Who in the play a thunderstorm is not a representative. The dark kingdom in the play "Thunderstorm" - what is it? The deep meaning of the allegory "dark kingdom"

Dark kingdom

The most important feature of Ostrovsky's theater to this day remains the topicality of the plays. Even today, Ostrovsky's works are successfully performed on the stage of theaters, because the characters and images created by the artist have not lost their freshness. To this day, viewers ponder who is right in the dispute between the patriarchal ideas about marriage and the freedom to express feelings, plunge into an atmosphere of dark ignorance, rudeness and are amazed at the purity and sincerity of Katerina's love.

The city of Kalinov, in which the action of the drama The Thunderstorm unfolds, is an artistic space within which the writer strove to summarize as much as possible the vices characteristic of the merchant environment of the middle of the 19th century. It is not for nothing that the critic Dobrolyubov calls Kalinov “the dark kingdom”. This definition accurately characterizes the atmosphere described in the city.

Ostrovsky depicts Kalinov as a closed space: the gates are locked, what happens behind the fence does not bother anyone. In the exposition of the play, the audience is presented with the Volga landscape, which evokes poetic lines in Kuligin's memory.

But the description of the Volga's expanses only intensifies the feeling of the closed nature of the city, in which no one even walks along the boulevard. The city lives its own boring and monotonous life. The poorly educated residents of Kalinov learn news about the world not from newspapers, but from wanderers, for example, such as Feklusha. A beloved guest in the Kabanov family says that "there is still a land where all the people are with dogs' heads," and in Moscow there are only "festivities and games, and there is a roar in the streets, a groan stands." Ignorant inhabitants of the city of Kalinov willingly believe in such stories, which is why Kalinov appears to the townspeople as a paradise. So, separated from the whole world, like a distant state, in which residents see almost the only promised land, Kalinov himself begins to acquire fabulous features, becoming a symbolic image of a sleepy kingdom. The spiritual life of the inhabitants of Kalinov is limited by the rules of Domostroi, the observance of which requires each generation of parents from each generation of children, tyranny reigns around and money reigns supreme.

The main guardians of the age-old order in the city are Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova and Savel Prokofievich Dikoy, whose moral standards are distorted. A striking example of tyranny is the episode in which Ostrovsky ironically depicts the Wild, talking about his "kind-heartedness": having scolded the peasant who asked for his salary, Savel Prokofievich regrets his behavior and even asks for forgiveness from the employee. Thus, the writer portrays the absurdity of the Wild One's rage, replaced by self-flagellation. Being a wealthy merchant and having a lot of money, Dikoy considers people beneath him as "worms", whom he can pardon or crush at his will, the hero feels impunity for his actions. Even the mayor is unable to influence him. Dikoy, feeling himself not only the master of the city, but also the master of life, is not afraid of an official either. Households are also afraid of a prosperous merchant. His wife every morning with tears begs the people around: "Father, do not make you angry!" But Savel Prokofievich swears only with those who cannot fight back. As soon as he meets resistance, his mood and tone of communication change dramatically. He is afraid of his clerk Kudryash, who knows how to resist him. Dikoy does not swear with the merchant's wife Martha Ignatievna, the only one who understands him. Only Kabanikha is able to pacify Savel Prokofievich's violent temper. She alone sees that Dikoy himself is not happy with his petty tyranny, but she cannot help herself, so Kabanikha considers herself stronger than him.

Indeed, Marfa Ignatievna is not inferior to the Wild in despotism and tyranny. Being a bigot, she tyrannizes her household. The boar is depicted by Ostrovsky as a heroine who considers herself the keeper of the foundations of Domostroi. The patriarchal system of values, from which only the outer ostentatious side remains, is most important to her. Ostrovsky demonstrates Marfa Ignatievna's desire to follow the old traditions in everything in the scene of Tikhon's farewell to Katerina. A conflict arises between Katerina and Kabanikha, reflecting the internal contradictions between the heroines. Kabanikha blames Katerina for not “howling” and “lying on the porch” after her husband left, to which Katerina remarks that to behave this way is “to make people laugh”.

The boar, doing everything “under the guise of piety,” demands complete obedience from her household. In the Kabanov family, everyone should live as Marfa Ignatievna demands. Kuligin quite accurately characterizes Kabanikha in his dialogue with Boris: “Bigot, sir! She clothe the beggars, but she has eaten the household at all! " The main target of her tyranny is her own children. The power-hungry Kabanikha does not notice that under her oppression she raised a miserable, cowardly man who has no opinion of his own - the son of Tikhon and the cunning daughter Varvara, who creates the impression of a decent and obedient daughter. In the end, unjustified cruelty and a desire to control everything lead Kabanikha to tragedy: his own son blames his mother for the death of his wife Katerina (“Mamma, you ruined her”), and his beloved daughter, not agreeing to live within the bounds of tyranny, runs away from home.

Assessing the images of the "dark kingdom", one cannot but agree with Ostrovsky that cruel tyranny and despotism are real evil, under the yoke of which human feelings fade and wither, will weakens, reason fades. "Thunderstorm" is an open protest against the "dark kingdom", a challenge to ignorance and rudeness, hypocrisy and cruelty.

We will enter the "dark kingdom" from the very first lines of the play. However, the name "kingdom" evokes associations with a fairy tale and is too poetic for what the merchant world described by Ostrovsky is. Kuligin gives a description of the city of Kalinov at the beginning of the work. According to him, there is nothing to see here except the contrast of wealth and poverty, cruelty and submission. The rich seek to enrich themselves even more at the expense of the poor. At the same time, the rich are at enmity with each other, because they feel competition. “And among themselves, sir, how they live! Trade is undermined by each other, and not so much out of self-interest as out of envy. They are at enmity with each other; They get drunk clerks in their tall mansions ... And those to them ... malicious slander scribbles on their neighbors. And they will begin with them, sir, judgment and work, and there will be no end to torment. " Kuligin refuses to capture all this in poetry - so much manners seem to him prosaic.

Consider the characters who are the expression of these mores, the face of the "dark kingdom."

One of them is the landowner Dikoy. Residents of the city call him a "swearing man" and "a shrill man." It was the appearance of the Dikiy, when he “broke loose,” that gives Kuligin an excuse to start discussing the cruel customs of the city. The surname of this character is speaking. He can be compared to a wild beast - he is so cruel, quick-tempered, stubborn. Dikoy is a despot, both in his family and beyond. He also terrorizes his nephew, mocks the townspeople - "he will outrage in every way, as he pleases." The general impression of Dick is formed if you listen to the opinions about him from different people.

The boar in its cruelty is not inferior to the Wild. She is also endowed with a speaking surname. "Boar" is a derivative of the word "boar", which also refers to the down-to-earth character of the character, cruelty, inhumanity, lack of spirituality. She exhausts her household with constant moralizing, tyrannizes them, makes them live in accordance with strict rules. She eradicates human dignity from her household. Katerina suffers especially hard, who says that thanks to her mother-in-law, life has become disgusting for her and the house has become disgusting.

Feklusha plays a special role "in the dark kingdom". This is a wanderer who intensively spreads rumors about various superstitions and obvious nonsense. For example, about people with dog-headed heads, about belittling time, about a fiery snake. The saddest thing is that in the city of Kalinovo people willingly believe these rumors, love Feklusha and are always happy to invite her into their house. This shows the extent of their superstition and hopeless stupidity.

The lady is another colorful character who expresses the spirit and mores of the "dark kingdom". This half-crazy woman screams to Katerina that beauty will lead her into a pool, than she is terrified. The image of the lady and her words can be understood in two ways. On the one hand, this is a warning that real beauty (of which Katerina is the bearer) will not live long in this world. On the other hand, who knows? - perhaps Katerina is the personification of a lady in her youth. But she could not cope with these worlds and went mad by old age.

So, all these characters personify the worst sides of the outgoing world - its cruelty, primitiveness, mysticism.

The dark kingdom in the play "The Thunderstorm" by Ostrovsky is an allegorical statement familiar to everyone from the light hand of his contemporary, the literary critic Dobrolyubov. That is how Nikolai Ivanovich considered it necessary to characterize the difficult social and moral atmosphere in the cities of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

Ostrovsky is a subtle connoisseur of Russian life

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky made a bright breakthrough in Russian drama, for which he received a worthy article-review. He continued the traditions of the Russian national theater founded by Fonvizin, Gogol, Griboyedov. In particular, Nikolai Dobrolyubov praised the playwright's deep knowledge and truthful reflection of the specifics of Russian life. The Volga city of Kalinov, shown in the play, has become a kind of model for the whole of Russia.

The deep meaning of the allegory "dark kingdom"

The dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is a clear and capacious allegory created by the critic Dobrolyubov, based on a broad socio-economic explanation and a narrower one - literary. The latter was formulated in relation to the provincial city of Kalinov, in which Ostrovsky depicted an averaged (as they say now - average statistical) Russian town of the end of the 18th century.

The broad meaning of the "dark kingdom"

First, let us characterize the broad meaning of this concept: the dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is a figurative characteristic of the socio-political state of Russia at a certain stage of its development.

After all, a thoughtful reader interested in history has a clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhat kind of Russia (the end of the 18th century) we are talking about. The huge country, a fragment of which was shown by the playwright in the play, lived in the old fashioned way, at a time when industrialization was taking place in European countries. The people were socially paralyzed (which was canceled in 1861). Strategic railways have not yet been built. The people in their mass were illiterate, uneducated, superstitious. In fact, the state did little to social policy.

Everything in provincial Kalinov is, as it were, "cooked in its own juice." That is, people are not involved in large projects - production, construction. Their judgments betray complete incompetence in the simplest terms: for example, in the electrical origin of lightning.

The dark kingdom in Ostrovsky's play The Thunderstorm is a society devoid of a vector of development. The class of the industrial bourgeoisie and the proletariat has not yet taken shape ... The financial flows of society were not formed insufficient for global socio-economic transformations.

The dark kingdom of the city of Kalinov

In a narrow sense, the dark kingdom in the play "The Thunderstorm" is a way of life inherent in the middle class and merchants. According to the description given by Ostrovsky, this community is absolutely dominated by wealthy and arrogant merchants. They constantly carry out psychological pressure on others, not paying attention to their interests. There is no government on these ghouls, who "eat by food". For these tyrants, money is equivalent to social status, and human and Christian morality is not a decree in their actions. In practice, they do whatever they please. In particular, realistic, artistically complete images - the merchant Savel Prokopyevich Dikoy and the merchant's wife Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova - initiate the "dark kingdom" in the play "The Thunderstorm". What are these characters? Let's consider them similarly.

The image of the merchant Savely Prokofich the Wild

The merchant Dikoy is the richest man in Kalinov. However, the consistency in it does not border on the breadth of soul and hospitality, but on the "tough disposition". And he understands his wolf nature, and wants to somehow change. “Somehow about fasting, about great things, I fasted…” Yes, tyranny is his second nature. When a "peasant" comes to him with a request to borrow money, Dikoy rudely humiliates him, moreover, it almost comes to beating the unfortunate.

Moreover, this psychotype of behavior is always characteristic of him. (“What can I do, my heart is like that!”) That is, he builds his relationships with others on the basis of fear and his dominance. This is his usual model of behavior towards people with inferior

This man was not always rich. However, he came to consistency through a primitive, aggressive, established social model of behavior. Relations with others and relatives (in particular, with his nephew), he builds on only one principle: to humiliate them, formally - to deprive them of social rights, and then use them himself. However, having felt a psychological rebuff from a person with equal status (for example, from the widow of the merchant Kabanikha, he begins to treat him more respectfully, not humiliating him). This is a primitive, two-way pattern of behavior.

Behind rudeness and suspicion ("So you know that you are a worm!") Greed and self-interest are hidden. For example, in the case of a nephew, he effectively deprives him of his inheritance. Savel Prokofich nurtures hatred in his soul for everything around him. His credo is to reflexively crush everyone, crush everyone, clearing a living space for himself. Had we lived at this time, such an idiot (sorry for being blunt) could well, just in the middle of the street, would have beaten us for no reason, just so that we could cross to the other side of the street, clearing the way for him! But such an image was familiar to serf Russia! It is not for nothing that Dobrolyubov called the dark kingdom in the play "The Thunderstorm" a sensitive and truthful reflection of Russian reality!

The image of the merchant's wife Martha Ignatievna Kabanova

The second type of Kalinov's wild morals is the rich merchant widow Kabanikha. Her social model of behavior is not as primitive as that of the Wild merchant. (For some reason, an analogy is recalled with respect to this model: “Poor vision of a rhinoceros is the problem of others, not of the rhino itself!) Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, unlike the merchant Dikiy, builds her social status gradually. Humiliation is also a tool, but of a completely different kind. She mainly affects members of her family: son Tikhon, daughter Varvara, daughter-in-law Katerina. She puts both her material superiority and her moral superiority at the basis of her dominance over others.

Hypocrisy is her key to the merchant's wife - double standards. Formally and outwardly following the Christian cult, it is far from the real merciful Christian consciousness. On the contrary, she interprets her status of churching as a kind of deal with God, believing that she has been given the right not only to teach everyone around everything, but also to indicate how they should act.

She does this constantly, completely destroying her son Tikhon, as a person, and pushing her daughter-in-law Katerina to commit suicide.

If you can get around the Wild merchant, having met on the street, then with regard to Kabanikha, the situation is completely different. If I can put it that way, then she continuously, constantly, and not episodically, like Dikoy, “generates” a dark kingdom in the play “The Thunderstorm”. Quotes from the work that characterize Kabanikha testify: she zombies her loved ones, demanding that Katerina bow to her husband when he enters the house, instilling that "you cannot contradict mother", that the husband would give strict orders to his wife, and on occasion beat her ...

Weak attempts to resist tyrants

What is the opposition of the Kalinov community to the expansion of the two aforementioned tyrants? Practically nothing. Those are in a comfortable society for themselves. As Pushkin wrote in Boris Godunov: “The people are silent ...”. Someone, educated, is trying to timidly express his opinion, like engineer Kuligin. Someone, like Varvara, crippled himself morally, living a double life: assenting to tyrants and doing whatever they pleased. And someone is waiting for an internal and tragic protest (like Katerina).

Conclusion

Does the word "tyranny" occur in our everyday life? We hope that for most of our readers - much less often than for residents of the fortress city of Kalinov. Accept sympathy if your boss or someone from your family circle is a tyrant. In our time, this phenomenon does not apply to the entire city at once. However, it does exist in places. And we should look for a way out of it ...

Let's go back to Ostrovsky's play. Representatives create a "dark kingdom" in the play "The Thunderstorm". Their common features are the presence of capital and the desire to dominate society. However, it does not rely on spirituality, creativity, or enlightenment. Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to isolate the tyrant, depriving him of the opportunity to lead, as well as depriving him of communication (boycott). The tyrant is strong as long as he feels the indispensability of his beloved and the demand for his capital.

You just have to deprive him of such "happiness." In Kalinov, this was not possible. This is real in our time.

The drama "The Thunderstorm" is considered to be one of the main works of A. N. Ostrovsky. And this cannot be denied. The love conflict in the play goes almost to the last plane, instead of this bitter social truth is exposed, the "dark kingdom" of vices and sins is shown. Dobrolyubov called the playwright a subtle connoisseur of the Russian soul. It is difficult to disagree with this opinion. Ostrovsky very subtly describes the experiences of one person, but at the same time he is accurate in depicting universal human vices and flaws in the human soul, which are inherent in all representatives of the "dark kingdom" in The Thunderstorm. Dobrolyubov called such people tyrants. Kalinov's main tyrants are Kabanikha and Dikoy.

Dikoy is a bright representative of the "dark kingdom", initially shown as an unpleasant and slippery person. He appears in the first act alongside his nephew Boris. Savl Prokofievich is very dissatisfied with the appearance of Boris in the city: “A parasite! Go to waste! " The merchant swears and spits on the street, thereby showing his bad manners. It should be noted that in the life of the Wild there is absolutely no place for cultural enrichment or spiritual growth. He only knows what is supposed to know in order to lead the "dark kingdom".

Savl Prokofievich knows neither history nor its representatives. So, when Kuligin quotes Derzhavin's lines, Dikoy orders not to be rude to him. Usually speech allows you to say a lot about a person: about his upbringing, manners, outlook, and so on. Dikiy's remarks are full of curses and threats: "not a single calculation is complete without abuse." In almost every appearance on the stage, Savl Prokofievich is either rude to others, or incorrectly expressed. The merchant is especially annoyed by those who ask him for money. At the same time, Dikoy himself very often deceives when calculating in his favor. Dikoy is not afraid of either the authorities, or the "senseless and merciless" rebellion. He is confident in the inviolability of his person and the position that he occupies. It is known that when talking with the mayor about the fact that Dikoy is allegedly robbing ordinary peasants, the merchant openly admits his guilt, but as if he is proud of such an act: “Is it worth it, your honor, we should talk about such trifles! I have a lot of people a year: you understand: I will not pay them extra for a penny per person, but I make thousands of this, so it’s good for me! ”Kuligin says that everyone is a friend in trade. and they steal a friend, and as assistants they choose those who, from prolonged drunkenness, have lost both their human appearance and all humanity.

Dikoy does not understand what it means to work for the common good. Kuligin proposed to install a lightning rod, with the help of which it would be easier to obtain electricity. But Savl Prokofievich chased away the inventor with the words: “So you know that you are a worm. If I want - have mercy. If I want - I will crush ”. In this phrase, the position of the Wild is most clearly visible. The merchant is confident in his righteousness, impunity and power. Savl Prokofievich considers his power to be absolute, because the guarantee of his authority is money, which the merchant has more than enough. The meaning of the Wild's life is the accumulation and augmentation of his capital by any legal and illegal methods. Dikoy believes that wealth gives him the right to scold, humiliate and insult everyone. However, his influence and rudeness frighten many, but not Kudryash. Kudryash says that he is not afraid of the Wild, therefore he acts only as he wants. By this, the author wanted to show that sooner or later the tyrants of the dark kingdom will lose their influence, because the prerequisites for this already exist.

The only person with whom the merchant speaks normally is another characteristic representative of the "dark kingdom" - Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna is known for her heavy and grumpy disposition. Marfa Ignatievna is a widow. She herself raised her son Tikhon and daughter Varvara. Total control and tyranny have led to dire consequences. Tikhon cannot act against the will of his mother, he also does not want to say something wrong from the point of view of Kabanikha. Tikhon coexists with her, complaining about life, but not trying to change anything. He is weak and spineless. Varvara's daughter is lying to her mother, secretly meeting with Curly. At the end of the play, she runs away with him from her home. Varvara changed the lock on the gate in the garden so that she could freely go for a walk at night while Kabanikha slept. However, she also does not openly confront her mother. Katerina got the most. The boar humiliated the girl, tried to hurt her in every possible way and put her in a bad light in front of her husband (Tikhon). She chose an interesting manipulation tactic. Very measuredly, without haste, Kabanikha gradually "ate" her household, pretending that nothing was happening. Marfa Ignatievna covered herself by taking care of the children. She believed that only the old generation retained an understanding of the norms of life, therefore, it is imperative to pass this knowledge on to the next generation, otherwise the world will collapse. But with Kabanikha, all wisdom becomes disfigured, perverted, false. However, one cannot say that she is doing a good deed. The reader understands that the words “caring for children” become an excuse to other people. The Kabanikha is honest in front of herself and perfectly understands what she is doing. It embodies the belief that the weak should fear the strong. Kabanikha herself speaks about this in the scene of Tikhon's departure. “Why are you standing, don’t you know the order? Order your wife how to live without you! " To Tikhon's quite reasonable remark that Katerina has no reason to be afraid of him, because he is her husband, Kabanikha replies very sharply: “Why be afraid! Are you crazy, or what? They will not be afraid of you, even less of me. " The boar has long ceased to be a mother, a widow, a woman. Now he is a real tyrant and dictator who seeks to assert his power by any means.

“And they do not lock themselves from thieves, but so that people do not see
how they eat their household, but tyrannize the family.

As Dobrolyubov correctly noted, Ostrovsky in one of his plays depicts a truly "dark kingdom" - a world of tyranny, betrayal and stupidity. The drama takes place in the city of Kalinov, which stands on the banks of the Volga. There is a certain symbolic parallelism in the location of the city: the turbulent flow of the river is opposed to the atmosphere of stagnation, lawlessness and oppression. It seems that the city is isolated from the outside world. Residents learn the news through the stories of pilgrims. Moreover, this news is very dubious, and sometimes completely absurd content. Kalinovites blindly believe the stories of crazy old people about unrighteous countries, lands that have fallen from heaven and rulers with dog-headed heads. People are used to living in fear not only of the world, but also of the rulers of the “dark kingdom”. This is their comfort zone that no one intends to leave. If in principle everything is clear with the townsfolk, then what about the above-mentioned rulers?

In The Thunderstorm, Dikoy and Kabanikha represent the “dark kingdom”. They are both masters and creators of this world. The tyranny of the Wild and the Kabanikha knows no bounds.

In the city, power belongs not to the mayor, but to the merchants, who, thanks to their connections and profits, were able to receive the support of higher authorities. They mock the bourgeoisie and deceive ordinary people. In the text of the work, this image is embodied in Savl Prokofievich Dick, an elderly merchant who keeps everyone in fear, gives loans at huge interest rates and deceives other merchants. In Kalinov, there are legends about his cruelty. No one, except Curly, can answer the Wild in a proper way, and the merchant actively uses this. He asserts himself through humiliation and ridicule, and the feeling of impunity only increases the degree of cruelty. “Look for such a scandal as ours Savel Prokofich! It will cut off a person for nothing ”- this is what the residents themselves say about Dik. It is interesting that Dikoy takes out his anger only on those he knows, or on the inhabitants of the city - weak-willed and downtrodden. This is evidenced by the episode of the Dikiy's quarrel with the hussar: the hussar scolded Savl Prokofievich so much that he didn’t say a word, but then all the home two weeks “hid in attics and basements”.

Enlightenment and new technologies simply cannot penetrate Kalinov. Residents are suspicious of all innovations. So, in one of the latest phenomena, Kuligin tells Dikiy about the benefits of a lightning rod, but he doesn't want to listen. Dikoy is only rude to Kuligin and says that it is impossible to earn money in an honest way, which proves once again that he did not receive his wealth thanks to his daily efforts. A negative attitude towards change is a common feature of Dikiy and Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna stands up for the observance of old traditions. It is important for her how they enter the house, how they express feelings, how they go for a walk. At the same time, neither the inner content of such actions, nor other problems (for example, the son's alcoholism) bother her. Tikhon's words that his wife's hugs are enough for him seem unconvincing to Martha Ignatievna: Katerina must “howl” when she says goodbye to her husband and throw herself at his feet. By the way, external ritualism and attributiveness are characteristic of Marfa Ignatievna's life position as a whole. In the same way, a woman treats religion, forgetting that in addition to weekly visits to church, faith should come from the heart. In addition, Christianity in the minds of these people mixed with pagan superstitions, which can be seen in the scene with the thunderstorm.

Kabanikha believes that the whole world rests on those who abide by the old laws: “something will happen when the old people die, I don’t know how the light will stand”. She also convinces the merchant of this. From the dialogue between the Wild and the Kabanikha, one can see a certain hierarchy in their relationship. Savl Prokofievich recognizes the tacit leadership of Kabanikha, her strength of character and intelligence. Dikoy understands that he is incapable of such manipulative tantrums, which Marfa Ignatievna arranges for her family every day.

Comparative characteristics of Dikiy and Kabanikha from the play "The Thunderstorm" are also quite interesting. Dikiy's despotism is directed more towards the outside world - towards the inhabitants of the city, only relatives suffer from the tyranny of Martha Ignatievna, and in society a woman maintains the image of a respectable mother and mistress. Marfa Ignatievna, like Dikiy, is not at all embarrassed by gossip and talk, because both are confident that they are right. Neither one nor the other cares about the happiness of loved ones. Family relationships for each of these characters should be based on fear and oppression. This is especially clearly seen in the behavior of Kabanova.

As you can see from the examples above, there are similarities and differences between Kabanikha and Dikiy. But most of all they have in common a sense of permissiveness and an unshakable confidence that this is how everything should be.

Product test