I. S. Turgenev described Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" as "the most amazing, magnificent work of the powerful Russian ... talent." Indeed, both the artistic merit of "The Storm" and its ideological content give the right to consider this drama the most remarkable work of Ostrovsky. "The Thunderstorm" was written in 1859, in the same year it was staged in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg from 1860 and appeared in print. The appearance of the play on stage and in print coincided with the sharpest period in the history of the 60s. This was a period when Russian society lived with a tense expectation of reforms, when numerous unrest of the peasant masses began to pour out into formidable riots, when Chernyshevsky called the people "to the ax." In the country, according to V.I.Belinsky's definition, a revolutionary situation has clearly emerged.
The revitalization and upsurge of social thought at this critical stage in Russian life found expression in the abundance of accusatory literature. Naturally, the social struggle had to find its reflection in fiction.
Three topics attracted particular attention of Russian writers in the 1950s and 1960s: serfdom, the emergence of a new force on the arena of public life - the diverse intelligentsia, and the position of women in the country.
But in the series of topics put forward by life, there was another one that required urgent coverage. This is the tyranny of tyranny, money and the Old Testament authority in merchant life, a tyranny under the yoke of which not only members of merchant families, especially women, but also the working poor, who depended on the whims of tyrants, suffocated. The task of exposing the economic and spiritual tyranny of the "dark kingdom" was set by Ostrovsky in the drama "The Thunderstorm".
As a denouncer of the "dark kingdom", Ostrovsky also appeared in plays written before "The Thunderstorm" ("Our people - we will be numbered", etc.). However, now, under the influence of the new social situation, he puts the topic of exposure wider and deeper. He not only denounces the "dark kingdom" now, but also shows how in its depths a protest against age-old traditions arises and how the Old Testament way of life begins to crumble under the pressure of the demands of life. The protest against the outdated foundations of life finds expression in the play, above all and most of all in the suicide of Katerina. "It's better not to live than to live like that!" - that's what Katerina's suicide meant. Before the appearance of the drama The Thunderstorm, Russian literature did not yet know the verdict of public life, expressed in such a tragic form.
Creative history of "Storms"
Ostrovsky arrived at the artistic synthesis of the dark and light beginnings of merchant life in the Russian tragedy "The Thunderstorm" - the pinnacle of his mature work. The creation of "Thunderstorm" was preceded by the playwright's expedition along the Upper Volga, undertaken on the instructions of the Naval Ministry in 1856-1857. She revived and revived in memory youthful impressions, when in 1848 Ostrovsky first went with his household on a fascinating journey to his father's homeland, to the Volga city of Kostroma and further, to the Shchelykovo estate acquired by his father. The result of this trip was Ostrovsky's diary, which reveals a lot in his perception of the life of provincial, Volga region Russia. The Ostrovskys set off on April 22, on the eve of Yegoriev's day. "It is springtime, holidays are frequent," Kupava says to Tsar Berendey in Ostrovsky's "spring tale" The Snow Maiden. The journey coincided with the most poetic time of the year in the life of a Russian. In the evenings, in ritual spring songs that sounded outside the outskirts, in groves and valleys, the peasants turned to birds, curly willows, white birches, to the silky green grass. On Yegoryev's day, they walked around the fields, “called to Yegoriy,” asked him to keep the cattle from predatory animals. Following Yegoryev's day, there were the holidays of green Christmastide (Russian week), when they led round dances in the villages, arranged a game with burners, burned fires and jumped over the fire. The path of the Ostrovskys lasted a whole week and went through the ancient Russian cities: Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma. An inexhaustible source of poetic creativity opened up for Ostrovsky the Upper Volga region. “Merya begins from Pereyaslavl,” he writes in his diary, “the land, abundant in mountains and waters, and the people are tall, and beautiful, and smart, and frank, and obligatory, and a free mind, and a soul wide open. These are my beloved compatriots, with whom I seem to get along well. Here you will not see a little bent man or a woman dressed as an owl, who continually bows and says: "But father, but father ..." buildings, and girls. We've got eight beauties on our way. " "On the meadow side, the views are amazing: what kind of villages, what kind of buildings, just like you are driving not across Russia, but along some promised land." And now the Ostrovskys are in Kostroma. “We are standing on the steepest mountain, under our feet is the Volga, and on it ships go back and forth, sometimes in sails, sometimes in barge haulers, and one charming song haunts us irresistibly. Here comes the bark, and charming sounds can be heard from afar; nearer and nearer, the song grows and poured, at last, at the top of its voice, then little by little it began to subside, and meanwhile another bark came up and the same song grew. And there is no end to this song ... And on the other side of the Volga, directly opposite the city, there are two villages; and one is especially picturesque, from which the most curly grove stretches right up to the Volga, the sun at sunset climbed into it somehow miraculously, from the roots, and did many miracles. I was exhausted, looking at this ... Exhausted, I returned home and for a long, long time could not sleep. A kind of despair took possession of me. Will the painful impressions of these five days be fruitless for me? " Such impressions could not be fruitless, but they defended for a long time and matured in the soul of the playwright and poet, before such masterpieces of his work as "The Thunderstorm" and then "The Snow Maiden" appeared. About the great influence of the "literary expedition" along the Volga on the subsequent work of Ostrovsky, his friend S.V. Maximov: “An artist with a strong talent was not able to miss a favorable opportunity ... He continued to observe the characters and outlook of indigenous Russian people, hundreds of them came out to meet him ... The Volga gave Ostrovsky abundant food, showed him new themes for dramas and comedies and inspired him to those of them, which are the honor and pride of Russian literature. From the veche, once free, Novgorod suburbs breathed of that transitional time when the heavy hand of Moscow fettered the old will and sent the governor in tight-knit mittens on long, ragged paws. I dreamed of the poetic "Dream on the Volga", and the "voivode" Nechay Grigorievich Shalygin rose from the grave alive and active with his adversary, a free man, a runaway daredevil posad Roman Dubrovin, in all that truthful atmosphere of old Russia that only the Volga can represent, in one and the same time, both pious, and robber, well-fed and little bread ... Outwardly beautiful Torzhok, jealously guarding his Novgorod antiquity to the strange customs of girlish freedom and strict seclusion of married people, inspired Ostrovsky to a deeply poetic "Thunderstorm" with playful Barbara and artistically graceful Katerina ". For quite a long time it was believed that Ostrovsky took the plot of "The Thunderstorm" from the life of the Kostroma merchants, that it was based on the Klykov case, which was sensational in Kostroma at the end of 1859. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Kostroma residents proudly pointed to the place of Katerina's suicide - a gazebo at the end of a small boulevard, which in those years literally hung over the Volga. They also showed the house where she lived - next to the Church of the Assumption. And when "The Thunderstorm" was first staged on the stage of the Kostroma Theater, the artists made up "like the Klykovs".
Kostroma local historians later thoroughly examined the "Klykovskoe Delo" in the archives and, with documents in hand, came to the conclusion that it was this story that Ostrovsky used in his work on The Thunderstorm. The coincidences were almost literal. A.P. Klykova was married at sixteen to a sullen and unsociable merchant family, consisting of old parents, a son and an unmarried daughter. The mistress of the house, stern and obstinate, depersonalized her husband and children with her despotism. She forced the young daughter-in-law to do any dirty work, refused her requests to see her relatives.
At the time of the drama, Klykova was nineteen years old. In the past, she was brought up in love and in the hall of the soul in her doted grandmother, she was cheerful, lively, cheerful. Now she was in an unkind and alien family. Her young husband, Klykov, a carefree and apathetic man, could not protect his wife from the oppression of his mother-in-law and was indifferent to them. The Klykovs had no children. And then another man stood in the way of the young woman, Maryin, an employee in the post office. Suspicions began, scenes of jealousy. It ended with the fact that on November 10, 1859, the body of A.P. Klykova was found in the Volga. A long trial began, which received wide publicity even outside the Kostroma province, and none of the Kostroma residents doubted that Ostrovsky used the materials of this case in the "Groz".
Many decades passed before Ostrovsky's researchers determined that The Thunderstorm was written before Klykova, the merchant from Kostroma, threw herself into the Volga. Ostrovsky began work on "The Thunderstorm" in June - July 1859 and finished on October 9 of the same year. The play was first published in the January 1860 issue of the Library for Reading magazine. The first performance of The Thunderstorms took place on November 16, 1859 at the Maly Theater, at the benefit performance of S.V. Vasiliev with L.P. Nikulina-Kositskaya as Katerina. The version about the Kostroma source of the "Groza" turned out to be far-fetched. However, the very fact of this amazing coincidence speaks volumes: it testifies to the perspicacity of the national playwright, who caught the growing conflict between the old and the new in merchant life, a conflict in which Dobrolyubov not without reason saw “something refreshing and encouraging”, and the famous theatrical figure S.A. ... Yuriev said: Ostrovsky did not write "Thunderstorm" ... Volga wrote "Thunderstorm". "
"Thunderstorm" by A.N. Ostrovsky is a significant and powerful work of the Russian It attracts attention with the most interesting events taking place in the play and its complex problems. The drama itself has been filmed more than once and enjoyed considerable success with the audience. The image of the city of Kalinov, in which the action takes place, symbolizes an enchanted vicious circle, from which it is impossible to escape without injuring the soul and heart.
The history of Ostrovsky's "Storm"
I. S. Turgenev spoke about this work very positively, with special trepidation and delight emphasized the enormous talent of A. N. Ostrovsky. The history of the creation of Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" goes back to the socio-political situation in the country in the fifties - sixties of the XIX century. It was a turning point in history and social thought. During that period, more and more accusatory literature began to appear, and the work of A.N. Ostrovsky had a time. Topics that were then popular and caused significant controversy: serfdom, the position of women in society and the various intelligentsia. A.N. Ostrovsky in "The Thunderstorm" raises an equally relevant topic - domestic tyranny, the domination of money over life and the value of a person.
The year of writing the drama is considered to be 1859, at the same time the first performances of the play appeared in the best and Petersburg. The work appeared in print a year later (1860). The history of Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" shows that the work fully reflected the socio-political thought of that time.
The meaning of the name
If we turn to the semantic load of the drama, then its name reflects the basic state of the main characters. The entire city of Kalinov lives in tension, which also happens when expecting a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon: stuffiness reigns everywhere, there is not enough fresh air. The life of urban dwellers is just as painful: many are depressed, under the yoke of domestic tyranny. The thunderstorm should bring relief and liberation. The heroes are looking for a way out of a difficult situation, but they do not know how to act independently, to listen to the voice of their own heart. In depicting such characters, A.N. Ostrovsky ("The Thunderstorm"). The history of the drama emphasizes the impossibility of solving the problem peacefully and the futility of such attempts.
Compositional and ideological component
The drama consists of five acts, with ten days elapsing between the third and fourth acts. The entire play can be conditionally divided into four parts: agonizing anticipation, accompanied by longing and suffering, preparation for the denouement. The death of Katerina causes a lot of controversy among researchers. Could she continue to live in the society that surrounded her, or not? The history of Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" proves that the author wanted to show a strong personality capable of rising above the circumstances of his own life, therefore he endows the main character with integrity of nature, unbending will
Indeed, the death of Katerina is a foregone conclusion. If she had not died by her own decision, she would have been crushed by the cruel morals that reign in the city of Kalinov. She would have to break her freedom-loving nature and adapt to the order of society. All her inner being, her soul opposed these orders. Therefore, death for her becomes a way out, deliverance from oppressive suffering and fear. Katerina's heart is a free bird, which she sets free.
Katerina
She painfully paints a difficult picture of the life of the main character Ostrovsky ("The Thunderstorm"). An analysis of this work shows that before marriage, Katerina lived in a loving family, where everyone respected each other's personal choice and freedom. With her marriage, Katerina lost touch with her family and lost her freedom. That is why she is so lonely and sickening in the Kabanovs' house, that is why she cannot get used to its foundations, she recollects about the past: “Was I like this? I lived, did not grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild! "
Is the main character strong or weak? Did she have a choice? What was the decisive event that prompted her to commit suicide? The inability to change her life, to be close to her loved one, the inability to find a way out of the current situation, her own desire for freedom led her to this action. We see that suicide is committed out of despair, this is not a deliberate and cold-blooded decision, but it is deliberate. In relation to herself, to her dreams, the heroine commits weakness, while she did not submit to the society that condemns her and by suicide emphasizes her individuality of character.
"Dark kingdom"
This includes the representatives of the old society with its rigid moral foundations. These are Savel Prokofievich Dikoy, Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. These people will never change: old habits and worldview are so rooted in them that they find the meaning of life in teaching young people, cursing modern customs.
Dikoy takes pleasure in tyrannizing his household: no one dares to say a word to him. He is dissatisfied with literally everything, and no one can please him. Kabanova (Kabanikha) imposes her will on her son and daughter-in-law, categorically refuses to accept someone else's point of view, different from her own.
Tikhon Kabanov
The son of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, a weak and weak-willed person. She will not leave a step from mama's word, I cannot make an independent decision. Ostrovsky draws him defenseless, cowardly. "Thunderstorm", the characterization of the hero testifies to this, emphasizes the adaptive qualities of Tikhon's character and his complete dissolution under the will of his mother.
Barbara, sister of Tikhon
Unmarried girl, daughter of Kabanova. Its motto is the statement: "Do what you want, but so that it is sewn-covered."
Ostrovsky does not particularly distinguish it. "Thunderstorm", the analysis of the work testifies to this, in every possible way opposes the willful nature of Barbara and the purity of Katerina's soul. Varvara achieves her goal with cunning and freethinking, and Katerina prefers the truth in everything.
Boris
Nephew of the Wild, lives in his house out of mercy. The young guy is used to listening to the expression of discontent and admonition of his uncle, but if you pay attention, you can see how deeply he is hurt by the Dikiy's reproaches, how unpleasant lies and hypocrisy are to him. Boris's inability to resist the will of the power-wielding Dikiy is best emphasized by The Thunderstorm. Ostrovsky sympathizes with Boris. The hero's natural delicacy does not allow him to argue with his uncle, to defend his point of view. One way or another, but Boris is also a victim of the cruel morals prevailing in the city of Kalinov.
The characters in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" are particularly diverse: Kabanikha, Dikoy, Varvara, Tikhon, Boris - all, as one, know how to adapt. Some suppress, others obey. Katerina is opposed to all of them - a young woman who has retained the integrity of her nature and strength of mind. Thus, the work "Thunderstorm" turns out to be very ambiguous. Ostrovsky justifies Katerina for her weakness in that she sacrifices her life, but gives her courage and selflessness. The author depicts not only a special case, but the death of Russia, its inability to live according to the old order, which leads to collapse.
A. N. Ostovsky "Thunderstorm"
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THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY.
The play was started by Alexander Ostrovsky in July 1859 and finished on 9 October. The manuscript of the play is kept in the Russian State Library.
In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. The natural beauty of the Volga region amazed the playwright and then he thought about the play. For a long time it was believed that the plot of the Thunderstorm drama was taken by Ostrovsky from the life of the Kostroma merchants. Kostroma residents at the beginning of the 20th century could accurately point to the place of Katerina's suicide.
In his play, Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in social life that occurred in the 1850s, the problem of changing social foundations.
The names of the characters in the play are endowed with symbolism: Kabanova - an overweight, heavy woman; Kuligin - it is a "kuliga", a swamp, some of its features and name are similar to the name of the inventor Kulibin; the name Katerina means "pure"; opposed to her Barbarian - « barbarian».
THE MEANING OF THE NAME OF THUNDERSTORM DRAMA.
The title of Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" plays an important role in understanding this play. The image of a thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's drama is unusually complex and ambiguous. On the one hand, a thunderstorm - a direct participant in the action of the play, on the other hand - the symbol of the idea of \u200b\u200bthis work. In addition, the image of a thunderstorm has so many meanings that it illuminates almost all facets of the tragic collision in the play.
The thunderstorm plays an important role in the composition of the drama. In the first act - the plot of the work: Katerina tells Varvara about her dreams and hints at her secret love. Almost immediately after this, a thunderstorm is approaching: "... there is no way a thunderstorm is coming ..." At the beginning of the fourth act, a thunderstorm is also gathering, foreshadowing a tragedy: "Oh, remember my words that this thunderstorm will not pass in vain ..."
And a thunderstorm breaks out only in the scene of Katerina's confession - at the climax of the play, when the heroine talks about her sin to her husband and mother-in-law, without shame
presence of other townspeople. The thunderstorm is directly involved in the action as a real phenomenon of nature. It influences the behavior of the characters: after all, it is during a thunderstorm that Katerina confesses her sin. They even talk about a thunderstorm as if it were alive (“The rain is dripping, no matter how the thunderstorm gathers?”, “And so it creeps on us, and it creeps like a living thing!”).
But the thunderstorm in the play also has a figurative meaning. For example, Tikhon calls the swearing, abuse and antics of his mother a thunderstorm: "But how do I know now that there won't be any thunderstorm over me for two weeks, there are no shackles on my legs, so I care about my wife?"
The following fact is also noteworthy: Kuligin - a supporter of the peaceful eradication of vices (he wants to ridicule bad manners in the book: "I wanted to portray all this in verse ..."). And it is he who offers the Wild one to make a lightning rod ("a copper plate"), which serves here as an allegory, because a soft and peaceful opposition to vices by exposing them in books - this is a kind of lightning rod.
In addition, a thunderstorm is perceived differently by all characters. So, Dikoy says: "A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment." Dikoy declares that people should be afraid of thunderstorms, but his power and tyranny are based precisely on people's fear of him. Evidence of this - the fate of Boris. He is afraid not to receive an inheritance and therefore obeys the Wild. Hence, this fear is beneficial to the Wild. He wants everyone to be afraid of the storm, as well as himself.
But Kuligin treats the thunderstorm differently: "Now every blade of grass, every flower rejoices, but we are hiding, we are afraid, just what misfortune!" He sees life-giving power in a thunderstorm. It is interesting that not only the attitude to thunderstorms, but also the principles of Dikiy and Kuligin are different. Kuligin condemns the way of life of Dikiy and Kabanova and their customs: "Cruel manners, sir, in our city, cruel! .."
So the image of a thunderstorm turns out to be associated with the disclosure of the characters of the characters in the drama. Katerina is also afraid of a thunderstorm, but not like Dikoy. She sincerely believes that a thunderstorm is God's retribution. Katerina does not talk about the benefits of a thunderstorm, she is not afraid of punishment, but of sins. Her fear is associated with deep, strong faith and high moral ideals. Therefore, in her words about the fear of a thunderstorm, there is not self-righteousness, like that of the Wild, but rather repentance: “It's not that it’s scary that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly find you, as you are, with all your sins, with all evil thoughts ... "
The heroine herself also resembles a thunderstorm. Firstly, the theme of a thunderstorm is connected with the feelings, state of mind of Katerina. In the first act
a storm is gathering, as if a harbinger of tragedy and as an expression of the heroine's troubled soul. It was then that Katerina confesses to Varvara that she loves another - not a husband. The thunderstorm did not disturb Katerina during her meeting with Boris, when she suddenly felt happy. A thunderstorm appears whenever storms rage in the soul of the heroine herself: the words "With Boris Grigorievich!" (in the scene of Katerina's confession) - and again a "thunderclap" is heard according to the author's remark.
Secondly, the recognition of Katerina and her suicide was a challenge to the forces of the "dark kingdom" and its principles ("sewn-covered"). Love itself, which Katerina did not hide, her desire for freedom - this is also a protest, a challenge that thundered over the forces of the "dark kingdom" like a thunderstorm. Katerina's victory is that rumors about Kabanikha, her role in the suicide of her daughter-in-law, will not be able to hide the truth. Even Tikhon begins to protest weakly. “You ruined her! You! You!" - he shouts to his mother.
So, Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" produces, despite its tragedy, a refreshing, encouraging impression, about which Dobrolyubov spoke: “... the end (of the play) ... seems to us gratifying, it is easy to understand why: it presents a terrible challenge to the tyrant force. .. "
Katerina does not adapt to Kabanova's principles, she did not want to lie and listen to someone else's lies: "You are talking about me, mamma, in vain you are saying this ..."
The thunderstorm also does not obey anything and anyone - it happens both in summer and spring, not limited to the season, like precipitation. No wonder in many pagan religions the main god is the thunderer, the lord of thunder and lightning (thunderstorms).
As in nature, the thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's play combines destructive and creative power: "The storm will kill!", "This is not a thunderstorm, but grace!"
So, the image of a thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's drama is polysemantic and ambiguous: he, symbolically expressing the idea of \u200b\u200bthe work, at the same time directly participates in the action. The image of a thunderstorm illuminates almost all facets of the play's tragic collision, which is why the meaning of the title becomes so important for understanding the play.
THEME AND IDEA OF THE PLAY.
The author takes us to the provincial merchant town of Kalinov, whose residents stubbornly adhere to the established way of life for centuries. But already at the beginning of the play, it becomes clear that the universal values \u200b\u200bfor which Domostroy stands up have long since lost their meaning for the ignorant inhabitants of Kalinov. For them, it is not the essence of human relations that is important, but only the form, the observance of decency. Not for nothing in one of the first acts "Mother Marfa Ignatievna" - Kabanikha, mother-in-law of Katerina - received a murderous characterization: “Prudish, sir. He clothe the beggars, but eats the household. " And for Katerina, the main character of the drama, patriarchal values \u200b\u200bare full of deep meaning. She, a married woman, fell in love. And he is struggling to fight his feelings, sincerely believing that this is a terrible sin. But Katerina sees that no one in the world cares about the true essence of those moral values \u200b\u200bthat she is trying to cling to like a drowning man at a straw. Everything around is already crumbling, the world of the "dark kingdom" is dying in agony, and everything she tries to rely on turns out to be an empty shell. Under Ostrovsky's pen, the conceived drama from the everyday life of the merchants develops into a tragedy.
The main idea of \u200b\u200bthe work - the conflict of the young woman with the "dark kingdom", the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. To find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic, you can look into Katerina's soul, understanding her ideas about life. And this can be done thanks to the skill of A. N. Ostrovsky.
Behind the external tranquility of life are dark thoughts, the dark life of tyrants who do not recognize human dignity. The representatives of the “dark kingdom” are Dikoy and Kabanikha. First - a complete type of tyrant merchant, whose meaning of life is to make capital by any means. Imperious and stern Kabaniha - an even more sinister and gloomy representative of Domostroi. She strictly observes all the customs and orders of the patriarchal antiquity, eats at home, shows hypocrisy, gifting the beggars, does not tolerate in anyone The development of action in "The Thunderstorm" gradually reveals the conflict of drama. The power of Kabanikha and the Wild is still great over those around them. “But a wonderful thing, - Dobrolyubov writes in the article "A ray of light in the dark kingdom", - tyrants of Russian life, however, begin to feel some kind of discontent and fear, themselves not knowing what and why another life has grown up, with different principles, and although it is far away, it is not yet clearly visible, but it already gives itself a presentiment and sends bad visions of the dark tyranny of tyrants ”. This is the "dark kingdom" - the embodiment of the entire system of life in tsarist Russia: the lack of rights of the people, arbitrariness, oppression of human dignity, and the manifestation of personal will. Katerina - nature is poetic, dreamy, freedom-loving. The world of her feelings and moods was formed in the parental home, where she was surrounded by the care and affection of her mother. In an atmosphere of hypocrisy and importunity, petty tutelage, the conflict between the "dark kingdom" and Katerina's spiritual world is maturing gradually. Katerina suffers only for the time being. Not finding an echo in the heart of a narrow-minded and downtrodden husband, her feelings turn to a person who is unlike everyone around her. Love for Boris flared up with the strength characteristic of such an impressionable nature as Katerina, she became the meaning of the heroine's life. Katerina comes into conflict not only with the environment, but with herself. This is the tragedy of the heroine's position.
For its time, when Russia experienced a period of tremendous social upsurge before the peasant reform, the drama "The Thunderstorm" was of great importance. The image of Katerina belongs to the best images of women, not only in Ostrovsky's work, but in all of Russian fiction.
ARTICLE N.A. DOBROLYUBOVA "A BEAM OF LIGHT IN THE DARK KINGDOM".
thunderstorm ostrovsky dobrolubov
At the beginning of the article, Dobrolyubov writes that "Ostrovsky has a deep understanding of Russian life." Further, he analyzes the articles about Ostrovsky by other critics, writes that they "lack a direct view of things."
Then Dobrolyubov compares "The Thunderstorm" with dramatic canons: "The subject of the drama must certainly be an event where we see the struggle between passion and duty - with the unfortunate consequences of the victory of passion or with the happy ones when duty wins. " Also in the drama there must be unity of action, and it must be written in a high literary language. At the same time, The Thunderstorm “does not satisfy the most essential purpose of the drama - instill respect for moral duty and show the detrimental effects of passion. Katerina, this criminal, appears to us in the drama not only not in a gloomy enough light, but even with the radiance of martyrdom. She speaks so well, suffers so pitifully, everything around her is so bad that you arm yourself against her oppressors and thus, in her face, you justify the vice. Consequently, the drama does not fulfill its high purpose. The whole action proceeds sluggishly and slowly, because it is cluttered with scenes and faces that are completely unnecessary. Finally, the language spoken by the characters surpasses any patience of a well-bred person. "
Dobrolyubov makes this comparison with the canon in order to show that an approach to a work with a ready-made idea of \u200b\u200bwhat should be shown in it does not give true understanding. “What to think of a man who, at the sight of a pretty woman, suddenly begins to resonate that her body is not the same as that of Venus de Milo? The truth is not in dialectical subtleties, but in the living truth of what you are arguing about. It cannot be said that people were evil by nature, and therefore one cannot accept principles for literary works such as that, for example, vice always triumphs, and virtue is punished. "
"The writer has so far been given a small role in this movement of mankind towards natural principles," - Dobrolyubov writes, after which he recalls Shakespeare, who "moved the general consciousness of people on several levels, which no one had ever climbed before." Further, the author turns to other critical articles about the "Thunderstorm", in particular, Apollo Grigoriev, who claims that the main merit of Ostrovsky - in his "nationality". "But what the nationality consists of, Grigoriev does not explain, and therefore his remark seemed to us very amusing."
Then Dobrolyubov comes to the definition of Ostrovsky's plays as a whole as “plays of life”: “We want to say that in the foreground is always the general situation of life. He does not punish either the villain or the victim. You see that their position dominates them, and you only blame them for not showing enough energy to get out of this position. And that is why we do not dare to consider as unnecessary and superfluous those persons of Ostrovsky's plays who do not participate directly in the intrigue. From our point of view, these faces are just as necessary for the play as the main ones: they show us the environment in which the action takes place, they draw the position that determines the meaning of the activities of the main characters in the play. "
The need for "unnecessary" persons (secondary and episodic characters) is especially visible in The Thunderstorm. Dobrolyubov analyzes the remarks of Feklusha, Glasha, Dikiy, Kudryash, Kuligin, etc. The author analyzes the inner state of the heroes of the “dark kingdom”: “everything is somehow restless, it’s not good for them. In addition to them, without asking them, another life has grown, with different principles, and although it is not yet clearly visible, it already sends bad visions to the dark arbitrariness of tyrants. And Kabanova is very seriously upset by the future of the old order, with which she has outlived a century. She foresees their end, tries to maintain their significance, but already feels that there is no previous respect for them and that they will be abandoned at the first opportunity. "
Then the author writes that The Thunderstorm is “the most decisive work of Ostrovsky; the mutual relations of petty tyranny are brought in it to the most tragic consequences; and for all that, most of those who have read and seen this play agree that there is even something refreshing and encouraging in "The Thunderstorm". This "something" is, in our opinion, the background of the play, indicated by us and revealing the instability and imminent end of tyranny. Then the very character of Katerina, drawn against this background, also blows on us with a new life, which is revealed to us in her very death. "
Further, Dobrolyubov analyzes the image of Katerina, perceiving it as "a step forward in all our literature": "Russian life has reached the point where it felt the need for more active and energetic people." The image of Katerina “is unswervingly faithful to the instinct of natural truth and selfless in the sense that death is better for him than life under those principles that are repugnant to him. His strength lies in this integrity and harmony of character. Free air and light, in spite of all the precautions of dying tyranny, burst into Katerina's cell, she is eager for a new life, even if she had to die in this impulse. What is death to her? Does not matter - she does not consider life and the vegetation that fell to her lot in the Kabanov family. "
The author examines in detail the motives of Katerina's actions: “Katerina does not at all belong to violent characters, dissatisfied, loving to destroy. On the contrary, this character is predominantly creative, loving, ideal. That is why she tries to ennoble everything in her imagination. The feeling of love for a person, the need for tender pleasures naturally opened up in the young woman. " But it will not be Tikhon Kabanov, who is “too crammed to understand the nature of Katerina's emotions:“ I cannot understand you, Katya, - he tells her - then you won't get a word from you, let alone affection, otherwise you climb like that yourself. " This is how the spoiled natures usually judge the strong and fresh nature. "
Dobrolyubov comes to the conclusion that in the image of Katerina Ostrovsky embodied the great popular idea: “in other creations of our literature, strong characters are like fountains, depending on an extraneous mechanism. Katerina is like a big river: flat bottom, good - it flows calmly, large stones meet - she jumps over them, cliff - cascading, damming it up - it rages and erupts elsewhere. Not because it seethes so that the water suddenly wants to make noise or get angry with obstacles, but simply because it needs it to fulfill its natural requirements - for the further course ".
Ostrovsky did not write "Thunderstorm" ... Volga wrote "Thunderstorm".
S. A. Yuriev
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was one of the greatest cultural figures of the 19th century. His work will forever remain in the history of literature, and the contribution to the development of Russian theater can hardly be overestimated. The writer made some changes to the productions of the plays: attention should no longer be focused on only one character; a fourth scene is introduced, separating the audience from the actors, in order to emphasize the conventionality of what is happening; ordinary people and standard everyday situations are depicted. The latter position most accurately reflected the essence of the realistic method, which Ostrovsky adhered to. His literary work began in the mid-1840s. Were written "Our people - numbered", "Family pictures", "Poverty is not a vice" and other plays. In the drama "The Thunderstorm", the story of creation is not limited to working on the text and prescribing conversations between the characters.
The history of the creation of the play "The Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky begins in the summer of 1859, and ends a few months later, in early October. It is known that this was preceded by a trip along the Volga. An ethnographic expedition was organized under the patronage of the Maritime Ministry to study the customs and customs of the indigenous population of Russia. Ostrovsky also took part in it.
The prototypes of the city of Kalinov were many Volga towns, which were simultaneously similar to each other, but had something unique: Tver, Torzhok, Ostashkovo and many others. Ostrovsky, as an experienced researcher, recorded all his observations about the life of the Russian province and the characters of people in his diary. On the basis of these records, the characters of "The Thunderstorm" were later created.
For a long time, there was a hypothesis that the plot of "The Thunderstorm" was completely borrowed from real life. In 1859, namely at this time the play was written, a resident of Kostroma left home early in the morning, and later her body was found in the Volga. The victim was a girl named Alexandra Klykova. during the investigation it highlighted that the situation in the Klykov family was quite tense. The mother-in-law constantly bullied the girl, and the spineless husband could not influence the situation in any way. The catalyst for this outcome was the love relationship between Alexandra and the postal worker.
This assumption is deeply rooted in the minds of people. Surely, in the modern world, tourist routes would have already been laid in that place. In Kostroma, The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book, during the production the actors tried to resemble the Klykovs, and the locals even showed the place from which Alexandra-Katerina allegedly threw herself. The Kostroma ethnographer Vinogradov, referred to by the well-known literary researcher S. Yu. Lebedev, found many literal coincidences in the text of the play and in the “Kostroma affair”. Both Alexander and Katerina were married early. Alexandra was barely 16 years old. Katerina was 19.
Both girls had to endure discontent and despotism from their mothers-in-law. Alexandra Klykova had to do all the dirty housework. Neither the Klykovs nor the Kabanovs had children. The series of "coincidences does not end there". The investigation knew that Alexandra had a relationship with another person, a postal worker. In the play The Storm, Katerina falls in love with Boris. That is why for a long time it was believed that "The Thunderstorm" is nothing more than a life incident reflected in the play.
However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the myth created around this incident was dispelled by the comparison of dates. So, the incident in Kostroma occurred in November, and a month earlier, on October 14, Ostrovsky took the play for publication. Thus, the writer could not in any way reflect on the pages what had not yet happened in reality. But the creative history of "Groza" does not become less interesting from this. It can be assumed that Ostrovsky, being an intelligent person, was able to predict how the fate of the girl would develop in the typical conditions of that time. It is quite possible that Alexandra, like Katerina, was tormented by the stuffiness mentioned in the play. The old order that is outliving itself and the absolute inertia and hopelessness of the current situation. However, you should not completely correlate Alexandra with Katerina. It is quite possible that in the case of Klykova, the reasons for the death of the girl were only domestic difficulties, and not a deep personal conflict, as in Katerina Kabanova.
The most real prototype of Katerina can be called the theater actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya, who later played this role. Ostrovsky, like Kositskaya, had his own family, it was this circumstance that prevented the further development of relations between the playwright and the actress. Kositskaya was originally from the Volga region, but at the age of 16 she ran away from home in search of a better life. Katerina's dream, according to Ostrovsky's biographers, was nothing more than a recorded dream of Lyubov Kositskaya. In addition, Lyubov Kositskaya was extremely sensitive to faith and churches. In one of the episodes, Katerina says the following words:
“… Until my death I loved to go to church! Precisely, I used to go into paradise, and I don’t see anyone, and I don’t remember the time, and I don’t hear when the service is over ... You know, on a sunny day such a light column comes from the dome, and in this column smoke goes like clouds, and I see, it used to be as if the angels fly and sing in this pillar. "
The history of Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is entertaining in its own way: there are both legends and personal drama. The premiere of "The Thunderstorms" took place on November 16, 1859 at the Maly Theater.
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