The author's personal views through the prism of literary heroes (using the example of L. N. Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina")

Polyanskaya Kseniya Yuryevna Lecturer at the Department of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Russian Academy of National Economy and State service under the President of the Russian Federation, Lipetsk branch; Postgraduate student at Yelets State University I. A. Bunina, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences 34 Moskovskaya str., 54 block, Chaplygin, Lipetsk region, 399900, Russia ksu_polyanskaya@mail.ru

In any literary text, the author is usually a very significant figure. Although the issue of philosophical and anthropological grounds for rethinking the role of a writer is one of the most interesting today. Traditionally, the author is one of the central concepts of sacred, philological and philosophical hermeneutics, the process of understanding which is studied is focused on texts behind which, as M.M. Bakhtin wrote, there are "gods or people".

The writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy spoke in great detail about the role of the creator of the text in the Preface to the Works of Guy de Maupassant: "In fact, when we read or contemplate a work of fiction by a new author, the main question that arises in our soul is always: "Well, what kind of person are you? And how are you different from all the people I know, and what can you tell me new about how we should look at our lives?" No matter what the artist depicts: saints, robbers, kings, lackeys – we seek and see only the soul of the artist himself" ^{[8, p. 6]}.

An interesting thought on this subject can be found in Yu.M. Lotman. The scientist writes that the book is not rhyming words, but the creation of a writer. "It needs not only to be understood, but it needs to be enjoyed, experienced, and re—felt....The reader should see the author's personality behind the book, his fate, his joys and sufferings, goals and hopes." ^{[6, p. 4]}.

These thoughts are very important. Literature has always been an integral part of our lives, because it helps us understand ourselves and the world around us. The books are a reflection of the author's view of life and the problems that the characters face. Therefore, the author's view on the solution of a particular issue can be a good cheat sheet for the reader on his problem.

If we turn to the terminology of the concept of author, then you can see many interpretations in different sources. Firstly, the creator of the text can be absolutely real, existing by our contemporary or who once lived. For example, when we say that the author worked on the novel Anna Karenina from 1873 to 1877, "by the word "author" we think of the real Leo Tolstoy.

Such a conversation about a writer makes it easy to study his biography and work. At the same time, it is possible that often the real identity of the author does not coincide with the narrator in the text of the work. So, in some books, the reader can see the sensitive and open personality of the author. In this case, reading the text, it is very easy to be deceived. After all, in real life, the author can be a completely different person. For example, very introverted and overly modest. Of course, it is much easier to study the author when he does not hide his biographical details, tastes and preferences in the text. But this is not always the case. ^{[8, p. 7]}. At the same time, in our opinion, the cases when the author manifests himself through the hero of the work are especially interesting.

As an example, consider Leo Tolstoy's famous novel Anna Karenina, which impresses with its depth and relevance even centuries after it was written. This work is not only a story of love and betrayal, but also an exemplary work about various aspects of human nature. It is through his characters that Tolstoy expresses his vision of life and its values, which makes his work truly unique. The reflection of the author's personality in literary characters is a well-known phenomenon. This is inevitable, since the writer necessarily invests his thoughts, feelings and views of the world in the characters he creates. Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is a brilliant example of this approach. The author penetrates inside each character, revealing their thoughts, feelings, hopes and sufferings. This is made possible by Tolstoy's careful observation of human psychology and his ability to recreate it on the pages of the novel. His personal views and ideas are clearly visible in Anna Karenina.

The heroine Anna Karenina, with her passion and double-minded feelings, portrays Tolstoy as a romantic, an idealist, as well as his penchant for complete dedication and risk. By focusing on the creation of such a character, the author, to some extent, conveyed to our attention his own values and ideas about love and morality.

The personal aspect of the author is particularly interesting in the image of Levin. We will consider him in detail because it was through this character that the writer expressed his views and ideas. Of course, Leo Tolstoy doesn't have random or simple characters. But Konstantin Levin is special. According to the researchers, this is due to the fact that this character was largely copied from the author himself. Levin's quest is similar to the experiences of Tolstoy himself, which he spoke about in his autobiographical work "Confession".

Konstantin Levin is a very complex character. He was not immediately understood and appreciated by readers and critics, but over time the situation changed. It became obvious to everyone that this character was very necessary and important for Leo Tolstoy. ^{[9, p. 21]}.

For the first time, the Russian philosopher, publicist, literary critic and friend of the writer N. N. Strakhov drew attention to this. He highly appreciated the reflection in the novel of the epoch of "mental fermentation". It was Levin whom the critic called "the best representative of this ferment," on whose side "all the sympathies of the author are on his side." Strakhov was one of the first to talk about the fact that this character is not at all accidental in the novel. Moreover, he pointed out the importance of this character for the author. ^{[9, p.23]}.

In this image, we find a lot of thoughts and questions that haunted the writer himself. It seems that it is no coincidence that Tolstoy makes Levin look like himself. The writer's wife, Sofya Andreevna, wrote as follows: "As for before and after the marriage, I know that Levin's confession in the novel Anna Karenina describes his own confession before the wedding in September 1862. There is no doubt that Lev Nikolayevich described himself in Levin, but this is true only to a small extent, because Levin depicts some of his features." F. M. Dostoevsky said in The Writer's Diary that Levin is the main character of the novel. He is described by the author as a bearer of a positive worldview. It is from the perspective of this character that "abnormalities" are discovered that lead to the suffering and death of other characters.

In the text of this difficult novel, we see how the hero is tormented by questions about almost everything. One of these issues is the attitude towards God. As we remember, Levin did not find sincere faith in his soul. It is known that the issue of religion was acute for the writer himself. In tex, we see that the hero of the novel, in difficult moments, nevertheless resorts to prayer, and at the same time he understands that man is mortal. We can see similar reflections in The Confessions. It is believed that the hero was not accidentally on the verge of suicide, did not take up arms or even shoelaces.

This period falls on an amazing and wonderful time in the life of the hero. After all, it is at this time that he loves and is loved. Why is it that it would seem that in the era of absolute happiness, the hero is on the verge? The reason is that Levin could not solve the paradox of life in any way. Scientific knowledge says that "in infinite time, in infinite matter, in infinite space, a bubble is released-an organism, and this bubble will hold and burst," and this bubble is a person. Levin feels that this "is not only untrue, it is... the cruel mockery of some evil force, evil, nasty and one that could not be obeyed." ^{[10, p. 178]}. These thoughts, the desire to find a purpose in life, drove Levin to despair. The hero was looking for answers to his questions in the writings of philosophers, but in the end, the words of a simple man became support. a peasant who "lives for God" and "remembers his soul" helps the hero to come to peace.

The similarity between the hero and the author can be traced not only in inner experiences. After all, as you know, Levin's last name itself was invented by the writer from his own name. Even Sofya Andreevna jokingly told Lev Nikolaevich: "Lyovochka, you are Levin, but plus talent. Levin is an insufferable man."

Remembering the fate of the writer, I would like to note that he was also being washed about family life. They are reflected on the pages of this work. Among the many questions, the novel shows how a new relationship between the sexes develops. Of course, Tolstoy wasn't the only one interested in this question.

Ideas about marriage and family change with each new era in society and philosophy.

For example, let's recall Kant. The philosopher spoke of marriage as a contract based on property relations. "Marriage is a relationship of equality of ownership both as persons who mutually possess each other and as property, and they are entitled — however, only by a special agreement — to refuse to use any part of it," Kant wrote. Not everyone agreed with this. For example, Hegel believed that such an attitude towards the family could simply be called consumer-oriented. For the philosopher, marriage had, first of all, moral principles. After all, true love, in his opinion, cannot be fleeting or even turn out to be just a passion. ^[5] Tolstoy's view on Barak's question can be found in his statement: "The main cause of family unhappiness is that people are brought up to believe that marriage gives happiness."

Interesting approaches to marriage can be seen in the novel "Anna Karenina", considering the family union of Kitty and Levin, based on the approach of Hegel. The family of these heroes did not form immediately. Let us recall that Kitty did not even consider Levin as a husband. In the novel, we see that this family is not built on the principle of a marriage contract or just passion. Here we can see how the mutual steps of these two characters are traced towards each other. The decision to marry did not come to the heroes spontaneously, it was a completely deliberate step. Especially from Levin's side. Here, of course, we must remember that Konstantin was in love with a girl, but Kitty gradually opened her heart. As a result, love came to her in its entirety. Their relationship had everything that Hegel considered necessary in family life. It is not difficult for the reader to see that a spiritual bond is growing between the characters, there is trust, mutual respect, love and friendship. Thus, Levin and Kitty's marriage can be called an ideal Hegelian marriage with lofty moral goals: "He realized that she was not only close to him, but that he now did not know where she ended and he began" ^[5].

Speaking of family, it is impossible not to mention the women's issue. There is also a clear author's position here. It is known from the author's biography that Tolstoy's personal drama pushed him to search for a new ideal of a woman. Therefore, already being married, the author begins to glorify a pure and honest mother. For her, the goal of life is not personal happiness, but the opportunity to devote herself to the well-being of her husband and children. On the pages of the novel, this ideal is embodied in the images of Kitty and Dolly. ^{[11, p. 3]}.

The author himself claims that women become more perfect if they give up personal gain in favor of the happiness of their children and husband. In other words, they devote themselves to their family. There is a very interesting scene in the novel, rather even a background one, but it is very important. Moreover, according to the researchers, it is of key importance to the author.

This is the moment of Konstantin Levin's repeated matchmaking to Kitty Shcherbatskaya after their breakup. In the background, the rest of the participants in the scene are talking about women's education, freedom and rights. Here we see how Steve Oblonsky's character, at first glance, immoral, turns out to be a proponent of gender equality. He sees nothing wrong with women's ability to receive education and perform the duties that men traditionally perform. His wife, Dolly, opposes him and says that a woman's main job is family. At the same time, it doesn't even matter to her whose family it is - someone else's or her own. At this moment, "some kind of mysterious communication" takes place between Kitty and Levin. The characters don't notice anyone or anything around them. It is in this intimate communication, according to the writer himself, that lies the solution to the dispute. It turns out that love, family, the birth of children, these are the main duties and rights of women. "Here and only here are all the "duties" and all the "rights" of women, here is the field for her heroism" - we find in the novel. Some researchers even say that this is the key to the entire work of Anna Karenina. For example, Aivazova S.G. emphasizes this idea ^[1]. She also notes that Lev Nikolaevich will confirm a similar position a quarter of a century later, after reading the work of Anton Chekhov "Darling". Tolstoy will write that a woman's main vocation is not even how to raise and feed her children, but "in giving herself completely to the one you love" and emphasize: "An amazing misunderstanding is the whole so-called women's issue, which has engulfed, as it should be with any vulgarity, most women and even men!"^[1].

In addition to emotional feelings, we also find serious questions of Russian history in this image. Of course, Tolstoy himself thought about this. So, in the text we see that Levin, who is engaged in farming, feels the presence of a spontaneous, evil force that resisted him. Russian Russian historians believe that Tolstoy described in this phrase the "pass of Russian history" — from the fall of serfdom to the first Russian Revolution. In the plot, we see that the hero feels not only an inner discord, but also a lack of application with reality. He rejects all the foundations, but then, like the author, he tries on life. As a result, Levin, having gone through all the doubts, comes to understand what good is. He deduces the "law of goodness" in his soul. In the final scene of the novel, we see a picture of a powerful spring thunderstorm. It is at this time that the hero raises his head. The starry sky opens in front of him. With each flash of lightning, the bright stars disappeared, and then, "as if thrown by some mark hand, they reappeared on the same bridges." And Levin felt that "the resolution of his doubts... it's already ready in his soul." We can assume that together with the hero, the author deduced the formula of life and goodness for himself.

In general, the novel "Anna Karenina" is a juxtaposition of the author's personal beliefs with the actions and thoughts of literary characters. Especially the almost autobiographical Levin. In the text of the work, one can see the views of Leo Tolstoy, which relate to a variety of issues: life and death, relationships, marriage, the women's issue, and the social structure. The novel gives us the opportunity to better understand and appreciate the views and ideals of the author, who so subtly penetrated this complex and amazing text. In the end, the novel "Anna Karenina" became not only a story of love and suffering, but also a mouthpiece for expressing the views of the author himself.