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 does not at all like the cruel order of this provincial town, but Varvara does not find anything 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 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.”
It was not for nothing that Ostrovsky gave the name to his work “The Thunderstorm”, because previously people were afraid of the elements and associated it with the punishment of heaven. Thunder and lightning instilled superstitious fear and primitive horror. The writer spoke in his play about the inhabitants of a provincial town, who are conditionally divided into two groups: the “dark kingdom” - rich merchants exploiting the poor, and “victims” - those who tolerate the tyranny of tyrants. The characteristics of the heroes will tell you more about people's lives. The thunderstorm reveals the true feelings of the characters in the play.
Characteristics of the Wild
Savel Prokofich Dikoy is a typical tyrant. This is a rich merchant who has no control. He tortured his relatives, because of his insults, his family fled to attics and closets. The merchant treats servants rudely, it is impossible to please him, he will definitely find something to cling to. You can’t beg a salary from Dikiy, because he is very greedy. Savel Prokofich is an ignorant person, a supporter of the patriarchal system, does not want to learn modern world. The merchant’s stupidity is evidenced by his conversation with Kuligin, from which it becomes clear that Dikoy does not know the thunderstorm. Unfortunately, the characterization of the heroes of the “dark kingdom” does not end there.
Description of Kabanikha
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is the embodiment of the patriarchal way of life. A wealthy merchant, a widow, she constantly insists on observing all the traditions of her ancestors and herself strictly follows them. Kabanikha brought everyone to despair - this is exactly what the characteristics of the heroes show. "The Thunderstorm" is a play that reveals the mores of a patriarchal society. The woman gives alms to the poor, goes to church, but does not give life to her children or daughter-in-law. The heroine wanted to preserve the old way of life, so she kept her family at bay and taught her son, daughter, and daughter-in-law.
Characteristics of Katerina
In a patriarchal world, it is possible to preserve humanity and faith in goodness - this is also shown by the characteristics of the heroes. “The Thunderstorm” is a play in which there is a confrontation between the new and old worlds, only the characters in the work defend their point of view in different ways. Katerina remembers her childhood with joy, because she grew up in love and mutual understanding. She belongs to the patriarchal world and up to a certain point everything suited her, even the fact that her parents themselves decided her fate and got her married. But Katerina doesn’t like the role of a humiliated daughter-in-law; she doesn’t understand how one can constantly live in fear and captivity.
The main character of the play gradually changes, she wakes up strong personality, capable of making her own choice, which is manifested in her love for Boris. Katerina was ruined by her environment, the lack of hope pushed her to commit suicide, because she would not have been able to live in Kabanikha’s home prison.
The attitude of Kabanikha’s children to the patriarchal world
Varvara is someone who does not want to live according to the laws of the patriarchal world, but she is not going to openly resist her mother’s will. She was crippled by Kabanikha’s house, because it was here that the girl learned to lie, be cunning, do whatever her heart desires, but carefully hide the traces of her misdeeds. To show the ability of some people to adapt to different conditions, Ostrovsky wrote his play. A thunderstorm (the characterization of the heroes shows the blow Varvara dealt to her mother by escaping from the house) brought everyone to clean water, during bad weather, the residents of the town showed their real faces.
Tikhon is weak person, the embodiment of the completion of the patriarchal structure. He loves his wife, but cannot find the strength to protect her from her mother’s tyranny. It was Kabanikha who pushed him towards drunkenness and destroyed him with her moralizing. Tikhon does not support the old ways, but sees no point in going against his mother, letting her words fall on deaf ears. Only after the death of his wife does the hero decide to rebel against Kabanikha, blaming her for the death of Katerina. The characteristics of the heroes allow us to understand the worldview of each character and his attitude to the patriarchal world. "The Thunderstorm" is a play with a tragic ending, but with faith in a better future.
He opened the “constipations” of two rich merchant houses in the city of Kalinov - the houses of Kabanova and Savel Dikgo.
Kabanikha. Powerful and cruel, the old woman Kabanova is a living personification of the rules of false, sanctimonious “piety”: she knows them well, she herself fulfilled them and steadily demands their fulfillment from others. These rules are as follows: the younger ones in the family must obey the elder; they have no right to have yours opinion, their desires, mine world - they must be “depersonalized”, they must be mannequins. Then they must “be afraid,” live in fear.” If there is no fear in life, then, according to her belief, the world will cease to stand. When Kabanova convinces her son, Tikhon, to act on his wife with “fear,” he says that he does not want Katerina to be “afraid” of him - it is enough for him if she “loves” him. “Why be afraid? - she exclaims, - Why be afraid? Are you crazy, or what? He won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me! What kind of order will there be in the house? After all, you, tea, live with her in law? Ali, do you think the law means nothing?” Finally, the third rule is not to bring anything “new” into life, to stand for the old in everything - in outlook on life, in human relations, customs and rituals. She laments that “the old stuff is getting out.” “What will happen when the old people die? I don’t even know how the light will stay there!” – she says completely sincerely.
A. N. Ostrovsky. Storm. Play
These are Kabanova’s views, and her cruel nature is reflected in the way they are implemented. She crushes everyone with her lust for power; she knows no pity or condescension towards anyone. She not only “watches” for the implementation of her rules, she invades someone else’s soul with them, finds fault with people, “sharpenes” them for no reason or reason... And all this is done with full consciousness of her “right”, with a consciousness of “necessity” and with constant concerns about external decorum...
The despotism and tyranny of Kabanikha is much worse than that shown by Gordey Tortsov in the play “Poverty is not a vice”, or Wild. Those who do not have any support outside themselves, and therefore it is still possible, although rarely, by skillfully playing on their psychology, to force them to temporarily become ordinary people, as he does We love Tortsov with his brother. But there is no force that would bring Kabanova down: in addition to her despotic nature, she will always find support and support for herself in those foundations of life that she considers an inviolable shrine.
Savel Dikoy. Not so the other “tyrant” of this drama - the merchant Savel Diky. This is Gordey Tortsov’s brother: rude, always drunk, who considers himself entitled to scold everyone because he is rich, Dikoy is despotic not “on principle,” like Kabanova, but out of caprice, out of whim. There are no reasonable grounds for his actions - this is unbridled, devoid of any logical basis, arbitrariness. Dikoy, according to the apt definition of the Kalinovites, is a “warrior”: in his own words, “there is always a war going on at home.” “You are a worm! If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush!” - this is the basis of his relations with those people who are weaker or poorer than him. One feature of him had a characteristic echo of antiquity - having scolded a peasant during his shit - he “bowed to him in the yard, in the mud - in front of everyone... bowed!”... In this “national repentance” a glimmer of respect for to some higher moral order of things established by antiquity.
Tikhon Kabanov. In the Kabanova family, the younger generation is represented by her son Tikhon, daughter-in-law Katerina and daughter Varvara. All three of these faces were affected differently by the influence of old woman Kabanova.
Tikhon - completely weak-willed, weak creature, depersonalized by his mother.. He, an adult man, obeys her like a boy, and, fearing to disobey her, is ready to humiliate and insult his beloved wife. His desire for freedom is expressed by pathetic, cowardly drunkenness on the side and the same cowardly hatred of his home...
Varvara Kabanova. Varvara is a braver person than her brother. But she is not capable of an open fight with her mother, face to face. And she wins her freedom through deception and cunning. She covers up her wild life with “deanery” and hypocrisy. Oddly enough, girls in the city of Kalinov turned a blind eye to such a life: “when can we go for a walk, if not among the girls!” – says Kabanova herself. “Sin is not a problem, rumor is not good!” - they said in Famusov’s circle. The same point of view is here: publicity, according to Kabanova, is the worst thing of all.
Varvara tried to arrange for Katerina the same “fraudulent happiness” that she herself enjoyed with a clear conscience. And this led to a terrible tragedy.
Feklusha. The praying pilgrim Feklusha represents in “The Thunderstorm” the complete opposite of the inquisitive mechanic Kuligin. A stupid and cunning, ignorant old woman, she pronounces an accusation against the entire new cultural life, glimpses of which disturb the “dark kingdom” with their novelty. The whole world, with its vanity, seems to her to be the “kingdom of the flesh,” the “kingdom of the Antichrist.” He who serves the “world” serves the devil and destroys his soul. From this point of view, she agrees with Kabanikha and with many other inhabitants of Kalinov and the entire “dark kingdom” depicted by Ostrovsky.
In Moscow, life is teeming, people are fussing, in a hurry, as if they are looking for something, says Feklusha, and contrasts this “vanity” with the peace and silence of Kalinov, who plunged into sleep at sunset. Feklusha, in the old way, explains the reasons for the “city bustle”: the devil invisibly scattered “the seeds of tares” into human hearts, and people moved away from God and serve him. Any novelty frightens Feklusha into her like-minded people - she considers the locomotive a “fire-breathing snake”, and the old woman Kabanova agrees with her... And at this time, here, in Kalinov, Kuligin dreams of a perpetuum mobile... What an incompatible contradiction of interests and worldviews !
Boris. Boris Grigorievich is Dikiy’s nephew, an educated young man who listens to Kuligin’s enthusiastic speeches with a light, polite smile, because he does not believe in perpetuum mobile. But, despite his education, culturally, he is lower than Kuligin, who is armed with both faith and strength. Boris does not apply his education to anything, and he has no strength to fight life! He, without fighting with conscience, carries away Katerina and without fighting with people, leaves her to the mercy of her fate. He is a weak man, and Katerina became interested in him simply because “in the wilderness, even Thomas is a nobleman.” A certain veneer of culture, cleanliness and decency in manners is what made Katerina idealize Boris. And she couldn’t bear to live, if Boris hadn’t existed, she would have idealized someone else.
The play “The Thunderstorm” by the famous Russian writer of the 19th century Alexander Ostrovsky was written in 1859 on the wave of social upsurge on the eve of social reforms. She became one of best works the author, opening the eyes of the whole world to the customs and moral values of the merchant class of that time. It was first published in the journal “Library for Reading” in 1860 and, due to the novelty of its subject matter (descriptions of the struggle of new progressive ideas and aspirations with old, conservative foundations), immediately after publication it caused a wide public response. It became a topic for writing large quantity critical articles of that time (“A ray of light in dark kingdom"Dobrolyubova, "Motives of Russian Drama" by Pisarev, critic Apollon Grigoriev).
History of writing
Inspired by the beauty of the Volga region and its endless expanses during a trip with his family to Kostroma in 1848, Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, three months later he finished it and sent it to the St. Petersburg censor.
Having worked for several years in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court, he knew well what the merchant class was like in Zamoskvorechye (the historical district of the capital, on the right bank of the Moscow River), more than once having encountered in his service what was going on behind the high fences of the merchant choirs , namely with cruelty, tyranny, ignorance and various superstitions, illegal transactions and scams, tears and suffering of others. The basis for the plot of the play was tragic fate daughters-in-law in the wealthy merchant family of the Klykovs, which happened in reality: a young woman rushed into the Volga and drowned, unable to withstand oppression from her domineering mother-in-law, tired of her husband’s spinelessness and secret passion for a postal employee. Many believed that it was the stories from the life of the Kostroma merchants that became the prototype for the plot of the play written by Ostrovsky.
In November 1859, the play was performed on the stage of Maly academic theater in Moscow, in December of the same year in Alexandrinsky drama theater In Petersburg.
Analysis of the work
Story line
At the center of the events described in the play is the wealthy merchant family of the Kabanovs, living in the fictional Volga city of Kalinov, a kind of peculiar and closed little world, symbolizing the general structure of the entire patriarchal Russian state. The Kabanov family consists of a powerful and cruel tyrant woman, and essentially the head of the family, a wealthy merchant and widow Marfa Ignatievna, her son, Tikhon Ivanovich, weak-willed and spineless against the backdrop of the difficult disposition of his mother, daughter Varvara, who learned by deception and cunning to resist her mother’s despotism , as well as Katerina’s daughter-in-law. A young woman, who grew up in a family where she was loved and pitied, suffers in the house of her unloved husband from his lack of will and the claims of her mother-in-law, having essentially lost her will and becoming a victim of Kabanikha’s cruelty and tyranny, left to the mercy of fate by her rag husband.
Out of hopelessness and despair, Katerina seeks consolation in her love for Boris Dikiy, who also loves her, but is afraid to disobey his uncle, the rich merchant Savel Prokofich Dikiy, because he depends on him financial situation him and his sisters. He secretly meets with Katerina, but at the last moment he betrays her and runs away, then, at the direction of his uncle, he leaves for Siberia.
Katerina, having been brought up in obedience and submission to her husband, tormented by her own sin, confesses everything to her husband in the presence of his mother. She makes her daughter-in-law’s life completely unbearable, and Katerina, suffering from unhappy love, reproaches of conscience and cruel persecution of the tyrant and despot Kabanikha, decides to end her torment, the only way in which she sees salvation is suicide. She throws herself off a cliff into the Volga and dies tragically.
Main characters
All the characters in the play are divided into two opposing camps, some (Kabanikha, her son and daughter, the merchant Dikoy and his nephew Boris, the maids Feklusha and Glasha) are representatives of the old, patriarchal way of life, others (Katerina, self-taught mechanic Kuligin) are representatives of the new, progressive.
A young woman, Katerina, the wife of Tikhon Kabanov, is the central character of the play. She was brought up in strict patriarchal rules, in accordance with the laws of the ancient Russian Domostroy: a wife must submit to her husband in everything, respect him, and fulfill all his demands. At first, Katerina tried with all her might to love her husband, to become a submissive and good wife for him, but due to his complete spinelessness and weakness of character, she can only feel pity for him.
Outwardly, she looks weak and silent, but in the depths of her soul there is enough willpower and perseverance to resist the tyranny of her mother-in-law, who is afraid that her daughter-in-law might change her son Tikhon and he will stop submitting to his mother’s will. Katerina is cramped and stuffy in the dark kingdom of life in Kalinov, she literally suffocates there and in her dreams she flies like a bird away from this terrible place for her.
Boris
Having fallen in love with a newcomer young man Boris, the nephew of a rich merchant and businessman, she creates in her head the image of an ideal lover and a real man, which is not at all true, breaks her heart and leads to a tragic ending.
In the play, the character of Katerina opposes not a specific person, her mother-in-law, but the entire patriarchal structure that existed at that time.
Kabanikha
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha), like the tyrant merchant Dikoy, who tortures and insults his relatives, does not pay wages and deceives his workers, are prominent representatives of the old, bourgeois way of life. They are distinguished by stupidity and ignorance, unjustified cruelty, rudeness and rudeness, complete rejection of any progressive changes in the ossified patriarchal way of life.
Tikhon
(Tikhon, in the illustration near Kabanikha - Marfa Ignatievna)
Tikhon Kabanov is characterized throughout the play as a quiet and weak-willed person, under the complete influence of his oppressive mother. Distinguished by his gentle character, he makes no attempts to protect his wife from her mother’s attacks.
At the end of the play, he finally breaks down and the author shows his rebellion against tyranny and despotism; it is his phrase at the end of the play that leads readers to a certain conclusion about the depth and tragedy of the current situation.
Features of compositional construction
(Fragment from a dramatic production)
The work begins with a description of the city on the Volga Kalinov, the image of which is a collective image of all Russian cities of that time. The landscape of the Volga expanses depicted in the play contrasts with the musty, dull and gloomy atmosphere of life in this city, which is emphasized by the dead isolation of the life of its inhabitants, their underdevelopment, dullness and wild lack of education. General state The author described city life as if before a thunderstorm, when the old, dilapidated way of life will be shaken, and new and progressive trends, like a gust of a furious thunderstorm wind, will sweep away the outdated rules and prejudices that prevent people from living normally. The period of life of the residents of the city of Kalinov described in the play is precisely in a state when outwardly everything looks calm, but this is only the calm before the coming storm.
The genre of the play can be interpreted as a social drama, as well as a tragedy. The first is characterized by the use of a thorough description of living conditions, the maximum transfer of its “density,” as well as the alignment of characters. Readers' attention should be distributed among all participants in the production. The interpretation of the play as a tragedy presupposes its deeper meaning and thoroughness. If you see Katerina’s death as a consequence of her conflict with her mother-in-law, then she looks like a victim of a family conflict, and the entire unfolding action in the play seems petty and insignificant for a real tragedy. But if we consider the death of the main character as a conflict of a new, progressive time with a fading, old era, then her act is best interpreted in the heroic key characteristic of a tragic narrative.
The talented playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, from a social and everyday drama about the life of the merchant class, gradually creates a real tragedy, in which, with the help of a love-domestic conflict, he showed the onset of an epochal turning point taking place in the consciousness of the people. Simple people They become aware of their awakening sense of self-worth, begin to have a new attitude towards the world around them, want to decide their own destinies and fearlessly express their will. This nascent desire comes into irreconcilable contradiction with the real patriarchal way of life. Katerina's fate acquires a social historical meaning, expressing the state of the people's consciousness at the turning point between two eras.
Alexander Ostrovsky, who noticed in time the doom of the decaying patriarchal foundations, wrote the play “The Thunderstorm” and opened the eyes of the entire Russian public to what was happening. He depicted the destruction of a familiar, outdated way of life, with the help of the ambiguous and figurative concept of a thunderstorm, which, gradually growing, will sweep away everything from its path and open the way to a new, better life.
Short description
Boris Dikoy and Tikhon Kabanov are the two characters most closely associated with the main character, Katerina: Tikhon is her husband, and Boris becomes her lover. They can be called antipodes, which stand out sharply against each other. And, in my opinion, preference in their comparison should be given to Boris, as a more active, interesting and pleasant character for the reader, while Tikhon evokes some compassion - raised by a strict mother, he, in fact, cannot make his own decisions and defend his opinion. In order to substantiate my point of view, below I will consider each character separately and try to analyze their characters and actions.
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BORIS AND TIKHON
Boris Dikoy and Tikhon Kabanov are the two characters who are most closely associated with the main character, Katerina: Tikhon is her husband, and Boris becomes her lover. They can be called antipodes, which stand out sharply against each other. And, in my opinion, preference in their comparison should be given to Boris, as a more active, interesting and pleasant character for the reader, while Tikhon evokes some compassion - raised by a strict mother, he, in fact, cannot make his own decisions and defend his opinion. In order to substantiate my point of view, below I will consider each character separately and try to analyze their characters and actions.
To begin with, let's look at Boris Grigorievich Dikiy. Boris came to the city of Kalinov not on his own whim - out of necessity. His grandmother, Anfisa Mikhailovna, disliked his father after he married a noble woman, and after her death she left her entire inheritance to her second son, Savel Prokofievich Diky. And Boris would not have cared about this inheritance if his parents had not died of cholera, leaving him and his sister orphans. Savel Prokofievich Dikoy had to pay part of Anfisa Mikhailovna’s inheritance to Boris and his sister, but on the condition that they would be respectful to him. Therefore, throughout the entire play, Boris tries in every possible way to serve his uncle, not paying attention to all the reproaches, discontent and abuse, and then leaves for Siberia to serve. From this we can conclude that Boris not only thinks about his future, but also cares about his sister, who is in an even less advantageous position than himself. This is expressed in his words, which he once said to Kuligin: “If I were alone, it would be fine! I would give up everything and leave. Otherwise, I feel sorry for my sister. (...) It’s scary to imagine what life was like for her here.”
Boris spent his entire childhood in Moscow, where he received a good education and manners. This also adds positive features to his image. He is modest and, perhaps, even somewhat timid - if Katerina had not responded to his feelings, if not for the complicity of Varvara and Kudryash, he would never have crossed the boundaries of what is permitted. His actions are driven by love, perhaps the first, a feeling that even the most reasonable and sensible people are unable to resist. Some timidity, but sincerity, his tender words to Katerina make Boris a touching and romantic character, full of charm that cannot leave girls’ hearts indifferent.
As a person from metropolitan society, from secular Moscow, Boris has a hard time in Kalinov. He does not understand local customs; it seems to him that this provincial town he is a stranger. Boris does not fit into local society. The hero himself says the following words about this: “... it’s difficult for me here, without a habit! Everyone looks at me wildly, as if I’m superfluous here, as if I’m disturbing them. I don’t know the customs here. I understand that this is all ours , Russian, native, but still I can’t get used to it.” Boris is overcome by difficult thoughts about his future fate. Youth, the desire to live desperately rebel against the prospect of staying in Kalinov: “And I, apparently, will ruin my youth in this slum. I’m really dead.”
So, we can say that Boris in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is a romantic, positive character, and his rash actions can be justified by love, which makes young blood boil and do completely reckless things, forgetting about how they look in the eyes of society.
Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov can be considered as a more passive character, unable to make his own decisions. He is strongly influenced by his domineering mother, Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, he is “under her thumb.” Tikhon strives for freedom, however, it seems to me, he himself does not know what exactly he wants from it. So, having broken free, the hero acts as follows: “... and as soon as I left, I went on a spree. I’m very glad that I broke free. And I drank all the way, and in Moscow I drank everything, so a lot, What the hell! So that I could take a break for a whole year. I didn’t even remember about the house.” In his desire to escape “from captivity,” Tikhon closes his eyes to other people’s feelings, including the feelings and experiences of his own wife, Katerina: “..and with this kind of captivity you will escape from whatever beautiful wife you want! Just think: no matter what I am, I’m still a man; I’ll live like this all my life, as you can see, so I’ll run away from my wife, and I know that for two weeks there won’t be any thunderstorms over me, there won’t be any shackles on my legs. So what do I care about my wife?" I believe that this is Tikhon’s main mistake - he did not listen to Katerina, did not take her with him, and did not even take a terrible oath from her, as she herself asked in anticipation of trouble. The events that happened next were partly his fault.
Returning to the fact that Tikhon is not able to make his own decisions, we can give the following example. After Katerina confesses to her sin, he cannot decide what to do - listen to his mother again, who calls her daughter-in-law cunning and tells everyone not to believe her, or show leniency towards his beloved wife. Katerina herself speaks about it this way: “He’s sometimes affectionate, sometimes angry, but he drinks everything.” Also, in my opinion, an attempt to get away from problems with the help of alcohol also indicates Tikhon’s weak character.
We can say that Tikhon Kabanov is a weak character as a person who evokes sympathy. It is difficult to say whether he really loved his wife, Katerina, but it is safe to assume that with his character, another life partner, more similar to his mother, was better suited to him. Brought up in strictness, without his own opinion, Tikhon needs outside control, guidance and support.
So, on the one hand, we have Boris Grigorievich Wild, a romantic, young, self-confident hero. On the other hand, there is Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov, a weak-willed, soft-bodied, unhappy character. Both characters are, of course, clearly expressed - Ostrovsky in his play managed to convey the full depth of these images, making you worry about each of them. But if we compare them with each other, Boris attracts more attention, he arouses sympathy and interest in the reader, while one wants to feel sorry for Kabanov.
However, each reader himself chooses which of these characters to give his preference. After all, as popular wisdom says, there are no comrades according to taste.
VARVARA
Varvara Kabanova is the daughter of Kabanikha, sister of Tikhon. We can say that life in Kabanikha’s house morally crippled the girl. She also does not want to live according to the patriarchal laws that her mother preaches. But despite a strong character, V. does not dare to openly protest against them. Her principle is “Do what you want, as long as it’s safe and covered.”
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 otherwise: 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.
KULIGIN
Kuligin is a character who partially performs the functions of an exponent of the author’s point of view and therefore is sometimes classified as a reasoning hero, which, however, seems incorrect, since in general this hero is certainly distant from the author, he is depicted as quite detached, as an unusual person, even somewhat outlandish. The list of characters says about him: “a tradesman, a self-taught watchmaker, looking for a perpetuum mobile.” The hero's surname transparently hints at a real person - I. P. Kulibin (1755-1818), whose biography was published in the journal of the historian M. P. Pogodin "Moskvityanin", where Ostrovsky collaborated.
Like Katerina, K. is a poetic and dreamy nature (for example, it is he who admires the beauty of the Trans-Volga landscape and complains that the Kalinov people are indifferent to him). He appears singing “Among the Flat Valley...”, a folk song of literary origin (to the words of A.F. Merzlyakov). This immediately emphasizes the difference between K. and other characters associated with folklore culture; he is also a bookish person, albeit with a rather archaic bookishness: He tells Boris that he writes poetry “in the old-fashioned way... He’s read a lot of Lomonosov, Derzhavin... Lomonosov was a sage, an explorer of nature...” Even the characterization of Lomonosov testifies to K.’s reading in old books: not a “scientist”, but a “sage”, “an explorer of nature.” “You are an antique, a chemist,” Kudryash tells him. “A self-taught mechanic,” corrects K. K.’s technical ideas are also a clear anachronism. The sundial that he dreams of installing on Kalinovsky Boulevard comes from antiquity. Lightning rod - a technical discovery of the 18th century. If K. writes in the spirit of the classics of the 18th century, then his oral stories are sustained in even earlier stylistic traditions and are reminiscent of ancient moralizing stories and apocrypha (“and they will begin, sir, a trial and a case, and there will be no end to the torment. They are suing and suing here, and they will go to the province, and there they are waiting for them, and splashing their hands with joy” - the picture of judicial red tape, vividly described by K., recalls stories about the torment of sinners and the joy of demons). All these features of the hero, of course, were given by the author in order to show his deep connection with the world of Kalinov: he is, of course, different from the Kalinovites, we can say that he is a “new” person, but only his novelty has developed here, inside this world , giving birth not only to its passionate and poetic dreamers, like Katerina, but also to its “rationalist” dreamers, its own special, home-grown scientists and humanists. The main business of K.’s life is the dream of inventing the “perpetu mobile” and receiving a million for it from the British. He intends to spend this million on the Kalinovsky society - “jobs must be given to the philistines.” Listening to this story, Boris, who received a modern education at the Commercial Academy, remarks: “It’s a pity to disappoint him! What a good man! He dreams for himself and is happy.” However, he is hardly right. K. is truly a good person: kind, selfless, delicate and meek. But he is hardly happy: his dream constantly forces him to beg for money for his inventions, conceived for the benefit of society, and it does not even occur to society that there could be any benefit from them, for them K. - a harmless eccentric, something like a city holy fool. And the main of the possible “patrons of the arts,” Dikoy, attacks the inventor with abuse, once again confirming both the general opinion and Kabanikha’s own admission that he is not able to part with the money. Kuligin's passion for creativity remains unquenched; he feels sorry for his fellow countrymen, seeing their vices as the result of ignorance and poverty, but cannot help them in anything. So, the advice he gives (forgive Katerina, but never remember her sin) is obviously impossible to implement in the Kabanovs’ house, and K. hardly understands this. The advice is good, humane, because it is based on humane considerations, but it does not take into account the real participants in the drama, their characters and beliefs. With all my hard work, creative beginning In his personality, K. is a contemplative nature, devoid of any pressure. This is probably the only reason why the Kalinovites put up with him, despite the fact that he differs from them in everything. It seems that for the same reason it turned out to be possible to entrust him with the author’s assessment of Katerina’s action. “Here is your Katerina. Do what you want with her! Her body is here, take it; but the soul is now not yours: it is now before the Judge, who is more merciful than you!”
KATERINA
But the most extensive subject for discussion is Katerina - the “Russian strong character”, for whom truth and a deep sense of duty are above all. First, let's turn to the childhood years of the main character, which we learn about from her monologues. As we see, in this carefree time, Katerina was primarily surrounded by beauty and harmony, she “lived like a bird in the wild” among, mother's love and fragrant nature. The young girl went to wash herself, listened to the stories of the wanderers, then sat down to do some work, and so the whole day passed. She has not yet known the bitter life in “imprisonment,” but everything is ahead of her, life in the “dark kingdom” is ahead. 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... contradicted her ideals, she turned into a rebellious and stubborn nature and defended herself from that stranger, stranger, who 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 did not marry Tikhon of her own free will: she did not love anyone at all and she did not 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. Tisha, 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 one? 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, didn’t 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 Boris. 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, whether I go home or go to the grave, it doesn’t matter. Is it better to live in the grave again? No, no, it’s not good.” Haunted by her sin, Katerina leaves this 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. Although Katerina’s life has changed, she has not lost her poetic nature: she is still fascinated by nature, she sees bliss in harmony with it. She wants to fly high, high, touch the blue sky and from there, from above, send a big greeting to everyone. The poetic nature of the heroine requires a different life than the one she has. Katerina is eager for “freedom,” but not for the freedom of her flesh, but for the freedom of her soul. Therefore, she is building a different world, her own in which there is no lie, lawlessness, injustice, or cruelty. In this world, unlike reality, everything is perfect: angels live here, “innocent voices sing, there is a smell of cypress, and the mountains and trees seem not the same as usual, but as if they were depicted in images.” But despite this, she still has to return to the real world, full of selfish people and tyrants. And among them she tries to find a kindred spirit. Katerina, in a crowd of “empty” faces, is looking for someone who could understand her, look into her soul and accept her as she is, and not as they want to make her. The heroine searches and cannot find anyone. Her eyes are “cut” by the darkness and wretchedness of this “kingdom”, her mind has to come to terms, but her heart believes and waits for the only one who will help her survive and fight for the truth in this world of lies and deceit. Katerina meets Boris, and her clouded heart says that this is the one she has been looking for for so long. But is it? No, Boris is far from ideal, he cannot give Katerina what she asks for, namely: understanding and protection. She cannot feel with Boris “like behind a stone wall.” And the justice of this is confirmed by Boris’s vile act, full of cowardice and indecisiveness: he leaves Katerina alone, throwing her “to the wolves.” These “wolves” are scary, but they cannot frighten Katerina’s “Russian soul”. And her soul is truly Russian. And what unites Katerina with the people is not only communication, but also involvement in Christianity. Katerina believes in God so much that she prays in her room every evening. She likes to go to church, look at icons, listen to the ringing of the bell. She, like the Russian people, loves freedom. And it is precisely this love of freedom that does not allow her to come to terms with the current situation. Our heroine is not used to lying, and therefore she talks about her love for Boris to her husband. But instead of understanding, Katerina is met only with direct reproach. Now nothing holds her back in this world: Boris turned out to be different from what Katerina “pictured” him for herself, and life in Kabanikha’s house has become even more unbearable. The poor, innocent “bird imprisoned in a cage” could not withstand captivity - Katerina committed suicide. The girl still managed to “take off”, she stepped from the high bank into the Volga, “spread her wings” and boldly went to the bottom. By her action, Katerina resists the “dark kingdom.” But Dobrolyubov calls her a “ray” in him, not only because her tragic death revealed all the horror of the “dark kingdom” and showed the inevitability of death for those who cannot come to terms with oppression, but also because Katerina’s death will not pass and will not may pass without a trace for “cruel morals.” After all, anger at these tyrants is already brewing. Kuligin - and he reproached Kabanikha for the lack of mercy, even the resigned executor of his mother’s wishes, Tikhon, publicly dared to throw the accusation of Katerina’s death in her face. Already now an ominous thunderstorm is brewing over this entire “kingdom”, capable of destroying it “to smithereens.” And this bright ray, which awakened, even for one moment, the consciousness of the destitute, unrequited people who are materially dependent on the rich, convincingly showed that there must be an end to the unbridled robbery and complacency of the Wild and the oppressive lust for power and hypocrisy of the Boars. The significance of Katerina’s image is also important today. Yes, maybe many people consider Katerina immoral, a shameless traitor, but is she to blame for this?! Most likely, Tikhon is to blame, who did not pay due attention and affection to his wife, but only followed the advice of his “mama.” Katerina’s only fault is that she married such a weak-willed man. Her life was destroyed, but she tried to “build” a new one from the remains. Katerina boldly walked forward until she realized that there was nowhere else to go. But even then she took a brave step, the last step over the abyss leading to another world, perhaps a better one, and perhaps a worse one. And this courage, thirst for truth and freedom makes us bow to Katerina. Yes, she is probably not so ideal, she has her shortcomings, but her courage makes the heroine a role model worthy of praise