The role of minor characters in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm. Essay on the topic “The role of minor characters in the drama Thunderstorm
Image tragic fate talented
Russian person. System of images in the story
"The Stupid Artist"
I can’t take it as a fact, but I take it
something about the psyche, character analysis.
N.S. Leskov
Objective of the lesson:
develop oral speech students; analyze the text of the work and the images of the characters.
Lesson equipment:
story text,
epigraph;
illustrations for “The Stupid Artist”, made by M. Dobuzhinsky, I. Glazunov.
Methodical techniques:
conversation on issues homework,
working with text,
commented reading;
analytical conversation.
1. Analytical conversation.
PROGRESS OF THE LESSON
Which artistic media allow the author to better understand the psychology and actions of the characters
"Stupid artist"?
(Object details, speech and portrait characteristics).
What is the role of the portrait of the characters in The Stupid Artist?
Portraiture allows N.S. Leskov to better understand and convey the psychology of the heroes of “Tupeyny”
artist" because between appearance of a person and his inner essence usually is
a certain connection.
What is the meaning of the image of Lyubov Onisimovna?
Lyubov Onisimovna is the narrator in “The Stupid Artist.” All events reflected in the work
appear before readers through the perception of this heroine.
How does N.S. Leskov draw the main character of “The Stupid Artist”?
“...a tall, dry, but very slender old lady. Lyubov Onisimovna was not yet very old, but as white as a harrier;
her facial features were thin and gentle, and her high figure was completely straight and surprisingly well-built, like that of a young woman
girls... She was infinitely honest, meek and sentimental.” This characteristic given by Leskov
the heroine at the beginning of the work, immediately attracts the reader to the image of the narrator. And this is not just like that.
The reader sympathizes with the heroine and her lover, believes everything she says, although they are wary
the words that Lyubov Onisimovna “loved the tragic in life and... Sometimes she drank.” Such people are not always
objective in assessing events. They do not allow any halftones, so everyone with whom fate brings Love
Onisimovna are clearly divided into positive and negative. But she wasn't always like this.
At eighteen, Lyubov Onisimovna “was not only in the bloom of her virgin beauty, but also in her very
interesting moment development of her multifaceted talent: she “sang in choirs,” danced “the first
pa in “The Chinese Gardener” and, feeling a calling to tragedy, “knew all the roles by sight.”
What groups can the heroes of “The Stupid Artist” be divided into?
As in folklore works, which tells the story of lovers who go through a series of trials,
standing in the way of their love, in “The Stupid Artist” all the characters are divided into groups: the first includes
Arkady Ilyich and Lyubov Onisimovna, to the second - the Kamensky brothers, and to the third group - episodic
characters of the story. And all these heroes are divided into negative and positive (“good” and “evil”).
All goodies stories have speaking names: the name Love comes from Old Church Slavonic
a word meaning love. Arkady (from the Greek words “arkados” and “arkas” is a resident of Arcadia. Arcadia is
happy, idyllic country of shepherds and shepherdesses). The name Arkady symbolizes active, good and
brave start. All these qualities are inherent in the main character of “The Stupid Artist”. The name Drosida seems
strange to readers, but Leskov also introduces it into the work for a reason. Drosida (in translation from Greek - martyr),
accepted martyrdom for Christ. In the story “The Stupid Artist” Drosida ended up in a cattle station
yard, having suffered for love.
All negative characters do not have names or surnames.
Why?
Why does Leskov mention the surname? negative heroes- Kamensky brothers?
We can only guess about the names of the Kamensky brothers. And it doesn't matter. Mention of the Count's surname
and his brother is necessary for Leskov only to give some connection with historical events on
Orlovschina.
What is the role episodic characters story?
Episodic characters, like the main ones, are also divided into “good” and “evil”. To the episodic characters of the story
include the cowgirl Drosida, the priest and priest, and the inn janitor. It becomes paradoxical
betrayal of the priest, from the story the reader knows that “the count himself did not believe in God, but spiritual
couldn't stand it; and once at Easter the priests of Boris and Gleb with a cross were hunted down by greyhounds.”
Why did the priest betray the lovers? Could he have acted differently, or was he in a hopeless situation?
Is it possible to justify the betrayal of a priest?
“The motley old woman” Drosida, “elderly, tall, all in blue motley clothes,” helped Lyubov Onisimovna
cope with “psychosis” and survive scary days separation from your loved one. A simple cowgirl turns out to be more
“human” rather than a man of God.
2. Checking homework. A table compiled by a student is checked through a graph projector.
(commented reading and discussion of points comparative characteristics heroes of "Tupeiny"
artist").
Table.
Arkady
Count Kamensky.
“...and he was a man with ideas, in a word, an artist.”
“...he himself is more beautiful than any handsome man, because he was tall
moderate, but slender, it’s impossible to say, the nose is thin and
proud, and his eyes are angelic, kind, and his thick crest is beautiful with
his head hung over his eyes, so that he looked as if from behind
foggy cloud."
“everyone liked it”
“Why I decided - only my chest and the background knows.”
“There is no conspiracy on me, but there is a meaning in me from God: as long as you hand
with a pistol he began to raise it to shoot at me, I would have
I cut your entire throat with a razor.”
“...you should be afraid of him when he shaves with a razor.”
“...was so terribly bad,
through your constant anger,
that for all animals at once
resembled."
“And in natureto the count, to the big
his annoyance was precisely what was missing
all the more important and "military"
imagination."
“The covenant of chastity could be violated
only “himself”, the one who
set."
“...quiet, very quiet, as if
having calmed down. - He always has this
“...do you agree to die if we don’t leave?”
“take me to be tormented, but she is not guilty of anything: I force her
sped away."
“...and I feel only respect for you.”
happened before the big one
cruelty."
“...I will open the path of honor for you, I
I don't want you to be lower than that
like yourself with the noble
put it in spirit."
What technique does Leskov use when describing the appearance of Arkady and Count Kamensky? (Antithesis -
opposition).
Do you think Count Kamensky is a complete villain?
Only a villain could have “torment such that it is better a hundred times for the one who is destined for death. And the rack and
string, and they hid their heads and turned them upside down: all this happened. State punishment after this is already for
nothing was set. There were secret cellars under the entire house, where people were alive in chains, like bears,
sat. It used to happen that when you were walking past, you could sometimes hear chains rattling and people in chains groaning...
Others, even with bears, were chained, so that the bear could lift it only half an inch with its paw.”
But Count Kamensky cannot be considered a complete villain, since he acted differently with Arkady,
"opening up the path of honor for him." After the punishment, the count called Arkady to him and said: “I will send a letter so that you
Now they've sent you straight to war, and you won't serve in ordinary soldiers, and you will be a regimental sergeant and
show your courage. Then it is not my will that is over you, but the king’s.”
For three years Arkady “fought and served the sovereign and shed his blood more than once, and came out (to him) for that
officer rank and noble title." Why not a fairy tale hero?
But this fairy tale doesn't have happy ending. Arkady did not have to appear before the villainous count in orders and
crosses, he did not have the chance to ransom Lyubov Onisimovna and marry her “before the throne of the Most High
Creator." Arkady went through fire and water, and was killed treacherously: stabbed to death by an inn janitor at night.
What is the significance of the episode of Arkady's funeral?
Serfs of Count Kamensky went to see how " copper pipes"played at Arkady's funeral: "himself
The governor was at the funeral! Why! The officer, his deacon and priest “Bolyarin” Arkady at mass
they called it and how they lowered the coffin, the soldiers fired empty charges from their guns.” But Arkady's wake
have been going on for many years. For many years, Lyubov Onisimovna’s heart “burns like coal, and there is no source,” and she has to
for an aged nanny to get out of bed at night and pour this coal from the “little bottle.”
What mood will the ending of The Stupid Artist permeate? Feels melancholy, sadness, hopelessness
reader at the end of the story, especially since the story ends with the words: “More terrible and
I have never seen a soul-rending funeral in my entire life.”
What's the mood here?
“The Thunderstorm” is a play by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky in five acts, written in 1859, in an atmosphere of pre-reform social upsurge. After the premiere of the play on the stage of the Moscow Maly Theater, many people followed the play critical reviews. Minor characters in this play play an important role. The development of the conflict would have been impossible without Feklushi, Varvara, Kuligin and others.
Most of minor characters I remember Feklusha - the wanderer (a person going on pilgrimage on foot.
Ostrovsky clearly has a reduced meaning). Feklusha didn’t walk far, but she heard a lot. In the city of Kalinov, she is the main source of information. Feklusha convinces that Kalinov is the promised land, and propagandizes that beyond Kalinov is hell. In her understanding, the locomotive is a fiery serpent, talking about the lands where people with dog voices live. She convinces that life in Kalinov is the most wonderful. Her stories are an object of trade, for which she is honored, treated, and supplied with what she needs. Besides this
it helps “tyrants” keep people in constant fear.
One cannot help but pay attention to Kuligin, a self-taught watchmaker who is looking for a perpetual motion machine - as can be seen from the first act of the play, Kuligin is well educated, he read Lomonosov and Derzhavin.
However, his knowledge is archaic, which emphasizes his connection with Kalinov. This is a character from that world that has already left. Kuligin also expresses in the play author's position. Condemnation of the “dark kingdom” was put into his mouth. It is he who says that in Kalinov cruel morals that the one who has the money rules the city.
Another important character in "The Thunderstorm" is the tyrant Dikoy - a rich merchant, one of the most respected people in the city. He realizes his power over people and complete hopelessness, and therefore does what he wants. But Dikoy only attacks people weaker than himself, those who cannot fight back like that. Dikoy and Kabanikha stick together, because she is the only one who can understand him.
I would especially like to highlight Varvara, Tikhon’s sister and Katerina’s constant companion. Her main life principle- Do whatever you want, as long as everything is covered. She wants to try everything before she gets married. For her, lying is the norm. She says that she herself was not a liar, but learned when it became necessary. The barbarians adapted to the “dark kingdom, to its laws and rules.
Besides this, speaking about the role minor characters in the play one cannot help but mention Kudryash, Dikiy’s clerk. This character says that girls can hang out with guys as much as they want, but women should stay locked up. This conviction is so strong in him that when he learned about Boris’s love for Katerina, he says that this matter must be stopped.
The minor characters in Ostrovsky's Thunderstorm not only form the background against which Katerina's tragedy unfolds, but also describe the life and characters of that time. Each character in this play helps the author to convey as accurately as possible the setting of the “dark kingdom”.
Updated: 2015-09-23
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Lesson 5. Sharp feeling crisis of civilization
in the story by I. A. Bunin “Mr. from San Francisco”
Objective of the lesson: reveal the philosophical content of Bunin's story.
Methodical techniques: analytical reading.
Lesson progress
I. Teacher's word
The First World War was already underway, and there was a crisis of civilization. Bunin addressed current problems, but not directly related to Russia, to current Russian reality. In the spring of 1910, I. A. Bunin visited France, Algeria, and Capri. In December 1910 - spring 1911. I was in Egypt and Ceylon. In the spring of 1912 he again went to Capri, and in the summer of the following year he visited Trebizond, Constantinople, Bucharest and other European cities. From December 1913 he spent six months in Capri. The impressions from these travels were reflected in the stories and stories that made up the collections “Sukhodol” (1912), “John the Weeper” (1913), “The Cup of Life” (1915), “The Master from San Francisco” (1916).
The story “The Gentleman from San Francisco” (originally titled “Death on Capri”) continued the tradition of L. N. Tolstoy, who depicted illness and death as the most important events that reveal the true value of an individual (“Polikushka”, 1863; “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, 1886; “Master and Worker”, 1895). Along with the philosophical line, Bunin’s story developed social issues related to a critical attitude towards the lack of spirituality of bourgeois society, towards the rise of technical progress to the detriment of internal improvement.
Bunin does not accept bourgeois civilization as a whole. The pathos of the story lies in the feeling of the inevitability of the death of this world.
Plot is based on a description of an accident that unexpectedly interrupted the well-established life and plans of the hero, whose name “no one remembered.” He is one of those who, until the age of fifty-eight, “worked tirelessly” to become like the rich people “whom he once took as a model.”
II. Conversation based on the story
What images in the story have symbolic meaning?
(Firstly, the symbol of society is an ocean steamer with the significant name “Atlantis”, on which a nameless millionaire is sailing to Europe. Atlantis is a sunken legendary, mythical continent, a symbol of a lost civilization that could not resist the onslaught of the elements. Associations also arise with those who died in 19I2 year "Titanic". "The ocean that walked behind the walls" of the ship is a symbol of the elements, nature, opposing civilization.
The image of the captain, “a red-haired man of monstrous size and bulk, similar... to a huge idol and very rarely appearing in public from his mysterious chambers,” is also symbolic. The image of the title character is symbolic (reference: the title character is the one whose name is in the title of the work; he may not be the main character). The gentleman from San Francisco is the personification of a man of bourgeois civilization.)
To more clearly imagine the nature of the relationship between “Atlantis” and the ocean, you can use a “cinematic” technique: the “camera” first glides along the floors of the ship, demonstrating the rich decoration, details emphasizing the luxury, solidity, reliability of “Atlantis”, and then gradually “sails away” showing the enormity of the ship as a whole; moving further, the “camera” moves further away from the steamer until it becomes like a nutshell in a huge raging ocean that fills the entire space. (Let us remember the final scene of the movie “Solaris”, where the seemingly acquired father’s house turns out to be only imaginary, given to the hero by the power of the Ocean. If possible, you can show these shots in class).
What is the significance of the main setting of the story?
(The main action of the story takes place on a huge steamship, the famous Atlantis. The limited plot space allows us to focus on the mechanism of functioning of bourgeois civilization. It appears as a society divided into upper “floors” and “basements.” Upstairs, life goes on as in a “hotel with everyone amenities”, measuredly, calmly and idlely. There are “many” “passengers” who live “safely”, but there are much more - “a great multitude” - of those who work for them “in the cooks’, sculleries” and in the “underwater womb” - at the “gigantic fireboxes.”)
What technique does Bunin use to depict the division of society?
(The division has the character of an antithesis: relaxation, carefreeness, dancing and work, unbearable tension are opposed"; "the radiance... of the palace" and "the dark and sultry depths of the underworld"; "gentlemen" in tailcoats and tuxedos, ladies in "rich", " “delightful” “toilets” and “drenched in acrid, dirty sweat and naked to the waist, purple from the flames.” A picture of heaven and hell is gradually being built.)
How do “tops” and “bottoms” relate to each other?
(They are strangely connected with each other. “Good money” helps to get to the top, and they “fed and watered” those who, like “the gentleman from San Francisco,” were “quite generous” to people from the “underworld.” They served him from morning to evening, preventing his slightest desire, guarding his cleanliness and peace, carrying his things...".
Why is the main character deprived of a name?
(The hero is simply called “master,” because that is precisely his essence. At least he considers himself a master and revels in his position. He can afford to go “just for the sake of entertainment” “to the Old World for two whole years” can enjoy all the benefits guaranteed by his status, believes “in the care of all those who fed and watered him, served him from morning to evening, prevented his slightest desire,” can contemptuously throw out to the ragamuffins through clenched teeth: “Go away! Via! ("Away!").)
(Describing the gentleman’s appearance, Bunin uses epithets that emphasize his wealth and his unnaturalness: “silver mustache”, “golden fillings” of teeth, “strong bald head”, compared to “old ivory”. There is nothing spiritual about the gentleman, his goal is becoming rich and reaping the benefits of this wealth came true, but this did not make him happier. The description of the gentleman from San Francisco is constantly accompanied by the author's irony.)
When does the hero begin to change and lose his self-confidence?
(“The gentleman” changes only in the face of death, it is no longer the gentleman from San Francisco that begins to appear in him - he was no longer there - but someone else.” Death makes him human: “his features began to become thinner, brighter... .” “Deceased”, “deceased”, “dead” - this is what the author now calls the hero. The attitude of those around him changes sharply: the corpse must be removed from the hotel so as not to spoil the mood of other guests, they cannot provide a coffin - only a box from - under soda (“soda” is also one of the signs of civilization), the servants, who were in awe of the living, mockingly laugh at the dead. At the end of the story, the “body of a dead old man from San Francisco” is mentioned, which returns “home, to the grave, to the shores of the New World. ", in the black hold. The power of the "master" turned out to be illusory.)
How is society shown in the story?
(The steamship - the latest technology - is a model human society. Its holds and decks are the layers of this society. On the upper floors of the ship, which looks like “a huge hotel with all the amenities,” the life of the rich, who have achieved complete “well-being,” flows smoothly. This life is indicated by a long, vaguely personal sentence, occupying almost a page: “we got up early, ... drank coffee, chocolate, cocoa, ... sat in baths, stimulating appetite and good health, performed daily toilets and went to the first breakfast.. ." These proposals emphasize the impersonality and lack of individuality of those who consider themselves masters of life. Everything they do is unnatural: entertainment is needed only to artificially stimulate appetite. “Travelers” do not hear the evil howl of a siren, foreshadowing death - it is drowned out by the “sounds of a beautiful string orchestra.”
The ship's passengers represent the nameless “cream” of society: “Among this brilliant crowd there was a certain great rich man, ... there was a famous spanish writer, there was an all-world beauty, there was an elegant couple in love...” The couple pretended to be in love, were “hired by Lloyd to play at love for good money.” This is an artificial swarm, flooded with light, warmth and music. And there is also hell.
The “underwater womb of the steamship” is like hell. There, “gigantic furnaces cackled dully, devouring with their red-hot mouths piles of coal, with a roar they were thrown into them, drenched in caustic, dirty sweat and waist-deep naked people, crimson from the flames." Let us note the alarming coloring and threatening sound of this description.)
How is the conflict between man and nature resolved?
(Society only looks like a well-oiled machine. Nature, seeming like antiquity, a tarantella, serenades of wandering singers and... the love of young Neapolitan women, recalls the illusory nature of life in the “hotel”. It is “huge”, but around it is the “water desert” of the ocean and “cloudy sky.” Man’s eternal fear of the elements is drowned out by the sounds of the “string orchestra.” The siren “constantly calling” from hell, moaning “in mortal anguish” and “furious anger”, reminds of it, but “few others” hear it. they believe in the inviolability of their existence, protected by a “pagan idol” - the commander of the ship. The specificity of the description is combined with symbolism, which allows us to emphasize the philosophical nature of the conflict. The social gap between the rich and the poor is nothing compared to the abyss that separates man from nature and life from. non-existence.)
What is the role of the episodic characters in the story - Lorenzo and the Abruzzese highlanders?
(These characters appear at the end of the story and are in no way connected with its action. Lorenzo is “a tall old boatman, a carefree reveler and a handsome man,” probably the same age as the gentleman from San Francisco. Only a few lines are dedicated to him, but he is given a sonorous name, unlike from the title character. He is famous throughout Italy, more than once he served as a model for many painters. “With a regal demeanor,” he looks around, feeling truly “royal,” enjoying life, “drawing himself with his rags, a clay pipe and a red woolen beret lowered on him.” one ear.” The picturesque poor old man Lorenzo will live forever on the canvases of artists, but the rich old man from San Francisco was erased from life and forgotten before he could die.
The Abruzzese highlanders, like Lorenzo, personify the naturalness and joy of being. They live in harmony, in harmony with the world, with nature: “They walked - and the whole country, joyful, beautiful, sunny, stretched under them: and the rocky humps of the island, which almost all lay at their feet, and that fabulous blue, in which he floated, and the shining morning vapors over the sea to the east, under the dazzling sun...” The goat-skin bagpipes and the wooden foregrip of the Highlanders are contrasted with the “beautiful string orchestra” of the steamship. With their lively, artless music, the mountaineers give praise to the sun, the morning, “the immaculate intercessor of all those who suffer in this evil and wonderful world, and born from her womb in the cave of Bethlehem...” This is it true values life, in contrast to the brilliant, expensive, but artificial, imaginary values of the “masters.”)
What image is a general image of insignificance and perishability earthly wealth and fame?
(This is also an unnamed image, in which one recognizes the once powerful Roman emperor Tiberius, who recent years lived his life in Capri. Many “come to look at the remains of the stone house where he lived.” “Humanity will forever remember him,” but this is the glory of Herostratus: “a man who was unspeakably vile in satisfying his lust and for some reason had power over millions of people, inflicting cruelties on them beyond all measure.” In the word “for some reason” there is an exposure of fictitious power and pride; time puts everything in its place: it gives immortality to the true and plunges the false into oblivion.)
III. Teacher's word
The story gradually develops the theme of the end of the existing world order, the inevitability of the death of a soulless and spiritual civilization. It is contained in the epigraph, which was removed by Bunin only in the last edition in 1951: “Woe to you, Babylon, strong city!” This biblical phrase, reminiscent of Belshazzar's feast before the fall of the Chaldean kingdom, sounds like a harbinger of great disasters to come. The mention in the text of Vesuvius, the eruption of which destroyed Pompeii, reinforces the ominous prediction. An acute sense of the crisis of a civilization doomed to oblivion is coupled with philosophical reflections on life, man, death and immortality.
IV. Analysis of story composition and conflict
Material for teachers
Composition The story has a circular character. The hero's journey begins in San Francisco and ends with a return "home, to the grave, to the shores of the New World." The “middle” of the story - a visit to the “Old World” - in addition to the specific one, also has a generalized meaning. " New Man", returning to history, reassesses his place in the world. The arrival of the heroes in Naples and Capri opens up the opportunity to include in the text the author’s descriptions of a “wonderful,” “joyful, beautiful, sunny” country, the beauty of which “is powerless to express.” human word”, and philosophical digressions due to Italian impressions.
The climax is the scene of “unexpectedly and rudely falling” on the “master” of death in the “smallest, worst, most damp and cold” but least “lower corridor”.
This event, only by coincidence of circumstances, was perceived as a “terrible incident” (“if it weren’t for the German in the reading room” who burst out of there “screaming”, the owner would have been able to “calm down... with hasty assurances that it was so, a trifle..."). The unexpected departure into oblivion in the context of the story is perceived as the highest moment of the collision of the illusory and the true, when nature “roughly” proves its omnipotence. But people continue their “carefree”, crazy existence, quickly returning to peace and quiet.” They cannot be awakened to life not only by the example of one of their contemporaries, but even by the memory of what happened “two thousand years ago” during the time of Tiberius, who lived “on one of the steepest slopes” of Capri, who was the Roman emperor during the life of Jesus Christ.
Conflict The story goes far beyond the scope of a particular case, and therefore its denouement is connected with reflections on the fate of not just one hero, but all past and future passengers of Atlantis. Doomed to a “hard” path of overcoming “darkness, ocean, blizzard”, locked in a “hellish” social machine, humanity is suppressed by the conditions of its earthly life. Only the naive and simple, like children, have access to the joy of joining “the eternal and blissful abodes.” In the story, the image of “two Abruzzese highlanders” appears, baring their heads in front of a plaster statue of the “unvicious intercessor of all those who suffer,” remembering her “blessed son,” who brought the “beautiful” beginning of good into the “evil” world. The master of the earthly world remained the devil, watching “from the rocky gates of two worlds” the actions of the “New Man with an old heart.” What will humanity choose, where will humanity go, will it be able to defeat the evil inclination within itself - this is a question to which the story gives a “suppressing... soul” answer. But the denouement becomes problematic, since the finale affirms the idea of a Man whose “pride” turns him into the third force of the world. A symbol of this is the ship’s path through time and the elements: “The blizzard beat in its rigging and wide-necked pipes, white with snow, but it was steadfast, firm, majestic and terrible.”
Artistic originality The story is associated with the interweaving of epic and lyrical principles. On the one hand, in full accordance with the realistic principles of depicting the hero in his relationships with the environment, on the basis of social and everyday specifics, a type is created, the reminiscent background for which, first of all, is images “ dead souls"(N.V. Gogol. “Dead Souls”, 1842), At the same time, just like in Gogol, thanks to the author’s assessment, expressed in lyrical digressions, the problems deepen, the conflict takes on a philosophical character.
2. Prepare to review the stories, think about their problems and linguistic and figurative features.
Additional material for teachers 1
The melody of death begins to sound latently from the very first pages of the work, gradually becoming the leading motive. At first, death is extremely aestheticized and picturesque: in Monte Carlo, one of the activities of rich idlers is “shooting pigeons, which soar very beautifully and perch over the emerald lawn, against the backdrop of a sea the color of forget-me-nots, and immediately hit the ground with white lumps.” (Bunin is generally characterized by the aestheticization of things that are usually unsightly, which should rather frighten than attract the observer - well, who else but him could write about “slightly powdered, delicate pink pimples near the lips and between the shoulder blades” on the daughter of a gentleman from San Francisco, compare the whites of the eyes of blacks with “flaky hard balls” or call it young man in a narrow tailcoat with long tails “handsome, like a huge leech!”) Then a hint of death appears in a verbal portrait of the crown prince of one of the Asian states, sweet and pleasant in general person, whose mustache, however, “saw like a dead man’s,” and the skin on his face was “as if stretched.” And the people on the ship are choking in “mortal melancholy,” promising evil, and the museums are cold and “deadly pure,” and the ocean is moving with “mourning mountains of silver foam” and hums like a “funeral mass.”
Lesson development By Russian literature XIX century. 10 Class. 1st half of the year. - M.: Vako, 2003. 4. Zolotareva I.V., Mikhailova T.I. Lesson development By Russian literature ...
/ / / The role of minor characters in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”
From the pen of A.N. Ostrovsky published about 60 plays, which glorified the name of the author and made him eternal in the memory of Russian literature. One of the most decisive and frank is the play “”, in which we observe the world of tyrants and their boundless actions, which ultimately lead to tragic consequences.
The action takes place in the most ordinary town of Kalinov. But what happens in it attracts our attention. We, the readers, are observing the suffocating situation in which the residents of Kalinov find themselves. They are exposed to cruel merchants of all-permissible status on a daily basis.
There are quite a lot of minor characters in the play. They help the author reveal the types of relationships between people of that time and reveal the character traits of the main characters. Conventionally, we can divide the characters into pairs that are somewhat similar.
Very similar to each other (Kabanikha) and Dikoy. They are powerful people, no one dares to contradict them. Dikoy dominates the town of Kalinov, and Kabanikha dominates her estate. Both persons treat each other with respect, because they consider themselves similar and the same.
Kabanova's daughter is Katerina's friend. Girls always tell each other secrets. Varvara learned and adapted to life in her mother's house. And her main skill was lying. In her speech, she directly states that it is impossible to live in their family without this. She is similar in habits and character to her mother. Another character is equal to her - Ivan Kudryash. He is lively and playful, he is cocky and boastful. In some ways he reminds us of the Wild One himself. The couple Curly and Varvara end up running away from the city. But will they be able to become different people and free themselves from the principles of tyranny? Only the author knows this.
There are two similar ones in the play men's images. This is Katerina’s husband, Tikhon, and her beloved Boris. Both of them can be considered weak and spineless. could not protect Katerina from the constant oppression of Kabanikha and silently obeyed the will of his mother. But Boris could not take the girl with him to Siberia, and thereby save her from suicide. He was completely dependent on his uncle Wild. Both characters simply do not deserve attention, much less Katerina’s love.
The wanderer Feklusha and also stand in a pair, only these are completely opposite images. Feklusha is an adherent of the “dark kingdom”. She always comes to the defense of tyrants. Kuligin, on the other hand, opposes the images of the Wild One, Kabanikha and other similar persons. It was he who was able to express indictment towards Marfa Kabanova after the death of Katerina.
Thanks to such a variety of minor characters, we see fate against their background main character Katerina, who has no equal in this play. Only she was able to deal an irreparable blow to the “dark kingdom” and express an open protest against cruelty, callousness and lawlessness.
