Katerina’s death in “The Thunderstorm”—defeat or victory over the “dark kingdom”? “The emotional tragedy of Katerina” based on Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm The tragedy of Katerina in the drama thunderstorm.
The drama "The Thunderstorm" was written in 1859. This was a turning point for Russia. Patriarchal orders, for which “the absence of any law, any logic, is the law and logic of this life,” began to collapse. They are replaced by new trends, new thoughts, new people. But Ostrovsky in the play “The Thunderstorm” showed how strong the Old Testament way of life is still, how very few still show protest to the patriarchal system. According to Dobrolyubov, “Ostrovsky has a deep understanding of Russian life and a great ability to depict sharply and vividly its most significant aspects.” The play very clearly describes the life and customs of the city of Kalinov and very colorfully depicts the images of the main characters.But among all the images, one stands out - Katerina, which Dobrolyubov called “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”
Katerina is a young woman who has fortitude, a persistent character, but at the same time poetic and naive.
Katerina grew up in an atmosphere of love and understanding. “My mother doted on me, she dressed me up like a doll,” she recalls about her childhood. She associates this time with freedom, with happiness - “I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild.” She was not limited in anything - “I did whatever I wanted.”
And from this calm, inconspicuous, quiet world, Katerina finds herself in Kabanova’s house, where “everything seems to be from under captivity.” “In her mother’s house it was the same as at the Kabanovs,” Dobrolyubov noted. But the lack of freedom makes her life completely unbearable. Katerina has a rich inner world, with this she made up for the monotony of her days, but in Kabanova’s house even her imagination does not come to her aid. As Dobrolyubov notes, “in the gloomy atmosphere of the new family, Katerina began to feel the insufficiency of her appearance, with which she thought to be content before. Under the heavy hand of the soulless Kabanikha there is no scope for her bright visions, just as there is no freedom for her feelings.” She is bored, she is lonely, she is disgusted with this house, but she endures. Katerina will endure as long as she can, as long as she is able to endure the “vain lies” and the tyranny of her mother-in-law, while she is still able to find solace in the church, in religion. “And if I’m really tired of being here, they won’t keep me here by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I never will, even if you cut me,” Katerina will passionately declare. In general, ardor is a trait inherent in Katerina. “I was born so hot,” she says. And it is precisely this quality that does not allow her to come to terms with her position in the house. So she starts fighting.
Of all the heroes, Katerina stands out for her strength: fortitude, willpower, and strength of character. She is the only one who dares to object to Kabanikha. Her words of protest weaken Kabanova, but this is only a little that Katerina can do alone. Despite her strength, Katerina is still very weak to fight the patriarchal way of life herself.
She is still powerless in the face of house-building orders. But she will stand up for herself. She will not allow herself to be humiliated. Katerina retains her human dignity with her characteristic strength and ardor. “Who enjoys tolerating falsehoods!” - she exclaims at Kabanikha’s attempt to humiliate her. Her offended sense of self-esteem does not allow her to remain silent about an offensive word. She objects, but this objection is so far the only thing she can do to protect herself.
But along with strength, Katerina’s character also combines tenderness, poetry, religiosity, and dreaminess. And all these traits are sincere, and not deceitful and hypocritical, like those of the “dark kingdom.” If Katerina believes in God, then this faith is pure. She sees peace and consolation in religion. The church is her salvation from Kabanova’s oppression and tyranny. This is how Katerina speaks about the church: “Exactly, it happened that I would enter heaven, and I didn’t see anything, and I didn’t remember the time, and I didn’t hear when the service was over.” She is a very poetic girl. Her speech flows. The images that emerge from her are colorful and rich. In general, Katerina is gentle, spontaneous, naive. But this is precisely what helps her tolerate Kabanova and her ways. Dobrolyubov said about Katerina: “Katerina... can be likened to a large, high-water river: it flows as its natural properties require; the nature of its flow changes according to the terrain through which it passes, but the flow does not stop; flat bottom, good - it flows calmly, large stones meet - it jumps over them, a cliff - pours in a cascade, they dam it - it rages and breaks through in another place.” And such a “breakthrough” appeared in Katerina’s quiet life. It was Boris. According to Doborolyubov, “a feeling of love for a person, a desire to find a kindred response in another heart, a need for tender pleasures naturally opened up in the young woman and changed her previous, vague and ethereal dreams.” But besides the simple desire for love, Katerina wanted to find in Boris the support and support that she did not find in her husband, and the opportunity to escape from the terrible environment of the “wild and wild boars.” Boris is the first true love in Katerina’s life. “They gave you away in marriage, you didn’t have to go out with girls,” Varvara notes. Katerina got married without loving Tikhon, but she is trying to do it. However, her husband turned out to be a nonentity; he does not understand Katerina. This is a weak-willed, spineless man who himself strives to escape from under the iron hand of his mother - he has no time for his wife. Katerina tries to give him an oath: she could not break her word to herself and her husband, but Tikhon does not need her loyalty. There remains one more obstacle - salvation - one’s own conscience and fear of God’s judgment. In Katerina, there is an internal struggle between feelings for Boris and duty to her husband. It is most difficult for Katerina to overcome her debt to Tikhon, but nothing can hold back her desire for happiness. “Yes, maybe something like this won’t happen again in my entire life. Then cry to yourself: there was an opportunity, but I didn’t know how to take advantage of it. What am I saying? Am I deceiving myself? I could even die to see him. Who am I pretending to be in front of? - Katerina persuades herself. Having overcome herself, she realizes that she is no longer afraid of anything, “if I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?” She sacrificed everything for Boris, but it turned out that he was as weak-willed as her husband.
And when Katerina, under the influence of circumstances, confesses to her sin, she has no one to rely on, has no reason to live. To her, “to go home, to the grave!.. to the grave!” It’s better in the grave...” Katerina throws herself into the Volga, thereby protesting against the way of life according to Domostroi, the oppressed position of women in the family and in society. “And the matter is over: she will no longer be a victim of a soulless mother-in-law, she will no longer languish locked up, with a spineless and disgusting husband. She is freed!.. Such liberation is sad, bitter, but what to do when there is no other way out. It’s good that the poor woman found the determination to at least take this terrible way out.”
Katerina’s end is tragic, but it serves as a call to fight against selfishness. The tragedy of Katerina is “a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end...” This is how Dobrolyubov defined the meaning of the image of Katerina. Katerina’s tragedy is that she does not find people in society similar to herself in terms of strength of character and aspirations. Katerina challenges the society of “wild and wild boars” and with her tragic end evokes even greater respect for her image, since only a strong character can decide to do this.
The play by A.N. is rightfully considered one of the masterpieces of Russian drama. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm", which the author himself assessed as a creative success.
The main conflict of “The Thunderstorm” is the clash of an awakening personality in the conditions of the “dark kingdom” with its dogmas, despotism and falsehood. This person was Katerina.
Her life is unthinkable without sunrises and sunsets, dewy grasses in flowering meadows, birds flying, butterflies fluttering from flower to flower. Along with it is the beauty of a rural church, and the expanse of the Volga, and the Trans-Volga meadow expanse. The bright image of a bird rising to the blue expanses of heaven runs through the entire play. This is the image of a spiritualized soul that has risen to the heights of spiritual perfection. And Katerina herself dreams of becoming a bird: “Why don’t people fly like birds? You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.” You need to pay special attention to how Katerina prays, “what an angelic smile she has on her face, and her face seems to glow,” there is something iconographic in this face, from which a bright radiance emanates, her prayer is a bright holiday of the soul , these are angelic choirs in a pillar of sunlight pouring from the dome, echoing the singing of wanderers and the chirping of birds. “Sure, it happened that I would enter heaven and not see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over.”
Katerina experiences all the joy of life in the temple, in the garden, among herbs, flowers, and the morning freshness of awakening nature. In the dreams of young Katerina there is an echo of the Christian legend about paradise, the divine garden, which the firstborn people were bequeathed to cultivate. They lived like birds of the air, and their work was the work of free and free people. They were immortal, and time had no destructive power over them: “I lived and did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mama doted on me, dressed me up like a doll, and didn’t force me to work; I used to do whatever I want... I used to get up early; If it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that’s it, I’ll water all the flowers in the house. I had many, many flowers.” Later, in a difficult moment of her life, Katerina laments: “If I had died as a little girl, it would have been better. I would look from heaven to earth and rejoice at everything. Otherwise I would fly... from cornflower to cornflower, in the wind, like a butterfly.”
In the Kabanovsky kingdom, where all living things wither and dry up, Katerina is overcome by longing for lost harmony. Her love is akin to the desire to raise her hands and fly; the heroine expects too much from her. A proud, strong-willed woman, she was given in marriage to a weak, weak-willed man who is in complete submission to Tikhon’s mother. A spiritual, bright, dreamy nature, she found herself in an atmosphere of lies, cruel laws, fell in love with the “wingless”, dependent Boris, whose love did not satisfy her melancholy. Katerina feels guilty before Tikhon and Kabanikha, and not so much before them, but before the whole world, before the kingdom of good. It seems to her that the whole universe is offended by her fall. Only a full-blooded and spiritual person can feel his unity with the universe in this way and have such a high sense of responsibility before the highest truth and harmony that lies within him. The decision to commit suicide comes to Katerina along with internal justification, a feeling of freedom and sinlessness after the moral storms she has experienced. By the end of the drama, the fear of fiery hell disappears, and the heroine considers herself entitled to appear before the highest moral court. “Death due to sins is terrible,” people say.
But along with spirituality, weaknesses also live in Katerina. From childhood, she was accustomed to daydreaming and enjoying the beauties of nature and was not accustomed to the insults that she later encountered in the “dark kingdom.” Before her fall, she had no doubt that after death she would go to heaven, and she did not think about the terrible torment in hell. Katerina did not notice her pride, and this destroyed her after she faced the difficulties of life. At first glance, it seems that she accomplished a feat, but in fact she evaded it. It seems to us that voluntarily leaving life is scary, but in fact it is many times easier than enduring the suffering and insults of people and struggling with all the difficulties of life, which is a real feat; for the Bible says: “He who endures to the end will be saved.” All sins are forgiven to those who sincerely repent of them: “Repent, and you will have mercy.” There is only one sin that is not forgiven to a person - suicide.
The play is very close to our time, although it was written more than a century ago, since in our age, with addiction to alcohol and drugs, suicides have become more frequent, and many have forgotten about the soul and love. The Lord said: “Many will pass away in the name of iniquity, and the love of many will grow cold.” And we see this in the spread of numerous religions and the popularity of extrasensory perception, “which come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves.” Few people now care about their soul, but more about their body, how to eat and drink more and watch something interesting on TV. This is how our boring, monotonous life passes, and only some of us really think about it, only closer to old age do we begin to understand that we have not done anything useful to anyone and have lived our lives in vain. The Apostle Paul said about the human body: “There is earth and you will return to earth,” but the soul is immortal, and you need to think about where it will go - to heaven or hell.
The play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky depicts the era of the 60s of the nineteenth century. At this time, revolutionary uprisings of the people are brewing in Russia. They are aimed at. improving the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people, to overthrow tsarism. The works of great Russian writers and poets also participate in this struggle, among them Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” which shocked all of Russia. Using the example of the image of Katerina, the struggle of the entire people against the “dark kingdom” and its patriarchal order is depicted.
The main character in A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is Katerina. Her protest against the “Kabanovsky” order, the struggle for her happiness is depicted by the author in the drama.
Katerina grew up in the house of a poor merchant, where she matured spiritually and morally. Katerina was an extraordinary person, and there was some kind of extraordinary charm in her facial features. All of her “breathed” Russian, truly folk beauty; This is how Boris says about her: “There’s an angelic smile on her face, but her face seems to glow.”
Before her marriage, Katerina “lived and did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild,” she did what she wanted and when she wanted, no one ever forced her or forced her to do what she, Katerina, did not want.
Her spiritual world was very rich and diverse. Katerina was a very poetic person with a rich imagination. In her conversations we hear folk wisdom and popular sayings. Her soul longed for flight; “Why don’t people fly like birds? Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.”
Katerina’s soul was “educated” both by the stories of the praying mantises, who were in the house every day, and by sewing on velvet (sewing educated her and brought her into the world of beauty and goodness, into the world of art).
After marriage, Katerina’s life changed dramatically. In the Kabanovs’ house, Katerina was alone, her world, her soul, no one could understand. This loneliness was the first step towards tragedy. The family's attitude towards the heroine has also changed dramatically. The Kabanovs’ house adhered to the same rules and customs as Katerina’s parental home, but here “everything seems to be from under captivity.” The cruel orders of Kabanikha dulled Katerina’s desire for the sublime, and from then on the heroine’s soul fell into the abyss.
Another pain of Katerina is misunderstanding by her husband. Tikhon was a kind, vulnerable person, very weak compared to Katerina, he never had his own opinion - he obeyed the opinion of another, stronger person. Tikhon could not understand his wife’s aspirations: “I can’t understand you, Katya.” This misunderstanding brought Katerina one step closer to disaster.
Love for Boris was also a tragedy for Katerina. According to Dobrolyubov, Boris was the same as Tikhon, only educated. Because of his education, he came to the attention of Katerina. From the entire crowd of the “dark kingdom” she chose him, who was slightly different from the rest. However, Boris turned out to be even worse than Tikhon, he cares only about himself: he only thinks about what others will say about him. He leaves Katerina to the mercy of fate, to the punishment of the “dark kingdom”: “Well, God bless you! There is only one thing we need to ask God for: that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!".
Katerina sincerely loves Boris and worries about him: “What is he doing now, poor thing?.. Why did I get him into trouble? I should die alone! Otherwise, she ruined herself, she ruined him, she’s a disgrace to herself - he’s eternally disgraced!”
The morals of the city of Kalinov, its rudeness and “stark poverty” were not acceptable to Katerina: “If I want, I’ll leave wherever my eyes look. Nobody can stop me, that's the way it is
I have character."
Dobrolyubov gave the work a high rating. He called Katerina “a ray of light in the “dark kingdom.” At her tragic end, “a terrible challenge was given to tyrant power... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.” In the image of Katerina, Dobrolyubov sees the embodiment of “Russian living nature.” Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. Katerina's action is ambiguous.
The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is an excellent image of a Russian woman in Russian literature.
At what point did Katerina’s tragedy begin? From the very moment she ended up in the Kabanovs’ house. From the moment I began to live by their laws. Although the customs in their house were the same as in her own, only here they were carried out as if under duress.
In her native land, the girl lived freely and freely. I could listen to the stories and singing of wanderers all day long, carefree. Never did hard work. But as soon as the girl moved into her husband’s house, it began to seem to her as if she could no longer breathe deeply; she had nowhere to roam.
The reason was the strained relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Kabanikha, who loves strict rules and order, constantly clung to Katerina and brought her down. The reason was that she was too jealous of her beloved son for another woman. After all, after the wedding, Tikhon’s love began to go not only to her, but also to Katerina.
But how strong was her husband’s love? Did the freedom-loving heroine have enough of it? It would seem that you can find consolation from your dear and beloved husband, you can ask him for protection from his harsh mother. But it was not there. Tikhon turned out to be a spineless man, unable to contradict his mother. You can’t feel behind him like behind a stone wall.
So what to take from such a husband? She wanted thrills and strong feelings. Was he really loved by Katerina if the girl’s gaze fell on Boris, who seemed special to her in this world? But the poor woman was not lucky with him either. Selfish Boris did not think about anyone but himself. He was only worried about the public opinion that might develop if he had an affair with a married woman.
Did Katerina receive support from Boris? You can't say that. The guy refused to take her with him when he went to Siberia. He only wished the girl a speedy death so that she would not suffer for a long time.
Tormented by remorse, the heroine decides to confess her treason to Tikhon and Kabanikha. After a while, Tikhon tells the girl that he forgives her because he sees how she suffers from this.
But Katerina understands that others will judge her, that she will not have a peaceful life. She does not want to return to the house where everything has become disgusting to her, where her freedom is so infringed upon, where her heart does not feel peace and tranquility. The heroine does not want to live in a world where no one can understand her feelings, so she decides to free her soul by throwing herself into the river.
Katerina’s tragedy lies in the fact that those close to her did not want to understand or support her, that they only infringed on the freedom of her actions and soul.
Option 2
“The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky, a work showing Katerina’s conflict with despots, fools and ignoramuses. Katerina is the main character of the drama. This heroine has her own views on life. The reader must see this, after which only the conflict that has arisen and the sad ending of the drama become clear. Katerina tells us about her childhood, as well as the places where she was born and lived.
The heroine's life was quite free and uninhibited. She got up early every day. Then they went to church with their mother, after which Katerina did work. With such a life, in principle, no conflict or hatred towards loved ones can arise. The heroine lives at an hour when the patriarchal family is supported only by violence and anger. The heroine realized this only in the Kabanovs’ house.
The girl got married early, perhaps she understood that this was a hasty action, but she could not do anything. This was the decision of her family, to which the heroine reacted calmly, as if this was the way it should be. Katerina comes to the Kabanov family with her own idea of family life, with her own hopes and expectations. Katerina was waiting for her husband to rule over her, but at the same time to protect her. But this doesn't happen. Tikhon is in no way suitable for this role. From that moment on, the old life ended. Now the heroine is surrounded by deceitful and hypocritical people.
The heroine now attends church, but does not experience any relief or feelings. Religion begins to attack Katerina when there is anxiety inside her. The heroine now cannot say prayers, because her way of life is now completely contrary to the commandments. Katerina is scared for herself, the girl wants freedom. Many of the things she loved to do before have now become foreign. Every minute there are negative thoughts in her head that prevent her from perceiving the beauty of nature. Now the heroine can only dream and endure. But all this becomes in vain, because reality will always defeat dreams.
Katerina now lives in a world that provokes and pushes the girl to lie and deceive. The heroine is by nature a different person. Boris attracts her not only because he is a different person than those who surround the heroine. It’s just that Katerina did not find reciprocal love in her husband, she wants attention and love, but there is none. She needed to deceive and be cunning, but that was not for her. The heroine is tired, and she decides to tell her mother-in-law and husband about her sin.
She has no other options but recognition. All she can do in this situation is to humble herself and become a submissive wife and slave to her mother-in-law. But, again, the heroine shows that she is a different person, she has a different character. Katerina found a way out, she will die. In recent days, she doesn’t blame anyone, she’s just tired and can no longer live in this world. Everything has been decided and is irrevocable. Katerina no longer intends to live such an insignificant life. For her, her mother-in-law became an evil and inhumane woman, and her husband, as weak as he was, remained the same. There is only one salvation from all this - death.
The tragedy of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play Groz
Actions of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" takes place on the banks of the Volga, in the city of Kalinov. The name is fictitious, these events could have happened in any city in Russia, both in the Volga region and not. But still, the power and beauty of the great Russian river plays a certain role in history. After all, it is Volga who the main character of the story trusts herself to.
There are cruel morals in the city, the tradesman and mechanic Kuligin tells us about this. A poor man cannot earn more than a piece of bread, no matter how hard he works. Ordinary city residents sleep no more than three hours a day. And the rich profit even more from their “free” labors. Russia at the end of the 19th century was a world of tyrants, tyrants, despots, and growing rich merchants. In such a harsh world, called the “dark kingdom” by critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov, the heroes of the work have to survive.
Everyone here adapts as best they can. Someone takes root and becomes part of the dark kingdom, someone suffers and suffers. Dikoy and Kabanova run Kalinov. One is getting rich, the second is beneficent for show, but is completely “eaten with her family.” Kuligin is warmed by the thought of finding a perpetual motion machine and a prize that he can spend on changing life in the city. The clerk Vanya Kudryash is cheerful, “toothy”, does not let Dikiy down in a verbal skirmish and reacts easily to everything. Boris Grigorievich endures attacks and bullying from his uncle, hoping to receive part of his grandmother's inheritance. Tikhon, the son of Kabanikha, suffers from a harsh mother, but fulfills all her demands unquestioningly. Therefore, he periodically goes on a spree, drinks a lot, escaping from the strict control of his beloved “mama.” Varvara adapted to the conditions of the family and the character of her mother, and learned to adapt.
Each to his own. And only Katerina, Tikhon’s wife, cannot find her place here. She is a modest, kind girl, charitable, but with a hot disposition. When she was single, her mother doted on her, dressed her “like a doll,” did not force her to work, allowed everything, and it was difficult for her to forbid anything. Once Katya, while still a child, was offended by her parents for something. So she ran out into the river at night, climbed into the boat and pushed off from the shore. They found her only in the morning. She has such a passionate, freedom-loving disposition. She does not tolerate injustice and bondage at all. But in the Kabanovs’ house, despite the external similarity with the customs of their own family, everything is just “from under captivity.”
Katya dreams of becoming a bird and flying away, so as not to endure any more reproaches, unfair insults, the darkness of her mother-in-law and her home. She doesn't love her husband, but she regrets him. And if he were an independent man, and not a weak-willed son under his mother, she would become a good and faithful wife for him. Tikhon loves his wife in his own way. But he will never say a word against his mother. Marfa Ignatievna just likes to tyrannize her son and daughter-in-law especially. She covers up this vice with great virtue. After all, stupid young people will not be able to live without her with their minds; they will make mistakes and be lost.
And Katerina’s tragedy is not the fault of anyone alone. Everyone is to blame, some more, some less. Someone's tyranny, someone's silence and indifference. After all, she wanted with all her soul to be a pure, impeccable, good wife, and dreamed of children. Boris is also to blame for the tragedy. He made no attempt to change the situation, to save his beloved, and when he left, he only prayed for her imminent death as a deliverance from torment. This is the path Katya chooses. She sees no other way to get rid of the oppression and bondage of the dark kingdom. Even though her actions are contradictory. N. Dobrolyubov in his critical article noted that by the suicide of the heroine: “a terrible challenge was given to tyrant power.” And he called the girl herself a ray of set in the dark kingdom.
At the center of the events are Sofya Famusova, Alexey Molchalin and Andrey Chatsky.
The work is part of a collection of short stories by the writer called “Don Stories”. The events of the work take place on a small farm during the establishment of Bolshevik power in the Don region during the years of terrible drought.
One of the main characters of the novel “What is to be done?” Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky is Dmitry Sergeevich Lopukhov. He is also the son of a landowner, a friend of Kirsanov and the husband of Vera.
The play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky depicts the era of the 60s of the nineteenth century. At this time, revolutionary uprisings of the people are brewing in Russia. They are aimed at. improving the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people, to overthrow tsarism. The works of great Russian writers and poets also participate in this struggle, among them Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” which shocked all of Russia. Using the example of the image of Katerina, the struggle of the entire people against the “dark kingdom” and its patriarchal order is depicted.
The main character in A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is Katerina. Her protest against the “Kabanovsky” order, the struggle for her happiness is depicted by the author in the drama.
Katerina grew up in the house of a poor merchant, where she matured spiritually and morally. Katerina was an extraordinary person, and there was some kind of extraordinary charm in her facial features. All of her “breathed” Russian, truly folk beauty; This is how Boris says about her: “There’s an angelic smile on her face, but her face seems to glow.”
Before her marriage, Katerina “lived and did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild,” she did what she wanted and when she wanted, no one ever forced her or forced her to do what she, Katerina, did not want.
Her spiritual world was very rich and diverse. Katerina was a very poetic person with a rich imagination. In her conversations we hear folk wisdom and popular sayings. Her soul longed for flight; “Why don’t people fly like birds? Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly.”
Katerina’s soul was “educated” both by the stories of the praying mantises, who were in the house every day, and by sewing on velvet (sewing educated her and brought her into the world of beauty and goodness, into the world of art).
After marriage, Katerina’s life changed dramatically. In the Kabanovs’ house, Katerina was alone, her world, her soul, no one could understand. This loneliness was the first step towards tragedy. The family's attitude towards the heroine has also changed dramatically. The Kabanovs’ house adhered to the same rules and customs as Katerina’s parental home, but here “everything seems to be from under captivity.” The cruel orders of Kabanikha dulled Katerina’s desire for the sublime, and from then on the heroine’s soul fell into the abyss.
Another pain of Katerina is misunderstanding by her husband. Tikhon was a kind, vulnerable person, very weak compared to Katerina, he never had his own opinion - he obeyed the opinion of another, stronger person. Tikhon could not understand his wife’s aspirations: “I can’t understand you, Katya.” This misunderstanding brought Katerina one step closer to disaster.
Love for Boris was also a tragedy for Katerina. According to Dobrolyubov, Boris was the same as Tikhon, only educated. Because of his education, he came to the attention of Katerina. From the entire crowd of the “dark kingdom” she chose him, who was slightly different from the rest. However, Boris turned out to be even worse than Tikhon, he cares only about himself: he only thinks about what others will say about him. He leaves Katerina to the mercy of fate, to the punishment of the “dark kingdom”: “Well, God bless you! There is only one thing we need to ask God for: that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!".
Katerina sincerely loves Boris and worries about him: “What is he doing now, poor thing?.. Why did I get him into trouble? I should die alone! Otherwise, she ruined herself, she ruined him, she’s a disgrace to herself - he’s eternally disgraced!”
The morals of the city of Kalinov, its rudeness and “stark poverty” were not acceptable to Katerina: “If I want, I’ll leave wherever my eyes look. Nobody can stop me, that's the way it is
I have character."
Dobrolyubov gave the work a high rating. He called Katerina “a ray of light in the “dark kingdom.” At her tragic end, “a terrible challenge was given to tyrant power... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.” In the image of Katerina, Dobrolyubov sees the embodiment of “Russian living nature.” Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. Katerina's action is ambiguous.
The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is an excellent image of a Russian woman in Russian literature.
