Was there another way out for Katerina the storm? We are writing an essay: “Was there a different path for Katerina from the play “The Thunderstorm” A

The drama “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky was written based on the playwright’s personal impressions after traveling along the upper Volga, where he went on behalf of the Maritime Ministry to collect information about the economic state of the region and the peculiarities of life of the local population. The main theme of the play is the clash between old traditions and new trends, between the aspirations for freedom and those social and family orders that dominated pre-reform Russia. But, in addition to the general theme, the work also reveals a number of specific themes, including the family and everyday life of the merchant-philistine environment and the position of women in this environment.

We see the lack of rights of a woman in the family in the example of Katerina, the main character of the play. Katerina grew up in a patriarchal, religious, loving family. She recalls her childhood: “ I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mama doted on me, dressed me up like a doll, and didn’t force me to work; I used to do whatever I want... I used to get up early; If it’s summer, I’ll go to the spring, wash myself, bring some water with me and that’s it, I’ll water all the flowers in the house... Then we’ll go to church with my mother, everyone and the pilgrims - our house was full of pilgrims and praying mantises. And we’ll come home from church, sit down to do some work, mostly on gold velvet, and the wandering women will begin to tell us where they’ve been, different lives, or sing poems... Then the old women will fall asleep, and I’ll walk around the garden. Then to Vespers, and in the evening again stories and singing. It was so good!»

Having married Tikhon, she finds herself in someone else’s family, where there is a completely different atmosphere: “Yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity.” N. Dobrolyubov writes in the article “A Ray of Light in a Dark Kingdom”: “Katerina does not at all belong to the violent character, never satisfied, loving to destroy at any cost... On the contrary, she is a predominantly creative character, loving, ideal,” but “killed by daytime work and eternal bondage, she can no longer dream of angels with the same clarity...”, her energy requires a different outlet.

Katya is a spiritually rich, poetically sublime nature, sensitive, a little exalted. Having fallen in love with Boris, Katerina is frightened by the strength and depth of her feeling. Having been brought up in religious traditions, the heroine understands that it is a great sin for a married woman to love another man. The author shows the mental suffering of his heroine; she tries to fight her feeling: “Oh, Varya, sin is on my mind! How much I, poor thing, cried, what I didn’t do to myself! I can't escape this sin. Can't go anywhere..." Perhaps, if Varvara had not arranged Katerina’s meeting with Boris, the betrayal would not have happened, because the heroine is trying to talk herself out of the date: “What is she doing? What is she coming up with?.. Is this death? Here she is! Throw it away, throw it far away, throw it into the river so that it will never be found.” But “the feeling of love for a person, the desire to find a kindred response in another heart, the need for tender pleasures...” is stronger than a woman: “Well, you know, he should be there! Apparently, fate itself wants it!.. Throw in the key! No, not for anything in the world! He's mine now..."

Unable to resist love, Katerina cheats on her husband with Boris. The consciousness of her guilt falls heavily on her soul, although even Varvara, Tikhon’s sister, teaches her about life: “What a desire to dry up! Even if you die of melancholy, they will feel sorry for you! Well, just wait. So what a shame it is to torture yourself!”

Katerina's betrayal is a thirst for freedom and happiness. After all, she was given in marriage early, as Varya notes: “They gave you away in marriage, you didn’t have to play around with girls; “Your heart hasn’t left yet.” Her passion for Boris “contains her whole life; all the strength of her nature, all her living aspirations... 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 does not make moral compromises, like Varvara (“if only it was sewn and covered”). After all, Katerina could continue to meet with Boris secretly from her husband. But she is disgusted by lies and deceit and is tormented by guilt. In my opinion, not so much before her husband and mother-in-law, but before God, since her concepts of morality are religiously colored.

I believe that Katerina’s suicide is not so much an escape from her mother-in-law’s despotism and a way to avoid shame and the sidelong glances of the townspeople, but rather a spontaneous decision, a way out that Katerina unexpectedly discovered for herself. This is evident from her monologue: “Where to now? Should I go home? No, it doesn’t matter to me whether I go home or go to the grave. Yes, to home, to the grave!.. to the grave! It’s better in the grave... But I don’t even want to think about life. Live again? No, no, I won't go! You come to them, they walk and talk, but what do I need this for? Oh, it's getting dark! And are they singing again somewhere? What are they singing? You can’t understand... I wish I could die now... What are they singing? It’s all the same that death will come, that death itself... but you can’t live! Sin! Won't they pray? He who loves will pray... Fold his hands crosswise... in a coffin! Yes, that's right... I remembered. And they’ll catch me and force me back home... Oh, hurry, hurry! My friend! My joy! Goodbye!"

From the monologue it is clear that the thought of escaping arises, but is dismissed as unsuccessful. And future life in the Kabanovs’ house seems meaningless, devoid of joy. The husband, although he feels sorry for her, cannot protect her from her mother’s attacks; Boris could not (or did not want) to take Katerina with him. Perhaps if the heroine had children, she would not have made such a terrible decision. But then, probably, the betrayal would not have happened. “At least someone’s children! Eco woe! I don’t have children: I would still sit with them and amuse them. I really like talking to children - they are angels...”

But, on the other hand, from the very beginning in the conversation with Varvara, thoughts about death appear in Katerina’s speech. Perhaps Katerina would have committed suicide, even if the betrayal had not happened. Life itself in the mother-in-law's house was painful. “Eh, Varya, you don’t know my character! Of course, God forbid this happens! And if I get really tired of it here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t do this, even if you cut me!”

She does not think that death is also a sin, perhaps even more serious than treason. After confessing to treason, the situation in the house becomes even more painful, so much so that Katerina is no longer afraid of death. Death seems to her like a deliverance from her hopeless life: “It’s better in the grave... There’s a grave under the tree... how good!.. The sun warms it, wets it with rain... in the spring grass will grow on it, so soft. .. the birds will fly to the tree, they will sing, they will bring out the children, the flowers will bloom: yellow, red, blue,... all sorts... So quiet! So good!.."

Katerina’s behavior has both weaknesses and strengths. But Katerina cannot be condemned or mourned, one can only bow before her courage as a tragic heroine, one can learn from her the courage of heroic will.

A brief history of the creation of the drama "The Thunderstorm".
The essence of the conflict between Katerina Kabanova and the “dark kingdom”.
Analysis of possible outcomes of Katerina's fate. Appeal to the image of the main character.
The answer to the question: “Was there another way out for the heroine?”

One of the most famous dramas by N. Ostrovsky, “”, repeatedly staged and filmed, appeared in 1859. And the characters, and the conventional city of Kalinov, and even the image of the Volga - all this is a reflection of the personal impressions of the “writer of Zamoskvorechye”, who, shortly before the creation of the drama, went on a trip to the Volga region. This explains the picturesque landscapes, the detailed description of the city itself, however, deliberately “faceless”, conventional, which emphasizes the ubiquity of the life depicted in the drama.

Unlike the “Muscovite” traditions, “The Thunderstorm” depicts a patriarchal family - but in a completely different way. Here the traditional way of life has no positive aspects. Hard-heartedness and servile submission to elders reign here - first of all, Kabanikha, who “... gives to the poor, but has completely eaten up the family.” There is no place for freedom, love.

However, there is a way to get it: to lie and sin. The main thing is that everything is “sewn and covered” - this is exactly what young Varvara teaches her older daughter-in-law. “A ray of light,” as the critic N. Dobrolyubov would later call this heroine, who grew up in an atmosphere of piety, freedom, and integrity, is disgusted by such a life. When she realizes that she has tender feelings not for her husband Tikhon (his telling name vividly describes the hero’s subservient attitude towards his mother Kabanikha), but for the visiting Boris, she is horrified.

It’s not her rule to go on secret dates when her husband leaves home! That is why she seeks salvation in religion - she prays for a long time at the images and sincerely does not want to fall into sin. However, under the oppression of the morals surrounding her (Varvara, for example, does not hesitate to secretly see her lover until her mother finds out about it, like other townspeople), she gives up.

But life in constant fear, sincere repentance, regret about the inability to be free and happy interfere with Katerina. This is where the conflict lies: she opposes the way of life and morals of the “dark kingdom” with her own honor, good morals, and the desire to be free.

This leads to an unconscious but clear challenge that she poses to the entire Kalinovsky society when she sincerely and publicly confesses to her husband that she has cheated on her. Unable to live away from her loved one and endure the oppression of her mother-in-law Kabanikha, Katerina rushes into the waters of the Volga to save herself from suffering.

But could the drama have had a different ending, a happier one? Katerina could have succumbed to the influence of society, continued secret meetings with Boris, as, however, was quite customary in the provinces (moreover, this was reflected not only in Russian, but also in foreign literature - in particular, Madame Bovary leads a similar lifestyle from the novel G. Flaubert) and even in the capital of the Empire.

Perhaps the only answer to the question is negative: no, there could be no other ending. The patriarchal structure would not have allowed Katerina to go with Boris and leave Kalinov. The heroine herself is completely alien to the merciless and cruel “dark kingdom”. Even as a child, she dreamed of being free - this is described in one of the most lyrical monologues in Russian literature, “why don’t people fly like birds.” She absolutely hates living within a rigid framework.

Her sincerity, moral purity, repentance for her own fall did not allow her to live further. Of two evils, they choose the lesser - the evil that, according to Katerina, she committed - and the company with her - is much greater than the most terrible Christian sin - suicide. No wonder Kuligin, who brought her body ashore, utters the phrase: “...she is now before a judge who is more merciful than you!”

We can answer unequivocally that the very image of the main character of the drama “The Thunderstorm” completely contradicts the idea of Katerina’s possibility of entering the “dark kingdom”, becoming its link. This is a sincere, pure, bright character, whose image was not overshadowed even by the chosen outcome of life. An unconscious protest made it possible to awaken sincerity in other characters: silent and obedient, Tikhon, despite the threat of his mother’s curse, blames his mother for the death of Katerina (“Mama, you ruined her!”), rushes to his dead wife, whom he sincerely loved, and mourns about the loss and cries that he will have to “live and suffer.”

A tragic, sad, sinful outcome is Katerina’s only way out, the only opportunity to become free. However, it was her act that became a kind of impetus for changing the patriarchal “dark” way of life in provincial life.

Was there another way for Katerina?

kingdom” (as the Dobrolyubov world called it) considers any movement of the soul as a challenge. The forces turned out to be unequal, and in the end it all ended in the suicide of the main character. But death in the play was the beginning of Katerina’s immortality. The play, like 150 years ago, evokes a lively response from readers, and one of the most discussed questions remains: did Katerina have a different path?

If you analyze the situation in which the heroine finds herself, you can consider several ways out of it.

The path that Katerina herself dreamed of is connected with her beloved, Boris. For her, such a way out of the situation would be just a fairy tale. But Boris turned out to be a bad prince, and this fairy tale did not come true - her chosen one turned out to be too weak-willed and selfish. He leaves for Siberia without her, which completely broke Katerina.

Another option is to leave Tikhon. This path seems quite natural to modern people, but in those days, obtaining a divorce was accompanied by a large number of bureaucratic costs, and Katerina would have had to endure all possible humiliations. This process would take a very long time. In addition, by this act she would have completely dishonored her own name and would have taken on a great sin on her soul, since then marriages were actually concluded before God.

For her, salvation could be the religious path. She would become a nun and devote herself and her whole life to God, with whom all the happy moments of childhood were associated. But a married woman would never be accepted into a monastery. If they found out that she was married, they would definitely return her to her husband.

The fourth option is a path in which everything would remain as it was. She would also live with Tikhon and her mother-in-law, listening to everyday insults and reproaches from the latter. But in this case, the freedom-loving and sensitive Katerina would simply soon go crazy, especially in the absence of the support of her weak-willed husband.

So, having considered all the possible options, we can conclude that Katerina’s death was natural, and it was the only possible way out for the girl. But this decision speaks not of weakness, but of the strength of her personality. She did not seek compromises with the world around her and with her conscience, but acted as her heart told her.

Childhood and adolescence

In order to understand what Katerina’s conflict with the so-called dark kingdom was, you should know her general ideas about life. To demonstrate the peculiarities of her character, Ostrovsky presented some information about her childhood and adolescence. Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” We should, of course, start with the characteristics of this heroine. And you can understand a person by having an idea of his upbringing and the society in which he spent his early years.

In some episodes, Katerina remembers her father's house. The main feature of her childhood was complete freedom. It cannot be called permissiveness. Rather, such freedom was due to the love and care of the parents. The atmosphere in which Katerina spent the first years of her life is an example of a patriarchal lifestyle, in the best sense of this phrase. In the essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” you can add some quotes from the main character’s memories. For example, Katerina recalls that in her parents’ house she liked to get up early, then washed her face with water from a spring and went to church on Sundays with her mother. There is no significant difference in the lifestyle that the girl led in her parents' house from the one she leads in her husband's house. The joy with which she indulges in memories speaks rather of her loneliness.

In the world in which the heroine lived before her marriage, there was no coercion and violence. And therefore, it was precisely the idyllic picture of such a patriarchal life that became hers. In the Kabanovs’ house, everything is different. Psychological tyranny reigns here. The mother-in-law puts depressing pressure on Katerina. And the young woman has no strength to resist him.

Kabanikha's world

Katerina got married when she was very young. Her parents found her future husband. She did not resist, because this was the way it was in the patriarchal world. Katerina is ready to honor her mother-in-law. In her understanding, her husband is a mentor and support. But Tikhon is not capable of becoming the head of the family. His mother plays this role. Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” you can start with It is this image that creates the opposite of the main thing. And it is the mother-in-law, with her outdated and overly domineering views, that has a destructive effect on Katerina.

Boris

No matter how hard Katerina strives to love and respect her husband, she fails. He evokes only pity in her soul. When the heroine meets a visiting young man, her heart opens to a feeling that was previously unknown to her. Could she have done anything differently? Was there another way for Katerina? The essay based on Ostrovsky's play is intended to provide answers to these questions.

The characteristics of Boris in writing a written work on the topic to which this article is devoted do not play an important role. The image of the husband is essential. Tikhon is a spineless, soft-bodied person. Even after the tragedy that became the climax of the play occurs, he is afraid to contradict his mother. Tikhon loves his young wife. But this feeling turns out to be much weaker than the fear of Kabanikha. However, many in the small provincial town are in awe of this lady.

Religiosity

At the beginning of the play, remembering her childhood, Katerina talks with joy and warmth about visiting church. It should be said that piety is its characteristic feature. It was the awareness of the sin committed that led her to fear and feelings of hopelessness. But at the same time, faith in God did not keep her from doing what, according to Christian concepts, is the most terrible thing.

“Was there another way for Katerina?” - an essay in which it is imperative to include a description of Kabanikha’s world. From the moment Katerina crossed the threshold of her house, the harmony in her soul began to collapse. Therefore, it became increasingly difficult for her to do everyday activities and attend church.

Deception and hypocrisy

Was there another way for Katerina? The essay “The Thunderstorm” is a tragic story of a girl who was unable to adapt to the morals and way of life that prevailed in her husband’s house. By nature, this young woman does not know how to lie. She is not capable of living in deception and hypocrisy. But it is impossible to exist in any other way in Kabanikha’s house. She endures with all her strength, finds salvation in dreams and daydreams. But vulgar and crude reality brings her back to earth again. And there is humiliation and suffering.

Sin and Confession

Katerina makes a mistake. She falls in love with Boris and cheats on her husband. The essay “Was there another way for Katerina from the play “The Thunderstorm”” is a written work, the outline of which can be written as follows:

Katerina's image.
Characteristics of Kabanikha.
Contrasting Boris with Tikhon.
An inevitable tragedy.

After it becomes clear what Kabanikha is and what kind of atmosphere prevails in her house, the feelings of the main character also become clear. A girl who grew up in love and affection would never be able to get along in this house. She is not accustomed to cruelty and hypocrisy and feels not only unhappy, but also extremely lonely in the world of Kabanikha. Boris is a man who impressed her only because he did not look like any representative of the “dark kingdom.” If there had been at least a faint hope of happiness in Katerina’s life, she would not have committed treason.

Essay “Was there a different path for Katerina?” (Ostrovsky, “The Thunderstorm”) is a task that requires independent reflection. Can an honest person get used to a world of lies? Is he able to hide his misdeeds and move on after committing a sin? In the case of the heroine of Ostrovsky's play, the answer is clear. Katerina had no other choice.

She was killed by Kabanikha’s deceitful world, loneliness, lack of understanding and support from her husband. She could have overcome all this if she had been more experienced. But the peculiarity of the patriarchal way of life is such that a girl, leaving her father’s house, has no idea about life. Therefore, we can say that Katerina’s tragedy was inevitable.

The play “The Thunderstorm,” which was written by Ostrovsky in 1859, is one of the author’s most popular. Such success of the work is not at all surprising. The drama described a completely new female character, which was distinguished by strength and depth. The heroine seemed to personify a protest against the stuffy and musty world, where the patriarchal way of life reigned, according to the laws of which almost all of Rus' of that time lived. In fact, Katerina’s actions can hardly be called a conscious protest. The whole point is that the “dark kingdom” (as the world of Dobrolyubov called it) considers any movement of the soul as a challenge. The forces turned out to be unequal, and in the end it all ended in the suicide of the main character. But death in the play was the beginning of Katerina’s immortality. The play, like 150 years ago, evokes a lively response from readers, and one of the most discussed questions remains: did Katerina have a different path?

If you analyze the situation in which the heroine finds herself, then you can consider several ways out of it. The path that Katerina herself dreamed of is connected with her beloved - Boris. For her, such a way out of the situation would be just a fairy tale. But Boris turned out to be a bad prince, and this fairy tale did not come true - her chosen one turned out to be too weak-willed and selfish. He leaves for Siberia without her, which completely broke Katerina.

Another option is to leave Tikhon. This path seems quite natural to modern people, but in those days, obtaining a divorce was accompanied by a large number of bureaucratic costs, and Katerina would have had to endure all possible humiliations. This process would take a very long time. In addition, by this act she would have completely dishonored her own name and would have taken on a great sin on her soul, since then marriages were actually concluded before God.

For her, salvation could be the religious path. She would become a nun and devote herself and her whole life to God, with whom all the happy moments of childhood were associated. But a married woman would never be accepted into a monastery. If they found out that she was married, they would definitely return her to her husband.