The image of Tikhon in the play "Thunderstorm". Love for the wife, submission to the mother

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the main characters in the play "Thunderstorm" is Kabanov Tikhon Ivanovich. He is the son of Kabanikha and at the same time the husband of Katerina. It is on the example of this character that the destructive and crippling power of the "dark kingdom" is most accurately shown, turning a person into a shadow of himself.

Image of contradictions

One can say that the image of Tikhon in the play "Thunderstorm" is full of contradictions. On the one hand, he is such an obedient and respectful son that he completely disappeared into the personality of his mother, and on the other hand, he is a person with his own thoughts, opinions, desires.

Tikhon seems to love his wife Katerina, but at the same time he cannot fully understand her, is not able to do something for her to protect her from bad thoughts, cannot provide her emotional support.

This hero is already used to living in the "dark kingdom", but he is very happy when he gets the opportunity to leave his home on business. He rejoices that at least for a while he can take a break from tyrannymother.

What kind of husband is Tikhon

Let's consider the image of Tikhon from this point of view. According to the play "Thunderstorm" one can judge that he cannot correspond to the role of a husband in a family where the patriarchal mood reigns. Being the ruler, protector and support in the family is not his part. Tikhon is a weak person, he is gentle and good-natured. All he can do is toss between maternal demands and compassion for his wife. He is used to being subordinate, used to being led.

Tikhon loves his wife, but not in the way that men with a strong character love, but calmly and apathetically. His love does not bring emotion to Katerina. And this leads to the fact that she is fond of another man. Tikhon does not cause Katerina's love, he causes pity, which she herself admits to Varvara.

Tikhon's Joy

But when a man escapes from maternal care, a completely new image of Tikhon opens up to the reader. In the play "Thunderstorm", the author showed Tikhon as soft and good-natured, but at the same time a drinker. We see that as soon as Tikhon has the opportunity to leave the house for a while, he immediately takes this opportunity, and his short vacation does not pass without alcohol. Only in this way is he able to fill the emptiness inside himself and the heaviness in his soul. Only alcohol helps him to forget all the suffering caused to him by his mother. Humiliated after maternal reproaches and admonitions, the protagonist may take it out on his wife. And only his sister Varvara is able to calm the situation in the house, secretly letting her brother go to visit, where hecan drink.

Tikhon's attitude to his wife's betrayal

Leaving home for a while, Tikhon says goodbye to his wife and mother. Katerina wants to give her husband a farewell oath of allegiance. To which he reacts negatively. Both Tikhon and his mother, pronouncing a ritual order, tell Katerina not to look at other people's guys, but our hero says this phrase arbitrarily, not even suspecting that his wife is capable of treason.

But it is Tikhon's gentle nature that is a flaw in Katerina's eyes. And she falls in love with Boris. Later, Katerina herself tells her husband and mother-in-law about her betrayal, since she is no longer able to keep this secret in herself. Tikhon takes the news non-aggressively. He confronts his mother when she advises him to execute Katerina by burying her alive in the ground. He loves his wife and cannot be aggressive towards her.

Katerina did not immediately surrender to a new feeling, she still tried in every possible way to become related to her husband, to return her love for him, to find in herself those feelings that used to unite them. At this moment, the image of Tikhon in the play "Thunderstorm" seems even more spineless. He still had a chance to change everything, but due to his weakness, he could not fully understand his wife, protect her from the torture of her mother-in-law. He could be innocent, but he could not become that stone wall behind which a woman needs to feel safe.

And only when Katerina lays hands on herself, Tikhon, standing over her corpse, stands up against his mother. He publicly accuses her of the death of his wife, thereby causing Kabanikhea terrible blow.

This is the whole characteristic of the hero. Tikhon ("Thunderstorm", Ostrovsky A. N.) - the image with which the author showed male kindness, but at the same time, male weakness. As you can see, this can sometimes lead to disastrous consequences.

Characterization of Tikhon in Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"

Very briefly, we can say that this main character is a weak and dependent person, he is simple-hearted and not at all evil, but very weak-willed. But under extreme circumstances, this man is capable of public rebellion, even if only for a short time.

The play ends tragically and ambiguously. In the end, good does not triumph, but neither does evil. The collapse of the family resolves the external conflict, but the internal conflict that arose as a result of the emotional struggle remains forever in the heart of the protagonist. This mental situation resembles the aftermath of a terrible thunderstorm that brings death and destruction.

The image of Tikhon in the play "Thunderstorm" is able to attract the reader with his kindness, but at the same time repel him with his inactivity and spinelessness, which is why he can be called contradictory.