The Storm (Ostrovsky)
Short summary
A small Russian town on the Volga, mid-19th century. Katerina lived unhappily with her husband Tihon and his domineering mother.
Before her marriage, Katerina had lived freely and joyfully, attending church and experiencing religious ecstasy. Now she felt suffocated by her tyrannical mother-in-law's constant supervision and criticism.
When Tihon departed on a business trip, Katerina confessed to her sister-in-law Varvara that she had fallen in love with Boris, a young man dependent on his cruel uncle. Varvara arranged secret meetings for the lovers in the garden.
For ten days, Katerina and Boris met secretly at night. When Tihon returned, Katerina was consumed by guilt and terror. During a thunderstorm, believing it was divine punishment, she publicly confessed her adultery before her husband and mother-in-law.
My heart is torn! I can bear it no longer!... I have sinned against God and against you! Did I not swear to you I would not set eyes on anyone when you were away!... And every night the same...
Mme. Kabanova tormented Katerina mercilessly. Boris was sent away to Siberia by his uncle. Katerina met Boris one last time to say farewell, then threw herself into the Volga from a steep bank and drowned. Her body was recovered, and Tihon blamed his mother for his wife's death.
Detailed summary by acts
Act titles and their division into scenes are editorial.
Act 1. Introduction to the oppressive world of Kalinov
The town and its tyrants: Dikoys cruelty and Boriss predicament
On a summer day in the provincial town of Kalinov on the banks of the Volga, three men sat in a public garden overlooking the river. An artisan sat on a bench admiring the view, while two others walked nearby discussing local affairs. The artisan praised the beauty of the Volga, but his companion dismissed it as ordinary. Their conversation turned to a man in the distance who was gesticulating wildly and berating someone.
The angry man was a wealthy merchant who ruled the town through fear and intimidation. He was publicly abusing his nephew, a well-educated young man who had come to live with him after his parents died. The nephew's grandmother had left a will stating that he and his sister would inherit money when they came of age, but only if they showed proper respect to their uncle. The merchant used this condition to torment his nephew, finding fault constantly while keeping him financially dependent.
After the merchant stormed off, Boris explained his predicament to Kuligin. His uncle had promised him a salary but refused to specify an amount, claiming he would decide later based on his mood. The merchant was notorious for cheating workers and peasants, flying into rages whenever anyone asked for payment. One of his clerks boasted that he knew how to handle the merchant, threatening him back when necessary, but Boris lacked such courage.
I know this is truly Russia, my country, but still I can't get used to it... They're a coarse lot... among the working people... nothing but brutality and squalid poverty... everyone with money tries...
Boris confessed to Kuligin that he found life in the town unbearable, having been raised in Moscow with proper education and manners. Kuligin sympathized, explaining that the merchants of Kalinov were brutal and corrupt, exploiting workers and engaging in malicious lawsuits against each other out of envy rather than necessity.
The Kabanov household: Madame Kabanovas tyranny over her family
A wealthy widow approached with her son, daughter-in-law, and daughter. She was lecturing her son about obedience and respect for elders, complaining that young people no longer showed proper reverence to their parents. Her son meekly agreed with everything she said, while his wife remained silent. The widow accused her daughter-in-law of turning her son against her, though the young woman protested that she treated her mother-in-law with the same respect as her own mother.
The widow continued her tirade, insisting that a wife must fear her husband and that kindness alone was insufficient. She demanded that her son command his wife properly, threatening that without discipline, wives would take lovers. Her son protested weakly, but she dismissed him as a fool. After she departed, he complained to his sister that his mother tormented him constantly on his wife's account, though he loved Katerina and could not bear to hurt her.
Varvara criticized her brother for his weakness, noting that he wanted to go drinking with the merchant Dikoy rather than defend his wife. After he left, she comforted Katerina, who seemed deeply troubled.
Katerinas confession: her past happiness and present torment
Katerina confided in Varvara about her former life. As a girl, she had lived freely with her mother, going to church where she experienced visions of angels and paradise. She described how she would rise early to water flowers, attend services, and spend evenings listening to pilgrims' stories. Her life had been filled with joy and spiritual ecstasy. Now she felt caged and lifeless in her husband's house.
Katerina revealed that something strange was happening to her. She felt as though she stood on the edge of a precipice with someone pushing her over. A terrible sin was approaching, and she could not escape it through prayer or willpower. She confessed that she loved another man, not her husband. Varvara guessed it was Boris and urged her to be careful, but Katerina declared that if she ever met him alone, she would run away from home forever rather than return.
If I were once to see and speak with him, I should run away from home, I would not go back home for anything in the world... If I will not to live here, then I would not, they might cut me to pieces!
An elderly woman appeared with two footmen, warning the young women about the dangers of beauty and predicting damnation in hellfire. Katerina was terrified by the prophecy, trembling and begging to go home. When a storm approached, she became even more frightened, fearing that death would overtake her suddenly with all her sins upon her soul.
Act 2. Temptation during Tihons absence
Household tensions: Feklushas tales and family conflicts
In the Kabanov house, a servant packed clothes for Tihon's journey while a pilgrim woman praised the household's piety and generosity. The pilgrim told fantastical stories about foreign lands ruled by Sultans where all laws were unjust and people had dogs' heads due to their infidelity. She claimed to have seen the devil himself scattering tares in Moscow, causing people to rush about in vanity. She also reported that time itself was growing shorter as punishment for humanity's sins.
Varvara found Katerina and reminded her of their youthful freedom. Katerina recalled how passionate and impulsive she had been as a girl, once running away to the Volga in a boat after being offended. She admitted that men had been attracted to her, but she had only laughed at them. Varvara observed that Katerina did not truly love her husband, only pitied him. When pressed, Katerina acknowledged her feelings for Boris, though she tried to resist them.
Tihons departure: oppressive instructions and Katerinas despair
Madame Kabanova summoned the family for Tihon's departure. She insisted that he give his wife proper instructions on how to behave during his absence. Under his mother's direction, Tihon commanded Katerina not to be rude to her mother-in-law, to work diligently, and not to look out windows or stare at young men. He delivered these orders reluctantly and with embarrassment, while Katerina looked at him with stern reproach.
After the others left, Katerina desperately begged Tihon to take her with him or to exact a terrible vow from her that she would not speak to any outsider during his absence. Tihon refused, saying such vows were impossible to keep. When his mother called him away, Katerina clung to him, but Madame Kabanova ordered her to bow at her husband's feet in the proper manner. Tihon departed, leaving Katerina in despair.
Alone, Katerina reflected on the emptiness of her life. She longed for children to occupy her time and thoughts. She wished she had died as a child so she could look down from heaven as an angel. She resolved to occupy herself with charitable work, sewing clothes for the poor, but the prospect of Tihon's two-week absence filled her with dread.
Varvaras scheme: the garden key and opportunity for sin
Varvara announced that she and Katerina would sleep in the garden summerhouse, as her mother had given permission. She revealed that she had secretly taken the key to the garden gate, replacing it with another so her mother would not notice. She gave the key to Katerina, saying that if she saw Boris, she would tell him to come to the gate. Katerina recoiled in horror, but Varvara insisted she take the key.
After Varvara left, Katerina stared at the key in her hand, torn between desire and fear. She knew it represented her ruin and damnation, yet she could not bring herself to throw it away. She rationalized that perhaps she would only look at Boris from a distance, that there would be no harm in merely speaking to him. The key burned in her hand like fire, and she recognized it as a sign of fate. Despite her terror of sin and hellfire, she decided to keep the key, declaring that come what may, she would see Boris.
Act 3. The secret meetings
Town life: Dikoys rage and conversations in the arcade
Several days later, townspeople gathered in an old arcade to shelter from an approaching storm. They examined faded paintings on the walls depicting hell's torments and ancient battles. Dikoy arrived with Kuligin, who was proposing that the merchant fund a sundial for the town square. Dikoy responded with fury, calling Kuligin a fool and refusing to listen. When Kuligin mentioned lightning conductors, Dikoy exploded, demanding to know if Kuligin was a Tartar for wanting to ward off God's punishment with rods and contraptions.
They give to the poor, but their own household they worry to death... They injure each other's trade... They are always at feud... they cover sheets of stamped paper with malicious quibbling attacks...
Preparations: Varvara arranges the rendezvous
Varvara found Boris and told him that Katerina was in a terrible state, shaking and pale, wandering the house like a mad creature. Tihon had returned unexpectedly, and his mother was watching Katerina with suspicious eyes. Varvara feared that Katerina might confess everything to her husband in her distress. She instructed Boris to come to the garden gate behind the Kabanovs' house that evening. When Boris hesitated, she urged him to hurry, then left to arrange the meeting with her own lover.
Forbidden love: Katerina and Boris meet in the garden
That night, Boris waited nervously in the hollow behind the garden. Kudriash arrived with his guitar, and the two men discussed their romantic situations. Boris confessed his love for a married woman, and Kudriash warned him of the danger, knowing the brutal punishment that awaited adulterous wives in Kalinov. Varvara appeared and sent Kudriash away with her to give Boris and Katerina privacy.
Katerina descended the path, wrapped in a white kerchief, her eyes fixed on the ground. Boris tried to take her hand, but she recoiled in terror, crying that she could never be free of this sin. She declared that it would lie on her soul like a stone forever. Yet when Boris took her hand and they sat together, she could not resist. She confessed that she had loved him from the first moment she saw him, that she would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he had beckoned.
I have loved you for so long... Directly I saw you I ceased to belong to myself. From the first moment, I believe, if you had beckoned to me, I would have followed you; to the ends of the earth...
They discussed the fortnight of Tihon's absence and made plans to meet again. Katerina declared that she was not afraid of judgment, that if she had to suffer for her sin on earth, it would be better than suffering in the afterlife. When Varvara called them back, Katerina clung to Boris, and they parted reluctantly, promising to meet the next evening.
Act 4. The storm and confession
The gathering storm: Katerinas terror and the old ladys prophecy
Ten days later, people again sought shelter in the arcade as a storm approached. Katerina arrived with her husband, mother-in-law, and Varvara. She was in a state of extreme agitation, trembling and pale. Madame Kabanova remarked coldly that those who lived righteously had no reason to fear storms. Tihon tried to comfort his wife, joking that she must have committed some terrible sin during his absence. Katerina looked at him with anguish.
Boris appeared and bowed to the family. Katerina shrieked and turned away. Kuligin tried to calm the crowd, explaining that storms were natural phenomena to be admired rather than feared, but the townspeople insisted that lightning was God's punishment for sin. The old mad woman appeared again, warning of hellfire and damnation. Katerina stared at a painting of hell on the arcade wall and cried out in terror.
Public confession: Katerina reveals her adultery
Thunder crashed, and Katerina could no longer contain herself. She began to confess publicly, crying out that she had sinned against God and her husband. Tihon tried to stop her, but his mother demanded she continue. Katerina revealed that she had gone out of the house every night during Tihon's absence and had been with Boris. As she named her lover, thunder crashed again, and she fell unconscious in her husband's arms. Madame Kabanova declared grimly that this was what freedom led to.
Act 5. Tragic consequences
Katerinas despair: wandering alone and final meeting with Boris
Several days later, Tihon met Kuligin and confessed his misery. His mother had tormented Katerina relentlessly, and though Tihon had beaten his wife at his mother's command, he still loved her and could not bear to see her suffering. He revealed that Varvara had run away with Kudriash, and that Boris was being sent to Siberia by his uncle for three years. The household was in chaos, and Katerina had disappeared. Tihon feared she might harm herself and rushed off to search for her.
Katerina wandered alone by the Volga, speaking disconnectedly to herself. She could not remember Boris's words of love and felt as though she were already in her grave. She longed for death, imagining a peaceful grave under a tree with flowers blooming above it. She heard Boris calling and ran to him. They embraced, and she wept on his breast. He told her he was being sent away, and she begged him to take her with him, but he explained it was impossible.
I am stifling, stifling at home, I should like to run away... if I were my own mistress, I would float down the Volga now, in a boat, to the singing of songs, or I would drive right away...
Katerina told Boris to give alms to every beggar he met on his journey and ask them to pray for her sinful soul. They said farewell, and Boris departed in anguish, praying that God would grant her a quick death to end her suffering.
The tragic end: Katerinas suicide and its aftermath
Alone, Katerina contemplated her fate. She decided that home and the grave were the same to her now. She thought longingly of a grave under a tree, warmed by sunshine and watered by rain, with flowers blooming above it. She heard singing in the distance and wondered about death. She knew that suicide was a sin, that no one would pray for her, but she could not bear to live. She walked to the river bank and called out her farewell to Boris, then threw herself into the Volga.
Where am I going now? Home? No, home or the grave—it's the same... Better the grave... how sweet!... The sunshine warms it... But of life I don't want to think! Live again! No, no, no use... life is not good!
The family and townspeople gathered to search for Katerina. Someone shouted that a woman had thrown herself into the water. Kuligin and several men rushed to the riverbank with torches. They found Katerina's body in a deep pool near the shore and carried her back. Tihon rushed to his wife's body and wept over it. Kuligin laid her down and declared that her soul was now before a judge more merciful than those on earth.
Here is your Katerina. You may do what you like with her. Her body is here, take it; but her soul is not yours now; she is before a Judge more merciful than you are, now!
Madame Kabanova coldly reminded everyone that it was a sin to weep for a suicide. Tihon turned on his mother in anguish, crying out that she had murdered Katerina. His mother tried to silence him, but he repeated his accusation. He fell upon his wife's body, lamenting that she was at peace while he was left to suffer.
It is well with you, Katia! But why am I left to live and suffer!... Mother, you have murdered her! you! you! you!... It is well with you, Katia! But why am I left to live and suffer!