We read the summary of "After the Ball" by Leo Tolstoy

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The story of Leo Tolstoy "After the Ball" was written by him in 1903, almost 50 years after the events that happened to his brother Sergei Nikolayevich, which served as the basis for the plot of this work. The history of the creation of the story "After the Ball" implies an absolutely real case, which, of course, is not mentioned in the story itself. During the events mentioned, young Lev Nikolayevich studied oriental literature at the Imperial Kazan University and, together with his brothers, rented an apartment from one landlord. The brother of the future writer was passionately in love with a young lady, the daughter of a local colonel L. P. Koreishe. A young man in a dream and in reality dreamed of a wedding with his beloved, but just one dramatic event turned his life upside down and forced him to abandon his plan. Sergei Nikolaevich saw how the girl's father severely punished his subordinate, as a result of which he was shocked and discouraged to the core by what he saw and lost all desire to become the son-in-law of this cruel man.

This dramatic incident from the life of his brother made a huge impression on Leo Tolstoy himself, who could not erase him from his memory even after so many yearswho wrote his story "After the Ball", changing in it only the names of the characters and the scene. Retelling the summary of “After the Ball”, we can say that its plot completely coincides with the described case. The main character is Ivan Vasilyevich - a young man from a good family, to whom everyone predicts a military career. This young man falls in love with a beautiful girl, Varenka, and dances with her all evening at the ball. He admires her while she dances with her father, a military colonel, who, like her, moves excellently, smiles and lavishes pleasantries on everyone around. Further, the summary of "After the Ball" tells how Ivan Vasilyevich goes home and tries to fall asleep, but happiness and dreams of the impending marriage to the beautiful Varenka overwhelm him, and he, having lain like this until the morning, goes for an early walk to unwind a little and get distracted. However, the young man does not know that this morning will be fatal for him.

Further, a summary of "After the Ball" tells us how, during a walk, Ivan Vasilyevich accidentally meets a colonel on his way, commanding the execution of a fugitive soldier, who is severely beaten with clubs by a whole system. The colonel is very passionate about his occupation and commands the beating of the unfortunate with genuine cruelty, while the poor young man is already bleeding all over and begging for mercy. What he saw strikes Ivan Vasilyevich to the depths of his soul, soon after that he ceases to see Varenka and leaves all thoughts ofmilitary service.

Summary of "After the Ball" by Leo Tolstoy allows us to understand the main idea of this story, invested in it by the author. The main emphasis is on the experiences of the protagonist: that is why the story is told in the first person. The technique of contrasting the contrasts of two different situations, between which only a few hours pass in the story, is very characteristically expressed. Further analysis of "After the Ball" shows that, playing on contrasts, the author of the work seeks to show the reader the true face of secular society and the nature of the mores of the era of the reign of Tsar Nicholas I, characterized by military drill and exile to Siberia of the disgraced Decembrists.