Lesson topic: Happiness is simple. “Family Thought” in L.N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and world
The purpose of the lesson: show that L.N. Tolstoy in the epic novel “War and Peace”
affirms eternal values - the patriarchal family with relationships built on “goodness and truth” - as the basis of human life.
Lesson Objectives: a) understand the questions that he poses to himself
“What is real life?”, “What holds a family together?”;
b) improving the ability to conduct a dialogue with the author;
c) strengthening the prestige of the family, the formation of a value system of moral guidelines and ideals.
Equipment: portrait of Leo Tolstoy, text of the epic novel “War and Peace”, song “Parental Home”, epigraph to the lesson: “What is needed for happiness? Quiet family life... with the opportunity to do good to people" (L.N. Tolstoy)
During the classes:
1. introduction teachers
“War and Peace” is among the eternal creations bequeathed from century to century. We open the pages of the novel, where Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy contrasts the senselessness and inhumanity of the war of 1805 with the life he called “real.” Peaceful life is not isolated from the “big” history, it has its own “pool of life”, and people are like rivers: each has its own channel, its own source. This source is the home, family, its traditions, way of life.
Today we get to know the family nests of the main characters: the Rostovs; Bezukhov, Kuragin, Bolkonsky, we will visit these families to understand the main issue: “What kind of family life does Tolstoy consider real?” (Write a problematic question in a notebook)
2.Work on the content of the text. Conversation.
Where does the first part of the second volume begin? (Example student answers; they may be structured differently)
The war did not end, but it paused. After the victory at Austerlitz, Napoleon concluded a beneficial peace with Austria and went to Paris, and the Russian troops returned to their homeland, and many officers received leave, including Nikolai Rostov.
What kind of desire is Nikolai Rostov gripped by, what feelings does he experience when approaching his parents’ house?
He’s going on vacation to Moscow, he’s already arrived and thinks: “Soon, soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cab drivers!” N. Rostov is overwhelmed with an impatient desire to quickly drive up to home. He recognizes with emotion the most ordinary objects and is upset when his long-awaited home stands “motionless, unwelcoming...”. We are so familiar with the feeling that Nikolai experienced a few minutes after his arrival: “Rostov was very happy with the love that was shown to him: but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that his current happiness seemed not enough to him, and he was still waiting for something again, and again, and again"
- Now draw a conclusion, what does his parents’ home mean to him?
In his parents' house, he - an officer, a grown man - with natural ease re-entered his Child's world, he understood “burning his hand with a ruler to show love,” and Natasha’s chatter, and the fact that she tried to put on his boots with spurs, and Sonya spinning around the room - all this, it seemed, was in him all the long months under the cannonballs and bullets, and now here, in my parents’ house, it has come to life and blossomed.
Remember in what situations we meet the Rostov family?
Tell us about your parents. (Student messages)
Standing on the popular point of view, the author considers the mother to be the moral core of the family, and the highest virtue of a woman is the sacred duty of motherhood: “The Countess was a woman with an oriental type thin face, about 45 years old, apparently exhausted by children, of whom she had 12 people. The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from her weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspired respect.” The author emphasizes the closeness of mother and daughter with one name - Natalya. Tolstoy also describes the Count with tenderness. Count Rostov greeted all the guests equally cordially... dear or dear, he said to everyone, without exception, without the slightest shade, both above and below him, to the people standing, he laughs with a “sonorous and bassy laugh,” “laughing, he screams...” he is “loose kindness itself.” The hospitable and generous house of the Rostovs cannot but charm the reader. Both in St. Petersburg and in Moscow, a variety of people came to dinner with them: neighbors in Otradnoye, poor old landowners, Pierre Bezukhov. There is a feeling of selfless cordiality. The life of the Rostovs in the village is even more patriarchal in nature - on Christmastide the serfs dress up and have fun with the masters.
-What is the relationship between parents and children?
These elderly people love each other tenderly and reverently; they have wonderful children. The relationship between parents and children in the Rostov family is built on sincerity of feelings, love, understanding, respect, and trust in each other. The spirit of equality and selflessness dominates in this family. Here they openly rejoice, cry and worry together. The Rostovs are ready to accept and treat anyone: in the family, in addition to their four children, Sonya and Boris Drubetskoy are being raised. Their home is comfortable for both friends and strangers...
Retell the episode “Natasha’s Name Day” (volume 1, part 1, chapters 7-11, 14-17). Retelling and analysis of the episode.
What does this picture add to the characteristics of the Rostov “breed”?
Simplicity and cordiality, natural behavior, cordiality and mutual love in the family, nobility and sensitivity, closeness in language and customs to the people.
Strong students compiled the Rostov family code, they speak in class with creative work, which may include the following items:
a) generous hospitality;
b) respect for each individual;
c) sincerity and mutual understanding between parents and children;
d) openness of soul;
e) all feelings come out;
e) a feeling of patriotism.
We see that the Rostov family lives more by feelings than by head. And Tolstoy loves the Rostov family (as is known, in the person of Nikolai Rostov he portrayed his father), he loves because they good people. I think each of us would be happy living in such a family.
And now we’ll stay a little with the Bolkonskys, in Bald Mountains. Nothing can change the calm, active and measured life of the old princely house in Bald Mountains. “The same hours, and walks along the alleys...” And as always, early in the morning, a majestic little old man in a “velvet fur coat with a sable collar and the same hat” goes out for a walk in the fresh snow. He is old, Prince Bolkonsky, he deserves peace, this calculated life, composed by himself. But this old man did not dream of peace.
What was Nikolai Andreevich thinking about when reading his son’s daily letters?
He probably longed with all his heart to go there, to the Austrian fields, remembered the great Suvorov, dreamed of his Toulon - he is old, but he is alive and full of spiritual strength. Mental, but not physical. You have to come to terms with that; that you cannot easily, as before, jump on a horse and ride under bullets across the enemy. You have to come to terms with the fact that thought does not work as quickly as before, and your strength is diminishing, and there is no place for you where before it seemed impossible without you... He is difficult, this old man, because he cannot come to terms with his helplessness. But, as much as he has the strength, he will be useful to Russia, his son, his daughter.
- What did Prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky want to give to his children??
Long ago, when he was young, strong and active, among the many joys that filled his life were children - Prince Andrei and Princess Marya, whom he loved very much. He was involved in their upbringing and training himself, without trusting or entrusting this to anyone. He wanted to raise his son smart, noble, happy, and his daughter - not like the stupid young ladies of society - but a beautiful woman.
What was his soul aching about?
The son grew up handsome, smart and honest, but this did not make him happy. He went into an incomprehensible life with an unpleasant woman - what remains for the father? Trying to understand my son and take care of his wife: but this is not what I once dreamed of...
His girl also grew up and became a rich bride; he taught her geometry, raised her to be kind and noble, but this will only make life more difficult for her. What does she know about people, what does she understand in life? The daughter looks ugly! But he, like no one else, understands how rich his daughter’s spiritual world is; he knows how beautiful she can be in moments of great excitement. That is why the arrival and matchmaking of the Kuragins, “this stupid, heartless breed,” is so painful for him. They are not looking for his daughter, but for his wealth, his noble family! And Princess Marya is waiting, worried! He, with his desire to make children truthful and honest, he himself raised Andrei unarmed against Princess Lisa, and Maryu - against Prince Vasily. Today he is alive and saved his daughter, but tomorrow?
What do all the Bolkonskys have in common?
Severity, “dryness,” and pride are the most frequently repeated traits in portraits of father and son. But perhaps the most important thing that unites all the Bolkonskys is the similarity of their eyes, highlighted by Tolstoy: like those of Princess Marya, the same “ Perfect eyes"in Prince Andrei (chapter 25), they also “shone with an intelligent and kind, unusual shine,” the intelligent and brilliant eyes of Bolkonsky the father. Aristocratism, pride, intelligence and deep work of thought, the depth of the spiritual world, hidden from the eyes of strangers - these are characteristics Bolkonsky family. At the moment of the birth of the son of Princess Lisa and Prince Andrei in the Bolkonsky house “there was some kind of general concern, softness of heart and consciousness of something great, incomprehensible, taking place at that moment...”
What are the similarities and differences between the parents and children of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs?
The Bolkonskys, like the Rostovs, have the same mutual love of family members, the same deep cordiality (only hidden), the same naturalness of behavior. The Bolkonsky house and the Rostov house are similar, first of all, in their sense of family, spiritual kinship, and patriarchal way of life.
Against the background of the characteristics of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys, the relationships in the Kuragin family will sound in contrast. How does Vasily Kuragin understand his parental duty?
Vasily Kuragin is the father of three children. He, too, probably doesn’t sleep well at night, thinking for his children, how to help, guide, protect. But for him the concept of happiness has a different meaning than for Prince Bolkonsky. All his dreams come down to one thing: to find a more profitable place for them, to get rid of them. How much effort the magnificent wedding of his daughter Helen, the current Countess Bezukhova, cost Prince Vasily! Having abandoned all his affairs, he looked after and guided the “unlucky” Pierre, assigned him to a chamber cadet, settled him in his house, and when Pierre never made an offer, Prince Vasily put everything on his shoulders and decisively blessed Pierre and Helene. Helen is attached. Ippolit, thank God, is in diplomacy, in Austria - out of danger; but the youngest remains, Anatole, with his dissipation, debts, drunkenness; the idea arose to marry him to Princess Bolkonskaya - one could not wish for anything better. All Kuragins easily endure the shame of matchmaking. Their calmness comes from indifference to everyone except themselves. Pierre will brand their spiritual callousness and meanness: “Where you are, there is debauchery and evil.”
What are the relationships in this family?
There is no place for sincerity and decency in this house. The members of the Kuragin family are connected to each other by a terrible mixture of base instincts and impulses! The mother experiences jealousy and envy towards her daughter; both brothers do not hide their physiological attraction to their sister; the father sincerely welcomes arranged marriages for children, dirty intrigues and bad connections... It seems that the growth of this nest of sins and vices can only be stopped physically - and all three younger Kuragins remain childless. They are alien to Tolstoy: barren flowers! Nothing will be born from them, because in a family one must be able to give others the warmth of the soul and care.
3. Individual performances students (assignments are given in advance)
Describe one of the representatives of each family:
Natasha Rostova
Marya Bolkonskaya
Helen Bezukhova
4. Define in one word the main core of the family:
Rostov family (love)
Bolkonsky family (nobility)
Kuragin family (lie)
5. Answer to the problematic question: “What kind of life does Tolstoy call real?” Reading and analysis of the epigraph.
- Family is one of nature’s masterpieces. And Tolstoy brilliantly translated this idea into his novel. The best heroes“War and Peace” preserves in family relationships such moral values that, in a moment of national danger, save Russia.
- In the epilogue of the novel we see two wonderful families - Natasha and Pierre, Princess Marya and Nikolai. We think that such families were close to the author himself. Almost all of Tolstoy's favorite heroes stand at the origins of the new - third generation. We see the peaceful flow of life - beautiful, full of pure joys and creative works. The epilogue of the novel is Tolstoy’s hymn to the spiritual foundations of the family, like highest form unity between people. It is this kind of life, I think, that Tolstoy calls real.
6. The music of the song “Parents’ House” sounds, the teacher says:
Yes, “the parental home is the beginning, and in everyone’s heart there is a reliable berth.” Each family has its own “beginnings” and understands happiness in its own way. “The real life of people is life with its own essential interests of health, illness, work, rest, with its own interests of thought, science, poetry, music, love, friendship, hatred, passions...” Tolstoy affirms eternal values as the basis of happiness - home, family, love. This is what each of us needs. We all dream of a home where we are loved and welcomed.
I. Why is an epilogue needed in a novel?
“If vicious people are connected with each other and constitute a force, then honest people need to do only the same. It’s so simple”
Remember what kind of life Tolstoy considered real? Life in the world.
How does the peaceful life of the epilogue differ from the peaceful life of volume 2?
As a result of everything they have experienced, the heroes find their place in life, they become closer to the people.
1) Tolstoy unites his two favorite families, the Bolkonskys and the Rostovs..
2) What wisdom did Pierre come to? (epilogue part 1 chapter 16)
3) Where and why Pierre was led by the desire for the unity of all honest people ? (Part 1 Chapter 14)
Secret political society, general troubles in the life of society and the state. It seems to be the same thing that led him to the Freemasons in his time.
4) But the method of action remains the same?
Pierre now sees confrontation with the evil that reigns in the world not only in the cleansing of the heart of every person.
II. Who else of the novel's heroes gets closer to people's life, understanding their interests and concerns?
Nikolai Rostov (chapter 7).
What are Political Views Nicholas? (Ch. 14) Which side is Tolstoy on in the dispute? How does he show this?
III. Why did the novel end this way?
If Prince Andrei were alive, would the search for how to live honestly continue, would he come to the secret society? When his son grows up, he will continue his work ( the continuity of generations).
IV. When was the novel finished? (1869)
What is still a very pressing question? - “Who can live well in Rus'?”
1. State of the people.
2. Woman's position(novels by Turgenev, plays by Ostrovsky).
V. Does Tolstoy answer these questions in his novel? Or does he leave them aside?
1) The peasant question: your own view.
The people are the main force of history, but they gloss over the contradictions between the master and the peasant, they believe that peace, harmony, harmony between the master and the peasant are possible where the master is good ( Rostov, uncle in Otradnoye, Rostov the owner- Chapter 7).
- What about Nikolai’s political views? Whose side is Nikolenka on? (Ch. 16)
2) Your view on the purpose of a woman.
a) How do Turgenev, Chernyshevsky, for example, solve this issue?
And Tolstoy? (ch. 10)
b) According to Tolstoy, the purpose of a woman is family, motherhood.
With love and respect he draws Natasha the mother in the epilogue, who understanding and respect refers to Pierre's affairs. In a dispute with Nikolai, she is Pierre's ally. And if Pierre suffers the fate of the Decembrist, she will share his fate.
D/z: Prepare for an essay on topics.
Closely connected with the theme of the people in the novel theme of family and nobility. The author divides the nobles into “haves” (these include Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov), local patriots (old man Bolkonsky, the Rostovs), and secular nobility (the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer, Helen).
According to Tolstoy, the family is the soil for the formation human soul. And at the same time, each family is a whole world, special, unlike anything else, full of complex relationships. In the novel “War and Peace,” the theme of family, according to the author’s plan, serves as the most important means of organizing the text. The atmosphere of the family nest determines the characters, destinies and views of the heroes of the work. In the system of all the main images of the novel, the author identifies several families, using the example of which he expresses his attitude towards the ideal of home - these are the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys, the Kuragins.
The Rostovs and Bolkonskys are not just families, they are ways of life based on national traditions. These traditions were most fully manifested in the life of the Rostov representatives - a noble-naive family living by feelings, combining a serious attitude to family honor (Nikolai Rostov does not refuse his father’s debts), warmth and cordiality of family relationships, hospitality and hospitality that distinguishes Russian people. Talking about Petya, Natasha, Nikolai and the elder Rostovs, Tolstoy sought to artistically recreate the history of an average noble family early XIX century.
During the course of the story, Tolstoy introduces the reader to all representatives of the Rostov family, talking about them with deep interest and sympathy. The Rostov house in Moscow was considered one of the most hospitable, and therefore one of the most beloved. A kind, carefree and forgiving spirit of benevolent love reigned here. This caused good-natured ridicule among some, but it did not prevent anyone from taking advantage of Count Rostov’s hospitable generosity: kindness and love are always attractive.
The most prominent representative of the Rostov family is Natasha - charming, natural, cheerful and naive. All these traits are dear to Tolstoy, and for them he loves his heroine. Starting from the first acquaintance, the writer emphasizes that Natasha is not like other characters in the novel. We see her as a daring child when, at her name day, she fearlessly, despite the presence of Countess Akhrosimova (whom the whole world was afraid of), asks what kind of cake will be served for dessert; then matured, but still just as lively, spontaneous and charming, when she has to accept her first important decision- refuse Denisov, who proposed to her. She says: “Vasily Dmitrich, I feel so sorry for you!.. No, but you are so nice... but don’t... this is... otherwise I will always love you...” There is no direct logic in Natasha’s words , but at the same time they are touchingly pure and truthful. Later we see Natasha with Nikolai and Petya in Mikhailovsk, visiting her uncle, when she performs a Russian dance, causing admiration from those around her; Natasha, in love with Prince Andrei, and then carried away by Anatoly Kuragin. As she grows up, Natasha’s character traits also develop: love of life, optimism, amorousness. Tolstoy shows her in joy, in grief, and in despair, and shows her in such a way that the reader cannot doubt: all her feelings are sincere and genuine.
As the story progresses, we learn a lot of important things about Count Rostov: about the financial worries of Ilya Nikolaevich; about his hospitality and good nature; about how inimitably and fervently he dances Danila Kupora; about how much effort he makes to organize a reception in honor of Bagration; about how, in a fit of patriotic delight, returning from the palace where he heard and saw the emperor, he lets his youngest minor son go to war. Tolstoy almost always shows Countess Rostova through the eyes of Natasha. Her main feature is her love for children. For Natasha, she is the first friend and adviser. The Countess understands her children perfectly and is always ready to warn them against mistakes and give the necessary advice.
Tolstoy treats Petya, the youngest son of the Rostovs, with especially touching sympathy. This is a wonderful, kind, loving and beloved boy, so similar to Natasha, a faithful companion to her games, her page, unquestioningly fulfilling all the desires and whims of his sister. He, like Natasha, loves life in all its manifestations. He knows how to take pity on the captive French drummer, invites him to dinner and treats him fried meat, just as his father, Count Rostov, invited everyone to his house to feed and caress him. Petya's death is clear evidence of the senselessness and mercilessness of the war.
For the Rostovs, love is the basis of family life. Here they are not afraid to express their feelings either to each other or to friends and acquaintances. The love, kindness and warmth of the Rostovs extend not only to its members, but also to people who, by the will of fate, have become their loved ones. So, Andrei Bolkonsky, finding himself in Otradnoye, struck by Natasha’s cheerfulness, decides to change his life. In the Rostov family they never condemn or reproach each other even when an act committed by one of its members deserves condemnation, be it Nikolai, who lost a huge amount of money to Dolokhov and put the family in danger of ruin, or Natasha, who tried to escape with Anatoly Kuragin. Here we are always ready to help each other and stand up for a loved one at any moment.
Such purity of relationships and high morality make the Rostovs similar to the Bolkonskys. But the Bolkonskys, in contrast to the Rostovs, give great importance his birth and wealth. They do not accept everyone indiscriminately. A special order reigns here, understandable only to family members; here everything is subordinated to honor, reason and duty. All representatives of this family have a clearly expressed sense of family superiority and self-esteem. But at the same time, in the Bolkonskys’ relationship there is natural and sincere love, hidden under the mask of arrogance. The proud Bolkonskys are noticeably different in character from the cozy and homely Rostovs, and that is why the unity of these two families, in the author’s view, is possible only between uncharacteristic representatives of these families (Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya).
The Bolkonsky family in the novel is contrasted with the Kuragin family. Both the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins occupy a prominent place in social life Moscow and St. Petersburg. But if, when describing the members of the Bolkonsky family, the author draws attention to issues of pride and honor, then the Kuragins are depicted as active participants in intrigues and behind-the-scenes games (the story with Count Bezukhov’s briefcase), regulars at balls and social events. The way of life of the Bolkonsky family is based on love and cohesion. All representatives of the Kuragin family are united by immorality (secret connections between Anatole and Helen), unscrupulousness (an attempt to arrange Natasha’s escape), prudence (the marriage of Pierre and Helen), and false patriotism.
It is no coincidence that representatives of the Kuragin family belong to high society. From the first pages of the novel, the reader is transported to the St. Petersburg drawing rooms of high society and gets acquainted with the “cream” of this society: nobles, dignitaries, diplomats, ladies-in-waiting. As the narrative progresses, Tolstoy tears away the veils of external brilliance and refined manners from these people, and their spiritual squalor and moral baseness are revealed to the reader. There is neither simplicity, nor goodness, nor truth in their behavior and relationships. Everything is unnatural, hypocritical in Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon. Everything alive, be it a thought and feeling, a sincere impulse or a topical wit, fades away in a soulless environment. That is why the naturalness and openness in Pierre’s behavior frightened Scherer so much. Here they are accustomed to “decently pulled masks”, to a masquerade. Prince Vasily speaks lazily, like an actor in an old play, while the hostess herself behaves with artificial enthusiasm.
Tolstoy compares the evening reception at Scherer’s to a spinning workshop, in which “spindles made noise evenly and incessantly from different sides.” But in these workshops, important matters are decided, state intrigues are woven, personal problems are solved, selfish plans are outlined: places are looked for for unsettled sons, like Ippolit Kuragin, profitable parties for marriage are discussed. In this light, “eternal inhuman enmity, the struggle for mortal blessings, boils.” Suffice it to recall the distorted faces of the “mournful” Drubetskaya and the “merciful” Prince Vasily, when the two of them clutched the briefcase with the will at the bedside of the dying Count Bezukhov.
Prince Vasily Kuragin, the head of the Kuragin family, is a bright type of enterprising careerist, money-grubber and egoist. Entrepreneurship and acquisitiveness became, as it were, “involuntary” traits of his character. As Tolstoy emphasizes, Prince Vasily knew how to use people and hide this skill, covering it with subtle observance of the rules of secular behavior. Thanks to this skill, Prince Vasily achieves a lot in life, because in the society in which he lives, the search for various kinds of benefits is the main thing in relations between people. For the sake of his own selfish goals, Prince Vasily is developing very vigorous activity. Suffice it to recall the campaign launched to get Pierre married to his daughter Helen. Without waiting for Pierre and Helen'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 Anatole, began, and only chance prevented the successful completion of this “operation.” About what love and family well-being Can we talk about marriages being made out of open convenience? Tolstoy tells with irony about Prince Vasily, when he fools and robs Pierre, embezzling income from his estates and keeping several thousand quitrents from the Ryazan estate, hiding his actions under the guise of kindness and care for the young man, whom he cannot leave to the mercy of fate. .
Helen is the only one of all the children of Prince Vasily who does not burden him, but brings joy with her successes. This is explained by the fact that she was real daughter her father and early understood what rules one must play by in the world in order to achieve success and take a strong position. Beauty is Helen's only virtue. She understands this very well and uses it as a means to achieve personal gain. When Helen walks through the hall, the dazzling whiteness of her shoulders attracts the gaze of all the men present. Having married Pierre, she began to shine even brighter, did not miss a single ball and was always a welcome guest. Having openly cheated on her husband, she cynically declares that she does not want to have children from him. Pierre rightly defined its essence: “Where you are, there is debauchery.”
Prince Vasily is openly burdened by his sons. Younger son Prince Vasily - Anatol Kuragin - is disgusted already at the first moment of acquaintance. When writing a description of this hero, Tolstoy noted: “He is like a beautiful doll, there is nothing in his eyes.” Anatole is sure that the world was created for his pleasure. According to the author, “he was instinctively convinced that he could not live differently than he lived”, that he “must live on thirty thousand income and always borrow highest position in society". Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes that Anatole is handsome. But his outer beauty contrasts with his empty inner appearance. Anatole's immorality is especially evident during his courtship of Natasha Rostova, when she was the bride of Andrei Bolkonsky. Anatol Kuragin became a symbol of freedom for Natasha Rostova, and she, with her purity, naivety and faith in people, could not understand that this is freedom from the boundaries of what is permitted, from the moral framework of what is permissible. The second son of Prince Vasily - Ippolit - is described by the author as a rake and a veil. But unlike Anatole, he is also mentally limited, which makes his actions especially ridiculous. Tolstoy devotes rather little space to Ippolit in the novel, not deigning him with his attention. The beauty and youth of the Kuragins takes on a repulsive character, for this beauty is insincere, not warmed by the soul.
Tolstoy depicted the declaration of love between Boris Drubetsky and Julie Karagina with irony and sarcasm. Julie knows that this brilliant but poor handsome man does not love her, but demands a declaration of love according to all the rules for his wealth. And Boris, saying the right words, thinks that you can always arrange it so that you rarely see your wife. For the Kuragins and Drubetskys, all means are good to achieve success and fame and strengthen their position in society. You can join Masonic lodge, pretending that you are close to the ideas of love, equality, brotherhood, although in fact the only purpose of this is the desire to make profitable acquaintances. 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.
“Family Thought” in the novel “War and Peace”
In the epic novel “War and Peace,” family thought occupies a very important place. Tolstoy saw the beginning of all beginnings in the family. As you know, a person is not born good or bad, but his family and the atmosphere that prevails within it make him so. Using the example of his heroes, Lev Nikolaevich clearly showed the diversity of family relationships, their positive and negative sides.
All the families in the novel are so natural, as if they existed in real life. Even now, two centuries later, we can meet the friendly Rostov family or the selfish “pack” of the Kuragins. Members of the same family have a common feature that unites them all.
So, main feature The Bolkonsky family can be called the desire to follow the laws of reason. None of the Bolkonskys, except, perhaps, Princess Marya, are characterized by an open manifestation of their feelings. The Bolkonsky family belongs to the old Russian aristocracy. Old Prince Bolkonsky embodies the best features of the serving nobility, devoted to those to whom they “sworn allegiance.” Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky most of all valued “two virtues in people: activity and intelligence.” Raising his children, he developed these qualities in them. Both Prince Andrei and Princess Marya differ in their spiritual education from other noble children.
In many ways, the worldview of this family is reflected in the words of the old prince, who sends his son to war: “Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt the old man... and if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, it will hurt me. .. ashamed!" (clear moral criteria, the concept of honor of the family, clan). The behavior of Princess Marya evokes respect, feeling a deep sense of responsibility for her family, infinitely respecting her father (“Everything her father did aroused in her a reverence that was not subject to discussion”)
Different in character, all members of the Bolkonsky family are one thanks to their spiritual connection. Their relationship is not as warm as the Rostovs, but they are strong, like the links of a chain.
Another family depicted in the novel is in some way opposed to the Bolkonsky family. This is the Rostov family. If the Bolkonskys strive to follow the arguments of reason, then the Rostovs obey the voice of feelings, their family is filled with love, tenderness, and care. Everyone is frank with each other, they have no secrets or secrets. Maybe these people are not distinguished by special talents or intelligence, but they glow from within with family happiness. Unfortunately, the Rostovs will face terrible troubles and trials. Maybe this way they will have to pay for the happiness that was in the house for many years?.. But, having lost everything, the Rostov family will come to life again, only in another generation, preserving the tradition of love and comfort.
The third family is the Kuragin family. Tolstoy, showing all its members, be it Helen or Prince Vasily, devotes great attention portrait, appearance. Outer beauty Kuraginykh replaces the spiritual. This family contains many human vices: hypocrisy, greed, depravity, stupidity. Every person in this family has sinfulness in them. Their affection is not spiritual or loving. She is more animal than human. They are similar to each other, that's why they stick together. Tolstoy shows us that families like the Kuragins are ultimately doomed. None of its members is capable of being “reborn” from filth and vice. The Kuragin family dies, leaving no descendants.
In the epilogue of the novel, two more families are shown. This is the Bezukhov family (Pierre and Natasha), which embodied the author's ideal of a family based on mutual understanding and trust, and the Rostov family - Marya and Nikolai. Marya brought high spirituality to the Rostov family, and Nikolai continued to honor the value of family comfort and cordiality.
Showing in your novel different families, Tolstoy wanted to say that the future belongs to families such as the Rostovs, Bezukhovs, and Bolkonskys. Such families will never die.
The Rostov family in the novel "War and Peace"
In War and Peace, family associations and the hero’s belonging to a “breed” mean a lot. Actually, the Bolkonskys or Rostovs are more than families, they are entire ways of life, families of the old type, with a patriarchal basis, old clans with their own special tradition for each family,” wrote (“War and Peace.” - In the book: Three masterpiece of Russian classics. M., 1971. p. 65).
Let's try to consider the Rostov family in this aspect, the features of the “Rostov breed”. The basic concepts that characterize all members of this family are simplicity, breadth of soul, life with feeling. The Rostovs are not intellectual, not pedantic, not rational, but for Tolstoy the absence of these traits is not a disadvantage, but only “one of the aspects of life.”
The Rostovs are emotional, generous, responsive, open, hospitable and friendly in the Russian way. In their family, in addition to their own children, Sonya, the niece of the old count, is being brought up; Boris Drubetskoy, the son of Anna Mikhailovna, who is a distant relative of them, has lived here since childhood. IN big house on Povarskaya there is enough space, warmth, love for everyone; there is that special atmosphere that attracts others.
And people themselves create it. The head of the family is the old count, Ilya Andreevich. This is a good-natured, eccentric gentleman, carefree and simple-minded, the foreman of the English club, a passionate hunter, and a lover of home holidays. He adores his family, the count has a close, trusting relationship with his children: he does not interfere with Petya’s desire to join the army, he worries about Natasha’s fate and health after her breakup with Bolkonsky. Ilya Andreevich literally saves Nikolai, who got into an unpleasant situation with Dolokhov.
At the same time, the Rostov household is left to chance, the manager deceives them, and the family gradually goes bankrupt. But the old count is not able to correct the current situation - Ilya Andreevich is too trusting, weak-willed and wasteful. However, as V. Ermilov notes, it is precisely these qualities of the hero that appear in a “completely different, new sense and significance” in the great, heroic era (Ermilov V. Tolstoy the artist and the novel “War and Peace.” M., 1961. p. 92).
In difficult times of war, Ilya Andreevich abandons his property and gives up carts in order to carry the wounded. Here in the novel there is a special internal motive, the motive of “transformation of the world”: liberation from the world of material things is liberation “from all the wardrobes of the old, evil, stupid world that Tolstoy was sick of with its deathly and deadening egoism - that happiness of liberation that he dreamed of for myself” and the writer himself. Therefore, Tolstoy sympathizes with this character, justifying him in many ways. “...He was a most wonderful man. You won’t meet such people these days,” friends say after the death of the old count.
The image of Countess Rostova, who has a real gift for teaching, is also remarkable in the novel. She also has a very close, trusting relationship with her children: the Countess is the first adviser to her daughters. “If I had kept her strictly, I had forbidden her... God knows what they would have done on the sly (the Countess meant, they would have kissed), but now I know her every word. She’ll come running in the evening and tell me everything,” says the countess about Natasha, who is in love with Boris. The Countess is generous, like all the Rostovs. Despite the difficult financial situation of her family, she helps her longtime friend, Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, by obtaining money for uniforms for her son, Boris.
The same warmth, love, and mutual understanding reign in the relationships between children. Long intimate conversations in the sofa are an integral part of this relationship. Natasha and Sonya open up for a long time when left alone. Natasha and Nikolai are spiritually close and tenderly attached to each other. Rejoicing at the arrival of her brother, Natasha, a lively, impetuous girl, cannot remember herself from delight: she has fun from the bottom of her heart, kisses Denisov, tells Nikolai her secrets and discusses Sonya’s feelings with him.
When girls grow up, that special elusive atmosphere is established in the house, “as it happens in a house where there are very nice and very young girls.” “Every young man who came to the Rostovs’ house, looking at these young, receptive, smiling girlish faces for something (probably at their happiness), at this animated running around, listening to this inconsistent, but affectionate to everyone, ready for anything, full of hope the babble of female youth... experienced the same feeling of readiness for love and expectation of happiness that the youth of the Rostov house themselves experienced.”
Sonya and Natasha standing at the clavichord, “pretty and happy”, Vera playing chess with Shinshin, the old countess playing solitaire - this is the poetic atmosphere that reigns in the house on Povarskaya.
This one family world Nikolai Rostov is so dear to him, it is he who gives him one of the “best pleasures of life.” Tolstoy remarks about this hero: “gifted and limited.” Rostov is simple-minded, simple, noble, honest and straightforward, sympathetic and generous. Remembering his former friendship with the Drubetskys, Nikolai, without hesitation, forgives them their old debt. Like Natasha, he is receptive to music, to a romantic situation, to goodness. At the same time, the hero is deprived creativity in life, Rostov's interests are limited to the world of his family and the landowner's economy. Pierre's thoughts about a new direction for the whole world are not only incomprehensible to Nikolai, but also seem seditious to him.
The soul of the Rostov family is Natasha. This image serves in the novel as that “arch”, “without which the work could not exist as a whole. Natasha is the living embodiment of the very essence of human unity.
At the same time, Natasha embodies egoism as a natural beginning of human life, as a property necessary for happiness, for real activity, for fruitful human communication. In the novel, Natasha’s “natural egoism” is contrasted with the “cold egoism” of Vera and Helen, the sublime altruism and self-denial of Princess Marya, and Sonya’s “selfish self-sacrifice.” None of these properties, according to Tolstoy, are suitable for living, authentic life.
Natasha intuitively feels the very essence of people and events, she is simple and open, close to nature and music. Like the other Rostovs, she is not very intellectual, she is not characterized by deep thoughts about the meaning of life, or the sober introspection of the Bolkonskys. As Pierre remarks, she “doesn’t deign to be smart.” Main role For her, feelings play, “living with the heart” and not with the mind. At the end of the novel, Natasha finds her happiness in marriage with Pierre.
The Rostov family is unusually artistic and musical; all members of this family (with the exception of Vera) love singing and dancing. During a dinner party, the old count famously dances “Danila Kupora” with Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, captivating the audience with “the surprise of deft twists and light jumps of his soft legs.” “Our father! Eagle!" - exclaims the nanny, delighted with this wonderful dance. Natasha’s dancing at her uncle’s in Mikhailovka and her singing are also extraordinary. Natasha has a beautiful raw voice, captivating precisely with its virginity, innocence, and velvet. Nikolai is deeply touched by Natasha’s singing: “All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and anger, and honor - all this is nonsense... but here it is real... My God! how good!... how happy!... Oh, how this third trembled and how something better that was in Rostov’s soul was touched. And this something was independent of everything in the world and above everything in the world.”
The only difference from all the Rostovs is the cold, calm, “beautiful” Vera, whose correct remarks make everyone feel “awkward.” She lacks the simplicity and warmth of the “Rostov breed”; she can easily offend Sonya and read endless moral lectures to children.
Thus, in the life of the Rostov family, feelings and emotions prevail over will and reason. The heroes are not very practical and businesslike, but their life values - generosity, nobility, admiration for beauty, aesthetic feelings, patriotism - are worthy of respect.
In the novel L.N. Tolstoy describes the life of several families: the Rostovs, Bolkonskys, Kuragins, Bergs, and in the epilogue also the families of the Bezukhovs (Pierre and Natasha) and the Rostovs (Nikolai Rostov and Marya Bolkonskaya). These families are very different, each is unique, but without the common, most necessary basis of family existence - loving unity between people - a true family, according to Tolstoy, is impossible. By comparing different types of family relationships, the author shows what a family should be like, what true family values and how they influence the formation of personality. It is no coincidence that all the heroes who are spiritually close to the author were brought up in “real” families, and, on the contrary, egoists and opportunists grew up in “false” families in which people are related to each other only formally.
The Rostov and Bolkonsky families are especially close to the writer. He describes in detail the daily life of the Rostovs in the Moscow house, in Otradnoye, and the Bolkonskys in the estates of Lysye Gory and Bogucharovo. The Rostovs and Bolkonskys have a House, they have a great universal value.
The Rostov family is an ideal harmonious whole. Love binds all family members. Only Vera is cold and alien. It is no coincidence that she soon “falls out” of the Rostov family and marries the calculating Berg.
The Rostovs have a sincere relationship. The name day scene in the Moscow house of the Rostovs, the Yuletide fun with the mummers in Otradnoye are filled with true joy, cordiality, and hospitality. Parents raise their children by giving them all their love. They strive for mutual understanding and mutual assistance. So, when Nikolai lost forty thousand to Dolokhov, he did not hear a word of reproach from his father and was able to pay the debt, although this amount threatened to ruin the Rostovs. The children are grateful to their parents: Rostov is trying to pay off the debt as quickly as possible; Natasha selflessly takes care of her mother, saving her from death after the tragic news of Petya’s death. Nikolai in the epilogue devotes his life to his family and mother.
The Rostovs are simple, warm-hearted people. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy gave them the name Prostov in his drafts. Heart life, wisdom, honesty and integrity define their relationships and behavior.
The Bolkonsky family structure is completely different. Their life is subject to a strict routine and strict discipline. At first glance, the relationships in this family lack cordiality and mutual understanding. The old prince is a despot who torments his daughter with endless nagging, geometry lessons, and yells at her. Princess Marya is afraid of her father. Prince Andrei is forced to postpone his marriage to Natasha for a whole year at the request of his father. However, internally these people 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.” Before his death, the old prince wants to see only his daughter; he shows her love and pity, which he previously hid so as not to spoil her with affection.
Both the Rostovs and 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. The Rostovs sacrifice property, giving carts to the wounded, and make a difficult decision: they agree to let young Petya go into the army. Nikolai and Andrey defend the Fatherland on the battlefield. They live in the interests of the nation. 1812 brings out the best in every family.
The Kuragin family in peaceful life appears in all the insignificance of its selfishness, soullessness, and immorality. The Kuragins sought to use people as a means to achieve their goals. Prince Vasily wanted to profitably marry Anatole to the richest bride - Marya Bolkonskaya. This intrigue did not work out for him, but he secured Helen, ruining Pierre’s life. 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 happened in this “false” family - Anatoly’s leg was amputated, and he subsequently died. However, Tolstoy deliberately does not tell how the Kuragins perceived this. This family is incapable of true human feelings.
The family of Pierre and Natasha as depicted by Tolstoy is almost an idyll. The purpose of their marriage is not only procreation and raising children, but also spiritual unity. Pierre “after seven years of marriage... felt a joyful, firm consciousness that he was not a bad person, and he felt this because he saw himself reflected in his wife.” Natasha is the “mirror” of her husband, reflecting “only what was truly good.” They are so close that they are able to guess each other’s desires and thoughts. Natasha’s whole world is her children, her husband. Tolstoy believed that this was a woman’s calling.
Maria is just as absorbed in her family. Countess Rostova contributes to family relationships kindness, tenderness, high spirituality. Nikolai is a good owner, the support of the family. They complement each other, feeling like one. Nikolai compares his wife to a finger that cannot be cut off. Nikolai’s love for his wife, Tolstoy emphasizes, is “firm, tender, proud,” and “the feeling of surprise at her sincerity” does not fade away in him.
The new families that the reader observes in the epilogue are “genuine” families. The author shows that by creating a family, a person takes a step towards “living” life, approaches “organic”, natural being. It is in creating a family that Tolstoy’s “favorite” heroes find their meaning of existence. The family completes the stage of their youthful “disorder” and becomes a kind of result of spiritual searches.
“War and Peace” is a Russian national epic, which reflected the character of a great people at the moment when its historical destinies were being decided. Tolstoy, trying to cover everything that he knew and felt at that time, gave in the novel a set of life, morals,...
Tolstoy depicts the Rostov and Bolkonsky families with great sympathy, because: they are participants in historical events, patriots; they are not attracted to careerism and profit; they are close to the Russian people. Characteristic features of the Rostov Bolkonskys 1. Older generation....
Why do people become friends? If parents, children, and relatives are not chosen, then everyone is free to choose friends. Therefore, a friend is a person whom we completely trust, whom we respect, and whose opinion we take into account. But that doesn't mean friends...
1867 L. M. Tolstoy completed work on the epoch-making novel of his work, “War and Peace.” The author noted that in “War and Peace” he “loved the people’s thought,” poetizing the simplicity, kindness and morality of the Russian people. This “folk thought” by L. Tolstoy...
"Family Thought" in the novel "War and Peace"
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy believed that when working on a work, one must love it " main idea", to reduce all other ideas to it. Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya wrote down in his diary his words that, when creating “War and Peace,” he “loved folk thought,” and in “Anna Karenina” - “family thought.” Indeed, “folk thought” is the fundamental idea of “War and Peace” as a historical and philosophical work. But Tolstoy’s very approach to art history, which involves comprehending the laws of history through a scrupulous study of the entire course of human life, includes an intense interest in the family, therefore “War and Peace.” "can also be considered as a family chronicle. And Tolstoy’s innovation was manifested not only in his views on art, science and philosophy, but also in his attitude to everything related to the theme of family and everyday life.
Novels of the “natural school” were structured in such a way that the attention of authors and readers was focused on social and philosophical problems. The heroes realized themselves in the spiritual sphere, in public service and treated everyday life with deep contempt. “The prose of the natural school in general created ironic pictures of almost all accepted forms of social and domestic life... The everyday, economic, practical-everyday side of life here does not look everywhere as a natural element of the process of human existence: it appears before the heroes as a threat, as the beginning , hostile to everything that is best in their personality,” writes A. Zhuk. Tolstoy was outraged by this arrogant irony over the foundations of human existence. In the family, in family life, he saw one of the main areas of human self-realization, requiring talent, soul, and creative insights. For him, the family is a microcosm of the human community, the beginning and basis of society. And the most important characteristic of the heroes of War and Peace is their family life.
Three families, three houses, three “breeds” of people form the basis of the “family thought” of the novel: the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys and the Kuragins. The world of the Kuragins is a world of the secular mob, of perverted relationships with others and with loved ones. Their family is openly and actively opposed by the author to the world of the Bolkonskys and Rostovs. But the families of his beloved heroes do not at all duplicate each other, they also oppose each other in many ways: it is no coincidence that the elder Rostovs are alien to Prince Andrei, Nikolai is unpleasant; It is no coincidence that Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky will not accept Natasha and will be so opposed to his son’s marriage.
The houses of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys differ primarily in their internal atmosphere. In the Rostov family they openly rejoice and openly cry, openly fall in love and all experience everyone’s love dramas together. Their hospitality is famous throughout Moscow, they are ready to accept and treat anyone: in the family, in addition to four natural children, Sonya is being raised.
Everything is different at the estate in Bald Mountains. There is a spirit of isolation and Spartan restraint reigning there; there it is not customary to be recklessly frank: only in decisive moments of life do they sparingly and carefully pronounce Bolkon’s words of love and open their souls. But it's not just a matter of different lifestyles. These families live in different systems moral values. And, going out into the world, each hero carries within himself not only the usual family life, but also the morality accepted in his house, raised by parents attitude towards oneself and the world.
The hospitable and generous house of the Rostovs cannot but charm the reader. Tolstoy describes the Count and Countess with tenderness: these elderly people who have lived their lives together tenderly and reverently love each other; they have wonderful children; in their home it is cozy for both friends and strangers... And we are ready to ignore several dissonant notes in this family harmony: the coldness of Vera, who despises everyone; Sonya's passionate desire to sacrifice herself to benefactors and her fear that the countess will oppose her marriage to Nikolai. However, further, following the fate of the heroes, we will increasingly have to look back at that first evening in the Rostov house and think about the hints dropped by the author, as if in passing.
It becomes more and more unpleasant to meet Vera on the pages of the novel. Sonya’s desire to sacrifice herself becomes more and more persistent in order to show how grateful she is to the family that sheltered her. And Nikolai surprises: a sincere, kind fellow, brave, honest and sensitive - but uninteresting, catastrophically colorless! He does not know how to think at all, he is afraid to think: this will be revealed with tragic clarity in the case of Denisov, when loyal enthusiasm completely obscures Nikolai Rostov’s thoughts about the broken fate of his unjustly convicted friend. And in the way Natasha, without reasoning, obeying only physical attraction, rushes to Anatole, this Rostov desire to “live by feelings” will also manifest itself, this freeing of oneself from the obligation to think and be responsible for one’s actions.
In order to understand Tolstoy’s attitude to the family, to its role in the life of every person and all humanity, it is necessary to pay special attention to female images novel.
If a man mainly realizes himself in public service, in the social sphere, then a woman’s world, according to Tolstoy, is the family. It is the woman who creates this microcosm of humanity, and she is responsible for it before people and before God. She raises children, all her life she creates that Home, which becomes her main world, a reliable and calm rear for her husband and the source of everything for the younger generation. She affirms the dominant system of moral values in the house, she spins the threads that connect all members of her family.
Tolstoy House cannot create unloved heroines. Helen and Anna Pavlovna Scherer, symbolizing for the author not only the lack of spirituality and soullessness of the world, but also the absolute loss of the feminine principle, replaced by the cult of physical beauty, are located on the “negative pole” of the novel. They are confronted by Natasha and Princess Marya. But the world of the novel is not monochromatic, and as straightforward as Tolstoy is in his historical and philosophical reasoning, so secretly and latently does he carry out his most important thoughts about the role of the family, about the highest purpose of women. Here the author does not declare anything openly: he is counting on a thoughtful, thoughtful reader. Tolstoy is sure: the purpose of a woman is to be a faithful, loving wife and mother, selflessly devoted to her family. But here, too, there is an important, key point for the author: her love and devotion have no right to cross certain limits! What are these boundaries? To understand them, let's return to the Rostov family.
Where could soulless Vera come from in a kind, loving family?! Count Ilya Andreevich himself tries to explain this phenomenon very simply and equally unconvincingly: “The Countess was being clever with Vera.” It’s unlikely that a loving mother could have done such tricks with her daughter so that a smaller copy of Helen would grow out of her! What's the matter? It's probably something to do with the "countess" herself.
The further you go, the worse things get for the Rostovs. The old count's economic carelessness, habitual hospitality and generous help have done their job: the family is close to ruin. And then there’s Nikolai’s loss and Vera’s dowry, which Berg demanded! And the poorer the Rostovs become, the more clearly the base, terrible traits appear in the countess: stinginess, spiritual callousness, the desire to sacrifice “strangers” for “our own.” One can understand the Countess when she does not want to give carts for the wounded: she is a mother, on carts is the last thing the family has, what will go into Natasha’s dowry, what Nikolai and Petya can live on! She does not want anything for herself, she thinks about the children, fulfilling her maternal duty. But is it possible, while caring for the well-being of your children, to sacrifice the lives of wounded soldiers?! Is it possible, when thinking about their material well-being, not to think about what terrible lesson do children receive inhumanity?!
Let us remember how Prince Andrey was escorted to war by his father:
Remember one thing, Prince Andrei: if they kill you, it will hurt me, an old man... - He suddenly fell silent and suddenly continued in a loud voice: - And if I find out that you did not behave like the son of Nikolai Bolkonsky, I will be... ashamed ! - he squealed.
“You don’t have to tell me this, father,” the son said, smiling.
These are the moral foundations in the Bolkonsky family, in which they first of all think about the soul, about honor, and then about life and well-being. The old prince loves his son endlessly, but would prefer to see him dead than dishonored and his name besmirched. And therefore, Prince Andrei can make mistakes, he can succumb to the hypnosis of Napoleonic ideas, but he cannot afford to chicken out, sit out in the bushes - as Nikolai Rostov allowed himself to do in the first battle. Remember what Nikolai thought during his first battle: “Who are they? Why are they running? Are they really running to me? Are they really running to me? And why? Kill me? Me, whom everyone loves so much?” The thoughts of young Rostov are natural, because the sense of self-preservation is natural. But they are also immoral. It was at this moment that the immorality of the blind love of the old countess manifested itself in him. And even though the scene with the carts has not yet occurred, revealing to us Countess Rostova’s readiness to sacrifice strangers for the sake of her children, this quality of her love is already visible in Nikolai’s reaction: let everyone die except him. Her love has always been like this, always based on this - and passed on to her children the basics of inhumanity.
Isn’t Countess Rostova’s attitude towards Sonya inhumane?! Having sheltered her husband’s niece, almost the same age as Natasha, she did not forget for a second that this child was a stranger, that she had benefited this girl. Of course, Sonya was not reproached with the piece for the time being. But her persistent desire to prove her gratitude speaks more clearly than clear that, without reproach, the girl was not allowed to forget for a second about her fate as a bitter orphan, a poor relative who is fed out of mercy. What could be more immoral?!
Mother's love is holy - this is undoubtedly for Tolstoy. But he sharply separates the love of a mother, who raises and educates a Man, from the blind, animal love of a female for her cub. The old countess's love has too much of an animal, unreasoning element. This does not mean that there is nothing else at all: her children, except Vera, grow up to be honest, kind, decent people who overcome their selfishness. But blind adoration for her child dominates the countess’s feelings.