Princess Elena Kuragina, even before her marriage, conquered “the whole of Petersburg”, that is, his narrow layer, which is commonly called high society. Her full name in girlhood is Elena Vasilyevna Kuragin.
This woman is differently presented to artists and filmmakers of all countries. In the novel “War and Peace”, Helen Kuragina has a vivid image. Get to know her in more detail.
Family Helen Kuraginoy
Helen is the daughter of Prince Vasily and the sister of Anatole and Ippolit Kuragin. L. Tolstoy does not show Helen in a family setting. Only indirect hints can one understand what a cold and soulless atmosphere reigns in it. First of all, the tone in the family is set by an avid schemer and courtier Prince Vasily. He simply always keeps as close as possible to people above him in position and from whom you can get something. And he always moves away from those who are lower than he (for example, the daughter of his old deceased friend, impoverished Princess Drubetskaya, who turned to him with a request for her son).
The wife of the prince is an absolutely empty place, to which almost no attention was paid to the work. Only at the end can we understand that a woman is disgusting enough (envies her own daughter). In the novel gradually, page after page, chapter by chapter, Helen Kuragina stands up to the full height. The image that L. Tolstoy creates is far from ideal.
Relations with brothers and Pierre
Her brother Anatole, with all his beauty, is cynical and vile in all its manifestations. She and her sister make a worthy couple. Their relationship is so ambiguous that father removes Anatole from his sister, because he fears incest.
Only on the face of the witty Hippolytus Kurakin, as in a mirror, the whole essence of this family is reflected. Pierre has known Helene since childhood. Their fathers are distant relatives. P. Bezukhov spent a long time abroad and meets in the salon of A.P. Scherer a dazzlingly pretended girl. She needs only a suitable candidate. And in Pierre, she evokes feelings that he himself is ashamed of. He feels something disgusting when meeting with Helen. But at the same time, Prince Vasily tries to arrange their meetings as often as possible. This is discussed throughout Petersburg. Everyone considers Pierre to be the bridegroom, but he does not take a decisive step.
Betrothal
The task of Prince Vasily is to give his daughter in marriage to a man with a fortune. He comes across the ingenuous Pierre Bezukhov. It is impossible to escape from the clutches of this family, which has set a specific goal. Pierre, not understanding how this happens, is engaged to Helene. Pierre, like a lamb in the slaughter, sits next to Helen.
He hears her corset creak, smells her perfume, but something prevents him from taking the last step and asking for her hand. Pierre had previously thought that she was stupid, and he did not feel love for her, only a passion that he himself did not respect. But Elena Vasilievna, for all her stupidity, is not at all a simpleton.
When the father comes to the room where Bezukhov is completely stuck with what is happening, Kuragin roughly kisses the man, and all of them are engaged. Marriage is soon. This is not satire. Tolstoy shows life as it is. The betrothal scene is an excellent description of Helen Kuragina as a cynical creature.
Appearance of Elena Vasilievna
This young blond girl, beautiful as a marble statue, created by a magnificent sculptor, is perfect from head to toe. There are no flaws in her appearance. And she is becoming prettier year after year throughout her life. She bloomed early. On the very first pages of the novel, she appears as a young girl who is already used to her all-conquering beauty. And then it becomes outwardly more and more perfect. Such is the characteristic of Helen Kuragina, a captivating beauty.
But what if you read the novel, does it look? She has black eyes, blonde hair, a body of ancient beauty, which is always one with her dress. When Anna Pavlovna Scherer first appeared in the salon, she was dressed in a ball gown with a code. The cipher indicates that she is either a graduate of the Smolny Institute, or a maid of honor. At the beginning of the novel, she is approximately eighteen to twenty-two years old. In another case, no one would call her a young girl. Everyone who saw her admired the beautiful Helen.
Helen character traits
The smile does not leave the face of Elena Vasilievna. She's just charming. But at the same time it is monotonous and has no shades. She smiles at everyone the same.
Dresses Elena Vasilyevna prefers very open. She strives to demonstrate perfectly beautiful breasts, shoulders, back and arms. To make her beauty more noticeable, she periodically adjusts jewelry on her chest, then her all-conquering beauty becomes even more noticeable.
What about manners? Countess Bezukhova knows how to file herself. Firstly, she is elegant. Secondly, always calm and majestic. She does not walk, but floats. And he keeps himself silent and dignified in the light. She just has nothing to say, so she answers all the speeches addressed to her in monosyllables, accompanying the words with a monotonous smile.
This is a characteristic of Helen Kuragina, which is repeatedly emphasized by L. Tolstoy. Everything in her gives the impression of a deep mind, which in fact is simply practical, rude and cynical.
Sociability Countess Bezukhovoy
At home, she managed to arrange a salon, which everyone wanted to get into. Her close friends are “all Petersburg”. Secular people who are known as amiable and intelligent people, diplomats, Russian and foreign, are all in a hurry to testify to the countess. If a person is accepted in her house, then he automatically receives recognition in all the houses of St. Petersburg. Diplomat Bilibin is preparing his best “words” to express them for the first time in the Bezukhova salon.
If she visits the theater, then her very presence in the box becomes like a performance. The most noble and intelligent men rush to her, and everyone else is watching this spectacle. To expose oneself without any embarrassment or embarrassment is a show of concern for Elena Vasilievna. Modesty is not her element. This is also a characteristic of Helen Kuragina.
Stupidity and emptiness freely, without effort on its part, are successfully hidden. In the society behind her, the reputation of a woman as smart as she was beautiful was firmly established. Hypocrisy, like her father, Elena Vasilievna in the blood. She knew how to speak quite naturally what she did not think about, and it was absolutely simple and easy to flatter.
What is hidden behind aristocratic manners
Helen Kuragin and Pierre Bezukhov, after the wedding, became even more distant from each other. Their marriage is unhappy. Pierre looks with disgust at the beautiful wife. The wife, a socialite, considers her husband a fool and does not hide it. She does not want to have children. The husband sees the rudeness of her thoughts and the vulgarity of expressions. Pierre is horrified to realize that she is a lecherous woman. She has a lover - Dolokhov. He understands how vile she influenced a pure creature - Natasha Rostov. Helene quite naturally introduces brother Anatole, the famous rake, to the bride of Prince Bolkonsky. Insinuatingly, calmly and with pleasure, they are watching the bewildered girl. Natasha Rostova is not able to withstand double pressure and is preparing to run away with Anatole. She innocently succumbed to his beauty and the charm of evil.
Only later, when the escape opened and time passed, Natasha Rostova (not without Pierre's influence) again was able to enjoy life and understand what abyss her beautiful Elena Vasilyevna was pushing into.
And the life of Helen Kuragina goes on as usual. After Pierre left his wife and she vomited, since the woman was a self-serving, a significant part of the fortune, Helene became close with a high-ranking nobleman, and later, in Vilna, and with a foreign prince. Returning to Petersburg, she makes an effort to maintain contact with both, without offending any of her lovers.
Plans by Elena Vasilievna Kuragina
She is going to adopt Catholicism and divorce Pierre. Then she will be able to have a significant fortune and get married again. Faith as such does not interest her. For her, born in an Orthodox family, there is no difference between Catholicism and any other faith if she takes her even higher up the social ladder. And she receives documents allowing her to adopt Catholicism. This once again emphasizes the complete unprincipledness of the secular lady. Only a sudden death from a sore throat interrupts these immoral and far-reaching intentions.
L. N. Tolstoy outlined the convincing appearance of Elena Vasilievna. The deceit and treacherous beauty is Helen Kuragin. The image is full of vitality. Tolstoy shows her in all the fullness of monstrous cynicism and the powerful animal power that she needs for the victories she has planned.