Katerina's protest against the “dark kingdom”. What is the tragedy of the heroine and is her death accidental?
Topic: Katerina’s protest against the “dark kingdom”. What is the tragedy of the heroine and is her death accidental?
Goals:
- cultivate self-esteem, the ability to objectively evaluate the actions of other people, including literary characters.
- develop skills of coherent monologue statements.
- teach to analyze the character's image, highlight the features of speech characteristics.
DURING THE CLASSES
I. ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT
Setting the goal of the lesson: in this lesson we will talk about the image of the main character of Ostrovsky’s drama, find out what her tragedy was and think about whether her death was accidental?
II. CHECKING YOUR HOMEWORK
A)
At home you had to describe Katerina.
What are her character traits? Katerina does not know how to lie or be a hypocrite, she is not inclined to deceive anyone, to pretense, she is characterized by meekness and fidelity. But for all her meekness, she is a fighter: she cannot and does not want to submit to the inhabitants of the “dark kingdom”, she does not want to adapt to life through lies. All her feelings and motives are sincere and open.
III.VOCABULARY WORK
The meaning of the name “Katerina” should also be taken into account.
Catherine - the name has ancient Greek roots and comes from the word “katharios”, which means “pure”, “purebred”, “immaculate”, “impeccable”, “simple”, “purest”. All meanings of the name are implemented in the character's character.
IV. CONVERSATION ON THE TOPIC OF THE LESSON
— While reading, you paid attention to Katerina’s attitude to work, to religion, to family life. What can you say about this?
Living in her parents’ house, Katerina loved to work and do handicrafts, but this work was “not under pressure.” Katerina’s attitude towards faith and religiosity largely boil down to a feeling of religious ecstasy in church, when the heroine is impressed by the external side of the Christian religion: ritualism.
I wanted to find love and harmony in family life, but this does not work. She doesn’t love her husband (although she tries), because “there’s nothing to love him for,” but she regrets. It should also be taken into account that Katerina did not marry for love, but, like most girls of that time, because Tikhon was a fairly profitable match.
So, we have identified and recorded the main character traits of Katerina: meekness, inability to lie, manifestation of self-esteem; we talked about her attitude to work, religion and family, now let's talk about what Katerina's life was like in her parents' house, before marriage?
(D. 1, Rev. 7)
“like a bird in the wild,” “mama doted on her soul,” “didn’t force me to work,” she did needlework, looked after flowers, went to church, listened to the stories of pilgrims and pilgrims, and walked in the garden.
-Katerina speaks more than once about flying, comparing herself to a bird. What could this mean?
She wants freedom. And flight in this sense is the flight of the soul. Katerina is also a freedom-loving person.
-What new qualities can we identify by analyzing her monologue (D. 1, Rev. 7)?
Dreaminess, poetry.
B)
Why can we call Katerina a poetic person?
She talks about visits to church, about her dreams, talks with enthusiasm, using the expressive means of folk poetic language and vernacular; her speech is enlivened by various intonations, which is a manifestation of emotions, impressions of what she saw, Katerina does not seek to hide everything in herself, she is open to this world, there are also many rhetorical questions and exclamations in her speech, often sentences are unfinished, the speech is similar to a song in its melody, a work of folk art.
IN)
Life in the husband's house (2, 3, 10).
How is life for Katerina in the Kabanovs’ house?
“I’m completely withered here,” “yes, everything here seems to be from under captivity,” “it’s stuffy.” The atmosphere reigning in the Kabanovs' house is one of fear. Everything is based on the orders of the mother-in-law, who is characterized by hypocrisy and hypocrisy.
We see how the girl’s life changes dramatically. How the atmosphere of her husband’s house and the entire city of Kalinov has a detrimental effect on her.
Why does Katerina pay attention to Boris? Is it only because of the unbearably harsh living conditions, because of the endless oppression of the mother-in-law?
Katerina feels the need to love - to be loved and to give her love to someone. But she doesn’t feel such feelings for her husband, just like he himself, they don’t have children, although she dreams of children.
He pays attention to Boris because he is different from other residents of the city of Kalinov. He is intelligent, somewhat timid, educated, different from his ignorant husband. And all the thirst for love, independence, will is manifested in Katerina’s love for Boris.
-What interferes with Katerina on the path to happiness, what stops her?
Prejudice, reluctance to lie, cheat, commit sin.
-Did Katerina overcome them? What artistic detail is a symbol of her mental struggle, the struggle with herself?
She defeated all prejudices by agreeing to meet with Boris. But this was not easy for Katerina. A symbol of internal struggle is the key to the gate.
Let's see how the heroine's struggle with herself went. Provide quotes to prove this.
On the one hand, she did not want to meet Boris, she did not want to break the oath given to her husband. (“This is ruin!”, “Quit!”), but her thirst for love and freedom takes over (“Apparently fate itself wants this.”, “Why am I deceiving myself!”) Thus, we can say that love to Boris is a manifestation of will. Refusal of it (love) would imply complete submission to the world of the Kabanovs and the Wild.
-But does Katerina gain freedom?
On the one hand, yes, she is free to do what her “hot heart” calls for, and on the other, the voice of conscience does not leave the heroine, having embarked on the path of betrayal, she, a pure nature, has already died. But even so, one cannot help but note one more feature of Katerina - determination (“I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me!”).
Thus, we can say that having fallen in love with Boris, agreeing to meet with him, she has already declared her protest against the musty moral foundations of the Kalinovsky society, she is already saying that there is no turning back. Will she be able to return to her former slave, “stuffy” life again?!
G)
Why does Katerina repent? (D. 4, Rev. 6)
-Why does she reveal her secret to everyone, because she has a living example of unpunished deception before her eyes (Varvara)?
In a conversation with Varvara, Katerina says: “I don’t know how to deceive, I can’t hide anything.” “I was born this way, hot” - what does this phrase mean?
. Katerina is a hero guided by her heart. Therefore, he belongs to a number of Ostrovsky’s characters called “warm hearts.”
-The voice of her heart led her to repentance, but what else?
The awareness that punishment and punishment for sin cannot be avoided. She also cannot continue to live in the same house with her husband and deceive him.
-In Christianity, repentance is purification. Sometimes some of us go to church for confession, to repent of our sins, which the Lord will forgive, and cleansing will come to us. Does purification come to Katerina?
Katerina repents before her husband, before her mother-in-law, but it doesn’t make her feel any better - cleansing doesn’t come, because she still loves Boris and is unable to change her feelings.
-How is Boris behaving?
He seems to remain aloof from the drama that happened. His behavior is rational, does not make rash conclusions and does not make rash decisions. He was unable to help Katerina change her life, free her from the oppression of the “dark kingdom”.
-Let us turn to the scene of the last meeting between Katerina and Boris (no. 5, appearance 3). Here everyone shows their qualities to a greater extent.
Boris is weak-willed. He meekly submits to his uncle's will, fearing to lose his favor and, consequently, his share of the inheritance. He goes to say goodbye to “the place,” but not to Katerina. He calls himself a “free bird” - the complete opposite of Katerina. And Boris does not risk his freedom for her. In addition, he complains about fate: “It would be better for me to run away then.” He doesn’t want to take Katerina with him, she would be a burden for him in this situation, because Katerina suffers for two people, and he suffers solely for himself. The young woman’s determination (“Let everyone know, let everyone see what I’m doing. If I wasn’t afraid of sin for you, should I be afraid of human judgment!”) emphasizes the weakness and cowardice of her chosen one: “If only they wouldn’t find us here!”
-Boris leaves Katerina with the words “I would die sooner.” Why does he say this, does he, who is immensely loved by Katerina, really wish her death?
Boris also sees the hopelessness of her situation. He rejects one chance to save her - to take her with him. Katerina cannot leave her husband, since at that time she could have been returned through the police.
-What remains for Katerina? Live in your husband's house, be despised by everyone?
D)
Let's turn to the resolution of the conflict.
Katerina dies. How do you feel about her death? Is this the only way out? Please note that she was a religious girl, and suicide is the worst sin!
Doesn’t even this stop the heroine of Ostrovsky’s play? The death of the heroine is a protest. Since staying alive would mean reconciling yourself, suppressing your feelings, giving up your will, becoming a slave to tyrants, erasing your self-esteem - becoming a weak-willed creature.
V. SUMMARY
Thus, Katerina’s death is a protest against the “dark kingdom”, it is an affirmation of the power of human freedom.
- Let’s draw a conclusion, based on everything we talked about today in class: what is Katerina’s tragedy, is her death accidental?
Katerina could not come to terms with and obey the laws of the “dark kingdom”. Having embarked on the path of treason, she had already died. This state of affairs is not for her pure soul. Suicide is both victory and punishment. We can condemn the heroine, we can sympathize with her, but she had no other choice.
Conclusion:
The tragic ending of the drama is Katerina’s protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, this is an affirmation of the power of human freedom, his victory over prejudice, this is an affirmation of will and self-esteem. Katerina’s tragedy is not that while her husband was alive, she gave her heart to another person, but that she had no one else to give to the feeling that was burning her. She fell in love with Boris in the “desolation”. It is not the forbidden love for Boris that destroys her, but the search for it. Katerina’s death is an inevitable outcome for the “warm heart.”
VI. HOMEWORK.
1. Prepare an analysis of the scene of the 1st date (d3, episode 3)
2. Answer the question in writing: Is Katerina’s death protest or humility, a feat of the soul or its confusion, weakness?
Katerina's protest in the drama "The Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky
And he sits, sculpted by the chisel of the sculptor Andreev, at the entrance to the Maly Theater, and reminds us of the past, of the dark, funny and terrible world of his many heroes: the Glumovs, Bolshovs, Podkhalyuzins, Dikikhs and Kabanikhs.
The depiction of the world of Moscow and provincial merchants, which Dobrolyubov called the “dark kingdom” with a light hand, became the main theme of Ostrovsky’s work.
The drama “The Thunderstorm”, published in 1860, is no exception.
The plot of the play is simple and typical for that environment and era: a young married woman Katerina Kabanova, not finding a response to her feelings in her husband, fell in love with another man. Tormented by remorse and not wanting to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom” (“Do what you want, as long as everything is sewn and covered”), she confesses her action publicly in the church. After this confession, her life becomes so unbearable that she commits suicide.
The image of Katerina is the most striking image in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. Dobrolyubov, analyzing in detail the image of Katerina, called her “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.”
Katerina’s life in her parents’ home was good and carefree.
Here she felt “free.” Katerina lived easily, carefree, joyfully. She loved her garden very much, in which she so often walked and admired the flowers.
Later telling Varvara about her life in her home, she says: “I lived, didn’t worry about anything, like a bird in the wild. Mama doted on me, she dressed me up like a doll, she didn’t force me to work, I did whatever I wanted.” Katerina differs from all representatives of the “dark kingdom” in the depth of her feelings, honesty, truthfulness, courage, and determination.
Growing up in a good family, she retained all the wonderful traits of the Russian character. This is a pure, sincere, ardent nature, an open soul that does not know how to deceive. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” she says to Varvara, who claims that everything in their house is based on deception. This same Varvara calls our heroine some kind of “sophisticated”, “wonderful”. Katerina is a strong, decisive, strong-willed person. Since childhood, she was capable of bold actions.
Telling Varvara about herself and emphasizing her hot nature, she says: “I was born so hot!”
Katerina loved nature, its beauty, and Russian songs. Therefore, her speech - emotional, enthusiastic, musical, melodious - is imbued with high poetry and sometimes reminds us of a folk song. Growing up in her home, our heroine accepted all the age-old traditions of her family: obedience to elders, religiosity, submission to customs. Katerina, who did not study anywhere, loved to listen to the stories of wanderers and praying mantises and perceived all their religious prejudices, which poisoned her young life, forcing Katerina to perceive love for Boris as a terrible sin, from which she tries and cannot escape.
Having found herself in a new family, where everything is under the rule of the cruel, harsh, rude, despotic Kabanikha, Katerina does not find a sympathetic attitude towards herself.
Dreamy, honest, sincere, friendly to people, Katerina takes the oppressive atmosphere of this house especially hard.
Gradually, life in Kabanikha’s house, which constantly insults Katerina’s human dignity, becomes unbearable for the young woman. A dull protest against the “dark kingdom”, which did not give her happiness, freedom and independence, begins to arise in her soul. This process develops... Katerina commits suicide. Thus, she proved that she was right, a moral victory over the “dark kingdom.” Dobrolyubov in his article, assessing the image of Katerina, wrote: “This is the true strength of character, which in any case you can rely on! This is the height to which our national life reaches in its development!” The fact that Katerina’s act was typical for her time is confirmed by the fact that a similar incident occurred in Kostroma in the Klykov family of merchants. And for a long time after this, the actors playing the main roles in the play wore make-up so that they could be seen to resemble the Klykovs.
