My attitude towards Katerina
One of the great Russian classics – A.N. Ostrovsky revealed in his play “The Thunderstorm” the character of an amazing girl - Katerina, who got married and came to the Kabanov family. Let's try to look at the main traits of her character.
The plot of “The Thunderstorm” is built around the Kabanov family and other people pass in the background in the fictional city of Kalinov. Powerful and intolerant, cruel and despotic, Kabanikha controls everything in the house and not only the household members are afraid of her, but also everyone around her - neighbors, just townspeople who come across her way. Domostroy reigns in her house, and it is precisely in this kind of place – full of some kind of negativity, boredom, severity, frameworks, rules and dogmas – that the main character of the play, Katerina, finds herself.
Her life before marriage was spent in her home, where she was always surrounded by the affection, care, love of her mother and all her relatives, attention is not focused on friends in the work, but there were clearly friends in such a friendly home and family - it simply could not be otherwise .
Having found herself, by the will of a rather unfortunate fate, in Kabanikha’s house, Katerina was immediately faced with the fact that her soul was very cramped and stuffy there. She felt like she was in a cage, like in a vice. She was constantly pressed from all sides by stupid rules and concepts, which, in essence, were far-fetched, useless to anyone and only interfered with living and enjoying life.
Katerina, as can be seen from the play, is a creative, free, very finely organized person with a sublime soul. She simply had nowhere to turn around in her new family. All activities at Kabanikha’s house consisted of embroidery, housekeeping, or reading. In essence, in this house they seemed to worship God, since in Rus' at that time very few people were atheists, but if you look closely, they acted in this house not at all according to the laws of God - oppression, humiliation, constant fanning of hostility, bad attitude towards one's neighbor - everything it simply flourished in the Kabanov family.
Moreover, all this was disguised under the “correctness” of life, under an existence “pleasing to God” and was presented as the only true one. There could be no other existence for a young girl in this house.
Nobody took care of Katerina. They only oppressed her, pressed her with boundaries and rules, made comments, set some limits on time, behavior, and actions. Trying to find something to do, she continually faced condemnation - sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes in front of her, with the fact that she was scolded or “taught to live.”
She was not allowed to sing, dance, run, walk whenever she wanted, go where she wanted, laugh loudly and be happy. It was impossible to show emotions, it was impossible to be indignant, object and fight for your freedom and interests.
Perhaps Katerina once had some feelings for the son of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, Tikhon, but due to the constant suppression of her feelings due to the fact that she could not even express her attitude towards her husband in a human way, fearing condemnation, due to the fact that he never stood up for her, but always took the side of “mama”, due to the fact that I did not delve into the movement of her soul, or into her feelings and experiences, due to the fact that in this house she was met with constant negativity - she simply stopped loving Tikhon and became interested in Boris.
“...I say: why don’t people fly like birds? You know, sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you stand on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how I would run up, raise my hands and fly....”
“...I cannot escape this sin. Can't go anywhere. After all, this is not good, because this is a terrible sin, Varenka, why do I love others?..."
“...I have no will. If I had my own will, I would not have gone to you. Your will is now over me, don’t you see!..."
With him she felt free, calm and at ease, he never condemned her, had approximately the same concepts about life and principles as she did, which did not fit into strict unnecessary dogmas. She would have been completely happy with him - if she had not known that she had a family and was in a very precarious and dangerous position - she would probably have been completely happy. But this is only if Boris somehow also made an effort into their relationship, because. that Boris himself was rather weak-willed and capable of maintaining relationships only in a relatively calm environment.
“...And I, apparently, will ruin my youth in this slum. I’m walking around completely devastated, and then there’s still this crazy thing creeping into my head! Well, what's the point! Should I really start tenderness? Driven, downtrodden, and then foolishly decided to fall in love...”
Katerina tried many times to find a friend in her family, an ally who would understand her and help her cope with daily hardships, but also Varvara with whom she shared her dreams and dreams and some other people in this house, including her husband - either did not understand her and nodded condescendingly, while they themselves twisted her head behind her back, or simply like Kabanikha and those who were completely in agreement with her in her methods of running a home and family - they simply openly scolded her or said that she needed to take care of something useful and “correct”, and not engage in all sorts of nonsense.
However, Varvara pitied her more than others and was kind to her, but still she was not her friend to the fullest, she also did nothing except talk to ease her lot in this house. She is much better than the entire Kabanov family, but she was just as “bonded.”
“...But if anything happens, you can’t hide at home...”
“...You’re kind of tricky, God be with you! But in my opinion: do whatever you want, as long as it’s safe and covered...”
Katerina’s tragedy is, and this is exactly what the author is trying to show, that exalted people, free from dogmas and rules, who do not want to live “on a leash” and constantly perform some kind of mechanical actions, live according to someone’s orders, follow the rules - are always unhappy under the yoke of these rules and those who enforce them. They want love, friendship, happiness, they want to express themselves, and if they are not allowed to do this, they either suffer all their lives or try to change something, sometimes incorrectly and radically like Katerina.
Ostrovsky showed the tragedy of this girl in the context of that time. Then you couldn’t get a divorce, you couldn’t just leave home, run away with the one you love, do as you please. Condemnation by society was a terrible punishment. If all this happened in our time, she would not have lived such a life and would have been happy a long time ago.
But there is one more point, and this is where I disagree with the author - unfortunately, Katerina is a victim. And she constantly thought that she was suffering for some sins, that she was worse than she was - this should under no circumstances be allowed to happen, but she did. If she were bolder and if she loved herself more and if she were more confident in herself, she would still run away with Boris, rejecting all conventions, but she tried to “be good for everyone” and thought that the more she suffers, the more it pleases God .
Wrong position, a manifestation of internal weakness. The heroine of another work by A.N. had a similar fate. Ostrovsky - Larisa Ogudalova. She is not a fanatic like Katerina, not a fatalist, not as sublime as her. He is more down to earth, has a more vital and pragmatic approach to life.
This is not an exalted maiden permeated with subtle matters, this is a completely earthly woman who wants earthly ordinary love. She has something of Varvara Kabanova. She is also not afraid to run away with her loved one, she is not lost in doubt about what people will say, she essentially doesn’t care what they think of her - it may hurt her pride, but not her feelings. But unfortunately, her loved one did not reciprocate her feelings; he, like Boris in “The Thunderstorm,” played with the feelings of his girlfriend. Larisa is stronger than Katya.
Despite the fact that she is surrounded by those who also condemn her, her goal is to be with Sergei Sergeevich. If he reciprocated her feelings, everything would be fine, but he rejects her and her will also breaks, like Katerina’s will.
“...I was looking for love and didn’t find it. They looked at me and look at me as if I was funny. No one ever tried to look into my soul, I didn’t see sympathy from anyone, I didn’t hear a warm, heartfelt word. But it’s cold to live like this...” “...For me, the most serious insult is your patronage; I didn’t receive any other insults from anyone or anything..."
“...Don’t you see that my situation is very serious! Every word that I say and that I hear, I feel. I became very sensitive and impressionable...” Another woman who was also incomprehensible to society is Anna Karenina from the novel of the same name by L.N. Tolstoy.
Anna fell in love with Vronsky with all the ardor of her soul and heart, she was deprived of this passionate love with her legal husband, it was a typical “marriage of convenience” and she lived quietly for a long time, perceiving her husband as a convenient and reliable support, she did not know what this is to love, to be in love, to go crazy with feelings and not imagine life without the one you love. Having no experience in such love, she was quite happy with her life and thought that this was the only way it was possible and necessary to live.
And then she fell in love...
“...Every time he spoke to Anna, a joyful sparkle flashed in her eyes, and a smile of happiness curved her rosy lips. It was as if she was making an effort on herself so as not to show these signs of joy, but they appeared on her face of their own accord...”
Usually, it was impossible to hide anything in society, but if you did not make statements and put your relationship with someone on display, it was believed that nothing was happening. Such “dual” relationships could last for years and both parties or only one side could suffer, but in any case it was believed that “the limits of decency were observed.
“...At first Anna sincerely believed that she was dissatisfied with him for allowing himself to pursue her; but soon after her return from Moscow, having arrived for the evening where she thought to meet him, but he was not there, she clearly understood from the sadness that overcame her that she had deceived herself, that this persecution was not only not unpleasant for her, but that it constituted the whole the interest of her life."
Having fallen in love, Anna Karenina literally went against the system accepted at that time, against the rules of society, against the people belonging to this society. She confessed to her husband, then openly showed her attitude towards Alexei Vronsky in front of everyone, and then generally began to behave just like a “black sheep” - she pointedly left her husband, left with Vronsky for another country, and gave birth to a daughter from him.
She tried to free herself from old relationships and start new ones, but at the same time she could not return to high society in Russia - it did not accept her, and her husband did not accept her back and did not give her a son. With all this, again going against everyone, she did not want to stay in another country forever and returned to Russia, forcing her husband to share her fate as an exile and not go out into the world. The sad fate of this woman is known to everyone - abandoned and rejected by everyone, she committed suicide.
And Ostrovsky (who himself met with the actress Lyubov Pavlovna Kositskaya - she had a family and he too, and it was she who became the prototype for Katerina), as it were, makes it clear to readers and descendants - live, love, be free, don’t listen to anyone, find have the courage to be yourself and be happy no matter what.
My attitude to the heroine of Ostrovsky’s drama “The Thunderstorm”.
Theater critic A. Kupel said well about Ostrovsky that he is “a worldly man, he writes his heroes, crowding their backs and bumping their heads.” Just as in real life there are not only bad or only good people, so in the play “The Thunderstorm” there are no exclusively “black” or “white” characters. Each person perceives them in his own way, and some, perhaps, will even approve of Kabanikha. It is therefore not surprising that the debate continues to this day regarding whether Katerina should be considered a “ray of light in a dark kingdom” or a fallen woman who became a victim of circumstances. However, when trying to express your opinion, you should not forget about the author’s intention, which endowed its heroine with these, and not other, features and put its own, sometimes hidden, meaning into her words.
My attitude towards Katerina is also probably ambiguous. On the one hand, she is truly a woman tormented by everyday life and her mother-in-law, who cannot find the strength to break with her husband and his family, and seeks consolation in prayers and crying. What are these words of hers worth, uttered after she learned that Boris, whom she loves so much, is leaving: “Violent winds, bear with me my sadness and melancholy. Fathers, I’m bored, bored.”
Boredom is one of the main motifs running through Ostrovsky's play. The city of Kalinov is boring, there are no events there. So Kabanikha, one of the pillars of the “dark kingdom,” confirms this: “We have nowhere to rush, ... we live leisurely.” It is difficult for a weak woman to protest under such conditions. A society that lives by the laws of boredom will condemn her. And she doesn’t know how to protest. She can only gently reproach her husband, Tikhon, or politely respond to her mother-in-law to her reproaches. But, reading the play, with each new page you understand that she must protest, and also, with each new page you become convinced that this is not possible...
However, Katerina tries. Her protest is her love for Boris, which he probably did not deserve. And even in her protest, Katerina’s pure soul is not capable of deception: “My whole heart exploded! I can’t stand it anymore!” She is honest and pure, like rain after a thunderstorm, and for this one cannot help but respect and love her!
But Katerina is not only a “downtrodden creature”, she is quite capable of making decisions and has her own opinion regarding what is happening around. She does not listen to either Varvara or Tikhon when they try to stop her, to keep her confession of adultery. And first of all, this is a recognition of Kabanikha, and not Tikhon or others. Realizing that she is dying, Katerina does not realize that she is knocking out the first brick from the foundation of the “dark kingdom” of wild boars, but we, the readers, understand this.
Pity and love for Katerina are closely intertwined in my mind, sometimes it is even difficult to distinguish them, but in my understanding, Katerina still has more strong traits than humility, although suicide is, nevertheless, the lot of weak people who have not coped with the circumstances. Still, we must not forget about time, because this is the 19th century, and the spirit of “Domostroy” still hovers over every house and orders you to lock the doors, and not keep the gate, through which that inevitably dangerous line passes, open.
The play “The Thunderstorm” appeared in 1859, when the formidable reign of Nicholas I and the Crimean War was replaced by the expectation of beneficial changes and hopes for renewal. But the changes did not improve much - this is also reflected in the play. So is Katerina. She loves and rejoices, but cannot free herself from the sad premonitions of her inability to adapt to ordinary life. “I can’t live,” she says. “If only I had died as a little girl, it would have been better,” she also says. And her feelings are more like a feat. Katerina loves Boris, apparently, first of all, because he is different, not from here, not from Kalinovsky, and this is reflected precisely in the need to break away, rise, rebel, resist. Maybe suicide in her case is also a feat? After all, only heroes, real heroes, accomplish feats. So for me, Katerina is a real heroine, capable of feats in the name of love and in the name of herself.
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