ABSTRACT
Ostrovskys The Storm is a tragic drama set in a claustrophobic provincial town on the banks of the Volga River. It is the study of the harsh life of a lower-class mercantile family that is ruled by a domineering matriarch. Marfa Kabanova dominates her son Tikhon and daughter-in-law Katerina with an iron will. Katerinas sensitivity and mysticism seek freedom in an affair with the attractive and educated Boris but her guilt consumes her and she confesses publicly that she is an adulterous. After scenes of self-castigation she finally ends her life by flinging herself into the Volga during a violent thunderstorm. Katerinas free spirit and will are crushed by tragedy. She lives an oppressed life and vainly searches for freedom and air that will allow her to breathe. It is a mistake to play her as a melodramatic heroine. She is consumed by neurotic agitation and is in severe pain, grieving that her lover has been taken from her.
