June 14 2011

Gorky's play “At the Depths” was written in 1902. Bitter for a long time I couldn’t find an exact title for my work. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then “Without the Sun” and, finally, “At the bottom”.

In Gorky, viewers saw for the first time an unfamiliar world of outcasts. Such a harsh, merciless truth about the life of the lower social classes, about their hopeless fate world dramaturgy I didn't know yet. In the shelter there were people of very different personalities and social status.

A special burden in the drama falls on the conflict, sharp clashes between the characters on reasons that are significant to them. At the same time, there cannot be in a drama extra people- all heroes must be involved in the conflict. The presence of social tension is already indicated in the title of the play. But we can't talk about what social conflict organizes the drama. This tension is devoid of dynamics; all the heroes’ attempts to escape from the “bottom” are in vain. Perhaps the drama is organized by a love conflict, traditional for many plays. It would seem strange to see such a pure feeling appear in such an atmosphere of dirt and poverty. But Gorky’s heroes do not pay attention to the dirt and stench, they are accustomed to such a life, to each other, and almost do not notice those around them. Each hero exists as if on his own, living his own life. Therefore, at the beginning of the play, everyone present speaks at once, without expecting an answer, weakly reacting to the comments of others. Kvashnya is proud that she free woman, not related by marriage, and this makes Mite angry. With his dying wife in his arms, Nastya, a fallen woman, reads “Fatal Love,” which causes the Baron to laugh ironically. Prostitute Nastya dreams of a bright and pure love, but this only causes laughter from others. The girl is trying to get out of the vicious circle, leave the shelter and start a new one, but these are just her dreams.

But the play does contain a love line. It is created by the relationships between Vasilisa, Vaska Pepel, Kostylev’s wife, the owner himself and Natasha.

The plot of the love story begins when Kosta the Lion appears in the shelter. From a conversation with the inhabitants, it is clear that he is looking for his wife Vasilisa there, who is cheating on him with Vaska Ash. With the advent of Natasha love story begins to develop. For her sake, Vaska leaves Ashes to Vasilisa. As this conflict develops, it becomes clear to us that his relationship with Natasha enriches Vaska and revives him to a new life. Vaska Pepel never had a profession. There are no ideals for him, he does not strive to work, since he lives by theft. However, this person also retains kindness and naivety; he strives for purity and goodness. But Vaska Ash falls into slavery " powerful of the world this." The owner of the shelter, Kostylev, turns out to be an even lower person: he does not give Vasily the money for the stolen watch, believing that Ash already owes him a lot. His wife Vasilisa is also in bondage to her husband, who is twice her age. She is also unhappy, and her love for Vaska Ash is a challenge to family despotism. For the sake of Vasilisa, the thief is ready to commit - to kill Kostylev. Vasilisa was inflamed with terrible hatred for her sister Natalya when she learned about her lover’s betrayal. She is ready to kill her, just to keep Vasily for herself. Climax highest point in the development of the conflict, is fundamentally taken off stage by the author. We do not see how Vasilisa is scalded with boiling water. We learn about this from the noise and screams behind the stage and from the conversations of the night shelters.

The love conflict in the play, of course, is one of the facets of the social conflict. Love line shows that the anti-human conditions of the “bottom” cripple a person, and the most sublime feelings in such conditions lead not to the enrichment of the individual, but to death or hard labor.

Having unleashed a love conflict in such a terrible way, Vasilisa achieves all her goals at once. Takes revenge ex-lover Vaska Pepl and his rival Natasha, gets rid of her unloved husband and becomes the sole mistress of the shelter. There is nothing human left in Vasilisa, and this shows us the monstrosity social conditions, in which the inhabitants of the shelter are forced to live.

But a love conflict cannot become the basis dramatic conflict plays, since, unfolding before the eyes of the night shelters, it does not affect them themselves. They do not participate in them, remaining only outside spectators.

Need a cheat sheet? Then save - "Love conflict is part of the general social. Literary essays!

Maxim Gorky's play “At the Depths” reveals philosophical and social problems society at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The work “At the Bottom” draws the reader’s attention to the merciless world of people rejected by society who have sunk to its very bottom.

The main characters of the work are the residents of the shelter. All these people are unhappy in their own way, and each of them has their own life story. Some belonged to this world from birth, while others began their lives differently, but for some reason sank to the bottom.

This dirty world of poverty is ruled only by the desire to survive. It seems that there is no place for bright, sublime feelings here. Therefore, to discover a love conflict in this play is, to say the least, unexpected.

Conflict unfolds around love triangle: Vasily Ashes, Vasilisa and Natasha. It all begins with the appearance on the pages of the play of Vasilisa’s husband, Kostylev, who is looking for his young wife, whom he suspects of cheating on him with Vaska Ash. Everything looks pretty banal until the appearance younger sister Vasilisa, Natasha.

BETWEEN VASILY ASH AND NATASHA A REAL, PURE LOVE ARISES, WHICH YOU NEVER EXPECT TO MEET IN THE PLAY “AT THE BOTTOM.”

Vaska’s heart suddenly began to beat with a new, bright and disinterested feeling, which was strikingly different from the vulgar passion that he felt for Vasilisa.

The illusion of a bright future

But the world of outcasts does not give lovers a chance for a bright future. Vasilisa, out of jealousy towards her former lover, takes revenge my own sister. At the same time, she dreams of getting rid of her tyrant husband.

Her dream comes true: Vasily Ash kills Kostylev in a fight. Ash goes to jail. At the same moment, Natasha disappears from the pages of the play. Young people's dream of bright life, which was so close, collapses.

The possibility of a better future for Vaska Pepel and Natasha was only an illusion, a deceptive feeling. The world of the outcasts never lets out of its clutches those who once found themselves in them.

The play “At the Bottom” depicts an unusual love conflict that does not fit into the usual idea of ​​love conflicts. The love story is not the main one in Gorky’s work, however, it was she who demonstrated to the reader all the bitterness and ruthlessness of the world of people who once found themselves “at the bottom”

Essay » At the bottom - Gorky » Features love conflict in M. Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”

The play “At the Lower Depths” by M. Gorky as a philosophical drama

Gorky wrote about the idea of ​​a play about the life of people at the bottom: “It will be scary. I already have plans ready, I see faces, figures, I hear voices, speeches, the motives for actions are clear, everything is clear. " Unclear until last moment All that remained was the genre and the title. The author thought about the title: “Without the Sun”, “Bottom”, “Nochlezhka”. And finally, it was born - “At the Bottom”.

All this dictates the play philosophical sound. Important point drama - appearance in Luka's rooming house. Outwardly, he does not affect the lives of its inhabitants in any way (and what can a poor, homeless old man do?), but nevertheless, in the minds of the shelters, thanks to Luka, intense work begins.

Development of the play as philosophical drama begins at the very moment when people at the bottom discover in themselves the ability to dream of a new, better life, reflect on your destinies. Philosophical issues reflected, first of all, in the heroes’ disputes about man, goodness and truth.

The play “At the Lower Depths,” which told viewers and readers about the life of Moscow tramps, is distinguished by its increased “ideology.” The paradox of M. Gorky’s philosophical drama is that about questions of being, its philosophical aspects people who have been expelled from society, beggars, and degenerates, argue. But it is they who remind readers and viewers of the enormous human possibilities.

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The play “At the Bottom” is a deep, ambiguous work, in which the author poses complex philosophical and moral problems. Among them is the problem of truth and lies, true and false compassion, the problem of personality degradation, the problem of relationships between people. Revealing last problem, the author cannot help but turn to the theme of love, which, even in such inhuman conditions as life in a flophouse, still exists and forces the characters to commit crazy acts in order to prove their feelings.

Life in a shelter, the inhabitants of which are trying to somehow exist, seems unreal and fantastic, because people are initially placed in conditions where nothing normal can happen. “The basement is like a cave. The ceiling is heavy stone vaults, smoked, with crumbling plaster. Light - from the viewer and, from top to bottom, - from a square window with right side. The right corner is occupied by Ash’s room, fenced off by thin partitions; near the door to this room is Bubnov’s bunk. In the left corner there is a large Russian stove; in the left, stone wall there is a door to the kitchen where Kvashnya, Baron, Nastya live,” this is how the author describes the place of events. Dirt, cramped space, overcrowding, dampness, squalor, men in the same room with women - this is the interior against which the characters’ love unfolds. The wife of the owner of the shelter, Vasilisa, runs on dates with the thief Ash, which causes the constant jealousy of her hypocritical and greedy husband, Ash loves her sister Natasha, and Nastya, who earns her daily bread with the most humiliating craft in the world, dreams of a pure, selfless love. Human feelings have not died even in such terrible conditions: and here there is a place for compassion, empathy, hope and love.

Probably the most significant for the development of the plot of the play is the relationship between Ash and Natasha. Ash, the thief, the son of a thief, sees in the modest and kind Natasha, whom her sister constantly mocks, a symbol of something beautiful, bright, for which it is not a pity to give her life: “Even now, I will accept death! Take a knife, strike against the heart... I’ll die without a sigh! Even - with joy, because - from a clean hand...” At the same time, Ash does not understand that Vasilisa, a powerful and evil woman, will not give up hers so easily. The first act of the play ends with Vasilisa beating Natasha. Vasilisa tries to persuade Ash to kill her husband, to free her from him, and for this she promises to give him Natasha as his wife. But Natasha herself doesn’t like Pepla, she also lives in dreams: “I think, tomorrow... someone... someone... special will come... Or something will happen... also - unprecedented ... I wait for a long time... I always wait... And so... in reality - what can you wait for?”

Elder Luke persuades Ash to take Natasha from the shelter and go with her to Siberia, which he presents to Ash as an earthly paradise. Ash, trusting Luka, believes that life can be changed, he is ready to do anything for the sake of his love: “I said, I’ll give up stealing! By God, I'll give it up! If I said it, I’ll do it! I am literate... I will work... Do you think my life doesn’t disgust me? But I feel one thing: we must live... differently! We need to live better! I have to live like this... so that I can respect myself...” Natasha is also not averse to leaving with Ash, realizing that she has no other choice. But the heroes do not have time: the third act ends with Vasilisa dumping a boiling samovar on her sister, and Ash in this turmoil kills Kostylev with one blow. At the end of the play, we learn that Natasha has disappeared from the hospital, and Ash faces prison. What is further fate These heroes are not known, but they are unlikely to find their happiness in a world of violence and oppression.

But the fate of another heroine of the play, Nastya, unfortunately, is quite definite. Nastya earns her bread on the street, all the shelters laugh at her, everyone despises her. Nastya goes into dreams, fantasies about great love, which she never had and never will have. She is the only one of the night shelters who reads books, however, these are pulp novels, from which she draws the plots of her fantasies: “By God... it happened! Everything was! He was a student... he was French... his name was Gastoshi... with a black beard... he wore patent leather boots... strike me with thunder in this place! And he loved me so much... he loved me so much!” Only Luka sympathizes with Nastya, saying: “If you believe, you had real love... that means she was!” In that scary world Nastya can only dream, forgetting about the humiliations and insults that she suffers in the real world.

In his play, Gorky shows how tragic are the fates of people who by nature cannot be predators. In the world of profit, they get the role of the victim, and all of them human feelings, including love, are shattered by a terrible reality. But people remain people because they cannot help but suffer, sympathize with each other and love.

I Literature XIX century.
1. Name the literary trends of the 19th century.
2. What world events and Russian history created the prerequisites
for the emergence of romanticism in Russia?
3. Name the founders of Russian romanticism.
4. Who stood at the origins of Russian realism?
5. Name the main thing literary direction second half of the 19th century
century.
6. What task did A.N. Ostrovsky set for himself in the play “The Thunderstorm”?
7. Express the philosophy of the writer A.N. Ostrovsky as an example
plays "The Thunderstorm".
8. What task did I.S. set for himself? Turgenev in the novel “Fathers and
children"?
9. Why is the novel by I.S. Critics called Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons"
anti-noble?
10.Express the main ideas of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and
punishment".
11.Formulate the basic principles of F.M.’s philosophy. Dostoevsky and
the main character of the novel, Rodion Raskolnikov.
12. Why, in your opinion, was the novel “War and Peace” criticized?
called “an encyclopedia of Russian life”?
13.What makes it different goodies novel by L.N. Tolstoy “War and
world"?
14.Name the stages of spiritual evolution of one of the characters in the novel: Andrei
Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova.
15.What do the destinies of Andrei Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov have in common?
II Literature of the 20th century.
1. What phenomena social life Russia influenced the development
literature of the 20th century?
2. What name did literature get? turn of the XIX century– the beginning of the 20th century?
3. Name the main ones literary movements this time?
4. What is the philosophy of I. Bunin’s story “ Cold autumn»?
5. What unites the stories of I. Bunin “Cold Autumn” and A.
Kuprin " Garnet bracelet»?
6. “What you believe in, that is.” Which hero of M. Gorky's work
do these words belong? Explain his philosophy.
7. What is Satin’s role in the play “At the Bottom”?
8. Image civil war in the stories of M. Sholokhov “Birthmark”
and "Food Commissioner".
9. What are the features of the Russian character in the story by M. Sholokhov
"The Fate of Man"?
10.What kind of village did you see in A.I.’s story? Solzhenitsyn "Matryonin"
yard"?
11.What philosophical and moral problems does the author raise in
story?
12.Which plot episode is the climax in the story “Matryonin”
yard"?
13. What unites the characters of Andrei Sokolov (“The Fate of a Man”) and
Matryona Vasilievna(“Matryonin Dvor”)?
14.Which of the Russian writers was awarded Nobel Prize for his contribution to
world literature?

I ask someone, I don’t have time to write everything myself 2,5,6,7,9,4

whoever can (help a lot) this is an internal exam in literature 1. What is the tragedy of the love of Zheltkov, the hero of Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet”?
2. Prove that for the hero of Kuprin’s story “The Garnet Bracelet,” love is the highest value of the world.
3. Show off wealth spiritual world the heroine of Kuprin's story "Olesya".
4. Prove by giving examples from Kuprin’s works that his favorite hero is a young man, gentle, intelligent, conscientious, and ardently sympathetic “ little brother“and at the same time weak-willed, tragically subject to the forces of the environment and circumstances.
5. Why is the era of poets of the early 20th century characterized as “ silver Age"Russian poetry? What's it about fundamental differences from the "golden age"?
6. What three pieces of advice does he give to a young poet? lyrical hero poems by V.Ya. Bryusov " To the young poet"? Do you agree with his position? What, in your opinion, should a true poet be? Read the poem by heart.
7. Tell us what you know about Bryusov, the translator. Name its main translations. What languages ​​are they used in?
8. How does Balmont’s lyrics show interest in ancient Slavic folklore? What images arise? Analyze the poems " Evil spell" and "Firebird".
9. What picture does Balmont paint in the poem “First Love”? Tell us about your perception of this poem.
10. Describe the work of early Mayakovsky. What are its main specific features? Read one poem from this period by heart.
11. “Freedom is the most beautiful thing in life, for the sake of it a person should be ready to sacrifice everything, even his life.” Confirm Gorky’s words with examples from his stories “Makar Chudra” and “Old Woman Izergil”.
12. Prove that even a crazy but extraordinary step, according to Gorky, will remain in people’s memory. Give examples from “The Song of the Falcon”, “The Song of the Petrel”, “The Legend of Marco”.
13. What is the meaning of the title of the play “At the Bottom”? Explain its symbolic meaning.
14. To whom is Blok’s cycle of poems “Poems about To the beautiful lady"? What was it written for? Analyze 3 poems from this collection. Read one by heart.
15. How the theme of the House is revealed in Bulgakov’s novel “ White Guard"? Which symbolic meaning for Bulgakov has the word “house”?
16. What philosophical problems rise in Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”?
17. Show the inextricability of the connection between Tsvetaeva’s fate and creativity and Moscow. Analyze the cycle “Poems about Moscow”. Read one poem by heart.
18. Describe the image of the lyrical heroine of the poem “Requiem”.
19. Describe Cossack life, depicted by Sholokhov. Show the peculiarities of Cossack speech. How they help the writer convey the vitality of the setting. How does a writer depict the life of a village?
20. Describe family life Melekhovs, Korshunovs, Astakhovs. Make a comparative description.
21. As in the novel “ Quiet Don» depicts the First World War?
22. Compare Aksinya and Natalya, explain Gregory’s feelings for each of them. What is the significance of the heroines' names? Why do they both die?
23. What is the meaning of the title of Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man”?
24. Give detailed description military prose and poetry. Analyze 2 works.
25. Give a detailed description of urban prose. Analyze 2 works.

The play “At the Bottom” is a deep, ambiguous work, in which the author raised complex philosophical and moral problems. Among them is the problem of truth and lies, true and false compassion, the problem of personality degradation, the problem of relationships between people. Revealing the last problem, the author cannot help but turn to the theme of love, which, even in such inhuman conditions as life in a flophouse, still exists and forces the characters to commit crazy acts in order to prove their feelings.

Life in a shelter, the inhabitants of which are trying to somehow exist, seems unreal and fantastic, because people are initially placed in conditions where nothing normal can happen. “The basement is like a cave. The ceiling is heavy stone vaults, smoked, with crumbling plaster. The light comes from the viewer and, from top to bottom, from the square window on the right side. The right corner is occupied by Ash’s room, fenced off by thin partitions; near the door to this room is Bubnov’s bunk. In the left corner there is a large Russian stove; in the left, stone wall there is a door to the kitchen where Kvashnya, Baron, Nastya live,” this is how the author describes the place of events. Dirt, cramped space, overcrowding, dampness, squalor, men in the same room with women - this is the interior against which the characters’ love unfolds. The hostel owner's wife, Vasilisa, goes on dates with the thief Ash, which arouses the constant jealousy of her hypocritical and greedy husband, Ash loves her sister Natasha, and Nastya, who earns her daily bread with the most humiliating craft in the world, dreams of pure, selfless love. Human feelings have not died even in such terrible conditions: and here there is a place for compassion, empathy, hope and love.

Probably the most significant for the development of the plot of the play is the relationship between Ash and Natasha. Ash, the thief, the son of a thief, sees in the modest and kind Natasha, whom her sister constantly mocks, a symbol of something beautiful, bright, for which it is not a pity to give her life: “Even now, I will accept death! Take a knife, strike against the heart... I’ll die without a sigh! Even - with joy, because - from a clean hand...” At the same time, Ash does not understand that Vasilisa, a powerful and evil woman, will not give up hers so easily. The first act of the play ends with Vasilisa beating Natasha. Vasilisa tries to persuade Ash to kill her husband, to free her from him, and for this she promises to give him Natasha as his wife. But Natasha herself doesn’t like Pepla, she also lives in dreams: “I think, tomorrow... someone... someone... special will come... Or something will happen... also - unprecedented ... I wait for a long time... I always wait... And so... in reality - what can you wait for?”

Elder Luke persuades Ash to take Natasha from the shelter and go with her to Siberia, which he presents to Ash as an earthly paradise. Ash, trusting Luka, believes that life can be changed, he is ready to do anything for the sake of his love: “I said, I’ll give up stealing! By God, I'll give it up! If I said it, I’ll do it! I am literate... I will work... Do you think my life doesn’t disgust me? But I feel one thing: we must live... differently! We need to live better! I have to live like this... so that I can respect myself...” Natasha is also not averse to leaving with Ash, realizing that she has no other choice. But the heroes do not have time: the third act ends with Vasilisa dumping a boiling samovar on her sister, and Ash in this turmoil kills Kostylev with one blow. At the end of the play, we learn that Natasha has disappeared from the hospital, and Ash faces prison. It is not known what the future fate of these heroes is, but it is unlikely that they will find their happiness in a world of violence and oppression.

But the fate of another heroine of the play, Nastya, unfortunately, is quite definite. Nastya earns her bread on the street, all the shelters laugh at her, everyone despises her. Nastya goes into dreams, fantasies about a great love that she never had and never will have. She is the only one of the night shelters who reads books, however, these are pulp novels, from which she draws the plots of her fantasies: “By God... it happened! Everything was! He was a student... he was French... his name was Gastoshi... with a black beard... he wore patent leather boots... strike me with thunder in this place! And he loved me so much... he loved me so much!” Only Luka sympathizes with Nastya, saying: “If you believe, you had true love... that means you had it!” In this terrible world, Nastya can only dream, forgetting about the humiliations and insults that she suffers in the real world.

In his play, Gorky shows how tragic are the fates of people who by nature cannot be predators. In the world of profit, they get the role of a victim, and all their human feelings, including love, are shattered by the terrible reality. But people remain people because they cannot help but suffer, sympathize with each other and love.