Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”: artistic world and figurative system.
In the center of the work, in the comparison of its different layers, in their fantastic combination, is the tragedy of an individual dependent on a tyrant, and eternal struggle good and evil, and the eternal problem of guilt, responsibility and retribution. The tragic story of a Master, persecuted by circumstances that have a concrete embodiment in real people(Berlioz and others), is comparable to the tragedy and transformation of Yeshua, condemned to torment by the tyrant Pontius Pilate. This comparison reveals the author’s point of view on the fate of the artist, dependent on a dark, unreasonable force that sees Good as a threat to its existence. The master, the champion of Good, while remaining faithful to his calling, also accomplishes a feat, a feat of creativity.
The novel about the feat of the preacher Yeshua Ha-Nozri, written by the Master, has its own problems. This is, first of all, the question that Pontius Pilate asks Yeshua: “What is truth?” By comparing the positions of these heroes, the problem of man and power is posed and resolved. What is the inner freedom of man and his lack of freedom, Good and Evil, their eternal confrontation and struggle? And the consequences of these eternal questions of existence are the same eternal questions like loyalty and betrayal, mercy and forgiveness. Οʜᴎ are projected onto the fate of the Master, onto the relationship with the mysterious force that is trying to break him, onto the role of Woland in the Moscow episodes.
Bringing together the events of two thousand years ago and episodes of Moscow life, Bulgakov argues that the main problems of human existence remain the same. These are eternal problems. Each new generation tries to resolve them in its own way, forgetting about the search for truth and responsibility. The observant Woland also notices this.
The problem of personality and power is resolved by the Master and Bulgakov in the scene of the confrontation between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate. The almighty procurator of Judea is himself dependent on Rome. He is ready to help the wandering preacher and save him. but he is afraid and he approves the death sentence.
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He is afraid of denunciation. He is afraid of losing his power and being guilty in the eyes of the Roman Caesar, from whom there should be no mercy. And he goes against his conscience, which told him that Yeshua is innocent and needs to be saved. Later, while interrogating Levi Matthew, the procurator wants to know about Yeshua’s last words and hears what he said about cowardice as the most terrible and shameful vice. Pontius Pilate committed betrayal out of cowardice; the price for this was suffering for two thousand years, when his unforgiven soul knew no peace. At the end
In the novel we learn that Pontius Pilate was forgiven by Yeshua himself, who said that there was no execution.
As the ruler of Judea, Pontius Pilate seems to be free. But he does not have internal freedom, that is, the determination to act as his conscience and sense of justice dictate, he is not free internally. For inner freedom, for a clear conscience, life requires high price. This is the price paid for inner freedom by Yeshua, and in the Moscow situation of the 20th century, by the Master, who creates his work as his conscience and talent dictate. And each of them makes a choice between Good and Evil: what to serve, which side to take. The choice is also expensive. Levi Matthew, the tax collector, having believed in the truth preached by Yeshua, throws money on the road and rushes after the preacher. Then he is ready, at the cost of his life, to save the crucified man from torment. Margarita performs the same feat of loyalty, trying and hoping to find and free the Master. These parallels in Bulgakov's novel are intended to convince the reader of the eternity and topicality of the problems of Good and Evil, loyalty and betrayal, man and power. Associated with them are issues of responsibility and retribution for betrayal committed consciously, for selfish reasons. The reprisal against Judas is carried out by the head of the secret service, Afranius, directed by the same Pilate. And if the procurator is still forgiven by Ha-Nozri, even after thousands of years, Judas is not forgiven.
The theme of mercy and forgiveness is heard in many episodes of the novel. Margarita, promising to stand up for Frida, begs Woland to forgive her. And she is forgiven, because mercy is above all. And in it, mercy and forgiveness, lies the truth. The Master, who burned his novel, is also forgiven, although he was not given light, but only the peace that his suffering heart so needed.
The projection of this issue is presented in the Moscow episodes. The storyline of Woland and his retinue was constructed by the author not only as opposing the line of Yeshua. Woland acts as a judge in the corrupt world of Moscow critics and writers, helpfully ready to hunt down anyone pointed at from above. Woland's victims are those who deserve punishment. These are not only literary dealers. These are rogue administrators, and the entire bureaucratic system, which has become the dominant force, hiding behind demagoguery about the dictatorship of the proletariat. The author treats Woland's henchmen and partly himself with a condescending and ironic attitude, showing that he and his retinue are not so terrible compared to what those in power do or those encouraged by power. Woland understands the artist and even tries to protect him.
But what's the point of intervention? evil spirits in human affairs? For the sake of justice and punishment of the guilty? The fact is that there is no one to restore moral standards of life: no one cares about this, in reality there is no force that would fight evil. What is happening in Moscow during the action of the novel should rightly be called hell. For this reason, it is natural for Woland and his retinue to appear in it.
The unnaturalness of Moscow morals is not only that the capital is dominated by bureaucrats, swindlers and crooks, mediocrity is supported in the writing community, there is a whole corporation of literary critics who defame talented books and their creators. And young, inexperienced, sometimes ignorant people are commissioned (!) to write on a certain topic, just as Berlioz commissioned an atheistic poem for Ivan Bezdomny. Then the poet himself, like his other brothers in the workshop, admit that they wrote completely mediocre things. But Ivan Bezdomny was lucky: he met and became friends with the Master, although in the “house of sorrow” - in a psychiatric hospital, from which the Master could no longer leave. Now, based on new material - the Moscow life of the Master - the problem of man and power, artist and power arises. And the situation is not much different from what it was two thousand years ago.
The writers' superiors were afraid of the Master's novel, because they recognized themselves in Pontius Pilate, understood the artist's intention and saw danger in it. For this reason, the fate of the Master is so sad.
And again, now based on the Moscow episodes, the problem of freedom and unfreedom of the artist, artist and power, loyalty and betrayal, responsibility and retribution is solved.
Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”: artistic world and figurative system. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category “Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”: artistic world and figurative system.” 2017, 2018.
Ministry of Education and Science
Khabarovsk Territory
Essay on literature
for a course of general (complete) education
student of class 11A of municipal educational institution secondary school No. 41
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Mikhailov Nikolai Vitalievich
TOPIC A: Ideological and artistic originality of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov
"Master and Margarita".
Supervisor: Yukhanova Elena Nikolaevna,
teacher of Russian language and literature
Plan:
1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………..2-3 pages. 2.Personality M.A. Bulgakov……………………………………………………………..4-6pp.
3. The main problem in the novel by M.A. Bulgakov…………………....................7-8pp.
4. The plot and compositional originality of the novel “The Master and
Margarita”…………………………………………………………………...9-10pp.
5. The system of images of the heroes of the novel……………………………....................11-21pp.
5.1.Master…………………………………………………………………...11-12pp.
5.2.Margarita………………………………………………….......12-13pp. 5.3.Historical and artistic characteristics of Woland and his
suite…………………………………………………………………………………...13-21pp. 5.4. Woland’s retinue……………………………………………………………...13pp.
5. 5.Woland……………………………………………………………...13-15pp. 5.6.Azazello………………………………………………………………………………………15-16pp.
5.7. Bassoon………………………………………………………………………………16-17pp.
5.8. Cat Hippo……………………………………………………………..17-18pp.
5.9.Gella………………………………………………………………...18p.
5.10.Abadonna…………………………………………...............................18-19pp.
5.11. A satirical image of Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century…………...pp. 19-21.
6. The Great Ball at Satan’s as the apotheosis of the novel………………...............................22-23pp.
7.Conclusion… ...……………………………………………………………………... 24-26pp.
7.1 Personal axiom. Pontius Pilate's dream as the personification of victory
man over himself………………………………………………….24-26pp.
Appendix No. 1…………………………………………………………….27-29 pages.
8.Bibliography……………………………………………................................. .30pp.
So who are you, finally?
I am part of that force that always wants evil and
always does good. V. Goethe. "Faust" .
1.Introduction. The purpose of the reviewed work-research is an attempt to consider and deepen knowledge of the works of Mikhail Afanasyevich
Bulgakov in the context of Russian literature, focusing on some features and aspects of his work:
Trace the ideological and artistic features of the novel “The Master and Margarita”;
To identify the specifics of Bulgakov’s interpretation of the plot, to outline the range of philosophical and ethical problems raised in the novel;
Reveal Bulgakov's understanding artistic creativity, the writer’s view of the purpose of literature and the position of the artist in the world;
Comprehend Bulgakov's philosophical position;
Identify the principles of the plot and compositional structure of the novel, its most important aesthetic features. Subject of research became the novel “The Master and Margarita” by M.A.
Bulgakov, monographs, reference books, encyclopedias, scientific and
fiction, critical articles by Russian literary scholars
Practical significance of this work is determined, first of all, by the possibility of using the material in review lectures in high school and at extracurricular activities with gifted children.
Work structure subordinated to the implementation of its goals. It consists of an introduction, five chapters, a conclusion based on the personality axiom, and a bibliography.
Were at work applied structural, comparative, historical-literary and textual research methods.
Why did I turn specifically to the work of M.A. Bulgakov? For me personally, the writer is a paradoxical person, just like his work “The Master and Margarita”. Problems that have worried many generations of humanity:
The themes and compositional originality of the novel are unique. This is a source of enlightenment not only in the field of literature, but also in history, philosophy and all other natural sciences (which is only the question of measuring and changing space and time, described in one of the stories by the demon Bassoon before Margarita’s ball). The book became a synthesis of everything that was changed and felt by M.A. Bulgakov. The novel absorbed the artist’s mature experience and brought together the motives of the entire writer’s work. Nothing was left superfluous: Moscow life of the 30s; satirical fiction and mysticism; motives of knightly honor and troubled conscience; the theme of the fate of a persecuted artist; the theme of love, strong as death itself. Finally, everything is revealed, stated and proven. The author has derived axioms that do not require any proof. Our task is to be able to use them correctly, to understand the basic principles and positions that need to be followed in everyday life. The balance of good and evil, which existed outside the framework of time, is brilliantly and masterfully described in The Master and Margarita. These concepts are one complex element - an atom, consisting of other more complex particles that are currently not subject to every modern person, and, despite the fact that they are diametrically opposed in their meaning and meaning, they cannot be put from different perspectives.
Of course, the novel “The Master and Margarita” is the greatest work. Not everything that is written is understood and appreciated by people. No matter how many times I re-read it, more and more new ideas contained in it are revealed to me. New meaning is revealed in seemingly unnoticeable details. “Manuscripts don’t burn” - this simple truth has been time-tested in Bulgakov’s immortal novel. Bulgakov's novel “The Master and Margarita” summarized the enormous range of human thought and anxious quests.
When starting the essay, I understood that studying the immortal novel required intense intellectual and moral work from me, and perhaps a radical change in my worldview.
2. Personality of M. A. Bulgakov.
Bulgakov the writer and Bulgakov the man are still in many ways a mystery. His political views, attitude towards religion, aesthetic program. His life consisted of three parts, each of which was remarkable in some way. Until 1919, he was a doctor, only occasionally trying his hand at literature. In the 20s, Bulgakov already professional writer and playwright earning
for life literary work and overshadowed by the loud but scandalous glory of “Days of the Turbins”. Finally, in the 30s, Mikhail
Afanasyevich is a theater employee, since he can no longer support himself by publishing prose and staging plays (at this time he is writing his imperishable masterpiece “The Master and Margarita”). It must be said that Bulgakov is a phenomenal phenomenon of Soviet times. He hated writing for a “social order,” while in the country fear was ruining talents and outstanding minds. Mikhail Afanasyevich himself was firmly convinced that he would never become a “helot, panegyrist and intimidated servant.” In his letter to the government in 1930, he admitted: “I didn’t even make any attempts to compose a communist play, knowing in advance that such a play would not work out.” This incredible courage was obviously caused by the fact that Bulgakov never gave up his creative positions, ideas and remained himself in the most difficult moments of life. And he had a lot of them. He had the opportunity to fully experience the pressure of the powerful administrative-bureaucratic system of Stalin’s times, the one that he later designated with the strong and capacious word “Cabal”. Many of his creative and life principles, realized in works of art and plays, met with severe rebuff. There were periods of crises in Bulgakov’s life, when his works were not published, his plays were not staged, and he was not allowed to work at his beloved Moscow Art Theater. He expressed himself in a letter to V.V. Veresaev about who his main enemy was: “... And suddenly it dawned on me! I remembered the names! These are Turbin, Long John, Rokk and Khludov (from “Run”). Here they are, my enemies! It’s not for nothing that during times of insomnia they come to me and say to me: “You gave birth to us, and we will block all your paths. Lie down, science fiction writer, with your lips blocked.
Then it turns out that my main enemy- I myself”... And not censorship, not bureaucrats, not Stalin... With the latter, Bulgakov had special relationship. The leader criticized many of his works, directly hinting at anti-Soviet agitation in them. But, despite this, Mikhail Afanasyevich did not experience what was called the terrible word GULAG. And he did not die on a bunk (although in those
times were taken away for much lesser sins), and in his own bed from nephrosclerosis inherited from his father. Bulgakov knew that a brilliant literary future was unlikely to await him in the Soviet Union (his works were constantly subjected to monstrous criticism), driven to a nervous breakdown, he openly wrote to Stalin (this letter became widely known): “... I turn to you and ask for your intercession before the Government of the USSR ABOUT THE EXILEMENT OF ME OUTSIDE THE USSR TOGETHER WITH MY WIFE E.S. BULGAKOVA 3 , which joins this petition.” In fact, Bulgakov loved his Motherland in his own way, could not imagine life without the Soviet theater, but... He once said: “There is no such writer that he would shut up. If he was silent, it means he was not real.
And if the real one is silent, he will die.” Why didn’t the Leader liquidate
“anti-Soviet”, “bourgeois writer” Bulgakov? They say that the writer “struck” him with his extraordinary charm and sense of humor. And Stalin also appreciated him as a playwright: he watched the play “Days of the Turbins” 15 times! His wife describes Bulgakov this way when she first met him: “It was impossible not to pay attention to his unusually fresh language, masterful dialogue and such
unobtrusive humor... In front of me stood a man of 30-32 years old; blonde hair, combed smoothly in a side parting. Blue eyes, facial features
irregular, nostrils roughly cut; When he speaks, he wrinkles his forehead. But the face, in general, is attractive, the face of great potential. This means that it is capable of expressing a wide variety of feelings. I suffered for a long time before I realized who Mikhail Bulgakov was like after all. And suddenly it dawned on me - Chaliapin!” This was M.A. Bulgakov. A doctor, journalist, novelist, playwright, director, he was a representative of that part of the intelligentsia who, without leaving the country in difficult years, sought to preserve themselves in changed conditions. He had to go through an addiction to morphine when he worked as a zemstvo doctor, civil war in his hometown of Kyiv, severe literary persecution and forced silence, and under these conditions he managed to create masterpieces that are read all over the world.
Anna Akhmatova 4 she called Bulgakov succinctly and simply - a genius, and dedicated a poem to his memory:
Here I am for you, in exchange for grave roses,
Instead of incense incense; You lived so harshly and brought magnificent contempt to the end.
You drank wine, you joked like no one else
And I was suffocating in the stuffy walls,
And you let the terrible guest in and you were left alone with her.
And you are not there, and everything around is silent.
About sorrowful and high life,
Oh, who dared to believe that I was crazy,
To me, the mourner of never-before-lived days,
To me, smoldering on a slow fire,
Having lost everyone, forgotten everyone, we will have to remember the one who, full of strength,
And bright plans and will, As if he were talking to me yesterday, Hiding the trembling of mortal pain.
Anna Akhmatova. Essay in 2 volumes. Volume 1 Moscow. Publishing house about Pravda. 1990
3. THE MAIN PROBLEM IN BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND
MARGARITA."
There are many problems raised in the novel, but let’s focus on one of the most important and fundamental ones - the problem of choice and personal responsibility of a person for his actions.
In the first level, which is also an immortal book
Masters, both the “Gospel of Woland” and the dream of Ivan Bezdomny contain the greatest psychological meaning of the novel. Topics such as choice, personal responsibility for one’s choice, and punishment by conscience are reflected here. And, most importantly, the gospel story about Jesus (Bulgakov’s Ha-Nozri) is rethought here. The main characters in this story are the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and the wandering philosopher Yeshua Ha-Nozri. The powerful procurator Pontius Pilate, in whose hands the life of any of the inhabitants of Judea is in his hands, judges the arrested Yeshua. So Pilate is faced with the problem of choice: Yeshua’s life depends on his word. And then we see that the powerful procurator Pontius Pilate is not free: he is a slave of Caesar, a slave of his own career. He is afraid that he might be reported to Caesar, that he might end up in Yeshua’s place. Pontius Pilate hints to Yeshua how to respond, but Yeshua does not listen to him. And not at all because he is a “slave of honor.” He simply does not understand Pilate's hints. Yeshua is morally and spiritually free. His conscience is clear, unlike the conscience of Pontius Pilate. The latter makes his own choice. He understands this and knows that Ga-Notsri is not guilty; he is tormented by his conscience for the sentence passed on the wandering philosopher. After the execution, the procurator of Judea suffers, realizing that it is he, and not anyone else, who is to blame for the death of Yeshua. In this wandering philosopher, Pontius Pilate saw the light of truth, goodness, and this further increases his torment. A moment of weakness, as a result of which evil triumphs, turns into two thousand years of torment of repentance for Pilate. And at the end of the novel, forgiveness given to him by the Master comes to him. He was also forgiven by the one whom he sent to execution, with whom he was so eager to talk during the two thousand years of his captivity. Yeshua forgave him.
The theme of choice and personal responsibility for one’s choice is developed
Bulgakov and in the “Moscow” chapters of the novel. Woland and his retinue (Azazello, Koroviev, the cat Behemoth, Gella) are, as it were, a punishing sword of justice, exposing and punishing various manifestations of evil. Woland arrives with a kind of revision to the country, which is declared a country of goodness and happiness. And what does Woland discover? Yes, the people remain the same as they were. At a performance in Variety, Woland tests people for greed, and people simply rush for money and things. But no one forces them to grab money and go on stage! People make their own choices. And many find themselves justly punished when their clothes disappear and the chervonets turn into stickers from Narzan.
A person’s choice is a choice within him between good and evil. A person makes his choice himself: who he should be, what kind of person he should be, which side he should be on... In any case, a person has an internal, elusive judge - conscience. Those people for whom it is unclean, who are guilty and do not want to admit it, are “punished” by Woland and his retinue. After all, he does not punish everyone, but only those who deserve it. Of all the heroes of the novel, only the Master and Margarita remained morally pure. Yes, at the end of the novel, Ivan Bezdomny comes to moral enlightenment.
4. Plot and compositional originality of BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA”.
It is defined as a mythical novel, a philosophical novel, a mystical novel,
lyrical novel, a menippea novel. This happens because the novel combines all genres at once, even those that cannot exist together. The novel's narrative is directed to the future, the content is both psychologically and philosophically reliable. The problems raised in the novel are eternal. The main idea of the novel is the struggle between good and evil - concepts that are inseparable from each other. The composition of the novel is as original as the genre - “a novel within a novel.” One is about the fate of the Master, the other is about Pontius Pilate. On the one hand, they are opposed to each other, on the other, they form a single whole. This “novel within a novel” collects global problems and contradictions. The master is concerned about the same problems as Pontius Pilate. At the end of the novel, you can see how Moscow connects with Yershalaim, that is, one novel is combined with another, turning into one storyline. Reading the work, we are in two dimensions at once: the 30s of the 20th century and the 30s of the 1st century new era. We see that the events took place in the same month and on several days before Easter, only with an interval of 1900 years, which proves the deep connection between the Moscow and Yershalaim chapters. The actions of the novel, which are separated by almost two millennia, are in harmony with each other, and they are connected by the fight against evil, the search for truth, and creativity. And yet the main character of the novel is love. Love is what captivates the reader. In general, the theme of love is the writer’s favorite. According to the author, all the happiness that a person has in life comes from love. Love elevates a person above the world and comprehends the spiritual. This is the feeling of The Master and Margarita. That is why the author included these names in the title. Margarita completely surrenders to love and, for the sake of saving the Master, sells her soul to the devil, taking on a huge sin. But still the author takes her side. Using the example of Margarita, Bulgakov showed that each person should make his own personal choice, without asking for help from higher powers; do not expect favors from life; man is the creator of his own destiny.
The novel contains three storylines: philosophical
(biblical) - Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Pontius Pilate, love (lyrical) - The Master and Margarita, mystical (satirical) - Woland, his entire retinue and Muscovites. The author reveals relativity human knowledge and at the same time affirms man's responsibility for his destiny. Move modern life lies in the Master's story about Pontius Pilate. Another feature of this work is that it is autobiographical. In the image of the Master we recognize Bulgakov himself, and in the image of Margarita - his beloved woman, his wife Elena Sergeevna. Therefore, we perceive heroes as real, tangible. We sympathize with them, worry, put ourselves in their place, improve together with the heroes, moving along the artistic ladder of the work. The storylines intersect, connecting at one point - in Eternity. This unique composition of the novel makes it interesting and fascinating for the reader.
To understand the problems and idea of the novel, you need to consider in detail
system of hero images.
5. Hero image system.
5. The Master and Margarita.
5.1. Master. One of the most mysterious figures of the novel “The Master and Margarita” is, of course, the Master, a historian who became a writer. The author himself called him the main character, but introduced him to the reader only in chapter 13. Many researchers do not consider the Master to be the main character of the novel. Another mystery is the prototype of the Master. There are many versions about this. Here are three of the most common ones.
The Master is largely an autobiographical hero. His age at the time the novel takes place (“a man of about thirty-eight” appears in the hospital before Ivan Bezdomny) is exactly Bulgakov’s age in May 1929. The newspaper campaign against the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate is reminiscent of the newspaper campaign against Bulgakov. The similarity between the Master and Bulgakov is also that the latter, despite literary persecution, did not abandon his creativity and served real art. So the Master created his masterpiece about Pontius Pilate, “guessed” the truth, devoted his life to pure art - the only Moscow cultural figure who did not write to order, about “what is possible.”
At the same time, the Master has many other, most unexpected prototypes. His portrait: “shaven, dark-haired, with a sharp nose, anxious eyes and a tuft of hair hanging over his forehead” shows an undeniable resemblance to N.V. Gogol. It must be said that Bulgakov considered him his main teacher. The master, like Gogol, burned the manuscript of his novel. Finally, there is no doubt that Bulgakov’s work contains a number of stylistic parallels with Gogol.
And, of course, it is impossible not to draw parallels between the Master and the Yeshua Ha-Nozri he created. Yeshua is the bearer of universal truth, and the Master is the only person in Moscow who has chosen the right creative and life path. They are united by fellowship, messianism, for which there is no time frame. But the Master is not worthy of the light that Yeshua personifies, because he abandoned his task of serving pure, divine art, showed weakness and burned the novel, and out of hopelessness he himself came to the house of sorrow. But the world of the devil has no power over him either - the Master is worthy of peace, an eternal home - only there, broken by mental suffering, the Master can again find romance and unite with his romantic beloved Margarita, who goes with him to his last way. She entered into a deal with the devil to save the Master and is therefore worthy of forgiveness. The Master's love for Margarita is in many ways unearthly, eternal love. The master is indifferent to the joys of family life. He does not remember the name of his wife, does not strive to have children, and when he was married and worked as a historian in a museum, he, by his own admission, lived “lonely, having no relatives and almost no acquaintances in Moscow.” The master realized his calling as a writer, quit his service and sat down to write a novel about Pontius Pilate in an Arbat basement. And Margarita was persistently next to him...
5.2.Margarita. The motif of mercy is associated with the image of Margarita in the novel. After the Great Ball, she asks Satan for the unfortunate Frida, while she is clearly hinted at asking for the release of the Master. She says: “I asked you for Frida only because I had the imprudence to give her firm hope. She is waiting, sir, she believes in my power. And if she remains deceived, I will be in a terrible position. I won't have peace all my life. It's nothing you can do! It just happened that way.” But Margarita’s mercy does not end there. Even being a witch, she does not lose the brightest human qualities. Dostoevsky’s idea, expressed in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” about a child’s tear as the highest measure of good and evil, is illustrated by the episode when Margarita, destroying the Dramlit house, sees a frightened four-year-old boy in one of the rooms and stops the destruction. Margarita is a symbol of that eternal femininity about which the Mystical Choir sings in the finale of Goethe’s “Faust”: Everything is fleeting -
Symbol, comparison.
The goal is endless.
Here in achievement.
Here is the commandment of all Truth.
Eternal femininity draws us to her.
Faust and Margarita are reunited in heaven, in the light. The eternal love of Goethe's Gretchen helps her lover find a reward - the traditional light that blinds him, and therefore she must become his guide in the world of light. Bulgakov's Margarita also, with her eternal love, helps the Master - the new Faust - to find what he deserves. But the hero’s reward here is not light, but peace, and in the kingdom of peace, in Woland’s last refuge or even, more precisely, on the border of two worlds - light and darkness, Margarita becomes the guide and guardian of her lover: “You will fall asleep, putting on your greasy and an eternal cap, you will fall asleep with a smile on your lips. Sleep will strengthen you, you will begin to reason wisely. And you won’t be able to drive me away. I will take care of your sleep."
This is what Margarita said, walking with the Master towards their eternal home, and it seemed to the Master that Margarita’s words flowed in the same way as the stream left behind flowed and whispered, and the Master’s memory, a restless memory pricked with needles, began to fade.” E. S. Bulgakova wrote down these lines from the dictation of the terminally ill author of “The Master and Margarita.”
Let us emphasize that the motive of mercy and love in the image of Margarita is resolved differently than in Goethe’s poem, where before the power of love “the nature of Satan surrendered... he did not bear her prick. Mercy prevailed,” and Faust was released into the world. In Bulgakov, it is Margarita who shows mercy towards Frida, and not Woland himself.
Love does not in any way affect the nature of Satan, for in fact the fate of the brilliant Master is predetermined by Woland in advance. Satan’s plan coincides with what Master Yeshua asks to reward, and Margarita here is part of this reward.
5.3 Historical and artistic characteristics of Woland and his retinue.
5.4. Woland's retinue.
Woland did not come to earth alone. He was accompanied by creatures who, by and large, play the role of jesters in the novel, putting on all sorts of shows, disgusting and hateful to the indignant Moscow population (they simply turned human vices and weaknesses inside out). But their task was also to do all the “dirty” work for Woland, to serve him, to prepare Margarita for the Great Ball and for her and the Master’s journey to a world of peace. Woland's retinue consisted of four subordinates - Azazello, Koroviev-Fagot, the cat Behemoth and the vampire girl Gella. Among all the others we can also include Abadonna. They form a clear hierarchical ladder. Where did such strange creatures come from in Woland’s retinue? And where did Bulgakov get their images and names from?
5.5. Woland. Woland is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, who leads the world of otherworldly forces. Woland is the devil, Satan, “prince of darkness,” “spirit of evil and lord of shadows” (all these definitions are found in the text of the novel). Woland is largely focused on Mephistopheles “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The name Woland itself is taken from Goethe’s poem, where it is mentioned only once and is usually omitted in Russian translations. As amended 1929 – 1930 the name Woland was reproduced in full Latin on his business card: “Dr Theodor Voland”. In the final text, Bulgakov abandoned the Latin alphabet. Let us note that in early editions Bulgakov tried the names Azazello and Veliar for the future Woland.
Woland’s portrait is shown before the start of the Great Ball “Two eyes fixed on Margarita’s face. The right one with a golden spark at the bottom, drilling anyone to the bottom of the soul, and the left one is empty and black, kind of like a narrow eye of a needle, like an exit into a bottomless well of all darkness and shadows. Woland's face was slanted to the side, the right corner of his mouth was pulled down, and deep wrinkles were cut into his high, bald forehead, parallel to his sharp eyebrows. The skin on Woland’s face seemed to be forever burned by a tan.” True face Bulgakov hides Woland only at the very beginning of the novel in order to intrigue the reader, and then directly declares through the mouth of the Master and Woland himself that the devil has definitely arrived at the Patriarchs.
Woland gives to various characters who come into contact with him different explanation the purposes of his stay in Moscow. He tells Berlioz and Bezdomny that he has arrived to study the found manuscripts of Herbert of Avrilak. To the employees of the Variety Theater, Woland explains his visit with his intention to perform a session of black magic. After the scandalous session, Satan tells the bartender that he simply wanted to “see the Muscovites en masse, and the most convenient way to do this was in the theater.” Before the start of the Great Ball at Satan's, Margarita Koroviev-Fagot informs that the purpose of the visit of Woland and his retinue to Moscow is to hold this ball, whose hostess must bear the name Margarita and be of royal blood.
Woland has many faces, as befits the devil, and in conversations with different people puts on different masks. At the same time, Woland’s omniscience of Satan is completely preserved: he and his people are well aware of both the past and the future life those with whom they come into contact also know the text of the Master’s novel, which literally coincides with the “Gospel of Woland”, the same thing that was told to the unlucky writers at the Patriarchal.
Woland's unconventionality lies in the fact that he, being a devil, is endowed with some obvious attributes of God. Dialectical unity, the complementarity of good and evil are most clearly revealed in Woland’s words addressed to Matthew Levi, who refused to wish health to the “spirit of evil and the lord of shadows: “You pronounced your words as if you do not recognize shadows, as well as evil. Would you be so kind as to think about the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? After all, shadows come from objects and people. This is the shadow of my sword. But there are shadows from trees and from living creatures. Don't you want to rip it all off? Earth, having swept away all the trees and all living things, because of your fantasy of enjoying the naked light? You are stupid".
In Bulgakov, Woland literally revives the Master's burned novel; a product of artistic creativity, preserved only in the head of the creator, materializes again, turns into a tangible thing.
Woland is the bearer of fate, this is due to a long tradition in Russian literature that linked fate, fate, fate not with God, but with the devil. In Bulgakov, Woland personifies the fate that punishes Berlioz, the entertainer, the bartender Fokich and others who violate the norms of Christian morality. Good and evil are eternal and inseparable concepts, and as long as the spirit and consciousness of a person are alive, they will fight with each other. Such a struggle was presented to us by M.A. Bulgakov in the novel “The Master and Margarita,” although, it seems to me, it is impossible to distinguish clear lines of good and evil, but in general the work is of a strictly critical nature. Moreover, the reader is presented with two novels: one novel “About Pontius Pilate”, the other novel about “The Master and Margarita”, connected with the life of Moscow in the thirties of the twentieth century. Both novels converge at one point - this is the position of Woland and his companions; both novels are united by one idea - the search for truth and the fight for it. The characters described in both novels are different, but they are connected by one essence. Hostility, distrust dissident people, envy reigns in the world that surrounds the Master and Yeshua. Woland and his retinue expose them to us. Bulgakov gives Woland broad powers: throughout the entire novel he judges, decides destinies, decides - life or death and carries out retribution, giving everyone what they deserve. During their four-day tour in Moscow, Woland, the cat Behemoth, Koroviev, Azazello and Gella turn the literary and theatrical community, officials and ordinary people inside out. Woland defines “who is who”: Styopa Likhodeev is a slacker, a libertine, a drunkard; Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy - bribe-taker; Fokich - thief; Baron Meigel - informer; the poet Ryukhin is an inveterate hypocrite. And at a black magic session at the variety show Woland, both directly and figuratively“undresses” some women citizens, and sadly concludes: “They are people like people, ordinary, in general, they resemble the former ones.” But people's eternal desire for good is irresistible. Every generation of people is obliged to re-solve moral problems. Some people are visited by an instant insight, an insight that should push a person to self-improvement. Ryukhin realizes his mediocrity, and thereby pays the bills. Others - never. For Berlioz, the well-read but unscrupulous head of MASSOLIT, it does not matter whether Jesus existed or did not exist, but the important thing is that by denying him, he can afford everything. But retribution overtakes Berlioz - he dies under the wheels of a tram. Master Bulgakov puts into a different philosophical concept: not all people can become kind and that they need to forgive insults. The master wrote a novel about Jesus Christ. But such a hero is not needed at MASSOLIT, where they accept poems about “soar” and “unwind.” A pack of “literary” critics attacked the Master. He, just like Yeshua, must pay for the right to proclaim his truth. The madhouse is where the prophets find refuge. Good should not be punished; Woland returns to the Master the manuscript he burned in a moment of weakness. In parallel with the events taking place in Moscow, Bulgakov showed the events in Yershalaim, described in the Master’s novel. Here Woland is present as an outside observer, not being evil or good, but as a mirror in which history is reflected.
5.3. Azazello.
This character is the eldest of Woland’s subordinates. Woland gives most of the assignments to him: a conversation with Margarita in the Alexander Garden, arrival in the basement to prepare the Master and Margarita for the peace assigned to them by the forces of light.
The name Azazello was formed by Bulgakov from the Old Testament name Azazel. That's the name negative hero the Old Testament book of Enoch, a fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry.
Bulgakov was probably attracted by the combination of seduction and murder in one character. It is precisely for the insidious seducer that Margarita mistakes Azazello during their first meeting in the Alexander Garden: “This neighbor turned out to be vertically challenged, fiery red, with a fang, in starched underwear, in a good-quality striped suit, in patent leather shoes and with a bowler hat on his head. “Absolutely a robber’s face!” – thought Margarita” But Azazello’s main function in the novel is related to violence. He throws Styopa Likhodeev out of Moscow to Yalta, expels Uncle Berlioz from the Bad Apartment, and kills the traitor Baron Meigel with a revolver.
Azazello also invented the cream that he gives to Margarita. The magic cream not only makes the heroine invisible and able to fly, but also gives her a new, witch-like beauty.
In the epilogue of the novel, this fallen angel appears before us in a new guise: “Azazello flew at the side of everyone, shining with the steel of his armor. The moon also changed his face. The absurd, ugly fang disappeared without a trace, and the crooked eye turned out to be false. Both of Azazello's eyes were the same, empty and black, and his face was white and cold. Now Azazello flew in his true form, like a demon of the waterless desert, a demon-killer.
5.4. Bassoon.
Second in the hierarchy. A demon, a devil, a knight, a magician, a sorcerer, who introduces himself to Muscovites as a translator for a foreign professor and a former regent of a church choir - all this, in one person, is Fagot.
The surname Koroviev is modeled after the surname of the character in the story by A.N. Tolstoy 5 “Ghoul” (1841) by state councilor Telyaev, who turns out to be a knight and a vampire. In addition, in the story by F. M. Dostoevsky
“The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants” has a character named Korovkin, very similar to our hero. His second name comes from the name musical instrument bassoon, invented by an Italian monk. The Koroviev-Fagot has some similarities with the bassoon - a long thin tube folded in three. Bulgakov's character is thin, tall and in imaginary servility, it seems, ready to fold himself three times over in front of his interlocutor (in order to then calmly harm him).
Here is his portrait: “...a transparent citizen of a strange appearance, a jockey cap on his small head, a checkered short jacket..., a citizen a fathom tall, but narrow in the shoulders, incredibly thin, and a face
5 A. N. Tolstoy (1882-1945) - Russian writer, count, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
6 F. M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881) - Russian writer, participant in revolutionary circles. Remarkable for its philosophical understanding of man, the search for truth, the calling of the Russian people, war and peace, Christian morality.
please note, mocking”; “...his mustache is like chicken feathers, his eyes are small, ironic and half-drunk.”
Koroviev-Fagot is a devil who emerged from the sultry Moscow air (unprecedented heat for May at the time of his appearance is one of the traditional signs of the approach of evil spirits). Woland's henchman, only when necessary, puts on various disguises: a drunken regent, a guy, a clever swindler, a sneaky translator for a famous foreigner, etc. Only in the last flight does Koroviev-Fagot become what he really is - a gloomy demon, a knight Bassoon, who knows the value of human weaknesses and virtues no worse than his master.
5.5. Cat Behemoth.
This werecat and Satan's favorite jester is perhaps the funniest and most memorable of Woland's retinue.
M. A. Orlova 7 “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil,” extracts from which were preserved in the Bulgakov archive. There, in particular, it described the case of a French abbess who lived in the 17th century and was possessed by seven devils, the fifth demon being Hippopotamus. This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant head, a trunk and fangs. His hands were human-shaped, and his huge belly, short tail and thick hind legs, like those of a hippopotamus, reminded him of his name.
In Bulgakov, Behemoth became a huge black cat-werewolf, since black cats are traditionally considered to be associated with evil spirits. This is how we see him for the first time: “... on the jeweler’s pouffe, in a cheeky pose, a third person was lounging, namely, a terribly sized black cat with a glass of vodka in one paw and a fork, on which he had managed to pry a pickled mushroom, in the other.”
The hippopotamus in the demonological tradition is the demon of the desires of the stomach.
Hence his extraordinary gluttony, especially in Torgsin, when he indiscriminately swallows everything edible.
Behemoth's shootout with detectives in apartment No. 50, his chess match with
Woland, a shooting competition with Azazello - all this is pure humorous skits, very funny and even to some extent remove the severity of those everyday, moral and philosophical problems that the novel poses to the reader.
7 M.A. Orlov is a modern researcher of Russian literature, the author of “Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events.” “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil” is an outline of the views on the nature of evil that prevailed in the Middle Ages and Modern times, until the 19th century, and contains many legendary stories of relations between people and evil spirits; the book contains more and more eyewitness accounts of meetings of people with elves, gnomes, and sorcerers.
In the last flight, the transformation of this merry joker is very unusual (like most of the plot moves in this fantasy novel):
“The night also tore off the fluffy tail from the Behemoth, tore off its fur and scattered its shreds across the swamps. He who was a cat who amused the prince of darkness now turned out to be a thin youth, a demon page, the best jester that ever existed in the world.”
5.6. Gella.
Gella is a member of Woland’s retinue, a female vampire: “I recommend my maid Gella. She is efficient, understanding, and there is no service that she cannot provide.”
M. Bulgakov took the name “Gella” from the article “Sorcery” in the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, where it was noted that in Lesvos this name was called untimely dead girls who became vampires after death.
The green-eyed beauty Gella moves freely through the air, thereby taking on a resemblance to a witch. Character traits The behavior of vampires - clicking their teeth and smacking their lips - Bulgakov may have borrowed from A. N. Tolstoy’s story “The Ghoul”. There, a vampire girl turns her lover into a vampire with a kiss - hence, obviously, Gella’s fatal kiss for Varenukha.
Gella, the only one from Woland's retinue, is absent from the scene of the last flight. Most likely, Bulgakov deliberately removed her as the most junior member retinue, performing only auxiliary functions both in the Variety Theater, and in the Bad Apartment, and at Satan’s Great Ball. Vampires are traditionally the lowest category of evil spirits. In addition, Gella would have no one to turn into on the last flight, when the night “exposed all the deceptions,” she could only become a dead girl again. 5.7. Abadonna.
Abadonna, the demon of war, close to Woland, acts as a harbinger, the bearer of death. This indicates last scene life of Baron Meigel: “Abadonna found himself in front of the baron and took off his glasses for a second. At the same moment something flashed in Azazello’s hands...” The Baron looked death in the eyes - into the eyes of Abadonna, and carried out this death, murder, Azazello. Abadonna is blind, he always wears black glasses and therefore cannot give preference to any of the participants in the war. But why did the demon take off his glasses in front of the baron, because Abadonna can’t see? Apparently, the point here is in Abadonna’s eyes themselves, and not in their blindness or sight. The name "Abadonna" comes from the Hebrew "Abaddon". This is the name of the angel of the Apocalypse. This is an Old Testament fallen angel who led the angels’ rebellion against God and, as punishment, was thrown to earth and doomed to immortality. Maybe that’s why Abadonna is the demon of war and death in the novel. He brings death, shows people its “face,” but cannot die himself. Abaddon (“destruction”), in Jewish mythology the personification of the pits of the grave and the abyss of the underworld that hide and destroy without a trace; a figure close to the angel of death (Malakh Ha-Mavet). This is Abaddon in Old Testament(Job 26:6; 28; 31:12; Proverbs 15:11, where it is spoken of as a deep mystery, permeable, however, to God). In Christian mythology, Abaddon, called Apollyon in Greek (“the destroyer,” perhaps correlates with the name of Apollo), leads a punishing army of monstrous “locusts” against humanity at the end of time (Apoc. 9, 11). Despite the fact that Abadonna is one of Woland’s close associates, he, like Gella, is not present in the scene of the last flight. Perhaps he belongs to a different kingdom or element than Woland, although he is subordinate to him. The demon of war wanders the earth, bringing death, while Satan is the ruler of space, the abyss.
5.8. Moscow 30s
The work of the great Russian writer Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov occurred in the first post-revolutionary years and the era of Stalinism. An atmosphere of fear, bloody terror, and unbridled lawlessness reigned in the country. Genuine literature became a form of rejection of such reality, a way of morally overcoming it. The writer's faithful ally was laughter.
Mikhail Bulgakov had a brilliant gift as a satirist. However, the depiction of the hopeless “mud of little things”, all these apartment quarrels, petty squabbles, a mess of insignificant passions never became an end in itself. No! Bulgakov surveys his contemporary reality as if from the height of Margarita’s fantastic flight over the night Arbat. What is important and interesting for the writer is the very question that Woland throws with his heavy bass into the enchanted Variety Hall: “Have these townspeople changed internally?” Scene and auditorium change places. Several simple tricks by Fagot (the episode with the chervonets, the ladies' store, the severed head of Bengalsky, the “exposure” of Sempleyarov) irrefutably testify: human nature has not changed in the centuries that have passed since the execution of Yeshua. Woland's conclusion is impartial. “Well,” he responded thoughtfully, “they are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of: leather, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well, mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... housing problem I just ruined them..."
Painted with bright satirical colors in the novel “The Master and
Margarita" countless informers and bureaucrats, literary regulars at the restaurant of Griboyedov's house and petty swindlers, opportunists and militant inhabitants... But evil is not just shown. It is ridiculed, it is exposed, it is parodically reduced. Widely used by writer various techniques satirical image: hyperbole, grotesque, parody.
The parodic reduction made it possible to psychologically overcome the fear of those phenomena of reality, which in themselves did not evoke any “cheerful” associations among Bulgakov’s contemporaries! It's about, of course, about arrests, denunciations and interrogations by the “competent” authorities. As a matter of fact, the novel begins with a denunciation. Seized by spy mania, Berlioz and the poet Bezdomny are trying to promptly expose a suspicious foreign tourist from the Patriarch's Ponds, in whom they see a criminal and a foreign agent. Alas! The venerable editor and head of MASSOLIT never reaches the nearest pay phone. Bezdomny’s attempt to apprehend the criminal with the help of a “stuffy agent” also ends in failure.
The virus of denunciation, according to Bulgakov, penetrated deeply into society, even touching the souls of children. In the chapter “Flight,” a little boy unwittingly betrays his mischievous friend Sitnik.
Unfortunately, in most cases, denunciations are quite deliberate and lead to inevitable consequences. Thus, the parodied denunciation of Timofey Kvastsov radically changes the fate of the bribe-taker Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo. Aloysius Mogarych’s denunciation of the Master does not pass without a trace...
Mikhail Bulgakov, with great ingenuity, finds ways to talk about mass arrests in his novel. This is a hint about mysterious disappearances residents of the “bad apartment”, such is the unspoken guess of the smart Poplavsky about the arrest of members of the board of the housing association at building No. 302 bis: “Oh, what a complication! And it was necessary for them all at once...” This is the message in the epilogue about the numerous arrests of not only people, but also black cats. But laughter still remains Bulgakov’s faithful ally. Scary things stop being scary. Let's remember the scene
arrest of Behemoth. In a collision with Woland's retinue, the knurled system
violence reveals its complete powerlessness, its absurdity, its absurdity - note that they are trying to arrest not a person, not at all, but a cat!
The image plays an important role in Bulgakov’s novel psychiatric clinic Professor Stravinsky and ways of conducting a criminal case by an investigator. The interrogations of Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo and Chuma-Annushka are anecdotal precisely because those interrogated tell the honest truth.
Bulgakov, as we see, finds the strength to ridicule what inspired his contemporaries with almost mystical horror: denunciations, arrests, interrogations with bias. At the same time, the writer does not leave evil unpunished, but resorts to a unique method of fantastic retribution. Whenever real overcoming of evil is not possible, Woland and his retinue appear. It is precisely this function of “evil spirits” in the novel that the epigraph from Goethe’s “Faust” indicates. In fact, through the efforts of Satan, the false-tongue administrator of the Varenukha Varenukha was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, bureaucrat Nikolai Ivanovich was brought to a fantastic ball as a “vehicle” (hog), the “earpiece and spy” Baron Meigel was shot, painlessly replaced in his boss’s chair with an empty suit Chairman of the Entertainment Commission Prokhor Petrovich... And that's not all. Is it possible not to remember here the defeat of the “House of Dramlit” by Margarita? Is it possible to forget the latest adventures of Koroviev and Behemoth? The fire in which Torgsin and Griboyedov’s house burn does not burn the reader with the bitterness of loss. On the contrary, we have before us, perhaps, the most witty and fun pages of the novel. And neither the regulars of the restaurant at Griboedov’s house, nor the majestic Archibald Archibaldovich, nor the satirical gallery of the inhabitants of Torgsin evoke much sympathy...
Thus, Bulgakov's satire is a way of overcoming the fear of cruel and bloody reality. Unfortunately, the writer’s work in our country began to return to the reader only in the late sixties of the twentieth century. At the same time, the novel “The Master and Margarita” was published, which played a role in the spiritual formation of several generations of readers.
6. SATAN’S GREAT BALL AS THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE NOVEL.
Satan's Great Ball is the ball that Woland gives in the novel “The Master and Margarita” in the Bad Apartment on the endlessly lasting midnight of Friday, May 3, 1929.
In order to fit Satan's Great Ball into the Bad Apartment, it was necessary to expand it to supernatural proportions. As Koroviev-Fagot explains, “for those who are well acquainted with the fifth dimension, it costs nothing to expand the room to the desired limits.” This brings to mind the novel “The Invisible Man” (1897) by H.G. Wells. Bulgakov goes further than the English science fiction writer, increasing the number of dimensions from a fairly traditional four to five. In the fifth dimension, the gigantic halls where the Great Ball of Satan takes place become visible, and the participants of the ball themselves, on the contrary, are invisible to the people around them, including the OGPU agents on duty at the doors of the Bad Apartment.
By abundantly decorating the ballrooms with roses, Bulgakov took into account the complex and multifaceted symbolism associated with this flower. IN cultural tradition For many peoples, roses represent both mourning, love and purity. Taking this into account, the roses at Satan’s Great Ball can be seen both as a symbol of Margarita’s love for the Master, and as a harbinger of their imminent death. Roses here are also an allegory of Christ, a memory of shed blood; they have long been included in the symbolism of the Catholic Church.
The election of Margaret as queen of the Great Ball of Satan and her likening to one of the French queens who lived in the 16th century. associated with the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. Bulgakov's extracts from the articles of this dictionary dedicated to two French queens who bore the name Margaret - Navarre and Valois - have been preserved. Both historical Margaritas patronized writers and poets, and Bulgakov’s Margarita
It turns out that she is connected with the brilliant Master, whose extraction from the hospital she achieves after the Great Ball with Satan.
Another source of Satan's Great Ball is the description of the ball in
Mikhailovsky Palace, given in the book of the Marquis Astolphe de Custine “Russia in
1839.” (this work was also used by Bulgakov when creating the film script “ Dead Souls"): “The large gallery, intended for dancing, was decorated with exceptional luxury. One and a half thousand tubs and pots with the rarest flowers formed a fragrant bosquet. At the end of the hall, in the thick shadow of exotic plants, a swimming pool was visible, from which a fountain stream was constantly gushing out. The splashes of water, illuminated by bright lights, sparkled like diamond specks of dust and refreshed the air... It is difficult to imagine the splendor of this picture. Completely lost
an idea of where you are. All boundaries disappeared, everything was full of light, gold, flowers, reflections and enchanting, magical illusion.” Margarita sees a similar picture at Satan’s Great Ball, feeling like she is in a tropical forest, among hundreds of flowers and colorful fountains and listening to the music of the world’s best orchestras.
Depicting Satan’s Great Ball, Bulgakov also took into account the traditions of Russian symbolism, in particular the symphonies of the poet A. Bely and L. Andreev’s play “The Life of a Man.”
Satan's Great Ball can also be imagined as a figment of the imagination of Margarita, who is about to commit suicide. Many eminent nobles-criminals approach her as the queen of the ball, but Margarita prefers the brilliant writer Master to everyone. Note that the ball is preceded by a session of black magic in the circus-like Variety Theater, where at the end the musicians play a march (and in works of this genre, drums always play a great role).
Let us note that at Satan’s Great Ball there are also musical geniuses who are not directly associated in their work with the motifs
Satanism. Margarita meets here the “king of waltzes”, the Austrian composer Johann Strauss, the Belgian violinist and composer Henri Vietan, and the best musicians in the world play in the orchestra. Thus, Bulgakov illustrates the idea that every talent is in some way from the devil.
The fact that at Satan’s Great Ball a line of murderers, poisoners, executioners, debauchees and pimps passes in front of Margarita is not at all accidental. Bulgakov's heroine is tormented by betrayal of her husband and, albeit subconsciously, puts her act on a par with greatest crimes past and present. The abundance of poisoners and poisoners, real and imaginary, is a reflection in Margarita’s brain of the thought of possible suicide together with the Master using poison. At the same time, their subsequent poisoning, carried out by Azazello, can be considered imaginary and not real, since historically all the male poisoners at Satan’s Great Ball are imaginary poisoners.
But Bulgakov also leaves an alternative possibility: Satan’s Great Ball and all the events associated with it take place only in the sick imagination of Margarita, who is tormented by the lack of news about the Master and guilt before her husband and subconsciously thinking about suicide. The author of “The Master and Margarita” offers a similar alternative explanation in relation to the Moscow adventures of Satan and his henchmen in the epilogue of the novel, making it clear that it does not exhaust what is happening. Also, any rational explanation of the Great Ball of Satan, according to author's intention, can never be complete.
7. Conclusion.
7.1 Personal axiom.
Pontius Pilate's dream as the personification of man's victory over himself.
There is a popular belief that dreams can show us what will happen in the future. People believe that the things and events that we see in our dreams will come true later in our lives.
However, there is an opposite point of view, which is held by many psychologists. In their opinion, our dreams are echoes of events that have already happened to us. Let us remember the dream of Pontius Pilate, in which he talks with the saved Yeshua. In this dream, next to Pilate is the dog Banga. This dream is filled with a feeling of calm. And Banga’s presence here is very symbolic, since for Pilate his dog has always been the personification of peace and protection. In addition, Banga was perhaps the only creature for whom Pilate felt a feeling of love.
In the “Yershalaim chapters” of the novel, most of the characters have evangelical roots. However, the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, does not completely fit into the gospel image. At the same time, the author, speaking about Yeshua, draws a direct parallel with Jesus Christ. They even have the same names, because in the Syriac language Yeshua and Jesus are one and the same.
But let's return to Pilate's dream. Here the procurator gives the impression of a completely different person; he is the opposite of his daytime self. It was in a dream that Pilate agrees with Yeshua’s thought that they will now always be together. The procurator in a dream ceases to feel the disgust that arose in him in relation to everything that was connected with the teachings of the wandering philosopher. Even though the author does not talk about this openly, some parallels, nevertheless, are built in the minds of readers.
To verify this, let us turn to the symbols that the author uses when describing Pilate’s dream. So, the procurator goes out into the colonnade of the palace, and the first thing he feels is how “the damned pink stream is mixed with the smell of leather and convoy.” Pilate hated this pink smell like nothing else. No other smell, be it smoke from centuries or the smell of horses, evokes such hatred in him and causes Pilate so much suffering as the “fat pink spirit.” Moreover, for some reason Pilate began to associate the smell of roses with a bad day.
Why is this happening? Why does Pontius Pilate hate the smell of roses, while most people find it pleasant and use it as incense? Perhaps the reason for this attitude towards roses lies in the fact that they have long been considered a symbol of Christ and Christianity in general. And here Pontius Pilate chickened out. Pilate, the man who considered cowardice terrible vice of humanity, Pilate, who was not afraid “in the Valley of the Virgins, when the furious Germans almost killed the Giant Rat Slayer,” he chickened out now. Why? Bulgakov gives his answer to this question.
As you know, a poor man has nothing to lose, so he is not afraid of anything that could force him to live in poverty again, because he is already poor, there is nowhere else to go. But as soon as a person gains wealth, the fear immediately settles in his soul that one day he may lose everything and find himself on the street. Pontius Pilate found himself in a similar situation. After all, when that story happened with the rescue of the Giant Rat Slayer, the ordinary tribune in the legion, Pilate, had practically nothing to risk. But now Pontius Pilate is no longer a simple tribune, but the fifth procurator of Judea, and losing power for him is the same as losing his life. This is why in real life Pilate would never do anything that could ruin his career.
However, the dream allows Pilate to do something that he could not decide to do in life. The moment that the arrival of Afranius, who acted to a certain extent as a prototype of Woland-Satan, awakens Pontius Pilate is also very symbolic.
Bulgakov, finishing the book, forgives Pilate for his action. His role, like the role of the Master, is of great importance in revealing philosophical meaning novel. And indeed, often literary critics they evaluate Pilate's dream, his walk along the “moon road” as the highest victory of man over himself.
Good and evil in Bulgakov's novel merge together through the images of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, who continue their dispute through the centuries. And Woland appears here as the personification of the unity of these two principles.
Bulgakov says that these concepts have their roots in a person who, having freedom of choice, constantly bears full responsibility for all his actions in this life.
For all his categoricalness, Bulgakov soberly saw reality as it is, in its actual complexity and inconsistency. And this is his strength and difference from others, even his great predecessors, who confined the consideration of the problem of “guilt” and “responsibility” only to the sphere of a person’s “inner” morality.
M. Bulgakov is not a theorist, and his novel is not a philosophical treatise. M.
Bulgakov did not pose the problem of theoretical justification for the objective value of humanism. But he always and invariably proceeded from precisely this understanding. His moral imperative of man's loyalty to himself is not neutral: this is the main premise of his formulation of the problem, the content of the moral position.
I believe that M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” cannot be called either a novel of the past or a novel of the future, since the problems of good
and evil, freedom and unfreedom human spirit relevant for any era, including our modern 21st century.
Why is M.A. Bulgakov close to me?
The writer is close to me with his lofty and sorrowful life, lived courageously and with dignity in the most difficult, tragic times For Russia. He is close to me with his bright plans, which retain not only national but also universal significance, because the great world questions that tormented Bulgakov did not become beginning of XXI centuries less acute.
Finally, he is close to me because of the strength of his talent, the fullness of life and the brilliance of thought that fill all his works.
8. Bibliography.
1. Boborykin V. T. /Mikhail Bulgakov/ Ed. /ENLIGHTENMENT/ Moscow 1991
2. Bulgakov M.A. Master and Margarita. – M.: LLC /AST Publishing House/; /Publishing house /Olympus/, 2001.
3. Galinskaya I. L. /Riddles of famous books/ Ed. /SCIENCE/ Moscow 1986
4. Lakshin V. Ya. /M. A. Bulgakov Collected works in 5 volumes / Fiction / 1990
5. L. Ya. Shneiberg, I. V. Kondakov / From Gorky to Solzhenitsyn / Ed. / graduate School/ Moscow 1995
6. /Russian language and literature in secondary educational institutions of the Ukrainian SSR/ Ed.
7. Sokolov B.V. /Bulgakov Encyclopedia/ Ed. /LOKID/ - /MYTH/Moscow
8. Sokolov B.V. /Three lives of Mikhail Bulgakov/ Ed. /ELLIS LACK/Moscow
9. /The work of Mikhail Bulgakov: Research. Materials. Bibliography. Book 1/ ed. N. A. Groznova and A. I. Pavlovsky. L., /Science/, 1991
Appendix No. 1.
M.A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita” (1925-1940)
You will be with me on my last flight...
M.A. Bulgakov .
oman: 1. master = master of golden hands;
2. the ability to think creatively;
3. writer = master extraordinary, creative thinking; possessing the power of talent.lyrical Master and Margarita.
Theme of immortality;
The theme of creativity and the fate of the artist;
Theme of love;
thinking about a person human destiny and his choice.
What is the meaning of human existence?
What is truth?
What comes first: good or evil?
What is freedom?
| moral |
Does Jesus Christ exist?
The problem of guilt and atonement. The choice of a person and the measure of his responsibility for everything he does on Earth.
Man and power
VIII. A) Hero image system Yeshua Ha-Nozri Pontius Pilate
"Everyone will be given
according to his faith." (wandering philosopher f) (procurator of Judea)
(chapter 23. Woland) Represents power
Prototype of Jesus Christ
severe weakness
personality (human
Denies authority (human freedom of spirit)
lack of freedom)
The bearer of the idea of “good will” Betrayal.
A selfless servant of good, who has reached the moral absolute.
Serves the word and the Light.
b ) The Devil and his retinue (a clear hierarchical ladder):IX . Conclusion
The novel "The Master and Margarita" is a novel about responsibility
: man for all the good and evil that is happening on Earth, for
own choice life paths, leading to truth or to freedom, or to slavery, betrayal and inhumanity.
Bulgakov's work is a work about creativity, about the writer's duty and about the all-conquering power of love.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1765-1832) – German writer, thinker, naturalist. In the final essay, “Faust” reveals the search for the meaning of existence, the collisions of a contemplative and active attitude to life expand to the “fatal” question of the possibilities and limits of the human mind.
Veresaev Vikenty Vikentievich (1867-1945) - Russian writer. Stories about the quest of the intelligentsia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: “Without a Road,” “Notes of a Doctor.” Critical-philosophical works about
F.M. Dostoevsky, L.A. Tolstoy. Documentary works about A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol. USSR State Prize (1943).
H.G. Wells (1866 - 1946) – English writer, science fiction. Author of “Micromegas”, “Argonauts of Chronos”, “The Invisible Man”, “Time Machine”, “War of the Worlds” and many others. etc.
M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” has a difficult fate. The work, completed in the late thirties, was not published during the author’s lifetime and first saw the light in the mid-sixties. Mikhail Bulgakov himself considered this novel the main book of his life, the final work, and, as his wife recalled, before his death he said: “What could I write after “The Master”?”
“The Master and Margarita” is a double novel. It consists of the Master's novel about Pontius Pilate and a novel about the fate of the Master himself. The legendary tramp Yeshua, the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and the even more fantastic Woland with his retinue, and nearby are local inhabitants of the thirties of this century. Both plots are formally connected only by the figure of the Master, however, as it seems to me, the meaning of the relationship is much deeper. Bulgakov's novel is about the eternal struggle between good and evil. This is a work dedicated not to the fate of a specific person, family or even a group of people somehow connected with each other - it examines the fate of all humanity in its historical development. The time interval of almost two thousand years, separating the action of the novel about Jesus and Pilate and the novel about the Master, only emphasizes that the problems of good and evil, the freedom of the human spirit, and his relationship with society are eternal, enduring problems that are relevant for a person of any era.
That is why, in my opinion, there are many similarities in the very destinies of Yeshua and the Master. During the time of Caesars Augustus and Tiberius, a man came into the world who revealed to people a certain spiritual truth. Most of his contemporaries remained deaf to his teachings. His disciple Levi Matthew said: “...the old temple will be overthrown and a new one will rise...” - in the literal sense, although Yeshua spoke figuratively. He was executed, and the spiritual and civil authorities of the empire were directly responsible for his execution. This is the story of Yeshua in a nutshell.
But here is the fate of the Master. He sets out to write a novel, “to restore the truth about the teachings, life and death of Yeshua,” he wants to “remind people again of the preaching of goodness and love with which the great preacher came into the world.” But people have not changed since then. Volan D. also notices this. “Well,” he responded thoughtfully, “they 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.” But now, as then, people do not want to hear this truth, and the Master suffers a fate, if not as tragic as Yeshua, then, in any case, similar to it. Both heroes are united by a commitment to truth and a willingness to endure great suffering in its name.
What is this truth? It has long been noted that Bulgakov’s Yeshua is an artistic interpretation of the Gospel image of Jesus Christ. The point, of course, is not how accurately the writer conveys the details of the gospel legend; he often deliberately deviates from it. At the same time, his hero remains the bearer of the highest philosophical and religious truth.
In fact, Bulgakov's novel is a novel about the true and imaginary strength of man, about the freedom of his spirit. So the omnipotent, seemingly unlimited power endowed with Pontius Pilate, monotonously conducting the interrogation, suddenly feels the power behind our philosopher, the power of the truth he is pronouncing. And this evokes involuntary respect from the procurator. While Yeshua preaches that all people are good, Pilate is inclined to look condescendingly at this harmless eccentricity, but the philosopher touched upon the supreme power and declared that the time would come when the power of the Caesars would not be over people, and immediately Pilate was pierced by a sharp fear that he had trusted talks with a state criminal.
The all-powerful procurator immediately finds himself in the grip of fear and finally loses the remnants of his proud dignity and calm. Breaking into a cry, Pilate seems to be trying to convince, calm himself, and maintain his usual balance. For him, there is only one defense, one reassurance - not to believe in the final period of justice, in the truth. IN otherwise Pilate would have had to admit the collapse of his entire life, for he had long taught himself to think that his only duty on earth was to glorify Caesar, without looking back to the past, without thinking about the future. Faith in the coming triumph of justice undermines this short calculation. We still have to admit that a brave warrior, smart politician, a man who has unheard of power in the conquered Yershalaim, is prone to shameful cowardice. Yeshua remains independent, he is faithful to his truth both in the face of higher power and in the face of painful death on the cross. Pilate first cowards before the shadow of Caesar, fearing denunciation, fearing to ruin his career, then he is timid before Yeshua himself, hesitating, wanting and not daring to save him. In the end, realizing that he is committing a terrible crime against his conscience, he agrees to execute Yeshua.
No, Bulgakov’s Pilate, it seems to me, is not at all shown as a classic villain. The procurator does not want to harm Yeshua; his cowardice led to cruelty and social injustice. This, however, in no way justifies the act of Pontius Pilate, and Bulgakov condemns him without mercy or leniency. It is fear that turns good, intelligent and personally brave people into blind instruments of evil will. Cowardice is an extreme expression of internal subordination, lack of freedom of spirit, and human dependence. It is also especially dangerous because, once having come to terms with it, a person is no longer able to get rid of it. Thus, the powerful procurator turns into a pitiful, weak-willed creature. But the vagabond philosopher is strong with his naive faith in goodness, which neither the fear of punishment nor the spectacle of universal injustice can take away from him. In the image of Yeshua, Bulgakov embodied the idea of goodness and unchanging faith. Despite everything, Yeshua continues to believe that there are no evil, bad people in the world. He dies on the cross with this faith.
It would seem that Yeshua’s teaching is too naive, too ideal to be practical. After all, at least save your own own life The hero fails to convince Pontius Pilate, who is ready to listen to him.
Does this mean that the very belief in goodness is hopelessly compromised in Bulgakov’s novel? I don't think so. It is no coincidence that the teachings of Yeshua, his life and death, after many centuries attract the Master, who is also distinguished by fidelity to his convictions. Like the tramp from Gameley, the Master is sensitive to human suffering and pain.
However, it is difficult for him to believe that every person is kind and that people must forget any offense; the idea of forgiveness is alien to the Master: he also believes in good, but he also knows that the victory of good is possible only in the fight against evil.
Until justice comes, until its time has come, the tired and beaten Master is supported by only one thing - faith in the importance of his work, in its necessity, love for Margarita. Margarita made a deal with the devil for the sake of the Master. The devil admires her, her love. He sent the Master and Margarita to rest. This is exactly the fate of Bulgakov’s novel.
Having overcome countless prohibitions, it outlived its creator and reached the reader. Rereading “The Master and Margarita” today, we are thinking anew about problems that, apparently, will never lose their relevance. They will not lose it because as long as a person exists, he inevitably has to make a choice in his life between good and evil, between truth and deception.
Artistic features. The novel “The Master and Margarita” is very interesting and at the same time complex in compositional terms. There are two worlds in it: the world of the Master and the world of Yeshua. The characters in each of these worlds live their own lives, and at the same time they are in complex relationships. The author, on the one hand, contrasts his heroes, and, on the other, unites them with a common idea. The novel about the Master is much more complex in compositional terms than the novel about Pilate and Yeshua, but when reading there is no feeling of disjointed parts of the work.
The novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua consists of only four chapters (out of 32 included in the narrative). The chapter “Pontius Pilate” (chapter 2) is Woland’s story at his first meeting with Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny. The next chapter, “Execution,” appears in Ivan Bezdomny’s dream (chapter 16). The chapters “How the procurator tried to save Judas from Kiriath” and “Burial” are read in the novel by Margarita (chapters 25, 26). These chapters, already a separate novel, are included in the main narrative as an integral part of it.
The “Gospel” chapters differ in style from the chapters telling about Moscow. They are characterized by the stinginess of the image, sometimes turning into a high style of tragedy (scenes of the execution of Yeshua).
The chapters telling about Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow and its inhabitants are written in a different style: these include grotesque scenes, lyrical-dramatic, and phantasmagoric. In accordance with the task, the author turns to various vocabulary: from low to lyrical and poetic, replete with repetitions and metaphors.
An interesting detail of the compositional structure of the novel is the one-dimensionality of the repeated scenes of Woland’s clash with the residents of Moscow. They consist of meeting, testing, exposure and punishment. The very idea of placing Satan and his retinue in Moscow in the 1930s was incredibly innovative.
The text of the novel is a chain of episodes, each of which is devoted to a separate chapter. Descriptions of events are given from the point of view of the characters who participate in them.
The author is always present in the novel. The author's comments serve as a means of creating a documentary effect, making the narrative more convincing. Only in the epilogue does he reveal himself in full: “The writer of these truthful lines himself, on his way to Feodosia, heard on the train a story about how in Moscow two thousand people left the theater naked in the literal sense of the word and in this form drove off in taxis " He is not a participant in the events, but occupies a certain spatio-temporal position in relation to these events in artistic reality. In other words, the novel was created as if by a certain Author, who bears the responsibility for introducing fantastic images into the real world.
The artistic originality of M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”
M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” is very complex in compositional terms. In its plot, two worlds exist in parallel: the world in which Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri lived, and Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century. Associated with the complex composition is a complex, branched system of characters, a large number of doubles, parallels and antitheses.
The novel “The Master and Margarita” includes two narratives (about the fate of the Master and about Pontius Pilate), which are in difficult relationships oppositions, but at the same time united general idea.
The novel about Pontius Pilate occupies less text space than the novel about the fate of the Master, but it plays an important semantic role, as it contains deep philosophical subtext. It consists of four chapters, which are, as it were, “scattered” in the text of the story about the Master and Margarita. The first chapter - “Pontius Pilate” - is Woland’s story, which Ivan Bezdomny and Berlioz listen to. The second chapter - “Execution” - “is presented as a dream of Ivan Bezdomny. The third and fourth chapters - “How the procurator tried to save Judas from Kiriath” and “Burial” - are introduced into the novel as the Master’s manuscripts restored by Woland, which Margarita reads. It should be noted that the novel about Pilate is introduced into the narrative with the help of characters included in the system of images of the main novel, as a result of which the chapters about Pontius Pilate become part of the novel about the Master and Margarita.
The chapters telling about the procurator differ sharply in style from the chapters describing Moscow. The style of the inserted narrative is distinguished by its homogeneity, the stinginess of measured, precise prose, which turns, for example, in the chapter “Execution”, into the high style of tragedy: “You are not an omnipotent god. You are a black god. I curse you, god of robbers, their patron and soul!”
The novel about the Master is dedicated to contemporary author Moscow, its inhabitants and their morals. This narrative contains both grotesque scenes and scenes of a lyrical-dramatic and phantasmagoric nature, which leads to a variety of storytelling styles. It contains both low vocabulary (“If you, bastard, allow yourself to get involved in a conversation again...”), and poetic, especially in the episodes dedicated to the Master, where the narrative language is replete with repetitions and metaphors (“anxious yellow flowers”).
It should be noted that the scenes in which Woland meets with the residents of Moscow are built according to the same plan: meeting, test, exposure, punishment.
Woland and his retinue come to Moscow to see if people have changed since he last time I saw them, whether Yeshua’s sacrifice was not in vain.
And what does he see? Woland meets Muscovites at a performance at the Variety Theater. He sees that people are the same as they were: moderately greedy, selfish, but also quite merciful. “People are like people, the housing issue has only spoiled them.” They do not feel their responsibility, so denunciations and bribery are common in the city.
Residents of Krshalaim are no different from residents of Moscow. Also, not noticing their personal responsibility and choosing the death of Yeshua, who is innocent of anything, instead of the death of Bar-Rabban, they thereby serve the darkness.
Many visitors to “Variety” changed their clothes for new ones, which seemed to make a deal with the devil. They picked up flying banknotes and were punished for their greed. The director of the entertainment sector was also punished for bureaucracy. Bulgakov clearly showed that even a suit without an owner could do the work of a director. Other workers in the entertainment sector involved in the “circle fever” were also punished. Nikanor Ivanovich was punished for greed (who was choosing between “not allowed” and money), Styopa Likhodeev was sent to Yalta. In all these episodes, Woland and his retinue act as just retribution.
Since the novel “The Master and Margarita” consists of two relatively autonomous narratives, it contains two main characters in the character system - the Master and Yeshua. These heroes are double heroes. Also doubles are Ivan Bezdomny and Levi Matvey as followers of their teachers, Aloysius Mogarych and Judas from Kiriath as traitors.
In the novel “The Master and Margarita” there is also love conflict. Love relationship The Masters and Margaritas are associated with the change of seasons. This love story (idyllic in its essence) is destroyed when faced with outside world, and is restored with the help of otherworldly forces. Like all the heroes in the novel, the Master and Margarita make their choice. The Master makes his choice quite consciously: he began to hate the fruit of his life’s labors, the novel about Pontius Pilate, the Master experienced too much grief because of this novel. Margarita takes the path of dedication, sacrificing herself for the sake of her loved one. She prefers the Master to her rich, carefree life in the house of a loving, but unloved husband, then she again sacrifices herself in the name of love, surrendering to the hands of evil spirits and becoming a witch in order to find out something about the Master. And for this Margarita was rewarded with eternal love.
Thus, we see that Bulgakov violates the genre canons of the novel. He makes the main object of the narrative not history individuals, but the history of an entire people.
M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” is structured as a “novel within a novel.” As a result, two sharply contrasting narrative styles and two main characters can be distinguished in it. The novel about the Master is much more complex in compositional terms than the novel about Pilate, but when reading there is no feeling of disjointed parts of the work. The whole secret of the novel's compositional integrity lies in the connecting threads between the past and the present.
