Why can only Katerina be called a ray of light? Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom (Option: Theme of conscience in Russian literature)

Definition of the image of the heroine of A. N. Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm” by Katerina Kabanova as “a ray of light in dark kingdom"belongs to N. A. Dobrolyubov and was given by him in critical article dedicated to the analysis of drama. Why does Dobrolyubov call the heroine that? According to the critic, Katerina is a “Russian strong character”, striking “with her opposite to all tyrant principles.” From the point of view of those around her, she is “strange, extravagant, “sophisticated” of some kind, because “she simply cannot accept their views and inclinations.” She is truthful: she does not know how to do anything and does not consider it necessary to hide, she cannot tolerate “vain lies”, boldly objecting to her mother-in-law. She does not accept the double standard of behavior: “whether in front of people or without people, I’m all alone, I don’t prove anything of myself.” She is determined and proud, since childhood she has not tolerated resentment, and therefore, if she does not want to live in her husband’s house, “if I feel very disgusted here, they will not hold me back by any force,” “...even if you cut me!” Dobrolyubov sees in this a desire for freedom, for spiritual emancipation - hence the image of a bird in captivity, dreaming of freedom: “Why don’t people fly?” But her natural aspirations and actions are so contrary to the rules environment that come into irreconcilable conflict with them. Considering the role and place of women in society, N.A. Dobrolyubov says that she is the weakest, most oppressed member of society, and rightly believes that the strongest protest is born precisely in the breasts of the most oppressed. This is exactly how he views the events that led to Katerina’s suicide. She married Tikhon at the behest of her parents and sincerely tries to love her husband. But he is so weak, so insignificant that he is simply unworthy of Katerina’s love. He rudely insults her feelings, repeating his mother’s instructions to Katerina before his departure. She asks to take her with her, but hears an irritated: “... you’re still forcing yourself on me.” She, of course, is offended: “How can I love you when you say such words?” And her request to Tikhon to take a “terrible oath” from her is the heroine’s last attempt to remain faithful to her husband in her thoughts and feelings, and not to succumb to the need for love that she experiences. Melancholy and monotony family life, the constant nagging of her mother-in-law, humiliation, the desire for “will” and freedom of her feelings and thoughts - that’s all what pushed her to have a “forbidden” feeling for a strange man. Love for Boris arose “in the wilderness”: he seems so polite, sensitive, and understanding. And the struggle taking place in the heroine’s soul (in the scene with the key) is indicative - from resistance to sin to the fact that she internally justifies it and dreams of happiness. The worst thing for Katerina is the judgment of her own conscience, because she is deeply religious, and the consciousness of sin poisons the happiness of her forbidden love. That is why Katerina is so afraid of thunderstorms: she is afraid to appear before the court of God with all her sinful thoughts, without repenting in confession. The pangs of conscience, combined with the inability to lie, emotionality, sensitivity to all external manifestations of condemnation of what is happening in her soul - all this leads the exalted woman to public repentance in the old chapel. After such a disgrace, her life in the Kabanov family becomes even harder: Marfa Ignatievna tyrannizes her with great zeal, having received confirmation of her views: “Here, son, where the will leads!” When saying goodbye to Boris, Katerina becomes convinced that he is no help to her in anything: he will not take her with him, will not protect her - he is too weak. Dobrolyubov regards Katerina’s further mental struggle and her desperate decision to commit suicide as a protest against the tyrant principles that kill living soul. “In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality - a protest carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself. She doesn’t want to put up with it, doesn’t want to take advantage of the miserable vegetation that is given to her in exchange for her living soul. “The end of the drama seems “pleasant” to Dobrolyubov precisely because a heroine has appeared who is capable of protest, of “revolting against the oppression and tyranny of her elders.” The critic shows such liberation as “sad” and “bitter,” but it is the best thing the heroine finds in such a life, “where the living envy the dead.” The critic D.I. Pisarev did not agree with the point of view of N.A. Dobrolyubov, who considered her suicide one of those “internal contradictions” that are characteristic of her unbalanced, exalted nature. He believes that “a ray of light in the “tempo kingdom” can be called a completely different character - reasonable,
developed, carrying some “luminous ideas” into the “dark kingdom”. Katerina, according to D.I. Pisarev, cannot be such a “bright phenomenon”: despite her passion, tenderness, and sincerity, she commits a lot of “absurdities” and, unexpectedly for herself, decides to commit suicide. Such illogicality in actions, such throwing from one extreme to another is not approved by the critic. But one can hardly agree that “Dobrolyubov was mistaken in his assessment of a woman’s character,” rather, Pisarev himself is mistaken: he does not take into account the emotionality of the heroine, her irrational, femininely sensitive attitude to life, acute reaction to insults and humiliation. Most likely, Pisarev doesn’t know characteristic features female character - the life of feelings, the life of the soul. Therefore, Katerina’s suicide can be explained by her despair, but we cannot forget what the heroine said about her character: “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!”

Therefore, N.A. Dobrolyubov’s point of view seems more justified: Katerina’s suicide can be viewed precisely as a protest, as a “terrible challenge to tyrant power,” and therefore Katerina herself, of course, is “a ray of light in the “dark kingdom,” visual evidence of the imminent collapse old world.

The drama by A. N. Ostovsky “The Thunderstorm” carries a deep social meaning. It is not even about a private story that happened in a provincial town.

“The Thunderstorm” is read as a tragedy of social relations and as a tragedy of a Russian woman in the “dark kingdom.” In this very “dark kingdom” a bright, light personality, capable of protest, arises. She, that is, the main character of the drama Katerina, does not want to bend under the pressure of patriarchal despotism and openly declares protest.

It so happened that everything in life turned against Katerina. She, a proud, strong-willed woman, was given in marriage to the weak and weak-willed Tikhon, who unquestioningly obeyed his oppressive mother.

Katerina’s spiritual, dreamy, bright nature was captured by hypocrisy, cruel laws, and lies. In addition, she had the misfortune of falling in love with the self-sufficient and wingless Boris. Boris's inner world is completely unfamiliar to Katerina, and in her dreams she endowed him with all sorts of virtues, but in reality Boris has neither clear moral principles, nor life guidelines, nor self-esteem. The relationship with Katerina did not elevate him, did not inspire him.

Katerina loves strongly, deeply, selflessly. Love causes her a huge emotional upsurge, and a desire arises to become a bird and fly, spreading her wings wide.

The heroine feels very lonely in Kalinov. She loves children, but is deprived of the joy of motherhood. Remembering her childhood, she waxes poetic about the times when she lived in parental home. The nature of her childhood memories testifies to Katerina’s spirituality and her sensitivity to beauty. Even in her dreams she sees extraordinary beauty: “Either golden temples, or some extraordinary gardens... Otherwise, it’s as if I’m flying, and I’m flying through the air.”

Katerina is freedom-loving, but constantly experiences domestic oppression and endless unfair reproaches. Kabanova never deviates from her postulates, and freedom-loving, with a developed sense of self-esteem, Katerina does not allow herself to be mocked. She rightly objects to Kabanova, and at the same time adheres to her own internal culture, realizes that she is right: “For me, mamma, it’s all the same, like my own mother, like you, and Tikhon loves you too”; “You are in vain saying this about me, Mama. Whether in front of people or without people, I’m still alone, I don’t prove anything of myself”; “Who enjoys tolerating falsehoods?”

Here is an excellent essay based on the work “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky. This is an essay on the topic “Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

Essay text

In the play “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky posed one of the most pressing issues of his time - the liberation of women from family slavery, her emancipation.

The central place in the play is occupied by the fate of Katerina: the story of her marriage, life in the Kabanovs’ house, her love and longing for freedom. In terms of her character, Katerina stands out sharply from the environment into which she found herself. This exclusivity and originality of the heroine’s character is the reason for the deep life drama that she had to experience in “ dark kingdom » Wild and Kabanov.

Katerina is a poetic and dreamy person. The image of a bird often appears in her mind:

“Why don’t people fly! Why don’t people fly like birds?.. Sometimes it seems to me that I am a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run away, raise my hands and fly..."

Remembering her childhood and girlhood years, which flashed by so unnoticed, Katerina herself tells Varya about how the world of her feelings and moods was formed. Then, in her parents' house, she lived, " like a bird in the wild " The caresses of the mother who is in her " doted on me ", caring for the favorite flowers that Katerina had " many, many ", embroidery on velvet - this is the range of those daily impressions, under the influence of which her inner world took shape. Naturally impressionable, Katerina eagerly listened to the stories of wanderers and praying mantises. As a result, her imagination, fantasy, and religious daydreaming developed greatly. Katerina lived in isolation inner world, sometimes plunging into some kind of waking dreams, similar to fairy-tale visions.

“...On a sunny day, a light pillar goes down from the dome, and smoke moves in this pillar, like clouds, and I see that it used to be as if angels were flying and singing in this pillar. And then, it happened, I would get up at night... and somewhere in the corner and pray until the morning. Or I’ll go to the garden early... I’ll fall on my knees, pray and cry, and I myself don’t know what I’m praying for and what I’m crying about...” she tells Varvara.

Katerina has an ardent and passionate soul.

“I was born so 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!..."

Katerina is capable not only of courageous actions, but also of a complete break with the life that has disgusted her.

“Eh, Varya, you don’t know my character! Of course, God forbid this happens! And if I’m really tired of being 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 do this, even if you cut me!”

And so Katerina finds herself in the Kabanova family, in an atmosphere of hypocrisy and annoying, petty care. After home paradise, with his magical world dreams and visions, Katerina gets into the situation " dark kingdom " Naturally, the conflict between " dark kingdom “and Katerina’s peace of mind turned out to be inevitable.

Katerina’s situation is further complicated by the fact that she was married to a man whom she did not know and could not love, no matter how hard she tried to be a faithful and loving wife to him. Katerina’s attempts to find a response in her husband’s heart are broken by Tikhon’s slavish humiliation and narrow-mindedness. It is not difficult to understand with what force Katerina’s feelings must have flared up when someone stood in her way new person, unlike everyone around her, with a soul similar to her own, and with moods close to herself. Love for Boris became the meaning of her existence. Katerina is special in love too. She is ready to do anything for her loved one, transgressing even those concepts of sin and virtue that were sacred to her. Inner purity and truthfulness do not allow her to lie in love, deceive, or pretend. " Let everyone know, let everyone see what I am doing!... If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?“- she declares to Boris. The catastrophe occurs precisely because Katerina does not want and cannot hide her sin. The heightened struggle between feelings and duty ends with the unfortunate woman publicly, on the city boulevard, repenting to her husband. The denouement of the drama soon occurs: the suicide of the heroine, who showed her desperate, albeit powerless, protest against “ dark kingdom ».

At its tragic end, according to Dobrolyubov, “ a terrible challenge was given to tyrant power... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself«.

Katerina - a ray of light in a dark kingdom (Option: Theme of conscience in Russian literature)

A. N. Ostrovsky had a huge influence on the development of Russian dramatic art. Before him, there were no such plays as “The Thunderstorm” in the Russian theater. According to the genre, “The Thunderstorm” is a folk tragedy, which is based on a complex social and everyday conflict. Katerina’s emotional drama, which played out in everyday life, in the family, leaves an imprint on the life of the entire people. After all, the situation in which the heroes of the play live is extremely tragic: poverty, rudeness of morals, ignorance, arbitrariness, that is, what is defined by the word “captivity.”

At the center of the drama “The Thunderstorm” is the image of Katerina. She is given the author's and audience's sympathy. Ostrovsky associated with the image main character the idea that the desire for freedom and happiness is natural and irresistible, no matter what obstacles life poses, High moral ideals have always had special significance.

In the play “The Thunderstorm,” Ostrovsky showed the struggle of the old merchant generation, brought up at Domostroy, and new, young people who were beginning to free themselves from outdated ideas about life.

Katerina, the main character of the play, is the only one who decided to challenge the “dark kingdom,” while other representatives of the younger generation are trying to adapt to it. Tikhon, Katerina's husband, seeks salvation from his mother in wine. Varvara became cunning and learned to hide her antics from Kabanikha. Boris is unable to do anything (and does not want to), since he is financially dependent on Dikiy. Only Kudryash, the most independent of all, can sometimes say a rude word to Dikiy, but he, too, gets used to Kalinov’s morals.

Katerina is completely different. And the reason for her special behavior is primarily related to her upbringing. As a child, she grew up surrounded by the care and affection of her mother, who loved her daughter and did not force her to work much. “I lived,” Katerina tells Varvara, “I didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild.” Katerina sincerely believes in God, and visiting church is a holiday for her. The desire for beauty for the main character is expressed in prayers and church singing. Walking to the spring in the summer to get water, caring for flowers, embroidering on velvet - these are Katerina’s favorite activities, which developed great impressionability and dreaminess in her, and formed the bright poetic nature of the main character.

Outwardly, the Kabanovs’ life is no different from the one that Katerina led in her mother’s house, but here everything is “as if from under captivity.” Kabanikha also welcomes wanderers, but they spread rumors and gossip and tell incredible stories, and they cannot be called truly pious people.

Katerina found herself in a stuffy atmosphere of family slavery. She is forced at every step to experience her dependence on her mother-in-law, to endure undeserved reproaches and insults from her, without finding support and protection from her husband. Katerina seeks understanding from Varvara, tells her about her experiences, but she is not able to understand her subtle emotional movements. “You’re kind of tricky!” - she says to Katerina.

In search of a person to whom she can open her soul and trust, Katerina turns her attention to Boris. He differs from the residents of Kalinov in his good education and good manners, and Katerina sees in him hope for better life. Realizing that betrayal is a great sin, she initially hides love even from herself, but the feeling turns out to be stronger than reason, and Katerina still decides to meet her lover. The dates continue for ten days, and for ten days Katerina is almost happy. However, she is tormented by the thought of God’s punishment for her sins, of “fiery hell.” When her husband returns, it becomes even worse for her, since his very appearance reminds her of the sin she committed. The precarious balance in Katerina’s soul is completely destroyed by a half-crazed lady who prophesies her imminent death in hellish torment.

Katerina cannot keep a terrible secret to herself, since her conscience torments her, her entire inner nature rebels against untruth. She tells everything to Tikhon, and most importantly to Kabanikha.

After this, Katerina’s life becomes completely unbearable. The mother-in-law “sharpenes her like rusting iron.” And Katerina decides on a desperate act: she runs away from home to say goodbye to Boris, whom Dikoy sends out of the city. This was a very decisive act, since Katerina understands that after this she will not be able to return home. Yes, she doesn’t want to return: “If I get really tired of being here, they won’t hold me back by any force.”

Katerina still had little hope that Boris would take her with him, but having received a refusal, she understands that there is only one option left for her - suicide. No, Katerina is not tired of life. She wants to live, but to live, and not to exist under the heavy yoke of Kabanikha.

Did Katerina do the right thing by making such a decision? Did she show strength or weakness of character? It's difficult to answer this question. On the one hand, you need to have considerable courage to take your own life, but for the religious Katerina this is many times more difficult, since suicide is a terrible sin. But, on the other hand, you need to have even more courage to stay and live in Kabanikha’s house and carry your cross or fight (is this possible?) with the “dark kingdom.”

And yet, it is no coincidence that Dobrolyubov calls Ostrovsky’s heroine “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.” She, a weak and religious woman, still found the strength to protest. She was the only one who rose up against rudeness and despotism, cruelty and injustice, hypocrisy and hypocrisy, and with her act, like a ray of light, she illuminated for a moment the dark sides of life.

In his heroine, Ostrovsky painted a new type of selfless Russian woman, whose decisiveness in her protest foreshadowed the inevitable death of the “dark kingdom.” And this, according to Dobrolyubov, introduced a “refreshing and encouraging” element into the play. Ostrovsky reflected all the brightest things in the character of the main character: kindness and sincerity, poetry and dreaminess, honesty and truthfulness, directness and determination. This is how touching and pure Katerina remains in our memory in her quest to find love, family, self-respect and mutual understanding.