The action of the play "The Thunderstorm" takes place in the fictional town of Kalinov, which is a collective image of all provincial towns of that time.
There are not so many main characters in the play “The Thunderstorm”; each one needs to be discussed separately.
Katerina is a young woman, married without love, “to someone else’s side,” God-fearing and pious. IN parental home Katerina grew up in love and care, prayed and enjoyed life. Marriage for her turned out to be a difficult test, which her meek soul resists. But, despite outward timidity and humility, passions boil in Katerina’s soul when she falls in love with someone else’s man.
Tikhon is Katerina’s husband, a kind and gentle man, he loves his wife, feels sorry for her, but, like everyone else at home, he obeys his mother. He does not dare to go against the will of “mama” throughout the play, just as he does not dare to openly tell his wife about his love, since his mother forbids this, so as not to spoil his wife.
Kabanikha is the widow of the landowner Kabanov, mother of Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A despotic woman, in whose power the whole house is, no one dares to take a step without her knowledge, fearing a curse. According to one of the characters in the play, Kudryash, Kabanikha is “a hypocrite, he gives to the poor and eats his family.” It is she who shows Tikhon and Katerina how to build their family life in the best traditions of Domostroy.
Varvara is Tikhon’s sister, an unmarried girl. Unlike his brother, he obeys his mother only for appearances; she herself secretly goes on dates at night, inciting Katerina to do the same. Her principle is that you can sin if no one sees, otherwise you will spend your whole life next to your mother.
Landowner Dikoy is an episodic character, but personifies the image of a “tyrant”, i.e. a person in power who is confident that money gives him the right to do whatever his heart desires.
Boris, Dikiy’s nephew, who came in the hope of getting his share of the inheritance, falls in love with Katerina, but cowardly runs away, abandoning the woman he seduced.
In addition, Kudryash, Dikiy’s clerk, takes part. Kuligin is a self-taught inventor, constantly trying to introduce something new into the life of a sleepy town, but is forced to ask Dikiy for money for inventions. The same, in turn, being a representative of the “fathers”, is confident in the uselessness of Kuligin’s undertakings.
All the names and surnames in the play are “talking”; they tell about the character of their “owners” better than any actions.
She herself vividly shows the confrontation between the “old people” and the “young people”. The first actively resist all kinds of innovations, complaining that young people have forgotten the orders of their ancestors and do not want to live “as they should.” The latter, in turn, are trying to free themselves from the oppression of parental orders, they understand that life moves forward and changes.
But not everyone decides to go against their parents’ will, some for fear of losing their inheritance. Some people are used to obeying their parents in everything.
Against the backdrop of blossoming tyranny and Domostroev’s covenants, the forbidden love of Katerina and Boris blossoms. The young people are drawn to each other, but Katerina is married, and Boris depends on his uncle for everything.
The difficult atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, the pressure of an evil mother-in-law, and the onset of a thunderstorm force Katerina, tormented by remorse for cheating on her husband, to confess everything publicly. Kabanikha is rejoicing - she turned out to be right when she advised Tikhon to keep his wife “strict.” Tikhon is afraid of his mother, but her advice to beat his wife so that she knows is unthinkable for him.
The explanation of Boris and Katerina further aggravates the situation of the unfortunate woman. Now she has to live away from her beloved, with a husband who knows about her betrayal, with his mother, who will now definitely harass her daughter-in-law. Katerina’s fear of God leads her to the idea that there is no point in living anymore, the woman throws herself off a cliff into the river.
Only after losing his beloved woman does Tikhon realize how much she meant to him. Now he will have to live his whole life with the understanding that his callousness and submission to his tyrant mother led to such an ending. Last words The play becomes the words of Tikhon, spoken over the body of his dead wife: “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world to live and suffer!”
Boris Grigorievich - Dikiy's nephew. He is one of the weakest characters in the play. B. himself says about himself: “I’m walking around completely dead... Driven, beaten...”Boris is a kind, well-educated person. He stands out sharply against the background of the merchant environment. But he is by nature weak person. B. is forced to humiliate himself before his uncle, Dikiy, for the sake of hope for the inheritance that he will leave him. Although the hero himself knows that this will never happen, he nevertheless curries favor with the tyrant, tolerating his antics. B. is unable to protect either himself or his beloved Katerina. In misfortune, he only rushes about and cries: “Oh, if only these people knew how it feels for me to say goodbye to you! My God! God grant that someday they may feel as sweet as I do now... You villains! Monsters! Oh, if only there was strength! But B. does not have this power, so he is unable to alleviate Katerina’s suffering and support her choice by taking her with him.
This heroine easily adapts to the laws of the “dark kingdom” and easily deceives everyone around her. This became habitual for her. V. claims that it is impossible to live any other way: their whole house rests on deception. “And I was not a liar, but I learned when it became necessary.”
V. was cunning while she could. When they began to lock her up, she ran away from the house, inflicting a crushing blow on Kabanikha.
D. is a typical tyrant. He feels his power over people and complete impunity, and therefore does what he wants. “There are no elders over you, so you are showing off,” Kabanikha explains D.’s behavior.
Every morning his wife begs those around her with tears: “Fathers, don’t make me angry! Darlings, don’t make me angry!” But it’s hard not to make D. angry. He himself does not know what mood he may be in in the next minute.
This “cruel scolder” and “shrill man” does not mince words. His speech is filled with words like “parasite”, “Jesuit”, “asp”.
But D. “attacks” only on people weaker than himself, on those who cannot fight back. But D. is afraid of his clerk Kudryash, who has a reputation for being rude, not to mention Kabanikha. D. respects her, moreover, she is the only one who understands him. After all, the hero himself is sometimes not happy with his tyranny, but he can’t help himself. Therefore, Kabanikha considers D. a weak person. Kabanikha and D. are united by belonging to the patriarchal system, following its laws, and concern about the upcoming changes around them.
This image in its own way points to the end of the patriarchal way of life. T. no longer considers it necessary to adhere to the old ways in everyday life. But, due to his character, he cannot act as he sees fit and go against his mother. His choice is everyday compromises: “Why listen to her! She needs to say something! Well, let her speak, and you turn a deaf ear!”
T. is a kind, but weak person; he rushes between fear of his mother and compassion for his wife. The hero loves Katerina, but not in the way Kabanikha demands - sternly, “like a man.” He doesn’t want to prove his power to his wife, he needs warmth and affection: “Why should she be afraid? It’s enough for me that she loves me.” But Tikhon doesn’t get this in Kabanikha’s house. At home, he is forced to play the role of an obedient son: “Yes, Mama, I don’t want to live by my own will! Where can I live by my own will!” His only outlet is traveling on business, where he forgets all his humiliations, drowning them in wine. Despite the fact that T. loves Katerina, he does not understand what is happening to his wife, what mental anguish she is experiencing. T.'s gentleness is one of his negative qualities. It is because of her that he cannot help his wife in her struggle with her passion for Boris, and he cannot ease Katerina’s fate even after her public repentance. Although he himself reacted kindly to his wife’s betrayal, without being angry with her: “Mama says that she must be buried alive in the ground so that she can be executed! But I love her, I would be sorry to lay a finger on her.” Only over the body of his dead wife does T. decide to rebel against his mother, publicly blaming her for the death of Katerina. It is this riot in public that deals Kabanikha the most terrible blow.
K. is a poetic and dreamy nature (he admires the beauty of the Volga landscape, for example). His first appearance is marked by the literary song “Among the Flat Valley...” This immediately emphasizes K.’s bookishness and education.
But at the same time, K.’s technical ideas (installation of a sundial, lightning rod, etc. in the city) were clearly outdated. This “obsolescence” emphasizes K.’s deep connection with Kalinov. He, of course, is a “new man,” but he developed within Kalinov, which cannot but affect his worldview and philosophy of life. The main work of K.’s life is the dream of inventing a perpetual motion machine and receiving a million for it from the British. “The antique, the chemist” Kalinova wants to spend this million on his hometown: “jobs must be given to the philistines.” In the meantime, K. is content with smaller inventions for the benefit of Kalinov. With them, he is forced to constantly beg for money from the rich people of the city. But they do not understand the benefits of K.’s inventions, they ridicule him, considering him an eccentric and crazy. Therefore, Kuligov’s passion for creativity remains unrealized within the walls of Kalinov. K. feels sorry for his fellow countrymen, seeing their vices as the result of ignorance and poverty, but cannot help them in anything. So, his advice to forgive Katerina and no longer remember her sin is impossible to implement in Kabanikha’s house. This advice is good, it is based on humane considerations, but does not take into account the characters and beliefs of the Kabanovs. Thus, with all positive qualities K. is a contemplative and inactive nature. His wonderful thoughts will never translate into wonderful actions. K. will remain Kalinov’s eccentric, his unique attraction.
F. does not participate in the action and is not directly connected with the plot, but the significance of this image in the play is very significant. Firstly (and this is traditional for Ostrovsky), she is the most important character for characterizing the environment in general and Kabanikha in particular, in general for creating the image of Kalinov. Secondly, her dialogue with Kabanikha is very important for understanding Kabanikha’s attitude to the world, for understanding her inherent tragic feeling of the collapse of her world.
Appearing for the first time on stage immediately after Kuligin’s story about the “cruel morals” of the city of Kalinov and immediately before the appearance of Ka-banikha, mercilessly sawing the children accompanying her, with the words “Blah-a-lepie, dear, blah-a-le-pie!”, F. especially praises the Kabanovs' house for its generosity. In this way, the characterization given to Kabanikha by Kuligin is reinforced (“Prude, sir, he gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family”).
The next time we see F. is already in the Kabanovs’ house. In a conversation with the girl Glasha, she advises to look after the wretched woman, “wouldn’t steal anything,” and hears in response an irritated remark: “Who can figure you out, you’re all slandering each other.” Glasha, who repeatedly expresses a clear understanding of people and circumstances well known to her, innocently believes F.’s stories about countries where people with dog heads are “for infidelity.” This reinforces the impression that Kalinov is a closed world that knows nothing about other lands. This impression is further strengthened when F. begins to tell Kabanova about Moscow and the railway. The conversation begins with F.’s assertion that the “end times” are coming. A sign of this is widespread bustle, haste, and the pursuit of speed. F. calls the locomotive a “fiery serpent”, which they began to harness for speed: “others don’t see anything because of the vanity, so it appears to them like a machine, they call it a machine, but I saw how it does something like this with its paws (spreads its fingers) . Well, that’s what people in a good life hear moaning.” Finally, she reports that “the time has begun to come in humiliation” and for our sins “it is becoming shorter and shorter.” Kabanova listens sympathetically to the apocalyptic reasoning of the wanderer, from whose remark that ends the scene it becomes clear that she is aware of the impending death of her world.
The name F. became a common noun to designate a dark hypocrite, under the guise of pious reasoning, spreading all sorts of absurd fables.
The events in A. N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm” take place on the Volga coast, in the fictional city of Kalinov. The work provides a list characters and their brief characteristics, but they are still not enough to better understand the world of each character and reveal the conflict of the play as a whole. There are not many main characters in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm".
Katerina, girl, main character plays. She is quite young, she was married off early. Katya was brought up exactly according to the traditions of house-building: the main qualities of a wife were respect and obedience to her husband. At first, Katya tried to love Tikhon, but she could not feel anything but pity for him. At the same time, the girl tried to support her husband, help him and not reproach him. Katerina can be called the most modest, but at the same time the most powerful character in “The Thunderstorm”. Indeed, Katya’s strength of character does not appear outwardly. At first glance, this girl is weak and silent, it seems as if she is easy to break. But this is not true at all. Katerina is the only one in the family who resists Kabanikha’s attacks. She resists, and does not ignore them, like Varvara. The conflict is rather internal in nature. After all, Kabanikha is afraid that Katya might influence her son, after which Tikhon will stop obeying his mother’s will.
Katya wants to fly and often compares herself to a bird. She is literally suffocating in " dark kingdom» Kalinova. Falling in love with a newcomer young man, Katya created for herself perfect image love and possible liberation. Unfortunately, her ideas had little to do with reality. The girl's life ended tragically.
Ostrovsky in “The Thunderstorm” makes not only Katerina the main character. The image of Katya is contrasted with the image of Marfa Ignatievna. A woman who keeps her entire family in fear and tension does not command respect. Kabanikha is strong and despotic. Most likely, she took over the “reins of power” after the death of her husband. Although it is more likely that in her marriage Kabanikha was not distinguished by submissiveness. Katya, her daughter-in-law, got the most from her. It is Kabanikha who is indirectly responsible for the death of Katerina.
Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikha. Despite the fact that over so many years she has learned to be cunning and lie, the reader still sympathizes with her. Varvara good girl. Surprisingly, deception and cunning do not make her like other residents of the city. She does as she pleases and lives as she pleases. Varvara is not afraid of her mother’s anger, since she is not an authority for her.
Tikhon Kabanov fully lives up to his name. He is quiet, weak, unnoticeable. Tikhon cannot protect his wife from his mother, since he himself is under the strong influence of Kabanikha. His rebellion ultimately proves to be the most significant. After all, it is the words, and not Varvara’s escape, that make readers think about the whole tragedy of the situation.
The author characterizes Kuligin as a self-taught mechanic. This character is a kind of tour guide. In the first act, he seems to be taking us around Kalinov, talking about its morals, the families that live here, and the social situation. Kuligin seems to know everything about everyone. His assessments of others are very accurate. Kuligin himself a kind person who is used to living by established rules. He constantly dreams of the common good, of a perpetu mobile, of a lightning rod, of honest work. Unfortunately, his dreams are not destined to come true.
The Wild One has a clerk, Kudryash. This character is interesting because he is not afraid of the merchant and can tell him what he thinks about him. At the same time, Kudryash, just like Dikoy, tries to find benefit in everything. He can be described as a simple person.
Boris comes to Kalinov on business: he urgently needs to establish relations with Dikiy, because only in this case will he be able to receive the money legally bequeathed to him. However, neither Boris nor Dikoy even want to see each other. Initially, Boris seems to readers like Katya, honest and fair. IN last scenes this is refuted: Boris is not able to decide to take a serious step, to take responsibility, he simply runs away, leaving Katya alone.
One of the heroes of “The Thunderstorm” is a wanderer and a maid. Feklusha and Glasha are shown as typical inhabitants of the city of Kalinov. Their darkness and lack of education is truly amazing. Their judgments are absurd and their horizons are very narrow. Women judge morality and ethics according to some perverted, distorted concepts. “Moscow is now full of carnivals and games, but through the streets there is an indo roar and groan. Why, Mother Marfa Ignatievna, they started harnessing a fiery serpent: everything, you see, for the sake of speed” - this is how Feklusha speaks about progress and reforms, and the woman calls a car a “fiery serpent”. The concept of progress and culture is alien to such people, because it is convenient for them to live in an invented limited world of calm and regularity.
This article gives a brief description of heroes of the play “The Thunderstorm”, for a deeper understanding we recommend that you read the thematic articles about each character in “The Thunderstorm” on our website.
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Wife of Tikhon Kabanov and daughter-in-law of Kabanikha. This central character a play with the help of which Ostrovsky shows the fate of the strong, extraordinary personality in the conditions of a small patriarchal town. Since childhood, Katerina has a very strong desire for happiness, which, as she grows up, develops into a desire for mutual love.
The wealthy merchant Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna is one of the main pillars of the “dark kingdom”. This is a powerful, cruel, superstitious woman who treats everything new with deep distrust and even contempt. She sees only evil in the progressive phenomena of her time, which is why Kabanikha protects her little world from their invasion with such jealousy.
Katerina's husband and Kabanikha's son. This is a downtrodden person suffering from constant reproaches and orders from Kabanikha. In this character, the crippling, destructive power of the “dark kingdom”, which turns people only into shadows of themselves, is most fully revealed. Tikhon is not capable of fighting back - he constantly makes excuses, pleases his mother in every possible way, and is afraid of disobeying her.
One of the central characters is the nephew of the merchant Wild. Among the provincial public of the city of Kalinov, Boris stands out noticeably for his upbringing and education. Indeed, from Boris’s stories it becomes clear that he came here from Moscow, where he was born, raised and lived until his parents died from a cholera epidemic.
One of the most respected representatives of Kalinov is the enterprising and powerful merchant Savel Prokofievich Dikoy. At the same time, this figure, along with Kabanikha, is considered the personification of the “dark kingdom”. At its core, Dikoy is a tyrant who, in the first place, puts only his desires and whims. Therefore, his relationships with others can be described in only one word - arbitrariness.
Vanya Kudryash is a carrier folk character- this is a person of integrity, courage and cheerfulness, who can always stand up for himself and for his feelings. This hero appears in the very beginning scene, introducing readers, together with Kuligin, to the orders and morals of Kalinov and its inhabitants.
Kabanikha's daughter and Tikhon's sister. She is confident in herself, is not afraid of mystical omens, and knows what she wants from life. But at the same time, Varvara’s personality has some moral flaws, the cause of which is life in the Kabanov family. She doesn't like the cruel rules of this at all. provincial town, but Varvara finds nothing better than to come to terms with the established way of life.
The play shows a character who, throughout the play, makes certain efforts to defend progress and public interests. And even his surname - Kuligin - is very similar to the surname of the famous Russian mechanic-inventor Ivan Kulibin. Despite his bourgeois origin, Kuligin strives for knowledge, but not for selfish purposes. His main concern is the development of his native city, so all his efforts are aimed at “public benefit.”
The wanderer Feklusha is a minor character, but at the same time very characteristic representative"dark kingdom" Wanderers and the blessed have always been regular guests of merchant houses. For example, Feklusha entertains representatives of the Kabanov house with various stories about overseas countries, talking about people with dog heads and rulers who “no matter what they judge, everything is wrong.”
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Alexander Ostrovsky's play “The Thunderstorm” is a real legacy for future generations. Despite the fact that it was written almost two centuries ago, its plot touches on the pressing problems of our turbulent times. The same problems of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, husband and wife, mother and children... The events of the work take place on the coast of a river called the Volga, in the fictional city of Kalinov. There, in this seemingly quiet place, a real drama develops, the fault of which is ordinary people. But to understand what happened, you need to get to know the characters in the play and determine the role that each of them plays in the work.
Local self-taught mechanic Kuligin
This hero appears from the very beginning of the play. He is a self-taught mechanic who acts as a tour guide of sorts. By nature, Kuligin is a kind person who is accustomed to acting in accordance with established rules. Speaking about others and assessing their morals, he is very accurate in his judgments. He constantly dreams of the common good, of a lightning rod, of a perpetu mobile, of honest work, but, alas, his cherished desires are not destined to come true.
Vanya Kudryash - Varya's beloved
This minor character, whom the author described as kind and sincere. Despite his simple appearance, Vanya is a fighter in life and always finishes what he starts. Any business in his hands goes wrong. By nature, Ivan is not a romantic, but a practitioner, from this point of view he looks at life.
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He is a strong, smart, well-built guy whom Varvara Kabanova loves. A bright and kind feeling arises between them, although in order to avoid scandals from Varvara’s mother, this relationship has to be carefully hidden.
Boris is Dikiy's nephew
Boris is the nephew of Savl Prokopyich the Wild, a powerful, cruel and greedy man. The author endowed this hero with a contradictory character, on the one hand, describing him as young, educated, well-read, fashionable, on the other – cowardly and weak-willed, who never learned to defend his own point of view despite external circumstances. Knowing that his inheritance is in the hands of Uncle Saul the Wild, Boris tries to please him in everything, despite reproaches and ridicule.
Having fallen in love with Katya Kabanova, who has a mutual feeling for this guy, the young man does not value this relationship, and at a time when the slightest problems arise, he does not try to protect the girl, but immediately backs down, fearing that their relationship will be made public.
Thus, we can conclude that Boris is not so much positive as negative character Alexander Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm".
Dikoy – representative of the “dark kingdom”
Savl Prokofievich Dikoy is a wealthy merchant who is the most respected and influential person in the city. However, he is picky, angry, ignorant and cruel. This set of negative qualities greatly outweighs the external significance of Dikiy, whose last name also speaks for itself - all his behavior is wild and unnatural.
It doesn’t matter to him what others think about this or that issue; Dikoy considers his own opinion to be the only correct one. He stops at nothing, brazenly taking away what he has acquired through back-breaking labor. This hero takes pleasure in quarreling and swearing with everyone. He shouts at his workers who come for their due salaries, raises his voice at family members who get the most from Savl Prokofich’s character. Knowing that his nephew’s fate is in his hands, he abuses his powers in relation to Boris, because he is ready to fulfill any of his demands in order to receive an inheritance. Dikoy can only communicate as equals with Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, who, surprisingly, understands his nature. Savl Prokopyich personifies the morals of a small provincial town. With the help of this image, the author wanted to show the reader the need for changes in the views and behavior of society at that time.
Kabanikha - the negative character of the play
The image of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is presented in the play as one of the most negative. This is a rich merchant's wife, a widow. A despotic and capricious woman, she keeps the whole house in fear, offending both her own son and daughter, and her daughter-in-law, who suffers the most. “You must do what your mother says,” she orders her weak-willed son Tikhon, and he obeys the demands of the oppressive parent. Achieving order down to the smallest detail, Kabanikha acts with violent methods, making everyone fear her. He won’t be afraid of you, and he won’t be afraid of me either. What kind of order will there be in the house?..” she is perplexed.
In addition, Marfa Ignatievna is a hypocritical and cold-blooded old woman who loves to read morals to her children, without doing what she herself advises. Kabanova is used to getting her way only with reproaches and threats; she does not know such feelings as love and compassion. She mistakenly believes that children should revere their parents so much that their opinions are not taken into account. Indirectly Kabanova becomes main reason the terrible death of her daughter-in-law Katerina, but does not realize it.
Tikhon, son of Kabanova
There is such an expression as “mama’s boy”. It suits Tikhon Kabanov, the son of Marfa Ignatievna, perfectly.
From childhood, accustomed to living in complete submission to a strict mother, he grew up weak-willed and spineless.
This manifests itself throughout his life. Not having own opinion, Tikhon cannot make even the simplest decisions, in panicky fear of the condemnation of his strict mother, who, without realizing it, raised her son to be an infantile loser who began to nurse at the slightest danger - and the worst thing is, they lived with the conviction that such upbringing is the only correct one.
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Only once, at the end of the play, when a tragedy occurred with his wife Katerina, Tikhon exclaimed, reproaching his mother: “Mama, you ruined her! you, you, you...” And here it is shown that even a person driven into a dead end is capable of defending his position. It’s just a pity that he realized too late what a jewel and treasure his wife was for him.
Varvara - Tikhon's sister
Varvara Kabanova is Tikhon’s sister and daughter of Marfa Ignatievna. Getting acquainted with the play, the reader can notice what a contrast the brother and sister represent. She, unlike the lack of initiative Tikhon, is lively and courageous, able to make decisions on her own. Varya managed, unlike her brother, to adapt to the character of her overly demanding and wayward mother; I learned to lie, to be a hypocrite, to dodge where necessary, to ignore her orders.
To remove obstacles to meeting her loved one, Varvara simply changed the lock. Thus, she protected herself from unnecessary outbursts of her mother’s anger. As they say, the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe.
This girl is, firstly, practical, secondly, cheerful, thirdly, smart and insightful. In addition, she is the only one in the family who supports Katerina and gives her good advice. In the work, the attitude “do what you want, the main thing is that no one finds out anything” is realized in the image of Varvara.
Katerina is the main character of the play
In A. Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" the image of Katerina is key. This girl experiences a difficult fate, and, unfortunately, her life ends tragically. But to understand the character of the heroine, you need to trace storyline author from the very beginning.
The only happy childhood for Katerina was when she, like a sponge, absorbed the good things that were instilled by her loving parents and went to church with great joy.
And then a storm struck in the girl’s life. She got married. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. For a weak-willed and spineless person, for whom mother’s orders are more important than normal and healthy relationships in his own family.
All dreams of a happy and strong family collapsed, life went downhill. The fierce mother-in-law Marfa Ignatievna began to act with the girl according to her already proven methods of violence and endless reproaches, which were unacceptable to Katerina. No matter how hard the daughter-in-law tried to smooth out the situation in her family, nothing worked. The mother-in-law continued to nag with or without reason, and the weak-willed husband still obeyed his mother.
Katerina with all her soul internally opposes such hypocritical and senseless behavior, this contradicts her bright and sincere nature, but the girl cannot resist the order established in the Kabanova family. She doesn’t love her husband, but she feels sorry for her, and this is not enough to create a strong family. And then Katerina indulges in feelings of love for another – Dikiy’s nephew, Boris. And from then on even bigger problems began - pangs of conscience that give no rest day or night, a constant question in the soul: “Should I admit my guilt?” “She’s shaking all over, as if she’s got a fever; so pale, rushing around the house, as if looking for something,” says her husband’s sister Varvara about Katerina’s condition. - Eyes like those of a madwoman! Just this morning I started crying and just kept crying. My fathers! What should I do with it?
And finally, Katerina takes a decisive step, telling her mother-in-law and husband about her sin towards Boris: “Mother! Tikhon! I am a sinner before God and before you! Wasn’t it me who swore to you that I wouldn’t look at anyone without you! Remember, remember! Do you know what I, dissolute, did without you? On the very first night I left home... And all ten nights I walked with Boris Grigorievich.”
After this, a real tragedy unfolds: reproaches and scolding from the mother-in-law, who incites her son to beat his daughter-in-law, unbearable mental pain and, finally, the fatal decision - to rush into the Volga. Alas, Katerina’s life was cut short at a young age. Some understand and do not condemn her for this act, some, on the contrary, believe that only a weak-willed person could commit suicide. But, be that as it may, Katerina will remain in the eyes of many readers positive heroine, that is, the best of all the characters in the play.