The dramaturgy of M. Gorky occupies a special place in Russian drama. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gorky turned to the theater and became a successor to the traditions of Russian drama of the 19th century. He believed that the main purpose of drama was to depict “man and people”, the influence of fate on the formation human personality. At the same time, Gorky’s dramaturgy gravitates towards the genre philosophical drama. These features of Gorky’s dramaturgy were reflected especially clearly in his second play “At the Lower Depths,” written in 1902.

In this play, Gorky tried to combine real human destinies and abstract philosophical concepts. Therefore, behind the external conflict of the play, an internal conflict can be traced, which is the main one in the action, allows you to more deeply understand the characters of the characters, and also helps the author to reveal the main meaning of the play. The external conflict is associated with a love triangle (Ashes - Natasha - Kostylevs). But this is just a background for development internal action, based on a philosophical conflict (Satin - Luke - roommates). It is the internal conflict that turns out to be the basis of dramatic action. And this conflict is largely based on the thoughts of the night shelters about Man. Why did this particular topic touch Gorky so much?

The writer was deeply concerned with thoughts about who Man is and what he should be. In his letter to Chekhov, he noted: “You have to be a monster of virtue to love, to feel sorry for, to help live the trashy midges with guts that we are. And yet I still feel sorry for people.” And at the same time, Gorky had an ineradicable faith in man, in the power of his spirit. “I don’t know anything better, more difficult, more interesting than a person. He is everything." Reflections about man, about his essence, about the spirit and morality of man formed the basis for the internal conflict of the play “At the Bottom.”

The play captures, albeit a partial, timid, awakening human soul. Bubnov, quick to speak, reveals common feature, speaking about himself and other night shelters: “...everything faded away, only one naked man remained.” Maybe it’s precisely because of their “shadyness” that tramps gravitate toward certain general concepts. The author writes about “reluctant philosophers,” about unhappy people in whom the dream for a brighter future is still alive. Kleshch wants to succeed through hard work, Nastya seeks salvation in love, Anna turns to God, Natasha is waiting for a hero. The awkward judgments of tramps contain answers to the most difficult questions about human nature about his bitter fate with naive hopes for joy.
There is another type of hero in the play. Bubnov, Satin, Baron have come to terms with their position as cheaters and are indifferent to crimes. But it is they who deeply judge life and unconsciously yearn for will and truth. They contain a natural mind doomed to inaction.
The beginning of internal action begins with the appearance of Elder Luke at the end of Act II. Luke - extraordinary personality, he is smart, he has enormous experience and a keen interest in people: “I want to understand human affairs.” At the same time, he clearly sees not only misconceptions, but also bright sides humanity: “People? They will be found! They'll figure it out! We only need to help them, we need to respect them.” This is Luke's position. But he passively waits for good, looking indifferently at specific misfortunes. He is ready to accept any life option and adapt to it. The assistance he provides to some of the homeless shelters is also a kind of adaptation to their needs. Brief dialogues between Luka and the tramps are intertwined, repeated and give the play a tense internal movement, people's illusory hopes are growing. But when their illusions collapse, the old man simply disappears unnoticed.

But the last action reveals all the consequences of the experience, since, as Satin puts it, Luke “leavened our roommates.” It is the fermentation of the lazy thoughts of tramps that interests Gorky most of all. Therefore, in the last action the question of Man is raised with particular force. It cannot be said, of course, that in the last act the heroes become different. They are simply all presented in a moment of brief painful reflection, which, however, will not change anything in their lives. But this in no way diminishes the meaning of their words, since they have been accumulating in their souls for a long time. This especially applies to Satin’s words about Man.

Satin correctly assessed Luke’s reconciliation with existence, but drew the opposite conclusions: “Everything is in Man, everything is for Man! There is only “Man, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain.” 14 although for Satin all his cohabitants are “dumb as bricks,” he defends their capabilities and human dignity.

Satin's speech about Man is a hymn to human capabilities. Saving lies only deepen illusions, and life will still bring out the disgusting truth, which will become even more unbearable and terrible. Therefore, according to Satin, one cannot live in lies and in the past. Against the compassionate humanism of Luke, Satin puts forward his truth about Man: “We must respect man! Don’t feel sorry, don’t humiliate him with pity.” He condemns Luke's comforting lies: “Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is God free man" At the same time, Satin understands that these words do not specifically refer to the inhabitants of the shelter, since they are not able to fight for themselves and their dignity. For him, Man is all the people on earth.

This is the main humanistic moral meaning plays. Life is sometimes so cruel to a person that it makes him humiliate and submit. But initially man was created as a tall and proud creature. He is the one who has the power to change the world.

Truth and lies... Two opposite poles, connected by an unbreakable thread. What is more necessary for a person? It's strange to ask such a question. After all, from childhood we are instilled with the concept of truth as positive quality, and about lies as negative....

She really might be too much for you... Luka In my opinion, leave the whole truth as it is! Bubnov. Which is better: truth or compassion, truth or white lies? Many philosophers, thinkers, literary scholars, writers have tried and will try to answer this question...

A notable phenomenon of Russian literature at the beginning of the 20th century was Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths”. What explained its exceptional success? Strong impression The viewer was impressed by the combination of an extremely realistic image of people who have achieved the last...

Gentlemen! If the holy world does not know how to find the way to truth, - Honor the madman who brings a golden dream to Humanity! As a writer, Gorky had his own view on the role and purpose of art, he assigned high tasks and goals to it. In his work, Gorky was looking for...

Man - that's the truth!

M. Gorky

M. Gorky's multifaceted talent was clearly manifested in drama. In the play “At the Lower Depths,” Alexey Maksimovich revealed to readers and viewers a hitherto unknown layer of Russian life: the aspirations, suffering, joys and hopes of the “former people,” the inhabitants of the shelter. The author did it quite sternly and truthfully.

The drama “At the Bottom” poses and resolves philosophical questions: what is truth? do people need it? Is it possible to find happiness and peace in real life? thrown out active life, the inhabitants of the “bottom”, meanwhile, do not refuse to solve complex philosophical questions and life situations that reality poses to them. They try on different situations, trying to “surface” to the surface. Each of them wants to return to the world of “real people.”

The heroes are full of illusions about the temporary nature of their situation. And only Bubnov and Satin understand that there is no way out “from the bottom” - this is the lot of only the strong. Weak people need self-deception. They console themselves with the thought that sooner or later they will become full-fledged members of society. This hope in the shelters is actively supported by Luke, a wanderer who unexpectedly appeared among them. The old man finds the right tone with everyone: he consoles Anna with heavenly happiness after death. Persuades her that afterlife she will find peace that she has not felt before. Luka persuades Vaska Pepel to leave for Siberia. There is a place for strong and purposeful people. He calms Nastya down, believing in her stories about unearthly love. The actor is promised recovery from alcoholism in a special clinic. The most amazing thing about all this is that Luke lies disinterestedly. He takes pity on people, tries to give them hope as an incentive to live. But the old man's consolations lead to the opposite results. Anna dies, the Actor dies, Vaska Ashes goes to prison. It seems that through the mouth of Satin the author condemns Luke and refutes the conciliatory philosophy of the wanderer. “There is a comforting lie, a reconciling lie... Those who are weak at heart... and who live on other people's juices need a lie... some are supported by it, others hide behind it... And who is his own master... who is independent and does not eat someone else's - why does he need a lie? Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!”

But Gorky is not so simple and straightforward; it allows readers and viewers to decide for themselves: are Luke needed in real life or are they evil? Another striking thing is that society’s attitude towards this character has changed over the years. If during the creation of the play “At the Lower Depths” Luka was almost negative hero, with his boundless compassion for people, then over time the attitude towards him changed.

In our cruel times, when a person feels lonely and useless to others, Luka received a “second life”, became almost positive hero. He feels sorry for the people living nearby, even if mechanically, without wasting his mental strength on it, but he finds time to listen to the suffering, instills hope in them, and this is already a lot.

The play “At the Bottom” is one of those few works that do not age over time, and each generation reveals in them thoughts that are in tune with their time, views, and life situations. This is the great power of the playwright’s talent, his ability to look into the future.

In the play "At the Lower Depths" one of the unique genres of Gorky's dramaturgy crystallized - the genre of the socio-philosophical play.

Most critics of pre-revolutionary times viewed “At the Bottom” as a static play, as a series of sketches of everyday life, internally unrelated scenes, as a naturalistic play, devoid of action, development, dramatic conflicts.

In “At the Bottom,” Gorky develops, sharpens, and makes especially clear the principle characteristic of Chekhov’s dramaturgy...

When... Gorky wrote: “A play is made like a symphony: there is a main leitmotif and various variations, changes to it” (Letter to the LAPP Theater / Literary Newspaper. 1931. No. 53), then he could have had in mind his own dramatic experience. The play features several “themes”, ideological and thematic complexes that “absorb” well-known ideas and moods, character traits characters, their aspirations, ideals and actions, their relationships and destinies, their individual clashes. No fate, no conflict can be traced holistically from beginning to end; they are outlined, as it were, in a dotted line, discontinuously, episodically, since they must enter into a certain thematic complex, participating in the development of the “theme”, in the solution of a socio-philosophical problem.<...>

The exhibition presents all the main problems that will be solved in the play; all its main themes appear in embryonic form. How to relate to the inhuman life of the disadvantaged and oppressed? Bear your cross patiently?

To soften the torment of others with compassion? Surrender to comforting illusions? Protest? Should everyone look for an active way out, say, in work? Different answers to these questions separate and in one way or another bring together the characters of the play, who are, as it were, in a state of anticipation. Luke's appearance sets everything in motion. He removes some, supports others, guides them, and gives justification for their aspirations. A practical test of various life attitudes begins.

6. Dramatic conflict of the play “At the Lower Depths”

Most critics viewed “At the Bottom” as a static play, as a series of sketches of everyday life, internally unrelated scenes, as a naturalistic play, devoid of action and the development of dramatic conflicts. In fact, in the play “At the Bottom” there is a deep internal dynamics, development... The linkage of lines, actions, scenes of the play is determined not by everyday or plot motivations, but by the development of socio-philosophical issues, the movement of themes, their struggle. That subtext, that undercurrent that V. Nemirovich-Danchenko and K. Stanislavsky discovered in Chekhov’s plays, acquires decisive importance in Gorky’s “The Lower Depths.” “Gorky depicts the consciousness of people at the bottom.” The plot unfolds not so much in external action, how many characters there are in the dialogues. It is the conversations of the night shelters that determine the development of the dramatic conflict.

It’s an amazing thing: the more the night shelters want to hide the real state of affairs from themselves, the more they take pleasure in catching others in lies. They take special pleasure in tormenting their fellow sufferers, trying to take away from them the last thing they have - illusion

What do we see? It turns out there is no one truth. And there are at least two truths - the truth of the “bottom” and the truth of the best in a person. Which truth wins in Gorky's play? At first glance, this is true “bottom”. None of the night shelters have a way out of this “dead end of existence.” None of the characters in the play get better - only worse. Anna dies, Kleshch finally “sinks” and gives up hope of escaping from the shelter, Tatar loses his arm, which means he also becomes unemployed, Natasha dies morally and perhaps physically, Vaska Pepel goes to prison, even the bailiff Medvedev becomes one of the shelters . The shelter accepts everyone and does not let anyone out, except for one person - the wanderer Luke, who amused the unfortunate people with fairy tales and then disappeared. The culmination of general disappointment is the death of the Actor, to whom it was Luke who inspired the vain hope of recovery and a normal life.

“The comforters of this series are the most intelligent, knowledgeable and eloquent. That's why they are the most harmful. This is exactly the kind of comforter that Luke should be in the play “At the Bottom,” but I, apparently, was unable to make him like that. “At the Lower Depths” is an outdated play and, perhaps, even harmful in our days” (Gorky, 1930s).

7. Images of Satin, Baron, Bubnov in the play “At the Lower Depths”

Gorky's play "At the Lower Depths" was written in 1902 for the troupe of the Moscow Art Public Theater. Bitter for a long time I couldn’t find the exact title for the play. Initially it was called “Nochlezhka”, then “Without the Sun” and, finally, “At the bottom”. 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. Let us remember Dostoevsky’s heroes, who also “have nowhere else to go.” Many similarities can be found in the heroes of Dostoevsky and Gorky: this is the same world of drunkards, thieves, prostitutes and pimps. Only he is shown even more terrifyingly and realistically by Gorky. In Gorky's play, the audience saw for the first time the unfamiliar world of the rejected. World drama has never known such a harsh, merciless truth about the life of the lower social classes, about their hopeless fate. Under the arches of the Kostylevo doss house there were people of very different characters and social status. Each of them is endowed with their own individual traits. Here is the worker Mite, dreaming of honest work, and Ash, thirsting right life, and the Actor, completely absorbed in memories of his former glory, and Nastya, passionately striving for the big one, true love. They all deserve a better fate. All the more tragic is their situation now. The people living in this cave-like basement are tragic victims of an ugly and cruel order, in which a person ceases to be human and is doomed to drag out a miserable existence. Gorky does not give a detailed account of the biographies of the characters in the play, but the few features that he reproduces perfectly reveal the author’s intention. In a few words the tragedy of Anna’s life’s fate is depicted. “I don’t remember when I was full,” she says. “I was shaking over every piece of bread... I was trembling all my life... I was tormented... so as not to eat anything else... I walked around in rags all my life... all my miserable life...” Worker Mite speaks about his hopeless lot: “There is no work... no strength... That's the truth! There is no refuge, there is no refuge! We need to breathe out... That’s the truth!” The inhabitants of the “bottom” are thrown out of life due to the conditions prevailing in society. Man is left to his own devices. If he stumbles, loses track, he is threatened with “the bottom”, inevitable moral, and often physical death. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide, and the rest are exhausted, disfigured by life to the last degree. And even here, in this scary world outcasts, the wolf laws of the “bottom” continue to operate. The figure of the hostel owner Kostylev, one of the “masters of life”, who is ready to squeeze the last penny even from his unfortunate and disadvantaged guests, is disgusting. His wife Vasilisa is equally disgusting with her immorality. The terrible fate of the inhabitants of the shelter becomes especially obvious if we compare it with what a person is called to. Under the dark and gloomy arches of the lodging house, among the pitiful and crippled, unfortunate and homeless vagabonds, words about man, about his calling, about his strength and his beauty sound like a solemn hymn: “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! It sounds proud!” Proud words about what a person should be and what a person can be highlight even more sharply the picture of the actual situation of a person that the writer paints. And this contrast takes on a special meaning... Satin’s fiery monologue about man sounds somewhat unnatural in an atmosphere of impenetrable darkness, especially after Luka left, the Actor hanged himself, and Vaska Ashes was imprisoned. The writer himself felt this and explained it by the fact that in the play there should be a reasoner (an exponent of the author’s thoughts), but the heroes portrayed by Gorky can hardly be called exponents of anyone’s ideas at all. That is why Gorky puts his thoughts into the mouth of Satin, the most freedom-loving and fair character.

The author began writing the play in Nizhny Novgorod, where, according to the observation of Gorky’s contemporary, Rozov, the best and the most convenient place for the gathering of all sorts of rabble of people... (I always believed that Gorky took the prototypes of heroes in Nizhny, because he lived in this city and knew all his future heroes personally). This explains the realism of the characters, their complete resemblance to the originals.

Alexey Maksimovich Gorky explores the soul and characters of tramps with different positions, in different life situations, trying to understand who they are, what led to such different people to the bottom of life. The author tries to prove that the night shelters ordinary people they dream of happiness, know how to love, have compassion, and most importantly, they think.

In terms of genre, the play At the Lower Depths can be classified as philosophical, because from the lips of the characters we hear interesting conclusions, sometimes whole social theories. For example, the Baron is consoled by the fact that there is nothing to wait for... I don't expect anything! Everything has already... happened! It's over!.. Or Bubnov So I drank and I'm glad!

But the true talent for philosophizing is manifested in Satin, a former telegraph employee. He talks about good and evil, about conscience, about the purpose of man. Sometimes we feel that he is the author’s mouthpiece; there is no one else in the play who can speak so smoothly and intelligently. His phrase Man, it sounds proud! became winged.

But Satin justifies his position with these arguments. He is a kind of ideologist of the bottom, justifying its existence. Satin preaches contempt for moral values. And where are honor and conscience? On your feet, instead of boots you can’t put on either honor or conscience... The audience is amazed by the gambler and sharper who talks about the truth, about justice, the imperfection of the world in which he himself is an outcast.

But all these philosophical quests of the hero are just a verbal duel with his antipode in worldview, with Luka. Satin's sober, sometimes cruel realism collides with the soft and flexible speeches of the wanderer. Luke fills the shelters with dreams and calls on them to be patient. In this respect, he is a truly Russian person, ready for compassion and humility. This type is deeply loved by Gorky himself. Luke does not receive any benefit from giving people hope; there is no self-interest in this. This is the need of his soul. A researcher of the work of Maxim Gorky, I. Novich, spoke about Luke this way... he consoles not from love for this life and the belief that it is good, but from capitulation to evil, reconciliation with it. For example, Luke assures Anna that a woman must endure her husband’s beatings. Be patient more! Everyone, my dear, endures.

Having appeared unexpectedly, just as suddenly Luka disappears, revealing his potential in each inhabitant of the shelter. The heroes thought about life, injustice, their hopeless fate.

Only Bubnov and Satin have come to terms with their position as night shelters. Bubnov differs from Satin in that he considers man a worthless creature, and therefore worthy of a dirty life. People all live... like chips floating down a river... building a house... chips away...

Gorky shows that in an embittered and cruel world, only people who stand firmly on their feet, are aware of their position, and do not disdain anything can stay alive. The defenseless night shelters Baron, who lives in the past, Nastya, who replaces life with fantasies, perish in this world. Anna dies, the Actor commits suicide. He suddenly realizes the impossibility of his dream, the unreality of its implementation. Vaska Pepel, dreaming of a bright life, ends up in prison.

Luke, regardless of his will, becomes the culprit of the death of these not at all bad people The inhabitants of the shelter do not need promises, but... specific actions that Luke is not capable of. He disappears, rather runs, thereby proving the inconsistency of his theory, the victory of reason over the dream. Thus, sinners disappear from the face of the righteous!

But Satin, like Luke, is no less responsible for the death of the Actor. After all, breaking the dream of a hospital for alcoholics, Satin breaks the last threads of the Actor’s hope that connect him with life.

Gorky wants to show that, relying only on his own strength, a person can get out of the bottom. A person can do anything... if only he wants to. But such strong characters There are no people striving for freedom in the play.

In the work we see the tragedy of individuals, their physical and spiritual death. At the bottom, people lose their human dignity along with their names and surnames. Many night shelters have the nicknames Krivoy Zob, Tatar, and Actor.

How does Gorky the humanist approach the main problem of the work? Does he really recognize the insignificance of man, the baseness of his interests? No, the author believes in people who are not only strong, but also honest, hardworking, diligent. Such a person in the play is the locksmith Kleshch. He is the only bottom dweller with real chances for revival. Proud of his working title, Kleshch despises the rest of the night shelters. But gradually, under the influence of Satin’s speeches about the worthlessness of work, he loses self-confidence, giving up his hands in front of fate. In this case, it was no longer the crafty Luke, but Satin the tempter who suppressed hope in man. It turns out that, having different views on life positions, Satin and Luka equally push people to death.

Creating realistic characters, Gorky emphasizes everyday details, acting as a brilliant artist. The gloomy, rough and primitive existence fills the play with something ominous and oppressive, enhancing the feeling of the unreality of what is happening. A shelter located below ground level, devoid of sunlight, somehow reminds the viewer of hell in which people die.

The scene when the dying Anna talks to Luka causes horror. This last conversation of hers is like a confession. But the conversation is interrupted by the screams of drunken gamblers and a gloomy prison song. The awareness of frailty becomes strange human life, neglect of her, because even in the hour of death Anna is not given peace.

The author's remarks help us to more fully imagine the characters in the play. Brief and clear, they contain descriptions of the heroes and help us reveal some aspects of their characters. In addition, in the prison song introduced into the narrative, a new, hidden meaning. The lines I want to be free, yes, eh!.. I can’t break the chain..., show that the bottom tenaciously holds its inhabitants, and the night shelters cannot escape from its embrace, no matter how hard they try.

The play is finished, but Gorky does not give an unambiguous answer to the main questions of what is the truth of life and what a person should strive for, leaving it to us to decide. The final phrase of Satin Eh... ruined the song... fool is ambiguous and makes you think. Who is the fool? The Hanged Actor or the Baron who brought the news about this. Time passes, people change, but, unfortunately, the theme of the bottom remains relevant today. Due to economic and political turmoil, more and more people are going to the bottom of life. Every day their ranks are replenished. Don't think that these are losers. No, many smart, decent people go to the bottom, honest people. They strive to quickly leave this kingdom of darkness, to act in order to live a full life again. But poverty dictates its conditions to them. And gradually a person loses all his best moral qualities, preferring to leave things to chance.

Gorky wanted to prove with his play At the Depth that only in struggle is the essence of life. When a person loses hope, stops dreaming, he loses faith in the future.

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 ex-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. The dream of young people about a bright life, which was so close, is crumbling.

The possibility of a better future for Vaska Pepel and Natasha was only an illusion, a deceptive feeling. The world of the outcasts never releases from 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. Love line is not the main thing 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 Lower Depths - Gorky » Features of the 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 philosophical sound of the play. 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.

The development of the play as a philosophical drama begins at the very moment when people of 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 lies in the fact that the questions of existence, its philosophical aspects are discussed by people who have been expelled from society, the poor, the degraded. But they are the ones who remind readers and viewers of the enormous human possibilities.

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Goals:

• Introduce students to the stage fate of the play "At the Lower Depths".
• Introduce the characters of the play into the setting and world.
• Determine the main conflict of the work - a clash of views and life positions inhabitants of the bottom.
• Show the tense atmosphere of the Kostylev flophouse with its endless disputes and quarrels;
• find out the reasons for the disunity of people at the bottom.

Help schoolchildren understand the meaning of the author's remarks.

During the classes I. introduction

teachers. The largest writers XIX centuries (A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, L.N. Tolstoy) acted as prose writers, playwrights, and publicists. The work of M. Gorky is also characterized by multi-genres. He entered literature with romantic and realistic stories. At the end of the 90s published the novel "Foma Gordeev", in which he reproduced a broad picture of Russian life, showing representatives of various social strata

. In the early 900s he turned to drama and for several years acted as a playwright.

“The play, drama, comedy is the most difficult form of literature,” said M. Gorky. At that time, the Moscow Art Theater was extremely popular, opening with innovative productions of Chekhov’s plays. new page

in the history of Russian theatrical art. In the winter of 1900, Gorky visited this theater for the first time; in the spring of the same year, while staying in Yalta visiting Chekhov, Gorky met artists who captivated him with the idea of ​​​​creating a play for them. The result of this acquaintance was the play "The Bourgeois" (1901) and the plays that followed it: "At the Lower Depths" (1902), "Summer Residents" (1904), "Children of the Sun" and "Barbarians" (1905)

Let us remember what is unique about drama as a type of literature (a student’s performance accompanied by a computer presentation). 1) Drama is for.

stage performances 3) The text consists of monologues and dialogues

actors. 4) The play is divided into

actions (acts) and pictures (scenes).

6) The entire life process is not depicted in the drama; it goes on, as it were, behind the scenes; the author snatches from the flow of time the most significant, from his point of view, moments, and focuses the attention of the audience on them.

7) A special burden in the play falls on conflict- an acute clash between the heroes over a very significant issue. At the same time, there cannot be (extra) heroes in a drama - all heroes must be included in the conflict.

8) A dramatic work is preceded by poster- list of characters.

Gorky’s first plays showed that an innovative playwright had come to literature.

The content and issues of the plays were unusual, as were their characters - the revolutionary-minded proletarian, the inhabitants of the flophouse, and the conflict. Gorky acted as the creator of a new type of drama.

From the cycle dramatic works Gorky's play "At the Bottom" stands out for its depth of thought and perfection of construction. “It was the result of my almost 20-year observations of the world of “former people,” to which I include not only wanderers, shelter dwellers and the “lumpen proletariat” in general, but also some of the intellectuals - “demagnetized,” disappointed, offended and humiliated by failures in life. I realized very early that these people were incurable,” wrote Gorky. He talked a lot and willingly about the tramps, their lives, the people who served as prototypes for this or that character.

Gorky worked hard and purposefully on the play “At the Lower Depths”. Even the list of titles that he successively gave to the play shows both the intensity of his search and even partly his direction:

• "Without Sun"
• "Nochlezhka"
• "In the lodging house"
• "Bottom"
• "At the bottom of life"
• "At the bottom"

Why "At the Bottom"? (The author did not highlight the place of action - “night shelter”, not the nature of the conditions - “without sun”, “the bottom”, not even the social position - “at the bottom of life”. The final name combines all these names with the new one. Not where how, A what's happening at the bottom" (what?):souls. Unlike the original names, which highlight the tragic situation of the tramps, the latest name is more capacious and polysemantic.)

The play received its final name on the theater poster of the Moscow Art Theater, on the stage of which the play premiered.

Already after the first reading of the play by Gorky himself at the apartment of the writer L. Andreev, it was clear that it would become an event. The censors did not allow the play to be presented for a long time. She erased the text, mutilated it, but still, yielding to public pressure, she allowed him to play exclusively in Moscow and only one Art Theater. The authorities considered the play boring and were sure of the failure of the performance, where on the stage instead of “beautiful life” there was dirt, darkness and poor, embittered people (sharps, tramps, prostitutes). The production, carried out by directors Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, was a stunning success. The author was called more than 20 times!

Poster for the play "At the Bottom".

So, December 1902. Moscow Art Theater. First performance of the play.

There are many prominent writers, artists, painters in the public, public figures, famous critics. Starring the most beloved, most prominent artists of the Moscow Art Theater: Stanislavsky (Satin), Moskvin (Luka), Kachalov (Baron), Knipper-Chekhova (Nastya), Luzhsky (Bubnov). The curtain opens...

II. A re-enactment of the beginning of the play prepared by class students.

III. Conversation.

Where did the viewer end up? When and where does the play take place? (In the shelter at the beginning of spring, in the morning.)

How is the scene of action depicted in the stage directions for Act 1, depicting the setting of the flophouse? (The basement looks like a cave. There is dirt, soot, rags everywhere...)

- How are the characters positioned on stage?(Everywhere along the walls there are bunks. Thin partitions fence off Ash’s room. Apart from Kvashnya, Baron, Nastya, who live in the kitchen, no one has their own corner. Everything is on display in front of each other. A secluded place is only on the stove and behind the chintz canopy separating others the bed of dying Anna (by this she is already, as it were, separated from life.)

- How is the stage lit?(The light reaches the shelters from the basement window, as if looking for people among the basement inhabitants.)

- Why does the author describe the shelter in such detail in the stage directions preceding Act 1? Why is the remark so lengthy?(The playwright emphasizes the extreme poverty of the current existence of the “former”, the wretchedness of the human shelter.)

- The tragedy of the existence of the shelters and the depth of human fall are helped to feel by the remarks that give an idea of ​​the sounds of the shelter. What does the viewer hear?

Anna moans

Fidgeting and hysterically coughs Actor

Loud growls Satin

Fiercely jingles keys and creaks filing the tick

The Baron slurps, chewing black bread:

- What is the atmosphere of the shelter?(Noise, swearing. Endless arguments, quarrels. Hell, bitterness:)

- Why do quarrels arise so often?(Everyone lives in this basement as he wants. Everyone is preoccupied with their own problems. The characters don’t seem to hear each other. Words sound from different corners. Everyone present speaks at once, without waiting for an answer, weakly reacting to other people’s remarks, but everyone, almost not listening to others, he speaks about his own. Complete separation of people who find themselves under one roof.)

- Stability, the extremes of mutual alienation are conveyed in the form polylogue. What remarks emphasize the continuity of such “communication”, the feeling of time passing in a vicious circle, without beginning or end?

The curtain opens and the viewer hears the Baron's voice: "Further!". This is the first line of the play! It “creates a feeling of the inevitable passage of time, flowing in a vicious circle without beginning or end ". (B.A.Bialik. Gorky the playwright.)

Growls, without scaring anyone, Satin, who overslept after next intoxication.

Kvashnya continues conversation started behind the scenes with Kleshch, constantly shutting himself off from his terminally ill wife.

Baron habitually mocks Nastya, absorbing another shocker.

Actor is boring repeats the same thing: “My body is poisoned by alcohol: It’s harmful for me: breathing dust:

Anna begs for it to stop lasts "Every single day:".

Bubnov interrupts Satin: “I heard: a hundred times!"

Satin seems to sum it up: “: all our words are tired! I heard each of them: probably a thousand times:"

- In a stream of fragmentary remarks and altercations, words are heard that have a symbolic sound.

Bubnov: “And the threads are rotten:” - twice, while doing furrier business.

He’s talking about Nastya’s situation: “You’re superfluous everywhere: and all the people on earth are superfluous:”

What do these seemingly random remarks reveal?

(Phrases said on a specific occasion reveal the imaginary connections of the people gathered in the shelter, the “superfluity” of the unfortunate people).

IV. Teacher's word.

Already the first readers of the play “At the Lower Depths” drew attention not only to the novelty of its content, but also to the novelty of its form. Chekhov responded about the play as follows: “It is new and undoubtedly good.”

What is unusual about the form of the play “At the Lower Depths”? In what ways does Gorky deviate from the rules for creating dramatic works known to us from the plays we have read earlier?

2.No traditional plot: it unfolds not so much in “external” events as in dialogues (disputes), polylogues- they determine the development of the conflict.

3.In the play no main or secondary characters- everyone is important.

Let's look at the list of characters - poster.

V. Working with the play poster.

Why are the heroes presented differently: some by their first name and patronymic, others by their nickname or last name?

Why differently are Kostylev and Kleshch presented? (The list shows a certain hierarchy of the “bottom”. There are also “masters of life” here, however, they are not so different from the inhabitants of the shelter).

People in society are valued differently. A representative of any class, gender and age can find himself at the “bottom” of life. What do they have in common? (They are all renegades. All "former".)

VI. Mini-quiz.

Remember which of the characters in the play was

• an official in the treasury chamber?
• guard at the dacha?
• telegraph operator?
• a mechanic?
• a furrier?
• an artist?

VII. Conversation.

How did these people get here? What brought them to the shelter? What is the backstory of each character?

Satin hit rock bottom after serving time in prison for murder (Act 1).

The Baron went broke. Served in the treasury chamber, squandered money; for embezzlement of government money he went to prison, then ended up in a shelter (Act 4).

Kleshch lost his job, although he was an “honest worker” and “worked from an early age” (Act 1).

The actor once had sonorous surname- Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky, but was not in the leading roles (he says that he played a gravedigger in Hamlet), he lived in poverty; He began to drink, seeing no way out, - he became an alcoholic, “drank away his soul” (Act 2). Weak at heart. The tick resists - the result is the same.

Fate Ashes predetermined already at birth: “I have been a thief since childhood.” "Son of a thief." There is no other way (act 2).

Which hero talks more about his fall than others? (Baron. Each stage of his life is marked by a certain costume. These disguises symbolize the gradual decline in social status.)

What reasons bring people to the “bottom”? (People are brought to the “bottom” by both subjective (laziness, meanness, dishonesty, weak character) and objective, social reasons (the life of society is poisoned, distorted).

What are the night shelters talking about? (What every person thinks about.)

Honor and conscience Faith in one’s strength, in one’s talent

People of the “bottom” are not villains, not monsters, not scoundrels. They are the same people as us, they just live in different conditions. This amazed the first viewers of the play and shocks new readers.

The characters talk and argue a lot. Their conversations are the subject of depiction in the play. The clash of ideas, life views, and the struggle of worldviews determine the main conflict of the play. This is typical for the genre philosophical dramas .

VIII. Homework.

Answer the following questions in writing:

1. One of the characters in the play, Satin, in a remark that concludes the second act, likens the night shelters to the dead: “Dead men don’t hear! Dead men don’t feel: Shout: roar: dead men don’t hear!..”
2. Can we say that the first act is conversations in "the kingdom of the dead" (G.D. Gachev)?
3. Or is the researcher right who believed that “Luke, having gone down into the basement, came not to the desert, but to people" (I.K. Kuzmichev), and before the arrival of Luke retained, to one degree or another, living human traits?

1. Realism of the play “At the Bottom”.
2. Heroes of the work.
3. The author’s attitude towards the inhabitants of the “bottom”.

M. Gorky's play “At the Lower Depths” - shining example realistic work. The writer is already abandoning the romantic tendencies that were characteristic of his work. The realistic principle attracts the writer; he pays a lot of attention to socio-philosophical conflicts. Gorky himself can be called one of the most talented writers of his time. He brilliantly portrayed human characters; we have not the slightest reason to doubt their veracity. Gorky no less vividly depicted the everyday life against which events unfold. Gorky’s life is not just a collection various parts in the description of the situation. No, everyday life takes on special significance and grows to global proportions. It is no coincidence that life and being are words of the same root. The living conditions in which a person happens to live necessarily influence his character and worldview.

The play “At the Bottom” is very interesting primarily for its characters. These are typical inhabitants of the “bottom”, as the name itself says. The lives of all the inhabitants of the doss house turned out to be far from in the best possible way. They have nothing good, bright, or joyful. These people occupy the lowest rung of the social ladder. They have no illusions about their life; on the contrary, they are aware of the hopelessness of their existence. The peculiarity of the play “At the Bottom” is that it has no beginning or ending, which, in essence, contradicts this genre. There is no main plot conflict in the play. But there is a socio-philosophical conflict. And it is revealed not in actions, but in conversations. There is much more talk in the play than action. You could even say that there are practically no actions as such.

We understand well the philosophy of all the inhabitants of the “bottom”. They do not hide their beliefs. The limitations, wretchedness, and insignificance of their characters are obvious. The inhabitants of the “bottom” are cruel to each other. We see neither sympathy, nor respect, nor even friendly affections from them. A phrase such as “you’re a fool, Nastya...” seems to them something self-evident and quite normal. Normal human compassion alien to the heroes of the play. Kleshch's wife is dying, but no one is trying to tell her she's unhappy kind word. All the heroes of the work are cruel both to themselves and to others. And unhappy in this cruelty. Each hero has his own truth, or, conversely, the lack thereof.

The tick says: “What a truth! Where is the truth? That's the truth! No work... no power! That's the truth! Shelter... there is no shelter! You have to breathe... here it is, the truth! Devil! Why... what do I need it for - really? Let me breathe... let me breathe! Why am I to blame?.. Why do I need the truth? Living is the devil - you can’t live... this is the truth!.. Speak here - the truth! You, old man, console everyone... I'll tell you... I hate everyone! And this truth... damn it, damn it! Understood? Understand! Damn her! Social contradictions give rise to such an attitude towards life. Kleshch has nothing - no work, no shelter, no future. He doesn't need the truth, he doesn't see the meaning in his life. The bearer of a different philosophical principle is Luke. He does not try to seek the truth; faith in God is enough for him. This worldview allows the old man to put up with the hardships of life.

The play “At the Bottom” can be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, the work can be interpreted as a harbinger of revolution. This is precisely the perception that was traditional quite recently. The play was viewed through the lens of social change. Unhappy, disadvantaged people were considered bearers of revolutionary ideas. After all, their life was very bad, and the revolution could bring something good. The revolution would entail social change, which would have a beneficial effect on the inhabitants of the “bottom”.

Now this interpretation of the work no longer seems unambiguous. After all, Gorky does not use direct calls for revolution. It only shows the unfortunate disadvantaged people. They have neither the strength nor the desire to change anything in life. Even if attempts are made, as for example by the Actor, they still turn out to be useless. The inhabitants of the “bottom” have no moral values. They are closed in on themselves, they are not interested in the people around them. They mockingly laugh at each other, as if they do not understand that by doing so they are humiliating themselves. Society has rejected all the inhabitants of the “bottom”; they have no moral principle that could become a support for further revival. Outcasts from society are not able to be reborn; their destiny is further degradation. The debates about life waged by the characters in the play are speculative and abstract. They do not know real life because she walked past them. They do not know the beautiful, the sublime, the pure and the bright. Gorky calls the characters in the play “former people.” And he says that the work was the result of his “almost twenty years of observation of the world” former people" The author has no empathy or sympathy for his characters. And they don’t have high aspirations. And any attempts to save your inner world at best, they can be a departure into the world of dreams and illusions. Nastya reads romance novels in order not to notice the wretchedness of real life. The absence of high aspirations reveals the wretchedness and degradation of the tramps, the inhabitants of the bottom. Using their example, Gorky shows that lack of ideas and lack of will can never bring positive results. The life of the inhabitants of the “bottom” is meaningless, and they have no future.