The multifaceted prose canvas created by Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a true picture of the life of the Russian people in the first quarter of the 19th century. The volume of the work and the scale of the description characteristically evoke the multifaceted problems of the novel. One of the problems that is solved by L.N. Tolstoy is the study of the moral essence of secular society in the novel “War and Peace”.

Artistic technique of opposition

One of the main artistic techniques, used by the author, is a contrast. This catches your eye even before reading the epic novel, because this technique already emphasizes the title of the work. Through a parallel image based on the opposition of war and peace, Lev Nikolaevich depicts the current problems of the era of the early 19th century, human vices and virtues, the values ​​of society and the personal dramas of the heroes.

The technique of contrast affected not only the image plans, but also the images. In the novel, the author created images of war and peace. If the author depicts the war through battles, the characters of commanders, officers and soldiers, then the world personifies the image of Russian society in the first decades of the 19th century.

In describing the characteristic secular world in the novel “War and Peace,” the author does not deviate from his stylistic manner, which is characterized not only by philosophical digressions, where the author’s assessment of the events described is traced, but also Comparative characteristics phenomena, images, spiritual qualities. This is how the author depicts representatives of the two main cities of the Empire – St. Petersburg and Moscow – in a hidden contrast.

Characteristics of metropolitan society in the novel

In that historical period, which is described in the work, St. Petersburg was the capital Russian Empire, with the pretentious society characteristic of such a high rank. St. Petersburg is a city characterized by architectural splendor combined with cold gloominess and inaccessibility. The author transfers his peculiar character to St. Petersburg society.

Social events, balls, receptions are the main events for representatives of the capital's secular society. It is there that political, cultural and secular news are discussed. However, for external beauty These events show that the representatives of the nobility do not care or care at all about these topics, nor the opinions of their interlocutors, nor the outcome of conversations and meetings. The exposure of true and false beauty, the essence of metropolitan society is revealed in the novel from the first price in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer.

St. Petersburg high society in the novel plays familiar roles, speaks only about what is customary to talk about, and acts as expected. Using the example of the Kuragin family, who are typical representatives of metropolitan society, the author, with undisguised disappointment and irony, emphasizes theatricality, affectation and cynicism social life Petersburg and its representatives. Only those who are inexperienced or who have lost interest in role-playing find the approval of the author on the pages of the novel, through whose lips the author gives his assessment: “Drawing rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot get out.”

Description of Moscow social life and its representatives

For the first time, the author introduces the reader to the customs and atmosphere of the Moscow nobility at the morning reception of the Rostov family. At first glance, it may seem that the social picture of Moscow is not much different from the society of the Northern capital. However, the conversations of representatives of the nobility are no longer so generalized and empty; in them one can also hear personal opinions, disputes and discussions, which indicates the sincerity of their views, true concern for the fate of their region and the state as a whole. At social events there is a place for children's pranks and good-natured laughter, sincere amazement, simplicity and directness of thoughts and actions, trust and forgiveness.

At the same time, one should not assume that Tolstoy, who undoubtedly sympathizes with Moscow society in the novel, idealizes it. On the contrary, he emphasizes many of his qualities that do not find approval from the author, such as envy, ridicule, passion for gossip and discussion of other people's privacy. However, creating an image of the secular society of Moscow, the author identifies it with the characteristic both positive and negative features inherent in the Russian people.

The role of the image of secular society in the novel

One of the main issues that underlies the work and my essay on the topic “Secular society in the novel “War and Peace”” is the essence of the Russian people, with all its versatility, shortcomings and advantages. In the novel, Tolstoy’s goal was to show, without embellishment and flattery, the true face of society at the beginning of the 19th century, in order to depict against its background the essence of the Russian soul and the main national values, such as home, family and state.

The image of society serves not only as a force that shapes views, opinions, principles of thinking and ideals of behavior, but also as a background for the expression of outstanding personalities, thanks to whose high moral qualities and heroism the war was won, which largely affected future fate states.

Work test

SECULAR SOCIETY IN THE PICTURE OF L. N. TOLSTOY. L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” was created during the rapid social development of Russia. Democratic revolutionaries became widely known and attracted the attention of all progressive intelligentsia. In Russia, a struggle broke out between liberal nobles and revolutionary democrats. Leo Tolstoy was not a member of revolutionary societies, but always defended the positions of the patriarchal peasantry, forever breaking with the noble class. The great writer had reasons for this - mainly, it seems to me, on a moral level. For a long life in noble nest and an equally long observation of the life of ordinary people great writer He was still able to define for himself an environment where true human values ​​could exist - the people. After such a choice, these inert, degenerate, satiated people in brilliant clothes no longer meant much to the writer. He focused his attention on people of spirit. But noble society was always the subject of his caustic criticism.

In the novel, the writer reflected his most intimate thoughts about noble society, and especially sharply opposed metropolitan nobility, the so-called secular society.

At the very beginning of the novel, the author introduces the reader to a typical representative of high society, Anna Pavlovna Sherer. This is a cunning and dexterous woman who has formed a circle of high society, “in which there is nothing truthful, simple and natural. Everything is saturated through and through with lies, falsehood, callousness and hypocrisy.”

The person closest to Anna Pavlovna is Prince Vasily Kuragin. He is the head of the family of the famous Kuragin family and one of the successful businessmen of that time. It should be noted that the writer felt special hostility and contempt for people like Kuragin.

So, Prince Vasily is a secular man, a careerist and an egoist. He strives to become the heir of a dying rich nobleman - Count Bezukhov. But this dream did not come true. The entire inheritance of the old count, according to his will, passed to his illegitimate son, Pierre Bezukhov. Prince Vasily immediately realized that by marrying Pierre to his daughter Helen, he would become a rich father-in-law. Having arranged this wedding, he dreams of another. He had a dream of finding a home for his son Anatoly. In his mind, this means marrying him profitably. The Kuragins go to Prince Bolkonsky to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. But old Bolkonsky quickly figured out Prince Vasily’s selfish plans and refused to Anatoly, who didn’t care. Anatole does not have strong moral principles, just as his father and sister Helen do not have them.

Helen's only virtue is beauty. When she walks through the hall, the dazzling whiteness of her shoulders attracts the gaze of all the surrounding men. Helen began to shine especially brightly with her splendor and beauty in the world after her marriage. She never missed a single ball and was a welcome guest everywhere. Pierre was the complete opposite of her in character and felt an ever-increasing hostility towards his wife. Naturally, he was indifferent to Helen’s behavior, he was not even jealous of her. He well defined its essence: “Where you are, there is debauchery.”

But let's return to the Kuragins. It must be said that they stopped at nothing to achieve their goals. This is Anatole. Not loving Natasha Rostova, he does everything possible to win her hand. To do this, Anatole decided to put on a performance of ardent love and take her secretly from her parents’ house, so to speak, in the best romantic traditions.

But the performance fails. Seeing that the girl understood his intentions, he leaves for the active army to avoid the caustic talk of the world.

The second son of Prince Vasily, Ippolit, is exactly the same rake and fop. But to characteristic features Hippolytus must also be added to his mental limitations, which makes his actions especially ridiculous.

Using the example of the Kuragin family, Tolstoy depicted typical representatives of the world, for whom personal interests were always above all else.

Both Boris Drubetskoy and Berg belong to the light. The goal of their life is to always be in the spotlight of light, to be able to get a “warm place”, to have rich wife, create brilliant career and get to the top.

The writer also makes it clear that the main representatives of the world are the king himself, his retinue, the military and civil administration. The Emperor grants the nobles all possible privileges in rights. I want to complete this series of secular society with Arakcheev - a serviceable, cruel, executive guardian of order, or rather, the well-being of secular society.

In Tolstoy's novel, secular society exists as a background against which the events of real, lofty, tragic and have a wonderful life Russian people and the best representatives of the nobility.

Tolstoy recalled that he was inspired to write the novel “War and Peace” by “folk thought.” It was from the people that Tolstoy himself learned and advised others to do the same. Therefore, the main characters of his novel are people from the people or those who stood close to ordinary people. Without denying the merits of the nobility to the people, he divides it into two categories. The first category includes those who, by their character, outlook, worldview, are close to the people or come to this through trials. The best representatives of the nobility in this regard are Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Princess Marya Bolkonskaya. But there are other representatives of the nobility, the so-called “secular society,” who constitute a special caste. These are people who recognize only a few values: title, power and money. Only those who have one or all of the listed values ​​are allowed into their circle and recognized as their own. Secular society is completely empty, just as its individual representatives are empty and insignificant, people without any moral or ethical principles, without life goals. They are just as empty and insignificant spiritual world. But despite this, they have great power. This is the elite that runs the country, the people who decide the destinies of their fellow citizens.

Tolstoy tries in the novel to show the entire nation and all its representatives. "War and Peace" begins with scenes depicting the highest noble society. The author shows mainly the present, but also touches on the past. Tolstoy paints the nobles of this bygone era. Count Kirill Bezukhov is one of their representatives. Bezukhov is rich and noble, he has a good estate, money, power, which he received from the kings for small services. A former favorite of Catherine, a reveler and a libertine, he devoted his entire life to pleasure. He is opposed by the old Prince Bolkonsky, his peer. Bolkonsky is a loyal defender of the fatherland, which he served faithfully. For this, he was repeatedly in disgrace and out of favor with those in power.

“Secular society,” even with the onset of the War of 1812, changed little: “calm, luxurious, concerned only with ghosts, reflections of life, St. Petersburg life went on as before; and because of the course of this life, it was necessary to make great efforts to recognize the danger and the difficult situation in which the Russian people found themselves. There were the same exits, balls, the same French theater, the same interests of the courts, the same interests of service and intrigue...” Only the conversations changed - they began to talk more about Napoleon and patriotism.

At the top of noble society was Emperor Alexander I. Alexander I is shown exactly as most nobles imagined him. But in the appearance of the emperor, traits of duplicity, posturing and that affected sensuality, in which flatterers saw a manifestation of the “high soul of the king,” are already appearing. The true appearance of Alexander I is especially clearly shown in the scene of the king’s arrival in the army after the defeat of the invaders. The Tsar embraces Kutuzov, accompanying them with an angry hiss: “Old comedian.” Tolstoy believes that the top of the nation has become dead and is now living an “artificial life.” All the king’s associates are no different from himself. The country is run by a bunch of foreigners who don’t care about Russia. Ministers, generals, diplomats, staff officers and other close associates of the emperor are busy with their own enrichment and career. The same lies, the same intrigue, and opportunism reign here as everywhere else. Exactly Patriotic War 1812 showed the real essence of government officials. False patriotism they are covered up with loud words about the homeland and people. But their mediocrity and inability to govern the country are clearly visible in the novel.

In "War and Peace" all layers of Moscow noble society are represented. Tolstoy, characterizing noble society, strives to show not individual representatives, but entire families. After all, it is in the family that both the foundations of integrity and morality, as well as spiritual emptiness and idleness, are laid. One of these families is the Kuragin family. Its head, Vasily Kuragin, occupies a fairly high position in the country. He is a minister called to take care of the people. Instead, all the elder Kuragin’s concerns are directed towards himself and his own children. His son Ippolit is a diplomat who cannot speak Russian at all. For all his stupidity and insignificance, he craves power and wealth. Anatol Kuragin is no better than his brother. His only entertainment is carousing and drinking. It seems that this person is completely indifferent to everything except indulging his own whims. His friend Drubetskoy is Anatole’s constant companion and a witness to his dark deeds.

We meet these people already on the first pages of the novel, where Tolstoy describes the visitors and regulars of Anna Pavlovna Sherer’s salon. The cold and calculating rogue Vasily Kuragin, who is looking for clever moves “to the cross or to the town,” and his son Anatole, whom his father himself calls “a restless fool,” and the destroyers of other people’s destinies Hippolyte and Helen are spinning here. Helen is the first beauty of the city, but at the same time a cold and spiritually empty person. She is aware of her beauty and puts it on display, allowing her to be admired. But this woman is far from being as harmless as she might seem at first glance. The author emphasizes Helen's smile - it is “unchangeable.” I would like to compare Helen herself with Helen the Beautiful, the ancient heroine, because of whom the Trojan War began. Helen also brings nothing but trouble. Later, taking advantage of Pierre's gullibility, she will lure him into her network and marry him.

In Scherer's salon we see both Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky. The author contrasts these living people with the dead high society. We understand that Pierre has found himself in a society to which he is alien and which does not understand him at all. Only Andrei's intervention helps to avoid a scandal.

Boris Drubetskoy is another representative of the highest noble society. He is one of those who will replace the older generation. But the author portrays him as distant from the people as everyone else. Boris only cares about his career. He has a cool mind and a sober mind, he knows exactly what he needs in this life. He sets a goal and achieves it. Even during the war, Drubetskoy thinks about awards and promotion, wants to “arrange for himself the best position, especially the position of adjutant with an important person, which seemed especially tempting to him in the army.” He also makes acquaintances only those that are beneficial to him. Let us remember how the Drubetskys turned away from the Rostovs when they were ruined. This is despite the fact that the families were once friendly.

The highest nobility differs from the people even in their language. The language of the noble nobility is a Frenchized language. He is as dead as the rest of society. It preserves empty cliches, once and for all established expressions, ready-made phrases that are used in convenient cases. People have learned to hide their feelings behind common phrases.

Thus, by depicting noble society, Tolstoy shows its inactivity and inability to rule the country. The noble nobility has outlived its usefulness and must leave the stage of history. The necessity and inevitability of this was convincingly demonstrated by the Patriotic War of 1812.

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When creating his grandiose novel, Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy could not help but pay attention to secular society, which in most cases consisted of nobles.

Secular society of that period of Russian development was divided into two types - St. Petersburg and Moscow. Tolstoy tries to give a separate description of the St. Petersburg meetings and the Moscow gatherings of nobles.

When Tolstoy was working on his novel, St. Petersburg was one of the coldest and most inhospitable cities. Therefore, the secular society that reigned in him could not radiate other qualities. St. Petersburg can easily be considered the intellectual center of the country. He was seriously focused on Europe.

A feature of St. Petersburg society was pretense and unnaturalness. The characters with whom the author introduces us simply play their role, take an example from other members of social gatherings and imitate the manners they see. During meetings and receptions, all those present necessarily discussed the news of the world and the country. Everyone tried to seem smart, well-read, well-mannered. However, this was just an illusion that overshadowed all the characters, without exception.

Pretense is the principle that extremely and clearly characterizes the behavior of St. Petersburg society.

Getting acquainted with Moscow society, the reader understands that the author himself sympathizes more with its representatives and members. Of course, the characters’ behavior patterns are somewhat similar to each other, however, in Moscow society we meet real, living personalities. They are endowed with natural emotions and feelings. They have the right to vote. She expresses her emotions the way she feels, and not the way others demand it.

In Moscow society, the reader often sees the presence of children. They are the ones who defuse the situation.

The Rostov family is a prominent representative of Moscow society. They are closer to the people, they are closer to the Russian traditions that existed at that time! And it seems to me that the author himself largely sympathizes with the Moscow nobility.

On the pages of the novel, Tolstoy uses such a technique as “detachment.” This can be clearly seen in the example of St. Petersburg society, whose members often used French as a conversational one! Of course, this feature for the most part was a kind of exclusion from the general mass of the Russian population.

Observing the world around him, carefully peering at its inhabitants, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was able to reliably describe the secular society of that period of time. He masterfully conveyed its features and differences, informing and familiarizing every reader with them.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy - Russian writer, publicist, philosopher, moralist, religious teacher, teacher. The author of the great work "War and Peace", which describes Russian society during the era of the wars against Napoleon in the period from one thousand eight hundred five to one thousand eight hundred and twelve.

The idea for the novel was formed long before work began on the text that is known today. The main topic of this work is the historical fate of the Russian people in the Patriotic War.

Depicting the life and character of the common people, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy paints with bright colors the life and morals of secular society, which in most cases consisted of nobles. It should be noted that secular society at that time was divided into two types - St. Petersburg and Moscow.

When Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was working on his novel, Saint Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire, characterized by the architectural splendor of the city combined with cold gloominess and inaccessibility.

The writer transfers the unique character of the city to St. Petersburg society, whose main activities were balls, various receptions and social events. It was there that political, secular and cultural news taking place in the country at that time were discussed. The main representatives of secular societies were Anna Pavlovna Scherer, a maid of honor, a close associate of the empress, whose meaning of life was the successful existence of her salon, and Helen Kuragina, a depraved, stupid, deceitful girl, however, despite this, she enjoyed enormous success in the world and had constant admirers .

A feature of St. Petersburg society was falseness and pretense. All social evenings, in my opinion, were similar to a masquerade, where the characters that the author introduces us to only play their role, putting on one mask or another.

Moscow society appears to us as completely opposite, the leading representatives of which are the Rostov family.

At first glance, it may seem that the secular society of Moscow is not much different from the society of St. Petersburg. However, later we can notice that the conversations of the nobles were not hypocritical and empty, the Rostovs and their guests spoke sincerely, worrying with all their souls about the fate of their state and its citizens. In addition, the Moscow nobility was closer to the Russian people, their traditions and customs, which speaks of the kindness, openness and cordiality of the representatives of this social circle. However, one should not assume that Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy idealizes Moscow society. On the contrary, he emphasizes many of his traits and morals, which do not find approval from the author. But nevertheless, he turns a blind eye to these insignificant things.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the role of secular society is very important in the work. Based on the antithesis, the author shows us both the good and bad qualities of these societies, ultimately revealing the truthful and holistic one.