Daria MENDELEEVA

After the "Thunderstorm"

or A few words about Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova

I read Ostrovsky's drama a long time ago. The “cruel morals” of the city of Kalinov, once and for all declared a “dark kingdom”, were carefully studied and branded with shame; the fate of the unfortunate Katerina is mourned; the most thoughtful remember the weak-willed Boris Grigorievich with an unkind word. And yet, before the final composition, let's re-read the play again.

Strange Kabanikha

From the stories the characters tell about each other, from their own statements, we get a fairly clear gallery of the characters of a small town on the Volga. “Antique”, “chemist”, “little man” Kuligin begs for money for his bold but senseless experiments (about whom Boris, who received a regular education, says that it is “a pity to disappoint him”), Tikhon, beaten by his mother, gradually becomes an alcoholic, walks with Varvara Kudryash, Feklusha tells those around her fables, which others take as news, scolds everyone and everything in Dikoy...

Among the reviews of those around her about Marfa Ignatievna - the old Kabanikha - one can find the most opposite opinions: some believe that she is a “prude” and “has completely eaten up her family,” others praise her piety and sincerely wish her prosperity. Of course, the arguments about the tyranny of the old merchant’s wife are not based on empty space, but let’s take a closer look at how she communicates with her family.

Here is the Kabanov family in in full force walks along the boulevard from Vespers home (I, 5). On the way, the mother gives her son advice for the upcoming departure, and the general tone of the conversation cannot be called affectionate. It is clear that all the younger members of the family are quite tired of her severity and endless nagging. What, besides the very common jealousy of a mother-in-law towards her daughter-in-law (“I have seen for a long time that your wife is dearer than your mother”), so poisons the life of a peaceful merchant family, what does the old mother demand from her children? Firstly, constant attention and unconditional respect for yourself and for your elders in general (“If your parent ever says something offensive, out of your pride, I think you can bear it”; “They don’t really respect elders these days”); and secondly, modesty and unfeigned piety (hence the reproaches to Katerina: “Why did you jump out to cry in front of your eyes!”). Speaking about the latter, Kabanova, again seized by jealousy, clearly goes overboard, which greatly offends her innocent daughter-in-law, but immediately, although in her own way, apologizes: “Yes, I didn’t want to talk about you; and so, by the way, it had to.” Of course, such an instruction given “in reserve” in the future will only push Katerina towards her secretly beloved Boris, but somewhere in the depths of our consciousness the thought immediately arises that if Kabanikha’s new relative turns out to be a less pure soul, like, say, Varvara, and mother's reproaches would not be far from the truth.

In everything that Marfa Ignatievna says, there turns out to be much more common sense than is commonly believed. She, in particular, perfectly sees the weak character of her own son (“Why are you making a fuss? Well, what kind of husband are you?”) 1. The elderly merchant’s wife just as boldly and fairly evaluates the all-powerful Wild One: “There are no elders over you, so you are swaggering”; “And there’s not much honor, because you’ve been fighting with women all your life” (III, 2).

In general, the entire conversation between Kabanova and Dikiy at the beginning of the third act somehow does not fit into the characterization of provincial tyrants that we have learned. Beginning with rudeness that is understandable to us (“What the hell is this about a merman!.. - Don’t let your throat loose!.. I’m dear to you!”), it then unexpectedly turns into some kind of soulful stream. It turns out that even the almost omnipotent Savel Prokofievich has control, and it has nothing to do with physical strength: “I was fasting about fasting, about a great one, and then it’s not easy and I palmed off a little man: I came for money... I scolded him, I scolded him.” , that it’s impossible to demand better, he almost nailed him... After asking for forgiveness, he bowed at the feet of a man... he bowed at the peasant’s feet... here in the yard, in the mud... in front of everyone...” And besides, it turns out that, having scared away his family, the owner himself is suffering from loneliness , seeks communication: “Talk to me so that my heart will go away.” Kabanova’s remarks suddenly show unexpected tolerance towards others (“...I’m amazed at you: how many people you have in the house, but they can’t please just one of you”) and even attention and ability to understand people (“Why are you Are you deliberately bringing yourself into your heart?.. I saw it, I know”). The question involuntarily arises: why, having such spiritual qualities, Marfa Ignatievna cannot recognize Varvara’s almost blatant lies and Katerina’s mental anguish?

The reason that the old merchant's wife is so able to heal the inconsolable Wild may be extremely simple - similar state of mind- “anger in the hearts” - is well known to her. She also recalls this in passing on the boulevard - in the first general family conversation on stage: “The conversation is close to the heart, and then you will sin, you will get angry” (I, 5). Moreover, this random phrase in itself only testifies to the attentiveness to oneself, one’s actions and mental states that is characteristic of every religious person. But then we will have to recognize in Kabanikha also sincere, genuine religiosity. Why then does she tirelessly nag those around her day and night, destroying her own son morally and physically, teaching her daughter to hypocrisy, turning the life of those closest to her into absolute hell?

She also speaks about this herself, first in the same scene on the boulevard: “After all, out of love your parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, they all think of teaching you good” - and a little further: “I know I know that you don’t like my words, but what can I do, I’m not a stranger to you, my heart aches for you”; “What does youth mean? It's funny even to look at them! If it weren’t my own, I would have laughed my fill…” (II, 6). Of course, it is incredibly difficult to immediately discard the idea of ​​hypocrisy and pretense and believe that the old mother sincerely wishes the best for her children, but on the boulevard where the merchant family is walking, at that moment there are no strangers, and the last remark is generally spoken by Marfa Ignatievna in full alone - so the head of the family definitely has no one to “exhibit” to.

So, what rules of life is Kabanova trying to convey to Tikhon, Katerina and Varvara? Her very first lengthy reasoning puts us, modern people, at a dead end, for the conversation about the spinelessness of the precious child ends with a completely unexpected conclusion: “Will your wife marry you?” afraid after this?” Tikhon’s weak attempts to object (“It’s enough for me that she loves me”) are interrupted by his mother with an even more “iron” argument: “She won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me.” What kind of order will there be in the house? After all, you, tea, live with her in law” (my italics. - D.M.). It remains completely incomprehensible to us why family life should, according to Kabanova’s concepts, be built primarily on fear, and not on heartfelt affection, and why this rule should be especially strictly observed in a legal marriage, sanctified by the Church. They talk about this again and further: “At least get a lover!” (I, 5), and again - in the scene of Tikhon’s farewell to his family (II, 5): “What are you hanging around your neck, shameless one! It’s not your lover you’re saying goodbye to!” And the farewell itself - with bows to the ground and three kisses, with everyone according to seniority - is extremely reminiscent of a ritual or theatrical performance, carefully directed by the mother, who here again insists on maintaining order. The same can be said about the orders to his wife, pronounced by Tikhon at his mother’s insistence (II, 3), and about the demands for Katerina to howl for an hour and a half while lying on the porch after her husband’s departure (II, 7). The wanderer Feklusha was even going to come and look at this not sincere - from the depths of the soul, but deliberate howl as if it were some kind of performance: “I really love, dear girl, to listen to someone howl well” (II, 1). Same time theatrical performance in Kalinov, apparently, receptions of guests and relatives are also changing - Kabanova discusses this in the sixth scene of the second act: “They will invite guests, they don’t know how to seat them, and even, look, they will forget one of the relatives.” And even after pulling the body of unfortunate Katerina out of the pool, everyone suddenly begins to bow theatrically and thank each other.

Stop. Enough questions! It's time to move on to the answers.

Back to the Middle Ages

Let's open Domostroy. This is a name that has probably come out of the mouths of the readers of “The Thunderstorm” more than once, and in our everyday life most often means all sorts of generally outdated, inert orders - “Some kind of house-building!” - actually belongs to an ancient Russian literary monument (using our very conventional concepts). This rather extensive collection first appeared in Novgorod at the end of the 15th century and contained numerous articles strictly regulating various aspects of the life of ancient Russian people - his faith in God and participation in church rituals, civil and family responsibilities, household structure and raising children. Through the prism of Domostroy, the life of the provincial town of Kalinov will open up to us in a completely new way.

Let’s make a reservation right away: the existence of this ancient book does not mean that the ancient Russian man necessarily consulted it on every occasion or that Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova keeps an ancient tome somewhere at the bottom of her chest and runs to leaf through it after every conversation with her son. Most of the instructions of “Domostroi”, which, by the way, began to take shape several centuries before the creation of the final, consolidated list, were passed on from parents to children, from generation to generation through everyday experience, in the course of the usual rhythm of life, compiled by a series of religious and agricultural holidays, fasts and meat-eaters, births, weddings and deaths, accompanied by appropriate rituals. The very emergence of a general set of rules for Russian life owes its appearance not to the urgent need for everyday instructions, but to the fashion of that time for drawing up all sorts of compilations. Indeed, simultaneously with the second edition of “Domostroi”, the author of which was Archpriest Sylvester, an associate of the young John IV, in the 16th century, extensive collections for spiritual reading also appeared: the Great Menaion of the Cheti of Metropolitan Macarius, codes of law regulating civil law, Stoglav - Church law. Various chronicles are combined into chronicle collections. So, reading passages from an ancient book, let's try not to perceive them as dead rules, but to grasp behind them the spirit of medieval life, the ideas and logic of our distant ancestors.

“Children, listen to the commandments of the Lord, love your father and mother, and listen to them, and obey them according to God in everything, and honor their old age, and bear their weakness and all sorrow with all your soul on your neck, and goodness to you it will be, and you will live long on earth, thereby cleanse your sins and you will receive mercy from God and be glorified among men...”(37--38). And one more thing: “You, children, please your parents in deed and word in every good advice (good plan), so that you will be blessed by them: the father’s blessing will strengthen the house, and the mother’s prayer will deliver from adversity. If a father or mother becomes impoverished in reason, do not dishonor them, do not reproach them, but you will be respected by your children, do not forget the work of your mother and father, as they were sick and sad about you (they cared and worried about you) ... "(38--39). (Let us remember the words of Marfa Ignatievna about “how many illnesses mothers suffer from their children” and that “you, young people, smart, should not exact from us, fools.”)

For a more complete understanding of this passage, it is necessary to realize that, in addition to concern for practical benefits (“take care of your parents, and your children will honor you in your old age”), “Domostroy” represents a completely different culture - a patriarchal culture. Our modern understanding of progress, the desire for the newest and most modern, is alien to the Middle Ages. It imagines life to be moving steadily in an eternal circle, where, on the contrary, what is most valuable is what is more ancient, close to the “golden age” and time-tested. The veneration of elders - the guardians of tradition - in these conditions acquires the same religious meaning as the veneration of God, who is also, in fact, an elder (Lord, Lord).

Another passage is about raising children:

“Execute your son from his youth, and he will rest you in your old age, and give you the beauty of your soul... Daughter of the Imashi, lay your thunder on them (direct your severity on them), keeping me from bodily things; but do not disgrace your face, but walk in obedience... Loving your son, give him frequent wounds, and then (after) rejoice over him, execute your son from his youth and rejoice over him in courage... do not laugh at him, playing games (do not smile , playing with him), in a small way you weaken - you will suffer a great deal (you will suffer) through sorrow, and then you will set your soul on edge.”(36--37).

Reading this, you should not be scared and think that our ancestors were completely sadistic in their treatment of their children. It’s just that the Christian Middle Ages hardly knew childhood as a special period human life- after all, the vast majority of ancient children's games known to us (round dances, carols) and toys (various whistles, dolls) have been preserved from even more ancient paganism, where they had their own adult, ritual meaning. In the Middle Ages, as soon as a person emerged from unconscious, angelic infancy, parents tried to include him as quickly as possible in the general circle of life with all the responsibilities of an adult Christian. To do this, the child needed, first of all, to instill knowledge of prohibitions, the boundaries of what is permitted, and the use of physical force was considered here not only not shameful, but quite justified. So, by instructing Tikhon day after day, Kabanova is only trying to “completely educate” her adult son, who has not yet gotten back on his feet, while unmarried Varvara enjoys, from a “medieval” point of view, unheard of freedom.

About the relationship between spouses:

“It is appropriate for husbands to teach their wives with love and reasonable punishment; wives of husbands ask about all decency, how to save the soul, please God and the husband, and build your house well, and submit to him in everything; and whatever your husband punishes, accept it with love and do according to his punishment.”(52--53). So, in Ostrovsky’s play, the wife’s admonition before her husband’s departure to distant lands, which looks like a meaningless performance, was probably once filled with deep meaning.

When carefully reading Domostroi, we are especially struck by the fact that in almost every article an award for correct behavior, along with God's blessing, is “praise from people.” Nowadays it seems to us like a philistine prejudice to care first of all about what others think of us, but before it was not so. Medieval people never felt like individuals in the full sense of the word, and did not think about how unique their thoughts, feelings and destinies were. A person was, first of all, a Christian, whose thoughts could be either sinful or righteous, and in addition, a member of a parish, community, craft workshop, where his professional qualities, property and family status differed. Life “in the world,” under the watchful gaze of others, was in these conditions one of the regulators of behavior, and the saying: “The voice of the people is the voice of God” originates from the Middle Ages.

Another distinctive feature of the ancient collection is also connected with this. It consists in the fact that, while describing in great detail the external side of this or that act, he almost does not dwell on the internal state. Here, for example:

“Begin every business or do handicrafts... having washed your hands clean, first bow to the saints three times in the ground... who knows how to speak worthily(here - say a prayer. - D.M.) Yes, be blessed by the present (elder), and say the Jesus Prayer, and cross yourself and say: “Lord bless, father!” – also start any business...” (39).

Almost in the same way, touching only on the external outline of events, Katerina Ostrovsky describes her life in her father’s house, but how much feeling, how much sadness for the lost past comes through in her words. Such fullness of personal experience, bordering on flight in scope (“Why don’t people fly?”), is incomprehensible not only to Varvara, who exclaims in bewilderment: “But it’s the same with us!” 3, but, without a doubt, would have seemed strange and dangerous in the Middle Ages. Ancient people did not realize the sometimes tragic difference for us between thought and action: each action implied for them a certain inner feeling, into which they invested exactly as much mental energy as they were supposed to, no more and no less. Education aimed at controlling actions (“Do as I ordered you”), in this case, simultaneously achieves the development of certain mental qualities that are otherwise inaccessible. The area of ​​the individual, not consistent with the experience of predecessors, and especially the individual-unconscious - dreams, intuition - from a church point of view is considered extremely doubtful and unreliable, and immersion in it is dangerous. So Katherine, with her religious visions, would have been considered at least enchanted in the Middle Ages.

The main character, who, because of her deep religiosity, is mistaken by us for a typical resident of a town with an archaic way of life, actually has a powerful personality, known only to the New Age. Every circumstance of external life, sanctified by centuries-old tradition for those around her, she must comprehend and approve for herself. If this does not happen, she rebels, and rebels with incredible force, as happened before, when she was pulled out of a boat from the middle of the Volga as a little girl. Her life flows serenely only as long as external circumstances correspond to her inner spiritual mood, and Dobrolyubov is partly right when he talks about conscious protest using the example of Katerina, but it is directed more against the whole world than against specific, socially determined circumstances, because the intensity of passions in this soul is such that, feeling the existing contradiction, it is hardly capable of logical explanations and searches for a reasonable solution.

Among the times

Let us now return to the city of Kalinov, which we have abandoned for so long. The revived antiquity looks at us from all sides, and we feel like strangers in front of it, like the same Boris Grigorievich, who says: “I don’t know the customs here. I understand that all this is Russian, native, but I still can’t get used to it.” Here, as before, all church services are diligently attended, and the built French innovation - the boulevard on the Volga bank - is empty in the evenings, when the inhabitants hide behind high fences and let loose their guard dogs: the ancient Russian man was reluctant to leave the confines of his yard or city wall unless absolutely necessary - - the surrounding space seemed undeveloped and hostile to him. The stories of the wanderer Feklusha about distant countries where “unrighteous kings” live, which we previously took as an example of Kalinov’s darkness and savagery, upon closer examination turn out to be excerpts from the ancient Russian story about Magnet-Saltan used by Ostrovsky. The girls embroider church decorations in gold on velvet, and Marfa Ignatievna, as in the old days, tirelessly worries about her home arrangement.

By the way, she is partly “doomed” to such troubles by her own “speaking” name, undoubtedly borrowed by Ostrovsky from the biblical story of Martha and Mary.

In the Gospel of Luke (chapter 10, verse 38-42) we read:

“As they continued their journey, He came to a certain village; here a woman named Martha received Him into her home;

She had a sister named Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His word.

Martha was taking care of a great treat, and came up and said: Lord! or do you not need that my sister left me alone to serve? tell her to help me.

Jesus answered and said to her: Martha! Marfa! you care and fuss about a lot of things.

And only one thing is needed. Mary chose the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

This biblical story was extremely popular in Rus'. The behavior of his two heroines even gave rise to two complementary directions in the statutes of women's monasteries: in one case, exercise in prayer and improvement of the soul were put at the forefront, in the other - specific concern for one's neighbor: hospitals or orphanages were often created at the monasteries, where, as an obedience nuns worked. However, the efforts of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, fervently trying to establish external order in the house to the detriment of mutual understanding between relatives, turn out to be as futile as the efforts of her biblical namesake, who missed the Truth that came to the house, retiring to the kitchen.

Outwardly, the order dictated by “Domostroy” is preserved, but its times have passed. And not only because, according to Kabanikha herself, “that’s how antiquity fades away. I don’t even want to go to another house. And even if you get up, you’ll just spit and get out quickly” (II, 6). The fact is that “Domostroy” has lost its internal content, has ceased to be a law that fills the earthly existence of people with deep sacred meaning. And this is especially clearly shown not by Katerina’s tragedy, but by how, having equally lost all purpose in life, people who, according to this old order, stand at different levels of the social ladder - both the subordinate Tikhon and the all-powerful Dikoy - become drunkards.

In fact, the “tyrant power” that N.A. talks about so much. Dobrolyubov in his articles, which are still offered to schoolchildren as the main commentary on Ostrovsky’s plays, has a much more difficult time in “The Thunderstorm”. Yes, both Kabanova and Dikiy, in some respects, can still be called “masters of life,” but this “restless household” not only does not bring them any joy, but is also floating out of their hands right before our eyes. As for the common critic, he, in our opinion, portrayed the main conflict of Ostrovsky’s play too narrowly, reducing it, in fact, to the social.

Incidents in the Kabanov family, which stirred up the quiet town of Kalinov, like a flash of lightning, revealed that several life orders, if you like, several times, coexist side by side in it. The Russian merchants - the beginnings of the bourgeoisie - who lived for the most part in small provincial towns and were aloof from any life, including public life, were discovered by Ostrovsky just on the eve of the events that brought him to the forefront of this life. But it came to this point, carrying with it the remnants of old ideas and orders, which were lost in other layers long ago. Domostroy is not the only such “cargo” in Ostrovsky’s play, because next to its main characters walks a living person of the 18th century - the inventor Kuligin.

It is no coincidence that the author saturates the speech of this character with quotes from Lomonosov and Derzhavin and endows him with a biography that is very characteristic of the Peter-Catherine era - thanks to his abilities, without regular education, he reached the pursuit of science and remained to vegetate in a small town as an eccentric, local attraction. Following Derzhavin, he sincerely admires nature and immediately tries to build a perpetual motion machine and “thunder bars”, trying to conquer it. In line with the best traditions of the 18th century, all his aspirations are aimed at the good of society, and only he, being a representative of the New Age, sympathizes with the unfortunate Katerina: “Her body is here... but her soul is now not yours; she is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!” (V, 7). It is Kuligin who is assigned in the play the role of a kind of commentator, opening Kalinov to the audience of the 19th century, and also as an “interpreter” - an interpreter of local customs - for the visiting Boris Grigorievich. Kuligin seems to connect all the times of the play together, but that’s all. His fate is also guessed without much effort: he will perish in his provincial town, cursing its morals and humiliating himself before the Wild One.

The two main conflicts of the play: external - the romantic Katerina and her family - and internal - the heroine with herself - are thus linked into a single knot of contradictions in the morality of different times. Breaking through time and rejecting the ways to resolve the situation that those around her can offer her, the main character must alone find a solution to the problem with all the “don’ts.” She cannot return to her husband’s house, where her mother-in-law’s jealousy has now grown into fierce hatred - after all, her unworthy daughter-in-law has forever disgraced her son, and life itself, not illuminated by the light of love, has lost all meaning for Katerina - she does not have the strength to “live again” ”, “walk, say something”. She cannot leave Kalinov for distant Kyakhta - the indecisive Boris refuses to take her with him, and his own conscience will not get rid of her, regardless of the distance. She can’t finish everything at once: after all, suicide is a mortal sin; rushing from the Volga bank, she thereby dooms her soul to eternal torment. And Katerina still commits suicide in an almost insane state, first trying to depict for herself the rite of a church funeral (which she, as a suicide, is not entitled to): “They fold their hands crosswise... in a coffin!.. I remembered”; “And they’re singing somewhere again!” (V, 4). Katerina's death, therefore, does not solve the problem, but only signifies it.

Well, what, you ask, is the positive role of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova here? Rather than leading the reader through the wilds of antiquity with the passion of a researcher, isn’t it easier, following Dobrolyubov, to simply admit that old Kabanikha is the embodiment of “tyrant power,” and her daughter-in-law is the entire protest against the “dark kingdom.” In such an assessment of “The Thunderstorm” everything would be fine if not for... Varvara. As you remember, in the finale of the play, the enterprising sister Tikhon flees from the hated Kalinov together with Kudryash, and the critic almost does not dwell on this detail, only casually attributing to her the features of protest against the “dark kingdom”. It is natural for a revolutionary of the sixties to poeticize any protest, but we now know how revolutions usually turn out. And therefore, Varvara’s fate appears to us in less rosy colors: a young girl who ran away with a daring lover without a wedding (that means, without documents), without a means of livelihood, risks ending her life in a gutter. And if we also remember the ominous detail that Varvara “is not afraid of thunderstorms,” hard labor looms in the distance as a life prospect for her.

Following Dobrolyubov, Ostrovsky’s drama can truly be called a “play of life,” because, as in life, there are no ready-made answers in it. Her characters represent two different generations, and parents sincerely try to pass on their life experience, sacred for centuries. But these attempts are in vain - ironically, the heroes living side by side are actually separated by a black hole of four hundred years, so the children are doomed to find their own path in life - parental experience is only a burden to them.

It seems that Russian history has a vile tendency to repeat itself...

Notes

1 We do not risk expanding too much about the reasons for Tikhon’s weak character, since they are hidden far beyond the time frame of the play itself. It only seems that little Tisha, from childhood, was not particularly lively, and after the death of his father, Marfa Ignatievna did not take the more natural position in the family of a widow, living out her life dependent on the young owner, but in fact manages all affairs through her son (“When you arrive?” there, do as I ordered you”; I, 5). And no one in Kalinov even mentioned Father Kabanov himself throughout the entire play.

2 Quotes from “Domostroy” are given from: Domostroy. M.: Artist. lit., 1991.

3 Let us recall in parallel another conversation about flying - the night conversation between Sonya and Natasha from the second volume of War and Peace, where there is an enthusiastic fullness main character also encounters misunderstanding of her friend, who lives only strictly following external circumstances.

Throughout his creative career, A. N. Ostrovsky created a number of realistic works in which he depicted the contemporary reality and life of the Russian province. One of them is the play "The Thunderstorm". In this drama, the author showed a wild, deaf society county town Kalinov, living according to the laws of Domostroy, and contrasted him with the image of a freedom-loving girl who did not want to come to terms with Kalinov’s norms of life and behavior. One of the most important problems raised in the work is the problem of human dignity, especially relevant in mid-19th century, during the crisis of the outdated, obsolete order that then reigned in the province. The merchant society shown in the play lives in an atmosphere of lies, deceit, hypocrisy, and duplicity; within the walls of their estates, representatives of the older generation scold and lecture their household members, and behind the fence they pretend to be courteous and benevolent, putting on cute, smiling masks. N.A. Dobrolyubov, in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom,” applies the division of the heroes of this world into tyrants and “downtrodden individuals.” Tyrants - the merchant Kabanova, Dikoy - are powerful, cruel, considering themselves the right to insult and humiliate those who depend on them, constantly tormenting their household with reprimands and quarrels. For them, the concept of human dignity does not exist: in general, they do not consider their subordinates to be people. Constantly humiliated, some representatives younger generation They lost their self-esteem, became slavishly submissive, never arguing, never objecting, and having no opinion of their own. For example, Tikhon is a typical “downtrodden personality,” a person whose mother, Kabanikha, crushed his already not very spirited attempts to demonstrate character since childhood. Tikhon is pitiful and insignificant: he can hardly be called a person; drunkenness replaces all the joys of life for him, he is incapable of strong, deep feelings, the concept of human dignity is unknown and inaccessible to him. Less "downtrodden" personalities - Varvara and Boris, they have to a greater extent freedom. Kabanikha does not forbid Varvara to go for a walk (“Walk before your time comes, you’ll still be tired”), but even if reproaches begin, Varvara has enough self-control and cunning not to react; she does not let herself be offended. But again, in my opinion, she is driven more by pride than by self-esteem. Dikoy publicly scolds Boris, insulting him, but thereby, in my opinion, he humiliates himself in the eyes of others: a person who brings family squabbles and quarrels into public view is unworthy of respect. But Dikoy himself and the population of the city of Kalinov adhere to a different point of view: Dikoy scolds his nephew - which means that the nephew depends on him, which means that Dikoy has a certain power - which means he is worthy of respect. Kabanikha and Dikoy are unworthy people, tyrants, corrupted by the unlimited power of their home, mentally callous, blind, insensitive, and their life is dull, gray, filled with endless lectures and reprimands to their family. They do not have human dignity, because the person who has it knows the value of himself and others and always strives for peace and peace of mind; tyrants are constantly trying to assert their power over people, often mentally richer than themselves, provoking them into quarrels and exhausting them with useless discussions. Such people are not loved or respected, they are only feared and hated. This world is contrasted with the image of Katerina - a girl from a merchant family who grew up in an atmosphere of religiosity, spiritual harmony and freedom. Having married Tikhon, she finds herself in the Kabanovs’ house, in an unfamiliar environment, where lying is the main means of achieving something, and duplicity is the order of the day. Kabanova begins to humiliate and insult Katerina, making her life impossible. Katerina is a mentally vulnerable, fragile person; Kabanikha’s cruelty and heartlessness hurt her painfully, but she endures without responding to insults, and Kabanova keeps provoking her into a quarrel, jabbing and humiliating her dignity with every remark. This constant bullying is unbearable. Even the husband is unable to stand up for the girl. Katerina's freedom is sharply limited. “Everything here is somehow out of bondage,” she says to Varvara, and her protest against the insult to human dignity results in her love for Boris - a man who, in principle, simply took advantage of her love and then ran away, and Katerina, not would have withstood further humiliation, would have committed suicide. None of the representatives of Kalinovsky society knows a sense of human dignity, and no one can understand and appreciate it in another person, especially if this is a woman, by Domostroev standards - a housewife who obeys her husband in everything, who In extreme cases, he might even beat her. Not noticing this moral value in Katerina, the World of the city of Kalinov tried to humiliate her to its level, to make her a part of itself, to drag her into a web of lies and hypocrisy, but human dignity is one of the innate and ineradicable qualities, it cannot be taken away, which is why Katerina does not can become like these people and, seeing no other way out, throws herself into the river, finally finding the long-awaited peace and quiet in heaven, where she has been striving all her life. The tragedy of the play “The Thunderstorm” lies in the intractability of the conflict between a person with self-esteem and a society in which no one has any idea about human dignity. “The Thunderstorm” is one of Ostrovsky’s greatest realistic works, in which the playwright showed the immorality, hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness that reigned in provincial society in the mid-19th century. The Thunderstorm is, without a doubt, Ostrovsky's most decisive work; the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought to the most tragic consequences in it... There is even something refreshing and encouraging in “The Thunderstorm”. N. A. Dobrolyubov A. N. Ostrovsky after the appearance of his first major play received literary recognition. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became a necessary element of the culture of his time; he retained the position of the best playwright of the era, the head of the Russian dramatic school, despite the fact that at the same time A. V. Sukhov-Kobylin, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. . F. Pisemsky, A. K. Tolstoy and L. N. Tolstoy. The most popular critics viewed his works as a true and profound reflection of modern reality. Meanwhile, Ostrovsky, following his original creative way, often baffled both critics and readers. Thus, the play “The Thunderstorm” came as a surprise to many. L. N. Tolstoy did not accept the play. The tragedy of this work forced critics to reconsider their views on Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. Ap. Grigoriev noted that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a protest against the “existing”, which is terrible for its adherents. Dobrolyubov argued in his article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom.” that from the image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” “blows on us new life" Perhaps for the first time, scenes of family, “private” life, the arbitrariness and lawlessness that were hitherto hidden behind the thick doors of mansions and estates, were shown with such graphic power. And at the same time, this was not just an everyday sketch. The author showed the unenviable position of a Russian woman in a merchant family. Immense power The tragedy was given special truthfulness and skill by the author, as D.I. Pisarev rightly noted: “The Thunderstorm” is a painting from life, that’s why it breathes truth.” The tragedy takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I’ve been looking across the Volga every day and I can’t get enough of it. The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices,” Kulagin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. However, the life and customs of the rich merchants created “a world of prison and deathly silence.” Savel Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova are the personification of cruelty and tyranny. The order in the merchant's house is based on the outdated religious dogmas of Domostroy. Dobrolyubov says about Kabanikha that she “gnaws at her victim... long and relentlessly.” She forces her daughter-in-law Katerina to bow at her husband’s feet when he leaves, scolds her for “not howling” in public when seeing off her husband.

Kabanikha is very rich, this can be judged by the fact that the interests of her affairs go far beyond Kalinov; on her instructions, Tikhon travels to Moscow. She is respected by Dikoy, for whom the main thing in life is money. But the merchant's wife understands that power also brings obedience to those around her. She seeks to kill any manifestation of resistance to her power in the home. The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant. Tikhon does not contradict her in anything. Varvara learned to lie, hide and dodge. The main character of the play, Katerina, is marked by a strong character; she is not used to humiliation and insults and therefore conflicts with her cruel old mother-in-law. In her mother’s house, Katerina lived freely and easily. In the Kabanov House she feels like a bird in a cage. She quickly realizes that she cannot live here for long. Katerina married Tikhon without love. In Kabanikha’s house, everything trembles at the mere imperious cry of the merchant’s wife. Life in this house is hard for the young. And then Katerina meets a completely different person and falls in love. For the first time in her life, she experiences deep personal feeling. One night she goes on a date with Boris. Whose side is the playwright on? He is on Katerina’s side, because a person’s natural aspirations cannot be destroyed. Life in the Kabanov family is unnatural. And Katerina does not accept the inclinations of those people with whom she ended up. Hearing Varvara’s offer to lie and pretend, Katerina replies: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.” Katerina's directness and sincerity evokes respect from both the author, the reader, and the viewer. She decides that she can no longer be a victim of a soulless mother-in-law, she cannot languish behind bars. She's free! But she saw a way out only in her death. And one could argue with this. Critics also disagreed about whether it was worth paying Katerina for freedom at the cost of her life. So, Pisarev, unlike Dobrolyubov, considers Katerina’s act senseless. He believes that after Katerina’s suicide everything will return to normal, life will go on as usual, and the “dark kingdom” is not worth such a sacrifice. Of course, Kabanikha brought Katerina to her death. As a result, her daughter Varvara runs away from home, and her son Tikhon regrets that he did not die with his wife. It is interesting that one of the main, active images of this play is the image of the thunderstorm itself. Symbolically expressing the idea of ​​the work, this image directly participates in the action of the drama as a real natural phenomenon, enters into action at its decisive moments, and largely determines the actions of the heroine. This image is very meaningful; it illuminates almost all aspects of the drama. So, already in the first act a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It broke out like a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I will die soon,” she confessed to Varvara her sinful love. In her mind, the mad lady's prediction that the thunderstorm would not pass in vain, and the feeling of her own sin with a real thunderclap had already been combined. Katerina rushes home: “It’s still better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!” After this, the storm subsides for a short time. Only in Kabanikha’s grumbling are its echoes heard. There was no thunderstorm that night when Katerina felt free and happy for the first time after her marriage. But the fourth, climactic act, begins with the words: “The rain is falling, as if a thunderstorm is not gathering?” And after that the thunderstorm motif never ceases. The dialogue between Kulagin and Dikiy is interesting. Kulagin talks about lightning rods (“we have frequent thunderstorms”) and provokes Dikiy’s anger: “What other kind of electricity is there? Well, how come you are not a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself, God forgive me, with poles and some horns. What are you, a Tatar, or what?” And in response to the quotation from Derzhavin, which Kulagin cites in his defense: “I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind,” the merchant does not find anything to say at all, except: “And for these words, send you to the mayor, so he will ask you! Undoubtedly, in the play the image of a thunderstorm acquires a special meaning: it is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, the mind is condemned in the dark kingdom; it is faced with impenetrable ignorance, supported by stinginess. But still, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched the long-silent Tikhon and flashed over the destinies of Varvara and Kudryash. The thunderstorm shook everyone up thoroughly. It’s too early for inhuman morals. or the end will come later. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.

Representatives of the dark kingdom in the play "The Thunderstorm"

In Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" the problems of morality are widely raised. Using the example of the provincial town of Kalinov, the playwright showed the truly cruel customs reigning there. Ostrovsky depicted the cruelty of people living in the old fashioned way, according to Domostroi, and a new generation of young people who reject these foundations. The characters in the drama are divided into two groups. On one side stand the old people, champions of the old order, who, in essence, carry out this “Domostroy”; on the other, Katerina and the younger generation of the city. The heroes of the drama live in the city of Kalinov. This city occupies a small, but not last place in Russia of that time, at the same time he is the personification of serfdom and “Domostroy”. Outside the walls of the city one imagines another, alien world. It is not for nothing that Ostrovsky mentions the Volga in his stage directions, “a public garden on the banks of the Volga, beyond the Volga there is a rural view.” We see how Kalinov’s cruel, closed world differs from the external, “uncontrollably huge” one. This is the world of Katerina, born and raised on the Volga. Behind this world lies the life that Kabanikha and others like her are so afraid of. According to the wanderer Feklushi, “ old world" is leaving, only in this city is there "paradise and silence", in other places "just sodomy": people in the bustle of each other do not notice, harnessing the "fiery serpent", and in Moscow "now there are walks and games, and along the streets There's a roar and a groan." But something is changing in old Kalinov too. Kuligin carries new thoughts. Kulagin, embodying the ideas of Lomonosov, Derzhavin and representatives of an earlier culture, proposes to put a clock on the boulevard in order to see the time by it. Let's get acquainted with the rest of Kalinov's representatives. Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is a champion of the old world. The name itself paints a picture of an overweight woman with a difficult character, and the nickname “Kabanikha” complements this unpleasant picture. Kabanikha lives the old fashioned way, in accordance with strict order. But she only observes the appearance of this order, which she supports in public: a kind son, an obedient daughter-in-law. He even complains: “They don’t know anything, no order... What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will remain, I don’t even know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything.” There is real arbitrariness in the house. The boar is despotic, rude to the peasants, “eats” the family and does not tolerate objections. Her son is completely subordinate to her will, and she expects this from her daughter-in-law as well. Next to Kabanikha, who day after day “sharpenes all her household like rusting iron,” stands the merchant Dikoy, whose name is associated with wild force. Dikoy not only “sharpenes and saws” his family members. The men whom he deceives during payments suffer from it, and, of course, the customers, as well as his clerk Kudryash, a rebellious and impudent guy, ready to teach a “scold” a lesson in a dark alley with his fists. Ostrovsky described the character of the Wild One very accurately. For the Wild, the main thing is money, in which he sees everything: power, glory, worship. This is especially striking in the small town where he lives. He can easily “pat on the shoulder” the mayor himself. Dikiy and Kabanikha, representatives of the old order, are opposed by Kuligin. Kulagin is an inventor, his views correspond to educational views. He wants to invent a sundial, a perpetuum mobile, and a lightning rod. His invention of the lightning rod is symbolic, just as a thunderstorm is symbolic in drama. No wonder Dikoy dislikes Kulagin so much, calling him a “worm,” “Tatar,” and “robber.” Dikiy’s readiness to send the inventor-enlightener to the mayor, his attempts to refute Kuligin’s knowledge, based on the wildest religious superstition - all this also becomes symbolic meaning. Kuligin quotes Lomonosov and Derzhavin and refers to their authority. He lives in the old “Domostroevsky” world, where they still believe in omens and people with “dog heads”, but the image of Kulagin is evidence that in the “dark kingdom” people have already appeared who can become moral judges of those above them dominates. Therefore, at the end of the drama, it is Kuligin who carries Katerina’s body ashore and utters words full of reproach. The images of Tikhon and Boris are developed slightly; Dobrolyubov in a well-known article says that Boris can be attributed more to the setting than to the heroes. In the remark, Boris stands out only by his clothes: “All faces, except Boris, are dressed in Russian.” This is the first difference between him and the residents of Kalinov. The second difference is that he studied at a commercial academy in Moscow. But Ostrovsky made him the nephew of the Dikiy, and this suggests that, despite some differences, he belongs to the people of the “dark kingdom”. This is confirmed by the fact that he is not able to fight this kingdom. Instead of lending a helping hand to Katerina, he advises her to submit to her fate. Tikhon is the same. Already in the list of characters it is said about him that he is “her son,” that is, the son of Kabanikha. He really is more likely just Kabanikha’s son than a person. Tikhon has no willpower. The only wish this person - to break away from his mother's care in order to take the whole year off. Tikhon is also unable to help Katerina. Both Boris and Tikhon leave her alone with their inner experiences. If Kabanikha and Dikoy belong to the old way of life, Kuligin carries the ideas of enlightenment, then Katerina is at a crossroads. Growing up and brought up in a patriarchal spirit, Katerina fully follows this way of life. Cheating here is considered unforgivable, and having cheated on her husband, Katerina sees this as a sin before God. But her character is naturally proud, independent and free. Her dream of flying means breaking free from the power of her oppressive mother-in-law and from the stuffy world of the Kabanovs' house. As a child, she once, offended by something, went to the Volga in the evening. The same protest can be heard in her words addressed to Varya: “And if I’m really tired of being here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t do this, even if you cut me!” In Katerina’s soul there is a struggle between the pangs of conscience and the desire for freedom. Katerina is also different from the representatives of the youth - Varvara and Kudryash. She does not know how to adapt to life, to be a hypocrite and pretend, as Kabanikha does, she does not know how to look at the world as easily as Varya. Ostrovsky could have ended the drama with a scene of Katerina's repentance. But this would mean that the “dark kingdom” had won. Katerina dies, and this is her victory over. old world. According to contemporaries, Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” had a very great value. It shows two worlds, two ways of life - old and new with their representatives. The death of the main character Katerina suggests that new world will win and that it is this world that will replace the old one. play Ostrovsky thunderstorm personality

Enmity between loved ones
it happens especially
irreconcilable
P. Tacitus
There is no worse retribution
for madness and delusion,
than to see as your own
children suffer because of them
W. Sumner

Play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" tells about the life of a provincial Russia XIX century. The events take place in the city of Kalinov, located on the high Volga bank. Against the backdrop of the magnificent beauty of nature and royal tranquility, a tragedy occurs that disrupts the calm life of this city. Not all is well in Kalinov. Here, behind high fences, domestic despotism reigns, and invisible tears are shed. At the center of the play is the life of one of merchant families. But there are hundreds of such families in the city, and millions throughout Russia. However, life is structured in such a way that everyone observes certain laws, rules of behavior, and any deviation from them is a shame, a sin.
Main character in the Kabanov family - the mother, the rich widow Marfa Ignatievna. It is she who dictates her own rules in the family and commands the household members. It is no coincidence that her last name is Kabanova. There is something animalistic about this woman: she is uneducated, but powerful, cruel and stubborn, demanding that everyone obey her, honor the foundations of the house-building and observe its traditions. Marfa Ignatievna is a strong woman. She considers family the most important thing, the basis public order and demands the uncomplaining obedience of his children and daughter-in-law. However, she sincerely loves her son and daughter, and her remarks speak about this: “After all, it’s out of love that your parents are strict with you, everyone thinks to teach you good.” Kabanikha is lenient towards Varvara, letting her go for a walk with the young people, realizing how hard it will be for her to be married. But Katerina constantly reproaches her daughter-in-law, controls her every step, forces Katerina to live the way she considers right. Perhaps she is jealous of her daughter-in-law for her son, which is why she is so unkind to her. “Ever since I got married, I don’t see the same love from you,” she says, turning to Tikhon. But he is unable to object to his mother, since he is a weak-willed person, brought up in obedience, and respects his mother’s opinion. Let us pay attention to Tikhon’s remarks: “How can I, Mama, disobey you!”; “I, Mama, am not one step out of your control,” etc. However, this is only the external side of his behavior. He doesn’t want to live according to the laws of house-building, he doesn’t want to make his wife his slave, a thing: “But why be afraid? It’s enough for me that she loves me.” Tikhon believes that relationships between a man and a woman in a family should be built on the principles of love and mutual understanding, and not on the subordination of one to the other. And yet he cannot disobey his domineering mother and stand up for the woman he loves. That's why Tikhon seeks solace in drunkenness. The mother, with her domineering character, suppresses the man in him, making him weak and defenseless. Tikhon is not ready to play the role of husband, protector, take care of family well-being. Therefore, in Katerina’s eyes he is a nonentity, not a husband. She doesn’t love him, but only feels sorry for him and tolerates him.
Tikhon's sister Varvara is much stronger and braver than her brother. She has adapted to life in her mother’s house, where everything is based on deception, and now lives by the principle: “Do whatever you want, as long as everything is sewn and covered.” Varvara meets her lover Kudryash secretly from her mother, and does not report to Kabanikha for her every step. However, it’s easier for her to live - unmarried girl is free, and therefore she is not kept under lock and key, like Katerina. Varvara tries to explain to Katerina that it is impossible to live in their house without deception. But her brother’s wife is incapable of this: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.”
Katerina is a stranger in the Kabanovs’ house, everything here is “as if from under captivity” for her. In her parents' house she was surrounded by love and affection, she was free: “...whatever I want, it happened, that’s what I do.” Her soul is like a bird, she must live in free flight. And in her mother-in-law’s house, Katerina is like a bird in a cage: she yearns in captivity, endures undeserved reproaches from her mother-in-law and the drunkenness of her unloved husband. She doesn’t even have children to give them her affection, love, attention.
Fleeing from family despotism, Katerina is looking for support in life, a person she could rely on and truly love. And therefore, Dikiy’s weak and weak-willed nephew Boris becomes in her eyes an ideal man, unlike her husband. She doesn't seem to notice his shortcomings. But Boris turned out to be a man incapable of understanding Katerina and loving her just as selflessly. After all, he throws her to the mercy of her mother-in-law. And Tikhon looks much more noble than Boris: he forgives Katerina everything because he truly loves her.
Therefore, Katerina’s suicide is a pattern. She cannot live under the yoke of Kabanikha and forgive the betrayal of Boris. This tragedy has stirred quiet life provincial town, and even the timid, weak-willed Tikhon begins to protest against his mother: “Mama, it was you who ruined her! You, you, you..."
Using the example of the Kabanov family, we see that relationships in the family cannot be built on the principle of subordination of the weak to the strong, the foundations of Domostroev are being destroyed, and the power of the autocrats is passing. And even weak woman can challenge this wild world with his death. And yet I believe that suicide is not the best way out from the current situation. Katerina could have acted differently. For example, go to a monastery and devote your life to serving God, because she is a very religious woman. But the heroine chooses death, and this is both her strength and her weakness.

The highest artistic achievement A. N. Ostrovsky in the pre-reform years became the drama "The Thunderstorm". The author takes us to the provincial merchant town of Kalinov, whose residents stubbornly cling to the centuries-old way of life. But already at the beginning of the play it becomes clear that those universal human values, for which Domostroy stands up, have long lost their meaning for the ignorant inhabitants of Kalinov. For them, it is not the essence of human relationships that is important, but only the form, the observance of decency. It’s not for nothing that in one of the first acts “Mother Marfa Ignatyevna” - Kabanikha, Katerina’s mother-in-law - received a damning description: “A prude, sir. She gives money to the poor and eats her family.” And for Katerina, the main character of the drama, patriarchal values ​​are full of deep meaning. She, married woman, fell in love. And he tries with all his might to fight his feelings, sincerely believing that this is a terrible sin. But Katerina sees that no one in the world cares about the true essence of those moral values, to which she tries to cling like a drowning man to a straw. Everything around her is already collapsing, the world of the “dark kingdom” is dying in agony, and everything she tries to rely on turns out to be an empty shell. Under the pen of Ostrovsky, the planned drama from the life of the merchants develops into a tragedy.

The main idea of ​​the work is the conflict of a young woman with the “dark kingdom”, the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. You can find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic by looking into Katerina’s soul and understanding her ideas about life. And this can be done thanks to the skill of A. N. Ostrovsky.

Behind the external calm of life lie dark thoughts, the dark life of tyrants who do not recognize human dignity. Representatives of the “dark kingdom” are Dikoy and Kabanikha. The first is a complete type of tyrant merchant, whose meaning of life is to amass capital by any means. The imperious and stern Kabanikha is an even more sinister and gloomy representative of Domostroy. She strictly observes all the customs and orders of patriarchal antiquity, eats her family, shows hypocrisy when giving gifts to the poor, and does not tolerate the manifestation of personal will in anyone.

Ostrovsky portrays Kabanikha as a staunch defender of the foundations of the “dark kingdom.” But even in her family, where everyone meekly obeys her, she sees the awakening of something new, alien and hateful to her. And Kabanikha complains bitterly, feeling how life is destroying the relationships that are familiar to her: “They don’t know anything, no order. They don’t know how to say goodbye. There will be light, I don’t know. Well, it’s good that I won’t see anything.” Under this humble complaint of Kabanikha there is misanthropy, inseparable from religious hypocrisy.

The development of action in "The Thunderstorm" gradually reveals the conflict of the drama. The power of the Kabanikha and the Wild over those around them is still great. “But a wonderful thing,” writes Dobrolyubov in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom,” “the tyrants of Russian life, however, begin to feel some kind of discontent and fear, without knowing what and why... another life has grown, with other principles, and although it is far away and is not yet clearly visible, it is already giving itself a presentiment and sending bad visions to the dark tyranny of tyrants.” This is the “dark kingdom” - the embodiment of the entire system of life in Tsarist Russia: the lack of rights of the people, arbitrariness, oppression of human dignity.

Katerina finds herself in this world of the Wild and Boars - a poetic, dreamy, freedom-loving nature. The world of her feelings and moods was formed in her parents' home, where she was surrounded by the care and affection of her mother. In an atmosphere of hypocrisy and importunity, petty tutelage, the conflict between the “dark kingdom” and Katerina’s spiritual world matures gradually. Katerina endures only for the time being. “And if I get really tired of here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga, I don’t want to live here, so I won’t, even if you cut me!” - she says.

Not finding an echo in the heart of her narrow-minded and downtrodden husband, her feelings turn to a man unlike everyone else around her. Love for Boris flared up with the force characteristic of such an impressionable nature as Katerina; it became the meaning of the heroine’s life.

Katerina comes into conflict not only with the environment, but also with herself. This is the tragedy of the heroine’s situation.

If the drama ended with a scene of repentance, it would show the invincibility of the “dark kingdom.” But the drama ends with Katerina’s moral victory both over the forces that fettered her freedom and over what fettered her will and reason. Katerina decides to commit suicide. The heroine's suicide is a protest against a worthless life, against the dark forces of the kingdom of Domostroy. If a woman, the most powerless creature, and even in the dark, inert environment of the merchants, can no longer put up with the oppression of “tyrant power,” it means that among the disadvantaged, downtrodden people, indignation is brewing, which should motivate the people to a decisive struggle.

For its time, when Russia experienced a period of enormous social upsurge before the peasant reform, the drama "The Thunderstorm" was important. The image of Katerina belongs to best images women not only in Ostrovsky’s work, but throughout Russian fiction.

Ostrovsky can rightfully be called a great Russian playwright. In his works, he for the first time showed the life and way of life of the merchant class. In the play “The Thunderstorm,” the writer characterized the state of provincial society in Russia on the eve of reforms. The playwright examines such issues as the position of women in the family, the modernity of Domostroy, the awakening in a person of a sense of personality and self-worth, the relationship between the “old,” oppressive, and the “young,” voiceless.

The main idea of ​​“The Thunderstorm” is that a strong, gifted and courageous person with natural aspirations and desires cannot live happily in a society where “cruel morals” prevail, where “Domostroy” reigns, where everything is based on fear, deception and submission .

The name "Thunderstorm" can be viewed from several perspectives. A thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon, and nature plays an important role in the composition of the play. So, it complements the action, emphasizes the main idea, the essence of what is happening. For example, wonderful night landscape corresponds to the date between Katerina and Boris. The vastness of the Volga emphasizes Katerina’s dreams of freedom; a picture of cruel nature is revealed when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature contributes to the development of action, pushes events, as it were, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. Thus, in the thunderstorm scene, the elements prompt Katerina to publicly repent.

So, the title “The Thunderstorm” emphasizes the main idea of ​​the play: the self-esteem awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.

The world of Kabanikha and Wild comes to an end, because a “ray of light” has appeared in the “dark kingdom” - Katerina - a woman who cannot put up with the oppressive atmosphere reigning in the family and the city. Her protest was expressed in her love for Boris, in her unauthorized death. Katerina chose death over existence in a world where she was “sick of everything.” She is the first lightning of the storm that will soon break out in society. Clouds have been gathering over the “old” world for a long time. Domostroy has lost its original meaning. Kabanikha and Dikoy use his ideas only to justify their tyranny and tyranny. They were unable to convey to their children true faith in the inviolability of their rules of life. Young people live according to the laws of their fathers as long as they can achieve a compromise through deception. When oppression becomes unbearable, when deception only partially saves, then protest begins to awaken in a person, it develops and is capable of breaking out at any moment.

Katerina's suicide awakened the man in Tikhon. He saw that there is always a way out of this situation, and he, the most weak-willed of all the characters described by Ostrovsky, who unquestioningly obeyed his mother all his life, blames her for the death of his wife in public. If Tikhon is already able to declare his protest, then the “dark kingdom” really does not have long to exist.

The thunderstorm is also a symbol of renewal. In nature, after a thunderstorm, the air is fresh and clean. In society, after the storm that began with Katerina’s protest, there will also be a renewal: the oppressive and subjugating orders will probably be replaced by a society of freedom and independence.

But a thunderstorm occurs not only in nature, but also in Katerina’s soul. She committed a sin and repents of it. Two feelings are fighting in her: fear of Kabanikha and fear that “death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins...” In the end, religiosity and fear of retribution - a day for sin - prevail, and Katerina publicly confesses in the sin committed. None of the residents of Kalinov can understand her: these people, like Katerina, do not have a rich spiritual world and high moral values; they do not feel remorse, because their morality is that everything is “sewn and covered.” However, recognition does not bring relief to Katerina. As long as she believes in Boris's love, she is able to live. But, realizing that Boris is no better than Tikhon, that she is still alone in this world, where she is “sick of everything,” she finds no other way out but to throw herself into the Volga. Katerina broke religious law for the sake of freedom. The thunderstorm ends with renewal in her soul. The young woman was completely freed from the shackles of the Kalinov world and religion.

Thus, the thunderstorm occurring in the soul of the main character turns into a thunderstorm in society itself, and the whole action takes place against the backdrop of the elements.

Using the image of a thunderstorm, Ostrovsky showed that a society that has become obsolete, based on deception, and the old order, depriving a person of the opportunity to express the highest feelings, are doomed to destruction. This is as natural as the purification of nature through a thunderstorm. Thus, Ostrovsky expressed the hope that renewal in society would come as soon as possible.

The basis of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is the conflict of the “dark kingdom” and the bright beginning, presented by the author in the image of Katerina Kabanova. A thunderstorm is a symbol of the heroine’s mental turmoil, the struggle of feelings, moral elevation in tragic love, and at the same time, the embodiment of the burden of fear under the yoke of which people live.

The work depicts the musty atmosphere of a provincial town with its rudeness, hypocrisy, and the power of the rich and “elders.” " Dark Kingdom“This is an ominous environment of heartlessness and stupid, slavish worship of the old order. The kingdom of obedience and blind fear is opposed by the forces of reason, common sense, enlightenment, represented by Kuligin, as well as the pure soul of Katerina, which, albeit unconsciously, is hostile to this world with the sincerity and integrity of her nature.

Katerina spent her childhood and youth in a merchant environment, but at home she was surrounded by affection, her mother’s love, and mutual respect in the family. As she herself says, “... she lived, did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild.”

Given in marriage to Tikhon, she found herself in an ominous environment of heartlessness and stupid, slavish admiration for the power of the old, long-rotten order, which the “tyrants of Russian life” so greedily clutch at. Kabanova tries in vain to instill in Katerina her despotic laws, which, in her opinion, constitute the basis of domestic well-being and the strength of family ties: unquestioning submission to the will of her husband, obedience, diligence and respect for elders. This is how her son was raised.

Kabanova intended to mold Katerina into something similar to what she turned her child into. But we see that for a young woman who finds herself in her mother-in-law’s house, such a fate is excluded. Dialogues with Kabanikha

They show that “Katerina’s nature will not accept base feelings.” In her husband's house she is surrounded by an atmosphere of cruelty, humiliation, and suspicion. She tries to defend her right to respect, does not want to please anyone, wants to love and be loved. Katerina is lonely, she lacks human participation, sympathy, love. The need for this draws her to Boris. She sees that outwardly he does not look like other residents of the city of Kalinov, and, not being able to recognize inner essence, considers him a man from another world. In her imagination, Boris seems to be the only one who will dare to take her from the “dark kingdom” to a fairy-tale world.

Katerina is religious, but her sincerity in faith differs from the religiosity of her mother-in-law, for whom faith is only a tool that allows her to keep others in fear and obedience. Katerina perceived the church, icon painting, and Christian chants as an encounter with something mysterious, beautiful, taking her far from the gloomy world of the Kabanovs. Katerina, as a believer, tries not to pay much attention to Kabanova’s teachings. But this is for the time being. The patience of even the most patient person always comes to an end. Katerina “endures until... until such a demand of her nature is insulted in her, without the satisfaction of which she cannot remain calm.” For the heroine, this “demand of her nature” was the desire for personal freedom. To live without listening to stupid advice from all sorts of wild boars and others, to think as one thinks, to understand everything on one’s own, without any extraneous and useless admonitions - this is what is of the greatest importance to Katerina. That's something she won't let anyone trample on. Her personal value is her most precious value. Katerina even values ​​life much less.

At first, the heroine resigned herself, hoping to find at least some sympathy and understanding from those around her. But this turned out to be impossible. Even Katerina began to have some “sinful” dreams; as if she were racing against three frisky horses, intoxicated with happiness, next to her loved one... Katerina protests against seductive visions, but human nature defended its rights. A woman has awakened in the heroine. The desire to love and be loved grows with inexorable force. And this is a completely natural desire. After all, Katerina is only 16 years old - the prime of youth, sincere feelings. But she doubts, reflects, and all her thoughts are fraught with panic. The heroine is looking for an explanation for her feelings, in her soul she wants to justify herself to her husband, she is trying to tear away vague desires from herself. But reality, the real state of affairs returned Katerina to herself: “Before whom am I pretending....”

Katerina's most important character trait is honesty with herself, her husband and other people; unwillingness to live in a lie. She tells Varvara: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.” She does not want and cannot be cunning, pretend, lie, hide. This is confirmed by the scene when Katerina confesses to her husband that she is cheating.

Her most great value- freedom of the soul. Katerina, accustomed to living, as she admitted in a conversation with Varvara, “like a bird in the wild,” is burdened by the fact that in Kabanova’s house everything comes “as if from under captivity!” But before it was different. The day began and ended with prayer, and the rest of the time was spent walking in the garden. Her youth is shrouded in mystery, bright dreams: angels, golden temples, paradise gardens - can an ordinary earthly sinner dream of all this? And Katerina had just such mysterious dreams. This testifies to the extraordinary nature of the heroine. The reluctance to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom” and the ability to preserve the purity of one’s soul is evidence of the strength and integrity of the heroine’s character. She says about herself: “And if I get really tired of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.”

With such a character, Katerina, after betraying Tikhon, could not stay in his house, return to a monotonous and dreary life, endure constant reproaches and moralizing from Kabanikha, or lose freedom. It is difficult for her to be in a place where she is not understood and humiliated. Before her death, she says: “What goes home, what goes to the grave, it’s all the same... It’s better in the grave...” She acts according to the first call of her heart, according to the first spiritual impulse. And this, it turns out, is her problem. Such people are not adapted to the realities of life, and always feel that they are superfluous. Their spiritual and moral strength, which is able to resist and fight, will never dry up. Dobrolyubov rightly noted that “the strongest protest is the one that rises... from the chests of the weakest and most patient.”

And Katerina, without realizing it, challenged the tyrant force: however, it led her to tragic consequences. The heroine dies defending the independence of her world. She doesn't want to become a liar and a pretender. Love for Boris deprives Katerina’s character of integrity. She is cheating not on her husband, but on herself, which is why her judgment of herself is so cruel. But by dying, the heroine saves her soul and gains the desired freedom.

Katerina's death at the end of the play is natural - there is no other way out for her. She cannot join those who profess the principles of the “dark kingdom”, become one of its representatives, since this would mean destroying everything that is bright and pure in herself, in her own soul; cannot come to terms with the position of a dependent, join the “victims” of the “dark kingdom” - live according to the principle “if only everything is sewn and covered.” Katerina decides to part with such a life. “Her body is here, but her soul is no longer yours, she is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!” - Kuligin says to Kabanova after tragic death heroine, emphasizing that Katerina has found the desired, hard-won freedom.

Thus, A. N. Ostrovsky showed his protest against the hypocrisy, lies, vulgarity and hypocrisy of the world around him. The protest turned out to be self-destructive, but it was and is evidence of the free choice of an individual who does not want to put up with the laws imposed on her by society.

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