Love is an important part of life for every person - whether it be a rich man or a poor man, a hard worker or a couch potato, an ignoramus or a scientist. Fyodor Dostoevsky in Crime and Punishment teaches us that love can save, even if this love of a harlot to a murderer. In “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev, we see the father’s love for his son and this is a very valuable feeling for them, he is cherished and proud of him. But there are also reverse examples - in Gorky, in The Legend of Larre, love is destructive and dangerous. In “Poor Lisa” by Nikolai Karamzin, the tragic and unhappy love of a peasant woman for a nobleman is described. The playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky also disclosed the theme of love, and he is quite versatile and deeply does this in the play “Thunderstorm”.
In the work we see two parallel love stories. The first couple is Katerina and Boris, whose relationship becomes the plot-forming thread in the play. This alliance does not last long and ultimately brings only grief and disappointment to both heroes, however, there are many things in this story that are worth considering. It all started for several reasons. Ostrovsky describes us Katerina as an honest, open and freedom-loving girl who is capable of real high feelings. Here are a few quotes describing the character of the heroine: “And if I’m very disgraced here, they won’t hold me by any force” “I don't know how to deceive; I can’t hide anything. ” Her lover, Boris, begins this relationship because he feels an outcast in a new place and seeks comfort and understanding for himself. He is unsure of himself, we see this from such quotes: "I understand that all this is our Russian, native, but still I will not get used to it in any way"; “I don’t know the customs here.”
The society perceives the novel of married Katerina and the visiting Boris hostilely, even the closest relatives treat them cruelly and coldly. Their short meetings take place exclusively secretly, at night. Both heroes are haunted by torment of conscience and painful throwing. The impossibility of their union is due to the conservative, oppressing, gloomy city of Kalinov, in which the action takes place. This is a place where true feelings are despised. However, on the other hand, we see how Boris is afraid to take responsibility for his feelings and take at least some steps to find ways to stay with Katerina. This further aggravates their situation and gives the impression that in Thunderstorm no one has real feelings.
The second couple who have love are Barbara and Kudryash. Their courage allows them to maintain their feelings and relationships, but for happiness they need to escape from Kalinov.
Reading Thunderstorm, we are unpleasantly surprised by the Kabanikhi value system. Love in her mind is always associated with fear. She is rude and cruel. Power over people gives her pleasure, she requires children to obey unquestioningly. Her blind jealousy destroys the marriage of her son and daughter-in-law. His own son, an adult man, does not love her, but rather is afraid, filling his fear with alcohol. Barbara, her daughter, also hates her mother, deceives and is not afraid to admit it: "And I was not a liar, but learned when it became necessary." The boar honors traditions that are convenient and beneficial only to her. Calls for love and worship before the older generation, that is, before oneself. According to her actions and monologues, we see so much this is an unscrupulous, ruthless and insensitive person. She thinks only about the prestige of the family in the eyes of society, the internal state of loved ones does not care.
Another hero, concerned only with the state of his own wallet - Wild. A local craftsman Kuligin asks him, as a rich man, to do something for the benefit of society: for example, to pay for the installation of a street clock, but he rudely refuses to do it. Kuligin is a watchmaker who sincerely wants to help the city of Kalinov and make people's lives better: “I would use all the money for society and for support.” But he is poor and without the help of philanthropists he cannot fulfill all that is desired. The self-taught watchmaker expresses sincere feelings for the beauty of the local landscape, he is inspired by the breadth and spaciousness of the Volga River, he admires the thunderstorm.
In the world that Ostrovsky described to us, it is very difficult to build a bright, sincere love. We see examples of tyranny, greed, cowardice, tyranny, hypocrisy and bigotry. And this is not the whole list of shortcomings of the residents of Kalinov. The concept of “love” is distorted in their heads beyond recognition, and it can hardly be called love. Katerina loved freedom, but this love brought her only death. And Kuligin’s love of society is doomed to remain only dreams of a bright future.
