The Lower Depths (Gorky)
Short summary
Russia, early 1900s. A group of destitute people lived in Kostilyoff's night lodging, a cellar-like basement. Among them were a thief, an actor who had lost his career to alcoholism, a locksmith whose wife was dying, a street-walker, and others struggling to survive.
An old pilgrim named Luka arrived at the lodging. He comforted the dying woman Anna, telling her that death would bring peace and that God would welcome her kindly. He encouraged the Actor to seek treatment at a hospital for alcoholics, giving him hope for a new life. He also advised the thief Pepel to leave for Siberia with Natasha, the landlady's sister, whom Pepel loved.
The landlady Vassilisa was Pepel's lover but wanted to get rid of her husband Kostilyoff. She proposed that Pepel kill him so she could marry Pepel and they would have money. Pepel refused, drawn instead to the innocent Natasha. Vassilisa, jealous and cruel, beat Natasha severely, scalding her feet with boiling water.
During the violent confrontation, Kostilyoff was killed. Pepel was accused of murder, though it was unclear exactly who dealt the fatal blow. Vassilisa blamed Pepel, while the injured Natasha, delirious with pain, accused both her sister and Pepel of conspiring to kill Kostilyoff. The police arrested Pepel.
Luka disappeared during the chaos. The lodgers discussed his influence—some thought he was a fraud who filled their heads with false hopes, while others believed he showed genuine compassion.
He's damned fool—he ruined the song ... !
The Actor, who had been inspired by Luka's promise of a hospital where he could be cured, went out to the yard and hanged himself. When the Baron rushed in to tell the others, Satine callously remarked that the Actor had ruined their song, showing how the lodgers had become hardened to tragedy and death.
Detailed summary by acts
Act titles and their division into scenes are editorial.
Act 1. Life in Kostilyoffs night lodging
Scene 1. Morning in the cellar; Annas illness and the lodgers conflicts
Early one spring morning in a cellar-like night lodging, the inhabitants began their day amid squalor and conflict. The cellar resembled a cave with low, grimy ceilings and peeling plaster. Bunks lined the walls, and the space was divided by thin partitions. At a large table sat several lodgers, while others worked or rested on their bunks.
A vendor of meat-pies argued loudly with a locksmith about marriage. She declared she would never marry again, having experienced enough misery with her late husband. The locksmith accused her of planning to marry a man named Abramka, which she vehemently denied. Their quarrel disturbed a dying woman who lay behind curtains, coughing terribly and begging for peace.
A former nobleman and a street-walker sat at the table, the latter reading a tattered romance novel. When he snatched the book from her hands mockingly, she protested. Meanwhile, a man who had just awakened demanded to know who had beaten him the previous night during a card game. Others told him it was his own fault for gambling.
Scene 2. Lukas arrival and first conversations
A young woman entered, bringing with her an elderly pilgrim carrying a stick, bundle, kettle and teapot. The old man greeted everyone cheerfully, saying he did not mind crooks and that all fleas were black and jumped the same. The young woman showed him to the kitchen where he could stay.
A young thief found the old man amusing. The young woman warned the locksmith to be kinder to his dying wife, saying she would not last much longer. The thief declared he was not afraid of death and would die gladly from the hand of someone pure. The young woman curtly dismissed his romantic talk and left. The thief remarked that she was a wonderful girl who would come to no good in this place.
The old pilgrim began singing in the kitchen, which annoyed the thief who told him to stop. When asked why, the thief said he felt dreary, as if a cold chill had gone through him. The old man philosophized that people spent their time reading sad books out of boredom, and that even madmen who dreamed golden dreams served a purpose.
Scene 3. Kostilyoffs visit; Vassilisa and Pepels relationship exposed
The keeper of the night lodging entered, looking around suspiciously. He was an elderly, greedy man who constantly worried about money. He questioned the old pilgrim about his passport and threatened to report him to the police if he did not leave. The old man calmly suggested the keeper might get a reward of three kopecks for turning in an escaped convict.
The keeper knocked on the thief's door, demanding entry. When the thief opened, the keeper asked about money owed for a watch. The thief insisted he had sold the watch for ten rubles but received only three, demanding the remaining seven. The keeper tried to leave, but the thief grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him out.
The old pilgrim had been hiding on top of the stove, observing everything. He warned the thief that the keeper's wife was looking for him and urged him to leave this place with the young woman he loved. The thief was confused about who was kind and who was not. The old man explained that some people were like sterile ground while others were fertile, and the thief was doomed to remain as he was.
The keeper's wife entered, a cruel woman who was the thief's former lover. She asked if her sister was home, then went to check on the dying woman. The old man warned the thief to leave, but the wife called him into his room for private business. She wanted to know if he had brought money, but he demanded payment first. Their conversation revealed their past intimate relationship and her current interest in controlling him.
Act 2. Death and dangerous schemes
Scene 1. Night card game; Annas final hours
On a night in early spring, several men played cards by lamplight while others watched. A former stage actor lay on the stove, coughing. The dying woman lay in her bed, barely breathing. The card players argued about cheating, with one man threatening another over a palmed card. The tension broke when one player refused to continue, claiming he had been cheated.
The dying woman called out weakly, asking how much longer she would suffer. The old pilgrim sat beside her, offering comfort. He told her that in the next world, God would look at her gently and say he knew her life on earth was hard, and she would find peace. The woman asked if she might recover and live a little longer, but the old man gently suggested there was nothing in the hereafter but rest.
I can't remember a single day when I didn't go hungry ... I've been afraid, waking, eating, and sleeping ... all my life I've trembled—afraid I wouldn't get another bite ... and why ... ?
Scene 2. Annas death; Lukas philosophy of kindness
The thief entered and asked about the dying woman. The old pilgrim and the actor helped her into the hallway for fresh air. The keeper appeared, looking for his wife and making suspicious remarks. After he left, the old man urged the thief to take the young woman he loved and leave this place, perhaps go to Siberia where people with strength and brains could prosper.
The thief questioned why the old man always lied, claiming life was wonderful everywhere. The old man replied that people needed hope and faith, and that truth might spell death. He told a story about a man who believed in a land of righteousness, but when a learned man with maps showed him no such place existed, the believer beat the scholar and hanged himself in despair.
If you have faith, there is; if you haven't, there isn't ... whatever you believe in, exists ... People are always seeking—they always want something better—God grant them patience!
The actor returned and announced that the dying woman had passed away. The old pilgrim crossed himself and said her sufferings were over. The locksmith would need to notify the police and arrange for burial, though he had no money. The lodgers discussed taking up a collection, noting that the police must be informed immediately or they might suspect murder.
Scene 3. Vassilisas murderous proposal to Pepel
The keeper's wife confronted the thief in his room. She knew he had fallen in love with her sister and made a shocking proposal: she would give him money and help him marry her sister if he would rid her of her husband. The thief was horrified, realizing she wanted him to commit murder. She argued that her husband was poison to everyone and had sent the thief to prison twice through his greed.
The thief refused, saying she had planned it cleverly—the grave for the husband, the gallows for the lover, and freedom for herself. She insisted it need not be him who did it, but one of his criminal associates, and no one would know. She also revealed that she beat her sister out of jealousy and rage, unable to control herself when she saw the girl.
The keeper burst in, catching them together. He screamed at his wife, calling her terrible names, then suddenly became frightened by his own outburst. The thief threatened him, and the keeper ran into the hallway screaming. The old pilgrim, who had been listening from the stove, warned the thief not to make a fatal mistake and urged him again to leave with the young woman he loved.
Act 3. Violence erupts
Scene 1. Conversations in the yard; Pepel asks Natasha to leave with him
In the yard behind the lodging, the street-walker told an elaborate story about a passionate love affair with a student, but others mocked her, saying she was lying and that the story came from a romance novel. The old pilgrim defended her, saying if she believed she had real love, then she did. He took her away to comfort her, leaving the others to discuss lying and truth.
The young woman sat with a former nobleman, discussing dreams and waiting for something extraordinary to happen. The locksmith suddenly jumped up in despair, crying out about having no work, no strength, no shelter, and demanding to know where truth was. He ran off in agitation. The thief appeared and spoke privately with the young woman, asking her to run away with him.
The thief declared he was through with being a thief and wanted to live differently, to respect himself. He confessed he had been a thief from childhood because everyone always called him that, perhaps out of spite. The old pilgrim encouraged the young woman to go with him, saying the thief was a good man who just needed to be reminded of it. The young woman hesitated, saying she had no faith in anyone and nowhere to turn.
I've been a thief from childhood on. Everybody always called me 'Vaska—the thief—the son of a thief!' ... perhaps I'm a thief out of spite—perhaps I'm a thief because no one ever called me anything different.
The thief put his arms around her and she warned him that if he ever struck her, she would kill herself. He swore his hand would wither if he ever touched her. The keeper's wife appeared at the window, mocking their engagement. The keeper entered, scolding the young woman for gossiping instead of working. The thief told him to shut up, declaring the young woman was no longer his servant but belonged to the thief now.
Scene 2. Natashas beating and Kostilyoffs death
Suddenly, screams came from inside the lodging. The young woman was crying that they were beating and killing her. The keeper's wife was heard shouting that she would teach her sister a lesson. The old pilgrim and others rushed to intervene. The noise grew louder, with sounds of breaking crockery and violent struggle. The young woman's cries for help echoed through the building.
The thief rushed in to find the young woman. A chaotic mass of people struggled near the wall. The keeper's wife and others had scalded the young woman's feet with boiling water from an overturned samovar. The thief found her and demanded to know what had been done to her. The keeper tried to intervene, and the thief struck him a terrific blow. The keeper fell, and only the upper part of his body remained visible.
Someone announced that the old man was dead, killed. The keeper's wife triumphantly declared that the thief had murdered her husband and she had witnessed it. The thief tried to explain that he wanted to settle with them and take the young woman to the hospital. But the injured young woman, in her agony and confusion, suddenly accused both her sister and the thief of plotting together to kill the keeper. She claimed they were both guilty, that they had planned it, and that she had overheard their conversation. The thief was stunned by her accusation.
Act 4. Aftermath and final tragedy
Scene 1. Evening gathering; Satines speech about truth and human dignity
Several months later, on a windy night, the lodgers gathered around a table with vodka and beer. The thief's room no longer existed, the partition having been removed. The lodgers discussed how the old pilgrim had disappeared during the confusion after the keeper's death, vanishing like smoke under the very eyes of the police. A former telegraph operator who had spent years in prison for murder remarked that the old man was like mush to those who could not chew.
The locksmith said the old man had been merciful and understood what pity meant. The former telegraph operator launched into a passionate defense of the old man, saying he lied out of pity for people. He declared that weaklings and parasites needed lies for support, but strong, free people needed only truth.
Man! Man—that's the truth! He understood man—you don't! ... He lied—but lied out of sheer pity for you ... Lots of people lie out of pity for their fellow-beings!
He recounted how the old man had told him that people lived in hope of something better, that perhaps a carpenter would be born who would advance his trade twenty years in one day. The old man had said every individual lived for their own self but in reality lived in hope of a finer, higher life.
Every one ... lives in the hope of something better. That's why we must respect each and every human being! How do we know who he is, why he was born, and what he is capable of accomplishing?
The former nobleman spoke of his lost past, his family's high position, their wealth and servants. When the street-walker accused him of lying, he became enraged. She triumphantly pointed out that now he understood what it felt like when nobody believed you.
Scene 2. The Actors suicide
The actor had been preparing to go to a hospital for drunkards that the old man had told him about, where they treated people free of charge. He had even saved money and stopped drinking. But the former telegraph operator mocked him, saying the old man had lied and there was no such place. The actor insisted he would go, that he would find it and begin life anew.
Later that evening, the lodgers gathered to drink and sing. They filled glasses and prepared to make merry through the night. Suddenly, the former nobleman burst through the door and shouted for everyone to come outside. In the waste yard, the actor had hanged himself. There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone stared. Then the former telegraph operator spoke in a matter-of-fact voice, saying the actor was a damned fool who had ruined their song.