The meaning of the title of Ostrovsky's play is the arrangement of characters. The meaning of the title of the drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N.
What is the meaning of the play "The Thunderstorm" by the great Russian playwright A. Ostrovsky?
“The Thunderstorm” is, without a doubt, Ostrovsky’s most decisive work; the mutual relations of tyranny and voicelessness are brought to the most tragic consequences in it... There is even something refreshing and encouraging in “The Thunderstorm”.
N. A. Dobrolyubov
A.N. Ostrovsky received literary recognition after the appearance of his first major play. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became a necessary element of the culture of his time; he retained the position of the best playwright of the era, the head of the Russian dramatic school, despite the fact that at the same time A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. F. Pisemsky, A. K Tolstoy and L. N. Tolstoy. The most popular critics viewed his works as a true and profound reflection of modern reality. Meanwhile, Ostrovsky, following his own original creative path, often baffled both critics and readers.
Thus, the play “The Thunderstorm” came as a surprise to many. L.N. Tolstoy did not accept the play. The tragedy of this work forced critics to reconsider their views on Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. Ap. Grigoriev noted that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a protest against the “existing”, which is terrible for its adherents. Dobrolyubov stated in his article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom.” that the image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” “breathes on us with new life.”
Perhaps for the first time, scenes of family, “private” life, the arbitrariness and lawlessness that were hitherto hidden behind the thick doors of mansions and estates, were shown with such graphic power. And at the same time, this was not just an everyday sketch. The author showed the unenviable position of a Russian woman in a merchant family. The enormous power of the tragedy was given by the special truthfulness and skill of the author, as D.I. Pisarev rightly noted: “The Thunderstorm” is a painting from life, which is why it breathes truth.”
The tragedy takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I’ve been looking across the Volga every day and I can’t get enough of it. The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. However, the life and customs of the rich merchants created “a world of prison and deathly silence.” Savel Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova are the personification of cruelty and tyranny. The order in the merchant's house is based on the outdated religious dogmas of Domostroy. Dobrolyubov says about Kabanikha that she “gnaws at her victim... long and relentlessly.” She forces her daughter-in-law Katerina to bow at her husband’s feet when he leaves, scolds her for “not howling” in public when seeing off her husband.
Kabanikha is very rich, this can be judged by the fact that the interests of her affairs go far beyond Kalinov; on her instructions, Tikhon travels to Moscow. She is respected by Dikoy, for whom the main thing in life is money. But the merchant's wife understands that power also brings obedience to those around her. She seeks to kill any manifestation of resistance to her power in the home. The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant. Tikhon does not contradict her in anything. Varvara learned to lie, hide and dodge.
The main character of the play, Katerina, is marked by a strong character; she is not used to humiliation and insults and therefore conflicts with her cruel old mother-in-law. In her mother’s house, Katerina lived freely and easily. In the Kabanov House she feels like a bird in a cage. She quickly realizes that she cannot live here for long.
Katerina married Tikhon without love. In Kabanikha’s house, everything trembles at the mere imperious cry of the merchant’s wife. Life in this house is difficult for young people. And then Katerina meets a completely different person and falls in love. For the first time in her life, she experiences deep personal feeling. One night she goes on a date with Boris. Whose side is the playwright on? He is on Katerina’s side, because a person’s natural aspirations cannot be destroyed. Life in the Kabanov family is unnatural. And Katerina does not accept the inclinations of those people with whom she ended up. Having heard Varvara’s offer to lie and pretend, Katerina replies: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.”
Katerina's directness and sincerity evokes respect from both the author, the reader, and the viewer. She decides that she can no longer be a victim of a soulless mother-in-law, she cannot languish behind bars. She's free! But she saw a way out only in her death. And one could argue with this. Critics also disagreed about whether it was worth paying Katerina for freedom at the cost of her life. So, Pisarev, unlike Dobrolyubov, considers Katerina’s act senseless. He believes that after Katerina’s suicide everything will return to normal, life will go on as usual, and the “dark kingdom” is not worth such a sacrifice. Of course, Kabanikha brought Katerina to her death. As a result, her daughter Varvara runs away from home, and her son Tikhon regrets that he did not die with his wife.
It is interesting that one of the main, active images of this play is the image of the thunderstorm itself. Symbolically expressing the idea of the work, this image directly participates in the action of the drama as a real natural phenomenon, enters into action at its decisive moments, and largely determines the actions of the heroine. This image is very meaningful; it illuminates almost all aspects of the drama.
So, already in the first act a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It broke out like a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I’ll die soon,” she confessed to Varvara her sinful love. In her mind, the mad lady's prediction that the thunderstorm would not pass in vain, and the feeling of her own sin with a real thunderclap had already been combined. Katerina rushes home: “It’s still better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!”
After this, the storm ceases for a short time. Only in Kabanikha’s grumbling are its echoes heard. There was no thunderstorm that night when Katerina felt free and happy for the first time after her marriage.
But the fourth, climactic act, begins with the words: “The rain is falling, as if a thunderstorm is not gathering?” And after that the thunderstorm motif never ceases.
The dialogue between Kuligin and Dikiy is interesting. Kuligin talks about lightning rods (“we have frequent thunderstorms”) and provokes the wrath of Dikiy: “What other kind of electricity is there? Well, how come you are not a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself, God forgive me, with poles and some horns. What are you, a Tatar or what?” And in response to the quote from Derzhavin, which Kuligin cites in his defense: “I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind,” the merchant does not find anything to say at all, except: “And for these words, send you to the mayor, so he will will ask!”
Undoubtedly, in the play the image of a thunderstorm acquires a special meaning: it is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, the mind is condemned in the dark kingdom; it is faced with impenetrable ignorance, supported by stinginess. But still, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched the long-silent Tikhon and flashed over the destinies of Varvara and Kudryash. The thunderstorm shook everyone up thoroughly. Inhuman morals will sooner or later come to an end. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.
The title of a work very often reflects either its essence or gives the reader at least a little understanding of what will be discussed. This does not apply to texts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but this provision can be fully applied to texts of the era of realism. For example, in “Poor People” by F. Dostoevsky it really talks about poor people, and in “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" by L. Tolstoy shows precisely these stages of a person’s life. The same can be said for plays. One of Ostrovsky's dramas, which will be discussed, was written in 1859, during a time of acute social contradictions. The meaning of the title of the play “The Thunderstorm” is not limited to the characteristics of a natural phenomenon.
In order to most accurately answer the question of why Ostrovsky called the drama “The Thunderstorm,” we need to take a closer look at this image.
As you know, sentimentalists introduced the image of nature into literature, conveying the feelings and emotions of heroes using the landscape. Thunder and lightning in Ostrovsky's play perform the same functions. Initially, the author describes the pre-storm time. This concerns not only the weather (some characters notice that it may soon start to rain), but also the social situation. Before a thunderstorm it is usually very stuffy - the same is true in the city of Kalinov. People who don't like lies and hypocrisy find it impossible to breathe in such an environment. Money talk, drinking and judgment become concentrated to the point where disaster becomes inevitable. In order for this state of affairs to change, a push, a blow, a catalyst was needed, which in the text of the play is thunder and thunder.
The thunderstorm is one of the main characters in the fourth act, namely in the scene of a walk along the embankment. Kuligin draws attention to the gathering rain, admiring the power of nature. He thinks that a lightning rod would be useful to all residents of the city, but Dikoy does not share his ideas. In act No. 4, the author's remarks that a clap of thunder is heard are repeatedly repeated. These sounds become the auditory design of the climactic scene, increasing the semantic load and enhancing the severity of the unfolding tragedy. It is the thunderstorm that frightens Katerina, makes her nervous and weak. The girl, hearing the rumble of thunder, confesses to betraying her husband and Kabanikha, and with the next lightning strike she falls unconscious.
As already indicated earlier, the title of the play “The Thunderstorm” has several meanings. There is one more aspect that needs to be considered in more detail. The thunderstorm appears before the reader not only as a manifestation of the elements, but also as a separate character. The thunderstorm seems like a fate that hangs over all the heroes. It is no coincidence that Tikhon, before leaving, says that “there will be no thunderstorms over him for two weeks.” By the word “thunderstorm,” Kabanov means the entire unhealthy atmosphere that reigns in their family. This mainly concerns Marfa Ignatievna’s moral teachings, because for two whole weeks the mother will not interfere in her son’s life.
Kuligin, for example, is not afraid of thunderstorms. On the contrary, he calls on residents to come to their senses from causeless anxiety: “it’s not the thunderstorm that kills!
...kills grace! Perhaps Kuligin is the only character who does not have an internal feeling of a thunderstorm. There is no premonition of impending misfortune. Dikoy believes that “a thunderstorm is sent as punishment.” The merchant thinks that people should be afraid of thunderstorms, even though it scares the Wild One himself. Katerina considers the thunderstorm to be God's punishment. The girl is also afraid of her, but not as much as Dikoy. There is a significant difference between the concepts of “punishment” and “punishment”: punishment is rewarded only for sins, but you can punish just like that. Katerina considers herself a sinner because she betrayed her husband. In her soul, just like in nature, a thunderstorm begins. Doubts accumulate gradually, Katerina is torn between the desire to live her life and control her own destiny and stay in her familiar surroundings, trying to forget about her feelings for Boris. There can be no compromise between these contradictions.
Another meaning of the name of the drama “The Thunderstorm” can be called a plot-forming factor. The thunderstorm becomes the impetus for the conflict to end. Both the internal contradiction of the main character and the conflict between representatives of the “dark kingdom” and educated people of the 19th century. Katerina was frightened by the words of the crazy Lady about beauty, which certainly leads to the whirlpool, but only after a clap of thunder did Katerina admit to treason.
The relationship between Boris and Katya can also be compared to a thunderstorm. There is a lot of decisive, passionate, spontaneous things in them. But, like a thunderstorm, this relationship would not last long.
So, what is the meaning of the title of the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky? The thunderstorm appears as a natural phenomenon, framing the work with an auditory frame; as a separate image; as a symbol of fate and punishment; as a kind of generalized reflection of the social catastrophe that hung over Russia in the 19th century.
The given versions of the title of Ostrovsky’s drama are intended to answer the popular question “why was the thunderstorm called a thunderstorm?” This information can help 10th grade students in revealing the relevant topic in the essay “The meaning of the title of the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky.”
Work test
Ostrovsky can rightfully be called a great Russian playwright. In his works, he was the first to show the life and way of life of the merchant class. In the play “The Thunderstorm,” the writer characterized the state of provincial society in Russia on the eve of reforms. The playwright examines such issues as the position of women in the family, the modernity of “Domostroy”, the awakening in a person of a sense of personality and self-worth, the relationship between the “old”, oppressive, and the “young”, voiceless.
The main idea of “The Thunderstorm” is that a strong, gifted and courageous person with natural aspirations and desires cannot exist happily in a society where “cruel morals” prevail, where “Domostroy” reigns, where everything is based on fear, deception and submission .
The name “Thunderstorm” can be viewed from several perspectives. A thunderstorm is a natural phenomenon, and nature plays an important role in the composition of the play. So, it complements the action, emphasizes the main idea, the essence of what is happening. For example, a beautiful night landscape corresponds to a date between Katerina and Boris. The vastness of the Volga emphasizes Katerina’s dreams of freedom; a picture of cruel nature is revealed when describing the suicide of the main character. Then nature contributes to the development of action, pushes events, as it were, stimulates the development and resolution of the conflict. Thus, in the thunderstorm scene, the elements prompt Katerina to publicly repent.
So, the title “The Thunderstorm” emphasizes the main idea of the play: a sense of self-worth awakening in people; the desire for freedom and independence begins to threaten the existence of the old order.
The world of Kabanikha and the Wild One is coming to an end, because a “ray of light” has appeared in the “dark kingdom” - Katerina - a lady who cannot put up with the oppressive atmosphere reigning in the family and the city. Her protest was expressed in her love for Boris, in her unauthorized death. Katerina chose death over existence in a world where she was “sick of everything.” She is the first lightning of the storm that will soon break out in society. The clouds have been gathering over the “old” world for a long time now. Domostroy has lost its original importance. Kabanikha and Dikoy use his ideas only to justify their tyranny and tyranny. They were unable to convey to their children true faith in the inviolability of their rules of life. Young people live according to the laws of their fathers as long as they can reach a compromise through deception. When oppression becomes unbearable, when deception only partially saves, then protest begins to awaken in a person, it develops and is able to come out at any moment.
Katerina's suicide awakened the man in Tikhon. He saw that there was always a way out of this situation, and he, the most weak-willed of all the characters described by Ostrovsky, who had unquestioningly obeyed his mother all his life, blames her for the death of his wife in public. If Tikhon is already able to express his protest, then the “dark kingdom” actually does not have long to exist.
The thunderstorm is also a symbol of renewal. In nature, after a thunderstorm, the air is fresh and clean. In society, after the storm that began with Katerina’s protest, there will also be a renewal: the oppressive and subjugating orders will probably be replaced by a society of freedom and independence.
But a thunderstorm occurs not only in nature, but also in Katerina’s soul. She committed a sin and repents of it. Two feelings are fighting in her: fear of Kabanikha and fear that “death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins...” In the end, religiosity and fear of retribution for a sin prevail, and Katerina publicly admits to what she did. sin. None of the inhabitants of Kalinov can understand her: these people, like Katerina, do not have a rich spiritual world and high moral values; They don’t feel any remorse, because their morality is that everything is “kept up.” However, recognition does not bring relief to Katerina. As long as she believes in Boris's love, she is able to exist. But, realizing that Boris is no better than Tikhon, that she is still alone in this world, where she is “sick of everything,” she finds no other way out but to throw herself into the Volga. Katerina broke religious law for the sake of freedom. The thunderstorm ends with renewal in her soul. The young lady was completely freed from the shackles of the Kalinov world and religion.
