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The question of choosing a soul mate has always been problematic for young people. Now we have the right to choose a life partner ourselves; previously, the final decision in marriage was made by the parents. Naturally, parents first of all looked at the well-being of their future son-in-law and his moral character. This choice promised an excellent material and moral existence for children, but the intimate side of marriage often suffered. Spouses understand that they should treat each other favorably and respectfully, but the lack of passion does not have the best effect. There are many examples in the literature of such dissatisfaction and the search for fulfillment of one’s intimate life.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with the summary of A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”
This topic is not new in Russian literature. From time to time it is raised by writers. A. Ostrovsky in the play “The Thunderstorm” portrayed a unique image of the woman Katerina, who, in search of personal happiness, under the influence of Orthodox morality and the emerging love feeling, comes to a dead end.
Katerina's life story
The main character of Ostrovsky's play is Katerina Kabanova. Since childhood, she was brought up with love and affection. Her mother felt sorry for her daughter, and sometimes freed her from all work, leaving Katerina to do what she wanted. But the girl did not grow up lazy.
After the wedding with Tikhon Kabanov, the girl lives in the house of her husband’s parents. Tikhon has no father. And the mother manages all processes in the house. The mother-in-law has an authoritarian character; she suppresses all family members with her authority: her son Tikhon, her daughter Varya and her young daughter-in-law.
Katerina finds herself in a world completely unfamiliar to her - her mother-in-law often scolds her for no reason, her husband is also not distinguished by tenderness and care - sometimes he beats her. Katerina and Tikhon have no children. This fact is incredibly upsetting for the woman - she likes to babysit children.
One day the woman falls in love. She is married and understands perfectly well that her love has no right to life, but still, over time, she gives in to her desire while her husband is in another city.
Upon her husband’s return, Katerina experiences pangs of conscience and confesses her action to her mother-in-law and husband, which causes a wave of indignation. Tikhon beats her. The mother-in-law says that the woman needs to be buried in the ground. The situation in the family, already unhappy and tense, worsens to the point of impossibility. Seeing no other way out, the woman commits suicide by drowning herself in the river. On the last pages of the play we learn that Tikhon still loved his wife, and his behavior towards her was provoked by his mother’s instigation.
Appearance of Katerina Kabanova
The author does not provide a detailed description of Katerina Petrovna’s appearance. We learn about the woman’s appearance from the lips of other characters in the play - most of the characters consider her beautiful and delightful. We also know little about Katerina’s age - the fact that she is in the prime of her life allows us to define her as a young woman. Before the wedding, she was full of aspirations and glowing with happiness.
Life in her mother-in-law's house did not have the best effect on her: she noticeably withered, but was still pretty. Her girlish gaiety and cheerfulness quickly disappeared - their place was taken by despondency and sadness.
Family relationships
Katerina’s mother-in-law is a very complex person; she runs everything in the house. This applies not only to household chores, but also to all relationships within the family. The woman finds it difficult to cope with her emotions - she is jealous of her son for Katerina, she wants Tikhon to pay attention not to his wife, but to her, his mother. Jealousy eats up the mother-in-law and does not give her the opportunity to enjoy life - she is always dissatisfied with something, constantly finding fault with everyone, especially with her young daughter-in-law. She doesn’t even try to hide this fact - those around her make fun of old Kabanikha, saying that she tortured everyone in the house.
Katerina respects old Kabanikha, despite the fact that she literally does not give her a pass with her nagging. The same cannot be said about other family members.
Katerina’s husband, Tikhon, also loves his mother. His mother's authoritarianism and despotism broke him, as did his wife. He is torn by feelings of love for his mother and wife. Tikhon does not try to somehow resolve the difficult situation in his family and finds solace in drinking and carousing. Kabanikha’s youngest daughter and Tikhon’s sister, Varvara, is more pragmatic, she understands that you cannot break through a wall with your forehead, in this case you need to act with cunning and intelligence. Her respect for her mother is ostentatious; she says what her mother wants to hear, but in reality she does everything her own way. Unable to bear life at home, Varvara runs away.
Despite the dissimilarity of the girls, Varvara and Katerina become friends. They support each other in difficult situations. Varvara incites Katerina to secret meetings with Boris, helps the lovers organize dates for the lovers. Varvara does not mean anything bad in these actions - the girl herself often resorts to such dates - this is her way of not going crazy, she wants to bring at least a piece of happiness into Katerina’s life, but the result is the opposite.
Katerina also has a difficult relationship with her husband. This is primarily due to Tikhon’s spinelessness. He does not know how to defend his position, even if his mother’s wishes clearly contradict his intentions. Her husband has no opinion of his own - he is a “mama’s boy”, unquestioningly fulfilling the will of his parent. He often, at his mother’s instigation, scolds his young wife and sometimes beats her. Naturally, such behavior does not bring joy and harmony to the relationship between spouses.
Katerina's dissatisfaction is growing day by day. She feels unhappy. Understanding that the quibbles addressed to her are far-fetched still do not allow her to live a full life.
From time to time, intentions arise in Katerina’s thoughts to change something in her life, but she cannot find a way out of the situation - the thought of suicide visits Katerina Petrovna more and more often.
Character traits
Katerina has a meek and kind disposition. She doesn't know how to stand up for herself. Katerina Petrovna is a soft, romantic girl. She loves to indulge in dreams and fantasies.
She has an inquisitive mind. She is interested in the most unusual things, for example, why people cannot fly. Because of this, others consider her a little strange.
Katerina is patient and non-conflict by nature. She forgives the unfair and cruel attitude of her husband and mother-in-law towards her.
In general, those around, if you don’t take into account Tikhon and Kabanikha, have a good opinion of Katerina, they think that she is a sweet and lovely girl.
The desire for freedom
Katerina Petrovna has a unique concept of freedom. At a time when most people understand freedom as a physical state in which they are free to carry out those actions and actions that they prefer, Katerina prefers moral freedom, devoid of psychological pressure, allowing them to control their own destiny.
Katerina Kabanova is not so decisive as to put her mother-in-law in her place, but her desire for freedom does not allow her to live by the rules within which she finds herself - the idea of death as a way to gain freedom appears in the text several times before Katerina’s romantic relationship with Boris . The publication of information about Katerina's betrayal of her husband and the further reaction of her relatives, in particular her mother-in-law, become just a catalyst for her suicidal tendencies.
Katerina's religiosity
The issue of religiosity and the influence of religion on people's lives has always been quite controversial. This trend is especially clearly questionable in times of active scientific and technological revolution and progress.
In relation to Katerina Kabanova, this trend does not work. A woman, not finding joy in ordinary, worldly life, is imbued with special love and reverence for religion. Her attachment to the church is also strengthened by the fact that her mother-in-law is religious. While old Kabanikha’s religiosity is only ostentatious (in fact, she does not adhere to the basic canons and postulates of the church that regulate relationships between people), Katerina’s religiosity is true. She firmly believes in the commandments of God and always tries to observe the laws of existence.
While praying and being in church, Katerina experiences special pleasure and relief. At such moments she looks like an angel.
However, the desire to experience happiness and true love takes precedence over religious vision. Knowing that adultery is a terrible sin, a woman still succumbs to temptation. For happiness lasting ten days, she pays with another, most terrible sin in the eyes of a believing Christian - suicide.
Katerina Petrovna realizes the gravity of her action, but the concept that her life will never change forces her to ignore this prohibition. It should be noted that the idea of such an end to her life’s journey had already arisen, but, despite the hardships of her life, it was not carried out. Perhaps the fact that the pressure from her mother-in-law was painful for her played here, but the concept that it had no basis stopped the girl. After her family finds out about the betrayal - the reproaches against her become justified - she really tarnished her reputation and the reputation of the family. Another reason for this outcome of events could be the fact that Boris refuses the woman and does not take her with him. Katerina must somehow solve the current situation herself and she doesn’t see a better option than throwing herself into the river.
Katerina and Boris
Before Boris appeared in the fictional city of Kalinov, finding personal, intimate happiness was not relevant for Katerina. She did not try to make up for the lack of love from her husband on the side.
The image of Boris awakens in Katerina a faded feeling of passionate love. A woman realizes the severity of a love relationship with another man, and therefore languishes with the feeling that has arisen, but does not accept any prerequisites to turn her dreams into reality.
Varvara convinces Katerina that Kabanova needs to meet alone with her lover. The brother’s sister knows very well that the feelings of young people are mutual, in addition, the coolness of the relationship between Tikhon and Katerina is not new to her, therefore she regards her act as an opportunity to show her sweet and kind daughter-in-law what true love is.
Katerina cannot make up her mind for a long time, but the water wears away the stone, the woman agrees to the meeting. Finding herself captive of her desires, strengthened by a kindred feeling on the part of Boris, the woman cannot deny herself further meetings. The absence of her husband plays into her hands - for 10 days she lived as if in paradise. Boris loves her more than life itself, he is affectionate and gentle with her. With him, Katerina feels like a real woman. She thinks she has finally found happiness. Everything changes with Tikhon's arrival. Nobody knows about the secret meetings, but Katerina is tormented, she is seriously afraid of punishment from God, her psychological state reaches its climax and she admits to committing a sin.
After this event, the woman’s life turns into hell - the already falling reproaches from her mother-in-law become unbearable, her husband beats her.
The woman still has hope for a successful outcome of the event - she believes that Boris will not leave her in trouble. However, her lover is in no hurry to help her - he is afraid of angering his uncle and being left without his inheritance, so he refuses to take Katerina with him to Siberia.
For a woman, this becomes a new blow, she is no longer able to survive it - death becomes her only way out.
Thus, Katerina Kabanova is the owner of the kindest and gentlest qualities of the human soul. A woman is especially sensitive to the feelings of other people. Her inability to give a sharp rebuff becomes the reason for constant ridicule and reproaches from her mother-in-law and husband, which further drives her into a dead end situation. Death in her case becomes an opportunity to find happiness and freedom. Awareness of this fact evokes the saddest feelings among readers.
The publication of “The Thunderstorm” occurred in 1860. Difficult times. The country smelled of revolution. Traveling along the Volga in 1856, the author made sketches of the future work, where he tried to depict as accurately as possible the merchant world of the second half of the 19th century. There is an insoluble conflict in the play. It was he who led to the death of the main character, who could not cope with her emotional state. The image and characterization of Katerina in the play “The Thunderstorm” is a portrait of a strong, extraordinary personality, forced to exist in the conditions of a small patriarchal city. The girl could not forgive herself for betraying herself, giving herself up to human lynching, without even hoping to earn forgiveness. For which she paid with her life.
Katerina Kabanova is the wife of Tikhon Kabanov. Kabanikha's daughter-in-law.
Image and characteristics
After marriage, Katerina’s world collapsed. Her parents spoiled her and cherished her like a flower. The girl grew up in love and with a feeling of boundless freedom.
“Mama doted on me, dressed me up like a doll, and didn’t force me to work; I do what I want".
As soon as she found herself in her mother-in-law's house, everything changed. The rules and laws are the same, but now from a beloved daughter, Katerina became a subordinate daughter-in-law, whom her mother-in-law hated with every fiber of her soul and did not even try to hide her attitude towards her.
When she was very young, she was given to someone else's family.
“They married you off when you were young, you didn’t have to go out with the girls; “Your heart hasn’t left yet.”
That’s how it should be, for Katerina it was normal. In those days, no one built a family out of love. If you endure it, you will fall in love. She is ready to submit, but with respect and love. In my husband's house they did not know about such concepts.
“Was I like that! I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild...”
Katerina is a freedom-loving person. Decisive.
“This is how I was born, hot! I was still six years old, no more, so I did it! They offended me with something at home, and it was late in the evening, it was already dark; I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat and pushed it away from the shore. The next morning they found it, about ten miles away!
She is not one of those who obey tyrants. She is not afraid of dirty intrigues on the part of Kabanova. For her, freedom is the most important thing. Do not follow idiotic orders, do not bend under the influence of others, but do what your heart desires.
Her soul languished in anticipation of happiness and mutual love. Tikhon, Katerina’s husband, loved her in his own way, as best he could, but his mother’s influence on him was too strong, turning him against his young wife. He preferred to drown out problems with alcohol, and escaped from conflicts in the family on long business trips.
Katerina was often left alone. They did not have children with Tikhon.
“Eco woe! I don’t have children: I would still sit with them and amuse them. I really like talking to children – they are angels.”
The girl was increasingly sad about her worthless life, praying in front of the altar.
Katerina is religious. Going to church is like a holiday. There she rested her soul. As a child, she heard angels singing. She believed that God would hear prayers everywhere. When it was not possible to go to the temple, the girl prayed in the garden.
A new round of life is associated with the arrival of Boris. She understands that passion for another man is a terrible sin, but she is unable to cope with it.
“It’s not good, it’s a terrible sin, Varenka, why do I love someone else?”
She tried to resist, but she did not have enough strength and support:
“It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss, but I have nothing to hold on to.”
The feeling turned out to be too strong.
Sinful love raised a wave of internal fear for its action. The more her love for Boris grew, the more she felt sinfulness. She grabbed at the last straw, crying out to her husband with a request to take her with him, but Tikhon is a narrow-minded person and could not understand his wife’s mental suffering.
Bad dreams and an irreversible premonition of impending disaster drove Katerina crazy. She felt the reckoning approaching. With each thunderclap, it seemed to her that God was throwing arrows at her.
Tired of the internal struggle, Katerina publicly confesses to her husband that she has cheated. Even in this situation, the spineless Tikhon was ready to forgive her. Boris, having learned about her repentance, under pressure from his uncle, leaves the city, leaving his beloved to the mercy of fate. Katerina did not receive support from him. Unable to withstand the mental anguish, the girl rushes into the Volga.
Katerina- the main character, Tikhon’s wife, Kabanikha’s daughter-in-law. The image of K. is Ostrovsky’s most important discovery - the discovery of a strong national character born of a patriarchal world with an awakening sense of personality. In the plot of the play, K. is the protagonist, Kabanikha is the antagonist in the tragic conflict. Their relationship in the play is not an everyday feud between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, their destinies expressed the collision of two historical eras, which determines the tragic nature of the conflict. It is important for the author to show the origins of the heroine’s character, for which purpose the exhibition, despite the specifics of the dramatic genre, gives K.’s lengthy story about life as a girl. Here is an ideal version of patriarchal relations and the patriarchal world in general. The main motive of her story is the motive of all-pervading mutual love: “I lived, did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild, I did what I wanted.” But this was a “will” that did not at all conflict with the age-old way of a closed life, the entire circle of which is limited to household work, and since K. is a girl from a rich merchant family, this is needlework, gold embroidery on velvet; since she works together with the pilgrims, then most likely we are talking about embroideries for the temple. This is a story about a world in which it does not occur to a person to oppose himself to the general, since he does not yet separate himself from this community. That is why there is no violence or coercion here. The idyllic harmony of patriarchal family life (perhaps precisely the result of her childhood impressions, forever remaining in her soul) for K. is an unconditional moral ideal. But she lives in an era when the very spirit of this morality - the harmony between the individual and the moral ideas of the environment - has disappeared and the ossified form rests on violence and coercion. Sensitive K. catches this in her family life in the Kabanovs' house. After listening to the story about her daughter-in-law’s life before marriage, Varvara (Tikhon’s sister) exclaims in surprise: “But it’s the same with us.” “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity,” K. drops, and this is the main drama for her.
For the entire concept of the play, it is very important that it is here, in the soul of a woman who is quite “Kalinov’s” in upbringing and moral ideas, that a new attitude to the world is born, a new feeling, still unclear to the heroine herself: “...Something bad is happening to me, some kind of miracle!.. There is something so extraordinary about me. I’m sure I’m starting to live again, or I don’t know.” This is a vague feeling, which K. cannot, of course, explain rationally - an awakening sense of personality. In the heroine’s soul, it, naturally in accordance with the whole set of concepts and sphere of life of a merchant’s wife, takes the form of individual, personal love. Passion is born and grows in K., but this passion is highly spiritualized, infinitely far from the thoughtless desire for hidden joys. K. perceives awakened love as a terrible, indelible sin, because love for a stranger for her, a married woman, is a violation of moral duty, the moral commandments of the patriarchal world for K. are full of primordial meaning. She wants with all her soul to be pure and impeccable; her moral demands on herself do not allow compromise. Having already realized her love for Boris, she resists it with all her might, but finds no support in this struggle: “It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss and someone is pushing me there, but I have nothing to hold on to.” And indeed, everything around her is already a dead form. For K., the form and ritual in themselves do not matter - she needs the very essence of human relations, which were once clothed in this ritual. That is why it is unpleasant for her to bow at the feet of the departing Tikhon and she refuses to howl on the porch, as the guardians of customs expect from her. Not only the external forms of household life, but even prayer becomes inaccessible to her as soon as she feels the power of sinful passion over herself. N.A. Dobrolyubov was wrong when he claimed that K.’s prayers had become boring. On the contrary, K.’s religious sentiments intensify as her mental storm increases. But it is precisely the discrepancy between her sinful inner state and what the religious commandments require of her that prevents her from praying as before: K. is too far from the sanctimonious gap between the external performance of rituals and everyday practice. Given her high morality, such a compromise is impossible. She feels fear of herself, of the desire for will that has grown in her, inseparably merging in her mind with love: “Of course, God forbid this to happen! And if I get really tired of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t do this, even if you cut me!”
K. was married off young, her fate was decided by her family, and she accepts this as a completely natural, ordinary thing. She enters the Kabanov family, ready to love and honor her mother-in-law (“For me, mamma, it’s all the same, like my own mother, like you...” she says to Kabanikha in Act I, but she doesn’t know how to lie), expecting in advance that her husband will be her master, but also her support and protection. But Tikhon is not suitable for the role of the head of a patriarchal family, and K. speaks of his love for him: “I feel very sorry for him!” And in the fight against her illegal love for Boris K., despite her attempts, she cannot rely on Tikhon.
“The Thunderstorm” is not a “tragedy of love,” but rather a “tragedy of conscience.” When the fall has taken place, K. no longer retreats, does not feel sorry for himself, does not want to hide anything, saying to Boris: “If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment!” The consciousness of sin does not leave her at the moment of intoxication with happiness and takes possession of her with enormous power when the happiness ends. K. publicly repents without hope of forgiveness, and it is the complete lack of hope that pushes her to suicide, an even more serious sin: “Anyway, I ruined my soul.” It is not Boris’s refusal to take her with him to Kyakhta, but the complete impossibility of reconciling his love for him with the demands of his conscience and physical disgust for the home prison, for captivity, that kills K.
To explain K.’s character, what is important is not motivation (radical criticism condemned K. for his love for Boris), but free expression of will, the fact that she suddenly and inexplicably, contrary to her own ideas about morality and order, fell in love with Boris not for “function” (as this is supposed to happen in a patriarchal world, where she must love not the personality of a specific person, but precisely the “function”: father, husband, mother-in-law, etc.), but another person who is in no way connected with her. And the more inexplicable her attraction to Boris, the clearer it is that the issue is precisely this free, unpredictable self-will of individual feeling. And this is a sign of the awakening of the personal principle in this soul, all the moral foundations of which are determined by patriarchal morality. K.’s death is therefore predetermined and irreversible, no matter how the people on whom she depends behave: neither her self-awareness nor her entire way of life allows the personal feeling that has awakened in her to be embodied in everyday forms. K. is a victim not of anyone personally around her (no matter what she herself or other characters in the play think about it), but of the course of life. The world of patriarchal relations is dying, and the soul of this world leaves life in torment and suffering, crushed by the ossified, meaningless form of everyday connections, and passes a moral verdict on itself, because in it the patriarchal ideal lives in its primordial content.
In addition to its precise socio-historical character, “The Thunderstorm” also has a clearly expressed lyrical beginning and powerful symbolism. Both are primarily (if not exclusively) connected with the image of K. Ostrovsky consistently correlates the fate and speeches of K. with the plot and poetics of lyrical songs about women’s lot. In this tradition, K.’s story about his free life as a girl, a monologue before his last meeting with Boris, is carried out. The author consistently poeticizes the image of the heroine, using for this purpose even such an unconventional means of drama as the landscape, which is first described in the stage directions, then the beauty of the Trans-Volga region is discussed in Kuligin’s conversations, then in K.’s words addressed to Varvara, the motif of birds and flight appears (“Why don’t people fly?.. You know, sometimes it seems to me that I’m a bird. When you’re standing on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how you’d run up, raise your arms and fly.”) In the finale, the motive of flight is tragically transformed into a fall from the Volga cliff, from the very mountain that beckoned to fly. And K. is saved from a painful life in captivity by the Volga, symbolizing distance and freedom (remember K.’s story about her childhood rebellion, when she, offended, got into a boat and sailed along the Volga - an episode from the biography of Ostrovsky’s close friend, actress L.P. Kositskaya , the first performer of the role of K.).
The lyricism of “The Thunderstorm” arises precisely because of the closeness of the world of the heroine and the author. The hopes for overcoming social discord, rampant individualistic passions, the cultural gap between the educated classes and the people on the basis of the resurrection of ideal patriarchal harmony, which Ostrovsky and his friends in the magazine “Moskvityanin” nurtured in the 1850s, did not stand the test of modernity. The “Thunderstorm” was their farewell, reflecting the state of the people’s consciousness at the turn of the era. The lyrical character of “The Thunderstorm” was deeply understood by A. A. Grigoriev, himself a former Muscovite, who said about the play: “... as if it was not a poet, but a whole people who created here.”
According to one version, the drama "The Thunderstorm" was written by Ostrovsky when he was impressed by a married actress, Lyuba Kositskaya. The image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” appeared precisely thanks to Kositskaya, and it is interesting that she later got this role on stage.
Katerina was born into a merchant family, their house was prosperous, and Katerina’s childhood was carefree and joyful. The heroine herself compared herself to a free bird, and admitted to Varvara that she did whatever she wanted until she got married. Yes, Katerina’s family was good, her upbringing was good, so the girl grew up pure and open. In the image of Katerina one can clearly see a kind, sincere, Russian soul that does not know how to deceive.
Let us continue to consider the image of Katerina in the drama “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky, and note that it was very difficult for the girl to live with her husband without pretense, given his family. If we remember Kabanikha, Katerina’s mother-in-law, who keeps everyone at home in fear, it becomes clear why these characters in the drama have a conflict. Of course, Kabanikha acted using methods of humiliation and intimidation, and some were able to adapt to this and come to terms with it. For example, it was easier for Varvara and Tikhon to create the impression that they were completely submissive to their mother, although outside the home both daughter and son indulged in revelry.
Features in the image of Katerina in the drama "The Thunderstorm"
What character traits did Katerina literally frighten Kabanikha? She was pure of soul, sincere and ardent, and did not tolerate hypocrisy and deception. For example, when her husband left, the mother-in-law wanted to see her daughter-in-law howling, but it was not in Katerina’s rules to pretend. If the custom is not accepted by the soul, then it is not worth following it, the girl believes.
When Katerina realized that she loved Boris, she did not hide her feelings by talking about them. Varvara, her mother-in-law, and the main character’s husband himself learned about Katerina’s love. We see depth, strength and passion in the girl's nature, and her words express these personality traits well. She talks about people and birds, why can't people fly the same way? As a result, Katerina says that she will not tolerate an unbearable and disgusting life, and as a last resort, she will decide to take the fatal step - throw herself out the window or drown herself in the river. Reflecting on these words, you can better understand the image of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”.
Finally, what effort it took for the girl to tell Boris about her feelings! After all, Katerina was a married woman, but the passion for freedom and the desire to be happy, as well as willpower, manifested themselves in this brave act. Ostrovsky contrasts these character traits of Katerina with the world of Kabanikha (Marfa Kabanova). How is it shown? For example, Kabanikha blindly worships the traditions of old times, and this is not an impulse of the soul, but an opportunity not to lose power over others. The same can be said about the religious attitude, because for Katerina going to church is natural and pleasant, in Kabanikha it is a formality, and everyday issues worry her more than thoughts about the spiritual.
What does Katerina strive for?
An important point that must be taken into account when talking about the image of Katerina in the drama “The Thunderstorm” is that she is full of religious fear. The girl thinks that punishment for sin from the Lord and the thunderstorm, which she identifies with these concepts, are terrible and severe. All this, together with a feeling of guilt, prompts her to tell everyone about the sin she committed. Katerina decides to run away from a family that she does not accept with her heart and soul. The husband feels pity for her, but beats her, because that’s what needs to be done.
Boris, Katerina's lover, cannot help her. And although he sympathizes with her, it is clear how powerless he is and shows weakness and lack of will. Left alone, Katerina decides to throw herself off a cliff. Some attribute this action to the girl’s weakness of will, but Ostrovsky wanted to show the strength of her personality, which, again, complements the image of Katerina.
In conclusion, we can say that Katerina embodied a beautiful Russian soul - pure and bright. Her soul is opposed to tyranny, rudeness, cruelty and ignorance - qualities that are inherent in many people not only at the time the drama was written, but also today.
We hope that consideration of the image of Katerina in the drama “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky turned out to be useful for you. Other articles
Katerina was conceived by Ostrovsky as a positive image, with an integral, courageous, decisive and freedom-loving character and at the same time bright, loving, creative, filled with deep poetry. He strongly emphasizes her connection with the people. With all the development of the action, Ostrovsky talks about Katerina’s victory over the dark kingdom.
Katerina’s life in her parents’ house was similar in terms of everyday life to the Kabanovs’ house, the same wanderers with their stories, reading the lives of saints, visiting church. But “she made up for this life, poor in content, with her spiritual wealth.”
The whole story about Katerina’s life is imbued with great tenderness for the past and horror for the present: “It was so good” and “I have completely withered with you.” And the most valuable thing that was now lost was the feeling of will. “I lived like a bird in the wild,” “...I used to do whatever I wanted,” “my mother didn’t force me.” And in response to Varvara’s remark that the life of Katerina’s parents’ house is similar to theirs, Katerina exclaims: “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity.” Surprisingly simply, sincerely, as she feels, without a single embellishing word, Katerina says: “I used to get up early; If it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that’s it, I’ll water all the flowers in the house.”
Church and religion occupied a large place in Katerina’s life from her youth.
Growing up in a patriarchal merchant family, she could not be different. But her religiosity differs from the ritual fanaticism of the Wild and Kabani not only in its sincerity, but also in the fact that she perceived everything connected with religion and the church primarily aesthetically. “And to death I loved going to church! It was as if I would enter heaven.”
The church filled her fantasies and dreams with images. Looking at the sunlight pouring from the dome, she saw singing and flying angels in it, “she dreamed of golden temples.”
From bright memories Katerina moves on to what she is experiencing now. Katerina is deeply sincere and truthful, she wants to tell Varvara everything, not to hide anything from her.
With her characteristic imagery, trying to convey her feelings as accurately as possible, she tells Varvara: “At night, Varya, I can’t sleep, I keep imagining some kind of whisper; someone speaks to me so affectionately, as if he were loving me, as if a dove was cooing. I no longer dream, Varya, as before, of paradise trees and mountains, but as if someone is hugging me so warmly and warmly and leading me somewhere, and I follow him, I go.”
All these images testify to the richness of Katerina’s spiritual life.
How many subtle nuances of an emerging feeling are conveyed in them. But when Katerina tries to comprehend what is happening to her, she relies on the concepts brought up in her by religion; She perceives the awakened feeling through the prism of her religious ideas: “Sin is on my mind... I cannot escape this sin.” And hence the premonition of trouble: “Before any trouble, before some kind of this...”, “No, I know that I will die,” etc.
Religion not only filled her fantasies and dreams with its images, it entangled her soul with fear - the fear of “fiery hell,” the fear of sin. Brave, decisive Katerina, who was not afraid even of the formidable Kabanikha, who was not afraid of death, is afraid of sin, she sees the evil one everywhere, the thunderstorm seems to her like God’s punishment: “I’m not afraid of dying, but when I think that suddenly I will appear before God as I am here with you, after this conversation, that’s what’s scary.”
Katerina is characterized by a constant desire to go somewhere, a thirst for justice and truth, and an inability to tolerate insults. It is no coincidence that, as an example of the manifestation of her warm heart, she recalls an incident from early childhood when someone offended her and she left on a boat: “... it was towards evening, it was already dark, I ran out to the Volga, got into the boat, and pushed her away from the shore. The next morning they found it about ten miles away.”
Along with Katerina’s ardor and determination, Ostrovsky shows her purity, inexperience, and girlish shyness. Hearing Varvara’s words: “I’ve noticed for a long time that you love another person,” Katerina gets scared, she’s scared, perhaps because what she doesn’t dare admit to herself has become obvious. She wants to hear the name of Boris Grigorievich, she wants to know about him, but she doesn’t ask about it. Shyness only forces her to pose the question: “So what?” Varvara expresses what Katerina herself is afraid to admit to herself, what she is deceiving herself about. Either she strives to prove to herself that she loves Tikhon, then she doesn’t even want to think about Tikhon, then she sees with despair that the feeling is stronger than her will, and this invincibility of the feeling seems to her a terrible sin. All this is incredibly expressively reflected in her speech: “Don’t tell me about him, do me a favor, don’t tell me! I don't even want to know him. I will love my husband." “Do I really want to think about him? But what should you do if it’s out of your head? No matter what I think about, he remains before my eyes. And I want to break myself, but I just can’t.”
In an effort to conquer her heart, she constantly appeals to her will. The path of deception, so common in the dark kingdom, is unacceptable for Katerina. In response to Varvara’s proposal: “But in my opinion, do whatever you want, as long as it’s covered and sewn,” Katerina replies: “I don’t want it that way. And what good. I’d rather be patient as long as I can”; or “And if I get really tired of it here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.” “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me.”
Katerina doesn't want to lie, Katerina doesn't know compromises. Her words, spoken unusually decisively and energetically, speak of her integrity, unrestraint, and ability to go to the end.