Boris is a kind, well-educated person. He stands out sharply against the background of the merchant environment. But he is a weak person by nature. B. is forced to humiliate himself before his uncle, Dikiy, for the sake of hope for the inheritance that he will leave him. Although the hero himself knows that this will never happen, he nevertheless curries favor with the tyrant, tolerating his antics. B. is unable to protect either himself or his beloved Katerina. In misfortune, he only rushes about and cries: “Oh, if only these people knew how it feels for me to say goodbye to you! My God! God grant that someday they may feel as sweet as I do now... You villains! Monsters! Oh, if only there was strength! But B. does not have this power, so he is unable to alleviate Katerina’s suffering and support her choice by taking her with him.
This heroine easily adapts to the laws of the “dark kingdom” and easily deceives everyone around her. This became habitual for her. V. claims that it is impossible to live otherwise: their whole house rests on deception. “And I was not a liar, but I learned when it became necessary.”
V. was cunning while she could. When they began to lock her up, she ran away from the house, inflicting a crushing blow on Kabanikha.
D. is a typical tyrant. He feels his power over people and complete impunity, and therefore does what he wants. “There are no elders over you, so you are showing off,” Kabanikha explains D.’s behavior.
Every morning his wife begs those around her with tears: “Fathers, don’t make me angry! Darlings, don’t make me angry!” But it’s hard not to make D. angry. He himself does not know what mood he may be in in the next minute.
This “cruel scolder” and “shrill man” does not mince words. His speech is filled with words like “parasite”, “Jesuit”, “asp”.
But D. “attacks” only on people weaker than himself, on those who cannot fight back. But D. is afraid of his clerk Kudryash, who has a reputation for being rude, not to mention Kabanikha. D. respects her, moreover, she is the only one who understands him. After all, the hero himself is sometimes not happy with his tyranny, but he can’t help himself. Therefore, Kabanikha considers D. a weak person. Kabanikha and D. are united by belonging to the patriarchal system, following its laws, and concern about the upcoming changes around them.
This image in its own way points to the end of the patriarchal way of life. T. no longer considers it necessary to adhere to the old ways in everyday life. But, due to his character, he cannot act as he sees fit and go against his mother. His choice is everyday compromises: “Why listen to her! She needs to say something! Well, let her talk, and you turn a deaf ear!”
T. is a kind, but weak person; he rushes between fear of his mother and compassion for his wife. The hero loves Katerina, but not in the way Kabanikha demands - sternly, “like a man.” He doesn’t want to prove his power to his wife, he needs warmth and affection: “Why should she be afraid? It’s enough for me that she loves me.” But Tikhon doesn’t get this in Kabanikha’s house. At home, he is forced to play the role of an obedient son: “Yes, Mama, I don’t want to live by my own will! Where can I live by my own will!” His only outlet is traveling on business, where he forgets all his humiliations, drowning them in wine. Despite the fact that T. loves Katerina, he does not understand what is happening to his wife, what mental anguish she is experiencing. T.'s gentleness is one of his negative qualities. It is because of her that he cannot help his wife in her struggle with her passion for Boris, and he cannot ease Katerina’s fate even after her public repentance. Although he himself reacted kindly to his wife’s betrayal, without being angry with her: “Mama says that she must be buried alive in the ground so that she can be executed! But I love her, I would be sorry to lay a finger on her.” Only over the body of his dead wife does T. decide to rebel against his mother, publicly blaming her for the death of Katerina. It is this riot in public that deals Kabanikha the most terrible blow.
K. is a poetic and dreamy nature (he admires the beauty of the Volga landscape, for example). His first appearance is marked by the literary song “Among the Flat Valley...” This immediately emphasizes K.’s bookishness and education.
But at the same time, K.’s technical ideas (installation of a sundial, lightning rod, etc. in the city) were clearly outdated. This “obsolescence” emphasizes K.’s deep connection with Kalinov. He, of course, is a “new man,” but he developed within Kalinov, which cannot but affect his worldview and philosophy of life. The main work of K.’s life is the dream of inventing a perpetual motion machine and receiving a million for it from the British. “The antique, the chemist” Kalinova wants to spend this million on his hometown: “jobs must be given to the philistines.” In the meantime, K. is content with smaller inventions for the benefit of Kalinov. With them, he is forced to constantly beg for money from the rich people of the city. But they do not understand the benefits of K.’s inventions, they ridicule him, considering him an eccentric and crazy. Therefore, Kuligov’s passion for creativity remains unrealized within the walls of Kalinov. K. feels sorry for his fellow countrymen, seeing their vices as the result of ignorance and poverty, but cannot help them in anything. So, his advice to forgive Katerina and no longer remember her sin is impossible to implement in Kabanikha’s house. This advice is good, it is based on humane considerations, but does not take into account the characters and beliefs of the Kabanovs. Thus, despite all the positive qualities, K. is a contemplative and inactive nature. His wonderful thoughts will never translate into wonderful actions. K. will remain Kalinov’s eccentric, his unique attraction.
F. does not participate in the action and is not directly connected with the plot, but the significance of this image in the play is very significant. Firstly (and this is traditional for Ostrovsky), she is the most important character for characterizing the environment in general and Kabanikha in particular, in general for creating the image of Kalinov. Secondly, her dialogue with Kabanikha is very important for understanding Kabanikha’s attitude to the world, for understanding her inherent tragic feeling of the collapse of her world.
Appearing for the first time on stage immediately after Kuligin’s story about the “cruel morals” of the city of Kalinov and immediately before the appearance of Ka-banikha, mercilessly sawing the children accompanying her, with the words “Blah-a-lepie, dear, blah-a-le-pie!”, F. especially praises the Kabanovs' house for its generosity. In this way, the characterization given to Kabanikha by Kuligin is reinforced (“Prude, sir, he gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family”).
The next time we see F. is already in the Kabanovs’ house. In a conversation with the girl Glasha, she advises to look after the wretched woman, “wouldn’t steal anything,” and hears in response an irritated remark: “Who can figure you out, you’re all slandering each other.” Glasha, who repeatedly expresses a clear understanding of people and circumstances well known to her, innocently believes F.’s stories about countries where people with dog heads are “for infidelity.” This reinforces the impression that Kalinov is a closed world that knows nothing about other lands. This impression is even stronger when F. begins to tell Kabanova about Moscow and the railway. The conversation begins with F.’s assertion that the “end times” are coming. A sign of this is widespread bustle, haste, and the pursuit of speed. F. calls the locomotive a “fiery serpent”, which they began to harness for speed: “others don’t see anything because of the vanity, so it appears to them like a machine, they call it a machine, but I saw how it does something like this with its paws (spreads its fingers) . Well, that’s what people in a good life hear moaning.” Finally, she reports that “the time has begun to come in humiliation” and for our sins “it is becoming shorter and shorter.” Kabanova listens sympathetically to the apocalyptic reasoning of the wanderer, from whose remark that ends the scene it becomes clear that she is aware of the impending death of her world.
The name F. became a common noun to designate a dark hypocrite, under the guise of pious reasoning, spreading all sorts of absurd fables.
We bring to your attention a list of the main characters of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”.
Savel Prokofievich Dick O th – merchant, a significant person in the city. A scolding, shrill man, this is how those who personally know him characterize him. He really doesn't like giving money. Whoever asks him for money, he certainly tries to scold him. He tyrannizes his nephew Boris, and is not going to pay him and his sister money from the inheritance.
Boris Grigorievich, his nephew, a young man, decently educated. He loves Katerina sincerely, with all his soul. But he is not able to decide anything on his own. There is no male initiative or strength in him. Goes with the flow. They sent him to Siberia, and he went, although in principle he could have refused. Boris admitted to Kuligin that he tolerated his uncle’s quirks for the sake of his sister, hoping that he would pay at least something from his grandmother’s will for her dowry.
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova(Kabanikha), a rich merchant's wife, a widow - a tough, even cruel woman. He keeps the whole family under his thumb. He behaves piously in front of the people. Adheres to Domostroevsky customs in a form distorted in its concepts. But he tyrannizes his family for no reason.
Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov, her son is a mama's boy. A quiet, downtrodden little man, unable to decide anything on his own. Tikhon loves his wife, but is afraid to show his feelings for her, so as not to anger his mother again. Living at home with his mother was unbearable for him, and he was glad to leave for 2 weeks. When Katerina repented, he asked for a wife, just not with her mother. He understood that for her sin, her mother would peck not only Katerina, but also him himself. He himself is ready to forgive his wife for this feeling for another. He beat her lightly, but only because his mother ordered him to. And only over the corpse of his wife does the mother reproach that it was she who ruined Katerina.
Katerina - Tikhon's wife. The main character of "Thunderstorm". She received a good, pious upbringing. God-fearing. Even the townspeople noticed that when she prayed, it was as if light emanated from her, she became so peaceful at the moment of prayer. Katerina admitted to Varvara that she secretly loved another man. Varvara arranged a date for Katerina, and for the entire 10 days while Tikhon was away, she met with her lover. Katerina understood that this was a grave sin, and therefore, at the first laziness upon arrival, she repented to her husband. She was pushed to repentance by a thunderstorm, an old half-crazed lady who frightened everyone and everything with fiery hell. She feels sorry for Boris and Tikhon, and blames only herself for everything that happened. At the end of the play, she throws herself into the pool and dies, although suicide is the most serious sin in Christianity.
Varvara – Tikhon's sister. A lively and cunning girl, unlike Tikhon, she does not bend in front of her mother. Her life credo: do whatever you want, as long as it’s safe and covered. Secretly from his mother, he meets with Kudryash at night. She also arranged a date between Katerina and Boris. At the end, when they began to lock her up, she runs away from the house with Kudryash.
Kuligin – tradesman, watchmaker, self-taught mechanic, looking for a perpetuum mobile. It is no coincidence that Ostrovsky gave this hero a surname similar to the famous mechanic - Kulibin.
Vanya Kudryash, - a young man, Dikov’s clerk, Varvara’s friend, a cheerful guy, cheerful, loves to sing.
Minor characters of "The Thunderstorm":
Shapkin, tradesman.
Feklusha, wanderer.
Glasha, the girl in Kabanova’s house, Glasha, hid all of Varvara’s tricks and supported her.
Lady with two footmen, an old woman of 70 years old, half-crazy - scares all the townspeople with the Last Judgment.
City dwellers of both sexes.
The events in A. N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm” take place on the Volga coast, in the fictional city of Kalinov. The work provides a list of characters and their brief characteristics, but they are still not enough to better understand the world of each character and reveal the conflict of the play as a whole. There are not many main characters in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm".
Katerina, a girl, the main character of the play. She is quite young, she was married off early. Katya was brought up exactly according to the traditions of house-building: the main qualities of a wife were respect and obedience to her husband. At first, Katya tried to love Tikhon, but she could not feel anything but pity for him. At the same time, the girl tried to support her husband, help him and not reproach him. Katerina can be called the most modest, but at the same time the most powerful character in “The Thunderstorm”. Indeed, Katya’s strength of character does not appear outwardly. At first glance, this girl is weak and silent, it seems as if she is easy to break. But this is not true at all. Katerina is the only one in the family who resists Kabanikha’s attacks. She resists, and does not ignore them, like Varvara. The conflict is rather internal in nature. After all, Kabanikha is afraid that Katya might influence her son, after which Tikhon will stop obeying his mother’s will.
Katya wants to fly and often compares herself to a bird. She is literally suffocating in Kalinov’s “dark kingdom”. Having fallen in love with a visiting young man, Katya created for herself an ideal image of love and possible liberation. Unfortunately, her ideas had little to do with reality. The girl's life ended tragically.
Ostrovsky in “The Thunderstorm” makes not only Katerina the main character. The image of Katya is contrasted with the image of Marfa Ignatievna. A woman who keeps her entire family in fear and tension does not command respect. Kabanikha is strong and despotic. Most likely, she took over the “reins of power” after the death of her husband. Although it is more likely that in her marriage Kabanikha was not distinguished by submissiveness. Katya, her daughter-in-law, got the most from her. It is Kabanikha who is indirectly responsible for the death of Katerina.
Varvara is the daughter of Kabanikha. Despite the fact that over so many years she has learned to be cunning and lie, the reader still sympathizes with her. Varvara is a good girl. Surprisingly, deception and cunning do not make her like other residents of the city. She does as she pleases and lives as she pleases. Varvara is not afraid of her mother’s anger, since she is not an authority for her.
Tikhon Kabanov fully lives up to his name. He is quiet, weak, unnoticeable. Tikhon cannot protect his wife from his mother, since he himself is under the strong influence of Kabanikha. His rebellion ultimately proves to be the most significant. After all, it is the words, and not Varvara’s escape, that make readers think about the whole tragedy of the situation.
The author characterizes Kuligin as a self-taught mechanic. This character is a kind of tour guide. In the first act, he seems to be taking us around Kalinov, talking about its morals, about the families that live here, about the social situation. Kuligin seems to know everything about everyone. His assessments of others are very accurate. Kuligin himself is a kind person who is used to living by established rules. He constantly dreams of the common good, of a perpetu mobile, of a lightning rod, of honest work. Unfortunately, his dreams are not destined to come true.
The Wild One has a clerk, Kudryash. This character is interesting because he is not afraid of the merchant and can tell him what he thinks about him. At the same time, Kudryash, just like Dikoy, tries to find benefit in everything. He can be described as a simple person.
Boris comes to Kalinov on business: he urgently needs to establish relations with Dikiy, because only in this case will he be able to receive the money legally bequeathed to him. However, neither Boris nor Dikoy even want to see each other. Initially, Boris seems to readers like Katya, honest and fair. In the last scenes this is refuted: Boris is unable to decide to take a serious step, to take responsibility, he simply runs away, leaving Katya alone.
One of the heroes of “The Thunderstorm” is a wanderer and a maid. Feklusha and Glasha are shown as typical inhabitants of the city of Kalinov. Their darkness and lack of education is truly amazing. Their judgments are absurd and their horizons are very narrow. Women judge morality and ethics according to some perverted, distorted concepts. “Moscow is now full of carnivals and games, but through the streets there is an indo roar and groan. Why, Mother Marfa Ignatievna, they started harnessing a fiery serpent: everything, you see, for the sake of speed” - this is how Feklusha speaks about progress and reforms, and the woman calls a car a “fiery serpent”. The concept of progress and culture is alien to such people, because it is convenient for them to live in an invented limited world of calm and regularity.
This article provides a brief description of the characters in the play “The Thunderstorm”; for a deeper understanding, we recommend that you read the thematic articles about each character in “The Thunderstorm” on our website.
Work test
The play “The Thunderstorm” is the most famous creation of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky. Each hero of this work is a unique personality who takes his place in the system of characters. Notable in this regard is the characterization of Tikhon. “The Thunderstorm,” a play whose main conflict is built on the confrontation between the strong and the weak, is interesting for its oppressed heroes, our character being one of them.
The play "The Thunderstorm"
The play was written in 1859. The scene is the fictional city of Kalinov, which stands on the banks of the Volga. The action time is summer, the entire work covers 12 days.
In terms of its genre, “The Thunderstorm” belongs to the social and everyday drama. Ostrovsky paid a lot of attention to describing the everyday life of the city; the characters in the work come into conflict with established orders that have long since become obsolete, and the despotism of the older generation. Of course, the main protest is expressed by Katerina (the main character), but her husband also occupies an important place in the rebellion, which is confirmed by Tikhon’s characterization.
“The Thunderstorm” is a work that talks about human freedom, about the desire to break out of the shackles of outdated dogmas and religious authoritarianism. And all this is depicted against the backdrop of the main character’s failed love.
Image system
The system of images in the play is built on the opposition of tyrants who are accustomed to commanding everyone (Kabanikha, Dikoy), and young people who want to finally gain freedom and live by their own mind. The second camp is headed by Katerina, only she has the courage for open confrontation. However, other young characters also strive to get rid of the yoke of dilapidated and meaningless rules. But there are those who have resigned themselves, and not the least of them is Katerina’s husband (a detailed description of Tikhon is presented below).
“The Thunderstorm” depicts the world of the “dark kingdom”, only the heroes themselves can destroy it or die, like Katerina, misunderstood and rejected. It turns out that the tyrants who seized power and their laws are too strong, and any rebellion against them leads to tragedy.
Tikhon: characteristics
“The Thunderstorm” is a work where there are no strong male characters (with the exception of the Wild One). Thus, Tikhon Kabanov appears only as a weak-willed, weak and intimidated man by his mother, unable to protect the woman he loves. The characterization of Tikhon from the play “The Thunderstorm” shows that this hero is a victim of the “dark kingdom”; he lacks the determination to live by his own mind. Whatever he does and wherever he goes, everything happens according to the will of his mother.
Even as a child, Tikhon was accustomed to following Kabanikha’s orders, and this habit remained in him into adulthood. Moreover, this need to obey is so ingrained that even the thought of disobedience plunges him into horror. This is what he himself says about this: “Yes, Mama, I don’t want to live by my own will.”
The characterization of Tikhon (“The Thunderstorm”) speaks of this character as a person who is ready to endure all the mockery and rudeness of his mother. And the only thing he dares to do is the desire to get out of the house to go on a spree. This is the only freedom and liberation available to him.
Katerina and Tikhon: characteristics
“The Thunderstorm” is a play where one of the main plot lines is love, but how close is it to our hero? Yes, Tikhon loves his wife, but in his own way, not the way Kabanikha would like. He is affectionate with her, does not want to dominate the girl, intimidate her. However, Tikhon does not understand Katerina and her mental suffering at all. His softness has a detrimental effect on the heroine. If Tikhon had been a little more courageous and had at least some will and ability to fight, Katerina would not have needed to look for all this on the side - in Boris.
The characterization of Tikhon from the play “The Thunderstorm” shows him in a completely unattractive light. Despite the fact that he reacted calmly to his wife’s betrayal, he is unable to protect her either from her mother or from other representatives of the “dark kingdom.” He leaves Katerina alone, despite his love for her. The non-intervention of this character was largely the reason for the final tragedy. Only after realizing that he had lost his beloved did Tikhon dare to openly revolt against his mother. He blames her for the death of the girl, no longer fearing her tyranny and power over him.
Images of Tikhon and Boris
A comparative description of Boris and Tikhon (“The Thunderstorm”) allows us to conclude that they are similar in many ways; some literary scholars even call them double heroes. So, what do they have in common, and how are they different?
Not finding the necessary support and understanding from Tikhon, Katerina turns to Boris. What was it about him that attracted the heroine so much? First of all, he differs from other residents of the city: he is educated, graduated from the academy, and dresses in a European manner. But this is only the outside, what's inside? During the course of the story, it turns out that he depends on Dikiy in the same way as Tikhon depends on Kabanikha. Boris is weak-willed and spineless. He says that he is only holding on to his inheritance, without which his sister will become a dowry. But all this seems like an excuse: he endures all his uncle’s humiliations too meekly. Boris sincerely falls in love with Katerina, but he does not care that this love will destroy the married woman. He, like Tikhon, worries only about himself. In words, both of these heroes sympathize with the main character, but they do not have enough fortitude to help her and protect her.
The action of the play "The Thunderstorm" takes place in the fictional town of Kalinov, which is a collective image of all provincial towns of that time.
There are not so many main characters in the play “The Thunderstorm”; each one needs to be discussed separately.
Katerina is a young woman, married without love, “to someone else’s side,” God-fearing and pious. In her parents' home, Katerina grew up in love and care, prayed and enjoyed life. Marriage for her turned out to be a difficult test, which her meek soul resists. But, despite outward timidity and humility, passions boil in Katerina’s soul when she falls in love with someone else’s man.
Tikhon is Katerina’s husband, a kind and gentle man, he loves his wife, feels sorry for her, but, like everyone else at home, he obeys his mother. He does not dare to go against the will of “mama” throughout the play, just as he does not dare to openly tell his wife about his love, since his mother forbids this, so as not to spoil his wife.
Kabanikha is the widow of the landowner Kabanov, mother of Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A despotic woman, in whose power the whole house is, no one dares to take a step without her knowledge, fearing a curse. According to one of the characters in the play, Kudryash, Kabanikha is “a hypocrite, he gives to the poor and eats his family.” It is she who shows Tikhon and Katerina how to build their family life in the best traditions of Domostroy.
Varvara is Tikhon’s sister, an unmarried girl. Unlike his brother, he obeys his mother only for appearances; she herself secretly goes on dates at night, inciting Katerina to do the same. Her principle is that you can sin if no one sees, otherwise you will spend your whole life next to your mother.
Landowner Dikoy is an episodic character, but personifies the image of a “tyrant”, i.e. a person in power who is confident that money gives him the right to do whatever his heart desires.
Boris, Dikiy’s nephew, who came in the hope of getting his share of the inheritance, falls in love with Katerina, but cowardly runs away, abandoning the woman he seduced.
In addition, Kudryash, Dikiy’s clerk, takes part. Kuligin is a self-taught inventor, constantly trying to introduce something new into the life of a sleepy town, but is forced to ask Dikiy for money for inventions. The same, in turn, being a representative of the “fathers”, is confident in the uselessness of Kuligin’s undertakings.
All the names and surnames in the play are “talking”; they tell about the character of their “owners” better than any actions.
She herself vividly shows the confrontation between the “old people” and the “young people”. The first actively resist all kinds of innovations, complaining that young people have forgotten the orders of their ancestors and do not want to live “as they should.” The latter, in turn, are trying to free themselves from the oppression of parental orders, they understand that life moves forward and changes.
But not everyone decides to go against their parents’ will, some for fear of losing their inheritance. Some people are used to obeying their parents in everything.
Against the backdrop of blossoming tyranny and Domostroev’s covenants, the forbidden love of Katerina and Boris blossoms. The young people are drawn to each other, but Katerina is married, and Boris depends on his uncle for everything.
The difficult atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, the pressure of an evil mother-in-law, and the onset of a thunderstorm force Katerina, tormented by remorse for cheating on her husband, to confess everything publicly. Kabanikha is rejoicing - she turned out to be right when she advised Tikhon to keep his wife “strict.” Tikhon is afraid of his mother, but her advice to beat his wife so that she knows is unthinkable for him.
The explanation of Boris and Katerina further aggravates the situation of the unfortunate woman. Now she has to live away from her beloved, with a husband who knows about her betrayal, with his mother, who will now definitely harass her daughter-in-law. Katerina’s fear of God leads her to the idea that there is no point in living anymore, the woman throws herself off a cliff into the river.
Only after losing his beloved woman does Tikhon realize how much she meant to him. Now he will have to live his whole life with the understanding that his callousness and submission to his tyrant mother led to such an ending. The last words of the play are the words of Tikhon, spoken over the body of his dead wife: “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world to live and suffer!”