Katerina and Boris in the play “The Thunderstorm” are the characters at whose level the love conflict of the work is realized. The feelings of the young people were initially doomed, the love of Katerina and Boris was tragic: Katerina was married, cheating on her husband and running away with another person was below her moral principles. The author does not talk about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, the reader learns about it from Boris’s words: “And then he foolishly decided to fall in love. Who? A woman with whom you will never even be able to talk! She goes with her husband, and her mother-in-law with them! Well, am I not a fool? Look around the corner and go home.” It was not love, but rather falling in love at first sight. For Katya, feelings meant much more. In such a passion, the girl saw the very real and sincere love that her heart dreamed of. Therefore, the girl, whose upbringing did not allow her to cheat on her husband, desperately tried to calm her heart. Katya's decision to go out to Boris's garden was fatal. After ten nights of secret meetings, Katerina confessed to her husband and mother-in-law what she felt for Boris. The last meeting between Katerina and Boris took place after Katya’s conversation with Tikhon and Kabanikha.

Each of the characters is looking for a meeting with each other, each has a feeling that they should say something to each other. But both are silent. And there’s really nothing to talk about. It must be said that before the meeting Katya was in a kind of borderline state. Snatches of thoughts and phrases, as if Katya wants to confess something important. The idea of ​​terrible lynching seemed to be in the air, not yet taking clear forms, but after meeting with Boris the decision was finally made. What happened during their conversation?

Katya still hopes that she can be happy with this person, she begins to make excuses for her actions, apologize, ask for forgiveness. Her question about whether he has forgotten her makes readers understand that there have been some changes in Katya's feelings. Boris responds to all the girl’s remarks detachedly, showing that he doesn’t need anything. Katya finds out that Boris is going to Siberia. And so, the last thing the girl decides to do is: “Will you take me with you?”

The replica once again proves Katya’s strength of character, steadfastness and faith in this love. The girl desperately hopes for a positive answer. This issue actually focused on dozens of other, more important ones. “Do you love me?”, “What do our feelings mean to you?”, “Am I mistaken about you?” - and many others. Katya talks about herself, and Boris, at such an important moment for the girl, remembers his uncle: “I just asked my uncle for a minute, I wanted to at least say goodbye to the place where we saw each other.”

Note, say goodbye to the place, not Katya. At this moment, Katerina receives answers to all her unasked questions, having finally decided to commit suicide. It was after these words that such a sharp and painful insight sets in, which the girl was so afraid and at the same time waiting for.

Despite this, the girl thinks about saying something important. Really important. But Boris is rushing Katya; he doesn’t have much time. The girl is silent about the fact that she has already decided to give up her life - this is a sacrifice not for the sake of Boris, but for herself. Death is not because of unhappy love (that would vulgarize everything), but because of the inability to live honestly.
There is one remarkable detail in Katerina’s farewell to Boris: Boris begins to guess what is on Katya’s mind and wants to come closer and hug the girl. But Katerina pulls away. No, this is not resentment, not pride. Katya asks Boris to give alms to everyone who asks her, to pray for her sinful soul. The girl finally lets Boris go. And Boris leaves, not understanding the scale and significance of this conversation for Katya.

Katerina’s love for Boris temporarily increases the boundaries of the small world in which the girl still lives. Katerina experiences such a strong feeling for the first time. The girl was forcibly married to an unloved man. Further life in the husband's house, constant nagging and humiliation from the mother-in-law kill the very possibility of love for the weak-willed and weak-willed Tikhon.
Katerina sincerely tries to love her husband. But apparently it’s not fate. And Katerina is a romantic and dreamy person. The girl was very emotional since childhood. As you know, impressionable and emotional people cannot live in an atmosphere of dullness and despondency. They need to enjoy life, enjoy its manifestations, feel the beauty of existence.
How does Katerina see Boris? Of course, he seems to her to be completely different from Tikhon and most of the people around her. Every person, having fallen in love, tends to idealize the object of his love, and, of course, Katerina is no exception.
What is Boris really like? At the very beginning of the work we learn its history. Parents gave Boris and his sister an enviable upbringing. Could they have thought that their children would be forced to communicate with relatives known for their stupidity, hypocrisy and malice? Boris tells Kuligin about his life, and the reader clearly feels how difficult it was for the young man to get used to the new way of life. The uncle mocks his nephew in every possible way. And he cannot oppose anything to him. This is where the tragedy of the young man lies. He lacks the mental strength and strength of character to deal with the difficult circumstances in which he finds himself.
However, the young man compares favorably with the bulk of Ostrovsky’s characters. He looks smarter and more educated. He is cultured and educated. But at the same time, Boris is weak, and therefore inactive and goes with the flow. He even brought misfortune to the woman he loved.
Boris, with all his intelligence and education, cannot understand the ingenuous and simple Katerina. She tells him, “You know what? Now I suddenly want to die!” Katerina puts deep meaning into her words. She understands deep down that life as it was before is over. Now she has crossed the line that forever separated her from her former life. And such a metamorphosis may well lead to death. But Boris answers her too simply and banally: “Why die when we can live so well?” Right now he is happy, he is confident in himself, he likes that the woman he loves is nearby. And what happens next does not interest him.
Katerina gives all of herself, receiving nothing in return. Katerina’s trouble is that Boris turned out to be unworthy of her love. Despite his seemingly positive qualities, he is actually a petty, selfish person who thinks only of himself. Katerina's love for him is just entertainment, although he is trying to prove to her that he acts solely by succumbing to the power of passion.
Boris submits to the will of his uncle, who sends him to Siberia. The scene of Katerina’s farewell to her beloved shows how difficult it is for a woman and how restrained Boris behaves.
Boris’s words seem monstrous: “Well, God be with you! There is only one thing we need to ask God for: that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!". And these words are spoken by a man about the woman he loves! He doesn’t even try to ease her fate, or at least console her. Boris simply wishes her death. And this is Katerina’s retribution for happiness that lasted only ten days!

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The question of choosing a soul mate has always been problematic for young people. Now we have the right to choose a life partner ourselves; previously, the final decision in marriage was made by the parents. Naturally, parents first of all looked at the well-being of their future son-in-law and his moral character. This choice promised an excellent material and moral existence for children, but the intimate side of marriage often suffered. Spouses understand that they should treat each other favorably and respectfully, but the lack of passion does not have the best effect. There are many examples in the literature of such dissatisfaction and the search for fulfillment of one’s intimate life.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”

This topic is not new in Russian literature. From time to time it is raised by writers. A. Ostrovsky in the play “The Thunderstorm” portrayed a unique image of the woman Katerina, who, in search of personal happiness, under the influence of Orthodox morality and the emerging feeling of love, comes to a dead end.

Katerina's life story

The main character of Ostrovsky's play is Katerina Kabanova. Since childhood, she was brought up with love and affection. Her mother felt sorry for her daughter, and sometimes freed her from all work, leaving Katerina to do what she wanted. But the girl did not grow up lazy.

After the wedding with Tikhon Kabanov, the girl lives in the house of her husband’s parents. Tikhon has no father. And the mother manages all processes in the house. The mother-in-law has an authoritarian character; she suppresses all family members with her authority: her son Tikhon, her daughter Varya and her young daughter-in-law.

Katerina finds herself in a world completely unfamiliar to her - her mother-in-law often scolds her for no reason, her husband is also not distinguished by tenderness and care - sometimes he beats her. Katerina and Tikhon have no children. This fact is incredibly upsetting for the woman - she likes to babysit children.

One day the woman falls in love. She is married and understands perfectly well that her love has no right to life, but nevertheless, over time, she gives in to her desire while her husband is in another city.

Upon her husband’s return, Katerina experiences pangs of conscience and confesses her action to her mother-in-law and husband, which causes a wave of indignation. Tikhon beats her. The mother-in-law says that the woman needs to be buried in the ground. The situation in the family, already unhappy and tense, worsens to the point of impossibility. Seeing no other way out, the woman commits suicide by drowning herself in the river. On the last pages of the play we learn that Tikhon still loved his wife, and his behavior towards her was provoked by his mother’s instigation.

Appearance of Katerina Kabanova

The author does not provide a detailed description of Katerina Petrovna’s appearance. We learn about the woman’s appearance from the lips of other characters in the play - most of the characters consider her beautiful and delightful. We also know little about Katerina’s age - the fact that she is in the prime of her life allows us to define her as a young woman. Before the wedding, she was full of aspirations and glowing with happiness.

Life in her mother-in-law's house did not have the best effect on her: she noticeably withered, but was still pretty. Her girlish gaiety and cheerfulness quickly disappeared - their place was taken by despondency and sadness.

Family relationships

Katerina’s mother-in-law is a very complex person; she runs everything in the house. This applies not only to household chores, but also to all relationships within the family. The woman finds it difficult to cope with her emotions - she is jealous of her son for Katerina, she wants Tikhon to pay attention not to his wife, but to her, his mother. Jealousy eats up the mother-in-law and does not give her the opportunity to enjoy life - she is always dissatisfied with something, constantly finding fault with everyone, especially with her young daughter-in-law. She doesn’t even try to hide this fact - those around her make fun of old Kabanikha, saying that she tortured everyone in the house.

Katerina respects old Kabanikha, despite the fact that she literally does not give her a pass with her nagging. The same cannot be said about other family members.

Katerina’s husband, Tikhon, also loves his mother. His mother's authoritarianism and despotism broke him, as did his wife. He is torn by feelings of love for his mother and wife. Tikhon does not try to somehow resolve the difficult situation in his family and finds solace in drinking and carousing. Kabanikha’s youngest daughter and Tikhon’s sister, Varvara, is more pragmatic, she understands that you cannot break through a wall with your forehead, in this case it is necessary to act with cunning and intelligence. Her respect for her mother is ostentatious; she says what her mother wants to hear, but in reality she does everything her own way. Unable to bear life at home, Varvara runs away.

Despite the dissimilarity of the girls, Varvara and Katerina become friends. They support each other in difficult situations. Varvara incites Katerina to secret meetings with Boris, helps the lovers organize dates for the lovers. Varvara does not mean anything bad in these actions - the girl herself often resorts to such dates - this is her way of not going crazy, she wants to bring at least a piece of happiness into Katerina’s life, but the result is the opposite.

Katerina also has a difficult relationship with her husband. This is primarily due to Tikhon’s spinelessness. He does not know how to defend his position, even if his mother’s wishes clearly contradict his intentions. Her husband has no opinion of his own - he is a “mama’s boy”, unquestioningly fulfilling the will of his parent. He often, at his mother’s instigation, scolds his young wife and sometimes beats her. Naturally, such behavior does not bring joy and harmony to the relationship between spouses.

Katerina's dissatisfaction is growing day by day. She feels unhappy. Understanding that the nitpicking addressed to her is far-fetched still does not allow her to live a full life.

From time to time, intentions arise in Katerina’s thoughts to change something in her life, but she cannot find a way out of the situation - the thought of suicide visits Katerina Petrovna more and more often.

Character Traits

Katerina has a meek and kind disposition. She doesn't know how to stand up for herself. Katerina Petrovna is a soft, romantic girl. She loves to indulge in dreams and fantasies.

She has an inquisitive mind. She is interested in the most unusual things, for example, why people cannot fly. Because of this, others consider her a little strange.

Katerina is patient and non-conflict by nature. She forgives the unfair and cruel attitude of her husband and mother-in-law towards her.

In general, those around, if you don’t take into account Tikhon and Kabanikha, have a good opinion of Katerina, they think that she is a sweet and lovely girl.

The desire for freedom

Katerina Petrovna has a unique concept of freedom. At a time when most people understand freedom as a physical state in which they are free to carry out those actions and actions that they prefer, Katerina prefers moral freedom, devoid of psychological pressure, allowing them to control their own destiny.

Katerina Kabanova is not so decisive as to put her mother-in-law in her place, but her desire for freedom does not allow her to live by the rules within which she finds herself - the idea of ​​death as a way of gaining freedom appears in the text several times before Katerina’s romantic relationship with Boris . The publication of information about Katerina's betrayal of her husband and the further reaction of her relatives, in particular her mother-in-law, become just a catalyst for her suicidal tendencies.

Katerina's religiosity

The issue of religiosity and the influence of religion on people's lives has always been quite controversial. This trend is especially clearly questionable in times of active scientific and technological revolution and progress.

In relation to Katerina Kabanova, this trend does not work. A woman, not finding joy in ordinary, worldly life, is imbued with special love and reverence for religion. Her attachment to the church is also strengthened by the fact that her mother-in-law is religious. While old Kabanikha’s religiosity is only ostentatious (in fact, she does not adhere to the basic canons and postulates of the church that regulate relationships between people), Katerina’s religiosity is true. She firmly believes in the commandments of God and always tries to observe the laws of existence.

While praying and being in church, Katerina experiences special pleasure and relief. At such moments she looks like an angel.

However, the desire to experience happiness and true love takes precedence over religious vision. Knowing that adultery is a terrible sin, a woman still succumbs to temptation. For happiness lasting ten days, she pays with another, most terrible sin in the eyes of a believing Christian - suicide.

Katerina Petrovna realizes the gravity of her action, but the concept that her life will never change forces her to ignore this prohibition. It should be noted that the thought of such an end to her life’s journey had already arisen, but, despite the hardships of her life, it was not carried out. Perhaps the fact that the pressure from her mother-in-law was painful for her played here, but the concept that it had no basis stopped the girl. After her family finds out about the betrayal - the reproaches against her become justified - she really tarnished her reputation and the reputation of the family. Another reason for this outcome of events could be the fact that Boris refuses the woman and does not take her with him. Katerina must somehow solve the current situation herself and she doesn’t see a better option than throwing herself into the river.

Katerina and Boris

Before Boris appeared in the fictional city of Kalinov, finding personal, intimate happiness was not relevant for Katerina. She did not try to make up for the lack of love from her husband on the side.

The image of Boris awakens in Katerina a faded feeling of passionate love. A woman realizes the severity of a love relationship with another man, and therefore languishes with the feeling that has arisen, but does not accept any prerequisites to turn her dreams into reality.

Varvara convinces Katerina that Kabanova needs to meet alone with her lover. The brother’s sister knows very well that the feelings of young people are mutual, in addition, the coolness of the relationship between Tikhon and Katerina is not new to her, therefore she regards her act as an opportunity to show her sweet and kind daughter-in-law what true love is.

Katerina cannot make up her mind for a long time, but the water wears away the stone, the woman agrees to the meeting. Finding herself captive of her desires, strengthened by a kindred feeling on the part of Boris, the woman cannot deny herself further meetings. The absence of her husband plays into her hands - for 10 days she lived as if in paradise. Boris loves her more than life itself, he is affectionate and gentle with her. With him, Katerina feels like a real woman. She thinks she has finally found happiness. Everything changes with Tikhon's arrival. Nobody knows about the secret meetings, but Katerina is tormented, she is seriously afraid of punishment from God, her psychological state reaches its apogee and she admits to committing a sin.

After this event, the woman’s life turns into hell - the already falling reproaches from her mother-in-law become unbearable, her husband beats her.

The woman still has hope for a successful outcome of the event - she believes that Boris will not leave her in trouble. However, her lover is in no hurry to help her - he is afraid of angering his uncle and being left without his inheritance, so he refuses to take Katerina with him to Siberia.

For a woman, this becomes a new blow, she is no longer able to survive it - death becomes her only way out.

Thus, Katerina Kabanova is the owner of the kindest and gentlest qualities of the human soul. A woman is especially sensitive to the feelings of other people. Her inability to give a sharp rebuff becomes the reason for constant ridicule and reproaches from her mother-in-law and husband, which further drives her into a dead end situation. Death in her case becomes an opportunity to find happiness and freedom. Awareness of this fact evokes the saddest feelings among readers.

In Katerina’s situation, we see that all the “ideas” instilled in her from childhood, all the principles of the environment, rebel against her natural aspirations and actions. The terrible struggle to which the young woman is condemned takes place in every word, in every movement of the drama, and this is where the full importance of the introductory characters for which Ostrovsky is so reproached appears. Take a good look: you see that Katerina was brought up in concepts identical to the concepts of the environment in which she lives, and cannot renounce them, not having any theoretical education. The stories of the wanderers and the suggestions of her family, although she processed them in her own way, could not help but leave an ugly trace in her soul: and indeed, we see in the play that Katerina, having lost her bright dreams and ideal, lofty aspirations, retained one thing from her upbringing a strong feeling - fear of some dark forces, something unknown, which she could not explain to herself well or reject. She is afraid for her every thought, for the simplest feeling she expects punishment; It seems to her that the thunderstorm will kill her, because she is a sinner, the pictures of fiery hell on the church wall seem to her to be a harbinger of her eternal torment... And everything around her supports and develops this fear in her: Feklushi go to Kabanikha to talk about the last times; Dikoy insists that the thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we feel; the arriving lady, instilling fear in everyone in the city, appears several times in order to shout over Katerina in an ominous voice: “You will all burn in unquenchable fire.” Everyone around is full of superstitious fear, and everyone around, in agreement with the concepts of Katerina herself, should look at her feelings for Boris as the greatest crime. Even the daring Kudryash, the esprit-fort * of this environment, even finds that girls can walk with guys as much as they want - that’s okay, but women need to sit locked up. This conviction is so strong in him that, having learned about Boris’s love for Katerina, he, despite his daring and some kind of outrage, says that “this matter must be abandoned.” Everything is against Katerina, even her own concepts of good and evil; everything must force her to drown out her impulses and wither in the cold and gloomy formalism of family muteness and humility, without any living aspirations, without will, without love, or learn to deceive people and conscience.<…>

The environment in which Katerina lives requires her to lie and deceive; “You can’t live without this,” Varvara tells her, “remember where you live; Our whole house rests on this. And I was not a liar, but I learned when it became necessary.” Katerina succumbs to her position, goes out to Boris at night, hides her feelings from her mother-in-law for ten days... You might think: here is another woman who has lost her way, learned to deceive her family and will be debauched on the sly, falsely caressing her husband and wearing a disgusting mask of a meek woman! It would be impossible to strictly blame her for this either: her situation is so difficult! But then she would have been one of the dozens of people of the type that has already become so worn out in stories that showed how “the environment eats up good people.” Katerina is not like that: the denouement of her love, despite all the homely surroundings, is visible in advance, even when she is just approaching the matter. She does not engage in psychological analysis and therefore cannot express subtle observations about herself; what she says about herself means that she strongly makes herself known to her. And she, at Varvara’s first proposal about a date with Boris, screams: “No, no, don’t! God forbid: if I see him even once, I’ll run away from home, I won’t go home for anything in the world!” It’s not reasonable precaution that speaks in her, it’s passion; and it is clear that no matter how she restrains herself, passion is higher than her, higher than all her prejudices and fears, higher than all suggestions. heard by her since childhood. Her whole life lies in this passion; all the strength of her nature, all her living aspirations merge here. What attracts her to Boris is not just that she likes him, that in appearance and in speech he is not like the others around her; She is drawn to him by the need for love, which has not found a response in her husband, and the offended feeling of a wife and woman, and the mortal melancholy of her monotonous life, and the desire for freedom, space, hot, unfettered freedom. She keeps dreaming of how she could “fly invisibly wherever she wants”; and then this thought comes: “if it were up to me, I would now ride on the Volga, on a boat, with songs, or on a good troika, hugging each other”... “Just not with my husband,” Varya tells her, and Katerina doesn’t can hide his feelings and immediately opens up to her with the question: “how do you know?” It is clear that Varvara’s remark explained a lot to her: while telling her dreams so naively, she did not yet fully understand their meaning. But one word is enough to give her thoughts the certainty that she herself was afraid to give them. Until now, she could still doubt whether this new feeling really contained the bliss that she was so painfully seeking. But once she has uttered the word of secret, she will not give up on it even in her thoughts. Fear, doubt, the thought of sin and human judgment - all this comes to her mind, but no longer has power over her; This is just a formality, to clear your conscience. In the monologue with the key (the last one in the second act) we see a woman in whose soul a decisive step has already been taken, but who only wants to somehow “talk” herself. She makes an attempt to stand somewhat aside from herself and judge the action she has decided to take as an extraneous matter; but her thoughts are all directed towards justifying this act. “Now,” he says, “how long will it take to die... In captivity, someone is having fun... Even though I’m living now, I’m toiling, I don’t see any light for myself... my mother-in-law crushed me”... etc. d. - all exculpatory articles. And then there are still relieving considerations: “it’s already clear that fate wants it this way... But what a sin is it, if I look at him once... Yes, even if I talk, it won’t matter. Or maybe such a case will not happen in my entire life...” This monologue aroused in some critics the desire to sneer at Katerina as a shameless critic *; but we know of no greater shamelessness than to assure that we or any of our ideal friends are not involved in such transactions with conscience... In these transactions, it is not the individuals who are to blame, but those concepts that have been hammered into their heads from childhood and which so often they are contrary to the natural course of the living aspirations of the soul. Until these concepts are driven out of society, until the complete harmony of ideas and the needs of nature is restored in the human being, such transactions are inevitable. It’s also good if, when doing them, they come to what seems natural and common sense, and do not fall under the yoke of conventional instructions of artificial morality. This is precisely what Katerina gained strength for, and the stronger her nature speaks, the calmer she looks in the face of the childish nonsense that those around her have taught her to fear. Therefore, it even seems to us that the artist playing the role of Katerina on the St. Petersburg stage is making a small mistake, giving the monologue we are talking about too much heat and tragedy. She obviously wants to express the struggle taking place in Katerina’s soul, and from this point of view she conveys the difficult monologue perfectly. But it seems to us that it is more consistent with Katerina’s character and position in this case to give her words more calmness and lightness. The struggle, in fact, is already over, only a little thought remains, the old rag still covers Katerina, and little by little she throws it off. The end of the monologue betrays her heart. “Come what may, I will see Boris,” she concludes, and in the oblivion of foreboding, she exclaims: “Oh, if only the night would speed up!”

Such love, such a feeling will not live within the walls of Kabanov’s house, with pretense and deception. Although Katerina decided to go on a secret date, for the first time, in the delight of love, she says to Boris, who assures that no one will find out anything: “Eh, why feel sorry for me, it’s no one’s fault—she went for it herself. Don't be sorry, destroy me! Let everyone know, let everyone see what I’m doing... If I wasn’t afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?”

And for sure, she is not afraid of anything except being deprived of the opportunity to see her chosen one, talk to him, enjoy these summer nights with him, these new feelings for her. Her husband arrived, and life became difficult for her. It was necessary to hide, to be cunning; she didn’t want it and couldn’t do it; she had to return again to her callous, dreary life - this seemed to her more bitter than before. Moreover, I had to be afraid every minute for myself, for my every word, especially in front of my mother-in-law; one also had to be afraid of a terrible punishment for the soul... This situation was unbearable for Katerina: days and nights she kept thinking, suffering, exalting her imagination, which was already hotter, and the end was one that she could not endure - despite everything the people crowded in the gallery of the ancient church, she repented of everything to her husband. His first movement was fear of what his mother would say. “Don’t, don’t say, mother is here,” he whispers, confused. But the mother has already listened and demands a full confession, at the end of which she draws out her moral: “What, son, where does the will lead?”

It is, of course, difficult to ridicule common sense more than Kabanikha does in her exclamation. But in the “dark kingdom” common sense means nothing: with the “criminal” they took measures that were completely contrary to him, but usual in that life: the husband, at the behest of his mother, beat his wife, the mother-in-law locked her up and began to eat. ..

The will and peace of the poor woman are gone: before, at least they couldn’t reproach her, even though she could feel that she was completely right in front of these people. But now, one way or another, she is guilty before them, she violated her duties to them, brought grief and shame to the family; Now the most cruel treatment of her already has reasons and justification. What remains for her?

<…> Another solution would have been less impossible - to flee with Boris from the tyranny and violence of the family. Despite the strictness of the formal law, despite the cruelty of rude tyranny, such steps do not represent an impossibility in themselves, especially for such characters as Katerina. And she does not neglect this way out, because she is not an abstract heroine who wants death on principle. Having run away from home to see Boris, and already thinking about death, she, however, is not at all averse to escaping; Having learned that Boris is going far away, to Siberia, she very simply tells him: “Take me with you from here.” But then a stone appears in front of us for a minute, which keeps people in the depths of the pool that we call the “dark kingdom.” This stone is material dependence. Boris has nothing and is completely dependent on his uncle, Dikiy; Dikoy and the Kabanovs agreed to send him to Kyakhta, and, of course, they will not allow him to take Katerina with him. That’s why he answers her: “It’s impossible, Katya; I’m not going of my own free will, my uncle is sending me, the horses are ready,” etc. Boris is not a hero, he is far from worthy of Katerina, and she fell in love with him more in solitude. He has had enough “education” and cannot cope with the old way of life, nor with his heart, nor with common sense - he walks as if lost. He lives with his uncle because he must give him and his sister part of his grandmother’s inheritance, “if they are respectful to him.” Boris understands well that Dikoy will never recognize him as respectful and, therefore, will not give him anything; Yes, that's not enough. Boris reasons like this: “No, he will first break with us, scold us in every possible way, as his heart desires, but he will still end up not giving anything, or just some little thing, and will even begin to tell that he gave out of mercy, that even this should not have happened.” And yet he lives with his uncle and endures his curses; For what? - unknown. On her first date with Katerina, when she talks about what awaits her for this, Boris interrupts her with the words: “Well, what should we think about it, fortunately we are fine now.” And at the last date she cries: “Who knew that we would have to suffer so much with you for our love! It would be better for me to run then!” In a word, this is one of those very common people who do not know how to do what they understand, and do not understand what they do. Their type has been portrayed many times in our fiction - sometimes with exaggerated compassion for them, sometimes with excessive bitterness against them. Ostrovsky gives them to us as they are, and with his special skill he depicts with two or three features their complete insignificance, although, however, not devoid of a certain degree of spiritual nobility. There is no need to expand on Boris; in fact, he should also be attributed to the situation in which the heroine of the play finds herself. He represents one of the circumstances that makes her fatal end necessary. If it were a different person and in a different position, then there would be no need to throw yourself into the water. But the fact of the matter is that an environment subordinated to the power of the Wild and Kabanovs usually produces Tikhonovs and Borisovs, unable to perk up and accept their human nature, even when faced with characters such as Katerina. We said a few words above about Tikhon; Boris is essentially the same, only “educated”. Education took away from him the power to do dirty tricks, it’s true; but it did not give him the strength to resist the dirty tricks that others do; it has not even developed in him the ability to behave in such a way as to remain alien to everything disgusting that swarms around him. No, not only does he not resist, he submits to other people’s nasty things, he willy-nilly participates in them and must accept all their consequences. But he understands his position, talks about it and often even deceives, for the first time, truly living and strong natures, who, judging by themselves, think that if a person thinks so, understands so, then he should do so. Looking from their point of view, such natures will not find it difficult to say to “educated” sufferers moving away from the sad circumstances of life: “Take me with you, I will follow you everywhere.” But this is where the powerlessness of the sufferers turns out to be; it turns out that they did not foresee it, and that they curse themselves, and that they would be glad, but they cannot, and that they have no will, and most importantly, that they have nothing in their souls and that in order to continue their existence they must serve that to the Wild One, from whom we would like to get rid of...

There is nothing to praise or scold these people, but you need to pay attention to the practical ground on which the question moves; it must be admitted that it is difficult for a person expecting an inheritance from his uncle to shake off his dependence on this uncle, and then he must give up unnecessary hopes for his nephews expecting an inheritance. even if they were “educated” it is absolutely impossible. If we look at who is to blame here, then it will be not so much the nephews who are to blame as the uncles, or, better said, their inheritance.

Dobrolyubov N.A. "A ray of light in a dark kingdom"

V. P. Botkin said wonderful and fair words about the play “The Thunderstorm” in his letter to A. N. Ostrovsky: “You have never revealed your poetic powers as much as in this play... In “The Thunderstorm” “You took a plot that is completely filled with poetry - a plot that is impossible for someone who does not have poetic creativity... Katerina’s love belongs to the same phenomena of moral nature as world cataclysms in physical nature belong to.. ."

So, Katerina is in love with Boris. After reading this line, you can only sigh: “Well, all ages are submissive to love...”, or you can think deeply, because love for Boris became a real tragedy for the heroine of “The Thunderstorm”, intensifying the drama that she was experiencing, finding himself in the “dark kingdom”.

Katerina is a subtle, dreamy, ethical girl. This is a highly moral person, simply soulful, unsophisticated in his relationships with people. She doesn't know how to lie, pretend, or hide her feelings. She feels deeply, therefore, once she sees Boris and falls in love with him, she can no longer help herself. “Do I really want to think about him? - she argues. “What can I do if I can’t get it out of my head?” No matter what I think about, he still stands before my eyes.” For married Katerina, faithful to her husband and pious, this love becomes a real moral torture. “It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss and someone is pushing me there, but I have nothing to hold on to,” this is how she describes her condition.

Being kind, Katerina feels sorry for her husband, whom she has never loved and does not love, with whom she can never be happy. He is a weak, weak-willed man who allows himself to be humiliated in front of his wife.

Boris and Katerina cannot see each other because married ladies are kept under seven locks in Kalinov. Tikhon’s sister, Varvara, for whom there have long been no moral barriers, takes on the task of solving the problem. “And I was not a liar,” she says about herself, “but I learned when it became necessary.” It is unlikely that Katerina would have been able to master this science.

Resisting at first, Katerina nevertheless accepts Varvara’s services. She can no longer be in the suffocating atmosphere of hypocrisy, lack of freedom, tyranny, and she is not able to overcome her love. The heroine commits a great sin - she decides to meet Boris. Fate favors this: Ka-banikha sends her son away from home. Katerina experiences the current situation painfully, but she cannot overcome it. Several meetings with Boris illuminate her life with rays of happiness, but not for long.

Boris is in a dependent position on his uncle, the merchant Dikiy. He is an orphan, and his grandmother in her will ordered that Boris receive a share of the inheritance only after coming of age and only on condition of respectful attitude towards his uncle, which is impossible in principle. Not because Boris is not respectful of elders, but because it is impossible to please a wild, domineering, rude, unscrupulous and cunning person. Nevertheless, Boris continues to live in his uncle’s house, patiently enduring all the insults. There is no strength in his character that would help him overcome circumstances.

Once in Kalinov, Boris, like Katerina, feels uncomfortable. “It’s painfully difficult for me here, without the habit! - he says. “Everyone looks at me somehow wildly, as if I’m superfluous here, as if I’m disturbing them.” Love becomes an unexpected misfortune for him. “Driven, downtrodden,” he exclaims, “and yet he foolishly decided to fall in love.”

Boris cannot overcome his feelings. “If I fell in love...” he says, revealing his secret to Kudryash, and does not finish the sentence, because everything is already clear. However, he cannot take the first step. Varvara turns out to be much more agile than him. Boris accepts her service, but does not know how to answer for what he has done. Punished by his uncle, he obediently goes to Siberia. Boris refuses Katerina’s request to take her with him - he is wary of his uncle. Boris actually betrays Katerina by leaving her in this position.

The heroine turns out to be stronger than Boris. It is she, who cannot lie, who speaks publicly about her love. She challenges the “dark kingdom” by throwing herself into the abyss. Boris, of course, sympathizes with Katerina, but the only way he is able to help her is to wish her death.

Ostrovsky showed Katerina as a woman who is “clogged by the environment,” but at the same time he endowed her with the positive qualities of a strong nature, capable of resisting despotism to the end. About Boris, the critic N. Dobrolyubov said that he was the same Tikhon, only “educated.” “Education took away from him the power to do dirty tricks... but it did not give him the strength to resist the dirty tricks that others do...”