Essay “Scene in a variety show. The role of the “black magic session” scene in the ideological and artistic structure of Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

22.04.2019

In M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita,” the devil appears to check whether the townspeople have “changed internally.” The scene in a variety show is of great importance for answering this question. Woland's retinue demonstrates various miracles, and the encounter with fan-tastic reveals many human vices. To begin with, Fagot demonstrates a trick with a deck of cards. Having delighted the audience, he publicly announces that the cards are “in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three-ruble note and the summons to appear in court in the case of paying alimony to citizen Zelkova.” Parchevsky becomes “all crimson with amazement,” because his true nature was previously hidden under the mask of decency. Bassoon does not rest on this and brings to the attention of the public that Parchevsky is a big fan of the game of poker.

One of climaxes in the episode there is a “falling out” of money rain. Suddenly, money begins to fly into the hall from under the dome. The author’s description of the public’s reaction to such “precipitation” is full of irony. Someone crawls in the aisle, someone climbs onto a chair with their feet and begins to catch pieces of paper. People begin to rush at each other, each trying to score as much as possible more money. After all, you don’t need to earn them, they appeared unexpectedly, on their own, you can spend them on anything and be completely happy about it.

Next, Wolandov's retinue decides to surprise the audience by tearing off the head of the entertainer Bengalsky. It is here that the audience shows pity and sympathy, still characteristic of them, begging the artists to forgive the hapless entertainer. Woland makes a conclusion about them: “People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts, ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... housing issue I just ruined them...”

The public's temptation does not end there: a ladies' shop opens on the stage of the variety show. At first, timid, and then seized by passion, women begin to grab everything in a fantastic store, without any trying on, regardless of their size and taste. There is even a man who is afraid of missing out on a chance and, due to the absence of a wife, also begins to gain women's clothing.

Unfortunately, all successful acquisitions later melt away on the ladies, and this has symbolic meaning. The nakedness of bodies here is tantamount to the nakedness of the soul, demonstrating greed, materialism, greed. People are controlled by selfish, momentary desires.

The “guest of honor” of the evening, chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, comes out with a demand to immediately expose the tricks. But they expose him himself. He turns out to be not at all as honorable a person as he imagined himself to be to others. Instead of meetings of the acoustic commission, Sempleyarov, as it turns out, visits the artist of the traveling regional theater, Militsa Andreevna Pokobatko, who, thanks to the disposition shown by Sempleyarov, gets her roles. In honor of Arkady Apollonovich, a march sounds at the end of the episode: His Excellency Loved poultry And took Pretty girls under his protection. Woland takes the position of a spectator studying the moral state of society, and comes to unfavorable conclusions: vices such as greed, cruelty, greed, deceit, hypocrisy are eternal.

Analysis of the episode “In Variety” from M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

The greatest achievement of M. A. Bulgakov is the novel “The Master and Margarita”. This is a special work in which the writer managed to fuse together myth and reality, satirical everyday life and a romantic plot, truthful depiction and fantasy, as well as irony and sarcasm. Bulgakov showed in his work four different worlds: earth, darkness, light and peace. Yershalaim in the twenties of the 1st century and Moscow in the twenties of the 20th century - this is the earthly world. The characters and times described in them seem to be different, but the essence is the same. Enmity, distrust of dissident people, and envy reign both in the distant times of slave-owning Rome and in Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow.

The vices of society are exposed by Woland, in which the author artistically reinterpreted the image of Satan. Woland occupies Bulgakov's novel significant place, but no one except the Master and Margarita recognizes him as Satan. Why? The fact is that ordinary people do not allow the existence of something inexplicable in the world. In Bulgakov's portrayal, Woland absorbed many of the features of various spirits of evil: Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer and others. But most of all Woland is associated with Goethe's Mephistopheles. Both of them are “part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” But if Mephistopheles is a cheerful and malicious tempter, then Bulgakov’s Woland is much more majestic. Sarcasm, not irony, is his main feature. Unlike Mephistopheles, Woland provides the sophisticated with the opportunity to choose between good and evil, gives the chance to use their goodwill. He sees everything, the world is open to him without rouge or makeup. With the help of his retinue, he ridicules and destroys everything that has deviated from goodness, has lied, become corrupted, become morally impoverished, and lost its high ideal. With contemptuous irony, Woland looks at the representatives of the Moscow philistinism, at all these businessmen, envious people, thieves and bribe-takers, at these petty crooks and gray inhabitants who are tenacious at any time.

Of great importance in this regard is the scene in the Variety Hall, or the so-called “black magic session”. The episode begins with the appearance on stage of the most famous entertainer in Moscow, Georges Bengalsky. His flat jokes, claims to wit - all that the author himself calls “nonsense”, serve only as a background for the appearance of Woland. In sharp contrast to the entertainer with all his appearance and behavior, the black magic specialist quietly orders: “The chair is for me,” and, sitting down in it, immediately utters a phrase that is, in essence, the key to understanding the entire episode, as well as the determining reason for Woland’s appearance in Moscow: “Tell me, my dear Bassoon... what do you think, the Moscow population has changed significantly?” And Fagot-Koroviev, answering this question, immediately notes how exactly people have changed. But Woland is not interested in external attributes, but in whether the townspeople have changed internally, whether they have become better.

Trying to answer this question, Bulgakov's Woland turned the Variety Hall into a laboratory for the study of human weaknesses. “Foreign Consultant” shows tricks, and the way people react to them reveals to him and to us, the readers, the very essence of people.

First of all, this episode exposes the greed of the public and its petty-bourgeois vulgarity, which are especially evident at the moment when “money rain” fell on the astonished spectators. People, in an attempt to grab some money for themselves, lose their human appearance: “Some were already crawling in the aisle, groping under the chairs. Many stood on the seats, catching fidgety, capricious pieces of paper.” People were ready to attack each other because of money. And here each of us involuntarily recalls the words of the famous aria of Mephistopheles: “People die for metal. Satan rules the roost there."

Thus, once again we can draw a parallel between Mephistopheles and Woland, and threads stretch from the scene in the Variety Show to the scene of Woland’s ball, when a whole string of the most notorious and selected scoundrels, thieves, murderers and swindlers passes before us.

Here, in Variety, we see the most ordinary people. They are different: there are both good and bad. They're just people. A woman appears on stage to collect free shoes. She got them for free, but she also asks: “Won’t they reap?”

The audience present at the black magic session was united by a passionate love of money, excessive curiosity, distrust and passion for revelations. Yes, the citizens have changed a lot in appearance. But internally they are people like people. “Well, frivolous people, well, mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts, ordinary people.” The possibility of easy money is intoxicating, money incites anger, brings out the already accumulated large quantities there is stupidity in the minds of citizens. And Fagot tears off the head of the chatterbox Bengalsky own initiative. This ugly proposal came from the gallery. Even when the severed head called for help from the doctor, no one came to the rescue. And only one compassionate woman from the box shouted: “For God’s sake, don’t torture him!” The audience nevertheless turned out to be merciful and asked Fagot to forgive the unfortunate entertainer and put his stupid head back on.

People were excited and scared by what they saw. Bengalsky's severed head made a terrible impression on them. But as soon as Woland offers women to dress for free in a ladies' store in Parisian fashion, the public immediately forgets about the unpleasant incident. It turns out that people can easily be bribed with some generous offer. People forget other people's misfortunes too quickly.

Along with the selfish and cruel Muscovites, there was one “caring” husband in the hall. During the free distribution of ladies' clothing, he came on stage and asked to give something to his sick wife. As proof that he was really married, the citizen was ready to present his passport. The statement was met with laughter. Was this man really that caring? Of course not. He, like everyone else, was possessed by the thirst for profit. But the reaction of the audience is very revealing. People, trying to get more, do not believe in the good feelings of others.

And yet, after all the checks, Woland concludes that Muscovites are “people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones..."

Thus, the episode in Variety clearly exposes the vices of the people of that time. In the words of Woland, Bulgakov says that people have not changed in their souls: they still love money, are frivolous, sometimes cruel, and sometimes merciful. It was so in the time of Christ, and in the time of Bulgakov, and it is so now.

The scene in the Variety Show carries the most important semantic load in the novel. Firstly, it allows the reader to better understand the essence of Woland and clarifies why he appeared in Moscow.

In addition, in this episode, as in a distorting mirror, the author gives us the opportunity to see himself. Perhaps, having understood who we really are, we will be able to change at least a little and become better, kinder, more noble. The author, showing the revolutionary reality of the 30s of the 20th century against the background of human history, correlates this time with eternal humanistic values.

In Chapter 12 of The Master and Margarita, Woland's first appearance occurs. to a wide circle people in its true form - in the form of a sorcerer and ruler. It mainly shows the interaction of Woland and his retinue with the crowd.

The episode in question is preceded by a short introduction, a prologue. Before the main guest of the program, for whom the people came to the performance, appears before the audience, small, insignificant actors usually appear on stage. This is done in order to “warm up” the audience and inflame their impatience. Bulgakov does the same with his characters. Like visitors to a variety show, we are waiting with interest for the main character of the evening, Professor Woland. However, at first we are presented with simple actors with their ordinary tricks, by which we can judge the numbers that preceded the main one: “ little man in a leaky yellow bowler hat and with a pear-shaped crimson nose,” a little girl of about eight years old with an old face. There is nothing unusual about this short performance. The audience likes it, but it doesn’t seem like something supernatural. They applaud not because they are shocked to the core, but simply because the performance pleases and amuses them.

Nothing similar can be said about the main participant in the entertainment performance. The very appearance of the mysterious guest performer is accompanied by a number of strange events, such as the disappearance of people and turning off phones. However, it is not so much the events that are unusual as the reaction of the variety show’s financial director Rimsky to them. Without knowing why, he falls into shock from fairly simple events and, tormented by strange premonitions, becomes “completely darker than a cloud.”

The appearance of a celebrity does not in any way dispel the mysterious and tense atmosphere created by the author. The strange attire and black half mask give the impression of something mysterious and inexplicable. The magician’s two companions, on the contrary, try to show their essence as clearly as possible and show off their magical talents.

The action moves to the stage. Here a new and important character appears for us - “the entertainer Georges Bengalsky, well known throughout Moscow.”

Georges perceives the performance of Woland and his retinue in a typically Soviet way, as a series of clever tricks. Considering himself very insightful and much smarter than the audience, he diligently, according to a template, and therefore somehow especially stupidly and vulgarly “comments” on the unfolding action. He is cynical and considers himself so beloved by the public that he allows himself to talk nonsense and make jokes that are funny only to himself. Even his first and last name (which is most likely a pseudonym) sound pompous and vulgar. A conflict ensues between him and the artists.

So, the magician is on stage. The very beginning of its appearance is accompanied by a miracle - the appearance of a chair out of thin air. However, despite the surprise of the crowd, the speakers themselves do not interpret the incident as a trick. For them, this is the implementation of an ordinary thing, such as, for example, Bassoon's tricks with the financial inspector's watch or the cat's behavior as a living person. It should be noted that the entire company does not at all perceive everything that it did further on stage as a performance or fun for the audience.

On the contrary, it seems that they came here to watch a performance, a spectacle, to see something new. Woland himself does not participate in the performance at all. He only contemplates and gives orders. This also proves that he is here as a spectator. The magician says: “...I am, of course, not so much interested in buses, telephones... but much more important question: Have these townspeople changed internally?”

So, Woland wants to experience, study modern man, covering it up with the mask of an ordinary performance. How is he going to arrange this? Of course, by tempting a person. First, Koroviev and Behemoth show a “simple” trick with cards, which gradually turns into the main thing - money rain as a test of people’s wealth.

Money has always had power over people. Money gave them power. Striving for it, and therefore for money, people were capable of any recklessness. Woland decided to check how much people have changed in this regard. The chaos and confusion that followed the rain of money confirmed Woland's assumptions about human recklessness. “...The artists began to lean out of the wings without ceremony,” “A voice was heard in the dress circle: “What are you grabbing? This is mine! It was flying towards me!” and another voice: “Don’t push, otherwise I’ll push you like that!” And suddenly a splash was heard.” There were also the consequences of having unexpected money: “The two young people, exchanging a significant and cheerful glance, rose from their seats and headed straight to the buffet.” The next moment, the author again turns the readers’ gaze to the entertainer, forgotten in the general bustle. The conflict that arose between Bengalsky and the artists was approaching its peak. What happened completely contradicted the generally accepted opinion, and therefore the opinion of Bengalsky about miracles. He makes one last weak attempt to explain what happened by the skill of “magicians.”

When Georges misinterpreted the words of the prince of darkness, his servants simply ridiculed the stupid entertainer. However, when he dared to compare their miraculous deeds with “pure scientific experience, adding that “miracles and magic do not exist,” the patience of foreign guests has run out. The conflict between these individuals is not at all a conflict as a struggle of equals. The trio on stage is like a company of adults who have long endured the stupid chatter of an unreasonable and spoiled child - Bengali. No wonder in his external characteristics there are epithets: “cheerful as a child”, “baby smile”, etc. Finally, the sorcerers get tired of the compere’s self-confident remarks. They deprive him of his head, and do it with the same ease with which adults put a baby in a corner. However, as Woland noted later, mercy awakens in the hearts of the audience, along with greed, and they begin to ask for Georges. So the children begin to ask for a friend who was punished and with whom they were angry and slandered before.

The head being ripped off scene is the climax of the episode. After her, Woland makes his final conclusion that modern people not much different from their predecessors.

Then the owner of the cat and Koroviev disappears. Thus, the atmosphere somewhat loses its atmosphere of mystery and magic. Woland's assistants continue to have fun, testing the people with luxury.

If earlier the author showed in particular the reaction of men to unexpected wealth, now he pays attention to women. The opening of the ladies' store caused great excitement. The desire of women to be happy owners of luxurious outfits and, accordingly, to become even more beautiful, was inherently even more crazy and extravagant. In the end, they grabbed whatever they had to, just to get something. With this number, the servants of darkness wanted to force people to look at themselves and their excesses from the outside. Let us remember what the lovely ladies paid for their greed: the clothes disappeared like smoke.

The bright finale of the trio’s performance and the end of the episode was the scandal that erupted in Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov’s box and the “Babylonian pandemonium” and confusion that followed.

In chapter 12 of The Master and Margarita, Woland and his retinue do not just appear before the people. He, of course, demonstrates his power to people. However, the prince of darkness also evaluates them spiritual qualities, drawing very disappointing conclusions.

Reading these pages is both fun and sad. Bulgakov brilliantly wields the pen and makes his characters visible and tangible. Vulgarity, stupid gullibility, greed, bad manners coexist in people with pure spiritual impulses. You look at Bulgakov’s Muscovites “en masse” and involuntarily think about us today. Have Muscovites changed internally?

The image of the devil is a frequent occurrence in the works of world classics. Goethe, Lesage, Gogol and others gave him their understanding. Traditionally, the devil performs two missions: tempts and punishes a person. In M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita,” the devil appears to check whether the townspeople have “changed internally.” The scene in a variety show is of great importance for answering this question. Woland's retinue demonstrates various miracles, and the encounter with fantasy reveals many human vices. To begin with, Fagot demonstrates a trick with a deck of cards. Having delighted the audience, he publicly announces that the cards are “in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three-ruble note and the summons to appear in court in the case of paying alimony to citizen Zelkova.” Parchevsky becomes “all crimson with amazement,” because his true nature was previously hidden under the mask of decency. Bassoon does not rest on this and brings to the attention of the public that Parchevsky is a big fan of the game of poker. One of the climaxes of the episode is the rain of money. Suddenly, money begins to fly into the hall from under the dome. The author’s description of the public’s reaction to such “precipitations” is full of irony. Someone crawls in the aisle, someone climbs onto a chair with their feet and begins to catch pieces of paper. People begin to rush at each other, each trying to collect as much money as possible. After all, you don’t need to earn them, they appeared unexpectedly, on their own, you can spend them on anything and be completely happy about it. Next, Wolandov's retinue decides to surprise the audience by tearing off the head of the entertainer Bengalsky. It is here that the audience shows pity and sympathy, still characteristic of them, begging the artists to forgive the hapless entertainer. Woland concludes about them: “People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing issue has only spoiled them...” The public's temptation does not end there: a ladies' shop opens on the stage of the variety show. At first, timid, and then seized by passion, women begin to grab everything in a fantastic store, without any trying on, regardless of their size and taste. There is even a man who is afraid of missing out on a chance and, due to the absence of a wife, also begins to stock up on women's clothing. Unfortunately, all successful acquisitions later melt away on the ladies, and this has a symbolic meaning. The nakedness of bodies here is tantamount to the nakedness of the soul, demonstrating greed, materialism, greed. People are controlled by selfish, momentary desires. The “guest of honor” of the evening, chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, comes out with a demand to immediately expose the tricks. But they expose him himself. He turns out to be not at all as honorable a person as he imagined himself to be to others. Instead of meetings of the acoustic commission, Sempleyarov, as it turns out, visits the artist of the traveling regional theater, Militsa Andreevna Pokobatko, who, thanks to Sempleyarov’s disposition, gets her roles. In honor of Arkady Apollonovich, a march sounds at the end of the episode: His Excellency Loved poultry And took Pretty girls under his protection. Woland takes the position of a spectator studying the moral state of society and comes to disappointing conclusions: vices such as greed, cruelty, greed, deceit, hypocrisy are eternal.

In M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita,” the devil appears to check whether the townspeople have “changed internally.” The scene in a variety show is of great importance for answering this question. Woland's retinue demonstrates various miracles, and the encounter with fantasy reveals many human vices. To begin with, Fagot demonstrates a trick with a deck of cards. Delighting the audience, he publicly announces that the cards are “in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three-ruble note and the summons to appear in court in the case of paying alimony to citizen Zelkova.” Parchevsky becomes “all crimson with amazement,” because his true nature was previously hidden under the mask of decency. Bassoon does not rest on this and brings to the attention of the public that Parchevsky is a big fan of the game of poker.

One of the climaxes of the episode is the rain of money. Suddenly, money begins to fly into the hall from under the dome. The author’s description of the public’s reaction to such “precipitations” is full of irony. Someone crawls in the aisle, someone climbs onto a chair with their feet and begins to catch pieces of paper. People begin to rush at each other, each trying to collect as much money as possible. After all, you don’t need to earn them, they appeared unexpectedly, on their own, you can spend them on anything and be completely happy about it.

Next, Wolandov's retinue decides to surprise the audience by tearing off the head of the entertainer Bengalsky. It is here that the audience shows pity and sympathy, still characteristic of them, begging the artists to forgive the hapless entertainer. Woland concludes about them: “People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing issue has only spoiled them...”

Unfortunately, all successful acquisitions later melt away on the ladies, and this has a symbolic meaning. The nakedness of bodies here is tantamount to the nakedness of the soul, demonstrating greed, materialism, greed. People are controlled by selfish, momentary desires.

The “guest of honor” of the evening, chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, comes out with a demand to immediately expose the tricks. But they expose him himself. He turns out to be not at all as honorable a person as he imagined himself to be to others. Instead of meetings of the acoustic commission, Sempleyarov, as it turns out, visits the artist of the traveling regional theater, Militsa Andreevna Pokobatko, who, thanks to Sempleyarov’s disposition, gets her roles. In honor of Arkady Apollonovich, a march sounds at the end of the episode: His Excellency Loved poultry And took Pretty girls under his protection. Woland takes the position of a spectator studying the moral state of society and comes to disappointing conclusions: vices such as greed, cruelty, greed, deceit, hypocrisy are eternal.

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