The boar in the play "The Storm" is an antagonist of the main character, Katerina. The contrast of the characters in the work is crucial, revealing its meaning. The heroines are representatives of the opposite poles of the patriarchal world. If Katerina is spirituality, poetry, kindness, mercy, then Martha Ignatievna is earthliness, love of money, pettiness.
Relations of the heroine with relatives
An ignorant person, rude, superstitious, guardian of the old laws, oppressive, likes to teach and keep everyone in fear - this is such a brief description of Kabanikh. This is a rich merchant, widow, mother of Barbara and Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A woman is a
fiend of hell for her family, she constantly saws, teaches, tries to preserve the old order at home and gets angry when young people don’t listen to her. Kabanova Marfa Ignatyevna firmly believes that order can be restored only if everyone is kept in fear.
The characteristic of Kabanikh allows the reader to understand the attitude of the Old Believers to the new world. The merchant woman raised her children in fear, she wants to extend her power to her daughter-in-law. She constantly teaches her son, makes him punish his wife, keep her on a short leash. When Tikhon wonders why Katerina needs to be afraid of him, because she loves him, her mother shouts at him. After all, if the daughter-in-law of her husband will not be afraid, then her mother-in-law is even more so.
Relations of the merchant with others
The boar regularly goes to church, surrounds himself with clicks, the beggar regularly gives alms. With her godfather, the Wild merchant is talking on an equal footing. Although these two belong to the same world and support the old order, the characterization of Kabanikhi shows that a woman is still contemptuous of the tyranny of the landowner. Marfa Ignatieva really keeps her family in fear, but she does it to maintain order in the house, and not because of her exuberant character. In addition, the merchant will never complain in public about problems in her family, as Wild does.
The last guardian of order
The image of Kabanikh is an embodiment of Old Belief, some medieval foundations. The merchant woman suffers from the fact that her world is slowly collapsing. She sees that youth does not support her, does not respect old laws, thinks in a new way. Some apocalyptic expectations overwhelm a woman; she does not understand what will happen when all old-timers die out and there will be no one to withstand everything modern. The Kabanovs' house is almost the last bastion where the dogmas of antiquity are revered.
The characterization of Kabanikh does not cause pity for this heroine, although at the end of the play not only Katerina, but also her mother-in-law suffered. For the merchant, the public recognition of her daughter-in-law, the rebellion of her son and the escape from her daughter's house were a terrible blow. But this woman did not understand that with her rejection of the modern world, she led to the death of Katerina, ruined the life of Barbara, and pushed Tikhon to drunkenness. From the reign of Kabanikh, nobody felt better. But she cannot understand this, because the merchant even after so many misfortunes continues to insist on her own.