At the bottom is a summary of the actions. M

A brief but detailed content of M. Gorky's play "At the Bottom" for those who pass the Russian language and literature.

The first version of the summary.
4 acts

Characters:

Mikhail Ivanov Kostylev, 54 years old - owner of a rooming house.
Vasilisa Karpovna, 26 years old - his wife.
Natasha, 20 years old - her sister.
Medvedev Abram Ivanovich, policeman, 50 years old - their uncle.
Vaska Pepel, 28 years old.
Klesch Andrey Mitrich, 40 years old - locksmith.
Anna, 30 years old - his wife.
Nastya, 24 years old - a girl.
Kvashnya, under 40 years old - a seller of dumplings.
Bubnov, 45 years old - a kartuznik.
Baron, 33 years old.
Satin and the Actor are approximately the same age, under 40 years old.
Luca, 60 years old - wanderer.
Alyoshka, 20 years old - shoemaker.
Krivoy Zob and Tatarin are hookers.

Act 1 A cellar that looks like a cave. Everywhere along the walls - bunks. In the middle of the rooming house there is a large table, two benches, a stool, everything is unpainted and dirty. Kvashnya is in charge of the samovar, the Baron chews brown bread, Nastya reads a disheveled book. Anna is coughing on the bed. Bubnov is cutting a hat on the bunk. Kvashnya assures that she is a free woman and will never marry. The Baron mocks her, Kleshch joins him (“And you will get married to Abramka ... that's all you are waiting for”). Kvashnya says that Klesch himself "hit his wife half to death." A quarrel begins. Anna asks not to swear and let her die in peace. Kvashnya takes pity on her. Satin wakes up and asks who beat him yesterday. Bubnov replies that he was beaten yesterday during a card game. The inhabitants of the rooming house begin to bicker over who cleans the room. The actor gets off the stove and says that it is harmful for him to breathe dust, as his "organism is poisoned by alcohol." Satin inappropriately mutters the words: "organon, sicambre, macrobiotics, transcendental." He loves incomprehensible, rare words, because as a child he served on the telegraph, read a lot of books and was an educated person. The actor also recalls his past: he played the gravedigger in Hamlet. The actor takes Anna into the hallway to breathe, at the door he runs into Kostylev, who, humming "something divine" under his breath, suspiciously examines the rooming house - he is looking for his wife. Kostylev reminds Kleshch that he takes up too much space, wants to raise his rent for him, reproaches that Anna withered away from his villainy. The Actor returns, Kostylev tells him that in the next world his good deeds will be credited to him. In the same world, Kostylev refuses to forgive the Actor for half of the debt. Kostylev knocks on the door of Vaska Pepel, Pepel asks from behind the door if Kostylev brought him money for the watches sold, after learning that he did not bring, Kostylev drives away. Ash has an affair with Vasilisa. Satin advises to kill Kostylev and marry Vasilisa. Ash snaps back. Ash gives the Actor a loan - he gets money easily, he is a thief. Satin: “Many people get money easily, but not many part with it easily ... Work? Make the work pleasant for me - maybe I will work ... When work is pleasure, life is good! When work is a duty, life is slavery!” The actor and Satin go out to get drunk. Ash tells Tick that he "creaks in vain." Tick assures that he is a working man, and he will break out of the rooming house as soon as his wife dies. He dislikes people without honor and without conscience. Ashes objects that honor and conscience are needed for those who have power and strength. Bubnov says he has no conscience because he is not rich. Natasha brings a new guest - Luka. Natasha reminds Klesch of the need to take care of the dying Anna. Pepel declares that he is not afraid to die and invites Natasha to stab him in the heart with a knife - then he will die with joy, "because from a clean hand." Ash clearly sympathizes with Natasha, although the inhabitants of the rooming house warn him that by doing so he will incur the wrath of Vasilisa. Luka is humming something, Pepel interrupts him. The inhabitants of the rooming house in conversations constantly say that they are all equal. Luka: “No matter how you pretend, no matter how you wobble, but you were born a man, you will die a man ...” The Baron had memories of his former life, how he drank coffee with cream in bed. Luke: "The nobility is like smallpox ... And the person will recover, but the signs remain." A drunken Alyoshka appears, who insists that he does not want anything - neither money, nor to be commanded. Vasilisa enters, drives Alyoshka out, threatens Bubnov that he will evict him if Alyoshka appears again (Bubnov lives in debt). After asking for Luka's passport, Vasilisa goes to the door to Ash's room, along the way swearing at the inhabitants of the rooming house for the dirt. Vasilisa asks if Natasha was in the rooming house and talked to Ash. Nastya, who left a book about unhappy love, promises that she will get drunk and cry again. Nastya says that Vasilisa was angry with Alyoshka because he was talking that Vaska decided to leave Vasilisa and get along with Natasha. Enter Medvedev. Medvedev is interested in the relationship between Ash and Vasilisa. Medvedev hints to Kvashnya that he has money and is a strong gentleman. Kvashnya laughs it off and refuses. Luka introduces Anna, helps her to the bed. Noises and muffled cries come from the passage. Medvedev goes to separate the fighters - according to Kostylev, who came running, "Vasilisa kills Natashka."

The same situation. Satin, Baron, Crooked Goit and Tatar are playing cards. Tick and Actor are watching the game. Bubnov plays checkers with Medvedev. Luka is sitting on a stool by Anna's bed. Bubnov and Crooked Zob sing a prison song (“The sun rises and sets ...”). Anna complains to Luka about her life: “Beatings ... insults ... nothing but - I didn’t see ... I don’t remember when I was full ... I went all my life in rags.” She is afraid that in the next world she will have to suffer. Luke comforts her, persuades her to be patient. During their conversation, the card players cheat. Tatar is outraged. Crooked Goiter: "If they start to live honestly, they will die of hunger in three days." The actor tries to read poetry to Luka, but cannot remember anything, he repents that he drank his soul away. Luke advises him to be treated for drunkenness in the hospital, but for now, refrain. Luka: "A man can do anything... If only he wants to..." Anna asks Luka to talk to her. He consoles the woman, assuring that rest is not far off, that the Lord will forgive her and she will go to heaven. Anna still hopes to recover and live a little. Luke says that in this life nothing but torment awaits her. Pepel comes, asks Medvedev if Vasilisa beat Natasha badly, threatens to take the girl away and tell the police that Kostylev and his wife are buying up stolen goods. Enraged Medvedev (Vasilisa's uncle) leaves. Luka persuades Pepel to leave for Siberia. Pepel refuses, as he expects to be sent to Siberia at the state expense, as his father once did. Ash asks Luke if there is a god. Luke: “If you believe, there is; if you don't believe it, no... What you believe in is what it is...” Vasilisa enters Ashes “on business”. Pepel tells Vasilisa that he is tired of her because she has "no soul". Vasilisa replies that you won’t be forced to be nice, thanks for the truth and offers to marry Natasha. She asks Ash to release her from her husband. Ashes: “This is - you deftly came up with it. Her husband, therefore, in a coffin, her lover - to hard labor, and herself ... ”Vasilisa promises to give him Money, marry his sister to him and arrange their departure. Kostylev appears - he screams, stamps his feet, reproaches Vasilisa: “I forgot to pour oil into the lamps ... Wow! A beggar!.. A pig!.. ”The ashes rush at Kostylev. Luka stirs on the stove, and Pepel releases Kostylev. Ash guesses that Luke heard his conversation with Vasilisa. Luka advises Pepl to get rid of Vasilisa as soon as possible, take Natasha and leave with her if he seriously likes her. Anna is dying. An Actor appears, reciting a poem:

“Gentlemen! If the truth is holy
The world can't find the way,
Honor to the madman who will inspire
Mankind has a golden dream!”

The actor informs Natasha, who has entered, that he is leaving to be treated for drunkenness in a bright and clean hospital. He laments that no one in the rooming house knows his real name: “Do you understand how insulting it is to lose a name? Even dogs have nicknames... Without a name, there is no person...” Natasha is waiting for Ash, notices that Anna has died. Luka, Tatarin, Crooked Goiter and Kleshch appear, looking at his wife over the shoulders of others. Natasha is horrified that no one, not even her husband, regrets Anna. Tick confesses that he has no money for a funeral. People promise to lend him. Natasha says that she is afraid of the dead, and Luka advises her to beware of the living. A drunken Actor appears and asks Luka where the city where the free hospital for alcoholics is located is located. Satin: "Fata Morgana! The old man lied to you: there is nothing! No cities, no people... nothing!”

A wasteland behind the Kostylevs' rooming house. Natasha and Nastya are sitting on a log, Luka and Baron are sitting on the wood. The tick lies on a pile of branches. Nastya tells a fictional story about her affair with a student. The rest convict her of lying, except for Luka, who regrets Nastya: “Do you believe in colitis, you had true love ... it means that she was.” Natasha says that a lie is more pleasant than the truth, she admits that she herself loves to dream and is waiting for something extraordinary. Natasha says that life is bad for everyone, and Kleshch is indignant: “After all, if everyone had a bad life, then it would not be so insulting.” Bubnov and Baron argue that people lie out of a desire to "color up the soul." Luka advises the Baron to caress Nastya, says that one must be kind: "Christ was sorry for everyone and ordered us so." He tells a story from his life about how he brought up the robbers (made them flog each other), and then gave them bread. If he had not taken pity on them then, they would have killed him and ended up in prison or Siberia, where they would hardly have been taught goodness. The tick screams that there is no truth, no work and no strength. He does not understand what he is guilty of, insists that he hates everyone, and curses his life. Ash appears. He does not like Klesch for anger and pride: “If people are valued at work ... then a horse is better than any person ... Carries and is silent!” Luke tells the parable of the righteous land. One poor man was about to go in search of a righteous land. Despite the fact that he lived very poorly, he did not lose heart, endured and dreamed of leaving this life and going to the righteous land. He lived in Siberia. There he met the exiled scientist and asked him to show the righteous land on the map, which, of course, was not on the map. A person does not believe, gets angry: he endured so much - and all in vain. Beats the scientist, and then leaves and hangs himself. Luke is going to go to Ukraine, where they discovered a new faith. Pepel calls Natasha to leave with him, promises to stop stealing and start working (he is literate). He does not repent, because he does not believe in conscience, but he feels that it is necessary to live differently. No one ever called him anything other than a thief in his life. He asks Natasha to stay with him and believe him. Natasha replies that she does not love him and that he treated her sister badly. Pepel says that in life he had nothing to grab onto: "Vasilisa is greedy for money," which she needs to debauch. Natasha, according to him, will be able to keep him. Luka advises Natasha to marry Pepel, because she has nowhere else to go, and to remind him more often that he is a good person. Natasha agrees, but only until the first beatings, and then she promises to strangle herself. Vasilisa appears and “blesses” the young: “Do not be afraid, Natalya! He won't beat you... He can neither beat nor love... I know! He is more verbally daring ... ” Kostylev, who entered, sends Natasha to put on a samovar. Pepel tells Natasha not to listen to Kostylev anymore, Vasilisa provokes Pepel, pushing him against her husband, but Luka calms Ash down. Kostylev tells Luka that a person should live in one place, "and not get confused in vain on the ground." In his opinion, a person must work in order to benefit from him. A person does not need every truth, he needs to be able to remain silent, live righteously, not interfere with anyone, not condemn anyone, not to stir up people in vain. Luke answers with a riddle: “I say - there is land that is inconvenient for sowing ... and there is fertile land ... whatever you sow, it will give birth.” Vasilisa kicks Luka out, suspecting that he is a fugitive. Bubnov, who entered, tells his story: his wife agreed with the master, they wanted to poison Bubnov, he was angry and beat his wife, and the master was angry and beat Bubnov. The workshop was registered to his wife, Bubnov drank heavily and as a result was left with nothing. The Actor appears. He boasts that today he did not drink, but worked (sweeping the street) and earned money for the road. Satin recites aloud Pushkin's poems ("The Song of the Prophetic Oleg") - "Tell me, magician, favorite of the gods, what will come true in my life?". Then he tells about himself: in his youth he danced well, played on stage, made people laugh, but defending the honor of his sister, he killed a man, ended up in prison, which completely changed him. Klesch appears, saddened by the fact that he had to sell all the tools: he needed money for Anna's funeral. Now he cannot work. Satin advises him not to do anything: “People are not ashamed that you live worse than a dog ... Think - you won’t work, I won’t ... hundreds more ... thousands, that’s all! - understand? Everyone stops working! Nobody wants to do anything - what will happen then? The tick replies that then everyone will die of hunger. Natasha's screams are heard, a commotion rises, Kvashnya and Nastya bring Natasha, whom Vasilisa beat and scalded her legs with boiling water. Medvedev comes running, whom Kostylev asks to arrest Vaska the thief. Pepel appears, beats Kostylev with a swing and kills him. Vasilisa shouts in a triumphant voice that Pepel killed her husband and calls the police. Ash wants to kill her too, but he is restrained. Satine volunteers to be a witness - to protect Ash. Unexpectedly, Natasha declares that Ashes and Vasilisa conspired and removed the people who interfered with them - her and Kostylev, curses her sister and Ashes. As Cinder tries to calm her down, the police show up.

The setting of the first act. A Tatar is moaning in the corner, Kleshch is fixing the accordion at the table, Satin, Baron and Nastya are sitting next to him, the Actor is coughing on the stove. Everyone discusses Luka's unexpected disappearance during the commotion. The Tatar says that the old man was a good man, "had the law in his soul", did not offend people. Nastya is about to go to the ends of the world, her roommate Baron makes fun of her, and Satin advises taking the Actor with him, who has learned that "half a verst from the end of the world there is a hospital for organons." Kleshch remembers that Luka did not like the truth. Satin objects that the old man was not a charlatan and knew his truth: “A man is the truth! He understood it... You - no! He lied ... but - this is out of pity for you ... There are lies that are comforting, lies that reconcile ... Those who are weak in soul., And who live on other people's juices - those need a lie ... it supports some, others hide behind it. And who is his own master ... who is independent and does not eat someone else's - why should he lie? Lies are the religion of slaves and masters... Truth is the god of a free man!” Satin says that Luke has affected him like acid on a dirty old coin, and offers to drink to his health. The baron recalls his origins (old surname, nobles, immigrants from France, wealth, hundreds of serfs, horses, carriages with coats of arms, dozens of lackeys, houses in Moscow and St. Petersburg). Nastya mocks him, says that none of this happened (“Do you understand what it’s like for a person when they don’t believe him?”). Nastya says that Natasha was treated in the hospital, but she left and disappeared. Those gathered are discussing how the trial of Ashes and Vasilisa will end. Nastya claims that Vasilisa will turn out, and Ash will be sent to hard labor, loses her temper, adds that it would be nice to send all the inhabitants of the rooming house to hard labor, says that the Baron lives at her expense, although he boasts of his high origin. Against the background of all this, Satin continues his reasoning about man: “Man is free ... he pays for everything himself: for faith, for unbelief, for love, for the mind ... Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud! Human! You have to respect the person! Do not pity, do not humiliate him with pity ... Work? For what? To be full? I've always despised people who care too much about being fed... That's not the point! The man is higher! Man is above satiety! Bubnov and Medvedev appear. Both tipsy. Medvedev is dressed in a jacket Kvashnya, who took him as a roommate. Bubnov treats the inhabitants of the rooming house and gives all his money to Satin, as he feels goodwill towards him. Alyoshka comes running, sings, dances, scoffs. The men sing a prison song, the Baron appears and shouts that the Actor strangled himself in the wasteland. Satin: "Ruined the song... fool!" The second version of the summary.
Characters:

Mikhail Ivanov Kostylev, 54 years old, owner of a rooming house.
Vasilisa Karpovna, his wife, 26 years old.
Natasha, her sister, 20 years old.
Medvedev, their uncle, a policeman, 50 years old.
Vaska Pepel, 28 years old.
Kleshch, Andrey Mitrich, locksmith, 40 years old.
Anna, his wife, 30 years old.
Nastya, girl, 24 years old.
Kvashnya, dumpling vendor, under 40 years old.
Bubnov, kartuznik, 45 years old.
Baron, 33 years old.
Satin 1 is approximately the same age,
Actor I years under 40.
Luka, wanderer, 60 years old.
Alyoshka, shoemaker, 20 years old
crooked goiter
Key keeper
Tatar
Several tramps without names and speeches.

The beginning of spring. Morning. In the basement, which looks like a cave, there is Ash's room, a Russian stove, a door to the kitchen. Everywhere along the walls - bunks. Kleshch sits in front of the anvil, Kvashnya hosts the samovar, the Baron chews black bread, Nastya reads a disheveled book "Fatal Love". Anna is coughing on the bed. Bubnov cuts a hat. Satin, beaten up after yesterday's game of cards, is lying on the bunk, the Actor is fumbling on the stove and coughing.

The Baron makes fun of the book. Kvashnya says that she will never go down the aisle: she does not want to give herself into slavery to a man. The Baron laughs at her. Kleshch insists that she will marry Abramka. Kvashnya says that Klesch himself "hit his wife half to death." They scream.

Anna, sticking her head out from behind the canopy, tries to calm them down. Kvashnya leaves dumplings for her, wonders if it's easier in her chest. Then the Baron and Kvashnya go to the market. The rest argue over whose turn it is to take revenge. The Baron has to get out, but he asks to replace him. They leave.

Sick Anna gives her dumplings to her husband. The actor tells Satine that the doctor told him about the body poisoned by alcohol. Satin randomly says different words: organon, sicambre, macrobiotics, transcendental. He says that he is tired of all the words. Somewhere in the distance, a dull noise, screams, a police whistle are heard.

The tick sits down to work and creaks with a file. Satin says that he was a telegraph operator, an educated person. Bubnov recalls that he used to be a furrier. The actor says that the main thing is not education, but talent. Anna is stuffy, Bubnov offers to open the door to the hallway, but Kleshch, Anna's husband, objects: he is cold on the floor. Bubnov leaves for threads, the Actor offers help to the sick woman and takes Anna out into the hallway, leaves her there.

The owner of the rooming house, Kostylev, appears, listens to something in Ash's room. He asks Klesch if his wife Vasilisa was here. He scolds the Tick for anger. The Actor is praised for his kindness, but when the Actor asks for a reward in the form of forgiveness of half of the debt, he says that kindness cannot be compared with money. The actor goes into the kitchen, Kleshch - into the hallway. Kostylev comes up to Ash's door and knocks, asking him to open it. Satin jokes that Vaska will now open, and there is Kostylev's wife. Ashes opens, Kostylev looks into the room. Pepel asks if he brought money for the watch that Vaska sold him. Send him for money.

Satin jokingly offers Pepl to kill Kostylev and marry Vasilisa, become the owner of the rooming house. Klesch enters, Natasha took Anna to her kitchen. Satin and the Actor beg Vaska for a drink and leave. Ash is talking to Tick. He dreams of getting out of here, half a year of life in the basement seems to him like six years. Everyone here, according to him, lives without honor, without conscience. Ash indifferently replies that you can’t put on a conscience instead of boots. He asks Bubnov, who has entered, if he has a conscience. Both agree that only the rich need a conscience.

Natasha enters, leads a new guest, Luka, with a stick in his hand, with a knapsack over his shoulders, a bowler hat and a teapot at his belt. Luka greets, Pepel smooths his mustache in front of Natasha. Luca says he doesn't care who he lives with, "not a single flea is bad." Natasha leads him into the kitchen. He asks Klesch to come for his wife and be kinder to her, because she is living her last days. Vaska is told not to pester Natasha, Vasilisa is a fierce woman and will not give up her own. Luka sings, Pepel asks to stop singing. The Baron enters. Luka looks closely at the new neighbors, allegorically talks about himself. Ashes and the Baron leave.

Drunk Alyoshka enters with an accordion, whistles. The assistant bailiff kicked him out of the station. Nastya comes out of the kitchen, shakes her head, looking at Alyoshka. Luka remarks good-naturedly: “Oh, boy, you are confused ...” Vasilisa appears and drives Alyoshka out into the street, asks who Luka is and how long he has come, calls him a rogue. Goes to Ash's room door. Bubnov tells Vasilisa that Pepel is gone, but she says that she is not watching Vaska, but order.

He orders it to be clean and quickly leaves. Bubnov asks Nastya to sweep, Nastya says that she will get drunk and cry, she feels superfluous here. Bubnov says that all people on earth are superfluous. Luca takes the broom. Nastya quietly goes into the hallway. Policeman Medvedev enters, promising to come and play checkers with Bubnov.

When Luka goes out into the hallway, Medvedev asks about his niece: is it true what they say about Vasilisa and Ash. Bubnov gets off with general phrases. Kvashnya enters and tells Bubnov that Medvedev again wooed her today, she renounces marriage and says that the most joyful event for her was the death of her husband.

Luka brings Anna, asks why they let her go alone. There is noise and shouting in the passage: Vasilisa is beating her sister Natasha. Kvashnya, Medvedev, Bubnov rush into the hallway. Luka asks Anna what the sisters share. She replies: “So they ... are both well-fed ... healthy ...” She says that Luka, with her gentleness, reminds her of her father. “They crumpled a lot, that’s why it’s soft ...” - the old man laughs.
In the evening, on the bunk near the stove, Satin, Baron, Crooked Goit and Tatar play cards. Tick and Actor watch. Bubnov plays checkers with Medvedev. Luka is sitting on a stool by Anna's bed. She complains to him about a hungry, unhappy life and asks: is it really worse in the next world? Luka reassures her, promising her rest in the next world, then quickly leaves for the kitchen. The players disperse. The actor wants to read poetry to Luka, but he does not remember anything, he drank away his memory and soul. Luka tells him that he needs to be treated, now they are treating him for drunkenness for free in a special hospital, they recognized that a drunkard is also a person. The actor asks where this hospital is. Luka says that you need to remember the name of the city, but for now you can get ready, not drink, endure, and then you will be able to recover and start living again, because a person can do anything when he wants. Anna asks Luka to talk to her, she is sick. “You will be calm ... you won’t need anything else, and there’s nothing to be afraid of! Silence, peace ... lie to yourself! Death - it calms everything ... it is affectionate for us ... You - die with joy, without anxiety ... ”Ash enters, disheveled, gloomy. He sits at the door and sits silently, motionless. Then he gets up and accuses Luka of lying. He asks Medvedev whether Vasilisa beat Natasha badly, threatens that they will not see Natasha again, he complains that the Kostylevs incited him to steal. Medvedev gets angry and leaves. Luke advises him to go to Siberia, where he can find his way. When asked by Ash why he is lying, Luke advises to check. Vaska asks him if there is a God. “If you believe, there is; if you don’t believe it, no… What you believe in, that’s what it is…” he replies. Ash looks at the old man in surprise. Bubnov goes to the tavern. Vasilisa enters, goes to the door to Ash's room and says that she has business with him.

Luka pretends to leave, and he climbs onto the stove. Vasilisa asks if Vaska is tired of her, he admits: yes. Vasilisa thanks for the truth, says that she loved in Ashes the hope of getting rid of her husband and is ready to give her sister for him, if only Vasily would fulfill her dream and kill Kostylev. Ash refuses, Vasilisa tells him to think. Kostylev cautiously enters and sneaks forward, unexpectedly appearing in front of his interlocutors. Screaming at his wife, Vasilisa leaves. Kostylev and Ash quarrel, Luka scares them off the stove, Kostylev runs away screaming into the hallway. Luka admits that he heard everything and made a noise on purpose so that the Ashes would not strangle the owner. He advises Ash to leave Vasilisa and run away with Natasha or alone. Suddenly they see that Anna has died. They go looking for Tick.

The Actor enters. He calls Luka: he remembered what he wanted to read to him. Starts declaiming. Natasha appears, laughing. The actor tells her that he is going to be treated. Natasha notices that Anna is dead. For Bubnov, this news only means that she has stopped coughing. Everyone returns, Tick goes behind everyone, cowering. At the bedside, Tick looks at his wife over the shoulders of others. He says that he has forty kopecks, there is nothing to bury. Natasha is afraid that Anna will now dream of her. Luke advises her not to be afraid of the dead, but of the living, escorts her. The tick, confused, stands in the middle of the rooming house and does not know what to do. Crooked Goiter advises him to go to bed. Enter Satin and Actor. The actor is looking for Luca to find out the name of the city. Satin says the old man lied to him.

Natasha and Nastya are sitting side by side on a log in the yard near the Kostylevs' rooming house. On the firewood - Luka and Baron. The tick lies on a pile of wood, in the window near the ground - Bubnov. Nastya tells a fictional story about herself and her beloved Raul, taking the plot from the book Fatal Love. Bubnov and Baron laugh, Luka asks them not to interfere, smiling, stroking Nastya's head, saying that he believes in her truth. Luka and Nastya go around the corner. The Baron says that she is a kind but stupid girl. Natasha answers him that everyone dreams and invents, because it is bad for everyone to live. Here the previously silent Tick rises up: “You're lying! Not everyone! If only - everyone ... let them! Then - it's not a shame ... yes! He lays back down in his seat and grumbles. The Baron is going to make peace so that Nastya does not refuse him money for a drink. Bubnov says: “People love to lie ... Well, Nastya ... it's understandable! She is used to painting her face... so she wants to touch up her soul... bringing a blush to her soul... And... others - why? He asks why Luka is lying. The Baron answers him that people want to brown their little gray souls. Luka comes around the corner and shames the Baron, asks not to interfere with Nastya and caress her. Natasha asks why Luka is so kind. He replies that people should be pitied. He tells how he served as a watchman in the country, in the forest. Two thieves climbed in there, attacked Luka with an ax, he pointed a gun at them, ordered them to break branches and flog each other. They carved, and then asked for bread. Luke sheltered these fugitive convicts for the winter, in the spring they left for Russia. “Good men!.. If I hadn’t had pity on them, they might have killed me… or something else… And then – a court, yes a prison, yes Siberia… what’s the point? Prison - will not teach good, and Siberia will not teach ... but a man - will teach ... yes! A person can teach good things ... very simply!”

Bubnov says that he does not know how to lie and considers it necessary to tell the whole truth. The tick jumps up again and shouts: “That's the truth! There is no work... there is no power! Here is the truth! Shelter... there is no shelter! You need to breathe ... here it is, really! You can't live - the devil - you can't live ... here it is - the truth! ... You, old man, console everyone ... I'll tell you ... I hate everyone! And this truth... damn it! The tick runs around the corner, looking back. Natasha fears that he has gone mad. Ashes slowly comes around the corner, asks what is happening with the Tick, says that he does not love him because of anger and pride. He asks Natasha if the Kostylevs are at home. Natasha says that they went to the cemetery and to the vigil.

Luke talks about a righteous land where special people live and help each other. A man lived in Siberia, and when it was unbearably difficult for him, he consoled himself with the fact that there is a righteous land. And then they sent a learned exile, and that man asked him where this land was. Upon learning that it was not on the maps, the man did not believe it, got angry with the exile, and then strangled himself.

Bubnov says that these are fairy tales. Pepel and Natasha pity the deceased, Luka looks at them and smiles. He says that he will leave soon, he will go to see the new faith among the crests. Pepel decides to tell Natasha to leave with him, promises not to steal, to keep from doing so with Natasha's help. But she does not believe and cannot understand if she loves him. Ash says he loved her.

Vasilisa appears at the window, listening. Pepel asks to pity him, says that Vasilisa is greedy for money. Luke supports Ash's request. Natasha replies that there is nowhere to go and she does not trust anyone. If Vaska hits her even once, she won't want to live. Ash says he will never raise a hand against her. Then Vasilisa appears: “So we got married! May you live happily ever after!" Kostylev sends Natasha for a samovar, Pepel tells him that Natasha is now his. Vasilisa encourages Pepel, pushing him against her husband, but Luka calms Ash down. Kostylev tells Luka that a person must live in one place, work in order to be useful. Suspecting him as a fugitive, the Kostylevs drive Luka away. He is going to leave at night, Bubnov says that he was saved once by leaving on time. His wife agreed with the master, Bubnov beat his wife, and the master beat him. The thought came to him to kill his wife, but in time he caught himself and left.

Satin and Actor enter, arguing. The actor boasts to Luca that today there is money, and he is sober. Bubnov calls the Actor to the window, they are talking. Satin tells Luka that in his youth he played on stage, then he killed a scoundrel because of his sister, and after five years in prison he learned to play cards, all roads after prison are closed to him. There is a Tick, lowering his head low, thinking what he will do now. From the window of the Kostylevs, Natasha's scream is heard, the clinking of broken dishes and Kostylev's shrill scream. The hosts beat Natasha, knocked over the samovar on her and scalded her legs.

Medvedev comes running. Kostylev asks to arrest Vaska the thief. Kvashnya and Nastya come out from around the corner - they lead Natasha under the arms. Satin backs away, pushing Vasilisa, who tries to hit her sister, threatening to tear her to pieces. Everyone collides in a heap near the aisle, near the red wall. Natasha is led away to the right and there they are seated on a heap of wood.

Pepel appears, swinging strongly, beats Kostylev and kills him. Vasilisa shouts in a triumphant voice that Pepel killed her husband and calls the police. Pepel wants to kill Vasilisa as well, but he is being held back. Satine volunteers to be a witness - to protect Ash. Pepel tells Satine that Vasilisa persuaded him to kill her husband. Unexpectedly, Natasha declares that Ashes and Vasilisa conspired and removed the people who interfered with them - her and Kostylev, curses her sister and Ashes.

Ash rushes to Natasha, trying to calm her down. The police appear. Vasilisa says that the killer is Ashes, Natasha rushes about almost unconscious, says that Ashes taught Vasilisa, asks to be taken to prison and herself.

In the end - again everyone is sitting in the basement, but there is no Ash room, no Tick anvil. Klesch himself repairs the accordion. Satin, Baron and Nastya are sitting at the table with a bottle of vodka, three bottles of beer and a slice of black bread. The Actor is coughing on the stove. They talk about how Luka disappeared during the turmoil. Nastya and Kleshch say that he was. good and compassionate. The Baron and Satin laugh: "like a crumb for the toothless", "like a plaster for abscesses." The Tatar says that the old man "had the law in his soul", did not offend people.

Nastya hits the table with a glass and aloud dreams of going to the ends of the world, life and people are disgusting to her. Satin advises her to take the Actor with her to the "organon clinic", which is half a verst from the end of the world. The actor assures everyone that he will go there. Satin says to the Baron: "... it was he, the old yeast, who fermented our roommates ..."

The baron claims that Luka is a charlatan, Nastya defends him. Satin shouts: "Keep quiet about the old man!" In his opinion, Luke knew the truth, but he lied out of pity for his neighbors. Satin himself believes that "truth is the god of a free man", but the wanderer acted on him, "like acid on an old and dirty coin", telling him that people live for the best. Drink to his health. Everyone listens to Satan. The actor, leaning out of the stove, wants to carefully climb down onto the bunk. The baron talks about his family, reminisces about a hundred serfs, houses in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nastya interrupts him, claiming that he is lying, there was nothing, and then asks if he understood what it is like for a person if they do not believe him.

Satin asks if Nastya goes to the hospital to see Natasha. Nastya replies that Natasha went out and disappeared a long time ago, they are discussing what will happen to Ash for the murder. Nastya loses her temper, says that all the inhabitants of the rooming house should be sent to hard labor, says that the Baron lives at her expense, like a worm in an apple, although he boasts of his high origin, runs away. The actor gloomily says: "Amen!"

The Tatar kneels down and prays. Satin says: “A person can believe or not believe ... this is his business! Man is free... Man is the truth! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!

Human! You have to respect the person! Do not pity ... do not humiliate him with pity ... you must respect!

The actor asks the Tatar to pray for him, he replies: "Pray yourself." The actor gets down from the stove, drinks vodka and runs into the hallway. Enter Medvedev in a jacket Kvashnya and Bubnov, then Alyoshka, Crooked Goiter, a few more men and women. They undress, lay down on the bunk, grumble.

Kvashnya comes for Medvedev, she took him as a roommate. Medvedev goes into the kitchen to sleep. Alyoshka scoffs, everyone laughs, they are going to sing all night. The Baron runs in, shouting that the Actor hanged himself in the wasteland. Everyone is looking at the Baron. Nastya appears from behind him and slowly, wide-eyed, goes to the table. Satin says softly: "Eh ... ruined the song ... fool-cancer!"

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There are two storylines in the play, each of which develops independently.

The first line is connected with the life and relationships of the inhabitants of the doss house, the owner of which is Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev. He is 54 years old and has a wife, Vasilisa Karpovna, who is 26 years old. The inhabitants of the doss house are people, some of whom no longer have any social status, others are trying their best to stay in the rank of "real people", working tirelessly. These include, for example, Andrei Mitrich Kleshch, who is 40 years old. He works as a mechanic, trying to earn as much as possible to buy medicine for his sick wife Anna (she is 30 years old).

After Anna dies at the end of the play, the Tick finally descends, ceasing to work. In addition, Satin (about 40 years old), Actor (he turned 40 years old, and he really served as an actor in provincial theaters), Vaska Pepel (28 years old) - a thief with whom Vasilisa is in love, who persuades him to kill her husband . And although Vaska still encounters Kostylev in a fight, and accidentally kills him, he does not love Vasilisa - he has strong feelings for her sister Natalya (20 years old), whom Vasilisa beats out of jealousy. Also in the rooming house lives the Baron, a former nobleman who completely squandered his fortune and sank to the very bottom of life, Bubnov, Alyoshka, Tatarin and Crooked Tooth.

The second storyline is connected with the appearance of a wanderer named Luka in the overnight stay. This is such a wandering philosopher who believes that the main thing in life is not the truth, but those words that will be able to inspire hope in a person. Therefore, he tells Anna about the happiness that awaits her in the afterlife, tells the Actor about the clinic where alcoholism is treated, and advises Vaska Peplu and Natasha to run away from home and build their happiness away from people who know them. But as soon as the events in the play reach a climax, Luke disappears, which leads to the suicide of the Actor, who has lost the direction in life that could lead him to at least some happy outcome, and which Luke personified for him. Even before Luke's flight, two philosophies collide in the play - the philosophy of a man who pities all people, and the philosophy of a man who seeks to see the truth of life (Satin).

He, for example, is trying to get an answer from Klesh to the question of why he works. It turns out that people need to work not in order to create something, but in order to live, as Kleshch says, if people stop working, they "die of hunger." Luke, on the other hand, assures that a person must live, no matter what, since he cannot know what awaits him in the future. The clash of these two philosophies leads to Sateen's monologue about Man, where he says that "Man - it sounds proud." The whole meaning of what surrounds a person, the whole universe is aimed precisely at making a person feel like a full-fledged member of this world. “Everything is in a person, everything is for a person,” Satin says in his monologue.

Year of writing:

1902

Reading time:

Description of the work:

The play At the Bottom was written in 1902 by Maxim Gorky. In its direction in literature, the play belongs to a deep social drama. When the play was published, its genre was quite original and even innovative, and Gorky himself described his work At the Bottom, whose summary you will find below, as a "picture".

Interestingly, the play lacks a traditional plot, as such, the action develops through dialogues and disputes, and not events. And a very important point: in Gorky's play At the Bottom, there are no main and secondary characters, each character plays an important role.

Read below a summary of the play At the Bottom.

The play contains, as it were, two parallel actions. The first is social and everyday and the second is philosophical. Both actions develop in parallel, not intertwined. There are, as it were, two planes in the play: external and internal.

External plan. In the doss house, owned by Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev (54 years old) and his wife Vasilisa Karpovna (26 years old), live, according to the author's definition, "former people", that is, people without a solid social status, as well as working, but the poor. These are: Satin and Actor (both under 40 years old), Vaska Pepel, a thief (28 years old), Andrey Mitrich Kleshch, a locksmith (40 years old), his wife Anna (30 years old), Nastya, a prostitute (24 years old), Bubnov (45 years old), Baron (33 years old), Alyoshka (20 years old), Tatarin and Crooked Goiter, hookers (age not named). Kvashnya, a dumpling vendor (under 40 years old) and Medvedev, Vasilisa's uncle, a policeman (50 years old), appear in the house. There is a very difficult relationship between them, scandals are often tied up. Vasilisa is in love with Vaska and persuades him to kill her elderly husband in order to be the sole mistress (in the second half of the play, Vaska beats Kostylev and accidentally kills him; Vaska is arrested). Vaska is in love with Natalya, Vasilisa's sister (20 years old); Vasilisa mercilessly beats her sister out of jealousy. Satin and Actor (a former actor of provincial theaters by the name of Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky) are completely degraded people, drunkards, gamblers, Satin is also a sharpie. The baron is a former nobleman who squandered his entire fortune and is now one of the most miserable people in the rooming house. The tick tries to earn money with his metalwork tool; his wife Anna falls ill and needs medicine; at the end of the play, Anna dies, and the Tick finally sinks "to the bottom."

In the midst of drunkenness and scandals, the wanderer Luka appears in the rooming house, pitying people. He promises many an unrealizable bright future. He predicts happiness for Anna after death. The actor talks about a free hospital for alcoholics. Vaska and Natasha are advised to leave home, etc. But at the most tense moment, Luka actually runs away, leaving hopeful people. The actor is driven to suicide. In the finale, the bunkhouses sing a song, and when Satin hears about the death of the Actor, he annoys and bitterly says: “Eh ... I ruined the song ... fool!” Internal plan. Two philosophical "truths" collide in the play: Luke and Satina. The nochlezhka is a kind of symbol of a dead-ended humanity, which by the beginning of the 20th century. has lost faith in God, but has not yet gained faith in herself. Hence the general feeling of hopelessness, lack of perspective, which, in particular, is expressed by the Actor and Bubnov (pessimist reasoner) in the words: “What next” and “And the strings are rotten ...” The world has become dilapidated, exhausted, is coming to an end . Satine prefers to accept this bitter truth and not lie to himself or to people. He offers Tick to stop working. If all people stop working, what will happen? “They will die of hunger ...” - answers Kleshch, but by doing so he only reveals the meaningless essence of labor, which is aimed only at maintaining life, and not at bringing any meaning to it. Satin is a kind of radical existentialist, a person who accepts the absurdity of the universe, in which "God died" (Nietzsche) and the Void, Nothing was exposed. Luke adheres to a different view of the world. He believes that it is the terrible nonsense of life that should cause special pity for a person. If a person needs a lie to continue his life, he must lie, console him. Otherwise, the person will not stand the “truth” and will die. So Luke tells a parable about a seeker of a righteous land and a scientist who showed him on the map that there is no righteous land. The offended man left and hung himself (a parallel with the future death of the Actor). Luke is not just an ordinary wanderer, comforter, but also a philosopher. In his opinion, a person is obliged to live in spite of the nonsense of life, because he does not know his future, he is only a wanderer in the universe, and even our earth is a wanderer in space. Luca and Satine are arguing. But Satin somehow accepts the "truth" of Luke. In any case, it is the appearance of Luke that provokes Satine to his monologue about the Man, which he utters, imitating the voice of his opponent (a fundamental remark in the play). Sateen does not want to feel sorry for and console a person, but, having told him the whole truth about the meaninglessness of life, move him to self-respect and rebellion against the universe. A person, realizing the tragedy of his existence, should not despair, but, on the contrary, feel his value. The whole meaning of the universe is in it alone. There is no other meaning (for example, Christian). "Man - that sounds proud!" "Everything is in man, everything is for man."

Act one

The action takes place in a rooming house. This is a basement that looks like a cave. A large Russian stove, on which the Actor fumbles and coughs, he is about forty years old.

Behind the canopy, Anna, a thirty-year-old woman, is coughing hysterically and painfully. Her husband, the locksmith Kleshch, works at the anvil in the same basement. Nastya, a twenty-four-year-old girl, is reading a disheveled book at the table. The baron chews black bread. Kvashnya, a forty-year-old dumpling vendor, cooks.

Satin (he is also about forty years old) is lying on the bunk, he has just woken up and “growls”.

The day begins with an argument, a shout, a fight. They quarrel over who to revenge the floor. The actor refuses: he, you see, cannot breathe dust. He proudly declares:

My body is poisoned by alcohol!

The Baron mocks Nastya, takes the book away from her and laughs at the title: "Fatal Love".

Compassionate Kvashnya offers Anna hot dumplings, but she refuses - why should she eat, she dies anyway. "Poisoned by alcohol" The actor drags the consumptive Anna into the hallway - to breathe air, stuffy in the basement.

Satin can't remember why he was beaten yesterday. Must be for playing cards. Having nothing to do, he utters rare and incomprehensible words into space: “macrobiotics”, “transcendental”. He was once a telegraph operator, whoever he was, read smart books, but forgot everything.

Fifty-six-year-old Kostylev, the owner of a rooming house, descends into the basement.

He is looking for his wife Vasilisa, who is half his age. Kostylev hypocritically talks about kindness, about God, reproaches Kleshch for beating his wife to death ... Kostylev is greedy, all his reasoning is a comedy in which no one believes.

The owner of the rooming house knocks on the door of the little room where the young thief Vaska Pepel lives. The husband suspects that his Vasilisa is at Vaska's. The sleepers look at each other:

He will open and she will be there.

But this time Ash did not have a young woman, it worked out.

Vaska sends Kostylev to collect the money he owes the thief for the stolen watch.

The room-houses beg the thief for money - some nickels, some two kopecks. The tick is gloomy: he feels gloomy pride that he has been working from an early age, and all the rest - "without honor, without conscience ..."

Satin:

Work? Make it so that the work was pleasant to me - I may be working ... Yes! May be! When work is pleasure, life is good! When work is a duty, life is slavery!

Natasha, Vasilisa's sister, brings a new guest - an old man named Luka.

The Stranger listens to the conversation that only rich people need honesty, and conscience is only a burden for the poor.

Luke:

I don't care! I respect crooks too, in my opinion, not a single flea is bad: all are black, all jump.

Good girl Natasha, here she warmed Anna in her kitchen, ask Klesh to be kinder to his wife - she didn’t have long left. Vaska Peplu likes her much more than her married sister, only Vasilisa is “a fierce woman, she won’t give up her own.”

Pepel complains that "it can be boring ...". Longing rolls in. He's trying to get the Baron to get on all fours and bark - for fifty dollars.

Baron:

I know that I have become almost worse than you! You would then make me walk on all fours when I was no match for you ...

I... used to... wake up in the morning and, lying in bed, drink coffee... coffee! With cream... Yes!

The baron clings to the "new" - to Luka: "You, old man, who are you? Wanderer? Do you have documents?

“We are all wanderers on earth…” the old man replies evasively. - They say that our earth is a wanderer in the sky ... "

The aphoristic, peculiar, somewhat sly speech of the old man attracts attention, disposes sincerely. Luka and the Baron quickly reconciled, agreeing that all the papers (documents) are worthless.

A young drunk shoemaker, Alyoshka, tumbles in and rages. Behind him - the hostess Vasilisa, drives the shoemaker away, speaks evil to everyone, finds fault with what is not swept, threatens to expel everyone.

In fact, she is looking for Vaska, but he is not there. Moreover, Alyoshka had teased her earlier that Vaska wanted to leave her and take Natasha for himself. Vasilisa leaves.

Bubnov:

How much atrocity is in her, in this woman ...

Nastya:

You'll go crazy with this kind of life. Bind every living person to a husband like hers...

Again, strife-strife ...

Luke finds a broom in the hallway and sweeps the room.

Descends into the basement and Medvedev, a policeman, Vasilisa and Natalia's uncle. Kostylev calls him soon: Vasilisa kills Natashka. Everyone runs towards the noise, except for Luka, who consoles Anna. The patient says that he looks like her father - the same gentle, soft.

They crushed a lot, that's why it's soft, - Luka laughs with a rattling laugh.

Action two

There is a game of cards in the basement. The baron beats the Tatar by twisting the cards and hiding them in his sleeve. The actor complains to Luca that he drank away his memory.

Luke:

They treat drunkenness now, you hear. They treat for free, brother... Such a hospital is set up for drunkards... They are even glad if a drunkard wants to be treated...

Actor:

Again? Live again? After all, I can?

Luke:

A man can do anything... If only he wants to...

Comforts Luka and Anna: “If you die, you will rest. Because here - where is a person to rest here? The Lord will say, take her, Anna, to heaven...” Luka calls the policeman Abram Medvedenko “under”, which is very flattering for him - he is not yet a non-commissioned officer.

Is Vaska Pepel. He threatens to take Natasha away. Luke advises him to leave these places and go to Siberia. Do not wait until they are arrested and exiled, but go yourself, start a new life. “The good side is Siberia! Whoever is in power and in the mind is there - like a cucumber in a greenhouse.

Ash retorts, "You're lying, old man!"

Luke:

And what do you really need? She really can swell for you ...

Vasilisa appears. She calls Vaska Ash for a conversation. He answers her honestly: “And I lived with you, and that’s all ... But I never liked you ... A woman should have a soul ...”

Vasilisa replies that in Vaska she loved her hope that he would "pull her out", save her from the hateful life of living with an old unloved husband.

You are not a nail, I am not a tick! Vasily answers.

Vasilisa asks Ash to save her from her husband - not by herself, even through her comrades.

She will remain a complete mistress, marry her former lover Natasha, give money ... And let them leave! Because Vasilisa cannot see her younger sister - she breaks down, beats.

Kostylev appears. He scolds his wife for a beggar, a pig. Vaska shakes him by the scruff of the neck... The case may come to murder. But here on the stove, Luka deliberately starts to mess around loudly. This saves Kostylev from Death, and Vaska from sin and arrest.

Luke advises Ash to drive Vasilisa. From the speeches of the old man it becomes clear that he lived a rich and not always righteous life. And "the woman knew" a lot - "the head is bald because of these very different women", and - as Vaska suspects - maybe he killed someone ...

At this moment, Anna wheezes terribly and Luke reads a memorial prayer over her: “The spirit of your newly deceased servant Anna, accept in peace ...”

I don't like the dead! Vaska shudders.

Why love them? You need to love the living, - Luke responds.

He gives similar advice to Natasha:

Don't be afraid of the dead... You have to be afraid of the living...

The tipsy Actor returns. He remembered the verses

was about to recite to the old man.

This is Beranger's translation:

Lord! If the holy world fails to find the way to the truth, Honor to the madman who will inspire Mankind with a golden dream!

The actor dreams of finding a hospital "with a marble floor", being cured - and starting a new life. Just wait for spring, real spring ...

"Fata Morgana! The old man lied to you! There is nothing! No cities, no people... Nothing!” Satin yells back at him.

Act Three

Early spring. Only the snow melted. Nastya, Natasha, Luka, Baron are sitting on logs in a yard littered with various rubbish. The tick lies on a pile of wood. From the basement window "Bubnov's face looks out."

Nastya tells the story of her love, where there is a meeting at night in a gazebo in the garden, and the words of a student in love “My beloved love”, and “levorvert” ... But she confuses the names: her Raul was called Gaston last time ...

Her cohabitant Baron laughs at her: the whole story is read from the book "Fatal Love". But Luka takes her away: “Since you believe that you had such love, it means that you had ...”

Why are you so kind, grandpa? - asks tearful Nastya.

Luke tells her a story. He once guarded the dacha with a gun. Two people with an ax climbed in through the window.

At gunpoint, the robbers threw axes. Luke made them break branches and ... flog each other. And they asked for bread for Christ's sake - they don't even remember how many people go without eating. And they would not dare to rob, but whoever you ask, no one gives.

Luke fed the travelers. “They are both good men... Though they are runaway convicts...” So the three of them guarded the dacha all winter long.

“Prison will not teach good, and Siberia will not teach ... But a person will teach ...” - Luka draws such a conclusion.

The stranger tells a parable. One man lived by faith in a righteous land, where people help each other, everything is gloriously good with them. And all he was going to go to this land.

Only one scientist unfolded geographical maps, looked for a long time and said that there is no such righteous land on the whole earth. Nowhere! And what did this man do? He hit the scientist on the ear, and he went home - and strangled himself. Because it is impossible for a person to live without faith in the best.

The thief Vaska is imbued with this story: if he had not been called only a “thief” since childhood, he would have lived this way, maybe differently. He calls Natasha with him, because she is "a good, strict girl." And he needs this to guide him on the true path and keep his hot nature in check.

Luke puts in his word: “Do not hesitate, dear! He will not offend you ... He needs you more than he needs you! Kostylev and Vasilisa tell Luka to get out immediately - he confuses everyone, there is no peace. And he, a tramp, has no passport either.

Vasilisa again rushes to beat Natalya and knocks over a boiling samovar on her feet. Vaska Pepel rushes to the defense - beats Kostylev and ... He falls dead. Vasilisa yells: "Knit him!"

Natasha screams wildly: "Vasilisa and her lover - they are in cahoots!"

act four

Basement again. The partitions of the room where Vaska Pepel lived have been demolished. A Tatar now lives there. The conversation is about Luke. Nastya says that she fell in love with the old man for his ability to inspire faith in the good. “He was compassionate ...” - Tick supports her. "He was for you - like a crumb for toothless ..." - Satin taunts.

"The old man was good... He had a law in his soul..." - says the Tatar. “He did not like the truth ... The old man ... That's right - what is the truth here? And without it there is nothing to breathe ... ”, - Tick sighs.

Satin (banging his fist on the table):

What is truth? Man is the truth! He lied... But this is out of pity for you! There are many people who lie out of pity for their neighbor... Beautiful, inspirational. Exciting lie! There is a comforting lie, a reconciling lie. A reconciling lie... Those who are weak in soul need a lie.

Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of a free man!

Satin says that once in a conversation the old man told him that all people live "for a better person." Therefore, we need to take care of each other - and especially the children. "Man is great! It sounds proud! Work? For what? To be full? Man is above satiety!

And again, crying rises in the rooming house, quarrels flare up ... The actor slowly leaves. Bubnov announces that he has a name day and brings alcohol.

Everyone gets drunk, not excluding the “Businessman” Medvedenko. They sing a song: "The sun rises and sets, but it's dark in my prison..."

Bubnov appears on the threshold:

Hey you! Come here! In the wasteland ... there ... The actor ... Choked himself!

Eh, ruined the song, fool-r-cancer!

External plan. In the doss house, owned by Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev (51 years old) and his wife Vasilisa Karlovna (26 years old), live, according to the author's definition, "former people", that is, people without a solid social status, as well as working, but poor people. These are: Satin and Actor (both under 40 years old), Vaska Pepel, a thief (28 years old), Andrey Mitrich Kleshch, a locksmith (40 years old), his wife Anna (30 years old), Nastya, a prostitute (24 years old), Bubnov (45 years old), Baron (33 years old), Alyoshka (20 years old), Tatarin and Crooked Goiter, hookers (age not named). Kvashnya, a dumpling vendor (under 40 years old) and Medvedev, Vasilisa's uncle, a policeman (50 years old), appear in the house. There is a very difficult relationship between them, scandals are often tied up. Vasilisa is in love with Vaska and persuades him to kill her elderly husband in order to be the sole mistress (in the second half of the play, Vaska beats Kostylev and accidentally kills him; Vaska is arrested). Vaska is in love with Natalya, Vasilisa's sister (20 years old); Vasilisa mercilessly beats her sister out of jealousy. Satin and the Actor (a former actor of provincial theaters by the name of Sverchkov-Zavolzhsky) are completely degraded people, drunkards, gamblers, Satin is also a sharpie. The baron is a former nobleman who squandered his entire fortune and is now one of the most miserable people in the rooming house. The tick tries to earn money with his metalwork tool; his wife Anna falls ill and needs medicine; at the end of the play, Anna dies, and the Tick finally sinks "to the bottom."

In the midst of drunkenness and scandals, the wanderer Luka appears in the rooming house, pitying people. He promises many an unrealizable bright future. He predicts happiness for Anna after death. The actor talks about a free hospital for alcoholics. Vaska and Natasha are advised to leave home, etc. But at the most tense moment, Luka actually runs away, leaving hopeful people. The actor is driven to suicide. In the finale, the bunkhouses sing a song, and when Satin hears about the death of the Actor, he annoys and bitterly says: “Eh ... I ruined the song ... fool!” Internal plan. Two philosophical "truths" collide in the play: Luke and Satina. The nochlezhka is a kind of symbol of a dead-ended humanity, which by the beginning of the 20th century. has lost faith in God, but has not yet gained faith in herself. Hence the general feeling of hopelessness, lack of perspective, which, in particular, is expressed by the Actor and Bubnov (the pessimist reasoner) in the words: “What next” and “And the strings are rotten ...” The world has become dilapidated, exhausted, is coming to an end . Satine prefers to accept this bitter truth and not lie to himself or to people. He offers Tick to stop working. If all people stop working, what will happen? “They will die of hunger ...” - answers Kleshch, but by doing so he only reveals the meaningless essence of labor, which is aimed only at maintaining life, and not at bringing any meaning to it. Satin is a kind of radical existentialist, a person who accepts the absurdity of the universe, in which “God is dead” (Nietzsche) and the Void, Nothing is exposed. Luke adheres to a different view of the world. He believes that it is the terrible nonsense of life that should cause special pity for a person. If a person needs a lie to continue his life, he must lie, console him. Otherwise, the person will not stand the “truth” and will die. So Luke tells a parable about a seeker of a righteous land and a scientist who showed him on the map that there is no righteous land. The offended man left and hanged himself (a parallel with the future death of the Actor). Luke is not just an ordinary wanderer, comforter, but also a philosopher. In his opinion, a person is obliged to live in spite of the nonsense of life, because he does not know his future, he is only a wanderer in the universe, and even our earth is a wanderer in space. Luca and Satine are arguing. But Satin somehow accepts the "truth" of Luke. In any case, it is the appearance of Luke that provokes Satine to his monologue about the Man, which he utters, imitating the voice of his opponent (a fundamental remark in the play). Sateen does not want to feel sorry for and console a person, but, having told him the whole truth about the meaninglessness of life, move him to self-respect and rebellion against the universe. A person, realizing the tragedy of his existence, should not despair, but, on the contrary, feel his value. The whole meaning of the universe is in it alone. There is no other meaning (for example, Christian). "Man - that sounds proud!" "Everything is in man, everything is for man."