Why does the pontificate become the main character of the biblical chapters? Essay Bulgakov M.A.
The role of biblical chapters in the novel by M.F. Bulgakov Master and Margarita. Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” is read and loved largely due to its “ancient” part. This contains the original version of the events that the Gospel tells us about.
The main characters of the Yershalaim chapters are the fifth procurator of Judea, the horseman Pontius Pilate and the beggar tramp Yeshua Ha-Nozri, in whom Jesus Christ is guessed. Why does Bulgakov tell us about them? I think to give a high example with which the vulgar Moscow life can be compared. And these chapters are written differently than the modern part of the novel.
How solemn and alarming it sounds: “The darkness that came from the Mediterranean Sea covered the city hated by the procurator. The hanging bridges connecting the temple with the terrible Anthony Tower disappeared, an abyss descended from the sky and flooded the winged gods over the hippodrome, the Hasmonean palace with loopholes, bazaars, caravanserais, alleys, ponds...
So, the image of Yeshua Ha-Nozri is in many ways close to that widespread at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. interpretation of Jesus Christ primarily as an ideal man. M.A. Bulgakov does not oppose his hero to Christ, but, as it were, “concretizes” the gospel legend (as he understands it), helping us to better understand it. His Christ is devoid of an aura of divine greatness, and yet he evokes respect and love - such is...
Another significant difference between the plot of the Gospels and Bulgakov’s novel is that the first is determined by the events of the life of Jesus, while in Bulgakov the main person holding together the Yershalaim chapters is the procurator Pontius Pilate. (A procurator was a Roman official who had the highest administrative and judicial power in a province. Pontius Pilate was appointed procurator of Judea in the year 29.. This is a complex, dramatic figure. He is smart, not alien to thoughts, human feelings, living compassion. Until Yeshua preaches that all people are good, the curator is inclined to look condescendingly at this harmless eccentricity. But now the conversation has turned to the supreme power, and Pilate is pierced by a sharp fear. He is still trying to bargain with his conscience, trying to persuade Yeshua to compromise, trying to quietly suggest saving answers , but Yeshua cannot Lie.
Overcome by fear, the all-powerful procurator loses the remnants of his proud dignity and exclaims: “Do you believe, unfortunate one, that the Roman procurator will release the man who said what you said? ...Or do you think I'm ready to take your place? I don’t share your thoughts.” Still, as in the Bible, Pilate does not find serious grounds for the execution of Bulgakov’s Jesus, but the top clergy continue to insist on the death sentence. Pilate succumbs to the shameful cowardice of an intelligent and almost omnipotent ruler: out of fear of denunciation, which could ruin his career, Pilate goes against his convictions, against the voice of humanity, against his conscience. He makes his last pitiful attempts to save the unfortunate man, and when this fails, he tries to at least alleviate the reproaches of his conscience. But there is not and cannot be a moral ransom for betrayal. And the basis of betrayal, as is almost always the case, is cowardice.
The Master and Margarita" has absorbed all the best from the rich creative experience of Mikhail Bulgakov. Translated into all the major languages of the world, the novel is the most widely read work written by a Russian author, including all the biblical chapters, as well as all the vices of people.
“The Bible belongs to everyone, atheists and believers alike. This is the book of humanity."
“The main secret of humanity is the “unsettledness of the human spirit”, “misunderstanding of one’s soul.” Because of this, “dark movements of the soul.”
F. M. Dostoevsky
The ideas of Christianity permeate the work of many writers: F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, B. L. Pasternak, Ch. Aitmatov, L. Andreev, M. A. Bulgakov. It is impossible to understand the philosophy of life, it is impossible to unravel the “mystery of the human soul” without knowing the Bible. For this is a book about Good and Evil, truth and lies, how to live and how to die. Every person needs to become familiar with the Divine meaning of existence.
The lofty world of the gospel legend about Jesus Christ acquired the features of a unique reality under Bulgakov’s pen. History becomes modernity, the otherworldly world becomes reality. Bulgakov plunges us into the created world of a fantastic idea, which turns out to be the highest reality. The master writes a novel about the world of Yershalaim, about Yeshua and Pilate, and the action of the novel he created is connected with the course of modern Moscow life, where the author ends his earthly life, hunted down by persecutors. The Master goes into the other world to wait there for the hour when the modern world will be renewed and will need his novel, his thoughts. He leaves to find immortality and long-awaited peace.
Bulgakov stubbornly overcomes the Gospel legends from Mark, Matthew, John, Luke. He makes the Bible palpably authentic and carries in his warm palms the heartfelt humanity in it.
Biblical motifs are eternal universal truths. Each hero of the novel, like every person, is in search of the truth. What is good and evil? lies and truth? cowardice and courage? space and time? What is a person?
Of particular interest is the Master's novel - the world of Yershalaim. “At ten o’clock in the morning, with a shuffling cavalry gait, the sixth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, came out onto the balcony.” When we first meet this formidable man, we learn that he has a headache, that he hates the smell of rose oil, that he loves his dog. He is characterized by ordinary human feelings and experiences. Having involuntarily sent Yeshua to execution, Pontius Pilate became sad: it seemed to him that he had not finished speaking or had not listened to something. Yeshua believed that all people are good, but some were spoiled by life circumstances. And Pontius Pilate and the Rat Slayer, and Matthew Levi, and even Judas of Kiriath. People must love and believe, without this everything loses its meaning. “The trouble is that you are too closed and have completely lost faith in people... you can’t put all your affection into a dog...” (Yeshua to Pontius Pilate). The dialogue between Yeshua and Pilate about Judas hypnotizes with its significance, with some secret “second” meaning. The procurator knows that Judas is not “a very kind and inquisitive person”; Judas betrays Yeshua. Yeshua foresees the trouble that will happen to Judas, but knows nothing about his fate. He does not have divine omniscience, he is a defenseless and fragile person. But until the last minute Yeshua remained truly kind. He didn't lecture anyone. He asks the executioner not for death for his comrade, but for a simple human thing: “Give him something to drink.” What does Yeshua say as he dies on the cross? “Yeshua, who had blood running down his side in a narrow stream, suddenly sagged, changed his face and uttered the word in Greek: “Hegemon.” Why "hegemon"? Who sent Yeshua to death as a deliverance from suffering? Pontius Pilate. And he was doomed to immortality. Death-deliverance, which occurs during a thunderstorm, is sent by Woland in response to the blasphemy and curses of Levi Matthew. Material from the site
No less interesting and instructive are the events taking place in the Moscow world. It is no coincidence that Woland and his retinue come from the other world to the Moscow world. At a black magic session, Woland names the reason for the visit: “I’m interested in whether the townspeople have changed internally?” However, he is convinced that people have remained the same: angry and envious, irresponsible and lazy, thirsty for money and not believing in anything. The poet Alexander Ryukhin admits: “I don’t believe in anything I write about.”
And, of course, in such a vile world there is no place for the Master. Therefore, Woland recruited the Master and his beloved Margarita to his place in the other world. Only here did he find immortality and peace. But not the light.
A person must change himself, and then the meaning of life will appear. The one who loves lives. Another biblical theme. Love your father and mother, your neighbor, your enemy. And in the novel, Bulgakov showed that love can accomplish. Margarita saved the Master.
The writer asked many questions in his book. And each of us must find our own answers, our own truth. Reflecting on the novel “The Master and Margarita,” you involuntarily ask yourself Bulgakov’s question: “If there is no God, then who controls life?”
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- With a shuffling cavalry gait, at ten o’clock in the morning he came out onto the balcony...
Subject:Biblical chapters and their role in solving moral problems in M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita.”
Goals and objectives of the lesson.
1. Find out for what purpose M. Bulgakov introduces biblical stories and their heroes into his novel? How does he see and portray the main biblical characters of Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate?
2. Determine what philosophical and moral problems the author raises and solves in the Yershalaim chapters? What does it warn us about, what does it warn us against?
3. Fostering a sense of responsibility for one’s actions, awakening the concepts of goodness, mercy, conscience, etc.
Lesson form discussion of problems at a round table, discussion (research work on the texts of the Bible and novel).
Decor:
1. Portrait of M. Bulgakov (performed by 11th grade students).
2. Bible, Gospel of Matthew.
3. M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”.
4. Illustrations for the scenes “Trial”, “Execution” (performed by 11th grade students).
5. Set up a stand with the works of last year’s graduates:
a) abstract “Biblical chapters and their role in solving the philosophical and aesthetic problems of M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”;
b) the essay “Letter to the Procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate”;
c) a report on the life and work of M. Bulgakov.
Epigraph for the lesson: “Yes, take any five pages from any of his novels, and without any identification you will be convinced that you are dealing with a Writer” (M. Bulgakov.)
Posters for the lesson:
1. “Cowardice is an extreme expression of internal subordination, lack of freedom of spirit, the main cause of social meanness on earth.” (V. Lakshin.)
2."Conscience atonement for guilt, the possibility of internal cleansing" (E. V. Korsalova).
Lesson steps (On the desk):
1. Comparison of Bulgakov's plot with the gospel basis. The purpose of conversion and rethinking of the biblical story.
2. Pontius Pilate. Contrasts in the depiction of the main character of the Yershalaim chapters.
3. Yeshua Ha-Nozri. Sermons of a wandering philosopher: nonsense or the pursuit of truth?
4. Philosophical and moral problems raised in the Yershalaim chapters. Central problem.
5. Novel-warning. Creative problem solving.
During the classes.
1. Organizational moment.
2. Introduction to the lesson.
Teacher's word. I would like to start our first lesson on M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” with lines from the article by Elena Vladimirovna Korsalova - Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor of Literature - “Conscience, Truth, Humanity...”
“Finally, this talented Russian novel has come to school, embodying the author’s thoughts about his era and eternity, man and the world, the artist and power, a novel in which satire, subtle psychological analysis and philosophical generalizations are amazingly intertwined...”
As a teacher, I completely agree with Elena Vladimirovna and will gladly repeat her words: “Finally, this talented Russian novel has come to school...” And I’ll add on my own behalf: the novel is complex, requiring deep thought and certain knowledge.
Today we begin to study it.
The topic of the first lesson is:
"Biblical chapters and their role in solving the philosophical and aesthetic problems of M. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita."
When you read this novel for the first time in the summer, I’m sure you noticed its composition. And this is no coincidence. The composition of the novel is original and multifaceted. Within the framework of one work, two novels interact in a complex manner:
1st a story about the life fate of the Master,
2nd a novel about Pontius Pilate created by the Master.
It turned out to be a novel within a novel.
The chapters of the insert novel tell about one day of the Roman procurator. They are dispersed in the main narrative about the Moscow life of the main character, the Master, and the people around him. There are only four of them (2, 16, 25 and 26 chapters). They wedge themselves into the mischievous Moscow chapters and differ sharply from them: in the severity of the narrative, the rhythmic beginning, and antiquity (after all, they take us from Moscow in the 30s of the twentieth century to the city of Yershalaim, also in the 30s, but in the first century).
Both lines of a single work modern and mythological explicitly and implicitly echo each other, which helps the writer to show his contemporary reality more broadly and to comprehend it (and this is one of the most important tasks of the writer M. Bulgakov, which he solves in all his works.)
Objectives of our lesson:
Draw parallels and test modern reality with the experience of world culture at the level of eternal values and universal moral principles.
And the foundations of this moral experience are laid in Christianity. Anyone who reads the Bible can learn about them.
Compare Bulgakov's plot with the gospel basis, understand why Bulgakov turns to biblical plots, why he reinterprets and changes them;
Determine what philosophical and moral problems the author raises and solves, what he warns about.
I understand the complexity of the task for the first lesson, but I hope that by working with the texts of the Gospel and the novel at home, answering homework questions, with my help in class, at this round table together we can discuss many important issues and try to draw conclusions .
I ask you to boldly express your opinions, even if they are not entirely correct, controversial, listen carefully to the answers of your comrades, use signal cards (!) so that I can notice your desire to speak out in time. That is, I expect full-fledged work of thought and speech from you and I promise to be a good helper to you.
So let's get started Stage 1 lesson. All three groups received the task .
1. Comparison of Bulgakov's plot with the gospel basis. Purpose of appeal and rethinking the biblical story.
Introductory word: To those who do not know the Bible, it seems that the chapters of Yershalaim a paraphrase of the gospel story of the trial of the Roman governor in Judea, Pontius Pilate, over Jesus Christ and the subsequent execution of Jesus. But a simple comparison of the Gospel basis with Bulgakov’s text reveals many significant differences.
1 question:What are these differences?
Let's look at your homework:
Age (Jesus - 33 years old, Yeshua - 27 years old);
Origin (Jesus son of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Yeshua's father Syrian, and mother woman of questionable behavior; he doesn’t remember his parents);
Jesus god, king; Yeshua poor wandering philosopher (position in society);
Absence of students;
Lack of popularity among the people;
He did not ride on a donkey, but entered on foot;
Changed the nature of the sermon;
After death, the body is kidnapped and buried by Matthew Levi;
Judas did not hang himself, but was killed by order of Pilate;
The divine origin of the Gospel is disputed;
The lack of predestination of his death on the cross in the name of atonement for the sins of mankind;
There are no words “cross” and “crucified”, but there are rough words “pillar”, “hang”;
the main character is not Yeshua (whose prototype is Jesus Christ), but Pontius Pilate.
2 Question:Why does M. Bulgakov turn to biblical stories and their heroes in his novel? on the one hand and on the other why, for what purpose does he rethink them?
The image of Yeshua Ha-Nozri depicts not the son of God, but the son of man, i.e. a simple person, although endowed with high moral qualities;
M. Bulgakov pays attention not to the idea of divine predestination, the predestination of death in the name of atonement for human sins, but to the earthly idea of power and social injustice;
Making Pontius Pilate the main character, he wants to pay special attention to the problem of a person’s moral responsibility for what is happening around him;
Appeals to biblical stories and characters to emphasize the importance of everything that will be discussed and the problems that will be solved.
Conclusion: Turning to the biblical story emphasizes the importance of what is described in the Yershalaim chapters, and the author’s rethinking of them is due to his desire to bring universal moral ideals closer to the earthly problems of power and human responsibility for happening.
Stage 2 of the lesson. Group 1 prepared materials for the question.
Pontius Pilate. Contrasts in the depiction of the main character of the Yershalaim chapters.
Teacher: I propose to start working on the image of Pontius Pilate from the text. Let us read the lines telling about the appearance of this significant and complex figure in the palace: “In a white cloak...”
Comments: One cannot help but feel the significance and special emotional content of this phrase even by ear. But then comes a phrase that immediately removes this aura of significance, emphasizing the hero’s earthly weaknesses, somewhat grounding him:
“More than anything in the world... since dawn” (p. 20, 2 paragraphs)
Conclusion: Thus, throughout the entire novel, the image of Pilate will combine the majestic features of a strong and intelligent ruler and signs of human weakness.
Let's turn to the text and find other examples of contrast there the main artistic technique used by the author Bulgakov in his depiction of Pontius Pilate.
Majestic features of a ruler.Human weaknesses.
1. In the past, a fearless warrior, the rider of the "golden spear".
2. Externally the majestic figure of the all-powerful procurator.
3. Instills fear in everyone, calls himself “fierce”
monster."
4. Surrounded by a crowd of servants and guards.
5. Wants to be fair and help Yeshua.
6. Called upon to decide the destinies of people.
7. Sees that Yeshua is not guilty.
8. Delivered a verdict.
1. Hates the smell of rose oil.
2. Inside Strong headache.
3. He is afraid of Caesar, hides cowardice, and is afraid of denunciations.
4.Lonely, only friend Bang the dog.
5. Lost faith in people, afraid of losing his career.
6. Sends an innocent person to his death.
7. Accuses you of things you don’t believe yourself.
believes.
8. He suffers in dreams and in reality.
Question: Why is there so much contrast in the image of the procurator Pontius Pilate?
Bulgakov wants to show how the good and evil principles fight in a person, how Pilate wants to be fair and commits evil.
Let's leave Pontius Pilate for a while and turn to another hero of the Yershalaim chapters Yeshua Ha-Nozri.
Stage 3 of the lesson.
Yeshua Ha-Nozri. Sermons of a wandering philosopher. Delirium or the pursuit of truth? (group 2).
Teacher: Let’s turn to the text again and see how the second hero of the Yershalaim chapters appears in the palace and in the novel.
"This man..." (p. 22).
"Bound instantly..." (p. 24).
"The arrested man staggered..." (p. 29).
Comments: This description creates an image of a pathetic, physically weak person who finds it difficult to endure bodily torture.
Question: What is this hero like internally? Is he as weak in spirit as in body?
Let's look at the text:
1 . What is Ga-Notsri accused of?
2. What does he really preach? What does it claim?
The main accusations are in the words of the procurator: “So you were going to destroy the temple building and called on the people to do this?”
Sermons of Yeshua:
1. “All people are good,” “There is only one God... in Him I believe.”
2. "... the temple of the old faith will collapse and a new temple of truth will be created."
3. "... all power is violence over people and that the day will come when there will be no power, neither Caesars, nor any other power. Man will move into the kingdom of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all."
Teacher: Let's talk about Yeshua's statements. Let's look at them through the eyes of Pontius Pilate.
1. Which of his statements is perceived by Pontius Pilate as nonsense, as harmless eccentricity?
2. Which of them is considered easily disputable?
3. What makes him tremble or fear? Why?
Pilate considers the first statement nonsense and disputes it in his own way: physically - with the help of the Rat Slaughterer, morally a reminder of the betrayal of Judas;
The second statement makes him mock: “What is truth?” The question should destroy the interlocutor, because... it is not given to man to know either the truth, or even what the truth is. For people this is a complex, abstract concept. How can you answer this question?
What would you answer?
You can expect a stream of abstract, vague words.
BUT: “The truth, first of all, is that you have a headache, and it hurts so much that you are cowardly thinking about death,” Yeshua's answer is simple and clear, the truth comes from a person and is closed on him.
This is a piece of truth that Pontius Pilate cannot dispute.
The 3rd statement caused fear in the procurator, because he is afraid of denunciations, afraid of losing his career, afraid of Caesar's reprisal, afraid of the pillar, i.e. afraid for himself.
Question: Is Yeshua afraid for himself? How is he behaving?
Yeshua is afraid of bodily torture. But he does not deviate from his convictions, does not change his views.
Question: What qualities of the hero are revealed to you in his preaching and behavior?
The main qualities of Yeshua: kindness, compassion, courage.
Teacher: In revealing the image of the second hero of the Yershalaim chapters, the technique of contrast is also used. The physically weak Yeshua Ha-Nozri turns out to be strong in spirit.
Teacher: Let's go back to the interrogation scene and seewhat does the Jewish philosopher think about the wandering philosopher procurator?
Questions:1. Did Pontius Pilate understand that Yeshua was not guilty? Is he sure about this?
Yes. “A formula was formed in the bright and light head of the procurator. It was as follows: the hegemon examined the case of the wandering philosopher Yeshua, and did not find any corpus delicti in it.”
2. Does he want to save him from a painful death? To be fair?
Yes. Pontius Pilate gave hints to Yeshua so that he would renounce his words about Caesar, sending a “hinting glance,” etc.
3. What feeling conquers all others in Pontius Pilate? How does this happen?
At first, Pilate wants to be fair and save the philosopher. But the latter’s reasoning about power plunges him into horror. "Dead!" then: “They died!” He makes an attempt to persuade Yeshua to renounce his words, but to no avail.
Fear turns out to be stronger than the desire to be fair. He wins.
4. Find the words of the procurator in which the death sentence sounds.
- “You think, unfortunate... I don’t share” (p. 35)
Teacher: So, the internal struggle in Pontius Pilate between good and evil, between the desire to be fair or to pass a death sentence on the innocent is over.
The all-powerful procurator, an intelligent, wise ruler, became afraid, became cowardly, and became cowardly.
He goes through states: from fear - to cowardice - to meanness.
Question: Tell me at what stage of this logical chain you could still understand Andjustify Pilate? When not?
Fear is a physiological feeling (equal to fright), characteristic of all living beings, it is reflexive, like the instinct of self-preservation.
Those. Pilate could have experienced a feeling of fear, this is normal, not condemnable.
But man is a rational being. He is responsible for his actions. Pilate must not give in to fear, defeat cowardice, and remain completely true to himself and his convictions.
Sentence of death to an innocent person This is already meanness. And meanness it's immoral.
Accent:Cowardice between fear and meanness. Fear does not always lead to cowardice , but from cowardice to meanness is 1 step.
Conclusion: "Cowardice undoubtedly one of the most terrible vices," Yeshua said so.
“No, philosopher, I object to you: this is the most terrible vice,” the inner voice of Pontius Pilate.
And indeed: “Cowardice is an extreme expression of internal subordination, lack of freedom of spirit, the main cause of social meanness on earth.”
So it was with Pontius Pilate: he committed meanness out of fear, out of cowardice. But that's not all. Pontius Pilate will save both his life and his career. But he will deprive himself of something very important.
What is this?
Pontius Pilate lost his peace. His conscience will torment him.
Did Pilate try to correct what he had done, and how?
Yes. Orders to kill Judas. He will want to benefit Matthew Levi.
Will this calm him down?
No. “For about two thousand years he sits on this platform and sleeps, but when the moon comes, ... he is tormented by insomnia” (p. 461).
“He has no peace under the moon... he claims that he didn’t agree on something then... with the prisoner Ga-Notsri... more than anything in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory.”
“Twelve thousand moons for one moon once upon a time, isn’t that too much?” asked Margarita.
Let's finish our conversation about the heroes of the biblical chapters and turn to their problems.
Stage 4 of the lesson. Group 3 prepared materials for the question.
Philosophical and moral-aesthetic problems raised in the Yershalaim chapters.
Teacher: Now I want to turn to group No. 3.
Their homework was a question about the problems of the novel posed by the author in the Yershalaim chapters. Listening to and participating in the statements in today's lesson, I think they were able to complete their homework sketches. And I give the floor to them.
Among all the problems of the novel “The Master and Margarita” we want to highlight two separate groups, which we could call: “philosophical” and “moral-aesthetic”.
Moreover, we noticed that these groups are different in quantitative terms. Because philosophy science about the most general laws of development of nature, society and thinking, then the philosophical problems, in our opinion, raised in these chapters, are also connected with the most general laws.
Therefore, we have identified the following problems of a philosophical nature:
What is good and evil?
What is truth?
What is the meaning of human life?
Man and his faith.
Considering that “...morality this is a rule that determines behavior, spiritual and mental qualities necessary for a person in society, as well as the implementation of these rules, behavior,” we highlight the moral and aesthetic problems of the novel raised in the Yershalaim chapters:
Spiritual freedom and spiritual dependence.
A person's responsibility for his actions.
Man and power.
Social injustice in human life.
Compassion and mercy.
Question:Which of the problems posed by the author is, in your opinion, central?
The problem of a person’s responsibility for his actions, i.e. problem of conscience.
E.V. Korsalova confirms this idea in her article. She also talks about why conscience is given to man: “Conscience a person’s internal compass, his moral judgment of himself, the moral assessment of his actions. Conscience atonement for guilt, the possibility of internal cleansing."
Remember, children, these words.
Question for everyone:Which of these problems can be called contemporary to us, today?
All.
Conclusion. M. Bulgakov raised eternal, undying problems in his novel. His novel is addressed not only to his contemporaries, but also to his descendants.
We will continue to work on these issues in the next lesson.
Stage 5 of the lesson.
Romance warning. Creative problem solving.
"Roman Warning" This is a bitter writer’s prediction of what pictures could become reality if the current life spiral continues to unwind.”
These words from the critic’s article also apply to the novel by M. Bulgakov, who wants to warn us, all living people, against dealings with conscience, against spiritual lack of freedom.
I asked you to approach this issue creatively and solve it in an original way.
What came of it?
Group 1 prepared a drawing illustration for the scene "Court";
Group 2 prepared a drawing illustration for the "Execution" scene;
Group 3 completed last year’s work: 1) abstract “The role of the Yershalaim chapters in solving the moral and philosophical problems of the novel”; 2) the essay “Letter to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate.”
And the guys also wrote poems, let them complete our lesson.
Summing up the lesson assessments.
1. I am satisfied (not satisfied)… With what?
2. We coped with the tasks (we failed).
3. Difficulty of the topic and problem.
4. Joint work. Ratings for group members.
Homework:
2. For the topic “Satire in the Novel”, select material for the question: “Who does Woland punish and for what?”
3. Evil, greed, indifference, selfishness, heartlessness, lies their examples are in the Moscow chapters.
Poem "Pilate's Dream"
N.P. Borisenko
Pilate again has an endless dream:
The court is administered by the procurator, he is close to the truth.
In the past, the valiant Horseman of the Golden Spear,
How will he glorify his reign today?
Before him is kind and bright, radiant with kindness,
Like virtue itself, together with truth itself.
Good people, is this his crime?
That he walks around the world, sowing peace and goodness?
What brings healing through the walls of palaces
How does revelation itself see the world without fetters?
The procurator wrinkles his forehead. Be brave, hegemon,
Is the damned fear generated in you?
Innocent, you know, so say it, don’t be silent.
Whose fate are you deciding on this moonlit night?
He remained silent... did not correct... did not save him from the pillar...
And he sent himself, not him, to torment.
And there is no peace for the soul the punishment is terrible:
To be immortal to the hero and his vice.
Cowardice, meanness out of fear the most terrible vice!
Conscience here is your chopping block
Cross immortality period!
Behind the lesson line
In preparation for this lesson, the class was divided into three working groups, each of which received a specific task: one big question (see questions 2, 3, 4 in the “Lesson Stages” section) and a general task (see question 1).
A creative solution to the problem of a novel-warning (see question 5) is designed for the individual abilities of students (in poetry, visual arts, etc.).
2. The assignment for the next lesson on the novel is also advanced in nature. Questions 1 and 2 are given to the whole class, but Question 3 can be assigned to groups or given as an individual task.
Biblical motifs in Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita
Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” is a special work in which the writer managed to fuse together myth and reality, satirical everyday life and a romantic plot, the dispassion of an objective image and irony, sarcasm. How can the motif of eternal human values be traced in the novel? What forces shape the destinies of people and the historical process itself? What underlies human behavior: a coincidence of circumstances, a series of accidents, predestination or adherence to chosen ideals and ideas? Already at the very beginning of the work, these questions are posed to us.
The plot of the novel is an argument between two writers, Mikhail Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny, with a stranger they met on the Patriarch's Ponds. To the heroes’ maxim about the impossibility of the existence of God, Woland objects: if there is no God, who controls human life and “the whole order on earth”? It seems that Ivan Bezdomny was able to answer this question: “The man himself controls.” But the further development of the plot refutes this thesis and emphasizes the relativity of human knowledge, man’s dependence on a thousand accidents (remember, for example, the absurd death of Berlioz under the wheels of a tram). And if a person’s life is really all woven from accidents, then can he vouch for tomorrow, for his future, or be responsible for others? What is the truth in this chaotic world? Are there any immutable moral categories, or are they fluid, changeable, and a person is driven by the fear of power and death, the thirst for power and wealth? These questions are posed by the author of the novel in the “gospel” chapters; a kind of ideological center of the work, which are chapters from the Master’s novel. The Master's novel is a work about a person's moral responsibility for his actions. Pontius Pilate's rich life experience helps him understand Yeshua as a person. The Roman procurator has no desire to ruin the life of the wandering philosopher; he tries to persuade Yeshua to compromise, and when this fails, to persuade the high priest Kaifa to pardon Ha-Notsri on the occasion of the Easter holiday.
Observing the author's remarks to Pontius Pilate's remarks, we discover in him human complicity with Yeshua, pity, and compassion. And at the same time fear. It is he, born of dependence on the state, the need to follow its interests, and not the truth, that ultimately determines the choice of Pontius Pilate. For Bulgakov, Pontius Pilate, in contrast to the tradition established in the history of Christianity, is not just a coward, a Pharisee, an apostate. His image is dramatic: he is both an accuser and a victim. By apostatizing from Yeshua, he destroys himself, his soul. That is why, driven into a corner by the need to put the wandering philosopher to death, he says to himself: “Dead!”, and then: “Dead!” He perishes along with Yeshua, perishes as a free person. The theme of moral apostasy in the novel is associated with the theme of redemption. Pontius Pilate, punished by the memory of mankind for his apostasy, languishes in solitude for twelve thousand moons. The writer projects the choice of the Roman procurator for eternity, for the entire course of world history. The concrete-temporal dispute between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua about truth and goodness turns into a timeless conflict. It reflects the eternal confrontation between the ideal and the real, the universal and the socio-political.
Who is Bulgakov's Yeshua? How is he different from the Jesus of the Gospels? Bulgakov tells the legend of Christ in his own way. The image of the hero is surprisingly tangible, it grows out of realistic details, his character is vitally convincing - he is an ordinary mortal man, insightful and naive, wise and simple-minded. At the same time, it is also the embodiment of a pure idea, the highest prototype of man and humanity. Yeshua is defenseless, physically weak, but spiritually strong - he is the herald of new human ideals. Neither fear nor punishment can force him to change the idea of goodness and mercy. Even when faced with the threat of death, he does not give up on his ideas and ideals. Yeshua Bulgakov essentially had no direct literary prototypes, “elder brothers,” since until the twentieth century there was a certain unspoken prohibition: attempts to portray Jesus could be regarded as blasphemy. Only Dostoevsky in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” creates his image for the first time in Russian literature. But his Christ is silent, almost incorporeal, not at all from the earthly world. Images of people of Christian spirit and holiness were found in literature in the 19th century: the Prophet of Lermontov, the heroes of Dostoevsky (Prince Myshkin, Elder Zosima, Alyosha Karamazov).
In the densely populated world of Bulgakov's novel, there is not only Yeshua - the prototype of Christ, but also Satan - Woland with his retinue, whose image is characterized by its multidimensionality: he is both a character and an idea, he is both real (the author endows the image with many life details), and represents , at the same time, a creature of another - fantastic, otherworldly - world. He is omnipresent: he has control over space and time, he could be present during the interrogation of Yeshua by Pontius Pilate, have breakfast with the philosopher Kant, and know many outstanding people of the past. At the same time, an interesting fact becomes clear: none of the characters in the novel, except for the Master and Margarita, recognizes Satan in Woland, since a simple man in the street does not allow the existence of something inexplicable from the point of view of common sense. Although the name Faland in German served to designate the devil, the image of Bulgakov cannot be reduced only to this medieval concept. Woland absorbed many features of other spirits of evil: Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Asmodeus. Most of all, Woland is associated with Goethe's Mephistopheles. Their “spiritual kinship” is already established by the epigraph to the novel itself. But, unlike Mephistopheles, Bulgakov’s character does not sow evil for no reason and is not a spirit of temptation. Some of Woland's traits (fearless omniscience, proud loneliness) bring him closer to Lermontov's Demon. At the same time, such a devil as Bulgakov portrayed him has not yet existed in world literature. It is impossible to evaluate it unambiguously.
For example, I see in Woland, first of all, the spirit of irony, conceit and denial. The world is open to Bulgakov’s all-seeing hero without blush or makeup. Woland's ironic view of life is close to the author. He examines man and humanity from a certain distance - cultural, temporal - trying to identify what is imperfect in them. With this view, life appears as a struggle between opposing and mutually exclusive principles. In this regard, any judgment about the world turns out to be one-sided, because good is one-sided, but if the line is crossed, it is no longer good, and truth, raised to an absolute, turns into its opposite. Woland is involved in the very movement of life, in which the condition for its continuation is denial. With the help of his retinue he ridicules and destroys, with the help of his retinue, everything that has deviated from goodness, has lied, become corrupted, become morally impoverished, and lost its high ideal. The Prince of Darkness conducts his eternal experiment, again and again testing the deeds of people, their world history, verifying what is true, should exist forever, and what must perish, burn in the cleansing flame. Woland defines the measure of evil, vice, and self-interest by the measure of truth, beauty, and selfless goodness. He restores the balance between good and evil and thereby serves good. That is why houses of debauchery are burning in Moscow, and the Master’s manuscript is not subject to any flame.
Bulgakov tells us: people have forgotten why they came to this land. People have forgotten about duty, they have squandered their warmth in the everyday bustle, they have ceased to distinguish between good and evil, and Woland persistently invites some of them to look into their souls to see if there is even a drop of kindness and mercy left there.
“The Master and Margarita” is reality and fantasy, satire and love. Four chapters of a historical and philosophical nature stand out in particular. This “in a novel” is a tale about Christ and Pontius Pilate. The chapters about the procurator of Judea and Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Jesus Christ) are written by Bulgakov's main character - the Master. Based on a biblical story, this novel became the fate of its author. The master, at Bulgakov’s request, presented the well-known biblical story of the condemnation and death penalty of Christ in such a way that it is impossible to doubt its reality. she came out so earthly, so alive, as if Bulgakov himself was present at all this. Yeshua in the image of the Master is not a mythological character, but a living one, capable of feeling both indignation and annoyance. He is afraid of pain, afraid of death. But despite his outward ordinariness, Yeshua is an extraordinary person. Yeshua's supernatural power is embedded in his words, in his conviction of their truth. But the main quality that distinguishes Yeshua from all other characters in the novel is independence of mind and spirit. They are devoid of conventions and dogmas. They are free. Neither the power of Pontius Pilate nor the threat of death can kill him. Thanks to this independence of mind and spirit, truths hidden from others are revealed to Yeshua. And he brings these truths, which are very dangerous for the authorities, to the people.
To create such a thing, the Master himself must have at least some of its qualities. The master professes those same truths, preaches goodness and justice, although he himself was not humble, tolerant and pious. But the Master still has the same dependence, the same inner spiritual will as his hero who goes to Golgotha.
The procurator of Judea listens with horror to thoughts about power. Yeshua says that the time will come when power will not be needed. Such words were not only scary, but also risky to listen to. Protecting himself from prying ears, the procurator almost shouted: “There has not been, is not and will not be a school of greater and more beautiful power in the world than the power of Emperor Tiberius!” This phrase was said by Bulgakov, of course, not from historical sources. It comes from contemporary ideas. I only changed the name. In general, if readers could have read the novel at that time, they would probably have noticed the similarity of the biblical story described with intentionality. The decision of the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate resembles the decision of jurists and other official organizations contemporary to Bulgakov. The similarity lies in frantic fanaticism, in fear of dissent.
The hero of the Master's novel, Yeshua Ha-Nozri, is convicted. His peaceful speeches that oppose violence are more dangerous for the authorities than a direct appeal. Yeshua is more dangerous than the murderer whom Pontius Pilate pardoned. And although he managed to subdue the procurator with his intelligence and the strange power of words, Pilate sends him to death, fearing for himself, for his career. As a politician, Pontius Pilate won, but was defeated by great fortitude. And the procurator understood this.
Pontius Pilate reminded Bulgakov of some modern writers, politicians and statesmen. But there is a significant difference: the massacre of an innocent cost Pilate severe mental anguish, but modern writers and politicians manage to avoid even reproaches of their own conscience. This is how the biblical story collided with real life.
