In literature, we were asked to write an essay based on the work of Groz Ostrovsky for grade 10. The thunderstorm of Ostrovsky, and the dark kingdom that has become symbolic, was written in 1859. The author's work takes us to the time of the eve of the peasant reforms.

Composition on the theme of Thunderstorm Ostrovsky

According to Ostrovsky's play, we need to write it, and I'll start it with the fact that already at the beginning we are transferred to a cruel and terrible world. Reading the work you understand how we happy people, because it becomes very scary when you imagine that lack of freedom and the suffocating atmosphere of the Dark Kingdom, where Dikoy could easily hit, and Kabanova even worse. Her meaning of life is how to once again intimidate or humiliate someone. In Ostrovsky's play, we see a weak-willed creature in the person of Kabanova's son Tikhon. This is the fruit of Domostroy, when in everything and everywhere you need to obey your parents. We also see Boris, Dikiy's nephew, who could not escape from the world of conventions. He could not do as his heart tells him, but he lives and acts as he should.

In the play Thunderstorm there is female images. So, we see dashing Kabanova. There is also her daughter with a strong character in the work, so she managed to dodge and be cynical.

One of the most striking images of the play by Ostrovsky Thunderstorm is the image of Katerina. This is the only living character who can love. Katerina is a ray of light in the world where our heroes live. In this dark kingdom, where the heroine could not live, choosing death for herself.

If we talk about the title of the work, then the meaning is ambiguous, and here I note that the meaning of the title of the work depends on the characters themselves. So, because of her love for another, because of betrayal, Katerina has a storm in her soul. Kuligin sees the ignorance of people in a thunderstorm, which must be fought. For Tikhon, the storm is his mother, whom he obeys. For Boris, a human thunderstorm appears, human rumor, which is more terrible than a natural phenomenon, so he runs, leaving Katerina. But it is not all that bad. By naming his work Thunderstorm, Ostrovsky showed us that changes are coming soon, because after each thunderstorm the sun comes out and it will definitely appear from behind the clouds this time.

The problem of moral law and moral freedom is one of the leading ones in Russian and world literature. In other words, it can be formulated, in my opinion, as a problem of feeling and duty. It is known that it was characteristic of the classic tragedy, in which the hero, forced to choose duty, certainly dies, struck by a fatal dilemma. However, the same problem becomes the main one in the realistic drama of A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm".
All the main characters of this work are faced with the most difficult choice - law or freedom? First of all, this applies to the main character of "Thunderstorm" - Katerina Kabanova.
Living in her husband's family, this young woman feels miserable. I think the heroine with all her heart strove to fall in love with Tikhon Kabanov, to somehow improve her life with him. But she couldn't do it. Katerina's husband always and in everything obeyed his mother - Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Yes, and how could she not obey - Kabanikha kept in fear not only her relatives, but the whole city.
The heroes of The Thunderstorm, in particular, Varvara Kabanova, make their choice between law and freedom. This girl is the complete opposite of Katerina. She is also not satisfied with the rules by which she has to live in her mother's house. However, Varvara made her choice a long time ago - in favor of a feeling, or rather, her desire. Therefore, she does what she wants - she walks with Curly, does not sleep at home. But, and this is very important, the daughter of Kabanikhi skillfully hides her actions. She understands perfectly well that in the hypocritical Kalinov society, the main thing is not what really exists, but the appearance that is being created. And Varvara, with the "good hand" of her mother, who preaches the same philosophy, learned to lie and be hypocritical, doing what she wants.
The choice of "duty or feeling" became tragic for Tikhon Kabanov. Due to his weak nature, fear of his mother, inertia, this hero chooses "filial duty", despite the fact that his heart says something completely different. Precisely because Tikhon is afraid
I am my mother, he allows her to offend Katerina, slander her, humiliate her. The hero himself feels the wrongness of his behavior, the “wrongness” of the whole way of life in their family and in the city, but he cannot even dare to think about it. And only after losing his wife, blinded by grief, Tikhon throws accusations in the face of his mother as the main representative of the patriarchal merchant society, its hypocritical foundations.
Boris Grigoryevich, who betrayed his love for Katerina because of the inheritance that he should receive from Wild, also makes a choice in favor of duty. I think that Kabanikha herself betrays her life, making a choice in favor of duty - public opinion, the laws of a patriarchal society.
Thus, we see that almost all the heroes of Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" are faced with a choice: moral law or moral freedom, duty or feeling. And almost all of them, making this choice, are hypocritical: for people they choose “law” (that is, they live according to the traditional laws of a patriarchal society), for themselves they choose “freedom” (true desires that they skillfully hide). The only exception, in my opinion, are only two heroes. Firstly, it is the Wild, who is not afraid of anyone and nothing, because he has unlimited power. And this is Katerina Kabanova, who, the only one of all, seriously approached her choice, consciously made it and took full responsibility for the decision made.

Written in 1859 by A.N. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" is truly the pinnacle of his mature work. The work was included in the cycle of plays about the "dark kingdom", here the playwright not only described the dark and light beginnings, but also showed their interaction. Based on his own observations of the indigenous Russian population, the author managed to create a play of life that tells us about the fate of the younger generation and whose heroes are ordinary people, such as merchants, their wives and children, as well as philistines and officials. Characters, their characters and views are expressed in the drama very accurately, but the most striking is the image of Katerina, the main character. Characters such as Dikoy and Boar represent dark side. And Katerina, as Dobrolyubov wrote, is like "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." Katerina became that very ray because only she, at first glance, a weak and defenseless girl, protested, and this protest was a success.

To the question why this happens, there is an answer: it's all about the character of the heroine, the strength of this character and its weakness.

Katerina is a dreamer. "You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird." And it really can be considered such. She used to be a "free bird" before, when she lived not too hard: she did what she wanted, and her mother did not have a soul in her, dressed up like a doll, "did not force her to work." Happy time passes, and the bird is put in a cage. Katerina does not marry for love, and it costs her dearly. Her suffering begins in the Kabanovs' house.

"I have withered completely," the girl says to Varvara. It could not have been otherwise here: constant strife between households, the bad character of the mother-in-law and constant condemnation from the outside. Katerina cannot live in such a "dark kingdom", so she tries to survive. It is impossible to call the heroine a completely weak one, since even at the beginning she does not oppose Kabanova, but she already defends herself: “You are talking about me, mother, in vain. With people, that without people, I’m all alone, I don’t prove anything from myself ”

Quiet and modest Katerina shows her strengths. In her character there is integrity and fearlessness. However, she knows about it herself: "I was born like that, hot!" This phrase is followed by the heroine's story about herself, as in childhood, offended by something, she got into a boat and sailed away along the Volga. The girl is distinguished by the desire for freedom, for freedom from the "dark kingdom". In a conversation with Barbara, she simply cannot be recognized. "Why don't people fly?" The interlocutor did not understand Katerina's words and considered them strange, but for Katerina herself this has great importance. She has a very hard time in the Kabanovs' house, and she wants to leave this place. Wants, but can't. He wants, like a bird, to flap his wings and fly away, but he cannot. Because people can't fly. Dobrolyubov correctly noticed "Katerina's concentrated determination." And indeed, because she is ready for anything for the sake of freedom, or at least her throat. She is ready to take off so as not to live with the Kabanovs. She is ready to repent publicly so as not to die a sinner, so that her soul after death finds freedom. She is resolute, although she sins for a long time on herself. She made up her mind, gave free rein to her true feelings and spent two weeks with Boris, despite the fact that this breath of freedom cost her dearly.

The main character is sincere. She does not know how and does not deceive not only Varvara that she does not love her husband, but also herself. She is honest, first of all, with herself, which speaks of her spiritual purity. As a religious girl, Katerina is very worried about her sin and is afraid to die the way she is. But at the same time she is true to her feelings, her love for Boris. Therefore, we can say that Katerina is true to her spiritual ideals. Trying to fight with herself, the heroine begs Tikhon to take her with him, but remains misunderstood. Then she wants to take an oath of allegiance, but even here her husband remains indifferent. What could not be avoided happens. But even at the moment of meeting with Boris, she continues to struggle with her love: “Why did you come, my destroyer? After all, I’m married, because my husband and I live to the grave!” It follows from this that Katerina is true to her life principles, which is why it is so difficult for her to make a choice between suppressing love in herself and giving herself entirely to it. Having won a victory over herself, she discovers in herself the ability to love deeply and strongly, sacrificing everything for the sake of her beloved. Fear fades into the background: “If I am not afraid of sin for myself, will I be afraid of human shame?” But the fear for what they have done and the fear of dying with sin without repentance have done their job.The crazy old woman, the unexpected appearance of Boris and the thunderstorm that has begun again frighten Katerina even more, and she confesses to everyone.

The heroine decided her own fate. She does not fall from a thunderclap, but she herself rushes into the pool. Katerina believes that living with sin in the soul is even harder than not living. “No, it’s all the same to me whether it’s home or to the grave. Yes, that’s home, that to the grave! .. that it’s to the grave! It’s better in the grave ...,” she argues. Having made the final choice, the heroine throws herself off a cliff and commits suicide. On the one hand, such an act is a manifestation of the weakness of Katerina's character, and this act makes her defeated. But on the other hand, great courage is probably required to make such a decision and carry out the plan. Even Tikhon envied her: “It’s good for you, Katya! But why did I stay in the world and suffer!” Not without reason, at the end of the play, Kuligin runs away, and Tikhon begins to realize that Kabanova was wrong about Katya: “You ruined her! You! You!" Main character settled scores with herself, punishing herself, but won a moral victory over " dark kingdom", shaking the long-established framework of society.

Katerina turned out to be a simple girl with a difficult character. What is her weakness is at the same time her strength. She is freedom-loving, she is distinguished by independence, poetry, high moral and ethical qualities, which makes her spiritually pure. Katerina is indeed a "beam of light" in the "dark realm".

Ostrovsky A.N.

An essay on a work on the topic: “Why people don’t fly!” (The image of Katerina in A. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm").

Katerina - Russian a strong character for whom truth and a deep sense of duty are above all. It has an extremely developed desire for harmony with the world and freedom. The origins of this are in childhood. As we can see, in this carefree time, Katerina was primarily surrounded by beauty and harmony, she “lived like a bird in the wild”, among maternal love and fragrant nature. Mother did not have a soul in her, did not force her to work on the housework. Katya lived freely: she got up early, washed herself with spring water, watered the flowers, went to church with her mother, then sat down to do some work and listened to the wanderers and praying women, who were many in their house. Katerina had magical dreams where she flew under the clouds. And how strongly the act of a six-year-old girl contrasts with such a quiet, happy life when Katya, offended by something, ran away from home to the Volga in the evening, got into a boat and pushed off the shore. This is an act of a person with a strong character, who does not tolerate restrictions.
We see that Katerina grew up as a happy and romantic girl. She was very pious and passionately loving. She loved everything and everyone around her: nature, the sun, the church, her home with wanderers, the poor she helped. But the most important thing about Katya is that she lived in her dreams, apart from the rest of the world. Of everything that existed, she chose only that which did not contradict her nature, the rest she did not want to notice and did not notice. Therefore, the girl saw angels in the sky, and for her the church was not an oppressive and oppressive force, but a place where everything is bright, where you can dream. Katerina was naive and kind, brought up in a completely religious spirit. But if she met on her way something that contradicted her ideals, then she turned into a rebellious and stubborn nature and defended herself from that outsider, a stranger that boldly disturbed her soul. It was the same with the boat.
After marriage, Katerina's life changed a lot. From a free, joyful, sublime world, in which she felt her merging with nature, the girl fell into a life full of deceit and violence. It’s not even that Katerina married Tikhon not of her own free will: she didn’t love anyone at all and she didn’t care who she married. The fact is that the girl was taken away from her former life that she created for herself. Katerina no longer feels such delight from going to church, she cannot do her usual business. Sad, disturbing thoughts do not allow her to calmly admire nature. Katya can only endure, while she is patient, and dream, but she can no longer live with her thoughts, because the cruel reality brings her back to earth, where there is humiliation and suffering. Katerina is trying to find her happiness in love for Tikhon: “I will love my husband. Tisha, my dear, I will not exchange you for anyone. But the sincere manifestations of this love are suppressed by Kabanikha: “Why are you hanging around your neck, shameless? You don't say goodbye to your lover." Katerina has a strong sense of outward humility and duty, which is why she forces herself to love her unloved husband. Tikhon himself, because of the tyranny of his mother, cannot truly love his wife, although he probably wants to. And when he, leaving for a while, leaves Katya to walk freely, the woman becomes completely lonely.
Love for Boris is a feeling that arose, in my opinion, due to deep human dissatisfaction. Katerina lacked something pure in the stuffy atmosphere of Kabanikh's house. And love for Boris was this pure, did not allow Katerina to completely wither away, somehow supported her. She went on a date with Boris because she felt like a person with pride, elementary rights. It was a rebellion against resignation to fate, against lawlessness. Katerina knew that she was committing a sin, but she also knew that it was still impossible to live any longer. She sacrificed the purity of her conscience to freedom and Boris. In my opinion, taking this step, Katya already felt the approaching end and probably thought: “Now or never.” She wanted to be filled with love, knowing that there would be no other chance. On the very first date, Katerina told Boris: “You ruined me.” Sin lies on her heart like a heavy stone. A thunderstorm becomes a symbol of the inevitable heavenly punishment for the heroine. Katerina cannot live any longer with her sin, and the way out, quite natural for her religious consciousness, is repentance. She confesses everything to her husband and mother-in-law. But repentance must be accompanied by humility, and it is not in the freedom-loving heroine. Suicide is a terrible sin, but Katerina decides on it, being unable to exist in a world where people do not fly like birds.

ON THE. Nekrasov, in his statement “Stuffy! Without happiness and will…” very accurately selects the words “will” and “happiness”, making it clear that one cannot exist without the other. But what is "will"? Whether physical freedom, material independence or own opinion.

In the play "Thunderstorm" A.N. Ostrovsky Katerina asks: “Why don’t people fly?” After the insults and humiliation of Kabanikha, she strives upward, to where the milky-white clouds acquire magical outlines, where there is freedom and space. Space... isn't that the will? No chains, no restrictions, just a pair of wings and a ringing laugh. "Why don't people fly like birds?" - Katerina repeats, receiving in response from Varvara only surprised: “What are you inventing?” Katerina is not free in her choice.

But what is happiness?

“Happiness is bread on the table and a healthy family,” said Karamzin.

Of course, happiness is for everyone. But life is equally dreary for everyone without what he means by happiness. Love, family, health and prosperity - probably the main thing in this life. But why then the will?

And the will - this is the opportunity to create your own happiness, to earn. If we turn again to the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm", then we will find there the following words of Kuligin: “I already get it, sir, for my chatter; Yes, I can’t, I like to scatter conversations!

Unfortunately, we are talking here not only about freedom of speech, but also about the will in general. After all, for everyone it is like happiness, its own. Kuligin "dreams for himself and is happy." And Boris wants to live his youth with dignity, so that he can control his own destiny. But no, boar and wild tyrants do not give freedom, do not allow you to become happy.

Moreover, the problem of tyranny is still relevant. The portraits of tyrants are so versatile that even now we can easily find more than one Boar, and probably more than a dozen Wild ones. Such people, of course, do not have power over everyone, but there are too few who can resist, while others they strangle.

“Mamma sharpened Varvara, sharpened, but she couldn’t stand it, and she was like that, she took it and left,” says Tikhon. His sister is a vivid example of those strong people who are not so easy to oppress. Barbara does not give in, does not give up, "her word, she is ten." Her idea of ​​happiness is different from Katerina's. Barbara would like to take a walk with a sweetheart, sing songs. She is compared with Katerina, often in favor of the latter, however, Katerina's loftiness and piety, so often praised, brought her to the Volga, and Varvara's pragmatism gave her a different freedom, more attractive.

“With a sort of bondage, you will run away from any beautiful wife you want!” - Tikhon says in despair before his departure. Life in the Kabanov family is like a prison, imprisonment. After all, not only Katerina and Varvara, but also Tikhon, it is not easy to live under the guidance of his mother. She is a command to everyone and everything. Tikhon tries to please her, but he does not always succeed.

“I, it seems, mother, not a single step is out of your will,” Tikhon assures Kabanova. And this applies not only to him. Indeed, even the recognition of Katerina was influenced by the constant pressure of Kabanova, her dominance and contempt. Of course, Katerina's piety played leading role, but the fact that “mother” constantly tyrannized and threatened her affected the unfortunate girl: “Was I like that! 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 do what I want, I do it."

Katerina and other oppressed characters in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky cannot find elementary human happiness, because people who consider themselves worthy to control other people's destinies do not allow them to live according to their desire. The will, after all, is much more important than it seems to us. And until it is taken away from a person, he will not begin to appreciate this gift.

“It will make me so stuffy, so stuffy at home, that I would run. And such a thought would come to me that if it were my will, I would now ride along the Volga, on a boat, with songs, or on a good troika, embracing ... "

Katerina very accurately describes the feeling of anxiety and vague anxiety, even helplessness, that her fate causes in her. And it seems that she is not free to even breathe without the permission of her "mother".

Happiness is not a rare gift. Happiness is something that a person can achieve on his own. But there is no will, and life will not be happy. Therefore, it is important to value our freedom, to remember that it gives us the opportunity to work and earn a calm, joyful life.

Yes, people are often oppressed; it has always been so and will continue to be so for a long time to come. But it is important not to forget that this can be dealt with. Fight in different ways, but, in any case, achieve your goal. No one has power over your fate, except for yourself - if you do not forget this truth, which writers constantly remind us, you can find your happiness.