Katerina's protest against the dark. The strength of Katerina’s character in A.N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”
A. N. Ostrovsky, author of numerous plays about the merchants, creator of the repertoire for the Russian national theater is rightfully considered a "singer" merchant life". And he sits at the entrance of the Maly Theater, sculpted by the chisel of the sculptor Andreev, and reminds us of the past, of the dark, funny and scary world its many heroes: the Glumovs, Bolshovs, Podkhalyuzins, Dikikhs and Kabanikhs.
Image of the world of Moscow and provincial merchants, with light hand Dobrolyubov called the “dark kingdom”, became main theme Ostrovsky's creativity.
The drama "The Thunderstorm", published in 1860, is no exception. The plot of the play is simple and typical for that environment and era: a young married woman Katerina Kabanova, having found a response to her feelings in her husband, fell in love with another person. Tormented by remorse and wanting to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom” (“Do what you want, as long as everything is covered and covered”), she confesses her action publicly, in the church. After this confession, her life becomes so unbearable that she commits suicide.
The image of Katerina is the most in a bright way in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm". Dobrolyubov, analyzing in detail the image of Katerina, called her “a ray of light in dark kingdom".
Katerina's life was good and carefree. parental home. Here she felt “free.” Katerina lived easily, carefree, joyfully. She loved her garden very much, in which she so often walked and admired the flowers. Later telling Varvara about his life in home, she says: “I lived, grieved for nothing, like a bird in the wild. My mother doted on me, dressed me up like a doll, forced me to work, whatever I wanted, it happened, that’s what I do.” Katerina differs from all representatives of the “dark kingdom” in the depth of her feelings, honesty, truthfulness, courage, and determination. Growing up in a good family, she retained all the wonderful traits of the Russian character. This is a pure, sincere, hot nature with an open soul, which knows how to deceive. “I know how to deceive; I can hide anything,” she says to Varvara, who claims that everything in their house rests on deception. This same Varvara calls our heroine some kind of “sophisticated”, “wonderful”. Katerina is a strong, decisive, strong-willed person. Since childhood she was capable of brave deeds. Telling Varvara about herself and emphasizing her hot nature, she says: “I was born so hot!”
Katerina loved nature, all its beauty, and Russian songs. Therefore, her speech is emotional, enthusiastic, musical, melodious, imbued with high poetry and sometimes reminds us folk song. Growing up in her home, our heroine accepted everything centuries-old traditions your family: obedience to elders, religiosity, obedience to customs. Katerina, who had never studied anywhere, loved to listen to the stories of pilgrims and pilgrims and perceived all their religious prejudices, which poisoned her young life, forcing Katerina to perceive love for Boris as terrible sin, from which she tries and ʜᴇ can get away. Getting into new family, where everything is under the rule of the cruel, harsh, rude, despotic Kabanikha, Katerina finds a sympathetic attitude towards herself. Dreamy, honest, sincere, friendly to people, Katerina takes the oppressive atmosphere of this house especially hard.
Gradually, life in the house of Kabanikha, who constantly insults her human dignity, becomes unbearable for her. A muted protest against the “dark kingdom”, which gave her happiness, freedom and independence, is already beginning to arise in her young soul. This process grows... Katerina commits suicide. Thus, she proved that she was right, a moral victory over the “dark kingdom.” Dobrolyubov in his article, assessing the image of Katerina, wrote: “This is the true strength of character, which in any case you can rely on! This is the height to which our national life reaches in its development!”
The fact that Katerina’s act was typical for her time is confirmed by the fact that a similar incident occurred in Kostroma in the Klykov family of merchants. And for a long time after this, the actors playing the main roles in the play wore make-up so that they could be seen to resemble the Klykovs.
A. N. Ostrovsky
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The well-known phraseological unit “A ray of light in the dark kingdom”, which was formed from the title of an article by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Dobrolyubov dedicated to the play “The Thunderstorm”, has long gone beyond of this work. And this is no coincidence. All story line The play, from beginning to end, tells the story of the attempt of this very ray to break through the darkness and hopelessness of the “dark kingdom.” We can observe this in different areas and in different life situations, capacious and exact phrase, selected by Dobrolyubov, characterizes the struggle of Katerina and the rotten world of Kalinov, the world of the Kabanovs and the Wild. And this protest is logical - the incompatibility of Katerina and Kalinov’s foundations inevitably leads to conflict, compromise is impossible here.
Who won this confrontation? This is not so important, what is more important is that Katerina is that very ray, albeit the first, albeit small and barely noticeable, but which will nevertheless begin to sanctify the darkness of the “dark kingdom”, the first, but not the last, and someday these “rays” will destroy the world of lies and hypocrisy, cruelty and unlove, the world in which she is forced to live and try to build happiness in it.
Katerina’s childhood, as it first seems, is not very different from hers present life in Kalinov, however main character correctly notes that before marriage she had the main thing that she doesn’t have now - freedom. Freedom, free will, the ability to choose is a value that is fundamental to understanding the image of Katerina; without this there is no personality. That is why it goes out, languishes in this stuffiness, in the grip of lack of freedom and despair.
Katerina is an unambiguous, integral personality (unlike Varvara, she does not know how to pretend), she was created to love and enjoy, she cannot understand how the world can be cruel if it is so beautiful. In her childishly naive manner, she is truly incapable of understanding why they are so cruel to her, why it is necessary to lead double life, be deceitful and cruel person. People like Katerina are simply unable to survive in the “dark kingdom”; here they need to either adapt and play different roles, as Varvara, Kudryash, and partly Tikhon do, or be cruel and unyielding, like Kabanova and Dikoy. There is no third choice and therefore Katerina chooses death. It would be impossible for an honest and kind Katerina to lie, and the truth would simply destroy her.
Katerina is a poetic person, she sincerely admires the beauty of the world, the miracle of the church and what the world of Kalinov clearly does not care about. Religion for Katerina is a refuge, joy, it is the best thing in this world. For the world of Kalinov, and more specifically for Kabanova, this is a ritual devoid of meaning, a vice in which sin is contained, a certain dogma, a kind of cage, like the whole of Kalinov and the beliefs of its inhabitants. A free bird is incapable of living in a cage, and Katerina is incapable of living in prison, under the iron grip of her mother-in-law and Kalinov’s ruling beliefs. The inevitable end of Katerina’s struggle is not an unambiguous end; the beam has made a hole in the “dark kingdom,” which means not all is lost.
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Whole, honest, sincere, she is incapable of lies and falsehood, therefore cruel world Where wild and wild boars reign, it turns out so tragically. Katerina's protest against Kabanikha's despotism is a struggle of the bright, pure, human against the darkness, lies and cruelty of the “dark kingdom”. No wonder Ostrovsky, who paid great attention to the selection of names and surnames characters, gave this name to the heroine of “Thunderstorms”: translated from Greek “Ekaterina” means “eternally pure”.
Katerina is a poetic person. Unlike the rude Kalinovites, she feels the beauty of nature and loves it. “I used to get up early; If it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that’s it, I’ll water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers,” she says about 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 and her freedom-loving aspirations. Married early, she tries to get along with her mother-in-law, to fall in love
husband, but in the Kabanov house no one needs sincere feelings. And the gentle, poetic Katerina “withered completely” in this gloomy atmosphere. Like a proud bird that cannot live in a cage, she dies in Kabanikha’s house.
Katerina's poetry and spiritual purity are manifested in her every expression. “Where should I go, poor thing? Who should I grab hold of? My fathers, I am perishing!” - she says, saying goodbye to Tikhon. From what natural simplicity and these words accurately convey her condition! The tenderness that fills her soul finds no outlet. Deep human longing resounds in her dream of children: “If only there were someone’s children! Eco woe! I don’t have children: I would still sit with them and amuse them. I really like talking to children - they are angels.” Which loving wife and she would have been a mother in different conditions!
Katerina is religious. Given her impressionability, the religious feelings instilled in her in childhood firmly took possession of her soul. But how different is Katerina’s sincere, childishly pure religiosity from Kabanikha’s sanctimonious religiosity! For Kabanikha, religion is a dark force that suppresses the will of man, but for Katerina it is poetic world fairy tale images. “...To death I loved going to church! “Exactly, it happened that I would enter heaven, and I didn’t see anyone, and I didn’t remember the time, and I didn’t hear when the service was over,” she recalls. In Kalinov, no one prayed as sincerely as Katerina. “Oh, Curly, how she prays, if only you would look! What an angelic smile she has on her face, and her face seems to glow,” says Boris, and Kudryash immediately unmistakably determines that we're talking about about Katerina.
And then Same time. religion is a cage in which the “dark kingdom” locked Katerina’s soul. After all, the fear of “sin” torments her even more than Kabanikha’s oppression. And the fact that she was able to overcome him testifies to Katerina’s moral strength.
At the heart of Katerina’s protest against the oppression of the “dark kingdom” is a natural desire to defend the freedom of her personality. Bondage is the name of her main enemy. Outwardly, the living conditions in Kalinov are no different from the environment of Katerina’s childhood. The same prayers, the same rituals, the same activities, but “here,” he notes, “everything seems to be from under captivity.” Bondage is incompatible with her freedom-loving soul. “And 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 chose death over captivity. “Sad, bitter is such liberation,” wrote Dobrolyubov, “but what to do when there is no other way out.”
In Katerina’s behavior, according to Dobrolyubov, a “decisive, integral Russian character” was revealed, which “will withstand itself, despite any obstacles, and when there is not enough strength, it will die, but will not betray itself.” Dobrolyubov noted that the character of Katerina, constituting “a step forward not only in Ostrovsky’s dramatic activity, but also in all of ours,” reflects a new phase in the development of Russian folk life. There is a need for people of decisive character who would translate the general demand for truth and right into decisive action. Katerina was the first type of such a person in Russian literature. Therefore, Dobrolyubov compared it with a ray of light, illuminating 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 Katerina: “I have been playing this role since I was young, but only now I understand how to play it. And I didn’t understand at all before that that Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom. And it is necessary that through every word, every movement, this shining ray should be visible somewhere, which strives to break through the darkness. And let Katerina, not finding the road to a bright and joyful life, die: it is not helplessness, not sadness or 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 there will be... This is how Ostrovsky conceived Katerina, this is how she should be played.” Wonderful Russian actresses L.P. Nikulina-Kositskaya - the first performer of the role of Katerina, P.A. Strepetova, M.N. Ermolova left unforgettable, creatively original portraits of Katerina in the history of Russian theater.
Katerina’s protest against Kabanikha’s despotism was not only personal character in the context of the struggle against serfdom, it had great revolutionary significance, although Katerina herself acted completely unconsciously, defending only the freedom of her own personality.
Need a cheat sheet? Then save - "Katerina's protest in Ostrovsky's drama The Thunderstorm. Literary essays!Is Katerina's death a protest? Is it true that the strongest protest brews in the weakest and most patient individuals?
Indeed, Katerina- complex character, in which behind the external fragility lies inner strength and determination. This personality is no weaker than the representatives “ dark kingdom" Katerina does not intend to adapt and tolerate the old way of life. Her first protest is her love for Boris, and her second is suicide.
N.A. Dobrolyubov, author of the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom,” claims that the image of Katerina reflects that hidden power, which is expressed in the people’s desire for freedom and cannot awaken in a society similar to the “dark kingdom”.
The strongest protest comes from weak personalities, whose long patience sooner or later comes to an end.
This problem is especially acute in Ostrovsky's work "Dowry". Personal life had no existence, since society always gave instructions for life. The murder of Larisa is a spiritual protest against indifference to interests.
Thus, a protest to society arises during a long struggle with a lifestyle that has a detrimental effect on the personality of people.
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In Katerina we saw a protest against
Kabanov's concepts of morality,
protest brought to an end.
N. A. Dobrolyubov
Ostrovsky's play was written in 1859, during the rise of the revolutionary movement of the masses, in an era when the individual stood up to fight for his emancipation. “Thunderstorm,” according to N. A. Dobrolyubov, “is the most decisive work Ostrovsky”, as it shows the complex, tragic process of emancipation of the reviving soul.
In the play, darkness fights with light, ups are replaced by downs, it shows the vitality of the morality of the “dark kingdom”, and its precariousness, and the strength of character that was able to step over it even at the cost own life. And Katerina, the main character of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play, fights against all the cruelty and injustice of the “dark kingdom.”
Her childhood was bright and quiet. Katerina went to church, listened to the stories of wanderers, and embroidered with gold on velvet. But Katerina’s religiosity is faith in fairy tales that she listened to as a child. In religion, Katerina is attracted primarily by the beauty of legends, church music, iconography, her imagination works tirelessly and carries her into new world, “quiet and bright.”
Brave and decisive character Katerina manifests herself in childhood. She tells Varvara: “I was only six years old, no more, so I did it! They offended me with something at home, and it was late in the evening, it was already dark: I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat and pushed it away from the shore. The next morning they found it, about ten miles away!”
The bright childhood has passed, and Katerina is married off to an unloved person. Katerina didn’t immediately like life in her mother-in-law’s house. The contentious and cruel Kabanikha, who “eats” her relatives, “sharpens iron like rust,” strives to suppress Katerina’s freedom-loving nature. But the heroine boldly enters into a fight with Kabanikha. Honest and truth-loving, Katerina cannot adapt to the life of the “dark kingdom”. “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me!” - she says decisively to Varvara.
Katerina loves Boris tenderly and passionately. Her love is also a protest against the moral principles of the “dark kingdom”. The strength of her feelings is such that she is ready to neglect social customs and religious concepts: “Let everyone know, let everyone see what I am doing!”
But happiness only beckoned to Katerina. She met with Boris for two weeks, but then Tikhon arrives. Frightened by the thunderstorm and the lamentations of the half-crazy lady, Katerina confesses everything to her husband.
“What, son? Where does the will lead? I spoke, but you didn’t want to listen. That’s what I’ve been waiting for!” - Kabanikha says to Tikhon with anger. She gloats that she defeated Katerina.
But we see that in this struggle it is Katerina who wins morally, not Kabanikha. Katerina's protest is growing. She is ready for anything, so she asks Boris to take her with him. But Boris leaves “not of his own free will”; he is completely dependent on his uncle, the merchant Dikiy.
The last hope went out in Katerina’s soul. “Live again? No, no, don’t... it’s not good!” - she thinks. Katerina understands that living in the Kabanovs' house is immoral. It’s better not to live at all than to put up with “miserable vegetation.”
ON THE. Dobrolyubov writes: “...she is striving for a new life, even if she has to die in this impulse.” Here it is, Katerina’s protest, a protest against evil and philistinism, cruelty and lies, a protest “carried to the end!”
In response to the article by N.A. Four years later, Dobrolyubov published an article by D.I. Pisarev “Motives of Russian drama”. In it, Pisarev criticizes Dobrolyubov’s article “A Ray of Light in the “Dark Kingdom”” and is surprised that the critics could not “make a single objection to Dobrolyubov.” Pisarev says about Katerina: “What kind of love is this, arising from the exchange of several glances?.. Finally, what kind of suicide is this, caused by such minor troubles that are tolerated completely safely by all members of all Russian families?” The critic claims that Dobrolyubov, seeing something good in every act of Katerina, composed perfect image, saw as a result “a ray of light in the “darkness”
nom kingdom.” Pisarev cannot agree with this, since “upbringing and life could not give Katerina either a strong character or a developed mind. The mind is most precious, or rather, the mind is everything.”
Why do the views of Pisarev and Dobrolyubov differ so much? What makes one write about the strength of Katerina’s character, and the other about the weakness of this character? Let us remember that Dobrolyubov’s article was published in 1860, during the revolutionary upsurge, when brave and determined heroes stood in the foreground, striving for a new life, ready to die for its sake. At that time there could be no other protest, but even such a protest affirmed the strength of the individual’s character.
Pisarev's article was written in 1864, in the era of reaction, when thinking people were needed. Therefore D.I. Pisarev writes about Katerina’s action: “...Having committed many stupid things, she throws herself into the water and thus commits the last and greatest absurdity.”
How do I feel about Katerina? Do I consider her “a ray of light in a dark kingdom”? Yes, I love Katerina, I love her kindness and tenderness, the sincerity of her feelings, her determination and truthfulness. I believe that Katerina can be called “a ray of light in the dark kingdom,” since she protests against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, “does not want to put up with, does not want to take advantage of the miserable vegetation that is given to her in exchange for her living soul.”
This, in my opinion, is the strength of Katerina’s character.