“At the Bottom”: summary and analysis of the play

“At the Bottom”: summary

The play “At the Lower Depths” is a work created for the theater. Its action takes place in one place - a rooming house - an institution that was created so that the homeless could spend the night.

“At the Bottom” is briefly a description of one day in the life of the inhabitants of the shelter, who ended up in one place for various reasons. Therefore, a brief summary of the play “At the Bottom” should begin with an introduction to the characters.

Here are the key characters described by M. Gorky:

Author: M. Gorky
Artwork: At the bottom
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Chekhov's tradition in Gorky's dramaturgy. Gorky said in an original way about Chekhov’s innovation, which “killed realism” (of traditional drama), raising images to a “spiritualized symbol.” This marked the departure of the author of “The Seagull” from the acute clash of characters and from the tense plot. Following Chekhov, Gorky sought to convey the leisurely pace of everyday, “eventless” life and highlight in it the “undercurrent” of the characters’ inner motivations. Naturally, Gorky understood the meaning of this “trend” in his own way. Chekhov's plays contain refined moods and experiences. In Gorky there is a clash of heterogeneous worldviews, the same “ferment” of thought that Gorky observed in reality. His dramas appear one after another, many of them are pointedly called “scenes”: “The Bourgeois” (1901), “At the Lower Depths” (1902), “Summer Residents” (1904), “Children of the Sun” (1905), “Barbarians” ( 1905).

“At the Bottom” as a socio-philosophical drama

From the cycle of these works, “At the Bottom” stands out with its depth of thought and perfection of construction. Staged by the Art Theater and met with rare success, the play amazed with its “non-stage material” - from the lives of tramps, cheaters, prostitutes - and, despite this, its philosophical richness. The author’s special approach to the inhabitants of the dark, dirty flophouse helped to “overcome” the gloomy coloring and frightening way of life.

The play received its final name on a theater poster after Gorky went through others: “Without the Sun,” “Nochlezhka,” “The Bottom,” “At the Bottom of Life.” Unlike the original ones, which emphasized the tragic situation of the tramps, the latter clearly had ambiguity and was perceived broadly: “at the bottom” not only of life, but first of all of the human soul.

Bubnov says about himself and his roommates: “...everything faded away, only one naked man remained.” Because of the “obliality”, the loss of their previous position, the heroes of the drama really bypass the particulars and gravitate towards some universal concepts. In this version, the internal state of the individual appears visibly. “The Dark Kingdom” made it possible to highlight the bitter meaning of existence, invisible under normal conditions.

The atmosphere of spiritual separation of people. The role of the polylogue1.

Characteristic of all literature of the early 20th century. the painful reaction to a disunited, spontaneous world in Gorky’s drama acquired a rare scale and convincing embodiment. The author conveyed the stability and extreme mutual alienation of Kostylev’s guests in the original form of a “polylogue”. In Act I, all the characters speak, but each, almost without listening to the others, talks about his own things. The author emphasizes the continuity of such “communication”. Kvashnya (the play begins with her remark) continues the argument that began behind the scenes with Klesh. Anna asks to stop what goes on “every single day.” Bubnov interrupts Satin: “I’ve heard it a hundred times.”

1Polylogue is a form of speech organization in drama: as opposed to dialogue and monologue, polylogue is a combination of remarks from all participants in the scene.

In the stream of fragmentary remarks and altercations, words that have a symbolic sound are shaded. Bubnov repeats twice (while working as a furrier): “But the threads are rotten...” Nastya characterizes the relationship between Vasilisa and Kostylev: “Tie every living person to such a husband...” Bubnov remarks about the situation of Nastya herself: “You are the odd one out everywhere.” Phrases said on a specific occasion reveal the “subtextual” meaning: the imaginary connections, the superfluity of the unfortunate.

The originality of the internal development of the play

The situation changes with the appearance of Luke. It is with his help that illusory dreams and hopes come to life in the recesses of the souls of the night shelters. Acts II and III of the drama make it possible to see in the “naked man” an attraction to another life. But, based on false ideas, it ends only in misfortune.

Luke's role in this outcome is very significant. An intelligent, knowledgeable old man indifferently looks at his real surroundings, believes that “people live for a better person... For a hundred years, and maybe more, they live for a better person.” Therefore, the delusions of Ash, Natasha, Nastya, and Actor do not touch him. Nevertheless, Gorky did not at all limit what was happening to the influence of Luke.

The writer, no less than human disunity, does not accept naive faith in miracles. It is precisely the miraculous that Ash and Natasha imagine in some “righteous land” of Siberia; for the actor - in a marble hospital; Tick - in honest work; Nastya - in love happiness. Luke’s speeches were effective because they fell on the fertile soil of secretly nurtured illusions.

The atmosphere of Acts II and III is different, but compared to Act I. A cross-cutting motive arises for the inhabitants of the shelter to leave for some unknown world, a mood of exciting expectation and impatience. Luke advises Ash: “...from here, step by step! - leave! Go away..." The actor says to Natasha: "I'm leaving, I'm leaving... <...> You, too, go..." Ash persuades Natasha: "... you have to go to Siberia of your own free will... We're going there, okay?" But then other, bitter words of hopelessness sound. Natasha: “There’s nowhere to go.” Bubnov once “came to his senses in time” - he walked away from the crime and remained forever in the circle of drunkards and cheaters. Satin, recalling his past, sternly asserts: “There is no move after prison.” And Kleit admits with pain: “There is no shelter <...> ... there is nothing.” In these remarks from the inhabitants of the shelter, one senses a deceptive liberation from circumstances. Gorky's tramps, due to their rejection, experience this eternal drama for man with rare nakedness.

The circle of existence seems to have closed: from indifference to an unattainable dream, from it to real shocks or death. Meanwhile, it is in this state of the characters that the playwright finds the source of their spiritual turning point.

The meaning of Act IV

In Act IV the situation is the same. And yet something completely new happens - the previously sleepy thoughts of the tramps begin to ferment. Nastya and Actor for the first time angrily denounce their stupid classmates. The Tatar expresses a conviction that was previously alien to him: it is necessary to give the soul a “new law.” The tick suddenly calmly tries to recognize the truth. But the main thing is expressed by those who have long believed in no one and nothing.

The Baron, admitting that he “never understood anything,” thoughtfully notes: “... after all, for some reason I was born...” This bewilderment binds everyone. And the question “Why were you born?” is extremely intensified. Satin. Smart, daring, he correctly assesses tramps: “dumb as bricks,” “brutes,” who know nothing and do not want to know. That’s why Satin (he is “kind when he’s drunk”) tries to protect the dignity of people, to open up their possibilities: “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person.” Satin's reasoning is unlikely to be repeated, the life of the unfortunate will not change (the author is far from any embellishment). But Satin’s flight of thought fascinates listeners. For the first time, they suddenly feel like a small part of a big world. That is why the actor cannot stand his doom. ending life.

The strange, not fully realized rapprochement of the “bitter brethren” takes on a new shade with the arrival of Bubnov. “Where are the people?” - he shouts and suggests “singing... all night”, “crying out” your fate. That is why Satin reacts sharply to the news of the Actor’s suicide: “Eh... ruined the song... fool.”

Philosophical subtext of the play

Gorky's play is a socio-philosophical genre and, despite its vital concreteness, was undoubtedly directed towards universal human concepts: alienation and possible contacts of people, imaginary and real overcoming a humiliating position, illusions and active thought, sleep and the awakening of the soul. The characters in “At the Bottom” only intuitively touched the truth, without overcoming the feeling of hopelessness. Such a psychological collision enlarged the philosophical sound of the drama, which revealed the universal significance (even for the outcasts) and the elusiveness of genuine spiritual values. The combination of the eternal and the momentary, the stability and at the same time the instability of familiar ideas, a small stage space (a dirty flophouse) and thoughts about the big world of humanity allowed the writer to embody complex life problems in everyday situations.

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