3 worlds in the work The Master and Margarita. Three worlds in the novel "The Master and Margarita" - essay

Lesson 4 (65). Three worlds in the novel “The Master and Margarita”

Lesson objectives: understand the writer's intention; notice and comprehend the echoes of lines in the novel.

Methodical techniques: working with text, analyzing the stylistic features of the novel.

Epigraph on the board:

“Why, why, where does evil come from?

If there is a God, then how can there be evil?

If there is evil, then how can there be God?

M. Yu. Lermontov

During the classes

I. Teacher's word

As we found out, the novel “The Master and Margarita” has several plans, its composition is unusual and complex. Literary scholars find three main worlds in the novel: “ancient Yershalaim, eternal otherworldly and modern Moscow.”

II. Discussion of homework issues

How are these three worlds connected?

(The role of the connecting link is played by Woland and his retinue. Time and space sometimes shrink, sometimes expand, sometimes converge at one point, intersect, sometimes lose boundaries, that is, they are both concrete and conditional.)

Why does the writer make such complex constructions? Let's try to figure it out.

The first world is Moscow. The action of the novel begins with him. Let's pay attention to the title of the first chapter - “Never talk to strangers.” Even before the story begins, the author addresses the reader with a warning. Let's see how the author leads in what follows.

In this world there are completely modern people, busy with immediate problems. The chairman of the board of Massolit, editor of the thick magazine Berlioz, whose namesake, according to Bezdomny, is the composer (remember Hoffmann and Schiller from Gogol's Nevsky Prospekt) is an intelligent and educated person.

What does the Master say about Berlioz? Why?

(The master speaks of him as a “well-read” and “very cunning” person. Berlioz has been given a lot, but he deliberately adapts himself to the level of the worker poets he despises. His assertion that there was no Jesus at all is not so harmless. For him there is neither God nor the devil, nothing at all except everyday reality, where he knows everything in advance and has, if not unlimited, but quite real power. None of his subordinates are engaged in literature: these are regulars of Griboyedov’s restaurant, “engineers of human souls,” who are only interested in the division of material wealth and privileges. Bulgakov parodies the “Last Supper" (more precisely, it is Berlioz who is blasphemously trying to parody): Berlioz is sure that “at ten o’clock in the evening a meeting will take place in Massolit,” and he will “preside over it.” However, twelve writers will not wait for their chairman.)

Why was Berlioz punished so terribly?

(Because he is an atheist? Because he adapts to the new government? Because he tempts Ivanushka Bezdomny with disbelief?

Woland gets annoyed: “What do you have, no matter what you’re missing, there’s nothing!” Berlioz gets “nothing”, non-existence. He receives according to his faith.)

Critics Latunsky and Lavrovich are also people invested with power, but deprived of morality. They are indifferent to everything except their career. They are endowed with intelligence, knowledge, and erudition. And all this is deliberately placed at the service of the vicious power. History sends such people into oblivion.

The actions of people throughout history are driven by the same constant and primitive springs. And it doesn’t matter where or when the action takes place. Woland says: “The townspeople have changed a lot, externally, I say, like the city itself, however... a much more important question: have these townspeople changed internally?

(Let's try to find the answer to Woland's question.

Answering this question, the evil spirit comes into play, conducts one experiment after another, arranges “mass hypnosis,” a purely scientific experiment.” I. people show their true colors. The “exposure” session was a success.

Woland sums up: “Well, they are people like people... They love money, but that’s always been the case... Ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones, the housing issue only spoiled them...”)

What is the evil spirit making fun of and mocking? By what means does the author depict ordinary people?

(The depiction of Moscow philistinism is caricature, grotesque, and fantasy. The adventures and antics of the inhabitants of the other world are perceived as cleverly performed tricks. However, the fantastic nature of what is happening has a completely realistic explanation (remember the episode with the expansion of the apartment, the mysterious movement of Styopa Likhodeev to Yalta, the incident with Nikanor Ivanovich.)

Fiction is also a means of satire. Let's find an episode (Chapter 17) where the suit of the chairman of the commission (by the way, it doesn’t matter which commission) independently signs resolutions.

Whose traditions does Bulgakov continue here?

(Saltykov-Shchedrin (“The History of a City”). Moscow life itself, the life of ordinary people, the structure of society is fantastic, phantasmagoric. Consider the unique model of this society, Massolit, one of the writers’ organizations, numbering three thousand one hundred and eleven members.)

What lies at the basis of human behavior - a coincidence of circumstances, a series of accidents, predestination or adherence to chosen ideals and ideas? Who controls human life?

If life is woven from chance, is it possible to vouch for the future and be responsible for others? Are there any unchanging moral criteria, or are they changeable and a person is driven by the fear of power and death, the thirst for power and wealth?

What is the difference between the “Gospel” and “Moscow” chapters?

(If the Moscow chapters leave a feeling of frivolity, unreality, then the very first words of the novel about Yeshua are weighty, precise, rhythmic: “In a white cloak with a bloody lining, a shuffling cavalry gait, early in the morning on the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan...”. If in “ Moscow chapters there is an active mediator, a storyteller who leads the way, as if involving the reader in the process of the game, a storyteller whose intonation can be ironic (“Eh-ho-ho... Yes, it was, it was!.. Moscow old-timers remember the famous Griboedov! ") and lyrical (“Gods, my gods!”), then there is no intermediary, no game in the “gospel” chapters. Everything here breathes authenticity.)

Ivan Bezdomny experiences an aesthetic shock: the surrounding reality loses its meaning, the center of his life becomes the story of Yeshua and Pontius Pilate (remember, at the end of the novel, Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev is a history professor).

Philologist and philosopher P.V. Palievsky writes: “He (Yeshua) is far away, too far, although he is emphatically real. This reality is special, somehow bordering or sharply delineating: after all, nowhere did Bulgakov say: “Yeshua thought,” nowhere are we present in his thoughts, we do not enter his inner world - it is not given. But we only see and hear how his mind, tearing the veil, operates, how the familiar reality and the connection of concepts crack and spread, but from where and with what is unclear, everything remains framed” (“Sholokhov and Bulgakov” // Heritage. - M., 1993 . - p. 55). Delivered into the hands of Jewish fanatics by the unjust judgment of Pilate and doomed to a painful death, Yeshua-Christ from afar sets a great example for all people. Including the master, Bulgakov himself, and his beloved hero.

Through the image of Yeshua, Bulgakov conveys his conviction that “all power is violence over people and that the time will come when there will be no power of either Caesar or any other power.” The personification of power, the central figure is Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea. The imperial service obliges him to be in Jerusalem, which he hates.

What kind of person is Pilate as depicted by Bulgakov?

(Palat is cruel, he is called a “fierce monster.” With this nickname, even after all, the world is ruled by the law of force. Pilate has a great warrior’s life behind him, full of struggle, hardship, mortal danger. In it, only the strong, who do not know fear and doubt, win, pity and compassion. Pilate knows that the winner is always alone, that he cannot have friends, only enemies and envious people. He despises the mob. He indifferently sends some to execution and has mercy on others.

He has no equal, there is no person with whom he would just want to talk. He knows how weak a person is before any temptation, be it money or fame. He has a living creature to which he is very attached - this is a faithful and devoted dog. Pilate is sure: the world is based on violence and power.)

And now fate gives him a chance. Let's find the interrogation scene (chapter 2). Yeshua, sentenced to death, is brought before Pontius Pilate. He must approve the verdict. When Yeshua addresses him with the words “Good man!”, Pilate orders Rat-Slayer to explain to the arrested man how to talk to the procurator, to explain, that is, to beat him. The interrogation continues. And suddenly Pilate discovers with amazement that his mind no longer obeys him. He asks the accused a question that does not need to be asked in court.

What kind of question is this?

(“What is truth?”)

And then Yeshua says to Pilate: “You give the impression of a very smart person.” This is a very important characteristic of Pilate. After all, you can call him a primitive villain. This was the first time this had happened to him. He met a man who spoke to him frankly, despite the fact that he was physically weak and suffered from beatings. “Your life is meager, hegemon,” these words do not offend Pilate. Suddenly an epiphany comes - the thought “about some kind of immortality, and immortality for some reason caused unbearable melancholy.”

Pilate wants nothing more than to be close to Yeshua, talk to him and listen to him. Pilate's life has long been at a dead end. Power and greatness did not make him happy. He is dead in soul. And then a man came who illuminated life with new meaning. Pilate decides to save Yeshua from execution. But Kaifa is adamant: the Sanhedrin does not change its decision.

Why does Pilate approve the death sentence?

(He convinces himself that he did everything in his power: he persuaded Caiaphas, threatened him. What else could he do? Revolt against Tiberius? It was beyond his strength. He washes his hands.)

However, after the execution, after five hours of torment on the cross, Pilate grants Yeshua an easy death. He orders the bodies of those executed to be buried in secret. Assigns the responsibility to Afranius to kill Judas - the man who betrayed Yeshua.

Why was Pilate punished?

(“Cowardice is the most serious vice,” Woland repeats (chapter 32, night flight scene). Pilate says that “more than anything in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory.” And then the Master enters: “Free! Free! He is waiting you! Pilate is forgiven.)

III. Teacher's word

What do we, the people of the twentieth century, care about the tragic spiritual duel between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate? You need to know about the deserted mountain top, where a pillar with a crossbar is dug. We must remember about the bare joyless stones, about the chilling loneliness, about conscience, the clawed beast that does not let you sleep at night.

Homework

Prepare for a test based on the novel “The Master and Margarita.”

Questions for preparation:

1. Moscow and Muscovites in the novel.

2. Symbolism of the novel.

3. Dreams and their role in the novel.

4. Bulgakov’s artistic mastery in the novel “The Master and Margarita.”

6. Personality and the crowd in the novel.

7. Literary reminiscences in the novel.

8. Epigraph and its meaning in the novel.

9. How do Yeshua and Woland compare in the novel?

10. The problem of loneliness in the novel.

11. Time and space in the novel.

12. Why did the Master “not deserve light”, but “deserve peace”?

Lesson 5 (66). Love and creativity in the novel

Lesson objectives: understand Bulgakov’s moral lessons, the main values ​​that the writer talks about; test your knowledge of the content of the novel.

Methodical techniques: work with text, lecture with elements of conversation; test.

During the classes

I. Working with the text of a novel

1. Teacher's word

Forgiveness for Pilate comes from the Master, it is he who sets him free. The novel was not invented by the Master, but guessed (“Oh, how I guessed! Oh, how I guessed everything!”). You don't need a membership card to be a writer. This ID allows you to enter the restaurant, but not History.

2. Analysis of the episode of chapter 28

The venerable one died,” said the citizen, but somehow not very confidently.

I protest! - Behemoth exclaimed hotly. - Dostoevsky is immortal!

It turns out that “a writer is not determined by his ID, but by what he writes.” But not everyone is able to soberly assess the fact that this was achieved. He agrees that he is “an ignorant man” (chapter 13) and promises to “write no more” poetry. He parted with his seemingly imposed profession with a feeling of liberation and relief. The mediocre Ryukhin (chapter 6), realizing the insignificance of his talent, is unable to change. He continues to envy Pushkin. “Lucky, lucky!” - Ryukhin concludes venomously and understands “that nothing can be corrected in his life, but can only be forgotten.”

What other connections do you see between Ryukhin and Bezdomny?

(Essentially, Ryukhin is Bezdomny’s double, his reflection (Ryukhin is 32 years old, Ivan is 23), a spiritual impasse that Ivan managed to avoid. A miracle happens to Ivan. Finding himself in a madhouse, Ivan gets rid of Ryukhin in himself. To Ivan’s question “You writer?” The answer was: “I am a master. Some researchers believe that Ivan is reincarnated into another double - the Master.)

The Master appears to Ivan not from the outside, but from his own visions and dreams. Chapter 13 Ivan’s dream space, his vision.

Whose traditions does Bulgakov continue here?

(This tradition comes from Dostoevsky, it was he who developed the complex interaction of the real and the unreal. Let us remember Ivan Karamazov (also Ivan) and his double. Karamazov’s guest is a nightmare, Ivan Bezdomny’s guest is a revelation, the embodiment of the spark of God. Karamazov hates the guest, denies him, Bezdomny - listens eagerly, does not doubt his existence. Through the double, the hero gets to know himself, and the reader gets to know the hero.)

Do other characters in the novel have doubles?

(We find a whole system of correspondences, reflections, options for fate. The Master and Yeshua, Aloysius and Judas, Berlioz and Maigel, Ivan and Levi Matvey, Natasha and Gella. B. Sokolov finds up to eight triads in the novel: Pontius Pilate - Woland - Stravinsky, Ratboy - Azazello, Archibald Archibaldovich, dog Banga, cat Behemoth, dog Tuzbuben, etc.)

There are also duplicate objects in the novel. Let's find them.

(The knife stolen by Levi Matvey appears at the end of the novel, in the store where Koroviev and Behemoth are outrageous. The jazz orchestra in Griboedov and at Woland’s ball. Thunderstorm in Moscow and Yershalaim.)

Does Margarita have a double?

(This is the only character without a double. Bulgakov emphasizes the chosenness, uniqueness of Margarita and her feelings, deep, reaching the point of complete self-sacrifice. After all, Margarita, in the name of saving the Master, enters into an agreement with the devil and thereby ruins her immortal soul. This is a romantic heroine, outlined brightly: yellow flowers (color of the moon), black coat (reflection of the abyss), unprecedented loneliness in the eyes. As often happens in Bulgakov, the heroes act under the influence of a sudden flash, insight: “Love jumped out in front of us, like a killer jumps out of the ground in an alley, and struck us both at once. So lightning strikes, so does a Finnish knife!" says the Master. The fatal predetermination of the meeting, the excessiveness of feelings, the unprecedented love story, the ideality of the beloved - a dream come true.) Lesson development By Russian literature XIX century. 10 Class. 1st half of the year. - M.: Vako, 2003. 4. Zolotareva I.V., Mikhailova T.I. Lesson development By Russian literature ...

Behind the edges of gems, as if accidentally thrown by writers on the pages of their works, sometimes lies a deep meaning that enriches the plot of the work with additional nuances.

B. Brecht

The novel “The Master and Margarita” is a mystery. Each person who reads it discovers its own meaning. The text of the work is so full of problems that it is very difficult to find the main one, I would even say impossible.

The main difficulty is that several realities are intertwined in the novel: on the one hand, the Soviet life of Moscow in the 20-30s, on the other, the city of Yershalaim, and finally, the reality of the all-powerful Woland.

First world - Moscow of the 20-30s.

Satan came to Moscow to bring justice, to rescue the Master, his masterpiece and Margarita. He sees that Moscow has turned into something like a Great Ball: it is inhabited by traitors, informers, sycophants, bribe-takers, currency traders. Bulgakov presented them both as individual characters and as employees of the following institutions: MASSOLIT, Variety Theater and the Entertainment Commission. Every person has vices that Woland exposes. A more serious sin was committed by MASSLIT workers who call themselves writers and scientists. These people know a lot and at the same time deliberately lead people away from the search for truth and make the brilliant Master unhappy. For this, punishment comes to the Griboyedov House, where MASSOLIT is located. The Moscow population does not want to believe in anything without evidence, neither in God nor in the devil. In my opinion, Bulgakov hoped that someday people would realize the horror that had consumed Russia for many years, just as Ivan Bezdomny realized that his poems were terrible. But this did not happen during Bulgakov’s lifetime.

The second world is Yershalaim.

Yershalaim is associated with many characteristic details that are unique to it and at the same time unite it with Moscow. This is the scorching sun, narrow intricate streets, and the terrain. The similarity of some elevations is especially surprising: the Pashkov House in Moscow and Pilate’s Palace, located above the roofs of city houses; Bald Mountain and Sparrow Hills. You can also pay attention to the fact that if in Yershalaim a hill with the crucified Yeshua is surrounded, then in Moscow it is surrounded by Woland leaving it. Only three days are described from the life of the city. The struggle between good and evil does not stop and cannot stop. The main character of the ancient world, Yeshua, is very similar to Jesus. He is also a mere mortal who remains misunderstood. Yershalaim, invented by the Master, is a fantasy. But it is he who looks the most real in the novel.

The third world is the mystical, fantastic Woland and his retinue.

Mysticism in the novel plays a completely realistic role and can serve as an example of the contradictions of reality. The otherworldly world is headed by Woland. He is the devil, Satan, "prince of darkness", "spirit of evil and lord of shadows." The evil spirits in The Master and Margarita expose us to human vices. Here comes the devil Koroviev - a drunken drunkard. Here is the cat Behemoth, very similar to a person and at times turning into a person very similar to a cat. Here is the bully Azazello with an ugly fang. Woland personifies eternity. He is the eternally existing evil that is necessary for the existence of good. The novel changes the traditional image of Satan: he is no longer an immoral, evil, treacherous demon-destroyer. Evil spirits appear in Moscow with an audit. She is interested in whether the townspeople have changed internally. Observing the audience at the Variety Show, the “professor of black magic” is inclined to think that essentially nothing has changed. Evil spirits appear before us as evil human will, being an instrument of punishment, carrying out intrigues at the suggestion of people. Woland seemed to me fair, objective, and his justice was manifested not only in the punishment of some heroes. Thanks to him, the Master and Margarita are reunited.

All the characters in the novel are closely related to each other; without the existence of some, the existence of others would be impossible, just as there can be no light without darkness. The novel “The Master and Margarita” talks about a person’s responsibility for his actions. The actions are united by one idea - the search for truth and the fight for it. Hostility, mistrust, and envy reign in the world at all times. This novel belongs to those works that definitely need to be re-read in order to better understand the subtext, to see new details that you might not have noticed the first time. This happens not only because the novel touches on many philosophical issues, but also because of the complex “three-dimensional” structure of the work.

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials from the site were used

M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” belongs to those works that we want and definitely need to re-read in order to better understand the subtext, to see new details that we did not pay attention to the first time.

We come across the number three in our world more than once: this is the main category of life (birth - life - death), thinking (idea - thought - action), time (past - present - future). In Christianity, too, much is built on the trinity: the trinity of the divine trinity, the governance of the earthly world (God - man - the Devil).

Mikhail Bulgakov was sure that the trinity corresponds to the truth, so you can see that the events in the novel take place in three dimensions: in the ancient “Yershalaim” world, in the contemporary Moscow world of the 30s and in the mystical, fantastic, otherworldly world.

At first it seems to us that these three planes hardly touch each other. It would seem, what kind of relationship can modern Muscovites have with the heroes of a literary novel with an evangelical theme, and even more so with Satan himself? But very soon we realize how wrong we were. Bulgakov sees everything in his own way and offers to look at the surrounding reality (and not just the events of the novel) in a new way.

In fact, we are witnessing constant interaction, a close relationship between three worlds: creativity, ordinary life and higher powers, or providence. What happens in the Master’s novel about the ancient world of Yershalaim clearly echoes the events of modern Moscow. This roll call is not only external, when the literary heroes of the “novel within a novel” are similar in portraiture and actions to Muscovites (the Master shows features of Yeshua Ha-Nozri, the Master’s friend Aloisy Mogarych resembles Judas, Levi Matvey, with all his devotion, is as limited as the poet Ivan Bezdomny). There is also a deeper similarity, because in the conversations of Pontius Pilate with Ha-Notsri, many moral problems are touched upon, questions of truth, good and evil, which, as we see, were not fully resolved either in Moscow in the 30s, or even today - These questions belong to the category of “eternal”.

Woland and his retinue are representatives of the other world, they are endowed with the ability to read in human hearts and souls, see the deep relationships of phenomena, predict the future, and therefore Bulgakov gives them the right to act as human judges. Woland notes that internally people have changed little over the past millennia: “They are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case. Well, they are frivolous... well, well... in general, they resemble the old ones...” Cowardice, greed, ignorance, spiritual weakness, hypocrisy - this is not a complete list of those vices that still guide and largely determine human life. Therefore, Woland, endowed with special power, acts not only as a punitive force, punishing careerists, sycophants, greedy and selfish, but also rewards the kind, capable of self-sacrifice, deep love, who knows how to create, creating new worlds. And even those who, having committed evil, do not hide, like an ostrich, with their heads in the sand, but bear responsibility for their actions. Everyone is rewarded according to their deserts, and many in the novel (and the majority - to their own misfortune) get the opportunity to fulfill their desires. At the end of the novel, all three worlds, quite clearly demarcated at the beginning, merge together. This speaks of the close and harmonious relationship of all phenomena and events in the world. A person needs to learn to be responsible not only for his actions, but also for his emotions and thoughts, because an idea that arises in someone’s head can come true even on the other side of the Earth.

“... trinity is the most general characteristic of being.”

P. A. Florensky

“The Master and Margarita” is a satirical novel, a fantastic novel, and a philosophical novel. A novel about love and creativity... About death and immortality... About strength and powerlessness... What is guilt and retribution? What is power? What is fearlessness, fear, cowardice? What is the passage of time? And what is a person in time? What is this - the truth or the path to the truth?

The "three-dimensional" structure of the novel expresses Bulgakov's philosophy. The writer argued that the trinity corresponds to the truth. Both the spatio-temporal and ethical concepts of the novel are based on trinity.

The three worlds of The Master and Margarita correspond to three groups of characters, with representatives of different worlds forming unique triads. They are united by their role and similar interaction with other heroes, as well as elements of portrait resemblance. Eight triads are presented in the novel: Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea - Woland, the “prince of darkness” - Professor Stravinsky, director of a psychiatric clinic; Afranius, Pilate's first assistant - Fagot-Koroviev, Woland's first assistant - doctor Fyodor Vasilyevich, Stravinsky's first assistant; centurion Mark the Ratboy - Azazello, demon of the waterless desert - Archibald Archibaldovich, director of the restaurant "Griboyedov's House"; the dog Buncha - the cat Behemoth - the police dog Tuzbuben; Nisa, agent Afrania - Gella, Fagot-Koroviev's maid - Natasha, Margarita's maid; Chairman of the Sanhedrin Kaifa - Chairman of MASSOLITA Berlioz - unknown in Torgsin; Judas from Kiriath - Baron Meigel - journalist Aloysius Mogarych; Levi Matthew, follower of Yeshua - poet Ivan Bezdomny, student of the Master - poet Alexander Ryukhin.

Let us turn to one of the significant triads of the novel: Pontius Pilate - Woland - Stravinsky. “In a white cloak with bloody lining” Pontius Pilate appears in the world of Yershalaim. In the Moscow world, the action takes place thanks to Woland, who, like the procurator of Judea, has his own retinue. Stravinsky runs his clinic, determines the fate of those who came to him as a result of communication with Satan and his servants. It seems that the course of events in the clinic is directed by the actions of Stravinsky, the “small” likeness of Woland. Woland is a “small” likeness of Pilate, for the “prince of darkness” is almost completely devoid of any experiences with which the procurator of Judea, tormented by pangs of conscience for his momentary cowardice, is so richly endowed (bravery on the battlefield and civil cowardice - as he often observed this is Bulgakov among his contemporaries). Pilate tries to save Yeshua, but, forced in the end to send him to his death, he involuntarily becomes immortal. And in modern Moscow, the eternal Woland saves the Master and gives him a reward. But the creator must die, and with him Margarita. They receive reward in the other world. Immortality gives the Master the brilliant novel he wrote, and Margarita - her true, sincere love. Stravinsky also “saves” the Master, who has become a victim of evil spirits; only “salvation” is a parody, because the professor can offer the Master the absolute inactive peace of a mental hospital.

The power of each of the powerful characters in this triad turns out to be imaginary. Pilate is unable to change the course of events and save Yeshua. Woland, in turn, only predicts the future. Thus, Berlioz dies under the wheels of a tram not because Satan “gave” him the tram and Annushka, but because he slipped on oil. Stravinsky's power is generally illusory: he is not able to deprive Ivan Bezdomny of memories of Pilate and the death of Yeshua, of the Master and his beloved, he is not able to prevent the earthly death of the Master and his transition to the other world. Material from the site

There is also a portrait resemblance between these heroes: Woland “appears to be over forty years old” and is “clean-shaven.” Stravinsky is “a carefully groomed man of about forty-five, like an actor.” Satan’s “right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason,” and “the right one has a golden spark at the bottom, drilling anyone to the bottom of the soul...” The professor’s eyes are “pleasant, but piercing.” Ivan Bezdomny notes the external resemblance of Stravinsky to Pilate (Stravinsky, like the procurator, also speaks Latin). Pilate and Woland are also similar. During the interrogation of Yeshua, Pilate’s face turns from yellow to brown, and “the skin on Woland’s face seemed to be forever burned by a tan.”

This strict hierarchy, eternal once and for all, reigns in the other world, reflecting the hierarchy of the ancient Yershalaim world and the modern Moscow one.

Bulgakov’s contemporary world is also hierarchical: the Variety Theater, the Stravinsky Clinic, MASSOLIT. And only the Master, Yeshua and Margarita are ruled by love. The Master and Yeshua have no place in a world where hierarchy reigns. And yet the author is convinced that above all social, political, everyday problems is a feeling: love, joy.

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Three worlds in Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita"

M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” belongs to those works that we want and definitely need to re-read in order to better understand the subtext, to see new details that we did not pay attention to the first time.

We come across the number three in our world more than once: this is the main category of life (birth - life - death), thinking (idea - thought - action), time (past - present - future). In Christianity, too, much is built on the trinity: the trinity of the divine trinity, the governance of the earthly world (God - man - the Devil).

Mikhail Bulgakov was sure that the trinity corresponds to the truth, so you can see that the events in the novel take place in three dimensions: in the ancient “Yershalaim” world, in the contemporary Moscow world of the 30s and in the mystical, fantastic, otherworldly world.

At first it seems to us that these three planes hardly touch each other. It would seem, what kind of relationship can modern Muscovites have with the heroes of a literary novel with an evangelical theme, and even more so with Satan himself? But very soon we realize how wrong we were. Bulgakov sees everything in his own way and offers to look at the surrounding reality (and not just the events of the novel) in a new way.

In fact, we are witnessing constant interaction, a close relationship between three worlds: creativity, ordinary life and higher powers, or providence. What happens in the Master’s novel about the ancient world of Yershalaim clearly echoes the events of modern Moscow. This roll call is not only external, when the literary heroes of the “novel within a novel” are similar in portraiture and actions to Muscovites (the Master shows features of Yeshua Ha-Nozri, the Master’s friend Aloisy Mogarych resembles Judas, Levi Matvey, with all his devotion, is as limited as the poet Ivan Bezdomny). There is also a deeper similarity, because in the conversations of Pontius Pilate with Ha-Notsri, many moral problems are touched upon, questions of truth, good and evil, which, as we see, were not fully resolved either in Moscow in the 30s, or even today - These questions belong to the category of “eternal”.

Woland and his retinue are representatives of the other world, they are endowed with the ability to read in human hearts and souls, see the deep relationships of phenomena, predict the future, and therefore Bulgakov gives them the right to act as human judges. Woland notes that internally people have changed little over the past millennia: “They are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case. Well, they are frivolous... well, well... in general, they resemble the old ones...” Cowardice, greed, ignorance, spiritual weakness, hypocrisy - this is not a complete list of those vices that still guide and largely determine human life. Therefore, Woland, endowed with special power, acts not only as a punitive force, punishing careerists, sycophants, greedy and selfish, but also rewards the kind, capable of self-sacrifice, deep love, who knows how to create, creating new worlds. And even those who, having committed evil, do not hide, like an ostrich, with their heads in the sand, but bear responsibility for their actions. Everyone is rewarded according to their deserts, and many in the novel (and the majority - to their own misfortune) get the opportunity to fulfill their desires. At the end of the novel, all three worlds, quite clearly demarcated at the beginning, merge together. This speaks of the close and harmonious relationship of all phenomena and events in the world. A person needs to learn to be responsible not only for his actions, but also for his emotions and thoughts, because an idea that arises in someone’s head can come true even on the other side of the Earth.