The play is based on the true story of a group of Russian Socialist-Revolutionaries who assassinated the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in 1905, and explores the moral issues associated with murder and terrorism.

Act I In the apartment used by the terrorists The 'justes' are a group of revolutionaries plotting to assassinate the Grand Duke with a bomb.

Act II as before After a period of uncertainty as to the outcome of the first attempt, Kaliayev returns, saying he could not throw the bomb at the carriage, as it contained the Grand Duke's nephew and niece.

She shows Kaliayev the human side of his crime (the actual death of the Grand Duke) and asks him to agree to being a murderer, not a revolutionary, in exchange for his life.

She vows to throw herself into terrorism and either to destroy tyranny single-handed to avenge Kaliayev, or be caught, executed and thereby united with him.

His only consolation is that, in killing the Grand Duke, he will reduce suffering for thousands of others ('La Russie sera belle') and that he will pay for the human side of his crime with his life.

Stepan Fedorov – The only fictional revolutionary of the play, introduced by Camus to show his problems with the Communist party.

Stepan enters the play having spent three years in prison before escaping to Switzerland (a reference to Lenin).

He feels that 'freedom is a prison while even one man on Earth is enslaved', and frequently talks about insane acts of indiscriminate destruction, such as asking Dora 'how many bombs would it take to blow up Moscow?'.

Though normally very gentle, Dora adopts a Stepan-like persona at the end of the play, wishing to avenge Kaliayev's death or die trying.

He acts in a mediating role in conflicts between Kaliayev and Stepan, and generally serves to calm the feelings of the other members of the group.

She emphasises the human side of the Grand Duke's death, talking about his little habits and good qualities.

The play was the basis for the 1983 Mexican film Bajo la metralla, directed by Felipe Cazals.

[2] The 2017 Telugu (Indian) movie Raktham - The Blood directed by Rajesh Touchriver is also an adaptation of this Albert Camus play.