What is the main conflict in the play Thunderstorm. Composition “The main conflict in the play“ Thunderstorm

Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" raises the problem of a turning point in public life that occurred in the 50s of the XIX century, a change in social foundations, as well as the problem of the position and role of women in the family and society.
There are several conflicts in the play "Thunderstorm". On the one hand, two ways of life are shown, the old, "domostroevsky" and the new, represented by the younger generation. Therefore, we can say that the play is dedicated to the social conflict of generations, where the new steps on the heels of the old, the old does not want to give way to the new. The relationship between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law, the captivity of a woman in a merchant family can also be seen as part of a social conflict. But the play is much more complicated than it might seem at first glance. After all, Katerina is fighting with herself, different sides of her personality are in conflict. This is a spiritual conflict. In this respect, The Thunderstorm is close to tragedy in its genre. Let's try to understand all these conflicts separately.
Representatives of the old time, the era of "Domostroy" are Kabanova and Wild. Already some names draw the characters of these people. Kabanova is the last guardian of the "domostroevsky" way of life in the city. She adheres to the old orders, views and seeks to impose them on her household: “... there is no order, they don’t know how to say goodbye. That's how the old days are deduced ... What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will stand, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I don’t see anything. ” The boar is despotic and self-willed, it requires complete submission to itself. And she achieved this first of all from her own son, who does not dare to go against the will of his mother. She is even more forced to hold on to the old world by the belief that the incredible is happening outside Kalinovo, there is “just sodom”, people in the bustle do not notice each other, they harness the “fiery serpent” and the devil himself walks between them, unnoticed by anyone. Dikoy also adheres to the old order. For him, the main thing in life is money and wealth, it’s not for nothing that, having become rich, he can even “pat on the back” the mayor.
Kabanikhe and Diky are contrasted in the play by Kuligin - a man of progressive views, an inventor. Each of the opponents tries to defend his ideals. Wild church superstition is in the arsenal of Wild. Kuligin defends his human dignity by referring to the authority of Lomonosov and Derzhavin. Symbolic in this respect is the scene of Kuligin's dispute with Dikiy. If we take a closer look at it, we will see in the arguing not just a greedy merchant and a talented self-taught mechanic, but a person zealously defending patriarchal foundations, and a person trying to overturn them. From this point of view, the roles of Kuligin and Dikoy are very important. This is the essence of social conflict.
Another conflict is spiritual. It develops inside the main character of the play - Katerina. Katerina grew up in a world where love, kindness, tenderness reigned. Mother in Katerina "doted on the soul." The girl went to church, listened to prayers, lived in unity with nature. Katerina was brought up in such a way that she cannot violate moral and ethical laws, any deviation from them leads her into confusion. From this world, Katerina found herself in a completely different environment, where people care about other values. Katerina's mother-in-law, Kabanikha, pretends that her family is a model of well-being: her daughter-in-law and son are afraid and respected, Katerina is afraid of her husband. But in fact, she doesn’t care what happens in reality, only appearance matters to her. The old way of life is being destroyed inside Katerina herself. Varvara also plays a big role here - a representative of the younger generation, but the bearer of other views that are different from the views of Katerina. It is Varvara who incites Katerina to a date with Boris. Without Varvara, Katerina would hardly have decided on this. Barbara's world is much simpler, she can close her eyes to everything. Following this very simplified morality, Varvara does not see anything reprehensible in Katerina's meetings with Boris. For Katerina, cheating on her husband is something shameful, she can’t look him in the eyes afterwards. But Tikhon, the husband, does not correspond to her ideas about the ideal spouse. A husband is a support, support, ruler. Tikhon does not live up to Katerina's expectations. This disappointment leads her to Boris. This new feeling for Katerina is a sin, it gives rise to pangs of conscience. If she had continued to live in a patriarchal world, this would not have happened. And if Tikhon had insisted on his own and took her with him, she would have forgotten about Boris forever. The tragedy of Katerina is that this pure nature, with high moral requirements, does not know how to adapt to life. Katerina could not live on, having once violated the moral laws of Domostroy. Tormented by the reproaches of her conscience, she confesses everything to her husband, but even in the forgiveness of her husband she does not find deliverance from mental suffering. This is the essence of spiritual conflict.
Thus, the play shows two main conflicts - social and spiritual. The death of Katerina proves her moral superiority over the "dark kingdom" and ignorant people.

Conflict is the main driving force of a dramatic work. The conflict unfolds through the story and can be implemented on several different levels. Whether it's a confrontation of interests, characters or ideas, the conflict is resolved at the end of the work. The essence of the conflict can also be determined by the literary era (realism and postmodernism, for example, are characterized by different types of conflicts). In realism, the conflict will be hidden in the depiction of social turmoil and denunciation of the vices of society. For example, the article will consider the main conflict in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm".
The work was written in 1859, a few years before the abolition of serfdom. Ostrovsky wanted to show how much society corrodes itself from the inside just because the way of life remains the same. Patriarchal orders hinder progress, while corruption and servility destroy the human element in a person. In the description of such an atmosphere lies the main conflict of the Thunderstorm.

So, as a rule, the conflict is realized at the level of characters. To do this, pairs or groups of characters must be identified. You should start with the most striking confrontation: the Katya-Kabanikha pair. These women had to live together by the will of circumstances. The Kabanov family is quite rich, Marfa Ignatievna herself is a widow. She raised a son and a daughter. The boar constantly manipulates her son, arranges scandals and tantrums. A woman believes that only her opinion has the right to exist, so everything must correspond to her ideas. She humiliates, insults other members of the family. Varvara gets the least because her daughter lies to her mother.

Katya was married early to Tikhon Kabanov, the son of Kabanikh. Katya naively believed that her life before marriage would not differ much from her new life, but the girl was wrong. Pure Katya is not able to understand how you can lie to your mother, as Varvara does, how you can hide your thoughts and feelings from someone, how you can not protect the right to your own opinion. The orders of this family are alien to her, but because of the patriarchal foundations that prevailed at that time, the girl had no choice.

Here the conflict is realized at the internal level. These characters are too different, but both women have the same strong character. Katerina resists the pernicious influence of Kabanikh. Marfa Ignatievna understands that she is faced with a strong rival who can "set" Tikhon against her mother, and this is not part of her plans.

In a pair of Boris - Katerina, a love conflict is realized. The girl falls in love with a young man who has arrived in the city. Boris seems to Katya like herself, unlike the others. Boris, like Katerina, is annoyed by the atmosphere of the city. They both do not like that everything here is built on fear and money. Feelings of young people flare up pretty quickly: one meeting was enough for them to fall in love with each other. Tikhon's departure allows the lovers to secretly meet and spend time together. Katya says that for the sake of Boris she commits a sin, but since she was not afraid of sin, then she is not afraid of condemnation from people. The girl does not understand why hide their meeting. She wanted to confess everything to her husband in order to be honest with Boris later, but the young man dissuades her from such an act. It is more convenient for Boris to meet in secret and not take responsibility. Of course they couldn't be together. Their love is tragic and fleeting. The situation takes an unexpected turn when Katya realizes that Boris is in fact the same as all the other residents: miserable and petty. And Boris does not try to deny it. After all, he came to the city only to establish relations with his uncle (only in this case he could receive an inheritance).

The Kuligin-Dikoi couple will help determine the main conflict in Ostrovsky's drama The Thunderstorm. Self-taught inventor and merchant. All power in the city seems to be concentrated in the hands of the Wild. He is rich, but he only thinks about increasing capital. He is not afraid of threats from the mayor, he deceives ordinary residents, steals from other merchants, drinks a lot. Wild constantly swears. In each of his remarks there was a place for insults. He believes that people who are below him on the social ladder are not worthy of talking to him, they deserve their miserable existence. Kuligin strives to help people, all his inventions should be of benefit to society. But he is poor, and there is no way to earn by honest labor. Kuligin knows about everything that happens in the city. "Cruel morals in our city." Kuligin cannot resist or fight this.

The main conflict of the drama "Thunderstorm" unfolds inside the main character. Katya understands how strong the gap between ideas and reality is. Katerina wants to be herself, free, light and clean. But in Kalinov it is impossible to live like that. In this struggle, she risks losing herself, giving up, not being able to withstand the onslaught of circumstances. Katya chooses between black and white, gray does not exist for her. The girl understands that she can live either the way she wants, or not live at all. The conflict ends with the death of the heroine. She could not commit violence against herself, kill herself in herself for the sake of social order.

There are several conflicts in the play "Thunderstorm". The main one is the confrontation between the individual and society. To this conflict is added the conflict of generations, the conflict of the old and the new. The conclusion suggests itself that an honest person cannot survive in a society of liars and hypocrites.

The definition of the main conflict of the play and the description of its participants can be used by students of grade 10 in essays on the topic "The main conflict in the play" Thunderstorm "by Ostrovsky."

Artwork test

What conflict underlies the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"?

At the heart of A.N. Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" lies the tragic conflict of Katerina's living feelings and the dead foundations of the "dark kingdom".

Which of the characters in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" refers to the "dark kingdom"?

Tyrants and despots are Wild and Boar, which belong to the "dark kingdom".

What allows Tikhon to say that their “family was shattered apart”?

Unable to withstand the despotism of Kabanikh, Katerina commits suicide, leaves Barbara's house, Tikhon becomes completely dumb and weak-willed.

What is the originality of Kabanikh's speech?

Kabanikhi's speech shows an imperious nature, which is expressed in an imperative tone: “Well, talk more!”, “To your feet, to your feet!” He always speaks instructively. She often uses proverbs and sayings, folk expressions and intonations.

What is the difference between the views on the life of Katerina and Barbara?

Katerina is not used to lying and dodging, she does not accept hypocrisy, she cannot pretend, realizing her love for Boris as a sin. Barbara accepted the morality of the surrounding society and learned to hide true feelings, to lie, to dodge.

For what purpose in the play A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" introduced the songs of Kudryash?

The songs of Kudryash give the play A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" national flavor, and their content repeats the motive of the forbidden love of a married woman for another.

What is the function of the image of the Volga in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"?

The image of the Volga shows that the action takes place in a Russian provincial town. The majestic beautiful Volga contrasts with the sleepy stagnant life of the city. The free Volga takes the unsubdued Katerina into its waters.

What is the meaning of the title of the drama by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"?

The motif of a thunderstorm runs through the whole play. This is an unknown, and therefore a terrible phenomenon of nature. This is the storm of tyranny of Kabanikh over Tikhon (“There will be no thunderstorm over me for two weeks”). There is something spontaneous, thunderous in Katerina's love for Boris. Thunderstorm is the fear of retribution for sins. Thunderstorm is also a symbol of non-reconciliation with the dark kingdom.

What is the function of the landscape in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"?

The landscape performs a dual function. At the beginning of the play, he is the background against which the action unfolds, and emphasizes the discrepancy between the dead life of the Kalinovites and the beautiful nature. The storm then intrudes into the action and influences the outcome of the drama.

What is the role of the episodic figure of the lady in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"?

The appearance of an old lady with two lackeys coincides with the picture of a thunderstorm. The ominous speeches of the lady: “What, beauties? What are you doing here? Are you waiting for the good fellows, gentlemen? Are you having fun? Funny? Does your beauty make you happy? Here, here, in the very pool! - prophesy the fate of Katerina.

Describe the life of the city of Kalinov.

The city of Kalinov is located in a beautiful place on the banks of the Volga. But the inhabitants care little about the beauty of nature. They are indifferent to everything that goes beyond household chores. No reliable information about life in other places penetrates into their sleepy life. Only wanderers bring monstrously ridiculous rumors about the lands where people with dog heads live. The city is dominated by ignorance and stagnation, cruel house-building customs.

The old days are coming to an end!

A. Ostrovsky

At the heart of the drama "Thunderstorm" is Katerina's protest against the centuries-old traditions and the Old Testament way of life of the "dark kingdom". The author shows the deep inner drama of Katerina: a passionate impulse for freedom and happiness collides with her own ideas about morality, which have developed under the influence of the same “dark kingdom” against which she “rebelled”.

The action of the play takes place in a very beautiful place on the banks of the Volga. The landscape creates a certain mood, which allows, by contrast, to feel the stuffy atmosphere of life in Kalinov more sharply. Ignorance and complete mental stagnation are characteristic of the life of the city of Kalinov. Behind the external calmness of life lie harsh, gloomy mores. "Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel!" Kuligin says. They live here according to the principle: "Whoever has money, he tries to enslave the poor." And although in The Thunderstorm attention is focused on family relationships, a picture of gross arbitrariness, robbery and money-grubbing is formed from individual replicas of the characters. Wild frankly shortchanges the peasants, when they complain about him to the mayor, he cynically declares: “Should we, your honor, talk with you about such trifles!” He is a real despot with his household: in the attics and in the closets, family members hide from his anger, he completely hounded his nephew.

But even more difficult in domestic life is the despotism of Kabanikh. The wild one will shout, scold, even beat him in the heat of the moment, but then he will cool down. The boar, on the other hand, torments and pursues his victim from day to day, eats food, “like rusty iron.” She does not tolerate contradictions in anyone, she teaches everyone, forcing them to live according to the laws of the “old life”. This is a domineering, harsh, adamant guardian of the foundations of the "dark kingdom".

But Katerina does not want and cannot put up with the deceitful and cruel atmosphere of Kabanova's house. The main conflict is outlined: the unwillingness of a bright personality to put up with the "dark kingdom".

Katerina could not learn to lie, to be hypocritical. From the very beginning of the play, we feel her rejection of the life that is being forced on her. She is deeply offended by the instructions of her mother-in-law, who wants to bring her into complete obedience. During her husband's departure, Katerina "stands as if in a daze." She understands that her husband did not want to offend her, that he acted against his will, and is not angry with him. But love and respect him can not.

The more Katerina is humiliated, the stronger the desire for freedom, love, and happiness awakens in her soul. Katerina considers this aspiration to be sinful, she is afraid of herself, afraid to be alone with her thoughts and feelings. Despair and doom are heard in her words: “Where can I, poor thing, go? Who can I grab onto? My fathers, I am dying!” Katerina makes a desperate attempt to prevent trouble, to force herself to love her husband. But Tikhon is not able to understand her condition.

Katerina cannot live in deceit, she considers her love a great sin. Having fallen in love with Boris, she "just begins to live again." She has inner strength, determination: “I was born like that, hot!” She is ready to defend her freedom, even if at the cost of death: “If I get very cold here, they won’t hold me back by any force. I'll throw myself out the window, I'll throw myself into the Volga. I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me!”

Katerina's position is difficult, she was brought up on the same house-building customs. She is a "husband's wife" and has nowhere to go. There were two options left: to return home and submit or die. She chose the latter. By her behavior, Katerina rejects the principles of Domostroy morality, strives for a new life and prefers death to life in captivity. material from the site

Under the influence of Katerina and her tragic fate, in one form or another, other heroes of the drama express their protest against the despotism of petty tyrants. Varvara and Kudryash flee from Kalinovo, Kuligin for the first time addresses bitter reproach to the petty tyrants, and finally, the resigned Tikhon, who still has not disobeyed his mother, throws her a severe accusation: “You ruined her! You! You!"

The death of Katerina is to blame for everything that so fanatically defends Kabanikh, all those established social relations that lead a person to tragedy. But in the "dark kingdom" a person is possible who is capable of protest. Dobrolyubov wrote about the death of Katerina: “This end seems to us gratifying ... it gives a terrible challenge to self-foolish power ... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov's concepts of morality, a protest carried to the end ... "

The death of Katerina confirmed the gloomy forebodings of Kabanikh and Dikiy: the end of their strength is coming, new times are coming.

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On the eve of the reform of 1861, the play "Thunderstorm" became the largest public event. The most important thing in the work of Ostrovsky's discovery is the folk heroic character. He put two main thoughts at the heart of the play: a powerful denial of stagnation and oppression of the motionless "dark kingdom" and the emergence of a positive, bright beginning, a real heroine from the people's environment. All this was new compared to the "natural school".

In every talented written drama there is a basic conflict - that main contradiction that leads the action, manifests itself in one way or another in all events, in clashes of views and feelings, passions and characters.

It is in conflicts between people, in the clash of different views, beliefs, moral ideas and in “internal” conflicts, when conflicting thoughts and feelings struggle in the mind of a person, that a person and the society in which he lives are most fully revealed.

What is the main conflict in The Thunderstorm? Perhaps this is a contradiction between tyranny and humiliation? No. The play perfectly shows that violence is supported by humility: Tikhon's timidity, Boris's irresponsibility, Kuligin's patient delicacy seem to give the spirit of Kabanikhe and Diky, allow them to swagger as soon as they please.

A sharp, irreconcilable contradiction arises in The Thunderstorm when, among those crushed by tyranny, among the yearning, servile, cunning, there is a person endowed with pride, self-esteem, unable to come to terms with life in slavery even in the face of death.

The bright human beginning in Katerina is natural, like breathing. This is her nature, which is expressed not so much in reasoning, but in spiritual subtlety, in the strength of experiences, in relation to people, in all her behavior.

The conflict of "Thunderstorm" is peculiar. It can be viewed in two ways. Ostrovsky himself defined his work as a drama, but this is a tribute to tradition. Indeed, on the one hand, The Thunderstorm is a social drama, but on the other hand, it is a tragedy.

As a drama, this work is characterized by a special attention to everyday life, the desire to convey its "density". The writer describes in detail the city of Kalinov. This is a collective image of the Volga cities of Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Volga, which always symbolizes Russia. That is why an important role in the work is played by the landscape, described not only in the remarks, but also in the dialogues of the characters. Some heroes see the surrounding beauty. For example, Kuligin exclaims: “The view is extraordinary! The beauty! The soul rejoices!

Other heroes looked at her and were quite indifferent. Beautiful nature, a picture of the nightly festivities of young people, songs, Katerina's stories about childhood - all this is the poetry of the Kalinov world. But Ostrovsky confronts her with gloomy pictures of everyday life and everyday life, with the cruel attitude of people towards each other. In this city, rudeness and poverty reign, here “one can never earn with honest labor” “daily bread”, here merchants “undermine trade from each other, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy”, here the clerks have lost their human appearance, having learned for money scribble slander. Residents do not see the new, do not know about it, and do not want to know. All information here is obtained from ignorant wanderers who convince people that Kalinov is the promised land.

The people of "Thunderstorm" live in a special state of the world - crisis, catastrophic. The pillars holding back the old order shook, and the agitated life began to shake. The first action introduces us into the pre-stormy atmosphere of life. Outwardly, everything is going well, but the restraining forces are too fragile: their temporary triumph only increases the tension. It thickens by the end of the first act: even nature, as in a folk gum, responds to this with a thunderstorm approaching Kalinov.

Ostrovsky sees in merchant Kalinovo a world breaking with the moral traditions of folk life. Only Katerina is given in "Thunderstorm" to retain the fullness of viable principles in the culture of the people and to preserve a sense of moral responsibility in the face of the trials that this culture is subjected to in Kalinovo.

In the center of this closed "dark kingdom" stands a rude and ignorant merchant's wife - Kabanikha. She is the defender of the old foundations of life, rituals and customs of the city of Kalinov. She dictates moral laws to the entire city, imposes her will on everyone around her and demands unquestioning obedience. She hates everything new, so she can’t come to terms with the fact that “for the sake of speed” people invented a “fiery serpent” - a steam locomotive. The boar stands up for a strong, lasting family, for order in the house, which, according to her ideas, is possible only if

And the basis of family relationships will be fear, not mutual love and respect. Freedom, according to the heroine, leads a person to a moral fall.

Even the wanderers in the Kabanovs' house are different, from among those hypocrites who "due to their weakness did not go far, but heard a lot." And they talk about the "end times", about the imminent end of the world. Fanatical religiosity reigns here, which plays into the hands of the pillars of society, who greet living life with an evil grunt.

Dobrolyubov penetratingly saw in the conflict "Thunderstorms" an epochal meaning, and in the character of Katerina - "a new phase of our people's life." But, idealizing free love in the spirit of the then popular ideas of women's emancipation, he impoverished the moral depth of Katerina's character. The hesitation of the heroine, who fell in love with Boris, the torments of her conscience, Dobrolyubov considered “the ignorance of a poor woman who did not receive a theoretical education. Duty, fidelity, conscientiousness, with the maximalism characteristic of revolutionary democracy, were declared "prejudices", "artificial combinations", "conditional instructions of the old morality"*, "old rags". It turned out that Dobrolyubov looked at Katerina's love in the same non-Russian way easily as Boris.

The question arises, how then does Katerina differ from other heroines of Ostrovsky, such as, for example, Lipochka from “My People ...”: “I need a husband! ... Find me a groom, find me without fail! .. I tell you ahead , without fail, look for it, otherwise it will be worse for you: on purpose, to spite you, in secret I will get an admirer, I will run away with a hussar, and we will get married on the sly. That's for whom the "conditional offensives of morality" really do not have any moral authority. This girl will not be afraid of a thunderstorm, the fiery hell itself is nothing to such “Protestants”!

Speaking about how “the strong Russian character is understood and expressed in The Thunderstorm”, Dobrolyubov in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom” rightly noted Katerina’s “concentrated determination”. However, in determining its origins, he completely departed from the spirit and letter of Ostrovsky's tragedy. Is it possible to agree that "upbringing and young life gave her nothing"?

It is easy to see in The Thunderstorm the tragic confrontation between the religious culture of Katerina and the Domostroy culture of Kabanikhi. The contrast between them is drawn by sensitive Ostrovsky with amazing consistency and depth. The conflict of "Thunderstorm" incorporates the thousand-year history of Russia, in its tragic resolution, the almost prophetic forebodings of the national playwright affect.

When the fall of Katerina happened, she becomes bold to the point of insolence. “I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment?” she says. This phrase predetermines the further development of the tragedy, the death of Katerina. The lack of hope for forgiveness and pushes her to suicide, an even greater sin from the point of view of Christian morality. But for Katerina there is no longer any difference, all the same, she has already ruined her soul.

Without feeling the primordial freshness of Katerina's inner world, one cannot understand the vitality and power of her character. Haunted by her sin, Katerina passes away to save her soul.

The heroine of Ostrovsky is truly a ray of light in the "dark kingdom". It strikes loyalty to ideals, spiritual purity, moral superiority over others. In the image of Katerina, the writer embodied the best features - love of freedom, independence, talent, poetry, high moral and ethical qualities.

In the image of Katerina Dobrolyubov saw the embodiment of "Russian living nature." Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. “... This end seems to us gratifying,” the critic writes, “it is easy to understand why: it gives a terrible challenge to self-conscious force, it tells it that it is no longer possible to go further, it is impossible to live longer with its violent, deadening beginnings.” In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov's notions of morality, a protest “carried to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself. She does not want to put up, she does not want to take advantage of the miserable vegetative life that they give her in exchange for her living soul ... ”In the image of Katerina, according to Dobrolyubov, the“ great people’s idea ”was embodied - the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bliberation. The critic considered the image of Katerina close "to the position and to the heart of every decent person in our society."

During his long creative life, Ostrovsky wrote more than fifty original plays and created the Russian national theater. According to Goncharov, Ostrovsky painted a huge picture all his life. "This painting is a Millennium Monument to Russia." At one end, it rests on prehistoric time (“Snegurochka”), at the other, it stops at the first railway station ... ".