Studying and analyzing the work of A. N. Ostrovsky “Thunderstorm”, I realized that the main character of the drama, Katerina, is an extremely controversial person.
The main conflict is suicide. I believe that it happened as a result of the conflict between Kabanikha and Katerina and disappointment in Boris. Even the motives of kindness and forgiveness that arise in the last act of the drama cannot save the main character from suicide. Due to the fact that Katerina is a deeply religious person, she understands that adultery is a terrible sin and she has only one way out - to rush into the Volga. The death of Katerina is very closely connected with the lack of mercy, forgiveness, understanding ... The cruel customs of the city of Kalinov also played their role.
How to evaluate the act of Catherine? Should it be condemned or would it be better to understand and justify? If you look at this issue from the point of view of sin, then she is a weak person who could not live with dignity. On the other hand, Katerina throughout the whole work showed herself to be a strong personality: correct and bright, sensitive and honest, submissive and kind. She stood up for her unloved husband, obeyed her annoying mother-in-law, and was open in her feelings. Based on this, it is possible to justify the main character of the drama "Thunderstorm".
It follows from the above that it is impossible to unequivocally assert Katerina's strength or weakness, since suicide depended on various reasons and was not impulsive and sudden, Katerina predicted her death. It is necessary to understand that a world where there is no understanding, empathy and mercy is doomed!
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Goals: deepen students' ideas about the main character of Ostrovsky's play; reveal the strength and weakness of Katerina's character; develop the ability to analyze images-characters; improve the skills of independent work on the text of a dramatic work; determine the meaning of the title of the play.
During the classes
I. Conversation with students on the issue m:
1. How is Katerina different from other characters in the drama "Thunderstorm"?
2. Tell us about her interests and hobbies as a girl.
3. What is the difference between Katerina's life in her parents' house and in the Kabanikh's house?
4. Could Katerina find her happiness with the family? Under what conditions?
5. What is the heroine struggling with: with a sense of duty or with the "dark kingdom"?
6. What is the tragedy of her position?
7. Final drama. Prove that the development of the action inevitably leads to it.
8. Could Katerina have found a way out other than suicide?
9. The death of the heroine - defeat or victory?
N. Dobrolyubov writes about Katerina: "Here is the true strength of character." The heroine of Ostrovsky, unlike the people around her, is a sincere, poetic nature. Katerina is looking for beauty everywhere: in work, in communication with people, with God. Everything that happens in the soul is more important for it than the events of the external world.
But it is impossible not to notice the decisiveness and love of freedom in the character of Katerina. It is useless to “remake” such a heroine or subjugate to anyone. And such a woman finds herself in an atmosphere of arbitrariness and hypocrisy. Katerina is trying to oppose the despotism and hypocrisy of Kabanikh with self-esteem. This is the beginning of her death.
The tragedy of Katerina is due to the fact that she does not love her husband. She understands that Tikhon is not worthy not only of her love, but also of respect. During the send-off, Tikhon repeats the insulting instructions of his mother to Katerina.
But in Katerina's soul there was already a feeling for Boris. Awakened love is perceived by her as a terrible sin, a shame, because the feeling for a stranger for her, a married woman, is a violation of her moral duty. The emotional drama rages on.
Katerina cannot live deceiving. During this period, she is lonely, even a loved one is not able to support her ... Earthly torments seem to her worse than hell, and she perceives death as deliverance from them. On Katerina's part, suicide is a force, even a protest, obviously, in the case when other forms of struggle are impossible.
Who is responsible for her death? There are plenty of them. This is the imperious Kabanikha, and the weak-willed Tikhon, and the indecisive Boris. Katerina won a moral victory over all these people and circumstances.
“Katerina’s death had significant consequences in the Kalinovsky consciousness and actions of the townsfolk,” writes A. Anastasyev.
II. Discussion of the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”.
An article devoted to the analysis of the play "Thunderstorm" was published after the drama was staged at the Moscow Maly Theater in 1860 (The critic gave a brilliant analysis of the ideological content, as well as the artistic features of the play "Thunderstorm". He characterized all the characters, but paid most attention to main heroine - Katerina.)
Questions:
1. "A ray of light in a dark kingdom" - what did Dobrolyubov mean by giving this title to his article?
2. Read the most striking, in your opinion, the provisions of the article.
3. “This end seems to us gratifying,” says Dobrolyubov about the fate of Katerina. Is this thought correct?
4. What is the essence of the dispute between D. I. Pisarev and N. A. Dobrolyubov about The Thunderstorm and the main character? Whose point of view do you find more profound?
(D. I. Pisarev. Articles "Motives of Russian drama" and "Let's see!".
“Upbringing and life could not give Katerina either a strong character or a developed mind ... Katerina, like all dreamers offended by God and upbringing, sees things in a rosy light ... She cuts the tightened knots in the most stupid way, suicide, which is completely unexpected for herself” .)
"A ray of light in the dark kingdom" called Katerina N. A. Dobrolyubov. According to the critic, in the tragic end "a terrible challenge is given to self-foolish power." The suicide of the heroine, as if for a moment, illuminated the "unbreakable darkness of the" dark kingdom ".
“In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s notions of morality, a protest carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.”
III. Discussing the meaning of the title of the drama "Thunderstorm".
Interview with students on:
1. What does the word "thunderstorm" mean in Ostrovsky's work?
2. What is the meaning of each of the characters in it?
Thunderstorm…The peculiarity of this image is that, while symbolically expressing the main idea of the play, at the same time it directly participates in the actions of the drama as a completely real natural phenomenon, and determines (in many respects) the actions of the heroine.
A thunderstorm broke out over Kalinov in act I. She caused confusion in the soul of Katerina.
In act IV, the thunderstorm motif no longer ceases. (“It’s raining, no matter how the storm gathers? ..”; “The storm is sent to us as a punishment so that we feel ...”; “The storm will kill! It’s not a thunderstorm, but grace ...”; “You remember my word, that this storm will not pass in vain ... ")
A thunderstorm is an elemental force of nature, terrible and not fully understood.
A thunderstorm is a "stormy state of society", a thunderstorm in the souls of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov.
A thunderstorm is a threat to the outgoing, but still strong, world of the new and wild.
The storm is the good news of new forces designed to free society from despotism.
3. How do the heroes of the play feel about a thunderstorm?
For Kuligin, a thunderstorm is God's grace. For Wild and Boar - heavenly punishment, for Feklusha - Ilya the Prophet rolls across the sky, for Katerina - retribution for sins. But after all, the heroine herself, her last step, from which the Kalinovsky world staggered, is also a thunderstorm.
Thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play, as in nature, combines destructive and creative forces. That is why the poetic image of a thunderstorm also expresses that “refreshing and encouraging feeling” about which the critic N. A. Dobrolyubov spoke.
Homework.
1. Reading the drama "Dowry".
2. Answer the question:
1) What is the main conflict of the drama?
2) What are the main character traits of Larisa Ogudalova? Katerina Kabanova and Larisa Ogudalova.
Katerina's suicide: strength or weakness?
Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was written in the second half of the 19th century, causing noticeable controversy among critics and reviewers. The main character of the play, Katerina, was perceived by some critics as a bright phenomenon, the personification of virtue in the “dark kingdom” of the city of Kalinov, by others as a weak, vulnerable and superstitious woman. The main question considered by critics is whether Katerina's suicide at the end of the play is a strength or a weakness.
Let's consider this question in more detail. First, you need to determine the genre of this work. What is it - a drama, as Ostrovsky writes at the beginning, or a tragedy? At first glance, it seems that there is no difference between these genres, but this is not so. Tragedy is a form of heroic performance, it has an elevated style and the conflict in it is always global, that is, it goes beyond the thoughts and feelings of one person, becomes comprehensive and relevant for everyone. The usual outcome of a tragedy is the death of the protagonist, which is not a defeat, but a victory and resolution of the conflict. Drama, of course, is in many ways similar to tragedy, but the conflict occurs only between the main characters, without going beyond the personal interests of the characters. The hero's problem is his personal problem, which cannot be comprehensive. Very often, the end of the drama is the death of the protagonist, as in tragedy, but the conflict is not always resolved by death.
What do we see in "Thunderstorm"? The provincial town of Kalinov, located on the picturesque banks of the Volga, a noble family. The main conflict of "Thunderstorm" lies in the relationship between Katerina and the society of the city, in which petty tyrants rule. Katerina's conflict is her personal problem, as she comes to terms with the order that prevails among the nobles. Somewhere in the depths of Katerina's soul, there is still a spark of confrontation, but she is constantly drowned out by uncertainty and unsteadiness of character. As a result of suicide, the conflict is not resolved. So “Thunderstorm” is still a drama.
Katerina, according to the old noble custom, is given in marriage to Tikhon, the son of the merchant Kabanova. Kabanikha constantly instructs Tikhon on the right path, telling him what to do and how. Tikhon himself is not able to make serious decisions and agrees with his mother in everything, never violating her will. Katerina suffers from this, because she, along with Tikhon, is subordinate to Kabanikha, moreover, she does not love her husband, but she “pities” him, as she later told Varvara. Katerina herself is very pious, she believes that her marriage is submission to the will of God, but at the same time falls in love after exchanging a few glances with Boris, a man who came to the city for an inheritance, but wants to keep his virtue intact. Knowing that betrayal is a sin, she nevertheless meets with Boris during Tikhon's short departure. Varvara helps Boris to meet with Katerina, but Tikhon unexpectedly arrives and the main character is tormented by remorse, grows thin, turns pale, is very frightened of a thunderstorm, mistaking her for an expression of God's wrath, she is also frightened by the crazy lady's words about “gehenna fiery” and falls on the street in front of the people on her knees and confesses to her husband what she has done. Tikhon tries to hug and calm his wife, but Kabanikha, after listening to Katerina's story, orders his son to beat his wife a little. Katerina is even more depressed. Then it turns out that Boris, on the orders of his uncle Diky, is leaving for Siberia to earn money. Katerina runs away from home, meets with Boris for the last time, they discuss their feelings and after Boris's departure, after a little thought, decides to commit suicide, deciding that there is no way out of her situation.
Of course, one can say that Katerina is a bright phenomenon, “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.” There is something good in every act of Katerina, and if you put it all together, you get a heroic person, full of virtue and worthy of adoration. We can say that it was such a time that Katerina had no choice, but did Katerina, not loving Tikhon, try to somehow prevent the wedding? Was she trying to prove that you can't get married without love? No, she meekly followed the opinion of the uneducated people of the older generation.
But let's look deeper into the character of the heroine. Katerina's whole life is based not on reason, but on feelings and prejudices. Since childhood, not accustomed to think, she rushes from one extreme to another. An example of this would be a monologue with a key. Katerina's first thought was to throw away the key given by Varvara: “Throw it away, throw it far away, throw it into the river so that it will never be found. He burns my hands like coal.” Then, having speculated a little about Varvara's act and frightened of being seen with a key in her hands, she hides it in her pocket: “It is clear that fate itself wants it! But what a sin in this if I look at him [Boris] once, at least from afar!” and ends the monologue with the words “Oh, if only the night would come sooner!”. One meeting with Boris led to another, a third, and now Katerina has already embarked on a vicious circle. Her conscience wakes up only after the arrival of her husband.
Katerina thought that her life was ruled by fate and therefore was always left to chance. She did not understand that a person should manage his own life, that he himself is the master of his actions.
Every external impression, the most insignificant event, empty conversation shakes her whole organism. Katerina listens to the words of the half-witted lady, while Varvara passes them by her ears:
"Lady. What beauties? What are you doing here? Are you waiting for the good fellows, gentlemen? Is your beauty making you happy? Do not rejoice, you will all burn inextinguishable in the fire!
Katerina. Oh, how she frightened me, I tremble all over, as if she were prophesying something to me!
Moreover, when she hears thunder, Katerina is terribly frightened, perceiving this natural phenomenon as the wrath of God.
If Katerina still loves Boris, then Boris himself does not have a deep feeling for the heroine. When Dikoi sent him to Siberia, Boris did not agree to take Katerina with him, explaining it simply: “I can’t, Katya. I'm not going of my own accord." Saying goodbye to “Katya”, he did not even want to meet her, he only wanted to “say goodbye to the place where they met”. Who is Boris after that? But Katerina does not see this, believing that they are supposed to be separated by fate. And then, finally, the death of the main character follows. What does she show us? Is the drama conflict resolved? In my opinion, no. All her problems, which she created for herself, Katerina wants to solve by death, showing the weakness of her character and mind. So Katerina's suicide, I think, is a weakness.
In preparing this work, materials from the site http://www.studentu.ru were used.
29.03.2013 20467 0Lesson
68
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF KATERINA'S CHARACTER. ARTICLE
N. DOBROLUBOV "RAY OF LIGHT IN THE DARK KINGDOM"
Goals : deepen students' ideas about the main character of Ostrovsky's play; reveal the strength and weakness of Katerina's character; develop the ability to analyze images-characters; improve the skills of independent work on the text of a dramatic work; determine the meaning of the title of the play.
During the classes
I. Conversation with students on the issue m:
1. How is Katerina different from other characters in the drama "Thunderstorm"?
2. Tell us about her interests and hobbies as a girl.
3. What is the difference between Katerina's life in her parents' house and in the Kabanikh's house?
4. Could Katerina find her happiness in the family? Under what conditions?
5. What is the heroine struggling with: with a sense of duty or with the “dark kingdom”?
6. What is the tragedy of her position?
7. Final drama. Prove that the development of action inevitably leads to it.
8. Could Katerina have found a way out other than suicide?
9. The death of the heroine - defeat or victory?
N. Dobrolyubov writes about Katerina: "Here is the true strength of character." The heroine of Ostrovsky, unlike the people around her, is a sincere, poetic nature. Katerina is looking for beauty everywhere: in work, in communication with people, with God. Everything that happens in the soul is more important for it than the events of the external world.
But it is impossible not to notice the decisiveness and love of freedom in the character of Katerina. It is useless to “remake” such a heroine or subjugate to anyone. And such a woman finds herself in an atmosphere of arbitrariness and hypocrisy. Katerina is trying to oppose the despotism and hypocrisy of Kabanikh with self-esteem. This is the beginning of her death.
The tragedy of Katerina is due to the fact that she does not love her husband. She understands that Tikhon is not worthy not only of her love, but also of respect. During the send-off, Tikhon repeats the insulting instructions of his mother to Katerina.
But in Katerina's soul there was already a feeling for Boris. Awakened love is perceived by her as a terrible sin, a shame, because the feeling for a stranger for her, a married woman, is a violation of her moral duty. The emotional drama rages on.
Katerina cannot live deceiving. During this period, she is lonely, even a loved one is not able to support her ... Earthly torments seem to her worse than hell, and she perceives death as deliverance from them. On Katerina's part, suicide is a force, even a protest, obviously, in the case when other forms of struggle are impossible.
Who is responsible for her death? There are plenty of them. This is the imperious Kabanikha, and the weak-willed Tikhon, and the indecisive Boris. Katerina won a moral victory over all these people and circumstances.
“Katerina’s death had significant consequences in the Kalinovsky consciousness and actions of the townsfolk,” writes A. Anastasyev.
II. Discussion of the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”.
An article devoted to the analysis of the play "Thunderstorm" was published after the drama was staged at the Moscow Maly Theater in 1860 (The critic gave a brilliant analysis of the ideological content, as well as the artistic features of the play "Thunderstorm". He characterized all the characters, but paid most attention to main heroine - Katherine.)
Questions:
1. “A ray of light in a dark kingdom” - what did Dobrolyubov mean by giving this title to his article?
2. Read the most striking, in your opinion, the provisions of the article.
3. “This end seems to us gratifying,” says Dobrolyubov about the fate of Katerina. Is this thought correct?
4. What is the essence of the dispute between D. I. Pisarev and N. A. Dobrolyubov about The Thunderstorm and the main character? Whose point of view do you find more profound?
(D. I. Pisarev. Articles "Motives of Russian drama" and "Let's see!".
“Upbringing and life could not give Katerina either a strong character or a developed mind ... Katerina, like all dreamers offended by God and upbringing, sees things in a rosy light ... She cuts the tightened knots in the most stupid way, suicide, which is completely unexpected for herself” .)
"A ray of light in the dark kingdom" called Katerina N. A. Dobrolyubov. According to the critic, in the tragic end "a terrible challenge is given to self-foolish power." The suicide of the heroine, as if for a moment, illuminated the "unbreakable darkness of the" dark kingdom ".
“In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s notions of morality, a protest carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.”
III. Discussing the meaning of the title of the drama "Thunderstorm".
Interview with students on:
1. What does the word "thunderstorm" mean in Ostrovsky's work?
2. What is the meaning of each of the characters in it?
Thunderstorm... The peculiarity of this image is that, while symbolically expressing the main idea of the play, at the same time it directly participates in the actions of the drama as a very real natural phenomenon, determines (in many respects) the actions of the heroine.
A thunderstorm broke out over Kalinov in act I. She caused confusion in the soul of Katerina.
In act IV, the thunderstorm motif no longer ceases. (“It’s raining, no matter how the storm gathers? ..”; “The storm is sent to us as a punishment so that we feel ...”; “The storm will kill! It’s not a thunderstorm, but grace ...”; “You remember my word, that this storm will not pass in vain ... ")
A thunderstorm is an elemental force of nature, terrible and not fully understood.
A thunderstorm is a "stormy state of society", a thunderstorm in the souls of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov.
A thunderstorm is a threat to the outgoing, but still strong world of wild boars and wild ones.
The storm is the good news of new forces designed to free society from despotism.
3. How do the heroes of the play feel about a thunderstorm?
For Kuligin, a thunderstorm is God's grace. For Wild and Boar - heavenly punishment, for Feklusha - Ilya the Prophet rolls across the sky, for Katerina - retribution for sins. But after all, the heroine herself, her last step, from which the Kalinovsky world staggered, is also a thunderstorm.
Thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play, as in nature, combines destructive and creative forces. That is why the poetic image of a thunderstorm also expresses that “refreshing and encouraging feeling” about which the critic N. A. Dobrolyubov spoke.
Homework.
1. Reading the drama "Dowry".
2. Answer the question:
1) What is the main conflict of the drama?
2) What are the main character traits of Larisa Ogudalova? Katerina Kabanova and Larisa Ogudalova.
People who have read Ostrovsky's work "Thunderstorm" think about the meaning of life and about Katerina's act. After reading the play, a person immediately begins to talk about the girl’s action and decision, whether it is weakness or a manifestation of strength. There are those people who believe that this act is power. She killed herself, and not everyone can take such a desperate step. Someone becomes scared, and someone feels sorry for themselves, their parents, relatives and friends. In addition, it is worth paying attention that Katerina is actually a very strong girl. She was able to confess to her husband in public. The girl was not afraid of the ridicule of other people, she did not care what they would say and think about her. With her own death, Katerina stopped her mother-in-law's bullying, talking about herself, and forced Tikhon to change his mind. Even if only for a few minutes, she managed to do it.
Another proof of the girl's strength is that she was a believer. And for such people, committing suicide is one of the worst sins. But that didn't stop her either. She still did what she thought. All these facts indicate that Katerina's suicide is a strength of character.
But there is another opinion on this matter. Some people claim that this is a weakness and Katerina is just a crazy girl. Yes, and she chose a very stupid way to die. Everyone knows that there is no forgiveness or justification for suicide. The girl simply could not stand what happened to her, what hit her. Therein lies her weakness.
You can discuss this topic endlessly. There will always be those who consider Katerina strong, but there will also be those who do not understand her and consider her a weak person. Opinions are still divided into two camps. But it's not surprising. How many people, so many opinions. But it all depends on the person and his character. Maybe there are those who would do exactly the same as this girl. And some people, perhaps, would not understand such a way out of the situation at all. All because it is unacceptable for them. Much depends on the inner world of the reader.
Together with the article “An essay on the topic “Katerina’s act - strength or weakness?” (based on the play by N. A. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm")" read:
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