Essays. An essay on the topic: The ideological culmination of the play “The Thunderstorm” The development of action in Ostrovsky’s thunderstorm

Test on the play "The Thunderstorm"

1. Determine the genre of the work.

A) family drama

B) tragedy

B) comedy

D) a fusion of comedy, drama, lyricism and tragedy

D) psychological drama

2. Determine the type of conflict in “The Thunderstorm”

A) philosophical

B) social

B) ideological

D) internal

D) family

3. Correctly arrange the elements of the composition of the play

A) exposition 1) conversation between Boris and Kudryash

B) plot 2) death of Katerina

B) climax 3) Katerina’s monologue before death

D) denouement 4) conversation between Kuligin and Kudryash

4. What artistic means Is the motif of the closed city of Kalinov conveyed in the play?

A) symbolic details - gate, fence

C) lack of communication with other cities

D) in the image of Feklushi

5. For what purpose does A.N. Ostrovsky introduce exposition into the play?

A) to emphasize positive features in the character of Kuligin

B) outline the conflict between youth and the older generation in the play

B) indicate the location and situation in the city

D) describe the Volga coast

6. The system of images in the play is built on the principle of “pairing”. Identify these pairs among the indicated characters, write down the pairs.

Katerina, Dikoy, Kudryash, Kabanikha, Boris, Varvara_____________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

7.Indicate the names of the characters in the play, who from the point of view of classical drama can be called “extra characters”

A) Varvara

B) Curly

B) Kuligin

D) Shapkin

E) half-crazy lady

8. In the confrontation of which characters was the main conflict of the play most clearly expressed?

A) Kabanikha - Wild

B) Katerina - Varvara

B) Katerina - Kabanikha

D) Katerina - Tikhon

9) How the “dark kingdom” and its “victims” are represented at the character level. Indicate both of them in the list with the letters t, zh.

Dikoy, Katerina, Tikhon, Feklusha, Boris, Kabanikha, Varvara, the half-crazy lady, Kudryash.

10) A.N. Ostrovsky widely uses symbolic images in the play. Highlight them.

Path, perpetual motion machine, grave, thunderstorm, key, white scarf.

11)Which of the characters in the play speaks this way about Kabanikha? “...Prude, sir! She gives money to the poor, but she completely eats up her family...”

B) Kuligin

B) Katerina

12.Which of the Russian critics has this assessment of the image of Katerina: “Katerina’s whole life consists of constant internal contradictions; every minute she rushes from one extreme to another..."

A) N.A. Dobrolyubov

B) D.I. Pisarev

B) V.G. Belinsky

D) I.A.Goncharov

13. At what point does the main climax of the play occur?

A) Katerina’s public admission of sinfulness

B) a date with Boris

B) in Katerina’s monologue in the finale

D) there is no climax in the play

14. Why A.N. Ostrovsky was called “the father of Russian national theater»?

A) revived the traditions of A.S. Griboedov, A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol

B) he wrote 47 plays

C) with his creativity had a decisive influence on the subsequent development of Russian drama

D) built the Maly Theater building

3.A-4,B-1,B-3,G-2

6. Katerina-Kabanikha; Kabanikha-Wild; Kater-Boris; Varvara-Kudryash; Katerina-Varvara

9. t: Dikoy, Feklusha, Kabanikha, half-crazy lady.

w: Katerina, Tikhon, Boris, Varvara, Kudryash.

10.Grave, key, white scarf

Artistic contrast is the basic principle of constructing a play, which manifests itself already inexposition . The city with its dense fences - and nature, the beauty of which is spread everywhere and is seen as a free distance stretching beyond the Volga. The only person in the city who is able not only to see this beauty of the universe, but also to marvel at it for half a century - and the townspeople for whom the beauty of the world is “something”, and the poetic dreamer is an eccentric, “antique”.

The exposition of the play continues in phenomena 1, 2 and 3, from where we learn about the wild tyranny of the Dikiy, the lack of rights of his educated and sensitive orphan nephew Boris, who was given under the parental will together with his sister to the full power of the tyrant, but also about the contradiction between the outgoing and the new generation of merchants: a conflict emerges between the merchant Dikiy and his clerk Kudryash - a dashing, tough and cunning guy. Kudryash is not at all prone to suffering, like Boris (here is another contrast), he feels that his time will come, and does not feel any respect for his elders, but is only waiting for a way to annoy the owner, but more strongly. We also learn that Dikoy keeps the townspeople in fear, and that Kuligin is inclined to “better to endure” than to contradict the tyrant. Scene 3 gives us the famous monologue of Kuligin, in which he describes to Boris the life of the city of Kalinov and the characters of its inhabitants. " Cruel morals“Sir, there are cruel people in our city!” - this is how this monologue begins.

The beginning drama begins in phenomenon 4 and is more clearly indicated in phenomena 5-7. Particularly interesting for us is phenomenon 7, where in a dialogue with Varvara Katerina confidentially and dreamily talks about her former girlhood life and reveals her pure heart. Pay attention to the following remarks from Katerina: “Why don’t people fly?<…>You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run, raise my hands and fly.” In L. N. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” there is a scene where the main character speaks almost in the words of Katerina, and Prince Andrei hears this, and love for Natasha penetrates his heart. All these premonitions of trouble and death that overwhelm Katerina (appearance 7, dialogue with Varvara) require clarification for the modern reader. Death (utter shame and excommunication from society) for married woman open, obvious, or revealed to others, betrayal of her husband was considered. Therefore, for the deeply religious, pure-hearted Katerina, even vague dreams about another (Boris) were terrible sin and the direct road to “fiery Gehenna,” the death of the soul, the loss of its immortality. So in the Sermon on the Mount (Gospel): “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

In this phenomenon, the premonitions of the innocent Katerina, which she told to Varvara - her peer, interlocutor, the only one to whom Katerina could open up, predicted andaction development , and its climax and tragic denouement. Let us recall what was said in the “Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion: for Orthodox soul Grace is above the Law, but submission to one’s own self-will leads not to Salvation, but to Destruction. Varvara is sinful, that is, naturally immoral - she does not see anything serious in Katerina’s tossing, just as Kudryash does not see the beauty of the world that amazes Kuligin: “What a desire to dry up! Even if you die of melancholy, they will feel sorry for you! Well, just wait. So what a shame it is to torture yourself!” - and pushes Katerina to death, developing very practical ways to get rid of her torment.

In scene 8 appears scary ghost- the old prophetess with her prediction: “Does your beauty make you happy? This is where beauty leads. (Points to the Volga). Here, here, in the deep end.” In scene 9, the intense dialogue between the two girls continues and - here it is! - thunder roars: “a thunderstorm is coming.” The action develops, and a new ominous image appears - the wanderer Feklusha (d. 2). Her stories about what she allegedly saw in distant countries, and terrible, and absurd, and dark in the way that only everything intended for the ears of the Wild in “ dark kingdom».

A symbolic role in the drama is played by Kudryash’s song, which sounds in scene 1 of scene 2 of act 3. It sounds a cruel threat to her husband’s wife, guilty of treason, and is performed as a dialogue between a husband who has returned home and a wife awaiting death. “You kill, ruin me after midnight,” Kudryash sings to the guitar, “out of boredom”... It happens late in the evening in a ravine under the Kabanovs’ garden, where Boris is waiting for Katerina.

Act 4 begins with a description in the dialogue of the townspeople of the destroyed, dilapidated church of the city of Kalinov. Traces of images are barely visible on the crumbling frescoes. One has survived - and the inhabitants, not without difficulty, recognize in it a scene of fiery Gehenna.

Phenomenon 2 in act 4 is no less meaningful. Dikiy’s greed and obscurantism are contrasted with the desire for an enlightened common good and the defense of the city in a dialogue with Kuligin. And again the image of a thunderstorm appears.

Climax The action is prepared in phenomena 3 and 4 of action 4. The tension is pumped up along with more and more thunderclaps and the approach of a thunderstorm. Unhappy Katerina, tormented by her conscience, almost loses her mind and awaits heavenly punishment. Particularly important in scene 4 is Kuligin’s appeal to the townspeople in the square. It would seem that a self-taught scientist explains the physical meaning of the phenomenon to the ignorant. But he calls it an amazing word in this context - grace!

In scene 6 the climax occurs. Brought to the limit of suffering by the appearance of a crazy lady with her terrible curses, Katerina confesses everything.

Action 5 givendenouement . Actually, nothing unexpected can happen - everything is predicted and announced at the beginning of the first act. The playwright “finishes” Tikhon’s character, which was not yet entirely clear before, combining the dull obedience of an evil and wild mother and genuine kindness. He feels sorry for his wife and even Boris. One thing destroys this pitiful man - weakness, which completely determines his fate and character. Katerina’s monologue in scene 2 is terrible, where she struggles and yearns for lost love. The scene of her last meeting with Boris (scene 3) is scary - and especially scary because Boris turns out to be no stronger than Tikhon. But perhaps the most terrible thing in the denouement of this drama is Katerina’s last, dying monologue (scene 4). Having come to terms with fate, she decides to accept death of her own free will - not as punishment, but as salvation from unbearable pain. One thing worries her: this exit is not a solution. Suicide is a sin. And to live is a sin, and to die is a sin. No choice. The last events of the drama, the 5th and 6th, complete the denouement, moving it into the epilogue. In scene 7, Kuligin’s voice is heard, beginning the play with the first remark: “Here’s your Katerina,” he says. - Now do what you want with her! Her body is here, take it; but the soul is now not yours: it is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!” And Tikhon is no longer at all interesting with the last line of the drama: “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world and suffer!”

Source (abbreviated): Michalskaya, A.K. Literature: Basic level: 10th grade. At 2 p.m. Part 1: study. allowance / A.K. Mikhalskaya, O.N. Zaitseva. - M.: Bustard, 2018

Climax and denouement are the main parts of any work. The main meaning is always contained here, or rather, it is revealed in them. Without a climax or denouement, the reader would not understand the work. So what are the climax and resolution? The climax is the peak of the work, the turning point after which events often take a different course. And the denouement is the final part of the work. If this is a tragedy, for example, then the denouement most often reveals the entire tragedy of the plot.
In the play "The Thunderstorm" it is difficult to unambiguously determine what is the culmination and what is the denouement. There is an opinion that the climax in Ostrovsky’s play is the part in which Katerina runs away to Boris, thereby violating all the moral principles of that time, then the denouement is Katerina’s repentance before her husband, the people and, of course, before God. This version certainly makes sense. A date with Boris is truly a turning point. After him, Katerina comes into conflict with herself. She is trying to overcome a feeling that she feels she has no right to. Although, perhaps, she is not trying to cope with the feeling that has gripped her, but rather considers her sin to have been accomplished. And, as a pious woman, she must be punished for this. Her action torments her, and, in my opinion, there is no other end other than death main character, it couldn’t have happened here, especially since Kabanikha and Tikhon didn’t scold or beat her every day, and this made her feel many times more guilty. But if the climax is Katerina’s escape with Boris, then the denouement is not the death of the main character, but her repentance. This is the place when her conflict with herself develops into a conflict with Kabanikha and Tikhon. Although Katerina has a conflict with Tikhon to a lesser extent than with Kabanikha. Tikhon probably doesn’t even see his wife’s guilt. After all, he himself tried to quickly escape from under the yoke of his mother and leave, without taking his wife with him, in order to have fun and revel.
After the repentance-denouement, the ending is already clear to the reader, and there is no doubt that this is a tragedy. After all, knowing Katerina’s character, the reader understands that tragedy is inevitable. "Katerina" means "pure". Having committed a sin, she has “dirty” herself, and death, in her opinion, will be a well-deserved punishment for her.
But there is another point of view that the climax of the play is repentance.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky, for the first time in Russian literature, deeply and realistically depicted the world of the “dark kingdom”, painted colorful images of tyrants, their life and customs. He dared to look behind the iron merchant gates and was not afraid to openly show the conservative power of “inertia”, “numbness”. Analyzing Ostrovsky’s “plays of life,” Dobrolyubov wrote: “Nothing sacred, nothing pure, nothing right in this dark world: the tyranny dominating him, wild, insane, wrong, drove all consciousness out of him

Honor and rights. And they cannot exist where human dignity, personal freedom, faith in love and happiness and the sanctity of honest labor have been crushed into dust and brazenly trampled by tyrants.” And yet, many of Ostrovsky’s plays depict “the precariousness and the near end of tyranny.”
Dramatic conflict in “The Thunderstorm” lies in the collision of the obsolete morality of tyrants with the new morality of people in whose souls a sense of human dignity awakens. In the play, the background of life itself, the setting itself, is important. The world of the “dark kingdom” is based on fear and monetary calculation. Self-taught watchmaker Kuligin tells Boris: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! Whoever has money tries to enslave the poor so that his labors will be free more money make money." Direct financial dependence forces Boris to be respectful with the “scold” Dikiy. Tikhon is obediently obedient to his mother, although at the end of the play even he rises to a kind of rebellion. Wild Curly's clerk and Tikhon's sister Varvara are cunning and dodgy. Katerina’s discerning heart senses the falseness and inhumanity of the life around her. “Yes, everything here seems to be out of captivity,” she thinks.
The images of tyrants in “The Thunderstorm” are artistically authentic, complex, and lack psychological certainty. Dikoy is a rich merchant, a significant person in the city of Kalinov. At first glance, nothing threatens his power. Savel Prokofievich, by apt definition Kudryasha, “as if he had broken free from a chain”: he feels like the master of life, the arbiter of the destinies of the people under his control. Isn’t this what Dikiy’s attitude towards Boris speaks about? Those around him are afraid to anger Savel Prokofievich with something, his wife is in awe of him.
Dikoy feels the power of money and support on his side state power. The requests to restore justice made by the “peasants” deceived by the merchant to the mayor turn out to be futile. Savel Prokofievich patted the mayor on the shoulder and said: “Is it worth it, your honor, for us to talk about such trifles!”
At the same time, as already mentioned, the image of the Wild is quite complex. The harsh disposition of a “significant person in the city” encounters not some kind of external protest, not the manifestation of discontent of others, but internal self-condemnation. Savel Prokofievich himself is not happy with his “heart”: “I was fasting about fasting, about great things, but now it’s not easy and slip a little man in; He came for money and carried firewood. I did sin: I scolded him, I scolded him so much that I couldn’t ask for anything better, I almost killed him. This is the kind of heart I have! After asking for forgiveness, he bowed at his feet. This is what my heart brings me to: here in the yard, in the dirt, I bowed; I bowed to him in front of everyone.” This recognition of the Wild contains a terrible meaning for the foundations of the “dark kingdom”: tyranny is so unnatural and inhuman that it becomes obsolete and loses any moral justification for its existence.
The rich merchant Kabanova can also be called a “tyrant in a skirt.” Kuligin put into his mouth an exact description of Marfa Ignatievna: “Prude, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” In a conversation with her son and daughter-in-law, Kabanikha hypocritically sighs: “Oh, a grave sin! How long will it take to sin!”
Behind this feigned exclamation lies a domineering, despotic character. Marfa Ignatievna actively defends the foundations of the “dark kingdom” and tries to conquer Tikhon and Katerina. Relations between people in the family should, according to Kabanova, be regulated by the law of fear, the Domostroevsky principle “let the wife fear her husband.” Marfa Ignatievna’s desire to follow previous traditions in everything is manifested in the scene of Tikhon’s farewell to Katerina.
The position of the mistress of the house cannot completely calm down Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna is frightened by the fact that young people want freedom, that the traditions of hoary antiquity are not respected. “What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will remain, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything,” Kabanikha sighs. IN in this case her fear is completely sincere, not intended for any external effect (Marfa Ignatievna pronounces her words alone).
Significant role in Ostrovsky's play he plays the character of the wanderer Feklusha. At first glance in front of us minor character. In fact, Feklusha is not directly involved in the action, but she is a myth-maker and defender of the “dark kingdom”. Let’s listen to the wanderer’s reasoning about “Saltan wave the Persian” and “Saltan wave the Turkish”: “And they cannot. to judge not a single case righteously, such is the limit set for them. Our law is righteous, but theirs is righteous. unrighteous; that according to our law it turns out this way, but according to them everything is the opposite. And all their judges, in their countries, are also all unrighteous.” Main meaning the words cited is that “we have a righteous law.:”.
Feklusha, anticipating the death of the “dark kingdom,” shares with Kabanikha: “ Last times, Mother Marfa Ignatievna, by all accounts, the last.” The wanderer sees an ominous sign of the end in the acceleration of the passage of time: “Time has already begun to decline. smart people They notice that our time is getting shorter.” And indeed, time works against the “dark kingdom”.
Ostrovsky comes to large-scale artistic generalizations in the play and creates almost symbolic images (thunderstorm). The remark at the beginning of the fourth act of the play is noteworthy: “In the foreground is a narrow gallery with the arches of an ancient building that is beginning to collapse.” It is in this decaying, dilapidated world that Katerina’s sacrificial confession sounds from its very depths. The fate of the heroine is so tragic primarily because she rebelled against her own Domostroevsky ideas about good and evil. The ending of the play tells us that living “in the dark kingdom worse than death”(Dobrolyubov). “This end seems gratifying to us. - we read in the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom” - “it gives a terrible challenge to tyrant power, it tells it that it is no longer possible to go further, it is impossible to live any longer with its violent, deadening principles.” The irresistibility of the awakening of man in man, the rehabilitation of living human feeling that replaces false asceticism, constitute, it seems to me, the enduring merit of Ostrovsky’s play. And today it helps to overcome the power of inertia, numbness, and social stagnation.

1. Why don't people fly? I say, why don’t people fly like birds? You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. Here...
2. Among the other characters in the play, Kuligin, a self-taught watchmaker who invents the perpetuum mobile, stands apart. He is quite different from those around him. And therefore, the attitude towards him from other characters is also completely special. Literally...
3. The epic slowness of the development of the action and the thoroughness of the stage characters; Detailed descriptions of patriarchal merchant life; Emphasis on the individual destiny of the individual and the pursuit of happiness of the individual ordinary person; At the same time, the hero’s life story appears...
4. At the same time, an event occurred that significantly changed Ostrovsky’s views. Chairman Geographical Society Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich decided to organize an expedition with the participation of writers; The purpose of the expedition is to study and describe the life...
5. The work of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is a whole stage of Russian literature. Written in the 40-60s XIX century, his plays, in general, became the first Russian dramas, since in the first half of the century...
6. Ostrovsky's play The Dowry was written in 1878, just at a time when money was everything in Russia, when class injustice reached extraordinary proportions, at a time when marriages were made...
7. A. N. Ostrovsky, the author of numerous plays about the merchants, the creator of the repertoire for the Russian national theater, is rightfully considered the “singer of merchant life.” And he sits at the entrance to the Maly Theater, sculpted by a chisel...
8. A. N. Ostrovsky, an outstanding Russian playwright, had a unique skill in comprehending and conveying the deepest human feelings, aspirations, and dreams. All his works are marked by unique psychologism and truthfulness. In any life...
9. The name of Ostrovsky is well known and memorable to everyone who cherishes national Russian culture. Dobrolyubov called Ostrovsky’s plays “plays of life.” His contemporaries and descendants were amazed by the naturalness of his works, their simplicity, unusual for that...
10. Reading Ostrovsky's works, we involuntarily find ourselves in the atmosphere that reigns in a given society, and become direct participants in the events that take place on stage. We blend into the crowd and how...
11. In the play “The Thunderstorm,” Ostrovsky creates a reality characteristic of his time. A. N. Dobrolyubov named this work the most daring for that time. Here “the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought to tragic consequences.” All...
12. A merchant's daughter of marriageable age, Olimpiada Samsonovna (Lipochka) Bolshova, sits alone at the window with a book and, reasoning, “what a pleasant activity these dances are,” begins to waltz: she hasn’t danced for a year and a half and...
13. The drama “The Thunderstorm,” according to Dobrolyubov, “is the most decisive work Ostrovsky”, in which he showed the tyranny and despotism of the merchants, the “dark kingdom”. In the drama, there is a clash between the main character of the “Russian strong character" With...
14. In the play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky significant place given to nature. The very name of the drama denotes a bright and powerful natural phenomenon. With the title of his work, Ostrovsky seems to emphasize that nature has the strongest influence...
The main conflict in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is the clash of Katerina, the main character, with the “dark kingdom” of cruel despotism and blind ignorance. It leads her to suicide after much torment and torment....A. N. Ostrovsky, the author of numerous plays about the merchants, the creator of the repertoire for the Russian national theater, is rightly considered the “singer of merchant life.” And he sits at the entrance of the Maly Theater, sculpted by the sculptor’s chisel...

Without a doubt, “The Thunderstorm” (1859) is the pinnacle of Alexander Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. The author shows by example family relations the most important changes in the socio-political life of Russia. That is why his creation needs detailed analysis.

The process of creating the play “The Thunderstorm” is connected by many threads with past periods in Ostrovsky’s work. The author is attracted by the same issues as in the “Muscovites” plays, but the image of the family receives a different interpretation (the denial of the stagnation of patriarchal life and the oppression of Domostroi was new). The appearance of a bright, good beginning, a natural heroine is an innovation in the author’s work.

The first thoughts and sketches of “The Thunderstorm” appeared in the summer of 1859, and already in early October the writer had a clear idea of ​​the whole picture. The work was greatly influenced by the trip along the Volga. Under the patronage of the Maritime Ministry, an ethnographic expedition was organized to study the customs and morals of the indigenous population of Russia. Ostrovsky also took part in it.

The city of Kalinov is collective image different Volga cities, at the same time similar to each other, but having their own distinctive features. Ostrovsky, as an experienced researcher, entered all his observations about the life of the Russian province and the specific behavior of the inhabitants in his diary. Based on these recordings, the characters in "The Thunderstorm" were later created.

Meaning of the name

A thunderstorm is not only the rampant nature of the elements, but also a symbol of the collapse and purification of the stagnant atmosphere of a provincial town, where the medieval order of Kabanikha and Dikiy ruled. This is the meaning of the title of the play. With the death of Katerina, which occurred during a thunderstorm, the patience of many people is exhausted: Tikhon rebels against the tyranny of his mother, Varvara escapes, Kuligin openly blames the inhabitants of the city for what happened.

Tikhon first spoke about the thunderstorm during the farewell ceremony: “...For two weeks there will be no thunderstorm over me.” By this word he meant the oppressive atmosphere of his home, where an oppressive mother rules the roost. “A thunderstorm is being sent to us as punishment,” says Dikaya Kuligina. The tyrant understands this phenomenon as punishment for his sins; he is afraid of paying for his unfair treatment of people. Kabanikha agrees with him. Katerina, whose conscience is also not clear, sees the punishment for sin in thunder and lightning. God's righteous wrath - this is another role of the thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play. And only Kuligin understands that in this natural phenomenon You can find only a flash of electricity, but his progressive views cannot yet get along in a city in need of cleansing. If you need more information about the role and significance of thunderstorms, you can read on this topic.

Genre and direction

“The Thunderstorm” is a drama, according to A. Ostrovsky. This genre defines heavy, serious, often everyday story, close to reality. Some reviewers mentioned a more precise formulation: domestic tragedy.

If we talk about direction, this play is absolutely realistic. The main indicator of this, perhaps, is the description of the morals, habits and everyday aspects of the existence of residents of provincial Volga cities ( detailed description). The author gives this great importance, carefully outlining the realities of the heroes’ lives and their images.

Composition

1. Exposition: Ostrovsky paints an image of the city and even the world in which the heroes live and future events will unfold.
2. What follows is the beginning of Katerina’s conflict with new family and society as a whole and internal conflict(dialogue between Katerina and Varvara).
3. After the beginning, we see the development of the action, during which the heroes strive to resolve the conflict.
4. Towards the end, the conflict reaches a point where problems require urgent resolution. The climax is Katerina’s last monologue in act 5.
5. Following it is a denouement that shows the intractability of the conflict using the example of Katerina’s death.

Conflict

Several conflicts can be distinguished in “The Thunderstorm”:

1. Firstly, this is a confrontation between tyrants (Dikay, Kabanikha) and victims (Katerina, Tikhon, Boris, etc.). This is a conflict between two worldviews - old and new, obsolete and freedom-loving characters. This conflict is highlighted.
2. On the other hand, the action exists thanks to a psychological conflict, that is, internal - in Katerina’s soul.
3. The social conflict gave rise to all the previous ones: Ostrovsky begins his work with the marriage of an impoverished noblewoman and a merchant. This trend became widespread during the time of the author. The ruling aristocratic class began to lose power, becoming poorer and ruined due to idleness, wastefulness and commercial illiteracy. But the merchants gained momentum due to unscrupulousness, assertiveness, business acumen and nepotism. Then some decided to improve matters at the expense of others: the nobles married sophisticated and educated daughters to rude, ignorant, but rich sons from the merchant guild. Because of this discrepancy, the marriage of Katerina and Tikhon is initially doomed to failure.

The essence

Brought up in the best traditions of aristocracy, noblewoman Katerina, at the insistence of her parents, married the uncouth and soft-bodied drunkard Tikhon, who belonged to a wealthy merchant family. His mother oppresses her daughter-in-law, imposing on her the false and ridiculous rules of Domostroy: to cry openly before her husband leaves, to humiliate herself in front of us in public, etc. The young heroine finds sympathy from Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, who teaches her new relative to hide her thoughts and feelings, secretly acquiring the joys of life. During her husband's departure, Katerina falls in love and begins dating Diky's nephew, Boris. But their dates end in separation, because the woman does not want to hide, she wants to escape with her beloved to Siberia. But the hero cannot risk taking her with him. As a result, she still repents of her sins to her visiting husband and mother-in-law and receives severe punishment from Kabanikha. Realizing that her conscience and domestic oppression do not allow her to live further, she rushes into the Volga. After her death, the younger generation rebels: Tikhon reproaches his mother, Varvara runs away with Kudryash, etc.

Ostrovsky's play combines features and contradictions, all the pros and cons of serfdom Russia XIX century. The town of Kalinov is a collective image, a simplified model Russian society, described in detail. Looking at this model, we see “an essential need for active and energetic people.” The author shows that an outdated worldview only gets in the way. It first spoils family relationships, and later prevents cities and the entire country from developing.

The main characters and their characteristics

The work has a clear character system into which the images of the heroes fit.

1. First, they are the oppressors. Dikoy is a typical tyrant and a rich merchant. His insults send the relatives running to the corners. Dikoy is cruel to her servants. Everyone knows that it is impossible to please him. Kabanova is the embodiment of the patriarchal way of life, the outdated Domostroy. A wealthy merchant, a widow, she constantly insists on observing all the traditions of her ancestors and herself strictly follows them. We described them in more detail in this.
2. Secondly, adaptable. Tikhon is weak person, who loves his wife, but cannot find the strength to protect her from her mother’s oppression. He does not support the old orders and traditions, but sees no point in going against the system. Such is Boris, who endures the machinations of his rich uncle. This is dedicated to revealing their images. Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikha. She takes hers by deception, living double life. During the day she formally obeys conventions, at night she walks with Curly. Deceit, resourcefulness and cunning do not spoil her cheerful, adventurous disposition: she is also kind and responsive to Katerina, gentle and caring towards her beloved. An entire story is dedicated to the characterization of this girl.
3. Katerina stands apart; the characterization of the heroine is different from everyone else. This is a young intelligent noblewoman, whom her parents surrounded with understanding, care and attention. Therefore, the girl got used to freedom of thought and speech. But in marriage she faced cruelty, rudeness and humiliation. At first she tried to come to terms with Tikhon and his family, but nothing worked: Katerina’s nature resisted this unnatural union. Then she tried on the role of a hypocritical mask who has secret life. This didn’t suit her either, because the heroine is distinguished by her straightforwardness, conscience and honesty. As a result, out of despair, she decided to revolt, admitting her sin and then committing a more terrible one - suicide. We wrote more about Katerina’s image in a section dedicated to her.
4. Kuligin too special hero. He expresses author's position, bringing a bit of progressiveness into the archaic world. The hero is a self-taught mechanic, he is educated and smart, unlike the superstitious inhabitants of Kalinov. We also wrote a short story about his role in the play and character.

Themes

• The main theme of the work is the life and customs of Kalinov (we dedicated a separate section to it). The author describes a provincial province to show people that they do not need to cling to the remnants of the past, they need to understand the present and think about the future. And the inhabitants of the Volga town are frozen outside of time, their life is monotonous, false and empty. It is spoiled and hampered in its development by superstition, conservatism, as well as the reluctance of tyrants to change for the better. Such a Russia will continue to vegetate in poverty and ignorance.
• Also important themes here are love and family, as throughout the narrative, problems of upbringing and generational conflict are raised. The influence of family on certain characters is very important (Katerina is a reflection of her parents’ upbringing, and Tikhon grew up so spineless due to his mother’s tyranny).
• Theme of sin and repentance. The heroine stumbled, but realized her mistake in time, deciding to correct herself and repent of what she had done. From the point of view of Christian philosophy, this is a highly moral decision that elevates and justifies Katerina. If you are interested in this topic, read our about it.

Issues

Social conflict entails social and personal problems.

1. Ostrovsky, firstly, denounces tyranny as a psychological phenomenon in the images of Dikoy and Kabanova. These people played with the destinies of their subordinates, trampling down manifestations of their individuality and freedom. And because of their ignorance and despotism, the younger generation becomes as vicious and useless as the one that has already outlived its usefulness.
2. Secondly, the author condemns weakness, obedience and selfishness using the images of Tikhon, Boris and Varvara. By their behavior they only condone the tyranny of the masters of life, although they could jointly turn the situation in their favor.
3. The problem of the contradictory Russian character, conveyed in the image of Katerina, can be called personal, although inspired by global upheavals. A deeply religious woman, in search and discovery of herself, commits adultery and then commits suicide, which contradicts all Christian canons.
4. Moral issues associated with love and devotion, education and tyranny, sin and repentance. The characters cannot distinguish one from the other; these concepts are intricately intertwined. Katerina, for example, is forced to choose between fidelity and love, and Kabanikha does not see the difference between the role of a mother and the power of a dogmatist, she is driven by good intentions, but she embodies them to the detriment of everyone.
5. Tragedy of conscience quite important. For example, Tikhon had to decide whether to protect his wife from his mother’s attacks or not. Katerina also made a deal with her conscience when she became close to Boris. You can find out more about this.
6. Ignorance. The residents of Kalinov are stupid and uneducated; they believe fortune-tellers and wanderers, and not scientists and professionals in their field. Their worldview is focused on the past, they do not strive for better life, so there is nothing to be surprised at the savagery of morals and the ostentatious hypocrisy of the main people of the city.

Meaning

The author is convinced that the desire for freedom is natural, despite certain failures in life, and tyranny and hypocrisy are ruining the country and the talented people in it. Therefore, one must defend one’s independence, thirst for knowledge, beauty and spirituality, otherwise the old order will not go away, its falseness will simply embrace the new generation and force it to play by its own rules. This idea is reflected in the position of Kuligin, a unique voice of Ostrovsky.

The author's position in the play is clearly expressed. We understand that Kabanikha, although she preserves traditions, is wrong, just like the rebellious Katerina is wrong. However, Katerina had potential, she had intelligence, she had purity of thoughts, and great people, personified in her, will still be able to be reborn, throwing off the shackles of ignorance and tyranny. You can find out even more about the meaning of drama in this topic.

Criticism

"The Thunderstorm" became the subject of fierce debate among critics in both the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, Nikolai Dobrolyubov (article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”), Dmitry Pisarev (article “Motives of Russian Drama”) and Apollon Grigoriev wrote about it from opposite positions.

I. A. Goncharov highly appreciated the play and expressed his opinion in a critical article of the same name:

In the same drama, a broad picture of national life and morals was laid out, with unparalleled artistic completeness and fidelity. Every person in drama is a typical character, snatched directly from the environment of folk life.