Characteristics of the heroes of the play a thunderstorm. The play "The Thunderstorm" and its heroes Speech characteristics of the heroes of the thunderstorm quotes


Federal Agency for Education of the Russian Federation

Gymnasium number 123

on literature

Speech characteristics of the characters in the drama of A. N. Ostrovsky

"Storm".

Work completed:

student of grade 10 "A"

Khomenko Evgeniya Sergeevna

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Teacher:

Olga Orekhova

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Grade…………………….

Barnaul-2005

Introduction ………………………………………………………

Chapter 1. Biography of A. N. Ostrovsky …………………… ..

Chapter 2. The history of the creation of the drama "Thunderstorm" …………………

Chapter 3. Speech characteristics of Katerina ……………… ..

Chapter 4. Comparative speech characteristics of the Wild and Kabanikha ……………………………………………………

Conclusion……………………………………………………

List of used literature ……………………….

Introduction

Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" is the most significant work of the famous playwright. It was written during a period of social upsurge, when the foundations of serfdom were crumbling, and a thunderstorm was really gathering in the stifling atmosphere. Ostrovsky's play takes us to the merchant environment, where the Domostroy order was maintained most stubbornly. Residents of a provincial city live a closed life, alien to public interests, in ignorance of what is happening in the world, in ignorance and indifference.

We are still addressing this drama. The problems that the author touches upon in it are very important for us. Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in public life that took place in the 50s, the change in social foundations.

After reading the novel, I set a goal for myself to see the features of the characters 'speech characteristics and find out how the characters' speech helps to understand their character. After all, the image of the hero is created with the help of a portrait, with the help of artistic means, with the help of characteristics of actions, speech characteristics. Seeing a person for the first time, by his speech, intonation, behavior, we can understand his inner world, some vital interests and, most importantly, his character. The speech characteristic is very important for a dramatic work, because it is through it that you can see the essence of a particular hero.

In order to better understand the character of Katerina, Kabanikha and Dikiy, it is necessary to solve the following tasks.

I decided to start with the biography of Ostrovsky and the history of the creation of "The Thunderstorm" in order to understand how the talent of the future master of the speech characteristics of the characters was honed, because the author very clearly shows the global difference between the positive and negative characters of his work. Then I will consider the speech characteristic of Katerina and make the same characteristic of Dikiy and Kabanikha. After all this, I will try to draw a certain conclusion about the speech characteristics of the characters and her role in the drama "Thunderstorm"

While working on the topic, I got acquainted with the articles by I. A. Goncharov “Review of the drama“ Thunderstorm ”by Ostrovsky” and N. A. Dobrolyubov “A ray of light in the dark kingdom”. Moreover, I studied the article by A.I. Revyakin "Features of Katerina's speech", where the main sources of Katerina's language are well shown. I found a variety of material about the biography of Ostrovsky and the history of the creation of the drama in the textbook Russian Literature of the 19th century by V. Yu. Lebedev.

To understand theoretical concepts (hero, characterization, speech, author), I was helped by an encyclopedic dictionary of terms, published under the leadership of Yu. Boreev.

Despite the fact that many critical articles and responses of literary scholars have been devoted to Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm", the speech characteristics of the characters have not been fully studied, therefore, it is of interest for research.

Chapter 1. Biography of A. N. Ostrovsky

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was born on March 31, 1823 in Zamoskvorechye, in the very center of Moscow, in the cradle of glorious Russian history, which everyone around was talking about, even the names of Zamoskvoretsky streets.

Ostrovsky graduated from the First Moscow Gymnasium and in 1840, at the request of his father, entered the law faculty of Moscow University. But he didn’t like studying at the university, there was a conflict with one of the professors, and at the end of the second year Ostrovsky resigned “for home reasons”.

In 1843, his father assigned him to serve in the Moscow conscientious court. For the future playwright, this was an unexpected gift of fate. The court considered complaints from fathers against unlucky sons, property and other domestic disputes. The judge delved deeply into the case, carefully listened to the disputing parties, and the scribe Ostrovsky kept records of the cases. During the investigation, the plaintiffs and defendants reprimanded things that are usually hidden and hidden from prying eyes. It was a real school of knowledge of the dramatic aspects of merchant life. In 1845, Ostrovsky moved to the Moscow Commercial Court as a clerical officer of the desk "for cases of verbal reprisals." Here he encountered peasants who traded, urban bourgeoisie, merchants, and petty nobility. Brothers and sisters arguing about inheritance, insolvent debtors were judged "according to conscience". A whole world of dramatic conflicts was revealed before us, all the discordant wealth of the living Great Russian language sounded. I had to guess the character of a person by his speech makeup, by the peculiarities of intonation. The talent of the future "realist-rumor" was brought up and honed, as Ostrovsky called himself - a playwright, a master of the speech characteristics of characters in his plays.

Having worked for the Russian stage for nearly forty years, Ostrovsky created a whole repertoire - about fifty plays. Ostrovsky's works still remain on the stage. And after a hundred and fifty years, it is not difficult to see the heroes of his plays nearby.

Ostrovsky died in 1886 in his favorite Trans-Volga estate, Shchelykovo, in the Kostroma dense forests: on the hilly banks of small winding rivers. The life of the writer for the most part took place in these core places of Russia: where from a young age he could observe the primordial customs and mores that were still little affected by his contemporary urban civilization, and hear the root Russian speech.

Chapter 2. The history of the creation of the drama "Thunderstorm"

The creation of "The Thunderstorm" was preceded by the playwright's expedition along the Upper Volga, undertaken on the instructions of the Moscow Ministry in 1856-1857. She revived and revived in the memory of youthful impressions, when in 1848 Ostrovsky for the first time went with his household on an exciting journey to his father's homeland, to the Volga city of Kostroma and further, to the Shchelykovo estate acquired by his father. The result of this trip was Ostrovsky's diary, which reveals a lot in his perception of provincial Volga Russia.

For quite a long time it was believed that Ostrovsky took the plot of "The Thunderstorm" from the life of the Kostroma merchants, that it was based on the Klykov case, which was sensational in Kostroma at the end of 1859. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, Kostroma residents pointed to the place of Katerina's murder - a gazebo at the end of a small boulevard, which in those years literally hung over the Volga. They also showed the house where she lived - next to the Church of the Assumption. And when "The Thunderstorm" was first staged on the stage of the Kostroma Theater, the artists made up "like the Klykovs".

Kostroma local historians later thoroughly examined the "Klykovskoe Delo" in the archives and, with documents in hand, came to the conclusion that it was this story that Ostrovsky used in his work on "The Thunderstorm". The coincidences were almost literal. A.P. Klykova was issued at the age of sixteen to a gloomy, unsociable merchant family, consisting of old parents, a son and an unmarried daughter. The mistress of the house, stern and obstinate, depersonalized her husband and children with her despotism. She forced the young daughter-in-law to do any dirty work, provided her with requests to see her relatives.

At the time of the drama, Klykova was nineteen years old. In the past, she was brought up in love and in the hall of her soul, a doted grandmother, was cheerful, lively, cheerful. Now she found herself in an unkind and alien family. Her young husband, Klykov, a carefree man, could not protect his wife from the oppression of his mother-in-law and treated her indifferently. The Klykovs had no children. And then another man, Maryin, an employee in the post office, stood in the way of the young woman. Suspicions began, scenes of jealousy. It ended with the fact that on November 10, 1859, the body of A.P. Klykova was found in the Volga. A long trial began, which received wide publicity even outside the Kostroma province, and none of the Kostroma residents doubted that Ostrovsky had used the materials of this case in the "Thunderstorm".

It took many decades before researchers established that The Thunderstorm was written before Klykova, the merchant from Kostroma, threw herself into the Volga. Working on "The Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky began in June-July 1859 and finished on October 9 of the same year. The play was first published in the January 1860 issue of the Library for Reading magazine. The first performance of "The Thunderstorms" took place on November 16, 1859 at the Maly Theater, at the benefit performance of S. V. Vasiliev with L. P. Nikulina-Kositskaya in the role of Katerina. The version about the Kostroma source of the "Groza" turned out to be far-fetched. However, the very fact of this amazing coincidence speaks volumes: it testifies to the foresight of the national playwright, who caught the growing conflict between the old and the new in merchant life, a conflict in which Dobrolyubov not without reason saw "what is refreshing and encouraging", and the famous theatrical figure S. A. Yuriev said: Ostrovsky did not write "Thunderstorm" ... Volga wrote "Thunderstorm". "

Chapter 3. Speech characteristics of Katerina

The main sources of Katerina's language are folk vernacular, folk oral poetry and church literature.

The deep connection of her language with the popular vernacular is reflected in her vocabulary, imagery, and syntax.

Her speech is replete with verbal expressions, idioms of popular vernacular: "So that I do not see either my father or mother"; "I doted on the soul"; “Calm my soul”; "How long does it take to get into trouble"; "To be sin," in the sense of unhappiness. But these and similar phraseological units are generally understandable, common, clear. Only as an exception in her speech there are morphologically incorrect formations: “you don’t know my character”; "After that, talk to something."

The figurativeness of her language is manifested in the abundance of verbal and pictorial means, in particular comparisons. So, in her speech there are more than twenty comparisons, and all the other characters in the play, taken together, have a little more than this amount. At the same time, her comparisons are widespread, popular in nature: "as if it were doing me a dove", "as if a dove was cooing," "as if a mountain had fallen off my shoulders," "my hands are burning like coal."

Katerina's speech often contains words and phrases, motives and echoes of folk poetry.

Addressing Varvara, Katerina says: “Why don't people fly like birds? ..” - and so on.

Longing for Boris, Katerina in her penultimate monologue says: “Why should I live now, well for what? I don't need anything, nothing is cute to me, and the light of God is not cute! "

Here we can see the phraseological turns of the folk vernacular and folk song character. So, for example, in the collection of folk songs published by Sobolevsky, we read:

No way, no way it is impossible to live without a dear friend ...

I remember, I remember about the dear, the white light is not nice to the girl,

Not nice, not nice white light ... I will go from the mountain to the dark forest ...

Going out on a date to Boris, Katerina exclaims: "Why did you come, my destroyer?" In a folk wedding ceremony, the bride meets the groom with the words: "Here comes my destroyer."

In the final monologue, Katerina says: “It's better in the grave ... There is a grave under the tree ... how good ... The sun warms her up, wets her with rain ... in the spring the grass grows on it, so soft ... the birds will fly to the tree, they will sing, the children will be brought out, the flowers will bloom: yellow , red, blue ... ".

Here everything is from folk poetry: diminutive-suffix vocabulary, phraseological phrases, images.

For this part of the monologue in oral poetry, direct textile correspondences are abundant. For example:

... will be covered with an oak board

Yes, they will lower it into the grave

And they will cover with damp earth.

You are a grass ant

More scarlet flowers!

Along with the popular vernacular and the arrangement of folk poetry in the language of Katerina, as already noted, the church-hagiographic literature had a great influence.

“We,” she says, “had a house full of pilgrims and praying moths. And we will come from church, sit down for some work ... and the pilgrims will begin to tell where they have been, what they have seen, different lives, or they sing verses ”(d. 1, yavl. 7).

Possessing a relatively rich vocabulary, Katerina speaks fluently, drawing on various and psychologically very deep comparisons. Her speech flows. So, such words and turns of the literary language are not alien to her, such as: a dream, thoughts, of course, as if all this was in one second, something so extraordinary in me.

In the first monologue, Katerina talks about her dreams: “And what dreams did I have, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens, and everyone is singing invisible voices, and the smell of cypress, and the mountains and trees, as if not the same as usual, but how they are written on the images "

These dreams, both in content and in the form of verbal expression, are undoubtedly inspired by spiritual verses.

Katerina's speech is unique not only in lexical and phraseological, but also syntactically. It consists mainly of simple and complex sentences, with the statement of predicates at the end of the phrase: “This is how time will pass before lunchtime. Here the old women will fall asleep, and I am walking in the garden ... It was such a good thing ”(d. 1, yavl. 7).

Most often, as is typical for the syntax of folk speech, Katerina connects sentences through the conjunctions a and yes. "And we will come from the church ... and the pilgrims will begin to tell ... And it is as if I am flying ... And what kind of dreams did I have."

Katerina's floating speech sometimes takes on the character of a popular lament: “Oh, my trouble, trouble! (Crying) Where can I, poor, go? Who can I grab hold of? "

Katerina's speech is deeply emotional, lyrically sincere, poetic. To give her speech emotional and poetic expressiveness, diminutive suffixes are also used, so inherent in folk speech (keys, water, children, grave, rain, grass), and amplifying particles ("How did he feel sorry for me? What words did he say?" ), and interjections ("Oh, how bored I am!").

The lyrical sincerity, poetry of Katerina's speech is given by the epithets that follow the defined words (temples of gold, extraordinary gardens, with crafty thoughts), and repetitions, so characteristic of the oral poetry of the people.

Ostrovsky reveals in Katerina's speech not only her passionate, gentle poetic nature, but also her strong-willed power. The strong-willed power, decisiveness of Katerina are set off by syntactic constructions of a sharply assertive or negative nature.

Chapter 4. Comparative speech characteristics of the Wild and

Boar

In Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" Dikoy and Kabanikha are representatives of the "Dark Kingdom". One gets the impression that Kalinov is fenced off from the rest of the world by the highest fence and lives some kind of special, closed life. Ostrovsky focused on the most important, showing the wretchedness, savagery of the customs of the Russian patriarchal life, because this whole life only stands on the usual, outdated laws, which, obviously, are completely ridiculous. The "dark kingdom" clings tenaciously to its old, established. This is standing in one place. And such a standing is possible if it is supported by people who have strength and power.

A more complete, in my opinion, idea of ​​a person can be given by his speech, that is, the usual and specific expressions inherent only to this hero. We see how Dikoy, as if nothing had happened, can just offend a person. He does not put in anything not only those around him, but even his relatives and friends. His household lives in constant fear of his anger. Dikoy mocks his nephew in every possible way. It is enough to remember his words: “Once I told you, I told you twice”; “Don't you dare to meet me”; you will hire everything! A little space for you? Everywhere you go, here you are. Ugh, damn you! Why are you standing like a pillar! They say al no to you? " Dikoy frankly shows that he does not respect his nephew at all. He puts himself above everyone else. And no one offers him the slightest resistance. He scolds everyone over whom he feels his strength, but if someone scolds him himself, he cannot answer, then keep all the household! On them, the Wild will take all his anger out.

Dikoy is a "significant person" in the city, a merchant. Here is how Shapkin says about him: “Look for such and such a scolder like Savel Prokofich here. He will not cut off a person for anything. "

“The view is unusual! The beauty! The soul rejoices! "- exclaims Kuligin, but against the background of this beautiful landscape, a bleak picture of life is drawn, which appears before us in" The Thunderstorm ". It is Kuligin who gives an accurate and clear description of the way of life, manners and customs prevailing in the city of Kalinov.

Just like Dikoy, Kabanikha is distinguished by selfish inclinations, she thinks only of herself. Residents of the city of Kalinova talk about Dik and Kabanikh very often, and this makes it possible to get rich material about them. In conversations with Kudryash, Shapkin calls Dikiy a "swearing man", while Kudryash calls him a "piercing man." Kabanikha calls the Wild "warrior". All this speaks of the grumpiness and nervousness of his character. Reviews about Kabanikha are also not too flattering. Kuligin calls her a "prude" and says that she "clothe the beggars, but ate the household altogether." This characterizes the merchant's wife from the bad side.

We are amazed at their heartlessness towards people dependent on them, their unwillingness to part with money in settlements with workers. Let us remember what Dikoy says: “I was fasting about fasting, about great things, but here it’s not easy and put a little peasant on, I came for money, brought firewood ... I did sin: I scolded, I scolded… I almost nailed it”. All relationships between people, in their opinion, are built on wealth.

The wild boar is richer than the Wild, and therefore she is the only person in the city with whom the Wild should be polite. “Well, don't let your throat go too far! Find something cheaper than me! And I am dear to you! "

Another feature that unites them is religiosity. But they perceive God, not as someone who forgives, but as someone who can punish them.

Kabanikha, like no one else, reflects all the commitment of this city to the old traditions. (She teaches Katerina and Tikhon how to live in general and how to behave in a particular case.) Kabanova is trying to seem a kind, sincere, and most importantly unhappy woman, trying to justify her actions by age: “Mother is old, stupid; Well, you, young people, smart, should not exact from us, fools. " But these statements are more like irony than a sincere confession. Kabanova considers herself the center of attention, she cannot imagine what will happen to the whole world after her death. The boar, to the point of absurdity, is blindly devoted to its old traditions, forcing all the household to dance to their tune. She makes Tikhon say goodbye to his wife in the old-fashioned way, causing laughter and a feeling of regret in those around him.

On the one hand, it seems that Dikoy is rougher, stronger and, therefore, scarier. But, looking closely, we see that Dikoy is only capable of screaming and raging. She managed to subjugate everyone, keeps everything under control, she even tries to manage relationships between people, which leads Katerina to death. The boar is cunning and smart, unlike the Wild one, and this makes her more terrible. In the speech of Kabanikha, hypocrisy, duality of speech is very clearly manifested. She speaks very boldly and rudely with people, but at the same time, while communicating with him, she wants to seem a kind, sensitive, sincere, and most importantly, an unhappy woman.

We can say that Dikoy is completely illiterate. He says to Boris: “You have failed! I don’t want to talk to you with a Jesuit. ” Dikoy uses "with a Jesuit" instead of "with a Jesuit" in his speech. So he also accompanies his speech with spitting, which finally shows his lack of culture. In general, throughout the entire drama, we see him interspersed with swearing at his speech. “What are you still here! What the hell is a waterman here! ”, Which shows him as an extremely rude and ill-mannered person.

Dikoy is rude and straightforward in his aggressiveness, he commits actions that sometimes cause bewilderment and surprise among others. He is able to offend and beat a peasant without giving him money, and then, in front of everyone's eyes, stand in front of him in the mud, asking for forgiveness. He is a brawler, and in his riot he is able to throw thunder and lightning at his family, hiding from him in fear.

Therefore, we can conclude that Dikiy and Kabanikh cannot be considered typical representatives of the merchant class. These characters in Ostrovsky's drama are very similar and differ in selfish inclinations, they think only of themselves. And even their own children seem to be a hindrance to some extent. Such an attitude cannot beautify people, which is why Dikoy and Kabanikha evoke persistent negative emotions in readers.

Conclusion

Speaking about Ostrovsky, in my opinion, we can rightfully call him an unsurpassed master of words, an artist. The characters in the play "The Thunderstorm" appear before us as living, with vivid relief characters. Each word spoken by the hero reveals some new facet of his character, shows him from the other side. The character of a person, his mood, attitude towards others, even if he does not want it, are manifested in speech, and Ostrovsky, a true master of speech characteristics, notices these lines. The way of speech, according to the author, can tell the reader a lot about the character. Thus, each character acquires its own individuality, unique flavor. This is especially important for drama.

In Ostrovsky's Thunderstorm, we can clearly distinguish the positive hero Katerina and the two negative heroes Wild and Kabanikha. Of course, they are representatives of the "dark kingdom". And Katerina is the only person who is trying to fight them. The image of Katerina is drawn brightly and vividly. The main character speaks beautifully, in a figurative folk language. Her speech is replete with subtle nuances of meaning. In Katerina's monologues, like a drop of water, her entire rich inner world is reflected. In the character's speech, the author's attitude towards him even appears. With what love, sympathy Ostrovsky treats Katerina, and how sharply he condemns the tyranny of Kabanikha and the Wild.

He portrays Kabanikha as a staunch defender of the foundations of the "dark kingdom". She strictly observes all the orders of patriarchal antiquity, does not tolerate the manifestation of personal will in anyone, and has great power over others.

As for the Wild, Ostrovsky was able to convey all the anger and anger that boils in his soul. All household members are afraid of the Wild, including his nephew Boris. He is open, rude and unceremonious. But both powerful heroes are unhappy: they do not know what to do with their unrestrained character.

In Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm", with the help of artistic means, the writer was able to characterize the heroes and create a vivid picture of that time. "Thunderstorm" is very strong in its impact on the reader, viewer. The dramas of the heroes do not leave indifferent the hearts and minds of people, which not every writer succeeds in. Only a true artist can create such magnificent, eloquent images, only such a master of speech characteristics is able to tell the reader about the heroes only with the help of their own words, intonations, without resorting to any other additional characteristic.

List of used literature

1. A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm". Moscow "Moscow Worker", 1974.

2. Yu. V. Lebedev "Russian literature of the nineteenth century", part 2. Education ", 2000.

3. I. E. Kaplin, M. T. Pinaev "Russian Literature". Moscow "Education", 1993.

4. Yu. Borev. Aesthetics. Theory. Literature. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Terms, 2003.

Short description

Boris Dikoy and Tikhon Kabanov are two characters who are most closely associated with the main character, Katerina: Tikhon is her husband, and Boris becomes her lover. They can be called antipodes, which stand out sharply against each other. And, in my opinion, preference in comparing them should be given to Boris, as a character of a more active, interesting and pleasant reader, while Tikhon evokes some compassion - raised by a strict mother, he, in fact, cannot make his own decisions and defend his opinion. In order to substantiate my point of view, below I will consider each character separately and try to analyze their characters and actions.

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BORIS AND TIKHON
Boris Dikoy and Tikhon Kabanov are two characters who are most closely associated with the main character, Katerina: Tikhon is her husband, and Boris becomes her lover. They can be called antipodes, which stand out sharply against each other. And, in my opinion, preference in comparing them should be given to Boris, as a character of a more active, interesting and pleasant reader, while Tikhon evokes some compassion - raised by a strict mother, he, in fact, cannot make his own decisions and defend his opinion. In order to substantiate my point of view, below I will consider each character separately and try to analyze their characters and actions.

To begin with, consider Boris Grigorievich Diky. Boris came to the city of Kalinov not on a whim - out of necessity. His grandmother, Anfisa Mikhailovna, disliked his father after he married a noble woman, and after death left her entire inheritance to her second son, Savel Prokofievich Diky. And Boris would not have cared about this inheritance if his parents had not died of cholera, leaving him with his sister orphans. Savel Prokofievich Dikoy had to pay part of Anfisa Mikhailovna's inheritance to Boris and his sister, but on condition that they were respectful to him. Therefore, throughout the play, Boris tries in every possible way to serve his uncle, not paying attention to all the reproaches, discontent and swearing, and then leaves for Siberia to serve. From this we can conclude that Boris not only thinks about his future, but also cares about his sister, who is in an even less favorable position than himself. This is expressed in his words, which he once said to Kuligin: "If I were alone, it would be okay! I would have dropped everything and left. Otherwise, I'm sorry for my sister. (...) What life was like for her here - and it's scary to imagine."

Boris spent all his childhood in Moscow, where he received a good education and manners. This also adds positive features to his image. He is modest and, perhaps, even somewhat timid - if Katerina had not responded to his feelings, if not for the complicity of Varvara and Kudryash, he would never have crossed the boundaries of what was permitted. His actions are driven by love, perhaps the first, a feeling that even the most reasonable and judicious people are unable to resist. Some shyness, but sincerity, his tender words to Katerina make Boris a touching and romantic character, full of charm that cannot leave girlish hearts indifferent.

As a person from the capital's society, from secular Moscow, Boris has a hard time in Kalinov. He does not understand local customs, it seems to him that he is a stranger in this provincial city. Boris does not fit into the local community. The hero himself says the following words about this: "... it's hard for me here, without a habit! Everyone is looking at me wildly, as if I'm superfluous here, as if I interfere with them. I don't know the local customs. I understand that this is all ours. , Russian, native, but still I will not get used to it in any way. " Boris is overcome with hard thoughts about his future fate. Youth, the desire to live desperately rebel against the prospect of staying in Kalinov: “And I, apparently, will ruin my youth in this slum.

So, we can say that Boris in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is a romantic, positive character, and his rash actions can be justified by falling in love, which makes young blood boil and do completely reckless things, forgetting how they look in the eyes of society.

Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov can be considered as a more passive character, unable to make his own decisions. He is strongly influenced by his domineering mother, Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, he is under her thumb. Tikhon strives for will, however, it seems to me, he himself does not know what exactly he wants from her. So, having escaped to freedom, the hero acts as follows: "... and as I left, I went on a spree. I'm very glad that I got free. And he drank all the way, and drank everything in Moscow, so a lot, so, so that I can take a walk for a whole year. I never remembered about the house. " In his desire to escape "from captivity," Tikhon closes his eyes to other people's feelings, including the feelings and experiences of his own wife, Katerina: "... and with such bondage you will run away from what beautiful wife you want! Think about it: no matter what it is, but I'm still a man; all your life you live like this, as you see, you will run away from your wife. Is it my wife? " I believe that this is Tikhon's main mistake - he did not listen to Katerina, did not take her with him, and did not even take a terrible oath from her, as she herself asked in anticipation of trouble. In the events that followed, there is a share of his fault.

Returning to the fact that Tikhon is not able to make his own decisions, we can give the following example. After Katerina confesses his sin, he cannot decide what to do - listen to his mother again, who calls her daughter-in-law cunning and tells everyone that no one should believe her, or show leniency to his beloved wife. Katerina herself says about it this way: "Now he is affectionate, now he is angry, but he drinks everything." Also, in my opinion, an attempt to get away from problems with the help of alcohol also indicates Tikhon's weak character.

We can say that Tikhon Kabanov is a weak character, like a person who evokes sympathy. It is difficult to say whether he really loved his wife, Katerina, but it is safe to assume that, with his character, another life partner, more like his mother, suited him better. Brought up in strictness, without his own opinion, Tikhon needs external control, guidance and support.

So, on the one hand, we have Boris Grigorievich Dikiy, a romantic, young, self-confident hero. On the other hand, there is Kabanov Tikhon Ivanovich, a weak-willed, soft-bodied, unhappy character. Both characters, of course, are clearly expressed - in his play Ostrovsky managed to convey the full depth of these images, make him worry about each of them. But if you compare them with each other, Boris attracts more attention, he evokes sympathy and interest in the reader, while Kabanov wants to be pitied.

However, each reader himself chooses which of these characters to give their preference to. After all, as folk wisdom says, there are no comrades for taste and color.

Barbarian
Varvara Kabanova is Kabanikha's daughter, Tikhon's sister. We can say that life in Kabanikha's house morally crippled the girl. She also does not want to live according to the patriarchal laws that her mother preaches. But, despite his strong character, V. did not dare to openly protest against them. Its principle is “Do what you want, if only it is sewn and covered”.
This heroine easily adapts to the laws of the "dark kingdom", easily deceives everyone around her. It became familiar to her. V. claims that it is impossible to live otherwise: their whole house is based on deception. "And I was not a deceiver, but I learned when it became necessary."
V. was cunning while it was possible. When they began to lock her up, she fled from the house, inflicting a crushing blow on Kabanikha.
KULIGIN

Kuligin is a character who partially fulfills the functions of an exponent of the author's point of view and therefore is sometimes attributed to the type of a resonant hero, which, however, seems to be incorrect, since on the whole this hero is undoubtedly distant from the author, a rather detachment is depicted, as an unusual person, even somewhat outlandish. The list of characters says about him: "a tradesman, a self-taught watchmaker looking for a perpetuum mobile." The hero's surname transparently hints at a real person - I. P. Kulibina (1755-1818), whose biography was published in the journal of the historian M. P. Pogodin "Moskvityanin", where Ostrovsky collaborated.
Like Katerina, K. is a poetic and dreamy nature (for example, it is he who admires the beauty of the Trans-Volga landscape, complains that the Kalinovtsy are indifferent to him). He appears, singing "Among the flat valley ...", a folk song of literary origin (to the words of A. F. Merzlyakov). This immediately underlines the difference between K. and other characters associated with folk culture, he is also a bookish man, albeit a rather archaic bookishness: he tells Boris that he writes poetry “in the old-fashioned way ... The sage was Lomonosov, a nature tester ... ". Even the characterization of Lomonosov testifies to K.'s well-readness in the old books: not a "scientist", but a "sage", a "tester of nature." “You are an antique chemist with us,” Kudryash tells him. "Self-taught mechanic", - corrects K. Technical ideas of K. are also an obvious anachronism. The sundial, which he dreams of installing on Kalinovsky Boulevard, dates back to antiquity. Lightning conductor - a technical discovery of the 18th century. If K. writes in the spirit of the classics of the 18th century, then his oral stories are sustained in even earlier stylistic traditions and resemble old moralizing stories and apocrypha (“and they will begin, sir, judgment and business, and there is no end to torment. here, yes, they will go to the province, and there they are already waiting for them, but they splash their hands with joy ”- the picture of judicial red tape, vividly described by K., recalls stories about the torment of sinners and the joy of demons). All these features of the hero, of course, were given by the author in order to show his deep connection with the world of Kalinov: he certainly differs from the Kalinovites, we can say that he is a "new" person, but only his novelty has developed here, inside this world , giving rise not only to its passionate and poetic dreamers, like Katerina, but also to its "rationalists" -dreamers, its own special, home-grown scientists and humanists. K.'s main work in life is the dream of inventing a "perpetu-mobile" and receiving a million from the British for it. He intends to spend this million on the Kalinov society - "work must be given to the philistine." Listening to this story, Boris, who has received a modern education at the Commercial Academy, remarks: “It's a pity to disappoint him! What a good man! He dreams of himself - and is happy. " However, he is hardly right. K. is really a good person: kind, disinterested, delicate and meek. But he is hardly happy: his dream constantly forces him to beg for money for his inventions, conceived for the benefit of society, and it does not even occur to society that there can be any benefit from them, for them K. - a harmless eccentric, something like a city holy fool. And the main of the possible "patrons" - Dikoy, even lashes out at the inventor with abuse, once again confirming both the general opinion and Kabanikhe's own admission that he is not able to part with the money. Kuligin's passion for creativity remains unsatisfied; he takes pity on his fellow countrymen, seeing in their vices the result of ignorance and poverty, but he cannot help them in anything. So, the advice he gives (to forgive Katerina, but so as to never remember her sin) is obviously impracticable in the Kabanovs' house, and K. hardly understands this. The advice is good, humane, since it proceeds from humane considerations, but does not in any way take into account the real participants in the drama, their characters and beliefs. For all his diligence, the creative principle of his personality, K. is a contemplative nature, devoid of any pressure. Probably, this is the only reason why the Kalinovites put up with him, despite the fact that he is different from them in everything. It seems that for the same reason it turned out to be possible to entrust him with the author's assessment of Katerina's act. “Here's your Katerina. Do what you want with her! Her body is here, take it; but the soul is not yours now: it is now before the Judge, who is more merciful than you! "
KATERINA
But the most extensive subject for discussion is Katerina - “Russian strong character”, for whom truth and a deep sense of duty are above all. First, let's turn to the childhood years of the main character, which we learn about from her monologues. As we can see, in this carefree time, Katerina was first of all surrounded by beauty and harmony, she “lived like a bird in the wild” among maternal love and fragrant nature. The young girl went to wash with a key, listened to the stories of the wanderers, then sat down to do some work, and so passed the whole day. She did not yet know the bitter life in "confinement", but everything is ahead of her, life in the "dark kingdom" is ahead. From the words of Katerina, we learn about her childhood and adolescence. The girl did not receive a good education. She lived with her mother in the village. Katerina's childhood was joyful, cloudless. Mother did not like her in her, did not force her to work on the house. Katya lived freely: she got up early, washed herself with spring water, crawled flowers, went to church with her mother, then sat down to do some work and listened to the pilgrims and praying moths, which were many in their house. Katerina had magical dreams in which she flew under the clouds. And how strongly the act of a six-year-old girl contrasts with such a quiet, happy life when Katya, offended by something, ran away from her house to the Volga in the evening, got into a boat and pushed off the shore! We see that Katerina grew up a happy, romantic, but limited girl. She was very devout and passionately loving. She loved everything and everyone around her: nature, the sun, the church, her home with wanderers, the beggars whom she helped. But the most important thing about Katya is that she lived in her dreams, apart from the rest of the world. From all that exists, she chose only that which did not contradict her nature, the rest she did not want to notice and did not notice. Therefore, the girl saw angels in the sky, and for her the church was not an oppressive and oppressive force, but a place where everything is light, where you can dream. We can say that Katerina was naive and kind, brought up in a completely religious spirit. But if she met on her way what. contradicted her ideals, then she turned into a rebellious and stubborn nature and defended herself from that stranger, stranger, who boldly disturb her soul. This was the case with the boat. After marriage, Katya's life changed a lot. From a free, joyful, sublime world in which she felt her merger with nature, the girl found herself in a life full of deception, cruelty and omission. The point is not even that Katerina did not marry Tikhon of her own free will: she didn’t love anyone at all and she didn’t care who to marry. The fact is that the girl was robbed of her old life, which she had created for herself. Katerina no longer feels such delight from attending church, she cannot do her usual things. Sad, disturbing thoughts do not allow her to calmly admire nature. Katya is left to endure, as long as she is, and to dream, but she can no longer live by her own thoughts, because the cruel reality brings her back to earth, where humiliation and suffering are. Katerina is trying to find her happiness in her love for Tikhon: "I will love my husband. Tisha, my dear, I will not exchange you for anyone." But sincere manifestations of this love are suppressed by Kabanikha: "What are you hanging around your neck, shameless woman? You don't say goodbye to your lover." In Katerina, there is a strong sense of external obedience and duty, which is why she forces herself to love her unloved husband. Tikhon himself, due to the tyranny of his mother, cannot really love his wife, although he probably wants to. And when he, leaving for a while, leaves Katya to walk freely, the girl (already a woman) becomes completely lonely. Why did Katerina fall in love with Boris? After all, he did not show his masculine qualities, like Paratov, did not even talk to her. Perhaps the reason is that she lacked something clean in the stuffy atmosphere of Kabanikha's house. And love for Boris was this pure, did not allow Katerina to wither away completely, somehow supported her. She went on a date with Boris because she felt like a person with pride and elementary rights. It was a rebellion against resignation to fate, against lawlessness. Katerina knew that she was committing a sin, but she also knew that it was still impossible to live further. She sacrificed the purity of her conscience to freedom and Boris. In my opinion, taking this step, Katya already felt the approaching end and, probably, thought: "Now or never." She wanted to be filled with love, knowing that there would be no other occasion. On the first date, Katerina said to Boris: "You ruined me." Boris is the reason for the discrediting of her soul, and for Katya it is tantamount to death. Sin hangs like a heavy stone on her heart. Katerina is terribly afraid of the impending thunderstorm, considering her a punishment for what she had done. Katerina was afraid of a thunderstorm ever since she began to think about Boris. For her pure soul, even the thought of love for a stranger is a sin. Katya cannot live on with her sin, and she considers repentance to be the only way to at least partially get rid of it. She confesses everything to her husband and Kabanikha. Such an act in our time seems very strange, naive. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything” - such is Katerina. Tikhon forgave his wife, but did she forgive herself? Being very religious. Katya is afraid of God, and her God lives in her, God is her conscience. The girl is tormented by two questions: how she will return home and look into the eyes of her husband, whom she cheated on, and how she will live with a stain on her conscience. The only way out of this situation, Katerina sees death: “No, I’m going to go home or to the grave - it’s all the same. It's better to live in the grave again? Dobrolyubov defined Katerina's character as "resolute, whole, Russian." Decisive, because she decided to take the last step, to die in order to save herself from shame and remorse. Whole, because in Katya's character everything is harmonious, one, nothing contradicts each other, because Katya is one with nature, with God. Russian, because whoever, no matter how Russian, is capable of loving so, is able to sacrifice so, so seemingly submissively endure all hardships, while remaining himself, free, not a slave. Although Katerina's life has changed, she has not lost her poetic nature: she is still fascinated by nature, she sees bliss in harmony with her. She wants to fly high, high, touch the heavenly blue and from there, from a height, send great greetings to everyone. The poetic nature of the heroine requires a different life than the one she has. Katerina strives for "freedom", but not for the freedom of her flesh, but for the freedom of her soul. Therefore, she is building another world, in which there is no lie, lawlessness, injustice, cruelty. In this world, in contrast to reality, everything is perfect: angels live here, "innocent voices are singing, it smells of cypress, and the mountains and trees, as if not the same as usual, but as they are written on images." But despite this, she still has to return to the real world, full of egoists and tyrants. And among them she is trying to find a kindred spirit. Katerina, in the crowd of "empty" faces, is looking for someone who could understand her, look into her soul and accept what she is, and not what they want to make her. The heroine is looking for and cannot find anyone. Her eyes are "cut" by the darkness and wretchedness of this "kingdom", the mind has to accept, but her heart believes and waits for the only one who will help her survive and fight for the truth in this world of lies and deceit. Katerina meets Boris, and her clouded heart says that this is the one she has been looking for for so long. But is it? No, Boris is far from ideal, he cannot give Katerina what she asks for, namely: understanding and protection. She cannot feel with Boris "like a stone wall." And the truth of this is confirmed by Boris's vile, full of cowardice and indecision: he leaves Katerina alone, throws her “to be eaten by the wolves”. These "wolves" are terrible, but they cannot frighten the "Russian soul" of Katerina. And her soul is truly Russian. And Katerina unites with the people not only communication, but also adherence to Christianity. Katerina believes in God so much that every evening she prays in her little room. She likes to go to church, look at the icons, listen to the ringing of the bell. She, like the Russian people, loves freedom. And it is precisely this love of freedom that does not allow her to come to terms with the current situation. Our heroine is not used to lying, and therefore she talks about her love for Boris to her husband. But instead of understanding, Katerina meets only a direct reproach. Now nothing keeps her in this world: Boris turned out not to be what Katerina "drew" him to herself, and life in Kabanikha's house became even more unbearable. Poor, innocent "bird imprisoned in a cage" could not withstand bondage - Katerina committed suicide. The girl still managed to "take off", she stepped from the high bank into the Volga, "spread her wings" and boldly went to the bottom. By her act, Katerina resists the "dark kingdom". But Dobrolyubov calls her a "ray" in him, not only because her tragic death revealed all the horror of the "dark kingdom" and showed the inevitability of death for those who cannot come to terms with oppression, but also because the death of Katerina will not pass and can pass without a trace for "cruel morals". After all, anger is already arising at these tyrants. Kuligin - and he reproached Kabanikha for lack of mercy, even the uncomplaining performer of his mother's wishes, Tikhon, publicly dared to throw the accusation of Katerina's death in her face. Already now, an ominous thunderstorm is brewing over all this "kingdom", capable of destroying it "to smithereens." And this bright ray, which awakened, even for one moment, the consciousness of disadvantaged, unrequited people who are materially dependent on the rich, convincingly showed that an end must come to the unbridled robbery and self-righteousness of the Wild and the oppressive lust for power and hypocrisy of the Wild Boars. The importance of the image of Katerina is also important today. Yes, maybe many people consider Katerina an immoral, shameless cheater, but is she really to blame for this ?! Tikhon is most likely to blame, who did not pay due attention and affection to his wife, but only followed the advice of his "mama". Katerina is only to blame for the fact that she married such a weak-willed person. Her life was destroyed, but she tried to "build" a new one from the remains. Katerina boldly walked forward until she realized that there was nowhere else to go. But even then she took a courageous step, the last step over the abyss leading to another world, perhaps the best, and perhaps the worst. And this courage, thirst for truth and freedom makes us bow before Katerina. Yes, she's probably not so perfect, she has her flaws, but courage makes the heroine a subject to follow, worthy of praise.

The play "The Thunderstorm" is set in the fictional town of Kalinov, which is a collective image of all provincial towns of that time.
There are not so many main characters in the play "The Thunderstorm", each must be mentioned separately.

Katerina is a young woman, given in marriage without love, “to the wrong side,” God-fearing and pious. In the parental home, Katerina grew up in love and care, prayed and enjoyed life. Marriage, however, turned out to be a difficult test for her, which her meek soul opposes. But, despite the outward timidity and humility, passions boil in Katerina's soul when she falls in love with someone else's man.

Tikhon is Katerina's husband, a kind and gentle person, he loves his wife, takes pity on her, but, like everyone at home, obeys his mother. He does not dare to go against the will of "mamma" for the whole play, just as openly tell his wife about his love, since the mother forbids this, so as not to spoil his wife.

Kabanikha is the widow of the landowner Kabanov, mother of Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A despotic woman, in whose power the whole house is, no one dares to step without her knowledge, fearing a curse. According to one of the heroes of the play, Kudryash, Kabanikh - "a hypocrite, he gives to the poor, and eats at home" It is she who points out to Tikhon and Katerina how to build their family life in the best traditions of "Domostroi".

Varvara is Tikhon's sister, an unmarried girl. Unlike her brother, she obeys her mama only for show, while she herself secretly runs on dates at night, inciting Katerina to do this. Its principle is that you can sin if no one sees, otherwise you will sit around your mother all your life.

The landowner Dikoy is an episodic character, but personifies the image of a "tyrant", that is, a powerful person who is sure that money gives the right to do whatever his heart desires.

Boris, Diky's nephew, who came hoping to get his share of the inheritance, falls in love with Katerina, but faint-heartedly runs away, leaving the woman seduced by him.

In addition, Kudryash, the Wild's clerk, is involved. Kuligin is a self-taught inventor, constantly trying to introduce something new into the life of a sleepy town, but he is forced to ask Dikiy for money for inventions. The same, in turn, being a representative of the "fathers", is convinced of the futility of Kuligin's undertakings.

All the names and surnames in the play are “speaking”, they tell about the character of their “masters” better than any actions.

Itself vividly shows the confrontation between "old" and "young". The former actively resist all sorts of innovations, complaining that young people have forgotten the orders of their ancestors, do not want to live "as expected." The latter, in turn, try to free themselves from the oppression of parental orders, understand that life is moving forward, changing.

But not everyone dares to go against the parental will, someone out of fear of losing their inheritance. Someone - accustomed to obey their parents in everything.

The forbidden love of Katerina and Boris blossoms against the background of blooming tyranny and housebuilding precepts. Young people are drawn to each other, but Katerina is married, and Boris depends on his uncle in everything.

The heavy atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, the pressure of the evil mother-in-law, and the thunderstorm that has begun force Katerina, tormented by remorse because of her husband’s betrayal, to confess everything publicly. Kabanikha is jubilant - she was right in advising Tikhon to keep his wife "strict." Tikhon is afraid of his mother, but her advice to beat his wife so that she knows is unthinkable for him.

The explanation of Boris and Katerina further aggravates the position of the unfortunate woman. Now she has to live away from her beloved, with her husband, who knows about her betrayal, with his mother, who will now definitely harass her daughter-in-law. Katerina's fear of God leads her to the idea that there is no more need to live, the woman throws herself off the cliff into the river.

Only after losing his beloved woman, Tikhon realizes how much she meant to him. Now he will have to live his whole life with the understanding that his callousness and obedience to the tyrant mother has led to such an ending. The last words of the play are the words of Tikhon, spoken over the body of his deceased wife: “Good for you, Katya! And why in the world was I left to live and suffer! "

Boris Grigorievich - Dikiy's nephew. He is one of the weakest characters in the play. B. himself says about himself: “I’m walking completely killed ...
Boris is a kind, well-educated person. It stands out sharply against the background of the merchant environment. But he is by nature a weak person. B. is forced to humiliate himself in front of his uncle, Dikim, for the hope of an inheritance that he will leave him. Although the hero himself knows that this will never happen, he, nevertheless, curses up with the tyrant, enduring his antics. B. is unable to defend himself or his beloved Katerina. In misfortune, he only rushes about and cries: “Oh, if these people knew what it is like for me to say goodbye to you! My God! God grant that someday they would be as sweet as it is for me now ... You villains! Fiends! Eh, if only there were strength! " But B. does not have this power, so he is not able to alleviate the suffering of Katerina and support her choice, taking her with him.


Varvara Kabanova- daughter of Kabanikha, sister of Tikhon. We can say that life in Kabanikha's house morally crippled the girl. She also does not want to live according to the patriarchal laws that her mother preaches. But, despite his strong character, V. did not dare to openly protest against them. Its principle is “Do what you want, if only it is sewn and covered”.

This heroine easily adapts to the laws of the "dark kingdom", easily deceives everyone around her. It became familiar to her. V. claims that it is impossible to live otherwise: their whole house is based on deception. "And I was not a deceiver, but I learned when it became necessary."
V. was cunning while it was possible. When they began to lock her up, she fled from the house, inflicting a crushing blow on Kabanikha.

Dikoy Savel Prokofich- a wealthy merchant, one of the most respected people in the city of Kalinov.

D. is a typical tyrant. He feels his power over people and complete impunity, and therefore does what he wants. “There are no elders over you, so you are swaggering,” Kabanikha explains the behavior of D.
Every morning his wife begs those around him with tears: “Father, don’t make you angry! Dear fellows, don't make you angry! " But it's hard not to make D. angry. He himself does not know what state of mind he may find himself in the next minute.
This "cruel curse" and "shrill man" is not shy in expressions. His speech is filled with words such as "parasite", "Jesuit", "asp".
But D. “attacks” only people weaker than himself, those who cannot fight back. But D. is afraid of his clerk Kudryash, who is reputed to be rude, not to mention Kabanikha. D. respects her, moreover, she is the only one who understands him. After all, the hero sometimes himself is not happy with his tyranny, but he cannot help himself. Therefore, Kabanikha considers D. a weak person. Kabanikh and D. are united by belonging to the patriarchal system, following its laws, and concern about the upcoming changes around.

Kabanikha -Not recognizing the changes, development and even the diversity of the phenomena of reality, Kabanikha is intolerant and dogmatic. She "legitimizes" the usual forms of life as an eternal norm and considers it her highest right to punish those who have transgressed in large or small the laws of life. Being a staunch supporter of the invariability of the entire way of life, the "eternity" of the social and family hierarchy and the ritual behavior of each person who takes his place in this hierarchy, Kabanikha does not recognize the legitimacy of the individuality of differences in people and the diversity of peoples' lives. Everything that differs the life of other places from the life of the city of Kalinov testifies to "infidelity": people who live differently from the Kalinovtsy must have dogs heads. The center of the universe is the pious city of Kalinov, the center of this city is the house of the Kabanovs - this is how the experienced wanderer Feklusha characterizes the world for the sake of a harsh mistress. She, noticing the changes taking place in the world, claims that they threaten to "belittle" time itself. Any change appears to Kabanikhe as the beginning of sin. She is a champion of a closed life that excludes communication between people. They look out the windows, according to her conviction, from bad, sinful motives, leaving for another city is fraught with temptations and dangers, which is why she reads endless instructions to Tikhon, who is leaving, and makes him demand from his wife not to look out of the windows. Kabanova listens with sympathy to stories about the "demonic" innovation - the "chugunka" and claims that she would never have gone by train. Having lost the indispensable attribute of life - the ability to mutate and die off, all the customs and rituals approved by Kabanikha turned into an "eternal", inanimate, perfect in its kind, but empty form


Katerina-she is incapable of perceiving the ceremony outside of its content. Religion, family relations, even a walk along the banks of the Volga - everything that among the Kalinovites, and especially in the Kabanovs' house, turned into an outwardly observed set of rituals, for Katerina either full of meaning or unbearable. From religion, she extracted poetic ecstasy and a heightened sense of moral responsibility, but the form of churchliness is indifferent to her. She prays in the garden among the flowers, and in the church she sees not a priest and parishioners, but angels in a ray of light falling from the dome. From art, ancient books, icon painting, wall painting, she mastered the images she saw on miniatures and icons: “golden temples or some kind of unusual gardens ... write ”- all this lives in her mind, turns into dreams, and she no longer sees painting and a book, but the world into which she has moved, hears the sounds of this world, feels its smells. Katerina bears within herself a creative, eternally living principle, generated by the insurmountable needs of the time, she inherits the creative spirit of that ancient culture, which she seeks to turn into the empty form of Kabanikh. Throughout the entire action, Katerina is accompanied by the motive of flying, driving fast. She wants to fly like a bird, and she dreams of flying, she tried to sail down the Volga, and in her dreams she sees herself rushing in a troika. She asks both Tikhon and Boris to take her with her, to take her away.

TikhonBoars- Katerina's husband, the son of Kabanikha.

This image, in its own way, indicates the end of the patriarchal order. T. no longer considers it necessary to adhere to the old order in everyday life. But, by virtue of his character, he cannot act as he sees fit and go against his mother. His choice is an everyday compromise: “Why listen to her! She needs to say something! Well, and let her speak, and you let it go deaf ears! "
T. is a kind, but weak person, he rushes between fear of his mother and compassion for his wife. The hero loves Katerina, but not in the way that Kabanikha demands - harshly, "like a man." He does not want to prove his power to his wife, he needs warmth and affection: “Why should she be afraid? It’s enough for me that she loves me. ” But Tikhon does not receive this in the house of Kabanikha. At home he is forced to play the role of an obedient son: “Yes, mamma, I don’t want to live by my own will! Where can I live by my own will! " His only outlet is on business trips, where he forgets all his humiliations, drowning them in wine. Despite the fact that T. loves Katerina, he does not understand what is happening to his wife, what mental anguish she is experiencing. T.'s softness is one of its negative qualities. It is because of her that he cannot help his wife in her struggle with passion for Boris, he cannot alleviate the fate of Katerina even after her public repentance. Although he himself reacted to his wife's betrayal gently, not being angry with her: “Here mother says that she must be buried alive in the ground so that she would be executed! And I love her, I'm sorry to touch her with my finger. " Only over the body of his dead wife T. decides to rebel against his mother, publicly blaming her for the death of Katerina. It is this rebellion in public that inflicts the worst blow on Kabanikha.

Kuligin- "philistine, self-taught watchmaker looking for a perpetuum mobile" (ie, a perpetual motion machine).
K. is a poetic and dreamy nature (he admires the beauty of the Volga landscape, for example). His first appearance was marked by the literary song "Among the flat valley ..." This immediately emphasizes K.'s bookishness, his education.
But at the same time, K.'s technical ideas (installing a sundial, a lightning rod, etc. in the city) are clearly outdated. This "obsolescence" emphasizes K.'s deep connection with Kalinov. He is, of course, a "new man", but he took shape inside Kalinov, which cannot but affect his attitude and philosophy of life. The main work of K.'s life is the dream of inventing a perpetual motion machine and receiving a million from the British for it. This million "antique, chemist" Kalinov wants to spend on his hometown: "work must be given to the philistine, then." In the meantime, K. is content with smaller inventions for the benefit of Kalinov. On them, he is forced to constantly beg for money from the rich people of the city. But they do not understand the benefits of K.'s inventions, ridicule him, considering him an eccentric and crazy. Therefore, Kuligov's passion for creativity remains unrealized within the walls of Kalinov. K. takes pity on his fellow countrymen, seeing in their vices the result of ignorance and poverty, but he cannot help them in anything. So, his advice to forgive Katerina and not to remember her sin anymore is impracticable in Kabanikha's house. This advice is good, it comes from humane considerations, but does not take into account the characters and beliefs of the Kabanovs. Thus, for all its positive qualities, K. is a contemplative and inactive nature. His beautiful thoughts will never grow into beautiful actions. K. will remain Kalinov's eccentric, his original attraction.

Feklusha- a wanderer. Wanderers, holy fools, blessed - an indispensable feature of merchant houses - are mentioned by Ostrovsky quite often, but always as off-stage characters. Along with those who wandered for religious motives (they went on a vow to worship shrines, collected money for the construction and maintenance of temples, etc.), there were also quite a few idle people who lived at the expense of the bounty of the population who always helped the wanderers. These were people for whom faith was only an excuse, and discussions and stories about shrines and miracles were an object of trade, a kind of commodity with which they paid for alms and shelter. Ostrovsky, who did not like superstitions and sanctimonious manifestations of religiosity, always mentions the wanderers and the blessed in ironic tones, usually to characterize the environment or one of the characters (see especially “Every wise man has enough simplicity,” scenes in Turusina's house). Ostrovsky brought such a typical wanderer to the stage once - in The Thunderstorm, and F.'s small-volume role became one of the most famous in the Russian comedy repertoire, and some of F.'s remarks entered everyday speech.
F. does not participate in the action, is not directly related to the plot, but the significance of this image in the play is very significant. Firstly (and this is traditional for Ostrovsky), she is the most important character for characterizing the environment in general and Kabanikha in particular, in general for creating the image of Kalinov. Secondly, her dialogue with Kabanikha is very important for understanding Kabanikha's attitude to the world, for clarifying her inherent tragic feeling of the collapse of her world.
Appearing on the stage for the first time immediately after Kuligin's story about the "cruel manners" of the city of Kalinov and immediately before the release of Ka-banikha, mercilessly sawing the children accompanying her, with the words "Bla-a-lepie, dear, bla-a-le-pie!" F. especially praises the Kabanovs' house for their generosity. Thus, the characterization given to Kabanikha by Kuligin is reinforced (“Prudish, sir, he closes the beggars, but ate the household altogether”).
The next time we see F. is already in the Kabanovs' house. In a conversation with the girl Glasha, she advises to look after the wretched one, “I wouldn’t pull anything,” and hears an irritated reply in response: “Who can take you apart, you are all riveting at each other.” Glasha, who has repeatedly expressed a clear understanding of people and circumstances well known to her, innocently believes F.'s stories about countries where people with dog-headed heads are “for infidelity”. This reinforces the impression that Kalinov is a closed world that knows nothing about other lands. This impression is further enhanced when F. begins to tell Kabanova about Moscow and the railway. The conversation begins with F.'s assertion that "the end times" are coming. A sign of this is the ubiquitous vanity, haste, pursuit of speed. F. calls the locomotive a "fiery serpent", which they began to harness for speed: "others see nothing from the hustle and bustle, so it is shown to them by a machine, they call it a machine, and I saw him doing something like that (spreading his fingers out) with his paws. ... Well, and the groan that people of a good life hear like that. " Finally, she says that “the time has begun to come into belittling” and for our sins “everything is getting shorter and shorter”. The apocalyptic reasoning of the wanderer sympathetically listens to Kabanova, from the cue which concludes the scene, it becomes clear that she is aware of the impending doom of her world.
The name F. has become a household name for a dark bigot, under the guise of pious reasoning spreading all sorts of ridiculous fables.

The events in the drama of A. N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm" unfold on the Volga coast, in the fictional city of Kalinov. The work provides a list of the characters and their brief characteristics, but they are still not enough to better understand the world of each character and reveal the conflict of the play as a whole. There are not so many main characters in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm".

Katerina, a girl, the main character of the play. She is quite young, she was married early. Katya was brought up exactly according to the traditions of house building: the main qualities of a wife were respect and obedience to her husband. At first, Katya tried to love Tikhon, but she could feel nothing but pity for him. At the same time, the girl tried to support her husband, help him and not reproach him. Katerina can be called the most modest, but at the same time the most powerful character in The Storm. Indeed, outwardly, Katya's strength of character does not appear. At first glance, this girl is weak and silent, it seems as if she is easy to break. But this is not at all the case. Katerina is the only one in the family who resists Kabanikha's attacks. It is he who opposes, and does not ignore them, like Barbara. The conflict is rather internal. After all, Kabanikha is afraid that Katya might influence her son, after which Tikhon will cease to obey his mother's will.

Katya wants to fly and often compares herself to a bird. She literally suffocates in Kalinov's "dark kingdom". Having fallen in love with a visiting young man, Katya created for herself an ideal image of love and possible liberation. Unfortunately, her ideas had little to do with reality. The girl's life ended tragically.

Ostrovsky in The Thunderstorm makes not only Katerina the main character. The image of Katya is contrasted with the image of Martha Ignatievna. A woman who keeps the whole family in fear and tension does not command respect. The boar is strong and despotic. Most likely, she took the "reins" after the death of her husband. Although it is more likely that in marriage, Kabanikha did not differ in submissiveness. Katya, her daughter-in-law, got the most from her. It is Kabanikha who is indirectly responsible for the death of Katerina.

Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikha. Despite the fact that over the years she has learned resourcefulness and lies, the reader still sympathizes with her. Barbara is a good girl. Surprisingly, deception and cunning do not make her look like the rest of the inhabitants of the city. She does as she pleases and lives as she wants. Barbara is not afraid of her mother's anger, since she is not an authority for her.

Tikhon Kabanov fully lives up to his name. He is quiet, weak, inconspicuous. Tikhon cannot protect his wife from his mother, since he himself is under the strong influence of Kabanikha. His rebellion turns out to be the most significant in the end. After all, it is the words, and not the escape of Barbara, that make readers think about the whole tragedy of the situation.

The author characterizes Kuligin as a self-taught mechanic. This character is a kind of tour guide. In the first act, he seems to be leading us around Kalinov, talking about his morals, about the families that live here, about the social situation. Kuligin seems to know everything about everyone. His assessments of others are very accurate. Kuligin himself is a kind person who is used to living by established rules. He constantly dreams of the common good, of the perpetu mobile, of the lightning rod, of honest work. Unfortunately, his dreams are not destined to come true.

Dikiy has a clerk, Kudryash. This character is interesting in that he is not afraid of the merchant and can tell him what he thinks of him. At the same time, Kudryash, just like Dikoy, tries to find benefits in everything. He can be described as a common man.

Boris comes to Kalinov on business: he urgently needs to improve relations with Dikim, because only in this case he will be able to receive the money legally bequeathed to him. However, neither Boris nor Dikoy even want to see each other. Initially, Boris seems to readers like Katya to be honest and fair. In the last scenes this is refuted: Boris is not able to decide on a serious step, to take responsibility, he simply runs away, leaving Katya alone.

One of the heroes of "The Thunderstorm" is the wanderer and the maid. Feklusha and Glasha are shown as typical inhabitants of the city of Kalinov. Their darkness and ignorance is truly striking. Their judgments are absurd, and their horizons are very narrow. Women judge morality and ethics according to some perverted, distorted concepts. “Moscow is now gulbis and merrymaking, but there is a roar through the streets, there is a groan. Why, Matushka Marfa Ignatievna, they began to harness the fiery serpent: everything, you see, for the sake of speed ”- this is how Feklusha speaks of progress and reforms, and the woman calls a car“ a fiery serpent ”. The concept of progress and culture is alien to such people, because it is convenient for them to live in an invented limited world of calmness and regularity.

This article provides a brief description of the heroes of the play "The Thunderstorm", for a deeper understanding, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the thematic articles about each character of the "Thunderstorm" on our website.

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