Essay Katerina - A ray of light in the dark kingdom, grade 10

1. Essays
2. On literature
3. Ostrovsky
4. Katerina - A ray of light in a dark kingdom

In the play, among the dark personalities: liars, opportunists and oppressors, the appearance of pure Katerina appears.

The girl’s youth passed in a carefree, free time space. Her mother loved her very much. She liked going to church. And she didn’t know what awaited her ahead. Our young woman compares her young actions with the behavior of a free bird in the wild.

My childhood years flew by. They gave Katerina away in marriage to someone she didn’t love. She found herself in a strange environment. It was as if she had been put in a cage. Her husband does not have the right to vote and cannot stand up for his wife. When communicating with Varya, the heroine will explain herself in a language that is incomprehensible to her husband’s sister. Like a ray of sunshine penetrates the darkness of vices and “dark” people. She wants to rise high and fly. She experiences a struggle between her desire to escape and her duty to her husband.

There is a confrontation against the “darkness”, rejection and unwillingness to adapt to the order of Kabanikha’s house. There is a sense of protest against oppressive life. She says that it is better for her to drown in the Volga than to endure all the torment and humiliation of her mother-in-law.

On her life's path she met Boris. She is not afraid of people's rumors. Our heroine gives herself over to love without a trace and is ready to follow her lover to the ends of the earth. But Boris is afraid of responsibility and does not take it with him. She cannot return to her old life. Having felt true love, he rushes into the waters of the Volga. In her opinion, it’s better in the grave! And she leaves the cruel, deceitful world. And while dying he thinks about love and tries, with the help of death, to get rid of the hated life in someone else’s house. Katerina's death makes him think about what is happening, and for the first time he fights back against his mother. Which surprises her. Like a bright ray, our heroine penetrated and opened her eyes. But she paid a huge price for it – equal to her life.

The weak woman Katerina harbors enormous strength of character, a craving for freedom; in order to free herself from the oppression of dark forces, she is ready to give her life. He flies like a free bird and feels no remorse. He only remembers that he loves! Katerina's death means gaining freedom of soul and body. Weak men come across her way and, not wanting to put up with what is happening, she is freed from physical and mental torment. The soul left the body, but the desire to be free turned out to be higher than the fear of death.

Essay on the topic Katerina - A ray of light in the dark kingdom

Ostrovsky in the play depicts the city of Kalinov, where “cruel morals” prevail. Residents of the city live by their own laws. The reader learns these details from the dialogue between Boris and Kuligin in the first act. In the first scene of the same action, Ostrovsky characterizes Kabanikha and Wild. The author shows that in the city of Kalinov it is impossible to live by honest labor, “and whoever has money tries to enslave the poor.” The wild “shrill guy” swears at everyone. The author gives him a telling surname from the word “wild”. And Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova does everything “under the guise of piety,” that is, she does it according to the law, for show. These people have money and feel permissive. Kabanikha and Dikoy are shown as guardians of the traditions and foundations of the city.

Therefore, Ostrovsky creates his main character Katerinna, who cannot come to terms with Kalinov’s laws. She is the only one who lives correctly, so everything that happens around her depresses her. From the dialogue between Katerina and Varvara, the reader can learn that the heroine before her marriage was free “like a bird in the wild.” She grew up in a family where, where no one forced anyone to do anything, everything was natural. The author compares Katerina’s life in her parents’ house with the foundations of Kabanikha. The heroine cannot come to terms with this. Katerina’s true faith is compared with the faith of Kabanikha, who does everything according to the law so that nothing bad is said about her.

The culmination of the work is Katerina’s recognition. Ostrovsky describes how a woman makes a “confession” and repents of her fall from grace. But the place of forgiveness receives reproach and bullying from the mother-in-law. Unable to exist in this world, abandoned by her beloved Boris, the author finds one true path for the heroine. “You can’t live,” says Katerina, before committing suicide.

In conclusion, we can say that Katerina is the only positive character in the play, so she can be called “a ray of light in a dark kingdom”

The Thunderstorm essay based on the play by Ostrovsky The Thunderstorm - Katerina Kabanova a ray of light in a dark kingdom

Essay on the theme Ostrovsky thunderstorm Katerina a ray of light in the dark kingdom

KATERINA - “A RAY OF LIGHT IN THE DARK KINGDOM.” A. N. Ostrovsky, the great Russian playwright, was the “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye”. For the first time in Russian literature, he lifted the curtain on the terrible life of the merchants and showed the lack of rights of women in this environment. The wife, according to the prevailing concepts of that time, had to obey her husband in everything. The woman had to forget that she was the same person, with the same rights as a man. N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that the strongest protest rises from the chests of the weakest and most patient. A woman was such a weak creature at that time. Ostrovsky showed her lack of rights and heroic protest at the cost of his own death in many of his plays. This is how the theme of the “warm heart” arises - that positive hero who was not spoiled by the environment of tyrants, who had the strength to resist it. This theme is revealed especially clearly in the plays “Dowry” and “The Thunderstorm”. Dobrolyubov considers Katerina “a decisive, integral Russian character.” This is a heroic nature, protesting against the tyranny and foundations of the “dark kingdom”. Katerina spent her childhood and youth in the same merchant environment, but there she was surrounded by affection, her mother’s love, and mutual respect in the family. Once in the Kabanovs' house, Katerina found herself in an atmosphere of cruelty, humiliation, suspicion, and hypocrisy. She is trying to defend her right to respect, she does not want to please anyone, she wants to love and be loved. But Tikhon pushes her away, and her mother-in-law reproaches her for throwing herself on her husband’s neck in a fit of tenderness.” “Why are you hanging on your neck, shameless one!.. Bow down at your feet!” And so the awakened feeling of love for Boris merges for the heroine with a dream of freedom, of a real human life. The image of a bird, which appears repeatedly on the pages of the play, helps to understand the main thing in Katerina’s character. In folk poetry, the bird is a symbol of freedom. Having grown up on the banks of the Volga, Katerina seemed to have absorbed from herself the entire mighty expanse of this river, and in the Kabanovs’ house it seemed cramped, gloomy to her, she yearned for freedom. “...Why don’t people fly like birds?” - she says. Since childhood, Katerina was religious, and in the Kabanovs’ house this was her only consolation. But Katerina’s religiosity differed from the piety of her mother-in-law, for whom religion was a means of keeping others in obedience. Katerina perceived the church, icon painting, and chants as a meeting with beauty, taking her far from the gloomy world of the Kabanovs. Her soul was cleansed, she forgot real life with all its hardships. Katerina’s character, her moral purity is contrasted with the morality of the “dark kingdom”. She cannot, like Varvara, fight the “dark kingdom” with its own methods: lies, hypocrisy, flattery. And that’s why Katerina’s struggle with herself is so painful. The question inevitably arises: is Katerina’s strength or weakness visible in the scene of repentance before the people? Who is before us - a victim or a strong character? Her reluctance to accept the morality of the “dark kingdom”, her ability to preserve the purity of her soul is evidence of the strength and integrity of Katerina’s character. She says about herself: “And if I get very tired of here, no force can hold me back. I’ll throw myself out the window, throw myself into the Volga.” A manifestation of the strength of her character is her protest against the “dark kingdom,” which resulted in suicide. Katerina considers her death to be liberation from earthly torment and humiliation, “such liberation is sad, bitter, but what to do when there is no other way out.” Katerina’s death is the beginning of the collapse of the “dark kingdom.” Even such slave souls as Kuligin and Tikhon, inspired by the example, begin to grumble. “The Thunderstorm,” as Dobrolyubov said, “is Ostrovsky’s most decisive work, because it marks the coming end of “tyrant power.” The main conflict of the play - the collision of the heroine, who felt her human rights, with the world of the “dark kingdom” - expressed the essential aspects of people's life at the time of the revolutionary situation. The critic considers the image of Katerina close to the position and heart of every decent person in such a society. That is why the drama “The Thunderstorm” is considered a truly folk work. The play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky depicts the era of the 60s of the nineteenth century. At this time, revolutionary uprisings of the people are brewing in Russia. They are aimed at improving the lives of ordinary people and at overthrowing tsarism. The works of great Russian writers and poets also participate in this struggle, among them Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” which shocked all of Russia. Using the example of the image of Katerina, the struggle of the entire people against the “dark kingdom” and its patriarchal order is depicted. The main character in A. I. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is Katerina. Her protest against the “Kabanovsky” order, the struggle for her happiness is depicted by the author in the drama. Katerina grew up in the house of a poor merchant, where she matured spiritually and morally. Katerina was an extraordinary person, and there was some kind of extraordinary charm in her facial features. All of her “breathed” Russian, truly folk beauty; This is how Boris says about her: “She has some kind of angelic smile on her face, but her face seems to glow.” Before her marriage, Katerina “lived and did not worry about anything, like a bird in the wild,” she did what she wanted and when she wanted, no one ever forced her or forced her to do what she, Katerina, did not want. Her spiritual world was very rich and diverse. Katerina was a very poetic person with a rich imagination. In her conversations we hear folk wisdom and popular sayings. Her soul longed for flight: “Why don’t people fly like birds? Sometimes I feel like I'm a bird. When you’re standing on a mountain, you feel the urge to fly. That’s how you’d run, raise your arms and fly.” Katerina’s soul was “educated” both by the stories of the praying mantises, who were in the house every day, and by sewing on velvet (sewing educated her and brought her into the world of beauty and goodness, into the world of art). After marriage, Katerina’s life changed dramatically. In the Kabanovs’ house, Katerina was alone, no one could understand her world, her soul. This loneliness was the first step towards tragedy. The family's attitude towards the heroine has also changed dramatically. The Kabanovs’ house adhered to the same rules and customs as Katerina’s parental home, but here “everything seems to be from under captivity.” The cruel orders of Kabanikha dulled Katerina’s desire for the sublime, and from then on the heroine’s soul fell into the abyss. Another pain for Katerina is her husband’s lack of understanding. Tikhon was a kind, vulnerable man, very weak in comparison with Katerina, he never had his own opinion - he obeyed the opinion of another, stronger person. Tikhon could not understand his wife’s aspirations: “I won’t understand you, Katya.” This misunderstanding brought Katerina one step closer to disaster. Love for Boris was also a tragedy for Katerina. According to Dobrolyubov, Boris was the same as Tikhon, only educated. Because of his education, he came to the attention of Katerina. From the entire crowd of the “dark kingdom,” she chose him, who was slightly different from the rest. However, Boris turned out to be even worse than Tikhon, he cares only about himself: he only thinks about what others will say about him. He leaves Katerina to the mercy of fate, to the punishment of the “dark kingdom”: “Well, God bless you! There is only one thing we need to ask God for: that she die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time! Goodbye!". Katerina sincerely loves Boris and worries about him: “What is he doing now, poor thing?.. Why did I get him into trouble? I should die alone! Otherwise, she ruined herself, she ruined him, she brought dishonor to herself - eternal shame on him!” The morals of the city of Kalinov, its rudeness and “stark poverty” were not acceptable to Katerina: “If I want, I’ll leave wherever my eyes look. No one will stop me, that’s my character.” Dobrolyubov gave the work a high rating. He called Katerina “a ray of light in the “dark kingdom.” At her tragic end, “a terrible challenge was given to tyrant power... In Katerina we see a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end, proclaimed both under domestic torture and over the abyss into which the poor woman threw herself.” In the image of Katerina, Dobrolyubov sees the embodiment of “Russian living nature”; Katerina prefers to die than to live in captivity. Katerina's action is ambiguous. The image of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is an excellent image of a Russian woman in Russian literature. Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky is a great Russian playwright, the author of many plays describing Russian life. “The Thunderstorm” is, without a doubt, “the pinnacle of his work,” where he posed the most pressing issue of his era - the liberation of women from family slavery, her emancipation. The creation of “The Thunderstorm” has long been associated with Ostrovsky’s impressions from his stay in Kostroma, where tragic events played out in November 1859, which largely coincide with the plot of the drama. A young woman from a merchant family committed suicide by throwing herself into the Volga. She did not want to put up with the willfulness of her domineering and unfriendly mother-in-law. The story of her secret love surprisingly coincided with the circumstances of Katerina’s life, and the main character traits of her husband with the image of Tikhon. The drama "The Thunderstorm" is based on reliable facts. Ostrovsky pays main attention to the images of Marfa Ignatieva Kabanova and her daughter-in-law Katerina. Two opposite characters. The boar tyrannizes her loved ones, she “eats with food,” “sharpenes iron like rusting,” suppressing thought, a living being, the desire for will, asserting fear and obedience. A hypocritical, cunning and evil prude, she gives favors to the poor, surrounds herself with flattering strangers, speaks of love for children and at the same time makes their life unbearable. Ostrovsky reveals with particular depth the image of Katerina - a beautiful Russian woman, whose character combines poetry, spontaneity and tenderness with enormous will and the ability to resolutely rebel against oppression and lawlessness. Passionate and freedom-loving Katerina could not come to terms with gross arbitrariness, could not be content with the life that those around her led. “I don’t want to live here, I won’t, even if you cut me,” she says to Varvara. Her stories about her former life and dreams reflect her “whole” poetic nature, her desire for freedom, love, and happiness. She cannot lie and adapt like Varvara; and at the same time, the strength of her feelings is such that she is ready to neglect social customs and religious concepts and run away with Boris. In the image of Katerina, Ostrovsky created an original, integral Russian character, which, according to Dobrolyubov, “will sustain itself” despite any obstacles, and when there is not enough strength, it will die, but will not betray itself.” The author endows the heroine with such human qualities that are not valued in the world of the Kabanovs and the Wild. Katerina does not find support in anyone or anywhere, an avalanche of troubles has befallen her. And the conflict becomes insoluble. Katerina is such a conscientious person that she cannot live in a lie” with sin in her soul. She does not accept the combination of love and lies. An internal conflict torments her soul even before committing suicide. Until the last minute, Katerina carried with her an ardent faith in love and hope for compassion. "My friend! My joy! Farewell!”—her last words,” emphasizing the tragic heights of the heroine’s spirit, making her the ideal of a Russian woman.

Option 3

Ostrovsky, as an author, always touched upon the themes of the human soul, its unique adaptability, and also themes of human vices and misdeeds in his works. In his works, he liked to show his reader characters who, in one way or another, had bad character traits, in order to create some kind of negative image that would contrast with other images, and would show the reader all the unpleasantness, or the attractiveness of these very images. He showed the emotional and personal component of the soul so clearly and clearly that there was no doubt about their authenticity and reality. A good example of such an image is Katerina from the work “The Thunderstorm”.

The work “The Thunderstorm” got its name, of course, for a reason. The work is filled with strong emotional experiences of the characters, which are emphasized by the strong and difficult to perceive themes that the author placed in his work. In this work, the author focuses on topics that are interesting for discussion with the reader, which, one way or another, are close to every person, unless he is a hermit. It raises themes of human relationships, human character, the character of the entire society and humanity as a whole. He also puts a lot of emphasis on human misdeeds, saying that even if a person has committed an incredible stupidity, he can still improve. However, his works also contain images that the author specifically idealized. An example of such an image is the image of Katerina.

Katerina is without a doubt the brightest image of all the characters in the work. It is not surprising; the work itself is filled with a rather gloomy atmosphere that depresses the reader, forcing him to plunge into the harsh reality of Ostrovsky’s literary works. However, Katerina, even despite the unfriendly environment around her, still remains true to her principles, true to human honor, and remains true to all human ideals. In contrast to the rest of the characters in the work, Katerina is simply a real angel, sent into a very hard and dark world, which immediately rejects a person with its malice and dark, even mystical atmosphere. The author probably created the image of Katerina as a kind of bright island of goodness and positivity in this dark, unattractive world, in order to tell his reader that even in such dark places there is goodness, albeit a small amount, but there is.

Katerina - “a ray of light in a dark kingdom” or “a plague-ridden person”?

The famous critic Dobrolyubov, discussing in his article about Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm,” called the main character, Katerina, “a ray of light in a dark kingdom.” What kingdom are we talking about? Ostrovsky wrote a lot about the merchant class, comparing life in such a society to “prison existence.” His works were so accurate and revealing that Dobrolyubov called them “plays of life.”

But another no less famous and respected critic, Pisarev, fundamentally disagreed with his colleague’s assessment.

He considered Katerina a “plague-ridden person,” “a hysterical woman who drove herself into such a situation.”

In this case, I would rather agree with the opinion of the critic Dobrolyubov. I can’t say that Katerina “drove herself into such a trap,” because by this “trap” we mean the society that surrounds the main character, and there is no escape from it. This, in fact, is the meaning of “The Thunderstorm”: Ostrovsky, using the example of Katerina’s tragedy, showed the conflict of the individual with the vestigial customs of traditional society.

The author himself sympathizes with Katerina and the situation in which she has to live: constant reproaches from her grumpy mother-in-law, appearing out of nowhere, a spineless and unloved husband who indulges his mother in everything, life within the four walls of a hated house, a reclusive lifestyle - all this disgusts the freedom-loving woman. and dreamy Katerina. Are you enrolling in 2021? Our team will help you save your time and nerves: we will select directions and universities (according to your preferences and expert recommendations); we will fill out applications (all you have to do is sign); we will submit applications to Russian universities (online, by e-mail, by courier); we will monitor competition lists ( we will automate the tracking and analysis of your positions); we will tell you when and where to submit the original (we will evaluate the chances and determine the best option). Entrust the routine to professionals - more details.

Sudden feelings for Boris are probably the only bright spot in her life.

Very pious by nature, Katerina, having cheated on her husband, repents, unable to live with such a sin. But, already imagining what life awaits her after this, Katerina decides to commit suicide. She knows that this is a great sin, but she is ready to commit such a thing, just not to stay here anymore. Life in Kalinov for her is more terrible and painful than Hell.

Her inevitable death is akin to a moral victory over the “dark kingdom”, a kind of protest against strict patriarchal attitudes. But the most important thing is that Katerina was in no way a “plague-ridden person” - she was pure in both heart and soul, and remained the same after death.

Useful material on the topic:

1. Katerina - “A ray of light in a dark kingdom” or “a crazy dreamer”
2. Katerina - “a ray of light in a dark kingdom” or “a lonely candle that went out in the wind”? Is Katerina’s suicide a manifestation of weakness or strength of her character?
3. Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom
4. Katerina A ray of light in a dark kingdom
5. Katerina - “a ray of light in a dark kingdom”

Sample 4

A.N. Ostrovsky wrote many interesting and instructive plays about the merchants. One of the best was the play “The Thunderstorm,” written in 1860. The author often said that he writes his works solely on the basis of real events and facts, and that any of them can teach a person something and show the bad sides of society for its further correction. That is why he wrote this play and presented it to the public. Immediately after the premiere, dirt poured on the author from the lips of uninformed citizens, as many saw themselves in the images of the characters in the play. But we should not forget that such a play can offend not just bad people, but also not entirely smart ones.

This work describes the “Dark Kingdom”, where all the inhabitants are not at all endowed with the gift of thought. They don't understand that they are living completely wrong. And no one understands this: “neither the tyrants nor their victims.” The focus of the work was a certain Katerina. She found herself in a difficult life situation after marriage. Before she got married, she lived in the family of a merchant who provided for her very well, and she did not need anything. But after marriage, she fell under the influence of her mother-in-law and became a victim of her tyranny. Being closed as if in a cage, she could not contact anyone other than members of her family. Her mother-in-law made her a deeply religious person, which is why she could not allow her love for Boris to be recognized, which is why she suffered greatly. The general situation in the house, where there were many praying mantises and wanderers telling all sorts of stories, Katerina’s secluded lifestyle took its toll and she became a very withdrawn person and did not communicate with almost anyone. In addition, she became very sensitive to everything. That is why, when a terrible thunderstorm came, she began to sincerely pray, and when she saw a terrible picture on the wall, her nerves could not stand it at all, and she confessed her love for Boris to her husband. The key to this story is the fact that in the “Dark Kingdom” none of the inhabitants know freedom, and, therefore, know happiness. Katerina’s revelation in this case showed that a resident of the dark kingdom can open up and make himself a person free from unnecessary thoughts and fears.

By her action, Katerina went against the system of the “Dark Kingdom” and gave rise to a bad attitude towards herself. Why, in the “dark kingdom” any manifestation of independence and freedom of choice was considered a mortal sin. That is why the story ends with the death of the main character, since she becomes not only lonely, but also suffers from pangs of conscience, since all those teachings and bad stories did not pass her ears. She constantly torments herself and cannot find peace anywhere and never, since she cannot escape from her thoughts.

You can endlessly condemn Katerina for her actions, but at the same time you should pay tribute to her courage. After all, not everyone can do this in the “Dark Kingdom.” Her death shocked everyone so much that even her husband Tikhon began to blame his mother for his wife’s death. By her act, Katerina proved that even in the “dark kingdom” bright natures can be born, making it a little brighter.

Grade 10

Other works: ← Author's definition of the Thunderstorm genre ↑ OstrovskyKaterina's protest against the dark kingdom →

Essay “Katerina is a ray of light in a dark kingdom” (Dobrolyubov).

In the words of critic N.A. Dobrolyubova I absolutely agree. In Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" there are many characters, but Katerina is sharply different from all the others; she was honest, free, dreamy and emotional. Katerina has a religious upbringing, but her fear is not in God, but in the fact that she might die a sinner, but having fallen in love with Boris, suicide ceased to be a sin: “If I wasn’t afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment...” .

Katerina’s decision led to a tragic ending that shocked all the inhabitants of the “dark kingdom”, including her husband Tikhon, who even dared to blame his mother for the death of his wife. But will life in the “kingdom” change, will people understand their mistakes and will they want to change anything? Definitely not.

But, turning to Dobrolyubov’s definition, we agree with him. Why? Because Katerina is the only one who decided to challenge the “dark kingdom” and fight back, although after her death nothing will change, but still, some time after the tragedy people realized and reconsidered their lives. Why won't anything change? Because the top of the city, that very “dark kingdom”, are vile, dishonest and heartless people who will not allow the life that revolves around them to change, and even the last words in the play were spoken by Kabanikha. Are you enrolling in 2019? Our team will help you save your time and nerves: we will select directions and universities (according to your preferences and expert recommendations); we will fill out applications (all you have to do is sign); we will submit applications to Russian universities (online, by e-mail, by courier); we will monitor competition lists ( we will automate the tracking and analysis of your positions); we will tell you when and where to submit the original (we will evaluate the chances and determine the best option). Entrust the routine to professionals - more details.

by the same mother of Tikhon: “We’ll talk at home, that is. Returning home, Tikhon will again be driven into a cage, the key to which only his mother has. No matter how paradoxical it may be, “dark kingdoms” existed, exist and will exist, but each “dark kingdom” will have its own ray of light, such as Katerina, who from time to time will show people the whole reality and truth of their life and existence .

Useful material on the topic:

1. Critical article by N.A. Dobrolyubov “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom”
2. Katerina is a winner or a loser
3. Katerina and Varvara: antipodes or “friend in misfortune”?
4. Katerina: victory or defeat? (Based on Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”)
5. "Storm". Who is Katerina - a “decisive Russian character” or a weak-willed woman?