Message about the city of Kalinov. The composition of the city of viburnum and its inhabitants in the play of the Ostrovsky thunderstorm. The situation in the city as a whole

Drama A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" is truly unique in its conflicts, one of which is social, it occupies a central place in the play, thanks to him the author exposes all the vices of the "dark kingdom" that prevail in the city of Kalinovo.

The work begins with Kuligin’s remark, in which he praises the Volga open spaces, but against the backdrop of all the abundance of beauty, we observe the cruel scene of Dikoy’s violence against his nephew Boris. With this contrast, Ostrovsky shows that behind the external, seemingly pleasing to the eye, veil hides a terrible way of life - domostroy.

Our experts can check your essay according to the USE criteria

Site experts Kritika24.ru
Teachers of leading schools and current experts of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

In it, according to Kuligin, cruel morals triumph: only those who have power and money can “speak”. Bright representatives of powerful people are Wild, a significant person in the city, and Kabanikha, a rich merchant's wife, who has everything "under the guise of piety." These people behave immorally: behind their high fences they terrorize their households. Wild, whose last name highlights the main feature of his character - savagery, and cannot live a day without offending anyone, Kabanikha constantly teaches the life of his son Tikhon and his wife Katerina. Savel Prokofievich and Marfa Ignatievna are prominent representatives of the "dark kingdom", their souls have hardened because of the thirst for power over everyone, they look at people from above, and do not at all consider them as such.

Other residents of the Volga town are ordinary people who want to live a quiet life. But in the conditions of a patriarchal way of life, this is impossible. Varvara, the ungrateful and deceitful daughter of Kabinikh, lives under the motto "if only everything was sewn and covered", she hypocrites her mother when necessary, so as not to succumb to her attacks. Her brother, Tikhon, is completely spineless, he only does what indulges his mother and obeys her will.

Glasha and Feklusha are the lowest stratum of society. They are happy to serve their masters.

Boris is a decently educated young man with a difficult fate. Every day I have to listen to sayings from Diky in my address.

Another resident of the city, who differs from others in his sincerity, honesty, his desire to do something useful for society, is Kuligin, a tradesman, a self-taught watchmaker. He has a promising idea for building a lightning rod, but he has no money for its implementation. It is unlikely that he will ever realize his plan, because in the conditions of the "dark kingdom" this is impossible.

All ordinary people of the city of Kalinov are part of the "dark kingdom", they are not able to take any measures to free themselves from the life they live, because they are powerless to cruel customs, all that remains for them is to "go with the flow".

The only opposite character is Katerina, Tikhon's wife, according to Dobrolyubov, "a ray of light in the dark kingdom", whose image helps to shed light on all the vices of the "dark kingdom" and give rise to something new bright in the "dead" city. This is a bright, sincere, vulnerable nature, which is not used to living according to the laws of house building. Although Katerina is married to Tikhon, she loves another - Boris. She daily experiences mental anguish due to the fact that she is cheating on her albeit unloved husband. When a thunderstorm comes, Katerina attributes this phenomenon to God's punishment, her vulnerable soul cannot stand it and she commits suicide.

The playwright Ostrovsky negatively portrayed the inhabitants of the fictional city of Kalinov and his customs, thereby he wanted to show how sad the situation is in the provincial cities of Russia.

Updated: 2018-06-08

Attention!
If you notice an error or typo, highlight the text and press Ctrl+Enter.
Thus, you will provide invaluable benefit to the project and other readers.

Thank you for your attention.

Composition on the theme "Thunderstorm - the City of Kalinov and its inhabitants" 5.00 /5 (100.00%) 2 votes

The drama "Thunderstorm" by A.N. Ostrovsky reflects many important and topical problems of all times. The author reveals them not only through the characters and their characters, but also with the help of auxiliary images. For example, the image of the City of Kalinov plays an important role in this work.
The city of Kalinov is a collective image. It is the personification of many provincial cities of the 19th century. A city that lives by its ignorant and outdated laws. The city of Kalinov is located on the banks of the Volga and adheres to old customs and traditions, while the inhabitants of the city do not want to accept anything new. This so-called "dark kingdom" and its inhabitants protest against progress and all kinds of innovations.
The inhabitants of the city of Kalinova are monotonous people with a monotonous life. All heroes can be divided into two parts: dominating and subordinating.
The Kabanikha can be attributed to the first group. Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna is an imperious woman who knows how to command people around her. She wants to be obeyed. In fact, it is. Her son, Tikhon, has neither the right to choose nor his own opinion. He is already accustomed to humiliation and agrees with his mother in everything.
Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikhi, the sister of Tikhon. The girl says that all life in their house is based on fear and lies.
The above heroes can also be attributed to the Wild. He, like Kabanikha, adheres to old customs and fights progress in every possible way. Wild is not stupid, but very stingy and ignorant. The hero admits that the most important thing for him is money, but he hides behind the desires of his heart.
Opposing all this "dark kingdom" is a young and completely misunderstood Katerina. She is a free person who lives by her moral and spiritual principles. The boar immediately disliked her daughter-in-law and tried in every possible way to humiliate her. The girl humbly and meekly carried out all the orders of her mother-in-law, endured humiliation and insults. But in the end, she could not stand it and committed suicide.
All the ignorance in the city of Kalinovo prompted her to this. The inhabitants could live normally, but from ignorance and unwillingness to know, they die in their fictional cruel world.
A thunderstorm over the city becomes a symbol of grief and a harbinger of trouble. It's like God's punishment for the religious Katerina. But on the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, a thunderstorm is the release of a girl from this dark captivity.
Katherine's suicide. What is this? Awareness of one's guilt or a challenge to the "dark kingdom" and its inhabitants. Katerina is a fighter for justice, for peace. She was against ignorance and vulgarity. Despite this, we see that the world of Kabanikh and Dikiy will soon collapse, because sooner or later the old leaves and a new one comes in its place. Both the author and each of the readers understand that progress cannot be stopped by any imperious Kabanikhe. Not Wild.

Ural State Pedagogical University

Test

according to Russian literature of the 19th (2nd) century

4th year students of the correspondence department

IFC and MK

Agapova Anastasia Anatolievna

Yekaterinburg

2011

Topic: The image of the city of Kalinov in the "Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky.

Plan:

1. Brief biography of the writer
2. The image of the city of Kalinov
3. Conclusion
4. Bibliography

1. Brief biography of the writer

Nikolai Alekseevich Ostrovsky was born on September 29 in the village of Viliya, Volyn province, into a working-class family. He worked as an electrician's assistant, from 1923 - in a leading Komsomol job. In 1927, Ostrovsky was bedridden by progressive paralysis, and a year later the future writer became blind, but, “continuing to fight for the ideas of communism,” he decided to take up literature. In the early 1930s, the autobiographical novel How the Steel Was Tempered (1935) was written - one of the textbook works of Soviet literature. In 1936, the novel Born by the Storm was published, which the author did not have time to finish. Nikolai Ostrovsky died on December 22, 1936.

1. The history of the creation of the story "Thunderstorm"

The play was begun by Alexander Ostrovsky in July and finished on October 9, 1859. The manuscript is kept inRussian State Library.

The personal drama of the writer is also connected with the writing of the play "Thunderstorm". In the play's manuscript, next to Katerina's famous monologue: “And what dreams I had, Varenka, what dreams! Or golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens, and everyone sings invisible voices ... "(5), there is a note by Ostrovsky:" I heard from L.P. about the same dream ... ". L.P. is an actressLyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, with which the young playwright had a very difficult personal relationship: both had families. The husband of the actress was an artist of the Maly TheaterI. M. Nikulin. And Alexander Nikolayevich also had a family: he lived in a civil marriage with a commoner Agafya Ivanovna, with whom he had children in common - they all died as children. Ostrovsky lived with Agafya Ivanovna for nearly twenty years.

It was Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya who served as the prototype for the image of the heroine of the play Katerina, she also became the first performer of the role.

In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. The natural beauty of the Volga region struck the playwright, and then he thought about the play. For a long time it was believed that the plot of the drama "Thunderstorm" was taken by Ostrovsky from the life of the Kostroma merchants. Kostromichi at the beginning of the 20th century could accurately indicate the place of Katerina's suicide.

In his play, Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in public life that occurred in the 1850s, the problem of changing social foundations.

5 Ostrovsky A.N. Thunderstorm. State Publishing House of Fiction. Moscow, 1959.

3. The image of the city of Kalinov

One of the masterpieces of Ostrovsky and all Russian dramaturgy is considered to be "Thunderstorm". The Thunderstorm is, without a doubt, Ostrovsky's most decisive work.

Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" shows the ordinary provincial life of the provincial merchant town of Kalinov. It is located on the high bank of the Russian Volga River. The Volga is a great Russian river, a natural parallel of the Russian destiny, the Russian soul, the Russian character, which means that everything that happens on its banks is understandable and easily recognizable by every Russian person. The view from the beach is divine. The Volga appears here in all its glory. The town itself is no different from others: merchant houses in abundance, a church, a boulevard.

Residents lead their own special way of life. In the capital, life is changing rapidly, but here everything is the old fashioned way. Monotonous and slow flow of time. The elders instruct the younger ones in everything, and the younger ones are afraid to stick their nose out. There are few visitors to the city, so everyone is mistaken for a foreigner, as an overseas curiosity.

The heroes of "Thunderstorm" live without even suspecting how ugly and dark their existence is. For some of them, the city is a “paradise”, and if it is not ideal, then at least it represents the traditional structure of the society of that time. Others do not accept either the situation or the city itself, which gave rise to this situation. And at the same time, they constitute an unenviable minority, while others remain completely neutral.

Residents of the city, without realizing it, are afraid that just a story about another city, about other people can dispel the illusion of well-being in their "promised land". In the remark that precedes the text, the author determines the place and time of the drama. This is no longer Zamoskvorechye, so characteristic of many of Ostrovsky's plays, but the city of Kalinov on the banks of the Volga. The city is fictional, in it you can see the features of a variety of Russian cities. The landscape background of the "Thunderstorm" also gives a certain emotional mood, allowing, by contrast, to feel the stuffy atmosphere of the life of Kalinovites more sharply.

Events unfold in the summer, between 3 and 4 actions 10 days pass. The playwright does not say in what year the events take place, you can put any year - so characteristically described in the play for Russian life in the provinces. Ostrovsky specifically stipulates that everyone is dressed in Russian, only Boris's costume corresponds to European standards, which have already penetrated into the life of the Russian capital. This is how new touches appear in the outline of the way of life in the city of Kalinov. Time seems to have stopped here, and life turned out to be closed, impenetrable to new trends.

The main people of the city are tyrant merchants who try to "enslave the poor so that they can make even more money on his gratuitous labors." They keep in complete subordination not only employees, but also household members who are entirely dependent on them and therefore unrequited. Considering themselves right in everything, they are sure that it is on them that the light rests, and therefore they force all households to strictly comply with house-building orders and rituals. Their religiosity is distinguished by the same rites: they go to church, observe fasts, receive wanderers, generously give them gifts and at the same time tyrannize their households “And what tears flow behind these locks, invisible and inaudible! The inner, moral side of religion is completely alien to Wild and Kabanova representatives of the "Dark Kingdom" of the City of Kalinov.

The playwright creates a closed patriarchal world: Kalinovtsy do not know about the existence of other lands and innocently believe the stories of the townspeople:

What is Lithuania? - So it is Lithuania. - And they say, my brother, she fell on us from the sky ... I don’t know how to tell you, from the sky, so from the sky ..

Feklushi:

I ... did not go far, but to hear - I heard a lot ...

And then there is also the land where all the people with dog heads ... For infidelity.

That there are distant countries where “Turkish Saltan Maxnut” and “Persian Saltan Mahnut” rule.

Here you are ... it’s rare that someone will go out to sit outside the gate ... but in Moscow there are amusement and games along the streets, sometimes there is a groan ... Why, they began to harness the fiery serpent ...

The world of the city is still and closed: its inhabitants have a vague idea of ​​their past and do not know anything about what is happening outside of Kalinov. The absurd stories of Feklusha and the townspeople create distorted ideas about the world among the Kalinovites, instill fear in their souls. It brings darkness, ignorance into society, mourns the end of the good old times, condemns the new order. The new imperiously enters life, undermines the foundations of the house-building orders. Feklusha's words about "last times" sound symbolic. She strives to win over those around her, so the tone of her speech is insinuating, flattering.

The life of the city of Kalinov is reproduced in volume, with detailed details. The city appears on the stage, with its streets, houses, beautiful nature, citizens. The reader, as it were, sees with his own eyes the beauty of Russian nature. Here, on the banks of the free river, sung by the people, the tragedy that shook Kalinov will happen. And the first words in "Thunderstorm" are the words of a well-known spacious song that Kuligin sings - a person who deeply feels beauty:

In the middle of a flat valley, at a smooth height, a tall oak blossoms and grows. In mighty beauty.

Silence, the air is excellent, because of the Volga, the meadows smell of flowers, the sky is clear ... The abyss of stars has opened up full ...
Miracles, truly it must be said, miracles! ... For fifty years every day I have been looking beyond the Volga and I can’t see enough!
The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices! Delight! Take a closer look, or you don’t understand what beauty is spilled in nature. -he says (5). However, next to poetry there is a completely different, unattractive, repulsive side of Kalinov's reality. It is revealed in Kuligin's assessments, felt in the conversations of the characters, sounds in the prophecies of the half-mad lady.

The only enlightened person in the play, Kuligin, looks like an eccentric in the eyes of the townspeople. Naive, kind, honest, he does not oppose Kalinov's world, humbly endures not only ridicule, but also rudeness, insult. However, it is he who is instructed by the author to characterize the "dark kingdom".

One gets the impression that Kalinov is fenced off from the whole world and lives some kind of special, closed life. But is it possible to say that in other places life is completely different? No, this is a typical picture of the Russian provinces and the wild customs of the patriarchal way of life. Stagnation.

There is no clear description of the city of Kalinov in the play.But, reading carefully, you can vividly imagine the outlines of the town and its inner life.

5 Ostrovsky A. N. Thunderstorm. State Publishing House of Fiction. Moscow, 1959.

The central position in the play is occupied by the image of the main character Katerina Kabanova. For her, the city is a cage from which she is not destined to escape. The main reason for this attitude of Katerina to the city is that she knew the contrast. Her happy childhood and serene youth passed, first of all, under the sign of freedom. Having married and found herself in Kalinovo, Katerina felt like she was in prison. The city and the situation prevailing in it (traditionality and patriarchy) only aggravate the position of the heroine. Her suicide - a challenge given to the city - was committed on the basis of Katerina's internal state and the surrounding reality.
Boris, a hero who also came "from outside", develops a similar point of view. Probably, their love was due to this. In addition, for him, like for Katerina, the main role in the family is played by the "domestic tyrant" Dikoy, who is a direct product of the city and is a direct part of it.
The above can be fully attributed to Kabanikha. But for her, the city is not ideal, old traditions and foundations are crumbling before her eyes. Kabanikha is one of those who are trying to preserve them, but only "Chinese ceremonies" remain.
On the basis of the differences between the heroes, the main conflict grows - the struggle of the old, the patriarchal and the new, reason and ignorance. The city has given birth to people like Dikoi and Kabanikha, they (and wealthy merchants like them) run the show. And all the shortcomings of the city are fueled by morals and the environment, which in turn are supported by all the forces of Kabanikh and Wild.
The artistic space of the play is closed, it is enclosed exclusively in the city of Kalinov, the more difficult it is to find a way for those who are trying to escape from the city. In addition, the city is static, like its main inhabitants. Therefore, the stormy Volga contrasts so sharply with the immobility of the city. The river embodies movement. Any movement is perceived by the city as extremely painful.
At the very beginning of the play, Kuligin, who is somewhat similar to Katerina, talks about the surrounding landscape. He sincerely admires the beauty of the natural world, although Kuligin perfectly imagines the internal structure of the city of Kalinov. Not many characters can see and admire the world around them, especially in the setting of the "dark kingdom". For example, Curly does not notice anything, as he tries not to notice the cruel customs reigning around him. A natural phenomenon shown in Ostrovsky's work - a thunderstorm is also viewed by the inhabitants of the city in different ways (by the way, according to one of the heroes, a thunderstorm is a frequent occurrence in Kalinovo, which makes it possible to classify it as part of the city's landscape). For the Wild Thunderstorm, it is an event given to people for testing by God, for Katerina it is a symbol of the near end of her drama, a symbol of fear. One Kuligin perceives a thunderstorm as an ordinary natural phenomenon, which one can even rejoice at.

The town is small, so from a high point on the coast, where the public garden is located, the fields of nearby villages are visible. The houses in the city are wooden, each house has a flower garden. This was the case almost everywhere in Russia. Katerina used to live in such a house. She recalls: “I used to get up early; if it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring water with me and that’s it, water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers. Then we'll go to church with mommy ... "
The church is the main place in any village in Russia. The people were very pious, and the most beautiful part of the city was assigned to the church. It was built on a hill and had to be visible from everywhere in the city. Kalinov was no exception, and the church in it was a meeting place for all residents, a source of all talk and gossip. Walking by the church, Kuligin tells Boris about the order of life here: “Cruel morals in our city,” he says, “In philistinism, sir, you will not see anything except rudeness and initial poverty” (4). Money does everything - that's the motto of that life. And yet, the writer's love for cities like Kalinov is felt in discreet but warm descriptions of local landscapes.

"Silence, the air is great, because of.

Volga servants smell of flowers, unclean ... "

It makes you want to find yourself in that place, to walk along the boulevard with the residents. After all, the boulevard is also one of the main places in small, and even large cities. On the boulevard in the evening goes for a walk the whole estate.
Before, when there were no museums, cinemas, television, the boulevard was the main place of entertainment. Mothers took their daughters there as if they were bridesmaids, couples proved the strength of their union, and young people looked for future wives. But nevertheless, the life of the townsfolk is boring and monotonous. For people with a lively and sensitive nature, such as Katerina, this life is a burden. It sucks like a quagmire, and there is no way to get out of it, to change something. On this high note of tragedy, the life of the main character of the play, Katerina, ends. "It's better in the grave," she says. She was able to get out of the monotony and boredom only in this way. Concluding her "protest driven to despair", Katerina draws attention to the same despair of other residents of the city of Kalinov. This despair is expressed in different ways. It, by

Dobrolyubov's designation fits into various types of social clashes: the younger with the older, the unrequited with the willful, the poor with the rich. After all, Ostrovsky, bringing the inhabitants of Kalinov to the stage, draws a panorama of the morals of not one city, but the whole society, where a person depends only on wealth that gives strength, whether he is a fool or a clever one, a nobleman or a commoner.

The very title of the play has a symbolic meaning. Thunderstorm in nature is perceived differently by the characters of the play: for Kuligin it is a “grace”, which “every ... grass, every flower rejoices”, Kalinovites hide from it, as from “what kind of misfortune”. The storm intensifies Katerina's spiritual drama, her tension, influencing the very outcome of this drama. The storm gives the play not only emotional tension, but also a pronounced tragic flavor. At the same time, N. A. Dobrolyubov saw something “refreshing and encouraging” in the finale of the drama. It is known that Ostrovsky himself, who attached great importance to the title of the play, wrote to the playwright N. Ya.

In The Thunderstorm, the playwright often uses the techniques of parallelism and antithesis in the system of images and directly in the plot itself, in depicting pictures of nature. The reception of antithesis is especially pronounced: in contrasting the two main characters - Katerina and Kabanikh; in the composition of the third act, the first scene (at the gates of Kabanova's house) and the second (night meeting in the ravine) differ sharply from each other; in the depiction of pictures of nature and, in particular, the approach of a thunderstorm in the first and fourth acts.

1. Conclusion

Ostrovsky in his play showed a fictitious city, but it looks extremely authentic. The author saw with pain how politically, economically and culturally backward Russia was, how dark the population of the country was, especially in the provinces.

Ostrovsky not only recreates the panorama of urban life in detail, concretely and multilaterally, but also, using various dramatic means and techniques, introduces elements of the natural world and the world of distant cities and countries into the artistic world of the play. The peculiarity of seeing the surroundings, inherent in the townspeople, creates the effect of a fantastic, incredible “lostness” of Kalinov's life.

A special role in the play is played by the landscape, which is described not only in the stage directions, but also in the dialogues of the characters. One can see its beauty, others have looked at it and are completely indifferent. Kalinovtsy not only "fenced off, isolated" themselves from other cities, countries, lands, they made their souls, their consciousness immune to the influence of the natural world, a world full of life, harmony, higher meaning.

People who perceive the environment in this way are ready to believe in anything, even the most incredible, so long as it does not threaten the destruction of their "quiet, paradise life." This position is based on fear, psychological unwillingness to change something in one's life. So the playwright creates not only an external, but also an internal, psychological background for the tragic story of Katerina.

"Thunderstorm" is a drama with a tragic denouement, the author uses satirical techniques, on the basis of which a negative attitude of readers towards Kalinov and his typical representatives is formed. He especially introduces satire to show the ignorance and lack of education of the Kalinovites.

Thus, Ostrovsky creates an image of a city traditional for the first half of the 19th century. Shows the author through the eyes of his characters. The image of Kalinov is collective, the author was well aware of the merchant class and the environment in which it developed. So, with the help of different points of view of the heroes of the play "Thunderstorm", Ostrovsky creates a complete picture of the county merchant city of Kalinov.

1. Bibliography

1. Anastasiev A. "Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky. "Fiction" Moscow, 1975.
2. Kachurin M. G., Motolskaya D. K. Russian literature. Moscow, Education, 1986.
3. Lobanov P. P. Ostrovsky. Moscow, 1989.
4. Ostrovsky A. N. Selected works. Moscow, Children's Literature, 1965.

5. Ostrovsky A. N. Thunderstorm. State Publishing House of Fiction. Moscow, 1959.

6. http://referati.vladbazar.com

7. http://www.litra.ru/com

Article menu:

The scene of N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" territorially marked the boundaries of the small town of Kalinov.

Life in any small town has its challenges. First of all, this is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the town know each other personally or indirectly. Life in small settlements, as a rule, is devoid of a significant number of events, so the personal life of its inhabitants becomes an active subject for discussion and gossip.

Features of life in Kalinov are in the specific views of its inhabitants.

Kabanovs

One of the significant families of the city is the Kabanikhi family. It consists of a son with a daughter-in-law, a daughter and Kabanikha herself. The husband of the old Kabanikh died a few years ago. At the head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, who is called "Boar" by the common people. A woman has an authoritarian type of character. She promotes the old order and authoritarian relations in the family. The boar does not accept and is not aware of the differences in the temperaments and characters of people, evaluates everyone with his measure, which brings grief to the lives of those around him, in particular his relatives.

Dear readers! We suggest that you familiarize yourself with A. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm", a girl with a kind and meek disposition, but who suffered from the tyranny and anger of those around her.

Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov is the son of Kabanikhi. In general, this is a good person who is able to feel sympathy and compassion for people, but he is very dependent on his mother and often does her will, even in cases where he considers her actions unlawful.

Varvara Ivanovna Kabanova - Tikhon's sister and Kabanikh's daughter. She is a benevolent girl, the concepts of friendship and sincere love are not alien to her.

Unlike her brother, the girl has cunning and an extraordinary mind, which allows her to deceive her mother, makes life easier for a girl in conditions of domestic tyranny.

Katerina Kabanova - Kabanikhi's daughter-in-law, Tikhon's wife. Unusual, dreamy nature. She, like everyone in the Kabanovs' house, suffers undeserved humiliation from her husband's mother.

Katerina noticeably differs from other residents of the city in her sincerity and kindness, but at the same time she does not have stamina, which leads her to physical death.

Savel Wild

Savel Prokofievich Wild in his behavior and authoritarianism is akin to the old Kabanikha. In the city, he is considered a respected person, but the merits of Wild are quite doubtful - his fame and merits, first of all, lie in his disrespectful attitude towards others. Wild often deceives people, he may not pay his employees money, constantly gets involved in quarrels and scandals, often scolds his relatives and servants. Not always Wild manages to get even with the object of his anger. If some important official became this object, in relation to whom the behavior of Dikoy would not be permissible, would bring a lot of trouble to Savel Prokofievich, then Dikoy restrains himself, but then breaks down on his employees or relatives. Everyone in the city dislikes Wild for his bad temper, but only a few dare to openly oppose him.

Boris Grigorievich

In some way, akin to the image of Katerina in the play is the image of Boris Grigorievich - Diky's nephew. The young man is an orphan. His grandmother left him and his sister an inheritance, but they can receive it only with the permission of their uncle, so Boris tries in every possible way to please his uncle and receive an inheritance. Boris falls in love with Katerina Kabanova, this feeling is mutual. After exposing their love affair, Boris shows cowardice and chooses the latter between love and the possible receipt of an inheritance.

Kuligin

The image of Kuligin, in fact, is the only ray of light in the dark and greedy society of Kalinov.

Kuligin is not distinguished by either a noble origin or wealth. He is a dreamy nature, open to innovation. The purpose of his life was the creation of a perpetual motion machine. He is the only person in the whole society who lives in harmony with himself.

Kuligin does not seek power or enrichment; he is used to living honestly and benevolently treating people. It is this character who is able to expose all the vices of Kalinov, which he does in his monologue.

Curly

Vanya Kudryash is another unusual character in the city. He is the only person capable of fighting back the Wild. By nature, Curly is a rude and not romantic person, but at the same time he has a cheerful disposition. For some time, Ivan secretly meets with Varya Kabanova, and then they run away with her from the evil and grumpy Kabanikh.

Nature of Kalinov

Kalinov is a small town on the banks of the Volga. Its landscape is actively opposed to the atmosphere and mood of the locals. The nature of Kalinovo is beautiful - the surface of the river, greenery in the warm season, snowy landscapes in winter, but not all residents are able to notice this.

We invite readers to get acquainted with A. Ostrovsky in the play.

In most cases, people are busy with their problems (true or false), concentrated on conflict situations of their personal or other people.

The situation in the city as a whole

The main words that can characterize the general mood of the inhabitants are concentrated around the words "greed", "rudeness", "anger". The landlords are in most cases seized with a thirst for enrichment. They fulfill this dream of theirs in a dishonest way - for example, Wild may not pay money for the work of their employees, deceive someone.

In fact, the significance and nobility of people in the city is measured by financial yardstick - the more money a person has, the better the attitude of others towards him, while his moral character is not taken into account. For the sake of money, people cheat, betray and give up their personal happiness, believing that true happiness can only be found by being a wealthy person.

In most cases, the inhabitants of the city are narrow-minded people. Their limitations lie in the conservatism of their views and inability to accept new trends in development and relations in society. If a person appears in a city that differs in worldview from the generally accepted trend, then such a person is automatically considered abnormal, people treat him unfriendly. As a result, such a person is faced with a choice - to become like everyone else, or to continue to resist the mass influx. Only a few can tolerate and resist public opinion.

People in the city are poorly educated, they consider this the norm and see no reason to change anything. All the news and information, the townspeople learn their rumors and fictions - rarely anyone is busy reading newspapers or books.
The landowners of the city are at enmity with each other, they often slander other landlords, and try in every possible way to complicate the life of their "opponents".

The families of the rich are inherently associated with such a concept as tyranny - the heads of these families are very authoritarian in relation to their relatives. The life of the members of these families becomes a test, while this state of affairs is actively hidden from society.

Thus, life in the city of Kalinov is subject to its own rules and unspoken rules. In general, the situation in the city is tense and unfriendly - people are not ready to show sympathy or compassion for each other. Almost all of them suffer humiliation, but at the same time they see no reason to support or hinder the development of tyranny - the principle of "hazing" has actively spread among its inhabitants. The nature of the city is opposed to the mood of its majority of the inhabitants - there is always something to admire in the city, but few of the inhabitants are able to notice this beauty.

Nothing holy, nothing pure, nothing right in this dark world.

ON THE. Dobrolyubov.

The drama "Thunderstorm" by A.N. Ostrovsky is one of the outstanding works of Russian dramaturgy. In it, the author showed the life and customs of a typical provincial town, whose inhabitants stubbornly cling to a long-established way of life with its patriarchal traditions and customs. Describing the conflict in a merchant family, the writer denounces the spiritual and moral problems of Russia in the middle of the 19th century.

The action of the play takes place on the banks of the Volga, in the small town of Kalinov.

In this city, the basis of human relationships is material dependence. Here, money is everything, and power belongs to those who have more capital. Profit and enrichment become the goal and meaning of life for the majority of Kalinovtsy. Because of money, they quarrel among themselves and harm each other: “I’ll spend it, and it will cost him a pretty penny.” Even the self-taught mechanic, advanced in his views, Kuligin, realizing the power of money, dreams of a million in order to talk on equal terms with the rich.

So, money in Kalinov gives power. Everyone is shy before the rich, so there is no limit to their cruelty and tyranny. Dikoi and Kabanikha, the richest people in the city, oppress not only their workers, but also their relatives. Unquestioning obedience to elders, in their opinion, is the basis of family life, and everything that happens inside the house, except for the family, should not concern anyone.

The tyranny of the "masters of life" manifests itself in different ways. Wild is openly rude and unceremonious, cannot live without swearing and scolding. A man for him is a worm: “If I want it, I’ll have mercy, if I want it, I’ll crush it.” He enriches himself by ruining wage-workers, and he himself does not consider this a crime. “I won’t pay them a single penny per person, and I have thousands of this,” he boastfully says to the mayor, who himself is dependent on him. The boar, on the other hand, hides his true essence under the mask of righteousness, while harassing both his children and his daughter-in-law with nit-picking and reproaches. Kuligin gives her an apt description: “A hypocrite, sir! She clothes the poor, but eats the household completely.

Bigotry and hypocrisy determine the behavior of those in power. Virtue and piety of the Kabanikhi are false, religiosity is flaunted. She wants to force the younger generation to live according to the laws of hypocrisy, arguing that the most important thing is not the true manifestation of feelings, but external observance of decency. Kabanikha is outraged that Tikhon, leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband's feet and howl to show her love. And Dikoy doesn't mind covering up her greed with a mask of remorse. First, he “scolded” the peasant who came for the money, and “after forgiveness he asked, bowed at his feet, ... bowed in front of everyone.”

We see that Kalinov has been living for centuries according to long-established laws and traditions. Citizens are not interested in new ideas and thoughts, they are superstitious, ignorant and uneducated. Residents of Kalinov are afraid of various innovations, they know little about science and art. Dikoy is not going to install lightning rods in the city, believing that a thunderstorm is God's punishment, the train seems to Kabanikhe a "fiery serpent" that cannot be ridden, and the townspeople themselves think that "Lithuania has fallen from the sky." But they willingly believe the stories of the wanderers, who "due to their weakness" did not go far, but "to hear - they heard a lot."

The city of Kalinov stands in a very picturesque place, but its inhabitants are indifferent to the beauty around them. The boulevard built for them remains empty, “they only walk around on holidays, and even then ... they go there to show their outfits.”

Kalinovtsy are also indifferent to the people around them. Therefore, all the requests and efforts of Kuligin remain unanswered. While the self-taught mechanic has no money, all his projects do not find support.

Any manifestation of sincere feelings in Kalinov is regarded as a sin. When Katerina, saying goodbye to Tikhon, throws herself on his neck, Kabanikha pulls her up: “What are you hanging on your neck, shameless! Don't say goodbye to your lover! He is your husband, head! Love and marriage are incompatible here. The boar remembers love only when she needs to justify her cruelty: “After all, from love, parents are strict with you ...”

It is in such conditions that the young generation of the city of Kalinov is forced to live. These are Varvara, Boris, Tikhon. Each of them adapted in his own way to life in conditions of despotism, when any manifestation of personality is suppressed. Tikhon completely obeys the requirements of his mother, he cannot take a step without her instructions. Financial dependence on Wild makes Boris powerless as well. He is unable to protect Katerina, nor stand up for himself. Barbara learned to lie, dodge, pretend. Her life principle: "do what you want, if only it was sewn and covered."

One of the few who are aware of the atmosphere prevailing in the city is Kuligin. He directly speaks about the lack of education and ignorance of the townspeople, about the impossibility of earning money by honest work, and criticizes the cruel customs that prevail in Kalinovo. But even he is not able to protest in defense of his human dignity, believing that it is better to endure, to submit.

Thus, we see the passivity of the majority of the inhabitants of Kalinov, their unwillingness and inability to fight the established order, the despotism and arbitrariness of the “masters of life”.

The only person who is not afraid to challenge the "dark kingdom" is Katerina. She does not want to adapt to the life around her, but the only way she sees for herself is death. According to Dobrolyubov, the death of the main character is "a protest against Kaban's concepts of morality, a protest brought to an end."

Thus, Ostrovsky masterfully showed us a typical provincial town with its customs and mores, a town where arbitrariness and violence reign, where any desire for freedom is suppressed. By reading The Thunderstorm, we can analyze the merchant environment of that time, see its contradictions, understand the tragedy of that generation that can no longer and does not want to live within the framework of the old ideology. We see that the crisis of a despotic, ignorant society is inevitable and the end of the "dark kingdom" is inevitable.