South Korea - open-minded and fair skin. And Evgeny Onegin completes Olga’s portrait in such a way that he can be considered the father of all jokes about blondes

Vasily Kuragin

Prince, father of Helen, Anatole and Hippolyte. This is a very famous and quite influential person in society; he occupies an important court post. Prince V.'s attitude towards everyone around him is condescending and patronizing. The author shows his hero “in a courtly, embroidered uniform, in stockings, shoes, under the stars, with a bright expression on a flat face,” with a “perfumed and shining bald head.” But when he smiled, there was “something unexpectedly rude and unpleasant” in his smile. Prince V. specifically does not wish harm on anyone. He simply uses people and circumstances to carry out his plans. V. always strives to get closer to people who are richer and higher in position than him. The hero considers himself an exemplary father; he does everything possible to arrange the future of his children. He is trying to marry his son Anatole to the rich princess Marya Bolkonskaya. After the death of the old Prince Bezukhov and Pierre receiving a huge inheritance, V. notices a rich groom and cunningly marries his daughter Helene to him. Prince V. is a great intriguer who knows how to live in society and make acquaintances with the right people.

Anatol Kuragin

Son of Prince Vasily, brother of Helen and Hippolyte. Prince Vasily himself looks at his son as a “restless fool” who constantly needs to be rescued from various troubles. A. very handsome, dandy, impudent. He is frankly stupid, not resourceful, but popular in society because “he had both the ability of calm and unchangeable confidence, precious for the world.” A. Dolokhov’s friend, constantly participates in his revelries, looks at life as a constant flow of pleasures and pleasures. He doesn't care about other people, he is selfish. A. treats women with contempt, feeling superior. He was used to being liked by everyone without experiencing anything serious in return. A. became interested in Natasha Rostova and tried to take her away. After this incident, the hero was forced to flee Moscow and hide from Prince Andrei, who wanted to challenge the seducer of his bride to a duel.

Kuragina Elen

Daughter of Prince Vasily, and then wife of Pierre Bezukhov. A brilliant St. Petersburg beauty with an “unchanging smile”, white full shoulders, glossy hair and a beautiful figure. There was no noticeable coquetry in her, as if she was ashamed “of her undoubtedly and too powerfully and victoriously acting beauty.” E. is unperturbed, giving everyone the right to admire herself, which is why she feels like she has a gloss from many other people’s glances. She knows how to be silently dignified in the world, giving the impression of a tactful and intelligent woman, which, combined with beauty, ensures her constant success. Having married Pierre Bezukhov, the heroine reveals to her husband not only limited intelligence, coarseness of thought and vulgarity, but also cynical depravity. After breaking up with Pierre and receiving a large part of the fortune from him by proxy, she lives either in St. Petersburg, then abroad, or returns to her husband. Despite the family breakup, the constant change of lovers, including Dolokhov and Drubetskoy, E. continues to remain one of the most famous and favored ladies of St. Petersburg society. She is making very great progress in the world; living alone, she becomes the mistress of a diplomatic and political salon, gaining a reputation as an intelligent woman

Anna Pavlovna Sherer

Maid of honor, close to Empress Maria Feodorovna. Sh. is the owner of a fashionable salon in St. Petersburg, the description of the evening in which opens the novel. A.P. 40 years old, she is artificial, like all the high society. Her attitude towards any person or event depends entirely on the latest political, courtly or secular considerations. She is friends with Prince Vasily. Sh. is “full of animation and impulse”, “being an enthusiast has become her social status" In 1812, her salon shows false patriotism, eating cabbage soup and being fined for speaking French.

Boris Drubetskoy

Son of Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya. From childhood he was brought up and lived for a long time in the house of the Rostovs, to whom he was a relative. B. and Natasha were in love with each other. Outwardly, he is “a tall, blond young man with regular, subtle features of a calm and beautiful face" Since his youth, B. has dreamed of a military career and allows his mother to humiliate herself in front of her superiors if it helps him. So, Prince Vasily finds him a place in the guard. B. is going to do brilliant career, makes many useful contacts. After a while he becomes Helen's lover. B. manages to be in in the right place V right time, and his career and position are especially firmly established. In 1809 he meets Natasha again and becomes interested in her, even thinking about marrying her. But this would hinder his career. Therefore, B. begins to look for a rich bride. He eventually marries Julie Karagina.

Count Rostov

Rostov Ilya Andreevi - count, father of Natasha, Nikolai, Vera and Petya. Very good-natured generous man, loving life and not very good at calculating his funds. R. is capable of hosting a reception or a ball better than anyone; he is a hospitable host and an exemplary family man. The count is accustomed to living in grand style, and when his means no longer allow this, he gradually ruins his family, from which he suffers greatly. When leaving Moscow, it is R. who begins to give carts for the wounded. So he deals one of the last blows to the family budget. The death of Petya's son finally broke the count; he comes to life only when he prepares a wedding for Natasha and Pierre.

Countess of Rostov

Wife of Count Rostov, “a woman with oriental type thin-faced, about forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children... The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspired respect.” R. creates an atmosphere of love and kindness in his family and is very concerned about the fate of his children. The news of the death of her youngest and beloved son Petya almost drives her crazy. She is accustomed to luxury and fulfillment of the slightest whims, and demands this after the death of her husband.

Natasha Rostova

Daughter of Count and Countess Rostov. She is “black-eyed, with a big mouth, ugly, but alive...”. Distinctive Features N. - emotionality and sensitivity. She is not very smart, but she has an amazing ability to read people. She is capable of noble deeds and can forget about her own interests for the sake of other people. So, she calls on her family to take out the wounded on carts, leaving their property behind. N. takes care of his mother with all his dedication after Petya’s death. N. is very beautiful voice, she is very musical. With her singing, she is able to awaken the best in a person. Tolstoy notes N.’s closeness to to the common people. This is one of her best qualities. N. lives in an atmosphere of love and happiness. Changes in her life occur after meeting Prince Andrei. N. becomes his bride, but later becomes interested in Anatoly Kuragin. After a while, N. understands the full force of her guilt before the prince; before his death, he forgives her, she remains with him until his death. true love N. has feelings for Pierre, they understand each other perfectly, they feel very good together. She becomes his wife and completely devotes herself to the role of wife and mother.

Nikolay Rostov

Son of Count Rostov. “A short, curly-haired young man with an open expression on his face.” The hero is distinguished by “impetuousness and enthusiasm”, he is cheerful, open, friendly and emotional. N. participates in military campaigns and Patriotic War 1812. In the Battle of Shengraben, N. goes on the attack very bravely at first, but is then wounded in the arm. This wound causes him to panic, he thinks about how he, “whom everyone loves so much,” could die. This event somewhat diminishes the image of the hero. After N. becomes a brave officer, a real hussar, remaining faithful to duty. N. had a long affair with Sonya, and he was going to do noble deed, having married a dowry-free woman against the wishes of his mother. But he receives a letter from Sonya in which she says that she is letting him go. After the death of his father, N. takes care of the family and retires. She and Marya Bolkonskaya fall in love and get married.

Petya Rostov

Youngest son Rostov. At the beginning of the novel we see P. as a small boy. He is a typical representative of his family, kind, cheerful, musical. He wants to imitate his older brother and follow the military line in life. In 1812, he was full of patriotic impulses and joined the army. During the war, the young man accidentally ends up with an assignment in Denisov’s detachment, where he remains, wanting to take part in the real deal. He accidentally dies, having shown his best in relation to his comrades the day before. best qualities. His death - greatest tragedy for his family.

Pierre Bezukhov

The illegitimate son of the wealthy and socially famous Count Bezukhov. He appears almost before his father’s death and becomes the heir to the entire fortune. P. is very different from people belonging to high society even externally. He is a “massive, fat young man with a cropped head and glasses” with an “observant and natural” look. He was brought up abroad and received a good education there. P. is smart, has a penchant for philosophical reasoning, he has a very kind and gentle disposition, and he is completely impractical. Andrei Bolkonsky loves him very much, considers him his friend and the only “living person” among all high society.
In pursuit of money, P. is entangled by the Kuragin family and, taking advantage of P.’s naivety, they force him to marry Helen. He is unhappy with her, he understands that this scary woman and breaks off relations with her.
At the beginning of the novel we see that P. considers Napoleon his idol. Afterwards he becomes terribly disappointed in him and even wants to kill him. P. is characterized by a search for the meaning of life. This is how he becomes interested in Freemasonry, but when he sees their falsehood, he leaves from there. P. tries to reorganize the lives of his peasants, but he fails due to his gullibility and impracticality. P. participates in the war, not yet fully understanding what it is. Left in burning Moscow to kill Napoleon, P. is captured. He experiences great moral torment during the execution of prisoners. There P. meets with the exponent of “people's thought” Platon Karataev. Thanks to this meeting, P. learned to see “the eternal and infinite in everything.” Pierre loves Natasha Rostova, but she is married to his friend. After the death of Andrei Bolkonsky and the revival of Natasha to life, best heroes Tolstoy is getting married. In the epilogue we see P. happy husband and father. In a dispute with Nikolai Rostov, P. expresses his beliefs, and we understand that before us is a future Decembrist.

Sonya

She is “a thin, petite brunette with a soft look, shaded by long eyelashes, a thick black braid that wrapped around her head twice, and a yellowish tint to the skin on her face and especially on her bare, thin but graceful arms and neck. With the smoothness of her movements, the softness and flexibility of her small limbs, and her somewhat cunning and restrained manner, she resembles a beautiful, but not yet formed kitten, which will become a lovely cat.”
S. is the niece of the old Count Rostov, and is being brought up in this house. Since childhood, the heroine has been in love with Nikolai Rostov, and is very friendly with Natasha. S. is reserved, silent, reasonable, and capable of sacrificing herself. The feeling for Nikolai is so strong that she wants to “love always, and let him be free.” Because of this, she refuses Dolokhov, who wanted to marry her. S. and Nikolai are bound by word, he promised to take her as his wife. But the old Countess of Rostov is against this wedding, he reproaches S... She, not wanting to pay with ingratitude, refuses the marriage, freeing Nikolai from this promise. After the death of the old count, he lives with the countess in the care of Nicholas.

Dolokhov

“Dolokhov was a man of average height, with curly hair and fair hair. blue eyes. He was about twenty-five years old. He did not wear a mustache, like all infantry officers, and his mouth, the most striking feature of his face, was completely visible. The lines of this mouth were remarkably finely curved. In the middle, the upper lip dropped energetically onto the strong lower lip. sharp wedge, and in the corners something like two smiles constantly formed, one on each side; and all together, and especially in combination with a firm, insolent, intelligent look, it created such an impression that it was impossible not to notice this face.” This hero is not rich, but he knows how to position himself in such a way that everyone around him respects and fears him. He loves to have fun, and in a rather strange and sometimes cruel way. For one case of bullying a policeman, D. was demoted to soldier. But during hostilities he regained his rank of officer. He is a smart, brave and cold-blooded person. He is not afraid of death, he is reputed an evil person, hides his tender love for his mother. In fact, D. does not want to know anyone except those he really loves. He divides people into harmful and useful, sees mostly harmful people around him and is ready to get rid of them if they suddenly get in his way. D. was Helen's lover, he provokes Pierre into a duel, dishonestly beats Nikolai Rostov at cards, and helps Anatole arrange an escape with Natasha.

Nikolai Bolkonsky

The prince, general-in-chief, was dismissed from service under Paul I and exiled to the village. He is the father of Andrei Bolkonsky and Princess Marya. It's very pedantic, dry, active person who cannot stand idleness, stupidity, or superstition. In his house, everything is scheduled according to the clock; he has to be on the job all the time. Old Prince not the slightest change in order and schedule.
N.A. short in stature, “in a powdered wig... with small dry hands and gray drooping eyebrows, sometimes, as he frowned, obscuring the brilliance of intelligent and seemingly young sparkling eyes.” The prince is very restrained in expressing his feelings. He constantly torments his daughter with nagging, although in fact he loves her very much. N.A. proud, smart person, constantly cares about preserving family honor and dignity. He instilled in his son a sense of pride, honesty, duty, and patriotism. Despite leaving public life, the prince is constantly interested in political and military events taking place in Russia. Only before his death does he lose sight of the scale of the tragedy that happened to his homeland.

Andrey Bolkonsky

Son of Prince Bolkonsky, brother Princess Marya. At the beginning of the novel we see B. as an intelligent, proud, but rather arrogant person. He despises people of high society, is unhappy in his marriage and does not respect his pretty wife. B. is very reserved, well educated, he has strong will. This hero is experiencing great spiritual changes. First we see that his idol is Napoleon, whom he considers a great man. B. gets into war and is sent to the active army. There he fights on an equal basis with all the soldiers, showing great courage, composure, and prudence. Participates in the Battle of Shengraben. B. was seriously wounded in the Battle of Austerlitz. This moment is extremely important, because that’s when it began spiritual rebirth hero. Lying motionless and seeing calm and eternal sky Austerlitz, B. understands the pettiness and stupidity of everything that happens in the war. He realized that in reality there should be completely different values in life than those that he had until now. All exploits and glory do not matter. There is only this vast and eternal sky. In the same episode, B. sees Napoleon and understands the insignificance of this man. B. returns home, where everyone thought he was dead. His wife dies in childbirth, but the child survives. The hero is shocked by the death of his wife and feels guilty towards her. He decides not to serve anymore, settles in Bogucharovo, takes care of the household, raising his son, and reads a lot of books. During a trip to St. Petersburg, B. meets Natasha Rostova for the second time. It awakens in him deep feeling, the heroes decide to get married. B.'s father does not agree with his son's choice, they postpone the wedding for a year, the hero goes abroad. After his fiancee betrays him, he returns to the army under the leadership of Kutuzov. During the Battle of Borodino, he was mortally wounded. By chance, he leaves Moscow in the Rostov convoy. Before his death, he forgives Natasha and understands true meaning love.

Lisa Bolkonskaya

Prince Andrei's wife. She is the darling of the whole world, an attractive young woman whom everyone calls “the little princess.” “Her pretty upper lip, with a slightly blackened mustache, was short in teeth, but the more sweetly it opened and the more sweetly it sometimes stretched out and fell onto the lower one. As is always the case with quite attractive women, her shortcomings - short lips and half-open mouth - seemed to be special, actually her beauty. Everyone had fun looking at this pretty, full of health and liveliness expectant mother, who endured her position so easily.” L. was everyone’s favorite thanks to her constant liveliness and courtesy of a society woman; she could not imagine her life without high society. But Prince Andrei did not love his wife and felt unhappy in his marriage. L. does not understand her husband, his aspirations and ideals. After Andrei leaves for the war, L. lives in the Bald Mountains with the old Prince Bolkonsky, for whom he feels fear and hostility. L. has a presentiment of his imminent death and actually dies during childbirth.

Princess Marya

D the daughter of old Prince Bolkonsky and the sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. M. is ugly and sickly, but her whole face is transformed beautiful eyes: "... the princess's eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays warm light sometimes they came out of them in sheaves), they were so beautiful that very often, despite the ugliness of the whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty." Princess M. is distinguished by her great religiosity. She often receives all kinds of pilgrims and wanderers. She has no close friends , she lives under the yoke of her father, whom she loves, but is incredibly afraid of. The old Prince Bolkonsky was different. bad character, M. was absolutely overwhelmed by him and did not believe in her personal happiness at all. She gives all her love to her father, brother Andrey and his son, trying to replace little Nikolenka deceased mother. M.'s life changes after meeting Nikolai Rostov. It was he who saw all the wealth and beauty of her soul. They get married, M. becomes a devoted wife, completely sharing all the views of her husband.

Kutuzov

Real historical figure, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. For Tolstoy he is ideal historical figure and the ideal of man. “He will listen to everything, remember everything, put everything in its place, will not interfere with anything useful and will not allow anything harmful. He understands that there is something stronger and more significant than his will - this is the inevitable course of events, and he knows how to see them, knows how to understand their meaning and, in view of this meaning, knows how to renounce participation in these events, from his personal will directed to something else." K. knew that “the fate of the battle is decided not by the orders of the commander-in-chief, not by the place where the troops stand, not by the number of guns and killed people, but by that elusive force called the spirit of the army, and he followed this force and led it, as far as it was in his power." K. blends in with the people, he is always modest and simple. His behavior is natural; the author constantly emphasizes his heaviness and senile weakness. K. - spokesman folk wisdom in the novel. His strength lies in the fact that he understands and knows well what worries the people, and acts in accordance with this. K. dies when he has fulfilled his duty. The enemy has been pushed beyond the borders of Russia, more than that folk hero nothing to do.

The wife of Count Rostov, “a woman with an oriental type of thin face, about forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children... The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspires respect.” Countess Rostova creates an atmosphere of love in her family and kindness, he cares very much about the fate of his children. The news of the death of her youngest and beloved son Petya almost drives her crazy. She is accustomed to luxury and fulfillment of the slightest whims, and demands this after the death of her husband.

In 1867, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy completed work on the work “War and Peace”. Speaking about his novel, Tolstoy admitted that in War and Peace he “loved popular thought.” The author poetizes simplicity, kindness, morality...

Tolstoy portrays the Rostov and Bolkonsky families with great sympathy because: they are participants historical events, patriots; they are not attracted to careerism and profit; they are close to the Russian people. Characteristic features of the Rostov Bolkonskys 1. Older generation....

Why do people become friends? If parents, children, and relatives are not chosen, then everyone is free to choose friends. Therefore, a friend is a person whom we completely trust, whom we respect, and whose opinion we take into account. But that doesn't mean friends...

Pierre Bezukhov is one of Tolstoy's favorite heroes. Pierre's life is a path of discovery and disappointment, a path of crisis and in many ways dramatic. Pierre is an emotional person. He is distinguished by a mind prone to dreamy philosophizing, absent-mindedness, weakness...

New!
Tolstoy loves Natasha Rostova because life flows in her. This is not a positive heroine, but live girl, capable of both ups and downs. The story of the transformation of a girl into a woman, full of twists and turns, unfolds...

Prince Vasily fulfilled the promise made at the evening at Anna Pavlovna's to Princess Drubetskaya, who asked him for her only son Boris. He was reported to the sovereign, and, unlike others, he was transferred to the Semenovsky Guard Regiment as an ensign. But Boris was never appointed as an adjutant or under Kutuzov, despite all the efforts and machinations of Anna Mikhailovna. Soon after Anna Pavlovna's evening, Anna Mikhailovna returned to Moscow, straight to her rich relatives, the Rostovs, with whom she stayed in Moscow and with whom her beloved Borenka, who had just been promoted to the army and was immediately transferred to guards ensigns, had been raised and lived for years since childhood. The Guard had already left St. Petersburg on August 10, and the son, who remained in Moscow for uniforms, was supposed to catch up with her on the road to Radzivilov. The Rostovs had Natalia's birthday girls - a mother and a younger daughter. Since the morning, trains have been continuously arriving and departing, bringing congratulators to the big city, all of Moscow famous house Countess Rostova on Povarskaya. The countess with her beautiful eldest daughter and guests, who never ceased replacing one another, were sitting in the living room. The Countess was a woman with an oriental type of thin face, about forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children, of whom she had twelve. The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspired respect. Princess Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya, as home person, sat right there, helping in the matter of receiving and engaging in conversation with guests. The youth were in the back rooms, not finding it necessary to participate in receiving visits. The Count met and saw off the guests, inviting everyone to dinner. “I am very, very grateful to you, ma chère or mon cher (he said ma chère or mon cher to everyone without exception, without the slightest shade, both above and below him), for himself and for the dear birthday girls.” Look, come and have lunch. You will offend me, mon cher. I sincerely ask you on behalf of the whole family, ma chère. “He spoke these words with the same expression on his plump, cheerful, clean-shaven face and with an equally strong handshake and repeated short bows to everyone, without exception or change.” Having seen off one guest, the count returned to the one or the other who was still in the living room; having pulled up his chairs and with the air of a man who loves and knows how to live, with his legs gallantly spread and his hands on his knees, he swayed significantly, offered guesses about the weather, consulted about health, sometimes in Russian, sometimes in very bad, but self-confident French, and again, with the air of a tired but firm man in the performance of his duties, he went to see him off, straightening his rare gray hair on a bald head, and again called for dinner. Sometimes, returning from the hallway, he walked through the flower and waiter's room into a large marble hall, where a table for eighty couverts was being set, and, looking at the waiters wearing silver and porcelain, pushing the tables apart and unrolling the damask tablecloths, he called Dmitry Vasilyevich, a nobleman, to him. involved in all his affairs, and said: - Well, well, Mitenka, make sure everything is fine. “Well, well,” he said, looking around with pleasure at the huge spread table. — The main thing is serving. That's it... - And he left, sighing complacently, back into the living room. - Marya Lvovna Karagina with her daughter! — the huge countess's footman reported in a bass voice as he entered the living room door. The Countess thought and sniffed from a golden snuffbox with a portrait of her husband. “These visits tormented me,” she said. - Well, I’ll take her last one. Very prim. “Ask,” she said to the footman in a sad voice, as if she was saying: “Well, finish it off.” A tall, plump, proudly looking lady with a round-faced, smiling daughter, rustling with their dresses, entered the living room. “Chère comtesse, il y a si longtemps... elle a été alitée, la pauvre enfant... au bal des Razoumovsky... et la comtesse Apraksine... j"ai été si heureuse... - were heard animated women's voices, interrupting one another and merging with the noise of dresses and the pushing of chairs. That conversation began that one starts just long enough to get up at the first pause, rustle with their dresses, and say: “Je suis bien charmée; la santé de maman... et la comtesse Apraksine,” and again, with a rustle of dresses, go into the hallway, put on a fur coat or cloak and leave. The conversation turned to the main city news of that time - about the illness of the famous rich and handsome man of Catherine's time, old Count Bezukhov, and about his illegitimate son Pierre, who behaved so indecently at an evening with Anna Pavlovna Scherer. “I feel very sorry for the poor count,” said the guest, “his health was already bad, and now this is grief from his son.” This will kill him! - What's happened? - asked the countess, as if not knowing what the guest was talking about, although she had already heard the reason for Count Bezukhov’s grief fifteen times. - This is the current education! “Even abroad,” the guest continued, “this young man was left to his own devices, and now in St. Petersburg, they say, he did such horrors that he was expelled from there with the police. - Tell! - said the countess. “He chose his acquaintances poorly,” Princess Anna Mikhailovna intervened. - The son of Prince Vasily, he and Dolokhov alone, they say, God knows what they were doing. And both were hurt. Dolokhov was demoted to the ranks of soldiers, and Bezukhov’s son was exiled to Moscow. Anatoly Kuragin - his father somehow hushed him up. But they deported me from St. Petersburg. - What the hell did they do? - asked the countess. “These are complete robbers, especially Dolokhov,” said the guest. - He is the son of Marya Ivanovna Dolokhova, such a respectable lady, so what? Can you imagine; The three of them found a bear somewhere, put it in a carriage and took it to the actresses. The police came running to calm them down. They caught the policeman and tied him back to back to the bear and let the bear into the Moika; the bear is swimming, and the policeman is on him. “Good, ma chère, the figure of the policeman,” shouted the count, dying of laughter. - Oh, what a horror! What's there to laugh about, Count? But the ladies couldn’t help but laugh themselves. “They saved this unfortunate man by force,” the guest continued. “And it’s the son of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov who is playing so cleverly!” - she added. “They said he was so well-mannered and smart.” This is where all my upbringing abroad has led me. I hope that no one will accept him here, despite his wealth. They wanted to introduce him to me. I resolutely refused: I have daughters. “Why do you say that this young man is so rich?” - asked the countess, bending down from the girls, who immediately pretended not to listen. - After all, he only has illegitimate children. It seems... Pierre is also illegal. The guest waved her hand. - He has twenty of them illegal, I think. Princess Anna Mikhailovna intervened in the conversation, apparently wanting to show off her connections and her knowledge of all social circumstances. “That’s the thing,” she said significantly and also in a half-whisper. — The reputation of Count Kirill Vladimirovich is known... He lost count of his children, but this Pierre was beloved. “How good the old man was,” said the countess, “even last year!” More beautiful than a man I haven't seen it. “Now he’s changed a lot,” said Anna Mikhailovna. “So I wanted to say,” she continued, “through his wife, Prince Vasily is the direct heir to the entire estate, but his father loved Pierre very much, was involved in his upbringing and wrote to the sovereign... so no one knows if he dies (he is so bad that this is expected every minute, and Lorrain came from St. Petersburg), who will get this huge fortune, Pierre or Prince Vasily. Forty thousand souls and millions. I know this very well, because Prince Vasily himself told me this. And Kirill Vladimirovich is my second cousin on my mother’s side. “He baptized Borya,” she added, as if not attributing any significance to this circumstance. — Prince Vasily arrived in Moscow yesterday. He’s going for an inspection, they told me,” the guest said.- Yes, but entre nous

Countess Rostova is one of female images novel by L.N. Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, which the author likes. In her youth, the Countess revolved around secular society, she was invited to salons, and she was their welcome guest. After marriage, her lifestyle changes; she devotes herself entirely to her husband and children. We meet the heroine at the moment when she is already an exemplary mother of the family, full of cordiality, love, kindness and tact.

For her children, the Countess - close friend and advisor. Natasha comes to her in the evenings for advice, shares her secrets with her, reveals girl's secrets. Sonya, the niece of Ilya Andreevich, Boris Drubetskoy, the son of a friend and distant relative of the Rostovs, is being brought up in the countess's house. Countess Rostova treats everyone like a mother.

Creating the image of the Countess, Tolstoy combined character traits in her, as well as events in the lives of two real women, his relatives - mother-in-law L.A. Bers and paternal grandmothers P.N. Tolstoy. External characteristics the heroine is a little contradictory general image the entire Rostov family, so noisy and full of life: “...a woman with an oriental type of thin face, about forty-five years old, apparently exhausted by children... The slowness of her movements and speech, resulting from weakness of strength, gave her a significant appearance that inspires respect.” Yes, the Countess is so different from her husband who loves to communicate, from the lively Natasha, but there is still eldest daughter– cold and calm Vera. She is also different from the members of this friendly and loving family.

Ilya Andreevich explains her character simply: “The Countess was wise with Vera.” However, this wisdom did a disservice: the daughter grew into a soulless copy of Helen Kuragina. Considering that Vera was the first child in the family, we can conclude that many of her traits were inherent in her mother, but over time, with the birth of other children, they were erased, and they were replaced by other qualities, softer and more heartfelt. But the negative that is in the heroine’s soul sometimes manifests itself. So, when things go badly for the Rostovs, due to the careless behavior and excessive generosity of Count Rostov, the family finds itself almost on the verge of ruin, when Nikolai’s loss and Vera’s dowry demanded by Berg add fuel to the fire, traits hitherto invisible are revealed in the countess: stinginess and lack of emotional sensitivity. The heroine does not want to give the carts to the wounded, so she tries to preserve those remnants of the family’s property that can become Natasha’s dowry, Nikolai’s means of subsistence. The Countess behaves like a mother whose instinct tells her to save her family and property, but not for her own sake, but for the sake of her children. At the same time, it recedes into the background civic position Rostova, she doesn’t even think about the fact that her behavior becomes a lesson in inhumanity for children.

However, the Countess cannot be unequivocally condemned, she is a mother, and this explains her rare impartial actions. She is concerned about the fate of children, in relation to whom she always makes reasonable and balanced decisions. The friendship and trust of children is a source of pride for the Countess. The heroine also cares about the happiness of her children. She wants to marry Nicholas to a rich bride, and, seeing the sympathy with which her son treats Sonya, the countess cannot resist finding fault with the girl. Rostova listens to Natasha’s experiences and tries to give her good advice. The heroine almost goes crazy when she learns about Petya’s death. Family is her whole life.

Tolstoy did not set himself the goal of drawing the face of Countess Rostova perfect image Russian woman, he portrayed a real Russian woman with her undeniable merits and human shortcomings.

Updated: 2012-03-24

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