Type: Problem-thematic analysis of the work
A.N. Ostrovsky completed his play in 1859, on the eve of the abolition of serfdom. Russia was in anticipation of reform, and the play became the first stage in the realization of the coming changes in society.
In his work, Ostrovsky presents us merchant environment, personifying the "dark kingdom". The author shows a whole gallery negative images on the example of residents of the city of Kalinov. On the example of the townspeople, their ignorance, lack of education, and adherence to the old order are revealed to us. We can say that all Kalinovtsy are in the shackles of the old "house building".
The prominent representatives of the "dark kingdom" in the play are the "fathers" of the city in the person of Kabanikhi and Dikiy. Marfa Kabanova tortures those around her and those close to her with reproaches and suspicion. She relies on the authority of antiquity in everything and expects the same from others. There is no need to talk about her love for her son and daughter, the children of Kabanikha are completely subordinate to her power. Everything in Kabanova's house is based on fear. To scare and humiliate is her philosophy.
Wild is much more primitive than Kabanova. This is the image of a real tyrant. With his screams and swearing, this hero humiliates other people, thereby, as it were, rising above them. It seems to me that this is a way of self-expression for Dikiy: “What are you going to order me to do with myself when my heart is like that!”; “I scolded him, so scolded him that it’s impossible to demand better, he almost nailed me. Here it is, what a heart I have!
The unreasonable scolding of the Wild, the hypocritical captiousness of the Kabanikh - all this is due to the impotence of the heroes. The more real the changes in society and people, the stronger their protesting voices begin to sound. But there is no point in the rage of these heroes: only an empty sound remains from their words. “... And everything is somehow restless, it’s not good for them. In addition to them, without asking them, another life has grown up with other beginnings, and although it is far away, it is still not clearly visible, but it already gives itself a presentiment and sends bad visions to dark arbitrariness, ”dobrolyubov writes about the play.
The images of Kuligin and Katerina are opposed to the Wild, Kabanikha, and the whole city. In his monologues, Kuligin tries to reason with the inhabitants of Kalinov, to open their eyes to what is happening around. For example, all the townspeople are in a wild, natural horror from a thunderstorm and perceive it as a punishment from heaven. Only Kuligin is not afraid, but sees in a thunderstorm a natural phenomenon of nature, beautiful and majestic. He proposes to build a lightning rod, but does not find the approval and understanding of others. Despite all this, the "dark kingdom" failed to absorb this self-taught eccentric. Amid savagery and tyranny, he retained a man in himself.
But not all the heroes of the play can resist the cruel customs of the "dark kingdom". Tikhon Kabanov is downtrodden, hounded by this society. Therefore, his image is tragic. The hero could not resist, from childhood he agreed with his mother in everything, he never contradicted her. And only at the end of the play before dead body Katerina Tikhon decides to confront her mother and even blames her for the death of his wife.
Tikhon's sister, Varvara, finds her way to survive in Kalinovo. A strong, courageous and cunning character allows the girl to adapt to life in the "dark kingdom". For her peace of mind and for the sake of avoiding trouble, she lives according to the principle of "hidden and covered", deceives and tricks. But, doing all this, Varvara is only trying to live as she wants.
Katerina Kabanova - light soul. Against the backdrop of everything dead kingdom it stands out for its purity and immediacy. This heroine was not mired in material interests and outdated worldly truths, like other residents of Kalinov. Her soul strives to free itself from the oppression and suffocation of these people, alien to it. Having fallen in love with Boris and cheated on her husband, Katerina is in terrible pangs of conscience. And she perceives the storm as a punishment from heaven for her sins: “Everyone should be afraid! It’s not that it’s scary that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins ... ”. Pious Katerina, unable to withstand the pressure of her own conscience, decides on the most terrible sin - suicide.
Dikiy's nephew, Boris, is also a victim of the "dark kingdom". He resigned himself to spiritual slavery and broke down under the pressure of the old-timers. Boris seduced Katerina, but he did not have the strength to save her, to take her away from the hated city. The "Dark Kingdom" turned out to be stronger than this hero.
Another representative of the "Dark Kingdom" is the wanderer Feklusha. In the house of Kabanikhi, she is highly respected. Her ignorant tales about distant countries listen carefully and even believe them. Only in such a dark and ignorant society, no one can doubt Feklusha's stories. The wanderer supports the Boar, feeling her strength and power in the city.
In my opinion, the play "Thunderstorm" is a work of genius. It reveals so many images, so many characters that would be enough for a whole encyclopedia negative characters. All ignorance, superstition, lack of education absorbed the "dark kingdom" of Kalinov. "Thunderstorm" shows us that the old way of life has long outlived itself and does not respond modern conditions life. Changes are already on the threshold of the "dark kingdom" and, together with a thunderstorm, they are trying to break into it. It doesn't matter that they meet with great resistance from wild and boar. After reading the play, it becomes clear that they are all powerless before the future.
"DARK KINGDOM" IN A.N. OSTROVSKOY'S PIECE "GRO3A"
1.Introduction.
"A ray of light in a dark kingdom."
2. The main part.
2.1 The world of the city of Kalinov.
2.2 The image of nature.
2.3 Inhabitants of Kalinov:
a) Wild and Boar;
b) Tikhon, Boris and Varvara.
2.4 The collapse of the old world.
3. Conclusion.
A change in the public consciousness. Yes, everything here seems to be out of captivity.
A. N. Ostrovsky
The play by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", published in 1859, was enthusiastically received by progressive critics thanks, first of all, to the image of the main character - Katerina Kabanova. However, this beautiful female image, “a ray of light in the dark kingdom” (in the words of N. A. Dobrolyubov), was formed precisely in the atmosphere of patriarchal merchant relations, which oppresses and kills everything new.
The action of the play opens with a calm, unhurried exposition. Ostrovsky depicts the idyllic world in which the characters live. This country town Kalinov, which is described in great detail. The action takes place against the backdrop of the beautiful nature of central Russia. Kuligin, walking along the river bank, exclaims: “Miracles, truly it must be said that miracles!< … >For fifty years I have been looking at the Volga every day and I can’t get enough of it.” Beautiful nature contrasts with cruel morals cities, with poverty and lack of rights of its inhabitants, with their lack of education and limitations. Heroes seem to be closed in this world; they do not want to know anything new and do not see other lands and countries. Merchant Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova, nicknamed Kabanikha, are the true representatives of " dark kingdom". These are individuals with a strong character, having power over other heroes and manipulating their relatives with the help of Money. They adhere to the old, patriarchal orders, which suit them completely. Kabanova tyrannizes all members of her family, constantly finding fault with her son and daughter-in-law, teaches and criticizes them. However, she no longer has absolute confidence in the inviolability of the patriarchal foundations, so she last strength defending his world. Tikhon, Boris and Varvara - representatives younger generation. But they were also influenced by the old world and its practices. Tikhon, completely subordinate to the power of his mother, gradually becomes an inveterate drunkard. And only the death of his wife makes him cry out: “Mommy, you ruined her! You, you, you ... ”Boris is also under the yoke of his uncle Diky. He hopes to receive his grandmother's inheritance, so he endures his uncle's bullying in public. At the request of the Wild, he leaves Katerina, pushing her to commit suicide with this act. Varvara, the daughter of Kabanikhi, is bright and strong personality. Creating visible humility and obedience to her mother, she lives in her own way. Meeting with Kudryash, Varvara is not at all worried about moral side of his behaviour. For her, in the first place is the observance of external propriety, which drown out the voice of conscience. However, the patriarchal world, so strong and powerful, destroyed main character plays, dies. All heroes feel it. Katerina's public declaration of love for Boris was a terrible blow for Kabanikha, a sign that the old was gone forever. Through a love-domestic conflict, Ostrovsky showed a turning point that is taking place in the minds of people. A new attitude to the world, individual perception of reality are replacing the patriarchal, communal way of life. In the play "Thunderstorm" these processes are depicted especially vividly and realistically.
The drama "Thunderstorm" is considered to be one of the main works of A. N. Ostrovsky. And this cannot be denied. love conflict in the play, he fades almost to the last plan, instead, the bitter social truth is exposed, the “dark kingdom” of vices and sins is shown. Dobrolyubov called the playwright a fine connoisseur of the Russian soul. It is difficult to disagree with this opinion. Ostrovsky very subtly describes the experiences of one person, but at the same time is accurate in depicting universal human vices and flaws. human soul, which are inherent in all representatives of the "dark kingdom" in the "Thunderstorm". Dobrolyubov called such people tyrants. The main tyrants of Kalinov are Kabanikha and Dikoy.
Wild is a bright representative of the "dark kingdom", initially shown as an unpleasant and slippery person. He appears in the first act along with his nephew Boris. Savl Prokofievich is very dissatisfied with the appearance of Boris in the city: “A parasite! Get lost!” The merchant swears and spits on the street, which shows his bad manners. It should be noted that in the life of the Wild Place for cultural enrichment or spiritual growth absolutely not. He knows only what is necessary to know in order to lead the "dark kingdom". Savl Prokofievich does not know either history or its representatives. So, when Kuligin quotes lines from Derzhavin Dikoy, he orders not to be rude to him. Usually, speech allows you to say a lot about a person: about his upbringing, manners, outlook, and so on. Diky's remarks are full of curses and threats: "not a single calculation can do without abuse." In almost every appearance on stage, Savl Prokofievich is either rude to others or expresses himself incorrectly. The merchant is especially annoyed by those who ask him for money. At the same time, Wild himself very often deceives when calculating in his favor. Wild is not afraid of either representatives of the authorities, or a rebellion "senseless and merciless." He is confident in the inviolability of his person and the position that he occupies. It is known that when talking with the mayor that Dikoy allegedly robs ordinary peasants, the merchant openly admits his guilt, but as if he himself is proud of such an act: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you! I have a lot of people a year - sometimes people stay: you - then understand: I won’t pay them extra for a penny per person, but I have thousands of this, so it’s good for me! ”Kuligin says that in trade everyone is a friend they steal a friend, and they choose as assistants those who, from prolonged drunkenness, have lost both their human appearance and all humanity.
Wild does not understand what it means to work for the common good. Kuligin proposed to install a lightning rod, with the help of which it would be easier to get electricity. But Savl Prokofievich drove the inventor away with the words: “So you know that you are a worm. I want to - I'm sorry. If I want to, I'll crush it." In this phrase, the position of Wild is most clearly visible. The merchant is confident in his rightness, impunity and power. Savl Prokofievich considers his power to be absolute, because the guarantee of his authority is money, which the merchant has more than enough. The meaning of the life of the Wild is the accumulation and increase of his capital by any legal and illegal methods. Wild believes that wealth gives him the right to scold, humiliate and insult everyone. However, his influence and rudeness scare many, but not Curly. Curly says that he is not afraid of the Wild, so he only acts as he wants. By this, the author wanted to show that sooner or later the tyrants of the dark kingdom will lose their influence, because the prerequisites for this already exist.
The only person with whom the merchant speaks normally is another characteristic representative"dark kingdom" - Kabanikh. Marfa Ignatievna is known for her heavy and grumpy disposition. Marfa Ignatievna is a widow. She herself raised her son Tikhon and daughter Varvara. Total control and tyranny led to horrific consequences. Tikhon cannot act against the will of his mother, he also does not want to say something wrong from the point of view of Kabanikha. Tikhon coexists with her, complaining about life, but not trying to change anything. He is weak and spineless. Daughter Varvara lies to her mother, secretly meeting with Kudryash. At the end of the play, she runs away with him from her home. Varvara changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could freely go out for a walk at night while the Boar was sleeping. However, she also does not openly confront her mother. Katherine got it the most. The boar humiliated the girl, tried in every possible way to offend and expose her husband (Tikhon) in a bad light. She chose an interesting manipulation tactic. Very measuredly, without haste, Kabanikha gradually “ate” her family, pretending that nothing was happening. Marfa Ignatievna covered herself by taking care of the children. She believed that only the old generation retained an understanding of the norms of life, so this knowledge must be passed on to the next generation, otherwise the world will collapse. But with Kabanikh, all wisdom becomes mutilated, perverted, false. However, it cannot be said that she is doing a good deed. The reader understands that the words "care for children" become an excuse in front of other people. In front of her, the Kabanikha is honest and perfectly understands what she is doing. She embodies the view that the weak should be afraid of the strong. Kabanikha herself speaks of this in the scene of Tikhon's departure. “Why are you standing there, don’t you know the order? Order your wife - how to live without you! To Tikhon’s quite reasonable remark that Katerina has no need to be afraid of him, because he is her husband, Kabanikha replies very sharply: “Why be afraid! Yes, you're crazy, right? You will not be afraid, and even more so me. The boar has long ceased to be a mother, a widow, a woman. Now this is a real tyrant and dictator who seeks to assert his power by any means.
Ostrovsky in "Thunderstorm" endowed the representatives of the "dark kingdom" with the most unpleasant features. The author shows that they are still in power, but times are changing, and soon everything will change. This information will help students in grade 10 when preparing an essay on the topic “ Outstanding Representatives the dark kingdom in the play "Thunderstorm"
Artwork test
/ / / "The Dark Kingdom" in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"
In his play "", A.N. Ostrovsky for the first time depicts realistic world"dark kingdom" Who was in it? This most of of that society - petty tyrants who had the power of money in their hands, who wanted to enslave the poor and profit even more from their free labor. Ostrovsky for the first time opens the world of merchants with all the realities and true events. There is nothing humane or good in this world. no faith in free man, in happiness, in love and decent work.
What is the play's conflict? In the clash of interests and morality of the obsolete and future generations of people. Complex images of the characters of this play are depicted with special meaning. A wealthy merchant - Wild - is quite an important person in the city. Curly, tobish Savel Prokofievich - presents himself as the arbiter of the world and the master of the life around him. Many characters are afraid of him and simply tremble before his image. Lawlessness in the behavior of the Wild is covered by the power and significance of his financial condition. He has the patronage of the state power.
Ostrovsky creates a rather ambiguous and complex image of the Wild. This character is faced with the problem of not external opposition of others to his person. He is experiencing an internal protest. The hero understands how callous his middle and his heart are. He tells a story about how, for nothing, he scolded a peasant who carried firewood. Dikoy pounced on him and nearly killed him for nothing. And then he began to repent and ask for forgiveness. And he admitted that he had such a “wild” heart.
It is in this image that we see the hidden meaning of the "dark kingdom". It redeemed itself from within. The inner protest of the petty tyrants of that time destroyed them themselves.
Analyzing another image of the play "The Dark Kingdom", one can notice other features of the petty tyrants of that time.
The person makes us confused. In her opinion, all relationships in the family should be subject to fear. She is despotic and hypocritical. She is used to living according to the old society. She completely ate all the household and does not give them a quiet life.
The secondary image of the wanderer Feklusha comes to the defense of the dying "dark kingdom". She enters into a conversation with Kabanikha and keeps preaching to her her thoughts about the imminent death of the "dark kingdom".
In his play, in order to convey to the reader all his thoughts and reasoning, Ostrovsky creates many symbolic images. Thunderstorm is one of them. The finale of the play conveys the author's thoughts that life in such a "dark kingdom" is unbearable and terrible. The reader understands that the world of petty tyrants is overcome by an awakened person who is filled with real, human feelings who can overcome the falsity and hypocrisy of that "dark kingdom".
"Dark Kingdom" in Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm"
Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" in accordance with the critical and theatrical traditions interpretation is understood as a social drama, since in it special meaning given to life.
As almost always with Ostrovsky, the play begins with a lengthy, unhurried exposition. The playwright does more than introduce us to the characters and the scene: he creates an image of the world in which the characters live and where events will unfold.
The action takes place in a fictional remote town, but, unlike other plays by the playwright, the city of Kalinov is described in detail, concretely and in many ways. In The Thunderstorm, an important role is played by the landscape, described not only in the remarks, but also in the dialogues. actors. One can see its beauty, others have looked at it and are completely indifferent. The high steep bank of the Volga and beyond the river introduce the motif of space and flight.
Beautiful nature, pictures of the nightly festivities of young people, songs that sound in the third act, Katerina's stories about childhood and her religious experiences - all this is the poetry of Kalinov's world. But Ostrovsky confronts her with gloomy pictures of the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants to each other, with stories about the lack of rights of the majority of the townsfolk, with the fantastic, incredible "lostness" of Kalinov's life.
The motif of the complete isolation of Kalinov's world is getting stronger and stronger in the play. Residents do not see anything new and do not know other lands and countries. But even about their past, they retained only vague, lost connection and meaning legends (talking about Lithuania, which “fell to us from the sky”). Life in Kalinovo freezes, dries up. The past is forgotten, "there are hands, but there is nothing to work." News from big world the wanderer Feklusha brings the inhabitants, and they listen with equal confidence both about countries where people with dog heads “for infidelity”, and about the railway, where for speed “the fire serpent began to be harnessed”, and about the time that “began to belittle ".
There is no one among the characters in the play who does not belong to Kalinov's world. Lively and meek, domineering and subordinate, merchants and clerks, a wanderer and even an old crazy lady prophesying hellish torments for everyone - they all revolve in the sphere of concepts and ideas of a closed patriarchal world. Not only Kalinov's ignorant townsfolk, but also Kuligin, who performs some of the functions of the reasoning hero in the play, is also flesh and blood of Kalinov's world.
This character is depicted as an unusual person. The list of actors says about him: "... a tradesman, a self-taught watchmaker, looking for a perpetuum mobile." The name of the hero clearly hints at real face– I.P. Kulibin (1735 - 1818). The word "kuliga" means a swamp with a well-established connotation of the meaning "far, deaf place" due to the wide famous saying"in the middle of nowhere."
Like Katerina, Kuligin is a poetic and dreamy nature. So, it is he who admires the beauty of the Trans-Volga landscape, complains that the Kalinovites are indifferent to him. He sings "Among the flat valley ...", folk song literary origin. This immediately emphasizes the difference between Kuligin and other characters associated with folklore culture, he is also a bookish man, although of rather archaic bookishness. He confidentially informs Boris that he writes poetry "in the old way," as Lomonosov and Derzhavin once wrote. In addition, he is a self-taught mechanic. However technical ideas Kuligin is an obvious anachronism. Sundial, which he dreams of installing on Kalinovsky Boulevard, came from antiquity. Lightning rod - a technical discovery of the XVIII century. And his oral stories about judicial red tape are sustained in even earlier traditions and are reminiscent of old moralizing stories. All these features show his deep connection with the world of Kalinov. He, of course, is different from the Kalinovites. It can be said that Kuligin " new person”, but only its novelty has developed here, inside this world, which gives rise not only to its passionate and poetic dreamers, like Katerina, but also to its “rationalists” - dreamers, its own special, home-grown scientists and humanists.
The main business of Kuligin's life is the dream of inventing the "perpetuum mobile" and getting a million from the British for it. He intends to spend this million on Kalinov's society, to give work to the bourgeoisie. Kuligin is really a good person: kind, disinterested, delicate and meek. But he is hardly happy, as Boris thinks of him. His dream constantly forces him to beg for money for his inventions, conceived for the benefit of society, and it never occurs to society that there can be any benefit from them, for fellow countrymen Kuligin is a harmless eccentric, something like a city holy fool. And the main of the possible "philanthropists" of Dikaya even lashes out at the inventor with abuse, confirming general opinion that he is unable to part with the money.
Kuligin's passion for creativity remains unquenched: he pities his countrymen, seeing in their vices the result of ignorance and poverty, but he cannot help them in anything. With all the industriousness, creative warehouse of his personality, Kuligin is a contemplative nature, devoid of any pressure and aggressiveness. Probably, this is the only reason the Kalinovites put up with him, despite the fact that he differs from them in everything.
Only one person does not belong to the Kalinovsky world by birth and upbringing, does not look like other residents of the city in appearance and manners - Boris, "a young man, decently educated," according to Ostrovsky's remark.
But even though he is a stranger, he has already been taken prisoner by Kalinov, he cannot break ties with him, he has recognized his laws over himself. After all, the connection between Boris and Wild is not even monetary dependence. And he himself understands, and those around him say that he will never give him Wild grandmother's inheritance, left on such "Kalinov" conditions ("if he is respectful to his uncle"). And yet he behaves as if he is financially dependent on Wild or is obliged to obey him as the eldest in the family. And although Boris becomes the subject of great passion for Katerina, who fell in love with him precisely because outwardly he is so different from those around him, Dobrolyubov is still right when he said about this hero that he should be attributed to the setting.
IN in a certain sense the same can be said about all the other characters in the play, starting with Diky and ending with Kudryash and Varvara. All of them are bright and lively. However, compositionally, two heroes are put forward in the center of the play: Katerina and Kabanikha, representing, as it were, two poles of Kalinov's world.
The image of Katerina is undoubtedly correlated with the image of Kabanikha. Both of them are maximalists, both will never reconcile with human weaknesses and will not compromise. Both, finally, believe in the same way, their religion is harsh and merciless, there is no forgiveness for sin, and they both do not remember mercy.
Only Kabanikha is all chained to the ground, all her forces are aimed at holding, collecting, upholding the way of life, she is the guardian of the ossified form of the patriarchal world. The boar perceives life as a ceremonial, and she not only does not need, but is also afraid to think about the long-vanished spirit of this form. And Katerina embodies the spirit of this world, its dream, its impulse.
Ostrovsky showed that even in the ossified world of Kalinov, folk character of amazing beauty and strength, whose faith - truly Kalinov's - is nevertheless based on love, on a free dream of justice, beauty, some kind of higher truth.
For the general concept of the play, it is very important that Katerina did not appear from somewhere from the expanses of another life, another historical time (after all, the patriarchal Kalinov and contemporary Moscow, where vanity boils, or Railway, which Feklusha talks about, is different historical time), but was born and formed in the same "Kalinov" conditions.
Katerina lives in an era when the very spirit of patriarchal morality is harmony between individual and moral ideas of the environment - has disappeared and the ossified forms of relations are held only by violence and coercion. Her sensitive soul caught it. After listening to her daughter-in-law's story about life before marriage, Varvara exclaims in surprise: "But it's the same with us." “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity,” Katerina drops.
All family relationships in the house of the Kabanovs are, in essence, a complete violation of the essence of patriarchal morality. Children willingly express their humility, listen to instructions without attaching any importance to them, and slowly violate all these commandments and orders. “Oh, I think you can do whatever you want. If only it was sewn and covered, ”says Varya
Katerina's husband in the list of characters follows directly Kabanova, and it is said about him: "her son." Such, indeed, is the position of Tikhon in the city of Kalinov and in the family. Belonging, like a number of other characters in the play (Barbara, Kudryash, Shapkin), to younger generation Kalinovtsy, Tikhon in his own way marks the end of the patriarchal way of life.
Kalinov's youth no longer wants to adhere to the old ways of life. However, Tikhon, Varvara, Kudryash are alien to the maximalism of Katerina, and, unlike the central heroines of the play, Katerina and Kabanikha, all these characters stand on the position of worldly compromises. Of course, the oppression of their elders is hard for them, but they have learned to get around it, each according to his character. Formally recognizing the power of elders and the power of customs over themselves, they constantly go against them. But it is against the background of their unconscious and compromise position that Katerina looks significant and morally lofty.
Tikhon in no way corresponds to the role of a husband in patriarchal family: to be the ruler and at the same time the support and protection of the wife. Gentle and weak person, he is torn between the harsh demands of his mother and compassion for his wife. Tikhon loves Katerina, but not in the way that, according to the norms of patriarchal morality, a husband should love, and Katerina's feeling for him is not the same as she should have for him according to her own ideas.
For Tikhon, to break free from his mother's care means to go on a spree, to drink. “Yes, mother, I don’t want to live by my own will. Where can I live with my will! - he answers the endless reproaches and instructions of Kabanikh. Humiliated by his mother's reproaches, Tikhon is ready to vent his annoyance on Katerina, and only the intercession of her sister Barbara, who secretly lets him go to drink at a party, stops the scene.
