Folk-poetic and religious in the image of Katerina Kabanova (based on the play "The Thunderstorm" by A. Ostrovsky). Katerina - resolute, solid Russian character (based on the play by A. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm")

In the attitude of Katerina, Slavic pagan antiquity, rooted in prehistoric times, is harmoniously combined with democratic trends Christian culture, spiritualizing and morally enlightening old pagan beliefs. Katerina's religiosity is inconceivable without sunrises and sunsets, dewy grasses on flowering meadows, birds flying, butterflies fluttering from flower to flower. With her, at the same time, the beauty of a rural church, and the breadth of the Volga, and the trans-Volga meadow expanse. Familiar motives of Russian folk songs come to life in Katerina's monologues:

Somehow young, Somehow young, I've been

Early in the morning,

In the morning, early, I got up early ...

Oh, yes, I lived with my mother like a flower bloomed,

It bloomed like a flower, Oh, yes, I lived with my father, weaved a wreath,

Like weaving a wreath.

In Katerina's attitude, the spring of the primordially Russian song culture beats and they acquire new life Christian beliefs.

As Katerina prays, "what an angelic smile she has on her face, but from her face it seems to shine." There is something iconographic in this face, from which a bright radiance emanates - the image of the hagiographic plan is akin to the "sun-transparent" Catherine, the heroine of the biographies of saints revered by the people. But the earthly heroine of Ostrovsky, radiating spiritual light, is far from the asceticism of official Christian morality. According to the rules of "Domostroi" during the church prayer, one had to listen with tension and unremitting attention to divine singing and reading, and "have bodily eyes down." Katerina, on the other hand, directs her bodily eyes to "grief." Her prayer is a bright celebration of the spirit, a feast of the imagination: these angelic choirs in a pillar sunlight pouring from the dome, echoing the singing of wanderers, the chirping of birds, the general inspiration of the earthly and heavenly elements. “Precisely, I used to go into heaven, and I don’t see anyone, I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over.” But "Domostroy" taught to pray "with fear and trembling, with sighs and tears." The life-loving religiosity of Katerina has gone far away from the obsolete norms of the old patriarchal morality.

Katerina experiences the joy of life in the church, she bows down to the sun in the garden, among trees, grasses, flowers, the morning freshness of awakening nature: “Or I’ll go to the garden early in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, I fall on my knees, I pray and cry, and I myself I don't know what I'm praying for and what I'm crying about; so they will find me. "

There is an echo in the dreams of young Katerina Christian legend about paradise, the divine garden of Eden, the cultivation of which was bequeathed to the original people. They lived like birds of the air, and their labor was the labor of free and free people. They were immortal like gods, and time had no destructive power over them:

“I lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mamma doted on me, she dressed me up like a doll, did not force me to work; what I want, it used to be, so I do ... I used to get up early; if in the summer, I'll go to the spring, wash, bring some water with me, and that's it, I'll water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers. " Obviously, the legend of paradise embraces Katerina and all the beauty of earthly life: prayers the rising sun, morning visits to the student keys, light images angels and birds. Later, in Hard time life, Katerina will complain:

“If I had died a little, it would have been better. I would look from heaven to earth and rejoice at everything. Otherwise, she would fly invisibly wherever she wanted. I would fly out into the field and fly from cornflower to cornflower in the wind, like a butterfly. " In the spirit of these dreams of Katerina and another serious aspiration - to fly: “Why do people not fly! .. I say: why do people not fly like birds? You know, sometimes it seems to me that I am a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. So I would have scattered, raised my hands and flew. Nothing to try now? (He wants to run.) "

Where do these fantastic dreams come from to Katherine? Are they not the figments of a morbid imagination, are they not a whim of a refined nature? No. Those who have entered the flesh and blood of the Russian are awakening in Katerina's mind folk character ancient pagan myths, deep layers are exposed Slavic culture... Katerina prays to the morning sun, since from time immemorial the Slavs of the East considered the country of omnipotent fertile forces. Long before the coming of Christianity to Russia, they represented paradise as a wonderful garden, unfading, located in the possession of the god of light, where all righteous souls fly away, turning after death into light-winged birds. This paradise was at the heavenly spring, over which the birds were singing joyfully, and near the flowers bloomed, berries grew, apples and all kinds of vegetables ripened. The springs enjoyed special honor among the Slavs, they were credited with healing and fruitful power. Chapels were built at the springs, in the morning, before sowing, our peasant ancestors went out to the students, scooped spring water, sprinkled seeds with it or washed themselves, treated themselves for ailments.

Even the conclusion of marriage unions was performed by the Slavs by the water. Is it not from here that Ostrovsky's poetic nights on the Volga, full of pagan strength and passion, go?

Freedom-loving impulses in Katerina's childhood memories are not spontaneous. They also feel the influence folk culture... “I was born so hot! I was still six years old, no more, so I did! They offended me with something at home, but it was towards evening, it was already dark, I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat, and pushed it away from the shore. The next morning they found it, about ten miles away! " After all, this act of Katerina is consistent with the folk fairy-tale dream of truth-truth. V folk tales the girl turns to the river with a request to save her, and the river shelters the girl in its banks. PI Yakushkin in his "Travel Letters" conveys a legend about how the robber Kudeyar wanted to kidnap a rural beauty: “He has already begun to break the door. The girl grabbed the icon of the Most Holy Lady of the Theotokos that was standing in the front corner, jumped out the window and ran to the Desna River: “Mother, most pure Mother of God! Mother, Desna River! I'm not myself to blame, - I disappear from evil person! " - She said those words and rushed into the Desna River; And the Desna-river at the same hour dried up in that place and went to the side, gave a bow, so that the girl stood on one bank, and Kudeyar the robber found himself on the other! So Kudeyar did not do any evil; while others say that Desna, as it rushed to the side, seized Kudeyar himself with a wave and drowned him. "

The popular consciousness was a vast world of all kinds of poetic personifications: rivers, forests, stones, herbs, flowers, birds, animals, trees were organs of a living, spiritualized unity. A poetic description from the folk "Flower Garden": "The grass of Ulic, and it itself is red and cherry, its head is in jugs, and its mouth is blooming, like yellow silk, and the foliage is with its paws."

Katerina Ostrovsky turns to violent winds, herbs, flowers according to the folk, as to spiritualized creatures. Without feeling this pristine freshness of her inner world, you will not understand the vitality and power of her character, the figurative beauty of her language. “How frisky I was! I have wilted completely. " The metaphor in the context of Katerina's monologues loses its shade of convention, plastically revives: the heroine's soul, blossoming along with nature, really fades in the world of the Wild and Kabanovs.

Katerina loved to fantasize before, it seemed that in the Kabanovs' house these fantasies should disappear, but the "desire to build aerial visions" not only did not disappear, but, on the contrary, became aggravated in the family. Otherwise, where would the famous exclamation of the heroine come from: "Why don't people fly!" And of course, in the Kabanovs' house, Katerina meets not the same thing, but decisive changes. “Everything here seems to be out of bondage,” a harsh religious spirit has settled here, democracy has eroded here, the life-loving generosity of the people's world outlook has disappeared.

In the course of the action, Katerina does not see and does not hear Feklushi, but it is generally accepted that it is precisely such wanderers that Katerina has seen and heard a lot of them in her short life. Katerina's monologue, which plays a key role in the tragedy, refutes this view. Even the wanderers in Kabanikha's house are different, from among those bigots who "because of their weakness did not go far, but heard a lot." And they talk about the "last times", about the impending end of the world. Religiousness, distrustful of life, reigns here, which plays into the hands of the pillars of society, the despotic Kabanikhs, who with evil mistrust meet the ruptured dams, the people's life rushing forward.

V prophetic dreams see Katerina not " last times", And" the promised land ":" Either golden temples, or some kind of extraordinary gardens, and everyone sings invisible voices, and it smells of cypress, and the mountains and trees seem to be not the same as usual, but like they are written on images. And it’s as if I’m flying, and I’m flying through the air. ”And in dreams - dreams of a harmonious happy life: the garden at the mother's house turns into a garden of paradise, the singing of the wanderers is picked up by invisible voices, the spiritual inspiration turns into free flight. “Heavenly” in Katerina's dreams is organically connected with the everyday, earthly. In popular beliefs, dreams were assigned a special role.

The cherished national aspirations and hopes are embodied in Katerina's monologues. Ostrovsky is not alone here. In Turgenev's Kasyan, a religious wanderer and truth-seeker, the Christian ideal of paradise is also reduced from heaven to earth: “Otherwise the steppes will follow Kursk ... And they go, people say, to the warmest seas, where the sweet-voiced Gamayun bird lives, and from the trees the leaf does not fall either in winter or in autumn, and golden apples grow on silver branches, and every person lives in contentment and justice. "

In Katerina, the vitality of the Russian people triumphs, who sought in religion not a denial of life, but its affirmation. Here, the popular protest against the ascetic, pre-construction form was especially powerful. religious culture, a protest devoid of the nihilistic willfulness of such heroes of The Storm as Varvara and Kudryash. The soul of Ostrovsky's heroine is one of those chosen Russian souls who are alien to compromises, who yearn for universal truth and will not make up on less.

In Katerina's attitude, Slavic pagan antiquity, rooted in prehistoric times, harmoniously grows together with the democratic trends of Christian culture. Religiousness of Katerina absorbs sunrises and sunsets, dewy grasses in flowering meadows, flights of birds, butterflies fluttering from a flower to. With her, at the same time, the rural church, and the expanse of the Volga, and the trans-Volga meadow expanse. And how the heroine prays, "what an angelic smile she has on her face, but from her face it seems to be shining." Is she not akin to the "sunny" Catherine from the biographies of saints revered by the people:

"And such a radiance emanated from the face that it was impossible to look at her." The earthly heroine of Ostrovsky, radiating spiritual light, is far from the harsh asceticism of pre-construction morality. According to the rules of "Domostroi" during the church prayer, one had to listen to divine singing with unremitting attention, and "have eyes down." Katerina fixes her eyes on grief. And what does she see, what does she hear at the church prayer? These angelic choirs in a pillar of sunlight pouring from the dome are church singing, caught up in the singing of birds, this spirituality of the earthly elements - by the elements of heaven ... "Similarly, I used to go into paradise, and I do not see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over." But "Domostroy" taught to pray "with fear and trembling, with sighing and tears." The life-loving religiosity of Katerina is far from the harsh prescriptions of domestic morality.

Katerina is experiencing the joy of life in the temple. She lays down to the sun in her garden, among trees, grasses, flowers, the morning freshness of awakening nature. "Or I'll go to the garden early in the morning, as soon as the sun is rising, I'll fall on my knees, pray and cry ..." Otherwise, she would fly invisibly where she wanted. I would fly out into the field and fly from cornflower to cornflower in the wind, like a butterfly. " “Why don't people fly! .. I say: why don't people fly like birds? You know, sometimes it seems to me that I am a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. ... "

How to understand these fantastic wishes of Katerina? What is this, a figment of a morbid imagination, a whim of a refined nature? No. Ancient pagan myths come to life in Katerina's mind, deep layers of Slavic culture move. In folk songs, a woman yearning for a stranger in an unloved family often turns into a cuckoo, flies into the garden to her beloved mother, complains to her about her dashing lot. Let us recall the lament of Yaroslavna in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign": "I will fly a cuckoo on the Danube ..." Even before Christianity came to Russia, they represented paradise as a wonderful unfading garden in the domain of the God of Light. There, to the East, all righteous souls flew away, turning after death into butterflies or light-winged birds. In the Yaroslavl province, until recently, the peasants called the moth "darling". And in Kherson it was argued that if the funeral alms were not distributed, then the soul of the deceased would appear to his relatives in the form of a moth. From pagan mythology, these beliefs passed into Christian. In the biography of Saint Martha, for example, the heroine has a dream in which she, elated, flies away into the blue sky. Katerina's freedom-loving impulses, even in her childhood memories, are not spontaneous: “I was born so hot! I was still six years old, no more, so I did it!

They offended me with something at home, but it was towards evening, it was already dark, I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat, and pushed her away from the shore. "After all, this act of Katerina is quite consistent with her folk soul. In Russian fairy tales the girl (* 62) turns to the river with a request to save it from evil pursuers. And the river shelters it in its banks. In one of the Oryol legends, a girl pursued by the robber Kudeyar runs up to the Desna River and prays: "Mother, the most pure Mother of God! Mother, Desna River! I am not myself to blame for that - I disappear from an evil person! "After praying, she rushes into the Desna River, and the river at this place immediately dries up, gives onions, so that the girl remains on one bank, and Kudeyar the robber on the other. They say that Desna threw itself to the side - so, by a wave, Kudeyar himself was captured and drowned.

Since ancient times, the Slavs worshiped rivers, believed that they all flow to the end of the white world, to where the sun rises from the sea - to the land of truth and goodness. Along the Volga, in a dugout boat, the Kostroma people of the sun god Yarila were allowed to enter the promised land of warm waters. Throwing shavings from the coffin into running water. Disused icons were sent down the river. So the impulse of little Katerina to seek protection from the Volga is a departure from untruth and evil to the land of light and good, this is a rejection of "vain" with early childhood and the willingness to leave the world if everything in it becomes "annoying" for her. Rivers, forests, grasses, flowers, birds, animals, trees, people in the popular consciousness of Katerina are organs of a living, spiritualized being, the Lord of the universe, condolences about human sins. The feeling of divine forces is inseparable from the forces of nature in Katerina.

In the popular "Pigeon Book"

The sun is red - from the face of God,

Frequent stars - from the vestments of God,

Dark nights - from the thoughts of God,

Morning dawns - from the eyes of the Lord,

The violent winds are from the Holy Spirit.

So Katerina prays to the dawn of the morning, to the red sun, seeing in them the eyes of God. And in a moment of despair, he turns to the "violent winds" so that they convey to her beloved her "sadness, longing-sorrow." From point of view folk mythology the whole of nature took on an aesthetically high and ethically active meaning. Man felt himself to be the son of an animated nature - an integral and unified being. The people believed that kind person can tame the forces of nature, and the evil one draws upon himself their disfavor and anger. The righteous people revered by the people could, for example, return the rivers that raged during the flood - (* 63) to the banks, tame wild animals, command thunder. Without feeling the pristine freshness of Katerina's inner world, you will not understand the vitality and power of her character, the figurative secret of the folk language. “How frisky I was!” Katerina turns to Varvara, but then, wilting, she adds: “I’m completely wilted.” Blossoming at the same time with nature, the soul of Katerina really withers in the hostile world of the Wild and Kabanovs.

Character is the fate of a person.
Ancient indian dictum

In the 19th century, Russian literature acquired worldwide significance. In Russia there were stormy social processes... The old patriarchal order was "overturned", a new system, still unknown to the Russian people - capitalism - was "taking shape". Literature was faced with the task of showing a Russian person of a transitional era.

Against this background, Ostrovsky occupies a special place. He was the only Russian writer of the first rank who devoted himself entirely to drama and wrote about fifty plays. The world that Ostrovsky brought to literature is also peculiar: ridiculous merchants, old-fashioned solicitors, lively matchmakers, meek clerks and obstinate merchant daughters, actors of provincial theaters.

The play "The Thunderstorm", published in 1860, was a kind of source of Ostrovsky's creative achievements. In this play, the playwright depicted not only the deadening conditions of the "dark kingdom", but also manifestations of deep hatred towards them. The satirical denunciation naturally merged in this work with the assertion of new forces in life, positive, bright, rising to fight for their human rights. In the heroine of the play, Katerina Kabanova, the writer drew new type original, whole, selfless Russian woman, with the decisiveness of her protest, heralding the coming of the end of the "dark kingdom".

Indeed, the integrity of Katerina's character is primarily distinguished by this irony. Let's pay attention to the vital sources of this wholeness, to the cultural soil that nourishes it. Without them, Katerina's character withers like cut grass.

In the outlook of Katerina, Slavic pagan antiquity is harmoniously combined with the trends of Christian culture, which spiritualizes and morally enlightens old pagan beliefs. Katerina's religiosity is unthinkable without sunrises and sunsets, dewy grasses in flowering meadows, flights of birds, fluttering of butterflies from flower to flower.

Let us remember how the heroine prays, “what an angelic smile she has on her face, but it seems like it shines from her face”. There is something iconographic in this face, from which a bright radiance emanates. But the earthly heroine of Ostrovsky, emitting spiritual light, is far from the asceticism of official Christian morality. Ec prayer is a light holiday of the spirit, a feast of the imagination: these angelic choirs in a pillar of sunlight pouring from the dome, echoing the singing of wanderers, the chirping of birds. “Precisely, I used to go into heaven, and I don’t see anyone, I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over.” But "Domostroy" taught to pray with fear and trembling, with tears. The life-loving religiosity of Katerina has gone far away from the obsolete norms of the old patriarchal morality.

In the dreams of young Katerina there is an echo of the Christian legend about paradise, the divine garden of Eden, which was bequeathed to the first-created people to cultivate. They lived like birds of the air, and their labor was the free labor of free people. “I lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mamma doted on me, she dressed me up like a doll, forced me to work; what I want, it used to be, so I do ... I used to get up early; if in the summer I go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that's it, water all the flowers in the house. " Obviously, the legend of paradise embraces Katerina's entire beauty of earthly life: prayers to the rising sun, morning visits to the keys - students, light images of angels and birds.

In the spirit of these dreams of Katerina and another serious desire to fly: “Why do people not fly! .. I say: why do people not fly like birds? You know, sometimes it seems to me that I am a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. "

Where do these fantastic dreams come from for Katherine? Are they a figment of a morbid imagination? No. In the minds of Katerina, pagan myths that have entered the flesh and blood of the Russian folk character are resurrected. And for the national consciousness, all kinds of poetic personifications are characteristic. And Katerina at Ostrovsky refers to violent winds, herbs, flowers in a folk way as to spiritualized beings.

Without realizing this pristine freshness of her inner world, you will not understand the vitality and power of her character, the figurative beauty of her folk language. “How frisky I was! I have wilted completely. " And it is true, the soul of irony, blossoming at the same time with nature, really "fades" in the world of the Wild and Kabanovs.

Tenderness and daring, dreaminess and earthly passion merge with each other into the character of Katerina, and the main thing in him is not a mystical impulse away from the earth, but moral strength that inspires earthly life.

The soul of Ostrovsky's heroine is from among those chosen Russian souls who are alien to compromises, who long for universal truth and will not make peace on less.

In the boar kingdom, where all living things wither and dry up, Katerina is overcome by a longing for the lost harmony. Vexation of the heroine but earthly love spiritually sublime, pure: I would now ride along the Volga, on a boat, singing songs, or on a troika on a good one, embracing ”. Her love is akin to the desire to raise her hands and fly, the heroine expects a lot from her. Love for Boris, of course, will not satisfy her melancholy. Is it because Ostrovsky enhances the contrast between Katerina's high love flight and Boris's wingless infatuation.

Boris's spiritual culture is completely devoid of a national moral dowry. He is the only hero in The Storm who is not dressed in Russian. Kalinov is a slum for him, here he is a stranger. Fate brings together people incommensurable in depth and moral sensitivity. Boris lives in the present day and is hardly able to seriously think about the moral consequences of his actions. He's having fun now and that's enough: “How long has my husband left? Oh, so we'll take a walk! Time is enough ... No one will even know about our love ... Let's compare his remarks with the words of Katerina: “Let everyone know, let everyone see what I’m doing! .. court? "

What a contrast! What a fullness of love, free and open to the whole world, in contrast to the timid, voluptuous Boris!

Explaining the reasons for Katerina's popular repentance, one should not focus on superstition and ignorance, on religious prejudices and fear. The real source of the heroine's repentance lies elsewhere: in her sensitive conscientiousness. Katherine's fear -inner voice her conscience. Katerina is equally heroic both in a passionate and reckless love interest, and in deeply conscientious national repentance. What a conscience! What a mighty Russian conscience! What a powerful moral force!

The tragedy of Katerina, in my opinion, is that the life that surrounds her has lost its integrity and completeness, has entered a period of deep moral crisis. Soul Thunderstorm experienced, a direct consequence of this disharmony. Katerina feels her guilt not only in front of Tikhon Kabanikha and not so much in front of them, but in front of the whole world. She thinks that the whole universe is offended by her behavior. Only a full-blooded and spiritually rich person can feel so deeply his unity with the universe and have such a high sense of responsibility before the highest truth and harmony that is enshrined in him.

For the overall significance of the play, it is very important that Katerina, a decisive, integral Russian character, did not appear from somewhere outside, but was formed in Kalinov's conditions. It is in the soul of a woman from the city of Kalinov that a new attitude to the world is born, a new feeling that is not yet clear to the heroine herself. It is an awakening sense of personality. And this inspires hope that new, fresh forces are ripening among the people. This means that the renewal of life, the joy of freedom is not far off.

In the drama "The Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky created a very complex psychologically image - the image of Katerina Kabanova. This young woman disposes of the viewer with her huge, pure soul, childish sincerity and kindness. But she lives in the musty atmosphere of the "dark kingdom" of merchant customs. Ostrovsky managed to create a light and poetic image of a Russian woman from the people. The main story line plays are tragic conflict the living, feeling soul of Katerina and the dead way of life of the "dark kingdom". Honest and touching Katerina turned out to be a powerless victim of the cruel orders of the merchant environment. No wonder Dobrolyubov called Katerina "a ray of light in the dark kingdom." Katerina did not reconcile herself to despotism and tyranny; driven to despair, she challenges the "dark kingdom" and perishes. Only in this way can she keep her inner world... According to critics, for Katerina “death is not desirable, but life is unbearable. To live for her is to be herself. Not being herself means not living for her. "
The image of Katerina is built on a folk-poetic basis. Her pure soul is merged with nature. She presents herself as a bird, whose image in folklore is closely related to the concept of will. "I lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild." Katerina, who ended up in Kabanova's house, as in terrible prison, often remembered parental home where she was treated with love and understanding. Talking to Varvara, the heroine asks: “... Why don't people fly like birds? You know, sometimes it seems to me that I am a bird. " Katerina breaks free from the cage, where she is forced to remain until the end of her days.
Religion aroused high feelings, a surge of joy and awe in her. The beauty and fullness of the heroine's soul was expressed in prayers to God. “On a sunny day, such a light pillar goes down from the dome, and in this pillar there is smoke like clouds, and I see it as if the angels in this pillar were flying and singing. And then, it happened ... I get up at night ... but somewhere in the corner and pray until morning. Or I'll go to the garden early in the morning, as soon as the sun is rising, I'll fall on my knees, pray and cry. "
Katerina expresses her thoughts and feelings poetic folk language... The melodic speech of the heroine is colored with love for the world, the use of many diminutive forms characterizes her soul. She says "the sun", "voditsa", "grave", often resorts to repetitions, as in songs: "on the top three", "and people are disgusting to me, and the house is disgusting to me, and the walls are disgusting." Trying to throw out the feelings boiling in her, Katerina exclaims: "The violent winds, you will bear my sadness and longing for him!"
The tragedy of Katerina is that she does not know how and does not want to lie. And in the "dark kingdom" lies are the basis of life and relationships. Boris tells her: "No one will know about our love ...", to which Katerina replies: "Let everyone know, let everyone see what I am doing!" In these words, the courageous, whole nature of this woman is manifested, who risks challenging the philistine morality, alone to resist society.
But, having fallen in love with Boris, Katerina enters into a struggle with herself, with her convictions. She, a married woman, feels like a great sinner. Her faith in God is not the hypocrisy of Kabanikha, who covers up her malice and misanthropy with God. Awareness of his own sinfulness, pangs of conscience pursue Katerina. She complains to Varya: “Oh, Varya, sin is on my mind! How much I, poor, cried, what I really did not do on myself! I cannot get away from this sin. Don't go anywhere. It's not good, it's a terrible sin, Varenka, that I love someone else? " Katerina does not think about the fact that it was violence committed against her, having married her unloved. Her husband, Tikhon, is happy to leave home and does not want to protect his wife from her mother-in-law. Her heart tells her that her love is the greatest happiness, in which there is nothing wrong, but the morality of society and the church does not forgive the free expression of feelings. Katerina struggles amid unsolvable questions.
The tension in the play grows, Katerina is afraid of a thunderstorm, hears the terrible prophecies of a mad lady, sees a painting on the wall depicting last judgment... In the darkening of her mind, she repent of her sin. Repentance from a pure heart according to religious laws necessarily requires forgiveness. But people have forgotten the kind, forgiving and loving god, they have a punishing and punishing God. Katerina is not forgiven. She does not want to live and suffer, she has nowhere to go, her beloved turned out to be as weak and dependent as her husband. Everyone betrayed her. The church considers suicide a terrible sin, but for Katerina it is an act of despair. It is better to be in hell than to live in a "dark kingdom". The heroine cannot harm anyone, so she decides to die herself. Throwing herself off the cliff into the Volga, Katerina at the last moment thinks not about her sin, but about love, which illuminated her life with great happiness. Last words Katerinas are addressed to Boris: “My friend! My joy! Goodbye!" One can only hope that God will be more merciful to Katherine than people.

The fate of Katerina in the drama "The Thunderstorm" evokes pity and, at the same time, respect. This simple Russian woman differs from the people around her not only in her unhappy fate and terrible death, but also in her rare spiritual qualities. Russian critics have dubbed her "a ray of light in the dark kingdom." Why, if she could not change anything and died as a defeated one?

Initially, Katerina is a spiritually strong person, with a rich original imagination. Thanks to her upbringing, her dreams were channeled into the mainstream of religiosity. But Katerina knew how to poetically rethink church truths. So, she often dreamed paradise gardens and birds, and when she entered the church, she saw angels.

Katerina's religiosity makes her more vulnerable (she cannot lie, since it is a sin), and at the same time gives her the power of truth in an implicit fight against the bigot Kabanikha. Love for Boris confronts Katerina face to face with the "dark kingdom", although she does not perceive her protest as indignation against the existing system... And nevertheless, for every inhabitant of Kalinov, Katerina's loneliness in their "dark kingdom" is obvious.

It is emphasized by the composition of the piece. Katerina is the only hero who does not have a pair (unlike the pairs Kabanov - Dikoy (rich tyrants), Tikhon - Boris (their weak-willed slaves), Varvara - Kudryash (successfully adapted). Katerina by her origin is a stranger in Kalinov.

Katerina is the highest, most poetic embodiment of the ideas and principles of the patriarchal world. It is no coincidence that her image was clearly inspired by the images of Russian poetry. The motive of Katerina's striving for Boris, her "destroyer", seems to be borrowed from folk song("You kill me, destroy me since midnight ..."): "Why did you come? Why have you come, my destroyer? ”; “Why do you want my destruction?”; "You ruined me!" How strong her feeling must be if she goes to certain death in the name of him! "Do not regret, ruin me!" she exclaims, deciding to reciprocate Boris. And gradually Katerina comes to the conclusion: “If I get sick of it here, they won't hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. "

But the patriarchal world around is no longer what it is in Katerina's soul. A lump of contradictions grows, and, finally, in Katerina there is no longer anything similar to what surrounds her.

In the first appearance, listening to the dialogue between Kuligin and Tikhon, we imagine Katerina as a submissive victim, a person with a broken will and a trampled soul. “Mamma eats her, and she walks like a shadow, unrequited. He just cries and melts like wax, ”says Tikhon about his wife.

We are ready to see a powerless victim, but on the stage there is a person who can dream, love; still able to live. She's a strong man decisive character, with a living, freedom-loving heart. She ran away from home to say goodbye to Boris, not fearing retribution for this act. She not only does not hide, does not hide, but “loudly, at the top of her voice” calls out to her beloved: “My joy, my life, my soul, I love you! Respond! "

Katerina's last monologue depicts her inner victory over the forces of the "dark kingdom." “Live again? No, no, don't ... it's not good! " The word "not good" is characteristic here: to live under the yoke of Kabanikha, from the point of view of Katerina, is unnatural and immoral: "But they will catch me, but they will bring me home by force ..." "Ah, hurry, hurry!" The thirst for liberation triumphs over the dark religious beliefs... Katerina is imbued with the conviction of her right to freedom of feeling, to freedom of choice between life and death. "It's all the same that death comes, that it itself ... but you can't live!" - she reflects on suicide, which from the point of view of the church is one of the most terrible sins... But she found the strength to question this notion: “Sin! Will they not pray? He who loves will pray ... "

Just as a thunderstorm on a hot summer day brings coolness, so after the death of Katerina, the victims of the "dark kingdom" awaken a sense of their own dignity and a desire to escape from a humiliating situation. Varvara and Kudryash flee from Kalinov. Kuligin addresses those gathered on the shore with a reproach. Even Tikhon finds the strength to accuse his mother: “You ruined her! You! You!"

The death of Katerina, like the sun, illuminated dark kingdom"With all the ugly inhabitants.

There are practically no male heroes in Ostrovsky's forty original plays from his contemporary life. Heroes in the sense positive characters central to the play. Instead, Ostrovsky's heroine has loving, suffering souls. Katerina Kabanova is one of their many.