The play by N. A. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" is still the subject of discussions unfolding around the question of the genre of the work. The fact is that the author's definition of the genre is not correct enough. It would be more logical to attribute The Thunderstorm to the genre of tragedy, because Katerina's suicide in The Thunderstorm is the denouement of the work. The tragedy is characterized by an ending in which the death of one or more characters is shown; besides, the conflict itself in Groz passes from household sphere into the realm of eternal values.
In general, the question of what suicide is - a manifestation of strength or weakness - is quite interesting. So, the text shows, relatively speaking, a crime - the death of Katerina. In order to figure out who is guilty, and also to answer the question: “Katerina’s suicide is a strength or weakness”, we need to consider the reasons for Katerina’s suicide in the play “Thunderstorm”. In order to do something, a person must have motives. Katya had several motives. First, family problems. Katerina's mother-in-law, Marfa Ignatyevna, humiliated, insulted and mocked the young girl at every opportunity. At that time, it was not customary to argue with the elders, even if their point of view was erroneous. A good upbringing did not allow Katya to offend in response. Marfa Ignatyevna knew that Katya a strong character, therefore, she was afraid that the daughter-in-law would not change the resigned Tikhon. Katya's relationship with her husband was strained. The girl was married early to someone whom she could not love. Katerina confesses to Varvara that she feels pity for Tikhon. Tikhon himself is so subordinate to his mother that he cannot protect Katya from Kabanikh's tantrums, despite the fact that he sincerely loves his wife. A man finds salvation and an outlet in drinking.
Secondly, disappointment in Boris. Katya fell in love with a visitor from Moscow young man very fast. Her feelings were mutual. Most likely, the girl, thanks to the power of her imagination, supplemented the real Boris with features unusual for him, created perfect image and fell in love with the image, and not the person himself. Katerina believed that with Boris her life would correspond to her ideas: to be on a par with her husband, not to lie, to be free. But Boris turned out to be a little different. He came to Kalinov only to ask for money from his uncle Saul Prokofievich. In one of the most important moments of Katya's life, Boris refuses to help. The young man refuses to take Katya with him to Siberia, answers very vaguely. Boris does not want to take responsibility for his feelings, for the girl Katya. Katya was left alone. She understands that she has nowhere and no one to go to. From this point of view, som. After all, you can find strength in yourself, put up with shame, and so on and so forth. But it is important to know one circumstance.
Thirdly, Katya was worried about the discrepancy real life and her ideas about this life. The girl was taught to live honestly, according to the laws of Christian morality. In Kalinov, this concept was replaced by the cruel laws of society. Katya sees that hiding behind Christian values, people do terrible things. What is happening resembles a vicious circle, a swamp, which sooner or later will climb into the soul of every city dweller. It is impossible for Katya to get out of this world, because Kalinov is an exhaustive space. There is no other space. For a long time the girl feels in a cage, nothing allows her to feel life itself.
Dobrolyubov, when analyzing the image of Katerina, said that for such people "death is better than life under those principles that are disgusting to him." The critic believed that “it is in the integrity and harmony of character that his strength lies. Free air and light, contrary to all the precautions of perishing tyranny, burst into Katerina's cell, she yearns for a new life, even if she had to die in this impulse. What is death to her? It doesn’t matter - she doesn’t consider life to be the vegetative life that fell to her lot in the Kabanov family. ” Katerina's suicide, according to Dobrolyubov, is a manifestation of strength. Her decision was not impulsive. Katya knew very well that she would soon die. She was of that breed of people who live in extremes in order to save themselves. Katya did not want to leave her soul to be torn apart by tyrants dark kingdom, the girl simply could not do otherwise. To reconcile and silently endure the antics of Kabanikh, as well as to lie, albeit for the good, the girl could not. It turns out that life is impossible for her in any sense. You can't stay any longer, you can't leave. Katya decides to cross the threshold real world to gain freedom through death.
Interestingly, Dobrolyubov can be considered Katerina's lawyer, while Pisarev, another Russian critic, deserves the prosecutor's job. The fact is that in the article "Motives of Russian Drama" Pisarev is sincerely perplexed: Boris looked - Katya fell in love, "The boar grumbles - Katerina is languishing." The critic regarded Katya's suicide as a senseless act that did not change anything. Instead of alleviating suffering for herself or others, Katya rushes into the Volga. From this angle, Katerina appears to be a victim of herself; a weak girl who does not see other ways to solve problems.
The opinions of critics are largely opposite. To choose what Katya's death actually is is a personal matter for each person. In favor of Pisarev's theory, we can say that the death of the girl really did not change anything. Only Tikhon, who is incapable of a greater protest, says that he is jealous of his dead wife.
In this publication, we tried to explain the causes and consequences of Katerina's act. This information will help grade 10 when writing an essay on the topic "Katerina's suicide in the Thunderstorm - strength or weakness?".
Artwork test
Analysis of an episode of a dramatic work
(6th phenomenon of the 4th act of the drama by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm")
The culmination of A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is the 6th phenomenon of the 4th action. Scene national repentance main character- the most tense moment in the development of the conflict both in the soul of Katerina, and in her clash with her mother-in-law, Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Before our eyes there is a struggle of living and free feeling with religious fear and moral duty. married woman. The brewing of this conflict is shown in previous episodes: in Boris’s conversation with Varvara about the possible recognition of Katerina, in the remarks of passers-by that “the storm will not pass in vain”, in the arguments of the self-taught inventor Kuligin about the storm-“grace”, in the threats of the half-mad lady. The heroine anticipates death from the very beginning of the action, which is why we perceive Katerina as a tragic person. The desire to be loved and love is condemned by the sanctimonious morality of the Kabanikh. Maybe it's better to pretend that you love?
Honest and open, Katerina does not want to do this, and does not want to meet secretly, like Varvara. Yes, she is different, not like everyone else, and this is her misfortune, her tragedy. Only morally pure man may be tormented by pangs of conscience and a sense of guilt.
The 6th apparition begins with the remarks of the old lady, to which no one except Katerina pays attention. In Rus', fools and lunatics have long been revered, their predictions were listened to. The impressionable Katerina does not just listen - other people's words hit her right in the heart: “Beauty is our death! .. It’s better with beauty in the pool! ..” The author does not describe the appearance of the heroine, her beauty is of a different kind - internal. She is not needed in this world of lies, hypocrisy and fear. The motives of beauty and death here sound like an antithesis, they are united in a terrible prophecy: “What are you hiding! Nothing to hide! You are obviously afraid: you don’t want to die! I want to live!”
Here is the path of the heroine ...
The word "hide" sounds three times: twice in the words of the lady and in the author's remark. Apparently, you can't escape fate. A thunderclap as a sentence, the heroine is defined and the form of punishment is “burn in the fire”. Varvara sympathizes with her daughter-in-law, understanding her torment. But she can only help with advice: "... pray, it will be easier." And Katerina, horrified, notices a picture of “fiery hell” on the half-erased frescoes of the gallery. The heaviness on her soul needs a way out, and it comes.
Before the repentance of the heroine, we note the remark: "Kabanova, Kabanov and Varvara surround her." They surround, crush, crowd ... And here it is - a breakthrough of feelings: “The whole heart has burst! I can't take it anymore!" The episode is very emotional, and this is emphasized by the abundance of exclamatory sentences.
Brought up in patriarchal traditions, Katerina addresses her relatives by seniority: “Mother! Tikhon! I am a sinner before God and before you!” In the first place is God. He is the ultimate judge for the heroine. This is also a manifestation of the religiosity of the heroine.
It is also interesting to trace the behavior of Varvara and Tikhon. Varvara tries to shield Katerina, feeling guilty about her sin: “She is lying, she herself does not know what she is saying.” Tikhon also guessed what his wife would repent of. Feeling sorry for her (after all, she asked to take it with her!), He tries to stop Katerina. Here the remark is extremely eloquent: "confused, in tears, he pulls her by the sleeve." He warns his wife, fearing the wrath of his mother, even "wants to hug." And Kabanikha triumphs: “I said, so you didn’t want to listen. That's what I've been waiting for!"
The repentance of the heroine occurs when everything converges for her: pangs of conscience, fear of a thunderstorm as a punishment for sins, predictions of walking townspeople, Boris's betrayal (he faint-heartedly disappears at a decisive moment). Katerina confesses her sin in public, in the church, as is customary in Orthodox world which shows her truly Russian soul. The scene of repentance inevitably brings the tragic denouement of the play closer.
The idea for The Thunderstorm arose during Ostrovsky's trip along the Volga (1856-1857), but the drama was written only in 1859. The Thunderstorm, Dobrolyubov wrote, is without a doubt Ostrovsky's most decisive work. This assessment has not lost its strength to the present day. Among all written by Ostrovsky, The Thunderstorm is undoubtedly the best work, the pinnacle of his work. This is a real pearl of Russian drama, standing on a par with such works as "Undergrowth", "Woe from Wit", "Inspector", "Boris Godunov".
The most complete and convincing assessment of Ostrovsky's work was given by Dobrolyubov in the articles "Dark Kingdom" (1859) and "Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" (1860), which had a huge revolutionary influence on the young generation of the 1860s. In the works of Ostrovsky, the critic saw, first of all, a remarkably truthful and versatile depiction of reality. Possessing a "deep understanding of Russian life and a great ability to depict sharply and vividly its most essential aspects," Ostrovsky was, according to Dobrolyubov's definition, a real folk writer. Ostrovsky's work is distinguished not only by its deep nationality, ideology, bold denunciation of social evil, but also by high artistic skill, which was entirely subordinated to the task of a realistic reproduction of reality. Ostrovsky repeatedly emphasized that life itself is a source of dramatic collisions and situations.
With amazing force depicts the Ostrovsky corner of the “dark kingdom”, where he brazenly tramples on people human dignity. The masters of life here are tyrants. They tyrannize in their families and suppress every manifestation of living human thought. The main character of the drama is Katerina. In terms of character, she stands out sharply from those around her. Her fate is tragic and, unfortunately, is a vivid and typical example of the fate of thousands of Russian women of that time.
Katerina is the wife of the merchant's son Tikhon Kabanov. She recently left her native home and moved to her husband, where she lives with her mother-in-law Kabanova. In the family, Katerina has no rights, she is not even free to dispose of herself. With warmth and love she remembers parental home, my girl's life. There she lived freely, surrounded by the caress and care of her mother. She went to the key for water, looked after flowers, embroidered on velvet, went to 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 retribution for sins.
In the husband's house, freedom was replaced by stuffy slavery. At every step, Katerina felt dependent on her mother-in-law, endured humiliation and insults. On the part of Tikhon, she does not meet any support, much less understanding, since he himself is under the rule of Kabanikh. Katerina is ready to treat Kaba-niha like her own mother. She tells her: "For me, mother, it's all the same that own mother, what you". But sincere feelings Katerina does not meet with the support of either Kabanikha or Tikhon. Life in such an environment changed the character of Katerina: “What a frisky I was, but you completely withered ... Was I like that?” Katerina's sincerity and truthfulness collide in the house of Kabanikh with lies, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, and rudeness.
When love for Boris is born in Katerina, it seems to her a crime, and she struggles with the feeling that has washed over her. Truthfulness and sincerity make her suffer so much that she finally has to repent to her husband. These human qualities incompatible with the life of the "dark kingdom", therefore they became the cause of the tragedy of Katerina. The tension of her experiences especially increases after the return of Tikhon: she “trembles all over, as if her fever beats ... she rushes about the house, as if she is looking for something, her eyes, like those of a mad woman, this morning she began to cry, and sobs.”
Katerina's public repentance shows the depth of her suffering, her moral greatness and determination. But after repentance, her position became unbearable. Her husband does not understand her, Boris is weak-willed and does not come to her aid. The situation has become hopeless - Katerina is dying. No one person is to blame for her death. Her death is the result of the incompatibility of morality 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 and is selfless in the sense that death is better for him than life with those beginnings that are disgusting to him. A decisive, integral character, acting among the Wild and Kabanovs, is in Ostrovsky in the female type, and this is not without its serious significance. Dobrolyubov calls Katerina "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." He says that her suicide, as it were, illuminated for a moment the unshakable darkness of the “dark kingdom”. In her tragic end, according to the critic, "a terrible challenge is given to self-foolish force."
Katerina's last monologue is evidence of her inner victory over the forces of the "dark kingdom". “To live again? No, no, don’t ... not good! .. But they’ll catch me and bring me home forcibly ... ”- how scary this word sounds here -“ they will catch ”, as if not about a person in question! At the thought of the violence that will be committed against her, Katerina exclaims: “Oh, hurry, hurry!” The thirst for liberation triumphs.
Katerina is imbued with the conviction of her right to freedom of feelings, to the freedom to choose between life and death. “It’s all the same that death will come, that itself ... but you can’t live!” she reflects on suicide, which from the point of view of the church is a mortal sin. And then she questions this notion: “Sin! Will they not pray? Whoever loves will pray...” The thought of love is stronger than the fear of religious taboos, And dying words Katerinas are not turned to God and do not express repentance for their sins, they are turned to their beloved: “My friend! My joy! Goodbye!" So free from pre-reasons, alive and strong feeling won in the soul of Katerina, and she broke free from the fetters of the "dark kingdom".
Without pretending to originality, I want to express my opinion about the tragedy of the main character of the drama by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm". I have always been tormented by the thought: how a woman who firmly believed in Christian morality could commit suicide. Shot down by the article by N. A. Dobrolyubov "A ray of light in the" dark kingdom ", although I did not accept Katerina as that very notorious "ray", I nevertheless agreed with many of the postulates of the article. And then one day on the road I was struck thought: no, Katerina will never commit suicide and could not do it. I no longer took Dobrolyubov into account from the height of my years: what could a young man (Dobrolyubov) who died at 25 years old say vitally wise? family relations if he didn’t have any of this and simply didn’t live up to that? Therefore, at some point I stopped trusting his opinion and decided to carefully re-read the drama again.
So, Katerina Kabanova is a merchant's daughter and a merchant's wife. At the very beginning of the play, she recalls her childhood, when she lived in her parents' house, "like a bird in the wild." What was meant by this? In the morning I got up and watered the flowers, went to church, listened to prayers and wanderers, embroidered on velvet with gold, walked in the garden and went to church in the evening. This is how the days and years passed. Katerina's mother didn't even "force her to work," family life she didn’t accustom, she only paid attention to the fact that something unusual happened to her daughter. Katerina herself told about this: “... I don’t hear when the service is over”, she saw during the service how “on a sunny day such a bright pillar goes down from the dome (...) as if angels fly and sing in this pillar”. talking modern language, Katerina could fall into a trance, renounce everything earthly, following only the flight of her soul. Hence the fervent prayers day and night, hence the visions of golden temples and extraordinary gardens, hence the flights in a dream.
Having become the wife of the quiet, harmless Tikhon, Katerina had to continue already in own family life planned in childhood. However, it turns out that she is not ready for family life: deaf dissatisfaction with her mother-in-law, condemnation of her religiosity, rejection of the laws that reign in the mother-in-law's house, unwillingness to understand them and her own willfulness. “I was born so hot! (...) ... they won’t hold me by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, I’ll throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, so I won’t, even if you cut me!” she says to Varvara.
It suddenly turned out that new family prayers do not save. And if this does not save, the “enemy” comes at night and begins to embarrass her: “Such fear for me, such and such fear for me! ". Her future life- this is a test of the strength of her Christian morality .. Seeing her husband on business to Moscow, she asks to take a terrible oath from her so that "I die without repentance, if I ..." Pride takes over, and Katerina, breaking the oath, cheats on her husband . And not just cheating, but purposefully, day after day, while her husband is gone, she meets with Boris. Here all the norms of Christian morality are already violated, but this love does not bring joy to Katerina. Fearing to die during a thunderstorm, afraid of the prophecies of the old lady (“You will have to answer for everything”), Katerina repents to her husband, confessing to him and her mother-in-law that she cheated with Boris. She speaks words of confession in a state of passion, she wants to remove from herself the terrible sin of adultery. After her terrible confession, she "falls senseless into her husband's arms."
Having repented of her sin, Katerina is ready to die. The last meeting with Boris is a confirmation of this. “You will go dear, don’t let a single beggar through like that, give it to everyone, and order them to pray for my sinful soul,” she says to him. Left alone, she "thinks". This author's remark is worth a lot. "Thinking" - in other words, her consciousness turns off and she utters all subsequent phrases in an unconscious state. Many exclamatory and interrogative sentences speak of her state of affect. She, cleansed by repentance, having said goodbye to Boris and her life, does not lay hands on herself. Proof of this are the author's remarks: "Oh, hurry, hurry! (Comes to the shore. Loudly.) My friend! My joy! Farewell! (Leaves)". It "leaves", and does not rush into the Volga. What happened? Someone saw that "a woman threw herself into the water" - and that's it! Who saw, naturally, did not stand nearby. It was at night (people with lanterns were looking for Katerina), no one could see what really happened. Katerina had a small wound on her temple. The assumption of one of the heroes that "... must have hit the anchor, hurt herself, poor thing!", remains only an assumption. Anchor in the whirlpool? The whole play was not about any ship.
Ready for death, Katerina would never commit a sinful act that cannot be repented for, for which it is impossible to repent. Having repented of adultery, she will never commit an even more serious sin - suicide. Apparently, being in a semi-conscious state, she just stumbled in the dark. That's why they found her "nearby, in a whirlpool near the shore." Katerina was clean all her life. Having stumbled, she realized her sin, repented and died with with a pure heart true Christian. Kulibin's words are logical: “Here is your Katerina for you! Do what you want with her! Her body is here, take it; and the soul is now not yours: it is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!”
THE STRENGTH OF KATERINA'S CHARACTER AND THE TRAGIC ACUTE OF HER CONFLICT WITH THE "DARK KINGDOM" IN AN OSTROVSKY'S DRAMA "Thunderstorm". THE IMAGE OF KATERINA AS ASSESSED BY N. A. DOBROLUBOV
The drama "Thunderstorm" was conceived under the impression of Ostrovsky's trip along the Volga (1856-1857), but written in 1859. "Thunderstorm", - as Dobrolyubov wrote, - without a doubt, the most decisive work Ostrovsky". This assessment has not lost its strength to this day. Among all written by Ostrovsky, "Thunderstorm" is undoubtedly the best work, the pinnacle of his work. This is a real pearl of Russian dramaturgy, standing on a par with such works as "The Undergrowth", "Woe from Wit", "The Inspector General", "Boris Godunov", etc. With amazing force, he depicts the Ostrovsky corner of the "dark kingdom", where human dignity is blatantly violated 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, who is suffocating in this musty swamp. In terms of character and interests, Katerina stands out sharply from her environment. The fate of Katerina, unfortunately, is a vivid and typical example of the fate of thousands of Russian women of that time. Katerina is a young woman, the wife of the merchant's son Tikhon Kabanov. She recently left her home and moved to her husband's house, where she lives with her mother-in-law Kabanova, who is the sovereign mistress. In the family, Katerina has no rights, she is not even free to dispose of herself. With warmth and love, she recalls her parental home, her maiden life. There she lived freely, surrounded by the caress and care of her mother. IN free time she went to the spring for water, looked after flowers, embroidered on velvet, went to 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 sins. Katerina found herself in completely different conditions in her husband's house. WITH outside as if everything was 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. On the part of Tikhon, she does not meet any support, much less understanding, since he himself is under the rule of the Kaba-nikha. By her kindness, Katerina is ready to treat Kabanikha like her own mother. She says to Kabanikha: "For me, mother, it's all the same, that my own mother, that you." But Katerina's sincere feelings do not meet with support from either Kabanikha or Tikhon. Life in such an environment changed Katerina’s character: “I was frisky, but you completely withered ... Was I like that? When love for Boris is born in Katerina, it seems to her a crime, and she struggles with the feeling that has flooded over her. Katerina's truthfulness and sincerity make her suffer so much that she finally has to repent to her husband. Katerina's sincerity, her truthfulness are incompatible with the life of the "dark kingdom". All this was the cause of the tragedy of Katerina. The intensity of Katerina’s feelings is especially clearly visible after Tikhon’s return: “Everything is trembling, as if her fever beats: she is so pale, rushing about the house, as if she is looking for something. the whole depth of her suffering, moral greatness, determination. But after repentance, her situation became unbearable. Her husband does not understand her, Boris is weak-willed and does not go to her aid. The situation has become hopeless - Katerina is dying. Not one particular person is to blame for the death of Katerina. Her death is the result of the incompatibility of morality and the way of life in which she was forced to exist. The image of Katerina had for Ostrovsky's contemporaries and for subsequent generations a huge educational value. He called for a fight against all forms of despotism and oppression human personality. It is an expression of the growing protest of the masses against all forms of slavery. With her death, Katerina protests against despotism and tyranny, her death testifies to the approaching end of the "dark kingdom." The image of Katerina belongs to the best images Russian fiction. 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 and is selfless in the sense that he is better off death than life on those principles that are disgusting to him. type, and this is not without its 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 Kabanov's conceptions of morality, a protest carried through to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman has thrown herself.
Tasks and tests on the topic "POWER OF KATERINA'S CHARACTER AND THE TRAGIC ACUTE OF HER CONFLICT WITH THE DARK KINGDOM IN THE DRAMA OF A. N. OSTROVSKOY GROZ. THE IMAGE OF KATERINA IN THE ASSESSMENT OF N. A. DOBROLYUBOV"
- Spelling - Important topics for repeating the exam in the Russian language
Lessons: 5 Assignments: 7
