A.N. Ostrovsky is not just a playwright. He is rightly considered the father of Russian drama. Indeed, before him in the literature of the 19th century theatrical art developed very poorly. Ostrovsky's plays were new, fresh and interesting. Thanks to this author, people again reached out to theaters. One of the most famous plays is The Storm.
History of creation
A.N. Ostrovsky was sent on a special mission to central Russia. Here the writer was able to see provincial life in all its glory. Like any other writer, first of all, Ostrovsky drew attention to the life and life of the Russian merchants, philistines, and noble people of the province. He was looking for characters and plots. Following the journey, the play "The Storm" was written. And a little time later, in one of the cities on the Volga, a similar incident occurred. Ostrovsky was able to anticipate future events. The characterization of the play The Storm as an integral work shows that the author is not just an insightful person, but also a talented writer and playwright.
Artistic Drama Originality
The play has a number of artistic features. It should be said that Ostrovsky was at the same time a novelty of drama, and supported tradition. To understand, you need to analyze the genre, the main characters, the conflict and the meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm".
Genre
There are three dramatic genres: comedy, tragedy and drama. The oldest of them is tragedy, then comedy follows, but drama as a genre appears only in the 19th century. Its founder in Russia was A.N. Ostrovsky. The play "The Storm" is fully consistent with its canons. In the center of the image are ordinary people, not historical figures, not folk heroes. These are people with their shortcomings and virtues, whose souls develop feelings, affection, sympathies and antipathies. The situation is also commonplace. However, there is an acute life conflict in it, most often unsolvable. Katerina (the main character of the drama) finds herself in a life situation from which there is no way out. The meaning of the title of the play “Thunderstorm” is multifaceted (we will discuss this below), one of the interpretations is the inevitability of something, the predetermination and tragedy of the situation.
main characters
The main characters of the play: Kabanikha, her son Tikhon, Katerina (daughter-in-law of Kabanova), Boris (her lover), Barbara (sister of Tikhon), Wild, Kuligin. There are other characters, each of which has its own semantic load.
Boar and Wild embody all the negative that is in the city of Kalinov. This is arrogance, anger, tyranny, a desire to lead everyone, greed. Tikhon Kabanov is an example of meek mother worship, he is spineless and stupid. Barbara is not like that. She understands that the mother is in many ways wrong. She also wants to free herself from her pressure and does it her own way: she simply deceives her. But such a path is impossible for Katerina. She cannot lie to her husband; treason for her is a great sin. Katerina against the background of others looks more thinking, feeling and lively. Only one hero stands aside - Kuligin. He plays the role of a hero-resonator, that is, a character in whose mouth the author puts his attitude to the situation.
The meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm"
A symbolic name is one way of expressing the ideological intent of a work. One word has a huge meaning, it is multi-layered.
Firstly, a thunderstorm occurs twice in the city of Kalinov. Each of the heroes reacts differently. Kuligin, for example, sees a physical phenomenon in a thunderstorm, so she does not cause much fear in him. Of course, the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is not only that this phenomenon is present in the text. The thunderstorm symbol is closely connected with the main character - Katerina. For the first time this natural phenomenon finds the heroine on the street when she talks with Barbara. Katerina was very scared, but not death. Her horror is justified by the fact that lightning can kill suddenly, and she will suddenly appear before God with all her sins. But she has one grave sin - falling in love with Boris. Education, conscience do not allow Katerina to completely surrender to this feeling. Going on a date, she begins to experience enormous torment. The heroine also makes recognition during a thunderstorm. Hearing a thunderclap, she cannot stand it.
The meaning of the name of the play “Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky depends on the level of interpretation. At the formal level, this is the plot and climax of the drama. But on a symbolic level, this is a fear of punishment of the Lord, retribution.
We can say that a "thunderstorm" hung over all the inhabitants of the city. Outwardly, these are the attacks of Kabanikh and the Wild, and on an existential level, this is the fear of answering for one's sins. Perhaps that is why she is terrified not only by Katerina. Even the word "thunderstorm" is pronounced in the text not only as the name of a natural phenomenon. Tikhon leaves home, glad that his mother will no longer bother him, that she will no longer order him. Katerina is not able to get away from this “thunderstorm”. She was cornered.
The image of Katerina
The heroine commits suicide, and because of this, her image is very contradictory. She is pious, afraid of “fiery hells,” but at the same time she goes on such a grave sin. Why? Apparently, moral suffering, moral torment is stronger than her thoughts about hell. Most likely, she simply stopped thinking about suicide as a sin, seeing in him the punishment for her sin (treason to her husband). Some of the critics see her as an exceptionally strong personality, which has challenged society, the "dark kingdom" (Dobrolyubov). Others believe that voluntary death is not a challenge, but, on the contrary, a sign of weakness.
How to regard this act of the heroine, it is impossible to say with one purpose. The meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" emphasizes that in the society that has developed in Kalinov, such cases are not surprising, because this is a ossified city, backward, tyrants, such as Dikoy and Kabanikh, rule it. As a result, sensitive natures (Katerina) suffer, without feeling support from anyone.
Conclusions. Features and meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" (briefly)
1. The drama became a vivid example of the life of provincial cities, exposing one of the main problems of Russia - tyranny.
2. The drama corresponds to the canons of the genre (there is a hero-resonator, there are negative characters), but it is innovative (it is symbolic).
3. The “Thunderstorm” in the title of the play is not just a compositional element, it is a symbol of God's punishment, repentance. The meaning of the name of the play "Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky brings the play to a symbolic level.