Characteristics of the Kabaniha - the central heroine of Ostrovsky's play "The Storm"

Kabaniha in the play "Storm" is the antagonist of the main character, Katerina. The contrast of characters in a work is of decisive importance, revealing its meaning. Heroines are representatives of the opposite poles of the patriarchal world. If Katerina is spirituality, poetry, kindness, mercy, then Marfa Ignatyevna - earthiness, love of money, pettiness.

Relations between the heroine and her family

Ignorant person, rough, superstitious, guardian of old laws, despotic, loves to teach and keep everyone in awe - this is such a brief description of the Kabanikha. This is a rich merchant, a widow, mother of Varvara and Tikhon, mother-in-law of Katerina. A woman is a shepherd of hell for her family, she always saws her own, she teaches, tries to keep the houses of the old order and gets angry when the young people do not listen to her. Kabanova Marfa Ignatyevna piously believes that order can be imposed only if everyone is kept in awe.

The characteristic of Kabaniha allows the reader to understand the attitude of the Old Believers to the new world. The merchant has raised her children in fear, she wants to extend her power to her daughter-in-law. She constantly teaches her son, makes him punish his wife, keep her on a short leash. When Tikhon is puzzled, why should he make Katherine be afraid of him, because she loves him, her mother screams at him. After all, if the daughter-in-law of her husband is not afraid of her, then her mother-in-law is even more so.

Relationship of the merchant with the surrounding

Kabaniha regularly goes to church, surrounds himself with clerks, beggars regularly give alms. With his goddess Wild, the merchant woman talks on equal terms. Although these two belong to the same world and support the old order, but the characteristic of the Kabaniha shows that the woman still disdains the tyranny of the landowner. Marfa Ignatieva really keeps her family in fear, but she does it to maintain order in the house, and not because of violent nature. In addition, the merchant will never complain about the problems in her family in public, as Wild does.

The last guardian of order

The image of Kabanikhi is the embodiment of the Old Believer, some medieval foundations. The merchant suffers from the fact that her world is slowly falling apart. She sees that young people do not support her, she does not respect old laws, she thinks in new ways. The woman is overwhelmed with some apocalyptic expectations, she does not understand what will happen when all the old-timers die out, and there will be no one to oppose everything modern. House Kabanovs is almost the last stronghold, where the dogmas of antiquity are respected.

Characteristics of Kabaniha does not cause pity for this heroine, although at the end of the play not only Katerina, but her mother-in-law also suffered. For the merchant, a terrible blow was the public recognition of the daughter-in-law, the son's rebellion and the escape from her daughter's home. But this woman did not understand that by her failure to accept the modern world, she led to the death of Katerina, ruined the life of Varvara and pushed Tikhon to drink. From the rule of Kabanikhi, no one felt better. But this she does not understand, because the merchant even after so many misfortunes continues to insist on his.