Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm" Depiction of the “cruel morals” of the “dark kingdom” in play A
"was written during the period of the rise of the social movement, when everyone felt the need for economic and political changes, and Ostrovsky’s work reflected the historical situation. In his play, Ostrovsky depicted the society of the mid-nineteenth century, its way of life and customs. He very vividly and accurately reproduced the life of the patriarchal merchant class, the relationships in which were based only on material values, and the desire for knowledge, interest in discoveries in the field of science were perceived as something useless and unnecessary. Ostrovsky, depicting the world of ignoramuses and “tyrants of Russian life,” exposed the vices of society. The old, inert order, the guardians of which are Dikoy and Kabanikha, dominates the relationships of the heroes.
The characters in the play find themselves in an ominous environment of heartlessness and stupid admiration for the power of old, long-outdated orders. Thus, Kabanova, a defender of the old foundations of life, customs and rituals of the “dark kingdom,” tries in vain to instill despotic laws, which, in her opinion, constitute the basis of home well-being and the strength of family ties: unquestioning submission to the will of her husband, obedience, respect for elders, fulfillment of all ancient rituals, and most importantly, never dare to “have your own opinion.” This is how Kabanova raised her son, discouraging him from any desire to think independently. “Do we dare... to think,” Tikhon sums up his “mother’s” teaching. This is a society of degraded individuals. As Dobrolyubov puts it, Tikhon is “a simple-minded and vulgar... creature.” He trusted his feelings to himself to a loved one, and Kabanikha, under the guise of boundless “love,” made him understand that he was only a servant fulfilling her whims. She assumed the role of an all-powerful ruler so much that she intended to make slaves out of her entire entourage and “teach good.” Everyone in this world of tyrants lives unfreely, “as if from bondage.” This standard of living is approved by the “elders”, who are sure that those who “want their own will” are “stupid.” People under the yoke of people like Kabanova are associated with weak-willed serfs. But the “masters of life” do not allow them to live either. After all, freedom, according to Kabanikha, leads to the collapse of the old order, of which Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is a supporter.
Dikoy is the main figure in Kalinov. His image is a vivid example of the morals that reigned in society. He is rude and very rich. He holds half the city in his fist, forces them to work for himself, and when the time comes for payback, he pays the money very reluctantly, sometimes he can even “scold” or “beat”. He either doesn't pay at all or cheats. “What’s special here,” he explains, “I won’t give them a penny, but I have a fortune.” The authorities support Dikiy because he is “one of their own”, he is the support of the mayor and the police chief: it is not profitable for them to quarrel with him. It is impossible to please the Wild One. Kudryash says that his whole life is based on swearing. And Kuligin characterizes the life of the Wild and the entire “dark kingdom” most clearly: “And whoever has money... tries to enslave the poor... They undermine each other’s trade, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy. They are at enmity with each other; they get drunken clerks into their high mansions... And those... they scribble malicious slander against their neighbors.” Such is the way of life in the world of tyrants. Main feature Wild - rudeness. He can also do whatever he wants, because crushing a person with his money costs him nothing. And his main meaning in life is enrichment. But not only him, these are the principles of life of any representative of the “dark kingdom”; they are all characterized by ignorance and superstition.
Drawing the images of these heroes, Ostrovsky clearly shows that life in provincial Russia is backward and cruel, that this life is ruled by people who do not care about human dignity and the inner experiences of others. “Cruel morals in our city, cruel,” Kuligin characterizes the life and customs of the city of Kalinov.
Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was endowed with great talent as a playwright. He is deservedly considered the founder of the Russian national theater. His plays, varied in theme, glorified Russian literature. Ostrovsky's creativity had a democratic character. He created plays that showed hatred of the autocratic serfdom regime. The writer called for the protection of the oppressed and humiliated citizens of Russia and longed for social change.
Ostrovsky’s enormous merit is that he opened the world of merchants to the enlightened public, oh Everyday life of which Russian society had a superficial concept. Merchants in Rus' provided trade in goods and food; they were seen in shops and were considered uneducated and uninteresting. Ostrovsky showed that behind the high fences of merchant houses, almost Shakespearean passions play out in the souls and hearts of people from the merchant class. He was called the Columbus of Zamoskvorechye.
Ostrovsky’s ability to affirm progressive trends in Russian society was fully revealed in the play “The Thunderstorm,” published in 1860. The play reflects the irreconcilable contradictions between the individual and society. The playwright raises a pressing issue in the 1860s about the position of women in Russian society.
The play takes place in the small Volga town of Kalinov, where the mainly merchant population lives. In his famous article “A Ray of Light in dark kingdom“The critic Dobrolyubov characterizes the life of merchants in this way: “Their life flows smoothly and peacefully, no interests of the world disturb them, because they do not reach them; kingdoms can collapse, new countries open up, the face of the earth... change - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinov will continue to exist in complete ignorance of the rest of the world... The concepts and way of life they accept are the best in the world, everything new comes from evil spirits... A dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity."
Ostrovsky, against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape, depicts the joyless life of the inhabitants of Kalinov. Kuligin, who in the play opposes the ignorance and arbitrariness of the “dark kingdom,” says: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel!”
The term “tyranny” came into use along with Ostrovsky’s plays. The playwright called the “masters of life,” the rich, tyrants whom no one dared contradict. This is how Savel Prokofievich Dikoy is portrayed in the play “The Thunderstorm”. It was no coincidence that Ostrovsky gave him a “speaking” surname. Dikoy is famous for his wealth, acquired through deception and exploitation of other people's labor. No law is written to him. With his quarrelsome, rude disposition, he instills fear in those around him; he is a “cruel scolder”, a “shrill man”. His wife is forced to persuade those around her every morning: “Fathers, don’t make me angry! Darlings, don’t make me angry!” Impunity has corrupted the Wild One, he can shout and insult a person, but this only applies to those who do not fight back. Half the city belongs to the Dikiy, but he does not pay those who work for him. He explains to the mayor this way: “What’s special here, I won’t give them a penny, but I have a fortune.” Pathological greed clouds his mind.
A progressive man, Kuligin, turns to Dikiy with a request to give money to install a sundial in the city. In response he hears: “Why are you bothering me with all this nonsense!
Maybe I don’t even want to talk to you. You should have first found out whether I am inclined to listen to you, a fool, or not. That’s how you start talking straight away.” Dikoy is completely unbridled in his tyranny, he is sure that any court will be on his side: “For others, you are an honest person, but I think that you are a robber, that’s all... Are you going to sue me or something? .. So know that you are a worm, I’ll crush you if I want.”
Another prominent representative of the morals of the “dark kingdom” is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Kuligin speaks of her like this: “Prude. He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” Kabanova single-handedly rules the house and her family; she is accustomed to unquestioning obedience. In her person, Ostrovsky shows an ardent defender of the wild order of house-building in families and in life. She is sure that only fear holds a family together; she does not understand what respect, understanding, and good relations between people are. Kabanikha suspects everyone of sins and constantly complains about the lack of proper respect for elders on the part of the younger generation. “They don’t really respect elders these days...” she says. Kabanikha always puts herself down and pretends to be a victim: “Mother is old and stupid; Well, you, young people, smart ones, shouldn’t exact it from us, fools.”
Kabanova “feels in her heart” that the old order is coming to an end, she is anxious and scared. She turned her own son into a dumb slave who has no power in his own family and acts only according to his mother’s orders. Tikhon happily leaves home, just to take a break from scandals and the oppressive atmosphere of his home.
Dobrolyubov writes: “The tyrants of Russian life, however, begin to feel some kind of discontent and fear, without knowing what and why... Besides them, without asking them, another life grew up, with different beginnings, and although it is far away, is not clearly visible, but already gives a presentiment and sends bad visions to the dark tyranny of tyrants.”
Showing the life of the Russian province, Ostrovsky paints a picture of extreme backwardness, ignorance, rudeness and cruelty, which kill all living things around. People's lives depend on the arbitrariness of the Wild and Boars, who are hostile to any manifestations of free thought and self-esteem in a person. Having shown from the stage the life of the merchants in all its manifestations, Ostrovsky pronounced a harsh verdict on despotism and spiritual slavery.
A.N. Ostrovsky is considered an innovator of Russian drama. Perhaps he is the first to show the world of the “dark kingdom” in his works.
In his essay “Notes of a Zamoskvoretsky Resident,” the writer seemed to “discover” a country “until now not known in detail and not described by any traveler. This country lies directly opposite the Kremlin, on the other side of the Moscow River, which is probably why it is called Zamoskvorechye.” This is the habitat of people living in the traditions of hoary antiquity. Contemporaries called Ostrovsky the Columbus of Zamoskvorechye for the discovery of this country. Indeed, in his works the writer exposes the “dark” sides of merchant life.
Perhaps the most famous play Ostrovsky, reflecting the life and customs of the “dark kingdom”, is “The Thunderstorm”. Here the reader is transported to the small town of Kalinov, gets acquainted with its inhabitants, with their morals, customs and orders.
Residents of the city of Kalinov are mired in ignorance. They refuse to be enlightened, they do not want to learn, to learn new things. These people do not know anything outside their little world, so with great interest, trust and sacred awe they listen to the stories of the wanderer Feklusha about distant countries where people with dog heads live. They perceive the thunderstorm as God’s punishment: “The thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment so that we feel...”
Kalinovtsy live in constant fear of rich merchants and the forces of nature. These people don't want to better life, do not accept anything new. From the crowd scenes, the reader learns that the townspeople do not even walk on the boulevard, which was created especially for them. Everyone takes it for granted that rich merchants tyrannize their household, hiding behind high fences from others.
The main tyrants of the city are Savel Prokofievich Dikoy and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova.
Savel Prokofievich is “a significant person in the city.” This is a tyrant with an explosive, unbridled character. For him, swearing and swearing is not only the usual way of dealing with people, but also nature, nature, the content of life. This character periodically repeats: “What are you going to tell me to do with myself when my heart is like this!”; “I scolded him, I scolded him so much that I couldn’t ask for anything better, I almost killed him. This is the kind of heart I have!” Here the usual concept of the word “heart” is completely distorted. In Dikiy’s speeches, this word is in no way associated with the concepts of sincerity, love, cordiality, but is identified only with anger and irritation. Dikoy always quarrels with everyone. No wonder Shapkin says about him: “We should look for another scolder like ours, Savel Prokofich! There’s no way he’ll cut someone off.” But the merchant scolds not only his slaves, but even his equals. The constant scolding of the Wild is, perhaps, a way not only to assert himself, but also to protect himself from everything new, unknown to him. Therefore, his abuse is often directed at the local self-taught mechanic Kuligin. Kuligin tries to find the reason for Dikiy’s rudeness: “Why, sir, Savel Prokofievich, would you like to offend an honest man?” To which Dikoy replies: “I want to think about you like that, and I think so!” For others, you are an honest person, but I think that you are a robber, that’s all... I say that you are a robber, and that’s the end of it... So you know that you are a worm. If I want, I’ll have mercy, if I want, I’ll crush.”
Among other things, Dikoy is incredibly stingy. At the beginning of the play we see the following situation: Nephew Boris came to Savel Prokofievich, hoping to receive an inheritance. But instead, the young man ended up in bondage with his uncle. Dikoy does not pay his nephew a salary, constantly insults and scolds him, reproaching him for laziness and parasitism. It is striking that Boris curses his uncle, hates him, feels the humiliation of his position, but, nevertheless, is ready to endure it for the sake of the illusory hope of an inheritance. Although he is a newcomer to the city of Kalinov, his weak-willed character can be considered a direct product of the “dark kingdom.”
Another despot in Kalinov is Kabanikha. Her despotism is not so obvious, unlike the Wild One. Kabanikha is a hypocrite, clinging with all her might to the covenants of past years. Everything old is good for her, everything new and young is bad and dangerous. In her family, Marfa Ignatievna considers herself the main one. She clings tightly to outdated orders and customs. Religious prejudices and house building rules were firmly entrenched in her head. The boar constantly scolds and reproaches those around her. She “eats” her household, “sharpenes iron like rust.” My daughter-in-law Katerina especially gets it. Kabanikha forces her to bow at her husband’s feet before his departure, scolds her for “not howling” in public, seeing Tikhon off on the road. Marfa Ignatievna is disgusted by Katerina’s free nature and the strength of her character.
Kabanikha is fanatically religious. From her lips one constantly hears speeches about God, about sin, about retribution. In her faith, she is harsh, adamant, merciless. There is no place for love, mercy, or forgiveness in her soul.
And such people are the most influential in the city, they are respected and revered!.. Therefore, the entire town of Kalinov is a single “dark kingdom”. Everything here is built on oppression and enslavement of some by others.
When reading Ostrovsky's works, we suddenly find ourselves in the prevailing atmosphere in society and become unwitting participants in the events taking place on stage. We connect with the crowd and, as if from the outside, consider the lives of the heroes.
We find ourselves in the Volga city of Kalinov and get the opportunity to observe the life and customs of its inhabitants. For the most part, these are merchants; the life of this particular class is depicted by the playwright with skill and deep knowledge of the matter.
We get acquainted with typical representatives of this society. On the first pages of the work, the merchant Dikoy appears before us - a “significant person” in the city.
Shapkin speaks of him this way: such a “scolder” as “Savel Prokofich, look for more.” We immediately hear the same words about Kabanikha. It becomes clear to us that they are the same with the Wild.
Kuligin admires the extraordinary landscape, but against the backdrop of this very landscape we observe a bleak picture of life, depicted by the author in “The Thunderstorm”. From Kuligin’s lips we hear an accurate and clear description of what is happening in Kalinov - the life, morals and customs of the merchants. He feels the bleak atmosphere in the city. Therefore, he declares that the masses are ignorant and uneducated, that it is impossible to earn money through honest work, to break out of the bondage of the nobles who rule the city. They are far from civilization, but they don’t need it. The preservation of the old foundations, the reluctance of the new, the absence of law and the complete power of force - this is what is the law and norm of their life, this is what they live and are content with. These people subjugate everyone around them to their will; they suppress any protest, as well as any manifestation of personality.
The author demonstrates Kabanikha and Dikoy - typical representatives of the “dark” society. They have a special position in society, they are feared and therefore respected, they have capital, which means that they have power. General laws do not exist for them; they live by their own laws and force everyone to live according to them. They have one desire - to conquer everyone who is weaker, and to “cajole” those who are stronger. They are despots both in the family and in life.
So, Tikhon unquestioningly obeys his mother, Boris - his uncle. Kabanikha’s scolding is always presented “under the guise of piety,” while the Dikiy’s scolding indicates that he seems to have “broken off the chain.” Both of them do not want to recognize the new, they live according to house-building orders. They are ignorant and stingy, which makes us laugh and sometimes even smile bitterly. For example, about a thunderstorm, Dikoy says that this is a punishment on the human race, so that we feel it.
The callousness with which these people treat those dependent on them is also surprising.
These rulers also have characters who help them exercise their dominance. Among them is Tikhon, who helps strengthen Kabanikha’s power, is silent and weak-willed; Feklusha is a stupid and uneducated writer of fables about the civilized world; townspeople living in Kalinov and reconciled with such orders. All these characters represent the “dark kingdom” depicted by the author in the play.
The playwright used a variety of artistic media, depicted a typical provincial town, showed its customs and morals, described the arbitrariness, violence, complete ignorance reigning in Kalinov, the suppression of any manifestation of freedom, first of all, freedom of spirit.
Reading Ostrovsky's works, we involuntarily find ourselves in the atmosphere that reigns in a given society, and become direct participants in the events that take place on stage. We merge with the crowd and, as if from the outside, observe the lives of the heroes.
So, finding ourselves in the Volga city of Kalinov, we can observe the life and customs of its inhabitants. The bulk of the population consists of merchants, whose life was shown with such skill and knowledge by the playwright in his plays. It is this “dark kingdom” that rules the roost in such quiet provincial Volga cities as Kalinov.
Let's get acquainted with representatives of this society. At the very beginning of the work we learn about the Wild, “ significant person” in the city, merchant. This is how Shapkin says about him: “We should look for another scolder like ours, Savel Prokofich. There’s no way he’ll cut someone off.” Immediately we hear about Kabanikha and understand that he and Dikiy are “birds of a feather.”
“The view is unusual! Beauty! The soul rejoices,” exclaims Kuligin, but against the backdrop of this beautiful landscape a bleak picture of life is painted, which appears before us in “The Thunderstorm”. It is Kuligin who gives an accurate and clear description of the life, morals and customs that reign in the city of Kalinov. He is one of the few who is aware of the atmosphere that has developed in the city. He speaks directly about the lack of education and ignorance of the masses, about the impossibility of earning money through honest work, of becoming a people from under the bondage of noble and important persons in the city. They live far from civilization and do not really strive for it. Preservation of old foundations, fear of everything new, the absence of any law and the rule of force - this is the law and norm of their life, this is what these people live and are content with. They subjugate everyone who surrounds them, suppress any protest, any manifestation of personality.
Ostrovsky shows us typical representatives of this society - Kabanikha and Wild. These individuals occupy a special position in society, they are feared and therefore respected, they have capital, and therefore power. There are no general laws for them; they created their own and force others to live in accordance with them. They strive to subjugate those who are weaker and “butter up” those who are stronger. They are despots both in life and in the family. We see this unquestioning submission of Tikhon to his mother, and Boris to his uncle. But if Kabanikha scolds “under the guise of piety,” then Dikoy scolds as if “he’s broken free from his chain.” Neither one nor the other wants to recognize anything new, but wants to live according to house-building orders. Their ignorance, combined with stinginess, makes us not only laugh, but also smile bitterly. Let us remember Dikiy’s reasoning: “What kind of electricity is there!.. A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself, God forgive me, with poles and some kind of rods.”
We are amazed by their callousness towards people dependent on them, their reluctance to part with money, and to deceive in settlements with workers. Let us remember what Dikoy says: “Once I was fasting about fasting, about a great fast, and then it’s not easy and you slip a little man in; I came for money, carried firewood... I did sin: I scolded him, I scolded him like that... I almost killed him.”
These rulers also have those who unwittingly help them exercise their dominance. This is Tikhon, who with his silence and weakness of will only helps to strengthen his mother’s power. This includes Felusha, an uneducated, stupid writer of all sorts of fables about the civilized world, and these are the townspeople who live in this city and have come to terms with such orders. All of them together are the “dark kingdom” that is presented in the play.
Ostrovsky, using various artistic means, showed us a typical provincial city with its customs and morals, a city where arbitrariness, violence, complete ignorance reign, where any manifestation of freedom, freedom of spirit is suppressed.
Bibliography
To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.ostrovskiy.org.ru/
Tags: Life and customs of the “dark kingdom” in A. N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” Essay Literature