Alexander Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" was created by the playwright on the eve of the reform of 1861. The need for socio-social changes has already matured, there are debates, discussions, and movement of social thought. But there are places in Russia where time has stopped, society is passive, does not want change, is afraid of it.

This is the city of Kalinov, described by Ostrovsky in his play “The Thunderstorm”. This city did not really exist, it is the writer’s fiction, but thereby Ostrovsky shows that in Russia there are still many such places where stagnation and savagery reign. Despite all this, the city is located in a beautiful area, on the banks of the Volga. The surrounding nature simply screams that this place could be paradise! But the residents of this city do not have happiness, in the full sense of the word, and it is their own fault.

The inhabitants of Kalinov, for the most part, are people who do not want any changes and are illiterate. Some live reveling in the power that money gives them, others put up with their humiliating situation and do nothing to get out of this situation. Dobrolyubov called the Kalinovsky Society the Dark Kingdom.

The main negative characters of the play are Savel Prokofievich Dikoy and Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova.

Wild merchant, an important person in the city. To describe him briefly, he is a tyrant and a miser. He simply does not consider everyone below him in position to be people. Dikoy can easily cheat an employee, and he doesn’t want to give his nephew the inheritance left to him by his grandmother. At the same time, he is very proud of these qualities.

The rich merchant Kabanikha is a real punishment for her family. From this domineering, grumpy person there is no peace for anyone in the house. She wants everyone to obey her unquestioningly and to live according to the laws of Domostroy. Kabanikha cripples the lives of her children and at the same time takes credit for such an existence.

The boar's son, the meek, cowardly Tikhon, is afraid to say an extra word against his domineering mother and cannot even protect his wife, whom the boar constantly reproaches and humiliates. But her daughter Varvara learned to lie and live a double life in order to get away from her mother’s influence, and she is quite happy with this state of affairs.

Boris, Dikiy's nephew, is completely dependent on his uncle, although he has received an education, he is not a stupid person, and does not make any moves to free himself from this dependence. With his lack of independence and indecision, he destroys the woman he loves.

The tradesman Kuligin, a self-taught inventor, is an intelligent man, aware of the depth of stagnation and savagery in society, but he, too, cannot do anything in this situation and escapes from reality, trying to accomplish the impossible, to invent a perpetual motion machine.

The person who can give at least some resistance to the rudeness and tyranny of the Dikiy is his employee Vanya Kudryash, a minor hero of the play, who, however, plays a significant role in the unfolding action.

The only pure and bright person in this city, Kabanikha’s daughter-in-law Katerina. She cannot live in this swamp, where there is no love, no normal human relationships, where lies and hypocrisy rule. She protests against this with her death; having decided to take this terrible step, she, at least for a moment, gains such a desired will.

Ostrovsky called his play “The Thunderstorm” for a reason, the name is meaningful. The impending changes in society, like thunderclouds, are gathering over the heads of the inhabitants of the “dark kingdom”. Katerina, in her confusion, thinks that the thunderstorm was sent to her as punishment for treason, but in fact, the thunderstorm must finally destroy this dominance of stagnation, slavery and evil.

Image of the city of Kalinov, life and customs of the monasteries

All events in the dramatic work called “The Thunderstorm,” written by Ostrovsky, take place on the territory of the city of Kalinov. The city is a district town and is located on one of the banks of the Volga. The author says that the area is distinguished by beautiful landscapes and is pleasing to the eye.

The tradesman Kulagin talks about the morals of the city residents, his opinion is that each of the residents has quite cruel morals, they are used to being rude and cruel, such problems were often caused by existing poverty.

The center of cruelty becomes two heroes - the merchant Dikoy and Kabanikha, who are shining representatives of ignorance and rudeness addressed to the people around them.

Dikoy, holding the position of a merchant, is a fairly rich man, stingy and has great influence in the city. But at the same time, he was used to holding power in his hands quite cruelly. He is sure that a thunderstorm is sent to people every time as a punishment for their wrong actions and therefore they must endure it, and not install lightning rods on their houses. Also from the story, the reader learns that Dikoy manages his household well and has a correct attitude towards financial matters, but this is all that limits his horizons. At the same time, it is worth noting his lack of education; he does not understand why electricity is needed and how it actually works.

Therefore, we can conclude that the majority of merchants and townsfolk living in the town are uneducated people, unable to accept new information and change their lives for the better. At the same time, books and newspapers are available to everyone, which they can read regularly and improve their inner intelligence.

Anyone who has a certain amount of wealth is not used to treating any officials or government officials with respect. They treat them with some disdain. And the mayor is treated like a neighbor and communicates with him in a friendly manner.

The poor segments of the population are accustomed to sleeping no more than three hours a day; they work day and night. The rich try in every possible way to enslave the poor and get even more money through the work of others. That’s why Dikoy himself doesn’t pay anyone for their work, and everyone receives their salary only through a lot of abuse.

At the same time, scandals often occur in the city that do not lead to anything good. Kuligin tries to write poems himself, he is self-taught, but at the same time he is afraid to show his talent, because he is afraid that he will be swallowed up alive.

Life in the city is boring and monotonous; all residents are accustomed to listening to Feklusha more than reading newspapers and books. It is he who tells others that there are countries where there are people who have a dog's head on their shoulders.

In the evening, residents of the town do not go out for walks along the narrow streets; they try to lock the door with all the locks and stay inside the house. They also release dogs to protect them from possible robbery. They are very worried about their property, which they sometimes get through backbreaking labor. That's why they try to always be at home.

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The city of Kalinov and its inhabitants (based on the play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky)

The action of the play begins with the remark: “A public garden on the high bank of the Volga; beyond the Volga there is a rural view.” Behind these lines lies the extraordinary beauty of the Volga expanses, which only Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic, notices: “... Miracles, truly it must be said that miracles! Curly! Here you are, my brother, for fifty years I’ve been looking across the Volga every day and I can’t get enough of it.” All other residents of the city of Kalinov do not pay attention to the beauty of nature, this is evidenced by Kudryash’s casual remark in response to Kuligin’s enthusiastic words: “Neshto!” And then, to the side, Kuligin sees Dikiy, the “scolder,” waving his arms, scolding Boris, his nephew.

The landscape background of “Thunderstorms” allows you to more clearly feel the stuffy atmosphere of life in Kalinov residents. In the play, the playwright truthfully reflected social relations of the mid-19th century: he characterized the material and legal situation of the merchant-philistine environment, the level of cultural demands, family life, and outlined the position of women in the family. “The Thunderstorm”... presents us with the idyll of the “dark kingdom”... Residents... sometimes walk along the boulevard above the river..., in the evening they sit on the rubble at the gate and engage in pious conversations; but they spend more time at home, doing housework, eating, sleeping - they go to bed very early, so it is difficult for an unaccustomed person to endure such a sleepy night as they imagine for themselves... Their life flows smoothly and peacefully, no interests the world does not disturb them because it does not reach them; kingdoms can collapse, new countries can open up, the face of the earth can change as he pleases, the world can begin a new life on a new basis - the inhabitants of the town of Kalinov will continue to exist in complete ignorance of the rest of the world...

It is scary and difficult for every newcomer to try to go against the demands and beliefs of this dark mass, terrible in its naivety and sincerity. After all, she will curse us, will run around like people with the plague - not out of malice, not out of calculations, but out of a deep conviction that we are akin to the Antichrist... A wife, according to prevailing concepts, is connected with him (with her husband ) inextricably, spiritually, through the sacrament; no matter what her husband does, she must obey him and share his meaningless life with him... And in general opinion, the most important difference between a wife and a bast shoe is that she brings with her a whole burden of worries from which the husband does not care. can get rid of it, while the footwear gives only convenience, and if it is inconvenient, it can easily be thrown off... Being in such a position, a woman, of course, must forget that she is the same person, with the same right by you, like a man,” wrote N. A. Dobrolyubov in the article “A Ray of Light in the Dark Kingdom.” Continuing to reflect on the position of a woman, the critic says that she, having decided to “go to the end in her rebellion against the oppression and tyranny of her elders in the Russian family, must be filled with heroic self-sacrifice, must decide on everything and be ready for everything -va”, because “at the first attempt they will make her feel that she is nothing, that they can crush her”, “they will kill her, leave her to repent, on bread and water, deprive her of daylight, try all the home remedies good old times and will still lead to humility.”

Kuligin, one of the heroes of the drama, gives a characterization of the city of Kalinov: “Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! In philistinism, sir, you will see nothing but rudeness and stark poverty. And never, sir, get out of this bark! Because honest work will never earn us more than our daily bread. And whoever has money, sir, tries to enslave the poor in order to make even more money from his free labors... And among themselves, sir, how they live! They undermine each other's trade, and not so much out of self-interest as out of envy. They are at enmity with each other...” Kuligin also notes that there is no work for the philistines in the city: “The philistines must be given work. Otherwise, he has hands, but nothing to work with,” and dreams of inventing a “perpeta mobile” in order to use the money for the benefit of society.

The tyranny of the Wild and others like him is based on the material and moral dependence of other people. And even the mayor cannot call the Wild One to order, who “will not disrespect any of his men.” He has his own philosophy: “Is it worth it, your honor, for us to talk about such trifles! I have a lot of people every year; You understand: I won’t pay them a penny extra per person, but I make thousands out of this, so it’s good for me!” And the fact that these guys count every penny doesn’t bother him.

The ignorance of the inhabitants of Kalinov is emphasized by the introduction of the image of Feklusha, the wanderer, into the work. She considers the city a “promised land”: “Blah-alepie, honey, blah-alepie! Wonderful beauty! What can I say! You live in the promised land! And the merchants are all pious people, adorned with many virtues! Generosity and many donations! I’m so pleased, so, mother, completely satisfied! For what we have not left behind, even more bounties will increase for them, and especially for the Kabanovs’ house.” But we know that in the Kabanovs’ house Katerina is suffocating in captivity, Tikhon is drinking himself to death; Dikoy swaggers over his own nephew, forcing him to grovel over the inheritance that rightfully belongs to Boris and his sister. Kuligin reliably talks about the morals that reign in families: “Here, sir, what a town we have! They made the boulevard, but they don’t walk. They only go out on holidays, and then they only pretend to be out for a walk, but they themselves go there to show off their outfits. As soon as you meet a drunken clerk, he’s trudged home from the tavern. The poor, sir, have no time to walk, they are busy day and night... And what are the rich doing? Well, why don’t they, it seems, go for walks and breathe fresh air? So no. Everyone's gates, sir, have long been locked and the dogs have been let loose. Do you think they are doing something or praying to God? No, sir! And they don’t lock themselves away from thieves, but so that people don’t see how they eat their own family and tyrannize their families. And what tears flow behind these locks, invisible and inaudible!.. And what, sir, behind these locks is dark debauchery and drunkenness! And everything is sewn and covered - no one sees or knows anything, only God sees! You, he says, look at me in people and on the street; but you don’t care about my family; To this, he says, I have locks, and constipations, and angry dogs. Family, he says, it’s a secret, secret matter! We know these secrets! These secrets, sir, only make the mind happy, and the rest howl like a wolf... Rob orphans, relatives, nephews, beat up the family so that they don’t dare say a word about anything he does there.”

And what are Feklusha’s stories about overseas lands worth! (“They say that there are such countries, dear girl, where there are no Orthodox kings, and the Saltans rule the earth... And then there is also a land where all the people have dog heads.” But what about distant countries! The narrow-mindedness of the wanderer’s views is especially clearly manifested in the story of the “vision” in Moscow, when Feklusha mistakes an ordinary chimney sweep for an unclean person who “spreads chaff on the roof, but the people invisibly pick it up during the day in their bustle.”

The rest of the city's residents are a match for Feklusha, you just have to listen to the conversation of local residents in the gallery:

1st: And this, my brother, what is it?

2nd: And this is the Lithuanian ruin. Battle! Do you see? How ours fought with Lithuania.

1st: What is Lithuania?

2nd: So it is Lithuania.

1st: And they say, my brother, it fell on us from the sky.

2nd: I don’t know how to tell you. From the sky, from the sky.

It is not surprising that the Kalinovites perceive a thunderstorm as God’s punishment. Kuligin, understanding the physical nature of the thunderstorm, tries to secure the city by building a lightning rod, and asks Di-kogo for money for this purpose. Of course, he didn’t give anything, and even scolded the inventor: “What kind of elegance is that!” Well, what kind of robber are you? A thunderstorm is sent to us as punishment, so that we can feel it, but you want to defend yourself with poles and some kind of goads, God forgive me.” But Dikiy’s reaction does not surprise anyone: parting with ten rubles just like that, for the good of the city, is like death. The behavior of the townspeople, who did not even think of standing up for Kuligin, but only silently, from the sidelines, watched as Dikoy insulted the mechanic is appalling. It is on this indifference, irresponsibility, ignorance that the power of tyrants wavers.

I. A. Goncharov wrote that in the play “The Thunderstorm” “a broad picture of national life and morals calmed down. Pre-reform Russia is reliably represented in it by its socio-economic, family, cultural and everyday appearance.

“Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel!” - this is how the city of Kalinov is described by its resident, Kuligin, who knows it well from the inside and has experienced these very cruel morals.

The city described in the drama is fictional, but the events taking place in “The Thunderstorm” are based on real events. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that the name of the city begins with “k”, and most cities in Russia begin with this letter. With this Ostrovsky wants to show that similar events can happen anywhere and in similar cities

there are a huge number in the country.

Especially in one of the cities on the Volga, notorious for the number of drowned people found in the river.

First of all, everyone in the city of Kalinov tries to please the rich, everything is built on lies and the love of money, and “with honest work you can never earn more than your daily bread.” The rich try to take advantage of the poor, consider them “lower class” people, and their problems are trifles. And among themselves they interfere with each other’s trade out of envy, they are at enmity. The most important thing for everyone is their own income; there are no moral values ​​in this city. And for any word here, according to Kuligin, “they will eat you, they will swallow you alive.”

The wanderer Feklusha describes the city as “a promised land with pious merchants, generous and kind, but she understands all the darkness of this city and does this only out of the understanding that the more you flatter the merchants and the rich, the less likely it is that they will drive you away. The rich treat those who ask for money with great disgust.

This city is quiet, but this silence can be called dead: everyone sits in their homes and, because of their own laziness, does not go out, with the exception of only young girls and boys.

Naturally, the darkness of the city lies not in the place itself, but in the people living in it. The description of the city and, in principle, the actions in the drama begin with admiration for the Volga. However, then the true face of the city is gradually revealed more and more, and its gloomy description begins and intensifies precisely from the beginning of the description of the people living in the city of Kalinov.

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Nothing sacred, nothing pure, nothing right in this dark world.

ON THE. Dobrolyubov.

The drama “The Thunderstorm” by A.N. Ostrovsky is one of the outstanding works of Russian drama. In it, the author showed the life and customs of a typical provincial town, whose residents stubbornly cling to a long-established way of life with its patriarchal traditions and foundations. Describing the conflict in a merchant family, the writer exposes the spiritual and moral problems of Russia in the mid-19th century.

The play takes place on the banks of the Volga, in the small town of Kalinov.

In this city, the basis of human relationships is material dependence. Here money decides everything, and power belongs to those who have more capital. Profit and enrichment become the goal and meaning of life for most Kalinov residents. Because of money, they quarrel among themselves and harm each other: “I’ll spend it, and it will cost him a pretty penny.” Even the self-taught mechanic Kuligin, who is advanced in his views, realizing the power of money, dreams of a million in order to talk on equal terms with the rich.

So, money in Kalinov gives power. Everyone is timid in front of the rich, so there is no limit to their cruelty and tyranny. Dikoy and Kabanikha, the richest people in the city, oppress not only their workers, but also their relatives. Unquestioning submission to elders, in their opinion, is the basis of family life, and everything that happens inside the house should not concern anyone except the family.

The tyranny of the “masters of life” manifests itself in different ways. Dikoy is openly rude and unceremonious; he cannot live without swearing and swearing. For him, a person is a worm: “If I want, I will have mercy, if I want, I will crush.” He enriches himself by ruining hired workers, and he himself does not consider this a crime. “I won’t pay them a penny more per person, but I make thousands out of this,” he boastfully tells the mayor, who himself is dependent on him. Kabanikha hides her true essence under the mask of righteousness, while tormenting both her children and daughter-in-law with nagging and reproaches. Kuligin gives her an apt description: “Prude, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.”

Hypocrisy and hypocrisy determine the behavior of those in power. Kabanikha’s virtue and piety are false, his religiosity is put on display. She also wants to force the younger generation to live by the laws of hypocrisy, arguing that the most important thing is not the true manifestation of feelings, but the external observance of decency. Kabanikha is outraged that Tikhon, when leaving home, does not order Katerina how to behave, and the wife does not throw herself at her husband’s feet and does not howl to show her love. And Dikoy doesn’t mind covering up his greed with a mask of repentance. At first he “scold” the man who came for the money, and “after he asked for forgiveness, bowed at his feet, ... bowed in front of everyone.”

We see that Kalinov has been living for centuries according to long-established laws and traditions. The townspeople are not interested in new ideas and thoughts; they are superstitious, ignorant and uneducated. Residents of Kalinov are afraid of various innovations and know little about science and art. Dikoy is not going to install lightning rods in the city, believing that the thunderstorm is God’s punishment, Kabanikha thinks the train is a “fiery serpent” that cannot be ridden, and the townspeople themselves think that “Lithuania has fallen from the sky.” But they willingly believe the stories of wanderers who, “due to their weakness,” did not walk far, but “heard and heard a lot.”

The city of Kalinov is located in a very picturesque place, but its residents are indifferent to the beauty that surrounds them. The boulevard built for them remains empty, “they only walk there on holidays, and even then... they go there to show off their outfits.”

The Kalinovites are also indifferent to the people around them. Therefore, all requests and efforts of Kuligin remain unanswered. While the self-taught mechanic has no money, all his projects do not find support.

Any manifestation of sincere feelings in Kalinov is regarded as a sin. When Katerina, saying goodbye to Tikhon, throws herself on his neck, Kabanikha pulls her back: “Why are you hanging on your neck, shameless one! You are not saying goodbye to your lover! He’s your husband, your boss!” Love and marriage are incompatible here. Kabanikha remembers love only when she needs to justify her cruelty: “After all, out of love, parents are strict with you...”

These are the conditions in which the younger generation of the city of Kalinov is forced to live. This is Varvara, Boris, Tikhon. Each of them adapted in their own way to life under despotism, when any manifestation of personality is suppressed. Tikhon completely obeys his mother’s demands and cannot take a step without her instructions. Material dependence on Dikiy makes Boris powerless. He is unable to protect Katerina or stand up for himself. Varvara learned to lie, dodge, and pretend. Her life principle: “do what you want, as long as it’s sewn and covered.”

One of the few who is aware of the atmosphere that has developed in the city is Kuligin. He speaks directly about the lack of education and ignorance of the townspeople, about the impossibility of earning money through honest work, and criticizes the cruel morals that reign in Kalinov. But he is also unable to protest in defense of his human dignity, believing that it is better to endure and submit.

Thus, we see the passivity of the majority of residents of Kalinov, their reluctance and inability to fight the established order, the despotism and arbitrariness of the “masters of life.”

The only person who is not afraid to challenge the “dark kingdom” is Katerina. She does not want to adapt to the life around her, but the only way out she sees for herself is death. According to Dobrolyubov, the death of the main character is “a protest against Kabanov’s concepts of morality, a protest brought to the end.”

Thus, Ostrovsky masterfully showed us a typical provincial city with its customs and morals, a city where arbitrariness and violence reign, where any desire for freedom is suppressed. Reading “The Thunderstorm,” we can analyze the merchant environment of that time, see its contradictions, and understand the tragedy of that generation that can no longer and does not want to live within the framework of the old ideology. We see that the crisis of an oppressive, ignorant society is inevitable and the end of the “dark kingdom” is inevitable.

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky was a master of precise descriptions. The playwright in his works managed to show all the dark sides of the human soul. Perhaps unsightly and negative, but without which it is impossible to create a complete picture. Criticizing Ostrovsky, Dobrolyubov pointed to his “folk” worldview, seeing the writer’s main merit in the fact that Ostrovsky was able to notice those qualities in Russian people and society that can hinder natural progress. The theme of the “dark kingdom” is raised in many of Ostrovsky’s dramas. In the play “The Thunderstorm,” the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants are shown as limited, “dark” people.

The city of Kalinov in “The Thunderstorm” is a fictional space. The author wanted to emphasize that the vices that exist in this city are characteristic of all Russian cities at the end of the 19th century. And all the problems that are raised in the work existed everywhere at that time. Dobrolyubov calls Kalinov a “dark kingdom.” The definition of a critic fully characterizes the atmosphere described in Kalinov. Residents of Kalinov should be considered inextricably linked with the city. All the inhabitants of the city of Kalinov deceive each other, steal, and terrorize other family members. Power in the city belongs to those who have money, and the mayor’s power is only nominal. This becomes clear from Kuligin’s conversation. The mayor comes to Dikiy with a complaint: the men complained about Savl Prokofievich, because he cheated them. Dikoy does not try to justify himself at all; on the contrary, he confirms the words of the mayor, saying that if merchants steal from each other, then there is nothing wrong with the merchant stealing from ordinary residents. Dikoy himself is greedy and rude. He constantly swears and grumbles. We can say that due to greed, Savl Prokofievich’s character deteriorated. There was nothing human left in him. The reader even sympathizes with Gobsek from the story of the same name by O. Balzac more than with Dikiy. There are no feelings towards this character other than disgust. But in the city of Kalinov, its inhabitants themselves indulge the Dikiy: they ask him for money, they are humiliated, they know that they will be insulted and, most likely, they will not give the required amount, but they ask anyway. Most of all, the merchant is annoyed by his nephew Boris, because he also needs money. Dikoy is openly rude to him, curses him and demands that he leave. Culture is alien to Savl Prokofievich. He doesn't know either Derzhavin or Lomonosov. He is only interested in the accumulation and increase of material wealth.

Kabanikha is different from Wild. “Under the guise of piety,” she tries to subordinate everything to her will. She raised an ungrateful and deceitful daughter and a spineless, weak son. Through the prism of blind maternal love, Kabanikha does not seem to notice Varvara’s hypocrisy, but Marfa Ignatievna perfectly understands what she has made her son. Kabanikha treats her daughter-in-law worse than the others. In her relationship with Katerina, Kabanikha’s desire to control everyone and instill fear in people is manifested. After all, the ruler is either loved or feared, but there is nothing to love Kabanikha for.
It is necessary to note the telling surname of Dikiy and the nickname Kabanikha, which refer readers and viewers to wild, animal life.

Glasha and Feklusha are the lowest link in the hierarchy. They are ordinary residents who are happy to serve such gentlemen. There is an opinion that every nation deserves its own ruler. In the city of Kalinov this is confirmed many times. Glasha and Feklusha are having dialogues about how there is “sodom” in Moscow now, because people there are starting to live differently. Culture and education are alien to the residents of Kalinov. They praise Kabanikha for advocating for the preservation of the patriarchal system. Glasha agrees with Feklusha that only the Kabanov family has preserved the old order. Kabanikha’s house is heaven on earth, because in other places everything is mired in depravity and bad manners.

The reaction to a thunderstorm in Kalinov is more similar to a reaction to a large-scale natural disaster. People are running to save themselves, trying to hide. This is because a thunderstorm becomes not just a natural phenomenon, but a symbol of God’s punishment. This is how Savl Prokofievich and Katerina perceive her. However, Kuligin is not at all afraid of thunderstorms. He urges people not to panic, tells Dikiy about the benefits of the lightning rod, but he is deaf to the requests of the inventor. Kuligin cannot actively resist the established order; he has adapted to life in such an environment. Boris understands that in Kalinov, Kuligin’s dreams will remain dreams. At the same time, Kuligin differs from other residents of the city. He is honest, modest, plans to earn money by his own labor, without asking the rich for help. The inventor studied in detail all the ways in which the city lives; knows what is happening behind closed doors, knows about the Wild One’s deceptions, but cannot do anything about it.

Ostrovsky in “The Thunderstorm” depicts the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants from a negative point of view. The playwright wanted to show how deplorable the situation is in the provincial cities of Russia, and emphasized that social problems require immediate solutions.

The given description of the city of Kalinov and its inhabitants will be useful to 10th grade students when preparing an essay on the topic “The city of Kalinov and its inhabitants in the play “The Thunderstorm”.”

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