An almost autobiographical hero of the novel, Anna Karenina. “Konstantin Levin and his thoughts about life. Essay about Konstantin Levin

Tolstoy called Anna Karenina “a wide and free novel,” using Pushkin’s term “free novel”. This is a clear indication of the genre origins of the work.

Tolstoy's "Wide and Free Novel" is different from Pushkin's "Free Novel". In Anna Karenina, for example, there are no lyrical, philosophical or journalistic digressions by the author. But between Pushkin's novel and Tolstoy's novel there is an undoubted successive connection, which manifests itself in the genre, and in the plot, and in the composition.

In Tolstoy's novel, as in Pushkin's novel, the paramount importance belongs not to the plot completion of the provisions, but to the “creative concept”, which determines the selection of material and in the spacious frame of the modern novel presents freedom for the development of plot lines. “I can’t and don’t know how to put certain boundaries to my fictional persons - such as marriage or death, after which the interest of the narrative would be destroyed. I involuntarily imagined that the death of one person only aroused interest in other persons, and marriage seemed to be mostly a plot, and not a denouement of interest, ”wrote Tolstoy.

"A wide and free novel" obeys the logic of life; one of his inner artistic goals is to overcome literary conventions. In 1877, in his article "On the Significance of the Modern Novel" F. Buslaev wrote that modernity cannot be satisfied with "unrealizable fairy tales, which until recently were presented as novels with mysterious ties and adventures of incredible heroes in a fantastic, unprecedented setting." Tolstoy sympathetically noted this article as an interesting experience of understanding the ways of development of realistic literature XIX v

Anna's storyline unfolds “within the law” (within the family) and “outside the law” (outside the family). Levin's storyline moves from being “in the law” (in the family) to the consciousness of the illegality of all social development (“we are outside the law”). Anna dreamed of getting rid of what “painfully bothered” her. She chose the path of voluntary sacrifice. And Levin dreamed of “ending his dependence on evil,” and he was tormented by the thought of suicide. But what Anna thought was "truth" was for Levin a "painful lie." He could not stop at the fact that evil owns society. He needed to find a "higher truth", that "undoubted sense of good", which should change life and give it new moral laws: "instead of poverty, common wealth, contentment, instead of enmity - consent and connection of interests." The circles of events in both cases have a common center.

For all the isolation of the content, these plots represent concentric circles with a common center. Tolstoy's novel is a pivotal work with artistic unity. "In the field of knowledge there is a center, and from it there are countless radii, - said Tolstoy. - The whole task is to determine the length of these radii and their distance from each other." This statement, if applied to the plot of Anna Karenina, explains the principle of concentric arrangement of large and small circles of an event in the novel.

Tolstoy made Levin's "circle" much wider than Anna's "circle". Levin's story begins much earlier than Anna's and ends after the death of the heroine, whose name the novel is named after. The book ends not with the death of Anna (part seven), but with Levin's moral quest and his attempts to create a positive program for the renewal of private and public life (part eight).

The concentricity of the plot circles is generally characteristic of the novel Anna Karenina. The parody novel of Baroness Shilton and Petritsky "shines through" through the circle of relations between Anna and Vronsky. The story of Ivan Parmenov and his wife becomes for Levin the embodiment of patriarchal peace and happiness.

Only at the beginning of the seventh part, Tolstoy "introduced" the two main characters of the novel - Anna and Levin. But this acquaintance, extremely important in terms of plot, did not change the plot flow of events. The writer tried to discard the concept of a story altogether: "The connection of the building was made not on the basis of the storyline and not on the relationship (acquaintance) of persons, but on internal communication."

Tolstoy wrote not just a novel, but a "novel of life." The genre of the "wide and free novel" removes the limitations of the closed development of the plot within the framework of the finished plot. Life does not fit into the scheme. Plot circles in the novel are arranged in such a way that attention is focused on the moral and social core of the work.

The plot of "Anna Karenina" is "the story of the human soul", which enters into a fatal duel with the prejudices and laws of its era; some do not withstand this struggle and perish (Anna), others "under the threat of despair" come to the consciousness of "people's truth" and ways to renew society (Levin).

2) Levin is a whole, active, ebullient nature. He accepts only the present. His goal in life is to live and create, and not just be present during life. The hero passionately loves life, which means for him to passionately create life. The image is partly copied from Tolstoy himself (as evidenced by the surname Levin - from Lev, Leo): the hero thinks, feels, speaks directly on behalf of the writer. Tolstoy gave him the details of his own biography - for example, Levin's explanation with Kitty in small capital letters of the words on the card table reproduces exactly his own explanation. , found true God and faith. Because every time the hero had to choose between two paths, between good and evil, he always chose the path that was laid in his soul by true good, true God. In fact, despite the fact that Levin is not in any way wanted to accept the Church, he very correctly understood all the basic spiritual truths inherent in God. And the more he thought and looked for answers, the closer he became to faith and God. And in order for us to be absolutely sure of his salvation and the correctness of his choice, we can turn to these two roads in a person's life. “Enter by the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the path leading to destruction is wide, and many walk by it; because the gate is narrow and the path leading to life is narrow, and few find it. " - Gospel of Matthew 7: 13,14. Levin found, and chose just that narrow and difficult path that leads to salvation. This means that he will not shoot himself, will not deviate from the truth of faith, and will certainly accept the Church into his life. God has a rule - everything has its time.

Anna Karenina"- a novel about a general break, some kind of general divorce in all spheres of life. Here everyone is lonely and cannot understand each other, because the key of love has been lost, without which there is no family life. The loveless family appears in the novel as a generalized image of the entire loveless life of mankind. Criticizing through the eyes of the family the entire social structure of his day, Tolstoy does not go beyond the family theme; he pushes this framework, expands this topic to the entire life of mankind. Anna's tragedy, I think, did not begin when she, a married woman, challenges society, leaving the family for her beloved. And then, when she, still a girl, was given in marriage to a successful tsarist official. Anna honestly tried to love her husband. When I realized the impossibility of this, I tried to find an excuse for my life with an unloved husband in love for my son. Karenin, whose true face Anna knew, insulted her at every step and "remained pleased with himself." “He strangled my life for eight years, strangled everything that was alive in me,” - this is how Anna speaks of her marriage. Isn't this a tragedy?

Anna, a bright and lively person, first learned what love is. She is trying to break free from the world in which she lived. Having started new life, Anna does not want to hide her from others. This, of course, shocks society. A wall of alienation grows around Anna: everyone condemns her, even those who have acted a hundred times worse in life. It was with such a rejection that Anna, who challenged the light, could not accept The wise psychologist Tolstoy amazingly portrays Anna's mental anguish when she had no friends, no relatives, no business - nothing but love, which she so cherishes and is afraid to lose. But this, the writer shows, is what a person can lose. Her love for Vronsky was doomed from the very beginning, because outside of this love there was nothing: no spiritual requests, no business, not even an occupation of any kind.

Tolstoy does not justify Anna, but neither does secular society, with its double morality, judge her. Anna wanted to avoid hypocrisy, but it didn't work out. The love that held her in the world, she also loses. There was no point in living anymore. And she stepped onto the tracks ... Tragedy? Yes. But Anna created an even greater tragedy by her voluntary death: Vronsky will forever blame himself and seek death in battle; the orphaned Seryozha will never know his mother's affection and love; Anna's daughter by Vronsky will grow up without knowing either her mother or her own father.

It is for this, and not for the outbreak of love, it can be condemned. Life is given to man by God, its end is also in the hands of heavenly powers. This law cannot be disobeyed. I think, no matter how difficult life is, you have to endure. Patience will be rewarded.

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The image of Konstantin Levin in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"

Levin Tolstoy Karenina

A heavily built, broad-shouldered man with a curly beard. Smart, courageous face. At 32, he is a very energetic person. Educated, hardworking, honest. Not a believer, but respecting the beliefs of others.

Levin is a whole, active, ebullient nature. He accepts only the present. His goal in life is to live and create, and not just be present during life. The hero passionately loves life, which means for him to passionately create life.

A very strong but difficult character. A person who listens to conscience, who lives by Christian rules, loving and compassionate towards others, with slogans: against war, for honesty, for hard work, for love in the family; and does not acknowledge God. This is the image of a rich gentleman who has everything and absolutely does not need anything. In principle, he can achieve everything he needs by himself, by an effort of will, or simply buy for money. He chooses a safe lifestyle. Alienating himself from the "upper world", from the world, he lives in a quiet and calm village, where the probability of stumbling and getting lost in life quests much less than in a big city. But he does not just need to live his days in solitude and tranquility, he strives to make his life better and even better. Constantly struggles with wrong orders and stereotypes. Levin strives for noble and honest work, simple human happiness and love.

He not only could not imagine love for a woman without marriage, but before he imagined a family. His concepts of marriage, therefore, did not resemble those of most of his acquaintances, for whom marriage was one of the many common affairs of the community; for Levin, this was the main business of his life, on which all his happiness depended.

The image is partly copied from Tolstoy himself (as evidenced by the surname Levin - from Lev, Leo): the hero thinks, feels, speaks directly on behalf of the writer. Tolstoy gave him the details of his own biography - for example, Levin's explanation with Kitty in small capital letters of the words on the card table reproduces exactly his own explanation with SA Bers, as described by TA Kuzminskaya from the words of his sister. Small details of grooming, the bride's reading of his diaries, being late to church because of a starched shirt - all this simply Tolstoy wrote off from himself. The moral quest and suffering of Levin in the last part closely correlate with what the author will soon talk about in his Confession (1879-1889). Nikolai Levin was also given the features and details of the life and death of his brother Dmitry, to whom Lev Nikolayevich came to Oryol before his death in 1856.

It all started with his arrival in Moscow. The purpose of the trip was to propose to Kitty, his friend's sister-in-law.

Levin came to Moscow from the countryside, always agitated, hasty, a little embarrassed and irritated. In Moscow, he had to communicate with by different people, they talked about new railways, about communism, about politics. Levin, of course, was an educated man, but from these conversations he was overcome by confusion of concepts, dissatisfaction with himself, shame at something. It's just that the pretentious imposition of public opinion and order left such a residue in him.

But as soon as he came home to the village, he saw everything that filled his life: his sleigh, his horses, his coachman who told the news that happened in his absence - his inner state improved, he felt that the confusion was gradually clearing up, and shame and dissatisfaction with oneself pass. Only here he could feel confident and remain the way he is. Only here he could treat with sobriety and wisdom what was happening to him in Moscow and look at it from the other side. Now he only wanted to be better than he was before. Such an attitude towards oneself speaks of self-criticism and optimism of the individual. The village is a place of life, that is, joy, suffering, work, Levin said.

But even here, in his domain, where he was his own master, where he arranged his life himself, where all the people and problems that filled his vain days were part of his life, a part of himself, even here he faced opposition. These were thoughts - associations that arose in his head at the sight of old things in his office: antlers, shelves with books, a stove mirror with an air vent, his father's sofa, a large table, a broken ashtray, a notebook with his handwriting; things that have filled his life since childhood. When he saw all this, a moment of doubt came over him as to the possibility of arranging the new life he had dreamed of after Kitty's refusal. All these traces of his life seemed to envelop him and told him: “No, you will not leave us and you will not be different, but you will be the same as you were: with doubts, eternal dissatisfaction with yourself, vain attempts to correct and fall and eternal expectation of happiness. which was not given and impossible for you. "

Tolstoy, in this personality, shows us the most real clash of two internal forces. Let's call them: good and bad. The good one, of course, strived for love and happiness, and the bad one tried to destroy him and kill the desire for happiness in him. He chose the positive option, and tried to direct all his efforts towards the realization of his dream - to be happy. Levin worked hard and thought a lot. Time passed and did its job. He felt that in the depths of his soul something was being established, pacified and laid down.

During his intensive work, Levin made a very important conclusion for himself about his work and economy. He clearly saw now that the economy that he was leading was only a stubborn and cruel struggle between him and the workers, in which on one side, on his side, there was a constant intense desire to remake everything into what was considered the best model, on the other side, - the natural order of things. And in this struggle he saw that, with the greatest exertion of forces on his part and without any effort or even intention on the other, the only thing achieved was that the economy was a draw and that fine tools, fine cattle and land were completely spoiled in vain. In essence, what was the struggle? He stood up for his every penny, and they only stood for working calmly and pleasantly, that is, the way they used to. For a long time already Levin had felt dissatisfaction with his attitude to the household. He saw that his boat was leaking, but he did not find and did not look for a leak, maybe he was deliberately deceiving himself. The economy that he ran became not only not interesting to him, but disgusting, and he could no longer do it. This is by no means weak character and not self-doubt, this is just the very real wisdom that implies the correct approach to the problem. He looks at the problem from all sides, and looks for all the pros and cons. He does not make hasty conclusions and does not rest on one opinion that could have formed in a lack of information. Levin shows the same wisdom in his disputes with his brother Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev. Just because Levin looked at things from different angles, and was looking for the most correct and true answer, he did not pursue the goal of proving his opinion with the only correct one and did not pursue the status of a sage, his brother always won in these disputes. He had a firm, unshakable opinion, which he did not want to give up because of his pride.

Soon Levin decides to completely change his farm. He says he will work hard and try hard, but he will achieve his goal.

Tolstoy in this novel showed and compared two of the most important feelings inherent in humans. Love and hate. Levin felt love for all the people and problems that surrounded him on his wedding day, and a feeling of hatred for Karenina at the time of her deathbed experiences. By contrasting these two heroes, one can more extensively and more specifically see one of the main goals of the novel, the meaning of which is to compare the two types of love. One love was in the lost lady with high moral concepts and beautiful appearance - Anna Karenina, the second love - in the spiritually reborn master, with his stubborn approach to understand everything and the desire for happiness in life.

Anna Karenina's love was doomed from the very beginning. First, she cheated on her husband and betrayed her entire family. Secondly, all her love, despite strong passion and irrepressible attraction, was based only on carnal need and selfishness. Anna wanted sharp emotions, romance, passions, carelessness. Throughout Tolstoy's novel, Anna never once gave the concept of love, and did not explain the feelings of this feeling. All the arguments that she came up with to denigrate her husband's attitude towards her had no basis, she did it only because she wanted to somehow justify herself in her own eyes. After she realized that she was not being given the attention she so dreamed of in a relationship with her lover, her suspicious nature again began to invent excuses for herself, accusing her lover of crimes that he did not commit. Precisely because it was not real, not pure love, or rather not love, but ordinary selfish lust, because of which her whole life was destroyed, she felt disgust and hatred. And hatred, of course, led to revenge. Death was revenge. This is the only way to get away from yourself, to escape from problems and shame. And at the same time it is revenge for the neglect of her love.

We see a completely different picture in Levin's relationship.

Let us recall the evening when Levin confessed his love to Kitty for the second time, and she reciprocated. He was filled with a sense of delight and happiness - it was love. That evening, in order to somehow pass the time until the next day, he went with his brother to the meeting. At the meeting, everyone argued about the deduction of some sums and about the installation of some pipes, they very vividly attacked each other.

Levin listened to them and clearly saw that they were not all angry, but that they were all such kind, glorious people, and so everything was going well and sweetly between them. It was remarkable for Levin that they were all visible to him today, and by small, previously unnoticeable, signs, he recognized the soul of each and clearly saw that they were all good. They all loved him especially, Levin, to-day. This was evident from the way they spoke to him, how affectionately and lovingly even all the strangers looked at him.

He ate almost nothing, could not sleep. Although the room was fresh, the heat choked him. “All night and morning Levin lived completely unconsciously and felt himself completely removed from the conditions of material life. He felt completely independent of the body: he moved without the effort of muscles and felt that he could do anything. He was sure he would fly up or move the corner of the house if needed. And what he saw then, he never saw after. In particular, the children going to school, the gray doves that flew from the roof onto the sidewalk, and the flour-sprinkled cakes that were put out by an invisible hand, touched him. These polar beetles, pigeons and two boys were unearthly creatures. All this together was so extraordinarily good that Levin laughed and wept with joy. "

It was not an earthly feeling, a feeling of love. This love was expressed in everything, it filled him from the inside and illuminated everything around him. This relationship was indeed well-structured. Levin did not frame his future wife as a slave. He did not want to marry just because of the gratification of his natural desires. First of all, he wanted a family of mutual love, without love, he did not see the point in it. He also built his relationship on complete openness and trust. And even though he was an unbeliever, he agreed to fast and attend services. In principle, he wanted the same human happiness as Karenina, but everything that Levin did for this love indicates self-sacrifice. While Karenina did not sacrifice herself at all, for the sake of her imaginary love. She sacrificed her family, her husband, her son, but not herself. She sacrificed everything that was built by the joint efforts of her family, that is, she destroyed everything that love should build.

Precisely because Levin's love was pure, it had a future, it had further development.

“Levin has been married for the third month. He was happy, but not at all as expected. At every step he found disappointment in previous dreams and new unexpected charm. Levin was happy, but having entered family life, he saw at every step that it was not at all what he had imagined. At every step he experienced what a man would experience if he admired the smooth, happy ride of a boat on the lake, after he himself got into this boat. He saw that not only did he need to sit straight without swaying, he also had to think, not for a moment forgetting where to swim, that there was water under his feet and it was necessary to row, and that it was painful for unusual hands, that it was only easy to look at it, and that although it is very joyful to do this, it is very difficult. "

In this passage, the writer of the novel shows us that love, even with the right beginning, has great difficulties that must be overcome with great effort. Levin, like all men, involuntarily imagined family life only as a pleasure of love, which should not be hindered by anything and from which petty worries should not be distracted. Jealousy, probable betrayal, cooling of the feelings of the second half, love for another person - all the depressing feelings that Karenina felt for Vronsky, Levin felt for his wife. And despite all the doubts and disappointments, Levin understood everything and moved on, trying to overcome all difficulties.

After studying love in Levin's life, we are left with only one important moment in his life - "to believe or not to believe?" - this question arose before him after all the difficulties he had experienced: Kitty's refusal, Kitty's mutual love, family conflicts, the death of his brother, the birth of a child. All this in his life did not pass without a trace, namely, it helped him somehow to settle down and strengthen his feet in this world. It is such difficult turns in his fate that lead him to faith and need for God. And he, as if raising all reflections from the depths of his soul, ponders this necessary important question - to believe or not to believe?

“For the first time Levin looked at the issues of life and death through those new, as he called them, beliefs that unnoticed for him, in the period from twenty to thirty-four, replaced his childhood and youthful beliefs, - he was horrified not so much by death, how much life is without the slightest knowledge of where, for what, why and what it is. The organism, its destruction, the indestructibility of matter, the law of conservation of strength, development - these were the words that replaced his old faith. These words and related concepts were very good for mental purposes; but they gave nothing for life, and Levin suddenly felt himself in the position of a man who would exchange a warm fur coat for muslin clothes and who for the first time in the cold, undoubtedly, not by reasoning, but with his whole being, would have convinced himself that he did not care what naked and that he must inevitably die painfully. "

From that moment, involuntarily, unconsciously for himself, now in every book, in every conversation, in every person he was looking for an attitude to his question and its solution.

In addition, he could not forget that during the birth of his wife, an unusual event happened to him. He, an unbeliever, began to pray and the minute he prayed, he believed. But this minute passed, and he could not give this mood of that time any place in his life.

These experiences tormented and tormented him now weaker, now more strongly, but they never left him. He read and thought, and the more he read and thought, the further he felt himself from his aim.

It would seem that everything has found a normal explanation for everything: Comprehension of divine truths is not given to man, but is given to the totality of people united by love - the Church. He was delighted with the thought of how easier it was to believe in the existing, now living Church, which constitutes all the beliefs of people, having God at its head and therefore holy and blameless, and from her already to accept beliefs in God in creation, in fall, in redemption, than to begin with God, a distant, mysterious God, creation, etc. But after reading the history of the Church of the Catholic writer and the history of the Church of the Orthodox writer and seeing that both Churches, infallible in their essence, deny one another, he became disillusioned with the Church.

Now, all those explanations of life that humanity gives, based on the fact that a person is a bubble and this bubble will hold on pointlessly and burst, in Levin's head were associated with an evil nasty force that could not be obeyed.

“You cannot live without knowing what I am and why I am here. But I cannot know this, therefore, one cannot live, ”Levin said to himself.

And, a happy family man, a healthy man, Levin was so close to suicide several times that he hid his lace so as not to hang himself on it, and was afraid to walk with a gun so as not to shoot himself.

But Levin did not shoot himself or hanged himself, and continued to live.

Slowly but surely he grounded himself, went into life, into work, into the hustle and bustle of his days.

One sunny day, in the village, Levin got into a conversation with the peasant Fyodor, and the peasant told him very interesting words: One man lives only for his needs, only fills his belly, and Fokanych is a truthful old man. He lives for the soul. He remembers God.

The words spoken by the peasant produced an electric spark in his soul, suddenly transforming and rallying into one a whole swarm of scattered, powerless, separate thoughts that never ceased to occupy him. These thoughts, imperceptibly for him, occupied him.

That is, from his words, Levin understood that to live for the soul, to live for God is to live in goodness. Good in itself is a real miracle. “And I was looking for miracles, I regretted that I had not seen a miracle that would have convinced me. And here it is a miracle, the only possible, permanently existing, surrounding me from all sides, and I did not notice it! " Levin reasoned.

He also understood that he lived (without realizing it) those spiritual truths that he sucked in with milk, and thought, not only not recognizing these truths, but diligently avoiding them. And he understood that the answer to his question could not be given by his mind, the answer was given to him by life itself. That is, something unearthly, incomprehensible, mysterious, put an answer into his soul. And his mind taught only to live in pride, only for himself, and stifle everyone who interferes with the satisfaction of their desires.

In fact, despite the fact that Levin did not want to accept the Church in any way, he very correctly understood all the basic spiritual truths inherent in God. And the more he pondered and looked for answers, the closer he became to faith and God.

And in order for us to be absolutely sure of his salvation and the correctness of his choice, we can turn to these two roads in a person's life. “Enter by the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the path leading to destruction is wide, and many walk by it; because the gate is narrow and the path leading to life is narrow, and few find it. " - Gospel of Matthew 7: 13,14.

Levin found and chose just that narrow and difficult path that leads to salvation. This means that he will not shoot himself, will not deviate from the truth of faith, and will certainly accept the Church into his life.

God has a rule - everything has its time.

The image of Konstantin Levin in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"

Levin Tolstoy Karenina

A very strong but difficult character. A person who listens to conscience, who lives by Christian rules, loving and compassionate towards others, with slogans: against war, for honesty, for hard work, for love in the family; and does not acknowledge God. This is the image of a rich gentleman who has everything and absolutely does not need anything. In principle, he can achieve everything he needs by himself, by an effort of will, or simply buy for money. He chooses a safe lifestyle. Alienating himself from the "upper world", from the world, he lives in a quiet and calm village, where the likelihood of stumbling and getting lost in life's quests is much less than in a big city. But he does not just need to live his days in solitude and tranquility, he strives to make his life better and even better. Constantly struggles with wrong orders and stereotypes. Levin strives for noble and honest work, simple human happiness and love.

It all started with his arrival in Moscow. The purpose of the trip was to propose to Kitty, his friend's sister-in-law.

Levin came to Moscow from the countryside, always agitated, hasty, a little embarrassed and irritated. In Moscow he had to communicate with different people, they talked about new railways, about communism, about politics. Levin, of course, was an educated man, but from these conversations he was overcome by confusion of concepts, dissatisfaction with himself, shame at something. It's just that the pretentious imposition of public opinion and order left such a residue in him.

Soon Levin decides to completely change his farm. He says he will work hard and try hard, but he will achieve his goal.

Tolstoy in this novel showed and compared the two most important feelings inherent in man. Love and hate. Levin felt love for all the people and problems that surrounded him on his wedding day, and a feeling of hatred for Karenina at the time of her deathbed experiences. By contrasting these two heroes, one can more extensively and more specifically see one of the main goals of the novel, the meaning of which is to compare the two types of love. One love was in the lost lady with high moral concepts and beautiful appearance - Anna Karenina, the second love - in the spiritually reborn master, with his stubborn approach to understand everything and the desire for happiness in life.

We see a completely different picture in Levin's relationship.

The man, to whom he had previously felt some kind of displeasure, now seemed to him clever and kind, invited him to drink tea. And Levin could not even remember what annoyed him about him, and stayed with him until 2 am. Upon returning to the hotel, the hero saw a footman, whom he had not even noticed before, and he, too, turned out to be very smart and good, and most importantly, kind person.

Precisely because Levin's love was pure, it had a future, it had further development.

“Levin has been married for the third month. He was happy, but not at all as expected. At every step he found disappointment in previous dreams and new unexpected charm. Levin was happy, but as he entered family life, he saw at every step that this was not at all what he had imagined. At every step he experienced what a man would experience, admiring the smooth, happy movement of a boat on the lake, after he himself got into this boat. He saw that not only did he need to sit upright, without swaying, he also had to think, not for a moment forgetting where to swim, that there was water under his feet and that he had to row, and that it was painful for unusual hands, that it was easy to just look at it, but that although it is very joyful to do this, it is very difficult. "

From that moment, involuntarily, unconsciously for himself, now in every book, in every conversation, in every person he was looking for an attitude to his question and its solution.

These experiences tormented and tormented him now weaker, now more strongly, but they never left him. He read and thought, and the more he read and thought, the further he felt himself from his aim.

“You cannot live without knowing what I am and why I am here. But I cannot know this, therefore, one cannot live, ”Levin said to himself.

And, a happy family man, a healthy man, Levin was so close to suicide several times that he hid his lace so as not to hang himself on it, and was afraid to walk with a gun so as not to shoot himself.

But Levin did not shoot himself or hanged himself, and continued to live.

Slowly but surely he grounded himself, went into life, into work, into the hustle and bustle of his days.

It feels like he needed everything that he experienced in order for him to find happiness, find answers, find the true God and faith. Because every time the hero had to choose between two paths, between evil and good, he always chose the path that was laid in his soul by true good, true God.

God has a rule - everything has its time.

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LEO TOLSTOY (1828-1910)

MAIN IMAGES OF THE NOVEL "ANNA KARENINA"

Oboaz Levin

In the novel, two equal storylines coexist - Anna and Levin, which do not intersect. However, the writer pays most attention to the spiritual life of Anna and Levin. And if Anna is associated with problems that relate to the so-called women's issue, then Konstantin Levin is looking for answers to global, philosophical questions: what is a person? why did she come to this world? what does he live for? The meaning of human life is the ultimate goal of Levin's quest.

It is difficult to unequivocally determine the role of Levin's image in the structure of the novel. Most researchers believe that there are two main characters in this work: Anna Karenina and Konstantin Levin. And the amount of text devoted to the storylines of these characters is about the same. As noted, the image of Levin appeared only in the fourth edition of the novel, but immediately became an important part of it. Anna and Levin meet only once, just before her suicide. And if before the meeting he condemned Karenina, considered her act unacceptable, then after talking with her his attitude towards Anna changed almost to the opposite: “Following an interesting conversation, Levin all the time admired her - and her beauty, and her intelligence, education, and together with simplicity and sincerity. He listened, talked and all the time thought about her, about her inner life, trying to guess her feelings. And, before so severely condemning her, he now, according to some strange train of thought, justified her and together with silence. regretted and feared that Vronsky did not fully understand her ”(7, X). It is interesting that until the heroes meet directly, the author does not tell us anything about Levin's attitude to Anna, although the relationship between Levin and Vronsky is the subject of detailed research.

Did Tolstoy create the image of Levin together? Perhaps the answer to this question must be sought in the storyline. the main character novel. Even so that Anna’s fate would turn out differently: secular society would not turn away from her, Karenin would agree to divorce, Sergei would stay with her, she would not give birth to an illegitimate child from Vronsky - even then her problems would hardly be solved, since Tolstoy depicts the conflict not external, but internal. Anna wanted absolute freedom: to be only a woman and nothing else - neither a mother nor a wife (by the way, Vronsky's wife!). Moreover, this question (precisely in such a formulation) cannot be solved at all. Not a single happy ending does not exist here, and the writer brilliantly embodied this in his work.

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From the secrets of the mastery of Leo Tolstoy

Alongside Anna Karenina, in Tolstoy's novel, the image of Konstantin Levin, who has the familiar features of the author of this book, is acquiring more and more importance. And if Anna Karenina suddenly felt the "precariousness" of the family foundations of her era, then Konstantin Levin understood then the unreliability of the political reform - their social foundations ... The inner kinship of Anna and Levin's worldview ensures the unity of the entire novel.

TOLSTOY L. M. Anna Karenina // L. M. TOLSTOY. Collected works: In 12 volumes - M .: Pravda, 1987. -T.7.- S. 484.

The publication of the first parts of Anna Karenina (although not in the final version) excited public opinion Russia: some recognized Tolstoy's extraordinary talent, others accused him of undermining the foundations of Christian marriage or said that Anna Karenina's situation in life is not uncommon, so not to say it directly means not to cure the disease, but to hide it ... there was a "literary echo" of this work. Thus, the epigram of the outstanding Russian poet Nikolai Nekrasov became widely known, where he stated on the moral aspect and potential of the novel "Anna Karenina":

Tolstoy, you proved with patience and talent,

That a woman should no longer "walk"

Neither with the chamber-junker, nor with the outbuilding-hell "yutant1,

When she is a wife and mother.

So, Anna's philosophical line needed a kind of "counterbalance" - also philosophical. However, from this point of view, none of the images of the work could "balance" its position, since inner world main characters, like the inner world ordinary people(and there are always the majority of them), does not go beyond personal experiences. These or those philosophical problems interest them as much as they affect their lives. Vronsky, Karenin, Dolly, Kitty are primarily focused on their personal problems caused by external factors: falling in love, betrayal of a husband or wife, inability to recognize a child officially, etc.

"Anna Karenina" - an ingenious formulation of non-airshuaan questions? ..

However, M. Nekrasov's direct moral conclusion ("... a woman should no longer" walk "... when she is a wife and mother") did not finally solve all the issues raised by L. Tolstoy in the novel. After all, a similar attitude (“Be faithful to each other!”) Is spoken both during the wedding and during the registration of the marriage. The newlyweds make a solemn vow not to break it. And where is the guarantee that the family is absolutely happy today, where the husband and wife sincerely love each other, in the future they will not fall into the situation of the Kare family? From this point of view, although not so didactic, but much more balanced, the idea of A. Chekhov: "In his novel, Tolstoy did not answer one of the questions posed, but their very formulation is brilliant."

1. Count Vronsky had the high rank of adjutant wing (from the beginning of the 19th century, adjutant wing served under emperors, field marshals or other senior officials of European countries).

Levin's external life seems to be commonplace and almost conflict-free (Kitty's refusal to marry him can in no way be compared with the betrayal of Stivi or Anna). Society considers him almost a failure: “He did not have any habitual, definite activity and position in the world, while his comrades now, when he was thirty-two years old, were already - who is a colonel and aide-de-camp, who is a professor, who is a director of a bank and railways or chairman of the presence, like Oblonsky; he (he knew very well what he should have seemed to others) was a landowner who raised cows, shot snipe and built, that is, a mediocre person with whom nothing worked out and who, in the opinion of citizenship, does what they do people who are not good for anything ”(1, VI). That is why he perceives Kitty's refusal to marry him as a natural result of his "dullness." “From the point of view of his relatives, he is an unprofitable, unworthy party for the lovely Kitty. "But Kitty herself cannot love him."

However, behind Levin's seemingly "unpredictable" external life is hidden a tense internal activity, which even makes him think of suicide just when, it seemed, his fate was settled in the best possible way: his beloved wife, son, material security: “And, a happy family man, a healthy man, Levin was several times so close to suicide that he hid his lace so as not to hang himself on it, and was afraid to walk with a gun so as not to shoot himself ”(8, IX).

However, we cannot call Levin Anna Karenina's “alter ego”. They have diametrically opposed views on life. And above all - in relation to the family. For Anna, family is an unacceptable way to associate herself with Vronsky and a means of restricting women's freedom: “If I could be anything other than a mistress, I passionately love only his caresses; but I cannot and do not want to be anything else ”(7, XXX).

Levin has the opposite point of view: “Not only he could not imagine love for a woman without marriage, but at first he imagined a family, and then the woman who would give him a family. For Levin, marriage was the main business of his life, on which all his happiness depended ”(1, XXVII).

However, Levin, at the same time, is not the complete opposite of Anna. So, similar is their attitude towards the church. They have lost faith in the God that the official religion preached. However, they cannot be called atheists, because in the most dramatic moments of their lives they mentally turned to God. Last words Anna: "Lord, forgive me everything!" Before throwing herself under the train, she crossed herself! Returns to God and Levin. However, for him this is not the God of the Church, Orthodoxy or Mohammedanism, but the God of the peasant Fokanich, who “lives for the soul. He remembers God. " One must live in order to invest in life, in every moment of it, the “meaning of good” —that is the ultimate goal of Levin's intense spiritual quest. This was not in Anna's life, she only felt "the evil and meaninglessness of life" ...

Another thing that essentially unites these two images is the search for the truth, the unwillingness to live falsely, in a lie.

Not realizing that everything around her is false led Anna to a fatal end?

In the images of Anna and Levin, common is not fate (from this point of view, all people are alike, because they are looking for their fate and love) and character, although this is important, but those psychological situations that everyone must decide on their own: an attempt to forget a loved one, the creation of a new family , contradictory feelings for their own children, finally - an unwillingness to obey false laws, an attempt to live without lies, in truth. The solution of these problems leads Anna to disaster, while Levin experiences a deep inner drama, but finds consolation in constantly doing good. So Tolstoy gives that one and only recipe that will help people become happy.

It is necessary to pay attention to the similarity of Levin's image with L. Tolstoy. "The autobiography of Levin's image is undoubted, as is undoubtedly the fact that his path to faith reproduces the path of Tolstoy's personal searches for the" force of life ", which destroys the" fear of death "" 1.

The thoughts that Tolstoy captures in Levin's mind, his attitude to peasants, nature, social life, religion, family, gymnastics, ice skating remind the author himself. So, Levin "a gymnast who lifts five pounds with one hand" is surprisingly similar to Tolstoy, who, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, Yasnaya Polyana, could pull up on the bar with one hand. And the most striking correspondence is the description of Levin's bravery. The writer conveys to us the slightest nuances not only of a psychological state, but also, like a stenographer, a change in physical feeling. So exactly this process could only be described by a person who was a skillful haymaker, and that was exactly what Tolstoy was. The name of the hero is not accidental, because, according to the above opinion of Yu. Tynyanov, in fiction"All the names speak." The character's surname "Levin" is undoubtedly connected with the name of Tolstoy - Leo. At the same time, it is impossible to identify the image of Levin with the author, since it contains only the most general autobiographical features.

1 History of Russian Literature: In 4 volumes - L .: Nauka, 1982 .-- T. 3. - P. 831.

Konstantin Levin is one of the primary characters in the novel Anna Karenina. Compared to the storyline involving Vronsky or Karenin, his life seems calmer, without particularly sharp turns. But the subtly written movements of Levin's soul indicate that the author endowed him with his experiences and considered them as important as the events outside world... The similarity between the hero and his creator is evidenced by the consonance of the names (Lev - Levin), and the external description: "a strongly built broad-shouldered man with a curly beard", "an intelligent, courageous face."

From the very first chapters of the novel, Tolstoy describes Levin as a restless man: he blushes easily and easily gets angry, scoffs at an incomprehensible way of life. He is proud and does not tolerate being perceived not as Konstantin Levin, but as the brother of the famous Koznishev. He is extremely shy and values himself so low in front of the girl with whom he is in love, "that there could be no thought that others and she herself would recognize him as worthy of her."

These feelings, which so easily take possession of Levin, testify to the fact that he fully and passionately feels every minute of his life. For Konstantin, there are almost no semitones: when doing the housework, you need to go into every little detail of the case and go to the mowing; having received the bride's consent to the marriage, you need to give your euphoria to everyone you meet; idolizing your wife, you need to protect her from everything "unworthy" so much that you can even put a guest out (as you did with Vassenka Veslovsky).

His nature can be called immature, and not only because of almost adolescent maximalism, but also because of the eternal search for the meaning of life, "the truth of life."

Tolstoy created his hero after the night of "Arzamas horror", which forced him to rethink all that exists. The only chapter of the novel, which has a special title ("Death"), shows us a special attitude and Levin to leaving for another world. What was "being clarified" for his brother Nikolai remained a mystery to the observer. "The horror of the unsolved and together with the nearness and inevitability of death" feels Levin, the same feelings overwhelmed Leo Tolstoy in Arzamas. As if not wishing to leave his hero alone with these experiences, the author shows Levin a new miracle - the expectation of a child.

In this period, Constantine is again shown as a man of great passions: his attitude towards his wife ("you are such a sacred thing for me"), his behavior during Kitty's birth are extremes. But the extremes that come from sincerity, from the fullness of the feeling of life. This the strong man possesses an equally strong nature that carries him beyond conventions and limitations.

For a nobleman of that time, these features are not very characteristic: the younger generation was just beginning to seriously think about whether everything in this world should be arranged as it is. Levin's views, expressed in his small world (after all, he prefers his cozy, quiet estate to a noisy life), the throwing of nature in these completely comfortable conditions sometimes look a little ridiculous. And this is perhaps the only thing in which Tolstoy condemns his hero: he is limited only by his life, does not want to look beyond its limits, to think about reorganizing not only the economy, but society as a whole. The revolutionary views characteristic of Lev Nikolaevich are not reflected in the image of Levin.

A special desire for sincerity, passionate, stubborn, distinguishing Constantine, is extremely rare in men. To give to your beloved, innocent, “like a dove”, diaries describing intimate experiences is an act as brave as it is short-sighted. This aspiration is selfish: caring only that there are no barriers between him and his wife, Levin does not at all think about how much pain Kitty will be inflicted by these recordings.

The same applies to his attempts to comprehend life: in thinking about its meaning and purpose, he comes to a dead end, and this affects him so much that Konstantin - a happy family man and a hospitable host - seriously thinks about suicide, again completely ignoring his loved ones. And when he begins to seek healing in the family, in the usual household chores, he immediately "grounded", he is abandoned by high aspirations. The author is both glad of this change in the life of his hero, and condemns a little for it: to exchange for a comfortable life, according to Tolstoy, meant the end of spiritual life.

Firmly standing on the ground, passionate, sincere and thinking man, Levin, remains so until the last line about him. And only his reconciliation, a compromise with the "wrongly arranged" reality show that the author himself wanted to avoid such a fate and considered her unworthy of such a person.

The image of Vronsky in the novel "Anna Karenina"
The symbolism of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"