"Thunderstorm"

The Thunderstorm was written in the second half of the 50s of the 19th century, when the country was on the verge of socio-political and social changes. Naturally, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky could not but react to these shifts. During this difficult period, in addition to "Thunderstorm", the playwright wrote the plays "Dowry", "Profitable Place" and others, in which he reflected his view of what was happening.

"Thunderstorm" A. N. Ostrovsky raises not so much social as moral problems. The playwright shows us how feelings that were not known before suddenly awaken in a person and how her attitude to the surrounding reality changes.

The “dark kingdom”, shown by the playwright, is the opposition of the laws of Domostroy and the desire for freedom and happiness. The thunderstorm in the play is not just a natural phenomenon, but a symbol of the heroine's state of mind. Katerina grew up and formed as a person in the terrible conditions of Domostroy, but this did not stop her from resisting the Kalinovsky society. It was important for Ostrovsky to show that where any manifestation of freedom is destroyed, a strong character may appear, striving for its own happiness. Katerina strives for freedom with all her heart. This is especially evident thanks to her story to Varvara about her childhood, when she lived in an atmosphere of love and understanding. But Katerina still does not fully understand that new attitude to the world, which will lead her to a tragic end: “Something in me is so unusual. It’s like I’m starting to live again.” Having fallen in love with Boris, she considers her feelings sinful. Katerina sees this as a moral crime and says that she has "already ruined" her soul. But somewhere inside, she understands that there is nothing immoral in the pursuit of happiness and love.

for this act?

From childhood, Katerina was an independent, freedom-loving nature. She lived in her mother's house like a bird in the wild. But then she ends up in her husband's house, where a completely different atmosphere reigns. She says: “Yes, everything here seems to be from captivity.” In words, the mother-in-law seeks to observe moral principles, but in fact, “she ate at home completely.” The boar does not recognize anything new, does not allow Tikhon to live with his mind, and oppresses his daughter-in-law. It doesn’t matter to her what is in Katerina’s soul, customs would be observed. “She is strange, extravagant, from the point of view of others, but this is because she cannot accept their views and inclinations,” Dobrolyubov wrote about Katerina in his article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”. Tikhon also does not understand Katerina's soul. This is a weak-willed person who is in complete submission to his mother. His only joy is to break out of the house and take a walk for several days. Kabanova's daughter Varvara does not argue with her mother, but deceives her, running away at night to walk with Kudryash.

“Cruel morals in our city,” says Kuligin.

Katerina's despair when, having fallen in love with Boris, she rushes to him, to Tikhon, asking him to take her with him. Tikhon pushes his wife away, dreaming of walking free, and Katerina is left alone. A painful moral struggle takes place in it. Brought up in a religious family, she considers it a great sin to cheat on her husband. But the desire to live a full life, the desire to decide one's own destiny, to be happy take precedence over moral principles. However, with the arrival of Tikhon, Katerina's moral suffering begins. No, she does not regret that she fell in love, she suffers that she is forced to lie. Lies are contrary to her honest, sincere nature. Even earlier, she confesses to Varvara: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.” That is why she confesses to Kabanikha and Tikhon her love for Boris.

But the moral problem is not solved. Katerina remains in her husband's house, but for her it is tantamount to death: "What goes home, what goes to the grave, it doesn't matter ... It's better in the grave." Boris, who turned out to be a weak man, subordinate to his uncle Diky, refuses to take her with him to Siberia. Her life becomes unbearable.

"husband's wife", according to the laws of society, she does not have the right to decide her own fate. There is no way out for her. And she decides to take a terrible step. “And if I get very sick of being here, then there’s no way to hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, I’ll throw myself into the Volga, ”Katerina says to Varvara earlier. So it happened, she could not stand that oppression and harassment in the Kabanikh's house. According to Christian laws, suicide is a terrible sin. But, according to Katerina, an even greater sin is to live in lies and pretense. Kuligin, shocked by the death of Katerina, throws her oppressors in the face: “Here is your Katerina. Do with her what you want! Her body is here, but her soul is no longer yours: she is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!” In these words - the justification of her suicide. God will be more merciful to the unfortunate woman, because it is not she who is to blame for everything that happened, but the unjust, immoral structure of society.

Katerina's soul is pure and sinless. Before her death, she thinks only of her love - the only joy in her bitter life. And therefore, despite the tragic ending, in The Thunderstorm, according to Dobrolyubov, “there is something refreshing and encouraging,” and the very character of Katerina “breathes on us with a new life that opens up to us in her very death,” it was not for nothing that the critic called her "a ray of light in a dark kingdom."

What is the meaning of the play "Thunderstorm" by the great Russian playwright A. Ostrovsky?

The Thunderstorm is, without a doubt, Ostrovsky's most decisive work; the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought in it to the most tragic consequences... There is even something refreshing and encouraging in The Thunderstorm.

N. A. Dobrolyubov

A.N. Ostrovsky already after the appearance of his first major play received literary recognition. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became a necessary element of the culture of his time, he retained the position of the best playwright of the era, the head of the Russian drama school, despite the fact that A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. .F. Pisemsky, A.K. Tolstoy and L.N. Tolstoy. The most popular critics considered his works as a true and deep reflection of modern reality. Meanwhile, Ostrovsky, following his own original creative path, often baffled both critics and readers.

So, the play "Thunderstorm" came as a surprise to many. LN Tolstoy did not accept the play. The tragedy of this work forced critics to reconsider their views on Ostrovsky's dramaturgy. Ap. Grigoriev noted that in "Thunderstorm" there is a protest against the "existing", which is terrible for its adherents. Dobrolyubov in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” stated. that from the image of Katerina in "Thunderstorm" "breathes new life on us."

Perhaps for the first time, scenes of family, “private” life, that arbitrariness and lack of rights that were hitherto hidden behind the thick doors of mansions and estates, were shown with such pictorial power. And at the same time, it was not just a household sketch. The author showed the unenviable position of a Russian woman in a merchant family. The great power of the tragedy was given by the special truthfulness, skillfulness of the author, as D.I. Pisarev rightly noted: “Thunderstorm” is a picture from nature, which is why it breathes truth.”

The action of the tragedy takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is spread among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I have been looking beyond the Volga every day and I can’t see enough of everything. The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. However, the life and customs of the wealthy merchants created "a world of prison and grave silence." Savel Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova are the personification of cruelty and tyranny. Orders in the merchant's house are based on obsolete religious dogmas of Domostroy. Dobrolyubov says about Kabanikha that she "nibbles on her sacrifice ... for a long time and relentlessly." She forces her daughter-in-law Katerina to bow at the feet of her husband when he leaves, scolds her for not “howling” in public when seeing her husband off.

Kabanikha is very rich, this can be judged by the fact that the interests of her affairs go far beyond Kalinov, on her behalf Tikhon travels to Moscow. She is respected by Dikoy, for whom the main thing in life is money. But the merchant understands that power also gives the humility of the environment. She seeks to kill at home any manifestation of resistance to her power. The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant. Tikhon does not contradict her in anything. Barbara learned to lie, hide and dodge.

The main character of the play, Katerina, is marked by a strong character, she is not used to humiliation and insults and therefore conflicts with her cruel old mother-in-law. In her mother's house, Katerina lived freely and easily. In the House of Kabanovs, she feels like a bird in a cage. She quickly realizes that she cannot live here for long.

Katerina married Tikhon without love. Everything in the house of Kabanikh trembles at the mere imperious cry of the merchant's wife. Life in this house is hard for the young. And now Katerina meets a completely different person and falls in love. For the first time in her life, she knows a deep personal feeling. One night she goes on a date with Boris. Which side is the playwright on? He is on the side of Katerina, because one cannot destroy the natural aspirations of a person. Life in the Kabanov family is unnatural. And Katerina does not accept the inclinations of those people to whom she fell. Hearing Varvara’s offer to lie and pretend, Katerina replies: “I can’t deceive, I can’t hide anything.”

Katerina's directness and sincerity commands respect from the author, the reader, and the viewer. She decides that she can no longer be a victim of a soulless mother-in-law, cannot languish locked up. She is free! But she saw a way out only in her death. And this could be argued. Critics also disagreed on whether it was worth paying Katerina for freedom at the cost of her life. So, Pisarev, unlike Dobrolyubov, considers Katerina's act meaningless. He believes that after Katerina's suicide, everything will return to normal, life will go on as usual, and the “dark kingdom” is not worth such a sacrifice. Of course, Kabanikha brought Katerina to her death. As a result, her daughter Varvara runs away from home, and her son Tikhon regrets that he did not die with his wife.

Interestingly, one of the main, active images of this play is the image of the thunderstorm itself. Symbolically expressing the idea of ​​the work, this image directly participates in the action of the drama as a real natural phenomenon, enters into action at its decisive moments, largely determines the actions of the heroine. This image is very meaningful, it illuminates almost all aspects of the drama.

So, already in the first act, a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It burst like a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I will die soon,” she confessed to Varvara in sinful love. The prediction of a crazy lady that a thunderstorm does not pass in vain, and a sense of her own sin with a real clap of thunder, were already combined in her imagination. Katerina rushes home: “Still, it’s better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!”.

After that, the storm stops for a while. Only in the grumbling of Kabanikha are her echoes heard. There was no thunderstorm that night, when Katerina, for the first time after her marriage, felt free and happy.

But the fourth, culminating act, begins with the words: "It's raining, no matter how the storm gathers?". And after that, the motive of the thunderstorm does not stop.

The dialogue between Kuligin and Diky is interesting. Kuligin talks about lightning rods (“we have frequent thunderstorms”) and provokes the wrath of Diky: “What kind of electricity is there? Well, why aren't you a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as a punishment so that we feel, and you want to defend yourself with poles and some kind of horns, God forgive me. What are you, a Tatar, or what? And to the quote from Derzhavin, which Kuligin cites in his defense: “I decay in the ashes with my body, I command thunder with my mind,” the merchant does not find anything to say at all, except: “And for these words, send you to the mayor, so he will tell you ask!”.

Undoubtedly, in the play, the image of a thunderstorm takes on a special meaning: it is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, the mind is condemned in the dark realm, it met with impenetrable ignorance, reinforced by stinginess. But all the same, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched Tikhon, who was silent for a long time, flashed over the fates of Varvara and Kudryash. The storm shook everyone up. Inhuman morals will sooner or later come to an end. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.

Reflections on the moral edge of the problem of relationships between generations (based on the drama by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm").

Morality is those rules that determine the behavior of people. Behavior (action) expresses the internal state of a person, manifested through his spirituality (intellect, development of thought) and the life of the soul (feeling).

Morality in the life of the older and younger generations is connected with the eternal law of continuity. The young adopt life experience and traditions from the old, and the wise elders teach the young the rules of life - “mind-reason”. However, young people are characterized by boldness of thought, an unbiased view of things without reference to an established opinion. It is because of this that conflicts often arise between them, a lack of agreement of opinions.

The actions and life assessments of the heroes of the drama A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" (1859) reflect their morality.

Representatives of the merchant class of Dikoy and Kabanov are those people whose wealth and significance among the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov determine their high position. Those around them feel the power of their influence, and this power is capable of breaking the will of dependent people, humiliating the unfortunate, realizing their own insignificance in comparison with the "powerful ones of this world." Therefore, Savel Prokofievich Wild, "a significant person in the city," does not meet with contradictions in anyone. He keeps the family in awe, which, in the days of his anger, hides “in attics and closets”; likes to catch fear on people who do not dare to “peep” about salaries; keeps his nephew Boris in a black body, having robbed them with his sister, brazenly appropriated their inheritance; denounce, insulting, meek Kuligin.

Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, known in the city for her piety and wealth, also has her own ideas about morality. For her, the desire of the younger generation for “freedom” is criminal, because what good and the young wife of the son, and the daughter, the “girl”, will cease to be “afraid” of both Tikhon and herself, all-powerful and infallible. “They don’t know anything, there is no order,” the old woman is angry. “Order” and “old times” are the basis on which the Wild and Kabanovs rely. But their tyranny loses self-confidence, it is not able to stop the development of young forces. New concepts and attitudes inevitably come into life and crowd out the old forces, obsolete norms of life and established morality. So Kuligin, a naive person, wants to ennoble Kalinov by building a lightning rod and a sundial. And he dares, impudent, to read Derzhavin's poems, glorifying the "mind", in front of "his degree", the all-powerful merchant, who is on friendly footing with the mayor himself, the head of the city. And the young daughter-in-law of Marfa Ignatievna at parting "throws herself on her husband's neck." And it is supposed to bow at the feet. Yes, and does not want to "howl" on the porch - "to make people laugh." And the resigned Tikhon will blame his mother for the death of his wife.

Tyranny, as the critic Dobrolyubov claims, "is hostile to the natural demands of mankind ... because in their triumph he sees the approach of his inevitable death." “Wild and Kabanovs are shrinking and shrinking” - this is inevitable.

The younger generation is Tikhon, Katerina, Varvara Kabanova, this is the nephew of Wild Boris. Katerina and her mother-in-law have similar ideas about the morality of the younger members of the family: they must be God-fearing and honor the elders - this is in the traditions of the Russian family. But further on, the ideas of one and the other about life, in their moral assessments, differ sharply.

Brought up in the atmosphere of a patriarchal merchant's house, in conditions of parental love, care and prosperity, the young Kabanova has a character that is "loving, creative, ideal." But in her husband's family, she faces a formidable prohibition "to live by her own will", which comes from a harsh and soulless mother-in-law. That's when the demands of "nature", a living, natural feeling, acquire an irresistible power over a young woman. “This is how I was born, hot,” she says of herself. According to Dobrolyubov, Katerina's morality is not guided by logic and reason. “She is strange, extravagant, from the point of view of others,” and, fortunately, the oppression of her mother-in-law with her despotic disposition did not kill the desire for “freedom” in the heroine.

Will is both an elemental impulse (“That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly”), and the desire to ride along the Volga with songs, embracing, and fervent prayers, if the soul asks for communion with God, and even the need “to throw myself out the window, into Volga to rush ", if she "gets cold" captivity.

Her feelings for Boris are unrestrained. Katerina is ruled by love (he is not like everyone else, he is the best!) and passion (“If I am not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human court?”). But the heroine, a woman with a solid, strong character, does not accept lies, and she considers split feelings, pretense, even a greater sin than her own fall.

The purity of her moral sense and pangs of conscience lead her to repentance, public recognition and, as a result, to suicide.

The conflict between generations due to different moral assessments acquires tragic features if it ends in the death of people.

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The problematics of a work in literary criticism is a range of problems that are somehow touched upon in the text. This may be one or more aspects that the author focuses on. In this work, we will focus on the problems of Ostrovsky's Thunderstorm. A. N. Ostrovsky received a literary vocation after the first published play. “Poverty is not a vice”, “Dowry”, “Profitable place” - these and many other works are devoted to social and everyday topics, but the issue of the play “Thunderstorm” should be considered separately.

The play received mixed reviews from critics. Dobrolyubov saw in Katerina the hope for a new life, Ap. Grigoriev noticed the emerging protest against the existing order, and L. Tolstoy did not accept the play at all. The plot of "Thunderstorm", at first glance, is quite simple: everything is based on a love collision. Katerina secretly meets with a young man, while her husband has gone to another city on business. Unable to cope with the pangs of conscience, the girl confesses to treason, after which she rushes into the Volga. However, behind all this everyday, domestic, lies much larger things that threaten to grow to the scale of space. Dobrolyubov calls the “dark kingdom” the situation that is described in the text. An atmosphere of lies and betrayal. In Kalinovo, people are so accustomed to moral dirt that their uncomplaining consent only exacerbates the situation. It becomes scary from the realization that this place did not make people like this, it was people who independently turned the city into a kind of accumulation of vices. And now the "dark kingdom" begins to influence the inhabitants. After a detailed acquaintance with the text, one can notice how widely developed the problems of the work "Thunderstorm".

The problems in Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" are diverse, but at the same time they do not have a hierarchy. Each individual problem is important in itself.

The problem of fathers and children

Here we are not talking about misunderstanding, but about total control, about patriarchal orders. The play shows the life of the Kabanov family. At that time, the opinion of the eldest man in the family was undeniable, and wives and daughters were practically deprived of rights. The head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna, a widow. She took over the male functions. This is a powerful and prudent woman. Kabanikha believes that she takes care of her children, ordering them to do as she wants. This behavior led to quite logical consequences. Her son, Tikhon, is a weak and spineless person. Mother, it seems, wanted to see him like that, because in this case it is easier to control a person. Tikhon is afraid to say anything, to express his opinion; in one of the scenes, he admits that he does not have his own point of view at all. Tikhon cannot protect either himself or his wife from the tantrums and cruelty of his mother. The daughter of Kabanikhi, Varvara, on the contrary, managed to adapt to this way of life. She easily lies to her mother, the girl even changed the lock on the gate in the garden in order to freely go on dates with Curly. Tikhon is not capable of any kind of rebellion, while Varvara, in the finale of the play, escapes from her parents' house with her lover.

The problem of self-realization

When talking about the problems of the "Thunderstorm" one cannot fail to mention this aspect. The problem is realized in the image of Kuligin. This self-taught inventor dreams of making something useful for all the inhabitants of the city. His plans include assembling a perpetu mobile, building a lightning rod, and getting electricity. But this whole dark, semi-pagan world needs neither light nor enlightenment. Dikoy laughs at Kuligin's plans to find an honest income, openly mocks him. Boris, after talking with Kuligin, understands that the inventor will never invent a single thing. Perhaps Kuligin himself understands this. He could be called naive, but he knows what morals reign in Kalinov, what happens behind closed doors, what are those in whose hands power is concentrated. Kuligin learned to live in this world without losing himself. But he is not able to feel the conflict between reality and dreams as keenly as Katerina did.

The Problem of Power

In the city of Kalinov, power is not in the hands of the relevant authorities, but in those who have money. Proof of this is the dialogue between the merchant Wild and the mayor. The mayor tells the merchant that complaints are being received against the latter. To this Savl Prokofievich replies rudely. Dikoy does not hide the fact that he cheats ordinary peasants, he speaks of deceit as a normal phenomenon: if merchants steal from each other, then you can steal from ordinary residents. In Kalinov, nominal power decides absolutely nothing, and this is fundamentally wrong. After all, it turns out that without money in such a city it is simply impossible to live. Dikoy fancies himself almost a father-king, deciding who to lend money to and who not. “So know that you are a worm. If I want to, I'll have mercy, if I want to, I'll crush it, ”this is how Dikoy Kuligin answers.

The problem of love

In "Thunderstorm" the problem of love is realized in pairs Katerina - Tikhon and Katerina - Boris. The girl is forced to live with her husband, although she does not feel any feelings other than pity for him. Katya rushes from one extreme to another: she thinks between the option of staying with her husband and learning to love him or leaving Tikhon. Katya's feelings for Boris flare up instantly. This passion pushes the girl to take a decisive step: Katya goes against public opinion and Christian morality. Her feelings were mutual, but for Boris this love meant much less. Katya believed that Boris, just like her, was incapable of living in a frozen city and lying for profit. Katerina often compared herself to a bird, she wanted to fly away, to escape from that metaphorical cage, and in Boris Katya saw that air, that freedom that she lacked so much. Unfortunately, the girl made a mistake in Boris. The young man turned out to be the same as the inhabitants of Kalinov. He wanted to improve relations with Wild for the sake of getting money, he spoke with Varvara that it was better to keep feelings for Katya secret for as long as possible.

Conflict of old and new

It is about resisting the patriarchal way of life with the new order, which implies equality and freedom. This topic was very relevant. Recall that the play was written in 1859, and serfdom was abolished in 1861. Social contradictions reached their apogee. The author wanted to show what the absence of reforms and decisive action can lead to. Confirmation of this are the final words of Tikhon. “Good for you, Katya! Why am I left to live in the world and suffer!” In such a world, the living envy the dead.

Most of all, this contradiction was reflected in the main character of the play. Katerina cannot understand how one can live in lies and animal humility. The girl was suffocating in the atmosphere that was created by the inhabitants of Kalinov for a long time. She is honest and pure, so her only desire was so small and so great at the same time. Katya just wanted to be herself, to live the way she was raised. Katerina sees that everything is not at all the way she imagined before marriage. She cannot even afford a sincere impulse - to hug her husband - Kabanikha controlled and prevented any attempts by Katya to be sincere. Varvara supports Katya, but cannot understand her. Katerina is left alone in this world of deceit and dirt. The girl could not endure such pressure, she finds salvation in death. Death frees Katya from the burden of earthly life, turning her soul into something light, capable of flying away from the "dark kingdom".

It can be concluded that the problems in the drama "Thunderstorm" are significant and relevant to this day. These are unresolved issues of human existence, which will worry a person at all times. It is thanks to this formulation of the question that the play "Thunderstorm" can be called a work out of time.

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