The role of secondary characters in one of the works of Russian literature of the 19th century. Composition: The role of secondary and off-stage characters in the comedy A.S.
The role of secondary and off-stage characters in A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"
Secondary and off-stage characters, which are not so many in the play, play a very significant role in revealing the ideological content of the comedy. These characters are often associated with the main ones, and with their help we learn some important details: they reveal the essence of a particular scene, the meaning of events both on and off the stage, clarify the characters' characters, show their relationships. With the help of these secondary and off-stage characters, Griboedov creates in the comedy a special atmosphere of the rich house of the Moscow gentleman Pavel Afanasyevich Famusov at the beginning of the last century.
I remember such a character as a servant in the house of Famusov, Lisa. At first glance, she is a simple and lively girl. But after we hear her remarks, remarks, we can say that she is described by Griboyedov as a very real serf girl, full of cunning and insight. Her words addressed to Famusov amaze us and remain in our memory for life:
Bypass us more than all sorrows
And the lord's anger and the lord's love ...
In comedy, she is an expression of common sense, a critic of almost all the characters in the play. She cleverly argues, it is Lisa who, as it were, introduces us to the main character Chatsky:
Who is so sensitive, and cheerful, and sharp,
Like Alexander Andreevich Chatsky.
Griboedov, describing Lisa, put into her mouth some of his thoughts and feelings in relation to the characters and events of the play.
For a more complete picture of the Famus society, the author introduces Sergei Sergeevich Skalozub into the play. According to Lisa's clear definition, he is "both a bag of gold and aiming for a general." And according to Sophia, "he never uttered a clever word."
The Famus society does not see anything bright in education, they believe that they go crazy with books. Puffer speaks of enlightenment with its characteristic dullness and narrow-mindedness:
And the books will be kept like this: for big occasions ...
Chatsky, figuring out why Sophia met him so coldly, tries to speak frankly and sincerely with Skalozub, but immediately realizes that the future general is frankly stupid. After all, the words uttered by him after Chatsky's monologue “Who are the judges?” indicate that the puffer did not understand anything from his denunciations. And Chatsky calms down when he hears how, with the frankness characteristic of Skalozub, he directly speaks about the reasons for his success:
I am quite happy in my comrades,
Vacancies are just open
Then the elders will be turned off by others,
Others, you see, are killed.
These cynical words, testifying to an irresistible desire for wealth, a career, characterize not only Skalozub, but the whole society that gathered at the ball in Famusov's house.
Prince and Princess Tugoukhovsky with six daughters also add their characteristic feature to our understanding of Famus society. Their presence at the ball is explained by only one single goal - to find a worthy and rich party for their daughters.
The ball at Famusov is a “living” museum of wax figures representing the high society of the Moscow noble nobility. There are many anecdotal figures here, such as, for example, Zagoretsky, a well-known adventurer, rogue and ladies' man. Having imagined this person, one can appreciate the entire Famus society, where there is nothing but pompous hypocrisy, selfish stupidity, “noble” rudeness and lack of spirituality.
Maxim Petrovich, the maid of honor of Catherine the First, Princess Pulcheria Andreevna, “Nestor of noble scoundrels” and many others from secular society, who are ridiculed by him, unite against Chatsky. With their help, Griboedov creates an idea of this force, against which Chatsky is unsuccessfully trying to act alone. These characters perform two main meaningful functions: they serve as an object of Chatsky's ridicule, helping us to clearly see the flaws of secular society, and secondly, they form and unite a camp hostile to the protagonist. Among them are three figures similar in their functions to the rest of the characters, but the most important for revealing the essence of the main conflict of the play. These are those who are set as an example in the Famus society: Kuzma Kuzmich, Maxim Petrovich and Foma Fomich. For Chatsky, the story of the promotion of Maxim Petrovich is ridiculous, and the verbal works of Foma Fomich are an example of absolute stupidity. And for Famusov and those like him, it is these people who serve as a model of official well-being.
Complement our understanding of these nobles and their attitude towards their serf servants, for example, the old woman Khlestova, who asks to feed her “Arapka-girl” along with the dog. Such ladies with obvious feudal manners, like any of Famusov's society, do not have to humiliate the dignity of a servant or threaten to send their serfs to the settlement for no reason. All of them, defending serfdom, consider the main dignity of a person to be his wealth, unlimited power over his own kind, unlimited cruelty in dealing with his servants.
Griboyedov shows us that in Famus society, if a person wants to have completely different interests, to live in his own way, and not in the Famus way, then he is already “out of his mind”, “robber”, “carbonary”, for example, the princess tells with condemnation about his nephew:
Chinov doesn't want to know! He is a chemist, he is a botanist.
Prince Fedor, my nephew.
Griboedov in Prince Fedor is trying to show us another pure mind, similar to the mind of Chatsky, to show that the main character is not the only future Decembrist in Famus society, who can enter Senate Square on December 14, 1825.
From Chatsky's monologue, we learn about the Frenchman from Bordeaux, whom everyone enthusiastically talks about, who feels like a little king here, because the Famus society bows to France and all the French, forgetting national pride and dignity. And this “Frenchman”, when he arrived in Moscow, it seemed that he was at home:
No sound of a Russian, no Russian face...
One of the minor characters is Platon Mikhailovich Gorich, a former friend and like-minded person of Chatsky. Platon Mikhailovich appears at Griboyedov's in just one scene of a meeting with Chatsky at a ball at Famusov's. Famusov's society made him an exemplary husband of his wife Natalya Dmitrievna, who takes care of him like a child. Such a life forced him to abandon his youthful hobbies. Chatsky mockingly asks him:
Forgotten the noise of the camp, comrades and brothers?
Calm and lazy?
To which Gorich replies:
No, there is something to do
I play a duet on the flute
A - molar ...
Very important, in my opinion, in comedy is such a character as Repetilov, who can be considered a double of Chatsky in comedy. Only he, unlike Chatsky, simply plays freethinking, and his reasoning is empty phrase-mongering. It is no coincidence that his remark: “We make noise, brother, we make noise!” became winged and denotes idle talk, the appearance of a deed. In the scene when Repetilov tells Chatsky about Baron von Klotz, who “aims to be a minister”, and he “becomes his son-in-law”, shows his desire for cheap careerism, his undoubted duplicity. And this baron with his "friends" helps us to see the true face of the imaginary friend Chatsky.
In a conversation with Chatsky, Molchalin mentions with admiration a certain Tatyana Yurievna:
Tatyana Yurievna told something,
Returning from Petersburg...
And we understand that she is a gossip, like, in general, almost all the ladies of high society. For them there is nothing more interesting than gossip, they do not find anything interesting either in books or in art.
G.N and G.D - these mysterious characters appear in a comedy in order to spread the rumor about Chatsky's madness. At first, Sophia talks about this jokingly, but after a while it becomes public opinion. The Famus society cannot forgive Chatsky for his intelligence and education, so they are happy to believe this slander.
At the end of the play, Famusov exclaims:
Oh! My God! What will he say
Princess Marya Alekseevna!
And you can immediately understand that the opinion of this unknown to us Maria Alekseevna is more important for Famusov than the happiness of her own daughter.
Thanks to minor and off-stage characters, the comedy Woe from Wit is not closed in time and space circle where the action takes place. We begin to understand what moral values are in the world that revolts Chatsky. Contradictions between the hero and society become natural. With the help of these characters, Griboedov introduces us to the past and future of different people, and first of all, we learn the background of the main character's life. We understand that the future of Chatsky is most likely with the Decembrists, because he expressed a lot of things in comedy that could be heard from the Decembrists.
The play by A. N. Ostrovsky “Thunderstorm” was written in 1859. In the same year, it was staged in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and for many years it has not left the stages of all theaters in the world. Such popularity and relevance of the play is explained by the fact that The Thunderstorm combines the features of social drama and high tragedy. In the center of the plot of the play is the conflict of feelings and duty in the soul of the main character, Katerina Kabanova. This conflict is a hallmark of a classic tragedy. Katerina is a very pious and religious person. She dreamed of a strong family, a loving husband and children, but ended up in the Kabanikha family. Marfa Ignatievna put the house-building order and way of life above all else. Naturally, Kabanikha forced everyone in her family to follow her Charter. But Katerina, a bright and free person, could not come to terms with the cramped and stuffy world of Domostroy. She aspired to a completely different life. This desire led the woman to sin - betrayal of her husband. Going on a date with Boris, Katerina already knew that after that she would not be able to live. The sin of treason lay like a heavy stone on the soul of the heroine, with whom she simply could not exist. A thunderstorm in the city hastened the nationwide recognition of Katerina - she repented of her treason.
The boar also found out about the sin of the daughter-in-law. She ordered to keep Katerina locked up. What awaited the heroine? In any case, death: sooner or later, Kabanikha, with her reproaches and instructions, would have brought the woman to the grave. But the worst thing for Katerina was not that. The worst thing for the heroine is her internal punishment, her internal judgment. She herself could not forgive herself for her betrayal, her terrible sin. Therefore, the conflict in the play is resolved in the tradition of classic tragedy: the heroine dies.
But Dobrolyubov also pointed out that throughout the play, readers think “not about a love affair, but about their whole life.” This means that the accusatory notes of the work concerned various aspects of Russian life. The play takes place in the provincial merchant town of Kalinov, located on the banks of the Volga River. In this place, everything is so monotonous and stable that even news from other cities and from the capital does not reach here.
Residents in the city are closed, distrustful, hate everything new and blindly follow the Domostroy way of life, which has long outlived its usefulness. Wild and Kabanikha personify the "fathers of the city", enjoying power and authority. Wild is depicted as a complete tyrant. He swaggers before his nephew, before his family, but retreats before those who are able to rebuff him. Kuligin notices that all the atrocities in the city take place behind the high walls of merchant houses. Here they deceive, tyrannize, suppress, cripple lives and destinies. In general, Kuligin's remarks often expose the "dark kingdom", pass judgment on him, and even, to some extent, reflect the position of the author. Other minor characters also play an important role in the play. So, for example, the wanderer Feklusha reveals all the ignorance and backwardness of the “dark kingdom”, as well as his imminent death, because a society guided by such views cannot exist. An important role in the play is played by the image of the half-mad Lady, who voices the idea of sinfulness and inevitable punishment for both Katerina and the entire “dark kingdom”.
In Ostrovsky's tragedy "Thunderstorm" the problems of morality were widely posed. On the example of the provincial town of Kalinov, he showed the morals prevailing there. He portrayed the cruelty of people living in the old fashioned way, according to Domostroy, and the riotousness of the younger generation. All the characters in the tragedy are grouped into two parts. Those who believe that you can be forgiven for any sin if you then repent, and the other part believes that punishment follows sin and there is no salvation from it. Here arises one of the most important problems of man in general and of "Thunderstorm" in particular. Repentance as a problem appeared a very long time ago. Then, when a person believed that there is a higher power, and was afraid of it. He began to try to behave in such a way as to propitiate God with his behavior. People gradually developed ways to propitiate God through certain actions or deeds. All violations of this code were considered objectionable to God - a sin. At first, people simply made sacrifices to the gods, sharing with them what they had.
The apogee of this relationship is human sacrifice. In contrast, there are monotheistic religions, that is, recognizing one god. These religions have abandoned sacrifice and created codes that define the norms of human behavior. These codices have become sacred because they are believed to be inscribed by the powers of the gods. Examples of such books are the Christian Bible and the Muslim Quran.
Violation of oral or written norms is a sin and should be punished. If at first a person was afraid of being killed on the spot, then after that he begins to fear for his afterlife. A person begins to worry about where his soul will go after death: to eternal bliss or to eternal suffering. One could get to blissful places for righteous behavior, that is, observance of the Norms, and sinners get to where they will suffer forever. This is where repentance arises, since a rare person could live,
Not committing sins, and canceling your life because of a few sins was scary for everyone. Therefore, it becomes possible to escape punishment by asking God for forgiveness. Thus, any person, even the last sinner, receives hope for salvation if he repents. In The Thunderstorm, the problem of repentance is most acutely posed. The main character of the tragedy, Katerina, is in terrible pangs of conscience. She is torn between her lawful husband and Boris, a righteous life and a fall. She cannot forbid herself to love Boris, but she executes herself in her soul, believing that by doing so she rejects God, since a husband for a wife is like God for a church.
Therefore, by cheating on her husband, she betrays God, which means she loses all possibility of salvation. She considers this sin unforgivable and therefore denies the possibility of repentance for herself. Katerina is very
A pious woman, from childhood she used to pray to God and even saw angels, which is why her torment is so strong. These sufferings bring her to the point that, fearing the punishment of God, personified in the form of a thunderstorm, she throws herself at the feet of her husband and confesses everything to him, putting her life into his hands. People react to this recognition in different ways, revealing their attitude to the possibility of repentance. Kabanova offers to bury her in the ground alive, that is, she believes that there is no way to forgive her. Tikhon, on the contrary, forgives Katerina, that is, he believes that she will receive forgiveness from God. Katerina believes in repentance, because she fears that she will die suddenly, not because her life will be interrupted, but because she is afraid to stand before God unrepentant, with all her sins. The attitude of people to the possibility of repentance is manifested in
Thunderstorm time. The storm personifies the wrath of God, and therefore people, when they see a thunderstorm, try to avoid it. Some behave differently. For example, Kuligin wants to build lightning rods and save people from a thunderstorm, so he believes that people can be saved from God's punishment if they repent, then God's wrath will disappear through repentance, like lightning goes into the ground through a lightning rod, Dikoy believes that from the wrath of God it is impossible to hide, that is, he does not believe in the possibility of repentance. Although it should be noted that he can repent, as he throws himself at the peasant's feet and asks for forgiveness from him for scolding him.
Pangs of conscience bring Katerina to the point that she begins to think about suicide. Suicide in Christianity is one of the gravest sins. The man seemed to reject God, so the suicides had no hope of salvation. Here the question arises: how could such a pious Katerina commit suicide, knowing that by doing so she was ruining her soul? Maybe she didn't really believe in God at all? But this can be contrasted with the fact that she considered her soul already ruined and simply did not want to live on in such torment, without hope of salvation. Before her arises the Hamlet question - to be or not to be? Endure torment on earth and know the evil that is here, or commit suicide and end your torment on earth. But no one knows exactly what is after death and whether it will be worse. Katerina is driven to despair by the attitude of people towards her and pangs of conscience, so she rejects the possibility of salvation. But in the denouement it turns out that she has hope for salvation, since she does not sink in the water, but breaks on the anchor. The anchor is similar to a part of the cross, where the base stands for the Holy Grail - the cup with the blood of the Lord. The Holy Grail symbolizes salvation. And Katerina is bleeding from her head. Thus, there is hope that she was forgiven and saved.
Essay on literature on the topic: The role of secondary characters in the artistic structure of the play “Thunderstorm”
Other writings:
- A. N. Ostrovsky is rightfully considered the father of Russian everyday drama, Russian theater. He opened up new horizons for the Russian theater, new heroes, a new type of human relations. About 60 plays belong to his pen, of which the most famous are such as “Dowry”, “Late Love”, Read More ......
- "Thunderstorm" is an idyll of the "dark kingdom". The characters themselves in the drama have no idea of the meaning of their position. Persons who do not directly participate in intrigues seem unnecessary and superfluous, but we, the readers, see completely different facts, and it is these faces Read More ......
- A. N. Ostrovsky is rightfully considered the singer of the merchant environment, the father of Russian everyday drama, Russian theater. About sixty plays belong to his pen, of which the most famous are “Dowry”, “Late Love”, “Forest”, “Enough Simplicity for Every Wise Man”, “Own People - Let's Settle”, “Thunderstorm” and Read More ..... .
- A.P. Chekhov's drama "Three Sisters", written in 1900, is a work of innovative Chekhovian dramaturgy, built according to other dramatic canons than the classical plays of the 19th century. Gone is the classical unity of place, time and action, there is no conflict of drama in his Read More ......
- As in a painting, the background, minor details set off and enhance the main idea of the picture, so in the comedy "Woe from Wit" each of the characters in the play performs its artistic function. Episodic characters set off and complement the features of the main characters. Although they are not Read More ......
- In the mid-90s of the 19th century, Chekhov was one of the first in literature to feel the nearness of the long-awaited future. “The time has come, a mass is approaching all of us, a healthy strong storm is preparing, which is coming, it is already close ...” - solemnly sounds in the exposition of “Three Sisters”. The symbol is highly Read More ......
- The role of secondary characters in the novel by I. S. Turgenev “Fathers and Sons” is multifaceted. The system of characters is built by the author in such a way that the relationship of the characters with Bazarov reveals the character of each of them and at the same time makes it possible to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the worldview Read More ......
- It is probably not entirely correct to call any of the characters in The Thunderstorm extra-plot, episodic. Yes, they are mentioned sporadically, at first glance they serve as a background to the overall plot structure, they are, like the same Boris, a piece of furniture. But their role is very important, without them the whole work could Read More ......
The play by A. N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm" was written in 1859. In the same year, it was staged in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and for many years it has not left the stages of all theaters in the world. Such popularity and relevance of the play is explained by the fact that The Thunderstorm combines the features of social drama and high tragedy. In the center of the plot of the play is the conflict of feeling and duty in the soul of the main character, Katerina Kabanova. This conflict is a hallmark of a classic tragedy. Katerina is a very pious and religious person. She dreamed of a strong family, a loving husband and children, but ended up in the Kabanikha family. Marfa Ignatievna put the house-building order and way of life above all else. Naturally, Kabanikha forced everyone in her family to follow her Charter. But Katerina, a bright and free person, could not come to terms with the cramped and stuffy world of Domostroy. She aspired to a completely different life. This desire led the woman to sin - betrayal of her husband. Going on a date with Boris, Katerina already knew that after that she would not be able to live. The sin of treason lay like a heavy stone on the soul of the heroine, with whom she simply could not exist. A thunderstorm in the city accelerated Katerina's national recognition - she repented of her treason.
The boar also found out about the sin of the daughter-in-law. She ordered to keep Katerina locked up. What awaited the heroine? In any case, death: sooner or later, Kabanikha, with her reproaches and instructions, would have brought the woman to the grave. But the worst thing for Katerina was not that. The worst thing for the heroine is her internal punishment, her internal judgment. She herself could not forgive herself for her betrayal, her terrible sin. Therefore, the conflict in the play is resolved in the tradition of classic tragedy: the heroine dies.
But Dobrolyubov also pointed out that throughout the play, readers think "not about a love affair, but about their whole life." This means that the accusatory notes of the work concerned various aspects of Russian life. The play takes place in the provincial merchant town of Kalinov, located on the banks of the Volga River. In this place, everything is so monotonous and stable that even news from other cities and from the capital does not reach here.
Residents in the city are closed, distrustful, hate everything new and blindly follow the Domostroy way of life, which has long outlived its usefulness. Wild and Kabanikha personify the "fathers of the city", enjoying power and authority. Wild is depicted as a complete tyrant. He swaggers before his nephew, before his family, but retreats before those who are able to rebuff him. Kuligin notices that all the atrocities in the city take place behind the high walls of merchant houses. Here they deceive, tyrannize, suppress, cripple lives and destinies. In general, Kuligin's remarks often expose the "dark kingdom", pass judgment on him, and even, to some extent, reflect the position of the author. Other minor characters also play an important role in the play. So, for example, the pilgrim Feklusha reveals all the ignorance and backwardness of the "dark kingdom", as well as his imminent death, because a society guided by such views cannot exist. An important role in the play is played by the image of the half-mad Lady, who voices the idea of sinfulness and inevitable punishment for both Katerina and the entire "dark kingdom".
In Ostrovsky's tragedy The Thunderstorm, the problems of morality were widely posed. On the example of the provincial town of Kalinov, he showed the morals prevailing there. He portrayed the cruelty of people living in the old fashioned way, according to Domostroy, and the riotousness of the younger generation. All the characters in the tragedy are grouped into two parts. Those who believe that you can be forgiven for any sin if you then repent, and the other part believes that punishment follows sin and there is no salvation from it. Here arises one of the most important problems of man in general and of the "Thunderstorm" in particular. Repentance as a problem appeared a very long time ago. Then, when a person believed that there is a higher power, and was afraid of it. He began to try to behave in such a way as to propitiate God with his behavior. People gradually developed ways to propitiate God through certain actions or deeds. All violations of this code were considered objectionable to God - a sin. At first, people simply made sacrifices to the gods, sharing with them what they had.
The apogee of this relationship is human sacrifice. In contrast, there are monotheistic religions, that is, recognizing one god. These religions have abandoned sacrifice and created codes that define the norms of human behavior. These codices have become sacred because they are believed to be inscribed by the powers of the gods. Examples of such books are the Christian Bible and the Muslim Quran.
Violation of oral or written norms is a sin and should be punished. If at first a person was afraid of being killed on the spot, then after that he begins to fear for his afterlife. A person begins to worry about where his soul will go after death: to eternal bliss or to eternal suffering. One could get to blissful places for righteous behavior, that is, observance of the Norms, and sinners get to where they will suffer forever. This is where repentance arises, since a rare person could live,
not committing sins, and to cross out your life because of a few sins was scary for everyone. Therefore, it becomes possible to escape punishment by asking God for forgiveness. Thus, any person, even the last sinner, receives hope for salvation if he repents. In The Thunderstorm, the problem of repentance is most acutely posed. The main character of the tragedy, Katerina, is in terrible pangs of conscience. She is torn between her lawful husband and Boris, a righteous life and a fall. She cannot forbid herself to love Boris, but she executes herself in her soul, believing that by doing so she rejects God, since a husband for a wife is like God for a church.
Therefore, by cheating on her husband, she betrays God, which means she loses all possibility of salvation. She considers this sin unforgivable and therefore denies the possibility of repentance for herself. Katerina is very
a pious woman, from childhood she used to pray to God and even saw angels, which is why her torment is so strong. These sufferings bring her to the point that, fearing the punishment of God, personified in the form of a thunderstorm, she throws herself at the feet of her husband and confesses everything to him, putting her life into his hands. People react to this recognition in different ways, revealing their attitude to the possibility of repentance. Kabanova offers to bury her in the ground alive, that is, she believes that there is no way to forgive her. Tikhon, on the contrary, forgives Katerina, that is, he believes that she will receive forgiveness from God. Katerina believes in repentance, because she fears that she will die suddenly, not because her life will be interrupted, but because she is afraid to stand before God unrepentant, with all her sins. The attitude of people to the possibility of repentance is manifested in
thunderstorm time. The storm personifies the wrath of God, and therefore people, when they see a thunderstorm, try to avoid it. Some behave differently. For example, Kuligin wants to build lightning rods and save people from a thunderstorm, so he believes that people can be saved from God's punishment if they repent, then God's wrath will disappear through repentance, like lightning goes into the ground through a lightning rod, Dikoy believes that from the wrath of God it is impossible to hide, that is, he does not believe in the possibility of repentance. Although it should be noted that he can repent, as he throws himself at the peasant's feet and asks for forgiveness from him for scolding him.
Pangs of conscience bring Katerina to the point that she begins to think about suicide. Suicide in Christianity is one of the gravest sins. The man seemed to reject God, so the suicides had no hope of salvation. Here the question arises: how could such a pious Katerina commit suicide, knowing that by doing so she was ruining her soul? Maybe she didn't really believe in God at all? But this can be contrasted with the fact that she considered her soul already ruined and simply did not want to live on in such torment, without hope of salvation. Before her arises the Hamlet question - to be or not to be? Endure torment on earth and know the evil that is here, or commit suicide and end your torment on earth. But no one knows exactly what is after death and whether it will be worse. Katerina is driven to despair by the attitude of people towards her and pangs of conscience, so she rejects the possibility of salvation. But in the denouement it turns out that she has hope for salvation, since she does not sink in the water, but breaks on the anchor. The anchor is similar to a part of the cross, where the base stands for the Holy Grail - a cup with the blood of the Lord. The Holy Grail symbolizes salvation. And Katerina is bleeding from her head. Thus, there is hope that she was forgiven and saved.
In addition to the main characters, it also includes minor ones who play an equally important role in the play.
With replicas of minor characters, Ostrovsky draws a background that speaks about the state of the main characters, draws the reality surrounding them. From their words, you can learn a lot about the customs of Kalinov, his past and aggressive rejection of everything new, about the requirements that apply to the inhabitants of Kalinov, their way of life, dramas and characters.
In the remarks that lead us to the image of Katerina and her monologue-characteristic, a modest young beautiful woman is drawn, about whom no one can say anything bad. Only the attentive Varvara saw her reaction to Boris and pushes her to betrayal, not seeing anything wrong in it and not at all tormented by a sense of guilt towards her brother. Most likely, Katerina would never dare to change, but the daughter-in-law simply hands her the key, knowing that she will not be able to resist. In the person of Varvara, we have proof that there is no love in the house of Kabanikh between relatives, and everyone is only interested in his personal life, his benefits.
Her lover, Ivan Kudryash, also does not feel love. He can cheat on Varvara simply out of a desire to harm the Wild, and would do this if his daughters were older. For Varvara and Kudryash, their meeting is an opportunity to satisfy bodily needs, to mutual pleasure. Animal lust is the obvious norm of the night Kalinov. The example of their couple shows the bulk of Kalinov's youth, the same generation that is not interested in anything other than their personal needs.
The younger generation also includes the married Tikhon and the unmarried Boris, but they are different. This is rather an exception to the general rule.
Tikhon represents that part of the youth that is suppressed by the elders and is completely dependent on them. He hardly ever behaved like his sister, he is more decent - and therefore unhappy. He cannot pretend to be submissive, like his sister - he is really submissive, his mother broke him. It is a pleasure for him to get drunk to death when there is no constant control in the face of his mother.
Boris is different, because he did not grow up in Kalinovo, and his late mother is a noblewoman. His father left Kalinov and was happy until he died, leaving the children orphans. Boris saw a different life. However, because of his younger sister, he is ready for self-sacrifice - he is in the service of his uncle, dreaming that someday Dikoy will separate them from part of the inheritance left by his grandmother. In Kalinov there are no entertainments, outlets - and he fell in love. This is really falling in love, not animal lust. His example shows the poor relatives of Kalinov, forced to live with rich merchants.
The example of Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic trying to create a mobile perpetuum, shows the inventors of small towns who are forced to constantly ask for money to develop inventions, and receive insults and humiliating refusals, and even abuse. He's trying to bring progress to the city, but he's the only one doing it. The rest are satisfied with everything, or they have resigned themselves to fate. This is the only positive secondary hero of the play, but he resigned himself to fate. He can't fight Wild. The desire to create and create for the people is not even paid. But it is with the help of him that Ostrovsky condemns the "dark kingdom". He sees the beauty of the Volga, Kalinov, nature, approaching thunderstorms - which no one else sees except him. And it is he who, giving the corpse of Katerina, utters the words of censure to the “dark kingdom”.
In contrast to him, the "professional" wanderer Feklusha settled well. She does not bring anything new, but she knows very well what those from whom she expects to eat deliciously want to hear. Change is from the devil, who hunts in big cities, confusing people. All new creations are also from the devil - exactly what is fully consistent with the personal opinion of Kabanikh. In Kalinov, assenting to Kabanikh, Feklusha will always be full, and food and comfort are the only things she is not indifferent to.
Not the last role is played by the half-crazy lady, about whom it was known that she sinned a lot in her youth, and in her old age she became obsessed with this topic. “Sin” and “beauty” are two inseparable concepts for her. Beauty is gone - and the meaning of life is gone, this, of course, becomes God's punishment for sins. On this basis, the lady goes crazy, and immediately begins to denounce, seeing a beautiful face. But on the impressionable Katerina, she gives the impression of an angel of retribution, although he himself invented most of God's terrible punishment for his act.
Without the secondary characters, The Thunderstorm could not have been so emotionally and meaningfully rich. With thoughtful remarks, like strokes, the author creates a complete picture of the hopeless life of the dark, patriarchal Kalinov, which can lead to death any soul that dreams of flying. That's why people don't fly there. Or they fly, but in a matter of seconds, in free fall.
