Day as social and philosophical. The play “At the Bottom” as a socio-philosophical drama

Department of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Voronezh Region

GBPOU "Buturlinovsky Mechanics and Technology College"

Development of a lesson on literature

M. Gorky. The play “At the Bottom” as a social and philosophical drama.

System of images.

Prepared by teacher

Russian language and literature

Selivanova I. G.

2016

Subject. M. Gorky. The play “At the Bottom” as a social and philosophical drama.

System of images.

Lesson type – learning new material.

Type of lesson – combined lesson.

Goals:

educational :

Improving text analysis skills; the formation of universal educational actions in the process of analyzing the text of a dramatic work;

developing :

Development of speech culture, monologue and dialogic speech skills;

Development of logic of thinking;

Acquiring the ability to conduct a discussion and speak in public;

raising :

Instilling a sense of goodwill, attention and respect for the interlocutor;

Acquisition of moral values;

Activation of students' creative abilities.

Tasks:

- create a problematic situation

Encourage students to express their own point of view on various issues.

Form of organizing the lesson: conversation, role-play reading of the play, elements of theatrical play.

Methods:

Reproductive: verbal, visual;

Productive: creating diagrams, filling them with observation results and personal judgments, working in groups.

Means of education : portrait of M. Gorky, illustrations for the play “At the Lower Depths,” books with the text of the play “At the Lower Depths,” textbooks.

On the desk : portrait of A.M. Gorky, topic of the lesson, epigraph.

Man - that's the truth! We must respect the person!

M. Gorky

During the classes:

Org. moment, explanation of the goals and objectives of the lesson.

We continue to study the work of A. Gorky. In the previous lesson, we studied in detail the story “Old Woman Izergil”. And today our task will be to analyze in more detail A. Gorky’s play “At the Depths”.

Problematic issues:

1) What was the main theme of M. Gorky’s work at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries?

2) What is the storyline of the work based on?

3) Describe the characters in the play?

4) Who really argues with Luke: Satin or the author himself?

5) Is the play “At the Bottom” an innovative work?

6) What is the salvation of people who have fallen “to the bottom” of life?

7) What two problems were reflected in the heroes’ disputes about man and life, which raised the problem of humanism?

Conversation on the content of the play “At the Bottom”.

Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Art Public Theater. The name itself already has a huge meaning. People who have fallen to the bottom will never rise to the light, to a new life. The theme of the humiliated and insulted is not new in Russian literature.

In 1900, when artists from the Art Theater traveled to Crimea to show Chekhov his plays “The Seagull” and “Uncle Vanya,” they met Gorky. The head of the theater, Nemirovich-Danchenko, told them that the theater had the task of not only “captivating Chekhov with its art, but also infecting Gorky with the desire to write a play.”

The following year, Gorky donated his play “The Bourgeois” to the Art Theater. The first performance of Gorky's play by the Art Theater took place on March 26, 1902, in St. Petersburg, where the theater went on a spring tour.

For the first time, a new hero appeared on the scene: the revolutionary worker, the machinist Nile, a man aware of his strength, confident of victory. And although the censorship erased all the “dangerous” passages from the play, and also erased Neil’s words: “The master is the one who works!”, “rights are not given, rights are taken,” nevertheless, the play as a whole sounded like a call for freedom, struggle .

The government feared that the performance had turned into a revolutionary demonstration. During the dress rehearsal of the play, the theater was surrounded by police, and policemen in disguise were stationed in the theater; Mounted gendarmes were riding around in the square in front of the theater. “One might have thought that they were preparing not for a dress rehearsal, but for a general battle,” Stanislavsky later wrote.

Almost simultaneously with the play "The Bourgeois" Gorky was working on a second play, "At the Depths." In this new play, the protest against capitalist society sounded even more sharply and boldly. Gorky showed in it a new, unfamiliar world - the world of tramps, people who have sunk to the very bottom of life.

In August 1902, Gorky handed over the play to Nemirovich-Danchenko. Rehearsals began, and Gorky now often had to visit Moscow. The actors and the director worked with enthusiasm, went to the Khitrov market, to the shelters where tramps lived, and Gorky talked a lot about the lives of his heroes, helping to better understand their lives and habits.

O. L. Knipper-Chekhova recalled how at one of the rehearsals Gorky said: “I read “At the Lower Depths” in the dosshouse, to the real Baron, to the real Nastya. You understand! They cried in the dosshouse, shouted: “We are worse!”... They kissed they hugged me..." On December 18, 1902, the play premiered. They endlessly called actors, directors, and the author. The performance turned into a stormy celebration of A. M. Gorky; he went on stage excited, confused - he did not expect such success. Large, slightly stooped, he frowned and, out of embarrassment, forgot to throw away the cigarette he was holding in his teeth, forgot that he had to bow.

A huge crowd that did not attend the performance stood outside the theater for a long time. The police urged the public to disperse, but no one left - they were waiting for Gorky just to look at him.

And working on the play was difficult and intense. “Without the sun” - “Nochlezhka” - “In a shelter house” - “At the bottom” - this is how its name changed. The history of the title to some extent indicates the general contours of the author’s work on the play. There is evidence from contemporaries about this process. “I was in Arzamas with Gorky,” wrote L. Andreev, “and heard his new drama “In a Lodging House” or “At the Bottom” (he had not yet settled on one or the other title)... He piled up a mountain of the most severe suffering, threw dozens of different characters into a pile - and united them all with a burning desire for truth and justice."

What do you think is the meaning of this name?

(Gorky did not immediately come to this option; there were also “Without the Sun”, “Nochlezhka”, “In the Night House”).

What is itpeculiarity Andunusualness this work?

( Students will note that this is a dramatic work, not designated by the author by genre, that its characters are unusual (tramps ).

It’s good if they notice that the heroes act little, but talk a lot, even argue, that the debates are clearly on philosophical, “eternal” questions, this is very unexpected for tramps, but in M. Gorky this is presented logically, naturally).

How would you determinegenre this play? (The answer, of course, must be justified).

Disputes about a person, about the truth occupy a very large place, they make you think, so we understand: events are external, and most importantly - inside the heroes, and everything is not simple here.) By genre, this is most likelydrama .

Athe nature what is she like?

(Students will be allocatedsocial Problems (the situation of the night shelters, relations with the owners of the night shelter, the hopelessness of life at the “bottom”), perhaps they will notepsychologism the sound of these problems, and, of course,philosophical problems will be named (disputes about a person, about the truth).

Notes are made in the reference note .

Work with text.

The play was staged in1902 and clearly about that time. The stage directions clearly indicate that the action is taking place.in the shelter Andin a vacant lot near her (action 3). You can read the description of the shelter.

You need to pay attention to the words of the remarks, their meaning and special meaning (basement, similarto the cave , ceiling -heavy, stone vaults , sooty , with collapsed plaster, along the walls -bunks , in the middle of the shelter there is a large table, two benches, a stool, everything -unpainted and dirty a wide bed covered with a dirty chintz curtain).

Teacher's word : take a close look at the assembly point of these wretches gathered in the cramped area of ​​the basement-cave in the first act. Or to the “wasteland” - “a courtyard place littered with various rubbish and overgrown with weeds” - in act three. You will make an interesting discovery: this site is, in essence, divided into cells, into microspaces, holes, in which “former” people live separately and even alienated, deprived of business, of the past, living with their misfortune, even close to tragedy. Here is the room behind a thin partition in which the thief Vaska Pepel lives, selling stolen goods to the owner of the shelter Kostylev, the former lover of his wife Vasilisa, who dreams of leaving here with Natalya, the sister of the owner. The triangle Ash - Vasilisa - Natalya has an independent meaning in the play.

But for all the drama of the struggle within it - Vasilisa incites Ash to take revenge on her husband, slyly promises to give him money - for many other inhabitants of the shelter, the outcome of this struggle is not so important.

But behind the curtain there is a family.

Anna and the locksmith Kleshch, perhaps blaming himself for cruelty to his wife, have their own drama (an unhappily lived life, dying in the basement). Kvashnya and Nastya settled in the kitchen, by the stove, each with their own drama. Kvashnya was married, and this was enough for her that she was in no hurry to rejoice at the advances of the policeman Medvedev, a wealthy man who did not live in a shelter.

The prostitute Nastya, dreaming of the fatal Gaston or Raoul, and the Baron, remembering his noble grandfather, constantly “imitate” each other. The Baron, however, says to the “scoundrel” Nastya, who ridicules his dreams: “I am no match for you! You... are scum." But as soon as she runs away, not wanting to listen to him, he looks for her (“Run away... where? I’ll go and see... where is she?”).

In a certain sense, the hidden interconnection of these disparate human cells, the unity of the poor fellows, even those fighting and ridiculing each other, can be defined in the words of Nastya: “Oh, you unfortunate one! After all, you... you live on me, like a worm lives on an apple!”

So, Kostylev's shelter - This is, first of all, a symbol of homelessness, homelessness, a symbol of abnormal life. The play is based on an acute social conflict: the contradiction between a person’s actual position in society and his high purpose; the contradiction between the masses and the autocratic orders of landowner Russia, which reduce people to the tragic fate of vagabonds.

11 . Analysis image systems . Work in 3 groups .

Each group introduces our heroes, and we all make notes in notebooks, collecting all the material.

Heroes of the play “At the Bottom” turned out to be generalized, collective images, typical, but also quite individual. Under the arches of the Kostylevo shelter there were people of the most varied character and social status.

An elderly man (60 years old), a traveling preacher who consoles everyone, promises everyone deliverance from suffering, says to everyone: “You hope!”, “You believe!” Luka is an extraordinary person, he has a lot of life experience and a keen interest in people. He feels sorry for suffering people, so he tells them various comforting words. His whole philosophy is contained in the saying: “What you believe is what you believe.”

M. Gorky became interested in the Bogomil teaching (an ancient religious and philosophical teaching), according to which God, in order to save the world from Satan, sent Christ to earth. In M. Gorky's play, the teachings of Christ are represented by Luke, whose name clearly goes back to the name of the Apostle Luke. Before us is an experienced man, ready for long roads, for the vicissitudes of fate. The appearance of the wanderer exudes kindness and friendliness.

For Luke, all people are the same: “And all people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, but you were born a man, you will die a man...” For Luka, any human life is valuable: “A man, no matter what he is, is always worth his price...”

In the second act, Luke preaches a certain philosophy of life even more actively. It consoles everyone. In all this he is close to his evangelical namesake; he can be called a worthy disciple of Christ. “Your faith has saved you, go in peace,” is the most important maxim of Christ.

But there is another interpretation of his name. According to V.I. Dahl, “evil” means cunning, secretive, contradictory, two-faced. “The evil one” is a demon, an unclean spirit. In the fourth act, the inhabitants of the shelter, discussing Luka, directly connect him with the evil one: “Disappeared from the police... like smoke from the face of fire!”

However, one way or another, the “good old man” changed the shelters.
Luke. M. M. Turkhanov. 1938

Unemployed man (40 years old). He loves incomprehensible, rare words, because... He used to serve in the telegraph office, read a lot and was an educated person. The hero expresses the author’s position, he is far from the philosophy of Christian patience, for him there is one proud-sounding word - a man who “pays for everything himself: for faith, for unbelief, for love, for intelligence - a man pays for everything himself, and therefore he free." He understands social injustice more clearly than others. He claims that a person needs the truth, whatever it may be!

In Bogomilism (an ancient Slavic creed), the writer was attracted by the apocrypha about Satan, more precisely about Satanail. And it is with Satanail that the name Satina is associated. His bestial growl - the growl of a kind of Antichrist - opens the action of the play. According to the Bogomil doctrine of the world, it was Satanail who created the visible material world. He also created human flesh, but could not breathe a soul into a person. And then the Supreme God took pity and sent his divine spirit into man. Thus, the material world, human flesh is the creation of Satanael, and the human soul and the sun are the creation of God. Based on this, the meaning of the original title of the play “Without the Sun” is clear. It is directly connected with the song of the night shelters “The sun rises and sets...” and with the supposed optimistic ending: “... they sang songs and under the sun they forgot about hating each other.” It also becomes clear why Satin, at the end of the second act, calls the night shelters “dead men,” because they have no spirit: “Dead men do not hear! Dead people don't feel!

Among the “former people” Satin stands out for his firmness and determination. He strives for the truth, which is clearly seen in his relationships with the night shelters. Luka is perplexed why the intelligent, brave Satin ended up among the tramps: “You are so brave... Konstantin... intelligent... and suddenly.” Apparently, Satin’s inflexible nature, his reluctance to compromise, allowed M. Gorky to call this tramp Konstantin, which means “firm, constant.” Conducting an absentee dispute with Luka, Satin declares about himself: “Don’t offend a person!.. And if I was offended once and - for the rest of my life at once! What should I do? Forgive? Nothing. No one."

IT IS KNOWN THAT M. GORKY EXPRESSES MANY THOUGHTS IN THE DRAMA

EXACTLY SATIN

Satin. K. S. Stanislavsky. 1902

Bubnov (45 years old) occupies a special place among the night shelters. At one time, bitter scholars called him a philosopher of hopelessness, an indifferent cynic. From the very beginning of the action, Bubnov shows merciless sobriety in assessing the situation of the shelters.

For him, the inhabitants of the basement are a thief, a sharper, an alcoholic and nothing more. Bubnov’s truth is the truth of external circumstances, the truth of a person’s complete dependence on the world around him, clearly expressed in the formula: “What happened was, but only trifles remained... Everything faded, one naked man remained.” Such is Bubnov himself. Therefore, it is no coincidence that his surname is derived from the noun “tambourine” - a squandered person, reminiscent of the expressions “a goal like a tambourine”, “he started a lawsuit - he became like a goal like a tambourine”, etc.

On the one hand, Bubnov is a squandered man, and on the other, he is also a quarrelsome, reckless tramp, for whom nothing is sacred in life. According to the shoemaker Alyoshka, Bubnov “is only drunk and looks like a man.” The concepts of honor and conscience do not matter to him.

In addition, a “tambourine” is a person who loses at cards. In this case, a transfer occurred based on the name of the card suit. Playing cards is a favorite pastime of the night shelters, and sometimes they simply call Bubnov Buben. Also, the word “tambourine” has the meaning “lazy”, “parasite”. Bubnov declares about himself: “I’m lazy. I don’t like passion like work!”

This character in the play is a messenger of evil and personifies the lower world. The author's attitude towards him is clearly negative. M. Gorky reveals the coldness and darkness of the soul of the dispassionate recorder of reality. Bubnov was convinced that man is a superfluous creature on earth. “You are superfluous everywhere... and all the people on earth are superfluous,” he says to Nastya. And if a person is not needed by anyone and is a superfluous being, then he should not bind himself to anything and is free to live the way he wants.

Bubnov. V. V. Luzhsky. 1902

Vaska Ash

A young man (28 years old) is a hereditary thief, thirsting for a right life, he wants to become an honest and decent person, because... Ash earns his living by dishonest labor, he wants to fix all this. Under the influence of Luka, Vaska begins to dream of a free life in Siberia. And he thinks that by marrying Natasha, he will get what he wants. But in the end, having killed Kostylev, he goes to prison.

Ash. B. G. Dobronravov. 1938

Natasha – 20 years old, Vasilisa’s sister. Quiet, kind girl. She is full of passionate dreams about the future. Natasha wants to leave the shelter, to get out of this “bottom of life,” but she cannot. Ash loves Natasha and asks her to marry her, but the girl understands that nothing good will come of this. After all, Vaska treated her sister badly, which means he can do the same to her. She never got married, because... After beating his sister, he ends up in the hospital, and from there he leaves in an unknown direction.

Nastya is a young girl (24 years old) who passionately desires big, true love. True, her dreams cause malicious ridicule among those around her. Even her partner Baron makes fun of her. Nastya suffers from her hopelessness and still wants to go to the ends of the world. This heroine exclaims: “And why...why do I live here...with you? I’ll leave... I’ll go somewhere... to the ends of the world!” In this regard, Nastya’s behavior at the end of the drama is especially indicative. Upon hearing the news of the Actor's death, she "slowly, with her eyes wide open, walks towards the table." There is a single lamp on the table, illuminating the shelter. Nastya goes to the light. She is amazed by the new feelings and thoughts that have opened up to her, and finally realizes the need for a different life.

Baron (33 years old) is the only person who has no illusions about liberation. But he has a thread: “It’s all in the past!” If there is nothing ahead, then at least there is something behind. The Baron often recalled his origins (old surname, houses in Moscow and St. Petersburg, carriages with coats of arms, etc.). But Nastya mocks him and says that none of this happened. “Do you understand what it’s like for a person when they don’t believe him?”

The Baron is also named according to his past social status, who “no, no, and will show himself to be a master.” The most weak-willed of the night shelters, he spent his entire life dressing up. He doesn't even remember how he ended up among the tramps. All the overnight stayers speak negatively about the Baron. But he is the only one who knows the genealogy of his family. Luka calls him a “spoiled baron”, and Nastya calls him a “nonentity”. For half a bottle of vodka offered by Ash, the Baron is ready to get on all fours and bark like a dog. At the same time, it is impossible not to notice that it was the Baron who came up with the idea of ​​wasting his life aimlessly. It is he who asks the question: “But... why was I born... huh?” He also wants, if only for a moment, to know his purpose.

Baron. Actor V.I. Kachalov. 1902

Nastya. O. L. Knipper. 1902

Andrey Mitrich (40 years old) is a mechanic, dreams of honest work. He hopes more than anyone to escape from this hole (“I’ll get out... I’ll rip off my skin, but I’ll get out!”), that this is not the end, but a temporary fall. Klesh thinks that after his wife's death, his life will become easier. He awaits her death as liberation!

He has only lived in the shelter for six months and has not yet gotten used to his situation, hopes to get out of here and openly despises his fellow sufferers: “What kind of people are they? Ragged, golden company... Do you think I won’t break out of here? Wait a minute... my wife will die.” The selfish, embittered Kleshch is looking forward to the death of his wife, whom, according to Kvashnya, he “beat to death.” He is deprived of the slightest sympathy for his dying life partner. And she, despite the torment, dreams of still living:“Well... just a little more... I wish I could live... a little more! If there is no flour there... here we can be patient... we can!” Kostylev says about this, turning to Kleshch: “Eh, Andryushka, you are an evil man! Your wife has withered away from your villainy... no one loves you, no one respects you.” Hence the character's last name:A tick is an insect that burrows into the skin, a bloodsucker.

Anna (30 years old) is his wife, seriously ill, near death. She considers herself the most unhappy woman. She is crushed by life, full of suffering and useless to anyone.

In the past he was a famous actor, but soon he fell into disrepair, became an alcoholic and even forgot his name! He is often absorbed in memories of his past glory. His only dream is to find the city that Luke talked about, where there is a free hospital for alcoholics. After all, he still hopes to return to the stage. But having learned that there is no “righteous land” and that there is no hospital, the actor commits suicide, because... cannot bear the collapse of his last hope. Named after his previous profession, since he really lost his name: “I don’t have a name here... Do you understand how offensive it is to lose a name? Even the dogs have nicknames...” Even here, in the shelter, inhabited by the most colorful, colorful inhabitants, he looks out of this world. The actor perceives life as a mirage: he believed in the existence of free hospitals, he believed in a “righteous city.”

The character in M. Gorky's drama is a former actor, but he is a servant of Melpomene. He came to the shelter from some special, other world and in a certain sense stands above other tramps. He is gifted and, undoubtedly, the most educated and cultured among all the night shelters, including Satin. In addition, he is kind, sympathetic, and has good taste. This image was highly appreciated by A.P. Chekhov.
Actor performed by N. G. Alexandrov. 1924

Kvashnya gives the action the first emotional impetus and causes emotional ferment in the basement. Her name is derived from the verb “ferment”, which means to ferment. Kvashnya is kind, responsive, and not without a sense of compassion. But most importantly, it is practical. It is she who becomes the new owner of the shelter. But the word “kvashnya” has another meaning: fermented dough, dough. Fermented dough rises quickly, you can’t hold it: “You can’t hold a kvashnya with a lid” (V. Dal). Finding herself in the shelter, Kvashnya felt not “at the bottom,” but at the “top.” She quickly adapts to circumstances, “grows.” From the top of her new position, Kvashnya begins to tyrannize those around her:“Look at me...slush! Don't spoil..."

The figure of the hostel owner Kostylev (54), one of the “masters of life”, who is ready to squeeze the last penny even from his unfortunate and disadvantaged guests, is disgusting. The owner of the shelter, Kostylev, is a worthless creature. This is an obvious hypocrite, he does not so much console as spiritually lull his guests to sleep, saying that “in the next world... every deed of ours is counted.”

All the inhabitants of the basement treat Kostylev with undisguised, outright disgust. As soon as the owner appears in the shelter, a kind of emptiness is created around him, a kind of moral vacuum. Kostylev seems to represent a different, lower world. His religiosity is a cover for an empty, cold soul, which is why his end is so absurd and pitiful.

For M. Gorky, hypocrisy is a stronger sin than rudeness.

Equally disgusting is hisVasilisa's wife (26l.) with her immorality, she has “no soul,” she is “greedy for money.”

The play "At the Bottom". Production of the Moscow Art Theater.

12. Compiling a table. The relationship between conflict and characters.

2 . The love conflict created a double triangle:

Ashes, Vasilisa and Kostylev; Ashes, Vasilisa and Natasha. But these relationships do not affect the other characters, they are only spectators.

Philosophical debates about truth, man and his dignity.

First of all, Luka, Satin, Bubnov, Kleshch, Vaska Ash and Baron argue.

13. Creative task: "Get to know the hero!"

2. “And why...why do I live here...with you? I’ll leave... I’ll go somewhere... to the ends of the world!”

(Nastya)

3. “What happened was, but only trifles remained... Everything faded away, only one naked man remained.”

(Bubnov)

4. “But... why was I born... huh?”

(Baron)

5. “Wow! Wow! This - you cleverly came up with... a husband, that means in a coffin, a lover - in hard labor, and yourself ... "

(Ash)

6. “Don’t offend a person!.. And if I was offended once and for the rest of my life at once! What should I do? Forgive? Nothing. Nobody"

(Satin)

7. “Look at me...slush! Don't spoil..."

(Kvashnya)

8. “Well... just a little more... I wish I could live... a little bit! If there is no flour there...here you can be patient...you can!”

(Anna)

9. “And all the people! No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, if you were born a man, you will die a man...”

(Luke)

10. “Here I am...someday like this...in the basement...clogged...”

(Natasha)

11. “in the next world...every deed is counted”

(Kostylev)

12. “What kind of people are they? Ragged, golden company... Do you think I won’t break out of here? Wait a minute... my wife will die"

(Mite)

VI . Summarizing the material studied.

QUESTIONS:

What is the play about?

What is the main idea of ​​Gorky's drama?

Why does a person lose his name?

Who are the heroes of the play? What are their fates?

What is the conflict of the play?

About the life of tramps. “Everything has faded away, only one person remains.” – About a world where there is no God.

2 . Question. What is the main idea of ​​Gorky's drama?

What is truth and what is man? “Man, that sounds proud!” The less a person is connected with the world of things, the more human he is. “A man is worth the price.” What do they live for? - For a better person.

3.Question. Why does a person lose his name?

He found himself at the bottom of his life, died, lost his profession.

4.Question. Who are the heroes of the play? What are their fates?

Satin is a drunken cheater who claims that people need the Truth

Luke is a wanderer. “The man is worth the price!” “How can you not trust a person.” "Love the Living"

Tick ​​- “I’ll get out when my wife dies” - “There are people everywhere.”

The actor – Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky – has lost his name. The motive of death.

5 Question. What is the conflict of the play?

The conflict is philosophical. Dispute about truth and man. The righteous land is not on the map, but in you.

VI. Reflection

– Today, you guys and I are convinced that every person has the truth.

Perhaps, at your age, you have not yet decided what life principles you will adhere to in later life, but for some reason I am confident that you will make the right choice. Thanks for the work.

VII. Homework

– Prepare factual material for a class essay on the topic “Truth in M. Gorky’s play “At the Depth”.”

Literature:

1. Text of M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom”.

3.N.V. Egorova. Lesson developments on Russian literature of the twentieth century. M. "VAKO" 1 hour 2005 2 hours 2016

Application.

The play "At the Bottom" Meaning of the name

Reflection on the truth and debate about the purpose of man.

Mite

“There is no work... no strength! That's the truth! Shelter... there is no shelter! You have to breathe...here it is, the truth!”

Anna

“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 anything else... All my life I walked around in rags... all my unhappy life..."

Actor (poems by Pierre Beranger)

Gentlemen! If the holy Honor of the madman, who will bring the world to the truth, does not know how to find the way, - Humanity will have a golden dream...

Luke

He believes that a person does not need the truth. For a person, the most important thing is consolation, or even deception - a “golden dream” (the true truth of life, because it is too harsh, “a pain for people”), one must be able to feel sorry for a person, especially when it is difficult for him, that one must bring him compassion.

Satin

Calls to open your eyes to life's contradictions and problems. According to the hero, one must live in the present, soberly assessing reality, but at the same time with a dream about the future, based on the present, without breaking away from real life. And this is the real Truth, “Man is the truth!” Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! That sounds... proud!” “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!”

We are not talking about a specific person, now oppressed by need and oppression, but about man in general. This is a philosophical view of life.

In 1902, the great Russian writer M. Gorky wrote the play “At the Lower Depths”. In it, the author raised a question that remains relevant to this day - this is the question of freedom and the purpose of man. M. Gorky was well acquainted with the life of the lower strata of society, and the sight of suffering and injustice aroused in him a feeling of acute rejection of reality.

All his life he was looking for the image of an ideal Man, the image of a Hero. He tried to find answers to his questions in literature, philosophy, history, and in life. Gorky said that he was looking for a hero “where there are usually no people.” In the play “At the Bottom,” the author showed the lifestyle and thinking of precisely those people who are already considered lost, useless for society. The author changed the name of the play many times: “The Bottom”, “Without the Sun”, “Nochlezhka”. They are all joyless and sad.

Although there is no other way: the content of the play requires dark colors. In 1901, the writer said about his play: “It will be scary...” The play is quite ambiguous in its content, but its main meaning cannot be distorted or misunderstood. In terms of literary genre, the play “At the Bottom” is a drama. Drama is characterized by plot-driven and conflict-ridden action. In my opinion, the work clearly identifies two dramatic principles: social and philosophical. Even its title, “At the Bottom,” speaks of the presence of social conflict in the play.

The stage directions placed at the beginning of the first act create a depressing picture of the shelter. “Cave-like basement. The ceiling is heavy, stone vaults, smoked, with crumbling plaster...

There are bunks everywhere along the walls.” The picture is not pleasant - dark, dirty, cold. Next come descriptions of the residents of the shelter, or rather, descriptions of their occupations.

What are they doing? Nastya is reading, Bubnov and Kleshch are busy with their work. It seems that they work reluctantly, out of boredom, without enthusiasm. They are all poor, pitiful, wretched creatures living in a dirty hole. There is also another type of people in the play: Kostylev, the owner of the shelter, and his wife Vasilisa. In my opinion, the social conflict in the play lies in the fact that the inhabitants of the shelter feel that they live “at the bottom,” that they are cut off from the world, that they only exist.

They all have a cherished goal (for example, the Actor wants to return to the stage), they have their own dream. They are looking for strength within themselves to confront this ugly reality. And for Gorky, the very desire for the best, for the Beautiful, is wonderful. All these people are put in terrible conditions. They are sick, poorly dressed, and often hungry. When they have money, celebrations are immediately held in the shelter.

So they try to drown out the pain within themselves, to forget themselves, not to remember their miserable position as “former people.” It is interesting how the author describes the activities of his characters at the beginning of the play. Kvashnya continues her argument with Kleshch, the Baron habitually mocks Nastya, Anna moans “every single day...”. Everything continues, all this has been going on for several days now. And people gradually stop noticing each other. By the way, the absence of a narrative beginning is a distinctive feature of drama. If you listen to the statements of these people, what is striking is that they all practically do not react to the comments of others, they all speak at the same time.

They are separated under one roof. The inhabitants of the shelter, in my opinion, are tired, tired of the reality that surrounds them. It’s not for nothing that Bubnov says: “But the threads are rotten...”. In such social conditions in which these people are placed, the essence of man is revealed.

Bubnov notes: “No matter how you paint yourself on the outside, everything will be erased.” The residents of the shelter become, as the author believes, “involuntarily philosophers.” Life forces them to think about universal human concepts of conscience, work, truth. The play most clearly contrasts two philosophies: Luke and Satine.

Satin says: “What is truth?.. Man - here!.. Truth is the god of a free man!” For the wanderer Luke, such “truth” is unacceptable. He believes that a person should hear what will make him feel better and calmer, and that for the good of a person one can lie. The points of view of other inhabitants are also interesting.

For example, Kleshch believes: “...It is impossible to live... Here it is - the truth!.. Damn it!

“Luka’s and Satin’s assessments of reality differ sharply. Luka brings a new spirit into the life of the shelter - the spirit of hope. With his appearance, something comes to life - and people begin to talk more often about their dreams and plans. The actor gets excited about the idea of ​​finding a hospital and recovering from alcoholism, Vaska Pepel is going to go to Siberia with Natasha. Luke is always ready to console and give hope. The Wanderer believed that one must come to terms with reality and look at what is happening around him calmly.

Luke preaches the opportunity to “adapt” to life, not to notice its true difficulties and one’s own mistakes: “It’s true, it’s not always due to a person’s illness... you can’t always cure a soul with the truth...” Satin has a completely different philosophy. He is ready to expose the vices of the surrounding reality.

In his monologue, Satin says: “Man! It's great! This sounds...

proudly! Human! We must respect the person! Don't feel sorry... Don't humiliate him with pity...

must be respected!” But, in my opinion, you need to respect a person who works. And the inhabitants of the shelter seem to feel that they have no chance of getting out of this poverty. That’s why they are so drawn to affectionate Luka. The Wanderer surprisingly accurately looks for something hidden in the minds of these people and paints these thoughts and hopes into bright, rainbow-colored currents. Unfortunately, in the conditions in which Satin, Kleshch and other inhabitants of the “bottom” live, such a contrast between illusions and reality has a sad result.

The question awakens in people: how and what to live on? And at that moment Luka disappears... He is not ready, and he does not want to. answer this question. Understanding the truth fascinates the inhabitants of the shelter.

Satin is distinguished by the greatest maturity of judgment. Without forgiving “lies out of pity,” Satin for the first time rises to the realization of the need to improve the world. The incompatibility of illusions and reality turns out to be very painful for these people.

The actor ends his life, the Tatar refuses to pray to God... The death of the Actor is the step of a person who failed to realize the real truth. In the fourth act, the movement of the drama is determined: life awakens in the sleepy soul of the “flopshouse”. People are able to feel, hear each other, and empathize. Most likely, the clash of views between Satin and Luke cannot be called a conflict.

They run parallel. In my opinion, if you combine Satin’s accusatory character and Luke’s pity for the people, you would get the very ideal Man capable of reviving life in the shelter. But there is no such person - and life in the shelter remains the same. Same in appearance.

Some kind of turning point occurs inside - people begin to think more about the meaning and purpose of life. The play “At the Bottom” as a dramatic work is characterized by conflicts that reflect universal human contradictions: contradictions in views on life, in the way of life. Drama as a literary genre depicts a person in acute conflict, but not hopeless situations. The conflicts of the play are indeed not hopeless - after all (according to the author’s plan) the active principle, the attitude towards the world, still wins. M. Gorky, a writer with amazing talent, in the play “At the Bottom” embodied the clash of different views on being and consciousness. Therefore, this play can be called a socio-philosophical drama.

In his works, M. Gorky often revealed not only the everyday life of people, but also the psychological processes occurring in their minds. In the play “At the Bottom,” the writer showed that the proximity of people brought to a life of poverty with a preacher of patiently waiting for a “better man” necessarily leads to a turning point in people’s consciousness. In the night shelters, M. Gorky captured the first, timid awakening of the human soul - the most beautiful thing for a writer.

In the creative work of M. Gorky “” a rather pressing question is raised, which is often asked today. The author reflects on what is a person’s calling, how is personal freedom manifested? And in his play M. Gorky tries to find an answer to it.

He was quite familiar with the lower stratum of society, he saw how the poor lived, how those people existed who had long been forgotten. Therefore, it is precisely such heroes with lost destinies that are presented to the reader in the play “At the Bottom.” It can be defined only to one literary genre - drama. In the text of the play, we get acquainted with the tragic destinies of people who lived a joyless and gloomy life.

The social problem that triumphed in society at that time permeated all the work, from beginning to end. Only the title “At the Bottom” suggests that we will be talking about those people who have fallen deep into a hole from which it is quite difficult to get out.

The description of the buildings, houses, and shelter in which the heroes live is terrifying and sends goosebumps down your spine. Everything is collapsing, dirt and cobwebs fill the rooms. The residents of the shelter are poorly dressed, in most cases hungry and sick. Of course, each of them has their own bright dream, but it is very far from it, it is practically not real. Social status, poverty and misery make it clear that the heroes are in terrible conditions, they have practically resigned themselves to their fate and can only think about the good.

In the text of the play we are introduced to two philosophical thoughts. The wanderer Luke preaches joyful ideas that should bring a person back to life, and Satin says that one should not feel sorry for a person, because this will humiliate his dignity.

Of course, almost all the residents of the shelter are drawn to Luke’s sweet words. After all, their life consists of sheer horror. But reality and fictional illusions are not comparable. After all, after believing a lie, the lives of many characters are broken. M. Gorky reveals to us a picture of the terrible everyday life of the lower class of the population. Luke's philosophical instructions do not save their social position. Because of their weak character, the characters in the play commit suicide and are sent to hard labor in Siberia. After all, they do not have the strength to revive.

The author, in his creative work, tries to compare different opinions, different worldviews of the characters and understand the reality that surrounds them. Therefore, the play “At the Bottom” can be safely classified as a social and philosophical drama that raises simmering problems to the top, for everyone to see.