Ostrovsky sees in merchant Kalinovo a world breaking with the moral traditions of folk life. Only Katerina is given in Groza to retain the fullness of viable principles in the culture of the people and to preserve a sense of moral responsibility in the face of the trials that this culture is subjected to in Kalinovo. In Ostrovsky's Russian tragedy, two opposing cultures, rural and urban, collide, generating a powerful lightning discharge, and the confrontation between them goes into the centuries-old thickness of Russian history. The storm is directed to the future to the same extent as it is turned into the depths of centuries. To understand it, you need to get rid of the existing confusion, which originates from the Dobrolyubov times. Usually, Domostroy, with its strict religious and moral prescriptions, is mixed with the mores of folk, peasant Rus'.

Domostroevsky orders are attributed to the family, the rural community. This is the deepest delusion. Domostroy and folk-peasant moral culture - the beginnings are in many respects opposite.

Behind their confrontation lies a deep historical conflict between the zemstvo (people's) and state principles, the conflict between the rural community and the centralizing, formal power of the state, the grand duke's court and the city. Turning to Russian history, A.S.

Khomyakov wrote that the regional zemstvo life, resting on antiquity and tradition, moved in a circle of sympathy simple, living and, so to speak, tangible, consisting of an integral and homogeneous element, distinguished by a special warmth of feeling, richness of word and poetic fantasy, fidelity to that everyday source from which it originated. And vice versa: the squad and the elements, striving for state unity, moving in the circle of abstract concepts ...

or personal gains, and accepting the incessant foreign tide, were more inclined to dry and rational development, to a dead formality, to the acceptance of Roman Byzantium in law and everything foreign in custom. Domostroy, partly edited, and largely (*60) written by Ivan the Terrible's spiritual mentor Silverst, was the fruit not of a peasant, but of boyar culture and the higher circles of the clergy close to it. In the 19th century, he descended from here to the rich urban strata of the merchant class. It is easy to see in Groz the tragic confrontation between the religious culture of Katerina and the Domostroy culture of Kabanikhi. The contrast between them is drawn by sensitive Ostrovsky with amazing consistency and depth.

The Groza conflict absorbs the thousand-year history of Russia, and its tragic resolution reflects almost prophetic forebodings of the national playwright. Is it by chance that vibrant rural life brings smells to Kalinov from flowering meadows across the Volga? Is it by chance that Katerina stretches out her exhausted hands to this oncoming wave of refreshing space? Let us pay attention to the life sources of Katerina's wholeness, to the cultural soil that nourishes her. Without them, Katerina's character fades like cut grass.

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, "Ostrovsky's most decisive work." 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 striking power, Ostrovsky in The Thunderstorm depicts a corner of the "dark kingdom", where human dignity is trampled on in people. 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 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. With warmth, she recalls her parents' house, her maiden life. There she lived freely, surrounded by the caress and care of her mother. In her free time, she went to the spring 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 the afterlife and retribution to man for his sins.

Katerina found herself in completely different conditions in her husband's house. From the 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 is a new type of people in 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 its tragic end, according to the critic, "a terrible challenge is given to self-foolish power." In Katerina we see a protest against Kaban's concepts of morality, a protest carried through to the end.

Sections: Literature

Know: the content of the play, genre features.

Be able to: analyze the content of dialogues and monologues, scenes; determine the topic, idea, formulate problems related to them and, based on the analysis, draw conclusions and conclusions; work with the word characterize, compare.

Lesson preparation features: D / Z write out the meanings of the words “conflict”, “tragic sharpness” from the explanatory dictionary.

Forms of work: heuristic conversation, group work.

Lesson 1

1. Work with concepts, analysis of the content of the topic (find out the meaning of the topic name).

Teacher: Select the key words of the topic and give them a semantic interpretation ( D / Z: write out the meanings of words).

Student: Cl. Words:

• "tragic sharpness" - an outcome with a deadly end.
• “conflict” is a clash brought to the highest peak of tension in a relationship. ( Write on the board.)

Teacher: What is the meaning of the lesson?

Student: The clash of Katerina (her character, nature, worldview) with the "dark kingdom" (its laws of life) reaches its climax, Katerina's life becomes unbearable and she dies.

2. Work on the topic.

A) Teacher: Formulate the questions that are contained in the title of the topic.

Write down the answer on the blackboard (2 students work at the blackboard, who write down so that the teacher does not waste time on this).

1). Why did the conflict happen? Could it be avoided?
2). Why did Katherine choose death? Did she have a choice?

Teacher: The questions raised are problematic. We must find answers to them based on the content of the play. To find the answer to the 1st question, it is necessary to investigate the nature of the relationship between Katerina and the “dark kingdom”.

B) Analysis of the text follows, analysis of scenes, dialogues, monologues, author's remarks. The character of Katerina, her views, attitude towards her husband, her relatives, people, her role in comparison with the characters of the representatives of the “dark kingdom” are analyzed and a table is filled in notebooks.

3. Generalization of the performed analysis (entry in a notebook).

The basis of the conflict: the difference in education, different life principles, views on family relationships, attitudes towards people. All this depressed Katherine. The anguish grew with each passing day.

The last straw that put an end to Katerina's patience was the departure of her husband. Insulted, humiliated by her mother-in-law and her submissive husband, she feels that living in this house is becoming unbearable. The husband is not a protector. He is broken himself. Therefore, conflict becomes inevitable. It lies in the fact that Katerina, in search of a way out, had to transcend the laws established by the owners of the life of the city.

Lesson 2. Continued work on the topic.

Teacher: So, we answered the first question: Katerina's life in the environment of the “dark kingdom” becomes unbearable and conflict is inevitable. Why is it inevitable? What problem is the author raising?

1. Reconcile and live according to the laws imposed on her by the "dark kingdom"
2. Run with your loved one - Boris
3. Commit suicide, which she did.

Teacher: Why did she choose the 3rd way?

Student: Katerina chose death because she came into conflict with herself, she crossed her own moral laws, according to which she lived, but circumstances led her to this. Lies, hypocrisy, Kabanikha's pressure on all family members, the lack of any opportunity to live the way they wanted, lack of freedom in everything made life itself, the house, unbearable.

Katerina asks Tikhon to take her on a trip, but he refuses her. Behaves cowardly.

He is his mother's slave. And Katerina realized that she would not wait for joy in this house. And then she decides to meet with Boris, although she is tormented, tormented, but the desire to do what she wants at least once wins: “Come what may, and I will see Boris. Ah, if only the night would come sooner!”

Teacher: Were Katerina's hopes justified?

Group work:

1. The first group: analysis of the scene of the 1st date (d3, yavl.3) and conclusion.
2. The second group: analysis of the thunderstorm scene (D.4 yavl1,4,6), its symbolic meaning.
3. Third group: analysis d.5 - yavl.2

Student (conclusion): Katerina's hopes in love for Boris not only did not come true, but it even got worse. The conscientious Katerina, who cannot live in a lie, experiences strong moral torments, feels like a sinner who can only be cleansed in hell. Boris, too, like Tikhon, turned out to be a weak person, he could not be her couple, although spiritually he was closer to her than Tikhon. He leaves, urging Katerina to reconcile, to submit to her mother-in-law. Now she has to be left alone with shame and mental anguish. And she comes to the conclusion that it is better to die. Her monologue sounds tragic (analysis d.5, yavl.6).

In the first three lines, the word grave is repeated 4 times, and, finally, she (for the 5th time!) repeats it: “There is a grave under the tree ... how good ... ..”

“... And the people are disgusting to me, and the house is disgusting to me, and the walls are disgusting! I won't go there!"

In her monologue, the grave is opposed to the house, and therefore to life itself.

In the graves - good, at home - bad, but there is nowhere else to go. So it turns out that she has only one way out - the grave. It follows from her monologue that she does not want to live the way she is forced to live. So there is no other choice. This is the tragedy of her life. And her death can be regarded as a protest against the foundations of the life of the “dark kingdom”. (Not all the guys will agree that Katerina's death is a protest, so the problem of the next lesson was posed: Katerina's death - a protest or humility, a feat of the soul or its confusion, weakness?).

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Makashova Natalya Vladimirovna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

G (O) BOUNPO PU No. 2, Lipetsk

Lesson topic: "The tragic acuteness of Katerina's conflict with the" dark

kingdom."

Lesson Objectives:

Educational:

- analysis of the image of Katerina;

- determination of the structural elements of the composition of a dramatic

works.

- introduction of information technologies at the lesson of literature;

Developing:

- improving the ability and skill of analyzing dramatic

works;

- development of attention and memory.

Educational:

- education of moral qualities in students on the example of the image

Katerina;

- cultivating interest in the subject.

Lesson equipment :MMP (multimedia projector), screen, presentation, reference

abstract on the topic: “The tragic severity of Katerina’s conflict with the“ dark kingdom ”, a play

A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm".

During the classes.

Organizing time

I. Explanation of new material.

-Subject. The purpose of the lesson. (slide 1, 2,3)

- Realizing the goal of the lesson, we must answer the problematic question:"Does it

Katerina's suicide as a protest against the "dark kingdom"? (Slide 4)

-Let us turn to the composition of the play. What is the plot of the play? (d. I , yavl. 5). What will we learn

from this action?

tie - to the nitpick of her mother-in-law, Katerina replies with dignity and peace-lovingly: “You

about me, mama, you talk about it in vain. With people, that without people, I'm all alone,

I'm not proving anything." The first collision (d. I, yavl. 5). (Slide 5.6)

The conflict of the play is based on the clash of petty fools of their victims. "Thunderstorm" from the first

phenomena introduces the reader and the viewer into an atmosphere of intense struggle.

-Do you think this is the first clash of heroes?

No. We find the heroes at the moment when contradictions between them have already reached

significant sharpness. We understand that this is not the first time Kabanikha has attacked

to Katherine.

What are the character traits of Katerina show up in the first sentences?

Inability to be hypocritical, to lie, directness, self-esteem.

The conflict is already outlined in the first act: Kabanihane tolerates feelings in people

dignity, disobedience, Katerina does not know how to adapt and

submit.

Text conversation.

-Where did these traits come from in the heroine? Why is the author only about Katerina

talks in such detail, talks about her family, childhood?

Compare the atmosphere that surrounded Katerin in her childhood and in her husband's family. Compose

table. (Slide 7)

Let's turn to D.I yavl.7. Read, How did Katerina live before marriage?

Make a conclusion.

Katerina lived happily, her parents loved her.

-How does Katerina feel about religion, is she religious? Read D. I yavl.7

Katerina is religious, she loved to go to church "until she died".

She also went out to pray in the garden.

In Katerina's worldview, Slavic pagan antiquity harmoniously grows together,

rooted in prehistoric times, with democratic influences

Christian culture. Katerina's religiosity incorporates sunrises and

sunsets, dewy grasses on flowering meadows, birds flying, butterflies fluttering from flower to

flower. Together with her, the beauty of a rural temple, and the expanse of the Volga, and the Trans-Volga meadow

space. And when the heroine prays, she has an angelic smile on her face and she seems to be all

glows.

The joy of life is experienced by Katerina in the temple. She makes prostrations to the sun

your garden, among trees, herbs, flowers, the morning freshness of awakening nature.

« Or early in the morning I’ll go to the garden, as soon as the sun rises, I’ll fall on my knees, pray and

-And how does Katerina live in the Kabanovs' house?

"Everything seems to be from-under bondage”, “What was I frisky! I've completely screwed up with you."

Comparative characteristics of the two stages of Katerina's life. (Slide 8.9)

In childhood

In the Kabanov family

“She lived, didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird

at will", "mother doted on",

“I have withered completely”, “yes, everything is like here

as if from captivity."

"I was not forced to work."

Katerina's occupations: cared for flowers,

went to church, listened to strangers and

praying man, embroidered on velvet with gold,

walked in the garden.

Atmosphere at home fear. "You won't be

be afraid, me and even more so. What is it

Will there be order in the house?

Features of Katerina: love of freedom (image

birds); independence; feeling

co personal dignity; daydreaming

and poetry (the story of a visit

churches, about dreams); religiosity;

decisiveness (a story about an act with

boat).

Features of the "dark kingdom": complete

subordination; renunciation of one's will; humiliation

reproaches and suspicions; absence

spiritual beginnings; religious hypocrisy.

For Katerina, the main thing is to live in harmony

with their moral convictions.

For Kabanikh, the main thing is to subdue, not

let me live my way.

The relationships of the characters are in a state of sharp contrast and give rise to

Not reconciled conflict.

-What aspects of Katerina's character are revealed in a conversation with Varvara?

D I, yavl. 2

This conversation reveals the power of Katerina's feelings, the depth of her spiritual drama,

inner strength, determination of her character. (“I can’t deceive, hide-

then I can’t do anything ”,“ I was born like that, hot ”), readiness to defend

I'll be held back by no force... I'll throw myself out the window, I'll rush into the Volga. .."). With these words

all further behavior of Katerina and her tragic death are predetermined.

-What do we learn about Katerina's feelings? D I, yavl. 7.9

In this conversation, Katerina confesses her love for Boris for the first time. All thoughts of Katerina

focused on love for Boris, this feeling captured her completely, about nothing else

she can neither think nor speak.

- Is Katerina happy about this feeling?

She does not say anywhere that she will meet with Boris.

- D. II, yavl. 3 ,4,5 "Seeing Tikhon ". (Slide 10 )

First, Kabanikha reads instructions to Tikhon. Tikhon says with a sense of relief

his remark: "Yes, sir, it's time, mama." But it turns out that's not all. The mother demands

so that he would instruct Katerina how to live without him. Tikhon understands that, fulfilling the will

mother, he humiliates his wife.

When Kabanakh's instructions become very offensive, Tikhon tries

object to the bullying of Katerina, but the mother is adamant, and he is quiet,

embarrassed, as if apologizing to his wife, he says: “Do not look at

guys." The purpose of the Kabanakhi is to lead to the complete obedience of the household and, above all,

wayward Katherine.

-What is the significance of this scene in the development of events?

In the scene of seeing off Tikhon, it is revealed to what extremes despotism reaches

Kabanikhi, it turns out Tikhon's complete inability not only to protect, but also to understand

Katerina. This scene explains Katerina's decision to go on a date with Boris.

-Let's try to understand why Katerina fell in love with Boris?

(children's answers)

We will find the answer in an article by Dobrolyubov: “In this passion lies her whole life;

the fact that she likes him, that he looks and speaks differently from the rest of those around her,

she is attracted to him both by the need for love, which did not find a response in her husband, and by the offended

the feeling of a wife and a woman, and the mortal anguish of her monotonous life, and the desire for will,

space, hot, unrestricted freedom.

In Katerina's soul, two equal and equal

motives. In the boar's kingdom, where all living things wither and dry up, Katerina is overcome by

longing for the lost harmony. Her love is akin to wanting to raise her hands and fly. From

her heroine needs too much.

We read D. II, yavl.10. “Monologue with a key.” (Slide 11)

How is the torment of the heroine, the struggle with herself and her strength shown in the scene with the key?

Katerina experiences feelings, how are these feelings reflected in her speech? What is

scene meaning?

The heroin's speech is full of short, abrupt interrogatives and exclamations.

sentences, repetitions, comparisons conveying the tension of Katerina's feelings.

After an excited introduction, Katerina's bitter thoughts about life in captivity follow.

Speech becomes more restrained, balanced. Katerina disputes

him once, at least from afar! Yes, even if I’ll talk! .. Why, he himself didn’t want to. This

part of the monologue is accompanied by remarks: after thinking, silence, thinks,

looks thoughtfully at the key characterizing Katerina's condition.

The monologue ends with a strong impulse of feelings: “Yes, what am I saying, that I myself

cheating? I have to die to see him."

D. IV, yavl.3. What do we learn from the conversation between Barbara and Boris?

Katerina, after her husband’s arrival, “simply became not herself ... She is trembling all over, as if she were

fever beats; so pale, rushing around the house, exactly what she was looking for. Eyes like

crazy!"

-The action is moving towards a climax. Where does Katerina's repentance take place?

The dilapidated church is a symbol of the city of Kalinov.

- What is a climax?(Slide 12.13)

D. IV , yavl.4. Follow how Katerina's state of mind unfolds, how

tension increases in the development of the action. (Slide 14)

A thunderstorm is approaching, which, according to the Kalinovites, "is being sent to us as a punishment."

The gloomy coloring is enhanced by the scene of action - instead of the panorama of the Volga - a narrow

gallery with oppressive vaults. Katerina runs onto the stage, grabs Varvara by the arm and

holds tight. Her abrupt remarks convey extreme shock. She is hurt and

hints of Kabanikh and Tikhon's affectionate joke. Previously, she was protected by her consciousness

rightness. Now she is unarmed. And the caress of her husband, before whom she feels herself

guilty, for her - torture. When Boris appears in the crowd, Katerina, as if

asking for protection, "bows down to Barbara."

Again prophecies are heard: “Already remember my word that this thunderstorm is not for nothing

pass..." As in D. 1, a crazy lady appears. But in D. 1 her prophecies had

generalized character: “What, beauties? What are you doing here?.. Everything will boil in resin

indefatigable!..” Then in D. IV the lady turns directly to Katerina: “What

hiding! There is nothing to hide! ..” Her words are accompanied by thunder.

-How can you explain and motivate heroine's remorse?

Katerina's repentance is explained not only by the fear of God's punishment, but also by the fact that her

high morality, the conscience of the heroine rebels against the deceit that entered her

life. She said about herself: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.”

To Varvara’s objection: “But in my opinion: do what you want, as long as it’s sewn and covered

it was,” Katerina replies: “I don’t want it like that. Yes, and what’s good!” For Katerina

moral assessment of one's actions and thoughts is an important aspect of the spiritual

life. And in Katerina's popular recognition, one can see an attempt to redeem her

guilt, an attempt at moral purification.

Conclusion. The true source of the heroine's repentance is in her conscientiousness. “What a conscience!..

What a mighty Slavic conscience!.. What a moral force... What enormous,

lofty aspirations, full of power and beauty, ”wrote about Katerina-

Strepetova V. M. Doroshevich.

Analysis of action V.

Brief retelling of the action V. (Slide 15)

We learn that Kabanikha locked Katerina in the house, eat her, Tikhon to protect his wife

unable to. Having run away from home, Katerina finds Boris and asks to take her with her, but he

refuses.

-Could Katerina find a way to salvation in her soul and not end her life

suicide?

Let's imagine that Katherine had the opportunity to turn to

modern psychologist.

Modern psychologists use special psychological mechanisms,

helping to overcome a spiritual crisis. One of these mechanisms is good for you

known as it can be used not only in crisis situations, but also helps

positive consequences of the decision, in the other - negative consequences. Let's po-

trying to make two lists "for the future life" of Katerina, based on the text

plays. Create a table using quotes. (Slide 16,17 )

Whole, honest, sincere, she is not capable of lies and falsehood, therefore, in a cruel world where wild and wild boars reign, her life is so tragic. Katerina's protest against the despotism of Kabanikh is a struggle of light, pure, human against darkness, lies and cruelty of the "dark kingdom". No wonder Ostrovsky, who paid great attention to the selection of names and surnames of the characters, gave such a name to the heroine of "Thunderstorm": in Greek, "Catherine" means "eternally pure."

Katerina is a poetic nature. Unlike the rude Kalinovites, she feels the beauty of nature and loves it. “I’ll get up, it used to be early; if it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring water with me and that’s it, water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers,” she says of her childhood. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty. Her dreams were filled with wonderful, fabulous visions. She often dreamed that she was flying like a bird. She talks about her desire to fly several times. With these repetitions, the playwright emphasizes the romantic sublimity of Katerina's soul, her freedom-loving aspirations. Married early, she tries to get along with her mother-in-law, to love her husband, but no one needs sincere feelings in the Kabanovs' house. And the tender, poetic Katerina in this gloomy atmosphere "withered completely." Like a proud bird that cannot live in a cage, it dies in the house of the Kabanikh.

Katerina's poetry and spiritual purity are manifested in her every word. “Where can I, poor thing, go? Who can I grab onto? My fathers, I am dying!” she says, saying goodbye to Tikhon. With what natural simplicity and accuracy these words convey her condition! The tenderness that overwhelms her soul finds no way out. Deep human anguish sounds in her dream of children: “If only someone’s children! Eco grief! I don’t have children: all I would do was sit with them and amuse them. I love to talk with children very much - they are angels, after all. What a loving wife and mother she would have been under other conditions!

Catherine is religious. With her impressionability, the religious feelings instilled in her in childhood firmly took possession of her soul. But how different is Katerina's sincere, childlike religiosity from the sanctimonious religiosity of Kabanikh! For Kabanikh, religion is a gloomy force that suppresses the will of a person, and for Katerina it is a poetic world of fairy-tale images. “... Before death, I loved to go to church! For sure, it used to happen that I would go into paradise, and I didn’t see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I didn’t hear when the service was over, ”she recalls. Nobody in Kalinovo prayed as sincerely as Katerina. “Ah, Curly, how she prays, if only you looked! What an angelic smile she has on her face, but it seems to glow from her face, ”says Boris, and Kudryash immediately unmistakably determines that we are talking about Katerina.

And at the same time. religion is a cage in which the "dark kingdom" has locked Katerina's soul. After all, the fear of "sin" torments her even more than the oppression of Kabanikhi. And the fact that she managed to overcome him testifies to the moral strength of Katerina.

Katerina's protest against the oppression of the "dark kingdom" is based on a natural desire to defend the freedom of her personality. Bondage is the name of her main enemy. Outwardly, the living conditions in Kalinovo are no different from the environment of Katerina's childhood. The same prayers, the same rituals, the same activities, but “here,” the heroine notes, “everything seems to be from under captivity.” Bondage is incompatible with her freedom-loving soul. “But bondage is bitter, oh, how bitter!” she says in the scene with the key, and this thought leads her to the decision to see Boris. With all her being, Katerina felt that living in the “dark kingdom” was worse than death. And she preferred death to captivity. “It’s sad, bitter is such a liberation,” Dobrolyubov wrote, “but what to do when there is no other way out.”

In the behavior of Katerina, according to Dobrolyubov, a “decisive, integral Russian character” was manifested, which “will withstand itself - in spite of any obstacles, and when there is not enough strength, it will die, but will not betray itself.” Dobrolyubov noted that the character of Katerina, which constitutes "a step forward not only in Ostrovsky's dramatic work, but in all of our literature," reflects a new phase in the development of Russian folk life. There was a need for people with a decisive character who would translate the general demand for truth and law into decisive action. Katerina was the first type of such a person in Russian literature. Therefore, Dobrolyubov compared it with a ray of light that illuminated not only the horrors of the "dark kingdom", but also the signs of its near end.

The great Russian actress Glikeria Nikolaevna Fedotova spoke about the stage embodiment of the image of Katerina: “I play this role from my youth, but only now I understand how to play it. And I didn’t understand at all before that Katerina was a ray of light in a dark kingdom. But it is necessary that through her every word, every movement somewhere this shining ray, which seeks to break through the darkness, peeped through. And let Katerina, not finding the way to a bright and joyful life, die: it is not helplessness, not sadness, and not inner devastation that leads to this end. On the contrary, a bright impulse. And only now he has no way out of the dark kingdom, but someday, soon it will be ... That's how Katerina Ostrovsky conceived, that's how she should be played. Remarkable Russian actresses L. P. Nikulina-Kositskaya, the first performer of the role of Katerina, P. A. Strepetova, M. N. Yermolova left unforgettable, creatively original portraits of Katerina in the history of the Russian theater.

Katerina's protest against the despotism of Kabanikha was not only personal in the context of the struggle against serfdom, it was of great revolutionary significance, although Katerina herself acted completely unconsciously, defending only the freedom of her own personality.