The Master and Margarita
Encyclopedia
The Master and Margarita is a novel
by Mikhail Bulgakov
, woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil
to the fervently atheistic
Soviet Union
. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and one of the foremost Soviet satire
s, directed against a suffocatingly bureaucratic social order.
, the residence of U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union William Bullitt, which was transformed by Bulgakov into the ball of the novel. The second draft was completed in 1936 by which point all the major plot lines of the final version were in place. The third draft was finished in 1937. Bulgakov continued to polish the work with the aid of his wife, but was forced to stop work on the fourth version four weeks before his death in 1940.
A censored version (12% of the text removed and still more changed) of the book was first published in Moscow magazine (no. 11, 1966 and no. 1, 1967). The text of all the omitted and changed parts, with indications of the places of modification, was published on a samizdat
basis. In 1967 the publisher Posev (Frankfurt
) printed a version produced with the aid of these inserts.
In Soviet Union, the first complete version, prepared by Anna Saakyants, was published by Khudozhestvennaya Literatura
in 1973, based on the version of the beginning of 1940 proofread by the publisher. This version remained the canonical edition until 1989, when the last version was prepared by literature expert Lidiya Yanovskaya based on all available manuscripts.
or Voland (Воланд), a mysterious gentleman "magician" of uncertain origin, who arrives with a retinue that includes the grotesquely dressed "ex-choirmaster" valet Koroviev (Fagotto) (Фагот, the name means "bassoon
" in Russian and some other languages, from the Italian word fagotto), a mischievous, gun-happy, fast-talking black cat Behemoth (Бегемот, a subversive Puss in Boots
, the name referring at once to the Biblical monster
and the Russian word for Hippopotamus
), the fanged hitman Azazello (Азазелло, hinting of Azazel
), the pale-faced Abadonna (Абадонна, a reference to Abaddon
) with a death-inflicting stare, and the witch Hella (Гелла).
The havoc wreaked by this group targets the literary elite, along with its trade union, MASSOLIT (a Soviet-style abbreviation
for "Moscow Association of Writers", Московская ассоциация литераторов, but possibly interpretable as "Literature for the Masses"; one translation of the book also mentions that this could be a play on words in Russian, which could be translated into English as something like "LOTSALIT"), its privileged HQ Griboyedov
's House, corrupt social-climbers and their women (wives and mistresses alike) – bureaucrats and profiteers – and, more generally, skeptical unbelievers in the human spirit.
The second setting is the Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate
, described by Woland talking to Berlioz and later echoed in the pages of the Master's novel. It concerns Pontius Pilate's trial of Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Иешуа га-Ноцри, Jesus
the Nazarene), his recognition of an affinity with and spiritual need for Yeshua, and his reluctant but resigned submission to Yeshua's execution.
Part one of the novel opens with a direct confrontation between the unbelieving head of the literary bureaucracy, Berlioz (Берлиоз), and an urbane foreign gentleman who defends belief and reveals his prophetic powers (Woland
). Berlioz brushes the prophecy of his death off, only to have it come true just pages later in the novel. This fulfillment of a death prophecy is witnessed by a young and enthusiastically modern poet, Ivan Ponyrev, who writes his poems under the alias Bezdomniy (Иван Бездомный – the name means "Homeless"). His futile attempt to chase and capture the "gang" and warn of their evil and mysterious nature lands Ivan in a lunatic asylum. Where Ivan is later introduced to The Master, an embittered author, the petty-minded rejection of whose historical novel about Pontius Pilate
and Christ
has led him to such despair that he burns his manuscript and turns his back on the "real" world, including his devoted lover, Margarita (Маргарита).
Major episodes in the first part of the novel include a satirical portrait of the Massolit and their Griboedov house;Satan's magic show at the Variety Theatre, satirizing the vanity, greed and gullibility of the new rich; and Woland and his retinue capturing the late Berlioz's apartment for their own use.
Part two of the novel introduces Margarita, the Master's mistress, who refuses to despair of her lover or his work. She is invited to the Devil's Walpurgis Night
midnight ball, then made an offer by Satan (Woland), and accepts it, becoming a witch with supernatural powers. This coincides with the night of Good Friday
since the Master's novel also deals with this same spring full moon when Christ's fate is sealed by Pontius Pilate and he is crucified in Jerusalem. All three events in the novel are linked by this.
Learning to fly and control her unleashed passions (not without exacting violent retribution on the literary bureaucrats who condemned her beloved to despair), and taking her enthusiastic maid Natasha with her, Margarita enters naked into realm of night. She flies over the deep forests and rivers of USSR; bathes and returns with Azazello, her escort, to Moscow as the anointed hostess for Satan's great Spring Ball. Standing by his side, she welcomes the dark celebrities of human history as they arrive from Hell.
She survives this ordeal without breaking, and for her pains, Satan offers to grant Margarita her deepest wish. Maragarita selflessly chooses to liberate a woman from her eternal punishment she had met from her night at the ball. The woman was raped and had later suffocated her newborn by stuffing a handkerchief in its mouth. Her punishment was to wake up every morning and find the same handkerchief lying on her nightstand. Satan grants her first wish and offers her another, citing that the first wish was unrelated to Maragarita's own desires. For her second wish, she chooses to liberate the Master and live in poverty and love with him.
Neither Woland nor Yeshua think her chosen way of life for Master and Margarita's likes. Azazello is sent to retrieve them. The three drink Pontius Pilate's poisoned wine in the Master's basement. Master and Margarita die, though their death is metaphorical as Azazello watches their physical manifestations die. Azazello reawakens them and they leave civilization with the Devil as Moscow's cupolas and windows burn in the setting Easter sun. The Master and Margarita, for not having lost their faith in humanity, are granted "peace" but are denied "light" – that is, they will spend eternity together in a shadowy yet pleasant region similar to Dante
's depiction of Limbo
, having not earned the glories of Heaven, but not deserving the punishments of Hell. As a parallel to the Master and Margarita's freedom, Pontius Pilate is released from his eternal punishment when the Master finally calls out to Pontius Pilate telling him he's free. And so he may finally walk up the moonbeam path in his dreams and up to Yeshua, where another eternity awaits.
, Moscow (the residence of the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union) hosted by Ambassador William Bullitt on April 24, 1935. Bullitt instructed his staff to create an event that would surpass every other Embassy party in Moscow's history. The decorations included a forest of ten young birch trees in the chandelier room, a dining room table covered with Finnish tulips, a lawn made of chicory grown on wet felt; an aviary made from fishnet filled with pheasants, parakeets, and one hundred zebra finches, on loan from the Moscow Zoo; and a menagerie of several mountain goats, a dozen white roosters, and a baby bear.
Although Joseph Stalin
did not attend, the four hundred guests at the festival included Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov
, Defense Minister Kliment Voroshilov
, Communist Party luminaries Nikolai Bukharin
, Lazar Kaganovich
, and Karl Radek
, and Soviet Marshals Aleksandr Yegorov, Mikhail Tukhachevsky
, and Semyon Budyonny
, and the writer Mikhail Bulgakov
.
The festival lasted until the early hours of the morning. The bear became drunk on champagne given to him by Karl Radek, and in the early morning hours the zebra finches escaped from the aviary and perched below the ceilings around the house.
Mikhail Bulgakov transformed the Spring Festival into The Spring Ball of the Full Moon, which became one of the most memorable episodes of the novel. On October 29, 2010, seventy-five years after the original ball. as a tribute to Ambassador Bullitt, Bulgakov and the Master and Margarita, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Beyrle
hosted an Enchanted Ball at Spaso House, recreating the spirit of the original ball.
of Nazareth). Put away in a psychiatric clinic
, where Bezdomny meets him. Very little is known about this character's past other than his belief that his life had no meaning until he met Margarita.
Margarita: The Master's lover. Trapped in a passionless marriage; devoted herself to The Master, whom she believes is dead. Does not appear until the second half of the novel, where she serves as the hostess of Satan's Grand Ball on Walpurgis Night
. She is named after Goethe's Faust
's Gretchen – whose real name is Margarita – as well as Marguerite de Valois
. Marguerite was the main character in an opera, Les Huguenots
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
which Bulgakov particularly enjoyed, and a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père
, La Reine Margot. In these accounts the queen is portrayed as daring and passionate. The character was also inspired by Bulgakov's last two wives, the first of whom loved action and was physically daring, while the last was devoted to his work in the same way as Margarita is to the Master.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz: Head of the literary bureaucracy MASSOLIT. He bears the last name of the French composer, Hector Berlioz
, who wrote the opera the Damnation of Faust
. Fell under a streetcar and, as Woland predicted, got his head severed by a young Soviet woman (the streetcar operator).
Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov (Bezdomny): A young, aspiring poet. His pen name
Bezdomny means "homeless". Initially a willing tool of the MASSOLIT apparatus, he is transformed by the events of the novel. Witnesses Berlioz's death and nearly goes mad, but later meets The Master in asylum and decides to stop writing poetry once and for all.
Stephan Bogdanovich Likhodeyev: Director of the Variety Theatre and Berlioz's roommate. Often called by diminutive
name Styopa. For his dishonorable deeds was thrown to Yalta
by Behemoth wearing not much more than his underwear freeing up the apartment for Woland and his retinue.
Grigory Danilovich Rimsky: Treasurer of the Variety Theatre. On the night of Woland's performance Rimsky is ambushed by Varenukha (who has been turned into a vampire by Woland's gang) and Hella. He barely escapes the encounter and flees to the train station to get out of the city.
Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha: House-manager of the Variety Theatre. He is turned into a creature of darkness but is forgiven by the end of Walpurgis Night – restoring his humanity.
Natasha: Margarita's young maid, later turned into a witch.
Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy: Chairman of the House Committee at 302B Sadovaya Street (former residence of Berlioz). For his greed and trickery, was deceived by Koroviev and later arrested.
: A "foreign professor" who is "in Moscow to present a performance of 'black magic' and then expose its machinations". The exposure (as one could guess) never occurs, instead Woland exposes the greed and bourgeois behaviour of the spectators themselves. Satan
in disguise.
Behemoth
: An enormous (said to be as large as a hog) black cat, capable of standing on two legs and talking. He has a penchant for chess
, vodka
and pistols
. In Russian, "Begemot". The word itself means hippopotamus
in Russian as well as the Biblical creature. A demon in disguise, able to take human form for short time.
Koroviev/Fagotto: A purported "ex-choirmaster"; this may imply that Koroviev was once a member of an angelic choir. Woland's assistant, capable of creating any illusions. Unlike Behemoth and Azazello, does not use violence at any point.
Azazello: A menacing, fanged and wall-eyed
member of Woland's retinue, a messenger and assassin, may be one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse. Possible reference to Azazel
. In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Enoch 8:1-3, Azazel is the fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry, and taught women the "sinful art" of painting their faces. This explains Azazello giving Margarita the magical cream.
Hella: Beautiful, redheaded succubus
. Serves as maid to Woland and his retinue. Remarked as being "perfect, were it not for a purple scar on her neck" – the scar suggesting that she is also a vampire
ss.
Abadonna
: The pale-faced, black-goggled angel of death
.
: The Roman Procurator
of Judaea
, a procurator in this case being a governor of a small province. The title also alludes to the Russian office of Procurator
(strictly inquisitor
, loosely prosecutor
).
Yeshua Ha-Nozri: Wanderer, "mad philosopher", as Pilate calls him, whose name means Jesus
the Christian in Hebrew, or alternatively "Jesus of Nazareth", though some commentators dispute the "of Nazareth" interpretation.
Aphranius: Head Of the Roman Secret Service in Judaea
.
Levi Matvei
: A Levite
, former tax collector, follower of Yeshua, and author of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Although introduced as a semi-fictionalized character in the Master's novel, towards the end of The Master and Margarita the "real" Matthew makes a personal appearance in Moscow to deliver a message from Yeshua to Woland.
Joseph Kaifa
: The High Priest of Judaea. Kaifa is interested in Yeshua's death in order to "protect" the status quo religion and his own status as the High Priest from the influence of Yeshua's preachings and followers.
Judah of Kiriaf
: The Biblical informant. Sets up Yeshua to be arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for his words against the rule of the Roman Emperor and is paid off by Kaifa for it. Judah is later killed on Pilate's orders for his role in Yeshua's death.
in the novel. Margarita's devotional love for the Master leads her to leave her husband, but she emerges victorious. Her spiritual union with the Master is also a sexual one. The novel is a riot of sensual impressions, but the emptiness of sensual gratification without love is emphatically illustrated in the satirical passages. However, the stupidity of rejecting sensuality for the sake of empty respectability is also pilloried in the figure of Nikolai Ivanovich who becomes Natasha's hog-broomstick.
The interplay of fire, water, destruction and other natural forces provides a constant accompaniment to the events of the novel, as do light and darkness, noise and silence, sun and moon, storms and tranquility, and other powerful polarities. There is a complex relationship between Jerusalem and Moscow throughout the novel, sometimes polyphony
, sometimes counterpoint
.
The novel is heavily influenced by Goethe
's Faust
, and its themes of cowardice, trust, intellectual curiosity, and redemption are prominent. Part of its literary brilliance lies in the different levels on which it can be read, as hilarious slapstick
, deep philosophical
allegory, and biting socio-political satire
critical of not just the Soviet
system but also the superficiality and vanity of modern life in general – jazz
is a favourite target, ambivalent like so much else in the book in the fascination and revulsion with which it is presented. But the novel is also full of modern amenities like the model asylum, radio, street and shopping lights, cars, lorries, trams, and air travel. There is little evident nostalgia for any "good old days" – in fact, the only figure in the book to even mention Tsarist Russia is Satan himself. In another of its facets, perhaps showing a different aspect of Goethe's influence, the book is a Bildungsroman
with Ivan as its focus. Furthermore, there are strong elements of Magical Realism in the novel.
legend, particularly the first part of the Goethe
interpretation and the opera
by Charles Gounod
. The work of Nikolai Gogol
is also a heavy influence, as is the case with others of Bulgakov's novels. The dialogue between Pontius Pilate
and Yeshua Ha-Nozri is strongly influenced by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's parable "The Grand Inquisitor
" from The Brothers Karamazov
.
Reference is made to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
in the luckless visitors chapter "everything became jumbled in the Oblonsky household". The theme of the Devil exposing society as an apartment block, as it could be seen if the entire facade would be removed, has some precedents in El Diablo cojuelo (1641, "The Lame Devil" or "The Crippled Devil") by the Spaniard Luís Vélez de Guevara
(famously adapted to 18th century France by Lesage
's 1707 ).
Ginsburg's translation was from a censored Soviet text and is therefore incomplete.
The early translation by Glenny runs more smoothly than that of the modern translations; some Russian-speaking readers consider it to be the only one creating the desired effect, though it may be somewhat at liberty with the text.
The modern translators pay for their attempted closeness by losing idiomatic flow.
However, according to Kevin Moss, who has at least two published papers on the book in literary journals, the early translations by Ginsburg and Glenny are quite hurried and lack much critical depth. As an example, he claims that the more idiomatic translations miss Bulgakov's "crucial" reference to the devil in Berlioz's thought:
Several literary critics have hailed the Burgin/Tiernan O’Connor translation as the most accurate and complete English translation, particularly when read in tandem with the matching annotations by Bulgakov's biographer, Ellendea Proffer. Note that these judgements predate the translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky.
Limited information is available, at the time of this writing, regarding the 2006 Karpelson translation.
The new graphic novel published by British publishing house Self Made Hero
, adapted by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal, provides a fresh visual translation/interpretation of the original.
scrawled on the walls. The numerous paintings, quips, and drawings were completely whitewashed in 2003. Previously the best drawings were kept as the walls were repainted, so that several layers of different colored paints could be seen around the best drawings. The building's residents, in an attempt to deter loitering, have turned the flat into a museum of Bulgakov's life and works.
The museum contains personal belongings, photos, and several exhibitions related to Bulgakov's life and his different works. Various poetic and literary events are often held in the flat.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
, woven around the premise of a visit by the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
to the fervently atheistic
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Many critics consider the book to be one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, and one of the foremost Soviet satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
s, directed against a suffocatingly bureaucratic social order.
History
Bulgakov started writing the novel in 1928. He burnt the first manuscript of the novel in 1930, seeing no future as a writer in the Soviet Union. The work was restarted in 1931. In 1935 Bulgakov went to Spaso HouseSpaso House
Spaso House is a listed Neoclassical Revival building at No. 10 Spasopeskovskaya Square in Moscow. It was originally built in 1913 as the mansion of the textile industrialist Nikolay Vtorov. Since 1933 it has been the residence of the U.S...
, the residence of U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union William Bullitt, which was transformed by Bulgakov into the ball of the novel. The second draft was completed in 1936 by which point all the major plot lines of the final version were in place. The third draft was finished in 1937. Bulgakov continued to polish the work with the aid of his wife, but was forced to stop work on the fourth version four weeks before his death in 1940.
A censored version (12% of the text removed and still more changed) of the book was first published in Moscow magazine (no. 11, 1966 and no. 1, 1967). The text of all the omitted and changed parts, with indications of the places of modification, was published on a samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
basis. In 1967 the publisher Posev (Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
) printed a version produced with the aid of these inserts.
In Soviet Union, the first complete version, prepared by Anna Saakyants, was published by Khudozhestvennaya Literatura
Khudozhestvennaya Literatura
Khudozhestvennaya Literatura is a publishing house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The name means "fiction" in Russian....
in 1973, based on the version of the beginning of 1940 proofread by the publisher. This version remained the canonical edition until 1989, when the last version was prepared by literature expert Lidiya Yanovskaya based on all available manuscripts.
Plot summary
The novel alternates between two settings. The first is 1930s Moscow, which is visited by Satan in the guise of "Professor" WolandWoland
Woland is a fictional character in the book The Master and Margarita by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. Woland is the mysterious foreigner and professor whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling and turns the world upside-down. He appears differently to different people. "[t]he first says...
or Voland (Воланд), a mysterious gentleman "magician" of uncertain origin, who arrives with a retinue that includes the grotesquely dressed "ex-choirmaster" valet Koroviev (Fagotto) (Фагот, the name means "bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
" in Russian and some other languages, from the Italian word fagotto), a mischievous, gun-happy, fast-talking black cat Behemoth (Бегемот, a subversive Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
'Puss' is a character in the fairy tale "The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots" by Charles Perrault. The tale was published in 1697 in his Histoires ou Contes du temps passé...
, the name referring at once to the Biblical monster
Behemoth
Behemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
and the Russian word for Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
), the fanged hitman Azazello (Азазелло, hinting of Azazel
Azazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
), the pale-faced Abadonna (Абадонна, a reference to Abaddon
Abaddon
Abaddon in the Revelation of St. John, is the king of tormenting locusts and the angel of the bottomless pit. The exact nature of Abaddon is debated, but the Hebrew word is related to the triliteral root אבד , which in verb form means "to perish."...
) with a death-inflicting stare, and the witch Hella (Гелла).
The havoc wreaked by this group targets the literary elite, along with its trade union, MASSOLIT (a Soviet-style abbreviation
Soviet phraseology
Soviet phraseology, or Sovietisms, i.e., the neologisms and cliches in Russian language of the epoch of the Soviet Union, has a number of distinct traits that reflect the Soviet way of life and Soviet culture and politics...
for "Moscow Association of Writers", Московская ассоциация литераторов, but possibly interpretable as "Literature for the Masses"; one translation of the book also mentions that this could be a play on words in Russian, which could be translated into English as something like "LOTSALIT"), its privileged HQ Griboyedov
Alexandr Griboyedov
Aleksander Sergeyevich Griboyedov was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. He is recognized as homo unius libri, a writer of one book, whose fame rests on the brilliant verse comedy Woe from Wit , still one of the most often staged plays in Russia...
's House, corrupt social-climbers and their women (wives and mistresses alike) – bureaucrats and profiteers – and, more generally, skeptical unbelievers in the human spirit.
The second setting is the Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, described by Woland talking to Berlioz and later echoed in the pages of the Master's novel. It concerns Pontius Pilate's trial of Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Иешуа га-Ноцри, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
the Nazarene), his recognition of an affinity with and spiritual need for Yeshua, and his reluctant but resigned submission to Yeshua's execution.
Part one of the novel opens with a direct confrontation between the unbelieving head of the literary bureaucracy, Berlioz (Берлиоз), and an urbane foreign gentleman who defends belief and reveals his prophetic powers (Woland
Woland
Woland is a fictional character in the book The Master and Margarita by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. Woland is the mysterious foreigner and professor whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling and turns the world upside-down. He appears differently to different people. "[t]he first says...
). Berlioz brushes the prophecy of his death off, only to have it come true just pages later in the novel. This fulfillment of a death prophecy is witnessed by a young and enthusiastically modern poet, Ivan Ponyrev, who writes his poems under the alias Bezdomniy (Иван Бездомный – the name means "Homeless"). His futile attempt to chase and capture the "gang" and warn of their evil and mysterious nature lands Ivan in a lunatic asylum. Where Ivan is later introduced to The Master, an embittered author, the petty-minded rejection of whose historical novel about Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
and Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
has led him to such despair that he burns his manuscript and turns his back on the "real" world, including his devoted lover, Margarita (Маргарита).
Major episodes in the first part of the novel include a satirical portrait of the Massolit and their Griboedov house;Satan's magic show at the Variety Theatre, satirizing the vanity, greed and gullibility of the new rich; and Woland and his retinue capturing the late Berlioz's apartment for their own use.
Part two of the novel introduces Margarita, the Master's mistress, who refuses to despair of her lover or his work. She is invited to the Devil's Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night is a traditional spring festival on 30 April or 1 May in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. It is often celebrated with dancing and with bonfires. It is exactly six months from All Hallows' Eve.-Name:...
midnight ball, then made an offer by Satan (Woland), and accepts it, becoming a witch with supernatural powers. This coincides with the night of Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
since the Master's novel also deals with this same spring full moon when Christ's fate is sealed by Pontius Pilate and he is crucified in Jerusalem. All three events in the novel are linked by this.
Learning to fly and control her unleashed passions (not without exacting violent retribution on the literary bureaucrats who condemned her beloved to despair), and taking her enthusiastic maid Natasha with her, Margarita enters naked into realm of night. She flies over the deep forests and rivers of USSR; bathes and returns with Azazello, her escort, to Moscow as the anointed hostess for Satan's great Spring Ball. Standing by his side, she welcomes the dark celebrities of human history as they arrive from Hell.
She survives this ordeal without breaking, and for her pains, Satan offers to grant Margarita her deepest wish. Maragarita selflessly chooses to liberate a woman from her eternal punishment she had met from her night at the ball. The woman was raped and had later suffocated her newborn by stuffing a handkerchief in its mouth. Her punishment was to wake up every morning and find the same handkerchief lying on her nightstand. Satan grants her first wish and offers her another, citing that the first wish was unrelated to Maragarita's own desires. For her second wish, she chooses to liberate the Master and live in poverty and love with him.
Neither Woland nor Yeshua think her chosen way of life for Master and Margarita's likes. Azazello is sent to retrieve them. The three drink Pontius Pilate's poisoned wine in the Master's basement. Master and Margarita die, though their death is metaphorical as Azazello watches their physical manifestations die. Azazello reawakens them and they leave civilization with the Devil as Moscow's cupolas and windows burn in the setting Easter sun. The Master and Margarita, for not having lost their faith in humanity, are granted "peace" but are denied "light" – that is, they will spend eternity together in a shadowy yet pleasant region similar to Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
's depiction of Limbo
Limbo
In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other...
, having not earned the glories of Heaven, but not deserving the punishments of Hell. As a parallel to the Master and Margarita's freedom, Pontius Pilate is released from his eternal punishment when the Master finally calls out to Pontius Pilate telling him he's free. And so he may finally walk up the moonbeam path in his dreams and up to Yeshua, where another eternity awaits.
The Spring Festival Ball at Spaso House and the Master and Margarita
One historical event which Bulgakov attended had an important influence on the novel – the Spring Festival at Spaso HouseSpaso House
Spaso House is a listed Neoclassical Revival building at No. 10 Spasopeskovskaya Square in Moscow. It was originally built in 1913 as the mansion of the textile industrialist Nikolay Vtorov. Since 1933 it has been the residence of the U.S...
, Moscow (the residence of the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union) hosted by Ambassador William Bullitt on April 24, 1935. Bullitt instructed his staff to create an event that would surpass every other Embassy party in Moscow's history. The decorations included a forest of ten young birch trees in the chandelier room, a dining room table covered with Finnish tulips, a lawn made of chicory grown on wet felt; an aviary made from fishnet filled with pheasants, parakeets, and one hundred zebra finches, on loan from the Moscow Zoo; and a menagerie of several mountain goats, a dozen white roosters, and a baby bear.
Although Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
did not attend, the four hundred guests at the festival included Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Litvinov
Maxim Maximovich Litvinov was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet diplomat.- Early life and first exile :...
, Defense Minister Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
, Communist Party luminaries Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin , was a Russian Marxist, Bolshevik revolutionary, and Soviet politician. He was a member of the Politburo and Central Committee , chairman of the Communist International , and the editor in chief of Pravda , the journal Bolshevik , Izvestia , and the Great Soviet...
, Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
, and Karl Radek
Karl Radek
Karl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution....
, and Soviet Marshals Aleksandr Yegorov, Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky was a Marshal of the Soviet Union, commander in chief of the Red Army , and one of the most prominent victims of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.-Early life:...
, and Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny , sometimes transliterated as Budennyj, Budyonnyy, Budennii, Budenny, Budyoni, Budyenny, or Budenny, was a Soviet cavalryman, military commander, politician and a close ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.-Early life:...
, and the writer Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgákov was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright active in the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita, which The Times of London has called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century.-Biography:Mikhail Bulgakov was born on...
.
The festival lasted until the early hours of the morning. The bear became drunk on champagne given to him by Karl Radek, and in the early morning hours the zebra finches escaped from the aviary and perched below the ceilings around the house.
Mikhail Bulgakov transformed the Spring Festival into The Spring Ball of the Full Moon, which became one of the most memorable episodes of the novel. On October 29, 2010, seventy-five years after the original ball. as a tribute to Ambassador Bullitt, Bulgakov and the Master and Margarita, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Beyrle
John Beyrle
John R. Beyrle , a career Foreign Service Officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, is currently Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation.- Biography :...
hosted an Enchanted Ball at Spaso House, recreating the spirit of the original ball.
Contemporary Russians
The Master: An author who had written a novel about the meeting of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri (JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
of Nazareth). Put away in a psychiatric clinic
Psikhushka
In the Soviet Union, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place. Soviet psychiatric hospitals were used by the authorities as prisons in order to isolate hundreds or thousands of political prisoners from the rest of society, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally...
, where Bezdomny meets him. Very little is known about this character's past other than his belief that his life had no meaning until he met Margarita.
Margarita: The Master's lover. Trapped in a passionless marriage; devoted herself to The Master, whom she believes is dead. Does not appear until the second half of the novel, where she serves as the hostess of Satan's Grand Ball on Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night is a traditional spring festival on 30 April or 1 May in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. It is often celebrated with dancing and with bonfires. It is exactly six months from All Hallows' Eve.-Name:...
. She is named after Goethe's Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
's Gretchen – whose real name is Margarita – as well as Marguerite de Valois
Marguerite de Valois
Margaret of Valois was Queen of France and of Navarre during the late sixteenth century...
. Marguerite was the main character in an opera, Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
which Bulgakov particularly enjoyed, and a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
, La Reine Margot. In these accounts the queen is portrayed as daring and passionate. The character was also inspired by Bulgakov's last two wives, the first of whom loved action and was physically daring, while the last was devoted to his work in the same way as Margarita is to the Master.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz: Head of the literary bureaucracy MASSOLIT. He bears the last name of the French composer, Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, who wrote the opera the Damnation of Faust
The Damnation of Faust
La damnation de Faust , Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "légende dramatique"...
. Fell under a streetcar and, as Woland predicted, got his head severed by a young Soviet woman (the streetcar operator).
Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov (Bezdomny): A young, aspiring poet. His pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Bezdomny means "homeless". Initially a willing tool of the MASSOLIT apparatus, he is transformed by the events of the novel. Witnesses Berlioz's death and nearly goes mad, but later meets The Master in asylum and decides to stop writing poetry once and for all.
Stephan Bogdanovich Likhodeyev: Director of the Variety Theatre and Berlioz's roommate. Often called by diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
name Styopa. For his dishonorable deeds was thrown to Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
by Behemoth wearing not much more than his underwear freeing up the apartment for Woland and his retinue.
Grigory Danilovich Rimsky: Treasurer of the Variety Theatre. On the night of Woland's performance Rimsky is ambushed by Varenukha (who has been turned into a vampire by Woland's gang) and Hella. He barely escapes the encounter and flees to the train station to get out of the city.
Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha: House-manager of the Variety Theatre. He is turned into a creature of darkness but is forgiven by the end of Walpurgis Night – restoring his humanity.
Natasha: Margarita's young maid, later turned into a witch.
Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy: Chairman of the House Committee at 302B Sadovaya Street (former residence of Berlioz). For his greed and trickery, was deceived by Koroviev and later arrested.
Woland and his retinue
WolandWoland
Woland is a fictional character in the book The Master and Margarita by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. Woland is the mysterious foreigner and professor whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling and turns the world upside-down. He appears differently to different people. "[t]he first says...
: A "foreign professor" who is "in Moscow to present a performance of 'black magic' and then expose its machinations". The exposure (as one could guess) never occurs, instead Woland exposes the greed and bourgeois behaviour of the spectators themselves. Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
in disguise.
Behemoth
Behemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
: An enormous (said to be as large as a hog) black cat, capable of standing on two legs and talking. He has a penchant for chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
and pistols
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
. In Russian, "Begemot". The word itself means hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
in Russian as well as the Biblical creature. A demon in disguise, able to take human form for short time.
Koroviev/Fagotto: A purported "ex-choirmaster"; this may imply that Koroviev was once a member of an angelic choir. Woland's assistant, capable of creating any illusions. Unlike Behemoth and Azazello, does not use violence at any point.
Azazello: A menacing, fanged and wall-eyed
Strabismus
Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extraocular muscles, which prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely...
member of Woland's retinue, a messenger and assassin, may be one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse. Possible reference to Azazel
Azazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
. In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Enoch 8:1-3, Azazel is the fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry, and taught women the "sinful art" of painting their faces. This explains Azazello giving Margarita the magical cream.
Hella: Beautiful, redheaded succubus
Succubus
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
. Serves as maid to Woland and his retinue. Remarked as being "perfect, were it not for a purple scar on her neck" – the scar suggesting that she is also a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
ss.
Abadonna
Abaddon
Abaddon in the Revelation of St. John, is the king of tormenting locusts and the angel of the bottomless pit. The exact nature of Abaddon is debated, but the Hebrew word is related to the triliteral root אבד , which in verb form means "to perish."...
: The pale-faced, black-goggled angel of death
Death (personification)
The concept of death as a sentient entity has existed in many societies since the beginning of history. In English, Death is often given the name Grim Reaper and, from the 15th century onwards, came to be shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe and clothed in a black cloak with a hood...
.
Characters from The Master's novel
Pontius PilatePontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
: The Roman Procurator
Procurator (Roman)
A procurator was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by equites . A procurator Augusti was the governor of the smaller imperial provinces...
of Judaea
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
, a procurator in this case being a governor of a small province. The title also alludes to the Russian office of Procurator
Procurator (Russia)
Procurator , was an office initially created by Peter the Great, the first Emperor of the Russian Empire, in an effort to bring the Russian Orthodox Church more directly under his control.The Russian word prokuror also has the meaning of prosecutor....
(strictly inquisitor
Inquisitor
An inquisitor was an official in an Inquisition, an organisation or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things frowned on by the Roman Catholic Church...
, loosely prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
).
Yeshua Ha-Nozri: Wanderer, "mad philosopher", as Pilate calls him, whose name means Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
the Christian in Hebrew, or alternatively "Jesus of Nazareth", though some commentators dispute the "of Nazareth" interpretation.
Aphranius: Head Of the Roman Secret Service in Judaea
Iudaea Province
Judaea or Iudaea are terms used by historians to refer to the Roman province that extended over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of Israel...
.
Levi Matvei
Matthew the Evangelist
Matthew the Evangelist was, according to the Bible, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists.-Identity:...
: A Levite
Levite
In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
, former tax collector, follower of Yeshua, and author of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Although introduced as a semi-fictionalized character in the Master's novel, towards the end of The Master and Margarita the "real" Matthew makes a personal appearance in Moscow to deliver a message from Yeshua to Woland.
Joseph Kaifa
Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus...
: The High Priest of Judaea. Kaifa is interested in Yeshua's death in order to "protect" the status quo religion and his own status as the High Priest from the influence of Yeshua's preachings and followers.
Judah of Kiriaf
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
: The Biblical informant. Sets up Yeshua to be arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for his words against the rule of the Roman Emperor and is paid off by Kaifa for it. Judah is later killed on Pilate's orders for his role in Yeshua's death.
Themes and imagery
Ultimately, the novel deals with the interplay of good and evil, innocence and guilt, courage and cowardice, exploring such issues as the responsibility towards truth when authority would deny it, and the freedom of the spirit in an unfree world. Love and sensuality are also dominant themesTheme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
in the novel. Margarita's devotional love for the Master leads her to leave her husband, but she emerges victorious. Her spiritual union with the Master is also a sexual one. The novel is a riot of sensual impressions, but the emptiness of sensual gratification without love is emphatically illustrated in the satirical passages. However, the stupidity of rejecting sensuality for the sake of empty respectability is also pilloried in the figure of Nikolai Ivanovich who becomes Natasha's hog-broomstick.
The interplay of fire, water, destruction and other natural forces provides a constant accompaniment to the events of the novel, as do light and darkness, noise and silence, sun and moon, storms and tranquility, and other powerful polarities. There is a complex relationship between Jerusalem and Moscow throughout the novel, sometimes polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, sometimes counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
.
The novel is heavily influenced by Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
, and its themes of cowardice, trust, intellectual curiosity, and redemption are prominent. Part of its literary brilliance lies in the different levels on which it can be read, as hilarious slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
, deep philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
allegory, and biting socio-political satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
critical of not just the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
system but also the superficiality and vanity of modern life in general – jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
is a favourite target, ambivalent like so much else in the book in the fascination and revulsion with which it is presented. But the novel is also full of modern amenities like the model asylum, radio, street and shopping lights, cars, lorries, trams, and air travel. There is little evident nostalgia for any "good old days" – in fact, the only figure in the book to even mention Tsarist Russia is Satan himself. In another of its facets, perhaps showing a different aspect of Goethe's influence, the book is a Bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
with Ivan as its focus. Furthermore, there are strong elements of Magical Realism in the novel.
Allusions and references to other works
The novel is influenced by the FaustFaust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
legend, particularly the first part of the Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
interpretation and the opera
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
by Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
. The work of Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
is also a heavy influence, as is the case with others of Bulgakov's novels. The dialogue between Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
and Yeshua Ha-Nozri is strongly influenced by Fyodor Dostoyevsky's parable "The Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov . Ivan and Alyosha are brothers; Ivan questions the possibility of a personal, benevolent God and Alyosha is a novice monk....
" from The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...
.
Reference is made to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...
in the luckless visitors chapter "everything became jumbled in the Oblonsky household". The theme of the Devil exposing society as an apartment block, as it could be seen if the entire facade would be removed, has some precedents in El Diablo cojuelo (1641, "The Lame Devil" or "The Crippled Devil") by the Spaniard Luís Vélez de Guevara
Luís Vélez de Guevara
Luis Vélez de Guevara was a Spanish dramatist and novelist.Velez de Guevara was born at Écija and was of Jewish converso descent...
(famously adapted to 18th century France by Lesage
Alain-René Lesage
Alain-René Lesage was a French novelist and playwright. Lesage is best known for his comic novel The Devil upon Two Sticks , his comedy Turcaret , and his picaresque novel Gil Blas .-Youth and education:Claude Lesage, the father of the novelist, held the united...
's 1707 ).
Textual note
The final chapters are late drafts that Bulgakov pasted to the back of his manuscript; he died before he could incorporate these chapters into a completed fourth draft.English translations
There are quite a few published English translations of The Master and Margarita, including but not limited to the following:- Mirra Ginsburg, New York: Grove Press, 1967.
- Michael GlennyMichael GlennyMichael Valentine Glenny was a British lecturer in Russian studies and a noted translator of Russian literature into English...
, New York: Harper & Row, 1967; London: Harvill, 1967; with introduction by Simon Franklin, New York: Knopf, 1992; London: Everyman's Library, 1992. - Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor, annotations and afterword by Ellendea Proffer, Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1993, 1995; New York: Vintage Books, 1996.
- Richard PevearRichard PevearRichard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are a couple that are best known for their collaborative translations. Most of their translations are of works in Russian, but also French, Italian, and Greek. Their translations have been nominated three times and twice won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club...
and Larissa Volokhonsky, London: Penguin, 1997. - Michael Karpelson, Lulu Press, 2006.
- Hugh Aplin, One World Classics, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84749-014-8
Ginsburg's translation was from a censored Soviet text and is therefore incomplete.
The early translation by Glenny runs more smoothly than that of the modern translations; some Russian-speaking readers consider it to be the only one creating the desired effect, though it may be somewhat at liberty with the text.
The modern translators pay for their attempted closeness by losing idiomatic flow.
However, according to Kevin Moss, who has at least two published papers on the book in literary journals, the early translations by Ginsburg and Glenny are quite hurried and lack much critical depth. As an example, he claims that the more idiomatic translations miss Bulgakov's "crucial" reference to the devil in Berlioz's thought:
- "I ought to drop everything and run down to Kislovodsk." (Glenny)
- "It's time to throw everything to the devil and go to Kislovodsk." (Burgin, Tiernan O'Connor)
- "It's time to send it all to the devil and go to Kislovodsk." (Pevear, Volokhonsky)
- "To hell with everything, it's time to take that Kislovodsk vacation." (Karpelson)
- "It’s time to let everything go to the devil and be off to Kislovodsk.” (Aplin)
Several literary critics have hailed the Burgin/Tiernan O’Connor translation as the most accurate and complete English translation, particularly when read in tandem with the matching annotations by Bulgakov's biographer, Ellendea Proffer. Note that these judgements predate the translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky.
Limited information is available, at the time of this writing, regarding the 2006 Karpelson translation.
The new graphic novel published by British publishing house Self Made Hero
Self Made Hero
SelfMadeHero is a British graphic novel and manga publishing company, and imprint of Metro Media Ltd, who specialise in adapting works of literature.They launched with two lines in 2007:...
, adapted by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal, provides a fresh visual translation/interpretation of the original.
"Manuscripts don't burn"
A memorable and much-quoted line in The Master and Margarita is: "manuscripts don't burn" . The Master is a writer who is plagued by both his own mental problems and the oppression of Stalin's regime in the Moscow of the 1930s. He burns his treasured manuscript in an effort to hide it from the Soviet authorities and cleanse his own mind from the troubles the work has brought him. Woland later gives the manuscript back to him saying, "Didn't you know that manuscripts don't burn?" There is an autobiographical element reflected in the Master's character here, as Bulgakov in fact burned an early copy of 'The Master and Margarita' for much the same reasons.The Bulgakov Museum in Moscow
Bulgakov's old flat, in which parts of The Master and Margarita are set, has since the 1980s become a gathering spot for Bulgakov's fans, as well as Moscow-based Satanist groups, and had various kinds of graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
scrawled on the walls. The numerous paintings, quips, and drawings were completely whitewashed in 2003. Previously the best drawings were kept as the walls were repainted, so that several layers of different colored paints could be seen around the best drawings. The building's residents, in an attempt to deter loitering, have turned the flat into a museum of Bulgakov's life and works.
The museum contains personal belongings, photos, and several exhibitions related to Bulgakov's life and his different works. Various poetic and literary events are often held in the flat.
Allusions and references from other works
Various authors and musicians have credited The Master and Margarita as inspiration for certain works.- It has been suggested that Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
may have been inspired by the novel in writing the song "Sympathy for the DevilSympathy for the Devil"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
". This is also suggested in Will SelfWill SelfWilliam Woodard "Will" Self is an English novelist and short story writer. His fictional style is known for being satirical, grotesque, and fantastical. He is a prolific commentator on contemporary British life, with regular appearances on Newsnight and Question Time...
's foreword to the Vintage edition of the Michael Glenny translation. - The grungeGrungeGrunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
band Pearl JamPearl JamPearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
were influenced by the novel's confrontation between Yeshua Ha-NozriJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and Pontius PilatePontius PilatePontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
for the song, "Pilate" on their 1998 album YieldYield (album)Yield is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on February 3, 1998. Following a short tour for its previous album, No Code , Pearl Jam went into the studio in 1997 to record its follow-up...
. - Surrealist artist H. R. GigerH. R. GigerHans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...
named a 1976 painting after the novel. The painting was later featured on the cover of DanzigDanzig (band)Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...
's 1992 album Danzig III: How the Gods KillDanzig III: How the Gods KillDanzig III: How the Gods Kill is the third album by Glenn Danzig's band Danzig, and the highest to chart at the time of its release in 1992 on Def American Recordings. It was reissued in 1998 by Def American's successor, American Recordings...
. - Russian pop singer Igor Nikolayev has a song "Master i Margarita"
- Canadian band The Tea PartyThe Tea PartyThe Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences, dubbed "Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s up until 2005 when the band broke up, The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records...
has a song entitled The Master and Margarita in their album The Interzone MantrasThe Interzone MantrasThe Interzone Mantras is the sixth album from Canadian rock group The Tea Party.Named after William S. Burroughs' book of short stories Interzone and the band's interest in eastern mysticism and esoteric philosophies, the songwriting on The Interzone Mantras builds on the subtle electronica and... - Scottish band Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand (band)Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
's song "Love and Destroy" is based on Margarita in the novel - ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-based punk rockPunk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Lawrence ArmsThe Lawrence ArmsThe Lawrence Arms are an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1999. They have released five full-length albums and toured extensively.-Pre-history:...
referenced the novel several times on their album The Greatest Story Ever Told: it features a song called "Chapter 13: The Hero Appears", named after the same chapter in the book; names one of the band members (corresponding to guitarist Chris McCaughanChris McCaughanChris McCaughan is the guitarist and vocalist in the band The Lawrence Arms. McCaughan was formerly the guitarist for the bands Tricky Dick and The Broadways ....
) as Ivan Nikolayevich; features the lyric "text to burn" (in the song "A Wishful Puppeteer") in reference to the catch phrase "Manuscripts don't burn", see above; and also features the same quote from FaustFaustFaust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
in the liner notes.
Adaptations
- 1971: Polish director Andrzej WajdaAndrzej WajdaAndrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
makes a movie Pilate and OthersPilate and OthersPilate and Others is a 1972 German drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1967 novel The Master and Margarita by the Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, although it focuses on the parts of the novel set in biblical Jerusalem, however events which have occurred in it, are transferred to the...
for German TV, based on the biblical part of the book ('The Master's manuscript'). - 1972: Joint Italian-Yugoslavian production of Aleksandar Petrović's The Master and MargaretThe Master and MargaretThe Master and Margaret , is a 1972 Italian-Yugoslav film directed by Aleksandar Petrović.The film is an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's 1967 novel The Master and Margarita, although it mainly focuses on the parts of the novel set in 1920s Moscow....
(Italian: "Il Maestro e Margherita", Serbo-CroatianSerbo-CroatianSerbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
: "Majstor i Margarita") is released. Based loosely on the book, the main discrepancy is that Master in the movie has an actual name of Nikolaj Afanasijevic Maksudov, while in the original book Master is persistently anonymous. - 1977: Long a Soviet underground classic, Bulgakov's novel was finally brought to the Russian stage by the director Yuri LyubimovYuri LyubimovYuri Petrovich Lyubimov is a Soviet and Russian stage actor and director associated with the internationally-renowned Taganka Theatre which he founded ,...
at Moscow's Taganka TheatreTaganka TheatreTaganka Theatre is a theater located in the Art Nouveau building on Taganka Square in Moscow. The theatre was founded in 1964 by Yuri Lyubimov and continued the traditions of his alma mater, the Vakhtangov Theatre, while also exploring the possibilities of Bertolt Brecht's "epic theatre".Under...
. - 1978: Stage production directed by Romanian-born American director Andrei ŞerbanAndrei SerbanAndrei Șerban is a Romanian-born American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings...
at the New York Public Theater, starring John Shea. This seems to be the version revived in 1993 (see below). - 1980: Stage production ("Maestrul şi Margareta") directed by Romanian stage director Cătălina Buzoianu at The Little Theatre ("Teatrul Mic") in Bucharest, Romania. – Cast: Ştefan Iordache as Master, Valeria Seciu as Margareta, Dan Condurache as Woland, Mitică Popescu as Koroviev, Gheorghe Visu as Ivan Bezdomny / Matthew Levi, Sorin Medeleni as Behemoth.
- 1982: Stage production ("Mästaren och Margarita") directed by Swedish stage director Peter Luckhaus at the National Theatre of Sweden Dramaten in Stockholm, Sweden – Cast: Rolf Skoglund as Master, Margaretha Byström as Margareta, Jan Blomberg as Woland, Ernst-Hugo Järegård as Berlioz/Stravinskij/Pontius Pilate, Stellan Skarsgård as Koroviev and Örjan Ramberg as Ivan/Levi Mattei..
- The German composer York HöllerYork HöllerYork Höller is a German composer and Professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.-Biography:Between 1963 and 1970 Höller studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule: composition with Joachim Blume and Bernd Alois Zimmermann, piano with Else Schmitz-Gohrand Alfons Kontarsky, and orchestral...
's opera Der Meister und Margarita was premiered in 1989 at the Paris OpéraAcadémie Royale de MusiqueThe Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...
and released on CD in 2000. - 1989: Polish director Maciej Wojtyszko makes Mistrz i Małgorzata, TV miniseries of four episodes.
- 1992: At the Lyric HammersmithLyric HammersmithThe Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
in June the Four Corners theatre company presented a distillation of the novel, translated by Michael Denny and adapted and directed for the stage by David Graham-Young (of Contemporary Stage). The production transferred to the Almeida TheatreAlmeida TheatreThe Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
in July 1992. - 1992: In an adaptation called Incident in Judaea by Paul Bryers, only the Yeshua story is told. The film includes a prologue which mentions Bulgakov and the other storylines. The cast includes John WoodvineJohn WoodvineJohn Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.-Early life:...
, Mark RylanceMark RylanceMark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
, Lee MontagueLee MontagueLee Montague is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television, usually playing tough guys.Film credits include: Moulin Rouge, The Camp on Blood Island, The Savage Innocents, Billy Budd, The Secret of Blood Island, Deadlier Than the Male, The Legacy and Brother Sun, Sister...
and Jim Carter. The film was distributed by Brook Productions and Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. - 1993: The Theatre for the New City produced a stage adaptation in New York City, originally commissioned by Joseph PappJoseph PappJoseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
and the Public Theatre. The adaptation was by Jean-Claude van Italie. It was directed by David Willinger and featured a cast of 13 including Jonathan Teague Cook as Woland, Eric Rasmussen as Matthew Levi, Cesar Rodriguez as Yeshua Ha Nozri, Eran Bohem as The Master and Lisa Moore as Margarita. This version was published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc. A French version using part of van Itallie's text was performed at the Théâtre de Mercure, Paris, directed by Andrei SerbanAndrei SerbanAndrei Șerban is a Romanian-born American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings...
. - 1994: Stage production at Montreal's Centaur TheatreCentaur TheatreThe Centaur Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Montreal, Quebec. It was founded in 1969 by The Centaur Foundation for the Performing Arts with Maurice Podbrey as the Artistic and Executive Director, and Herb Auerbach as Chairman of the Board....
, adapted and directed by Russian-Canadian director Alexandre MarineAlexandre MarineAlexandre Marine is a Russian-born actor-director-playwright currently based in Montreal.. On April 23, 1993 he was recognized by the Russian government as a Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation....
. - 1994: A Russian movie of the same name is made by Yuri Kara. Although the cast included big names and talented actors (Anastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya Alexandrovna Vertinskaya , a Soviet and Russian actress whose mass popularity and high critical acclaim made her one of the most distinguished figures in the history of the 20th century Soviet cinema...
as Margarita, Mikhail UlyanovMikhail UlyanovMikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov was a Soviet and Russian actor who was one of the most recognizable persons of the post-World War II Soviet theatre and cinema. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1969 and received a special prize from the Venice Film Festival in 1982.Mikhail Alexandrovich...
as Pilate, Nikolai Burlyayev as Yeshua, Valentin GaftValentin GaftValentin Yosifovich Gaft is a Russian and Soviet actor, People's Artist of Russia .-Biography:Valentin Gaft was born in Moscow to a family of a lawyer Iosif Romanovich Gaft and Gita Davydovna Gaft . The family moved to Moscow from Poltava, Ukraine...
as Woland, Aleksandr Filippenko as Korovyev-Fagot) and its score was by the noted Russian composer Alfred SchnittkeAlfred SchnittkeAlfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
, the movie was never actually released on any media. The grandson of Bulgakov's third wife Elena Sergeevna Shilovskaya claims, as a self-assigned heir, the rights on Bulgakov's literary inheritance and refuses the release. Since the beginning of 2006, however, copies of the movie exist on DVD. Some excerpts of it can be viewed on the Master and Margarita website. The movie was finally released in cinemas in 2011. - In 2000, an Israeli theater "Gesher" produced a stage adaptation, based on the Hebrew translation of the book by Ehud Manor. Starring Haim Topol, Evgeny Gamburg, Israel "Sasha" Demidov and others, the show premiered on 26.12.2000. Combining special effects and a 23 musician orchestra, the show was hailed a success.
- A German language stage adaptation of the novel, Der Meister und Margarita, directed by Frank CastorfFrank CastorfFrank Castorf is a German theater director and since 1992 the artistic director of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz...
premiered in the summer of 2002 at the Vienna FestivalVienna FestivalThe Wiener Festwochen is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June.The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Allies...
, Austria, and is discussed in the August/September 2002 or 08|09 02 issue of the German language theater magazine, Theater heute. - 2004 An adaptation of the novel by Edward Kemp and directed by Steven PimlottSteven PimlottSteven Charles Pimlott OBE was an English opera and theatre director and actor. An obituary in The Times hailed him as "one of the most versatile and inventive theatre directors of his generation"...
was staged in July 2004 at the Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
, UK. The cast included Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
as the Master and Michael Feast as "the dazzling devil incarnate, Woland with a retinue that includes a man-size back cat Behemoth". The production included incidental music by one of Pimlott's regular composers, Jason Carr. - 2004: The National Youth TheatreNational Youth TheatreThe National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
produced a new stage adaptation by David RudkinDavid RudkinJames David Rudkin is an English playwright of Northern Irish descent. Coming from a family of strict evangelical Christians, Rudkin was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and read Mods and Greats at St Catherine's College, Oxford...
at the Lyric Hammersmith London, directed by John Hoggarth. It featured a cast of 35 and ran from 23 August to 11 September. - 2005: The Master and Margarita miniseries – Russian director Vladimir Bortko, famous for his TV adaptation of Bulgakov's Heart of a DogHeart of a DogHeart of a Dog , a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, is a biting satire of the New Soviet man written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when Communism appeared to be weakening in the Soviet Union....
and Dostoyevsky's The IdiotThe Idiot (novel)The Idiot is a novel written by 19th century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in The Russian Messenger between 1868 and 1869. The Idiot is ranked beside some of Dostoyevsky's other works as one of the most brilliant literary achievements of the "Golden Age" of...
, makes a Master and Margarita TV miniseries of ten episodes. The miniseries was first released on December 19, 2005. It starred Aleksandr GalibinAleksandr GalibinAlexander Vladimirovich Galibin is a Russian actor noted for playing the Master in the miniseries The Master and Margarita .His acting career spans over three decades and includes such memorable roles as Tsar Nicholas II in Gleb Panfilov's The Romanovs: A Crowned Family .-Biography:Alexander...
as The Master, Anna KovalchukAnna KovalchukAnna Leonidovna Kovalchuk is a Russian actress.Anna Kovalchuk was born on June 15, 1977, in Neustrelitz , into a family of hereditary teachers. Anna's mother managed a kindergarten, her father was the teacher, and her grandfather was the principal. Anna has an older brother named Pavel.During her...
as Margarita, Oleg BasilashviliOleg BasilashviliOleg Valerianovich Basilashvili is a well-known Soviet/Russian film and theatre actor of Georgian and Polish origin, as well as political figure in the former Soviet Union and in the new Russia.-Childhood:...
as WolandWolandWoland is a fictional character in the book The Master and Margarita by the Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. Woland is the mysterious foreigner and professor whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling and turns the world upside-down. He appears differently to different people. "[t]he first says...
, Aleksandr AbdulovAleksandr AbdulovAleksandr Gavrilovich Abdúlov was a notable Soviet/Russian actor....
as Korovyev-Fagot, Kirill LavrovKirill LavrovKirill Yuryevich Lavrov was a well-known Soviet and Russian film and theatre actor and director.-Childhood:Kirill Yuryevich Lavrov was born on September 15, 1925, in Leningrad, USSR . He was baptized by the Russian Orthodox Church of St. John the Divine in Lavrushinskoe Podvorie Monastery in...
as Pontius PilatePontius PilatePontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, Valentin GaftValentin GaftValentin Yosifovich Gaft is a Russian and Soviet actor, People's Artist of Russia .-Biography:Valentin Gaft was born in Moscow to a family of a lawyer Iosif Romanovich Gaft and Gita Davydovna Gaft . The family moved to Moscow from Poltava, Ukraine...
as Kaifa, Sergey Bezrukov as Yeshua. - On August 25, 2006, Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
announced that he aimed to turn the novel into "a stage musical or, more probably, an opera". However, in 2007 The Stage, an online theatre website, confirmed that he has abandoned his attempt to compose a musical version of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. "I’ve decided that it's undo-able. It's just too difficult for an audience to contemplate. It's a very complicated novel." - In October 2006 it was staged by Grinnell CollegeGrinnell CollegeGrinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
, directed by Veniamin Smekhov. - In 2006 an almost 5 hour long adaptation was staged by GeorgianGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
director Avtandil Varsimashvili. - In 2007, National Academy of Theatre, Ballet and Opera of Ukraine premiered The Master and Margarita, a ballet-phantasmagoriaPhantasmagoriaPhantasmagoria can refer to:* Phantasmagoria, a type of show using an optical device to display moving images* Phantasmagoria, a video game* Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh, a video game sequel to Phantasmagoria...
in two acts with music by Shostakovich, Berlioz, Bach, et al. Choreography and staging by David Avdysh (Russia), set design by Simon Pastukh (USA) and costume design by Galina Solovyova (USA). - In 2007, Helsinki, Finland. Production is put on stage under the name Saatana saapuu Moskovaan (Satan comes to Moscow) by the group theatre Ryhmäteatteri, directed by Finnish director Esa Leskinen. Eleven talented actors played in 26 separate roles in the amazing and successful theathrical performance of three hours during the season 25.9.2007 – 1.3.2008.
- In 2007, Alim KoulievAlim KoulievAlim Kaisynovich Kouliev is a Russian-American actor and director. Kouliev was born in Nalchik — a small city in USSR. His father was the Balkar poet Kaisyn Kuliev. His elder brother Eldar Kuliev is a Russian film director and a screenwriter, living in Moscow. His younger brother Azamat Kuliev...
in Hollywood with The Master Project production started rehearsals on stage with his own stage adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. The production was announced for October 14, 2007 but was postponed. Some excerpts and information of it can be viewed on the Master and Margarita website. The production is still in progress. - In 2008 a SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
stage production of Mästaren och Margarita directed by Leif Stinnerbom was performed at Stockholms stadsteater, starring Philip Zandén (the Master), Frida Westerdahl (Margarita), Jakob EklundJakob EklundJakob Eklund is a Swedish film, television and stage actor. He is in a relationship with actress Marie Richardson, and has three children, named Tova, Klara, and Leon....
(Woland) and Ingvar HirdwallIngvar HirdwallLars Ingvar Hirdwall , is a Swedish actor. He was educated at Gothenburg City Theatre stage school 1957-1960. Since the early 1960s he has been active as an actor in many films, TV series and on theatrical stages, mainly Stockholms stadsteater...
(Pilate). - The book was adapted into a graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
in 2008 by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal. - In 2009, PortuguesePortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
new media artistNew Media ArtistA New Media artist may use the following media to create works of art: The Internet, computer hardware, computer software-servers, routers, personal computers, database applications, scripts and computer files...
s Video Jack premiered an audiovisual artAudiovisual artThe exploration of kinetic abstract art and music set in relation to each other.Visual music, abstract film, audiovisual performances and installations.- See also :* Abstract film* Color organ* Experimental film* Sound art* Sound installation* Sound sculpture...
performancePerformanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
inspired by the novel at KiasmaKiasmaKiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery founded in 1990...
, HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, as part of the PixelAche Festival. Since then, it has been shown in festivals in different countries, having won an honorable mention award at Future Places Festival, PortoPortoPorto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
. The project was released as a net artInternet artInternet art is a form of digital artwork distributed via the Internet. This form of art has circumvented the traditional dominance of the gallery and museum system, delivering aesthetic experiences via the Internet. In many cases, the viewer is drawn into some kind of interaction with the work...
version later that year. - In late 2009, a Russian singer and composer Alexander GradskyAlexander GradskyAlexander Borisovich Gradsky is a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire includes rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias...
released a 4-CD opera adaptation of the novel. It stars Gradsky himself as Master, Woland, Yeshua and Behemoth, Nikolai FomenkoNikolai FomenkoNikolai Vladimirovich Fomenko is a Russian musician, comic actor, motor racer, president of Marussia Motors and engineering director of Marussia Virgin Racing.- Music career :...
as Koroviev, Mikhail Seryshev (formerly of MasterMaster (Russian band)This article is about the Russian thrash metal band. For the American death metal band, see Master .Master is a thrash metal band from Russia, founded in 1987 by former members of Aria.-Biography:...
) as Ivan, Elena Minina as Margarita and many renowned Russian singers and actors in episodic roles, including (but not limited to) Iosif Kobzon, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, Andrei MakarevichAndrei MakarevichAndrey Vadimovich Makarevich is a Soviet and Russian rock musician, founder of the Russia's oldest still active rock band Mashina Vremeni .-Biography:Makarevich was born in Moscow to the parents of Belarusian and Jewish origin...
, Alexander RosenbaumAlexander RosenbaumAlexander Yakovlevich Rosenbaum is a Soviet and Russian bard from Saint Petersburg. He is best known as an interpreter of the blatnaya pesnya genre...
, Arkady Arkanov, Gennady Khazanov and the late Georgi Millyar (voice footage from one of his movies was used). - In 2010 a new, original stage translation, written by Max Hoehn and Raymond Blankenhorn, was used as the Oxford University Dramatic SocietyOxford University Dramatic SocietyThe Oxford University Dramatic Society is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England...
Summer Tour, performing in Oxford, Battersea Arts CentreBattersea Arts CentreThe Battersea Arts Centre is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth that specialises in music and theatre productions.-History:...
in London and at C VenuesC venuesC venues is the home of the largest theatre and new writing programme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is held annually in August each year...
at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. - 2010: Israeli director Terentij Oslyabya makes an animation film The master and Margarita, chapter 1. His movie literally follows every word of the novel.
- 2010: Synetic Theater presents the re-staging of "The Master and Margarita" directed by Paata Tsikirishvili and choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. The show featured a cast of 16, including Paata Tsikirishvili as Master and Irina Tsikurishvili as Margarita and ran from November 11 through December 12, 2010 at the Lansburgh Theatre.
Further reading
- Reidel-Schrewe, Ursula, "Key and Tripod in Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita", Neophilologus journal, v.79, n.2, April 1995, p. 273-282.
- Tumanov, Vladimir. "Diabolus ex Machina – Bulgakov's Modernist Devil." Scando-Slavica 35: 49-61.http://publish.uwo.ca/~vtumanov/Articles_files/Diabolus%20ex%20Machina%20-%20Bulgakov%27s%20Modernist%20Devil.pdf
External links
- Full text of The Master and Margarita in English Master and Margarita Amateur site, devoted solely to Bulgakov's Master and Margarita Bulgakov museum in Moscow. The Odd Flat Diary of Bulgakov museum in Moscow Bulgakov museum in Russian Wikipedia
- Bulgakov and The Master and Margarita: Useful introduction with lots of illustrative material
- The Master and Margarita: Excerpts in three languages
- Russians Await a Cult Novel's Film Debut With Eagerness and Skepticism: at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Watch video of Ambassador John Beyrle's 2010 recreation of the 1935 Spring Ball at Spaso House, attended by Bulgakov, which inspired the Ball in The Master and Margarita