Contradictions In Tolstoy's War And Peace

Tolstoy has never been concerned with rules. Whether it is with the structure of the novel, revered thought on established topics, or even his own past writing, Tolstoy disregards all of them in pursuit of his elusive hero. This constant, intense search for truth fills Tolstoy’s works with the uncanny lifelike quality that has immortalized him. But it can also fill them with contradictions and frustratingly radical conclusions. Tolstoy’s attitude towards his female characters is a prime example of this simultaneous beauty and confusion. He treats them with tender care and breaths such life into them that readers can’t help but fall in love. Yet he is also quick to send them off the stage, or even conclude their stories in ways that seem dangerously
Many of his characters remain as open and searching as he himself was. As a result, something can click or go awry for them in an instant, and they can develop new personalities. Thus in the same way that “War and Peace” lacks a central plotline, we see that Tolstoy does not have a set agenda for Marya’s story. He develops her, as well as his other male and female, to his/her own unique tune. This focus on organic essence is important to keep in mind when discussing Tolstoy’s views as they relate to feminism. One can rarely abstract one of Tolstoy’s characters to encompass the man’s view on any particular subject, which was very volatile anyway. What’s more important to note is how Tolstoy explores his characters and themes as an artist. That is, he is concerned with finding the truth behind them, and thus reading them with a preset frame in mind often does them
Marya eventually meets and falls in love with Nikolai. At a key moment in their relationship, Marya perceives his inner struggles and directly addresses them. Doing so jolts Nikolai out of his cynical stupor, and “For a few seconds they looked silently into each other’s eyes, and the distant and impossible suddenly became near, possible, and inevitable” (1144). In all of this, we see how Tolstoy develops Marya into a strong and capable woman. Her relationship to her father, does not define her development as a woman and as her own person.