The theme of sin, retribution and repentance is highly traditional in Russian classical literature. Suffice it to recall such works as “The Enchanted Wanderer” by N.S. Leskova, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” N.A. Nekrasova, “Crime and Punishment” F.M. Dostoevsky and many others. Of course, the emergence of this topic in Russian literature is not accidental - it is a reflection of the Christian worldview, the principles of religious morality inherent in the most diverse segments of the population of Russia in the 19th century. The same theme is developed in his socio-psychological drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky, one of the outstanding masters of Russian drama.

The drama "The Thunderstorm", written in 1859 on the basis of real life impressions, paints a vivid picture of the life of a provincial Volga city, a bourgeois-merchant environment. The main character, Katerina, is the wife of the merchant Tikhon Kabanov. She is an extraordinary person - sincere, incapable of hypocrisy, freedom-loving and natural. It is difficult for such a heroine to get along in a family where everyone obeys a domineering, despotic mother, where a weak-willed and spineless husband cannot serve as support and protection for her. But Katerina is also deeply religious. This alone constitutes the contradiction between the freedom-loving, open nature of the heroine and the preaching of Christian humility and patience. The motive of the thunderstorm, Katerina’s unreasonable fear of this natural phenomenon, is also connected with this: she is afraid not of death, but of the fact that she will die without repentance, without having time to properly perform all the necessary religious rituals. The scary thing is “that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins, with all your evil thoughts,” Katerina admits to Varvara. She considers her nascent love for Boris a “terrible sin”, trying to break and deceive herself that she will love only her husband, forcing her to take a “terrible oath” so that she does not dare to think about anyone. The scene of Tikhon's departure is decisive for the further development of the action. Katerina was rudely humiliated by her mother-in-law, Tikhon did not understand and pushed her away, and led Varvara into temptation, giving away the key to the gate. The author, as a master of psychological analysis, reveals the heroine’s state of mind: why she, well aware of the sinfulness and forbiddenness of her love, is unable to resist it. She clearly understands that she has “ruined” her soul, and for her this is the most terrible tragedy. In this, Katerina is contrasted with all the other characters - Varvara, Kudryash, Boris himself, for whom the main thing is the secret, so that everything is “sealed and covered”, so that “no one knows” about this love. Katerina is not interested in the opinions of others, public reputation - all this is petty and insignificant compared to the tragedy of a soul ruined by mortal sin. “If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?” - she says to Boris. Therefore, “The Thunderstorm” is not so much a tragedy of love as a tragedy of conscience, the collapse of the heroine’s inner world, forced to live by the rules of hypocritical public morality. The morality of society and truly religious morality are different things, as the author shows us. And as a true believer, Katerina could not pretend in front of her husband that nothing had happened: she was in a state close to hysteria, so much so that even Kabanikha felt something was wrong. In the scene of Katerina’s public repentance, Ostrovsky again shows himself to be a subtle psychologist: he again connects the heroine’s state of mind with the motif of a thunderstorm, and we see how every seemingly little thing affects the further outcome of events. Random remarks from passersby, threats from a crazy lady, a fresco on the wall of the chapel - all this drop by drop fills the heroine’s patience, and she falls to her knees, confessing to the sin she has committed. Again, the contrast between a truly believing soul and the hypocritical behavior of ordinary people is revealed. The most important thing for Tikhon is to hide everything from his mother, and for Marfa Ignatievna to prove that he is right. Now Katerina becomes an outcast from society: everyone laughs in her eyes, reproaches her “at every word.” There is no place for forgiveness or mercy. In response to Kuligin’s words that enemies need to be forgiven, Tikhon replies: “Go, talk to your mother, what will she tell you about this.” Boris Grigoryich is also weak, unable to protect Katerina. The poor woman dreams of her last date, considering only herself to blame for everything. She dreams of death as a release from torment; now she doesn’t care: “I’ve already ruined my soul.” And having said goodbye to Boris, she realizes even more clearly that she has no reason to live anymore: she is disgusted with the house, its walls, and people. An already ruined soul is indifferent to the sin of suicide; what is much more important to it is that “you cannot live.” Katerina’s suicide was regarded in criticism in different ways: both as a protest of the individual against the foundations of the “dark kingdom” (N.A. Dobrolyubov), and as simply stupidity (D.I. Pisarev). But we can probably talk about the tragedy of a truly religious person in a world of generally accepted hypocritical morality, where sin is simply covered up by external appearances and lies, and there is no place for forgiveness and mercy. Katerina paid dearly for her originality, exclusivity, and desire for love and happiness. Will retribution come to this society for its lost soul? Can Tikhon’s words, which he threw at him in anger, be considered an epiphany?

The theme of sin, retribution and repentance is highly traditional in Russian classical literature. Suffice it to recall such works as “The Enchanted Wanderer” by N.S. Leskova, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” N.A. Nekrasova, “Crime and Punishment” F.M. Dostoevsky and many others. Of course, the emergence of this topic in Russian literature is not accidental - it is a reflection of the Christian worldview, the principles of religious morality inherent in the most diverse segments of the population of Russia in the 19th century. The same theme is developed in his socio-psychological drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky, one of the outstanding masters of Russian drama.

The drama "The Thunderstorm", written in 1859 on the basis of real life impressions, paints a vivid picture of the life of a provincial Volga city, a bourgeois-merchant environment. The main character, Katerina, is the wife of the merchant Tikhon Kabanov. She is an extraordinary person - sincere, incapable of hypocrisy, freedom-loving and natural. It is difficult for such a heroine to get along in a family where everyone submits to a domineering, despotic mother, where the weak-willed and spineless her husband cannot serve as support and protection for her. But Katerina is also deeply religious. This alone constitutes the contradiction between the freedom-loving, open nature of the heroine and the preaching of Christian humility and patience. The motive of the thunderstorm, Katerina’s unreasonable fear of this natural phenomenon, is also connected with this: she is afraid not of death, but of the fact that she will die without repentance, without having time to properly perform all the necessary religious rituals. The scary thing is “that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins, with all your evil thoughts,” Katerina admits to Varvara. She considers her nascent love for Boris a “terrible sin,” trying to break and deceive herself that she will love only her husband. The scene of Tikhon's departure is decisive for the further development of the action. Katerina was rudely humiliated by her mother-in-law, Tikhon did not understand and pushed her away, and led Varvara into temptation, giving away the key to the gate. The author, as a master of psychological analysis, reveals the heroine’s state of mind: why she, well aware of the sinfulness and forbiddenness of her love, is unable to resist it. She clearly understands that she has “ruined” her soul, and for her this is the most terrible tragedy. In this, Katerina is contrasted with all the other characters - Varvara, Kudryash, Boris himself, for whom the main thing is a secret, so that everything is “sealed and covered”, so that “no one knows” about this love. Katerina is not interested in the opinions of others, public reputation - all this is petty and insignificant compared to the tragedy of a soul ruined by mortal sin. “If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?” - she says to Boris. Therefore, “The Thunderstorm” is not so much a tragedy of love as a tragedy of conscience, the collapse of the heroine’s inner world, forced to live by the rules of hypocritical public morality. The morality of society and truly religious morality are different things, as the author shows us. And as a true believer, Katerina could not pretend in front of her husband that nothing had happened: she was in a state close to hysteria, so much so that even Kabanikha felt something was wrong. In the scene of Katerina’s public repentance, Ostrovsky again shows himself to be a subtle psychologist: he again connects the heroine’s state of mind with the motif of a thunderstorm, and we see how every seemingly little thing affects the further outcome of events. Random remarks from passersby, threats from a crazy lady, a fresco on the wall of the chapel - all this drop by drop fills the heroine’s patience, and she falls to her knees, confessing to the sin she has committed. Again, the contrast between a truly believing soul and the hypocritical behavior of ordinary people is revealed. The most important thing for Tikhon is to hide everything from his mother, and for Marfa Ignatievna to prove that he is right. Now Katerina becomes an outcast from society: everyone laughs in her eyes, reproaches her “at every word.” There is no place for forgiveness or mercy. In response to Kuligin’s words that enemies need to be forgiven, Tikhon replies: “Go, talk to your mother, what will she tell you about this.” Boris Grigoryich is also weak, unable to protect Katerina. The poor woman dreams of her last date, considering only herself to blame for everything. She dreams of death as a release from torment; now she doesn’t care: “I’ve already ruined my soul.” And having said goodbye to Boris, she realizes even more clearly that she has no reason to live anymore: she is disgusted with the house, its walls, and people. An already ruined soul is indifferent to the sin of suicide; what is much more important to it is that “you cannot live.” Katerina’s suicide was regarded in criticism in different ways: both as a protest of the individual against the foundations of the “dark kingdom” (N.A. Dobrolyubov), and as simply stupidity (D.I. Pisarev). But we can probably talk about the tragedy of a truly religious person in a world of generally accepted hypocritical morality, where sin is simply covered up by external appearances and lies, and there is no place for forgiveness and mercy. Katerina paid dearly for her originality, exclusivity, and desire for love and happiness. Will retribution come to this society for its lost soul? Can Tikhon’s words, thrown to his mother in anger, be considered an epiphany: “Mama, you ruined her...” It is unlikely that anything will change in the life of the city of Kalinov, although the revolutionary democrats claimed that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a clear sense of “that something refreshing and encouraging” (N.A. Dobrolyubov). But the character of the main character, a sincere, bright personality, capable of selfless love and dedication, has become one of the brightest characters in Russian drama and arouses the sympathy of readers, even despite the fact that the heroine is a sinful, lost soul.

The theme of sin, retribution and repentance is highly traditional in Russian classical literature. It is enough to recall such works as “The Enchanted Wanderer” by N.S. Leskova, “Who can live well in Rus'” by N.A. Nekrasova, “Crime and Punishment” by F.M. Dostoevsky and many others. Of course, the appearance of this topic in Russian literature is not accidental - it is a reflection of the Christian worldview, the principles of religious morality inherent in the most diverse segments of the population of Russia in the 19th century. The same theme is developed in his socio-psychological drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky, one of the outstanding masters of Russian drama.

The drama "The Thunderstorm", written in 1859 on the basis of real life impressions, paints a vivid picture of the life of a provincial Volga city, a bourgeois-merchant environment. The main character, Katerina, is the wife of the merchant Tikhon Kabanov. She is an extraordinary person - sincere, incapable of hypocrisy, freedom-loving and natural. It is difficult for such a heroine to get along in a family where everyone obeys a domineering, despotic mother, where a weak-willed and spineless husband cannot serve as support and protection for her. But Katerina is also strongly religious. This already contains a contradiction between the freedom-loving, open nature of the heroine and the preaching of Christian humility and patience. The motive of the thunderstorm, Katerina’s unreasonable fear of this natural phenomenon, is also connected with this: she is afraid not of death, but of the fact that she will die without repentance, without having time to do all the necessary religious rituals. The scary thing is “that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins, with all your evil thoughts,” Katerina admits to Varvara. She considers her nascent love for Boris a “terrible sin,” trying to break and deceive herself that she will love only her husband. The scene of Tikhon's departure is decisive for the further development of the action. Katerina was rudely humiliated by her mother-in-law, Tikhon did not understand and pushed her away, and led Varvara into temptation, giving away the key to the gate. The author, as a master of psychological analysis, reveals the heroine’s state of mind: why she, well aware of the sinfulness and forbiddenness of her love, is unable to resist it. She clearly understands that she has “ruined” her soul, and for her this is the most terrible tragedy. In this, Katerina is contrasted with all the other characters - Varvara, Kudryash, Boris himself, for whom the main thing is a secret, so that everything is “sealed and covered”, so that “no one knows” about this love. Katerina is not interested in the opinions of others, public reputation - all this is petty and insignificant compared to the tragedy of a soul ruined by mortal sin. “If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?” - she says to Boris. Therefore, “The Thunderstorm” is not so much a tragedy of love as it is a tragedy of conscience, the collapse of the heroine’s inner world, forced to exist according to the rules of hypocritical public morality. The morality of society and truly religious morality are different things, as the author shows us. And as a true believer, Katerina could not pretend in front of her husband that nothing had happened: she was in a state close to hysteria, so much so that, moreover, Kabanikha felt something was wrong. In the scene of Katerina’s public repentance, Ostrovsky again shows himself to be a subtle psychologist: he again connects the heroine’s state of mind with the motif of a thunderstorm, and we see how every seemingly little thing affects the further outcome of events. Random remarks from passersby, threats from a crazy lady, a fresco on the wall of the chapel - all this drop by drop fills the heroine’s patience, and she falls to her knees, confessing to the sin she has committed. Again, the contrast between a truly believing soul and the hypocritical behavior of ordinary people is revealed. The most important thing for Tikhon is to hide everything from his mother, and for Marfa Ignatievna to argue that he is right. Now Katerina becomes an outcast from society: everyone laughs in her eyes, reproaches her “at every word.” There is no place for forgiveness or mercy. In response to Kuligin's words

About the fact that enemies need to be forgiven, Tikhon replies: “Go, talk to your mother, what will she tell you about this.” Boris Grigorich is also weak, unable not to offend Katerina. The poor lady dreams of her last date, considering only herself to blame for everything. She dreams of death as a release from torment; now she no longer cares: “I’ve already ruined my soul.” And having said goodbye to Boris, she realizes even more clearly that she has no reason to live anymore: she is disgusted with the home, its walls, and people. An already ruined soul is indifferent to the sin of suicide; what is significantly more important to it is that “it is impossible to live.” Katerina’s suicide was regarded in criticism in different ways: both as a protest of the individual against the foundations of the “dark kingdom” (NA. Dobrolyubov), and as simply nonsense (D.I. Pisarev). But one can probably also speak about the tragedy of a truly religious person in a world of generally accepted hypocritical morality, where a sin is simply covered up by external appearances and lies, and there is no place for forgiveness and mercy. Katerina paid dearly for her originality, exclusivity, and desire for love and happiness. Will retribution come to this society for its lost soul? Can Tikhon’s words to his mother in anger be considered an epiphany: “Mama, you ruined her...” It’s unlikely that anything will change in the life of the city of Kalinov, although the revolutionary democrats claimed that in “The Thunderstorm” there is a clear sense of “that something refreshing and encouraging" (N.A. Dobrolyubov). But the character of the main character, a sincere, bright personality, capable of selfless love and dedication, has become one of the brightest characters in Russian drama and arouses the sympathy of readers, moreover, despite the fact that the heroine is a sinful, lost human being.

Showing in the drama “The Thunderstorm” truly Russian life, the life of the merchants of the 50s of the 19th century, A. N. Ostrovsky draws typical national characters. The playwright focuses the reader's attention on the religiosity of the Russian person, on the strength of his faith, which has special power over him. The theme of sin and retribution, which is one of the leading ones in the play “The Thunderstorm,” is closely connected with Christian motives of faith, goodness and mercy.
Describing in detail the life of the Kalinovsky world, Ostrovsky focuses on exposing the vices of the inhabitants of this city. Insincerity and artificiality reign in Kalinov, genuine feelings are replaced by rituals and rituals, and self-interest and cruelty are hidden under the external guise of virtue. At the same time, the Kalinovites are aware of the “sinfulness” of their behavior and, when their actions contradict religious norms, they try to correct them. Even Dikoy, who “scolded, so scolded that you couldn’t ask for a better word” to the “little peasant” who came to ask for money for the firewood he brought, preemptively asked for forgiveness from a simple peasant on his knees, under the pressure of fear of the retribution of the Supreme Judge. “From a young age, the lady sinned,” according to Varvara, “afraid to die,” and therefore frightening others with “fiery Gehenna”: “You will all burn in unquenchable fire. Everything in the resin will boil unquenchable.”
The world of the Kalinovites is a world of people united by a common awareness of the path of life as a road of constant “sins”, without which a person’s fate is unthinkable. This idea is expressed by Feklusha: “It’s impossible... without sin: we live in the world,” which is why even “time... is getting shorter and shorter.” The theme of sin and retribution is used by Ostrovsky at different levels, which is due to the different meanings of the word “sin”: in common and canonical senses. So, being a pious person, Kabanikha does not allow Tikhon to swear by God: “Enough, completely, don’t swear! Sin!" However, with the help of this theme, the playwright not only creates images, but also highlights his position. Thus, Feklusha’s reasoning about her only “sin” (“I love to eat sweets,” she says) reveals the author’s ironic attitude towards her.
The superficiality of the wanderer contrasts with the extraordinary depth of the inner world of the main character of “The Thunderstorm” - Katerina. She is the only one - outside the sphere of the comic; the irreconcilable discord in her soul gives her figure a true tragedy. Katerina is an unusually integral and morally pure nature, therefore, having fallen in love with Boris, she finds herself in a situation of mental disharmony: her religious views come into conflict with sinful thoughts about another person who is not her husband. The awakened feeling of love is perceived by Katerina as a “terrible sin.” She confesses to Varvara: “Sin is on my mind! How much I, poor thing, cried, what I didn’t do to myself! I can’t escape this sin.” Varvara does not condemn her, because she herself “has her own sins,” which she learned to hide in a house built exclusively on lies and deception.
However, unlike Varvara, Katerina is tormented by the thought of violating her moral duty: she considers herself a sinner who will never be forgiven. A tragic consciousness of sin and despair alternately take possession of her. There is no hope of salvation, so she perceives every step she takes as progress towards the abyss.
Deciding to contribute to Katerina’s happiness, Varvara gives her the key to the gate “to freedom”; in this scene she acts as a seductress, temptress, “sinner”. Symbols play an important role in the play: it is not only a key, but also a ravine, a cliff, a thunderstorm. Undoubted symbolism is one of the means of creating the concept of “sin”.
Knowing that she will never “atone for this sin,” that it will “lay like a stone on her soul,” Katerina embarks on the sinful path of betraying her husband. The viewer gets the impression that Katerina knows her fate in advance: “If I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment? They say it’s even easier when you suffer for some sin here on earth.” Consciousness of sin, the inability to compromise with her conscience lead the heroine to repentance: “I am a sinner before God and before you.” However, her repentance was mercilessly rejected by the soulless residents of Kalinov. She sees no other way out than death, and rushes into the Volga. As a deeply religious person, Katerina found the courage to overcome the fear not only of the physical end, but also the fear of the Judge’s retribution for the sin of suicide - a sin even more serious, from the point of view of Christian morality, than adultery.
In the finale, the Kalinovites’ inability to compassion is confirmed; it is they who say to Katerina: “If you execute you, then it’s up to you.”
the sin will be removed, and you live and suffer from your sin.” Kabanikha, having learned about the death of her daughter-in-law, claims that “it’s a sin to cry about her.” The world of Kalinovdev is a “dark kingdom” where there is no place for such universal human values ​​as mercy and compassion. This is exactly what Kuligin hints at when he says that Katerina is “now before the Judge, who is more merciful” than them.
However, the picture of the “dark kingdom” does not leave a feeling of hopelessness, the pathos of this play is “refreshing and encouraging”, purifying in nature: the evil of Kalinov’s world will be crushed - in this supreme retribution for the sinfulness of the “dark kingdom” lies the moral meaning of A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “ Storm".

The idea of ​​repentance and the problem of sin are associated with the tradition of ancient theater. However, for the people of antiquity, the concept of sin and repentance differed from the Christian one. Heroes of the pre-Christian era turn to temples with a request to perform a cleansing rite, to pay off, making sacrifices to the gods. Christian repentance as an internal cleansing represents an extremely important step forward in the moral development of mankind.

In A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” written in 1859, questions of morality are raised very sharply. Already in the title itself is the idea of ​​God's punishment for sins.

The action takes place in the city of Kalinov, located on the high bank of the Volga. The name is fictitious and is associated with oral folk art. Kalina, a symbol of a woman's bitter fate, is associated with the image of Katerina, a married woman who fell in love with another person. In fairy tales and epics, battles between Russian heroes and the miracle of jud take place on Kalinov Bridge, so it can be argued that the name of the town contains a motif of struggle. The action of the play is not driven by an external conflict - the confrontation between the proud Katerina, who does not tolerate “vain lies,” and her mother-in-law Marfa Petrovna Kabanova, who “will eat her family.” The plot spring is an internal conflict - Katerina’s struggle with her sin. This tragic conflict of the heroine with herself is insoluble and is associated with the idea of ​​repentance. Katerina feels betrayal of her husband as a sin that must be repented of, which cannot be eliminated “until the grave.” She does not forgive herself first of all, therefore she is not able to forgive another. A desperate woman cannot even imagine that someone can forgive her. About her husband who forgave her and is ready to forget everything. Katerina says: “His caress is worse to me than beatings.” It is possible that Tikhon’s Christian position causes new internal torment for the heroine. She feels her guilt even more strongly. Kabanikha’s moral persecution, on the contrary, to some extent alleviates Katerina’s consciousness of guilt. She thinks that suffering in earthly life atones for her sins in the future life.

Why does Katerina repent, although she does not believe in forgiveness? For her religious, almost fanatical consciousness, the thought of committing a sin is intolerable. From the point of view of a devout believer, the husband is God, the wife is the church. Cheating on your husband means falling away from God, betraying your faith.

The motif of sin permeates the entire play. Already in the first act, when Katerina admits to Varvara that she has fallen in love with someone else, and after this a half-crazed lady appears and predicts that “beauty leads into a whirlpool,” the motive of sin begins to clearly sound. We hear it in Varvara’s words about the lady who sinned from a young age, and now decided to guide others on the right path. This motive of sin is also felt in Katerina’s fear of a thunderstorm. The poor woman is not afraid of death, but of the fact that a thunderstorm will overtake her with sinful thoughts, and she will appear before God “all as is,” without repentance. The name "Katerina" translated from Greek means "pure". the heroine does not tolerate internal “impurity”; she is tormented by the thought of her own sinfulness.

The culmination of the heroine's moral torment occurs in the fourth act. What was the reason for the heroine’s nationwide repentance? A thunderstorm has broken out, and the Kalinovites are hiding from its thunder in a dilapidated gallery, on the walls of which fiery hell is painted. A thunderstorm has broken out in Katerina’s soul; she is close to insanity. From Varvara’s words we learn about the unbearable moral torment of a woman; she is ready at any moment to “thump” at her feet and admit her sin. Internal anxiety in the heroine’s soul is growing. Literally everything torments her. And Kabanikha’s admonition that one must behave in such a way as not to be afraid of thunderstorms. And Tikhon’s humorous statement: “Repent, Katya, it will be better for you.” And the prophecy of the newly appeared lady. And the Kalinovites’ conversations about the “unusual” color of the cloud and that it will definitely kill someone. Prayer does not save Katerina: she sees an image of fiery hell on the wall. The heroine’s soul is torn to pieces: “My whole heart was torn to pieces! I can’t stand it anymore!” The culmination of both the play and Katerina’s mental torment comes. The scene of repentance in public is reminiscent of Raskolnikov’s repentance scene, which is chronologically later. It is possible that Dostoevsky created this episode not without the influence of Ostrovsky.

All details of the play are subordinated to the task of revealing the tragic conflict. It is not the external action that develops, but the internal one - the struggle in Katerina’s soul flares up more and more. None of the characters in the play are Katerina’s rival in this moral duel, which testifies to her deepest conscience. Not the hypocritical wanderer Feklusha, who admits to herself only one sin - gluttony. Neither Glasha, reproaching the wanderers for their

constant intrigues against each other. Neither Dikoy, in whose soul there is only the dim light of truth. During Lent, out of habit, he scolded the peasant who came for a settlement, and then, coming to his senses, lay at his feet and asked for forgiveness. But the “scold” Dikoy is a Christian only formally. As a pagan, he understands repentance as an externally effective means, but not an internal cleansing.

Katerina realizes her sin in a Christian way, but she is not yet such a Christian as to have unlimited faith in the mercy of the Creator. Brought up in an atmosphere of love, warmth and beauty, she perceives faith in God only from the poetic side. She does not believe in the rebirth of man, in the resurrection of his soul through suffering, repentance and atonement. For her, repentance turns into self-curse. Impatient, hot-tempered, she arbitrarily takes her own life, committing an even more serious sin.