Dark kingdom

The most important feature of Ostrovsky's theater to this day is the topicality of the plays. Even today, Ostrovsky's works are successfully performed on the stage of theaters, because the characters and images created by the artist have not lost their freshness. To this day, viewers ponder who is right in the dispute between the patriarchal ideas about marriage and the freedom to express feelings, plunge into an atmosphere of dark ignorance, rudeness and are amazed at the purity and sincerity of Katerina's love.

The city of Kalinov, in which the action of the drama "The Thunderstorm" unfolds, is an artistic space within which the writer strove to summarize as much as possible the vices characteristic of merchant environment mid-19th century. It is not for nothing that the critic Dobrolyubov calls Kalinov “the dark kingdom”. This definition exactly characterizes the atmosphere described in the city.

Ostrovsky depicts Kalinov as a closed space: the gates are locked, what happens behind the fence does not bother anyone. In the exposition of the play, the audience is presented with the Volga landscape, which evokes poetic lines in Kuligin's memory.

But the description of the open spaces of the Volga only enhances the feeling of the closed nature of the city, in which no one even walks along the boulevard. The city lives its own boring and monotonous life. The poorly educated residents of Kalinov learn news about the world not from newspapers, but from wanderers, for example, such as Feklusha. A beloved guest in the Kabanov family says that "there is still a land where all the people are with dog-headed heads," and in Moscow there are only "festivities and games, and there is a roar through the streets of the Indo, a groan stands. Ignorant inhabitants of the city of Kalinov willingly believe in such stories, which is why Kalinov appears to the townspeople as a paradise. So, separated from the whole world, like a distant state, in which residents see almost the only promised land, Kalinov himself begins to acquire fabulous features, becoming symbolically sleepy kingdom. The spiritual life of the inhabitants of Kalinov is limited by the rules of Domostroi, the observance of which requires every generation of parents from every generation of children, tyranny reigns around and money reigns supreme.

The main guardians of the age-old order in the city are Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova and Savel Prokofievich Dikoy, whose moral norms are distorted. A striking example of tyranny is the episode in which Ostrovsky ironically depicts the Wild, talking about his "kind-heartedness": having scolded the peasant who asked for his salary, Savel Prokofievich regrets his behavior and even asks for forgiveness from the employee. Thus, the writer portrays the absurdity of the Wild one, replaced by self-flagellation. Being a well-to-do merchant and having a lot of money, Dikoy considers people beneath him to be "worms", whom he can pardon or crush at will, the hero feels impunity for his actions. Even the mayor is unable to influence him. Dikoy, feeling himself not only the master of the city, but also the master of life, is not afraid of an official either. Households are also afraid of a prosperous merchant. His wife every morning with tears begs the people around: "Father, do not make you angry!" But Savel Prokofievich swears only with those who cannot fight back. As soon as he meets resistance, his mood and tone of communication change dramatically. He is afraid of his clerk Kudryash, who knows how to resist him. Dikoy does not swear with the merchant's wife Martha Ignatievna, the only one who understands him. Only Kabanikha is able to pacify Savel Prokofievich's violent temper. She alone sees that Dikoy himself is not happy with his tyranny, but she cannot help herself, therefore Kabanikha considers herself stronger than him.

Indeed, Marfa Ignatievna is not inferior to the Wild in despotism and tyranny. Being a bigot, she tyrannizes her household. The boar is depicted by Ostrovsky as a heroine who considers herself the keeper of the foundations of Domostroi. The patriarchal system of values, from which only the outer ostentatious side remains, is most important to her. Ostrovsky demonstrates Marfa Ignatievna's desire to follow the old traditions in everything in the scene of Tikhon's farewell to Katerina. A conflict arises between Katerina and Kabanikha, reflecting the internal contradictions between the heroines. Kabanikha blames Katerina for not “howling” and “lying on the porch” after her husband's departure, to which Katerina remarks that to behave this way is “to make people laugh”.

The boar, doing everything “under the guise of piety,” demands complete obedience from her household. In the Kabanov family, everyone should live as Marfa Ignatievna demands. Kuligin quite accurately characterizes Kabanikha in his dialogue with Boris: “Bigot, sir! She clothe the beggars, but she has eaten the household at all! " The main target of her tyranny is her own children. The power-hungry Kabanikha does not notice that under her oppression she has raised a miserable, cowardly man who has no opinion of his own - the son of Tikhon and a cunning daughter, Varvara, who creates the impression of a decent and obedient daughter. In the end, unjustified cruelty and a desire to control everything lead Kabanikha to tragedy: his own son blames his mother for the death of his wife Katerina (“Mamma, you ruined her”), and his beloved daughter, not agreeing to live within the bounds of tyranny, runs away from home.

Assessing the images of the "dark kingdom", one cannot but agree with Ostrovsky that cruel tyranny and despotism are real evil, under the yoke of which human feelings fade and wither, will weakens, reason fades. "Thunderstorm" is an open protest against " dark kingdom", A challenge to ignorance and rudeness, hypocrisy and cruelty.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was endowed with a great talent as a playwright. He is deservedly considered the founder of the Russian national theater. His plays, varied in themes, glorified Russian literature. Ostrovsky's work was democratic in nature. He created plays in which hatred of the autocratic serf regime was manifested. The writer called for the protection of the oppressed and humiliated citizens of Russia, longed for social change.

The great merit of Ostrovsky is that he opened the world of merchants to the enlightened public, oh everyday life which Russian society had a superficial concept. Merchants in Russia provided trade in goods and food, they were seen in shops, they were considered uneducated and uninteresting. Ostrovsky showed that behind the high fences of merchant houses in the souls and hearts of people from the merchant class, almost Shakespearean passions are played out. He was called Columbus Zamoskvorechye.

Ostrovsky's ability to assert progressive trends in Russian society was fully revealed in the play "The Thunderstorm", published in 1860. The play reflects the irreconcilable contradictions between the individual and society. The playwright raises the acute question of the position of women in Russian society in the 1860s.

The play takes place in the small Volga town of Kalinov, where mainly merchants live. In his famous article "A ray of light in a dark kingdom" critic Dobrolyubov characterizes the life of merchants as follows: "Their life flows smoothly and peacefully, no interests of the world disturb them, because they do not reach them; kingdoms can collapse, new countries open, the face of the earth ... change - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinova will continue to exist in complete ignorance of the rest of the world ... The concepts and way of life they have adopted are the best in the world, everything new comes from evil spirits ... Dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity. "

Ostrovsky, against the background of a beautiful landscape, paints the joyless life of Kalinov's inhabitants. Kuligin, who in the play opposes the ignorance and arbitrariness of the "dark kingdom", says: "Cruel manners, sir, in our city, cruel!"

The term "tyranny" came into use along with Ostrovsky's plays. The playwright called tyrants "masters of life", the rich, whom no one dared to contradict. Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is portrayed as such in the play "The Thunderstorm". It was not by chance that Ostrovsky awarded him a “speaking” surname. Dikoy is famous for its wealth, acquired by deception and exploitation of other people's labor. No law is written to him. With his absurd, rude disposition, he instills fear in those around him, this is a "cruel swearing man", "a shrill man." His wife is forced to persuade others every morning: “Father, don’t make you angry! Dears, don't make you angry! " Impunity has corrupted the Wild, he can shout, insult a person, but this applies only to those who do not fight him back. Half of the city belongs to Dikiy, but he doesn't pay those who work for him. To the governor, he explains: "What's so special here, I give them a penny shortages, but I have a whole fortune". Pathological greed obscures his mind.

The progressive man Kuligin appeals to Dikiy with a request to give money to install a sundial in the city. In response, he hears: “Why are you crawling to me with all sorts of nonsense!

Maybe I don’t want to talk to you. You should have found out first if I was in the mood to listen to you, fool, or not. So right with the snout and climb to talk. " Dikoy is completely unbridled in his tyranny, he is sure that any court will be on his side: “For others, you are an honest person, and I think that you are a robber, that's all ... What are you going to sue, or what, with me? .. So know that you are a worm, if I want, I will crush you. "

Another bright representative of the "dark kingdom" morals is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Kuligin speaks about her like this: “Bigot. She clothe the beggars, but she ate the household completely. " Kabanova solely rules the house and her family, she is used to unquestioning obedience. In her face, Ostrovsky shows an ardent defender of the wild orders of house building in families and in life. She is sure that only fear holds the family together, does not understand what respect, understanding, and a good relationship between people are. The boar suspects everyone of sins, constantly complains about the lack of due respect to the elders on the part of the younger generation. “The elders are not respected very much now…”, she says. The boar is always pitying, posing as a victim: “Mother is old, stupid; Well, you, young people, smart, should not collect from us, from fools. "

Kabanova “senses in her heart” that the old order is coming to an end, she is anxious and scared. She turned her own son into a wordless slave who has no power in his own family, acts only at the behest of his mother. Tikhon happily leaves home, just to take a break from scandals and the oppressive atmosphere of his home.

Dobrolyubov writes: “The tyrants of Russian life, however, begin to feel some kind of discontent and fear, themselves not knowing what and why ... In addition to them, without asking them, another life has grown, with different origins, and although it is far away, it is also it is not clearly visible, but already gives itself a presentiment and sends bad visions to the dark arbitrariness of tyrants. "

Showing the life of the Russian province, Ostrovsky paints a picture of extreme backwardness, ignorance, rudeness and cruelty that kill all living things around. The life of people depends on the arbitrariness of the Wild and Kabanikhs, who are hostile to any manifestation of free thought, self-esteem in a person. Having shown from the stage the life of the merchants in all its manifestations, Ostrovsky passed a stern sentence to despotism and spiritual slavery.

Ostrovsky's most decisive work: Everyone perceives him in his own way. Someone finds in him the most ordinary, love with a sad end, for someone in this, at first glance, odious and typical story hides a pronounced idea, a kind of appeal of the author to readers.

The play describes the truly depressing appearance of Russian provincial cities in the first half of the 19th century. In The Thunderstorm, it is extremely emotional about the confrontation between the dark kingdom and the bright pure soul of Katerina. The inhabitants of one of these wretched towns, together with their beggars and miserable souls, filled with eternal all-consuming fear, together with their hopeless narrow-mindedness, unwillingness to learn more, with striking hypocrisy and endless hypocrisy, form a terrible, pernicious, sucking in everyone and all dark kingdom. A kingdom where “all the gates have been locked for a long time and the dogs have been lowered”, where even a thin ray of all light, pure, good and good will never seep.

All the characters in the drama, as in many of Ostrovsky's plays, can be subdivided into “tyrants” and “victims”. The "tyrants" are Kabanikha and Dikoy. The rest are ranked in the opposite category, the category of "victims". Kabanikha "tyrannical" in the name of his ideals, the formal execution of the traditional way, in a sanctimonious sense of "piety", and Dikoy does this to show his power over the weak, for the sake of money and personal gain: of bread. And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor so that he can earn even more money from his labors.

Kabanikha embodies the patriarchal type of the Russian provincial city, and Dikoy embodies the "modern" one: the power of money and brute force. But still, their role is similar: they are representatives of the older generation, persecuting the young, preventing them from achieving their happiness.

In my opinion, Kabanikha and Dikoy are the most colorful characters of the dark kingdom, whose meager spiritual image is quite pronounced. The rest, in my opinion, represent a boring and uninteresting gray mass of people living in constant fear, indulging in everything such as Dikoy and Kabanikha with the help of sycophancy. But they can be understood, since they have no other way out except, of course, death, all this is a kind of means of survival in a fast-moving dark kingdom.

Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" proves that there is still a force that will ultimately outshine all this boundless arbitrariness and tyranny. Both Kabanikha and Dikoy perfectly feel the precariousness and quick end, the collapse and demise of their personal limited world with their own foundations and orders, the world of "tyrants".

Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" caused a violent reaction in the field of literary critics and scholars. A. Grigoriev, D. Pisarev, F. Dostoevsky devoted their articles to this work. N. Dobrolyubov, some time after the publication of "Storm" in print, wrote an article "A ray of light in the dark kingdom." As a good critic, Dobrolyubov emphasized the author's good style, praising Ostrovsky for his deep knowledge of the Russian soul, and reproached other critics for not taking a direct look at the work. In general, Dobrolyubov's view is interesting from several points of view. For example, the critic believed that dramas should show the harmful influence of passion on a person's life, so he calls Katerina a criminal. But Nikolai Alexandrovich nevertheless says that Katerina is also a martyr, because her sufferings evoke a response in the soul of the viewer or reader. Dobrolyubov gives very accurate characteristics. It was he who called the merchants "the dark kingdom" in the play "The Thunderstorm".

If we trace how the merchant class and the social strata adjacent to it were reflected over the course of decades, then a complete picture of degradation and decline emerges. In "Minor", the Prostakovs are shown as limited people, in "Woe from Wit" the Famusovs are frozen statues that refuse to live honestly. All these images are the predecessors of Kabanikha and the Wild. It is on these two characters that the "dark kingdom" in the drama "Thunderstorm" is based.

The author introduces us to the customs and customs of the city from the very first lines of the play: "Cruel manners, sir, in our city, cruel!" In one of the dialogues between the residents, the topic of violence is raised: "Whoever has money, sir, is trying to enslave the poor ... And between themselves, sir, how they live! ... They are at enmity with each other." No matter how many people hide what is happening within families, the rest already know everything. Kuligin says that no one has been praying to God here for a long time. All doors are locked, "so that people do not see how ... they eat their families and tyrannize their families." Behind the locks - debauchery and drunkenness. Kabanov goes to drink at Dikiy's, Dikoy appears drunk in almost all scenes, Kabanikha also doesn't mind having a glass - another in the company of Savl Prokofievich.

The whole world in which the inhabitants of the fictional city of Kalinov live is saturated through and through with lies and fraud. Power over the "dark kingdom" belongs to tyrants and deceivers. Residents are so accustomed to dispassionate subservience to richer people that such a lifestyle is the norm for them. They often come to the Dikiy to ask for money, while knowing that he will humiliate them, but will not give the required amount. Most of all negative emotions in a merchant are caused by his own nephew. Not even because Boris flatters Dikoy in order to get money, but because Dikoy himself does not want to part with the inheritance he received. Its main features are rudeness and greed. Dikoy believes that since he has a large amount of money, it means that others should obey him, be afraid of him and at the same time respect him.

Kabanikha stands up for the preservation of the patriarchal system. She is a true tyrant, capable of driving crazy anyone she doesn't like. Marfa Ignatievna, hiding behind the fact that she honors the old order, in fact, destroys the family. Her son, Tikhon, is happy to leave as far as possible, just not to hear the orders of his mother, her daughter does not care about Kabanikha's opinion, lies to her, and at the end of the play she simply runs away with Kudryash. Katerina got the most. The mother-in-law openly hated her daughter-in-law, controlled her every action, was dissatisfied with any little things. The most revealing is the scene of farewell to Tikhon. Kabanikha was offended by the fact that Katya hugged her husband goodbye. After all, she is a woman, which means that she should always be lower than a man. The wife's lot is to throw herself at her husband's feet and sob, praying for a quick return. Katya does not like this point of view, but she is forced to submit to the will of her mother-in-law.

Dobrolyubov calls Katya "a ray of light in the dark kingdom," which is also very symbolic. First, Katya is different from the inhabitants of the city. She, although she was brought up according to the old laws, which Kabanikha often speaks about, has a different idea of \u200b\u200blife. Katya is kind and clean. She wants to help the poor, wants to go to church, do household chores, raise children. But in such an environment, all this seems impossible due to one simple fact: in the "dark kingdom" in "Thunderstorm" it is impossible to find inner peace. People are constantly walking in fear, drinking, lying, cheating on each other, trying to hide the unsightly sides of life. In such an atmosphere, it is impossible to be honest with others, honest with oneself. Secondly, one ray is not enough to illuminate the "kingdom." Light, according to the laws of physics, should be reflected from some surface. It is also known that black has the ability to absorb other colors. Similar laws apply to the situation with the main character plays. Katerina does not see in others what is in her. Neither the residents of the city, nor Boris, "a decently educated person", could understand the reason for Katya's internal conflict. After all, even Boris is afraid of public opinion, he is dependent on the Wild and the possibility of inheritance. He is also bound by a chain of deception and lies, because Boris supports Varvara's idea of \u200b\u200bdeceiving Tikhon in order to maintain a secret relationship with Katya. Let us apply the second law here. In Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" the "dark kingdom" is so all-consuming that it is impossible to find a way out of it. It eats up Katerina, forcing her to take on one of the worst sins from the point of view of Christianity - suicide. The "dark kingdom" leaves no other choice. It will find her anywhere, even if Katya ran away with Boris, even if she left her husband. No wonder Ostrovsky transfers the action to a fictional city. The author wanted to show the typicality of the situation: this situation was typical for all cities of Russia. But is it only Russia?

Are the conclusions really so disappointing? The power of tyrants is gradually beginning to weaken. This is felt by Kabanikha and Dikoy. They feel that other people, new ones, will soon take their place. Such as Katya. Honest and open. And, perhaps, it is in them that the old customs that Marfa Ignatievna zealously defended will be revived. Dobrolyubov wrote that the ending of the play should be viewed in a positive way. “We are glad to see Katerina's deliverance - even through death, if it is impossible otherwise. Living in the "dark kingdom" is worse than death. " This is confirmed by the words of Tikhon, who for the first time openly opposes not only his mother, but also the entire order of the city. “The play ends with this exclamation, and it seems to us that nothing could have been more powerful and more truthful than such an ending. Tikhon's words make the viewer think not about a love affair, but about this whole life, where the living envy the dead. "

The definition of the "dark kingdom" and the description of the images of its representatives will be useful to pupils of the 10th grade when writing an essay on the theme "The Dark Kingdom in the play" The Thunderstorm "by Ostrovsky."

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this is a clash of two or more parties that do not coincide in views, attitudes. There are several conflicts in Ostrovsky Storm's play, but how to decide which one is the main one? In the era of sociologism in literary criticism, it was believed that social conflict is the most important in the play. Of course, if you see in the image of Katerina a reflection of the spontaneous Protestant masses of the people against the shackling conditions of the dark kingdom and perceive the death of Katerina as a result of her collision with her petty mother-in-law, the genre of the play should be defined as a social drama. A drama is a work in which the social and personal aspirations of people, and sometimes their very lives, are under the threat of death from outside forces beyond their control. The play also contains a generational conflict between Katerina and Kabanikha, the new always comes on the old, the old does not want to surrender to the new ... But the play is much deeper than it might seem at first glance. After all, Katerina first of all fights with herself, and not with Kabanikha, the conflict develops not around her, but in herself. Therefore, the play The Thunderstorm can be defined as a tragedy.

Tragedy is a work in which there is an insoluble conflict between the personal aspirations of the hero and the superpersonal laws of life that occur in the mind of the protagonist. In general, the play is very similar to the ancient tragedy, the chorus is replaced by some off-plot heroes, the denouement ends with the death of the protagonist, as well as a tragedy, except for the immortal Prometheus. Katherines are the result of the collision of two historical eras.

Some heroes of the play seem to differ in the time in which they live. For example, Kuligin is a man of the 18th century, he wants to invent a sundial, which was still known for the antiquity, or a perpetuum mobile, which is a hallmark of the Middle Ages, or a lightning rod. He himself reaches with his mind what has long been invented, and he only dreams about it. He quotes Lomonosov and Derzhavin - this is also a human trait

13. The image of the "dark kingdom" in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm".

In order to show the contradictions between rudeness and honor, between ignorance and dignity, the play shows two generations: people of the older generation, the so-called "dark kingdom", and people of a new trend, more progressive, who do not want to live according to old laws and customs.

Dikoy and Kabanova are typical representatives of the “dark kingdom”. It was in these images that Ostrovsky wanted to show the ruling class in Russia at that time.

Dikoy and Kabanova - this is the very “dark kingdom”, remnants, supporters of the foundations of this “dark kingdom”. That's who they are, these Wild and Kabanovs, stupid, ignorant, hypocritical, rude. They preach the same peace and order. This is a world of money, anger, envy and enmity. They hate everything new and progressive.

The idea of \u200b\u200bAN Ostrovsky was to expose the "dark kingdom" using the images of the Wild and Kabanova. He denounced all rich people of lack of spirituality and meanness. Basically, in the secular society of Russia in the 19th century there were such Wild and Kabanovs, which the author showed us in his drama "The Thunderstorm".