The main idea of the Ostrovsky thunderstorm. “Central themes and images in the play by A.N.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is rightfully considered not only the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity, but also one of the outstanding works of Russian drama. It represents a large-scale socio-historical conflict, a confrontation between two eras, a crisis in the socio-political life of an entire state. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the literary analysis of the work according to a plan that will be useful for a 10th grade student in preparation for a literature lesson.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing– 1859.
History of creation– The play was written under the influence of a trip along the Volga, during which the writer recorded interesting everyday scenes, conversations and incidents from the life of Volga provincials.
Subject– The work highlights the problems of relationships between two generations, two fundamentally different worlds. Themes of family and marriage, sin and repentance are also raised.
Composition- The composition of the work is based on contrast. The exposition is a description of the characters of the main characters and their way of life, the beginning is the conflict between Katerina and Kabanikha, the development of actions is Katerina’s love for Boris, the climax is Katerina’s internal torment, her death, the denouement is Varvara and Tikhon’s protest against the tyranny of their mother.
Genre- Play, drama.
Direction- Realism.
History of creation
Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, and a few months later it was ready and sent to St. Petersburg for literary critics to judge.
The writer was inspired by an ethnographic expedition along the Volga, organized by the Maritime Ministry to study the morals and customs of the indigenous population of Russia. Ostrovsky was one of the participants in this expedition.
During the trip, Alexander Nikolaevich witnessed many everyday scenes and dialogues of the provincial public, which he absorbed like a sponge. Subsequently, they formed the basis of the play “The Thunderstorm”, giving the drama a folk character and true realism.
The fictional city of Kalinov, described in the play, absorbed the characteristic features of the Volga cities. Their originality and indescribable flavor delighted Ostrovsky, who carefully recorded all his observations about the life of provincial towns in his diary.
For a long time there was a version that the writer took the plot for his work from real life. On the eve of writing the play, a tragic story happened in Kostroma - a young girl named Alexandra Klykova drowned herself in the Volga, unable to withstand the oppressive atmosphere in her husband’s house. An overly domineering mother-in-law oppressed her daughter-in-law in every possible way, while the spineless husband could not protect his wife from his mother’s attacks. The situation was aggravated by the love affair between Alexandra and the postal employee.
Having successfully passed censorship, the play was staged at the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow and the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Subject
In his work, Alexander Nikolaevich raised many important topics, but the main one among them was theme of conflict between two eras- patriarchal way of life and a young, strong and courageous generation, full of bright hopes for the future.
Katerina became the personification of a new, progressive era, which desperately needed liberation from the tenacious shackles of dark philistinism. She could not put up with hypocrisy, servility and humiliation for the sake of established foundations. Her soul strived for the bright and beautiful, but in conditions of musty ignorance, all her impulses were doomed to failure.
Through the prism of the relationship between Katerina and her new family, the author tried to convey to the reader the current situation in society, which was on the verge of a global social and moral turning point. This idea fits perfectly with the meaning of the title of the play - “The Thunderstorm”. This powerful natural element has become the personification of the collapse of the stagnant atmosphere of a provincial town, mired in superstitions, prejudices and falsehood. Katerina’s death during a thunderstorm became the internal impetus that prompted many residents of Kalinov to the most decisive actions.
The main idea of the work lies in persistently defending one’s interests - the desire for independence, beauty, new knowledge, spirituality. Otherwise, all beautiful spiritual impulses will be mercilessly destroyed by the sanctimonious old order, for which any deviation from the established rules brings certain death.
Composition
In “The Thunderstorm,” the analysis includes an analysis of the compositional structure of the play. The peculiarity of the composition of the work lies in the artistic contrast on which the entire structure of the play, consisting of five acts, is built.
On display Ostrovsky's works depict the lifestyle of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinin. He describes the historically established foundations of the world, which is destined to become a decoration for the events described.
Followed by plot, in which Katerina’s conflict with her new family escalates uncontrollably. Katerina’s confrontation with Kabanikha, their reluctance to even try to understand the other side, and Tikhon’s lack of will escalate the situation in the house.
Action Development The play lies in the internal struggle of Katerina, who, out of despair, rushes into the arms of another man. Being a deeply moral girl, she experiences pangs of conscience, realizing that she has committed betrayal towards her legal spouse.
Climax is represented by Katerina’s confession, made under the influence of internal suffering and the curses of an out-of-mind lady, and her voluntary departure from life. In extreme despair, the heroine sees the solution to all her problems only in her death.
Denouement The play lies in the manifestation of Tikhon and Varvara’s protest against Kabanikha’s despotism.
Main characters
Genre
According to Ostrovsky himself, “The Thunderstorm” is realistic drama. This literary genre defines a serious, morally difficult plot, as close to reality as possible. It is always based on the conflict of the protagonist with the environment.
If we talk about the direction, then this play fully corresponds to the direction of realism. Proof of this are detailed descriptions of the morals and living conditions of the inhabitants of small Volga towns. The author attaches great importance to this aspect, since the realism of the work emphasizes it in the best possible way. main idea.
Work test
Rating analysis
Average rating: 4.6. Total ratings received: 4240.
The play "The Thunderstorm" was written by Ostrovsky during the summer and autumn 1859 ., was staged in the same year, and was published in 1860. Thisa period of social upsurge, when the foundations of serfdom were cracking. NazA “thunderstorm” is not just a majestic natural phenomenon, but a social upheaval. The drama reflected the rise of the social movement, those onbuildings in which advanced people of the 50-60 era lived.
It was not by chance that the play “The Thunderstorm” was able to pass through the censorship slingshots.At the request of Ostrovsky's friends, censor I. Nordstrem, who favored the filmmaturg, presented “The Thunderstorm” as a non-social accusatory play, satirecultural, but love and everyday life, without mentioning a word in his report aboutDikoy, neither about Kuligin, nor about Feklush. The "thunderstorm" was resolved by dramaticcensored for presentation in 1859, and published in January I860.
In the most general formulation the main theme of “Thunderstorms” can be defined divide as a clash between new trends and old traditions. between the oppressed and the oppressors, between the aspirations of the oppressed people to the free manifestation of their Human rights, spiritual needs and the social and family orders that prevailed in post-reform Russia, household routines.
The theme of “Thunderstorm” is organically connected with its conflicts. The conflict that forms the basis of the plot of the drama is a conflict between the old, from who lived for themselves, based on authoritarian social and everyday principles affecting the entire system of feudal-serf despotism by other progressive aspirations for equality, for human freedom ness.The conflict “Thunderstorms”, reflecting the plot of the depicted life,represents a node of conflicts united by the main conflict -Katerina and Boris with their environment, he is joined by conconflicts between Kuligin and Dikiy and Kabanikha, Kudryash with Dikiy, Boris with Dikiy,Barbarians with Kabanikha, Tikhon with Kabanikha. The play is a true reflectionunderstanding of social relations, interests and struggles of his time.
The general theme of “Thunderstorms” entails a number of specific themes:
a) story by Kuligin, by the remarks of Kudryash and Boris, by the actions of Dikiy and KabanikhaOstrovsky gives a detailed description of the financial and legal situationof both the privileged social strata and the workers of that era hee;
b) outlining Kuligin’s views and dreams, the author introduces us to the viewsthen dominant in people's lives, with the level of cultural demands andstate of social morals. The theme of struggle runs from start to finishbetween reactionary and democratic forces. This struggle is expressed in the images of Dikoy, Kabanikha and Feklushi, on the one hand, and Kuligin and Katerina, on the other;
c) drawing life, interests, desires and experiences of actionwarring faces of "The Thunderstorm", the author reproduces from different sides the then generalcultural and family life of the merchants and philistines. Thus inThe play highlights the problem of social and family relations. OstRovsky, detailing this problem, vividly outlined the position of women inmixed-merchant environment;
d) answering pressing questions of the timeHowever, Ostrovsky painted a broad background of life in the play. The characters talk about important social phenomena for their time: the emergence of the first railways, cholera epidemics, the development of commercial and industrial activities in Moscow, etc.;
e) along with socio-economic and everyday lifeconditions, the author masterfully painted the surrounding nature, variousthe attitude of the characters towards it.
So, in the words of Goncharov, in “The Thunderstorm” “a broad picture of national life and morals has settled down.” Pre-refor Russia is represented in it both by its socio-economic and cultural tour-moral, and family-everyday appearance.
What's the idea? The author acted as a bold denouncer of social orders; the merciless truth with which the morals of greatruling classes and the position of the working people, turned the play into a mirror of its era. The nature in which people live is wonderful, its riches are limitless, its beauty is amazing. But the social orders that dominate lifeneither, ugly. Under these orders, Ostrovsky says in his play, painthe majority of the population is in material bondage to the wealthy minorityva. “Who has the money,” Kuligin tells Boris about the morals of his city, “he tries to enslave the poor so that his labors will be even more freemoney - to make money” (D 1, yavl. 3). The rich minority are not satisfied with the grabtogether with the people they enslaved, they are waging a fierce struggle for the ruble and among themselves. “And among themselves,” says Kuligin, “how they live! Trading friendthey undermine each other, they quarrel with each other” (D. I , yavl. 3). In conditions beforereform layer, the majority of the population was oppressed not only economicallyski, but also spiritually. The merchants, confident, like the nobility, in their completeimpunity, carried out trials and reprisals against the enslaved, guided only by their own interests and desires. “If I want,” Dikoy swaggers in front of Kuligin, “I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush” (D. IV , yavl. 2). In a menacing shout and constant intimidation of those subject to her, the basic law of lifeKabanikha also sees the swarm.
One of the remarkable features of this play is the organica combination of merciless criticism of the old and approval of the new. Revealingtheme and idea of "Thunderstorm", Ostrovsky divides all characters into two basesny groups: oppressors and oppressed, despots and Protestants. Oppress-whether, the “dark kingdom”, according to Dobrolyubov, is, first of all, Wild andKabanikha, representatives of the bourgeoisie, which was quickly gaining strength in pre-reform Russia. (Kabanikha - Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova). To the cliffAll other heroes are considered as heroes.
Composition of the play
A) Exposition - paintings of the Volga expanse and the stuffiness of Kalinovsky morals
(D. I, yavl. 1-4).
b) The beginning - Katerina responds to her mother-in-law’s nagging with dignity and peacefully
replies: “You are talking about me, Mama, in vain. What's in front of people?
that without people, I’m all alone, I don’t prove anything of myself.” First collision nie (D. I, yavl. 5).
V) Next comes the development of the conflict between the heroes, in nature collecting twice there is a thunderstorm (D. I , yavl. 9). Katerina admits to Varvara that she fell in love with Borisand the prophecy of the old lady, a distant clap of thunder; end D. IV. Thunderstorm a cloud creeps in, like a living, half-mad old woman threatens Katerina with death inthe pool and hell, and Katerina confesses to sin (the first climax), falls unconscious. But the thunderstorm never hit the city, only the pre-storm tension tion.
d) Second climax - Katerina delivers the last monologue when
says goodbye not to life, which is already unbearable, but with love: “My friend!
My joy! Goodbye!" (D. V, yavl. 4).
e) The denouement is Katerina’s suicide, the shock of the inhabitants of the city, Tikhon,
who, being alive, envies his dead wife: “It’s good for you. Kate! And I
Why did you stay to live and suffer!..” (D. \, yavl.7).
Genre originality of the play "The Thunderstorm".
By all indications of the genre, the play “The Thunderstorm” is a tragedy, since theThe conflict between the heroes leads to tragic consequences. There is also in the playelements of comedy (tyrant Dikoy with his ridiculous, humiliating peoplesocial dignity by demands, Feklusha’s stories, Kalin’s reasoningtsev), who help to see the abyss that is ready to swallow Katerina and which Cooley unsuccessfully tries to illuminate with the light of reason, kindness and mercy gin.
Ostrovsky himself called the play a drama, thereby emphasizing the widespread conflict of the play, the everyday life of those depicted in it events.
In literary criticism, the problematics of a work are the range of problems that are addressed in one way or another in the text. This may be one or more aspects that the author focuses on. In this work we will talk about the problems of Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. A. N. Ostrovsky received a literary vocation after his first published play. “Poverty is not a vice,” “Dowry,” “Profitable Place” - these and many other works are devoted to social and everyday themes, but the issue of the problematic of the play “The Thunderstorm” needs to be considered separately.
The play was received ambiguously by critics. Dobrolyubov saw hope for a new life in Katerina, Ap. Grigoriev noticed the emerging protest against the existing order, and L. Tolstoy did not accept the play at all. The plot of “The Thunderstorm,” at first glance, is quite simple: everything is based on a love conflict. Katerina secretly meets with a young man while her husband left for another city on business. Unable to cope with the pangs of conscience, the girl admits to treason, after which she rushes into the Volga. However, behind all this everyday, everyday life, lies much larger things that threaten to grow to the scale of space. Dobrolyubov calls the “dark kingdom” the situation described in the text. An atmosphere of lies and betrayal. In Kalinov, people are so accustomed to moral filth that their resigned consent only aggravates the situation. It becomes scary to realize that it was not the place that made people like this, it was the people who independently turned the city into a kind of accumulation of vices. And now the “dark kingdom” is beginning to influence the inhabitants. After a detailed reading of the text, you can see how widely the problems of the work “The Thunderstorm” have been developed.
The problems in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" are diverse, but at the same time they do not have a hierarchy. Each individual problem is important in its own right.
The problem of fathers and children
Here we are not talking about misunderstanding, but about total control, about patriarchal orders. The play shows the life of the Kabanov family. At that time, the opinion of the eldest man in the family was undeniable, and wives and daughters were practically deprived of their rights. The head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna, a widow. She took on male functions. This is a powerful and calculating woman. Kabanikha believes that she takes care of her children, ordering them to do as she wants. This behavior led to quite logical consequences. Her son, Tikhon, is a weak and spineless person. His mother, it seems, wanted to see him this way, because in this case it is easier to control a person. Tikhon is afraid to say anything, to express his opinion; in one of the scenes he admits that he doesn’t have his own point of view at all. Tikhon cannot protect either himself or his wife from his mother’s hysterics and cruelty. Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, on the contrary, managed to adapt to this lifestyle. She easily lies to her mother, the girl even changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could go on dates with Curly without hindrance. Tikhon is incapable of any rebellion, while Varvara, at the end of the play, runs away from her parents' house with her lover.
The problem of self-realization
When talking about the problems of “The Thunderstorm,” one cannot fail to mention this aspect. The problem is realized in the image of Kuligin. This self-taught inventor dreams of making something useful for all residents of the city. His plans include assembling a perpeta mobile, building a lightning rod, and generating electricity. But this whole dark, semi-pagan world needs neither light nor enlightenment. Dikoy laughs at Kuligin’s plans to find an honest income and openly mocks him. After a conversation with Kuligin, Boris understands that the inventor will never invent a single thing. Perhaps Kuligin himself understands this. He could be called naive, but he knows what morals reign in Kalinov, what happens behind closed doors, what those in whose hands the power is concentrated are like. Kuligin learned to live in this world without losing himself. But he is not able to sense the conflict between reality and dreams as keenly as Katerina did.
The problem of power
In the city of Kalinov, power is not in the hands of the relevant authorities, but in those who have money. Proof of this is the dialogue between the merchant Dikiy and the mayor. The mayor tells the merchant that complaints are being received against the latter. Savl Prokofievich responds rudely to this. Dikoy does not hide the fact that he is cheating ordinary men; he talks about deception as a normal phenomenon: if merchants steal from each other, then it is possible to steal from ordinary residents. In Kalinov, nominal power decides absolutely nothing, and this is fundamentally wrong. After all, it turns out that it is simply impossible to live without money in such a city. Dikoy imagines himself almost like a priest-king, deciding who to lend money to and who not. “So know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush you,” is how Dikoy answers Kuligin.
The problem of love
In "The Thunderstorm" the problem of love is realized in the couples Katerina - Tikhon and Katerina - Boris. The girl is forced to live with her husband, although she does not feel any feelings other than pity for him. Katya rushes from one extreme to another: she thinks between the option of staying with her husband and learning to love him, or leaving Tikhon. Katya's feelings for Boris flare up instantly. This passion pushes the girl to take a decisive step: Katya goes against public opinion and Christian morality. Her feelings turned out to be mutual, but for Boris this love meant much less. Katya believed that Boris, like her, was incapable of living in a frozen city and lying for profit. Katerina often compared herself to a bird; she wanted to fly away, to break out of that metaphorical cage, but in Boris Katya saw that air, that freedom that she so lacked. Unfortunately, the girl was mistaken about Boris. The young man turned out to be the same as the residents of Kalinov. He wanted to improve relations with Dikiy in order to get money, and he talked with Varvara about the fact that it was better to keep his feelings for Katya secret for as long as possible.
Conflict between old and new
We are talking about the resistance of the patriarchal way of life to the new order, which implies equality and freedom. This topic was very relevant. Let us remember that the play was written in 1859, and serfdom was abolished in 1861. Social contradictions reached their climax. The author wanted to show what the lack of reforms and decisive action can lead to. Tikhon’s final words confirm this. “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world and suffer!” In such a world, the living envy the dead.
This contradiction most strongly affected the main character of the play. Katerina cannot understand how one can live in lies and animal humility. The girl was suffocating in the atmosphere that had been created by the residents of Kalinov for a long time. She is honest and pure, so her only desire was so small and so great at the same time. Katya just wanted to be herself, to live the way she was raised. Katerina sees that everything is not at all as she imagined before her marriage. She cannot even allow herself a sincere impulse - to hug her husband - Kabanikha controlled and suppressed any attempts by Katya to be sincere. Varvara supports Katya, but cannot understand her. Katerina is left alone in this world of deceit and dirt. The girl could not bear such pressure; she finds salvation in death. Death frees Katya from the burden of earthly life, turning her soul into something light, capable of flying away from the “dark kingdom.”
We can conclude that the problems raised in the drama “The Thunderstorm” are significant and relevant to this day. These are unresolved questions of human existence that will worry people at all times. It is thanks to this formulation of the question that the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a timeless work.
Work test
The premiere of “The Thunderstorm” took place on December 2, 1859 at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. A.A. Grigoriev, who was present at the performance, recalled: “This is what the people will say!.. I thought, leaving the box into the corridor after the third act of “The Thunderstorm”, which ended with an explosion...
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The main character of Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm". The main idea of the work is the conflict of this girl with the “dark kingdom”, the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. You can find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic by looking into Katerina’s soul and understanding her ideas about life. And this can be done thanks to the skill of the playwright Ostrovsky. From Katerina's words we learn about her childhood and adolescence. The girl did not receive a good education.
She lived with her mother in the village. Katerina's mood was joyful and cloudless. “she doted on her” and did not force her to do housework. Katya lived freely: she got up early, washed herself with spring water, climbed flowers, went to church with her mother, then sat down to do some work and listened to wanderers and praying mantises, of which there were many in their house. Katerina had magical dreams in which she flew under the clouds. And how strongly contrasted with such a quiet, happy life is the action of a six-year-old girl, when Katya, offended by something, ran away from home to the Volga in the evening, got into a boat and pushed off from the shore! ... We see that Katerina grew up as a happy, romantic, but limited girl.
She was very devout and passionately loving. She loved everything and everyone around her: nature, the sun, the church, her home with wanderers, the beggars whom she helped. But the most important thing about Katya is that she lived in her dreams, apart from the rest of the world. From everything that existed, she chose only that which did not contradict her nature; the rest she did not want to notice and did not notice.
That’s why the girl saw angels in the sky, and for her the church was not an oppressive and oppressive force, but a place where everything is light, where you can dream. We can say that Katerina was naive and kind, brought up in a completely religious spirit. But if she encountered something on her way that contradicted her ideals, then she turned into a rebellious and stubborn nature and defended herself from that extraneous, stranger that boldly disturbed her soul. This was the case with the boat.
After marriage, Katya's life changed a lot. From a free, joyful, sublime world in which she felt united with nature, the girl found herself in a life full of deception, cruelty and desolation. The point is not even that Katerina married Tikhon against her will: she didn’t love anyone at all and she didn’t care who she married. The fact is that the girl was robbed of her former life, which she created for herself. Katerina no longer feels such delight from visiting church; she cannot do her usual activities. Sad, anxious thoughts do not allow her to calmly admire nature. Katya can only endure as long as she can and dream, but she can no longer live with her thoughts, because cruel reality returns her to earth, to where there is humiliation and suffering.
Katerina is trying to find her happiness in her love for Tikhon: “I will love my husband. Silence, my darling, I won’t exchange you for anyone.” But sincere manifestations of this love are stopped by Kabanikha: “Why are you hanging around your neck, shameless woman, you’re not saying goodbye to your lover.” Katerina has a strong sense of external humility and duty, which is why she forces herself to love her unloved husband. Tikhon himself, because of his mother’s tyranny, cannot truly love his wife, although he probably wants to. And when he, leaving for a while, leaves Katya to walk around to his heart's content, the girl (already a woman) becomes completely lonely.
Why did Katerina fall in love with Boris? After all, he did not exhibit his masculine qualities, like Paratov, and did not even talk to her. Probably the reason was that she lacked something pure in the stuffy atmosphere of Kabanikha’s house. And love for Boris was this pure, did not allow Katerina to completely wither away, somehow supported her. She went on a date with Boris because she felt like a person with pride and basic rights. It was a rebellion against submission to fate, against lawlessness. Katerina knew that she was committing a sin, but she also knew that it was still impossible to live any longer. She sacrificed the purity of her conscience to freedom and Boris.
In my opinion, when taking this step, Katya already felt the approaching end and probably thought: “It’s now or never.” She wanted to be satisfied with love, knowing that there would be no other opportunity. On the first date, Katerina told Boris: “You ruined me.”
Boris is the reason for the disgrace of her soul, and for Katya this is tantamount to death. Sin hangs like a heavy stone on her heart. Katerina is terribly afraid of the approaching thunderstorm, considering it a punishment for what she did.
Katerina has been afraid of thunderstorms ever since she started thinking about Boris. For her pure soul, even the thought of loving a stranger is a sin. Katya cannot live any longer with her sin, and she considers repentance to be the only way to at least partially get rid of it. She confesses everything to her husband and Kabanikha.
Such an act seems very strange and naive in our time. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” that’s Katerina. Tikhon forgave his wife, but did she forgive herself, being very religious.
Katya fears God, but her God lives in her, God is her conscience. The girl is tormented by two questions: how will she return home and look into the eyes of the husband she cheated on, and how will she live with a stain on her conscience. Katerina sees death as the only way out of this situation: “No, I don’t care whether I go home or go to the grave... It’s better in the grave... Living again No, no, don’t... it’s not good.” Haunted by her sin, Katerina leaves life to save your soul.
Dobrolyubov defined Katerina’s character as “decisive, integral, Russian.” Decisive, because she decided to take the last step, to die in order to save herself from shame and remorse. Whole, because in Katya’s character everything is harmonious, one, nothing contradicts each other, because Katya is one with nature, with God. Russian, because who, if not a Russian person, is capable of loving so much, capable of sacrificing so much, so seemingly obediently enduring all hardships, while remaining himself, free, not a slave. Ostrovsky wrote the play “The Thunderstorm” in 1859 at a time when a change in social foundations was imminent in Russia, on the eve of the peasant reform.
Therefore, the play was perceived as an expression of the spontaneous revolutionary sentiments of the masses. It was not for nothing that Ostrovsky gave his play the name “The Thunderstorm”. A thunderstorm occurs not only as a natural phenomenon, the action unfolds to the sounds of thunder, but also as an internal phenomenon - the characters are characterized through their attitude to the thunderstorm. For each hero, a thunderstorm is a special symbol, for some it is a harbinger of a storm, for others it is purification, the beginning of a new life, for others it is a “voice from above” that predicts some important events or warns against any actions.
In Katerina’s soul there is, to no one, an invisible thunderstorm, a thunderstorm for her is heavenly punishment, “the hand of the Lord,” which should punish her for betraying her husband: “It’s not so scary that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly overtake you with all evil thoughts." Katerina is afraid and waits for a thunderstorm. She loves Boris, but this depresses her. She believes that she will burn in “fiery hell” for her sinful feelings. For mechanic Kuligin, a thunderstorm is a crude manifestation of natural forces, consonant with human ignorance, which must be fought. Kuligin believes that by introducing mechanization and enlightenment into life, one can achieve power over “thunder,” which carries the meaning of rudeness, cruelty and immorality: “I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind.”
Kuligin dreams of building a lightning rod to rid people of the fear of thunderstorms. For Tikhon, a thunderstorm is anger, oppression on the part of his mother. He is afraid of her, but as a son he must obey her. Leaving home on business, Tikhon says: “How can I know that there won’t be any thunderstorms over me for two weeks, I don’t have these shackles on my legs.” Dikoy believes that it is impossible and sinful to resist lightning. For him, a thunderstorm means submission.
Despite his wild and evil disposition, he obediently obeys Kabanikha. Boris fears human thunderstorms more than natural ones. That's why he leaves, abandons Katerina alone and not with people's rumors. “It’s scarier here! “- says Boris, running away from the place of prayer of the entire city.
The thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play symbolizes both ignorance and anger, heavenly punishment and retribution, and purification, insight, and the beginning of a new life. This is evidenced by a conversation between two townspeople of Kalinov; changes began to occur in the residents’ worldview, and their assessment of everything that was happening began to change. Perhaps people will have a desire to overcome their fear of thunderstorms, to get rid of the oppression of anger and ignorance that reigns in the city. After terrible rumbles of thunder and lightning strikes, the sun will shine above our heads again.
N.A. Dobrolyubov, in the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” interpreted the image of Katerina as “a spontaneous protest brought to the end,” and suicide as a force of freedom-loving character: “such liberation is bitter; but what to do when there is nothing else.”
I believe that Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” was timely and contributed to the fight against the oppressors.
