Social and philosophical issues of the play are at the bottom. "At the Bottom" as a socio-philosophical drama

Everything is in man, everything is for man!

Only man exists

everything else is his doing

and his brain!

M. Gorky. At the bottom

Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” not only has not left the stages of domestic theaters for about a hundred years, but has also bypassed the largest theaters in the world. To this day, it excites the minds and hearts of readers and viewers; more and more new interpretations of images (especially Luke) arise. All this suggests that M. Gorky managed not only to look with a fresh, truthful look at the tramps - people who had sunk to the very dirt, “to the bottom” of life, erased from the active life of society “former people”, outcasts. But at the same time, the playwright sharply poses and tries to solve serious questions that have worried and will worry every new generation, all thinking humanity: what is a person? What is truth and in what form do people need it? Does the objective world exist or “what you believe in is what it is”? and, most importantly, what is this world like and can it be changed?

In the play we encounter people who are useless outcasts in society, but they are the ones who are interested in questions about man’s place in the world around him. The heroes of the play are not similar to each other either in their views, or thoughts, or life principles, or the way of life itself. The only thing they have in common is that they are superfluous. And at the same time, almost each of the inhabitants of the shelter is the bearer of a certain philosophical concept on which they try to build their lives.

Bubnov believes that the world is vile and dirty, there are no good people here, everyone is just pretending, painting themselves, but “no matter how you paint yourself on the outside, everything will be erased.”

Klesch is embittered with people, cruel to his wife Anna, but believes that hard, exhausting, but honest work can return him to “real” life: “I am a working person... I’m ashamed to look at them... I've been working since I was little... Do you think I won't get out of here? I’ll get out... I’ll rip off the skin and get out.”

The actor, who became an alcoholic and lost his name, hopes that his gift will return to him: “... the main thing is talent... And talent is faith in yourself, in your strength.”

Nastya, a woman who sells her body, dreams of genuine, sublime love, which is unattainable in real life.

Satin, a sharp-witted philosopher, has an opinion opposite to Kleshch’s principles: “Work? For what? To be full? It seems pointless to him to spin on a wheel all his life: food is work. Satin owns the final monologue in the play, elevating man: “Man is free... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for disbelief, for love, for intelligence... Man is the truth!” Material from the site

The inhabitants of the shelter, brought together in a cramped room, at the beginning of the play are indifferent to each other, they hear only themselves, even if they are all talking together. But serious changes in the internal state of the heroes begin with the appearance of Luke, an old wanderer who managed to awaken this sleepy kingdom, console and encourage many, instill or support hope, but, at the same time, was the cause of many tragedies. Luke’s main desire: “I want to understand human affairs.” And he, indeed, very soon understands all the inhabitants of the shelter. On the one hand, having endless faith in people, Luka believes that it is very difficult to change life, so it is easier to change yourself and adapt. But the principle “what you believe in is what you believe in” forces a person to come to terms with poverty, ignorance, injustice, and not fight for a better life.

The questions raised by M. Gorky in the play “At the Lower Depths” are timeless; they arise among people of different eras, ages, and religions. That is why the play arouses keen interest among our contemporaries, helping them understand themselves and the problems of their time.

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M. Gorky's play “At the Depths” is rightfully one of the best dramatic works writer. This is evidenced by its incredible success for a long time in Russia and abroad. The play has caused and still causes conflicting interpretations about the characters depicted and its philosophical basis. Gorky acted as an innovator in dramaturgy, posing an important philosophical question about man, his place, role in life, and what is important to him. “Which is better: truth or compassion? What is more necessary? - these are the words of Gorky himself.

Incredible success and the recognition of the play “At the Lower Depths” was also facilitated by its successful production on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater in 1902. V.N. Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote to Gorky: “The appearance of “The Bottom” paved entire paths with one blow theatrical culture... Having in “At the Lower Depths” an example of a truly folk play, we consider this performance the pride of the theater.”

Gorky acted as the creator of a new type social drama. He accurately and truthfully depicted the environment of the inhabitants of the shelter. This is a special category of people with their own destinies and tragedies. Already in the first author's remark we find a description of the shelter. It's a "cave-like basement." Poor surroundings, dirt, light coming from top to bottom. This further emphasizes that we're talking about about the very day of society. At first the play was called “At the Bottom of Life,” but then Gorky changed the name, leaving only “At the Bottom.” Thus, according to the author, it more fully reflects the idea of ​​the work.

A cheater, a thief, a prostitute - these are the representatives of the society depicted in the play. The owners of the shelter are also at the bottom of moral rules; they have no moral values, carry a destructive element. Everything in the shelter takes place away from the general flow of life and events in the world. The bottom of life is a swamp that captures and absorbs.

The characters in the play previously belonged to different strata of society, but now they all have one thing in common - their present, hopelessness, inability to change their fate, and some kind of reluctance to do this, a passive attitude towards life. At first, Tick is different from them, but after Anna’s death, he too becomes the same and loses hope of escaping from the shelter.

Different origins determine the behavior and speech of the heroes. The Actor's Speech contains quotes from literary works. Speech former intellectual Satine is full of foreign words. Luke's quiet, leisurely, soothing speech can be heard.

There are many different conflicts in the play, storylines. This is the relationship between Ash, Vasilisa, Natasha and Kostylev; Baron and Nastya; Klesch and Anna. We see tragic fates Bubnov, Actor, Satin, Alyoshka. And all these lines seem to run in parallel; there is no common, core conflict between the characters. In the play we can observe a conflict in the minds of people, a conflict with circumstances - this was unusual for the Russian audience.

The author does not tell in detail the history of each shelter, and yet we have enough information about each of them. The past of some, for example Satin, Bubnov, Actor, is dramatic, worthy in itself separate work. Circumstances forced them to the bottom. Others, such as Ash and Nastya, have known the life of this society since birth. There are no main characters in the play; everyone occupies approximately the same position. In the long term, they have no improvement in life, which is depressing with its monotony. Everyone is used to Vasilisa beating Natasha, everyone knows about the relationship between Vasilisa and Vaska Ash, everyone is tired of suffering dying Anna. Nobody pays attention to how others live; there are no connections between people; no one is able to listen, sympathize, or help. It’s not for nothing that Bubnov repeats that “the threads are rotten.”

People no longer want anything, do not strive for anything, they believe that they are superfluous on earth, that their life has already passed. At the same time, they despise each other, each considers himself higher, better than others. Everyone is aware of the insignificance of their situation, but they do not try to get out, stop eking out a miserable existence and start living. And the reason for this is that they are used to it and have come to terms with it.

But not only social and everyday problems are raised in the play, the characters also argue about the meaning human life, about her values. The play “At the Bottom” is a deep philosophical drama. People thrown out of life, sank to the bottom, argue about philosophical problems being. M. Gorky raised the question in his work that more useful to a person: the truth of real life or a comforting lie. This is the question that has caused so much controversy. The preacher of the idea of ​​compassion and lies for salvation is Luke, who consoles everyone and speaks kind words to everyone. He respects every person (“not a single flea is bad, all are black”), sees a good beginning in everyone, believes that a person can do anything if he wants. He naively tries to awaken in people faith in themselves, in their strengths and capabilities, in a better life.

Luke knows how important this faith is for a person, this hope for the possibility and reality of the best. Even just kindness sweet Nothing, a word that supports this faith can give a person support in life, solid ground under his feet. Belief in your ability to change and improve own life reconciles a person with the world, as he plunges into his imaginary world and lives there, hiding from what frightens him real world, in which a person cannot find himself. And in reality this person is inactive.

But this only applies to a weak person who has lost faith in himself. That is why such people are drawn to Luke, listen to him and believe him, because his words are a miraculous balm for their tormented souls. Anna listens to him because he alone sympathized with her, did not forget about her, told her kind word, which she may have never heard. Luke gave her hope that in another life she would not suffer. Nastya also listens to Luka, because he does not deprive her of the illusions from which she draws vitality. He gives Ash hope that he can start life anew where no one knows either Vaska or his past. Luke talks to the actor about a free hospital for alcoholics, in which he can recover and return to the stage again. Luke is not just a comforter, he philosophically substantiates his position. One of ideological centers The play becomes a wanderer's story about how he saved two escaped convicts. the main idea Gorky’s character here is that it is not violence, not prison, but only goodness that can save a person and teach him goodness: “A person can teach goodness...”

Other inhabitants of the shelter do not need Luke's philosophy, support for non-existent ideals, because it is more strong people. They understand that Luke is lying, but he is lying out of compassion and love for people. They have questions about the necessity of these lies. Everyone argues, and everyone has their own position. All the sleepovers are involved in an argument about truth and lies, but do not take each other very seriously.

In contrast to the philosophy of the wanderer Luke, Gorky presented the philosophy of Satin and his judgments about man. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is god free man! Speaking monologues. Satin does not expect to convince others of anything. This is his confession, the result of his long thoughts, a cry of despair and a thirst for action, a challenge to the world of the well-fed and a dream of the future. He speaks with admiration about the power of man, about the fact that man was created for the best: “Man - this sounds proud!”, “man is above satiety,” “do not feel sorry... do not humiliate him with pity... you must respect him.” This monologue, pronounced among the ragged, degraded inhabitants of the shelter, shows that faith in genuine humanism, in the truth, does not fade.

Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths" is a poignant socio-philosophical drama. Social, since it presents drama caused by the objective conditions of society. The philosophical aspect of drama is rethought in a new way by each generation. Luke's image for a long time was assessed clearly negatively. Today, in view historical events last decade, the image of Luke is read in many ways differently, he has become much closer to the reader. I believe that there is no clear answer to the author’s question. It all depends on the specific situation and historical era.

M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” is rightfully one of the best dramatic works of the writer. This is evidenced by its incredible success for a long time in Russia and abroad. The play has caused and still causes conflicting interpretations regarding the characters depicted and its philosophical basis. Gorky acted as an innovator in dramaturgy, posing an important philosophical question about a person, about his place, role in life, about what is important to him. “Which is better: truth or compassion? What is more necessary?” - these are the words of M. Gorky himself. The incredible success and recognition of the play “At the Lower Depths” was also facilitated by its successful production on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater in 1902. V. N. Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote to M. Gorky: “The appearance of “The Bottom” at one stroke paved the entire path for theatrical culture... Having in “The Bottom” an example of a truly folk play, we consider this performance the pride of the theater.”
M. Gorky acted as the creator of a new type of social drama. He accurately and truthfully depicted the environment of the inhabitants of the shelter. This is a special category of people with their own destinies and tragedies.
Already in the first author's remark we find a description of the shelter. This is a “cave-like basement.” Poor surroundings, dirt, light coming from top to bottom. This further emphasizes that we are talking about the very “day” of society. At first the play was called “At the Bottom of Life,” but then Gorky changed the name - “At the Bottom.” It more fully reflects the idea of ​​the work. A sharpie, a thief, a prostitute are representatives of the society depicted in the play. The owners of the shelter are also at the “bottom” of moral rules; they do not have any moral values ​​in their souls, and they carry a destructive element within them. Everything in the shelter takes place away from the general flow of life and events in the world. The “bottom of life” does not capture this flow of life.
The characters in the play previously belonged to different strata of society, but now they all have one thing in common - their present, hopelessness, inability to change their fate, and some kind of reluctance to do this, a passive attitude towards life. At first, Tick differs from them, but after Anna’s death he becomes the same - he loses hope of escaping from here.
Different origins determine the behavior and speech of the heroes. The Actor's speech contains quotes from literary works. The speech of the former intellectual Satin is full of foreign words. Luke's quiet, leisurely, soothing speech can be heard.
The play has many different conflicts and storylines. This is the relationship between Ash, Vasilisa, Natasha and Kostylev; Baron and Nastya; Klesch and Anna. We see the tragic fates of Bubnov, Actor, Satin, Alyoshka. But all these lines seem to run in parallel; there is no common, core conflict between the characters. In the play we can observe a conflict in the minds of people, a conflict with circumstances - this was unusual for the Russian audience.
The author does not tell in detail the history of each shelter, and yet we have enough information about each of them. The life of some, their past, for example, Satin, Bubnov, Actor, is dramatic, in itself worthy of a separate work. Circumstances forced them to sink to the “bottom”. Others, such as Ash and Nastya, have known the life of this society since birth. There are no main characters in the play; everyone occupies approximately the same position. In the long term, they have no improvement in life, which is depressing with its monotony. Everyone is used to Vasilisa beating Natasha, everyone knows about the relationship between Vasilisa and Vaska Ash, everyone is tired of the suffering of dying Anna. Nobody pays attention to how others live; there are no connections between people; no one is able to listen, sympathize, or help. It’s not for nothing that Bubnov repeats that “the threads are rotten.”
People no longer want anything, do not strive for anything, they believe that everyone on earth is superfluous, that their life has already passed. They despise each other, each considers himself higher, better than others. Everyone is aware of the insignificance of their situation, but they do not try to get out, stop eking out a miserable existence and start living. And the reason for this is that they are used to it and have come to terms with it.
But not only social and everyday problems are raised in the play, the characters also argue about the meaning of human life, about its values. The play “At the Bottom” is a deep philosophical drama. People thrown out of life, who have sunk to the “bottom”, argue about the philosophical problems of existence.
M. Gorky raised the question in his work about what is more useful to a person: the truth of real life or a comforting lie. This is the question that has caused so much controversy. The preacher of the idea of ​​compassion and lies is Luke, who consoles everyone and speaks kind words to everyone. He respects*^ every person (“not a single flea is bad, all are black”), sees a good beginning in everyone, believes that a person can do anything if he wants. He naively tries to awaken in people faith in themselves, in their strengths and capabilities, in a better life.
Luke knows how important this faith is for a person, this hope for the possibility and reality of the best. Even just a kind, affectionate word, a word that supports this faith, can give a person support in life, solid ground under his feet. Belief in one’s ability to change and improve one’s own life reconciles a person with the world, as he plunges into his fictional world and lives there, hiding from the frightening real world in which a person cannot find himself. And in reality this person is inactive.
But this only applies to a weak person who has lost faith in himself.
That is why such people are drawn to Luke, listen to him and believe him, because his words are a miraculous balm for their tormented souls.
Anna listens to him because he alone sympathized with her, did not forget about her, said a kind word to her, which she, perhaps, had never heard. Luke gave her hope that in another life she would not suffer.
Nastya also listens to Luka, because he does not deprive her of the illusions from which she draws vitality.
He gives Ash hope that he can start life anew where no one knows either Vaska or his past.
Luke talks to the actor about a free hospital for alcoholics, in which he can recover and return to the stage again.
Luke is not just a comforter, he philosophically substantiates his position. One of the ideological centers of the play is the wanderer's story about how he saved two escaped convicts. The main idea of ​​Gorky’s character here is that it is not violence, not prison, but only goodness that can save a person and teach goodness: “A person can teach goodness...”
The other inhabitants of the shelter do not need Luke’s philosophy, the support of non-existent ideals, because these are stronger people. They understand that Luke is lying, but he is lying out of compassion and love for people. They have questions about the necessity of these lies. Everyone argues, and everyone has their own position. All the sleepovers are involved in an argument about truth and lies, but do not take each other very seriously.
In contrast to the philosophy of the wanderer Luke, Gorky presented the philosophy of Satin and his judgments about man. “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is God a free man!” When pronouncing monologues, Satin does not expect to convince others of anything. This is his confession, the result of his long thoughts, a cry of despair and a thirst for action, a challenge to the world of the well-fed and a dream of the future. He speaks with admiration about the power of man, about the fact that man was created for the best: “man - this sounds proudly!”, “man is above satiety,” “do not feel sorry..., do not humiliate him with pity... you must respect him.” This monologue, pronounced among the ragged, degraded inhabitants of the shelter, shows that faith in genuine humanism, in the truth, does not fade.
M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” is an acute socio-philosophical drama. Social, since it presents drama caused by the objective conditions of society. The philosophical aspect of drama is rethought in a new way by each generation. For a long time, the image of Luke was assessed as unequivocally negative. Today, due to the historical events of the last decade, the image of Luke is read in many ways differently, he has become much closer to the reader. I believe that there is no clear answer to the author’s question. It all depends on the specific situation and historical era.

“At the Depths” by M. Gorky as a social philosophical drama. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” not only has not left the stages of domestic theaters for about a hundred years, but has also gone around largest theaters peace. To this day, it excites the minds and hearts of readers and viewers, more and more new interpretations are emerging.

images (especially Luke). All this suggests that M. Gorky managed not only to look with a fresh, truthful look at tramps - people who have sunk to the very dirt, “to the bottom” of life, who have been erased from the active life of society as “former people”, outcasts. But at the same time, the playwright sharply poses and tries to solve serious questions that have worried and will worry every new generation, all thinking humanity: what is a person? What is truth and in what form do people need it? Does the objective world exist or “what you believe in is what it is”? and, most importantly, what is this world like and can it be changed?
In the play we encounter people who are useless outcasts in society, but they are the ones who are interested in questions about man’s place in the world around him. The heroes of the play are not similar to each other either in their views, or thoughts, or life principles, or the way of life itself. The only thing they have in common is that they are superfluous. And at the same time, almost each of the inhabitants of the shelter is the bearer of a certain philosophical concept on which they try to build their lives.
Bubnov believes that the world is vile and dirty, there are no good people here, everyone is just pretending, painting themselves, but “no matter how you paint yourself on the outside, everything will be erased.”
Klesch is embittered with people, cruel to his wife Anna, but believes that hard, exhausting, but honest work can return him to “real” life: “I am a working person... I’m ashamed to look at them... I’ve been working since an early age ... Do you think I won't break out of here? I’ll get out... I’ll rip off my skin, but I’ll get out.”
The actor, who became a drunkard and lost his name, hopes that his gift will return to him: “... the main thing is talent... And talent is faith in yourself, in your strength.”
Nastya, a woman who sells her body, dreams of genuine, sublime love, which is unattainable in real life.
Satin, a sharp-witted philosopher, has an opinion opposite to the principles of Kleshch: “Work? For what? To be full?” It seems pointless to him to spin on a wheel all his life: food is work. Satin owns the final monologue in the play, elevating man: “Man is free... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for disbelief, for love, for intelligence... Man is the truth!”
The inhabitants of the shelter, brought together in a cramped room, at the beginning of the play are indifferent to each other, they hear only themselves, even if they are all talking together. But serious changes in the internal state of the heroes begin with the appearance of Luke, an old wanderer who managed to awaken this sleepy kingdom, console and encourage many, instill or support hope, but, at the same time, was the cause of many tragedies. Luke’s main desire: “I want to understand human affairs.” And he, indeed, very soon understands all the inhabitants of the shelter. On the one hand, having endless faith in people, Luka believes that it is very difficult to change life, so it is easier to change yourself and adapt. But the principle “what you believe in is what you believe in” forces a person to come to terms with poverty, ignorance, injustice, and not fight for a better life.
The questions raised by M. Gorky in the play “At the Lower Depths” are timeless; they arise among people of different eras, ages, and religions. That is why the play arouses keen interest among our contemporaries, helping them understand themselves and the problems of their time.