The play "Thunderstorm" by the famous Russian writer of the XIX century Alexander Ostrovsky, was written in 1859 in the wake of a public upsurge on the eve of social reforms. It became one of the best works of the author, opening the eyes of the whole world to the mores and moral values of the then merchant class. It was first published in the Library for Reading magazine in 1860 and, due to the novelty of its subject matter (descriptions of the struggle of new progressive ideas and aspirations with old, conservative foundations), immediately after publication caused a wide public outcry. She became the subject for writing a large number of critical articles of that time (“Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” by Dobrolyubov, “Motives of Russian Drama” by Pisarev, criticism by Apollon Grigoriev).
History of writing
Inspired by the beauty of the Volga region and its vast expanses during a trip with his family to Kostroma in 1848, Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, after three months he finished it and sent it to the court of St. Petersburg censorship.
Having worked for several years in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court, he knew well what the merchants were like in Zamoskvorechye (the historical district of the capital, on the right bank of the Moscow River), more than once, on duty, faced with what was happening behind the high fences of the merchant choir , namely with cruelty, tyranny, ignorance and various superstitions, illegal transactions and scams, tears and suffering of others. The plot of the play was based on the tragic fate of a daughter-in-law in the wealthy merchant family of the Klykovs, which happened in reality: a young woman rushed into the Volga and drowned, unable to withstand the harassment of her imperious mother-in-law, tired of her husband’s spinelessness and secret passion for the postal clerk. Many believed that it was stories from the life of the Kostroma merchants that became the prototype for the plot of the play written by Ostrovsky.
In November 1859, the play was performed on the stage of the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow, and in December of the same year at the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Analysis of the work
Story line
At the center of the events described in the play is the wealthy merchant family of the Kabanovs, who live in the fictional Volga city of Kalinov, a kind of peculiar and closed little world, symbolizing the general structure of the entire patriarchal Russian state. The Kabanov family consists of a domineering and cruel woman-tyrant, and in fact the head of the family, a wealthy merchant and widow Marfa Ignatievna, her son, Tikhon Ivanovich, weak-willed and spineless against the backdrop of the heavy temper of his mother, the daughter of Varvara, who learned by deceit and cunning to resist the despotism of her mother , as well as daughter-in-law Katerina. A young woman, who grew up in a family where she was loved and pitied, suffers in the house of her unloved husband from his lack of will and the claims of her mother-in-law, in fact, having lost her will and becoming a victim of the cruelty and tyranny of the Kabanikh, left to the mercy of fate by a rag-husband.
From hopelessness and despair, Katerina seeks solace in love for Boris Diky, who also loves her, but is afraid to disobey her uncle, the wealthy merchant Savel Prokofich Diky, because the financial situation of him and his sister depends on him. Secretly, he meets with Katerina, but at the last moment he betrays her and runs away, then, at the direction of his uncle, he leaves for Siberia.
Katerina, being brought up in obedience and submission to her husband, tormented by her own sin, confesses everything to her husband in the presence of his mother. She makes the life of her daughter-in-law completely unbearable, and Katerina, suffering from unhappy love, reproaches of conscience and cruel persecution of the tyrant and despot Kabanikhi, decides to end her torment, the only way in which she sees salvation is suicide. She throws herself off a cliff into the Volga and dies tragically.
Main characters
All the characters in the play are divided into two opposing camps, some (Kabanikha, her son and daughter, the merchant Dikoy and his nephew Boris, the maids Feklusha and Glasha) are representatives of the old, patriarchal way of life, others (Katerina, self-taught mechanic Kuligin) are new, progressive.
A young woman, Katerina, the wife of Tikhon Kabanov, is the central character of the play. She was brought up in strict patriarchal rules, in accordance with the laws of the ancient Russian Domostroy: a wife must obey her husband in everything, respect him, fulfill all his requirements. At first, Katerina tried with all her might to love her husband, to become a submissive and good wife for him, but due to his complete spinelessness and weakness of character, she can only feel pity for him.
Outwardly, she looks weak and silent, but in the depths of her soul there is enough willpower and perseverance to resist the tyranny of her mother-in-law, who is afraid that her daughter-in-law can change her son Tikhon and he will no longer obey the will of his mother. Katerina is cramped and stuffy in the dark realm of life in Kalinovo, she literally suffocates there and in her dreams she flies away like a bird away from this terrible place for her.
Boris
Having fallen in love with a visiting young man Boris, the nephew of a wealthy merchant and businessman, she creates in her head the image of an ideal lover and a real man, which is completely untrue, breaks her heart and leads to a tragic ending.
In the play, Katerina's character is opposed not to a specific person, her mother-in-law, but to the entire existing patriarchal way of life at that time.
Boar
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha), like the tyrant merchant Dikoi, who tortures and insults his relatives, does not pay wages and deceives his workers, are vivid representatives of the old, petty-bourgeois way of life. They are distinguished by stupidity and ignorance, unjustified cruelty, rudeness and rudeness, complete rejection of any progressive changes in the ossified patriarchal way of life.
Tikhon
(Tikhon, in the illustration near the Kabanikhi - Marfa Ignatievna)
Tikhon Kabanov throughout the play is characterized as a quiet and weak-willed person, who is under the complete influence of a despotic mother. Distinguished by his gentle nature, he makes no attempt to protect his wife from the attacks of his mother.
At the end of the play, he finally breaks down and the author shows his rebellion against tyranny and despotism, it is his phrase at the end of the play that leads readers to a certain conclusion about the depth and tragedy of the current situation.
Features of compositional construction
(Fragment from a dramatic production)
The work begins with a description of the city on the Volga of Kalinov, whose image is a collective image of all Russian cities of that time. The landscape of the Volga expanses depicted in the play contrasts with the musty, dull and gloomy atmosphere of life in this city, which is emphasized by the dead isolation of the life of its inhabitants, their underdevelopment, dullness and wild lack of education. The author described the general state of urban life as if before a thunderstorm, when the old, decrepit way of life is shaken, and new and progressive trends, like a gust of furious thunderstorm wind, will carry away the obsolete rules and prejudices that prevent people from living normally. The period of life of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov described in the play is just in a state when outwardly everything looks calm, but this is only the calm before the coming storm.
The genre of the play can be interpreted as a social drama, as well as a tragedy. The first is characterized by the use of a thorough description of living conditions, the maximum transfer of its "density", as well as the alignment of characters. The attention of readers should be distributed among all participants in the production. The interpretation of the play as a tragedy suggests its deeper meaning and solidity. If we see in the death of Katerina the consequence of her conflict with her mother-in-law, then she looks like a victim of a family conflict, and all the unfolding action in the play seems small and insignificant for a real tragedy. But if we consider the death of the main character as a conflict of a new, progressive time with a fading, old era, then her act is best interpreted in a heroic way, characteristic of a tragic story.
The talented playwright Alexander Ostrovsky from a social drama about the life of the merchant class gradually creates a real tragedy in which, with the help of a love and domestic conflict, he showed the onset of an epoch-making turning point in the minds of the people. Ordinary people are aware of the awakening sense of their own dignity, they begin to relate to the world around them in a new way, they want to decide their own destinies and fearlessly express their will. This nascent desire comes into irreconcilable contradiction with the real patriarchal way of life. The fate of Katerina acquires a social historical meaning, expressing the state of the people's consciousness at the turning point of two eras.
Alexander Ostrovsky, who noticed in time the doom of decaying patriarchal foundations, wrote the play "Thunderstorm" and opened the eyes of the entire Russian public to what was happening. He depicted the destruction of the usual, outdated way of life, with the help of the ambiguous and figurative concept of a thunderstorm, which, gradually growing, will sweep away everything from its path and open the way for a new, better life.
The play "Thunderstorm", which by genre conceived as a comedy, was written by A. N. Ostrovsky in 1859. The work at first did not imply a tragic denouement, but in the process of writing, in addition to the conflict of an individual, a socially accusatory orientation was clearly manifested. As Ostrovsky wrote the play "Thunderstorm", we bring to your attention a summary of the actions.
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Characteristics of the work
- What literary genre (story or short story) does the work "Thunderstorm" belong to?
- How many actions are in the play "Thunderstorm"?
- Briefly: what formed the basis of the plot of the drama "Thunderstorm"?
"Thunderstorm" is a play in five acts, according to the definition of the author - a drama, but with a genre originality:
- it's a tragedy, since the conflict situation leads to tragic consequences;
- present comic elements(ignorant reasoning of the characters in the play);
- the drama of events is enhanced by the everyday routine of what is happening.
The place where the main actions of the play unfold was not chosen by Ostrovsky by chance. City of Kalinov- this is a collective image of the Volga cities and villages, the beauty of which was fascinated by the playwright.
But the magnificence of endless expanses of water, the discreet charm of nature cannot overshadow the cruelty, indifference, hypocrisy, ignorance and tyranny that reign behind the facades of elegant houses.
The work, as it is now customary to say, based on real events". In the wealthy Moscow merchant family of the Klykovs, the daughter-in-law committed suicide by throwing herself into the Volga, unable to withstand the reproaches and harassment from her mother-in-law, not finding protection from her husband and suffering from secret love to another man.
It is this tragedy of action that is main story line works. However, if Ostrovsky had only limited himself to the ups and downs in the life of a young woman, the work would not have had such a resounding success and would not have caused such a resonance in society. Here outlined and denounced conflict between old traditions and new trends, ignorance and progress, freedom-loving and savagery of the petty-bourgeois world.
Getting to know the characters
The author wrote a story about dramatic events in the form of a play for stage performance. And any scenario begins with a description of the characters.
main characters
- Katerina is a young woman of pleasant appearance, God-fearing and meek disposition, with a quivering soul and pure thoughts. Daughter-in-law in the family of merchants Kabanovs.
- Boris, an educated young man who was brought up in a different environment, came to the maintenance and work of his uncle. Suffering from the surrounding reality. Secretly in love with Katerina.
- Kabanikha (Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova) is a wealthy widowed merchant's wife. Powerful and despotic woman, sanctimoniously covering up her tyranny by honoring her elders.
- Tikhon Kabanov - Katerina's husband and Kabanikh's son - soft-bodied, weak-willed person completely subservient to the will of the mother.
Characters
- Varvara is the sister of Tikhon, the daughter of Kabanikhi. The girl is “on her own mind”, living on the principle of “if only everything was sewn and covered”. However, good to Katherine.
- Curly - Varvara's boyfriend.
- Wild Savel Prokofievich is an influential merchant in the city. Main character traits rudeness, rudeness and bad manners especially to subordinates.
- Kuligin is a local craftsman who dreams of bringing progressive ideas to the city.
- Feklusha is a stranger dark and uneducated.
- The lady is a crazy old woman who sends curses to women.
- Glasha - servant at the Kabanovs.
Of no small importance in the play is such a figurative concept as a thunderstorm - harbinger of a cleansing storm for some and God's warning for others.
Important! It should be remembered that the play was written by Ostrovsky in the pre-reform years (1861 - year). The spirit of upsurge reigned, the expectation of cardinal changes, and it was at this time that the playwright wrote about the awakening of the personality, in which Dobrolyubov would later see "something refreshing and encouraging."
For a more detailed acquaintance with the intricacies of the storylines of each action of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", their summary is presented below.
Action 1
Volga bank, public garden in the foreground. Kuligin is delighted with the opening views. Curly is slowly walking nearby with a friend. The swearing of the Wild is muffled, which does not surprise anyone - this is commonplace. This time he scolds his nephew Boris. Curly sympathizes with the unenviable fate of his relative Diky, who is forced to endure the oppression of his uncle, a tyrant. He himself is one of the few who can repulse the rude man: “He is the word, and I am ten; spit, let it go."
The swearing is heard more and more clearly - Savel Prokofievich and his nephew are approaching those present. Taking his soul away, shouting, Dikoy leaves. Boris explains the reason for his forced humility: he and his sister after the death of their parents left orphans. The grandmother in Kalinovo wrote off the inheritance to her grandchildren upon reaching the age of majority, and they will get it on the condition of respectful and respect for uncle. Kuligin assures, they say, this is a utopia: no one will appease the Wild. Boris despondently agrees: and so he works for his uncle for free, but there is no use. It is wild and stuffy for him in Kalinovo - not at all the same upbringing and education was given to his sister and Boris by their parents, who previously lived in the capital.
Feklusha enters with a townswoman. Bogomolka praises the beauties of the city, extolling the decency and virtues of the merchant class, noting the Kabanov family. After the departure of the women, Kuligin commemorates the glorified Kabanikha with an unkind word for her hypocrisy and domestic tyranny. He shares with Boris his thoughts on the invention of the "perpetum mobile". For a perpetual motion machine they give a lot of money that can be used for the benefit of society. But there are no funds for details - such a vicious circle. Boris, left alone, sympathizes with Kuligin, but, remembering his ill-fated lot, he also leaves the garden.
Kabanikha appears with his family: son Tikhon with his wife Katerina and Varvara Kabanova. Merchant harasses son with accusations in his excessive love for his wife and disrespect for his mother. The words are intended for Tikhon, but are clearly directed against the daughter-in-law. Tikhon justifies himself in every possible way, wife tries to support him, which causes a storm of indignation of the mother-in-law and a new wave of accusations against Tikhon, they say, he cannot keep his wife in strictness, and not far from his lover.
After the departure of his mother, Tikhon pounces on Katerina, accusing her of accusations Mother. Not wanting to listen to his wife's objections, he goes to Dikoy to pour vodka into his troubles.
Offended woman complains to her sister-in-law difficult life with mother-in-law, recalls how well, cleanly and freely she lived with her mother: “in the summer I go to the spring, wash myself, bring water and that’s all, water all the flowers in the house.”
There was a solid splendor - embroidery with gold, church prayers, stories of wanderers.
It's not the same in the husband's house. Katya admits to Varvara that bad, sinful thoughts visit her, which she cannot drive away with any prayers. A in her heart she has thoughts of one person.
Then an abnormal lady appears, who showers the girls with curses, promising them hellish torment for their sinful beauty. Thunder is heard, a thunderstorm is approaching, and the girls hastily run away.
Action 2
Act 2 begins in the Kabanovs' house. Feklusha and Glasha settled down in the room. The wanderer, watching the work of the maid, tells her what is happening in the world. And even though her story replete with lies and ignorance, Glasha listens attentively and with interest to the stories of Feklusha, for her this is the only source of information.
Katerina and Varvara appear. They help equip Tikhon for a week-long business trip to another city. Feklusha has already left, Varvara sends the maid with things to the horses. Katerina recalls an old childhood story, when she ran away to the river from resentment for something, sailed away in a boat and then found her ten miles away. This testifies to decisiveness of her character- despite the meekness of the girl, she endures insults for the time being. Varvara asks Katerina who is the person for whom her heart aches. This is Boris Grigorievich - nephew of Savel Prokofievich. Varya assures Katerina that the man also has feelings for the young woman, and after her husband leaves, she needs to arrange a meeting for lovers. The woman is frightened and resolutely denies this proposal.
Kabanikha and his son come in. She continues to instruct Tikhon how to behave in the city, what instructions to give to his wife in her absence: listen to the mother-in-law, do not argue with her in anything, do not sit like a lady without work, do not exchange glances with young guys. Tikhon, embarrassed, pronounces these instructions after his mother. Then they are left alone. Catherine, as if anticipating trouble, asks Tikhon not to leave her alone or take her to the city with him. But Tikhon, exhausted by his mother's chicanery, is glad to break free at least briefly, at least for a short while.
Farewell scene. Katerina hugs her husband, which causes dissatisfaction with her mother-in-law, they say, she doesn’t know how to say goodbye, as it should.
Then Kabanikha talks for a long time about the fact that after the departure of the old people - the last zealots of antiquity, it is not known how the white light will stand.
Left alone, Katya, instead of calming down, comes to full confusion and thoughts. No matter how much she loaded herself with work, her heart was out of place.
Here Varvara pushes her to meet with Boris. Having changed the key to the garden gate, Varya hands it to Katerina. She tries to resist these actions, but then gives up.
Action 3
Kabanova and Feklusha on a bench in front of the merchant's house. They grumble at the vanity of life in big cities, rejoice at the silence and tranquility in their own town. Appears wild, he is drunk. According to his habit, inflamed, begins be rude Kabanikhe, but she quickly upsets him. Wild is justified by the fact that the workers upset him in the morning, demanding a calculation, and it is for him that a knife is sharp in the heart. Having cooled down in a conversation with Kabanikha, he leaves.
Boris has not seen Katerina for a long time and saddened by this circumstance. Kuligin stands nearby, reflecting on the plight of the poor, who are not up to the beauties of nature - they are in need, but in work, and the rich are surrounded by high fences with dogs, and they are thinking how to rob orphans and poor relatives. Kudryash and Varvara approach. They hug and kiss. The girl informs Boris about the upcoming meeting with Katerina and determines a place in the hollow.
At night, having arrived at the place of rendezvous, Boris meets Kudryash playing the guitar and asks him to give way to him, but Kudryash resists, arguing that this place has long been “warmed up” for meetings with his girlfriend.
Then Boris confesses that he has an appointment with a married lady here. Curly guess what there is a speech and warns Boris, because married women are forced.
Varvara comes and takes Kudryash away. The lovers are alone.
Katerina tells Boris about the ruined honor, about God's punishment, but then they both surrender to the power of feelings. Ten days of absence of a husband are spent in unity with a loved one.
Action 4
Partially destroyed gallery, its walls are painted with pictures of the Last Judgment. Here people hide from the rain. Kuligin begs Savel Prokofevich to make donations for the installation of a tower clock in the garden and a lightning rod. Wild swears, calling names Kuligin an atheist, for a thunderstorm is the punishment of the Lord and no piece of iron can be saved from it.
After Tikhon returns home, Katerina is in complete disarray. Barbara tries to reason with her and teaches her not to show any kind. She herself has long become adept at tricks and deceptions. Having not achieved what she wanted, Varya reports to Boris about Katya's condition.
Thunder rumbles are heard. The Kabanov family comes out in full force. Tikhon, noticing wife's weird condition, jokingly asks her to repent of her sins. Noticing how pale Katerina is, the sister cuts off her brother's joke. Boris approaches them. Katya on the verge of fainting. Varya signals the young man to leave.
Then the Lady appeared and began to frighten the pullets for secret sins, and Katerina could not stand it - in a frenzy admits to having a secret relationship with another man throughout all ten days. The scene of repentance of the main character is the culmination of the play.
Action 5
Again the embankment of the Volga, the city garden. It's getting dark. Tikhon approaches Kuligin, who is sitting on a bench. He crushed by Katerina's confession and sends to her the wishes of a fierce death, then begins to feel sorry for her.
The boar sharpens her daughter-in-law at home, like rust, but Katya wordless and unresponsive wanders around the house like a shadow. Everything is wrong in the Kabanov family, even Varya and Kudryash ran away from home.
But Tikhon hopes for a favorable outcome- after all, the lover, at the behest of his uncle, refers to three whole years in Siberia. Glasha comes and says that Katerina is missing.
Katerina is alone, quietly wandering, talking to herself. She is already decided to end my life though it is a great sin. One thing keeps her - the desire to finally see her beloved and receive forgiveness from him for bringing misfortune on him. Boris comes to the call of his beloved. He is affectionate with her, says that he does not hold a grudge against her, but fate separates them, and he has no right to take someone else's wife with him. Katerina cries and asks Boris to distribute alms to the poor on the way to remember her soul. She walks towards the shore.
Kuligin, Kabanikha and Tikhon watch the search for the missing Katerina. People with lanterns search the shore. Tikhon is confused by terrible assumptions, The boar blames the daughter-in-law wanting to draw attention to yourself. Voices are heard from the coast: “The woman threw herself into the water!” Tikhon tries to run there, but mother does not let him, promising to curse. They bring a drowner. Katerina beautiful after death. Kabanov blames his mother for the death of his wife.
Ostrovsky A N - Thunderstorm summary
Thunderstorm.A.N.Ostrovsky (brief analysis)
under the curtain
After the first production of the play on the stage of the Maly Theater the audience was delighted, the press was full of laudatory notes, the plot of the drama amazed the sophisticated audience. Well-known critics did not fail to reflect the work in their reviews. So the critic Apollon Grigoriev, writing a letter to I.S. Turgenev, described the plot of the drama as " denunciation of the tyranny of our life, and this is the significance of the author, his merit as an artist, this is the strength of his influence on the masses.
Admiring the river view and talking with the young clerk Kudryash and the tradesman Shapkin. In the distance, a local buoy, a merchant Savyol Dykoy, is shown. Waving his arms, he scolds his nephew, Boris Grigorievich, who is walking next to him. Shapkin and Kudryash exchange remarks that one rarely sees such a brawler as Dikoy: every now and then, as if breaking loose, he lashes out with abuse at acquaintances and strangers. Curly, a dashing and perky guy, says that it would be nice to catch Wild somewhere in an alley and scare him well.
A. N. Ostrovsky. Thunderstorm. Play. Series 1
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 2 - briefly
Dikoy and Boris approach. Savel Prokofievich scolds his nephew as a "parasite" and "Jesuit". Boris's "guilt" is also revealed: he just caught his uncle's eye at the wrong time.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 3 - briefly
Wild leaves in anger, and Boris Grigoryevich approaches Kuligin, Kudryash and Shapkin. They sympathetically ask him: is it not hard to live with an uncle and listen to scolding every day? Boris says that he lives at the Wild involuntarily. Boris's father, the brother of Savel Prokofievich, quarreled with his mother, a rich merchant's wife, because he married a noble woman. The mother in her will wrote off all her huge fortune to Savel - so that he would still pay some part to Boris and his sister when they reached the age of majority, but only on the condition that "they would be respectful to him." Boris now has to show "respect" to his uncle. The wild, tyrant and “warrior”, who daily fights with his domestic women and children, has already tortured Boris so much that he is ready to leave, giving up hope for an inheritance, but one must think about the fate of an indigent sister.
Kudryash and Shapkin leave. Kuligin, on the other hand, pronounces his famous monologue in front of Boris - “Cruel morals, sir, in our city”, vividly drawing in it the ignorance, greed and arbitrariness that prevail in Kalinov. A simple but rather educated man, Kuligin cherishes the dream of opening a “perpetual mobile” (perpetual motion machine), earning a million from it and turning this money for public benefit. But he doesn't even have the funds for a model.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 4 - briefly
Kuligin also leaves. Boris, left alone, reflects on his sad fate, which has recently been complicated by a new misfortune: he fell in love with a married woman.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 5 - briefly
Boris just notices the object of his passion. This young beauty Katerina, the wife of the merchant Tikhon Kabanov, who is now walking with her mother-in-law, her husband and his sister Varvara from the church. Tikhon's mother - Marfa Kabanova (Kabanikha) - in character resembles Savel the Wild. But unlike him, she does not so much scold her family furiously as she torments them with tedious moralizing, which she reads "under the guise of piety."
Now, on the way from the church, Kabanikha, right in the presence of Katerina, scolds her son for the fact that he began to love his wife more than his mother, and is ready to "exchange his mother for her." The weak-willed Tikhon barely objects to the parent: “why change? I love you both." Kabanova sternly tells him "not to pretend to be an orphan", scolds him for the fact that he rarely yells at Katerina and rarely threatens her. “It won’t be like that. One sin! So at least get your wife a lover!
Modest and meek Katerina is silent, listening to all this. Tikhon's sister, Varvara, looks at her mother with disgust and dislike.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 6 - briefly
The boar goes home. The spineless Tikhon began to blame Katerina that “because of her, his mother scolds him,” but Varvara, outraged by this unfair reproach, tells him to shut up. Taking advantage of the absence of his mother, Tikhon runs away to Savel the Wild: to have a drink with this constant drinking companion.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 7 - briefly
Varvara takes pity on Katerina. She, touched, utters a sad monologue in front of her. “Why don’t people fly like birds…” she asks. “I would run, raise my hands and fly.” Katerina recalls her childhood in her parents' house: “I withered with you, but was I like that!” She tells Varvara how her mother did not have a soul in her. They went to church with her, and the girl Katerina prayed there so earnestly that all the people around looked at her. For her, the church was almost a paradise, during the service she almost saw angels in reality, and in the morning she went to pray in the garden, crying, on her knees - she herself did not know what. Katerina recalls her girlish dreams with pictures, as on icons. And suddenly he says: “I will die soon. I'm scared. It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss, and someone is pushing me there.”
Varvara says that she guessed a long time ago: Katerina does not love her husband, but another. Katerina with tears admits this as a terrible sin. Varvara reassures her and promises to arrange meetings with her lover for Katerina when Tikhon leaves the other day on merchant business. Katerina listens to these words with great fear.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 8 - briefly
A crazy old lady appears, who walks around the city with two lackeys in three-cornered hats. "What, beauties? Are you waiting for the good fellows, gentlemen? Your beauty leads to a whirlpool! Everything in the fire will burn inextinguishable!” Leaves.
Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 9 - briefly
Katerina trembles after the mistress's prophecy, but Varvara reassures her: “Don't listen to her. She herself sinned all her life from a young age - now she is afraid to die from this.
A storm is gathering. Katerina looks at the sky with fear: “It’s not so terrible that the thunder will kill, but the fact that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins and evil thoughts. And how will I appear before God after this conversation with you!
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A.N. Ostrovsky. "Thunderstorm". Summary
Drama in five acts (1859)
Act one
Boris Grigoryevich, a young man, decently educated, came from Moscow to the city of Kalinov to his uncle, Savel Prokofievich Diky, hoping to receive an inheritance. According to his grandmother's will, Boris must be "respectful" to his uncle - only if this condition is met will he receive a share of the inheritance - his own and his sister's. However, not only does the nephew do housework and get nothing, his uncle constantly scolds him and calls him a “parasite”. Boris tells about all this to the townspeople Kuligin and Shapkin, who turned out to be unintentional witnesses of another scandal that Dikoy arranged. Kuligin, "philistine, self-taught watchmaker", confirms
that Savel Prokofich is known to everyone in the city for his tough temper and greed, "no one even dare to utter a word about his salary." In general, in the city of Kalinovo "cruel morals" And "nothing but rudeness and naked poverty" can not be found here. Kuligin himself dreams of inventing a perpetual motion machine, or, as he says, a “perpetu-mobile”, getting a million-dollar bonus from the British for it, and spending it “for society”.
Left alone, Boris laments his hard life. In addition to all his misfortunes, he fell in love with a married woman in Kalinov - Katerina Kabanova.
The merchant's daughter, Katerina, got married and lives in the house of her husband Tikhon Kabanov and his mother Marfa Ignatievna, whom everyone calls Kabanikha behind her back. Kabanikhi's house, fenced with a high fence, ignorance and "cruel morals" reign here,
Domostroy rules: unquestioning obedience to the elders, strictness towards the younger ones, who should not “live by their own will”. But the main thing is the conviction that the family must be “keep in a thunderstorm”, i.e. under the threat of punishment, the master or mistress of the house must be feared by all. Kabanikha constantly reproaches his son Tikhon for the fact that his wife is not afraid of him.
Katerina Kabanova does not like life in this family. Here, only Varvara, Tikhon's sister, understands and "regrets" her. In a conversation with Varvara, Katerina recalls how
she lived well "in the girls" in her parents' house, where the routine was the same as that of the Kabanovs, but everything was done with soul. Katerina loved to pray in church, embroider on velvet, and listen to the stories of wanderers. “What a frisky I was! I have withered completely, ”says Katerina. And she admits that “sin is on her mind” in her. She fell in love: “After all, this is not good, this is a terrible sin, Varenka, why do I love another?” Katerina asks.
During this conversation, “a lady with two footmen, an old woman of 70 years old, half crazy” appears in the garden. Seeing young women, she knocks with a stick and “prophesies” that beauty will destroy them, lead them into sin, for which they will be “on fire burn inextinguishable!" barbarian
only laughs at the crazy old woman, and Katerina is frightened, she is afraid of punishment for her sins, "for evil thoughts." Even storm clouds in the sky frighten her as a harbinger of punishment, hellfire.
Action two
In the house of the Kabanovs, where ancient rituals and rituals are observed, wanderers are traditionally received. While Katerina Tikhon's husband is being gathered for the journey, the wanderer Feklusha talks about what she heard from others: about the lands ruled by "salgans:
unrighteous, "where are all the people with dog heads." Katerina talks alone with Varvara, reveals to her that she is suffering a lot: she loves Boris, but must remain faithful to her husband. Loving an outsider is a sin. However, feelings are stronger than beliefs
Katerina is afraid that she won’t be able to cope with herself and decides that if she can’t forget Boris, she will do “something on herself”: she will leave home or rush into the Volga: “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me .
But now everything is ready for the journey, and the family say goodbye to Tikhon in the way that Kabanikha points out, "in the old way." Katerina promises him not to see anyone and not think about anyone else, and swears: otherwise “I will die without repentance ...”, Tikhon is glad that
will be “of his own free will”, and therefore inattentive to his wife. But Kabanikha reproaches her for violating the ritual of farewell, for a sincere manifestation of feelings.
After Tikhon's departure, Varvara goes for a walk and informs Katerina that "mother" (Kabanikha) allowed them to spend the night in the garden. And he gives Katerina the key to the gate, through which you can leave the garden unnoticed by the family. Left alone, Katerina
he doubts whether to throw the key to her or leave it, because Boris may come to the gate, whom Varvara will warn. Then she will not be able to resist her feelings and will sin. In the end, she decides: “I should at least die, but see him ... Whatever
will, and I will see Boris! Ah, if only the night would come sooner!”
Act Three
The boar sits on a bench near his house and talks with Feklusha, who talks about the "vain life" in Moscow, that there "for the sake of speed" "they began to harness the fiery serpent" and that "hard times have come, now even the time" everything is getting shorter and shorter.” The boar agrees with the wanderer. Dikoy approaches them. He complains about his employees, who upset him by demanding money, but he doesn’t want to pay, because “just hint at me about money, it kindles my whole inner being.” But Kabanikha knows that by “bringing himself to the heart”, that is, by starting to make a fuss, Dikoy simply scares away those who are indebted to him, so that they do not approach him, “angry”.
At night, near the gate to the Kabanovs' garden, Boris and Vanya Kudryash meet - a young man, Diky's clerk. Boris confesses that he is in love with a married woman. Curly advises him to forget her so as not to destroy her, because in Kalinovo the people are like this:
"They will eat them, They will hammer them into the coffin." When Kudryash realized that we were talking about Katerina, he warned: "... even though her husband is a fool, but her mother-in-law is painfully fierce."
Katerina comes out of the garden behind the gate. Boris confesses his love to her. For Katerina, this is a harbinger of her "death", but she does not have the strength to push away his love. Realizing that the
commits the grave sin of betrayal of her husband, she repeats that now she can no longer live, that Boris “ruined her, ruined her, ruined her!”, Unable to cope with her feelings, Katerina admits to Boris that she herself fell in love with him at first sight , as soon as she saw that she was ready to leave with him "even to the ends of the world."
Young people meet all ten days that Tikhon Kabanov is absent from Kaliyov.
act four
Citizens walking along the Volga embankment take shelter from the beginning rain in a covered gallery. This also includes Dikoy and Kulitin. Kuligin persuades the merchant to donate to the construction of a lightning rod - from this "for all the townsfolk in general benefit." Dikoi does not even consider it necessary to discuss this and, turning to Kuligin, expresses his position in life: “You are a worm. If I want - I will have mercy, if I want - I will crush,). They argue about what a thunderstorm is. Kuligin claims that this is electricity, the impact of which can be avoided with the help of a lightning rod, and Dikoy believes that the thunderstorm is "sent to us as punishment."
Barbara enters the same gallery. Here she also meets Boris, to whom she tells that Tikhon has returned. Katerina is now “not herself”, everything is “rushing about” and sobbing, she can “do such things ... she will thump at her husband’s feet, and she will tell everything.” Varvara and Boris are afraid of a scandal. A thunderstorm starts. Several more people enter the gallery, among them the Kabanovs. Katerina is so afraid of thunderstorms that even outsiders notice. The boar suspects that there is a reason for this - a great sin. Tikhon believes that his wife is "naturally afraid", which is typical for the inhabitants of Kalinov. Kuligin tries to dispel fear
fellow citizens: “Now every grass, every flower rejoices, but we hide, we are afraid, just what kind of misfortune! The storm will kill! This is not a thunderstorm, but grace! However, the townspeople
continue to wonder "who will kill" this thunderstorm.
Katerina has a presentiment that she will kill her. Then a half-mad lady appears and repeats her threats and prophecies. Katerina is hiding from the old woman, she is barely alive from
fear. On the advice of Varvara to step aside to pray, she kneels down and suddenly notices that on the wall of the gallery there is a depiction of “gehenna fiery” (hellish
the fire). Seeing in this another omen and a call to repentance, Katerina turns to her husband in front of the whole society and repents before him and his mother that
that she broke her oath and all ten nights, while her husband was not at home, walked with Boris. A thunderclap is heard, Katerina "falls senseless into her husband's arms."
Act Five
On the way home, Tikhon meets with Kuligin and tells that at his house “the whole family was hurt apart. Not like relatives, but like enemies to each other. Mother "eats" Katerina, but he feels sorry for her, he still loves her, despite the betrayal. Tikhon believes that his mother is "the reason for everything." She is very cool and "tyrannizes" her family. Even her own daughter, Varvara, left home with Kudryash. Boris is in naka-
The knowledge is sent “to Tyakhta, to the Chinese” for three years. Glasha's maid appears and informs Tikhon that Katerina is missing, they can't find her. They all leave together to look for the fugitive.
And Katerina, meanwhile, quietly wanders through the garden on the banks of the Volga. She argues with herself about how long she will suffer, why she should live now, that her only joy, soul, life is her beloved. Then, going up to the shore, loudly, at the top of his voice, he calls Boris.
After all, it’s hard for her at home. “Who knew that we would have to suffer so much for our love,” Boris answers, saying goodbye forever. Leaving, he says with tears
to himself: “There is only one thing you need to ask God for, so that she dies as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time!”
Left alone, Katerina thinks where to go. Home is like going to the grave. And she doesn't want to live. Everything is disgusting to her: the people, the house, and the walls. “I would die now,” she thinks. But he remembers that suicide is a sin, that one cannot pray for suicides. “Whoever loves will pray...”, she finally decides, and shouting: “My friend! My joy! Goodbye!" leaves.
After some time, people with lanterns gather on the shore, looking for Katerina. Among them are the Kabanovs, Kuligin, workers. “What, did you get it?” someone asks. Kabanikha replies that Katerina "definitely fell somewhere." Suddenly, a voice is heard from afar: “A woman threw herself into the water!” Tikhon guessed: “Fathers, it’s her!” - and wants to run away with the others to pull his wife out of the water, but his mother won't let him in: "I'll curse you if you go." Kabanovs remain in place.
The events of the play take place in the 19th century, in the fictional town of Kalinovo, which is located on the high bank of the Volga. In the center of events is the family of a local rich merchant's wife and, concurrently, the legislator of local morality, Kabanikhi. The action takes place in a public garden on the banks of the Volga, where all the main characters of the play appear on the stage. At first, the local self-taught mechanic Kulibin discusses the inappropriate behavior of the merchant Dikiy, a rich man and petty tyrant, with his young clerk Kudryash and the local inhabitant Shapkin. They are joined by Boris, Diky's own nephew, who tells what brought him from Moscow to this wilderness and why he is forced to endure his uncle's antics. Dikoi promised to give the due part of his inheritance, provided that Boris would be respectful to him. Kuligin argues that it is unlikely that Dikoy will agree to voluntarily give the money, and Boris complains that it is hard for him to get used to the customs that reign both in his uncle's house and in the city.
A wanderer appears next, who praises the city for its splendor and, especially, Kabanova's house. When asked by Boris about the Kabanova family, Kuligin calls her a hypocrite who "gives gifts to the poor, but eats homemade food."
Kabanova appears, accompanied by her daughter Varvara, a rather lively girl who has learned to hide her feelings from her mother. Son Tikhon, not particularly evil, but completely under the influence of an overbearing mother, who in her presence will not say a word across. Together with him is his wife Katerina, a young, rather pleasant than beautiful, calm girl. She can’t get used to the strict rules in her mother-in-law’s family, where no one can express their opinion, and for her, after her free childhood, the situation in her husband’s family resembles a prison.
While walking along the boulevard, Varvara was able to find out the secret of Katerina, who admits that she really liked Boris, that he is not like everyone else and she feels a kindred spirit in him. Varvara invites her to arrange a date, but Katerina is horrified by this offer and refuses.
The tension of the situation is aggravated by the beginning thunderstorm and the city madwoman, who, at the sight of young girls, prophesies hellish torments for them, shouting that beauty leads to a whirlpool. All this makes a depressing impression on Katerina, and she hurries home to pray and beg forgiveness for her sinful thoughts.
After taking her husband on a trip, offended by the humiliation expressed by her mother-in-law, Katerina agrees to meet Boris on a secret date.
The final action takes place in the garden, where the townspeople are walking and ruins are visible with a surviving fresco, which depicts a fiery hyena and a thunderstorm is about to begin again.
Katerina is unable to get rid of her guilt for treason. He publicly throws himself at his feet and confesses his sin, which causes the anger of Kabanikh, the horror and confusion of Tikhon, the annoyance of Varvara, the regret of Boris and the gloating of the townsfolk.
Unable to bear the feeling of sinfulness for her misconduct and realizing that no one is going to help and support, Katerina throws herself off a steep Volga cliff. Here it isSummary of the play