Essay on literature.

Cruel morals in our city, cruel...
A.N. Ostrovsky, "Thunderstorm".

The city of Kalinov, in which the action of "Thunderstorm" takes place, is described by the author very vaguely. Such a place can be any town in any corner of vast Russia. This immediately enlarges and generalizes the scale of the events described.

The preparation of a reform to abolish serfdom is in full swing, which affects the life of all of Russia. Obsolete orders give way to new ones, previously unknown phenomena and concepts arise. Therefore, even in remote towns like Kalinov, the townsfolk are worried when they hear the steps of a new life.

What is this "city on the banks of the Volga"? What kind of people live in it? The stage nature of the work does not allow the writer to directly answer these questions with his thoughts, but general idea it is still possible to write about them.

Outwardly, the city of Kalinov is a “blessed place”. It stands on the banks of the Volga, from the steepness of the river opens "an extraordinary view." But most local residents“they look closely or they don’t understand” this beauty and speak of it disparagingly. Kalinov seems to be separated by a wall from the rest of the world. They don't know anything about what's going on in the world. The inhabitants of Kalinovo are forced to draw all information about the world around them from the stories of "wanderers" who "they did not go far themselves, but heard a lot." This satisfaction of curiosity leads to the ignorance of most citizens. They quite seriously talk about the lands "where people with dog heads", about the fact that "Lithuania fell from the sky". Among the inhabitants of Kalinovo there are people who “give no account to anyone” of their actions; ordinary people, accustomed to such lack of accountability, lose the ability to see the logic in anything.

Kabanova and Dikoy, who live according to the old order, are forced to give up their positions. This embitters them and makes them even more mad. Wild lashes out with abuse at everyone he meets and "does not want to know anyone." Realizing internally that there is nothing to respect him for, he, however, reserves the right to deal with "little people" like this:

If I want - I'll have mercy, if I want - I'll crush.

Kabanova relentlessly pesters the household with ridiculous demands that are contrary to common sense. She is terrible because she reads instructions “under the guise of piety,” but she herself cannot be called pious. This can be seen from Kuligin's conversation with Kabanov:

Kuligin: Enemies must be forgiven, sir!
Kabanov: Go and talk to your mother, what she will say to you.

Dikoy and Kabanova still appear to be strong, but are beginning to realize that their strength is coming to an end. They have "nowhere to hurry", but life moves forward without asking their permission. That is why Kabanova is so gloomy, she cannot imagine “how the light will stand” when her orders are forgotten. But those around, still not feeling the impotence of these tyrants, are forced to adapt to them,

Tikhon, deep down kind person resigned to his position. He lives and acts as “mother ordered”, finally losing the ability to “live with his own mind”.

His sister Barbara is not like that. Selfish oppression did not break her will, she is bolder and much more independent than Tikhon, but her conviction “if only everything was sewn and covered” suggests that Barbara could not fight her oppressors, but only adapted to them.

Vanya Kudryash, a daring and strong person, got used to tyrants and is not afraid of them. The Wild One needs him and knows this, he will not “serve before him”. But the use of rudeness as a weapon of struggle means that Kudryash can only "take an example" from Wild, defending himself from him with his own methods. His reckless prowess reaches self-will, and this already borders on tyranny.

Katerina is, in the words of the critic Dobrolyubov, "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." Original and lively, she is not like any hero of the play. Its national character gives it inner strength. But this strength is not enough to withstand the relentless attacks of Kabanova. Katerina is looking for support - and does not find it. Exhausted, unable to further resist the oppression, Katerina still did not give up, but left the fight, committing suicide.

Kalinov can be located in any corner of the country, and this allows us to consider the action of the play on the scale of the whole of Russia. Tyrants live out their lives everywhere, weak people still suffer from their antics. But life tirelessly moves forward, no one can stop its rapid flow. A fresh and strong stream will sweep away the dam of tyranny... The characters freed from oppression will overflow in all their breadth - and the sun will flare up in the "dark kingdom"!

The theatrical season of 1859 was marked by a bright event - the premiere of the work "Thunderstorm" by playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky. Against the background of the rise of the democratic movement for the abolition of serfdom, his play was more than relevant. Immediately upon writing, it was literally torn from the hands of the author: the production of the play, completed in July, was on the St. Petersburg stage already in August!

A fresh look at Russian reality

A clear innovation was the image shown to the viewer in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm". The playwright, who was born in a Moscow merchant district, thoroughly knew the world he presented to the audience, inhabited by philistines and merchants. The tyranny of the merchants and the poverty of the philistines reached completely ugly forms, which, of course, was facilitated by the notorious serfdom.

Realistic, as if written off from life, the production (at first - in St. Petersburg) made it possible for people buried in everyday affairs to suddenly see the world in which they live from the outside. It's no secret - mercilessly ugly. Hopeless. Indeed - the "dark kingdom". What they saw was a shock to people.

Average image of a provincial town

The image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was associated not only with the capital. The author, working on the material for his play, purposefully visited a number of settlements in Russia, creating typical, collective images: Kostroma, Tver, Yaroslavl, Kineshma, Kalyazin. Thus, the city dweller saw from the stage a broad picture of life in central Russia. In Kalinovo, a Russian city dweller recognized the world in which he lived. It was like a revelation that needed to be seen, realized...

It would be unfair not to note that Alexander Ostrovsky adorned his work with one of the most remarkable female images in Russian classical literature. The model for creating the image of Katerina for the author was the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya. Ostrovsky simply inserted her type, manner of speaking, remarks into the plot.

The radical protest against the "dark kingdom" chosen by the heroine - suicide - was not original either. After all, there was no shortage of stories when, among the merchants, a person was “eaten alive” behind “high fences” (the expressions are taken from the story of Savel Prokofich to the mayor). Reports of such suicides periodically appeared in Ostrovsky's contemporary press.

Kalinov as a kingdom of unfortunate people

The image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" really was like a fairy-tale "dark kingdom". Very few truly happy people lived there. If ordinary people worked hopelessly, leaving only three hours a day for sleep, then employers tried to enslave them to an even greater extent in order to enrich themselves even more from the work of the unfortunate.

Wealthy townspeople - merchants - fenced themselves off from their fellow citizens with tall fences and gates. However, according to the same merchant Dikiy, there is no happiness behind these locks, because they fenced themselves off “not from thieves”, but so that it would not be visible how “the rich ... eat homemade food”. And they are behind these fences "robbing relatives, nephews ...". They beat the household so that they "do not dare to utter a word."

Apologists of the "dark kingdom"

Obviously, the image of the "lost" city in Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" is not independent at all. The richest citizen is the merchant Wild Savel Prokofich. This is a type of unscrupulous person, accustomed to humiliate ordinary people underpay them for their work. So, in particular, he himself tells about the episode when a peasant asks him to borrow money. Savel Prokofich himself cannot explain why he then went into a rage: he cursed, and then almost killed the unfortunate ...

He is also a real tyrant for his kindred. His wife daily begs visitors not to anger the merchant. His domestic rampage makes the household hide from this petty tyrant in pantries and attics.

Negative images in the drama "Thunderstorm" are also complemented by the rich widow of the merchant Kabanov - Marfa Ignatievna. She, unlike Wild, "eats" her family. Moreover, Kabanikha (such is her street nickname) is trying to completely subjugate the household to her will. Her son Tikhon is completely devoid of independence, is a miserable likeness of a man. Daughter Barbara "did not break", but she changed radically internally. Deception and secrecy became her principles of life. “So that everything is sewn and covered,” as Varenka herself claims.

The daughter-in-law, Katerina Kabanikha, is driven to suicide, extorting compliance with the far-fetched old Testament order: to bow to the incoming husband, “howl in public”, seeing off the spouse. Critic Dobrolyubov in the article "A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom" writes about this mockery as follows: "Gnawing for a long time and relentlessly."

Ostrovsky - Columbus of merchant life

The characterization of the drama "Thunderstorm" was given in the press early XIX century. Ostrovsky was called "the Columbus of the patriarchal merchant class". His childhood and youth were spent in the area of ​​Moscow populated by merchants, and as a court clerk, he more than once encountered " dark side» life of various "Wild" and "Boar". What was previously hidden from society behind the high fences of mansions has become clear. The play caused a significant resonance in society. Contemporaries recognized that the dramatic masterpiece raises a large layer of problems of Russian society.

Conclusion

The reader, getting acquainted with the work of Alexander Ostrovsky, will certainly discover a special, non-personalized character - the city in the drama "Thunderstorm". This city has created real monsters that oppress people: Wild and Boar. They are an integral part of the "dark kingdom".

It is noteworthy that it is these characters who do their best to support the dark patriarchal senselessness of the house-building in the city of Kalinov, personally planting misanthropic morals in it. The city as a character is static. He seemed to be frozen in his development. At the same time, it is palpable that the "dark kingdom" in the drama "Thunderstorm" is living out its days. The family of Kabanikhi is collapsing... He expresses fears about his mental health. Wild... The townspeople understand that the beauty of the nature of the Volga region is dissonant with the heavy moral atmosphere of the city.

The city of Kalinov on the Volga is a fictional place with all the features of a Russian provincial town. Ostrovsky borrowed part of the plot while relaxing in Kostroma province. The author in the person of Kuligin shows that people do not see the natural beauty of this city at all, noticing only its blackness. Ostrovsky in his work shows Kalinov in a position of deep discord among its inhabitants. The split in the city shows the diversity of characters and behaviors of the characters in the play.

There are also old townspeople in it who do not want to violate the traditions of their ancestors. Among them: Boar, Wild, Feklusha. Many citizens are not satisfied with the current state of affairs in the city. Most of the other provincial cities are developing and becoming more in demand. And in the city of Kalinov, the old interferes with the new, life here looks dull and monotonous. And so the people of the new generation (such as Varvara, Kudryash, Tikhon, Boris) resist the old generation, dreaming of escaping this "Dark Kingdom". The depressing atmosphere is shown by Katerina Kabanova, who feels herself in the city as in a cage. As a child, she lived for her pleasure, and upon arrival in Kalinov, she realized that her free life would soon end. The city worsens the mood of the heroine, and she jumps off a cliff.

Ostrovsky, in his work "Thunderstorm", wanted to show all the isolation of a fictional city, and that Kalinov would not change until the people who lived in it changed.

Together with the article “Composition“ The city of Kalinov and its inhabitants in the play “Thunderstorm” they read:

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Alexander Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" was created by the playwright on the eve of the reform of 1861. The need for public and social changes is already ripe, there are disputes, discussions, movement public thought. But there are places in Russia where time has stopped, society is passive, does not want changes, is afraid of them.

Such is the city of Kalinov, described by Ostrovsky in his play "Thunderstorm". This city did not really exist, it is the fiction of the writer, but thereby Ostrovsky shows that in Russia there are still many such places where stagnation and savagery reign. For all that, the city is located in a beautiful area, on the banks of the Volga. The surrounding nature just screams that this place could be paradise! But happiness, in the full sense of the word, is not among the inhabitants of this city, and they themselves are to blame.

The inhabitants of Kalinov are mostly people who do not want any changes, they are illiterate. Some live reveling in their power, which money gives them, others put up with their humiliating position and do nothing to get out of this situation. The dark kingdom called the Kalinovskoye society Dobrolyubov.

The main negative characters of the play are Savel Prokofievich Dikoi and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova.

A wild merchant, an important person in the city. To characterize him briefly, he is a tyrant and a miser. He simply does not consider everyone who is lower than him in position as people. Wild can easily shortchange an employee, but does not want to give his own nephew the inheritance left to him by his grandmother. At the same time, he is very proud of his qualities.

The rich merchant's wife Kabanikha is a real punishment for her family. From this domineering, grumpy person there is no rest for anyone in the house. She wants everyone to obey her unquestioningly, to live according to the laws of Domostroy. The boar cripples the lives of her children and at the same time puts such an existence to her credit.

The boar's son, the meek cowardly Tikhon, is afraid to say an extra word against his domineering mother and cannot even defend his wife, whom the boar constantly reproaches and humiliates. But her daughter Barbara learned to lie and live a double life in order to get out of the influence of her mother, and this state of affairs suits her quite well.

Boris, Dikiy's nephew, is completely dependent on his uncle, although he has received an education, he is not a stupid person, he does not make any moves to get rid of this dependence. With his lack of independence and indecision, he destroys the woman he loves.

The tradesman Kuligin, a self-taught inventor, an intelligent person who is aware of the depth of stagnation and savagery in society, but he, too, cannot do anything in this situation and leaves reality, trying to realize the impossible, to invent a perpetual motion machine.

The person who can give at least some rebuff to the rudeness and tyranny of Diky is his worker Vanya Kudryash, the secondary hero of the play, who, however, plays a significant role in the unfolding action.

The only pure and bright person in this city is Kabanikh's daughter-in-law Katerina. She cannot live in this swamp, where there is no love, there are no normal human relations, where lies and hypocrisy rule. Against this, she protests with her death, having decided on this terrible step, she, at least for a moment, acquires such a desired will.

Ostrovsky called his play "Thunderstorm" for a reason, the name is meaningful. The imminent changes in society, like thunderclouds, are gathering over the heads of the inhabitants of the "dark kingdom". Katerina, in her confusion, thinks that the storm was sent to her as a punishment for treason, but in fact the storm should finally destroy this dominance of stagnation, slavery and evil.

The image of the city of Kalinov, life and customs of the monasteries

All events in the work of a dramatic nature called "Thunderstorm", written by Ostrovsky, take place on the territory of the city of Kalinov. The city is a district and is located on one of the banks of the Volga. The author says that the area is distinguished by beautiful landscapes and pleases the eye.

The tradesman Kulagin talks about the morals of the city's inhabitants, his opinion is that each of the inhabitants has rather cruel morals, they are used to being rude and cruel, such problems were often caused by the existing poverty.

Two heroes become the center of cruelty - the merchant Wild and Kabanikha, who are bright representatives of ignorance and rudeness addressed to the people around them.

Wild, holding the position of a merchant, a fairly rich man, avaricious and with great influence in the city. But at the same time, he was used to holding power in his hands quite cruelly. He is sure that a thunderstorm is sent to people every time as a punishment for their wrong deeds and therefore they should endure it, and not put lightning rods on their houses. Also, from the narrative, the reader learns that Wild is doing a good job of managing financial matters, but this is all that limits his horizons. At the same time, it is worth noting his lack of education, he does not understand why electricity is needed and how it actually works.

Therefore, we can conclude that most of the merchants and philistines living in the town are uneducated people, unable to accept new information and change your life better side. At the same time, books and newspapers are available to everyone, which they can read regularly and improve their inner intelligence.

Everyone who has a certain wealth is not accustomed to respect any officials and government officials. They treat them with some disdain. And they treat the mayor as a neighbor and communicate with him in a friendly way.

The poor are accustomed to sleep no more than three hours a day, they work days and nights on the fly. The rich try in every possible way to enslave the poor and get even more money at the expense of someone else's work. Therefore, Dikoy himself does not pay anyone for work, and everyone receives a salary only through great abuse.

At the same time, scandals often occur in the city that do not lead to anything good. Kuligin tries to write poems himself, he is self-taught, but at the same time he is afraid to show his talent, because he is afraid that he will be swallowed alive.

Life in the city is boring and monotonous, all residents are used to listening to Feklusha more than reading newspapers and books. It is he who tells others that there are countries where there are people who have the head of a dog on their shoulders.

In the evening, the inhabitants of the town do not go out for a walk along the narrow streets, they try to lock the door with all the locks and stay inside the house. They also release dogs to protect them from possible robbery. They are very worried about their property, which sometimes gets them overwork. Therefore, they try to always stay at home.

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The scene of N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" territorially marked the boundaries of the small town of Kalinov.

Life in any small town has its challenges. First of all, this is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the town know each other personally or indirectly. Life in small settlements, as a rule, is devoid of a significant number of events, so the personal life of its inhabitants becomes an active subject for discussion and gossip.

Features of life in Kalinov are in the specific views of its inhabitants.

Kabanovs

One of the significant families of the city is the Kabanikhi family. It consists of a son with a daughter-in-law, a daughter and Kabanikha herself. The husband of the old Kabanikh died a few years ago. At the head of the family is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, who is called "Boar" in the common people. A woman has an authoritarian type of character. She promotes the old order and authoritarian relationships in the family. The boar does not accept and is not aware of the differences in the temperaments and characters of people, evaluates everyone with his measure, which brings grief to the lives of those around him, in particular his relatives.

Dear readers! We suggest that you familiarize yourself with A. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm", a girl with a kind and meek disposition, but who suffered from the tyranny and anger of those around her.

Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov is the son of Kabanikhi. In general, this good man, who is able to feel sympathy and compassion for people, but he is very dependent on his mother and often does her will, even in cases where he considers her actions illegal.

Varvara Ivanovna Kabanova - Tikhon's sister and Kabanikh's daughter. She is a benevolent girl, the concepts of friendship and sincere love are not alien to her.

Unlike her brother, the girl has cunning and an extraordinary mind, which allows her to deceive her mother, makes life easier for a girl in conditions of domestic tyranny.

Katerina Kabanova - Kabanikhi's daughter-in-law, Tikhon's wife. Unusual, dreamy nature. She, like everyone in the Kabanovs' house, suffers undeserved humiliation from her husband's mother.

Katerina noticeably differs from other residents of the city in her sincerity and kindness, but at the same time she does not have stamina, which leads her to physical death.

Savel Wild

Savel Prokofievich Wild in his behavior and authoritarianism is akin to the old Kabanikha. In the city, he is considered a respected person, but the merits of Wild are quite doubtful - his fame and merits, first of all, lie in his disrespectful attitude towards others. Wild often deceives people, he may not pay his employees money, constantly gets involved in quarrels and scandals, often scolds his relatives and servants. Not always Wild manages to get even with the object of his anger. If some important official became this object, in relation to whom the behavior of Dikoy would not be permissible, would bring a lot of trouble to Savel Prokofievich, then Dikoy restrains himself, but then breaks down on his employees or relatives. Everyone in the city dislikes Wild for his bad temper, but only a few dare to openly oppose him.

Boris Grigorievich

In some way, akin to the image of Katerina in the play is the image of Boris Grigorievich - Diky's nephew. The young man is an orphan. His grandmother left him and his sister an inheritance, but they can receive it only with the permission of their uncle, so Boris tries in every possible way to please his uncle and receive an inheritance. Boris falls in love with Katerina Kabanova, this feeling is mutual. After exposing their love affair, Boris shows cowardice and chooses the latter between love and the possible receipt of an inheritance.

Kuligin

The image of Kuligin, in fact, is the only ray of light in the dark and greedy society of Kalinov.

Kuligin is not distinguished by either a noble origin or wealth. He is a dreamy nature, open to innovation. The purpose of his life was the creation of a perpetual motion machine. He only person throughout society, living in harmony with itself.

Kuligin does not seek power or enrichment; he is used to living honestly and benevolently treating people. It is this character who is able to expose all the vices of Kalinov, which he does in his monologue.

Curly

Vanya Kudryash is another unusual character in the city. He is the only person capable of fighting back the Wild. By nature, Curly is a rude and not romantic person, but at the same time he has a cheerful disposition. For some time, Ivan secretly meets with Varya Kabanova, and then they run away with her from the evil and grumpy Kabanikh.

Nature of Kalinov

Kalinov is a small town on the banks of the Volga. Its landscape is actively opposed to the atmosphere and mood of the locals. The nature of Kalinovo is beautiful - the surface of the river, greenery in the warm season, snowy landscapes in winter, but not all residents are able to notice this.

We invite readers to get acquainted with A. Ostrovsky in the play.

In most cases, people are busy with their problems (true or false), focused on conflict situations their personal or other people.

The situation in the city as a whole

The main words that can characterize the general mood of the inhabitants are concentrated around the words "greed", "rudeness", "anger". The landlords are in most cases seized with a thirst for enrichment. They fulfill this dream of theirs in a dishonest way - for example, Wild may not pay money for the work of their employees, deceive someone.

In fact, the significance and nobility of people in the city is measured by financial yardstick - the more money a person has, the better the attitude of others towards him, while his moral character is not taken into account. For the sake of money, people cheat, betray and give up their personal happiness, believing that true happiness can only be found by being a wealthy person.

In most cases, city dwellers are limited people. Their limitations lie in the conservatism of their views and inability to accept new trends in development and relations in society. If a person appears in a city that differs in worldview from the generally accepted trend, then such a person is automatically considered abnormal, people treat him unfriendly. As a result, such a person is faced with a choice - to become like everyone else, or to continue to resist the mass influx. Only a few can tolerate and resist public opinion.

People in the city are poorly educated, they consider this the norm and see no reason to change anything. All the news and information, the townspeople learn their rumors and fictions - rarely anyone is busy reading newspapers or books.
The landowners of the city are at enmity with each other, they often slander other landlords, and try in every possible way to complicate the life of their "opponents".

The families of the rich are inherently associated with such a concept as tyranny - the heads of these families are very authoritarian in relation to their relatives. The life of the members of these families becomes a test, while this state of affairs is actively hidden from society.

Thus, life in the city of Kalinov is subject to its own rules and unspoken rules. In general, the situation in the city is tense and unfriendly - people are not ready to show sympathy or compassion for each other. Almost all of them suffer humiliation, but at the same time they see no reason to support or hinder the development of tyranny - the principle of "hazing" has actively spread among its inhabitants. The nature of the city is opposed to the mood of its majority of the inhabitants - there is always something to admire in the city, but few of the inhabitants are able to notice this beauty.