The events of the play by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky offer our attention a description of the life of the main character Katerina in the Kabanov family, where house-building flourishes.
But her life in her parents’ house was completely different. Let's look at this obvious contrast.
At home, her parents were pampered and loved, her life was easy and carefree. The girl felt free, she was free, like a bird in the sky. Days filled with joy and fun soon passed. Katya loved to walk in the garden, enjoying the aroma and beauty of the flowers growing there. The girl did not grieve about anything, there was not a single reason for concern, no reason for sadness. The mother simply adored her daughter, bought her the most beautiful outfits, so that the girl looked like a real doll. No one forced her to work. If she didn’t want to do anything, then Katerina didn’t do anything, she just rested and enjoyed her carefree youth.
This upbringing allowed the girl to become a sincere and whole person, incapable of pretending and lying, and this is precisely what all relationships in the new family are built on. And how this outrages Katya. Determined and brave, she is burdened in the house and does not know how to behave.
But still, the girl’s upbringing, based on submission to elders, religiosity, adherence to traditions and customs, does not allow her to behave differently from what is customary in her husband’s family. A cruel, rude and despotic mother-in-law tries to subjugate her daughter-in-law to her will. The girl does not feel any participation. Just attacks and nagging. Moreover, often not even based on anything, just like that, out of nowhere. Dreamy Katerina, who treats everyone kindly without exception, languishes in Kabanikha’s house, in this oppressive atmosphere of unquestioning obedience and humiliation.
It gets to the point that the mother-in-law begins to insult Katya. This is clearly presented in the scene of Tikhon and Katya’s farewell, when the husband, at the behest of his mother, orders him not to go out with the young guys. This was probably the last straw. It was already unbearable for Katya within the walls of the new house, and after such treatment it became completely unbearable. The protest arising in Katerina's soul bursts out with all its force. The dark kingdom into which the young girl finds herself does not give her the opportunity to be happy, and, having met love outside its walls, Katya understands what sin she has taken on her soul. The girl cannot hide her shame, this feeling weighs her down, Katya cannot pretend and hide like Varvara. And after such a confession, she no longer lives in the house of her hated mother-in-law. Katerina commits suicide. In the current situation, this action was the only way out.
Life in Kabanikha’s house made the girl, who grew up in love and freedom, unhappy. Her mother-in-law simply did not let her breathe, did not allow her to be who she was. But it was not possible to return home, such were the times. And the young girl, who deliberately embarked on the path of sin, had to decide on another desperate act. Such a strong nature is truly amazing!
A. N. Ostrovsky, the author of numerous plays about the merchants, the creator of the repertoire for the Russian national theater, is rightfully considered the “singer of merchant life.” And he sits at the entrance to the Maly Theater, sculpted by the chisel of the sculptor Andreev, and reminds us of the past, of the dark, funny and terrible world of his many heroes: the Glumovs, the Bolshovs, the Podkhalyuzins, the Wild and the Boars.The depiction of the world of Moscow and provincial merchants, which Dobrolyubov called “the dark kingdom” with a light hand, became the main theme of Ostrovsky’s work.
The drama “The Thunderstorm” is no exception. The plot of the play is simple and typical for that environment and era: a young married woman Katerina Kabanova, not finding a response to her feelings in her husband, fell in love with another man. Tormented by remorse and not wanting to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom” (“Do what you want, as long as everything is sewn and covered”), she confesses her action publicly, in church. After this confession, her life becomes so unbearable that she commits suicide.
The image of Katerina is the most striking in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. Dobrolyubov, analyzing in detail the image of Katerina, called her “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”
Katerina’s life in her parents’ home was good and carefree. Here she felt “free.” Katerina lived easily, carefree, joyfully. She loved her garden very much, in which she so often walked and admired the flowers. Later telling Varvara about her life in her home, she says: “I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mama doted on me, she dressed me up like a doll, she didn’t force me to work, I did whatever I wanted.” Katerina differs from all representatives of the “dark kingdom” in the depth of her feelings, honesty, truthfulness, courage, and determination. Growing up in a good family, she retained all the wonderful traits of the Russian character. This is a pure, sincere, ardent nature with an open soul who does not know how to deceive. “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything,” she says to Varvara, who claims that everything in their house is based on deception. This same Varvara calls our heroine some kind of “sophisticated”, “wonderful”. Katerina is a strong, decisive, strong-willed person. Since childhood, she was capable of bold actions. Telling Varvara about herself and emphasizing her hot nature, she says: “I was born so hot!”
Katerina loved nature, its beauty, and Russian songs. Therefore, her speech is emotional, enthusiastic, musical, melodious, imbued with high poetry and sometimes reminds us of a folk song. Growing up in her home, our heroine accepted all the age-old traditions of her family: obedience to elders, religiosity, submission to customs. Katerina, who did not study anywhere, loved to listen to the stories of wanderers and praying mantises and perceived all their religious prejudices, which poisoned her young life, forcing her to perceive love for Boris as a terrible sin, from which she tries and cannot escape. Having found herself in a new family, where everything is under the rule of the cruel, harsh, rude, despotic Kabanikha, Katerina does not find a sympathetic attitude towards herself. Dreamy, honest, sincere, friendly to people, Katerina takes the oppressive atmosphere of this house especially hard.
Gradually, life in Kabanikha’s house, which constantly insults her human dignity, becomes unbearable for her. A mute protest against the “dark kingdom”, which did not give her happiness, freedom and independence, is already beginning to arise in her young soul. This process deepens... Katerina commits suicide. Thus, she proved that she was right, a moral victory over the “dark kingdom.” Dobrolyubov in his article, assessing the image of Katerina, wrote: “This is the true strength of character, which in any case you can rely on! This is the height to which our national life reaches in its development!”
The fact that Katerina’s act was typical for her time is confirmed by the fact that a similar incident occurred in Kostroma in the Klykov family of merchants. And for a long time after this, the actors playing the main roles in the play wore make-up so that they could be seen to resemble the Klykovs.
Why does the critic N.A. Dobrolyubov call Katerina “strong character”?
In the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” N.A. Dobrolyubov writes that “The Thunderstorm” expresses “a strong Russian character,” which is striking “by its opposition to all tyrant principles.” This character is “focused and decisive, unswervingly faithful to the instinct of natural truth, full of faith in new ideals and selfless, in the sense that it is better for him to die than to live under those principles that are disgusting to him.” This is exactly how the critic saw Katerina’s character. But is this how the reader sees this image? And how does the heroine’s character manifest itself in action?
The formation of personality begins in childhood, so the author introduces into the play Katerina’s story about life in her parents’ house. The heroine’s experiences, her state of mind, the perception of the events that happened to her as a tragedy - all this would be incomprehensible without a description of life before and after marriage. To explain the changes that occurred in Katerina’s soul, and her internal struggle that arose as a result of the actions she committed, the author gives pictures of the heroine’s childhood and youth through memories painted in light colors (in contrast to the “dark kingdom” where she is forced to live in marriage ).
Katerina considers the atmosphere of her parents’ home very beneficial for her development and upbringing: “I lived, didn’t worry about anything, ... like a bird in the wild.” The activities of this period - needlework, gardening, visiting church, singing, conversations with wanderers - are not much different from what fills the heroine’s life in the Kabanovs’ house. But behind the fence of a merchant’s house there is no freedom of choice, warmth and sincerity in relationships between people, there is no joy and desire to sing like a bird. Everything, as in a distorting mirror, is distorted beyond recognition, and this causes dissonance in Katerina’s soul. Anger, grumpiness, eternal discontent, constant reproaches, moralizing and distrust of her mother-in-law deprived Katerina of confidence in her own rightness and purity of thoughts, causing anxiety and mental pain. She remembers with longing about the happy and calm life as a girl, about how her parents loved her. Here, in the “dark kingdom,” the joyful expectation of happiness and the bright perception of the world disappeared.
Love of life, optimism, and a feeling of purity and light in the soul were replaced by despondency, a sense of sinfulness and guilt, fear and the desire to die. This is no longer the cheerful girl that people knew her as a girl, this is a completely different Katerina. But strength of character is manifested even in the conditions of life behind the fence, since the heroine cannot meekly endure injustice and humiliation, nor accept the principles of merchant hypocrisy. When Kabanova reproaches Katerina for pretense, she objects to her mother-in-law: “Whether in front of people or without people, I’m still alone, I don’t prove anything of myself... It’s nice to endure lies!”
Nobody talked to Kabanova like that, but Katerina was used to being sincere, and wanted to remain that way in her husband’s family. After all, before her marriage, she was a cheerful and sensitive girl, she loved nature, and was kind to people. That is why N.A. Dobrolyubov had reason to call Katerina a “strong character” who “strikes us with her opposite” in relation to the characters of the merchant class depicted in the play. Indeed, the image of the main character is the antipode to other female characters in the play “The Thunderstorm”.
Katerina is a sensitive and romantic person: sometimes it seemed to her that she was standing over an abyss and someone was pushing her there, down. She seemed to have a presentiment of her fall (sin and early death), so her soul is filled with fear. Loving another person while married is an unforgivable sin for a believer. The girl was brought up on the principles of high morality and fulfillment of Christian commandments, but she was accustomed to living “by her own will,” that is, having the opportunity to choose her actions and make decisions on her own. Therefore, she says to Varvara: “And if I get tired of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.”
Boris said about Katerina that in church she prays with an angelic smile, “but her face seems to glow.” And this opinion confirms the peculiarity of Katerina’s inner world, speaks of her difference in comparison with other characters in the play. In her own family, where there was respect for the child’s personality, in an atmosphere of love, kindness and trust, the girl saw worthy role models. Feeling warmth and sincerity, she got used to a free life, to work without coercion. Her parents did not scold her, but rejoiced at her behavior and actions. This gave her confidence that she lived correctly and sinlessly, and God had nothing to punish her for. Her pure, immaculate soul was open to goodness and love.
In the Kabanovs’ house, as in the city of Kalinov in general, Katerina finds herself in an atmosphere of bondage, hypocrisy, and suspicion, where she is treated as a potential sinner and is accused in advance of something she never thought of doing. At first she made excuses, trying to prove to everyone her moral purity, she worried and endured, but the habit of freedom and the longing for soulfulness in relationships with people forced her to go out, break out of the “dungeon”, first into the garden, then to the Volga, then to forbidden love. And a feeling of guilt comes to Katerina, she begins to think that by crossing the boundaries of the “dark kingdom”, she also violated her own ideas about Christian morality, about morality. This means she has become different: she is a sinner worthy of God’s punishment.
For Katerina, feelings of loneliness, defenselessness, her own sinfulness and loss of interest in life turned out to be destructive. There are no dear people nearby for whom it would be worth living. Caring for elderly parents or children would bring responsibility and joy into her life, but the heroine has no children, and whether her parents were alive is unknown, the play does not say.
However, it would not be entirely correct to consider Katerina a victim of an unhappy marriage, because hundreds of women patiently accepted and endured such circumstances. It is also impossible to call her repentance to her husband, an honest confession of treason, stupidity, since Katerina could not have done it any other way, thanks to her spiritual purity. And suicide became the only way out because the man she loved, Boris, could not take her with him, leaving at the request of his uncle for Siberia. For her, returning to the Kabanovs’ house was worse than death: Katerina understood that they were looking for her, that she would not even have time to escape, and in the state in which the unfortunate woman was, the nearest path led her to the Volga.
All of the above arguments confirm the opinion of N.A. Dobrolyubov that Katerina became a victim of her own purity, although it was in purity that her spiritual strength and that inner core that the merchant Kabanova could not break. Katerina’s freedom-loving nature, her principles, which did not allow her to lie, placed the heroine much higher than all the characters in the play. In this situation, the decision to leave a world where everything was contrary to her ideals was a manifestation of strength of character. In those circumstances, only a strong person could decide to protest: Katerina felt lonely, but rebelled against the foundations of the “dark kingdom” and significantly shook this block of ignorance.
A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” was presented a year before the abolition of serfdom in 1859. Particularly prominent in this story is Katerina’s life in her parents’ home. The image of the main character changes with each chapter; she is vulnerable and tender.
What is the play about?
The action takes place in the fictional city of Kalinov. The drama takes place in one of the merchant houses on the banks of the Volga. The owner of the house, merchant Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, is an imperious and capricious person. She holds everyone around her in her arms. Nobody can resist her. But her zeal to subjugate everyone and everything prompts her to conquer more and more souls.
The red line between the lines of the play is the theme of generational conflict. And today this problem is relevant and modern. The embodiment of tyranny and the desire to rule the world in the image of Marfa Kabanova personifies the system established by the older generation. But the image of Katerina is especially revealed; her spiritual tragedy does not leave anyone indifferent.
Katerina's life in her mother-in-law's house
The appearance of a new family member, Katerina, in the Kabanovs’ house, turns the merchant’s attention to a new victim. Katerina Kabanova, daughter-in-law of the imperious Marfa Ignatievna, appeared in the house not at the behest of her heart, but due to circumstances. She was forcibly married to the merchant's son Tikhon, whose will was enslaved by his mother. Katerina’s life in her parents’ house was also not characterized by joy and happiness.
The appearance of Katerina brings a special meaning to the atmosphere of the play, contrasting the bright image of a sincere and pious girl with the “gray” existence of the merchants of the mid-19th century. The image of the girl amazes the reader with her simplicity, sincerity, she is ready to give the world her kindness and can do it. Her image is the only one that is called “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”
Such strict limits
But the framework of merchant society does not allow her soul to open up. Her bright dreams and thoughts, which she shares with her husband’s sister Varya, are not needed by anyone and are incomprehensible. In the merchant environment there is no place for sincerity and love, freedom of soul and purity of thoughts.
Since childhood, Katya has become accustomed to the free love of her mother, to the joyful world of freedom and church wisdom. The girl can’t breathe in a merchant’s house; the resourcefulness and lies that reign in society are alien to her. Her soul can fly like a free bird only in dreams, which have become so rare with the onset of marriage. The image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” is described in detail. Her experiences and mental anguish are briefly presented.
Seek salvation in love
A breath of fresh air for Katerina is her love for Boris, the nephew of the same greedy and pompous merchant Dikiy as Kabanikha. Because she is forced to while away her days locked up in her mother-in-law’s kingdom, Katerina seeks an outlet for her feelings in her attachment to Boris. While Katerina's husband is away, the lovers' secret meetings help her realize that her love for her nephew Dikiy is not really the kind of love that can make her fly to the stars. Katerina's life in someone else's house turns into torture.
She understands that the hopelessness of her situation has pushed her towards an imaginary loved one, who is not at all as impeccable in his thoughts as she would like. It turned out that she came up with it herself. She needed at least someone who could share her bright thoughts with her, with whom she could make her dreams of a happy and free life come true. Katerina's life in her parents' house makes the main character believe in ghostly love.
Immortal soul without bowing its head
The merchant widow Marfa Kabanova, in her thirst for power, was never able to get her daughter-in-law to recognize her supremacy. Katerina calls her mother-in-law “you” to her face, thereby making it clear how equal she considers them. Katerina feels sorry for her husband, realizing that he will never be able to break free from his mother’s embrace without permission, and his mother will not allow him to do this. His complaints about life are nothing more than a recognition of his infantility and habit of being led by a strong leader.
And Martha, like a poisonous spider, weaved her webs, sticky and strong, into which it was not difficult for those who lived in a society where deception, foolishness and envy reigned. The appearance of a brave opponent, proud and silent, reveals a selfless desire to change something in the world around him. The inability to single-handedly resist the ossified system of government is reflected in the outbreak of a thunderstorm and culminates in the suicide of the main character. For her, “it is not death that is desirable, but life that is unbearable.”
A protest that ends in tragedy
Her dream of flying like a bird does not seem absurd or funny. She embodied all the despair of a young girl, all the pain and unimaginable spiritual tragedy. Understanding the very essence of life in lies, unwillingness and inability to pretend and adapt lead Katerina to the edge of a cliff. A deep believer, she was not afraid to commit suicide, thereby forever depriving her restless soul of peace, and she was not afraid of the wrath of God and heavenly punishment. Katerina's protest in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" ends in tragedy.
At that time, Katerina was driven into a corner by circumstances. Her confession of betrayal of her husband and mother-in-law speaks of how pure and highly spiritual her nature was. To be honest with others, but first with herself, is the underside of her soul, the very bottom.
“The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky amazed his contemporaries with the courage of Katerina’s reasoning and admired the strength of character of such a fragile and tender soul. Silent opposition and disobedience to the will of the existing regime creates a feeling of ongoing struggle and confidence in victory, if not now, but certainly.
The image of Katerina inspired many young minds to rise to the fight against autocracy, strengthen the will and spirit through trials and find their way to the light in the name of freedom and justice. The assignment for “The Thunderstorm” - “Katerina’s life in her parents’ house” is given in secondary schools. The image of the martyr girl is popular to this day.
Katerina was conceived by Ostrovsky as a positive image, with an integral, courageous, decisive and freedom-loving character and at the same time bright, loving, creative, filled with deep poetry. He strongly emphasizes her connection with the people. With all the development of the action, Ostrovsky talks about Katerina’s victory over the dark kingdom.
Katerina’s life in her parents’ house was similar in terms of everyday life to the Kabanovs’ house, the same wanderers with their stories, reading the lives of saints, visiting church. But “she made up for this life, poor in content, with her spiritual wealth.”
The whole story about Katerina’s life is imbued with great tenderness for the past and horror for the present: “It was so good” and “I have completely withered with you.” And the most valuable thing that was now lost was the feeling of will. “I lived like a bird in the wild,” “...I used to do whatever I wanted,” “my mother didn’t force me.” And in response to Varvara’s remark that the life of Katerina’s parents’ house is similar to theirs, Katerina exclaims: “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity.” Surprisingly simply, sincerely, as she feels, without a single embellishing word, Katerina says: “I used to get up early; If it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that’s it, I’ll water all the flowers in the house.”
Church and religion occupied a large place in Katerina’s life from her youth.
Growing up in a patriarchal merchant family, she could not be different. But her religiosity differs from the ritual fanaticism of the Wild and Kabani not only in its sincerity, but also in the fact that she perceived everything connected with religion and the church primarily aesthetically. “And to death I loved going to church! It was as if I would enter heaven.”
The church filled her fantasies and dreams with images. Looking at the sunlight pouring from the dome, she saw singing and flying angels in it, “she dreamed of golden temples.”
From bright memories Katerina moves on to what she is experiencing now. Katerina is deeply sincere and truthful, she wants to tell Varvara everything, not to hide anything from her.
With her characteristic imagery, trying to convey her feelings as accurately as possible, she tells Varvara: “At night, Varya, I can’t sleep, I keep imagining some kind of whisper; someone speaks to me so affectionately, as if he were loving me, as if a dove was cooing. I no longer dream, Varya, as before, of paradise trees and mountains, but as if someone is hugging me so warmly and warmly and leading me somewhere, and I follow him, I go.”
All these images testify to the richness of Katerina’s spiritual life.
How many subtle nuances of an emerging feeling are conveyed in them. But when Katerina tries to comprehend what is happening to her, she relies on the concepts brought up in her by religion; She perceives the awakened feeling through the prism of her religious ideas: “Sin is on my mind... I cannot escape this sin.” And hence the premonition of trouble: “Before any trouble, before some kind of this...”, “No, I know that I will die,” etc.
Religion not only filled her fantasies and dreams with its images, it entangled her soul with fear - the fear of “fiery hell,” the fear of sin. Brave, decisive Katerina, who was not afraid even of the formidable Kabanikha, who was not afraid of death, is afraid of sin, she sees the evil one everywhere, the thunderstorm seems to her like God’s punishment: “I’m not afraid of dying, but when I think that suddenly I will appear before God as I am here with you, after this conversation - that’s what’s scary.”
Katerina is characterized by a constant desire to go somewhere, a thirst for justice and truth, and an inability to tolerate insults. It is no coincidence that, as an example of the manifestation of her warm heart, she recalls an incident from early childhood when someone offended her and she left on a boat: “... it was towards evening, it was already dark, I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat, and pushed her away from the shore. The next morning they found it about ten miles away.”
Along with Katerina’s ardor and determination, Ostrovsky shows her purity, inexperience, and girlish shyness. Hearing Varvara’s words: “I’ve noticed for a long time that you love another person,” Katerina gets scared, she’s scared, perhaps because what she doesn’t dare admit to herself has become obvious. She wants to hear the name of Boris Grigorievich, she wants to know about him, but she doesn’t ask about it. Shyness only forces her to pose the question: “So what?” Varvara expresses what Katerina herself is afraid to admit to herself, what she is deceiving herself about. Either she strives to prove to herself that she loves Tikhon, then she doesn’t even want to think about Tikhon, then she sees with despair that the feeling is stronger than her will, and this invincibility of the feeling seems to her a terrible sin. All this is incredibly expressively reflected in her speech: “Don’t tell me about him, do me a favor, don’t tell me! I don't even want to know him. I will love my husband." “Do I really want to think about him; But what should you do if it’s out of your head? No matter what I think about, he remains before my eyes. And I want to break myself, but I just can’t.”
In an effort to conquer her heart, she constantly appeals to her will. The path of deception, so common in the dark kingdom, is unacceptable for Katerina. In response to Varvara’s proposal: “But in my opinion, do whatever you want, as long as it’s well-kept and covered,” Katerina replies: “I don’t want it that way. And what good. I’d rather be patient as long as I can”; or “And if I get really tired of it here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.” “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me.”
Katerina doesn't want to lie, Katerina doesn't know compromises. Her words, spoken unusually decisively and energetically, speak of her integrity, unrestraint, and ability to go to the end.
