The play "The Thunderstorm" by the famous Russian writer of the 19th century, Alexander Ostrovsky, was written in 1859 on the wave of social upsurge on the eve of social reforms. It became one of the author's best works, opening the eyes of the whole world to the mores and moral values ​​of the then merchant class. It was first published in the journal "Library for Reading" in 1860 and due to the novelty of its subject matter (descriptions of the struggle of new progressive ideas and aspirations against old, conservative foundations) immediately after publication caused a wide public response. She became a topic for writing a large number of critical articles of that time ("A ray of light in the dark kingdom" by Dobrolyubov, "Motives of the Russian Drama" by Pisarev, criticism of Apollo Grigoriev).

Writing history

Inspired by the beauty of the Volga region and its endless expanses during a trip with his family to Kostroma in 1848, Ostrovsky began writing the play in July 1859, after three months he finished it and sent it to the court of the St. Petersburg censorship.

Having worked for several years in the office of the Moscow Conscientious Court, he knew very well what the merchants in Zamoskvorechye (the historical district of the capital, on the right bank of the Moskva River) were like, more than once on duty with what was happening behind the high fences of the merchants' choir , namely with cruelty, tyranny, ignorance and various superstitions, illegal transactions and scams, tears and suffering of others. The plot of the play was based on the tragic fate of the daughter-in-law in the wealthy merchant family of the Klykovs, which happened in reality: a young woman threw herself into the Volga and drowned, unable to withstand the oppression of the imperious mother-in-law, tired of her husband's spinelessness and secret passion for the postal worker. Many believed that it was the stories from the life of the Kostroma merchants that became the prototype for the plot of the play written by Ostrovsky.

In November 1859, the play was performed on the stage of the Maly Academic Theater in Moscow, in December of the same year at the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.

Analysis of the work

Story line

In the center of the events described in the play is the well-to-do merchant family of the Kabanovs living in the fictional Volga city of Kalinov, a kind of peculiar and closed world symbolizing the general structure of the entire patriarchal Russian state. The Kabanov family consists of an imperious and cruel tyrant woman, and in fact the head of the family, a wealthy merchant and widow of Marfa Ignatievna, her son, Tikhon Ivanovich, weak-willed and spineless against the background of the heavy temper of his mother, daughter Varvara, who learned to deceive and cunningly resist the despotism of her mother and also the daughter-in-law of Katerina. A young woman who grew up in a family where she was loved and pitied, suffers in the house of an unloved husband from his weakness and claims of his mother-in-law, in fact, having lost her will and becoming a victim of the cruelty and tyranny of Kabanikha, left to the mercy of fate by her rag-husband.

Out of hopelessness and despair, Katerina seeks consolation in love for Boris the Diky, who also loves her, but is afraid to disobey his uncle, the wealthy merchant Savyol Prokofich Diky, because the financial situation of him and his sister depends on him. Secretly, he meets with Katerina, but at the last moment betrays her and escapes, then, at the direction of his uncle, leaves for Siberia.

Katerina, having been brought up in obedience and submission to her husband, tormented by her own sin, confesses everything to her husband in the presence of his mother. She makes her daughter-in-law's life completely unbearable, and Katerina, suffering from unhappy love, reproaches of conscience and cruel persecution of the tyrant and despot Kabanikha, decides to end her torment, the only way in which she sees salvation is suicide. She rushes off a cliff into the Volga and tragically dies.

Main characters

All the characters in the play are divided into two opposing camps, some (Kabanikha, her son and daughter, the merchant Dikoy and his nephew Boris, the servants of Feklusha and Glasha) are representatives of the old, patriarchal way of life, others (Katerina, a self-taught mechanic Kuligin) are new, progressive.

A young woman, Katerina, the wife of Tikhon Kabanov, is the central heroine of the play. She was brought up in strict patriarchal rules, in accordance with the laws of the Old Russian Domostroi: a wife must obey her husband in everything, respect him, fulfill all his requirements. At first, Katerina tried with all her might to love her husband, to become a submissive and good wife for him, however, due to his complete spinelessness and weakness of character, she can only feel pity for him.

Outwardly, she looks weak and silent, but in the depths of her soul there is enough willpower and perseverance to resist the tyranny of her mother-in-law, who is afraid that her daughter-in-law may change her son Tikhon and he will cease to obey the will of his mother. Katerina is cramped and stuffy in the dark kingdom of life in Kalinov, she literally suffocates there and in dreams she flies away like a bird away from this terrible place for her.

Boris

Having fallen in love with the visiting young man Boris, the nephew of a wealthy merchant and businessman, she creates in her head the image of an ideal lover and a real man, which is completely untrue, breaks her heart and leads to a tragic ending.

In the play, the character of Katerina is opposed not to a specific person, her mother-in-law, but to the entire patriarchal order of the time.

Kabanikha

Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha), like the tyrant merchant Dikoy, who tortures and insults his relatives, does not pay wages and deceives his workers, are vivid representatives of the old, bourgeois way of life. They are distinguished by stupidity and ignorance, unjustified cruelty, rudeness and rudeness, complete rejection of any progressive changes in the ossified patriarchal way of life.

Tikhon

(Tikhon, in the illustration near Kabanikha - Marfa Ignatievna)

Tikhon Kabanov throughout the play is characterized as a quiet and weak-willed person who is under the full influence of a despotic mother. Distinguished by gentleness of character, he makes no attempt to protect his wife from the attacks of his mother.

At the end of the play, he finally does not stand up and the author shows his rebellion against tyranny and despotism, it is his phrase at the end of the play that leads readers to a certain conclusion about the depth and tragedy of the situation.

Features of compositional construction

(A fragment from a dramatic production)

The work begins with a description of Kalinov, a city on the Volga, whose image is a collective image of all Russian cities of that time. The landscape of the Volga expanses depicted in the play contrasts with the musty, dull and gloomy atmosphere of life in this city, which is emphasized by the dead isolation of the life of its inhabitants, their underdevelopment, dullness and wild ignorance. The author described the general state of city life as if before a thunderstorm, when the old, dilapidated way of life is shaken, and new and progressive trends, like a gust of frenzied thunderstorm winds, will carry away outdated rules and prejudices that prevent people from living normally. The period in the life of the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov described in the play is just in a state when outwardly everything looks calm, but this is only a calm before the coming storm.

The genre of the play can be interpreted as a social drama, as well as a tragedy. The first is characterized by the use of a thorough description of living conditions, the maximum transfer of its "density", as well as the alignment of characters. Readers' attention should be distributed among all participants in the production. The interpretation of the play as a tragedy suggests its deeper meaning and solidity. If we see in the death of Katerina a consequence of her conflict with her mother-in-law, then she looks like a victim of a family conflict, and all the unfolding action in the play for a real tragedy seems small and insignificant. But if we consider the death of the main character as a conflict of a new, progressive time with a dying, old era, then her act is interpreted in the best possible way in the heroic key characteristic of a tragic narrative.

The talented playwright Alexander Ostrovsky gradually creates a real tragedy from the social and everyday drama about the life of the merchant class, in which, with the help of a love-everyday conflict, he showed the onset of an epochal turning point in the minds of the people. Ordinary people realize the awakening sense of their own dignity, begin to relate to the world around them in a new way, want to decide their own destinies and fearlessly express their will. This nascent desire comes into irreconcilable conflict with the real patriarchal order. The fate of Katerina acquires a social historical meaning, expressing the state of popular consciousness at the turning point of two eras.

Alexander Ostrovsky, who in time noticed the doom of decaying patriarchal foundations, wrote the play "The Thunderstorm" and opened the eyes of the entire Russian public to what was happening. He depicted the destruction of the usual, outdated way of life, with the help of the polysemantic and figurative concept of a thunderstorm, which, gradually increasing, will sweep everything from its path and open the way for a new, better life.

Essay plan
1. Introduction. Subject-compositional structure and genre originality of the play.
2. The main part. Subject-compositional originality of "Thunderstorms".
- Artistic techniques of Ostrovsky the playwright.
- First action. Exposition.
- Second action. The tie.
- Third action. The culmination of a love affair. Development of internal conflict.
- Fourth action. The culmination of the main conflict.
- Fifth action. Interchange.
3. Conclusion. The artistic originality of the play.

Reflecting on the plot-compositional structure of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky, we cannot but think about the problem of genre interpretation of the work. Traditionally, The Thunderstorm is considered a social drama. In the center of the plot is a love triangle (Katerina - Tikhon - Boris), on its basis a family and everyday conflict is tied up, in which a large number of characters participate. Critic N.A. Dobrolyubov emphasizes the social facet of the conflict in the play, revealing its social problems: the crisis of the world of patriarchal ties, the confrontation between the world of the "dark kingdom" and strong, whole individuals. Modern researchers (A.I. Zhuravleva) consider the play a tragedy, noting the importance of internal conflict in it. “The Thunderstorm is not a tragedy of love, but a tragedy of conscience. When Katerina's fall was accomplished, caught up in a whirlwind of liberated passion, merging with the concept of will for her, she became boldly bold ... "I was not afraid of sin for you, whether I am afraid of human judgment!" She says to Boris. But this "was not afraid of sin" just foreshadows the further development of the tragedy ...<….>The death of Katerina is predetermined and inevitable, no matter how the people on whom she depends will behave. It is inevitable because neither her self-consciousness, nor the whole way of life in which she exists, does not allow the personal feeling that has awakened in her to be embodied in everyday forms, ”the researcher notes. Let's try to consider the plot-compositional structure of the play.
Each action in the play falls into separate scenes. In them, the development of the conflict is given in any one angle, the perception of any one actor is shown. In general, the conflict in "The Thunderstorm" develops quickly and dynamically, which is achieved by a special arrangement of scenes: with each new scene, starting from the beginning, the tension of the plot action increases.
There are five acts in the drama. The first action is exposure. The first scene depicts the scene for us - the small town of Kalinov. It is spread out on the banks of the Volga, immersed in greenery. There is beauty and serenity in nature. A completely different matter in human relations and morals. From the very first scenes we get an idea of ​​local life, of the characters of the characters. "Cruel manners, sir, in our city, cruel!" - remarks Kuligin. In the first act, both non-plot characters and all the persons participating in the main conflict appear. We see Kudryash, Shapkin, Kuligin, Feklusha, Dikiy and Boris, the Kabanov family. Moreover, even before the appearance on the stage of Dikiy and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, Kudryash and Shapkin talk about them, briefly outlining the characters. Here is the background of Boris, the nephew of the Wild. Then Dikoy and Kabanova himself appear on the stage. Dikoy scolds her nephew, while Marfa Ignatievna reads instructions to her son and daughter-in-law. Thus, the first action is based on the principle of antithesis: the beauty of nature is opposed to urban morals. The main conflict is also outlined here: Boris confesses to Kuligin that he loves Katerina. And here we see Katerina's servitude in the family of her mother-in-law, the timidity and passivity of her husband. And at the same time, we note the complete psychological incompatibility of the heroine with her family, the strength and energy inherent in her very nature. So, to the remarks of her mother-in-law, Katerina replies: “You mean me, mamma, you are saying this in vain. With people, that without people, I'm all alone ... " Tikhon, on the other hand, is brought out in this scene by a timid, passive, weak-willed person. We understand that the relationship between the heroine and Boris is possible.
The second action contains very important points. Katerina confesses to Varvara her love for Boris. However, while she is still driving away the thought of her love. Tikhon's departure is planned. Katerina says goodbye to him and asks to take him with her. However, he seeks to escape from his mother's oppression and take a walk in the wild. Tikhon notes that there he will be "not up to his wife." The farewell scene and the key scene represent the plot of the conflict. The tension of the heroine's mental strength here reaches the limit: “Whatever happens, I'll see Boris! Oh, if the night is quick! .. "
Further, the confrontation between the two camps in the play deepens. Dikoy talks with Martha Ignatievna, and this dialogue reveals his tyranny, rudeness, arbitrariness, avarice (he cannot part with his money). Kuligin also gives an accurate assessment of urban morals in a conversation with Boris: “Everyone has long gates, sir, locked and the dogs lowered. Do you think they are doing business or are they praying to God? No, sir! And they do not lock themselves up from thieves, but so that people do not see how they eat their household and tyrannize their family. And what tears are pouring behind these constipations, invisible and inaudible!<…>And what, sir, behind these castles is the debauchery of dark and drunkenness! And everything is sewn and covered - no one sees or knows anything ... ”. And at the same time, the internal tension in the "Thunderstorm" is growing. The culmination of the love affair is Katerina's date with Boris. But only after that an internal conflict begins to develop in the play - the heroine's struggle with her own conscience, with the integrity of nature, with her ideas of morality and honor. The researchers noted the compositional innovation of Ostrovsky, who divided the third act into two "scenes". This is how the playwright departs from the traditional principle of "three unities", which is pleasant in classicism.
In the fourth act, the tension in the plot increases. Tikhon unexpectedly returns. Katerina is going through a moral crisis. She considers her actions to be criminal and is in real confusion. depicts folk festivities on the boulevard. A thunderstorm is gathering in the air. Dikoy notices that a thunderstorm is sent to people as punishment. The same motives sound in the remarks of passers-by ("Either he will kill someone, or the house will burn down ...") Finally, right there we hear the prophecies of the mad lady: “You will have to answer for everything. It's better to go to the maelstrom with beauty! ". During a thunderstorm, Katerina publicly confesses her relationship with Boris. This scene culminates in the development of the play's main conflict.
The fifth act is the denouement. After the recognition, the heroine does not feel better, she cries and yearns. Finding no support in the family, she commits suicide and rushes into the Volga. Tikhon in despair falls on his wife's body: “It's good for you, Katya! And why am I left to live in the world and suffer! " The conflict thus ends in disaster. Here is what Dobrolyubov wrote about the ending of the play: “With this exclamation the play ends, and it seems to us that nothing could have been thought up stronger and more truthful than such an ending. Tikhon's words give the key to understanding the play for those who would not even have understood its essence earlier; they make the viewer think no longer about a love affair, but about this whole life, where the living envy the dead ... ”.
Thus, Ostrovsky's play is both a social drama and a tragedy. It is the genre features that determine the development of the conflict and the course of the plot in The Thunderstorm. “The tragedy of Katerina is that the life that surrounds her has lost its integrity and completeness, has entered a period of deep moral crisis. The emotional storm experienced by the heroine is a direct consequence of this disharmony. Katerina feels her guilt not only in front of Tikhon and Kabanikha ... It seems to her that the whole universe is offended by her behavior.<…>Speaking out with all her life against despotism, against authoritarian morality, Katerina trusts in all her inner voice of conscience. After going through spiritual trials, she is morally cleansed and leaves the sinful world of Kalinovka as a person who has recovered from his illnesses and overcame them with his torments. "

1. Zhuravleva A.I. Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. - History of Russian literature of the XIX century. Second half. Ed. prof. N.N. Skatova. M ... 1987, p. 257.

2. Dobrolyubov N.A. A ray of light in the dark kingdom. - ON. Dobrolyubov. Russian classics. Selected literary critical articles. M., 1970. Electronic version. www.az.lib.ru

3. Lebedev Yu.V. Russian literature of the XIX century. Second half. Book for the teacher. M., 1990, p. 176.

What is the composition of the play "The Thunderstorm"? and got the best answer

Answer from Iyut [expert]
Exposition, setting, conflict development, culmination, denouement.) And now remember the plot)) Composition. The first action is an expanded exposure. Ostrovsky needed it in order to give an initial idea of ​​the characters, of those relationships that dominate in the city of Kalinov.
The inhabitants of the city constantly feel the cruel and boundless power of the owners. Hence the word bondage, so often repeated by the heroes of the play. Katerina, Boris, Tikhon, Varvara talk about her.
It was very important for the playwright to choose such a hero, through whose lips he could give a general picture of the life and customs of the city of Kalinov. Such a person in the play is the self-taught mechanic Kuligin: it is he who owns the words about the beauty of the surrounding nature, it is he who is able to appreciate what is happening around. He tells Boris about the "cruel manners" of the city. Almost next to Kuligin's monologue, the play gives the monologue of the wanderer Feklusha ("And the merchants are all pious people, adorned with many virtues!"). A different assessment is given by Kuligin Kabanova: “Goodman, sir! She clothe the beggars, but she ate the household altogether. ...
The fifth phenomenon reveals family relationships that reign in Kabanova's house. ...
A sharp clash of characters begins to be felt in this phenomenon. One can feel the inner protest of both Tikhon and Varvara, and most importantly - Katerina. But Tikhon hides his displeasure behind false phrases full of humiliation, Varvara says "to herself", and Katerina, "what is in public, that without people ... all alone", speaks to Kabanikha as an equal and, unlike Tikhon, even addresses her to "you". It is in Katerina that Kabanov sees his opponent.
In the seventh appearance, Katerina talks about herself, about her life in the parental home, and one feels the depth and poetry of her inner world. The impressions of the past are in sharp contrast to the furnishings of the Kabanovs' house ("I have completely wilted with you").
Katerina suffers both from the difficult atmosphere in Kabanikha's house, and from the consciousness of her secret love for Boris, hence the premonition of trouble. The tragic motive ("Someone to be gpexy! .. To be in trouble!") Permeates the first and second acts, sounds throughout the play.
In the first act, Ostrovsky leads the viewer from the general picture of manners and characters to the Kabanova family and further to the emotional drama of Katerina
^ The main event of the second action is Tikhon's departure to Moscow, which allows the playwright to more fully reveal the Domostroevsky order prevailing in the Kabanovsky house, the psychology and characters of the heroes. In the scene of wires, a new clash between Kabanikha and Katerina takes place. We see the inability of Tikhon not only to protect, but also to understand Katerina, whose last hopes of finding support in her husband are crumbling, hence her exclamation, full of mental pain: “Oh, my trouble, trouble! Where can I, poor, go? Who can I grab hold of? My priests, I am perishing! " ...
^ The second act and, in particular, the scenes of Tikhon's farewell and the subsequent monologue of Katerina with the key (tenth phenomenon) - the plot of the drama, the turning point, followed by the development of the action.
“Ah, if the night is quick! ..” - with these words of Katerina the second act of the drama ends, but the third begins not with the scene of the night meeting, which the heroine is waiting for, but with the conversation between Kabanikha and Feklusha at the gates of the Kabanovsky house. This action is divided by the playwright into two pictures (scenes), sharply opposed to each other.
The story of the wanderer Feklushi about a visit to Moscow, who listens attentively to Kabanov, is colored with a gloomy foreboding - according to all signs, “the last times” are coming: there is only empty vanity in the city, “festivities and merrymaking, but in the streets there is a rumble ... the fiery serpent of steel harness. "
^ Second picture - date night
Let's turn to the dialogue between Katerina and Boris. They seem to speak different languages, feel differently. The consciousness of her sinfulness does not leave Katerina, she stands, “without raising her eyes,” almost does not see, does not listen to Boris. Her passionate "You" is contrasted in dialogue with the cautious "you". With which Boris turns to her. V

Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" is the most significant work of the famous playwright. It was written in 1860 during a period of social upsurge, when the foundations of serfdom were crumbling and a thunderstorm was gathering in the stifling atmosphere of reality. Ostrovsky's play takes us to the merchant environment, where the Domostroy order was maintained most stubbornly. Residents of a provincial city live a closed life, alien to public interests, in ignorance of what is happening in the world, in ignorance and indifference. The range of their interests is limited by the scope of household chores. Behind the external tranquility of life lie dark thoughts, the dark life of tyrants who do not recognize human dignity. The representatives of the "dark kingdom" are Dikoy and Kabanikha. The first complete type of tyrant merchant, whose meaning of life is to amass capital by any means. The main theme of the thunderstorm is a clash between new trends and old traditions, between oppressed and oppressed, between the desire of people to freely manifest their human rights, spiritual needs that prevailed in Russia - social and family orders.

If we consider "The Thunderstorm" as a social and everyday drama, then the resulting conflict looks quite simple: it is, as it were, external, social; the audience's attention is equally distributed between the characters, all of them, like checkers on a board, play almost the same roles necessary to create a plot outline, they confuse and then, flickering and rearranging like in tags, help to resolve the confusing plot. If the system of characters is laid out in such a way that the conflict arises and is resolved, as it were, with the help of all the actors. Here we are dealing with a drama of an everyday nature, its conflict is simple and easy to guess.

Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" raises the problem of the turning point in public life that took place in the 50s, the change in social foundations. The author cannot be absolutely impartial, but it is very difficult for him to express his position - the author's position is revealed in the remarks, which are not very numerous and they are not expressive enough. There is only one option left - the author's position is presented through a certain hero, through composition, symbolism, etc.
The names are very symbolic in the play. The speaking names used in "The Thunderstorm" are an echo of the classicist theater, the features of which were preserved in the late 1860s.
The name of Kabanova vividly depicts a heavy, heavy woman for us, and the nickname “Kabanikha” complements this unpleasant picture.
The author characterizes the wild as a wild, unrestrained person.
Kuligin's name is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is consonant with Kulibin, a self-taught mechanic. On the other hand, “kuliga” is a swamp.

For a long time, the critical literature has dealt with either one or the other conflict. But the author gave the work a deeper meaning - this is a national tragedy.

Dobrolyubov called Katerina “a ray of light in the dark kingdom”, but later, a few years later, Ostrovsky himself gave such people a name - “warm heart”. Indeed, this is a conflict of the “hot heart” with the surrounding icy environment. And a thunderstorm, as a physical phenomenon, tries to melt this ice. Another meaning put by the author in a thunderstorm symbolizes the wrath of God, and everyone who is afraid of a thunderstorm is not ready to accept death and face the judgment of God or think so. But the author puts his words into the mouth of Kuligin. “The judge is more merciful than you,” he says. Thus, he characterizes his attitude towards this society. And this end expresses hope. Ostrovsky divides all the time in Kalinov, like the play, into day and night. During the day, people play in the faithful, living according to "Domostroi", and at night they take off their masks. Young people go for a walk and have fun, and the elders turn a blind eye to this. The author's position is expressed partly in Kuligin's monologues, partly it can be understood from the opposition of Katerina and Kabanikha. The author's position is expressed in the composition. A feature of the composition is two possible options for the climax and denouement.

Undoubtedly, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its “cruel manners”. The fictional city is described in detail, in many ways. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but here you can immediately see a contradiction: Ku-ligin speaks of the beauty of the distant beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Nothing,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about her childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which collides with the daily cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about the "poverty of the naked". The Kalinovites have preserved only vague legends about the past - Lithuania “fell from heaven to us,” news from the big world is brought to them by the wanderer Feklusha. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the characters' everyday life makes it possible to speak of drama as a genre of the play “The Thunderstorm”.

Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it grows into a social one. The expression of kodflikta, characteristic of drama, in the actions and words of the heroes is most vividly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina's life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “did not grieve for anything,” like “a bird in the wild,” spending the whole day in pleasures and household chores. We do not know anything about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love originated. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, and said that this is precisely why “the struggle between passion and duty” is meant for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the Thunderstorms genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general flavor, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. We think that Feklusha's anecdotal and ignorant stories about the Saltans, about the lands where all people are “with dog heads”, seem ridiculous. After the release of The Thunderstorm, AD Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many passages arouse laughter.”

Genre and composition. According to the genre, the play "The Thunderstorm" can be attributed to a special type of tragedy: its social and everyday form, where the subject of the image is the collisions of everyday life, but raised to the degree of a catastrophic contradiction of the hero with the world around him. Tragedy is one of the main genres of drama; it is based on the insoluble conflict of the personality with life or himself, as a result of which the hero physically dies, but wins a moral victory, which causes the grief of the audience and their mental purification through suffering - catharsis. All this can be fully attributed to Ostrovsky's play. Indeed, the death of Katerina is inevitable. Katerina, a strong, proud nature, capable of effective protest, will never compromise, will never come to terms with her slave position in the Kabanova house. But her victory is impossible, since it is not an evil mother-in-law who opposes Katerina, but the whole world of her modern life - the world of cruelty, lies, obedience and tyranny. To win would mean to change this whole world, so the death of the heroine is natural. On the other hand, according to Dobrolyubov, "The Thunderstorm" gives a refreshing impression, which is a vivid evidence of the presence of the catharsis effect in the audience ("a ray of light in the dark kingdom"). But The Thunderstorm is not a classic tragedy, but an innovative work: a social and everyday tragedy. The definition of "social" is given to the play because the conflict underlying it is not a private, but a public one. The playwright depicts not a clash between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, but serious disagreements between opposing camps, into which society was divided. But the main artistic discovery of Ostrovsky is that he, having shown in the play the real life of the Volga city, immersed the tragedy in everyday life, although the high tragedy, according to the existing canons, should not have come into contact with everyday phenomena. The originality of the plot and composition of the play corresponds to the innovation of the genre. The pace of action in the first acts is slowed down, which is associated with the expansion of the exposition: it is important for the playwright to thoroughly acquaint the reader and viewer with the circumstances, life, customs in which the heroes will act, introduce a number of secondary characters, and motivate the ripening of the conflict. The action of the play includes social and individual lines of struggle and two parallel love affairs - the main one (Katerina - Boris) and the side one (Varvara - Kudryash). The play has a number of extra-fiction episodes that play an essential role in the plot, completing the picture of the "dark kingdom". The intensity of the dramatic action grows from act to act, anticipating a future catastrophe, preparing for it. The culmination falls on Act IV (the scene of repentance), which means that the highest moment in the development of the action is not in the last act, as usual, but in the middle of the play. The denouement occurs in Act V, here two intrigues are completed, and two lines of struggle, intertwining into a tight knot, are untied. But only Katerina finds a way out of the impasse through her tragic death. The ring structure of the play (the events of acts I and V take place on the Volga cliff, the same characters participate in them) serves as compositional completeness and expresses the author's intention.