HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE PLAY

The play was begun by Alexander Ostrovsky in July 1859 and completed on October 9. The manuscript of the play is kept in the Russian State Library.

In 1848, Alexander Ostrovsky went with his family to Kostroma, to the Shchelykovo estate. The natural beauty of the Volga region struck the playwright and then he thought about the play. For a long time it was believed that the plot of the drama The Thunderstorm was taken by Ostrovsky from the life of the Kostroma merchants. Kostroma residents at the beginning of the 20th century could accurately point to the place of Katerina’s suicide.

In his play, Ostrovsky raises the problem of the turning point in social life that occurred in the 1850s, the problem of changing social foundations.

The names of the characters in the play are endowed with symbolism: Kabanova is an overweight woman with a difficult character; Kuligin is a “kuliga”, a swamp, some of its features and name are similar to the name of the inventor Kulibin; the name Katerina means “pure”; Varvara opposed to her - “ barbarian».

THE MEANING OF THE TITLE OF THE DRAMA THUNDERSTORM

The title of Ostrovsky's drama "The Thunderstorm" plays a big role in understanding this play. The image of a thunderstorm in Ostrovsky's drama is unusually complex and multi-valued. On the one hand, the thunderstorm is a direct participant in the action of the play, on the other hand, it is a symbol of the idea of ​​this work. In addition, the image of a thunderstorm has so many meanings that it illuminates almost all facets of the tragic collision in the play.

Thunderstorm plays an important role in the composition of the drama. In the first act there is the plot of the work: Katerina tells Varvara about her dreams and hints at her secret love. Almost immediately after this, a thunderstorm approaches: “... the storm is setting in...” At the beginning of the fourth act, a thunderstorm is also gathering, foreshadowing the tragedy: “Remember my words, this storm will not pass in vain...”

And a thunderstorm breaks out only in the scene of Katerina’s confession - at the climax of the play, when the heroine speaks about her sin to her husband and mother-in-law, without being ashamed of the presence of other townspeople. The thunderstorm is directly involved in the action as a real natural phenomenon. It influences the behavior of the characters: after all, it is during a thunderstorm that Katerina confesses her sin. They even talk about the thunderstorm as if it were alive (“The rain is dripping, as if a thunderstorm is not going to gather?”, “And so it creeps on us, and creeps, as if alive!”).

But the thunderstorm in the play also has a figurative meaning. For example, Tikhon calls the swearing, swearing and antics of his mother a thunderstorm: “But as I know now that there won’t be any thunderstorm over me for two weeks, there are no shackles on my legs, so what do I care about my wife?”

Another noteworthy fact is that Kuligin is a supporter of the peaceful eradication of vices (he wants to ridicule bad morals in the book: “I wanted to depict all this in poetry...”). And it is he who suggests that Dikiy make a lightning rod (“copper tablet”), which serves here as an allegory, because gentle and peaceful opposition to vices by exposing them in books is a kind of lightning rod.

In addition, the thunderstorm is perceived differently by all characters. So, Dikoy says: “A thunderstorm is being sent to us as punishment.” Dikoy declares that people should be afraid of thunderstorms, but his power and tyranny are based precisely on people’s fear of him. Evidence of this is the fate of Boris. He is afraid of not receiving the inheritance and therefore submits to the Wild One. This means that the Wild One benefits from this fear. He wants everyone to be afraid of the thunderstorm, just like him.

But Kuligin treats the thunderstorm differently: “Now every blade of grass, every flower is rejoicing, but we are hiding, afraid, as if some misfortune is coming!” He sees a life-giving force in a thunderstorm. It is interesting that not only the attitude towards thunderstorms, but also the principles of Dikiy and Kuligin are different. Kuligin condemns the lifestyle of Dikiy, Kabanova and their morals: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel!..”

So the image of a thunderstorm turns out to be connected with the revelation of the characters of the drama. Katerina is also afraid of thunderstorms, but not as much as Dikoy. She sincerely believes that the thunderstorm is God's punishment. Katerina does not talk about the benefits of a thunderstorm; she is afraid not of punishment, but of sins. Her fear is associated with deep, strong faith and high moral ideals. Therefore, her words about the fear of thunderstorms do not sound like complacency, like Dikiy’s, but rather repentance: “It’s not so scary that it will kill you, but that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins, with all your evil thoughts.” ..."

The heroine herself also resembles a thunderstorm. Firstly, the theme of the thunderstorm is connected with Katerina’s experiences and state of mind. In the first act, a thunderstorm gathers, as if a harbinger of tragedy and as an expression of the heroine’s troubled soul. It was then that Katerina confesses to Varvara that she loves someone else - not her husband. The thunderstorm did not bother Katerina during her date with Boris, when she suddenly felt happy. A thunderstorm appears whenever storms rage in the soul of the heroine herself: the words “With Boris Grigorievich!” (in the scene of Katerina’s confession) - and again, according to the author’s remark, a “thunderclap” is heard.

Secondly, Katerina’s confession and her suicide was a challenge to the forces of the “dark kingdom” and its principles (“secretly hidden”). Love itself, which Katerina did not hide, her desire for freedom is also a protest, a challenge that thundered over the forces of the “dark kingdom” like a thunderstorm. Katerina’s victory is that rumors will spread about Kabanikha, about her role in her daughter-in-law’s suicide, and it will not be possible to hide the truth. Even Tikhon begins to weakly protest. “You ruined her! You! You!" - he shouts to his mother.

So, Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm” produces, despite its tragedy, a refreshing, encouraging impression, which Dobrolyubov spoke about: “... the end (of the play)... seems gratifying to us, it’s easy to understand why: it presents a terrible challenge to tyrant power. ..”

Katerina does not adapt to Kabanova’s principles, she did not want to lie and listen to other people’s lies: “You are in vain saying this about me, Mama...”

A thunderstorm is also not subject to anything or anyone - it happens both in summer and spring, not limited to the time of year, like precipitation. It is not for nothing that in many pagan religions the main god is the Thunderer, the lord of thunder and lightning (thunderstorms).

As in nature, a thunderstorm in Ostrovsky’s play combines destructive and creative forces: “The thunderstorm will kill!”, “This is not a thunderstorm, but grace!”

So, the image of a thunderstorm in Ostrovsky’s drama is multi-valued and multi-sided: while symbolically expressing the idea of ​​the work, it is at the same time directly involved in the action. The image of a thunderstorm illuminates almost all facets of the tragic conflict of the play, which is why the meaning of the title becomes so important for understanding the play.

Creative history of "Thunderstorm"

Ostrovsky came to an artistic synthesis of the dark and light principles of merchant life in the Russian tragedy “The Thunderstorm” - the pinnacle of his mature creativity. The creation of “The Thunderstorm” was preceded by the playwright’s expedition to the Upper Volga, undertaken on instructions from the Maritime Ministry in 1856-1857. She revived and revived his youthful impressions, when in 1848 Ostrovsky first went with his household on an exciting journey to his father’s homeland, to the Volga city of Kostroma and further, to the Shchelykovo estate acquired by his father. The result of this trip was Ostrovsky’s diary, which reveals much in his perception of the life of provincial, Volga Russia. The Ostrovskys set off on April 22, the eve of Yegoriev's Day. “It’s spring time, holidays are frequent,” says Kupava to Tsar Berendey in Ostrovsky’s “spring fairy tale” “The Snow Maiden.” The journey coincided with the most poetic time of year in the life of a Russian person. In the evenings, in ritual spring songs that sounded outside the outskirts, in the groves and valleys, the peasants addressed the birds, curly willows, white birches, and silky green grass. On Yegoryev’s day, they walked around the fields, “called out to Yegory,” and asked him to protect the cattle from predatory animals. Following Yegoryev's Day there were holidays of green Christmastide (Russian week), when round dances were held in the villages, they played burners, burned bonfires and jumped over fire. The Ostrovskys’ journey lasted a whole week and went through ancient Russian cities: Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kostroma. The Upper Volga region opened up for Ostrovsky as an inexhaustible source of poetic creativity. “From Pereyaslavl begins Merya,” he writes in his diary, “a land rich in mountains and waters, and a people who are tall, and handsome, and intelligent, and frank, and obliging, and a free mind, and a wide-open soul. These are my beloved countrymen, with whom I seem to get along well. Here you won’t see a little bent man or woman in an owl costume, who constantly bows and says: “and father, and father...” “And everything goes on in a crescendo,” he continues further, “and the cities, and the views, and the weather, and the village buildings, and girls. Here are eight beauties we came across on the road.” “On the meadow side the views are amazing: what a village, what buildings, just as if you are driving not through Russia, but through some promised land.” And here are the Ostrovskys in Kostroma. “We are standing on a steep mountain, the Volga is under our feet, and along it ships go back and forth, sometimes with sails, sometimes in barge haulers, and one charming song haunts us irresistibly. Here the bark approaches, and charming sounds are barely audible from a distance; closer and closer, the song grew and finally began to flow at the top of its voice, then little by little it began to subside, and meanwhile another bark was approaching and the same song was growing. And there is no end to this song... And on the other side of the Volga, right opposite the city, there are two villages; and one is especially picturesque, from which the most curly grove stretches all the way to the Volga; the sun at sunset somehow miraculously climbed into it, from the roots, and created many miracles. I was exhausted looking at this... Exhausted, I returned home and for a long, long time I could not sleep. A kind of despair took possession of me. Will the painful experiences of these five days be fruitless for me? Such impressions could not turn out to be fruitless, but they persisted and matured in the soul of the playwright and poet for a long time before such masterpieces of his work as “The Thunderstorm” and then “The Snow Maiden” appeared. His friend S.V. spoke well about the great influence of the “literary expedition” along the Volga on Ostrovsky’s subsequent work. Maksimov: “The artist, strong in talent, was not able to miss a favorable opportunity... He continued to observe the characters and worldview of the indigenous Russian people, who came out to meet him in the hundreds... The Volga gave Ostrovsky abundant food, showed him new themes for dramas and comedies and inspired him to those of them, which constitute the honor and pride of Russian literature. From the veche, once free, Novgorod suburbs there was a whiff of that transitional time, when the heavy hand of Moscow shackled the old will and sent iron-knitted governors on long, raked paws. I had a poetic “Dream on the Volga”, and the “voevoda” Nechai Grigorievich Shalygin and his enemy, a free man, the fugitive posad daredevil Roman Dubrovin, rose from the grave alive and active, in all that truthful situation of old Rus', which only the Volga can imagine, in at the same time, both pious and robber, well-fed and hungry... Outwardly beautiful Torzhok, jealously guarding its Novgorod antiquity to the strange customs of girlish freedom and strict seclusion of married women, inspired Ostrovsky to create the deeply poetic “Thunderstorm” with playful Varvara and artistically graceful Katerina " For quite a long time, it was believed that Ostrovsky took the plot of “The Thunderstorm” from the life of the Kostroma merchants, and that it was based on the Klykov case, which was sensational in Kostroma at the end of 1859. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Kostroma residents proudly pointed to the site of Katerina’s suicide - a gazebo at the end of a small boulevard, which in those years literally hung over the Volga. They also showed the house where she lived - next to the Church of the Assumption. And when “The Thunderstorm” was first performed on the stage of the Kostroma Theater, the artists made themselves up “to look like the Klykovs.”

Kostroma local historians then thoroughly examined the “Klykovo Case” in the archives and, with documents in hand, came to the conclusion that it was this story that Ostrovsky used in his work on “The Thunderstorm.” The coincidences were almost literal. A.P. Klykova was handed over at the age of sixteen to a gloomy and unsociable merchant family, consisting of old parents, a son and an unmarried daughter. The mistress of the house, stern and obstinate, depersonalized her husband and children with her despotism. She forced her young daughter-in-law to do any menial work and refused her requests to see her family.

At the time of the drama, Klykova was nineteen years old. In the past, she was raised in love and in the comfort of her soul by a doting grandmother, she was cheerful, lively, cheerful. Now she found herself unkind and alien in the family. Her young husband, Klykov, a carefree and apathetic man, could not protect his wife from the oppression of her mother-in-law and treated them indifferently. The Klykovs had no children. And then another man stood in the way of the young woman, Maryin, an employee at the post office. Suspicions and scenes of jealousy began. It ended with the fact that on November 10, 1859, the body of A.P. Klykova was found in the Volga. A long trial began, which received wide publicity even outside the Kostroma province, and none of the Kostroma residents doubted that Ostrovsky had used the materials of this case in “The Thunderstorm.”

Many decades passed before Ostrovsky’s researchers established for sure that “The Thunderstorm” was written before the Kostroma merchant Klykova rushed into the Volga. Ostrovsky began work on “The Thunderstorm” in June - July 1859 and finished it on October 9 of the same year. The play was first published in the January issue of the magazine “Library for Reading” for 1860. The first performance of “The Thunderstorm” on stage took place on November 16, 1859 at the Maly Theater, during a benefit performance by S.V. Vasilyeva with L.P. Nikulina-Kositskaya as Katerina. The version about the Kostroma source of the “Thunderstorm” turned out to be far-fetched. However, the very fact of an amazing coincidence speaks volumes: it testifies to the foresight of the national playwright, who caught the growing conflict in merchant life between the old and the new, a conflict in which Dobrolyubov saw “something refreshing and encouraging” for a reason, and the famous theater figure S.A. . Yuryev said: “Ostrovsky didn’t write the “Thunderstorm”... “Volga” wrote the “Thunderstorm”.

Dramatic events of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm" takes place in the city of Kalinov. This town is located on the picturesque bank of the Volga, from the high cliff of which the vast Russian expanses and boundless distances open up to the eye. “The view is extraordinary! Beauty! The soul rejoices,” enthuses local self-taught mechanic Kuligin. Pictures of endless distances, echoed in a lyrical song. Among the flat valleys,” which he sings, are of great importance for conveying the feeling of the immense possibilities of the Russian […]

Whole, honest, sincere, she is incapable of lies and falsehood, which is why in a cruel world where wild and wild boars reign, her life turns out so tragically. Katerina’s protest against Kabanikha’s despotism is a struggle of the bright, pure, human against the darkness, lies and cruelty of the “dark kingdom”. It is not for nothing that Ostrovsky, who paid great attention to the selection of names and surnames of the characters, gave this name to the heroine of “The Thunderstorm”: translated from Greek “Ekaterina” means “eternally pure”. Katerina is a poetic person. IN […]

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was endowed with great talent as a playwright. He is deservedly considered the founder of the Russian national theater. His plays, varied in theme, glorified Russian literature. Ostrovsky's creativity had a democratic character. He created plays that showed hatred of the autocratic serfdom regime. The writer called for the protection of the oppressed and humiliated citizens of Russia and longed for social change. Ostrovsky’s enormous merit is that he opened the enlightened [...]

In “The Thunderstorm,” Ostrovsky shows the life of a Russian merchant family and the position of women in it. Katerina’s character was formed in a simple merchant family, where love reigned and the daughter was given complete freedom. She acquired and retained all the wonderful traits of the Russian character. This is a pure, open soul that does not know how to lie. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” she tells Varvara. In religion, Katerina found the highest truth and beauty. Her desire for the beautiful and the good was expressed in prayers. Coming out […]

In the drama “The Thunderstorm,” Ostrovsky created a very psychologically complex image - the image of Katerina Kabanova. This young woman charms the viewer with her huge, pure soul, childish sincerity and kindness. But she lives in the musty atmosphere of the “dark kingdom” of merchant morals. Ostrovsky managed to create a bright and poetic image of a Russian woman from the people. The main storyline of the play is a tragic conflict between the living, feeling soul of Katerina and the dead way of life of the “dark kingdom”. Honest and […]

Katerina Varvara Character Sincere, sociable, kind, honest, pious, but superstitious. Tender, soft, and at the same time, decisive. Rough, cheerful, but taciturn: “... I don’t like to talk a lot.” Decisive, can fight back. Temperament Passionate, freedom-loving, courageous, impetuous and unpredictable. She says about herself, “I was born so hot!” Freedom-loving, intelligent, prudent, courageous and rebellious, she is not afraid of either parental or heavenly punishment. Upbringing, […]

“The Thunderstorm” was published in 1859 (on the eve of the revolutionary situation in Russia, in the “pre-storm” era). Its historicism lies in the conflict itself, the irreconcilable contradictions reflected in the play. It responds to the spirit of the times. "The Thunderstorm" represents the idyll of the "dark kingdom". Tyranny and silence are brought to the extreme in her. A real heroine from the people’s environment appears in the play, and it is the description of her character that receives the main attention, while the little world of the city of Kalinov and the conflict itself are described in a more general way. “Their lives […]

Katerina is the main character of Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”, Tikhon’s wife, Kabanikha’s daughter-in-law. The main idea of ​​the work is the conflict of this girl with the “dark kingdom”, the kingdom of tyrants, despots and ignoramuses. You can find out why this conflict arose and why the end of the drama is so tragic by understanding Katerina’s ideas about life. The author showed the origins of the heroine's character. From Katerina's words we learn about her childhood and adolescence. Here is an ideal version of patriarchal relations and the patriarchal world in general: “I lived, not about [...]

“The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky made a strong and deep impression on his contemporaries. Many critics were inspired by this work. However, even in our time it has not ceased to be interesting and topical. Elevated to the category of classical drama, it still arouses interest. The tyranny of the “older” generation lasts for many years, but some event must occur that could break the patriarchal tyranny. Such an event turns out to be the protest and death of Katerina, which awakened other […]

The critical history of "The Thunderstorm" begins even before its appearance. To argue about “a ray of light in a dark kingdom,” it was necessary to open the “Dark Kingdom.” An article under this title appeared in the July and September issues of Sovremennik for 1859. It was signed with the usual pseudonym of N. A. Dobrolyubov - N. - bov. The reason for this work was extremely significant. In 1859, Ostrovsky summed up the interim result of his literary activity: his two-volume collected works appeared. "We consider it the most [...]

The play “The Thunderstorm” by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is historical for us, as it shows the life of the philistinism. "The Thunderstorm" was written in 1859. It is the only work of the “Nights on the Volga” series conceived but not realized by the writer. The main theme of the work is a description of the conflict that arose between two generations. The Kabanikha family is typical. The merchants cling to their old morals, not wanting to understand the younger generation. And since young people do not want to follow traditions, they are suppressed. I'm sure, […]

In The Thunderstorm, Ostrovsky, using a small number of characters, managed to reveal several problems at once. Firstly, this is, of course, a social conflict, a clash between “fathers” and “children”, their points of view (and if we resort to generalization, then two historical eras). Kabanova and Dikoy belong to the older generation, who actively express their opinions, and Katerina, Tikhon, Varvara, Kudryash and Boris to the younger generation. Kabanova is sure that order in the house, control over everything that happens in it, is the key to a healthy life. Correct […]

A conflict is a clash between two or more parties that do not coincide in their views and worldviews. There are several conflicts in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” but how can you decide which one is the main one? In the era of sociology in literary criticism, it was believed that social conflict was the most important in the play. Of course, if we see in the image of Katerina a reflection of the spontaneous protest of the masses against the constraining conditions of the “dark kingdom” and perceive Katerina’s death as the result of her collision with her tyrant mother-in-law, one should […]

Let's start with Katerina. In the play "The Thunderstorm" this lady is the main character. What is the problem with this work? The problematic is the main question that the author asks in his work. So the question here is who will win? The dark kingdom, which is represented by the bureaucrats of a provincial town, or the bright beginning, which is represented by our heroine. Katerina is pure in soul, she has a tender, sensitive, loving heart. The heroine herself is deeply hostile to this dark swamp, but is not fully aware of it. Katerina was born […]

A special hero in Ostrovsky’s world, who belongs to the type of poor official with self-esteem, is Yuliy Kapitonovich Karandyshev. At the same time, his pride is hypertrophied so much that it becomes a substitute for other feelings. Larisa for him is not just his beloved girl, she is also a “prize” that gives him the opportunity to triumph over Paratov, a chic and rich rival. At the same time, Karandyshev feels like a benefactor, taking as his wife a dowry-free woman, partly compromised by the relationship […]

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The focus of the writers of the 19th century is on a person with a rich spiritual life and a changeable inner world. The new hero reflects the state of the individual in an era of social transformation. The authors do not ignore the complex conditioning of the development of the human psyche by the external material environment. The main feature of the depiction of the world of heroes of Russian literature is psychologism , that is, the ability to show a change in the hero’s soul. In the center of different works we see “extra […]

The love story of clerk Mitya and Lyuba Tortsova unfolds against the backdrop of life in a merchant's house. Ostrovsky once again delighted his fans with his remarkable knowledge of the world and amazingly vivid language. Unlike the earlier plays, this comedy contains not only the soulless manufacturer Korshunov and Gordey Tortsov, who boasts of his wealth and power. They are contrasted with simple and sincere people dear to the hearts of the pochvenniks - the kind and loving Mitya and the squandered drunkard Lyubim Tortsov, who remained, despite his fall, […]

It is not for nothing that the novel “The Master and Margarita” is called the “sunset novel” of M. Bulgakov. For many years he rebuilt, supplemented and polished his final work. Everything that M. Bulgakov experienced in his life - both happy and difficult - he devoted all his most important thoughts, all his soul and all his talent to this novel. And a truly extraordinary creation was born. The work is unusual, first of all, in its genre. Researchers still cannot determine it. Many consider The Master and Margarita a mystical novel, citing […]

“On the instructions of His Imperial Highness, Admiral General, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, prominent Russian writers who already had travel experience and a taste for essayistic prose were sent around the country for new materials for the “Sea Collection”. They were supposed to study and describe folk crafts associated with the sea, lakes or rivers, methods of local shipbuilding and navigation, the situation of domestic fisheries and the very state of Russian waterways.

Ostrovsky inherited the Upper Volga from its source to Nizhny Novgorod. And he got down to business with passion.”

“In the ancient dispute between the Volga cities about which of them, by the will of Ostrovsky, was turned into Kalinov (the location of the play “The Thunderstorm”), arguments in favor of Kineshma, Tver, and Kostroma are most often heard. The debaters seemed to have forgotten about Rzhev, and yet Rzhev was clearly involved in the birth of the mysterious plan of “The Thunderstorm”!

It is not known exactly where “The Thunderstorm” was written - at a dacha near Moscow or in Shchelykovo on the Volga - but it was created with amazing speed, truly by inspiration, in a few months of 1859.”

“The year 1859 is hidden from Ostrovsky’s biographer under a thick veil. That year he did not keep a diary and, it seems, did not write letters at all... But it is still possible to restore some things. “The Thunderstorm” was started and written, as can be seen from the notes in the first act of the draft manuscript, on July 19, July 24, July 28, July 29 - in the height of summer 1859. Ostrovsky still does not regularly travel to Shchelykovo and, according to some sources, spends the hot summer near Moscow - in Davydovka or Ivankovo, where a whole colony of Maly Theater actors and their literary friends settle in their dachas.

Ostrovsky's friends often gathered at his home, and the talented, cheerful actress Kositskaya was always the soul of the party. An excellent performer of Russian folk songs, owner of a colorful speech, she attracted Ostrovsky not only as a charming woman, but also as a deep, perfect folk character. Kositskaya “drove more than one Ostrovsky crazy when she started singing perky or lyrical folk songs.

Listening to Kositskaya’s stories about the early years of her life, the writer immediately drew attention to the poetic richness of her language, the colorfulness and expressiveness of her phrases. In her “servile speech” (as Countess Rostopchina disparagingly described Kositskaya’s manner of speaking), Ostrovsky felt a fresh source for his creativity.

The meeting with Ostrovsky inspired Kositskaya. The tremendous success of the first production of the play “Don’t Get in Your Own Sleigh,” chosen by Kositskaya for the benefit performance, opened a wide path for Ostrovsky’s dramaturgy to the stage.

Of the twenty-six original plays by Ostrovsky staged in Moscow from 1853 to the year of Kositskaya’s death (1868), that is, over a period of fifteen years, she participated in nine.

Kositskaya’s life path, personality, and stories gave Ostrovsky rich material for creating the character of Katerina.

In October 1859, at the apartment of L.P. Kositskaya Ostrovsky read the play to the actors of the Maly Theater. The actors unanimously admired the composition, pretending to play roles for themselves. It was known that Ostrovsky gave Katerina to Kositskaya in advance. Borozdina was slated to play Varvara, Sadovsky to play Dikiy, Sergei Vasiliev to play Tikhon, and Rykalova to play Kabanikha.

But before rehearsing, the play must be passed through censorship. Ostrovsky himself went to St. Petersburg. Nordström read the drama as if what lay before him was not a work of art, but a coded proclamation. And he suspected that... the late Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich was removed from Kabanikha. Ostrovsky spent a long time dissuading the frightened censor, saying that he could not give up the role of Kabanikha...

The play was received from the censor a week before the premiere. However, in those days, playing a play with five rehearsals did not seem like a miracle to anyone.

The main director was Ostrovsky. Under his guidance, the actors searched for the right intonations and coordinated the tempo and character of each scene. The premiere took place on November 16, 1859."

“The scientific world of Russia quite quickly confirmed the high merits of the play: on September 25, 1860, the board of the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded the play “The Thunderstorm” the Great Uvarov Prize (this prize was established by Count A.S. Uvarov, the founder of the Moscow Archaeological Society, to reward the most outstanding historical and dramatic works)".

Genre of the play

“The Thunderstorm” was allowed by dramatic censorship to be presented in 1859, and published in January 1860. At the request of Ostrovsky’s friends, censor I. Nordstrem, who favored the playwright, presented “The Thunderstorm” as a play not socially accusatory, satirical, but lovingly -everyday, without mentioning a word in his report about Dikiy, Kuligin, or Feklush.

In the most general formulation, the main topic "Thunderstorms" can be defined as a clash between new trends and old traditions, between the oppressed and the comforters, between the desire of people to freely express their human rights, spiritual needs and the social, family and everyday order that prevailed in pre-reform Russia.

The theme of “Thunderstorm” is organically connected with its conflicts. Conflict, forming the basis of the plot of the drama, is conflict between old social and everyday principles and new, progressive aspirations for equality and freedom of the human person. The main conflict - Katerina's with her environment - unites all the others. It is joined by the conflicts of Kuligin with Dikiy and Kabanikha, Kudryash with Dikiy, Boris with Dikiy, Varvara with Kabanikha, Tikhon with Kabanikha. The play is a true reflection of social relations, interests and struggles of its time.

The general theme of “Thunderstorms” also entails a number of specific themes:

a) with the stories of Kuligin, the remarks of Kudryash and Boris, the actions of Dikiy and Kabanikha, Ostrovsky gives a detailed description of the financial and legal situation of all layers of society of that era;

c) depicting the life, interests, hobbies and experiences of the characters in “The Thunderstorm”, the author reproduces from different sides the social and family life of the merchants and philistines. This illuminates the problem of social and family relations. The position of women in the bourgeois-merchant environment is clearly depicted;

d) the life background and problems of that time are depicted. The characters talk about important social phenomena for their time: the emergence of the first railways, cholera epidemics, the development of commercial and industrial activities in Moscow, etc.;

e) along with socio-economic and living conditions, the author masterfully painted pictures of nature and the different attitudes of the characters towards it.

So, in the words of Goncharov, in “The Thunderstorm” “a broad picture of national life and morals has settled down.” Pre-reform Russia is represented in it by its socio-economic, cultural, moral, and family and everyday appearance.

3. K composition of the play

Exposition- pictures of the Volga open space and the stuffiness of Kalinov’s morals (D. I, appearances 1-4).

The beginning- to her mother-in-law’s nagging, Katerina replies with dignity and peacefully: “You’re talking about me, Mama, in vain. Whether in front of people or without people, I’m all alone, I don’t prove anything of myself.” The first collision (D. I, phenomenon 5).

Next comes development of the conflict, in nature a thunderstorm gathers twice (D. I, Rev. 9). Katerina confesses to Varvara that she has fallen in love with Boris - and the old lady’s prophecy, a distant clap of thunder; end D. IV. A thundercloud creeps in like a living, half-mad old woman, threatening Katerina with death in the whirlpool and hell.

First climax- Katerina confesses her sin and falls unconscious. But the thunderstorm never hit the city; only pre-storm tension is felt.

Second climax- Katerina pronounces the last monologue when she says goodbye not to life, which is already unbearable, but with love: “My friend! My joy! Goodbye!" (D. V, iv. 4).

Denouement- Katerina’s suicide, the shock of the inhabitants of the city, Tikhon, who is jealous of his dead wife: “Good for you, Katya! Why did I stay to live and suffer!..” (D.V. 7).

Conclusion. By all indications of the genre, the play “The Thunderstorm” is a tragedy, since the conflict between the characters leads to tragic consequences. There are also elements of comedy in the play (the tyrant Dikoy with his ridiculous, degrading demands, Feklushi’s stories, the arguments of the Kalinovites), which help to see the abyss that is ready to swallow Katerina and which Kuligin unsuccessfully tries to illuminate with the light of reason, kindness and mercy. Ostrovsky himself called the play a drama, thereby emphasizing the widespread nature of the conflict in the play and the everyday nature of the events depicted in it.

Instructions

The central characters of the play are representatives of two Kalinov families. The head of the first family, the imperious and hypocritical hypocrite Kabanikha, tyranns his daughter Varvara, son Tikhon and his wife Katerina. The head of the second family, the equally imperious and tyrant Dikoy, “holds in his fist” all his relatives, including his nephew Boris, who came to him. Dikoy and Kabanikha are representatives of the old generation, which demands respect from the young, but the basis of their life is hypocrisy and anger.

Varvara and Tikhon obey their mother, knowing her difficult character, and the quiet Boris curries favor with his uncle in the hope that he will leave him part of the inheritance. However, pure Katerina refuses to pretend and be a hypocrite; a rebellion is brewing in her against the dictates of her mother-in-law and the irresponsibility of her husband. Varvara teaches her to pretend and live for her own pleasure, but Katerina, as an integral nature, is not capable of pretense.

Tikhon leaves home on business, and Kabanikha publicly humiliates Katerina. The husband does not intercede, fearing his mother’s anger. This becomes the “last straw”, after which Katerina decides to revolt.

Varvara, secretly from her mother, is dating a local guy, Kudryash. Noticing that Boris likes Katerina, she organizes their secret meeting. Katerina understands that she loves Boris and does not resist her feelings. For her, their meetings are a breath of fresh air, the freedom that she so much talks about in Kabanikha’s house.

Meanwhile, Tikhon returns to the house. Katerina is tormented by remorse and the inability to continue living with her husband. No matter how Varvara advises her to remain silent, she is unable to hide the truth. During a thunderstorm, Katerina’s despair reaches such strength that she confesses her sin to her mother-in-law and husband in front of all the people.

After her confession, Katerina’s life becomes unbearable: her mother-in-law denounces her, her husband, although sorry, beats her on her mother’s orders. In addition, due to her mother’s reproaches, her daughter Varvara runs away from home with Kudryash. The culprit of the scandal, Boris, is sent to Siberia by his uncle Dikoy. Katerina secretly meets with Boris and asks to take her with him, but the indecisive and weak Boris refuses her. Realizing that she has nowhere to go, Katerina rushes into the Volga and dies. Tikhon, having learned about the death of his wife, rebels against his mother for the first time, but it is too late.

The heroes of the play, representatives of two families, divide Kalinovsky’s life into “dark” and “light”. Dikoy and Kabanikha prefer hypocrisy, cruelty, servility and hypocrisy, and such characters as Tikhon, Varvara, Boris, due to their own weakness, cowardice and indecision, do not find the strength to resist and become unwitting accomplices and accomplices. Only Katerina, due to her honest and integral character, is capable of shaking the world built on falsehood; it is not without reason that the critic N. Dobrolyubov called her “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.” The forces are unequal, and Katerina dies because she is left alone. However, her rebellion does not remain fruitless and gives hope for further changes, for example, in her husband Tikhon.