Kabanova Marfa Ignatievna (Kabanikha) - central heroine plays, mother of Tikhon and Varvara, mother-in-law of Katerina. On the list characters it is said about her: a rich merchant's wife, a widow. In the system of characters in the play, he is the antagonist of the main character, Katerina, a contrasting comparison with whom is of decisive importance for understanding the meaning of the play. The similarity of the heroines can be seen both in their belonging to the world of patriarchal ideas and values, and in the scale and strength of their characters. Both of them are maximalists, they will never reconcile with human weaknesses, do not allow the possibility of any compromise. The religiosity of both also has one similar feature: they both do not believe in forgiveness and do not remember mercy. However, this is where the similarities end, creating the basis for comparison and emphasizing the essentially significant antagonism of the heroines. They are like two poles patriarchal world. Katerina - his poetry, spirituality, impulse, dreaminess, spirit patriarchal way of life in its ideal meaning. Kabanikha is all chained to the earth and earthly affairs and interests, she is a guardian of order and form, defends the way of life in all its petty manifestations, demanding strict execution of ritual and order, not caring in the least about the inner essence of human relations (see her rude response to Katerina’s words that her mother-in-law is like her own mother; all the teachings to her son).
K. in the play is characterized not only by her own speeches and actions, but is also discussed by other characters. For the first time, the wanderer Feklusha speaks about her: “I’m so happy, so, mother, happy, up to my neck! For our failure to leave them even more bounties, and especially to the Kabanovs’ house.” Before this remark is Kuligin’s judgment: “Prudence, sir! He gives money to the poor, but completely eats up his family.” Soon after these preliminary characteristics, K. appears, emerging from vespers, accompanied by her family, whom she constantly nags, finding fault with her son’s imaginary cooling towards her, showing jealous hostility towards his young wife and distrust of her sincere words (“For me, mamma, It’s all the same as your own mother, as you are, and Tikhon loves you”). From this conversation we learn that, in K.’s opinion, proper family order and household structure are based on the fear of the younger ones before the elders; she tells Tikhon about his relationship with his wife: “He won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me. What kind of order will there be in the house?” Thus, if keywords in Katerina’s ideas about a happy and prosperous life in the house, “love” and “will” (see her story about life as a girl), then in K.’s ideas, it is fear and order. This is especially clearly visible in the scene of Tikhon’s departure, when K. forces his son to strictly follow the rules and “order his wife” how to live without him.
K. has no doubts about the moral correctness of the hierarchical relations of patriarchal life, but he no longer has confidence in their inviolability. On the contrary, she feels almost like the last guardian of the correct world order (“This is how the old times come to be... What will happen, how the elders will die, how the light will stand, I don’t know”), and the expectation that with her death chaos will come, gives tragedy to her figure. She does not consider herself a rapist either: “After all, out of love your parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach you good.”
If Katerina already feels in a new way, not like Kalinov, but is not aware of this, then K., on the contrary, still feels quite in the old way, but clearly sees that her world is dying. Of course, this awareness is clothed in completely “Kalinovsky”, medieval forms of common people’s philosophizing, mainly in apocalyptic expectations. All this is revealed by her dialogue with Feklusha, the peculiarity of which is that it characterizes, first of all, K.’s worldview, although Feklusha “pronounces” these thoughts, and K. strengthens herself, wants to assure her interlocutor that they really have “paradise and silence” in their city ", but at the end of the scene her true thoughts are fully revealed in the last two remarks, as if sanctioning Feklushi’s apocalyptic reasoning: “And it will be worse than this, dear,” and in response to the words of the wanderer: “We just wouldn’t live to see this” - K. throws out weightily: “Maybe we’ll live.”
One cannot accept the very common definition of K. as “tyrant.” Tyranny is not the order of the patriarchal world, but the rampant self-will of a powerful person, who also violates in his own way correct order and ritual. K. condemns his godfather Dikiy, a real tyrant (unlike K. herself, who strictly adheres to orders and rules), and treats with contempt his violence and complaints about his family as a sign of weakness. Those around him do not doubt K.’s strength of character (“If only our mistress had been in charge of him, she would have stopped him soon,” notes the maid Glasha in response to Boris, who complains about Dikiy’s rampage). K. herself, no matter how much she punishes the children for disrespect and disobedience, would never even think of complaining to strangers about the disorder in her home. And therefore, for her, Katerina’s public recognition is a terrible blow, which will soon be joined by her son’s open rebellion in public, not to mention the escape from the house of her daughter Varvara. Therefore, in the finale of “The Thunderstorm” there is not only the death of Katerina, but also the downfall of K. Of course, the antagonist tragic heroine does not evoke sympathy.
Such and such a scolder like ours
Savel Prokofich, look again!
A. N. Ostrovsky
Drama by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky “The Thunderstorm” for many years became a textbook work that depicted “ dark kingdom", which suppresses the best human feelings and aspirations, trying to force everyone to live by his rough laws. No free-thinking - unconditional and complete submission to elders. The bearers of this “ideology” are Dikoy and Kabanikha. Internally they are very similar, but there is some external difference in their characters.
The boar is a prude and a hypocrite. Under the guise of piety, she, “like rusting iron,” eats her household members, completely suppressing their will. Kabanikha raised a weak-willed son and wants to control his every step. She hates the very idea that Tikhon can make his own decisions without looking back at his mother. “I would believe you, my friend,” she says to Tikhon, “if I had not seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears what kind of respect for parents from children has now become! If only they remembered how many illnesses mothers suffer from their children.”
Kabanikha not only humiliates the children herself, she teaches Tikhon this too, forcing him to torture his wife. This old woman is suspicious of everything. If she had not been so fierce, Katerina would not have rushed first into the arms of Boris, and then into the Volga. The wild one just pounces on everyone like a chain. Kudryash, however, is sure that “...we don’t have many guys like me, otherwise we would have taught him not to be naughty.” This is absolutely true. Dikoy does not meet adequate resistance, and therefore suppresses everyone. The capital behind him is the basis of his excesses, which is why he behaves this way. For the Wild there is one law - money. With them he determines the “value” of a person. Swearing is a normal state for him. They say about him: “We should look for another scolder like our Savel Prokofich. There’s no way he’ll cut someone off.”
Kabanikha and Dikoy are “pillars of society”, spiritual mentors in the city of Kalinov. They have established unbearable orders, from which one rushes into the Volga, others run wherever they want, and still others become drunkards.
Kabanikha is quite confident that she is right; she alone knows the ultimate truth. That is why he behaves so unceremoniously. She is the enemy of everything new, young, fresh. “That’s how the old man comes out. I don’t even want to go to another house. And if you get up, you’ll spit, but get out quickly. What will happen, how the old people will die, how the light will remain, I don’t know. Well, at least it’s good that I won’t see anything.”
Dikiy has a pathological love of money. In them he sees the basis of his unlimited power over people. Moreover, for him, all means are good in making money: he cheats the townspeople, “he won’t cheat a single one,” he makes up “thousands” from unpaid kopecks, and quite calmly appropriates the inheritance of his nephews. Dikoy is not scrupulous in his choice of funds.
Under the yoke of the Wild and Boars, not only their households groan, but the entire city. “Fat is powerful” opens up for them the unlimited possibility of arbitrariness and tyranny. “The absence of any law, any logic - this is the law and logic of this life,” writes Dobrolyubov about the life of the city of Kalinov, and, consequently, of any other city in Tsarist Russia.
In the play "The Thunderstorm" Ostrovsky gives a true picture of the musty atmosphere provincial town. The reader and viewer get a terrifying impression, but why is the drama still relevant 140 years after its creation? Little has changed in human psychology. Whoever is rich and in power is right, unfortunately, to this day.
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Very often, extremely negative images appear in literature. At a time when the opinion of duality is generally expressed human soul and nature and the presence of both the positive and negative sides of the personality, the master artistic word Every now and then they deliberately endow their characters with only bad character traits, excluding even the slightest manifestations positive influence hero's activities.
In the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky, one of these characters is Kabanikha.
Personality characteristics of Kabanikha
Full name The heroine is Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, but in the text she is most often called Kabanikha. Marfa Ignatievna is on friendly terms with Dikiy, and he is also her godfather. It is worth noting that such a friendship is not surprising, because both characters are very similar in character.
Dear readers! On our website you can familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the city of Kalinov in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”.
Kabanikha is a wealthy merchant's wife. Her position in society implied a tolerant attitude towards others, but in fact her habits were not at all noble. Kabaniha has a firm and unshakable character. She is a cruel and rude woman.
Marfa Ignatievna is too conservative, she is “stuck” in the past tense and lives by the principles and foundations of the past, not realizing that changes have occurred in the world and it is no longer possible to live in the old way. She believes that a person’s wisdom is determined by his age - young people a priori cannot be smart, this is only the prerogative of old people: “Don’t judge your older self! They know more than you."
Kabanikha is sure that children must bow at the feet of their parents, and the husband must “order” his wife all the time. Marfa Ignatievna is very upset when these standards of behavior are not respected and thinks that this is a problem of bad manners younger generation: “They don’t know anything, there’s no order.”
Kabanikha is used to playing to the public - she tries to be a virtuous and noble woman in the eyes of society, although in reality she is not. Marfa Ignatievna often gives alms to the poor, but she does this not at the behest of her heart, but so that everyone thinks that she is a kind and generous woman.
Kabanikha is a very devout woman, but, apparently, her religiosity is also feigned, since in spite of everything, Kabanikha does not adhere to the laws of God and often neglects the basic rules of behavior in relation to other people.
Family and relationship with relatives
The complexity of character is manifested in full force in relation to their relatives. Her family consists of three people - a son, daughter and daughter-in-law. Kabanikha developed extremely contradictory relationships with all of them.
All the difficulties and conflicts in the family are associated with the authoritarian character of the mother, her conservatism and special love for scandals.
We invite thoughtful readers to familiarize themselves with the characterization of Katerina in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm.”
Kabanikha’s son, Tikhon, is already an adult at the time of the story; he could be completely independent, but his mother does not give him the opportunity to do this. The woman takes care of her son all the time and tries to control his every step, citing Tikhon’s incompetence. As a result
Kabanikha began not just to give advice to her son, but to literally live in his place: “he eats, he doesn’t let him pass.”
Marfa Ignatievna constantly interferes in the relationship between her son and daughter-in-law and sometimes orders her son’s wife to be beaten, because this is the order: “But I love her, I’m sorry to lay a finger on her. I beat him a little, and even that was my mother’s orders.”
Tikhon, despite his age and conviction that such rude actions towards his wife are not necessary, still unquestioningly carries out the will of his mother.
To Kabanikha’s young daughter-in-law Katerina best attitude– she is always dissatisfied with her and will always find something to reproach the young girl with. The reason for this attitude lies not in Katerina’s dishonest attitude towards Kabanikha or not in Katerina’s failure to fulfill her duties, but in Kabanikha’s habit of commanding everyone and the jealousy that arose towards her daughter-in-law.
Kabanikha cannot accept the adulthood of her son; she is offended that Tikhon gives preference to his wife rather than his mother.
Kabanikha’s daughter Varvara is not so straightforward; she has long realized that she will never be able to defend her position: her mother, who at her core was a domestic tyrant, simply could not stand anything like that and did not allow any liberties. The girl found only one way out of this situation - to deceive her mother. Varvara always said what Marfa Ignatievna wanted to hear, but acted as she wanted: “Our whole house rests on this. And I was not a liar, but I learned when it became necessary.”
Such actions within the family on the part of Kabanikha become the cause of many tragedies. Her daughter Varvara runs away from home, never to appear here again - for the girl, escape became the only salvation from her mother’s domestic tyranny. Tikhon and Katerina, who did not even think about how it was possible to change their situation, but simply took a wait-and-see attitude and silently endured insults and humiliation from their mother, could not achieve success.
Katerina, having cheated on her husband in order to feel happy, under the pressure of morality and shame, admits her act, and then, but under the pressure of Kabanikha’s humiliation, commits suicide. Only after Katerina’s death did Tikhon find the strength to verbally rebuff his mother and reproach her for unlawful actions towards her loved ones: “You ruined her! You! You!". However, due to Tikhon’s soft character, it is unlikely that he will be able to defend his position to the end.
Kabanikha is very rich. This can be judged because her trade affairs extend beyond Kalinov (on her instructions, Tikhon traveled to Moscow), and that Dikoy respects her. But the affairs of Kabanikha are of little interest to the playwright: she is assigned a different role in the play. If Dikiy shows the brute force of tyranny, then Kabanikha is the exponent of the ideas and principles of the “dark kingdom”. She understands that money alone does not give power, another indispensable condition is the obedience of those who do not have money. And she sees her main concern in suppressing any possibility of disobedience. She “eats” her family in order to kill their will, any ability to resist. With Jesuitical sophistication, she exhausts the soul from them, insults their human dignity with unfounded suspicions. She skillfully uses various techniques to assert her will.
Kabanikha can speak in a friendly and instructive way (“I know, I know that you don’t like my words, but what can I do, I’m not a stranger to you, my heart aches for you”), and hypocritically become poor (“Mother is old , stupid; well, you, young people, smart, should not exact from us, fools”), and command imperiously (“Look, remember! Cut your nose!”, “Bow at your feet!”). Kabanikha is trying to show her religiosity. Words: “Oh, a grave sin! How long will it take to sin!”, “Only one sin!” - constantly accompany her speech. She supports superstitions and prejudices and strictly observes ancient customs. It is not known whether Kabanikha believes in Feklushi’s absurd fairy tales and the signs of the townspeople; she herself says nothing of the kind. But it resolutely suppresses any manifestations of free thought. She condemns Kuligin’s statements against prejudices and superstitions, and she supports the superstitious prophecies of the townspeople that “this storm will not pass in vain” and edifyingly tells her son: “Don’t judge your older self! They know more than you. Old people have signs for everything. old man he won’t say a word to the wind.” She sees both religion and ancient customs as the main goal: to push a person away, to keep him in eternal fear. She understands that only fear can keep people in subjection and prolong the shaky reign of tyrants. In response to Tikhon’s words, why should his wife be afraid of him, Kabanova exclaims in horror: “Why, why be afraid! How, why be afraid! Are you crazy, or what? He won’t be afraid of you, and he won’t be afraid of me either. What kind of order will there be in the house? After all, you, tea, live with her in law. Ali, do you think the law means nothing?” She defends the law according to which the weak should fear the strong, according to which a person should not have his own will. As a faithful guardian of this order, she teaches her household in full view of the crowd of townspeople. After Katerina’s confession, she loudly and triumphantly says to Tikhon: “What, son! Where will the will lead? I spoke, but you didn’t want to listen. That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”
In Kabanikha’s son, Tikhon, we see the living embodiment of the goal that the rulers of the “dark kingdom” strive for. They would be completely calm if they could make all people just as downtrodden and weak-willed. Thanks to the efforts of “mama,” Tikhon is so saturated with fear and humility that he does not even dare to think about living with his own mind and his own will. “Yes, Mama, I don’t want to live by my own will. Where can I live by my own will!” - he assures his mother.
But Tikhon is by nature a good person. He is kind, sympathetic, sincerely loves and pities Katerina, and is alien to any selfish aspirations. But everything human is suppressed in him by the despotism of his mother, he becomes a submissive executor of her will. However, Katerina’s tragedy forces even the submissive Tikhon to raise his voice of protest. If Tikhon’s first words in the play are: “How can I, Mama, disobey you!”, then at the end of it he desperately throws a passionate, angry accusation into his mother’s face: “You ruined her! You! You!"
The unbearable life under the yoke of Kabanikha, the longing for freedom, the desire for love and devotion - all this, which did not find a response in Tikhon, was the reason for the emergence of Katerina’s feelings for Boris. Boris is not like the other inhabitants of Kalinov. He is educated and seems to be from another world. Like Katerina, he is also oppressed, and this gives the young woman hope of finding in him a kindred spirit who can respond to her ardent feelings. But Katerina was bitterly deceived in Boris. Boris only outwardly seems better than Tikhon, but in reality he is worse than him. Like Tikhon, Boris does not have his own will and obeys without complaint.
As is known, in classical works There are several types of heroes in fairy tales. This article will focus on the antagonist-protagonist pair. This opposition will be examined using the example of Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm”. The main character of this play, in other words, the protagonist is a young girl Katerina Kabanova. She is opposed, that is, is an antagonist, by Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Using the example of comparisons and analysis of actions, we will give more full description Boars in the play "The Thunderstorm".
First, let's look at the list of characters: Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha) - an old merchant's wife, a widow. Her husband died, so the woman had to raise two children alone, manage the household and take care of business. Agree, this is quite difficult at the present time. Despite the fact that the merchant's nickname is indicated in parentheses, the author never calls her that. The text contains remarks from Kabanova, not Kabanikha. With this technique, the playwright wanted to emphasize the fact that people call a woman this way among themselves, but they personally address her with respect.
That is, in fact, the residents of Kalinov do not like this man, but they are afraid of him.
Initially, the reader learns about Marfa Ignatievna from the lips of Kuligin. The self-taught mechanic calls her “a hypocrite who has eaten up everyone at home.” Kudryash only confirms these words. Next, a wanderer, Feklusha, appears on the stage. Her judgment about Kabanikha is exactly the opposite: quote. As a result of this disagreement, additional interest in this character arises. Marfa Ignatievna appears on stage already in the first act, and the reader or viewer is given the opportunity to verify the veracity of Kuligin’s words.
Kabanikha is not happy with the way her son behaves. She teaches him to live, despite the fact that his son is already an adult and has been married for a long time. Marfa Ignatievna shows herself as a grumpy, domineering woman. Her daughter-in-law Katerina behaves differently. In general, it is quite interesting to trace the similarities and differences of these characters throughout the play.
In theory, both Kabanikha and Katerina should love Tikhon. For one he is a son, for another he is a husband. However, neither Katya nor Marfa Ignatievna approached Tikhon true love don't feed. Katya feels sorry for her husband, but does not love him. And Kabanikha treats him as a guinea pig, as a creature on whom you can take out your aggression and test methods of manipulation, while hiding behind motherly love. Everyone knows that the most important thing for every mother is the happiness of her child. But Marfa Kabanova in “The Thunderstorm” is not at all interested in Tikhon’s opinion. Through years of tyranny and dictatorship, she was able to teach her son that the lack of his own point of view is quite normal. Even observing how carefully and, in some moments, tenderly Tikhon treats Katerina, Kabanikha always tries to destroy their relationship.
Many critics argued about the strength or weakness of Katerina’s character, but no one doubted the strength of Kabanikha’s character.
This is for real cruel man who tries to subjugate those around him. She would like to rule the state, but she has to waste her “talents” on her family and provincial town. Varvara, the daughter of Marfa Kabanova, chose pretense and lies as a way of coexistence with her oppressive mother. Katerina, on the contrary, resolutely opposes her mother-in-law. They seemed to take two positions, truth and lie, defending them. And in their conversations that Kabanikha should not categorically blame Katya for mistakes and various sins, the struggle of light and darkness, truth and “ dark kingdom", whose representative is Kabanikha.
Katerina and Kabanikha are Orthodox Christians. But their faith is completely different. For Katerina, faith that comes from within is much more important. For her, the place of prayer is not important. The girl is devout, she sees the presence of God throughout the world, and not just in the church building. Marfa Ignatievna’s religiosity can be called external. For her, rituals and strict adherence to rules are important. But behind all this obsession with practical manipulations, faith itself disappears. Also, for Kabanikha it turns out to be important to observe and maintain old traditions, despite the fact that many of them are already outdated: “They won’t be afraid of you, and even less so of me. What kind of order will there be in the house? After all, you, tea, live with her in law. Ali, do you think the law means nothing? Yes, if you hold such stupid thoughts in your head, you should at least not talk in front of her, in front of your sister, in front of the girl.” A characterization of Kabanikha in Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm” is impossible without mentioning her almost manic attention to detail. Tikhon, the son of Kabanova Sr., is a drunkard, his daughter Varvara is lying, hanging out with whoever she wants, and is about to run away from home, disgracing the family. And Marfa Ignatievna is worried that they come to the door without bowing, not as their great-grandfathers taught. Her behavior is reminiscent of the behavior of the priestesses of a dying cult, who are trying with all their might to maintain life in it with the help of external paraphernalia.
Katerina Kabanova was a somewhat suspicious girl: in the “prophecies” of the crazy lady she imagined her own fate, and in the thunderstorm the girl saw the punishment of the Lord. Kabanikha is too mercantile and down-to-earth for this. She is closer to the material world, practicality and utilitarianism. Kabanova is not at all afraid of thunder and thunder, she just doesn’t want to get wet. While the residents of Kalinov are talking about the raging elements, Kabanikha grumbles and expresses her dissatisfaction: “Look, what races he has made. There is something to listen to, nothing to say! Now the times have come, some teachers have appeared. If an old man thinks like that, what can we demand from young people!”, “Don’t judge your older self! They know more than you. Old people have signs for everything. An old man won’t say a word to the wind.”
The image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” can be called a kind of generalization, a conglomeration of negative human qualities. It’s hard to call her a woman, a mother, or even a person in general. Of course, she is far from the dummies of the city of Foolov, but her desire to subjugate and rule killed all human qualities in Marfa Ignatievna.
Characteristics of the image of Kabanikha in the play “The Thunderstorm” by Ostrovsky |
