Moral problems in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

In literary criticism, the problematics of a work are the range of problems that are addressed in one way or another in the text. This may be one or more aspects that the author focuses on. In this work we will talk about the problems of Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm”. A. N. Ostrovsky received a literary vocation after his first published play. “Poverty is not a vice,” “Dowry,” “Profitable Place” - these and many other works are devoted to social and everyday themes, but the issue of the problems of the play “The Thunderstorm” needs to be considered separately.

The play was received ambiguously by critics. Dobrolyubov saw in Katerina hope for new life, Ap. Grigoriev noticed the emerging protest against the existing order, and L. Tolstoy did not accept the play at all. The plot of “The Thunderstorm,” at first glance, is quite simple: everything is based on a love conflict. Katerina secretly meets with a young man while her husband left for another city on business. Unable to cope with the pangs of conscience, the girl admits to treason, after which she rushes into the Volga. However, behind all this everyday, everyday life, lies much larger things that threaten to grow to the scale of space. Dobrolyubov calls the “dark kingdom” the situation described in the text. An atmosphere of lies and betrayal. In Kalinov, people are so accustomed to moral filth that their resigned consent only aggravates the situation. It becomes scary to realize that it was not the place that made people like this, it was the people who independently turned the city into a kind of accumulation of vices. And now the “dark kingdom” is beginning to influence the inhabitants. After a detailed reading of the text, you can see how widely the problems of the work “The Thunderstorm” have been developed.

The problems in Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" are diverse, but at the same time they do not have a hierarchy. Each individual problem is important in its own right.

The problem of fathers and sons

Here we are not talking about misunderstanding, but about total control, about patriarchal orders. The play shows the life of the Kabanov family. At that time, the opinion of the eldest man in the family was undeniable, and wives and daughters were practically deprived of their rights. The head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna, a widow. She took on male functions. This is a powerful and calculating woman. Kabanikha believes that she takes care of her children, ordering them to do as she wants. This behavior led to quite logical consequences. Her son, Tikhon, is a weak and spineless person. His mother, it seems, wanted to see him this way, because in this case it is easier to control a person. Tikhon is afraid to say anything, to express his opinion; in one of the scenes he admits that he doesn’t have his own point of view at all. Tikhon cannot protect either himself or his wife from his mother’s hysterics and cruelty. Kabanikha’s daughter, Varvara, on the contrary, managed to adapt to this lifestyle. She easily lies to her mother, the girl even changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could go on dates with Curly without hindrance. Tikhon is incapable of any rebellion, while Varvara, at the end of the play, runs away from her parents' house with her lover.

The problem of self-realization

When talking about the problems of “The Thunderstorm,” one cannot fail to mention this aspect. The problem is realized in the image of Kuligin. This self-taught inventor dreams of making something useful for all residents of the city. His plans include assembling a perpeta mobile, building a lightning rod, and generating electricity. But this whole dark, semi-pagan world needs neither light nor enlightenment. Dikoy laughs at Kuligin’s plans to find an honest income and openly mocks him. After a conversation with Kuligin, Boris understands that the inventor will never invent a single thing. Perhaps Kuligin himself understands this. He could be called naive, but he knows what morals reign in Kalinov, what happens behind closed doors, what those in whose hands the power is concentrated are like. Kuligin learned to live in this world without losing himself. But he is not able to sense the conflict between reality and dreams as keenly as Katerina did.

The problem of power

In the city of Kalinov, power is not in the hands of the relevant authorities, but in those who have money. Proof of this is the dialogue between the merchant Dikiy and the mayor. The mayor tells the merchant that complaints are being received against the latter. Savl Prokofievich responds rudely to this. Dikoy does not hide the fact that he is cheating ordinary men; he talks about deception as a normal phenomenon: if merchants steal from each other, then it is possible to steal from ordinary residents. In Kalinov, nominal power decides absolutely nothing, and this is fundamentally wrong. After all, it turns out that it is simply impossible to live without money in such a city. Dikoy imagines himself almost like a priest-king, deciding who to lend money to and who not. “So know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush you,” is how Dikoy answers Kuligin.

The problem of love

In "The Thunderstorm" the problem of love is realized in the couples Katerina - Tikhon and Katerina - Boris. The girl is forced to live with her husband, although she does not feel any feelings other than pity for him. Katya rushes from one extreme to another: she thinks between the option of staying with her husband and learning to love him, or leaving Tikhon. Katya's feelings for Boris flare up instantly. This passion pushes the girl to take a decisive step: Katya goes against public opinion and Christian morality. Her feelings turned out to be mutual, but for Boris this love meant much less. Katya believed that Boris, like her, was incapable of living in a frozen city and lying for profit. Katerina often compared herself to a bird, she wanted to fly away, to break out of that metaphorical cage, and in Boris Katya saw that air, that freedom that she so lacked. Unfortunately, the girl was mistaken about Boris. The young man turned out to be the same as the residents of Kalinov. He wanted to improve relations with Dikiy in order to receive money, and he talked with Varvara that it was better to keep his feelings for Katya secret for as long as possible.

Conflict between old and new

We are talking about the resistance of the patriarchal way of life to the new order, which implies equality and freedom. This topic was very relevant. Let us remember that the play was written in 1859, and serfdom was abolished in 1861. Social contradictions were reaching their climax. The author wanted to show what the lack of reforms and decisive action can lead to. Tikhon’s final words confirm this. “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay in the world and suffer!” In such a world, the living envy the dead.

This contradiction most strongly affected the main character of the play. Katerina cannot understand how one can live in lies and animal humility. The girl was suffocating in the atmosphere that had been created by the residents of Kalinov for a long time. She is honest and pure, so her only desire was so small and so great at the same time. Katya just wanted to be herself, to live the way she was raised. Katerina sees that everything is not at all as she imagined before her marriage. She cannot even allow herself a sincere impulse - to hug her husband - Kabanikha controlled and suppressed any attempts by Katya to be sincere. Varvara supports Katya, but cannot understand her. Katerina is left alone in this world of deception and dirt. The girl could not bear such pressure; she finds salvation in death. Death frees Katya from the burden of earthly life, turning her soul into something light, capable of flying away from the “dark kingdom.”

We can conclude that the problems raised in the drama “The Thunderstorm” are significant and relevant to this day. These are unresolved questions of human existence that will worry people at all times. It is thanks to this formulation of the question that the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a timeless work.

Work test

And N. Ostrovsky, after the appearance of his first major play, received literary recognition. Ostrovsky's dramaturgy became necessary element culture of his time, he retained the position of the best playwright of the era, the head of the Russian dramatic school, despite the fact that at the same time A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin was working in this genre with him. M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. F. Pisemsky, A. K. Tolstoy and L. N. Tolstoy. The most popular critics viewed his works as a true and profound reflection of modern reality. Meanwhile, Ostrovsky, following his original creative way, often baffled both critics and readers.

Thus, the play “The Thunderstorm” came as a surprise to many. L.N. Tolstoy did not accept the play. The tragedy of this work forced critics to reconsider their views on Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy. A.P. Grigoriev noted that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a protest against the “existing”, which is terrible for its adherents. Dobrolyubov, in his article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom,” argued that the image of Katerina in “The Thunderstorm” “breathes on us with new life.”

Perhaps for the first time, scenes of family, “private” life, the arbitrariness and lawlessness that were hitherto hidden behind the thick doors of mansions and estates, were shown with such graphic power. And at the same time, this was not just an everyday sketch. The author showed the unenviable position of a Russian woman in a merchant family. The tragedy was given enormous power by the special truthfulness and skill of the author, as D.I. Pisarev rightly noted: “The Thunderstorm” is a painting from life, which is why it breathes truth.”

The tragedy takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I have been looking at the Volga every day - I can’t get enough of everything. The view is extraordinary! Beauty! My soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem. and the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. However, the life and customs of the rich merchants created “a world of prison and deathly silence.” Savel Dikoy and Marfa Kabanova are the personification of cruelty and tyranny. The order in the merchant's house is based on the outdated religious dogmas of Domostroy. Dobrolyubov says about Kabanikha that she “gnaws at her sacrifice, long and relentlessly.” She forces her daughter-in-law Katerina to bow at her husband’s feet when he leaves, scolds her for “not howling” in public when seeing off her husband.

Kabanikha is very rich, this can be judged by the fact that the interests of her affairs go far beyond Kalinov; on her instructions, Tikhon travels to Moscow. She is respected by Dikoy, for whom the main thing in life is money. But the merchant's wife understands that power also brings obedience to those around her. She seeks to kill any manifestation of resistance to her power in the home. The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant. Tikhon does not contradict her in anything. Varvara has learned to lie, hide and dodge.

Main character In the play, Katerina is marked by a strong character, she is not used to humiliation and insults and therefore conflicts with her cruel old mother-in-law. In her mother’s house, Katerina lived freely and easily. In the Kabanov House she feels like a bird in a cage. She quickly realizes that she cannot live here for long.

Katerina married Tikhon without love. In Kabanikha’s house, everything trembles at the mere imperious cry of the merchant’s wife. Life in this house is hard for young people. And then Katerina meets a completely different person and falls in love. For the first time in her life, she experiences deep personal feeling. One night she goes on a date with Boris. Whose side is the playwright on? He is on Katerina’s side, because a person’s natural aspirations cannot be destroyed. Life in the Kabanov family is unnatural. And Katerina does not accept the inclinations of those people with whom she ended up. Hearing Varvara's offer to lie and pretend. Katerina replies: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.”

Katerina’s directness and sincerity evokes respect from both the author, the reader, and the viewer. She decides that she can no longer be a victim of a soulless mother-in-law, she cannot languish behind bars. She's free! But she saw a way out only in her death. And one could argue with this. Critics also disagreed about whether Katerina was worth paying for her freedom at the cost of her life. So, Pisarev, unlike Dobrolyubov, considers Katerina’s act senseless. He believes that after Katerina’s suicide everything will return to normal, life will go on as usual, and it’s not worth it." dark kingdom“such a sacrifice. Of course, Kabanikha brought Katerina to death. As a result, her daughter Varvara runs away from home, and her son Tikhon regrets that he did not die with his wife.

It is interesting that one of the main, active images of this play is the image of the thunderstorm itself. Symbolically expressing the idea of ​​the work, this image directly participates in the action of the drama as a real natural phenomenon, enters into action at its decisive moments, and largely determines the actions of the heroine. This image is very meaningful; it illuminates almost all aspects of the drama.

So. Already in the first act, a thunderstorm broke out over the city of Kalinov. It broke out as a harbinger of tragedy. Katerina already said: “I’ll die soon,” she confessed to Varvara her sinful love. In her mind, the mad lady's prediction that the thunderstorm would not pass in vain, and the feeling of her own sin with a real thunderclap had already been combined. Katerina rushes home: “It’s still better, everything is calmer, I’m at home - to the images and pray to God!”

After this, the storm ceases for a short time. Only in Kabanikha’s grumbling are its echoes heard. There was no thunderstorm that night when Katerina felt free and happy for the first time after her marriage.

But the fourth, climactic act, begins with the words: “The rain is falling, as if a thunderstorm is not gathering?” And after that the thunderstorm motif never ceases.

The dialogue between Kuligin and Dikiy is interesting. Kuligin talks about lightning rods (“we have frequent thunderstorms”) and provokes the wrath of Dikiy: “What other kind of electricity is there? Well, how come you’re not a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment so that we can feel it, but you want poles and some kind of horns.” then, God forgive me, defend yourself. What are you, a Tatar, or what?” And in response to the quote from Derzhavin, which Kuligin cites in his defense: “I decay with my body in dust, I command thunder with my mind,” the merchant does not find anything to say at all, except: “And for these words, send you to the mayor, so he will will ask!"

Undoubtedly, in the play the image of a thunderstorm acquires special significance: this is a refreshing, revolutionary beginning. However, reason is condemned in the dark kingdom, it is faced with impenetrable ignorance, supported by stinginess. But still, the lightning that cut through the sky over the Volga touched the long-silent Tikhon and flashed over the destinies of Varvara and Kudryash. The thunderstorm shook everyone up thoroughly. Inhuman morals will come to an end sooner or later. The struggle between the new and the old has begun and continues. This is the meaning of the work of the great Russian playwright.

Ostrovsky was once called the “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye”, emphasizing the artistic discovery of the world of merchants in the plays of the playwright, but his plays are interesting not only for specific historical issues, but also for moral, universal ones. Yes, exactly moral issues Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" makes this work interesting for modern reader. The action of Ostrovsky's drama takes place in the city of Kalinov, which is located among the greenery of gardens on the steep bank of the Volga. “For fifty years I’ve been looking at the Volga every day and I can’t take it all in. The view is extraordinary. My soul rejoices,” Kuligin admires. It would seem that the life of the people of this city should be beautiful and joyful. Especially considering the fact that Kabanikha, a woman who personifies the entire “dark kingdom,” constantly talks about high morality. But why didn’t life in the city become a kingdom of light and joy, but turned into “a world of prison and grave silence”?

There are moral laws that are not written down anywhere, but by following which, a person is able to comprehend spiritual happiness, find light and joy on earth. How are these laws implemented in a provincial Volga town?

1. The moral laws of people's lives are replaced in Kalinov by the law of force, power and money. Dikiy’s big money frees his hands and gives him the opportunity to swagger with impunity over everyone who is poor and financially dependent on him. People are nothing to him. “You are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush,” he says to Kuligin. We see that the basis of everything in the city is money. They are worshiped. The basis of human relationships is material dependence. Here money decides everything, and power belongs to those who have more capital . Profit and enrichment become the goal and meaning of life for most Kalinov residents. Because of money, they quarrel among themselves and harm each other: “I’ll spend it, and it will cost him a pretty penny.” Even the self-taught mechanic Kuligin, who is advanced in his views, realizing the power of money, dreams of a million in order to talk on equal terms with the rich.

2. The basis of morality is respect for elders, parents, father and mother. But this law in Kalinov is perverted , because it is replaced by a ban on freedom, on respect. Katerina suffers the most from Kabanikha’s tyranny. A freedom-loving nature, she cannot live in a family where the youngest unquestioningly submits to the elder, the wife to the husband, where any desire for freedom and manifestation of self-esteem is suppressed. “Will” for Kabanikha is a dirty word. “Wait for it! Live in freedom! - she threatens the young people. For Kabanikha, the most important thing is not the real order, but its external manifestation. E She is outraged that Tikhon, leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and does not know how to order, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband’s feet and does not howl to show her love. “That’s how you respect your elders...” Kabanova says every now and then, but respect in her understanding is fear. We should be afraid, she believes.

3. The great law of morality is to live in harmony with your heart, according to your conscience. But in Kalinov, any manifestation of sincere feeling is regarded as a sin. Love is a sin. But it’s possible to go on dates in secret. When Katerina, saying goodbye to Tikhon, throws herself on his neck, Kabanikha pulls her back: “Why are you hanging on his neck, shameless one! You are not saying goodbye to your lover! He’s your husband, your boss!” Love and marriage are incompatible here. Kabanikha remembers love only when she needs to justify her cruelty: “After all, parents are strict with you out of love.” She wants to force the younger generation to live by the laws of hypocrisy, arguing that the most important thing is not true manifestation feelings, but external observance of decency. Kabanikha is outraged that Tikhon, when leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband’s feet and does not howl to show her love

4.There is no place for sincere feelings in the city . The boar is hypocritical, she only hides behind virtue and piety, in the family she is an inhuman despot and tyrant... Kabanikha hides her true essence under the guise of righteousness, while tormenting both his children and his daughter-in-law with nagging and reproaches. Kuligin gives her an apt description: “Prude, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” Lies and deceit, having become an everyday occurrence in life, cripple people’s souls.”

These are the conditions in which the younger generation of the city of Kalinov is forced to live.

5. Only one person can stand out among those who humiliate and humiliate – Katerina. The very first appearance of Katerina reveals in her not a timid daughter-in-law of a strict mother-in-law, but a person who has dignity and feels like an individual: “Whoever likes to endure lies,” says Katerina in response to Kabanikha’s unfair words. Katerina is a spiritual, bright, dreamy person; she, like no one else in the play, knows how to feel beauty. Even her religiosity is also a manifestation of spirituality. The church service was filled with special charm for her: in the rays of sunlight she saw angels, felt a sense of belonging to something higher, unearthly. The motif of light becomes one of the central ones in Katerina’s characterization. “And the face seems to glow,” Boris had only to say this, and Kudryash immediately realized that he was talking about Katerina. Her speech is melodious, figurative, reminiscent of Russian folk songs: “Violent winds, bear with him my sadness and melancholy.” Katerina is distinguished by her inner freedom and passionate nature; it is no coincidence that the motif of a bird and flight appears in the play. The captivity of the Kabanovsky house oppresses her, suffocates her. “Everything seems to be out of captivity with you. I’ve completely wilted with you,” says Katerina, explaining to Varvara why she doesn’t feel happy in the Kabanovs’ house.

6. Another one is connected with the image of Katerina the moral problem of the play is the human right to love and happiness. Katerina’s impulse to Boris is an impulse to joy, without which a person cannot live, an impulse to happiness, which she was deprived of in Kabanikha’s house. No matter how hard Katerina tried to fight her love, this fight was doomed from the very beginning. In Katerina’s love, like in a thunderstorm, there was something spontaneous, strong, free, but also tragically doomed; it is no coincidence that she begins her story about love with the words: “I will die soon.” Already in this first conversation with Varvara, the image of an abyss, a cliff appears: “There will be some kind of sin! Such fear comes over me, such and such fear! It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss, and someone is pushing me there, but I have nothing to hold on to.”

7. The title of the play takes on the most dramatic sound when we feel a “thunderstorm” brewing in Katerina’s soul. The central moral problem play can be called the problem moral choice. The collision of duty and feeling, like a thunderstorm, destroyed the harmony in Katerina’s soul with which she lived; She no longer dreams, as before, of “golden temples or extraordinary gardens”; it is no longer possible to ease her soul with prayer: “If I start to think, I won’t be able to gather my thoughts, if I’ll pray, I won’t be able to pray.” Without agreement with herself, Katerina cannot live; she could never, like Varvara, be content with thieving, secret love. The consciousness of her sinfulness weighs on Katerina, torments her more than all of Kabanikha’s reproaches. Ostrovsky's heroine cannot live in a world of discord - this explains her death. She made the choice herself - and she pays for it herself, without blaming anyone: “No one is to blame - she did it herself.”

We can conclude that it is precisely the moral problematics of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” that makes this work interesting for the modern reader even today.

2. “A poet in Russia is more than a poet” (according to the lyrics of N. A. Nekrasov). Reading by heart one of the poet's poems (at the student's choice).

The theme of the poet and poetry is traditional for Russian lyrics. It is this theme that is one of the main ones in Nekrasov’s lyrics.

N. A. Nekrasov’s ideas about the essence and purpose of poetry developed in the process of creative communication with the ideologists of revolutionary democracy N. G. Chernyshevsky, N. A. Dobrolyubov, as well as such progressive writers as M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. . Tolstoy. Nekrasov believes that the role of the poet in the life of society is so significant that it requires from him not only artistic talent, but also citizenship, activity in the struggle for civic beliefs.

1. Nekrasov repeatedly states his views for the purpose of your creativity . Thus, in the poem “Yesterday, at about six o’clock...” he says that his muse becomes the sister of all the humiliated and insulted:

There they beat a woman with a whip,

Young peasant woman...

...And I said to the Muse: “Look!

Your dear sister!

The same idea is heard in a later poem, “Muse” (1852). The poet sees from the very beginning my calling is to glorify the common people, sympathize with their suffering, express their thoughts and aspirations, and attack their oppressors with censure and merciless satire . Nekrasov's muse, on the one hand, is a peasant woman. But on the other hand, the fate of this gender itself, the persecuted and persecuted strongmen of the world this. Nekrasov’s muse is suffering, chanting the people and calling them to fight.

2..In a poem “The Poet and the Citizen” (1856) Nekrasov polemicizes with representatives of the “pure art” movement, who, in his opinion, lead the reader away from the acute social problems. The poem is structured as a dialogue. This dialogue in Nekrasov is an internal dispute, a struggle in his soul as a Poet and a Citizen. The author himself tragically experienced this internal rupture and often made the same claims against himself as the Citizen did against the Poet. The citizen in the poem shames the Poet for inaction; in his understanding, the immeasurable sublimity of civil service eclipses the previous ideals of freedom of creativity, the new high goal is to die for the Fatherland: “... go and die blamelessly.”

A poet who truly loves his homeland must have a clear civic position , without hesitation to expose and condemn the vices of society, as did Gogol, on the day of whose death the poem was written. Nekrasov emphasizes that the life of a poet who has chosen such a path is immeasurably more difficult than the life of one who avoids social problems in his work. But this is the feat of a true poet: he patiently endures all adversity for the sake of his high goal. According to Nekrasov, such a poet will be appreciated only by future generations, posthumously:

They curse him from all sides,

And just seeing his corpse,

They will understand how much he has done,

And how he loved - while hating!

According to Nekrasov, Without civic ideals, without an active social position, a poet will not be a true poet . The Poet agrees with this - character poem "Poet and Citizen". The dispute ends not with the victory of the Poet or the Citizen, but with a general conclusion: the role of the poet is so significant that it requires civic convictions and the fight for these convictions .

3.. In 1874 Nekrasov creates a poem "Prophet". This work, of course, continued the series in which the works of Pushkin and Lermontov already stood. . It again talks about the difficulty of the chosen path, about the divine beginning of creativity :

He hasn't been crucified yet,

But the time will come - he will be on the cross,

4. But N. A. Nekrasov sees the highest purpose of the poet in selfless service to the people . The theme of the people, the homeland becomes one of the most important themes of the poet’s entire work. He is sure: as long as the theme of the suffering of the people is relevant, the artist has no right to forget it. This selfless service to people is the essence of N. A. Nekrasov’s poetry. In a poem “Elegy”, (1874) In one of his most beloved poems, Nekrasov seems to sum up his work:

I dedicated the lyre to my people.

Perhaps I will die unknown to him,

But I served him - and my heart is calm...

The poet creates poems not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of conscience... Because you can only live in service to the people, and not to yourself.

« A poet in Russia is more than a poet,” these words do not belong to Nekrasov, but can rightfully be attributed to his work. A poet in Russia is, first of all, a person with an active life position. And all of Nekrasov’s work affirmed the thought: “You may not be a poet, but you must be a citizen.”

"Columbus of Zamoskvorechye". A. N. Ostrovsky knew the merchant environment well and saw in it the focus of national life. According to the playwright, all types of characters are widely represented here. The writing of the drama “The Thunderstorm” was preceded by A. N. Ostrovsky’s expedition along the Upper Volga in 1856-1857. “The Volga gave Ostrovsky abundant food, showed him new themes for dramas and comedies and inspired him to those that constitute the honor and pride of Russian literature” (Maksimov S.V.). The plot of the drama “The Thunderstorm” was not a consequence real story the Klykov family from Kostroma, as was believed for a long time. The play was written before the tragedy that occurred in Kostroma. This fact testifies to the typical nature of the conflict between the old and the new, which was increasingly declaring itself louder among the merchants. The problems of the play are quite multifaceted.

Central problem- confrontation between personality and environment (and as a special case - the powerless position of a woman, about which N.A. Dobrolyubov said: “... the strongest protest is the one that finally rises from the chests of the weakest and most patient”). The problem of confrontation between personality and environment is revealed on the basis of the central conflict of the play: there is a clash between the “warm heart” and the dead way of life of merchant society. The lively nature of Katerina Kabanova, romantic, freedom-loving, hot, unable to tolerate “ cruel morals» the city of Kalinov, about which in the 3rd yavl. In the first act, Kuligin narrates: “And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor so that he can make even more money from his free labors... They undermine each other’s trade, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy. They are at enmity with each other; they entice drunken clerks into their high mansions...” All lawlessness and cruelty are committed under the guise of piety. The heroine is unable to put up with hypocrisy and tyranny, among which Katerina’s sublime soul suffocates. And for young Kabanova, an honest and integral nature, Varvara’s principle of “survival” is completely impossible: “Do what you want, as long as it’s safe and covered.” The opposition of a “warm heart” to inertia and hypocrisy, even if the price for such a rebellion is life, will be called by the critic N. A. Dobrolyubov “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”

The tragic state of mind and progress in a world of ignorance and tyranny. This complex issue is revealed in the play through the introduction of the image of Kuligin, who cares about the common good and progress, but encounters misunderstanding on the part of the Wild: “... I would use all the money for society, for support. Work must be given to the philistines. Otherwise, you have hands, but nothing to work with.” But those who have money, for example Dikoy, are in no hurry to part with it, and even admit their lack of education: “What kind of elitism is there! Why aren't you a robber? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself, God forgive me, with poles and some kind of rods.” Feklushi’s ignorance finds deep “understanding” in Kabanova: “On such a beautiful evening, rarely does anyone come out to sit outside the gate; but in Moscow there are now festivals and games, and there is a roar and a groan in the streets. Why, Mother Marfa Ignatievna, did they start harnessing the fiery serpent: everything, you see, for the sake of speed.”

Substitution of life according to the grace-filled Christian commandments for blind, fanatical, “Domostroevsky” Orthodoxy, bordering on obscurantism. The religiosity of Katerina’s nature, on the one hand, and the piety of Kabanikha and Feklushi, on the other, appear completely different. The faith of young Kabanova carries a creative principle, is filled with joy, light and selflessness: “You know: on a sunny day such a bright column goes down from the dome, and in this column there is smoke, like clouds, and I see, it used to be It’s as if angels are flying and singing in this pillar... Or I’ll go to the garden early in the morning. As soon as the sun rises, I fall on my knees, pray and cry, and I myself don’t know what I’m crying about; that's how they'll find me. And I don’t know what I prayed for then, what I asked for; I don’t need anything, I had enough of everything.” Rigid religious and moral postulates and severe asceticism, so revered by Kabanikha, help her justify her despotism and cruelty.

The problem of sin. The theme of sin, which appears more than once in the play, is also closely related to the religious issue. Adultery becomes an unbearable burden for Katerina’s conscience, and therefore the woman finds the only possible way out for her - public repentance. But the most difficult problem is resolving the issue of sin. Katerina considers life in the “dark kingdom” to be a greater sin than suicide: “It doesn’t matter that death comes, that it itself... but you can’t live! Sin! Won't they pray? He who loves will pray..." Material from the site

The problem of human dignity. The solution to this problem is directly related to the main problem of the play. Only the main character, with her decision to leave this world, defends her own dignity and right to respect. The youth of the city of Kalinov are unable to decide to protest. Their moral “strength” is only enough for secret “outlets” that everyone finds for themselves: Varvara secretly goes for a walk with Kudryash, Tikhon gets drunk as soon as he leaves the vigilant mother’s care. And other characters have little choice. “Dignity” can only be afforded by those who have substantial capital and, as a result, power; the rest include Kuligin’s advice: “What to do, sir! We must try to please somehow!”

N. A. Ostrovsky covers wide circle moral problems that were acute in the contemporary merchant society, and their interpretation and understanding goes beyond the framework of a specific historical period and receives a universal resonance.

Didn't find what you were looking for? Use the search

On this page there is material on the following topics:

• problem of moral choice essay
• moral problems of Ostrovsky's plays
• essay thunderstorm according to plan
• moral problems of literature Ostrovsky "thunderstorm"
• p5 moral meaning of the play thunderstorm

In Ostrovsky’s tragedy “The Thunderstorm,” problems of morality were widely raised. Using the example provincial town Kalinov he showed the prevailing morals there. He depicted the cruelty of people living the old fashioned way, according to Domostroy, and the riotousness of the younger generation. All the characters of the tragedy are grouped into two parts. Those who believe that you can receive forgiveness for any sin if you then repent, and the other part believes that sin follows punishment and there is no salvation from it. Here one of the most important problems of man in general and “Thunderstorm” in particular arises.

Repentance as a problem appeared a very long time ago. Then, when a person believed that there was a higher power and was afraid of it. He began to try to behave in such a way as to appease God with his behavior. People gradually developed ways to appease God through certain actions or deeds. All violations of this code were considered displeasing to God - sin. At first, people simply made sacrifices to the gods, sharing with them what they had. The apogee of this relationship is human sacrifice. In contrast to this, monotheistic religions arise, that is, those recognizing one god. These religions abandoned sacrifice and created codes defining standards of human behavior. These codices became shrines as they were believed to be inscribed by the powers of the gods. Examples of such books are the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran.

Violation of oral or written norms is a sin and must be punished. If at first a person was afraid of being killed on the spot, then later he begins to fear for his afterlife. A person begins to worry about where his soul will go after death: eternal bliss or eternal suffering. One could get to blessed places for righteous behavior, that is, observing norms, but sinners end up in places where they will suffer forever. This is where repentance arises, since a rare person could live without committing sins, and ending his life because of a few sins was scary for everyone. Therefore, it becomes possible to save yourself from punishment by begging God’s forgiveness. Thus, any person, even the last sinner, receives hope of salvation if he repents.

In “The Thunderstorm” the problem of repentance is most acutely posed. The main heroine of the tragedy, Katerina, is in terrible pangs of conscience. She is torn between her legal husband and Boris, righteous life and fall. She cannot forbid herself to love Boris, but she executes herself in her soul, believing that by doing this she is rejecting God, since a husband is to his wife as God is to the church. Therefore, by cheating on her husband, she betrays God, which means she loses all possibility of salvation. She considers this sin unforgivable and therefore denies the possibility of repentance for herself. Katerina is a very pious woman; since childhood she has been accustomed to pray to God and even seen angels, which is why her torment is so strong. These sufferings bring her to the point that she, fearing God’s punishment, personified in the form of a thunderstorm, throws herself at her husband’s feet and confesses everything to him, putting her life in his hands. People react to this recognition in different ways, revealing their attitude towards the possibility of repentance. Kabanova offers to bury her alive, that is, she believes that there is no way to forgive her. Tikhon, on the contrary, forgives Katerina, that is, he believes that she will receive forgiveness from God.

Katerina believes in repentance because she fears that she will die suddenly, not because her life will be interrupted, but because she is afraid to appear before God unrepentant, with all her sins.

People's attitude towards the possibility of repentance is manifested during a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm represents the wrath of God, and therefore people, when they see a thunderstorm, try to avoid it. Some people behave in a special way. For example, Kuligin wants to build lightning rods and save people from thunderstorms, so he believes that people can be saved from God’s punishment if they repent, then God’s wrath will disappear through repentance, just as lightning goes into the ground through a lightning rod. Dikoy believes that it is impossible to hide from the wrath of God, that is, he does not believe in the possibility of repentance. Although it should be noted that he can repent, since he throws himself at the man’s feet and asks for forgiveness from him for cursing him.

Pangs of conscience drive Katerina to the point where she begins to think about suicide. Suicide in Christianity is one of the most serious sins. It was as if man had rejected God, so the suicides had no hope of salvation. Here the question arises:

How could such a devout Katerina commit suicide, knowing that by doing so she was ruining her soul? Maybe she didn’t really believe in God at all? But this can be contrasted with the fact that she considered her soul already ruined and simply did not want to live further in such torment, without hope of salvation. Hamlet's question arises before her - to be or not to be? To endure torment on earth and know the evil that exists here, or to commit suicide and end your torment on earth. But no one knows exactly what happens after death and whether it will be worse. Katerina is driven to despair by the attitude of people towards her and the torments of her conscience, so she rejects the possibility of salvation. But in the denouement it turns out that she has hope of salvation, since she does not drown in the water, but breaks into an anchor. The anchor is similar to part of the cross, where the base represents the Holy Grail - the cup with the blood of the Lord. The Holy Grail symbolizes salvation. And Katerina is bleeding from her head. Thus, there is hope that she was forgiven and saved.