Master and Margarita series mystical events. Mysticism during the film adaptation of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita

“One of the strongest impulses leading to art and science is the desire to get away from everyday life with its painful cruelty and inconsolable emptiness, to get away from the bonds of your own ever-changing whims. But a positive one is added to this negative reason.

A person strives to create in himself a simple and clear picture of the world; and this is not only in order to overcome the world in which he lives, but also in order to, to a certain extent, try to replace this world with the picture he created.

A. Einstein

"Principles of Scientific Research"

In Bulgakov's works, mysticism and reality are so intertwined that it is not always possible to separate them. It seems that if you remove any mystical detail, reality will lose its significance.

But why do people read fiction? Probably for the same reasons as children loving fairy tales, - to believe in the events of the book. It’s scary, of course, to think that Azazello and Woland live somewhere nearby. But this means that somewhere it is written great romance, Pilate flies to the window, Behemoth puts on a “tie”, your Master goes for a walk, and your Margarita is already carrying disgusting yellow disturbing flowers in her hands

I propose to plunge for some time into the world of fantasy and illusion

Today, when the planet was captured by "technical fever", it may seem that there is nothing strange in the "humanization" of the dog.

Let's dive into history a bit.

Even 100-150 years ago, people did not know about computers, or about the possibilities of medicine, or about many concepts and things that modern man ordinary.

In our age of advanced technology, people have completely ceased to pay attention to the fact that they are surrounded by mystery. It seems that any phenomenon can be explained in terms of science. Mankind has forgotten about the world of books - a world where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are blurred. The mystical component of life is forgotten, without which everyday life becomes insipid and boring. But there are books that keep stories of incredible events.

Once upon a time, in the Middle Ages, there was Demonology - a section of medieval Christian theology (western branches of Christianity), considering the issue of demons and their relations with people. The knowledge gained from Demonology was widely used by Bulgakov in the novel The Master and Margarita.

Diaboliad - one of Bulgakov's favorite motifs, was vividly written out in The Master and Margarita. But mysticism in the novel plays a completely realistic role and can serve as an example of a grotesque-fantastic, satirical exposure of the contradictions of reality. Woland sweeps over Moscow with punishing force. His victims are mocking and dishonorable people. Otherworldliness, mysticism, as it were, do not correlate with this devil. If such a Woland did not exist in a country steeped in vices, then it would be necessary to invent him.

Almost every mystical detail or event has a real prototype.

1) Ball with Satan.

According to the memoirs of the third wife of the writer E. S. Bulgakova (recorded by V. A. Chebotareva), in the description of the Great Ball with Satan, impressions of a reception at the American Embassy in Moscow on April 22, 1935 were used.

For a disgraced writer like Bulgakov, a reception at the American embassy is an almost unbelievable event, comparable to a ball at Satan's. Soviet graphic propaganda of those years often depicted "American imperialism" in the guise of a devil. At the Great Ball, Satan has real signs of the residence's furnishings american ambassador combined with details and images of literary origin.

2) Variety Theatre.

The prototype of the Variety Theater was the Moscow Music Hall, which existed in 1926-1936. and located not far from the "bad" apartment at the address: B. Sadovaya, 18. Now the Moscow Theater of Satire is located here. And until 1926, the circus of the Nikitin brothers was located here, and the building was specially built for this circus in 1911 according to the project of the architect Nilus. By the way, the Nikitin circus is also mentioned in " dog heart". And the program of the Variety Theater contains a number of purely circus performances, like the "miracles of the Julie family's bicycle technology", the prototype of which was the famous circus cyclists of the Poldi (Podrezovs) family, who successfully performed on the stage of the Moscow Music Hall.

3) Bad apartment.

The prototype of the Bad Apartment was apartment No. 50 in house No. 10 on B. Sadovaya Street in Moscow, where Bulgakov lived in 1921-1924. In addition, some features of the layout of the Bad Apartment correspond to a more spacious apartment No. 34 in the same building where the writer lived from August to November 1924. The fictitious number 302-bis is the encrypted number 10 of the prototype building according to the formula 10 = (3 +2)x2.

And yet the most mystical image in Bulgakov's novel is Woland, who leads the world of otherworldly forces. Woland is the devil, Satan, "the prince of darkness", "the spirit of evil and the lord of shadows" (all these definitions are found in the text of the novel).

Some lovers of Bulgakov's work draw a parallel between Woland and the director psychiatric clinic Professor Stravinsky, noticing the portrait resemblance. Woland - "in appearance - more than forty years old" and "smoothly shaved." Stravinsky is "a carefully shaven man of about forty-five, like an actor." Satan has a traditional hallmark- different eyes: "the right eye is black, the left one is green for some reason", "the right one with a golden spark at the bottom, drilling anyone to the bottom of the soul, and the left one is empty and black, sort of like a narrow coal ear, like an exit to the bottomless well of all darkness and shadows." The professor is a man with "very piercing eyes".

Yes, Bulgakov's novel is about a great and eternal confrontation. It is about good and evil, love and hate, reality and mysticism. However, the author found a very unusual funny form to express his thoughts about the endless enmity of the world, about the meaning of happiness, about peace and reconciliation. Laughing, humanity says goodbye to its past. History put the writer in a more difficult position. Bulgakov's laughter is a form of struggle with his own present.

It is surprising that he is not aggressive, there is no malice in him, revenge for a trampled, warped fate, for a poor life, for injustice and for terrible physical suffering. Yes, of course, in the novel everything goes to hell in the literal sense. Styopa Likhodeev goes to Yalta in an unusual way in the world, the restaurant "Griboedov" and a store for not quite ordinary citizens are on fire. The mocking Bassoon with a cat and a primus stove make fun of the employees of the famous house on the square, but all this has an incredibly chaotic carnival tone. This is laughter

So, summing up, we can say that Bulgakov skillfully combines the mystical and real components in the novel "The Master and Margarita", immersing us in a world where a miracle is possible. An enthusiastic reader feels like a guest at Satan's Ball and at the Variety Theater at a performance, talks with Pontius Pilate along with Yeshua, and even leaves for Eternity. At the same time, having a special vision, one can notice Woland or Margarita passing by in a modern city, carrying disgusting yellow flowers, or even the flashed tail of a Behemoth cat. You just need to want

Why are the actors last moment refused to shoot, and 13 deaths after the premiere.

The director of "Legends No. 17" and "Crew" Nikolai Lebedev will make a film based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. The work has been filmed and staged in the theater more than once, but every time some kind of devilry happens on the set. And all the incidents with the actors who starred in the film are attributed to the action of the "demonic romance."

"Nothing Works"

In 2005, the series "The Master and Margarita" directed by Vladimir Bortko was released. He himself said more than once that there is nothing mystical in the novel. But soon I remembered one story.

A few years ago, when I was preparing for filming, a strange incident happened to me at the Patriarch's Ponds. A man passing by suddenly turned to me: "Anyway, you won't succeed!" - and went further, - the director said in his interviews.

Bortko considers this a pure coincidence. In addition, he did not listen to the pessimistic "forecast".

Woland in the series Bortko was given to play Oleg Basilashvili. Later, the audience will say hundreds of times that this is how they imagined the devil. For the actor himself, this role turned out, as the TV program writes, with a loss of voice.

Basilashvili was uttering Woland's monologue, when he suddenly began to wheeze. In a few moments, he completely lost his voice. Doctors said that he had a hemorrhage in the right vocal cord.

The day before, the actor rehearsed, there were no problems with the ligaments. Doctors prescribed him complete rest, injections and complete silence for a while.

Berlioz and the operation

Alexander Adabashyan, who played Mikhail Berlioz, ended up in the hospital shortly after filming with a heart attack. However, the actor himself did not connect his participation in the series, health problems and mysticism.

Adabashyan joked more than once in an interview how members of the film crew used the "devilish train" of the work. For example, they said that the evil spirits themselves made them drink too much on the day before shooting.

Koroviev and Azazello

Alexander Filippenko played in two adaptations of The Master and Margarita at once - with Vladimir Bortko and Yuri Kara. At Kara, he played Koroviev.

Many years have passed since then. The actor walked with friends along the Patriarchal, showed them the scene of the "Master and Margarita". Filippenko himself says that at that moment he met with Bortko.

You have already played Koroviev. Azazello will you play for me? Bortko asked. The actor agreed, considering it a sign of fate.

Canceled at the last moment

Woland in the series was supposed to be Oleg Yankovsky. However, at the last moment, he refused to shoot, saying that he did not consider this role strong. And then he admitted that, in his opinion, the devil, like God, cannot be played.

Alexander Kalyagin turned down the role of Berlioz, Vladimir Mashkov never became a Master. Alexander Pankratov-Cherny turned down the role of Varenukha. But Bortko decided not to part with the actor, offering him the option with Stepan Likhodeev as a replacement. On that they agreed.

13 deaths in five years

Someone calls it a terrible coincidence, someone mysticism, but the fact remains: in the year of the premiere and five years after the release of the first series, 13 actors who participated in the filming died on the screens.

Actor Alexander Chaban died at the age of 47. His body was found on October 2, 2005 in his apartment. He played an investigator looking for Woland.

Almost a year later, in September 2006, Pavel Komarov, who played the thief who stole the clothes of the bathing poet Ivan Bezdomny, died on the pier. He was not even 40 years old.

Stanislav Landgraf (critic Latunsky), Kirill Lavrov (Pontius Pilate), Evgeny Merkuriev (accountant), Alexander Abdulov (Koroviev), Andrey Tolubeev (voiced Aloisy Mogarych), Yuri Oskin (porter Nikolai), Galina Barkova (fruit seller), Vladislav Galkin (Ivan Bezdomny), Valentina Egorenkova (a nurse in a madhouse), Stanislav Sokolov (Secretary of Pontius Pilate), Mikhail Surov (extras). 13 people.

With the death of each actor, rumors about the curse of the Master and Margarita were circulated again and again in the press.

burst pipe

Yuri Kara's film "The Master and Margarita" has been waiting in the wings for 14 years. It was filmed back in 1994, and presented only in 2008 at the film festival of the CIS and Baltic countries "New Cinema. XXI Century". It only ended up at the box office in 2011.

Although at press conferences the actors shouted out loud that there was no mysticism, members of the film crew still remembered some episodes.

So, Yuri Kara said that the devilry began literally from the filming of the first scene in the Hermitage Garden in Moscow.

They started shooting the picture in the Hermitage Garden from the stage in the variety show, all TV channels gave reports about it. Suddenly, Levitin (director of the Hermitage Theater Mikhail Levitin) came to the site and asked to stop filming, - RIA Novosti quoted Kara as saying.

Later it turned out that in the place where the footage was stored, a hot heating pipe had burst. When Levitin was informed about this, he did not believe at first. And as soon as he put down the phone, the pipe burst in his office.

Even the priest was called to the site, who sprinkled the camera and the film crew with holy water.

Operators refused to shoot

In total, during the work on Kara's picture, six operators changed: they either left or simply disappeared. So, when they were filming ancient Judea in the Crimea, it suddenly snowed, which had not happened in October for a long time. In addition, the operator did not come to the shooting for unknown reasons. And the film itself, as it turned out, was forgotten in Moscow.

When Kara went to the capital for film and cameraman, opposite Bulgakov's house, already in Moscow, his new "Volga" broke down. Note that after some time a man named Koroviev crashed into his car.

The film was eventually shot by Evgeny Grebnev. He passed away shortly after filming: at 35, the day before his birthday.

Actors Bronislav Brondukov and Spartak Mishulin (Varenukha and Archibald Archibaldovich), Viktor Pavlov (Behemoth) and Mikhail Ulyanov (Pontius Pilate) and composer Alfred Schnittke also did not live to see the premiere.

Israel and "filmmakers-terrorists"

A forgotten film, an accident, some damn thing… the crew decided to move the filming to Israel. Yuri Kara was sure that nothing would happen on the Promised Land.

The film crew wanted to reflect a line from the book "The Darkness That Came With mediterranean sea, covered the city hated by the procurator. "For this, darkness itself was needed.

By that time there was no computer graphics, and there was not a cloud in the sky - what darkness is there. The pyrotechnician agreed to "make" it, but, as the media wrote, for $ 200 thousand. They found the money, organized the darkness, but then ...

15 Israeli combat helicopters descended from the sky. From there, special forces with machine guns jumped out and attacked the film crew. They thought we were Arab terrorists. Our producers were shocked because everyone was warned about filming. While we figured it out, the cloud left, ”the director later said.

Woland Viktor Avilov and clinical death

The famous actor Viktor Avilov, whom many viewers remember from the roles of the Count of Monte Cristo in The Prisoner of If Castle and Mordaunt in The Musketeers 20 Years Later, also played Woland. But in the theatre.

On tour in 1995, less than an hour before the start of The Master and Margarita, the actor experienced clinical death: Avilov's heart stopped twice. However, after that, he began to recover, and it seemed that his health was returning to normal.

But in the early 2000s, he began to suffer from an ulcer and back pain again. Returning from a tour in Israel in June 2004, he decided to be examined. Doctors said that he had an inoperable tumor. Over and over again, foreign doctors refused to treat. last hope he was given in Novosibirsk. The actor lived for another two months, after which he died in Akademgorodok at the age of 51.

There have long been rumors in the director's environment about the so-called "curse" of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita", where one of the main characters is the devil himself. During performances or films based on this work, various oddities and troubles occur, mysticism permeates everything connected with the world of The Master and Margarita. When Vladimir Bortko staged his film The Master and Margarita, Oleg Yankovsky, who was invited to play the role of the professor of black magic Woland, refused the offer, saying: "I believe that the devil, like the Lord God, cannot be played." Bortko's film was released not so long ago - in 2005, however, of those actors who nevertheless decided to act in this film, 18 people are no longer alive! Is this a coincidence, or for playing with evil spirit must pay the price of life?

The first victim of the "curse" October 2, 2005 became actor Alexander Chaban, who played the investigator who led the search for Woland. Disappeared shortly before the premiere. Found dead in his apartment. The circumstances of death are unknown. He was 47 years old.

"The investigator left Ivanushka, having received very important material. Following the thread of events from the end to the beginning, he finally managed to get to the source from which all the events began. The investigator had no doubt that these events began with the murder at the Patriarchs. Of course, neither Ivanushka nor this checkered man pushed the unfortunate chairman of MASSOLIT under the tram, physically, so to speak, no one contributed to his fall under the wheels. But the investigator was sure that Berlioz threw himself under the tram (or fell under it), being hypnotized.

September 28, 2006 died actor Pavel Komarov, who played a thief on the pier. It was he who stole the clothes of the bathing poet Ivan Homeless. Komarov was the leading actor of the Tsaritsyno Youth Theater, founded musical group risk group.

“Taking off his clothes, Ivan entrusted it to some pleasant bearded man smoking a cigarette near a torn white sweatshirt and unlaced, worn boots. Waving his arms to cool off, Ivan rushed into the water like a swallow. the thought even flashed that it might not be possible to jump out to the surface. However, he managed to jump out, and, puffing and snorting, his eyes round with horror, Ivan Nikolaevich began to swim in the black water smelling of oil between the broken zigzags of coastal lamps. When wet Ivan danced along steps to the place where the bearded man had left his dress under guard, it turned out that not only the second, but also the first, that is, the bearded man himself had been stolen. and a box of matches. Shaking his fist at someone in the distance in impotent rage, Ivan donned what had been left behind.

December 27, 2006 died 67-year-old Stanislav Landgraf, who played the critic Latunsky.

"- Latunsky! - squealed Margarita. - Latunsky! Why, it's him! It was he who ruined the master.
The porter at the door, rolling his eyes and even jumping in surprise, looked at the black board, trying to understand such a miracle: why the list of tenants suddenly squealed. And Margarita at that time was already climbing rapidly up the stairs, repeating in some kind of rapture:
- Brass - eighty-four! Latunsky - eighty-four ...
Here to the left - 82, to the right - 83, even higher, to the left - 84. Here is the card - “Oh. Brass".
Margarita jumped off the brush, and the stone platform pleasantly cooled her hot soles. Margarita called once, twice. But no one opened. Margarita began to press the button harder and she herself heard the ringing that rose in Latunsky's apartment. Yes, the inhabitant of apartment No. 84 on the eighth floor should be grateful to the grave of his life to the late Berlioz for the fact that the chairman of MASSOLIT was hit by a tram, and for the fact that the funeral meeting was appointed just for this evening. The critic Latunsky was born under a lucky star. She saved him from meeting Margarita, who became a witch this Friday!"

April 27, 2007 died National artist USSR Kirill Lavrov, who played Pontius Pilate.

"This hero has gone into the abyss, gone forever, forgiven on Sunday night, the son of the astrologer king, the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the equestrian Pontius Pilate."

April 27, 2007 fell through the ice while fishing and died Yevgeny Merkuriev (accountant). In the series, the bookkeeper and Pilate did not intersect. But Merkuriev and Lavrov left the life on the same day.

January 3, 2008 At the age of 54, Alexander Abdulov (Koroviev) died of lung cancer.

“It is unlikely that Koroviev-Fagot, the self-proclaimed interpreter for the mysterious consultant who did not need any translations, would now be recognized as the one who now flew directly next to Woland along right hand master's friends. In place of the one who, in torn circus clothes, left Sparrow Hills under the name of Koroviev-Fagot, now galloped, quietly ringing golden chain occasion, a dark purple knight with the grimest and never smiling face. He rested his chin on his chest, he did not look at the moon, he was not interested in the earth beneath him, he was thinking about something of his own, flying next to Woland.

April 7, 2008 died Andrei Tolubeev, who voiced Aloisy Mogarych. Like Kirill Lavrov, his senior comrade in the St. Petersburg theater BDT, Tolubeev was brought to the grave by oncology. Diagnosis: pancreatic cancer.

February 25, 2010 Vladislav Galkin, the performer of the role of Ivan Homeless, was found dead in his own apartment. He was only 38 years old.

“Then the lunar path boils up, the lunar river begins to whip out of it and spills in all directions. The moon rules and plays, the moon dances and plays pranks. recognizes him. This is number one hundred and eighteen, his night guest. In his sleep, Ivan Nikolaevich stretches out his hands to him and eagerly asks:
So, that's how it ended?
“This is how it ended, my student,” answers the number one hundred and eighteenth, and the woman comes up to Ivan and says:
- Of course, this. Everything is over and everything is ending ... And I will kiss you on the forehead, and everything will be as it should be with you.
She leans towards Ivan and kisses him on the forehead, and Ivan reaches out to her and peers into her eyes, but she retreats, retreats and leaves with her companion to the moon.
Then the moon begins to rage, it brings down streams of light directly on Ivan, it splashes light in all directions, a lunar flood begins in the room, the light sways, rises higher, floods the bed. That's when Ivan Nikolaevich sleeps with a happy face.

April 20, 2010 Valentina Yegorenkova, who played a nurse in a mental hospital, has died.

"The secretary goggled at the prisoner and did not finish the word.
Pilate raised martyr eyes at the prisoner and saw that the sun was already quite high above the hippodrome, that a ray had penetrated the colonnade and was crawling up to Yeshua's worn-out sandals, that he was shunning the sun.
Here the procurator got up from his chair, clasped his head in his hands, and horror was expressed on his yellowish, shaven face. But he immediately suppressed it with his will and sank back into his chair.
Meanwhile, the prisoner continued his speech, but the secretary did not write down anything else, but only, stretching his neck like a goose, tried not to utter a single word.
- Well, it's all over, - said the prisoner, looking benevolently at Pilate, - and I'm extremely glad about it. I would advise you, hegemon, to leave the palace for a while and take a walk somewhere in the vicinity, well, at least in the gardens on the Mount of Olives. A thunderstorm will begin, - the prisoner turned, squinted at the sun, - later, towards evening. A walk would be of great benefit to you, and I would gladly accompany you. Some new thoughts have occurred to me which I think you might find interesting, and I would gladly share them with you, the more so since you seem to be a very intelligent person.
The secretary turned deathly pale and dropped the scroll to the floor.
“The trouble is,” continued the unstoppable bound man, “that you are too closed off and have finally lost faith in people. After all, you must admit, you can’t put all your affection in a dog. Your life is poor, hegemon, - and here the speaker allowed himself to smile.
The secretary now thought of only one thing, whether to believe his ears or not. I had to believe. Then he tried to imagine what kind of bizarre form the anger of the hot-tempered procurator would take at this unheard-of impudence of the arrested person. And the secretary could not imagine this, although he knew the procurator well.
Then came the broken, hoarse voice of the procurator, who said in Latin:
"Untie his hands."

August 11, 2011 tragically died in a car accident Mikhail Surov, who starred in the episode "The Master and Margarita" (not in the credits).

May 10, 2012, before reaching the age of 30, the young actor Stanislav Pryakhin, who played a pickpocket (uncredited), died of leukemia.

November 11, 2012 Ilya Oleinikov, who played the role of financial director of the Rimsky Variety, died of lung cancer at the age of 65.

"The missing Rimsky was found with amazing speed. One had only to compare the behavior of Tuzabuben at the taxi stand near the cinema with some dates, such as when the session ended and when exactly Rimsky could disappear, in order to immediately give a telegram to Leningrad. An answer came an hour later (by evening Friday) that Rimsky was found in room 412 of the Astoria Hotel, on the fourth floor, next to the room where the head of the repertoire of one of the Moscow theaters that were on tour in Leningrad at that time stayed, in the same room where, as you know, gray "blue furniture with gold and a beautiful bathroom. Discovered hiding in the wardrobe of the four hundred and twelfth issue of Astoria, Rimsky was immediately arrested and interrogated in Leningrad. After that, a telegram arrived in Moscow announcing that the financial director of Variety was in a state of insanity, that he does not give good answers to questions or does not want to give and asks only for one thing to hide him in an armored cell and put armed guards on him. From Moscow, by telegram, Rimsky was ordered to be delivered to Moscow under guard, as a result of which Rimsky left on Friday evening under such guard with the evening train.

March 30, 2013 Valery Zolotukhin (Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy) died of an inoperable brain tumor.

April 5, 2013, before reaching his 50th birthday, Dmitry Poddubny, an NKVD agent, died, in the series he investigated the disappearance of people from a bad apartment. In reality, the authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death from a closed craniocerebral injury.

May 2014 Stanislav Fesyunov, the porter of the Torgsin store, passed away.

Deftly writhing among the passers-by, the citizen opened the outer door of the store. But then a small, bony and extremely unfriendly porter blocked his way and said irritably:
- Cats are not allowed.
- I'm sorry, - the tall one rattled and put a knotty hand to his ear, like a deaf man, - with cats, you say? Where do you see the cat?
The doorman's eyes bulged, and there was a reason: there was no longer any cat at the citizen's feet, and from behind his shoulder, instead, a fat man in a torn cap was already leaning out and rushing into the store, really, a little looking like a mug on a cat. The fat man had a primus in his hands.
For some reason, the misanthropic porter did not like this couple of visitors.
“We have only for currency,” he croaked, looking irritably from under his shaggy, as if moth-eaten, gray eyebrows.
“My dear,” the tall one rattled, his eye flashing from his broken pince-nez, “how do you know that I don’t have it?” Do you judge by the costume? Never do this, most precious guardian! You can make a mistake, and a very big one at that. Re-read once again the story of the famous caliph Haroun al-Rashid. But in this case, putting this story aside for the time being, I want to tell you that I will complain about you to the manager and tell him such things about you that you would not have to leave your post between the sparkling mirrored doors.
- I, perhaps, have a full primus of currency, - the cat-like fat man passionately interjected into the conversation, as well as rushing to the store. The audience was already pushing and angry from behind. Looking with hatred and doubt at the outlandish couple, the porter stepped aside, and our acquaintances, Koroviev and Behemoth, found themselves in the store.

Who will be next?

The mystical in Bulgakov's novelThe Master and Margarita

1. Introduction

2. Concept of intent and theme

3. Scene of life and structural ciphers of the novel

4. Leading characters and their role signs

5. Prototype cryptograms and historical aspects

6. Ethical program of the novel

7. Conclusion

Literature

1. Introduction.

Turning to fantastic and mystical plot space is not unusual for Bulgakov the writer. This is confirmed by the creation of such works as "Diaboliad", "Fatal Eggs", "Heart of a Dog". The complicated fantasy of The Master and Margarita, like any fantasy, best expresses reality. But it is in to a large extent this fantasticness gives rise to many reflections and hypotheses around the theme and ethical program of the novel, allegories and secret signs. Not everyone is more or less significant work so strongly provokes him to solve it.

The riddle begins with the question of interpretation of the theme. Indeed, who and what is this novel about? There are two planes in sight: the novel about the Master and the novel of the Master. The word “Master” seems to be the key word in the very title of the work. But also good man The master and his hero - the preacher of the unpretentious truth that all people are good - do not have much space in Bulgakov's novel. The appearance of the hero is generally indicated only in the 13th chapter! Master and Yeshua obscured by others actors written out with greater brightness and expressiveness. The role of the master and his hero in the novel, as it seems at first glance, is the role of not actors, but phenomena. However, the whole dynamics of the novel unfolds around these static centers. The participation of both in the narrative is insignificant, but the significance for the content is great. Without them, all the emotional power and charm of the novel completely disappears.

Another issue that has not been fully resolved is the establishment of the true prototypes of the main characters of the novel. Are they real contemporaries of the writer, historical figures or fantastic images. What are the links between the characters in the novel and the ethical categories that they implement in the novel.

The ethical program of the novel in general has been studied in a very versatile way, but there is still no agreement among the researchers of the work on many important positions. Why is Pontius Pilate both an executioner and a victim? Why does the slave Levi Matthew find "light", and the master - only "peace"? And what, after all, are these categories?

We can try to get an adequate answer to these and other questions by comparing and superimposing different points of view and interpretations of professional Bulgakov scholars.

2. Concepts of intent and theme.

For a better understanding, at least at the beginning of the plot of the novel, you should do brief digression in the history of its design and creation.

The novel about the devil as a satirical extravaganza was conceived in the mid-twenties. The impetus for the idea had a “mystical” origin for Bulgakov. In the mid-twenties, he was presented with a book by A.V. Chayanov

“Venedictov or Memorable Events of My Life”. In this work, the author - the hero, on behalf of whom the story is being told, is faced with infernal (devilish, infernal) forces. The name of this hero is Bulgakov. The second wife of the writer, L.E. Belozerskaya-Bulgakova, noted in her memoirs that this coincidence of surnames had an exceptionally strong influence on the writer. Apparently, it was one side of the impulse to create his own “devil novel”. In the first editions of this novel, the narration is also conducted in the first person.

The second side of the idea of ​​the novel was associated with such a phenomenon in Russia in the twenties as the collapse of religion and almost all religious institutions. The collapse of religion as a whole layer of cultural, spiritual and moral life people.

The novel was nearly destroyed by the author in March 1930; the resumption of work on it occurred, as is believed, under the influence of the contact of Bulgakov himself (the writer, not the hero Chayanov) with the power of a truly diabolical nature. This contact was Bulgakov's telephone conversation with Stalin on April 18, 1930, provoked by the writer's letter to the USSR government with a request to send him abroad.

In the first edition of the novel (1928-1930) there is still no Master and no Margarita. But the story about Yeshua and Pilate is already embedded in the scene of the meeting at the Patriarch's Ponds. Apparently, both the idea of ​​a “novel about the devil” and the paraphrase of the Gospel legend about Christ and Pilate existed inseparably from the very beginning of the plan. In general, the original idea evolved greatly in the process of working on the novel. The name of the work has also undergone a significant change: “Engineer's Hoof”, “Great Chancellor”, “Satan”, “Foreigner's Horseshoe” and others. The canonical name “Master and Margarita” was approved only in 1937.

Woland of the first edition is a satirical devil, mocking, with unusually evil eyes. His appearance in Moscow was somehow immediately associated with the absence of crosses on the empty church domes. With his arrogance and buffoonery, he reminds of the future Koroviev; only in the latest edition Woland acquires true demonic

The satirical paradox of the first edition consisted in the fact that the tradition of Christ was returning to godless Russia from the lips of the devil (the scene and conversation between Berlioz and Satan