M. Gorky's play “At the Bottom” (1902), defocused in terms of plot and composition, makes it easy to introduce characters who have not previously been involved in disputes-polylogues of the stage action. In this sense, a separate closet with a separate entrance-door, located (according to the author’s note) on the opposite side from
side of the "dirty" kitchen, pre-exposition allows co-opting a new - alternative to the "lower" ones (the merchant Kvashnya, the prostitute Nastya, etc.) - a hero-type, close and familiar from Gorky's early prose. Vaska Pepel reveals similarities with the romantic image of Chelkash - "an inveterate drunkard and a clever, bold thief", who "despite his appearance as a crook", enjoys "fame and trust".
The individualistic traits that make up the character of the romanticized short story Chelkash are softened by Gorky in the image of the stage Ash. If Chelkash is about forty, he is an “old poisoned wolf” with still black, but already “with gray” hair, then Pepel is young, he is twenty-eight. Moreover, he is youthfully in love - and prefers not a fatal passion for the beautiful Vasilisa, but tender care for the soft and pure Natasha. In the play “At the bottom”, in connection with the image of the Ashes, Satin says: “There are no people in the world better than thieves!” .
A signal for the convergence of the images of Ash and Chelkash is a dream that the hero sees "At the Bottom":
“... as if I was catching fish, and I got - a huge bream! Such a bream - only in a dream there are such ... And so I drive it on a fishing rod and I'm afraid - the forest will break off! And I prepared a net ... now, I think, now ... ".
Exactly how fishing was described by Chelkash to shoulder-man Gavrila in the early story “Chelkash” the peculiarity of the forthcoming work: “- What [work]? Chelkash replied: - We'll go fishing. You will row ... ". The connotations of the image of the predatory and fearless, handsome and desperate Chelkash are inherited by Ash, a priori explicating the characteristic features of the image of Gorky's "proud man", which became the central type of both early stories and Gorky's early dramaturgy.
Behind the most superficial, actually Gorky level of autocitation, other - sacred - meanings of the dream seen by the hero are read. The symbolism of the fish incorporates many diverse and sometimes polar opposite meanings. Since ancient times, the fish has been associated with the image of the Teacher, the world Savior, the progenitor, and in a broader non-personalized sense - with wisdom. The symbolism of the fish, of course, is directly related to the Christian Jesus. In early Christianity, the fish embodied the symbol of Christ, the sign of the fish was the first monogram of the Son of God. It was the fishermen who became the first disciples of Jesus, assuring him that they would be “fishers of men.” In this mythopoetic context, Ash's dream takes on the scope of an ideologeme-symbol, a sign-signal about the coming "fishing", about capturing the soul of the Man Gorky is looking for. The Dream of Ashes with all openness and frankness reveals the installation writer's tendency, focused on the search for the "majestic image of Man" (poem
"Human").
Meanwhile, the philosophical meaning of sleep in the play “At the Bottom” by Gorky leads into subtext, highlighting the interpretation of it by unenlightened rooming houses as the conquest of a mistress by Ash (“It’s not a bream, but Vasilisa was ...”). The deep meaning of the parable is veiled, the understanding of the philosopheme is reduced to the level of philistine reading. The love motif "levels" the image of Ash in comparison with the image of Chelkash, reducing its symbolic potential, but enhancing its realistic interpretation. Those. in the text “At the Bottom”, the image of Ash does not sound as “proud” as it was manifested in the image of a tramp with a predatory hawk appearance in an early story, his remarks about truth and lies are heard in the play, but “crayons”, mainly relate to the love theme. Only once does the hero touch upon the fundamental aspect of Gorky's philosophical alternative "truth - lies", touching on the question of God, following Luke and at the same time talking about respect for man:
“I have to live like this ... so that I can respect myself ...” .
Supports the idea of \u200b\u200b"failed" in the Ashes of Chelkash and the name of the hero. The nickname Ashes can mean the incineration of the “former person” in him, but, perhaps, the sparks of humanity that have not yet died out in him. Wed in the poem “Man”: “After all, sparks are the mothers of fires! I - in the future - a fire in the darkness of the universe! .. to burn as brightly as possible and illuminate the darkness of life more deeply ... ". However, in the philosophical context of Plato's ideas, which are characteristic of the "basic level" of the semantic content of the play "At the Bottom", the name Ashes can also symbolize the remnants, cinders, ashes of the past - as it sounds in the poem
"Man", "fragments of old truths", "ashes of old truths".
Semantically significant is the name of the hero - Vasily, from the Greek. basileus, i.e. "king, royal". It is no coincidence that Satin addresses Ashes: “You, Sardanapal!” - named after the hero of ancient Greek mythology, the mythical king of Assyria.
Ash finds himself in a dispute about the truth. The former "king" is allowed to throw Bubnov: "You're lying! .." - in an attempt to defend the sincerity of feelings for Natasha. However, the nickname-surname Pepel destroys the royal semantics of the proper name, actualizing the "former" and "past" of the character's fate. The image of Vaska Pepla was relegated by Gorky from the height of the position of a royal person or the romanticized image of Chelkash in order to step by step indicate the evolution of humanity (“incarnation”) in the play, to illustrate more fully and in more detail the variability of Platonic (under) people and the procedural nature of philosophy and the very act of maturation of a Man (= Proud Man). ). Ashes, who from childhood unambiguously and straightforwardly accepted the path outlined for him (“My path is marked for me! My parent spent all my life in prisons and ordered me too ... When I was little, that’s what they called me a thief at that time, son of thieves .. ."), according to Bubnov's observations, - "a chip man": "People all live ... like chips floating down the river ...". And in this motif (in part) the truth of the extinct truths of Ash, the hero-king, overthrown from his royal-romantic heights, is explicated.
It is customary to think that Pepel accidentally killed the owner of the rooming house in a fight. However, regarding the murder of Kostylev, the author's remarks contain some secret and undisclosed details. So, during the fight, in addition to Ash, the villain Kostylev is beaten by Crooked Goiter (“Oh, and I gave him one time!”), And Satin (“I also hit the old man three times ...”). After a strong blow from Ash, who came running to the wasteland, the owner of the rooming house falls. But Gorky, for some reason, reports in a remark: "Kostylev falls so that only the upper half of his body is visible from around the corner," making him practically invisible to the participants in the events in the wasteland. The author's remark looks very mysterious.
According to the stage arrangement of the characters, only Vasilisa remains next to the fallen Kostylev, who, according to Luka, not only wanted, but was determined to "destroy" her husband. Moreover, Vasilisin's cry about the death of Kostylev - "They killed ..." - is heard not immediately. Before him, Gorky introduces into the scene a dialogue between Ash, who rushed to help Natasha, Kvashnya and Tatarin, where each character has his own line. Those. Gorky "plays for time", leaves Vasilisa alone for a moment - thereby giving rise to a hypothetical probability that the "devil" Vasilisa herself "cleverly" (= cleverly) dealt with her husband. It is no coincidence that in response to Natasha's accusations, Vasilisa almost (according to Freud) “lets slip”: “You're lying! She's lying... I... He, Vaska, killed!" (Ed. by me. - O. B.).
Meanwhile, against the background of Luka's previous impudent and decisive behavior, another assumption is born - Kostylev could have been killed by a fugitive convict hiding from the police, Luka without a passport (Siberia, the lack of documents, Luka's "mysteriousness" ran through the whole play).
“Coincidence” - the announced departure, the fallen old man Kostylev, invisible to anyone, the feeling of impunity for the murder (“It’s always better to leave on time ...”) - give reason to assume that Luka could also take on the role of the killer.
It can be assumed that Gorky deliberately preserves the secret of the death of the old bloodsucker, on the one hand, explaining the rapid disappearance of the passportless old wanderer by plot, mysterious and tragic circumstances, on the other hand, introducing "exculpatory" arguments in favor of Pepel's innocence and reproach towards the modern " rotten" state system, which is unlikely to fairly judge the hero and reveal his true role in the tragic events.
For more than ten years - starting from early romantic stories and up to the creation of the play "At the Bottom" - Gorky invariably returned to reflection on the same - ontological - theme of Man, invariably fed on the principles of the romantic paradigm, trying to infiltrate life, but preaching the ideals of non-objective-abstract philosophical theorizing. In this sense, the hero who would ideologically motivatedly proclaim Gorky's ideology in the last monologue of the play "At the Bottom" could be Pepel, who is related in life to the romantic tramp Chelkash. It is no coincidence that even at the time of the appearance of the play (1903), the critic S. A. Adrianov wrote: "Ash should have been the true hero of the play." In this sense, just as Luke's line was supported and partly shaped by the image of the Actor, so Ashes could support the ideological power of Satin's (Gorky's) glorifications of Man.
But the circumstances of the plot and ideological plan (Vaska's arrest and the desire to keep the secret of the intrigue with the mysterious death of Kostylev) prevented the playwright from making Ash the herald of a new (in fact, "old" for Gorky himself) philosophical abstraction. Meanwhile, the "acquittal" of Pepel, (probably, indeed) not guilty of Kostylev's death, allows us to speak of "protective" tendencies in relation to the type of hero beloved by the writer. The playwright himself understood that “Satin’s speech about a man-truth is pale”, felt that it “sounds alien to his language”, however, he believed that “except for Satin, there is no one to say it to” (letter to K. P. Pyatnitsky, 14 or 15/27 or July 28, 1902). The appearance in the finale of the play of a certain (unrealized as a result) artistic version of the image of Chelkash (or another Gorky tramp) could give greater consistency, motivation and logical predictability to both the play and the philosophy of the Proud Man.
1. Adrianov S. A. “At the bottom” by Maxim Gorky // Maxim Gorky: pro et contra: an anthology / insert. Art., comp. and approx. Yu. V. Zobnina. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo RKHGI, 1997. S. 630–642.
2. Gorky M. At the bottom // Gorky M. Selected works. M.: Fiction, 1986. S. 890–951.
3. Gorky M. Chelkash // Gorky M. Selected works. M.: Fiction, 1986. S. 20–130.
4. Gorky M. Man // Maxim Gorky: pro et contra: an anthology / vst. Art., comp. and approx. Yu. V. Zobnina. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo RKHGI, 1997, pp. 43–48.
The drama "At the Bottom" is a landmark work in Gorky's creative biography. The description of the heroes will be presented in this article.
This work was written at a critical time for the country. In Russia in the 90s of the 19th century, a serious outbreak broke out. Masses of impoverished, ruined peasants after each crop failure left the villages in search of work. Plants and factories were closed. Thousands of people found themselves without livelihood and shelter. This led to the fact that a large number of "tramps" appeared, who sank to the bottom of life.
Enterprising slum owners, taking advantage of the fact that people were in a hopeless situation, found how to make use of the stinking basements. They turned them into bunkhouses, where the poor, the unemployed, thieves, vagabonds and other representatives of the "bottom" lived. This work was written in 1902. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are just such people.
Maxim Gorky throughout his career was interested in personality, man, the secrets of his feelings and thoughts, dreams and hopes, weakness and strength - all this is reflected in the work. The heroes of the play "At the Bottom" are people who lived at the beginning of the 20th century, when the old world collapsed and a new life arose. However, they differ from the rest in that they are rejected by society. These are people of the "bottom", outcasts. The place where Vaska Pepel, Bubnov, Actor, Satin and others live is unattractive and scary. According to Gorky's description, this is a basement that looks like a cave. Its ceiling is stone vaults with crumbling plaster, sooty. Why did the inhabitants of the rooming house find themselves "at the bottom" of life, what brought them here?
| hero | How did you end up at the bottom? | characterization of the hero | dreams |
| Bubnov | In the past, he owned a dyeing workshop. However, circumstances forced him to leave. Bubnov's wife got along with the master. | He believes that a person is not able to change fate. Therefore, Bubnov only goes with the flow. Often shows skepticism, cruelty, lack of positive qualities. | It is difficult to determine, given the negative attitude towards the whole world of this hero. |
| Nastya | Life forced this heroine to become a prostitute. And this is the social bottom. | A romantic and dreamy person who lives in love stories. | Dreams for a long time of pure and great love, continuing to practice his profession. |
| Baron | Was in the past a real baron, but lost his wealth. | He does not perceive the ridicule of the inhabitants of the rooming house, continuing to live in the past. | He wants to return to his former position, once again becoming a wealthy person. |
| Alyoshka | A cheerful and always drunk shoemaker who never tried to rise from the bottom, where his frivolity led him. | As he says, he wants nothing. About himself he reports that he is "good" and "fun". | Everyone is always satisfied, it is difficult to say about his needs. Dreams, most likely, of a "warm breeze" and "eternal sun". |
| Vaska Pepel | This is a hereditary thief who has been in prison twice. | A weak, loving person. | He dreams of leaving for Siberia with Natalya and becoming a respectable citizen, starting a new life. |
| Actor | He sank to the bottom due to drunkenness. | Quotes often | He dreams of finding a job, recovering from alcoholism and getting out of the rooming house. |
| Luke | This is a mysterious wanderer. Not much is known about him. | Teaches sympathy, kindness, comforts heroes, guides them. | Dreams of helping everyone in need. |
| satin | He killed a man, as a result of which he ended up in prison for 5 years. | He believes that a person needs not consolation, but respect. | He dreams of conveying his philosophy to people. |
Addiction to alcohol killed the Actor. By his own admission, he used to have a good memory. Now the Actor believes that everything is over for him. Vaska Pepel is a representative of the "thieves' dynasty". This hero had no choice but to continue his father's work. He says that even when he was little, even then he was called a thief. The former furrier Bubnov left the workshop because of his wife's infidelity, and also out of fear of his wife's lover. He went bankrupt, after which he went to serve in one "state chamber", in which he committed embezzlement. One of the most colorful figures in the work is Satin. He was a telegraph operator in the past, and went to prison for the murder of a man who insulted his sister.
Almost all the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" tend to blame the current situation not on themselves, but on life circumstances. Perhaps, if they had developed differently, nothing would have changed significantly, and all the same, the overnight stays would have suffered the same fate. The phrase that Bubnov uttered confirms this. He admitted that he actually drank the workshop away.
Apparently, the reason for the fall of all these people is their lack of a moral core, which makes up the personality of a person. You can cite the words of the Actor as an example: "Why did he die? I had no faith ..."
Creating images of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom", the author gave each of them the opportunity to live a different life. That is, they had a choice. However, for everyone, the first test ended in the collapse of life. The baron, for example, could improve his affairs not by stealing state funds, but by investing in profitable business that he had.
Satin could teach the offender a lesson in another way. As for Vaska Pepel, would there really be few places on earth where no one would know anything about him and his past? The same can be said about many of the inhabitants of the rooming house. They have no future, but in the past they had a chance not to get here. However, the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" did not use it.
Now they can only live with unrealizable hopes and illusions. The Baron, Bubnov and the Actor live Dreams of true love amuse the prostitute Nastya. At the same time, the characterization of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" is supplemented by the fact that these people, rejected by society, humiliated, are endlessly arguing about moral and spiritual problems. Although it would be more logical to talk about because they live from hand to mouth. The author's characterization of the heroes of the play "At the Bottom" suggests that they are occupied with such issues as freedom, truth, equality, labor, love, happiness, law, talent, honesty, pride, compassion, conscience, pity, patience, death, peace and much more. They are also concerned about an even more important problem. They talk about what a person is, why he is born, what is the true meaning of being. Philosophers of the rooming house can be called Luka, Satina, Bubnov.
With the exception of Bubnov, all the heroes of the work reject the "bedroom" way of life. They hope for a successful turn of fortune, which will bring them from the "bottom" to the surface. A tick, for example, says that he has been working since an early age (this hero is a locksmith), so he will certainly get out of here. "Here, wait... the wife will die..." he says. The actor, this chronic drunkard, hopes to find a luxurious hospital in which health, strength, talent, memory and applause of the audience will miraculously return to him. Anna, the unfortunate sufferer, dreams of bliss and peace in which she will finally be rewarded for her torment and patience. Vaska Pepel, this desperate hero, kills Kostylev, the owner of the rooming house, because he considers the latter to be the embodiment of evil. His dream is to go to Siberia, where he and his girlfriend will start a new life.
Luke, the wanderer, supports these illusions. He has the skill of a comforter and a preacher. Maxim Gorky depicts this hero as a doctor who considers all people to be terminally ill and sees his vocation in alleviating their pain and hiding it from them. However, at every step, life refutes the position of this hero. Anna, to whom he promises a divine reward in heaven, suddenly wants to "live a little more ...". Believing at first in a cure for alcoholism, the Actor takes his own life at the end of the play. Vaska Pepel determines the true value of all these consolations of Luke. He claims that he "tells fairy tales" pleasantly, because there is so little good in the world.
Luka is full of sincere pity for the inhabitants of the rooming house, but he cannot change anything, help people live a different life. In his monologue, Satin rejects this attitude, because he considers it humiliating, suggesting the failure and wretchedness of those to whom this pity is directed. The main characters of the play "At the Bottom" Satin and Luka express opposite opinions. Satin says that it is necessary to respect a person and not humiliate him with pity. These words probably express the position of the author: "Man!.. That sounds... proud!"
What will happen to all these people in the future, will the heroes of Gorky's play "At the Bottom" be able to change something? It is not difficult to imagine their future fate. For example, Klesh. He tries to get out of the "bottom" at the beginning of the work. He thinks that when his wife dies, things will magically change for the better. However, after the death of his wife, Kleshch is left without tools and money and gloomily sings along with others: "I won't run away anyway." In fact, he will not run away, like the other inhabitants of the rooming house.
Are there any ways of salvation from the "bottom", and what are they? A decisive way out of this difficult situation is perhaps outlined in Sateen's speech when he speaks of the truth. He believes that the purpose of a strong person is to eradicate evil, and not to comfort the suffering, like Luke. This is one of the firmest convictions of Maxim Gorky himself. "From the bottom" people can rise only by learning to respect themselves, gaining self-esteem. Then they will be able to bear the proud title of Human. It still needs to be earned, according to Gorky.
Declaring his faith in the creative forces, abilities and mind of a free person, Maxim Gorky affirmed the ideas of humanism. The author understood that in the mouth of Satin, a drunken tramp, the words about a free and proud man sound artificial. However, they should have sounded in the play, expressing the ideals of the writer himself. There was no one to say this speech to, except for Sateen.
Gorky in the work refuted the main principles of idealism. These are the ideas of humility, forgiveness, non-resistance. He made it clear what beliefs are the future. This is proved by the fate of the heroes of the play "At the bottom". The entire work is permeated with faith in man.
Vaska Pepel is a strong and passionate person. His whole life is a thief's luck.
"Right - I'm not afraid! Even now - I will accept death! Take a knife, strike against the heart ... I will die - I will not groan! Even - with joy, because - from a clean hand ... "
He is a hereditary thief and swindler. He occupies a privileged position in the rooming house - a separate room, the respectful attitude of the owner, the love of his wife. Vaska believes that his path was predetermined and does not believe in the possibility of changing.
“My path is marked for me! Parent
I spent my whole life in prisons and ordered me too ... When I was little, they called me a thief at that time, the son of thieves ... ”
And yet he dreams of breaking free and living an honest life with his beloved Natasha. Therefore, he invites her to run away with him.
“You… have pity on me! I don’t live sweetly… a wolf’s life doesn’t make me happy… Like drowning in a bog… whatever you grab onto… everything is rotten… everything doesn’t hold… Your sister… I thought she… not that… If she… wasn’t greedy for money, I for her sake... he would do anything!.. If only she was all mine... Well, she needs another... she needs money... and she needs a will... and she needs a will...
- to debauch. She - can't help me... And you - like a young Christmas tree - and you prick, but you hold back ... "
Vasilisa persuades Pepel to arrange the murder of her husband, the owner of the rooming house. At the same time, she allegedly releases him along with her sister.
"Vasya! Why hard labor? You are not yourself… through your comrades! And if so, who will know? Natalia - think! You'll have money... you'll go somewhere... you'll free me forever... and that my sister won't be around me - it's good for her. It’s hard for me to see her ... I’m angry at her for you ... and I can’t restrain myself ... I torture the girl, I beat her ... so - I beat ... that I myself cry from pity for her ... And - I beat. And I will beat!”
But Pepel does not believe the insidious and greedy Vasilisa, refuses her. Vaska's story ends sadly. Out of revenge, Vasilisa scalded Natasha with boiling water, and Kostylev is killed in a fight, and Vasilisa accuses Pepel of killing him. The worst thing is that Natasha thought about the collusion between Ash and her sister.
“Good people… my sister and Vaska were killed! Police - listen ... This one, my sister, taught ... persuaded ... her lover ... here he is, damned! - they killed! Take them... judge...
Take me too... to jail me! For Christ's sake… jail me!..”
The point becomes clear. Ash is waiting for hard labor in Siberia.
Characteristics of a literary hero
Inhabitant of a rooming house, a hereditary thief. P. is the lover of the hostess' wife, Vasilisa. This is a very cruel woman who constantly pushes him to steal. But P. was tired of such a life. He wants to be an honest person. He falls in love with Vasilisa's sister Natasha, a good girl, a victim of the masters of life. P. confesses his love to the girl and invites her to leave together. Luke encourages P. to go to work in Siberia. There P. wants to become decent and honest. Vasilisa is jealous of P., locks her at home and beats Natasha. Later, in the ensuing fight, P. kills Kostylev. We understand that now he has a direct path to prison or hard labor.
Vaska Pepel, 28 years old. - Vasily (Greek "king, royal, regal"), it is noteworthy that in the list of characters this character does not appear under the full, but under the short form of the name - Vaska. In the dictionary of V.I. It seems more likely to correlate the character's name with a common nickname for a cat. At least two aspects can be correlated with this interpretation: the mustache that Pepel wears, and his function as an indiscriminate lover. A purely parodic motive cannot be ruled out: Pepel complains that from childhood no one called him otherwise, like “thief Vaska, thieves son Vaska”, which cannot help but recall the famous Krylov: “Cat Vaska is a thief ...” In addition, in the mind of the writer, the name Vasily could be associated with the generalized name of a person "male" - just like the name Marya - female.
The nickname Pepel is extremely interesting and significant. V.I.Dal interprets the lexical meaning of this word as "ashes, ash, everything burned and burnt to dust." It seems that here lies one of the keys to the image of Vaska Ash.
It is easy to see that the image of dirt/shadow/ash/burnt - something dark, obscure, out of shape - in the mind of the writer is strongly associated with the theme of the past/past, and besides - sadness, despair, grief. Thus, Ashes can be correlated with nicknames such as Leftovers. And yet we must not forget that the ashes are a product of combustion. And this changes the essence of the matter in many ways. It is well known that one of the leading images in the work of M. Gorky is the image of a burning heart, a “spiritual spark” (for example, the finale of the “Song of the Falcon”: “... drops of your hot blood, like sparks, will flare up in the darkness of life and many brave hearts will ignite insane thirst for freedom, light!”, the legend of Danko, etc.), which is always correlated with the motives of freedom, the feat of love, beauty and humanity.
There is another possible source of Vaska's nickname - Holy Scripture. In general, in Christian art, ashes symbolized the frailty of human life, as well as repentance, ”however, the motive of repentance that sounds in the scene of Vaska’s explanation with Natasha in act 3 is difficult to correlate with the Christian tradition in general and the Orthodox tradition in particular. “I don’t believe in conscience,” says Vaska. Another thing, if we turn to the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon: “His heart is ashes, and his hope is more insignificant than the earth, and his life is more contemptible than dirt; for he did not know Him who created him and breathed into him an active soul and breathed into him the spirit of life. They consider our life to be fun and our life a profitable trade, for they say that one must make profit from somewhere, even if from evil. In this passage of Scripture we are talking about the makers of pagan idols - "vain workers" who make "vain gods." We do not undertake to assert the validity of this conjecture, but it is impossible not to notice that a lot of the quoted text finds clear correspondences in the image of Vaska Pepel: “his life is more contemptible than dirt” (“thief, son of thieves”), he not only “did not know the One who created him and< … >breathed into him the spirit of life,” but does not even know if He exists. Finally, Vaska derives “profit from evil” - lives by theft ... In the end, Vaska constantly “creates” idols: at first, Kostylev and Vasilisa act as such a “vain god” “They will ask: who knocked me out to steal and indicated the place? Mishka Kostylev with his wife!”), then Satin (and even the Baron), whose opinions are referred to by “the son of thieves, then Luka, whom Vaska is not only ready to obey, but already obeys ... “And his hope is more insignificant than the earth” ... “The bottom "turns out to be stronger - maybe because no one called him otherwise than" thief, son of thieves ". But even in this tragically terrible confession - “... I may be a thief out of evil ... because I am a thief that no one has ever guessed to call me by another name ... " - in the first, decisive place are those who called the thief. Those whom, hating and despising, Vaska nevertheless worships ...
The image of Vaska Pepel throughout the play is associated with the theme of conscience. “And where are they - honor, conscience? On your feet, instead of boots, you can’t put on either honor or conscience ... Honor-conscience is needed for those who have power and strength ... ”- he states in act 1, lazily arguing with Kleshch“ I don’t believe in conscience ... ”- declares in 3 and continues: “But — I feel one thing: we must live differently! It is better to live! I have to live in such a way that I can respect myself ...
