The idea of ​​the drama is thunderstorm. Theme, idea, conflict of the play, composition, genre. The main characters and their characteristics

Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" is the most significant work of the famous playwright. It was written in 1860 during a period of social upsurge, when the foundations of serfdom were cracking and a storm was brewing in the stuffy atmosphere of reality. Ostrovsky's play takes us to the merchant environment, where the Domostroev order was most persistently maintained. Residents of a provincial town live a closed life alien to public interests, in ignorance of what is happening in the world, in ignorance and indifference. Their range of interests is limited to household chores. Behind the external calm of life lie dark thoughts, the dark life of tyrants who do not recognize human dignity. Representatives of the “dark kingdom” are Dikoy and Kabanikha. The first complete type of tyrant merchant, whose meaning of life is to amass capital by any means. The main theme of the thunderstorm is the clash between new trends and old traditions, between the oppressed and the oppressors, between the desire of people for the free manifestation of their human rights, spiritual needs, and the prevailing social and family order in Russia.

If we consider “The Thunderstorm” as a social and everyday drama, then the resulting conflict looks quite simple: it is, as it were, external, social; the attention of the audience is equally distributed between the characters, all of them, like checkers on a board, play almost identical roles necessary to create the plot outline, they confuse and then, flashing and rearranging, as in tag, help resolve the confusing plot. If the system of characters is laid out in such a way that the conflict arises and is resolved, as it were, with the help of all the characters. Here we are dealing with an everyday drama; its conflict is simple and easy to guess.

Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” raises the problem of the turning point in social life that occurred in the 50s, the change in social foundations. The author cannot be absolutely impartial, but it is very difficult for him to express his position - the author's position is revealed in remarks, of which there are not very many and they are not expressive enough. There is only one option left - the author’s position is presented through a certain character, through composition, symbolism, etc.
The names in the play are very symbolic. The speaking names used in “The Thunderstorm” are an echo of classicist theater, the features of which were preserved in the late 60s of the 19th century.
The name Kabanova vividly portrays to us an overweight woman with a difficult character, and the nickname “Kabanikha” complements this unpleasant picture.
The author characterizes the wild as a wild, unrestrained person.
The name Kuligin has many meanings. On the one hand, it is in tune with Kulibin, a self-taught mechanic. On the other hand, “kuliga” is a swamp.

For a long time, critical literature has focused on one conflict or the other. But the author gave the work a deeper meaning - it is a folk tragedy.

Dobrolyubov called Katerina “a ray of light in a dark kingdom,” but later, a few years later, Ostrovsky himself gave such people the name “warm heart.” Indeed, this is a conflict between a “hot heart” and the surrounding icy environment. And a thunderstorm as a physical phenomenon is trying to melt this ice. Another meaning put by the author into a thunderstorm symbolizes the wrath of God, and everyone who is afraid of a thunderstorm is not ready to accept death and stand before the judgment of God, or they think so. But the author puts his words into Kuligin’s mouth. “The judge is more merciful than you,” he says. In this way he characterizes his attitude towards this society. And this ending expresses hope. Ostrovsky divides all his time in Kalinov, like the play, into day and night. During the day, people play the faithful, living according to “Domostroy,” and at night they take off their masks. Young people go out and have fun, and the elders turn a blind eye to it. The author's position is expressed partly in Kuligin's monologues, and partly it can be understood from the opposition of Katerina and Kabanikha. The author's position is expressed in the composition. A special feature of the composition are two possible options for climax and denouement.

Of course, the play was written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author’s special attention to depicting the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its “cruel morals.” The fictional city is described in detail and in many ways. The landscape concept plays an important role, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Kuligin speaks of the beauty of the distances beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Nothing,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina’s stories about childhood - this is the poetry of Kalinov’s world, which collides with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about “naked poverty.” The Kalinovites have preserved only vague legends about the past - Lithuania “fell to us from the sky”, news from the big world is brought to them by the wanderer Feklusha. Undoubtedly, such attention by the author to the details of the characters’ everyday life makes it possible to talk about drama as a genre of the play “The Thunderstorm”.

Another feature characteristic of drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. At first it is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law behind the locks of the house gate, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from an everyday one it develops into a social one. The expression of conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived “not worried about anything,” like a “bird in the wild,” spending the whole day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, or how their love began. In his article, N.A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, and said that this is why the “struggle between passion and duty” is designated “not quite clearly and strongly” for us. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the “Thunderstorms” genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic overall coloring, the play also contains comic and satirical scenes. Feklusha’s anecdotal and ignorant stories about the Saltans, about lands where all the people “have dog heads,” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of “The Thunderstorm,” A.D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

The play is based on the conflict between an individual and the surrounding society (Katerina and the “dark kingdom”).

The action of “The Thunderstorm” takes place on the banks of the Volga, in an ancient city, where, as it seems, nothing has changed for centuries and cannot change, and it is in the conservative patriarchal family of this city that Ostrovsky sees manifestations of an irresistible renewal of life, its selfless and rebellious beginning. A conflict “breaks out” between two opposing characters, human natures. Two opposing forces are embodied in the young merchant's wife Katerina Kabanova and her mother-in-law, Marfa Kabanova. Kabanikha is a convinced and principled keeper of antiquity, once and for all found and established norms and rules of life. Katerina is an ever-seeking, creative person who takes bold risks for the sake of the living needs of her soul.

In his article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” Dobrolyubov wrote about the play: ““The Thunderstorm” represents an idyll of the “dark kingdom”... The mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought to the most tragic consequences in it...”

Kabanikha does not recognize the legitimacy of individual differences between people and the diversity of life of peoples. Everything in which the life of other places differs from the life of the city of Kalinov testifies to “infidelity”: people who live differently from the Kalinovites must have the heads of dogs. The center of the Universe is the pious city of Kalinov, the center of this city is the house of the Kabanovs, - this is how the experienced wanderer Feklusha characterizes the world to please the stern mistress. Any change seems to Kabanikha to be the beginning of sin.

Throughout the entire action of the play, Katerina is accompanied by the motif of flight and fast driving. She wants to fly like a bird, and she dreams about flying, she tried to sail along the Volga, and in her dreams she sees herself racing in a troika. She turns to both Tikhon and Boris with a request to take her with them, to take her away. However, this movement has one feature - the absence of a clearly defined goal.

The “dispute” of Katerina and Kabanikha is accompanied by the dispute of Kuligin and Dikiy, the drama of the slavish position of feelings in the world of calculation is here accompanied by a depiction of the tragedy of the mind in the “dark kingdom”, the tragedy of the desecration of beauty and poetry is the tragedy of the enslavement of science by wild “patrons”.

“The Thunderstorm” is usually called a drama, not a tragedy, despite the death of Katerina. The play also traces comedic traditions in its satirical depiction of the morals of the merchants.

Ostrovsky introduces a landscape that acts not only as a background, but also as the embodiment of the elements opposing the “dark kingdom” (scenes on the Volga, the death of Katerina).

When creating the images of Katerina, Kuligin and Kudryash, the author uses folklore traditions. The characters' speech is filled with colloquialisms. Ostrovsky introduces symbols that carry a semantic load in the text: thunderstorm - contradictions in Katerina’s soul; lightning rod - a symbol of enlightenment, etc.

"Dark Kingdom" and its victims

Dobrolyubov speaks of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov in the following way: “Their life flows smoothly and peacefully, no interests of the world disturb them, because they do not reach them; kingdoms can collapse, new countries open up, the face of the earth... change... - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinov will continue to exist in complete ignorance of the rest of the world... The concepts and way of life they accept * are the best in the world, everything new comes from evil spirits... they find awkward and even daring to persistently search for reasonable grounds... The information reported by the Feklushis is such that they are not capable of inspiring a great desire to exchange their life for another... A dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity.”

The wanderers in the play are of no small importance, as they characterize the downtroddenness of the people. “Because of their weakness they themselves did not go far, but they heard a lot”: about sins, six or twelve embarrassing enemies, about distant countries where the Saltans rule the earth, about people with dog heads, about the endless bustle in Moscow, where “the last times are coming ", about the "fiery serpent", etc.

In the play, the tyrants are Dikaya and Kabanova, to whom Dobrolyubov gave the following assessment: “The absence of any law, any logic - this is the law and logic of this life... The tyrants of Russian life begin, however, to feel some kind of discontent and fear, without knowing what and why... Apart from them, without asking them, another life grew up... the old Kabanovs breathe heavily, feeling that there is a power higher than them, which they cannot overcome, which they do not know how to approach... The Wild and Kabanovs, meeting themselves with a contradiction and not being able to defeat him, but wanting to stand on their own, they directly declare themselves against logic, that is, they make fools of themselves in front of the majority of people.”

Kabanikha demands obedience and self-respect from the spineless Tikhon, whom he does not perceive as an independent person, and scolds him. For this reason, he cannot form an independent relationship with Katerina, whom Kabanikha hates with unconscious hatred.

Dobrolyubov characterizes Diky as follows: “It seems to him that if he recognizes over himself the laws of common sense, common to all people, then his importance will greatly suffer from this... He realizes that he is absurd... The habit of fooling around in him is so strong that he even submits to it contrary to the voice of my own common sense.”

At first glance, Varvara and Kudryash are opposed to the “dark kingdom,” but in fact they are connected with it internally. They leave only because they could not adapt to it.

Kuligin opposes the ignorance of the “dark kingdom” and is the bearer of the ideas of enlightenment. He passively observes, although he really wants to benefit society, trying to change something in it. His abilities cannot develop in the conditions of the “dark kingdom”, since his dependence on him is too great.

Dobrolyubov about Tikhon: “Simple-hearted and vulgar, not at all evil, but extremely characterless... from the many pathetic types who are usually called harmless, although in a general sense they are as harmful as the tyrants themselves, because they serve them faithful assistants... no strong feeling, no decisive desire can develop in him.”

Dobrolyubov says about Boris: “Not a hero... He has had enough education and cannot cope with the old way of life, nor with his heart, nor with common sense - he walks as if lost... one of those people who do not know how to do what they understand, and They don’t understand what they’re doing.”

Boris understands that he will be left without an inheritance, but despite this, he will never decide to break off relations with Dikiy, since he has no inner strength (“Oh, if only there was strength!”).

Dobrolyubov about Katerina: “Katerina did not kill the human nature in herself... The Russian strong character... amazes us with its opposition to all tyrant principles... Character... creative, loving, ideal... She tries to smooth out any external dissonance... she covers up any shortcoming from the fullness of her inner strength... She strange, extravagant from the point of view of those around her, but this is because she cannot in any way accept their views and inclinations... She strives for a new life, even if she had to die in this impulse... A mature demand for right and ^the expanse of life... In the dry, monotonous life of her youth, in the rude and superstitious concepts of the environment, she constantly knew how to take what agreed with her natural aspirations for beauty, harmony, contentment, happiness... All the ideas instilled in her from childhood, all the principles of the environment environments rebel against her natural aspirations and actions. Everything is against Katerina, even her own concepts of good and evil.”

Katerina fights with herself and in the end internally justifies herself. The need to love and be loved is felt with particular force; offended feelings of the wife and woman in the mother-in-law's house; mortal melancholy caused by the monotony and monotony of her life; desire of will.

The author, creating the image of Katerina, turns to folklore traditions (motives of folk songs; appeals to “dear friend”, to “wild winds”; the image of a “grave”), thereby emphasizing her belonging to the people.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is rightfully considered not only the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity, but also one of the outstanding works of Russian drama. It represents a large-scale socio-historical conflict, a confrontation between two eras, a crisis in the socio-political life of an entire state. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the literary analysis of the work according to a plan that will be useful for a 10th grade student in preparation for a literature lesson.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing– 1859.

History of creation– The play was written under the influence of a trip along the Volga, during which the writer recorded interesting everyday scenes, conversations and incidents from the life of Volga provincials.

Subject– The work highlights the problems of relationships between two generations, two fundamentally different worlds. Themes of family and marriage, sin and repentance are also raised.

Composition- The composition of the work is based on contrast. The exposition is a description of the characters of the main characters and their way of life, the beginning is the conflict between Katerina and Kabanikha, the development of actions is Katerina’s love for Boris, the climax is Katerina’s internal torment, her death, the denouement is the protest of Varvara and Tikhon against the tyranny of their mother.

Genre- Play, drama.

Direction- Realism.

History of creation

Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, and a few months later it was ready and sent to St. Petersburg for literary critics to judge.

The writer was inspired by an ethnographic expedition along the Volga, organized by the Maritime Ministry to study the morals and customs of the indigenous population of Russia. Ostrovsky was one of the participants in this expedition.

During the trip, Alexander Nikolaevich witnessed many everyday scenes and dialogues of the provincial public, which he absorbed like a sponge. Subsequently, they formed the basis of the play “The Thunderstorm”, giving the drama a folk character and true realism.

The fictional city of Kalinov, described in the play, absorbed the characteristic features of the Volga cities. Their originality and indescribable flavor delighted Ostrovsky, who carefully recorded all his observations about the life of provincial towns in his diary.

For a long time there was a version that the writer took the plot for his work from real life. On the eve of writing the play, a tragic story happened in Kostroma - a young girl named Alexandra Klykova drowned herself in the Volga, unable to withstand the oppressive atmosphere in her husband’s house. An overly domineering mother-in-law oppressed her daughter-in-law in every possible way, while the spineless husband could not protect his wife from his mother’s attacks. The situation was aggravated by the love affair between Alexandra and the postal employee.

Having successfully passed censorship, the play was staged at the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.

Subject

In his work, Alexander Nikolaevich raised many important topics, but the main one among them was theme of conflict between two eras- patriarchal way of life and a young, strong and courageous generation, full of bright hopes for the future.

Katerina became the personification of a new, progressive era, which desperately needed liberation from the tenacious shackles of dark philistinism. She could not put up with hypocrisy, servility and humiliation for the sake of established foundations. Her soul strove for the bright and beautiful, but in conditions of musty ignorance, all her impulses were doomed to failure.

Through the prism of the relationship between Katerina and her new family, the author tried to convey to the reader the current situation in society, which was on the verge of a global social and moral turning point. This idea fits perfectly with the meaning of the play's title - "The Thunderstorm". This powerful natural element has become the personification of the collapse of the stagnant atmosphere of a provincial town, mired in superstitions, prejudices and falsehood. Katerina’s death during a thunderstorm became the internal impetus that prompted many residents of Kalinov to the most decisive actions.

The main idea of ​​the work lies in persistently defending one’s interests - the desire for independence, beauty, new knowledge, spirituality. Otherwise, all beautiful spiritual impulses will be mercilessly destroyed by the sanctimonious old order, for which any deviation from the established rules brings certain death.

Composition

In “The Thunderstorm,” the analysis includes an analysis of the compositional structure of the play. The peculiarity of the composition of the work lies in the artistic contrast on which the entire structure of the play, consisting of five acts, is built.

On display Ostrovsky's works depict the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinin. He describes the historical foundations of the world, which is destined to become a backdrop for the events described.

Followed by plot, in which Katerina’s conflict with her new family escalates uncontrollably. Katerina’s confrontation with Kabanikha, their reluctance to even try to understand the other side, and Tikhon’s lack of will escalate the situation in the house.

Action Development The play lies in the internal struggle of Katerina, who, out of despair, rushes into the arms of another man. Being a deeply moral girl, she experiences pangs of conscience, realizing that she has committed betrayal towards her legal spouse.

Climax is represented by Katerina’s confession, made under the influence of internal suffering and the curses of an out-of-mind lady, and her voluntary departure from life. In extreme despair, the heroine sees the solution to all her problems only in her death.

Denouement The play lies in the manifestation of Tikhon and Varvara’s protest against Kabanikha’s despotism.

Main characters

Genre

According to Ostrovsky himself, “The Thunderstorm” is realistic drama. This literary genre defines a serious, morally difficult plot, as close to reality as possible. It is always based on the conflict of the protagonist with the environment.

If we talk about the direction, then this play fully corresponds to the direction of realism. Proof of this are detailed descriptions of the morals and living conditions of the inhabitants of small Volga towns. The author attaches great importance to this aspect, since the realism of the work emphasizes it in the best possible way. main idea.

Work test

Rating analysis

Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 4240.

Topic: The meaning of the title of A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”

The uniqueness of the conflict

The purpose of the lesson: trace how Ostrovsky universally implements metaphorthunderstorms how, through the image of a thunderstorm, it shows the stormy state of society, the thunderstorm in the souls of people;

cultivate a love for Russian literature

DURING THE CLASSES

There is an epigraph on the board: “We won’t find a name - what does that mean? This means that the idea of ​​the play is not clear; that the plot is not properly covered... that the very existence of the play is not justified; Why was it written, what new does the author want to say?”

A. N. Ostrovsky.

I. Statement of the educational task.

– Re-read the topic of the lesson, try to determine the learning task yourself. What will we talk about in class? What are the key words in the formulation of the lesson topic? (The thunderstorm is a character.) So, we will talk about the thunderstorm as a character in the play. This is not enough. Re-read the epigraph to the lesson. What new does the author want to say? (Thunderstorm - idea - plot).

So, the educational task of the lesson is to find out what the meaning of the title of the play is; learn to analyze dramatic text.

II. Conversation based on text.

– What is the meaning of the word “thunderstorm” according to V.I. Dahl’s dictionary? (Fear, noise, anxiety, disruption, crush, thunder, natural phenomenon, threat, threaten, tragedy, cleansing.)
– In what meaning does “thunderstorm” appear in the play? (In the first meaning - “threat”, “sarcasm”, “scold”.)

Conclusion No. 1. The entire exhibition is connected with the meaning of the word “thunderstorm”. Ostrovsky universally implements metaphorthunderstorms

– What images is associated with the metaphor of a thunderstorm in the exhibition? (Almost all the characters.)
– What meaning of “thunderstorm” prevails in the exhibition? (Fear, threat, threaten.)

Conclusion No. 2. For Kalinovites, the storm is “from above” and “from below.” Above is God’s punishment, below is the power and money of the possessor.

– What drama images symbolize the thunderstorm from below? (Dikoy, Kabanova.)
– What is the threat of the Wild One? (Money – power – fear.)
– What is Kabanova’s threat? (Money is power under the guise of godliness - fear.)

Conclusion No. 3. The goal of the “warrior” Wild is the lawless rapture of power. Kabanova is a more complex version of tyranny: her goal is the legitimate intoxication of power (under the guise of piety).

– Why do they need fear in society? (Keep power.)
– Are only Dikoy and Kabanova experiencing the intoxication of power? (Analyze Kuligin’s monologue in act 1.)

Conclusion No. 4. Ostrovsky, in a detailed composition, needed to show that the order of the merchant town, whose roots were Old Believer, rests on fear.
Kabanikha’s siege war, just like the wild attacks of the Wild One, comes from uncertainty and anxiety. The Wild One’s anxiety is vague and unconscious, Kabanikha’s fear is conscious and far-sighted: something is not going well, something is broken in the mechanism of power and subordination.
Thus, the metaphor of a thunderstorm - fear, intoxication with power, threat, threaten - runs through the entire exhibition.

– When does a thunderstorm appear as a natural phenomenon? (At the end of the 1st act.)
– Let’s consider the meaning of this scene. Why did Ostrovsky introduce the half-crazy lady? Who is she talking to? What does he prophesy? What is her prophecy based on? (“I’ve sinned all my life from a young age.”)
– What is Varvara’s reaction to her hysteria? (Smiles.)
– What is Katerina’s reaction? (“I’m scared to death…”)

Conclusion No. 5. Varvara has common sense; she ironically accepts centuries-old traditions. This is her protection. Varvara needs calculation and common sense against fear. Katerina has a complete lack of calculation and common sense, increased emotionality.

– What scares Katerina? (Death will find you with sinful and evil thoughts.)
– How can we confirm that the author defined this scene as the beginning? (Rolls of thunder sound twice. Katerina’s fear intensifies.)

Thus, a thunderstorm is involved in the beginning of the action .

– What shock did Katerina experience in the scene of Tikhon’s farewell before leaving for Moscow? (Shocked by the humiliation.)
- Prove it with text. Pay attention to the stage directions. (D.2, appearance 3,4.)
– “Foretell a bad outcome” is another meaning of the word “thunderstorm”. How is this meaning played out in this scene?
- “Tisha, don’t leave...” - “Well, take me with you...” - “Fathers, I’m dying...” - “... take an oath...” (D. 2, revelation 4.)
– Is Tikhon capable of protecting Katerina? What Domostroy norms does Katerina violate? (Throws himself on Tikhon’s neck. – Doesn’t howl: “Why make people laugh.”)
– How does the metaphor of a thunderstorm break into Katerina’s monologue after the farewell scene? (“...she crushed me...”) Analyze Katerina’s monologue (D.2, appearance 4).
– How does Kudryash warn Boris about Katerina’s possible death? (“Only women are locked up.” - “That means you want to completely ruin her.” - “They’ll eat her and drive her into a coffin.”)

The theme of the coffin, the grave, bursts in, and from that moment on, it sounds stronger.

– Is Boris able to protect Katerina? Who is trying to protect the heroine? (Kuligin.)
- How? (He suggests installing a lightning rod.)
– Why do you think Dikoy was so angry in his conversation with Kuligin about the lightning rod? (“A thunderstorm is being sent to us as punishment...”)

Lightning rod against the Wild One himself. They feel the fear of God before the Wild One himself, they are afraid of punishment from the Wild One himself. Kabanikha has the same role; Having escaped from her, Tikhon rejoices that “there will be no thunderstorm” above him for two weeks. Tyranny is associated with fear for one’s power, so it requires constant confirmation and testing.

– When is the second time a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon breaks into a play? Analyze this scene. Find intimidating, warning phrases from those present (“the thunderstorm will not pass in vain”, “... crawling, covered with a cap”).
- Why does Katerina hide screaming when the lady appears?
– Who is the crazy lady turning to? Find intimidating, key phrases in the lady’s speech. (“...I don’t want to die...” - “...Beauty is death after all...” - “...into the pool with beauty...” - “...you can’t escape God...”)
– Name the combination of circumstances that intensify the tragedy in Katerina’s soul and lead to recognition. (Conversations of those present, a crazy lady with her prophecy, fiery hell.)

And Katerina’s confession sounds like a clap of thunder.
For Katerina, a thunderstorm (as for the Kalinovites) is not a stupid fear, but a reminder to a person of responsibility to the higher forces of good and truth. “... a heavenly thunderstorm... only harmonizes with an even more terrible moral thunderstorm. And the mother-in-law is a thunderstorm, and the consciousness of a crime is a thunderstorm.” (Mich. Pisarev.)
Thus, in the climax scene there is alsostorm.
The thunderstorm brings cleansing. Katerina's death, like a thunderclap, a lightning discharge, brings purification: an awakening sense of personality and a new attitude towards the world.

– In which of the heroes does the personality awaken under the influence of Katerina’s death? (Varvara and Kudryash ran away. - Tikhon accuses his mother publicly for the first time: “you ruined her.” - Kuligin: “... the soul is not yours now, it is before a judge who is more merciful than you!”)

So, A.N. Ostrovsky universally realized the metaphorthunderstorms in the play. The title of the play is an image that symbolizes not only the elemental power of nature, but also the stormy state of society, the storm in the souls of people. The thunderstorm passes through all the elements of the composition (all important plot points are connected with the image of the thunderstorm). Ostrovsky used all the meanings of the word “thunderstorm” indicated in V. Dahl’s dictionary.

III. Katerina's death, like a thunderstorm, brings purification.

Conflict in the drama "The Thunderstorm"

1. Between generations, with the environment

2. Katerina’s internal conflict: between religious feelings and actions

The originality of the “Thunderstorms” genre It is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic overall coloring, the play also contains comic and satirical scenes. Feklushi’s anecdotal and ignorant stories about the Saltans, about lands where all the people “have dog heads,” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of “The Thunderstorm,” A.D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

The author himself called his play a drama. But could it have been otherwise? At that time, when speaking about the tragic genre, we were accustomed to dealing with a historical plot, with main characters outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky lay in the fact that he wrote a tragedy based on exclusively life-like material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

The tragedy of “The Thunderstorm” is revealed by a conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). So, the fate of Tikhon is tragic here, being a weak-willed toy in the hands of his powerful and despotic woman. Regarding Tikhon’s final words, N.A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon’s “grief” lies in his indecision. If life is sickening, what is stopping him from throwing himself into the Volga? Tikhon cannot do anything at all, not even that “in which he recognizes his goodness and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the situation of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of the rude tyrant - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only “his daily bread” by “honest labor”.

Katerina differs from Kalinov’s “dark kingdom” in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not the real one, but the one created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue pretending in front of her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have enormous courage to overcome not only the fear of physical death, but also the fear of “being judged” for the sin of suicide. Katerina’s spiritual strength “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the main character. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” Katerina's fate was determined by the collision of two historical eras. It’s not just her misfortune that she commits suicide, it’s a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear weighing down her soul.

The general coloring of the play is also tragic, with its gloom and every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here the parallelism of a social, public thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

Despite the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. Katerina’s death testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, resistance, and the growth of forces called upon to replace the Boars and Wild Ones. The Kuligins may still be timid, but they are already beginning to protest.

So, the genre uniqueness of “The Thunderstorm” lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only the tragedy of Katerina, but the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a turning point in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the individual’s awareness of self-esteem.

IV. Homework:

Prepare an oral essay on the topic: “The meaning of the title of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm.”

By heart a passage of your choice (Kuligin “We have cruel morals, sir...” Act 1, scene 3, Katerina “I say: why don’t people fly...” Act 1, scene 7.

Katerina is the main character of Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”. The main idea of ​​the work is the conflict of this girl with the “dark kingdom”, the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. You can find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic by looking into Katerina’s soul and understanding her ideas about life. And this can be done thanks to the skill of the playwright Ostrovsky. From Katerina's words we learn about her childhood and adolescence. The girl did not receive a good education. She lived with her mother in the village. Katerina's childhood was joyful and cloudless. Her mother “doted on her” and did not force her to do housework.

Katya lived freely: she got up early, washed herself with spring water, climbed flowers, went to church with her mother, then sat down to do some work and listened to wanderers and praying mantises, of which there were many in their house. Katerina had magical dreams in which she flew under the clouds. And how strongly contrasted with such a quiet, happy life is the action of a six-year-old girl, when Katya, offended by something, ran away from home to the Volga in the evening, got into a boat and pushed off from the shore! ... We see that Katerina grew up as a happy, romantic, but limited girl. She was very devout and passionately loving. She loved everything and everyone around her: nature, the sun, the church, her home with wanderers, the beggars whom she helped. But the most important thing about Katya is that she lived in her dreams, apart from the rest of the world. From everything that existed, she chose only that which did not contradict her nature; the rest she did not want to notice and did not notice. That’s why the girl saw angels in the sky, and for her the church was not an oppressive and oppressive force, but a place where everything is light, where you can dream. We can say that Katerina was naive and kind, brought up in a completely religious spirit. But if she encountered something on her way that contradicted her ideals, then she turned into a rebellious and stubborn nature and defended herself from that extraneous, stranger that boldly disturbed her soul. This was the case with the boat. After marriage, Katya's life changed a lot. From a free, joyful, sublime world in which she felt united with nature, the girl found herself in a life full of deception, cruelty and desolation.

The point is not even that Katerina married Tikhon against her will: she didn’t love anyone at all and she didn’t care who she married. The fact is that the girl was robbed of her former life, which she created for herself. Katerina no longer feels such delight from visiting church; she cannot do her usual activities. Sad, anxious thoughts do not allow her to calmly admire nature. Katya can only endure as long as she can and dream, but she can no longer live with her thoughts, because cruel reality returns her to earth, to where there is humiliation and suffering. Katerina is trying to find her happiness in her love for Tikhon: “I will love my husband. Silence, my darling, I won’t exchange you for anyone.” But sincere manifestations of this love are stopped by Kabanikha: “Why are you hanging around your neck, shameless woman, you’re not saying goodbye to your lover.” Katerina has a strong sense of external humility and duty, which is why she forces herself to love her unloved husband. Tikhon himself, because of his mother’s tyranny, cannot truly love his wife, although he probably wants to. And when he, leaving for a while, leaves Katya to walk around to his heart's content, the girl (already a woman) becomes completely lonely. Why did Katerina fall in love with Boris? After all, he did not exhibit his masculine qualities, like Paratov, and did not even talk to her. Probably the reason was that she lacked something pure in the stuffy atmosphere of Kabanikha’s house. And love for Boris was this pure, did not allow Katerina to completely wither away, somehow supported her. She went on a date with Boris because she felt like a person with pride and basic rights. It was a rebellion against submission to fate, against lawlessness. Katerina knew that she was committing a sin, but she also knew that it was still impossible to live any longer. She sacrificed the purity of her conscience to freedom and Boris. In my opinion, when taking this step, Katya already felt the approaching end and probably thought: “It’s now or never.” She wanted to be satisfied with love, knowing that there would be no other opportunity. On the first date, Katerina told Boris: “You ruined me.” Boris is the reason for the disgrace of her soul, and for Katya this is tantamount to death. Sin hangs like a heavy stone on her heart. Katerina is terribly afraid of the approaching thunderstorm, considering it a punishment for what she did. Katerina has been afraid of thunderstorms ever since she started thinking about Bori

Xie. For her pure soul, even the thought of loving a stranger is a sin. Katya cannot live any longer with her sin, and she considers repentance to be the only way to at least partially get rid of it. She confesses everything to her husband and Kabanikha. Such an act seems very strange and naive in our time. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” that’s Katerina. Tikhon forgave his wife, but did she forgive herself, being very religious. Katya fears God, but her God lives in her, God is her conscience. The girl is tormented by two questions: how will she return home and look into the eyes of the husband she cheated on, and how will she live with a stain on her conscience.

Katerina sees death as the only way out of this situation: “No, I don’t care whether I go home or go to the grave... It’s better in the grave... To live again No, no, don’t... it’s not good.” Haunted by her sin, Katerina leaves life to save her soul . Dobrolyubov defined Katerina’s character as “decisive, integral, Russian.” Decisive, because she decided to take the last step, to die in order to save herself from shame and remorse. Whole, because in Katya’s character everything is harmonious, one, nothing contradicts each other, because Katya is one with nature, with God. Russian, because who, if not a Russian person, is capable of loving so much, capable of sacrificing so much, so seemingly obediently enduring all hardships, while remaining himself, free, not a slave.

Ostrovsky wrote the play “The Thunderstorm” in 1859 at a time when a change in social foundations was imminent in Russia, on the eve of the peasant reform. Therefore, the play was perceived as an expression of the spontaneous revolutionary sentiments of the masses. It was not for nothing that Ostrovsky gave his play the name “The Thunderstorm”. A thunderstorm occurs not only as a natural phenomenon, the action unfolds to the sounds of thunder, but also as an internal phenomenon - the characters are characterized through their attitude to the thunderstorm. For each hero, a thunderstorm is a special symbol, for some it is a harbinger of a storm, for others it is purification, the beginning of a new life, for others it is a “voice from above” that predicts some important events or warns against any actions.

In Katerina’s soul there is, to no one, an invisible thunderstorm, a thunderstorm for her is heavenly punishment, “the hand of the Lord,” which should punish her for betraying her husband: “It’s not so scary that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly overtake you with all evil thoughts." Katerina is afraid and waits for a thunderstorm. She loves Boris, but this depresses her. She believes that she will burn in “fiery hell” for her sinful feelings.

For mechanic Kuligin, a thunderstorm is a crude manifestation of natural forces, consonant with human ignorance, which must be fought. Kuligin believes that by introducing mechanization and enlightenment into life, one can achieve power over “thunder,” which carries the meaning of rudeness, cruelty and immorality: “I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind.” Kuligin dreams of building a lightning rod to rid people of the fear of thunderstorms.

For Tikhon, a thunderstorm is anger, oppression on the part of his mother. He is afraid of her, but as a son he must obey her. Leaving home on business, Tikhon says: “How can I know that there won’t be any thunderstorms over me for two weeks, I don’t have these shackles on my legs.”

Dikoy believes that it is impossible and sinful to resist lightning. For him, a thunderstorm means submission. Despite his wild and evil disposition, he obediently obeys Kabanikha.

Boris fears human thunderstorms more than natural ones. That's why he leaves, abandons Katerina alone and not with people's rumors. “It’s scarier here!” - says Boris, running away from the place of prayer of the entire city.

The thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play symbolizes both ignorance and anger, heavenly punishment and retribution, and purification, insight, and the beginning of a new life. This is evidenced by a conversation between two townspeople of Kalinov; changes began to occur in the residents’ worldview, and their assessment of everything that was happening began to change. Perhaps people will have a desire to overcome their fear of thunderstorms, to get rid of the oppression of anger and ignorance that reigns in the city. After terrible rumbles of thunder and lightning strikes, the sun will shine above our heads again.N. A. Dobrolyubov, in the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” interpreted the image of Katerina as “a spontaneous protest brought to the end,” and suicide as a force of freedom-loving character: “such liberation is bitter; but what to do when there is no other.”

I believe that Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” was timely and contributed to the fight against the oppressors.