Master and Margarita analysis briefly. Master and Margarita. Interesting Facts. “What would they know ...” (M.A. Bulgakov). Criticism of rationalism by Bulgakov

Panorama of Golgotha, a fresco of the Vladimir Cathedral (Bulgakov reproduced with photographic accuracy his characters of Pontius Pilate, Yeshua and even the Ratslayer from The Master and Margarita: in the left far part of the temple, under the ceiling, there is a fresco of Pilate's Judgment, where the procurator is drawn in that same "white cloak with bloody lining.), Opera House. Andreevsky Spusk with Lysa Gora and Kievan folklore associated with witches fueled Bulgakov's imagination and provided landmarks for the novel. According to legends, witches and other fabulous creatures regularly gathered on the "bald mountains", where they held covens - he used the image of a bald mountain in his novel "The Master and Margarita" as the place of the crucifixion of Yeshua.

The writer began to work on the novel in 1928-1929. The work has changed several names - "The Black Magician", "The Hoof of the Engineer", "The Juggler with a Hoof", "Son V.", "The Great Chancellor", "Satan", "Here I am", "Tour", "Prince of Darkness ". When Bulgakov, objectionable to the press and banned from the press, received news in 1930 that the play The Cabal of the Saints was banned, he threw the manuscript of the first edition of the novel into the stove.

The second edition was created before 1936, the third - in the second half of 1936, and a year later the name "Master and Margarita" appeared. In May-June 1938, the full text was reprinted for the first time.

The Master and Margarita is a multifaceted, polyphonic mennipea novel with a fantastic plot. According to critics, in this novel the author synthesizes all kinds of literary genres and trends. It can be called Mennipea because it combines satire and philosophy, fantasy and parody.

Signs of the menippea novel: the multi-level depiction of life, where there is the concept of eternity, the concept is always, and the place of action is like the concept of everywhere; combination of funny and tragic, top and bottom, spirit and body; connection in a carnival whirlwind, but at the same time, the decisive questions of life are posed in the novel: “what is truth”, “what is justice”, “who rules the ball”. The novel reflects the monistic and dualistic concepts of the world. Philosophical in its subject matter. Main motives: good and evil, the search for truth and a person's place in the real world, the meaning of life, the power of love, a person's responsibility for his own actions, the search for a life path, the place of art and the creator in society. The novel is mystical because it unites three worlds (real, biblical and cosmic). It is at the mystical level that all philosophical problems are solved. It is also a satirical novel that reveals the essence of the events of the 30s, although they are veiled. The polyphony of the novel is manifested in its polyphony. These are not only the voices of different heroes and characters, but also the voices of ideas, images (the voice of the moon, for example).

As a fundamental source, Bulgakov used the work of Skovoroda "The Flood of the Serpent" (which embodies the Theory of Three Worlds). So, in the novel there is an interaction of three worlds: earthly (all the people in the novel), biblical (biblical characters) and cosmic (Woland and his retinue). Bulgakov builds the structure of the novel by analogy with three worlds:

• · The real world of Moscow in the 1920s and 1930s, in which the main layer of action takes place, is accessible to study and understanding.
• · the biblical Yershalaim of the period of the life of Jesus Christ, the reconstruction of the biblical plot (betrayal by Pontius Pilate - Bulgakov admits his individual interpretation - not enough courage).
• · the cosmic layer of the novel, in which Woland and his retinue act (they are taken from a song about the Albigensian campaign).

Chronotope of the novel - time and place. The two eternal cities of Moscow and Yershalaim echo - architecture, landscape, heat, descriptions of thunderstorms echo - as prophecies of future disasters, these two thunderstorms in Yershalaim (a complete picture of the description) and in Moscow (the same picture of several scenes) accompany a worldwide catastrophe - a tragic the death of Yeshua Ha-Nozri. Yershalaim, like Moscow, stands on the slopes. Elevations are special points of collision of the two worlds: Pashkov's house in Moscow and Pilate's palace in Yershalaim, which are located above the roofs of city houses; Bald Mountain and Sparrow Hills. The time of events is approximately 30 years from the birth of Christ and Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century. Two events have something in common: on the day of Easter, the resurrection of the Master and the resurrection of Yeshua take place, the gospel legend merges with the other world of Woland and the modern world. The two events are separated by a span of 1900 years, but connected by the fact that they fall on the same dates. All three worlds are interconnected (the link is the world of Satan) and have their own time scales. These three worlds have three rows of main characters that correlate with each other, and representatives of different spaces form triads united by functional similarity and similar interaction with the characters of their world, and in some cases by portrait similarity.

The protagonist of the novel is the truth. A novel about the adventures of truth on earth in the past, present and eternity (space), and the story of the Master and Margarita is a plot that should convince the reader of the reality of everything that happens.

The master is a talented person, but extremely impractical, naive, timid in everyday affairs. But we see him already broken, hunted. He wrote a brilliant novel about Pontius Pilate and naively believed that this novel would be needed by someone, that it would be published and read simply because it was a good novel. At the same time, he puts his whole soul into his work, into his novel, and when it turns out that no one needs his work, with the exception of Margarita alone, that for some reason it only causes anger and attacks from critics, life loses all meaning for the Master. Nowhere in the novel is his name and surname mentioned; to direct questions about this, he always refused to introduce himself, saying - "Let's not talk about it." Known only by the nickname "master" given by Margarita. He considers himself unworthy of such a nickname, considering it a whim of his beloved. A master is a person who has achieved the highest success in any activity, which may be why he is rejected by the crowd, which is not able to appreciate his talent and abilities. The Master, the protagonist of the novel, writes a novel about Yeshua (Jesus) and Pilate. The master writes the novel, interpreting the gospel events in his own way, without miracles.

Margarita. The beautiful, wealthy but bored wife of a famous engineer, suffering from the emptiness of her life. Having met the Master by chance on the streets of Moscow, she fell in love with him at first sight, passionately believed in the success of his novel, prophesied glory. When the Master decided to burn his novel, she only managed to save a few pages. Further, she concludes a deal with messire and becomes the queen of the satanic ball arranged by Woland in order to regain the missing Master. Margarita is a symbol of love and self-sacrifice in the name of another person. monistic Woland polyphonic

Pontius Pilate. The fifth procurator of Judea in Jerusalem, a cruel and domineering man, nevertheless, managed to feel sympathy for Yeshua Ha-Nozri during his interrogation. He tried to stop the well-functioning mechanism of execution for insulting Caesar, but failed to do this, which he later regretted all his life.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri. A wandering philosopher from Nazareth, described by Woland at the Patriarch's Ponds, as well as by the Master in his novel, compared with the image of Jesus Christ. The name Yeshua Ga-Notsri means in Hebrew Jesus (Yeshua) from Nazareth (Ga-Notsri). However, this image differs significantly from the biblical prototype. Characteristically, he tells Pontius Pilate that Levi-Matthew (Matthew) wrote down his words incorrectly and that "this confusion will continue for a very long time." A humanist who denies resisting evil with violence.

Woland in the novel is the engine of the plot: all the events in the "Moscow layer" take place on his initiative, he also introduces the plot about Christ. Woland in Bulgakov's narrative balances the real and the unreal. Woland is a world of fantasy, irony, doubt and denial. Woland in the novel is, first of all, a researcher. He studies the real world, his goal is to find out if people in Moscow have changed. From the position of an observer, Woland does not interfere in the natural course of events, does not arrange revolutions and does not establish the kingdom of justice on earth. All Moscow outrages occur through the combined efforts of many people, while Woland's retinue only provokes them. For his part, Woland conducts "individual educational work" with people - in one way or another he warns them about their future fate. People react differently to these warnings: Berlioz does not take heed, the barman Sokov runs to the doctor. Some, after a collision with the incomprehensible, radically change their lives, like Ivan Bezdomny, but for many it continues to flow in the same direction.

Woland in the novel is not the bearer of universal evil, rather, he repays what he deserves, does justice. He punishes vices: the director of the variety show Likhodeev for drunkenness, Nikanor Bosogo for bribery and denunciation. Woland not only punishes real evil, but also grants freedom to those who have suffered enough. He is clearly not an enemy of that God, who controls areas of light that are inaccessible to the master.

Only for three days Woland appears in Moscow with his retinue, but the routine of life disappears, the cover falls off from the gray everyday life. The world appears in its true and unchanging, though ever-changing essence. This is the meaning of the image of Woland in the novel The Master and Margarita.

Creating the figure of Woland, Bulgakov relied on an established literary tradition that replaced medieval ideas about the devil and evil demons. The author of the novel relied on ancient books that reveal the essence of good and evil - the Old Testament, the Talmud and many others. There, apparently, he also found such a function of Woland, which perplexes even today's sophisticated reader: why exactly does Woland carry out the will of Yeshua regarding the fate of the Master? But in the Old Testament, Satan is not yet an enemy of God and people, as in the New Testament, but an earthly administrator of divine justice, something like a bailiff. Studies show that here, as in ancient Eastern literature, the place of Satan is often defined as the place of the ruler of the world, that is, earthly and temporal things, as opposed to the one who knows the eternal and spiritual. The first associations with him turn us to the famous work of the 19th century - Goethe's Faust. However, this parallel, like many others, arises only so that later the reader can get as far away from it as possible. Analyzing the motives and symbols of Woland's prototypes, we understand that Woland has no prototypes in the full sense of the word. He is not like any representative of the dark forces that are found in literature, mythology, history and religion. It is generally difficult to call him a "dark" figure, the embodiment of evil in the novel. The further we try to understand the image of Woland, the further we go from the thesis that he is the master of universal evil.

All symbols that turn us to other demonological images were changed by Bulgakov to an unrecognizable state. This happened with the symbols of the moon and the sun, which, in the interpretation of the author, acquired a meaning that is directly opposite to our understanding. There is another option, when Bulgakov depicts the symbols and attributes of demonic images, primarily Mephistopheles, in order to later show that they are alien to the hero of his work. The symbol of Mephistopheles - a black poodle - is present in the novel. It appears on the head of Woland's cane, but in the realistic and truth-revealing light of the moon, the cane turns into a sword. And now before us is no longer the lord of darkness, but a noble knight seeking justice in this sinful world. The symbol of the black poodle weighs on Margarita, who appeared as the hostess of the great ball at Satan's.

At the end of the novel, both lines intersect: the Master frees the hero of his novel, and Pontius Pilate, after his death, languishing on a stone slab with his faithful dog Banga for so long and wanting to end his interrupted conversation with Yeshua all this time, finally finds peace and sets off on an endless journey through the flow of moonlight along with Yeshua. The master and Margarita find in the afterlife the "peace" given to them by Woland (which differs from the "light" mentioned in the novel - another variant of the afterlife).

Place and time of the main events of the novel

All events in the novel (in its main narrative) unfold in Moscow in the 1930s, in May, from Wednesday evening to Sunday night, and on these days there was a full moon. It is difficult to establish the year in which the action took place, since the text contains conflicting indications of time - perhaps conscious, and perhaps as a result of the author's unfinished editing.

In the early editions of the novel (1929-1931), the action of the novel is pushed into the future, 1933, 1934 and even 1943 and 1945 are mentioned, the events take place at different periods of the year - from early May to early July. Initially, the author attributed the action to the summer period. However, most likely, in order to comply with the peculiar outline of the narrative, the time was transferred from summer to spring (see Chapter 1 of the novel “Once in the Spring ...” And in the same place, further: “Yes, the first strangeness of this terrible May evening should be noted”).

In the epilogue of the novel, the full moon, during which the action takes place, is called festive, while the version suggests itself that the holiday means Easter, most likely Orthodox Easter. Then the action should begin on the Wednesday of Holy Week, which fell on May 1, 1929. Proponents of this version also put forward the following arguments:

• May 1 is the day of international solidarity of workers, widely celebrated at that time (despite the fact that in 1929 it coincided with Passion Week, that is, with the days of strict fasting). Some bitter irony is seen in the fact that Satan arrives in Moscow on this very day. In addition, the night of May 1 is Walpurgis Night, the time of the annual witches' sabbath on Mount Broken, from where, therefore, Satan directly arrived.
• the master in the novel is "a man about thirty-eight years old." Bulgakov turned thirty-eight on May 15, 1929.

It should, however, be pointed out that on May 1, 1929, the moon was already waning. The Easter full moon never falls in May at all. In addition, the text contains direct indications of a later time:

• the novel mentions a trolleybus launched along the Arbat in 1934, and along the Garden Ring in 1936.
• the architectural congress mentioned in the novel took place in June 1937 (the First Congress of Architects of the USSR).
• very warm weather was established in Moscow in early May 1935 (spring full moons then fell in mid-April and mid-May). The 2005 film adaptation takes place in 1935.

The events of the "Romance of Pontius Pilate" take place in the Roman province of Judea during the reign of Emperor Tiberius and management on behalf of the Roman authorities by Pontius Pilate, on the day before the Jewish Passover and the night following, that is, Nisan 14-15 according to the Jewish calendar. Thus, the time of action is presumably the beginning of April or 30 AD. e.

Interpretation of the novel

It has been argued that the idea for the novel came from Bulgakov after visiting the editorial office of the newspaper The Bezbozhnik.

It was also noted that in the first edition of the novel, the session of black magic was dated June 12 - June 12, 1929, the first congress of Soviet atheists began in Moscow, with reports from Nikolai Bukharin and Emelyan Gubelman (Yaroslavsky).

There are several opinions on how this work should be interpreted.

Response to militant atheist propaganda

One of the possible interpretations of the novel is Bulgakov's answer to the poets and writers who, in his opinion, propagated atheism and denied the existence of Jesus Christ as a historical person in Soviet Russia. In particular, the response to the publication of anti-religious poems by Demyan Bedny in the Pravda newspaper of that time.

As a result of such actions on the part of militant atheists, the novel became an answer, a rebuke. It is no coincidence that in the novel, both in the Moscow part and in the Jewish part, there is a kind of caricature whitewashing of the image of the devil. It is no coincidence that the presence of characters from Jewish demonology in the novel is, as it were, in opposition to the denial of the existence of God in the USSR.

According to one of the researchers of Bulgakov's work, hieromonk Dimitry Pershin, the idea to write a novel about the devil arises from the writer after visiting the editorial office of the Bezbozhnik newspaper in 1925. In his novel, Bulgakov tried to construct some kind of apology proving the existence of the spiritual world. This attempt, however, is based on the contrary: the novel shows the reality of the presence in the world of evil, demonic forces. At the same time, the writer raises the question: “How is it that if these forces exist, and the world is in the hands of Woland and his company, then why is the world still standing?”

The interpretation itself lies in the hidden allegorical forms of the narrative. Bulgakov gives something related to Freemasonry in a veiled, not explicit and semi-hidden form. Such a moment is the transformation of the poet Bezdomny from an ignorant person into an educated and balanced person, who has found himself and knows something more than writing poems on an anti-religious topic. This is facilitated by a meeting with Woland, who is a kind of starting point in the search for the poet, passing tests and meeting with the Master, who becomes his spiritual mentor.

The master is the image of a master mason who has completed all the stages of Masonic initiation. Now he is a teacher, mentor, guide of those who seek the Light of knowledge and true spirituality. He is the author of a moral work on Pontius Pilate, which correlates with the architectural work performed by the Freemasons in the course of their knowledge of the Royal Art. He judges everything in a balanced way, not allowing emotions to get the better of him and return him to the ignorant state of a profane person.

Margarita is being initiated into one of the mysteries. The whole description of what is happening, those images that take place in the series of events of the initiation of Margaret, everything speaks of one of the Hellenistic cults, most likely of the Dionysian mysteries, since Satyr appears as one of the priests performing the alchemical combination of water and fire, which determines the completion of the initiation of Margaret. In fact, having passed the Big Circle of Mysteries, Margarita becomes a student and gets the opportunity to go through the Small Circle of Mysteries, for which she is invited to the Woland Ball. At the Ball, she is subjected to many trials, which is so characteristic of Masonic initiation rituals. Upon completion of which Margarita is informed that she was tested and that she passed the tests. The end of the Ball is a dinner by candlelight, in the circle of loved ones. This is a very characteristic symbolic description of the "Table Lodge" (agape) of the Masons. By the way, women in purely female lodges or mixed ones, such as the International Mixed Masonic Order "Right of Man", are allowed to membership in Masonic lodges.

There are also a number of smaller episodes that show interpretations and descriptions of Masonic rituals and general initiatic practices in Masonic lodges.

Philosophical interpretation

In this interpretation of the novel, the main idea stands out - the inevitability of punishment for deeds. It is no coincidence that supporters of this interpretation point out that one of the central places in the novel is occupied by the acts of Woland's retinue before the ball, when bribe-takers, libertines and other negative characters are punished, and Woland's court itself, when everyone is rewarded according to his faith.

Interpretation by A. Zerkalov

There is an original interpretation of the novel, proposed by science fiction writer and literary critic A. Zerkalov-Mirrer in the book "The Ethics of Mikhail Bulgakov" (published in 1999). According to Zerkalov, Bulgakov disguised in the novel a “serious” satire on the mores of Stalin’s time, which, without any decoding, was clear to the first listeners of the novel, to whom Bulgakov himself read. According to Zerkalov, Bulgakov, after the caustic Heart of a Dog, simply could not descend to satire in the style of Ilf-Petrov. However, after the events around The Heart of a Dog, Bulgakov had to mask the satire more carefully, placing peculiar “notes” for understanding people. It is worth noting that in this interpretation, some inconsistencies and ambiguities in the novel received a plausible explanation. Unfortunately, Zerkalov left this work unfinished.

A. Barkov: "The Master and Margarita" - a novel about M. Gorky

According to the conclusions of the literary critic A. Barkov, "The Master and Margarita" is a novel about M. Gorky, depicting the collapse of Russian culture after the October Revolution, and the novel depicts not only the reality of Bulgakov's contemporary Soviet culture and literary environment, led by the Soviets sung with such a title newspapers by the "master of socialist literature" M. Gorky, erected on a pedestal by V. Lenin, but also the events of the October Revolution and even the armed uprising of 1905. As A. Barkov reveals the text of the novel, M. Gorky served as the prototype of the master, Margarita - his common-law wife, artist of the Moscow Art Theater M. Andreeva, Woland - Lenin, Latunsky and Sempleyarov - Lunacharsky, Levi Matvey - Leo Tolstoy, Variety Theater - Moscow Art Theater.

A. Barkov reveals the system of images in detail, citing the novel's indications of the prototypes of the characters and the connection between them in life. Regarding the main characters, the instructions are as follows:

• Master:

1) In the 1930s, the title "master" in Soviet journalism and newspapers was firmly entrenched in M. Gorky, which Barkov gives examples from periodicals. The title "master" as the personification of the highest degree of the creator of the era of social realism, a writer capable of fulfilling any ideological order, was introduced and promoted by N. Bukharin and A. Lunacharsky.

2) In the novel there are indications of the year of the events taking place - 1936. Despite numerous indications of May as the time of events, references are made to June in relation to the death of Berlioz and the master (linden blossoms, lacy shade of acacias, strawberries were present in early editions). In Woland's astrological phrases, the researcher finds indications of the second new moon of the May-June period, which in 1936 fell on June 19. This is the day when the whole country said goodbye to M. Gorky, who had died the day before. The darkness that covered the city (both Yershalaim and Moscow) is a description of a solar eclipse that happened on this day, June 19, 1936 (the degree of closing of the solar disk in Moscow was 78%), accompanied by a decrease in temperature and a strong wind (on the night of this day over Moscow there was a severe thunderstorm) when Gorky's body was exhibited in the Kremlin's Hall of Columns. The novel also contains details of his funeral (“Hall of Columns”, the removal of the body from the Kremlin (Alexandrovsky Garden), etc.) (absent in early editions; appeared after 1936).

3) The novel written by the “master”, which is an openly Talmudic (and defiantly anti-evangelical) presentation of the life of Christ, is a parody not only of the work and creed of M. Gorky, but also of L. Tolstoy, and also denounces the credo of all Soviet anti-religious propaganda.

• Margarita:

1) “Gothic mansion” of Margarita (the address is easily established from the text of the novel - Spiridonovka) is the mansion of Savva Morozov, with whom Maria Andreeva, an artist of the Moscow Art Theater and a Marxist, beloved S. Morozov, lived until 1903, to whom he transferred huge sums used by her for the needs of Lenin's party. Since 1903, M. Andreeva was the common-law wife of M. Gorky.

2) In 1905, after the suicide of S. Morozov, M. Andreeva received S. Morozov's insurance policy bequeathed to her for one hundred thousand rubles, ten thousand of which she transferred to M. Gorky to pay his debts, and gave the rest to the needs of the RSDLP (in the novel, the master finds a bond “in a basket of dirty laundry”, on which he wins one hundred thousand rubles (for which he begins to “write his novel”, that is, he starts large-scale literary activity), “hires from the developer” rooms, and after that the remaining ten thousand are taken for safekeeping by Margarita).

3) The house with a "bad apartment" in all editions of the novel was held with the pre-revolutionary continuous numbering of the Garden Ring, which indicates pre-revolutionary events. The “bad apartment” in the novel originally appeared with the number 20, not 50. According to the geographical indications of the first editions of the novel, this is apartment No. the training base for armed Marxist militants, created by M. Andreeva, and where V. Lenin visited Gorky and Andreeva several times (a memorial plaque on the house reports several of his stays in this house in 1905: Vozdvizhenka, 4). The “housekeeper” “Natasha” (the party nickname of one of Andreeva’s henchmen) was also here, and there were episodes of shooting when one of the militants, working with a weapon, shot through the wall into a neighboring apartment (the episode with Azazello’s shot).

4) The museum mentioned in the master's monologue regarding his wife ( " - Were you married? - Well, yes, here I am clicking ... on this ... Varenka, Manechka ... no, Varenka ... also a striped dress ... a museum "), refers to the work of Gorky and Andreeva in the post-revolutionary years in the commission for the selection of museum valuables for sale abroad; Andreeva reported on the sale of museum treasures to Berlin personally to Lenin. The names mentioned by the master (Manechka, Varenka) refer to Gorky's real women - Maria Andreeva, Varvara Shaikevich and Maria Zakrevskaya-Benkendorf.

5) The Falerno wine mentioned in the novel refers to the Italian region of Naples-Salerno-Capri, closely associated with Gorky's biography, where he spent several years of his life, and where Lenin repeatedly visited Gorky and Andreeva, as well as with the activities of the RSDLP militant school in Capri , in which Andreeva, who was often on Capri, took an active part. The darkness that came precisely from the Mediterranean Sea also refers to this (by the way, the eclipse of June 19, 1936 really began over the territory of the Mediterranean Sea and passed over the entire territory of the USSR from west to east).

• Woland - Woland's life prototype comes from the system of images created in the novel - this is V. I. Lenin, who personally participated in the relationship between M. Andreeva and M. Gorky and used Andreeva to influence Gorky.

1) Woland marries the Master and Margarita, at a great ball with Satan - in 1903 (after Andreeva met Gorky), Lenin in Geneva personally ordered Andreeva to involve Gorky more closely in the work of the RSDLP.

2) At the end of the novel, Woland and his retinue stand on the building of the Pashkov house, reigning over it. This is the building of the Lenin State Library, a significant part of which is filled with the works of Lenin (in the early editions of the novel, Woland, explaining the reason for his arrival in Moscow, instead of mentioning the works of Herbert Avrilaksky, says: “Here in the state library is a large collection of works on black magic and demonology”; also in the early editions of the novel, in the finale, the fire engulfed not some buildings, but the whole of Moscow, and Woland and his company descended from the roof into the state library building and went out into the city to observe the Moscow fire, thus symbolizing the spread of catastrophic events from the library building, bearing the name of Lenin and largely filled with his works).

Characters

Moscow in the 30s

Master

A professional historian who won a large sum in the lottery and got the opportunity to try his hand at literary work. Becoming a writer, he managed to create a brilliant novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri, but turned out to be a man not adapted to the era in which he lived. He was driven to despair by persecution from colleagues who severely criticized his work. Nowhere in the novel is his name and surname mentioned; to direct questions about this, he always refused to introduce himself, saying - "Let's not talk about it." Known only by the nickname "master" given by Margarita. He considers himself unworthy of such a nickname, considering it a whim of his beloved. A master is a person who has achieved the highest success in any activity, which may be why he is rejected by the crowd, which is not able to appreciate his talent and abilities. The Master, the protagonist of the novel, writes a novel about Yeshua (Jesus) and Pilate. The master writes the novel, interpreting the gospel events in his own way, without miracles and the power of grace - like Tolstoy. The master communicated with Woland - Satan, a witness, according to him, of the events that took place, the described events of the novel.

“From the balcony, a shaven, dark-haired man with a sharp nose, worried eyes and a tuft of hair hanging over his forehead, about thirty-eight years old, cautiously peered into the room.”

margarita

The beautiful, wealthy but bored wife of a famous engineer, suffering from the emptiness of her life. Having met the Master by chance on the streets of Moscow, she fell in love with him at first sight, passionately believed in the success of his novel, prophesied glory. When the Master decided to burn his novel, she only managed to save a few pages. Then she makes a deal with the devil and becomes the queen of the satanic ball hosted by Woland in order to regain the missing Master. Margarita is a symbol of love and self-sacrifice in the name of another person. If you call the novel without using symbols, then The Master and Margarita is transformed into Creativity and Love.

Woland

Satan, who visited Moscow under the guise of a foreign professor of black magic, a "historian". At the first appearance (in the novel "The Master and Margarita") he narrates the first chapter from the novel (about Yeshua and Pilate). Eye defects are the main feature of appearance. Appearance: growth was not small and not huge, but just tall. As for his teeth, he had platinum crowns on the left side, and gold crowns on the right. He wore an expensive gray suit, expensive foreign shoes to match the color of the suit, he always had a cane with him, with a black knob in the shape of a poodle's head; the right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason; a crooked mouth. Shaved smoothly. He smoked a pipe and always carried a cigarette case with him.

Fagot (Koroviev) and the cat Behemoth. A live cat Behemoth, who takes part in performances, poses next to them. Sculpture by Alexander Rukavishnikov installed in the courtyard of the Bulgakov House in Moscow

Bassoon (Koroviev)

One of the characters of Satan's retinue, all the time walking in ridiculous checkered clothes and pince-nez with one cracked and one missing glass. In his true form, he turns out to be a knight, forced to pay with constant stay in the retinue of Satan for one once said unsuccessful pun about light and darkness.

Koroviev-Fagot has some resemblance to a bassoon - a long thin tube folded in three. Moreover, the bassoon is an instrument that can play both high and low keys. Now bass, then treble. If we recall the behavior of Koroviev, or rather the change in his voice, then another character in the name is clearly visible. Bulgakov's character is thin, tall and in imaginary subservience, it seems, is ready to triple in front of his interlocutor (in order to calmly harm him later).

In the image of Koroviev (and his constant companion Behemoth), the traditions of folk laughter culture are strong, these same characters retain a close genetic connection with the heroes - picaros (rogues) of world literature.

There is a possibility that the names of the characters in Woland's retinue are associated with the Hebrew language. So, for example, Koroviev (in Hebrew cars- close, that is, approximate), Behemoth (in Hebrew behemoth- cattle), Azazello (in Hebrew azazel- demon).

Azazello

A member of Satan's retinue, a killer demon with a repulsive appearance. The prototype of this character was the fallen angel Azazel (in Jewish beliefs - who later became the demon of the desert), mentioned in the apocryphal book of Enoch - one of the angels whose actions on earth provoked the wrath of God and the Flood. By the way, Azazel is a demon who gave men weapons, and women - cosmetics, mirrors. It is no coincidence that he goes to Margarita to give her the cream.

Behemoth cat

The character of the retinue of Satan, a playful and restless spirit, appearing either in the form of a giant cat walking on its hind legs, or in the form of a full citizen, with a face that looks like a cat. The prototype of this character is the demon of the same name Behemoth, a demon of gluttony and debauchery, who could take the form of many large animals. In its true form, the Behemoth turns out to be a thin young man, a page demon.

Belozerskaya wrote about the dog Buton, named after Molière's servant. “She even hung another card on the front door under the card of Mikhail Afanasyevich, where it was written: “Buton Bulgakov”. This is an apartment on Bolshaya Pirogovskaya. There Mikhail Afanasyevich began work on The Master and Margarita.

Gella

A witch and vampire from the retinue of Satan, who embarrassed all his visitors (from among the people) by the habit of not wearing almost anything. The beauty of her body is spoiled only by a scar on her neck. In the retinue, Woland plays the role of a maid. Woland, recommending Gella to Margarita, says that there is no service that she could not provide.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz

The chairman of MASSOLIT is a writer, a well-read, educated and skeptical person. He lived in a “bad apartment” at 302-bis Sadovaya, where Woland later settled during his stay in Moscow. He died, not believing Woland's prediction about his sudden death, made shortly before her. At the ball of Satan, his further fate was determined by Woland according to the theory, according to which everyone will be given according to his faith .... Berlioz appears before us at the ball in the form of his own severed head. Subsequently, the head was turned into a bowl in the form of a skull on a golden leg, with emerald eyes and pearl teeth .... the lid of the skull was thrown back on a hinge. It was in this cup that the spirit of Berlioz found non-existence.

Ivan Nikolaevich Homeless

Poet, member of MASSOLIT. The real name is Ponyrev. Wrote an anti-religious poem, one of the first heroes (along with Berlioz) who met Koroviev and Woland. He ended up in a clinic for the mentally ill, and was also the first to meet the Master. Then he recovered, stopped studying poetry and became a professor at the Institute of History and Philosophy.

Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev

Director of the Variety Theatre, Berlioz's neighbor, who also lives in a "bad apartment" on Sadovaya. A slacker, a womanizer and a drunkard. For "official discrepancy" he was teleported to Yalta by Woland's henchmen.

Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy

Chairman of the housing association on Sadovaya Street, where Woland settled during his stay in Moscow. Zhadin, the day before, he committed the theft of funds from the cash desk of the housing association.

Koroviev entered into an agreement with him for temporary housing and gave a bribe, which, as subsequently stated by the chairman, "she herself crawled into his briefcase." Then, on the orders of Woland, Koroviev turned the transferred rubles into dollars and, on behalf of one of the neighbors, reported the hidden currency to the NKVD.

Trying to somehow justify himself, Bosoy admitted to bribery and announced similar crimes on the part of his assistants, which led to the arrest of all members of the housing association. Due to further behavior during interrogation, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he was haunted by nightmares related to the requirements to hand over the available currency.

Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha

Administrator of the Variety Theatre. He fell into the clutches of Woland's gang when he carried to the NKVD a printout of correspondence with Likhodeev, who had ended up in Yalta. As a punishment for "lying and rudeness on the phone", he was turned into a vampire gunner by Gella. After the ball, he was turned back into a human and released. At the end of all the events described in the novel, Varenukha became a more good-natured, polite and honest person.

An interesting fact: the punishment of Varenukha was a "private initiative" of Azazello and Behemoth.

Grigory Danilovich Rimsky

Financial Director of the Variety Theatre. He was shocked by the attack on him by Gella, along with his friend Varenukha, so much that he completely turned gray, and after that he preferred to flee from Moscow. During interrogation at the NKVD, he asked for an "armored camera" for himself.

Georges of Bengal

Entertainer at the Variety Theatre. He was severely punished by Woland's retinue - his head was torn off - for the unsuccessful comments that he made during the performance. After returning the head to its place, he could not recover and was taken to the clinic of Professor Stravinsky. The figure of Bengalsky is one of many satirical figures, the purpose of which is to criticize Soviet society.

Vasily Stepanovich Lastochkin

Accountant Variety. While I was handing over the cash register, I found traces of the presence of Woland's retinue in the institutions where he had been. During the delivery of the cash register, he suddenly discovered that the money had turned into a variety of foreign currencies.

Prokhor Petrovich

Chairman of the Spectacle Commission of the Variety Theatre. Behemoth the cat temporarily kidnapped him, leaving an empty suit sitting at his workplace. For taking the wrong position.

Maximilian Andreevich Poplavsky

Yershalaim, I c. n. e.

Pontius Pilate

The fifth procurator of Judea in Jerusalem, a cruel and domineering man, nevertheless managed to feel sympathy for Yeshua Ha-Nozri during his interrogation. He tried to stop the well-functioning mechanism of execution for insulting Caesar, but failed to do this, which he later regretted all his life. He suffered from a severe migraine, from which he was relieved during interrogation by Yeshua Ha-Nozri.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri

A wandering philosopher from Nazareth, described by Woland at the Patriarch's Ponds, as well as by the Master in his novel, compared with the image of Jesus Christ. The name Yeshua Ga-Notsri means in Hebrew Jesus (Yeshua ישוע) from Nazareth (Ga-Notsri הנוצרי). However, this image differs significantly from the biblical prototype. Characteristically, he tells Pontius Pilate that Matthew Levi (Matthew) wrote down his words incorrectly and that “this confusion will continue for a very long time.” Pilate: “But what did you say about the temple to the crowd in the bazaar?” Yeshua: “I, hegemon, said that the temple of the old faith would collapse and a new temple of truth would be created. He said it in such a way that it was clearer.“ A humanist who denies resisting evil with violence.

Levy Matvey

The only follower of Yeshua Ha-Nozri in the novel. Accompanied his teacher until his death, and subsequently took him down from the cross to be buried. He also had the intention of slaughtering Yeshua, who was led to the execution, in order to save him from the torment on the cross, but in the end he failed. At the end of the novel, Woland comes to Woland, sent by his teacher Yeshua, with a request to grant peace to the Master and Margarita.

Joseph Kaifa

Jewish high priest, head of the Sanhedrin, who condemned Yeshua Ha-Notsri to death.

Judas of Kiriath

A young resident of Yershalaim who delivered Yeshua Ha-Nozri into the hands of the Sanhedrin. Pontius Pilate, surviving his involvement in the execution of Yeshua, organized the secret murder of Judas in order to take revenge.

Mark Ratslayer

Centurion, Pilate's guard, crippled sometime in the battle with the Germans, acting as an escort and directly carrying out the execution of Yeshua and two more criminals. When a severe thunderstorm began on the mountain, Yeshua and other criminals were stabbed to death in order to be able to leave the place of execution. Another version says that Pontius Pilate ordered the convicts to be stabbed to death (which is not allowed by law) in order to alleviate their suffering. Perhaps he got the nickname "Rat-Slayer" because he himself was a German.

Aphranius

Head of the secret service, colleague of Pilate. Supervised the execution of the murder of Judas and planted the money received for the betrayal at the residence of the high priest Kaifa.

Niza

A resident of Jerusalem, an agent of Aphranius, who pretended to be the beloved of Judas in order to lure him into a trap on the orders of Aphranius.

Versions

First edition

Bulgakov dated the start of work on The Master and Margarita in various manuscripts, now and then in 1929. In the first edition, the novel had variants of the names “Black Magician”, “Engineer's Hoof”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “V.'s Son”, “Tour”. The first edition of The Master and Margarita was destroyed by the author on March 18, 1930, after receiving news of the ban on the play The Cabal of Saints. Bulgakov wrote about this in a letter to the government: “And personally, with my own hands, I threw a draft of a novel about the devil into the stove ...”.

Work on The Master and Margarita resumed in 1931. Rough sketches were made for the novel, and here already appeared margarita and her then nameless companion is the future Master, a Woland got his lush retinue.

Second edition

The second edition, which was created before 1936, had the subtitle "Fantastic novel" and variants of the titles "The Great Chancellor", "Satan", "Here I am", "Black Magician", "Engineer's Hoof".

Third Edition

The third edition, begun in the second half of 1936, was originally called "Prince of Darkness", but already in 1937 the title "Master and Margarita" appeared. On June 25, 1938, the full text was reprinted for the first time (printed by O. S. Bokshanskaya, sister of E. S. Bulgakova). The author's editing continued almost until the writer's death, Bulgakov stopped it at Margarita's phrase: “So this, then, is the writers following the coffin?”...

Publication history of the novel

During his lifetime, the author read certain passages at home to close friends. Much later, in 1961, the philologist A. Z. Vulis wrote a work on Soviet satirists and remembered the half-forgotten author of Zoya's Apartment and Crimson Island. Vulis learned that the writer's widow was alive and established contact with her. After an initial period of distrust, Elena Sergeevna gave the manuscript of The Master to be read. The shocked Vulis shared his impressions with many, after which rumors about a great novel spread throughout literary Moscow. This led to the first publication in the magazine "Moscow" in 1966 (circulation 150 thousand copies). There were two prefaces: by Konstantin Simonov and Vulis.

The full text of the novel, at the request of K. Simonov, was published after the death of E. S. Bulgakova in the 1973 edition. In 1987, for the first time after the death of the writer's widow, access to the Bulgakov fund in the Department of Manuscripts of the Lenin Library was opened to textologists preparing a two-volume edition published in 1989, and the final text was published in the 5th volume of the collected works, published in 1990.

Bulgakov studies offer three concepts for reading the novel: historical and social (V. Ya. Lakshin), biographical (M. O. Chudakova) and aesthetic with a historical and political context (V. I. Nemtsev).

Bulgakov began to write his main book - the novel "The Master and Margarita", which was first called both "The Hoof of the Engineer" and "The Black Magician" in 1928-29. He dictated the last inserts to his wife in 1940, in February, three weeks before his death. In this article, we will consider Bulgakov's latest novel and analyze it.

"The Master and Margarita" - the result of Bulgakov's work

This novel was a kind of synthesis, the result of all the previous experience of the writer and playwright. It reflected the Moscow life, which arose in the essays from the work "On the Eve"; satirical mysticism and fantasy, tested by Bulgakov in the stories of the 1920s; motives of restless conscience and knightly honor - in the novel "The White Guard"; as well as the dramatic theme of the evil fate of one persecuted artist, which was developed in the "Theatrical novel" and "Moliere". The description of Yershalaim was prepared by a picture of the life of the eastern city, which is mentioned in the "Running". And the transfer of the narrative in time during the period of early Christianity was reminiscent of the plays "Ivan Vasilyevich" and "Bliss", in which a journey through the epochs was also made.

Layered work

First of all, it should be noted that this work is multilayered, as our analysis shows. "The Master and Margarita" has several plans, including temporary ones. The author, on the one hand, describes the reality of the 1930s, contemporary to him, but on the other hand, Mikhail Afanasyevich enters a different era: ancient Judea, the first two centuries of Christianity, the reign of Pontius Pilate. By comparing these two times, establishing indirect and direct analogies between them, the space of the novel is built, its ideological content is enriched by this. In the work, in addition, an adventurous-fantastic layer is clearly written out. First of all, it includes scenes in which Koroviev, Behemoth and other representatives of the "gang" of the black magician participate.

Reflection of the characteristics of the era

Persecution, repression, fear, which literally permeated the atmosphere of the 1930s, were most clearly reflected in the fate of the Master. Let's prove it on the example of one episode by analyzing it. "The Master and Margarita" contains an interesting scene - a description of the return of the protagonist home after he became a victim of a denunciation carried out by Aloisy Mogarych. Three months absent from his dwelling, he comes to the windows of the basement, in which the gramophone is playing. The master returned in the same coat, only with torn buttons (they were cut off during the arrest) with an unwillingness to live and write.

The atmosphere of the 1930s is also reminiscent of the circumstances of the murder of Aphranius Judas by mercenaries, the death of Meigel, who was killed by Azazello at a ball with Satan. These deaths once again demonstrate the law, which was confirmed more than once already in the times of Yezhov and Yagoda: his servants will be destroyed by evil itself.

The role of mysticism in Bulgakov's work

Bulgakov called himself a mystical writer, but in the novel the mystic is not at all an apology for everything mysterious, which can be proved by analysis. "The Master and Margarita" is a work in which Woland's retinue performs miracles with only one purpose: satire enters the novel through them. Woland and his henchmen make fun of human vices, punish voluptuousness, lies, greed of all these Likhodeevs, Sempleyarovs, Varenukhs. Bulgakov's representatives of evil act in accordance with Goethe's maxim that they are a force that does good, desiring evil.

An analysis of the work "The Master and Margarita" shows that one of the main targets is the complacency of the mind, primarily the atheistic one, which sweeps away the whole area of ​​the mysterious and enigmatic along the way. Describing all the "hoaxes", "jokes" and "adventures" of Behemoth, Koroviev and Azazello, the writer laughs at people's confidence that all forms of existing life can be planned and calculated, and it is not at all difficult to arrange happiness and prosperity for people - just want to .

Criticism of rationalism by Bulgakov

Bulgakov, while remaining an adherent of the Great Evolution, shows doubt that unidirectional and uniform progress can be ensured by a "cavalry assault." His mysticism is directed primarily against rationalism. An analysis of the work "The Master and Margarita" from this side can be carried out as follows. Bulgakov ridicules, developing the theme outlined in various stories of the 1920s, the complacency of reason, which is convinced that, freed from superstitions, it will create an accurate blueprint of the future, the arrangement of relations between people and harmony in the human soul. Here the image of Berlioz can serve as a most characteristic example. He, having ceased to believe in God, does not even believe that chance can interfere with him, tripping him up at the most unexpected moment. And that is exactly what happens in the end. Thus, the analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita" proves that the author opposes rationalism.

The mysticism of the historical process

But the mysticism of everyday life for the writer is only a reflection of what can be considered the mysticism of the historical process (the unpredictability of the course of history and the results obtained, their unexpectedness). In history, the most important events, according to Bulgakov, imperceptibly ripen. They are carried out outside the will of people, although many are convinced that they can arbitrarily dispose of everything. As a result, the unfortunate Berlioz, who knew exactly what he would do at the MASSOLIT meeting in the evening, dies a few minutes later under the wheels of a tram.

Pontius Pilate - "a victim of history"

Like Berlioz, he becomes another "victim of history." An analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita" reveals the following features of this personality. The hero makes an impression of a powerful person on people and on himself. However, Yeshua's perspicacity amazes the procurator no less than the unusual speeches of Berlioz and Woland. The self-satisfaction of Pontius Pilate, his right to dispose of the lives of others at his own discretion, is thereby called into question. The procurator decides the fate of Yeshua. But despite this, the latter is free, and Pilate is the unfortunate hostage of his own conscience. This two-thousand-year captivity is a punishment to imaginary and temporary power.

Love of the Master and Margarita

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is dedicated to the fate of one master - a creative person who opposes the whole world around him. Its history is inextricably linked with the history of Margarita. The author in the second part of his novel promises to show readers "eternal", "true", "true" love. These were the feelings of the main characters in the work. Let's analyze them. works you, we hope, remember) is a novel in which love is one of the main themes.

"True Love" by Bulgakov

What does "true love" mean from the point of view of Mikhail Afanasyevich? An analysis of the chapters ("The Master and Margarita") shows that the meeting of the heroes was accidental, but this cannot be said about the feeling that bound them until the end of their days. The master and Margarita recognize each other by their gaze, which reflects "deep loneliness". This means that, even without knowing each other, the characters experienced a great need for love, which Bulgakov notes in his novel. "The Master and Margarita", which we are analyzing, is a work demonstrating that the miracle that happened (the meeting of the beloved) is also the will of chance, a mysterious fate, in every possible way denied by supporters of rationalism.

The master says that this feeling hit them both at once. True love invades life powerfully and transforms it. The meeting of the Master and Margarita, which we are analyzing, turned everything ordinary and everyday into significant and bright. When the main character appeared in the Master's cellar, it was as if all the details of his meager life began to glow from within. And this can be easily seen through analysis. The love of Margarita and the Master was so bright that when the heroine left, everything faded for the writer in love.

First of all, real feelings must be selfless. Before meeting with the Master, Margarita had everything a woman needed to be happy: a kind, handsome husband who adored his wife, money, a luxurious mansion. However, she was not satisfied with her life. Bulgakov writes that Margarita needed a Master, and not a separate garden, a Gothic mansion and money. When the heroine did not have love, she even wanted to commit suicide. At the same time, she could not harm her husband and acted honestly, deciding to leave a farewell note in which she explained everything.

Therefore, true love cannot harm anyone. She will not build her happiness at the expense of the misfortune of others. This feeling is also selfless. The heroine of Bulgakov is able to accept the aspirations and interests of her lover as her own. She helps the Master in everything, lives by his worries. The hero writes a novel, which becomes the content of the girl's whole life. She cleanly rewrites the finished chapters, trying to make the Master happy and calm. And in this he sees the meaning of his own life.

"True Love"

What does "true love" mean? Its definition can be found in the second part of the work, when the heroine is left alone, while not having any news about her lover. She waits, not finding a place for herself. At the same time, Margarita does not lose hope of meeting him again, she is true to her feelings. It is completely indifferent to her in what light this meeting will take place.

"Eternal love"

Love becomes "eternal" when Margarita endures the test of meeting with mysterious otherworldly forces, as analysis of the episode ("The Master and Margarita") shows. The girl in the scene, which describes her meeting with otherworldly forces, is fighting for her lover. Attending the full moon ball, the heroine returns the Master with the help of Woland. She is not afraid of death next to her lover and remains with him beyond the death line. Margarita says that she will take care of his sleep.

However, no matter how overwhelmed the girl is with anxiety for the Master and love for him, when the time comes to ask, she does this not for herself, but for Frida. She decides this way not only because of Woland, who advises those in power not to demand anything. The love for the Master in the heroine is organically combined with love for people. Own suffering causes a desire to save others from them.

Love and creativity

True love is also associated with creativity. The fate of Margarita is intertwined with the fate of the Master's novel. As love grows stronger, romance is created. The work is therefore the fruit of love. The novel is equally dear to both the Master and Margarita. And if its creator refuses to fight, the heroine arranges a rout in Latunsky's apartment. However, she rejects Woland's proposal to destroy him. According to Bulgakov, the first step of truth is justice, but the highest is mercy.

Creativity and love exist among people who know neither one nor the other. Because of this, they are simply doomed to tragedy. The Master and Margarita at the end of the novel leave this society, where there is no place for high spiritual impulses. They are given death as rest and peace, as freedom from torment, grief and earthly ordeals. It can also be seen as a reward. This reflects the pain of life, time, the writer himself.

Peace for Mikhail Afanasyevich is the absence of remorse. The fate of Pontius Pilate will never be known by the main characters who lived a worthy, albeit difficult, life.

Having survived decades of unfair oblivion, the novel "The Master and Margarita" by M. Bulgakov is addressed today to us, in our time. The main essence that is defended in the work is "true, faithful and eternal love."

Introduction

The analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita" has been the subject of study of literary critics throughout Europe for many decades. The novel has a number of features, such as the non-standard form of "a novel within a novel", an unusual composition, rich themes and content. It was not in vain that it was written at the end of the life and career of Mikhail Bulgakov. The writer put all his talent, knowledge and imagination into the work.

Genre of the novel

The work "The Master and Margarita", the genre of which critics define as a novel, has a number of features inherent in its genre. These are several storylines, many heroes, the development of action over a long period of time. The novel is fantastic (sometimes it is called phantasmagoric). But the most striking feature of the work is its "novel within a novel" structure. Two parallel worlds - the masters and the ancient times of Pilate and Yeshua, live here almost independently and intersect only in the last chapters, when Levi, a disciple and close friend of Yeshua, pays a visit to Woland. Here, two lines merge into one, and surprise the reader with their organicity and closeness. It was the structure of the “novel within a novel” that enabled Bulgakov to show two such different worlds so skillfully and fully, events today and almost two thousand years ago.

Composition features

The composition of the novel "The Master and Margarita" and its features are due to the author's non-standard methods, such as the creation of one work within the framework of another. Instead of the usual classical chain - composition - plot - climax - denouement, we see the interweaving of these stages, as well as their doubling.

The plot of the novel: the meeting of Berlioz and Woland, their conversation. This happens in the 30s of the XX century. Woland's story also takes the reader back to the thirties, but two millennia ago. And here begins the second plot - a novel about Pilate and Yeshua.

Next comes the tie. These are tricks of Voladn and his company in Moscow. From here the satirical line of the work also originates. A second novel is also developing in parallel. The culmination of the master's novel is the execution of Yeshua, the climax of the story about the master, Margaret and Woland is the visit of Levi Matthew. An interesting denouement: in it both novels are combined into one. Woland and his retinue are taking Margarita and the Master to another world to reward them with peace and quiet. Along the way, they see the eternal wanderer Pontius Pilate.

"Free! He is waiting for you!" - with this phrase, the master releases the procurator and completes his novel.

Main themes of the novel

Mikhail Bulgakov concluded the meaning of the novel "The Master and Margarita" in the interweaving of the main themes and ideas. No wonder the novel is called both fantastic, and satirical, and philosophical, and love. All these themes are developed in the novel, framing and emphasizing the main idea - the struggle between good and evil. Each theme is both tied to its characters and intertwined with other characters.

satirical theme- this is Woland's "tour". The public, maddened by material wealth, representatives of the elite, greedy for money, the tricks of Koroviev and Behemoth sharply and clearly describe the diseases of modern society for the writer.

Love Theme embodied in the master and Margarita and gives tenderness to the novel and softens many poignant moments. Probably not in vain, the writer burned the first version of the novel, where Margarita and the master were not there yet.

Empathy Theme runs through the whole novel and shows several options for sympathy and empathy. Pilate sympathizes with the wandering philosopher Yeshua, but being confused in his duties and fearing condemnation, he "washes his hands." Margarita has a different sympathy - she sympathizes with the master, Frida at the ball, and Pilate with all her heart. But her sympathy is not just a feeling, it pushes her to certain actions, she does not fold her hands and fights for the salvation of those she worries about. Ivan Bezdomny also sympathizes with the master, imbued with his story that “every year, when the spring full moon comes ... in the evening he appears on the Patriarch’s Ponds ...”, so that later at night he can see bittersweet dreams about wonderful times and events.

The theme of forgiveness goes almost alongside the theme of sympathy.

Philosophical themes about the meaning and purpose of life, about good and evil, about biblical motives have been the subject of controversy and study of writers for many years. This is because the features of the novel "The Master and Margarita" are in its structure and ambiguity; with each reading they open up more and more questions and thoughts for the reader. This is the genius of the novel - it does not lose either relevance or poignancy for decades, and is still as interesting as it was for its first readers.

Ideas and main idea

The idea of ​​the novel is good and evil. And not only in the context of struggle, but also in the search for a definition. What is really evil? Most likely, this is the most complete way to describe the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe work. The reader, accustomed to the fact that the devil is pure evil, will be sincerely surprised by the image of Woland. He does not do evil, he contemplates, and punishes those who act low. His tours in Moscow only confirm this idea. He shows the moral illnesses of society, but does not even condemn them, but only sighs sadly: "People, like people ... The same as before." A person is weak, but it is in his power to resist his weaknesses, to fight them.

The theme of good and evil is ambiguously shown on the image of Pontius Pilate. In his heart he opposes the execution of Yeshua, but he lacks the courage to go against the crowd. The verdict on the wandering innocent philosopher is passed by the crowd, but Pilate is destined to serve the punishment forever.

The struggle between good and evil is also the opposition of the literary community to the master. It is not enough for self-confident writers to simply refuse the writer, they need to humiliate him, to prove their case. The master is very weak to fight, all his strength has gone into the romance. No wonder devastating articles for him acquire the image of a certain creature that begins to seem like a master in a dark room.

General analysis of the novel

The analysis of The Master and Margarita implies immersion in the worlds recreated by the writer. Here you can see biblical motifs and parallels with Goethe's immortal Faust. The themes of the novel develop each separately, and at the same time coexist, collectively creating a web of events and questions. Several worlds, each of which has found its place in the novel, are portrayed by the author surprisingly organically. It is not at all surprising to travel from modern Moscow to ancient Yershalaim, Woland's wise conversations, a huge talking cat and Margarita Nikolaevna's flight.

This novel is truly immortal thanks to the talent of the writer and the undying relevance of the topics and problems.

Artwork test

The work of Mikhail Bulgakov to this day attracts the attention of readers, critics, literary critics, cultural and art figures. A lot has been said and will be written about the writer's "last sunset novel". There are many meanings, meanings, interpretations of this work. The creation of the novel "The Master and Margarita" is shrouded in riddles and secrets. This article is devoted to the disclosure of the problems of the work, the history of its occurrence.

How it all began?

Initially, the novel was conceived by the writer as an instructive story about the truth, which many people neglect. It was started in 1928. The characters of the characters, their individual traits, problems were thought out. Perhaps there is no other work that would cause so much controversy as The Master and Margarita. The content of the novel is very interesting. You can't start reading a book and leave it in the middle!

The book grabs you from the very first pages. The reader wants to know as much as possible about what will happen next with the characters. The main characters are Woland, Margarita, the Master, the cat Behemoth, Koroviev, Azazello. Remarkably, almost every created hero had their own prototypes in real life. So, for example, in the apartment of Mikhail Afanasyevich himself lived a black cat, whose name was Behemoth. The image of Margarita Nikolaevna, no doubt, was created from the image of the third wife of the writer - Elena Sergeevna.

Manuscript burning

Having written the first part of the novel, Mikhail Bulgakov leaves work on it for some time, and then puts what he has written on fire. It is not clear what motivated this action. Perhaps it was difficult for him to cope with the feelings and emotions raging inside, or he was led at that moment by higher mystical powers. In any case, the history of creation is unique. "The Master and Margarita" is the greatest monument of Russian literature, which has no analogues in the entire world culture.

The burning of the manuscript is highly symbolic. In the novel itself, the Master also throws written sheets of notebooks into the fireplace, which depict the story of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. Why the main character does such an act is difficult to explain. But the reader intuitively understands his actions, sympathizes with the troubles and fear of being misunderstood. Perhaps, once Mikhail Bulgakov suddenly decided that his book had no future, and therefore it was not worth creating it. Fortunately, the novel is still one of the most attractive and interesting in the whole world.

The meaning of the name

The most interesting, perhaps, lies in the fact that the title for the work was chosen for a long time. The author considered various options, but none of them could satisfy his writing taste and fully reflect the essence of the novel. This is the peculiarity of the history of creation. "The Master and Margarita" is the final version, the result, to which Mikhail Afanasyevich comes. What other titles existed before the final selection? Here are some of them: "On the Devil and Christ", "Engineer with a Hoof", "Black Magician", "Grand Chancellor".

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is very many-sided. The theme of this work touches upon the issues of human creativity and freedom, love as a huge all-encompassing force, before which even the dark beginning recedes. Before the main characters appeared in the novel, the manuscript underwent significant changes several times. Its transformation consisted in the introduction of additional characters, a shift in emphasis from one idea to another. Several "undercurrents" can be traced in the text itself; it is ambiguous and mysterious. Some readers and even experts in the field of literary criticism noted that they tried several times in vain to determine the main meaning of the work, but became more and more confused with each new reading.

Problems of the novel

"The Master and Margarita" is an ambiguous and exciting work. Each reader, no doubt, will be able to discern something of his own in it, come into contact with immeasurable depth and bright originality. The main themes of the novel, which require thoughtful participation, are the themes of freedom and destiny of a person, creativity as a necessary activity, love as the highest self-sufficient force that can overcome everything in its path.

Freedom is considered by the author as a value for which life can be given. At the same time, independence in itself is worth little; in the writer's opinion, it must necessarily be connected to some higher goal or aspiration, otherwise a person will become selfish. The writer needs freedom, because only being a free person, you can create something new, create. The purpose of the personality is closely connected with freedom, with the ability to remain self-sufficient and purposeful in any circumstances.

Love is considered in the novel from two sides: a strong attraction between two mature personalities and the feelings of a Christian. In the first case, to maintain love, self-sacrifice is often necessary, the ability to take into account the needs of your beloved. Margarita is not afraid of her own death, she is not afraid of any obstacles, if only they help her meet her loved one. In the second case, there is creative love, addressed to the very essence of human nature, to all people on the planet. It is this kind of love that Yeshua speaks about and for the sake of it he goes to the crucifixion.

The problems of the novel "The Master and Margarita" are intertwined and form a semantic unity, which is the basis of the work. The writer indicates the issues of being and the meaning of life, which it is important for people to pay attention to.

main characters

The image of the Master and Margarita is central in the novel. Each of the characters is interesting in its own way, the main characters cannot leave anyone indifferent. The moment of their first meeting immediately shows that both are extremely unhappy and lonely. Margarita suffered from an unbearable void that she could not fill with anything. And this is what a married woman says, who, it would seem, should be happy with everything. The master, a creative person, was not completely satisfied with his life, despite the fact that he was in the process of creating a literary work. These facts prove that no one can be absolutely happy without the presence of a loved one in their life.

Margarita makes a deal with the devil in order to save the Master. At the ball, she does not show her fatigue to anyone, although she herself can barely hold on and her strength is clearly running out. The image of the Master and Margarita in the work demonstrates that the ability to be close to a loved one determines the subjective feeling of happiness.

Criticism and rejection of society

Special adherents could rewrite the work by hand in its entirety and then zealously keep the forbidden manuscript. There was an opinion in criticism that the novel was anti-Soviet. Perhaps in the USSR they saw in him some kind of threat to the upbringing of the younger generation, so it is not surprising that the novel The Master and Margarita was subjected to such great persecution. Reviews of the book created the illusion in society that it was not necessary to read it.

Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova

In fact, the fact that the novel was preserved in the harsh Stalinist times is entirely the merit of the third wife of the writer. It was she, a loving woman, who managed to protect the creation of her husband from all kinds of attacks and complete destruction. Elena Sergeevna guarded the unprinted manuscript, like a baby whose turn had not yet come to be born. It is only to her that the novel owes its entry into society, which happened many years after it was written. During the life of the writer, it was not completed, so it was the faithful wife who was engaged in editing and finalizing the almost finished text.

Without a doubt, the attentive reader will see her many-sided image, embodied on the pages of the novel. Margarita is endowed with the features of Elena Sergeevna: a passionate, stubborn, bright personality, individuality. Their personal history of relationships with Mikhail Afanasyevich is very similar to the acquaintance of the heroes of the work. The novel "The Master and Margarita" became a real miracle of suffering. Reviews about him were very different, but no one remained indifferent.

Love is not punished!

To people of high moral standards, the relationship of married Margarita with the Master may seem sinful, wrong. However, we see that the main idea of ​​the novel is the assertion that true love is freedom. Before this sublime feeling, for the sake of which a loving woman sacrificed everything, even Woland, the demonic prince of darkness, recedes, thereby recognizing the triumph of true love over himself.

Instead of a conclusion

The novel has its own unique history of creation. The Master and Margarita is a very difficult work with many additional subtexts. Different researchers in the field of literature interpret the novel in different ways, and this is natural, because everyone has an individual vision of life and their own ideas about how the world works.

Now you know what this work is about, what was its history of creation. The Master and Margarita is one of those novels that will never be forgotten!