Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is familiar to everyone. This is a work of genius in its significance. The author raised the burning issues of that time, exposing to the reader the colorful characters of the characters.

The image and characterization of Kuligin in the play “The Thunderstorm” is secondary. The introduction to this character occurs at the very beginning of the work. From the first minutes, the reader is imbued with sincere sympathy for the self-taught mechanic, forced to survive in an atmosphere of outdated patriarchal orders and laws.

Image and characteristics

Kuligin is a local resident of the city of Kalinovo. Middle aged man. He works as a mechanic and dreams of inventing a perpetual motion machine.

Kuligin is 50 years old.

“For fifty years I’ve been looking beyond the Volga and I still can’t see enough...”

Belongs to the bourgeois class. Engaged in watchmaking. Self-taught mechanic by profession.

"Mechanic, self-taught mechanic..."

Educated. Highly erudite. Easily quotes famous authors. His idol is Lomonosov. He sincerely admires him, hoping that someday fame will come to him.

“I read a lot of Lomonosov, Derzhavin... Lomonosov was a sage, an explorer of nature... But he was also from ours, from a simple rank...”

Likes to indulge in discussions on everyday topics. Capable of giving wise advice.

Romantic, dreamy nature. Kuligin is fascinated by everything around him. He especially loves to admire the local landscapes, and they are simply magnificent in Kalinov. He rejoices at every blade of grass and every blossoming flower. Nature evokes in him a silent reverence for it, a spiritual awe for its uniqueness.

“Have you taken a closer look, or don’t understand what beauty is poured into nature.”

Talkative. For Kuligin, talking is a nice thing. His mouth doesn't close. He himself is well aware of this habit of bothering everyone with conversations, but he cannot resist once again when meeting people he knows.

“I already get enough, sir, for my chatter; I can’t, I like to scatter the conversation.”

Wants to be useful. All of Kuligin’s unrealized ideas are aimed at improving the life of the city. One such example is a sundial.

“...Come up and see what time it is.”

The lightning rod is again for the general benefit.

“What kind of lightning taps do you have there?”

What prevents him from implementing his brilliant ideas is the lack of funds. Because of this, he has to constantly beg for financial help from Dikiy, but as always, instead of a positive answer, he hears a refusal. He doesn’t care about the self-taught ideas.

Brave. Kuligin can be called a brave man. All the people are scared of the thunderstorm, but he is not. I sincerely don’t understand how you can tremble with fear when thunder roars.

“And you are afraid to even look at the sky, it makes you tremble! Out of everything you have created a scare for yourself. Eh, people! I'm not afraid..."

Honest. Kuligin is not used to lying and getting out. He always tells the truth and only the truth. Probably many people don’t like this, but he is not ashamed of his words. Why deceive people by giving false hopes. It’s better to find out everything right away than later.

Kind, good. Everyone in the city knows him. No one will say a bad word to him. “Yes, everyone knows me here; No one will say anything bad about me.” Seeing how Tikhon suffers, he convinces him that he should not hold a grudge against his enemies. Seeing Katerina’s body on the shore, he cannot stand it, hurling words at the Kabanov family about their attitude towards the deceased.

Dreams of creating a perpetuum mobile. But this idea will most likely remain at the level of the inventor’s dream. In a small town, his ideas cannot be appreciated. There is no support from local residents; his aspirations are incomprehensible to them. Scientific works people don't need them. They simply don't see any practical use in them. But for Kuligin the main thing is to live by ideas. Without them, he will collapse from melancholy and lose his inner uniqueness.

Conscientious. Dreams of earning an honest living.

“If I want to give away my labors for nothing, what can I steal, your lordship?”

His selflessness and sincerity are clearly visible in conversations with Tikhon Kabanov and Boris. He completely lacks the anger and greed characteristic of the Wild and Kabanikha.

A.N. Ostrovsky created the play "The Thunderstorm" in 1859 - a work in which difficult issues of turning point were touched upon public life, changes in social foundations. Alexander Nikolaevich penetrated into the essence of the contradictions of his time. He created colorful characters of tyrants, described their morals and way of life. Two images act as a counterbalance to tyranny - these are Kuligin and Katerina. Our article is devoted to the first of them. “The image of Kuligin in the play “The Thunderstorm” is a topic that interests us. Portrait of A.N. Ostrovsky is presented below.

Brief description of Kuligin

Kuligin is a self-taught mechanic and tradesman. In a conversation with Kudryash (first act), he appears to the reader as a poetic connoisseur of nature. admires the Volga, calling the extraordinary view that opened up to him a miracle. The image of Kuligin in the play by A.N. Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm" can be supplemented with the following details. A dreamer by nature, nevertheless this hero understands the injustice of the existing system, in which the brute power of money and force decides everything. He tells Boris Grigorievich that in this city " cruel morals"After all, whoever has money seeks to enslave the poor in order to make even more capital for himself from his labors. The hero himself is by no means like that. The characteristics of Kuligin's image are exactly the opposite. He dreams of prosperity for the whole people, strives to do good deeds Let us now present in more detail the image of Kuligin in the play "The Thunderstorm".

Kuligin's conversation with Boris

Boris meets the character we are interested in on an evening walk in the third act. Kuligin again admires nature, silence, air. However, at the same time, he complains that the city still hasn’t made a boulevard, and people don’t walk in Kalinov: everyone’s gates are locked. But not at all from thieves, but so that others do not see how they tyrannize the family. Behind these castles there is a lot, as Kuligin says, of “drunkenness” and “dark debauchery.” The hero is outraged by the foundations of the “dark kingdom”, but immediately after his angry speech he says: “Well, God bless them!”, as if backing away from the words spoken.

His protest remains almost silent; it is expressed only in objections. The image of Kuligin in the play is characterized by the fact that this character is not ready for an open challenge, like Katerina. Kuligin exclaims at Boris’s proposal to write poetry that he will be “swallowed alive,” and complains that he already gets it for his speeches.

Request addressed to the Wild

It is worth giving Kuligin credit for the fact that he persistently and at the same time politely asks Dikiy to give money for materials. He needs them to install a sundial on the boulevard “for the general benefit.”

Kuligin, unfortunately, only encounters ignorance and rudeness on the part of this man. Then the hero tries to at least persuade Savely Prokofich to use thunderstorms, since thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in the city. Having failed to achieve success in this matter, Kuligin can do nothing more than wave his hand and leave.

Kuligin - a man of science

The hero we are interested in is a man of science, who respects nature and subtly senses its beauty. In the fourth act, he addresses the crowd with a monologue, trying to explain to people that they should not be afraid of thunderstorms and any others. They should be admired and admired. However, the city's residents do not want to listen to him. They live according to old customs, continue to believe that this is God's punishment, that a thunderstorm is bound to bring disaster.

Kuligin's knowledge of people

The image of Kuligin in the play "The Thunderstorm" is characterized by the fact that this hero is well versed in people. He is able to empathize and give practical, good advice. The hero showed these qualities, in particular, in a conversation with Tikhon. He tells him that one must forgive enemies, and one should also live by one’s own wits.

It was this hero who pulled Katerina out and brought her to the Kabanovs, saying that they could take her body, but her soul did not belong to them. She now appears before a Judge who is much more merciful than the Kabanovs. Kuligin runs away after these words. This hero experiences the grief that happened in his own way and is unable to share it with the people who are responsible for this girl’s suicide.

White Crow

In Kalinov, the hero we are interested in is white crow. The image of Kuligin in Ostrovsky's play "The Thunderstorm" is characterized by the fact that this character's thinking is significantly different from the way of thinking of the rest of the inhabitants. He has different aspirations and values. Kuligin realizes that the foundations of the “dark kingdom” are unfair, tries to fight them, strives to make better life ordinary people.

The hero we are interested in dreams of social reconstruction of Kalinov. And probably, if he had found material support and like-minded people, he would have been able to significantly improve this city. The desire for the well-being of the people is perhaps the most attractive feature that, together with others, makes up the image of Kuligin in the play “The Thunderstorm”.

The city of Kalinov in Ostrovsky’s play “The Thunderstorm” is a city that denies the interference in its life of innovation, progress, or anything that is contrary to the measured, unhurried flow of time in it. Everything is the same there: the younger generation is afraid of the older generation, wives are submissive to their husbands, the main entertainment is going to church and the market with one of the elders accompanying them. There have never been cars here, everyone either swears or is afraid, they sing here only at night, because the elders will not approve of this sign of will. And even more so, they will never want to help a person who wants to change this.

Changes are unacceptable; they interfere with the life that the Lord God himself gave to the blessed city of Kalinov. Big cities have long been controlled by the evil spirit, plunging them into sin and offering their devilish innovations. This is exactly the attitude that all residents of Kalinov have towards science and technology. Everything that is incomprehensible is from the devil, everything that challenges a calm existence must be destroyed or simply not allowed to proceed.

Kuligin was unlucky to be born here. He is a gifted inventor, as they say, “from God,” and he is not selfish, he is ready to work for nothing, as long as people feel good, just to show that they can live better. It is not for nothing that his surname is consonant with the surname of the famous Russian mechanic - Kulibin, by the way, who was also not fully understood, and many of his projects were never implemented, ahead of his time. Kulibin, for the most part, was forced to create what was in demand at that time: machine guns, toys with a secret, fireworks for large receptions. By the way, Kulibin wrote poetry, like his literary counterpart.

Kuligin was also ahead of his time that he would not budge in this small Volga town. His desire to help the Kalinovites runs into an obstacle - he is poor and has to beg for his projects financial assistance from rich merchants, but no matter who he turns to, everyone drives him away. Why should anyone make life easier, pay for the common good? Dikoy even spares ten rubles for the lightning rods, although he simply cheated someone out of paying the extra ten rubles.

Kuligin wants to find a perpetuum mobile, a perpetual motion machine, and sell the invention for ten million in order to become independent and help his hometown. He wants to be needed, wants to help, change the lives of Kalinov residents for the better, but his creations are not needed, just like he himself. Who are the Kalinovites for the most part? Believers, people living according to Domostroevsky rules, whose life consists of deception in trade, bullying of households, going to church and to the market. Nobody expresses a desire to change the existing order of things.

Kuligin, a self-taught scientist, is the only person in the city of Kalinov who wants change. He sees everything and understands everything. Somehow, he does not fit into the general flow of Kalinov’s life - he sings songs during the day, looking at his beloved Volga, and his soul is fully aware of the beauty of nature, the picturesque place in which he lives. But, however, his fate is to fight the well-oiled mechanism of the merchant Kalinovsky life - and to constantly be ridiculed and rejected. He has long resigned himself to reproaches and abuse, but every day, when he meets a possible patron of the arts, he patiently explains the value of the proposed innovations.

He is an eternal supplicant, and his patience is a kind of protest against present life. Apparently, he is of the opinion that “a drop breaks a stone,” and day after day, without being disappointed by another failure, he turns to merchants, again and again explaining the merits of the new invention.

He is an optimist, and believes that someday the hour will come; Dikoy, perhaps, will get off on the same foot, his first invention will see the light of day, and everything will go like clockwork.

He is very smart, notices everything and understands everything. Perhaps he is the only one who fully understood and justified Katerina’s action. He is sure that only God can judge her, not Kabanikha, Dikoy and others. Kuligin advised Tikhon to forgive Katerina, but Katerina decided everything herself - and committed suicide.

Katerina doesn’t know if she wants him, her search for this led her to Boris, and then she was pushed off a cliff. Kuligin, unlike her, knows that there is no way out. Only one rare patience, luck and luck. However, he is a patriot. He could find a benefactor in a big city, and he would definitely be in demand there - and he understands this. But he doesn't leave. An outlet for him is admiring his native places, he breathes fresh air from the Volga and waits for the changes that he feels with the approach of a thunderstorm.

Maybe in his lifetime there will be changes in Kalinov. He's waiting. And he is the only one who has the moral right to condemn those who condemn Katerina. This drama is not just the drama of a traitor who committed suicide out of shame. This is the drama of all thinking people of that time, whose desire to change the world around them led them to sad consequences.

Maybe Kuligin will get his way happy day and will be able to change the lives of Kalinov residents for the better. But the play ends with the death of Katerina, who tried to change her life. Perhaps Ostrovsky is making it clear that a lot of patience is needed - progress will come even to Kalinov. And then Kuligin will win. He had fought unsuccessfully against ignorance and greed for too long to miss his chance. But Ostrovsky gives only a hint of this. And we can only guess.

The play “The Thunderstorm” by A. N. Ostrovsky describes the life of the small provincial town of Kalinov. The main emphasis of this work is on the definition of the “dark kingdom,” which personifies rich landowners who have no bosses over them. This is why tyranny and ignorance flourish in these places.

Before moving on to the topic “Characterization of Kuligin in the play “The Thunderstorm,” it is also worth noting that almost every resident of this town, knowing all the injustices, will never dare to openly express their opinion.

"Storm". Characteristics of Kuligin

Kuligin is the very first hero who appears in the play. He is from the class of simple bourgeois, a self-taught watchmaker and an inventor looking for a perpetuum mobile. There are no special definitions about his appearance; in terms of age, he is already somewhat over fifty. He came to the Volga embankment to admire its beauty. Out of delight, he even hums the words of the song. And immediately young people join him - Kudryash (Dikiy's clerk) and the tradesman Shapkin. Kuligin, expressing his joy and delight at the picturesque landscapes, understands that they do not share his feelings, since they are completely immersed in their everyday problems. Almost immediately they start talking about “ dark kingdom“, but Kuligin does not particularly support this, in his opinion, meaningless chatter.

Continuing to develop the “Thunderstorm” theme. Characteristics of Kuligin,” it is necessary to immediately note that he generally always spoke only when necessary.

Kuligin’s remark about the intolerable character of the rich merchant Dikiy: “What, let’s take an example from him! It’s better to endure it,” says that he is an intelligent, extraordinary and thinking person. And at the same time, Kudryash boasts that he does not give himself offense and says: “He is the word, and I am ten,” but then, seeing that Dikoy is coming towards them, he is afraid, and moves away together with Shapkin. Kuligin, on the contrary, remained in his place and only took off his hat.

Kuligin (“Thunderstorm”): characteristics (briefly)

The next time we meet Kuligin, he is talking with Boris Grigorievich, a decent, educated young man and Dikiy’s nephew. Kuligin involuntarily wonders how Boris lives in subordination to his uncle - a terrible despot and rude man, to whom it is impossible to object to his senseless reproaches. Boris replies that it’s really difficult for him to get along here, as if he’s the odd one out. After listening to the story of Boris Grigorievich, Kuligin understands that nothing can be done about this, since he knows well the social foundations in Kalinovka and sees how cruel morals are in this city.

Dreamer

So, we are interested in Kuligin’s characteristics. The play "The Thunderstorm" says that this local inventor has many positive qualities. He knows how to analyze, write poetry, he has a dreamy quality. When Boris invites him to write life in Kalinovka in poetic form, he refuses. This is where his indecisiveness comes into play. If main character rushed to the Volga in protest, then Kuligin is simply not capable of decisive and loud protests.

Talking about the topic “Ostrovsky, “The Thunderstorm”. Characteristics of Kuligin”, we understand that like no one else we can find a common language with people. Kuligin is more like that noble dreamer who constantly thinks about how to make society better and more civilized.

Inventor

He dreams of inventing a perpetuum mobile, for which he can get a million and organize jobs for people. That’s what he says: “Otherwise you have hands, but nothing to work with.” He calls himself a “self-taught mechanic” and asks Dikiy to give him ten rubles for a sundial that he wants to make in the park. And then he tells him about a life-saving lightning rod, which can also be installed in the city. But the greedy and dull landowner does not want to part with his funds, which he loves more life. All persuasion turned out to be useless. However, one is surprised at Kuligin’s respect, patience and tenacity to conduct conversations with Dikiy, whom, however, he never managed to reach.

Beauty connoisseur

In the theme "Thunderstorm". Characteristics of Kuligin” it should be noted that main character- a subtle connoisseur of natural beauty. He says that “because of the Volga, the meadows smell of flowers and the sky is so clear...”, he regrets that city people hardly notice this, perhaps only poor Katerina feels it the same way.

Further, Kuligin says that poor people work day and night and sleep for three hours, while the rich sit at home behind locked gates and only quarrel among themselves. He also tries to explain to people that they should not be afraid of a thunderstorm, a comet, or anything - they should be admired and appreciated as an amazing natural phenomenon.

Conclusion

To conclude the theme “Thunderstorm”. Characteristics of Kuligin”, it should be noted that the local people are drawn to the inventor, and everyone can open their soul to him, even Tikhon Kabanov. Kuligin defends Katerina - this is clear from his words after her suicide. He told Kabanikha and her son that now they can do whatever they want with her, but her soul is already before the Judge, who will be more merciful than them. In the end, Kuligin literally runs away from these people, since it is really unbearably painful for him and unpleasant to be around them.