Katerina's social position in a thunderstorm. The image and characterization of Katerina in the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky with quotes

In the drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky created a completely new one for his creativity female image– with inner harmony, spiritual strength and an extraordinary attitude.

Life before marriage

Katerina is a bright person with a poetic, elevated soul. She is a dreamer with a remarkably developed imagination. Before her marriage, she lived freely: she prayed in church, did handicrafts, listened to the stories of the praying mantis, and saw fabulous dreams. The author vividly represents the heroine’s desire for spirituality and beauty.

Religiosity

Katerina is very pious and religious. Christianity in her perception is closely connected with pagan beliefs and folklore legends. Katerina’s entire inner being strives for freedom and flight: “Why don’t people fly like birds?” she asks. Even in her dreams she sees her own flights in the form of a bird or a butterfly.

Having gotten married and settled in the Kabanovs’ house, she feels like a bird in a cage. Being a person of strong character, Katerina has a sense of self-esteem. In Kabanikha’s house, where everything is done as if against her will, it’s hard for her. How hard it is to accept stupidity and weak character own husband. Their whole life is built on deception and submission.

Hiding behind God's commandments, Kabanova humiliates and insults her household. Most likely, such frequent attacks on the daughter-in-law are due to the fact that she feels in her a rival capable of resisting her will.

Varya Katerina admits that if her life becomes completely unbearable, she will not endure it - she will throw herself into the Volga. Even as a child, when her parents offended her in some way, she sailed away on a boat along the Volga alone. I think that the river for her is a symbol of freedom, will, and space.

Thirst for freedom and love

The thirst for freedom in Katerina’s soul is mixed with thirst true love, knowing no boundaries or barriers. Attempts to maintain a relationship with her husband lead nowhere - she cannot respect him because of his weak character. Having fallen in love with Boris, Dikiy’s nephew, she thinks of him as a kind, intelligent and well-mannered man, very different from those around him. He attracts her with his difference, and the heroine surrenders to her feelings.

Subsequently, she begins to be tormented by the awareness of her sinfulness. Her internal conflict is determined not only by the conviction of sin before God, but also before oneself. Katerina’s ideas about morality and morality do not allow her to be calm about secret love meetings with Boris and her husband’s deception. Thus, the heroine’s suffering is inevitable. Due to her growing feelings of guilt, the girl confesses everything to her family just as a thunderstorm approaches. In thunder and lightning she sees God's punishment overtaking her.

Resolving internal conflict

Katerina's internal conflict cannot be resolved by her confession. From the inability to reconcile her feelings and the opinions of others about herself, she commits suicide.

Despite the fact that taking one’s own life is a sin, Katerina thinks about Christian forgiveness and is sure that her sins will be forgiven by the one who loves her.

I am very sorry that there was not one in Katerina’s circle strong man, capable of protecting her from internal experiences and external conflicts. In my opinion, Katerina is rightly called “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

– this is a nature that is not pliable, not bendable. She has a highly developed personality, she has a lot of strength and energy; her rich soul requires freedom, breadth - she does not want to secretly “steal” joy from life. It can not bend, but break. (See also the article The image of Katerina in the play “The Thunderstorm” - briefly.)

A. N. Ostrovsky. Storm. Play

Katerina received a purely national upbringing, developed by the ancient Russian pedagogy of Domostroy. She lived locked up throughout her childhood and youth, but the atmosphere parental love softened this life - moreover, the influence of religion prevented her soul from becoming callous in suffocating loneliness. On the contrary, she did not feel any bondage: “she lived and did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild!” Katerina often went to churches, listened to the stories of pilgrims and pilgrims, listened to the singing of spiritual poems - she lived carefree, surrounded by love and affection... And she grew up beautiful, gentle girl, with a fine mental organization, a great dreamer... Brought up in a religious way, she lived exclusively in the circle religious ideas; her rich imagination was fed only by those impressions that she drew from the lives of saints, from legends, apocrypha and the moods that she experienced during worship...

“...to death I loved going to church! - she later recalled her youth in a conversation with her husband’s sister Varvara. - Exactly, it happened that I would enter heaven... And I don’t see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service ends. Mama said that everyone used to look at me, what was happening to me! And, you know, on a sunny day such a light column goes down from the dome and smoke moves in this column, like clouds. And I see, sometimes, as a girl, I’ll get up at night - we also had lamps burning everywhere - and somewhere, in a corner, I’ll pray until the morning. Or I’ll go into the garden early in the morning, the sun is just rising, and I’ll fall on my knees, pray and cry, and I myself don’t know what I’m praying for and what I’m crying about!”

From this story it is clear that Katerina was not just religious person, - she knew the moments of religious “ecstasy” - that enthusiasm that the holy ascetics were rich in, and examples of which we will find in abundance in the lives of the saints... Like them, Katerina experienced “visions” and wonderful dreams.

“And what dreams I had, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens... And everyone is singing invisible voices, and they smell of cypress... And the mountains and the trees, as if not the same as usual, but as if they were written in images!

From all these stories of Katerina it is clear that she is not entirely ordinary person... Her soul, crushed by the ancient system of life, seeks space, does not find it around itself and is carried away “to grief”, to God ... Many such natures in the old days went into “asceticism” ...

But sometimes in her relationships with her family, the energy of her soul broke through - she did not go "against people" but, indignant, protesting, she then left "from people"...

“I was born so hot! - she tells Varvara. “I was only six years old, no more, so I did it!” They offended me with something at home, and it was late in the 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!..

Eh, Varya, you don’t know my character! Of course, God forbid this happens! And if I get really tired of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t do this, even if you cut me!”

From these words it is clear that calm, dreamy Katerina knows impulses that are difficult to cope with.

The main character of the work is Katerina, tragic fate which is described by the author in the play.

Katerina is presented by the writer in the image of a beautiful nineteen-year-old girl who got married early. IN early childhood Katerina lived happily with her family, surrounded mother's love and cares, being free in their movements and passion for church life. The girl’s nature is vulnerable, sensitive and emotional, capable of real, sincere feelings.

The writer characterizes Katerina as a kind, sympathetic, sincere young woman who does not know how to deceive or be a hypocrite, and has a charming smile.

Once in her husband's house, Katerina is faced with rejection of her as her son's wife by her mother-in-law, the cruel and greedy merchant Kabanikha, who turns the life of young people into an unbearable existence.

Kabanikha’s gambling desire to subjugate all household members to her will, which is on the verge of madness, is completely aimed at the daughter-in-law who has appeared in the house.

The son, beaten down by Kabanikha since childhood, tired of his mother’s tyranny, but making no attempt to change the situation in the house and constantly complaining about his unhappy life, is unable to protect Katerina from the humiliation and nagging of Kabanikha.

Katerina strives to create a happy and prosperous family, she is very religious and is afraid of committing a righteous sin. A passionate feeling of love for another man, the nephew of the merchant Dikiy Boris, flares up in Katerina’s soul, who reciprocates her feelings. But the woman fears heavenly punishment for committing treason and, due to her receptivity, accepts the sudden onset of bad weather in the form of a thunderstorm as a sign from God.

The girl is distinguished by inner purity and sincere honesty not only towards herself, but also towards others. Therefore, Katerina decides to confess her feelings for Boris to her husband. Having opened up about her betrayal, the girl finds out that Boris is not ready to accept her as a wife and does not feel love for her at all.

Katerina begins to realize that Boris is for her a symbol of freedom, a dream of happy life, and, having poured out hope, the desperate girl decides to commit suicide by throwing herself off the steep bank of the river.

Revealing the image main character plays, the writer depicts inner strength a girl who decides to commit mortal sin for the sake of the desire for a new life, for deliverance from the world of the dark kingdom towards the true and true love.

Option 2

Kabanova Katerina Petrovna - the heroine from the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm".

Katerina is eighteen years old in the play. Born and raised in the city of Kalinov. Her parents loved her very much. In Katerina's childhood there were many interesting people, So. how wanderers often came to them and told different stories. She was very religious: every week her mother dressed her in beautiful dresses and took her to church. The girl really loved being there.

Katerina Petrovna’s character is combative, fair, and kind. Once in her childhood she was offended by something at home. Angry, she got into the boat and sailed far from home. She was married off early. Perhaps because of her character.

Tikhon, her husband, is a timid, calm man. His mother puts pressure on him all the time and tries in every possible way to hurt Katerina. Because of this, the main character is forced to defend herself all the time, because her husband does not do this. The main character did not want to put up with the foundations of that family: humiliation, submission, insults. She's the only one who stood up to it.

Katerina was unhappily married. In the house I only communicated normally with Tikhon’s sister, Varenka, who felt sorry for her brother’s wife. Katerina began to wither away in this family. But one day a young man came to their city - Boris. The girl immediately drew attention to him, right. how, in her opinion, he was unlike anyone else. They began dating when the husband went away on business and did not take his wife with him, even though she begged him. But Katerina was a very religious person and was afraid to die with sin in her soul. She was not afraid of death, she was only afraid of appearing before God with all her sins. Katerina Petrovna admitted her betrayal.

After that, her life became even worse: at home there were constant insults, sometimes beatings, everyone turned away from her. She was ready to run away with Boris because she loved him. Boris was sent to Siberia. He also loved Katerina, but did not take him with him, because he did not want to quarrel with his uncle, on whom his inheritance depended.

At that time, women did not have the opportunity to live independently. If Katerina had run away alone, she would have been caught and severely beaten as punishment. She had only two choices: either return to her husband’s house, where she would not have a place to live, or throw herself into the Volga River. She chose the latter.

When her dead body was pulled out, many realized (and some already knew) that she was the only person in that area who was worthy of respect.

Essay Image and characteristics of Katerina

Subject female destiny in a harsh society is one of the most striking themes revealed in Ostrovsky’s works. “The Thunderstorm” also belongs to the cycle of these works. The main character of the play is a collective image.

Katerina is a girl from a decent family who married Tikhon, she loves him, but his mother always lectures her. She doesn’t even let her say goodbye to her husband when he leaves for Moscow.

Katerina is a poor, unhappy married woman, whose image is the image of many girls of that time. She understands that she will spend her whole life in this kingdom of darkness, where she is not loved, although she tries to be a good wife, where she will never become a free bird, which is what she says to Varvara, but she also does not understand her.

She's the only one light soul in that city. Katerina, even when she fell in love with Boris, felt shame and considered herself to blame for this, asked her husband to take her with him, as if she felt that something bad, irreparable would happen.

But Tikhon does not listen to her, he follows his mother’s lead. Tikhon does not even dare to object to her, and does not stand up for her, although Katerina herself did not remain silent, and answered Kabanikha that she was wrongfully offending her.

The author also shows the honesty of the main character, when she is unable to keep her husband in deception, before the terrible violence of the elements, she tells him everything about her and Boris. At the same time, the author emphasizes her bright soul, which is unable to endure the humiliation of Kabanikh, the indifference of her previously beloved husband, and the cowardice of her lover.

She knows that the only way to free herself from these shackles is death. last hope fades away when Boris refuses to take her with him.

Although he has every reason to do this if he truly loved her. But Boris is a coward. The main feature The author emphasizes this character at the beginning, when Boris lives with his uncle and endures all the insults and humiliations, in front of everyone, in the most crowded place, namely on the river embankment, on the main boulevard of the city.

Boris, when he says goodbye to Katerina, feels that something will happen, but he is a coward and Katerina will never see him again.

Her only path to freedom is death and now, jumping, she feels absolutely happy and free, now she is a bird!

Option 4

The work “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky occupies a special place in the writer’s work due to the image of the main character.

Katerina differs from the rest of the people of the “Dark Kingdom” in that she includes all kindness. However, fate does not spoil her. From her words, we learn that she did not receive an education because she did not have the opportunity to do so. The heroine lived in a village in poverty. But her childhood was carefree. Her mother did not force her to work, and therefore Katerina had a lot of time for activities she liked. It is clearly visible that the girl grew up happy and romantic, loving everything around her. But most importantly, she lived in dreams, separate from existing world. Katerina especially loved going to church and admiring the angels. Yes, she can also be counted among them. But sometimes she woke up in her soul contradictory nature, and she went against some actions.

When Katerina got married, she changed a lot. From a bright world, devoid of deception and injustice, she falls into the sphere of deceit, cruelty and deceit. And the reason was not at all that her life partner was a man whom she did not even love. It's just that the girl was torn out of the light and good world where she was for a long time. And now she doesn’t particularly enjoy going to church. The girl cannot carry out everyday activities as she did before marriage. She is always in a sad and depressed state, which prevents her from even admiring the beauty of nature. She has to endure and suffer, and the girl can no longer live with her thoughts, since reality returns her to the place where humiliation and insult exist. The girl tries to love her husband, but all her feelings are suppressed by Kabanikha. Because of her humility, she tries to show her feelings towards Tikhon, but he does not appreciate it. Then Katerina becomes completely lonely.

And the heroine cannot live in her husband’s house, pretending. A woman has a conflict with her mother-in-law. She scares Kabanikha with her sincerity and purity. Katerina did not howl in the house after her husband left, as Kabanikha wanted. And what courage it took to express your feelings to Boris. Running away from a hated house, Katerina seeks to find support from Boris, but is faced with a weak-willed and weak person. The woman stays in all alone, and she can only get out of this scary world. It seems to me that only a person with strong character. For us, Katerina embodies a simple, bright and Russian soul, which encourages us to fight the rudeness, ignorance, and tyranny that are still present.

After the publication of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” residents of some cities in the Volga region argued about which of them the events depicted by the playwright were connected with. However, Ostrovsky depicted typical characters and pictures of Russian life, without specifying the images of the heroes for certain prototypes.

Here he is walking along Kabanikha Boulevard, accompanied by his daughter Varvara, son Tikhon and his wife Katerina. Everyone suffers insults inflicted by the head of this family. Everyone except Katerina, who courageously defends her right to respect. The young woman does not want to please anyone, but wants to love and be mutually loved. This makes her different from other characters in the play.

Katerina in the play is compared to in a folk-poetic way- a bird that is a symbol of love for freedom. So Katerina, telling Varvara about her life with her parents, speaks with delight about her free life when she was a girl:

“I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mama doted on me, dressed me up like a doll, and didn’t force me to work; I used to do whatever I want.”

Katerina’s life in the Kabanov family is a cry for a lost young life. But the heroine is a strong and strong-willed person who does not want to put up with Kabanov’s order. She does not howl for her weak-willed husband, humiliated by his mother, who is away on business. She yearns for true love and therefore, without looking back, she gives in to her feelings for Boris, because she understands that she will not be able to break herself.

But Katerina is religious, punishment for the sin she committed frightens the heroine. A thunderstorm is approaching not only the city of Kalinov. A thunderstorm arises in the heroine's heart. Boris in last date behaved like a person dependent on material circumstances, showing mental weakness and immaturity. Therefore, being on the limit psychological state, Katerina publicly confesses to her husband that she has committed a sin, and then throws herself off a cliff into the river.

Suicide from a religious point of view - terrible sin! Apparently, Ostrovsky's heroine thought in last minute life is not about the salvation of her soul, but about the love that has been revealed to her. That's why her last words were:

"My friend! My joy! Goodbye!"

Thus, she could not, and did not want to put up with the life of the Kabanov family and others like her... So Dobrolyubov is in critical article"A ray of light in dark kingdom” writes about Katerina: “She... does not want to take advantage of the miserable vegetation that is given to her in exchange for her living soul...”

A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” was presented a year before the abolition of serfdom in 1859. Particularly prominent in this story is the life of Katerina in parental home. The image of the main character changes with each chapter; she is vulnerable and tender.

What is the play about?

The action takes place in the fictional city of Kalinov. The drama takes place in one of the merchant houses on the banks of the Volga. The owner of the house, merchant Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, is a powerful and capricious person. She holds everyone around her in her arms. Nobody can resist her. But her zeal to subjugate everyone and everything prompts her to conquer more and more souls.

The red line between the lines of the play is the theme of generational conflict. And today this problem is relevant and modern. The embodiment of tyranny and the desire to rule the world in the image of Marfa Kabanova personifies the system established by the older generation. But the image of Katerina is especially revealed, her mental tragedy leaves no one indifferent.

Katerina's life in her mother-in-law's house

The appearance of a new family member, Katerina, in the Kabanovs’ house, turns the merchant’s attention to new victim. Katerina Kabanova, daughter-in-law of the imperious Marfa Ignatievna, appeared in the house not at the behest of her heart, but due to circumstances. She was forcibly married to the merchant's son Tikhon, whose will was enslaved by his mother. Katerina’s life in her parents’ house was also not characterized by joy and happiness.

The appearance of Katerina brings a special meaning to the atmosphere of the play, contrasting light image soulful and pious girl to the “gray” existence of the merchants mid-19th century. The image of the girl amazes the reader with her simplicity, sincerity, she is ready to give the world her kindness and can do it. Her image is the only one that is called “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

Such strict limits

But the framework of merchant society does not allow her soul to open up. Her bright dreams and thoughts, which she shares with her husband’s sister Varya, are not needed by anyone and are incomprehensible. In the merchant environment there is no place for sincerity and love, freedom of soul and purity of thoughts.

Since childhood, Katya has become accustomed to the free love of her mother, to the joyful world of freedom and church wisdom. The girl can't breathe in merchant's house, the resourcefulness and lies that reign in society are alien to her. Her soul can fly like a free bird only in dreams, which have become so rare with the onset of marriage. The image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” is described in detail. Her experiences and mental anguish are briefly presented.

Seek salvation in love

Sip fresh air For Katerina, love becomes for Boris, the nephew of the same greedy as Kabanikha and the pompous merchant Dikiy. Because she is forced to while away her days locked up in her mother-in-law’s kingdom, Katerina seeks an outlet for her feelings in her attachment to Boris. While Katerina's husband is away, the lovers' secret meetings help her realize that her love for her nephew Dikiy is not really the kind of love that can make her fly to the stars. Katerina's life in someone else's house turns into torture.

She understands that the hopelessness of her situation has pushed her towards an imaginary loved one, who is not at all as impeccable in his thoughts as she would like. It turned out that she came up with it herself. She needed at least someone who could share her bright thoughts with her, with whom she could make her dreams of a happy and free life. Katerina's life in her parents' house makes the main character believe in ghostly love.

Immortal soul without bowing its head

The merchant widow Marfa Kabanova, in her thirst for power, was never able to get her daughter-in-law to recognize her supremacy. Katerina calls her mother-in-law “you” to her face, thereby making it clear how equal she considers them. Katerina feels sorry for her husband, realizing that he will never be able to break free from his mother’s embrace without permission, and his mother will not allow him to do this. His complaints about life are nothing more than a recognition of his infantility and habit of being led by a strong leader.

And Martha, like a poisonous spider, weaved her webs, sticky and strong, into which it was not difficult for those who lived in a society where deception, foolishness and envy reigned. The appearance of a brave opponent, proud and silent, reveals a selfless desire to change something in the world around him. The inability to single-handedly resist the ossified system of government is reflected in the outbreak of a thunderstorm and culminates in the suicide of the main character. For her, “it is not death that is desirable, but life that is unbearable.”

A protest that ends in tragedy

Her dream of flying like a bird does not seem absurd or funny. She embodied all the despair of a young girl, all the pain and unimaginable spiritual tragedy. Understanding the very essence of life in lies, unwillingness and inability to pretend and adapt lead Katerina to the edge of a cliff. A deep believer, she was not afraid to commit suicide, thereby forever depriving her restless soul of peace, and she was not afraid of the wrath of God and heavenly punishment. Katerina's protest in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" ends in tragedy.

At that time, Katerina was driven into a corner by circumstances. Her confession of betrayal of her husband and mother-in-law speaks of how pure and highly spiritual her nature was. To be honest with others, but first with herself, is the underside of her soul, the very bottom.

“The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky amazed his contemporaries with the courage of Katerina’s reasoning and admired the strength of character of such a fragile and tender soul. Silent opposition and disobedience to the will of the existing regime creates a feeling of ongoing struggle and confidence in victory, if not now, but certainly.

The image of Katerina inspired many young minds to rise to the fight against autocracy, strengthen the will and spirit through trials and find their way to the light in the name of freedom and justice. The assignment for “The Thunderstorm” - “Katerina’s life in her parents’ house” is given in secondary schools. The image of the martyr girl is popular to this day.