What problems are raised in the play The Thunderstorm. Essay “The problem of moral duty in the play by A. n. Ostrovsky "thunderstorm"

The drama “The Thunderstorm” is based on an image of an awakening sense of personality and a new attitude towards the world.

Ostrovsky showed that even in the ossified little world of Kalinov, a character of amazing beauty and strength can arise. It is very important that Katerina was born and formed in the same Kalinovsky conditions. In the exposition of the play, Katerina tells Varvara about her life as a girl. The main motive of her story is the permeating mutual love and will. But it was a “will” that did not at all conflict with the centuries-old way of life of a woman, whose entire range of ideas is limited to housework and religious dreams.

This is a world in which it does not occur to a person to oppose himself to the general, since he does not yet separate himself from this community, and therefore there is no violence or coercion here. But Katerina lives in an era when the very spirit of this morality: harmony between an individual and the ideas of the environment has disappeared and the ossified form of relationships rests on violence and coercion. Katerina’s sensitive soul caught this. “Yes, everything here seems to be out of captivity.”

It is very important that it is here, in Kalinov, that a new attitude towards the world is born in the heroine’s soul, new feelings that are still unclear to the heroine herself: “There is something so extraordinary about me. I’m starting to live again, or... I don’t know.”

This vague feeling is an awakening sense of personality. In the heroine’s soul it is embodied in love. Passion is born and grows in Katerina. The awakened feeling of love is perceived by Katerina as a terrible sin, because love for a stranger for her, a married woman, is a violation of moral duty. Katerina does not doubt the correctness of her moral ideas; she only sees that no one around her cares about the true essence of this morality.

She sees no outcome to her torment other than death, and it is the complete lack of hope for forgiveness that pushes her to commit suicide - a sin even more serious from a Christian point of view. “Anyway, I lost my soul.”

The main conflict in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is the clash of Katerina, the main character, with the "dark kingdom" of cruel despotism and blind ignorance. It leads her to suicide after much torment and torment. But this was not the reason...

Enmity between loved ones can be especially irreconcilable P. Tacitus There is no more terrible retribution for follies and errors than to see how one’s own children suffer because of them W. Sumner Play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" tells about the life of a provincial...

Play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" was published in 1860, on the eve of the abolition of serfdom. At this difficult time, the culmination of the revolutionary situation of the 60s in Russia is observed. Even then the foundations of the autocratic-serf system were crumbling, but still...

What are the characters in Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”, Dikaya and Kabanikh? First of all, it should be said about their cruelty and heartlessness. Dikoy does not regard not only those around him, but even his family and friends. His family lives in constant...

Katerina. Dispute about the heroine of "Thunderstorm". The character of Katerina, according to Dobrolyubov’s definition, “is a step forward not only in Ostrovsky’s dramatic activity, but also in all of our literature.” The protest erupting from the “weakest and most patient” was for...

Moral problems in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm"

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

It is symbolic that in 1859, on the eve of the social upsurge that would lead in 61 to the abolition of serfdom, a play called “The Thunderstorm” appeared. Just as the title of the play is symbolic, its moral problem teak, in the center of which are the problems of external and internal freedom, love and happiness, the problem of moral choice and responsibility.

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

Only one person is given the ability to stand out from the background of those who humiliate and humiliate – Katerina. The very first appearance of Katerina reveals in her not a timid daughter-in-law of a strict mother-in-law, but a person who has dignity and feels like an individual: “Whoever likes to endure lies,” says Katerina in response to Kabanikha’s unfair words. Katerina is a spiritual, bright, dreamy person; she, like no one else in the play, knows how to feel beauty. Even her religiosity is also a manifestation of spirituality. Church service filled with special charm for her: in the rays of sunlight she saw angels, felt a sense of belonging to something higher, unearthly. The motif of light becomes one of the central ones in Katerina’s characterization. “And the face seems to glow,” Boris had only to say this, and Kudryash immediately realized that he was talking about Katerina. Her speech is melodious, figurative, reminiscent of Russian folk songs: “Violent winds, bear my sadness and melancholy to him.” Distinguishes Katerina inner freedom, passion of nature, it is no coincidence that the motif of a bird and flight appears in the play. The captivity of the Kabanovsky house oppresses her, suffocates her. “Everything seems to be out of captivity with you. I’ve completely wilted with you,” says Katerina, explaining to Varvara why she doesn’t feel happy in the Kabanovs’ house.

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

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

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

Ostrovsky was once called the “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye,” emphasizing the artistic discovery of the world of merchants in the plays of the playwright, but his plays are interesting not only for specific historical issues, but also for moral, universal ones. Thus, it is precisely the moral problematics of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” that makes this work interesting for the modern reader even today. The action of Ostrovsky's drama takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I’ve been looking at the Volga every day and I can’t take it all in. The view is extraordinary. My soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. Especially considering the fact that Kabanikha, a woman who personifies the entire “dark kingdom,” constantly talks about high morality. But why didn’t life in the city become a kingdom of light and joy, but turned into “a world of prison and grave silence”?

There are moral laws that are not written down anywhere, but by following which, a person is able to comprehend spiritual happiness, find light and joy on earth. How are these laws implemented in a provincial Volga town?

1. The moral laws of people's lives are replaced in Kalinov by the law of force, power and money. Dikiy’s big money frees his hands and gives him the opportunity to swagger with impunity over everyone who is poor and financially dependent on him. People are nothing to him. “You are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush,” he says to Kuligin. We see that the basis of everything in the city is money. They are worshiped. The basis of human relationships is material dependence. Here money decides everything, and power belongs to those who have more capital . Profit and enrichment become the goal and meaning of life for most Kalinov residents. 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 Kuligin, who is advanced in his views, realizing the power of money, dreams of a million in order to talk on equal terms with the rich.

2. The basis of morality is respect for elders, parents, father and mother. But this law in Kalinov is perverted , because it is replaced by a ban on freedom, on respect. Katerina suffers the most from Kabanikha’s tyranny. A freedom-loving nature, she cannot live in a family where the youngest unquestioningly submits to the elder, the wife to the husband, where any desire for freedom and manifestation of self-esteem is suppressed. “Will” for Kabanikha is a dirty word. “Wait for it! Live in freedom! - she threatens the young people. For Kabanikha, the most important thing is not the real order, but its external manifestation. E She is outraged that Tikhon, leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and does not know how to order, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband’s feet and does not howl to show her love. “That’s how you respect your elders...” Kabanova says every now and then, but respect in her understanding is fear. We should be afraid, she believes.

3. The great law of morality is to live in harmony with your heart, according to your conscience. But in Kalinov, any manifestation of sincere feeling is regarded as a sin. Love is a sin. But it’s possible to go on dates in secret. When Katerina, saying goodbye to Tikhon, throws herself on his neck, Kabanikha pulls her back: “Why are you hanging on his neck, shameless one! You are not saying goodbye to your lover! He’s your husband, your boss!” Love and marriage are incompatible here. Kabanikha remembers love only when she needs to justify her cruelty: “After all, parents are strict with you out of love.” She wants to force the younger generation to live by the laws of hypocrisy, arguing that the most important thing is not true manifestation feelings, but external observance of decency. Kabanikha is outraged that Tikhon, when leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband’s feet and does not howl to show her love

4.There is no place for sincere feelings in the city . The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant.. Kabanikha hides her true essence under the mask of righteousness, while tormenting both her children and daughter-in-law with nagging and reproaches. Kuligin gives her an apt description: “Prude, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” Lies and deceit, having become an everyday occurrence in life, cripple people’s souls.”

These are the conditions in which the younger generation of the city of Kalinov is forced to live.

5. Only one person can stand out among those who humiliate and humiliate – Katerina. The very first appearance of Katerina reveals in her not a timid daughter-in-law of a strict mother-in-law, but a person who has dignity and feels like an individual: “Whoever likes to endure lies,” says Katerina in response to Kabanikha’s unfair words. Katerina is a spiritual, bright, dreamy person; she, like no one else in the play, knows how to feel beauty. Even her religiosity is also a manifestation of spirituality. The church service is filled with special charm for her: in the rays sunlight she saw angels, felt a sense of belonging to something higher, unearthly. The motif of light becomes one of the central ones in Katerina’s characterization. “And the face seems to glow,” Boris had only to say this, and Kudryash immediately realized that he was talking about Katerina. Her speech is melodious, figurative, reminiscent of Russian folk songs: “Violent winds, bear with him my sadness and melancholy.” Katerina is distinguished by her inner freedom and passionate nature; it is no coincidence that the motif of a bird and flight appears in the play. The captivity of the Kabanovsky house oppresses her, suffocates her. “Everything seems to be out of captivity with you. I’ve completely wilted with you,” says Katerina, explaining to Varvara why she doesn’t feel happy in the Kabanovs’ house.

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

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

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

2. “A poet in Russia is more than a poet” (according to the lyrics of N. A. Nekrasov). Reading by heart one of the poet's poems (at the student's choice).

The theme of the poet and poetry is traditional for Russian lyrics. It is this theme that is one of the main ones in Nekrasov’s lyrics.

N. A. Nekrasov’s ideas about the essence and purpose of poetry developed in the process of creative communication with the ideologists of revolutionary democracy N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, as well as such progressive writers as M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. . Tolstoy. Nekrasov believes that the role of the poet in the life of society is so significant that it requires from him not only artistic talent, but also citizenship, activity in the struggle for civic beliefs..

1. Nekrasov repeatedly states his views for the purpose of your creativity . Thus, in the poem “Yesterday, at about six o’clock...” he says that his muse becomes the sister of all the humiliated and insulted:

There they beat a woman with a whip,

Young peasant woman...

...And I said to the Muse: “Look!

Your dear sister!

The same idea is heard in a later poem, “Muse” (1852). The poet sees from the very beginning my calling is to glorify the common people, sympathize with their suffering, express their thoughts and aspirations, and attack their oppressors with censure and merciless satire . Nekrasov's muse, on the one hand, is a peasant woman. But on the other hand hand, - fate this very floor, the persecuted and persecuted strongmen of the world this. Nekrasov’s muse is suffering, chanting the people and calling them to fight.

2..In a poem “The Poet and the Citizen” (1856) Nekrasov polemicizes with representatives of the “pure art” movement, who, in his opinion, lead the reader away from the acute social problems. The poem is structured as a dialogue. This dialogue in Nekrasov is an internal dispute, a struggle in his soul as a Poet and a Citizen. The author himself tragically experienced this internal rupture and often made the same claims against himself as the Citizen did against the Poet. The citizen in the poem shames the Poet for inaction; in his understanding, the immeasurable sublimity of civil service eclipses the previous ideals of freedom of creativity, the new high goal is to die for the Fatherland: “... go and die blamelessly.”

A poet who truly loves his homeland must have a clear civil position , without hesitation to expose and condemn the vices of society, as did Gogol, on the day of whose death the poem was written. Nekrasov emphasizes that the life of a poet who has chosen such a path is immeasurably more difficult than the life of one who avoids social problems in his work. But this is the feat of a true poet: he patiently endures all adversity for the sake of his high goal. According to Nekrasov, such a poet will be appreciated only by future generations, posthumously:

They curse him from all sides,

And just seeing his corpse,

They will understand how much he has done,

And how he loved - while hating!

According to Nekrasov, without civic ideals, without active public position the poet will not be a true poet . The Poet agrees with this - actor poem "Poet and Citizen". The dispute ends not with the victory of the Poet or the Citizen, but with a general conclusion: the role of the poet is so significant that it requires civic convictions and the fight for these convictions .

3.. In 1874 Nekrasov creates a poem "Prophet". This work, of course, continued the series in which the works of Pushkin and Lermontov already stood. . It again talks about the difficulty of the chosen path, about the divine beginning of creativity :

He hasn't been crucified yet,

But the time will come - he will be on the cross,

4. But N. A. Nekrasov sees the highest purpose of the poet in selfless service to the people . The theme of the people, the homeland becomes one of the most important themes of the poet’s entire work. He is sure: as long as the theme of the suffering of the people is relevant, the artist has no right to forget it. This selfless service to people is the essence of N. A. Nekrasov’s poetry. In a poem “Elegy”, (1874) In one of his most beloved poems, Nekrasov seems to sum up his work:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - and my heart is calm...

The poet creates poems not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of conscience... Because you can only live in service to the people, and not to yourself.

« A poet in Russia is more than a poet,” these words do not belong to Nekrasov, but with with good reason can be attributed to his work. A poet in Russia is, first of all, a person with an active life position . And all of Nekrasov’s work affirmed the thought: “You may not be a poet, but you must be a citizen.”

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

The central problem is the confrontation between the individual and the environment (and, as a special case, the powerless position of women, about which N.A. Dobrolyubov said: “... the strongest protest is the one that finally rises from the chests of the weakest and most patient”). The problem of confrontation between personality and environment is revealed on the basis of the central conflict of the play: there is a clash between the “warm heart” and the dead way of life of merchant society. The lively nature of Katerina Kabanova, romantic, freedom-loving, hot, unable to tolerate “ cruel morals» the city of Kalinov, about which in the 3rd yavl. Act 1 is narrated by Kuligin: “And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor so that his labors will be free more money make money... They undermine each other's trade, and not so much out of self-interest as out of envy. They are at enmity with each other; they get drunken clerks into their high mansions...” All lawlessness and cruelty are committed under the guise of piety. The heroine is unable to put up with hypocrisy and tyranny, among which Katerina’s sublime soul suffocates. And for young Kabanova, an honest and integral nature, Varvara’s principle of “survival” is completely impossible: “Do what you want, as long as it’s safe and covered.” The opposition of a “warm heart” to inertia and hypocrisy, even if the price for such a rebellion is life, will be called by the critic N. A. Dobrolyubov “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

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

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

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

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