Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a Russian writer, publicist, philosopher, moralist, religious teacher, teacher. The author of the great work "War and Peace", describing Russian society in the era of wars against Napoleon in the period from one thousand eight hundred and five to one thousand eight hundred and twelve.
The idea of \u200b\u200bthe novel was formed long before the start of work on the text that is known today. The main theme of this work is the historical fate of the Russian people in the Patriotic War.
Depicting the life and character of the common people, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy paints with vivid colors the life and customs of a secular society, in most cases consisting of nobles. It should be noted that secular society at that time was divided into two types - St. Petersburg and Moscow.
When Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy worked on the creation of his novel, St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire, which characterized the city's architectural splendor combined with cold gloom and inaccessibility.
The writer transfers the peculiar character of the city to the Petersburg society, the main occupations of which were balls, various receptions and social events. It was there that the political, secular and cultural news taking place at that time in the country were discussed. The main representatives of secular societies were Anna Pavlovna Sherer-maid of honor, an approximate of the empress, whose meaning of life was in the successful existence of her salon, and Helen Kuragina - a depraved, stupid, deceitful girl, however, despite this, she enjoyed great success in the world and had constant admirers ...
The peculiarity of St. Petersburg society was falsehood, pretense. All secular evenings, in my opinion, were like a masquerade, where the characters that the author introduces us to only play their part, putting on one or another mask.
Moscow society appears to us completely opposite, the prominent representatives of which are the Rostov family.
At first glance, it may seem that the secular society of Moscow is not much different from the society of St. Petersburg. However, later we can notice that the conversations of the nobles were not hypocritical and empty, the Rostovs and their guests spoke sincerely, with all their souls worried about the fate of their state and its citizens. In addition, the Moscow nobility was closer to the Russian people, their traditions and customs, which speaks of the kindness, openness and hospitality of the representatives of this social circle. However, one should not assume that Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy idealizes Moscow society. On the contrary, he emphasizes many of his features and morals, which do not find approval in the person of the author. But nevertheless, he turns a blind eye to these minor things.
In conclusion, I want to note that the role of secular society is very important in the work. Based on the antithesis, the author shows us both the good and the bad qualities of these societies, ultimately revealing the truthful and holistic.
The image of secular society in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace"
In his novel War and Peace, Tolstoy created a true and complete picture of Russian life in the first quarter of the 19th century. During this period in Russia the main social role was played by the nobles, therefore, a considerable place in the novel is given to the description of a secular society. It should be noted that the high society at that time was represented mainly by two metropolitan societies, quite different from each other: St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Petersburg is the capital, a cold, inhospitable city, standing on a par with European cities. Petersburg high society is a special world with its own laws, customs, morals, the intellectual center of the country, oriented towards Europe. But the first thing that catches your eye when describing relationships in this society is unnatural. All representatives of the high society are accustomed to playing roles imposed on them by society or taken voluntarily, it is not for nothing that Prince Vasily is compared to an actor in the novel.
One of the main types of pastime of members of the high society was secular receptions, which discussed news, the situation in Europe and much more. It seemed to a new person that everything discussed was important, and all those present were very smart and thinking people, seriously interested in the subject of the conversation. In fact, there is something mechanical, indifferent in these techniques, and Tolstoy compares those present in the Scherer salon with a talking machine. An intelligent, serious, inquisitive person cannot be satisfied with such communication, and he quickly becomes disappointed in the light. However, the basis of a secular society is those who like such communication, for whom it is necessary. Such people develop a certain stereotype of behavior, which they carry over to their personal, family life. Therefore, in their relationship in the family, there is little warmth, more practicality and calculation. A typical St. Petersburg family is the Kuragin family.
Moscow secular society appears before us quite differently, which, incidentally, is nevertheless somewhat similar to St. Petersburg. The first depiction of Moscow light in the novel is the description of the name day in the Rostovs' house. The morning reception of guests resembles social receptions in St. Petersburg: discussion of news, though not of a global scale, but of local ones, feigned feelings of surprise or indignation, but the impression immediately changes with the appearance of children who bring spontaneity, happiness, and causeless fun into the living room. At dinner the Rostovs display all the qualities inherent in the Moscow nobility: hospitality, cordiality, nepotism. Moscow society in many ways resembles one big family, where everyone knows everything, where they forgive each other for small weaknesses and can publicly scold for leprosy. Only in such a society could such a figure as Akhrosimova appear, and Natasha's trick was condescendingly appreciated. Unlike the Petersburg nobility, the Moscow nobility is closer to the Russian people, its traditions and customs. In general, Tolstoy's sympathies, apparently, are on the side of the Moscow nobility, it is not for nothing that his beloved heroes Rostovs live in Moscow. And although the writer cannot approve many of the traits and customs of Muscovites "(gossip, for example), he does not focus on them. In depicting secular society, Tolstoy actively uses the method of" detachment ", which allows him to look at events and heroes from an unexpected point of view. , when describing the evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer's, the writer compares the salon with a spinning workshop, illuminating from an unexpected side a secular reception and allowing the reader to penetrate the essence of the relationship in it. French in the speech of the heroes is also a technique of "detachment" a society that spoke mainly French at the time.
The novel War and Peace was created in the second half of the 19th century. This means that Tolstoy was familiar with the life of secular society at the beginning of the century only from the literature of that time or from the stories of contemporaries of that era. Poets and writers of the early 19th century often turned to the depiction of the nobility in their works, that is, at that time there was already a certain tradition in literature in the depiction of the high society, and Tolstoy continues this tradition in many ways, although he often departs from it. This allowed him to create a lot. a complete and reliable image of the secular society of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.
Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" allows one to judge what Russian society was like at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The writer shows the reader not only representatives of high society, but also the Moscow and local nobility, creates amazing images of peasants. Thus, practically all social strata of Russia are represented in the novel.
Pictures of Russian society in the novel "War and Peace"
Historical figures
- emperor Alexander I,
- Napoleon,
- Kutuzov,
- marshals of France,
- generals of the Russian army.
Showing historical figures, Tolstoy is biased by the author: for him, Kutuzov is a truly historical, majestic personality. Both Emperor Alexander and Napoleon first of all think about themselves, their role in history, therefore their role in real history is illusory. Kutuzov, on the other hand, feels the breeze of providence, subordinates his activities to the service of the Fatherland. Tolstoy writes:
"There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth."
Therefore, Kutuzov is great and Napoleon and those like him are insignificant.
Images of Russian nobles in the novel "War and Peace"
Revealing the images of Russian noblemen, the writer uses his favorite method of contrast. The St. Petersburg nobility, the high society of St. Petersburg are opposed to the Moscow and local nobility by striving for their own benefit, career, narrow personal interests.
The embodiment of such a society is the salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer, whose description of the evening begins a novel. The hostess herself and her guests are like a workshop, where cars rustle, spindles spin. Pierre's behavior, his sincerity seem bad manners to the regulars of the salon.
The Kuragin family also becomes a symbol of the high society's deceit. External beauty is not necessarily an attribute of internal beauty. The beauty of Helene and Anatole hide their predatory nature, which is aimed only at getting their own pleasure. Pierre's marriage to Helene, Natasha's false love for Anatol are mistakes that are paid for with disappointment in life, with a fragile fate.
The essence of the high society is manifested in relation to the war of 1812. During the Battle of Borodino, St. Petersburg is more busy with who of the two contenders for her hand will be chosen by Princess Bezukhova, Helen, with her husband alive. The patriotism of this society is expressed in the rejection of French speech and the inability to speak Russian. The falsity of this society is clearly visible in the behavior of Prince Vasily Kuragin during the struggle for the appointment of Kutuzov as the commander of the Russian army. The Kuragin, Bergi, Drubetsky, Rostopchin, even in war, are looking for only benefits, they are alien to true patriotism, the unity of the nation.
Moscow and local nobles are close to the people. Moscow views the war of 1812 differently. The nobles gather the militia, engulfed in a single impulse of patriotism, they meet the Emperor Alexander. Pierre equips a whole regiment of militias, demands that the carts, which are intended to transport things during retreat, be given to the wounded. Tolstoy admires a single family house, where gentlemen and servants represent a single whole (scenes of the name day in the Rostovs 'house, Natasha's hunting and dancing in the house of the Rostovs' uncle).
Images of the people, merchants "War and Peace"
For each of Tolstoy's favorite heroes, a man of the people becomes the measure of truth:
- for Andrei Bolkonsky, this is a meeting with Tushin in the Shengraben battle,
- for Pierre - with Platon Karataev in captivity,
- for Denisov - with Tikhon Shcherbaty in a partisan detachment.
The unity of the nation is also represented by the image of Muscovites, in particular a Moscow lady who leaves the city
"With a vague consciousness that she is not a servant to Bonaparte."
The merchant class is represented in the novel by the character Ferapontov, who opens his barns to residents and soldiers when retreating from Smolensk with a shout:
"Take everything ... Race has decided."
The images of the peasants are extremely interesting. Tolstoy shows the diversity of Russian folk characters.
- This is Tikhon Shcherbaty - "the most needed person in the detachment" of Denisov, a person who can walk as much as a horseman, pull a horse out of a swamp, take a prisoner.
- This is only the elder Vasilisa, mentioned by the writer, who led the partisan detachment.
- This is Captain Tushin, small, nondescript, thanks to whom it was possible to save the Russian army in the Shengraben battle.
- This is Captain Timokhin, an inconspicuous war worker on whom the Russian army rests.
- This is the philosopher and sage Platon Karataev, whose contradictory image still confuses critics. Plato was a good soldier, but he also takes captivity for granted, as life, while maintaining a sense of his own dignity.
Tolstoy would not have been Tolstoy if he had not shown the contradictory attitude of the peasants towards the invasion. The revolt of the Bogucharov peasants, their unwillingness to go into bondage, speaks of the hopes of the peasantry for liberation from serfdom.
"In War and Peace," Tolstoy will say, "I loved popular thought."
Russian families in the novel
But family thought also plays an important role in the novel. Tolstoy considers the family to be the foundation of the state.
The Rostov and Bolkonsky families, at the end of the novel of the families of Pierre and Natasha, Nikolai and Marya, are the moral ideal of a family where there is a kinship of souls, unity and mutual understanding.
It is in these families that talented children grow up, the foundation of Russia's future.
He wrote that his novel -
"A picture of mores built on a historical event."
The novel provides a lot for understanding the mysteries of the Russian soul and the Russian national character, the amazing strength of the nation, the people in the broadest sense in deep national upheavals.
Did you like it? Don't hide your joy from the world - shareThe multifaceted prosaic canvas, created by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, is a true picture of the life of the Russian people in the first quarter of the 19th century. The volume of the work and the scale of the description characterize the multifaceted problems of the novel. One of the problems that L.N. Tolstoy, is the study of the moral essence of secular society in the novel "War and Peace".
Artistic method of opposition
One of the main artistic techniques used by the author is opposition. This is striking even before reading the epic novel, because this technique already emphasizes the title of the work. Through a parallel image based on the opposition of war and peace, Lev Nikolaevich depicts topical problems of the early 19th century, human vices and dignities, the values \u200b\u200bof society and the personal dramas of the heroes.
The contrasting technique touched not only the plans of the image, but also the images. In the novel, the author created images of war and peace. If the author depicts war through battles, the characters of commanders, officers and soldiers, then the world personifies the image of Russian society in the first decades of the 19th century.
In describing the characteristic secular world in the novel War and Peace, the author does not deviate from his stylistic manner, which is characteristic not only of philosophical digressions, where the author's assessment of the events described is traced, but also a comparative description of phenomena, images, spiritual qualities. This is how the author depicts representatives of the two main cities of the Empire - St. Petersburg and Moscow - in a hidden opposition.
Characteristics of the metropolitan society in the novel
During the historical period described in the work, St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire, with a pretentious society characteristic of such a high rank. Petersburg is a city characterized by architectural splendor combined with cold gloom and inaccessibility. The author transfers its peculiar character to the Petersburg society.
Social events, balls, receptions are the main events for representatives of the capital's secular society. It is there that political, cultural and secular news is discussed. However, behind the external beauty of these events, it is clear that representatives of the nobility do not care and do not care at all about these topics, or the opinions of the interlocutors, or the outcome of conversations and meetings. The exposure of true and false beauty, the essence of metropolitan society is revealed in the novel from the very first price in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Sherer.
Petersburg high society in the novel plays its usual roles, speaks only about what it is customary to talk about, acts as expected. Using the example of the Kuragin family, who are typical representatives of the capital's society, the author, with undisguised disappointment and irony, emphasizes theatricality, pretense and cynicism of the social life of St. Petersburg and its representatives. Only those who are inexperienced or have lost interest in role-playing find the author's approval on the pages of the novel, through whose lips the author gives his assessment: "Living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot get out."
Description of Moscow social life and its representatives
For the first time, the author acquaints the reader with the customs and atmosphere of the Moscow nobility at a morning reception of the Rostov family. At first glance, it may seem that the secular picture of Moscow is not much different from the society of the Northern capital. However, the conversations of representatives of the nobility are no longer so generalized and empty, in them one can hear personal opinions, disputes and discussions, which speaks of sincerity of views, true excitement for the fate of their land and the state as a whole. At social events there is a place for children's pranks and good-natured laughter, sincere amazement, simplicity and directness of thoughts and actions, trust and forgiveness.
At the same time, one should not assume that Tolstoy, who undoubtedly sympathizes with the society of Moscow in the novel, idealizes him. On the contrary, he emphasizes many of his qualities that do not find approval in the person of the author, such as envy, ridicule, passion for gossip and discussion of someone else's private life. However, creating the image of the secular society of Moscow, the author identifies it with the characteristic both positive and negative features inherent in the Russian people.
The role of the image of a secular society in the novel
One of the main problems that underlies the work and my essay on the theme “Secular Society in the Novel“ War and Peace ”is the essence of the Russian people, with all its versatility, shortcomings and merits. In the novel, Tolstoy's goal was to show without adornments and flattery the true face of society at the beginning of the 19th century, in order to depict the essence of the Russian soul and the main national values \u200b\u200bsuch as home, family and state against its background.
The image of society serves not only as a force shaping attitudes, opinions, principles of thinking and ideals of behavior, but also as a background for expressing bright personalities at the expense of it, thanks to whose high moral qualities and heroism the war was won, which largely influenced the further fate of the state.
Product test
IMAGE OF SECURITY SOCIETY IN THE ROMAN "WAR AND PEACE" The work was done by pupils of the 10th grade of the MAOU secondary school No. 11 Tsygankova Olga, Mazurina Angelina G. Kaliningrad
Tolstoy recalled that he was inspired by “popular thought” to write the novel “WAR and Peace”. It was from the people that TOLSTOY studied himself and advised others to do so. Therefore, the main characters of his novel are people from the people or those who were close to ordinary people. Without denying the merits of the nobility to the people, he divides it into two categories. The first category includes those who are close to the people by their nature, outlook, worldview, or through trials they come to this. The best representatives of the nobility in this regard are Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya.
But there are other representatives of the nobility, the so-called "secular society", who make up a special caste. These are people who recognize only a few values: title, power and money. Only those who have one or all of the listed values \u200b\u200bare allowed into their circle and recognized as their own. A secular society is completely empty, just as its individual representatives are empty and insignificant, people without any moral or ethical foundations, without life goals. Just as empty and insignificant is their spiritual world. But despite this, they have great power. This is the top that governs the country, those people who decide the fate of fellow citizens.
Tolstoy tries in the novel to show the whole nation and all its representatives. "War and Peace" begins with scenes depicting the highest noble society. The author mainly shows the present, but also touches on the past. Tolstoy paints the nobles of this passing era. Count Bezukhov is one of their representatives. Bezukhov is rich and noble, he has a good estate, money, power, which he received from the tsars for small services. The former favorite of Catherine, a carousel and a lecher, he devoted his whole life to pleasures. He is opposed by the old prince Bolkonsky - his age. Bolkonsky is a loyal defender of the fatherland, to whom he served faithfully. For this he was repeatedly in disgrace and out of favor on the part of those in power.
Even with the onset of the war of 1812, the “secular society” changed little: “calm, luxurious, concerned only with ghosts, reflections of life, Petersburg life was going on as before; and because of the course of this life, great efforts had to be made to realize the danger and the difficult situation in which the Russian people found themselves. There were the same exits, balls, the same French theater, the same interests of the courtyards, the same interests of service and intrigue ... ”Only conversations have changed - they began to talk more about Napoleon and patriotism.
All strata of the Moscow noble society are represented in War and Peace. Tolstoy, characterizing the noble society, seeks to show not individual representatives, but entire families. After all, it is in the family that the foundations of decency and morality are laid, as well as spiritual emptiness and idleness. One of these families is the Kuragin family. Its head Vasily Kuragin holds a fairly high position in the country. He is a minister called to take care of the people. Instead, all the concerns of the elder Kuragin are directed towards himself and his own children. His son Ippolit is a diplomat who does not know how to speak Russian at all. For all his stupidity and insignificance, he craves power and wealth. Anatol Kuragin is no better than his brother. His only entertainment is carousing and drinking. It seems that this person is completely indifferent to everything, except for indulging his own whims. His friend Drubetskoy is Anatol's constant companion and witness to his dark deeds.
Thus, painting a noble society, Tolstoy shows his inactivity and inability to rule the country. The noble nobility has outlived its usefulness and must leave the stage of history. The necessity and inevitability of this was convincingly shown by the Patriotic War of 1812. The highest nobility differs from the people even in its language. The language of the noble nobility is a French language. He is as dead as the rest of society. It contains empty cliches, expressions that have developed once and for all, ready-made phrases that are used in convenient cases. People have learned to hide their feelings behind common phrases.
