The images of Katerina and the boar in the play Thunderstorm. Characteristics of Kabanikha - the central heroine of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm

/ / / Katerina and Kabanikha - two poles of the Kalinov world

The play "" is rich in various images heroes. One of the main characters were Katerina and Marfa Kabanova. These women were the complete opposite of each other. They belonged to different worlds who reigned in Kalinov.

Kabanova headed " dark kingdom". She was cruel and callous, domineering and aggressive. Katerina, on the other hand, was a soft and gentle nature. Her soul was pure. She did not support the gentlemen from the "dark kingdom", therefore she opposed the hypocrisy and disorder that reigned around.

Both women live in the same estate and conflicts constantly flare up between them. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could not find mutual language. she constantly oppressed and dishonored her daughter-in-law, and Katerina's husband, tobish, the son of Kabanikha, could not do anything about it. But, Katerina only at first glance was so defenseless. In fact, she turned out to be the strongest nature among all the characters in the play.

The woman follows her heart and falls in love with Boris. It is in him that she sees liberation and salvation. She loves him more than life.

Unfortunately, Boris differed from the rest of the "dark kingdom" only in appearance. On the inside, he was a coward and a traitor. Katerina's lover could not protect the offended woman at the most difficult moment for her. Without support and support, Katerina decides to commit suicide. It was the only way out.

The boar was glad of this outcome, because she constantly irritated her with her independence and determination. The boar disliked Katerina for her free and consolidated spirit.

There was an established law in the Kabanovs' estate - everyone obeys Kabanikhe, and no one can say a word against her orders. And then Katerina appears, who violates the social order of the Kabanov estate. The boar constantly scolds and oppresses the young woman.

Katerina's confession about treason infuriates Kabanikha, and she, with all her vile nature, begins to mock her victim. Therefore, suicide turned out to be the surest way out in Katerina's situation.

If we compare the images of two women and further, we can notice that they have absolutely different attitude to the Almighty. The boar only pretends to be a devout lady, she goes to church only to impress others. Katerina, on the other hand, believes in God with bright thoughts and feelings. The Almighty is holiness for a young woman.

The images of Katerina and Kabanikh can be compared with light and darkness. They are completely opposite. A bright image carries goodness and purity, and dark image breeds anger, callousness and cruelty.

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Very often negative images appear in the literature. At a time when the opinion about duality is mainly expressed human soul and nature and presence and the positive and negative sides of the personality, the master artistic word now and then deliberately endow their characters with only bad traits characters, excluding even the slightest manifestations positive impact hero's activities.

In the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky, one of these characters is Kabanikha.

Characteristics of the personality of Kabanikhi

Full name the heroine is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, but in the text she is most often called Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna is a member of friendly relations with Wild, he is also her godfather. It is worth noting that such friendship is not surprising, because both characters are very similar in character.

Dear readers! On our site you can get acquainted with the characteristics of the city of Kalinov in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm".

Kabanikha is a wealthy merchant's wife. Her position in society implied a tolerant attitude towards others, but in fact her habits were not at all noble. The boar has a firm and unshakable character. She is a cruel and rude woman.

Marfa Ignatievna is too conservative, she is “stuck” in the past and lives by the principles and foundations of the past, not realizing that changes have taken place in the world and it is no longer possible to live in the old way. She believes that a person's wisdom is determined by his age - young people a priori cannot be smart, this is only the prerogative of the elderly: “Don't judge yourself older! They know more than you."

Kabanikha is sure that children must bow at the feet of their parents, and the husband must always “order” his wife. Marfa Ignatievna is very upset when these norms of behavior are not observed and thinks that this is a problem of bad manners younger generation: "They know nothing, no order."

The boar is used to playing for the public - she tries to be a virtuous and noble woman in the eyes of society, although in reality she is not. Marfa Ignatievna often gives alms to the poor, but she does it not at the behest of her heart, but so that everyone thinks that she is a kind and generous woman.

Kabanikha is a very pious woman, but, apparently, her religiosity is also feigned, because in spite of everything, Kabanikha does not adhere to the laws of God and often neglects the basic rules of behavior towards other people.

Family and relationships

The complexity of the character manifests itself in full force in relation to its native people. Her family consists of three people - a son, a daughter and a daughter-in-law. With all of them, Kabanikhi developed extremely contradictory relations.

All the difficulties and conflicts in the family are associated with the authoritarian nature of the mother, her conservatism and special love for scandals.

We invite thoughtful readers to familiarize themselves with the characterization of Katerina in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm".

The son of Kabanikha - Tikhon - at the time of the story is already an adult, he could be completely independent, but his mother does not give him the opportunity to do this. The woman takes care of her son all the time and tries to control his every step, referring not to Tikhon's incompetence. As a result

The boar began not only to give advice to her son, but literally to live instead of him: “he eats food, does not give a pass.”

Marfa Ignatievna constantly interferes in the relationship between her son and daughter-in-law and sometimes orders her son's wife to be beaten, because this is the order: “But I love her, I'm sorry to touch her with my finger. He beat me a little, and even that was ordered by my mother.

Tikhon, despite his age and belief that such rude actions towards his wife are not needed, nevertheless unquestioningly fulfills the will of his mother.

To the young daughter-in-law Katerina, Kabanikha did not best attitude- she is always dissatisfied with her and will always find something to reproach the young girl with. The reason for this attitude lies not in Katerina's dishonorable attitude towards Kabanikha, or not in Katerina's failure to fulfill her duties, but in Kabanikha's habit of commanding everyone and the jealousy that arose in relation to her daughter-in-law.

The boar cannot accept the adulthood of her son, she is offended that Tikhon prefers his wife, and not his mother.

The daughter of Kabanikha Varvara is not so straightforward, she has long understood that she will never succeed in defending her position: her mother, who was essentially a domestic tyrant, simply could not stand anything like this and did not allow any liberties. From this situation, the girl found only one way out - to deceive her mother. Varvara always said what Marfa Ignatyevna wanted to hear, but she acted as she wanted: “Our whole house rests on that. And I was not a liar, but I learned when it became necessary.

Such actions within the family on the part of the Kabanikha cause many tragedies. Her daughter Varvara runs away from home, never to appear here again - for the girl, the escape became the only salvation from her mother's domestic tyranny. Tikhon and Katerina, who did not even think about how it was possible to change their situation, but only took a wait-and-see attitude and silently endured insults and humiliation from their mother, could not succeed.

Katerina, having cheated on her husband in order to feel happy, confesses her act under the pressure of morality and shame, and then, but under the pressure of Kabanikh's humiliation, commits suicide. Only after the death of Katerina did Tikhon find the strength to verbally rebuff his mother and reproach her for her unlawful actions towards her loved ones: “You ruined her! You! You!". However, due to the softness of Tikhon's character, he is unlikely to be able to defend his position to the end.

The boar is very rich. This can be judged because her trading affairs go beyond Kalinov (on her behalf, Tikhon traveled to Moscow), because Dikoy respects her. But the affairs of Kabanikha are of little interest to the playwright: she has a different role in the play. If the Wild shows the brute force of tyranny, then Kabanikha is the spokesman for the ideas and principles of the "dark kingdom". She understands that some money does not give power yet, another indispensable condition is the obedience of those who do not have money. And she sees her main concern in stopping any possibility of rebelliousness. She "eats" the household in order to kill their will, any ability to resist. With Jesuit sophistication, she exhausts their souls, insults them human dignity unfounded suspicions. She skillfully uses various techniques to assert her will.

The boar can speak both benevolently and instructively (“I know, I know that my words are not to your liking, but what can you do, I’m not a stranger to you, my heart hurts about you”), and hypocritically show down (“Mother is old , stupid; well, you young people, smart, should not exact from us fools"), and authoritatively order ("Look, remember! Kill yourself on your nose!", "Bow at your feet!"). Kabanikha tries to show his religiosity. Words: “Oh, a grave sin! How long to sin!”, “Only one sin!” - constantly accompany her speech. She supports superstitions and prejudices, strictly observes ancient customs. It is not known whether Kabanikha believes in the ridiculous tales of Feklusha and the signs of the townspeople, she herself does not say anything like that. But it resolutely suppresses all manifestations of free-thinking. She condemns Kuligin's statements against prejudices and superstitions, and she supports the superstitious prophecies of the townspeople that “this thunderstorm will not pass in vain”, and instructively tells her son: “Don't judge yourself older! They know more than you. Old people have signs of everything. an old man won't say a word to the wind." Both in religion and ancient customs she sees main goal: to push a person, to keep him in eternal fear. She understands that only fear can keep people in subjection, prolong the shattered domination of petty tyrants. To the words of Tikhon, why should his wife be afraid of him, Kabanova exclaims in horror: “How, why be afraid! How, why be afraid! Yes, you're crazy, right? You will not be afraid, and even more so me. What is the order in the house will be? After all, you, tea, live with her in law. Ali, do you think the law means nothing?” She defends the law, according to which the weak must be afraid of the strong, according to which a person should not have his own will. As a faithful guardian of this order, she teaches her family in front of a crowd of citizens. After Katerina's confession, she loudly, triumphantly says to Tikhon: “What, son! Where will the will lead? I told you so you didn't want to listen. That's what I've been waiting for!"

In the son of Kabanikha, Tikhon, we see the living embodiment of the goal towards which the rulers of the "dark kingdom" are striving. They would be completely calm if they could make all people just as downtrodden and weak-willed. Thanks to the efforts of "mother" Tikhon is so saturated with fear and humility that he does not even dare to think about living his mind and his will. “Yes, mother, I don’t want to live by my own will. Where can I live with my will! he assures his mother.

But Tikhon is by nature a good person. He is kind, sympathetic, sincerely loves and pities Katerina, and is alien to any selfish aspirations. But everything human is suppressed in him by the despotism of his mother, he becomes a submissive executor of her will. However, the tragedy of Katerina makes even the humble Tikhon raise his voice of protest. If the first words of Tikhon in the play are: “Yes, how can I, mother, disobey you!” At the end of it, he desperately throws a passionate, angry accusation in the face of his mother: “You ruined her! You! You!"

The unbearable life under the yoke of the Kabanikh, the longing for freedom, the desire for love and devotion - all this, which did not find a response in Tikhon, was the reason for the emergence of Katerina's feelings for Boris. Boris is not like the other inhabitants of Kalinov. He is educated and seems like a man from another world. Like Katerina, he is also oppressed, and this causes the young woman to hope to find in him a kindred spirit capable of responding to her ardent feeling. But Katerina was bitterly deceived in Boris. Boris only outwardly seems better than Tikhon, but in reality he is worse than him. Like Tikhon, Boris does not have his own will and meekly obeys.

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Kabanikha (Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova) - "a rich merchant's wife, widow", Katerina's mother-in-law, mother of Tikhon and Varvara.

K. is a very strong and powerful person. She is religious, but does not believe in forgiveness and mercy. This heroine is all composed exclusively of earthly affairs and interests. She is interested in the observance of the patriarchal order and form. From people, it requires, first of all, the strict fulfillment of the rite and the rank. The emotional side, feelings interest K. in the last place.

K. is dissatisfied with her family, especially her son and his wife. She constantly saws them. K. finds fault with her son's imaginary cooling off towards her, expresses jealous remarks to his wife. According to K., correct family life rests on the fear of the younger before the elders. “Fear” and “order” are the main things in the household for K. Therefore, the heroine does not feel like a tyrant: “After all, out of love, parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach good.” But K. feels that the old way of life is being violated, she is one of its last keepers: “That’s how the old days are brought out ... What will happen, when the elders die, ... I don’t know.” This awareness gives tragedy to her figure. K. is not a tyrant, she condemns her godfather Diky for tyranny and treats him as weak man. K. - personification patriarchal way of life life, the keeper of the traditions of the ancestors. According to the heroine, it is not her business to argue whether they are good or bad. It is necessary to live as the fathers bequeathed - this is a guarantee of the preservation of life and the world order in general. At the end of the play, K. experiences his "thunderstorm". Katerina publicly confesses her sin, her son rebels against her in public, Varvara runs away from their homes. K.'s world is dying, and with it, she herself.

Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna (Kabanikha) - the central heroine of the play, mother of Tikhon and Varvara, mother-in-law of Katerina. In the list actors it is said about her: a rich merchant's wife, a widow. In the character system of the play - the antagonist main character, Katerina, contrasting with which is of decisive importance for understanding the meaning of the play. The similarity of the heroines can be seen both in their belonging to the world of patriarchal ideas and values, and in the scale and strength of the characters. Both of them are maximalists, they will never come to terms with human weaknesses, do not allow for the possibility of any compromise. The religiosity of both also has one similar feature: they both do not believe in forgiveness and do not remember mercy. However, these similarities are exhausted, creating ground for comparison and emphasizing the essentially significant antagonism of the heroines. They represent, as it were, two poles of the patriarchal world. Katerina - his poetry, spirituality, impulse, dreaminess, the spirit of the patriarchal way of life in his ideal value. The boar is all riveted to the earth and earthly affairs and interests, she is the guardian of order and form, defends the way of life in all its petty manifestations, demanding the strict execution of the rite and rank, not at all caring about the inner essence human relations(see her rude response to Katerina’s words that her mother-in-law is the same to her own mother; all teachings to the son).

K. in the play is characterized not only by her own speeches and actions, but is also discussed by other characters. For the first time, the wanderer Feklusha speaks about her: “I am so pleased, so, mother, satisfied, to the neck! For our failure to leave them, even more bounty will be multiplied, and especially to the Kabanovs' house. Before this remark - Kuligin's judgment: “The hypocrite, sir! She clothes the poor, but eats the household completely. Soon after these preliminary characteristics, K. appears, coming out of Vespers, accompanied by her family, whom she constantly saws, finding fault with her son’s imaginary cooling off towards her, showing jealous hostility towards his young wife and distrust of her sincere words (“For me, mother, everything is the same as your own mother, what you are. Yes, and Tikhon loves you"). From this conversation we learn that, according to K., the correct family order and household way of life are based on the fear of the younger ones before the elders, she tells Tikhon about his relationship with his wife: “You will not be afraid, and even more so. What kind of order will this be in the house? Thus, if keywords in Katerina's ideas about a happy and prosperous life in the house, "love" and "will" (see her story about life as a girl), then in K.'s ideas, this is fear and an order. This is especially evident in the scene of Tikhon's departure, when K. forces his son to strictly follow the rules and "order his wife" how to live without him. K. has no doubts about the moral correctness of the hierarchical relations of “patriarchal life, but there is no longer any confidence in their inviolability. I don’t know how the elders will die, how the light will stand, I don’t know”), and the expectation that chaos will come with her death gives tragedy to her figure. She does not consider herself a rapist: “After all, out of love, parents are strict with you sometimes, they scold you out of love, everyone thinks to teach you good things. ”If Katerina already feels in a new way, not in Kalinov’s way, but does not realize this, then K., on the contrary, still feels quite in the old way, but she clearly sees that her world is perishing. Of course, this awareness is clothed in quite "Kalinov's", medieval forms of common people's philosophizing, mainly in apocalyptic expectations. All this reveals her dialogue with Feklusha, the peculiarity of which is that it characterizes, first of all, attitude K., although " pronounces "these thoughts of Feklusha, and K. strengthens himself, wants to assure the interlocutor that they really have "paradise and silence" in their city, but at the end of the scene her true thoughts are fully revealed in the last two remarks, as if authorizing Feklusha's apocalyptic reasoning: " And it will be worse than this, dear, ”and in response to the words of the wanderer:“ We just don’t live to see this, ”K. weightily throws:“ Maybe we will live. It is impossible to accept the very common definition of K. as "fools". Tyranny is not the order of the patriarchal world, but the rampant self-will of a powerful person, who also violates in his own way correct order and ritual. K. condemns his godfather Wild, a real tyrant (unlike K. herself, who strictly adheres to the rules and regulations), and treats with contempt his rampage and complaints about his family as a manifestation of weakness. Others do not doubt the strength of K.’s character (“Our mistress would be behind him, she would soon stop him,” remarks the maid Glasha in response to Boris, who complains about the wildness of the Wild). K. herself, no matter how much she sharpened her children for disrespect and disobedience, would not even think of complaining to strangers about the disorder in her house. And therefore, for her, Katerina's public confession is a terrible blow, which will soon be joined again by her son's open, in public, rebellion, not to mention the escape from the house of her daughter Varvara. Therefore, in the finale of "Thunderstorm" not only the death of Katerina, but also the collapse of K. Of course, the antagonist tragic heroine does not evoke sympathy.

Boar- central character dramas by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" (1859). K. belongs to those powerful and strong natures who are aware of themselves as the keepers of "order", the primordial norms and rules of life: Kukushkina (" Plum”), Ulanbekova (“Pupil”), Murzavetskaya (“Wolves and Sheep”), Mavra Tarasovna (“Truth is good, but happiness is better”). Marfa Ignatyevna Kabanova, her own mistress ("a rich merchant's wife, widow"), manages the house, relying on the old law of everyday life and custom. “Order” for her is a means of curbing free life, the only protection of “home space” from the chaos of “will”. K. feels like a guardian of the “law” and therefore lives her life calmly, firmly and faithfully, eradicating any hint of disobedience at home. K.'s cruelty is manifested in the habit of managing the "thunderstorm", not knowing love, doing without mercy, unaware of the possibility of forgiveness. Old Testament severity emanates from K.'s wish to the sinning daughter-in-law: "I bury the living in the ground so that she will be executed." Nothing can shake K.'s confidence in the correctness of her life philosophy: neither the flight of the daughter from the hateful house, nor the suicide of the daughter-in-law whom she “crushed”, nor the sudden accusations of the hitherto weak-willed and dumb son: “Mother, it was you who ruined her.” She judges Katerina mercilessly and says without regret: “It’s a sin to cry about her.” Kuligin's reminders of God, the merciful judge, are useless - K. does not respond to them in any way. But on the other hand, according to custom, he “bows low to the people” for a service in search of a poor suicide. K. "fierce", "cool" in observing the "old times" - and all "under the guise of piety." The monumental image of K. is a living embodiment " cruel morals”, Of which Boris says: “I understand that all this is our Russian, dear, but still I won’t get used to it in any way.” K. is revealed in the play as an honest and terrible in her consistency defender of the graceless "law", not enlightened by Christian love. Further development Vassa Zheyaeznova M. Gorky became this image in Russian dramaturgy. The first performer of the role of K. - N.V. Rykalova (1859). Among other performers - F.V. Shevchenko (1934), V.N. Pashennaya (1962).

June 20 2010

The boar is very rich. This can be judged because her trading affairs go beyond Kalinov (on her behalf, Tikhon traveled to Moscow), because Dikoy respects her. But the affairs of Kabanikha are of little interest to the playwright: she has a different role assigned to her. If the Wild shows the brute force of tyranny, then Kabanikha is the spokesman for the ideas and principles of the "dark kingdom". She understands that some money does not give power yet, another indispensable condition is the obedience of those who do not have money. And she sees her main concern in stopping any possibility of rebelliousness. She "eats" the household in order to kill their will, any ability to resist. With Jesuit sophistication, she exhausts their souls, offends their human dignity with baseless suspicions. She skillfully uses various techniques to assert her will.

The boar can speak both benevolently and instructively (“I know, I know that my words are not to your liking, but what can you do, I’m not a stranger to you, my heart hurts about you”), and hypocritically show down (“Mother is old , stupid; well, you young people, smart, should not exact from us fools"), and authoritatively order ("Look, remember! Kill yourself on your nose!", "Bow at your feet!"). Kabanikha tries to show his religiosity. Words: “Oh, a grave sin! How long to sin!”, “Only one sin!” - constantly accompany her speech. She supports superstitions and prejudices, strictly observes ancient customs. It is not known whether Kabanikha believes in the ridiculous Feklushi and the signs of the townspeople, she herself does not say anything like that. But it resolutely suppresses all manifestations of free-thinking. She condemns statements against prejudices and superstitions, and she supports the superstitious prophecies of the townspeople that “this one will not pass in vain”, and edifyingly says to her son: “Don’t judge yourself older! They know more than you. Old people have signs of everything. The old one will not say a word to the wind. And in religion, and in ancient customs, she sees the main goal: to push a person, to keep him in eternal fear. She understands that only fear can keep people in subjection, prolong the shattered domination of petty tyrants. To the words of Tikhon, why should his wife be afraid of him, Kabanova exclaims in horror: “How, why be afraid! How, why be afraid! Yes, you're crazy, right? You will not be afraid, and even more so me. What is the order in the house will be? After all, you, tea, live with her in law. Ali, do you think the law means nothing?” She defends the law, according to which the weak must be afraid of the strong, according to which a person should not have his own will. As a faithful guardian of this order, she teaches her family in front of a crowd of citizens. After the confession, she loudly, triumphantly says to Tikhon: “What, son! Where will the will lead? I told you so you didn't want to listen. That's what I've been waiting for!"

In the son of Kabanikha, Tikhon, we see the living embodiment of the goal towards which the rulers of the "dark kingdom" are striving. They would be completely calm if they could make all people just as downtrodden and weak-willed. Thanks to the efforts of "mother" Tikhon is so saturated with fear and humility that he does not even dare to think about living his mind and his will. “Yes, mother, I don’t want to live by my own will. Where can I live with my will! he assures his mother.

But Tikhon is by nature a good person. He is kind, sympathetic, sincerely loves and pities Katerina, and is alien to any selfish aspirations. But everything human is suppressed in him by the despotism of his mother, he becomes a submissive executor of her will. However, Katerina forces even the submissive Tikhon to raise his voice of protest. If the first words of Tikhon in the play are: “Yes, how can I, mother, disobey you!” At the end of it, he desperately throws a passionate, angry accusation in the face of his mother: “You ruined her! You! You!"

Unbearable under the yoke of the Kabanikh, the longing for freedom, the desire for love and devotion - all this, which did not find a response in Tikhon, was the reason for the emergence of Katerina's feelings for Boris. Boris is not like the other inhabitants of Kalinov. He is educated and seems like a man from another world. Like him, he is also oppressed, and this gives the young woman the hope of finding in him a kindred spirit capable of responding to her ardent feeling. But Katerina was bitterly deceived in Boris. Boris only outwardly seems better than Tikhon, but in reality he is worse than him. Like Tikhon, Boris does not have his own will and meekly obeys.