Katerina's passionate desire for a different life. We are writing an essay: “Was there a different path for Katerina from the play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky?” Possible plot development options

Katerina is the central character in the play "The Thunderstorm". The fate of this heroine is tragic. That’s why the essay “Was there another way for Katerina?” is one of the most widespread written works on What was the conflict between this heroine and the other characters in the play?

Childhood and adolescence

In order to understand what Katerina’s conflict with the so-called dark kingdom was, you should know her general ideas about life. To demonstrate the peculiarities of her character, Ostrovsky presented some information about her childhood and adolescence. Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” We should, of course, start with the characteristics of this heroine. And you can understand a person by having an idea of ​​his upbringing and the society in which he spent his early years.

In some episodes, Katerina remembers her father's house. The main feature of her childhood was complete freedom. It cannot be called permissiveness. Rather, such freedom was due to the love and care of the parents. The atmosphere in which Katerina spent the first years of her life is an example of a patriarchal lifestyle, in the best sense of this phrase. In the essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” you can add some quotes from the main character’s memories. For example, Katerina recalls that in her parents’ house she liked to get up early, then washed her face with water from a spring and went to church on Sundays with her mother. There is no significant difference in the lifestyle that the girl led in her parents' house from the one she leads in her husband's house. The joy with which she indulges in memories speaks rather of her loneliness.

In the world in which the heroine lived before her marriage, there was no coercion and violence. And therefore, it was precisely the idyllic picture of such a patriarchal life that became hers. In the Kabanovs’ house, everything is different. Psychological tyranny reigns here. The mother-in-law puts depressing pressure on Katerina. And the young woman has no strength to resist him.

Kabanikha's world

Katerina got married when she was very young. Her parents found her future husband. She did not resist, because this was the way it was in the patriarchal world. Katerina is ready to honor her mother-in-law. In her understanding, her husband is a mentor and support. But Tikhon is not capable of becoming the head of the family. His mother plays this role. Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” you can start with It is this image that creates the opposite of the main thing. And it is the mother-in-law, with her outdated and overly domineering views, that has a destructive effect on Katerina.

Boris

No matter how hard Katerina strives to love and respect her husband, she fails. He evokes only pity in her soul. When the heroine meets a visiting young man, her heart opens to a feeling that was previously unknown to her. Could she have done anything differently? Was there another way for Katerina? The essay based on Ostrovsky's play is intended to provide answers to these questions.

The characteristics of Boris in writing a written work on the topic to which this article is devoted do not play an important role. The image of the husband is essential. Tikhon is a spineless, soft-bodied person. Even after the tragedy that became the climax of the play occurs, he is afraid to contradict his mother. Tikhon loves his young wife. But this feeling turns out to be much weaker than the fear of Kabanikha. However, many in the small provincial town are in awe of this lady.

Religiosity

At the beginning of the play, remembering her childhood, Katerina talks with joy and warmth about visiting church. It should be said that piety is its characteristic feature. It was the awareness of the sin committed that led her to fear and feelings of hopelessness. But at the same time, faith in God did not keep her from doing what, according to Christian concepts, is the most terrible thing.

“Was there another way for Katerina?” - an essay in which it is imperative to include a description of Kabanikha’s world. From the moment Katerina crossed the threshold of her house, the harmony in her soul began to collapse. Therefore, it became increasingly difficult for her to carry out daily activities and attend church.

Deception and hypocrisy

Was there another way for Katerina? The essay “The Thunderstorm” is a tragic story of a girl who was unable to adapt to the morals and way of life that prevailed in her husband’s house. By nature, this young woman does not know how to lie. She is not capable of living in deception and hypocrisy. But it is impossible to exist in any other way in Kabanikha’s house. She endures with all her strength, finds salvation in dreams and daydreams. But vulgar and crude reality brings her back to earth again. And there is humiliation and suffering.

Sin and confession

Katerina makes a mistake. She falls in love with Boris and cheats on her husband. The essay “Was there another way for Katerina from the play “The Thunderstorm”” is a written work, the outline of which can be written as follows:

• Katerina's image.
• Characteristics of Kabanikha.
• Contrasting Boris with Tikhon.
• An inevitable tragedy.

After it becomes clear what Kabanikha is and what kind of atmosphere prevails in her house, the feelings of the main character also become clear. A girl who grew up in love and affection would never be able to get along in this house. She is not accustomed to cruelty and hypocrisy and feels not only unhappy, but also extremely lonely in the world of Kabanikha. Boris is a man who impressed her only because he did not look like any representative of the “dark kingdom.” If there had been at least a faint hope of happiness in Katerina’s life, she would not have committed treason.

Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” (Ostrovsky, “The Thunderstorm”) is a task that requires independent reflection. Can an honest person get used to a world of lies? Is he able to hide his misdeeds and move on after committing a sin? In the case of the heroine of Ostrovsky's play, the answer is clear. Katerina had no other choice.

She was killed by Kabanikha’s deceitful world, loneliness, lack of understanding and support from her husband. She could have overcome all this if she had been more experienced. But the peculiarity of the patriarchal way of life is such that a girl, leaving her father’s house, has no idea about life. Therefore, we can say that Katerina’s tragedy was inevitable.

Essay on drama by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

Drama A.N. Ostrovsky ends with the death of Katerina: she throws herself into the Volga in despair. Death is always terrible, but the suicide of a young woman is doubly terrible. But did the heroine have any other choice?

Russian critic N.A. Dobrolyubov called Katerina “a ray of light in a dark kingdom,” and considered her suicide a protest, “a terrible challenge to tyrant power.” Indeed, the heroine is not like other inhabitants of the “dark kingdom”: she is sincere and honest, all hypocrisy is alien to her. Katerina publicly admits to cheating on her husband and, according to Kabanikha, should be punished. There is no doubt that, having returned home, Tikhon’s wife would have received “what she deserved.” However, the heroine prefers a different path, protesting in her own way against the “dark kingdom.”

DI. Pisarev, another critic, assessed the image of Katerina differently. In the article “Motives of Russian Drama,” he wrote that the life of Ostrovsky’s heroine consists of contradictions that are resolved by a “stupid remedy”—suicide.

The point of view of D.I. is closer to me. Pisareva. Existence in her mother-in-law's house became unbearable for Katerina. As a result, the woman began to experience something like a nervous breakdown. Even her speech, full of exclamations and pauses, testifies to this: “It’s all the same that death comes, that it itself... but you can’t live!”

At the end of the drama, Katerina is in a half-crazed state: life has lost all meaning for her. Boris leaves, leaving the woman to her fate. An unloved husband and a cruel mother-in-law are waiting at home. “Go home? No, I don’t care whether I go home or go to the grave,” the heroine admits in her last monologue, shortly before committing a terrible sin - suicide.

So did Katerina have another choice? I believe that the heroine could not have acted differently: her life had become too meaningless and unbearable. The only way to get rid of the torment was death.

Valery Kalinovsky

The play “The Thunderstorm,” which was written by Ostrovsky in 1859, is one of the author’s most popular. Such success of the work is not at all surprising. The drama described a completely new female character, which was distinguished by strength and depth. The heroine seemed to personify a protest against the stuffy and musty world, where the patriarchal way of life reigned, according to the laws of which almost all of Rus' of that time lived. In fact, Katerina’s actions can hardly be called a conscious protest. The whole point is that the “dark kingdom” (as the world of Dobrolyubov called it) considers any movement of the soul as a challenge. The forces turned out to be unequal, and in the end it all ended in the suicide of the main character. But death in the play was the beginning of Katerina’s immortality. The play, like 150 years ago, evokes a lively response from readers, and one of the most discussed questions remains: did Katerina have a different path? ­

If you analyze the situation in which the heroine finds herself, then you can consider several ways out of it... The path that Katerina herself dreamed of is connected with her beloved - Boris. For her, such a way out of the situation would be just a fairy tale. But Boris turned out to be a bad prince, and this fairy tale did not come true - her chosen one turned out to be too weak-willed and selfish. He leaves for Siberia without her, which completely broke Katerina.

Another option is to leave Tikhon. This path seems quite natural to modern people, but in those days, obtaining a divorce was accompanied by a large number of bureaucratic costs, and Katerina would have had to endure all possible humiliations. This process would take a very long time. In addition, by this act she would have completely dishonored her own name and would have taken on a great sin on her soul, since then marriages were actually concluded before God.

For her, salvation could be the religious path. She would become a nun and devote herself and her whole life to God, with whom all the happy moments of childhood were associated. But a married woman would never be accepted into a monastery. If they found out that she was married, they would definitely return her to her husband.

The fourth option is a path in which everything would remain as it was. She would also live with Tikhon and her mother-in-law, listening to everyday insults and reproaches from the latter. But in this case, the freedom-loving and sensitive Katerina would simply soon go crazy, especially in the absence of the support of her weak-willed husband.

So, having considered all possible options, we can conclude that Katerina’s death was natural, and it was the only possible way out for the girl. But this decision speaks not of weakness, but of the strength of her personality. She did not seek compromises with the world around her and with her conscience, but acted as her heart told her.

The action of Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" takes place in the nineteenth century, in a small provincial town where patriarchal orders reign. Katerina, the main character of the play, lives in the wealthy house of the Kabanovs with her husband Tikhon and her mother-in-law, nicknamed Kabanikha for her quarrelsome character and tyranny. In his work, Ostrovsky shows the conflict of the “dark kingdom,” which personifies the way of life in the Kabanovs’ house, and Katerina, who would like to build her family on the principles of mutual love and respect. Katerina, living in the Kabanov family, is forced to endure the oppression of Kabanikha’s tyranny. The family situation requires her to lie and deceive. “You can’t live without this, remember where you live; our whole house rests on this,” her husband’s sister Varvara tells her. Everything that surrounds Katerina rebels against her natural aspirations and desires. In a conversation with Varvara, in five words she simply and at the same time very accurately conveys her attitude to the current situation. “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity!” She strives from this captivity to a free life, even if she has to die in this impulse. She does not consider the existence that she leads in the Kabanov family to be life. Katerina wants to live, not exist, wants to live freely without any pressure on her. Her husband Tikhon cannot help her in her quest to live freely. He, like Katerina, suffers a lot from old Kabanikha. He is simple-minded and not at all evil, but extremely weak-willed. He is unable to protect his wife from the attacks of his own mother. Katerina, realizing this, feels pity for him. This feeling in her is much stronger than her love for Tikhon. In her desire to escape from the dark kingdom, she is looking for a person who would understand her and share her views. He turns out to be the nephew of a wealthy landowner, Boris. This is a well-educated man who arrived from the capital; he does not accept the morals prevailing in the city and understands Katerina well. In addition, he is financially dependent on his uncle, just like the young woman is on her husband and mother-in-law. She fell in love with him more out of despair than for his spiritual qualities. Katerina cannot make up her mind, cannot find a way out of this situation.
But there is always a way out of any situation, and more than one. One of the possible options is to leave everything as it is and continue to endure and try to come to terms with the hope that something will change in the future. If only the people around her could change... But this will not happen. Kabanova cannot leave what she was raised with and her spineless son cannot suddenly, for no apparent reason, acquire firmness and independence.
Another way out seems less impossible. Katerina could have fled with Boris from the tyranny and oppression of her family. Having secretly met with Boris, she asks him: “Take me with you from here.” But this is also impossible, because Boris is Dikiy’s nephew and financially depends on him. In addition, Dikoy and Kabanov agreed to send him to Klyakhta, and, of course, they will not allow him to take Katerina with him. In essence, Boris is the same Tikhon, only “educated”. Education took away from him the strength to do dirty tricks, but also did not give him the strength to resist them.
She also could not simply leave the Kabanovs’ house and return to her parents or settle somewhere with relatives, since in those days women had a different position in society than now. Moral standards did not allow this. According to the social norms of that time, the wife had to obey her husband and, as a rule, she was financially dependent on him.
At the end of "The Thunderstorm" a terrible challenge is given to tyrant power. Ostrovsky, at the end of his tragedy, shows the reader the impossibility of existing in an environment where tyranny reigns with its violent and deadening principles. His Katerina chooses the only worthy way out of that terrible current situation. She carried her protest to the end. Having thrown herself into the abyss, she gained freedom and showed everyone that life in the “dark kingdom” is much worse than death. Although, from the point of view of Christian morality, Katerina did the wrong thing (after all, the church condemns suicide), I believe that for her this was the only way out, since long-suffering would destroy her personality, teach her to lie and dodge, and kill everything good and positive in her .

“The Thunderstorm” is one of the most famous plays by A. N. Ostrovsky. The popularity of the work is due to the fact that the author managed to create a completely new female image in Russian literature. Katerina, the main character of “The Thunderstorm,” is distinguished by her inner strength and depth. The girl became the personification of protest against the patriarchal system - “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.” But her “light” was not enough to defeat this stuffy and musty world, so it all ends with Katerina’s suicide. More than 150 years have passed since the play was written, but the question still remains open: did Katerina have a different path?

In fact, “The Thunderstorm” could present various solutions to the current situation. But were they suitable for Katerina? Many modern people do not understand why the heroine did not take advantage of the simplest, in their opinion, way out - divorce. But in the society of that time, marriages were church, and were believed to be made “in heaven,” so divorces were very rare and were allowed mainly only in noble families; representatives of other classes had to live with each other all their lives until death.

Katerina could try to get a divorce, but this most likely would not bring anything other than humiliation. The happiest outcome is the girl's escape with Boris. But her beloved turned out to be not a prince, but only a weak-willed egoist who left Katerina alone to deal with all the problems. Another successful path for the heroine could be a monastery. She could have devoted her life to serving God, since she was very religious, but married women were not accepted into the monasteries, so she would definitely have been returned to Tikhon.

The most likely scenario is that Katerina will continue to live with her husband. But this option would be so difficult for the girl that soon she would still take her own life. A weak-willed husband, the bullying of Kabanikha and neighbors who learned about her infidelity would gradually bring the girl to the “brink”; in addition, Katerina would not be able to live with Tikhon, remembering her betrayal and her lost love.

So, Katerina’s death became, in my opinion, the only way out of the situation. The remaining options were not feasible or would still have led to the death of the heroine. The girl’s suicide became a pattern; she could not come to terms with the state of affairs, accept her betrayal, the betrayal of her lover. Katerina made a decision that did not require compromises with the outside world and conscience and seemed right to her.

Option 2

Katerina is one of the central characters in Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. She is a young girl raised to love and honor God. Her childhood was carefree and happy. However, the girl was married to Tikhon Kabanov, the son of the wayward widowed merchant wife Kabanikha, whom she was never able to love.

Katerina finds herself in the city of Kalinov. Even though it stands on the beautiful Volga River, almost no one notices its beauty. “Debauchery and drunkenness” reign in the city, people are divided into the unfortunate poor and the selfish rich, there are high fences near the merchants’ houses, behind which the merchants “tyrannize the family” and strive to “rob the orphans.”

The situation in the city of Kalinov with its “cruel morals,” according to a resident of the city - the scientist Kuligin, the way of life in the Kabanov family, in which the son does not dare to contradict his tyrant mother in anything - all this is alien to the freedom-loving Katerina. And even faith will not be able to unite Katerina to any extent with her new environment, because their faith is completely different, not pure, not bright, but demonstrative and built on fear.

Out of despair, Katerina decides to take a desperate step - she commits suicide, knowing at the same time the sinfulness of her act.

Was there a chance for “a ray of light in the dark kingdom,” as critic N.A. Dobrolyubov called Katerina, to stay alive, to continue to shine?

I believe that Katerina had no other choice.

Katerina needed support and support and, it would seem, could find all this in her love, in Boris. But he could not help her, like all the other residents of the city, including her friend Varvara, loving Tikhon and compassionate Kuligin. The city and its inhabitants are mired in immorality and hopelessness. And secret meetings with her beloved Boris, with her last hope, contradict morality, and are difficult for Katerina herself, not at all easing her fate.

Katerina commits suicide: she throws herself into the Volga. I think that under all the circumstances, the character of Katerina, this act was the best outcome for her, because she could not continue to live “from under bondage,” in sin and with an unloved husband. Suicide is the last thing a person can do to himself, but after the death of his wife, Tikhon says that he envies her. This fact further aggravates the already sad picture painted by Ostrovsky.

The drama reveals the theme of one of the most terrible sins - suicide. However, after reading the play, the reader can within himself justify the heroes living within the strict framework of comprehensive control.

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