The attitude of Bulgakov himself to Woland. Bulgakov's triads: a mysterious novel

Quotes

“... the described person did not limp on any leg, and his height was neither small nor huge, but simply tall. As for his teeth, he had platinum crowns on the left side, and gold crowns on the right. He was in an expensive gray suit, in foreign shoes, matching the color of the suit. He famously twisted his gray beret over his ear, and under his arm carried a cane with a black knob in the shape of a poodle's head. He looks to be over forty years old. The mouth is kind of crooked. Shaved smoothly. Brunette. The right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason. The eyebrows are black, but one is higher than the other."

"I do not argue, our capabilities are quite large, they are much more than some not very sharp-sighted people believe ... But what is the point in doing what another department is supposed to do?" Mercy is the "department" of Yeshua Ha-Nozri."

Characteristics of the hero

The description given to Woland in the novel is eloquent. However, do not forget that Woland subsequently develops lameness. And it is an integral attribute of his appearance. There are many reasons. But, it is especially worth emphasizing the fact that both Woland and his entire retinue are the owners of some kind of defect in appearance. What is the reason? The reason is simple.

The presence of defects in appearance is nothing more than a mockery of the biblical rules taken from the Old Testament, as well as the rules established in christian church. As you know, the events of the novel that took place in Moscow, as well as the ball held by Satan on the eve of Easter, were nothing more than a large-scale black mass dedicated to Black Easter - the exodus of the forces of evil into the world. Consequently, both Woland and each of the members of his retinue fulfilled their role in this "sacred rite", the satanic liturgy. According to the book of Leviticus (ch. 21), one who has any physical handicap, including an acquired one, does not have the right to be a priest. As we can see, Woland, as a dark high priest, has several flaws in appearance at once: false teeth, crooked mouth, multi-colored eyes, lameness. Moreover, we must pay tribute to the peculiar "delicacy" of Woland in explaining this lameness. However, according to rabbinic literature, the lameness of the devil is by no means an ache in the bones (the spirit cannot have bodily diseases), the reason is simpler: the same rules apply to angels, as to assisting the Divine priesthood, as to people - the absence of defects, including appearance. And during the overthrow of Satan and his helpers from the Kingdom, Satan injured his leg and thereby lost forever the right to participate in worship before God. In Orthodoxy, there is one more rule that concerns blood: no more blood should be shed in the temple, for the blood of Christ, shed on Golgotha, was the last bloody sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. It is no coincidence that if the priest bleeds, there is a cut or something else happens that causes bleeding, the priest is obliged to suspend the service, leave the temple, and only when the blood flow ends, continue the service from the place it stopped. At the ball of Satan, we see the opposite picture: Margarita rubbed her legs to the blood, continues to "rite" as the queen of the ball; Baron Meigel is killed and his blood is used as communion wine, etc.

Alleged prototypes

Satan

No, it's not for nothing that Bulgakov writes this novel - The Master and Margarita. The main character of this novel, as you know, is the devil, acting under the name of Woland. But this is a special devil. The novel opens with an epigraph from Goethe: “... so who are you, finally? “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” Appearing in Moscow, Woland brings down all his devilish power against those in power who do iniquity. Woland deals with the persecutors of the great writer - the Master. Under the scorching summer sun of 1937, during the days of the Moscow trials, when another devil destroyed the devil's party, when Bulgakov's literary enemies perished one after another, the Master wrote his novel... So it's not difficult to understand who was behind the image of Woland.

Stalin's attitude towards M.A. Bulgakov and his work are known from Stalin's article in defense of Bulgakov, published in the Pravda newspaper, as well as from his oral speeches at a meeting between Stalin and a group Ukrainian writers which took place on February 12, 1929.

Second Coming of Christ

There is a version that the image of Woland has many Christian features. In particular, this version is based on a comparison of some details in the descriptions of Woland and Yeshua. Yeshua appeared before the procurator with a large bruise under his left eye - Woland's left eye is "empty, dead." There is an abrasion in the corner of Yeshua's mouth - in Woland "the corner of the mouth is pulled down." Yeshua was burned by the sun on a pillar - "the skin on Woland's face seemed to be burned forever by a tan." The torn blue tunic of Yeshua turns into dirty rags, which even the executioners refused - before the ball, Woland "is dressed in one night long shirt, dirty and patched on his left shoulder." Jesus is called the Messiah - Woland messier.

Also, this version is sometimes based on a comparison of some scenes of the novel with certain biblical quotations.

Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Woland appeared during a conversation about Jesus:

May I have a seat? - the foreigner asked politely, and the friends somehow involuntarily parted; the foreigner deftly sat down between them and immediately entered into conversation.

Finally, in the conversation, Woland testifies about Christ: "Keep in mind that Jesus existed."

However, this interpretation of the image contains a number of inaccuracies.

1. Explicit. Levi Matthew gives Woland an order from Yeshua about future fate Masters and Margaritas.
2. Woland is shown as a witness, not a participant in the Yershalaim scenes. By own confession, during the conversation between Yeshua and Pilate, Woland is present incognito, which can be understood in two ways. However, in the evening, Pilate for a moment sees a mysterious figure among the shadows.

This interpretation can also be considered quite controversial, since it is necessary to take into account a number of points that are important when reading and understanding the images displayed in the novel. According to the Christian point of view, the Antichrist is not so much a person who opposes Christ, but rather a substitute for him. the prefix "anti" has a double translation:

• denial, adversary
• instead, substitute.

In addition, do not forget that Yeshua is a parody character in the novel about Pontius Pilate, the author of which is Woland himself. Consequently, the repetition of some elements of the image of his character indicates Woland trying on the image of Christ, albeit in such a caricature form. From this, some of the allusions cited above are understandable.

Do not forget that this version is very different from the full context of the Bible, according to which the Second Coming of Christ will happen after the coming of the power of the Antichrist and will be obvious to all people: “For as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so it will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27).

It is also worth remembering that Ivan Bezdomny defends himself from Woland with an icon of an unknown saint.

Apostle Peter

Apostle - former fisherman; Woland, with the air of a connoisseur, argues that there is no second-fresh sturgeon. The Apostle Peter founded the Roman Church - there are many Roman motifs in the book. Azazello said that "Rome is better", financial director Rimsky left for the former St. Petersburg ("city of St. Peter").

The apostle Peter stated: “For we have announced to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not following intricately woven fables, but being eyewitnesses of his greatness.” Woland: "I was personally present at all this."

This interpretation is also very controversial, since the words of Christ to the Apostle Peter were applicable to a very specific situation, namely, to the moment when Peter asks Christ not to meet the court and execution. If we remember, then in the Garden of Gethsemane Christ prays that the cup prepared for him as the Savior would not pass away - that is, arrest, trial, execution, death and resurrection. Peter is essentially asking Christ to abandon the sacrificial mission. Hence the words of Christ to Peter - get away from me Satan (opponent).

The image of Woland in cinema

• Oleg Basilashvili - 2005 TV series (Russia)

Notes

see also

Links

The dying testament of the Great Master, writer Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov came true: "To know ...", which he said about his novel "The Master and Margarita". The novel came to us, we accepted it, re-read it many times, trying to comprehend the depth of the problems inherent in it.

Domestic and foreign critics rated the writer's book as outstanding work modernity.

During the last ten years of his life, The Master and Margarita was the writer's sincere creation, he returned to it again and again. The novel played the same role in the writer's life as famous painting the great Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci "Mona Lisa", known by another name "La Gioconda", with which he did not part for many recent years by adding the smallest touches to it. The mystery of Mona Lisa's smile has not yet been solved, just as when rereading The Master and Margarita, we still cannot comprehend the depth philosophical thought writer, which, like a diamond, appears before us with new sparkling facets.

M. A. Bulgakov was the most enlightened man of his time. His mother is the daughter of a priest, his father is a representative of the higher clergy. The large family was highly cultured and musical. A doctor by education, a writer, however, he devoted his life to literature and theater.

Bulgakov worked on the novel The Master and Margarita for the last ten years of his life, from 1929 to 1940, until his death. The plot of the work changed, at first the writer wanted to make Woland the main character and call the novel "The Magician". In the final version, the main roles in the novel, in addition to Woland, were played by the Master and Margarita, Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, as well as the failed poet Ivan Bezdomny, later a professor of history.

As a person who grew up in a deeply religious family, M. Bulgakov knew spiritual literature very well: the New Testament, the Old Testament, the Gospel, the Apocalypse and other works, which was reflected in the novel. These ancient books reveal the essence of good and evil.

The novel of the writer is an open, clear, free and deep philosophical and artistic thought, addressed to the most important and universally significant problems of human life. The theme of the book is the theme of common human responsibility for the fate of goodness, beauty, truth in the world of people. One of the fundamental thoughts of the novel is the idea of ​​justice, which inevitably triumphs in the life of the spirit, although sometimes belatedly, and already beyond the physical death of the creator.

The novel by M. Bulgakov is multifaceted. Its construction, composition strikes with thoughtful complexity. IN " Divine Comedy» the great Italian Dante depicts three circles of hell, the underworld, where in cosmic chaos, deprived of peace, doomed to eternal turmoil, the sinful souls of former people restlessly rush about. According to M. Bulgakov, the three circles of different worlds depicted by him are very close to the three circles of Dante's hell: the oldest - Yershalaim - is represented by the Roman horseman, procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, modern, Moscow, 30s of the twentieth century - Master and Margarita, Moscow the townsfolk; the third world - the world of Eternity, unknowable, otherworldly - is represented by Satan Woland and his retinue: the “right hand” of the devil Koroviev-Fagot, the “home, personal” jester - a cat named Behemoth, Azazello and others. These three worlds are united in the novel by Satan Woland: he is a witness to the execution that took place more than two thousand years ago, innocently condemned by a fanatical crowd of Jews, skillfully directed by the highest spiritual dignitary Kaifa, he comes to modern Moscow for trial and reprisal against those who do evil, mired in it and the atrocities they do.

The novel showed the outstanding talent of the writer - the ability to create symbolic figures. The image of Satan and his retinue for the author is only a symbol, a poetic similitude. The figures of the Master, Margarita and others are also symbolic.

The name Woland may have the following origin: taken from Latin, there is latin proverb: “Words fly away (“volant”), the written remains”, where the word “volant” in the meaning of “fly away”, “flying” turned into Woland (spirit). Probably, the Romans (Latins) founded in ancient times high in the mountains of Armenia a fortress called Woland, which characterized it as flying against the background of a high sky. The word "Woland" has a relationship in meaning and similarity with the words "wave", "frill" (frills).

Woland (Satan, devil, evil spirit, demon) - the devil has a huge pedigree in world literature. At N.V. Gogol (M. Bulgakov was born in Kiev, lived in this city for many years, here he studied and was educated) - Viy, at M. Yu. Lermontov - Demon, then the famous Mephistopheles from the tragedy of I. V. Goethe "Faust"; however, the connection with Faust is most clearly traced through opera of the same name French composer Charles Gounod, beloved by M. Bulgakov. The similarity of Bulgakov's Satan with Mephistopheles is emphasized by the name Woland, which occurs in Goethe's tragedy as one of the names of the devil. The scene of the Spring ball of Satan, given by him and his retinue for Marguerite, where monstrous images of sinners who come from the underworld, hell, pass before their eyes, is undoubtedly inspired by phrases from the famous monologue - the aria of Mephistopheles from the opera by Ch. Gounod: “On earth, the whole race one sacred idol honors the people... that idol is a golden calf... Satan rules the roost there... People die for metal..." Bulgakov's name Margarita is an echo of the name Gretchen (Margarita) from Goethe's Faust.

The majestic image of Satan is created by M.Yu. Lermontov in the poem "Demon":

Sad Demon, spirit of exile,
He flew over the sinful earth ...
He sowed evil without pleasure...
And evil bored him...

The mountain spirit was an exile of paradise, but he remembered the time “when he, a pure cherub, shone in the dwelling of light,” that is, those times of cosmic chaos, when only light reigned and there was no darkness, darkness - the possessions of the Demon in the future. M. Bulgakov’s novel also talks about light and darkness, when Woland and Yeshua’s disciple Levi Matvey discuss how to reward the Master: Light, then his spirit will take Ga-Notsri to him, or darkness, then the Master will be at Woland’s disposal, but the Master is rewarded with peace, without depriving him of the light, although Yeshua does not want to take him into his kingdom, perhaps because he somehow did not like the Master’s novel about Pontius Pilate, perhaps because the Master did not forgive the procurator who doomed Yeshua to death, only in the final chapters of the novel (Yeshua, Woland considered the Master's novel unfinished) Woland arranges a meeting between the Master and his hero Pontius Pilate, sitting in the mountains of Eternity in a stone chair in society faithful dog, which in immortality is obliged to share the fate of the owner. Pontius Pilate suffers, he has no rest, he is tormented by insomnia, especially on bright moonlit nights. He realizes that these sufferings are connected with the fact that he could not find out something with Yeshua, whom he sentenced to death. Now in Eternity, Yeshua has forgiven the executioner: the mountain masses collapsed, the stone chair disappeared, before the former convict, for whom the “principle of the presumption of innocence” was violated, and the arbiter of his fate lay lunar path forward, to which the dog of the procurator ran first, then went Yeshua and Pontius Pilate, peacefully discussing the problem of truth, which each had his own. They will never agree, because the struggle between light and darkness is eternal. Spiritual superiority remains with the bearers of light, truth, goodness and justice, embodied in the image of Yeshua, aka Ha-Nozri. However, Woland, turning to the Master, expressed the hope that the son of the astrologer king, the former cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the equestrian Pontius Pilate, and Yeshua, perhaps, would agree on something.

Satan appears in Moscow in the era of the 30s of the twentieth century, specifically on Patriarch's Ponds; it was an hour of unusually hot sunset. The demon appeared before Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny in human form: it was a citizen tall, brunette, his right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason; black eyebrows, one higher than the other, teeth on the left side with platinum crowns, on the right - gold. He is wearing an expensive gray suit, shod in foreign shoes, in the color of the suit. The gray beret is famously broken by the ear. The manner of wearing Woland's beret is reminiscent of Goethe-Gounod's Mephistopheles. Woland looks to be in his forties. M. Bulgakov often draws attention to the eyes of the hero, the left, green, eye of Satan is especially expressive; he lives, sparkles, sparkles, throws thunder and lightning, but the right, black, eye is always extinct, cold, deserted, icy.

This is how Woland appeared before the chairman of Massolit and the mediocre uneducated poet, who again, nineteen centuries later, judge Christ, rejecting his divinity and very existence. Woland is trying to make them believe in the existence of God and the devil. In the 30s of the twentieth century, as well as throughout the existence of Soviet power, general denunciation and surveillance reigned and encouraged in the country. Ivan Bezdomny instantly realized that Woland was a suspicious type, perhaps a white emigre, and he should be immediately reported to the police.

Woland is "a part of that force that always wants evil and always does good." The writer created his own Woland-Satan, he differs sharply from the world standard of the devil in the depiction of classical predecessors. His Satan is humane. The task of the prince of darkness is to remove from Moscow Margarita, the genius of the Master, and his novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. For Woland, the master was out of reach, since the blessed and the mentally ill were under the special protection of God. The master, having set fire to his novel (an echo of the influence of the act of N.V. Gogol, who burned the second volume of the book "Dead Souls"), voluntarily went to the House of Sorrow (Stravinsky's clinic for the mentally ill). However, having met Margarita, Woland was filled with cold respect for her wonderful spiritual qualities (kindness, mercy, fidelity in love, devotion to the chosen one and femininity). Margarita, having temporarily forgotten about the misfortunes of her beloved, seeks Frida's mercy so that they do not give her a handkerchief in hell every day - a reminder of the baby - the son whom she killed with this handkerchief. Woland fulfilled Margarita's wish for Frida. Again, the influence of the tragedy of the great Goethe: his Gretchen also took the life of her son from Faust. Then Margarita releases Pontius Pilate, of course, with the consent of Woland and Yeshua. This release to a man in a white cloak with bloody lining was confirmed by the master, shouting: “Free! Free! He (Yeshua) is waiting for you!”, and Woland summed up what had happened: now the Master can consider his novel finished, because, following religious dogmas, one must forgive, the idea of ​​forgiveness and kindness formed the basis of Yeshua’s truth.

Since Woland ended up in Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century, he decided to get acquainted with the inhabitants of Moscow and their life. Muscovites before Easter, when the church approves fasting and forbids all kinds of entertainment, are happy to have fun in the variety show. "We must punish them for this!" - decide Woland and his retinue. They amuse the audience with tricks with playing cards dressing ladies in fashionable outfits And so on. Woland and his henchmen pursue the goal: to punish evil, but it turns out that this is not necessary, since people are greedy (shouting, quarreling, catching gold coins falling on them), envious (with pleasure they take off their smart clothes: after all, in a variety show they came wearing all the best), husbands cheat on their wives, deceiving them by being “busy” until four in the morning at work with ongoing office meetings, while they themselves have fun with their girlfriends; among the men there are malicious non-payers of alimony, they were bombarded with subpoenas in this regard. In fact, the audience deceived themselves for their vile qualities: fashionable clothes disappeared from the ladies, and they turned out to be naked, gold coins turned into plain paper. Woland conducted two cruel experiments: the audience in the variety show agreed, for the sake of entertainment, to “punish” the chatterer - the entertainer, who had bothered her with antics and vulgar jokes, cut off his head, which Woland's retinue did. But the ladies were horrified and demanded to return the head to its original place. Bengali regained his head. Woland noted to himself that people, as always and everywhere, are frivolous, cruel, but at the same time they are compassionate. Things turned out differently with Berlioz's head, which was cut off by a tram. Woland punished him without subsequent forgiveness for militant atheism. At the ball in the hands of Woland was the head of the head. Massolita, which then turned into a cup for drinking a satanic potion, and Woland cruelly tells the head that now Berlioz will go into oblivion, and he, Woland, will drink from his head, which will become a cup, with delight for being.

Margarita saves the Master, although for this she must become a witch. The master understood and approved her act: “When people are completely robbed, like you and me, they seek salvation from the otherworldly force!”

Woland, when meeting with the Master, asks him why Margarita has such a high opinion of him. Having learned from the Master that she was in awe of his novel about Pontius Pilate, Woland wished to see and read the work of Margarita's chosen one. The master regretfully informs that he burned it, Woland reassured him, saying the famous: “Manuscripts do not burn!”

Woland's special disposition towards Margarita is manifested in giving her a gold horseshoe strewn with diamonds at the Spring Ball for good luck.

The role of Woland in M. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" is great. He connects the three circles of time reflected in the novel, helped the Master in completing the novel about Pontius Pilate, played a role in the final fate of the procurator, appeared good angel, and not the devil in establishing the truth in the fate of the Master and Margarita, through his perception we received information about the life of Moscow inhabitants in the 30s of the XX century, entangled in all the sins inherent in the underworld.

The scenes on the Sparrow Hills, on the stony-granite mountains and the peaks of Eternity are given fantastically superbly. The picture of the departure of the transformed Woland and his retinue is impressive, when their black horses disappear, and they silently fall into the abyss.

At the end of the novel, Satan and his henchmen plunge into the world night, here the opposition is given: darkness, darkness, night - and light, peace - to which the heroes are doomed: Woland, Pilate, Yeshua, Master and Margarita and others.

The real appearance of Woland and his servants: "Moon chains", "blocks of darkness" and "white spots of stars". They were swallowed up by the boundless Universe, cosmic Chaos until a new resurrection in the next literary masterpiece.

The novel by M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" was filmed. A series based on the plot of the novel was shown on television. The role of Woland was played famous actor Oleg Basilashvili. He is in this role and his interpretation literary hero I didn’t like it: it’s the same everywhere, boring and gray.

The novel by M. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" is an outstanding work of our time. It is intended for the serious, thoughtful reader. Russian writers at all times were characterized by the ability to pose and solve universal problems: the struggle between good and evil, the purpose of human life and its purpose on earth.

Woland and Margarita

Woland- one of the main characters of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita.

Name

Woland Bulgakov got his name from Goethe's Mephistopheles. In the poem " Faust"It sounds only once, when Mephistopheles asks evil spirit part and give him the way: “Nobleman Woland is coming!” In ancient German literature, the devil was called by another name - Faland. It also appears in The Master and Margarita, when Variety employees cannot remember the magician's name: "... Maybe Faland?" In the edition of the novel "The Master and Margarita" 1929-1930. Woland's name was reproduced entirely in Latin on his business card: "Dr. Theodor Voland". In the final text, Bulgakov refused the Latin alphabet: Ivan Bezdomny remembers only initial letter surnames - W ("double-ve").

Appearance

“... the described person did not limp on any leg, and his height was neither small nor huge, but simply tall. As for his teeth, he had platinum crowns on the left side, and gold crowns on the right. He was in an expensive gray suit, in foreign shoes, matching the color of the suit. He famously twisted his gray beret over his ear, and under his arm carried a cane with a black knob in the shape of a poodle's head. He looks to be over forty years old. The mouth is kind of crooked. Shaved smoothly. Brunette. The right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason. The eyebrows are black, but one is higher than the other.

Place in the world of romance

The novel says that Woland is the ruler of the forces of Darkness, opposed to Yeshua, the ruler of the forces of Light. The characters in the novel refer to Woland as the Devil or Satan. However, the cosmography of Bulgakov's world differs from the traditional Christian one - both Jesus and the Devil are different in this world, heaven and hell are not mentioned at all, and "gods" are mentioned in plural. Literary scholars have found similarities in the world of the novel with the Manichaean or Gnostic ideology, according to which the spheres of influence in the world are clearly divided between Light and Darkness, they are equal, and one side cannot - simply does not have the right - to interfere in the affairs of the other: “Each department should deal with its own deeds." Woland cannot forgive Frida, and Yeshua cannot take the Master to him. Woland also does not perform Pilate's forgiveness himself, but entrusts it to the Master.

Woland, in contrast to the Christian "Father of Lies", is honest, fair and even somewhat noble. Critic V. Ya. Lakshin calls it "the cruel (but motivated!) wrath of heaven." S. D. Dovlatov said that Woland personifies not evil, but justice. “Bulgakov’s Woland is deprived of the traditional appearance of the Prince of Darkness, thirsting for evil, and carries out both acts of retribution for a “concrete” evil, and acts of retribution, thus creating, absent in earthly existence moral law» .

Woland fulfills his promises, and even fulfills two wishes of Margarita instead of the promised one. He and his courtiers do not harm people, punishing only for immoral acts: greed, denunciation, groveling, bribery, etc. For example, no one was hurt in a shootout between a cat and Chekists. They are not in the business of seducing souls. Woland, unlike Mephistopheles, is ironic, but not mocking, prone to mischief, laughs at Berlioz and Homeless, at the barman Sokov (in the eighteenth chapter). At the same time, he does not show excessive cruelty: he orders the head of the poor entertainer Bengalsky to be returned; at the request of Margarita, releases Frida (who killed her child) from punishment. Many phrases of Woland and his retinue are unusual for the Christian Devil: “You don’t need to be rude ... you don’t need to lie ...”, “I don’t like him, he’s a burnout and a rogue ...”, “And mercy is knocking on their hearts.”

Thus, the role of Woland in the world of the novel can be defined as "an overseer of evil." The one who has evil in his soul is his ward. Woland himself, unlike the Christian Satan, does not multiply evil, but only monitors it, and, as necessary, stops and judges fairly (for example, Baron Meigel, Rimsky, Likhodeev, Bengalsky).

Symbolism

Theatricality

Many researchers of Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" note theatrical, operatic motifs in the image of Woland. His image is endowed with some bright, slightly unnatural details of clothing and behavior. Spectacular appearances and unexpected disappearances, unusual costumes, a constant reference to his low voice- bass - bring theatrical brightness into his image, an element of play and acting.

In this regard, some characters in Bulgakov's Theatrical Novel echo Woland's image [ ] . In particular, the director training scene Independent Theater Ksavery Borisovich Ilchin appears before Maksudov, illuminated by "phosphoric light". Even more closely connected with Woland is another character, the editor-publisher Ilya Ivanovich Rudolfi, whose unexpected arrival at Maksudov's apartment to the sound of Faust refers to Woland's appearance in The Master and Margarita:

The door swung open and I froze on the floor in horror. It was him, without a doubt. In the dusk, high above me, was a face with an authoritative nose and furrowed eyebrows. The shadows played, and it seemed to me that under the square chin the point of a black beard was sticking out. The beret was twisted famously over the ear. However, there was no pen.

In short, Mephistopheles stood before me. Then I saw that he was wearing a coat and shiny deep galoshes, and holding a briefcase under his arm. "It's natural," I thought, "it can't pass through Moscow in a different form in the twentieth century."

Rudolphi, - said the evil spirit in tenor, not bass.

"Devilry"

In the description of the events taking place in the novel, words are constantly repeated that point us to dark forces. Starting from the very first chapter, the characters in their speech repeat the name of the devil: “throw everything to hell ...”, “Fuck you, damn it!”, “What the hell does he want?”, “Damn it, eh! ..” "Damn, I heard it all." This "devilry" is repeated throughout the novel. Residents of Moscow seem to be calling on Satan and he cannot refuse the invitation. However, all these motives of the dark forces are more likely connected not with Woland himself, but with Moscow and the Muscovites.

Moon

Throughout the novel, Woland is followed by the moon. Its light has always accompanied representatives of the dark forces, because all their dark deeds were committed under the cover of night. But in Bulgakov's novel, the moon takes on a different meaning: it has a revealing function. In its light, the true qualities of people are manifested and justice is administered. The light of the moon makes Margarita a witch. Without it, even the magic cream of Azazello would not have had an effect.

Poodle

The poodle - a direct allusion to Mephistopheles - is found several times in the work. In the very first chapter, when the majestic Woland wished to decorate the handle of his cane-sword with a dog's head, while Mephistopheles himself climbed into the skin of a poodle. The poodle then appears on the cushion on which Margarita puts her foot during the ball and in the Queen's gold medallion.

Alleged prototypes

Bulgakov himself emphatically denied that the image of Woland was based on any prototype. According to the memoirs of S. A. Ermolinsky, Bulgakov said: “I don’t want to give fans a reason to look for prototypes. Woland has no prototypes. Nevertheless, the hypothesis that the figure of Woland had a certain real prototype have been expressed repeatedly. Most often, Stalin is chosen as a candidate; according to critic V. Ya. Lakshin, "it is difficult to imagine anything flatter, one-dimensional, far from the nature of art than such an interpretation of Bulgakov's novel."

Mephistopheles from the tragedy "Faust"

suggestive possible prototype Woland - Goethe's Mephistopheles. From this character, Woland receives a name, some character traits and many symbols that can be traced in Bulgakov's novel (for example, a sword and a beret, a hoof and a horseshoe, some phrases, and so on). The symbols of Mephistopheles are present throughout the novel, but they usually refer only to external attributes Woland. In Bulgakov, they acquire a different interpretation or are simply not accepted by the heroes. Thus, Bulgakov shows the difference between Woland and Mephistopheles.

In addition, it is also noteworthy that a direct indication of this interpretation of the image is already contained in the epigraph to the novel. These are lines from Goethe's Faust - the words of Mephistopheles to the question of Faust, who is his guest.

Stalin

No, it's not for nothing that Bulgakov writes this novel - The Master and Margarita. The main character of this novel, as you know, is the devil, acting under the name of Woland. But this is a special devil. The novel opens with an epigraph from Goethe: “... so who are you, finally? “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” Appearing in Moscow, Woland unleashes all his diabolical power on those in power who create lawlessness. Woland deals with the persecutors of the great writer - the Master. Under the scorching summer sun of 1937, during the days of the Moscow trials, when another devil destroyed the devil's party, when Bulgakov's literary enemies perished one after another, the Master wrote his novel... So it's easy to understand who was behind Woland's image.

Stalin's attitude towards M. A. Bulgakov himself and his work is known from Stalin's letter in defense of Bulgakov "Answer to Bill-Belotserkovsky" dated February 2, 1929, as well as from his oral speeches at a meeting between Stalin and a group of Ukrainian writers, which took place on February 12, 1929 of the year .

Second Coming of Christ

There is a version that the image of Woland has many Christian features. In particular, this version is based on a comparison of some details in the descriptions of Woland and Yeshua. Yeshua appeared before the procurator with a large bruise under his left eye - Woland right eye "empty, dead." There is an abrasion in the corner of Yeshua's mouth - in Woland "the corner of the mouth is pulled down." Yeshua was burned by the sun on a pillar - "the skin on Woland's face seemed to be burned forever by a tan." The torn blue tunic of Yeshua turns into dirty rags, which even the executioners refused - before the ball, Woland "is dressed in one night long shirt, dirty and patched on his left shoulder." Jesus is called the Messiah, Woland is the messier.

Also, this version is sometimes based on a comparison of some scenes of the novel with certain biblical quotations.

Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Woland appeared during a conversation about Jesus:

May I have a seat? - the foreigner asked politely, and the friends somehow involuntarily parted; the foreigner deftly sat down between them and immediately entered into conversation.

Finally, in the conversation, Woland testifies about Christ: "Keep in mind that Jesus existed."

The allusions between Woland and Christ were embodied in the novel "Weaved Down with Evil, or Forty Years Later" () by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, created largely under the impression of Bulgakov's novel.

However, this interpretation of the image contains a number of inaccuracies.

1. Explicit. Levi Matvey gives Woland an order from Yeshua about the further fate of the Master and Margarita.
2. Woland is shown as a witness, not a participant in the Yershalaim scenes. By his own admission, during the conversation between Yeshua and Pilate, Woland is present incognito, which can be understood in two ways. However, in the evening, Pilate for a moment sees a mysterious figure among the shadows.

This interpretation can also be considered quite controversial, since it is necessary to take into account a number of points that are important when reading and understanding the images displayed in the novel. According to the Christian point of view, the Antichrist is a person who is not so much opposed to Christ as replacing him. The prefix "anti-" has a double translation:

• denial, adversary.
• instead, substitute.

It should not be forgotten that this version differs greatly from the full context of the Bible. The New Testament says about the coming of Christ: “And being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them: The Kingdom of God will not come in a conspicuous manner. For, behold, the kingdom of God is within us” (Luke 17:20, 21). “If they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; “Behold, He is in the secret chambers,” do not believe; For as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Mt 24:26-27).

It is also worth remembering that Ivan Bezdomny defends himself from Woland with an icon of an unknown saint.

The image of Woland in art

• Alain Cuny - The Master and Margarita, 1972
• Gustav Holubek - 1989 TV series (Poland)
• Valentin Gaft - 1994 film (Russia)
• Mikhail Kozakov - "Fatal Eggs", Feature Film, 1995 (Russia-Czech Republic)

Leading the world of otherworldly forces. Woland is the devil, Satan, "the prince of darkness", "the spirit of evil and the lord of shadows" (all these definitions are found in the text of the novel).

Woland is largely focused on Mephistopheles "Faust" (1808-1832) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), including the opera, from Charles Gounod's (1818-1893) opera "Faust" (1859).

The name Woland itself is taken from a poem by Goethe, where it is mentioned only once and is usually omitted in Russian translations. This is how Mephistopheles calls himself in the scene of Walpurgis Night, demanding from evil spirits to give way: "Nobleman Woland is coming!" In the prose translation of A. Sokolovsky (1902), with the text of which Bulgakov was familiar, this passage is given as follows:

"Mephistopheles. Where did it take you! I see that I need to put my master's rights into action. Hey you! Place! Woland is coming!"

In the commentary, the translator explained the German phrase "Junker Voland kommt" as follows: "Junker means a noble person (nobleman), and Woland was one of the names of the devil. The main word "Faland" (which meant a deceiver, crafty) was already used by ancient writers in the sense of a devil ".

Bulgakov also used this last name: after a session of black magic, the employees of the Variety Theater are trying to remember the name of the magician: "- In ... It seems, Woland. Or maybe not Woland? Maybe Faland."

In the edition of 1929-1930. Woland's name was reproduced entirely in Latin on his business card: "Dr Theodor Voland". In the final text, Bulgakov refused the Latin alphabet: Ivan Bezdomny on the Patriarchs remembers only the initial letter of the surname - W ("double-ve").

This replacement of the original V ("fau") is not accidental. The German "Voland" is pronounced like Foland, and in Russian the initial "ef" in this combination creates comic effect Yes, and it is difficult to pronounce. The German "Faland" would not fit here either. With the Russian pronunciation - Faland - things were better, but there was an inappropriate association with the word "fal" (it denotes a rope that raises sails and yards on ships) and some of its slang derivatives. In addition, Faland did not meet in Goethe's poem, and Bulgakov wanted to connect his Satan with Faust, even if he was given a name not too well known to the Russian public. Rare name it was necessary so that the ordinary reader, not experienced in Demonology, would not immediately guess who Woland was.

The third wife of the writer E. S. Bulgakov captured in her diary the reading of the initial chapters latest edition"Masters and Margaritas" April 27, 1939: "Yesterday we had Faiko - both (playwright Alexander Mikhailovich Faiko (1893-1978) with his wife), Markov (Head of the Moscow Art Theater) and Vilenkin (Vitaly Yakovlevich Vilenkin (born 1910/11) ), a colleague of Pavel Alexandrovich Markov (1897-1980) in the literary part of the Moscow Art Theater). Misha read "The Master and Margarita" - from the beginning. The impression is enormous. They immediately insistently asked to set a day for the continuation. Misha asked after reading - who is Woland? Vilenkin said he guessed, but he would never tell. I suggested that he write, I will write too, and we will exchange notes. We did. He wrote: Satan, I am the devil. After that, Fyko also wanted to play. And he wrote on his note: I don't know. But I fell for the bait and wrote to him - Satan."

Bulgakov, no doubt, was quite satisfied with the experiment. Even such a qualified listener as A. M. Faiko Woland did not immediately guess. Consequently, the riddle of the foreign professor who appeared at the Patriarch's Ponds will keep the majority of readers of The Master and Margarita in suspense from the very beginning. In early editions, Bulgakov tried the names Azazello and Belial for the future Woland.

The literary genealogy of Woland, used by Bulgakov, is extremely multifaceted. The devil in "The Master and Margarita" has an obvious portrait resemblance to Eduard Eduardovich von Mandro, the infernal character in A. Bely's novel "Moscow Eccentric" (1925), presented to Bulgakov by the author. According to the definition given by A. Bely in the preface to the novel "Masks" (1933) from the same epic "Moscow" as "The Moscow Eccentric", Mandro is a combination of "a kind of Marquis de Sade and Cagliostro of the 20th century." In the preface to The Moscow Eccentric, the author argued that "in the face of Mandro, the theme is becoming obsolete" iron heel" (famous novel Jack London (John Griffith) (1876-1916), who appeared in 1908) (the enslavers of mankind)". White masks the infernality of his character in every possible way, leaving the reader in the dark whether Mandro is Satan.
Bulgakov hides the true face of Woland only at the very beginning of the novel, in order to intrigue readers, and then he directly declares with his lips Masters and Woland himself, that Satan (the devil) has definitely arrived at the Patriarch's. The version with hypnotists and mass hypnosis, which Woland and his companions allegedly subjected to Muscovites, is also present in The Master and Margarita. But its purpose is by no means a disguise. Thus, Bulgakov expresses the ability and desire of ordinary Soviet consciousness to explain any unexplained phenomena surrounding life, up to mass repression and the disappearance of people without a trace.

The author of The Master and Margarita, as it were, says: even if the devil himself with his infernal retinue, the competent authorities and Marxist theorists, like the chairman of MASSOLIT, appear in Moscow Michael Alexandrovich Berlioz, anyway, they will find a completely rational basis for this, which does not contradict the teachings of Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin, and most importantly, they will be able to convince everyone of this, including those who have experienced the influence of evil spirits.

Bulgakov could not be familiar with the theory (or principle) of falsification by the outstanding Austrian philosopher Karl Raimund Popper (1902-1993), which appeared after the death of the creator of The Master and Margarita. Popper proved that Marxist theory, as well as the teachings of psychoanalysis of the Austrian Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), are capable of explaining in their terms any phenomenon and any result of any process, so that in principle it is impossible to offer any procedure for their experimental verification. In The Master and Margarita, Bulgakov, as it were, satirically anticipated Popper's theory.

Like Mandro, Woland, according to Koroviev-Fagot, owns a villa in Nice. This detail reflected not only the acquaintance with the "Moscow Eccentric" and symbolic meaning Nice as a resort where rich people from all over the world rest, but also the circumstances of Bulgakov's biography.

In the spring of 1934, before starting work on the screenplay for Dead Souls, the writer and his wife applied for a two-month trip abroad, to France. In a letter to his friend P. S. Popov on April 28, Bulgakov shared his old dreams in connection with this: , the opportunity to see all this. For a long time already with Lyusya (E. S. Bulgakova) I talked about what kind of trip I could write!

The beginning of the future book was the sketch "It was May". May 10, 1934, still full of hopes for a trip abroad, Bulgakov, as recorded the next day in the diary of E. S. Bulgakov, to the stupid proposal of the director of the film "Dead Souls" I. A. Pyryev (1901-1968): "You M.A., let’s go to the factory, have a look…”, jokingly replied: “It’s very noisy at the factory, but I’m tired and ill. You’d better send me to Nice.”

After a humiliating refusal to foreign trip the author of The Master and Margarita fell into a depression. I had to part with the dream of Nice forever. But Woland now received a villa in this resort.

Woland's unconventionality is manifested in the fact that, being a devil, he is endowed with some obvious attributes of God. Bulgakov was well acquainted with the book of the English church historian and bishop F. V. Farrar, The Life of Jesus Christ (1873). Extracts from it have been preserved in the writer's archive.

Obviously, the episode goes back to this book, when the barman of the Variety Theater Sokov learns from Woland about his incurable disease and imminent death, but still refuses to spend his considerable savings.

In F. W. Farrar we read: “How rich, for all its brevity, is what He told ... a little parable about a rich fool who, in his greedy, God-forgetful self-confidence, intended to do both, and who, completely forgetting that there is death and that the soul cannot eat bread, he thought that these "fruits", "good" and "granaries" would be enough for his soul for a long time, and that it was enough for him only to "eat, drink and be merry", but to which, like a terrible echo, thundered from heaven stunning and full of irony sentence: "Mad! this very night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared?" (Luke XII, 16-21)."

In The Master and Margarita, Woland discusses the future of the barmaid as follows, when it turns out that "he will die in nine months, next February, from liver cancer in the clinic of the First Moscow State University, in the fourth ward":

Nine months, Woland thought thoughtfully, two hundred and forty-nine thousand ... This comes out to a round bill of twenty-seven thousand a month (for comparison: Bulgakov's salary as a consultant librettist of the Bolshoi Theater in the late 30s was 1000 rubles a month). Little, but humble life enough...
- Yes, I would not advise you to go to the clinic, - the artist continued, - what's the point of dying in the ward under the groans and wheezing of hopeless patients. Wouldn't it be better to arrange a feast for these twenty-seven thousand and, having taken poison, move to another world to the sound of strings, surrounded by drunken beauties and dashing friends?

Unlike the hero gospel parable Sokov does not enjoy earthly pleasures, but not for the sake of saving the soul, but only because of natural stinginess. Woland ironically invites him to become like a "rich fool". Likewise, Berlioz, thinking only about the blessings of life, like the upcoming trip to rest in Kislovodsk, did not heed the warning voice of Woland, convincing writers that "Christ existed" and that a person is "suddenly mortal", and immediately experienced the proof on himself: to the chairman of MASSOLIT, in full accordance with the words of Satan, cut off his head with a tram. In place of the rich hedonist were a swindler-miser and a writer-opportunist.
Through the book of F. V. Farrar it is possible to comprehend one of the meanings of the diamond triangle on Woland's cigarette case. The author of The Life of Jesus Christ wrote: "In order to show them (the chief priests, scribes, rabbis, representatives of all classes of the Sanhedrin - the highest Jewish judicial body) that Scripture itself prophetically convicts them, Christ asked if they had never read in Scripture (Ps. CXVII) about the stone that the builders rejected, but which, nevertheless, by the miraculous purposes of God, became the cornerstone? How could they continue to remain builders when the whole plan of their building was rejected and changed? Does not the ancient messianic prophecy clearly show that God will call other builders to build his temple? Woe to those who stumbled, as they did, against this rejected stone; but even now there was still time to escape the final destruction for those on whom this stone might fall. in His humanity and humility it was already to suffer a grievous loss; but to be rejected of Him when He comes in glory, would it not mean "finally to perish in the presence of the Lord?" people; but to be condemned by Him—wouldn't that mean to be "blown to dust" (Dan. II, 34-44)?"

Woland's triangle just symbolizes this cornerstone - the rejected stone, which has become the head of the corner. And the course of events in The Master and Margarita fully corresponds to the parable interpreted by F.V. Farrar. Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny , sitting on a bench ("seat of court"), again, nineteen centuries later, they judge Christ and reject his divinity (Homeless) and his very existence (Berlioz).

Woland's triangle is another warning to the chairman of MASSOLIT, a reminder of the parable about the builders of Solomon's temple, especially in combination with the words: "A brick for no reason will never fall on anyone's head ... You will die a different death." Berlioz did not heed the warning, did not believe in the existence of God and the devil, and even decided to kill Woland with a denunciation, and paid for it with a quick death.

Also, the listeners of Christ and their descendants, as emphasized by F.V. Farrar, did not escape a painful death during the capture of Jerusalem by the troops of Titus in 70 AD. n. e., which procurator Pontius Pilate predicts to the chairman of the Sanhedrin Joseph Kaifa.

After the death of Berlioz, the homeless man believed in Woland and the story of Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri, but later agreed with official version that Satan and his retinue are only hypnotists. The poet Ivan Bezdomny turned into Professor Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, parodically finding his own house (the surname is associated with the Ponyri station in the Kursk region) and, as it were, becoming a "different" builder. In the same context, Woland's words about a new building to be built on the site of the burnt Griboedov House should be taken. - a symbol of modern Soviet literature. However, the temple of new literature will have to be built according to the providence not of God, but of Woland. The new builder Ponyrev generally renounced poetry and believed in his own omniscience.

In Masonic symbolism, the triangle goes back to the legend that develops the parable of Solomon's temple. Woland's triangle is therefore related to Freemasonry . The hero of the "Moscow Eccentric" Mandro is also a Freemason. Like Eduard Eduardovich, Woland is associated through literary sources with the image of a famous adventurer, occultist and alchemist of the 18th century. Count Alessandro Cagliostro, posed as the Italian Giuseppe (Joseph) Balsamo (1743-1795).

The episode with the burning of the Griboyedov House and Woland's words about the inevitable future construction of a new building in its place is very reminiscent of one of the scenes of the fictionalized story by Mikhail Kuzmin (1872-1936) "The Wonderful Life of Joseph Balsamo, Count of Cagliostro" (1916), which in many ways served Bulgakov as a model while writing Molière.

At Kuzmin, an unknown young man in a gray cloak meets young Joseph Balsamo and asks him, pointing to a beautiful pink building: “Would you like to have such a house? to such a question, so he said nothing and only turned his eyes to the pink building. The stranger continued: “But how much more beautiful it is to build such a house than to own it.” The boy was silent all the time. where everyone would be happy." "Bricklayers build houses!" "Yes, my child, bricklayers build houses. Remember what I tell you, but forget my face." His face was beautiful, and the boy seemed to understand for the first time that there are ordinary, ugly, and beautiful faces. The young man muttered: "No matter how you goggle your eyes, you will still forget that you do not need to remember!"

Kara overtakes the House of Griboedov, where MASSOLIT is located, because the writers who occupied it do not unite, but separate and corrupt people with their false opportunistic writings, make the brilliant Master unhappy. The Kuzminsky man in gray is clearly infernal, and in full accordance with the tradition of depicting the devil, Woland appears now in a gray suit, now in the black tights of the operatic Mephistopheles.

On the Patriarchs, in a conversation with Woland, Homeless is endowed with the same traits of a naive child as the boy Balsamo in a conversation with an unknown person. In the finale, he forgets the meeting at the Patriarchs, and the Master in the last shelter forgets earthly life. The words about masons building houses here also bring to mind Freemasonry, since Masons are freemasons, builders of the Solomon Temple, and Woland is also associated with Masonic symbols and rituals.

However, Woland's goal is not only the construction of a new temple of literature, where everyone will unite and be happy, but the awakening of writers to creativity, the fruits of which may be pleasing to both God and the devil.

The characters of M. Bulgakov's novel still remain a mystery

Today, everyone knows what an ominous role played by US ambassadors in coups and "color" revolutions, but the first to notice this was the writer Mikhail Bulgakov, whose 125th birthday is celebrated in May.

... In April 1930, a tragedy happened. Vladimir Mayakovsky put a bullet in his forehead, hunted down by critics and the indifference of the authorities. Literally a few days later, in the apartment of another writer, Bulgakov, the phone rang. They called from Stalin's secretariat.

Bulgakov, who was also on the verge of despair and wrote a letter to the authorities asking them to let him go abroad, at first thought it was a hoax. But the leader himself really picked up the phone: “What, are you very tired of us?” he suddenly asked.

You need to go back in time to understand what such a call meant then. It was as if today the Lord God himself addressed you, having the power to elevate or destroy anyone. Moreover, Stalin called the writer, who at that time was not at all listed in Moscow in the lists of celebrities of the first magnitude. Vice versa! Bulgakov himself collected 298 "hostile and abusive" reviews of his work, and only three positive ones.

Mikhail Afanasyevich generally had the most unsuitable for the Soviet times biography: non-proletarian origin: father - professor of the Theological Academy, participation in the White Army, and his work itself clearly showed that the author, using the words of his hero Professor Preobrazhensky, clearly "did not like the proletariat." That is why the OGPU constantly monitored the writer, denunciations were received against him, the Soviet press vilified and spat on him. However, despite all this, Bulgakov survived those cruel times. Why?

One version of the answer is that Bulgakov was secretly patronized by Stalin. His play "Days of the Turbins", which was furiously smashed by official criticism, the leader watched ... about 20 times! But her heroes were not Bolsheviks at all, but royal officers, who flaunted on stage in epaulettes and uniforms, for the mere possession of which at that time they were put against the wall without talking. Not only that: when Stalin received a letter from one of the prominent writers demanding that the Trubin Days be banned, the leader defended it.

“The play is not so bad, because it does more good than harm. The “Days of the Turbins” is a demonstration of the all-destroying power of Bolshevism, even if people like the Turbins are forced to lay down their arms and submit to the will of the people,” Stalin said.

He not only called the disgraced writer, but also offered him a job. Moreover, he said that he would like to personally meet and talk with him. Talk to someone who was then openly called the "White Guard offspring" in Soviet newspapers! It was so incredible that it struck Mikhail Afanasyevich to the core. With trepidation and impatience he waited for a new call, waiting for the promised meeting. However, there was no call, and Bulgakov never met Stalin...

Poison of envy

Of course, the rumors about Stalin's call to Bulgakov immediately became known throughout Moscow, and aroused furious envy among his former detractors. Although the writer got a job at the Moscow Art Theater, and his plays again appeared on the stage, and his writings began to be accepted for publication, the denunciations against him became even more fierce, and the intrigues became more insidious. Someone planted Bulgakov's play "Zoyka's Apartment" for publication abroad, in which they inserted a negative reference to Stalin. Rumors began to spread that Bulgakov was a morphine addict and mentally ill, and was only thinking how to break out of the USSR as soon as possible. And this at a time when the writer lived in anticipation of a new call and the promised conversation with the leader. It became the obsession of his life. Of course, all the negative information about Bulgakov was passed on to Stalin and could not but shock him. But, nevertheless, the leader nevertheless allowed Bulgakov to write the play “Batum” about himself, praised it, although later he forbade it to be staged.

There is, of course, another explanation for the mysterious call. That it was just an insidious game of the dictator, who in this way amused himself with people, like a cat with a mouse, either squeezing the victim with his claws, or, for a while, loosening his death grip. How it really happened, we will never know. Nevertheless, the fact remains: Stalin did not destroy Bulgakov. Although, of course, he knew that he was secretly writing the "anti-Soviet novel" "The Master and Margarita." Perhaps the leader even experienced some secret satisfaction, realizing that under the name of the mysterious character of his novel - the almighty Woland - the author had in mind exactly him. And Stalin gave the Master to complete the work, leaving him free, and only because of this, this book still reached us.

But who did Mikhail Bulgakov have in mind when describing the almighty Woland in his legendary novel The Master and Margarita? Who really was his prototype? Most people think that we are talking about the devil who unexpectedly visited Stalin's Russia. The fact that Bulgakov's Woland is the devil, it would seem, is directly indicated by the epigraph to the novel, taken from Goethe's Faust: "I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good." These words belong to Mephistopheles, and therefore it is logical to assume that, under the name of Woland, Bulgakov brought it out in his novel. In addition, one of the first titles of the book speaks of this: "Consultant with a hoof." It is known who paraded through the pages of literary works with hooves and a tail.

However, the author of the book “Eros of the Impossible. The history of psychoanalysis in Russia ”Alexander Etkind put forward a version of what is actually real prototype Woland in Bulgakov's novel was ... the first US ambassador to the USSR William Bullitt ( on the picture).

Could be on an equal footing with anyone

He came to the USSR in 1933, immediately after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Soviet Russia. Overseas, Bullitt was quite an influential politician and played important role in US foreign policy before World War II. Coming from a wealthy family in Philadelphia, Bullitt studied at the prestigious universities of Yale and Harvard. After graduation, he went as a war correspondent to Europe, when the First World War. In 1917 he went to work in the State Department. He first visited Russia in 1919, where he was sent by President Woodrow Wilson to negotiate with the Soviet government. According to his memoirs, Lenin then promised the Americans that the Bolsheviks were ready to give up many territories. tsarist Russia, including Ukraine, Western Belarus, Crimea, the Caucasus, the entire Urals and Siberia with Murmansk to boot. “Lenin,” wrote Bullitt, “proposed to limit communist rule to Moscow and the small area surrounding it, plus the city now known as Leningrad.” Bullitt was delighted with Lenin. He also warmly reacted to the handsome American, called him his friend.

However, the US government, concerned only with obtaining reparations, reacted without interest to the proposals of the Bolsheviks, which Bullitt brought. In protest, he resigned. However, in 1933, when Roosevelt was already president, Bullitt was appointed ambassador to the USSR. The famous American diplomat J. Kennan recalled: "We were proud of him ... Bullitt was a charming, brilliant, well-educated, imaginative man of the world, who intellectually could be on an equal footing with anyone."

Reception at Spaso House

In April 1935, in the mansion of the American embassy on the Arbat, Bullitt gave a reception that had never been seen before in Moscow. A thousand tulips were brought from Helsinki on a special plane, birch trees were planted in tubs at one end of the embassy canteen and forced to bloom ahead of time, goats, goats, roosters and even cubs were delivered from the zoo, arranging something like a “collective farm in miniature”. Outlandish songbirds flew behind a special net. The guests were entertained by a Czech jazz band and a gypsy orchestra with dancers.

At the reception, called the "Spring Festival", there were about 500 guests - the entire Moscow elite: members of the Politburo, marshals of the Red Army, famous artists, writers and directors. There was only Stalin. Everyone gathered at midnight. The guests, except for the military, appeared in tailcoats, which was an unprecedented thing in Moscow at that time. The tables were bursting with the most exquisite snacks, caviar, sturgeon, the first, of course, freshness, and rare drinks brought from Europe. A grandiose ball began, which ended only in the morning, when Marshal Tukhachevsky, to the applause of the guests, performed a lezginka along with famous ballerina Lepeshinskaya.

Among the guests was Mikhail Bulgakov. By this time, he had already become close to the American ambassador, who had established close ties with Moscow's cultural elite. No one else in the USSR had seen such a ball. An ominous feature of the unbridled and, it seemed, careless fun was given by the fact that in the American embassy they all drank and danced together - both the executioners and their future victims: very many participants in the celebration soon ended up in the basements of the Lubyanka or in the camps. Almost the entire Moscow elite was destroyed. The mortal horror that seemed to hover in the air over the participants of the Spring Festival could not but be felt by the sensitive Bulgakov.

The writer's wife later said that the famous scene of a fantastic ball with Satan, described in his novel, "reflected a reception from W. K. Bullitt, the American ambassador to the USSR."

Bulgakov and Bullitt met at the Moscow Art Theater, where they came to the play "Days of the Turbins". After that, the writer often visited the US Embassy, ​​dined with the ambassador, and even invited him to his home. It is curious that in conversations Bullitt called Bulgakov "Master", although, of course, he had not yet seen his novel. And in the first editions of The Master and Margarita, written before the appearance of Bullitt in Moscow, there was still neither the Master nor Woland. It was during these years that Bulgakov tried to travel abroad, he had already applied for travel, he was issued a foreign passport, which was never issued later. Perhaps he hoped that the all-powerful American ambassador would help him in this? A man from another country, capable of quirks, mischief and the most unexpected deeds, Bullitt was quite suitable for the role of the enigmatic " foreign specialist". In addition, like Woland, the ambassador was bald and had a completely magnetic look. There are also incredible coincidences in the biographies of Bulgakov himself and Bullitt. So, they were born in the same year, and one of Bulgakov's early pseudonyms was the name M. Bull.

crazy dream

Analyzing all these coincidences, Alexander Etkind comes to the conclusion that “Woland turns out to be Bullitt, the Master’s crazy dream - emigration, and the novel reads like a call for help. It doesn't matter if it's otherworldly or foreign, hypnotic, magical or real."

As we have already noted, Bulgakov was tormented, waiting for a miracle - a call from Stalin. But the miracle didn't happen. And Bullitt couldn't help it. In 1935, the ambassador wrote to Roosevelt, referring to the people who disappeared without a trace in the cellars of the Lubyanka: "Of course, I cannot do anything to save at least one of them."

Cheerful and mischievous, who became friends with Lenin, Bullitt at first was very curious and even sympathetic to the “Soviet experiment”, but left Moscow, where repressions were rampant, as a convinced anti-Soviet.

Curiously, he also wrote a book. But not about Woland and Moscow, but about US President Woodrow Wilson. However, her epigraph was the same as in the novel "The Master and Margarita": "I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good."

But to do good for Russia - to save Bulgakov - the genius of Russian literature from a slow death in Soviet Moscow, even he could not. However, speaking of literary analogies, even quite convincing ones, one should not forget what Bulgakov himself once said to one of his friends: “Woland has no prototypes. Please, keep that in mind."

Meanwhile, Stalin, although he himself no longer called Bulgakov, closely followed how the writer lives and what he does, whose work he highly appreciated. When Bulgakov died, on the same day, a call from the Stalinist secretariat rang again in his apartment. "What, Comrade Bulgakov died?" asked the stranger. “Yes, he died,” was the answer. On the other end of the wire, they hung up. None of the writers in the USSR were ever called like that after death. Or maybe, however, they didn’t call from the secretariat at all? ..

Special for the Centenary