In the world of the novel “The Master and Margarita,” fantastic, inexplicable phenomena are intertwined with everyday realities. This mystical work is thoroughly imbued with the author's satire and black humor. But the last chapter 32, “Forgiveness and Eternal Shelter,” differs from the entire novel in its narrative form. It is written in a high style and contains motifs of transformation. That night, illusions are dispelled and Woland and his retinue take on their true appearance. No more antics from Behemoth and Koroviev. This is no longer a huge black cat and a man in a checkered suit - this is a thin young page and a dark purple knight with a gloomy face. Azazelo, Master, Woland change. This night the fates of the heroes are decided; the author's irony is inappropriate here.
All the characters are as serious as possible - they understand that today all scores are being settled, the terms of punishment are expiring.
Pontius Pilate receives forgiveness. Two thousand years ago, he signed the death warrant for the simple philosopher Yeshua Ha-Nozri. The great procurator of Judea became cowardly and was punished for his cowardice. But that night he was freed from the constant torment of his conscience.
The Master receives the long-awaited peace and the opportunity to create freely, next to the woman he loves. Not light, but precisely peace - what the tormented soul of the persecuted writer really craved. The master will no longer be disturbed by life problems, condemnation and misunderstanding from critics. He enters his “eternal home” together with Margarita, and the artist’s “restless memory, punctured by needles,” fades away.
But the solemn and mysterious atmosphere of chapter 32 in the epilogue changes to the usual satirical one. With the same irony, the author talks about the fate of those who remained in Moscow. The case of a gang of skilled hypnotists troubled the minds of city residents for a long time. But the years passed and Moscow life returned to normal. However, every spring full moon, some individuals lose peace. Among the “victims of the moon” is Ivan Ponyrev, aka Bezdomny. He listened to the Master's advice, left poetry and became a professor of history. There are no longer traces of madness in this man with which he ended up in Stravinsky’s clinic. But he can't control this moon. Once a year he appears on the Patriarch's Ponds and repeats his path, just like many years ago, when Misha Berlioz was hit by a tram. At home, in a dream, he sees the execution of Gestas, sees the lunar road and two people walking along it, sees a woman and his acquaintance from room 118. And in this strange obsession is the tragedy of Ivan Bezdomny: his memory does not forget anything, it only fades until the next spring full moon.
Thus, the ending of the novel “The Master and Margarita” confirms the idea that justice will always triumph. Those who deserve it will receive peace, and those who are guilty will lose it.
Updated: 2018-02-07
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Who pretends to be an expert dark magic, in fact, it is Satan. The first to meet him at the Patriarch's Ponds is Berlioz, the editor of a major magazine and poet Ivan Bezdomny. They argue about Christ.
Woland says that Christ really existed and proves this by predicting Berlioz's death by beheading. And before the eyes of Ivan Bezdomny, Berlioz falls under a tram. The poet Ivan Bezdomny unsuccessfully tries to pursue Woland, then, finding himself in Massolit (Moscow Literary Association), he talks so incoherently about the events that happened that they try to send him to a country psychiatric hospital.
Woland, having appeared at the address of the late Berlioz, who lived with Stepan Likhodeev, the director of the Variety Show, finds Stepan in a state of severe hangover and presents him with a contract for Woland’s performance in the theater, signed by him, Likhodeev, then escorts Likhodeev out of the apartment and he strangely turns out to be in Yalta.
Satan is accompanied by a strange retinue: the pretty witch Gella, the terrible Azazello, Koroviev (Fagot), and Behemoth, who is presented in the form of a frighteningly sized black cat. Nikonor Ivanovich Bosoy, chairman of the housing association at house No. 302-bis on Sadovaya Street, finds himself in apartment 50 and finds Koroviev there. He offers to rent out Woland’s apartment, since Berlioz died, and Likhodeev is in Yalta, and after much persuasion, Nikonor Ivanovich agrees. Having received four hundred rubles in addition to the payment, he hides them in the ventilation hole. On the same day, they come to him and arrest him for possession of currency, because these rubles turned out to be dollars.
The financial director of Variety - Rimsky and the administrator Varenukha are unsuccessfully trying to find Likhodeev, who, in turn, sends them telegram after telegram trying to confirm his identity and get at least some money to return from Yalta. Deciding that this is a stupid joke, Rimsky sends Varenukha with telegrams so that he takes them where they need to go, but Varenukha does not reach his destination because Behemoth picks him up.
In the evening, the performance of the great magician and his retinue begins on the Variety stage. Having placed a pistol in front of Bassoon, Vland organizes a rain of money, people grab chervonets falling from the sky, a store for ladies opens on stage, where every woman sitting in the hall can change her wardrobe. Some time after the end of the performance, all the chervonets turn into simple pieces of paper, and the women are forced to rush along the street in their underwear, because everything they were wearing disappeared without a trace.
After the performance, Rimsky lingers in the office; Varenukha, transformed by Gella into a vampire, comes to see him. Seeing that Varenukha does not cast a shadow, Rimsky tries to escape, hears the rooster crowing and the vampires disappear. Rimsky, instantly turning gray, rushes to the station to leave by courier train to St. Petersburg.
The poet Ivan Bezdomny meets with the Master in the clinic, the Master talks about himself. He was a historian, worked in a museum and received big win I decided to rent an apartment in one of the Arbat lanes and began writing a novel there about Pontius Pilate. One day on the street he saw Margarita. They immediately fell in love with each other, and despite the fact that Margarita was the wife of one of the respected people, she came to the Master every day. The master wrote his novel, then he finished it and took it to the editor, but they refused to publish the novel. Although the excerpt was published, it was criticized and the Master fell ill.
In the morning, Margarita wakes up with the feeling that something is about to happen and goes for a walk in the park, where she meets Azezzelo. He, in turn, invites her to meet a foreigner and Margarita agrees. Azazzelo gives her a jar of cream, with the help of which margarita can fly. Woland asks Margarita to be the queen at his ball and promises to do whatever she wishes. Satan's ball begins at midnight. The men are in tails and the women are naked. When the ball ends, Margarita asks for the Master to be returned to her, and Woland fulfills his promise.
In the second storyline in the palace, procurator Pontius Pilate, interrogating the arrested man, understands that he is not a robber, but simply a wandering philosopher, but still confirms the guilty verdict. He hopes that Kaifa will be able to release one of the convicts, but Kaifa refuses. Levi Motvey brings Ha-Notsri's sermons, and Pontius Pilate reads "The Most terrible vice“This is cowardice.”
At this time in Moscow. At sunset, Woland's retinue bids farewell to the city. At sunset, Levi Motvey appears and invites them to take the Master to him. Azazzelo comes to the master's house and brings wine as a gift from Voland, when they drink it, the Black Horse carries away the Master, Woland's retinue and Margarita.
Bulgakov worked on the novel “The Master and Margarita” for about 12 years and did not have time to finally edit it. This novel became a real revelation of the writer; Bulgakov himself said that this was his main message to humanity, a testament to his descendants.
Many books have been written about this novel. Among researchers of Bulgakov's creative heritage, there is an opinion that this work is a kind of political treatise. In Woland they saw Stalin and his retinue was identified with political figures of that time. However, consider the novel “The Master and Margarita” only from this point of view and see in it only political satire it wouldn't be right.
Some literary scholars believe that the main meaning of this mystical work is eternal struggle between good and evil. According to Bulgakov, it turns out that evil on Earth must always be in balance. Yeshua and Woland personify precisely these two spiritual principles. One of the key phrases of the novel were the words of Woland, which he uttered when addressing Levi Matvey: “Wouldn’t it be so kind to think about the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would it look like if it disappeared? shadows?
In the novel, evil, in the person of Woland, ceases to be humane and fair. Good and evil are intertwined and are in close interaction, especially in human souls. Woland punished people with evil for evil for the sake of justice.
It is not for nothing that some critics have drawn an analogy between Bulgakov’s novel and the story of Faust, although in “The Master and Margarita” the situation is presented inverted. Faust sold his soul to the devil and betrayed Margarita's love for the sake of his thirst for knowledge, and in Bulgakov's novel Margarita makes a deal with the devil for the sake of love for the Master.
Fight for man
The inhabitants of Bulgakov's Moscow appear before the reader as a collection of puppets, tormented by passions. It is of great importance in the Variety Show, where Woland sits down in front of the audience and begins to talk about the fact that people do not change for centuries.
Against the background of this faceless mass, only the Master and Margarita are deeply aware of the world and who rules it.
The image of the Master is collective and autobiographical. The reader does not know his real name. The master is represented by any artist, as well as a person who has his own vision of the world. Margarita is an image ideal woman who is able to love to the end, despite difficulties and obstacles. They are perfect collective images a man dedicated to his work and a woman true to her feelings.
Thus, the meaning of this immortal novel can be divided into three layers.
Above everything stands the confrontation between Woland and Yeshua, who, together with their students and retinue, wage a continuous struggle for the immortal human soul, play with the destinies of people.
Just below are people like the Master and Margarita; later they are joined by the Master’s student, Professor Ponyrev. These people are spiritually more mature, who realize that life is much more complicated than it seems at first glance.
And finally, at the very bottom are the ordinary inhabitants of Bulgakov’s Moscow. They have no will and strive only for material values.
Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” serves as a constant warning against inattention to oneself, against blindly following the established order of things, to the detriment of awareness of one’s own personality.
Sources:
- The theme of good and evil in Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita"
- The meaning of the title of the novel "The Master and Margarita"
- The main idea of the novel "The Master and Margarita"
Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" is one of best books, written in the 20th century in Russian. Unfortunately, the novel was published many years after the writer’s death, and many of the mysteries encrypted by the author in the book remained unsolved.
Devil on the Patriarch's
Bulgakov began work on the novel, dedicated to the appearance of the Devil in Moscow in the 1930s, in 1929 and continued until his death in 1940, without completing the author's edits. The book was published only in 1966, thanks to the fact that Mikhail Afanasyevich’s widow, Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, kept the manuscript. The plot, or rather, all of it hidden meanings, are still the subject scientific research and disputes among literary scholars.
“The Master and Margarita” is included in the list of the hundred best books of the 20th century according to the French periodical Le Monde.
The text begins with the fact that by two Soviet writers While talking on the Patriarch's Ponds, a foreigner approaches, who turns out to be Satan. It turns out that the Devil (he introduces himself by the name Woland) travels all over the world, periodically stopping in various cities along with his retinue. Once in Moscow, Woland and his henchmen punish people for their petty sins and passions. The images of bribe takers and swindlers are drawn by Bulgakov masterfully, and the victims of Satan do not evoke sympathy at all. So, for example, the fate of Woland’s first two interlocutors is extremely unpleasant: one of them dies under a tram, and the second ends up in an insane asylum, where he meets a man who calls himself the Master.
The master tells Woland’s victim his story, in particular, saying that at one time he was talking about Pontius Pilate, because of whom he ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Moreover, he remembers romantic story his love for a woman named Margarita. At the same time, one of the representatives of Woland’s retinue turns to Margarita with a request to become the queen of Satan’s Ball, which is held annually by Woland in various capitals. Margarita agrees in exchange for the Master being returned to her. The novel ends with a scene of all the main characters from Moscow, and the Master and Margarita find the dream they dreamed of.
From Moscow to Jerusalem
In parallel with the “” plot line, the “Yershalaim” line is developing, that is, in fact, the novel about Pontius Pilate. From Moscow in the 30s it is transferred to Jerusalem at the beginning of our era, where tragic events take place, described in the New Testament and reinterpreted by Bulgakov. The author tries to understand the motives of the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, who sent the philosopher Yeshua Ha-Nozri, whose prototype is Jesus Christ, to execution. In the final part of the book, the storylines intersect, and each hero gets what he deserves.
There are many film adaptations of Bulgakov’s novel, both in Russia and abroad. In addition, the text has inspired many musicians, artists and playwrights.
"The Master and Margarita" is a novel at the junction. Of course, in the foreground is satirical image morals and life of the inhabitants of Moscow contemporary to Bulgakov, but in addition to this, there are various mystical symbols, moral confusion, and the theme of retribution for sins and misdeeds is revealed.
One of the main characters of the novel “The Master and Margarita” is replete with various shades of meaning, and one or another context cannot do without a connection with this image. This allows us to call the Master, strictly speaking, the main character of the novel.
Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" among other possible genre definitions can also be seen as a novel about an artist. From here a semantic thread immediately stretches to the works of romanticism, since the theme of “the artist’s path” sounded most clearly and became one of the main ones in the work of romantic writers. At first glance, it makes you wonder why the hero does not have a name and in the novel only the name “Master” is used to designate him. It turns out that a certain concrete and yet “faceless” image appears before the reader. This technique works on the author's desire to typify the hero. Under the name “Master” are hidden the true artists, according to Bulgakov, who do not meet the requirements of the official “culture” and are therefore always persecuted.
Image in the context of 20th century literature
We should not forget that in general the theme of the state of culture, very characteristic of the 20th century, makes Bulgakov’s novel similar to such a genre as the intellectual novel (a term used mainly when considering the work of Western European writers). Main character intellectual novel is not a character. This is the image that contains the most characteristic features era. At the same time, what happens in inner world hero, reflects the state of the world as a whole. In this regard, as the most significant, it is appropriate to recall Harry Haller from Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf, Hans Castorp from The Magic Mountain or Adrian Leverkühn from Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus. So it is in Bulgakov’s novel: the Master says about himself that he is crazy. This indicates the author's opinion about current state culture (by the way, this is almost what happens in “Steppenwolf”, where entrance to the Magic Theater - a place where the remains of classical art, the art of the humanistic era, are still preserved - is possible only for the “crazy”). But this is just one piece of evidence. In fact, the identified problem is revealed in many aspects, both in the example and outside the image of the Master.Biblical allusions
The novel is structured in a mirror way and it turns out that many storylines are variations, parodies of each other. Thus, the Master’s storyline is intertwined with the line of the hero of his novel, Yeshua. It is appropriate to recall the concept of the romantics about the artist-Creator, rising above the world and creating his own special reality. Bulgakov also parallels the images of Yeshua (biblical Jesus) and the writer Master. In addition, just as Matvey Levi is a disciple of Yeshua, so at the end the Master calls Ivan his disciple.The connection between the image and the classics
The Master’s connection with Yeshua evokes another parallel, namely with Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “The Idiot.” "Positively wonderful person"Myshkin is endowed with Dostoevsky traits biblical jesus(a fact that Dostoevsky did not hide). Bulgakov builds the novel according to the scheme only discussed above. Again, the motive of “madness” brings these two heroes together: just as Myshkin ends his life in the Schneider clinic, where he came from, so life path The master, in fact, ends up in a madhouse, because Praskovya Fedorovna answers Ivan’s question that he from room one hundred and eighteen has just died. But this is not death in its literal sense, it is the continuation of life in a new quality.About Myshkin’s seizures it is said: “What does it matter that this tension is abnormal, if the very result, if a minute of sensation, recalled and considered already in a healthy state, turns out to be highest degree harmony, beauty, gives an unheard-of and hitherto unspoken feeling of completeness, proportion, reconciliation and triumphant prayerful merging with the highest synthesis of life? And the result of the novel - the incurability of the hero suggests that he has finally plunged into a state, into another sphere of existence and his earthly life is akin to death. The situation is similar with the Master: yes, he dies, but he dies only for all other people, and he himself acquires a different existence, merging in this again with Yeshua, ascending along the lunar path.
Video on the topic
The novel, which still leaves many places open for discussion, attracts many researchers and ordinary readers. The novel offers its own interpretation of the contradictions that are relevant to the era.
What is the novel about?
Since the main character of the novel is the Master, a writer, it is reasonable to assume that the main theme is that of art and the path of the artist. This idea is also suggested by the abundance of “musical” names: Berlioz, Stravinsky, Strauss, Schubert, and the fact that “Griboyedov” occupies an important place in the novel.The topic of art and culture was raised with new ideological content in an intellectual novel. This genre began in the 20s. 20th century. At the same time, Bulgakov was working on the novel “The Master and Margarita.”
Before the reader is a clinic of Stravinsky (certainly a reference to the composer Stravinsky). Both the Master and Ivan find themselves in it. Ivan as a poet (a bad poet, but this is not what is important, but this “status” at the time of his stay in the clinic). That is, the clinic can be conditionally designated as an “artists’ shelter.” In other words, this is a place where artists have closed themselves off from outside world and are occupied only with the problems of art. It is this problem that is devoted to Hermann Hesse’s novels “Steppenwolf” and “The Glass Bead Game,” where one can find analogues to the image of the clinic. This is the “Magic Theater” with the inscription above the entrance “Only for crazy people” (the clinic in Bulgakov’s novel is a madhouse) and the country of Castalia.
The heroes of an intellectual novel are predominantly condemned for withdrawing from the outside world, and since the image of the hero is always generalized, the entire society as a whole is condemned for passivity, which leads to catastrophic consequences (for example, the activation of fascism in Thomas Mann’s novel “Doctor Faustus”). So Bulgakov clearly hints at Soviet power.
The ending of the novel
IN final scenes The fate of the Master is being decided. If we proceed from the fact that “he did not deserve light, he deserved peace,” then we can assume that “peace” is some kind of intermediate state between light and darkness, since peace cannot resist. Moreover, Woland gives the Master peace and then it becomes clear that the Master’s refuge is in the kingdom of the devil.But in the epilogue, when the fate of Ivan Bezdomny (by that time already simply Ivan Ponyrev) after the events described in the novel is told, the days of the full moon that are especially painful for him are mentioned, when something unclear torments him and in a dream he sees Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, walking along the lunar path, and then “a woman of immense beauty” together with the man with whom he once talked in a madhouse, who leave the same way. If the Master and Margarita follow Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, doesn’t this mean that the Master was subsequently awarded “light”?
A novel within a novel:
The form of a “novel within a novel” allows Bulgakov to create the illusion of creating the Master’s novel in real time before the reader’s eyes. But the novel is “written” not only by the Master, but also by Ivan (as strange as it may seem). The Master's novel about Pontius Pilate receives its logical conclusion only at the moment of the “liberation” of Pilate, who leaves with Yeshua along the lunar path; Bulgakov’s novel about the Master ends with his ascension after Pilate and Yeshua, and it is Ivan who “sees” this, who (by analogy with the Master) “frees” the Master and becomes involved in writing the novel, becomes Bulgakov’s co-author.General information
The history of the creation of the novel “The Master and Margarita” is still shrouded in secrets, however, like the novel itself, which never ceases to be the center of mysteries for the reader. It is not even known exactly when Bulgakov had the idea of writing a work that is now known as “The Master and Margarita” (this title appeared in Bulgakov’s drafts relatively shortly before the creation of final version novel).
The time it took Bulgakov from the ripening of the idea to the final version of the novel was ultimately about ten years, which indicates the care with which Bulgakov took on the novel and what significance it apparently had for him. And Bulgakov seemed to have foreseen everything in advance, because “The Master and Margarita” became the last work he wrote. Bulgakov did not even have time to complete the literary editing of the novel; it stopped somewhere in the area of the second part.
Conceptual question
Initially, Bulgakov chose the image of the devil (the future Woland) to replace the main character of his new novel. The first several editions of the novel were created under the banner of this idea. It should be noted that each of the four well-known editions can be considered as an independent novel, since they all contain many fundamental differences at both the formal and semantic levels. Familiar to the reader main image- the image of the Master was introduced into the novel by Bulgakov only in the fourth, final edition, and this itself ultimately determined the main concept of the novel, which initially contained a bias in to a greater extent aside, however, the Master as the main character with his “appearance” forced Bulgakov to reconsider the prospects of the novel and give the dominant place to the theme of art, culture, and the place of the artist in the modern world.
Work on the novel took so long, probably not only because of the incomplete formulation of the concept, its changes, but also due to the fact that the novel was intended by Bulgakov himself as a final work, summarizing his entire path in the field of art, and in connection with this the novel has a rather complex structure, it is filled a huge amount explicit and implicit cultural allusions, references at each and every level of the novel’s poetics.
75 years ago Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov last time with the tip of his pen he touched the manuscript of the brilliant novel “The Master and Margarita”, which became reference book for millions of readers.
Time has passed, a lot of water has flown under the bridge, but this great work, steeped in mystery and mysticism, still remains a fertile field for various philosophical, religious and literary discussions.
This masterpiece is even included in school curriculum several countries, although the meaning of this novel cannot be fully and completely comprehended not only by the average student, but even by a person with a higher philological education.
Here are presented to you 7 keys to the unsurpassed novel “The Master and Margarita”, which will shed light on many secrets.
1. Where did the title of the novel come from?
Have you thought about the title of this novel? Why The Master and Margarita? Is this really romance novel or, God forbid, melodrama? What is this book all about?
It is known that a huge influence on writing famous work was influenced by Mikhail Afanasyevich’s passion for German mythology of the 19th century.
It is no secret that the basis of the novel, in addition to Holy Scripture and Goethe’s Faust, was based on various myths and legends about the devil and God, as well as Jewish and Christian demonology.
The writing of the novel was facilitated by works read by the author, such as “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil” by Mikhail Orlov and “The Devil in Everyday Life, Legend and Literature of the Middle Ages” by Alexander Amfitheatrov.
As you know, the novel “The Master and Margarita” was edited more than once. Rumor has it that in the very first edition the work had the following titles: “Black Magician”, “Tour”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Engineer’s Hoof”, “Son of V.” and there was no mention at all of either the Master or Margarita, since Satan was supposed to be the central figure.
It is interesting to note that in one of the subsequent editions the novel actually had a variant title such as “Satan.” In 1930, after the ban on the play “The Cabal of the Saint,” Bulgakov destroyed the first edition of the novel with his own hands.
He speaks about this himself
In the second edition, by the will of fate, Margarita and her Master appeared, and Satan acquired his retinue. But only the third edition, which is considered unfinished, received the current name.
2. The many faces of Woland.
Woland is rightfully considered one of the main characters of The Master and Margarita. He even in some way appeals to many readers, and upon a superficial reading it may seem that the Prince of Darkness is kindness itself and a kind of fighter for justice who fights against human vices and helps peace and love triumph.
Others consider Woland a prototype of Stalin. But in fact, Woland is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. This is a very multifaceted and difficult character to understand. This is the image, in general, that the Tempter should have.
This is, to some extent, a classic prototype of the Antichrist, whom humanity was supposed to perceive as the new Messiah. The image of Woland also has many analogues in ancient pagan mythology. You will also find some similarities to the spirit of darkness from Goethe's Faust.
3. Woland and his retinue.
Just as a person cannot exist without a shadow, so Woland is not Woland without his retinue. Azazello, Behemoth and Koroviev-Fagot are the executors of the devil's justice. Sometimes it seems that these colorful characters outshine Satan himself.
It is worth noting that they have a far from clear past behind them. Let's take Azazello, for example. Mikhail Bulgakov borrowed this image from the Old Testament books, which mention a fallen angel who taught people how to make weapons and jewelry.
Thanks to him, women mastered the “lascivious art” of painting their faces. That is why in the novel Azazello gives the cream to Margarita and with cunning encourages her to go over to the side of evil.
He's like right hand Wolanda, performs the most menial work. The demon kills Baron Meigel and poisons the lovers.
Hippopotamus is a werecat, a playful and amusing cat. This image is drawn from legends about the demon of gluttony. His name was borrowed from the Old Testament, one of the books of which spoke of the sea monster Behemoth, who lived with Leviathan.
This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant's head, trunk, fangs, by human hands and hind legs, like a hippopotamus.
4. Dark Queen Margot or a la Pushkin’s Tatiana?
Many who read the novel get the impression that Margarita is some kind of romantic character, the heroine of Pushkin or Turgenev’s works.
But the roots of this image lie much deeper. The novel emphasizes Margarita's connection with two French queens. One of them is the well-known Queen Margot, the wife of Henry IV, whose wedding turned into the bloody Night of St. Bartholomew.
By the way, this dark action is mentioned in the novel. Margarita, on the way to the Great Ball at Satan's, meets a fat man who, recognizing her, addresses her with the words: “bright Queen Margot.”
In the image of Margaret, literary scholars also find similarities with another queen - Margaret of Navarre, one of the first French women writers.
Bulgakov's Margarita is also close to fine literature, she is in love with her brilliant writer- Masters.
5. Spatio-temporal connection “Moscow - Yershalaim”.
One of the key mysteries of The Master and Margarita is the place and time of the events taking place in the novel. You won't find any here exact date, from which you can count. There are only hints in the text.
The events in the novel take place in Moscow during Holy Week from May 1 to May 7, 1929. This part of the book is closely related to the so-called “Pilate chapters,” which describe the week in Yershalaim in 29, which later became Holy Week.
The attentive reader will notice that in the New Testament Moscow of 1929 and the Old Testament Yershalaim of 29, the same apocalyptic weather prevails; the actions in both of these stories develop in parallel and ultimately merge together, drawing a complete picture.
6. Influence of Kabbalah.
They say that Mikhail Bulgakov, when writing the novel, was strongly influenced by Kabbalistic teachings. This affected the work itself.
Just remember winged words Volanda: “Never ask for anything. Never and nothing, especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves.”
It turns out that in Kabbalah it is forbidden to accept anything unless it is a gift from above, from the Creator. Such a commandment contradicts Christianity, which, for example, does not prohibit asking for alms.
One of the central ideas of Kabbalah is the doctrine of “Or HaChaim” - “the light of life.” It is believed that the Torah itself is light. Achieving light depends on the desire of the person himself.
The novel also brings to the fore the idea that a person independently makes his own life choices.
Light also accompanies Woland throughout the novel. When Satan disappears with his retinue, the lunar road also disappears.
7. A lifelong novel.
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov began the last manuscript of the novel, which subsequently reached us, back in 1937, but it haunted the writer until his death.
Every now and then he constantly made some changes to it. Perhaps it seemed to Bulgakov that he was poorly informed in Jewish demonology and Holy Scripture, perhaps he felt like an amateur in this field.
These are just guesses, but one thing is clear: the novel was not easy for the writer and practically “sucked” all the vitality out of him.
It is interesting to know that the last edit that Bulgakov made on February 13, 1940, was the words of Margarita: “So it’s the writers who are going after the coffin?”
A month later the writer died. According to Bulgakov's wife, his last words before his death
were: "So that they know, so that they know..."
No matter how we interpret this work, it is impossible to study it completely. This is such a deep masterpiece that you can unravel it forever, but still not get to the bottom of it.
The main thing is that this novel makes you think about high things and comprehend important life truths.
Introduction
Analysis of the novel “The Master and Margarita” has been the subject of study by literary scholars throughout Europe for many decades. The novel has a number of features, such as non-standard shape“a novel within a novel”, unusual composition, rich themes and content. It is not for nothing that it was written at the end of life and creative path Mikhail Bulgakov. The writer put all his talent, knowledge and imagination into the work.
Novel genre
The work “The Master and Margarita,” the genre of which critics define as a novel, has a number of features inherent to its genre. This is a few storylines, many heroes, action development over a long period of time. The novel is fantastic (sometimes called phantasmagorical). But the most striking feature a work is its structure of a “novel within a novel.” Two parallel worlds- masters and ancient times of Pilate and Yeshua, live here almost independently and intersect only in 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 organic nature and closeness. It was the structure of the “novel within a novel” that made it possible for Bulgakov to so masterfully and fully show two such different worlds, events today, and almost two thousand years ago.
Features of the composition
The composition of the novel “The Master and Margarita” and its features are determined by the author’s non-standard techniques, 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 beginning of the novel: the meeting of Berlioz and Woland, their conversation. This happens in the 30s of the 20th century. Woland's story also takes the reader back to the thirties, but two millennia ago. And here begins the second plot - the novel about Pilate and Yeshua.
Next comes the plot. These are the tricks of Voladn and his company in Moscow. This is also where the satirical line of the work comes from. The second novel is also developing in parallel. The climax of the master’s novel is the execution of Yeshua, climax story about the master, Margarita and Woland - the visit of Levi Matthew. The denouement is interesting: it combines both novels into one. Woland and his retinue take 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's waiting for you! – with this phrase the master frees the procurator and ends his novel.
Main themes of the novel
Mikhail Bulgakov concluded the meaning of the novel “The Master and Margarita” in the interweaving of main themes and ideas. It’s not for nothing that the novel is called fantastic, satirical, philosophical, and love. All these themes develop in the novel, framing and emphasizing 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 disease contemporary writer society.
Love theme embodied in the master and Margarita and gives the novel tenderness and softens many poignant moments. It was probably not in vain that the writer burned the first version of the novel, where Margarita and the master were not yet present.
Theme of sympathy runs through the entire novel and shows several options for sympathy and empathy. Pilate sympathizes with the wandering philosopher Yeshua, but, confused in his duties and fearing condemnation, he “washes his hands.” Margarita has a different kind of sympathy - she wholeheartedly empathizes with the master, and Frida at the ball, and Pilate. But her sympathy is not just a feeling, it pushes her to take certain actions, she does not fold her arms and fights to save those for whom she worries. 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 wondrous times and events.
Theme of forgiveness goes almost next to the theme of sympathy.
Philosophical topics about the meaning and purpose of life, about good and evil, about biblical motives have been the subject of debate and study among 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, more and more new questions and thoughts are revealed to the reader. This is the genius of the novel - it has not lost its 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 definition. What is really evil? Most likely, this is the most complete way to describe main idea works. 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 basely. His tour in Moscow only confirms this idea. He shows the moral illnesses of society, but does not even condemn them, but only sighs sadly: “People are like people... The same as before.” A person is weak, but he has the power to confront his weaknesses and fight them.
The theme of good and evil is shown ambiguously in the image of Pontius Pilate. In his soul he opposes the execution of Yeshua, but he does not have the courage to go against the crowd. The verdict is passed on the wandering innocent philosopher by the crowd, but Pilate is destined to serve his sentence 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 a writer; they need to humiliate him and prove that they are right. The master is very weak to fight, all his strength went into the novel. It is not for nothing that devastating articles for him take on the image of a certain creature that begins to appear to the master in a dark room.
General analysis of the novel
Analysis of “The Master and Margarita” implies immersion in the worlds recreated by the writer. Here you can see biblical motifs and parallels with the immortal “Faust” by Goethe. The themes of the novel develop separately, and at the same time coexist, collectively creating a web of events and questions. The author depicts several worlds, each finding their own place in the novel, in a surprisingly organic way. The journey from modern Moscow to ancient Yershalaim, the wise conversations of Woland, the talking huge cat and the flight of Margarita Nikolaevna are not at all surprising.
This novel is truly immortal thanks to the talent of the writer and the undying relevance of the themes and problems.
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