The city of Kalinov and its inhabitants (based on the play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm")

The action of the play begins with a remark: “A public garden on the high bank of the Volga; beyond the Volga, a rural view. Behind these lines lies the extraordinary beauty of the Volga expanses, which only Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic, notices: “... Miracles, it must truly be said that miracles! Curly! Here you are, my brother, for fifty years I have been looking beyond the Volga every day and I can’t see enough of everything. All other residents of the city of Kalinov do not pay attention to the beauty of nature, this is evidenced by the casual remark of Kud-ryash in response to Kuligin's enthusiastic words: “Something!” And then, off to the side, Kuligin sees Diky, the “cursor”, who is waving his arms, scolding Boris, his nephew.

The landscape background of the "Thunderstorm" allows you to more tangibly feel the stuffy atmosphere of the life of the Kalinovites. In the play, the playwright truly reflected the social relations of the middle of the 19th century: he gave a description of the material and legal status of the merchant-petty-bourgeois environment, the level of cultural demands, family and everyday life, and outlined the position of a woman in the family. "Thunderstorm" ... presents us with an idyllic "dark kingdom" ... Residents ... sometimes walk along the boulevard over the river ..., in the evening they sit on the rubble at the gate and engage in pious conversations; but they spend more time at home, take care of the household, eat, sleep - they go to bed very early, so it is difficult for an unaccustomed person to endure such a sleepy night as they ask themselves ... Their life flows smoothly and peacefully, no interests the world does not disturb them, because they do not reach them; kingdoms can collapse, new countries open up, the face of the earth can change as it pleases, the world can start a new life on new principles - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinov will continue to exist as before in complete ignorance of the rest of the world ...

It is terrible and difficult for every newcomer to attempt to go against the demands and convictions of this dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity. After all, she will curse us, she will run around like the plagued, not out of malice, not out of calculations, but out of a deep conviction that we are akin to the Antichrist ... The wife, according to the prevailing concepts, is connected with him (with her husband ) inseparably, spiritually, through the sacrament; whatever the husband does, she must obey him and share his meaningless life with him ... And in the general opinion, the main difference between a wife and a bast shoe lies in the fact that she brings with her a whole burden of worries from which the husband does not can get rid of, while the la-pot gives only convenience, and if it is inconvenient, then it can easily be thrown off ... Being in such a position, a woman, of course, must forget that she is the same person, with the same rights, like a man, ”N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”. Continuing to reflect on the position of a woman, the critic says that she, having decided “to go to the end in her uprising against the oppression and arbitrariness of the elders in the Russian family, must be filled with heroic self-denial, must decide on everything and be ready for everything. -va”, because “at the very first attempt, they will let her feel that she is nothing, that they can crush her”, “they will beat her, leave her to repent, on bread and water, deprive her of daylight, try all home remedies good old days and lead to obedience.”

The characterization of the city of Kalinov is given by Kuligin, one of the heroes of the drama: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! In philistinism, sir, you will see nothing but rudeness and bare poverty. And never, sir, get out of this bark! Because honest labor will never earn us more than our daily bread. And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor, so that he can make even more money from his free labors ... And among themselves, sir, how they live! They undermine each other's trade, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy. They are at enmity with each other ... ”Kuligin also notes that there is no work for the townspeople in the city: “The work must be given to the philistines. Otherwise, there are hands, but there is nothing to work,” and he dreams of inventing a “perpeta mobile” in order to use money for the benefit of society.

The tyranny of Dikiy and others like him is based on the material and moral dependence of other people. And even the mayor cannot call Wild to order, who will not "discount" any of his peasants. He has his own philosophy: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you! A lot of people stay with me every year; you understand: I won’t pay them extra for a penny per person, but I make thousands of this, so it’s good for me! And the fact that these men have every penny in the account does not bother him.

And what are Feklusha's stories about overseas lands worth! (“They say there are such countries, dear girl, where there are no Orthodox tsars, and the Saltans rule the earth ... And then there is also a land where all people have dog heads.” But what about distant countries! The narrowness of the views of the wanderer is especially clearly manifests itself in the story of the “vision” in Moscow, when Feklush takes an ordinary chimney sweep for an unclean one, who “scatters tares on the roof, and the people in the daytime in their vanity invisibly pick up”.

The rest of the inhabitants of the city are a match for Feklusha, one has only to listen to the conversation of the locals in the gallery:

1st: And this, my brother, what is it?

2nd: And this is the Lithuanian ruin. Battle! See? How ours fought with Lithuania.

1st: What is Lithuania?

2nd: So it is Lithuania.

1st: And they say, you are my brother, she fell on us from the sky.

2nd: I can't tell you. From the sky so from the sky.

It is not surprising that the Kalinovites perceive the thunderstorm as God's punishment. Kuligin, understanding the physical nature of a thunderstorm, is trying to protect the city by building a lightning rod, and asks Di-whom for money for this purpose. Of course, he did not give anything, and even scolded the inventor: “What kind of power is there! Well, what are you not a robber! A thunderstorm is sent to us as a punishment so that we feel, and you want to defend yourself with poles and some kind of mugs, God forgive me. But Diky's reaction does not surprise anyone, parting with ten rubles just like that, for the good of the city, is like death. The behavior of the townspeople is horrifying, who did not even think of standing up for Kuligin, but only silently, from the side, watched how Dikoy insulted the mechanic. It is on this indifference, irresponsibility, ignorance that the power of petty tyrants vibrates.

Essay on literature.

Cruel morals in our city, cruel...
A.N. Ostrovsky, "Thunderstorm".

The city of Kalinov, in which the action of "Thunderstorm" takes place, is described by the author very vaguely. Such a place can be any town in any corner of vast Russia. This immediately enlarges and generalizes the scale of the events described.

The preparation of a reform to abolish serfdom is in full swing, which affects the life of all of Russia. Obsolete orders give way to new ones, previously unknown phenomena and concepts arise. Therefore, even in remote towns like Kalinov, the townsfolk are worried when they hear the steps of a new life.

What is this "city on the banks of the Volga"? What kind of people live in it? The scenic nature of the work does not allow the writer to directly answer these questions with his thoughts, but a general idea of ​​​​them can still be formed.

Outwardly, the city of Kalinov is a “blessed place”. It stands on the banks of the Volga, from the steepness of the river opens up "an extraordinary view." But most of the locals "take a closer look or do not understand" this beauty and speak of it disparagingly. Kalinov seems to be separated by a wall from the rest of the world. They don't know anything about what's going on in the world. The inhabitants of Kalinovo are forced to draw all information about the world around them from the stories of "wanderers" who "they did not go far themselves, but heard a lot." This satisfaction of curiosity leads to the ignorance of most citizens. They quite seriously talk about the lands "where people with dog heads", about the fact that "Lithuania fell from the sky". Among the inhabitants of Kalinovo there are people who “give no account to anyone” of their actions; ordinary people, accustomed to such lack of accountability, lose the ability to see the logic in anything.

Kabanova and Dikoy, who live according to the old order, are forced to give up their positions. This embitters them and makes them even more mad. Wild lashes out with abuse at everyone he meets and "does not want to know anyone." Realizing internally that there is nothing to respect him for, he, however, reserves the right to deal with "little people" like this:

If I want - I will have mercy, if I want - I will crush.

Kabanova relentlessly pesters the household with ridiculous demands that are contrary to common sense. She is terrible because she reads instructions “under the guise of piety,” but she herself cannot be called pious. This can be seen from Kuligin's conversation with Kabanov:

Kuligin: Enemies must be forgiven, sir!
Kabanov: Go and talk to your mother, what she will say to you.

Dikoy and Kabanova still appear to be strong, but are beginning to realize that their strength is coming to an end. They have "nowhere to hurry", but life moves forward without asking their permission. That is why Kabanova is so gloomy, she cannot imagine “how the light will stand” when her orders are forgotten. But those around, still not feeling the impotence of these tyrants, are forced to adapt to them,

Tikhon, at heart a kind man, resigned himself to his position. He lives and acts as “mother ordered”, finally losing the ability to “live with his own mind”.

His sister Barbara is not like that. Selfish oppression did not break her will, she is bolder and much more independent than Tikhon, but her conviction “if only everything was sewn and covered” suggests that Barbara could not fight her oppressors, but only adapted to them.

Vanya Kudryash, a daring and strong person, got used to tyrants and is not afraid of them. The Wild One needs him and knows this, he will not “serve before him”. But the use of rudeness as a weapon of struggle means that Kudryash can only "take an example" from Wild, defending himself from him with his own methods. His reckless prowess reaches self-will, and this already borders on tyranny.

Katerina is, in the words of the critic Dobrolyubov, "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." Original and lively, she is not like any hero of the play. Its national character gives it inner strength. But this strength is not enough to withstand the relentless attacks of Kabanova. Katerina is looking for support - and does not find it. Exhausted, unable to further resist the oppression, Katerina still did not give up, but left the fight, committing suicide.

Kalinov can be located in any corner of the country, and this allows us to consider the action of the play on the scale of the whole of Russia. Tyrants live out their lives everywhere, weak people still suffer from their antics. But life tirelessly moves forward, no one can stop its rapid flow. A fresh and strong stream will sweep away the dam of tyranny... The characters freed from oppression will overflow in all their breadth - and the sun will flare up in the "dark kingdom"!

The theatrical season of 1859 was marked by a bright event - the premiere of the work "Thunderstorm" by playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky. Against the background of the rise of the democratic movement for the abolition of serfdom, his play was more than relevant. Immediately upon writing, it was literally torn from the hands of the author: the production of the play, completed in July, was on the St. Petersburg stage already in August!

A fresh look at Russian reality

A clear innovation was the image shown to the viewer in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm". The playwright, who was born in a Moscow merchant district, thoroughly knew the world he presented to the audience, inhabited by philistines and merchants. The tyranny of the merchants and the poverty of the philistines reached completely ugly forms, which, of course, was facilitated by the notorious serfdom.

Realistic, as if written off from life, the production (at first - in St. Petersburg) made it possible for people buried in everyday affairs to suddenly see the world in which they live from the outside. It's no secret - mercilessly ugly. Hopeless. Indeed - the "dark kingdom". What they saw was a shock to people.

Average image of a provincial town

The image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was associated not only with the capital. The author, working on the material for his play, purposefully visited a number of Russian settlements, creating typical, collective images: Kostroma, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kineshma, Kalyazin. Thus, the city dweller saw from the stage a broad picture of life in central Russia. In Kalinovo, a Russian city dweller recognized the world in which he lived. It was like a revelation that needed to be seen, realized...

It would be unfair not to note that Alexander Ostrovsky adorned his work with one of the most remarkable female images in Russian classical literature. The model for creating the image of Katerina for the author was the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya. Ostrovsky simply inserted her type, manner of speaking, remarks into the plot.

The radical protest against the "dark kingdom" chosen by the heroine - suicide - was not original either. After all, there was no shortage of stories when, among the merchants, a person was “eaten alive” behind “high fences” (the expressions are taken from the story of Savel Prokofich to the mayor). Reports of such suicides periodically appeared in Ostrovsky's contemporary press.

Kalinov as a kingdom of unfortunate people

The image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" really was like a fairy-tale "dark kingdom". Very few truly happy people lived there. If ordinary people worked hopelessly, leaving only three hours a day for sleep, then employers tried to enslave them to an even greater extent in order to enrich themselves even more from the work of the unfortunate.

Wealthy townspeople - merchants - fenced themselves off from their fellow citizens with tall fences and gates. However, according to the same merchant Dikiy, there is no happiness behind these locks, because they fenced themselves off “not from thieves”, but so that it would not be visible how “the rich ... eat homemade food”. And they are behind these fences "robbing relatives, nephews ...". They beat the household so that they "do not dare to utter a word."

Apologists of the "dark kingdom"

Obviously, the image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" is not independent at all. The richest citizen is the merchant Wild Savel Prokofich. This is a type of a person who is unscrupulous in his means, who is used to humiliating ordinary people and underpaying them for their work. So, in particular, he himself tells about the episode when a peasant asks him to borrow money. Savel Prokofich himself cannot explain why he then went into a rage: he scolded, and then almost killed the unfortunate ...

He is also a real tyrant for his kindred. His wife daily begs visitors not to anger the merchant. His domestic rampage makes the household hide from this petty tyrant in pantries and attics.

Negative images in the drama "Thunderstorm" are also complemented by the rich widow of the merchant Kabanov - Marfa Ignatievna. She, unlike Wild, "eats" her family. Moreover, Kabanikha (such is her street nickname) is trying to completely subjugate the household to her will. Her son Tikhon is completely devoid of independence, is a miserable likeness of a man. Daughter Barbara "did not break", but she changed radically internally. Deception and secrecy became her principles of life. “So that everything is sewn and covered,” as Varenka herself claims.

The daughter-in-law, Katerina Kabanikha, is driven to suicide, extorting compliance with the far-fetched old Testament order: to bow to the incoming husband, “howl in public”, seeing off the spouse. Critic Dobrolyubov in the article "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" writes about this mockery as follows: "Gnawing for a long time and relentlessly."

Ostrovsky - Columbus of merchant life

The characterization of the drama "Thunderstorm" was given in the press at the beginning of the 19th century. Ostrovsky was called "the Columbus of the patriarchal merchant class". His childhood and youth were spent in the area of ​​Moscow populated by merchants, and as a court clerk, he more than once came across the “dark side” of the life of various “Wild” and “Boars”. What was previously hidden from society behind the high fences of mansions has become clear. The play caused a significant resonance in society. Contemporaries recognized that the dramatic masterpiece raises a large layer of problems of Russian society.

Conclusion

The reader, getting acquainted with the work of Alexander Ostrovsky, will certainly discover a special, non-personalized character - the city in the drama "Thunderstorm". This city has created real monsters that oppress people: Wild and Boar. They are an integral part of the "dark kingdom".

It is noteworthy that it is these characters who do their best to support the dark patriarchal senselessness of the house-building in the city of Kalinov, personally inculcating misanthropic morals in it. The city as a character is static. He seemed to be frozen in his development. At the same time, it is palpable that the "dark kingdom" in the drama "Thunderstorm" is living out its days. The family of Kabanikhi is collapsing... He expresses fears about his mental health. Wild... The townspeople understand that the beauty of the nature of the Volga region is dissonant with the heavy moral atmosphere of the city.

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was a master of precise descriptions. The playwright in his works managed to show all the dark sides of the human soul. Perhaps unsightly and negative, but without which it is impossible to create a complete picture. Criticizing Ostrovsky, Dobrolyubov pointed to his "people's" attitude, seeing the main merit of the writer in the fact that Ostrovsky was able to notice those qualities in the Russian person and society that can hinder natural progress. The theme of the "dark kingdom" is raised in many of Ostrovsky's dramas. In the play "Thunderstorm" the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants are shown as limited, "dark" people.

The city of Kalinov in Groz is a fictional space. The author wanted to emphasize that the vices that exist in this city are characteristic of all cities in Russia at the end of the 19th century. And all the problems that are raised in the work existed at that time everywhere. Dobrolyubov calls Kalinov a "dark kingdom". The definition of a critic fully characterizes the atmosphere described in Kalinov.
The inhabitants of Kalinov should be considered inextricably linked with the city. All the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov deceive each other, rob, terrorize other family members. Power in the city belongs to those who have money, and the power of the mayor is only nominal. This becomes clear from Kuligin's conversation. The mayor comes to Diky with a complaint: the peasants complained about Savl Prokofievich, because he shortchanged them. Wild does not try to justify himself at all, on the contrary, he confirms the words of the mayor, saying that if merchants steal from each other, then there is nothing wrong with the merchant stealing from ordinary residents. Dikoy himself is greedy and rude. He constantly swears and grumbles. We can say that because of greed, Saul Prokofievich's character deteriorated. There was nothing human left in him. The reader sympathizes even with Gobsek from the story of the same name by O. Balzac more than with Wild. There are no feelings towards this character, except disgust. But after all, in the city of Kalinovo, its inhabitants themselves indulge Wild: they ask him for money, humiliate themselves, they know that they will be insulted and, most likely, they will not give the required amount, but they still ask. Most of all, the merchant is annoyed by his nephew Boris, because he also needs money. Dikoy is openly rude to him, cursing and demanding that he leave. Culture is alien to Savl Prokofievich. He does not know either Derzhavin or Lomonosov. He is only interested in the accumulation and multiplication of material wealth.

Boar is different from Wild. “Under the guise of piety,” she tries to subordinate everything to her will. She raised an ungrateful and deceitful daughter, a spineless weak son. Through the prism of blind maternal love, Kabanikha does not seem to notice Varvara's hypocrisy, but Marfa Ignatievna perfectly understands how she made her son. Kabanikha treats her daughter-in-law worse than the others.
In relations with Katerina, Kabanikha's desire to control everyone, to instill fear in people, is manifested. After all, the ruler is either loved or feared, and there is nothing to love the Kabanikh.

It should be noted that Diky's speaking surname and the nickname Kabanikhi, which refer readers and viewers to wild, animal life.

Glasha and Feklusha are the lowest link in the hierarchy. They are ordinary residents who are happy to serve such gentlemen. There is an opinion that every nation deserves its ruler. In the city of Kalinov, this is confirmed many times. Glasha and Feklusha are having dialogues about how “sodom” is now in Moscow, because people there are starting to live differently. The inhabitants of Kalinov are alien to culture and education. They praise Kabanikha for standing up for the preservation of the patriarchal system. Glasha agrees with Feklusha that only the Kabanov family has preserved the old order. The house of the Kabanikhi is heaven on earth, because in other places everything is mired in debauchery and bad manners.

The reaction to a thunderstorm in Kalinovo is more like a reaction to a large-scale natural disaster. People run to save themselves, trying to hide. This is because a thunderstorm becomes not only a natural phenomenon, but a symbol of God's punishment. This is how Savl Prokofievich and Katerina perceive her. However, Kuligin is not at all afraid of thunderstorms. He urges people not to panic, tells Wild about the benefits of a lightning rod, but he is deaf to the requests of the inventor. Kuligin cannot actively resist the established order, he has adapted to life in such an environment. Boris understands that in Kalinovo Kuligin's dreams will remain dreams. At the same time, Kuligin differs from other residents of the city. He is honest, modest, plans to earn his own work, without asking the rich for help. The inventor studied in detail all the orders by which the city lives; knows what goes on behind closed doors, knows about the deceptions of the Wild, but can do nothing about it.

Ostrovsky in "Thunderstorm" depicts the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants from a negative point of view. The playwright wanted to show how deplorable the situation is in the provincial cities of Russia, he emphasized that social problems require an immediate solution.

The above description of the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants will be useful to students in grade 10 when preparing an essay on the topic "The city of Kalinov and its inhabitants in the play" Thunderstorm "".

"Thunderstorm" the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants in pieche - an essay on the topic |

The Thunderstorm is a drama by AN. Ostrovsky. Written in July-October 1859. First publication: Library for Reading magazine (1860, vol. 158, January). The first acquaintance of the Russian public with the play caused a whole "critical storm". Prominent representatives of all directions of Russian thought considered it necessary to speak out about The Thunderstorm. It was obvious that the content of this folk drama reveals "the deepest recesses of non-Europeanized Russian life" (A.I. Herzen). The dispute about it resulted in a controversy about the basic principles of national existence. Dobrolyubov's concept of the "dark kingdom" accentuated the social content of the drama. And A. Grigoriev considered the play as an "organic" expression of the poetry of folk life. Later, in the 20th century, a point of view arose on the “dark kingdom” as the spiritual element of a Russian person (A.A. Blok), a symbolic interpretation of the drama was proposed (F.A. Stepun).

The image of the city of Kalinov

The city of Kalinov appears in Ostrovsky's The Thunderstorm as a kingdom of "bondage", in which living life is regulated by a strict system of rituals and prohibitions. This is a world of cruel morals: envy and self-interest, "debauchery of the dark and drunkenness", quiet complaints and invisible tears. The course of life here has remained the same as one hundred and two hundred years ago: with the languor of a hot summer day, ceremonial compline, festive revelry, nightly meetings of couples in love. The completeness, originality and self-sufficiency of being Kalinovtsy does not need any way out beyond its limits - to where everything is “wrong” and “in their opinion everything is opposite”: both the law is “unrighteous”, and the judges “are also all unrighteous”, and “ people with dog heads. Rumors about the long-standing “Lithuanian ruin” and that Lithuania “fell on us from the sky” reveal the “historiosophy of the laity”; simple-minded reasoning about the picture of the Last Judgment - "the theology of the simple", primitive eschatology. “Closeness”, remoteness from the “big time” (the term of M.M. Bakhtin) is a characteristic feature of the city of Kalinov.

Universal sinfulness (“It is impossible, mother, without sin: we live in the world”) is an essential, ontological characteristic of Kalinov's world. The only way to fight sin and curb self-will is seen by the Kalinovites in the “law of everyday life and custom” (P.A. Markov). "Law" has constrained, simplified, subjugated living life in its free impulses, aspirations and desires. “The predatory wisdom of the local world” (G. Florovsky’s expression) shines through in the spiritual cruelty of the Kabanikh, the dense obstinacy of the Kalinovites, the predatory grasp of Curly, the quirky sharpness of Varvara, the flabby pliability of Tikhon. The seal of social outcast marks the appearance of the "non-possessor" and silver-free Kuligin. Unrepentant sin roams the city of Kalinov in the guise of a crazy old woman. The graceless world languishes under the oppressive weight of the "Law", and only the distant peals of a thunderstorm remind of the "final end". A comprehensive image of a thunderstorm arises in action, as breakthroughs of higher reality into the local, otherworldly reality. Under the onslaught of an unknown and formidable “will”, the time of life of the Kalinovites “began to diminish”: the “end times” of the patriarchal world are approaching. Against their background, the duration of the play is read as the “axial time” of breaking the integral way of Russian life.

The image of Katerina in "Thunderstorm"

For the heroine of the play, the collapse of the “Russian cosmos” becomes a “personal” time of the tragedy experienced. Katerina is the last heroine of the Russian Middle Ages, through whose heart the crack of the “axial time” passed and opened the formidable depth of the conflict between the human world and the Divine heights. In the eyes of the Kalinovites, Katerina is “some kind of wonderful”, “some kind of tricky”, incomprehensible even to relatives. The "otherworldliness" of the heroine is emphasized even by her name: Katerina (Greek - ever-clean, eternally clean). Not in the world, but in the church, in prayerful communion with God, the true depth of her personality is revealed. “Ah, Curly, how she prays, if only you looked! What an angelic smile on her face, but from her face it seems to glow. In these words of Boris lies the key to the mystery of the image of Katerina in The Thunderstorm, an explanation of the illumination, the luminosity of her appearance.

Her monologues in the first act push the boundaries of the plot action and take them beyond the “small world” designated by the playwright. They reveal the free, joyful and easy soaring of the heroine's soul to her "heavenly homeland". Outside the church fence, Katerina is lured by "bondage" and complete spiritual loneliness. Her soul passionately strives to find a soul mate in the world, and the heroine’s gaze stops on the face of Boris, who is alien to the Kalinov world not only due to European upbringing and education, but also spiritually: “I understand that all this is our Russian, dear, and all I won't get used to it anyway." The motive of a voluntary sacrifice for a sister - “sorry for a sister” - is central in the image of Boris. Doomed to "sacrifice", he is forced to meekly wait for the desiccation of the tyrannical will of the Wild.

Only outwardly, the humble, hidden Boris and the passionate, resolute Katerina are opposites. Internally, in the spiritual sense, they are equally alien to the world here. Having seen each other a few times, never having spoken, they "recognized" each other in the crowd and could no longer live as before. Boris calls his passion "fool", he is aware of its hopelessness, but Katerina "doesn't get" out of his head. Katerina's heart rushes to Boris against her will and desire. She wants to love her husband - and cannot; seeks salvation in prayer - "will not pray in any way"; in the scene of her husband's departure, he tries to curse fate (“I will die without repentance, if I ...”) - but Tikhon does not want to understand it (“... and I don’t want to listen!”).

Going on a date with Boris, Katerina commits an irreversible, “fatal” act: “After all, what am I preparing for myself. Where is my place…” Exactly according to Aristotle, the heroine guesses the consequences, foresees the coming suffering, but commits a fatal act, not knowing all the horror of it: “No one is to blame for me, she went to that.<...>They say it’s even easier when you suffer for some sin here on earth.” But the “unquenchable fire”, “fiery hell”, predicted by the crazy lady, overtake the heroine during her lifetime, with pangs of conscience. The consciousness and feeling of sin (tragic guilt), as it is experienced by the heroine, leads to the etymology of this word: sin - to warm (Greek - heat, pain).

Katerina's public confession of her deed is an attempt to extinguish the fire that burns her from within, to return to God and find the lost peace of mind. The culminating events of Act IV are both formally and meaningfully and figuratively and symbolically connected with the feast of Elijah the Prophet, the “terrible” saint, all of whose miracles in folk legends are associated with bringing down heavenly fire to earth and intimidating sinners. The thunderstorm that had previously rumbled in the distance burst right over Katerina's head. In conjunction with the image of the Last Judgment on the wall of a dilapidated gallery, with the cries of the lady: “You won’t get away from God!”, With the phrase of Diky that the thunderstorm is “sent as punishment”, and the replicas of the Kalinovites (“this thunderstorm will not pass in vain” ), it forms the tragic climax of the action.

In Kuligin's last words about the "Merciful Judge" one hears not only a reproach to the sinful world for the "cruelty of morals", but also Ostrovsky's belief that the Suya of the Almighty is unthinkable outside of mercy and love. The space of Russian tragedy is revealed in The Thunderstorm as a religious space of passions and suffering.

The protagonist of the tragedy dies, and the pharisaea triumphs in her rightness (“Understood, son, where the will leads to! ..”). With Old Testament severity, Kabanikha continues to observe the foundations of the Kalinov world: “flight into the ritual” is the only conceivable salvation for her from the chaos of will. The escape of Varvara and Kudryash to the open spaces of the will, the revolt of the previously unrequited Tikhon (“Mother, it was you who ruined her! You, you, you ...”), crying for the deceased Katerina - portend the onset of a new time. The "boundary", "turning point" of the content of "Thunderstorm" allows us to speak of it as "the most decisive work of Ostrovsky" (N.A. Dobrolyubov).

Productions

The first performance of The Thunderstorm took place on November 16, 1859 at the Maly Theater (Moscow). In the role of Katerina - L.P. Nikulina-Kositskaya, who inspired Ostrovsky to create the image of the main character of the play. Since 1863 G.N. Fedotov, from 1873 - M.N. Yermolov. The premiere took place at the Alexandrinsky Theater (Petersburg) on ​​December 2, 1859 (F.A. Snetkov in the role of Katerina, A.E. Martynov brilliantly played the role of Tikhon). In the 20th century, The Thunderstorm was staged by directors: V.E. Meyerhold (Alexandrinsky Theatre, 1916); AND I. Tairov (Chamber Theatre, Moscow, 1924); IN AND. Nemirovich-Danchenko and I.Ya. Sudakov (Moscow Art Theatre, 1934); N.N. Okhlopkov (Moscow Theater named after Vl. Mayakovsky, 1953); G.N. Yanovskaya (Moscow Youth Theater, 1997).