Essay on the topic: Love and war in the novel War and Peace, Tolstoy. Essay on the topic The theme of love in Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” True and false feelings war peace

In the novel “War and Peace” L.-N. Tolstoy reveals the most important problems of life - problems of morality. and friendship, honor and nobility... Tolstoy's heroes dream and doubt, think and solve problems that are important to them. Some of them are deeply moral people, while others are alien to the concept of nobility. For the modern reader Tolstoy's heroes are close and understandable, the author's decision moral problems helps today’s reader understand many things, this makes L.N. Tolstoy’s novel a completely relevant work to this day.

Love... Perhaps one of the most exciting problems of human life. In the novel "War and Peace" this wonderful feeling many pages are given. Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhoe, Anatole pass before us... They all love, but they love in different ways, and the author helps the reader to see, correctly understand and appreciate a person’s feelings.

To Prince Andrey true love doesn't come right away. From the very beginning of the novel we see how far he is from secular society, and his wife Lisa is a typical representative of the world. Although Prince Andrei loves his wife in his own way (such a man could not marry without love), they are spiritually separated and cannot be happy together. His love for Natasha is a completely different feeling. He found in her a person close, understandable, sincere, natural, loving and understanding of what Prince Andrei knows and values. His feeling is very pure, gentle, caring. He believes Natasha to the end and does not hide his love to anyone. Love makes him younger and stronger, ennobles him, helps him. (“Such an unexpected confusion of young thoughts and hopes arose in his soul...”) Prince Andrei decides to marry Natasha because he loves her with all his heart.

Completely different. Anatoly Kuragin's love for Natasha. Anatole is handsome, rich, accustomed to worship. Everything in life is easy for him. At the same time, he is stupid and superficial. He never even thought about his love. Everything is simple for him, just a thirst for pleasure. And Natasha, with shaking hands, holds a “passionate” love letter composed for Anatoly by Dolokhov. “Love and die. “I have no other choice,” reads this letter. Trite. Anatoly does not think at all about Natasha’s future fate, about her happiness. Above all, personal pleasure is for him. This feeling cannot be called high. And is this love?

Friendship... With his novel, L.N. Tolstoy helps the reader understand what true friendship is. Extreme frankness and honesty between two people, when no one can even entertain the thought of betrayal or apostasy - this is exactly the kind of relationship that develops between Prince Andrei and Pierre. They deeply respect and understand each other, and in the most difficult moments of doubt and failure they come for advice. It is no coincidence that Prince Andrei, when leaving abroad, tells Natasha to turn to Pierre for help only. Pierre has loved Natasha for a long time, but he doesn’t even have the thought of taking advantage of Prince Andrei’s departure to court her. Against. Although it is very difficult and difficult for Pierre, he helps Natasha in the story with Anatoly Kuragin, he considers it an honor and duty to protect and protect his friend’s fiancee.

A completely different relationship is established between Anatoly and Dolokhov, although they are also considered friends in the world. “Anatole sincerely loved Dolokhov for his intelligence and daring; “, who needed Anatole’s strength, nobility, and connections to lure rich young people into his gambling society, without letting him feel this, he used and amused himself with Kuragin.” What kind of pure and honest love and friendship can we talk about here? Dolokhov indulges Anatoly in his affair with Natasha, writes a love letter for him and watches what is happening with interest. True, he tried to warn Anatole when he was going to take Natasha away, but only out of fear that this would affect his interests.

Love and friendship, honor and nobility. L.N. Tolstoy provides a solution to these problems not only through the main ones, but also through secondary images novel, although L. N. Tolstoy does not have an answer to the question posed about morality minor characters: Berg’s bourgeois ideology, Boris Drubetsky’s “unwritten subordination,” “love for Julie Karagina’s estates” and so on - this is the second half of solving the problem - through negative examples.

Even to solving the problem of whether a person is beautiful or not, great writer approaches from a very peculiar moral position. An immoral person cannot be truly beautiful, he believes, and therefore portrays the beautiful Bezukhova as a “beautiful animal.” On the contrary, Marya Volkonskaya, who cannot be called a beauty, is transformed when she looks at others with a “radiant” gaze.

L. N. Tolstoy’s solution to all the problems in the novel “War and Peace” from a moral perspective makes this work relevant, and Lev Nikolaevich a relevant writer, the author of works that are highly moral and deeply psychological.

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THE THEME OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP IN L. N. TOLSTOY’S NOVEL “WAR AND PEACE”.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his famous novel"War and Peace" highlighted "people's thought" as its main idea. This theme is most comprehensively and vividly reflected in the passages from the work that describe the war. As for the “peace,” the “family thought” predominates in its depiction. She also plays a very important role in the work that interests us. The theme of love in the novel "War and Peace" largely helps the author to reveal this idea.

Love in the life of the characters in the novel

Almost all the characters in the work are tested by love. Not all of them come to moral beauty, mutual understanding and true feeling. Moreover, this does not happen immediately. Heroes have to go through mistakes and suffering, which redeems them, cleanses and develops their souls.

The life of Andrei Bolkonsky with Lisa

The theme of love in the novel "War and Peace" is revealed through the example of several heroes, one of which is Andrei Bolkonsky. His path to happiness was thorny. At the age of 20, being an inexperienced young man, blinded by external beauty, he decides to marry Lisa. But Andrei very quickly comes to a depressing and painful understanding that he made a cruel and unique mistake. In a conversation with his friend, Pierre Bezukhov, he utters words almost in despair that he should not get married before he has done everything he could. Andrei says that he would give a lot to not be bound by family ties now.

For Bolkonsky, family life with his wife did not bring peace and happiness. Moreover, he was burdened by her. Andrei did not love his wife. He rather despised her, treating her like a child from a stupid, empty world. Bolkonsky was oppressed by the feeling that his life was useless, that he had become an idiot and a court lackey.

Andrey's mental breakdown

This hero had ahead of him the sky of Austerlitz, the death of Lisa, a spiritual crisis, melancholy, fatigue, disappointment, contempt for life. At that time, Bolkonsky resembled an oak tree, which stood like a contemptuous, angry and old freak between smiling birch trees. This tree did not want to submit to the charm of spring. However, suddenly a confusion of young hopes and thoughts arose in Andrei’s soul, unexpected for him. As you probably guessed, the theme of love in the novel "War and Peace" is further developed. The hero leaves the estate transformed. Again there is an oak tree on the road in front of him, but now it is not ugly and old, but covered with greenery.

Bolkonsky's feelings for Natasha

The theme of love in the novel "War and Peace" is very important for the author. According to Tolstoy, this feeling is a miracle that revives us to a new life. Bolkonsky did not immediately develop a real feeling for Natasha, a girl so unlike the absurd and empty women of the world. It renewed his soul, turned it upside down with incredible force. Andrey has now become a completely different person. It was as if he had stepped into the light from a stuffy room. True, even his feelings for Natasha did not help Bolkonsky humble his pride. He never managed to forgive Natasha for her “betrayal”. Only after he received a mortal wound did he rethink his life. Bolkonsky, after a mental turning point, understood Natasha’s suffering, repentance and shame. He realized that he had been cruel in breaking off his relationship with her. The hero admitted that he loves her even more than before. However, nothing could keep Bolkonsky in this world, not even Natasha’s fiery feeling.

Pierre's love for Helen

The theme of love in Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is also revealed through the example of Pierre. The fate of Pierre Bezukhov is somewhat similar to the fate of Andrei, his best friend. Like him, who was carried away by Lisa in his youth, Pierre, who had just returned from Paris, fell in love with Helen, who was doll-like beautiful. When exploring the theme of love and friendship in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” it should be noted that Pierre’s feelings for Helen were childishly enthusiastic. Andrey's example taught him nothing. Bezukhov had to convince himself from his own experience that external beauty is not always internal, spiritual.

Unhappy marriage

This hero felt that there were no barriers between him and Helen, that this girl was terribly close to him. Her beautiful marble body had power over Pierre. And although the hero understood that this was not good, he still succumbed to the feeling that this depraved woman inspired him. As a result, Bezukhov became her husband. However, the marriage was not happy. A feeling of gloomy despondency, disappointment, contempt for life, for himself and for his wife gripped Pierre some time after living with Helen. Her mystery turned into stupidity, spiritual emptiness and depravity. This is worth mentioning if you are writing an essay. The theme of love in Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is illuminated from a new perspective in the relationship between Pierre and Natasha. We will now talk about how these heroes finally found their happiness.

Pierre's new love

Bezukhov, having met Natasha, like Andrei, was struck by her naturalness and purity. In his soul, the feeling for this girl began to grow timidly even when Natasha and Bolkonsky fell in love with each other. Pierre was happy for them, but this joy was mixed with sadness. kind heart Bezukhova, unlike Andrei, understood Natasha and forgave her for the incident with Anatoly Kuragin. Despite the fact that Pierre tried to despise her, he was able to see how exhausted she was. And then for the first time Bezukhov’s soul was filled with a feeling of pity. He understood Natasha, perhaps because her infatuation with Anatole resembled his own infatuation with Helen. The girl believed that Kuragin had inner beauty. In communicating with Anatole, she, like Pierre and Helen, felt that there was no barrier between them.

Renewal of the soul of Pierre Bezukhov

Path life's quest Bezukhova continues after a disagreement with his wife. He becomes interested in Freemasonry, then participates in the war. Bezukhov has a half-childish idea of ​​killing Napoleon. He sees Moscow burning. Next, he is destined for difficult moments of waiting for his death, and then captivity.

Pierre's soul, cleansed, renewed, having gone through suffering, retains its love for Natasha. Having met her again, he discovers that this girl has also changed a lot. Bezukhov did not recognize the old Natasha in her. Love awoke in the hearts of the heroes, and “long-forgotten happiness” suddenly returned to them. They were overcome, as Tolstoy put it, by “joyful madness.”

Finding Happiness

Life woke up in them along with love. The strength of feeling brought Natasha back to life after a long period of mental apathy, which was caused by the death of Prince Andrei. The girl thought that with his death her life was over. However, the love for her mother that arose in her with new strength, showed Natasha that love is still alive in her. The power of this feeling, which constituted the essence of Natasha, was capable of bringing to life the people whom this girl loved.

The fate of Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov

The theme of love in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is also revealed through the example of the relationship between Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov. The fates of these heroes were not easy. Ugly in appearance, meek, quiet princess had a beautiful soul. During her father's lifetime, she did not even hope to ever get married or raise children. Anatole Kuragin was the only one who wooed her, and even then only for the sake of a dowry. Of course, he could not understand the moral beauty and high spirituality of this heroine. Only Nikolai Rostov managed to do this.

Tolstoy, in the epilogue of his novel, speaks of the spiritual unity of people, which is the basis of nepotism. At the end of the work appeared new family, where seemingly different beginnings - the Bolkonskys and the Rostovs - came together. Reading Lev Nikolaevich's novel is very interesting. Eternal themes in the novel "War and Peace" by L.N. Tolstoy make this work relevant today.

The theme of love in Russian literature has always occupied one of the leading places. At all times, great poets, writers, and essayists turned to her. Likewise, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, a titanic figure on the scale of world literature, does not stand aside. Almost all of his works touch on issues of love - love for the mother, for the Motherland, for a woman, for the land, for friends and family. In the epic novel “War and Peace,” inspired by “folk thought,” “family thought” is inextricably present. It is love that is fundamental driving force in the lives of the novel's heroes.

Throughout the entire novel, the author leads us along the “paths of the soul” of Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Marya Bolkonskaya, Nikolai Rostov and other key characters. He repeatedly emphasizes that internal beauty is important in a person, not external, and moral and spiritual values ​​are higher than material ones. Perhaps Tolstoy idealized his heroes a little, but they all adhere to exactly this opinion.

Let us turn, for example, to the image of Natasha Rostova, who does not have such a spectacular appearance as the social beauty Helen Kuragina, but becomes surprisingly beautiful in moments of happiness. As for the heroine’s spiritual qualities, she does not hesitate to give all the carts to the wounded, without even thinking about her material losses. She carefully looks after her mother when she loses the desire to live after Petya's death. Natasha makes every effort to rescue the wounded Andrei, despite the differences between them. At the same time, the heroine does not forget to remain true to herself and never ceases to enjoy life. This is how the author sees the triumph of morality over the coldness and prudence of the world.

Marya Bolkonskaya is not particularly beautiful, in which only her large, radiant eyes are attractive. She sacrifices her personal life to care for her sick father and is ready to sacrifice more for the benefit of those around her, the wounded and the needy. At the end of the novel, Tolstoy rewards both heroines with strong families, since only in this he sees the meaning of true, complete happiness. Both Natasha and Marya marry men they love and love, becoming wonderful wives and mothers.

In the background love stories heroes pass through mercilessly Patriotic War 1812. Drawing before us indissoluble bond between the lives of the main characters and the lives of the people. In the forefront of the war, Andrei Bolkonsky first appears, and then his best friend, Pierre Bezukhov. Bolkonsky is a self-possessed man with great life experience and great ambitions. If at the beginning of the novel we see how captivated he is by Napoleon, how he imagines the war as something heroic and sublime, then before his death he finds answers to all the questions that previously tormented him. He understands that the meaning of life is not in war, but in peace with oneself and others, in kindness and forgiveness.

Changes are also taking place in the views of Pierre Bezukhov. We can say that this is another not very handsome hero of Tolstoy, but there is so much goodness and nobility in him that we don’t even notice that he is fat and clumsy. His appearance in the salon of Madame, the organizer of social receptions and evenings, frightened the hostess, since his appearance did not express aristocracy. Only Prince Andrei loves and understands this hero. He knows that behind Pierre's timidity lies a remarkable mind and talent. Pierre, just like Natasha, knows how to dilute any social atmosphere with her naturalness. Over time it only changes better side and transforms as a person. If at first we see him captivated by the cold and calculating Helen, then during the war all his best qualities– physical strength, openness, kindness, lack of selfishness, the ability to sacrifice comfort for the good of the people, the ability to risk life to save others.

With all this, the writer tries not to idealize his heroes. He fully reveals their small weaknesses and big mistakes. But the main thing in them invariably remains “kindness”. Even the “bad” war could not dislodge this trait, like love, from the main characters.

He is a person who lives and thinks outside the box. He is constantly looking for answers to the main questions - about the purpose of each individual, the meaning of existence, the search for life values.

Love for Andrei Bolkonsky at every stage of his journey was either disappointment or salvation. At the age of twenty, an irresistible attraction, a burning passion for the outwardly beautiful Lisa, flared up in him for the first time. He mistook young love for real, genuine and strong love, immediately tying the knot with the girl who charmed him.

However, after some time, a sad epiphany came. The pink veil left his eyes, revealing a terrible reality. Under the mask of beauty was hiding an empty and stupid creature. The truth turned out to be so unbearable that Andrei began to feel burdened by his wife and despise her. complete absence mind and soul. He dreamed of returning everything back, but, alas, there was no turning back. It caused young man agony and severe pain.

Then Bolkonsky went to the battlefields, wanting to gain fame and honor. But here too he was unsuccessful - he was seriously wounded. This event was the latest turning point in fate. Andrei realized that his aspirations were false, that he needed to live for his family and himself. He forgot about false heroes, stopped seeing happiness in exploits.

At home, the changed prince did not have time to realize his new views and bright dreams. His wife died in childbirth. Even though he didn’t have any special affection for her, the woman’s death became a serious test. He realized that he was infinitely guilty before his wife, that he had no right to forget about the duties of a husband. Although Lisa was not very smart, she was very sweet and kind.

Another love, Natasha Rostova, was able to heal Bolkonsky’s emotional wound. Her positivity, ability to always be happy, to rejoice simple things, drowned out the man’s experiences and torment, inspired him. After meeting Natasha, a new round began in Andrei’s life, full of hopes and bright aspirations.

However, a year later, the prince became disillusioned with Rostova, because she frivolously became interested in another person. Although the girl was dear to him, Bolkonsky could not overcome his pride and arrogance, feeling too perfect to forgive. He returns again to the Patriotic War.

Then came the second wound. And it again forced Andrei to rethink reality. Love for everyone around him was born in him. He no longer felt resentment or hatred towards people. He even began to sympathize with his sworn enemy, Anatoly, with whom Natasha cheated on him. Alas, it was precisely at this happy moment, when the man had just come to the realization of the true life ideals, the end was inevitably approaching Bolkonsky. The wound was fatal.

It is noteworthy that in last minutes Rostova was again next to the prince. The girl has also changed a lot. Andrei was glad to meet them, albeit under such sorrowful circumstances. He did not complain about fate, did not regret the grief that had happened, but felt unspeakable happiness from seeing his beloved and talking to her.

The life and death of Prince Bolkonsky did not pass without a trace. They affected the people he knew. Many remembered him warmly, and these thoughts encouraged them to think philosophically, to the desire to do good and justice on earth.

True and false in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"

I. Introduction

One of the main vices modern civilization consists, according to Tolstoy, in the widespread dissemination of false concepts. In this regard, the problem of true and false becomes one of the leading ones in the work. How to distinguish true from false? For this, Tolstoy has two criteria: the true comes from the depths of a person’s soul and is expressed simply, without posture and “playing for the public.” The false, on the contrary, is generated by the base side of human nature and is always focused on external effect.

P. Main part

1. False greatness. “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth,” wrote Tolstoy. Napoleon personifies false greatness in the novel. It contains neither one nor the other, nor the third. Tolstoy shows that Napoleon sends people to their deaths because of petty and largely selfish goals. Napoleon's behavior is extremely unnatural, every gesture and every word of his is calculated for effect. In the novel, Napoleon is contrasted with Kutuzov, whose actions are guided by love for his homeland and love for the Russian soldier. There is no play or pose in his actions; on the contrary, Tolstoy even emphasizes the external unattractiveness of the commander. But it is Kutuzov, as the exponent of the soul of the entire Russian people, who serves as an example of true greatness.

2. False heroism. While a person wants to accomplish a feat primarily in order to be noticed, and dreams of a feat that is certainly beautiful, this, according to Tolstoy, is not yet real heroism. This happens, for example, with Prince Andrei in the first volume of the novel during the Battle of Austerlitz. True heroism arises when a person thinks not about himself, but about the common cause and does not care about how he looks from the outside. Such heroism is shown in war, first of all, by ordinary people - soldiers, Captain Tushin, Captain Timokhin, etc. It is together with them, Prince Andrei becomes capable of true heroism during the Battle of Borodino.

3. False patriotism. It is manifested in the novel by a significant part of the aristocracy, starting from the tsar himself and ending with Helen Bezukhova. The desire to show off one’s patriotism (a fine for uttering a French word in a high-society salon, jingoistic “bills” and pompous oaths of Rostopchin, etc.) is contrasted with the true, unostentatious patriotism, first of all, of the Russian people: soldiers and militias, the merchant Ferapontov, who burned his shop so that the French, partisans, residents of Moscow and other cities and villages who left Napoleon’s army “scorched earth”, etc. would not get it. True patriotism The best representatives of the nobility, united with the people, also differ: Kutuzov, Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova and others.

4. False love. True love, according to Tolstoy, should arise from a feeling of spiritual closeness between people. Truly loving person thinks not so much about himself as about his loved one or loved one. Love is only justified in Tolstoy's eyes when it expresses spiritual unity. Such love is shown by Tolstoy mainly in the epilogue using the example of married couples Nikolai Rostov - Princess Marya and Pierre Bezukhov - Natasha. But the novel also shows love as a false and selfish feeling. So, Pierre's love for Helen is just a sensual attraction. The same can be said about Natasha’s sudden passion for Anatole. A slightly more complex case is Prince Andrei's love for Natasha. It would seem that Andrei Bolkonsky loves quite sincerely, but the fact is that in this love he sees mainly himself: first, the possibility of his own spiritual resurrection, and then - an insult inflicted on his honor. From Tolstoy's point of view, true love and individualism are incompatible.

III. Conclusion

“Simplicity, goodness and truth” are the main criteria for distinguishing true from false in “War and Peace.”

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