The emotional drama of Katerina in the drama of the Ostrovsky thunderstorm. Essay - Katerina's emotional drama (based on the play by A.N.

It is not for nothing that Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is considered one of the pillars of Russian literature. The playwright, who became one of the founders of the Russian theater, became one of the founders of Russian drama. “The Poor Bride”, “Poverty is not a Vice”, “Profitable Place” - identified him as one of the best playwrights of his era. Separately in this list of masterpieces is “The Thunderstorm”. A work that Stanislavsky considered one of the masterpieces of Russian theater.

Katerina, as a key character in the play, is in conflict between your own desires and society. An independent person who does not want to follow established values, but choose her own path. She finds herself in a situation where she has to make a choice - either submit or give up her life. She must marry Tikhon (the powerless, weak-willed and morally weak son of her mother).

She sincerely loves him and feels sorry for him, but at the same time she understands that it is simply impossible to live like that. She wants love, a full-fledged family, and not the oppression of a patriarchal mother-in-law. Key phrase, which also appears in other works, became “Why don’t people fly like birds?” The desire to become something more than just a girl given in marriage leads Katerina to moral betrayal.

An affair with Boris initially helps her become above society, but then morally destroys herself. Cheating on one's husband is not right, but in Ostrovsky it is in some way justified by the despotism of the mother-in-law and the lack of will of the husband. The understanding that Katerina went against the foundations to which she, as a Christian, held on, leads her to the precipice. Moral pressure, the inability to divide oneself between tradition and spiritual impulse led to tragedy. The episode with Tikhon's confession is considered by critics to be one of the best dramatic moments for its time.

Is Katerina to blame for her death? Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky leaves us to answer this question. The moral tragedy of the heroine only points to a stagnant system, which, with its immobility, crushes everyone in its path, and perhaps we can come to the conclusion that circumstances pushed the unfortunate girl to this act. However, it cannot be said that she did not have another way out - rather, it was not in her character to simply fight and look for other options for solving the problem. And the play itself received many film adaptations (the first in 1933, directed by Vladimir Petrov).

The image of Catherine has become one of the most significant in Russian literature. A restless woman who cannot, but wants to choose between duty and freedom, has become the basis for many characters. This complex image, which is close to many women and evokes understanding and sympathy among readers.

Heartwarming drama Katerina was and remains the central part of A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. Classic included in school curriculum, has not lost its relevance today. Let's consider the main elements of Katerina's emotional drama, which is the most important thing in the play.

The main content of the play "The Thunderstorm"

Katerina's emotional drama is the central tragedy of the play. The work itself tells about the life of people who represented the old merchant class. Unhappy Katerina (the girl’s emotional drama is noticeable from the very beginning of the work) is in constant nervous tension from what her life is like. Having married at the behest of her parents, the young girl is forced to endure her husband, whom she cannot contradict her mother, and her mother-in-law, who endlessly humiliates the quiet and modest Katerina.

One fine day, the girl realizes that she does not love her husband at all. Katerina realizes that a completely different man owns her heart. The girl decides on a very risky meeting, to which her husband’s sister persuades her.

Having learned that her feelings are mutual, Katerina continues to meet with her lover at night. After some time, the beautiful and kind-hearted Katerina feels guilty before her husband for her deception and infidelity to him.

Soon the affair will be revealed to the public. Katerina is crushed by her personal experiences. In addition, the girl is under constant pressure from her relatives and all her acquaintances, who know very little about what is happening. All the people around do not understand Katerina’s spiritual drama, her torment and doubts. In the end, all this pressure from different sides pushes the young girl to commit suicide - jumping from a cliff into the water.

The heartache of the main character

If we talk about Katerina’s emotional drama (all schoolchildren write essays about the girl’s experiences), which is central character, it is important to understand that the girl’s suicide was not a sign of weakness. Although many are ready to argue here. Despite various arguments, Ostrovsky nevertheless described Katerina’s emotional drama in such a way that the girl’s suicide is a kind of challenge posed by Katya to the entire society around her.

School essay

Speaking about Katerina’s emotional drama in a student’s essay, we can give some advice that can help the work become better and give the most detailed answers to the questions posed.

So, the essay should begin with the fact that the work is relevant and popular today. Since the writing of the play about the mental anguish of Katerina, who was an ordinary girl from a good family, the work has been regularly staged in various theaters around the world. The creation of A. Ostrovsky is known throughout the world because it affects important issues public.

The cause of heartbreak and tragedy

The next step towards this goal will be to explain what place Katerina occupies (the emotional drama in “The Thunderstorm” is the main theme) in the work. It is important to say that Katerina is the ray of the entire society that surrounds the girl. She is the only bright thing left of all humanity, which is obsessed with everything exclusively material. The girl could not find her place in the world because of her worldview, which was Katerina’s main spiritual drama.

A person's moral qualities have no value. An essay about the emotional drama of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” must necessarily contain this aspect. The merchants themselves represented that segment of the population that could solve any problem with money. This is important, because it was not for nothing that Ostrovsky chose this particular period Russian history for the events of his play.

Katerina's image

The image of a girl in the work is central image, around which all events unfold. Katerina symbolizes the purity of the Russian soul, religiosity, honesty and beauty. All this contributed to the development of emotional drama in Katerina. The sister of the girl’s husband pushed Katerina to meet her lover, saying that you can, even when married, do whatever your heart desires, as long as no one knows about it. Tormented by doubts for a long time, Katerina decides to meet, saying that if she was not ashamed to do this to her husband, then she does not care what people say. Despite such obvious manifestation mental strength, the girl still experiences severe torment because of her action: she is ashamed not only in front of her husband, but also in front of herself.

The reason for the girl's suicide

The main character was unable to cope with her emotional distress regarding her action. Living exclusively according to the laws of conscience, Katerina every minute reproached herself for her love not for her husband, but for a completely different man. This played an important role in making the decision to commit suicide. Katerina cheated not only on her husband, but also on herself, dooming herself to long and painful torment and suffering. In addition, she did not have a single friend who could support the girl, and the whole society learned about the secret meetings of the girl and her lover. People around her condemn this, not realizing that Katerina was only trying to find her happiness in this world. In addition, Katerina was already very lonely; the girl’s only friend was her husband’s sister, who knew about secret evenings lovers. She was the only one who didn’t condemn poor girl, who knows nothing about true love and struggling with her desires.

General conclusion about the work

Katerina became an example of those human qualities that have ceased to be valued in modern world. Not finding understanding among her friends and those around her, the girl challenged the entire society, showing that the laws of conscience are much more important than all material wealth. Position in society does not have the same value as honesty and kindness. Katerina herself, whose spiritual drama evokes empathy and compassion in any reader, never wished harm to anyone, treated people loyally until the public began to condemn her for trying to finally become happy.

Ostrovsky managed to show the essence merchant society in all its glory, the remnants of which have survived to this day. Since those very years, people have been very much influenced by public opinion, which is often too biased and erroneous. Katerina, who became the main character of the play, only acts as a victim who is unable to withstand and resist such pressure around her. This can be explained by the fact that the girl does not have any moral and psychological support. The girl, despite the fact that she is the personification of light in the work, is completely alone. Katerina’s emotional drama in the play is that she has never been able to find her place in this world, where any moral qualities of a person have ceased to be valued.

1. Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom.
2. Carefree childhood and the easy youth of Katerina
3. Marriage to Tikhon, or Katerina’s personal Hell
4. Boris as a savior for Katerina
5. Katerina’s death as liberation from earthly torment and humiliation
____________________
Katerina's character influences us

A new life that

Reveals to us in the very

Her death.

N. A. Dobrolyubov.

Dobrolyubov, analyzing in detail the image of Katerina, called her “a ray of light in dark kingdom“, and in this I agree with him, since Ostrovsky showed the lack of rights of women in that era. A woman had to obey her husband in everything, forget that she was the same person, with the same rights as a man. She had to do everything for show, observing old rituals.

Katerina - “Russian” a strong character“, for whom truth and a sense of duty are above all.

Katerina's childhood and youth were carefree. As she herself says: ... “she lived, grieved for nothing, like a bird in the wild.” Mama doted on her, dressed her up like a doll, and did not force her to work. The young girl went to wash herself, listened to the stories of the wanderers, then sat down to do some work, and so the whole day passed.

Since childhood, Katya was a very brave, determined, hot girl. If she encountered something on her way that contradicted her ideals, she became stubborn and rebellious. This is confirmed by the boat incident. When Katerina was six years old, she was offended by her parents, ran away from home in the evening to the Volga, got into a boat and pushed off from the shore. And they found her only in the morning, about ten miles away.

Given in marriage to Tikhon, she found herself in an evil environment of heartlessness and stupid slavish admiration for the power of the old. Kabanova is trying to instill in Katerina her laws, which, in her opinion, constitute the basis of domestic well-being and the strength of family ties. This is how her son was raised. Kabanova intended to mold Katerina into something similar to what she turned her child into.

But Katya is trying to defend her right to respect, she doesn’t want to please anyone, she wants to love and be loved. Tikhon does not give her this love, and the need for it draws her to Boris. She sees that in appearance he is similar to other residents of the city of Kalinov, and imagines that he is the only person who will dare to take her from the “dark kingdom” to fairy world. The heroine is looking for an explanation for her feelings, in her soul she wants to justify herself to her husband, she is trying to tear away vague desires from herself.

The most main feature Her character is honesty. Honesty with yourself, your husband and other people. She cannot lie, hide.

The greatest value is freedom of the soul. Living in parental home, she didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild, but once in the Kabanovs’ house, Katerina found herself in an atmosphere of annoying guardianship, humiliation, suspicion and lies. Not the desire to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom”, the ability to preserve the purity of one’s soul is evidence of the heroine’s strength of character. She says about herself: “And if I get really tired of it here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.”

With such a character, Katya could not stay in his house after betraying Tikhon. It is difficult for her to be where she is not understood. Before her death she says: “Whether going home or going to the grave is the same... It’s better in the grave...” Katerina considers her death to be liberation from earthly torment and humiliation. Such liberation is sad, but what can you do when there is no other way out.

The heroine dies defending her independence. By dying, she saves her soul and gains the desired freedom.

The true tragedy of man is misunderstanding and rejection of the world around him. Lack of harmony between external and inner world makes us suffer, deprives us of support and confidence. main character Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" cannot understand and accept the laws of the cruel world in which he lives. She is unlike everyone around her. She is spontaneous, naive, sincere. Katerina cannot understand and accept hypocrisy and hypocrisy, without which she can adapt to morals and orders merchant environment impossible.

Katerina doesn't know how to pretend. And this quality makes her especially vulnerable. Nobody gives her a helping hand. The “Dark Kingdom” oppresses and tortures the girl, sacrifices her. Who could take Katerina's side? A weak and weak-willed husband? Varvara? Or someone else? Alas, everyone is only concerned with how to protect themselves, hide from others, become invisible and inaudible, in order to ensure peace of mind.
And Katerina doesn’t even have a hint of peace of mind. The girl is literally suffocating from the tight shackles in which she finds herself. The conflict with the “dark kingdom” is heating up, and as a result, a real tragedy occurs.
Katerina also suffers because she real life very different from life in my parents' home. As a child, she was surrounded by care and love, felt free and absolutely happy. The exalted and romantic girl turned out to be literally “unsuited” to real life. She would like to see the world bright and colorful, but the “dark kingdom” does not correspond to her desires. Katerina by nature has a light, easy-going character. She is cheerful, needs new experiences and positive emotions. But the gray, dull, monotonous life makes Katerina suffer and waste away.
After marriage, Katerina turns from a cheerful, ardent girl into a dumb and powerless creature. She is deprived of the opportunity to openly express her feelings. A gloomy, joyless life forces a girl to look for at least something good for herself, to try to fill the emptiness in her soul. Katerina tries to find in herself at least some warm feelings towards her husband. “I will love my husband. Silence, my darling, I won’t exchange you for anyone.” But, alas, Kabanikha herself suppresses the girl’s timid attempts to fill the emptiness in her soul with feelings for her husband. Mother-in-law’s phrase: “What are you hanging around your neck, shameless woman? You are not saying goodbye to your lover” clearly indicates that any manifestations of sincere human feelings in the “dark kingdom” are prohibited.
However, is it possible to forbid a person to dream, feel, hope? As long as we are alive, such aspirations will delight and warm us. That is why unhappy and lonely Katerina continues to look for at least a little warmth for herself, which she was deprived of for so long. Love for Boris is not only a protest against the order in a patriarchal environment, it is an attempt to somehow decorate one’s empty and monotonous life. Emotional and open girl has a rich imagination. She sees Boris not at all as he really is. She deliberately embellishes the image of her beloved, endowing him with those features that were not at all characteristic of him. Love allows Katerina to feel happy at least for a while. But by the standards of the “dark kingdom,” love is a crime. Katerina understands this very well, obviously, which is why she senses her inevitable death in advance.
This can largely be explained by the fact that, having felt free and happy, Katerina can no longer return to her former life. A breath of freedom showed her in the best possible way the wretchedness and lack of rights of her usual position. Katerina says to Boris: “You ruined me.” But this phrase cannot be considered a simple reproach; Katerina puts much more into it deep meaning. Boris unwittingly turned the unfortunate girl's whole life upside down, after which she does not see her future.
Katerina is religious, she believes that for any sin there will definitely be retribution. This is why she is so afraid of thunderstorms. The phenomenon of nature is perceived by her as God's punishment. Why does Katerina confess her sin to her mother-in-law and husband? Yes, because she mentally reconciled herself with the worst. Further existence seems meaningless to her. She is depressed, trampled. And therefore he does not consider it necessary to hide further. We can say that Katerina completely lacks the instinct of self-preservation. She sees no point in living further. “No, I don’t care whether I go home or go to the grave... It’s better in the grave... To live again? No, no, don’t... it’s not good.”
Katerina's suicide is her challenge to society and at the same time an attempt to save herself from shame, to break out of the shackles of despair. She found herself completely alone, no one showed an iota of sympathy for her. Her spiritual drama turned out to be too difficult to come to terms with the further hardships of an empty and worthless life.

"Thunderstorm" is highest achievement Ostrovsky in the pre-reform years (1859) - Central conflict The play, conceived as a social drama, gradually reaches true tragedy. This happens thanks to the image central heroine plays by Katerina Kabanova.

From the very first scenes, the heroine attracts the attention of the audience. Sincerity sounds in the story about her free life in home spent among flowers, icons, prayers. Religion for Katerina is a love of beauty. God is everywhere for her, but her simple-hearted faith is also filled with sincere impulses to live according to her conscience, according to God’s covenants: “I’m not afraid to die, but when I think that suddenly I will appear before God as I am here with you, after this conversation , that’s what’s scary,” Katya says in a conversation with Varvara.

In the first scenes, in conversations with Kabanikha, Katerina meekly tries to come to terms with her mother-in-law’s grumpy remarks. But Kabanikha personifies the entire way of life and laws of the surrounding world. And it immediately becomes clear that the heroine with her dreamy and romantic soul is a stranger in the Kabanovs’ house.

Katerina is a free soul, a poetic nature. The author captured the beauty in her people's soul. “You know, sometimes it seems to me that I’m a bird. When you’re standing on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly,” she says to Varvara and admits that now it’s as if she’s been replaced and “some kind of dream creeps into my head.” This outlines the theme of the heroine’s discord with the world and with herself, associated with the unclear needs of the soul, the desire for love.

The heroine is endowed with such human qualities, which are not valued in the world of Kabanovs and Wild. There is not a drop of falsehood in her, she is always natural and frank: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.” Katya is modest, but not at all resigned: “And if I get tired of being here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.”

Why did such a deep and integral personality turn out to be broken? Why did her prophetic premonitions come true (“I will die soon”)?

In the play, two conflicts develop simultaneously. One of them - caused by social reasons - the conflict of a free soul with “tyrant power” plays, according to Dobrolyubov, main role in drama. The other - internal, affecting moral aspects - develops in the soul of the heroine. This is what determines the tragedy of Ostrovsky’s play.

Dobrolyubov is right: “The character of the heroine expresses the demand for the right and spaciousness of life, he is focused, decisive and selfless,” and her nature is “filled with an instinctive sense of freedom.” According to the critic, Katerina takes the path of free love, which is above prejudice. But soon the heroine becomes convinced that her feeling is incompatible with the life of society, because external circumstances put pressure on her. Tragic ending Dobrolyubov interprets it as the highest form of protest, as the triumph of light over darkness.

Catherine's drama cannot be motivated by social reasons alone. Resolution is very important for a playwright moral problems: mental struggle Katerina - central theme"Thunderstorms".

So, in the first act, in a conversation with Varvara, the heroine admits that she loves someone - this is the beginning of the plot. Even then her soul is filled with confusion and horror. main topic accompanied by the image of a thunderstorm. Katerina's soul is in tune with the world around her - nature is full of beauty, but also threat, which increases the heroine's anxiety.