The tragic severity of Katerina's conflict with the "dark kingdom" (Based on the drama by A. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm")

Drama by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" was conceived under the impression of the author's trip along the Volga in 1856-1857, but was written only in 1859. "Thunderstorm", in the words of Dobrolyubov, "the most decisive work Ostrovsky. If in the comedy genre Ostrovsky had predecessors in Russian literature, then it can be said without exaggeration about The Thunderstorm that this is the first Russian classical everyday drama, approaching a social tragedy in its high poetic structure and intensity of the conflict.

The action of the drama takes place in the district town of Kalinovo, but the name is conditional - everything could happen in any city in Russia. With amazing power, Ostrovsky in The Thunderstorm depicts a corner of the "dark kingdom", where he is trampled on in people human dignity. The masters of life here are tyrants. They oppress people, tyrannize in their families and suppress every manifestation of a living and healthy human thought.

Among the heroes of the drama, the main place is occupied by Katerina, a young woman, the wife of the merchant's son Tikhon Kabanov, suffocating in this musty swamp. In terms of character and interests, she stands out sharply from her environment. The fate of Katerina, unfortunately, is a vivid and typical example of the fate of many Russian women of that time.

Katerina, having married, left her native home and moved to her husband's house, where she lives with her mother-in-law Kabanova (Kabanikha), who is the sovereign mistress here. In the family, Katerina has no rights, she is not even free to dispose of herself. She fondly remembers parental home, my girl's life. There she lived freely, surrounded by the caress and care of her mother. IN free time she went to the key for water, looked after flowers, embroidered on velvet, attended church, listened to the stories and singing of wanderers. The religious upbringing that she received in the family developed in her impressionability, daydreaming, faith in afterlife and the recompense of man for his sins.

Katerina found herself in completely different conditions in her husband's house. WITH outside everything seemed to be the same, but the freedom of the parental home was replaced by stuffy slavery. At every step she felt dependent on her mother-in-law, suffered humiliation and insults. Katerina's sincerity and truthfulness collide in the house of Kabanikh with lies, hypocrisy, hypocrisy and rudeness. Life in such an environment changed Katerina’s character: “How frisky I was, but you withered suck ...” From Tikhon, Katerina also does not meet with any support, much less understanding, since he himself is entirely under the power of his mother.

From the first scenes of the drama, Katerina, as it were, constantly listens to what is happening in her and what surprises her herself: “It’s as if I’m starting to live again ...” This is Katerina’s life, life all over again, and Ostrovsky reveals step by step. The reason for Katerina's "renewal" was her love for Boris, but the thought of betraying her husband seems criminal to her, and she struggles in vain with the feeling that has washed over her. Katerina is depicted by the writer in various, even contrasting emotional states: in quiet joy and inescapable longing, in the aspiration of happiness and a premonition of trouble, in confusion of feelings and a fit of passion, in terrible despair and fearless determination to accept death.

At first, Katerina tries to drive away even the thought of Boris from herself: “I don’t even want to know him!” But the very next minute he admits: “I don’t think about anything, but he just stands before my eyes. And I want to break myself, but I can’t do it in any way. ” Katerina is still trying to find spiritual intimacy with Tikhon: in the scene of farewell to her husband, one can hear the fear of being alone with temptation and a premonition of the irreparable that will happen after his departure. In the famous monologue with the key, Katerina tries to "talk herself", but quickly realizes the futility of self-deception. “And neola is bitter, oh, how bitter,” sounds the supporting phrase of the entire monologue. The bitterness of bondage pushed the heroine of the drama to a fatal step. The monologue, which began with mental confusion, ends with an irrevocable decision: “Come what may, and I will see Boris! Ah, if only the night would come sooner!..”

The scene in the ravine, which is usually called the scene of Katerina's “fall”, which should be called, on the contrary, the scene of the greatest spiritual rise of the heroine, who, against all odds, decided to follow the dictates of her heart. Soon the scene of Katerina's confession takes place. Not a thunderstorm, not a frightening prophecy of a crazy old woman, not a fear of fiery hell prompted Katerina to take this step. For her honest and whole nature, the ambiguous position in which she found herself was unbearable. The intensity of Katerina's experiences is especially clearly visible after the return of Tikhon. “She is trembling all over, as if her fever beats: she is so pale, rushing around the house, as if looking for something. Eyes like those of a madwoman, this morning she began to cry, and sobs. Katerina's truthfulness and sincerity make her suffer so much that she finally has to open up to her husband. In a state of self-forgetfulness, she shouts out words of recognition, without thinking about the consequences.

But after repentance, her situation became unbearable. Her husband does not understand her, Boris is weak-willed and cannot help her in any way, he soon leaves. In the scene of farewell to Boris, Katerina appears enlightened and peaceful. She seemed to have calmed down, but this calmness is apparent. In fact, this is the last degree of despair, when there are no more tears, everyone has cried. Boris left. Everything is over. Katerina has nowhere to go. Katerina rejects a life of half a life, not daring to make a moral compromise. The situation becomes hopeless - Katerina dies. Dobrolyubov emphasizes "the decisive need for that fatal end that Katerina has in The Thunderstorm."

But not one particular person is to blame for the death of Katerina. Her death is evidence of the incompatibility of the high morality of the heroine and the way of life in which she was forced to exist. Katerina - new type people of Russian reality in the 60s of the XIX century. Dobrolyubov wrote that Katerina’s character “is full of faith in new ideals, selfless in the sense that death is better for him than life under those principles that are contrary to him. A decisive, integral character, acting among the Wild and Kabanovs, is in Ostrovsky in the female type, and this is not without serious significance. Further, Dobrolyubov calls Katerina "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." He says that her suicide, as it were, illuminated for a moment the deep darkness of the “dark kingdom”. In her tragic end, according to the critic, "a terrible challenge is given to self-foolish force." In Katerina we see a protest against Kaban's concepts of morality, a protest carried through to the end.

Katerina and Kabanikha - two very bright and equally interesting character. Both women are quite determined personalities, although each in its own way. Katerina and Kabanikha are not just dissimilar people, they are representatives of two different worlds. It would seem that both were brought up in the same environment, both roads family traditions So where do these different views on life come from? After all, both, in principle, are united by the fact that they do not know any other way of life than the one established in Kalinovo once and for all. Both are supporters of house building, both believe that a wife should obey her husband in everything. How else,; if the husband feeds, waters, clothes, gives shelter? But Kabanikha is more concerned about conventions: the daughter-in-law must obey her mother-in-law, howl on the porch when her husband leaves, work tirelessly. Katerina, quite sincerely, without unnecessary conventions, wants to be a "husband's wife." For this, after all, it is not at all necessary to obey the strictest canons. It is not Katerina's fault that her sincere impulses are completely suppressed by the imperious Marfa Ignatievna. It is completely useless to address your husband with prayers, with requests. But Katerina could become him, if not loving, then a faithful and devoted wife. The trouble is that Tikhon is too weak to meet his wife halfway, to support her in at least something. Even his name is “quiet”, weak. Let us recall at least that moment in the play when he is envious dead wife, although he could well follow her. But he doesn't have the strength to do so. Therefore, the husband is in conflict between the two strong women cannot be seen as either a support or an enemy of Katerina. He is just a character who, along with everyone else, pushes the heroine to death. Among those who became the perpetrators of the tragedy, essential role- at Kabanikhi. Her conflict with Katerina is not just a confrontation between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but also the irreconcilability of two radically opposite natures. The undoubted advantage of Kabanova is her strength. But what does she spend it on? To tyranny in the full sense of the word. Already the first meeting of the reader with her reveals her character in the best possible way. In the fifth appearance of the first act, she literally wears out the whole soul of] her son, and at the same time - and the reader. Her endless teachings, which have no basis under them, are very reminiscent of the reasoning of Saltykov's Yudushka Golovlev. Kabanikha, one might say, has become a somewhat softened version of it. Constant petty nit-picking and pious speeches - why not Judas? Kabanikhi has one characteristic property- respect for traditions (again Judas). In this, in essence, there is nothing reprehensible, but in her love for petty conventions and rituals grows to incredible limits. She lives according to the established once and for all order and does not want to change. Moreover, she makes her children live the same way. Of course she wishes them well; as you know, many old people try to make their children behave according to certain canons with the best of intentions. But this strange expression of love for children leads the Kabanovs to deplorable results: Tikhon gets drunk, Varvara, who was given the most indulgence, runs away, Katerina dies. The trouble is that for Kabanikh there is no other reality than the one she created for herself. And let the whole world move forward - she will stubbornly stand still, she does not care about the rest of the world. She knows that a wife must howl when her husband leaves, which means that it cannot be otherwise. The main thing is to comply with the conventions. Howl - you can, throw yourself on the neck - you can not. 

Not like Katherine. Of course, she is not alien to conventions and dogmas, but, unlike her mother-in-law, she has alive soul. The soul is loving, bright, peaceful, submissive and patient ( perfect wife!). Patience is one of the main virtues of Katerina. She knows how to obey circumstances, but only up to certain limits. She will dutifully endure the fact that she is kept locked up or that she is forced to throw herself at her husband's feet. But when her feelings get stronger than the established moral standards, then even this angelic patience comes to an end. It should be noted that Kabanikha constantly pushed Katerina to take a decisive step with her eternal grumbling without any reason. But already at the first meeting with Katerina and Kabanikha on a walk, we understand that Katerina is not the kind of person who will obey, this can be heard in her few remarks. Suicide was not a concession, not a sign of weakness or humility, but, on the contrary, a manifestation of strength. Katerina is a free soul. Her dream is to fly. It is even strange that the idea of ​​flying came to the head of a girl who grew up in an environment that was not too conducive to free thoughts. Although one can argue vice versa - the lack of external information gives freedom-loving souls a huge scope for imagination. Be that as it may, Katerina has the ability to deeply feel, dream, fantasize. And Kabanikha suppresses this beginning in her. If Katerina were not so resolute in nature, she would have remained under the yoke of the Kabanikh and would have buried her dreams in herself. But the fact of the matter is that the heroine has enough determination to meet Boris, to publicly repent of her betrayal of her husband, and to throw herself into the river. The ordinary conflict between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law of Kabanikh and Katerina turns into a much more serious one - a confrontation between two different worlds. Kabanikha is a representative of the old, inert, limited world, Katerina is a new, bright one, striving for free air, away from far-fetched moral foundations and conventions, j Kabanikha crawls on the ground, Katerina strives to fly. Such two personalities will never find a compromise. The conflict between Katerina and Kabanikha is eternal and will never outlive itself, as long as there are old and young, mundane and dreamy, spiritually poor and spiritually rich.

Like, praise, tweet, etc.

Katerina is outwardly fragile, tender and open to feelings young woman, not at all as defenseless as it seems at first glance. She's strong inside, she's a fighter against it" dark kingdom". Katerina is a girl who is able to stand up for herself, who is capable of much for the sake of her love. But she is alone in this world, and it is hard for her, so she is looking for support. Support, as it seems to her, she finds in Boris. And she strives for him in every possible way, no matter what. She chose him because Boris stood out from all the young people in this city, and also they both had a similar situation. But in the finale, Boris refuses her, and she remains alone against the "dark kingdom" to reconcile and return to the Kabanikh's house meant not to be herself. Suicide is the only way out. Katerina passes away because she does not accept this world - the world of Kabanikh, Wild, Tikhon and Boris. Kabanikha is a completely different person, she is the opposite of Katerina.

She is completely satisfied with the world in which she lives. No one ever dared to argue with her, but then Katerina appears, who does not want to put up with the rudeness, rudeness and cruelty of the Kabanikh. And so Katerina, with her feeling dignity, constantly annoying Kabanikha. A conflict is brewing between Katerina and Kabanikha. This conflict does not reach the explosion until there was a reason for it. And the reason is Katerina's confession of infidelity to her husband. And Katerina understands that after that her life is over, because then Kabanikha will completely overwrite her. And she decides to commit suicide. After the death of Katerina, Kabanikha remains satisfied, because now no one will resist her. Katerina's death is a kind of protest against this world, the world of lies and hypocrisy, to which she could never get used.

But in Katerina and Kabanikh there is something in common, because they are both able to stand up for themselves, both do not want to put up with humiliation and insult, both of them a strong character. But their unwillingness to be humiliated and offended manifests itself in different ways. Katerina will never respond to rudeness with rudeness. The boar, on the contrary, will try in every possible way to humiliate, offend, overwrite a person who says something unpleasant in her direction.

Katerina and Kabanikha are different in relation to God. If Katerina's feeling for God is something bright, holy, inviolable and the highest, then Kabanikha's is only an external, superficial feeling. Even going to church for Kabanikhi is only to impress others as a pious lady.
The most appropriate comparison between Katerina and Kabanikha is something light and something dark, where Katerina is light and Kabanikha is dark. Katerina is a ray of light in the "dark kingdom". But this “beam” is not enough to illuminate this darkness so much that in the end it fades altogether.

The spiritual flabbiness of the hero and the moral generosity of the heroine are most evident in the scene of their last date. Katerina's hopes are in vain: "If only I could live with him, maybe I would see some kind of joy." “If”, “maybe”, “something” ... Poor consolation! But even here she finds the strength to think not about herself. It is Katerina who asks her beloved for forgiveness for causing him anxiety. Boris cannot even think of such a thing. Where is there to save, even to feel sorry for Katerina, he really will not be able to: “Who knew it that we would suffer so much for our love with you! I'd better run then!" But didn’t the folk song performed by Kudryash remind Boris of the retribution for the love of a married woman, didn’t Kudryash warn him about this: “Oh, Boris Grigoryich, stop giving up! .. After all, this means you want to completely ruin her .. .” And didn’t Katerina herself tell Boris about this during poetic nights on the Volga? Alas, the hero simply did not hear anything of this.

Dobrolyubov penetratingly saw an epoch-making meaning in the conflict of "Thunderstorm", and in the character of Katerina - "a new phase of our folk life". But, idealizing in the spirit of the then popular ideas of women's emancipation free love, he impoverished the moral depth of Katerina's character. The hesitation of the heroine, who fell in love with Boris, the burning of her conscience, Dobrolyubov considered "the ignorance of a poor woman who did not receive a theoretical education." Duty, fidelity, conscientiousness, with the maximalism characteristic of revolutionary democracy, were declared "prejudices", "artificial combinations", "conditional instructions of the old morality", "old rags". It turned out that Dobrolyubov looked at Katerina's love in the same non-Russian way easily as Boris.

Explaining the reasons for the popular repentance of the heroine, we will not repeat after Dobrolyubov the words about “superstition”, “ignorance”, “religious prejudices”. We will not see in Katerina's "fear" cowardice and fear of external punishment. After all, such a look turns the heroine into a victim of the dark kingdom of Boars. The true source of the heroine's repentance lies elsewhere: in her sensitive conscientiousness. “It’s not terrible that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins, with all evil thoughts. I’m not afraid to die, but when I think that I’ll suddenly appear before God the way I am here with you, after this conversation, that’s what’s scary. “My heart hurts a lot,” says Katerina at the moment of recognition. “In whom there is fear, there is also God,” echoes her folk wisdom. "Fear" was from time immemorial understood by the Russian people as a heightened moral self-awareness.

IN " explanatory dictionary V. I. Dahl “fear” is interpreted as “consciousness of moral responsibility”. This definition is in line with state of mind heroines. Unlike Kabanikha, Feklusha and other heroes of "Thunderstorm", Katerina's "fear" - inner voice her conscience. Katerina perceives a thunderstorm as a chosen one: what is happening in her soul is akin to what is happening in thunderous skies. This is not slavery, this is equality. Katerina is equally heroic both in a passionate and reckless love interest, and in a deeply conscientious one. national repentance. “What a conscience! .. What a mighty Slavic conscience! .. What moral strength ... What huge, lofty aspirations, full of power and beauty,” V. M. Doroshevich wrote about Katerina Strepetova in the scene of repentance. And S.V. Maksimov told how he happened to sit next to Ostrovsky during the first performance of The Thunderstorm with Nikulina-Kositskaya in the role of Katerina. Ostrovsky watched the drama silently, deep in himself. But in that “pathetic scene, when Katerina, tormented by remorse, throws herself at the feet of her husband and mother-in-law, repenting of her sin, Ostrovsky whispered all pale: “It’s not me, not me: it’s God!” Ostrovsky, obviously, did not believe himself that he could write such an amazing scene. It is time for us to appreciate not only the love, but also the repentant impulse of Katerina. Having gone through thunderstorm trials, the heroine is morally cleansed and leaves this sinful world with the consciousness of her rightness: "Whoever loves will pray."

“Death by sin is terrible,” people say. And if Katerina is not afraid of death, then her sins are atoned for. Her departure takes us back to the beginning of the tragedy. Death is sanctified by the same full-blooded and life-loving religiosity that entered the soul of the heroine from childhood. “There is a little grave under the tree... The sun warms it... the birds will fly to the tree, they will sing, they will take the children out...”

Katherine dies amazingly. Her death is the last flash of spiritual love for God's world: for trees, birds, flowers and herbs. Monologue about the grave - awakened metaphors, folk mythology with her belief in immortality. A person, dying, turns into a tree growing on a grave, or into a bird making a nest in its branches, or into a flower that gives a smile to passers-by - these are the constant motives folk songs about death. Leaving, Katerina retains all the signs that, according to popular belief, distinguished the saint: she is dead, as if alive. “And for sure, guys, as if alive! Only on the temple is a small wound, and only one, as there is one, a drop of blood.

Drama A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" was written at a time when society most clearly identified main conflict era - the conflict between a person who defends his right to freedom, and a society that suppresses this person. This conflict - the main conflict of the middle of the nineteenth century - was reflected in the drama in the form of Katerina's clash with the "dark kingdom". The essence of this conflict was very accurately described by N.A. Dobrolyubov: “In ... the individual we see the already mature, from the depths of the whole organism, the demand for the right and scope of life that arises.” The clash of the individual and society was inevitable on the eve of fundamental reforms that shook everyone. Russian society, and Ostrovsky was the first of the Russian writers who showed the tragedy of this collision.
All the heroes of the drama can be divided into two groups: these are the owners of the "dark kingdom" and their victims. The first group includes Dikoy and Boar, the second - almost all the other characters in the drama.
The inevitability of conflict between them is felt at the very beginning of the play. We see how Kuligin admires the beauty of the magnificent landscape that opens from the high bank of the Volga, and immediately we hear how he scolds his nephew Dikaya for something and “saws” his domestic Kabanikhs. The harmony of nature is, as it were, opposed to cruel morals reigning in human society.
Savel Prokofich Wild, a wealthy merchant, feels like a master in the city. His power is based on the power of money, so he can even pat the mayor condescendingly on the shoulder. Wild feels his strength, his impunity in the world of the "dark kingdom" and therefore he has plenty of swagger over those who depend on him: over his household, Boris, peasants. He can be summed up in one word - tyrant. But much worse than Wild, it seems to me, is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova - Kabanikha. This is a type of domestic tyrant, she sharpens her son Tikhon, her daughter Varvara, her daughter-in-law Katerina “like rusty iron”. More than anything, she is afraid of losing power over them, afraid that they will be able to live perfectly well without her petty guardianship. Kabanova and Dikoy personify in the drama those dark forces that suppressed the personality, humiliated the dignity of a person, turned married woman into an unrequited, downtrodden domestic slave.
The victims of the "dark kingdom" are Tikhon, Boris, Kudryash and Barbara. But the destructive influence of this deadly environment affected them in different ways. Tikhon is in complete subjugation with his mother; he does not dare to object to her, does not dare to intercede for Katerina, although he understands that her mother treats her unfairly. And only the death of Katerina gave rise to a moment of protest in his heart, but it was a "rebellion on his knees", and then everything will go on as before. Boris, unlike Tikhon, grew up in a different environment (in Moscow); it is wild for him to see local customs and customs. He sincerely fell in love with Katerina; but he betrayed her, refusing to take her to Siberia with him. His betrayal was the last push that pushed the heroine to suicide. Kudryash, like Tikhon, grew up in Kalinovo. He realized long ago that only strength is valued in this city, and he knows how to stand up for himself. Curly is reputed to be a rude person in the city, and even Wild is afraid of him. Curly managed to defend his love - he runs with Varvara. Barbara was also able to adapt to this life. She knows that everything in her mother's house is based on hypocrisy and deceit, and she has learned to lie. “I, too, was not a liar before, but I learned when it became necessary,” she says to Katerina. Its principle is to do whatever you want, as long as everything is “sewn and covered”. But when the deception is revealed, she is forced to secretly flee with Curly - after all, Kabanikha will never agree to marry her to the clerk Curly. Barbara's act cannot be considered a protest against the suffocating orders of the "dark kingdom"; it's just a way to preserve their minimal freedom and their identity.
The "Dark Kingdom" is opposed in the drama by Katerina. Although she comes from the same merchant environment and was brought up in the same conditions as Varvara and Tikhon, but the very atmosphere in Katerina's family was different. It was an atmosphere of love, mutual understanding, and therefore, once in Kabanova's house, in an atmosphere of fear and deceit, she feels like a bird trapped in a cage. The image of the bird is not at all accidentally connected with the image of Katerina. She says to Barbara: Why do people do not fly like birds? You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.” But Katerina cannot escape from the cage of the boar's house. Katerina does not accept the atmosphere of lies and deceit of the Kabanovs, and therefore the heroine is tormented by the fact that she is forced to deceive her husband, love secretly, hide her feelings. But Katerina is endowed not only with a sensitive soul, but also with a strong, resolute character. “And if it gets too cold for me here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, I'll throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me!” The heroine of Ostrovsky suffers greatly due to the fact that she was deprived of the right to love and be loved. Tikhon himself pushes Katerina away from himself, and, unfortunately, she does not have children for whom she would endure everything. Therefore, Katerina responded to Boris's love in such a way, but this love, in addition to short-term happiness, brought new suffering to Katerina. She does not need "stolen" love. During a terrible thunderstorm, Katerina, afraid of being suddenly killed and therefore afraid to appear before God without communion, confesses all her sins to her husband, repents before him and before people. But after this confession, the life of the heroine becomes even more unbearable. Tikhon forgave her, but he would never forgive her Kabanikh for the fact that Katerina confessed in public, "dishonored" the family. For the heroine, there is only one way out - to run away with Boris, but he cowardly betrays her, advises her to "endure". And then there is only one way left for Katerina - to rush into the Volga, because returning home is even more terrible, worse than death It means dooming yourself to a slow, painful death.
ON THE. Dobrolyubov wrote in the article "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" that Katerina's death is "a terrible challenge to the evil power itself." The critic sees in Katerina "a protest against Kaban's notions of morality." The heroine of Ostrovsky's play dared to challenge the entire "dark kingdom", and in a collision with him she dies. This is what tragic poignancy Katerina's conflict with the "dark kingdom" in the drama "Thunderstorm".

/ / / Katerina and Kabanikha - two poles of the Kalinov world

The play "" is rich in various images heroes. One of the main characters were Katerina and Marfa Kabanova. These women were the complete opposite of each other. They belonged to different worlds who reigned in Kalinov.

Kabanova headed the "dark kingdom". She was cruel and callous, domineering and aggressive. Katerina, on the other hand, was soft and gentle in nature. Her soul was pure. She did not support the gentlemen from the "dark kingdom", therefore she opposed the hypocrisy and disorder that reigned around.

Both women live in the same estate and conflicts constantly flare up between them. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could not find mutual language. she constantly oppressed and dishonored her daughter-in-law, and Katerina's husband, tobish, the son of Kabanikha, could not do anything about it. But, Katerina only at first glance was so defenseless. In fact, she turned out to be the most strong nature among all the characters in the play.

The woman follows her heart and falls in love with Boris. It is in him that she sees liberation and salvation. She loves him more than life.

Unfortunately, Boris differed from the rest of the "dark kingdom" only in appearance. On the inside, he was a coward and a traitor. Katerina's lover could not protect the offended woman at the most difficult moment for her. Without support and support, Katerina decides to commit suicide. It was the only way out.

The boar was glad of this outcome, because she constantly irritated her with her independence and determination. The boar disliked Katerina for her free and consolidated spirit.

There was an established law in the Kabanovs' estate - everyone obeys Kabanikhe, and no one can say a word against her orders. And then Katerina appears, who violates the social order of the Kabanov estate. The boar constantly scolds and oppresses the young woman.

Katerina's confession about treason infuriates Kabanikha, and she, with all her vile nature, begins to mock her victim. Therefore, suicide turned out to be the surest way out in Katerina's situation.

If we compare the images of two women and further, we can notice that they have a completely different attitude towards the Almighty. The boar only pretends to be a devout lady, she goes to church only to impress others. Katerina, on the other hand, believes in God with bright thoughts and feelings. The Almighty is holiness for a young woman.

The images of Katerina and Kabanikh can be compared with light and darkness. They are completely opposite. A bright image carries goodness and purity, and dark image breeds anger, callousness and cruelty.