The lifestyle of the Kuragins. The Kuragin family in the novel “War and Peace”: characteristics and image of the Kuragin family, description in quotes

In L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” the problem of family is acutely posed. The author depicts in detail several family ways. Comparing various options family life, the writer shows what a family should be like, what true family values, and how they influence the formation of personality.

The Bolkonskys and Kuragins are nobles, have the same hereditary title, occupy high position in society, rich and prosperous. The heads of the families - Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky and Prince Vasily - take care of their children. But they put different meanings into the concept of happiness. Each family has its own scale of life priorities.

The distinctive features of the Bolkonskys are spirituality, intelligence, independence, nobility, high ideas of honor and duty. The old prince, formerly a nobleman of Catherine, a friend of Kutuzov, - statesman. He, serving Catherine, served Russia. Not wanting to adapt to the new time, which demanded not to serve, but to be served, he voluntarily imprisoned himself on the estate. Prince Vasily Kuragin is an opportunist and careerist. This man does not bring any benefit to the Fatherland: he is simply a close associate of the Tsar, a “significant”, “important” servant at court. Prince Vasily and his children move in “high society.” The main task of the elder Kuragin is to find a home for the children, that is, using his connections, to provide his sons with “warm” places in the service, and for his daughter to find a rich husband.

Bolkonsky tirelessly ensures that children develop their abilities, know how to work and want to learn. He valued knowledge and comprehensive education. Therefore, Marya and Andrey received an excellent education. Marya reads a lot and loves music. Prince Andrey has an extraordinary memory, is well-read, he has an idea about everything. The life of old Prince Bolkonsky is continuous activity. This is work on memoirs about the glorious era of Catherine II, physical labor, and estate management. Prince Andrei, like his father, strives to benefit society, first choosing a military career, delving into all the intricacies of military art. Participating in the campaign of 1805, he becomes the commander's “trusted” aide-de-camp. Kutuzov, in a letter to the old prince, assessed the qualities of Prince Andrei as follows: “Your son shows hope of becoming an officer, out of the ordinary in his knowledge, firmness and diligence. I consider myself lucky to have such a subordinate at hand.”

Vasily Kuragin is busy only with his personal, selfish interests. He prepares a lighter version of activity for his sons: he assigns Hippolyta as a diplomat, insures him against the dangers of military service; Anatole, thanks to his father’s connections, is “listed” with the regiment. Youngest son causes especially a lot of trouble for his father, since Anatole leads a dissolute life, drinks, and loses huge sums of money at cards. Prince Vasily has the idea of ​​marrying him to one of the richest brides - Princess Bolkonskaya. This is how the decency of the Bolkonskys and the low calculation of the Kuragins collide for the first time in the novel. On the one hand, there is the handsome, but, as Prince Vasily himself says, “a restless fool” Anatol, and on the other, the outwardly unattractive, but noble Marya Bolkonskaya. Anatole's matchmaking almost ruined the princess's life, but this time the moral danger passed the Bolkonskys. The elder Kuragin, however, brilliantly succeeded in the intrigue with the marriage of Pierre Bezukhov to Helen. Prince Vasily spent a lot of effort, but he still achieved his goal: he married his vicious daughter to the richest groom, who had forty thousand serfs alone.

Kuragins constantly use other people for satisfaction own desires. Pierre fought a duel because of Helen. She did not spare her husband’s pride and almost openly cheated on him. Kuragins destroy the happiness of Natasha and Prince Andrei. Helen knew that Natasha was Bolkonsky’s fiancée, and Anatole was married, but, not tormented by remorse, she arranged dates for them, and then helped her brother organize the kidnapping of the girl. Pierre’s words give an accurate assessment of Helen: “Where you are, there is debauchery and evil.” Bezukhov also tries to explain to Anatoly: “... in addition to your pleasure, there is happiness, peace of mind of other people, ... you are ruining your whole life because you want to have fun.”

The Bolkonskys, unlike the Kuragins, are aristocrats in in the best sense this word. They are proud, but they respect other people's feelings, they are ready to sacrifice themselves, but not to cause pain to others. IN highest degree Prince Andrei behaves nobly with his wife, whom he does not love. In his own way, he feels sorry for Lisa, does not allow judgment against her, and spares her feelings. For example, this scene is indicative: after saying goodbye to his wife, “he carefully moved the shoulder on which she was lying, looked into her face and carefully sat her down on a chair.”

For the Bolkonskys and Kuragins, there are absolutely no differences between family members. different relationships. The Kuragins have formal family ties; they are maintained only for the sake of decency. Prince Vasily cynically says: “My children are a burden to my existence. This is my cross." He calls his eldest son a “dead fool,” and Anatoly “restless.” Kuragin complains: “... this Anatole costs me forty thousand a year...” The princess is openly jealous of her daughter’s wealth. Children of the Kuragins, deprived parental love, moral education, reveal spiritual insignificance and primitiveness of vital interests. The Bolkonskys are truly attached to each other. They are united by a hidden, not expressed in words, kindred warmth. The old prince, although excessively stern and strict, is proud of his son and loves his daughter, and feels guilty for quarrels with children. Only before his death does he give free rein to the feeling of pity and love for his daughter, which he had previously carefully hidden. Prince Andrei respects and highly honors his father. They have a real understanding. After leaving for the war, Prince Andrei wrote letters to his father every day. Children are accustomed to reckoning with the weaknesses and quirks of an old person. Therefore, Prince Andrei, at the request of his father, is forced to postpone his wedding with Natasha for a whole year. However, internally the Bolkonskys are very close to each other. Their love is shown in difficult times. When the news arrived about the death of Prince Andrei, Marya, hugging her father, said: “Let’s cry together.”

It is no coincidence that Tolstoy describes in detail the home life of the Bolkonskys. They have a real one dear home, family hearth, certain traditions. There is no description of the Kuragin house in the novel, because the family ties of these people are weakly expressed, each of them lives separately, taking into account, first of all, their own interests.

All the base qualities of the Kuragins appeared during the War of 1812. They led the same idle life in the salons. Prince Vasily speculated on patriotism, and Helen was busy organizing her personal life. However, a misfortune occurred in this “false” family - Anatoly’s leg was amputated, and he subsequently died. The author mentions that Helen also died from some ridiculous disease.

The Bolkonskys are patriots. By your behavior during Patriotic War they express folk spirit. Prince Nikolai Andreevich dies because his heart could not stand the surrender of Smolensk. Marya rejects the French general's offer of protection. Andrey defends the Fatherland on the battlefield. He lives in the interests of the nation and, while fulfilling his duty as an officer, is mortally wounded.

The Bolkonskys are an example of a genuine family. High spirituality, true beauty the old prince and his children are sharply contrasted with the lack of spirituality and “imaginary” beauty of the Kuragins. Pierre said very precisely about the “false” Kuragin family: “Oh, vile, heartless breed!”

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The problem of relationships in the family is one of the key topics that interested L.N. Tolstoy. Is it possible to achieve happiness in family life and how to do it - it becomes literally central problem many of Tolstoy's works. The novel "War and Peace" was no exception. Descriptions of aristocratic families make it possible not only to recreate a picture of a typical high society, but also to learn about the relationships and principles of interaction between people of different temperaments and life positions.

Family composition, position in society

The Kuragin family is one of the most influential families in aristocratic circles. This is due to several aspects. First of all, it should be noted that this family situation was created over more than one generation. Significant influence was achieved thanks to the efforts of Prince Vasily, who had a prestigious position and influential contacts in the government elite.

The next generation attached little importance to maintaining the status of the family - they only took advantage of the achievements of their ancestors.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the heroes of the novel “War and Peace” by Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

At the time of the story, the Kuragin family consists of Prince Vasily Sergeevich, Princess Alina and their three children: Ippolit, Anatoly and Elena.

Vasily Sergeevich Kuragin and Alina Kuragina

Vasily Sergeevich Kuragin is the head of the Kuragin family. At the beginning of the novel he is over 50 years old. He achieved significant heights in his service. Prince Vasily was an important official; he even knew the empress personally. In addition, among his acquaintances there were other officials from the top of the government apparatus. He maintains such acquaintance not based on common interests, but for the sake of self-interest - such significant connections serve an excellent service and help decide important issues.

Prince Vasily knows how to take advantage of people's favor, he has the talent of persuasion. In addition, he knows how to ingratiate himself. Unfortunately, this tendency only works with strangers.

In relation to his family members, his talent makes significant mistakes, and his children from time to time completely go beyond parental control.

Prince Vasily is married. Princess Alina - his wife - is practically not described by Tolstoy. It is known about her that she is a fat and not very attractive woman. They had three children in their marriage. The appearance of her daughter Elena becomes the envy of Princess Alina. This feeling is so strong that it does not allow a woman to live fully.

Ippolit Vasilievich Kuragin

The age of this son of Princess Alina and Prince Vasily is not indicated. It is known that he serves at the embassy as a secretary. Unlike other children, Hippolytus is not distinguished by his beauty and attractiveness. He has a calm temperament. The young man is reserved and polite.

Mental abilities They wish the best for Hippolyta - he is a rather stupid person, but at the same time he has a talent for studying foreign languages– Ippolit speaks English and French well.

Anatoly Vasilievich Kuragin

Unlike the calm Hippolytus, Anatole literally became a headache for Prince Vasily. The youngest son of the Kuragins is a lover of a luxurious and free life - drunken brawls, constant partying, losing at cards - all this caused a lot of trouble for Vasily Sergeevich.

Anatole’s exact age in the novel is also not precisely indicated - his only age marker is “young man.” Anatole is not married. Yes, given his behavior and passion for revelry and debauchery, this is not surprising.

Anatol Kuragin is used to playing with people's feelings. For example, on a whim, he upsets the engagement of Natasha Rostova and Andrei Bolkonsky. The young man does not experience any feelings of guilt or embarrassment. The thought that he not only created trouble for the girl with his actions, but also caused her psychological trauma, does not even occur to him.

His matchmaking with Marie Bolkonskaya is also not distinguished by tact. Marie was far from a beauty, marriage with her was an extremely profitable match in material terms for the Kuragins, but Anatole’s free behavior and his interest in the servants became the reason for the refusal.

Prince Vasily tried to give his children good education. Anatole studied abroad (most likely in France), but it was all to no avail - teaching something to a person who did not want to learn became an impossible task.

Anatole wasted his life - he was not interested in either the opportunity to make a fortune or military service, nor civilian. The only thing that gave him satisfaction was drinking and the company of women.

Bottom line life path Anatolya is extremely undefined. Latest news We learn about him in the hospital where Prince Andrei Bolkonsky was admitted after being wounded. It was there that he met his sworn enemy, but Anatole’s situation was extremely pitiful - after the amputation of his leg, he could not come to his senses. Presumably, Anatole died.

Elena Vasilievna Kuragina

An equally colorful character in the family is the daughter of Prince Vasily and Princess Alina, Elena. Beauty Elena had a delightful appearance. A thin figure, regular facial features, and proportional body structure have always attracted men of different ages and aroused feelings of envy among women.

Elena, like all the Kuragin children, was not distinguished by intelligence, or rather, was distinguished by its absence, but unlike her brothers, the girl was excellent at creating the illusion of his presence. A certain facial expression, a thoughtful look, helped to convince others that she was a girl of extraordinary intelligence.

Elena is very greedy for money - for the sake of wealth, she marries Pierre Bezukhov, ruining both her life and his. The suspicious Pierre was unable to stop his wife’s depraved behavior and ultimately became the cause of ridicule and ridicule from others. Elena knew how to position herself in a relationship with her husband - he believed her despite all the rumors, and even after an anonymous letter about Elena’s love affairs, he did not want to believe in her betrayal.

Elena's numerous lovers are not the only dark spot in her biography. At one time there were rumors about Elena and Anatole falling in love and, although there is no evidence of their love affair in the novel, numerous hints still make it clear that, quite possibly, one platonic love the matter is not over.

Elena always valued in people only visual appeal, so it is not surprising that over time her dislike for the corpulent and not very handsome Pierre began to weigh on her.

The Kuragin family in the novel “War and Peace”: characteristics and image of the Kuragin family, description in quotes

Leo Tolstoy clearly gives no rest to anyone. It’s understandable - a bright representative of literary classics, a star of his time, power, strength, deep philosophy - what else, one wonders, is needed for complete happiness? That is why foreign directors roll up their sleeves and take on this or that work in an attempt to comprehend the broad Russian soul. True, so far what comes out... is what comes out. Then King Windor's colorful film "War and Peace" with Audrey Hepburn in the role of Natasha Rostova, which, although considered a cultural heritage, at one time did not avoid a resounding failure. Then “Anna Karenina” by Joe Wright, where things are even worse, because instead of the fatal beauty, the viewer sees the skinny Keira Knightley with a purely non-Russian face. It’s not that our public has anything against foreign features, but still, we are accustomed to presenting Karenina somehow differently. At least, in our understanding, Tolstoy’s heroine, at a minimum, should be dressed, and not flash naked parts of her body left and right.

Experience shows recent years, the British generally gravitate toward erotica... and Russian literature. Do you think these are incompatible concepts? You underestimate English filmmakers! “Anna Karenina,” one might say, was only a touchstone; a real revelation awaited us ahead.

The broadcast of the six-part War and Peace film, directed by Tom Harper and written by Andrew Davies, for BBC One is coming to an end. We're almost there victorious final, but catharsis never happened, unlike, say, “War and Peace” by Sergei Bondarchuk. Although it’s somehow even awkward to compare the English “masterpiece” with our film epic. If in 1967 Bondarchuk was thinking about a concept that would be obvious to a well-read person, or at least aware that “War and Peace” is for starters literary work, and not immediately a movie, then the British took the simple path.

Tolstoy's indescribable subtext, the reflection of the characters (it should be noted, not only the central ones) and, in the end, some kind of physicality, tangibility of the heroes, all this turned out to be superfluous in the English version. The British created their film adaptation with those in mind who, most likely, have not read the novel, but are ready to be content only with the story of screenwriter Andrew Davis, which is much more reminiscent of a brief listing of the events of Leo Tolstoy’s monumental work. Once upon a time, Davis already had the honor of working with the text of the novel - the first 20-episode film with Anthony Hopkins in the role of Pierre Bezukhov was released back in 1972 and even brought the actor a BAFTA award.

To the credit of the creator of a new work based on Tolstoy, it is worth noting that all events were observed in strict accordance with the original source, although slightly embellished. And that’s true, whoever is interested in looking at the mental torment of the mattress Pierre Bezukhov (who in the English version, alas, does not deserve any other title), it would be better to show how his wife Helen (by the way, in the television series she is much more reminiscent of a depraved nymphomaniac than representative of high society) copulates with her lover and part-time brother Anatoly Kuragin. As many years of experience show, for a person far from film drama and art in general, seeing naked bodies is somehow calmer, they say, and for them, for the characters, that is, everything is like for people.

Tolstoy, when writing the original text, probably simply forgot to describe the scene of carnal love between the Kuragin brother and sister, but Davis corrected the unfortunate injustice. By the way, experienced literary scholars believe that Lev Nikolayevich did hint at incest, but subtly, like, whoever understands, will understand. The creators of the film chose not to limit themselves to hints and show the mysterious Russian soul in all its glory: there are scenes of dirty love, and battalions of naked men led by Bolkonsky, and an almost visual guide to childbirth, and intestines protruding from corpses on the battlefield, in short speaking, everything so that the audience definitely does not have the desire to read the novel itself directly.

The director and screenwriter do not hide their intentions, they say, the film was intended for those who are not going to study Tolstoy carefully. Why, the actors themselves did not hold the coveted four volumes in their hands - they say that few people can cope with such a volume, and, to be honest, there is absolutely no time.

So it is not at all surprising that, thanks to such a peculiar promotion of the classics to the masses, a community dedicated to the new hit very soon formed on Twitter, in particular, the questions were put forward for discussion: “Who will Natasha prefer - Anatoly or Andrey?” (an incredible surprise awaits viewers at the end) and “Is it legal to show male genitals on screen in prime time?” The second topic, by the way, overshadowed all other discussions after the showing of the fifth episode (last weekend). Twitter exploded with more beautiful comments. They immediately suggested renaming the series War and Penis.

The characters, it is worth noting, in the English version of War and Peace are fabulously good-looking: Natasha (Lily James) laughs a lot and loudly, Pierre (Paul Dano), although a mattress, is a cute mattress, Bolkonsky, played by James Norton, looks like magical prince, so it will be difficult for an unprepared viewer to survive his untimely death.

Apparently, a colossal amount of effort and money was invested in the new work of cinematic art - costumes, locations (for the sake of authenticity, the film crew even recorded various plans of St. Petersburg), however, nothing remained of Tolstoy in the series except, perhaps, the title. So Harper’s “War and Peace” can be an excellent example of how not to film, but in Russian: if you don’t know how, don’t take it. Well, or call this erotic fantasy based on Russian classics something else.

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 Sherer. 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 secular society 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 it was constantly happening internal struggle 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 scamp 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 - embodiment 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 hair and
diamonds, passed without looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and as if kindly
giving everyone the right to admire the beauty of their figure, full shoulders, very
open, according to the fashion of that time, chest and back, and as if bringing with it shine
bala. Helen was so beautiful that not only was there not even a shadow noticeable in her
coquetry, but, on the contrary, she seemed ashamed of her undoubted and
too powerful beauty. It was as if she wanted and could not diminish
the actions of this beauty."
Helen personifies immorality and depravity.
The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize any moral standards,
living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires. Helen enters
into marriage only for their own enrichment.
She cheats on her husband because her nature is dominated by
animal origin. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless. "I
“I’m not such a fool as to have children,” she admits. Also,
being Pierre's wife, Helene, in front of the whole society, is engaged in the construction
your personal life.
In addition to a luxurious bust, a rich and beautiful body,
this representative big world 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 high society
took part in this struggle in his own way (“they didn’t speak French and
ate simple food"), in Helen's circle, Rumyantsev, French, were refuted
rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war and all of Napoleon's attempts to
reconciliation."
When the threat of capture of Moscow by Napoleonic troops
became obvious, Helen went abroad. And there she shone under the imperial
yard But now the court returns to St. Petersburg.
"Helen,
Having returned with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg, she was in
difficult situation. In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed a special
patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state.
In the end, Helen dies. This death is direct
a consequence of her own intrigues. "Countess Elena Bezukhova
died suddenly from... a terrible disease, which is commonly called chest
angina, but in intimate circles they talked about how the queen’s life physician
Spanish prescribed Helen small doses of some medicine to produce
known action; but like Helen, tormented by the fact that the old count
suspected her, and because the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved
Pierre), did not answer her, suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed to her and
died in agony before help could be given."
Ippolit Kuragin .
"...Prince Hippolyte amazed with his
extraordinary resemblance to her beautiful sister, and even more so, despite
similarity, he was amazingly bad-looking. His facial features were the same as those
sister, but with her everything was illuminated by a cheerful, self-satisfied, young
an unchanging smile and extraordinary, antique beauty of the body. My brother, on the contrary,
the same face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident
disgust, and the body was thin and weak. Eyes, nose, mouth - everything was shrinking like
as if in one vague, boring grimace, and arms and legs always took
unnatural position."
Hippolytus was unusually stupid. Because of self-confidence
to whom he spoke, no one could understand whether what he said was very smart or very stupid.
At Scherer's reception he appears to us "in
in a dark green tailcoat, in trousers the color of a frightened nymph, as he himself said, in
stockings and shoes." And such an absurdity of attire is not at all his
didn't bother me.
His stupidity manifested itself 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 agreed 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 only purpose is entertainment and it exists for this. No looking back
people, on their opinion, on the consequences, no distant goal that would force
focus on achieving it, no remorse, no thoughts,
hesitation, doubt - Anatole, whatever he did, naturally and sincerely
considers himself an impeccable person and holds his beautiful head high: freedom is truly limitless, freedom in actions and self-awareness.
Such complete freedom was given to Anatoly
meaninglessness. A person who consciously relates to life is already subordinated, like
Pierre, the need to understand and solve, he is not free from life's difficulties, from
question: why? While Pierre is tormented by this difficult question,
Anatole lives, content with every minute, stupidly, animalistically, but easily and
funny.
Marriage to a "rich ugly heiress" -
Maria Bolkonskaya seems to him like just another amusement. "A
Why not marry if she is very rich? It never gets in the way" -
thought Anatole.

L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is both a national epic about the feat of the Russian people in the war with Napoleon, and a noble “family chronicle”. Tolstoy was the greatest master of realistic depiction of family, family and kinship relationships. He knew how, like no one else, to catch the traits of family resemblance in the characters of people, seemingly the most different, to show the endless diversity of that homely “spirit” that reigns in different families.
The writer revealed the sphere to the reader folk life, folk psychology and in connection with this showed two opposing circles of the nobility. On the one hand, this is an bureaucratic aristocracy that is far from the people, an example of which is the Kuragin family. On the other hand, these are nobles who are more or less close in spirit to the people, like the Bolkonsky family.
Observing the Bolkonsky family, we see how much in common between the members of this family. Both Andrei and Marya are similar to their father in many ways. And at the same time, they are all different. Children, each in their own way, live with interests and aspirations different from their father. They are people of a different era. And grandson Nikolenka is groping under his feet for even newer soil - Decembrism. In this movement and development, all of them remain faithful to the basic law of life of their family - ardent and selfless love to the homeland.
Old Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is one of the best noblemen of the past era, a hero of Potemkin and Suvorov's time, a thinking person, a rationalist and an atheist, an ardent patriot. But he is a child of his time, which is a thing of the past. Therefore, there is a lot of eccentricity in him, and most importantly, he is entirely woven from contradictions: free-thinking and authority, arrogant aristocracy and some kind of capricious democracy. Old man Bolkonsky loves his children dearly, but at the same time he poisons the life of Princess Marya with ridiculous mathematics lessons, humiliates her, unconditionally distributes her whole life by the hour, and destroys the happiness of Prince Andrei and Natasha. The old prince is unbearable, difficult, but there is no doubt that if Andrei Bolkonsky lived to old age, he would become the same active, wise, intolerant and despotic old man as his father.
Andrei Bolkonsky is the true son of his father. He is also characterized by willpower, strength of character, loyalty to his word and true patriotism. His arrogance extended only to the high society nobility, which he considered deceitful and false. With ordinary people, Andrei is not stiff or arrogant. The feeling of love for his homeland was his personal feeling, and not an accepted duty. Defending his homeland is the goal of his life. To live, helping and sympathizing with people, to understand them, to merge your life with theirs - these are the aspirations of Andrei Bolkonsky. Life aspirations Bolkonsky will find their continuation in his son.
Timid, modest, devoted Princess Marya inherited from her father spiritual sensitivity, tenderness, but at the same time determination and fortitude. She strove for love and happiness with all her soul, but while her father was alive, there could be no personal life for Princess Marya. However, understanding her father's love, she did not condemn the despotism of its manifestation. Without thinking at all about social issues, she always unmistakably felt what the attitude of her father and brother was towards their homeland. Princess Marya fully shared their patriotism and was proud of both of them.
The Kuragin family, with its deceit, falsehood, and predatory instincts, is the complete opposite of the Bolkonskys. Kuragins are calculating, always and everywhere looking for personal benefits and are ready to do anything in pursuit of them. Prince Vasily Kuragin is only concerned with making one of his sons, Ippolit (“the calm fool”), the first secretary of the embassy in Vienna, and marrying the other, Anatole (“the restless fool”), to a rich heiress. Anatole and Hippolyte are completely stupid, but both are self-confident, in the “light” they feel as if in their own element, and no one in this environment notices their stupidity. They are absolutely not concerned about the fate of Russia, but they are very interested in receiving ranks and awards.
Helen is also stupid and soulless. She doesn't need intelligence and sincerity. She instinctively replaces them with high-society tact and with its help achieves wealth and splendor in court circles.
Kuragins are infinitely far from the interests of the people. The shine of external luxury covers their facelessness and spiritual emptiness, and it would be in vain to look in them for traces of human simplicity, sincerity and sincerity.