Why did Katerina decide to love Boris? lit. Ostrovsky "thunderstorm" urgently !!! Thunderstorm Katerina's love for Boris What does love mean for Katerina
Lesson topic: "Who is to blame for the death of Katerina?" (Katerina's love in A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm")
The purpose of the lesson:- analyze the image of the heroine; understand why she decided to love Boris, what this love led to.
Finding out Katerina's suicide is strength or weakness.
Find out the character traits of Katerina, why she cannot live according to the laws of the "dark kingdom".
Learn to do text research.
Learn to express your opinion.
Lesson Form: dispute.
Methodical methods: conversation with analysis of episodes, student reports, musical accompaniment, use of film and illustrations .
Equipment: A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", illustrations for the play, portraits of actresses who played Katerina, film "Thunderstorm", musical accompaniment, poems by A. Dementiev and P. Vegin .
During the classes:
Organizing time.
Organization of the group to work, mark the absent.
Presentation of the topic and objectives of the lesson.
Love is stronger than death, stronger than fear of death.
(I.S. Turgenev)
Music sounds: romance "Under the caress of a plush blanket" - 2min 35 sec.
What kind of love is sung in the romance? (love is self-sacrifice that leads to death).
The main character of the play "Thunderstorm" love also led to death.
The topic of our lesson is “Do not tempt me by loving!” (Katerina's love in A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm")
The epigraph of the lesson: "Love is stronger than death, stronger than the fear of death."
How do you understand these words?
When a person loves, he is ready for anything, ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of his beloved, ready to perform a feat in the name of love. The main character of the play, Katerina, is ready to sacrifice a lot in the name of love, even her principles, she rushes into the pool, not being afraid of God's punishment.
We must figure out why Katerina decided to love Boris, why Katerina committed suicide, Katerina's death - victory or defeat, identify Katerina's character traits, why she cannot live according to the laws of the "dark kingdom", what are the origins of Katerina's character. We conduct the lesson in the form of a debate, in which you must express your opinion - Katerina's love - is it weakness or strength? Katerina's suicide - is it victory or defeat? Can this be called Katerina's protest against the "dark kingdom"? During the lesson, each of you should form your own opinion on this matter, which you will express during the debate.
Implementation of homework.
To better understand the image of Katerina and its incompatibility with the norm and morality of the "dark kingdom", let's recall the previous lesson, the life and customs of the city of Kalinov, having completed the tasks.
Assignments: “Do you know the play“ Thunderstorm ”(Handout)
Students read the question and answer it orally
Homework question: Which of the heroes of the play does not belong to either the "victims" or the "owners" of the city of Kalinov? (Katerina Kabanova). Why? (She does not subordinate anyone to herself and does not know how to obey herself)
new material.
1) Character traits of Katerina.
Katerina - the main character of Ostrovsky's play, does not obey the "masters" of life (Kabanikha and Diky), the laws of the dark kingdom are alien to her, she lives as her conscience tells her. The names of the heroes have a symbolic meaning: Katerina - Greek. "purity", "decency"; but the name of Kabanikhi - Martha - Greek. “mistress”, “mistress”, this is how she feels herself in the play; the daughter of Kabanikhi - Barbara - from the Greek "foreign", "rude". Such Katerina by virtue of her character.
What character traits appear from the very first remarks of Katerina? (read out remarks) - inability to be hypocritical, directness.
Already from the very first remarks of Katerina, a conflict is felt.
Where did such character traits of Katerina come from, if the city of Kalinov lives according to other principles? (upbringing in childhood, in the home)
Let's compare Katerina's life in the house of Kabanikh and in the house of her parents.
At the parents' house:
- “like a bird in the wild”
- "mother did not have a soul in her"
- "not forced to work"
- “Embroidered, went to church, walked”
In the house of her parents, Katerina felt the cordial attitude of her relatives, relative freedom, listened to the stories of wanderers, pilgrims, attended church. Hence Katerina's painful impressionability and romantic attitude to life.
In the Kabanikhi's house:
- "withered like a flower"
- "out of love they scold you"
- "everything is forced"
- "I will not be afraid, you and even more so"
In the house of Kabanova, Katerina experienced a cruel relationship with her mother-in-law, which caused a constant spiritual rebellion, and Tikhon did not understand Katerina. And he lived on the orders of Kabanikhi.
The influence of life at the Kabanovs on Katerina:
A) Awareness of one's doom
B) Closure, disappointment in family life.
C) Passionate desire for freedom, love, happiness.
Now let's find out the character traits of the main character and what is her conflict with others?
Katerina's character traits - the principles of life in the Kabanikh's house
Freedom - submission
Independence - giving up one's will
Self-esteem - humiliation by reproaches and suspicions
Dreaminess and poetry - lack of spiritual principles
Religiosity - religious hypocrisy
Decisiveness - not to let live according to one's own will (bondage)
Kindness, disinterestedness - rudeness and abuse
Honesty, spontaneity - deceit
Conclusion: For Katerina, the main thing is to live according to your soul, and for Kabanikha, the main thing is to subdue and not let you live in your own way. Here there is a sharp contrast - an irreconcilable conflict follows.
What is your opinion on the question: How does Katerina differ from the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov? (spontaneity, kindness, sincerity, honesty, etc.)
Is Katerina's striving for freedom a protest or a state of mind? (Students' opinions)
2) Is Katerina's love for Boris a protest or a sincere feeling?
Love is the driving force behind the story. What is love? Definition according to Ozhegov's dictionary (Love of children, parents, friends, high feeling)
1) all the characters talk about love, especially Katerina.
2) We are talking about different love (love of parents, friendship, sons
and about love as a high spiritual feeling.)
3) The first and last lines about love belong to Katerina.
4) In 4.D, where the scene of Katerina's repentance is described - there are no replicas with the word "love" at all
Is Katerina's tragedy a tragedy of love or conscience?
A. Dementiev's poem "The soul does not want change"
Love is not only uplifting.
Love sometimes destroys us.
Breaks destinies and hearts...
Beautiful in her desires
She can be so dangerous
Like an explosion, like nine grams of lead.
She bursts in suddenly.
And you can't tomorrow
Don't see a pretty face.
Love is not only uplifting.
Love rules and decides everything.
And we go into this captivity.
And we do not dream of freedom.
While the dawn in the soul rises,
The soul does not want change.
So Katerina's love is not only an exalted feeling, but a destructive feeling, which played a fatal role in her fate, led the heroine to death. Cases of suicide in the patriarchal merchant world were not isolated - we will see this from the history of the creation of the play "Thunderstorm" (student report)
“On the instructions of His Imperial Highness, General-Admiral, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, prominent Russian writers who already had travel experience and a taste for essay prose were sent around the country for new materials for the Marine Collection. They were supposed to study and describe the folk crafts associated with the sea, lakes and rivers, the methods of local shipbuilding and navigation, the situation of domestic fisheries and the very state of Russia's waterways.
Ostrovsky got the Upper Volga from its source to Nizhny Novgorod. And he got down to business with passion.”
“In the old dispute of the Volga cities about which of them, by the will of Ostrovsky, was turned into Kalinov (the scene of the play “Thunderstorm”), arguments in favor of Kineshma, Tver, Kostroma are most often heard. The debaters seemed to forget about Rzhev, but meanwhile it was Rzhev who was clearly involved in the birth of the mysterious idea of \u200b\u200bthe Thunderstorm!
Where the Thunderstorm was written - at a dacha near Moscow or in Zavolzhsky Shchelykovo - is not known for sure, but it was created with amazing speed, truly by inspiration, in a few months of 1859.
For quite a long time, it was believed that Ostrovsky took the plot of The Thunderstorm from the life of the Kostroma merchants, that it was based on the Klykov case, which was sensational in Kostroma at the end of the summer of 1859. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Kostroma residents proudly pointed to the place of Katerina's suicide - a gazebo at the end of a small boulevard, in those years literally hanging over the Volga. They also showed the house where she lived - next to the Church of the Assumption. And the code "Thunderstorm" for the first time was on the stage of the Kostroma Theater, the artists made up "under the Klykovs".
Kostroma local historians then thoroughly examined the Klykovo case in the archive and, with documents in their hands, came to the conclusion that it was this story that Ostrovsky used in his work on Thunderstorm. The coincidences were almost literal. A.P. Klykova was extradited at the age of sixteen to a gloomy and unsociable merchant family, consisting of old parents, a son and an unmarried daughter. The mistress of the house, severe and obstinate, depersonalized her husband and children with her despotism. She forced her young daughter-in-law to do any menial work, refused her requests to see her relatives.
At the time of the drama, Klykova was 19 years old. In the past, she was brought up in love and the soul of a doting grandmother in her, she was cheerful, cheerful, lively. Now she was unkind and a stranger in the family. Her young husband, Klykov, a carefree and apathetic man, could not protect his wife from the harassment of his mother-in-law and treated her indifferently. The Klykovs had no children. And then another man stood in the way of the young woman, Maryin, who works in the post office. Began suspicions, scenes of jealousy. It ended with the fact that on November 10, 1859, the body of A.P. Klykova was found in the Volga. A long legal process began, which received wide publicity even outside the Kostroma province, and none of the Kostroma residents doubted that Ostrovsky had used the materials of this case in Groz.
Many decades passed before the researchers of Ostrovsky’s work established for sure that The Thunderstorm was written before the Kostroma merchant Klykova rushed into the Volga. Ostrovsky began work on The Thunderstorm in June-July 1859 and finished on October 9 of the same year.
It can be concluded that such cases in the merchant environment happened, so the patriarchal foundations of society did not allow them to live freely, independently, but subjugated, enslaved. A woman could not love the one she wants, they married not for love, and she had to come to terms with her fate.
Katerina Kabanova did not reconcile herself, as did A.P. Klykova.
Reading the dialogue of Katerina and Barbara (D.2, yavl. 2)
Who did Katerina love?
Why does Varvara guess about Katerina's love?
What can be said about the principles of the Kabanovs' house? How has Barbara adapted?
Katerina fell in love with Boris, but Katerina's conscience, her religiosity does not allow her to transgress the moral law - to cheat on her husband. Katerina's torment was noticed by Varvara, who adapted to the laws of the "dark kingdom", learned to deceive and, secretly from her mother, meets her beloved Curly. It is Varvara who arranges a meeting between Katerina and Boris when Tikhon leaves on business.
Analysis of the scene "Seeing Tikhon" D2, yavl.3,4,5.
(Reading by role)
How do the characters behave in this scene, how does this characterize them?
What is the significance of this scene in the development of events?
(In this scene, the despotism of Kabanikha is revealed to the extreme, Tikhon's complete inability to not only protect. But also understand Katerina is revealed. This scene explains Katerina's decision to go on a date with Boris.)
How does Tikhon behave before leaving?
(In order to understand Tikhon’s state of mind before leaving, you need to clearly understand his position in his mother’s house, his desire to be freed from guardianship for at least two weeks. With a sense of relief, Tikhon utters his remark: “Yes, sir, it’s time.” But it turns out that not yet everything.Mother demands that he instruct Katerina how to live without him.Tikhon realizes that by doing his mother's will, he humiliates his wife.
When Kabanikh’s instructions become completely offensive, Tikhon tries to object to the bullying of Katerina, but his mother is adamant, and he quietly, embarrassed, as if apologizing to his wife, says: “Don’t look at the guys!” The goal of the Kabanikha is to bring to the complete obedience of the household and, above all, the wayward Katerina)
Analysis of a monologue with a key. D 2, yavl.10.
Let's try to understand why Katerina fell in love with Boris?
We will find the answer in Dobrolyubov's article: “In this passion lies her whole life; all the strength of her nature, all her living aspirations merge here. She is attracted to Boris not only by the fact that she likes him, that he does not look like the rest of those around her in appearance and speech, her need for love, which has not found a response in her husband, and the offended feeling of a wife and a woman, are attracted to him, and the mortal anguish of her monotonous life, and the desire for freedom, space, hot, unrestricted freedom.
Reading a monologue. (student reads)
What feelings does Katerina experience, how are these feelings reflected in her speech? What is the meaning of the scene?
(Here, the victory of Katerina’s natural feeling over the dogmas of house building is revealed. Katerina’s speech is full of short, abrupt interrogative and exclamatory sentences, repetitions, comparisons conveying the tension of Katerina’s feelings.
After an excited introduction, Katerina's bitter thoughts about life in captivity follow. Speech becomes more restrained, balanced. Katerina disputes the original decision to throw the key: “What a sin if I look at it once, at least from afar! Yes, at least I’ll talk about it! .. But he himself didn’t want to. ” This part of the monologue is accompanied by remarks: after thinking, silence, reflects, looks thoughtfully at the key, characterizing the state of Katerina.
The monologue ends with a strong outburst of feelings: “I should even die, but see him…”
A love choice dooms Katerina to torment. She is dating Boris.
An excerpt from the movie "Thunderstorm" (scene "Date")
What is the complexity of Katerina's internal state?
(Katerina deceives and stands on a par with Varvara, this is not typical of Katerina's nature. The author shows the evolution of the heroine's state of mind - from confusion to the assertion of the right to love. Katerina "quietly descends the path, .. with her eyes downcast on the ground", addresses to Boris “with fright, but without raising his eyes”, “raises his eyes and looks at Boris”, “throws himself on his neck.”)
How is Katerina's struggle with herself shown in these monologues? (her monologues are tense, emotional, it is not the mind that speaks in them, but the heart.)
What is Katherine's determination expressed in? (decided on love with Boris, acted at the behest of the heart, not the law)
Conclusion: Katerina's love is a sincere feeling, she is not capable of hypocrisy and pretending, she acts at the behest of her heart, violating the moral and religious law - she cheats on her husband, and Tikhon did not seek to win Katerina's love, but lived on the orders and orders of his "mother", therefore Katerina did not find support and love in him, so she is looking for it on the side.
So. Is Katerina's love a sincere feeling or a protest? (students' opinions )
Repentance of Katerina (D.4, Yavl 6)
After the arrival of her husband, Katerina “simply became on her own ... She is trembling all over, as if she were having a fever; so pale, rushing about the house, just what she was looking for. Eyes like a lunatic."
Why has there been a change in Katerina? (Katerina was religious, cheating on her husband, she committed a grave sin, she went to deceit, which is contrary to her nature, so Katerina is hard on her soul, it is easier for her to confess, repent)
Since the drama is called "Thunderstorm", the motive of the thunderstorm is present throughout the play. Let's try to figure out how the title of the play determines the actions of the main character.
What do you think the meaning of the title is?
(Thunderstorm - in nature - the motive of an impending thunderstorm is constantly heard.
A thunderstorm in Katerina's soul - disagreement with the morality of the "dark kingdom", the desire to live according to her own heart, love for Boris, leads to confusion in the soul.
A thunderstorm in society - a conflict is brewing, the unwillingness of many to live according to the norms and
house building rules, free feelings awaken in an unfree society.)
Thunderstorm in nature - refreshing
Thunderstorm in the soul - cleanses
Thunderstorm in society - enlightens.
How the inhabitants of Kalinovo perceived a thunderstorm (as a divine phenomenon. As a punishment of God, Katerina is no exception, she is afraid of a thunderstorm, following religious motives)
How is the scene of repentance motivated? (read an excerpt from the play)
(A thunderstorm is approaching, which, according to the Kalinovites, “is sent to us as a punishment.” The gloomy color is enhanced by the scene of action - instead of the panorama of the Volga - a narrow gallery with oppressive vaults. Katerina is now “unarmed.” She is hurt both by Kabanikha’s hints and Tikhon’s affectionate joke. Weasel husband, before whom she is guilty - for her torture)
What is the difference in Katerina's state of mind in D.1 and D.4?
(The difference in Katerina’s state of mind is also expressed in her exclamations after the mistress left in D.1 “Oh, how she frightened me, I’m trembling all over, as if she was prophesying something to me; D.4.: “Oh, I’m dying!” Katerina waiting for God's punishment. She seeks protection from God, kneels down and sees the image of hell in front of her. Thus Ostrovsky leads to the climax of the play - the scene of repentance.)
D.4.yavl.6. - Read the passage. How does Katerina feel now?
(If the victory of love in Katerina's soul is revealed in the monologue with the key and in the meeting scene, then in the scene of repentance, the power of the norms of religious morality gravitating over Katerina is clearly revealed.)
(If Katerina hid her sin, learned to pretend and deceive, continued to go on dates with Boris, then this would mean that Katerina adapted to the surrounding society, reconciled with its moral principles, despotism)
What explains Katherine's remorse?
(Katerina’s repentance is explained not only by the fear of God’s punishment, but also by the fact that her high morality rebels against the deception that entered her life. She said about herself: “I can’t deceive, I can’t hide anything.” For Katerina's moral assessment of one's actions and thoughts is an important aspect of spiritual life, and in Katerina's public recognition one can see an attempt to atone for her guilt, severely punish herself, an attempt at moral purification.)
Could Katherine have found a way to save her soul? Why? (students' opinions)
Farewell to Boris. (D.5, Yavl 3.4)
(Reading an excerpt)
The romance "And in the end I will say" sounds
Katerina rushes into the Volga, not reconciled with the laws of the "dark kingdom".
Why Boris couldn’t save Katerina (He was a “victim” of the “dark kingdom”, lived under the influence of the Wild, and could not disobey him, obeyed him and could not, like Katerina, oppose captivity because of the fear of the “victim”)
What can be the conclusion?
Conclusion: Katerina never betrayed herself, she decided on love at the behest of her heart, she confessed to treason from an inner sense of freedom (a lie is not freedom), she says goodbye to Boris not only because of a feeling of love, but also because he suffered because of her, rushed into the Volga at the request of a free soul.
Prove that Katerina's death is a protest.
(The timid Tikhon blames his mother for the death of his wife, Varvara runs away from home)
Who will pray for the heroines who died for love?
P. Vegin's poem "Keeper of the hearth"
You are destroying the hearth.
Blue fire is boiling
In desperate eyes
Warrior in love
What is drama to you, what is shame?
And you destroy the house
To build a temple.
The heroine of the play, destroying her family, went to love, experienced moments of happiness, built a temple of love, probably the goddess of love will pray for her soul.
Will the city of Kalinov be able to live as before after Katerina's death? (students' opinions)
Work according to the textbook (Reserve)
The role of Katerina was played by many actresses, all of them approached the interpretation of this image in different ways.
"Performers of the roles of Katerina"
1- Kositskaya
2-Fedotova
3-Strepetova
4-Yermolova
5-Tarasova
6-Kozyreva
Textbook work: How did the actresses embody the image of Katerina?
Conclusion: Diverse stage incarnations are a continuation of the controversy: is it strength or weakness? Protest or humility?
6. Critics about the play.
What is a critic to do here?
Student Message
Dobrolyubov "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom"
- "Thunderstorm" is the revolutionary forces ripening in the depths of Russia
The critic noted strong, rebellious motives in the character of Katerina
In Katerina we see a protest against Kaban's notions of morality.
Katerina is a healthy person. Which found in itself the determination to end this rotten life at all costs.
D. Pisarev "Motives of Russian drama"
Katerina is a "crazy dreamer
Katerina's whole life consists of internal contradictions.
She constantly goes from one extreme to the other.
She confuses her life and the lives of others at every step.
She confuses everything, cuts the protracted knots by the most stupid means - suicide.
Apollon Grigoriev
I saw in Katerina the poetry of folk life
He noted the beauty of nature, the Volga, against which the action unfolds: “As if not an artist, but a whole people created here!”
7. Fixing.
T test task.
Lesson summary.
So, we examined in the lesson the image of the main character of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm", what conclusion can be drawn about her? (strong, decisive, able to love, defend her feelings, but not able to lie, deceive, afraid of God - all this led the heroine to death)
Disassemble the diagram. (Met Zolotareva p.196) - draw a conclusion of the lesson
Submit ratings.
Lesson conclusion: Katerina is a strong personality who knew how to love, is ready to sacrifice herself in the name of love, but she is honest, sincere and therefore she is not able to pretend, deceive, i.e. live according to the laws of the "dark kingdom", she chose a way out - suicide, in order to save herself and her soul from remorse and get away from the norms and rules of the city of Kalinov.
Sounds of the romance "Love is a magical land"
9. D / s
Make a characterization of the literary hero - Katerina according to the plan (see the stand)
Katerina's love for Boris temporarily expands 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 forced to marry an unloved man. Further life in the husband's house, constant nit-picking 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 not destiny. And Katerina is a romantic and dreamy nature. The girl from childhood was very emotional. 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 life.
How does Katerina see Boris? Of course, he seems to her not at all like Tikhon and most of the people around her. Every person, falling 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. How could they think 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 hard it was for the young man to get used to the new way of life. Uncle mocks his nephew in every possible way. And he can do nothing to oppose him. Therein lies the tragedy of the young man. He lacks the mental strength and firmness 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 is inactive and goes with the flow. He brought misfortune even 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 used to be 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, if we live so well?” Right now he is happy, he is confident in himself, he likes that his beloved woman is nearby. And what will happen next, he does not care.
Katerina gives everything of herself, receiving nothing in return. Katerina's trouble is that Boris turned out to be unworthy of her love. With seeming positive qualities, he is actually a small, selfish person who thinks only of himself. Katerina's love for him is just entertainment, although he tries to prove to her that he acts only 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 hard it is for a woman and how reserved Boris behaves at the same time.
Boris's words seem monstrous: “Well, God bless you! There is only one thing we must ask God for, that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!". And these words a man says about his beloved woman! He does not even try to alleviate her fate, at least console her. Boris just wants her dead. And such is Katerina's retribution for the happiness that lasted only ten days!
In Katerina's position, 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 all the importance of the introductory characters for which Ostrovsky is so reproached turns out. Take a good look: you see that Katerina was brought up in concepts that are the same as the concepts of the environment in which she lives, and cannot get rid of them, having no theoretical education. The stories of the wanderers and the suggestions of the family, although they were processed by her 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 from her upbringing one thing a strong feeling - the fear of some dark forces, something unknown, which she could not explain to herself well, nor reject. For every thought she fears, for the simplest feeling she expects punishment for herself; it seems to her that a thunderstorm will kill her, because she is a sinner, the pictures of fiery hell on the church wall seem to her already a foreshadowing 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; Wild insists that a thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we feel; the mistress who has come, inspiring fear in everyone in the city, is shown several times in order to shout over Katerina in an ominous voice: “You will all burn in fire in unquenchable.” Everyone around is full of superstitious fear, and everyone around, in accordance with the concepts of Katerina herself, should look at her feelings for Boris as the greatest crime. Even the daring Curly, the esprit-fort * of this environment, and he finds that the girls can go out with the guys as much as they want - that's nothing, but the women should really be 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 business must be abandoned." Everything is against Katerina, even her own ideas about good and evil; everything must make her — to stifle her impulses and wither in the cold and gloomy formalism of family silence and obedience, without any living aspirations, without will, without love — or else learn to deceive people and conscience.<…>
The environment in which Katerina lives requires her to lie and deceive; “It’s impossible without this,” Varvara tells her, “remember where you live; Our whole house is based 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: another woman has gone astray, learned to deceive her family and will debauchery on the sly, pretending to caress her husband and wearing the disgusting mask of a humble woman! One could not strictly blame her for this either: her situation is so difficult! But then she would have been one of the dozens of faces of the type that is already so worn out in stories that showed how "environment seizes good people." Katerina is not like that: the denouement of her love, despite the whole home environment, is visible in advance, even when she only approaches the matter. She does not engage in psychological analysis and therefore cannot express subtle observations of herself; what she says about herself, it means that she strongly makes herself known to her. And she, at the first suggestion of Varvara about her meeting with Boris, cries out: “No, no, don’t! what are you, God forbid: if I see him at least once, I will run away from home, I will not go home for anything in the world! It is not a reasonable precaution that speaks in her, it is a passion; and it’s already clear that no matter how hard she restrains herself, passion is above her, above all her prejudices and fears, above all suggestions. heard by her since childhood. In this passion lies her whole life; all the strength of her nature, all her living aspirations merge here. She is attracted to Boris not only by the fact that she likes him, that he is not like the others around her both in appearance and speech; she is attracted to him by the need for love, which has not found a response in her husband, and the offended feeling of the wife and woman, and the mortal anguish of her monotonous life, and the desire for freedom, space, hot, unrestricted freedom. She keeps dreaming about how she could “fly invisibly wherever she wanted”; otherwise such a thought comes: “if it were my will, I would now ride on the Volga, on a boat, with songs, or on a troika on a good one, embracing” ... “Not with my husband,” Varya tells her, and Katerina does not can hide her feelings and immediately opens up to her with the question: “How do you know?” It is evident that Varvara's remark explained a lot to herself: in telling her dreams so naively, she did not yet fully understand their significance. 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 for which she was so languidly seeking. But once she has uttered the word of mystery, she will not depart from it even in her thoughts. Fear, doubts, the thought of sin and human judgment - all this comes into her head, but no longer has power over her; this is so, formalities, to clear the 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 “speak” herself somehow. She makes an attempt to stand somewhat aloof from herself and judge the act she has decided on as an extraneous matter; but her thoughts are all directed towards the justification of this act. “Here,” he says, “is it a long time to die ... In captivity, someone has fun ... At least now I live, toil, I don’t see a gap for myself ... my mother-in-law crushed me” ... etc. d. - all exculpatory articles. And then more easing considerations: “it’s already clear that fate wants it that way ... But what kind of sin is it if I look at it once ... Yes, even if I talk about it, it’s not a problem. Or maybe such a case will never happen again in a lifetime ... ”This monologue aroused in some critics a desire to sneer at Katerina as over a shameless and submissive *; but we know no greater shamelessness than to assure that we or one of our ideal friends are not involved in such transactions with conscience ... It is not individuals who are to blame for these transactions, 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 strivings of the soul. Until these concepts are expelled from society, until the full harmony of the ideas and needs of nature is restored in the human being, until then such transactions are inevitable. It is also good if, while doing them, one comes to what seems natural and common sense, and does not fall under the yoke of conventional instructions of artificial morality. This is precisely what Katerina became strong for, and the stronger nature speaks in her, the calmer she looks in the face of children's nonsense, which those around her have taught her to be afraid of. Therefore, it even seems to us that the artist, who plays 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 going on in Katerina's soul, and from this point of view she conveys the difficult monologue admirably. But it seems to us that it would be more in line with the character and position of Katerina in this case - to give her words more calm and lightness. The struggle, in fact, is already over, only a little thought remains, the old rags still cover Katerina, and she gradually throws her off her. The end of the monologue betrays her heart. “Come what may, and I will see Boris,” she concludes, and in the oblivion of premonition she exclaims: “Oh, if only the night would come sooner!”
Such love, such a feeling will not get along within the walls of a boar's house, with pretense and deceit. Katerina, although she decided on a secret meeting, but for the first time, in the rapture of love, she says to Boris, who assures that no one will know anything: “Eh, no one is to blame for pitying me, she went to that herself. Don't be sorry, kill me! Let everyone know, let everyone see what I'm doing... If I'm not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?
And for sure, she is not afraid of anything, except for depriving her of the opportunity to see her chosen one, to talk with him, to enjoy these summer nights with him, these new feelings for her. Her husband arrived, and her life became unrealistic. It was necessary to hide, to be cunning; she did not want to and did not know how; she had to go back to her callous, dreary life—it seemed to her bitterer 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 ... Such a situation was unbearable for Katerina: days and nights she kept thinking, suffering, exalted her imagination, already hot, and the end was one that she could not endure - for all people crowded in the gallery of the old church, 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 her moral: “What, son, where will the will lead?”
It is difficult, of course, to mock common sense more than how Kabanikha does it in his exclamation. But in the "dark kingdom" common sense means nothing: with the "criminal" they took measures that were completely opposite to him, but usual in that life: the husband, at the behest of his mother, beat his wife a little, the mother-in-law locked her up and began to eat. ..
The will and peace of the poor woman are over: before, at least they could not reproach her, at least she could feel that she was completely right in front of these people. And now, after all, 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 is left for her?
<…> Less impossibility would have been another solution - to run away with Boris from the arbitrariness and violence of the household. Despite the severity of the formal law, despite the bitterness of crude tyranny, such steps are not impossible 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 to die 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 emerges in front of us for a minute, which keeps people in the depths of the whirlpool, which we called the “dark kingdom”. This stone is material dependence. Boris has nothing and is completely dependent on his uncle, Diky; Dikoy and the Kabanovs were arranged to send him to Kyakhta, and, of course, they would not let him take Katerina with him. That is why he answers her: “It is impossible, Katya; I’m not going of my own free will, my uncle is sending, the horses are already ready, ”and so on. Boris is not a hero, he is far from being worth Katerina, she fell in love with him more in the wilderness. He has had enough of "education" and will not be able to cope either with the old way of life, or with his heart, or with common sense - he walks around as if lost. He lives with his uncle because he and his sister must give part of the grandmother's inheritance, "if they are respectful to him." Boris is well aware that Dikoi will never recognize him as respectful and therefore will not give him anything; yes, this is not enough. Boris argues like this: “No, he will first break over us, scold us in every possible way, as his heart desires, but all the same will end up giving nothing or so, some little, and even begin to tell what he has given out of mercy, that it shouldn't be." And yet he lives with his uncle and endures his curses; why? - unknown. At the first meeting with Katerina, when she talks about what awaits her for this, Boris interrupts her with the words: “well, what to think about it, it’s good for us now.” And at the last meeting, she cries: “who knew that we would suffer so much for our love with you! I'd better run then!" In a word, this is one of those very frequent people who do not know how to do what they understand, and do not understand what they are doing. 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 a special skill for him draws in two or three features their complete insignificance, although, by the way, not devoid of a certain degree of spiritual nobility. There is nothing to talk about Boris, he, in fact, should also be attributed to the situation in which the heroine of the play finds herself. He represents one of the circumstances that makes its fatal end necessary. If it were a different person and in a different position, then there would be no need to rush into the water. But the fact of the matter is that the environment, subject to the power of the Dikikhs and Kabanovs, usually produces Tikhonov and Borisov, unable to perk up and accept their human nature, even when confronted with such characters as Katerina. We have said a few words above about Tikhon; Boris is the same in essence, only "educated". Education took away from him the power to do dirty tricks, it is 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 all the vile things that swarm around him. No, not only does he not oppose, he submits to other people's nasty things, he willy-nilly participates in them and must accept all their consequences. But he understands his situation, talks about it, and often even deceives, for the first time, truly lively and strong natures, who, judging by themselves, think that if a person thinks so, understands so, then he must do so. Looking from their point of view, such natures will not hesitate to say to “educated” sufferers who are moving away from the sad circumstances of life: “take me with you, I will follow you everywhere.” But this is where the impotence of the sufferers will turn out; it turns out that they did not foresee, and that they curse themselves, and that they would be glad, but it’s impossible, 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 but to the Wild one, whom we would like to get rid of together with us ...
There is nothing to praise or scold these people, but attention must be paid to the practical ground on which the question passes; it must be admitted that it is difficult for a person who expects an inheritance from an uncle to shake off his dependence on this uncle, and then one must give up excessive hopes in nephews who expect an inheritance. even if they were “educated” to the utmost. If we analyze the guilty here, then it will be not so much the nephews that are to blame, but the uncles, or, better, their inheritance.
Dobrolyubov N.A. "A Ray of Light in a Dark Realm"
Katerina and Boris in the play "Thunderstorm" are the characters at the level of which the love conflict of the work is realized. The feelings of young people were initially doomed, the love of Katerina and Boris was tragic: Katerina was married, cheating on her husband and escaping 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 the words of Boris: “And then I foolishly decided to fall in love. Yes, to whom? Into a woman with whom you will never even be able to talk! She goes with her husband, well, and the 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 hobby, the girl saw the very real and sincere love that her heart dreamed of. Therefore, the girl, whose upbringing did not allow her husband to cheat, desperately tried to calm her heart. Katya's decision to go out to Boris's garden was fatal. After ten nights of secret rendezvous, Katerina confessed to her husband and mother-in-law that she felt for Boris. The last meeting between Katerina and Boris happened 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 have to say something to each other. But both are silent. And there's really nothing to talk about. I must say that before the meeting, Katya was in a kind of borderline state. Fragments of thoughts and phrases, as if Katya wants to confess something important. The idea of a 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, to apologize, to 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 answers all the remarks of the girl in a detached way, showing that he does not need anything. Katya finds out that Boris is going to Siberia. And now, the last thing the girl decides on: “will you take me with you?”
The remark once again proves Katya's strength of character, steadfastness and faith in this love. The girl desperately hopes for a positive answer. In fact, dozens of other, more important ones were focused on this issue. “Do you love me?”, “What do our feelings mean to you?”, “Am I wrong about you?” - and many others. Katya talks about herself, and Boris, at such an important moment for the girl, recalls her uncle: “I just asked my uncle for a minute, I wanted to at least say goodbye to the place where we met.”
Notice, say goodbye to the place, and not to Katya. At this moment, Katerina receives answers to all her unasked questions, finally deciding to commit suicide. It is after these words that such a sharp and painful insight comes, which the girl was so afraid of and at the same time was waiting for.
Despite this, the girl thinks about saying something important. Really important. But Boris hurries Katya, he does not have much time. The girl is silent about the fact that she has already decided to part with her life - this is a sacrifice not for Boris, but for herself. Death is not due to unhappy love (that would make everything vulgar), but because of the inability to live honestly.
There is one remarkable detail in Katerina's farewell to Boris: Boris begins to guess what Katya has in mind, wants to come closer, hug the girl. But Katherine pulls away. No, this is not an insult, not pride. Katya asks Boris to give alms to everyone who asks her to pray for her sinful soul. The girl finally releases Boris. And Boris leaves, not understanding the scale and significance of this conversation for Katya.
