Traits of family portrait similarities and differences between the Kuragins. Characteristics of the Kuragin family in the novel “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy

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

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

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

The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize moral standards, living according to immutable law fulfillment of your petty desires.

Vasily Kuragin

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

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

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

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

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

Helen Kuragina

Helen - incarnation external beauty and inner emptiness, fossilization. Tolstoy constantly mentions her “monotonous,” “unchanging” smile and “ancient beauty of body,” she resembles a beautiful, soulless statue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ippolit Kuragin

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

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

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

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

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

Anatol Kuragin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. 2. Helen Kuragina

2. 4. Anatol Kuragin

4. References

"War and Peace" Tolstoy "with the severity of a judge and a citizen" administers moral judgment over the high society and the bureaucratic elite of autocratic Russia. The value of a person, according to Tolstoy, is determined by three concepts: simplicity, kindness and truth. Morality, as the writer believes, is the ability to feel one’s “I” as part of the universal “we”. And Tolstoy’s favorite heroes are simple and natural, kind and warm-hearted, honest before people and their conscience. Tolstoy's relationship with high society is different; "envious and stuffy for a heart free and fiery passions." From the first pages of the novel, we, the readers, find ourselves in the St. Petersburg drawing rooms of the great world and get acquainted with the “cream” of this society: nobles, dignitaries, diplomats, ladies-in-waiting. Tolstoy tears away the veils of external brilliance and refined manners from these people, and their spiritual squalor and moral baseness appear before the reader. There is neither simplicity, nor goodness, nor truth in their behavior, in their relationships.

“Eternal inhuman enmity is boiling, the struggle for mortal blessings.” Let us remember the distorted faces of the “mournful” Drubetskaya and the “gracious” Prince Vasily, when the two of them clutched the briefcase with the will at the bedside of the dying Count Bezukhov. And the hunt for Pierre, who has become a rich man?! After all, this is a whole “military operation”, carefully thought out by Scherer and Prince Vasily. Without waiting for Pierre and Helene’s explanation or matchmaking, Prince Vasily bursts into the room with an icon in his hands and blesses the newlyweds - the mousetrap slammed shut. The siege of Maria Bolkonskaya, a rich bride for the rogue Anatoly, begins, and only chance prevented the successful completion of this operation. What kind of love can we talk about when marriages are made out of open calculation? With irony, even sarcasm, Tolstoy depicts the “declaration of love” of Boris Drubetsky and Julie Karagina. Julie knows that this brilliant but poor handsome man does not love her, but demands a full declaration of love for his wealth. And Boris, uttering the right words, thinks that it is always possible to arrange it so that he will rarely see his wife. All techniques are good to achieve “fame, money and ranks.” You can join Masonic lodge, pretending that you are close to the ideas of love, equality, brotherhood. But in fact, people like Boris Drubetskoy entered this society with one goal - to make profitable acquaintances. And Pierre, a sincere and trusting man, soon saw that these people were not interested in questions of truth, the good of humanity, but in the uniforms and crosses that they sought in life.

several thousand quitrents from the Ryazan estate. And all this under the guise of kindness and care for the young man, whom he cannot leave to the mercy of fate. Helen Kuragina, who became Countess Bezukhova, is also deceitful and depraved. Once openly cheating on her husband, she cynically declares to Pierre that she does not want to have children from him. Even beauty and youth among people of high society take on a repulsive character, because this beauty is not warmed by the soul. They lie, playing at patriotism, Julie Karagina, who finally became Drubetskaya, and others like her. Their patriotism was manifested in their refusal of French cuisine, French theater and not imposing a fine.

Let us remember with what enthusiasm the two-faced Prince Vasily admires, saying with the pride of a prophet: “What did I say about Kutuzov? I always said that he alone is capable of defeating Napoleon.” And when the news of the abandonment of Moscow to the French reached the courtiers, Prince Vasily indisputably said that nothing else could be expected from a blind, depraved old man." Tolstoy especially hated the imperial "game of war", for Alexander I the actual battlefield and parade on Tsaritsyn Meadow - this is the same thing (remember his dispute with Kutuzov before the Battle of Austerlitz). In the military environment, which Tolstoy knew well, careerism, service to “persons and not to the cause,” and fear of personal responsibility for the decision made flourish. This is why many disliked him so much. officers of the honest and principled Andrei Bolkonsky. Even on the eve of the Battle of Borodino, the headquarters officers were concerned not so much about its future result as about concerns about their future awards. They closely watched the weathervane of the royal favor. With stern mercilessness, Tolstoy “teared off all kinds of masks” from the representatives of the highest. light, exposing the anti-people essence of their ideology - the ideology of human disunity, selfishness, vanity and contempt for people.

L. Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace" depicts many human destinies. In an effort to establish uniform criteria in assessing the characters and actions of the characters, the writer defines moral laws that, in his opinion, exist objectively. These laws are for Tolstoy a measure of the spiritual qualities of a particular person.

Tolstoy wrote his novel when Russia entered the threshold of bourgeois development. In the novel, Napoleon acts, in whom the bourgeois attitude to life is fully expressed. This attitude consists precisely in the fact that all life problems for a person are exhausted by personal interest and goals. There is nothing but human units and their individual goals. Life goes on, as it happens, anarchically, without internal necessity, and there is no other law except the spontaneous coincidence of circumstances, which determines some kind of resultant in the chaotic clash of wills. And a person has no other worldview other than the cult of personal activity.

“War and Peace” Kuragins live by these laws, knowing throughout the world only their own personal interests and energetically pursuing them through intrigue. And how much destruction the Kuragins brought - Prince Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, the Rostovs, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!

mutual guarantee of almost animal egoism. Such a family connection is not a positive, real family connection, but, in essence, its negation. Real families - the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys - have, of course, an immense moral superiority on their side against the Kuragins; but still, the invasion of base Kuragin egoism causes a crisis in the world of these families. The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize moral standards, living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires.

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

In the eyes of secular society, Prince Kuragin is a respected person, “close to the emperor, surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic women, scattering social pleasantries and chuckling complacently.” In words he was a decent, sympathetic person, but in reality there was a constant internal struggle in him between the desire to seem like a decent person and the actual depravity of his motives. Prince Vasily “knew that influence in the world is capital that must be protected so that it does not disappear, and, once realizing that if he begins to ask for everyone who asks him, then soon he will not be able to ask for himself, he rarely used It's influence." But at the same time, he sometimes felt remorse. So, in the case of Princess Drubetskaya, he felt “something like a reproach of conscience,” since she reminded him that “he owed his first steps in the service to her father.”

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

request for revision of the will. The prince assumed that the count wrote a letter to the sovereign asking him to recognize Pierre as his legitimate son. This circumstance would give Pierre the right to own the entire huge fortune individually, which was extremely unprofitable for the prince.

"mosaic briefcase"

"...There was no one in the reception room anymore, except for Prince Vasily and the eldest princess, who, sitting under the portrait of Catherine, were animatedly talking about something. As soon as they saw Pierre and his leader, they fell silent. The princess hid something, as it seemed Pierre, and whispered:

“I can’t see this woman.”

“Catiche a fait donner du the dans le petit salon,” said Prince Vasily to Anna Mikhailovna. “Allez, ma pauvre Anna Mikhailovna, prenez quelque chose, autrement vous ne suffirez pas.”

He didn’t say anything to Pierre, he just shook his hand with feeling below the shoulder. Pierre and Anna Mikhailovna went to the petit salon..."

“...Pierre looked questioningly at his leader and saw that she was tiptoeing out again into the reception room, where Prince Vasily remained with the eldest princess. Pierre believed that this was also so necessary, and, after hesitating a little, he followed her...”

"...Prince Vasily sat on an armchair, in his familiar pose, crossing his legs high. His cheeks jumped strongly and, having dropped, seemed thicker at the bottom; but he had the appearance of a man little occupied with the conversation of two ladies.

“I don’t even know what’s in this paper,” said the princess, turning to Prince Vasily and pointing to the mosaic briefcase she was holding in her hands. “I only know that the real will is in his bureau, and this is a forgotten paper...” .

"...The princess was silent. Only the sounds of efforts to fight for the briefcase were heard..."

“...Intrigue!” she whispered angrily and pulled the briefcase with all her might, but Anna Mikhailovna took a few steps to keep up with the briefcase and grabbed her hand.

- Oh! - said Prince Vasily reproachfully and in surprise. He stood up. “Chest ridicule.” Voyons, let me in. I'm telling you..."

“…- Remember that you will be responsible for all the consequences,” said Prince Vasily sternly, “you don’t know what you are doing.

- Vile woman! - the princess screamed, suddenly rushing at Anna Mikhailovna and snatching the briefcase. Prince Vasily lowered his head and spread his arms..."

"...The eldest princess dropped her briefcase. Anna Mikhailovna quickly bent down and, picking up the controversial item, ran into the bedroom. The eldest princess and Prince Vasily, having come to their senses, followed her. A few minutes later, the eldest princess was the first to emerge from there, with a pale and dry face and a bitten lower part lip. At the sight of Pierre, her face expressed uncontrollable anger.

“Yes, rejoice now,” she said, “you have been waiting for this.” And, bursting into tears, she covered her face with a handkerchief and ran out of the room.

Prince Vasily came out for the princess. He staggered to the sofa where Pierre was sitting and fell on it, covering his eyes with his hand. Pierre noticed that he was pale and that his lower jaw was jumping and shaking, as if in a feverish trembling.

Ah, my friend! - he said, taking Pierre by the elbow; and in his voice there was sincerity and weakness that Pierre had never noticed in him before. “How much do we sin, how much do we deceive, and all for what?” I'm in my sixties, my friend... After all, for me... Everything will end in death, that's it. Death is terrible. - He cried..."

"illegal", who did not have the slightest idea about the behind-the-scenes

fuss and someone's mercantile interests Pierre. But Kuragin does not retreat here either.

“Prince Vasily did not think through his plans,” but as a socialite he never missed the opportunity to use an influential person. That is why he “did everything that was necessary to marry Pierre to his daughter.” “More than all others... Prince Vasily took possession of both Pierre’s affairs and himself. Since the death of Count Bezukhov, he has not let Pierre out of his hands.” Many of Pierre's former bachelor society were not in St. Petersburg. “All his time was spent at dinners, balls and mainly with Prince Vasily - in the company of the old fat princess, his wife, and the beautiful Helen.

Anna Pavlovna Scherer, like others, showed Pierre the change that had occurred in the public view of him.” At one of the evenings at Anna Pavlovna's, Pierre felt towards Helen something other than a friendly disposition as a person he had known since childhood. He tried to fight the desire that arose. “He told himself that this was impossible, that something disgusting, unnatural, as it seemed to him, would be dishonest in this marriage.” However, his fate was sealed. “Pierre knew that everyone was only waiting for him to finally say one word, to step over a certain line, and he knew that sooner or later he would step over it.” On Helene’s name day, not without pressure from Prince Vasily, Pierre uttered the cherished words. “A month and a half later he was married.” Thus ended V. Kuragin’s struggle for the inheritance of Prince Bezukhov.

Prince Vasily is not alien to fatherly feelings, although they are expressed rather in the desire to “accommodate” his children rather than to give them fatherly love and warmth. According to Anna Pavlovna Sherer, people like the prince should not have children. “...And why would children be born to people like you? If you weren’t the father, I wouldn’t be able to blame you for anything.” To which the prince replied: “What should I do? You know, I did everything a father could to raise them.”

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

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

2. 2. Helen Kuragina

Helen is the embodiment of external beauty and internal emptiness, fossilization. Tolstoy constantly mentions her “monotonous,” “unchanging” smile and “antique beauty of her body,” she resembles a beautiful, soulless statue. Helen Scherer enters the salon “noisily wearing her white ball gown, decorated with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of her shoulders, the gloss of her hair and diamonds, she walked without looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and, as if kindly granting everyone the right to admire the beauty of her figure, full shoulders, very open in the fashion of that time, chest and back, and as if bringing with her the glitter of the ball, Helen was so beautiful that not only was there not a shadow of coquetry noticeable in her, but, on the contrary, she seemed ashamed of her own. undoubted and too powerfully effective beauty. She seemed to want and could not diminish the effect of this beauty.”

into marriage only for their own enrichment.

“I’m not stupid enough to have children,” she admits. Even as Pierre’s wife, Helene, in front of the whole society, is organizing her personal life.

“...Pierre sat opposite Dolokhov and Nikolai Rostov... His face was sad and gloomy. He seemed to not see or hear anything happening around him, and was thinking about one thing, heavy and unresolved.

was characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees poorly through his glasses and that his wife’s connection with Dolokhov is a secret only for him ... "

“... - Well, now for the health of beautiful women,” said Dolokhov and with a serious expression, but with a smiling mouth at the corners, turned to Pierre with a glass. “For the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said...

“You... you... scoundrel!.. I challenge you,” he said and, moving his chair, stood up from the table...”

"...After the duel, Pierre tried to understand what happened and who was to blame. He came to the conclusion: “Who is right, who is wrong? Nobody. But if you are alive, live: you will die tomorrow, just as I could have died an hour ago.”

Pierre decided to leave, leaving Helene a letter, but the next morning his wife came to him and demanded an explanation.

- What did you prove with this duel? The fact that you are a fool... everyone knew that. What will this lead to? So that I become the laughing stock of all Moscow...

“It’s better for us to part,” he said falteringly.

“Part up, if you please, only if you give me a fortune,” said Helen... “Part up, that’s what scared me!”

Pierre jumped up from the sofa and... staggering, he rushed towards her.

- I'll kill you! - he shouted and, grabbing a marble board from the table with a force still unknown to him, took a step towards it and swung at it.

A week later, Pierre gave his wife power of attorney to manage all the Great Russian estates, which amounted to more than half of his fortune, and he left alone for St. Petersburg...” Helene Bezukhova is not a woman, she is rather an animal. No novelist has ever encountered this type of high-society libertine, who loves nothing in life except her body, lets her brother kiss her shoulders, and does not give money. She calmly chooses lovers for herself, like dishes from a menu, knows how to maintain the respect of the world and even acquire a reputation as an intelligent woman thanks to her appearance of cold dignity and sociality. tact. This type can only be developed in the circle where Helen lived. This adoration of one’s own body can only develop where idleness and luxury give full scope to all sensual impulses - where a high position, providing impunity, teaches one to neglect. respect from a society where wealth and connections provide every means to hide intrigue and shut up talkative mouths.

In addition to a luxurious bust, a rich and beautiful body, this representative of high society had an extraordinary ability to hide her mental and moral poverty, and all this was thanks only to the grace of her manners and the memorization of certain phrases and techniques. Shamelessness manifested itself in her under such grandiose, high-society forms that it aroused almost respect in others.

“Being received in the salon of Countess Bezukhova was considered a diploma of intelligence; young people read books before Helen’s evening so that they would have something to talk about in her salon, and embassy secretaries and even envoys confided diplomatic secrets to her, so Helen had strength in some way.” All this incredibly surprised Pierre, who knew that Helen was very stupid. But she knew how to teach herself so well that no one thought about it.

She also played a negative role in the fate of Natasha Rostova. “Anatole asked her to set him up with Natasha... The thought of setting up her brother with Natasha amused her.” For the sake of fun, an empty whim, Helen ruined the life of a young girl, pushing her to cheat, and did not even think about it.

“they didn’t speak French and ate simple food”), in Helen’s, Rumyantsev’s, French circle, rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war were refuted and all Napoleon’s attempts at reconciliation were discussed.”

When the threat of the capture of Moscow by Napoleonic troops became clear, Helen went abroad. And there she shone at the imperial court. But now the court returns to St. Petersburg. “Helen, having returned with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg, was in a difficult situation. In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed the special patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state. In Vilna, she became close to a young foreign prince.” For her own good, she betrays the most sacred thing - faith, and accepts Catholicism. By this, it seemed to her, she was freeing herself from the moral obligations given to Pierre by becoming his wife. Helen decides to throw in her lot with one of her two suitors. At the same time, she managed to make sure that “throughout St. Petersburg... a rumor spread not that Helen wants to divorce her husband,” but that “poor, interesting Helen is at a loss... which of the two should she marry... At the beginning of August, everything was completely determined, and she wrote a letter to her husband (who loved her very much, as she thought) in which she informed him of her intention to marry NN and that she was asking to fulfill all the formalities necessary for a divorce.” Pierre did not receive the letter; he was at war.

nobles, but, unfortunately, an old man.

“Countess Elena Bezukhova died suddenly from... a terrible disease, which is usually called chest sore throat, but in intimate circles they talked about how the life physician of the Queen of Spain prescribed Helen small doses of some medicine to produce a certain effect; but how Helen, tormented by this ", that the old count suspected her, and the fact that the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved Pierre) did not answer her, suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed for her and died in agony before help could be given."

"...Prince Hippolyte struck with his extraordinary resemblance to his beautiful sister, and even more so because, despite the similarity, he was strikingly bad-looking. His facial features were the same as his sister’s, but with her everything was illuminated by a cheerful, self-satisfied, youthful , an unchanging smile and an extraordinary, antique beauty of the body. On the contrary, his brother’s face was also clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident disgust, and his body was thin and weak. His eyes, nose, mouth - everything seemed to shrink into one vague, boring grimace. arms and legs always took an unnatural position."

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

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

insert phrases into the conversation that are completely unrelated to the essence of the topic being discussed.

“Prince Hippolyte, who had been looking at the Viscount through his lorgnette for a long time, suddenly turned his whole body to the little princess and, asking her for a needle, began to show her, drawing the coat of arms of Kande on the table with a needle. He explained this coat of arms to her with such a significant look, as if the princess I asked him about it."

Thanks to his father, Hippolyte makes a career and during the war with Napoleon becomes the secretary of the embassy. In the company of officers serving at the embassy, he is considered a buffoon.

“No, I must treat you to Kuragin,” Bilibin said quietly to Bolkonsky. “He is charming when he talks about politics, you need to see this importance.”

The Berlin cabinet cannot express its opinion about the alliance,” Hippolytus began, looking at everyone significantly, “without expressing... as in his last note... you understand... you understand... however, if His Majesty the Emperor does not change the essence of our alliance...” he told the prince Andrei, grabbing his hand.

Everyone laughed. Hippolytus laughed loudest of all. He apparently suffered, was choking, but could not resist the wild laughter that stretched his always motionless face." He did not understand at all that they were laughing at his manner of speaking.

Despite the oddities of his character, Prince Ippolit had success with women and was a ladies' man. So at the end of the evening in the living room, Scherer, Ippolit, as if innocently courting the little princess, Bolkonsky’s wife, arouses the prince’s jealousy. The Viscount, sitting in a carriage with Hippolyte, remarks: “Do you know, you are terrible with your innocent appearance. I feel sorry for the poor husband, this officer who poses as a sovereign person.” To which Ippolit, snorting, replies through laughter: “And you said that Russian ladies are not worth French ones. You just have to take it.”

The character of Hippolyte can serve as a living example of the fact that even positive idiocy is sometimes presented in the world as something of significance thanks to the gloss imparted by knowledge of the French language, and that extraordinary property of this language to support and at the same time mask spiritual emptiness.

Prince Vasily calls Hippolyte a “dead fool.” Tolstoy in the novel is “sluggish and breaking.” These are the dominant character traits of Hippolytus. Hippolyte is stupid, but at least with his stupidity he does not harm anyone, unlike his younger brother Anatole.

"simple and with carnal inclinations." These are the dominant character traits of Anatole. He looked at his whole life as a continuous entertainment that someone like that for some reason had undertaken to arrange for him.

Anatole is completely free from considerations of responsibility and the consequences of what he does. His egoism is spontaneous, animal-naive and good-natured, absolute egoism, for it is not constrained by anything inside Anatole, in consciousness, feeling. Kuragin simply lacks the ability to know what will happen beyond that moment of his pleasure, and how it will affect the lives of other people, as others will see. All this does not exist for him at all. He is sincerely convinced, instinctively, with his whole being, that everything around him has the sole purpose of his entertainment and exists for this. No regard for people, their opinions, consequences, no distant goal that would force one to concentrate on achieving it, no remorse, reflection, hesitation, doubt - Anatole, no matter what he does, naturally and sincerely considers himself an impeccable person and highly carries its beautiful head: freedom is truly limitless, freedom in actions and self-awareness.

For what? While Pierre is tormented by this difficult question, Anatole lives, contented with every minute, stupid, animalistic, but easy and fun.

Marrying the “rich, ugly heiress” Maria Bolkonskaya seems to him like just another amusement. “Why not marry, if she is very rich? It never interferes,” thought Anatole. He and his father come to Bald Mountains to make a match. Before the old Prince Bolkonsky, Anatole shows himself in full splendor as the fool Anatole; Such seems to be the difference between him and the tall, intelligent, worthy world of the Bolkonskys, at such a different level that there can be no talk of any influence of Kuragin on the state of the “Bolkonsky” world. However, it turns out differently: thanks to the invasion of the fool Anatole, this world is disturbed, its hidden contradictions are revealed and sharpened. Both Princess Marya and her father feel offended by the excitement that the arrival of the prospective groom aroused in them, and which they cannot overcome within themselves. “The beautiful big eyes of the fool Anatole” attract, and Princess Marya, and the little princess, and Mlle Bourienne do not remain indifferent to Kuragin’s beauty. Everyone wants to appear before him in the best light. But for Princess Marya it seems insulting that she is forced to dress up and behave in a way that is inconsistent with her habits. “Princess Marya felt insulted in her sense of self-worth by the fact that the arrival of the groom promised to her worried her, and she was even more insulted by the fact that both of her friends did not even imagine that it could be otherwise. To tell them how ashamed she was for yourself and for them, this meant giving away your excitement; in addition, refusing the outfit that was offered to her would lead to prolonged jokes and insistence... Both women cared quite sincerely about making her beautiful. She was so bad that neither. the thought of competing with her could not come to one of them; therefore, they completely sincerely, with that naive and firm conviction of women that an outfit can make a face beautiful, began to dress her.” The longer the friends chose outfits, the less the princess wanted to meet Anatole. She understood that now she was being put on display, that she would not be able to interest anyone with her appearance, and the more inappropriate the efforts of her friends seemed to her. Having achieved nothing, the friends left the princess alone. Not only did she not change her outfit, but she didn’t even look at herself in the mirror.

"When Princess Marya entered the room. Prince Vasily and his son were already in the living room, talking with Princess Lisa and Mlle Bourienne. The princess saw everyone, and saw in detail. She saw the face of Prince Vasily, ... and the face of the little princess... She saw and the face of Mlle Bourienn with her ribbon and beautiful face and her gaze, more animated than ever, fixed on him; but she could not see him, she only saw something large, bright and beautiful, moving towards her when she entered the room... When she looked at him, his beauty struck her. Anatole put the thumb of his right hand behind the buttoned button of his uniform, with his chest arched forward and his back arched back, swinging one outstretched leg and slightly bowing his head, silently, looking cheerfully at the princess, apparently completely ecstatic. without thinking about it"

“Anatole was silent, shaking his leg, cheerfully observing the princess’s hairstyle. It was clear that he could remain silent so calmly for a very long time. In addition, in dealing with women, Anatole had that manner that most of all inspires curiosity, fear and even love in women, - a manner of contemptuous consciousness of one’s own superiority.”

“She’s not very bad!” he thought, looking at her. “This companion is not bad at all. I hope that she will take her with her when she marries me,” he thought, “she’s very, very good.”

In a conversation with the father of Princess Marya, Anatole again reveals himself to be a complete fool, a reckless rake. So, to Prince Nikolai Andreevich’s question where he is now serving, Anatole replies: “Our regiment has set out. And I am listed. What am I listed to do with, dad?”

"Poor thing! Damn bad."

“The little princess, like an old regimental horse, hearing the sound of a trumpet, unconsciously and forgetting her position, prepared for the usual golop of coquetry, without any ulterior thought or struggle, but with naive, frivolous fun.

Despite the fact that in women's society Anatole usually put himself in the position of a man who was tired of women running after him, he felt vain pleasure in seeing his influence on these three women. In addition, he began to experience for the pretty and provocative Bourienne that passionate, brutal feeling that came over him with extreme speed and prompted him to the most rude and daring actions."

Anatole was not at all interested in the princess as a person; he needed her rich dowry. Old Prince Bolkonsky said to the princess about this: This idiot doesn’t even think about you, but only looks at Bourienne. You have no pride!"

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

"...she walked straight ahead through the winter garden, not seeing or hearing anything, when suddenly the familiar whisper of Mlle Bourienne woke her up. She raised her eyes and, two steps away, saw Anatole, who was hugging the French woman and whispering something to her Anatole, with a terrible expression on his beautiful face, looked back at Princess Marya and did not let go of Mlle Bourienne’s waist at the first second, who could not see her.

“Who's there? For what? Wait!" — Anatole’s face seemed to be saying. Princess Marya looked at them silently. She couldn't understand it. Finally Mlle Bourienne screamed and ran away. Anatole bowed to Princess Marya with a cheerful smile, as if inviting her to laugh at this strange incident, and, shrugging his shoulders, walked through the door leading to his half...” When the father and Prince Vasily invited Princess Marya to give an answer, she said: “I I thank you for the honor, but I will never be your son’s wife.”

Pierre thinks of him with envy: this is a real sage, he, Pierre, is far from such freedom.

"...Arriving at the porch of a large house near the Horse Guards barracks, in which Anatole lived, he climbed onto the illuminated porch, onto the stairs, and entered the open door. There was no one in the hallway; empty bottles, raincoats, galoshes were lying around; the smell of wine, the sound of distant sounds talking and shouting.

From the third room you could hear fuss, laughter, screams of familiar voices and the roar of a bear. About eight young people crowded anxiously around the open window. Three were busy with a young bear, which one was dragging on a chain, frightening the other with it..."

"...Pierre smiled, looking around him cheerfully.

- I don’t understand anything. What's the matter? he asked.

- Wait, he's not drunk. Give me the bottle,” said Anatole and, taking a glass from the table, approached Pierre.

- First of all, drink.

Pierre began to drink glass after glass, looking from under his brows at the drunken guests who again crowded at the window, and, listening to their conversation, Anatole poured him wine and told him that Dolokhov was betting with the Englishman Stevens, a sailor who was here, that he, Dolokhov will drink a bottle of rum, sitting on the third floor window with his legs hanging out..."

“...He threw the bottle to the Englishman, who deftly caught it, Dolokhov jumped from the window. He smelled strongly of rum.

- Great! Well done! So bet! Damn you completely! - they shouted from different sides.

- Gentlemen! Who wants to bet with me? “I’ll do the same,” he suddenly shouted. “And there’s no need for a bet, that’s what.” They told me to give him a bottle. I'll do it... tell me to give it.

- Let it go, let it go! - said Dolokhov smiling.

- What, are you crazy? Who will let you in? “Your head is spinning even on the stairs,” they spoke from different sides.

- I'll drink, give me a bottle of rum! - Pierre shouted, hitting the table with a decisive and drunken gesture, and climbed out the window.

They grabbed him by the arms; but he was so strong that he pushed the one who approached him far away.

“No, you can’t persuade him like that,” said Anatole, “wait, I’ll deceive him.” Look, I bet you, but tomorrow, and now we're all going to hell.

“We’re going,” Pierre shouted, “we’re going!.. And we’re taking Mishka with us... And he grabbed the bear and, hugging and lifting him, began to spin around the room with him...” Prince Vasily sent Anatole from St. Petersburg to Moscow because he “lived on more than twenty thousand a year in money and the same amount in debts that creditors demanded from his father. The father announced to his son that he was last time pays half of his debts; but only so that he would go to Moscow as adjutant to the commander-in-chief, and would finally try to make a good match there." No one knew, except his closest friends, that Kuragin had been married two years ago. During his regiment’s stay in Poland, he was alone a poor landowner forced Anatole to marry his daughter. “Anatole very soon abandoned his wife and for the money that he agreed to send to his father-in-law, he negotiated for himself the right to be considered a single man.”

brought mental suffering to the Rostov and Bolkonsky families.

"She looked back and met his eyes. He, almost smiling, looked straight into her eyes with such an admiring, affectionate look that it seemed strange to be so close to him, to look at him like that, to be so sure that he liked you, and not be familiar with him."

“I felt terribly close to this person.” Natasha is deceived by Anatole's false beauty. She feels “pleasant” in Anatole’s presence, but for some reason it feels cramped and difficult; she experiences pleasure and excitement, and at the same time, fear from the absence of a barrier of modesty between her and this man. Knowing that Natasha is engaged to Prince Andrei, Anatole still confesses his love to her. What could come out of this courtship, Anatole could not know, since he never knew what would come out of each of his actions. In a letter to Natasha, he says that either she will love him, or he will die. And if Natasha says yes, he will kidnap and take her to the ends of the world. Impressed by this letter, Natasha refuses Prince Andrei and agrees to escape with Kuragin. But the escape failed, Natasha’s note fell into the wrong hands, and the kidnapping plan failed. The next day after the unsuccessful kidnapping, Anatole comes across Pierre on the street, who knows nothing and is at that moment going to Akhrosimova, where he will be told the whole story. Anatole sits in a sleigh “upright, in the classic pose of military dandies,” his face is fresh and ruddy in the cold, snow is falling on his curled hair. It is clear that everything that happened yesterday is already far from him; he is happy with himself and life now and is beautiful, in his own way even beautiful in this confident and calm contentment.

In a conversation with Natasha, Pierre revealed to her that Anatole is married, so all his promises are deception. Then Bezukhov went to Anatoly and demanded that he return Natasha’s letters and leave Moscow.

“... - you are a scoundrel and a scoundrel, and I don’t know what is holding me back from the pleasure of smashing your head...

Did you promise to marry her?

I, I, I didn't think; however, I never promised...

Do you have her letters? Do you have any letters? - Pierre repeated, moving towards Anatole.

...you must leave Moscow tomorrow.

...you must never say a word about what happened between you and the countess.

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

3. Conclusion.

A distinctive feature of Tolstoy's work is the study of the moral aspects of human existence. As a realist writer, the problems of society interested and worried him, primarily from a moral point of view. The writer saw the source of evil in the spiritual imperfection of the individual, and therefore he assigned the most important place to a person’s moral self-awareness. Tolstoy's heroes go through the difficult path of searching for goodness and justice, leading to the comprehension of universal human problems of existence. The author endows his characters with a rich and contradictory inner world, which is revealed to the reader gradually throughout the entire work. The path of Tolstoy's heroes to sincere feelings and aspirations that are not subject to the false laws of society is not easy. This is the “road of honor” of Andrei Bolkonsky. He does not immediately discover true love to Natasha, hidden behind a mask of false ideas about self-esteem; It is difficult for him to forgive Kuragin, “love for this man,” which will nevertheless fill “his happy heart.” Against the backdrop of a large-scale, epic narrative, Tolstoy manages to plumb the depths of human soul, show the reader the development inner world heroes, the path of their moral improvement or the process of moral devastation, as in the case of the Kuragin family. All this allows the writer to reveal his ethical principles and lead the reader along the path of his own self-improvement. “What a true work of art does is that in the consciousness of the perceiver the division between him and the artist is destroyed, and not only between him and the artist, but between him and all people.

"War and Peace" L. N. Tolsto, Moscow "Soviet Russia" 1991

2. "Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" S. Bocharov, Moscow, " Fiction" 1978

"Living Heroes" L. B. Libedinskaya, Moscow, "Children's Literature" 1982.

4. L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” in Russian criticism”, Leningrad University Publishing House, 1989.

5. "Poetic world epic about L. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" Moscow, " Soviet writer" 1978

Among the characters in “War and Peace,” the Kuragins live by these laws, knowing throughout the world only their own personal interests and energetically pursuing them through intrigue. And how much destruction the Kuragins brought - Prince Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, the Rostovs, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!

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

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

The family is the basis of human society. The writer expresses in the Kuragins all the immorality that prevailed in noble families in those days.

Kuragins are selfish, hypocritical, selfish people. They are ready to commit any crime for the sake of wealth and fame. All their actions are committed to achieve their personal goals. They destroy the lives of other people and use them as they want. Natasha Rostova, Ippolit, Pierre Bezukhov - all those people who suffered because of the “evil family.” The members of the Kuragins themselves are connected not by love, warmth and care, but by purely solidarity relations.

The author uses the technique of antithesis when creating the Kuragin family. They turn out to be capable only of destruction. Anatole becomes the reason for the breakup of Natasha and Andrey, who sincerely love each other; Helen almost ruins Pierre's life, plunging him into the abyss of lies and falsehood. They are deceitful, selfish and calm. They all bear the shame of matchmaking easily. Anatole is only slightly annoyed by the unsuccessful attempt to take Natasha away. Only once will their “control” change for them: Helen will scream for fear of being killed by Pierre, and her brother will cry like a woman who has lost his leg. Their calmness comes from indifference to everyone except themselves. Anatole is a dandy “who wears his beautiful head high.” In dealing with women he had a manner of contemptuous consciousness of his superiority. How accurately Tolstoy will define this pomposity and importance of face and figure in the absence of intelligence (“he didn’t think much at all”) in the children of Prince Vasil! Their spiritual callousness and meanness will be branded by the most honest and delicate Pierre, and therefore the accusation will sound from his lips like a shot: “Where you are, there is depravity and evil.”

They are alien to Tolstoy's ethics. We know that children are happiness, the meaning of life, life itself. But the Kuragins are selfish, they are focused only on themselves. Nothing will be born from them, because in a family one must be able to give others the warmth of the soul and care. They only know how to take: “I’m not a fool to give birth to children,” says Helen. Shamefully, as she lived, Helen will end her life on the pages of the novel.

Everything in the Kuragin family is the opposite of the Bolkonsky family. In the house of the latter there is a confidential, homely atmosphere and sincere words: “darling”, “buddy”, “darling”, “my friend”. Vasil Kuragin also calls his daughter “my dear child.” But this is insincere, and therefore ugly. Tolstoy himself will say: “There is no beauty where there is no truth.”

In his novel “War and Peace” Tolstoy showed us an ideal family (Bolkonskys) and only a formal family (Kuragins). And Tolstoy’s ideal is a patriarchal family with its sacred care of the elders for the younger and the younger for the elders, with the ability of everyone in the family to give more than to take, with relationships built on “goodness and truth.” Everyone should strive for this. After all, happiness is in the family.

In the novel “War and Peace,” a description of the Kuragin family can be made from the depiction of various actions of members of this family.

The Kuragin family is, rather, a formality, a group of not spiritually close people, united together by predatory instincts. For Tolstoy, family, home and children are life, happiness and the meaning of life. But the Kuragin family is the complete opposite of the author’s ideal, because they are empty, selfish and narcissistic.

First, Prince Vasily tries to steal the will of Count Bezukhov, then, almost by deception, his daughter Helen marries Pierre and mocks his kindness and naivety.

Anatole, who tried to seduce Natasha Rostova, is no better.

Yes, and Hippolytus appears in the novel as an extremely unpleasant strange man, whose “face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident grumpiness, and his body was thin and weak.”

Deceitful, calculating, low people, bringing destruction to the lives of those who encounter them during the course of the novel.

All the Kuragin children only know how to take everything they can from life, and Tolstoy did not consider any of them worthy to continue his family line.

“War and Peace” is one of the most monumental works of Russian literature and, without a doubt, the best creation of L.N. Tolstoy. The novel covers a period of time of almost a decade, shows the fate of entire generations, and pays special attention to portraits of families. The comparison between the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins seems extremely interesting.

Despite the fact that both families come from noble family, the concepts of what a family is and true values among the Bolkonskys and Kuragins differ greatly. However, first, about the similarities - in addition to the obvious noble origin, they are united by the fact that the heads of the family were left without their wives. Both Vasily Kuragin and Nikolai Bolkonsky were forced to take care of the children on their own. The entire burden of parental care fell on their shoulders, and they tried their best to ensure that their offspring were happy. True, their ideas about benefits are completely different.

The Bolkonsky family in the novel is represented by Nikolai Bolkonsky, his son Andrei and daughter Marya. Nikolai is a military man with strict morals and strict discipline, which manifests itself in everything. He sincerely loves his children, but often simply does not know how to show this love. Therefore, even though his words sometimes deeply hurt them, both Marya and Andrei know that in fact their father is ready to give his life for them, just as he would give for his Motherland.

The attitude towards Russia occupies a special place. Despite the fact that Nikolai Bolkonsky retired from military service a long time ago, he never ceases to worry about the fate of the state and the people. For him, true values are duty to the Motherland, courage, honor, following traditions and maintaining self-esteem.

Prince Andrei is very similar to his father. He was not looking for easy fame and money, so although he had the opportunity to join the army at a higher rank than adjutant, he did not take it. He was accustomed, like his father, to achieve everything through his own labor. Bolkonsky’s sense of patriotism was so great that he asked Kutuzov to send him to a detachment that had received a deadly mission. Prince Andrei could not stand on the sidelines; he wanted to be on the front line and decide the fate of his country on his own.

Giving himself entirely to Russia, Bolkonsky was somewhat stingy in expressing his feelings with his family. Before the “little princess,” as L.N. often called him in the novel. Tolstoy Liza Bolkonskaya - the prince's wife, Andrei feels guilty. She gave life to his son and died in the process. However, the meeting with Natasha Rostova seemed to revive the extinguished fire of love of life in the prince, however, it was in the relationship with her that Bolkonsky’s nature was even more emphasized. They were completely different.

Marya Bolkonskaya always saw the meaning of life in arranging the happiness of others. Throughout the novel, she performs many actions for the benefit of others, somewhat sacrificing her own interests. However, in the end, her extreme kindness, meekness and good disposition were rewarded, and she found true female happiness with Nikolai, Natasha Rostova’s brother. Marya is also very religious, she believes in God and lives according to his commandments.

If the Bolkonsky family contains the best human qualities, then Kuragins are completely different. Vasily is an official, and therefore an arrogant attitude is a behavioral norm for him. He loves intrigues, skillfully weaves them, which he taught to all the children. Vices accompany Vasily Kuragin and his entire family.

By teaching children, he makes them like himself - envious, greedy and ready to do anything to achieve his goal. Only one of his children, namely Hippolytus, is not very knowledgeable in secular society. He, like other relatives, is proud and self-confident, but this is combined with stupidity, so Hippolytus often becomes the subject of ridicule.

Vasily's other children, Helen and Anatole, had much greater success in the world. Helen is a real beauty, but her soul is extremely ugly. By deception, she lures Pierre Bezukhov into the web of marriage, and then cheats on him with his own friend. The only thing that interests her is money and admiring herself.

Helen is a real libertine and although the whole world knows about it, she was willingly received at receptions. Anatole, like his sister, created a real sensation with his appearance. A ladies' man, a narcissist, who sees life only as a series of continuous pleasures - these are the words that accurately characterize him. For him there is no concept of honor, it is just an empty phrase.

First, he breaks the heart of Princess Marya when, having promised to marry, he starts an affair with her own maid, and then captivates Natasha Rostova, knowing full well that she is promised to another. In a situation where Andrei Bolkonsky would show respect and preserve not only his honor and dignity, but those of others involved in it, Anatole acts differently. He follows his own desires without thinking about the consequences.

In the novel "War and Peace" there are no two more different families than the Kuragins and Bolkonskys. Some stand up for honor, justice, helping their neighbors, personifying all the best that is in Russia and the Russian people, while others are the embodiment of vice, all the worst. L.N. Tolstoy makes it clear what true values are and how he relates to them.

This can be traced through the fates of the heroes. None of the Kuragin family was ever truly happy, both Helen and Anatole suffered a very tragic fate, while the Bolkonsky family found happiness. Some knew him already on the verge of death, but even this is a great honor.

It is not for nothing that the writer so clearly outlined the traits of the kindest and brightest and contrasted them with everything bad, L.N. Tolstoy seemed to want to show that he represented the Kuragin family, and there is a representative of the Bolkonsky family in each of us. However, it is up to the person himself to decide who to be. One has only to remember that all evil is punishable, and all good is rewarded.