In terms of genre, the play “The Thunderstorm” can be classified as a special type of tragedy: its social and everyday form, where the subject of the image is the collisions of everyday life, but elevated to the level of a catastrophic contradiction of the hero with the world around him. Tragedy is one of the main genres of drama; It is based on an insoluble conflict between the individual and life or himself, as a result of which the hero dies physically, but wins a moral victory, which causes grief in the audience and their spiritual purification through suffering - catharsis. All this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky’s play.
Indeed, Katerina’s death is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slave position in Kabanova’s house. But her victory is also impossible, since it is not her evil mother-in-law who opposes Katerina, but the entire contemporary world - a world of cruelty, lies, obedience and tyranny. To win would mean to change this entire world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, “The Thunderstorm” makes a refreshing impression, which serves as clear evidence of the presence of a cathartic effect among the audience (“a ray of light in dark kingdom»).
But “The Thunderstorm” is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social and everyday tragedy. The definition of “social” is given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not private, but public in nature. The playwright does not depict a clash between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between the opposing camps into which society is divided. But Ostrovsky’s main artistic discovery is that he, having shown in the play real life Volga city, immersed the tragedy in everyday life, although high tragedy according to existing canons, it should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena. Material from the site
The innovation of the genre corresponds to the originality of the plot and composition of the play. The pace of action in the first acts is slow, which is due to the extensiveness of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and viewer with the circumstances, everyday life, and morals in which the heroes will have to act, introduce a number of minor characters, and motivate the maturation of the conflict. The action of the play includes social and individual lines of struggle and two parallel love affairs - the main one (Katerina - Boris) and the secondary one (Varvara - Kudryash). The play has a number of extra-plot episodes that play into the plot significant role, completing the picture of the “dark kingdom”. The tension of dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating a future catastrophe, preparing for it. The climax occurs in Act IV (the scene of repentance), which means supreme moment The development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement occurs in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwined into a tight knot, turn out to be untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The circular structure of the play (the events of Acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves for compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.
The issue of genres has always been quite resonant among literary scholars and critics. Disputes around which genre to classify this or that work gave rise to many points of view, sometimes completely unexpected. Most often, disagreements arise between the author's and the scientific designation of the genre. For example, N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”, from a scientific point of view, should be called a novel. In the case of dramaturgy, too, everything is not so simple. And we are talking here not about the symbolist understanding of drama or futuristic experiments, but about drama within the framework of the realistic method. Speaking specifically about the genre of “Thunderstorms” by Ostrovsky.
Ostrovsky wrote this play in 1859, at a time when theater reform was necessary. Ostrovsky himself believed that the performance of the actors is much more important to the audience, and you can read the text of the play at home. The playwright had already begun to prepare the audience for the fact that plays for performance and plays for reading should be different. But the old traditions were still strong. The author himself defined the genre of the work “The Thunderstorm” as drama. First you need to understand the terminology. Drama is characterized by serious, predominantly everyday story, the style is close to real life. At first glance, The Thunderstorm has many dramatic elements. This is, of course, everyday life. The morals and way of life of the city of Kalinov are described incredibly clearly. Folds up full impression not only about a single city, but about all provincial towns. It is no coincidence that the author points out the conventionality of the setting: it is necessary to show that the existence of the inhabitants is typical. Social characteristics are also distinguished by their clarity: the actions and character of each hero are largely determined by his social position.
The tragic beginning is connected with the image of Katerina and, partly, Kabanikha. A tragedy requires a strong ideological conflict, a struggle that can end in the death of the main character or several characters. The image of Katerina shows a strong, pure and honest personality who strives for freedom and justice. She was married off early against her will, but she was able to fall in love with her spineless husband to some extent. Katya often thinks that she could fly. She again wants to feel that inner lightness that was before marriage. The girl feels cramped and stuffy in an environment of constant scandals and quarrels. She can neither lie, even though Varvara says that the entire Kabanov family rests on lies, nor hush up the truth. Katya falls in love with Boris, because initially both she and the readers think he is the same as her. The girl had the last hope of saving herself from disappointment in life and in people - escaping with Boris, but the young man refused Katya, acting like other residents of a world alien to Katerina.
Katerina's death shocks not only readers and spectators, but also other characters in the play. Tikhon says that everything is to blame for his domineering mother, who killed the girl. Tikhon himself was ready to forgive his wife’s betrayal, but Kabanikha was against it.
The only character who can compare with Katerina in terms of strength of character is Marfa Ignatievna. Her desire to subjugate everything and everyone makes a woman a real dictator. Her difficult character ultimately led to her daughter running away from home, her daughter-in-law committing suicide, and her son blaming her for her failures. Kabanikha, to some extent, can be called Katerina’s antagonist.
The conflict of the play can also be viewed from two sides. From the point of view of tragedy, the conflict is revealed in the collision of two different worldviews: old and new. And from the point of view of drama, the contradictions of reality and characters collide in the play.
The genre of Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" cannot be determined precisely. Some are inclined towards the author’s version - a social and everyday drama, others propose to reflect characteristic elements both tragedy and drama, defining the genre of “Thunderstorms” as an everyday tragedy. But one thing cannot be denied for sure: this play contains both features of tragedy and features of drama.
Work test
Our lesson today is dedicated to the work of N.A. Ostrovsky. We will reflect on the genre of the play "The Thunderstorm". What is this - drama or tragedy? To do this, we will turn to the history of the tragedy genre, find its signs in the play and try to determine genre feature works.
It was immediately staged at the Moscow Maly drama theater and caused serious controversy and controversy. Not everyone could see the large-scale meaning of this play. Some took it simply as family drama about how a dark, downtrodden, intimidated woman cheated on her pathetic husband. Such thoughts were expressed not only by conservatives, but even by such a revolutionary and radical-minded literary critic like D. Pisarev (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. D.I. Pisarev ()
In his article “Motives of Russian Drama,” he reproached Katerina for not leaving her husband, and generally believed that her behavior was ridiculous and stupid, and she should not have been put at the center of the play. But already in 1860, Dobrolyubov’s article was published in the Sovremennik magazine (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. N.A. Dobrolyubov ()
It must be said that we are now reconsidering Dobrolyubov’s work and cannot agree with him on all points. But we must take into account that Ostrovsky himself liked Dobrolyubov’s article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” extremely. He repeatedly said that Dobrolyubov absolutely correctly understood the concept of his play.
What is the difference between drama and tragedy? First of all, the scale of the problem. The tragedy touches upon universal questions about life and death, about the world and the fate of man in it. The drama examines the issues in more detail, but perhaps in more detail: man and society, man and his social environment, man and his various social connections that a person establishes with the people around him. Dobrolyubov persistently called Ostrovsky’s play a tragedy:
"Thunderstorm" is, without a doubt, the most decisive work Ostrovsky; the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought to the most tragic consequences; and for all that, most of those who have read and seen this play agree that it produces a less serious and sad impression than Ostrovsky’s other plays...”
“There’s even something refreshing and encouraging about The Thunderstorm. This “something” is, in our opinion, the background of the play, indicated by us and revealing the precariousness and the near end of tyranny. Then the very character of Katerina, drawn against this background, also blows on us new life, which is revealed to us in her very death...”
“The character of Katerina is a step forward not only in Ostrovsky’s dramatic activity, but also in all of our literature. It corresponds to a new phase of our folk life…»
It is no coincidence that Dobrolyubov speaks of a new phase of people’s life. What happened in Russia at the end of the 50s? This is a difficult and critical time. Just died down Crimean War(Fig. 4),
Rice. 4. Crimean War ()
which turned out to be a complete disgrace for Russia, Nicholas I died (Fig. 5),
Rice. 5. Emperor Nicholas I ()
and the conversation turned to reforms, the inevitability of which the country’s leadership understood. Already in 1857, the liberation of the peasants was announced (Fig. 6).
Rice. 6. Reading the manifesto on the liberation of the peasants ()
Archaic, inhumane, completely backward social order in Russia had to be completely broken. But here a large-scale question arose before society: are the people ready for these changes, will they be able to become a subject of history, move towards high goals, etc.? After all, several centuries of oppression and slavery could kill his will to independence and freedom. These questions were answered in different ways, there were intense debates in society, and it was at this moment that the play “The Thunderstorm” appeared, which is intended to answer this question as Ostrovsky understands it.
Thus, Ostrovsky is trying to find in his play a conscious or at least spontaneous heroic beginning in the thickness of people's life.
Tragedy- a play that depicts extremely acute, often insoluble contradictions in life. The plot is based on the irreconcilable conflict of the hero, a strong personality, with supra-personal forces (fate, state, elements, etc.) or with himself. In this struggle, the hero, as a rule, dies, but wins a moral victory. The purpose of the tragedy is to cause shock in the viewer by what they see, which, in turn, gives rise to sorrow and compassion in their hearts. This state of mind leads to catharsis.
Drama - literary work written in the form of a dialogue characters. Focused on spectacular expressiveness. The relationships between people and the conflicts that arise between them are revealed through the actions of the heroes and are embodied in a monologue-dialogue form. Unlike tragedy, drama does not end in catharsis.
Let us now turn to the history of the tragedy genre itself. Tragedy as a genre often appears in literature precisely at turning points in history. It helps to understand the global issues facing humanity. Tragedy was born in Ancient Greece and it was precisely at that moment when the man of Antiquity first began to recognize himself not just as a member of a collective, tribe, state, but as a separate sovereign person. How should an individual behave, for example, in combat with power, if this power is omnipotent and unrighteous? Here is the problem of the famous tragedy of Aeschylus (Fig. 7)
“Prometheus chained” (Fig. 8).
Rice. 8. “Prometheus Chained” (P. Rubens, 1612) ()
How will a person behave when faced with inexorable fate? This is the problematic of the play “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles (Fig. 9, 10).
Rice. 9. Antigone leads blind Oedipus out of Thebes (C. Jalabert, 19th century) ()
Can a person resist the chaos of feelings raging in his own soul? This is the problematic of such famous tragedies of Euripides (Fig. 11),
like “Hippolytus” or “Medea” (Fig. 12).
Rice. 12. “Medea” (A. Feuerbach, 1870) ()
Shakespeare's tragedies (Fig. 13) also appeared at a turning point, when the harsh patriarchal world of the Middle Ages was becoming a thing of the past, but the world that replaced it was not pleasing, revealing the disunity of people, selfishness, greed, and evil passions.
Classicists in France of the 17th century showed great interest in the tragedy, who put the cult of reason and the state at the forefront, trying to normalize everything. At the same time, many are written scientific works about literature, about how to write, in particular tragedy. Tragedy was thought of as a high, standard genre, and therefore it was in it that a certain set of rules had to be observed. The greatest representatives of classic tragedy are Corneille and Racine. It seemed to the classicists that these requirements flowed directly from ancient Greek poetics and that this was exactly how plays were staged in ancient Greece. But this is not entirely true. In ancient Greek plays the law of unity of time and place was not always observed. For example, in the famous “Oresteia” (Fig. 14) by Aeschylus, the duration of action is about ten years.
Rice. 14. “Clytemnestra hesitates before killing the sleeping Agamemnon” (P.-N. Guerin, 1817) ()
But, be that as it may, these laws were popular in both European and Russian literature of the 19th century. For example, in Griboyedov’s play (Fig. 15)
Rice. 15. A.S. Griboyedov ()
“Woe from Wit” actions begin early in the morning and end exactly the next morning.
What is unity of action? Here everything is more complicated. Firstly, the action should be limited to a small number of characters, 7-8. Secondly, there should be no side plot devices. And thirdly, there should be no characters who are not involved in the main course of the play. These rules were considered mandatory. In addition, one more thing was added to them: the main character of a tragedy - a high genre - can only be high, significant historical figure. These could be gods, heroes, generals, kings, but not representatives of the third estate. As we see, Ostrovsky does not meet all these requirements. That is why, probably, he decided to subtitle his play “drama” in order to avoid misunderstandings, although, in fact, this is not entirely true. If we consider Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" from the point of view of the normative laws of classicism, then this is not a tragedy. The action lasts about ten days, the location also changes, and there are also heroes who are not related to the fate of the main character - Katerina (Fig. 16).
Rice. 16. Katerina ()
First of all, this is Feklusha, the wanderer (Fig. 17).
The description of the environment also occupies an unusual place “ dark kingdom" Katerina herself is a representative of the “dark kingdom”: a merchant’s wife, a merchant’s daughter, thus she is a person of the third estate. But the fact is that the laws developed by the classicists are quite formal, and they do not determine the essence of the genre. After all, Shakespeare did not obey these laws, but the tragedies “Hamlet”, “Macbeth” (Fig. 18), “Othello”, “King Lear” do not cease to be tragedies.
Rice. 18. “Lady Macbeth” (M. Gabriel, 1885) ()
A tragedy has three mandatory features, and if they are present in the work, then the genre can safely be called a tragedy, and if they are absent, then it is obviously a drama.
First. In tragedy there must be tragic hero, that is, a hero whose moral qualities are much higher than those around him.
Second. In tragedy there must be tragic conflict, i.e. the conflict is global and insoluble by conventional peaceful means. This conflict usually ends with the death of the main character.
Third. Tragedy needs catharsis, that is, cleansing. First of all, this concerns the surviving heroes. They become taller, better, cleaner, and learn some life lessons for themselves. The same applies to the audience.
We can find all these moments in Ostrovsky's play. Is there a tragic hero there? Yes, this is Katerina. No matter what unkind critics say, Katerina is clearly superior to those around her. They may object to us: she is superstitious, not educated enough, commits sinful acts, such as treason and suicide, and these, from the point of view of Christianity, are terrible sins. But in at least one point she is certainly superior to everyone around her. She hates lies and finds it impossible for herself to lie. Lies are what unites all residents of the city of Kalinov.
Dikoy is lying (Fig. 19).
In addition to being stupid and cruel, his actions are also riddled with hypocrisy. For example, he knows that scolding workers on a holiday is a grave sin, nevertheless, he scolds them, does not pay them, and then humbly asks for their forgiveness. By the way, he is also cowardly: as soon as Kabanova rebuffs him, he immediately calms down.
Kabanova’s entire behavior is permeated with hypocrisy (Fig. 20): in front of the city she is virtuous, but with her family she is power-hungry and evil.
Rice. 20. Marfa Kabanova ()
In addition, she is a lover of form, and therefore despises content. It seems to her that she needs to live according to Domostroy. But she is interested in the external pattern of behavior: the main thing is to maintain the form. This is evil hypocrisy.
Her daughter Varvara easily submits to someone else’s lies (Fig. 21), who herself has learned to lie with passion.
Varvara also has one more quality that does not decorate her: she is bored of sinning alone, because it is she who involves Katerina in sin, giving her the key to the gate so that she can see Boris.
Kudryash - at first glance, cheerful, cheerful, clearly opposed to the “dark kingdom” (Fig. 22).
But from the verbal skirmish with the Wild, we understand that there is no difference between them, and in a few years Curly will become another Wild.
Finally, the most oppressed person in this “kingdom” is Tikhon, who lies out of habit, always and everywhere (Fig. 23).
Rice. 23. Tikhon Kabanov ()
This is a man completely crushed by the situation.
Boris is not just a product of the “dark kingdom”; despite his education and ability to love, he behaves irrationally (Fig. 24).
He will be given an inheritance only on one condition: if he is respectful to his uncle Wild. It is known that uncle will not part with money under any circumstances, so there is nothing to respect him for. But Boris tries his best, he literally kowtows when communicating with Dikiy.
Finally, Kuligin is an old inventor, in whose speech we often see a reflection of the thoughts of Ostrovsky himself (Fig. 25).
He does not lie, but he has reconciled, he has neither the moral nor physical strength to resist the evil, lies and violence that reigns in the city. For example, Dikoy accuses him of being a robber because he wants to. And Kuligin silently presses his head into his shoulders and runs away. He's not a fighter.
Thus, everyone in this “dark kingdom” either lies and is a hypocrite themselves, or has come to terms with the lies and hypocrisy of others. Against this background, Katerina presents a sharp contrast with the other characters. From the very beginning we see that she does not want and cannot come to terms. Even with my unsuccessful family life she can only come to terms as long as she feels at least some human warmth and affection for Tikhon. Once all this disappears, she will not remain in the family cage, because she is irresistibly attracted to freedom, which for her is inextricably linked with truth. The sincerity and purity of Katerina’s soul is emphasized by her very name, which translated from Greek means “pure.”
Now let's move on to the second point of our reasoning: is there a tragic conflict in Ostrovsky's play? Here it must be said that Ostrovsky made a colossal innovation compared to ancient Greek drama. Usually, among the ancient Greeks, the conflict was either external - a person and the entire world around him - or internal, when different elements collided in an insurmountable struggle. human soul. Ostrovsky uses both conflicts in the play.
The external conflict is obvious: pure, truth-loving, sincere Katerina cannot get along in the terrible world of the city of Kalinov, riddled with cruelty, lies and hypocrisy.
Internal conflict: Katerina is a sincerely believing woman to whom angels appear in broad daylight in the middle of the temple. Saints experienced such visions. She believes in both sin and fiery hell; she is absolutely sure that her betrayal of her husband is a terrible sin that cannot be forgiven. But on the other hand, she cannot remain faithful to her husband, because he does not love her and does not respect her. He is truly worthy only of contempt. Already at the beginning of the play, he betrays her: when she asks him for help, he mockingly shrugs, refuses and leaves her alone with her difficulties and suffering. It is impossible to love and respect such a person, and therefore it is impossible to be a hypocrite by maintaining this hateful marriage. And so Katerina struggles in this morally insoluble situation for her: on the one hand, cheating on her husband is a terrible sin, perceived by her as a moral impossibility, and on the other hand, it is impossible to remain honest married woman and continue this disgusting hypocritical life. She cannot give up her love for Boris, because in this love for her there is not only sensual passion, but a desire for truth, freedom, life. And only death can resolve this tragic collision.
Now the third moment: catharsis, cleansing. Does anyone in the play experience purification after Katerina's death? Yes, definitely. Firstly, Tikhon, who has always been quiet and submissive to his mother, finally finds his voice and shouts, uncontrollably blaming his mother for Katerina’s death: “You ruined her! You! You!" Thus, he regained his sight, perhaps not for long, but still rose above his grassy and inhuman state.
Kuligin also finds his voice, carrying out Katerina’s body and telling her tormentors: “Here is your Katerina. 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!” That is, he accuses the city of Kalinov of the fact that it can and knows primitive, harsh justice, but mercy is inaccessible to it. Thus, Kuligin’s voice merges into in this case with the voice of Ostrovsky himself.
Some still reproach Katerina: how can this be, she is a suicide, a sinner, and according to Christian canons this is an unforgivable sin. But here we can say the following: it is not for nothing that we were given the Holy Testament, the Bible, in two books: the first is the Old Testament (Fig. 26),
Rice. 26. Old Testament (cover, modern edition) ()
the Bible itself, which teaches us justice, and the second - New Testament(Fig. 27),
Rice. 27. New Testament (cover, modern edition) ()
The gospel that teaches us mercy. No wonder Christ said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Fig. 28).
Rice. 28. Icon depicting Jesus Christ ()
He did not say that only those who are pure should come to him, he said that everyone should come. And we believe, together with Kuligin, that there is a judge who is more merciful than the city of Kalinov.
Thus, both in terms of the scale of the problem and the depth of the conflict, Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” can safely be called a tragedy. But one difficulty remains: the play depicts the environment in great detail, so the final conclusion must be made as follows: Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is a tragedy with elements of drama.
References
- Sakharov V.I., Zinin S.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. - M.: Russian Word.
- Arkhangelsky A.N. and others. Russian language and literature. Literature (advanced level) 10. - M.: Bustard.
- Lanin B.A., Ustinova L.Yu., Shamchikova V.M. / ed. Lanina B.A. Russian language and literature. Literature (basic and advanced levels) 10. - M.: VENTANA-GRAF.
- Russian language ().
- Internet portal Otherreferats.allbest.ru ().
- Internet portal Referatwork.ru ().
Homework
- Write down the definitions of “drama” and “tragedy” from five sources.
- Compose comparative characteristics dramatic and tragic elements in the play "The Thunderstorm".
- *Write an essay-reflection on the topic: “The tragedy of the heroes of the play “The Thunderstorm.”
Genre and composition. In terms of genre, the play “The Thunderstorm” can be classified as a special type of tragedy: its social and everyday form, where the subject of the image is the collisions of everyday life, but elevated to the level of a catastrophic contradiction of the hero with the world around him. Tragedy is one of the main genres of drama; It is based on an insoluble conflict between the individual and life or himself, as a result of which the hero physically dies, but wins a moral victory, which causes grief in the audience and their spiritual purification through suffering - catharsis. All this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky’s play.
Indeed, Katerina’s death is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slave position in Kabanova’s house. But her victory is also impossible, since it is not her evil mother-in-law who opposes Katerina, but the entire modern world - a world of cruelty, lies, obedience and tyranny. To win would mean to change this entire world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, “The Thunderstorm” produces a refreshing impression, which serves as clear evidence of the presence of a catharsis effect among the audience (“a ray of light in a dark kingdom”).
But “The Thunderstorm” is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social and everyday tragedy. The definition of “social” is given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not private, but public in nature. The playwright does not depict a clash between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between the opposing camps into which society is divided. But Ostrovsky’s main artistic discovery is that, having shown the real life of the Volga city in the play, he immersed tragedy in everyday life, although high tragedy, according to existing canons, should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena.
The innovation of the genre corresponds to the originality of the plot and composition of the play. The pace of action in the first acts is slow, which is due to the extensiveness of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and viewer with the circumstances, everyday life, and morals in which the characters will have to act, introduce a number of minor characters, and motivate the maturation of the conflict. The action of the play includes social and individual lines of struggle and two parallel love affairs - the main one (Katerina - Boris) and the secondary one (Varvara - Kudryash). The play has a number of extra-plot episodes that play a significant role in the plot, completing the picture of the “dark kingdom”. The tension of the dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating the future catastrophe, preparing for it. The climax occurs in Act IV (the scene of repentance), which means that the highest moment in the development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement occurs in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwined into a tight knot, are untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The circular structure of the play (the events of Acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves for compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.
The work of the Russian playwright Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is widely known to many readers since school years. He lived long life. He was born in one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and died in one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six. And on his life path there was one very important date.
This is one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six. In the indicated year, Alexander Nikolaevich moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, where the literary life. The most popular Russian magazines were published, and here Ostrovsky strengthened his fame as a playwright, which he had won in Moscow.
Features of the era in which the work was written
The most famous work This wonderful author was A. N. Ostrovsky wrote it in one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. And first of all, it is necessary to say what kind of era it was in Russian life. There are only two years left until great reform, abolition of serfdom. This was a period when topics and problems were raised that previously they preferred to remain silent about.
Attention to folk theme was attracted everywhere at that time. And in newspapers, and in literature, and in the theater. The play in question was awarded the Uvarov Prize. In one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, a drama written by Ostrovsky, “The Thunderstorm,” was staged for the first time on the stage of the Maly Theater. The content and images of the play have been delighting many viewers for one hundred and fifty years.
Its plot is quite simple. It shows everyday life ordinary people merchant class and the inner experiences of the main character Katerina. Her peculiar love for her husband. Subsequent relationships with her lover Tikhon. And most importantly - respect for traditions and God, which prompted Katya to commit suicide in tragic ending works.
A special class. Genre of the work
In his play, Alexander Nikolaevich continued the theme, which he had established himself as an expert on back in the Moscow years. Russian merchants - an estate with its own special traditions. These are people who are not inclined to change in their lives. They live a fairly simple life, and the main thing for them is adherence to traditions. And behind this lies a whole philosophy, which Alexander Nikolaevich knew very well.
Ostrovsky designated the genre of the play "The Thunderstorm" as drama. Readers know that at the end of the work main character Catherine dies without overcoming the difficult circumstances of her personal life. But then this play should belong to the genre of tragedy. How to correctly determine the identity of a work based on storyline and problems in the drama "Thunderstorm"?
Values of merchant families. Complex construction of the work
Virtue merchant family is to increase wealth not for the sake of luxury, but in the name of observing a special moral code. This is a very vicious circle where everyone obeys traditions. The son must definitely continue his father’s work, and not go to university or serve. And the daughter must be infinitely submissive to the will of her parents.
The city of Kalinov, located on the banks of the Volga, in which the play takes place, is also a kind of closed world. And news from big world they get there with great difficulty. Kalinov is separated from him by many barriers.
It is conveyed using a complex scheme for constructing the work. It has a lower level - a ravine and a pool, a middle level, where the houses of ordinary people are located, and an upper level - the high bank of the Volga. For ordinary people, going down into the ravine is like going to hell, and going up to the shore is like going to heaven.
The main character is Katerina. "Thunderstorm": the transition from old to new
But there is a main character in the work for whom everything is the opposite. When Katerina descends into the ravine, she overcomes herself and reaches a heavenly state of freedom. And if she climbs to a high bank, it means she has come close to death. Because the top and bottom are connected. It's just one jump to the pool.
Life in the city of Kalinov seemed to have stopped. The image of the inventor Kulibin is very indicative. And from Ostrovsky he comes up with things that were either invented long ago, like a lightning rod, or completely impossible, like a perpetual motion machine. All the fates of the inhabitants of the city personify the fates of the inhabitants of the then Russia. All the characters are at a crossroads between the old way of life and the new, including Katerina.
"The Thunderstorm" is a play that shows the transition from the traditional merchant world, where a person has no individual destiny, no private will, but only submission to what is accepted, to a new world based on the activity of each individual. This is what lies behind the simple events of this work. But what is the meaning of the name of the drama "The Thunderstorm"? What role does this phenomenon play in the composition of the play?
Natural phenomenon as a character
The thunderstorm is not only a symbol of the work, but also a participant in the main actions of the drama. A common natural phenomenon has significant influence on the behavior of many characters. Reveals their characters. And first of all, the meaning of the name of the drama “The Thunderstorm” is very closely connected with the main character Katerina.
Even her very personality resembles this natural phenomenon. Within Katya’s character, two irreconcilable extremes cannot come together. She is both a person of tradition and a person living in the spirit of the new times, according to her own emotions. The most important thing is that no one is incriminating her; there were no witnesses to her meetings with Tikhon. She herself admits this.
Katerina, on the one hand, even threatens to throw herself into the Volga, and in the end that’s what happens. On the other hand, she is very pious. She experiences moments of extraordinary upliftment in the church. And love for God in this play sounds very clear and voluminous. And, like many believers at that time, the main character considers this natural phenomenon to be heavenly punishment. It is during a thunderstorm that Katya confesses her sin.
Vivid but tragic consequences
The more the reader thinks about not only the meaning of the title of the drama “The Thunderstorm,” but also the plotline of the play, the more clearly he understands that Katerina is not opposed to any specific person. Not Kabanikha, not Boris, not Dikiy, but the entire world order. Some forces that are far superior to the world in which she lives.
AND main enemy Kati is inside her mind. She observes traditions, the concept of sin is significant to her, and at the same time she wants to act at the behest of her soul, love and other feelings. This is a dramatic confrontation between man and the elements. And it has not only very bright, but also tragic consequences.