Women's destinies in Gorky's play at the bottom. Women in the world of beggars, or there is beauty at the bottom too

The play “At the Bottom” is quite complex, but very interesting work Gorky. The author managed to combine in it everyday specifics and generalized symbols, real human images and abstract philosophy. Gorky's skill was especially evident in the description of the inhabitants of the shelter, so different from each other. Important role Female characters play in the work.

Natasha, Vasilisa, Nastya, Anna, Kvashnya are very interesting and unique characters. These women have sunk to the very “bottom” of life, their appearance is depressing and evokes bitter feelings in the reader. Usually, a woman is a symbol of the beautiful, pure and bright. The female image is an image of tenderness, love and motherhood. However, Gorky shows the reader a completely different side of life. When a woman finds herself in terrible and cruel conditions, she is forced to behave somewhat differently.

Some will try to survive by selling themselves, while others will break down and become mortally ill, unable to withstand the heavy oppression. Let's look at specific images from the play.

Kvashnya is a dumpling seller, free and Strong woman, she does not allow any man to treat her freely. Her attitude towards marriage is sharply negative. It turns out that Kvashnya was already married once, but this bitter experience left an indelible mark on her soul for the rest of her life. One can imagine how cruel her husband was, and how unhappy they were. family life, if a woman was so happy about the death of her husband that she simply could not believe her happiness.

But, in spite of everything, Kvashnya remained sensitive to the grief of others and did not lose her humanity. She regrets dying Anna and tries to feed her dumplings. But she won’t marry again, not even to a prince, that’s enough, she’s suffered enough.

The next heroine of the play is an unhappy woman named Anna. She is seriously ill and near death. Many people sympathize with her, feel sorry for her and try to ease her torment. last days life. Only Kleshch, her husband, is still rude and indifferent to Anna. She is accustomed to his cruelty and patiently accepts this behavior of her husband. Anna symbolizes all women who consider rudeness to be the norm family relations. Even on the verge of death, she takes care of her indifferent and callous husband (she offers to eat the dumplings that Kvashnya left for her). Anna is only thirty years old, she is dying, and there is nothing bright in her existence.

The girl Nastya reads pulp novels, dreams of sublime feelings, of bright love, but in her life she is surrounded by baseness and dirt, vulgarity and rudeness. She tells her roommates sweet tales of love that are born in her imagination. They openly mock her, because Nastya is an ordinary prostitute, about pure and true love she can only dream. The only way for her to forget about all this is to get drunk.

Vasilisa is a representative of the “masters of life”, because she is the wife of the owner of the shelter. But the owners of the “bottom” are little different from its inhabitants. It is almost impossible to maintain a human appearance if you are constantly in a menagerie. Vasilisa is domineering, insensitive and cruel woman who only loves money. Her lover Vaska Pepel, a thief who has no moral principles, and he notices that this woman has no soul. Her outer beauty contrasted with internal ugliness. She swears her love to Ash and pushes him to steal. Then she finds out that he loves her sister Natasha and promises to give her to him if Ash kills Kostylev, Vasilisa’s husband. Then the hostess of the shelter begins to cruelly mock her sister. She is angry with Natasha and takes revenge on her because her lover left her. Natasha cannot answer her; she, by nature, is kind and soft man, capable of sympathizing with the grief of others. Having once seen Natasha with Ash, Vasilisa becomes furious and, locking her sister in the house, beats her half to death. Natasha is already ready to go even to prison for Ashes, just so as not to return to Vasilisa’s house. She ends up in a clinic, and from there disappears in an unknown direction, fleeing the cruelty of her sister.

Vasilisa will probably be able to get out and avoid prison. She will continue her previous life, because only with a character like hers can one survive in these monstrous conditions.

// / Role female images in Gorky's play "At the Depths"

M. Gorky's play "" is filled with various female characters, each of whom has their own role. Reading the play, we get acquainted with such interesting female characters as Anna, Kvashnya, Natasha, Vasilisa, Nastya. And every woman has her own story, which touches and surprises.

All these women are trying to survive in that social inequality and poverty. Kvashnya was engaged in the dumpling trade. She used to consider herself free woman. Her role in this play is not entirely callous and rude. In one of the episodes of the play, she shows pity for the suffering Anna and tries to feed her hot dumplings.

Kvashnya is wary of men, as she bad marriage did not leave anything good in her memory. Her husband died and she was happy about it, she was happy that she finally got rid of him. What feeling might we, the readers, have for this woman after such words? But we have no right to judge. After all, no one knows how the late husband treated his wife. At that time, beating a woman was considered completely normal, so perhaps Kvashnya fell under the hot hand more than once. All this caused the woman to fear marriage, and she vowed not to agree to any more proposals from men.

Anna is shown to the reader as an absolutely unhappy woman. She is dying, and nothing can be done about it. Her serious condition evokes compassion from everyone except own husband. He is cruel and callous. He repeatedly beat Anna, and she endured all the insults and considered them the norm of family life. Her character demonstrates a generalized image of all women of that time. Almost all of them fell under the cruelty of men and endured it. Therefore, in such scary situation It was death that could be the only way out for Anna.

The wild girl Nastya is constantly keen on reading romance novels. She dreams of meeting her love, she comes up with fairy tales about her lovers, whom she names differently each time. She made excuses for all the ridicule of her neighbors and kept telling them about true love. But all this is fantasy, because Nastya was a prostitute. She was surrounded by dirt and humiliation. And the only salvation was in an alcoholic glass.

Vasilisa – special woman, whose appearance is absolutely opposed to the inner ugly world. She is cruel and insensitive, she pushes her lover to kill her own husband, she eats away her younger sister because her lover abandoned her. This woman has no soul. She is dry and callous.

Natasha, Vasilisa’s sister, was a rather gentle and sensual person. She does not dare to leave with Ash for Siberia. Vasilisa, hating her, locks Natasha at home and beats her almost to death. The heroine is saved, after which she ends up in a clinic and no longer wants to return to this terrible house.

Young people tend to build “castles in the air” and dream about something. Few people in their youth think that they will never achieve anything in life, will eke out a miserable existence, or even sink to the very “bottom” of life. Most often people dream of eternal love, fame, a comfortable life, serving the people and about simple human happiness. M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" is precisely about such people, people who find themselves "at the bottom."

Initially, the play had something else no less self-explanatory name"No sun." Then this name was transformed into “Nochlezhka”. But this option was also rejected by the author. After much deliberation it is approved new option- "At the bottom of life." Just before the play was published - in 1902 - the title was shortened by one word. IN final version the name turned out to be the most appropriate of all those previously announced. The play reflected many of the contradictions of the early twentieth century. Both social and philosophical conflict are reflected here. There is a place and love drama. The action of the play takes place in the Kostylevs' shelter, where "everything is unpainted and dirty", "stone vaults... with fallen plaster." The inhabitants of the “bottom” - the inhabitants of the Kostylevo shelter - found themselves thrown out of their ranks by society. The “bottom” threatens people who stumble, are weak, and who are unsettled, with moral or physical death. Here were people with different characters, destinies and different social origin: a worker and a thief, a bankrupt baron and a drunken actor, lung woman behavior and righteousness. At the first meeting with the inhabitants of the shelter, it is clear that they are suffering and very lonely people. Gorky deliberately does not give full biography heroes. We can build it only from individual replicas. So what can we say about each hero?

In general, all the inhabitants of the shelter can be divided into three groups. The first are those who have come to terms with the existing state of affairs. Having found a saving dream, false and unrealizable in its essence, they found an excuse for themselves in refusing active life position. The second ones are those people who would like to start new life, get out of the "bottom". And the third and last image is Satin, taken separately from the others. Let us now consider each group separately.

Representatives of the first group are Bubnov, Nastya, Baron, Actor and Anna. We learn about Bubnov from his stories: he was once the owner of a dyeing workshop. His wife soon got along with the master, and Bubnov, fearing for his life, chose to simply leave. According to his theory, the very environment in which a person is placed shapes the latter and makes him completely dependent on itself. Bubnov's truth is the truth of external circumstances, in which a person is denied personal initiative. Here we see a true adherent of fatalism. The environment that surrounds him is vile and dirty. There is no good people, and therefore there is nothing to “color” yourself.

Nastya is a girl of easy virtue. Despite all the cruelty, humiliation and insults, she did not despair, did not become cruel and soulless. On the contrary, she sincerely dreams of big and bright love. But in the real reality surrounding her there is no place for pure love, except for its face value on pieces of paper. Not wanting to look at reality soberly, she created a past for herself in which a large and pure love. She presents her created world as real.

The Baron, like Nastya, lives in the past, but unlike her, it really happened. From time to time, remembering my former state, my famous family, The Baron is unable to fight the difficult reality. He finds salvation from memories and the bitterness of loss at the bottom of a glass. Author's attitude to such a hero is expressed in the following phrase: “You can’t go far in the carriage of the past.” So it is: the Baron’s “carriage” stands still, and he himself does not take any steps to change his life.

The actor is another inhabitant of the shelter. The real name of the hero is not known. In the past, he was a representative of the creative intelligentsia, but now he is just a man with no name. Remembering past glory, he colors it more every time bright colors than she really was. He escapes from the bitter “truth of life” just like the previous hero - by drinking.

The most pathetic and tragic character, in my opinion, is Anna. It’s harder for her than anyone: she’s sick and fading away every day. Anna Gorkovskaya is collective image an ordinary woman of the early twentieth century. She describes her life as follows: “I don’t remember when I was full... I was shaking over every piece of bread... I was trembling all my life... I was tormented... so as not to eat more than others... I walked around in rags all my life... all my unhappy life." Most likely she was born in an ordinary poor family. Then she got married, not so much out of love as out of necessity. Anna's image is rather neutral, characterizing the general mass gray people: those who do not do evil in life, but also do not represent a bright image. She completely resigned herself to the surrounding reality, hoping only for happiness in the afterlife.

All these people, having sunk to the very “bottom” after many hardships, became ruthless both to themselves and to others. In response to their complaints, they only receive laughter and mockery from others. The Baron, who lives off Nastya, is amused by her fantasies and tears. Everyone is closed in on their own grief and talks about it endlessly, without listening to those who may also need help.

The only one who believes in the possibility of salvation, of escaping from the “bottom” is Kleshch, a representative of the second group. Yes, he is embittered towards people, sometimes cruel to Anna, his wife. But the only one who sees salvation in exhausting, hard, but honest work: “I am a working man... I’m ashamed to look at them... I’ve been working since I was a small child... Do you think I won’t break out of here? I will... I’ll rip off the skin and come out.”

And finally, third, last group. Its only representative is Konstantin Satin. Why does he stand out among others? He is the bearer of the philosophy of the truth of life in his dispute with Luke. In his opinion, you shouldn’t give up, you need to openly look at troubles and try to solve them. All we know about him is that in the present he is a card sharper. Previously, he worked as a telegraph operator, but after the crime he committed, he found himself at the bottom. In many ways, he stands out from the general mass of “gray” rooming houses: with his remarks, education and intelligence. In their dispute with Luka, they are united by the fact that both stand in positions of respect for a person. But only everyone sees it in their own way. Satin, in his fiery monologue, asserts that “lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is God free man". He is also against any compassion for a person: "We must respect a person! Don’t feel sorry... don’t humiliate him with pity.” And therefore, apparently, he opens everyone’s eyes to Luka’s deception: He assures the actor that there are no free hospitals for alcoholics, he jokingly pushes Vaska Pepla into crime. And what did it ultimately lead to? such truth? To the death of the Actor and the exile of Ash to Siberia. That is the whole truth of Konstantin Satin.
The night shelters appear before us as wretched and pitiful. Not one of them was able to get out of the “bottom”, nor was they able to change anything about themselves. So they all stayed to live out their short life"at the bottom".

/ / / The role of female characters in Gorky’s play “At the Depths”

There are so many famous and great works in the works of Maxim Gorky. He devoted his life to writing realistic works that show us the essence of that society, that life. I consider “” one of his most famous plays. The author of the play was one of the first to be able to express in his creation the reality that had swallowed up the world; he was able to show true life and the existence of people who have sunk to the very bottom of life. And what is most interesting is that Gorky does not reveal to readers the reasons, he shows the consequences that led to disastrous results.

Reading the plot of the play, we discover a terrible and cruel picture. We watch the lives of the main characters who have completely lost all meaning. They are insignificant. The actor sees salvation in a bottle and alcohol, Anna is dying of illness, Nastya is trying to make a living through prostitution. And all this is the result of life at the bottom - terrible and cruel. People with such a fate have no future. They have lost faith in happiness and a normal existence.

If we pay attention to the female characters, of which there are quite a lot in the play, we see that these women are absolutely helpless. But we associate a woman with the image of a mother. And what kind of children can be born to such women? What will they see in such filth, how will they be able to get out of poverty. What future awaits them? Gray and scary!

What kind of female characters are presented to us, the readers. First we meet Kvashnya. She sells dumplings, she is absolutely indifferent to family life, she does not tolerate men, and drives away the thought of marriage. Its meaning is monetary relations. The future is of little interest to her; it has died in her. Therefore, there can be no continuation of her family.

Another character is Anna. She's calm kind woman. She would like to become a mother and raise good children. But fate has other plans. Anna is very sick. This disease cannot be cured and the woman will soon die. She bores everyone with her constant cough, she annoys her own husband, who dreams of her death as quickly as possible. What could her life be like? Unhappy or even terrible. She dies in agony, knowing that no one needs her.

The image of Nastya, a naive girl who engages in love affairs in order to earn a living, is low and helpless. She composes fables about her untrue romance, lives by stories from books. What could happen to her in the future? How to wash off such dirt and become a real woman. This is probably no longer possible.

There is another character - Natalya. Along with others, she reaches out and strives for good, she is sympathetic and kind. But, environment, the oppressive people around are also dragging her down. Ultimately, she understands that believing in good things is great stupidity. She becomes bitter and closes herself off from everyone.

Vasilisa, Natasha’s sister, is domineering and proud. Perhaps fate had already broken her, a little earlier. Therefore, she appears callous and cruel to readers.

So tell me what the future could be in such a society. Women - the continuers of the family - do not believe in good things at all, they are not at all interested in family life and children. The main part of such a society are poor people who do not believe in the future and do not want to live for it.

There are five in the play female characters. Anna is the wife of Kleshch, who humbly dies in the second act, the compassionate and economical Kvashnya, the young Vasilisa is the wife of the owner of the shelter and the mistress of Vaska Pepla, the young and downtrodden Natasha and Nastya, designated in the author’s remark by the bashful word “maiden”.

In the semantic context of the work, female images are represented by two pairs of opposite characters: Kvashnya - Nastya and Vasilisa - Natasha. Outside of these pairs is Anna, who personifies pure suffering in the play. Her image is not clouded by passions and desires. She dies patiently and obediently. He dies not so much from a mortal disease, but from the consciousness of his uselessness to the world. She is one of those “naked people” for whom the truth of existence is intolerable. “I’m sick,” she admits to Luka. The only aspect of death that worries her: “What’s it like there – is it also torment?” Downtrodden, unsuitable for anything in this world, it resembles a thing. She doesn't move around the stage - she gets moved. They take him out, leave him in the kitchen, and forget about him. Just like a thing, it is treated after death. “We have to drag it out!” “We’ll pull it out...” She passed away - as if a prop had been taken away. “That means I’ve stopped coughing.”

Not so with the others. In the first pair, Kvashnya represents the semantic dominant. She almost always does housework. He lives from his labors. Makes dumplings and sells them. What these dumplings are made of and who eats them, only God knows. She lived married, and now for her it’s a no-brainer: “I did it once, it’s memorable for the rest of my life...” And when her husband “died,” she “sat alone” all day out of happiness and joy. She is always alone in the play. Conversations and events touch the edge, as if the inhabitants of the shelter are afraid of her. Even Medvedev, the personification of law and power, her roommate, talks to Kvashnya with respect - there is too much incurious reason, common sense and hidden aggression in her.

Her opposite, Nastya, is not protected and accessible. She's not busy, she's not doing anything. She is a "maiden". She hardly reacts to the realities of the world around her. Her mind is not burdened with reflection. She is as self-sufficient as Kvashnya. Gorky implanted in her a strange world not invented by him “ women's novels", a meager and meaningless dream beautiful life. She is literate and therefore reads. “There, in the kitchen, a girl is sitting, reading a book and crying,” Luka is surprised. This is Nastya. She weeps over a fiction that miraculously seems to her own life. She resembles a little girl who dreamed of a toy. Having woken up, she fiddles with her parents and demands this toy for herself. At a tender age, children do not separate dreams from reality. This happens later, in the process of growing up. Nastya not only doesn’t grow up, she doesn’t wake up. In reality she dreams of these confectionery, sinless dreams: “And his left-hander is huge, and loaded with ten bullets... My unforgettable friend... Raoul...” The Baron rolls over her: “Nastya! But... after all, last time there was Gaston! Nastya behaves like a child. Having poked her nose into reality, she becomes capricious, gets excited, throws a cup on the floor, threatens the inhabitants: “I’ll get drunk today... So I’ll get drunk.” Getting drunk means escaping reality again. Forget yourself. Judging by the indirect hints, the Baron is a gigolo with her, but she is not aware of this either. The rays of reality only glare on the surface of her consciousness, without penetrating inside. One day Nastya opens up, and it becomes clear that her life is fueled by the energy of hatred. Running away, she shouts to everyone: “Wolves! May you breathe out! Wolves! She says this line at the end of the fourth act, and, therefore, there is hope of waking up. Vasilisa represents the authoritative beginning of the play. She is the Pallas Athena of the flophouse, her evil genius. She alone acts - all the others exist. The criminal and melodramatic intrigues of the plot are connected with her image. For Vasilisa there are no internal prohibitions. She, like everyone else in the shelter, is a “naked person”, “everything is allowed” to her. And Vasilisa takes advantage of this while the others are just talking. The author gave her a cruel and merciless character. The concept of “impossible” lies outside its moral consciousness. And she thinks consistently: “To enjoy is to kill to enjoy.” Her antipode Natasha is the purest and brightest image of the play. Out of jealousy for Vaska Ash, Vasilisa constantly beats and tortures Natasha; her husband, old Kostylev, helps her. The pack instinct kicks in. Natasha is the only one of everyone who believes and still hopes, she waits not for haberdashery, but for real love, she is looking for it. But, unfortunately, the geography of its search takes place on the part of the bottom where Spanish galleons loaded with gold do not rest. Low light, coming “from above, from the viewer,” allows one to see only the faces of the permanent inhabitants. Natasha doesn't trust anyone. Neither Luke nor Ash. It’s just that she, like Marmeladov, “has nowhere to go.” When Kostylev is killed, she shouts: “Take me too... put me in prison!” It’s clear to Natasha that it wasn’t Ash who killed. Everyone has wine. Everyone was killed. This is her truth. Hers, not Satina. Not really proud strong man, but the truth is humiliated and insulted.

The female characters in Gorky's play “At the Depths” carry a serious semantic load. Thanks to their presence, the damaged world of the inhabitants of the shelter becomes closer and clearer. They are like guarantors of its reliability. It is through their voices that the author openly speaks about compassion and the unbearable boredom of life. They have their own book predecessors; many literary projections from the previous one converged on them. artistic tradition. The author does not hide this. Another thing is more important: they are the ones that cause the most sincere feelings hatred or compassion among readers and spectators of the play.

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