuals in their spiritual formation. The genre of the epic novel is creation Tolstoy. The ideological and artistic meaning of each scene and each character becomes clear only in their connection with the comprehensive content of the epic.

The epic novel combines detailed pictures of Russian life, battle scenes, the author's artistic narration and philosophical digressions. The basis of the content of the epic novel is events of large historical scale, “general life, not private life,” reflected in the destinies of individual people. Tolstoy achieved an unusually wide coverage of all layers of Russian life - hence the huge number of characters. The ideological and artistic core of the work is the history of the people and the path of the best representatives of the nobility to the people. The work was not written to recreate history; it is not a chronicle. The author created a book about the life of the nation, created an artistic, rather than historically reliable truth (much of the actual history of that time was not included in the book; in addition, real historical facts are distorted in order to confirm the main idea of ​​the novel - exaggeration of Kutuzov’s old age and passivity, a portrait and a number of actions of Napoleon).Historical and philosophical digressions, the author’s reflections on the past, present and future are a necessary component of the genre structure of “War and Peace”.

In 1873, Tolstoy made an attempt to simplify the structure of the work, to clear the book of reasoning, which, according to most researchers, caused serious damage to his work. It is believed that cumbersomeness, heaviness of periods (sentences), multifaceted composition, many plot lines, and an abundance of authorial digressions are integral and necessary features of War and Peace. The artistic task itself - the epic coverage of enormous layers of historical life - required complexity, and not lightness and simplicity of form.

The complicated syntactic structure of Tolstoy’s prose is an instrument of social and psychological analysis, an essential component of the style of the epic novel. The composition of “War and Peace” is also subject to the requirements of the genre. The plot is based on historical events. Secondly, the significance of the destinies of families and individuals is revealed (to analyze all the contrasts, see above).

“Dialectics of the soul” (features of Tolstoy’s psychologism)

According to N.G. Chernyshevsky, Tolstoy was interested “most of all in the mental process itself, its forms, its laws, the dialectics of the soul, in order to directly depict the mental process in an expressive, defining term.” Chernyshevsky noted that Tolstoy’s artistic discovery was the depiction of an internal monologue in the form of a stream of consciousness.
Chernyshevsky identifies the general principles of the “dialectics of the soul”:
a) An image of the inner world of man in constant movement, contradiction and development (Tolstoy: “man is a fluid substance”);
b) Tolstoy’s interest in turning points, crisis moments in a person’s life;
c) Eventfulness (the influence of events in the external world on the inner world of the hero).

1. Genre features of “War and Peace”.
2. Problems of the novel.
3. Specifics of Tolstoy’s psychologism.
4. The system of characters in the novel.
5. Portrayal of war in the novel
6. “People's Thought” in the novel.
7. Philosophy of history of Tolstoy.

One of the questions that arises when considering “War and Peace” concerns the reasons for Tolstoy, an artist with an unusually keen sense of modernity, to turn to a bygone historical era of the early 19th century. There is no contradiction here. The decisive historical turning point in the era of the 60s (peasant reform and the resulting transformations in the entire life of the country) made questions about the patterns of development of history, about the very process of the historical movement of the country the most important and pressing. The concept of the novel “The Decembrists” dates back to the early 1860s, the hero of which is Pyotr Labazov (the prototype of Pierre Bezukhov) - a Decembrist returning with his family in 56 after settling in the capital and, as Tolstoy says, “trying on his strict and somewhat ideal view of the new Russia." The collision of eras, past and present, the understanding of modernity from the point of view of the Decembrist era was supposed to be the beginning that drives the plot. The idea led Tolstoy to the era of 1812 (compare with the words of the Decembrist A. Bestuzhev: “We are the children of the twelfth year”), but it turned out that the content of the people’s war, which revealed the power and vitality of the Russian nation, is much broader than the idea of ​​Decembrism. The task of identifying the internal sources of victory and resistance to evil forces Tolstoy to turn to an even earlier era, 1805 - 1807. - a time of “failures and defeats”, in which the essence of the character of the people should have been “expressed even more clearly”. In “War and Peace” it is not difficult to see different genre elements - family chronicles (in the structure of the novel the importance of family, clan formations - nests of the Bolkonskys, Rostovs , Kuraginykh), socio-psychological and historical novel. Moreover, none of these definitions exhausts the novel as a whole. Myself

Tolstoy called “War and Peace” “a book about the past,” believing that it cannot be subsumed under any genre category: “This is not a novel, still less a poem, even less a historical chronicle. “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed.” But this form turned out to be so capacious for the philosophical and psychological analysis of human interactions in peace and war - i.e. in historical time (in Tolstoy’s special understanding of history, which necessarily includes the private lives of people), that the definition of “epic novel” was assigned to “War and Peace”.

The epic beginning is already laid in the title, which makes us recall the order of Pushkin’s chronicler Pimen from “Boris Godunov”: “Describe, without further ado... / War and peace, the government of sovereigns, / Holy miracles of the saints, / Prophecies and signs of heaven...” . Pimen’s enumeration seems to cover everything that exists in the world, and the image of war and peace, taken in such a context, is life in its entirety. This is served by the huge spatial coverage (Russia, Austria, Moscow, St. Petersburg, landowners' estates, provinces), and the time duration (15 years) and the huge number of characters - from the emperor and field marshal to the peasant and the common soldier. But this is not the main thing. The epic is created primarily by the nature of the central event - the war of 1812, which served as the impetus for the unusually rapid awakening of popular consciousness, united the nation and thereby predetermined the outcome of the Battle of Borodino (the culminating event of the epic) and the subsequent victory. But the name also has another meaning. War and peace are the antithesis, the deepest contradiction of life.
The idea of ​​contradiction, the clash of opposites, permeates the entire structure of the novel. This is the opposite of military and peaceful scenes replacing each other; the contrast between artistic depiction and philosophical and historical reasoning (the feature is so sharp that in the second edition of the novel, Tolstoy moved this philosophical and journalistic part into a separate book, but subsequently returned everything to its previous state); the contrast between the “historical” (emperors, ministers, military advisers, generals) and private life of people; the contrast between a temporary development (from 1805 to 1820) and a brief moment (a social evening, a ball, a theatrical performance, a birthday, a family scene); the opposite is the combination of the smallest observations of the human psyche (Tolstoy called this “pettiness”) and broad cultural and philosophical generalizations (according to Tolstoy, “generalization”); and, finally, in the system of characters, heroes given in movement are opposite to static, motionless heroes. But in Tolstoy’s world, the main law of which is movement, opposites also do not exist as something motionless, we can say that they are overcome. Thus, for Tolstoy, life does not seem to be divided into isolated aspects - historical and private - subject to different laws. History is created in the individual existence of a person, in a family, in a family estate. The laws of human life and the laws of history are one. How does this idea come to fruition not from Tolstoy the publicist and philosopher, but from Tolstoy the artist? His main technique is semantic “linkages” (Tolstoy’s favorite word). In scenes of private life and in historical scenes located in different parts of the novel, a common meaning is revealed. Thus, the cardinal idea for Tolstoy about true and false values ​​in life is equally revealed to Nikolai Rostov after a huge loss at cards, to Prince Andrei, lying after being wounded on Pratsenskaya Mountain, to Pierre, watching the soldiers going to Borodin before the battle. The generality of the situation is that in all three cases a decisive shift occurs - life disrupts its usual course in the face of death (Nicholas’s inability to pay his “debt of honor” threatens suicide, Prince Andrei is mortally wounded and bleeding, Pierre thinks that these cheerful people tomorrow, perhaps, they will die), - and then the usual and unquestionable values, for each their own (officer’s honor, glory, convenience and comfort), reveal their falsity and the present and universal in life comes into force - the power of youth and art, revealed Nicholas in Natasha’s singing, the truth of the high sky, as if seen for the first time by Prince Andrei, the calm confidence in the need for a common cause, which Pierre felt in the soldiers. Likewise, the concepts of war and peace begin to flicker, penetrating each other. The laws of war (hostility, adventurism, deception, murder) actively operate in peaceful life. This is the war waged for the mosaic portfolio of the old Count Bezukhov by Prince Vasily and Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, and the military cunning of Prince Vasily’s intrigues around Pierre, who became a profitable groom after receiving an inheritance, and the duel between Pierre and Dolokhov, and much more. And peace as consent, the harmony of human relations finds itself in military life - be it the life of the hussar regiment of Nikolai Rostov or the Tushin battery at Shengraben. In the very fire of the Borodino battle on the Kurgan battery, Pierre feels as if in the small world of his family. And the spatial meaning of “family world”, i.e. circle of people, coincides here with the homonymous meaning of the state: “family peace” means “family harmony.” The concept of “peace” is key to Tolstoy’s book, and it is especially important that the meaning of peace as non-war comes into contact with the concept of peace as the unity of people. “Let us pray to the Lord in peace,” Natasha Rostova hears the words of the great litany in the first days of the war and, as it were, deciphers them for herself: “In peace, all together, without distinction of classes, without enmity, but united by brotherly love.” “Lack of hostility” and “all together” here become a synonymous series, shades of a single meaning. Unity - peace - of the Russian nation, born in the crucible of war, is the main content of Tolstoy's epic. “People's thought,” which Tolstoy said he loved in War and Peace, is connected with the most important problems of the novel. The people are the common soul of the nation, and this can be understood by the year 1812, which liberated the creative consciousness of the people, who gained freedom of action and swept away all the “generally accepted conventions of war.” (This is the maximum manifestation of the general situation discussed above, in the cases of Nikolai Rostov, Prince Andrei, Pierre). The invasion dies because the people rise up - like “a new force unknown to anyone.” The popular character of the war is determined by the breadth and strength of human independence: this is the partisan movement, and the creation of noble militias, and the destruction of people’s property, and the abandonment of Moscow. And the arrival in the army of the commander-in-chief of Kutuzov, disliked by the sovereign, but better than anyone who understands the popular nature of the war and listens, first of all, to the state of the spirit of the Russian army, is an expression of this previously “unknown force.” Victory (the common good) turns out to be the result of the fact that the personal interests of many people, usually egoistically separated from each other, turn out to be unidirectional, determined by one feeling - Tolstoy calls it almost physical, i.e. a natural and necessary phenomenon - “the hidden warmth of patriotism.” The people preserve within themselves the moral principles of a common life, they essentially embody this common life. Only by joining it can they find a solution to their painful questions about the meaningfulness of existence and agreement with themselves, Tolstoy’s favorite heroes - Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei. This agreement is achievable only when going beyond the boundaries of an isolated personal life, and Tolstoy shows it in the soldiers at the Raevsky battery under Borodin, and then in an individual person - Platon Karataev. Platon Karataev turns out to be the embodiment of the ideal of “simplicity and truth,” the ideal of complete dissolution in a common life, which destroys the fear of death and awakens the power of life in a person. Tolstoy shows that Karataev’s life, “as he himself looked at it, had no meaning as a separate life. It made sense only as a part of the whole, which he constantly felt.” And meeting him turns out to be life-saving for Pierre, endowing him with a sense of freedom, “knowledge of the heart,” and the ability to distinguish between good and evil. The world of the heroes of “War and Peace” is huge and complex. These are both historical figures and characters, as Tolstoy said, “completely fictitious.” It is amazing that in this grandiose building (more than 600 characters) people live without obscuring each other. Not only the main characters who go through the entire long journey in the epic are remembered forever, but also the secondary characters and general heroes. In addition to this division into main and secondary, natural for any work, several more principles for highlighting and dividing characters are distinguishable, and they are associated with important substantive motives. We have already talked about the importance of the concept of “world” for the novel. In the system of characters, it is carried out, as it were, on three levels - the inner world of the individual (the world of Pierre Bezukhov, the world of Prince Andrei, the world of Natasha Rostova, etc.), the world of the ancestral, family (the world of the Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Kuragins) and, finally, that common world - vital integrity that is happening in the war of 1812. Tolstoy spoke about “people's thought” in the novel, but “family thought” in it is also extremely important. Firstly, the heroes bear the stamp of family affiliation. No matter how different Natasha, Nikolai and Petya may be from each other, their belonging to the “Rostov breed” is undeniable. The meek Princess Marya and the strict and hot-tempered old prince are equally Bolkonskys. The “idiot” Hippolyte, the cunning Prince Vasily, and the beautiful Helen are endowed with common traits. The kindness of the Rostovs, the pride of the Bolkonskys, the selfishness of the Kuragins are family characteristics inherent in each of its members. Family is a small world in which history is made. And therefore the epic naturally ends not only with the victory of the Russian world, but also with the creation of world-families that united the Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Bezukhovs - the families of Natasha and Pierre, Nikolai and Princess Marya. Another important principle manifested in the construction of a system of characters is their attribution to either characters given in movement or static. Movement for Tolstoy is a moral concept; he connects it with the most important idea of ​​moral improvement. Even in his diary of 1857, he formulated for himself: “Truth is in motion - and that’s all.” Thirty-four years later, in 1891, he repeats and explains this idea, connecting it with the central philosophical idea of ​​freedom: “Freedom cannot exist in the finite, freedom only in the infinite. There is infinity in a person - he is free, no - he is a thing. In the process of the movement of the spirit, improvement is an infinitesimal movement - it is free - and it is infinitely great in its consequences, because it does not die. Tolstoy’s psychological method, accurately called by Chernyshevsky “dialectics of the soul,” is also based on the idea of ​​movement. The inner world of a person is depicted in the process as a constant, continuously changing mental flow. Tolstoy strives to depict not so much the nature of feelings and experiences as the process of the emergence of thoughts or feelings and their changes. Tolstoy writes in his diary: “How good it would be to write a work of art in which to clearly express the fluidity of a person, the fact that he is one and the same, now a villain, now an angel, now a sage, now an idiot, now a strong man, now a powerless being.” What are the means to depict a person? Traditionally, a portrait and external description play an important role. The law of Tolstoy’s world is the discrepancy between the external and the internal: the ugliness of Princess Marya hides spiritual wealth and beauty, and, on the contrary, the ancient perfection of Helen and the beauty of Anatole hide soullessness and insignificance. But much more important for Tolstoy is the depiction of the hero’s inner world, thoughts and feelings, which is why his internal monologue occupies a huge place. The significance of the “internal” is also manifested in the fact that Tolstoy shows and evaluates external phenomena and events through the eyes of the hero, acts through his consciousness, as if depriving a person of a mediator-narrator in understanding reality. The new way of depicting the relationship between reality and man is reflected in the abundance of everyday details and details of the external environment that affect the psyche. “The soul sounds under the countless, sometimes unnoticed, inaudible fingers of the reality of a given moment,” writes an interesting researcher of Tolstoy A. P. Skaftymov. Natasha's joyful excitement on her name day; her condition during the first ball, new feelings associated with new impressions - pomp, brilliance, noise; the hunting scene, described with all the external details, and at the same time the state of feelings of all those involved - the hunter Danila, and the old count, and the uncle, and Nikolai, and Natasha. Another reality - the next scene in the uncle's house - gives rise to different feelings. Scenes can be multiplied indefinitely. Sometimes some details of external reality turn out to be so significant that they acquire symbolic meaning. This is how the sky of Austerlitz turns out to be for Prince Andrei, and his meeting with the old oak plays the same role. In motion, i.e. In constant change and development, Tolstoy's main characters are given - Natasha, Pierre, Prince Andrei, Nikolai Rostov, Princess Marya. They are contrasted with a world of immobility - Helen and her brother Anatole, Sonya, Boris Drubetskoy, Berg, etc. The movement of the heroes appears as a spiritual path of search, doubt, grave crises, revivals and new catastrophes. This broken line of life's ups and downs is especially clearly visible in the fate of Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei. They are not at all similar in personality type (their difference is noticeable in the very first scene of the novel - at a social reception at Anna Pavlovna Sherer), but they are united and made close by a common property - the need to understand life and their place in it. For Bolkonsky, who despises the world with its insignificance and perverted moral world (“This life is not for me,” he will say in a conversation with Pierre), this is expressed in the desire to influence the course of events through personal action, feat. For Pierre, before whom, after the duel, his own life, like the life of everyone - modern and historical, appears in disorder and destruction, like a “collapsed” building, the idea of ​​self-improvement becomes an opportunity for improvement. But speculative ideas (“Napoleonic” in Bolkonsky, Masonic in Pierre) are not capable of coping with the disorder of life, the senseless and uncontrollable elements of man. These stages will end in disaster - disappointment in Freemasonry for Pierre, the Austerlitz disaster for Prince Andrei. Their path to truth becomes a movement towards other people, and human unity is achieved not through thought, but through intuitive knowledge and the experience of living with people. In 1812, Prince Bolkonsky will not be the adjutant of the commander-in-chief, but will go to serve “in the ranks,” where it will become clear to him that the outcome of events depends on the “common spirit” that is in him, Kutuzov, Timokhin and the last soldier. For Pierre, the main lessons of life will be the understanding of “simplicity and truth”, which he will see in the soldiers under Borodin, and then the vision of the truth of the common people’s life, which he will feel in Karataev. If the paths of Pierre and Prince Andrei run parallel, then Natasha’s interaction Rostova and Princess Marya are a movement towards each other. In the plot development, this is expressed in the sharp opposition of the heroines in the first half of the novel and their deepest closeness after the wounding of Prince Andrei. Natasha is Tolstoy’s most beloved heroine; living life does not manifest itself in anyone with such strength and activity. She, spontaneous, natural, endowed with extraordinary inner sensitivity, in fact, is the embodiment of life’s freedom. But her sense of duty and moral obligations to other people is not sufficiently developed (remember the most important episode of Natasha and Anatoly Kuragin). But it was granted to Princess Marya to the maximum extent. The princess's path to gaining freedom, Natasha's path to acquiring duty turn out to be the internal plot of their movement. In the motionless heroes, Tolstoy captures, first of all, selfish self-sufficiency, separation from the general life of people. It is characteristic that it was during the period of “failures and defeats” that Drubetskoy and Berg reached the maximum possible boundaries of their official and personal careers. The other side of egoism, the destructive invasion of people’s lives, is most strongly manifested in the destructive interference of Prince Vasily, Dolokhov, Anatole, Helen in the life of Pierre, Natasha, and Prince Andrei. If movement is evidence of the correct and normal moral development of the individual, then immobility is a lack of this development. But in the character system there are two heroes, whose immobility speaks differently. This is Platon Karataev and Kutuzov. In Karataev, that perfection and that “roundness” of the people’s world are set, which does not need movement. And Kutuzov, with all the vivid realism of his external and psychological portrait, turns out to be a symbol of “national feeling” in all its “purity and strength.” His antithesis in the novel is Napoleon, in whom the egoistic, destructive and violent principle is maximally expressed. The images of Napoleon and Kutuzov are associated with two important problems of the novel - Tolstoy’s philosophy of history and the depiction of war. Let us outline only some aspects of these problems. Tolstoy's philosophy of history is associated with his idea that in the historical process there is a certain expediency hidden from people's views. For each person, his actions seem conscious and free, but adding up the results of people’s multidirectional actions gives a result that is not foreseen and is not conscious of them (it is usually called the “will of providence”). Only in a few epochs do private and free actions of people form a unidirectional vector; these are those epochs of possible unity, to which 1812 belongs. And only a few people are able to renounce the narrowly personal and be imbued with the goals of a historical, general necessity that they understand. Kutuzov belongs to such people. Realizing the general meaning of events, he turns out to be the main figure and spokesman for the people's war. Napoleon, on the contrary, sees in history only the source of his own, private goals and aspirations, thus turning out to be the most extreme expression of the idea of ​​egoism. Tolstoy understands war in general as “an event contrary to human reason and all human nature.” This is how the campaign of 1805 is considered, in which the “decline in the morale of the army”, the “great haste and the greatest disorder” of the retreat through Enns, the defeat at Austerlitz are equally natural, since they are not associated with the moral principle of human actions. The Battle of Shengraben is the only event in the history of this campaign that has a moral justification - the rescue of the main part of the Russian army by Bagration’s small detachment (see the behavior of Captain Tushin’s battery in this battle). Shengraben is a line leading to Borodin (cf. Bagration’s behavior under Shengraben with Kutuzov’s behavior under Borodin). Borodino and the entire war of 1812 are opposite in meaning to ordinary wars. The need for war, realized by the people, makes it creative, “patriotic,” salutary for Russia as a whole and for each of the heroes. The year 1812 destroys the historical tyranny of a strong personality - Napoleon, who imposes his will as a law on the peoples of Europe, and the private tyranny of the Kuragins - Anatole and Helen die ingloriously, Prince Vasily is deprived of the power of cunning.

Analysis of the epic novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"

L.N. Tolstoy argued that “War and Peace” (1863-1869) is not a novel, not a poem, not a historical chronicle. Referring to the entire experience of Russian prose, he wanted to create and created a literary work of a completely unusual type. In literary criticism, the definition of “War and Peace” as an epic novel has taken root. This is a new genre of prose, which after Tolstoy became widespread in Russian and world literature.

Fifteen years of the country's history (1805-1820) are captured by the writer on the pages of the epic in the following chronological order:

Volume I - 1805

Volume II - 1806-1811

Volume III - 1812

Volume IV - 1812-1813

Epilogue - 1820

Tolstoy created hundreds of human characters. The novel depicts a monumental picture of Russian life, full of events of enormous historical significance. Readers will learn about the war with Napoleon, which the Russian army waged in alliance with Austria in 1805, about the battles of Schöngraben and Austerlitz, about the war in alliance with Prussia in 1806 and the Peace of Tilsit. Tolstoy depicts the events of the Patriotic War of 1812: the passage of the French army across the Neman, the retreat of the Russians into the interior of the country, the surrender of Smolensk, the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief, the Battle of Borodino, the council in Fili, the abandonment of Moscow. The writer depicts events that testified to the indestructible power of the national spirit of the Russian people, which destroyed the French invasion: Kutuzov’s flank march, the Battle of Tarutino, the growth of the partisan movement, the collapse of the invading army and the victorious end of the war.

The novel reflects the largest phenomena in the country's political and social life, various ideological movements (Freemasonry, Speransky's legislative activity, the emergence of the Decembrist movement in the country).

Pictures of great historical events are combined in the novel with everyday scenes drawn with exceptional skill. These scenes reflected the essential characteristics of the social reality of the era. Tolstoy depicts high-society receptions, entertainment of secular youth, ceremonial dinners, balls, hunting, Christmas fun of gentlemen and servants.

Pictures of Pierre Bezukhov's anti-serfdom reforms in the countryside, scenes of the rebellion of Bogucharov's peasants, episodes of indignation among Moscow artisans reveal to the reader the nature of the relationship between landowners and peasants, the life of the serf village and the urban lower classes.

The action of the epic takes place now in St. Petersburg, now in Moscow, now in the Bald Mountains and Otradnoye estates. The military events described in Volume I take place abroad, in Austria. Events of the Patriotic War ( Volumes III and IV) take place in Russia, and the location depends on the course of military operations (Drissky camp, Smolensk, Borodino, Moscow, Krasnoye, etc.).

“War and Peace” reflects the entire diversity of Russian life at the beginning of the 19th century, its historical, social, everyday and psychological features.

The main characters of the novel - Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov - stand out noticeably among the heroes of Russian literature for their moral originality and intellectual wealth. In terms of character, they are sharply different, almost polar opposites. But the paths of their ideological quests have something in common.

Like many thinking people in the first years of the 19th century, and not only in Russia, Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky were fascinated by the “Napoleonism” complex. Bonaparte, who has just proclaimed himself Emperor of France, by inertia retains the aura of a great man, shaking the foundations of the old feudal-monarchical world. For the Russian state, Napoleon is a potential aggressor. For the ruling elite of Tsarist Russia, he is a daring plebeian, an upstart, even the “Antichrist,” as Anna Pavlovna Scherer calls him. And the young Prince Bolkonsky, like the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhov, has a semi-instinctive attraction to Napoleon - an expression of the spirit of opposition to the society to which they belong by birth. It will take a long journey of searching and testing before both former admirers of Napoleon feel their unity with their own people and find a place for themselves among those fighting on the Borodin field. For Pierre, it will take an even longer and more difficult path before he becomes a figure in a secret society, one of the future Decembrists. With the conviction that his friend, Prince Andrei, if he were alive, would have been on the same side.

The image of Napoleon in “War and Peace” is one of Tolstoy’s brilliant artistic discoveries. In the novel, the Emperor of the French acts at a time when he has transformed from a bourgeois revolutionary into a despot and conqueror. Tolstoy's diary entries during the period of work on War and Peace show that he followed a conscious intention - to remove the aura of false greatness from Napoleon. The writer was an opponent of artistic exaggeration both in the depiction of good and in the depiction of evil. And his Napoleon is not the Antichrist, not a monster of vice, there is nothing demonic in him. The debunking of the imaginary superman is carried out without violating everyday authenticity: the emperor is simply removed from the pedestal and shown at his normal human height.

The image of the Russian nation, victoriously resisting the Napoleonic invasion, is given by the author with a realistic sobriety, insight, and breadth unparalleled in world literature. Moreover, this breadth is not in the depiction of all classes and strata of Russian society (Tolstoy himself wrote that he did not strive for this), but in the fact that the picture of this society includes many types, variants of human behavior in conditions of peace and conditions of war. In the last parts of the epic novel, a grandiose picture of popular resistance to the invader is created. It involves soldiers and officers who heroically give their lives in the name of victory, and ordinary residents of Moscow who, despite Rostopchin’s calls, leave the capital, and men Karp and Vlas who do not sell hay to the enemy.

But at the same time, in the “greedy crowd standing at the throne,” the usual game of intrigue is going on. Tolstoy's principle of removing the halo is directed against all bearers of unlimited power. This principle is expressed by the author in a formula that brought upon him the angry attacks of loyal criticism: “The Tsar is a slave of history.”

In an epic novel, the psychological characteristics of individual characters are distinguished by strict certainty of moral assessments. Careerists, money-grubbers, court drones, living a ghostly, unreal life, in days of peace can still come to the fore, draw naively noble people into the orbit of their influence (like Prince Vasily - Pierre), can, like Anatol Kuragin, charm and deceive women. But in the days of a nationwide test, people like Prince Vasily, or careerist officers like Berg, fade away and quietly drop out of the circle of action: the narrator does not need them, just as Russia does not need them. The only exception is the rake Dolokhov, whose cold cruelty and reckless courage come in handy in the extreme conditions of partisan warfare.

For the writer, the war itself was and is “an event contrary to human reason and all human nature.” But in certain historical conditions, a war in defense of one’s native country becomes a severe necessity and can contribute to the manifestation of the best human qualities.

Thus, the homely captain Tushin decides the outcome of a major battle with his courage; Thus, the feminine, charming, generous-hearted Natasha Rostova performs a truly patriotic deed, persuading her parents to sacrifice family property and save the wounded.

Tolstoy was the first in world literature to show through artistic expression the importance of the moral factor in war. The Battle of Borodino became a victory for the Russians because for the first time “the hand of a powerful enemy was laid upon Napoleon’s army.” Kutuzov's strength as a commander is based on the ability to feel the spirit of the army and act in accordance with it. It is the feeling of internal connection with the people, with the mass of soldiers, that determines the way he acts.

Tolstoy's philosophical and historical reflections are directly related to Kutuzov. In his Kutuzov, both the mind and the will of a proven commander are revealed with complete clarity, who does not succumb to the elements, and wisely takes into account factors such as patience and time. Kutuzov's willpower and sobriety of his mind are manifested especially clearly in the scene of the council in Fili, where he - in defiance of all the generals - makes a responsible decision to leave Moscow.

The image of war is presented in the epic with high innovative art. In various scenes of military life, in the actions and remarks of the characters, the mood of the soldier masses is revealed, their steadfastness in battles, irreconcilable hatred of enemies and a good-natured and condescending attitude towards them when they are defeated and taken prisoner. In military episodes, the author’s thought is concretized: “A new force, unknown to anyone, rises - the people, and the invasion perishes.”

Platon Karataev occupies a special place among the characters in the epic. In the naively enthusiastic perception of Pierre Bezukhov, he is the embodiment of everything “Russian, kind and round”; Sharing with him the misfortunes of captivity, Pierre becomes familiar with folk wisdom and the people's destiny in a new way. Karataev seems to concentrate the qualities developed in the Russian peasant over centuries of serfdom - endurance, meekness, passive submission to fate, love for all people - and for no one in particular. However, an army consisting of such Platos could not defeat Napoleon. The image of Karataev is to a certain extent conventional, partly woven from the motifs of proverbs and epics.

“War and Peace,” the result of Tolstoy’s long-term research work on historical sources, was at the same time the artist-thinker’s response to the pressing problems that modernity posed to him. The social contradictions of Russia at that time are touched upon by the author only in passing and indirectly. But the episode of the peasant revolt in Bogucharovo, the pictures of popular unrest in Moscow on the eve of the arrival of the French there speak of class antagonisms. And it is quite natural that the action ends (not “unravels”) together with the denouement of the main plot conflict - the defeat of Napoleon. The sharp political dispute between Pierre Bezukhov and his brother-in-law Nikolai Rostov that unfolds in the epilogue, the dream-prophecy of young Nikolenka Bolkonsky, who wants to be worthy of the memory of his father - all this reminds of the new upheavals that Russian society is destined to experience.

The philosophical meaning of the epic is not limited to Russia. The opposition between war and peace is one of the central problems of the entire history of mankind. “Peace” for Tolstoy is a multi-valued concept: not only the absence of war, but also the absence of hostility between people and nations, harmony, commonwealth is the norm of existence to which we must strive.

The system of images of “War and Peace” refracts the thought formulated much later by Tolstoy in his diary: “Life is the more life, the closer its connection with the lives of others, with common life. It is this connection that is established by art in its broadest sense.” This is the special, deeply humanistic nature of Tolstoy’s art, which resonated in the souls of the main characters of War and Peace and determined the attractive power of the novel for readers of many countries and generations.

The main thing in today’s reading of Tolstoy remains his magical power, which he wrote about in a letter in 1865: “The artist’s goal is not to undeniably resolve the question, but to make one love life in its countless, never-exhaustible manifestations. If they had told me that I could write a novel, with which I would undeniably establish what seemed to me to be the correct view of all social issues, I would not have devoted even two hours of work to such a novel, but if I had been told that what I would write would be if today’s children read it in 20 years and will cry and laugh over it and love life, I would devote my whole life and all my strength to him.”

The first volume of the novel “War and Peace” describes the events of 1805. In it, Tolstoy sets the coordinate system of the entire work through the opposition of military and peaceful life. The first part of the volume includes descriptions of the heroes’ lives in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Bald Mountains. The second is military operations in Austria and the Battle of Shengraben. The third part is divided into “peaceful” and, following them, “military” chapters, ending with the central and most striking episode of the entire volume - the Battle of Austerlitz.

To get acquainted with the key events of the work, we recommend reading online a summary of volume 1 of “War and Peace” in parts and chapters.

Important quotes are highlighted in grey; this will help you better understand the essence of the first volume of the novel.

Average page reading time: 12 minutes.

Part 1

Chapter 1

The events of the first part of the first volume of “War and Peace” take place in 1805 in St. Petersburg. The maid of honor and close associate of Empress Maria Feodorovna Anna Pavlovna Scherer, despite her flu, receives guests. One of the first guests she meets is Prince Vasily Kuragin. Their conversation gradually moves from discussing the horrific actions of the Antichrist-Napoleon and secular gossip to intimate topics. Anna Pavlovna tells the prince that it would be nice to marry his son Anatoly, a “restless fool.” The woman immediately suggests a suitable candidate - her relative Princess Bolkonskaya, who lives with her stingy but rich father.

Chapter 2

Many prominent people of St. Petersburg come to see Sherer: Prince Vasily Kuragin, his daughter, the beautiful Helen, known as the most charming woman in St. Petersburg, his son Ippolit, Prince Bolkonsky's wife - the pregnant young princess Lisa, and others.

Pierre Bezukhov also appears - “a massive, fat young man with a cropped head and glasses” with an observant, intelligent and natural look. Pierre was the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhy, who was dying in Moscow. The young man had recently returned from abroad and was in society for the first time.

Chapter 3

Anna Pavlovna carefully monitors the atmosphere of the evening, which reveals in her a woman who knows how to behave in society, skillfully “serving” rare guests to more frequent visitors as “something supernaturally refined.” The author describes in detail the charm of Helen, emphasizing the whiteness of her full shoulders and external beauty, devoid of coquetry.

Chapter 4

Andrei Bolkonsky, the husband of Princess Lisa, enters the living room. Anna Pavlovna immediately asks him about his intention to go to war, specifying where his wife will be at this time. Andrei replied that he was going to send her to the village to her father.

Bolkonsky is glad to see Pierre, informing the young man that he can come to visit them whenever he wants, without asking about it in advance.

Prince Vasily and Helen are getting ready to leave. Pierre does not hide his admiration for the girl passing by him, so the prince asks Anna Pavlovna to teach the young man how to behave in society.

Chapter 5

At the exit, an elderly lady approached Prince Vasily - Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, who had previously been sitting with the maid of honor's aunt. The woman, trying to use her former charm, asks the man to place her son Boris in the guard.

During a conversation about politics, Pierre speaks out about the revolution as a great cause, going against the other guests who consider Napoleon's actions horrific. The young man could not fully defend his opinion, but Andrei Bolkonsky supported him.

Chapters 6-9

Pierre at the Bolkonskys. Andrei invites Pierre, who is undecided in his career, to try himself in military service, but Pierre considers the war against Napoleon, the greatest man, an unwise thing. Pierre asks why Bolkonsky is going to war, to which he replies: “I am going because this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!” .

In a frank conversation, Andrei tells Pierre to never marry until he finally knows his future wife: “Otherwise everything that is good and lofty in you will be lost. Everything will be spent on little things.” He really regrets that he got married, although Lisa is a wonderful woman. Bolkonsky believes that Napoleon's meteoric rise happened only due to the fact that Napoleon was not tied to a woman. Pierre is struck by what Andrei said, because the prince is for him a kind of prototype of the ideal.

After leaving Andrei, Pierre goes on a spree to the Kuragins.

Chapters 10-13

Moscow. The Rostovs celebrate the name day of their mother and youngest daughter - two Natalias. Women gossip about Count Bezukhov's illness and the behavior of his son Pierre. The young man got involved in bad company: his last revelry led to Pierre being expelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The women are wondering who will become the heir to Bezukhov's wealth: Pierre or the direct heir of the count - Prince Vasily.

The old Count of Rostov says that Nikolai, their eldest son, is going to leave the university and his parents, deciding to go to war with a friend. Nikolai replies that he really feels drawn to military service.

Natasha (“a dark-eyed, big-mouthed, ugly, but lively girl, with her childish open shoulders”), having accidentally seen the kiss of Sonya (the Count’s niece) and Nikolai, calls Boris (Drubetskaya’s son) and kisses him herself. Boris confesses his love to the girl, and they agree on a wedding when she turns 16.

Chapters 14-15

Vera, seeing Sonya and Nikolai and Natasha and Boris cooing, scolds him that it is bad to run after a young man and tries to offend young people in every possible way. This upsets everyone and they leave, but Vera remains satisfied.

Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya tells Rostova that Prince Vasily got her son into the guards, but she doesn’t even have money for uniforms for her son. Drubetskaya hopes only for the mercy of Boris’s godfather, Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov, and decides to hang him right now. Anna Mikhailovna asks her son to “be as nice as you know how to be” towards the count, but he believes that this will be like humiliation.

Chapter 16

Pierre was expelled from St. Petersburg for disorderly conduct - he, Kuragin and Dolokhov, taking the bear, went to the actresses, and when the policeman appeared to calm them down, the young man participated in tying the policeman with the bear. Pierre has been living in his father’s house in Moscow for several days, not fully understanding why he is there and how serious Bezukhov’s condition is. All three princesses (Bezukhov's nieces) are not happy about Pierre's arrival. Prince Vasily, who soon arrived at the count’s, warns Pierre that if he behaves here as badly as in St. Petersburg, he will end very badly.

Getting ready to convey an invitation from the Rostovs to the name day, Boris comes to Pierre and finds him doing a childish activity: a young man with a sword introduces himself as Napoleon. Pierre does not immediately recognize Boris, mistakenly mistaking him for the Rostovs' son. During the conversation, Boris assures him that he does not lay claim (although he is the godson of old Bezukhov) to the count’s wealth and is even ready to refuse a possible inheritance. Pierre considers Boris an amazing person and hopes that they will get to know each other better.

Chapter 17

Rostova, upset by her friend’s problems, asked her husband for 500 rubles and, when Anna Mikhailovna returned, gave her the money.

Chapters 18-20

Holiday at the Rostovs. While they are waiting for Natasha's godmother, Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, a sharp and straightforward woman, in Rostov's office, Countess Shinshin's cousin and the selfish guards officer Berg argue about the advantages and benefits of serving in the cavalry over the infantry. Shinshin makes fun of Berg.

Pierre arrived just before dinner, feels awkward, sits in the middle of the living room, preventing the guests from walking, is embarrassed and cannot carry on a conversation, constantly seeming to be looking for someone in the crowd. At this time, everyone is assessing how such a bumpkin could participate in the bear business that the gossips were gossiping about.

Over dinner, the men talked about the war with Napoleon and the manifesto that declared this war. The colonel claims that only through war can the security of the empire be preserved, Shinshin does not agree, then the colonel turns to Nikolai Rostov for support. The young man agrees with the opinion that “Russians must die or win,” but he understands the awkwardness of his remark.

Chapters 21-24

Count Bezukhov suffered a sixth stroke, after which the doctors announced that there was no longer any hope of recovery - most likely, the patient would die at night. Preparations began for unction (one of the seven sacraments that grants forgiveness of sins if the patient is no longer able to confess).

Prince Vasily learns from Princess Ekaterina Semyonovna that the letter in which the count asks to adopt Pierre is in the mosaic briefcase under the count's pillow.

Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna arrive at Bezukhov’s house. Heading to the dying man’s room, Pierre does not understand why he is going there and whether he should show up in his father’s chambers at all. During the unction, Counts Vasily and Catherine quietly take away the briefcase with papers. Seeing the dying Bezukhov, Pierre finally realized how close his father was to death.

In the reception room, Anna Mikhailovna notices that the princess is hiding something and is trying to take the briefcase from Catherine. At the height of the quarrel, the middle princess reported that the count had died. Everyone is saddened by Bezukhov's death. The next morning, Anna Mikhailovna tells Pierre that his father promised to help Boris and she hopes that the count’s will will be carried out.

Chapters 25-28

The estate of Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, a strict man who considered “idleness and superstition” to be the main human vices, was located in Bald Mountains. He raised his daughter Marya himself and was demanding and harsh with everyone around him, so everyone was afraid of him and obeyed him.

Andrei Bolkonsky and his wife Lisa come to the estate to visit Nikolai Bolkonsky. Andrei, telling his father about the upcoming military campaign, is met with obvious discontent in response. The elder Bolkonsky is against Russia's desire to participate in the war. He believes that Bonaparte is “an insignificant Frenchman who was successful only because there were no longer Potemkins and Suvorovs.” Andrei does not agree with his father, because Napoleon is his ideal. Angry at his son’s stubbornness, the old prince shouts at him to go to his Bonaparte.

Andrey is getting ready to leave. The man is tormented by mixed feelings. Marya, Andrei’s sister, asks her brother to put on “an old icon of the savior with a black face in a silver robe on a finely made silver chain” and blesses him with the image.

Andrei asks the old prince to take care of his wife Lisa. Nikolai Andreevich, although he seems strict, betrays the letter of recommendation to Kutuzov. At the same time, saying goodbye to his son, he gets upset. Having said a cold goodbye to Lisa, Andrei leaves.

Part 2

Chapter 1

The beginning of the second part of the first volume dates back to the fall of 1805, Russian troops are located at the Braunau fortress, where the main apartment of Commander-in-Chief Kutuzov is located. A member of the Gofkriegsrat (court military council of Austria) from Vienna comes to Kutuzov with a demand to join the Russian army with Austrian troops led by Ferdinand and Mack. Kutuzov considers such a formation unprofitable for the Russian army, which is in a deplorable state after the campaign to Braunau.

Kutuzov orders the soldiers to be prepared for inspection in field uniform. During the long campaign, the soldiers were pretty worn out, their shoes were broken. One of the soldiers was dressed in a different overcoat from everyone else - it was Dolokhov, demoted (for the story with the bear). The general shouts at the man to immediately change his clothes, but Dolokhov replies that “he is obliged to follow orders, but is not obliged to endure insults.” The general has to ask him to change his clothes.

Chapters 2-7

News arrives of the defeat of the Austrian army (an ally of the Russian Empire) led by General Mack. Having learned about this, Bolkonsky is involuntarily glad that the arrogant Austrians have been put to shame and he will soon be able to prove himself in battle.

Nikolai Rostov, a cadet of the hussar regiment, serves in the Pavlograd regiment, living with a German peasant (a nice man whom they always happily greet for no particular reason) with squadron commander Vaska Denisov. One day Denisov’s money disappears. Rostov finds out that the thief turned out to be Lieutenant Telyanin and exposes him in front of other officers. This leads to a quarrel between Nikolai and the regimental commander. The officers advise Rostov to apologize, because otherwise the honor of the regiment will suffer. Nikolai understands everything, however, like a boy, he cannot, and Telyanin is expelled from the regiment.

Chapters 8-9

“Kutuzov retreated to Vienna, destroying behind him bridges on the rivers Inn (in Braunau) and Traun (in Linz). On October 23, Russian troops crossed the Enns River." The French begin shelling the bridge, and the commander of the rearguard (the rear part of the army) orders the bridge to be burned. Rostov, looking at the burning bridge, thinks about life: “And the fear of death and stretchers, and the love of the sun and life - everything merged into one painful and disturbing impression.”

Kutuzov's army moves to the left bank of the Danube, making the river a natural barrier to the French.

Chapters 10-13

Andrei Bolkonsky stays in Brünn with a diplomat friend, Bilibin, who introduces him to other Russian diplomats - “his” circle.

Bolkonsky returns back to the army. The troops are retreating chaotically and hastily, wagons are scattered along the road, and officers are driving aimlessly along the road. Watching this disorganized action, Bolkonsky thinks: “Here it is, a dear, Orthodox army.” He is annoyed that everything around him is so different from his dreams of the great feat that he must accomplish.

There is anxiety and anxiety at the commander-in-chief's headquarters, since it is not clear whether to retreat or fight. Kutuzov sends Bagration and a detachment to Krems to delay the advance of the French troops.

Chapters 14-16

Kutuzov receives news that the position of the Russian army is hopeless and sends Bagration with a four-thousand-strong vanguard to Gollabrunn to hold the French between Vienna and Znaim. He himself sends an army to Znaim.

French Marshal Murat offers Kutuzov a truce. The commander-in-chief agrees, because this is a chance to save the Russian army by advancing troops to Znaim during the truce. However, Napoleon reveals Kutuzov's plans and orders the truce to be broken. Bonaparte goes to Bagration's army to defeat him and the entire Russian army.

Having insisted on his transfer to Bagration’s detachment, Prince Andrei appears to the commander-in-chief. Inspecting the troops, Bolkonsky notices that the farther from the border with the French, the more relaxed the soldiers are. The prince makes a sketch of the layout of the Russian and French troops.

Chapters 17-19

Battle of Shengraben. Bolkonsky feels a special revival, which was also read on the faces of the soldiers and officers: “It has begun! Here it is! Scary and fun! " .

Bagration is on the right flank. A close battle begins, the first wounded. Bagration, wanting to raise the morale of the soldiers, dismounting from his horse, himself leads them into the attack.

Rostov, being at the front, was glad that he would now find himself in battle, but almost immediately his horse was killed. Once on the ground, he cannot shoot the Frenchman and simply throws his pistol at the enemy. Wounded in the arm, Nikolai Rostov ran to the bushes “not with the feeling of doubt and struggle with which he went to the Ensky Bridge, he ran, but with the feeling of a hare running away from dogs. One inseparable feeling of fear for his young, happy life controlled his entire being.”

Chapters 20-21

Russian infantry is taken by surprise by the French in the forest. The regimental commander futilely tries to stop the soldiers scattering in different directions. Suddenly the French are pushed back by Timokhin's company, which turned out to be unnoticed by the enemy.
Captain Tushin (“a small, stooped officer” with an unheroic appearance), leading the army on the front flank, is ordered to retreat immediately. His superiors and adjutants reproach him, although the officer showed himself to be a brave and reasonable commander.

On the way, they pick up the wounded, including Nikolai Rostov. Lying on the cart, “he looked at the snowflakes fluttering over the fire and remembered the Russian winter with a warm, bright house and caring family.” “And why did I come here!” - he thought.

Part 3

Chapter 1

In the third part of the first volume, Pierre receives his father's inheritance. Prince Vasily is going to marry Pierre to his daughter Helen, since he considers this marriage beneficial, first of all, for himself, because the young man is now very rich. The prince arranges for Pierre to become a chamberlain and insists that the young man go with him to St. Petersburg. Pierre stops with the Kuragins. Society, relatives and acquaintances completely changed their attitude towards Pierre after he received the count's inheritance; now everyone found his words and actions sweet.

At Scherrer's evening, Pierre and Helene are left alone, talking. The young man is fascinated by the marble beauty and lovely body of the girl. Returning home, Bezukhov thinks about Helen for a long time, dreaming “how she will be his wife, how she can love him,” although his thoughts are ambiguous: “But she is stupid, I myself said that she is stupid. There is something disgusting in the feeling that she aroused in me, something forbidden.”

Chapter 2

Despite his decision to leave the Kuragins, Pierre lives with them for a long time. In the “society” young people are increasingly being associated as future spouses.

On Helen's name day they are left alone. Pierre is very nervous, however, having pulled himself together, he confesses his love to the girl. A month and a half later, the newlyweds got married and moved into the newly “decorated” Bezukhovs’ house.

Chapters 3-5

Prince Vasily and his son Anatoly come to Bald Mountains. Old Bolkonsky does not like Vasily, so he is not happy with guests. Marya, getting ready to meet Anatole, is very worried, fearing that she will not like him, but Lisa calms her down.

Marya is fascinated by Anatole's beauty and masculinity. The man does not think about the girl at all; he is more interested in the pretty French companion Bourien. It is very difficult for the old prince to give permission for the wedding, because for him parting with Marya is unthinkable, but he still questions Anatole, studying him.

After the evening, Marya thinks about Anatole, but upon learning that Burien is in love with Anatole, she refuses to marry him. “My calling is different,” thought Marya, “My calling is to be happy with another happiness, the happiness of love and self-sacrifice.”

Chapters 6-7

Nikolai Rostov comes to Boris Drubetsky in the guards camp, located nearby, for money and letters from his relatives. The friends are very happy to see each other and discuss military affairs. Nikolai, greatly embellishing, tells how he took part in the battle and was wounded. Andrei Bolkonsky joins them, Nikolai says in front of him that the staff, sitting in the rear, “receive awards without doing anything.” Andrey correctly reins in his agility. On the way back, Nikolai is tormented by mixed feelings towards Bolkonsky.

Chapters 8-10

Emperors Franz and Alexander I review Austrian and Russian troops. Nikolai Rostov is in the forefront of the Russian army. Seeing Emperor Alexander passing by and greeting the army, the young man feels love, adoration and admiration for the sovereign. For his participation in the Battle of Shengraben, Nicholas was awarded the Cross of St. George and promoted to cornet.

The Russians won a victory in Wischau, capturing a French squadron. Rostov meets with the emperor again. Admired by the sovereign, Nicholas dreams of dying for him. Many people had similar moods before the Battle of Austerlitz.

Boris Drubetskoy goes to Bolkonsky in Olmutz. The young man witnesses how dependent his commanders are on the will of other, more important people in civilian clothes: “These are the people who decide the fate of nations,” Andrei tells him. “Boris was worried about the closeness to the highest power in which he felt at that moment. He recognized himself here in contact with those springs that guided all those enormous movements of the masses, of which in his regiment he felt like a small, submissive and insignificant “part.”

Chapters 11-12

The French envoy Savary conveys a proposal for a meeting between Alexander and Napoleon. The Emperor, refusing a personal meeting, sends Dolgoruky to Bonaparte. Returning, Dolgoruky says that after meeting with Bonaparte he was convinced: Napoleon fears a general battle most of all.

Discussion about the need to start the battle of Austerlitz. Kutuzov suggests waiting for now, but everyone is unhappy with this decision. After the discussion, Andrei asks Kutuzov’s opinion about the upcoming battle; the commander-in-chief believes that the Russians will face defeat.

Meeting of the military council. Weyrother was appointed as the overall commander of the future battle: “he was like a harnessed horse that ran away with the cart downhill. Whether he was carrying or being driven, he did not know”, “he looked pitiful, exhausted, confused and at the same time arrogant and proud.” Kutuzov falls asleep during the meeting. Weyrother reads the disposition (disposition of troops before the battle) of the Battle of Austerlitz. Langeron argues that the disposition is too complex and would be difficult to implement. Andrei wanted to express his plan, but Kutuzov, waking up, interrupts the meeting, saying that they will not change anything. At night, Bolkonsky thinks that he is ready to do anything for the sake of glory and must prove himself in battle: “Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me.”

Chapters 13-17

The beginning of the Battle of Austerlitz. At 5 am the movement of Russian columns began. There was heavy fog and smoke from fires, behind which it was impossible to see those around us or the direction. There is chaos in the movement. Due to the shift of the Austrians to the right, there was great confusion.

Kutuzov becomes the head of the 4th column and leads it. The commander-in-chief is gloomy, as he immediately saw confusion in the movement of the army. Before the battle, the emperor asks Kutuzov why the battle has not yet begun, to which the old commander-in-chief replies: “That’s why I’m not starting, sir, because we are not at the parade and not in Tsaritsyn Meadow.” Before the start of the battle, Bolkonsky was firmly convinced that “today was the day of his Toulon.” Through the dissipating fog, the Russians see French troops much closer than expected, break the formation and flee from the enemy. Kutuzov orders them to stop and Prince Andrei, holding a banner in his hands, runs forward, leading the battalion.

On the right flank, commanded by Bagration, at 9 o’clock nothing has yet begun, so the commander sends Rostov to the commander-in-chief for orders to begin military operations, although he knows that this is pointless - the distance is too great. Rostov, advancing along the Russian front, does not believe that the enemy is already practically in their rear.

Near the village of Praca, Rostov finds only upset crowds of Russians. Beyond the village of Gostieradek, Rostov finally saw the sovereign, but did not dare to approach him. At this time, Captain Tol, seeing the pale Alexander, helps him cross the ditch, for which the emperor shakes his hand. Rostov regrets his indecisiveness and goes to Kutuzov’s headquarters.

At five o'clock in the Battle of Austerlitz, the Russians lost on all counts. The Russians are retreating. At the Augest dam they are overtaken by French artillery cannonade. The soldiers are trying to advance by walking over the dead. Dolokhov jumps from the dam onto the ice, others run after him, but the ice cannot stand it, everyone drowns.

Chapter 19

The wounded Bolkonsky lies on Pratsenskaya Mountain, bleeding and, without noticing it, quietly groaning, in the evening he falls into oblivion. Waking up from burning pain, he felt alive again, thinking about the high Austerlitz sky and the fact that “he knew nothing, nothing until now.”

Suddenly the tramp of approaching French is heard, among them Napoleon. Bonaparte praises his soldiers, looking at the dead and wounded. Seeing Bolkonsky, he says that his death is wonderful, while for Andrei all this did not matter: “His head was burning; he felt that he was emanating blood, and he saw above him the distant, high and eternal sky. He knew that it was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. Bonaparte notices that Bolkonsky is alive and orders him to be taken to the dressing station.

Vesta and other wounded men remain in the care of the local population. In his delirium, he sees quiet pictures of life and happiness in the Bald Mountains, which is destroyed by little Napoleon. The doctor claims that Bolkonsky’s delirium will end in death rather than recovery.

Results of the first volume

Even in a brief retelling of the first volume of War and Peace, the opposition between war and peace can be traced not only at the structural level of the novel, but also through events. Thus, the “peaceful” sections take place exclusively in Russia, the “military” ones - in Europe, while in the “peaceful” chapters we encounter the characters’ war among themselves (the struggle for Bezukhov’s inheritance), and in the “military” chapters – peace (friendly relations between a German peasant and Nicholas). The finale of the first volume is the Battle of Austerlitz - the defeat of not only the Russian-Austrian army, but also the end of the heroes’ faith in the highest idea of ​​​​war.

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