Moral issues in the play The Thunderstorm. Moral problems in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm". "Dark Kingdom" and its victims

The problem of fathers and children

The problem of self-realization

The problem of power

The problem of love

Conflict between old and new

Work test

In literary criticism, the problematics of a work are the range of problems that are addressed in one way or another in the text. This may be one or more aspects that the author focuses on. In this work we will talk about the problems of Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. A. N. Ostrovsky received a literary vocation after his first published play. “Poverty is not a vice,” “Dowry,” “Profitable Place” - these and many other works are devoted to social and everyday themes, but the issue of the problems of the play “The Thunderstorm” needs to be considered separately.

The play was received ambiguously by critics. Dobrolyubov saw hope for a new life in Katerina, Ap. Grigoriev noticed the emerging protest against the existing order, and L. Tolstoy did not accept the play at all. The plot of “The Thunderstorm,” at first glance, is quite simple: everything is based on a love conflict. Katerina secretly meets with a young man while her husband left for another city on business. Unable to cope with the pangs of conscience, the girl admits to treason, after which she rushes into the Volga. However, behind all this everyday, everyday life, lies much larger things that threaten to grow to the scale of space. Dobrolyubov calls the “dark kingdom” the situation described in the text. An atmosphere of lies and betrayal. In Kalinov, people are so accustomed to moral filth that their resigned consent only aggravates the situation. It becomes scary to realize that it was not the place that made people like this, it was the people who independently turned the city into a kind of accumulation of vices. And now the “dark kingdom” is beginning to influence the inhabitants. After a detailed reading of the text, you can see how widely the problems of the work “The Thunderstorm” have been developed. The problems in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" are diverse, but at the same time they do not have a hierarchy. Each individual problem is important in its own right.

The problem of fathers and children

Here we are not talking about misunderstanding, but about total control, about patriarchal orders. The play shows the life of the Kabanov family. At that time, the opinion of the eldest man in the family was undeniable, and wives and daughters were practically deprived of their rights. The head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna, a widow. She took on male functions. This is a powerful and calculating woman. Kabanikha believes that she takes care of her children, ordering them to do as she wants. This behavior led to quite logical consequences. Her son, Tikhon, is a weak and spineless person. His mother, it seems, wanted to see him this way, because in this case it is easier to control a person. Tikhon is afraid to say anything, to express his opinion; in one of the scenes he admits that he doesn’t have his own point of view at all. Tikhon cannot protect either himself or his wife from his mother’s hysterics and cruelty. Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, on the contrary, managed to adapt to this lifestyle. She easily lies to her mother, the girl even changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could go on dates with Curly without hindrance. Tikhon is incapable of any rebellion, while Varvara, at the end of the play, runs away from her parents' house with her lover.

The problem of self-realization

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

The problem of power

In the city of Kalinov, power is not in the hands of the relevant authorities, but in those who have money. Proof of this is the dialogue between the merchant Dikiy and the mayor. The mayor tells the merchant that complaints are being received against the latter. Savl Prokofievich responds rudely to this. Dikoy does not hide the fact that he is cheating ordinary men; he talks about deception as a normal phenomenon: if merchants steal from each other, then it is possible to steal from ordinary residents. In Kalinov, nominal power decides absolutely nothing, and this is fundamentally wrong. After all, it turns out that it is simply impossible to live without money in such a city. Dikoy imagines himself almost like a priest-king, deciding who to lend money to and who not. “So know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush you,” is how Dikoy answers Kuligin.

The problem of love

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

Conflict between old and new

We are talking about the resistance of the patriarchal way of life to the new order, which implies equality and freedom. This topic was very relevant. Let us remember that the play was written in 1859, and serfdom was abolished in 1861. Social contradictions reached their climax. The author wanted to show what the lack of reforms and decisive action can lead to. Tikhon’s final words confirm this. “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world and suffer!” In such a world, the living envy the dead.

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

We can conclude that the problems raised in the drama “The Thunderstorm” are significant and relevant to this day. These are unresolved questions of human existence that will worry people at all times. It is thanks to this formulation of the question that the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a timeless work.

Work test

Alexander Nikolaevich highlighted the most important and especially pressing problem of human dignity at that time. The arguments to consider it as such are very convincing. The author proves that his play is really important, if only because the issues raised in it continue to concern the current generation many years later. Drama is addressed, studied and analyzed, and interest in it has not waned to this day.

In the 50-60s of the 19th century, the following three topics attracted special attention from writers and poets: the emergence of the intelligentsia of various ranks, serfdom and the position of women in society and the family. In addition, there was another theme - the tyranny of money, tyranny and ancient authority among the merchants, under the yoke of which all family members, and especially women, were. A. N. Ostrovsky in his drama “The Thunderstorm” set the task of exposing spiritual and economic tyranny in the so-called “dark kingdom”.

Who can be considered a bearer of human dignity?

The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm" is the most important in this work. It should be noted that there are very few characters in the play about whom one could say: “This is a worthy person.” Most of the characters are either unconditionally negative heroes or expressionless, neutral ones. Dikoy and Kabanikha are idols, devoid of basic human feelings; Boris and Tikhon are spineless creatures capable of only obeying; Kudryash and Varvara are reckless people, drawn to momentary pleasures, incapable of serious experiences and reflections. Only Kuligin, an eccentric inventor, and the main character Katerina stand out from this series. The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm" can be briefly described as the confrontation of these two heroes with society.

Inventor Kuligin

Kuligin is a rather attractive person with considerable talents, a sharp mind, a poetic soul, and a desire to selflessly serve people. He is honest and kind. It is no coincidence that Ostrovsky entrusts his assessment of the backward, limited, complacent Kalinovsky society, which does not recognize the rest of the world. However, although Kuligin evokes sympathy, he is still unable to stand up for himself, so he calmly endures rudeness, endless ridicule and insults. This is an educated, enlightened person, but these best qualities in Kalinov are considered only a whim. The inventor is disparagingly called an alchemist. He longs for the common good, wants to install a lightning rod and a clock in the city, but the inert society does not want to accept any innovations. Kabanikha, who is the embodiment of the patriarchal world, will not take the train, even if the whole world has been using the railway for a long time. Dikoy will never understand that lightning is actually electricity. He doesn't even know that word. The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm", the epigraph of which can be Kuligin's remark "Cruel morals, sir, in our city, are cruel!", thanks to the introduction of this character, receives deeper coverage.

Kuligin, seeing all the vices of society, remains silent. Only Katerina protests. Despite its weakness, it is still a strong nature. The plot of the play is based on a tragic conflict between the way of life and the real feeling of the main character. The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm" is revealed in the contrast of the "dark kingdom" and the "ray" - Katerina.

"Dark Kingdom" and its victims

The inhabitants of Kalinov are divided into two groups. One of them consists of representatives of the “dark kingdom”, personifying power. This is Kabanikha and Dikoy. The other belongs to Kuligin, Katerina, Kudryash, Tikhon, Boris and Varvara. They are victims of the “dark kingdom”, feeling its brutal power, but protesting against it in different ways. Through their actions or inaction, the problem of human dignity is revealed in the drama "The Thunderstorm". Ostrovsky’s plan was to show from different sides the influence of the “dark kingdom” with its suffocating atmosphere.

Katerina's character

Interests and stands out strongly against the background of the environment in which she unwittingly found herself. The reason for the drama of life lies precisely in its special, exceptional character.

This girl is a dreamy and poetic person. She was raised by a mother who spoiled her and loved her. The heroine's daily activities as a child included caring for flowers, visiting church, embroidering, walking, and telling stories of praying mantises and wanderers. The girls developed under the influence of this lifestyle. Sometimes she plunged into waking dreams, fabulous dreams. Katerina’s speech is emotional and figurative. And this poetically minded and impressionable girl, after marriage, finds herself in Kabanova’s house, in an atmosphere of intrusive guardianship and hypocrisy. The atmosphere of this world is cold and soulless. Naturally, the conflict between Katerina’s bright world and the environment of this “dark kingdom” ends tragically.

Relationship between Katerina and Tikhon

The situation is further complicated by the fact that she married a man whom she could not love and did not know, although she tried with all her might to become Tikhon’s faithful and loving wife. The heroine's attempts to get closer to her husband are frustrated by his narrow-mindedness, slavish humiliation and rudeness. Since childhood, he has been accustomed to obeying his mother in everything; he is afraid to say a word against her. Tikhon meekly endures Kabanikha’s tyranny, not daring to object or protest to her. His only desire is to get away from this woman’s care, at least for a little while, to go on a spree and drink. This weak-willed man, being one of the many victims of the “dark kingdom,” not only could not help Katerina in any way, but also simply understand her in a human way, since the heroine’s inner world is too high, complex and inaccessible to him. He could not predict the drama brewing in his wife's heart.

Katerina and Boris

Dikiy's nephew, Boris, is also a victim of a sanctimonious, dark environment. In terms of his internal qualities, he is significantly higher than the “benefactors” surrounding him. The education he received in the capital at a commercial academy developed his cultural needs and views, so it is difficult for this character to survive among the Wild and Kabanovs. The problem of human dignity in the play "The Thunderstorm" also confronts this hero. However, he lacks the character to break free from their tyranny. He is the only one who managed to understand Katerina, but was unable to help her: he does not have enough determination to fight for the girl’s love, so he advises her to come to terms with her fate and leaves her, anticipating Katerina’s death. The inability to fight for happiness doomed Boris and Tikhon to suffer rather than live. Only Katerina managed to challenge this tyranny. The problem of human dignity in the play is thus also a problem of character. Only strong people can challenge the "dark kingdom". Only the main character was one of them.

Dobrolyubov's opinion

The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm" was revealed in an article by Dobrolyubov, who called Katerina "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." The death of a gifted young woman, a strong, passionate nature, illuminated the sleeping “kingdom” for a moment, like a ray of sunshine against the background of gloomy dark clouds. Dobrolyubov views the suicide of Katerina as a challenge not only to the Wild and Kabanovs, but also to the entire way of life in a gloomy, despotic feudal serf country.

The inevitable ending

It was an inevitable ending, despite the fact that the main character revered God so much. It was easier for Katerina Kabanova to leave this life than to endure her mother-in-law’s reproaches, gossip and remorse. She pleaded guilty publicly because she did not know how to lie. Suicide and public repentance should be regarded as actions that elevated her human dignity.

Katerina could be despised, humiliated, even beaten, but she never humiliated herself, did not commit unworthy, low actions, they only went against the morality of this society. Although, what kind of morals can such limited, stupid people have? The problem of human dignity in the drama "The Thunderstorm" is the problem of the tragic choice between accepting or challenging society. Protest in this case threatens with serious consequences, including the need to lose one’s life.

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

Thus, the play “The Thunderstorm” came as a surprise to many. L.N. Tolstoy did not accept the play. The tragedy of this work forced critics to reconsider their views on Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. A.P. Grigoriev noted that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a protest against the “existing”, which is terrible for its adherents. Dobrolyubov, in his article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” argued that the image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” “breathes on us with new life.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

So. Already in the first act, a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It broke out as a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I will die soon,” she confessed to Varvara her sinful love. In her mind, the mad lady's prediction that the thunderstorm would not pass in vain, and the feeling of her own sin with a real thunderclap had already been combined. Katerina rushes home: “It’s still better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!”

But the fourth, climactic act, begins with the words: “The rain is falling, as if a thunderstorm is not gathering?” And after that the thunderstorm motif never ceases.

Undoubtedly, in the play the image of a thunderstorm acquires special significance: it is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, reason is condemned in the dark kingdom, it is faced with impenetrable ignorance, supported by stinginess. But still, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched the long-silent Tikhon and flashed over the destinies of Varvara and Kudryash. The thunderstorm shook everyone up thoroughly. Inhuman morals will come to an end sooner or later. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.

Essays on literature: Issues of Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm"

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

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

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

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

The tragedy takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I’ve been looking across the Volga every day and I can’t take it all in. The view is extraordinary! Beauty! My soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. However, the life and customs of the rich merchants created “a world of prison and deathly silence.” Savel Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova are the personification of cruelty and tyranny. The order in the merchant's house is based on the outdated religious dogmas of Domostroy. Dobrolyubov says about Kabanikha that she “gnaws at her victim... long and relentlessly.” She forces her daughter-in-law Katerina to bow at her husband’s feet when he leaves, scolds her for “not howling” in public when seeing off her husband.

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

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

Katerina married Tikhon without love. In Kabanikha’s house, everything trembles at the mere imperious cry of the merchant’s wife. Life in this house is difficult for young people. And then Katerina meets a completely different person and falls in love. For the first time in her life, she experiences deep personal feeling. One night she goes on a date with Boris. Whose side is the playwright on? He is on Katerina’s side, because a person’s natural aspirations cannot be destroyed. Life in the Kabanov family is unnatural. And Katerina does not accept the inclinations of those people with whom she ended up. Hearing Varvara’s offer to lie and pretend, Katerina replies: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.”

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

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

So, already in the first act a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It broke out like a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I will die soon,” she confessed to Varvara her sinful love. In her mind, the mad lady's prediction that the thunderstorm would not pass in vain, and the feeling of her own sin with a real thunderclap had already been combined. Katerina rushes home: “It’s still better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!”

After this, the storm ceases for a short time. Only in Kabanikha’s grumbling are its echoes heard. There was no thunderstorm that night when Katerina felt free and happy for the first time after her marriage.

But the fourth, climactic act, begins with the words: “The rain is falling, as if a thunderstorm is not gathering?” And after that the thunderstorm motif never ceases.

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

Undoubtedly, in the play the image of a thunderstorm acquires a special meaning: it is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, the mind is condemned in the dark kingdom; it is faced with impenetrable ignorance, supported by stinginess. But still, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched the long-silent Tikhon and flashed over the destinies of Varvara and Kudryash. The thunderstorm shook everyone up thoroughly. It’s too early for inhuman morals. or the end will come later. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.

Reflections on the moral dimension of the problem of relationships between generations (based on the drama by A.N. Ostrovsky “The Thunderstorm”).

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

Morality in the lives of the older and younger generations is associated with the eternal law of succession. Young people adopt life experience and traditions from old people, and wise elders teach young people the rules of life - “wit and reason”. However, young people are characterized by courage of thought, an unbiased view of things without reference to established opinions. It is because of this that conflicts and differences of opinion often arise between them.

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

Representatives of the merchant class of Dikaya and Kabanov are those people whose wealth and importance among the residents of the city of Kalinov determine their high position. Those around them feel the power of their influence, and this power is capable of breaking the will of dependent people, humiliating the unfortunate, and realizing their own insignificance in comparison with the “powers of this world.” Therefore, Savel Prokofievich Dikoy, “a significant person in the city,” does not encounter any contradictions in anyone. He holds his family in awe, who hide “in attics and closets” during the days of his anger; loves to instill fear in people who do not dare to make a murmur about their salary; holds Boris’s nephew in a black body, having robbed him and his sister, brazenly appropriating their inheritance; denounce, insult, meek Kuligin.

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

Tyranny, as the critic Dobrolyubov asserts, “is hostile to the natural demands of humanity... because in their triumph it sees the approach of its inevitable death.” “Wilds and Kabanovs are shrinking and shrinking” - this is inevitable.

The younger generation is Tikhon, Katerina, Varvara Kabanov, this is Dikiy’s nephew Boris. Katerina and her mother-in-law have similar concepts about the morality of younger family members: they should be God-fearing and honor their elders - this is in the traditions of the Russian family. But further, the ideas of both of them about life, in their moral assessments, differ sharply.

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

Will is a spontaneous impulse (“I would run up like that, raise my arms and fly”), and the desire to ride along the Volga singing, hugging each other, and fervent prayers, if the soul asks for communication with God, and even the need to “throw out the window, She’ll throw herself into the Volga” if she gets “sick of” captivity.

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

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

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

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Ostrovsky was once called “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye”, emphasizing the artistic discovery of the world of merchants in the playwright’s plays, but today such works as “Dowry”, “Our People – We Will Be Numbered”, “Talents and Admirers”, “Forest” and other plays are interesting not only specific historical issues, but also moral, universal ones. I would like to talk in more detail about the play “The Thunderstorm”.

It is symbolic that in 1859, on the eve of a social upsurge that would lead in 61 to the abolition

Serfdom, a play appeared called “The Thunderstorm”. Just as the name of the play is symbolic, its moral issues are also multifaceted, at the center of which are the problems of external and internal freedom, love and happiness, the problem of moral choice and its responsibility.

The problem of external and internal freedom becomes one of the central ones in the play. “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel,” says Kuligin already at the beginning of the play.

Only one person is given the ability to stand out from the background of those who humiliate and humiliate – Katerina. Already the first appearance of Katerina reveals in her a not timid daughter-in-law of a strict mother-in-law,

And a person who has dignity and feels like an individual: “Who is happy to endure falsehoods,” says Katerina in response to Kabanikha’s unfair words. Katerina is a spiritual, bright, dreamy person; she, like no one else in the play, knows how to feel beauty. Even her religiosity is also a manifestation of spirituality. The church service was filled with special charm for her: in the rays of sunlight she saw angels and felt a sense of belonging to something higher, unearthly.

The motif of light becomes one of the central ones in Katerina’s characterization. “But the face seems to glow,” Boris had only to say this, and Kudryash immediately realized that he was talking about Katerina. Her speech is melodious, figurative, reminiscent of Russian folk songs: “Violent winds, bear with him my sadness and melancholy.” Katerina is distinguished by her inner freedom and passionate nature; it is no coincidence that the motif of a bird and flight appears in the play. The captivity of the Kabanovsky house oppresses her, suffocates her. “Everything seems to be out of captivity with you. I’ve completely wilted with you,” says Katerina, explaining to Varvara why she doesn’t feel happy in the Kabanovs’ house.

Another moral problem of the play is connected with the image of Katerina - the human right to love and happiness. Katerina’s impulse to Boris is an impulse to joy, without which a person cannot live, an impulse to happiness, which she was deprived of in Kabanikha’s house. No matter how hard Katerina tried to fight her love, this fight was doomed from the very beginning. In Katerina’s love, like in a thunderstorm, there was something spontaneous, strong, free, but also tragically doomed; it is no coincidence that she begins her story about love with the words: “I will die soon.” Already in this first conversation with Varvara, the image of an abyss, a cliff appears: “There will be some kind of sin! Such fear comes over me, such and such fear! It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss, and someone is pushing me there, but I have nothing to hold on to.”

The title of the play takes on the most dramatic sound when we feel a “thunderstorm” brewing in Katerina’s soul. The central moral problem play can be called the problem of moral choice. The collision of duty and feeling, like a thunderstorm, destroyed the harmony in Katerina’s soul with which she lived; She no longer dreams, as before, of “golden temples or extraordinary gardens,” it is no longer possible to ease her soul with prayer: “If I start to think, I won’t be able to gather my thoughts, if I’ll pray, I won’t be able to pray.” Without agreement with herself, Katerina cannot live; she could never, like Varvara, be content with thieving, secret love. The consciousness of her sinfulness weighs on Katerina, torments her more than all of Kabanikha’s reproaches. Ostrovsky's heroine cannot live in a world of discord - this explains her death. She made the choice herself - and she pays for it herself, without blaming anyone: “No one is to blame - she did it herself.”

We can conclude that it is precisely the moral problematics of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” that makes this work interesting for the modern reader even today.

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In literary criticism, the problematics of a work are the range of problems that are addressed in one way or another in the text. This may be one or more aspects that the author focuses on. In this work we will talk about the problems of Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. A. N. Ostrovsky received a literary vocation after his first published play. “Poverty is not a vice,” “Dowry,” “Profitable Place” - these and many other works are devoted to social and everyday themes, but the issue of the problems of the play “The Thunderstorm” needs to be considered separately.

The play was received ambiguously by critics. Dobrolyubov saw hope for a new life in Katerina, Ap. Grigoriev noticed the emerging protest against the existing order, and L. Tolstoy did not accept the play at all. The plot of “The Thunderstorm,” at first glance, is quite simple: everything is based on a love conflict. Katerina secretly meets with a young man while her husband left for another city on business. Unable to cope with the pangs of conscience, the girl admits to treason, after which she rushes into the Volga. However, behind all this everyday, everyday life, lies much larger things that threaten to grow to the scale of space. Dobrolyubov calls the “dark kingdom” the situation described in the text. An atmosphere of lies and betrayal. In Kalinov, people are so accustomed to moral filth that their resigned consent only aggravates the situation. It becomes scary to realize that it was not the place that made people like this, it was the people who independently turned the city into a kind of accumulation of vices. And now the “dark kingdom” is beginning to influence the inhabitants. After a detailed reading of the text, you can see how widely the problems of the work “The Thunderstorm” have been developed.

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

The problem of fathers and children

Here we are not talking about misunderstanding, but about total control, about patriarchal orders. The play shows the life of the Kabanov family. At that time, the opinion of the eldest man in the family was undeniable, and wives and daughters were practically deprived of their rights. The head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna, a widow. She took on male functions. This is a powerful and calculating woman. Kabanikha believes that she takes care of her children, ordering them to do as she wants. This behavior led to quite logical consequences. Her son, Tikhon, is a weak and spineless person. His mother, it seems, wanted to see him this way, because in this case it is easier to control a person. Tikhon is afraid to say anything, to express his opinion; in one of the scenes he admits that he doesn’t have his own point of view at all. Tikhon cannot protect either himself or his wife from his mother’s hysterics and cruelty. Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, on the contrary, managed to adapt to this lifestyle. She easily lies to her mother, the girl even changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could go on dates with Curly without hindrance. Tikhon is incapable of any rebellion, while Varvara, at the end of the play, runs away from her parents' house with her lover.

The problem of self-realization

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

The problem of power

In the city of Kalinov, power is not in the hands of the relevant authorities, but in those who have money. Proof of this is the dialogue between the merchant Dikiy and the mayor. The mayor tells the merchant that complaints are being received against the latter. Savl Prokofievich responds rudely to this. Dikoy does not hide the fact that he is cheating ordinary men; he talks about deception as a normal phenomenon: if merchants steal from each other, then it is possible to steal from ordinary residents. In Kalinov, nominal power decides absolutely nothing, and this is fundamentally wrong. After all, it turns out that it is simply impossible to live without money in such a city. Dikoy imagines himself almost like a priest-king, deciding who to lend money to and who not. “So know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush you,” is how Dikoy answers Kuligin.

The problem of love

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

Conflict between old and new

We are talking about the resistance of the patriarchal way of life to the new order, which implies equality and freedom. This topic was very relevant. Let us remember that the play was written in 1859, and serfdom was abolished in 1861. Social contradictions reached their climax. The author wanted to show what the lack of reforms and decisive action can lead to. Tikhon’s final words confirm this. “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world and suffer!” In such a world, the living envy the dead.

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

We can conclude that the problems raised in the drama “The Thunderstorm” are significant and relevant to this day. These are unresolved questions of human existence that will worry people at all times. It is thanks to this formulation of the question that the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a timeless work.

Work test

"Columbus of Zamoskvorechye". A. N. Ostrovsky knew the merchant environment well and saw in it the focus of national life. According to the playwright, all types of characters are widely represented here. The writing of the drama “The Thunderstorm” was preceded by A. N. Ostrovsky’s expedition along the Upper Volga in 1856-1857. “The Volga gave Ostrovsky abundant food, showed him new themes for dramas and comedies and inspired him to those that constitute the honor and pride of Russian literature” (Maksimov S.V.). The plot of the drama “The Thunderstorm” was not a consequence of the real story of the Klykov family from Kostroma, as was believed for a long time. The play was written before the tragedy that occurred in Kostroma. This fact testifies to the typical nature of the conflict between the old and the new, which was increasingly making itself known among the merchants. The problems of the play are quite multifaceted.

The central problem is the confrontation between the individual and the environment (and, as a special case, the powerless position of women, about which N.A. Dobrolyubov said: “... the strongest protest is the one that finally rises from the chests of the weakest and most patient”). The problem of confrontation between personality and environment is revealed on the basis of the central conflict of the play: there is a clash between the “warm heart” and the dead way of life of merchant society. The lively nature of Katerina Kabanova, romantic, freedom-loving, hot-tempered, is not able to tolerate the “cruel morals” of the city of Kalinov, about which in the 3rd yavl. Kuligin narrates the first act: “And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor so that he can make even more money from his free labors... They undermine each other’s trade, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy. They are at enmity with each other; they get drunken clerks into their high mansions...” All lawlessness and cruelty are committed under the guise of piety. The heroine is unable to put up with hypocrisy and tyranny, among which Katerina’s sublime soul suffocates. And for young Kabanova, an honest and integral nature, Varvara’s principle of “survival” is completely impossible: “Do what you want, as long as it’s safe and covered.” The opposition of a “warm heart” to inertia and hypocrisy, even if the price for such a rebellion is life, will be called by the critic N. A. Dobrolyubov “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

The tragic state of mind and progress in a world of ignorance and tyranny. This complex issue is revealed in the play through the introduction of the image of Kuligin, who cares about the common good and progress, but encounters misunderstanding on the part of the Wild: “... I would use all the money for society, for support. Jobs must be given to the philistines. Otherwise, you have hands, but nothing to work with.” But those who have money, for example Dikoy, are in no hurry to part with it, and even admit their lack of education: “What kind of elitism is there! Why aren't you a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself with poles and some kind of rods, God forgive me.” Feklushi’s ignorance finds deep “understanding” in Kabanova: “On such a beautiful evening, rarely does anyone come out to sit outside the gate; but in Moscow there are now festivals and games, and there is a roar and a groan in the streets. Why, Mother Marfa Ignatievna, they started harnessing the fiery serpent: everything, you see, for the sake of speed.”

Substitution of life according to the gracious Christian commandments for blind, fanatical, “Domostroevsky” Orthodoxy, bordering on obscurantism. The religiosity of Katerina’s nature, on the one hand, and the piety of Kabanikha and Feklusha, on the other, appear completely different. The faith of young Kabanova carries within itself a creative principle, full of joy, light and selflessness: “You know: on a sunny day such a bright column goes down from the dome, and in this column there is smoke, like clouds, and I see, it used to be like angels in they fly and sing on this pillar... Or I’ll go to the garden early in the morning. As soon as the sun rises, I fall on my knees, pray and cry, and I myself don’t know what I’m crying about; that's how they'll find me. And what I prayed for then, what I asked for, I don’t know; I don’t need anything, I had enough of everything.” Rigid religious and moral postulates and severe asceticism, so revered by Kabanikha, help her justify her despotism and cruelty.

The problem of sin. The theme of sin, which appears more than once in the play, is also closely related to the religious issue. Adultery becomes an unbearable burden for Katerina’s conscience, and therefore the woman finds the only possible way out for her - public repentance. But the most difficult problem is resolving the issue of sin. Katerina considers life in the “dark kingdom” to be a greater sin than suicide: “It doesn’t matter that death comes, that it itself... but you can’t live! Sin! Won't they pray? He who loves will pray..."

The problem of human dignity. The solution to this problem is directly related to the main problem of the play. Only the main character, with her decision to leave this world, defends her own dignity and right to respect. The youth of the city of Kalinov are unable to decide to protest. Their moral “strength” is only enough for secret “outlets” that everyone finds for themselves: Varvara secretly goes for a walk with Kudryash, Tikhon gets drunk as soon as he leaves the vigilant mother’s care. And other characters have little choice. “Dignity” can only be afforded by those who have substantial capital and, as a result, power; the rest include Kuligin’s advice: “What to do, sir! We must try to please somehow!”