“Thunderstorm” is a folk social tragedy.
N. A. Dobrolyubov
"Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent great

Changes - the author introduced a number of new actors, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously.
Of course, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by Special attention the author to depict the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, his “ cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but here a contradiction is immediately visible: Kuligin speaks of the beauty of the beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood are the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about “naked poverty”. About the past, Kalinovtsy retained only vague legends - Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, news from big world the wanderer Feklusha brings them. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".
Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.
The originality of the Thunderstorm genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. The anecdotal and ignorant stories of Feklusha about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are “with dog heads” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”
The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, speaking of the tragic genre, they were used to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.
The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.
The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy… the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. About final words Tikhon N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon’s “woe” is in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even “in which he recognizes his good and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude tyrant - Wild and repair petty household utensils, earning only "for daily bread" "honest work".
A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a man of higher nature”, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a man “with a great, and not petty character.” Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character.
Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. Katerina's spiritual strength “... and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).
A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul.
Another one feature the tragic genre lies in the cleansing effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”
The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.
In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Boars and the Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.
So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only the tragedy of Katerina, it is the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the awareness of the personality of feelings dignity. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme ... Here everything rises to tragedy.

Genre originality Drama "Thunderstorm"

“Thunderstorm” is a folk social tragedy.

N. A. Dobrolyubov

"Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work
playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived
author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Marine
ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite,
as I assumed at first, a cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. Thunderstorm is out
in a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play
has undergone major changes - the author introduced a number of new characters, but the main thing
- Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but
drama. However, the force of social conflict in Groz is so great that about
the play can even be spoken of not as a drama, but as a tragedy. Exist
arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to determine
clearly.

Of course, the play is written on a social and everyday theme:
it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life,
the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its “cruel
manners." The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role
plays a landscape opening, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Ku-ligin says
about the beauty of beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. "Something", - objects to him
Curly. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature,
Katerina's stories about childhood are the poetry of the Kalinovsky world, which
faces the everyday brutality of the inhabitants, stories of “poverty
naked." About the past, Kalinovtsy retained only vague legends - Lithuania “to us
fell from the sky”, the wanderer Feklusha brings them news from the big world.
Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible
talk about drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".

Another feature characteristic of the drama and present
in the play, - the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First it's conflict
between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then about this conflict
the whole city recognizes, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. peculiar
drama, the expression of the cod conflict in the actions and words of the characters is most clearly shown in
monologues and dialogues of actors. So, about Katerina's life before marriage, we
we learn from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “there was nothing
grieved, ”like a“ bird in the wild, ”spending the whole day in pleasures and domestic
affairs. We know nothing about the first meeting between Katerina and Boris, about how
their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered insufficient
“development of passion” by a significant omission, said that it was precisely for this reason that
“struggle of passion and duty” for us is denoted “not quite clearly and strongly”. But
this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the genre "Thunderstorms" is also manifested in the fact that,
despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic,
satirical scenes. Anecdotal and ignorant stories seem ridiculous to us
Feklushi about saltans, about lands where all people are “with dog heads”. After leaving
“Thunderstorms” A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “action and catastrophe
tragic, although many places excite laughter.

The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be
otherwise? At that time, when talking about the tragic genre, they were used to dealing with the plot
historical, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in
position placed in exceptional situations. Tragedy usually
was associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as
Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me,
that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky was that
he wrote the tragedy in an exclusively vital, completely uncharacteristic
tragic genre material.

The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment
only the main character, Katerina, but also other characters. Here "live
envy ... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). So, the fate of Tikhon is tragic here,
being a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother. By
about Tikhon's final words, N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" in
his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon
absolutely nothing can do, even that “in which he recognizes his own good and
the rescue". Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of
the happiness of the working people, but doomed to obey the will of a rude tyrant -
Wild and repair small household utensils, earning only “for daily bread”
"honest work".

Tragedy is characterized by the presence of a hero,
outstanding in its spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a person
higher nature," according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a man "with greatness, and not
petty character." Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky,
we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character
the main character.

Katerina is different from the “dark kingdom” of Kalinov
their morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams
full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris, not the real one, but
created by your imagination. Katerina could well adapt to morality
cities to continue to deceive her husband, but “he doesn’t know how to deceive,
can’t hide anything, ”honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend
in front of her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina must have
great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but
and fear “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. Katherine's spiritual power “...and
the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudice, creates
tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical
the death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky,
"a real tragic heroine." The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two
historical eras. Not only her trouble is that she ends her life
suicide, this is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to get rid of
heavy oppression, from fear, burdening the soul.

Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre
lies in the cleansing effect on the audience, which arouses in them
noble, lofty aspirations. So, in the “Thunderstorm”, as N.A.
Dobrolyubov, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

Tragic is also the overall color of the play, with its gloominess,
every second the feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Parallelism is clearly emphasized here.
thunderstorms social, public and thunderstorms as natural phenomena.

In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play
imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark
kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Kabanikhs and
Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.

So, the genre originality of "Thunderstorm" is that
that it is, without a doubt, a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written
on social and household material. This is not only Katerina's tragedy, it is
the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a turning point in its
development, living on the threshold of significant changes, in the conditions of revolutionary
situation that contributed to the awareness of the individual's sense of self
dignity. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who
wrote: “If some merchant’s wife cheated on her husband and hence all her
misfortune, it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for
high life theme... Here everything rises to tragedy.”
Bibliography

For the preparation of this work were used
materials from the site http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/

"Thunderstorm" is a folk social tragedy. N. A. Dobrolyubov "Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of "Volga" plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent great changes - the author introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy.

There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously. Of course, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its "cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but here a contradiction is immediately visible: Kuligin speaks of the beauty of the beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Paintings of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about "naked poverty".

Only vague legends were preserved about the past by Kalinovtsy - Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, the wanderer Feklusha brings them news from the big world. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm". Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters.

So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated “not quite clearly and strongly” for us.

But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama. The originality of the Thunderstorms genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. Feklusha's anecdotal and ignorant stories about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are "dog-headed" seem ridiculous to us.

After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in a review of the play that "the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter." The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, speaking of the tragic genre, they were used to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations.

Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus, Hamlet, Boris Godunov. It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call The Thunderstorm a drama was only a tribute to tradition. The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here "the living envy ... the dead." Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. Regarding Tikhon's final words, N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" was in his indecision.

If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon is absolutely unable to do anything, even that "in which he recognizes his good and salvation." Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude tyrant - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only "their daily bread" by "honest labor."

A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, "a man of higher nature", according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a man "with a great, and not a petty character." Turning from this position to the "Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character. Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower.

Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband.

As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina "... and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy."

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society.

She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul. Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is the purifying effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, "there is even something refreshing and encouraging."

The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized. In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the "dark kingdom", about resistance, about the growth of forces called upon to replace the Boars and the Wild.

Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest. So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only the tragedy of Katerina, it is the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the realization of self-esteem by the individual. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama.

But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme ... Here everything rises to tragedy.

Genre originality of the drama "Thunderstorm"

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“Thunderstorm” is a folk social tragedy.

N. A. Dobrolyubov

"Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent great changes - the author introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously.

Undoubtedly, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its "cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Ku-ligin speaks of the beauty of the distance beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about "naked poverty". About the past Kalinovtsy kept only vague legends - Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, the wanderer Feklusha brings them news from the big world. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".

Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the co-conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the Thunderstorm genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. The anecdotal and ignorant stories of Feklusha about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are “with dog heads” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, speaking of the tragic genre, they were used to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy ... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. Regarding Tikhon's final words, N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" was in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even “in which he recognizes his good and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude tyrant - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only “their daily bread” by “honest labor”.

A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a man of higher nature”, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a man “with a great, and not petty character.” Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character.

Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul.

Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is the purifying effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Boars and the Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.

So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only the tragedy of Katerina, it is the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the realization of self-esteem by the individual. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme ... Here everything rises to tragedy.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/ were used.

A.N. Ostrovsky is not just a writer-playwright. He is rightfully considered the father of Russian drama. After all, before him in the literature of the 19th century theatrical art developed very poorly. Ostrovsky's plays were new, fresh and interesting. It was thanks to this author that people again reached out to theaters. One of the most famous plays- "Thunderstorm".

History of creation

A.N. Ostrovsky was sent on a special mission to central Russia. Here the writer was able to see provincial life in all its glory. Like any other writer, in the first place, Ostrovsky paid attention to the life and life of the Russian merchants, petty bourgeois, noble people of the province. He was looking for characters and plots. As a result of the trip, the play "Thunderstorm" was written. And a little while later in one of the similar case. Ostrovsky was able to predict the events that took place in the future. The characterization of the play "Thunderstorm" as a holistic work shows that the author is not just an insightful person, but also a talented writer-playwright.

Artistic originality of drama

The play has a number of artistic features. It should be said that Ostrovsky was at the same time a novelist in dramaturgy and supported the tradition. To understand, it is necessary to analyze the genre, the main characters, the conflict and the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm".

Genre

There are three dramaturgic tragedy and drama. Of these, the oldest - then comedy follows, but drama as a genre appears only in the 19th century. Its founder in Russia was A.N. Ostrovsky. The play "Thunderstorm" is fully consistent with its canons. In the center of the image are ordinary people, not historical figures, not people with their own shortcomings and virtues, in whose souls feelings, affections, likes and dislikes develop. The situation is also common. However, there is an acute life conflict in it, most often unresolvable. Katerina (the main character of the drama) falls into such life situation from which there is no way out. The meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" is multifaceted (this will be discussed below), one of the interpretation options is the inevitability of something, the predestination and tragedy of the situation.

main characters

The main characters of the play: Kabanikha, her son Tikhon, Katerina (Kabanova's daughter-in-law), Boris (her lover), Varvara (Tikhon's sister), Wild, Kuligin. There are other characters, each of which has its own semantic load.

Kabanikha and Wild personify everything negative that is in the city of Kalinov. malice, tyranny, the desire to lead everyone, greed. Tikhon Kabanov is an example of resigned worship of his mother, he is spineless and stupid. Barbara is not like that. She understands that her mother is wrong in many ways. She, too, wants to free herself from her pressure, and she does it in her own way: she simply deceives her. But such a path is impossible for Katerina. She cannot lie to her husband, cheating for her is a big sin. Katerina, against the background of others, looks more thinking, feeling and alive. Only one hero stands aside - Kuligin. He plays the role of a reasoning hero, that is, a character into whose mouth the author puts his attitude to the situation.

The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm"

The symbolic title is one of the ways to express the ideological intent of the work. Contained in one word great value, it is multi-layered.

Firstly, a thunderstorm occurs twice in the city of Kalinov. Each character reacts differently. Kuligin, for example, sees physical phenomena in a thunderstorm, so it does not cause much fear in him. Of course, the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is not only that this phenomenon is present in the text. The thunderstorm symbol is closely related to main character- Katerina. For the first time, this natural phenomenon catches the heroine on the street when she is talking to Varvara. Katerina was very frightened, but not of death. Her horror is justified by the fact that lightning can kill suddenly, and she will suddenly appear before God with all her sins. But she has one gravest sin - falling in love with Boris. Education, conscience do not allow Katerina to completely surrender to this feeling. Going on a date, she begins to experience great torment. The heroine also makes a confession during a thunderstorm. Hearing a thunderclap, she can't stand it.

Depends on the level of interpretation. On a formal level, this is the beginning and climax of the drama. But on a symbolic level, this is the fear of the punishment of the Lord, retribution.

We can say that the "thunderstorm" hung over all the inhabitants of the city. Outwardly, these are the attacks of Kabanikh and Dikiy, but on the existential level, this is the fear of answering for one's sins. Perhaps that is why she causes horror not only in Katerina. Even the word "thunderstorm" is pronounced in the text not only as the name of a natural phenomenon. Tikhon leaves home, rejoicing that his mother will no longer bother him, that she will no longer order him. Katerina is not able to get away from this "thunderstorm". She was cornered.

The image of Katerina

The heroine commits suicide, and because of this, her image is very contradictory. She is pious, she is afraid of "gehena fiery", but at the same time she commits such a grave sin. Why? Apparently, moral suffering, moral torment is stronger than her thoughts about hell. Most likely, she simply stopped thinking about suicide as a sin, seeing it as a punishment for her sin (betrayal to her husband). Some of the critics see her exclusively strong personality, who challenged society, the "dark kingdom" (Dobrolyubov). Others believe that voluntary death is not a challenge, but, on the contrary, a sign of weakness.

How to regard this act of the heroine, it is impossible to say unambiguously. The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" emphasizes that in the society that has developed in Kalinovo, such cases are not surprising, because it is a ossified, backward city, it is ruled by petty tyrants, such as Dikoi and Kabanikha. As a result, sensitive natures (Katerina) suffer without feeling support from anyone.

Conclusions. Features and meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" (briefly)

1. The drama has become a vivid example of the life of provincial cities, exposing one of the main problems of Russia - tyranny.

2. Drama complies with the canons of the genre (there is a reasoning hero, there is negative characters), but at the same time it is innovative (it is symbolic).

3. The "thunderstorm" in the title of the play is not just a compositional element, it is a symbol of God's punishment, repentance. The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky brings the play to a symbolic level.