A. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” was presented a year before the abolition of serfdom in 1859. Katerina’s life in her parents ’home is particularly notable. The image of the main character changes with each chapter, she is vulnerable and tender.
What is the play about?
The action takes place in the fictional city of Kalinov. The drama takes place in one of the merchant houses on the banks of the Volga. The owner of the house, the merchant, Marfa Ignatyevna Kabanova, is an imperious and wayward person. She holds in her hands all around. No one can resist her. But her zeal to subjugate everyone and everything encourages to conquer more and more souls.
The red line between the lines of the play is the theme of the conflict of generations. And today this problem is relevant and modern. The embodiment of tyranny and the desire to rule the world in the image of Martha Kabanova personifies the system established by the older generation. But the image of Katerina is especially revealed, her spiritual tragedy leaves no one indifferent.
Katerina’s life in her mother-in-law
The appearance in the Kabanovs' house of a new family member, Katerina, switches the attention of the merchant to the new victim. Katerina Kabanova, daughter-in-law of the imperious Martha Ignatyevna, appeared in the house not at the behest of her heart, but because of circumstances. She was forcibly married to the son of the merchant Tikhon, whose will was enslaved by her mother. Katerina’s life in the parental home was also not distinguished by joy and happiness.
The appearance of Katerina introduces a special meaning into the atmosphere of the play, contrasting the bright image of the sincere and pious girl with the “gray” existence of the merchants of the mid-19th century. The image of a girl amazes the reader with its simplicity, sincerity, she is ready to give the world her kindness and can do it. Her image is the only one that is called the "ray of light in the dark kingdom."
Such a strict framework
But the framework of a merchant society does not allow her soul to open. Her lucid dreams and thoughts, which she shares with her husband’s sister Varya, are unnecessary and incomprehensible to anyone. In a merchant environment there is no place for sincerity and love, freedom of soul and purity of thoughts.
Since childhood, Katya has become accustomed to her mother’s gratuitous love, to the joyful world of freedom and church wisdom. The girl has nothing to breathe in the merchant's house, she is alien to the resourcefulness and lies that prevail in society. Her soul can fly up free birds only in dreams that have become so rare with the onset of marriage. The image of Katerina in Thunderstorm is described in detail. Her experiences and mental anguish are briefly presented.
Seek salvation in love
For Katerina, a breath of fresh air becomes love for Boris, the nephew of a greedy person like Boar and the pompous merchant Wild. Because she is forced to while away her days locked up in the kingdom of her mother-in-law, Katerina is looking for a way out of her feelings in attachment to Boris. While Katerina’s husband is away, secret meetings of lovers help her realize that her love for Wild’s nephew is not really love that can fly to the stars. Katerina’s life in a strange house turns into flour.
She understands that the hopelessness of her position pushed her to an imaginary beloved, who is not at all as perfect in her thoughts as she would have liked. It turned out she invented it herself. She needed at least someone who could share her bright thoughts with her, with whom she could realize her dreams of a happy and free life. Katerina’s life in the parental home makes the main character believe in ghostly love.
Immortal soul, not bowing its head
The merchant widow Marfa Kabanova in her thirst for power was never able to get her daughter-in-law to recognize her supremacy. Katerina in her eyes calls her mother-in-law to “you,” thereby making it clear how much she considers them equal. Katerina regrets her husband, realizing that he will never be able to break out of his mother’s arms without permission, and his mother will not allow him to. His complaints about life are nothing more than a recognition of his infantility and the habit of being led by a strong leader.
And Martha, like a poisonous spider, weaved her nets, sticky and strong, into which it was easy to get to those who lived in a society where deception, foolishness and envy reigned. The appearance of a bold adversary, proud and silent, reveals a selfless desire to change something in the world around. The inability to confront the ossified system of government alone is reflected in a thunderstorm and finds its culmination in the suicide of the main character. For her, "death is not desirable, but life is unbearable."
A protest that ends in tragedy
Her dream of flying up like a bird does not seem absurd and funny. It embodied all the despair of a young girl, all the pain and unimaginable spiritual tragedy. Understanding the very essence of life in a lie, unwillingness and inability to pretend and adapt lead Katerina to the edge of the cliff. Deeply believing, she was not afraid to commit suicide, thereby forever depriving her restless soul of rest, she was not afraid of the wrath of God and the punishment of heaven. Katerina’s protest in Ostrovsky’s play The Storm ends in tragedy.
At that time, Katerina was cornered by circumstances. Her admission of treason to her husband and mother-in-law shows how pure and highly spiritual her nature was. To be honest with others, but before yourself, is the inside of her soul, the very bottom.
The “Thunderstorm” by A. Ostrovsky struck his contemporaries with the courage of Katerina’s reasoning and admired the strength of character of such a fragile and tender soul. Silent confrontation and disobedience to the will of the existing regime creates a feeling of ongoing struggle and confidence in victory, if not now, but without fail.
The image of Katerina prompted many young minds to rise to the struggle against autocracy, strengthen their will and spirit by testing and find their way to the light in the name of freedom and justice. The Storm assignment, “Katerina’s Life in the Parental Home,” is given in high schools. The image of the martyr girl is still popular today.