/ / / Comparative characteristics Wild and Kabanikha (based on Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm")
The action of Ostrovsky's drama takes place in the fictitious city of Kalinov on the banks of the Volga, where a traditional way of life reigns. The city has beautiful nature, but callousness and ignorance, anger, drunkenness and debauchery reign among the inhabitants of this area. And the worst thing is that people are used to it. They had such a way of life, and if someone came to them normal person, then he could not stay there for long. As in every literary work, in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” there are positive and negative heroes. The negative ones primarily include the mother-in-law main character Katerina - Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova and uncle Boris, Katerina’s beloved man, Savel Prokofievich Dikoy.
In the play, these characters are rarely called by their patronymic names; they are more often called and. What these characters have in common is that they are both cruel and heartless people, but they are united by their love of money. Relationships between people, according to their worldview, are based only on wealth. They abuse their family as they please, forcing them to live in constant fear.
Dikoy has put himself above everyone around him, but they are afraid of him and do not even try to resist this. He shows permissiveness because there is no one in Kalinin who could resist him. Dikoy is convinced of his impunity and considers himself the master of life.
Kabanikha covers up her disrespectful behavior with a mask of virtue. She is a strong and powerful person, she has little interest in emotions and feelings. As a person of the old formation, Kabanova is interested in earthly affairs and interests. Its demands are unquestioning adherence to order and rank.
Dikiy, like Kabanova, can be considered representatives of a certain part of the merchant class who behaved inappropriately. Such people cannot be called pious. But one cannot say that Russian merchants XIX century was the prototype of Kabanikha and Wild. In the same drama, Ostrovsky shows that Boris's father was Dikiy's brother, but being brought up in the same family, he was different from the merchant Dikiy. Boris's father was married to a girl noble origin, and he had a completely different life than his tyrannical brother.
Kabanova is also shown as a typical representative of the merchant class. Being the head of the family, the mother of Tikhon, Varvara and mother-in-law of Katerina, she constantly torments her closest people with her behavior. She may have loved her children in her own way, but can a normal mother behave like that? Probably not. The drama contains a description of Katerina's story about her childhood. Katerina's parents were also from the merchant class, but Katerina's mother was a sensitive, kind and sympathetic woman. She loved and cared for her daughter very much.
Ostrovsky took the plot for his play from real life, but the city was given the fictitious name Kalinov. Many Volga cities believed that the play “The Thunderstorm” was written based on events that happened in their city. Now for some reason they believe that this is the city of Kostroma.
According to I. A. Goncharov, A. N. Ostrovsky “brought a whole library of artistic works as a gift to literature, and created his own special world for the stage.” The world of Ostrovsky’s works is amazing. He created large and integral characters, knew how to emphasize comic or dramatic properties in them, and draw the reader's attention to the virtues or vices of his heroes.
The heroes of the play “The Thunderstorm” deserve special attention - Savel Prokofievich Dikoy and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova.
Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is a merchant, a significant person in the city of Kalinov. The heroes of the play give him eloquent characteristics. “He belongs everywhere. He’s afraid of someone!” - Kudryash says about him. Wild, in fact, nothing but of one's own will, do not recognize. He doesn't care about the thoughts and feelings of other people. It costs Savel Prokofievich nothing to scold, humiliate, or insult. With those around him, he behaves as if he had “lost his chain,” and without this he “cannot breathe.” “...You are a worm,” he says to Kulig. “If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush.”
The power of the Wild One is stronger, the weaker, more weak-willed the person. So Kudryash, for example, knows how to resist the Wild One. “...He is the word, and I am ten; he will spit and go. No, I won’t slave to him,” says Kudryash about his relationship with the merchant. Another man is Dikiy’s nephew, Boris. “He got Boris Grigoryich as a sacrifice, so he rides on it,” people around him notice. The wild one is not embarrassed by the fact that Boris is an orphan and that he has no one closer to his uncle. The merchant realizes that the fate of his nephew is in his hands, and takes advantage of this. “Driven, beaten...” Boris says sadly. The merchant is no less cruel to his employees: “With us, no one dares even say a word about a salary, he’ll scold you for all he’s worth.” The unscrupulous Dikoy makes his fortune from other people's slave labor and deception: “... I will underpay them by a penny... but I make thousands from this...”. However, sometimes the Dikiy has an epiphany, and he realizes that he is going too far: “After all, I already know that I have to give, but I can’t do everything with good.”
Dikoy is a despot and tyrant in his family, “his own people cannot please him,” “when he is offended by a person whom he does not dare to scold; here, stay home!”
Kabanikha, the rich Kalinovsky merchant’s wife, is not inferior to Dikiy. Kabanikha is a hypocrite, she does everything “under the guise of piety.” Outwardly she is very pious. However, as Kuligin notes, Kabanikha “gives money to the poor, but completely eats up her family.” The main object of her tyranny is her own son Tikhon. Being an adult, married man, he is completely at the mercy of his mother, has no opinion of his own, and is afraid to contradict her. Kabanikha “builds” his relationship with his wife, she guides his every action, every word. Complete obedience is all she wants to see in her son. The power-hungry Kabanikha does not notice that under her yoke a cowardly, pathetic, weak-willed, irresponsible man has grown up. Having escaped from the supervision of his mother for a while, he chokes on freedom and drinks, because he does not know how to use freedom in any other way. “...Not one step out of your will,” he repeats to his mother, and “he himself thinks about how he can escape as quickly as possible.”
Kabanikha is jealous of her son’s daughter-in-law, constantly reproaches him with Katerina, “she eats him.” “I already see that I’m a hindrance to you,” she nags Tikhon. Kabanikha believes that the wife of her husband should be afraid, precisely afraid, and not love or respect. In her opinion, correct relationships are built precisely on the suppression of one person by another, on humiliation, on lack of freedom. Indicative in this regard is the scene of Katerina’s farewell to her husband, when all Tikhon’s words addressed to his wife are just a repetition of Kabanikha’s instigations.
If Tikhon, who has been crushed by her since childhood, suffers from Kabanikha, then the life of such a dreamy, poetic and integral nature as Katerina in the merchant’s house becomes unbearable. “Here, whether she got married or whether she buried her, it’s all the same,” Boris argues about this.
Constant pressure forces Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, to adapt. “Do what you want, as long as it’s sewn and covered,” she reasons.
Assessing the images of the “masters of life,” N. Dobro-lyubov shows Diky and Kabanikha as tyrants, with their “constant suspicion, scrupulousness and pickiness.” According to the critic, “Thunderstorm” is the most decisive work Ostrovsky" in this play "the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought... to the most tragic consequences...".
Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is one of the main characters of the work, presented by the writer in the image of an enterprising and powerful merchant, one of the wealthy residents of the county town.
The character of the Wild is characterized by excessive, shameless selfishness and desperate thirst monetary wealth bordering on insanity. Moral and moral principles in the nature of the Wild are completely absent, and the observance of Orthodox church rituals is more related to an imaginary transaction with the Almighty for the remission of sins. The concept of conscience and compassion is unfamiliar to the Wild; having caused suffering to people who are weak and below him in position, he does not experience any moral remorse or emotional distress.
The writer describes the merchant as having no control over his behavior, an sometimes inadequate person, subject to bouts of rage and rage, manipulating people through the use of fear and pressure. Under Dikoy, he receives not only moral satisfaction, but also material benefit, since by underpaying the downtrodden peasants for their work, he guarantees himself a constant additional income.
Dikoy is extremely ignorant and uneducated, he completely lacks the desire to be enlightened and get rid of his dense darkness, he is not interested in either the current social situation or the historical past. Savel Prokofievich’s speech consists of continuous curses, bile and rudeness, and inner world the character is completely empty. At the same time, he loves to drink a glass or two of vodka.
In addition to the cruel traits of the Wild One, he is also characterized by cowardice towards those who are able to show the merchant his true place. Yielding to Kabanikha, another representative of the dark kingdom, Dikoy understands that the merchant’s wife is a smarter and cunning woman compared to him. Therefore, he takes out all his hatred and anger on innocent family members. Dikoy is also afraid of the thunderstorm, but due to her ignorance, she considers it a supernatural phenomenon and tries to hide from it.
Aggressively expanding his life potential, moving towards greed, cruelty, selfishness, the Wild One is stopped only by power and force.
Essay about the Wild
Dikoy is one of the heroes of the play “The Thunderstorm” by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky and wears telling surname. In the work, the hero appears as a rich merchant who enjoys extreme respect among everyone around him. Using his example, the author shows a problem that existed in Russia not only at that time, but also now.
The action of the work takes place in a fictional town called Kalinov. This city is distinguished by its savagery, insignificance and residents with limited needs and outlook on life. The problems that the author reveals with the help of the city and its inhabitants are relevant for all of Russia, even at the present time.
One of social problems is also revealed with the help of a character named Dikoy. He was one of the most influential and rich people in the city, a merchant. The author never mentions his appearance, but a lot is known about his character. He was an extremely cruel, rude, unceremonious, aggressive and eternally embittered man, and his mood was unstable. Neither his wife nor even he himself knew what mood he would be in the next minute. He put himself in charge of the city and life in general, and allowed himself to humiliate, insult and scold even strangers whom he does not know personally. For him, this became the norm and commonplace, to some extent entertainment. It is worth noting that Dikoy allows himself to behave this way only in relation to people who are lower in status than him and are not able to fight back. It shows it true face, insignificance and a rotten soul that was corrupted by money and power.
Absolutely wild negative character works of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. During the entire development of the plot, the hero never showed any positive feature of your character. Only anger, anger and cruelty emanate from him, showing his rotten inner world. Perhaps by giving external world continuous and causeless anger, he hides his weakness, uncertainty and unhappy life. People like Dikoy exist in modern world. Their once existing kindness and openness are spoiled by money, turning a person into a soulless creature whose priorities do not include truly worthwhile things.
Several interesting essays
- Genre Stories by Belkin Pushkin
The writer's work is a collection of five stories included in one collection with a preface, which is published without the author's surname.
- Essay based on the painting by Romadina Village Khmelevka 9th grade (description)
The painting was painted by Romadin in 1944 in the Volga region. Before us appears a village with a telling name Khmelevka, as if hidden by the Lord of the Gods in this secluded and invisible place
- Essay on the painting Grandmother's Garden by Polenova, grade 8
In the 19th century, the majority Russian artists worked in the landscape genre. But Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov worked in the genre of “mood landscape”. This genre was personally invented by the artist and was not used by anyone in the future.
Russian literature is unusually rich in interesting works. That's why this a large number of films were made based on them.
Pushkin and Boldino autumn. It is this combination that brings to mind the story “ Stationmaster" Fate is at the center of the story little man» – Samson Vyrin and his daughter Dunya
The play “The Thunderstorm” by Alexander Ostrovsky presents a vivid picture of serf society at the end of the 18th century. The playwright introduces us to the world of the Russian Volga town of Kalinov, which has been living the same patriarchal measured life for centuries. This is the world of townspeople and merchants. Is he that good? Is there a lot of light in Russian patriarchal pre-bourgeois society?
Who is the “dark kingdom” based on?
Deprived of a positive vector of development, the urban community from the times of the decay of serfdom is socially sick to such an extent that Nikolai Dobrolyubov calls it “ dark kingdom.. He, by calling Ostrovsky “an expert on Russian life,” actually confirms the typicality of the images presented by the playwright. Dikoy and Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” really benefit directly from the suffering of others and in every possible way support the suffocating, antisocial atmosphere in society. The meaning of the “dark kingdom” they preserve is obvious: the transformation of human suffering into their personal wealth, into the capital of world-eating merchants. Both of the above negative images in Russian literature are considered classic. They are revealed by the author with great artistic power. The topic of our article is the type of merchant Savely Prokofich Dikiy. Unfortunately, many critics emphasize its primitiveness. In our opinion, this is incorrect. In particular, it deserves attention that Savel Prokofich is at the same time both the ruler and the victim of the district “dark kingdom”.
Specifics of the image of the merchant Wild
The image of the Wild One in the play “The Thunderstorm” is typical of Russian society. This is a man who “made” a huge fortune, rising from the very bottom. The author does not give us a direct comment on this matter, but a thoughtful reader will discover this. According to the psychotype of a merchant. Let us explain our version. There was once a proverb among the people: “There is no worse lord for his Ivan.” The image of the Wild One in the play “The Thunderstorm” is a clear illustration of the validity of this idea. Savel Prokofievich, even having become the main magnate of the city of Kalinov, cannot stop in his inertia of a kind of cyborg to make money by any means.
Savel Prokofich syndrome
Our task is to understand the image of the Wild One in the play “The Thunderstorm”. Imagine that you are an actor “stepping into this role.” How to do it the shortest route? What do you recommend? Let's say you are chronically deprived of mercy. Imagine: having caused a person suffering and even ruined him, you do not experience any moral remorse. “When you get into character,” pretend that you don’t know the sense of responsibility to society... Did you feel it?
Agree, the terrible, destructive image of the Wild One in the play “The Thunderstorm” is typical and is often found in our society, only in other forms... In his rapid and continuous enrichment, he has one strange advantage over other people - he is not tormented by conscience. Savel Prokofich aggressively expands his living space, stopping only before two factors: before the Force and before the Authority. Let's consider the above compressed characteristics in more detail...
Merchant Wild's Mercy
As we have already mentioned, the image of the Wild One in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is not even the type of person who makes a deal with his conscience (Savel Prokofich simply does not have it). His moral principles are very vague, and adherence to rituals Orthodox Church rather resembles a deal with God for the remission of sins than a sincere desire to harmonize oneself and one’s relationships with society and family.
Every day his wife begs visitors not to anger him. After all, Dikoy cannot control himself in a rage; even his family hides from him in attics and closets.
Reflex Rage
Manipulating a person through fear is his comfortable state, which he is embarrassed to say openly. (Aloud, he says: “My heart is like that!”) The image of the Wild One from the play “The Thunderstorm” is a dangerous type of person who receives material gain while being in an inadequate state, bordering on schizophrenia.
It is in a state of consciousness altered by rage that he creates things that he often cannot explain later. Let us at least remember his story to his godfather Marfa Kabanova about the unfortunate little peasant petitioner who was almost “knocked to death.”
The episode when Dikaya talks about her uncontrollable rage in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” attracts attention. The characterization he gave to himself is disingenuous. Everything is understandable: his fits of rage are initially selfish, they bring him money. After all, when he underpays hired people for work with a humiliating cry, then the principle works in his favor: “money saved is money earned!” Daily attacks guarantee daily extra profits.
Danger of mental disorder
He's worried about something else. Devoid of any spirituality, the image of Dikov in the play “The Thunderstorm” falls into a kind of vicious circle, reminiscent of Tolkien’s deceitful ring of omnipotence. He understands that the reflex “initiating rabies - receiving benefits” that he has developed over decades can play a cruel joke on him: completely drive him crazy and destroy him. This is precisely what he expresses concern about to his godfather, the merchant Kabanikha. Savel Prokofich himself no longer notices when the mechanism that turns on madness is triggered in him...
Why is the image of the Wild One presented sporadically?
A man terrorizing the city... The image of the Wild One in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is deliberately revealed by Ostrovsky in a non-systematic manner. During the course of the action, he appears only three times before the viewer of the play. And this is understandable. It’s quite risky even for a classic to denounce his contemporaries - powerful of the world this.
What traits, not revealed by the author, may be inherent in Savel Prokofich? Most adult readers can easily imagine such a characteristic themselves. Let us provide only two key thoughts to this argument. Is it typical for modern people in power to have the psychotype of the chief merchant of the city of Kalinov? Does the average modern citizen have real rights in court?...
Conclusion
This, of course, is a sad truth, but a host of modern unscrupulous Wild merchants, apologists for the neo-version of serfdom, flash before us every day in the media. These are modern feudal lords, prospering among entire strata of society (as Pelevin aptly put it, working “for food”).
So, what features can complement the modernized image of the Wild One in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”? This practice, by the way, is demonstrated by theaters in Israel, where the modernized version of Gogol’s “The Inspector General” is going off with a bang. Let's turn on our imagination. What can in modern society help the Wild type “raising mud in the water”, making money more efficiently and instilling one’s “ego”?
Let's answer briefly. Talent for inciting hatred between people and representatives different nationalities. Absence of moral brakes when sanctioning murder (or murders). The desire to rake in the heat with someone else's hands, using your money as a tool.
Concluding our discussions, we note that such sociopathy really poisons the harmony of society, turning relationships in it into a “dark kingdom.”