The half-mad noblewoman, people with dogs’ heads, and Saint Christopher in Ostrovsky’s "The Storm": on the question of the play’s genre

This article examines one of the most important secondary characters in Ostrovsky’s much anthologized play: the half-mad noblewoman. This character and her two appearances in the play are examined in relation to the well-known Orthodox icon of Saint Christopher with a dog’s head. The analysis of this allusion allows one to conclude that the genre of The Storm should be defined not as a drama of everyday life, but as a tragedy.