The Master and Margarita is the legendary work of Bulgakov, a novel that became his ticket to immortality. He thought, planned and wrote the novel for 12 years, and he went through many changes that are now difficult to imagine, because the book has acquired an amazing compositional unity. Alas, Mikhail Afanasyevich did not have time to finish the work of his whole life, no final corrections were made. He himself assessed his offspring as the main message to mankind, as a testament to posterity. What did Bulgakov want to tell us?

The novel opens to us the world of Moscow in the 1930s. The master, together with his beloved Margarita, writes a brilliant novel about Pontius Pilate. He is not allowed to publish, and the author himself is overwhelmed by an unbearable mountain of criticism. In a fit of despair, the hero burns his novel and ends up in a psychiatric hospital, leaving Margarita alone. In parallel with this, Woland, the devil, arrives in Moscow, along with his retinue. They cause disturbances in the city, such as sessions of black magic, a performance in the Variety and Griboedov, etc. The heroine, meanwhile, is looking for a way to return her Master; subsequently makes a deal with Satan, becomes a witch and is present at the ball of the dead. Woland is delighted with Margarita's love and devotion and decides to return her beloved to her. A novel about Pontius Pilate also rises from the ashes. And the reunited couple retires to a world of peace and tranquility.

The text contains chapters from the Master's novel itself, telling about the events in the world of Yershalaim. This is a story about the wandering philosopher Ga-Notsri, the interrogation of Yeshua by Pilate, the subsequent execution of the latter. Insert chapters are of direct importance to the novel, as understanding them is the key to revealing the author's idea. All parts form a single whole, closely intertwined.

Topics and issues

Bulgakov reflected his thoughts on creativity on the pages of the work. He understood that the artist is not free, he cannot create only at the behest of his soul. Society fetters it, ascribes certain limits to it. Literature in the 30s was subjected to the strictest censorship, books were often written under the order of the authorities, a reflection of which we will see in MASSOLIT. The master could not get permission to publish his novel about Pontius Pilate and spoke of his stay among the literary society of that time as a living hell. The hero, inspired and talented, could not understand his members, corrupt and absorbed in petty material concerns, so they, in turn, could not understand him. Therefore, the Master found himself outside this bohemian circle with the work of his entire life not allowed for publication.

The second aspect of the problem of creativity in the novel is the responsibility of the author for his work, his fate. The master, disappointed and finally desperate, burns the manuscript. The writer, according to Bulgakov, must seek the truth through his work, it must be of benefit to society and act for the good. The hero, on the contrary, acted cowardly.

The problem of choice is reflected in the chapters on Pilate and Yeshua. Pontius Pilate, realizing the unusualness and value of such a person as Yeshua, sends him to execution. Cowardice is the worst vice. The procurator was afraid of responsibility, afraid of punishment. This fear absolutely drowned out in him both sympathy for the preacher, and the voice of reason, speaking about the uniqueness and purity of Yeshua's intentions, and conscience. The latter tormented him for the rest of his life, as well as after death. Only at the end of the novel was Pilate allowed to speak to Him and be set free.

Composition

Bulgakov in the novel used such a compositional device as a novel in a novel. The "Moscow" chapters are combined with the "Pilatian" ones, that is, with the work of the Master himself. The author draws a parallel between them, showing that it is not time that changes a person, but only he himself is able to change himself. Constant work on oneself is a titanic work that Pilate did not cope with, for which he was doomed to eternal spiritual suffering. The motives of both novels are the search for freedom, truth, the struggle between good and evil in the soul. Everyone can make mistakes, but a person must constantly reach for the light; only this can make him truly free.

Main characters: characteristics

1. Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Jesus Christ) is a wandering philosopher who believes that all people are good in themselves and that the time will come when the truth will be the main human value, and the institutions of power will no longer be needed. He preached, therefore he was accused of an attempt on the power of Caesar and was put to death. Before his death, the hero forgives his executioners; dies without betraying his convictions, dies for people, atoning for their sins, for which he was awarded the Light. Yeshua appears before us as a real person of flesh and blood, capable of feeling both fear and pain; he is not shrouded in a halo of mysticism.
2. Pontius Pilate is the procurator of Judea, a truly historical figure. In the Bible, he judged Christ. Using his example, the author reveals the theme of choice and responsibility for one's actions. Interrogating the prisoner, the hero realizes that he is innocent, even feels personal sympathy for him. He invites the preacher to lie in order to save his life, but Yeshua is not bowed and is not going to give up his words. His cowardice prevents the official from defending the accused; he is afraid of losing power. This does not allow him to act according to his conscience, as his heart tells him. The procurator condemns Yeshua to death, and himself to mental torment, which, of course, is in many ways worse than physical torment. The master at the end of the novel frees his hero, and he, along with the wandering philosopher, rises along the beam of light.
3. The master is a creator who wrote a novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. This hero embodied the image of an ideal writer who lives by his work, not looking for fame, awards, or money. He won large sums in the lottery and decided to devote himself to creativity - and this is how his only, but, of course, brilliant work was born. At the same time, he met love - Margarita, who became his support and support. Unable to withstand criticism from the highest literary Moscow society, the Master burns the manuscript, he is forcibly placed in a psychiatric clinic. Then he was released from there by Margarita with the help of Woland, who was very interested in the novel. After death, the hero deserves peace. It is peace, and not light, like Yeshua, because the writer betrayed his convictions and renounced his creation.
4. Margarita is the beloved of the creator, ready for anything for him, even attending Satan's ball. Before meeting the main character, she was married to a wealthy man, whom, however, she did not love. She found her happiness only with the Master, whom she herself named after reading the first chapters of his future novel. She became his muse, inspiring to continue to create. The theme of loyalty and devotion is connected with the heroine. The woman is faithful to both her Master and his work: she brutally cracks down on the critic Latunsky, who slandered them, thanks to her the author himself returns from the psychiatric clinic and his seemingly irretrievably lost novel about Pilate. For her love and willingness to follow her chosen one to the end, Margarita was awarded Woland. Satan gave her peace and unity with the Master, what the heroine most desired.

The image of Woland

In many ways, this hero is like Goethe's Mephistopheles. His very name is taken from his poem, the scene of Walpurgis Night, where the devil was once called by that name. The image of Woland in The Master and Margarita is very ambiguous: he is the embodiment of evil, and at the same time a defender of justice and a preacher of true moral values. Against the background of cruelty, greed and viciousness of ordinary Muscovites, the hero looks rather like a positive character. He, seeing this historical paradox (he has something to compare with), concludes that people are like people, the most ordinary, the same, only the housing problem spoiled them.

The punishment of the devil overtakes only those who deserve it. Thus, his retribution is very selective and built on the principle of justice. Bribers, inept hacks who only care about their material well-being, catering workers who steal and sell expired products, insensitive relatives who fight for an inheritance after the death of a loved one - these are those who are punished by Woland. He does not push them to sin, he only denounces the vices of society. So the author, using satirical and phantasmagoric techniques, describes the order and customs of the Muscovites of the 30s.

The master is a truly talented writer who was not given the opportunity to realize himself, the novel was simply “strangled” by Massolit officials. He didn't look like his fellow writers; he lived by his creativity, giving him all of himself, and sincerely worrying about the fate of his work. The master kept a pure heart and soul, for which he was awarded Woland. The destroyed manuscript was restored and returned to its author. For her boundless love, Margarita was forgiven for her weaknesses by the devil, to whom Satan even granted the right to ask him for the fulfillment of one of her desires.

Bulgakov expressed his attitude towards Woland in the epigraph: “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good” (“Faust” by Goethe). Indeed, having unlimited possibilities, the hero punishes human vices, but this can be considered an instruction on the true path. He is a mirror in which everyone can see their sins and change. His most diabolical feature is the corrosive irony with which he treats everything earthly. By his example, we are convinced that the only way to keep your convictions along with self-control and not go crazy is with the help of humor. You can't take life too close to your heart, because what seems to us an unshakable stronghold crumbles so easily at the slightest criticism. Woland is indifferent to everything, and this separates him from people.

good and evil

Good and evil are inseparable; when people stop doing good, evil immediately arises in its place. It is the absence of light, the shadow that replaces it. In Bulgakov's novel, two opposing forces are embodied in the images of Woland and Yeshua. The author, in order to show that the participation of these abstract categories in life is always relevant and occupies important positions, Yeshua places him in an era as remote as possible from us, on the pages of the Master's novel, and Woland - in modern times. Yeshua preaches, tells people about his ideas and understanding of the world, its creation. Later, for the open expression of thoughts, he will be judged by the procurator of Judea. His death is not a triumph of evil over good, but rather a betrayal of good, because Pilate was unable to do the right thing, which means he opened the door to evil. Ga-Notsri dies unbroken and not defeated, his soul retains the light in itself, opposed to the darkness of the cowardly act of Pontius Pilate.

The devil, called to do evil, arrives in Moscow and sees that people's hearts are filled with darkness without him. He can only rebuke and mock them; by virtue of his dark essence, Woland cannot do justice in any other way. But he does not push people to sin, he does not force the evil in them to overcome the good. According to Bulgakov, the devil is not absolute darkness, he performs acts of justice, which is very difficult to consider a bad deed. This is one of the main ideas of Bulgakov, embodied in The Master and Margarita - nothing but the person himself can force him to act one way or another, the choice of good or evil lies with him.

You can also talk about the relativity of good and evil. And good people act wrongly, cowardly, selfishly. So the Master surrenders and burns his novel, and Margarita cruelly takes revenge on criticism of Latunsky. However, kindness does not consist in not making mistakes, but in a constant craving for light and their correction. Therefore, a couple in love is waiting for forgiveness and peace.

The meaning of the novel

There are many interpretations of the meanings of this work. Of course, it is impossible to speak unambiguously. In the center of the novel is the eternal struggle between good and evil. In the understanding of the author, these two components are on an equal footing both in nature and in human hearts. This explains the appearance of Woland, as the concentration of evil by definition, and Yeshua, who believed in natural human kindness. Light and darkness are closely intertwined, constantly interacting with each other, and it is no longer possible to draw clear boundaries. Woland punishes people according to the laws of justice, and Yeshua forgives them despite. Such is the balance.

The struggle takes place not only directly for the souls of men. The need for a person to reach for the light runs like a red thread through the whole story. True freedom can only be obtained through this. It is very important to understand that the heroes, shackled by worldly petty passions, are always punished by the author, either like Pilate - with eternal torments of conscience, or like Moscow townsfolk - through the tricks of the devil. He exalts others; Gives Margarita and the Master peace; Yeshua deserves the Light for his devotion and faithfulness to beliefs and words.

Also this novel is about love. Margarita appears as an ideal woman who is able to love to the very end, despite all obstacles and difficulties. The master and his beloved are collective images of a man devoted to his work and a woman faithful to her feelings.

The theme of creativity

The master lives in the capital of the 30s. During this period, socialism is being built, new orders are being established, and moral and moral norms are sharply reset. A new literature is also born here, with which we get acquainted on the pages of the novel through Berlioz, Ivan Bezdomny, members of the Massolit. The path of the protagonist is difficult and thorny, like that of Bulgakov himself, however, he retains a pure heart, kindness, honesty, the ability to love and writes a novel about Pontius Pilate, containing all those important problems that every person of the current or future generation must solve for himself . It is based on the moral law hidden within every person; and only he, and not the fear of God's retribution, is able to determine the actions of people. The spiritual world of the Master is subtle and beautiful, because he is a true artist.

However, true creativity is persecuted and often becomes recognized only after the death of the author. The repressions against an independent artist in the USSR are striking in their cruelty: from ideological persecution to the actual recognition of a person as crazy. So many of Bulgakov's friends were silenced, and he himself had a hard time. Freedom of speech turned into imprisonment, or even the death penalty, as in Judea. This parallel with the ancient world emphasizes the backwardness and primitive savagery of the "new" society. The well-forgotten old became the basis of art policy.

Two worlds of Bulgakov

The worlds of Yeshua and the Master are more closely connected than it seems at first glance. In both layers of the narrative, the same problems are touched upon: freedom and responsibility, conscience and loyalty to one's convictions, understanding good and evil. No wonder there are so many heroes of doubles, parallels and antitheses.

The Master and Margarita violates the urgent canon of the novel. This story is not about the fate of individuals or their groups, it is about all of humanity, its fate. Therefore, the author connects two epochs that are as far apart as possible from each other. People in the time of Yeshua and Pilate did not differ much from the people of Moscow, the contemporaries of the Master. They also care about personal problems, power and money. Master in Moscow, Yeshua in Judea. Both carry the truth to the masses, for this both suffer; the first is persecuted by critics, crushed by society and doomed to end his life in a psychiatric hospital, the second is subjected to a more terrible punishment - a demonstration execution.

The chapters devoted to Pilate differ sharply from the chapters in Moscow. The style of the inserted text is distinguished by evenness, monotony, and only at the chapter of the execution does it turn into sublime tragedy. The description of Moscow is full of grotesque, phantasmagoric scenes, satire and mockery of its inhabitants, lyrical moments dedicated to the Master and Margarita, which, of course, also determines the presence of various styles of narration. Vocabulary also varies: it can be low and primitive, filled with even swearing and jargon, or it can be sublime and poetic, filled with colorful metaphors.

Although both narratives differ significantly from each other, when reading the novel, there is a sense of integrity, so strong is the thread connecting the past with the present in Bulgakov.

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Introduction

The analysis of the novel "The Master and Margarita" has been the subject of study of literary critics throughout Europe for many decades. The novel has a number of features, such as the non-standard form of "a novel within a novel", an unusual composition, rich themes and content. It was not in vain that it was written at the end of the life and career of Mikhail Bulgakov. The writer put all his talent, knowledge and imagination into the work.

Genre of the novel

The work "The Master and Margarita", the genre of which critics define as a novel, has a number of features inherent in its genre. These are several storylines, many heroes, the development of action over a long period of time. The novel is fantastic (sometimes it is called phantasmagoric). But the most striking feature of the work is its "novel within a novel" structure. Two parallel worlds - the masters and the ancient times of Pilate and Yeshua, live here almost independently and intersect only in the last chapters, when Levi, a disciple and close friend of Yeshua, pays a visit to Woland. Here, two lines merge into one, and surprise the reader with their organicity and closeness. It was the structure of the “novel within a novel” that enabled Bulgakov to show two such different worlds so skillfully and fully, events today and almost two thousand years ago.

Composition features

The composition of the novel "The Master and Margarita" and its features are due to the author's non-standard methods, such as the creation of one work within the framework of another. Instead of the usual classical chain - composition - plot - climax - denouement, we see the interweaving of these stages, as well as their doubling.

The plot of the novel: the meeting of Berlioz and Woland, their conversation. This happens in the 30s of the XX century. Woland's story also takes the reader back to the thirties, but two millennia ago. And here begins the second plot - a novel about Pilate and Yeshua.

Next comes the tie. These are tricks of Voladn and his company in Moscow. From here the satirical line of the work also originates. A second novel is also developing in parallel. The culmination of the master's novel is the execution of Yeshua, the climax of the story about the master, Margaret and Woland is the visit of Levi Matthew. An interesting denouement: in it both novels are combined into one. Woland and his retinue are taking Margarita and the Master to another world to reward them with peace and quiet. Along the way, they see the eternal wanderer Pontius Pilate.

"Free! He is waiting for you!" - with this phrase, the master releases the procurator and completes his novel.

Main themes of the novel

Mikhail Bulgakov concluded the meaning of the novel "The Master and Margarita" in the interweaving of the main themes and ideas. No wonder the novel is called both fantastic, and satirical, and philosophical, and love. All these themes are developed in the novel, framing and emphasizing the main idea - the struggle between good and evil. Each theme is both tied to its characters and intertwined with other characters.

satirical theme- this is Woland's "tour". The public, maddened by material wealth, representatives of the elite, greedy for money, the tricks of Koroviev and Behemoth sharply and clearly describe the diseases of modern society for the writer.

Love Theme embodied in the master and Margarita and gives tenderness to the novel and softens many poignant moments. Probably not in vain, the writer burned the first version of the novel, where Margarita and the master were not there yet.

Empathy Theme runs through the whole novel and shows several options for sympathy and empathy. Pilate sympathizes with the wandering philosopher Yeshua, but being confused in his duties and fearing condemnation, he "washes his hands." Margarita has a different sympathy - she sympathizes with the master, Frida at the ball, and Pilate with all her heart. But her sympathy is not just a feeling, it pushes her to certain actions, she does not fold her hands and fights for the salvation of those she worries about. Ivan Bezdomny also sympathizes with the master, imbued with his story that “every year, when the spring full moon comes ... in the evening he appears on the Patriarch’s Ponds ...”, so that later at night he can see bittersweet dreams about wonderful times and events.

The theme of forgiveness goes almost alongside the theme of sympathy.

Philosophical themes about the meaning and purpose of life, about good and evil, about biblical motives have been the subject of controversy and study of writers for many years. This is because the features of the novel "The Master and Margarita" are in its structure and ambiguity; with each reading they open up more and more questions and thoughts for the reader. This is the genius of the novel - it does not lose either relevance or poignancy for decades, and is still as interesting as it was for its first readers.

Ideas and main idea

The idea of ​​the novel is good and evil. And not only in the context of struggle, but also in the search for a definition. What is really evil? Most likely, this is the most complete way to describe the main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe work. The reader, accustomed to the fact that the devil is pure evil, will be sincerely surprised by the image of Woland. He does not do evil, he contemplates, and punishes those who act low. His tours in Moscow only confirm this idea. He shows the moral diseases of society, but does not even condemn them, but only sighs sadly: "People, like people ... The same as before." A person is weak, but it is in his power to resist his weaknesses, to fight them.

The theme of good and evil is ambiguously shown on the image of Pontius Pilate. In his heart he opposes the execution of Yeshua, but he lacks the courage to go against the crowd. The verdict on the wandering innocent philosopher is passed by the crowd, but Pilate is destined to serve the punishment forever.

The struggle between good and evil is also the opposition of the literary community to the master. It is not enough for self-confident writers to simply refuse the writer, they need to humiliate him, to prove their case. The master is very weak to fight, all his strength has gone into the romance. No wonder devastating articles for him acquire the image of a certain creature that begins to seem like a master in a dark room.

General analysis of the novel

The analysis of The Master and Margarita implies immersion in the worlds recreated by the writer. Here you can see biblical motifs and parallels with Goethe's immortal Faust. The themes of the novel develop each separately, and at the same time coexist, collectively creating a web of events and questions. Several worlds, each of which has found its place in the novel, are portrayed by the author surprisingly organically. It is not at all surprising to travel from modern Moscow to ancient Yershalaim, Woland's wise conversations, a huge talking cat and Margarita Nikolaevna's flight.

This novel is truly immortal thanks to the talent of the writer and the undying relevance of the topics and problems.

Artwork test

UDC 008 (470+571)

Makarov Denis Vladimirovich, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of Philology, Publishing and Editing, Ulyanovsk State Technical University (UlSTU), Associate Professor.

Annotation. The article is an attempt to address the author's intention of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" and offer a new way of its analysis, based on the study of a work of art in the context of the Christian cultural tradition. Keywords: intention, structure of the author's intention, semantic foundations of characters.

The need for this study is determined by the fact that, today, regarding the assessment of the content of this novel, two opposing points of view are most popular, but none of them reflects the truth and does not stand up to criticism.

The first point of view is widespread in civil society, supported by most literary studies, as well as school textbooks. Within the framework of this approach, the Master, Woland and Margarita are positively evaluated, it is believed that they, each in their own way, defend the Truth in the conditions of a totalitarian state. It also seems that the author of the novel is at one with them. Most researchers agree that in the image of the Master, Bulgakov showed himself, therefore, this image should be taken only in a positive light. “Margarita ... remains ... the ideal of eternal, enduring love,” writes B. V. Sokolov. I. F. Belza also thinks: “The main feature of Bulgakov's Margarita is a feeling of high, all-consuming love. Such nobility, integrity and strength of feeling of a Russian woman gave rise to many captivating images of Russian literature. “The image of Margarita continues the glorious galaxy of Russian women depicted ... by Pushkin, Turgenev, Tolstoy,” notes V. V. Petelin. Within the framework of this approach, Woland is assessed not as a bearer of active evil, but as a guarantor of justice, a righteous judge who does not lead anyone into temptation, does not inculcate vices, does not actively assert untruth, but only punishes people who have independently chosen the path of evil and wickedness. V. Lakshin, in particular, drew attention to this: “In the beautiful and human truth of Yeshua, there was no place for the punishment of evil, for the idea of ​​retribution. It is difficult for Bulgakov to come to terms with this, and that is why he so needs Woland, removed from the elements of destruction and evil that he was accustomed to and, as it were, having received in return from the forces of good a punishing sword in his hands. With this interpretation, it turns out that Yeshua and Woland are nothing more than two peculiar incarnations of the Higher Principle: “in the novel The Master and Margarita, Woland and Yeshua are the personification of Bulgakov’s understanding of the two essential principles that determined the existence of the world and man.” The very image of Yeshua in Bulgakov’s novel, according to I. Vinogradov, “is an extremely accurate reading of this legend, its meaning is a reading, in some ways much deeper and more accurate than its gospel presentation.”

With this interpretation, it turns out that Bulgakov surpassed even the Apostles and wrote a more accurate Gospel and created, finally (!), The true image of the biblical Christ, and also showed the true ratio of good and evil in the world.

The second point of view is popular in the church environment: “In general, the verdict passed on the novel by the Christian community sounds harsh: the cult of evil spirits, Satanism.” The image of Yeshua does not correspond to the gospel, therefore, it is false and blasphemous. The novel about Pilate is the gospel of Satan. Bulgakov himself is at the same time with Woland, which means that he, if not a Satanist, then certainly an anti-Christian: “The worldview of the author of The Master and Margarita turned out to be very

eclectic. But the main thing - its anti-Christian orientation - is beyond doubt. No wonder Bulgakov so carefully disguised the true content, the deep meaning of his novel, entertaining the reader's attention with side details. And the novel itself is dangerous, because "the dark mysticism of the work, in addition to the will and consciousness, penetrates into the soul of a person." Then it turns out that it is dangerous not only to read, but also to take this book into your hands, and you shouldn’t even keep it at home, all the more there is nothing for it to do in the school curriculum. Let's assume for a moment that this is the case. Then Bulgakov is a villain, breathing hatred on all living things. After all, even dying, Bulgakov asked

to bring his wife a novel, and after she promised that she would rewrite it and publish it without fail, he said (and at that time he could hardly speak): “To know ... to know.” Andrei Kuraev quite rightly writes: “If we assume that Bulgakov expressed precisely his thoughts about Christ and the Gospel through Woland, then the conclusion will have to be too terrible. If the great Russian writer made Satan in a positive and creative way in his novel, then Russian Literature is over.

It is absolutely impossible to admit that Bulgakov was a servant of darkness, and the point is not only in the axiom approved by Pushkin that genius and villainy are incompatible. His biography testifies to the writer's faith. If in his youth Bulgakov really “staggered away from the Church”, like many contemporaries-intellectuals, then the result of his religious path is beyond doubt. He returned to God. In the diary of the writer's wife E. S. Bulgakova, a few days before his death, there is an entry: “On March 6, 1940, he was very affectionate, kissed me many times and baptized me and himself - but already wrong, his hands do not obey. » (8, 714).

We have to admit that none of the considered (opposing each other) popular points of view reflects the truth. And, despite the large number of studies devoted to the novel, its content remains a mystery to this day. As priest Andrei Deryagin wittily noted, “the situation with the perception of the novel is similar to the importation of potatoes to Russia under Peter I: the product is wonderful, but due to the fact that no one knew what to do with it and what part of it is edible, people were poisoned and died whole villages".

Thus, the main problem is to clarify the author's position. And this is not an easy task. It is complicated by the diversity of the content of the novel, the presence of several narrators with different levels of attitude to reality, as well as purely subjective reasons - the deliberate predetermined interpretation of its storyline, imposed by the association of the central images of the novel with real life (or literary) prototypes. In addition, Bulgakov's images are multidimensional and cannot be rectified and unambiguously assessed.

The initial thesis is confirmed by the analysis of the main structural elements of the novel (title, epigraph, division system into chapters, chronotope).

Creating a parody of the building of anti-Christian culture so actively erected in Russia, Bulgakov set a twofold task. First, to show that the active social transformations carried out in the USSR do not make people better in essence, do not eradicate their spiritual and moral imperfection, on the contrary, they lead them further and further away from the Christian ideal. And, secondly, to discover who is the main inspirer and architect of this building and thereby expose the forces of evil, always disguised as the forces of light.

It is precisely this disguise of evil that the epigraph hints at: “... so who are you, finally? “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” Goethe. "Faust". It is important that these words are an autocharacteristic of Mephistopheles himself - a liar and the father of lies. And their true meaning is not clear without taking into account the context of their understanding in Christian culture. And in the Christian understanding, it is not Satan who does good, but God, for the sake of saving the human soul, allows the devil to act on a person (and then only to a certain extent) and Himself turns all his intrigues to the good. Consequently, the Christian reader, to whom Bulgakov's novel was addressed, upon seeing this "calling card" (epigraph), will immediately feel the catch and will read the entire text of the novel "on guard" - spiritually awake and sober (and not relaxingly enjoying, as it is customary, for example, to absorb mass literature), realizing that if the speech comes from the face of Mephistopheles, then truth cannot be expected from this speech, and any positive statement here can be

get, rather, according to the principle: from the contrary. And not only the epigraph, but also the title of the novel should have warned about this.

Usually “being the equivalent of the text, the title states its main themes and their tragic solution. But in this case, the title does not reflect the completeness of the content of the text, it is not quite identical to the text, in which, in addition to the theme of love and creativity, the problem of good and evil is also central. This prompted the author to preface the text not only with a title, but also with an epigraph, which declares another theme of the novel and another, and also the central character - Woland.

Indeed, in this case, the appearance of the final title "The Master and Margarita" is not justified by logic. Bulgakov worked on the novel for twelve years and changed the title four times. The changes were as follows: "Black Magician" (1928-29), "Engineer's Hoof" (192930), "Grand Chancellor" (1932-36), "Prince of Darkness" (1937). All previous versions show that the central character of the novel is Woland. The final name appears only in 1938, and the dynamics of previous changes does not lead to it in any way. As Deacon Andrey Kuraev noted, the reason is "perhaps in the order of self-censorship softening edits." Bulgakov really wanted to see his novel published. He knew well the requirements of censorship and the tastes of the censors. And in order to “break through” through censorship, he reworked the novel. Therefore, although it is customary in literary criticism to rely on the final text, in this case, attention to early editions is absolutely necessary.

Not only the epigraph and title, but the very structure of the novel testifies to the author's intention. There are thirty-two chapters and an epilogue in the novel, for a total of thirty-three. The symbolic number is the age of Christ. This means that the number of chapters and the distribution of their content have a peculiar Christian logic. A particularly significant number in the Christian tradition is twelve

And the twelfth chapter of the novel, which tells about the representation of Woland's gang in the Variety, is called "Black Magic and its exposure." But within the framework of the presentation, the “exposing” of black magic did not happen. But this word itself, which is placed in the title of the chapter, occurs ten times in it. A. Barkov rightly noted - "too often not to pay attention to him"

It is possible that this is an indication of the main idea of ​​the novel - the exposure of the machinations of Satan, which is carried out not separately in the twelfth chapter, but throughout the novel.

In addition to thirty-three and twelve, the most important number in the Christian tradition is the number three, denoting the Holy Trinity. And the third chapter of the novel - "The Seventh Proof" - is dedicated precisely to the proof of the existence of God (in the Christian understanding of the Holy Trinity) and precisely from the opposite: through the assertion of the existence of the devil. The meaning of this proof is this: if there is evil, then there is good, if there is a devil, there is God.

The world of action of the novel is a world in which the church is trampled, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is blown up. And, as you know, a holy place is never empty. And instead of the Divine Liturgy in Moscow, a black mass is now celebrated at Satan's ball. But there are still people who know how to protect themselves from an evil spirit. There are several such moments in the novel. For example, when, having killed the lovers, Azazello leaves the Master's apartment with their souls. On the street, Azazello suddenly loses his temper and gets scared. From what? What kind of terrible weapon did they want to use against him? It was just an old cook. She decided to cross herself. But as soon as she, “groaning, wanted to raise her hand for the sign of the cross,” when “Azazello shouted loudly from the saddle: “I will cut off my hand!”.

“The evil spirit was alarmed and - the old woman was inopportunely frightened. As a result, the sign of the Cross did not touch the souls of the Master and Margarita at the hour of their death. The cook's fear is understandable. But the behavior of the all-powerful Azazello is incomprehensible. If the cross is so terrible for spiritual darkness, then, of course, not because a preacher of non-violence was crucified on it. This means that Christ is indeed the Son of God, who also became the Son of Mary, crucified and resurrected on three days.

The impulse of the cook is not the only case in the novel when the reality of creaturely existence did not cave in under the "engineer's hoof" (the title of the drafts of 1928-1929). Here are just a few more situations where the darkness was forced to recede. For example, the human participation of women in the Variety, who stood up for the decapitated entertainer: "for God's sake, do not torture him." Or the bartender's sign of the cross, which drove away the demonic "beret".

It turns out that Woland's version of the Gospel "works" only in cases where people have accepted it into their hearts. If the combination of the evil will of the "killer from the beginning" and the heart's desire of a person did not occur, then completely different laws operate. Then it turns out that

even a brook of love can wash away the ice block of "Volandov's" Moscow. Even mechanical "fanning" yourself with a cross can protect you from satanic tricks.

But these are only particular cases of victory over the dark force. Will there be an overall victory? Will all darkness ever disappear from the world? Or will it always be the way Woland argued, suggesting that light supposedly cannot exist without darkness, and good without evil? In the context of the Bible, evil will be finally defeated before the end of the world - the Second Coming of Christ. This is told in the Apocalypse. And what is stated in the novel "The Master and Margarita"?

In many of Bulgakov's works, the Revelation of John the Evangelist plays an important plot-forming role. This was noted by B. M. Gasparov: “For the novel “The White Guard”

The Apocalypse is, in essence, the main metaplot. At the very beginning of the novel, the priest predicts future trials and quotes the Apocalypse (ch. 1) as confirmation of his words. An extensive quotation from the Apocalypse is one of the episodes of the final chapter of the novel. Petliura is consistently described in the novel as the Antichrist. He appears on the scene, leaving prison cell No. 666 (the motive for the liberation of the Antichrist from the bonds and the “animal number”). The variability and elusiveness of his appearance are characteristic: there are many conflicting versions of who he is and what he looks like (cf. a similar device in the description of Woland in The Master and Margarita). His coming is preceded by "signs" (ch. 5, see below). The army of the Antichrist conquers the City (the mythologized name of Kiev in the novel, in which, as later in Moscow "Masters and Margaritas", associations with Jerusalem and Rome merged), kills the martyrs, alone trying to fight the Antichrist and his army, and leaves their corpses to lie on the streets of the City (death of Nai-Turs). At the end of the novel, the murder of a Jew takes place, described as the execution of Christ, and immediately after this, Petliura's army disappears without a trace, "as if it had never happened" (ch. 20); thus, the disappearance of the Antichrist is associated with the appearance of Christ.

And in The Master and Margarita, the disappearance of Woland's gang from Moscow is connected with the coming appearance of Christ and the coming Easter. This Orthodox Easter is not mentioned anywhere in the novel, but, as deacon Andrei Kuraev rightly noted, it is present invisibly in the chronotope of the novel.

It is here - in the chronotope - that the author's direct position is manifested. The action of the novel begins on Wednesday evening and ends on the night before Sunday. It is repeatedly noted that at this time Moscow is flooded with the light of the spring full moon. What are these time coordinates? This is the Orthodox formula for Easter. In the epilogue, there is also a direct indication of this: "Every year, as soon as the spring festive full moon comes.". This means that the events of the novel develop in the Passion Days, when, at the time of Christ, evil temporarily triumphed in Jerusalem. It also temporarily triumphs these days in Moscow: Woland plays out his performance and arranges a terrible ball - an anti-liturgy with anti-communion of blood, that is, a black mass. But everything ends - on Easter night, on the most wonderful night of the year, when the whole world seems to freeze in anticipation of the Easter Transfiguration.

And Woland can no longer stay in Moscow when Holy Pascha comes: “Messire! Saturday. The sun is declining. It is time". The Master and Margarita disappear with him. Easter night is coming when the Divine Light will shine and drive away all darkness. This is the main spiritual meaning of the novel. It ends with the motif of the coming Easter - the Resurrection of Christ, which means faith in the victory of the forces of light and the revival of Russia.

So, the study of the poetics of the novel by M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" in the context of the Christian cultural tradition (which included an analysis of the meaning of the title, epigraph and structure of the novel, as well as the chronotope) made it possible to get closer to the main mystery - the author's intention of the writer. It is safe to say that the author set himself several tasks. First, he wanted to show that active social transformations and the new atheistic ideology of communism did not make people better in essence, did not eradicate their spiritual and moral shortcomings. And secondly, to discover who is the main inspirer, the architect of this building and thereby expose the forces of evil, always disguised as the forces of light.

The writer created a magnificent, subtle hoax - a parody of the "new" world so actively created by the people of the twentieth century in its entirety: on anti-Christian spirituality - the gospel in the spirit of Tolstoy; on engaged art and literature; on a totalitarian state; as well as anti-human personal relationships between people. And the tragedy of a society that has lost spiritual vigilance over the years of atheism turned out to be that, in practice,

Bulgakov, with his final novel, wanted to warn contemporaries not only about the negative aspects of authoritarian power and biased art, but also about the danger of spiritual, and after him moral blindness of humanity, which is becoming less and less able to distinguish between truth and falsehood due to the loss of traditional cultural values ​​and religious guidelines. .

Literature:

See, for example, Russian literature of the twentieth century. Grade 11. Textbook. Ed. V. V. Agenosov. Part 1. -M., 2002.

Sokolov B.V. Roman M. Bulgakov "Master and Margarita". Essays on creative history. - M.: "Nauka", 1991. - S. 39.

Belza I. F. Genealogy of the Master and Margarita. In the collection "Context-78", ed. "Science", chapter "Bright Queen Margot". Cit. via: http://m-bulgakov.narod.ru/master-94.htm

Petelin V. V. Mikhail Bulgakov. A life. Personality. Creation. - M.: "Moscow worker", 1989. - S. 479.

Lakshin V. Journal Ways. - M. 1990. - S. 242.

Dunaev M. M. Orthodoxy and Russian literature. In 6 parts. - M., 1996-2000. Part 6. - P. 246. Questions of literature. 1968. - No. 6. - S. 68. Cited. Cited from: Dunaev M. M. Orthodoxy and Russian literature. In 6 parts. - M., 1996-2000. Part 6. - S. 247.

Pafnuty (Zhukov), priest. In defense of the "defendant" novel // http://www.upm.orthodoxy.rU/library/P/Pafnuti_Bulgakov.htm

Dunaev M. M. Orthodoxy and Russian literature. In 6 parts. - M., 1996-2000. Part 6. - S. 251.

Bulgakov M.A. Collected works in 8 volumes. T.8. Biography in documents. - SPb., 2002. -S. 714. Further references to this edition are given in the text, indicating the volume and page in brackets (1, 489).

"Master and Margarita": for Christ or against? Deacon Andrei Kuraev. - M.: Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004. - S. 129-130.

The expression of I. S. Shmelev in the essay “At the Elder Barnabas” about himself in his youth.

Andrei (Deryagin), priest. The experience of reading The Master and Margarita // http://www.upm.orthodoxy.ru/library

This is a satire of the Moscow chapters.

It is these themes that the semantics and structure of the title "Master and Margarita" affirms: on the same model and activates the "He and She" scheme. Such a traditional title immediately “warns” the reader that the heroes-lovers will be in the center, that the love line in this work is central. Moreover, the theme of love, and the name also warns about this, is connected here with another theme - the theme of creativity. Bulgakov's first part of the "He and She" model - the Master ("He") incorporates the circle of ideas that exists in our unconscious reader's perception and is associated with the hero-lover (Romeo), and at the same time is wider in content. It's all about the unusualness of the "name": Master (in the text this word is written with a small letter) is a "nameless name", a name-generalization, meaning "creator, highly professional in his field." The master is the very first word, it opens the work as a whole, and it opens with the theme of creativity. However, the following is very important: the name expresses the essence of the personality (P. A. Florensky), but the master does not have a name, and this means frustration, subsequently - the tragedy of the personality, which confirms the text of the novel (according to V. Kryuchkov. See footnote below) .

Kryuchkov Vladimir. The title "Master and Margarita" as an equivalent of the text of the novel by M.A. Bulgakov // http://lit.1september.ru

"Master and Margarita": for Christ or against? Deacon Andrei Kuraev. - M.: Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004. - S. 10.

By the way, the Master appears for the first time in the thirteenth (by meaning an infernal number) chapter, which is not his positive characteristic, rather, on the contrary, hints that he is the thirteenth apostle (like Judas, into whom the devil entered), and the nature of his inspiration is not pure. After all, the story he wrote completely coincides with the story of Woland. This means that the Master received revelations for the novel, as well as money (found a lottery ticket in dirty laundry) from Satan. See more below.

Barkov Alfred. Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita": an alternative reading. Chapter XXIX // http://m-bulgakov.narod.ru/master-94.htm

Michael (Pershin), deacon. "The Master and Margarita": through the eyes of an "eyewitness" //

http://www.sobranie.org/archives/0/9. shtml

Gasparov B. M. The New Testament in the works of M. A. Bulgakov //

http://mlis.ru/science/context/litera/nov_zavet

E. M. Three dreams of Ivan // Vestnik RHD. - Paris, 1976. - No. 3-4. - S. 230. Quoted. according to the edition: "The Master and Margarita": for Christ or against? Deacon Andrei Kuraev. - M.: Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004. - S. 139.

In this article, we will consider the novel that Bulgakov created in 1940 - "The Master and Margarita". A summary of this work will be brought to your attention. You will find a description of the main events of the novel, as well as an analysis of the work "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov.

Two storylines

There are two storylines in this work that develop independently. In the first of them, the action takes place in Moscow in May (several full moon days) in the 30s of the 20th century. In the second storyline, the action also takes place in May, but already in Jerusalem (Yershalaim) about 2000 years ago - at the beginning of a new era. The heads of the first line echo those of the second.

The appearance of Woland

One day Woland appears in Moscow, who presents himself as an expert on black magic, but in fact he is Satan. A strange retinue accompanies Woland: these are Hella, the vampire witch, Koroviev, a cheeky type, also known by the nickname Fagot, the sinister and gloomy Azazello and Behemoth, a cheerful fat man, appearing mainly in the form of a huge black cat.

Death of Berlioz

On the Patriarch's Ponds, the editor of a magazine, Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, and Ivan Bezdomny, the poet who created an anti-religious work about Jesus Christ, are the first to meet with Woland. This "foreigner" intervenes in their conversation, saying that Christ really existed. As proof that there is something beyond human understanding, he predicts that a Komsomol girl will cut off Berlioz's head. Mikhail Alexandrovich, in front of Ivan, immediately falls under a tram, driven by a Komsomol member, and really cuts off his head. The homeless man tries unsuccessfully to pursue a new acquaintance, and then, having come to Massolit, he talks about what happened so intricately that he is taken to a psychiatric clinic, where he meets the Master, the protagonist of the novel.

Likhodeev in Yalta

Arriving at the apartment on Sadovaya Street, occupied by the late Berliz together with Stepan Likhodeev, director of the Variety Theatre, Woland, finding Likhodeev in a severe hangover, shows them a signed contract for performing in the theater. After that, he escorts Stepan out of the apartment, and he strangely ends up in Yalta.

Incident in the house of Nikanor Ivanovich

Bulgakov's work "The Master and Margarita" continues with the fact that the barefoot Nikanor Ivanovich, chairman of the partnership of the house, comes to the apartment occupied by Woland and finds Koroviev there, who asks to rent this room to him, since Berlioz has died, and Likhodeev is now in Yalta. After lengthy persuasion, Nikanor Ivanovich agrees and receives another 400 rubles in excess of the fee stipulated by the contract. He hides them in the ventilation. After that, they come to Nikanor Ivanovich to arrest him for possession of currency, since the rubles somehow turned into dollars, and he, in turn, ends up in Stravinsky's clinic.

At the same time, Rimsky, the financial director of the Variety, and Varenukha, the administrator, are trying to find Likhodeev by phone and are perplexed, reading his telegrams from Yalta with a request to confirm his identity and send money, since he was abandoned here by the hypnotist Woland. Rimsky, deciding that he was joking, sends Varenukh to take the telegrams "where necessary", but the administrator fails to do this: the cat Behemoth and Azazello, grabbing him by the arms, take him to the aforementioned apartment, and Varenukh loses his senses from the kiss of naked Gella.

Woland's representation

What happens next in the novel that Bulgakov created (The Master and Margarita)? A summary of what happened next is as follows. Woland's performance begins on the Variety stage in the evening. Bassoon causes a rain of money with a shot from a pistol, and the audience catches the falling money. Then there is a "ladies' shop" where you can get dressed for free. There is a line forming at the store. But at the end of the performance, the gold pieces turn into pieces of paper, and the clothes disappear without a trace, forcing women in their underwear to rush through the streets.

After the performance, Rimsky lingers in his office, and Varenukha, turned into a vampire by a kiss from Gella, comes to him. Noticing that he does not cast a shadow, the director tries to run away, frightened, but Gella comes to the rescue. She is trying to open the latch on the window, while Varenukha is on guard at the door. Morning comes, and with the first cock crow the guests disappear. Rimsky, instantly gray-haired, rushes to the station and leaves for Leningrad.

Master's Tale

Ivan Bezdomny, having met the Master in the clinic, tells how he met the foreigner who killed Berlioz. The master says that he met with Satan, and tells Ivan about himself. Beloved Margarita gave him that name. A historian by education, this man worked in a museum, but suddenly he won 100 thousand rubles - a huge amount. He rented two rooms located in the basement of a small house, left his job and began to write a novel about Pontius Pilate. The work was almost finished, but then he accidentally met Margarita on the street, and a feeling immediately flared up between them.

Margarita was married to a rich man, lived on the Arbat in a mansion, but did not love her husband. She came to the Master every day. They were happy. When the novel was finally completed, the author took it to the magazine, but they refused to publish the work. Only an excerpt was published, and soon devastating articles about it appeared, written by critics Lavrovich, Latunsky and Ariman. Then the Master fell ill. One night he threw his creation into the oven, but Margarita snatched the last stack of sheets from the fire. She took the manuscript with her and went to her husband to say goodbye to him and reunite with the Master forever in the morning, but a quarter of an hour after the girl left, there was a knock on the writer's window. On a winter night, returning home a few months later, he found that the rooms were already occupied, and went to this clinic, where he has been living without a name for the fourth month.

Meeting Margarita with Azazello

Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita continues with Margarita waking up with the feeling that something is about to happen. She sorts through the sheets of the manuscript, after which she goes for a walk. Here Azazello sits down to her and informs that some foreigner invites the girl to visit. She agrees, as she hopes to learn something about the Master. Margarita rubs her body with a special cream in the evening and becomes invisible, after which she flies out the window. She arranges a rout in the dwelling of the critic Latunsky. Then Azazelo meets the girl and escorts her to the apartment, where she meets Woland's retinue and himself. Woland asks Margarita to be queen at his ball. As a reward, he promises to grant the girl's wish.

Margarita - queen at Woland's ball

How does Mikhail Bulgakov describe further events? The Master and Margarita is a very multi-layered novel, and the story continues with a full moon ball that begins at midnight. Criminals are invited to it, who come in tailcoats, and women are naked. Margarita greets them, offering her knee and hand for a kiss. The ball is over, and Woland asks what she wants to receive as a reward. Margarita asks her lover, and he immediately appears in a hospital gown. The girl asks Satan to return them to the house where they were so happy.

Meanwhile, some Moscow institution is interested in strange events taking place in the city. It becomes clear that they are all the work of one gang headed by a magician, and the traces lead to Woland's apartment.

Pontius Pilate's decision

We continue to consider the work that Bulgakov created ("The Master and Margarita"). The summary of the novel is the following further events. Pontius Pilate interrogates Yeshua Ha-Nozri in the palace of King Herod, who was sentenced to death by the court for insulting the power of Caesar. Pilate had to approve it. Interrogating the accused, he realizes that he is not dealing with a robber, but with a wandering philosopher who preaches justice and truth. But Pontius cannot simply let go of a person who is accused of acts against Caesar, therefore he approves the verdict. Then he turns to Kaifa, the high priest, who, in honor of Easter, can release one of the four sentenced to death. Pilate asks to release Ha-Notsri. But he refuses him and releases Bar-Rabban. There are three crosses on Bald Mountain, and the condemned are crucified on them. After the execution, only the former tax collector, Levi Matthew, a disciple of Yeshua, remains there. The executioner slaughters the condemned, and then a downpour suddenly falls.

The procurator summons the head of the secret service, Aphranius, and instructs him to kill Judas, who received a reward for allowing Ha-Notsri to be arrested in his house. Niza, a young woman, meets him in the city and sets up a date, where unknown people stab Judas with a knife and take away the money. Aphranius tells Pilate that Judas was stabbed to death and the money was planted in the high priest's house.

Matthew Levi is brought before Pilate. He shows him the tapes of Yeshua's sermons. The procurator reads in them that the gravest sin is cowardice.

Woland and his retinue leaving Moscow

We continue to describe the events of the work "The Master and Margarita" (Bulgakov). We return to Moscow. Woland and his retinue say goodbye to the city. Then Levi Matvey appears with a proposal to take the Master to him. Woland asks why he is not taken into the light. Levi replies that the Master did not deserve light, only peace. After some time, Azazello comes to the house to his beloved and brings wine - a gift from Satan. After drinking it, the heroes fall unconscious. At the same moment, there is turmoil in the clinic - the patient died, and on the Arbat in the mansion a young woman suddenly falls to the floor.

The novel that Bulgakov created (The Master and Margarita) is coming to an end. Black horses carry away Woland with his retinue, and with them the main characters. Woland tells the writer that the character of his novel has been sitting on this site for 2000 years, seeing the lunar road in a dream and wanting to walk along it. Master shouts: "Free!" And the city with the garden lights up above the abyss, and the lunar road leads to it, along which the procurator runs.

A wonderful work created by Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita ends as follows. In Moscow, the investigation into the case of one gang is still going on for a long time, but there are no results. The psychiatrists conclude that the gang members are powerful hypnotists. A few years later, the events are forgotten, and only the poet Bezdomny, now Professor Ponyrev Ivan Nikolaevich, every year on the full moon sits on the bench where he met Woland, and then, returning home, sees the same dream in which the Master, Margarita come to him , Yeshua and Pontius Pilate.

The meaning of the work

Bulgakov's work "Master and Margarita" amazes readers even today, since even now it is impossible to find an analogue of a novel of this level of skill. Modern writers fail to note the reason for such popularity of the work, to single out its fundamental, main motive. This novel is often called unprecedented for all world literature.

The main intention of the author

So, we examined the novel, its summary. The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov also needs to be analyzed. What is the main intention of the author? The story takes place in two eras: the time of the life of Jesus Christ and the contemporary period of the Soviet Union. Bulgakov paradoxically combines these very different eras, draws deep parallels between them.

The master, the main character, himself creates a novel about Yeshua, Judas, Pontius Pilate. Mikhail Afanasyevich unfolds phantasmagoria throughout the work. The events of the present turn out to be connected in an amazing way with what has changed humanity forever. It is difficult to single out a specific theme to which the work of M. Bulgakov devoted. "The Master and Margarita" touches upon many sacramental questions that are eternal for art. This, of course, is the theme of love, tragic and unconditional, the meaning of life, truth and justice, unconsciousness and madness. It cannot be said that the author directly reveals these issues, he only creates a symbolic integral system, which is rather difficult to interpret.

The main characters are so non-standard that only their images can be the reason for a detailed analysis of the concept of the work created by M. Bulgakov. "The Master and Margarita" is saturated with ideological and philosophical themes. This gives rise to the versatility of the semantic content of the novel written by Bulgakov. "Master and Margarita" problems, as you can see, affect very large-scale and significant.

Out of time

You can interpret the main idea in different ways. The Master and Ga-Notsri are two peculiar messiahs whose activities take place in different eras. But the history of the Master's life is not so simple, his divine, bright art is also associated with dark forces, because Margarita turns to Woland to help the Master.

The novel that this hero creates is a sacred and amazing story, but the writers of the Soviet era refuse to publish it, because they do not want to recognize it as worthy. Woland helps his beloved to restore justice and returns to the author the work he had previously burned.

Thanks to mythological devices and a fantastic plot, Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" shows eternal human values. Therefore, this novel is a story outside of culture and era.

Cinema showed great interest in the creation that Bulgakov created. "The Master and Margarita" is a film that exists in several versions: 1971, 1972, 2005. In 2005, a popular mini-series of 10 episodes directed by Vladimir Bortko was released.

This concludes the analysis of the work created by Bulgakov ("The Master and Margarita"). Our essay does not cover all the topics in detail, we only tried to briefly highlight them. This plan can serve as the basis for writing your own essay on this novel.

The authors of the article address the question of the author's intention of Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita". The main idea of ​​the work constantly eludes the reader, thanks to the figurative writing of the novel, strange memorable characters. The plot action takes place in two time intervals: the era of the life of Jesus Christ and the period of the Soviet Union. It is interesting to observe how the author draws parallels between completely different historical eras, based on a mystical and philosophical idea. This work shows the predestination of fate, draws attention to the fact that consciousness and reason do not give people free will, demonstrates the fact that the border between true evil and good is not set by a person, but by something from above. It is possible to designate the following system of characters from the point of view of power and the possibility of independent determination of the life path. Three tiers: the highest - Woland and Yeshua; middle - Master and Margarita; the lowest is all of Moscow.

literature

imagery

mystical-philosophical idea

1. Bulgakov M.A. Master and Margarita. – M.: Eksmo, 2006.

2. Gavryushin N.K. Litostroton, or Master without Margarita // Symbol. - 1990. - No. 23. - P. 17–25.

3. Zhestkova E.A. Extracurricular work on literary reading as a means of developing the reader's interests of younger schoolchildren / E.A. Zhestkova, E.V. Tsutskova // Modern problems of science and education. - 2014. - No. 6. - S. 1330.

4. Zhestkova E.A. The World of Childhood in the Creative Consciousness and Artistic Practice of V.I. Dahl // Philological Sciences. Questions of theory and practice. - 2014. - No. 4–3 (34). – P. 70–74.

5. Zhestkova E.A. N.M. Karamzin and A.K. Tolstoy: on the artistic comprehension of the historical era of Ivan the Terrible // Bulletin of the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design. Series 2: Art history. Philological Sciences. - 2013. - No. 4. - P. 51–54.

6. Zhestkova E.A. The era of Ivan the Terrible in the image of N.M. Karamzin and A.K. Tolstoy // World of science, culture, education. - 2011. - No. 6. - P. 290.

Nowadays, almost a century after the publication of the novel by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita", many assumptions and theories have appeared that explain the author's intention of this work. Initially, the novel was written up to the fifteenth chapter, but was destroyed by the author himself in 1930, and in 1932 started anew. Mikhail Bulgakov finished the work, being bedridden with a fatal illness, dictating the last lines to his wife, Elena Sergeevna. 1939 is the end date for writing the novel.

“The Master and Margarita” is a work in which M.A. Bulgakov about modernity, about the importance of a person in the world, about power. This is a novel that surprisingly intertwines caustic satire, a subtle psychological analysis of a person and a philosophical understanding of existence. The author comprehends the foundations of the society that existed in our country in the thirties, tries to understand the complex, controversial era, its processes. The novel raises universal, universal questions.

Critics interpret the book differently. There are those who see the ciphered political subtext, the author's protest against Stalin's tyranny. Nikolay Dobryukha, in his article for a not little-known newspaper, noted: “I was surprised to find a direct connection between the title of the novel“ The Master and Margarita ”and how Stalin was called in Moscow at that time! It is difficult to say who first called the leader "Master". It is possible that with his novel, Bulgakov wanted to show the Master-Stalin what (according to his ideas) a real Master should be ... "Others speak of the author's apology for darkness, admiring the devil and surrendering to pure evil:" ... it should be noted that all the abominations that the devil did were very inventive. The author showed him as a master, as a teacher, and in relations with Margarita as a kind and caring mentor.

Indeed, M.A. Bulgakov is considered a "mystical writer", since he himself called himself that way, but this mysticism did not cloud the author's mind: "The main features of creativity: ... black and mystical colors (I am a mystical writer)" .

The main idea of ​​The Master and Margarita constantly eludes the reader, thanks to the imagery of writing the novel, strange memorable characters. Most people, when reading this work, first of all pay attention to the love story, completely ignoring other subtexts. But it is worth noting that a writer of this magnitude would not spend fifteen years of his life telling only a love story, or, as was said earlier, describing political tyranny.

The idea of ​​the book is revealed to the reader gradually, so we will analyze it in several stages.

The plot action takes place in two time intervals: the era of the life of Jesus Christ and the period of the Soviet Union. At the same time, life in the years of the twentieth century is presented both in reality and in the eternal other world. It is interesting to observe how the author draws parallels between completely different historical eras, based on a mystical and philosophical idea. The chapters about Pilate begin with the same words as the chapters about the Master and Margarita end. But this is not the most important thing. Between the epochs there is a certain roll call, a connection that is noticeable with a more in-depth study of the work. Throughout the narrative of the novel, M.A. Bulgakov focuses on this idea several times. Woland tells the story of Pilate to Berlioz, and the Master says that his novel was written specifically about Pontius Pilate. The novel ends with the story of how Pilate was released by the Master and about his forgiveness from Yeshua. The final words of the work are also about Pilate. It turns out that the central figure of the novel and the object under the close supervision of the author is he. Let's look at such an important figure in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel.

Pontius Pilate is an official in the Roman service. A rather ordinary person, suffering from hemicrania and severe forebodings. Pilate has a negative attitude towards the Jews from the Sanhedrin, towards the Roman legionnaires, and generally does not have warm feelings for any person. He is attached only to his dog Bango. Yeshua, initially, causes him only irritation, but then genuine curiosity appears. He even has a desire to appoint this person as his doctor. But because of his altruistic love for people, Yeshua dies, which he predicted for himself in advance. Pilate did not want his death, and to the last he resisted the decision that he eventually made. Having lost the only person in this world who did not disgust him, Pontius Pilate is left alone with unwanted immortality, from which only the Master managed to bring him out: “Thoughts rushed short, incoherent and unusual:“ Died! !..” And some completely absurd among them about some kind of immortality, and immortality for some reason caused unbearable longing. It was such a person that Mikhail Bulgakov made one of the centers of his thoughts.

Let's look at the relationship between Pilate and Yeshua. They are nothing more than a game in which the desire of both of them for the proper and unavoidable is hidden. Their main difference is that Yeshua is full of awareness of his mission, he is aware of his divine essence, while Pontius Pilate only feels something inevitable, follows a predetermined fate, without a clear awareness of his actions. Pilate was chosen as a puppet in order to carry out some higher will. If we consider the New Testament, then this is the will of God - the Father, in the work of M.A. Bulgakov is the will of Yeshua, commanding the chosen victim: “Well, it’s all over,” the arrested man said, looking benevolently at Pilate, “and I am extremely glad about this.” It was Pontius Pilate who fell victim to this story, because he was chosen to play the role of a murderer and a villain, without having the appropriate thoughts in his head. Already here, at this conflict point in the novel, we can notice the differentiation of human characters into absolute people who are able to control themselves and others (Yeshua), and puppet people (Pilate), who do not know what they are doing and under whose authority they are. The first are independent, are not under anyone's power, the second - without realizing it, are led by the first. It can be seen that exactly such puppet people live in Moscow: Nikanor Bosoy, Varenukha, Georges Bengalsky and others, who constantly do what the main players - Yeshua and Woland - tell. Only the last two are the masters of themselves, others, and even have a faithful retinue. For example, answering a question from Berlioz, Woland notes precisely his significance as a person: “- ... but here is the question that worries me: if there is no God, then, one asks, who controls human life and the whole routine on earth? “The man himself is in control.”

It is worth paying attention to another character in the plot of the novel The Master and Margarita. When Yeshua has a disciple Levi-Matthew. According to Bulgakov's book, in this character one can notice a somewhat transformed image of the Apostle Matthew, who was a tax collector and a disciple of the Savior. He is devoted to Yeshua Ha-Nozri, loves him, tries to alleviate suffering on the cross. However, after analyzing his image more deeply, you can see that Levi-Matthew is cruel, and he treats the teachings of Yeshua with such fanaticism that he even allows himself to distort it. After the crucifixion of Ga-Norzi, he decided to rebel against God himself, which contradicts the teachings of the mentor. For this character, his own understanding of the teachings of Yeshua is above all, rather than the true meaning inherent in it. Yeshua spoke of him like this: “He walks, walks alone with goat parchment and continuously writes. I once looked into this parchment and was horrified. Absolutely nothing of what is written there, I did not say. Levi, with genuine courage, interpreted what the teacher said, not understanding the most important thing. Woland, addressing Berlioz, said: “Exactly nothing of what is written in the Gospels has actually ever happened,” referring specifically to Levi’s interpretation of reality.

Let's pay attention to one more hero of the novel - the restaurant pirate Archibald Archibaldovich. Mikhail Bulgakov often focuses on his supernatural flair, with which he is able to recognize any of his guests, including Woland's retinue. This person has an instinct similar to an animal, warning more about danger or benefit than about the meaning of everything that happens around. But there is no reason in him, therefore the Griboyedov restaurant dies at the end of the work.

Let's take a closer look at Woland's personality. This is the hero of the novel endowed with special power, "the spirit of evil and the lord of shadows", the powerful "prince of darkness". He arrived in Moscow as a "professor of black magic". Woland studies people, tries to show their essence in various ways. He looked at the inhabitants of Moscow in the variety theater, and concludes that they are “ordinary people, in general, reminiscent of the former, the housing problem only spoiled them.” Giving a "great ball", he brings confusion into the lives of Muscovites. Woland as the owner of superhuman powers, a representative of darkness is non-standard. He does not create evil as such, but rather restores some kind of justice with his own, not humane, but especially effective methods. He brings to light and in his own way punishes voluptuaries, scammers, vile and mercenary people, bribe-takers. Woland is a kind of evil, without which there is no good, a character that maintains a balance of sides: “... what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?” . But, sometimes, Woland can be condescending to human weaknesses: “They are people like people. They love money, but it always has been. Mankind loves money, no matter what it is made of, leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous ... well, well ... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts. The power vested in the superman Woland is used wisely and cautiously.

The Master and Margarita are the only characters in the novel who can be called people because they are deeply aware of the life situation. They represent the structure of the world around them and its rulers. The Master is tolerant of people-puppets, while Margarita hates them with all her heart. The Master sets himself the goal of life - to free Pilate from bad memories, Margarita - to do everything so that the Master lives in peace and the joy of creativity. Why does the Master want to let Pilate go? He realizes his innocence, understands that he only carried out the order. The Master also receives the same absolution from Yeshua, but they do not take him into the light. This is due to the fact that his position as a person is median in relation to good and evil. By letting go of Pontius Pilate's sins, the Master performs an act of absence of retribution for the misdeeds of all villains and criminals. This position is ethically flawed, since most puppet people attribute their misdeeds to the Devil, and their righteous deeds to God. Man himself, proceeding from this, is only a toy of higher powers. As Woland noted: “Sometimes the best way to destroy a person is to let him choose his own fate.” For this, there are some forces from above.

This is how the main author's idea of ​​the novel appears to us. This work shows the predestination of fate, draws attention to the fact that consciousness and reason do not give people free will, demonstrates the fact that the border between true evil and good is not set by a person, but by something from above. It is possible to designate the following system of characters from the point of view of power and the possibility of independent determination of the life path. Three tiers:

1) the highest - Woland and Yeshua;

2) middle - Master and Margarita;

3) the lowest - all of Moscow M.A. Bulgakov people-puppets.

The middle is that stage of awareness of fate, where a person is able to freely dispose of himself, but does not have the right to dispose of the lives of others. Closer to the end of the novel, Professor Ponyrev, the spiritual student of the Master and ideological heir, successor, can also be attributed to the middle tier. At the beginning of the work, Ivanushka appeared before the reader as a person who does not think about moral and philosophical issues, he believes that he sees the line between what is good and what is bad. This immediacy evaporates only with the appearance of Woland and the tragic events taking place in front of Ponyrev. He begins to live a conscious life, which was left an indelible imprint by a bright and at the same time tragic story that he witnessed. "He knows that in his youth he became a victim of criminal hypnotists, was treated after that and was cured." By the end of the novel, he himself becomes a Master. Mikhail Bulgakov shows how Ivanushka Ponyrev becomes an intellectual, accumulating knowledge, developing intellectually and changing his inner world, assimilating the cultural traditions of mankind, getting rid of the spell of "criminal hypnotists", "black magic". Ivanushka Bezdomny is the only hero of the novel who undergoes drastic changes: the ideological and moral basis of the personality is changing, the character is evolving, and there is a constant philosophical search.

If you take an unbiased look at the work, then the content of the novel is not a love story between the Master and Margarita, but rather a story about the embodiment of demonic forces in a person. The master appears only in the thirteenth chapter, Margarita - even later, in connection with the needs of Woland. What was Woland's goal before visiting Moscow? Arrange a "great ball" here, but not for ordinary dances. As noted by N.K. Gavryushin, who was engaged in the study of this novel: the “great ball” and all the preparations for it are nothing more than a satanic anti-liturgy, a “black mass”.

Evil in The Master and Margarita is more primary and older than good. The author does not try to attract the reader with the dark side, he only shows the world in harmony with the combination of these two concepts, draws attention to the equality of the statuses of good and evil.

Summing up, I would like to say that the author's intention of the work of M.A. Bulgakov's Master and Margarita is unique for every reader. There will be a lot more to think about the novel, a lot to write about. The plot of the book and the message are very contradictory, the reader will not agree with every idea, but in any case, he will not remain indifferent. It can be noted that the storyline of love plays an important role in the general idea of ​​the novel, but the main idea conveyed by the author to us is precisely the confrontation between good and evil, power and obedience. The mystical atmosphere of the book entices, and the development of the storylines makes you wonder which tier, from those presented earlier, you yourself belong to. "The Master and Margarita" is not a novel of one epoch or two, it is a novel passing through time beyond epochs and culture.

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