The most interesting hero of the play "At the Bottom" is Vasilisa. M
In my opinion, the most interesting character in the play At the Bottom is Vasilisa. Why? Because Gorky put into this heroine all the negativity of the human soul. She is young, pretty, but at the same time there is not a drop of sensuality, respect,
trust. Rather, betrayal and lies are the main reflection of her essence. To build a negative character, each author has to experience something similar in his life. For example, Nabokov suffered from pedophilia for a long time until he wrote
his famous novel "Lolita". And what happened to Gorky, who inspired him to create the image of Vasilisa? The story is silent about this ... This heroine is ready for anything for the sake of money, even for the murder of her own husband. She is married to a fifty-four-year-old housekeeper, although she is twenty-six herself. She is full of strength and energy, her husband is almost "dead". During the reading of the play, the theme of Vasilisa's love for her husband never arose in my thoughts. Did she really love him? Probably not, in my opinion she did not love anyone at all except herself and MONEY, Money, money. Which she craved more and more, trying to get rid of her husband as soon as possible.
She has a lover, Vaska Ashes, who for her is only an object of achieving her own goals, she does not love him and she is completely indifferent to whom he will end up with ...
Sister Natasha, twenty years old, whom she constantly beats because she meets with Vaska. Although she perfectly understands that she is wrong and she does not care who she is with. But as a "caring" sister, she must keep her from the Ashes. Everyone with whom she lives considers her a "fierce woman" who does not think about anyone but herself. She considers herself a full-fledged hostess of the hostel and does not neglect the term "hostess" at all. Yes, she wants to feel like her, swim in luxury, live with her young husband.
But these are only dreams, and she is only the wife of the owner of the hostel. Wife, how much has been invested in this term, but probably, in the time of Vasilisa, he was represented differently. All the so-called wives wanted only one thing - a rich old husband and a handsome
young lover. But in all this, the parents are probably to blame, who first of all thought about the welfare of their daughter, and not about her happiness.
Talking to the residents of the hostel in a businesslike manner: “But I don't care who you are! You live out of mercy, don't forget! How much do you owe me? ”She said, addressing Bubnov. To humiliate others is another property of negativity. And one of the nastiest. Even having lived for some time with all the hostels, she refers to them. Like the dregs of society, losers.
He treats Klesh's life with contempt, however, as he himself plays with Vasily, like a fox with a bun, he wants only one thing - to get rid of her husband, of whom there is only one name left - husband. She tells Ash that they can help each other: he will kill her husband, and she will let him go with his sister. Saying this, she considers herself a decisive, even mistress of other people's destinies. She holds her sister by a toy that can be presented or "thrown away" with Vaska. But he does not want this, he says: “Beast! Are you bragging about your atrocities? " In front of her husband she is playing a loving wife, but in fact ...
Luke, the righteous man, considers her a "bad person." But in my heart, nevertheless, I think that he forgives her everything. Vasilisa starts a scandal, during which Vasily inadvertently kills Kostylev.
She accuses Vaska of killing her husband, which suggests that she is a traitor, a liar, and is ready to do anything to get out of this story, which she herself started. She achieved what she wanted. She accomplished her Evil, to which she had been going for so long. But, as it seems to me, she does not think that her hands are covered in blood, rather, on the contrary, she thinks that all the "dirty work" hangs on Vaska Pepla, she has nothing to do with it, she does not feel any remorse.
Vasilisa and Vaska are taken to the police station ...
After that, at the feast, Nastya reflects: “Vasilisa - will wriggle out! She is cunning. And Vaska will be sent to hard labor ... "
I think this is exactly the case. Sly and calculating people will turn themselves out everywhere! Vasilisa is the concentration of all that is bad in a person. Gorky tried to use her to show how cruel our world can be. But, on the other hand, if it were not for such “negative” heroines and heroes, literature would not be interesting. Negative heroes captivate with their firmness and cruelty.
I really like this heroine precisely because she is a completely extraordinary villain, all facets of bad are strictly defined in her, she is a pure negative hero. Although there may be a ray of light in it, but to us, the readers, Gorky did not show it. And turned Vasilisa into a first-class villain!
It is much harder to embody Vasilisa on stage than a positive heroine. But it is also much more interesting, in their opinion, negative characters are even more lively than positive ones, but perhaps they are mistaken ...
In the work "At the Bottom", the author described the life of people from the lowest social stratum. Such a society included ragamuffins, drunks, homeless people living in a shelter owned by Mikhail Kostylev. Kostylev was married to a young girl named Vasilisa.
Vasilisa Karpovna was a self-serving woman who loved to rule. She was only 26 years old. Selfish motives forced her to marry old Kostylev. Mikhail Ivanovich was 54 odes. Vasilisa was a beautiful and attractive woman. The heroine has been married for 4 years already. She called her husband a "bug", sucking youth out of her. The heroine's younger sister Natasha lived with them. Mikhail constantly bullied the poor girl. The girls had an uncle who worked for the police. Uncle considered Vasilisa a clever and clever woman. Natasha thought she was very cunning. Because Vasilisa extricated herself from any circumstance.
Vasilisa Kostyleva was proud and did not ask others for help, alms and attention. According to Bubnov, the heroine was distinguished by cruelty and a harsh disposition. The surrounding people called the heroine "poisonous viper" or "devil". Vaska Ashes called her soulless. Vaska stole and lived in a shelter. He paid for the rent with stolen goods. Vasilisa started a love relationship with Vaska. The entrepreneurial spirit and cunning of the heroine knew no bounds. Finding out about Vaska's feelings for Natasha, Vasilisa incited the thief to murder Mikhail Kostylev. In return, Kostyleva promises to give money and marry him off to Natasha.
To become rich, she turned her sister into a puppet. At the same time, Vasilisa does not hide the benefits, greed and boasts that she will soon become a rich widow. Hearing Vaska's refusal, the heroine reminded him of the time spent with her. To persuade the guy, she began to threaten. Vaska did not give in and did not want to kill old Kostylev. To persuade him, Vasilisa began to mock Natasha, who, so, was experiencing difficult times.
Mocking her sister, she spills boiling water on her. In the end, Vasilisa persuaded Ash to kill her old husband. So Vasilisa became rich. The ability to adapt to the situation, and resourcefulness made Vasilisa a cruel hostess of the hostel and life.
Essay about Vasilisa
In his play At the Bottom, Maxim Gorky describes the life of people in a lower social society. Drunkards, vagabonds, tramps inhabit the shelter, which is maintained by Mikhail Ivanovich Kostylev. He has a wife, a young woman of twenty-six, Vasilisa.
Vasilisa is a power-hungry, selfish woman. She married Kostylev, who is almost thirty years older than her, not out of love, but out of low selfish motives. Her greedy nature requires enrichment, and Vasilisa is ready to take any step to get rich. She wants wealth while she is still young in order to live for her own pleasure.
Vaska Pepel lives in their little house, on a tip from the Kostylev family, he is engaged in theft, and they buy stolen things from him, reselling them at exorbitant prices. Vasilisa started a love relationship with this inhabitant of their shelter. She is an insidious and enterprising woman, having learned that Vaska Peplu likes her sister Natasha, Vasilisa incites her lover to murder her old husband. Using all her feminine charm, with cunning and flattery, the heartless mistress tries to convince Vaska to help her get rid of her hated husband. Vasilisa promises to give Ash her sister, give him money so that Vaska can escape from the city. For the sake of possessing her husband's wealth, she disposes of Natasha as a thing. Vasilisa does not hide from her lover her greed and profit, how rich and independent she will become when her husband is gone. When Vaska refuses, Vasilisa reproaches him, recalling the days spent together. She is, in fact, threatening him. Ash does not give in to the persuasion of his former mistress, and then, in order to annoy him, Vasilisa begins to cruelly mock her own sister, who is not so sweet in their house.
In the end, she scalds Natasha with boiling water, guessing that Vaska will come running to help. She provokes her guest, and Vaska, by pure chance, kills Kostylev. This is how the insidious Vasilisa achieves her goal. It is clear to everyone that a selfish woman will come out dry from the water. Naturally, in any case, she will buy off the police, which means that she will become the sovereign mistress of the shelter, receive all her husband's fortune, and at the same time get rid of her unnecessary sister and her former lover. Her resourcefulness and ability to adapt to any circumstances will make Vasilisa an even more cruel and unprincipled mistress of not only a shelter, but also life.
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Once we went with my parents and my brother to pick mushrooms. The weather was great, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the grass was lush and green. I was in a great mood and I wanted to run through the forest and collect the most mushrooms.
In my opinion, speech is one of the most important ways of communication. We talk to different people every day, and everyone expresses their emotions through speech. By the manner in which a person speaks, we can form an impression of him.
Gorky's dramaturgy is very interesting for its problems, the power of philosophical reflections. A certain perfection in this regard has been achieved by the play At the Bottom, which represents the totality of the writer's socio-philosophical views.
With the help of an extensive author's remarks and statements of characters, the exposition depicts a "basement that looks like a cave" where thieves, sharpshooters, prostitutes, former workers live, fight, die: a locksmith Klesh, a cap Bubnov, telegraph operator Satin, Actor, Baron. Their position is not much different from each other, despite the fact that some, like the Tick, hope to "break free", others, like Satin, want to "forget about human life." All of them are at different stages of falling "to the bottom", but nevertheless, they are freed from social signs, differences, remaining naked.
This characterization of the characters makes it possible to show social conflict from an unusual point of view. There are masters here too, but they operate on a microscopic scale. So, the "masters of life" in the work are represented by the owner of the shelter Kostylev, a hypocritical, cowardly, disgusting old man who squeezes profit from the living and the dead, from every breath of his victims, and his wife Vasilisa, a cruel, greedy predator who makes her way with crimes.
Kostylev, the owner of the shelter, appears in the play in the first act. And his very first phrase is capable of instilling hostility towards him. The old man enters the basement at the moment when the Actor is trying to take the dying Anna out into the hallway to get some fresh air. Seeing them, Kostylev declares: "Oh, and a good couple, a ram and a yarochka." It immediately becomes clear that in this character we will not see a single drop of sympathy. A little later, the owner of the shelter promises to Mite to throw on that one more "fifty dollars" for his main payment. To this Tick replies: "Throw a noose over me and crush me ... You will die soon, and you think about fifty dollars ..." What a satire! .. “Can kindness of heart be equated with money? Kindness is above all blessings. " And we hear these words from a person who literally crushes his inhabitants with inhuman conditions, about which he himself later says: "And I love you all ... I understand, you are my brothers, unhappy, useless, lost ...". Standing socially lower, in moral terms, the inhabitants of the basement seem much more human than this "master of life." In almost every basement "tramp" you can find some good qualities, albeit perverted because of such an inhuman life, but they are. In Kostylevo, we cannot find a single positive feature.
Indicative in terms of "masters of life" and the image of Kostylev's wife Vasilisa. This woman has no moral character. By marrying an old man for the sake of money and a certain social status, she showed her position in life. She is a "smart woman", she knows how to adapt to any environment.
Initially, we learn about Vasilisa only that she is the mistress of the thief Vaska Ash. But what is it? Real feelings, emotions, or cold calculation again, the search for permanent benefits? Rather, the second. Of course, with an old husband it is good to have a young lover, but if there is another monetary benefit from the lover ... Vasilisa knows that Vaska depends on her, understands that she can turn him over to the police at any time and makes him steal. How long it lasted is unknown, Gorky brings us to the moment when Ash decided to rebel: “You are beautiful, Vaska ... but my heart never lay with you ... And I lived with you and that's all ... but I never liked you ... »It turns out that Vaska Ashes loves Vasilisa's younger sister. And it’s impossible to love the hostess of the little house, because she’s a beautifully built monster. Behind a beautiful appearance is a terrible, ugly entity. Ashes himself speaks about her very accurately: "you don't have a soul, baba ... In a woman, there should be a soul ... We are animals ... we need ... we need to accustom us ... and you - what did you accustom me to? ..". But even in this situation, Vasilisa is not lost, but offers Vasily to give up his younger sister Natasha, for which he will have to kill Kostylev. It immediately becomes clear to us that Vasilisa did not have any bright emotions for Ash. Wanting to deal with everyone in one fell swoop, she incites Vaska to commit a crime. Otherwise, she promises to finally torture her younger sister. And everything turned out exactly as Vasilisa had intended. Seeing Vaska and Natasha talking, she drives her sister home, locks herself in the room with her and begins to beat her severely. Gorky does not show us this scene, but, already knowing what this monstrous woman is capable of, it becomes scary.
The fight scene can be called the culmination of the drama's social conflict. By negligence, Ash still kills Kostylev. Now he faces prison or hard labor. Vasilisa did her terrible job, in one fell swoop she immediately got rid of three: her husband, lover and sister. And it's okay that they take her to the police station together with Vaska. She is a "smart woman", she can always get out. It is these people who are able to live in such living conditions. It is unlikely that something can ever dump her, she is too cunning and resourceful for this. And if we talk about resolving the social conflict, the murder of Kostylev was completely meaningless. It did not resolve social contradictions. The inhabitants of the flophouse returned to their occupations. And most likely, Vasilisa will act as the mistress of the basement, and it is easy to imagine that life under her yoke will become completely unbearable for the "tramps".
Thus, Gorky, through the images of Kostylev and Vasilisa, showed the moral level of the "masters of life" of the bottom. In this regard, they fell even lower than the inhabitants of the shelter, for there was nothing human left in them.
Gorky's works are very interesting for their problematic and depth of philosophical reasoning. The play "At the Bottom", in this regard, has reached a certain perfection, since it is a set of socio-philosophical views of the author himself.
With the help of the author's detailed remarks and the statements of the characters of the play themselves, Gorky very expressively depicts the scene of the action - a flophouse, which looks more like a cave. Here live, fight and die cheats, thieves, prostitutes, former workers (telegraph operator Satin, locksmith Klesh, cap Bubnov and others). All of them are practically in the same position, although the degree of their fall to the “bottom” is different. Some seek to escape from poverty, while others have completely renounced normal human life and obey the will of circumstances.
The play shows a very unusual social conflict.
Among the heroes of the work there are not only the inhabitants of the rooming house, who have lost all social characteristics, but also the so-called "masters of life", which are represented by a couple of Kostylevs, the owners of the rooming house. The hypocritical and cowardly old man Kostylev squeezes profit from each of his victims, and his wife Vasilisa, with the cruelty of a greedy predator, makes her way with crimes.
The landlord appears in the first act of the play, and from his very first remark, the reader understands that nothing good should be expected from this character. Kostylev enters the basement, while the Actor helps the dying Anna to go out into the hallway to breathe fresh air. The old man mockingly calls them "a couple", not feeling a single drop of sympathy for the grief of others. Later Kostylev promises to Kleshch to throw another fifty dollars on his main board. The tick does not hide its disgust for the owner of the shelter, who is ready to draw out the last means of subsistence from people. Old man Kostylev is a disgusting character. To emphasize this, Gorky gives him the opportunity to speak out about kindness. What a satire are the words in the mouth of Kostylev that kindness is the highest good! The inhabitants of the shelter, existing at the very "bottom" of life, seem morally much higher and more worthy of this greedy old man. In every "tramp" you can find some positive qualities, albeit a little distorted by the inhuman living conditions. In Kostylev, the reader will not find a single good quality.
The image of Vasilisa, the wife of Kostylev, is no less indicative in terms of the image of the “masters of life”. This woman has no moral foundations. She married an old man for the sake of money and a decent social status. This is her main position in life. Vasilisa is a "smart woman" who knows how to adapt to any circumstances.
The reader will immediately learn about Vasilisa what she has in the lovers of the thief Vaska Ash. But, of course, she does not feel real feelings for him. Having a young lover with an old husband is good, and if there is also a monetary benefit, then it is doubly pleasant. Vasilisa understands perfectly well that Ash depends on her, because at any moment she can turn him over to the police. Therefore, she easily manages to get Vaska to steal for her. The reader does not know how long their relationship lasted, but one day Vaska decides to rebel. He frankly expresses to Vasilisa everything that has boiled in his soul during their communication. It turns out that in fact he loves not soulless Vasilisa, but her younger sister Natasha. Vasilisa immediately finds a way to benefit from the current situation: she is ready to give Vaska her sister, provided that he kills her husband. Thus, the hostess of the shelter wants to get rid of all the people she dislikes at once. In case of refusal, she promises to torture Natasha to death ashes. Once finding them together, Vasilisa locks Natasha in the house and brutally beats her. Behind the beautiful appearance of this woman, there is a real monster capable of terrible deeds.
There is a conflict between Ash and Kostylev, and Vaska accidentally kills the owner of the shelter. Now he faces hard labor. Vasilisa, in the end, achieved her goal: she got rid of her husband, lover and sister in one fell swoop. True, she is also taken to the police station together with Vaska. But she, of course, can get out. Only people like Vasilisa are able to exist in such conditions. Nothing can knock her down, cunning and resourcefulness will help this woman withstand under any circumstances.
Of course, the murder of Kostylev cannot resolve the social conflict of the play. Vasilisa will now become the hostess of the shelter, and its inhabitants will have a very bad time. With the help of the images of Vasilisa and Kostylev, Gorky showed the level of moral decline of the "masters of life." There is nothing human left in them, and, in this regard, the "tramps" look much more worthy of their "masters".