Showing results for "Depth" in Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature

The Lower Depths, also titled At the Bottom, is a 1902 play by the Russian author and playwright Maxim Gorky (1868-1936). This work portrays a group of wretched, impoverished outcasts living in a shelter near the Volga River. They play cards and tell stories, and are briefly uplifted by a new resident called Luca who gives them hope. When he goes off, the illusion of hope collapses, and the result is murder and suicide.

This play takes place in the 1900s in Russia, at a time when it was experiencing a severe economic crisis. A crowd of ruined peasants and workers roam the country and, in the end, sink to the "bottom". The desperate situation of these discarded from people's lives is taken advantage of by the owners of fetid cellars. In one such flophouse Mikhail Kostylev is ready to squeeze the very last penny from his unfortunate and disadvantaged guests. And there are further developments....