Maxim Gorky's play "At the Bottom" is still the most successful drama in his collection of works. She won the favor of the public during the life of the author, the writer himself even described the performances in other books, ironically about his fame. So what is it about this book that has so captivated people?
The play was written in late 1901 - early 1902. This work was not an obsession or a burst of inspiration, as is usually the case with creative people. On the contrary, it was written specifically for the troupe of actors from the Moscow Art Theater, created to enrich the culture of all classes of society. Gorky could not imagine what would come of this, but he realized the desired idea of creating a play about tramps, where about two dozen characters would be present.
The fate of Gorky's play cannot be called the final and irrevocable triumph of his creative genius. Opinions were different. People were delighted or criticized such a controversial creation. She survived the bans and censorship, and until now everyone understands the meaning of the drama in their own way.
The meaning of the name
The meaning of the title of the play "At the Bottom" personifies the social position of all the characters in the work. The name gives an ambiguous first impression, since there is no specific mention of which day it is. The author allows the reader to express his imagination and guess what his work is about.
Today, many literary scholars agree that the author meant that his characters are at the bottom of life in a social, financial and moral sense. This is the meaning of the name.
Genre, direction, composition
The play is written in the genre called "social-philosophical drama". The author touches on such topics and problems. His direction can be described as "critical realism", although some researchers insist on the wording "socialist realism", as the writer focused the public's attention on social injustice and the eternal conflict between the poor and the rich. Thus, his work took on an ideological connotation, because at that time the confrontation between the nobility and the common people in Russia was only heating up.
The composition of the work is linear, since all actions are chronologically sequential and form a single thread of the narrative.
The essence of the work
The essence of the play by Maxim Gorky lies in the image of the bottom and its inhabitants. To show the readers in the characters of the plays of marginals, people humiliated by life and fate, rejected by society and severed their connection with it. Despite the smoldering flame of hope - with no future. They live, argue about love, honesty, truth, justice, but their words are just an empty sound for this world and even for their own destinies.
Everything that happens in the play has only one goal: to show the clash of philosophical views and positions, as well as to illustrate the dramas of outcast people to whom no one lends a helping hand.
Main characters and their characteristics
The inhabitants of the bottom are people with different life principles and beliefs, but they all have one condition in common: they are mired in poverty, which gradually deprives them of dignity, hope and self-confidence. She corrupts them, dooming the victims to certain death.
- Mite– works as a locksmith, 40 years. Married to Anna (30 years old), suffering from consumption. Relations with the wife are the main characterizing detail. Klesh's complete indifference to her well-being, frequent beatings and humiliation speak of his cruelty and callousness. After Anna's death, the man was forced to sell his work tools in order to bury her. And only the lack of work unsettled him a little. Fate leaves the hero with no chance to get out of the rooming house and no prospects for a further successful life.
- Bubnov- a 45-year-old man. Former owner of a fur workshop. Dissatisfied with the current life, but tries to maintain the potential to return to normal society. Lost possession due to divorce, as documents were issued to his wife. Lives in a rooming house and sews hats.
- satin- Approximately 40 years old, drinks until he loses his memory and plays cards, where he cheats, than he earns his living. I read many books, which I constantly remind not so much to my neighbors as to myself as a consolation that not everything is lost. He served 5 years in prison for manslaughter during a fight for his sister's honor. Despite his education and an accidental fall, he does not recognize honest ways of existence.
- Luke- a wanderer at the age of 60 years. Appeared unexpectedly for the inhabitants of the rooming house. He behaves intelligently, consoles and calms everyone around, but as if he came with a specific purpose. He tries to build relationships with everyone by giving advice, which incites even more controversy. The hero of a neutral character, despite his good tone, always wants to doubt the purity of intentions. According to his stories, it can be assumed that he served time in prison, but escaped from there.
- Ash- name is Vasily, 28 years old. He constantly steals, but, despite the dishonest way of earning money, he has his own philosophical point of view, like everyone else. He wants to get out of the rooming house and start a new life. Several times he was in prison. He has a certain position in this society due to a secret relationship with the married Vasilisa, which everyone knows about. At the beginning of the play, the characters part, and Pepel tries to take care of Natasha in order to take her away from the rooming house, but, in a fight, he kills Kostylev and ends up in prison at the end of the play.
- Nastya- a young girl, 24 years old. Based on her treatment and conversations, it can be concluded that she works as a call girl. Constantly wants attention to be needed. She has a connection with the Baron, but not the one that she comes up with in her fantasies after reading romance novels. In fact, she tolerates rudeness and disrespect from her boyfriend, while giving him money for alcohol. All her behavior is continuous complaints about life and requests to regret.
- Baron- 33 years old, drinks, but due to unfortunate circumstances. He constantly reminds of his noble roots, which once helped him become a wealthy official, but did not have much significance when accused of embezzlement of state funds, because of which the hero went to prison, remaining a beggar. He has a love relationship with Nastya, but takes them for granted, transfers all his duties to the girl, constantly takes money for drinking.
- Anna- Klesch's wife, 30 years old, suffers from consumption. At the beginning of the play, he is in a dying state, but does not live to the end. For all the heroes, the rooming house is an unfortunate item of "interior" that makes unnecessary sounds and takes up space. Until her death, she hopes for a manifestation of her husband's love, but dies in a corner from indifference, beatings and humiliation, which may have given rise to the disease.
- Actor- a man, about 40 years old. Just like all the residents of the rooming house, he always remembers his past life. A kind and fair person, but overly self-pitying. Wants to stop drinking after learning from Luke about a hospital for alcoholics in some city. He begins to save money, but, not having time to find out the location of the hospital before the wanderer leaves, the hero despairs and ends his life by suicide.
- Kostylev- Vasilisa's husband, 54-year-old owner of a rooming house. He perceives people only as walking wallets, likes to remind about debts and assert himself at the expense of the lowlands of his own tenants. He tries to hide his true attitude behind a mask of kindness. He suspects his wife of cheating with Ash, which is why he constantly listens to the sounds outside his door. He believes that he should be grateful for the lodging for the night. Vasilisa and her sister Natasha are treated no better than the drunkards who live at his expense. Buys things that Cinder steals, but hides it. Due to his own stupidity, he dies at the hands of Ash in a fight.
- Vasilisa Karpovna - Kostylev's wife, 26 years old. No different from her husband, but hates him with all her heart. She secretly cheats on her husband with Ashes and incites her lover to kill her husband, promising that he will not be sent to prison. And she does not feel any feelings for her sister, except for envy and anger, which is why she gets the most. He is looking for his own benefit in everything.
- Natasha- Vasilisa's sister, 20 years old. The most "clean" soul of the rooming house. He suffers bullying from Vasilisa and her husband. He cannot trust Ash with his desire to take her away, knowing all the meanness of people. Although she understands that she will disappear. Helps residents selflessly. He is going to meet Vaska in order to leave, but ends up in the hospital after the death of Kostylev and goes missing.
- Kvashnya- A 40-year-old dumpling vendor who experienced the strength of a husband who beat her for 8 years of marriage. Helps the residents of the rooming house, sometimes tries to put the house in order. He argues with everyone and is no longer going to get married, remembering his late tyrant husband. Over the course of the play, their relationship with Medvedev develops. At the very end, Kvashnya marries a policeman, whom she herself begins to beat because of her addiction to alcohol.
- Medvedev- uncle of the sisters Vasilisa and Natasha, policeman, 50 years old. Throughout the play, she tries to woo Kvashnya, promising that she will not be like her ex-husband. He knows that his niece is being beaten by his older sister, but does not intervene. He knows about all the machinations of Kostylev, Vasilisa and Pepel. At the end of the play, he marries Kvashnya, begins to drink, for which his wife beats him.
- Alyoshka- Shoemaker, 20 years old, drinks. He says that he does not need anything, that he is disappointed in life. He drinks out of desperation and plays the harmonica. Due to riot and drinking, he often ends up in the police station.
- Tatar– also lives in a rooming house, works as a housekeeper. He likes to play cards with Satin and Baron, but always resents their dishonest play. An honest person does not understand crooks. Constantly talks about the laws, honors them. At the end of the play, Crooked Goit hits him and breaks his arm.
- crooked goiter- another little-known inhabitants of the rooming house, the key keeper. Not as honest as Tatarin. He also likes to pass the time playing cards, calmly treats the cheating of Satin and the Baron, finds excuses for them. He beats Tatarin, breaks his arm, because of which he has a conflict with policeman Medvedev. At the end of the play, he sings a song with the others.
- Hope Theme stretches throughout the play until the very denouement. She is in the mood of the work, but not once does anyone mention their intention to get out of the rooming house. Hope is present in every dialogue of the inhabitants, but only indirectly. As once each of them hit the bottom, so someday they dream of getting out of there. In everyone there is a small opportunity to return to a past life again, where everyone was happy, although they did not appreciate it.
- Destiny Theme is also very important in the play. It defines the role of evil fate and its meaning for the heroes. Fate can be in the work that driving force that could not be changed, which brought all the inhabitants together. Or that circumstance, always subject to treason, which had to be overcome in order to be able to achieve great success. From the life of the inhabitants, one can understand that they have accepted their fate and are trying to change it only in the opposite direction, believing that they have nowhere to fall below. If one of the tenants tries to make an attempt to change his position and get out of the bottom, he collapses. Perhaps the author wanted to show in this way that they deserved such a fate.
- Theme of the meaning of life looks rather superficial in the play, but if you think about it, you can understand the reason for such an attitude towards the life of the heroes of the shack. Everyone considers the current state of affairs to be a bottom from which there is no way out: neither down nor, all the more so, up. Heroes, despite different age categories, are disappointed in life. They lost interest in her, and ceased to see any meaning in their own existence, to say nothing of sympathy for each other. They do not aspire to another fate, because they do not represent it. Only alcohol sometimes gives color to the existence, which is why the roommates like to drink.
- Theme of Truth and Lies in the play is the main idea of the author. This topic is a philosophical question in Gorky's work, about which he reflects through the lips of the characters. If we talk about the truth in the dialogues, then its boundaries are erased, because sometimes the characters say absurd things. However, their words hide secrets and mysteries that are revealed to us in the course of the plot of the work. The author raises this topic in the play, as he considers the truth as a way to save the inhabitants. Show the heroes the real state of affairs, opening their eyes to the world and to their own lives, which they lose every day in the hut? Or hide the truth under the masks of lies, pretense, because it is easier for them? Everyone chooses the answer independently, but the author makes it clear that he likes the first option.
- Theme of love and feelings affects in the work, because it makes it possible to understand the relationship of the inhabitants. Love in a rooming house, even between spouses, is absolutely absent, and it hardly has the opportunity to appear there. The place itself is filled with hatred. All were united only by a common living space and a sense of the injustice of fate. Indifference is in the air, both for healthy and sick people. Only squabbles, like dogs squabbling, amuse the overnight stays. Along with the interest in life, the colors of emotions and feelings are lost.
- The first problem is conflict between the inhabitants of the rooming house, not only with each other, but also with life. From the dialogues between the characters, one can understand their relationship. Constant quarrels, differences of opinion, elementary debts lead to eternal skirmishes, which is a mistake in this case. The overnight stays need to learn to live above the same roof in harmony. Mutual assistance will make life easier, change the general atmosphere. The problem of social conflict is the destruction of any society. The poor are united by a common problem, but instead of solving it, they create new ones by common efforts. The conflict with life lies in the lack of an adequate perception of it. Former people are offended by life, which is why they do not take further steps towards creating a different future and simply go with the flow.
- Another issue is the thorny question: Truth or Compassion? The author creates a reason for reflection: to show the heroes the realities of life or to sympathize with such a fate? In the drama, someone suffers from physical or psychological abuse, and someone dies in agony, but receives their share of compassion, and this reduces their suffering. Each person has their own view of the current situation, and we react based on our feelings. The writer in Satin's monologue and the disappearance of the wanderer made it clear which side he is on. Luka acts as an antagonist to Gorky, trying to bring the inhabitants back to life, show the truth and console the suffering.
- Also in the play rises problem of humanism. More precisely, its absence. Returning again to the relations between the inhabitants, and their relation to themselves, one can consider this problem from two positions. The lack of humanism on the part of the characters towards each other can be seen in the situation with the dying Anna, to whom no one pays attention. During Vasilisa's mockery of her sister Natasha, Nastya's humiliation. There is an opinion that if people are at the bottom, then they do not need any more help, every man for himself. This cruelty to themselves is determined by their current way of life - constant drinking, fights, carrying disappointment and loss of meaning in life. Existence ceases to be the highest value when there is no goal for it.
- The problem of immorality rises in connection with the lifestyle that residents lead based on their social location. Nastya's work as a call girl, playing cards for money, drinking alcohol with the ensuing consequences in the form of fights and drives to the police, theft - all these are the consequences of poverty. The author shows this behavior as a typical phenomenon for people who find themselves at the bottom of society.
Topics
Despite the seemingly simple plot and the lack of sharp climactic turns, the work is replete with themes that give rise to reflection.
Problems
The play is rich in subject matter. Maxim Gorky tried in one work to indicate the moral problems that were relevant at that time, which, however, exist to this day.
The meaning of the play
The idea of Gorky's play is that all people are exactly the same, regardless of their social and financial status. Everyone is made of flesh and blood, the differences are only in upbringing and character, which give us the opportunity to react differently to the current situations and act on them. Whoever you are, life can change in a moment. Any of us, having lost everything that we had in the past, sinking to the bottom, will lose ourselves. It will no longer make sense to keep yourself within the decency of society, to look and behave appropriately. When a person loses the values set by others, he becomes confused and falls out of reality, as happened with the heroes.
The main idea is that life can break any person. To make him indifferent, bitter, having lost any incentive to exist. Of course, indifferent society will be guilty of many of his troubles, which will only push the falling one. However, the broken poor are often to blame for the fact that they cannot rise, because in their laziness, depravity and indifference to everything, it is still difficult to find the guilty ones.
Gorky's author's position is expressed in Satin's monologue, which shattered into aphorisms. "Man - sounds proud!" he exclaims. The writer wants to show how to treat people in order to appeal to their dignity and strength. Endless regret without concrete practical steps will only harm the poor, because he will continue to feel sorry for himself, and not work in order to get out of the vicious circle of poverty. This is the philosophical meaning of drama. In a dispute about true and false humanism in society, the one who speaks directly and honestly, even at the risk of incurring indignation, wins. Gorky in one of Sateen's monologues connects truth and lies with human freedom. Independence is given only at the cost of comprehending and searching for truth.
Conclusion
Each reader will make their own conclusion. The play "At the Bottom" can help a person understand that in life one should always strive for something, because it gives strength to move on without looking back. Don't stop thinking that nothing will work.
On the example of all the heroes, one can see absolute inaction and disinterest in their own destiny. Regardless of age and gender, they are simply mired in their current position, excused by the fact that it is too late to resist and start all over again. A person must himself have a desire to change his future, and in case of any failure, do not blame life, do not be offended by it, but gain experience by experiencing the problem. The inhabitants of the rooming house believe that a miracle should suddenly fall on them, for their suffering in the basement, which will bring them a new life, as it happens - Luka comes to them, wanting to cheer up all the desperate, help with advice to make life better. But, they forgot that the word did not help the fallen, he extended his hand to them, but no one took it. And everyone is just waiting for action from anyone, but not from themselves.
Criticism
It cannot be said that before the birth of his legendary play, Gorky did not have any popularity in society. But, it can be emphasized that interest in him has intensified precisely because of this work.
Gorky managed to show everyday, ordinary things that surround dirty, uneducated people from a new angle. He knew what he was writing about, since he himself had experience in achieving his position in society, because he was from the common people and an orphan. There is no exact explanation why the works of Maxim Gorky were so popular and made such a strong impression on the public, because he was not an innovator of any genre, writing about well-known things. But Gorky's work was fashionable at that time, the society liked to read his works, attend theater performances based on his works. It can be assumed that the degree of social tension in Russia was rising, and many were dissatisfied with the established order in the country. The monarchy had exhausted itself, and the popular actions of subsequent years were severely suppressed, and therefore many people were happy to look for minuses in the existing system, as if reinforcing their own conclusions.
The features of the play lie in the way of presenting and presenting the characters' characters, in the harmonious use of descriptions. One of the issues raised in the work is the individuality of each hero and his struggle for it. Artistic tropes and stylistic figures very accurately depict the living conditions of the characters, because the author saw all these details personally.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!Gorky in his play offers readers a whole kaleidoscope of different characters and heroes. Next, let's take a brief look at each.
Kostylev
Kostylev - 54-year-old man, is the head of the rooming house. In general, he is a negative character who is prone to anger and greed, and to many other negative qualities. He has a wife, Vasilisa, who in turn has a sister named Natasha. To each he is more than dismissive, can be rude and offend. This person does not particularly think about morality, is more inclined to seek personal gain. He buys stolen goods from Vaska Pepel, but at the end of the play he dies at the hands of Vaska.
Vasilisa Karpovna
Vasilisa Karpovna - 26 years old, she is the wife of Kostylev. As they say, premium wife. Kostylev can afford to keep a young woman, but Vasilisa herself cannot be said to be a positive heroine. She is prone to debauchery and cruelty, that is, she is not subservient and oppressed here, she herself knows her own goals to which she goes and eventually persuades Vaska, with whom she once had a relationship, to get rid of her elderly spouse.
Natasha
Natasha - 20 years old. A rather sweet and positive girl who is subjected to all sorts of humiliations from Vasilisa (whose sister she is) and Kostylev. Vaska Peplu likes her, but he cannot provide for her and she ends up in the hospital, and then disappears.
Vaska Pepel
Vaska Pepel is a 28-year-old criminal. Previously, he met with Vasilisa, who continues to have feelings for him, and Vaska himself tries to look after the younger Natasha, whom he offers to run away and start living honestly, but such an enterprise fails. Moreover, Vaska, who had previously been imprisoned many times, again finds himself behind bars after he dealt with Kostylev.
Luke
Luka - 60 years old, old man. An old man who wants to help everyone else and is wise by experience, but in fact no one needs his advice and even harms. He most likely settled in a rooming house after he escaped from hard labor. Probably, Luka did not finish his own term, it is not known what his crime is.
Actor
The actor is a 40-year-old alcoholic. He previously served in the theater and is saving up money to go to some mythical city where he is being treated for alcoholism. Luke told about this city, and in this advice his rather harmful influence is again shown. As a result, Luke does not name in which city the desired hospital is located and this hero drinks again, after which he lays hands on himself.
satin
Satin is 40 years old, an alcoholic and dishonest gambler. He had to serve five years, but the prison did not re-educate him and he wants to continue to exist at the expense of cheating, although he himself is not stupid and educated.
Baron
Baron - 33-year-old drunkard, nobleman. He served as an official, but was caught on embezzlement and after the family he could not fix his life, he turned out to be a beggar. Nastya supplies him with money, with whom he meets and thanks to this he can drink.
Nastya
Nastya is a 24-year-old girl. She tolerates the Baron, who humiliates her, although he meets with her. Probably a girl of easy virtue or earns in some other obscene way. He loves romance novels, which he mostly reads in order to invent some kind of love story with himself in the lead role. Of course, no one really believes her.
Bubnov
Bubnov - 45 years old. Previously, he owned a fur workshop, which he lost after a divorce. Now a beggar.
Mite
Kleshch is a 40-year-old craftsman, a locksmith. Incessantly humiliates his wife, who falls ill. After Anna's death, he sells tools to bury his wife.
Anna
Anna is a 30-year-old woman who is terminally ill with consumption. She suffers from consumption and considers the illness the cause of her husband's bad attitude.
Kvashnya
Kvashnya is a 40-year-old dumpling vendor. A woman who was beaten by her husband for eight years, after which she divorced, and then marries Medvedev, who himself turns out to be at the hand of this woman.
Medvedev
Medvedev is a 50-year-old policeman. For Vasilisa and Natasha, he is an uncle. After he becomes Kvashnya's husband, he starts drinking. Throughout the play, he closes his eyes to the affairs that Kostylev, Vaska and the others are engaged in. In addition, he also does not consider it necessary to intervene in the beatings that Kostylev and Vasilisa inflict on Natasha.
Alyoshka
Alyoshka is a 20-year-old shoemaker, a drunkard. An unhappy young man who sometimes drinks and ends up in the police. Can sing and play the harmonica.
Tatar
Tatar - an inhabitant of a rooming house, a hooker (loader). He is one of the few honest people and even denounces Satin and the Baron in a dishonest card game. At the end of the play, he finds himself with a broken arm and, accordingly, without a job.
crooked goiter
Crooked Zob is also a loader. Unlike Tatarin, he is well aware of the dishonest card game (meaning Satin and Baron), but his attitude is different, he justifies these people. He likes to sing, in which he keeps company with other inhabitants of the rooming house.
Characteristics of the heroes of Gorky's work At the bottom (option 2)
In the play "At the Bottom" we see many different characters with their own destinies, feelings and problems. Next, we will try to pay close attention and consider each of them in more detail.
Kostylev this is the head of the rooming house in years. Gorky draws him as a negative character, who is alien to moral norms. He is prone to outbursts of aggression, anger, he is stingy and greedy. He also has a wife, Vasilisa. And Vasilisa has a sister, Natasha. And to each of the women Kostylev prefers negatively, with them he is rude, impudent and often strives to offend. Kostylev is a mercantile person, he is used to looking for profit in everything. He buys things from Vaska Pepel that were once stolen, without thinking about his actions. At the end of the work, Vaska kills him.
Vasilisa Karpovna This is Kostylev's wife. A woman, as well as a spouse, cannot be called a positive character. She is depraved, prone to vices, cruel. She has her own goals and dreams. In the end, she persuades her former lover Vaska Pepel to kill Kostylev.
Natasha Vasilisa's twenty-year-old sister. Mila, beautiful, but often humiliated by her relative and her husband. Vaska Peplov has his own views on the girl, but he understands that he is not able to provide for her. Soon Natasha ends up in the hospital, after which she disappears forever.
Vaska Pepel– a man of 28 years old, a criminal. Once had a love relationship with Vasilisa. The woman still has feelings for him, while Vaska himself prefers to look after the young Natasha. The girl invites him to run away and start an honest life together, but they fail. Moreover, Vaska again finds himself in prison for the murder of Kostylev.
Luke- a sixty-year-old man who wants to give advice and help everyone. But no one listens to the advice of the old man, no one listens to him. Most likely, Luka ended up in a rooming house after escaping from hard labor, but we will never know the real story of the old man.
Actor- an alcoholic in years. Once the actor really worked in the theater. Now he is saving up money to go to a certain mythical city, where he will be cured of the disease of alcoholism. Needless to say, Luca told the Actor about this city, whose advice often turns out to be harmful. But Luka does not say the name of the city, and the Actor again begins to take a bottle, after which he commits suicide from hopelessness.
satin- a forty-year-old alcoholic and card-sharper. The man had to serve five years, but even the prison could not change him, and he still wants to live off the cards. He is an educated and far from stupid person.
Baron- nobleman, drunkard Once he worked as an official, but he got caught in a crime, after which he gave up and began to beg. The man drinks with the money that Nastya gives her.
Nastya- a young girl, meets with the Baron, despite the humiliation and rudeness. Most likely, this character does not earn his living in the most appropriate way for a girl, we can understand this from a few hints from other characters. The girl's passion is romance novels, thanks to which she writes stories with herself in the lead role. But, of course, no one believes her.
Kvashnya- an elderly seller of dumplings. For many years she lived with a man who beat her and oppressed her in every possible way. But soon the woman finally gets divorced and marries Medvedev.
Medvedev- a police officer, the uncle of Vasilisa and Natasha. After marrying Kvashnya, he starts drinking a lot. Despite his profession, Medvedev prefers to turn a blind eye to what is happening around him. He doesn't even care that Kostylev often beats his own nieces.
Bubnov- a simple man who once had his own profitable business. But after a divorce from his wife, he was out of work, after which he became homeless and impoverished.
Mite is a middle-aged man who works in a locksmith shop. He had a habit of mocking his wife in every possible way, but soon she falls ill and dies. After her death, the man, wanting to find money for the funeral, sells all his locksmith tools.
Alyoshka- a young shoemaker and a godless drunkard. Because of his pernicious passion, he often finds himself in the police station.
Tatar- a simple loader, an honest fellow. At one point, he exposes the Baron and Sateen in a dishonest game of cards. At the end of the work, he breaks his arm and remains unemployed.
The stories of the characters in the play At the Bottom
The idea to write a work about representatives of the lower strata of a provincial imperial city arose from Gorky quite a long time ago, and the play was created specifically for the troupe of the Moscow Public Art Theater and Stanislavsky personally, who not only directed the production, but also played one of the characters.
In order to describe the events taking place "at the bottom" of society, in a run-down rooming house for the poor, Gorky created a complex system of characters. Initially, the writer planned to create 20 main characters, but as a result, we got 11 of the most important characters with their own unique stories.
The first character, without whom the plot would be simply impossible, is the owner of a rooming house named Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev. He is 54 years old and is characterized in the play as a totalitarian sadist. He is greedy and materialistic, his past is unknown to us, but his present appeals to any reader with hostility. He suspected his wife of treason, for which he beat her. The life of Mikhail Ivanovich ended with the fact that he was killed by his wife's lover Vaska Pepel.
Kostylev's wife, twenty-six-year-old Vasilisa Karpovna, causes no less hostility than he himself. Even the "seer character" Luke calls her a viper. She cheated on her husband, beat her sister Natasha. Natasha herself, like her sister, is Ash's mistress, although she often rejects his courtship. After the death of Mikhail Ivanovich, unexpectedly for everyone, he disappears.
Finally, it is worth considering the already mentioned Vaska Pepel. He is 28 years old, he is the son of a thief, born in prison and "inherited" his father's craft. In the past, he courted Vasilisa, but at the time of the novel, he courts her sister Natasha. However, Vasilisa still has power over Ash, inciting him to kill Kostylev, which Ash eventually did, for which he is sent to prison at the end of the play.
Also in the plot there are characters who are not "at the bottom" - a hot-tempered fifty-year-old policeman named Abram Medvedev, the uncle of Natasha and Vasilisa, who takes care of Kvashnya. Kvashnya herself is a character expressing feminist views on life. Her story in the work is not finished, but Gorky lets us know that everything is fine with her.
Andrey Mitrich, nicknamed "Tick", also refers to those who are not "at the bottom". He considers himself to be such, because from everyone else, he is a “working person”, a locksmith who ended up in a rooming house because he was fired. However, Andrei did not accept his fate and is actively looking for work. But the image of Kleshch is not purely positive - he drank away his instruments, and he regularly beats his wife Anna. Yes, and Gorky interrupts his life with poverty, as if telling us about his personal attitude to the character.
The already mentioned Anna is one of the most unfortunate characters in the play. She is 30 years old, she has already experienced a hungry and impoverished life, and at the time of the play, she suffers from a serious illness, death from which seems to her to be delivered from suffering. He dies at the end of the second act.
Also in the work there is a young girl Nastya, who, despite her work as a prostitute, dreams of true and pure love. He is in a relationship with the former aristocrat Baron, who ended up in a rooming house due to the fact that he went bankrupt.
In addition to the bankrupt nobles, there are several other characters in the work who, it would seem, should not be “at the bottom”: the former gambler-sharper Bubnov, who went to a rooming house “away from sin” and ends his life in poverty, a former actor named Sverchkov Zavolzhsky, who became an alcoholic, and after the destruction of hopes for a cure for alcoholism, hanged himself, as well as the former telegrapher Satin, who, with all the unpleasant features (alcoholism and laziness), is endowed with a sharp mind and dislike for lies and deceit.
Well, the central character of the play is a tramp named Luke. Expresses peculiar religious views, asks all the inhabitants of the rooming house about their stories, gives everyone hope and inspires everyone that they can get out "from the bottom." Disappears between the third and fourth acts as suddenly as it appeared.
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One of the main characters in the play, an ambiguous character, an elderly wanderer who unexpectedly appeared in a rooming house. He has rich life experience and his mission is to comfort disappointed people.
Guest of a rooming house, a hereditary thief. He was told from childhood that he would grow up to be a thief, like his father. With such parting words, he grew up. Vaska is 28 years old. He is young, cheerful and naturally kind. He does not want to accept such a life and tries in every possible way to find another truth.
The wife of the owner of the rooming house, Kostylev, and the mistress of Vaska Pepel. Vasilisa is a cruel and domineering woman. She is 28 years younger than her husband and does not love him at all, most likely, she lives with him for the sake of money. She dreams of getting rid of him as soon as possible and from time to time persuades the guest Vaska the thief to save her from her husband.
One of the characters in the play, an inhabitant of a rooming house. He does not give his real name, since he himself forgot it due to drunkenness. He remembers only a pseudonym, appears to be Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky. The Actor's memory has become so bad that he tries in vain to remember poetry or recite excerpts from plays.
One of the more miserable inhabitants of the rooming house in the play, a former nobleman who squandered his fortune. He is thirty three years old. He was once a rich aristocrat, and now he has sunk to the very "bottom", to the position of a pimp. In the past, he had hundreds of serfs and carriages with coats of arms.
A consumptive woman living out her last days, the wife of the hard worker Kleshch. She is tired of a life in which she shakes over every piece of bread and walks in rags. At the same time, Anna constantly endures her husband's abuse. Anyone sympathizes with the poor thing, but not her husband.
One of the inhabitants of the rooming house, a kartuznik who lives there on credit. In the past, he was the owner of a dyeing workshop. However, his wife agreed with the master, after which he chose to leave in order to stay alive. Now he has sunk to the very “bottom” and does not want to retain any positive qualities in himself.
The sister of the hostess of the hostel, a kind and soft-hearted girl. Her image is noticeably different from other guests. Natasha combines kindness, purity, dignity and pride. It was with these qualities that she charmed Vaska Ash. The intrigue of the play is whether she will be able to retain these qualities under the influence of a rough and cruel environment.
One of the inhabitants of the rooming house in the play, a former telegraph operator. This man has his own life philosophy. In this he differs from many other guests. He often uses smart words in his speech, such as "macrobiotics", which does not indicate his education.
One of the characters in the play; hostel resident; dumpling vendor. Kvashnya is a kind woman, which can be understood by her attitude towards the sick Anna, whom even her husband does not feel sorry for. She often feeds the sick, takes care of her.
One of the inhabitants of the rooming house in the play, a fallen woman who dreams of romantic love. Despite the fact that she is engaged in prostitution, she dreams of pure and devoted love. However, she is surrounded by poverty, hopelessness and humiliation.
One of the guests of the rooming house, a locksmith by profession, Anna's husband. At the beginning of the play, he idealizes hard work, considering this the only way out. He dreams of returning to a normal life with the help of honest labor. The tick is opposed to other lodgers who prefer to do nothing.
Essay on literature.
Gorky's play "At the Bottom", written in 1902, belongs to a new type of social drama for that time. Her heroes are the inhabitants of the rooming house, people thrown to the bottom of life.
“The sun rises and sets, but it’s dark in my prison,” sing the night shelters. Nochlezhka really resembles a prison. In the basement, "like a cave", there were representatives of various strata of society, but everyone has the same fate. None of them can get out of here. And even here, at the bottom, the power of the "masters of life" continues, represented by the sinister figures of the owners of the rooming house - the old man Kostylev and his wife Vasilisa.
The heroes of the play say little about how they lived before. But even in a few words their fates are revealed. “I don’t remember when I was full… All my life I went around in rags,” says Anna. “The furrier was ... he had his own establishment,” says Bubnov about himself. “I’ve been a thief since childhood,” Pepel admits. "An educated person" was considered a former telegraph operator, and now a cheat Satin. The secured life of the Baron, the creative work of the Actor remained in the past.
Gorky is a connoisseur of the language of many estates, he is fluent in the art of describing dialogue. Each sleeper has a characteristic speech. Satin loves foreign and intricate words, his language is labeled and expressive. The Baron, remembering his noble origin, speaks arrogantly to Luka. Kostylev's speech is saturated with deliberately affectionate words: "fifty dollars", "butter", "lamp".
There is no clearly defined plot in the play, and the opposition between the social and philosophical views of the characters becomes the driving force. There are often heated arguments between the characters in the play.
The inhabitants of the rooming house reject many generally accepted truths. “Honour-conscience is needed for those who have power and strength,” Ashes replies to the reproach of the Mite. “What is conscience? I am not rich,” confirms Bubnov. When Kleshch notes that "money is easy for thieves... they don't work," Satin retorts: "Make my work enjoyable... When work is a duty, life is slavery."
The roomers talk a lot about lies and truth. "Bring down the whole truth as it is!" - says Bubnov. His words infuriate Tick: “Why do I need the truth? Damn her! Nastya moves away from cruel reality into the illusory world of fictitious love, passing off fantasies as reality.
At the very bottom of life, in the most cruel circumstances, a dispute arises about a person. Here, Luka and Satin come to the fore. Luka is a passportless tramp, smart and with a lot of experience. He tries to calm and encourage the person by comforting him with lies. Luke's humanism is compassionate, Luke calls for pity for a person, but does not fight to change his fate. Satin, on the contrary, is sure that one should not reconcile a person with hard reality, but force reality itself to serve a person. Luke's comforting lie he calls "the religion of slaves and masters." “Do not pity, do not humiliate him with pity, you must respect!” - Satin says about the Man.
In the last act of the play, the hopelessness of the life of the overnight stays becomes visible. Vaska Pepel is imprisoned for the murder of Kostylev. The "comforter" Luke disappeared, and the Actor, unable to withstand the exposure of the lie "for salvation", hanged himself. Anna's funeral "ate" Mite's tool, the locksmith turned into an unemployed slum dweller.
Unsightly pictures like those depicted in Gorky's play can be found more than a century later, in our day. The images of the heroes of the play, taken by the playwright a century ago from contemporary reality, are not outdated at all. Full of vital truth, these images will attract readers' attention to the work for a long time to come.
The play "At the Bottom" was created by Maxim Gorky specifically for the troupe of the Art Theater, and initially did not look in the eyes of the author as an independent literary work. However, the power of psychological embodiment, the sharp, to some extent even scandalous, theme of the work, brought the play "At the Bottom" to the rank of the strongest dramatic works.
"At the bottom" is a peculiar continuation of the theme of the humiliated and insulted in Russian literature. The author tells about the thoughts and feelings of people who, by the will of circumstances, found themselves at the very bottom of society. The very title of the work contains the deepest meaning, which very accurately reflects the theme of the play.
The main images and heroes of the play "At the bottom"
From the first pages of the drama "At the Bottom" a dark and unpleasant picture unfolds before us. The dark, dirty basement, which looks more like a primeval cave, is the home of many people who, for various reasons, found themselves at the bottom of social life. Many of them were rich successful people in the past who broke down under the pressure of fate, many continue their beggarly existence here.
All of them are bound by the same fetters, which consist in the absence of any spiritual and cultural development. The inhabitants of the rooming house are tired of struggling with difficulties and obediently swim along the stream of life. Gorky vividly depicts lost people who will never be able to rise from the "bottom".
Thief Vaska Pepel does not try to change his life values, saying that he continues the thieves' path of his parents. The actor, who in fact was one of the most thinking inhabitants of the rooming house, unable to put his philosophical thoughts into practice, finally becomes an inveterate drunkard.
Died in terrible agony Anna, who still firmly believed until the last moment of her life in recovery. But like every society, even at its very bottom there was a person who tried to reassure and kindle the fire of faith in the souls of the destitute.
The priest was such a hero Luke. He tried to instill faith in people in salvation, pushed them to feel the strength in themselves and get out of the bottom of society. However, no one heard him. After the death of the priest, the existence of people became even more unbearable, they lost that weak thin thread of hope that was still in their souls.
It destroyed the dreams Tick about a better life, and he was the first to give up his struggle for existence. The hope that at least someone could get out of here was completely crushed. The inhabitants did not have the strength to follow the light that Luka showed them.
The tragedy of society in the play
On the example of heroes, the author shows how people should not live. And this in no way concerns their fall, since no one in life is immune from this. But once at the bottom, no one has the right to obey the circumstances, but on the contrary, this should serve as a powerful impetus to a better life.
"At the bottom" can be regarded as a kind of historical chronicle. The situation described in the play was quite common at the beginning of the century.