The meaning of the title of the play "The Storm" by AN Ostrovsky

The drama of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky "The Thunderstorm" was written during serious reformist changes in Russia and was published in 1859. As in any literary work, the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" encompasses the theme and idea of the whole work. Hence, it requires detailed consideration and analysis.

What is a play?

Before you begin to answer the question, what is the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm", it is necessary to define the genre of this work. So, the play is a literary work intended for staging on stage. Distinctive features of this kind of literature will be:

• Construction of the entire plot in dialogues and monologues of the characters.
• The subdivision into parts, which are called acts or actions, and scenes.
• Remarks of the author, describing the situation and costumes of the characters. And also the actions of the heroes.

The originality of the drama "Thunderstorm"

The meaning of the title of the play by AN Ostrovsky "Storm" is directly related to the genre peculiarity of the work. The point is that literary critics still can not come to an agreement, what is "Storm" - a drama or a tragedy.

The tragedy of the play is connected with the image of Katerina, which is opposed to all other characters. The girl is very different from the people around her, she is a bright and dreamy person. Its conflict with the world is predetermined in advance, ruthless and dark - it is only capable of destroying and destroying.

The dramatic side of the play is manifested in the social aspect - each hero has his own social position, which determines his actions and character. Thus, to put a point and refer the play to one of the genres is not possible.

Conflict of the play

Before determining the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm", it is necessary to understand the main conflict of this work.

To begin with, there is not one conflict in the drama, but several. And the first, which has always attracted the attention of the critic, is social. From this point of view, Katerina appears as the embodiment of a people who are indignant and can no longer bear the tyranny and tyranny of those in power who represent Kabanikha. Another conflict, also associated with the confrontation between Kabanikha and Katerina, is the conflict of generations.

But the main and most important confrontation in the play is Katerina's struggle with herself. The internal conflict is much deeper than the external and carries a profound meaning. The girl struggles with forbidden love. Unable to hypocrite, it is under the impact of the public. And in the end, she has nothing left but to commit suicide.

Image of Catherine

The meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is directly related to the image of the main character. Katerina became an unusual female character for Ostrovsky. Against the background of the previous heroines of the writer, she stands out with her strength of spirit, her subtle worldview, the integrity of her personality. She is a poetic and dreamy nature with a bright soul and sublime aspirations. The description of a happy life for her looks like this: embroidering, visiting the temple and praying, communicating with the pilgrims and wonderful dreams about the golden temples and wonderful gardens. This writer emphasizes that for Katerina spiritual values are higher than material values .

The image of the girl is closely intertwined with the image of the bird and the motive of the flight. Katerina's desire to fly off introduces into the narrative the theme of imprisonment and bondage. And with them, and the theme of death, because the soul can free itself and fly up, only having lost the bodily shell.

Katerina has a strong character, her sense of dignity is very great. It is very hard for her to live under the same roof with the Kabanikha. After all there reigns reproaches, despotism and tyranny on the part of the mistress, and also stupidity, lack of character and obedience of other inhabitants.

The yearning that embraces Catherine in the house of Martha Ignatievna is mixed with the girl's desire to learn true love. To Tikhon, the heroine can not feel this feeling, because he is weak-willed, stupid, spiritually poor. Katerina can only fall in love with a decent, kind, different person from others. And the girl seems that she finds such a man in Boris Grigorievich. It is from the moment of the beginning of meetings with the young man that the inner conflict of the heroine begins. She is torn between her feelings and her duty to her husband.

But Katerina is deceived, Boris is an ordinary man who can not dare to save the girl. Katerina, realizing that she can not forgive herself and continue to live in the surrounding darkness, decides to commit suicide. It is with this episode that the meaning of the title of Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is related, which we will consider in more detail and in detail below.

The meaning of the name of the play

In the title of the drama there is a huge meaning. This is the first time Tikhon pronounces this word when he says goodbye to his wife before leaving. The hero compares with the overhanging thunder Kabanikh and rejoices that he will get rid of her attacks even for a short time. Thus, answering the question of what the symbolic meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is, it can be said that this natural phenomenon personifies fear. This fear can be caused both by the tyranny of others, and by higher forces. And this feeling covers all the characters of the work. Even Katerina is subject to him, because she is afraid of the higher punishment for her betrayal of her husband. Even death does not frighten a girl like a possible punishment for sins.

The whole development of the action in the play is similar to the pre-threatening time, which will certainly end in a storm. It is in fear, which grows as the elements approach, and the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm" is. It is better to complete the composition with descriptions of those scenes in the play, where the characters most clearly show fear.

Conclusion

The work was criticized with great enthusiasm and had many interpretations of conflicts, the main theme and the image of Katerina. Also the symbolic mystery was the meaning of the title of the play "Thunderstorm". The composition envisaged by the school program once again confirms that the interest in this ambiguous creation of Ostrovsky has not yet weakened.