The play Thunderstorm is a genre. Analysis of the play “The Thunderstorm” (A.N.

In terms of genre, the play “The Thunderstorm” can be classified as 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 level 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 between the individual and life or himself, as a result of which the hero dies physically, but wins a moral victory, which causes grief in the audience and their spiritual purification through suffering - catharsis. All this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky’s play.

Indeed, Katerina’s death is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slave position in Kabanova’s house. But her victory is also impossible, since it is not her evil mother-in-law who opposes Katerina, but the entire contemporary world - a world of cruelty, lies, obedience and tyranny. To win would mean to change this entire world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, “The Thunderstorm” produces a refreshing impression, which serves as clear evidence of the presence of a cathartic effect among the audience (“a ray of light in a dark kingdom”).

But “The Thunderstorm” is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social and everyday tragedy. The definition of “social” is given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not private, but public in nature. The playwright does not depict a clash between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between the opposing camps into which society is divided. But Ostrovsky’s main artistic discovery is that, having shown the real life of the Volga city in the play, he immersed tragedy in everyday life, although high tragedy, according to existing canons, should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena. Material from the site

The innovation of the genre corresponds to the originality of the plot and composition of the play. The pace of action in the first acts is slow, which is due to the extensiveness of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and viewer with the circumstances, everyday life, and morals in which the characters will 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-plot episodes that play a significant role in the plot, completing the picture of the “dark kingdom”. The tension of dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating a future catastrophe, preparing for it. The climax occurs in Act IV (the scene of repentance), which means that the highest moment in the development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement occurs in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwined into a tight knot, turn out to be untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The circular structure of the play (the events of Acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves for compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.

What works of Russian classics reveal the characters of despot heroes and how are these heroes similar to the characters in A. N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”?

Read the fragment of the work below and complete tasks 1–7, 13, 14. Fifth appearance

The same ones, Kabanova, Varvara and Glasha.

Kabanova. Well, Tikhon, it's time! Go with God! (Sits down.) Sit down, everyone!

Everyone sits down. Silence.

Well, goodbye! (He gets up, and everyone gets up.) Kabanov (approaching his mother). Goodbye, mummy!

Kabanova (gestures to the ground). To your feet, to your feet!

Kabanov bows at his feet, then kisses his mother.

Say goodbye to your wife!

Kabanov. Goodbye Katya!

Katerina throws herself on his neck.

Kabanova. Why are you hanging around your neck, shameless thing! You are not saying goodbye to your lover! He is your husband - the head! Don't you know the order? Bow at your feet!

Katerina bows at her feet.

Kabanov. Goodbye sister! (Kisses Varvara.) Goodbye, Glasha! (Kisses Glasha.) Goodbye, mummy! (Bows.)

Kabanova. Goodbye! Long farewells mean extra tears.

Kabanov leaves, followed by Katerina, Varvara and Glasha. Appearance Six

Kabanova (alone).

What does youth mean? It's funny even to look at them! If it weren’t our own, I would have laughed my fill. They don’t know anything, there is no order. They don’t know how to say goodbye. It’s good that those who have elders in the house are the ones who hold the house together as long as they are alive. But they, too, are stupid, want their own will, but when they are released, they get confused to the obedience and laughter of good people. Of course, no one will regret it, but everyone laughs the most. Yes, it’s impossible not to laugh; They’ll invite guests, they don’t know how to seat them, and, lo and behold, they’ll forget one of their relatives. Laughter, and that's all! This is how the old days come out. I don’t even want to go to another house. And if you get up, you’ll just spit and get out quickly. What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will remain, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything.

Katerina and Varvara enter. Seventh Appearance

Kabanova, Katerina and Varvara.

Kabanova. You boasted that you love your husband very much; I see your love now. Another good wife, having seen her husband off, howls for an hour and a half and lies on the porch; but you, apparently, have nothing.

Katerina. There's no point! Yes, and I can’t. Why make people laugh!

Kabanova. The trick is not great. If I loved it, I would have learned it. If you don’t know how to do it properly, you should at least make this example; still more decent; and then, apparently, only in words. Well, I’ll go and pray to God; Do not bother me.

Varvara. I'll leave the yard.

Kabanova (affectionately). What do I care? Go! Walk until your time comes. You'll still have enough to eat! Kabanova and Varvara leave.

(A. N. Ostrovsky. "Storm".)

To which literary genus does A. N. Ostrovsky’s work “The Thunderstorm” belong?

Explanation.

The drama "The Thunderstorm" belongs to the dramatic genre. Drama or dramatic genre is a type of literature that combines works for production on stage. In these works, the text is presented in the form of character remarks and author's remarks and, as a rule, is divided into actions and phenomena.

Answer: drama|dramatic

Name the literary direction in which the work of A. N. Ostrovsky developed and whose principles were embodied in “The Thunderstorm”.

Explanation.

Realism is a literary movement that involves a truthful depiction of reality. F. Engels identified the main feature of realism: “the depiction of typical characters in typical circumstances.”

Answer: realism

Answer: realism | critical realism

Source: Unified State Examination - 2017. Main wave. Option 3

Answer: remarks

Answer: remarks|remarks

Source: Unified State Examination - 2017. Main wave. Option 3

Establish a correspondence between the characters appearing in this fragment and their actions: for each position in the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column.

Write down the numbers in your answer, arranging them in the order corresponding to the letters:

A	B	IN	G

Explanation.

A) Varvara Kabanova - 2) runs away from home

B) Katerina - 3) challenges the “dark kingdom”

C) Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova - 4) prays fervently to God, but at the same time she sins every day, offending her loved ones

“The Thunderstorm” stands out as the main, landmark work of the playwright. “The Thunderstorm” was supposed to be included in the collection “Nights on the Volga,” conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Ministry of the Navy. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially intended, the cycle of “Volga” plays under a common title. “The Thunderstorm” was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent great changes - the author introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in “The Thunderstorm” is so great that the play can not even be spoken of as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in defense of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to determine unambiguously.

Of course, the play was written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author’s special attention to depicting the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its “cruel morals.” The fictional city is described in detail and in many ways. The landscape concept plays an important role, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Kuligin talks about the beauty of the distances beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Nothing,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina’s stories about childhood - this is the poetry of Kalinov’s world, which collides with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about “naked poverty.” The Kalinovites have preserved only vague legends about the past - Lithuania “fell to us from the sky”, news from the big world is brought to them by the wanderer Feklusha. Undoubtedly, such attention by the author to the details of the characters’ everyday life makes it possible to talk about drama as a genre of the play “The Thunderstorm”.

Another feature characteristic of drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. At first it is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law behind the locks of the house gate, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from an everyday one it develops into a social one. The expression of conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived “not worried about anything,” like a “bird in the wild,” spending the whole day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, or how their love began. In his article, N.A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, and said that this is why the “struggle between passion and duty” is designated “not quite clearly and strongly” for us. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the “Thunderstorms” genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic overall coloring, the play also contains comic and satirical scenes. Feklushi’s anecdotal and ignorant stories about the Saltans, about lands where all the people “have dog heads,” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of “The Thunderstorm,” A.D. Galakhov wrote in a review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

The author himself called his play a drama. But could it have been otherwise? At that time, when speaking about the tragic genre, we were accustomed to dealing with a historical plot, with main characters outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky’s part calling “The Thunderstorm” a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky lay in the fact that he wrote a tragedy based on exclusively life-like material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

The tragedy of “The Thunderstorm” is revealed by a conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). So, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his powerful and despotic mother, is tragic here. Regarding Tikhon’s final words, N.A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon’s “grief” lies in his indecision. If life is sickening, what is stopping him from throwing himself into the Volga? Tikhon cannot do anything at all, not even that “in which he recognizes his goodness and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the situation of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of the rude tyrant - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only “his daily bread” by “honest labor”.

A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero, outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a man of the highest nature,” according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a person “with a great, not petty character.” Turning from this position to “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character.

Katerina differs from Kalinov’s “dark kingdom” in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not the real one, but the one created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue pretending in front of her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have enormous courage to overcome not only the fear of physical death, but also the fear of “being judged” for the sin of suicide. Katerina’s spiritual strength “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the main character. Thus, Katerina, according to V.G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” Katerina's fate was determined by the collision of two historical eras. It’s not just her misfortune that she commits suicide, it’s a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear weighing down her soul.

Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is its cleansing effect on the audience, which arouses in them noble, sublime aspirations. So, in “The Thunderstorm,” as N.A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

The general coloring of the play is also tragic, with its gloom and every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here the parallelism of a social, public thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

Despite the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. Katerina’s death testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, resistance, and the growth of forces called upon to replace the Boars and Wild Ones. The Kuligins may still be timid, but they are already beginning to protest.

So, the genre uniqueness of “The Thunderstorm” lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only the tragedy of Katerina, but the tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a turning point in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the individual’s awareness of self-esteem. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant’s wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky this is only the basis for a high life theme... Here everything rises to tragedy.”

genre play thunderstorm Ostrovsky

The issue of genres has always been quite resonant among literary scholars and critics. Disputes around which genre to classify this or that work gave rise to many points of view, sometimes completely unexpected. Most often, disagreements arise between the author's and the scientific designation of the genre. For example, N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”, from a scientific point of view, should be called a novel. In the case of dramaturgy, too, everything is not so simple. And we are talking here not about the symbolist understanding of drama or futuristic experiments, but about drama within the framework of the realistic method. Speaking specifically about the genre of “Thunderstorms” by Ostrovsky.

Ostrovsky wrote this play in 1859, at a time when theater reform was necessary. Ostrovsky himself believed that the performance of the actors is much more important to the audience, and you can read the text of the play at home. The playwright had already begun to prepare the public for the fact that plays for performance and plays for reading should be different. But the old traditions were still strong. The author himself defined the genre of the work “The Thunderstorm” as drama. First you need to understand the terminology. The drama is characterized by a serious, predominantly everyday plot; the style is close to real life. At first glance, The Thunderstorm has many dramatic elements. This is, of course, everyday life. The morals and way of life of the city of Kalinov are described incredibly clearly. One gets a complete impression not only of a single city, but also of all provincial towns. It is no coincidence that the author points out the conventionality of the setting: it is necessary to show that the existence of the inhabitants is typical. Social characteristics are also distinguished by their clarity: the actions and character of each hero are largely determined by his social position.

The tragic beginning is connected with the image of Katerina and, partly, Kabanikha. A tragedy requires a strong ideological conflict, a struggle that can end in the death of the main character or several characters. The image of Katerina shows a strong, pure and honest personality who strives for freedom and justice. She was married off early against her will, but she was able to fall in love with her spineless husband to some extent. Katya often thinks that she could fly. She again wants to feel that inner lightness that was before marriage. The girl feels cramped and stuffy in an environment of constant scandals and quarrels. She can neither lie, even though Varvara says that the entire Kabanov family rests on lies, nor hush up the truth. Katya falls in love with Boris, because initially both she and the readers think he is the same as her. The girl had the last hope of saving herself from disappointment in life and in people - escaping with Boris, but the young man refused Katya, acting like other residents of a world alien to Katerina.

Katerina's death shocks not only readers and spectators, but also other characters in the play. Tikhon says that everything is to blame for his domineering mother, who killed the girl. Tikhon himself was ready to forgive his wife’s betrayal, but Kabanikha was against it.

The only character who can compare with Katerina in terms of strength of character is Marfa Ignatievna. Her desire to subjugate everything and everyone makes a woman a real dictator. Her difficult character ultimately led to her daughter running away from home, her daughter-in-law committing suicide, and her son blaming her for her failures. Kabanikha, to some extent, can be called Katerina’s antagonist.

The conflict of the play can also be viewed from two sides. From the point of view of tragedy, the conflict is revealed in the collision of two different worldviews: old and new. And from the point of view of drama, the contradictions of reality and characters collide in the play.

The genre of Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" cannot be determined precisely. Some are inclined to the author's version - a social and everyday drama, others propose to reflect the characteristic elements of both tragedy and drama, defining the genre of "Thunderstorms" as an everyday tragedy. But one thing cannot be denied for sure: this play contains both features of tragedy and features of drama.

Work test

Without a doubt, “The Thunderstorm” (1859) is the pinnacle of Alexander Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. The author shows, using the example of family relationships, the most important changes in the socio-political life of Russia. That is why his creation needs detailed analysis.

The process of creating the play “The Thunderstorm” is connected by many threads with past periods in Ostrovsky’s work. The author is attracted by the same issues as in the “Muscovites” plays, but the image of the family receives a different interpretation (the denial of the stagnation of patriarchal life and the oppression of Domostroi was new). The appearance of a bright, good beginning, a natural heroine is an innovation in the author’s work.

The first thoughts and sketches of “The Thunderstorm” appeared in the summer of 1859, and already in early October the writer had a clear idea of the whole picture. The work was greatly influenced by the trip along the Volga. Under the patronage of the Maritime Ministry, an ethnographic expedition was organized to study the customs and morals of the indigenous population of Russia. Ostrovsky also took part in it.

The city of Kalinov is a collective image of different Volga cities, which are at the same time similar to each other, but have their own distinctive features. Ostrovsky, as an experienced researcher, entered all his observations about the life of the Russian province and the specific behavior of the inhabitants in his diary. Based on these recordings, the characters of "The Thunderstorm" were later created.

Meaning of the name

A thunderstorm is not only the rampant nature of the elements, but also a symbol of the collapse and purification of the stagnant atmosphere of a provincial town, where the medieval order of Kabanikha and Dikiy ruled. This is the meaning of the title of the play. With the death of Katerina, which occurred during a thunderstorm, the patience of many people is exhausted: Tikhon rebels against the tyranny of his mother, Varvara escapes, Kuligin openly blames the inhabitants of the city for what happened.

Tikhon first spoke about the thunderstorm during the farewell ceremony: “...For two weeks there will be no thunderstorm over me.” By this word he meant the oppressive atmosphere of his home, where an oppressive mother rules the roost. “A thunderstorm is being sent to us as punishment,” Dikoy says to Kuligin. The tyrant understands this phenomenon as punishment for his sins; he is afraid of paying for his unfair treatment of people. Kabanikha agrees with him. Katerina, whose conscience is also not clear, sees the punishment for sin in thunder and lightning. God's righteous wrath - this is another role of the thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play. And only Kuligin understands that in this natural phenomenon one can only find a flash of electricity, but his progressive views cannot yet get along in a city in need of cleansing. If you need more information about the role and significance of thunderstorms, you can read on this topic.

Genre and direction

“The Thunderstorm” is a drama, according to A. Ostrovsky. This genre defines a heavy, serious, often everyday plot, close to reality. Some reviewers mentioned a more precise formulation: domestic tragedy.

If we talk about the direction, this play is absolutely realistic. The main indicator of this, perhaps, is the description of the morals, habits and everyday aspects of the existence of residents of provincial Volga cities (detailed description). The author attaches great importance to this, carefully outlining the realities of the heroes’ lives and their images.

Composition

Exposition: Ostrovsky paints an image of the city and even the world in which the heroes live and future events will unfold.
What follows is the beginning of Katerina’s conflict with her new family and society as a whole and the internal conflict (dialogue between Katerina and Varvara).
After the beginning, we see the development of the action, during which the heroes strive to resolve the conflict.
Towards the end, the conflict reaches a point where problems require urgent resolution. The climax is Katerina’s last monologue in act 5.
Following it is a denouement that shows the intractability of the conflict using the example of Katerina’s death.

Conflict

Several conflicts can be distinguished in “The Thunderstorm”:

Firstly, this is a confrontation between tyrants (Dikay, Kabanikha) and victims (Katerina, Tikhon, Boris, etc.). This is a conflict between two worldviews - old and new, obsolete and freedom-loving characters. This conflict is highlighted.
On the other hand, the action exists thanks to a psychological conflict, that is, internal - in Katerina’s soul.
The social conflict gave rise to all the previous ones: Ostrovsky begins his work with the marriage of an impoverished noblewoman and a merchant. This trend became widespread during the time of the author. The ruling aristocratic class began to lose power, becoming poorer and ruined due to idleness, wastefulness and commercial illiteracy. But the merchants gained momentum due to unscrupulousness, assertiveness, business acumen and nepotism. Then some decided to improve matters at the expense of others: the nobles married sophisticated and educated daughters to rude, ignorant, but rich sons from the merchant guild. Because of this discrepancy, the marriage of Katerina and Tikhon is initially doomed to failure.

The essence

Brought up in the best traditions of aristocracy, noblewoman Katerina, at the insistence of her parents, married the uncouth and soft-bodied drunkard Tikhon, who belonged to a wealthy merchant family. His mother oppresses her daughter-in-law, imposing on her the false and ridiculous rules of Domostroy: to cry openly before her husband leaves, to humiliate herself in front of us in public, etc. The young heroine finds sympathy from Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, who teaches her new relative to hide her thoughts and feelings, secretly acquiring the joys of life. During her husband's departure, Katerina falls in love and begins dating Diky's nephew, Boris. But their dates end in separation, because the woman does not want to hide, she wants to escape with her beloved to Siberia. But the hero cannot risk taking her with him. As a result, she still repents of her sins to her visiting husband and mother-in-law and receives severe punishment from Kabanikha. Realizing that her conscience and domestic oppression do not allow her to live further, she rushes into the Volga. After her death, the younger generation rebels: Tikhon reproaches his mother, Varvara runs away with Kudryash, etc.

Ostrovsky's play combines features and contradictions, all the pros and cons of feudal Russia of the 19th century. The town of Kalinov is a collective image, a simplified model of Russian society, described in detail. Looking at this model, we see “an essential need for active and energetic people.” The author shows that an outdated worldview only gets in the way. It first spoils family relationships, and later prevents cities and the entire country from developing.

The main characters and their characteristics

The work has a clear character system into which the images of the heroes fit.

First, they are the oppressors. Dikoy is a typical tyrant and a rich merchant. His insults send the relatives running to the corners. Dikoy is cruel to her servants. Everyone knows that it is impossible to please him. Kabanova is the embodiment of the patriarchal way of life, the outdated Domostroy. A wealthy merchant, a widow, she constantly insists on observing all the traditions of her ancestors and herself strictly follows them. We described them in more detail in this.
Secondly, adaptable. Tikhon is a weak man who loves his wife, but cannot find the strength to protect her from her mother’s oppression. He does not support the old orders and traditions, but sees no point in going against the system. Such is Boris, who tolerates the machinations of his rich uncle. This is dedicated to revealing their images. Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikha. She takes it by deceit, living a double life. During the day she formally obeys conventions, at night she walks with Curly. Deceit, resourcefulness and cunning do not spoil her cheerful, adventurous disposition: she is also kind and responsive to Katerina, gentle and caring towards her beloved. An entire story is dedicated to the characterization of this girl.
Katerina stands apart; the characterization of the heroine is different from everyone else. This is a young intelligent noblewoman, whom her parents surrounded with understanding, care and attention. Therefore, the girl got used to freedom of thought and speech. But in marriage she faced cruelty, rudeness and humiliation. At first she tried to come to terms with Tikhon and his family, but nothing worked: Katerina’s nature resisted this unnatural union. She then took on the role of a hypocritical mask who has a secret life. This didn’t suit her either, because the heroine is distinguished by her straightforwardness, conscience and honesty. As a result, out of despair, she decided to revolt, admitting her sin and then committing a more terrible one - suicide. We wrote more about Katerina’s image in a section dedicated to her.
Kuligin is also a special hero. He expresses the author’s position, introducing a bit of progressiveness into the archaic world. The hero is a self-taught mechanic, he is educated and smart, unlike the superstitious inhabitants of Kalinov. We also wrote a short story about his role in the play and character.

Themes

The main theme of the work is the life and customs of Kalinov (we dedicated a separate section to it). The author describes a provincial province to show people that they do not need to cling to the remnants of the past, they need to understand the present and think about the future. And the inhabitants of the Volga town are frozen outside of time, their life is monotonous, false and empty. It is spoiled and hampered in its development by superstition, conservatism, as well as the reluctance of tyrants to change for the better. Such a Russia will continue to vegetate in poverty and ignorance.
Also important themes here are love and family, as throughout the narrative, problems of upbringing and generational conflict are raised. The influence of family on certain characters is very important (Katerina is a reflection of her parents’ upbringing, and Tikhon grew up so spineless because of his mother’s tyranny).
Theme of sin and repentance. The heroine stumbled, but realized her mistake in time, deciding to correct herself and repent of what she had done. From the point of view of Christian philosophy, this is a highly moral decision that elevates and justifies Katerina. If you are interested in this topic, read our about it.

Issues

Social conflict entails social and personal problems.

Ostrovsky, firstly, denounces tyranny as a psychological phenomenon in the images of Dikoy and Kabanova. These people played with the destinies of their subordinates, trampling down manifestations of their individuality and freedom. And because of their ignorance and despotism, the younger generation becomes as vicious and useless as the one that has already outlived its usefulness.
Secondly, the author condemns weakness, obedience and selfishness using the images of Tikhon, Boris and Varvara. By their behavior they only condone the tyranny of the masters of life, although they could jointly turn the situation in their favor.
The problem of the contradictory Russian character, conveyed in the image of Katerina, can be called personal, although inspired by global upheavals. A deeply religious woman, in search and discovery of herself, commits adultery and then commits suicide, which contradicts all Christian canons.
Moral issues associated with love and devotion, education and tyranny, sin and repentance. The characters cannot distinguish one from the other; these concepts are intricately intertwined. Katerina, for example, is forced to choose between loyalty and love, and Kabanikha does not see the difference between the role of a mother and the power of a dogmatist; she is driven by good intentions, but she embodies them to the detriment of everyone.
Tragedy of conscience quite important. For example, Tikhon had to decide whether to protect his wife from his mother’s attacks or not. Katerina also made a deal with her conscience when she became close to Boris. You can find out more about this.
Ignorance. The residents of Kalinov are stupid and uneducated; they believe fortune-tellers and wanderers, and not scientists and professionals in their field. Their worldview is turned to the past, they do not strive for a better life, so there is nothing to be surprised at the savagery of morals and the ostentatious hypocrisy of the main people of the city.

Meaning

The author is convinced that the desire for freedom is natural, despite certain failures in life, and tyranny and hypocrisy are ruining the country and the talented people in it. Therefore, one must defend one’s independence, craving for knowledge, beauty and spirituality, otherwise the old orders will not go away, their falseness will simply embrace the new generation and force them to play by their own rules. This idea is reflected in the position of Kuligin, a unique voice of Ostrovsky.

The author's position in the play is clearly expressed. We understand that Kabanikha, although she preserves traditions, is wrong, just like the rebellious Katerina is wrong. However, Katerina had potential, she had intelligence, she had purity of thoughts, and the great people personified in her could still be reborn, throwing off the shackles of ignorance and tyranny. You can find out even more about the meaning of drama in this topic.

Criticism

"The Thunderstorm" became the subject of fierce debate among critics in both the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, Nikolai Dobrolyubov (article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”), Dmitry Pisarev (article “Motives of Russian Drama”) and Apollon Grigoriev wrote about it from opposite positions.

I. A. Goncharov highly appreciated the play and expressed his opinion in a critical article of the same name:

In the same drama, a broad picture of national life and morals was laid out, with unparalleled artistic completeness and fidelity. Every person in drama is a typical character, snatched directly from the environment of folk life.

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