The composition of the dark kingdom in the play Thunderstorm Ostrovsky. "The Dark Kingdom" in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" The Dark Kingdom in the tragedy of the Ostrov Thunderstorm

The action of the play by N.I. Ostrovsky takes place in the Volga city of Kalinov. The name is fictitious, but this does not mean that such a city does not exist. This is a collective, averaged image. In place of the author's Kalinov could be any Russian city.

The work describes the Russian reality of the beginning and middle of the 19th century. The heavy, oppressive social atmosphere of that time. So the place doesn't matter. The city, as well as the country, is ruled by the rich, tyrants, liars, ignoramuses, embittered by boredom, profiting from the hard work of ordinary people. Ostrovsky continues the dramaturgy of Gogol, Fonvizin and Griboyedov. Since then, little has changed. Empty and cruel people are getting richer, and the common people cannot escape from bondage. All this was dubbed by the author's contemporary and literary critic Dobrolyubov as the "dark kingdom". This definition turned out to be so accurate that it still does not lose its relevance and is used in the literature.

In a broad sense, the "dark kingdom" in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is a figurative description of the socio-political state of Russia at the end of the 18th and until the middle of the 19th century. A thoughtful reader who knows the history of his native state understands well what time it is, what the Russian reality was like at that time. The time when wealthy merchants and powerful landlords dominate. The country is exhausted morally and physically by serfdom and, perhaps, will not recover from it for several more centuries.

The tradesman Kuligin reports that there are cruel customs in the city. And nothing but rudeness and hopeless poor can not be found here. And, as the reader understands, we are talking not only about one city. And never escape from this web. An ordinary person cannot earn more than a piece of "daily bread" with honest work. The poor, who unquestioningly obey the rich tyrants, allow them to humiliate themselves, use, taking it for granted, is also an integral part of the dark kingdom.

Both the philistines and even ordinary peasants understand that “he who has money tries to enslave the poor”, so that by his hellish labor, which is almost unpaid, to make himself even more money, to increase his fortune. After all, people like Savely Prokofievich do not even hide it. The master openly tells the mayor that he has thousands of money out of the money that was not paid to the workers, and he feels good about it. Wild fully justifies his surname. He not only enjoys the hard and gratuitous labor of men, but also mocks them. “He will first break upon us, abuse us in every possible way, as his soul pleases,” but still he will not pay anything. It will also make them guilty. Or he will throw a penny and make you rejoice and thank, because he could not give it.

An equally important element of the dark kingdom is Kabanikha and the stuffy, unpleasant atmosphere in her house. Marfa Ignatyevna is kind and generous for the show, she gives to the poor, and they pray for her. And she completely ate her “homemade”. She likes to bully her own son and his young wife Katerina. She is pleased that her daughter-in-law was afraid of her. Katerina sincerely loves her husband and even her mother-in-law, she calls her mother. She does not know how to pretend and does not strive for this, which her mother-in-law cannot understand at all. This trait in the daughter-in-law causes anger and irritation in the mistress of the house. Very accurately called Dobrolyubov Katerina a ray of light in a dark kingdom. But one beam cannot illuminate large expanses and it perishes, crushed by darkness.

Doyurolyubov writes in his critical article that "the freedom of the individual, faith in love and happiness, the shrine of honest labor, is impossible where human dignity is thrown into dust and brazenly trampled on by tyrants." He also does not remove responsibility from those who allow themselves to be trampled on. The critic believes that the dark world described by Ostrovsky is close to collapse. That the play presents "shakiness and the near end of tyranny." After all, there are already rare rays, such as Katerina, which means that the sun will soon rise over this kingdom.

Option 2

The work "Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky was written on the eve of the abolition of serfdom in 1859. And it became the first sign of a change in the era. In "Thunderstorm" the merchant environment is illuminated, which personifies the "dark kingdom" in the work. Ostrovsky settled in the city of Kalinov a whole range of negative images. On the example of their reader, such characteristics as ignorance, ignorance and adherence to the old foundations are revealed. It can be indicated that all the townspeople are imprisoned in the shackles of the old "house-building". The brightest representatives of the "dark kingdom" are Kabanova and Dikoy, in them the reader can clearly see the ruling class of that time.

Let's take a closer look at the described images of Marfa Kabanova and Dikoy.

Dikoy and Kabanova are the wealthiest merchants in Kalinovo, they are the "supreme" power, with the help of it they believe that they can crush the serfs, but even more so their relatives, deciding that they are right.

Ostrovsky opens the reader to the world of the merchants, with all its vices, realities and true events and many vivid, demonstrative images. Showing that there is nothing human, spiritual, good. There is no faith in a new, better future, love and free labor.

Such qualities as tyranny, ignorance, rudeness, cruelty and greed are always present in these images. Do not eradicate all this, since the upbringing and environment left their mark on the personality of Wild and Kabanova. Such images are attracted to each other, and cannot be without each other, where one ignoramus appeared, there another will appear. It is very convenient to hide your stupidity and ignorance under the guise of progressive thoughts and education, such images can be found everywhere. Considering themselves "the hand of power" they oppress those around them, not worrying about taking responsibility for their deeds. Kabanov and Wild is a world of money, envy, cruelty and malice. They shy away from innovation and progressive thoughts.

Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna is very despotic and hypocritical, in her opinion, family relationships should be subject to fear. She finally seized her brownies and did not take root very firmly in the old foundations both in the house and in her head.

The image of the Wild is very ambiguous and complex. He is experiencing his inner protest, Wild realizes how callous his nature and heart are, but he cannot do anything about it. First he scolds what the world stands on, and then asks for forgiveness and repentance.

The main idea of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is to expose the "dark kingdom", a mean merchant environment, with the help of the images of Dikoy and Kabanova. But they are the only symbolic images, they convey to the reader the thoughts and reasoning of the author. He pointed to the vices of rich people, denouncing them without spirituality, meanness, cruelty. At the end of the play, the idea that life is unbearable and terrible in the "dark kingdom" is very clearly conveyed. Unfortunately, the world of tyrants oppresses a progressive and new person who could overcome ignorance, falsehood and meanness. In Russia at that time, cities and villages were full of such images as the work "Thunderstorm".

The Dark Kingdom in the play by Ostrovsky Thunderstorm

The play "Thunderstorm" was published two years before the introduction of his great reform by Alexander II. The desire for change was growing in society, but so was the fear of it. In nature, a thunderstorm is terrible in appearance and the force beating in it, but beneficial in its consequences. A.N. Ostrovsky wrote in an atmosphere of changes expected by many, bringing to light the "ulcers of society."

He introduces us into the oppressive atmosphere of a merchant environment, a real "house-building". The “dark kingdom” shown by him is in the pre-storm stage, when everything calms down. It seems that even the air for breathing is not enough. This atmosphere is so depressing. The near end of their power over the minds of those around Kabanikh and Dikaya is not yet felt. As long as they are sovereign rulers. The imperious Marfa Kabanova plagues everyone with her meticulousness, reproaches and suspicion. Her ideal is the old ways and customs. Wild - a tyrant, a drunkard and an ignorant person. He is much more primitive than Kabanova, but the power of money and old customs brought him into the circle of the "fathers" of the city. They subjugated almost everyone. The son of Kabanikha Tikhon does not contradict his mother in anything. Resigned to the "spiritual" slavery and nephew Wild Boris. Only sister Tikhon lives as she sees fit. But for this, Varvara imitates submission, deceives and tricks everyone. And so almost everything. Someone is afraid of the power of money, someone is pressure and arrogance, someone is feigned splendor, and someone is afraid just out of habit.

But not everyone reconciled. The despotism of Dikoy and Kabanikh is opposed by Katerina and Kuligin. Katerina is a pure and bright soul. Unable to withstand the unequal struggle, she commits the most terrible sin in the Christian faith - suicide. But this protest against the oppressive atmosphere of life in the city, if not dispelling the clouds completely, then made it possible to break through them a small ray of light and hope. A murmur rises and sprouts of resistance to the “dark kingdom” may sprout. And there is a leader of the resistance. Kuligin is still acting by conviction, trying to show everyone the horror of what is happening. Let's be honest, he doesn't do very well. But he did not break down and continues to fight for the minds, trying to change the mood in society.

I really like the play "Thunderstorm" by the meticulous enumeration of the vices of the author's contemporary society. He deliberately exaggerates and does not allow comic situations, which he is a master at describing. I think that he also does not indicate the ways of solving the problem on purpose. As an experienced person, an "engineer of human souls", as writers will be called in our country in the next century, he knows that logical constructions do not work in real life. The main thing is to show the problem in all its "glory" and convey to people that the absence of its solution will lead to the gradual degradation of society. I believe that this goal A.N. Ostrovsky achieved by writing the play "Thunderstorm".

The life story of Matryona in the poem Who lives well in Rus' (the fate of Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina)

Most of Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Rus'" under the title "Peasant Woman" is dedicated to Russian women. Wanderers looking for a happy man among men, in this part of the work they decided to turn to a woman

Analysis of Bunin's story Dark alleys Grade 9

In one of Ogarev's poems, Bunin was "hooked" by the phrase "... there was an alley of dark lindens ..." Further, the imagination painted autumn, rain, a road, and an old campaigner in a tarantass. This formed the basis of the story.

My dad's name is Arkady. He works at a bakery as a driver. Every morning he delivers hot bread and buns to the shops.

"The Dark Kingdom" in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"

It has gone to the extreme, to the denial of all common sense; more than ever, it is hostile to the natural requirements of mankind and, more fiercely than before, is trying to stop their development, because in their triumph it sees the approach of its inevitable death.

N. A. Dobrolyubov

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky for the first time in Russian literature deeply and realistically portrayed the world of the “dark kingdom”, painted colorful images of petty tyrants, their way of life and customs. He dared to look behind the iron merchant gates, was not afraid to openly show the conservative strength of "inertness", "numbness". Analyzing Ostrovsky’s “plays of life”, Dobrolyubov wrote: “There is nothing holy, nothing pure, nothing right in this dark world: the tyranny that dominates him, wild, crazy, wrong, drove out of him any consciousness of honor and right ... And it cannot be them where human dignity, freedom of the individual, faith in love and happiness, and the sacredness of honest labor have been crushed to dust and brazenly trampled on by tyrants.” And yet, many of Ostrovsky's plays depict "shakiness and the near end of tyranny."

The dramatic conflict in The Thunderstorm consists in the clash between the moribund morality of tyrants and the new morality of people in whose souls a sense of human dignity is awakening. In the play, the very background of life, the setting itself, is important. The world of the "dark kingdom" is based on fear and monetary calculation. The self-taught watchmaker Kuligin says to Boris: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! Whoever has money, he tries to enslave the poor, so that he can make even more money on his free labors. Direct monetary dependence forces Boris to be respectful with the "scold" Wild. Tikhon is resignedly obedient to his mother, although in the finale of the play even he rises to a kind of rebellion. The clerk Wild Curly and Tikhon's sister Varvara are cunning and dodging. The penetrating heart of Katerina feels the falsity and inhumanity of the surrounding life. “Yes, everything here seems to be from bondage,” she thinks.

The images of petty tyrants in The Thunderstorm are artistically authentic, complex, devoid of psychological unambiguity. Wild - a wealthy merchant, a significant person in the city of Kalinov. At first glance, nothing threatens his power. Savel Prokofievich, according to Kudryash’s apt definition, “as if he had broken loose”: he feels himself the master of life, the arbiter of the destinies of people subject to him. Doesn't Diky's attitude towards Boris speak of this? The people around are afraid to anger Savel Prokofievich with something, his wife trembles before him.

Wild feels on his side the power of money, the support of state power. In vain are the requests to restore justice, with which the “peasants” deceived by the merchant turn to the mayor. Savel Prokofievich patted the mayor on the shoulder and said: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you!”

At the same time, as already mentioned, the image of the Wild is rather complicated. The tough disposition of the “significant person in the city” does not come up against some kind of external protest, not against the manifestation of discontent of others, but against internal self-condemnation. Savel Prokofievich himself is not happy with his "heart": He came for the money, he carried firewood ... He sinned: he scolded, so scolded that it was impossible to demand better, he almost nailed him. That's what my heart is! After forgiveness, he asked, bowed at his feet. This is what my heart brings me to: here in the yard, in the mud, I bowed; bowed to him in front of everyone.” This recognition of Dikoy contains a meaning that is terrible for the foundations of the “dark kingdom”: tyranny is so unnatural and inhuman that it outlives itself, loses any moral justification for its existence.

The rich merchant Kabanova can also be called a “tyrant in a skirt”. An exact description of Marfa Ignatievna was put into the mouth of Kuligin: “A hypocrite, sir! She feeds the poor, but eats the household completely.” In a conversation with his son and daughter-in-law, Kabanikha hypocritically sighs: “Oh, a grave sin! How long to sin!”

Behind this feigned exclamation lies an imperious, despotic character. Marfa Ignatievna actively defends the foundations of the "dark kingdom", trying to subdue Tikhon and Katerina. Relations between people in the family should, according to Kabanova, be regulated by the law of fear, the Domostroy principle “let the wife of her husband be afraid.” Marfa Ignatievna's desire to follow the old traditions in everything is manifested in the scene of Tikhon's farewell to Katerina.

The position of the hostess in the house cannot completely reassure the Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna is frightened by the fact that young people want to, that the traditions of hoary antiquity are not respected. “What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will stand, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything, ”Kabanikha sighs. In this case, her fear is quite sincere, not designed for any external effect (Marfa Ignatievna pronounces her words alone).

An essential role in Ostrovsky's play is played by the image of the wanderer Feklusha. At first glance, we have a minor character. In fact, Feklusha is not directly involved in the action, but she is a myth-maker and defender of the “dark kingdom”. Let us listen to the pilgrim's reasoning about the “Persian Saltan” and “Turkish Saltan”: “And they cannot ... judge a single case righteously, such a limit has been set for them. We have a righteous law, and they ... unjust; that according to our law it turns out that way, but according to theirs everything is the other way around. And all their judges, in their countries, are also all unrighteous...” The main meaning of the above words is that “we have a righteous law ..:”.

Feklusha, anticipating the death of the “dark kingdom”, shares with Kabanikha: “The last times, mother Marfa Ignatievna, by all signs, are the last.” The wanderer sees an ominous sign of the end in the speeding up of the passage of time: “Already, time has already begun to diminish ... smart people notice that our time is also getting shorter.” And indeed, time is working against the “dark kingdom”.

Ostrovsky comes in the play to large-scale artistic generalizations, creates almost symbolic images (thunderstorm). Noteworthy is the remark at the beginning of the fourth act of the play: “In the foreground is a narrow gallery with the vaults of an old building that is beginning to collapse...” It is in this decaying, dilapidated world that Katerina’s sacrificial confession sounds from its very depths. The fate of the heroine is so tragic, primarily because she rebelled against her own Domostroy ideas of good and evil. The finale of the play tells us that living “in a dark kingdom is worse than death” (Dobrolyubov). “This end seems to us gratifying ... - we read in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”, - ... it gives a terrible challenge to the self-righteous force, he tells her that it is no longer possible to go further, it is impossible to live longer with her violent, deadly beginnings." The irresistibility of the awakening of man in man, the rehabilitation of a living human feeling that replaces false asceticism, constitute, it seems to me, the enduring merit of Ostrovsky's play. And today it helps to overcome the force of inertia, numbness, social stagnation.

"The Thunderstorm" was published in 1859 (on the eve of the revolutionary situation in Russia, in the "pre-storm" era). Its historicism lies in the conflict itself, the irreconcilable contradictions reflected in the play. She responds to the spirit of the times.

"Thunderstorm" is an idyll of the "dark kingdom". Tyranny and silence are brought in it to the limit. In the play, a real heroine from the people's environment appears, and it is the description of her character that is given the main attention, and the little world of the city of Kalinov and the conflict itself are described more generally.

“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 up, the face of the earth will change... - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinov 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... they find it embarrassing and even the daring to persistently seek reasonable grounds ... The information reported by the Feklushs is such that they are not able to inspire a great desire to exchange their lives for another ... A dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity " .

Terrible and hard for everyone is an attempt to go against the requirements and convictions of this dark mass. The absence of any law, any logic - that is the law and logic of this life. In their indisputable, irresponsible dark dominion, giving complete freedom to whims, not putting any laws and logic into anything, the “tyrants” of life begin to feel some kind of discontent and fear, without knowing what and why. They are fiercely looking for their enemy, ready to attack the most innocent, some Kuligin: but there is neither an enemy nor a guilty person who could be destroyed: the law of time, the law of nature and history takes its toll, and the old boars breathe heavily, feeling that there is a power above them, which they cannot overcome ... They do not want to give in, they only care about how it would become in their lifetime ...

Kabanova is very seriously upset by the future of the old order, with which she has outlived a century, talking about the collapse of the established world: “And it will be worse than this, dear,” and in response to the words of the wanderer: “We just don’t live to see it.” The boar throws weightily: "Maybe we'll live." She only consoles herself with the fact that somehow with her help the old order will stand until her death.

The Kabanovs and the wild ones are busy now only to continue the former. They know that their self-will will still have plenty of scope as long as everyone will be shy before them; that's why they are so stubborn.

The image of Katerina is the most important discovery of Ostrovsky - the discovery of a strong folk character born by the patriarchal world with an awakening sense of personality. The relationship between Katerina and Kabanikha in the play is not an everyday feud between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, their fates expressed the clash of two historical eras, which determines the tragic nature of the conflict. In the soul of a completely “Kalinovskaya” woman in terms of upbringing and moral ideas, a new attitude to the world is born, a feeling that is not yet clear to the heroine herself: “Something bad is happening to me, some kind of miracle! I’m just starting to live again, or I don’t know.” Katerina perceives awakened love as a terrible, indelible sin, because love for a stranger for her, a married woman, is a violation of moral duty. With all her heart she wants 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 does not find support in this struggle: “it’s as if I’m standing over an abyss and someone is pushing me there, but there’s nothing for me to hold on to.” Not only external forms of household chores, but even prayer becomes inaccessible to her, as she felt the power of sinful passion over herself. She feels fear of herself, of the desire for will that has grown in her, inseparably merged in her mind with love: “Of course, God forbid this should happen! And if it gets too cold for me here, they won't hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, I'll throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, so I won’t, even if you cut me!”

The consciousness of sin does not leave her at the moment of intoxication with happiness and takes possession of her with great force when happiness is over. Katerina repents publicly without hope of forgiveness, and it is the complete absence of hope that pushes her to commit suicide, a sin even more serious: “I still ruined my soul.” The complete impossibility of reconciling one's love with the demands of conscience and the physical aversion to home prison, to captivity, kill Katerina.

Katerina is not a victim of anyone personally from those around her, 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 form of worldly ties, and passes a moral judgment on itself, because the patriarchal ideal lives in it.

Whole, honest, sincere, she is not capable of lies and falsehood, therefore, in a cruel world where wild and wild boars reign, her life is so tragic. Katerina's protest against the despotism of Kabanikha is the struggle of the bright, pure, human against the darkness, lies and cruelty of the "dark kingdom". No wonder Ostrovsky, who paid great attention to the selection of names and surnames of the characters, gave such a name to the heroine of "Thunderstorm": in Greek, "Catherine" means "eternally pure." Katerina is a poetic nature. IN […]
Katerina Varvara Character Sincere, sociable, kind, honest, pious, but superstitious. Gentle, soft, at the same time, decisive. Rude, cheerful, but taciturn: "... I don't like to talk a lot." Determined, can fight back. Temperament Passionate, freedom-loving, bold, impetuous and unpredictable. She says about herself “I was born so hot!”. Freedom-loving, smart, prudent, bold and rebellious, she is not afraid of either parental or heavenly punishment. Upbringing, […]
A conflict is a clash of two or more parties that do not coincide in their views, attitudes. There are several conflicts in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", but how to decide which one is the main one? In the era of sociologism in literary criticism, it was believed that social conflict was the most important thing in a play. Of course, if we see in the image of Katerina a reflection of the spontaneous protest of the masses against the shackling conditions of the “dark kingdom” and perceive the death of Katerina as the result of her collision with the tyrant mother-in-law, […]
Dramatic events of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" are deployed in the city of Kalinov. This town is located on the picturesque bank of the Volga, from the high steepness of which the vast Russian expanses and boundless distances open up to the eye. “The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices, ”the local self-taught mechanic Kuligin admires. Pictures of endless distances, echoed in a lyrical song. In the midst of a flat valley”, which he sings, are of great importance for conveying a sense of the immense possibilities of Russian […]
In general, the history of the creation and the idea of the play “Thunderstorm” are very interesting. For some time there was an assumption that this work was based on real events that took place in the Russian city of Kostroma in 1859. “In the early morning of November 10, 1859, the Kostroma bourgeois Alexandra Pavlovna Klykova disappeared from the house and either threw herself into the Volga, or was strangled and thrown there. The investigation revealed a dull drama that played out in an unsociable family living with narrowly trading interests: […]
In the drama "Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky created a very psychologically complex image - the image of Katerina Kabanova. This young woman disposes the viewer with her huge, pure soul, childish sincerity and kindness. But she lives in the musty atmosphere of the "dark kingdom" of merchant morals. Ostrovsky managed to create a bright and poetic image of a Russian woman from the people. The main storyline of the play is a tragic conflict between the living, feeling soul of Katerina and the dead way of life of the “dark kingdom”. Honest and […]
Alexander Nikolayevich 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 subject matter, glorified Russian literature. Creativity Ostrovsky had a democratic character. He created plays in which hatred for the autocratic-feudal 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 enlightened […]
In The Thunderstorm, Ostrovsky shows the life of a Russian merchant family and the position of a woman in it. The character of Katerina was formed in a simple merchant family, where love reigned and her daughter was given complete freedom. She acquired and retained all the beautiful features of the Russian character. This is a pure, open soul that does not know how to lie. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” she says to Varvara. In religion Katerina found the highest truth and beauty. Her desire for the beautiful, the good, was expressed in prayers. Coming out […]
In "Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky, operating with a small number of characters, managed to uncover several problems at once. Firstly, it is, of course, a social conflict, a clash of "fathers" and "children", their points of view (and if we resort to generalization, then two historical epochs). Kabanova and Dikoy belong to the older generation, actively expressing their opinion, and Katerina, Tikhon, Varvara, Kudryash and Boris belong to the younger one. Kabanova is sure that order in the house, control over everything that happens in it, is the key to a good life. Correct […]
Katerina is the main character in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm", Tikhon's wife, daughter-in-law of Kabanikhi. The main idea of the work is the conflict of this girl with the "dark kingdom", the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. You can find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic by understanding Katerina's ideas about life. The author showed the origins of the character of the heroine. From the words of Katerina, we learn about her childhood and adolescence. Here is an ideal version of patriarchal relations and the patriarchal world in general: “I lived, not about […]
The play by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" is historical for us, as it shows the life of the bourgeoisie. "Thunderstorm" was written in 1859. It is the only work of the cycle "Nights on the Volga" conceived, but not realized by the writer. The main theme of the work is a description of the conflict that arose between two generations. The Kabanihi family is typical. The merchants cling to their old ways, not wanting to understand the younger generation. And because the young do not want to follow the traditions, they are suppressed. I'm sure, […]
Let's start with Catherine. In the play "Thunderstorm" this lady is the main character. What is the problem with this work? The issue is the main question that the author asks in his creation. So the question here is who will win? The dark kingdom, which is represented by the bureaucrats of the county town, or the bright beginning, which is represented by our heroine. Katerina is pure in soul, she has a tender, sensitive, loving heart. The heroine herself is deeply hostile to this dark swamp, but is not fully aware of it. Katerina was born […]
The Thunderstorm by A. N. Ostrovsky made a strong and deep impression on his contemporaries. Many critics were inspired by this work. However, in our time it has not ceased to be interesting and topical. Raised to the category of classical drama, it still arouses interest. The arbitrariness of the "older" generation lasts for many years, but some event must occur that could break the patriarchal tyranny. Such an event is the protest and death of Katerina, which awakened other […]
The critical history of "Thunderstorm" begins even before its appearance. To argue about "a ray of light in the dark realm", it was necessary to open the "Dark Realm". An article under this title appeared in the July and September issues of Sovremennik in 1859. It was signed by the usual pseudonym of N. A. Dobrolyubova - N. - bov. The reason for this work was extremely significant. In 1859, Ostrovsky summed up the intermediate result of his literary activity: his two-volume collected works appeared. "We consider it the most [...]
A special hero in the world of Ostrovsky, adjoining the type of a poor official with a sense of his own dignity, is Karandyshev Julius Kapitonovich. At the same time, pride in him is so hypertrophied that it becomes a substitute for other feelings. Larisa for him is not just a beloved girl, she is also a “prize” that makes it possible to triumph over Paratov, a chic and rich rival. At the same time, Karandyshev feels like a benefactor, taking as his wife a dowry, partly compromised by […]
Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky was called the "Columbus of Zamoskvorechye", a district of Moscow where people from the merchant class lived. He showed what a tense, dramatic life goes on behind high fences, what Shakespearean passions sometimes seethe in the souls of representatives of the so-called "simple class" - merchants, shopkeepers, petty employees. The patriarchal laws of the world that is fading into the past seem unshakable, but a warm heart lives according to its own laws - the laws of love and kindness. Heroes of the play "Poverty is not a vice" […]
The love story of the clerk Mitya and Lyuba Tortsova unfolds against the backdrop of the life of a merchant's house. Ostrovsky once again delighted his fans with his remarkable knowledge of the world and surprisingly vivid language. Unlike earlier plays, in this comedy there is not only the soulless factory owner Korshunov and Gordey Tortsov, who boasts of his wealth and power. They are opposed by simple and sincere people, kind and loving Mitya, and the squandered drunkard Lyubim Tortsov, who, despite his fall, […]
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Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" caused a strong reaction in the field of literary critics and critics. A. Grigoriev, D. Pisarev, F. Dostoevsky devoted their articles to this work. N. Dobrolyubov, some time after the publication of The Thunderstorm, wrote the article "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom." Being 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 having 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 detrimental effect of passion on a person’s life, which is why 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 "dark kingdom" in the play "Thunderstorm".

If we trace how the merchant class and the social strata adjacent to it were displayed for decades, then a complete picture of degradation and decline emerges. In "Undergrowth" the Prostakovs are shown as narrow-minded people, in "Woe from Wit" the Famusovs are frozen statues who refuse to live honestly. All these images are the forerunners of Kabanikhi and Diky. It is on these two characters that the "dark kingdom" in the drama "Thunderstorm" rests.

The author acquaints us with the manners and orders of the city from the first lines of the play: "Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel!" In one of the dialogues between the residents, the topic of violence is raised: “Whoever has money, sir, he tries to enslave the poor ... And among themselves - then, sir, how they live! ... They are at enmity with each other.” No matter how much people hide what is happening inside 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 own household and tyrannize the family." Behind the locks - debauchery and drunkenness. Kabanov goes to drink with Dikoy, Dikoy appears drunk in almost all scenes, Kabanikha is also not averse to 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 thoroughly saturated with lies and scams. Power over the "dark kingdom" belongs to tyrants and deceivers. Residents are so accustomed to dispassionately kowtowing to richer people that this lifestyle is the norm for them. They often come to Wild to ask for money, while knowing that he will humiliate them, but will not give the required amount. Most of the negative emotions in the merchant are caused by his own nephew. Not even because Boris is flattering Dikoy in order to get money, but because Dikoy himself does not want to part with the inheritance he has received. His main features are rudeness and greed. Dikoy believes that since he has a large amount of money, it means that others should obey him, fear him and at the same time respect him.

Kabanikha stands up for the preservation of the patriarchal system. She is a true tyrant, able to drive anyone she doesn't like crazy. Marfa Ignatievna, hiding behind the fact that she respects 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, the daughter does not care about the opinion of Kabanikha, lies to her, and at the end of the play simply runs away with Kudryash. Katherine got it the most. The mother-in-law openly hated her daughter-in-law, controlled her every action, was dissatisfied with any little things. The scene of farewell to Tikhon seems to be the most revealing. The boar was offended by the fact that Katya hugged her husband goodbye. After all, she is a woman, which means that she must always be lower than a man. The destiny of a wife is to throw herself at her husband's feet and sob, praying for a speedy 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 realm", which is also very symbolic. First, Katya is different from the inhabitants of the city. Although she was brought up according to the old laws, the preservation of which Kabanikha often speaks, she has a different idea of life. 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 the "Thunderstorm" it is impossible to find inner peace. People constantly walk in fear, drink, lie, cheat on each other, trying to hide the ugly side of life. In such an atmosphere it is impossible to be honest with others, honest to yourself. Secondly, one beam is not enough to illuminate the "kingdom". Light, according to the laws of physics, must be reflected from any surface. It is also known that black has the ability to absorb other colors. Similar laws apply to the situation with the main character of the play. Katerina does not see in others what is in her. Neither the inhabitants 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 receiving an inheritance. He is also bound by a chain of deceit and lies, as Boris supports Varvara's idea to deceive Tikhon in order to maintain a secret relationship with Katya. Let's 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 Katerina, forcing her to take on one of the worst sins from the point of view of Christianity - suicide. The Dark Realm 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 moves the action to a fictional city. The author wanted to show the typicality of the situation: such a situation was typical of all Russian cities. But only Russia?

Are the conclusions so disappointing? The power of tyrants gradually begins to weaken. This is felt by Kabanikh and Dikoy. They feel that soon other people will take their place, new ones. Like 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 finale of the play should be viewed in a positive light. “We are pleased to see the deliverance of Katerina - even through death, if it is impossible otherwise. Living in a "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 the entire order of the city. “The play ends with this exclamation, and it seems to us that nothing could be invented stronger 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 students in grade 10 when writing an essay on the topic “The Dark Kingdom in the play “Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky”.

Artwork test

The dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is an allegorical statement familiar to everyone from the light hand of his contemporary, the literary critic Dobrolyubov. This is how Nikolai Ivanovich considered it necessary to characterize the difficult social and moral atmosphere in the cities of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

Ostrovsky - a fine connoisseur of Russian life

Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky made a bright breakthrough in Russian drama, for which he received a worthy article-review. He continued the traditions of the Russian national theater, laid down by Fonvizin, Gogol, Griboyedov. In particular, Nikolai Dobrolyubov highly appreciated the playwright's deep knowledge and truthful portrayal of the specifics of Russian life. The Volga city of Kalinov, shown in the play, has become a kind of model for the whole of Russia.

The deep meaning of the allegory "dark kingdom"

The dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is a clear and capacious allegory created by the critic Dobrolyubov, which is based on both a broad socio-economic explanation and a narrower one - a literary one. The latter is formulated in relation to the provincial town of Kalinov, in which Ostrovsky depicted an average (as they say now - average) Russian town of the late 18th century.

The broad meaning of the concept of "dark kingdom"

First, let us characterize the broad meaning of this concept: the dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is a figurative characteristic of the socio-political state of Russia at a certain stage of its development.

After all, a thoughtful reader who is interested in history has a clear idea of what kind of Russia (the end of the 18th century) he is talking about. The huge country, a fragment of which was shown by the playwright in the play, lived in the old fashioned way, at a time when industrialization was dynamically taking place in European countries. The people were socially paralyzed (which was abolished in 1861). Strategic railroads were not built yet. The people in their mass were illiterate, uneducated, superstitious. In fact, the state did little social policy.

Everything in the provincial Kalinov, as it were, is "boiled in its own juice." That is, people are not involved in large projects - production, construction. Their judgments betray complete incompetence in the simplest concepts: for example, in the electrical origin of lightning.

The dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" is a society devoid of a development vector. The class of the industrial bourgeoisie and the proletariat has not yet taken shape ... The financial flows of society have not been formed insufficient for global socio-economic transformations.

The dark kingdom of the city of Kalinov

In a narrow sense, the dark kingdom in the play "Thunderstorm" is a way of life inherent in the bourgeoisie and the merchant class. According to the description given by Ostrovsky, this community is absolutely dominated by wealthy and arrogant merchants. They constantly carry out psychological pressure on others, not paying attention to their interests. There is no government for these ghouls who "eat with food." For these petty tyrants, money is equivalent to social status, and human and Christian morality is not a decree in their actions. They practically do whatever they please. In particular, realistic, artistically completed images - the merchant Savel Prokopevich Dikoy and the merchant's wife Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova - initiate the "dark kingdom" in the play "Thunderstorm". What are these characters? Let's consider them more closely.

The image of the merchant Saveliy Prokofich Wild

Merchant Dikoy is the richest man in Kalinov. However, the consistency in it does not border on the breadth of the soul and hospitality, but on the "cool disposition". And he understands his wolf nature, and wants to somehow change. “About fasting somehow, about a great one, I spoke ...” Yes, tyranny is his second nature. When a “man” comes to him with a request to borrow money, Dikoy rudely humiliates him, moreover, it almost comes to beating the unfortunate man.

Moreover, this psychotype of behavior is always characteristic of him. (“What can I do, my heart is like that!”) That is, he builds his relationships with others on the basis of fear and his dominance. This is his usual pattern of behavior towards people with inferior

This man was not always rich. However, he came to solvency through a primitive, aggressive, established social model of behavior. Relations with others and relatives (in particular, with his nephew), he builds on only one principle: to humiliate them, formally - to deprive them of social rights, and then use them himself. However, having felt a psychological rebuff from a person with equal status (for example, from the widow of a merchant Kabanikhi), he begins to treat him more respectfully, without humiliating him. This is a primitive, two-way scheme of behavior.

Behind rudeness and suspicion (“So you know that you are a worm!”) Greed and self-interest are hidden. For example, in the case of a nephew, he actually disinherits him. Savel Prokofich harbors hatred in his soul for everything around him. His credo is to reflexively crush everyone, crush everyone, clearing the living space for himself. If we lived at this time, such an idiot (excuse the frankness) could well, just in the middle of the street, beat us for nothing, just so that we crossed to the other side of the street, clearing the way for him! But such an image was familiar to serf Russia! Not for nothing, after all, Dobrolyubov called the dark kingdom in the play "Thunderstorm" a sensitive and truthful reflection of Russian reality!

The image of the merchant's wife Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova

The second type of Kalinov's wild morals is the rich merchant widow Kabanikh. Her social model of behavior is not as primitive as that of the merchant Wild. (For some reason, an analogy comes to mind regarding this model: “The poor eyesight of a rhinoceros is a problem of those around it, not the rhinoceros itself!) Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, unlike the merchant Diky, builds her social status gradually. Humiliation is also a tool, but of a completely different kind. She mainly affects members of her family: son Tikhon, daughter Varvara, daughter-in-law Katerina. She puts both her material and moral superiority at the basis of her dominance over others.

Hypocrisy - that's her key to The merchant's wife - a double morality. Formally and outwardly following the Christian cult, it is far from the real merciful Christian consciousness. On the contrary, she interprets her status of churching as a kind of deal with God, believing that she has been given the right not only to teach everyone around her about everything, but also to indicate how they should act.

She does this all the time, completely destroying her son Tikhon as a person, and pushing her daughter-in-law Katerina to commit suicide.

If the merchant Wild, having met on the street, can be bypassed, then the situation is quite different with regard to Kabanikha. So to speak, she continuously, constantly, and not episodically, like Dikoy, "generates" the dark kingdom in the play "Thunderstorm". Quotes from the work characterizing Kabanikha testify: she zombies her loved ones, demanding that Katerina bow to her husband when he enters the house, suggesting that “you can’t argue with mother”, that the husband gives strict orders to his wife, and on occasion beat her ...

Weak attempts to resist tyrants

What opposes the community of the city of Kalinov to the expansion of the two aforementioned tyrants? Yes, practically nothing. They live in a comfortable society for themselves. As Pushkin wrote in "Boris Godunov": "The people are silent ...". Someone who is educated tries to timidly express his opinion, like engineer Kuligin. Someone, like Barbara, crippled himself morally, living a double life: assenting to tyrants and doing what she pleases. And someone is waiting for an internal and tragic protest (like Katerina).

Conclusion

Does the word "tyranny" occur in our everyday life? We hope that for the majority of our readers - much less often than for the inhabitants of the fortress town of Kalinov. Accept sympathy if your boss or someone from the family circle is a tyrant. Nowadays, this phenomenon does not immediately spread to the entire city. However, it does exist in places. And you need to find a way out of it...

Let's return to Ostrovsky's play. Representatives create a "dark kingdom" in the play "Thunderstorm". Their common features are the presence of capital and the desire to dominate society. However, it does not rely on spirituality, creativity, or enlightenment. Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to isolate the tyrant, depriving him of the opportunity to lead, as well as depriving him of communication (boycott). A tyrant is strong as long as he feels the indispensability of his beloved and the demand for his capital.

You should just deprive him of such "happiness". In Kalinov, it was not possible to do this. It's real these days.