The terrible death of Elena Bezukhova in the early plans of war and peace. The Kuragin family in Leo Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" Helen Kuragin and Anatole Kuragin relationship

Among the characters in “War and Peace,” the Kuragins live by these laws, knowing throughout the world only their own personal interests and energetically pursuing them through intrigue. And how much destruction the Kuragins brought - Prince Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, the Rostovs, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!

The Kuragins, the third family unit in the novel, are deprived of generic poetry. Their family closeness and connection is unpoetic, although it undoubtedly exists - instinctive mutual support and solidarity, a kind of mutual guarantee of almost animal egoism. Such a family connection is not a positive, real family connection, but, in essence, its negation. Real families - the Rostovs, the Bolkonskys - have, of course, an immense moral superiority on their side against the Kuragins; but still, the invasion of base Kuragin egoism causes a crisis in the world of these families.

The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize moral standards, living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires.

The family is the basis of human society. The writer expresses in the Kuragins all the immorality that prevailed in noble families in those days.

Kuragins are selfish, hypocritical, selfish people. They are ready to commit any crime for the sake of wealth and fame. All their actions are committed to achieve their personal goals. They destroy the lives of other people and use them as they want. Natasha Rostova, Ippolit, Pierre Bezukhov - all those people who suffered because of the “evil family.” The members of the Kuragins themselves are connected not by love, warmth and care, but by purely solidarity relations.

The author uses the technique of antithesis when creating the Kuragin family. They turn out to be capable only of destruction. Anatole becomes the reason for the breakup of Natasha and Andrey, who sincerely love each other; Helene almost ruins Pierre's life, plunging him into the abyss of lies and falsehood. They are deceitful, selfish and calm. They all bear the shame of matchmaking easily. Anatole is only slightly annoyed by the unsuccessful attempt to take Natasha away. Only once will their “control” change for them: Helen will scream for fear of being killed by Pierre, and her brother will cry like a woman who has lost his leg. Their calmness comes from indifference to everyone except themselves. Anatole is a dandy, “who wears his beautiful head high.” In dealing with women he had a manner of contemptuous consciousness of his superiority. How accurately Tolstoy will define this pomposity and importance of face and figure in the absence of intelligence (“he didn’t think much at all”) in the children of Prince Vasil! Their spiritual callousness and meanness will be branded by the most honest and delicate Pierre, and therefore the accusation will sound from his lips like a shot: “Where you are, there is depravity and evil.”

They are alien to Tolstoy's ethics. We know that children are happiness, the meaning of life, life itself. But the Kuragins are selfish, they are focused only on themselves. Nothing will be born from them, because in a family one must be able to give others the warmth of the soul and care. They only know how to take: “I’m not a fool to give birth to children,” says Helen. Shamefully, as she lived, Helen will end her life on the pages of the novel.

Everything in the Kuragin family is opposite to the Bolkonsky family. In the house of the latter there is a confidential, homely atmosphere and sincere words: “darling”, “buddy”, “darling”, “my friend”. Vasil Kuragin also calls his daughter “my dear child.” But this is insincere, and therefore ugly. Tolstoy himself will say: “There is no beauty where there is no truth.”

In his novel “War and Peace” Tolstoy showed us an ideal family (Bolkonskys) and only a formal family (Kuragins). And Tolstoy’s ideal is a patriarchal family with its sacred care of the elders for the younger and the younger for the elders, with the ability of everyone in the family to give more than to take, with relationships built on “goodness and truth.” Everyone should strive for this. After all, happiness is in the family.

In the novel “War and Peace,” a description of the Kuragin family can be made from the depiction of various actions of members of this family.

The Kuragin family is, rather, a formality, a group of not spiritually close people, united together by predatory instincts. For Tolstoy, family, home and children are life, happiness and the meaning of life. But the Kuragin family is the complete opposite of the author’s ideal, because they are empty, selfish and narcissistic.

First, Prince Vasily tries to steal the will of Count Bezukhov, then, almost by deception, his daughter Helen marries Pierre and mocks his kindness and naivety.

Anatole, who tried to seduce Natasha Rostova, was no better.

And Hippolytus appears in the novel as an extremely unpleasant strange man, whose “face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident grumbling, and his body was thin and weak.”

Deceitful, calculating, low people, bringing destruction to the lives of those who encounter them during the course of the novel.

All the Kuragin children only know how to take everything they can from life, and Tolstoy did not consider any of them worthy to continue his family line.

The works of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy tirelessly speak about the social significance of women as the embodiment of something exceptionally great and beneficial. And the world-famous epic novel “War and Peace” is clear proof of this. The natural expression of women is manifested in their ability to take care of the home, preserving the family idyll, caring for children and, of course, the responsibilities of a wife.

In the work “War and Peace,” based on such positive images as Natasha Rostova and Princess Marya, the author sought to show ladies who were unusual for the secular society of that time. Both of these heroines, having devoted their entire lives to creating and strengthening family relationships, on the eve of 1812 felt strong spiritual contact with their own families until the end of hostilities.

Characteristics of the heroine

("Helen" from "War and Peace", artist Konstantin Rudakov, 1947)

Positive images of heroines of noble origin are gaining more and more significance against the background of the psychologically immoral depth of Helen Kuragina’s essence.

L.N. Tolstoy painted a portrait of her, not sparing a variety of dark colors to display as clearly as possible all the unattractive aspects of Helen’s image. Despite the fact that the first impression of Helen makes one think of her as a wise, educated woman, because she looks very tactful and reserved, later the opinion of her changes radically. And besides, one can’t help but get the impression that no one knows a lot about the rules of etiquette in a secular society the way she knows them. However, this is just skillfully throwing dust in the eyes - a lie and pretense, since Helen’s soul is ugly. As insanely beautiful as she is on the outside, she is just as ugly on the inside: selfish and callous, materialistic and vain. The socialite takes Peter as her husband solely for selfish reasons, because after his father died, Bezukhov becomes the owner of a huge fortune and, as a result, the most desirable groom.

(Irina Skobtseva as Helen Kuragina in Sergei Bondarchuk's film "War and Peace", USSR 1967)

Helen Kuragina can easily be called a typical representative of the class of high society salon to which she belonged. Her manners and behavior as a whole were driven by her position, rooted in the ranks of the nobles, among whom the role of women is simple and is determined only by the game, where they are beautiful dolls, obliged to marry to the utmost advantage. But the desires of women do not imply the rules of this game. All they have to do is show up at social events and shine there.

The author of the novel writes that a pleasant appearance does not always hide spiritual depth and true nobility. The description of Helen Kuragina consists of ominous features, as if her delightful face and ideal figure are doomed to sin. Her psychological portrait personifies a predator who captures her victim, but also finds her own justification for this

The image of the heroine in the work

(Viya Artmane as Helen, production of "War and Peace" on the stage of the State Art Theater. J. Rainisa, 1960)

Helene's father, who hastily married his daughter to Pierre Bezukhov, who had recently acquired unprecedented wealth, thereby destined Helene not only for the fate of a terrible housewife, but also for unfulfilled motherhood. Helen Bezukhova does not stop wasting her life on empty social events; this arrangement is the most acceptable for her.

The impression the reader gets of the behavior and actions of this heroine at the beginning of the novel is delight and admiration for her boundless beauty. She is admired by Pierre, who admires her youth from afar, and by Andrei Bolkonsky himself, and by all those who were surrounded by her. The beauty of Princess Helen so skillfully hid her callousness, hopelessness and stupidity. “Marble shoulders” gave her silhouette the outline of a magnificent statue, as if she were the work of the most talented architect. However, it is not for nothing that Lev Nikolayevich hides the eyes of a socialite from the reader, since they are not capable of reflecting any emotions and feelings. During the chapters in which Helen was involved, she did not experience such emotional manifestations and reactions as fear, joy, regret, sympathy, sadness and anguish. In love with herself, Helen first of all thinks about her own benefit and personal well-being. This is exactly how she is perceived in her father’s house, where no one also knows the concepts of conscience and decency. Pierre, irrevocably disappointed in his wife, insists: where she and her family are, there is evil and depravity. Moreover, he extends this accusation to all representatives of the secular world.

Family
Prince Vasily Kuragin.
For Tolstoy, the world of family is the basis of humanity
society. The Kuragin family in the novel appears as the embodiment of immorality.
Selfishness, hypocrisy, capacity for crime, dishonor for the sake of wealth,
irresponsibility for one's actions in one's personal life - these are the main distinguishing features
features of this family.
And how much destruction the Kuragins caused - Prince
Vasily, Helen, Anatole - into the life of Pierre, Rostov, Natasha, Andrei Bolkonsky!
The Kuragins are the third family unit in the novel -
deprived of generic poetry. Their family closeness and connection is unpoetic, although she
undoubtedly there is - instinctive mutual support and solidarity, a kind of
mutual guarantee of almost animal egoism. This kind of family connection is not positive,
a real family connection, but essentially a negation of it. Real families -
The Rostovs, Bolkonskys - have, of course, against the Kuragins on their side
immeasurable moral superiority; but still an invasion
Kuragin's base egoism causes a crisis in the world of these families.
The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize
moral standards, living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant
desires.

Prince Vasily Kuragin The head of this entire family is Prince Vasily
Kuragin. For the first time we meet Prince Vasily in the salon of Anna Pavlovna Scherer. He
was "in a courtier's, embroidered, uniform, stockings, shoes and stars, with
with a bright expression on his flat face." The prince said "on
that exquisite French language, which was not only spoken, but also thought
our grandfathers, and with those quiet, patronizing intonations that
characteristic of a significant person who has grown old in high society and at court,” “said
always lazy, like an actor speaking the role of an old play." In the eyes of secular society, the prince
Kuragin is a respected person, “close to the emperor, surrounded by a crowd
enthusiastic women, scattering social pleasantries and complacent
chuckling." In words he was a decent, sympathetic person,
but in reality there was constantly an internal struggle in him between desire
appear to be a decent person and the actual depravity of his motives.
Prince Vasily "knew that influence in the world is capital that is necessary
take care that he does not disappear, and, once realizing that if he asks for
everyone who asks him, then soon he will not be able to ask for himself, he rarely
used this influence." But at the same time, he
sometimes I felt remorse. So, in the case of Princess Drubetskaya, he
felt "something like a remorse" as she reminded him
that “he owed his first steps in the service to her father.” Prince Vasily is not alien to fatherly feelings, although
They are expressed rather in the desire to “attach”
their children rather than giving them fatherly love and warmth. According to Anna Pavlovna
Scherer, people like the prince should not have children.
"…And for what
Will people like you have children? If you weren't the father, I
I couldn’t reproach you for anything.” To which the prince replied: “What
what should I do? You know, I did everything I could to raise them.
maybe father." Prince
forced Pierre to marry Helene, while pursuing his own selfish goals. At Anna Pavlovna Sherer's proposal to "marry
the prodigal son Anatole" on Princess Maria Bolkonskaya,
Having learned that the princess is a rich heiress, he says:
"she
has a good name and is rich. Everything I need." At the same time, Prince Vasily
does not think at all about the fact that Princess Marya may be unhappy in her marriage
with the dissolute scoundrel Anatole, who looked upon his entire life as one
continuous entertainment.
Absorbed all the base, vicious traits of the prince
Vasily and his children.

Helen Kuragina
Helen is the embodiment of external beauty and internal
voids, fossils. Tolstoy constantly mentions its “monotonous”, “unchanging”
smile and “antique beauty of the body”, she resembles a beautiful,
soulless statue. Helen Scherer enters the salon “noisily with her white ballroom
robe, decorated with ivy and moss, and shining with the whiteness of the shoulders, the gloss of the hair and
diamonds, passed without looking at anyone, but smiling at everyone and as if kindly
giving everyone the right to admire the beauty of their figure, full shoulders, very
open, according to the fashion of that time, chest and back, and as if bringing with it shine
bala. Helen was so beautiful that not only was there not even a shadow noticeable in her
coquetry, but, on the contrary, she seemed ashamed of her undoubted and
too powerful beauty. It was as if she wanted and could not diminish
the actions of this beauty."
Helen personifies immorality and depravity.
The entire Kuragin family are individualists who do not recognize any moral standards,
living according to the unchanging law of fulfilling their insignificant desires. Helen enters
into marriage only for their own enrichment.
She cheats on her husband because her nature is dominated by
animal origin. It is no coincidence that Tolstoy leaves Helen childless. "I
“I’m not such a fool as to have children,” she admits. Also,
being Pierre's wife, Helene, in front of the whole society, is engaged in the construction
your personal life.
In addition to a luxurious bust, a rich and beautiful body,
this representative of high society had an extraordinary ability to hide
his mental and moral squalor, and all this thanks only to grace
her manners and memorization of some phrases and techniques. Shamelessness manifested itself in her
under such grandiose high-society forms that aroused in others a little
Isn't it respect?
Helen is completely devoid of patriotic feelings. At that
while the whole country rose up to fight Napoleon, and even the high society
took part in this struggle in his own way (“they didn’t speak French and
ate simple food"), in Helen's circle, Rumyantsev, French, were refuted
rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war and all of Napoleon's attempts to
reconciliation."
When the threat of capture of Moscow by Napoleonic troops
became obvious, Helen went abroad. And there she shone under the imperial
yard But now the court returns to St. Petersburg.
"Helen,
Having returned with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg, she was in
difficult situation. In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed a special
patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state.
In the end, Helen dies. This death is direct
a consequence of her own intrigues. "Countess Elena Bezukhova
died suddenly from... a terrible disease, which is commonly called chest
angina, but in intimate circles they talked about how the queen’s life physician
Spanish prescribed Helen small doses of some medicine to produce
known action; but like Helen, tormented by the fact that the old count
suspected her, and because the husband to whom she wrote (that unfortunate depraved
Pierre), did not answer her, suddenly took a huge dose of the medicine prescribed to her and
died in agony before help could be given."
Ippolit Kuragin.
"...Prince Hippolyte amazed with his
extraordinary resemblance to her beautiful sister, and even more so, despite
similarity, he was amazingly bad-looking. His facial features were the same as those
sister, but with her everything was illuminated by a cheerful, self-satisfied, young
an unchanging smile and extraordinary, antique beauty of the body. My brother, on the contrary,
the same face was clouded with idiocy and invariably expressed self-confident
disgust, and the body was thin and weak. Eyes, nose, mouth - everything was shrinking like
as if in one vague, boring grimace, and the arms and legs always took
unnatural position."
Hippolytus was unusually stupid. Because of self-confidence
to whom he spoke, no one could understand whether what he said was very smart or very stupid.
At Scherer's reception he appears to us "in
a dark green tailcoat, in trousers the color of a frightened nymph, as he himself said, in
stockings and shoes." And such an absurdity of attire is not at all his
didn't bother me.
His stupidity manifested itself in the fact that he sometimes
spoke, and then understood what he said. Hippolytus often spoke and acted
inappropriately, expressed his opinions when no one needed them. He
liked to insert phrases into conversations that were completely unrelated to the essence of the discussion
Topics.
The character of Hippolytus can serve as a living example of
that even positive idiocy is sometimes presented in the world as something having
meaning due to the gloss attached to knowledge of the French language, and that
the extraordinary property of this language to support and at the same time mask
spiritual emptiness.
Prince Vasily calls Ippolit "deceased
a fool." Tolstoy in the novel is "sluggish and breaking."
These are the dominant character traits of Hippolytus. Ippolit is stupid, but he is his
stupidity at least does not harm anyone, unlike his younger brother
Anatoly.

Anatol Kuragin.
Anatol Kuragin, according to Tolstoy, is “simple
and with carnal inclinations." These are the dominant traits
Anatole's character. He looked upon his whole life as a continuous amusement,
which someone like that for some reason agreed to arrange for him. The author’s characterization of Anatole is as follows:
"He was not
unable to think about how his actions might affect others, nor
what might come out of such or such an act of his.”
Anatole is completely free from considerations
responsibility and consequences of what he does. His selfishness is immediate,
animal-naive and good-natured, absolute egoism, for he is not constrained by anything
Anatole inside, in consciousness, feeling. Kuragin simply lacks the ability to know
what will happen beyond that moment of his pleasure, and how will it affect his life?
other people, as others will see. All this does not exist for him at all.
He is sincerely convinced, instinctively, with his whole being, that everything around him has
Its sole purpose is entertainment and it exists for this. No looking back
people, on their opinion, on the consequences, no distant goal that would force
focus on achieving it, no remorse, no thoughts,
hesitation, doubt - Anatole, whatever he did, naturally and sincerely
considers himself an impeccable person and holds his beautiful head high: freedom is truly limitless, freedom in actions and self-awareness.
Such complete freedom was given to Anatoly
meaninglessness. A person who consciously relates to life is already subordinated, like
Pierre, the need to understand and solve, he is not free from life's difficulties, from
question: why? While Pierre is tormented by this difficult question,
Anatole lives, content with every minute, stupidly, animalistically, but easily and
funny.
Marriage to a "rich ugly heiress" -
Maria Bolkonskaya seems to him like just another amusement. "A
Why not marry if she is very rich? It never gets in the way" -
thought Anatole.

In this article we will talk about Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. We will pay special attention to the Russian noble society, carefully described in the work; in particular, we will be interested in the Kuragin family.

Novel "War and Peace"

The novel was completed in 1869. In his work, Tolstoy depicted Russian society during the Napoleonic War. That is, the novel covers the period from 1805 to 1812. The writer nurtured the idea of ​​the novel for a very long time. Initially, Tolstoy intended to describe the story of the Decembrist hero. However, gradually the writer came to the idea that it would be best to start the work in 1805.

The novel War and Peace first began to be published in separate chapters in 1865. The Kuragin family already appears in these passages. Almost at the very beginning of the novel, the reader becomes acquainted with its members. However, let's talk in more detail about why the description of high society and noble families occupies such a large place in the novel.

The role of high society in the work

In the novel, Tolstoy takes the place of the judge who begins the trial of high society. The writer first of all evaluates not a person’s position in the world, but his moral qualities. And the most important virtues for Tolstoy were truthfulness, kindness and simplicity. The author strives to tear off the shiny veils of secular gloss and show the true essence of the nobility. Therefore, from the first pages the reader becomes a witness to the base deeds committed by the nobles. Just remember the drunken revelry of Anatoly Kuragin and Pierre Bezukhov.

The Kuragin family, among other noble families, finds itself under the gaze of Tolstoy. How does the writer see each member of this family?

General idea of ​​the Kuragin family

Tolstoy saw the family as the basis of human society, which is why he attached such great importance to the depiction of noble families in the novel. The writer presents the Kuragins to the reader as the embodiment of immorality. All members of this family are hypocritical, selfish, ready to commit a crime for the sake of wealth, irresponsible, selfish.

Among all the families depicted by Tolstoy, only the Kuragins are guided in their actions solely by personal interest. It was these people who destroyed the lives of other people: Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, etc.

Even the family ties of the Kuragins are different. The members of this family are connected not by poetic closeness, kinship of souls and care, but by instinctive solidarity, which in practice is more reminiscent of the relations of animals than of people.

Composition of the Kuragin family: Prince Vasily, Princess Alina (his wife), Anatole, Helen, Ippolit.

Vasily Kuragin

Prince Vasily is the head of the family. The reader first sees him in Anna Pavlovna's salon. He was dressed in a court uniform, stockings and heads and had a "bright expression on his flat face." The prince speaks French, always for show, lazily, like an actor playing a role in an old play. The prince was a respected person among the society of the novel "War and Peace". The Kuragin family was generally received quite favorably by other nobles.

Prince Kuragin, kind to everyone and complacent to everyone, was a close associate of the emperor, he was surrounded by a crowd of enthusiastic fans. However, behind the external well-being there was hidden an ongoing internal struggle between the desire to appear as a moral and worthy person and the real motives of his actions.

Tolstoy loved to use the technique of discrepancy between the internal and external character of a character. It was this that he used when creating the image of Prince Vasily in the novel War and Peace. The Kuragin family, whose characteristics interest us so much, generally differs from other families in this duplicity. Which is clearly not in her favor.

As for the count himself, his true face was revealed in the scene of the struggle for the inheritance of the deceased Count Bezukhov. It is here that the hero’s ability to intrigue and dishonest acts is shown.

Anatol Kuragin

Anatole is also endowed with all the qualities that the Kuragin family personifies. The characterization of this character is primarily based on the words of the author himself: “Simple and with carnal inclinations.” For Anatole, life is continuous fun, which everyone is obliged to arrange for him. This man never thought about the consequences of his actions and about the people around him, guided only by his desires. The idea that one must be held accountable for one’s actions never even occurred to Anatoly.

This character is completely free of responsibility. Anatole's egoism is almost naive and good-natured, comes from his animal nature, which is why it is absolute. is an integral part of the hero, it is inside him, in his feelings. Anatole is deprived of the opportunity to think about what will happen after the momentary pleasure. He lives only in the present. Anatole has a strong belief that everything around him is intended only for his pleasure. He knows no regrets or doubts. At the same time, Kuragin is confident that he is a wonderful person. That is why there is so much freedom in his very movements and appearance.

However, this freedom stems from the meaninglessness of Anatole, since he sensually approaches the perception of the world, but does not realize it, does not try to comprehend it, like, for example, Pierre.

Helen Kuragina

Another character who embodies the duality that the family carries within itself, like Anatole, is perfectly portrayed by Tolstoy himself. The writer describes the girl as a beautiful antique statue that is empty inside. There is nothing behind Helen’s appearance; she is soulless, although beautiful. It is not for nothing that the text constantly compares it with marble statues.

The heroine becomes in the novel the personification of depravity and immorality. Like all Kuragins, Helen is an egoist who does not recognize moral standards; she lives by the laws of fulfilling her desires. An excellent example of this is her marriage to Pierre Bezukhov. Helen marries only to improve her well-being.

After marriage, she did not change at all, continuing to follow only her base desires. Helen begins to cheat on her husband, while she has no desire to have children. That is why Tolstoy leaves her childless. For a writer who believes that a woman should be devoted to her husband and raise children, Helen became the embodiment of the most unpleasant qualities that a female representative can have.

Ippolit Kuragin

The Kuragin family in the novel “War and Peace” personifies a destructive force that causes harm not only to others, but also to itself. Each family member is a carrier of some kind of vice, from which he himself ultimately suffers. The only exception is Hippolytus. His character only harms him, but does not destroy the lives of those around him.

Prince Hippolyte looks very similar to his sister Helen, but at the same time he is completely ugly. His face was “clouded with idiocy,” and his body was weak and thin. Hippolytus is incredibly stupid, but because of the confidence with which he speaks, everyone cannot understand whether he is smart or impossibly stupid. He often speaks out of place, inserts inappropriate remarks, and does not always understand what he is talking about.

Thanks to his father's patronage, Hippolyte makes a military career, but among the officers he is considered a buffoon. Despite all this, the hero is successful with women. Prince Vasily himself speaks of his son as a “dead fool.”

Comparison with other noble families

As noted above, noble families are important to understanding the novel. And it’s not for nothing that Tolstoy takes several families at once to describe. Thus, the main characters are members of five noble families: the Bolkonskys, Rostovs, Drubetskys, Kuragins and Bezukhovs.

Each noble family describes different human values ​​and sins. The Kuragin family in this regard stands out from other representatives of high society. And not for the better. In addition, as soon as Kuragin’s egoism invades someone else’s family, it immediately causes a crisis in it.

The Rostov and Kuragin family

As noted above, Kuragins are low, callous, depraved and selfish people. They do not feel any tenderness or care for each other. And if they provide help, it is only for selfish reasons.

The relationships in this family contrast sharply with the atmosphere that reigns in the Rostov house. Here family members understand and love each other, they sincerely care about loved ones, showing warmth and concern. So, Natasha, seeing Sonya’s tears, also begins to cry.

We can say that the Kuragin family in the novel “War and Peace” is contrasted with the Rostov family, in which Tolstoy saw the embodiment

The marriage relationship between Helen and Natasha is also indicative. If the first cheated on her husband and did not want to have children at all, then the second became the personification of the feminine principle in Tolstoy’s understanding. Natasha became an ideal wife and a wonderful mother.

Episodes of communication between brothers and sisters are also interesting. How different the intimate, friendly conversations of Nikolenka and Natasha are from the cold phrases of Anatole and Helen.

The Bolkonsky and Kuragin family

These noble families are also very different from each other.

First, let's compare the fathers of the two families. Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky is an extraordinary person who values ​​intelligence and activity. If necessary, he is ready to serve his Fatherland. Nikolai Andreevich loves his children and sincerely cares about them. Prince Vasily is not at all like him, who thinks only about his own benefit and does not worry at all about the well-being of his children. For him, the main thing is money and position in society.

In addition, Bolkonsky Sr., like his son later, became disillusioned with the society that so attracted everyone to the Kuragins. Andrei is the continuator of the affairs and views of his father, while the children of Prince Vasily go their own way. Even Marya inherits strictness in raising children from Bolkonsky Sr. And the description of the Kuragin family clearly indicates the absence of any continuity in their family.

Thus, in the Bolkonsky family, despite the apparent severity of Nikolai Andreevich, love and mutual understanding, continuity and care reign. Andrei and Marya are sincerely attached to their father and have respect for him. Relations between brother and sister were cool for a long time, until a common grief - the death of their father - united them.

All these feelings are alien to Kuragin. They are unable to sincerely support each other in a difficult situation. Their destiny is only destruction.

Conclusion

In his novel, Tolstoy wanted to show what ideal family relationships are built on. However, he also needed to imagine the worst possible scenario for the development of family ties. This option was the Kuragin family, in which the worst human qualities were embodied. Using the example of the fate of the Kuragins, Tolstoy shows what moral failure and animal egoism can lead to. None of them ever found such desired happiness precisely because they thought only about themselves. People with such an attitude towards life, according to Tolstoy, do not deserve prosperity.

Helen Kuragina is one of the bright female characters in L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”. An outwardly charming lady turns out to be a mercantile and selfish person who thinks only of herself. What is the characteristic of Ellen Kuragina?

External characteristics of Elen Kuragina

Elena Vasilievna Kuragina is a young beautiful girl whose appearance attracts attention at the beginning of the novel. Both women and men recognize her beauty: “...What a beauty! - said everyone who saw her...”

Men caught her every glance and admired her. The women tried to stay close to her, catching her every move, observing her ability to behave in society.

A lover of bright and revealing outfits, Helen knew her worth: “...a tall, beautiful lady, with a huge braid and very bare white, full shoulders and neck, on which there was a double string of large pearls, and sat down for a long time, rustling with her thick silk dress...”, “ ...She was, as always at evenings, in a dress that was very open in front and back, according to the fashion of that time. Her bust, which always seemed like marble to Pierre...”

She knew how to create the impression of an intelligent woman, although she was not one:

“...she could say the most vulgar and stupid things and yet everyone admired her every word and looked for a deep meaning in it, which she herself did not even suspect...”

Image of Ellen Kuragina

Helen Kuragina is the daughter of Prince Vasily, sister of Ippolit and Anatoly Kuragin. The beauty, who has beautiful forms and an attractive appearance and makes men fall in love with her, was in fact a stupid, narcissistic woman. She was not interested in anything except outfits and herself. Helen loved to look good, the beauty of her outfits was not in doubt, but inside the girl was completely empty. She was attracted to high-ranking, wealthy men. Helen was used to only “taking” in relationships, but was not ready to “give” in return.

For Ellen Kuragina, money comes first. She needs them to lead a wild life and not deny herself anything. Realizing that Pierre Bezukhov is a wealthy man, she seduces him and marries him. When he ceased to be interesting to her, she divorced him without a twinge of conscience, and then married someone else, taking away part of Pierre’s property.

Using the contradiction between Helen's external beauty and her empty inner world, the author shows that there may be nothing behind her appearance and pretty face. Such a woman is not capable of becoming a good wife, mother and protecting the family hearth. And for the author, family values ​​are the most important in life.

Relationships with men

Helen Kuragina used men like things. Possessing a charming appearance, she could get any man. Her first victim was Pierre Bezukhov. The naive man succumbed to Kuragina’s charms, seeing in her a person she was not. Since the young man was quite rich, the girl bewitched and married him. However, her status as a married lady did not stop her from flirting and cheating with other men. Disappointed Pierre divorces his wife, assigning her part of his property. Helen, without feeling a drop of shame, quickly finds herself a new boyfriend.