To what class did the boar from the thunderstorm belong? Wild and Kabanikha (based on the play by A
In 1856, A. N. Ostrovsky travels along the Volga. The impressions from the trip are reflected in his work; “The Thunderstorm” was also written based on this trip. This is a story about a merchant's wife, brought up in strictness and morality, who fell in love with a young man. Having cheated on her husband, she is unable to hide it. Having publicly repented of treason, she rushes into the Volga.
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The controversial image of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova
The play is based on a comparison of two strong opposite images: Ekaterina and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. In fact, they have a lot in common: the primacy of the patriarchal world, the maximalism inherent in both, strong characters. Despite their religiosity, they do not compromise and are not inclined to mercy. This is where their similarities end. They are at different poles of the patriarchal world. Kabanikha is an earthly woman; she is concerned about maintaining order down to the smallest detail. She is not interested in human relationships. The patriarchal way of life for Katerina is characterized by dreaminess and spirituality.
The image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” is one of the central. She is a widow left with two children, Varvara and Tikhon. She can rightly be called harsh and merciless for Tikhon’s reproaches that he loves his mother less than his wife Katerina, and constantly strives to escape his mother’s will.
The predominant personality trait of Kabanikha can be called despotic, but not extravagant. Each of her demands on others, be it her son or daughter-in-law, is subject to the moral and everyday code of “Domostroy”. Therefore, she firmly believes in the principles that it speaks of, and considers their strict adherence to them correct. Turning to Domostroevsky concepts, she believes that children should honor their parents so much that the will of the children does not matter at all. Relations between spouses should be built on the wife’s fear of her husband and unquestioning submission to him.
Kabanikha in the speech of strangers
The characterization of Kabanikha becomes clear to the reader thanks to the statements of the characters in the play. The first mention of Marfa Ignatievna comes from the lips of Feklusha. This is a poor wanderer who is grateful to her for her kindness and generosity. In contrast, Kuligin’s words sound that she is generous to the poor, and not to her relatives. After these brief characteristics, the reader gets acquainted with Kabanikha. Kuligin's words are confirmed. The mother finds fault with the words of her son and daughter-in-law. Even with her meekness and sincerity, Katerina does not inspire confidence in her. Reproaches fly towards the son for lack of love for his mother.
Opinion of her family members about Kabanova
One of the most emotional moments of the play - scene of seeing off Tikhon's son. Kabanikha reproaches him for not bowing at his mother’s feet and does not say goodbye to his wife as he should. Katerina, after Tikhon’s departure, according to Kabanikha, should show her love for him - howl and lie on the porch. The younger generation is violating all customs and traditions, and this leads Kabanikha to sad reflections.
Katerina, the daughter-in-law, gets more than everyone else. Any word she says is cut off with harsh attacks and remarks. Noticing affection, and not fear, in Tikhon’s treatment, Kabanikha angrily reproaches her. Her ruthlessness reaches its limit after Katerina's confession. In her opinion, her daughter-in-law deserves to be buried alive in the ground.
Kabanikha treats Katerina with contempt, considering her an example of how disrespectful young people are towards the older generation. Most of all, she is burdened by the thought that she may be left without power. Her behavior leads to the tragic ending of the play. The suicide committed by Katerina is also her fault. The daughter-in-law endured humiliation against her for a long time and one day she could not stand it.
Obeying the orders of an extravagant mother, Tikhon becomes a spineless creature. The daughter runs away, tired of her parent’s constant interference in her personal life. The ancient way of life with true high morality disappears from life, leaving only a dead, oppressive shell. The young heroes of the play pretend to observe patriarchal commandments. Tikhon pretends to love his mother, Varvara goes on secret dates, only Katerina is tormented by conflicting feelings.
Marfa Ignatievna is busy with earthly affairs. She considers herself fair because, in her opinion, the severity of parents will have the best effect on children - they will learn to be kind. But the old way of life is collapsing, the patriarchal system is disappearing. This is a tragedy for Marfa Ignatievna. However, hot temper and extravagance are not in her character. She is dissatisfied with the temper of her godfather Dikiy. Dikoy’s willful behavior and complaints about her family irritate her.
Kabanikha is devoted to the traditions of her family and ancestors and honors them without judging, evaluating or complaining about them. If you live according to the will of your fathers, this will lead to peace and order on earth. There is religiosity in Kabanikha’s character. She believes that a person will go to hell for committing evil deeds, but at the same time she does not consider herself guilty of anything. Humiliation of others at the expense of her wealth and power is in the order of things for her.
Kabanikha characterized by authority, cruelty and confidence in the correctness of one’s views. In her opinion, maintaining the old ways can protect her home from the unrest happening outside her home. Therefore, rigidity and firmness manifests itself more and more clearly in her character. And having eradicated his own unnecessary emotions, he cannot tolerate their manifestation in others. For disobedience to her words, those closest to her are punished with cold-blooded humiliation and insults. At the same time, this does not apply to strangers; she is pious and respectful with them.
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is an ambiguous character, it is difficult to feel sorry for her or just condemn her. On the one hand, she hurts her family members, and on the other, she firmly believes in the correctness of her behavior. Thus, the negative qualities of Kabanikha’s character can be called:
- cruelty;
- authority;
- composure.
And the positive ones:
- strong unshakable character;
- religiosity;
- "kindness and generosity towards strangers."
Work:
Kabanikha (Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna) - “rich merchant’s wife, widow,” mother-in-law of Katerina, mother of Tikhon and Varvara.
K. is a very strong and powerful person. She is religious, but does not believe in forgiveness and mercy. This heroine consists entirely of earthly affairs and interests. She is interested in maintaining patriarchal order and form. It requires people, first of all, to strictly perform rituals and rites. The emotional side and feelings interest K. in the last place.
K. is dissatisfied with her family, especially her son and his wife. She nags them all the time. K. finds fault with her son’s imaginary cooling towards her and makes jealous remarks to his wife. According to K., the correct family structure is based on the fear of the younger ones before the elders. “Fear” and “order” are the main thing in the home life for K. Therefore, the heroine does not feel like a tyrant: “After all, out of love, your parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach you good.” But K. feels that the old way of life is being violated, she is one of its last guardians: “This is how the old way of life comes to be... I don’t know what will happen, how the elders will die.” This awareness gives tragedy to her figure. K. is not a tyrant, she condemns her godfather Dikiy for tyranny and treats him as a weak person. K. is the personification of the patriarchal way of life, the keeper of the traditions of his ancestors. According to the heroine, it is not her place to judge whether they are good or bad. We must live as our fathers bequeathed - this is a guarantee of the preservation of life and world order in general. At the end of the play, K. experiences his “thunderstorm”. Katerina publicly confesses her sin, her son rebels against her in public, Varvara runs away from their home. K.’s world is dying, and with it she herself.
Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna (Kabanikha) is the central heroine of the play, mother of Tikhon and Varvara, mother-in-law of Katerina. The list of characters says about her: a rich merchant's wife, a widow. In the system of characters in the play, he is the antagonist of the main character, Katerina, a contrasting comparison with whom is of decisive importance for understanding the meaning of the play. The similarity of the heroines can be seen both in their belonging to the world of patriarchal ideas and values, and in the scale and strength of their characters. Both of them are maximalists, they will never come to terms with human weaknesses, they do not allow the possibility of any compromise. The religiosity of both also has one similar feature: they both do not believe in forgiveness and do not remember mercy. However, this is where the similarities end, creating the basis for comparison and emphasizing the essentially significant antagonism of the heroines. They represent, as it were, two poles of the patriarchal world. Katerina - his poetry, spirituality, impulse, dreaminess, the spirit of the patriarchal way of life in its ideal meaning. Kabanikha is all chained to the earth and earthly affairs and interests, she is a guardian of order and form, defends the way of life in all its petty manifestations, demanding strict execution of ritual and order, not caring in the least about the inner essence of human relations (see her rude response to Katerina’s words about that her mother-in-law is like her own mother; all the teachings are for her son).
K. in the play is characterized not only by her own speeches and actions, but is also discussed by other characters. For the first time, the wanderer Feklusha speaks about her: “I’m so happy, so, mother, happy, up to my neck! For our failure to leave them even more bounties, and especially to the Kabanovs’ house.” Before this remark is Kuligin’s judgment: “Prudence, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” Soon after these preliminary characteristics, K. appears, emerging from vespers, accompanied by her family, whom she constantly nags, finding fault with her son’s imaginary cooling towards her, showing jealous hostility towards his young wife and distrust of her sincere words (“For me, mamma, It’s all the same as your own mother, as you are. And Tikhon loves you too”). From this conversation we learn that, in K.’s opinion, proper family order and household structure are based on the fear of the younger ones before the elders; she tells Tikhon about his relationship with his wife: “He won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me. What kind of order will there be in the house?” Thus, if the key words in Katerina’s ideas about a happy and prosperous life in the house are “love” and “will” (see her story about life as a girl), then in K.’s ideas they are fear and order. This is especially clearly visible in the scene of Tikhon’s departure, when K. forces his son to strictly follow the rules and “order his wife” how to live without him. K. has no doubts about the moral correctness of the hierarchical relations of “patriarchal life, but there is no longer any confidence in their inviolability. On the contrary, she feels almost the last guardian of the correct world order (“This is how the old days come to be... What will happen , how the elders will die, how the light will remain, I don’t know”), and the expectation that chaos will come with her death adds tragedy to her figure. She does not consider herself a rapist either: “After all, your parents are strict with you out of love sometimes they scold you out of love, everyone thinks to teach you good." If Katerina already feels in a new way, not like Kalinov, but is not aware of this, then K., on the contrary, still feels quite in the old way, but she clearly sees that her world is perishing. Of course, this awareness is clothed in completely “Kalinov-esque”, medieval forms of popular philosophizing, mainly in apocalyptic expectations. All this is revealed by her dialogue with Feklusha, the peculiarity of which is that it characterizes, first of all, K.’s worldview, although Feklusha “utters” these thoughts, and K. strengthens herself, wants to assure her interlocutor that they really have “paradise and silence” in their city, but at the end of the scene her true thoughts are fully revealed in the last two remarks, as if sanctioning Feklusha’s apocalyptic reasoning: “And it will be worse than this, dear,” and in response to the words of the wanderer: “We just wouldn’t live to see this” - K. he says matter-of-factly: “Maybe we’ll live.” One cannot accept the very common definition of K. as “tyrant.” Tyranny is not the order of the patriarchal world, but the rampant self-will of a powerful person, who also in his own way violates the correct order and ritual. K. condemns his godfather Dikiy, a real tyrant (unlike K. herself, who strictly adheres to orders and rules), and treats with contempt his violence and complaints about his family as a sign of weakness. Those around him do not doubt K.’s strength of character (“If only our mistress had been in charge of him, she would have stopped him soon,” notes the maid Glasha in response to Boris, who complains about Dikiy’s rampage). K. herself, no matter how much she punishes the children for disrespect and disobedience, would never even think of complaining to strangers about the disorder in her home. And therefore, for her, Katerina’s public recognition is a terrible blow, which will soon be joined by her son’s open rebellion in public, not to mention the escape of her daughter Varvara from home. Therefore, in the finale of “The Thunderstorm” there is not only the death of Katerina, but also the downfall of K. Of course, the antagonist of the tragic heroine does not evoke sympathy.
Kabanikha is the central character of A.N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm” (1859). K. belongs to those powerful and strong natures who recognize themselves as the keepers of “order”, the original norms and rules of life: Kukushkina (“Profitable Place”), Ulanbekova (“The Pupil”), Murzavetskaya (“Wolves and Sheep”), Mavra Tarasovna (“Truth is good, but happiness is better”). A mistress of her own (“a rich merchant’s wife, a widow”), Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova runs the house, relying on the ancient law of life and custom. “Order” for her is a means of curbing free life, the only protection of the “home space” from the chaos of “will.” K. feels like a guardian of the “law” and therefore lives her life calmly, firmly and faithfully, eradicating any hint of disobedience at home. K.'s cruelty is manifested in the habit of controlling the “thunderstorm”, not knowing love, doing without mercy, not suspecting the possibility of forgiveness. Old Testament severity emanates from K.’s wish to his sinning daughter-in-law: “To bury her alive in the ground so that she will be executed.” Nothing can shake K.’s confidence in the correctness of her philosophy of life: neither her daughter’s flight from her hateful home, nor the suicide of her daughter-in-law, whom she “crushed,” nor the sudden accusations of her hitherto weak-willed and speechless son: “Mama, you ruined her.” She judges Katerina mercilessly and says without regret: “It’s a sin to cry about her.” Kuligin's reminders about God, a merciful judge, are useless - K. does not respond to them in any way. But, according to custom, he “bows low to the people” for his service in searching for the poor suicide. K. is “fierce”, “cool” in observing “antiquity” - and all “under the guise of piety”. The monumental image of K. is a living embodiment of the “cruel morals” about which Boris says: “I understand that all this is our Russian, native, but still I can’t get used to it.” K. is revealed in the play as an honest and terrible defender of the graceless “law”, not enlightened by Christian love. A further development of this image in Russian drama was M. Gorky’s Vassa Zheyaeznova. The first performer of the role of K. was N.V. Rykalova (1859). Other performers include F.V. Shevchenko (1934), V.N. Pashennaya (1962).
Kabanikha in the play "The Thunderstorm" is the antagonist of the main character, Katerina. The contrast of characters in a work is of decisive importance, revealing its meaning. The heroines are representatives of opposite poles of the patriarchal world. If Katerina is spirituality, poetry, kindness, mercy, then Marfa Ignatievna is earthiness, love of money, pettiness.
The heroine's relationship with her family
An ignorant person, rude, superstitious, a guardian of old laws, despotic, loves to teach and keep everyone in fear - this is a brief description of Kabanikha. This is a rich merchant's wife, widow, mother of Varvara and Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A woman appears to her family, her relatives, she constantly nags, lectures, tries to preserve the old ways at home and gets angry when young people do not listen to her. Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna firmly believes that order can only be restored if you keep everyone in fear.
The characterization of Kabanikha allows the reader to understand the attitude of the Old Believers to the new world. The merchant's wife raised her children in fear, and she wants to extend her power to her daughter-in-law. She constantly lectures her son, forces him to punish his wife, to keep her on a short leash. When Tikhon wonders why it is necessary to make Katerina afraid of him, because she loves him, his mother shouts at him. After all, if the daughter-in-law is not afraid of her husband, then she will not be afraid of her mother-in-law.
The merchant's relationship with others
Kabanikha regularly goes to church, surrounds herself with cliques, and regularly gives alms to the poor. The merchant's wife speaks with her godfather Dikiy as equals. Although these two belong to the same world and support the old order, Kabanikha’s characterization shows that the woman still treats the landowner’s tyranny with contempt. Marfa Ignatieva does keep her family in fear, but she does this to maintain order in the house, and not because of her violent nature. In addition, the merchant’s wife will never complain in public about problems in her family, as Dikiy does.
The last guardian of order
The image of Kabanikha is the embodiment of Old Belief, some medieval foundations. The merchant's wife suffers from the fact that her world is slowly collapsing. She sees that young people do not support her, do not respect old laws, and think in new ways. The woman is filled with some kind of apocalyptic expectations; she does not understand what will happen when all the old-timers die out, and there is no one to resist everything modern. The Kabanov House is almost the last stronghold where the dogmas of antiquity are revered.
The characterization of Kabanikha does not evoke pity for this heroine, although at the end of the play not only Katerina, but also her mother-in-law suffered. For the merchant's wife, the public confession of her daughter-in-law, her son's rebellion and her daughter's escape from home were a terrible blow. But this woman did not understand that by her non-acceptance of the modern world she led to the death of Katerina, ruined Varvara’s life and pushed Tikhon to drunkenness. No one got better from Kabanikha’s rule. But she doesn’t understand this, because the merchant’s wife, even after so many misfortunes, continues to insist on her own.
According to I. A. Goncharov, A. N. Ostrovsky “brought a whole library of artistic works as a gift to literature, and created his own special world for the stage.” The world of Ostrovsky’s works is amazing. He created large and integral characters, knew how to emphasize comic or dramatic properties in them, and draw the reader’s attention to the virtues or vices of his heroes.
The heroes of the play “The Thunderstorm” deserve special attention - Savel Prokofievich Dikoy and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova.
Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is a merchant, a significant person in the city of Kalinov. The heroes of the play give him eloquent characteristics. “He belongs everywhere. He’s afraid of someone!” - Kudryash says about him. Dikoy, in fact, does not recognize anything other than his own will. He doesn't care about the thoughts and feelings of other people. It costs Savel Prokofievich nothing to scold, humiliate, or insult. With those around him, he behaves as if he had “lost his chain,” and without this he “cannot breathe.” “...You are a worm,” he says to Kulig. “If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush.”
The power of the Wild One is stronger, the weaker, more weak-willed the person. So Kudryash, for example, knows how to resist the Wild One. “...He is the word, and I am ten; he will spit and go. No, I won’t slave to him,” says Kudryash about his relationship with the merchant. Another man is Dikiy’s nephew, Boris. “He got Boris Grigoryich as a sacrifice, so he rides on it,” people around him notice. The wild one is not embarrassed by the fact that Boris is an orphan and that he has no one closer to his uncle. The merchant realizes that the fate of his nephew is in his hands, and takes advantage of this. “Driven, beaten...” Boris says sadly. The merchant is no less cruel to his employees: “With us, no one dares even say a word about a salary, he’ll scold you for all he’s worth.” The unscrupulous Dikoy makes his fortune from other people's slave labor and deception: "... I will underpay them by a penny... but I make thousands from this...". However, sometimes the Dikiy has an epiphany, and he realizes that he is going too far: “After all, I already know that I have to give, but I can’t do everything with good.”
Dikoy is a despot and tyrant in his family, “his own people cannot please him,” “when he is offended by a person whom he does not dare to scold; here, stay home!”
Kabanikha, the rich Kalinovsky merchant’s wife, is not inferior to Dikiy. Kabanikha is a hypocrite, she does everything “under the guise of piety.” Outwardly she is very pious. However, as Kuligin notes, Kabanikha “gives money to the poor, but completely eats up her family.” The main object of her tyranny is her own son Tikhon. Being an adult, married man, he is completely at the mercy of his mother, has no opinion of his own, and is afraid to contradict her. Kabanikha “builds” his relationship with his wife, she guides his every action, every word. Complete obedience is all she wants to see in her son. The power-hungry Kabanikha does not notice that under her yoke a cowardly, pathetic, weak-willed, irresponsible man has grown up. Having escaped from the supervision of his mother for a while, he chokes on freedom and drinks, because he does not know how to use freedom in any other way. “...Not one step out of your will,” he repeats to his mother, and “he himself is thinking about how he can escape as quickly as possible.”
Kabanikha is jealous of her son’s daughter-in-law, constantly reproaches him with Katerina, “she eats him.” “I already see that I’m a hindrance to you,” she nags Tikhon. Kabanikha believes that the wife of her husband should be afraid, precisely afraid, and not love or respect. In her opinion, correct relationships are built precisely on the suppression of one person by another, on humiliation, on lack of freedom. Indicative in this regard is the scene of Katerina’s farewell to her husband, when all Tikhon’s words addressed to his wife are just a repetition of Kabanikha’s instigations.
If Tikhon, who has been crushed by her since childhood, suffers from Kabanikha, then the life of such a dreamy, poetic and integral nature as Katerina in the merchant’s house becomes unbearable. “Here, whether she got married or whether she buried her, it’s all the same,” Boris argues about this.
Constant pressure forces Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, to adapt. “Do what you want, as long as it’s sewn and covered,” she reasons.
Assessing the images of the “masters of life,” N. Dobro-lyubov shows Diky and Kabanikha as tyrants, with their “constant suspicion, scrupulousness and pickiness.” According to the critic, “The Thunderstorm” is Ostrovsky’s most decisive work” in this play “the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought... to the most tragic consequences...”.
As you know, in classical works and fairy tales there are several types of heroes. This article will focus on the antagonist-protagonist pair. This opposition will be examined using the example of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. The main character of this play, in other words the protagonist, is a young girl Katerina Kabanova. She is opposed, that is, is an antagonist, by Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Using the example of comparisons and analysis of actions, we will give a more complete description of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm”.
First, let's look at the list of characters: Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha) - an old merchant's wife, a widow. Her husband died, so the woman had to raise two children alone, manage the household and take care of business. Agree, this is quite difficult at the present time. Despite the fact that the merchant's nickname is indicated in parentheses, the author never calls her that. The text contains remarks from Kabanova, not Kabanikha. With such a technique, the playwright wanted to emphasize the fact that people call a woman this way among themselves, but they personally address her with respect.
That is, in fact, the residents of Kalinov do not like this man, but they are afraid of him.
Initially, the reader learns about Marfa Ignatievna from the lips of Kuligin. The self-taught mechanic calls her “a hypocrite who has eaten up everyone at home.” Kudryash only confirms these words. Next, a wanderer, Feklusha, appears on the stage. Her judgment about Kabanikha is exactly the opposite: quote. As a result of this disagreement, additional interest in this character arises. Marfa Ignatievna appears on stage already in the first act, and the reader or viewer is given the opportunity to verify the veracity of Kuligin’s words.
Kabanikha is not happy with the way her son behaves. She teaches him to live, despite the fact that his son is already an adult and has been married for a long time. Marfa Ignatievna shows herself as a grumpy, domineering woman. Her daughter-in-law Katerina behaves differently. In general, it is quite interesting to trace the similarities and differences of these characters throughout the play.
In theory, both Kabanikha and Katerina should love Tikhon. For one he is a son, for another he is a husband. However, neither Katya nor Marfa Ignatievna have real love for Tikhon. Katya feels sorry for her husband, but does not love him. And Kabanikha treats him as a guinea pig, as a creature on whom you can take out your aggression and test methods of manipulation, while hiding behind maternal love. Everyone knows that the most important thing for every mother is the happiness of her child. But Marfa Kabanova in “The Thunderstorm” is not at all interested in Tikhon’s opinion. Through years of tyranny and dictatorship, she was able to teach her son that the lack of his own point of view is quite normal. Even observing how carefully and, in some moments, tenderly Tikhon treats Katerina, Kabanikha always tries to destroy their relationship.
Many critics argued about the strength or weakness of Katerina’s character, but no one doubted the strength of Kabanikha’s character.
This is a truly cruel person who tries to subjugate those around him. She should rule the state, but she has to waste her “talents” on her family and provincial town. Varvara, the daughter of Marfa Kabanova, chose pretense and lies as a way of coexistence with her oppressive mother. Katerina, on the contrary, resolutely opposes her mother-in-law. They seemed to take two positions, truth and lie, defending them. And in their conversations that Kabanikha should not categorically blame Katya for mistakes and various sins, the struggle of light and darkness, truth and the “dark kingdom”, of which Kabanikha is a representative, emerges through the everyday background.
Katerina and Kabanikha are Orthodox Christians. But their faith is completely different. For Katerina, faith that comes from within is much more important. For her, the place of prayer is not important. The girl is devout, she sees the presence of God throughout the world, and not just in the church building. Marfa Ignatievna’s religiosity can be called external. For her, rituals and strict adherence to rules are important. But behind all this obsession with practical manipulations, faith itself disappears. Also, for Kabanikha it turns out to be important to observe and maintain old traditions, despite the fact that many of them are already outdated: “they won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me. What kind of order will there be in the house? After all, you, tea, live with her in law. Ali, do you think the law means nothing? Yes, if you hold such stupid thoughts in your head, you should at least not talk in front of her, in front of your sister, in front of the girl.” It is impossible to characterize Kabanikha in Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm” without mentioning her almost manic attention to detail. Tikhon, the son of Kabanova Sr., is a drunkard, his daughter Varvara is lying, hanging out with whoever she wants, and is about to run away from home, disgracing the family. And Marfa Ignatievna is worried that they come to the door without bowing, not as their great-grandfathers taught. Her behavior is reminiscent of the behavior of the priestesses of a dying cult, who are trying with all their might to maintain life in it with the help of external paraphernalia.
Katerina Kabanova was a somewhat suspicious girl: in the “prophecies” of the crazy lady she imagined her own fate, and in the thunderstorm the girl saw the punishment of the Lord. Kabanikha is too mercantile and down-to-earth for this. She is closer to the material world, practicality and utilitarianism. Kabanova is not at all afraid of thunder and thunder, she just doesn’t want to get wet. While the residents of Kalinov are talking about the raging elements, Kabanikha grumbles and expresses her dissatisfaction: “Look, what races he has made. There is something to listen to, nothing to say! Now the times have come, some teachers have appeared. If an old man thinks like that, what can we demand from young people!”, “Don’t judge your older self! They know more than you. Old people have signs for everything. An old man won’t say a word to the wind.”
The image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a kind of generalization, a conglomerate of negative human qualities. It’s hard to call her a woman, a mother, or even a person in general. Of course, she is far from the dummies of the city of Foolov, but her desire to subjugate and dominate killed all human qualities in Marfa Ignatievna.
Characteristics of the image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky |
