Genre originality Drama "Thunderstorm"

“Thunderstorm” is a folk social tragedy.

N. A. Dobrolyubov

"Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play has undergone great changes - the author has introduced a number of new actors, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously.

Of course, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by Special attention the author to depict the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, his “ cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Ku-ligin speaks of the beauty of the distance beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about "naked poverty". Kalinovtsy retained only vague legends about the past - Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, news from big world the wanderer Feklusha brings them. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".

Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the co-conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

The originality of the Thunderstorm genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. The anecdotal and ignorant stories of Feklusha about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are “with dog heads” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, speaking of the tragic genre, they were used to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy ... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. About final words Tikhon N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon’s “woe” is in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even “in which he recognizes his good and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude petty fool - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only “their daily bread” by “honest labor”.

A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a person of higher nature”, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a person “with a great, and not petty character.” Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character main character.

Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul.

Another one feature the tragic genre lies in the cleansing effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Boars and the Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.

So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only a tragedy of Katerina, it is a tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the realization of self-esteem by the individual. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme... Here everything rises to tragedy.”

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site were used. http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/

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  • The drama "Thunderstorm" is the result of a huge creative work A. N. Ostrovsky. More than a dozen brilliant plays belong to his pen, but even among them, The Thunderstorm stands out as the main, milestone work. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1855, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of "Volga" plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During the work on it, the play underwent great changes - the playwright introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly, he changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the strength social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy - the genre of the play can be unambiguously defined.
    The play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to depicting the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its "cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: the Kalinovites do not understand the beauty of the nature around them. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about "naked poverty". About the past, Kalinovtsy retained only vague legends, news from the big world is brought to them by the wanderer Feklusha. Such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters allows us to call the play "Thunderstorm" a drama.
    Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. The conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law develops from a domestic into a social one. The expression of the conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from her conversation with Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything,” like a “bird in the wild.” Nothing is known about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and home” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly.” But this fact is contrary to the laws of drama.
    The originality of the Thunderstorms genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the general gloomy, tragic coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes: Feklusha's ridiculous anecdotal and ignorant stories about saltans, about lands where all people are "dog-headed"; Dikoy's conversation with Kuligin about the lightning rod. The image of Diky as a whole is ironic: his unwillingness to part with money (“Who does not feel sorry for his own good?”), Stupidity, confidence in impunity (“And who will forbid me?”). After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in a review of the play that "the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter."
    The author himself called his play a drama. At that time, when speaking about the tragic genre, they were accustomed to dealing with historical plots, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. It can be assumed that on the part of Ostrovsky to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition. His innovation lay in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.
    The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, but also of other characters. Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of an imperious and despotic mother, is tragic. N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" was in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even that "in which he recognizes his good and salvation." Tragic in its hopelessness is the situation of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude tyrant - Wild, and repair small household utensils, earning only "daily bread" "honest work".
    A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, "a man of higher nature", according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a man "with a great, not petty character." Katherine is different from dark kingdom» Kalinov with his morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created in her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a person of deep faith, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of "before the Judge" for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina, “... her desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, creates a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).
    A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, “is a real tragic heroine". The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a tragedy of society. She needed to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdened her soul. The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm: a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon.
    Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is the purifying effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.” In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the "dark kingdom", about resistance, about the growth of forces designed to replace the wild boars and wild ones. Let it be timid, but the protest is already beginning.
    The genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it is the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is a tragedy not only for Katerina, it is a tragedy for the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes.

    Genre originality of the drama "Thunderstorm"

    "Thunderstorm" folk social tragedy.

    N. A. Dobrolyubov

    "Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent major changes; the author introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly, Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously.

    Undoubtedly, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its "cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Ku-ligin speaks of the beauty of the distance beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about “naked poverty”. About the past, Kalinovtsy retained only vague legends Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, the wanderer Feklusha brings them news from the big world. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".

    Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the co-conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

    The originality of the Thunderstorm genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. The anecdotal and ignorant stories of Feklusha about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are “with dog heads” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

    The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, when speaking about the tragic genre, they were accustomed to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

    The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

    The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy ... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. Regarding Tikhon's final words, N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" was in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even “in which he recognizes his good and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of the rude tyrant Diky and repair small household utensils, earning only “their daily bread” by “honest labor”.

    A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a person of higher nature”, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a person “with a great, and not petty character.” Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character.

    Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

    A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul.

    Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is the purifying effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

    The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

    In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Boars and the Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.

    So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only a tragedy of Katerina, it is a tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the realization of self-esteem by the individual. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme ... Here everything rises to tragedy.

    Bibliography

    For the preparation of this work, materials from the site were used. http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/

    The question of genres has always been quite resonant among literary scholars and critics. Disputes over which genre to attribute this or that work to gave rise to many points of view, sometimes completely unexpected. Most often, disagreements arise between the author's and the scientific designation of the genre. For example, N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" from a scientific point of view should have been called a novel. In the case of dramaturgy, too, everything is not so clear. And this is not about a symbolist understanding of drama or futuristic experiments, but about drama within the framework of a realistic method. Speaking specifically, about the genre of "Thunderstorms" by Ostrovsky.

    Ostrovsky wrote this play in 1859, at a time when theater reform was needed. Ostrovsky himself believed that the performance of actors was much more important to the audience, and you could read the text of the play at home. The playwright was already beginning to prepare the public for the fact that plays for performances and plays for reading should be different. But the old traditions were still strong. The author himself defined the genre of the work "Thunderstorm" as a drama. First you need to understand the terminology. The drama is characterized by a serious, mostly everyday plot, the style is close to real life. At first glance, The Thunderstorm has a lot of dramatic elements. This, of course, is life. The customs and way of life of the city of Kalinov are spelled out incredibly clearly. One gets a complete impression not only of a single city, but of all provincial towns. It is no coincidence that the author points to the conditionality of the scene: it is necessary to show that the existence of inhabitants is typical. Social characteristics are also clear: the actions and character of each hero are largely determined by his social position.

    The tragic beginning is associated with the image of Katerina and, in part, Kabanikh. Tragedy requires a strong ideological conflict, a struggle that can end in the death of the protagonist or several characters. The image of Katerina shows a strong, pure and honest person who strives for freedom and justice. She was married early against her will, but she was able to some extent fall in love with her spineless husband. Katya often thinks that she could fly. She again wants to feel that inner lightness that she had before marriage. The girl is cramped and stuffy in an atmosphere of constant scandals and quarrels. She can neither lie, even though Varvara says that the whole Kabanov family rests on a lie, nor hush up the truth. Katya falls in love with Boris, because initially both to her and to the readers he seems the same as her. The girl had the last hope of saving herself from disappointment in life and in people - an escape with Boris, but the young man refused Katya, acting like other inhabitants of a strange world for Katerina.

    Katerina's death shocks not only readers and viewers, but also other characters in the play. Tikhon says that his imperious mother, who killed the girl, is to blame for everything. Tikhon himself was ready to forgive his wife's betrayal, but Kabanikha was against it.

    The only character who can be compared with Katerina in strength of character is Marfa Ignatievna. Her desire to subjugate everything and everyone makes a woman a real dictator. Her difficult nature eventually led to her daughter running away from home, her daughter-in-law committing suicide, and her son blaming her for her failures. Kabanikha can be called Katerina's antagonist to some extent.

    The conflict of the play can also be viewed from two sides. From the point of view of tragedy, the conflict is revealed in the clash of two different worldviews: the old and the new. And from the point of view of the drama in the play, the contradictions of reality and characters collide.

    The genre of the play "Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky cannot be precisely defined. Some tend to the author's version - a social drama, others propose to reflect the characteristic elements of both tragedy and drama, defining the genre of "Thunderstorms" as an everyday tragedy. But one thing cannot be denied for sure: in this play there are both traits of tragedy and drama.

    Artwork test

    Genre originality of the drama "Thunderstorm"

    “Thunderstorm” is a folk social tragedy.

    N. A. Dobrolyubov

    "Thunderstorm" stands out as the main, milestone work of the playwright. "Thunderstorm" was supposed to be included in the collection "Nights on the Volga", conceived by the author during a trip to Russia in 1856, organized by the Naval Ministry. True, Ostrovsky then changed his mind and did not unite, as he initially assumed, the cycle of “Volga” plays with a common title. The Thunderstorm was published as a separate book in 1859. During Ostrovsky's work on it, the play underwent great changes - the author introduced a number of new characters, but most importantly - Ostrovsky changed his original plan and decided to write not a comedy, but a drama. However, the power of social conflict in The Thunderstorm is so great that one can even speak of the play not as a drama, but as a tragedy. There are arguments in favor of both opinions, so the genre of the play is difficult to define unambiguously.

    Undoubtedly, the play is written on a social and everyday theme: it is characterized by the author's special attention to the depiction of the details of everyday life, the desire to accurately convey the atmosphere of the city of Kalinov, its "cruel morals". The fictional city is described in detail, many-sidedly. An important role is played by the landscape beginning, but a contradiction is immediately visible here: Ku-ligin speaks of the beauty of the distance beyond the river, the high Volga cliff. “Something,” Kudryash objects to him. Pictures of night walks along the boulevard, songs, picturesque nature, Katerina's stories about childhood - this is the poetry of the Kalinov world, which is faced with the everyday cruelty of the inhabitants, stories about "naked poverty". About the past Kalinovtsy kept only vague legends - Lithuania “fell from the sky to us”, the wanderer Feklusha brings them news from the big world. Undoubtedly, such attention of the author to the details of the life of the characters makes it possible to speak of the drama as a genre of the play "Thunderstorm".

    Another feature characteristic of the drama and present in the play is the presence of a chain of intra-family conflicts. First, this is a conflict between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law behind the locks of the gates of the house, then the whole city learns about this conflict, and from everyday life it develops into a social one. The expression of the co-conflict in the actions and words of the characters, characteristic of the drama, is most clearly shown in the monologues and dialogues of the characters. So, we learn about Katerina’s life before marriage from a conversation between young Kabanova and Varvara: Katerina lived, “didn’t grieve about anything”, like a “bird in the wild”, spending all day in pleasures and household chores. We know nothing about the first meeting of Katerina and Boris, about how their love was born. In his article, N. A. Dobrolyubov considered the insufficient “development of passion” to be a significant omission, he said that this is precisely why the “struggle of passion and duty” is designated for us “not quite clearly and strongly”. But this fact does not contradict the laws of drama.

    The originality of the Thunderstorm genre is also manifested in the fact that, despite the gloomy, tragic general coloring, the play also contains comic, satirical scenes. The anecdotal and ignorant stories of Feklusha about the saltans, about the lands where all the people are “with dog heads” seem ridiculous to us. After the release of The Thunderstorm, A. D. Galakhov wrote in his review of the play that “the action and the catastrophe are tragic, although many places excite laughter.”

    The author himself called his play a drama. But could it be otherwise? At that time, when speaking about the tragic genre, they were accustomed to dealing with a historical plot, with the main characters, outstanding not only in character, but also in position, placed in exceptional life situations. Tragedy was usually associated with images of historical figures, even legendary ones, such as Oedipus (Sophocles), Hamlet (Shakespeare), Boris Godunov (Pushkin). It seems to me that on Ostrovsky's part to call "Thunderstorm" a drama was only a tribute to tradition.

    The innovation of A. N. Ostrovsky consisted in the fact that he wrote the tragedy on exclusively vital material, completely uncharacteristic of the tragic genre.

    The tragedy of "Thunderstorm" is revealed by the conflict with the environment not only of the main character, Katerina, but also of other characters. Here “the living envy ... the dead” (N. A. Dobrolyubov). Thus, the fate of Tikhon, who is a weak-willed toy in the hands of his domineering and despotic mother, is tragic here. Regarding Tikhon's final words, N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that Tikhon's "woe" was in his indecision. If life is sickening, what prevents him from rushing into the Volga? Tikhon can do absolutely nothing, even “in which he recognizes his good and salvation.” Tragic in its hopelessness is the position of Kuligin, who dreams of the happiness of the working people, but is doomed to obey the will of a rude petty fool - Dikiy and repair small household utensils, earning only “their daily bread” by “honest labor”.

    A feature of the tragedy is the presence of a hero who is outstanding in his spiritual qualities, according to V. G. Belinsky, “a person of higher nature”, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, a person “with a great, and not petty character.” Turning from this position to the “Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky, we certainly see that this feature of the tragedy is clearly manifested in the character of the main character.

    Katerina differs from Kalinov's "dark kingdom" in her morality and willpower. Her soul is constantly drawn to beauty, her dreams are full of fabulous visions. It seems that she fell in love with Boris not real, but created by her imagination. Katerina could well adapt to the morality of the city and continue to deceive her husband, but “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything,” honesty does not allow Katerina to continue to pretend to her husband. As a deeply religious person, Katerina had to have great courage to overcome not only the fear of the physical end, but also the fear of “before the judge” for the sin of suicide. The spiritual strength of Katerina “...and the desire for freedom, mixed with religious prejudices, create a tragedy” (V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko).

    A feature of the tragic genre is the physical death of the protagonist. Thus, Katerina, according to V. G. Belinsky, is “a real tragic heroine.” The fate of Katerina was determined by the collision of two historical eras. Not only her misfortune is that she commits suicide, it is a misfortune, a tragedy of society. She needs to free herself from the heavy oppression, from the fear that burdens the soul.

    Another characteristic feature of the tragic genre is the purifying effect on the audience, which arouses noble, lofty aspirations in them. So, in The Thunderstorm, as N. A. Dobrolyubov said, “there is even something refreshing and encouraging.”

    The overall color of the play is also tragic, with its gloominess, with every second feeling of an impending thunderstorm. Here, the parallelism of a social, social thunderstorm and a thunderstorm as a natural phenomenon is clearly emphasized.

    In the presence of an undoubted tragic conflict, the play is imbued with optimism. The death of Katerina testifies to the rejection of the “dark kingdom”, about resistance, about the growth of forces called to replace the Boars and the Wild. Albeit still timidly, the Kuligins are already beginning to protest.

    So, the genre originality of The Thunderstorm lies in the fact that it, without a doubt, is a tragedy, the first Russian tragedy written on social and everyday material. This is not only a tragedy of Katerina, it is a tragedy of the entire Russian society, which is at a critical stage in its development, living on the eve of significant changes, in a revolutionary situation that contributed to the realization of self-esteem by the individual. One cannot but agree with the opinion of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, who wrote: “If some merchant's wife cheated on her husband and hence all her misfortunes, then it would be a drama. But for Ostrovsky, this is only the basis for a high life theme ... Here everything rises to tragedy.

    Bibliography

    For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/ were used.


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