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The meaning of the name "At the bottom. The meaning of the name of the play "At the Bottom" by M. Gorky (Gorky Maxim)

In the work of M. Gorky "At the Bottom" a huge layer of moral, ethical and spiritual problems of society will be touched upon. The author used the principle of the great minds of the past: truth is born in a dispute. His play - a dispute is designed to raise the most important questions for a person, so that he himself answers them. A complete analysis of the work can be useful for students in grade 11 in preparing for literature lessons, test tasks, and creative work.

Brief analysis

Year of writing- end of 1901 - beginning of 1902.

History of creation- the play was created specifically for staging in the theater, Gorky put the most important questions of life into the mouths of his heroes, reflected his own view of life. The period of the late 19th century is shown, a deep economic crisis, unemployment, poverty, ruin, the collapse of human destinies.

Subject- the tragedy of outcast people who found themselves at the very bottom of life.

Composition- linear composition, the events in the play are built in chronological order. The action is static, the characters are in one place, the play consists of philosophical reflections and disputes.

Genre- socio-philosophical drama, debate play.

Direction- critical realism (socialist realism).

History of creation

The play was conceived by Gorky a year before its creation, once in a conversation with Stanislavsky he mentioned that he wanted to create a play about the inhabitants of a rooming house who had sunk to the very bottom. In 1900-1901 the author made some sketches. During this period, Maxim Gorky became seriously interested in the plays of A.P. Chekhov, their staging on stage and the acting of actors. This was decisive for the author in terms of working in a new genre.

In 1902, the play "At the Bottom" was written, and in December of the same year it was staged on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater Theater with the participation of Stanislavsky. It should be noted that the writing of the work was preceded by a crisis that occurred in Russia in the late 90s of the 19th century, factories and factories stopped, unemployment, ruin, poverty, hunger - all this is a real picture in the cities of that period. The play was created with a specific goal - to raise the level of culture of all classes of the population. Her production caused a resonance, largely due to the genius of the author, as well as the controversy of the voiced problems. In any case - the play was talked about, with envy, discontent or admiration - it was a success.

Subject

Intertwined in the work multiple topics: fate, hope, the meaning of life, truth and lies. The heroes of the play talk on lofty topics, being so low that it is no longer possible to go down further. The author shows that a poor person can have a deep essence, be highly moral, spiritually rich.

At the same time, any person can sink to the very bottom, from which it is almost impossible to rise, it is addictive, gives freedom from conventions, allows you to forget about culture, responsibility, upbringing and moral aspects. Gorky only voiced the sharpest Problems modernity, he did not solve them, did not give a universal answer, did not show the way. Therefore, his work is called a debate play, it is based on a dispute in which the truth is born, its own for each character.

Issues the works are diverse, the most burning, perhaps it is worth considering the dialogues of the characters about saving lies and bitter truth. The meaning of the name plays that the social bottom is a layer where there is also life, where people love, live, think and suffer - it exists in any era and no one is immune from this bottom.

Composition

The author himself defined the composition of the play as “scenes”, although its genius corresponds to the masterpiece plays of Russian and foreign classics. The linearity of the construction of the play is due to the chronological sequence of events. The plot of the play is the appearance in the rooming house of Luka with his dissimilarity and facelessness. Further, in several actions, the development of events takes place, moving on to the most powerful heat - a dialogue about the meaning of existence, about truth and lies. This is the climax of the play, followed by the denouement: the suicide of the Actor, the loss of hopes of the last inhabitants of the rooming house. They are not able to save themselves, which means they are doomed to death.

Genre

In the play “At the Bottom”, the analysis allows us to draw a conclusion about the uniqueness of the Gorky genre - the debate play. The main thing in the development of the plot is the conflict, it drives the action. The characters are in a dark basement and the dynamics is achieved through the clash of opposing points of view. The genre of the work is usually defined as a socio-philosophical drama.

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Analysis Rating

Average rating: 4.3. Total ratings received: 2394.

Initially, Maxim Gorky called the play "Without the Sun", among the options were "Nochlezhka", "Dno", "At the Bottom of Life", but he settled on the most suitable and meaningful title - "At the Bottom". Indeed, it is not as transparent as "At the bottom of life", because here not only the social status of the characters is considered, but also their state of mind.

The action of the play takes place in a rooming house, and its inhabitants are thieves, loafers, drunkards and even murderers, those who have long been abandoned by society. Of these, none, except for Kvashnya, a dumpling merchant, had a job and did not want to work. The baron used to serve somewhere, was an aristocrat, but he stole and ended up in prison. Sateen, protecting his sister, killed her husband. Nastya is a big inventor who tells ridiculous stories about her lovers. The actor was kicked out of the theater for drunkenness.

Bubnov owned a dyeing workshop, but, fearing that he might kill his wife and her lover, he left, leaving them all his property. Locksmith Kleshch sits without work and blames his wife for his miserable situation, whom he himself brought to death with eternal beatings and drunkenness. All these people once had something, but due to weakness or vices they could not keep it, and ended up at the “bottom”.

Tick is sure that his life is about to change for the better as soon as he is freed from his wife. But now Anna was gone, and the desired freedom brought him nothing but disappointment. They all wanted to break out of this environment, and with the arrival of Luke, they finally had hope. The old man made it clear to everyone that their fate is in their hands, you just have to try. Yes, the roomers were inspired by the opportunity to start everything from scratch, but, apparently, their hearts, indifferent to their lives, became a ballast that did not allow them to rise from this “bottom”. It is convenient for them to live like this, they are used to living almost without “oxygen”, they have forgotten what willpower is, therefore they were content with vague dreams and did nothing.

"Bottom" according to Gorky means not so much the social status, the place of residence of the heroes, but their way of life. All of them seem to be satisfied with the position of lumpen, a miserable and impoverished life, spiritual emptiness and moral baseness. At the bottom, sunlight is not visible - there is only darkness, cold and loneliness. And this is the life of the characters in the play.

A. M. Gorky "At the Bottom"
The meaning of the play
Gorky about the meaning of the play: “The main question I wanted to pose is what is better - truth or compassion? What is more needed? Is it necessary to bring compassion to the point of using lies like Luke? This is not a subjective question, but a general philosophical one.
The play is philosophical, but everything universal in it is inseparable from the deeply vital and specifically historical. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the social and everyday obsession of the play. The fact that the characters previously known from Gorky's stories, tramps, are given in a reduced plan. Gorky saw and reflected in the play not the tragedy of the Russian people, but the tragedy of Russian life.
In the title, it was important for the author to single out not the place of action, not the nature of the conditions, not even the social position, but what the soul is filled with, what happens at the bottom of human life, at the bottom of the human soul.

Luke
Outwardly, Luka does not affect the life of the overnight stays in any way, but a serious work begins in their minds, so the social conditions of reality and their reflection in the minds of people become the subject of research in the play. In each of the heroes, Luke saw the bright sides of his personality, all his conversations are aimed at supporting the person, his faith in the best. Therefore, he only talks to those who live the truth of hope; he has nothing to talk about with unbelievers. In an effort to comprehend human nature, Luke makes a series of wise observations. The essence of these observations is that a person is worthy of respect, love and pity. The origins of such an attitude towards a person lie in Luke's conviction that a person is initially good, and only the social disorder of life makes him bad and imperfect. That is why the hostels reached out to Luka, who is kind and sincere with us and disinterested in his desire to help. He does not deceive anyone and does not lie to anyone about anything. Thus, Luke acts as the ideologist of passive consciousness, and in the dispute about the truth that arises between him and Bubnov, the Baron, Luke affirms the charity of a comforting lie. The parable of the righteous land expresses the idea that it is impossible to deprive a person of hope, even if it is meager.

The truth of Luke and the truth of Sateen
The sermon of Luke gave Satine an impetus for the emergence of a new position in life, which is also based on respect for a person, but the emphasis is shifted towards the active participation of a person in life. Sateen's monologue is only the first step towards the formation of an active human consciousness. Gorky's attitude to Luka is ambiguous, in the development of the plot one can feel the author's reproach to Luka, because all illusions have been destroyed. On the other hand, the author blames what happened to the people not on Luka, but on the overnight shelters themselves, and thereby reveals one of the main features of the Russian national character. Dissatisfaction with life, a critical attitude towards it and the inability to change something.

His work tells us about a rooming house where the heroes of the work gathered and at first the author called his masterpiece - Nochlezhka. But this name would take us only to a specific place, namely, to the place of lodging for the night, which Kostylev owned and where the heroes of the play gathered. It was a basement with a heavy ceiling, where there were no normal chairs either, and bunk beds instead of beds. A small square window let in only occasional light. In a word, the name Nochlezhka could not fully convey the meaning of the play. And Gorky wanted the work to be wider and deeper. Revealed the essence more. The author thought of giving another name to his play. For example, the title Without the Sun would be profound, but not quite relevant to the topic. Although the heroes had little joy and warmth in life, they could see the sunlight.

The meaning of the title of the play At the Bottom

What is the meaning of the title of the play At the Bottom?
When Gorky renamed his work, the meaning of the title sparkled with other colors, and we will try to speculate a little about the meaning of the title of the play At the Bottom in ours.

Reading Gorky's work, we will get acquainted with the heroes of the rooming house - embittered, weak-willed, sick people. According to their stories and conversations, we conclude that they have already lost faith in life, have lost meaning and hope in it. These lost people no longer expect anything from life, and they do not want to change anything in their existence. All this directly indicates that they are already at the very bottom of the social ladder. Heroes cannot live without drunkenness, scandals, lies. They are constantly scolding, but still we see that the people of the bottom are still able to talk about truth and freedom. There is only one truth for each of them. The title At the bottom fully reveals the essence of the play. Thanks to the well-chosen title, the author showed that it is not only about a place to sleep, which looks like a cave and seems like you are at the very bottom. But he was able to convey the atmosphere that hovered in this rooming house. The moral and ethical ugliness of the people who gathered there. Subsequently, Gorky's "at the bottom" became symbolic and revealed not only the essence of the play, but also the way of life of some people in our society.

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 critics 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.

Themes

Despite the seemingly simple plot and the lack of sharp climactic turns, the work is replete with themes that give rise to reflection.

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.

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 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.

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 suddenly, for their suffering in the basement, a miracle should fall on them that will bring them a new life, as it happens - Luke comes to them, wanting to cheer up all the desperate, to 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.

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30.03.2013 46970 0

Lessons 13-14
Socio-philosophical drama
M. Gorky "At the bottom"

Goals : give an initial idea of the socio-philosophical drama as a genre of dramaturgy; to acquaint with the ideological content of Gorky's play "At the Bottom"; develop the ability to analyze a dramatic work.

Tasks : determine the philosophical meaning of the title of Gorky's play "At the Bottom"; find out the author's methods of conveying the atmosphere of spiritual separation of people, revealing the problem of imaginary and real overcoming of a humiliating situation, sleep and awakening of the soul.

Course of lessons

I. Opening remarks.

1. Teacher. Gorky became an innovator not only in Russian romanticism, but also in dramaturgy. Originally, he spoke of Chekhov's innovation, which "killed the realism" (of traditional drama), elevating the images to "a spiritualized symbol". But Gorky himself followed Chekhov.

Gorky's drama in 2007 turns 105 years old (the premiere took place on December 18 of the old style of 1902 at the Moscow Art Theater); since then, the play has been staged, filmed in Russia and abroad many times, dozens of critical, scientific works have been devoted to it, but hardly anyone would dare to assert that even today everything is known about this work.

2. Individual message student "The stage fate of Gorky's play" At the bottom ".

The Moscow Art Theater archive contains an album containing over forty photographs taken by the artist M. Dmitriev in Nizhny Novgorod rooming houses. They served as visual material for actors, make-up artists and costume designers when staging the play at the Moscow Art Theater by Stanislavsky.

In some of the photographs, remarks were made by Gorky's hand, from which it follows that many of the characters in "At the Bottom" had real prototypes among the Nizhny Novgorod bosyatstva. All this suggests that both the author and the director, in order to achieve the maximum stage effect, strove, first of all, for authenticity.

The premiere of "At the Bottom", which took place on December 18, 1902, was a phenomenal success. The roles in the play were played by: Satin - Stanislavsky, Luka - Moskvin, Baron - Kachalov, Natasha - Andreeva, Nastya - Knipper.

Such an inflorescence of famous actors, plus the originality of the author's and director's decisions, gave an unexpected result. The fame of "At the Bottom" itself is a kind of cultural and social phenomenon of the beginning of the 20th century and has no equal in the entire history of the world theater.

“The first performance of this play was a complete triumph,” wrote M. F. Andreeva. - The audience went wild. Called the author countless times. He resisted, did not want to go out, he was literally pushed onto the stage.

On December 21, Gorky wrote to Pyatnitsky: “The success of the play is exceptional, I did not expect anything like this ...” Pyatnitsky himself wrote to L. Andreev: “Maximych's drama is a delight! He will hit like a deafening blow on the foreheads of all those who talked about the decline of his talent. “At the Bottom” was highly appreciated by A. Chekhov, who wrote to the author: “It is new and undoubtedly good. The second act is very good, it is the best, the strongest, and when I read it, especially the end, I almost jumped with pleasure.

"At the Bottom" is the first work of M. Gorky, which brought world fame to the author. In January 1903, the play was premiered in Berlin at the Max Reinhardt Theater directed by director Richard Valletin, who played the role of Satine. In Berlin, the play ran for 300 performances in a row, and in the spring of 1905 its 500th performance was celebrated.

Many of his contemporaries noted in the play a characteristic feature of the early Gorky - rudeness.

Some called it a disadvantage. For example, A. Volynsky wrote to Stanislavsky after the play “At the Bottom”: “Gorky does not have that gentle, noble heart, singing and crying, like Chekhov’s. It is rough with him, as if not mystical enough, not immersed in some kind of grace.

Others saw in this a manifestation of a remarkable integral personality, who came from the lower ranks of the people and, as it were, "blew up" the traditional ideas about the Russian writer.

3. Teacher. “At the Bottom” is a programmatic play for Gorky: created at the dawn of the 20th century that has just begun, it expressed many of his doubts and hopes in connection with the prospects of man and mankind to change themselves, transform life and discover the sources of creative forces necessary for this.

This is stated in the symbolic time of the play, in the remarks of the first act: “The beginning of spring. Morning". The same direction of Gorky's thoughts is eloquently evidenced by his correspondence.

On the eve of Easter 1898, Gorky greeted Chekhov promisingly: “Christ is risen!”, and soon wrote to I. E. Repin: “I don’t know anything better, more complicated, more interesting than a person. He is everything. He even created God... I am sure that man is capable of infinite improvement, and all his activities will also develop along with him... from century to century. I believe in the infinity of life, and I understand life as a movement towards the perfection of the spirit.

A year later, in a letter to L. N. Tolstoy, he almost verbatim repeated this fundamental thesis for himself in connection with literature: “Even a great book is only dead, a black shadow of the word and a hint of the truth, and man is the receptacle of the living God. I understand God as an indomitable desire for perfection, for truth and justice. Therefore, a bad person is better than a good book.

4. And what are your impressions of the read play by Gorky?

II. Work on the topic of the lesson. Work with the text of Gorky's play.

1. How do you understand the name of the play: "At the bottom"?

Teacher . How did Gorky connect faith in man - "the receptacle of the living God", capable of "infinitely improving", faith in life - "movement towards the perfection of the spirit" - and the vegetative life "At the bottom of life" (this is one of the options for the title of the drama)?

Do not his words seem like a mockery of a person in comparison with the characters of the play, and her characters against the background of these words - a caricature of humanity?

No, because before us are two sides of Gorky's single worldview: in letters - ideal impulses, in creativity - an artistic study of human capabilities.

The God-man and the “bottom” are contrasts, and the contrast forced us to look for invisible, but existing secret laws of being, spirit, capable of “harmonizing the nerves”, changing a person “physically”, tearing him out of the bottom and returning him “to the center of the life process”.

This philosophy is realized in the system of images, composition, leitmotifs, symbols, in the word of the play.

Bottom in the play is ambiguous and, like many things in Gorky, symbolic. The name correlates the circumstances of life and the soul of a person.

Bottom- this is the bottom of life, the soul, the extreme degree of falling, a situation of hopelessness, a dead end, comparable to the one about which Dostoevsky's Marmeladov spoke bitterly - "when there is nowhere else to go."

“The bottom of the soul” is the innermost, far hidden in people. “It turns out: on the outside, no matter how you paint yourself, everything will be erased,” Bubnov stated, recalling his bright past, painted in the literal and figurative sense, and soon, turning to the Baron, clarified: “What was - was, but what remained is nothing but nothing ..."

2. What can you say about the scene? What are your impressions of the environment in which the main events take place?

The Kostylevs' doss house resembles a prison; it is not for nothing that its inhabitants sing the prison song "The Sun Rises and Sets." Those who got into the basement belong to different strata of society, but everyone has the same fate, they are renegades of society, and no one manages to get out of here.

Important detail: inside the doss house is not as gloomy, cold and disturbing as outside. Here is a description of the outside world at the beginning of the third act: “A wasteland is a courtyard place littered with various rubbish and overgrown with weeds. In the depths of it is a tall brick firewall. It closes the sky... Evening, the sun sets, illuminating the firewall with a reddish light.

It's early spring, the snow has just melted. "Dog's coolness ...", - says, shivering, Kleshch, entering from the hallway. In the finale, the Actor hanged himself in this wasteland.

It's still warm inside and people live here.

- Who are they?

3. Quiz on the content of the work.

A) Which of the characters in the play "At the Bottom" ...

1) ...claims that he "doesn't seem to have a temper"? (Baron.)

2) ...does not want to reconcile with life on the "bottom" and declares:
“I am a working person ... and I have been working since I was young ... I’ll get out ... I’ll tear off my skin, and I’ll get out”? (Mite.)

3) ... dreamed of such a life, "so that you can respect yourself"? (Ash.)

4) ... lives in dreams of great, real human love? (Nastya.)

5) ... believes that she will be better off in the next world, but still wants to live at least a little more in this world? (Anna.)

6) ... “lay down in the middle of the street, plays the harmonica and yells: “I don’t want anything, I don’t want anything”? (Shoemaker Alyoshka.)

7) ... says to the man who offered her to marry him: “... marrying a woman is the same as jumping into an ice hole in winter”? (Korshnya.)

8) ... hiding behind the service of God, robs people! “...and I’ll throw a half a ruble on you, I’ll buy oil in a lamp... and my sacrifice will burn before the holy icon...”? (Kostylev.)

9) ... is indignant: “And why do people separate when they fight? Let them beat each other freely ... they would fight less, because the beatings would be remembered longer ... ”? (Policeman Medvedev.)

10) ... found himself in a rooming house because he left his wife, afraid to kill her, jealous of another? (Bubnov.)

11) ... he consoled everyone with a beautiful lie, and in a difficult moment "disappeared from the police ... like smoke from a fire ..."? (Wanderer Luke.)

12) ...beaten, scalded with boiling water, asks to be taken to prison? (Natasha.)

13) … asserted: “Falsehood is the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!”? (Satin.)

B) What circumstances brought each of them to Kostylev's rooming house?

1) A former official in the state chamber? (The baron went to prison for embezzlement of state money, and then ended up in a rooming house.)

2) Watchman at the dacha? (The rooming house for Luka is only one of the points of his wanderings.)

3) Former telegraph operator? (Satin, because of his sister, "killed a scoundrel in temper and irritation", ended up in prison, after prison he ended up in a rooming house.)

4) A furrier? (Bubnov was once the owner of his own workshop; having left his wife, he lost "his establishment" and ended up in a rooming house.)

Teacher . These people are forced to live in the same room, which only burdens them: they are not ready to help each other in any way.

– Re-read the beginning of the play (before Luka appears in the rooming house).

1. Gorky conveyed the stability of the alienation of people in the form polylogue, composed of replicas that do not fit with each other. All the remarks sound from different angles - Anna's dying words alternate with the cries of the roomers playing cards (Satin and Baron) and checkers (Bubnov and Medvedev):

Anna . I don't remember when I was full... All my life I went around in rags... all my miserable life... For what?

Luca. Oh you baby! Tired? Nothing!

Actor (Crooked Zob). Knave go ... jack, damn it!

Baron. And we have a king.

Tick. They will always beat.

Satin. This is our habit...

Medvedev. King!

Bubnov. And I have... w-well...

Anna . I'm dying here...

2. In some replicas, words that have a symbolic sound stand out. Bubnov's words "but the threads are rotten" hint at the lack of ties between the shelters. Bubnov notices about Nastya's position: "You are superfluous everywhere." This once again indicates that the residents of Kostylev hardly "tolerate" each other.

3. Outcasts of society reject many generally accepted truths. It is worth, for example, to tell Kleshch that the overnight stays live without honor and conscience, as Bubnov will answer him: “What is conscience for? I’m not rich,” and Vaska Pepel will quote Sateen’s words: “Every person wants his neighbor to have a conscience, but, you see, it’s not profitable for anyone to have one.”

5. How does the atmosphere of the 2nd and 3rd acts differ from the 1st?

Students reflect on examples from the text.

The atmosphere of the 2nd and 3rd acts is different compared to the 1st. The situation changes with the appearance of the wanderer Luke, who, with his "fairy tales", revives dreams and hopes in the souls of the overnight stays.

The passportless tramp Luka, who was “crumpled” a lot in life, came to the conclusion that a person is worthy of pity, and generously bestows it on rooming houses. He acts as a comforter who wants to encourage a person or reconcile him with a bleak existence.

The old man advises the dying Anna not to be afraid of death: after all, she brings peace, which the eternally hungry Anna never knew. The drunken actor Luka inspires hope for a cure in a free clinic for alcoholics, although he knows that there is no such clinic. He talks to Vaska Pepl about the opportunity to start a new life with Natasha in Siberia.

But all this is just a comforting lie, which can only temporarily calm a person, muffling the difficult reality.

The overnight stays understand this, but listen to the old man with pleasure: they want to believe his “fairy tales”, dreams of happiness wake up in them.

Bubnov. And why is it ... a person loves to lie so much? Always - as before the investigator stands ... right!

Natasha. It can be seen that a lie ... is more pleasant than the truth ... I, too ...

Natasha. I invent ... I invent and - I wait ...

Baron. What?

Natasha (smiling embarrassedly). So... Well, I think tomorrow... someone... someone... special will arrive... Or something will happen... also - unprecedented... I wait a long time... always - I'm waiting ... And so ... in fact - what can you wish for?

There is a deceptive liberation from circumstances in the replicas of the hostels. The circle of existence seems to have closed: from indifference to an unattainable dream, from it to real upheavals or death (Anna dies, Kostylev is killed). Meanwhile, it is in this state of the heroes that the playwright finds the source of their spiritual fracture.

III. Summary of lessons.

- Make a generalization: what are the features of Gorky's drama - in the development of the action, in the content?

That's an example socio-philosophical drama. How do you understand this definition?

In the play "At the Bottom" the author did not limit himself to depicting the characteristic social aspects of Russian reality. This is not an everyday, but a socio-philosophical play, which is based on a dispute about a person, his position in society and attitude towards him. And in this dispute (in one way or another) almost all the inhabitants of the rooming house participate.

individually : problem Human in Gorky's play "At the Bottom".

The meaning of the name "At the bottom"

The meaning of the name. Gorky could not find the exact title of the play for a long time. Initially, it was called Nochlezhka, then God of the Sun, At the bottom of life, and only then At the bottom. The name itself has a deep meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life. As a result of the economic crisis in the 90s of the XIX century. masses of workers and peasants found themselves in terrible poverty, without a roof over their heads. Then the first rooming houses began to appear in Russia. “The nochlezhka is a house for the overnight stay of persons who do not have housing. Was kept by a private individual for commercial purposes, or by a charitable society or institution. The residents of the doss house were day laborers, visiting workers who could not find a job, vagabonds, etc. The nochlezhka worked from 6 pm to 7 am. For 5 kop. the client, in addition to a place on the bunk, received bread and stew in the evening, bread and tea in the morning. Terrible crowding and unsanitary conditions reigned in the rooming house due to the desire of the owners to get the maximum income. Often the rooming house was a brothel for criminals ”(Belovinsky L.V. Russian Historical and Everyday Dictionary. - M., 1999.) Gorky, continuing the traditions of Gogol, Dostoevsky, Gilyarovsky, turned to the image of the world of the humiliated and insulted. The action of the play takes place in a rooming house owned by Kostylev. The author describes the scene, which in many respects corresponds to the flophouses that exist in reality: “A basement that looks like a cave. The ceiling is heavy, stone arches, sooty, with crumbling plaster. The light is from the audience and, from top to bottom, from the square window on the right side. The atmosphere of this cellar is striking in its wretchedness: instead of chairs, there are dirty stumps of wood, a rough-hewn table, and bunks along the walls. The original name "Nochlezhka" had a specific character, while the latter fully corresponded to the author's intention. The name of the play "At the Bottom" is not only the "cave" in which Gorky's heroes found themselves, it is the very atmosphere of indifference and moral ugliness that reigns in the rooming house. The title of the play is deeply symbolic, it reveals the meaning of the whole work.

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But, despite poverty, overcrowding and a suffocating atmosphere of indifference to others, each of the shelters dreams of something. Nastya, reading romance novels, waits with trepidation for her prince, who will lead her to another, pure life. The actor somehow admits that it is hard for him to do without a name, as if he does not exist at all. He justifies his lifestyle with a “disease”, alcohol poisoning, but continues to dream of a stage and only thinks about how he will find a hospital, but he did not start searching. Tick is sure that his life is about to change for the better as soon as he is freed from his wife. But now Anna was gone, and the desired freedom brought him nothing but disappointment. They all wanted to break out of this environment, and with the arrival of Luke, they finally had hope. The old man made it clear to everyone that their fate is in their hands, you just have to try. Yes, the roomers were inspired by the opportunity to start everything from scratch, but, apparently, their hearts, indifferent to their lives, became a ballast that did not allow them to rise from this “bottom”. It is convenient for them to live like this, they are used to living almost without “oxygen”, they have forgotten what willpower is, therefore they were content with vague dreams and did nothing.

Updated: 2018-01-10

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