Bulgakov worked on the novel The Master and Margarita for about 12 years and did not have time to finally edit it. This novel was a real revelation of the writer, Bulgakov himself said that this was his main message to humanity, a testament to posterity.
Many books have been written about this novel. Among the 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 identified his retinue with politicians that time. However, to 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 the 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 was the words of Woland, which he uttered, referring to Levi Matthew: “Isn’t it so kind, to think about the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would it look like if shadows?
In the novel, evil, in the person of Woland, ceases to be humane and just. 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.
No wonder some critics drew an analogy between Bulgakov's novel and the story of Faust, though in The Master and Margarita the situation is presented upside down. Faust sold his soul to the devil and betrayed Margarita's love for the sake of a thirst for knowledge, and in Bulgakov's novel Margarita concludes with the devil for the sake of love for the Master.
Fight for a man
Residents of Bulgakov's Moscow appear before the reader as a collection of puppets, tormented by passions. It is of great importance in Variety, where Woland sits down in front of the audience and begins to argue 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 will not recognize his real name. Any artist, as well as a person who has his own vision of the world, acts as a master. Margarita is the image of an ideal woman who is able to love to the end, despite difficulties and obstacles. They are perfect collective images a devoted man and a woman faithful to her feelings.
Thus, the meaning of this immortal novel can be conditionally divided into three layers.
Above everything is the confrontation between Woland and Yeshua, who, together with their students and retinue, are constantly fighting for the immortal human soul, playing with the fate of people.
A little lower are such people as the Master and Margarita, later the Master's student Professor Ponyrev joins them. 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 seek only material values.
Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" serves as a constant warning against inattention to oneself, from 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 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 the best books written in the 20th century in Russian. Unfortunately, the novel was published many years after the death of the writer, and many of the mysteries encrypted by the author in the book remained unsolved.
Devil on the Patriarchs
Work on the novel, dedicated to the appearance of the Devil in Moscow in the 1930s, Bulgakov began in 1929 and continued it until his death in 1940, without completing the author's revision. The book was published only in 1966, thanks to the fact that the widow of Mikhail Afanasyevich Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova kept the manuscript. The plot, or rather, all its hidden meanings, are still the subject of scientific research and disputes among literary critics.
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 two Soviet writers, who are talking on the Patriarch's Ponds, are approached by a foreigner who turns out to be Satan. It turns out that the Devil (he introduces himself as 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 written out by Bulgakov masterfully, and the victims of Satan do not evoke sympathy at all. So, for example, the fate of the first two interlocutors of Woland is extremely unpleasant: one of them dies under a tram, and the second ends up in a lunatic 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 about Pontius Pilate, because of whom he ended up in a psychiatric hospital. In addition, he recalls 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 actors from Moscow, and the Master and Margarita find what they dreamed of.
From Moscow to Jerusalem
In parallel with the "" plot line, the "Yershalaim" plot develops, that is, in fact, a novel about Pontius Pilate. From Moscow in the 1930s, it is transferred to Jerusalem from 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 to execution the philosopher Yeshua Ha-Nozri, whose prototype is Jesus Christ. In the final part of the book, the storylines intersect, and each hero gets what he deserves.
There are many 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 there is a satirical image of the customs and life of the inhabitants of Bulgakov's modern Moscow, but in addition to this, there are various mystical symbols, moral throwing, 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 semantic nuances, and this or that context is not complete without a connection with this image. This allows us to call the Master, in fact, the main character of the novel.
Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, among other possible genre definitions can also be viewed as a novel about an artist. From here, the semantic thread immediately stretches to the works of romanticism, since the theme of the "artist's path" sounded most distinctly and became one of the main ones in the work of romantic writers. At first glance, it makes one 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" hide the true, according to Bulgakov, artists who do not meet the requirements of the official "culture" and therefore are always persecuted.
Image in the context of 20th century literature
It should not be forgotten that in general the theme of the state of culture, which is very characteristic of the 20th century, makes Bulgakov's novel related to such a genre as the intellectual novel (a term used mainly when considering the work of Western European writers). The protagonist of an intellectual novel is not a character. This is the image that contains the most character traits 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 revealing, it is appropriate to recall Harry Haller from Hermann 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: about himself, the Master says that he is crazy. This indicates the author's opinion about the current state of culture (by the way, this is almost the case in the "Steppe Wolf", where the entrance to the Magic Theater - a place where the remains of classical art, the art of the humanistic era - is still possible only for "crazy") . But this is just one piece of evidence. In fact, the indicated problem is revealed in many aspects, both on the example and outside the image of the Master.Biblical allusions
The novel is mirrored and it turns out that many storylines are variations, parodies of each other. So, the storyline of the Master is intertwined with the storyline 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 (the biblical Jesus) and the writer Master. In addition, just as Levi Matvey is a disciple of Yeshua, so at the end the Master calls Ivan his disciple.The connection of the image with the classics
The connection of the Master with Yeshua evokes another parallel, namely with Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot. “Positively beautiful person” Myshkin endows Dostoevsky with the features of the biblical Jesus (the fact of which Dostoevsky did not hide). Bulgakov, on the other hand, builds the novel according to the scheme just discussed above. Again, the motif of "madness" makes these two heroes related: just as Myshkin ends his life in the Schneider clinic, where he came from, so the Master's life path, in fact, ends in crazy at home, after all, Praskovya Fedorovna answers the question of Ivan, that he had just died from the one hundred and eighteenth room. But this is not death in its truest sense, this is the continuation of life in a new quality.It is said about Myshkin's seizures: "What does it matter that this tension is abnormal, if the very result, if the minute of sensation, remembered and considered already in a healthy state, turns out to be in the highest degree harmony, beauty, gives an unheard of and hitherto unspeakable feeling of fullness, measure, 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 finally plunged into a state, into a different sphere of being 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 moonlit path.
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The novel, which still leaves many places open for discussion, attracts a lot of both researchers and ordinary readers. The novel offers its own interpretation of the contradictions relevant to the era.
What is the novel about?
Since the protagonist of the novel is the Master, the writer, it is reasonable to assume that the main theme is the theme 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 important place in the novel takes "Griboedov".The theme of art and culture was raised with a new ideological content in an intellectual novel. This genre has its origins in the 1920s. 20th century. At the same time, Bulgakov was working on the novel The Master and Margarita.
Before the reader is Stravinsky's clinic (certainly a reference to the composer Stravinsky). Both the Master and Ivan are in it. Ivan as a poet (a bad poet, but this is not important, but this “status” at the time of his stay in the clinic). That is, the clinic can be conditionally designated as a "shelter of artists." In other words, this is a place where artists have closed themselves off from the outside world and are busy only with the problems of art. The novels of Hermann Hesse "The Steppenwolf" and "The Glass Bead Game" are devoted to this problem, where one can find analogues of the image of the clinic. These are the "Magic Theater" with an 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 the intellectual novel are mostly condemned for leaving the outside world, and since the image of the hero is always generalized, society as a whole is condemned for passivity, which leads to disastrous consequences (for example, the activation of fascism in Thomas Mann's novel "Doctor Faustus"). So Bulgakov unequivocally alludes to the Soviet power.
End of the novel
In the final scenes, the fate of the Master is decided. If we proceed from the fact that "he did not deserve light, he deserved peace", then we can assume that "peace" is a kind of intermediate state between light and darkness, since peace cannot resist. Moreover, Woland gives peace to the Master and then it becomes clear that the Master's shelter is in the kingdom of the devil.But in the epilogue, when fate is told Ivan Homeless(by that time already just Ivan Ponyrev) after the events described in the novel, the days of the full moon, especially painful for him, are mentioned, when something obscure torments him and in a dream he sees Pontius Pilate and Yeshua walking along the lunar path, and then “exorbitant beauty woman" along with a man with whom he once spoke in crazy house, which go the same way. If the Master and Margarita follow Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, doesn't this mean that the Master was subsequently awarded "light"?
Novel within a novel:
The "novel within a novel" form allows Bulgakov to create the illusion of creating the Master's novel in real time in front of the reader. But the novel is “written” not only by the Master, but also by Ivan (strange as it may seem). The Master's novel about Pontius Pilate gets its logical conclusion only at the moment of "liberation" of Pilate, who leaves with Yeshua along the moonlit path; Bulgakov’s novel about the Master ends with his ascent after Pilate and Yeshua, and it is Ivan who “sees” this, who (by analogy with the Master) “liberates” 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 focus of riddles 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 the final version of the novel).
The time it took Bulgakov from the maturation of the idea to the final version of the novel ended up being about ten years, which indicates how carefully Bulgakov set about the novel and what, apparently, the significance he had for him. And Bulgakov seemed to foresee everything in advance, because The Master and Margarita was the last work he wrote. Bulgakov did not even have time to complete the literary revision of the novel; it stopped somewhere in the area of the second part.
Conceptual question
Initially, Bulgakov replaced the protagonist of his new novel with the image of the devil (the future Woland). The first few editions of the novel were created under the banner of this idea. It should be noted that each of the four known editions can be considered as an independent novel, since they all contain many fundamental differences both at 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 by itself ultimately determined the main concept of the novel, which initially contained a bias to a greater extent to the side, however, the Master as the main character, by his "appearance" forced Bulgakov to reconsider the perspectives novel and give the dominant place to the theme of art, culture, the place of the artist in the modern world.
The work on the novel dragged on so much, probably not only because of the incomplete formulation of the concept, its change, but also because the novel was supposed by Bulgakov himself as a final work, generalizing his entire path in the field of art, and in connection with this, the novel has a rather complex structure, it is filled with a huge number of explicit and implicit cultural allusions, references at every level of the poetics of the novel without exception.
The work of Mikhail Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita", recognized as a genius, still amazes even contemporary readers it is almost impossible to find an analogue of a novel of such originality and skill.
Moreover, even modern writers can hardly identify the reason why the novel has gained such fame and what is its main, fundamental motive. Often this novel is called "unprecedented" not only for Russian, but also for world literature.
The main idea and meaning of the novel
The narration of "Master and Margarita" takes place in two time periods - the era in which Jesus Christ lived, and the period Soviet Union. Paradoxically, the writer combines these two such different eras, and draws deep parallels between them.
After all main character works The master himself writes a novel about Christian history, about Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Judas and Pontius Pilate. Bulgakov unfolds the incredible phantasmagoria as a separate genre and stretches it over the entire narrative of the novel.
The events taking place in the present time are surprisingly connected with the fact that once forever changed humanity. It is very difficult to single out one specific theme that the novel could be devoted to, The Master and Margarita touches on too many sacramental and eternal topics for art, and especially for literature.
This is the theme of love, unconditional and tragic, the meaning of life, distortions in the perception of good and evil, this themes of justice and truth, insanity and unconsciousness. It cannot be said that the writer reveals this directly, he creates an integral symbolic system that is rather difficult to interpret.
The main characters of his novels are so extraordinary and non-standard that only their images can serve as a reason for detailed analysis the idea of his now immortal novel. The Master and Margarita is written with a bias towards philosophical and ideological themes, which gives rise to the vast versatility of its semantic content.
"Master and Margarita" - out of time
interpret main idea novel can be done in completely different ways, but for this you need to have high level culture and education.
The two key characters Ga-Notsri and the Master are a kind of messiah, whose bright activity affects completely different epochs. But the history of the Master is not so simple, his bright, divine art is connected with dark forces, because his beloved Margarita turns to Woland to help the Master.
The highest artistry of The Master and Margarita lies in the fact that the brilliant Bulgakov simultaneously tells about the arrival of Satan and his retinue in Soviet Moscow, and how the tired and lost judge Pontius Pilate sentences the innocent Yeshua Ha-Nozri to execution.
The last story, the novel that the Master writes, is amazing and sacred, but Soviet writers refuse to publish the writer because they do not want to recognize him as worthy. Around this, the main events of the work unfold, Woland helps the Master and Margarita restore justice and returns to the writer the previously burned novel.
"The Master and Margarita" is an impressive, psychological book that, with its depth, reveals the idea that circumstantial evil does not exist, that evil and vice are in the souls of people themselves, in their actions and thoughts.
Table of contents
I. Introduction. Bulgakov and death
II. Philosophical analysis novel "The Master and Margarita"
1. The concept of the chronotope. Chronotopes in the novel
2. "Unclean" power in the novel
3. The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov and The Divine Comedy by Dante
4. A novel within a novel. Yeshua and Jesus. Yeshua and Master
5. The motif of the mirror in the novel
6. Philosophical dialogues in the novel
7. Why the Master did not deserve the light
8. The ambivalence of the novel's ending
III. Conclusion. The meaning of the epigraph to the novel "The Master and Margarita"
Introduction. Bulgakov and death
In March 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was dying hard and painfully in his Moscow apartment of the now non-existent house in Nashchokinsky Lane (former Furmanova Street, 3). Three weeks before his death, blind, exhausted by unbearable pain, he stopped editing his famous novel"The Master and Margarita", the plot of which was already fully formed, but there was work on the nuances (writers and journalists call this work on the word).In general, Bulgakov, a writer who was very closely in touch with the theme of death, was practically on “you” with her. There is a lot of mysticism in his works (“Fatal Eggs”, “Theatrical Novel”, “ dog's heart"And, of course, the pinnacle of his work -" The Master and Margarita ").
There is a striking fact in the materials about his life. A healthy and practically not ill writer predicts his end. He not only names the year, but also gives the circumstances of death, before which there were still about 8 years and which then did not foretell. “Keep in mind,” he then warned his future wife, Elena Sergeevna, “I will die very hard, give me an oath that you will not send me to the hospital, but I will die in your arms.” Thirty years later, Elena Sergeevna without hesitation brought them in one of her letters to the writer’s brother living in Paris, to whom she wrote: “I accidentally smiled - it was the 32nd year, Misha was 40 years old, he was healthy, very young ... ".
With the same request, he already turned to his first wife, Tatyana Lappa, at a time when he suffered drug addiction in 1915. But then it was a real situation, with which, fortunately, with the help of his wife, he managed to cope, forever getting rid of his seemingly incurable illness. Perhaps it was just a hoax or a hoax, so characteristic of his works and peculiar to himself? From time to time he reminded his wife of this strange conversation, but Elena Sergeevna still did not take it seriously, although
just in case, I regularly forced him to see doctors and perform tests. Doctors did not find any signs of illness in the writer, and studies did not reveal any abnormalities.
But still, the “appointed” (Elena Sergeevna’s word) deadline was approaching. And when it came, Bulgakov “began to speak in a light joking tone about“ the last year, the last play ”, etc. But since his health was in an excellent checked condition, all these words could not be taken seriously,” - quote from the same letter.
In September 1939, after a serious stressful situation for him (review of a writer who went on a business trip to work on a play about Stalin), Bulgakov decides to go on vacation to Leningrad. He writes a corresponding statement to the directorate Bolshoi Theater, where he worked as a repertoire consultant. And on the very first day of his stay in Leningrad, walking with his wife along Nevsky Prospekt, he suddenly feels that he cannot distinguish the inscriptions on the signs. This already happened in Moscow - before the trip to Leningrad, about which the writer told his sister, Elena Afanasievna. I decided that it was by accident, my nerves were naughty, nervous overwork.
Alarmed by a recurring episode of vision loss, the writer returns to the Astoria Hotel. The search for an ophthalmologist begins urgently, and on September 12, Bulgakov is examined by the Leningrad professor N. I. Andogsky. His verdict: “Visual acuity: right eye - 0.5; left - 0.8. The phenomena of presbyopia
(an anomaly in which a person cannot see small font or small objects at close range - auth.). Phenomena of inflammation of the optic nerves in both eyes with the participation of the surrounding retina: in the left - slightly, in the right - more significantly. The vessels are significantly dilated and tortuous. Glasses for classes: right + 2.75 D; left +1.75 D".
“Your business is bad,” the professor says after examining the patient, strongly recommending that he immediately return to Moscow and do a urine test. Bulgakov immediately remembered, or perhaps he always remembered it, that thirty-three years ago, in early September 1906, his father suddenly began to go blind, and six months later he was gone. In a month, my father was to be forty-eight years old. This was exactly the age at which the writer himself was now ... Being a doctor, Bulgakov, of course, understood that visual impairment was just a symptom of the disease that brought his father to the grave and which he received, apparently, by inheritance. Now what once seemed like a distant and uncertain future has become a real and brutal present.
Like his father, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov lived after the onset of these symptoms for about six months.
Mystic? Maybe.
And now let's go directly to Bulgakov's last, never completed by the author (helena Sergeevna finished editing it) Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita", in which mysticism is closely intertwined with reality, the theme of good is closely intertwined with the theme of evil, and the theme of death is closely intertwined with the theme life.
Philosophical analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita"
The concept of the chronotope. Chronotopes in the novelThe novel "The Master and Margarita" is characterized by the use of such a technique as a chronotope. What it is?
The word is made up of two Greek words- χρόνος, "time" and τόπος, "place".
In a broad sense, a chronotope is a regular connection of space-time coordinates.
Chronotope in literature is a model of spatio-temporal relations in a work, determined by the picture of the world that the author seeks to create, and the laws of the genre within which he performs his task.
In the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" there are three worlds: the eternal (cosmic, otherworldly); real (Moscow, modern); biblical (past, ancient, Yershalaim), and the dual nature of man is shown.
There is not a single specific date of events in the novel, but a number of indirect signs make it possible to determine the time of action with accuracy. Woland and his retinue appear in Moscow on a May evening on Wednesday, on the eve of Easter.
Three layers in the novel are not only united by plot (the life story of the Master) and ideologically, by design, etc. Despite the fact that these three layers are separated in time and space, they constantly overlap one another. United by common motifs, themes, through images. N: there is not a single chapter in the novel, wherever the theme of denunciation and secret investigation is present (very actual topic that time). It is decided in two versions: playful (open - everything related to the investigation into the case of Woland and the company. For example, an attempt by Chekists to catch a cat in a “bad apartment”) and realistic (semi-closed. For example, the scene of “interrogation” of Bezdomny (about a foreign consultant), scene in the Alexander Garden (Margarita and Azazello)).
The time interval of almost two millennia separates the action of the novel about Jesus and the novel about the Master. Bulgakov, as it were, asserts with the help of this parallel that the problems of good and evil, freedom and lack of freedom of the human spirit are relevant for any era.
To be more understandable, we will show several parallels among the characters of the novel, living and acting in three around the world x, but representing one hypostasis.
For clarity, we put the data in a table.
And another table that presents time parallels
As you can see, all three worlds are interpenetrating and interconnected. This allows philosophical reflection human personality, which at all times is characterized by the same weaknesses and vices, as well as lofty thoughts and feelings. And whatever you may be in earthly life, eternity equalizes everyone.
"Unclean" force in the novel
"Unclean" power is represented by several characters. Their choice from a huge host of demons is not accidental. It is they who "make" the plot-compositional structure of the novel.
So…
Woland
So Bulgakov called Satan - the prince of deceivers. His epithet is "opposing". This is the eldest son of God, the creator of the material world, prodigal son strayed from the right path.
Why Woland? Here Bulgakov clearly echoes Goethe's Faust, where Satan (aka Mephistopheles) is once mentioned under this name.
Such a detail also points to a parallel with Goethe - during Woland's meeting with Berlioz and Bezdomny, to the question "Are you a German?", he answers: "Yes, perhaps a German." On his business card, writers see the letter “W”, which in German is read as [f], and the variety show employees, when asked about the name of the “black magician”, answer that maybe Woland, and maybe Faland.
Hippopotamus
Demon of carnal desires (especially gluttony, gluttony and drunkenness). Bulgakov has several scenes in the novel where Behemoth indulges in these vices.
The hippopotamus can take the form of any large animal, as well as a cat, elephant, dog, fox and wolf. Bulgakov has a huge cat.
At the court of Satan, he holds the position of the Chief Keeper of the Cup, leads the feasts. At Bulgakov, he is the manager of the ball. 
Azazello
Under this name, Azazel is bred in the novel The Master and Margarita. Azazello (Italianized form of the Hebrew name).
Azazel is the lord of the desert, akin to the Canaanite god of the scorching sun Asiz and the Egyptian Set. Let us recall Bulgakov: “Flying on the side of everyone, shining with the steel of armor, Azazello. The moon changed his face too. The ridiculous, ugly fang disappeared without a trace, and the squint turned out to be false. Both Azazello's eyes were the same, empty and black, and his face was white and cold. Now Azazello flew in his real form, like a demon of a waterless desert, a demon-killer.
Azazel taught men how to wield weapons, and women how to wear jewelry and use cosmetics. It is Azazello who gives Margarita the magic cream that made her a witch.
Gella
Vampire woman. Outwardly, an attractive red-haired and green-eyed girl, but she has an ugly scar on her neck, which indicates that Gella is a vampire.
Bulgakov got the name for the character from the article "Sorcery" encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Efron, where it was noted that on the Greek island of Lesvos this name was used to call untimely dead girls who became vampires after death. 
Abbadon
The Angel of the Abyss, a powerful demon of death and destruction, the military adviser of Hell, who received the key to the well of the abyss. His name comes from the Hebrew for "death".
It is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible along with hell and death. He appears in the novel shortly before the start of the ball and makes a huge impression on Margarita with his glasses. But to Margarita's request to take off her glasses, Woland replies with a categorical refusal. The second time he appears already at the end of the ball, to kill with a glance the NKVD informer, Baron Meigel.
Koroviev (aka Fagot)
Perhaps the most mysterious character.
Let's remember:
“In place of the one who, in tattered circus clothes, left the Sparrow Hills under the name of Koroviev-Fagot, now galloping, quietly ringing with a golden rein chain, was a dark purple knight with a gloomy and never smiling face. He rested his chin on his chest, he did not look at the moon, he was not interested in the earth beneath him, he was thinking about something of his own, flying next to Woland.
Why has he changed so much? Margarita asked softly to the whistle of the wind at Woland.
“This knight once made an unsuccessful joke,” Woland answered, turning his face with a softly burning eye to Margarita, “his pun, which he composed when talking about light and darkness, was not entirely good. And the knight had to ask after that a little more and longer than he expected. But tonight is such a night when scores are settled. The knight paid his bill and closed it!”
Until now, researchers of Bulgakov's work have not come to a consensus: who did the writer bring to the pages of the novel?
I will give one version that interested me.
Some Bulgakov scholars believe that this image hides the image of a medieval poet… Dante Alighieri…
I will give a statement on this matter.
In N 5 of the journal "Literary Review" for 1991, an article by Andrei Morgulev "Comrade Dante and the former regent" was published. Quote: "From a certain moment, the creation of the novel began to take place under the sign of Dante."
Alexei Morgulev notes the visual similarity between Bulgakov's dark purple knight and the author's traditional depictions of " Divine Comedy":" The gloomiest and never smiling face - this is exactly how Dante appears in numerous French engravings.
The literary critic recalls that Alighieri belonged to the knightly class: the great-great-grandfather of the great poet Kachchagvid won the right to his family to wear a knight's sword with a golden handle.
At the beginning of the thirty-fourth canto of Inferno, Dante writes:
"Vexilla regis prodeunt Inferni" - "The banners of the lord of Hell are approaching."
These words, referring to Dante, are pronounced by Virgil, the guide of the Florentine, sent to him by the Almighty.
But the fact is that the first three words of this appeal represent the beginning of the Catholic “Hymn to the Cross”, which was performed in Catholic churches on Good Friday (that is, on the day dedicated by the church to the death of Christ) and on the day of the “Exaltation of the Holy Cross”. That is, Dante openly mocks the famous Catholic hymn, replacing God ... with the devil! Let us recall that the events of The Master and Margarita also end on Good Friday, and it is the erection of the cross and the crucifixion that are described in the Yershalaim chapters. Morgulev is convinced that it is this pun by Dante Alighieri that is the unsuccessful joke of the purple knight
In addition, caustic irony, satire, sarcasm, and outright mockery have always been Dante's integral style. And this is already a roll call with Bulgakov himself, and this will be discussed in the next chapter. 
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov and The Divine Comedy by Dante
The whole world is described in the Divine Comedy, the forces of Light and Darkness act there. Therefore, the work can be called universal.
Bulgakov's novel is also universal, universal, but it was written in the 20th century, bears the stamp of its time, and in it Dante's religious motifs appear in a transformed form: with their obvious recognizability, they become an object of aesthetic play, acquire non-canonical expression and content.
In the epilogue of Bulgakov’s novel, Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, who became a professor of history, has the same dream on a full moon: “a woman of exorbitant beauty appears”, leads to Ivan by the hand “a fearfully looking around, overgrown with a beard man” and “leaves with his companion to the moon ".
The finale of "Master and Margarita" contains a clear parallel with the third part of "Paradise" of Dante's poem. The poet's guide is a woman of extraordinary beauty - his earthly beloved Beatrice, who loses her earthly essence in Paradise and becomes a symbol of the highest divine wisdom.
Bulgakovskaya "Beatrice" - Margarita - a woman of "exorbitant beauty". "Exorbitant" means "excessive". Redundancy, excess of beauty is perceived as unnatural, associated with the demonic, satanic beginning. We remember that at one time Margarita miraculously changed, becoming a witch, thanks to the Azazello cream.
Summarizing the above, we can state that
In The Master and Margarita it is easy to see the influence of the images and ideas of the Divine Comedy, but this influence does not come down to mere imitation, but to a dispute ( aesthetic game) with the famous Renaissance poem.
In Bulgakov's novel, the ending is, as it were, mirror reflection the finale of Dante's poem: a moonbeam - the radiant light of the Empyrean, Margarita (witch) - Beatrice (an angel of unearthly purity), Master (overgrown with a beard, looking around fearfully) - Dante (purposeful, inspired by the idea of absolute knowledge). These similarities are explained different ideas two works. Dante draws the path of a person's moral insight, and Bulgakov - the path of the artist's creative feat.
A novel within a novel. Yeshua and Jesus. Yeshua and Master
Yeshua is tall, but his height is human
its nature. He is tall by human standards.
He is a human. There is nothing of the Son of God in him.
Mikhail Dunaev,
Soviet and Russian scientist, theologian, literary critic
In his work, Bulgakov uses the "novel within a novel" technique. The master ends up in a psychiatric clinic because of his novel about Pontius Pilate. Some Bulgakov scholars call the Master's novel the "Gospel of Woland", and in the image of Yeshua Ha-Notsri they see the figure of Jesus Christ.
Is it so? Let's figure it out.
Yeshua and the Master are the central characters of Bulgakov's novel. They have a lot in common: Yeshua is a wandering philosopher who does not remember his parents and has no one in the world; The master is a nameless employee of some Moscow museum, like Yeshua, completely alone. Both have tragic fates. Both have students: Yeshua has Levi Matvey, the Master has Ivan Ponyrev (Homeless).
Yeshua is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus, which means "God is my salvation" or "Savior." Ha-Nozri, in accordance with the common interpretation of this word, is translated as "inhabitant of Nazareth", that is, the city in which Jesus spent his childhood. Since the author has chosen non-traditional form a name that is non-traditional from a religious point of view, the bearer of this name must also be non-canonical.
Yeshua knows nothing but lonely earthly path, - and at the end of it a painful death awaits, but by no means the Resurrection.
The Son of God is the highest example of humility, humbling His Divine power. He
He accepted reproach and death of his own free will and in fulfillment of the will of His Heavenly Father. Yeshua does not know his father and does not carry humility in himself. He sacrificially bears his truth, but this sacrifice is nothing more than a romantic impulse of a person who has a poor idea of his future.
person.
Christ knew what awaited Him. Yeshua is deprived of such knowledge, he ingenuously asks Pilate: “Would you let me go, hegemon…” and he believes that this is possible. Pilate would really be ready to let the poor preacher go, and only a primitive provocation by Judas from Kiriath decides the outcome of the matter to the disadvantage of Yeshua. Therefore, Yeshua lacks not only volitional humility, but also the feat of sacrifice.
And finally Bulgakov's Yeshua 27 years old while biblical jesus – 33.
Yeshua is an artistic, non-canonical "double" of Jesus Christ.
And since he is only a man, and not a son of God, he is closer in spirit to the Master, with whom, as we have already noted, he has much in common.
The mirror motif in the novel
The image of a mirror in literature is a means of expression that carries an associative load.
Of all the interior items, the mirror is the most mysterious and mystical object, which at all times has been surrounded by an aura of mysticism and mystery. Life modern man impossible to imagine without a mirror. Ordinary mirror, most likely was the first magic item created by man.
The most ancient explanation of the mystical properties of mirrors belongs to Paracelsus, who considered mirrors to be a tunnel connecting the material and subtle worlds. This, according to a medieval scholar, and hallucinations, and visions, and voices, and strange sounds, and a sudden cold, and the feeling of someone's presence - in general, everything that has a powerful influence on the human psyche.
Fortune-telling became very widespread in Rus': two mirrors were directed at each other, burning candles were placed and they carefully looked into the mirror corridor, hoping to see their fate. Before the start of divination, it was necessary to close the icons, remove the cross and put it under the heel, that is, completely abandon all sacred powers. Perhaps that is why there is a belief that the Devil gave people a mirror so that they would not languish in solitude and have the opportunity to talk to themselves.
In M. A. Bulgakov, the motif of a mirror accompanies the appearance of evil spirits, connection with the other world and miracles.
At the very beginning of the novel "The Master and Margarita" on the Patriarch's Ponds, the role of a mirror is played by the windows of houses. Let us recall the appearance of Woland:
“He fixed his gaze on the upper floors, dazzlingly reflecting in the glass the sun, broken and forever departing from Mikhail Alexandrovich, then moved it down, where the windows began to darken in the evening, smiled condescendingly at something, screwed up his eyes, put his hands on the knob, and his chin on his hands. ".
With the help of a mirror, Woland and his retinue enter Styopa Likhodeev's apartment:
“Here Styopa turned from the apparatus and in the mirror, placed in the hall, which had not been wiped for a long time by the lazy Grunya, he distinctly saw some strange person - long as a pole, and wearing pince-nez (oh, if only Ivan Nikolaevich were here! He would recognize this subject immediately). And he was reflected and immediately disappeared. Styopa, in alarm, peered deeper into the hall, and for the second time he swayed, for a hefty black cat passed in the mirror and also disappeared.
And soon after that...
"... right out of the mirror of the dressing table came a small, but unusually broad-shouldered, in a bowler hat on his head and with a fang sticking out of his mouth."
The mirror appears in the key episodes of the novel: in anticipation of the evening, Margarita spends all day in front of the mirror; the death of the Master and Margarita accompanies the broken, broken reflection of the sun in the windows of houses; the fire in the "bad apartment" and the destruction of Torgsin are also associated with broken mirrors:
“Glasses rang and fell down in the exit mirror doors”, “the mirror on the fireplace cracked with stars”.
Philosophical dialogues in the novel
One of the features of the genre structure of The Master and Margarita is philosophical dialogues that create a tense moral-philosophical, religious field, a variety of images of the ideas of the novel.
Dialogues aggravate to the utmost, dramatize the novel's action. When polar points of view on the world collide, narrative disappears and dramaturgy emerges. We no longer see the writer behind the pages of the novel, we ourselves become participants in the stage action.
Philosophical dialogues arise from the first pages of the novel. Thus, the conversation between Ivan and Berlioz with Woland is the exposition and at the same time the plot of the work. The climax is Pontius Pilate's interrogation of Yeshua. The denouement is the meeting of Matthew Levi and Woland. These three dialogues are entirely philosophical.
At the very beginning of the novel, Berlioz speaks to Ivanushka about Jesus. The conversation denies faith in God, the possibility of the birth of Christ. Woland, having joined the conversation, immediately turns the conversation into a philosophical channel: “But, let me ask you ... what about the proofs of the existence of God, of which, as you know, there are exactly five?”. Berlioz answers quite in accordance with Kant's "pure reason": "After all, you will agree that in the realm of reason there can be no proof of the existence of God."
Woland delves into the history of the issue, recalling the moral "sixth proof" of Immanuel Kant. The editor objected with a smile to his interlocutor: "Kant's proof ... is also unconvincing." Demonstrating his scholarship, he refers to the authority of Schiller and Strauss, critics of such evidence. Between the lines of the dialogue, Berlioz's inner speech is constantly introduced, fully expressing his psychological discomfort.
Ivan Nikolaevich Bezdomny, in a sharply offensive tone, gives out tirades that at first glance are not essential for a philosophical conversation, acting as a spontaneous opponent to both interlocutors: “Take this Kant, but for such evidence for three years in Solovki!” This prompts Woland to paradoxical confessions about breakfast with Kant, about schizophrenia. He again and again turns to the question of God: “... if there is no God, then, one asks, who controls human life and the whole routine on earth?”
The homeless man does not hesitate to answer: "The man himself controls." A long monologue follows, ironically playing up the predictions about Berlioz's death.
We have already mentioned that in addition to the usual replicas of direct speech, Bulgakov introduces a new element into the dialogue - inner speech, which becomes dialogic not only from the "point of view" of the reader, but also from the outlook of the hero. Woland "reads the thoughts" of his interlocutors. Their internal remarks, not intended for dialogue, find a response in a philosophical conversation.
The dialogue continues in chapter three and is already under the strong influence of the spoken story. The interlocutors agree with each other in one conviction: "... what is written in the Gospels never actually happened ...".
Further, Woland manifests himself with an unexpected philosophical question: “Is there no devil either?” “And the devil... There is no devil,” Bezdomny states categorically. Woland concludes the conversation about the devil as a warning to his friends: “But I beg you to say goodbye, at least believe that the devil exists! .. Keep in mind that there is a seventh proof for this, and the most reliable! And now it will be presented to you.”
Bulgakov in this philosophical dialogue "resolved" theological and historiosophical issues reflected in the artistic and philosophical construction of the novel. His Master created a historical version of the events in Yershalaim. The question of how much it corresponded to Bulgakov's views directly depends on the development of the author's thought in the "double novel". 
The scene of Yeshua and Pilate is the center of a moral and philosophical conflict, the culmination of both the Master's novel and Bulgakov's own novel.
Yeshua confesses to Pilate his loneliness: "I am alone in the world."
The dialogue takes on a philosophical edge when Yeshua proclaims "that the temple of the old faith will fall and a new temple of truth will be built." Pilate sees that he is talking to a “philosopher”, addresses his interlocutor with this name and formulates his main question philosophically: “What is truth?” His interlocutor surprisingly quickly finds the answer: "The truth is, first of all, that your head hurts, and it hurts so badly that you cowardly think about death."
The procurator to one of the prisoner's remarks that " evil people not in the world, ”responds with a thoughtful grin:“ I hear about it for the first time ... but maybe I know little about life! .. ”
Anger awakens in Pilate: “And it’s not for you, insane criminal, to talk about her!” It's about truth. The Master and Margarita more than once shows the moral inferiority of someone who hurries to call an opponent a madman (remember Berlioz).
In the course of the interrogation, Pilate's interlocutor becomes more adamant in defending his position. The procurator deliberately and caustically asks him again: "And the kingdom of truth will come?" Yeshua expresses a strong conviction: "It will come, hegemon." wants to ask the prisoner: "Yeshua Ha-Nozri, do you believe in any gods?" “There is only one God,” answered Yeshua, “I believe in him.”
Dispute about truth and goodness, human destiny in the world receives an unexpected continuation in the dispute over who has the ultimate power to determine them. Another irreconcilable philosophical duel appears in the novel. It is the semantic conclusion of the conversation between Berlioz, Bezdomny and Woland about God and the devil.
The denouement is a philosophical dialogue between Woland and Levi Matthew, in whose remarks the outcome of the earthly path of the Master and Margarita is predetermined.
Nowhere in the novel is there any "balance" of good and evil, light and shadow, light and dark. This problem is clearly defined only in this dialogue and is not finally resolved by the author. Bulgakov scholars still cannot unequivocally interpret Levi's phrase: "He did not deserve light, he deserved peace." General interpretation the mythology of "peace" as the incorporeal existence of the Master's soul in those areas where the devil penetrates, seems quite acceptable to us. “Peace” is given to the Master by Woland, Levi brings the consent of the force that emits light.
The dialogue between Woland and Matthew Levi is an organic component of the development of the artistic conflict of images of ideas, consciousnesses. This creates a high aesthetic quality of the style of The Master and Margarita, a genre specificity of the type of the novel, which absorbed the forms of the comic and tragic and became philosophical.
Why the Master did not deserve the light
So the question is: why didn't the Master deserve the light? Let's try and figure it out.
Researchers of Bulgakov's work put forward a number of reasons for this. These are the reasons of the ethical, religious-ethical plan. Here they are:
The master did not deserve the light because it would contradict:
Christian canons;
the philosophical concept of the world in the novel;
the genre nature of the novel;
aesthetic realities of the twentieth century.
From a Christian point of view, the Master of the bodily principle. He wants to share his unearthly life with his earthly sinful love - Margarita. 
Masters can be reproached for despondency. And despondency, despair are sinful. The master refuses the truth he guessed in his novel, he admits: “I no longer have any dreams and no inspiration either ... nothing interests me around, except for her ... They broke me, I'm bored, and I want to go to the basement ... I hate him, this novel ... I experienced too much because of him.
Burning a novel is a kind of suicide, even if it is not real, but only creative, but it is also a sin, and therefore the burnt novel is now under Woland's department.
"Light" as a reward to the Master would not correspond to the artistic and philosophical concept of the novel and would be a one-sided solution to the problem of good and evil, light and darkness, would be a simplification of the dialectic of their connection in the novel. This dialectic is that good and evil cannot exist separately.
"The Light" would be unmotivated in terms of a fairly unique novel genre. This is a menippea (a kind of serious-laughter genre - both philosophical and satirical). The Master and Margarita is a tragic and at the same time farcical, lyrical, autobiographical novel. It feels irony in relation to the protagonist, it is a philosophical and at the same time satirical novel, it combines sacred and comic principles, grotesque fantastic and irrefutably realistic.
Bulgakov's novel was created in accordance with the trend in art inherent in many works of the first half of the 20th century - giving a certain secularism to biblical motifs and images. Let us recall that Bulgakov's Yeshua is not the son of God, but an earthly wandering philosopher. And this tendency is also one of the reasons why the Master did not deserve the light.
The ambivalence of the novel's ending
We have already talked about "light and peace."
So, the last page is turned. The highest justice has triumphed: all accounts have been settled and paid, each has been rewarded according to his faith. The master, although not awarded the light, but rewarded with peace, and this award is perceived as the only possible one for the long-suffering artist.
At first glance, everything that we learn about the peace promised to the Master looks tempting and, as Margarita says, “invented” by Woland is really wonderful. Let us recall the scene of the poisoning of the Master and Margarita:
- Ah, I understand, - said the master, looking around, - you killed us, we are dead. Ah, how clever! How timely! Now I understand you.
- Oh, have mercy, - answered Azazello, - can I hear you? Because your friend calls you a master, because you think, how can you be dead?
- Great Woland! - Margarita began to echo him, - Great Woland! He came up with a much better idea than I did.
At first it may seem that Bulgakov gives his hero the peace and freedom he desires (and for Bulgakov himself), realizing, at least beyond the limits of earthly life, the artist's right to a special, creative happiness.
However, on the other hand, the Master's peace is not just a retreat from the life storms of a tired person, it is a disaster, a punishment for refusing to make a choice between good and evil, light and darkness.
Yes, the Master received freedom, but in parallel with the motive of freedom in the novel there is a motive of attenuation (extinguishing) of consciousness.
The memory fades when the Master and Margarita have a stream behind, which here plays the role of the mythological river Lethe in the realm of the dead, after drinking the water of which the souls of the dead forget their earthly former life. In addition, the motif of extinction, as if preparing the final chord, has already met twice in the final chapter: “the broken sun went out” (here it is a harbinger and a sign of death, as well as the entry into his rights of Woland, the prince of darkness); "the candles are already burning, and soon they will go out." This motif of death - "extinguishing candles" - can be considered autobiographical.
Peace in The Master and Margarita is perceived differently by different characters. For the Master, peace is a reward, for the author it is a desirable but hardly achievable dream, for Yeshua and Levi it is something that should be spoken of with sadness. It would seem that Woland should be satisfied, but there is not a word about this in the novel, since he knows that there is no charm and scope in this award.
Bulgakov, perhaps, deliberately made the ending of his novel ambiguous and skeptical, as opposed to the solemn ending of the same Divine Comedy. The writer of the 20th century, unlike the writer of the Middle Ages, refuses to state anything for sure, talking about a transcendental world, illusory, unknown. The author's artistic taste manifested itself in the enigmatic ending of The Master and Margarita.
Conclusion. The meaning of the epigraph to the novel "The Master and Margarita"
...So who are you, finally?- I am part of the power that is eternal
He wants evil and always does good.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe. "Faust"
Here we come to the epigraph. To what the work begins, we turn only at the end of our study. But it is precisely by reading and examining the entire novel that we can explain the meaning of those words with which Bulgakov preceded his creation.
The epigraph to the novel "The Master and Margarita" is the words of Mephistopheles (the devil) - one of the characters in the drama "Faust" by I. Goethe. What is Mephistopheles talking about and what does his words have to do with the story of the Master and Margarita?
With this quote, the writer precedes the appearance of Woland; he warns the reader that devilry occupies one of the leading places in the novel.
Woland is the bearer of evil. But he is characterized by nobility, honesty; and sometimes, voluntarily or involuntarily, he commits good deeds(or actions that bring benefits). He does far less evil than his role suggests. And although people die at his will: Berlioz, Baron Meigel - their death seems natural, it is the result of what they did in this life.
By his will, houses burn, people go crazy, disappear for a while. But all those affected by it - negative characters(bureaucrats, people who find themselves in a position they are not capable of, drunkards, slobs, and finally, fools). True, Ivanushka Bezdomny also falls into their number. But it's hard to name it positive character. During the meeting with Woland, he is clearly busy with other than his own business. The poems he writes are his own own confession, bad.
Bulgakov shows that everyone is rewarded according to their merits - and not only by God, but also by Satan.
Yes, and the evil deeds of the devil often turn into a benefit for the people affected by him.
Ivan Homeless decides never to write again. After leaving the Stravinsky clinic, Ivan becomes a professor, an employee of the Institute of History and Philosophy, begins a new life.
The administrator Varenukha, who had been a vampire, forever weaned himself from the habit of lying and swearing on the phone, and became irreproachably polite.
The chairman of the housing association, Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, has unlearned taking bribes.
Nikolai Ivanovich, whom Natasha turned into a boar, will never forget those moments when a different life, different from gray everyday life, touched him, he will regret for a long time that he returned home, but all the same - he has something to remember. 
Woland, referring to Levi Matthew, says: “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 are obtained from objects and people ... ” Indeed, what is good in the absence of evil?
This means that Woland is needed on earth no less than the wandering philosopher Yeshua Ga-Notsri, who preaches kindness and love. Good does not always bring good, just as evil does not always bring trouble. Quite often it is the other way around. That is why Woland is the one who, desiring evil, nevertheless does good. This idea is expressed in the epigraph to the novel.
Introduction
The analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita" has been the subject of study of literary critics throughout Europe for many decades. The novel has a number of features, such as the non-standard form of "a novel within a novel", an unusual composition, rich themes and content. It was not in vain that it was written at the end of life and creative way Mikhail Bulgakov. The writer put all his talent, knowledge and imagination into the work.
Genre of the novel
The work "The Master and Margarita", the genre of which critics define as a novel, has a number of features inherent in its genre. It's a few storylines, a lot of heroes, the development of action over a long time. The novel is fantastic (sometimes it is called phantasmagoric). But the most striking feature of the work is its "novel within a novel" structure. Two parallel worlds - the masters and the ancient times of Pilate and Yeshua, live here almost independently and intersect only in the last chapters, when Woland is visited by Levi - a student and close friend Yeshua. Here, two lines merge into one, and surprise the reader with their organicity and closeness. It was the structure of the "novel within the novel" that enabled Bulgakov to show two such different worlds so skillfully and fully, events today and almost two thousand years ago.
Composition features
The composition of the novel "The Master and Margarita" and its features are due to the author's non-standard methods, such as the creation of one work within the framework of another. Instead of the usual classical chain - composition - plot - climax - denouement, we see the interweaving of these stages, as well as their doubling.
The plot of the novel: the meeting of Berlioz and Woland, their conversation. This happens in the 30s of the XX century. Woland's story also takes the reader back to the thirties, but two millennia ago. And here begins the second plot - a novel about Pilate and Yeshua.
Next comes the tie. These are tricks of Voladn and his company in Moscow. From here the satirical line of the work also originates. A second novel is also developing in parallel. The culmination of the master's novel is the execution of Yeshua, the climax of the story about the master, Margaret and Woland is the visit of Levi Matthew. An interesting denouement: in it both novels are combined into one. Woland and his retinue are taking Margarita and the Master to another world to reward them with peace and quiet. Along the way, they see the eternal wanderer Pontius Pilate.
"Free! He is waiting for you!" - with this phrase, the master releases the procurator and completes his novel.
Main themes of the novel
Mikhail Bulgakov concluded the meaning of the novel "The Master and Margarita" in the interweaving of the main themes and ideas. No wonder the novel is called both fantastic, and satirical, and philosophical, and love. All these themes are developed in the novel, framing and emphasizing 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". Distraught from wealth the public, money-hungry members of the elite, the tricks of Koroviev and Behemoth sharply and clearly describe diseases modern writer society.
Love Theme embodied in the master and Margarita and gives tenderness to the novel and softens many poignant moments. Probably not in vain, the writer burned the first version of the novel, where Margarita and the master had not yet been.
Empathy Theme runs through the whole novel and shows several options for sympathy and empathy. Pilate sympathizes with the wandering philosopher Yeshua, but being confused in his duties and fearing condemnation, he "washes his hands." Margarita has a different sympathy - she sympathizes with the master, Frida at the ball, and Pilate with all her heart. But her sympathy is not just a feeling, it pushes her to certain actions, she does not fold her hands and fights for the salvation of those she worries about. Ivan Bezdomny also sympathizes with the master, imbued with his story that “every year, when the spring full moon comes ... in the evening he appears on the Patriarch’s Ponds ...”, so that later at night he can see bittersweet dreams about wondrous times and events.
The theme of forgiveness goes almost alongside the theme of sympathy.
Philosophical themes about the meaning and purpose of life, about good and evil, about biblical motives have been the subject of controversy and study of writers for many years. This is because the features of the novel "The Master and Margarita" are in its structure and ambiguity; with each reading they open up more and more questions and thoughts for the reader. This is the genius of the novel - it does not lose either relevance or poignancy for decades, and is still as interesting as it was for its first readers.
Ideas and main idea
The idea of the novel is good and evil. And not only in the context of struggle, but also in the search for a definition. What is really evil? This is probably the best 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 low. His tours in Moscow only confirm this idea. He shows the moral illnesses of society, but does not even condemn them, but only sighs sadly: "People, like people ... The same as before." A person is weak, but it is in his power to resist his weaknesses, to fight them.
The theme of good and evil is ambiguously shown on the image of Pontius Pilate. In his heart he opposes the execution of Yeshua, but he lacks the courage to go against the crowd. The verdict on the wandering innocent philosopher is passed by the crowd, but Pilate is destined to serve the punishment forever.
The struggle between good and evil is also the opposition of the literary community to the master. It is not enough for self-confident writers to simply refuse the writer, they need to humiliate him, to prove their case. The master is very weak to fight, all his strength has gone into the romance. No wonder devastating articles for him acquire the image of a certain creature that begins to seem like a master in a dark room.
General analysis of the novel
The analysis of The Master and Margarita implies immersion in the worlds recreated by the writer. Here you can see biblical motifs and parallels with Goethe's immortal Faust. The themes of the novel develop each separately, and at the same time coexist, collectively creating a web of events and questions. Several worlds, each of which has found its place in the novel, are portrayed by the author surprisingly organically. It is not at all surprising to travel from modern Moscow to ancient Yershalaim, Woland's wise conversations, a huge talking cat and Margarita Nikolaevna's flight.
This novel is truly immortal thanks to the talent of the writer and the undying relevance of the topics and problems.
Artwork test
The "fantastic novel", which Bulgakov created in the last twelve years of his life, is recognized as the best work of the writer, in which, as if "to sum up what he lived", he managed to comprehend with amazing depth and with deep artistic persuasiveness to embody his understanding of the fundamental issues life: faith and unbelief, God and the Devil, man and his place in the universe, the soul of man and its responsibility before the Supreme Judge, death, immortality and meaning human existence, love, good and evil, the course of history and the place of man in it. It can be said that Bulgakov left his readers a novel-testament, which not only "gives surprises", but also constantly raises questions, the answers to which each reader must find in correlating the work with his own ideas about what these "eternal Problems".
The composition of the novel "The Master and Margarita", which is rightly called a "double novel", is very interesting - after all, the "Romance of Pontius Pilate", created by the Master, is jewelry "inscribed" in the novel itself, becoming an integral part of it, making this work in genre plan unique: the opposition and unity of the two "novels" form a kind of fusion of outwardly incompatible methods of creating a narrative, which can be called "Bulgakov's style". Here special meaning acquires the image of the author, who occupies a significant place in each of the novels, but manifests itself in different ways. In the "Master's novel" about Yeshua and Pilate, the author deliberately withdraws himself, as if he is not in this almost chronologically accurate presentation of events, his "presence" is expressed in the author's view of the depicted, inherent in the epic, the expression of his moral position, as it were, "dissolves" in the artistic fabric works. In the “novel” itself, the author openly proclaims his presence (“Follow me, my reader!”), He is emphatically biased in depicting events and characters, but at the same time, his author’s position cannot be easily understood, it in a special way"hidden" in buffoonery, mockery, irony, deliberate credulity and other artistic devices.
The philosophical basis of the moral position of the writer are the ideas " good will" and "categorical imperative" as mandatory conditions the existence of the human person and a rationally arranged society, and they serve as a "touchstone" for evaluating each of the heroes and historical events depicted in both novels, which are related in common moral situation: the era of Yeshua and the era of the Master is a time of choice that each of the heroes and society as a whole has to make. In this regard, the opposition of these central images is obvious.
"Yeshua, nicknamed Ha-Nozri"in the novel" The Master and Margarita "is a person who initially carries goodness and light in himself, and his attitude to the world is based on the moral strength that is inherent in this weak, defenseless person, who is in the power of the procurator Pilate, but stands immeasurably higher They argue a lot about how close the image of Yeshua is to the gospel Christ, but, with their undoubted similarities, they are distinguished by the fact that Bulgakov’s heroes do not initially perceive themselves as the Messiah, he is primarily a man in his behavior and attitude towards himself.However, this happens only because, in fact, he is the one higher power, which determines everything that happens - and it is he who "decides the fate" of the heroes, it is with him that Woland argues in a special way, restoring justice trampled in the world of "Massolites" in his own way, in the end, it is to him that all the thoughts of the heroes of the novel are turned, realize or no they are. We can say that the image of Yeshua in the novel "The Master and Margarita" is the spiritual center of the work, this is the moral principle that ensures the existence of the world.
Image of the Master in the novel "The Master and Margarita" - this is a tragic image of a person who was given the "gift of the Word" from above, who managed to feel it, to fulfill the mission entrusted to him - but then he was unable to maintain himself at the moral height to which he was raised with his creativity. Unlike Yeshua, the bearer and embodiment of "good will", the Master is only temporarily imbued with the idea of serving goodness as the basis of life, but a real collision with this very "life" (denunciation of Aloisy Magarych, Professor Stravinsky's clinic) makes him betray himself, then the best thing in him was to renounce not only his novel, but, in fact, everything that was connected with the idea of \u200b\u200btransforming life. As a human being, one can understand a person who has been “well-finished” (to use Woland’s expression) and who admits his defeat: “I hated this novel and I’m afraid .. Now I’m nobody .. I don’t want anything else in life ... I have there are no more dreams and inspirations" However, each of the people in life has its own path, God's Providence determines the place of each of us in this world, and therefore the Master, who renounced his novel (and therefore, from himself), it turns out, "did not deserve light, he deserved peace", which, probably, can heal his tormented soul in order to ... but then where can he get away from the memories of his surrender to the world of everyday life and lack of spirituality? ..
The bearer of the highest justice in Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" is Woland, Satan, who arrived with his retinue in Moscow in order to "see Muscovites", in order to understand how " new system"changed people who, as he knows very well, are not inclined to become better. Indeed, the "session" in which Muscovites are completely "exposed" (and not only in literally words), Styopa Likhodeev and other satirically depicted images seem to convince him that "these townspeople" have not changed "internally", so he has every reason to draw his little optimistic conclusion: "... people are like people , ... ordinary people...". However, the story of the Master and Margarita shows Satan that in this world of "ordinary" people there is something that goes back to completely different moral categories - there is selfless, devoted love, when "He who loves must share the fate of the one he loves."
Dedication margaritas, ready to cross the line separating Good from Evil for the sake of saving a loved one, is obvious, but here Bulgakov shows us not just love, but love that opposes generally accepted norms, elevating people who seem to violate these norms. After all, Margarita's relationship with the Master is a violation of her marital fidelity, she is married, and her husband treats her wonderfully. But this "marriage without love", which turned into torment, turns out to be untenable when the heroine finds herself in the grip of a real feeling that sweeps aside everything that prevents people from being happy.
Probably, Margarita's readiness to save her beloved at any cost is also due to the fact that she feels guilty for having delayed leaving her husband for too long, the punishment for which was the loss of the Master. But, having agreed to become the queen of Satan's ball, having gone through everything that was prepared for her, in the very last moment the heroine turns out to be unable to do what she went through such trials for - she asks Woland not to return her beloved, but about the unfortunate Frida, who was promised help ... Probably, here we can talk about the complete triumph of "good will", and it is precisely by this act of hers that Margarita proves that, in spite of everything, she is a truly moral person, because the words "cherished and prepared in her soul", she could not pronounce ... And how would she herself she did not convince that she was a "frivolous person", after all, Woland was right: she was a "highly moral person." It's just not her fault that she lives in a world where true moral values are inaccessible to most people.
Of great importance in the novel "The Master and Margarita" is the image of the poet Ivan Bezdomny, who later became Professor Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev. This person, a gifted poet ("pictorial ... power ... of talent"), after meeting with the Master, understands his moral unpreparedness to be a servant of the Word, he is, as it were, a disciple of the Master, who consciously deviates from the chosen path, thereby repeating the fate of his teachers.
The satirical "layer" of the analyzed Bulgakov's novel is very convincing, here the writer uses a wide palette visual means- from humor to farce and grotesque, he draws a society of people busy with their petty affairs, settling in life at any cost, from flattery to denunciations and betrayal. Against the backdrop of authentic moral relations such a “life” of the main characters cannot but cause condemnation, but the writer pities most of his heroes rather than condemns them, although, of course, such images as Berlioz and the critic Latunsky are written out very unambiguously.
Back to the image of Woland. His "activities" in Moscow became a special form of restoring justice - in any case, he punished those who could not be punished, and helped those who had the right to count on help higher powers. Bulgakov shows that Woland fulfills the will of Yeshua, being, as it were, his messenger in this world. Of course, from the point of view of Christian ethics, this is unacceptable. God and Satan are antipodes, but what if everything in this world is so messed up that it’s hard to understand how you can make people remember that they are, after all, God’s creations? .. In this regard, the role of in the novel Pontius Pilate, the purpose of which was the condemnation to death of Yeshua, who tried to save him and then suffered from what he had done - after all, in fact, the procurator of Judea plays the same role on earth that Woland is assigned to in the universe (according to Bulgakov): to be a judge. Pilate internally feels the impossibility of sending the "wandering philosopher" to his death, but he does it. Woland, it seems, does not experience inner feelings and hesitation, but why then does he react so emotionally to Margarita's request? ..
The obvious inconsistency of the image of Woland, his strange relationship with Yeshua and Pilate make this image tragic in many respects: his seeming omnipotence in fact cannot change anything in this world, because it is not in his power to hasten the onset of the "kingdom of truth" - it is not from him depends... "Forever wanting evil" - and "forever doing good" - this is Woland's destiny, because this path is determined for him by the One who "hung the thread of life"...
The novel "The Master and Margarita", which we analyzed, belongs to those works in the history of mankind that have become an integral part of his spiritual life. "Eternal problems" and momentary "truths" that disappear with the sunset, high pathos and tragedy and obvious satire and grotesque, love and betrayal, faith and its loss, Good and Evil as a state of a person's soul - that's what this novel is about. Each appeal to him is a new initiation into the world of imperishable moral values and true culture.
