Against the backdrop of a thunderstorm, Katerina confesses to treason. Characteristics of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" A

In the drama of A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", the theme of betrayal and fidelity is revealed with the help of several plans, since it was important for the author to show that the tragedy of the situation he described does not lie only at the everyday level. Therefore, it is important to analyze not only the main plot, but also the images of the characters, to try to understand their motivation and characters.

• Change that can be justified. Reflecting on devotion and betrayal, first of all, the reader immediately draws attention to Katerina, as she violates marital fidelity. Being married to Tikhon, the heroine never had strong feelings for him. But Boris, young, handsome, intelligent, seemed to her ideal, especially in comparison with her husband, and she fell in love, strongly and sincerely. And this love, although it was seen as criminal by the timid and very pious Katerina, eventually won: after painful throwing, the girl succumbs to it and decides to commit treason. At least, in her judgments, the mere thought of feelings for another man was identical to treason. But in fact, the strong desire for love in the heroine is closely intertwined with the dream of regaining freedom lost after marriage, with a sense of liberation from the weak-willed Tikhon, from endless family oppression, from an unfair, tough and grouchy mother-in-law. It is not surprising that Katerina, who had not previously reacted to the attention of fans, falls in love with Boris, because in him she saw a person freer than the inhabitants of the "dark kingdom". Thus, her betrayal can be justified, because she initially entered into marriage against her will, and new family only put pressure on the woman, never becoming her home.
• Loyalty to yourself and your beliefs. Violating marital fidelity, Katerina remains true to herself. Imprisoned in the chains of an ignorant society, she does not become stale in her soul, but still continues to dream about how she would fly if she were a bird. She is capable of deep and all-consuming feelings. The heroine, almost at the beginning of the work, is already talking about her death: “I will throw myself out the window, I will rush into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, so I won’t, even if you cut me! And rightly so - Katerina does not agree to endure the suffocating, slavish way of society, which is firmly established in Kalinov. That is why she has a conflict with her mother-in-law, who is trying to accustom her to the way of life of the "dark kingdom", which seems to the inhabitants of Kalinov to be the only correct one. Thus, the last choice of the heroine is a proof of loyalty to her ideals and principles. If she accepted the cruel customs from Domostroy, it would mean betraying herself.
• Treason to your word and beloved woman. The traitor in the play was Boris, Katerina's lover. The young man seems to be different from the inhabitants of the "dark kingdom", but is it? The hero works for his tyrant uncle, who must leave him an inheritance, but Boris has no confidence, because he is not even paid. However, he tolerates and does not show any resistance, referring to the fact that he needs to take care of his sister. In the scene of Katerina's last meeting with her lover, Boris tells her that he is a "free bird", but leaves her for Siberia on behalf of his uncle and cannot take the poor girl with him. It is interesting that earlier he said that he loved Katerina more than life, but in a difficult period for the heroine, he escapes; at parting, he constantly repeats that he does not have time, and it is time for him to go, although he sees that his beloved is suffering. Katerina knew at once that he was leaving her, but she was not angry; her feelings are strong and sublime, but, unfortunately, Boris betrays her anyway.
• Loyalty to self. One of the reasons for Katerina's unhappy life is the loyalty of the townspeople of Kalinov to their way of life. Here there is a place for tyranny, cruelty, slave labor, slander - in general, a suffocating, rotten place. The older generation, represented by Kabanova and Diky, oppresses the young in the person of Katerina, Boris and Varvara. Tikhon also gets it - he is too weak and weak-willed to try to resist his mother. Kabanova throughout the work put pressure on her son and his wife, taught them, indicated what kind of relationship should be between spouses. But she did this not only out of her whims - Kabanova firmly believes in what she says. She herself was raised this way and believes that this way of life should remain. Ignorance, rudeness and oppression reign in the city of Kalinov, but many residents are sure that this is how it should be, and contribute to the preservation of the “dark kingdom”. Unfortunately, loyalty to one's convictions is not always a positive quality, because time is passing, the world is changing, and each person must develop, and not stagnate on one principle that life itself refutes over the years.
• Loyalty is to your detriment. In the drama N.A. Ostrovsky has another hero who remains true to himself. This is Tikhon Kabanov. He lives in the "kingdom of tyrants" and understands this, but does not make any attempts to change anything. He has learned to survive in such a society, and if he feels that he has no more strength to endure, then he will go for a drink with friends, and then continue to live as he did before. Tikhon does not contradict his mother, in the play there is even a scene that is humiliating for him and Katerina, when Kabanova tells him that he must tell his wife before his departure, what instructions to give her. And he dutifully repeats everything after her. At the end of the work, when Katerina was found drowned, Tikhon throws himself at his mother and blames her for the death of his wife, to which Kabanova replies that she will talk to him at home. It is unlikely that the accusatory phrases of the hero mean that he has changed: the final remark belongs to Tikhon, but it is clear that he pities only himself: “Good for you, Katya! And why did I stay in the world to live and suffer.
• Loyalty to your beliefs. The mechanic Kuligin also coexists with the Kabanovs and the Wilds, but in his heart he remains a staunch supporter of progress and enlightenment. He is the only warrior in the field, and yet he is trying to change the life of the city, to introduce new trends and discoveries of science into it. He is not afraid to contradict the powerful of this world and says that a thunderstorm is just electricity, and not Elijah the prophet in a chariot. The hero understands that no one supports him, and the inhabitants do not need changes, and yet he does not betray himself, but goes his own thorny path to help society begin to develop.

Thus, the conflict in the play "Thunderstorm" is a conflict of different times and generations. The tragedy lies in the fact that young people do not want and can no longer live the way their elders teach, as it is written in Domostroy, but they will not be able to live “in a new way” either: the old laws are too strong, too strong the convictions of their defenders, oppression is too heavy. It is interesting that in the work such concepts as fidelity and betrayal, which usually have a certain connotation, acquire a double meaning: betrayal is not always from sinful thoughts, loyalty to oneself is not always evidence of a persistent character.

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In any final essay, first of all, arguments from the literature are valued, which show the degree of erudition of the author. It is in the main part of the work that he shows his abilities: literacy, prudence, erudition, the ability to beautifully express his thoughts. Therefore, when preparing, it is important to focus on what works will be needed to reveal the topics, and what episodes will help reinforce the thesis. This article contains 10 arguments in the direction of "Loyalty and betrayal", which will be useful in the process of writing practice essays, and maybe on the exam itself.

1. In A. N. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm", the heroine faces a difficult choice between loyalty to the deep-rooted traditions of the city of Kalinov, where stupidity and narrowness of views prevail, and freedom of feeling and love. Treason is the highest manifestation of freedom for Katerina, the rebellion of her soul, in which love conquers conventions and prejudices, ceases to be sinful, becoming the only salvation from a depressing existence in the “dark kingdom”.
2. “Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten” - and true fidelity knows no time limits. In the story of I.A. Bunin's "Dark Alleys" the heroine carries love through the years, leaving in her life, full of everyday life, a place for the first and most important feeling. Having met her lover who once left her, who has grown old and become a complete stranger, she cannot get rid of bitterness. But a woman is not able to forgive a long-standing offense, because the price for fidelity to failed love turns out to be too high.
3. In the novel by L.N. Tolstoy's "War and Peace" paths of fidelity and betrayal are often intertwined. To remain faithful to Natasha Rostova, due to her young age and inexperience, turned out to be a difficult task. Her betrayal of Andrei is random and is seen more as a mistake of a girl inexperienced in love affairs, weak, subject to other people's influence, rather than as betrayal and frivolity. Caring for the wounded Bolkonsky, Natasha proves the sincerity of her feelings, showing spiritual maturity. But Helen Kuragina remains true only to her own interests. The primitiveness of feelings and the emptiness of the soul make it alien true love, leaving room only for numerous betrayals.
4. The fidelity of love pushes a person to a feat, it can also be disastrous. In the story of A.I. Kuprin "Garnet Bracelet" unrequited love becomes the meaning of life of the petty official Zheltkov, who remains true to his high feeling for married woman who will never be able to love him back. He does not defile the beloved with the demands of reciprocal feelings. Tortured and suffering, he blesses Vera for a happy future, does not allow vulgarity and everyday life to penetrate into the fragile world of love. In his fidelity there is a tragic doom to death.
5. In the novel by A.S. Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" fidelity becomes one of the central themes. Fate constantly forces the heroes to make decisions on which their personal happiness depends. Eugene turns out to be weak in his choice, succumbs to circumstances, for the sake of his own vanity, betraying friendship and himself. He is incapable of taking responsibility not only for loved one but also for their own actions. Tatyana, on the contrary, remains faithful to her duty, sacrificing her own interests. In this renunciation is the highest manifestation of strength of character, the struggle for inner purity, in which the sense of duty wins love.
6. The strength and depth of human nature are known in love and fidelity. In the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment", the heroes, tormented by the severity of crimes, are not able to find solace in the outside world. In each other, they see a reflection of their own sins, and the desire to atone for them, to gain new life meanings and guidelines, becomes a common goal for them. Each of them wants to hear words of forgiveness from the other, each is looking for salvation from the pangs of conscience. Sonya Marmeladova shows courage by following Raskolnikov to Siberia, and with her fidelity transforms Rodion, resurrected by her love.
7. In the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov", the theme of fidelity is reflected in the relationship of several characters at once. The love of Olga Ilyinskaya and Ilya Oblomov is a collision of two worlds, beautiful in their romance and spirituality, but incapable of coexisting in harmony. Even in love, Olga is true to her ideas about the ideal lover, whom she is trying to create from the sleepy, inactive Oblomov. She attempts to transform the hero, who lives in a cramped world artificially created by him. Agafya Pshenitsyna, on the contrary, is trying to protect Oblomov's sleeping soul from shocks, supporting his comfortable existence in the realm of carefree family happiness and comfort. She is infinitely devoted to him, and in blind obedience to the whims of her husband, becomes an indirect cause of his death. Faithful to Oblomov and servant Zakhar, for whom the master is the embodiment of true heroism. Even after the death of Ilya Ilyich, a devoted servant takes care of his grave.
8. Loyalty is, first of all, awareness of responsibility, renunciation of one's own interests and disinterested appeal to another person. In the story of V.G. Rasputin’s “French Lessons”, the teacher of the district school Lidia Mikhailovna faces a difficult moral choice: to help a starving student using a non-pedagogical method, or to remain indifferent to the grief of a child who needs her help. The issue of professional ethics ceases to be dominant here, giving way to compassion and tenderness for a capable boy. Loyalty to human duty becomes for her above conventional ideas about morality.
9. Loyalty and betrayal are opposite phenomena, mutually exclusive. But, one way or another, these are two different sides of the same choice, morally complex and not always unambiguous.
   In M. A. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, the characters choose between good and evil, duty and conscience. They are faithful to their choice to the end, even one that brings them a lot of mental suffering. Margarita leaves her husband, actually committing a betrayal, but, in her devotion to the Master, she is ready for the most desperate step - to make a deal with evil spirit. Her fidelity to love justifies sins, because Margarita remains pure in front of herself and the person she wants to save.
10. In the novel by M. A. Sholokhov "Quiet Flows the Don", the themes of fidelity and betrayal are revealed in the relations of several characters at once. Love bonds closely bind the characters to each other, creating ambiguous situations in which it is difficult to find happiness. Loyalty here is different: Aksinya's passionate devotion is different from Natalya's quiet, unrequited tenderness. In a blinding craving for Gregory, Aksinya cheats on Stepan, while Natalya remains faithful to her husband to the end, forgiving dislike and indifference. Grigory Melekhov, in search of himself, finds himself a victim of fatal events. He is looking for the truth, in favor of which he is ready to make a choice, but the search is complicated by the vicissitudes of life, which the hero cannot cope with. Gregory's mental turmoil, his vain readiness to be faithful to the end only to truth and duty is another tragedy of the personality in the novel.
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One of the topics of the final essay on literature for 2020 graduates may be the topic “Loyalty and betrayal”.

By mistake, when writing a work, schoolchildren begin to consider and compare these two concepts - fidelity and betrayal - exclusively from the point of view of romantic relationships. In fact, they are very broad and versatile. Loyalty is not only steadfastness in feelings, but also the fulfillment of one's duties and duty, responsibility, steadfastness, devotion and constancy. And betrayal is not only a violation of fidelity to a loved one, but in general betrayal, infidelity, treachery, apostasy.

In the essay, as recommended by FIPI, loyalty and betrayal should be compared as opposites, and they can be considered from any point of view: ethical, philosophical, psychological. Those students who do not limit themselves to meager reasoning, but also give a variety of life, historical and literary examples in the essay, have a chance to increase their grade. The latter will be simple: loyalty and betrayal are found in the plots of many works. Will increase appreciation and use of citations. Moreover, one can quote both the thinkers of antiquity (“Only once do we lose life and trust” - the ancient Roman poet Publilius Sir), and modern authors. For example, we can cite the words of the bard Vladimir Vysotsky: “In this world, I value only loyalty. Without it, you are nobody and you have nobody. In life, this is the only currency that will never depreciate.”

What could be your essay on the topic “Loyalty and betrayal”? You can consider these two concepts in the broadest sense, but you can only refer to the love sphere. Perhaps someone will want to write about loyalty to their homeland and treason, while another will decide to describe these feelings towards friends or just a person who has trusted you. The specific topics of such an essay can be as narrow as possible: about loyalty and betrayal in relation to oneself, one's goals, moral principles, religious beliefs, and also, for example, about the loyalty of pets to their owners.

An approximate list of literary works and carriers of problems in the direction of "Loyalty and treason"

Direction	Approximate list of literary works	Carriers of the problem
Loyalty and betrayal	A. S. Pushkin. "Eugene Onegin"	Tatyana Larina– true to her love, true to her husband, true to herself.
	A. S. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter"	Petr Grinev(faithful to his father's mandate), captain Mironov(faithful to duty) wife of Captain Mironov(faithful to her husband) Masha Mironova(faithful to her love and ready to defend her), Shvabrin (betrayal of duty, friendship).
	M. Yu. Lermontov "The Fugitive"	Fugitive who left the battlefield is worthy of only contempt.
	A. I. Kuprin. "Garnet bracelet"	Mr. Zheltkov(faithful to love).
	M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"	Yeshua Ha-Nozri(loyalty to one's convictions) margarita(fidelity to one's love).
	A. N. Ostrovsky. "Storm"	Katerina(fidelity to one's love, betrayal of her husband).
	F. M. Dostoevsky. "Crime and Punishment"	Sonechka Marmeladova(loyalty to one's convictions, disinterested help to others).
	N. V. Gogol "Taras Bulba"	Taras Bulba, Ostap- Loyalty to comradeship, loyalty to the motherland. Andriy- betrayal for love.
	L. N. Tolstoy "Prisoner of the Caucasus"	Zhilin- fidelity to duty, home, hope only for yourself. Kostylin- cowardice and expectation of help from others (a letter to the mother asking for a money transfer for ransom).
	I. Bunin "Dark alleys"	Hope(fidelity to his love for Nicholas).
	A. Green "Scarlet Sails"	Assol(loyalty to a dream).
	M. Sholokhov. "Destiny of Man".	Andrey Sokolov(loyalty to the Motherland, to oneself and one's ideas of honor).

Other directions of the final essay.

"Storm". This is a young woman who does not yet have children and lives in her mother-in-law's house, where, in addition to her and her husband Tikhon, Tikhon's unmarried sister, Varvara, also lives. Katerina has been in love with Boris, who lives in the house of Dikiy, his orphaned nephew, for some time.

While her husband is nearby, she secretly dreams of Boris, but after his departure, Katerina begins to meet with a young man and enters into a love affair with him, with the aid of her daughter-in-law, to whom Katerina's connection is even beneficial.

The main conflict in the novel is the confrontation between Katerina and her mother-in-law, Tikhon's mother, Kabanikha. Life in the city of Kalinov is a deep swamp that sucks deeper and deeper. "Old concepts" prevail over everything. Whatever the “seniors” do, they should get away with everything, free-thinking will not be tolerated here, the “wild nobility” here feels like a fish in water.

The mother-in-law is jealous of a young attractive daughter-in-law, feeling that with the marriage of her son, her power over him rests only on constant reproaches and moral pressure. In her daughter-in-law, despite her dependent position, Kabanikha feels a strong opponent, a whole nature that does not succumb to her tyrant oppression.

Katerina does not have due respect for her, does not tremble and does not look Kabanikhe in the mouth, catching her every word. She does not act sad when her husband leaves, she does not try to be useful to her mother-in-law in order to earn a favorable nod - she is different, her nature resists pressure.

Katerina is a believing woman, and for her sin is a crime that she cannot hide. In the house of her parents, she lived as she wanted, and did what she liked: she planted flowers, prayed earnestly in church, experiencing a sense of enlightenment, listened with curiosity to the stories of wanderers. She was always loved, and she developed a strong, self-willed character, she did not tolerate any injustice and could not lie and maneuver.

At the mother-in-law, however, constant unfair reproaches await her. She is guilty of the fact that Tikhon does not, as before, show proper respect for his mother, and does not demand it from his wife either. The boar reproaches her son for not appreciating the mother's suffering in his name. The power of the tyrant slips out of the hands right before our eyes.

The betrayal of the daughter-in-law, in which the impressionable Katerina confessed in public, is the reason for Kabanikh to rejoice and repeat:

“I told you! And no one listened to me!

All sins and transgressions are due to the fact that, perceiving new trends, they do not listen to the elders. The world in which the eldest Kabanova lives suits her quite well: power over her family and in the city, wealth, severe moral pressure over her family. This is the life of Kabanikh, this is how her parents lived, and their parents - and this has not changed.

While the girl is young, she does what she wants, but when she gets married, she seems to die for the world, appearing with her family only in the market and in the church, and occasionally in crowded places. So Katerina, having come to her husband's house after a free and happy youth, also had to symbolically die, but she could not.

The same feeling of a miracle that is about to come, the expectation of the unknown, the desire to fly in and soar, which had been with her since her free youth, did not disappear anywhere, and the explosion would have happened anyway. Even if not by a connection with Boris, Katerina would still challenge the world into which she came after marriage.

It would be easier for Katerina if she loved her husband. But every day, watching how Tikhon is mercilessly suppressed by her mother-in-law, she lost her feelings, and even the remnants of respect for him. She felt sorry for him, encouraging him from time to time, and not even being very offended when Tikhon, humiliated by his mother, takes out his insult on her.

Boris seems different to her, although he is in the same humiliated position because of his sister as Tikhon. Since Katerina sees him briefly, she cannot appreciate his spiritual qualities. And when two weeks of love dope are dispelled with the arrival of her husband, she is too busy with mental anguish and her guilt to understand that his situation is no better than that of Tikhon. Boris, still clinging to a faint hope that he will get something from his grandmother's fortune, is forced to leave. He does not call Katerina with him, his mental strength is not enough for this, and he leaves with tears:

“Oh, if only there was strength!”

Katerina has no way out. The daughter-in-law has fled, the husband is broken, the lover is leaving. She remains in the power of Kabanikha, and understands that now she will not let the guilty daughter-in-law do anything ... if she scolded her for nothing before. Further - this is a slow death, not a day without reproaches, a weak husband and there is no way to see Boris. And believing Katerina prefers to all this a terrible mortal sin - suicide - as a liberation from earthly torments.

She realizes that her impulse is terrible, but for her it is even more preferable to punish for sin than to live in the same house with the Boar before her physical death - the spiritual one has already happened.

A whole and freedom-loving nature can never withstand pressure and mockery.

Katerina could have run away, but she had no one with her. Because - suicide, quick death instead of slow. She nevertheless made her escape from the realm of "tyrants of Russian life".

Now the capital scene of the fourth act, which has been talked about so much and is still being talked about, is completely understandable. Remorse seized her Katerina] soul, as soon as her husband arrived and her nightly meetings with Boris stopped. The consciousness of sin haunted her. All that was missing was a drop to fill the full cup. But as soon as this drop dripped, and her execution began. She confesses everything to her husband. There is no need that this happened in broad daylight, on a walk, in the presence of strangers. For a character like Katerina, the setting means nothing. To pretend, to be hypocritical, to harbor a feeling until the moment of opportunity improves - is not in her blood. She's too pure for that. In the matter of repentance, she would always prefer the nationwide, if she had decided in advance to repent. The more shame, the more shame, the easier it will become in her soul. But the fact of the matter is that she did not at all intend and did not dare to repent, going out for a walk, although, without any doubt, this confession to her husband is not today, then tomorrow, not tomorrow, so in a few days, but it would happen, because that sin weighed heavily on her unbearably. Immediately it was caused by a thunderstorm, and since childhood she has been afraid of a thunderstorm, and the appearance of an ominous lady, and, finally, a scene from hell on one wall of the ruins, where the rain had driven everyone. She confesses everything to her husband.

This is a wonderful scene. The only pity is that in the drama she is not well prepared. Since the arrival of her husband, the development of Katerina's character has been going on behind the scenes, and we learn about him from a short conversation between Varvara and Boris. That is why this scene puzzled so many.<…>

Here we say by the way that in general the last two acts of the drama, in our opinion, are lower than the first three, lower already, perhaps, because they are not higher than them.<…>

In the present case, in the entire fourth act of Mr. Ostrovsky, only one scene belongs to the action. All others, with the exception of a small conversation between Varvara and Boris, are completely outside the play. Not to mention the fact that in the fourth act of the five-act play, any deviation from the essence of the matter only cools the action, the very recognition of Katerina, suddenly, unexpectedly, before the viewer himself becomes an eyewitness to her torment and suffering, comes out somehow unprepared. We fully understand this moment in Katerina's life, and, probably, a considerable part of the audience understood it just as correctly; but we were still sorry that such an important process in her character took place as if without the knowledge of the audience. It only chilled them. Instead of trembling with delight and trying not to utter a single word, they should have pondered the legitimacy of such a phenomenon, whether it was in the order of things or not. And yet in itself it is an excellent scene. It follows directly from Katerina's character; it is a necessary consequence of its position. We especially like the fact that this scene took place in the square, in the presence of strangers, in a place where, it seems, one cannot expect such phenomena by any means, in a word, it happened under the most hostile and inconvenient circumstances for her. This alone already paints the character of Katerina.

The parting scene in the fifth act is also surprisingly good. It fully and clearly expressed one sweet feature of a Russian woman. Katerina herself breaks her connection with Boris, herself, without extraneous coercion, makes a terrible confession to her husband and mother-in-law. With blood and meat, she tears sin out of her heart, and meanwhile she runs to say goodbye to Boris, and hugs and cries on his chest. Their conversation does not fit, she wants to say something to him and has nothing to say: her heart is overflowing. He wants to get away from her as soon as possible, but he cannot leave: he is ashamed. The only thing we don't like is Katerina's dying monologue.<…>

If to complete the impression it was absolutely necessary to drown Katerina, then she could throw herself into the Volga without her monologue, and not (almost) in front of the audience. They could, for example, catch her on a farewell meeting with Boris, they could chase after her - then she would have drowned herself more quickly. The character development ended in the fourth act. In the fifth, he is already completely created. Not an iota can be added to it to further explain it: it is already clear. You can only enhance some of its features, which is what the author did in the parting scene. Suicide does not add anything here, does not express. It is only needed to complete the impression. Katerina's life is broken and without suicide. Whether she will live, whether she will take the veil of a nun, whether she will lay hands on herself - the result is one in relation to her state of mind, but completely different in relation to the impression. G. Ostrovsky wanted her to complete this last act of her life with full consciousness and reach it through reflection. The thought is beautiful, even more intensifying the colors so poetically generously spent on this character. But, many will say and are already saying, does not such a suicide contradict her religious beliefs? Of course it contradicts, it completely contradicts, but this trait is essential in Katerina's character. The fact is that, due to her extremely lively temperament, she can in no way get along in the narrow sphere of her convictions. She fell in love, fully conscious of all the sin of her love, and yet she fell in love all the same, come what may; later she repented of seeing Boris, but she herself nevertheless ran to say goodbye to him. In the same way, she decides to commit suicide, because she does not have enough strength to endure despair. She is a woman of high poetic impulses, but at the same time very weak. This inflexibility of beliefs and frequent betrayal of them is the whole tragedy of the character we are analyzing.

But all this could have been said without the last monologue, in a more dramatic form.

Dostoevsky M.M. ""Storm". Drama in five acts by A.N. Ostrovsky"

Read also other topics of analysis of the drama "Thunderstorm":

Dobrolyubov N.A. "A Ray of Light in a Dark Realm"