Katerina's death in the drama Thunderstorm. What caused the death of the main character of the play

The drama "Thunderstorm" is the pinnacle of Ostrovsky's work. In his work, the writer shows the imperfection of the patriarchal world, the influence of the system on the morals of people, he reveals to us society with all its vices and shortcomings, and at the same time he introduces a hero into the drama, different from this community, alien to it, reveals the influence of society on this person, how the character enters the circle of these people. In The Thunderstorm, Katerina becomes this new, different hero, a “beam of light”. It belongs to the old patriarchal world, but at the same time it comes into irreconcilable conflict with it. Using her example, the writer shows how terrible it is to be in the “kingdom of despots and tyrants” for a person with such a pure soul as Katerina. A woman comes into conflict with this society, and, along with external problems, internal contradictions are brewing in Katerina's soul, which, together with fatal circumstances, lead Katerina to suicide.
Katerina is a woman with a strong character, but meanwhile even she cannot resist the “kingdom of petty tyrants and despots”.
The mother-in-law (Boar) is a rough, domineering, despotic, ignorant nature, she is closed to everything beautiful. Of all the actors, Marfa Ignatievna exerts the strongest pressure on Katerina. The heroine herself admits: “If it weren’t for my mother-in-law! .. She crushed me ... she made me sick of the house: the walls are even disgusting.” Kabanikha constantly accuses Katerina of almost all mortal sins, reproaches and finds fault with her with or without reason. But Kabanikha has no moral right to mock and condemn Katerina, because the inner qualities of her son’s wife, in their depth and purity, cannot be compared with the coarsened, callous, low soul of Marfa Ignatievna, and meanwhile Kabanikha is one of those through whose fault Katerina comes to thoughts of suicide. After the death of the main character, Kuligin says: “... the soul is now not yours: it is before a judge who is more merciful than you.” Katerina cannot come to terms with the oppressive, oppressive atmosphere that prevails in Kalinovo. Her soul strives for freedom at any cost, she says, “whatever I want, I’ll do it,” “I’ll leave, and I was like that.” With her marriage, Katerina's life turned into a living hell, this existence in which there are no joyful moments, and even love for Boris does not relieve her of longing.
In this "dark kingdom" everything is alien to her, everything oppresses her. She, according to the customs of that time, married not of her own free will and to an ugly man whom she would never love. Katerina soon realized how weak and pitiful her husband was, he himself could not resist his mother, Kabanikha, and, naturally, was not able to protect Katerina from constant attacks from her mother-in-law. The main character tries to convince herself and Varvara that she loves her husband, but nevertheless later confesses to her husband's sister: "I feel sorry for him very much." Pity is the only feeling she has for her husband. Katerina herself perfectly understands that she will never love her husband, and the words she uttered when her husband left (“how I would love you”) are words of despair. Katerina was already possessed by another feeling - love for Boris, and her attempt to grab hold of her husband in order to prevent trouble, a thunderstorm, the approach of which she feels, is futile and useless. Tisha does not listen to her, he stands next to his wife, but in his dreams he is already far from her - his thoughts are about drinking and walking outside Kalinov, he himself says to his wife: “I can’t figure you out, Katya!” Yes, where should he “take it apart”! The inner world of Katerina is too complicated and incomprehensible for people like Kabanov. Not only Tikhon, but also his sister says to Katerina: “I don’t understand what you are saying.”
In the "dark kingdom" there is not a single person whose spiritual qualities would be equal to Katerina's, and even Boris, a hero singled out by a woman from the whole crowd, is not worthy of Katerina. Her love is a turbulent river, his is a small stream that is about to dry up. Boris is only going to take a walk with Katerina during Tikhon's departure, and then ... then we'll see. He doesn’t care too much what the hobby will turn out for Katerina, even Kudryash’s warning does not stop Boris: “You want to completely ruin her.” On the last date, he says to Katerina: “Who knew that it was for our love to suffer so much with you,” because at the first meeting the woman told him: “I ruined, ruined, ruined.”
The reasons that prompted Katerina to commit suicide are hidden not only (and even not so much) in the society surrounding her, but in herself. Her soul is a gem and foreign particles cannot invade her. She cannot, like Varvara, act according to the principle “if only everything was sewn and covered”, she cannot live keeping such a terrible secret in herself, and even a confession in front of everyone does not bring her relief, she understands that she will never atone for her guilt before himself and can't deal with it. She embarked on the path of sin, but will not aggravate it by lying to herself and everyone, and understands that the only deliverance from her mental anguish is death. Katerina asks Boris to take her to Siberia, but even if she runs away from this society, she is not destined to hide from herself, from remorse. To some extent, perhaps, Boris also understands this and says that “there is only one thing we need to ask God for her to die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time!” One of Katerina’s problems is that “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything.” She cannot deceive or hide from herself, much less from others. Katerina is constantly tormented by the consciousness of her sinfulness.
Translated from Greek, the name Catherine means “always pure”, and our heroine, of course, always strives for spiritual purity. She is alien to any kind of lie and untruth, even when she finds herself in such a degraded society, she does not change her inner ideal, she does not want to become the same as many people of that circle. Katerina does not absorb dirt, she can be compared to a lotus flower that grows in a swamp, but, in spite of everything, blooms with unique snow-white flowers. Katerina does not live up to the lush flowering, her half-blossomed flower withered, but no toxic substances penetrated into it, he died innocent.

Katerina is a lady with a strong character, but meanwhile, moreover, she cannot resist the "kingdom of petty tyrants and despots."
The mother-in-law (Boar) is a rough, domineering, despotic, ignorant nature, she is closed to everything beautiful. Of all the actors, Marfa Ignatievna exerts the strongest pressure on Katerina. The heroine herself admits: "If it weren't for my mother-in-law! .. She crushed me ... she made me sick of the house: the walls are even more disgusting." Kabanikha constantly accuses Katerina of almost all mortal sins, reproaches and finds fault with her with or without reason. But Kabanikha has no moral right to mock and condemn Katerina, because the inner qualities of her son’s wife, in their depth and purity, cannot be compared with the coarsened, callous, low soul of Marfa Ignatievna, and meanwhile Kabanikha is one of those through whose fault Katerina comes to thoughts of suicide. After the death of the main character, Kuligin says: "... the soul is now not yours: it is before a judge who is more merciful than you." Katerina cannot come to terms with the oppressive, oppressive atmosphere that prevails in Kalinovo. Her personality strives for freedom at any cost, she says, "whatever I want, I'll do it," "I'll leave, and I was like that." With marriage, Katerina's life turned into a living hell, this existence in which there are no joyful moments, and moreover, love for Boris does not relieve her of longing.

In this "dark kingdom" everything is alien to her, everything oppresses her. She, according to the customs of that time, married not of her own free will and to an ugly man whom she would never love. Katerina soon realized how weak and pitiful her husband was, he himself could not resist his mother, Kabanikhe, and, of course, was not able to resist insulting Katerina from constant attacks from her mother-in-law. The main character tries to convince herself and Varvara that she loves her husband, but nevertheless later confesses to her husband's sister: "I feel sorry for him very much." Pity is the only feeling she has for her husband. Katerina herself understands perfectly well that she will never love her husband, and the words she uttered when her husband left (“how I would love you”) are words of despair. Katerina was already possessed by another feeling - love for Boris, and her attempt to grab hold of her husband in order to prevent trouble, a thunderstorm, the approach of which she feels, is futile and useless. Tisha does not listen to her, he stands next to his wife, but in his dreams he is already far from her - his thoughts are about drinking and walking outside Kalinov, he himself says to his wife: "I can't figure you out, Katya!" Yes, where can he "disassemble" it! The inner world of Katerina is too complicated and incomprehensible for people like Kabanov. Not only Tikhon, but also his sister says to Katerina: "I don't understand what you're saying."

In the "dark kingdom" there is not a single person whose spiritual qualities would be equal to Katerina, and moreover, Boris - a hero singled out by a woman from the whole crowd, is not worthy of Katerina. Her love is a turbulent river, his is a small stream that is about to dry up. Boris is only going to take a walk with Katerina at the hour of Tikhon's departure, and then ... then we'll see. He doesn’t care too much what the hobby will turn out for Katerina, Boris is not stopped, moreover, by Kudryash’s warning: “You want to completely ruin her.” On the last date, he says to Katerina: "Who knew that we would suffer so much for our love with you," - after all, at the first meeting, the lady told him: "I ruined, ruined, ruined."

The reasons that prompted Katerina to commit suicide are hidden not only (and, moreover, not so much) in the society surrounding her, but in herself. Her personality is an expensive stone, and it is impossible for foreign particles to invade her. She cannot, like Varvara, work according to the principle "if only everything was sewn and covered", she cannot exist, keeping such a terrible secret in herself, and moreover, confession in front of everyone does not bring her relief, she understands that she will never atone for her guilt in front of him, and can not come to terms with it. She embarked on the path of sin, but will not aggravate it by lying to herself and everyone, and understands that the only deliverance from her mental anguish is death. Katerina asks Boris to take her to Siberia, but moreover, if she runs away from this society, she is not destined to hide from herself, from remorse. To some extent, perhaps, Boris also understands this and says that "there is only one thing we need to ask God for her to die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time!" One of Katerina's problems is that "she doesn't know how to deceive, she can't hide anything." She cannot deceive or hide from herself, much less from others. Katerina is constantly tormented by the consciousness of her sinfulness.

Translated from Greek, the name Catherine means "always pure", and our heroine, of course, constantly strives for spiritual purity. She is alien to all kinds of lies and untruths, moreover, having got into such a degraded society, she does not change her inner ideal, she does not want to become the same as many people of that circle. Katerina does not absorb dirt, she can be compared to a lotus flower that grows in a swamp, but, in spite of everything, blooms with unique snow-white flowers. Katerina does not live up to the lush flowering, her half-blossomed flower withered, but no toxic substances penetrated into it, he died innocent.

According to N.A. Dobrolyubov, "Thunderstorm" - "the most decisive work of Ostrovsky." In this play, the author depicts the tragedy of a freedom-loving, rebellious soul in an atmosphere of silence and tyranny. Thus, the playwright expresses his strong disagreement with the soulless system of the "dark kingdom".

The life of the main character of the play, Katerina Kabanova, ends dramatically. She is driven to the extreme and forced to commit suicide. How to evaluate this act? Was he a sign of strength or weakness?

Katerina's life is impossible

Call it a struggle in the full sense of the word, and, therefore, it is difficult to talk about defeat or victory. There were no direct clashes between Katerina and the "dark kingdom". The suicide of the heroine can rather be called a moral victory, a victory in the desire to gain freedom. Her voluntary departure from life is a protest against the semi-prison order in a provincial town and heartlessness in Katerina's family.

The play describes merchant life with its patriarchal way of life, with its own well-established notions of morality, largely indirect and hypocritical. People living in this closed little world either fully support its order (Wild and Boar), or are forced to come to terms with it outwardly (Barbara, Tikhon). But Katerina, finding herself in these conditions, is not able to come to terms with her situation.

Katerina is strikingly different from the people around her. Love for freedom and susceptibility to beauty have been inherent in her since childhood. “I lived, didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild,” recalls the heroine. Katerina finds beauty in nature, in the songs of pilgrims, in church services.

For her, God is a moral law that cannot be transgressed. Religiosity Katerina is bright and poetic. Ostrovsky portrays a strong and whole nature, incapable of deceit or pretense. Living in the house of Kabanikha, Katerina does not humiliate herself by pretending to be obedient. She always remains true to herself: “With people, that without people, I’m all alone, I don’t prove anything from myself.”

Life with an unloved husband under the supervision of a despotic mother-in-law seems to the heroine to be hell. Katerina "withered completely" in this unfriendly house - a miniature copy of the "dark kingdom". However, her heart did not rest in captivity. The heroine fell in love with a man who stood out from the merchant environment. For Katerina, he personifies a different - brighter, free, kind - world.

For the sake of her love, Katerina is ready to betray her husband and is faced with a choice: either duty or deceit. The heroine decides to commit adultery, considering it the gravest sin and suffering from it. Having done nothing yet, she already experiences the horror of a moral fall in advance: “It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss and someone is pushing me there, but there’s nothing for me to hold on to.” However, this desperate step is for Katerina a chance to break free.

Having cheated on her husband, Katerina is tormented by the realization of her guilt, she wants to atone for her sin. Following Christian morality, she sincerely believes that repentance partially atones for guilt. Moreover, the heroine cannot live by deceit, since this disgusts her open, ingenuous nature. This is her essential difference from the position of Varvara.

Thus, Katerina confesses everything to her husband, thereby cutting off her path to salvation. Now life in the house of Kabanikha begins to weigh Katerina doubly. Life in a spiritual vacuum loses all meaning for her: “Why should I live now, well, why? I don’t need anything ... ”, the heroine decides. She sees no other way to break free, except to take her own life.

Katerina cannot leave the house, because a woman in the 19th century was almost powerless, belonged to her husband in body and soul, and could not independently manage herself. Katerina also could not leave with Boris, since he turned out to be a completely insignificant, weak, spineless person, incapable of decisive action.

It can be said that, taking her own life, Katerina went against God, became a great sinner, for whom one could not even pray. However, the heroine is sure: "Who loves, he will pray ...". Death doesn't scare her. Even in death, Katerina sees beauty: she draws a picture of calm and peace.

So, Katerina's suicide, in my opinion, is to a certain extent a justified action, which the heroine saw for herself as the only possible one under the given conditions. Katerina's death is a kind of moral victory, a manifestation not of weakness, but of fortitude. The death of Katerina is another step towards the already begun destruction of the "dark kingdom" of petty tyrants.

I option

Katerina is the main character of the drama by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm". N. A. Dobrolyubov defined her as the embodiment of a "strong Russian character", called her "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." But, despite her spiritual strength and strong character, Katerina dies. Why?

The image of Katerina in the drama is associated with the motive of space, flight. She dreams of flying like a bird. From the very beginning of the drama, she has a premonition of her death, perhaps because she was not created for life in the "dark kingdom".

But, on the other hand, she was born, formed in the same environment as Kabanikha, Tikhon, Dikoy and others. The story of life as a girl is one of Katerina's most poetic monologues, the main motive of which is all-penetrating mutual love. “I lived, I didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild ... I used to do what I want,” says Katerina.

The whole circle of her life is her housework and religious dreams. This world is idyllic, in it the personal is connected with the general, which is the soul of the patriarchal worldview. But when the soul disappears, there remains the Kabanikh and the world, which rests on violence and coercion. No wonder Varvara, after listening to Katerina's story, exclaims in surprise: "But we have the same thing." And the sensitive Katerina answers her: “Yes, everything here seems to be out of will.”

A new feeling is born in Katerina, a new attitude towards the world, which is still unclear to herself: “There is something so unusual in me. I’m starting to live again, or… I don’t know,” she says.

This vague feeling, which Katerina, of course, cannot explain rationally, is the awakening sense of personality. In Katerina, love is born and grows, which does not fit into the framework of public morality. Because of her religiosity, Katerina perceives the awakened feeling of love as a terrible, indelible sin. Love for Boris for her, a married woman, is a violation of moral duty. Moral and religious commandments are full of meaning and meaning for her. She wants to be pure and impeccable, her moral demands on herself are boundless.

Having already realized her love for Boris, she tries with all her might to resist it, but does not find support in this struggle. “It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss and someone is pushing me there, but there’s nothing for me to hold on to,” she admits to Varvara. Indeed, everything around her collapses. Tikhon leaves - the hope of finding support in her husband's love is crumbling. Varvara gives her the key to the gate. “I was not afraid of sin for you, will I be afraid of human judgment!” she says to Boris. These words are a harbinger of doom. The consciousness of sin is preserved even in the rapture of happiness and completely takes possession of the heroine when this happiness ends.

She sees no other outcome to her torment than death. The lack of hope for forgiveness pushes her to suicide - a sin even more serious from the point of view of Christian morality. “All the same, she ruined her soul,” says Katerina. Katerina's death is a foregone conclusion and inevitable, no matter how the people on whom she depends behave. She is inevitable, because neither her self-consciousness, nor the whole way of life in which she exists, allow the personal feeling awakened in her to break out and bloom brightly in the "dark kingdom".

II option

The appearance of "Thunderstorm" was met with fierce disputes in the literary environment. If Turgenev saw in Ostrovsky’s drama “the most amazing, most magnificent work of a Russian, powerful, completely self-mastered talent”, then others (for example, N. F. Pavlov, critic of the Our Time magazine) declared the play immoral, not satisfying “the exactingness of enlightenment schennye requirements". Turgenev's point of view seems to be more in line with reality.

The central character of the drama is Katerina, whom Dobrolyubov rightly dubbed "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." The nature is impressionable, sensitive, honest, she suffocates in the atmosphere of anger and hatred that reigns in the Kabanikh's house (“Where now? Go home? It’s better in the grave...”), in the musty atmosphere of the whole city (“To live again? No, no, don’t ... not good! And the people are disgusting to me, and the house is disgusting to me, and the walls are disgusting!”).

This unbearable situation is joined by a constant and hopeless alienation in relation to the outside world, which is so not characteristic of her soul, loving and striving for freedom (“Why don’t people fly like birds? You know, sometimes it seems to me that I'm a bird. When you're standing on a mountain, you're drawn to an etet. That's how it would run up, raise its hands and fly ... "), the only thing that is for her a breath of happiness is love for Boris, and that she considers it a grave sin, which, according to her ideas, should be followed by a cruel punishment.

Katerina is a woman with a strong character, but meanwhile even she cannot resist the “kingdom of petty tyrants and despots”.

The mother-in-law (Boar) is a rough, domineering, despotic, ignorant nature, she is closed to everything beautiful. Of all the actors, Marfa Ignatievna exerts the strongest pressure on Katerina. The heroine herself admits: “If it weren’t for my mother-in-law! .. She crushed me ... she made me sick of the house: the walls are even disgusting.” Kabanikha constantly accuses Katerina of almost all mortal sins, reproaches and finds fault with her with or without reason. But Kabanikha has no moral right to mock and condemn Katerina, because the inner qualities of her son’s wife, in their depth and purity, cannot be compared with the coarsened, callous, low soul of Marfa Ignatievna, and meanwhile Kabanikha is one of those through whose fault Katerina comes to thoughts of suicide. After the death of the main character, Kuligin says: “... the soul is now not yours: it is before a judge who is more merciful than you.” Katerina cannot come to terms with the oppressive, oppressive atmosphere that prevails in Kalinovo. Her soul strives for freedom at any cost, she says, “whatever I want, I’ll do it,” “I’ll leave, and I was like that.” With her marriage, Katerina's life turned into a living hell, this existence in which there are no joyful moments, and even love for Boris does not relieve her of longing.

In this "dark kingdom" everything is alien to her, everything oppresses her. She, according to the customs of that time, married not of her own free will and to an ugly man whom she would never love. Katerina soon realized how weak and pitiful her husband was, he himself could not resist his mother, Kabanikha, and, naturally, was not able to protect Katerina from constant attacks from her mother-in-law. The main character tries to convince herself and Varvara that she loves her husband, but nevertheless later confesses to her husband's sister: "I feel sorry for him very much." Pity is the only feeling she has for her husband. Katerina herself perfectly understands that she will never love her husband, and the words she uttered when her husband left (“how I would love you”) are words of despair. Katerina was already possessed by another feeling - love for Boris, and her attempt to grab hold of her husband in order to prevent trouble, a thunderstorm, the approach of which she feels, is futile and useless. Tisha does not listen to her, he stands next to his wife, but in his dreams he is already far from her - his thoughts are about drinking and walking outside Kalinov, he himself says to his wife: “I can’t figure you out, Katya!” Yes, where should he “take it apart”! The inner world of Katerina is too complicated and incomprehensible for people like Kabanov. Not only Tikhon, but also his sister says to Katerina: “I don’t understand what you are saying.”

In the "dark kingdom" there is not a single person whose spiritual qualities would be equal to Katerina's, and even Boris, a hero singled out by a woman from the whole crowd, is not worthy of Katerina. Her love is a turbulent river, his is a small stream that is about to dry up. Boris is only going to take a walk with Katerina during Tikhon's departure, and then ... then we'll see. He doesn’t care too much what the hobby will turn out for Katerina, even Kudryash’s warning does not stop Boris: “You want to completely ruin her.” On the last date, he says to Katerina: “Who knew that it was for our love to suffer so much with you,” because at the first meeting the woman told him: “I ruined, ruined, ruined.”

The reasons that prompted Katerina to commit suicide are hidden not only (and even not so much) in the society surrounding her, but in herself. Her soul is a gem and foreign particles cannot invade her. She cannot, like Varvara, act according to the principle “if only everything was sewn and covered”, she cannot live keeping such a terrible secret in herself, and even a confession in front of everyone does not bring her relief, she understands that she will never atone for her guilt before himself and can't deal with it. She embarked on the path of sin, but will not aggravate it by lying to herself and everyone, and understands that the only deliverance from her mental anguish is death. Katerina asks Boris to take her to Siberia, but even if she runs away from this society, she is not destined to hide from herself, from remorse. To some extent, perhaps, Boris also understands this and says that “there is only one thing we need to ask God for her to die as soon as possible, so that she does not suffer for a long time!” One of Katerina’s problems is that “she doesn’t know how to deceive, she can’t hide anything.” She cannot deceive or hide from herself, much less from others. Katerina is constantly tormented by the consciousness of her sinfulness.

Translated from Greek, the name Catherine means “always pure”, and our heroine, of course, always strives for spiritual purity. She is alien to any kind of lie and untruth, even when she finds herself in such a degraded society, she does not change her inner ideal, she does not want to become the same as many people of that circle. Katerina does not absorb dirt, she can be compared to a lotus flower that grows in a swamp, but, in spite of everything, blooms with unique snow-white flowers. Katerina does not live up to the lush flowering, her half-blossomed flower withered, but no toxic substances penetrated into it, he died innocent.

Katerina's protest in the drama "Thunderstorm"

A.N. Ostrovsky, the author of numerous plays about the merchants, the creator of the repertoire for the Russian national theater, is rightfully considered a "singer of merchant life." And he sits, sculpted by the chisel of the sculptor Andreev, at the entrance to the Maly Theater, and reminds us of the past, of the dark, funny and terrible world of his many heroes: the Glumovs, the Bolshovs, the Podkhalyuzins, the Wilds and the Boars. The image of the world of Moscow and provincial merchants, with the light hand of Dobrolyubov called the "dark kingdom", became the main theme of Ostrovsky's work. The drama The Thunderstorm, which was published in 1860, is no exception. The plot of the play is simple and typical of that environment and era: a young married woman, Katerina Kabanova, did not find a response to her feelings in her husband, fell in love with another person. Tormented by remorse and not wanting to accept the morality of the "dark kingdom" ("Do whatever you want, as long as everything is covered and covered"), she confesses her act publicly in the church. After this confession, her life becomes so unbearable that she commits suicide. The image of Katerina is the most striking image in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm". Dobrolyubov, analyzing in detail the image of Katerina, called her "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." Katerina's life in her parents' house proceeded well and carelessly. Here she felt at ease. Katerina lived easily, carefree, joyfully. She loved her garden very much, in which she so often walked and admired the flowers. Later, telling Varvara about her life in her home, she says: “I lived, didn’t grieve about anything, like a bird in the wild. and I do." Katerina differs from all representatives of the "dark kingdom" in the depth of her feelings, honesty, truthfulness, courage, determination. Being brought up in a good family, she retained all the beautiful features of the Russian character. This is a pure, sincere, hot nature, an open soul that does not know how to deceive. “I don’t know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything,” she says to Varvara, who claims that everything in their house is based on deception. The same Varvara calls our heroine some kind of "tricky", "wonderful". Katerina is a strong, determined, strong-willed person. From childhood she was capable of bold deeds. Telling Varvara about herself and emphasizing her hot nature, she says: "I was born so hot!" Katerina was very fond of nature, its beauty, Russian songs. Therefore, her speech - emotional, enthusiastic, musical, melodious - is imbued with high poetry and sometimes reminds us of a folk song. Growing up in her own home, our heroine adopted all the centuries-old traditions of her family: obedience to elders, religiosity, obedience to customs. Katerina, who did not study anywhere, loved to listen to the stories of wanderers and pilgrims and perceived all their religious prejudices that poisoned her young life, forcing Katerina to perceive love for Boris as a terrible sin, from which she tries and cannot get away. Once in a new family, where everything is under the rule of a cruel, harsh, rude, despotic Kabanikh, Katerina does not find a sympathetic attitude towards herself. Dreamy, honest, sincere, friendly to people, Katerina takes the oppressive atmosphere of this house especially hard. Gradually, life in the house of Kabanikha, which constantly offends the human dignity of Katerina, becomes unbearable for the young woman. In her soul, a dull protest against the "dark kingdom" begins to emerge, which did not give her happiness, freedom and independence. This process develops... Katerina commits suicide. Thus, she proved her rightness, a moral victory over the "dark kingdom". Dobrolyubov in his article, assessing the image of Katerina, wrote: "This is the true strength of character, which in any case can be relied upon! This is the height to which our national life reaches in its development!" The fact that Katerina's act was typical of her time is also confirmed by the fact that a similar incident occurred in Kostroma in the Klykov family of merchants. And long after that, the actors playing the main roles in the play made up in such a way that they could be seen to resemble the Klykovs.