Drama A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" - the most significant work of the playwright - appeared in 1860, at a time when the foundations of serfdom were breaking down and a thunderstorm was really gathering in the stuffy Russian atmosphere.
At the heart of the work is the conflict between the young woman Katerina and the "dark kingdom", the kingdom of tyrants, despots, and ignoramuses. To understand why this conflict arose, why the end of the drama is so tragic, can only be looked into the soul of Katerina.
From the words of Katerina, we learn about her life as a girl: “I lived, I didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild.” Her mother "doted on her soul", did not force her to work on the housework, "dressed up like a doll." Live in home was free: the girl got up early, went to wash herself to the spring, watered the flowers with spring water, which were many in the house, went to church with her mother, and then did needlework and listened to the stories of wanderers with which the house was always full.
By nature, Katerina is a whole, passionate, dreamy nature. She sincerely accepts faith with all her heart. “And to death I loved to go to church! It’s like, it happened, I’ll enter paradise, and I don’t see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over! In the service and in dreams, she often flew to heaven, soared above the clouds, communicated with angels. She used to get up in the middle of the night and pray and cry until morning. What she prayed for, what she cried about - she herself did not know. Everything that contradicted her idea of life, she simply did not notice, carried away in her dreams to heaven.
For all her piety, Katerina is endowed by nature strong character and love of freedom. Once, at the age of six, offended by something, she ran away to the Volga at night, got into a boat and pushed off the shore! Another important detail of her life was that she lived in her own world, fenced off from reality. Her life was pure and whole, her soul was at rest. A naive, kind, pious girl with the makings of a strong, holistic, freedom-loving personality - that's what Katerina is before marriage.
Marriage changes everything. Although Katerina, in a sense, was even lucky: although her husband is subordinate to his mother, he does not offend his wife and even protects in his own way. Why, from the very beginning of the play, do we understand that Katerina's soul suffers and rushes about?
The first thing Katerina lost when she got married was freedom. In a house that has not become her own, it is hard for her from the very need to live in a confined space, to be locked within four walls, limited only by the circle of household chores. Katerina respects herself, and Kabanikh's domostroev manners constantly hurt her sensitive soul. She does not know how not to notice them and not react to them, she does not want and cannot be silent, listening to undeserved reproaches. upholding dignity, Katerina speaks with her mother-in-law on “you”, as with an equal to herself.
After constant communication with nature, which filled her childhood, for Katerina, a reclusive existence is unbearable, full of deceit, hypocrisy, cruelty, lack of rights, submission to someone else's will, she is stuffy and bored in her mother-in-law's house.
In addition, she was married very early, without love, she, according to Varya, did not walk up in girls, her heart "did not leave." But according to Katerina herself, it never “leaves”: “I was born too hot.” Katerina is trying to find her happiness in love for Tikhon: “I will love my husband. Tisha, my dear, I won’t exchange you for anyone. ” But to love sincerely and openly, as the soul asks, is not accepted in the “dark kingdom”: the Kabanikha pulls the daughter-in-law: “Why are you hanging around your neck, shameless? You don't say goodbye to your lover." Katerina confesses to Varvara: “Yes, everything here seems to be from captivity.”
A breath of freedom becomes for her a feeling for Boris, which flared up at first sight and became the cause of her endless mental suffering. For a pious woman, the very thoughts of love for a strange man are sinful. Hence Katerina's depression, fear, a premonition of imminent death. Outwardly, she has not yet done anything, but she has already transgressed her inner moral law and is tormented by a sense of guilt. That is why she no longer experiences the delight of going to church, cannot continue to pray, is unable to concentrate on her thoughts. Anxious thoughts that stir the soul do not allow her to admire nature. Her dreams have also changed. Instead of paradise, she sees someone who hugs her hot, hot and takes her somewhere, and she follows him. Internally, she has already sinned and is aware of her love as a “terrible sin,” and therefore she is afraid to die suddenly, without repentance, to stand before God “as ... is, with all ... sins, with all evil thoughts.”
It is hard for her at home, she wants to run away from her mother-in-law, who constantly humiliates her human dignity, out of longing she is ready to do something with herself. Struggling with her feelings, like a drowning man clutching at straws, she asks her husband not to leave her alone. But he says that he himself is tired of life in his mother's house and wants to take a walk in the wild. Katerina does not have children either, but they could brighten up her loneliness and become her support: “I don’t have children: I would sit with them and amuse them. I love talking with children very much - they are angels, after all.
So Katerina is left alone. Varya does not understand her, considers her too sophisticated, acts as a temptress, passing the key to the gate and promising to send Boris. According to her - do what you want, if only everything was sewn and covered. Once upon a time, she, like Katerina, did not know how to lie, but life taught her both lies and hypocrisy.
Why, in the struggle of motives: to see Boris or to throw away the key, the first desire “come what may, but I will see Boris!” wins? Katerina was not cunning even in front of herself, she knew that she was going to sin, but, apparently, her life became so unbearable for her that she decides: “I should at least die, but see him.” And on the first date, Katerina says to Boris: “You ruined me!”; “If I had my own will, I would not go to you. Your will is now over me, can't you see!"
Katerina cannot live with such a grave sin in her soul. That is why she is so afraid of thunderstorms. She is a manifestation of the wrath of God for her. To be killed by a thunderstorm (and she is sure that it will surely kill her) and stand before God without repentance seems impossible to her. Her own judgment on herself is unbearable for her. Her inner foundations are crushed. This is not just a “family deception” - a moral catastrophe has occurred, the moral norms that seemed to Katerina eternal have been violated. She considers repentance to be the only way to save her soul. But no one needs her public recognition, even her husband: “No, no! do not say! What you! Mother is here!”
In the view of the townsfolk, her suffering is not a tragedy at all: there are few cases when a wife takes a walk in the absence of her husband. In addition, Tikhon loves Katerina and forgives her everything. But she is not able to forgive herself, and therefore life turns into constant torment for her, one death seems to her deliverance.
Katerina would not have become Katerina, who received literary immortality, if she had everything "sewn and covered." Just as the human court is fearless for her, so no deal with her conscience is possible for her. “No, I don’t care whether I go home or go to the grave ... It’s better in the grave.”
Katerina's emotional drama ends in tragedy. This resolute, wholesome, Russian nature appointed itself such a punishment for its sin. And if you forget for a moment that the play was written a century and a half ago, then you can see that such a drama could happen not only in that distant era, it is possible at all times. Because this is a drama of a freedom-loving personality that cannot unfold in the unbearable surrounding world of violence, primarily against a person. This is a drama of a moral person in a world of immorality. In the very impossibility for a person to reconcile these contradictory principles, I see the reason for Katerina's drama.
The play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" is based on the conflict between the "dark kingdom" and the bright beginning, presented by the author in the image of Katerina Kabanova. The thunderstorm is a symbol of the heroine's spiritual confusion, the struggle of feelings, moral exaltation in tragic love, and at the same time is the embodiment of the burden of fear under the yoke of which people live.
The work depicts the musty atmosphere of a provincial town with its rudeness, hypocrisy, the power of the rich and "senior". The "Dark Kingdom" is an ominous environment of heartlessness and stupid, slavish worship of the old order. The realm of humility and blind fear is opposed by the forces of reason, common sense, enlightenment represented by Kuligin, as well as the pure personality of Katerina, who, albeit unconsciously, is hostile to this world with the sincerity and integrity of her nature.
Katerina's childhood and youth passed in a merchant environment, but at home she was surrounded by affection, mother's love, mutual respect in the family. As she herself says, "... lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild."
Married to Tikhon, she found herself in an ominous environment of heartlessness and stupid, slavish admiration for the power of the old, long-rotten order, which the "tyrants of Russian life" grasp so eagerly. Kabanova tries in vain to impress Katerina with her despotic laws, which, in her opinion, are the basis of domestic well-being and the strength of family ties: unquestioning obedience to the will of her husband, humility, diligence and respect for elders. This is how her son was raised.
Kabanova and from Katerina intended to mold something similar to what she turned her child into. But we see that for a young woman who finds herself in her mother-in-law's house, such a fate is excluded. Dialogues with Kabanikha
show that "Katerina's nature will not accept base feelings." In her husband's house, she is surrounded by an atmosphere of cruelty, humiliation, suspicion. She tries to defend her right to respect, does not want to please anyone, wants to love and be loved. Katerina is lonely, she lacks human participation, sympathy, love. The need for this draws her to Boris. She sees that on the outside he does not look like other inhabitants of the city of Kalinov, and, not being able to recognize the inner essence, considers him a man of another world. In her imagination, Boris seems to be the only one who dares to take her away from the "dark kingdom" to fairy world.
Katerina is religious, but her sincerity in faith differs from the religiosity of her mother-in-law, for whom faith is only a tool that allows her to keep others in fear and obedience. Katerina, on the other hand, perceived the church, iconography, Christian chanting as a meeting with something mysterious, beautiful, taking her away from the gloomy world of the Kabanovs. Katerina, as a believer, tries not to pay much attention to Kabanova's teachings. But this is for the time being. The patience of that very patient person is constantly coming to an end. Katerina, on the other hand, "endures until ... until such a demand of her nature is offended in her, without the satisfaction of which she cannot remain calm." For the heroine, this "requirement of her nature" was the desire for personal freedom. To live without listening to stupid advice from all sorts of boars and others, to believe as one thinks, to understand everything on their own, without any extraneous and worthless exhortations - this is what is of the greatest importance for Katerina. That's what she won't let anyone trample on. Her personal freedom is the most precious value. Even Katerina appreciates life much less.
The heroine at first reconciled, hoping to find at least some sympathy, understanding from those around her. But this turned out to be impossible. Even Katerina's dreams began to have some "sinful" dreams; as if she is rushing to a trio of frisky horses, intoxicated with happiness, next to her loved one ... Katerina protests against seductive visions, but human nature has defended its rights. The lady woke up in the heroine. The desire to love and be loved grows with inexorable force. And this is a completely natural desire. After all, Katerina is only 16 years old - the heyday of young, sincere feelings. But she doubts, reflects, and all her thoughts are fraught with panic fear. The heroine is looking for an explanation for her feelings, in her soul she wants to justify herself to her husband, she tries to tear away vague desires from herself. But reality, the real state of things, brought Katerina back to herself: "To whom am I pretending to be..."
The most important character trait of Katerina is honesty with herself, her husband and other people; unwillingness to exist in a lie. She says to Varvara: "I don't know how to deceive, I can't hide anything." She does not want and cannot cheat, pretend, deceive, hide. This is confirmed by the scene when Katerina confesses her infidelity to her husband.
Her most great value- freedom of the soul. Katerina, accustomed to exist, according to her confession in a conversation with Varvara, "like a bird in the wild," is weighed down by the fact that everything in Kabanova's house comes "as if from bondage!" But before it was different. The day began and ended with prayer, and the rest of the hour was occupied by walks in the garden. Her youth is covered with mysterious, bright dreams: angels, golden temples, paradise gardens - can an ordinary earthly sinner dream of all this? And Katerina had exactly such mysterious dreams. This testifies to the originality of the nature of the heroine. The unwillingness to accept the morality of the "dark kingdom", the ability to preserve the purity of one's soul is evidence of the strength and integrity of the character of the heroine. She says about herself: "And if I get really cold in this place, they won't hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, I'll rush into the Volga."
With such a character, Katerina, after betraying Tikhon, could not remain in his house, return to a monotonous and dreary life, endure the constant reproaches and moralizing of Kabanikh, lose her freedom. It is difficult for her to be where she is not understood and humiliated. Before her death, she says: "What goes home, what goes to the grave - it doesn't matter ... It's better in the grave ..." She acts at the first call of her heart, at the first impulse of her soul. And that, it turns out, is her problem. Such people are not adapted to the realities of life, and all the time they feel that they are superfluous. Their spiritual and moral strength, which is able to resist and fight, will never run dry. Dobrolyubov rightly noted that "the strongest protest is the one that rises ... from the chest of the weakest and most patient."
And Katerina, without realizing it herself, challenged the tyrannical force: however, he led her to tragic consequences. The heroine dies defending the independence of her world. She does not want to become a liar and a pretender. Love for Boris deprives Katerina's character of integrity. She is not cheating on her husband, but on herself, which is why her judgment on herself is so cruel. But, dying, the heroine saves her soul and gains the desired freedom.
Katerina's death at the end of the play is natural - there is no other way out for her. She cannot join those who profess the principles of the "dark kingdom", become one of its representatives, since this would mean destroying everything bright and pure in herself, in her own soul; cannot reconcile with the position of a dependent, join the "victims" of the "dark kingdom" - exist according to the principle "if only everything was covered and covered." Katerina decides to part with such a life. "Her body is in this place, and the person is no longer yours, she is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!" - says Kuligin Kabanova after the tragic death of the heroine, emphasizing that Katerina has gained the desired, hard-won freedom.
Thus, A. N. Ostrovsky protested the hypocrisy, lies, vulgarity and hypocrisy of the world around him. The protest turned out to be self-destructive, but it was and is evidence of the free choice of an individual who does not want to put up with the laws imposed on her by society.
Target: analyze the image of Katerina; understand why Katerina decided to commit suicide.
- actualize the personal meaning of students to the study of the topic;
- create conditions for the development of students' skills to formulate their own point of view, to express and argue it, the ability to compare, prove and refute, define and explain concepts;
- to form a value attitude of students to the surrounding reality, to other people and their feelings.
Technology of personality-oriented developmental education.
Lesson form: lesson-thinking.
Equipment: computer, slides on the topic of the lesson (attached), two pieces of plasticine - black and white, texts on the play.
We know that Katerina's character will hold its own,
despite any obstacles
and when there is not enough strength, he will die, but he will not betray himself.
ON THE. Dobrolyubov
Only the conscious respect of man for himself
gives him peace of mind
and cheerfully endure all small and large troubles,
that are not accompanied by severe physical pain.
DI. Pisarev
During the classes
1. Organizational moment.
Dear Guys! I'm glad to see you in a good mood. I think that our lesson will be held in a warm atmosphere. I want to wish you success, self-confidence, good mood.
2. Setting goals and updating knowledge.
Today we will complete the study of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm". The theme of the lesson is “The image of Katerina. Her emotional tragedy". A topic that may seem easy, but at the same time very difficult.
I suggest you look at the clouds. Each of you has done this many times, looking and fantasizing what each cloud represents.
What do you see now?
Students share their opinion. (Castles in the air, animal, temple, etc.)
Teacher. Why didn't you see the same thing? ( Each student is individual, has his own opinion and his own point of view).
Students make a conclusion about how it is related to the topic of the lesson and the work in the lesson.
Teacher. That's right guys. Each of you perceives the image of the main character in your own way, because you evaluate her actions and deeds based on your views and life experience.
In order to start revealing the topic of the lesson, please determine what you will have to do today in the lesson and formulate questions that you must answer at the end of the lesson.
(To characterize the image of Katerina, consider the causes of her death, reveal the meaning of the concepts “sin”, “freedom”, “inevitability”, “beauty”, answer the questions “Was there a different way for Katerina? What is the strength of Catherine's character?)
Concepts and questions are displayed on the presentation slides.
3. Information flow.
Group work.
Task for the first group:
Analyze how Katerina's character was formed in childhood, and how this influenced her later life.
(Katerina grew up in her parents' house, not knowing the hassle. She looked after flowers, listened to the stories of wanderers, went to church. She often saw strange things: angels in a golden pillar, golden temples; she dreamed that she was flying.
Katerina - extremely religious man. And a religious person must live according to the Law of God.
But there is another fact that tells us about the character of the main character. At the age of six, when she was offended at home, she got into a boat and sailed along the Volga. Found her a day later ten miles from home. This tells us that Katerina is a willful, wayward person, capable of rash acts in order to maintain her freedom and independence).
Task for the second group:
Describe the relationship between Katerina and Tikhon, Katerina and Boris. Can Katerina's feeling for Boris be considered love?
(Katerina married Tikhon very early. She ended up in a family where her mother ran everything. Tikhon sometimes tried to object to his mother, to stand up for his wife, but attempts were stopped at the very beginning. Tikhon was looking for freedom away from home. He needed to drink and take a walk , and his wife was a burden for this. Therefore, to Katerina’s request to take her with him, he answers: “With some sort of bondage, you will run away from any beautiful wife you want!”
Tikhon loves Katerina. We see this when he learns about the death of his wife. But his weakness, spinelessness did not give him the opportunity to show this love to Katerina.
From the hopelessness of her situation, the main character is looking for love. She finds this love in Boris Grigorievich. They practically did not communicate, they saw each other briefly, more often in church. But Boris Grigoryevich speaks of his love, and Katerina considers her feelings to be love. In it lies for the heroine the whole life; all the strength of her nature, all her living aspirations merge here. Her need for love, which did not find her husband’s response, and the offended feeling of the wife and woman, and the mortal anguish of her monotonous life, and the desire for freedom, space, hot, unrestricted freedom, are attracted to him. But this love is for her sin. (Work with the concept. Appeal to the commandments in the "Law of God").
Can the love of Katerina and Boris be called real? Boris, like Tikhon, pushes her away, does not want to take her with him. He depends on his uncle. After the last meeting with Katerina, he says: “Only one thing you need to ask God for her to die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time.” He understands her state of mind. Maybe, but he doesn't want to save her. But Katerina, in spite of everything, dies with the words: “My friend! My joy! Goodbye!")
Task for the third group:
How did life in the Kabanovs' house affect Katerina's feelings and character?
(After her cloudless childhood, Katerina ends up in the Kabanovs’ house, in the “dark kingdom.” Her mother-in-law always humiliates her, insults her, does not allow her to live in peace with her husband. She has no one to talk to. Although Varvara tries to understand her daughter-in-law, she is not the same as Katerina: "The main thing is that everything is sewn and covered." Every day this "dark kingdom" embraces Katerina, puts pressure on her. There is no salvation in love either. Life becomes unbearable. And Katerina more often thinks about suicide).
Task for the fourth group:
How do D. I. Pisarev and A. N. Dobrolyubov characterize the image of Katerina? What is the contradiction in the reading of the drama by critics?
(N.A. Dobrolyubov and D.I. Pisarev gave Katerina a completely different description. N.A. Dobrolyubov called the heroine “a ray of light in the dark kingdom.” He considers Katerina a strong woman. D.I. Pisarev believes that all actions and Katerina's actions are devoid of any common sense.He refers her to "eternal children and dwarfs."
Their opinions differ because each considered character based on their life positions, views and experience.)
Teacher. Now we will find out what image of Katerina was created by the actresses who played her role on stage (slide show with portraits of P. Strepetova and M. Yermolova).
In the history of the theatre, L.P. Kositskaya, for whom Ostrovsky specially wrote this role.
This role was played by Pelageya Strepetova and Maria Yermolova.
Strepetova characterized Katerina as a humble victim dark kingdom. “She created a martyr for us, a Russian woman. And we saw this martyrdom in all its horror, but also in all its imperishable beauty.” (V.M. Doroshevich. Old theatrical Moscow. - M .: Petrograd, 1923).
E. Karpov recalls the performance of Strepetova in the fifth act of the drama: “... With a pale face, with huge, full of sadness, deep eyes, black hair flowing over her shoulders, Strepetova comes out. Her charming voice sounds clearly, although she speaks as if to herself, and how much deep, hopeless sadness, how much love, how much subtle poetry in this voice ... ”.
Characterizing the game of Strepetova, A.S. Suvorin noticed that her interpretation of the role of Katerina strongly disagrees with the interpretation of Dobrolyubov. He wrote about the end of Katerina as “the quiet agony of a dying heart and a darkened head.” “So it just happened! No cry, no despair… How many of them die so simply, silently…”.
Ermolova emphasized in the image of Katerina internal energy, readiness to protest against despotism and tyranny. “Dobrolyubov called the end of Katerina “pleasant”: such was it with Yermolova,” writes S. N. Durylin. – Her Katerina, indeed, was not a fleeting spark, but “a ray of light in a dark kingdom”, a bold, strong, bright ray, foreshadowing the sunrise, dispersing darkness. Such a Katerina cannot be mourned or pitied like Katerina Strepetova, one can bow before her like a tragic heroine, one can learn from her the courage of a heroic will. This Katerina was enthusiastically received by the democratic audience of the 1870s ... Yermolova proved that this “everyday drama” is a powerful Russian folk tragedy, and this role of a Russian woman from a remote town is a heroic image, revealing and sad fate Russian woman in the past, and her ability to win over this evil share.
Both Strepetova and Yermolova, in their interpretations of the image, focused the viewer's attention on different sides of Katerina's personality.
Strepetova had the right to consider Katerina as a victim of society, the dark kingdom. Ostrovsky himself highly appreciated the game of Strepetova. because the artist awakened in the souls of the audience a protest against the living conditions that led Katerina to death. Katerina Yermolova herself was the personification of the protest against the dark kingdom. Yermolova's game gave rise to a feeling of a new life, called for an active struggle for happiness and justice.
Teacher. And now let's see what image of Katerina our student created (the student reads Katerina's monologue from the fifth act of the drama by heart.)
Answer questions.
1. What is the meaning of the concept freedom (work with the concept) at Katerina, Boris, Tikhon?
2. What moments of life did Katerina perceive as a sign from above?
3. Why did Katerina repent publicly?
4. Can we call Katerina a strong woman?
5. Could Katerina find the way to salvation in her soul? Why?
Reception "Help of a psychologist".
Katerina was in a very difficult situation. Nowadays, people can turn to a psychologist for help in solving a problem. One of the techniques that experts recommend is making two lists. In one, the positive consequences of the decision are recorded, in the other, the negative ones. Let's try to make two lists "for the future life" of Katerina, based on the text of the play and using quotes.
(All the “pros” and “against” can be “weighed” on the scales. We put a weight on one bowl if the decision is positive, on the other - if it is negative.
| Positive sides | Negative sides |
|
|
Teacher. So, there are more positive things in Katerina's life. Why couldn't Katerina see these hopes and save her soul. Let's try a little experiment. In front of you are two pieces of plasticine - black and white. Let's pretend it's human souls. Try to crush them. Soft, easy to fit. Imagine that every person is born into the world with a white and pure soul. But each person also has a character. A person lives, communicates with people. People are bad and good. After dealing with lies, injustice, the human soul turns black. Over time, more and more. It depends on a person, on his character and willpower, how to act: to succumb to evil and darkness, or to keep his soul pure.
Now we can answer the question: “Did Katerina have any other way?”
(No. Although suicide is a sin, Katerina saved her bright soul in this way. And all the representatives of the “dark kingdom” are suicides of their souls. And it is they who are sinful. Thus, Katerina’s death was inevitable (work with the concept).
4. Generalization of the studied.
Teacher. I propose to draw up a diamond in which you can give a generalized description of the image of Katerina. (Work in groups).
Diamanta is a poem of seven lines, built on the antonymy of concepts.
1. Subject (noun).
2. Two definitions (adjectives).
3. Actions (three verbs).
4. Associations (four nouns).
1, 2 antonyms 3,4
5. Actions (three verbs).
6. Two definitions (adjectives).
7. Subject (noun).
Katerina.
Direct, honest.
Loves, strives, rebels.
Freedom, passion, isolation, sin.
Disappointed, suffering, dying.
Tired, remorseful
Poor Katherine.
Teacher. I asked you to think about what works of literature, music, painting you associate with the image of Katerina, her thoughts, actions.
1. The students read a poem by K.D. Balmont “By the sea at night”, because. it helps them to feel what Katerina experienced in the last moments of her life. (Read this poem by heart.)
2. From musical works Bach's "Siciliano" and Liadov's "Keep the Lord from Heaven" were proposed. The first is the association with Katerina's whole life, the second is Katerina's faith in God.
3. From the works of fine art, students proposed paintings by I.I. Levitan "Evening on the Volga" (the place where the events unfolded drama, the beauty(work with concepts) of nature is compared with the beauty of the main character, the waters of the Volga absorbed this beauty into themselves) and C. Monet “Impression. Rising Sun” (a bright orange spot of the sun and a ray that falls on the water is a bright image of Katerina and her character).
5. Homework.
1. Make a test of 10 tasks based on the play "Thunderstorm".
2. Prepare a message “The problem of human dignity in the play “Thunderstorm”. Make a technological map “Alphabet”.
3. Answer in writing the question “What is Ostrovsky’s innovation?”
6. Reflection.
On the board are attached images of islands with the names “Island of Knowledge”, “Island of Happiness”, “Island of Indifference”, “Island of Doubt”, “Island of Interest”. Pupils attach a sticky note to the island where they visited in the lesson.
The main conflict of Ostrovsky's play "" is the struggle between the old, the archaic and the new. But the personal conflict between human feelings and human principles must also not be overlooked.
One day in the "dark kingdom" - a place where tyranny and fear rule, a completely different person appears, who differs from everyone in his honesty, openness and devotion. This person was the main character of the work Katerina. It was the dissimilarity to others that caused the girl's life tragedy.
In Ostrovsky showed us the pure and immaculate character of the Russian woman. A woman with a warm heart and strong character.
The play begins with a description of the beauties of the Volga. The beauty and innocence of nature became the background against which the tragedy of the main character developed. It seems that everything in Kalinovo is calm, life goes on as usual, if the power public opinion, which pushed Katerina to the cliff.
Being strong personality, the main character at first does not pay attention to public rumor, she does not care what they say and think about her. She is not afraid of human judgment. But, unfortunately, the human court for Katerina became unbearable. She says: “Everyone follows me all day and laughs right in my eyes ...”.
The tragedy of the main character happens in front of the inhabitants of Kalinov. She publicly admits to cheating on her husband, she commits suicide in front of everyone.
Ostrovsky shows us Katerina as a very sensitive nature with a rich inner world. On the pages of the work, we see the main character in various emotional states. She is either sad, or rejoices, or yearns, or is in confusion of feelings, or in a fit of passion. Katerina seems to be reborn, falling in love with Boris. Of course, she is trying to drive love thoughts away from herself, she is not ready to betray her husband, but then she admits to herself that the image of Boris is constantly in front of her eyes. Ultimately, the main character remains true to her principles. She continues to endure the bullying of Kabanikhi.
In the scene of farewell to Tikhon, Katerina again had to test the strength of her patience. The girl was offended by the attitude of her husband, because in his speeches the words of his mother were heard. At that moment, Katerina felt that something irreparable would happen after Tikhon's departure.
In the episode with the key, the girl tries to sort out her feelings. But he understands that he cannot be deceived. In this we see the whole strength of Katerina's character. She does not want and cannot pretend to be not honest with herself. The girl complains about the bitterness of her position. It was this that prompted Katerina to take decisive action. main character makes the final decision to be with Boris, and she no longer cares about the consequences.
Being at the gate to the garden, Katerina still doubts the correctness of her act, but then she follows the call of her heart.
The main character was not afraid of public rumor. She publicly announced her betrayal of her husband. Katerina understood all the sinfulness of her act, but she was ready to step over her principles and be with her loved one.
At the end of the play, Katerina dies. Her actions can be judged in different ways. She could not realize her dream - to be with her loved one, but she was able to show the whole tragedy of the "dark kingdom", which ruined her.
Katerina was able to betray her principles for the sake of love. For us, she will never be a fallen woman. We will remember her as a person who fought for her dream, even in this way.
One of the masterpieces of Russian drama is considered to be the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm", which the author himself assessed as a creative success.
The main conflict of the "Thunderstorm" is the collision of the awakening personality in the conditions of the "dark kingdom" with its dogmas, despotism and falsehood. That person was Katerina.
Her life is unthinkable without sunrises and sunsets, dewy herbs in flowering meadows, flights of birds, fluttering butterflies from flower to flower. Together with her, the beauty of the rural temple, and the expanse of the Volga, and the trans-Volga meadow expanse. A bright image of a bird that has risen to the blue expanses of heaven passes through the whole play. This is an image of a spiritualized soul that has risen to the heights of spiritual perfection. And Katerina herself dreams of becoming a bird: “ Why do people do not fly like birds? You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you are drawn to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.” Need to pay Special attention to how Katerina prays, “what an angelic smile she has on her face, but it seems to glow from her face”, there is something iconic in this face, from which a bright radiance emanates, her prayer - Holy holiday souls, these are angelic choirs in a pillar of sunlight pouring from the dome, echoing the singing of wanderers, the chirping of birds. “For sure, it used to happen that I would enter paradise and see no one, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over.”
Katerina experiences all the joy of life in the temple, in the garden, among herbs, flowers, the morning freshness of awakening nature. In the dreams of young Katerina there is an echo of the Christian legend about paradise, the divine garden, which was bequeathed to the first-born people to cultivate. They lived like the birds of the sky, and their work was the work of free and free people. They were immortal, and time had no destructive power over them: “I lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mother did not have a soul in me, dressed me up like a doll, did not force me to work; I used to do what I want... I used to get up early; if it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring water with me and that’s it, water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers. Later, at a difficult moment in her life, Katerina complains: “If I had died a little, it would be better. I would look from heaven to earth and rejoice in everything. And then it would fly ... from cornflower to cornflower, in the wind, like a butterfly.
In the boar's kingdom, where all living things wither and dry up, Katerina is overcome by longing for the lost harmony. Her love is akin to the desire to raise her hands and fly, the heroine expects too much from her. A proud, strong-willed woman, she was given in marriage to a weak, weak-willed, who is in complete submission to Tikhon's mother. Nature spiritualized, bright, dreamy, she fell into an atmosphere of lies, cruel laws, fell in love with the "wingless", dependent Boris, love for whom did not satisfy her longing. Katerina feels guilty before Tikhon and Kabanikha, and not so much before them, but before the whole world, before the kingdom of goodness. It seems to her that the whole universe is offended by her fall. Only a full-blooded and spiritual person can feel his unity with the universe in such a way and have such a high sense of responsibility before the highest truth and harmony that is contained in it. The decision to commit suicide comes to Katerina along with an inner justification, a sense of freedom and sinlessness after the moral storms she experienced. By the end of the drama, the fear of fiery hell disappears, and the heroine considers herself entitled to appear before the highest moral court. “Death by sin is terrible,” people say.
But along with spirituality, Katerina also has weaknesses. From childhood she was accustomed to daydreaming and enjoying the beauties of nature and was not accustomed to the insults that she met later in the "dark kingdom". Before her fall, she had no doubt that she would go to heaven after death, and she did not think about the terrible torments in hell. Katerina did not notice her pride, and this ruined her after she faced the difficulties of life. At first glance, it seems that she accomplished a feat, but in fact she evaded it. It seems to us that voluntarily leaving life is scary, but in fact it is many times easier than enduring the suffering and insults of people and struggling with all the difficulties of life, which is a real feat; for the Bible says, "He who endures to the end will be saved." All sins are forgiven to those who sincerely repent of them: "Repent, and you will have mercy." Only one sin is not forgiven a person - it is suicide.
The play is very close to our time, although it was written more than a century ago, because in our age with addiction to alcohol, drugs, suicides have become more frequent, and many have forgotten about the soul and love. The Lord said, "Many will pass away under the name of iniquity; the love of many will grow cold." And we see this in the spread of numerous religions and the popularity of psychics, "which come to us in sheepskin but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Few now take care of their souls, and more about the body, how to eat and drink more and watch something interesting on TV. This is how our boring, monotonous life goes, and only some of us really think about it, only closer to old age do we begin to understand that we have not done anything useful to anyone and have lived our lives in vain. The Apostle Paul spoke of human body: "There is earth and you will go to earth", but the soul is immortal, and you need to think about where it will go - to heaven or hell.