At the bottom is an analysis of the play. "At the Bottom": analysis of the play, images of characters, performances Comparative analysis of the characters in Gorky's play at the bottom

Analysis of the play by A. M. Gorky "At the bottom"
Gorky's play "At the Bottom" was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Public Art Theater. Gorky for a long time could not find the exact title of the play. Initially, it was called "Nochlezhka", then "Without the Sun" and, finally, "At the Bottom". The name itself has a lot of meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life. The theme of the humiliated and offended is not new in Russian literature. Let us recall the heroes of Dostoevsky, who also "have nowhere else to go." Many similar features can be found in the heroes of Dostoevsky and Gorky: this is the same world of drunkards, thieves, prostitutes and pimps. Only he is shown even more terribly and realistically by Gorky.
In Gorky's play, the audience saw for the first time the unfamiliar world of the outcasts. Such a harsh, merciless truth about the life of the social lower classes, about their hopeless fate, the world dramaturgy has not yet known. Under the vaults of the Kostylevo rooming house there were people of the most diverse character and social status. Each of them has its own individual features. Here is the worker Kleshch, who dreams of honest work, and Ash, longing for the right life, and the Actor, all absorbed in memories of his former glory, and Nastya, passionately yearning for great, true love. All of them deserve a better fate. The more tragic their situation now. The people who live in this cave-like basement are tragic victims of an ugly and cruel order in which a person ceases to be a person and is doomed to drag out a miserable existence.
Gorky does not give a detailed account of the biographies of the heroes of the play, but even the few features that he reproduces perfectly reveal the author's intention. In a few words, the tragedy of Anna's life fate is drawn. "I don’t remember when I was full," she says. all my miserable life..." Worker Kleshch speaks of his hopeless lot: "There is no work... there is no strength... That's the truth!
The inhabitants of the "bottom" are thrown out of life due to the conditions prevailing in society. Man is left to himself. If he stumbles, gets out of the rut, he is threatened with the "bottom", inevitable moral, and often physical death. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide, and the rest are exhausted, disfigured by life to the last degree.
And even here, in this terrible world of outcasts, the wolf laws of the "bottom" continue to operate. The figure of the owner of the rooming house, Kostylev, one of the "masters of life", who is ready even to squeeze the last penny out of his unfortunate and disadvantaged guests, causes disgust. Just as disgusting is his wife Vasilisa with her immorality.
The terrible fate of the inhabitants of the rooming house becomes especially obvious if we compare it with what a person is called to. Under the dark and gloomy vaults of the doss house, among the miserable and crippled, unfortunate and homeless vagrants, the words about man, about his vocation, about his strength and his beauty sound like a solemn hymn: “Man is the truth! Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! There is only man, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Man! This is magnificent! It sounds proud!"
Proud words about what a person should be and what a person can be, even more sharply set off the picture of the real situation of a person that the writer paints. And this contrast takes on a special meaning... Sateen's fiery monologue about a man sounds somewhat unnatural in an atmosphere of impenetrable darkness, especially after Luka left, the Actor hanged himself, and Vaska Pepel was imprisoned. The writer himself felt this and explained this by the fact that the play should have a reasoner (expressor of the author's thoughts), but the characters portrayed by Gorky can hardly be called spokesmen for anyone's ideas in general. Therefore, Gorky puts his thoughts into the mouth of Satin, the most freedom-loving and fair character.

Peculiarities

M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" was written in 1902 - during a crisis that forced many people to fall to the very "bottom" of life. This is the first social drama in Russian literature that raises questions about the meaning of life, truth and lies, truth and compassion in a dirty rooming house for tramps - people without any rights and privileges.

The action of the play takes place in Kostylev's rooming house - a room that looks more like a stuffy prison cellar than a living room. The inhabitants of the rooming house are people who have lost their family, job, reputation and, in general, dignity. They live in an atmosphere of endless drinking, arguing, bullying, humiliation and depravity.

Plot

At the same time, several storylines develop in the play - the relationship between Kostylev, his wife Vasilisa, Vaska Ash and Natalia, Vasilisa's sister. Another storyline reveals the relationship between the locksmith Klesch and his wife Anna, who is dying of consumption. Separate lines describe the relationship between Nastya and the Baron, the Actor, Bubnov and Satin. Thus, M. Gorky describes in great detail the life of the social “bottom”.

Luke

The righteous Luke, a wandering old man, enters the hopeless life of the overnight stays. His image is extremely ambiguous. On the one hand, he is a merciful comforter, and on the other hand, he is simply a deceiver who reassures the roommates with lies. Some researchers of Gorky's work accused Luka of inaction, of unwillingness to repulse the existing world order. Others argue that it is the compassionate lie that gives the characters the impetus to further action. Which of them is right is hard to say. But as a result of his actions and the sudden disappearance, one of the bunkhouses loses his life - the Actor hanged himself in the backyard of the bunkhouse, having learned that everything Luke said was a lie.

satin

Another important character is Satin, a drunkard and cheater now and an educated person, a telegrapher in the past. He is a nihilist, an atheist who denies the existence of God and who believes in the power of man with all his being. He pronounces long and passionate monologues about the greatness of man, about his ability to change the universe, but in reality he remains the same inactive rooming house, a marginal.

Main conflict

The main conflict of the play is expressed not in the clash of characters, but in the clash of their views, thoughts and positions. So M. Gorky raises questions of truth and lies, the place of man in this world. The main problem the author noted was the comparison of truth and compassion.

With his social drama, which was successful not only in Russia but also abroad, Gorky tried to raise the question of the will of man, of his responsibility for his own life. He tried to wake up the people of his time, "sleeping" in inaction, to push them to move forward. In my opinion, the play has not lost its relevance today.

arrived in early 1900.

The first edition was significantly different from the final result: the main character was a lackey, and the ending turned out to be happy.

Gorky began direct work at the end of 1901 and completed it by the middle of 1902.

The writer could not decide on the name of the play for a long time. The final version has already appeared on theater posters. Under it, the work was published in early 1903.

At first, the censorship forbade staging the play on stage. Nemirovich-Danchenko managed to "knock out" permission for the Art Theater in Moscow. Until 1905, an unofficial ban was actually imposed on the work. The premiere of the performance took place at the end of 1902 and was an unprecedented success.

2. The meaning of the name. "At the bottom" live all the inhabitants of the rooming house. They are representatives of the lowest strata of society, who have no hopes and prospects left. Their life is difficult, painful and hopeless. These tramps have no way to rise from the "bottom".

3. Genre. Socio-philosophical drama

4. Theme. The central theme of the play is the tragedy of people who have sunk to the bottom of life. Gorky was one of the first in Russian literature to make the protagonists of his works tramps, real scum who have no place in a civilized society. An extremely motley company gathered in the rooming house: a thief, a prostitute, a former master and a former actor, a murderer, etc.

Everyone is united by drunkenness, which allows you to forget about your unenviable position. The basement in which these people live resembles a cave, which further emphasizes their wild behavior. No sunlight enters the doss house. Conflicts constantly flare up between its inhabitants, there is a dishonest card game.

All the characters in the play sank to the bottom against their will. Tick ​​works hard, but he does not have enough money to improve his living conditions. Bubnov lost his workshop due to his wife's infidelity. Satin has sank since his imprisonment. Because of his father, Ashes was considered a thief from childhood. The baron became a beggar as a result of embezzlement of public funds. The actor was forced to quit the stage when he became addicted to alcohol.

The inhabitants of the rooming house are fully aware of the extent of their fall. They love to remember the past and hope to rise from the bottom someday. It is extremely difficult to do this. Rough and cruel life sucks them in like a swamp. There is an extremely negative attitude towards tramps in society. They just don't count as people. In fact, "outcasts" experience very deep feelings and experiences.

There are several other important themes intertwined in the play. First of all, the theme of hope should be highlighted. The actor dreams of quitting drinking, Pepel - to start an honest working life, Nastya - to find true love. These hopes are not destined to come true, but at least they allow desperate people to believe that not all is lost.

Also in the work touched upon the theme of human relationships. People who are angry at life are constantly quarreling and yelling at each other. The atmosphere in the hostel is explosive. Against this background, indifference towards the dying Anna looks especially scary. The theme of love, or rather, its absence, runs through the play as a running thread.

The connection between the Baron and Nastya, Ash and Vasilisa arises quite by accident, and not as a result of any feelings. Even Ash's courtship of Natasha is based on a mutual desire to leave the hated cave. Oddly enough, one prostitute Nastya dreams of pure and bright love, but all her ideas about this are based on reading stupid novels.

5. Issues. The problem of the work is revealed in the disputes between the main characters. It is no coincidence that "At the Bottom" is often referred to as a debate play. Degraded people raise very important philosophical questions: about conscience, truth, the meaning of life, etc. The main problem is the choice between sweet lies and bitter truth.

A supporter of lies for salvation is the wanderer Luke. The old man is sure that knowing the truth cannot help a person. It is better to live in a world of illusions than to accept the terrible reality. Luke gives Anna hope by telling her about bliss after death. He deceives the actor with a story about a hospital for alcoholics, Peplu promises a free life in Siberia. The wanderer's lies only provide a temporary buff. Anna dies, Ash goes to jail, and the Actor commits suicide.

The opposite point of view, which Gorky himself adheres to, is expressed in the finale by Satin: "Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of a free man." He respects Luka for pity for those living at the bottom, but believes that the Man with a capital letter does not need a lie. Sateen's famous monologue and the textbook phrase "Man! .. It sounds ... proud!" turn out, however, to be the same ideal and unrealizable slogan uttered in a drunken outburst.

None of the inhabitants of the rooming house has any chance to rise from the bottom. After the release of the play, the writer noted: "Satin's speech about the man-truth is pale," but apart from him "there is no one to say it, and it is better, brighter to say - he cannot."

6. What does the author teach. In the 20s. Gorky, in response to a letter from readers, wrote about his play: "We must live in such a way that each of us ... feels like a person equal to everyone else." At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. the marginal strata of society did not even dream of it. The work "At the Bottom" was perceived by many as a call for revolution, although Sateen's monologue about the value of Man is relevant in any era.

The life of Maxim Gorky is unusual. He devoted himself to creativity, his works are deep in meaning. A significant book of the writer is the play "At the Bottom", written in 1902.

The main problem, which is philosophical, in the work is a dispute about the truth. Each of the characters expresses his point of view, which he likes. All the characters have a different worldview, however, the opinion of Sateen deserves more attention, who claims that “falsehood is the religion of slaves and masters ... Truth is the god of a free man.” The hero says that a person should be respected, not pitied. It’s hard to argue with this, because you need to believe in a person’s own strengths, and not show pity. Therefore, a person must rely on himself.

The antipode of satin is Luke, who is a compassionate and kind person. He helps all those who need support. The hero inspires with his lies hope for a bright future, which, as readers see, cannot be in the play. Luka is a sincere and sympathetic person, trying to do everything possible to help others. But the catch is that his goodness is built on lies and deceit, which only paint a world of illusions. And this is not always correct, because a constant lie does not lead to anything good. Of course, “the truth does not always heal the soul,” but the construction of a deceitful world changes a person, weakening his will of character. And it shouldn't be.

Therefore, it is worth realizing that everything depends on the person. Being strong or weak is his choice. And with the decision made, he will have to live on. The best, of course, is the truth. It does not give false thoughts and does not create illusions. Thus, Maxim Gorky wanted to convey to readers that everything depends only on the person: whether he accepts the truth or not.

In the center of the play are people who find themselves on the social “bottom”, from which it is extremely difficult to get out, because the characters are not able to make independent decisions, to change their worthless lives in any way. Gorky blames in his work not those who preach the truth (Luke, Satina), but those who cannot find the strength to resist the hardships of life. Such people are considered weak. They do not want to improve, to change something, they are only concerned about the compassion that is shown towards them from other members of the “social bottom”.

What is the saddest part of the play? The most terrible and tragic thing is that the heroes are dissatisfied with the reality that surrounds them. They cannot accept the world around them, realize that the life they live is not perfection, this is the bottom, there is nowhere to fall. This is the very depth from which, as Gorky shows, there is no way back, because with such judgments, views, actions, it is difficult to achieve inclusion in society.

Thus, Maxim Gorky thought out every detail well, he endowed the characters with peculiar qualities in order to show that people are weak-willed, weak, and cannot achieve anything by their inaction. Gorky urges to think about how not to be on the "social bottom". Do not give up at the first obstacle that comes, no need to despair. The main thing is to believe in your own strength and go through life boldly!

Brief analysis of the play "At the Bottom"

Maxim Gorky wrote this play in 1902, but he could not immediately decide on the title. "At the Bottom" became the final title of the play. From the very title it becomes clear that we are talking about fallen people who are at the bottom of society and their return to normal life is a big question. People interested in Russian literature may notice the similarity of the meaning of the humiliated people with the works of Dostoevsky, but Gorky reveals this topic even more directly and truthfully.

In this play, the author so truthfully and realistically shows the world of degraded people that you will not find such writing in any other work of the Russian writer. An interesting idea is to place people of different nature and position in society in one rooming house. Each of these people thinks and expects the best from life. The place where these people are located is no better than a basement, but in fact these people are not to blame for their current humiliated position, they are victims of the rules and regime that break a person and lower him to the bottom.

The author does not provide the reader with a detailed description and moments from the biography of the heroes, but a little enough to understand Gorky's main idea. The heroine of the play, Anna, only keeps saying that she has lived all her life in poverty and hunger and walked only in cast-offs. Everyone complains about life and that it is not fair. The author wants to say that if a person has got out of the rut of life, rhythm, then he is no doubt threatened with the fate of being at the "bottom", which entails humiliation and, in the end, death.

The play mentions a lot of words about the essence of a person, about what he should really be and what he is intended for. Such reasoning of the author creates even more contrast between the characters and between normal people and people who have fallen.

The writer in this play is trying to give the reader an understanding that each person is the master of his own destiny and that there are completely different concepts when a person sank to the “bottom” due to circumstances and when a person simply stops fighting for a better life and just goes with the flow . The life situations shown in the play can still happen to any person, so you should never give up.

Maxim Gorky - literary pseudonym of Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov (March 16 (28), 1868, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire - June 18, 1936, Gorki, Moscow Region, USSR) - Russian writer, prose writer, playwright.

Dedicated to Konstantin Petrovich Pyatnitsky

Characters:

Mikhail Ivanov Kostylev, 54 years old, owner of a rooming house.

Vasilisa Karpovna, his wife, 26 years old.

Natasha, her sister, 20 years old.

Medvedev, their uncle, a policeman, 50 years old.

Vaska Pepel, 28 years old.

Kleshch, Andrey Mitrich, locksmith, 40 years old.

Anna, his wife, 30 years old.

Nastya, girl, 24 years old.

Kvashnya, dumpling vendor, under 40 years old.

Bubnov, kartuznik, 45 years old.

Baron, 33 years old.

Satin, Actor - approximately the same age: under 40 years old.

Luka, wanderer, 60 years old.

Alyoshka, shoemaker, 20 years old.

Crooked Goiter, Tatar - hookers.

Several tramps without names and speeches.

Analysis of the drama "At the Bottom" by Gorky M.Yu.

Drama is by its very nature meant to be staged.. Orientation towards stage interpretation limits the artist in the means of expressing the author's position. She cannot, unlike the author of an epic work, directly express her position - the only exceptions are the author's remarks, which are intended for the reader or actor, but which the viewer will not see. The author's position is expressed in the monologues and dialogues of the characters, in their actions, in the development of the plot. In addition, the playwright is limited in the volume of the work (the performance can go on for two, three, at most four hours) and in the number of actors (all of them must “fit” on the stage and have time to realize themselves in the limited time of the performance and the space of the stage).

That's why , an acute clash between the characters on a very significant and significant occasion for them. Otherwise, the characters simply will not be able to realize themselves in the limited amount of drama and stage space. The playwright ties such a knot, when unraveling it, a person shows himself from all sides. Wherein there can be no “extra” characters in a drama- all the characters should be included in the conflict, the movement and the course of the play should capture them all. Therefore, a sharp, conflict situation, played out before the eyes of the viewer, turns out to be the most important feature of drama as a kind of literature.

The subject of the image in Gorky's drama "At the Bottom"(1902) becomes the consciousness of people thrown as a result of deep social processes to the bottom of life. In order to embody such an object of depiction by stage means, the author had to find an appropriate situation, an appropriate conflict, as a result of which the contradictions of the overnight stays' consciousness, its strengths and weaknesses would be most fully manifested. Is social, public conflict suitable for this?

Indeed, social conflict is presented in the play on several levels. Firstly, this is a conflict between the owners of the rooming house, the Kostylevs, and its inhabitants.. It is felt by the characters throughout the play, but it turns out to be static, devoid of dynamics, non-developing. This happens because The Kostylevs themselves are not so far removed in social terms from the inhabitants of the rooming house. The relationship between the owners and the inhabitants can only create tension, but not become the basis of a dramatic conflict capable of “tying up” a drama.

Besides , each of the characters in the past experienced their own social conflict, as a result of which they ended up at the "bottom" of life, in a rooming house.

But these social conflicts are fundamentally taken out of the scene, relegated to the past, and therefore do not become the basis of a dramatic conflict. We see only the result of the social turmoil that so tragically affected people's lives, but not the clashes themselves.

The presence of social tension is already indicated in the very title of the play.. After all, the very fact of the existence of the “bottom” of life also implies the presence of a “rapid stream”, its upper course, to which the characters strive. But even this cannot become the basis of a dramatic conflict - after all, this tension is also devoid of dynamics, all attempts by the characters to escape from the "bottom" turn out to be futile. Even the appearance of policeman Medvedev does not give impetus to the development of a dramatic conflict.

Maybe, the drama is organized by a traditional love conflict? Really, such a conflict is present in the play. It is determined by the relationship between Vaska Ash, Vasilisa, Kostylev's wife, the owner of the rooming house, and Natasha.

The exposition of the love plot is the appearance of Kostylev in the rooming house and the conversation of the roomers, from which it is clear that Kostylev is looking for his wife Vasilisa in the rooming house, who is cheating on him with Vaska Pepel. The plot of a love conflict is the appearance in the rooming house of Natasha, for the sake of which Pepel leaves Vasilisa. In the course of the development of the love conflict, it becomes clear that the relationship with Natasha enriches Ash, revives him to a new life.

The climax of the love conflict is fundamentally moved offstage: we do not see exactly how Vasilisa scalds Natasha with boiling water, we only learn about it from the noise and screams behind the scenes and the conversations of the roommates. The murder of Kostylev by Vaska Ash turns out to be a tragic outcome of a love conflict.

Of course love conflict is also a facet of social conflict. He shows that the anti-human conditions of the "bottom" cripple a person, and the most exalted feelings, even love, lead not to the enrichment of the individual, but to death, mutilation and hard labor. Having unleashed a love conflict in this way, Vasilisa emerges victorious from it, achieves all her goals at once: she takes revenge on her former lover Vaska Peplu and her rival Natasha, gets rid of her unloved husband and becomes the sole owner of the rooming house. There is nothing human left in Vasilisa, and her moral impoverishment shows the enormity of the social conditions in which both the inhabitants of the rooming house and its owners are immersed.

But a love conflict cannot organize a stage action and become the basis of a dramatic conflict, if only because, unfolding before the eyes of the roommates, it does not affect them. . They are are keenly interested in the vicissitudes of these relations, but do not participate in them, remaining only outsiders. Consequently, love conflict also does not create a situation that could form the basis of a dramatic conflict.

Let us repeat once again: the subject of depiction in Gorky's play is not only and not so much the social contradictions of reality or possible ways of resolving them; his interested in the consciousness of overnight stays in all its inconsistency. Such an object of the image is typical for the genre of philosophical drama. Moreover, it also requires non-traditional forms of artistic expression: the traditional external action (event series) gives way to the so-called internal action. Everyday life is reproduced on the stage: petty quarrels occur between the roommates, one of the characters appears and disappears. But not these circumstances turn out to be plot-forming. Philosophical issues force the playwright to transform the traditional forms of drama: the plot is manifested not in the actions of the characters, but in their dialogues; the dramatic action is translated by Gorky into an extra-event series.

In the exposition, we see people who, in essence, have come to terms with their tragic situation at the bottom of their lives. The beginning of the conflict is the appearance of Luke. Outwardly, it does not affect the life of overnight shelters in any way, but in their minds hard work begins. Luke is immediately at the center of their attention, and the entire development of the plot is concentrated on him. In each of the characters, he sees the bright side of his personality, finds the key and approach to each of them. And this produces a true revolution in the lives of the heroes. The development of inner action begins at the moment when the characters discover in themselves the ability to dream of a new and better life.

It turns out that those bright side, what Luke guessed in each character of the play, and constitute its true essence. Turns out, prostitute Nastya dreams of beautiful and bright love; Actor, drunk man, recalls creativity and seriously thinks about returning to the stage; "hereditary" thief Vaska Pepel finds in himself a desire for an honest life, wants to go to Siberia and become a strong master there.

Dreams reveal the true human essence of Gorky's heroes, their depth and purity..

This is how another facet of social conflict manifests itself: the depth of the characters' personalities, their noble aspirations are in blatant contradiction with their current social position. The structure of society is such that a person does not have the opportunity to realize his true essence.

Luke From the first moment of his appearance in the rooming house, he refuses to see swindlers in the rooming houses. “I respect crooks too, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: everyone is black, everyone jumps”- so he says, justifying his right to name his new neighbors "honest people" and rejecting Bubnov's objection: "I was honest, but the spring before last." The origins of this position are in the naive anthropologism of Luke, who believes that a person is initially good and only social circumstances make him bad and imperfect.

This story-parable of Luke clarifies the reason for his warm and benevolent attitude towards all people - including those who found themselves at the "bottom" of life. .

Luke's position in the drama is very complex, and the author's attitude towards him looks ambiguous. . On the one hand, Luke is absolutely disinterested in his preaching and in his desire to awaken in people the best, hidden for the time being sides of their nature, which they did not even suspect - they contrast so strikingly with their position at the very bottom of society. He sincerely wishes his interlocutors well, shows real ways to achieve a new, better life. And under the influence of his words, the heroes really experience a metamorphosis.

Actor stops drinking and saves money in order to go to a free clinic for alcoholics, not even suspecting that he does not need it: the dream of returning to creativity gives him the strength to overcome his illness.

Ash submits his life to the desire to go with Natasha to Siberia and get back on his feet there.

Dreams of Nastya and Anna, Klesh's wife, are quite illusory, but these dreams give them the opportunity to feel happier.

Nastya imagines herself the heroine of dime novels, showing in her dreams about the non-existent Raul or Gaston the feats of self-sacrifice that she is really capable of;

dying Anna, dreaming about the afterlife, also partly escapes from the feeling of hopelessness: Only Bubnov Yes Baron, people completely indifferent to others and even to themselves, remain deaf to the words of Luke.

Luke's position is exposed by the controversy About what is truth, which arose with him with Bubnov and Baron, when the latter ruthlessly exposes Nastya's groundless dreams of Raul: “Here ... you say - it's true ... She, really, is not always due to illness to a person ... not always the truth of the soul you will cure...” In other words, Luke affirms charity for the man of comforting lies. But is Luke only asserting a lie?

Our literary criticism has long been dominated by the concept that Gorky unequivocally rejects Luke's consolatory sermon. But the writer's position is more difficult.

Vaska Pepel will indeed go to Siberia, but not as a free settler, but as a convict convicted of murdering Kostylev.

An actor who has lost faith in his own strength will exactly repeat the fate of the hero of the parable of the righteous land told by Luke. Trusting the hero to tell this plot, Gorky himself will beat him in the fourth act, drawing directly opposite conclusions. Luke, telling a parable about a man who, having lost faith in the existence of a righteous land, strangled himself, believes that a person should not be deprived of hope, albeit an illusory one. Gorky, through the fate of the Actor, assures the reader and the viewer that it is precisely false hope that can lead a person to a noose. But back to the previous question: How did Luka deceive the inhabitants of the rooming house?

The actor accuses him of not leaving the address of a free clinic . All heroes agree that hope which Luke implanted in their souls, false. Ho after all he did not promise to bring them out of the bottom of life - he simply supported their timid belief that there is a way out and that it was not ordered for them. That self-confidence that woke up in the minds of the roommates turned out to be too fragile, and with the disappearance of the hero who was able to support it, it immediately died out. It's all about the weakness of the heroes, their inability and unwillingness to do at least something a little in order to resist the ruthless social circumstances that doom them to existence in the Kostylevs' rooming house.

Therefore, the author addresses the main accusation not to Luke, but to the heroes who are unable to find the strength in themselves to oppose their will to reality. So Gorky manages to reveal one of the characteristic features of the Russian national character: dissatisfaction with reality, a sharply critical attitude towards it and complete unwillingness to do anything to change this reality. . That is why Luke finds such a warm response in their hearts: after all, he explains the failures of their lives by external circumstances and is not at all inclined to blame the heroes themselves for a failed life. And the thought of trying to somehow change these circumstances does not occur to either Luke or his flock. Therefore, so the heroes dramatically experience the departure of Luke: the hope awakened in their souls cannot find inner support in their characters; they will always need external support, even from a person as helpless in a practical sense as the "passportless" Luke.

Luka is the ideologist of passive consciousness, which is so unacceptable to Gorky.

According to the writer, a passive ideology can only reconcile the hero with his current position and will not encourage him to try to change this position, as happened with Nastya, with Anna, with the Actor . But who could object to this hero, who could oppose at least something to his passive ideology? There was no such hero in the rooming house. The bottom line is that the bottom cannot develop a different ideological position, which is why the ideas of Luke are so close to its inhabitants. But his sermon gave impetus to the emergence of a new life position. Satin became its spokesman.

He is well aware that his mindset turns out to be a reaction to Luka's words: “Yes, it was he, the old yeast, who fermented our roommates ... Old man? He is clever!.. The old man is not a charlatan! What is truth? Man is the truth! He understood that... you didn't!.. He... acted on me like acid on an old and dirty coin...' humiliation - expresses a different position in life. But this is still only the very first step towards the formation of an active consciousness capable of changing social circumstances.

The tragic finale of the drama (the Actor's suicide) raises the question of the genre nature of the play "At the Bottom". Let me remind you of the main genres of dramaturgy. The difference between them is determined by the subject of the image. Comedy is a moralistic genre, so the subject of the image in comedy is a portrait of society at a non-heroic moment in its development. The subject of depiction in tragedy most often becomes the tragic, insoluble conflict of the hero-ideologist with society, the outside world, and insurmountable circumstances. This conflict can move from the outer sphere to the hero's consciousness. In this case, we are talking about internal conflict. Drama is a genre that gravitates toward the study of philosophical or social problems.

Do I have any reason to consider the play "At the Bottom" as a tragedy? Indeed, in this case, I will have to define the Actor as a hero-ideologist and consider his conflict with society as ideological, because the hero-ideologist affirms his ideology by death. Tragic death is the last and often the only opportunity not to bow to the opposing force and to affirm ideas.

It seems not. His death is an act of despair and disbelief in one's own strength for rebirth. Among the heroes of the "bottom" there are no obvious ideologists who oppose reality. Moreover, their own situation is not comprehended by them as tragic and hopeless. They have not yet reached that level of consciousness when a tragic worldview of life is possible, because it involves a conscious opposition to social or other circumstances.

Gorky clearly does not find such a hero in Kostylev's rooming house, at the "bottom" of his life. Therefore, it would be more logical to consider "At the Bottom" as a socio-philosophical and social drama.

Reflecting on the genre nature of the play, one must find out what collisions are at the center of the playwright's attention, what becomes the main subject of the image. In the play "At the Bottom", the subject of Gorky's research is the social conditions of Russian reality at the turn of the century and its reflection in the minds of the characters. At the same time, the main, main subject of the image is precisely the consciousness of the overnight stays and the aspects of the Russian national character that manifested themselves in it.

Gorky is trying to determine what are the social circumstances that influenced the characters of the characters. To do this, he shows the background of the characters, which becomes clear to the viewer from the dialogues of the characters. But it is more important for him to show those social circumstances, the circumstances of the “bottom”, in which the heroes now find themselves. It is this position of theirs that equates the former aristocrat Baron with the cheater Bubnov and the thief Vaska Pepel and forms common features of consciousness for all: rejection of reality and at the same time a passive attitude towards it.

Within Russian realism, since the 1940s, a direction has been developing that characterizes the pathos of social criticism in relation to reality. It is this direction, which is represented, for example, by the names of Gogol, Nekrasov, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Pisarev, that received the name critical realism.

Gorky in the drama "At the Bottom" continues these traditions, which is manifested in his critical attitude to the social aspects of life and, in many respects, to the heroes immersed in this life and shaped by it.

Typical does not mean the most common: on the contrary, the typical is more often manifested in the exceptional. To judge typicality means to judge what circumstances gave rise to this or that character, what this character is due to, what is the background of the hero, what twists of fate led him to his present position and determined certain qualities of his consciousness.

Analysis of the play "At the bottom" (opposition)

Chekhov's tradition in Gorky's dramaturgy. Gorky originally said about the innovation of Chekhov, who "killed realism"(traditional drama), elevating images to "spiritual symbol". This is how the departure of the author of The Seagull from the sharp clash of characters, from the tense plot was determined. Following Chekhov, Gorky sought to convey the unhurried pace of everyday, "eventless" life and highlight in it the "undercurrent" of the characters' inner motives. Only the meaning of this "current" Gorky understood, of course, in his own way. Chekhov has plays of refined moods and experiences. Gorky has a clash of heterogeneous worldviews, the very “fermentation” of thought that Gorky observed in reality. One after another, his dramas appear, many of them are illustratively called “scenes”: “Petty bourgeois” (1901), “At the bottom” (1902), “Summer residents” (1904), “Children of the Sun” (1905), “Barbarians” ( 1905).

"At the Bottom" as a socio-philosophical drama. From the cycle of these works, “At the Bottom” stands out with the depth of thought and the perfection of construction. Staged by the Art Theatre, which was a rare success, the play struck with its "non-stage material" - from the life of tramps, cheaters, prostitutes - and despite this, its philosophical richness. A special author's approach to the inhabitants of a dark, dirty rooming house helped to "overcome" the gloomy coloring, the frightening way of life.

The play got its final name on the theater poster, after Gorky went through the others: “Without the sun”, “Nochlezhka”, “Dno”, “At the bottom of life”. Unlike the original ones, which set off the tragic situation of the tramps, the latter clearly had ambiguity and was widely perceived: "at the bottom" not only of life, but first of all of the human soul.

Bubnov says about himself and his cohabitants: "...everything faded, one naked man remained." Because of the "fading", the loss of their former position, the heroes of the drama really bypass the particulars and gravitate towards some universal concepts. In this variant, the inner state of the individual visibly emerges. The "Dark Kingdom" made it possible to single out the bitter meaning of existence, imperceptible under normal conditions.

Atmosphere of spiritual separation of people. The role of the polylogue. characteristic of all literature of the early 20th century. the painful reaction to the fragmented, elemental world in Gorky's drama acquired a rare scale and persuasiveness of embodiment. The author conveyed the stability and limit of mutual alienation of Kostylev's guests in the original form of "polylogue". In act I all the characters speak, but each, almost not listening to the others, speaks about his own. The author emphasizes the continuity of such "communication". Kvashnya (the play begins with her remark) continues the dispute with Klesch that began behind the scenes. Anna asks to stop what lasts "every God's day." Bubnov interrupts Satina: "I heard it a hundred times."

In a stream of fragmentary remarks and squabbles, words that have a symbolic sound are highlighted. Bubnov repeats twice (being engaged in furrier business): “But the strings are rotten ...” Nastya characterizes the relationship between Vasilisa and Kostylev: “Tie every living person to such a husband ...” Bubnov notices about the situation of Nastya herself: “You are superfluous everywhere” . The phrases spoken on a specific occasion reveal the “subtextual” meaning: the imaginary connections, the personality of the unfortunate.

The originality of the internal development of the play. The situation is changing from appearance of Luke. It is with his help that illusory dreams and hopes come to life in the recesses of the souls of the shelters. II and III acts of the drama allow you to see in the "naked man" an attraction to a different life. But, based on false ideas, it ends only in misfortunes.

Luke's role in this outcome is very significant. A smart, knowledgeable old man indifferently looks at his real surroundings, believes that "people live for a better ... For a hundred years, and maybe more - they live for a better person." Therefore, the delusions of Ash, Natasha, Nastya, the Actor do not touch him. Nevertheless, Gorky did not at all limit what was happening to the influence of Luke.

The writer, no less than human disunity, does not accept the naive belief in a miracle. It is the miraculous that Ash and Natasha imagine in a certain “righteous land” of Siberia; the actor - in the marble clinic; Tick ​​- in honest work; Nastya - in love happiness. Luke's speeches had an effect because they fell on the fertile soil of secretly cherished illusions.

The atmosphere of Acts II and III is different compared to Act I. There is a pervasive motif of the escape of the inhabitants of the rooming house to some unknown world, a mood of exciting expectation, impatience. Luke advises Ash: “... from here - march at a pace! - leave! Go away ... "The actor says to Natasha:" I'm leaving, I'm leaving ...<...>You, too, leave...” Ash persuades Natasha: “... we must go to Siberia of our own free will... Let’s go there, shall we?” But then other, bitter words of hopelessness sound. Natasha: "Nowhere to go." Bubnov once "remembered in time" - he left the crime and forever remained in the circle of drunkards and cheaters. Satin, recalling his past, sternly asserts: "After prison there is no way." And Kleshch painfully admits: "There is no shelter ... there is nothing." In these replicas of the inhabitants of the rooming house, there is a deceptive liberation from circumstances. The Gorky tramps, by virtue of their rejection, are experiencing this eternal drama for a person with rare nudity.

The circle of existence seems to have closed: from indifference to an unattainable dream, from it to real upheavals or death. Meanwhile, it is in this state of the heroes that the playwright finds the source of their spiritual fracture.

The meaning of act IV. In the IV act - the former situation. And yet, something completely new is happening - the fermentation of the previously sleepy thought of the tramps begins. Nastya and the Actor for the first time angrily denounce their stupid classmates. The Tatar expresses a conviction that was previously alien to him: it is necessary to give the soul a "new law." Tick ​​suddenly calmly tries to recognize the truth. But the main thing is expressed by those who have long believed in nothing and no one.

The baron, confessing that he "never understood anything," thoughtfully remarks: "... after all, for some reason I was born ..." This bewilderment binds everyone. And it reinforces the question “Why was he born?” Satin. Clever, impudent, he correctly regards tramps: "stupid as bricks", "cattle", who know nothing and do not want to know. That is why Satin (he is “kind when drunk”) is trying to protect the dignity of people, to discover their possibilities: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person.” Satin's reasoning is unlikely to be repeated, the life of the unfortunate will not change (the author is far from any embellishment). But the flight of Sateen's thought captivates listeners. For the first time, they suddenly feel like a small part of the big world. The actor therefore does not withstand his doom, cutting off his life.

The strange, not fully realized rapprochement of the “bitter brethren” takes on a new shade with the advent of Bubnov. "Where are the people?" - he shouts and offers to "sing ... all night", "burrow" his fate. That is why Satin responds sharply to the news of the Actor's suicide: "Eh ... ruined the song ... fool."

Philosophical subtext of the play. Gorky's play of the socio-philosophical genre, and with its life specificity, was undoubtedly directed towards universal concepts: alienation and possible contacts of people, imaginary and real overcoming of a humiliating situation, illusions and active thought, sleep and awakening of the soul. The characters of "At the Bottom" only intuitively touched the truth, without getting rid of the feeling of hopelessness. Such a psychological conflict enlarged the philosophical sound of the drama, revealing the general significance (even for the outcasts) and the elusiveness of genuine spiritual values. The combination of the eternal and the momentary, the stability and at the same time the precariousness of habitual ideas, a small stage space (dirty rooming house) and thoughts about the big world of mankind allowed the writer to embody complex life problems in a domestic situation.

At the bottom is my chapter-by-chapter summary

Act one

Cave-like basement. The ceiling is heavy, with crumbling plaster. light from the audience. To the right behind the fence is Pepel's closet, next to Bubnov's bunk beds, in the corner there is a large Russian stove, opposite the door to the kitchen, where Kvashnya, Baron, Nastya live. Behind the stove is a wide bed behind a chintz curtain. Around bunks. In the foreground, on a tree stump, there is a vise with an anvil. Kvashnya, Baron, Nastya are sitting nearby, reading a book. Anna is coughing heavily on the bed behind the curtain. On the bunk, he examines the old ripped trousers of Bubnov. Next to him, Satine, who has just woken up, lies and growls. The Actor is busy on the stove.

The beginning of spring. Morning.

Kvashnya, talking to the Baron, promises never to marry again. Bubnov asks Satin why he "grunts"? Kvashnya continues to develop her idea that she is a free woman and will never agree to "give herself to the fortress." The tick rudely shouts to her: “You're lying! You yourself will marry Abramka.

The Baron grabs a book from Nastya, who is reading it, and laughs at the vulgar title "Fatal Love". Nastya and Baron are fighting over a book.

Kvashnya scolds Klesh with an old goat who brought his wife to death. The tick scolds lazily. Kvashnya is sure that the Tick does not want to hear the truth. Anna asks for silence in order to die in peace, Kleshch reacts impatiently to his wife’s words, and Bubnov philosophically remarks: “Noise is not a hindrance to death.”

Kvashnya is surprised how Anna lived with such a "sinister"? The dying woman asks to be left alone.

Kvashnya and the Baron are going to the market. Anna refuses the offer to eat dumplings, but Kvashnya still leaves dumplings. The Baron teases Nastya, tries to annoy her, and then hurriedly leaves for Kvashnya.

Satin, finally awakened, is interested in who beat him the day before and for what. Bubnov argues whether it's all the same, but they beat him for cards. The actor shouts from the oven that one day Sateen will be completely killed. The tick calls the Actor to get off the stove and start cleaning the basement. The actor objects, it's the Baron's turn. The baron, looking in from the kitchen, excuses himself with his busyness - he goes with Kvashnya to the market. Let the Actor work, he has nothing to do, or Nastya. Nastya refuses. Kvashnya asks the Actor to remove it, he will not break. The actor excuses himself with illness: it is harmful for him to breathe dust, his body is poisoned by alcohol.

Satin pronounces incomprehensible words: "sicambre", "macrobiotics", "transcendental". Anna offers her husband to eat dumplings left by Kvashnya. She herself languishes, anticipating the imminent end.

Bubnov asks Satin what these words mean, but Satin has already forgotten their meaning, and in general he is tired of all these conversations, all the “human words” that he heard probably a thousand times.

The actor recalls that he once played a gravedigger in Hamlet, quoting from there the words of Hamlet: “Ophelia! Oh, remember me in your prayers!

The tick, sitting at work, creaks with a file. And Satin recalls that once in his youth he served on the telegraph, read many books, was an educated person!

Bubnov skeptically notes that he heard this story “a hundred times!”, But he himself was a furrier, had his own establishment.

The actor is convinced that education is nonsense, the main thing is talent and self-confidence.

Meanwhile, Anna asks to open the door, she is stuffy. The tick does not agree: he is cold on the floor, he has a cold. An Actor comes up to Anna and offers to take her out into the hallway. Supporting the patient, he takes her to the air. Kostylev, who met, laughs at them, what a "wonderful couple" they are.

Kostylev asks Klesch if Vasilisa was here in the morning? The tick was not removed. Kostylev scolds Kleshch for taking up five rubles worth of room in the rooming house, and paying two, he ought to put on a fifty-kopeck piece; “It’s better to throw a noose” - Tick retorts. Kostylev dreams that for this fifty dollars he will buy lamp oil and will pray for his own and other people's sins, because Kleshch does not think about his sins, so he brought his wife to the grave. The tick cannot stand it and starts screaming at the owner. The Returning Actor tells that he has settled Anna well in the hallway. The owner notices that everything will be credited to the good Actor in the next world, but the Actor would be more satisfied if Kostylev now knocked him off half of the debt. Kostylev immediately changes his tone and asks: “Is it possible to equate the kindness of the heart with money?” Kindness is one thing, duty is another. The actor calls Kostylev a rogue. The owner knocks on Ash's closet. Satin laughs that Pepel will open, and Vasilisa is with him. Kostylev is angry. Opening the door, Pepel demands money from Kostylev for the watch, and when he finds out that he did not bring the money, he gets angry and scolds the owner. He rudely shakes Kostylev, demanding from him a debt of seven rubles. When the owner leaves, Ash is explained that he was looking for his wife. Satin is surprised that Vaska has not yet nailed Kostylev. Ash replies that "he will not spoil his life because of such rubbish." Satin teaches Pepel "to kill Kostylev smartly, then to marry Vasilisa and become the owner of a rooming house." Such a prospect does not please Ash, the rooming-houses will drink away all his property in the tavern, because he is kind. Ash is angry that Kostylev woke him up at the wrong time, he just had a dream that he had caught a huge bream. Satin laughs that it was not a bream, but Vasilisa. Ash sends everyone to hell along with Vasilisa. The tick, who returned from the street, is dissatisfied with the cold. He did not bring Anna - Natasha took her to the kitchen.

Satin asks Ash for a penny, but the Actor says that they need a dime for two. Vasily gives until the ruble is asked. Satin admires the kindness of the thief, "there are no better people in the world." The tick notices that they get money easily, which is why they are kind. Satin objects: “Many people get money easily, but few part with it easily,” he argues that if the work is pleasant, he might work. “When work is pleasure, life is good! When work is a duty, life is slavery!”

Satin and the Actor go to the tavern.

Ash asks Tick about Anna's health, he replies that he will die soon. Ash advises Tick not to work. "But how to live?" he is interested. “Others live,” Pepel remarks. The tick speaks contemptuously of those around him, he believes that he will break out of here. Ash objects: those around are no worse than Klesch, and “honor and conscience are of no use to them. You can't wear them instead of boots. Those who have power and strength need honor and conscience.”

A chilled Bubnov enters and, to Ash’s question about honor and conscience, says that he doesn’t need a conscience: “I’m not rich.” Ash agrees with him, but Tick is against. Bubnov is interested in: does Kleshch want to occupy his conscience? Ash advises Kleshch to talk about conscience with Satin and the Baron: they are smart, although drunkards. Bubnov is sure: "Who is drunk and smart - two lands in him."

Pepel recalls how Satin said that it is convenient to have a conscientious neighbor, but being conscientious yourself is "not profitable."

Natasha brings the wanderer Luka. He politely greets those present. Natasha introduces a new guest, inviting him to go to the kitchen. Luke assures: old people - where it is warm, there is a homeland. Natasha tells Klesh to come for Anna later and be kind to her, she is dying and she is scared. Ash objects that dying is not scary, and if Natasha kills him, he will also be happy to die from a clean hand.

Natasha does not want to listen to him. Ash admires Natasha. He wonders why she rejects him, after all, he will disappear here anyway.

"Through you and disappear" Bubnov says.

Kleshch and Bubnov say that if Vasilisa finds out about Ash's attitude towards Natasha, both will not be happy.

In the kitchen, Luka sings a mournful song. Ash wonders why people are suddenly saddened? He yells at Luka not to howl. Vaska loved to listen to beautiful singing, and this howl evokes melancholy. Luka is surprised. He thought he sang well. Luka says that Nastya is sitting in the kitchen and crying over a book. The Baron says it's stupidity. Pepel offers the Baron to bark like a dog for half a bottle of drink, standing on all fours. The Baron is surprised, what a joy this Vaska is. After all, now they are even. Luke sees the Baron for the first time. I saw the counts, the princes, and the baron - for the first time, "and even then spoiled."

Luke says that the overnight stays have a good life. But the Baron remembers how he used to drink coffee with cream while still in bed.

Luka notices: people become smarter over time. “They live worse, but they want - everything is better, stubborn!” The Baron is interested in the old man. Who it? He answers: a stranger. He says that everyone in the world is a wanderer, and "our earth is a wanderer in the sky." The baron goes with Vaska to a tavern and, saying goodbye to Luka, calls him a rogue. Alyosha enters with an accordion. He starts screaming and acting like a fool, which is no worse than others, so why Medyakin does not allow him to walk down the street. Vasilisa appears and also swears at Alyosha, drives him out of sight. Orders Bubnov to drive Alyosha if he appears. Bubnov refuses, but Vasilisa angrily reminds that since he lives out of mercy, then let him obey his masters.

Interested in Luka, Vasilisa calls him a rogue, since he has no documents. The hostess is looking for Ash and, not finding him, breaks down on Bubnov for dirt: “So that there is no mote!” She angrily shouts to Nastya to clean the basement. Upon learning that her sister was here, Vasilisa becomes even more angry, yelling at the shelters. Bubnov is surprised how much malice this woman has. Nastya replies that with a husband like Kostylev, everyone will go wild. Bubnov explains: the “hostess” came to her lover, did not find him on the spot, and therefore gets angry. Luca agrees to clean the basement. Bubnov learned from Nastya the reason for Vasilisa's anger: Alyoshka blurted out that Vasilisa was tired of Ash, so she was chasing the guy. Nastya sighs that she is superfluous here. Bubnov replies that she is superfluous everywhere ... and all the people on earth are superfluous ...

Medvedev enters and is interested in Luka, why doesn't he know him? Luke replies that not all the land is included in his plot, and that there is more than that. Medvedev asks about Ash and Vasilisa, but Bubnov refuses that he knows nothing. Kashnia returns. Complains that Medvedev calls her to marry. Bubnov approves of this union. But Kvashnya explains: a woman is better off in the hole than getting married.

Luke brings Anna. Kvashnya, pointing to the patient, says that she was driven to death by a mu. Kostylev calls Abram Medvedev to protect Natasha, who is being beaten by her sister. Luka asks Anna what the sisters did not share. She replies that they are both well-fed and healthy. Anna tells Luka that he is kind and gentle. He explains: "they were crumpled, that's why it is soft."

Action two

The same situation. Evening. On the bunk bed, Satin, Baron, Crooked Goit and Tatar are playing cards, Kleshch and Actor are watching the game. Bubnov plays checkers with Medvedev. Luka is sitting by Anna's bed. The stage is dimly lit by two lamps. One is burning near the gamblers, the other is near Bubnov.

Tatarin and Krivoy Zob sing, Bubnov also sings. Anna tells Luka about her hard life, in which she remembers nothing but beatings. Luke consoles her. The Tatar yells at Sateen, who cheats in a card game. Anna recalls how she starved all her life, was afraid to overeat her family, to eat an extra piece; Is it possible that torment awaits her in the next world? In the basement, the cries of gamblers, Bubnov, are heard, and then he sings a song:

Take care as you wish...

I won't run away...

I want to be free - oh!

I can't break the chain...

Crooked Goit sings along. The Tatar shouts that the Baron is hiding the map in his sleeve, cheating. Satin reassures Tatarin, saying that he knows: they are swindlers, why did he agree to play with them? The baron reassures that he lost a dime, and shouts for a three-ruble note. Crooked Goiter explains to Tatarin that if the roommates begin to live honestly, then in three days they will die of hunger! Satin scolds the Baron: an educated man, but he has not learned to cheat at cards. Abram Ivanovich lost to Bubnov. Satin counts the winnings - fifty-three kopecks. The actor asks for three kopecks, and then he himself wonders why he needs them? Satin calls Luka to the tavern, but he refuses. The actor wants to read poetry, but realizes with horror that he forgot everything, he drank away his memory. Luka reassures the Actor that they are treating him for drunkenness, only he has forgotten in which city the hospital is. Luka convinces the Actor that he will recover, pull himself together, and begin to live well again. Anna calls Luka to talk to her. The tick stands in front of his wife, then leaves. Luka takes pity on Klesch - he feels bad, Anna replies that she is not up to her husband. She withered from him. Luka consoles Anna that she will die and feel better. “Death - it calms everything ... it is affectionate for us ... If you die, you will rest!” Anna is afraid that suddenly, in the other world, torment awaits her. Luke says that the Lord will call her and say that she lived hard, let her rest now. Anna asks what if she recovers? Luke is interested: for what, for new flour? But Anna wants to live longer, she even agrees to suffer, if then peace awaits her. Ash enters and screams. Medvedev is trying to calm him down. Luke asks to be quiet: Anna is dying. Ash agrees with Luka: “You, grandfather, if you please, I respect you! You, brother, well done. You lie well ... you tell fairy tales nicely! Lie, nothing ... not enough, brother, pleasant in the world!

Vaska asks Medvedev if Vasilisa beat Natasha badly? The policeman excuses himself: "that is a family matter, and not his, Ashes, business." Vaska assures that if he wants, Natasha will leave with him. Medvedev is outraged that a thief dares to make plans for his niece. He threatens to bring Cinder to clean water. At first, Vaska, in a temper, says: try it. But then he threatens that if he is taken to the investigator, he will not be silent. He will tell that Kostylev and Vasilisa pushed him to steal, they sell stolen goods. Medvedev is sure: no one will believe a thief. But Pepel confidently says that they will believe in the truth. Pepel and Medvedev are threatened that they will confuse him. The policeman leaves so as not to run into trouble. Ash smugly remarks: Medvedev ran to complain to Vasilisa. Bubnov advises Vaska to be careful. But Ash, Yaroslavl, you can’t take with your bare hands. “If there is war, we will fight,” the thief threatens.

Luka advises Ash to go to Siberia, Vaska jokes that he will wait until they take him at public expense. Luke persuades that people like Pepel are needed in Siberia: "There are such people - it is necessary." Ash replies that his path was predetermined: “My path is marked for me! My parent spent all my life in prisons and ordered the same thing for me ... When I was little, they called me a thief at that time, a son of thieves ... ”Luka praises Siberia, calls it the “golden side”. Vaska wonders why Luka is lying. The old man replies: “And why do you really need it painfully ... think about it! She, really, maybe swelled for you ... ”Ash asks Luka if there is a God? The old man replies: “If you believe, there is; if you don’t believe it, no… What you believe in is what it is.” Bubnov goes to the tavern, and Luka, slamming the door, as if having left, carefully climbs onto the stove. Vasilisa goes to Ash's room and calls Vasily there. He refuses; He was tired of everything and so was she. Ash looks at Vasilisa and confesses that, despite her beauty, he never had a heart for her. Vasilisa is offended that Ash fell out of love with her so suddenly. The thief explains that not suddenly, she has no soul, like animals, she and her husband. Vasilisa confesses to Ash that she loved the hope in him that he would get her out of here. She offers Ash a sister if he frees her from her husband: "Take off this noose from me." Ashes grins: it’s great she came up with everything: her husband - in a coffin, her lover - to hard labor, and herself ... Vasilisa asks him to help through her friends, if Pepel himself does not want to. Natalia will be his payment. Vasilisa beats her sister out of jealousy, and then she cries out of pity. Kostylev, quietly entering, finds them and shouts at his wife: “A beggar ... a pig ...”

Ash drives Kostylev, but he is the owner and decides where he should be. The ashes strongly shake Kostylev's collar, but Luka makes noise on the stove, and Vaska releases the owner. Ashes realized that Luka had heard everything, but he did not deny it. He deliberately began to make noise so that Pepel would not strangle Kostylev. The old man advises Vaska to stay away from Vasilisa, take Natasha, and go with her away from here. Ash can't decide what to do. Luka says that Pepel is still young, he will have time to "acquire a woman, it's better to go from here alone, before he is killed here."

The old man notices that Anna has died. Ash does not like the dead. Luke replies that one must love the living. They go to the tavern to inform Klesh about the death of his wife. The actor recalled a poem by Paul Beranger, which he wanted to tell Luca in the morning:

Lord! If the truth is holy

The world can't find the way,

Honor to the madman who inspires

Mankind has a golden dream!

If tomorrow the earth is our way

Forgot to shine our sun

Tomorrow the whole world would light up

The thought of some madman...

Natasha, who was listening to the Actor, laughs at him, and he asks where Luka has gone? As soon as it gets warm, the Actor is going to go look for a city where he is being treated for drunkenness. He admits that his stage name is Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky, but no one here knows this and does not want to know, it is very disappointing to lose a name. “Even dogs have nicknames. Without a name, there is no person.

Natasha sees the dead Anna and tells the Actor and Bubnov about it. Bubnov notices: there will be no one to cough at night. He warns Natasha: The ashes "will break her head", Natasha does not care who to die from. Those who entered look at Anna, and Natasha is surprised that no one regrets Anna. Luke explains that the living should be pitied. “We don’t pity the living ... we can’t pity ourselves ... where is it!” Bubnov philosophizes - everyone will die. Everyone advises Kleshch to report the death of his wife to the police. He grieves: he has only forty kopecks, why bury Anna? Crooked Goit promises that he will collect a dime each for a rooming house - a dime. Natasha is afraid to go through the dark passage and asks Luka to accompany her. The old man advises her to be afraid of the living.

The actor yells at Luka to name the city where they are being treated for drunkenness. Satin is convinced that everything is a mirage. There is no such city. The Tatar stops them so that they don't scream when they are dead. But Satine says the dead don't care. Luka appears at the door.

Act Three

Wasteland littered with rubbish. In the depths there is a wall of refractory bricks, to the right a log wall and everything is overgrown with weeds. To the left is the wall of Kostylev's rooming house. In a narrow passage between the walls are boards and timber. Evening. Natasha and Nastya are sitting on the boards. On the firewood - Luke and Baron, next to them are Klesch and Baron.

Nastya talks about her alleged former date with a student in love with her, ready to shoot himself because of his love for her. Bubnov laughs at Nastya's fantasies, but the Baron asks not to interfere with lying further.

Nastya continues to fantasize that the student's parents do not give consent to their marriage, but he cannot live without her. She ostensibly tenderly says goodbye to Raul. Everyone laughs - the last time the beloved was called Gaston. Nastya is indignant that they do not believe her. She claims she had true love. Luka consoles Nastya: “Tell me, girl, nothing!” Natasha reassures Nastya that everyone behaves this way out of envy. Nastya continues to fantasize what tender words she said to her lover, persuading him not to take his own life, not to upset his beloved parents / The Baron laughs - this is a story from the book “Fatal Love”. Luka comforts Nastya, believes her. The Baron laughs at Nastya's stupidity, though noting her kindness. Bubnov wonders why people love lies so much. Natasha is sure: it is more pleasant than the truth. So she dreams that tomorrow a special stranger will come and a completely special thing will happen. And then he realizes that there is nothing to wait. The Baron picks up her phrase that there is nothing to wait for, and he does not expect anything. Everything already ... was! Natasha says that sometimes she imagines herself dead and becomes terrified of her. The Baron takes pity on Natasha, who is being tormented by her sister. The kind asks: And whom easier?

Suddenly Tick shouts that not everyone is bad. If only everyone would not be so offended. Bubnov is surprised by Klesch's cry. The baron goes to Nastya to put up, otherwise she will not give him a drink.

Bubnov is unhappy that people are lying. Okay, Nastya is used to "painting her face ... a blush brings to the soul." But why does Luka lie without any benefit to himself? Luka reprimands the Baron not to disturb Nastya's soul. Let her cry if she wants to. Baron agrees. Natasha asks Luka why he is kind. The old man is sure that someone needs to be kind. “It’s good to feel sorry for a person in time ... it happens well ...” He tells the story of how, being a watchman, he took pity on the thieves who climbed into the dacha guarded by Luka. Then these thieves turned out to be good men. Luke concludes: “If I hadn’t had pity on them, they might have killed me ... or something else ... And then - a court and a prison, and Siberia ... what’s the point? Prison - will not teach good, and Siberia will not teach ... but a person will teach ... yes! A person can teach good things ... very simply!

Bubnov himself cannot lie and always tells the truth. The tick jumps up as if stung and screams, where does Bubnov see the truth?! "There is no work - that's the truth!" The tick hates everyone. Luka and Natasha feel sorry for the Tick, who looks like a madman. Ash asks about the Tick and adds that he does not love him - he is painfully angry and proud. What are you proud of? Horses are the most hardworking, so are they taller than a person?

Luka, continuing the conversation started by Bubnov about the truth, tells the following story. There lived a man in Siberia who believed in the “righteous land”, which is inhabited by special good people. This man endured all insults and injustices in the hope that someday he would go there, this was his favorite dream. And when a scientist came and proved that there was no such land, this man hit the scientist, cursed him as a scoundrel, and strangled himself. Luka says that he will soon leave the rooming house for "Khokhly", to look at the faith there.

Pepel invites Natasha to leave with him, she refuses, but Pepel promises to stop stealing, he is literate - he will work. Offers to go to Siberia, assures: it is necessary to live differently than they live, better, "so that you can respect yourself."

He was called a thief from childhood, so he became a thief. “Call me differently, Natasha,” Vaska asks. But Natasha does not trust anyone, she is waiting for something better, her heart aches, and Natasha does not love Vaska. At times she likes him, and at other times it is sickening to look at him. Ash persuades Natasha that in time she will love him, as he loves her. Natasha asks with a sneer how Ash manages to love two people at the same time: her and Vasilisa? Ash replies that he is sinking, as if in a quagmire, whatever he grabs, everything is rotten. He might have fallen in love with Vasilisa if she had not been so greedy for money. But she does not need love, but money, will, debauchery. Ash admits that Natasha is another matter.

Luka persuades Natasha to leave with Vaska, only to remind him more often that he is good. And who does she live with? Her family is worse than wolves. And Pepel is a tough guy. Natasha doesn't trust anyone. Ashes is sure: she has only one way... but he won't let her go there, it's better to kill him himself. Natasha is surprised that Pepel is not yet a husband, but is already going to kill her. Vaska hugs Natasha, and she threatens that if Vaska touches her with a finger, she will not endure, she will strangle herself. Ash swears that his hands will wither if he offends Natasha.

Vasilisa, who was standing at the window, hears everything and says: “So we got married! Advice and love! ..” Natasha is frightened, and Pepel is sure: no one will dare to offend Natasha now. Vasilisa objects that Vasily does not know how to offend or love. He was more successful in words than in deeds. Luka is surprised by the poisonousness of the "hostess" tongue.

Kostylev urges Natalya to put on the samovar and set the table. Ash intercedes, but Natasha stops him from commanding her, "it's too early!".

Pepel tells Kostylev that they mocked Natasha and that's enough. "Now she is mine!" The Kostylevs laugh: he hasn't bought Natasha yet. Vaska threatens not to have much fun, no matter how much they have to cry. Luke drives Ashes, whom Vasilisa incites, wants to provoke. Ash threatens Vasilisa, and she tells him that Ash's plan will not come true.

Kostylev asks if it is true that Luka decided to leave. He replies that he will go where his eyes look. Kostylev says that it is not good to wander. But Luke calls himself a wanderer. Kostylev scolds Luka for not having a passport. Luke says that "there are people, and there are people." Kostylev does not understand Luka and gets angry. And he replies that Kostylev will never be a man, even if "the Lord God himself commands" him. Kostylev drives Luka away, Vasilisa joins her husband: Luka has a long tongue, let him get out. Luke promises to leave into the night. Bubnov confirms that it is always better to leave on time, tells his story about how he, having left on time, escaped hard labor. His wife got in touch with the master furrier, and so cleverly that, just in case, they would poison Bubnov so as not to interfere.

Bubnov beat his wife, and the master beat him. Bubnov even considered how to "kill" his wife, but he caught himself and left. The workshop was recorded on his wife, so he turned out to be naked as a falcon. This is facilitated by the fact that Bubnov is a drunkard and very lazy, as he himself admits to Luka.

Satin and the Actor appear. Satin demands that Luca confess to lying to the Actor. The actor did not drink vodka today, but worked - the street was chalked up. He shows the money earned - two five-kopeck pieces. Satin offers to give him the money, but the Actor says that he earns his own way.

Satin complains that he blew "everything to smithereens" into the cards. There is a "sharper smarter than me!" Luka calls Sateen a cheerful person. Satin recalls that in his youth he was funny, loved to make people laugh, to represent on stage. Luke wonders how Satin came to this life? It is unpleasant for sateen to stir the soul. Luka wants to understand how such an intelligent person suddenly fell to the very bottom. Satin replies that he spent four years and seven months in prison, and after prison there is no going anywhere. Luka wonders why Sateen went to jail? He replies that for a scoundrel, whom he killed in his temper and irritation. In prison, he learned to play cards.

Who did you kill for? Luca asks. Satin replies that because of his own sister, but he does not want to tell anything more, and his sister died nine years ago, she was glorious.

Satin asks the returned Tick why he is so gloomy. The locksmith does not know what to do, there is no tool - all the funerals were "eaten". Sateen advises to do nothing - just live. But Klesch is ashamed of such a life. Satin objects, because people are not ashamed that they doomed Tick to such a bestial existence.

Natasha screams. Her sister beats her again. Luka advises calling Vaska Ash, and the Actor runs after him.

Crooked Zob, Tatarin, Medvedev are involved in the fight. Satin tries to push Vasilisa away from Natasha. Vaska Pepel appears. He pushes everyone aside, runs after Kostylev. Vaska sees that Natasha's legs are scalded with boiling water, she almost unconsciously says to Vasily: "Take me, bury me." Vasilisa appears and shouts that Kostylev has been killed. Vasily does not understand anything, he wants to take Natasha to the hospital, and then pay off her offenders. (The lights go out on the stage. Separate surprised exclamations and phrases are heard.) Then Vasilisa shouts in a triumphant voice that Vaska Pepel killed her husband. Calling the police. She says she saw everything. Ashes approaches Vasilisa, looks at the corpse of Kostylev and asks if they should kill her, Vasilisa? Medvedev calls the police. Satin reassures Ash: killing in a fight is not a very serious crime. He, Satin, also beat the old man and is ready to testify. Ash confesses: Vasilisa encouraged him to kill her husband. Natasha suddenly shouts that Pepel and her sister are at the same time. Vasilisa was hindered by her husband and sister, so they killed her husband and scalded her, knocking over the samovar. Ash is stunned by Natasha's accusation. He wants to refute this terrible accusation. But she does not listen and curses her offenders. Satin is also surprised and tells Cinder that this family will "drown him."

Natasha, almost delirious, screams that her sister taught, and Vaska Pepel killed Kostylev, and asks herself to be sent to prison.

act four

The setting of the first act, but there is no Ash room. Klesch sits at the table and repairs the accordion. At the other end of the table - Satin, Baron, Nastya. They drink vodka and beer. The Actor is busy on the stove. Night. There is wind outside.

Tick ​​did not notice how Luka disappeared in the confusion. The baron adds: "... like smoke from the face of fire." Satin says in the words of a prayer: "Thus sinners disappear from the face of the righteous." Nastya stands up for Luka, calling everyone present rust. Satin laughs: For many, Luke was like a crumb for the toothless, and the Baron adds: “Like a band-aid for abscesses.” The tick also stands up for Luka, calling him compassionate. The Tatar is convinced that the Koran should be the law for people. The tick agrees - we must live according to the laws of God. Nastya wants to leave here. Satin advises her to take the Actor with her, they are on the way.

Satin and the Baron list the muses of art, they can not remember the patroness of the theater. The actor tells them - this is Melpomene, calls them ignoramuses. Nastya screams and waves her arms. Satin advises the Baron not to interfere with the neighbors to do what they want: let them scream, go no one knows where. The baron calls Luka a charlatan. Nastya indignantly calls him a charlatan himself.

Kleshch notes that Luka "very much disliked the truth, rebelled against it." Satin shouts that "man - that's the truth!". The old man lied out of pity for others. Satin says that he has read: there is truth that is comforting, reconciling. But this lie is needed by those who are weak in soul, who hide behind it like a shield. Who is the master, is not afraid of life, he does not need a lie. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the God of a free man."

The baron recalls that their family, which came out of France, was rich and noble under Catherine. Nastya interrupts: the Baron invented everything. He gets angry. Satin reassures him, "... forget about grandfather's carriages ... in the carriage of the past - you will not go anywhere ...". Satin asks Nastya about Natasha. She replies that Natasha left the hospital a long time ago and disappeared. The roommates argue who will “seat” whom more firmly, Vaska Pepel Vasilisa or she Vaska. They come to the conclusion that Vasily is cunning and will "get out", and Vaska will go to hard labor in Siberia. The Baron again quarrels with Nastya, explaining to her that he is not like him, the Baron. Nastya laughs in response - the Baron lives on her handouts, "like a worm - an apple."

Seeing that the Tartar went to pray, Satin says: “Man is free… he pays for everything himself, and therefore he is free!.. Man is the truth.” Satin claims that all people are equal. “There is only man, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain. Human! It's great! That sounds…proud!” Then he adds that a person should be respected, not humiliated with pity. He talks about himself that he is "a convict, a murderer, a card sharp" when he walks