The use of antithesis in L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace. The essay “The principle of antithesis and its ideological and compositional role in the novel by L.N. Tolstoy Antithesis in Tolstoy's story “After the Ball”

The role of antithesis in the novel. L.N. Tolstoy is a classic of world literature, the greatest master of psychologism, the creator of the Roman epic genre, who skillfully used the means of artistic representation. One of Tolstoy's main ideological and compositional techniques is antithesis. The functions of antithesis in the novel “War and Peace” are very diverse. This stylistic device underlies the principle of composition; a system of characters is built on it, with its help artistic images are created and the inner world of the characters is revealed.

The technique of antithesis underlies the construction of a character system. The heroes are contrasted on the basis of the “naturalness” or “falsity” of their natures.

Tolstoy's heroes, embodying naturalness, the truth of life, have no doubts. Angular, impetuous, with irregular features, Natasha Rostova is the embodiment of the beauty of existence. Despite her lordly upbringing, she personifies folk traditions. Natasha, a gifted nature, is loved by everyone, spontaneous in her feelings, simple, feminine, truthful. Her caring soul was completely dissolved in the anxieties of 1812, in the general misfortune of the people and their feat. Natasha’s spiritual qualities were especially revealed in her courtship of the dying Prince Andrei. The Rostovs were late leaving Moscow, and Natasha insisted that an outbuilding and half of the house be provided for wounded soldiers. Natasha devoted herself entirely to this matter, not emphasizing her merits anywhere, not saying anything about patriotism and duty. It is simple and natural, just as Russian soldiers are simple and natural, performing feats without a single thought of glory. They, just like Platon Karataev and Field Marshal Kutuzov, are endowed by nature with an intuitive knowledge of the truth. Kutuzov appears in the novel as the embodiment of the author’s philosophy of history. Tolstoy creates a lively, charming image of a commander. The main advantages of Kutuzov are naturalness and simplicity. He does not play a role, but lives. He can cry both from frustration and from joy. It is Kutuzov’s simplicity that allows him to feel like part of “paradise” and not interfere with the movement of history.

These heroes are contrasted with the skillful “poseur” Napoleon in the novel - the embodiment of extreme individualism. He seeks to impose his will on the world. Tolstoy's image of Napoleon is not without grotesque and satirical overtones. He is characterized by theatrical behavior, narcissism, and vanity (he portrays a tenderly loving father, although he has never seen his son). Many people from secular society are spiritually similar to Napoleon, especially the Kuragin family. All members of this family aggressively interfere in the lives of other people, try to impose their desires on them, use others to satisfy their own needs (“a vile, heartless breed” Pierre called this family). Also close to Napoleon are the Russian Emperor Alexander, who does not understand the mood prevailing in the Russian army, the dignitary Speransky, the lady-in-waiting Anna Pavlovna Scherer, the careerist Boris Drubetskoy, the calculating Julie Karagina and many others. All of them are internally empty, insensitive, thirst for fame, care about their careers, and love to talk a lot and beautifully.

Tolstoy's searching heroes Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky go through a difficult spiritual path in search of truth. They get carried away by false ideas, get mistaken, change internally and ultimately approach the ideal of simplicity.

Both Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky free themselves from petty selfish feelings and come to understand the true values ​​of life. And ordinary Russian people help them in this. Prince Andrey - Captain Tushin and the artillery soldiers subordinate to him, whom the prince met at the battle of Shengraben. For Pierre - the soldiers whom he sees on the Borodino field and then in captivity, especially Platon Karataev. Watching Karataev, who accepts life as it is, Pierre begins to understand that the meaning of life lies in itself, in its natural joys, in the humble acceptance of the troubles that befall a person.

Prince Andrei, mortally wounded at Borodino, acquires endless love for all people, and then, on the eve of death, complete detachment from earthly worries and worries, supreme peace.

The images of nature in “War and Peace” are symbols of the highest harmony, revelations about the truth of the world. They are opposed to vanity, selfishness, the immutability of people’s lives, and alien spiritual aspirations. Captured by the French and experiencing the horror of execution, Pierre Bezukhov understands that the main value, beyond the control of anyone, is his immortal soul. This liberating feeling comes to him when he contemplates the starry night sky. Devastated, having lost the meaning of existence, Andrei Bolkonsky encounters an old oak tree on the road. This same oak tree, which has put out young shoots, symbolizes Bolkonsky’s revival after a storm with Natasha Rostova on the Otradnoye estate, where he accidentally overheard a conversation between Natasha, excited by the beauty of the summer night, and Sonya.

The “historical” chapters in the novel are contrasted with chapters describing “living life” that takes place despite Napoleon’s invasion (it is noteworthy that Tolstoy describes in equal detail the Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of Borodino and Natasha’s first ball, the hunt of the old Count Rostov, giving these events the same place in stories). This antithesis manifests itself at the compositional level. Tolstoy needs to show the contrast between false life and true life, and he combines various episodes in the novel in such a way that this contrast becomes especially obvious. So, after depicting an unnatural meeting of the heads of two states (Napoleon and Alexander I), the writer abruptly moves on to describe the meeting of Natasha and Andrei Bolkonsky.

But in addition to the composition and system of characters, the technique of antithesis is also used to characterize the images of the heroes themselves, highlighting their most striking individual traits. In “War and Peace” this is most clearly manifested when comparing the images of Napoleon and Kutuzov (which are symbols that determine the direction of movement of all other heroes). In every feature of the portrait, behavior, manner of speaking and holding one can feel the huge difference between these heroes. Napoleon is unpleasantly fat (fat thighs, belly, white full neck), strong. And if in Napoleon sleekness and constant care for the body are emphasized, then in Kutuzov there is an old man’s corpulence, flabbiness, physical weakness, which is quite natural for a man of his age. Napoleon's gait is smug, assertive, and he calls the painful trembling of his left calf a great sign. Kutuzov walks awkwardly, poorly, sits awkwardly in the saddle. During the Battle of Borodino, when Napoleon, fussing and worrying, gives many meaningless and contradictory orders, Kutuzov gives almost no orders, leaving the course of the battle to God's will. Kutuzov emphasizes the contradiction between his ordinary, unremarkable appearance and heroic essence. In Napoleon, on the contrary, there is a contradiction between a claim to a great role in history and an empty, inanimate essence.

Thus, the technique of antithesis plays an important role in the novel “War and Peace”. At the ideological and compositional level, it helps to distinguish between good and evil, to show the danger of selfish separation of people, to outline ways for moral improvement of the individual, i.e. serves as a means of expressing the author's position in the novel.

L.N. Tolstoy is a classic of world literature, the greatest master of psychologism, the creator of the genre of the epic novel, who skillfully used the means of artistic representation. One of Tolstoy's main ideological and compositional techniques is antithesis. The functions of antithesis in the novel “War and Peace” are very diverse. This stylistic device underlies the principle of composition; a system of characters is built on it, with its help artistic images are created and the inner world of the characters is revealed.
The reception of the antithesis is the basis

Building a character system. The heroes are contrasted on the basis of the “naturalness” or “falsity” of their natures.
Tolstoy's heroes, embodying naturalness, the truth of life, have no doubts. Angular, impetuous, with irregular features, Natasha Rostova is the embodiment of the beauty of existence. Despite her lordly upbringing, she personifies folk traditions. Natasha, a gifted nature, is loved by everyone, spontaneous in her feelings, simple, feminine, truthful. Her caring soul was completely dissolved in the anxieties of 1812, in the general misfortune of the people and their feat. Natasha’s spiritual qualities were especially revealed in her courtship of the dying Prince Andrei. The Rostovs were late leaving Moscow, and Natasha insisted that an outbuilding and half of the house be provided for wounded soldiers. Natasha devoted herself entirely to this matter, without emphasizing her merits anywhere or in anything, without saying phrases about patriotism and duty. It is simple and natural, just as Russian soldiers are simple and natural, performing feats without a single thought of glory. They, just like Platon Karataev and Field Marshal Kutuzov, are endowed by nature with an intuitive knowledge of the truth. Kutuzov appears in the novel as the embodiment of the author’s philosophy of history. Tolstoy creates a lively, charming image of a commander. The main advantages of Kutuzov are naturalness and simplicity. He does not play a role, but lives. He can cry both from frustration and from joy. It is Kutuzov’s simplicity that allows him to feel part of “paradise” and not interfere with the movement of history.
These heroes are contrasted with the skillful “poseur” Napoleon in the novel - the embodiment of extreme individualism. He seeks to impose his will on the world. Tolstoy's image of Napoleon is not without grotesque and satirical overtones. He is characterized by theatrical behavior, narcissism, and vanity (he portrays a tenderly loving father, although he has never seen his son). Many people from secular society are spiritually similar to Napoleon, especially the Kuragin family. All members of this family aggressively interfere in the lives of other people, try to impose their desires on them, use others to satisfy their own needs (“a vile, heartless breed,” Pierre called this family). Also close to Napoleon are the Russian Emperor Alexander, who does not understand the mood prevailing in the Russian army, the dignitary Speransky, the lady-in-waiting Anna Pavlovna Scherer, the careerist Boris Drubetskoy, the calculating Julie Karagina and many others. All of them are internally empty, insensitive, thirst for fame, care about their careers, and love to talk a lot and beautifully.
Tolstoy's searching heroes Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky go through a difficult spiritual path in search of truth. They get carried away by false ideas, get mistaken, change internally and ultimately approach the ideal of simplicity.
Both Pierre and Andrei Bolkonsky free themselves from petty selfish feelings and come to understand the true values ​​of life. And ordinary Russian people help them in this. Prince Andrey - Captain Tushin and the artillery soldiers subordinate to him, whom the prince met at the battle of Shengraben. For Pierre - the soldiers whom he sees on the Borodino field and then in captivity, especially Platon Karataev. Watching Karataev, who accepts life as it is, Pierre begins to understand that the meaning of life lies in itself, in its natural joys, in the humble acceptance of the troubles that befall a person.
Prince Andrei, mortally wounded at Borodino, acquires endless love for all people, and then, on the eve of death, complete detachment from earthly worries and worries, supreme peace.
The images of nature in “War and Peace” are symbols of the highest harmony, revelations about the truth of the world. They are opposed to vanity, selfishness, the immutability of people’s lives, and alien spiritual aspirations. Captured by the French and experiencing the horror of execution, Pierre Bezukhov understands that the main value, beyond the control of anyone, is his immortal soul. This liberating feeling comes to him when he contemplates the starry night sky. Devastated, having lost the meaning of existence, Andrei Bolkonsky encounters an old oak tree on the road. This same oak tree, which has sprouted young shoots, symbolizes Bolkonsky’s revival after meeting Natasha Rostova on the Otradnoye estate, where he accidentally overheard Natasha’s conversation, excited by the beauty of the summer night, with Sonya.
The “historical” chapters in the novel are contrasted with chapters describing “living life” that takes place despite Napoleon’s invasion (it is noteworthy that Tolstoy describes in equal detail the Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of Borodino and Natasha’s first ball, the hunt of the old Count Rostov, giving these events the same place in stories). This antithesis manifests itself at the compositional level. Tolstoy needs to show the contrast between false life and true life, and he combines various episodes in the novel in such a way that this contrast becomes especially obvious. So, after depicting an unnatural meeting of the heads of two states (Napoleon and Alexander I), the writer abruptly moves on to describe the meeting of Natasha and Andrei Bolkonsky.
But in addition to the composition and system of characters, the technique of antithesis is also used to characterize the images of the heroes themselves, highlighting their most striking individual traits. In “War and Peace” this is most clearly manifested when comparing the images of Napoleon and Kutuzov (which are symbols that determine the direction of movement of all other heroes). In every feature of the portrait, behavior, manner of speaking and holding one can feel the huge difference between these heroes. Napoleon is unpleasantly fat (fat thighs, belly, white full neck), strong. And if in Napoleon sleekness and constant care for the body are emphasized, then in Kutuzov there is an old man’s corpulence, flabbiness, physical weakness, which is quite natural for a man of his age. Napoleon's gait is smug, assertive, and he calls the painful trembling of his left calf a great sign. Kutuzov walks awkwardly, poorly, sits awkwardly in the saddle. During the Battle of Borodino, when Napoleon, fussing and worrying, gives many meaningless and contradictory orders, Kutuzov gives almost no orders, leaving the course of the battle to God's will. Kutuzov emphasizes the contradiction between his ordinary, unremarkable appearance and heroic essence. In Napoleon, on the contrary, there is a contradiction between a claim to a great role in history and an empty, inanimate essence.
Thus, the technique of antithesis plays an important role in the novel “War and Peace”. At the ideological and compositional level, it helps to distinguish between good and evil, to show the danger of selfish separation of people, to outline ways of moral improvement of the individual, i.e., it serves as a means of expressing the author’s position in the novel.

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Antithesis is the main ideological and compositional principle of the novels by L. N. Tolstoy “War and Peace” and F. M. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”, already inherent in their titles. It manifests itself at all levels of artistic expression: from the problematic to the construction of a system of characters and techniques of psychological depiction. However, in the very use of antitheses Tolstoy often demonstrates different methods. The origins of this difference are in their views on man. The works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky have one common feature: their names are ambiguous and polysemantic. The word “war” in “War and Peace” means not only military actions, not only events taking place on the battlefield; war can occur in the everyday lives of people (remember such a war over the inheritance of Count Bezukhov) and even in their souls. The word “peace” is even more meaningful in terms of meaning: peace as the antithesis of war and “peace” as a community of people.

The title of the final edition of L.N. Tolstoy’s novel was “War and Peace,” that is, peace as the antithesis of war. But in Tolstoy’s numerous drafts and sketches there are different spellings of this word. We can find the very combination of “war and peace” in A.S. Pushkin in “Boris Godunov”; Describe, without further ado, everything that you will witness in life: War and peace, the government of sovereigns, Saints, holy miracles. In Pushkin’s context, the combination of “war and peace” becomes the key to the historical process as a whole. Thus, the world is a universal category, it is life, it is the universe.

On the other hand, it is absolutely clear that the concepts of “crime” and “punishment” do not interest Dostoevsky in their narrow legal sense. “Crime and Punishment” is a work that poses deep philosophical and moral problems.

The artistic space of Tolstoy's novel is, as it were, limited by two poles: on one pole - good and peace, uniting people, on the other - evil and enmity, leading to their disunity. Tolstoy tests his heroes from the point of view of the law of “continuous movement of personality in time.” Heroes capable of mental movement and internal changes, according to the author, carry within themselves the principles of “living life” and the world. The heroes, motionless, unable to feel and understand the internal laws of life, are assessed by Tolstoy as the bearers of the beginning of war and discord. In his novel, Tolstoy sharply contrasts these characters. Thus, it is not for nothing that the writer compares Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon to a spinning workshop, to a soulless machine. The antithesis “correctness - incorrectness”, “external beauty - living charm” runs through the entire novel. For Tolstoy, Natasha’s irregular and even ugly facial features are much more attractive than Helen’s ancient beauty, Natasha’s cheerful (if out of place) laughter is a thousand times sweeter than Helen’s “unchangeable” smile. In the behavior of the characters, the author also contrasts the spontaneous with the rational, the natural with the theatrical. For Tolstoy, Natasha’s “mistakes” are much more natural and natural than Sonya’s rational behavior. “Family Thought” contrasts the Rostov family with the “clan” of the Kuragins,

The complete embodiment of war in the novel was Napoleon. He not only constantly plays to the public, but also remains an actor in private. He thinks of himself as a great commander, focusing on certain ancient examples. The complete antipode of Napoleon is in the novel Kutuzov, the true exponent of the spirit of the nation.

The antithesis “false - true” is also used by Tolstoy when depicting the spiritual movements of the characters. So, Pierre, feeling the stupidity and falsity of the situation, does nothing to successfully resolve it, but demands to “start quickly” and intensively loads his pistol.

Unlike Tolstoy, Dostoevsky never portrays his heroes unambiguously: his people are always contradictory, completely unknowable. His characters combine two abysses at once: an abyss of goodness, compassion, sacrifice and an abyss of evil, selfishness, individualism, and vice. Each of them has two ideals: the ideal of the Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. The main core of “Crime and Punishment” is the trial of Raskolnikov, the internal court, the court of conscience. The techniques that Dostoevsky uses in creating the figurative system of his work differ from Tolstoy’s techniques. Dostoevsky resorts to the technique of double portraiture. Moreover, the first portrait, more generalized, usually argues with the second. So, before the crime is committed, the author talks about Raskolnikov’s beauty, about his beautiful eyes. But the crime not only stained his soul, but left a tragic imprint on his face. This time we have a portrait of a killer. In Dostoevsky's novel, it is not the characters who argue, but their ideas.

The principle of antithesis can be defined as the most important artistic principle of the novel by L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". It is one of the ways to embody the philosophy of history, the description of which was the most significant task for the author. When defining the genre of the novel as historical, it was nevertheless important for Tolstoy to reveal in it the philosophical background of historical action, a historical process that has two states: either war or peace. These two concepts are clearly defined and contrasted by Tolstoy. He presents war as “an event contrary to human reason and all human nature,” and peace as the life of people without war under a peaceful sky and without the shedding of innocent blood. For the author, the transition from a state of peace to a state of war is very important, since here he has the opportunity to contrast the behavior of certain heroes of his novel in a given heroic situation. Such heroes of the work as Natasha Rostova, Dolokhov or the merchant Ferapontov acutely feel and understand the responsibility and danger of the current situation. In the novel, they play the role of tuning fork heroes, that is, characters who perform one or another action in accordance with the life moment in which they find themselves. So, for example, both the merchant Ferapontov in the scene of leaving Smolensk, and Natasha leaving Moscow, forget about their personal goals. The thoughts and actions of these heroes are subordinated to a common goal - victory over the enemy. Thus, Tolstoy shows that in a situation of war, people unite and act together. Moreover, similar thoughts arise in them not because of anyone’s hint or because of some directive. They appear naturally in all thinking and morally developed characters in the novel War and Peace.

However, not all of Tolstoy’s heroes are able, having realized the significance of the situation, to rally with others and form unity. The author contrasts them with heroes who find themselves outside this single whole. One of these heroes is Berg, who even in a war situation does not abandon his selfish goals. He is preoccupied with buying a “dressing room” and asks the Rostovs, out of necessity, for one of their men. But the Rostovs, not heeding Berg’s untimely request, kicked him out of the yard. From the same point of view, one can condemn Emperor Alexander I, who, having failed to grasp the mood of the people, does not understand their desires and hopes. All the sovereign can do to cheer up his people is throwing biscuits into the crowd from the balcony.

One of the most significant contrasts is the contrast between the two main characters of the novel "War and Peace" - Napoleon and Kutuzov. These heroes seem to personify two different poles, between which a kind of magnetic field is formed, in which all the heroes of the work are located, each, depending on their mental and moral development, gravitates towards one or the other pole. Kutuzov embodies that very unity, integrity, and Napoleon embodies selfish tyranny. These are the main antipodes of the novel. Napoleon is indifferent to the fate of his army and soldiers individually, since they are only a tool in achieving his goals. Kutuzov treats his soldiers as his own children and is ready to paint with his life for the sake of saving his charges. Unlike Napoleon, Kutuzov is indifferent to fame. The main thing for him is the victory of the Russian army and the expulsion of the enemy from his native land, and with the least losses. The Russian commander does not think about honors or the possible entry into the tablets of history. He fulfills his military duty with honor, and his best reward is the respect and devotion of his army to him. Napoleon, on the contrary, considers himself the greatest hero of history. Tolstoy, thereby demonstrating his personal attitude towards the French emperor, shows the discrepancy between Napoleon's fantasies and reliable facts, transferring the description of this hero into the realm of the comic. Napoleon seems to Tolstoy to be like “a child who, holding on to the strings tied inside the carriage, imagines that he is ruling.” The French commander is able to take even such manifestations of the soreness of his body as a runny nose and trembling of his left calf as signs of his majesty and thereby lay claim to an exceptional role in the theater of life.

Kutuzov is also described by Tolstoy not as a hero: he is old, from time to time he shows his senile weakness and impulsiveness. But such a characteristic can in no way be classified as comic. On the contrary, Tolstoy showed Kutuzov’s naturalness, and therefore all his author’s sympathy and admiration for this great Russian commander. Therefore, one of Napoleon’s most significant shortcomings is the lack of naturalness and ability to express ordinary human feelings and emotions in his image. When the French emperor looks at the portrait of his son, in order for those around him to notice the reverent paternal feeling on his face, the emperor has to make an effort: “With the ability characteristic of Italians to change his facial expression at will, he approached the portrait and pretended to be thoughtfully tender.” Tolstoy, not accepting such unnatural manifestations of feelings, translates all, as it seemed to Napoleon, the pathos of the situation into comedy: “He felt that what he would say and do now was history.” Imagining himself as a hero, Napoleon in his mind is so exalted over the people around him that he does not notice them, and in his eyes all the events happening around him somehow happen by themselves.

In these two images of commanders, Tolstoy embodied not only two different principles of attitude to life. The author depicted the idea of ​​war and peace in them. Therefore, some Napoleonic traits can be attributed to the heroes who gravitate towards Napoleon’s pole - the ability to contribute to the outbreak of wars and disagreements between people. Such are Anna Pavlovna Sherer, Kuragins and others. The heroes close to Kutuzov preach the idea of ​​peace and goodness. This is Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya, some military men - captain Tushin, Denisov. As for the central characters of the novel - Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov, these characters go through the path from Napoleon to Kutuzov, thereby abandoning false values ​​and acquiring true ideals.

Based on the principle of antithesis, images of two cities - Moscow and St. Petersburg - are also introduced into the general structure of the work. It is in Moscow that the main significant events of the novel take place. In this city live Tolstoy's favorite and dearest heroes: the Rostovs, the Bezukhovs. Moscow is presented in the work as a soulful city, close and dear. In the current heroic situation, Moscow is, as it were, on the verge between war and peace: if Napoleon captures it, then egoistic tyranny will win, and if Kutuzov defends, then the principle of unity, the ancestral principle.

St. Petersburg acts as an unnatural, alien city; it can be taken outside the boundaries of the “swarm” unity formed by the residents of Moscow and the city itself. The war does not affect St. Petersburg, but even when they learn terrible news from Moscow, residents of the city on the Neva do not make any attempts to help people in trouble and are outside the heroic situation.

Also, the separation of St. Petersburg from the generic whole is facilitated by one of the existing myths about its foundation - that it was built at the whim of the tsar, and not according to the needs of the people, and stands on bones. Tolstoy does not sympathize with this city, and, accordingly, with those characters who, at the author’s request, turn out to be its residents - regular visitors to the salons of Anna Scherer and Helen.

In the novel "War and Peace", as one can confidently say, antithesis is important both as a compositional device, and as one of the ways of depicting characters, and as a means of creating historical space. And, obviously, it is this principle that ensures the integrity of the work, despite the colossal number of characters, the wide time frame and its ideological richness.

Antithesis is the main ideological and compositional principle of the novels by L. G. Tolstoy “War and Peace” and F. G. Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”, already inherent in their titles. It manifests itself at all levels of artistic expression: from the problematic to the construction of a system of characters and techniques of psychological depiction. However, in the very use of antithesis, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky often demonstrate different methods. The source of this discrepancy is their views on man. The works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky have one common feature: their names are ambiguous and polysemantic. The word “war” in “War and Peace” means not only military actions, not only events that occur on the battlefield. War can occur in the everyday lives of people (remember such a war through the inheritance of Count Bezukhov), as well as in their souls. The word “peace” is even more meaningful in terms of meaning: peace as the antithesis of war and “peace” as a community of people. The title of the final edition of L. G. Tolstoy’s novel was “War and Peace,” that is, peace as the antithesis of war. But in Tolstoy’s numerous drafts and sketches there are different spellings of this word. We can find the very connection of “war and peace” in O. S. Pushkin in “Boris Godunov”:

“Describe, without further ado, All that you will witness in life: War and peace, the government of sovereigns, Saints, holy miracles.”

In Pushkin's context, the connection between “war and peace” becomes the key to the historical process as a whole. Thus, the world is a universal category, it is life, it is the universe. On the other hand, it is quite clear that the concepts of “crime” and “punishment” do not interest Dostoevsky for their narrow legal content. Crime and Punishment is a work that poses deep philosophical and moral problems. The artistic space of Tolstoy's novel is, as it were, limited by two poles: on one pole - good and peace, which unite people, on the other - evil and enmity, which lead to their separation. Tolstoy tests his heroes from the point of view of the law of “continuous movement of personality in time.” Heroes capable of mental movement and internal changes, according to the author, carry within themselves the beginning of “living life” and the world. The heroes, motionless, incapable of feeling and understanding the internal laws of life, are assessed by Tolstoy as the bearers of the beginning of war and discord. In his novel, Tolstoy sharply contrasts these characters. Thus, the writer compares Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s salon to a spinning workshop, to a soulless machine. The antithesis “correctness - incorrectness”, “external beauty - living charm” runs through the entire novel. For Tolstoy, Natasha’s irregular and even ugly facial features are much more attractive than Elen’s ancient beauty; Natasha’s cheerful (even if not efficient) laughter is a thousand times sweeter than Elen’s “unchangeable” smile. In the behavior of the characters, the author also contrasts the spontaneous with the intelligent, the natural with the theatrical. For Tolstoy, Natasha’s “mistakes” are much more natural and natural than Sonya’s smart behavior. “Family Thought” contrasts the Rostov family with the Kuragin “clan”. The complete embodiment of war in the novel was Napoleon. He not only constantly plays to the public, but also remains an actor in private. He thinks of himself as a great commander, focusing on some ancient examples. The complete antipode of Napoleon is in the novel Kutuzov, a sincere exponent of the spirit of nations. The antithesis “erroneous - sincere” is also used by Tolstoy when depicting the spiritual ruins of his characters.

So, Pierre in a duel, feeling the stupidity and fallacy of the situation, does not use anything to successfully resolve it, but demands to “start soon” and intensively loads his pistol. Unlike Tolstoy, Dostoevsky never portrays his heroes unambiguously: his people are always contradictory, completely unknowable. His characters combine two abyss together: the abyss of goodness, regret, sacrifice and the abyss of evil, selfishness, individualism, vice. Each of them has two ideals: the ideal of Madonna and the ideal of Sodom. The main core of “Crime and Punishment” is the trial of Raskolnikov, the internal court, the court of conscience. The techniques that Dostoevsky uses in creating the figurative system of his work differ from Tolstoy’s techniques. Dostoevsky resorts to the technique of double portraiture. Moreover, the first portrait, more generalized, usually argues with the second

So, before committing a crime, the author talks about Raskolnikov’s beauty, about his beautiful eyes. But the crime not only stained his soul, but left a tragic reflection on his face. This time we have a portrait of a killer. In Dostoevsky's novel, it is not the characters who argue, but their ideas. Thus, antithesis as an artistic device turned out to be very productive and controversial for two great realist artists - L. G. Tolstoy and F. G. Dostoevsky