The prince realized the great truth - life is an absolute value. He felt his connection with infinity: “Nothing is true except the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but most important.”
The prince repents of his ambitious dreams, the natural needs of love and goodness rise in his soul.
Prince Andrei accepts some of Pierre's beliefs, which have an impact on Bolkonsky beneficial influence. Now the prince can admit to himself: “How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: “Lord, have mercy on me.”
| I Meeting with the oak | “...It was a huge oak tree..., with branches that had been broken off for a long time, and broken bark, overgrown with old sores...” “During the journey, he seemed to think about his life again and came to the same old, reassuring and hopeless conclusion that he there was no need for anything, that he should live out his life without doing evil or wanting anything.” |
| Meeting with Natasha Rostova in Otradnoye | Returns to “living life”, begins to feel the joy of communicating with big world, people. |
| II Meeting with the oak | “Through the tough bark... young leaves broke through.” “No, life is not over at 31... not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary... for them all to live with me!” |
Natasha's emotionality, her sincerity and delight give impetus to the spiritual rebirth of Prince Andrei. In this state, Prince Andrei hastens to enter close spheres government activities, agrees with Speransky.
The prince becomes happier and better because of the feeling that Natasha Rostova awakens in his soul.
During the Battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky fulfills his duty; he is driven not by a desire for personal glory, but by a sense of honor as an officer, hatred of the enemy who devastated his native land.
| Forgiveness of Anatoly Kuragin | Seeing how Anatoly’s leg was amputated, the prince experienced sincere sympathy for the pain and suffering of this man: “The flower of love blossomed in the spring, free, independent of life...” |
| Revival of love for Natasha Rostova | After a serious injury, he experiences a passionate desire to live. It is at these moments that his love for Natasha returns to him. But this is a different feeling: “... for the first time he imagined her soul. For the first time I understood the cruelty of breaking up with her.” |
| Death of Prince Andrei | “The more he, in those hours of suffering solitude and semi-delirium that he spent after the wound, thought about a new, open beginning eternal love Moreover, without feeling it himself, he renounced earthly life. To love everyone, to always sacrifice oneself for love, meant not loving anyone, it meant not living this earthly life.” “This was that last moral struggle between life and death, in which death won.” |
The fate of Andrei Bolkonsky is the path of a man who makes mistakes and is able to atone for his guilt, striving for moral perfection. Initiation of the feeling of eternal love revived the strength of spirit in Prince Andrei, and he accomplished the most difficult thing, according to Tolstoy, - he died calmly and with dignity.
Life's quest Andrey Bolkonsky
Andrei Bolkonsky is burdened by everyday life, hypocrisy and lies that reign in secular society. These low, meaningless goals that it pursues.
Bolkonsky’s ideal is Napoleon; Andrei wants, like him, to achieve fame and recognition by saving others. This desire is his secret reason why he goes to the war of 1805-1807.
During the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei decides that the hour of his glory has come and rushes headlong into the bullets, although the impetus for this was not only ambitious intentions, but also shame for his army, which began to flee. Bolkonsky was wounded in the head. When he woke up, he began to be aware of the world around him differently, he finally noticed the beauty of nature. He comes to the conclusion that wars, victories, defeats and glory are nothing, emptiness, vanity of vanities.
After the death of his wife, Prince Andrei experiences a strong mental shock, he decides for himself that he will live for the people closest to him, but his lively nature does not want to put up with such a boring and ordinary life, and in the end all this leads to a deep mental crisis. But meeting a friend and having a sincere conversation helps to partially overcome it. Pierre Bezukhov convinces Bolkonsky that life is not over, that we must continue to fight, no matter what.
A moonlit night in Otradnoye and a conversation with Natasha, and then a meeting with an old oak tree, bring Bolkonsky back to life, he begins to realize that he does not want to be such an “old oak tree.” Ambition, a thirst for glory and a desire to live and fight again appear in Prince Andrei, and he goes to serve in St. Petersburg. But Bolkonsky, participating in the drafting of laws, understands that this is not what the people need.
Natasha Rostova played a very important role in the spiritual formation of Prince Andrei. She showed him the purity of thoughts that must be adhered to: love for the people, the desire to live, to do something good for others. Andrei Bolkonsky passionately and tenderly fell in love with Natalya, but could not forgive the betrayal, because he decided that Natasha’s feelings were not as sincere and selfless as he previously believed.
Going to the front in 1812, Andrei Bolkonsky does not pursue ambitious intentions, he goes to defend his homeland, to defend his people. And already being in the army, he does not strive for high ranks, but fights next to ordinary people: soldiers and officers.
The behavior of Prince Andrei in the Battle of Borodino is a feat, but a feat not in the sense as we usually understand it, but a feat before himself, before his honor, an indicator of a long path of self-improvement.
After being mortally wounded, Bolkonsky was imbued with an all-forgiving religious spirit, changed a lot, and revised his views on life in general. He gave forgiveness to Natasha and Kuragin, and died with peace in his heart.
In the novel "War and Peace" you can explore and see with your own eyes life path and the spiritual formation of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky from a secular, indifferent and vain person to a wise, honest and spiritually deep person.
In addition to the essay about Andrei Bolkonsky’s life quest, see also:
- The image of Marya Bolkonskaya in the novel “War and Peace”, essay
- The image of Napoleon in the novel "War and Peace"
- The image of Kutuzov in the novel “War and Peace”
- Comparative characteristics of the Rostovs and Bolkonskys - essay
Option 1 (Plan)
I. Striving for higher truth- the goal of the spiritual quest of the main characters of the novel. The complexity and inconsistency of the character of Prince Andrei predetermine the difficulty of the hero’s quest in life and the painfulness of his moral insight.
P. Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky:
1. Search for a true, worthy cause:
a) dissatisfaction with secular society;
6) disappointment in family life;
c) the dream of a feat, the desire for glory;
d) the desire to gain self-confidence in military service.
2. Participation in the War of 1805:
a) a sense of military duty, brought up by the father;
b) rejection of the laws of the world among military officers;
c) the desire to experience the fate of Napoleon on oneself;
d) meeting with a true hero (Tushin’s feat in the Battle of Shengraben returns Prince Andrei to reality);
e) the meaninglessness of Prince Andrei’s feat during the Battle of Austerlitz;
f) the sky of Austerlitz (renunciation of ambitious illusions, disappointment in one’s idol, understanding of life as something more than the desire for personal glory).
3. The death of his wife and the birth of his son will help Bolkonsky understand what he sacrificed for the sake of his own selfish aspirations.
4. Withdrawal into oneself, renunciation of active life.
5. A conversation with Pierre about goodness, justice and truth is a landmark moment in the life quest of Prince Andrei.
6. Meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye(the desire to be reborn), the embodiment of Andrei Bolkonsky’s thoughts in the image of an oak tree - a symbol of “fading” and “rebirth”.
7. The desire to benefit public service (awakened ambition), rapprochement and break with Speransky.
8. Love for Natasha, a sense of duty and responsibility to a loved one.
9. Destroying hopes for personal happiness(inability to understand and forgive loved one, focus on oneself).
10. Participation in the War of 1812 is a decisive stage in Bolkonsky’s life:
a) return to the army, the desire to be useful to the Fatherland, merging with the fate of the people;
b) the death of his father and the loss of his home do not close Prince Andrei within himself;
c) the moral feat of Prince Andrei on the Borodin field - a feat of endurance and fortitude;
d) a mortal wound reveals to Bolkonsky the eternal truth - the need for love for people;
e) feeling of pity for Kuragin;
f) revival of love for Natasha;
g) death of Prince Andrei.
III. The fate of Andrei Bolkonsky is the path “from Napoleon to Kutuzov”, the path of a man who makes mistakes and is able to atone for his guilt, the path of a man striving for moral perfection.
Option 2 (Plan, quotes)
Path moral quest Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
I. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in the light:
1) Dissatisfaction with life in the world (“... this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!”); book Andrei knows the price of light: lies, hypocrisy are its laws;
2) Bolkonsky is not satisfied family life(“But if you want to know the truth...(to Princess Marya’s sister) do you want to know if I’m happy? No. Is she happy? No. Why is this? I don’t know...");
3) Friendship with Pierre Bezukhov (“You are dear to me, especially because you are the only living person among our whole world”);
4) Dreams of military glory, of your Toulon.
II. The War of 1805 in the fate of the prince. Andrey:
1) The changed mood and attitude of the book. Andrei (“...changed a lot during this time... he looked like a man... busy with something pleasant and interesting”);
2) Battle of Shengraben. Book Andrei dreams of glory: “... it occurred to him that it was he who was destined to lead the Russian army out of this situation, that here he was, that Toulon, who would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers and open up the first path to glory for him!” The first doubts are that military glory- this is exactly what should be served: true heroes remain in the shadows;
3) Battle of Austerlitz:
a) dreams of glory on the eve of battle: “I want glory, I want to be famous people, I want to be loved by them”;
b) the feat of Bolkonsky;
c) the sky of Austerlitz - the collapse of Bolkonsky’s former dreams: the former aspirations for glory, for human Love are vanity and therefore insignificant. A person should look for something else in life. But what?
III. Period spiritual crisis. Life for yourself.
Life in Bogucharovo (Bolkonsky’s world narrowed after the death of his wife and the birth of his son. Standing at his son’s crib, he thinks: “This is the only thing left for me now”);
2) the arrival of Pierre Bezukhov and the conversation with him on the ferry is a turning point in Prince Andrei’s mood and attitude: “The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era... with which his new life began.”
3) “New life” book. Andrey after meeting with Pierre (successful attempts to alleviate the situation of his peasants).
IV. Meeting with Natasha Rostova and love to her - the final revival of the book. Andrey to life:
1) First meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye (two meetings with an oak tree - a reflection of Prince Andrei’s two moods).
2) Thirst for active work, in the Speransky commission: “No, at 31, life did not end...”.
3) Meeting with Natasha at the big court ball (1810) and the impression Natasha made on the prince. Andrei (he loved to meet everything that did not have a secular imprint).
4) Disappointment in Speransky and the service: under the influence of love for Natasha, Bolkonsky’s worldview changes;
5) The whole meaning, the whole life for the book. Andrey - in love with Natasha (“The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one is she and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other half is everything where she is not there, there is all despondency and emptiness”).
6) Postponement of the wedding (at the request of the old Prince Bolkonsky) and the departure of the prince. Andrey abroad. Book error. Andrey: I thought a lot about my love and little about how Natasha feels.
7) Final break with Natasha. (“I said that a fallen woman must be forgiven, but I didn’t say that I could forgive. I can’t...”).
8) Prince Andrei is looking for a personal meeting with Anatole, because “having not given a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov.” Even offended, even humiliated, Prince Andrei cannot humiliate a woman.
V. The War of 1812 in the fate of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
1) Bolkonsky’s trip in search of Anatoly Kuragin, to St. Petersburg and to the Turkish army. His transfer to the Western Army to Barclay de Tolly.
2) A trip to Bald Mountains to see my father, a quarrel with him and departure to war.
3) Prince Andrei’s decision to serve not under the person of the sovereign, but in the army (“Forever lost himself in the court world, not asking to remain with the person of the sovereign, but asking permission to remain in the army”).
4) Andrei Bolkonsky on the eve of the Battle of Borodino; a meeting with Pierre and a conversation with him about the war, about the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. Bolkonsky's blood connection with common people, with the soldiers (“He was completely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring about his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him OUR PRINCE, they were proud of him, they loved him”).
5) At the dressing station. Meeting with Anatoly Kuragin: there is no former hatred, “enthusiastic pity and love for this man filled his happy heart.” What is this? Or, as he himself thinks, that patient love for people was revealed to him. which his sister taught him!
6) Wounded prince. Andrey in the Rostov convoy. State of mind the prince, his reconciliation with Natasha. The last moral struggle between life and death. (“That enthusiastic love for people, which he understood after being wounded, was replaced by indifference to them: to love everyone... meant not to love anyone, it meant not to live this earthly life”).
Option 3 (Plan, quotes)
The path of moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit... And calmness is spiritual meanness.
L.N. Tolstoy
Tolstoy's favorite heroes go through the most difficult moral quest, trying to find the truth, the truth of life, to find the real meaning of life and happiness.
We first meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the Scherer salon. Much in his behavior and appearance expresses deep disappointment in secular society, boredom from visiting living rooms, fatigue from empty and deceitful conversations. This is evidenced by his tired, bored look, the grimace that spoiled him Beautiful face, the manner of squinting when looking at people. He contemptuously calls those gathered in the salon “stupid society.” Andrei is unhappy to realize that his wife Lisa cannot do without this idle circle of people. “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape.”
Only with his friend Pierre is he simple, natural, filled with friendly sympathy and heartfelt affection. Only to Pierre can he admit with all frankness and seriousness: “This life that I lead here, this life is not for me.” He has an irresistible thirst real life. His sharp, analytical mind is attracted to her; broad requests push him to great achievements. Their opportunity, according to Andrei, is opened up for him by the army and participation in military campaigns. Although he could easily stay in St. Petersburg and serve as an aide-de-camp here, he goes to where military operations are taking place. The battles of 1805 were a way out of the deadlock for Bolkonsky.
Army service is becoming one of important stages quest Tolstoy's hero. Here he is sharply separated from the numerous seekers of a quick career and high awards who could be met at headquarters. He does not look for reasons for promotion and awards, unlike many staff officers.
Bolkonsky acutely feels his responsibility for the fate of Russia. The Ulm defeat of the Austrians and the appearance of the defeated General Mack gives rise to disturbing thoughts in his soul about what obstacles stand in the way of the Russian army.
Military service changes the prince. He has lost all pretense and fatigue, the grimace of boredom has disappeared from his face, and energy is felt in his gait and movements. According to Tolstoy, Andrei “had the appearance of a man who does not have time to think about the impression he makes on others and is busy with something pleasant and interesting. His face expressed great satisfaction with himself and those around him.” Prince Andrei insists that he be sent to where it is especially difficult - to Bagration’s detachment, of which only one tenth can return after the battle. Bolkonsky’s actions are highly appreciated by commander Kutuzov, who singled him out as one of his best officers.
Prince Andrei is unusually ambitious. Tolstoy's hero dreams of such a personal feat that would glorify him. He cherishes the thought of glory, similar to that which Napoleon received in the French city of Toulon, which would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers. During the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky boldly circles positions under enemy bullets. He alone dared to go to Tushin's battery and did not leave until the guns were removed. Here, in the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky was lucky enough to witness the heroism and courage shown by the artillerymen of Captain Tushin. In addition, he himself discovered military endurance and courage here, and then one of all the officers stood up to defend the little captain. Shengraben, however, has not yet become Bolkonsky’s Toulon.
On the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky is completely in the grip of his dreams. He imagines how he “firmly and clearly speaks his opinion to Kutuzov, and Weyrother, and the emperors”, how everyone is amazed at “the fidelity of his considerations, but no one undertakes to carry it out, and so he takes a regiment, a division... and alone wins” . Here, in the hero’s mind, a dispute between two internal voices begins.
Another inner voice objects to Prince Andrei, reminding him of death and suffering. But the first voice drowns out these unpleasant thoughts for him: “Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me. And no matter how dear or dear many people are to me - my father, sister, wife - the people dearest to me - but, no matter how scary and unnatural it seems, I will give them all now for a moment of glory, triumph over people, for self-love of people I don’t know...”
In the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei’s ambitious dreams of his “Toulon” are shattered, barely having time to come true. Bolkonsky manages to prevent the panic that has engulfed the troops and raises the battalion to attack when, with the regimental banner in his hands, he rushes forward, calling on the soldiers to attack.
However, in this battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, and life opens up to him in a completely different way. Bleeding on the Field of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky suddenly realizes how empty, petty and insignificant all his previous desires are. Dreams of glory, heroic deeds, the love of others, the genius of Napoleon - everything seems to him vain, far from the true meaning of life, “enclosed in the huge, endless sky” that he sees in front of him.
“How quiet, calm and solemn, not at all like how I ran,” thought Prince Andrei, “not like how we ran, shouted and fought; It’s not at all like how the Frenchman and the artilleryman pulled each other’s banners with embittered and frightened faces - not at all like how the clouds crawl across this high endless sky. How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him.” A kind of “revolution” occurs in the hero’s life, dramatically changing his fate.
Realizing the pettiness of his ambitious thoughts, Prince Andrei goes into private life. He decides to no longer serve either in the army or in civilian service, in his soul there is a “cooling towards life”, in his thoughts - skepticism and unbelief, in his feelings - indifference and indifference. The disappointment in his ambitious plans was deep and difficult, because it was aggravated by personal misfortune - the death of his wife, before whom Prince Andrei felt guilty.
He isolates himself from life, takes care of only his household and his son in Bogucharovo, convincing himself that this is all that is left for him. He now intends to live only for himself, “without disturbing anyone, to live until death.”
But despite his attempts to escape from the worries of life, he is disturbed by reports of victories over Bonaparte at Preussisch-Eylau, since they were won precisely when he was not serving in the army; he is worried about Bilibin’s letter describing the campaign.
Tolstoy reveals pessimistic moods through the portrait of the hero. His gaze was “extinguished and dead”, devoid of a “joyful and cheerful shine”, “concentration and murder” were noticeable in it.
The socio-political views of Prince Andrei at this time had a pronounced noble-class character. Talking with Pierre, he expresses views that are sharply opposed to all his subsequent activities. The prince is skeptical about the need for innovation. About the peasants he says this: “If they are beaten, flogged and sent to Siberia, then I think that it is no worse for them. In Siberia he leads his same bestial life, and the scars on his body will heal, and he is as happy as he was before.” Medical assistance, according to Prince Andrei, also does not need to be provided to the peasants, it only brings them harm. During this period, Andrei Bolkonsky is only concerned about the moral peace of the nobles, and not the well-being of the people, therefore, in his opinion, serfdom must be abolished for the sake of “preserving human dignity, peace of conscience, purity” of the nobles, and not for the sake of the “backs and foreheads” of the peasants, “who, no matter how much you flog, no matter how much you beat, will all remain the same backs and foreheads.”
But Prince Andrei was not long in captivity of such views, which were so contrary to his honest and active nature.
His revival is shown by Tolstoy sequentially in a number of episodes (a meeting with Pierre, a description of Prince Andrei’s activities in the village, his perception of spring nature, a meeting with Natasha).
Bolkonsky proves to Pierre that he needs to live for himself, without thinking about global problems being. Pierre convinces his friend of the need for “life for everyone.” But such a life brought Prince Andrei only bitterness and disappointment: desiring achievement, glory and the love of those around him, he lost faith in himself, in the effectiveness and significance of any activity. “I know only two real misfortunes in life: remorse and illness. And happiness is only the absence of these two evils,” says Bolkonsky Pierre u.
Pierre believes that his friend’s mental crisis is a temporary state, that Prince Andrei’s momentary beliefs are far from the truth, which exists in the world regardless of all human misconceptions. “...There is truth and there is virtue; and man's highest happiness consists in striving to achieve them. We must live, we must love, we must believe... that we are not living just now on this piece of land, but that we have lived and will live forever...” he convinces Bolkonsky.
Pierre's words inspire Prince Andrei, and “something that has long fallen asleep, something better and joyful” awakens in his soul.
In the next two years, which the prince lived in the village, he carried out significant anti-serfdom reforms on his estates. On one estate, he transferred three hundred peasants to free cultivators (this was the first experience in Russia), on others, he replaced corvee with quitrent. He organized medical care for the peasants and took care of their education. In Bogucharovo, the sexton taught literacy to peasant and courtyard children.
Prince Andrei's life in the village was filled with hard work. He kept a close eye on everyone external events world, read a lot, and was knowledgeable in the field of foreign and domestic policy much better than people who came to the village from St. Petersburg. In addition, he “was at that time engaged in a critical analysis of the last two unfortunate campaigns and drawing up a project to change our military regulations and regulations” (Vol. II, Part III, Chapter I).
The hero’s return to life” is also helped by his trip to Otradnoye. Here he meets Natasha Rostova and accidentally overhears her night conversation with Sonya. Natasha, by her very existence, her sincere love for the world, calls Bolkonsky to life. It was after the night conversation he heard that an “unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes” awakens in his soul; the renewed, transformed oak, reminiscent of old age, now evokes in the soul of Prince Andrei “a causeless spring feeling of joy,” a thirst for activity and love.
After a trip to Otradnoye, Prince Andrei regains the desire to “live with everyone”, his lost energy is revived, and interest in social activities. He goes to St. Petersburg to take part in the reforms being carried out in Russia. His hero this time is Speransky. Having become a member of the commission for drawing up the military regulations, Prince Andrei experiences in St. Petersburg “a feeling similar to what he experienced on the eve of the battle, when he was tormented by restless curiosity and irresistibly drawn to higher spheres.” Speransky seems to him the ideal of a “completely reasonable and virtuous person”; he feels for him “the passionate feeling of admiration that he once felt for Bonaparte.”
However, while admiring Speransky’s extraordinary mentality, his energy and perseverance, Prince Andrei was at the same time unpleasantly struck by his cold, mirror-like gaze, which did not allow him to penetrate into his soul, and by the too great contempt for people that he noticed in this man.
At a home dinner with the Speranskys, Prince Andrei is completely disappointed in his idol. In a home environment, a person is most natural - to Bolkonsky, all gestures, poses, and speeches of Speransky seem artificial and feigned. The thin sound of Speransky's voice unpleasantly strikes Prince Andrei. And again the hero is visited by thoughts about the insignificance of what is happening, he remembers his troubles, searches, the formalism of the meetings, where “everything that concerned the essence of the matter was carefully and briefly discussed.” Having realized the futility of this work, the bureaucracy of officials, the isolation from reality, feeling that work cannot make him happier and better, and cannot be useful to society, Prince Andrei leaves public service.
In St. Petersburg, Bolkonsky meets Natasha Rostova again, and this chance meeting at the ball becomes fateful. “Prince Andrei, like all people who grew up in the world, loved to meet in the world that which did not have a common secular imprint on itself. And such was Natasha, with her surprise, joy, and timidity, and even mistakes in French" In Natasha, he is unconsciously attracted to something that is not in himself - simplicity, fullness of life, acceptance of it, spontaneity of perception and enormous inner freedom. He feels in Natasha “the presence of a completely alien to him, special world, filled with some joys unknown to him...”
Bolkonsky himself was never internally free - he was constrained social rules, moral standards, dogmas perceived by the soul, their idealistic requirements for people and life. Therefore, love for Natasha is the strongest of all feelings experienced by the hero. This is his greatest impulse to life. However, Bolkonsky’s happiness was not destined to happen: Natasha unexpectedly became interested in Anatoly Kuragin and broke off her relationship with Prince Andrei.
And Bolkonsky goes again military service. Now this service for him is salvation from personal misfortune, a desire to forget himself in the circle of new people and things. “Everything that connected his memory with the past repelled him, and therefore he tried in relation to this former world only not to be unfair and to fulfill his duty.” “Your road is the road of honor,” Kutuzov will tell him. A sense of duty does not allow him to remain indifferent to great, grandiose events. For Bolkonsky, the French invasion of Russia is exactly the same misfortune as the death of his father, as well as the break with Natasha. Prince Andrei sees his duty as defending his homeland. Arrived new stage in his life, which led to a rapprochement with the people.
A leading man of the era, a patriot, he condemns people who, wanting benefits only for themselves, “caught crosses, rubles and ranks.” All this “drone population” was concentrated in the main apartment and least of all thought about saving the Fatherland, so Prince Andrei went to serve in the regiment: “Prince Andrei lost himself forever in the court world, not asking to remain with the sovereign, but asking to serve in the army” ( vol.III, part I, chapter XI).
Together with his regiment, he walked from the western borders to the village of Borodino. At this time, his spiritual quests do not stop, which take on an increasingly pronounced democratic and patriotic character. Before the Battle of Borodino, he talks with Pierre, who arrived on the battlefield. Bolkonsky no longer believes in military genius and in the rational will of an individual. His faith now lies in the “people's feeling”, that “hidden warmth of patriotism” that unites all Russian soldiers and gives them confidence in victory. “Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!” - he says to Pierre.
In the battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, after which he is operated on. Here the hero again feels the proximity of death, and only now there is a turning point in his worldview. After suffering, he feels “a bliss that he has not experienced for a long time.” His heart is filled with a previously unfamiliar feeling of Christian love. He feels pity and compassion when he sees the wounded Anatole lying next to him. “Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love us, who hate us, love for enemies - yes, the love that God preached on earth...” - all this is suddenly revealed to Prince Andrei.
However, universal, compassionate love begins to fight in the dying Bolkonsky with love for Natasha, when they meet in Mytishchi, with the love that binds him to life. And first love wins - with her, Prince Andrei “refuses” life and dies. Thus, Tolstoy in the novel contrasts life and Christian, forgiving love.
The whole life of Andrei Bolkonsky was imbued with the desire for an unattainable ideal. Such an ideal for him turns out to be forgiveness and compassion. Having acquired a new worldview, he overcomes the spiritual limitations of individualism and intolerance. He dies, having achieved harmony, if not with life, then at least with himself.
The spiritual quest of Prince Andrei was characteristic of the advanced nobility of the era of preparation for the Decembrist uprising. Subsequently, such quests led to the organization of secret societies in Russia, the activities of which ended with the uprising in December 1825.
And although Prince Andrei died before the organization of the first secret societies of the Decembrists, there is reason to assume that he would have been in their ranks.
When in 1820 Pierre became one of the organizers of secret societies and spoke with enthusiasm about their activities, Nikolenka (son of Prince Andrei) asked him:
“Uncle Pierre... you... no... If dad were alive... Would he agree with you?..
“I think so,” Pierre answered him. (Epilogue, part I, chapter XIV).
Option 4
Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky
The epic “War and Peace” grew out of Tolstoy’s idea to write the novel “Decembrists”. Tolstoy began to write his work, left it, returned to it again, until the Great French Revolution, the theme of which sounds from the first pages of the novel, and the Patriotic War of 1812 became the focus of his attention. The idea of writing a book about the Decembrist was absorbed by a broader idea - Tolstoy began to write about a world shaken by war. This is how the epic novel turned out, where the feat of the Russian people in the War of 1812 is shown on a historical scale. At the same time, “War and Peace” is also a “family chronicle”, showing a noble society represented by several generations. And finally, it describes the life of a young nobleman, his views and spiritual formation. Tolstoy endowed Andrei Bolkonsky with many of the traits that, according to the author, a Decembrist should have.
The novel shows the whole life of Prince Andrei. Probably every person at one time in his life thinks about the questions: “Who am I? Why do I live? What am I living for? Tolstoy's hero tries to answer these and many other questions on the pages of the novel. The author has sympathy for the young Prince Bolkonsky. This is confirmed by the fact that Tolstoy endowed Prince Andrei with many of his views and beliefs. Therefore, Bolkonsky is, as it were, a conductor of the author’s own ideas.
We meet Andrei Bolkonsky in Anna Scherer's salon. Even then we see that this is an extraordinary person. Prince Andrei is handsome, he is impeccably and fashionably dressed. He speaks excellent French, which at that time was considered a sign of education and culture. He even pronounces the last name Kutuzov with emphasis on the last syllable, like a Frenchman. Prince Andrei is a secular man. In this sense, he is subject to all the influences of fashion, not only in clothing, but also in behavior and lifestyle. Tolstoy draws our attention to his slow, quiet, senile step and boredom in his gaze. On his face we read superiority and self-confidence. He considers those around him to be inferior to himself, and therefore inferior, hence the boredom. We soon realize that all this is superficial. Seeing Pierre in the salon, Prince Andrei is transformed. He is glad to see his old friend and does not hide it. The prince's smile becomes "unexpectedly kind and pleasant." Despite the fact that Pierre is younger than Andrey, they talk as equals, and the conversation brings pleasure to both. By the time we meet him, Andrei is already a fully formed personality, but he will still face many challenges in life. Prince Andrei will have to go through war, injury, love, slow dying, and all this time the prince will get to know himself, look for that “moment of truth” through which the truth of life will be revealed to him.
In the meantime, Andrei Bolkonsky is looking for fame. It is in pursuit of glory that he goes to the War of 1805. Andrey longs to become a hero. In his dreams, he sees how the army finds itself in a dangerous situation and he single-handedly saves it. The prince’s idol and the object of his worship is Napoleon. It must be said that many young people of that time were captivated by the personality of Napoleon. Andrey wants to be like him and tries to imitate him in everything. In such high spirits, young Bolkonsky goes to war. We see Prince Andrei at the Battle of Austerlitz. He runs ahead of the attacking soldiers with a banner in his hands, then falls, wounded. The first thing Andrei sees after the fall is the sky. A high, endless sky with clouds running across it. It calls, beckons, and fascinates with its grandeur so much that Prince Andrey is even surprised when he discovers it for the first time. “How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him,” thinks Andrey. But at this moment another truth is revealed to the prince. Everything that he strived for, for which he lived, now seems like a trifle, not worthy of attention. He is no longer interested in the political life to which he aspired, nor does he need a military career, to which he recently wanted to devote himself entirely. His recent idol Napoleon seems small and insignificant. Prince Andrei begins to rethink life. His thoughts return to native home in Bald Mountains, where his father, wife, sister and unborn child remained. The war turned out to be completely different from what Andrei had imagined. Intoxicated with a thirst for glory, he idealized military life. In fact, he had to face death and blood. The fierce battles and the embittered faces of the people showed him the real face of the war. All his dreams of military exploits now seem like child's play to him. Prince Andrei returns home. But another blow awaits him at home - the death of his wife. At one time, Prince Andrey lost some interest in her, and now he reads pain and reproach in her eyes. After the death of his wife, the prince withdraws into himself, even little son doesn't bring him joy. In order to somehow occupy himself, he introduces innovations in his village. Pierre sees the spiritual state of Prince Bolkonsky, his depression and disappointment. “He was struck by the change that had occurred in Prince Andrei. The words were kind, there was a smile on his lips and face... but his gaze was dull, dead..." Pierre tries to bring Andrei back to life. True, from the moment they last meeting A lot of time passed and the friends became somewhat distant from each other. Nevertheless, the conversation in Bogucharovo made Bolkonsky think about Pierre’s words “... if there is a God and there is future life, that is, truth, is virtue; and the highest happiness of a person lies in striving to achieve them,” “one must live, one must love, one must believe.” Despite the fact that these statements seemed controversial to Prince Andrei at the time, he realizes that Pierre was right. From this moment Andrei's revival to life begins.
On the way to Otradnoye, Prince Bolkonsky sees a huge oak tree “with broken... branches and broken bark overgrown with old sores,” which “stood like an old, angry and contemptuous monster between the smiling birch trees.” The oak is a symbol of Andrei's state of mind. This tree seems to say that there is neither spring nor happiness on earth, only deception remains. And Prince Andrei agrees with the oak tree: “... yes, he is right, this oak tree is right a thousand times... let others, young people, succumb to this deception again, but we know life - our life is over!”
In Otradnoye the prince saw Natasha. This little girl was full of happiness, energy, and cheerfulness. “And she doesn’t care about my existence!” - thought Prince Andrei. But he is already challenging fate. He understands that he cannot bury himself alive in the village, he just needs to be able to live, enjoy life the way Natasha does. And the symbolic oak tree, “all transformed, spreading out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun.” Natasha changed Andrei’s life in an instant, made him wake up from hibernation and believe in love again. Andrey says: “Not only... what is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it... so that my life does not go on for me alone... so that it is reflected on everyone and so that they all live with me.”
But for now Bolkonsky leaves Natasha and leaves for St. Petersburg. There he meets advanced people of his time, participates in the preparation of transformative projects, in a word, plunges into political life countries. He spends more time in St. Petersburg than he initially expected, and upon returning, Andrei finds out that Natasha has cheated on him, having become infatuated with Anatoly Kuragin. Bolkonsky loves Natasha, but he is too proud and arrogant to forgive her for her betrayal. Therefore, they are forced to part, each having an unhealed wound in their souls.
Prince Andrei meets Pierre again. Now just before the Battle of Borodino. Pierre feels that Andrei is not destined to live, and Andrei seems to understand this too. In the Battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky is again wounded. Now he is reaching for the ground. He envies grass and flowers, and not proud, domineering clouds. He himself now has nothing left of the pride that forced him to part with Natasha. For the first time, Prince Andrei thinks not about himself, but about others. It is now that the truth that Pierre told him about is revealed to him. He forgives Natasha. Moreover, he forgives Anatole too. Already on the verge of death, Andrei realizes that “a new happiness has been revealed to him, inalienable from a person... happiness that is outside of material forces, outside of material influences on a person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Every person can understand it, but only God could recognize and prescribe it.” Andrey meets Na-Tasha again. The minutes spent with her turn out to be the happiest for Andrei. Natasha brings him back to life once again. But, alas, he had very little time to live. “Prince Andrei died. But at the same moment as he died, Prince Andrei remembered that he was sleeping, and at the same moment as he died, he, making an effort on himself, woke up. From that moment “began for Prince Andrei, along with awakening from sleep, awakening from life.”
Thus, the novel shows two concepts about the happiness of Prince Andrei. At first, Andrei believes that one must live for oneself, that each person should live in his own way. There are two misfortunes in life: remorse and illness. And a person is happy only when these misfortunes are absent. And only at the end of his life Andrey realized true happiness - to live for others.
The life quest of Andrei Bolkonsky
/Based on the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"/
Fifteen years (one thousand eight hundred five - one thousand eight hundred twenty
) the history of the country is captured on the pages of the novel “War and Peace”, created by the great genius of Russian literature, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
After reading this magnificent work, we learned about many huge events historical significance: about the war against Napoleon, which was waged by the Russian army in alliance with Austria in one thousand eight hundred and five, about
The Patriotic War of one thousand eight hundred and twelve, about the great commanders Kutuzov and Napoleon, about the problems of advanced noble youth in Russia, whose representatives in the novel are Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre
Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova and others.
In my essay I will talk about Andrei Bolkonsky, who is my ideal. It was for him that the writer destined a difficult fate.
We first meet Prince Andrei at Mrs. Scherer’s ball. Here a handsome young man with “defined and dry features” enters the hall.
Everything about his figure, from his tired, bored look to his quiet, measured step, represented the sharpest contrast with his wife.” It became clear to me that everyone who was in the living room was familiar to him, but, as he wrote
Tolstoy was so tired that he found it boring to look at them and listen to them.”
The son of the chief general, Kutuzov’s adjutant, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, it seemed to me, was sharply critical of all representatives of secular society. He is irritated by “selfishness, vanity, stupidity, and the insignificance of this society.” Andrei Bolkonsky cannot be satisfied with that brilliant and outwardly varied, but idle and empty life with which people of his class are completely satisfied. Despite the fact that Andrei can stay in St. Petersburg and become an adjutant, he goes to war.
Bolkonsky explains his decision to take part in the war with Napoleon:
To Pierre: “I’m going because the life I lead here, this life, is not for me! "" Living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is the vicious circle that Andrei Bolkonsky breaks with a firm hand. He takes his wife to his father in the village, and he himself goes into the active army.
Andrei dreams of military glory, and his hero in this moment is the famous commander Napoleon.
L.N. Tolstoy shows Bolkonsky as a participant in the Battle of Shengraben. Courageous and self-possessed, Prince Andrei is not afraid to go around positions under enemy fire. He was the only one who dared to go to the battery
Tushina with an order to retreat and did not leave the battery until the guns were removed from the position. And only he alone, honest, direct and just, stood up to defend the hero.
Dreams of glory and heroic deeds do not leave him: “... I want this alone, for this alone I live... what should I do if I love nothing but glory, human love.”
In the Battle of Austerlitz, he rushes forward with a banner in his hands, dragging behind him a battalion of retreating soldiers, but, wounded in the head, falls on the field of Austerlitz.
There was nothing above him except “the high sky with quietly creeping clouds.”
Suddenly he sees Napoleon driving around after the battle, enjoying the sight of the dead and wounded, and his hero appeared to him
“a small and insignificant person.... with indifferent and happy views from the misfortune of others.”
During the period of recovery, Prince Andrei realized the insignificance of his ambitious plans and petty pride, which resulted in the defeat of the Russian army and the death of many lives, and after the Austerlitz campaign he firmly decided not to serve in military service anymore. He experienced this disappointment very hard, burdened also by personal grief: the death of his wife, for whom Prince Andrei considered himself guilty.
To get rid of active service, he accepted a position in collecting the militia under the command of his father, but he devoted all his strength to raising his son, trying to convince himself that “this is the only thing” left for him in life.
Tolstoy reveals the pessimistic mood of the hero through the description of his portrait. Prince Andrei changed spiritually and externally. His look was “extinct and dead, “devoid of a joyful and cheerful shine.” During this period, he was characterized by deep pessimism and lack of faith in the possibility of human happiness. He comes to the conclusion that he needs to live for himself. Andrey
Bolkonsky is engaged in the improvement of his estate and peasants: he listed three hundred serfs as free cultivators, replaced corvée with quitrent for the rest, and also organized medical care for the peasants and took care of their education. Prince Andrei closely followed all external events of the world and read a lot. But this whole life seemed uninteresting to him; it did not absorb all his strength. Pierre, who came to him, was struck by the change that had taken place in him: in Andrei’s gaze one could see
"concentration and killing."
I read about Andrei Bolkonsky with deep bitterness and disappointment. How could this strong, living, clever man lose faith in your personal life.
No, he must definitely do some serious, necessary business, he must love someone. After all, he is only thirty-one years old, and he considers his life to be over! “No, Andrey is wrong,” I thought. And suddenly there is a meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye! Her enthusiasm and sensitivity, her childhood desires and dreams bring him back to life.
Therefore, completely different feelings are generated in his soul by the sight of lush greenery covering the oak tree, which so recently brought sad and hopeless thoughts to him. Just recently he noticed it. His appearance was in harmony with the hopelessly pessimistic mood of the hero and convinced him of the correctness of his view that life was over for him, “that he should live out his life without doing evil, without worrying and without wanting anything.”
But it turns out our hero was wrong. No, life is not over yet. He believed in her. He developed a desire to engage in social activities. Prince Andrey works in St. Petersburg under the leadership
Speransky, takes part in the reforms he carries out, but soon becomes convinced of the futility of his work under the existing regime and becomes disillusioned with Speransky.
To a new one, happy life, full of anxiety, excitement and joy, Prince Andrei’s love for Natasha was revived. The first meeting with her in Otradnoye, then an accidentally overheard conversation on a spring moonlit night - all this sank into Andrei’s soul as tender and vivid impression. Natasha appeared before us in the same poetic aura at the ball in St. Petersburg.
This is how the love of Natasha and Andrey began. This love reborn him.
Melancholy, despondency, disappointment, contempt for life disappeared. Faith in the possibility of happiness was revived again.
But it so happened that Andrei’s father, having learned about his son’s decision to marry Natasha, invited him to go abroad for a year. He probably hoped that because of this, the marriage he did not want would not take place. After his engagement to Natasha, Andrei left, leaving her alone. I think he made a mistake. He shouldn't have left Natasha. I won’t talk about how Natasha’s relationship with Anatole developed. Prince Andrei took her passion for this unworthy man very hard. He tried to drown out his torment practical activities, agreed to serve at Kutuzov’s headquarters in
Turkey. But this did not save him from a mental crisis. He still loves
Natasha, appreciates her sincerity and warmth. This pure and wonderful feeling did not fade away in Andrei’s soul until the end of his life.
Terrible events Patriotic War one thousand eight hundred and twelve brought Prince Andrei back to life. The thirst for activity again took possession of him.
Participation in the national defense of the Fatherland brought him closer to the people. Together with his regiment, he walked a difficult path from the western borders to the village of Borodino.
Now he sees the meaning of his life in serving the Motherland and the people.
During the Patriotic War of one thousand eight hundred and twelve, Prince
Andrei finally breaks with secular society. Death from a wound received on the field of the Borodino battle interrupted his life’s quest
Bolkonsky.
I was very sad to read about Andrei at the end of the novel, but I am sure people like him were later members of secret societies in
Russia, whose activities ended in December one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five. And if Prince Andrei were alive, he would certainly be in the forefront of the defenders of the Russian people.
For more than one hundred and forty years people have been admiring the novel War and Peace, a magnificent, unsurpassed work. Years and centuries will pass, and the epic will excite readers just as it excites us now. What is the secret of such an impact of “War and Peace” on readers? Why are the images created by the artist’s imagination perceived by us as alive?
There can be only one answer: this work was created by a brilliant Russian writer, the greatest realist artist.
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To live honestly, you have to struggle, get confused, struggle, make mistakes, start and quit, and always struggle and lose. And calmness is spiritual meanness. L.N. Tolstoy
Spiritual quest of Prince Andrei
Option 1 (Plan)
I. Striving for higher truth- the goal of the spiritual quest of the main characters of the novel. The complexity and inconsistency of the character of Prince Andrei predetermine the difficulty of the hero’s quest in life and the painfulness of his moral insight.
ІІ. Spiritual quest of Andrei Bolkonsky:
1. Search for a true, worthy cause:
a) dissatisfaction with secular society;
6) disappointment in family life;
c) the dream of a feat, the desire for glory;
d) the desire to gain self-confidence in military service.
2. Participation in the War of 1805:
a) a sense of military duty, brought up by the father;
b) rejection of the laws of the world among military officers;
c) the desire to experience the fate of Napoleon on oneself;
d) meeting with a true hero (Tushin’s feat in the Battle of Shengraben returns Prince Andrei to reality);
e) the meaninglessness of Prince Andrei’s feat during the Battle of Austerlitz;
f) the sky of Austerlitz (renunciation of ambitious illusions, disappointment in one’s idol, understanding of life as something more than the desire for personal glory).
3. Death of wife and birth of son will help Bolkonsky understand what he sacrificed for the sake of his own selfish aspirations.
4. Withdrawal, renunciation of active life.
5. Conversation with Pierre about goodness, justice and truth- a landmark moment in the life quest of Prince Andrei.
6. Meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye(the desire to be reborn), the embodiment of Andrei Bolkonsky’s thoughts in the image of an oak tree - a symbol of “fading” and “rebirth”.
7. The desire to make a difference in public service(awakened ambition), rapprochement and break with Speransky.
8. Love for Natasha, a sense of duty and responsibility to a loved one.
9. Destruction of hopes for personal happiness ( inability to understand and forgive a loved one, focus on oneself).
10. Participation in the War of 1812- a decisive stage in Bolkonsky’s life:
a) return to the army, the desire to be useful to the Fatherland, merging with the fate of the people;
b) the death of his father and the loss of his home do not close Prince Andrei within himself;
c) the moral feat of Prince Andrei on the Borodin field - a feat of endurance and fortitude;
d) a mortal wound reveals to Bolkonsky the eternal truth - the need for love for people;
e) feeling of pity for Kuragin;
f) revival of love for Natasha;
g) death of Prince Andrei.
III. The fate of Andrei Bolkonsky is the path “from Napoleon to Kutuzov” the path of a person who makes mistakes and is able to atone for his guilt, the path of a person striving for moral perfection.
Option 2 (Plan, quotes)
The path of moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
I. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky in the light:
1) Dissatisfaction with life in the world (“... this life that I lead here, this life is not for me!”); book Andrei knows the price of light: lies, hypocrisy are its laws;
2) Bolkonsky is not satisfied with family life (“But if you want to know the truth... (to Prince Marya’s sister) do you want to know if I’m happy? No. Is she happy? No. Why is this? I don’t know...");
3) Friendship with Pierre Bezukhov (“You are dear to me, especially because you are the only living person among our whole world”);
4) Dreams of military glory, of your Toulon.
II. The War of 1805 in the fate of the prince. Andrey:
1) The changed mood and attitude of the book. Andrei (“...changed a lot during this time... he looked like a man... busy with something pleasant and interesting”);
2) Battle of Shengraben. Book Andrei dreams of glory: “... it occurred to him that it was he who was destined to lead the Russian army out of this situation, that here he was, that Toulon, who would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers and open up the first path to glory for him!” The first doubts are that military glory is exactly what should be served: true heroes remain in the shadows;
3) Battle of Austerlitz:
a) dreams of glory on the eve of battle: “I want fame, I want to be known to people, I want to be loved by them”;
b) the feat of Bolkonsky;
c) the sky of Austerlitz - the collapse of Bolkonsky’s former dreams: the former aspirations for glory, for human Love are vanity and therefore insignificant. A person should look for something else in life. But what?
III. A period of spiritual crisis. Life for yourself.
1) Life in Bogucharovo (Bolkonsky’s world narrowed after the death of his wife and the birth of his son. Standing by his son’s crib, he thinks: “This is the only thing left for me now”);
2) the arrival of Pierre Bezukhov and the conversation with him on the ferry is a turning point in Prince Andrei’s mood and attitude: “The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era... with which his new life began.”
3) “New Life” book. Andrey after meeting with Pierre (successful attempts to alleviate the situation of his peasants).
IV. The meeting with Natasha Rostova and love for her is the final revival of the book. Andrey to life:
1) First meeting with Natasha in Otradnoye (two meetings with an oak tree - a reflection of Prince Andrei’s two moods).
2) Thirst for active work, in the Speransky commission: “No, at 31, life did not end...”.
3) Meeting with Natasha at the big court ball (1810) and the impression Natasha made on the prince. Andrei (he loved to meet everything that did not have a secular imprint).
4) Disappointment in Speransky and the service: under the influence of love for Natasha, Bolkonsky’s worldview changes;
5) The whole meaning, the whole life for the book. Andrey - in love with Natasha (“The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one is she and there is all happiness, hope, light; the other half is everything where she is not there, there is all despondency and emptiness”).
6) Postponement of the wedding (at the request of the old Prince Bolkonsky) and the departure of the prince. Andrey abroad. Book error. Andrey: I thought a lot about my love and little about how Natasha feels.
7) Final break with Natasha. (“I said that a fallen woman must be forgiven, but I didn’t say that I could forgive. I can’t...”).
8) Prince Andrei is looking for a personal meeting with Anatole, because “having not given a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov.” Even offended, even humiliated, Prince Andrei cannot humiliate a woman.
V. The War of 1812 in the fate of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.
1) Bolkonsky’s trip in search of Anatoly Kuragin, to St. Petersburg and to the Turkish army. His transfer to the Western Army to Barclay de Tolly.
2) A trip to Bald Mountains to see my father, a quarrel with him and departure to war.
3) Prince Andrei’s decision to serve not under the person of the sovereign, but in the army (“Forever lost himself in the court world, not asking to remain with the person of the sovereign, but asking permission to remain in the army”).
4) Andrei Bolkonsky on the eve of the Battle of Borodino; a meeting with Pierre and a conversation with him about the war, about the appointment of Kutuzov as commander-in-chief. Bolkonsky’s blood connection with the common people, with the soldiers (“He was completely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring about his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him OUR PRINCE, they were proud of him, they loved him”).
5) At the dressing station. Meeting with Anatoly Kuragin: there is no former hatred, “enthusiastic pity and love for this man filled his happy heart.” What is this? Or, as he himself thinks, that patient love for people was revealed to him. which his sister taught him!
6) Wounded prince. Andrey in the Rostov convoy. The prince's state of mind, his reconciliation with Natasha. The last moral struggle between life and death. (“That enthusiastic love for people, which he understood after being wounded, was replaced by indifference to them: to love everyone... meant not to love anyone, it meant not to live this earthly life”).
Option 3 (Plan, quotes)
The path of moral quest of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
To live honestly, you have to rush, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start and quit... And calmness is spiritual meanness. L.N. Tolstoy
Tolstoy's favorite heroes go through the most difficult moral quest, trying to find the truth, the truth of life, to find the real meaning of life and happiness.
We first meet Andrei Bolkonsky in the Scherer salon. Much in his behavior and appearance expresses deep disappointment in secular society, boredom from visiting living rooms, fatigue from empty and deceitful conversations. This is evidenced by his tired, bored look, the grimacing that spoiled his handsome face, the manner of squinting when looking at people. He contemptuously calls those gathered in the salon “stupid society.” Andrei is unhappy to realize that his wife Lisa cannot do without this idle circle of people. “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape.”
Only with his friend Pierre is he simple, natural, filled with friendly sympathy and heartfelt affection. Only to Pierre can he admit with all frankness and seriousness: “This life that I lead here, this life is not for me.” He experiences an irresistible thirst for real life. His sharp, analytical mind is attracted to her; broad requests push him to great achievements. Their opportunity, according to Andrei, is opened up for him by the army and participation in military campaigns. Although he could easily stay in St. Petersburg and serve as an aide-de-camp here, he goes to where military operations are taking place. The battles of 1805 were a way out of the deadlock for Bolkonsky.
Army service becomes one of the important stages in the quest of Tolstoy's hero. Here he is sharply separated from the numerous seekers of a quick career and high awards who could be met at headquarters. He does not look for reasons for promotion and awards, unlike many staff officers. Bolkonsky acutely feels his responsibility for the fate of Russia. The Ulm defeat of the Austrians and the appearance of the defeated General Mack gives rise to disturbing thoughts in his soul about what obstacles stand in the way of the Russian army.
Military service changes the prince. He has lost all pretense and fatigue, the grimace of boredom has disappeared from his face, and energy is felt in his gait and movements. According to Tolstoy, Andrei “had the appearance of a man who does not have time to think about the impression he makes on others and is busy with something pleasant and interesting. His face expressed great satisfaction with himself and those around him.” Prince Andrei insists that he be sent to where it is especially difficult - to Bagration’s detachment, of which only one tenth can return after the battle. Bolkonsky’s actions are highly appreciated by commander Kutuzov, who singled him out as one of his best officers. Prince Andrei is unusually ambitious. Tolstoy's hero dreams of such a personal feat that would glorify him. He cherishes the thought of glory, similar to that which Napoleon received in the French city of Toulon, which would lead him out of the ranks of unknown officers. During the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky boldly circles positions under enemy bullets. He alone dared to go to Tushin's battery and did not leave until the guns were removed. Here, in the Battle of Shengraben, Bolkonsky was lucky enough to witness the heroism and courage shown by the artillerymen of Captain Tushin. In addition, he himself discovered military endurance and courage here, and then one of all the officers stood up to defend the little captain. Shengraben, however, has not yet become Bolkonsky’s Toulon.
On the eve of the Battle of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky is completely in the grip of his dreams. He imagines how he “firmly and clearly speaks his opinion to Kutuzov, and Weyrother, and the emperors,” how everyone is amazed “by the fidelity of his considerations, but no one undertakes to carry it out, and so he takes a regiment, a division... and alone wins victory." Here, in the hero’s mind, a dispute between two internal voices begins. Another inner voice objects to Prince Andrei, reminding him of death and suffering. But the first voice drowns out these unpleasant thoughts for him: “Death, wounds, loss of family, nothing scares me. And no matter how dear or dear many people are to me - my father, sister, wife - the people dearest to me - but, no matter how scary and unnatural it seems, I will give them all now for a moment of glory, triumph over people, for self-love of people I don’t know...” In the Battle of Austerlitz, Prince Andrei’s ambitious dreams of his “Toulon” are shattered, barely having time to come true. Bolkonsky manages to prevent the panic that has engulfed the troops and raises the battalion to attack when, with the regimental banner in his hands, he rushes forward, calling on the soldiers to attack.
However, in this battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, and life opens up to him in a completely different way. Bleeding on the Field of Austerlitz, Bolkonsky suddenly realizes how empty, petty and insignificant all his previous desires are. Dreams of glory, heroic deeds, the love of others, the genius of Napoleon - everything seems to him vain, far from the true meaning of life, “enclosed in the huge, endless sky” that he sees in front of him. “How quiet, calm and solemn, not at all like how I ran,” thought Prince Andrei, “not like how we ran, shouted and fought; It’s not at all like how the Frenchman and the artilleryman pulled each other’s banners with embittered and frightened faces - not at all like how the clouds crawl across this high endless sky. How come I haven’t seen this high sky before? And how happy I am that I finally recognized him.” A kind of “revolution” occurs in the hero’s life, dramatically changing his fate.
Realizing the pettiness of his ambitious thoughts, Prince Andrei goes into private life. He decides to no longer serve either in the army or in civilian service, in his soul there is a “cooling towards life”, in his thoughts - skepticism and unbelief, in his feelings - indifference and indifference. The disappointment in his ambitious plans was deep and difficult, because it was aggravated by personal misfortune - the death of his wife, before whom Prince Andrei felt guilty. He isolates himself from life, takes care of only his household and his son in Bogucharovo, convincing himself that this is all that is left for him. He now intends to live only for himself, “without disturbing anyone, to live until death.” But despite his attempts to escape from the worries of life, he is disturbed by reports of victories over Bonaparte at Preussisch-Eylau, since they were won precisely when he was not serving in the army; he is worried about Bilibin’s letter describing the campaign. Tolstoy reveals pessimistic moods through the portrait of the hero. His gaze was “extinguished and dead”, devoid of a “joyful and cheerful shine”, “concentration and murder” were noticeable in it.
The socio-political views of Prince Andrei at this time had a pronounced noble-class character. Talking with Pierre, he expresses views that are sharply opposed to all his subsequent activities. The prince is skeptical about the need for innovation. About the peasants he says this: “If they are beaten, flogged and sent to Siberia, then I think that it is no worse for them. In Siberia he leads his same bestial life, and the scars on his body will heal, and he is as happy as he was before.” Medical assistance, according to Prince Andrei, also does not need to be provided to the peasants, it only brings them harm. During this period, Andrei Bolkonsky is only concerned about the moral peace of the nobles, and not the well-being of the people, therefore, in his opinion, serfdom must be abolished for the sake of “preserving human dignity, peace of conscience, purity” of the nobles, and not for the sake of the “backs and foreheads” of the peasants, “ who, no matter how much you flog, no matter how much you hit, will all remain the same with their backs and foreheads.”
But Prince Andrei was not long in captivity of such views, which were so contrary to his honest and active nature. His revival is shown by Tolstoy sequentially in a number of episodes (a meeting with Pierre, a description of Prince Andrei’s activities in the village, his perception of spring nature, a meeting with Natasha).
Bolkonsky proves to Pierre that he needs to live for himself, without thinking about the global problems of existence. Pierre convinces his friend of the need for “life for everyone.” But such a life brought Prince Andrei only bitterness and disappointment: desiring achievement, glory and the love of those around him, he lost faith in himself, in the effectiveness and significance of any activity. “I know only two real misfortunes in life: remorse and illness. And happiness is only the absence of these two evils,” Bolkonsky says to Pierre.
Pierre believes that his friend’s mental crisis is a temporary state, that Prince Andrei’s momentary beliefs are far from the truth, which exists in the world regardless of all human misconceptions. “...There is truth and there is virtue; and man's highest happiness consists in striving to achieve them. We must live, we must love, we must believe... that we are not living just now on this piece of land, but that we have lived and will live forever...” he convinces Bolkonsky. Pierre's words inspire Prince Andrei, and “something that has long fallen asleep, something better and joyful” awakens in his soul.
In the next two years, which the prince lived in the village, he carried out significant anti-serfdom reforms on his estates. On one estate, he transferred three hundred peasants to free cultivators (this was the first experience in Russia), on others, he replaced corvee with quitrent. He organized medical care for the peasants and took care of their education. In Bogucharovo, the sexton taught literacy to peasant and courtyard children.
Prince Andrei's life in the village was filled with hard work. He closely followed all the external events of the world, read a lot, and was knowledgeable in the field of foreign and domestic politics much better than the people who came to the village from St. Petersburg. In addition, he “was at that time engaged in a critical analysis of the last two unfortunate campaigns and drawing up a project to change our military regulations and regulations” (Vol. II, Part III, Chapter I).
The hero’s return to life” is also helped by his trip to Otradnoye. Here he meets Natasha Rostova and accidentally overhears her night conversation with Sonya. Natasha, by her very existence, her sincere love for the world, calls Bolkonsky to life. It was after the night conversation he heard that an “unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes” awakens in his soul; the renewed, transformed oak, reminiscent of old age, now evokes in the soul of Prince Andrei “a causeless spring feeling of joy,” a thirst for activity and love. After a trip to Otradnoye, Prince Andrei regains the desire to “live with everyone,” his lost energy is revived, and his interest in social activities awakens. He goes to St. Petersburg to take part in the reforms being carried out in Russia. His hero this time is Speransky. Having become a member of the commission for drawing up the military regulations, Prince Andrei experiences in St. Petersburg “a feeling similar to what he experienced on the eve of the battle, when he was tormented by restless curiosity and irresistibly drawn to higher spheres.” Speransky seems to him the ideal of a “completely reasonable and virtuous person”; he feels for him “the passionate feeling of admiration that he once felt for Bonaparte.”
However, while admiring Speransky’s extraordinary mentality, his energy and perseverance, Prince Andrei was at the same time unpleasantly struck by his cold, mirror-like gaze, which did not allow him to penetrate into his soul, and by the too great contempt for people that he noticed in this man.
At a home dinner with the Speranskys, Prince Andrei is completely disappointed in his idol. In a home environment, a person is most natural - to Bolkonsky, all gestures, poses, and speeches of Speransky seem artificial and feigned. The thin sound of Speransky's voice unpleasantly strikes Prince Andrei. And again the hero is visited by thoughts about the insignificance of what is happening, he remembers his troubles, searches, the formalism of the meetings, where “everything that concerned the essence of the matter was carefully and briefly discussed.” Having realized the futility of this work, the bureaucracy of officials, the isolation from reality, feeling that work cannot make him happier and better, and cannot be useful to society, Prince Andrei leaves public service.
In St. Petersburg, Bolkonsky meets Natasha Rostova again, and this chance meeting at the ball becomes fateful. “Prince Andrei, like all people who grew up in the world, loved to meet in the world that which did not have a common secular imprint on itself. And such was Natasha, with her surprise, joy, and timidity, and even mistakes in the French language.” In Natasha, he is unconsciously attracted to something that is not in himself - simplicity, fullness of life, acceptance of it, spontaneity of perception and enormous inner freedom. He feels in Natasha “the presence of a completely alien to him, special world, filled with some joys unknown to him...” Bolkonsky himself was never internally free - he was constrained by social rules, moral norms, dogmas perceived by the soul, his idealistic demands on people and life. Therefore, love for Natasha is the strongest of all feelings experienced by the hero. This is his greatest impulse to life. However, Bolkonsky’s happiness was not destined to happen: Natasha unexpectedly became interested in Anatoly Kuragin and broke off her relationship with Prince Andrei.
And Bolkonsky again goes to military service. Now this service for him is salvation from personal misfortune, a desire to forget himself in the circle of new people and things. “Everything that connected his memory with the past repelled him, and therefore he tried in relation to this former world only not to be unfair and to fulfill his duty.” “Your road is the road of honor,” Kutuzov will tell him. A sense of duty does not allow him to remain indifferent to great, grandiose events. For Bolkonsky, the French invasion of Russia is exactly the same misfortune as the death of his father, as well as the break with Natasha. Prince Andrei sees his duty as defending his homeland. A new stage in his life began, which led to a rapprochement with the people. A leading man of the era, a patriot, he condemns people who, wanting benefits only for themselves, “caught crosses, rubles and ranks.” All this “drone population” was concentrated in the main apartment and least of all thought about saving the Fatherland, so Prince Andrei went to serve in the regiment: “Prince Andrei lost himself forever in the court world, not asking to remain with the sovereign, but asking to serve in the army” ( vol.III, part I, chapter XI). Together with his regiment, he walked from the western borders to the village of Borodino. At this time, his spiritual quests do not stop, which take on an increasingly pronounced democratic and patriotic character. Before the Battle of Borodino, he talks with Pierre, who arrived on the battlefield. Bolkonsky no longer believes in military genius and in the rational will of an individual. His faith now lies in the “people's feeling”, that “hidden warmth of patriotism” that unites all Russian soldiers and gives them confidence in victory. “Tomorrow, no matter what, we will win the battle!” - he says to Pierre.
In the battle, Prince Andrei is seriously wounded, after which he is operated on. Here the hero again feels the proximity of death, and only now there is a turning point in his worldview. After suffering, he feels “a bliss that he has not experienced for a long time.” His heart is filled with a previously unfamiliar feeling of Christian love. He feels pity and compassion when he sees the wounded Anatole lying next to him. “Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love us, who hate us, love for enemies - yes, the love that God preached on earth...” - all this is suddenly revealed to Prince Andrei.
However, universal, compassionate love begins to fight in the dying Bolkonsky with love for Natasha, when they meet in Mytishchi, with the love that binds him to life. And first love wins - with her, Prince Andrei “refuses” life and dies. Thus, Tolstoy in the novel contrasts life and Christian, all-forgiving love. The whole life of Andrei Bolkonsky was imbued with the desire for an unattainable ideal. Such an ideal for him turns out to be forgiveness and compassion. Having acquired a new worldview, he overcomes the spiritual limitations of individualism and intolerance. He dies, having achieved harmony, if not with life, then at least with himself. The spiritual quest of Prince Andrei was characteristic of the advanced nobility of the era of preparation for the Decembrist uprising. Subsequently, such quests led to the organization of secret societies in Russia, the activities of which ended with the uprising in December 1825. And although Prince Andrei died before the organization of the first secret societies of the Decembrists, there is reason to assume that he would have been in their ranks.
When in 1820 Pierre became one of the organizers of secret societies and spoke with enthusiasm about their activities, Nikolenka (son of Prince Andrei) asked him:
“Uncle Pierre... you... no... If dad were alive... Would he agree with you?.. - I think so,” Pierre answered him. (Epilogue, part I, chapter XIV).
Option 4
Meeting of Prince Andrey with an old oak tree
The episode of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky’s meeting with the old oak tree is one of the turning points in the novel: This is a transition to a new stage of life, a complete change in the hero’s worldview. The meeting with the oak tree is a turning point in his old life and the discovery of a new, joyful one, in unity with all the people.
Oak - symbolic image psychological state Prince Andrei, an image of large-scale and rapid changes that took place in his soul.
At Andrei’s first meeting with an oak tree, he met him with a gloomy tree that did not obey the rest of the (forest) world: “With his huge clumsily, asymmetrically splayed clumsy arms and fingers, he stood like an old, angry, contemptuous freak between the smiling birches. Only he was not the only one I wanted to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either spring or the sun.” The personification that Tolstoy used here subtly and accurately depicts man’s immersion in the natural world. Looking at the oak tree, Prince Andrei sees not branches, not bark, not growths on it, but “hands” and “fingers”, “old sores”. At the first meeting, the oak tree appears to him as an “old, angry and contemptuous freak”, who is endowed with the ability to think, persist, frown and despise the cheerful family of “smiling birches”. Prince Andrei attributes his thoughts and feelings to the oak tree and, when thinking about it, uses the pronouns “we”, “ours”.
We see the same contrast in the company of A.P. Scherer between the prince and the rest of the guests of this salon. He is not interested in talking about Bonaparte, who was the center of discussions with Anna Pavlovna, and, “apparently, everyone who was in the living room was not only familiar, but also tired of him so much that he found it very boring to look at them and listen to them.” We see the same apathy in the appearance of the oak tree, standing wildly and alone among a green birch grove.
But at their second meeting, Andrei finds the oak renewed, full vitality and love for the surrounding world: “The old oak tree, completely transformed, spread out like a tent of lush, dark greenery, was thrilled, slightly swaying in the rays of the evening sun. No gnarled fingers, no sores, no old grief and mistrust - nothing was visible. Through the hundred-year-old tough Juicy, young leaves broke through the bark without knots, so it was impossible to believe that it was the old man who produced them.” How did this change in the oak happen so unexpectedly and quickly? It happened because inside, in the veins of this mighty tree, there was already a source of change that had not yet manifested itself during the first meeting with Andrei Bolkonsky. The oak tree returned to life again, and this return made a great impression on Prince Andrei: “No, life is not over at thirty-one,” Prince Andrei suddenly decided, finally and without fail. “Not only do I know everything that is in me, it is necessary for everyone to know it: both Pierre and this girl who wanted to fly into the sky, it is necessary for everyone to know me, so that my life is not for me alone.” life, so that they don’t live like this girl, regardless of my life, so that it affects everyone and so that they all live with me!”
But we said that the oak is a symbolic image of Prince Andrei. So what was the potential hidden in Prince Andrei before their second meeting?
This “potential” came from the best moments of his life.
The first was the battle of Austerlitz, and “there was nothing above it except the sky - a high sky, not clear, but still immeasurably high, with gray clouds quietly creeping across it.”
The second moment is the meeting with Pierre on the ferry, where Pierre told Andrey about Freemasonry, about eternal life, about God: “The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei an era with which, although in appearance it was the same, but in inner world his new life."
The third is an overheard conversation of a girl, excited by the beauty of the night and wanting to fly into the sky (Natasha Rostova), which aroused in him long-extinguished feelings of joy and happiness.
But he was also pushed to these changes by the many disappointments he experienced. Firstly, this is the “fall” in his eyes of the idol of many members of the highest Russian society, including Prince Andrei - Napoleon - after meeting him: “It was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person,” “all the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him, so his hero himself seemed petty to him, with this petty vanity and joy of victory." Secondly, this unexpected death Lisa: “You see a creature dear to you, who is connected with you, before whom you were guilty and hoped to justify yourself, and suddenly this creature suffers, suffers and ceases to be...”.
All these events that have happened, overlapping each other, are looking for a way out and a single optimal solution, and there is only one way out of the circle of repeating and depressing events that tormented Prince Andrei: another life with new ideals and aspirations. Analyzing all of your past life, Andrei understands that he lived only for himself (for example, dreaming of a personal feat, of his “toulon”, which would glorify him). This is what led to frequent disappointments in life. And seeing the transformed oak, Prince Andrei fully appreciated the incorrectness of his previous goals and principles, seeing the oak in front of him as a reflection of himself.
The transformation of the oak is an internal transformation of Prince Andrei himself, a complete re-awareness and renewal of all the foundations of his life.
Therefore, Andrei Bolkonsky’s meeting with the oak tree plays great importance. This is the hero’s transition from an egoistic, proud life to life “for others,” in unity with all the people: “... so that my life does not go on for me alone, so that it is reflected on everyone and so that they all live with me together!”
Tolstoy showed the influence of nature on the human soul, on his worldview, on his spiritual renewal. This connection inner life The connection between man and the life of nature is especially noticeable because Tolstoy talks about nature, spiritualizing it, endowing it with human traits.