Dobrolyubov's opinion about Katerina in the play Thunderstorm. Dobrolyubov about Katerina and my attitude to the heroine of the drama A

03.03.2020

N. A. Dobrolyubov

The Thunderstorm is undoubtedly Ostrovsky's most decisive work; the mutual relations of tyranny and speechlessness are brought to the most tragic consequences in it; and for all that, the majority of those who read and saw this play agree that it gives a less grievous and sad impression than other plays by Ostrovsky (not to mention, of course, his sketches of a purely comic nature). There is even something refreshing and encouraging about The Thunderstorm. This "something" is, in our opinion, the background of the play, indicated by us and revealing the precariousness and imminent end of tyranny. Then the very character of Katerina, drawn against this background, also blows on us with a new life, which opens up to us in her very death.

The fact is that the character of Katerina, as it is performed in The Thunderstorm, constitutes a step forward not only in Ostrovsky's dramatic activities, but also in all of our literature. It corresponds to a new phase of our people's life, it has long demanded its implementation in literature, our best writers have been circling around it; but they could only understand its necessity and could not comprehend and feel its essence; Ostrovsky managed to do this.<...>

First of all, you are struck by the extraordinary originality of this character. There is nothing external, alien in him, but everything comes out somehow from within him; every impression is processed in him and then organically fuses with him. We see this, for example, in Katerina's simple-minded story about her childhood and about life in her mother's house. It turns out that her upbringing and young life did not give her anything: in her mother's house it was the same as in the Kabanovs - they went to church, sewed gold on velvet, listened to the stories of pilgrims, dined, walked in the garden, again talked with the pilgrims and We prayed ourselves ... After listening to Katerina's story, Varvara, her husband's sister, remarks with surprise: "Why, we have the same thing." But the difference is determined by Katerina very quickly in five words: "Yes, everything here seems to be out of bondage!" And further conversation shows that in all this appearance, which is so commonplace everywhere in our country, Katerina knew how to find her own special meaning, to apply it to her needs and aspirations, until the heavy hand of Kabanikha lay on her. Katerina does not at all belong to violent characters, never happy, loving to destroy at all costs. On the contrary, this character is predominantly creative, loving, ideal. That is why she tries to comprehend and refine everything in her imagination; the mood in which, according to the poet, -

The whole world is a noble dream
Before him cleansed and washed, -

this mood to the last extreme does not leave Katerina.<...>

In the position of Katerina, we see that, on the contrary, all the "ideas" instilled in her since childhood, all the principles of the environment - revolt against her natural tendencies and actions. The terrible struggle to which the young woman is condemned is waged in every word, in every movement of the drama, and this is where the whole importance of the introductory persons, for whom Ostrovsky is so reproached, turns out to be. Take a good look: you see that Katerina was brought up in concepts identical to the concepts of the environment in which she lives, and she cannot renounce them without having any theoretical education. The stories of wanderers and the suggestions of her household, although she reworked her in her own way, could not help but leave an ugly mark in her soul: indeed, we see in the play that Katerina, having lost her rainbow dreams and ideal, lofty aspirations, kept one thing from her upbringing. strong feeling - fear some dark forces, something unknown, which she could neither explain to herself well, nor reject. She fears for every thought, for the simplest feeling she expects herself to be punished; it seems to her that the storm will kill her, because she is a sinner; the picture of fiery hell on the church wall seems to her already a forerunner of her eternal torment ... And everything around her supports and develops this fear in her: The Feklushi go to Kabanikha to talk about the last times; Dikoy insists that a thunderstorm is sent to us as a punishment, so that we feel; a lady who has come, instilling fear in everyone in the city, appears several times in order to shout over Katerina in an ominous voice: "Everything will burn in the fire in the inextinguishable."<...>

In Katerina's monologues, it is clear that even now she has nothing formulated; she is guided to the end by her nature, and not by given decisions, because for decisions she would have to have logical, solid foundations, and yet all the principles that were given to her for theoretical reasoning are decisively opposed to her natural inclinations. That is why she not only does not take heroic poses and does not utter sayings that prove the firmness of character, but even on the contrary - she appears in the form of a weak woman who does not know how to resist her instincts, and tries justify the heroism that manifests itself in her actions. She decided to die, but she is frightened by the thought that this is a sin, and she seems to be trying to prove to us and to herself that she can be forgiven, since it is very hard for her. She would like to enjoy life and love; but she knows that this is a crime, and therefore says to justify her: "Well, it doesn't matter, I have ruined my soul!" She does not complain about anyone, she does not blame anyone, and nothing of the kind comes to her mind; on the contrary, she is to blame for everyone, she even asks Boris if he is angry with her, does he curse her ... There is neither malice, nor contempt in her, nothing that usually adorns disappointed heroes who leave the world on their own accord. But she cannot live any longer, cannot, and that is all; from the fullness of her heart she says: “I am already exhausted ... How long will I still suffer? Why should I live now - well, what for? I don't need anything, nothing is cute to me, and the light of God is not cute! - and death does not come. You call her, but she doesn't come. Whatever I see, whatever I hear, only here (pointing to the heart) painfully". At the thought of a grave it becomes easier for her - calmness seems to be poured into her soul. “So quiet, so good ... And I don’t even want to think about life ... To live again? .. No, no, don’t ... not good. And people are disgusting to me, and the house is disgusting to me, and the walls are disgusting! I won't go there! No, no, I will not go ... You come to them - they go, they say, "but what do I need it for?" that is a semi-hot state. At the last moment, all the horrors of the house are especially vividly flashed in her imagination. She cries out: "But they will catch me and bring me home by force! .. Hurry, hurry ..." She is released! ..

It is sad, bitter such a liberation; but what to do when there is no other way out. It's good that the poor woman found the determination to even take this terrible way out. This is the strength of her character, which is why the "Thunderstorm" makes a refreshing impression on us, as we said above.<...>

D. A. Pisarev

Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" caused a critical article from Dobrolyubov under the title "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom." This article was a mistake on the part of Dobrolyubov; he was carried away by sympathy for the character of Katerina and took her personality for a bright phenomenon. A detailed analysis of this character will show our readers that Dobrolyubov's view in this case is incorrect and that not a single bright phenomenon can neither arise nor develop in the "dark kingdom" of the patriarchal Russian family, brought to the stage in Ostrovsky's drama.<...>

Dobrolyubov would ask himself: how could this bright image have formed? To answer this question for himself, he would have traced Katerina's life from childhood, especially since Ostrovsky gives some materials on this; he would have seen that education and life could not give Katerina either a strong character or a developed mind; then he would once again look at those facts in which one attractive side caught his eye, and then the whole personality of Katerina would appear to him in a completely different light.<...>

Katerina's whole life consists of constant internal contradictions; she rushes from one extreme to another every minute; today she regrets what she did yesterday, and yet she herself does not know what she will do tomorrow; at every step she confuses her own life and the lives of other people; finally, confusing everything that was at her fingertips, she cuts the tight knots with the most stupid means, suicide, and even such a suicide that is completely unexpected for herself.<...>

M. A. Antonovich

G. Pisarev decided to correct Dobrolyubov, as Mr. Zaitsev Sechenov, and to expose his mistakes, to which he counts one of the best and most profound articles in his "Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom", written about the "Thunderstorm" by Mr. Ostrovsky. Mr. Pisarev is striving to flood his phrases and common passages with muddy water at this instructive, deeply felt and thoughtful article.<...>

G. Pisarev fancied that Dobrolyubov imagines Katerina as a woman with a developed mind and a developed character, who supposedly decided to protest only as a result of the education and development of the mind, therefore, as if she was called a "ray of light." Having thus imposed his own fantasy on Dobrolyubov, Mr. Pisarev began to refute it as if it belonged to Dobrolyubov. How is it possible, Mr. Pisarev reasoned to himself, to call Katerina a bright ray when she is a simple, undeveloped woman; how could she protest against tyranny, when her upbringing did not develop her mind, when she did not know the natural sciences at all, which, in the opinion of the great historian Buckle, are necessary for progress, did not have such realistic ideas as, for example, Mr. Pisarev himself , was even infected with prejudice, was afraid of thunder and the picture of hellfire painted on the walls of the gallery. This means, Mr. Pisarev concluded, that Dobrolyubov is mistaken and is a champion of art for art when he calls Katerina a Protestant and a ray of light. Amazing proof!

Is that how you, Mr. Pisarev, are attentive to Dobrolyubov and is this how you understand what you want to refute? Where did you find that, as if Dobrolyubov's Katerina appears to be a woman with a developed mind, as if her protest follows from some definite concepts and conscious theoretical principles, for the understanding of which the development of the mind is really required? We have already seen above that, in Dobrolyubov's view, Katerina's protest was of such a nature that it did not require any development of the mind, or knowledge of natural sciences and Buckle, or an understanding of electricity, or freedom from prejudice, or reading the articles of Mr. Pisarev; it was an immediate protest, so to speak, an instinctive protest, a protest of an integral normal nature in its primitive form, as it emerged by itself without any means of artificial education.<...>

Thus, all this fanfare of Mr. Pisarev is, in essence, very pitiful. It turns out that he did not understand Dobrolyubov, reinterpreted his thought and, on the basis of his misunderstanding, accused him of unprecedented mistakes and non-existent contradictions ...

A. A. Grigoriev

The impression strong, deep and mainly positively general was produced not by the second act of the drama, which, although with some difficulty, can still be drawn to the punishing and accusatory kind of literature, but by the end of the third, in which (at the end) there is absolutely nothing There is nothing else but the poetry of folk life - boldly, widely and freely captured by the artist in one of its most essential moments, which do not allow not only exposure, but even criticism and analysis: this is how this moment is captured and conveyed poetically, directly. You have not been to the performance yet, but you know this moment, magnificent in its bold poetry - this hitherto unprecedented night of a date in a ravine, all breathing closeness of the Volga, all fragrant with the smell of grasses of its wide meadows, all sounding free songs, "funny", secret speeches , all full of the charm of a merry and riotous passion and no less charm of a deep and tragically fatal passion. After all, it was created as if it was not an artist, but a whole people who created here! And this was precisely what was most strongly felt in the work of the masses, and, moreover, in masses in Petersburg, if only in Moscow - a complex, heterogeneous masses - felt with all the inevitable (although much less contrary to usual) falsehood, with all the frightening sharpness of the Alexandrian execution ...

M. M. Dostoevsky

Katerina alone is dying, but she would have died without despotism. it a victim of your own purity and your beliefs. <...>Katerina's life is broken and without suicide. Whether she will live, whether she will be tonsured as a nun, whether she will lay hands on herself - the result is one with respect to her state of mind, but completely different with respect to the impression. G. Ostrovsky wanted her to perform this last act of her life with full consciousness and reach him through meditation. A beautiful thought, even more reinforcing the colors, so poetically generously spent on this character. But, many will say and say already, does not such a suicide contradict her religious beliefs? Of course it contradicts, completely contradicts, but this trait is essential in the character of Katerina. The fact is that, due to her highly lively temperament, she cannot get along in the narrow sphere of her convictions. She fell in love, fully conscious of the whole sin of her love, and yet she nevertheless fell in love, whatever happens later; Then she repented to see Boris, but she herself ran to say goodbye to him. In exactly the same way, she decides to commit suicide, because she does not have enough strength to endure despair. She is a woman of high poetic impulses, but at the same time she is very weak. This intransigence of beliefs and frequent betrayal of them constitute the whole tragedy of the character we are examining.

After the publication of the play by A. Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm", many responses appeared in the periodicals, but the most attention was attracted by the articles by N. A. Dobrolyubov "A ray of light in the dark kingdom" and D. I. Pisarev "Motives of the Russian drama".

Speaking about how “the strong Russian character is understood and expressed in“ The Thunderstorm, ”Dobrolyubov, in his article“ A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom, ”rightly noted Katerina’s“ concentrated determination ”. However, defining the origins of her character, he completely departed from the spirit of Ostrovsky's drama. Is it possible to agree that “her upbringing and young life did not give her anything”? Without monologues, recollections of youth, is it possible to understand its freedom-loving character? Not feeling anything bright and life-affirming in Katerina's reasoning, not honoring her religious culture with attention, Dobrolyubov reasoned: “Nature here replaces the considerations of reason, and the requirements of feeling and imagination.” Where Ostrovsky has elements of folk culture, Dobrolyubov has a somewhat straightforward (if not primitive) understanding of nature. Katerina's youth, according to Ostrovsky, is a sunny sunrise, joy of life, bright hopes and joyful prayers. Katerina's youth, according to Dobrolyubov, is "the senseless ravings of wanderers," "a dry and monotonous life."

In his reasoning, Dobrolyubov did not notice the main thing - the difference between the religiosity of Katerina and the religiosity of the Kabanovs (“everything blows cold and some kind of irresistible threat: the faces of the saints are so strict, and church readings are so formidable, and the stories of pilgrims are so monstrous”). It was in her youth that the freedom-loving and passionate character of Katerina, who challenged the "dark kingdom", was formed. Further, Dobrolyubov, speaking of Katerina, presents her as an integral, harmonious character, which "amazes us with its opposite to all self-styled principles." The critic speaks of a strong personality who opposed the oppression of the Wild and Kabanovs with freedom, even at the cost of his life. Dobrolyubov saw in Katerina an “ideal national character” that was so necessary at a turning point in Russian history.

DI Pisarev assessed “The Thunderstorm” from a different standpoint in his article “Motives of the Russian Drama”. Unlike Dobrolyubov, Pisarev calls Katerina a “crazy dreamer” and a “visionary”: “Katerina's whole life consists of constant internal contradictions; she rushes from one extreme to another every minute; today she regrets what she did yesterday, and yet she herself does not know what she will do tomorrow; at every step she confuses her own life and the lives of other people; finally, confusing everything that was at her fingertips, she cuts through the tightened knots with the most stupid means, suicide. "

Pisarev is completely deaf to the heroine's moral experiences, he considers them a consequence of Katerina's unreasonableness. It is difficult to agree with such categorical statements, from the height of which the “thinking realist” Pisarev judges. However, the article is perceived rather as a challenge to Dobrolyubov's understanding of the play, especially in that part of it, where it is about the revolutionary capabilities of the people, rather than as a literary analysis of the play. After all, Pisarev wrote his article in the era of the decline of the social movement and the disillusionment of the revolutionary democracy with the possibilities of the people. Since spontaneous peasant riots did not lead to revolution, Pisarev assesses Katerina's "spontaneous" protest as profound "nonsense."

30. Funny and serious in Chekhov's stories.

Chekhov's works contain a huge number of shades of the comedic and dramatic. The more the writer scrutinized the simplest life situations, the more unexpected conclusions he came to. Humorous circumstances suddenly turned into a drama, and sad events turned into a farce. All this is expressed in the works of Chekhov, where, as in life, the funny and the sad are intertwined.

The writer wants people to be people and live like people. This is probably why Anton Pavlovich's stories are still more sad than funny. The drama of the content is hidden behind comic situations, the actions of the characters, and funny jokes. But gradually, joyful intonations give way to disappointment.

The story “Death of an official” seems ridiculous at first. The official Chervyakov sneezed on the general's bald head and tortured the “significant person” with an apology. Waiting for the general's anger, “coming home mechanically, without taking off his uniform, he lay down on the sofa and ... died”. This story is tragic, as it paints a picture of the terrible grinding of a person. After all, Chervyakov was afraid not of the general's anger, but of the absence of any reaction. The official was so used to obeying that he could not understand why the “beaming face” did not “scold” him. The story "The Chameleon" is also ambiguous. Ochumeloz's behavior causes both laughter and tears. After all, he is a “chameleon” because he embodies the duplicity of the world, in which everyone must be a dumb slave and at the same time an arrogant ruler. Chekhov shows life, which is built according to the laws of domination and subordination. People have forgotten how to perceive the world differently. We find confirmation of this in the story "The Fat and Thin". The meeting of two gymnasium comrades is overshadowed by the fact that one of them has a higher rank. At the same time, the “fat” was not at all going to humiliate his former friend. On the contrary, he is good-natured and sincerely glad to meet you. But the "thin", having heard about the secret adviser and two stars, "shrank, hunched over, narrowed." The "sweetness and respectful acid" necessary in such cases appeared on his face, he giggled disgustingly and began to add the particle "s" to all the words. From such voluntary servility "the privy councilor vomited." So a comic situation turns into a drama, because we are talking about the destruction of the human in a person. Bitter reflections give way to a smile when you read the story "The Mask". Before us are the best people of the city, gathered for a masquerade ball. Someone makes a brawl in the reading room of the club, to the depths of the soul angered the intelligentsia. However, as soon as the bully turns into a millionaire, everyone tries to make amends and does not know how to please the “honorary citizen”.

At first glance, a funny story "The Intruder". The main character is an illiterate little man. He is being tried for unscrewing the nut, “by which the rails are attached to the sleepers,” in order to make sinkers out of it. The whole story is a dialogue between the “forensic investigator” and the “malefactor”, built according to the laws of absurdity. Chekhov makes us laugh at a stupid, incomprehensible man. But behind him stands the whole of Russia, downtrodden and beggarly, so one wants to no longer laugh, but cry.

More than anything, Chekhov hated voluntary slavery. He was merciless to the slaves. By exposing them, Chekhov tried to save human souls from crushing.

End of work -

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Darkness of bitter truths are dearer to us
A deception that elevates us.
A. S. Pushkin

Looking at the same thing, we all see different things. There is a joke about this:

- What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?

- An optimist says that the hall is half full, and a pessimist that it is half empty.

Here's a look at what Dobrolyubov saw in the heroine of the drama “Thunderstorm”: “The extraordinary originality of this character is striking. There is nothing external, alien in it, but somehow comes out from within him; every impression is processed in him and then organically merges with him. We see this, for example, in Katerina's simple-minded story about her childhood and about life in her mother's house. It turns out that her upbringing and young life gave her nothing; in her mother's house it was the same as in Kabanikha's: they went to church, sewed in gold on velvet, listened to the stories of the pilgrims, dined, walked in the garden, again talked with the pilgrims and prayed themselves.<...>Katerina does not at all belong to violent characters, never content, loving to destroy at all costs ... On the contrary, this character is predominantly creative, loving, ideal. "

When I read this far, I wanted to demand proof from the critic. Show what is built by this "creative" character! And I will show what is destroyed! She crushed her family and her husband. Even if it was not the best model, then what in return? Russian variation on the theme of Madame Bovary. It would be interesting to look at her parents' family, disgraced by adultery and daughter's suicide. Dobrolyubov, however, writes something about poetic visions after the stories of pilgrims - not frightening, but clear and kind. As I understand it, here we are talking about a woman's panic fear of the wrath of God (thunderstorm) and fiery hell. That's right, we see what we want.

As for the "loving" character ... It is difficult to understand why a person loves this and not the other. "Love is blind". But of all the possible "goats" Katerina chooses the most vulgar and insignificant - Boris. She walked past the meek but selfless Tikhon, who, in my opinion, showed rare generosity in forgiving the prodigal wife. She passed the violent, courageous and in his own way noble Curly (he did not betray his Varvara, but took her away) ... She chose Boris, who patiently endures the rudeness of the Wild, spreading his dignity under his feet. True, he has an undeniable "value": he is "packed" in a Western manner, unlike other characters dressed in Russian. Announced in advance and more than once about what threatens Katerina in case of their dates, he really ruins her, hypocritically saying: "Who knew that it would be so!"

Dobrolyubov declares that "Katerina does not at all belong to violent characters ..." Meanwhile, living in a house where she was not forced or forced to do what she did not like, she rushed to the Volga as a child, sat down into the boat and pushed off the shore. Only in the morning this "humble woman" was found downstream. And now she does not even remember the reason for her resentment, so that, most likely, was insignificant. Then she grew up, got married and calls her mother-in-law “you”, contrary to the “you” accepted in the family. And she does not want to endure the fact that she liked it so much in her father's house. Material from the site

Perhaps, hating the reality of his day, Dobrolyubov saw in the young merchant Katerina Kabanova the sprouts of a future, bright and beautiful. Out of respect for the classics, we do not really contradict him. Moreover, "The Thunderstorm" seems to us a long time outdated work. But Katerina is really from the future, which really took place. We live in it.

Modern Wilds pat the modern mayors on the shoulder so that the authorities know who is the boss. Without an imported outfit, even a second-hand one, modern Katerinas won't even look at you. But Dobrolyubov did not want this, I think, even more than the "dark kingdom". And I saw in the absurd selfish a ray of light and hope.

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What do you think about when you reread what Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev wrote about "The Thunderstorm" by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky? Perhaps the fact that literature follows geniuses ... Golden Russian literature of the 19th century, starting with a breakthrough in the international level in poetry, by the middle of the century realized it in prose as well, serving as a "ray of light" for the entire Russian society. This, of course, is not about the poetic works of Pushkin, Gogol, Ostrovsky.

Civil message of the article

The article about Pisarev's "The Thunderstorm" is a citizen's response to the landmark play of the century before last. The play written in 1859 by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky in five acts occupies a special place in the golden Russian literature. This dramatic work served as a powerful stimulus for the further development of realism. This is evidenced by the assessment given to the play by critics. It testifies to a real pluralism of opinions. And in the dispute, the truth was really born! In understanding this, it is fundamental to know that the article "Motives of the Russian Drama", in which Pisarev posted his review about "The Thunder", was written as a response to another critical article by the famous literary critic Nikolai Dobrolyubov. The article with which Pisarev polemized was called brightly - "A ray of light in the dark kingdom." We will try to present to the readers our analysis of the above-mentioned work by Dmitry Pisarev. It occupies a special place in Russian literature. Ostrovsky managed to adequately continue in Russian drama the realism laid down by Griboyedov in Woe from Wit.

Fundamental disagreement with Dobrolyubov on the play "The Thunderstorm"

Dmitry Ivanovich, undoubtedly, was a subtle connoisseur and, undoubtedly, starting to work, he deeply familiarized himself with the article of the outstanding literary critic Dobrolyubov, whom he knew and respected. However, obviously, following the wisdom of the ancients (namely, "Socrates is my friend, but the truth is dearer"), Pisarev wrote his own review about Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm".

He realized the need to express his point of view, because he felt: Dobrolyubov tried to show Katerina a "hero of the time." Dmitry Ivanovich fundamentally disagreed with this position, and, moreover, he was quite motivated. Therefore, he wrote his article "The Motives of the Russian Drama", where he criticized the main thesis in the work of Nikolai Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov that Katerina Kabanova is "a ray of light in the dark kingdom."

Kalinov as a model of Russia

Undoubtedly, in the article Pisarev set out his thoughts about the "Thunderstorm", clearly realizing that the Dobrolyubovs were given such a "dark" characteristic formally to one district town, but in fact to the whole of Russia in the middle of the 19th century. Kalinov is a small model of a huge country. In it, public opinion and the whole course of city life are manipulated by two people: a merchant, indiscriminate in the methods of enrichment, Savel Prokofich Dikoy, and a bigot of Shakespeare's scope, merchant Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna (in common people - Kabanikha).

In the 60s of the century before last, Russia itself was a huge country with a population of forty million and developed agriculture. The railway network was already in operation. In the near future, after Ostrovsky wrote the play (more precisely, since 1861, after Emperor Alexander II signed the "Manifesto" abolishing serfdom), the number of the proletariat increased and, accordingly, the industrial upsurge began.

However, the suffocating atmosphere of the pre-reform society shown in Ostrovsky's play was indeed true. The work was in demand, suffered through ...

The relevance of the ideas of the play

Using simple argumentation, in a language understandable to the reader, Pisarev creates his review of the "Thunderstorm". He accurately reproduces the summary of the play in his critical article. How could it be otherwise? After all, the problems of the play are urgent. And Ostrovsky did a great job, with all his heart desiring to build a civil society instead of a "dark kingdom" with his work.

However, dear readers ... Put your hand on your heart, so to speak ... Can our society today be called "the kingdom of light, goodness and reason"? Did Ostrovsky write Kuligin's monologue into the void: “Because honest labor will never earn us more. Bitter, fair words ...

Katerina is not a "ray of light"

Pisarev's criticism of the "Thunderstorm" begins with the formulation of a conclusion about the rashness of Dobrolyubov's conclusion. He motivates him by giving arguments from the author's text of the play. His polemic with Nikolai Dobrolyubov is reminiscent of the summarization of a wise pessimist about the conclusions made by an optimist. According to Dmitry Ivanovich's reasoning, the essence of Katerina is melancholy, there is no real virtue in her, characteristic of people who are called "bright." According to Pisarev, Dobrolyubov made a systematic mistake in analyzing the image of the main character of the play. He collected all her positive qualities into a single positive image, ignoring the shortcomings. In the opinion of Dmitry Ivanovich, a dialectical view of the heroine is important.

The main character as a suffering part of the dark kingdom

A young woman lives with her husband Tikhon with her mother-in-law, a wealthy merchant who has (as they say now) "heavy energy", which is subtly emphasized by Pisarev's critical article. The Thunderstorm, as a tragic play, is largely due to this image. The boar (that is her street name) is pathologically fixated on the moral oppression of others, constant reproaches, eats them, "like rust iron." She does this in a sanctimonious manner: that is, she constantly solicits that the household “do in order” (more precisely, following her instructions).

Tikhon and his sister Varvara adapted to their mother's speeches. Her daughter-in-law, Katerina, is especially sensitive to her nagging and humiliation. She, who has a romantic, melancholic psyche, is really unhappy. Her colorful dreams and dreams reveal a completely childish worldview. This is sweet, but not a virtue!

Inability to cope with myself

At the same time, Pisarev's criticism of "The Thunder" objectively points to the infantilism and impulsiveness of Katerina. She's not getting married for love. Only the great Boris Grigorievich, the nephew of the Diky merchant, smiled at her, and the job was ready: Katya was in a hurry to go on a secret rendezvous. At the same time, she, having become close to this, in principle, a stranger, does not at all think about the consequences. "Is the author really depicting a" light ray ?! " - Pisarev's critical article asks the reader. "Thunderstorm" depicts an extremely illogical heroine, unable not only to cope with circumstances, but also to cope with herself. After cheating on her husband, being depressed, childishly frightened by the thunderstorm and the hysteria of a mad lady, she confesses what she had done and immediately identifies herself with the victim. It's trite, isn't it?

On the advice of mamma Tikhon beats her "a little", "for order". However, the bullying of the mother-in-law herself is becoming an order of magnitude more sophisticated. After Katerina learns that Boris Grigorievich is going to Kyakhta (Transbaikalia), she, having neither will nor character, decides to commit suicide: she rushes into the river and drowns.

Katerina is not a "hero of the time"

Pisarev thinks philosophically about Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm". He asks the question of whether in a slave society a person who is not endowed with a deep mind, who does not have a will, who does not educate himself, who does not understand people, can, in principle, become a ray of light. Yes, this woman is touchingly meek, kind and sincere, she does not know how to defend her point of view. (“She crushed me,” says Katerina about Kabanikha). Yes, she has a creative, impressionable nature. And this type can really charm (as happened with Dobrolyubov). But this does not change the essence ... "Under the circumstances set out in the play, a person - a" ray of light "cannot arise!" - Dmitry Ivanovich asserts.

Maturity of the soul is a condition of adulthood

Moreover, the critic continues his thought, is it a virtue to capitulate to the petty, completely surmountable difficulties of life? This obvious, logical question asks Pisarev about Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm". Can this be an example for a generation whose destiny is to change slave Russia, oppressed by local "princelings" like Kabanikha and the Wild? In the best case, such a suicide can only cause. However, as a result, strong-willed and educated people must fight against the social group of the rich and manipulators!

At the same time, Pisarev does not disparagingly speak about Katerina. “Thunderstorm”, the critic believes, is not in vain that he portrays her image so consistently, starting from childhood. The image of Katerina in this sense is similar to the unforgettable image of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov! The problem of her unformed personality is in her perfectly comfortable childhood and adolescence. Her parents did not prepare her for adulthood! Moreover, they did not give her the proper education.

However, it should be admitted that, unlike Ilya Ilyich, if Katerina had got into a more favorable environment than the Kabanov family, she would most likely have taken place as a person. Ostrovsky gives justification for this ...

What is the positivity of the image of the main character

This is an artistically holistic, positive image - Pisarev tells about Katerina. “The Thunderstorm” during its reading leads the reader to the realization that the main character really has an inner emotional charge, characteristic of a creative person. She has the potential for a positive attitude towards reality. She intuitively feels the main need of Russian society - human freedom. She has a latent energy (which she feels, but has not learned to control it). Therefore, Katya exclaimed the words: "Why are people not birds?" The author did not accidentally conceive such a comparison, because the heroine subconsciously wants freedom, similar to that which a bird feels in flight. That freedom, to fight for which she lacks mental strength ...

Conclusion

What conclusions does Pisarev draw "Motives of the Russian Drama" with his article? "Thunderstorm" does not portray a "hero of the time", not a "ray of light". This image is much weaker, but not artistically (everything is in order here), but by the maturity of the soul. The “hero of the time” cannot “break down” as a person. After all, people who are called "rays of light" can be killed rather than broken. And Katerina is weak ...

Both critics also have a common line of thought: the article about Pisarev's "The Thunderstorm", like Dobrolyubov's article, interprets the title of the play in the same way. This is not only an atmospheric phenomenon that scared Katerina to death. Rather, it is a social conflict of a lagging uncivil society that has come into conflict with the needs of development.

Ostrovsky's play is a kind of indictment. Both critics have shown, following Alexander Nikolaevich, that people are powerless, they are not free, they are, in fact, subordinated to the "Kabanikha" and "Wild". Why did Dobrolyubov and Pisarev write about The Storm so differently?

The reason for this is undoubtedly the depth of the work, in which there is more than one semantic “bottom”. It has both psychologism and sociality. Each of the literary critics interpreted them in their own way, set priorities in different ways. Moreover, both one and the other did it with talent, and Russian literature only benefited from this. Therefore, it is absolutely stupid to ask the question: "Did Pisarev write about the play" The Thunderstorm "more precisely, or did Dobrolyubov?" Surely both articles should be read ...

IMAGE OF KATERINA IN AN ASSESSMENT BY NA DOBROLYUBOV. The drama "The Thunderstorm" was inspired by Ostrovsky's trip along the Volga (1856-1857), but written in 1859.

"The Thunderstorm," as Dobrolyubov wrote, "is without a doubt Ostrovsky's most decisive work." This assessment has not lost its strength to this day. Among all that Ostrovsky wrote, The Thunderstorm is undoubtedly the best work, the pinnacle of his work. This is a real pearl of Russian drama, standing on a par with such works as "The Minor", "Woe from Wit", "The Inspector General", "Boris Godunov", etc. With amazing power depicts the Ostrovsky corner of the "dark kingdom", where human dignity is impudently trampled upon in people. The masters of life here are tyrants. They oppress people, tyrannize in their families and suppress every manifestation of living and healthy human thought. Among the heroes of the drama, the main place is occupied by Katerina, who suffocates in this musty swamp. In terms of character and interests, Katerina stands out sharply from her environment. Unfortunately, the fate of Katerina is a vivid and typical example of the fate of thousands of Russian women of that time.

Katerina is a young woman, the wife of the merchant's son Tikhon Kabanov. She recently left her home and moved to her husband's house, where she lives with her mother-in-law Kabanova, who is the sovereign mistress. In the family, Katerina has no rights, she is not even free to dispose of herself. With warmth and love, she recalls her parental home, her maiden life. There she lived at ease, surrounded by the affection and care of her mother. In her free time she went to the spring for water, looked after flowers, embroidered on velvet, went to church, listened to the stories and singing of the pilgrims. The religious upbringing that she received in the family developed in her impressionability, dreaminess, faith in the afterlife and retribution for man's sins.

Katerina found herself in completely different conditions in her husband's house. From the outside, everything seemed to be the same, but the freedom of the parental home was replaced by stifling slavery. At every step she felt dependence on her mother-in-law, endured humiliation and insults. On the part of Tikhon, she does not meet any support, much less understanding, since he himself is under the rule of Kabanikha. By her kindness, Katerina is ready to treat Kabanikha like her own mother. She says to Kabanikha: "For me, mamma, everything is the same as my own mother and what you are." But Katerina's sincere feelings are not supported by either Kabanikha or Tikhon. Life in such an environment changed Katerina's character: “How frisky I was, but yours has wilted completely ... Was I like that ?!” Katerina's sincerity and truthfulness collide in Kabanikha's house with lies, hypocrisy, hypocrisy, rudeness. When love for Boris is born in Katerina, it seems to her a crime, and she struggles with the feeling that rushes over her. Katerina's truthfulness and sincerity make her suffer so much that she finally has to repent before her husband. Katerina's sincerity, her truthfulness are incompatible with the life of the "dark kingdom". All this was the cause of Katerina's tragedy. The tension of Katerina's feelings is especially clearly visible after Tikhon's return: “Everything trembles, as if her fever was beating: she was so pale, rushing about the house, as if she was looking for something. The eyes, like those of a madman, began to cry this morning, and they are still crying. "

Katerina's public repentance shows the depth of her suffering, moral greatness, and determination. But after her repentance, her situation became unbearable. Her husband does not understand her, Boris is weak-willed and does not go to her aid. The situation has become hopeless - Katerina is dying. Not one specific person is to blame for the death of Katerina. Her death is the result of the incompatibility of morality and the way of life in which she was forced to exist. The image of Katerina was of great educational value for Ostrovsky's contemporaries and for subsequent generations. He called for the fight against all forms of despotism and oppression of the human person. It is an expression of the growing protest of the masses against all forms of slavery. By her death, Katerina protests against despotism and tyranny, her death testifies to the approaching end of the "dark kingdom".

The image of Katerina belongs to the best images of Russian fiction. Katerina is a new type of people in Russian reality in the 1860s. Dobrolyubov wrote that Katerina's character “is filled with faith in new ideals and is selfless in the sense that death is better for him than life for those principles that are repugnant to him. A decisive, integral character, acting among the Wild and Kabanovs, is in Ostrovsky's female type, and this is not devoid of its serious significance. " Further, Dobrolyubov calls Katerina "a ray of light in the dark kingdom." He says that her suicide, as it were, illuminated for a moment the unrestrained darkness of the "dark kingdom." At its tragic end, according to the critic, "a terrible challenge to the tyrannical force is given." In Katerina we see a protest against Kaban's notions of morality, a protest brought to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture, and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.