Kabanikha, aka Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, is the central heroine of Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” a rich merchant’s wife, widow, mother of Tikhon and Varvara, mother-in-law of Katerina.

Kabanikha is a very strong and powerful person. She is religious, but does not believe in forgiveness and mercy. This heroine is completely immersed in earthly affairs and practical interests. First of all, she is interested in strict adherence to the patriarchal order. From those around her, she requires the obligatory fulfillment of rituals and rites. Kabanikha is not interested in people’s feelings and the emotional side of the issue.

Kabanikha is dissatisfied with her family, especially her son and daughter-in-law.

She constantly nags them, interferes in their affairs, and makes harsh remarks. It seems to her that her son has recently lost interest in her, and her daughter-in-law does not inspire confidence with her behavior. Kabanikha is sure that the correct family structure is based on the younger generation’s fear of the older generation, and the wife’s fear of her husband. She believes that fear and orders are the main elements of family life, so she does not feel like a tyrant, because parents must be strict with their children in order to teach them goodness. However, Kabanikha feels that there are fewer and fewer guardians of the old way of life, the patriarchal system is gradually being destroyed, and new changes in life are coming. For Kabanikha this is a tragedy. She is not at all a tyrant and even condemns her godfather Diky for his temper. Kabanikha considers such willful behavior and endless complaints about family members to be a manifestation of weakness of character. She herself never complains to others about her family. Kabanikha faithfully honors the traditions of her ancestors, without thinking about whether they are good or bad. She is convinced that one must live as the fathers bequeathed, this will help maintain peace and order on earth. At the end of the play, Kabanikha experiences a personal tragedy: the daughter-in-law publicly confesses her sin, the son publicly rebels against his mother, and the daughter runs away from home. Kabanikha’s world collapses, and she dies with him.

It is interesting that the play clearly shows a contrasting comparison between Kabanikha and the main character Katerina. They have similar traits: both belong to the patriarchal world with its ideas and life values, both have extraordinary strength in character and are maximalists. The heroines do not allow the possibility of compromise; they do not believe in forgiveness and mercy, although both are religious. This is where their similarities end, emphasizing the contrast of the heroines and creating the possibility of comparing them. Katerina and Kabanikha are two opposite poles of the patriarchal world. The boar is chained to the ground, she monitors the implementation of order and compliance with the way of life in all its petty manifestations. She cares little about the inner essence of human relationships. Katerina, on the contrary, embodies poetry, dreaminess, spirituality, impulse and the spirit of the patriarchal way of life in its ideal manifestation.

In the play, Kabanikha is characterized not only through her own statements and actions, but also through discussions of her by other characters. The reader first learns about Kabanikha from the beggar wanderer Feklusha, who thanks the merchant’s wife for her generosity. Kuligin’s remark is immediately heard that Kabanikha is only kind to the poor, and is completely fed up with her family. And only after these introductory characteristics, Kabanikha herself appears, surrounded by her family. The reader is convinced that Kuligin’s words have a truthful basis. The merchant's wife nags her relatives and finds fault with them over trifles. Despite the meekness and sincerity of the daughter-in-law, she shows zealous hostility towards her and reproaches her son for indifference towards his mother. At the same time, Kabanikha, confident that she is right, feels that the patriarchal world is collapsing. Her apocalyptic expectations are revealed during the dialogue with Feklusha. At first, Kabanikha is still cheerful and convinces the wanderer that there is still peace and order in Kalinov. But at the end of the conversation, having listened to Feklusha’s exciting stories, she is no longer sure that this order will last long.

Kabanikha is a powerful and cruel woman, completely confident that she is right. She believes that maintaining the ancient order and way of life is a guarantee of protecting the home from external chaos. Therefore, she manages her household harshly and firmly, abandoning unnecessary emotions, not knowing mercy and doing without forgiveness. She strives to completely eradicate any hint of insubordination on the part of her family, and punishes every offense severely and coldly. While humiliating and insulting her loved ones, she treats strangers with piety and respect.

The image of Kabanikha is monumental; he is the living embodiment of “cruel morals”. The heroine is revealed in the work as an honest and terrible, in her strict consistency, keeper of the graceless “law”, not enlightened by Christian love. She does not evoke pity, but it is also difficult to condemn her. Causing pain and suffering to loved ones, she is sincerely convinced that her behavior is absolutely correct and it is impossible to live differently.

The play “The Thunderstorm” occupies a special place in Ostrovsky’s work. In this play, the playwright most vividly depicted the “world of the dark kingdom,” the world of tyrant merchants, the world of ignorance, tyranny and despotism, and domestic tyranny.

The action in the play takes place in a small town on the Volga - Kalinov. Life here, at first glance, represents a kind of patriarchal idyll. The entire city is surrounded by greenery, an “extraordinary view” opens beyond the Volga, and on its high banks there is a public garden where residents of the town often stroll. Life in Kalinov flows quietly and slowly, there are no shocks, no exceptional events. News from the big world is brought to the town by the wanderer Feklusha, who tells the Kalinovites tales about people with dog heads.

However, in reality, not everything is so good in this small, abandoned world. This idyll is already destroyed by Kuligin in a conversation with Boris Grigorievich, Dikiy’s nephew: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! In the philistinism, sir, you will see nothing but rudeness and stark poverty... And whoever has money... tries to enslave the poor so that he can make even more money from his free labors.” However, there is no agreement between the rich: they “are at enmity with each other”, “they scribble malicious slander”, “they are suing”, “they are undermining trade”. Everyone lives behind oak gates, behind strong bars. “And they don’t lock themselves away from thieves, but so that people don’t see how they eat their own family and tyrannize their family. And what tears are flowing behind these locks, invisible and inaudible!.. And what, sir, behind these locks is dark debauchery and drunkenness!” - exclaims Kuligin.

One of the richest, most influential people in the city is the merchant Savel Prokofievich Dikoy. The main features of the Wild are rudeness, ignorance, hot temper and absurdity of character. “Look for another scolder like ours, Savel Prokofich! He will never cut off a person,” Shapkin says about him. The whole life of the Wild One is based on “swearing”. Neither financial transactions, nor trips to the market - “he doesn’t do anything without swearing.” Most of all, Dikiy gets it from his family and his nephew Boris, who came from Moscow.

Savel Prokofievich is stingy. “...Just mention money to me, it will ignite my entire inner being,” he tells Kabanova. Boris came to his uncle in the hope of receiving an inheritance, but actually fell into bondage to him. Savel Prokofievich does not pay him a salary, constantly insults and scolds his nephew, reproaching him for laziness and parasitism.

Dikoy repeatedly quarrels with Kuligin, a local self-taught mechanic. Kuligin is trying to find a reasonable reason for Savel Prokofievich’s rudeness: “Why, sir Savel Prokofievich, would you like to offend an honest man?” To which Dikoy replies: “I’ll give you a report, or something!” I don’t give an account to anyone more important than you. I want to think about you like that, and I do! For others, you are an honest person, but I think that you are a robber - that’s all... I say that you are a robber, and that’s the end. So, are you going to sue me or something? So you know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush.”

“What theoretical reasoning can survive where life is based on such principles! The absence of any law, any logic - this is the law and logic of this life. This is not anarchy, but something much worse...” wrote Dobrolyubov about Dikiy’s tyranny.

Like most Kalinovites, Savel Prokofievich is hopelessly ignorant. When Kuligin asks him for money to install a lightning rod, Dikoy declares: “A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself with poles and rods.”

Dikoy represents the “natural type” of the tyrant in the play. His rudeness, rudeness, and bullying of people are based, first of all, on his absurd, unbridled character, stupidity and lack of opposition from other people. And only then on wealth.

It is characteristic that practically no one offers active resistance to Dikiy. Although it is not so difficult to calm him down: during the transport he was “scolded” by an unfamiliar hussar, and Kabanikha is not shy in front of him. “There are no elders over you, so you are showing off,” Marfa Ignatievna bluntly tells him. It is characteristic that here she is trying to fit the Wild One into her vision of the world order. Kabanikha explains Dikiy’s constant anger and temper with his greed, but Savel Prokofievich himself does not even think of denying her conclusions. “Who doesn’t feel sorry for their own goods!” - he exclaims.

Much more complex in the play is the image of Kabanikha. This is an exponent of the “ideology of the dark kingdom”, which “created for itself a whole world of special rules and superstitious customs.”

Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova is a rich merchant’s wife, a widow, cultivating the orders and traditions of antiquity. She is grumpy and constantly dissatisfied with those around her. She gets it from her, first of all, from her family: she “eats” her son Tikhon, reads endless moral lectures to her daughter-in-law, and tries to control her daughter’s behavior.

Kabanikha zealously defends all the laws and customs of Domostroy. A wife, in her opinion, should be afraid of her husband, be silent and submissive. Children must honor their parents, unquestioningly follow all their instructions, follow their advice, and respect them. None of these requirements, according to Kabanova, are met in her family. Marfa Ignatievna is dissatisfied with the behavior of her son and daughter-in-law: “They know nothing, no order,” she argues alone. She reproaches Katerina for not knowing how to see her husband off “in the old-fashioned way” - therefore, she doesn’t love him enough. “Another good wife, having seen her husband off, howls for an hour and a half and lies on the porch...” she lectures her daughter-in-law. Tikhon, according to Kabanova, is too gentle in his treatment of his wife and is not sufficiently respectful towards his mother. “They don’t really respect elders these days,” says Marfa Ignatievna, reading instructions to her son.

Kabanikha is fanatically religious: she constantly remembers God, sin and retribution; wanderers often visit her house. However, Marfa Ignatievna’s religiosity is nothing more than pharisaism: “A bigot... She gives tribute to the poor, but completely eats up her family,” Kuligin notes about her. In her faith, Marfa Ignatievna is stern and unyielding; there is no place for love, mercy, or forgiveness in her. So, at the end of the play she does not even think about forgiving Katerina for her sin. On the contrary, she advises Tikhon to “bury his wife alive in the ground so that she will be executed.”

Religion, ancient rituals, pharisaical complaints about his life, playing on filial feelings - Kabanikha uses everything to assert her absolute power in the family. And she “gets her way”: in the harsh, oppressive atmosphere of domestic tyranny, Tikhon’s personality is disfigured. “Tikhon himself loved his wife and would be ready to do anything for her; but the oppression under which he grew up has so disfigured him that no strong feeling, no decisive desire can develop in him. He has a conscience, a desire for good, but he constantly acts against himself and serves as a submissive instrument of his mother, even in his relations with his wife,” writes Dobrolyubov.

The simple-minded, gentle Tikhon lost the integrity of his feelings, the opportunity to show the best features of his nature. Family happiness was initially closed to him: in the family where he grew up, this happiness was replaced by “Chinese ceremonies.” He cannot show his love for his wife, and not because “a wife should be afraid of her husband,” but because he simply “doesn’t know how” to show his feelings, which have been cruelly suppressed since childhood. All this led Tikhon to a certain emotional deafness: he often does not understand Katerina’s condition.

Depriving her son of any initiative, Kabanikha constantly suppressed his masculinity and at the same time reproached him for his lack of masculinity. Subconsciously, he strives to make up for this “lack of masculinity” through drinking and rare “partying” “in the wild.” Tikhon cannot realize himself in any business - probably his mother does not allow him to manage affairs, considering his son unsuitable for this. Kabanova can only send her son on an errand, but everything else is under her strict control. It turns out that Tikhon is deprived of both his own opinion and his own feelings. It is characteristic that Marfa Ignatievna herself is to some extent dissatisfied with her son’s infantilism. This comes through in her intonations. However, she probably does not realize the extent of her involvement in this.

Varvara’s life philosophy was also formed in the Kabanov family. Her rule is simple: “do what you want, as long as it’s safe and covered.” Varvara is far from Katerina’s religiosity, from her poetry and exaltation. She quickly learned to lie and dodge. We can say that Varvara, in her own way, “mastered” the “Chinese ceremonies”, perceiving their very essence. The heroine still retains spontaneity of feelings and kindness, but her lies are nothing more than reconciliation with Kalinov’s morality.

It is characteristic that in the finale of the play both Tikhon and Varvara, each in their own way, rebel against “mama’s power.” Varvara runs away from home with Kuryash, while Tikhon openly expresses his opinion for the first time, reproaching his mother for the death of his wife.

Dobrolyubov noted that “some critics even wanted to see in Ostrovsky a singer of broad natures,” “they wanted to assign arbitrariness to the Russian person as a special, natural quality of his nature - under the name “breadth of nature”; they also wanted to legitimize trickery and cunning among the Russian people under the name of sharpness and slyness." In the play "The Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky debunks both of these phenomena. Arbitrariness comes out as "heavy, ugly, lawless", he sees in it nothing more than tyranny and cunning, which turn out not to be cleverness, but to vulgarity. , the other side of tyranny.

“And they don’t lock themselves away from thieves, but so that people don’t see
how they eat their own family and tyrannize their families.”

As Dobrolyubov correctly noted, Ostrovsky in one of his plays depicts a truly “dark kingdom” - a world of tyranny, betrayal and stupidity. The drama takes place in the city of Kalinov, which stands on the banks of the Volga. There is a certain symbolic parallelism in the location of the city: the rapid flow of the river is contrasted with an atmosphere of stagnation, lawlessness and oppression. It seems as if the city is isolated from the outside world. Residents learn news thanks to the stories of wanderers. Moreover, this news is of very dubious and sometimes even absurd content. The Kalinovites blindly believe the stories of crazy old people about unrighteous countries, lands that have fallen from heaven and rulers with dog heads. People are accustomed to living in fear not only of the world, but also of the rulers of the “dark kingdom.” This is their comfort zone that no one intends to leave. If, in principle, everything is clear with ordinary people, then what about the above-mentioned rulers?

In “The Thunderstorm,” Dikoy and Kabanikha represent the “dark kingdom.” They are both the masters and creators of this world. The tyranny of the Wild and Kabani knows no bounds.

In the city, power does not belong to the mayor, but to the merchants, who, thanks to their connections and profits, were able to receive the support of higher authorities. They mock the bourgeoisie and deceive ordinary people. In the text of the work, this image is embodied in Savl Prokofievich Diky, a middle-aged merchant who keeps everyone in fear, lends money at huge interest rates and deceives other merchants. In Kalinov there are legends about his cruelty. No one except Kudryashch can answer the Wild One appropriately, and the merchant actively takes advantage of this. He asserts himself through humiliation and mockery, and the feeling of impunity only increases the degree of cruelty. “Look for another scolder like ours, Savel Prokofich! He will never cut off a person,” this is what the residents themselves say about Dikiy. It is interesting that Dikoy takes out his anger only on those he knows, or on the residents of the city - the weak-willed and downtrodden. This is evidenced by the episode of Dikiy’s quarrel with the hussar: the hussar scolded Saul Prokofievich so much that he did not say a word, but then everyone at home “hid in attics and basements” for two weeks.

Enlightenment and new technologies simply cannot penetrate Kalinov. Residents are distrustful of all innovations. So, in one of the last appearances, Kuligin tells Diky about the benefits of a lightning rod, but he doesn’t want to listen. Dikoy is only rude to Kuligin and says that it is impossible to earn money honestly, which once again proves that he did not receive his wealth through daily efforts. A negative attitude towards change is a common feature of the Wild and Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna advocates for the observance of old traditions. It is important to her how they enter the house, how they express feelings, how they go for walks. At the same time, neither the internal content of such actions nor other problems (for example, her son’s alcoholism) bother her. Tikhon’s words that his wife’s embrace is enough for him seem unconvincing to Marfa Ignatievna: Katerina must “howl” when she says goodbye to her husband and throw herself at his feet. By the way, external ritualism and attribution are characteristic of Marfa Ignatievna’s life position as a whole. A woman treats religion in exactly the same way, forgetting that in addition to weekly trips to church, faith must come from the heart. In addition, Christianity in the minds of these people was mixed with pagan superstitions, which can be seen in the scene with the thunderstorm.

Kabanikha believes that the whole world rests on those who follow the old laws: “something will happen when the old people die, I don’t even know how the light will last.” She also convinces the merchant of this. From the dialogue between Wild and Kabanikha, one can see a certain hierarchy in their relationship. Savl Prokofievich recognizes Kabanikha’s unspoken leadership, her strength of character and intelligence. Dikoy understands that he is incapable of such manipulative hysterics as Marfa Ignatievna throws at her family every day.

The comparative characterization of the Wild and Kabanikha from the play “The Thunderstorm” is also quite interesting. Dikiy’s despotism is aimed more at the outside world - at the residents of the city, only relatives suffer from Marfa Ignatievna’s tyranny, and in society the woman maintains the image of a respectable mother and housewife. Marfa Ignatievna, like Dikiy, is not at all embarrassed by gossip and conversations, because both are confident that they are right. Neither one nor the other cares about the happiness of loved ones. Family relationships for each of these characters must be built on fear and oppression. This can be seen especially clearly in Kabanova’s behavior.

As can be seen from the examples above, Kabanikha and Dikiy have similarities and differences. But most of all, they are united by a sense of permissiveness and an unshakable confidence that this is exactly how everything should be.

Work test

The image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” is one of the main negative ones that forms the plot. Hence the depth of his portrayal by playwright Ostrovsky. The play itself shows how, in the depths of an outdated but still strong patriarchal society, the champions of the “dark kingdom” in the very bud stifle the barely emerging shoots of the new. At the same time, the author of the work depicts two types that support the foundations of the Old Testament society based on dogmas. This is the widowed wealthy merchant Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, as well as the wealthy merchant Savel Prokofich Dikoy. No wonder they call each other godfathers.

Merchant's wife Kabanova as an ideologist of the “dark kingdom”

It should be recognized that the image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” occupies a more significant position in the gradation of negative images than the character of the merchant Dikiy. Unlike her godfather, who oppresses those around him in the most primitive ways (with the help of swearing, almost reaching the point of beatings and humiliation), Marfa Ignatievna understands perfectly well what “old times” are and how they should be protected. Her influence on others is more subtle. After all, as the reader reads the drama, she sees not only scenes where she peremptorily lectures her family, but also moments where she pretends to be “old and stupid.” Moreover, the merchant Kabanova acts as an apologist for double morality and hypocrisy in the manipulation of her neighbors. And in this sense, the image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” is truly classic in Russian literature.

The merchant's desire is to subjugate her neighbors

The playwright Ostrovsky managed to show at the same time, deeply and clearly for the reader, how in the merchant Kabanova, ostentatious, insincere religiosity coexists with an absolutely non-Christian, immoral and selfish desire - to subjugate people to oneself. Marfa Ignatievna really breaks the will and characters of her neighbors, their life aspirations, crushes real, genuine spirituality. She is opposed by the image of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” her daughter-in-law.

Different understanding of antiquity by Kabanikha and Katerina

To be precise, Katerina is also a representative of a patriarchal society. This idea was expressed by the actor and literary critic Pisarev in response to the famous article by Nikolai Dobrolyubov “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom.”

However, if her mother-in-law represents the “old times”, gloomy, dogmatic, subjugating people and killing their aspirations with meaningless “don’ts” and teachings “how it should be,” then Katerina, in contrast to her, has completely different views on the “old times”.

For her, there are also centuries-old traditions, but they are expressed in completely different ways: in love for others and care for them, in a childishly enthusiastic attitude towards the world around us, in the ability to see and perceive all the good things around, in the instinctive rejection of gloomy dogmatism, in mercy . “Old time” for Katerina is colorful, romantic, poetic, joyful. Thus, Katerina and Kabanikha personalize two opposing aspects of Russian patriarchal serf society - dark and light.

Psychological pressure from Kabanikha on Katerina

The tragic image of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" invariably evokes the reader's sympathy and sympathy. The girl ends up in the Kabanov family by marrying Tikhon, the son of a merchant's wife. Before Katerina appeared in the house, her future mother-in-law completely imposed her will on everyone at home: her son and daughter Varvara. Moreover, if Tikhon is completely morally broken and is only able to follow the instructions of “mama,” then Varvara only pretends to agree, but always acts in her own way. However, under the influence of her mother, her personality was also deformed - the girl became insincere and double-minded.

The image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” is antagonistic to the image of Katerina throughout the entire play. It’s not for nothing that the daughter-in-law reproaches that her mother-in-law “eats her.” Kabanikha constantly insults her with far-fetched suspicions. It exhausts the soul with senseless compulsions to “bow to your husband” and “cut your nose.” Moreover, the merchant's wife appeals to quite plausible principles: maintaining order in the family; harmonious (as is customary in the Russian tradition) relationships between relatives; foundations of the Christian faith. In fact, Marfa Ignatievna’s influence on Katerina comes down to compulsion - to blindly follow her orders. Kabanikha wants to turn her into another subject of her home “dark kingdom”.

Unmercifulness is a common trait between Kabanikha and Wild

The characterization of the image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky shows her common feature with the image of the merchant Dikiy, despite their obvious characteristic differences. This is unmerciful towards people. Both of them treat their neighbors and fellow citizens in a non-Christian, consumerist way.

True, Savel Prokofich does this openly, and Marfa Ignatievna resorts to mimicry, imitating Christian beliefs. In conversations with her neighbors, she prefers the tactic “the best defense is attack,” accusing them of non-existent “sins.” She doesn’t even hear counter arguments from her children and daughter-in-law. “I would believe... if I hadn’t heard with my own ears... what veneration is like...” Isn’t it a very convenient, almost “impenetrable” position?

The characterization and image of Kabanikha from the play “The Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky combines hypocrisy and cruelty. After all, in fact, Kabanikha, who regularly goes to church and does not spare alms to the poor, turns out to be cruel and unable to forgive Katerina, who has repented and admitted cheating on her husband. Moreover, she instructs her son Tikhon, who is deprived of his own point of view, to beat her, which he does. They motivate this, again, by tradition.

Kabanikha contributed to Katerina’s suicide

It is the image of Katerina Kabanova in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” constantly bullied by her mother-in-law, deprived of all rights and intercession, that gives tragedy to Ostrovsky’s play. None of the readers doubt that her suicide is the result of the unfavorable influence of her mother-in-law, constant humiliation, threats, and cruel treatment.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that Katerina had previously stated that she would settle scores with her unhappy life. Marfa Ignatievna, who was well aware of everything that was going on in the house, could not help but know this. Was there any direct intent on the part of the mother-in-law to drive her daughter-in-law to suicide? Hardly. Rather, Kabanikha thought of “breaking” her, completely, just as she had already done with her son. As a result, the merchant's family collapses: her daughter Varvara accuses her of directly contributing to the tragedy and leaves home. Tikhon goes on a drinking binge...

However, the hard-hearted Marfa Ignatievna does not repent even after this. For her, the “dark kingdom”, manipulating people is more important than family, more important than morality. This conclusion can be drawn from the episode of Kabanikha’s revealed hypocrisy even in this tragic situation. The merchant's wife publicly bows and thanks the people who retrieved the body of the late Katerina from the Volga. However, then he declares that she cannot be forgiven. What could be more anti-Christian than not forgiving a dead person? This, perhaps, can only be done by a real apostate.

Instead of a conclusion

The negative character - the merchant Kabanova - is revealed gradually as the action progresses. Does the image of Katerina in A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” fully oppose him? Most likely not. The girl has nothing to oppose to the suffocating atmosphere around her; she only begs for understanding. She makes a mistake. The imaginary liberation from the domestic “dark kingdom” of the Kabanovs - an affair with Boris - turns out to be a mirage. Katerina repents. It would seem that Kabanikha’s morality has won... It costs the merchant’s wife nothing to turn the girl into her ally. To do this, you just need to show mercy. However, as they say, habit is second nature. Kabanikha, “offended,” bullies the already unrequited, humiliated Katerina with redoubled force.

The daughter-in-law's suicide brings devastating consequences for Marfa Ignatievna's family. We are now seeing a crisis in the obedient (before Katerina’s appearance) family of the merchant’s wife, which is falling apart. Kabanikha can no longer effectively defend the “old times.” From the above, the conclusion suggests itself that at the turn of the 19th century, the way of life of Russian society was steadily changing.

In fact, society even then demanded a liberation decree abolishing serfdom, allowing commoners to raise the role of education and social freedoms.

Such and such a scolder like ours
Savel Prokofich, look again!
A. N. Ostrovsky
For many years, Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm” became a textbook work, depicting the “dark kingdom” that suppresses the best human feelings and aspirations, trying to force everyone to live according to its crude laws. No free-thinking - unconditional and complete submission to elders. The bearers of this “ideology” are Dikoy and Kabanikha. Internally they are very similar, but there is some external difference in their characters.
The boar is a prude and a hypocrite. Under the guise of piety, she, “like rusting iron,” eats her household members, completely suppressing their will. Kabanikha raised a weak-willed son and wants to control his every step. She hates the very idea that Tikhon can make his own decisions without looking back at his mother. “I would believe you, my friend,” she says to Tikhon, “if I had not seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears what kind of respect for parents from children has now become! If only they remembered how many illnesses mothers suffer from their children.”
Kabanikha not only humiliates the children herself, she teaches Tikhon this too, forcing him to torture his wife. This old woman is suspicious of everything. If she had not been so fierce, Katerina would not have rushed first into the arms of Boris, and then into the Volga. The wild one just pounces on everyone like a chain. Kudryash, however, is sure that “...we don’t have many guys like me, otherwise we would have taught him not to be naughty.” This is absolutely true. Dikoy does not meet adequate resistance, and therefore suppresses everyone. The capital behind him is the basis of his excesses, which is why he behaves this way. For the Wild there is one law - money. With them he determines the “value” of a person. Swearing is a normal state for him. They say about him: “We can’t look for another scolder like our Savel Prokofich. There’s no way he’ll cut someone off.”
Kabanikha and Dikoy are “pillars of society”, spiritual mentors in the city of Kalinov. They have established unbearable orders, from which one rushes into the Volga, others run wherever they want, and still others become drunkards.
Kabanikha is quite confident that she is right; she alone knows the ultimate truth. That is why he behaves so unceremoniously. She is the enemy of everything new, young, fresh. “That’s how the old man comes out. I don’t even want to go to another house. And if you get up, you’ll spit, but get out quickly. What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will remain, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything.”
Dikiy has a pathological love of money. In them he sees the basis of his unlimited power over people. Moreover, for him, all means are good in making money: he cheats the townspeople, “he won’t cheat a single one,” he makes up “thousands” from unpaid kopecks, and quite calmly appropriates the inheritance of his nephews. Dikoy is not scrupulous in his choice of funds.
Under the yoke of the Wild and Boars, not only their households groan, but the entire city. “Fat is powerful” opens up for them the unlimited possibility of arbitrariness and tyranny. “The absence of any law, any logic - this is the law and logic of this life,” writes Dobrolyubov about the life of the city of Kalinov, and, consequently, of any other city in Tsarist Russia.
In the play “The Thunderstorm,” Ostrovsky gives a true picture of the musty atmosphere of the provincial city. The reader and viewer get a terrifying impression, but why is the drama still relevant 140 years after its creation? Little has changed in human psychology. Whoever is rich and in power is right, unfortunately to this day.