Thunderstorm is the main character. The play "The Thunderstorm" and its characters
We bring to your attention a list of the main characters of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”.
Savel Prokofievich Dick O th – merchant, a significant person in the city. A scolding, shrill man, this is how those who personally know him characterize him. He really doesn't like giving money. Whoever asks him for money, he certainly tries to scold him. He tyrannizes his nephew Boris, and is not going to pay him and his sister money from the inheritance.
Boris Grigorievich, his nephew, a young man, decently educated. He loves Katerina sincerely, with all his soul. But he is not able to decide anything on his own. There is no male initiative or strength in him. Goes with the flow. They sent him to Siberia, and he went, although in principle he could have refused. Boris admitted to Kuligin that he tolerated his uncle’s quirks for the sake of his sister, hoping that he would pay at least something from his grandmother’s will for her dowry.
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova(Kabanikha), a rich merchant's wife, a widow - a tough, even cruel woman. He keeps the whole family under his thumb. He behaves piously in front of the people. Adheres to Domostroevsky customs in a form distorted in its concepts. But he tyrannizes his family for no reason.
Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov, her son is a mama's boy. A quiet, downtrodden little man, unable to decide anything on his own. Tikhon loves his wife, but is afraid to show his feelings for her, so as not to anger his mother again. Living at home with his mother was unbearable for him, and he was glad to leave for 2 weeks. When Katerina repented, he asked for a wife, just not with her mother. He understood that for her sin, her mother would peck not only Katerina, but also him himself. He himself is ready to forgive his wife for this feeling for another. He beat her lightly, but only because his mother ordered him to. And only over the corpse of his wife does the mother reproach that it was she who ruined Katerina.
Katerina - Tikhon's wife. The main character of "Thunderstorm". She received a good, pious upbringing. God-fearing. Even the townspeople noticed that when she prayed, it was as if light emanated from her, she became so peaceful at the moment of prayer. Katerina admitted to Varvara that she secretly loved another man. Varvara arranged a date for Katerina, and for the entire 10 days while Tikhon was away, she met with her lover. Katerina understood that this was a grave sin, and therefore, at the first laziness upon arrival, she repented to her husband. She was pushed to repentance by a thunderstorm, an old half-crazed lady who frightened everyone and everything with fiery hell. She feels sorry for Boris and Tikhon, and blames only herself for everything that happened. At the end of the play, she throws herself into the pool and dies, although suicide is the most serious sin in Christianity.
Varvara – Tikhon's sister. A lively and cunning girl, unlike Tikhon, she does not bend in front of her mother. Her life credo: do whatever you want, as long as it’s safe and covered. Secretly from his mother, he meets with Kudryash at night. She also arranged a date between Katerina and Boris. At the end, when they began to lock her up, she runs away from the house with Kudryash.
Kuligin – tradesman, watchmaker, self-taught mechanic, looking for a perpetuum mobile. It is no coincidence that Ostrovsky gave this hero a surname similar to the famous mechanic - Kulibin.
Vanya Kudryash, - a young man, Dikov’s clerk, Varvara’s friend, a cheerful guy, cheerful, loves to sing.
Minor characters of "The Thunderstorm":
Shapkin, tradesman.
Feklusha, wanderer.
Glasha, the girl in Kabanova’s house, Glasha, hid all of Varvara’s tricks and supported her.
Lady with two footmen, an old woman of 70 years old, half-crazy - scares all the townspeople with the Last Judgment.
City dwellers of both sexes.
Wife of Tikhon Kabanov and daughter-in-law of Kabanikha. This is the central character of the play, with the help of which Ostrovsky shows the fate of a strong, extraordinary personality in the conditions of a small patriarchal town. Since childhood, Katerina has a very strong desire for happiness, which, as she grows up, develops into a desire for mutual love.
The wealthy merchant Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna is one of the main pillars of the “dark kingdom”. This is a powerful, cruel, superstitious woman who treats everything new with deep distrust and even contempt. She sees only evil in the progressive phenomena of her time, which is why Kabanikha protects her little world from their invasion with such jealousy.
Katerina's husband and Kabanikha's son. This is a downtrodden person suffering from constant reproaches and orders from Kabanikha. In this character, the crippling, destructive power of the “dark kingdom”, which turns people only into shadows of themselves, is most fully revealed. Tikhon is not capable of fighting back - he constantly makes excuses, pleases his mother in every possible way, and is afraid of disobeying her.
One of the central characters is the nephew of the merchant Wild. Among the provincial public of the city of Kalinov, Boris stands out noticeably for his upbringing and education. Indeed, from Boris’s stories it becomes clear that he came here from Moscow, where he was born, raised and lived until his parents died from a cholera epidemic.
One of the most respected representatives of Kalinov is the enterprising and powerful merchant Savel Prokofievich Dikoy. At the same time, this figure, along with Kabanikha, is considered the personification of the “dark kingdom.” At its core, Dikoy is a tyrant who, in the first place, puts only his desires and whims. Therefore, his relationships with others can be described in only one word - arbitrariness.
Vanya Kudryash is a bearer of the people's character - he is an integral, brave and cheerful person who can always stand up for himself and his feelings. This hero appears in the very beginning scene, introducing readers, together with Kuligin, to the orders and morals of Kalinov and its inhabitants.
Kabanikha's daughter and Tikhon's sister. She is confident in herself, is not afraid of mystical omens, and knows what she wants from life. But at the same time, Varvara’s personality has some moral flaws, the cause of which is life in the Kabanov family. She does not at all like the cruel order of this provincial town, but Varvara does not find anything better than to come to terms with the established way of life.
The play shows a character who, throughout the play, makes certain efforts to defend progress and public interests. And even his surname - Kuligin - is very similar to the surname of the famous Russian mechanic-inventor Ivan Kulibin. Despite his bourgeois origin, Kuligin strives for knowledge, but not for selfish purposes. His main concern is the development of his native city, so all his efforts are aimed at “public benefit.”
The wanderer Feklusha is a minor character, but at the same time a very characteristic representative of the “dark kingdom”. Wanderers and the blessed have always been regular guests of merchant houses. For example, Feklusha entertains representatives of the Kabanov house with various stories about overseas countries, talking about people with dog heads and rulers who “no matter what they judge, everything is wrong.”
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Alexander Ostrovsky's play “The Thunderstorm” is a real legacy for future generations. Despite the fact that it was written almost two centuries ago, its plot touches on the pressing problems of our turbulent times. The same problems of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, husband and wife, mother and children... The events of the work take place on the coast of a river called the Volga, in the fictional city of Kalinov. There, in this seemingly quiet place, a real drama develops, the fault of which is ordinary people. But to understand what happened, you need to get to know the characters in the play and determine the role that each of them plays in the work.
Local self-taught mechanic Kuligin
This hero appears from the very beginning of the play. He is a self-taught mechanic who acts as a tour guide of sorts. By nature, Kuligin is a kind person who is accustomed to acting in accordance with established rules. Speaking about others and assessing their morals, he is very accurate in his judgments. He constantly dreams of the common good, of a lightning rod, of a perpetu mobile, of honest work, but, alas, his cherished desires are not destined to come true.
Vanya Kudryash - Varya's beloved
This is a minor character whom the author portrayed as kind and sincere. Despite his simple appearance, Vanya is a fighter in life and always finishes what he starts. Any business in his hands goes wrong. By nature, Ivan is not a romantic, but a practitioner, from this point of view he looks at life.
Dear readers! We invite you to familiarize yourself with A. Ostrovsky's actions and phenomena.
He is a strong, smart, well-built guy whom Varvara Kabanova loves. A bright and kind feeling arises between them, although in order to avoid scandals from Varvara’s mother, this relationship has to be carefully hidden.
Boris is Dikiy's nephew
Boris is the nephew of Savl Prokopyich the Wild, a powerful, cruel and greedy man. The author endowed this hero with a contradictory character, on the one hand, describing him as young, educated, well-read, fashionable, on the other – cowardly and weak-willed, who never learned to defend his own point of view despite external circumstances. Knowing that his inheritance is in the hands of Uncle Saul the Wild, Boris tries to please him in everything, despite reproaches and ridicule.
Having fallen in love with Katya Kabanova, who has a mutual feeling for this guy, the young man does not value this relationship, and at a time when the slightest problems arise, he does not try to protect the girl, but immediately backs down, fearing that their relationship will be made public.
Thus, we can conclude that Boris is not so much a positive as a negative character in Alexander Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”.
Dikoy – representative of the “dark kingdom”
Savl Prokofievich Dikoy is a wealthy merchant who is the most respected and influential person in the city. However, he is picky, angry, ignorant and cruel. This set of negative qualities greatly outweighs the external significance of Dikiy, whose last name also speaks for itself - all his behavior is wild and unnatural.
It doesn’t matter to him what others think about this or that issue; Dikoy considers his own opinion to be the only correct one. He stops at nothing, brazenly taking away what he has acquired through back-breaking labor. This hero takes pleasure in quarreling and swearing with everyone. He shouts at his workers who come for their due salary, raises his voice at family members who get the most from the character of Savl Prokofich. Knowing that his nephew’s fate is in his hands, he abuses his powers in relation to Boris, because he is ready to fulfill any of his demands in order to receive an inheritance. Dikoy can only communicate as equals with Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, who, surprisingly, understands his nature. Savl Prokopyich personifies the morals of a small provincial town. With the help of this image, the author wanted to show the reader the need for changes in the views and behavior of society at that time.
Kabanikha - the negative character of the play
The image of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is presented in the play as one of the most negative. This is a rich merchant's wife, a widow. A despotic and capricious woman, she keeps the whole house in fear, offending both her own son and daughter, and her daughter-in-law, who suffers the most. “You must do what your mother says,” she orders her weak-willed son Tikhon, and he obeys the demands of the oppressive parent. Achieving order down to the smallest detail, Kabanikha acts with violent methods, making everyone fear her. He won’t be afraid of you, and he won’t be afraid of me either. What kind of order will there be in the house?..” she is perplexed.
In addition, Marfa Ignatievna is a hypocritical and cold-blooded old woman who loves to read morals to her children, without doing what she herself advises. Kabanova is used to getting her way only with reproaches and threats; she does not know such feelings as love and compassion. She mistakenly believes that children should revere their parents so much that their opinions are not taken into account. Indirectly, Kabanova becomes the main reason for the terrible death of her daughter-in-law Katerina, but does not realize this.
Tikhon, son of Kabanova
There is such an expression as “mama’s boy”. It suits Tikhon Kabanov, the son of Marfa Ignatievna, perfectly.
From childhood, accustomed to living in complete submission to a strict mother, he grew up weak-willed and characterless.
This manifests itself throughout his life. Having no opinion of his own, Tikhon cannot make even the simplest decisions, in panic fear of the condemnation of his strict mother, who, without even realizing it, raised her son to be an infantile loser who would start nagging at the slightest danger - and the worst thing is, they lived with the conviction that such education is the only correct one.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”
Only once, at the end of the play, when a tragedy occurred with his wife Katerina, Tikhon exclaimed, reproaching his mother: “Mama, you ruined her! you, you, you...” And here it is shown that even a person driven into a dead end is capable of defending his position. It’s just a pity that he realized too late what a jewel and treasure his wife was for him.
Varvara - Tikhon's sister
Varvara Kabanova is Tikhon’s sister and daughter of Marfa Ignatievna. Getting acquainted with the play, the reader can notice what a contrast the brother and sister represent. She, unlike the lack of initiative Tikhon, is lively and courageous, able to make decisions on her own. Varya managed, unlike her brother, to adapt to the character of her overly demanding and wayward mother; I learned to lie, to be a hypocrite, to dodge where necessary, to ignore her orders.
To remove obstacles to meeting her loved one, Varvara simply changed the lock. Thus, she protected herself from unnecessary outbursts of her mother’s anger. As they say, the wolves are fed and the sheep are safe.
This girl is, firstly, practical, secondly, cheerful, thirdly, smart and insightful. In addition, she is the only one in the family who supports Katerina and gives her good advice. In the work, the attitude “do what you want, the main thing is that no one finds out anything” is realized in the image of Varvara.
Katerina is the main character of the play
In A. Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" the image of Katerina is key. This girl experiences a difficult fate, and, unfortunately, her life ends tragically. But to understand the character of the heroine, you need to follow the author’s storyline from the very beginning.
The only happy childhood for Katerina was when she, like a sponge, absorbed the good things that were instilled by her loving parents and went to church with great joy.
And then a storm struck in the girl’s life. She got married. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful. For a weak-willed and spineless person, for whom mother’s orders are more important than normal and healthy relationships in his own family.
All dreams of a happy and strong family collapsed, life went downhill. The fierce mother-in-law Marfa Ignatievna began to act with the girl according to her already proven methods of violence and endless reproaches, which were unacceptable to Katerina. No matter how hard the daughter-in-law tried to smooth out the situation in her family, nothing worked. The mother-in-law continued to nag with or without reason, and the weak-willed husband still obeyed his mother.
Katerina with all her soul internally opposes such hypocritical and senseless behavior, this contradicts her bright and sincere nature, but the girl cannot resist the order established in the Kabanova family. She doesn’t love her husband, but she feels sorry for her, and this is not enough to create a strong family. And then Katerina indulges in feelings of love for another – Dikiy’s nephew, Boris. And from then on even bigger problems began - pangs of conscience that give no rest day or night, a constant question in the soul: “Should I admit my guilt?” “She’s shaking all over, as if she’s got a fever; so pale, rushing around the house, as if looking for something,” says her husband’s sister Varvara about Katerina’s condition. - Eyes like those of a madwoman! Just this morning I started crying and just kept crying. My fathers! What should I do with it?
And finally, Katerina takes a decisive step, telling her mother-in-law and husband about her sin towards Boris: “Mother! Tikhon! I am a sinner before God and before you! Wasn’t it me who swore to you that I wouldn’t look at anyone without you! Remember, remember! Do you know what I, dissolute, did without you? On the very first night I left home... And all ten nights I walked with Boris Grigorievich.”
After this, a real tragedy unfolds: reproaches and scolding from the mother-in-law, who incites her son to beat his daughter-in-law, unbearable mental pain and, finally, the fatal decision - to rush into the Volga. Alas, Katerina’s life was cut short at a young age. Some understand and do not condemn her for this act, some, on the contrary, believe that only a weak-willed person could commit suicide. But, be that as it may, Katerina will remain in the eyes of many readers a positive heroine, that is, the best of all the characters in the play.
The play “The Thunderstorm” by the famous Russian writer of the 19th century Alexander Ostrovsky was written in 1859 on the wave of social upsurge on the eve of social reforms. It became one of the author's best works, opening the eyes of the whole world to the morals and moral values of the merchant class of that time. It was first published in the journal “Library for Reading” 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 it caused a wide public response. It became the topic 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, critic Apollon Grigoriev).
History of writing
Inspired by the beauty of the Volga region and its endless expanses during a trip with his family to Kostroma in 1848, Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, three months later he finished it and sent it to the St. Petersburg censor.
Having worked for several years in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court, he knew well what the merchant class was like in Zamoskvorechye (the historical district of the capital, on the right bank of the Moscow River), more than once having encountered in his service what was going on behind the high fences of the merchant choirs , namely with cruelty, tyranny, ignorance and various superstitions, illegal transactions and scams, tears and suffering of others. The basis for the plot of the play was the tragic fate of the daughter-in-law in the wealthy merchant family of the Klykovs, which happened in reality: the young woman rushed into the Volga and drowned, unable to withstand the oppression from her domineering mother-in-law, tired of her husband’s spinelessness and secret passion for the postal worker. Many believed that it was the 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, living in the fictional Volga city of Kalinov, a kind of peculiar and closed little world, symbolizing the general structure of the entire patriarchal Russian state. The Kabanov family consists of a powerful and cruel tyrant woman, and essentially 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 difficult disposition of his mother, daughter Varvara, who learned by deception and cunning to resist her mother’s despotism , as well as Katerina’s daughter-in-law. A young woman, who grew up in a family where she was loved and pitied, suffers in the house of her unloved husband from his lack of will and the claims of her mother-in-law, having essentially lost her will and becoming a victim of Kabanikha’s cruelty and tyranny, left to the mercy of fate by her rag husband.
Out of hopelessness and despair, Katerina seeks consolation in her love for Boris Dikiy, who also loves her, but is afraid to disobey his uncle, the rich merchant Savel Prokofich Dikiy, because the financial situation of him and his sister depends on him. He secretly 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, having been 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 her daughter-in-law’s life completely unbearable, and Katerina, suffering from unhappy love, reproaches of conscience and cruel persecution of the tyrant and despot Kabanikha, 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, the merchant Dikoy and his nephew Boris, the maids Feklusha and Glasha) are representatives of the old, patriarchal way of life, others (Katerina, self-taught mechanic Kuligin) are representatives of the 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 submit to her husband in everything, respect him, and fulfill all his demands. 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 might change her son Tikhon and he will stop submitting to his mother’s will. Katerina is cramped and stuffy in the dark kingdom of life in Kalinov, she literally suffocates there and in her dreams she flies like a bird away from this terrible place for her.
Boris
Having fallen in love with a visiting young man, Boris, the nephew of a rich merchant and businessman, she creates in her head an image of an ideal lover and a real man, which is not at all true, breaks her heart and leads to a tragic ending.
In the play, the character of Katerina opposes not a specific person, her mother-in-law, but the entire patriarchal structure that existed at that time.
Kabanikha
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha), like the tyrant merchant Dikoy, who tortures and insults his relatives, does not pay wages and deceives his workers, are prominent representatives of the old, 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 Kabanikha - Marfa Ignatievna)
Tikhon Kabanov is characterized throughout the play as a quiet and weak-willed person, under the complete influence of his oppressive mother. Distinguished by his gentle character, he makes no attempts to protect his wife from her mother’s attacks.
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 Kalinov, the image of which 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 city life as if before a thunderstorm, when the old, dilapidated way of life will be shaken, and new and progressive trends, like a gust of furious thunderstorm wind, will sweep away the outdated rules and prejudices that prevent people from living normally. The period of life of the residents of the city of Kalinov described in the play is precisely 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. Readers' attention should be distributed among all participants in the production. The interpretation of the play as a tragedy presupposes its deeper meaning and thoroughness. If you see Katerina’s death as a consequence of her conflict with her mother-in-law, then she looks like a victim of a family conflict, and the entire unfolding action in the play seems petty 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 the heroic key characteristic of a tragic narrative.
The talented playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, from a social and everyday drama about the life of the merchant class, gradually creates a real tragedy, in which, with the help of a love-domestic conflict, he showed the onset of an epochal turning point taking place in the consciousness of the people. Ordinary people realize their awakening sense of self-worth, begin to have a new attitude towards the world around them, 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. Katerina's fate acquires a social historical meaning, expressing the state of the people's consciousness at the turning point between two eras.
Alexander Ostrovsky, who noticed in time the doom of the decaying patriarchal foundations, wrote the play “The Thunderstorm” and opened the eyes of the entire Russian public to what was happening. He depicted the destruction of a familiar, outdated way of life, using the ambiguous and figurative concept of a thunderstorm, which, gradually growing, will sweep away everything from its path and open the way to a new, better life.
In addition to the main characters, it also includes secondary characters who play an equally important role in the play.
With the replicas of the minor characters, Ostrovsky draws a background that speaks about the state of the main characters and draws the reality around them. From their words you can learn a lot about the morals of Kalinov, its past and aggressive rejection of everything new, about the requirements that are presented to the residents of Kalinov, their way of life, dramas and characters.
In the lines that lead us to the image of Katerina and her monologue-characterization, a modest young beautiful woman is depicted, about whom no one can say anything bad. Only the attentive Varvara discerned her reaction to Boris and pushed her to betray her, not seeing anything bad in it and not at all tormented by a feeling of guilt towards her brother. Most likely, Katerina would never have decided to cheat, but her daughter-in-law simply hands her the key, knowing that she will not be able to resist. In the person of Varvara, we have proof that there is no love between loved ones in Kabanikha’s house, and everyone is only interested in his personal life, his benefits.
Her lover, Ivan Kudryash, also does not experience love. He can cheat on Varvara simply out of a desire to spoil the Dikiy, and would do this if his daughters were older. For Varvara and Kudryash, their meetings are an opportunity to satisfy bodily needs, to mutual pleasure. Animal lust is the obvious norm of the night Kalinov. The example of their couple shows the bulk of Kalinov’s youth, the same generation that is not interested in anything other than their personal needs.
The younger generation also includes married Tikhon and unmarried Boris, but they are different. This is rather an exception to the general rule.
Tikhon represents that part of the youth that is suppressed by their elders and is completely dependent on them. It is unlikely that he has ever behaved like his sister; he is more decent - and therefore unhappy. He cannot pretend to be subdued like his sister - he is truly subdued, his mother broke him. For him, it’s a pleasure to get drunk to death when there is no constant control in the person of his mother.
Boris is different because he did not grow up in Kalinov, and his late mother is a noblewoman. His father left Kalinov and was happy until he died, leaving the children orphans. Boris saw a different life. However, because of his younger sister, he is ready for self-sacrifice - he is in the service of his uncle, dreaming that someday Dikoy will give them part of the inheritance left by his grandmother. In Kalinov there is no entertainment, no outlet - and he fell in love. This is really falling in love, not animal lust. His example shows Kalinov’s poor relatives forced to live with rich merchants.
Using the example of Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic trying to create a perpetuum mobile, inventors of small towns are shown who are forced to constantly ask for money to develop inventions, and receive insults and humiliating refusals, and even swearing. He's trying to bring progress to the city, but he's the only one doing it. The rest are happy with everything, or they have resigned themselves to fate. This is the only positive secondary character of the play, but he too has resigned himself to fate. He is unable to fight the Wild One. The desire to create and create for the people is not even paid. But it is with his help that Ostrovsky condemns the “dark kingdom.” He sees the beauty of the Volga, Kalinov, nature, the approaching thunderstorm - which no one but him sees. And it is he who, giving Katerina’s corpse, utters words of condemnation to the “dark kingdom.”
In contrast, the “professional” wanderer Feklusha settled down well. She doesn’t bring anything new, but she knows very well what those with whom she expects to have a delicious meal want to hear. Change is from the devil, who trades in big cities, confusing people. All new creations are also from the devil - exactly what fully corresponds to Kabanikha’s personal opinion. In Kalinov, assenting to Kabanikha, Feklusha will always be full, and food and comfort are the only things she is not indifferent to.
Not the least role is played by the half-crazed lady, about whom it was known that she sinned a lot in her youth, and in her old age she became fixated on this topic. “Sin” and “beauty” are two inseparable concepts for her. Beauty has disappeared - and the meaning of life has disappeared; this, of course, becomes God's punishment for sins. On this basis, the lady goes crazy and immediately begins to denounce him when she sees the beautiful face. But she gives the impression of an angel of retribution to the impressionable Katerina, although most of God’s terrible punishment for her act was invented by him herself.
Without the secondary characters, “The Thunderstorm” could not have been so emotionally and meaningfully rich. With thoughtful remarks, like brushstrokes, the author creates a complete picture of the hopeless life of the dark, patriarchal Kalinov, which can lead to death of any soul who dreams of flight. That’s why people “don’t fly” there. Or they fly, but for a matter of seconds, in free fall.