According to the genre, the play "Thunderstorm" can be attributed to a special type of tragedy: its social and everyday form, where the subject of the image is the collisions of everyday life, but elevated to the degree of a catastrophic contradiction of the hero with the world around him. Tragedy is one of the main genres of drama; it is based on an insoluble conflict of the individual with life or himself, as a result of which the hero physically dies, but wins a moral victory, which causes grief for the audience and their spiritual purification through suffering - catharsis. All this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky's play.
Indeed, the death of Katerina is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slavish position in the Kabanova house. But her victory is also impossible, since it is not the evil mother-in-law that opposes Katerina, but the whole world of her time - the world of cruelty, lies, humility and tyranny. Winning would mean changing the whole world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, "Thunderstorm" makes a refreshing impression, which is a clear evidence of the presence of the effect of catharsis in the audience ("a ray of light in the dark kingdom").
But "Thunderstorm" is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social tragedy. The definition of “social” is given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not private, but public. The playwright depicts not a clash between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between the opposing camps into which society is divided. But the main artistic discovery of Ostrovsky is that, having shown in the play the real life of the Volga city, he plunged tragedy into everyday life, although, according to existing canons, high tragedy should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena. material from the site
The originality of the plot and composition of the play also corresponds to the innovation of the genre. The pace of action in the first acts is slowed down, which is connected with the expansion of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and the viewer with the circumstances, life, customs in which the characters have to act, introduce a number of secondary characters, and motivate the maturation of the conflict. The action of the play includes social and individual lines of struggle and two parallel love affairs - the main one (Katerina - Boris) and the secondary one (Varvara - Kudryash). The play has a number of extra-fable episodes that play a significant role in the plot, completing the picture of the "dark kingdom". The intensity of dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating a future catastrophe, preparing for it. The culmination falls on Act IV (the scene of repentance), which means that the highest moment of the development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement takes place in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwined into a tight knot, are untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The ring construction of the play (the events of Acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves as a compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.
The play by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" is rightfully considered not only the pinnacle of the writer's work, but also one of the outstanding works of Russian drama. It represents a large-scale socio-historical conflict, a confrontation between two eras, a crisis in the socio-political life of an entire state. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the literary analysis of the work according to the plan, which will be useful for a 10th grade student in preparation for a lesson in literature.
Brief analysis
Year of writing- 1859.
History of creation– The play was written under the influence of a trip along the Volga, during which the writer recorded interesting everyday scenes, conversations and incidents from the life of the Volga provincials.
Topic– The work highlights the problems of the relationship between two generations, two fundamentally different worlds. The topics of family and marriage, sin and repentance are also raised.
Composition- The composition of the work is built on contrast. The exposition is a description of the characters of the main characters and their way of life, the plot is Katerina's conflict with Kabanikha, the development of actions is Katerina's love for Boris, the culmination is Katerina's internal torment, her death, the denouement is Varvara and Tikhon's protest against the tyranny of their mother.
Genre- Play, drama.
Direction- Realism.
History of creation
Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, and a few months later it was ready and sent to St. Petersburg to be judged by literary critics.
The inspiration for the writer was an ethnographic expedition along the Volga, organized by the Maritime Ministry to study the mores and customs of the indigenous population of Russia. One of the participants in this expedition was Ostrovsky.
During the trip, Alexander Nikolaevich witnessed many everyday scenes, dialogues of the provincial public, which he absorbed like a sponge. Subsequently, they formed the basis of the play "Thunderstorm", giving the drama a folk character and true realism.
The fictional city of Kalinov, described in the play, has absorbed the characteristic features of the Volga cities. Their originality and indescribable color delighted Ostrovsky, who carefully recorded all his observations about the life of provincial towns in his diary.
For a long time there was a version that the writer took the plot for his work from real life. On the eve of writing the play, a tragic story took place in Kostroma - a young girl named Alexandra Klykova drowned herself in the Volga, unable to withstand the oppressive atmosphere in her husband's house. The overbearing mother-in-law oppressed her daughter-in-law in every possible way, while the spineless husband could not protect his wife from the attacks of her mother. The situation was aggravated by a love affair between Alexandra and the postal clerk.
Having successfully passed the censorship, the play was staged at the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Topic
In his work, Alexander Nikolayevich raised many important topics, but the main one among them was the theme of the conflict of two eras- a patriarchal way of life and a young, strong and courageous generation, full of bright hopes for the future.
Katerina became the personification of a new, progressive era, which desperately needed to be freed from the tenacious shackles of the dark philistine. She could not put up with hypocrisy, servility and humiliation for the sake of the prevailing foundations. Her soul strove for light and beauty, but in the conditions of musty ignorance, all her impulses were doomed to failure.
Through the prism of relations between Katerina and her new family, the author tried to convey to the reader the current situation in a society that was on the verge of a global social and moral turning point. This idea perfectly matches the meaning of the play's title - "Thunderstorm". This powerful natural element has become the personification of the collapse of the stagnant atmosphere of a provincial town, mired in superstition, prejudice and falsehood. The death of Katerina during a thunderstorm was the inner impetus that prompted many residents of Kalinov to take the most decisive action.
The main idea of the work lies in the steadfast defense of one's interests - the desire for independence, beauty, new knowledge, spirituality. Otherwise, all the beautiful spiritual impulses will be mercilessly destroyed by the sanctimonious old order, for which any deviation from the established rules brings certain death.
Composition
In The Thunderstorm, the analysis includes an analysis of the compositional structure of the play. The peculiarity of the composition of the work lies in the artistic contrast on which the entire structure of the play, consisting of five acts, is built.
On display Ostrovsky's works depict the way of life of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinin. He describes the historical foundations of the world, which is destined to become a decoration for the events described.
Followed by plot, in which Katerina's conflict with her new family escalates uncontrollably. Katerina's confrontation with Kabanikha, their unwillingness to even try to understand the other side, Tikhon's lack of will escalate the situation in the house.
Action Development of the play lies in the internal struggle of Katerina, who, out of hopelessness, rushes into the arms of another man. Being a deeply moral girl, she experiences pangs of conscience, realizing that she committed a betrayal in relation to her lawful spouse.
climax is represented by Katerina's confession, made under the influence of internal suffering and the curses of the lady who has lost her mind, and her voluntary departure from life. In extreme despair, the heroine sees the solution to all her problems only in her death.
denouement The play consists in the manifestation of the protest of Tikhon and Barbara against the despotism of Kabanikh.
main characters
Genre
According to Ostrovsky himself, "Thunderstorm" is realistic drama. Such a literary genre defines a serious, morally difficult plot, as close as possible to reality. It is always based on the conflict between the protagonist and the environment.
If we talk about the direction, then this play is fully consistent with the direction of realism. Proof of this are the detailed descriptions of the customs and living conditions of the inhabitants of small Volga towns. The author attaches great importance to this aspect, since the realism of the work emphasizes it in the best possible way. main idea.
Artwork test
Analysis Rating
Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 4205.
A special role in the composition of "Thunderstorm" is played by the reception of antithesis. The storyline "Katerina - Boris" is opposed to the storyline "Barbara - Vanka Kudryash". This is clearly seen in the example of two dating scenes: Katerina and Boris have a romantic relationship, while Varvara and Vanka Kudryash have an ordinary one. The system of characters in the play is also built on the principle of contrast: Katerina - Kabanikha, Katerina - Barbara, Boris - Vanka Kudryash.
Conflict.
The conflict in Groz is two-dimensional: external and internal. An external conflict is revealed at the level of the characters' relationship: between Katerina and Kabanikha, Boris and Diky, and so on. An internal conflict takes place in Katerina's soul: between her desire for freedom and independence and her moral and religious duty.
Landscape.
An important role in the "Thunderstorm" plays landscape, described in the remarks and dialogues of the characters. He creates a special role in the play emotional atmosphere: the tragic events in the city of Kalinov are not accidentally unfolding on the picturesque banks of the Volga. In addition, the relationship to nature (understanding of its beauty) serves as a criterion for evaluating the characters.
Landscape- description, image of nature in a literary or musical work.
Symbols.
play an important role in the play symbols. The name itself is already symbolic: a thunderstorm is 1) a natural phenomenon; 2) for Katerina, it is a symbol of God's punishment; 3) for the inhabitants of Kalinov - a symbol of future changes.
The symbolic image in the play is Feklusha (a symbol of the "dark kingdom") and a crazy lady (a symbol of retribution for sins).
Symbol- an artistic image that has several meanings, associated with each other and depending on the context.
Genre.
Most often, researchers define the genre of "Thunderstorms" as a social and everyday drama (so thought A.N. Ostrovsky). At the same time, there is an opinion that, in terms of its genre characteristics, "Thunderstorm" is more reminiscent of tragedy. This is indicated by: heroes exceptional in their moral qualities (Katerina); the insoluble nature of the conflict, due to the clash of historical epochs (the patriarchal world and modern times); tragic end (suicide).
Drama- one of the three main genres of literature (along with epic and lyric poetry), which is works usually constructed in the form of a dialogue and intended for performance by actors on stage;
one of the main genres, types of literature, depicting the life of a person in his sharply conflicted, but not hopeless (unlike tragedy) relations with society or with himself.
Tragedy- a dramatic work that depicts the tragic phenomena of reality. The conflict in the tragedy is unresolvable, so the work usually ends with the death of the protagonist. An inapplicable condition of tragedy is catharsis - purification and enlightenment of the viewer as a result of experiencing fear and compassion.
Conclusion.
The play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" is an original and innovative work in form. On the example of everyday material (and not a legend), taking a private person (and not a historical person) as a hero, using artistic techniques characteristic of other genres (landscape, symbol), the playwright managed to show the tragedy of human existence at the turn of historical eras.
The final test for the lesson "Artistic originality of the play" Storm ".
1. What element of the composition is Katerina's public confession?
A) tie
B) climax
B) disconnect
2. How can you characterize the conflict in the play "Thunderstorm"?
A) outside
B) internal C) two-plane
3. Which of the characters owns the following remarks about a thunderstorm?
4. How did A.N. Ostrovsky?
A) comedy in five acts
B) a tragedy in five acts
B) drama in five acts
5. What is the symbol of the coming changes in the city of Kalinov?
B) sundial
Ways to track the development of general competencies
At the end of the study of the topic “A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" students should form a number of elements of general competencies. Student:
1. Satisfactorily passed all lesson tests - 1 point;
2. Able to highlight key information (summary of lessons 2.6) - 1 point;
3. Has the skills to structure and analyze primary information (citation characteristic of the "dark kingdom" lesson 3.4) - 1 point;
4. Able to draw conclusions based on the information received (lessons 2-6) - 1 point.
As a result, after studying this topic, the student should receive 5 points.
Formation of elements of general competencies
| Student name | Elements of general competencies | Total points | ||||
| Tests | Ability to highlight key information | Structuring and analysis of primary information | Communicative competence | Ability to draw conclusions | ||
Bibliography
genre and composition. By genre, the play "Thunderstorm"; can be attributed to a special type of tragedy: its social form, where the subject of the image is the collisions of everyday life, but elevated to the degree of a catastrophic contradiction of the hero with the world around him. Tragedy is one of the main genres of drama; at the heart of it is an insoluble conflict of personality with life or oneself, as a result of which the hero physically dies, but wins a moral victory, which causes grief for the audience and their spiritual purification through suffering - catharsis. All
this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky's play.
Indeed, the death of Katerina is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slavish position in the Kabanova house. But her victory is also impossible, since it is not the evil mother-in-law that opposes Katerina, but the whole world of her time - the world of cruelty, lies, humility and tyranny. Winning would mean changing the whole world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, "Thunderstorm"; produces a refreshing impression, which serves as a clear evidence of the presence of the effect of catharsis in the audience (“a ray of light in a dark kingdom”;).
But "Thunderstorm"; is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social tragedy. Definition of “social”; given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not private, but public. The playwright depicts not the clash between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between the opposing camps into which society is divided. But the main artistic discovery of Ostrovsky is that, having shown in the play the real life of the Volga city, he plunged tragedy into everyday life, although, according to existing canons, high tragedy should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena.
The originality of the plot and composition of the play also corresponds to the innovation of the genre. The pace of action in the first acts is slowed down, which is connected with the expansion of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and the viewer with the circumstances, life, customs in which the characters have to act, introduce a number of minor characters, and motivate the maturation of the conflict. The action of the play includes social and individual lines of struggle and two parallel love affairs - the main one (Katerina - Boris) and the secondary one (Varvara - Kudryash). The play has a number of extra-fable episodes that play a significant role in the plot, completing the picture of the “dark kingdom”;. The intensity of dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating a future catastrophe, preparing for it. The climax falls on act IV (the scene of repentance), which means that the highest moment of the development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement takes place in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwined into a tight knot, are untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The ring construction of the play (the events of Acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves as a compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.
Glossary:
- composition of the play thunderstorm
- composition of Ostrovsky's thunderstorm
- thunderstorm composition
- the composition of the play Thunderstorm Ostrovsky
– Ostrovsky thunderstorm composition
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The play "Thunderstorm" by the famous Russian writer of the XIX century Alexander Ostrovsky, was written in 1859 in the wake of a public upsurge on the eve of social reforms. It became one of the best works of the author, opening the eyes of the whole world to the mores and moral values of the then merchant class. It was first published in the Library for Reading magazine in 1860 and, due to the novelty of its subject matter (descriptions of the struggle of new progressive ideas and aspirations with old, conservative foundations), immediately after publication caused a wide public outcry. She became the subject for writing a large number of critical articles of that time (“A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” by Dobrolyubov, “Motives of Russian Drama” by Pisarev, criticism by Apollon Grigoriev).
History of writing
Inspired by the beauty of the Volga region and its vast expanses during a trip with his family to Kostroma in 1848, Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, after three months he finished it and sent it to the court of St. Petersburg censorship.
Having worked for several years in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court, he knew well what the merchants were like in Zamoskvorechye (the historical district of the capital, on the right bank of the Moscow River), more than once, on duty, faced with what was happening behind the high fences of the merchants' choir , namely with cruelty, tyranny, ignorance and various superstitions, illegal transactions and scams, tears and suffering of others. The plot of the play is based on the tragic fate of a daughter-in-law in the wealthy merchant family of the Klykovs, which happened in reality: a young woman rushed into the Volga and drowned, unable to withstand the harassment of her imperious mother-in-law, tired of her husband’s spinelessness and secret passion for the postal clerk. Many believed that it was stories from the life of the Kostroma merchants that became the prototype for the plot of the play written by Ostrovsky.
In November 1859, the play was performed on the stage of the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow, and in December of the same year at the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Analysis of the work
Story line
At the center of the events described in the play is the wealthy merchant family of the Kabanovs, who live in the fictional Volga city of Kalinovo, a kind of peculiar and closed little world, symbolizing the general structure of the entire patriarchal Russian state. The Kabanov family consists of a domineering and cruel woman-tyrant, and in fact the head of the family, a wealthy merchant and widow Marfa Ignatievna, her son, Tikhon Ivanovich, weak-willed and spineless against the backdrop of the heavy temper of his mother, the daughter of Varvara, who learned by deceit and cunning to resist the despotism of her mother , as well as daughter-in-law Katerina. A young woman, who grew up in a family where she was loved and pitied, suffers in the house of an unloved husband from his lack of will and the claims of her mother-in-law, in fact, having lost her will and becoming a victim of the cruelty and tyranny of the Kabanikh, left to the mercy of fate by a rag-husband.
From hopelessness and despair, Katerina seeks solace in love for Boris Diky, who also loves her, but is afraid to disobey her uncle, the wealthy merchant Savel Prokofich Diky, because the financial situation of him and his sister depends on him. Secretly, he meets with Katerina, but at the last moment he betrays her and runs away, then, at the direction of his uncle, he leaves for Siberia.
Katerina, being brought up in obedience and submission to her husband, tormented by her own sin, confesses everything to her husband in the presence of his mother. She makes the life of her daughter-in-law completely unbearable, and Katerina, suffering from unhappy love, reproaches of conscience and cruel persecution of the tyrant and despot Kabanikhi, decides to end her torment, the only way in which she sees salvation is suicide. She throws herself off a cliff into the Volga and dies tragically.
Main characters
All the characters in the play are divided into two opposing camps, some (Kabanikha, her son and daughter, merchant Dikoy and his nephew Boris, maids Feklusha and Glasha) are representatives of the old, patriarchal way of life, others (Katerina, self-taught mechanic Kuligin) are new, progressive.
A young woman, Katerina, the wife of Tikhon Kabanov, is the central character of the play. She was brought up in strict patriarchal rules, in accordance with the laws of the ancient Russian Domostroy: a wife must obey her husband in everything, respect him, fulfill all his requirements. At first, Katerina tried with all her might to love her husband, to become a submissive and good wife for him, but due to his complete spinelessness and weakness of character, she can only feel pity for him.
Outwardly, she looks weak and silent, but in the depths of her soul there is enough willpower and perseverance to resist the tyranny of her mother-in-law, who is afraid that her daughter-in-law can change her son Tikhon and he will no longer obey the will of his mother. Katerina is cramped and stuffy in the dark realm of life in Kalinovo, she literally suffocates there and in her dreams she flies away like a bird away from this terrible place for her.
Boris
Having fallen in love with the visiting young man Boris, the nephew of a wealthy merchant and businessman, she creates in her head the image of an ideal lover and a real man, which is completely untrue, breaks her heart and leads to a tragic ending.
In the play, Katerina's character is opposed not to a specific person, her mother-in-law, but to the entire existing patriarchal way of life at that time.
Boar
Marfa Ignatyevna Kabanova (Kabanikha), like the merchant-tyrant Dikoy, who tortures and insults his relatives, does not pay wages and deceives his workers, are vivid representatives of the old, petty-bourgeois way of life. They are distinguished by stupidity and ignorance, unjustified cruelty, rudeness and rudeness, complete rejection of any progressive changes in the ossified patriarchal way of life.
Tikhon
(Tikhon, in the illustration near the Kabanikhi - Marfa Ignatievna)
Tikhon Kabanov throughout the play is characterized as a quiet and weak-willed person, who is under the complete influence of a despotic mother. Distinguished by his gentle nature, he makes no attempt to protect his wife from the attacks of his mother.
At the end of the play, he finally breaks down and the author shows his rebellion against tyranny and despotism, it is his phrase at the end of the play that leads readers to a certain conclusion about the depth and tragedy of the current situation.
Features of compositional construction
(Fragment from a dramatic production)
The work begins with a description of the city on the Volga of Kalinov, whose image is a collective image of all Russian cities of that time. The landscape of the Volga expanses depicted in the play contrasts with the musty, dull and gloomy atmosphere of life in this city, which is emphasized by the dead isolation of the life of its inhabitants, their underdevelopment, dullness and wild lack of education. The author described the general state of urban life as if before a thunderstorm, when the old, dilapidated way of life is shaken, and new and progressive trends, like a gust of furious thunderstorm wind, will carry away outdated rules and prejudices that prevent people from living normally. The period of life of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov described in the play is just in a state when outwardly everything looks calm, but this is only the calm before the coming storm.
The genre of the play can be interpreted as a social drama, as well as a tragedy. The first is characterized by the use of a thorough description of living conditions, the maximum transfer of its "density", as well as the alignment of characters. The attention of readers should be distributed among all participants in the production. The interpretation of the play as a tragedy suggests its deeper meaning and solidity. If we see in the death of Katerina the consequence of her conflict with her mother-in-law, then she looks like a victim of a family conflict, and all the unfolding action in the play seems small and insignificant for a real tragedy. But if we consider the death of the main character as a conflict of a new, progressive time with a fading, old era, then her act is best interpreted in a heroic way, characteristic of a tragic narrative.
The talented playwright Alexander Ostrovsky from the social drama about the life of the merchant class gradually creates a real tragedy, in which, with the help of a love and domestic conflict, he showed the onset of an epoch-making turning point in the minds of the people. Ordinary people are aware of the awakening sense of their own dignity, they begin to relate to the world around them in a new way, they want to decide their own destinies and fearlessly express their will. This nascent desire comes into irreconcilable contradiction with the real patriarchal way of life. The fate of Katerina acquires a social historical meaning, expressing the state of the people's consciousness at the turning point of two eras.
Alexander Ostrovsky, who noticed in time the doom of decaying patriarchal foundations, wrote the play "Thunderstorm" and opened the eyes of the entire Russian public to what was happening. He depicted the destruction of the usual, outdated way of life, with the help of the ambiguous and figurative concept of a thunderstorm, which, gradually growing, will sweep away everything from its path and open the way for a new, better life.
