Russian realist literature in the 19th century is a peak in the history of world literature, and Tolstoy is the peak of Russian realist literature in the 19th century, and War and Peace is the peak of Tolstoy's creation. This work is a true masterpiece of Tolstoy and one of the most famous works in the history of world literature.
"War and Peace", which is an epic poem, we call this work "The Heroic Idyll of the Russian Nation" because it is the first large-scale work to summarize the heroic temperament of the Russian nation with a magnificent historical picture.
Understand the "2-3-4" formula of this work
"War and Peace" is huge, the Chinese translation has 1.2 million words, which tests the patience and will of the reader to read, but we can also simplify the complexity, when reading "War and Peace", I suggest that you pay attention to the formula of "2-3-4".
"2" is the two major themes of war and peace
The term "war" here refers to the intermittent war between Russia and France between 1805 and 1812 until Napoleon was completely repelled;
"Peace" here refers to the life of all strata of Russian society during this period, from the dances of the aristocratic class and hunting, to the fighting life of ordinary soldiers and the daily labor of peasants. For a people, for mankind as a whole, war and peace are the two most general forms of existence.
"3" is the three main protagonists, Namely Pierre, André and Natasha
War and Peace is a huge epic with hundreds of characters in the middle, and among these characters, there are three recognized core characters - the naïve Natasha, the loyal and kind Pierre, and the serious and sincere Andrea. The main plot of the novel revolves around the three of them.
"4" is the four major families
Like Dream of the Red Chamber, the four families in War and Peace are the Kulakin family, the Rostov family, the Balkonsky family and the Bezukhov family. The most common occurrence in the novel is the four major families and the aristocratic characters with various connections with the four families, who are roughly divided into two categories by the author: one is the Kulagin family that tends to attach to the court and speculates on the camp; the other three families, especially the excellent representatives Ofelet and Pierre, who can even stand up for the country in a critical moment.
Story overview
At the beginning of the novel, in the summer of 1805, at a gala, Pierre and Andrea appear together as a pair of friends. Pierre was the illegitimate son of a wealthy high-ranking official, he was bloated, his heart was wide-hearted, he spent his days doing nothing, he went around looking for pleasure, and finally he was driven out of the capital city of St. Petersburg for misconduct; the Duke of André was full of ambition, and he planned to join the army in order to establish a meritorious service like Napoleon. In Moscow, Pierre arrives at Rostov's house, and Natasha, who appears for the first time at a ball, takes the initiative to invite Pierre to dance, and in this way, the three protagonists appear in the beginning of the novel.
On the battlefield of Austerlitz, Austria, in October 1805, Duke Andrea rushed forward with his flag, but was soon hit by a bullet. André was seriously injured and left in the care of the local population. Just as Andrea was recuperating from his injuries and returning home, his wife, Lisa, died in childbirth, which made Andrei feel deeply guilty.
Pierre, who became a rich man after inheriting the inheritance, married Helen, the daughter of the Kurakin family. Helen has a wonderful face, but her heart is very vulgar, admiring vanity. Word of her affair with Dolokhov reached Pierre, who quarreled with Dolokhov and proposed a duel. Pierre, who had never fired a gun, wounded his opponent in a duel, then threw his possessions to Helen and traveled alone to Petersburg, where he joined Freemasonry. Pierre came to Kiev Province with a desire to benefit everyone, especially the peasants, and carried out reforms on his family's estate, but failed.
On his way back from the South, Pierre went to visit his friend Andrea. After experiencing the epiphany on the battlefield and witnessing the death of his wife, Andrea was already devastated, and his mind was all focused on taking care of his young son. At this point, the passionate Pierre contrasts sharply with the skeptical Andrea. A conversation between the two on the ferry touched Andrea and caused a certain change in the hearts of both of them. The Duke of André implemented reforms in his manor, he freed three hundred serfs, educated the children of the peasants, and he did what Pierre failed to do.
In the spring of 1809, André traveled to St. Petersburg, where he re-served as the Emperor's imperial bodyguard, approaching the Minister of State and chairing a group on the Law Drafting Committee.
At the New Year's Eve Ball of 1810, attended by both the Emperor and diplomats from all over the world, Natasha dressed up elaborately, was her first major ball. At Pierre's suggestion, Duke André went to invite Natasha to dance, and when he wrapped his arms around Natasha's slender and flexible waist, he witnessed her dancing. So the Duke of Andrea proposed to Natasha and was granted.
But Duke Andrea's father was not optimistic about the marriage, and he asked his son to postpone the marriage by a year, and Andrea agreed, and then went abroad, promising Natasha to come back and marry her a year later. During the year, Pierre's wife Helen's brother Anatoly Kurakin took a fancy to Natasha, and Helen secretly brokered it, so Anatoly, who already had a family, almost kidnapped Natasha. After her affair was exposed, a shy and angry Natasha decided to break her marriage contract with Andrea.
On the eve of the Battle of Borodino in 1812, Pierre came to the front. As a civilian, Pierre was suddenly in a fierce battlefield. The army led by Napoleon first encountered an enemy who was mentally superior to himself at Borodino, and they began to face collapse.
After the Battle of Borodino, the Russians retreated to Moscow. Kutuzov knew that Moscow could not be defended, and he decided to abandon Moscow. The French approached Moscow, and Napoleon stood on a hill awaiting the surrender of the Russians, but the messengers came to report that Moscow was an empty city.
The Rostov family on the way to the retreat saw the fires in Moscow in the distance, and they all cried, and only Natasha was lost in thought, because she already knew that Andrea was in his convoy. Finally, Natasha came to Andrea and knelt down quickly and lightly, and Andrea, who had awoken from her coma, held out her hand to the white angel, and Natasha asked Fordre's forgiveness, and Andrea said, "I love you more than ever." From this day on, throughout the journey, whether resting or staying overnight, Natasha stayed by Andrea's side.
Duke André not only knew he was going to die, but he felt he was dying. Duke André was always thinking about life and death, and he finally realized that "death is awakening", he felt that the power that had previously bound him was gradually loosening, his body floated gently, he died.
Finally, the French army began to retreat, the Russian army began to pursue the French army, the Russian partisans were constantly harassing the enemy army, and Napoleon's remnants of the army would flee in a hurry on the Russian land, and the number was decreasing. Piel, who was captured by the French, escaped, and he fell ill, but his heart was clear and cheerful. Later, he received news of the death of his wife, Helen. He came to Moscow and met Natasha at Miss Duke Maria, to whom he proposed. In 1813, Natasha married Pierre, and they lived happily ever after.
Through the above introduction, it is not difficult to see that the plot line of "War and Peace" mainly revolves around the three characters of Andrea, Pierre and Natasha, and in this trio, Natasha is a character who plays a tandem role. She falls in love with Andre and becomes his fiancée, but during this time she betrays her suitor and tries to elope with Anatoly, and finally Andre dies, and Natasha marries Pierre and becomes a good wife and mother.
In short, in "War and Peace", two themes that correspond to each other and care for each other, the three protagonists and their mutual relations, the different attitudes of the four families to life and war and their interactive connections, these three levels of things put together, constitute the longitude and latitude of the work, they intersect with each other, this work is very heavy.
We will introduce it here today, and in the next lecture we will continue to talk about "War and Peace", focusing on the "dialectic of the mind" adopted by Tolstoy in the shaping of the images of André, Pierre and Natasha, and the "pure moral feelings" of these protagonists revealed.
Friends, we'll see you next