home → About love What is a secular society? Concept and description (based on the novel "War and Peace"). Secular society in the image l

What is a secular society? Concept and description (based on the novel "War and Peace"). Secular society in the image l

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. Their false patriotism is covered up with loud words about their 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 shtetl,” 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 around here. Helen is the first beauty of the city, but at the same time a cold and spiritually empty person. She realizes 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. 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 Andrey'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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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 the future fate of the state.

The image of secular society in the novel “War and Peace” (2nd version)

In the novel “War and Peace,” Tolstoy created a truthful and holistic picture of Russian life in the first quarter of the 19th century. During this period in Russia, the main social role was played by the nobles, so a significant place in the novel is given to the description of secular society. It should be noted that high society at that time was represented mainly by two metropolitan societies, quite different from each other: St. Petersburg and Moscow.
St. Petersburg is the capital, a cold, inhospitable city, on par with European cities. The St. Petersburg high society is a special world with its own laws, customs, morals, the intellectual center of the country, oriented towards Europe. But the first thing that catches your eye when describing relationships in this society is unnaturalness. All representatives of high society are accustomed to playing roles imposed on them by society or taken by them voluntarily; it is not for nothing that Prince Vasily is compared to an actor in the novel.
One of the main types of pastime for members of high society were social receptions at which news, the situation in Europe and much more were discussed. It seemed to the new person that everything being discussed was important, and all those present were very smart and thoughtful people, seriously interested in the subject of the conversation. In fact, there is something mechanical and indifferent in these techniques, and Tolstoy compares those present in the Scherer salon to a talking machine. An intelligent, serious, inquisitive person cannot be satisfied with such communication, and he quickly becomes disillusioned with the world. However, the basis of a secular society is made up of those who like such communication and for whom it is necessary. Such people develop a certain stereotype of behavior, which they transfer to their personal, family life. Therefore, in their relationships in the family there is little cordiality, more practicality and calculation. A typical St. Petersburg family is the Kuragin family.
Moscow secular society appears to us completely different, which, however, is still similar in some ways to St. Petersburg. The first image of Moscow light in the novel is the description of the name day in the Rostov house. The morning reception of guests is reminiscent of social receptions in St. Petersburg: discussion of news, although not on a global scale, but local, feigned feelings of surprise or indignation, but the impression immediately changes with the appearance of children, who bring spontaneity, happiness, and causeless fun into the living room. At dinner with the Rostovs, all the qualities inherent in the Moscow nobility are manifested: hospitality, cordiality, nepotism. Moscow society in many ways resembles one big family, where everyone knows everything, where they forgive each other’s small weaknesses and can publicly scold each other for mischief. Only in such a society could a figure like Akhrosimova appear, and Natasha’s outburst be condescendingly appreciated. Unlike the St. Petersburg nobility, the Moscow nobility is closer to the Russian people, their traditions and customs. In general, Tolstoy’s sympathies, apparently, are on the side of the Moscow nobility; it is not for nothing that his favorite heroes, the Rostovs, live in Moscow. And although the writer cannot approve of many of the traits and morals of Muscovites (gossiping, for example), he does not focus on them. In depicting secular society, Tolstoy actively uses the technique of “detachment,” which allows him to look at events and characters from an unexpected point of view. So , when describing an evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s, the writer compares the salon with a spinning workshop, illuminating the social reception from an unexpected angle and allowing the reader to penetrate into the essence of the relationships at it. French in the speech of the heroes is also a technique of “detachment,” making it possible to more fully create the image of a secular society that at that time spoke mainly French.
The novel “War and Peace” was created in the second half of the 19th century. This means that Tolstoy was familiar with the life of secular society at the beginning of the century only from the literature of that time or from the stories of contemporaries of that era. Poets and writers early XIX centuries often turned to the depiction of the nobility in their works, that is, in literature at that time there already existed a certain tradition in the depiction of high society, and Tolstoy in many ways continues this tradition, although he often departs from it. This allowed him to create very. a complete and reliable image of the secular society of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

The image of secular society in the novel “War and Peace” (version 3)

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. Their spiritual world is just as empty and insignificant. 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. Eraf 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.

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 cutesy sensuality, in which flatterers saw a manifestation of the “lofty 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 a hissing 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 him. my. 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. It was the Patriotic War of 1812 that showed the true essence of government officials. Their false patriotism is covered up with loud words about their homeland and people. But their mediocrity and inability to govern the country are clearly visible in the novel.

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 Ana-tol, whom his father himself calls “a restless fool,” and the destroyers of their 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 realizes 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.

All the heroes of the novel “War and Peace” (both fictional characters and historical figures) are grouped and assessed by Tolstoy depending on the degree of their closeness or distance from the people. This single principle of characterizing and evaluating the entire set characters(and there are more than five hundred of them in the novel) allowed the writer to bring together the image of people from very different social strata and different individual destinies.

The main accusation that Tolstoy makes against the St. Petersburg secular society, which leads a “ghostly”, artificial life, is isolation from the people, especially in times of terrible trials. “War and Peace” begins with a description of an evening in Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon, where the capital’s nobility gathers. In itself, the comparison of the evening with a spinning workshop (“Spindles from different sides made noise evenly and incessantly”) was quite accurate and definitely expressed author's attitude to the world of falsehood and emptiness, to that artificial life, which is characterized by mechanism and deadness. The thought of old Prince Bolkonsky about European politics: “some kind of puppet comedy” - takes on a generalized meaning.

L. N. Tolstoy puts forward certain criteria with the help of which he determines the value of the human personality: a person’s attitude to his homeland, people, nature, the ability for introspection, the depth of experiences, moral quest. Representatives of secular society do not stand the test of humanity. The environment of the Kuragins and others like them (Adolf Berg, Boris Drubetskoy and Rostopchin with his pseudo-patriotism) is distinguished precisely by their lifelessness, puppetry, hostility towards everything truly human, natural, and finally, simply decent. Vasily Kuragin tried to rob Pierre, his son, Anatole, involved Pierre in scandalous stories, and he brought a lot of grief to Marya Bolkonskaya and Natasha Rostova. Pierre had every reason to say, turning to Helen and referring not only to her alone, but to the entire secular world that she embodied: “...where you are, there is debauchery, evil...”.

The basic principle of Tolstoy’s depiction of negative characters is static, lack of movement, and depth of experience. Their moral world is always primitive, devoid of intellectual richness and moral attractiveness; they are not given a living perception of nature (none of them are depicted outside city houses, social evenings, balls, etc.). Thus, already in “War and Peace,” that “tearing off of all and every mask” begins, which will become especially characteristic of Tolstoy’s subsequent work. Elaborated poses, unchanging smiles, and acting were common both for habitual visitors to Anna Pavlovna’s salon and for Napoleon.

The motifs of puppetry and play as signs of unnaturalness and artificiality sound especially clearly in episodes where we're talking about about how Natasha, who has just returned from the village and has not yet had time to get used to the conventions of secular society, visits the opera house. Tolstoy describes an opera performance, seen as if through her eyes, that is, from the point of view of a natural person: “... then some other people came running and began to drag away that girl who was previously in a white dress, and now in a blue dress. They didn’t drag her away right away, but sang to her for a long time, and then they dragged her away...” It is here, in the theater,

Natasha meets Anatole and becomes infatuated with him. The atmosphere of artificiality, falsehood, when the shameful, illegal turns out to be permitted and ordinary (“Naked Helen sat next to her ...”), deprives Natasha of simple, natural human ideas, her guidelines have shifted, and what would have been impossible for her moral sense just recently, is now becoming quite acceptable.

Tolstoy does not accept a life concerned only with “ghosts, reflections”, devoid of truly human values. And it is characteristic that representatives of the secular world, hated by the author, gradually occupy less and less space in the development of the action, in the end almost completely disappearing from the pages of the novel.

Unexpectedly, Helen dies from a strange and mysterious illness; nothing is said in the epilogue about the Kuragins and Scherer, Berg and Drubetsky. Napoleon is also forgotten. Everything dark, selfish, negative goes away, goodness, light, openness and naturalness win. Heroines of the epic novel “Tolstoy’s moral sensitivity,” writes E. A. Maimin, “forces him to portray heroes - both positive and negative - in the light of his ideal. He does not like those of his heroes who lack life and a unique personality.

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L.N. Tolstoy initially wanted to write a short novel about a Decembrist who returned home from exile. About his views on life, changes in worldview. But in the process of work, I realized that it was impossible to do without the previous history. It was necessary to reveal the origins of the Decembrist movement, the character of the Russian nobility and the common people. But this world is so multifaceted that the work resulted in a voluminous, truly legendary epic novel.

Attitude to war

Showing the war, Tolstoy describes Napoleon's attack on Russia, battle of Borodino, the slow return of the Russian army, the French conquest of Moscow, the fire in the capital and the return of Napoleon's army during a harsh winter. The French commander had to flee from Russia under fire from Russian soldiers. His army is suffering from cold and hunger, since the Russians have destroyed all food supplies. Napoleon's capture of Moscow proved futile, and ultimately destroyed most of his army.

Along with these historical events, Tolstoy describes the various classes Russian society in terms of their participation in the war and the impact the war had on their lives. At the beginning of the novel, the Russian aristocratic class insists on Russian participation in the war. They wanted a quick victory, pride in the Russian nobility. But they did not expect that the war would destroy houses, Agriculture, will claim many lives of compatriots. However, the majority of this class did not plan to participate in the war themselves, but intended to win the battles through the hands of the peasants.

At the beginning of the novel, representatives of the aristocracy dream of war, admiring the genius of Napoleon. It doesn’t matter to them how many battles will take human lives, how many people will be crippled, how many orphans will be left. During bloody and protracted confrontations, the nobility pronounces other pathetic speeches, cursing French commander. The attitude towards the French language, so praised only recently, is also changing. Fines are being introduced for this speech.

Character antagonism

Tolstoy leads the reader to an awareness of true and false moral values, patriotism, honor and dishonor. People like Drubetskoy are eager to go to war only for their own benefit. By killing hundreds of people, they want to get a high officer rank. Their aspirations are base, vile, vulgar, and deceitful. And simple, inconspicuous people, like Tushin, really care about victory, have compassion for people, love, and are deeply rooted for their Motherland. The same applies to women in the novel. Young Natasha Rostova, whom many considered flighty and unconscious, gives her carts to the wounded, realizing that because of this she will not be able to evacuate in time. The author gently pushes us to compare Helen Kuragina and Marya Bolkonskaya. Everyone considers Helen a beauty, many are in love with her. She is in demand in secular society. Maria, on the other hand, has an inconspicuous appearance, is modest and quiet. But she has a sensitive soul, is virtuous, and internally beautiful. You understand this only after reading the novel in its entirety.

Attitude towards peasants

All Moscow and St. Petersburg nobility of that time were landowners. But only a few of them treated the peasants as people. Then it was easy to sell a person, trade him or lose at cards. And the peasants were measured by “souls.” This suggests that the aristocrats imagined themselves almost as gods, thinking that they owned human souls. Meanwhile, the Russian people are the true hero of the great work.

Conclusion

The writer paid a lot of attention to the depiction of the noble class. Lev Nikolaevich makes us understand the insignificance of these people. They are cold, arrogant, prim. Personal gain, money, rank, gossip are more important to them than honor, truth, and morality. It is not customary here to express one’s thoughts openly, out loud, and personal opinion must correspond to the opinion of the crowd. Any sincere manifestation of feelings is only condemned here. Some of them, such as: Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Andrei Bolkonsky, through physical and moral suffering, were able to cleanse themselves and come to inner harmony after brutal self-analysis. But there are only a few of them.

The writer also reveals the role of women in society. She should not be a coquette, like Helen Kuragina, or a society lady, like Anna Scherer, but a mother and wife. It becomes like this main character novel - Natasha Rostova.

In the novel "War and Peace" Tolstoy created a true and complete picture of Russian life in the first quarter of the 19th century. During this period in Russia, the main social role was played by the nobles, so a significant place in the novel is given to the description of secular society. It should be noted that high society at that time was represented mainly by two metropolitan societies, quite different from each other: St. Petersburg and Moscow.

St. Petersburg is the capital, a cold, inhospitable city, on par with European cities. The St. Petersburg high society is a special world with its own laws, customs, morals, the intellectual center of the country, oriented towards Europe. But the first thing that catches your eye when describing relationships in this society is unnaturalness. All representatives of high society are accustomed to playing roles imposed on them by society or taken by them voluntarily; it is not for nothing that Prince Vasily is compared to an actor in the novel.

One of the main types of pastime for members of high society were social receptions at which news, the situation in Europe and much more were discussed. It seemed to the new person that everything being discussed was important, and all those present were very smart and thoughtful people, seriously interested in the subject of the conversation. In fact, there is something mechanical and indifferent in these techniques, and Tolstoy compares those present in the Scherer salon to a talking machine. An intelligent, serious, inquisitive person cannot be satisfied with such communication, and he quickly becomes disillusioned with the world. However, the basis of a secular society is made up of those who like such communication and for whom it is necessary. Such people develop a certain stereotype of behavior, which they transfer into their personal and family life. Therefore, in their relationships in the family there is little cordiality, more practicality and calculation. A typical St. Petersburg family is the Kuragin family.

Moscow secular society appears to us completely different, which, however, is still similar in some ways to St. Petersburg. The first image of Moscow light in the novel is the description of the name day in the Rostov house. The morning reception of guests is reminiscent of social receptions in St. Petersburg: discussion of news, although not on a global scale, but local, feigned feelings of surprise or indignation, but the impression immediately changes with the appearance of children, who bring spontaneity, happiness, and causeless fun into the living room. At dinner with the Rostovs, all the qualities inherent in the Moscow nobility are manifested: hospitality, cordiality, nepotism. Moscow society in many ways resembles one big family, where everyone knows everything, where they forgive each other’s small weaknesses and can publicly scold each other for mischief. Only in such a society could a figure like Akhrosimova appear, and Natasha’s outburst be condescendingly appreciated. Unlike the St. Petersburg nobility, the Moscow nobility is closer to the Russian people, their traditions and customs. In general, Tolstoy’s sympathies, apparently, are on the side of the Moscow nobility; it is not for nothing that his favorite heroes, the Rostovs, live in Moscow. And although the writer cannot approve of many of the traits and morals of Muscovites (gossiping, for example), he does not focus on them. In his depiction of secular society, Tolstoy actively uses the technique of “detachment,” which allows him to look at events and characters from an unexpected point of view. Thus, when describing an evening at Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s, the writer compares the salon with a spinning workshop, illuminating the social reception from an unexpected angle and allowing the reader to penetrate into the essence of the relationships at it. The French language in the speech of the heroes is also a technique of “detachment,” making it possible to more fully create the image of a secular society that at that time spoke mainly French.

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