Natasha:

N. Shipilov. "After the ball"

The evil bullet spared no one,

Even you, my dear, and my desired one,

The damned swindler knocked me off my feet.

Since then there has been a big wound in my soul!

We are girls, we are weak to compliments,

We love more with our ears than with our minds,

Anatole whispered engagements to me,

He is an insidious seducer and a bitch!

Prince, my dear, if you can, forgive me,

You are the only knight in the world without reproach,

As Rama once forgave poor Sita,

Not allowing even a vulgar hint!

Prince Andrey:

Song from the movie “The Mysterious Monk” “We are no longer enough in ranks of eight...”

I don’t have enough strength anymore, I’m angry at you,

Of course, I forgive, knowing your soul,

But I want to quickly forget these faces,

These muzzles of my lords, these snouts in the ranks!

What is Boris Drubetskoy, what is Vasily Denisov,

Don't give a damn and forget, that's how it is - young animals,

But Kuragin, I must admit, is quite a rat,

He is imbecile and down, a narcissistic boar!

But they are not even worth an extra word,

Before my love for you, Natalie,

I return to you with my heart again and again,

Like the fighters of Ichkeria in Gudermes and Shali!

Maybe I have about eight hours left to live,

And no one came back from there,

Save this red autumn forever,

And remember that Pierre was my adopted brother!

Natasha hugs him. Andrey is dying.

Act 10. Pierre's meeting with Natasha

Six months have passed since the death of Prince Andrei.

Pierre:

V. Egorov. "The rain will wash away all traces..."

I was in the fire of Moscow, in captivity I ate horse meat,

Stared death in the eye like dark water,

Having completed my earthly journey almost halfway,

I looked back - complete nonsense!

Masonic dreams, traitor Elena,

Peasant affairs, struggle for the harvest,

Unable to avoid oblivion and decay

We firmly know our duty - to give birth to descendants!

What you yourself couldn’t do - give them the baton,

Other days, other times will come,

The rain will wash away all traces, the rain will wash away all signs,

Love lives alone, love lives alone!

Natasha, be mine, live with me until the grave,

I dreamed about you all my life and two hours,

Otherwise I'll become a stupid autophobe,

Otherwise I will tear out a hair on my body!

Natasha:

“The blue ball is spinning and spinning...”

Believe me, Pierre, that I am fertile,

This trait is genetic

I just need a good father

May you have a successful chick!

Neither the big guy nor the gnome will suit me,

We need a very exclusive genome,

To give birth to excellent children,

To make the Motherland proud of them!

Pierushka, dear, you are super, you are class,

Since childhood I have had my eye on you,

You are always morally coming out of the bathhouse,

You are like for me living water!

Well, let's go to the altar quickly,

May my dear forgive us Prince Andrey,

Maybe this ending is too simple,

But that’s what Count Leo Tolstoy intended!

Epilogue

Everyone sings in chorus:

A. Yakusheva “Blue Snowdrifts”

When Pierre comes home from work,

Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes I’m angry,

Natasha comes out to him in a robe,

And gently purrs “Come on, I’ll hug you!”

Singing has been abandoned, solfeggio is at zero,

Introduction

In the novel "War and Peace" Natasha and Pierre are central characters. They faced many trials that they had to overcome in order to find personal happiness at the end of the work.

Characteristics of Natasha Rostova

Natasha would hardly be able to amaze anyone with her facial features. But the lack of external attractiveness is more than compensated for by the heroine’s inner beauty. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy often draws the reader’s attention to Natasha’s “shining” eyes. After all, eyes, as you know, are a reflection of the human soul.

Natasha's main advantage is her ability to love. She loves her parents, sister and brothers. Then, feeling the inner wealth of Andrei Bolkonsky, she gives her heart to him. At the end of the novel, the reader has the opportunity to observe how the love of Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov arises and grows stronger.

Natasha loves nature and her people. She likes to listen to her uncle's songs, the girl herself starts dancing with pleasure. “She knew how to understand everything that was ... in every Russian person.”

Love and compassion for ordinary people forces Natasha to persuade her mother to give carts to the wounded. But they contained the meager belongings of the ruined Rostovs, including her dowry.

Characteristics of Pierre Bezukhov

The reader first meets Pierre Bezukhov in the Scherer salon. What distinguishes him from other representatives of the world is his intelligent and observant look. It is this look that worries the owner of a secular salon.

Pierre's life is full of sharp turns and vicissitudes. From the illegitimate son of a nobleman, he suddenly turns into a rich man and the most eligible bachelor in the capital.

Pierre is gullible, so he often becomes the prey of nosy and unscrupulous people. So, for a while he makes friends with Dolokhov and Kuragin, who use him to their advantage. He falls under the influence of Prince Vasily, who almost forcibly marries him to his daughter. The hero gets the first beauty, Helen Kuragina, as his wife. Is he happy? At first it seems to him that yes. Over time, it becomes clear that Pierre and his wife are complete antipodes. Bezukhov hides a beautiful soul behind his not-so-attractive appearance. And the dazzling Helen has no soul at all.

An unhappy marriage sets Pierre on the path moral quest. He tries to change the world for the better and joins the Masonic lodge. But here he will be disappointed. All the ideas that the Masons preach are hypocritical talk. It turns out that only Pierre is seriously ready for real transformations.

Pierre's character completely changes during the war. From an unnatural and unreasonable desire to kill Napoleon, he comes to the realization of what is truly important and valuable after saving someone else's girl and living among soldiers in captivity.

Getting to know the characters and developing their relationships

Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov meet for the first time in Moscow in the novel War and Peace. Pierre, appearing at the Rostovs' house, was struck by the warmth and mutual understanding that reigned in this family. Thirteen-year-old Natasha immediately attracts Pierre's attention with her liveliness and naturalness, “and under the gaze of this funny, animated girl he wanted to laugh himself, not knowing why.” Although Pierre is 7 years older than Natasha, they are brought together by spontaneity and kindness.

Having learned that Natasha cheated on Andrey, trying to run away with Anatoly Kuragin, Pierre cannot believe it. He cannot calmly think “about her baseness, stupidity and cruelty.” It is Pierre who, having learned that Helen contributed to Natasha’s shame, tries to restore her reputation. An opponent of all violence, Pierre challenged Dolokhov to a duel and almost strangled Anatole. Bezukhov’s action is quite understandable. He secretly loves Natasha. The hero confesses to the French officer Rambal, who he saved, that he fell in love with her as a girl, and that this love will remain with him forever.

Love of Natasha and Pierre

At the end of the novel we see Natasha as Pierre's wife and mother of four children. “She gained weight and fatness, so that it was difficult to recognize in this strong mother the former thin, active Natasha.” The heroine finds happiness not in visiting salons and fashionable evenings, but in her family. Happy is Pierre, who has found not just a beloved wife, but a faithful friend who takes part “in every minute of her husband’s life.”

Conclusion

I would like to end my essay on the topic: “Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov in the novel “War and Peace” with the quote: “It is joyful to realize that worthy people, whom fate has tested for so long, receive a well-deserved reward at the end of the journey.”

Work test

After the death of Prince Andrei, Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya, united by common grief, became even closer.

They, bent morally and closing their eyes from the menacing cloud of death hanging over them, did not dare to look life in the face. They carefully protected their open wounds from offensive, painful touches... Only the two of them were not offensive or painful. They spoke little to each other. If they talked, it was about the most insignificant subjects. Both of them equally avoided mentioning anything related to the future... But pure, complete sadness is just as impossible as pure and complete joy.

Princess Marya was the first to emerge from her sad state - she had to raise her nephew. Alpatych, having arrived in Moscow on business, invited the princess to move to Moscow, to the Vzdvizhensky house. No matter how hard it was for Princess Marya to leave Natasha, she felt the need to get involved in business, and began to prepare to move to Moscow. Natasha, left alone in her grief, withdrew into herself and began to avoid the princess. Marya invited the Countess to let Natasha go with her to Moscow, and the parents happily agreed. Natasha was becoming weaker every day, and they believed that a change of place would do her good. However, Natasha refused to go with the princess and asked her loved ones to leave her alone. She was convinced that she should remain where Prince Andrei lived out his last days.

At the end of December, in a black woolen dress, with a braid carelessly tied in a bun, thin and pale, Natasha sat with her legs in the corner of the sofa, tensely crumpling and unraveling the ends of her belt, and looked at the corner of the door... She looked at where he had gone, to the other side of life... But at that moment, as the seemingly incomprehensible “...” was revealed to her, with a frightened expression on her face that was not interested in her, the maid Dunyasha entered the room... She heard Dunyasha’s words about Peter Ilyich, about misfortune, but I didn’t understand them...

“What kind of misfortune do they have there, what kind of misfortune can there be? Everything they have is old, familiar and calm,” Natasha mentally said to herself.

When she entered the hall, the father was quickly leaving the countess's room. His face was wrinkled and wet with tears. He apparently ran out of that room to give vent to the sobs that were crushing him. Seeing Natasha, he desperately waved his hands and burst into painful, convulsive sobs that distorted his round, soft face...

Suddenly, like an electric current ran through Natasha’s entire being. Something hit her terribly painfully in the heart. She felt terrible pain; It seemed to her that something was being torn away from her and that she was dying. But following the pain, she immediately felt liberation from the ban on life that lay on her. Seeing her father and hearing her mother’s terrible, rude cry from behind the door, she instantly forgot herself and her grief. She ran up to her father, but he, helplessly waving his hand, pointed to her mother’s door.

The Countess lay on an armchair, stretching out strangely awkwardly, and banging her head against the wall. Sonya and the girls held her hands...

Natasha did not remember how that day, that night, the next day, the next night went. She did not sleep and did not leave her mother. Natasha’s love, persistent, patient, not as an explanation, not as a consolation, but as a call to life, every second seemed to embrace the countess from all sides. On the third night, the Countess fell silent for a few minutes, and Natasha closed her eyes, resting her head on the arm of the chair. The bed creaked. Natasha opened her eyes. The Countess sat on the bed and spoke quietly...

Natasha, he is gone, no more! - And, hugging her daughter, the countess began to cry for the first time...

Princess Marya postponed her departure. Sonya and the Count tried to replace Natasha, but they could not. They saw that she alone could keep her mother from insane despair. For three weeks Natasha lived hopelessly with her mother, slept on an armchair in her room, gave her water, fed her and talked to her incessantly - she talked because her gentle, caressing voice alone calmed the countess. The mother's mental wound could not be healed. Petya's death took away half of her life. A month after the news of Petya’s death, which found her a fresh and cheerful fifty-year-old woman, she left her room half-dead and not taking part in life - an old woman. But the same wound that half killed the Countess, this new wound brought Natasha to life...

She thought her life was over. But suddenly love for her mother showed her that the essence of her life - love - was still alive in her. Love woke up and life woke up.

The new misfortune brought Princess Marya and Natasha even closer together. Postponing her departure, Princess Marya looked after Natasha for three weeks as if she were a sick child.

One day, Princess Marya, in the middle of the day, noticing that Natasha was trembling with a feverish chill, took her to her place and laid her on her bed. Natasha lay down, but when Princess Marya, lowering the curtains, wanted to go out, Natasha called her over.

Natasha lay in bed and in the semi-darkness of the room looked at the face of Princess Marya...

Masha,” she said, timidly pulling her hand towards her. - Masha, don’t think that I’m bad. No? Masha, my dear. I love you so much. We will be completely, completely friends.

And Natasha, hugging and kissing the hands and face of Princess Marya. Princess Marya was ashamed and rejoiced at this expression of Natasha’s feelings.

From that day on, that passionate and tender friendship that only happens between women was established between Princess Marya and Natasha. They kissed constantly, spoke tender words to each other and spent most of their time together. If one went out, the other was restless and hurried to join her. The two of them felt greater agreement among themselves than apart, each with itself. A feeling stronger than friendship was established between them: it was an exceptional feeling of the possibility of life only in the presence of each other.

Sometimes they were silent for hours; sometimes, already lying in bed, they began to talk and talked until the morning. They talked mostly about the distant past. Princess Marya talked about her childhood, about her mother, about her father, about her dreams; and Natasha, who had previously turned away with calm incomprehension from this life, devotion, humility, from the poetry of Christian self-sacrifice, now, feeling herself bound by love with Princess Marya, fell in love with Princess Marya’s past and understood a side of life that was previously incomprehensible to her. She did not think of applying humility and self-sacrifice to her life, because she was accustomed to looking for other joys, but she understood and fell in love with this previously incomprehensible virtue in another. For Princess Marya, listening to stories about Natasha’s childhood and early youth, a previously incomprehensible side of life, faith in life, in the pleasures of life, also opened up.

Natasha gradually returned to life, her mental wound was healing.

At the end of January, Princess Marya left for Moscow, and the Count insisted that Natasha go with her in order to consult with doctors about her health.

Many contemporaries and historians blamed Kutuzov for his mistakes and his defeat at Krasnoye and Berezina.

The Emperor was dissatisfied with him... This is not the fate of the great people "...", whom the Russian mind does not recognize, but the fate of those rare, always lonely people who, comprehending the will of Providence, subordinate their personal will to it. The hatred and contempt of the crowd punish these people for their insight into higher laws.

Kutuzov was opposed to going further abroad. He believed that further war It is harmful and useless that he will not give up even one Russian for ten Frenchmen. It was by this that he brought upon himself the disfavor of Alexander and most of the courtiers.

This simple, modest, and therefore truly majestic figure could not fit into that deceitful form of a European hero, ostensibly ruling people, which history had invented. For a lackey there cannot be a great person, because the lackey has his own concept of greatness.

On November 5, the first day of the Battle of Krasnensky, Kutuzov left Krasny and went to Dobroye, where his main apartment was located at that moment.

Not far from Dobry, a huge crowd of ragged prisoners, tied up and wrapped in anything, was buzzing with conversation, standing on the road... As the commander-in-chief approached, the conversation died down, and all eyes stared at Kutuzov “...”, who was slowly moving along the road. One of the generals reported to Kutuzov where the guns and prisoners were taken...

He stopped in front of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Someone from the retinue waved for the soldiers holding the banners to come up and place their flag poles around the commander-in-chief. Kutuzov was silent for a few seconds and, apparently reluctantly, obeying the necessity of his position, raised his head and began to speak. Crowds of officers surrounded him. He looked carefully around the circle of officers, recognizing some of them.

Thank you everyone! - he said, turning to the soldiers and again to the officers. In the silence that reigned around him, his slowly spoken words were clearly audible. - I thank everyone for their difficult and faithful service. The victory is complete, and Russia will not forget you. Glory to you forever!

November 8 is the last day of the Krasnensky battles. Russian troops arrived at their overnight stop when it had already begun to get dark. Having settled down in the forest, the soldiers went about their business.

It would seem that in those almost unimaginably difficult conditions of existence in which Russian soldiers found themselves at that time - without warm boots, without sheepskin coats, without a roof over their heads, in the snow at 18° below zero, without even the full amount of provisions, it would not always be possible to keeping up with the army - it seemed that the soldiers should have presented the saddest and most depressing sight.

On the contrary, never, in the best material conditions, has the army presented a more cheerful, lively spectacle. This happened because every day everything that began to despondency or weaken was thrown out of the army. Everything that was physically and morally weak had long been left behind: only one color of the army remained - in terms of strength of spirit and body.

Two ragged figures appeared from the direction of the forest.

These were two Frenchmen hiding in the forest. Hoarsely saying something in a language incomprehensible to the soldiers, they approached the fire. One was taller, wearing an officer's hat, and seemed completely weakened. Approaching the fire, he wanted to sit down, but fell to the ground. The other, small, stocky soldier with a scarf tied around his cheeks, was stronger. He raised his comrade and, pointing to his mouth, said something. The soldiers surrounded the French, laid out an overcoat for the sick man, and brought porridge and vodka to both of them.

The weakened French officer was Rambal; tied with a scarf is his orderly Morel.

The soldiers carried the weakened Rambal to the hut, and Morel was seated by the fire and fed. When the tipsy Frenchman, with one arm around the neck of a Russian soldier, began to sing a French song, the Russians, trying to imitate, began to sing along in French.

On November 29, Kutuzov entered Vilna - his good Vilna, as he said. Kutuzov was governor of Vilna twice during his service. In the rich, surviving Vilna, in addition to the comforts of life that he had been deprived of for so long, Kutuzov found old friends and memories. And he, suddenly turning away from all military and state concerns, plunged into a smooth, familiar life as much as he was given peace by the passions seething around him, as if everything that was happening now and was about to happen in the historical world did not concern him at all... .

In Vilna, Kutuzov, contrary to the will of the sovereign, stopped most of the troops. Kutuzov, as his close associates said, had become unusually depressed and physically weakened during his stay in Vilna. He was reluctant to deal with the affairs of the army, leaving everything to his generals and, while waiting for the sovereign, indulged in an absent-minded life...

The Emperor arrived in Vilna on December 11th and drove straight up to the castle in a road sleigh. At the castle, despite the severe frost, stood about a hundred generals and staff officers in full dress uniform and an honor guard from the Semenovsky regiment.

A minute later, the thick, large figure of an old man, in full dress uniform, with all the regalia covering his chest, and his belly pulled up by a scarf, pumping, came out onto the porch. Kutuzov put his hat on the front, took gloves in his hands and sideways, stepping down the steps with difficulty, stepped down from them and took in his hand the report prepared for submission to the sovereign... The Emperor quickly glanced at Kutuzov from head to toe, frowned for a moment, but immediately Having overcome himself, he approached and, spreading his arms, hugged the old general. Again, according to the old, familiar impression and in relation to his sincere thoughts, this hug, as usual, had an effect on Kutuzov: he sobbed...

Left alone with the field marshal, the sovereign expressed his displeasure to him for the slowness of the pursuit, for the mistakes in Krasnoye and on the Berezina, and conveyed his thoughts about the future campaign abroad. Kutuzov made no objections or comments. The same submissive and meaningless expression with which, seven years ago, he listened to the orders of the sovereign on the Field of Austerlitz, was now established on his face.

Alexander awarded Kutuzov Georgy of the first degree, but everyone understood perfectly well that this procedure only meant maintaining decency, that in fact “the old man is guilty and no good.” The Emperor was also dissatisfied with Kutuzov because the commander-in-chief did not understand why it was necessary to go to Europe, pointing out that it would be very difficult to recruit new troops, and openly stated the difficult situation of the population.

In this state of affairs, Kutuzov was “a hindrance and a brake on the upcoming war.” To eliminate clashes with the old man, the headquarters was reorganized, all of Kutuzov’s power was destroyed and transferred to the sovereign. Rumors spread that the field marshal's health was very bad.

The representative of the Russian people, after the enemy was destroyed, Russia was liberated and placed on the highest level of its glory, the Russian person, as a Russian, had nothing more to do. Representative people's war there was nothing left but death.

And Kutuzov died.

Pierre, after being released from captivity, came to Oryol, on the third day after his arrival he fell ill and, due to illness, stayed in Oryol for three months.

He suffered from, as the doctors say, bilious fever. Despite the fact that the doctors treated him, bled him and gave him medicine to drink, he still recovered...

Everything that happened to Pierre from the time of his liberation until his illness left almost no impression on him. He remembered only grey, gloomy, sometimes rainy, sometimes snowy weather, internal physical melancholy, pain in his legs, in his side; remembered the general impression of misfortune and suffering of people; he remembered the curiosity that disturbed him from the officers and generals who questioned him, his efforts to find a carriage and horses, and, most importantly, he remembered his inability to think and feel at that time. On the day of his release, he saw the corpse of Petya Rostov. On the same day, he learned that Prince Andrei had been alive for more than a month after the Battle of Borodino and had only recently died in Yaroslavl, in the Rostov house. And on the same day, Denisov, who reported this news to Pierre, between conversations mentioned Helen’s death, suggesting that Pierre had known this for a long time.

While recovering, Pierre gradually got used to his old life. But in his dreams, for a long time he saw himself in the same conditions of captivity. Little by little, Pierre began to understand the news that he learned after his release from captivity: the death of Prince Andrei, the death of his wife, the destruction of the French.

A joyful feeling of freedom - that complete, inalienable, inherent freedom of man, the consciousness of which he first experienced at his first rest stop, when leaving Moscow, filled Pierre's soul during his recovery. He was surprised that this internal freedom, independent of external circumstances, now seemed to be abundantly, luxuriously furnished with external freedom. He was alone in a strange city, without acquaintances. Nobody demanded anything from him; they didn't send him anywhere. He had everything he wanted; The thought of his wife that had always tormented him before was no longer there, since she was no longer there...

The very thing that tormented him before, what he was constantly looking for, the purpose of life, now did not exist for him. It was no coincidence that this sought-after goal of life did not exist for him at the present moment, but he felt that it did not and could not exist. And it was this lack of purpose that gave him that complete, joyful consciousness of freedom, which at that time constituted his happiness.

He could not have a goal, because he now had faith - not faith in some rules, or words, or thoughts, but faith in a living, always felt God. Previously, he sought it for the purposes that he set for himself. This search for a goal was only a search for God; and suddenly he learned in his captivity, not in words, not by reasoning, but by direct feeling, what his nanny had told him long ago: that God is here, here, everywhere. In captivity, he learned that God in Karataev is greater, infinite and incomprehensible than in the Architect of the universe recognized by the Freemasons. He experienced the feeling of a man who had found what he was looking for under his feet, while he strained his eyesight, looking far away from himself. All his life he was looking somewhere there, over the heads of the people around him, but he had to not strain his eyes, but just look in front of him...

Pierre has hardly changed in his external techniques. He looked exactly the same as he had been before. Just as before, he was distracted and seemed preoccupied not with what was in front of his eyes, but with something special of his own. The difference between his previous and present state was that before, when he forgot what was in front of him, what was said to him, he, wrinkling his forehead in pain, seemed to be trying and could not see something far removed from him. him. Now he also forgot what was said to him and what was in front of him; but now, with a barely noticeable, seemingly mocking, smile, he peered at what was in front of him, listened to what was being said to him, although obviously he saw and heard something completely different. Before he seemed though kind person, but unhappy; and therefore people involuntarily moved away from him. Now a smile of the joy of life constantly played around his mouth, and his eyes shone with concern for people - the question: are they as happy as he is? And people were pleased in his presence...

Before, he talked a lot, got excited when he spoke, and listened little; Now he rarely got carried away in conversation and knew how to listen so that people willingly told him their most intimate secrets...

The eldest princess, the daughter of Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov, who never loved Pierre, specially came to Oryol to look after him. She noticed that Pierre had changed a lot. The doctor who treated Pierre spent hours with him, telling stories from his practice, sharing observations on the morals of his patients.

In the last days of Pierre's stay in Oryol, an old acquaintance came to see him - the freemason Count Villarsky (one of those who introduced him to the lodge in 1807). He was glad to meet Pierre, but soon noticed that Bezukhov “lagged behind real life and fell into apathy and selfishness.” Pierre, looking at Villarsky, was surprised that not long ago he was the same.

The manager who came to Pierre reported to him about the losses, noting that if he did not restore the Moscow houses that burned down during the fire and refused to pay Helene’s debts, then his income would not only not decrease, but would even increase. However, after receiving letters about his wife’s debts after some time, Pierre realized that the manager’s plan was incorrect, his wife’s debts needed to be dealt with and, in addition, it was necessary to build in Moscow. Pierre realized that his income would decrease significantly, but he understood that this was necessary.

Meanwhile, people were returning to Moscow, destroyed by the enemy, from all sides, united by a common desire to restore the capital.

At the end of January, Pierre arrived in Moscow and settled in the surviving outbuilding. He went to see Count Rastopchin and some acquaintances who had returned to Moscow, and was planning to go to St. Petersburg on the third day. Everyone celebrated the victory; everything was seething with life in the ruined and reviving capital. Everyone was happy to see Pierre; everyone wanted to see him, and everyone asked him about what he had seen. Pierre felt especially friendly towards all the people he met; but now he involuntarily kept himself on guard with all people, so as not to tie himself to anything. He answered all questions that were put to him, whether important or most insignificant, with the same vagueness; Did they ask him: where will he live? will it be built? when is he going to St. Petersburg and will he undertake to carry the box? - he answered: yes, maybe, I think, etc.

On the third day of his arrival, Pierre learned from the Drubetskys that Princess Marya was in Moscow, and went to see her.

In the most serious mood, Pierre drove up to the old prince's house. This house survived. Traces of destruction were visible in it, but the character of the house was the same...

A few minutes later the waiter and Desalles came out to see Pierre. Desalles, on behalf of the princess, told Pierre that she was very glad to see him and asked, if he would excuse her for her impudence, to go upstairs to her rooms.

In a low room, lit by one candle, the princess and someone else were sitting with her, in a black dress. Pierre remembered that the princess always had companions with her. Who these companions were and what they were like, Pierre did not know and did not remember. “This is one of the companions,” he thought, looking at the lady in a black dress.

The princess quickly stood up to meet him and extended her hand.

Yes,” she said, peering into his changed face after he kissed her hand, “this is how you and I meet.” “He’s often talked about you lately,” she said, turning her eyes from Pierre to her companion with a shyness that struck Pierre for a moment.

I was so glad to hear about your salvation. This was the only good news we received for a long time. - Again, even more restlessly, the princess looked back at her companion and wanted to say something; but Pierre interrupted her.

“You can imagine that I knew nothing about him,” he said. - I thought he was killed. Everything I learned, I learned from others, through third hands. I only know that he ended up with the Rostovs... What a fate!

Pierre spoke quickly and animatedly. He looked once at the face of his companion, saw a carefully, affectionately curious gaze fixed on him, and, as often happens during a conversation, for some reason he felt that this companion in a black dress was a sweet, kind, nice creature who would not interfere his intimate conversation with Princess Marya.

But when he said the last words about the Rostovs, the confusion in Princess Marya’s face was expressed even more strongly. She again ran her eyes from Pierre’s face to the face of the lady in a black dress and said:

Don't you recognize it?

Pierre looked again at the pale, thin face of his companion, with black eyes and a strange mouth. Something dear, long forgotten and more than sweet looked at him from those attentive eyes.

“But no, this can’t be,” he thought. - Is this a stern, thin and pale, aged face? It can't be her. This is just a memory of that.”

But at this time Princess Marya said: “Natasha.” And the face, with attentive eyes, with difficulty, with effort, like a rusty door opening, smiled, and from this open door it suddenly smelled and doused Pierre with that long-forgotten happiness, which, especially now, he did not think about. It smelled, engulfed and swallowed him all up. When she smiled, there could no longer be any doubt: it was Natasha, and he loved her.

In the very first minute, Pierre involuntarily told both her, Princess Marya, and, most importantly, himself a secret unknown to him. He blushed joyfully and painfully. He wanted to hide his excitement. But the more he wanted to hide it, the more clearly - more clearly than in the most definite words - he told himself, and her, and Princess Marya that he loved her...

Pierre did not notice Natasha, because he did not expect to see her here, but he did not recognize her because the change that had happened in her since he had not seen her was enormous. She lost weight and became pale. But this was not what made her unrecognizable: she could not be recognized in the first minute when he entered, because on this face, in whose eyes before there had always shone a hidden smile of the joy of life, now, when he entered and looked at her for the first time, there was no there was a hint of a smile; there were only eyes, attentive, kind and sadly questioning.

Pierre's embarrassment did not affect Natasha with embarrassment, but only with pleasure, which subtly illuminated her entire face.

Princess Marya told Pierre about last days brother Pierre's embarrassment gradually disappeared, but he felt that at the same time his freedom was disappearing.

He felt that over his every word and action there was now a judge, a court that was dearer to him than the court of all people in the world. He spoke now and, along with his words, reflected on the impression that his words made on Natasha. He did not deliberately say anything that might please her; but, no matter what he said, he judged himself from her point of view...

At dinner, Princess Marya asked Pierre to tell about himself.

And I became three times richer,” said Pierre. Pierre, despite the fact that his wife’s debts and the need for buildings changed his affairs, continued to say that he had become three times richer.

What I have undoubtedly won,” he said, “is freedom...” he began seriously; but decided not to continue, noticing that it was too selfish a subject of conversation...

That day, Pierre could not fall asleep for a long time, he thought about Natasha, about Andrei, about their love, and “either he was jealous of her for the past, then he reproached her, then he forgave himself for it.” From that time on, Pierre often visited Princess Marya and Natasha and postponed his departure to St. Petersburg. One evening, Pierre turned to Princess Marya with a request to help him explain things to Natasha. He admitted that he loved her very much, but could not bring himself to ask for her hand. However, the thought that she could become his wife and that he might miss this opportunity haunted him.

“It’s impossible to tell her now,” Princess Marya still said.

But what should I do?

Entrust this to me,” said Princess Marya. - I know...

Pierre looked into Princess Marya's eyes.

Well, well... - he said.

“I know that she loves... will love you,” Princess Marya corrected herself.

Before she had time to say these words, Pierre jumped up and, with a frightened face, grabbed Princess Marya by the hand.

Why do you think? Do you think I can hope? You think?!

Yes, I think so,” said Princess Marya, smiling. - Write to your parents. And instruct me. I'll tell her when it's possible. I wish this. And my heart feels that this will happen.

No, it can't be! How happy I am! But this cannot be... How happy I am! No, it can not be! - Pierre said, kissing the hands of Princess Marya.

You go to St. Petersburg; it is better. “And I’ll write to you,” she said.

To St. Petersburg? Drive? Okay, yes, let's go. But can I come to you tomorrow?

The next day Pierre came to say goodbye. Natasha was less animated than in previous days; but on this day, sometimes looking into her eyes, Pierre felt that he was disappearing, that neither he nor she was there anymore, but there was only a feeling of happiness.

“Really? No, it can’t be,” he said to himself with every look, gesture, and word that filled his soul with joy...

When, saying goodbye to her, he took her thin, thin hand, he involuntarily held it in his a little longer.

“Is this hand, this face, these eyes, all this alien treasure of feminine charm, will it all be forever mine, familiar, the same as I am for myself? No, It is Immpossible!.."

Farewell, Count,” she told him loudly. “I’ll be waiting for you,” she added in a whisper.

And these simple words, the look and facial expression that accompanied them, for two months formed the subject of Pierre’s inexhaustible memories, explanations and happy dreams. “I will be waiting for you very much... Yes, yes, as she said? Yes, I will be waiting for you very much. Oh, how happy I am! What is this, how happy I am!” - Pierre said to himself...

For Pierre it was a time of “happy madness.” He had never experienced such a feeling before. The whole meaning of life now seemed to him to be concentrated in love. When they discussed state or political issues in his presence or offered to serve, he surprised people with strange remarks.

Natasha had a presentiment that Pierre should propose to her. When Princess Marya told her that Pierre had asked for her hand, “a joyful, and at the same time pitiful, asking forgiveness for her joy, expression settled on Natasha’s face.” But when she learned that Pierre was going to St. Petersburg, she was very surprised.

To St. Petersburg? - she repeated, as if not understanding. But, looking at the sad expression on Princess Marya’s face, she guessed the reason for her sadness and suddenly began to cry. “Marie,” she said, “teach me what to do.” I'm afraid of being bad. Whatever you say, I will do; teach me...

You love him?

Yes,” Natasha whispered.

What are you crying about? “I’m happy for you,” said Princess Marya, having completely forgiven Natasha’s joy for these tears...

Bolkonsky

The reader first meets this hero in St. Petersburg in the living room of Anna Pavlovna Sherer with her pregnant wife Lisa. After the dinner party, he goes to his father in the village. He leaves his wife there in the care of his father and younger sister Marya. Sent to the war of 1805 against Napoleon as Kutuzov's adjutant. Participates in the Battle of Austerlitz, in which he was wounded in the head. Upon arriving home, Andrei finds his wife Lisa giving birth.

Having given birth to her son Nikolenka, Lisa dies. Prince Andrei blames himself for being cold with his wife and not paying her due attention. After a long depression, Bolkonsky falls in love with Natasha Rostova. He offers her his hand and heart, but at the insistence of his father postpones their marriage for a year and leaves abroad. Shortly before his return, Prince Andrei receives a letter of refusal from his bride. The reason for the refusal is Natasha’s affair with Anatoly Kuragin. This turn of events becomes a heavy blow for Bolkonsky. He dreams of challenging Kuragin to a duel. To drown out the pain of disappointment in the woman he loves, Prince Andrei devotes himself entirely to service.

Participates in the War of 1812 against Napoleon. During the Battle of Borodino he received a shrapnel wound in the stomach. While moving, the wounded man accidentally meets the Rostov family, and they take charge of him. Natasha, never ceasing to blame herself for cheating on her fiance and realizing that she still loves him, asks for forgiveness from Andrei, in the Rostovs’ house



Dreams and ideals

Looking for his Toulon; wants national fame and recognition; his idol is Napoleon.

To achieve my goal I am ready to sacrifice

“...Father, wife, sister are the people dearest to me... I will give them all now for a moment of glory, triumph over people.” “Death, wounds, loss of family, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Appearance

“Prince Bolkonsky was small in stature, a very handsome young man with definite and dry features”

The best moments of life

What changes in the hero

Sky near Austerlitz

He begins to understand the insignificance of Napoleon’s “petty vanity” in comparison with that “high, fair and kind sky that he saw and understood.”

The prince realized the great truth - life is an absolute value. I felt my 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.”

Discovering the wealth of peaceful life

Returning from French captivity, Bolkonsky learns about the death of his wife. The “dead, reproachful face” of the little princess will forever remain in his memory. From this moment on, Prince Andrei will be tormented by thoughts of the neglect with which he treated his wife, he will understand and realize the value of family happiness, the joy of everyday life among family members: father, sister, son Nikolenka.

The prince repents of his ambitious dreams, the natural needs of love and goodness rise in his soul.

Meeting with Pierre in Bogucharovo

“The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei the era that began, although in appearance the same, but in inner world his new life" Pierre “infects” Prince Andrei with his faith in people, in life not only earthly, but also eternal, in God.

Prince Andrei accepts some of Pierre's beliefs, which have a beneficial effect on Bolkonsky. Now the prince can admit to himself: “How happy and calm I would be if I could now say: “Lord, have mercy on me.”

Meeting with Natasha Rostova in Otradnoye

Returns to “living life”, begins to feel the joy of communicating with big world, people. In this state, Prince Andrei hurries to enter the spheres close to him government activities, agrees with Speransky.

Natasha's emotionality, her sincerity and delight give impetus to the prince's spiritual rebirth.

Love for Natasha Rostova

He changes his attitude towards Speransky, whom he has already begun to reverence as an idol, and notices in himself a disdain for the business in which he had previously been so interested: “Can this make me happier and better?”

The prince becomes happier and better from the feeling that Natasha Rostova awakens in his soul

Participation in the War of 1812 In the army, the prince becomes a caring and attentive commander. He refuses the offer to serve in the army headquarters; he is not concerned about dreams of personal glory. The soldiers call him “our prince.”

During the Battle of Borodino, Bolkonsky fulfills his duty; he is driven not by the desire for personal glory, but by the officer’s sense of honor, hatred of the enemy who ruined him native land, his Bald Mountains.

Forgiveness of Anatoly Kuragin Having seen how Anatoly Kuragin’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 this life...”

Revival of love for Natasha Rostova After a serious injury, she experiences a passionate desire to live. It is at these moments that his love for Natasha Rostova returns to him. But this is a different feeling: “...he imagined her soul for the first time. For the first time I understood the cruelty of breaking up with her.”

Death of Andrei Bolkonsky

“The more he, in those hours of suffering solitude and semi-delirium that he spent after his wound, thought about the new, open beginning of eternal love, the more he, without feeling it himself, renounced earthly life. To love everyone, to always sacrifice oneself for love, meant not loving anyone, it meant not living this earthly life.”

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. And death became the “moment of truth” of his life.

Stages in the development of the personality of Andrei Bolkonsky

Battle of Austerlitz

Prince Andrei’s participation in the war of 1805 is connected with his ambitious dreams of glory, of his “Toulon”. A passion for Napoleon was characteristic of many representatives of the progressive noble youth early XIX century. But Andrei thirsted not only for personal glory, but also for happiness for people. Tolstoy singles him out from the crowd of staff careerists (such as Zherkov and Drubetskoy). Overcoming the “Napoleonic” beginning, the desire to become higher than the people around him, ends this stage in Andrei’s life. The sky of Austerlitz helped Prince Andrey understand that both his admiration for Napoleon and his dream of becoming the savior of the Russian army were just a delusion.

Meeting with Pierre and Natasha

Disappointed in his former ideals, having experienced the grief of loss and repentance, Prince Andrei is confident that he has understood what happiness lies in: the absence of illness and remorse. But Pierre (in an argument on the ferry) proves to him that one must believe in the goodness and high destiny of man. And the meeting with Natasha saves Prince Andrei from a spiritual crisis, awakens in him love and the desire to live.

battle of Borodino

IN Patriotic War In 1812, the fate of the prince merged for the first time with the fate of the people. He returns to the army, overcome by the same feeling of offended national pride that leads ordinary Russian soldiers into battle. In the Battle of Borodino (unlike the Battle of Austerlitz), the prince accomplishes a real moral feat, achieves harmony with himself and understands that the main purpose of man is to serve the interests of his native people.

Prince Andrei dies from a wound received on the Borodino field. Tolstoy reconciles him not only with Natasha, but with the entire world, including the wounded Anatoly Kuragin. The writer put into the image of Prince Andrei his cherished thought that life is governed only by love and kindness, and without them neither true perfection nor deliverance from torment and contradictions is possible.