Artistic originality of the master and margarita. The novel "The Master and Margarita" is a masterpiece of world classics, distinguished by the originality of artistic writing

Essays on literature: The artistic originality of M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” Critics called M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” a “sunset novel.” The creative history of this work is unusual. The novel was conceived in 1928, and work on it continued until his death, as long as the writer had the strength. This work, like others from the “returned literature,” first saw the light abroad, and only twenty-five years after the author’s death, in 1966, was published in the Moscow magazine. The novel made a stunning impression.

What made the novel a success? First of all, the author of the novel tries to answer the eternal questions of human existence. What is good and evil? Who rules the world and controls man?

What awaits a person after death? What is crime and what is the path to salvation? Is forgiveness possible? The uniqueness of the novel lies in the fact that the answers to all these questions are not given directly, not in the form of moral sermons. Answers arise organically from events and situations, from different compositional layers. After all, the composition of the novel is very unusual.

The book, in fact, has two novels and two plots. One is the real world of Moscow in the 30s, where the master and Margarita live, the other is the world of ancient Yershalaim, where the plot of Christ and Pontius Pilate unfolds. What we have before us, in essence, is a novel within a novel: a novel about Christ, created by a master, is placed inside a novel about the master. The text created by the master is very unique.

On the one hand, although the reader understands, of course, that the master’s text was also written by M. Bulgakov, it differs sharply in artistic style from the “Moscow” chapters - in the objectivity of tone, the tragic tension of the narrative, and solemnity. It feels like the “Yershalaim” chapters were written by a completely different person. But on the other hand, the text of the novel about Christ can be attributed to the master only very conditionally. The reader learns the text of the novel about Christ from three sources: from Woland’s story, from Ivan Bezdomny’s dream, and only in the finale - from the master’s manuscript restored by Woland, when we already know that the novel was burned, that its actual reality was reduced to zero. This important detail should be emphasized: the devil talks about Christ.

The Gospel of Satan and his restoration of the novel's manuscript - isn't this absurd? The world of evil returns the logic of good to the world - as always with M. Bulgakov, behind the external absurdity there is a real life pattern. But why was it possible that Woland and Ivan Bezdomny, without reading, knew what was discussed in the master’s burned novel? The point is not only that “manuscripts do not burn,” but they do not burn because in fact they are not created at all by someone’s individual consciousness, but are revealed to him, existing objectively - in Eternity. In the novel by M. Bulgakov, the methods of narration are very diverse. Here is a romantic story about the love of the master and Margarita, and Shchedrin’s denunciation of bureaucrats, and Gogol’s fantasy (for example, the Sabbath scene), and farce (the adventures of Bassoon and Behemoth). The characters from the Moscow plots have their counterparts in the Yershalaim layer of the novel (the master - Yeshua, Berlioz - Kaifa, Aloysius - Judas, Bezdomny - Levi Matvey).

Sinners, executioners, self-interested people, traitors who appear at Satan’s ball are similar to swindlers, bribe-takers, and drunkards in the Moscow life of the writer today. The novel is permeated with fantasy. It is interesting that the largest share of fantastic situations occurs in the chapters of the novel dedicated to modern Moscow, and not to ancient Yershalaim, as one might expect. The reader follows the antics of Woland, Koroviev, Fagot, Gella and the cat Behemoth with unflagging attention. Fantastic M.

Bulgakova is kind and cheerful, she is akin to a circus attraction, and even when a person is deprived of his head, it is not scary. The novel “The Master and Margarita” is a deeply personal work. The author put into it his most cherished and innermost thoughts, pains and anxieties. The reflection of the experience also lies in the love story of the master and Margarita, the prototype of which was Elena Sergeevna, the third wife of M. Bulgakov.

Many of the novel's heroes have their own prototypes: Latunsky, for example, combines two critics (Litovsky and Orlinsky) who persecuted the writer. But most importantly, the main problem of the novel is autobiographical: the confrontation of a free artist with totalitarian power. This main conflict work that determines the grouping of images. The novel “The Master and Margarita” will remain in the history of Russian and world literature not only as evidence of the moral fortitude of its author. It will remain both as a hymn to a moral and fearless man - Yeshua, and as a hymn to a creative man - a master, and as a story of Margarita's unearthly love, and as a grandiose monument to Moscow of the 30s. This novel by M. Bulgakov is a unique masterpiece of Russian and world literature. Bulgakov wrote the novel “The Master and Margarita” for a long time.

The unfinished story “Diaboliad” can be considered a distant sketch, where the emphasis is on a satirical depiction of the writer’s contemporary reality. The first drafts of the novel already include the Devil as one of central characters, but in them he appears in Moscow completely alone and is closer in type to Goethe’s Mephistopheles. He is cunning, evil, he, in the words of the theologians, is “the father of all lies, the lord of the flies” - that is, petty nti. But in the twelve years that the writer lived, too much happened in his life and changed in the world for evil to manifest itself in the novel as before. Central location It is not the crafty tempter who occupies, but the ironic, gloomy and fair judge of human weaknesses. Can we say that The Master and Margarita is a novel about God and the devil? It is possible, but then you should carefully re-read the book and understand how the spheres of good and evil are divided, who is the beginning of light and who is dark. And it becomes clear that Bulgakov is rather close not to traditional Christian ideas about God and the devil, but to Dostoevsky’s point of view: “The devil fights with God, and the battlefield is the hearts of people.”

Bulgakovsky Woland is not Satan, evil beginning, but rather, the manager and executor of the will of the one who is the principle of light. He is the demiurge, the master of the material world, the lord of trifles, the observer of vulgarity. Woland is striking in that he renounces the right to judge people. Someone else judges, the devil only carries out the sentence. And even then he does not interfere in the entertainment of his retinue. In the image of Woland there is some kind of eternal sadness, wisdom and boredom. He has seen and knows too much.

But he does not want to change anything, fully aware of how great his role is in the balance of the universe. No wonder he says to Matthew Levi: “...what would good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? Here is the shadow of my sword.

But there are shadows from trees and from living creatures. Don't you want to rip it all off? Earth...because of your fantasy of enjoying the naked light?” Woland teases Matvey Levi, it’s not for nothing that he calls him “old sophist,” but he’s also sad. After all, he wants to talk with an equal interlocutor, “to argue without agreeing on anything, which is why the argument can be especially pleasant.” Maybe that’s why he is so interested in the Master’s fate, seeing in him an interlocutor, respectful of others’ points of view, but adamant in his convictions?

It was Woland who read the novel, it is he who carries out the will of Yeshua, who determined the measure of retribution. The originality of Bulgakov’s novel lies not only in the interpretation of biblical images, which is unusual for traditional perception. The novel is intertwined, like a river of tributaries, from different plot-thematic lines. This is a novel about great love, and a fantastic satire, and a philosophical and theological work, and a story about the fate of the creator in the world, and a prophecy that sounded, perhaps unexpectedly for Bulgakov himself. The forbidden manuscript, hidden for more than a quarter of a century, was published, the death of the master, which led to his earthly path did not interrupt the lives of Bulgakov’s characters and books. And even the one who became the prototype of Margarita did not yield in any way to the height of the image. Bulgakov's wife saved the manuscript and achieved publication in Novy Mir. The year 1966 can be considered the year of redemption for the Master. Roman M.

Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" is very complex in compositional terms. In its plot, two worlds exist in parallel: the world in which Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri lived, and Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow in the twenties and thirties of the 20th century. Associated with a complex composition. and a complex, branched system of characters, big number doubles, parallels and antitheses. The novel "The Master and Margarita" includes two narratives (about the fate of the Master and about Pontius Pilate), which are in complex relationships of opposition, but at the same time are united by a common idea. The novel about Pontius Pilate occupies less text space than the novel about the fate of the Master, but it plays an important semantic role, as it contains deep philosophical subtext. It consists of four chapters, which are, as it were, “scattered” in the text of the story about the Master and Margarita.

Skirko Maria

Theme of this work: “The life of a literary work in art and time,” which is studied using the example of M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita.”

Goal of the work: examine the work and answer the question: how does art reflect time; trace how the perception of a work of art changes by readers of different eras, analyzing the opinions of critics and readers about the novel; find out how the theme of the novel is reflected in contemporary art.

Research objectives:

– analyze critical articles devoted to Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”;

– consider works of art created based on the novel “The Master and Margarita”.

In this work, we conducted a study of critical articles and works of art dedicated to Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”.

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Section: literary studies

Skirko Maria Anatolyevna

Krasnodar region, Dinskoy district,

village Novotitarovskaya

Private educational institution

Secondary school No. 1, 9th grade

LITERARY WORK IN ART AND TIME

(based on the novel “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov)

Scientific supervisor: Sokolova

Natalia Vladimirovna, teacher

Russian language and literature

CHOU secondary school No. 1 st. Novotitarovskaya

annotation

object of study

Theme of this work: “The life of a literary work in art and time,” which is studied using the example of M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita.”

Goal of the work

Research objectives:

In this work, we conducted a study of critical articles and works of art dedicated to Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”.

The study revealed, that the attitude towards Bulgakov’s “sunset novel” is extremely ambiguous. Critics have not determined the genre nature of the novel; they call it a philosophical novel, a fantastic philosophical novel, a mythical novel, a satirical novel, a parable novel, etc.

Despite the large number of critical articles, films and musical works, the popularity of the novel as an object of study does not fade to this day. The work studied in this work raises questions to which it is still impossible to give an unambiguous answer.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

1. Introduction

Roman M.A. Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita", on which the author worked until the last day of his life, remained in his archive and was first published in 1966-1967 in the magazine "Moscow". This novel brought the author posthumous world fame. This work was a worthy continuation of those traditions Russian literature, who asserted a direct connection of the grotesque, fantasy, the unreal with the real in a single flow of narrative.

Bulgakov wrote “The Master and Margarita” as a historically and psychologically reliable book about his time and its people, and therefore the novel became a unique human document of that remarkable era. And at the same time, this multi-thought narrative is directed to the future, is a book for all times, which is facilitated by its highest artistry. There is reason to assume that the author had little hope for the understanding and recognition of his novel by his contemporaries.

“Of all the writers of the 20s - 30s. of the past century, probably Mikhail Bulgakov is preserved to the greatest extent in Russian public consciousness. He is preserved not so much by his biography, from which they usually remember his letters to Stalin and his only telephone conversation with the leader, but by his brilliant works, the main one of which is “The Master and Margarita.” The novel reveals new facets to each next generation of readers. Let us just remember the “sturgeon of the second freshness”, and the sad thought will come to mind that everything in Russia is forever second freshness, everything except literature. Bulgakov proved this brilliantly.” - So, in a few words, Boris Sokolov, a famous researcher of Bulgakov’s work, was able to show what a tangible contribution the writer made to Russian and world literature, therefore it is no coincidenceobject of studyThis work is the novel “The Master and Margarita”.

Goal of the work : examine the work and answer the question: how does art reflect time; trace how the perception of a work of art changes by readers of different eras, analyzing the opinions of critics and readers about the novel; find out how the theme of the novel is reflected in contemporary art.

Research objectives:

– analyze critical articles devoted to Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”;

– consider works of art created based on the novel “The Master and Margarita”.

Relevance of the studydue to the fact that, firstly, Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” has more than once become the subject of debate. Today the novel is a literary classic, but the history of its interpretation has not yet been written. Secondly, Bulgakov remains among the most popular writers in Russia, his works have firmly entered the so-called mass culture (excursions around Bulgakov’s Moscow, film adaptations, “ Bulgakov Encyclopedia"B. Sokolov), ceasing to be exclusively an object of professional literary criticism. .

Research method.The topic of the work involves the study different materials, dedicated to the novel"Master and Margarita". The topic, subject and object of research require a combination of various methods. Among the main methodscomparative-historical and typological.

Scientific novelty of the workis expressed in the fact that, firstly, a consistent and diverse analysis of publications dedicated to Bulgakov was carried out; secondly, critical articles and works of art created on the basis of Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” are considered in a broad literary context.

Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" will remain relevant at all times. The novel caused and causes heated controversy, various hypotheses, interpretations. It surprises with its inexhaustibility and does not fit into traditional, familiar themes. Translations into many languages ​​of the world give reason to believe that this work is still popular today and will excite the minds of more generations of readers and critics in the future.

2. “Manuscripts don’t burn!”

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” was not published during the author’s lifetime. It was first published only in 1966, 26 years after Bulgakov’s death, and then in an abridged magazine version. We owe the fact that this greatest literary work has reached the reader to the writer’s wife, Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, who managed to preserve the manuscript of the novel in difficult times. Bulgakov dated the start of work on “The Master and Margarita” in different manuscripts as either 1928 or 1929.

There are few novels that have generated as much controversy as The Master and Margarita. They argue about the prototypes of the characters, about the book sources of certain components of the plot, the philosophical and aesthetic roots of the novel and its moral and ethical principles, about who is the main character of the work, and, finally, in what genre the novel is written. The latter cannot be determined unambiguously. This was noted very well by the American literary critic M. Kreps in his book “Bulgakov and Pasternak as Novelists: Analysis of the Novels “The Master and Margarita” and “Doctor Zhivago””: “Bulgakov’s novel for Russian literature is indeed highly innovative, and therefore not easy to get your hands on. As soon as the critic approaches it with the old standard system of measures, it turns out that some things are true, and some things are completely wrong... the criteria of a fairy tale are applicable only to individual events, very modest in their specific weight, leaving almost the entire novel and its the main characters are overboard. Fiction collides with strict realism, myth with scrupulous historical authenticity, theosophy with demonism, romance with clownery.” We can say that Bulgakov’s novel combines almost all the genres and literary trends existing in the world. It can also be called a post-realistic novel, since avant-garde literature“The Masters...” is similar in that Bulgakov builds the novel’s reality, not excluding the modern Moscow chapters, almost exclusively on the basis of literary sources, and infernal fiction penetrates deeply into Soviet life. Perhaps the prerequisite for such a multifaceted genre of the novel is that Bulgakov himself for a long time could not decide on its final plot and title. Thus, there were three editions of the novel, in which there were the following title options: “Black Magician”, “Engineer’s Hoof”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Son of V(eliar?)”, “Tour (Woland?)”, “Grand Chancellor ", "Satan", "Here I Am", "The Feathered Hat", "The Black Theologian", "He Appeared", "The Foreigner's Horseshoe", "He Appeared", "The Advent", "The Black Magician" and "The Consultant's Hoof" “Prince of Darkness” and, finally, the now well-known title “The Master and Margarita”.

The first edition of “The Master and Margarita” was destroyed by the author on March 18, 1930 after receiving news of the ban on the play “The Cabal of the Holy One.” Bulgakov reported this in a letter to the government: “And I personally, with my own hands, threw a draft of a novel about the devil into the stove...”

It is noteworthy that the 2nd edition bore the subtitle “Fantastic Novel”. Perhaps this is a hint at how the author himself determined the genre of his work.Indeed, the novel constantly feels the interweaving of fantasy and reality.

Rough sketches were made for the novel, and Margarita and her nameless companion, the future Master, already appeared here, and Woland acquired his wild retinue.

The third edition, begun in the second half of 1936, was initially called “The Prince of Darkness,” but already in 1937 the now well-known title “The Master and Margarita” appeared. In May - June 1938, the full text was reprinted for the first time. The author’s edits continued almost until the writer’s death; Bulgakov stopped it with Margarita’s phrase: “So this means that the writers are going after the coffin?”...

Bulgakov wrote “The Master and Margarita” for a total of more than 10 years. Simultaneously with the writing of the novel, work was underway on plays, dramatizations, librettos, but this novel was a book that he was unable to part with - a novel-fate, a novel-testament. The novel absorbed almost all of the works written by Bulgakov: Moscow life, captured in the essays “On the Eve”, satirical fantasy and mysticism, tested in the stories of the 20s, motives of knightly honor and troubled conscience in the novel “The White Guard”, the dramatic theme of fate persecuted artist, unfolded in “Molière”, a play about Pushkin and “Theatrical Novel”... In addition, the picture of the life of an unfamiliar eastern city, depicted in “Run”, prepared a description of Yershalaim. And the very way of moving back in time - to the first century of the history of Christianity and forward - to the utopian dream of “peace” was reminiscent of the plot of “Ivan Vasilyevich”.

From the history of the creation of the novel, we see that it was conceived and created as a “novel about the devil.” Some researchers see in it an apology for the devil, admiration of the dark power, capitulation to the world of evil. In fact, Bulgakov called himself a “mystical writer,” but this mysticism did not cloud the mind and did not intimidate the reader...

It must be said that when writing the novel, Bulgakov used several philosophical theories: some compositional moments, as well as mystical episodes and episodes from the Yershalaim chapters, were based on them. Thus, in the novel there is an interaction between three worlds: the human (all the people in the novel), the biblical (biblical characters) and the cosmic (Woland and his retinue). Most main world- cosmic, Universe, all-encompassing macrocosm. The other two worlds are private. One of them is human, microcosm; the other is symbolic, i.e. biblical world. Each of the three worlds has two “natures”: visible and invisible. All three worlds are woven from good and evil, and the biblical world acts as a connecting link between the visible and invisible natures of the macrocosm and microcosm. Man has two bodies and two hearts: corruptible and eternal, earthly and spiritual, and this means that man is “external” and “internal.” And the latter never dies: by dying, he only loses his earthly body. In the novel "The Master and Margarita" duality is expressed in the dialectical interaction and struggle of good and evil (this is main problem novel). Good cannot exist without evil; people simply will not know that it is good. As Woland said to Levi Matthew: “What would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared from it?” There must be some kind of balance between good and evil, which was disrupted in Moscow: the scales tipped sharply towards the latter and Woland came as the chief punisher to restore it.

1. The connection between Bulgakov's novel and Goethe's tragedy

External shine is designed to last a moment,

But the truth passes on through generations.

I. Goethe “Faust”

Already in the very title of the novel, the name “Margarita” should recall the tragedy of I. - V. Goethe “Faust” and its heroes - Doctor Faust and his beloved Margarita. An epigraph from the tragedy strengthens this connection. Throughout the first twelve chapters, the title of the novel remains, however, mysterious for the reader - neither the Master nor Margarita are on these pages. Finally, the title of the 13th chapter - “The Appearance of a Hero” - is alarming: an appearance on stage is expected hero of the novel. And before the hero calls himself: “I am a master,” he himself will mention the opera “Faust,” linking Woland’s appearance with the opera’s Mephistopheles. In addition, the Master is the author of a novel about Pilate. This also brings him closer to the hero of the tragedy, who in Goethe translates the New Testament into German, striving, like the Master, to give his own interpretation of what is described in it...

The barely visible threads connecting the novel with “Faust” are noticeable and stretch further on different pages. Thus, it is no coincidence that Woland has a cane “with a black knob in the shape of a poodle’s head,” and in the scene of Satan’s ball Koroviev hangs on Margarita’s chest “a heavy image of a poodle in an oval frame on a heavy chain”: Mephistopheles enters Faust’s house in the form of a poodle. The flight of Margarita, the ball at Satan's are also in direct connection with the scenes of the tragedy and opera of the same name C. Gounod “Faust”. The Master’s fear of destroying Margarita should also remind us of Doctor Faustus, who is afraid of destroying his Margarita, Gretchen, and ultimately destroys her; Azazello, carrying out Woland’s will, takes both the Master and his girlfriend with him on the “last flight,” while Mephistopheles carries away Faust alone, and Gretchen remains to await execution. The author of the novel insistently emphasizes that he tells the story of the new Faust and Margarita. Note that in the drafts of the early edition of the novel made in the fall of 1933, its heroes were called that way, and one of the planned chapters was designated as “The Night of Faust and Margarita.”

It is clear that this connection with one of the most authoritative monuments of world culture deepens the space of the novel, helping the reader to discern behind the bustle of everyday and transitory life depicted in the “Moscow chapters” the most important, eternal, newly posed “Faustian” questions of existence. The dispute between Mephistopheles and Faust about who controls human life, about the meaning of this life, about the boundaries human mind and the search for truth is continued in Bulgakov’s novel, starting with Woland’s conversation with Berlioz and ending with the resolution of the fate of the Master and Margarita.

1.3. Temporal and spatial semantic structure of the novel

When you first get acquainted with “The Master and Margarita,” you get the impression that the time of action of the main, Moscow, part of the novel cannot be determined accurately.

In the minds of the overwhelming majority of readers, the opinion was strengthened that Bulgakov timed the events depicted in the novel to some indefinite time.

This opinion, as it turned out, quite accurately reflects the author’s intention at certain stages of work on the text. All events that took place in Moscow were timed to coincide with certain days in June. So, the visit of the Variety barman to Woland took place, for example, on June 12. Although the action was transferred to the future, Bulgakov himself emphasized in the text the entire convention of such a transfer. As L.M. Yanovskaya notes, in this edition “the action is clearly shifted to the NEP era, and the style and signs of the time are much closer to Bulgakov’s feuilletons of the first half of the 20s.

In the later edition of 1931, the events of the novel begin on Saturday, June 14, 1945. Here, the signs of the NEP are preserved, as in the final edition of the novel, but there are significantly fewer of them than in the 1929 edition. In all of these cases, the events associated with Woland's visit to Moscow take place in the same month - June, although the year is constantly changing and is being pushed further into the future. Why did the writer choose this particular month? Perhaps one of their motives here is the summer heat. Let us remember that extraordinary heat is a harbinger of the appearance of evil spirits.

In the 1929 edition, the Yershalaim scenes also take place in June. Meanwhile, Bulgakov, the son of a professor at the Kiev Theological Academy, was well aware that Nissan of the Hebrew calendar, on which, according to the evidence of the Gospels, events related to the arrest and execution of Jesus Christ occur, correspond in different years to different spring months of the Christian calendar - March or April , but never match June. Similarly, the time of action of the Moscow scenes, in which the parallel is easily traced Holy Week, in early editions it was deliberately removed chronologically from the Orthodox Holy Week and Easter, which in the 20th century cannot possibly fall on June days even according to the Gregorian calendar. Thus, Bulgakov emphasized the discrepancy between the events of his novel and evangelical traditions. On the other hand, the fact that the Moscow and Yershalaim scenes took place, as emphasized by Bulgakov, in the same month, should have drawn the reader's attention to their deep internal connection. In the 1929 edition, this connection was established by the words of Jesus that “one thousand nine hundred years will pass before it becomes clear how much they lied when they wrote down my records.”

In the 1933 edition, in the markings and surviving fragments of chapters, the action was attributed to the June days. However, in the titles of subsequent chapters of the markup, the June dating is already redirected to May. Obviously, at the end of 1933 or at the beginning of 1934, the title “Night of Faust and Margarita (from 27.IV to 25.VI)” was crossed out, but the title of the chapter “Betrothal (night of 24-25.V)” appeared. The chronology of events from the very first chapters turns out to be even more shifted by the beginning of May. Woland's meeting with the writers at the Patriarch's takes place on Wednesday, May 8, and the Master appeared to Ivan on the night of June 9-10, as in the final text.

The last time Bulgakov sketched the chronology of the events of the novel was in 1938. Here, both the Master’s first meeting with Margarita and the main events of the Moscow scenes of the novel are timed to May. The indication that the Master stayed in Stravinsky's clinic until April inclusive clearly indicates that the hero's story to Bezdomny about his life, as well as other episodes of the Moscow part of the novel, take place at the very beginning of May. The first meeting of the Master and Margarita, and their last meeting in earthly life... before the transition to the supermundane. Here we will no longer find a direct indication of the time of action of the Moscow scenes. The only indication is the remark about the strangeness of “this strange May evening” when Bezdomny and Berlioz met with Woland at the Patriarch’s. Thus, all the events of the Moscow scenes fit into four days of the week, and on the same days events take place in ancient Yershalaim, distant from Moscow in space and time.

There is also one interesting meteorological correspondence confirming internal chronology“The Master and Margarita.” Judging by press reports, on May 1, 1929, Moscow experienced a sharp warming, unusual for this time of year, as a result of which the temperature rose from zero to thirty degrees in one day. In the following days, an equally sharp cold snap was observed, ending with rain and thunderstorms. In Bulgakov's novel, the evening of May 1 turns out to be unusually hot, and on the eve of the last flight, as once over Yershalaim, a severe thunderstorm with rain sweeps over Moscow.

There is reason to believe that Bulgakov was particularly attentive to newspaper reports published during Holy Week of 1929.

Hidden dating is also contained in the indication of the age of the Master - the most autobiographical of all the characters in the novel. The master is “a man about thirty-eight years old.” Bulgakov himself turned the same age on May 15, 1929. 1929 is also the year when Bulgakov began working on “The Master and Margarita.” The period of time separating the Moscow and Yershalaim scenes was precisely named in the early edition: 1900 years. In the latest edition, this period is not named so precisely: in the finale, Woland says that Pontius Pilate has been bearing his punishment for “about two thousand years.” However, since the action takes place in 29 and 1929, respectively, the Yershalaim and Moscow scenes and in the final text of the work are separated by exactly 1900 years.

Thus, each of the three main spatial worlds of Bulgakov’s novel also has its own time scale. In the world of Yershalaim, the main action takes place over the course of one day, with memories of previous events and predictions of future ones, which we see only in the final chapter of the novel. Time is even more concentrated in the other world, where it actually stopped, merged into a single moment, which is symbolized by the hours-long midnight at Satan’s ball. Only in the Moscow world, where the action spans four days, time is more blurred and flows relatively smoothly, obeying the will of the narrator.

1. Theme "Artist and Society" in Art

The famous composer of our time, Alexander Gradsky, who created the rock opera “The Master and Margarita,” notes that Bulgakov’s novel lists many musical works that were played during the events. The writer “indicated, I would say, the sound world of that time...”. The composer added to the associative series in the arrangement. “This is made for those who have associative thinking and who know how to compare disparate things and enjoy how they are connected like that and how fun it is.”

The abundance of jargon with which Bulgakov stuffed the text for the sake of colorful life of the heroes is clumsily heard when sung. Gradsky consciously abandoned poeticization “in favor of comedy and farce.”

It took another composer Valentin Ovsyannikov twenty-five years to tell the Great Novel of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov in a new language - the language of music in his “fantasy opera”. According to the author, he did not set himself the goal of literally transferring the work to theatrical stage. It turned out more like the author's fantasy eternal themes. That is why, defining the musical genre of the production, the composer called his work “The Master and Margarita”. "That's twenty-five years of my life, that in itself whole life. From the very beginning, I did not try to write a hit, I did not set myself the goal of creating another grandiose project in the field of show business. He who has ears, let him hear: we simply presented a new event in the cultural life of Russia. My opera is truly a fantasy, a constant internal dialogue between the audience and the heroes of the novel about Death and Immortality, Cowardice and Fearlessness, Love and Hate. And there is hope that Love, Immortality and Fearlessness are what we will leave behind.”

However, not only composers tried to depict the novel in their works. Directors - both domestic and foreign - sought to convey through their films the very spirit of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov’s work, his vision.

In Andrzej Wajda's film adaptation "Pilate and Others - A Film for Good Friday", filmed in Germany in 1971, only the line of Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri is present, but it is transferred to modern times. Thus, Levi Matthew looks like a modern television journalist reporting from Golgotha, and Judas Iscariot denounces Yeshua via a pay phone; when he hangs up, thirty pieces of silver fall out of the machine.

The second film based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" was directed by Alexander Petrovich. The director did not just set the goal of transferring the novel into film language, but tried to rethink it. It seems to me that Alexander Petrovich managed to convey the atmosphere of Moscow in the 1930s better than anyone else in world cinema: the director is trying to develop the idea of ​​the author’s lack of freedom in socialist country, relevant for Bulgakov himself.

Director Yuri Kara in his film “The Master and Margarita” preserved the multi-layered nature of the novel and all its themes. “We tried to combine all the material into a big film novel. The text was treated with care. The Master's Basement was filmed in the basement described in the novel. Margarita's mansion is in a mansion on Ostozhenka. They filmed in Israel, where the action of the Master’s book took place,” comments the director.

Director Vladimir Bortko in his film adaptation set the task of most fully and, in his opinion, adequately conveying the events of the novel. Moscow of the early thirties is depicted in sepia tones, Yershalaim is shown in yellow and red shades, the wonders of Woland and his company are shown in paint. “I’m making a movie... That’s it! And I took it off. And this best movie from what I’ve ever done,” this is how Vladimir Bortko evaluates his work.

Topics covered in the novel: man and power; justice and mercy; what is truth; The inner freedom and lack of freedom of a person interested artists of different times. Indirectly, the notes of “The Master and Margarita” can be seen in the works of M. K. Ciurlionis and Nikolai Ge.

M. K. Čiurlionis in his painting “Truth” describes suffering moths flying towards the fire, not understanding what they are doing. If you look closely at the picture with your spiritual eyes, abysses open up. The author of the picture compares moths with people thirsting for truth. Next, M. K. Ciurlionis depicts a man: he smiles... And he doesn’t just smile, but grins arrogantly, looking down and half-turning, as if despising weak creatures who are unable to bear the truth if they recognize it. And if he feels sorry for them, it is with disgust for these wretched people who do not see how their brothers are dying. Of course, he has the right to be proud of himself in comparison with those who can only live in the darkness of ignorance. What kind of truth is this that only a few can know?

“I will shake all their brains with the suffering of Christ... I will make them weep, and not be touched...,” the artist said about his painting. Moreover, the idea that inspired Ge was moral, not religious. He, according to A. N. Benois, saw Christ “rather as some kind of direct preacher of human morality, dying at the hands of bad people and giving people an example of how to suffer and die, rather than being a prophet and God.” Until the end of his life, Nikolai Ge was inspired by the hope that with the help of art a person can see the light and the world can improve. We can say that Ge’s painting “What is Truth?” became a kind of milestone in Russian painting.

1. Conclusion

Reflecting on the immortality of art, I asked myself: what makes the works of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Gogol eternal, what makes today's directors and composers turn to old stories. I researched the novel. M. A Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”. The author wrote his work as a reliable book about that time, about its people and combined in it the grotesque, fantasy, real events and facts. At the same time, “The Master and Margarita” is a novel about true creativity, about the world of art, about literary reality. During the work, I became interested in how the problems solved in the work were seen in the work of other artists: artists, composers and screenwriters.

The common thread in all works of art is the question: what is truth? Each artist depicts it differently, but the idea of ​​good and evil, their confrontation in the world remains the same..

This book greatly influenced my worldview, my perception of the Soviet era and religion. There is something here for everyone to think about. How can it be impossible today not to notice that the history of mankind continues to weigh the vices of good and evil? The scales constantly fluctuate. On my own behalf, I would like to add that every Russian person should read this fantastic book.

Bibliography:

1. Ardov M. “Reading the novel // Capital. – M., 1992 - No. 42 (55)

2. Zerkalov A. “Ethics of M. Bulgakov”, M. - 2004 (52)

3. Zolotussky I. “Notes on two novels by M. Bulgakov” // Literary studies. – M., 1991. -№2 (165)

4. Crepe M. “Bulgakov and Pasternak as novelists: Analysis of the novels “The Master and Margarita” and “Doctor Zhivago”, 1984

5. Lakshin V.Ya. “M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” // New World. – 1968- No. 6

6. Men A. “Literature”, Publishing House“First of September”, 2002

7. Palievsky P. “ The last book M. Bulgakov” // Our contemporary, 1969, No. 3

8. Petrovsky M. in the article “Mythological urban studies of Mikhail Bulgakov” (22-27)

9. Sokolov B. “Novel by M. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”: Essays creative history", M., - 1991 (97)

10. Tan A. “Moscow in the novel by M. Bulgakov” // Decorative art. – M., 1987.- No. 2 (22-28)

11. Yablokov E.A. “Motives of M. Bulgakov’s prose.” - M., 1997 (111)

12. Yanovskaya L. “The creative path of M. Bulgakov”, M., - 1983

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“The life of a literary work in art and time” The work was completed by: Maria Skirko, 9th grade student of private secondary school No. 1 Supervisor: Sokolova N.V.

Purpose of the study: to examine the work and answer the question: how does art reflect time; trace how the perception of a work of art changes by readers of different eras, analyzing the opinions of critics and readers about the novel; find out how the theme of the novel is reflected in contemporary art

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: – to analyze critical articles devoted to Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”; – consider works of art created based on the novel “The Master and Margarita”

RESEARCH METHODS: The topic of the work involves the study of various materials dedicated to the novel “The Master and Margarita”. The topic, subject and object of research require a combination of various methods. Among the main methods are comparative historical and typological.

Original titles of the novel: “Black Magician”, “Engineer’s Hoof”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Son of V(eliar?)”, “Tour (Woland?)”, “Great Chancellor”, “Satan”, “Here I Am” ", "Hat with a Feather", "The Black Theologian", "He Appeared", "The Foreigner's Horseshoe", "He Appeared", "The Advent", "The Black Magician" and "The Consultant's Hoof", "The Prince of Darkness" "The Master and Margarita" "

The connection between Bulgakov's novel and Goethe's tragedy Outward brilliance is designed for a moment, But the truth passes on to generations. I. Goethe “Faust”

Rock opera "The Master and Margarita"

Opera-fantasy “The Master and Margarita”

Film adaptation of the novel:

N. Ge “What is truth?” M. K. Ciurlionis “Truth”

Poll “Popularity of M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

Poll “The influence of the novel “The Master and Margarita” on art

Survey “Works of art created based on the novel “The Master and Margarita”

Interview with Moroz E.V..mp4

Thank you for your attention!!!

Artistic features. The novel “The Master and Margarita” is very interesting and at the same time complex in compositional terms. There are two worlds in it: the world of the Master and the world of Yeshua. The characters in each of these worlds live their own lives, and at the same time they are in complex relationships. The author, on the one hand, contrasts his heroes, and, on the other, unites them with a common idea. The novel about the Master is much more complex in compositional terms than the novel about Pilate and Yeshua, but when reading there is no feeling of disjointed parts of the work.

The novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua consists of only four chapters (out of 32 included in the narrative). The chapter “Pontius Pilate” (chapter 2) is Woland’s story at his first meeting with Berlioz and Ivan Bezdomny. The next chapter, “Execution,” appears in Ivan Bezdomny’s dream (chapter 16). The chapters “How the procurator tried to save Judas from Kiriath” and “Burial” are read in the novel by Margarita (chapters 25, 26). These chapters, already a separate novel, are included in the main narrative as an integral part of it.

The “Gospel” chapters differ in style from the chapters telling about Moscow. They are characterized by the stinginess of the image, sometimes turning into a high style of tragedy (scenes of the execution of Yeshua).

The chapters telling about Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow and its inhabitants are written in a different style: these include grotesque scenes, lyrical-dramatic, and phantasmagoric. In accordance with the task, the author turns to various vocabulary: from low to lyrical and poetic, replete with repetitions and metaphors.

An interesting detail of the compositional structure of the novel is the one-dimensionality of the repeated scenes of Woland’s clash with the residents of Moscow. They consist of meeting, testing, exposure and punishment. The very idea of ​​placing Satan and his retinue in Moscow in the 1930s was incredibly innovative.

The text of the novel is a chain of episodes, each of which is devoted to a separate chapter. Descriptions of events are given from the point of view of the characters who participate in them.

The author is always present in the novel. The author's comments serve as a means of creating a documentary effect, making the narrative more convincing. Only in the epilogue does he reveal himself in full: “The writer of these truthful lines himself, on his way to Feodosia, heard on the train a story about how in Moscow two thousand people left the theater naked in the literal sense of the word and in this form drove off in taxis " He is not a participant in the events, but occupies a certain spatio-temporal position in relation to these events in artistic reality. In other words, the novel was created as if by a certain Author, who bears the responsibility for introducing fantastic images into the real world.

Ministry of Education and Science

Khabarovsk Territory

Essay on literature

for a course of general (complete) education

student of class 11A of municipal educational institution secondary school No. 41

Komsomolsk-on-Amur

Mikhailov Nikolai Vitalievich

TOPIC A: Ideological and artistic originality of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov

"Master and Margarita".

Supervisor: Yukhanova Elena Nikolaevna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

Plan:

1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………..2-3 pages. 2.Personality M.A. Bulgakov……………………………………………………………..4-6pp.

3. The main problem in the novel by M.A. Bulgakov…………………....................7-8pp.

4. The plot and compositional originality of the novel “The Master and

Margarita”…………………………………………………………………...9-10pp.

5. The system of images of the heroes of the novel……………………………....................11-21pp.

5.1.Master…………………………………………………………………...11-12pp.

5.2.Margarita………………………………………………….......12-13pp. 5.3.Historical and artistic characterization Woland and his

suite…………………………………………………………………………………...13-21pp. 5.4. Woland’s retinue……………………………………………………………...13pp.

5. 5.Woland……………………………………………………………...13-15pp. 5.6.Azazello………………………………………………………………………………………15-16pp.

5.7. Bassoon………………………………………………………………………………16-17pp.

5.8. Cat Hippo……………………………………………………………..17-18pp.

5.9.Gella………………………………………………………………...18p.

5.10.Abadonna…………………………………………...............................18-19pp.

5.11. A satirical image of Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century…………...pp. 19-21.

6. The Great Ball at Satan’s as the apotheosis of the novel………………...............................22-23pp.

7.Conclusion… ...……………………………………………………………………... 24-26pp.

7.1 Personal axiom. Pontius Pilate's dream as the personification of victory

man over himself………………………………………………….24-26pp.

Appendix No. 1…………………………………………………………….27-29 pages.

8.Bibliography……………………………………………................................. .30pp.

So who are you, finally?

I am part of that force that always wants evil and

always does good. V. Goethe. "Faust" .

1.Introduction. The purpose of the reviewed work-research is an attempt to consider and deepen knowledge of the works of Mikhail Afanasyevich

Bulgakov in the context of Russian literature, focusing on some features and aspects of his work:

Trace the ideological and artistic features of the novel “The Master and Margarita”;

To identify the specifics of Bulgakov’s interpretation of the plot, to outline the range of philosophical and ethical problems raised in the novel;

Reveal Bulgakov's understanding artistic creativity, the writer’s view of the purpose of literature and the position of the artist in the world;

Comprehend Bulgakov's philosophical position;

Identify the principles of the plot and compositional structure of the novel, its most important aesthetic features. Subject of research became the novel “The Master and Margarita” by M.A.

Bulgakov, monographs, reference books, encyclopedias, scientific and

fiction, critical articles by Russian literary scholars

Practical significance of this work is determined, first of all, by the possibility of using the material in review lectures in high school and at extracurricular activities with gifted children.

Work structure subordinated to the implementation of its goals. It consists of an introduction, five chapters, a conclusion based on the personality axiom, and a bibliography.

Were at work applied structural, comparative, historical-literary and textual research methods.

Why did I turn specifically to the work of M.A. Bulgakov? For me personally, the writer is a paradoxical person, just like his work “The Master and Margarita”. Problems that have worried many generations of humanity:

The themes and compositional originality of the novel are unique. This is a source of enlightenment not only in the field of literature, but also in history, philosophy and all other natural sciences (which is just the question of measuring and changing space and time, described in one of the stories demon - Bassoon before Margarita's ball). The book became a synthesis of everything that was changed and felt by M.A. Bulgakov. The novel absorbed the artist’s mature experience and brought together the motives of the entire writer’s work. Nothing was left superfluous: Moscow life of the 30s; satirical fiction and mysticism; motives of knightly honor and troubled conscience; the theme of the fate of a persecuted artist; the theme of love, strong as death itself. Finally, everything is revealed, stated and proven. The author has derived axioms that do not require any proof. Our task is to be able to use them correctly, to understand the basic principles and positions that need to be followed in everyday life. The balance of good and evil, which existed outside the framework of time, is brilliantly and masterfully described in The Master and Margarita. These concepts are one complex element - an atom, consisting of other more complex particles that are currently not subject to every modern person, and, despite the fact that they are diametrically opposed in their meaning and meaning, they cannot be put from different perspectives.

Of course, the novel “The Master and Margarita” is the greatest work. Not everything that is written is understood and appreciated by people. No matter how many times I re-read it, more and more new ideas contained in it are revealed to me. New meaning is revealed in seemingly unnoticeable details. “Manuscripts don’t burn” - this simple truth has been time-tested in Bulgakov’s immortal novel. Bulgakov's novel “The Master and Margarita” summarized the enormous range of human thought and anxious quests.

When starting the essay, I understood that studying the immortal novel required intense intellectual and moral work from me, and perhaps a radical change in my worldview.

2. Personality of M. A. Bulgakov.

Bulgakov the writer and Bulgakov the man are still in many ways a mystery. It's unclear Political Views, attitude to religion, aesthetic program. His life consisted of three parts, each of which was remarkable in some way. Until 1919, he was a doctor, only occasionally trying his hand at literature. In the 20s, Bulgakov already professional writer and playwright earning

made a living from literary work and was overshadowed by the loud but scandalous glory of “The Days of the Turbins”. Finally, in the 30s, Mikhail

Afanasyevich is a theater employee, since he can no longer support himself by publishing prose and staging plays (at this time he is writing his imperishable masterpiece “The Master and Margarita”). It must be said that Bulgakov is a phenomenal phenomenon of Soviet times. He hated writing for a “social order”, while in the country fear was ruining talents and outstanding minds. Mikhail Afanasyevich himself was firmly convinced that he would never become a “helot, panegyrist and intimidated servant.” In his letter to the government in 1930, he admitted: “I didn’t even make any attempts to compose a communist play, knowing in advance that such a play would not work out.” This incredible courage was obviously caused by the fact that Bulgakov never gave up his creative positions, ideas and remained himself in the most difficult moments of his life. And he had a lot of them. He had the opportunity to fully experience the pressure of the powerful administrative-bureaucratic system of Stalin’s times, the one that he later designated with the strong and capacious word “Cabal”. Many of his creative and life principles, realized in works of art and plays, met with severe rebuff. There were periods of crises in Bulgakov’s life, when his works were not published, his plays were not staged, and he was not allowed to work at his beloved Moscow Art Theater. He expressed himself in a letter to V.V. Veresaev about who his main enemy was: “... And suddenly it dawned on me! I remembered the names! These are Turbin, Long John, Rokk and Khludov (from “Run”). Here they are, my enemies! It’s not for nothing that during times of insomnia they come to me and say to me: “You gave birth to us, and we will block all your paths. Lie down, science fiction writer, with your lips blocked.

Then it turns out that my main enemy- I myself”... And not censorship, not bureaucrats, not Stalin... With the latter, Bulgakov had special relationship. The leader criticized many of his works, directly hinting at anti-Soviet agitation in them. But, despite this, Mikhail Afanasyevich did not experience what was called terrible word GULAG. And he did not die on a bunk (although in those

times were taken away for much lesser sins), and in his own bed from nephrosclerosis inherited from his father. Bulgakov knew that a brilliant literary future was unlikely to await him in the Soviet Union (his works were constantly subjected to monstrous criticism), driven to a nervous breakdown, he openly wrote to Stalin (this letter became widely known): “... I turn to you and ask for your intercession before the Government of the USSR ABOUT THE EXILEMENT OF ME OUTSIDE THE USSR TOGETHER WITH MY WIFE E.S. BULGAKOVA 3 , which joins this petition.” In fact, Bulgakov loved his Motherland in his own way, could not imagine life without the Soviet theater, but... He once said: “There is no such writer that he would shut up. If he was silent, it means he was not real.

And if the real one is silent, he will die.” Why didn’t the Leader liquidate

“anti-Soviet”, “bourgeois writer” Bulgakov? They say that the writer “struck” him with his extraordinary charm and sense of humor. And Stalin also appreciated him as a playwright: he watched the play “Days of the Turbins” 15 times! His wife describes Bulgakov this way when she first met him: “It was impossible not to pay attention to his unusually fresh language, masterful dialogue and such

unobtrusive humor... In front of me stood a man of 30-32 years old; blonde hair, combed smoothly in a side parting. Blue eyes, facial features

irregular, nostrils roughly cut; When he speaks, he wrinkles his forehead. But the face, in general, is attractive, the face of great potential. This means that it is capable of expressing a wide variety of feelings. I suffered for a long time before I realized who Mikhail Bulgakov was like after all. And suddenly it dawned on me - Chaliapin!” This was M.A. Bulgakov. A doctor, journalist, novelist, playwright, director, he was a representative of that part of the intelligentsia who, without leaving the country in difficult years, sought to preserve themselves in changed conditions. He had to go through an addiction to morphine when he worked as a zemstvo doctor, civil war in his hometown of Kyiv, severe literary persecution and forced silence, and under these conditions he managed to create masterpieces that are read all over the world.

Anna Akhmatova 4 she called Bulgakov succinctly and simply - a genius, and dedicated a poem to his memory:

Here I am for you, in exchange for grave roses,

Instead of incense incense; You lived so harshly and brought magnificent contempt to the end.

You drank wine, you joked like no one else

And I was suffocating in the stuffy walls,

And you let the terrible guest in and you were left alone with her.

And you are not there, and everything around is silent.

About mournful and high life,

Oh, who dared to believe that I was crazy,

To me, the mourner of never-before-lived days,

To me, smoldering on a slow fire,

Having lost everyone, forgotten everyone, we will have to remember the one who, full of strength,

And bright plans and will, As if he were talking to me yesterday, Hiding the trembling of mortal pain.

Anna Akhmatova. Essay in 2 volumes. Volume 1 Moscow. Publishing house about Pravda. 1990

3. THE MAIN PROBLEM IN BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND

MARGARITA."

There are many problems raised in the novel, but let’s focus on one of the most important and fundamental ones - the problem of choice and personal responsibility of a person for his actions.

In the first level, which is also an immortal book

Masters, both the “Gospel of Woland” and the dream of Ivan Bezdomny contain the greatest psychological meaning of the novel. Topics such as choice, personal responsibility for one’s choice, and punishment by conscience are reflected here. And, most importantly, the gospel story about Jesus (Bulgakov’s Ha-Nozri) is rethought here. Main actors in this story are the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and the wandering philosopher Yeshua Ha-Nozri. The powerful procurator Pontius Pilate, in whose hands the life of any of the inhabitants of Judea is in his hands, judges the arrested Yeshua. So Pilate is faced with the problem of choice: Yeshua’s life depends on his word. And then we see that the powerful procurator Pontius Pilate is not free: he is a slave of Caesar, a slave of his own career. He is afraid that he might be reported to Caesar, that he might end up in Yeshua’s place. Pontius Pilate hints to Yeshua how to respond, but Yeshua does not listen to him. And not at all because he is a “slave of honor.” He simply does not understand Pilate's hints. Yeshua is morally and spiritually free. His conscience is clear, unlike the conscience of Pontius Pilate. The latter makes his own choice. He understands this and knows that Ga-Notsri is not guilty; he is tormented by his conscience for the sentence passed on the wandering philosopher. After the execution, the procurator of Judea suffers, realizing that it is he, and not anyone else, who is to blame for the death of Yeshua. In this wandering philosopher, Pontius Pilate saw the light of truth, goodness, and this further increases his torment. A momentary weakness, as a result of which evil triumphs, turns into two thousand years of torment of repentance for Pilate. And at the end of the novel, forgiveness given to him by the Master comes to him. He was also forgiven by the one whom he sent to execution, with whom he was so eager to talk during the two thousand years of his captivity. Yeshua forgave him.

The theme of choice and personal responsibility for one’s choice is developed

Bulgakov and in the “Moscow” chapters of the novel. Woland and his retinue (Azazello, Koroviev, the cat Behemoth, Gella) are, as it were, a punishing sword of justice, exposing and punishing various manifestations of evil. Woland arrives with a kind of revision to the country, which is declared a country of goodness and happiness. And what does Woland discover? Yes, the people remain the same as they were. At a performance in Variety, Woland tests people for greed, and people simply rush for money and things. But no one forces them to grab money and go on stage! People make their own choices. And many find themselves justly punished when their clothes disappear and the chervonets turn into stickers from Narzan.

A person’s choice is a choice within him between good and evil. A person makes his choice himself: who he should be, what kind of person he should be, which side he should be on... In any case, a person has an internal, elusive judge - conscience. Those people for whom it is unclean, who are guilty and do not want to admit it, are “punished” by Woland and his retinue. After all, he does not punish everyone, but only those who deserve it. Of all the heroes of the novel, only the Master and Margarita remained morally pure. Yes, at the end of the novel, Ivan Bezdomny comes to moral enlightenment.

4. Plot and compositional originality of BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA”.

It is defined as a mythical novel, a philosophical novel, a mystical novel,

lyrical novel, a menippea novel. This happens because the novel combines all genres at once, even those that cannot exist together. The novel's narrative is directed to the future, the content is both psychologically and philosophically reliable. The problems raised in the novel are eternal. The main idea of ​​the novel is the struggle between good and evil - concepts that are inseparable from each other. The composition of the novel is as original as the genre - “a novel within a novel.” One is about the fate of the Master, the other is about Pontius Pilate. On the one hand, they are opposed to each other, on the other, they form a single whole. This “novel within a novel” brings together global problems and contradictions. The master is concerned about the same problems as Pontius Pilate. At the end of the novel, you can see how Moscow connects with Yershalaim, that is, one novel is combined with another, turning into one storyline. Reading the work, we find ourselves in two dimensions at once: the 30s of the 20th century and the 30s of the 1st century AD. We see that the events took place in the same month and on several days before Easter, only with an interval of 1900 years, which proves the deep connection between the Moscow and Yershalaim chapters. The actions of the novel, which are separated by almost two millennia, are in harmony with each other, and they are connected by the fight against evil, the search for truth, and creativity. And yet the main character of the novel is love. Love is what captivates the reader. In general, the theme of love is the writer’s favorite. According to the author, all the happiness that a person has in life comes from love. Love elevates a person above the world and comprehends the spiritual. This is the feeling of The Master and Margarita. That is why the author included these names in the title. Margarita completely surrenders to love and, for the sake of saving the Master, sells her soul to the devil, taking on a huge sin. But still, the author takes her side. Using the example of Margarita, Bulgakov showed that each person should make his own personal choice, without asking for help from higher powers; do not expect favors from life; man is the creator of his own destiny.

The novel contains three storylines: philosophical

(biblical) - Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Pontius Pilate, love (lyrical) - The Master and Margarita, mystical (satirical) - Woland, his entire retinue and Muscovites. The author reveals the relativity of human knowledge and at the same time affirms man's responsibility for his destiny. The course of modern life lies in the Master's story about Pontius Pilate. Another feature of this work is that it is autobiographical. In the image of the Master we recognize Bulgakov himself, and in the image of Margarita - his beloved woman, his wife Elena Sergeevna. Therefore, we perceive heroes as real, tangible. We sympathize with them, worry, put ourselves in their place, improve together with the heroes, moving along the artistic ladder of the work. The storylines intersect, connecting at one point - in Eternity. This unique composition of the novel makes it interesting and fascinating for the reader.

To understand the problems and idea of ​​the novel, you need to consider in detail

system of hero images.

5. Hero image system.

5. The Master and Margarita.

5.1. Master. One of the most mysterious figures in the novel “The Master and Margarita” is, of course, the Master, a historian who became a writer. The author himself called him the main character, but introduced him to the reader only in chapter 13. Many researchers do not consider the Master to be the main character of the novel. Another mystery is the prototype of the Master. There are many versions about this. Here are three of the most common ones.

The Master is largely an autobiographical hero. His age at the time the novel takes place (“a man of about thirty-eight” appears in the hospital before Ivan Bezdomny) is exactly Bulgakov’s age in May 1929. The newspaper campaign against the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate is reminiscent of the newspaper campaign against Bulgakov. The similarity between the Master and Bulgakov is also that the latter, despite literary persecution, did not abandon his creativity and served real art. So the Master created his masterpiece about Pontius Pilate, “guessed” the truth, devoted his life to pure art - the only Moscow cultural figure who did not write to order, about “what is possible.”

At the same time, the Master has many other, most unexpected prototypes. His portrait: “shaven, dark-haired, with a sharp nose, anxious eyes and a tuft of hair hanging over his forehead” shows an undeniable resemblance to N.V. Gogol. It must be said that Bulgakov considered him his main teacher. The master, like Gogol, burned the manuscript of his novel. Finally, there is no doubt that Bulgakov’s work contains a number of stylistic parallels with Gogol.

And, of course, it is impossible not to draw parallels between the Master and the Yeshua Ha-Nozri he created. Yeshua is the bearer of universal truth, and the Master is the only person in Moscow who has chosen the right creative and life path. They are united by fellowship, messianism, for which there is no time frame. But the Master is not worthy of the light that Yeshua personifies, because he abandoned his task of serving pure, divine art, showed weakness and burned the novel, and out of hopelessness he himself came to the house of sorrow. But the world of the devil has no power over him either - the Master is worthy of peace, an eternal home - only there, broken by mental suffering, the Master can again find romance and unite with his romantic beloved Margarita, who sets off with him on her final journey. She entered into a deal with the devil to save the Master and is therefore worthy of forgiveness. The Master's love for Margarita is in many ways unearthly, eternal love. The master is indifferent to the joys of family life. He does not remember the name of his wife, does not strive to have children, and when he was married and worked as a historian in a museum, he, by his own admission, lived “lonely, having no relatives and almost no acquaintances in Moscow.” The master realized his calling as a writer, quit his service and sat down to write a novel about Pontius Pilate in an Arbat basement. And Margarita was persistently next to him...

5.2.Margarita. The motif of mercy is associated with the image of Margarita in the novel. After the Great Ball, she asks Satan for the unfortunate Frida, while she is clearly hinted at asking for the release of the Master. She says: “I asked you for Frida only because I had the imprudence to give her firm hope. She is waiting, sir, she believes in my power. And if she remains deceived, I will be in a terrible position. I won't have peace all my life. It's nothing you can do! It just happened that way.” But Margarita’s mercy does not end there. Even being a witch, she does not lose the brightest human qualities. Dostoevsky’s idea, expressed in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” about a child’s tear as the highest measure of good and evil, is illustrated by the episode when Margarita, destroying the Dramlit house, sees a frightened four-year-old boy in one of the rooms and stops the destruction. Margarita is a symbol of that eternal femininity about which the Mystical Choir sings in the finale of Goethe’s “Faust”: Everything is fleeting -

Symbol, comparison.

The goal is endless.

Here in achievement.

Here is the commandment of all Truth.

Eternal femininity draws us to her.

Faust and Margarita are reunited in heaven, in the light. The eternal love of Goethe's Gretchen helps her lover find a reward - the traditional light that blinds him, and therefore she must become his guide in the world of light. Bulgakov's Margarita also, with her eternal love, helps the Master - the new Faust - to find what he deserves. But the hero’s reward here is not light, but peace, and in the kingdom of peace, in Woland’s last refuge or even, more precisely, on the border of two worlds - light and darkness, Margarita becomes the guide and guardian of her lover: “You will fall asleep, putting on your greasy and an eternal cap, you will fall asleep with a smile on your lips. Sleep will strengthen you, you will begin to reason wisely. And you won’t be able to drive me away. I will take care of your sleep."

This is what Margarita said, walking with the Master towards their eternal home, and it seemed to the Master that Margarita’s words flowed in the same way as the stream left behind flowed and whispered, and the Master’s memory, a restless memory pricked with needles, began to fade.” E. S. Bulgakova wrote down these lines from the dictation of the terminally ill author of “The Master and Margarita.”

Let us emphasize that the motive of mercy and love in the image of Margarita is resolved differently than in Goethe’s poem, where before the power of love “the nature of Satan surrendered... he did not bear her prick. Mercy prevailed,” and Faust was released into the world. In Bulgakov, it is Margarita who shows mercy towards Frida, and not Woland himself.

Love does not in any way affect the nature of Satan, for in fact the fate of the brilliant Master is predetermined by Woland in advance. Satan’s plan coincides with what Master Yeshua asks to reward, and Margarita here is part of this reward.

5.3 Historical and artistic characteristics of Woland and his retinue.

5.4. Woland's retinue.

Woland did not come to earth alone. He was accompanied by creatures who, by and large, play the role of jesters in the novel, putting on all sorts of shows, disgusting and hateful to the indignant Moscow population (they simply turned human vices and weaknesses inside out). But their task was also to do all the “dirty” work for Woland, to serve him, to prepare Margarita for the Great Ball and for her and the Master’s journey to a world of peace. Woland's retinue consisted of four subordinates - Azazello, Koroviev-Fagot, the cat Behemoth and the vampire girl Gella. Among all the others we can also include Abadonna. They form a clear hierarchical ladder. Where did such strange creatures come from in Woland’s retinue? And where did Bulgakov get their images and names from?

5.5. Woland. Woland is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, who leads the world of otherworldly forces. Woland is the devil, Satan, “prince of darkness,” “spirit of evil and lord of shadows” (all these definitions are found in the text of the novel). Woland is largely focused on Mephistopheles “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The name Woland itself is taken from Goethe’s poem, where it is mentioned only once and is usually omitted in Russian translations. As amended 1929 – 1930 the name Woland was reproduced in full Latin in his business card: “Dr Theodor Voland”. In the final text, Bulgakov abandoned the Latin alphabet. Let us note that in early editions Bulgakov tried the names Azazello and Veliar for the future Woland.

Woland’s portrait is shown before the start of the Great Ball “Two eyes fixed on Margarita’s face. The right one with a golden spark at the bottom, drilling anyone to the bottom of the soul, and the left one is empty and black, kind of like a narrow eye of a needle, like an exit into a bottomless well of all darkness and shadows. Woland's face was slanted to the side, the right corner of his mouth was pulled down, and deep wrinkles were cut into his high, bald forehead, parallel to his sharp eyebrows. The skin on Woland’s face seemed to be forever burned by a tan.” True face Bulgakov hides Woland only at the very beginning of the novel in order to intrigue the reader, and then directly declares through the mouth of the Master and Woland himself that the devil has definitely arrived at the Patriarchs.

Woland gives different explanations for the purposes of his stay in Moscow to different characters who come into contact with him. He tells Berlioz and Bezdomny that he has arrived to study the found manuscripts of Herbert of Avrilak. To the employees of the Variety Theater, Woland explains his visit with his intention to perform a session of black magic. After the scandalous session, Satan tells the bartender that he simply wanted to “see the Muscovites en masse, and the most convenient way to do this was in the theater.” Before the start of the Great Ball at Satan's, Margarita Koroviev-Fagot informs that the purpose of the visit of Woland and his retinue to Moscow is to hold this ball, whose hostess must bear the name Margarita and be of royal blood.

Woland has many faces, as befits the devil, and in conversations with different people puts on different masks. At the same time, Woland’s omniscience of Satan is completely preserved: he and his people are well aware of both the past and future lives of those with whom they come into contact, they also know the text of the Master’s novel, which literally coincides with the “Gospel of Woland”, the same thing that was told to the unlucky writers at the Patriarch's.

Woland's unconventionality lies in the fact that he, being a devil, is endowed with some obvious attributes of God. Dialectical unity, the complementarity of good and evil are most clearly revealed in Woland’s words addressed to Matthew Levi, who refused to wish health to the “spirit of evil and the lord of shadows: “You pronounced your words as if you do not recognize shadows, as well as evil. Would you be so kind as to think about the question: what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it? After all, shadows come from objects and people. This is the shadow of my sword. But there are shadows from trees and from living creatures. Don't you want to rip off the entire globe, sweeping away all the trees and all living things, because of your fantasy of enjoying the naked light? You are stupid".

In Bulgakov, Woland literally revives the Master's burned novel; a product of artistic creativity, preserved only in the head of the creator, materializes again, turns into a tangible thing.

Woland is the bearer of fate, this is due to a long tradition in Russian literature that linked fate, fate, fate not with God, but with the devil. In Bulgakov, Woland personifies the fate that punishes Berlioz, the entertainer, the bartender Fokich and others who violate the norms of Christian morality. Good and evil are eternal and inseparable concepts, and as long as the spirit and consciousness of a person are alive, they will fight with each other. Such a struggle was presented to us by M.A. Bulgakov in the novel “The Master and Margarita,” although, it seems to me, it is impossible to distinguish clear lines of good and evil, but in general the work is of a strictly critical nature. Moreover, the reader is presented with two novels: one novel “About Pontius Pilate”, the other novel about “The Master and Margarita”, connected with the life of Moscow in the thirties of the twentieth century. Both novels converge at one point - this is the position of Woland and his companions; both novels are united by one idea - the search for truth and the fight for it. The characters described in both novels are different, but they are connected by one essence. Enmity, distrust of dissident people, and envy reign in the world that surrounds the Master and Yeshua. Woland and his retinue expose them to us. Bulgakov gives Woland broad powers: throughout the entire novel he judges, decides destinies, decides - life or death and carries out retribution, giving everyone what they deserve. During their four-day tour in Moscow, Woland, the cat Behemoth, Koroviev, Azazello and Gella turn literary and literary figures inside out. theatrical environment, officials and ordinary people. Woland defines “who is who”: Styopa Likhodeev is a slacker, a libertine, a drunkard; Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy - bribe-taker; Fokich - thief; Baron Meigel - informer; the poet Ryukhin is an inveterate hypocrite. And at a black magic session at the variety show Woland, both directly and figuratively“undresses” some women citizens, and sadly concludes: “They are people like people, ordinary, in general, they resemble the former ones.” But people's eternal desire for good is irresistible. Every generation of people is obliged to re-solve moral problems. Some people are visited by an instant insight, an insight that should push a person to self-improvement. Ryukhin realizes his mediocrity, and thereby pays the bills. Others - never. For Berlioz, the well-read but unscrupulous head of MASSOLIT, it does not matter whether Jesus existed or did not exist, but the important thing is that by denying him, he can afford everything. But retribution overtakes Berlioz - he dies under the wheels of a tram. Master Bulgakov puts into a different philosophical concept: not all people can become kind and that they need to forgive insults. The master wrote a novel about Jesus Christ. But such a hero is not needed at MASSOLIT, where they accept poems about “soar” and “unwind.” A pack of “literary” critics attacked the Master. He, just like Yeshua, must pay for the right to proclaim his truth. The madhouse is where the prophets find refuge. Good should not be punished; Woland returns to the Master the manuscript he burned in a moment of weakness. In parallel with the events taking place in Moscow, Bulgakov showed the events in Yershalaim, described in the Master’s novel. Here Woland is present as an outside observer, not being evil or good, but as a mirror in which history is reflected.

5.3. Azazello.

This character is the eldest of Woland’s subordinates. Woland gives most of the assignments to him: a conversation with Margarita in the Alexander Garden, arrival in the basement to prepare the Master and Margarita for the peace assigned to them by the forces of light.

The name Azazello was formed by Bulgakov from the Old Testament name Azazel. This is the name of the negative hero of the Old Testament book of Enoch, a fallen angel who taught people how to make weapons and jewelry.

Bulgakov was probably attracted by the combination of seduction and murder in one character. It is precisely for the insidious seducer that Margarita mistakes Azazello during their first meeting in the Alexander Garden: “This neighbor turned out to be vertically challenged, fiery red, with a fang, in starched underwear, in good quality striped suit, in patent leather shoes and with a bowler hat on his head. “Absolutely a robber’s face!” – thought Margarita” But Azazello’s main function in the novel is related to violence. He throws Styopa Likhodeev out of Moscow to Yalta, expels Uncle Berlioz from the Bad Apartment, and kills the traitor Baron Meigel with a revolver.

Azazello also invented the cream that he gives to Margarita. The magic cream not only makes the heroine invisible and able to fly, but also gives her a new, witch-like beauty.

In the epilogue of the novel, this fallen angel appears before us in a new guise: “Azazello flew at the side of everyone, shining with the steel of his armor. The moon also changed his face. The absurd, ugly fang disappeared without a trace, and the crooked eye turned out to be false. Both of Azazello's eyes were the same, empty and black, and his face was white and cold. Now Azazello flew in his true form, like a demon of the waterless desert, a demon-killer.

5.4. Bassoon.

Second in the hierarchy. A demon, a devil, a knight, a magician, a sorcerer, who introduces himself to Muscovites as a translator for a foreign professor and a former regent of a church choir - all this, in one person, is Fagot.

The surname Koroviev is modeled after the surname of the character in the story by A.N. Tolstoy 5 “Ghoul” (1841) by state councilor Telyaev, who turns out to be a knight and a vampire. In addition, in the story by F. M. Dostoevsky

“The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants” has a character named Korovkin, very similar to our hero. His second name comes from the name musical instrument bassoon, invented by an Italian monk. The Koroviev-Fagot has some similarities with the bassoon - a long thin tube folded in three. Bulgakov's character is thin, tall and in imaginary servility, it seems, ready to fold himself three times over in front of his interlocutor (in order to then calmly harm him).

Here is his portrait: “...a transparent citizen of a strange appearance, a jockey cap on his small head, a checkered short jacket..., a citizen a fathom tall, but narrow in the shoulders, incredibly thin, and a face

5 A. N. Tolstoy (1882-1945) - Russian writer, count, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

6 F. M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881) - Russian writer, participant in revolutionary circles. Remarkable for its philosophical understanding of man, the search for truth, the calling of the Russian people, war and peace, Christian morality.

Please note, mocking”; “...his mustache is like chicken feathers, his eyes are small, ironic and half-drunk.”

Koroviev-Fagot is a devil who emerged from the sultry Moscow air (unprecedented heat for May at the time of his appearance - one of traditional signs approach of evil spirits). Woland's henchman, only when necessary, puts on various disguises: a drunken regent, a guy, a clever swindler, a sneaky translator for a famous foreigner, etc. Only in the last flight does Koroviev-Fagot become what he really is - a gloomy demon, a knight Bassoon, who knows the value of human weaknesses and virtues no worse than his master.

5.5. Cat Behemoth.

This werecat and Satan's favorite jester is perhaps the funniest and most memorable of Woland's retinue.

M. A. Orlova 7 “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil,” extracts from which were preserved in the Bulgakov archive. There, in particular, it described the case of a French abbess who lived in the 17th century and was possessed by seven devils, the fifth demon being Hippopotamus. This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant head, a trunk and fangs. His hands were human-shaped, and he had a huge belly, a short ponytail and thick hind legs, like a hippopotamus, reminded him of his name.

In Bulgakov, Behemoth became a huge black cat-werewolf, since black cats are traditionally considered associated with evil spirits. This is how we see him for the first time: “... on the jeweler’s pouffe, in a cheeky pose, a third person was lounging, namely, a terribly sized black cat with a glass of vodka in one paw and a fork, on which he had managed to pry a pickled mushroom, in the other.”

The hippopotamus in the demonological tradition is the demon of the desires of the stomach.

Hence his extraordinary gluttony, especially in Torgsin, when he indiscriminately swallows everything edible.

Behemoth's shootout with detectives in apartment No. 50, his chess match with

Woland, a shooting competition with Azazello - all these are purely humorous scenes, very funny and even to some extent remove the severity of the everyday, moral and philosophical problems that the novel poses to the reader.

7 M.A. Orlov is a modern researcher of Russian literature, the author of “Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events.” “The History of Man’s Relations with the Devil” is an outline of the views on the nature of evil that prevailed in the Middle Ages and Modern times, right up to the 19th century, and contains many legendary stories relations between people and evil spirits; the book contains more and more eyewitness accounts of meetings of people with elves, gnomes, and sorcerers.

In the last flight, the transformation of this merry joker is very unusual (like most of the plot devices in this science fiction novel):

“The night also tore off the fluffy tail from the Behemoth, tore off its fur and scattered its shreds across the swamps. He who was a cat who amused the prince of darkness now turned out to be a thin youth, a demon page, the best jester that ever existed in the world.”

5.6. Gella.

Gella is a member of Woland’s retinue, a female vampire: “I recommend my maid Gella. She is efficient, understanding, and there is no service that she cannot provide.”

M. Bulgakov took the name “Gella” from the article “Sorcery” in the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, where it was noted that in Lesvos this name was used to call untimely dead girls who became vampires after death.

The green-eyed beauty Gella moves freely through the air, thereby taking on a resemblance to a witch. Character traits The behavior of vampires - clicking their teeth and smacking their lips - Bulgakov may have borrowed from A. N. Tolstoy’s story “The Ghoul”. There, a vampire girl turns her lover into a vampire with a kiss - hence, obviously, Gella’s fatal kiss for Varenukha.

Gella, the only one from Woland's retinue, is absent from the scene of the last flight. Most likely, Bulgakov deliberately removed her as the youngest member of the retinue, performing only auxiliary functions both in the Variety Theater, and in the Bad Apartment, and at Satan’s Great Ball. Vampires are traditionally the lowest category of evil spirits. In addition, Gella would have no one to turn into on the last flight, when the night “exposed all the deceptions,” she could only become a dead girl again. 5.7. Abadonna.

Abadonna, the demon of war, close to Woland, acts as a harbinger, the bearer of death. This is indicated by the last scene of the life of Baron Meigel: “Abadonna found himself in front of the baron and took off his glasses for a second. At the same moment something flashed in Azazello’s hands...” The Baron looked death in the eyes - into the eyes of Abadonna, and carried out this death, murder, Azazello. Abadonna is blind, he always wears black glasses and therefore cannot give preference to any of the participants in the war. But why did the demon take off his glasses in front of the baron, because Abadonna can’t see? Apparently, the point here is in Abadonna’s eyes themselves, and not in their blindness or sight. The name "Abadonna" comes from the Hebrew "Abaddon". This is the name of the angel of the Apocalypse. This is an Old Testament fallen angel who led the angels’ rebellion against God and, as punishment, was thrown to earth and doomed to immortality. Maybe that’s why Abadonna is the demon of war and death in the novel. He brings death, shows people its “face,” but cannot die himself. Abaddon (“destruction”), in Jewish mythology the personification of the pits of the grave and the abyss of the underworld that hide and destroy without a trace; a figure close to the angel of death (Malakh Ha-Mavet). This is Abaddon in the Old Testament (Job 26:6; 28; 31:12; Proverbs 15:11, where he is spoken of as a deep mystery, permeable, however, to God). In Christian mythology, Abaddon, called Apollyon in Greek (“the destroyer,” perhaps correlates with the name of Apollo), leads a punishing army of monstrous “locusts” against humanity at the end of time (Apoc. 9, 11). Despite the fact that Abadonna is one of Woland’s close associates, he, like Gella, is not present in the scene of the last flight. Perhaps he belongs to a different kingdom or element than Woland, although he is subordinate to him. The demon of war wanders the earth, bringing death, while Satan is the ruler of space, the abyss.

5.8. Moscow 30s

The work of the great Russian writer Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov occurred in the first post-revolutionary years and the era of Stalinism. An atmosphere of fear, bloody terror, and unbridled lawlessness reigned in the country. Genuine literature became a form of rejection of such reality, a way of morally overcoming it. The writer's faithful ally was laughter.

Mikhail Bulgakov had a brilliant gift as a satirist. However, the depiction of the hopeless “mud of little things”, all these apartment quarrels, petty squabbles, a mess of insignificant passions never became an end in itself. No! Bulgakov surveys his contemporary reality as if from the height of Margarita’s fantastic flight over the night Arbat. What is important and interesting for the writer is the very question that Woland throws with his heavy bass into the enchanted Variety Hall: “Have these townspeople changed internally?” The stage and auditorium change places. Several simple tricks by Fagot (the episode with the chervonets, the ladies' store, the severed head of Bengalsky, the “exposure” of Sempleyarov) irrefutably testify: human nature has not changed in the centuries that have passed since the execution of Yeshua. Woland's conclusion is impartial. “Well,” he responded thoughtfully, “they are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of: leather, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well, well, mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing problem has only spoiled them...”

Painted with bright satirical colors in the novel “The Master and

Margarita" countless informers and bureaucrats, literary regulars at the restaurant of Griboyedov's house and petty swindlers, opportunists and militant inhabitants... But evil is not just shown. It is ridiculed, it is exposed, it is parodically reduced. The writer widely uses various techniques of satirical depiction: hyperbole, grotesque, parody.

The parodic reduction made it possible to psychologically overcome the fear of those phenomena of reality, which in themselves did not evoke any “cheerful” associations among Bulgakov’s contemporaries! We are talking, of course, about arrests, denunciations and interrogations by the “competent” authorities. As a matter of fact, the novel begins with a denunciation. Seized by spy mania, Berlioz and the poet Bezdomny are trying to promptly expose a suspicious foreign tourist from the Patriarch's Ponds, in whom they see a criminal and a foreign agent. Alas! The venerable editor and head of MASSOLIT never reaches the nearest pay phone. Bezdomny’s attempt to apprehend the criminal with the help of a “stuffy agent” also ends in failure.

The virus of denunciation, according to Bulgakov, penetrated deeply into society, even touching the souls of children. In the chapter "Flight" a little boy unwittingly betrays his mischievous friend Sitnik.

Unfortunately, in most cases, denunciations are quite deliberate and lead to inevitable consequences. Thus, the parodied denunciation of Timofey Kvastsov radically changes the fate of the bribe-taker Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo. Aloysius Mogarych’s denunciation of the Master does not pass without a trace...

Mikhail Bulgakov, with great ingenuity, finds ways to talk about mass arrests in his novel. Such is the hint about the mysterious disappearances of the residents of the “bad apartment”, such is the unspoken guess of the smart Poplavsky about the arrest of members of the board of the housing association at building No. 302 bis: “Oh, what a complication! And it was necessary for them all at once...” This is the message in the epilogue about the numerous arrests of not only people, but also black cats. But laughter still remains Bulgakov’s faithful ally. Scary things stop being scary. Let's remember the scene

arrest of Behemoth. In a collision with Woland's retinue, the knurled system

violence reveals its complete powerlessness, its absurdity, its absurdity - note that they are trying to arrest not a person, not at all, but a cat!

An important role in Bulgakov’s novel is played by the depiction of Professor Stravinsky’s psychiatric clinic and the investigator’s methods of conducting a criminal case. The interrogations of Nikanor Ivanovich Bosogo and Chuma-Annushka are anecdotal precisely because those interrogated tell the honest truth.

Bulgakov, as we see, finds the strength to ridicule what inspired his contemporaries with almost mystical horror: denunciations, arrests, interrogations with bias. At the same time, the writer does not leave evil unpunished, but resorts to a unique method of fantastic retribution. Whenever real overcoming of evil is not possible, Woland and his retinue appear. It is precisely this function of “evil spirits” in the novel that the epigraph from Goethe’s “Faust” indicates. In fact, through the efforts of Satan, the false-tongue administrator of the Varenukha Varenukha was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, bureaucrat Nikolai Ivanovich was brought to a fantastic ball as a “vehicle” (hog), the “earpiece and spy” Baron Meigel was shot, painlessly replaced in his boss’s chair with an empty suit Chairman of the Entertainment Commission Prokhor Petrovich... And that's not all. Is it possible not to remember here the defeat of the “House of Dramlit” by Margarita? Is it possible to forget the latest adventures of Koroviev and Behemoth? The fire in which Torgsin and Griboyedov’s house burn does not burn the reader with the bitterness of loss. On the contrary, we have before us, perhaps, the most witty and fun pages of the novel. And neither the regulars of the restaurant at Griboedov’s house, nor the majestic Archibald Archibaldovich, nor the satirical gallery of the inhabitants of Torgsin evoke much sympathy...

Thus, Bulgakov's satire is a way of overcoming the fear of cruel and bloody reality. Unfortunately, the writer’s work in our country began to return to the reader only in the late sixties of the twentieth century. At the same time, the novel “The Master and Margarita” was published, which played a role in the spiritual formation of several generations of readers.

6. SATAN’S GREAT BALL AS THE APOTHEOSIS OF THE NOVEL.

Satan's Great Ball is the ball that Woland gives in the novel “The Master and Margarita” in the Bad Apartment on the endlessly lasting midnight of Friday, May 3, 1929.

In order to fit Satan's Great Ball into the Bad Apartment, it was necessary to expand it to supernatural proportions. As Koroviev-Fagot explains, “for those who are well acquainted with the fifth dimension, it costs nothing to expand the room to the desired limits.” This brings to mind the novel “The Invisible Man” (1897) by H.G. Wells. Bulgakov goes further than the English science fiction writer, increasing the number of dimensions from a fairly traditional four to five. In the fifth dimension, the gigantic halls where the Great Ball of Satan takes place become visible, and the participants of the ball themselves, on the contrary, are invisible to the people around them, including the OGPU agents on duty at the doors of the Bad Apartment.

Richly decorated ballrooms roses, Bulgakov took into account the complex and multifaceted symbolism associated with this flower. In the cultural tradition of many peoples, roses represent both mourning, love and purity. Taking this into account, the roses at Satan’s Great Ball can be seen both as a symbol of Margarita’s love for the Master, and as a harbinger of their imminent death. Roses here are also an allegory of Christ, a memory of shed blood; they have long been included in the symbolism of the Catholic Church.

The election of Margaret as queen of the Great Ball of Satan and her likening to one of the French queens who lived in the 16th century. associated with encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Efron. Bulgakov's extracts from the articles of this dictionary dedicated to two French queens who bore the name Margaret - Navarre and Valois - have been preserved. Both historical Margaritas patronized writers and poets, and Bulgakov’s Margarita

turns out to be related to genius Master, whose extraction from the hospital she seeks after the Great Ball with Satan.

Another source of Satan's Great Ball is the description of the ball in

Mikhailovsky Palace, given in the book of the Marquis Astolphe de Custine “Russia in

1839.” (this work was also used by Bulgakov when creating the film script “ Dead Souls"): “The large gallery, intended for dancing, was decorated with exceptional luxury. One and a half thousand tubs and pots with the rarest flowers formed a fragrant bosquet. At the end of the hall, in the thick shadow of exotic plants, a swimming pool was visible, from which a fountain stream was constantly gushing out. The splashes of water, illuminated by bright lights, sparkled like diamond specks of dust and refreshed the air... It is difficult to imagine the splendor of this picture. Completely lost

an idea of ​​where you are. All boundaries disappeared, everything was full of light, gold, flowers, reflections and enchanting, magical illusion" Margarita sees a similar picture at Satan’s Great Ball, feeling like she is in a tropical forest, among hundreds of flowers and colorful fountains and listening to the music of the world’s best orchestras.

Depicting Satan’s Great Ball, Bulgakov also took into account the traditions of Russian symbolism, in particular the symphonies of the poet A. Bely and L. Andreev’s play “The Life of a Man.”

Satan's Great Ball can also be imagined as a figment of the imagination of Margarita, who is about to commit suicide. Many eminent nobles-criminals approach her as the queen of the ball, but Margarita prefers everyone brilliant writer Masters. Note that the ball is preceded by a session of black magic in the circus-like Variety Theater, where at the end the musicians play a march (and in works of this genre, drums always play a great role).

Let us note that at Satan’s Great Ball there are also musical geniuses who are not directly associated in their work with the motifs

Satanism. Margarita meets here the “king of waltzes”, the Austrian composer Johann Strauss, the Belgian violinist and composer Henri Vietan, and the best musicians in the world play in the orchestra. Thus, Bulgakov illustrates the idea that every talent is in some way from the devil.

The fact that at Satan’s Great Ball a line of murderers, poisoners, executioners, debauchees and pimps passes in front of Margarita is not at all accidental. Bulgakov's heroine is tormented by betrayal of her husband and, albeit subconsciously, puts her act on a par with the greatest crimes of the past and present. The abundance of poisoners and poisoners, real and imaginary, is a reflection in Margarita’s brain of the thought of possible suicide together with the Master using poison. At the same time, their subsequent poisoning, carried out by Azazello, can be considered imaginary and not real, since historically all the male poisoners at Satan’s Great Ball are imaginary poisoners.

But Bulgakov also leaves an alternative possibility: Satan’s Great Ball and all the events associated with it take place only in the sick imagination of Margarita, who is tormented by the lack of news about the Master and guilt before her husband and subconsciously thinking about suicide. The author of “The Master and Margarita” offers a similar alternative explanation in relation to the Moscow adventures of Satan and his henchmen in the epilogue of the novel, making it clear that it does not exhaust what is happening. Also, any rational explanation of Satan’s Great Ball, according to the author’s plan, can in no way be complete.

7. Conclusion.

7.1 Personal axiom.

Pontius Pilate's dream as the personification of man's victory over himself.

There is a popular belief that dreams can show us what will happen in the future. People believe that the things and events that we see in our dreams will come true later in our lives.

However, there is an opposite point of view, which is held by many psychologists. In their opinion, our dreams are echoes of events that have already happened to us. Let us remember the dream of Pontius Pilate, in which he talks with the saved Yeshua. In this dream, next to Pilate is the dog Banga. This dream is filled with a feeling of calm. And Banga’s presence here is very symbolic, since for Pilate his dog has always been the personification of peace and protection. In addition, Banga was perhaps the only creature for whom Pilate felt a feeling of love.

In the “Yershalaim chapters” of the novel, most of the characters have evangelical roots. However, the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, does not completely fit into the gospel image. At the same time, the author, speaking about Yeshua, draws a direct parallel with Jesus Christ. They even have the same names, because in the Syriac language Yeshua and Jesus are one and the same.

But let's return to Pilate's dream. Here the procurator gives the impression of a completely different person, he is the opposite of his daytime self. It was in a dream that Pilate agrees with Yeshua’s thought that they will now always be together. The procurator in a dream ceases to feel the disgust that arose in him in relation to everything that was connected with the teachings of the wandering philosopher. Even though the author does not talk about this openly, some parallels, nevertheless, are built in the minds of readers.

To verify this, let us turn to the symbols that the author uses when describing Pilate’s dream. So, the procurator goes out into the colonnade of the palace, and the first thing he feels is how “the damned pink stream is mixed with the smell of leather and convoy.” Pilate hated this pink smell like nothing else. No other smell, be it smoke from centuries or the smell of horses, evokes such hatred in him and causes Pilate so much suffering as the “fat pink spirit.” Moreover, for some reason Pilate began to associate the smell of roses with a bad day.

Why is this happening? Why does Pontius Pilate hate the smell of roses, while most people find it pleasant and use it as incense? Perhaps the reason for this attitude towards roses lies in the fact that they have long been considered a symbol of Christ and Christianity in general. And here Pontius Pilate chickened out. Pilate, a man who considered cowardice to be a terrible vice of humanity, Pilate, who was not afraid “in the Valley of the Virgins, when the furious Germans almost killed the Giant Rat Slayer,” he became cowardly now. Why? Bulgakov gives his answer to this question.

As you know, a poor man has nothing to lose, so he is not afraid of anything that could force him to live in poverty again, because he is already poor, there is nowhere else to go. But as soon as a person gains wealth, the fear immediately settles in his soul that one day he may lose everything and find himself on the street. Pontius Pilate found himself in a similar situation. After all, when that story happened with the rescue of the Giant Rat Slayer, the ordinary tribune in the legion, Pilate, had practically nothing to risk. But now Pontius Pilate is no longer a simple tribune, but the fifth procurator of Judea, and losing power for him is the same as losing his life. This is why in real life Pilate would never do anything that could ruin his career.

However, the dream allows Pilate to do something that he could not decide to do in life. The moment that the arrival of Afranius, who acted to a certain extent as a prototype of Woland-Satan, awakens Pontius Pilate is also very symbolic.

Bulgakov, finishing the book, forgives Pilate for his action. His role, like the role of the Master, is of great importance in revealing the philosophical meaning of the novel. And indeed, often literary critics they evaluate Pilate's dream, his walk along the “moon road” as the highest victory of man over himself.

Good and evil in Bulgakov's novel merge together through the images of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, who continue their dispute through the centuries. And Woland appears here as the personification of the unity of these two principles.

Bulgakov says that these concepts have their roots in a person who, having freedom of choice, constantly bears full responsibility for all his actions in this life.

For all his categoricalness, Bulgakov soberly saw reality as it is, in its actual complexity and inconsistency. And this is his strength and difference from others, even his great predecessors, who confined the consideration of the problem of “guilt” and “responsibility” only to the sphere of a person’s “inner” morality.

M. Bulgakov is not a theorist, and his novel is not a philosophical treatise. M.

Bulgakov did not pose the problem of theoretical justification for the objective value of humanism. But he always and invariably proceeded from precisely this understanding. His moral imperative of man's loyalty to himself is not neutral: this is the main premise of his formulation of the problem, the content of the moral position.

I believe that M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” cannot be called either a novel of the past or a novel of the future, since the problems of good

and evil, freedom and unfreedom of the human spirit are relevant for any era, including ours modern XXI century.

Why is M.A. Bulgakov close to me?

The writer is close to me for his lofty and sorrowful life, lived courageously and with dignity in the most difficult, tragic times for Russia. He is close to me for his bright ideas, which retain not only national but also universal significance, because the great world issues that tormented Bulgakov did not become less acute at the beginning of the 21st century.

Finally, he is close to me because of the strength of his talent, the fullness of life and the brilliance of thought that fill all his works.

8. Bibliography.

1. Boborykin V.T. /Mikhail Bulgakov/ Ed. /ENLIGHTENMENT/ Moscow 1991

2. Bulgakov M.A. Master and Margarita. – M.: LLC /AST Publishing House/; /Publishing house /Olympus/, 2001.

3. Galinskaya I. L. /Riddles of famous books/ Ed. /SCIENCE/ Moscow 1986

4. Lakshin V. Ya. /M. A. Bulgakov Collected works in 5 volumes / Fiction / 1990

5. L. Ya. Shneiberg, I. V. Kondakov / From Gorky to Solzhenitsyn / Ed. /Higher school/ Moscow 1995

6. /Russian language and literature in secondary educational institutions of the Ukrainian SSR/ Ed.

7. Sokolov B.V. /Bulgakov Encyclopedia/ Ed. /LOKID/ - /MYTH/Moscow

8. Sokolov B.V. /Three lives of Mikhail Bulgakov/ Ed. /ELLIS LACK/Moscow

9. /The work of Mikhail Bulgakov: Research. Materials. Bibliography. Book 1/ ed. N. A. Groznova and A. I. Pavlovsky. L., /Science/, 1991

Appendix No. 1.

M.A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita” (1925-1940)

You will be with me on my last flight...

M.A. Bulgakov .

oman: 1. master = master of golden hands;

2. the ability to think creatively;

3. writer = master extraordinary, creative thinking; possessing the power of talent.lyrical Master and Margarita.

Theme of immortality;

The theme of creativity and the fate of the artist;

Theme of love;

thinking about a person human destiny and his choice.

What is the meaning of human existence?

What is truth?

What comes first: good or evil?

What is freedom?

Does Jesus Christ exist?

The problem of guilt and atonement. The choice of a person and the measure of his responsibility for everything he does on Earth.

Man and power

VIII. A) Hero image system Yeshua Ha-Nozri Pontius Pilate

"Everyone will be given

according to his faith." (wandering philosopher f) (procurator of Judea)

(Ch. 23. Woland) Represents power

Prototype of Jesus Christ

severe weakness

personality (human

Denies authority (human freedom of spirit)

lack of freedom)

The bearer of the idea of ​​“good will” Betrayal.

A selfless servant of good, who has reached the moral absolute.

Serves the word and the Light.

b ) The Devil and his retinue (a clear hierarchical ladder):IX . Conclusion

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is a novel about responsibility

: man for all the good and evil that is happening on Earth, for

one’s own choice of life paths leading to truth or freedom, or to slavery, betrayal and inhumanity.

Bulgakov's work is a work about creativity, about the writer's duty and about the all-conquering power of love.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1765-1832) - German writer, thinker, naturalist. In the final essay, “Faust” reveals the search for the meaning of existence, the collisions of a contemplative and active attitude to life expand to the “fatal” question of the possibilities and limits of the human mind.

Veresaev Vikenty Vikentievich (1867-1945) - Russian writer. Stories about the quest of the intelligentsia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: “Without a Road,” “Notes of a Doctor.” Critical-philosophical works about

F.M. Dostoevsky, L.A. Tolstoy. Documentary works about A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol. USSR State Prize (1943).

H.G. Wells(1866 - 1946) - English writer, science fiction writer. Author of “Micromegas”, “Argonauts of Chronos”, “The Invisible Man”, “Time Machine”, “War of the Worlds” and many others. etc.

M. A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” has a difficult fate. The work, completed in the late thirties, was not published during the author’s lifetime and first saw the light in the mid-sixties. Mikhail Bulgakov himself considered this novel the main book of his life, the final work, and, as his wife recalled, before his death he said: “What could I write after “The Master”?”

“The Master and Margarita” is a double novel. It consists of the Master's novel about Pontius Pilate and a novel about the fate of the Master himself. The legendary tramp Yeshua, the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and the even more fantastic Woland with his retinue, and nearby are local inhabitants of the thirties of this century. Both plots are formally connected only by the figure of the Master, however, as it seems to me, the meaning of the relationship is much deeper. Bulgakov's novel is about the eternal struggle between good and evil. This is a work dedicated not to the fate of a specific person, family or even a group of people somehow connected with each other - it considers the fate of all humanity in its historical development. The time interval of almost two thousand years, separating the action of the novel about Jesus and Pilate and the novel about the Master, only emphasizes that the problems of good and evil, the freedom of the human spirit, and his relationship with society are eternal, enduring problems that are relevant for a person of any era.

That is why, in my opinion, there are many similarities in the very destinies of Yeshua and the Master. During the time of Caesars Augustus and Tiberius, a man came into the world who revealed to people a certain spiritual truth. Most of his contemporaries remained deaf to his teachings. His student Levi Matvey said: “...the old temple will be overthrown and a new one will rise...” - in literally, although Yeshua spoke figuratively. He was executed, and the spiritual and civil authorities of the empire were directly responsible for his execution. This is the story of Yeshua in a nutshell.

But here is the fate of the Master. He sets out to write a novel, “to restore the truth about the teachings, life and death of Yeshua,” he wants to “remind people again of the preaching of goodness and love with which the great preacher came into the world.” But people have not changed since then. Volan D. also notices this. “Well,” he responded thoughtfully, “they are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold.” But now, as then, people do not want to hear this truth, and the Master suffers a fate, if not as tragic as Yeshua, then, in any case, similar to it. Both heroes are united by a commitment to truth and a willingness to endure great suffering in its name.

What is this truth? It has long been noted that Bulgakov’s Yeshua is artistic comprehension Gospel image of Jesus Christ. The point, of course, is not how accurately the writer conveys the details of the gospel legend; he often deliberately deviates from it. At the same time, his hero remains the bearer of the highest philosophical and religious truth.

In fact, Bulgakov's novel is a novel about the true and imaginary strength of man, about the freedom of his spirit. So the omnipotent, seemingly unlimited power endowed with Pontius Pilate, monotonously conducting the interrogation, suddenly feels the power behind our philosopher, the power of the truth he is pronouncing. And this evokes involuntary respect from the procurator. While Yeshua preaches that all people are good, Pilate is inclined to look condescendingly at this harmless eccentricity, but the philosopher touched upon the supreme power and declared that the time would come when the power of the Caesars would not be over people, and immediately Pilate was pierced by a sharp fear that he had trusted talks with a state criminal.

The all-powerful procurator immediately finds himself in the grip of fear and finally loses the remnants of his proud dignity and calm. Breaking into a cry, Pilate seems to be trying to convince, calm himself, and maintain his usual balance. For him, there is only one defense, one reassurance - not to believe in the final period of justice, in the truth. Otherwise, Pilate would have had to admit the collapse of his entire life, for he had long taught himself to think that his only duty on earth was to glorify Caesar, without looking back at the past, without thinking about the future. Faith in the coming triumph of justice undermines this short calculation. We still have to admit that a brave warrior, an intelligent politician, a man who has unheard of power in the conquered Yershalaim, is prone to shameful cowardice. Yeshua remains independent, he is faithful to his truth both in the face of higher power and in the face of painful death on the cross. Pilate first cowards before the shadow of Caesar, fearing denunciation, fearing to ruin his career, then he is timid before Yeshua himself, hesitating, wanting and not daring to save him. In the end, realizing that he is committing a terrible crime against his conscience, he agrees to execute Yeshua.

No, Bulgakov’s Pilate, it seems to me, is not at all shown as a classic villain. The procurator does not want to harm Yeshua; his cowardice led to cruelty and social injustice. This, however, in no way justifies the act of Pontius Pilate, and Bulgakov condemns him without mercy or leniency. It is fear that makes people who are not bad, not stupid, and personally brave people a blind instrument of evil will. Cowardice is an extreme expression of internal subordination, lack of freedom of spirit, and human dependence. It is also especially dangerous because, once having come to terms with it, a person is no longer able to get rid of it. Thus, the powerful procurator turns into a pitiful, weak-willed creature. But the vagabond philosopher is strong with his naive faith in goodness, which neither the fear of punishment nor the spectacle of universal injustice can take away from him. In the image of Yeshua, Bulgakov embodied the idea of ​​goodness and unchanging faith. Despite everything, Yeshua continues to believe that there are no evil, bad people in the world. He dies on the cross with this faith.

It would seem that Yeshua’s teaching is too naive, too ideal to be practical. After all, the hero fails to save at least his own life by convincing Pontius Pilate, who is ready to listen to him.

Does this mean that the very belief in goodness is hopelessly compromised in Bulgakov’s novel? I don't think so. It is no coincidence that the teachings of Yeshua, his life and death, after many centuries attract the Master, who is also distinguished by fidelity to his convictions. Like the tramp from Gameley, the Master is sensitive to human suffering and pain.

However, it is difficult for him to believe that every person is kind and that people must forget any offense; the idea of ​​forgiveness is alien to the Master: he also believes in good, but he also knows that the victory of good is possible only in the fight against evil.

Until justice comes, until its time has come, the tired and beaten Master is supported by only one thing - faith in the importance of his work, in its necessity, love for Margarita. Margarita made a deal with the devil for the sake of the Master. The devil admires her, her love. He sent the Master and Margarita to rest. This is exactly the fate of Bulgakov’s novel.

Having overcome countless prohibitions, it outlived its creator and reached the reader. Rereading “The Master and Margarita” today, we are thinking anew about problems that, apparently, will never lose their relevance. They will not lose it because as long as a person exists, he inevitably has to make a choice in his life between good and evil, between truth and deception.