The play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" depicts the era of the 60s of the nineteenth century. At this time, revolutionary actions of the people are brewing in Russia. They are aimed at. improvement of life and life of ordinary people, to overthrow tsarism. The works of great Russian writers and poets are also involved in this struggle, among them is Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", which shocked all of Russia. On the example of the image of Katerina, the struggle of the whole people against the "dark kingdom" and its patriarchal orders is depicted.
The main character in A. N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is Katerina. Her protest against the "boar" order, the struggle for her happiness and depicts the author in the drama.
Katerina grew up in the house of a poor merchant, where she matured spiritually and morally. Katerina was an outstanding personality, and there was some kind of extraordinary charm in her features. All of her "breathed" Russian, truly folk beauty; this is how Boris says about her: “There is some kind of angelic smile on her face, but it seems to glow from her face.”
Before her marriage, Katerina “lived, didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild,” did what she wanted and when she wanted, no one ever forced her or forced her to do what she, Katerina, didn’t want to.
Her spiritual world was very rich and diverse. Katerina was a very poetic nature with a rich imagination. In her conversations we hear folk wisdom and folk sayings. Her soul yearned to fly; “Why don't people fly like birds? Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.”
Katerina’s soul was “educated” both on the stories of the praying women who were in the house every day, and on sewing on velvet (sewing brought her up and led her into the world of beauty and kindness, into the world of art).
After marriage, Katerina's life changed dramatically. In the house of the Kabanovs, Katerina was alone, her world, her soul could not be understood by anyone, This loneliness was the first step towards tragedy. The attitude of the family towards the heroine has also changed dramatically. The Kabanovs' house adhered to the same rules and customs as Katerina's parental house, but here "everything seems to be from captivity." The cruel orders of Kabanikha dulled in Katerina the desire for the sublime, since then the heroine's soul fell into the abyss.
Another pain for Katerina is her husband's misunderstanding. Tikhon was a kind, vulnerable person, very weak compared to Katerina, he never had his own opinion - he obeyed the opinion of another, more strong man. Tikhon could not understand the aspirations of his wife: "I can't figure you out, Katya." This misunderstanding brought Katerina one step closer to disaster.
The love for Boris was also a tragedy for Katerina. According to Dobrolyubov, Boris was the same as Tikhon, only educated. Because of his education, he came to the attention of Katerina. From the entire crowd of the "dark kingdom" she chose him, who was slightly different from the rest. However, Boris turned out to be even worse than Tikhon, he only cares about himself: he only thinks about what others will say about him. He leaves Katerina to the mercy of fate, to the massacre of the “dark kingdom”: “Well, God bless you! Only one thing must be asked of God that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!".
Katerina sincerely loves Boris, worries about him: “What is he doing now, poor thing? .. Why did I bring him into trouble? I would die alone! And then she ruined herself, ruined him, dishonor herself - he is eternal shame!
The manners of the city of Kalinov, its rudeness and “sheer poverty” were not acceptable to Katerina: “If I want, I’ll leave wherever my eyes look. Nobody can stop me, that's it
I have character."
Dobrolyubov gave a high rating to the work. He called Katerina "a ray of light in" dark kingdom". At its tragic end, “a terrible challenge was given to self-conscious force ... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.” In the image of Katerina Dobrolyubov sees the embodiment of "Russian living nature." Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. Katerina's action is ambiguous.
The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is an excellent image of a Russian woman in Russian literature.
"Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is a complex and multifaceted work, allowing various interpretations and interpretations. Even the genre of this play is defined in different ways: it is sometimes called a drama, sometimes a folk tragedy, depending on how the conflict underlying it is understood. If we consider it as intra-family, domestic, then the reason for Katerina's drama is obvious: the wife cheated on her husband, which she herself confessed to everyone, and then, unable to endure the pangs of conscience and the reproaches of her mother-in-law, who had previously tyrannized her daughter-in-law, committed suicide. But Ostrovsky's contemporary critics refused such a simplified interpretation: too much in this play remains “behind the scenes” with this approach.
Critic Dobrolyubov in the article "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" substantiated Katerina's drama from the point of view of social contradictions, which determined not only the feeling of a pre-stormy atmosphere in society on the eve of reforms, but also affected family foundations. From his point of view, the reason for Katerina's drama is that she turned out to be more sensitive and receptive to these new processes and perceived the need to overcome the inert forms and traditions of life as her personal task. She is unbearable family bondage, with which she can still put up with for the time being. But the free soul of Katerina, who fell in love in spite of all the norms and laws of the patriarchal family, is eager for freedom. The drama is aggravated by the fact that she has nowhere to wait for help: her beloved Boris is a weak and indecisive person, like her husband Tikhon, only she is capable of an effective protest against the "dark kingdom". According to the critic, Katerina's outdated religious ideas, which make her regard her feelings as a terrible sin, make her choose such a form of protest as suicide. In fact, the critic reproaches Katerina only for the fact that instead of actively fighting the conservative orders that have outlived their time, she sacrifices herself. But he agrees that this follows from the nature of Katerina's character, her nature, and does not require more. It is enough that it becomes clear to everyone that even in the most downtrodden part of the people a protest is brewing. Such is the conclusion of this critic about the causes of Katerina's drama.
But how does this conclusion correspond to the author's position? After all, it is not in vain that the writer introduces into the play a whole group of symbols that make it possible to understand inner world Katerina, filled with the poetry of the church service, angelic singing, the smell of cypress and unearthly light. Katerina is a pure soul who lives for a time in the reserved world of that deep patriarchal past, when the norms and postulates of the world of wild boars and wild ones were not an external form, but the internal content of each person. That is why it is not so important for her whether, according to the rules or not, she says goodbye to her husband - the main thing is that she does it sincerely. When Katerina feels the birth of a new feeling in her soul - love for Boris - she loses her inner harmony: continuing to sincerely believe that family relationships saints and treason is a terrible sin, she simultaneously believes her feelings just as strongly and sincerely. Love for Boris is what makes up the essence of Katerina's personality, which is being born before our eyes. She is forced to fight her way not only through external obstacles, but also, which is much more difficult, overcoming internal resistance. Such a conflict cannot be resolved, even if the mother-in-law is kinder, and others treat the poor woman with great understanding. Escape with Boris would not have helped her - after all, you can’t run away from yourself! It is necessary that the whole system of life change, so that the rights of the individual to free choice, happiness and dignity become the norm - but this does not exist in the reality surrounding Katerina and will not be for a long time. So her death is natural, like the death of any tragic heroine. But the feeling of inner purification, similar to what is called catharsis, and the joy that the miracle of the birth of a personality has happened before us, makes us see in The Thunderstorm not only a drama unfolding in the depths of the “dark kingdom”, but also a “beam of light”, illuminating us with hope.
death main character Ostrovsky's play The Thunderstorm ends, the genre of which could be safely described as a tragedy. The death of Katerina in The Thunderstorm is the denouement of the work and carries a special semantic load. The scene of Katerina's suicide gave rise to many questions and interpretations of this plot twist. For example, Dobrolyubov considered this act noble, and Pisarev was of the opinion that such an outcome was "completely unexpected for her (Katerina) herself." Dostoevsky de believed that Katerina's death in the play "Thunderstorm" would have occurred without despotism: "this is a victim of her own purity and her beliefs." It is easy to see that the opinions of critics differ, but at the same time, each is partly true. What made the girl make such a decision, take a desperate step? What does the death of Katerina, the heroine of the play "Thunderstorm" mean?
In order to answer this question, you need to study the text of the work in detail. The reader gets to know Katerina already in the first act. Initially, we observe Katya as a silent witness to the quarrel between Kabanikha and Tikhon. This episode allows us to understand the unhealthy environment of lack of freedom and oppression in which Katya has to survive. Every day she is convinced that the old life, such as it was before marriage, will never be. All power in the house, despite the patriarchal way of life, is concentrated in the hands of the hypocritical Marfa Ignatievna. Katya's husband, Tikhon, is unable to protect his wife from tantrums and lies. His weak-willed submission to his mother shows Katerina that in this house and in this family one cannot count on help.
From childhood, Katya was taught to love life: go to church, sing, admire nature, dream. The girl "breathed deeply", feeling safe. She was taught to live according to the rules of Domostroy: to respect the word of her elders, not to argue with them, to obey her husband and love him. And now Katerina is given in marriage, the situation is radically changing. There is a huge, unbridgeable gulf between expectations and reality. The tyranny of Kabanikh knows no bounds, her limited understanding of Christian laws horrifies the believing Katerina. What about Tikhon? He is not at all the kind of man who deserves respect or even compassion. Katya feels only pity for the often drinking Tikhon. The girl admits that no matter how hard she tries to love her husband, nothing happens.
In no area can a girl fulfill herself: neither as a mistress of the house, nor as a loving wife, nor as a caring mother. The girl regards the appearance of Boris as a chance for salvation. Firstly, Boris is unlike the rest of the inhabitants of Kalinov, and he, like Katya, does not like unwritten laws dark kingdom. Secondly, Katya was visited by thoughts about how to achieve a divorce and after that live honestly with Boris, without fear of condemnation from society or the church. Relations with Boris are developing rapidly. One meeting was enough for two young people to fall in love with each other. Even without being able to talk, Boris dreams of Katya. The girl is very worried about the feelings that have arisen: she is brought up differently, Katya cannot walk with another secretly; purity and honesty "prevent" Katya from hiding love, pretending that everything is "hidden" and others do not guess.
For a very long time, the girl decided on a date with Boris, and yet she went to the garden at night. The author does not describe the ten days when Katerina saw her lover. This, in fact, is not necessary. It is easy to imagine their leisure and the growing sense of warmth that was in Katerina. Boris himself said "only those ten days he lived." The arrival of Tikhon Kabanov revealed new sides in the characters' characters. It turned out that Boris did not want publicity at all, he would rather refuse Katya than involve himself in intrigues and scandals. Katya, unlike young man, wants to tell about the current situation to both her husband and mother-in-law. Being a somewhat suspicious and impressionable person, Katya, driven by the peals of thunder and the words of a crazy lady, confesses everything to Kabanov.
The scene is cut off. Further, we learn that Marfa Ignatievna has become even tougher and more demanding. She humiliates, insults the girl much more than before. Katya understands that she is not as guilty as her mother-in-law wants to convince her, because Kabanikha needs such tyranny only for self-affirmation and control. It is the mother-in-law who becomes the main catalyst for the tragedy. Tikhon, most likely, would have forgiven Katya, but he can only obey his mother and go to drink with Diky.
Imagine yourself in the place of the heroine. Imagine all the things she had to deal with every day. The way her attitude changed after the confession. A husband who cannot argue with his mother, but at every opportunity finds solace in alcohol. The mother-in-law, personifying all that dirt and abomination, from which a pure and honest person wants to stay as far away as possible. The sister of your husband, the only one who is interested in your life, but at the same time cannot fully understand. And a loved one, for whom public opinion and the possibility of receiving an inheritance turned out to be much more important than feelings for a girl.
Katya dreamed of becoming a bird, flying away forever from the dark world of tyranny and hypocrisy, breaking free, flying, being free. Catherine's death was inevitable.
However, as mentioned above, there are several different points of view on Katerina's suicide. After all, on the other hand, couldn't Katya just run away without making such desperate decisions? That's the thing, she couldn't. It wasn't for her. To be honest with yourself, to be free - this is what the girl so passionately desired. Unfortunately, all this could be obtained only at the cost of one's own life. Is Katerina's death a defeat or a victory over the "dark kingdom"? Katerina did not win, but she did not remain defeated either.
Artwork test
The image of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" contrasts perfectly with the gloomy realities of Russia in the pre-reform period. At the epicenter of the unfolding drama is the conflict between the heroine, who seeks to defend her human rights, and a world in which strong, rich and powerful people rule everything.
Katerina as the embodiment of a pure, strong and bright people's soul
From the very first pages of the work, the image of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" cannot but attract attention and make one feel sympathy. Honesty, the ability to feel deeply, the sincerity of nature and a penchant for poetry - these are the features that distinguish Katerina herself from representatives of the "dark kingdom". In the main character, Ostrovsky tried to capture all the beauty of the people's simple soul. The girl expresses her emotions and experiences unpretentiously and does not use distorted words and expressions common in the merchant environment. This is easy to see, Katerina's speech itself is more like a melodic melody, it is replete with diminutive and caressing words and expressions: "sun", "grass", "rain". The heroine shows incredible candor when she talks about her free life in her father's house, among icons, calm prayers and flowers, where she lived "like a bird in the wild."
The image of a bird is an accurate reflection of the state of mind of the heroine
The image of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" perfectly echoes the image of a bird, which symbolizes freedom in folk poetry. Talking with Varvara, she repeatedly refers to this analogy and claims that she is "a free bird that has fallen into an iron cage." In captivity, she is sad and painful.
Katerina's life in the Kabanovs' house. Love of Katerina and Boris
In the house of the Kabanovs, Katerina, who is dreamy and romantic, feels completely alien. The humiliating reproaches of the mother-in-law, who is used to keeping all the household in fear, the atmosphere of tyranny, lies and hypocrisy oppress the girl. However, Katerina herself, who by nature is a strong, whole person, knows that there is a limit to her patience: “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me!” Varvara's words that one cannot survive in this house without deceit cause Katerina's sharp rejection. The heroine opposes the "dark kingdom", his orders did not break her will to live, fortunately, did not force her to become like other residents of the Kabanovs' house and begin to hypocrite and lie at every step.
The image of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" is revealed in a new way, when the girl makes an attempt to break away from the "hateful" world. She does not know how and does not want to love the way the inhabitants of the “dark kingdom” do, freedom, openness, “honest” happiness are important to her. While Boris convinces her that their love will remain a secret, Katerina wants everyone to know about it, so that everyone can see. Tikhon, her husband, however, the bright feeling awakened in her heart seems to her And just at this moment the reader comes face to face with the tragedy of her suffering and torment. From that moment on, Katerina's conflict occurs not only with the outside world, but also with herself. It is difficult for her to make a choice between love and duty, she tries to forbid herself to love and be happy. However, the struggle with her own feelings is beyond the strength of the fragile Katerina.
The way of life and the laws that reign in the world around the girl put pressure on her. She seeks to repent of her deed, to purify her soul. Seeing a picture on the wall in the church " Last Judgment”, Katerina cannot stand it, falls to her knees and begins to publicly repent of sin. However, even this does not bring the girl the desired relief. Other heroes of the drama "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky are not able to support her, even a loved one. Boris refuses Katerina's requests to take her away from here. This person is not a hero, he is simply not able to protect either himself or his beloved.
The death of Katerina is a ray of light that illuminated the "dark kingdom"
Evil is attacking Katerina from all sides. Constant harassment from the mother-in-law, throwing between duty and love - all this eventually leads the girl to a tragic ending. Successful for her short life to know happiness and love, she is simply not able to continue living in the Kabanovs' house, where such concepts do not exist at all. She sees the only way out in suicide: the future frightens Katerina, and the grave is perceived as salvation from mental anguish. However, the image of Katerina in the drama "Thunderstorm", in spite of everything, remains strong - she did not choose a miserable existence in a "cage" and did not allow anyone to break her living soul.
Nevertheless, the death of the heroine was not in vain. The girl won a moral victory over the "dark kingdom", she managed to dispel a little darkness in the hearts of people, induce them to action, open their eyes. The life of the heroine herself became a "beam of light" that flashed in the darkness and left its glow over the world of madness and darkness for a long time.
The play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" depicts the era of the 60s of the nineteenth century. At this time, revolutionary actions of the people are brewing in Russia. They are aimed at. improvement of life and life of ordinary people, to overthrow tsarism. The works of great Russian writers and poets are also involved in this struggle, among them is Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", which shocked all of Russia. On the example of the image of Katerina, the struggle of the whole people against the "dark kingdom" and its patriarchal orders is depicted.
The main character in the play by A. N. Ostrovsky
"Thunderstorm" is Katerina. Her protest against the "boar" order, the struggle for her happiness and depicts the author in the drama.
Katerina grew up in the house of a poor merchant, where she matured spiritually and morally. Katerina was an outstanding personality, and there was some kind of extraordinary charm in her features. All of her "breathed" Russian, truly folk beauty; this is how Boris says about her: “There is some kind of angelic smile on her face, but it seems to glow from her face.”
Before her marriage, Katerina "lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild", did what she wanted and when she wanted, no one ever forced her or forced her
Do what she, Katerina, did not want to do.
Her spiritual world was very rich and diverse. Katerina was a very poetic nature with a rich imagination. In her conversations we hear folk wisdom and folk sayings. Her soul yearned to fly; “Why don't people fly like birds? Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.”
Katerina’s soul was “educated” both on the stories of the praying women who were in the house every day, and on sewing on velvet (sewing brought her up and led her into the world of beauty and kindness, into the world of art).
After marriage, Katerina's life changed dramatically. In the house of the Kabanovs, Katerina was alone, her world, her soul could not be understood by anyone, This loneliness was the first step towards tragedy. The attitude of the family towards the heroine has also changed dramatically. The Kabanovs' house adhered to the same rules and customs as Katerina's parental house, but here "everything seems to be from captivity." The cruel orders of Kabanikha dulled in Katerina the desire for the sublime, since then the heroine's soul fell into the abyss.
Another pain for Katerina is her husband's misunderstanding. Tikhon was a kind, vulnerable person, very weak compared to Katerina, he never had his own opinion - he obeyed the opinion of another, stronger person. Tikhon could not understand the aspirations of his wife: "I can't figure you out, Katya." This misunderstanding brought Katerina one step closer to disaster.
The love for Boris was also a tragedy for Katerina. According to Dobrolyubov, Boris was the same as Tikhon, only educated. Because of his education, he came to the attention of Katerina. From the entire crowd of the "dark kingdom" she chose him, who was slightly different from the rest. However, Boris turned out to be even worse than Tikhon, he only cares about himself: he only thinks about what others will say about him. He leaves Katerina to the mercy of fate, to the massacre of the “dark kingdom”: “Well, God bless you! Only one thing must be asked of God that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!".
Katerina sincerely loves Boris, worries about him: “What is he doing now, poor thing? .. Why did I bring him into trouble? I would die alone! And then she ruined herself, ruined him, dishonor herself - he is eternal shame!
The manners of the city of Kalinov, its rudeness and “sheer poverty” were not acceptable to Katerina: “If I want, I’ll leave wherever my eyes look. Nobody can stop me, that's it
I have character."
Dobrolyubov gave a high rating to the work. He called Katerina "a ray of light in the" dark kingdom ". At its tragic end, “a terrible challenge was given to self-conscious force ... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.” In the image of Katerina Dobrolyubov sees the embodiment of "Russian living nature." Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. Katerina's action is ambiguous.
The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is an excellent image of a Russian woman in Russian literature.
