Xue Baochai and Marya Bolkonskaya: a comparative analysis of the characters of the novels of Cao Xueqin and Leo Tolstoy

Sun Dannuo Postgraduate student, Moscow State University 117292, Russia, Moscow, Dmitry Ulyanov str., 16k2 lilysmomforever@yandex.com

The methodology of comparative analysis makes it possible to identify common and special features in literary works of different eras and countries, even in such classical masterpieces, which, at first glance, seem difficult to compare. In China, a number of articles have been written comparing Xue Baochai with female images in other works, both Chinese (for example, Ziji) and world (for example, Gwendoline) literature. In Russian literary criticism, the comparison of female images of the novel "War and Peace" itself prevails ^{[11, 17]}. To date, literary studies have not attempted to compare the formation of a female image in Russian and Chinese literature. It seems possible to compare two female characters in terms of their appearance and character traits, the philosophical ideas of the authors, as well as to identify the problem of the influence of the historical period in which the heroines live on the possibility of achieving "female happiness". To understand the essence of the heroines, as well as the common and distinctive features of their fate, it is necessary to compare the appearance and inner world of the characters.

Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" is called the "epic" of the Patriotic War of 1812. Cao Xueqin's book "The Dream in the Red Chamber" is an encyclopedia of the life of Chinese feudal society. The authors show the nature of the social relations depicted in the works of time through hundreds of characters. Cao Xueqin and Leo Tolstoy, despite the geographical, temporal and national-cultural barriers separating them from each other, express a similar attitude to the world.

The novel "The Dream in the Red Chamber", which represents the highest stage in the development of Chinese classical literature, is unique, first of all, in the depiction of female characters (as both a song of sorrow for a woman and a hymn of praise for a woman). In it, Cao Xueqin created a complete image of Xue Baochai – the "ideal woman" in the representation of traditional Chinese society, although readers and critics differ in their assessment of the heroine herself and her actions. The epic "War and Peace" by L. N. Tolstoy also depicts a long series of female images, through which the author seeks to reveal the "dialectic of the female soul", showing his heroines in different circumstances and finding positive features in them. Marya Bolkonskaya is the image of a devout woman with a kind heart. For example, E. S. Afanasyev makes a controversial conclusion that "her appearance is associated in the reader's mind with the Virgin Mary, the ideal of a woman in the Christian religion" ^{[2, p. 9]}. In revealing the image of Marya Bolkonskaya, one can see the result of L. N. Tolstoy's reflections on life, religion and, most importantly, on the purpose of a woman.

In Cao Xueqin's novel, the image of the beautiful Xue Baochai is created. The author's detailed description directly indicates the beauty of Baochai, which is enhanced by additional details ^{[6, 15]}. When Baochai first appears in the text of the novel, the author compares her to Lin Daiyu: "But then Baochai arrived. She was older than Daiyu, good-looking, distinguished by her directness and frankness, and everyone unanimously decided that Daiyu was inferior to her in many ways."^[13] Unlike Lin Daiyu's beauty, Xue Baochai shows a healthy and vibrant beauty. Cao Xueqin uses peony flowers to emphasize the charm of Baochai's appearance. For example, in episode 63: "She shook the glass and pulled out a plate with a peony painted on it and the caption: "Beauty surpasses all flowers," as well as a line from a Tang-era poem: "A peony does not know the feelings of the heart, but it can touch a person's heart." There was an explanation for the line: “Those sitting at the table should drink a cup of wine! The peony, the most beautiful of all flowers, tells you to read a poem, dance or sing a song "" ^[13].

Baochai is not only beautiful and reasonable, but also a secular and submissive girl: "From the point of view of Confucian aesthetic standards, she represents an ideal woman with a gentle and generous personality. So much so that in such a large family as Rongofu, she was deeply preferred and widely loved and praised by everyone."^[7] In episode 22, when Baochai celebrates her birthday, Mother Jia asks her which theater she likes and what she likes to eat. Baochai, knowing that Mother Jia is an elderly man who loves funny theaters and loves sweets, said this as her usual hobbies, which Mother Jia was very pleased with. From this story it can be seen that Baochai delves into all the little things, is very good at choosing words and thereby adapting to people's tastes.

Baochai is a girl with brilliant talents, she was a master of poetry, calligraphy and painting, but refused to develop her abilities and focused only on household chores. Baochai is required to observe traditional Chinese rituals. She repeatedly advises Jia Baoyu to become an official and teaches Daiyu and Xiangyun the conservative norms that "a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent." In her opinion, works of ancient Chinese literature, such as "The Western Wing" and "The Peony Gazebo", do not comply with moral norms. Therefore, when Daiyu accidentally opened the text of the work, and Baoqin used it as a theme for poetry, they met with fierce resistance from Baochai. Although Baochai has much more talent and abilities than men, no one cares about her inner world. Her life depends entirely on others, she is like a toy in a luxurious palace.

"It is not beauty that causes love, but love that makes us see beauty," this famous quote belongs to Leo Tolstoy, praising the virtues of Marya Bolkonskaya ^[14]. L. N. Tolstoy describes Mary, her pale face and fragile body. She looks less outstanding than many of the women depicted by Tolstoy. But her pious faith, kind and noble heart make up a large spiritual world. According to Tolstoy, the beauty of the spirit is much more attractive than the beauty of the outside. This is how he defined the ideal woman: "The ideal woman, for me, will be the one who, having assimilated the higher worldview of the time in which she lives, gives herself to her feminine, irresistibly invested vocation, will give birth, feed and bring up the largest number of children capable of working for people, according to the worldview she has assimilated." ^[4]. Leo Tolstoy shows the beauty of the heroine's spiritual appearance and her noble heart when an unattractive face acquires a captivating charm. In particular, her deep, gentle eyes show all her inner beauty, love and self-sacrifice. This is especially evident in the case of Marya's longing for eternal and serene love, which makes her face suddenly become strikingly beautiful.

Marya Bolkonskaya was ugly, too thin, with an angular face. But she had warm, radiant eyes: "...Indeed, the princess's eyes, large, deep and radiant (as if rays of warm light sometimes came out of them in sheaves) were so good that very often, despite the ugliness of the whole face, these eyes became more attractive than beauty" ^[14]. L. N. Tolstoy often uses the adjective "radiant" in the novel to describe Marya's eyes. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, and the author gives such a description that the beautiful inner world of Mary becomes visible.

The "idea of the family" is built around the image of Mary as a traditional theme in Tolstoy's work. L.N. Tolstoy uses images of sunlight and moonlight to show a pious and selfless woman who longs for love and family happiness. She has her own moral principles, the author's description illustrates her rich inner world and purity of soul.

In addition, it is no coincidence that sunlight and moonlight are related to the image of Mary. They embody her inner desire for love and a quiet family life ^[5]. The author's use of warm sunlight in characterization of the hero also suggests a happy outcome of Marya's family life.

L. N. Tolstoy seems to be completing his search for truth in the process of creating the character of Marya Bolkonskaya. V.G. Andreeva points out that "Princess Mary's religiosity ... is born of the hopelessness of her position" ^{[1, p. 10]}. When Princess Mary says to the peasants: "Everything that is mine is yours," she follows the precepts of Christ and does what was Tolstoy's dream up to his renunciation of copyrights to his works. Another cherished dream is to leave the usual way of life, break with your surroundings in order to embark on the path of prayer books for humanity ^{[3, 8, 12]}.

Thus, the analyzed authors have different ways of depicting heroines. Although Marya does not have a beautiful appearance like Xue Baochai, but she has a rich inner world, which makes her a highly moral person with great spiritual potential. Leo Tolstoy always focused on the inner world of a person, and was able to create a female character whose inner world is much more attractive than appearance. Xue Baochai, who is depicted as a secular lady with traditional Chinese values, about whose inner world little is known, has an empty and lonely soul. This image is formed by the peculiarities of the world order of the Chinese society in which the author lived and worked.

Xue Baochai and Marya Bolkonskaya are characters with different appearances and inner worlds, but their life paths are similar in many ways.

Xue Baochai's fate turned out better than Daiyu's because she married Jia Baoyu. But in reality, Baochai, like all the girls in the garden of magnificent spectacles, was not immune from the tragic ending. Even the name Baochai ("Precious Hairpin"), in part, hints at her fate. The image of a hairpin in classical Chinese literature has a certain meaning. Wu Shichang notes: "Anyone who is familiar with the meaning of the name Baochai in classical Chinese literature will probably think at first glance that this is not a very good omen" ^[16]. Baochai knew about the love between Baoyu and Daiyu, but she married Baoyu without objection, voluntarily, for the benefit of the family. Of course, in the depths of Baochai's soul, there was still a trace of love for Baoyu, but mostly she did it at the behest of her elders, obeyed tradition. On the night of the wedding, when Baoyu found out that his bride was not his beloved Daiyu, but Bao Chai, he was very confused. After the wedding, Baochai's beauty and warmth did not bring Baoyu any spiritual satisfaction. Baochai spends the rest of his life alone, alone with his sad thoughts. Many readers of the book noted that Baochai's character was cold, and coldness was reflected in her moral principles and philosophy of life, and these cold thoughts became part of her character. She lost herself, became a part of traditional society and, in part, its unfortunate victim.

Like Xue Baochai, Marya Bolkonskaya's path to finding her own female happiness is also full of sharp turns and surprises. The heroine took Anatole Kuragin for a decent man. The hope of finding a woman's happiness was awakening in her soul. But when she saw Anatole with Mademoiselle Bourrienne, she immediately lost the desire to marry him.

Marya was a rich "spinster", and had already lost hope of getting married. But one day she met Nikolai Rostov. At that time, Nikolai loved Sonya, who later lived in their family as a hanger-on. Marya, in his opinion, was a pleasant girl and a wonderful potential wife, able to improve the financial situation of the ruined Rostovs ^[9]. But when they saw each other again, love transformed Mary, Nikolai noticed her true beauty, fell in love, and they immediately got married. Tolstoy's intention in this plot is obvious, the most important purpose of the previous depiction of Mary's unattractive appearance and noble heart is to create a contrast through which the beauty of human nature is glorified, capable of transforming even unsightly facial features. In the epilogue of "War and Peace", their relationship is revealed more vividly both through the prism of unequal love for each other, and through their view of the world and family life.

The methodology of literary and historical analysis assumes that the objects being compared should have differences and similarities ^[10]. Due to the difference in the authors' life experiences and ideological views, as well as the socio-economic conditions of their formation and development, the fates of the heroes of their works also differ. Xue Baochai and Marya Bolkonskaya, being good girls who adhered to the moral principles of the societies of their time, eventually came to their destinies in different ways. Cao Xueqin portrayed Baochai as the ideal woman of her time, but she came to a tragic end because of the peculiarities of traditional society. On the contrary, Marya, who was not distinguished by her special appearance, had a kind heart. She sought to understand the value of life and, as a result, found a happy family life. Cao Xueqin, who was deeply influenced by traditional Chinese ideas, created the complex character of the character Xue Baochai and showed the shortcomings of conservative systems that do not allow a woman to fully open up. And Leo Tolstoy, in the process of creating the image of Marya Bolkonskaya, followed Christian ideals, endowing the heroine with virtues; she sought and tried to understand the meaning and value of life and, as a result, found her own happiness.