The role of the scene "seance of black magic" in the ideological and artistic structure of the novel by M.A. Bulgakov "Master and Margarita"

The episode of the first meeting of the Master and Margarita is one of the most important and fateful moments in the development of their relationship. It is with him that the love story of the main characters begins.

In this episode, the problem of true love is most clearly expressed. The meeting of the Master and Margarita was accidental, but the same cannot be said about their feelings for each other. Walking down an empty street, they felt the need for love. This feeling suddenly hit them both. Bulgakov is convinced that true love arises unexpectedly, and a person is unable to resist it. The meeting of the heroes turned their everyday life into a bright and meaningful one. This love was so strong that the Master saw in this feeling the meaning of his existence. And when Margarita left the basement, everything faded for the Master.

In this episode, Bulgakov uses such a symbol as bright yellow flowers against the background of the black coat of the heroine to introduce anxiety and a premonition of tragedy into the description of love.

Thus, this episode occupies an important place in the composition of Bulgakov's novel.

After all, it was after the meeting with Margarita that the Master's life began to flourish, and he began to intensively write a work about Pontius Pilate, which became the main thing in his work.

Updated: 2017-07-11

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THE ROLE OF THE “BLACK MAGIC SESSION” SCENE IN THE IDEAL AND ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF M. A. BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA” (version I)

M. And Bulgakov is one of the brightest writers of the 20th century. The wonderful fantasy and satire of the novel “The Master and Margarita” made the work one of the most widely read in the Soviet era, when the government wanted to hide the shortcomings of the social system, the vices of society by any means. That is why the work, full of bold ideas and revelations, was not published for a long time. This novel is very complex and unusual, and therefore interesting not only to people who lived in the Soviet era, but also to modern youth.

One of the main themes of the novel - the theme of good and evil - sounds in every line of the work, both in Yershalaim and in Moscow chapters. And oddly enough, the punishment in the name of the triumph of good is done by the forces of evil (the epigraph of the work is not accidental: I am part of that force that always wants evil and does good”).

Woland denounces the worst side of human nature, exposes human vices and punishes a person for his misdeeds. The most striking scene of the "good" deeds of an evil force is the chapter "Black Magic and Its Exposure." In this chapter, the power of revelation reaches its climax. Woland and his retinue seduce the audience, thereby revealing the deepest vices of modern people, and immediately show the most vicious. Woland orders to tear off the head of Bengalsky, who has bothered him, who lied too much (“he pokes around all the time, where he is not asked, spoils the session with false remarks!”). Immediately, the reader notices the cruelty of the audience towards the guilty entertainer, then their nervousness and pity for the unfortunate man with his head torn off. The forces of evil expose such vices as distrust of everything and suspicion brought up by the costs of the system, greed, arrogance, self-interest and rudeness. Woland punishes the guilty, thus directing them to the righteous path. Of course, the exposure of the vices of society takes place throughout the novel, but it is more pronounced and emphasized in the chapter under consideration.

In the same chapter, one of the most important philosophical questions of the entire novel is asked: “Have these townspeople changed internally?” And, after a little tracing the reaction of the audience to the tricks of black magic, Woland concludes: “In general, they resemble the former ones ... the housing problem only spoiled them ...” That is, comparing people who lived millennia ago and modern ones, we can say that time changed nothing: people also love money, and "mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts."

The possibilities for evil are limited. Woland acquires full power only where honor, faith, and true culture are consistently exterminated. People themselves open their minds and souls to him. And how gullible and vicious were the people who came to the variety theater. Although it was written on the posters: "Sessions of black magic with its full exposure", all the same, the audience believed in the existence of magic and in all Woland's tricks. All the stronger was their disappointment that after the performance, all the things donated by the professor evaporated, and the money turned into simple pieces of paper.

The twelfth chapter is a chapter in which all the vices of modern society and people in general are collected.

In the artistic structure, the scene in question occupies a special place. The Moscow line and the line of the dark world merge into one, intertwining and complementing each other. That is, the dark forces show all their power through the depravity of Moscow citizens, and the reader is shown the cultural side of Moscow life.

In conclusion, we can say that the chapter on the session of black magic is very important in the ideological and artistic structure of the novel: it is one of the most important in the disclosure of the theme of good and evil by the author, the main artistic lines of the novel are closely intertwined in it.

THE ROLE OF THE “BLACK MAGIC SESSION” SCENE IN THE IDEA AND ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF M. A. BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA” (II option)

The Master and Margarita, not finished in 1940, is one of the most profound works of Russian literature. For the most complete expression of his ideas, Bulgakov builds his composition as a combination of the real, the fantastic and the eternal. Such a structure makes it possible to best show the changes that have taken place in the souls of people over two millennia, and ultimately answer the main questions of the work about good and evil, creativity and the meaning of life.

If we consider the composition of the “Moscow” chapters of the novel (that is, its “real” part), it becomes obvious that the scene of the session of black magic is the climax. The reasons for the appearance of this episode are also understandable - to conduct a kind of test of people, to trace the evolution of their souls.

Visitors to the variety show meet with otherworldly power, but they never realize it. On the one hand, the motive of recognition appears here. Bulgakov has only “favorite” heroes, heroes with a soul are able to understand that Satan is in front of them. The audience of variety shows, on the contrary, is soulless, dead, and only occasionally "mercy ... knocks on their hearts." On the other hand, the author uses the technique of becoming a fantastic, that is, the characters who arrived from the world of eternity, in reality, acquire specific earthly features. The most characteristic detail is the mage's faded armchair.

And it is Woland who, at the beginning of the episode, poses the main question: “Have these townspeople changed internally?” The following conversation about Muscovites, together with the reaction of the latter to black magic, constitutes the ideological content of the scene.

The first test that the unfortunate spectators were subjected to was a "money rain" - a test of money, which ended with the entertainer's head being torn off. It is important that the proposal came from the public. This indicates that the craving for "money bills" among the townspeople is inherent at the level of instinct. When Bengal, personifying the mind, becomes an obstacle to wealth, they seek to remove it. But in essence, the entertainer is the same money-grubber, which is confirmed by the remark: “Take the apartment, take the pictures, just give back your head!” It seems that the “housing problem” (according to the magician, the main reason for the depravity of Muscovites) is the motive of the scene. Its main meaning is to prove that people never lost their greed.

The next test the public is subjected to is the ladies' shop. It is interesting to trace the change in adverbs characterizing the state of the first visitor: from “decidedly indifferent” and “thoughtfully” to “with dignity” and “arrogantly”. The brunette has no name, this is a collective image, on the example of which Bulgakov shows how greed takes possession of the human soul.

What drives these people? Judging by the reaction of the audience to the appearance of a transformed woman - envy, that very “feeling of a trashy category”, which, together with a thirst for profit, careerism, can push a person to do anything. This illustrates the "exposure" of Arkady Apollonovich, another "mouthpiece of the mind." Sempleyarov is convicted of “providing patronage” to young actresses. Honor is sacrificed to career, and high position gives the right to dishonor others.

In the light of all this, the meaning of the title of the chapter - "Black Magic and its exposure" becomes clear. It is not magic that is debunked in front of people, but, on the contrary, human vices are revealed with the help of witchcraft. This technique is also used in other places in the novel (for example, a self-writing suit).

If we talk about the artistic originality of the episode, then it is necessary to note the features of the carnival scene in the session. A classic example is the scene of Katerina Ivanovna's madness in Crime and Punishment. Even noises make this episode related to Bulgakov's: laughter and cymbals in The Master and Margarita and Dostoevsky's laughter, thunder of the basin and singing.

The speech design of the scene is typical for the “Moscow” chapters. The episode is written in a dynamic language, “the style of cinematography” - one event replaces another with virtually no author's comments. It is necessary to note the methods of the classical: hyperbole, grotesque.

So, the scene of a session of black magic occupies an important place in the ideological and artistic structure of the novel. From the point of view of composition, it is the culmination in the development of the action in the “Moscow” chapters. All the main vices of modern man (who has not changed) are considered, except, perhaps, the most important - cowardice. It was because of her that the master was deprived of light, she also took away death from the cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the rider Pilate of Pontus.

THE ROLE OF THE “BLACK MAGIC SESSION” SCENE IN THE IDEA AND ARTISTIC STRUCTURE OF M. A. BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA” (III option)

The Master and Margarita is one of the most popular and at the same time the most complex works of literature of the 20th century. The problematics of the novel is extremely broad: the writer thinks about both eternal and topical issues that concern modern society.

The themes of the novel are inextricably linked with each other, the unreal world "sprouts" through everyday life, miracles become possible; the actions of Satan and his entourage explode the usual course of life of Muscovites, give rise to confusion and many of the most fantastic assumptions and rumors. A session of Woland's black magic in a variety show was the beginning and at the same time the loudest event in a string of mysterious incidents that shook Moscow.

The most important question posed in this scene is formulated by Woland: “Have these townspeople changed internally?” The actions of Woland's retinue and the reaction of the audience to them help to find the answer to this question. Seeing how easily Muscovites succumb to temptations.

Woland concludes: they are people like people. They love money, but it has always been... Mankind loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether it is leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the former ones... the housing problem only spoiled them...”

The image of Satan is traditionally interpreted here as a tempter of people, pushing them to sin, leading them into temptation. However, the difference from the traditional interpretation is that the devil only fulfills the desires of the public, he does not offer anything himself.

The appearance of Woland is a kind of catalyst: the vices and sins, hitherto hidden under the mask of integrity, become apparent to everyone. But they are inherent in human nature itself, and Satan does not change anything in the lives of these people; they hardly even think about their vices. So the fall and rebirth of man is only in his own power. The devil, showing a person the abomination of his sins, does not contribute either to his death or correction, but only increases suffering. His mission is to punish, not save.

The main pathos of the scene is accusatory. The writer is concerned about people's concern with material problems to the detriment of spirituality. This is both a universal human trait and a sign of the times - “the housing problem only spoiled them”; vulgarization, the decline in the value of spiritual values ​​became universal. A session of black magic helps to reveal most clearly the common features of the vulgarity of the philistinism of the crowd and provides rich material for a satirical denunciation of the vices of society. This episode is like a trick into which those vices are collected, which later, in further scenes showing the clashes of Woland and his retinue with bureaucratic Moscow, will be considered separately: bribery, greed, literally a passion for money, for things, unjustified hoarding, hypocrisy of officials (and not only them).

When creating the session scene, Bulgakov used the grotesque technique - the collision of the real and the fantastic. Unlike the grotesque of Saltykov-Shchedrin, when the author openly expresses his point of view,

Bulgakov seems to be impartial. He simply recounts the events, but the scene itself is so expressive that the author's attitude to what is happening is beyond doubt.

Bulgakov uses a technique and exaggerations, hyperbole, for example, in the scene of the closing of the “ladies' store”: “Women hastily, without any fitting, grabbed shoes. One, like a storm, burst behind the curtain, threw off her suit there and took possession of the first thing that turned up - a silk dressing gown in huge bouquets and, in addition, managed to pick up two cases of perfume. Also grotesque is the tearing off of Bengalsky's head.

The most satirical image of Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, chairman of the acoustic commission. Bulgakov ridicules his arrogance, arrogance and hypocrisy. In the image of Sempleyarov, Bulgakov showed the features inherent in all high-ranking officials, accustomed to abusing power, condescendingly referring to "mere mortals".

The twelfth chapter of the novel, which tells about a session of black magic in a variety show, is the apogee of the satirical line of The Master and Margarita, since this chapter exposes the vices inherent in the entire Soviet society, and not its individual representatives, shows images typical of Moscow during the NEP, as well as the prerequisites for a philosophical generalization of the satirical theme of the novel are created.

IDEA AND COMPOSITIONAL ROLE OF THE STAGE IN THE VARIETE THEATER (Based on the novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

One of the reasons that prompted the “professor of black magic” Woland “at the hour of an unprecedentedly hot sunset” to visit the capital is his desire to get acquainted with Muscovites. In the so-called "Moscow" chapters, we see mostly single images of Moscow residents snatched from the crowd. On the first pages of the novel, we see a motley string of such characters as the unlucky Annushka, who spilled oil on the tram tracks, the middle-aged poet Ryukhin, and, finally, the imperturbable tram conductor who forbade the cat Behemoth to ride public transport. The incredible events that took place in the variety theater can be considered a kind of apotheosis of the theme of Moscow life. What does the scene of a session of black magic reveal? What is its ideological and compositional role?

Woland, who set as his goal to find out the state of modern society, unmistakably chooses the Stepino variety show as the object of his attention, since it is here that at cheap performances, accompanied by jokes of the near-minded Bengalsky, you can see enough of Moscow citizens who have become greedy. It is symptomatic that the residents of the capital, who have excellent opportunities to visit museums and good performances, opt for mediocre shows organized by the drinking Likhodeev and financial director Rimsky, who dreams of deposing his boss. Both of them, being atheists, bear their punishment, but the decay of disbelief touched not only the ruling elite, but the whole of Moscow as a whole. For this reason, Woland so easily gropes for sick strings in the souls of naive spectators. A trick with enchanted banknotes of various denominations plunges the auditorium into complete delight. On this simple example, the great magician reveals all the pettiness and greed of people who are fighting for the right to “catch” a record number of labels from Narzan, which was later revealed. The picture of moral decay described by Bulgakov would have been completely depressing if it were not for the ridiculous case of the entertainer, who simply had his stupid head torn off. However, the inhabitants, dead at first glance, ossified in their everyday gossip, are still capable of compassion:

“Sorry! Forgive!" - At first, separate ... voices were heard, and then they merged into one chorus ... ”After this phenomenon of human pity, the sorcerer orders to“ put on his head ”back. People are like people, he concludes, they love money, but it has always been...”

However, the trick with money is not the only temptation prepared by the cunning gang for Moscow residents. An extraordinary store with women's clothing and accessories appears on the scene, and this extraordinary event so amazes the spectators who do not believe in miracles that they do not notice the disappearance of the main magician, who has melted into the air along with his chair. The distribution of free clothes that disappear after the session is a kind of metaphor for the psychology of the Moscow man in the street, confident in his protection from the outside world and not even suggesting that he, too, is at the mercy of circumstances. This thesis is confirmed by the example of the situation with the “guest of honor” Sempleyarov, who zealously demands the “immediate exposure” of all the tricks shown earlier. Fagot, who did not hesitate at all in this situation, immediately “lays out” to the venerable public the ins and outs of an important gentleman with his numerous betrayals and abuses of his official position. After the “exposure” received, the discouraged cultural figure becomes a “despot and tradesman”, receiving in addition a blow to the head with an umbrella.

All this unthinkable enchanting action receives a corresponding completion under the cacophony of the march “cut down” by the musicians. Satisfied with their antics, Koroviev and Behemoth disappear after Woland, and the stunned Muscovites go home, where new reasons for surprise await them...

The scene in the variety theater is a kind of model for the more important event of the novel - Satan's ball. And if the fooled spectators personify only minor vices, then later we will encounter the greatest sinners of all mankind.

SYMBOLS OF MOONLIGHT IN M. A. BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “MASTER AND MARGARITA”

“The Master and Margarita” by M. A. Bulgakov, according to many critics, is the most brilliant work of the 20th century in Russian literature. The infinite number of semantic layers of this novel includes topical satire on the world around the writer, and discussions about eternal ethical problems. The author created his will, actively using the heritage of world culture. But traditional symbols often took on a new meaning in Bulgakov's work. So it happened with the concepts of “darkness” and “light”, associated with Evil and Good. The familiar antithesis in the novel has been transformed; a contrast appeared between the two main astral images - the sun and the moon.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" begins with a depiction of the torment from the heat experienced by the characters: Berlioz and Homeless - in the first chapter, Pilate - in the second. The sun almost drives the chairman of the MASSOLIT crazy (he complains of a hallucination), increases the suffering of the procurator of Judea from an attack of hemicrania. Moreover, “the hour of an unprecedented sunset” is an indication of the time of the appearance of Satan on the Patriarch's Ponds. The suffocating heat of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan becomes the backdrop for the execution of Yeshua, the terrible sin of Pontius Pilate. The heat turns out to be a symbolic image of hellish hell. The burning rays of the sun remind of retribution for the evil done. Moonlight, on the other hand, not only relieves suffering, but also reveals the truth. It is no coincidence that in the finale of the novel, it was with the appearance of the moon in the sky that “all deceptions disappeared,” Woland and his retinue “drowned in the mist. This alone is enough to conclude Bulgakov's preference for reflected moonlight over direct sunlight. An analysis of the manifestation of the opposition "sun - moon" on the pages of the novel allows us to better understand some aspects of the author's philosophy.

The ethical issues of The Master and Margarita are directly related to Yeshua. The image of “light” corresponds to it in the work. But the writer insistently emphasizes that Ga-Notsri, during interrogation, “keeps away from the sun”, the burning rays of which bring him a quick death. In Pilate's visions, the preacher is walking along the lunar road. The reflected light of the eternal path to Truth is the light that Yeshua offers us.

The basic principle of the construction of the novel "The Master and Margarita" is three-dimensionality. Each event in one of the worlds - historical, fantastic or Moscow - resonates in others. The Yershalaim preacher had his follower in the Moscow world (Master), but the ideas of goodness and humanity did not find understanding among those living in the 20th century. Consequently, the Masters are banished to the realm of dark forces. He ceases to be a member of Soviet society long before the appearance of Woland - from the moment of his arrest. The creator of the novel about Pilate is the only parallel image of Yeshua. However, the new "evangelist" is spiritually weaker than Ha-Nozri, and this is reflected in the astral symbolism.

During a visit to Ivan the Homeless, the Master even hides from the moonlight, although he constantly looks at its source. The appearance of Woland's beloved Margarita in the lunar stream confirms the relationship of the Master with Yeshua, but, according to Levi Matthew, the Master deserved peace, not light. To be more precise, He is not worthy of the moonlight associated with the unceasing movement towards the Truth, because for the Master this movement was interrupted at the moment of burning the manuscript. The eternal home granted to him is illuminated by the first morning rays of the sun or burning candles, and only in the happy dream of Ivan Bezdomny-Ponyrev, who received the Revelation from the Master, the former “number one hundred and eighteenth” leaves with his companion to the moon along the Yeshua road.

Moonlight contains an element of darkness, so Bulgakov, who is aware of the unity of the clashing extremes of being, rewards them for approaching the Truth. Persistent in his delusions, not believing in anything, Berlioz at the last moment of his life sees the moon falling to pieces, because he did not understand that the Higher Knowledge does not lie in a rough empirical reality accessible to human vision. But the reborn Ivanushka Bezdomny, who became a professor at the Ponyrev Institute of History and Philosophy, finds happiness in his sublime dreams, healing his memory with a lunar flood.

The Master's Disciple is compared with Yeshua's Disciple from the historical chapters of the novel. But Matvey Levi strives to "enjoy the naked world," therefore he is stupid, in the words of Woland. Addressing the sun as God in the scene of the execution of the teacher, promising people the opportunity to “look at the sun through a transparent crystal,” Levi demonstrates an inability to perceive dialectical contradictions and claims to possess the Truth, while Yeshua’s goal is to search for it. Due to fanaticism and narrow-mindedness, Levi distorts the words of Ga-Nozri in his notes, that is, he spreads false truths. It is no coincidence that the former tax collector appears before Woland on a stone terrace at the moment when the “broken dazzling sun” lit up.

Just like Yeshua, who is not the embodiment of the Absolute, Woland is not only "the spirit of evil and the lord of shadows." He personifies the principle that harmonizes extremes, both light and darkness enter into his “department”, and he himself does not lean towards either of the poles. Already the outward appearance of Woland is drawn by Bulgakov with the obvious aim of emphasizing the dialectical unity of opposites. The right eye of Satan is “with a golden spark at the bottom”, and the left one is “empty and black ... like an entrance to a bottomless well of all darkness and shadows.” The “golden spark” is directly associated with sunlight: in the scene on the stone terrace, Woland’s eye burned just like the sun in the windows of houses, “although Woland had his back to the sunset.” Darkness is combined in this image with night light: in the finale, the reins of Satan's horse are moon chains, the rider's spurs are stars, and the horse itself is a block of darkness. Such an image of the devil indicates the proximity of Bulgakov's views to Bogomil dualism, which recognizes the cooperation of God and Satan, which differs from the concept of official Christianity about the irreconcilable struggle of two principles.

The main character of the novel clearly correlates with the moon. “Bright Queen Margo” appears in the flow of the overflowing lunar river in Ponyrev’s dreams. With yellow flowers on a black coat, she appears in the Master's flashback when he sees a golden moon in the night sky. Even the name of the heroine is associated with moonlight: Margarita means “pearl”, the color of which is silvery, matte white. All the adventures of Margarita in the form of a witch are connected with the moon, the moonlight warms her pleasantly. The incessant search - first true love, then - the lost beloved - is equivalent to the search for Truth. This means that Love reveals Knowledge that lies beyond the limits of earthly reality.

This knowledge is hidden from most residents of Moscow and Yershalaim. They do not see the moon. Both cities are flooded with artificial lighting at night. Lanterns are burning on the Arbat, the sleepless floor of one of the Moscow institutions is shining with electricity, two huge five-candles are arguing with the moon over the Yershalaim temple. This is a sure sign that neither Yeshua nor the Master can be understood by their surroundings.

The reaction of the character to the moonlight reveals the presence of his soul and conscience. Pontius Pilate endured the opportunity to go along the lunar road, atoning for his sin through centuries of mental torment. The unbearable melancholy caused by the idea of ​​immortality, which is unclear to the procurator himself, is connected with remorse and guilt, not lessened by the light of twelve thousand moons. Shameless Judas from the artificially lit Yershalaim falls under the shade of the trees, where he receives a well-deserved punishment, without being left alone with the moon, without thinking about the perfect betrayal. He does not understand the signs sent by the gilded moon, Berlioz, who has no soul, because there is no faith. Thoughts about life come to the poet Ryukhin at the hour of dawn, when neither the moon nor the sun is in the sky. Ryukhin's poems, untouched by meaning and not warmed by feeling, are mediocre. Outside the philosophical symbolism of light is the fearless warrior Mark Ratslayer. He does not suffer from heat, at the first appearance he covers the sun with himself, the torch in his hands interrupts the light of the moon, which the exhausted procurator is looking for with his eyes. This is a living automaton, located outside the sphere of action of natural forces, obeying only an order that obscures the Truth. The pathetic victims of the moon are those whose lives are empty and meaningless: Georges Bengalsky cries on the full moon, gets drunk “to horror” in the company only “with the full moon” Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, Nikolai Ivanovich behaves ridiculously.

Thus, using the symbolism of moonlight, Bulgakov deepens the characteristics of the characters, clarifies the author's attitude to the characters, and makes it easier for the reader to comprehend the philosophical meaning of the work.

REFLECTIONS ON FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE (Based on the novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

Man is a complex nature. He walks, talks, eats. And there are many, many more things he can do.

Man is a perfect creation of nature; she gave him what she needed. She gave him the right to control himself. But how often does a person cross this line of ownership. A person uses natural gifts, forgetting that he himself is a gift to the world in which he lives, that the environment around him, just like himself, was created by one hand - nature.

A person commits various actions, good and bad, experiences various mental states in himself. He feels, feels. He imagined himself the king of nature, forgetting that man occupies only a step in the ladder of natural creations.

And why did a person decide that he is the master of the world? He has hands to do things; legs to walk on, and finally a head with which he thinks. And he thinks that's enough. But often a person with a "thinking" head forgets that, in addition to all this, he must have a soul; and some “people” have at least an elementary concept of conscience, honor, compassion.

Man must love; the world rests on love, friendship, Man, finally. Remember Bulgakov's Margarita: she lives only for her beloved, for the sake of her love she agrees and is capable of the most rash acts. Before meeting the Master, she was ready to commit suicide. Having met him, she finds the meaning of life; understands for whom she lived and for whom she had been waiting all her life. She walks away from a secure life, from a husband who loves her; she gives up everything for the man she loves.

And how many such Margaritas are in our life? They exist, they live. And they will live as long as there is love on earth, people, as long as there is peace.

Man is born to live; life is given to love, to be human.

If you ask people: what is a sincere person? - many will say that this is a person who has a soul; others that a person with such qualities as kindness, sincerity, truthfulness. Of course, both are right. But only a few will add that a sincere person is also a loving person; loving everything that exists on our earth.

Every loving person is spiritual; he is ready to love everyone and everything, to rejoice in everything. With the birth of love, the soul wakes up in a person.

What is a soul? You can't give a precise definition. But I think that this is all that is good in a person. Love, kindness, mercy.

Love either awakens the soul, or itself is born in it. And no one knows when it happens. She "popped out of nowhere," says the Master.

Margarita, just looking at the Master, decided that it was him who had been waiting all her life. Everyone knows and at the same time does not know what love is. But everyone who has experienced it, who still loves, will say: “Love is good, love is wonderful!” And they will be right, because without love there will be no soul, without a soul - Man.

And so a person goes out into the world, lives in it, comes into contact with it. Everywhere on his way he meets people; A lot of people like it, a lot of people don't. Many become familiar; then many of these acquaintances become friends. Then, perhaps, one of the acquaintances and friends becomes loved. Everything in a person is connected: acquaintance - friendship - love.

A person does not know what will happen to him in the next moment. He does not know his life in advance, he does not know how he will act in this or that situation.

We walk the streets without noticing each other, and maybe tomorrow or in a few days, months, years, some passerby will become an acquaintance, then maybe a friend. In the same way, we live, seeing only shortcomings in people, we do not notice the good that is in them. People are accustomed to value material goods above spiritual ones; souls are corrupted by material matter. The Master and Margarita are not spoiled by this question. During this difficult time, they were able to find, meet each other, fall in love. But happiness, simple, good happiness, in this world, in this world, could not be found.

Do people really have to die in order to be happy? Why can't they find happiness here on earth? The answers to these questions must be sought within ourselves. And we need the answer of not one person, but many, many, many.

So what is friendship and love? There is no exact answer, no one knows it. But everyone will survive it; each of the people someday, someday there will be a loved one, there will be friends, acquaintances. And tomorrow or in a year people will find the answer.

So let's enjoy friendship while it lasts; love as long as love exists, and live as long as it lives.

Wake up your souls, revive love in your hearts, become more soulful; become human! And this will make life easier not only for others, but also for you!

REFLECTION ON FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE (Based on the novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

With what I want to say about friendship and love, perhaps not everyone will agree. I have never met real friends in my life. And I have never met real, sincere and constant love either. In general, love is different: love between parents and a child, between relatives, between a man and a woman, as well as love for things.

A person is very often insincere towards himself and the people around him. Life teaches us to pretend from childhood. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to say, things we don't really think about. In the end, there comes a moment when you want to quit everything, run away from everyone and be left alone.

Books often help in times like these. And when you find a book that you need right now, it becomes your favorite. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita became such a book for me. Not every writer can give himself entirely to the reader, as Bulgakov does. In the novel "The Master and Margarita" he put all his soul and all his talent. Taking this book in hand, you don’t want to part with it, you want to settle in it together with its heroes: the beautiful Margarita, the Master, the mischievous Behemoth, and even with the terrible and mysterious, smart and omnipotent Woland.

Everything that Bulgakov writes about is more like a fairy tale in which everything ends well, but he takes some images from real life. For example, Margarita, whose prototype is his wife. And the prototype of the Master, probably, was himself (Bulgakov). Perhaps the relationship between Bulgakov and his wife was similar to the relationship between the Master and Margarita. And that means that there was true love and true friendship between them.

I have already said that I did not meet real friends. I don’t believe in real, eternal friendship at all, because a close friend betrays sooner or later, and if he doesn’t betray, then he leaves, disappears from your life.

As far as love is concerned, even the most sacred love between parents and children is impermanent. How many children are left by their parents in orphanages, how many of them live in families with step-mothers or fathers. Often parents do not take into account the feelings of the child when they part with each other. As one friend of mine says, dad can be the first, and the second, and the third. But the question involuntarily begs: can a child accept each of them, love, and then forget? Adults themselves teach children to lie and pretend, often they reluctantly pass on their “knowledge” to their children.

If we talk about love between a man and a woman, then I think that even Bulgakov does not fully believe in true love on earth. That is why he moved the Master and Margarita to another world, to one where they can love each other forever, where everything is created for them: the house in which they live, the people they are pleased to see. In our world, this is impossible, it is impossible to have everything at once, and therefore it is impossible to be happy to the end.

Here is what can be said about love for things: happy is the person who loves and can create beautiful, extraordinary things, but unhappy is the one for whom these things are a memory of something past, loved. So the Master was unhappy when he lost Margarita, and the black cap tied by her hands brought him unbearable mental pain. In general, it’s terrible when only things that remind of him remain from happiness. And in general, when life loses its meaning.

With these thoughts of mine, I would not like to say that human life is absolutely meaningless and insignificant, but quite the opposite.

Each of us must look for himself in this life, look for something for which or for whom it would be worth living at all.

REFLECTIONS ON LOVE (Based on the novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

The themes of love and friendship are very closely related and echo each other. After all, if you look, the concepts of friendship and love contain a lot in common. It seems to me that friendship is that feeling or even a state of mind that unites people and makes them one. In sorrow and in joy, a true friend is near, he will never leave you in trouble and will lend a hand. In the novel "The Master and Margarita" M. A. Bulgakov showed a great and bright feeling - Love. The love of the main characters is full of mutual understanding; at critical moments in her life, Margarita was, first of all, a friend for the Master. A friend who won't betray or turn away. Happy is the person who has found true friendship and love, but even happier is the one who has found friendship in love. I'll show you that kind of love.

The heroes of the novel went through a lot, endured and suffered, but were able to save the only thing dear and valuable - their love, because "he who loves must share the fate of the one he loves." Before meeting each other, the life of the Master and Margarita flowed monotonously, each of them lived his own life. But what they have in common is a story of loneliness. Lonely and searching, the Master and Margarita found each other. When he first saw Margarita, the Master could not pass by, because “he loved this particular woman all his life!”. Yellow flowers in Margarita's hands when the lovers meet for the first time, as if an alarming omen. They are a warning that the relationship between the Master and Margarita will not be simple and smooth. The master did not like yellow flowers, he liked roses, which can be considered a symbol of love. The master is a philosopher, personifies creativity in the novel by M. A. Bulgakov, and Margarita personifies love. Love and creativity create harmony in life. The master writes a novel, Margarita is the master's only support, she supports him in his creative work, inspires him. But they could finally unite only in the other world, in the last shelter. The Master's novel was not destined to be published, Margarita became the only reader, appreciating his work at its true worth. Mental illness breaks the Master, but Margarita, his only and true friend, remains his support. The master, in a fit of despair, burns the novel, but "manuscripts do not burn." Margarita is left alone, tormented and suffering without her beloved. She carefully keeps the sheets that survived the fire, keeping the hope of the return of the Master.

Margarita loves so infinitely that she is ready for anything, just to see her dear person again. She agreed to Azazello's proposal to meet with Woland, did not miss the chance to return the Master. The flight of Margarita, the sabbath and the ball at Satan's are the tests that Woland subjected Margarita to. There are no barriers to true love! She bore them with dignity, and the reward is the Master and Margarita together.

The love of the Master and Margarita is an unearthly love, they were not allowed to love on earth, Woland takes the lovers to eternity. The Master and Margarita will always be together, and their eternal, enduring love has become an ideal for many people living on earth.

Poets and writers at all times dedicated their works to the wonderful feeling of Love, but Bulgakov, in his novel The Master and Margarita, revealed the concept of love in a special way. The love shown by Bulgakov is all-encompassing.

Bulgakov's love is eternal...

“I AM A PART OF THAT FORCE THAT EVER WANTS EVIL AND ETERNALLY DOES GOOD”

But there are no coincidences in this world

And it's not for me to regret fate ...

B. Grebenshchikov

A few words of the epigraph are, as a rule, intended to hint to the reader at something especially important for the author. This may be the historical significance of the depicted, and the specificity of the artistic embodiment, and the global philosophical problem solved in the work.

The epigraph of the novel “The Master and Margarita”, in fact, is a brief formulation of the main idea of ​​the further narrative, which consists in stating the impotence of a person before the higher law of fate and the inevitability of a fair retribution for all living things regarding their thoughts, emotions and actions.

The novel itself, with all its storylines and their bizarre twists, many completely different characters, contrasting landscapes and impressionistic discussions about the little things of everyday life, turns into a detailed, detailed study and confirmation of the “initial hypothesis”. At the same time, the images that arise in the plot-philosophical picture of the novel fit into it so organically that there is no doubt about their authenticity.

In all aspects of existence presented in the novel, the idea of ​​fatalism and universal “jurisdiction”, stated in the epigraph, is constantly proved in fact, changing its artistic and plot appearance depending on the images involved.

So, Bezdomny, who refused to accept the logic of the dependence of the events of human life on the factor of fate, set out by Woland at the very beginning of the novel, soon became its victim himself.

Another evidence of subjection to the twists of fate comes from the many predictions of the future of people as a consequence of their past and present and ignored by the majority. A vivid example here is the prediction of Berlioz's death in detail, a psychiatric hospital for Bezdomny, or a conversation about “truth” and “good people” between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate. At the same time, people very willingly "bought" for the most various kinds of swindle. “A session of black magic with its full exposure” in the variety show, the tomfoolery of Koroviev and Behemoth in Griboedov, the sending of Styopa Likhodeev to Yalta and much, much more, arranged by Woland’s retinue to amuse their master, aroused more interest and surprise among people than the manifestation of universal laws .

With regard to "high feelings" there is also a system of objective evaluation. This system, for all its justice, does not spare, however, human petty weaknesses. “No drama, no drama!” - says the irritated Azazello to Margarita in the Alexander Garden, thinking least of all about her experiences. True art was also appreciated. Here it turns out that people are not even able to come up with a worthy reward, that it is inevitable, like punishment, and has the same sources. As a result, the "performer" in the person of Azazells is forced to offer this award in such a way that there is no possibility at all to refuse.

The bearer and embodiment of the idea of ​​an impassive judge in the novel is Woland. He has the right to punish and reward, to determine the proportionality of cause and effect, taking into account the individuality of the heroes or its absence. Such as Margarita, these tests withstand; such as Rimsky, Varenukha, Annushka, Timofey Kvastsov and many others - no ...

Woland's demeanor does not come from "kindness of soul". He himself is subject to the law, the arbiter of which he is, only to a much lesser extent than all other characters. “Everything will be right, the world is built on this,” he says, hinting that the fate of Satan must eventually fit into this construction.

The fulfillment of Margarita's desire to forgive Frida - an unexpected exception, an unforeseen and insignificant accident - indicates that even the devil is not able to foresee everything.

Woland's advantage lies in his recognition of the supremacy of the law of life over all and the corresponding assessment of his capabilities. Hence some aphoristic speech and indisputably affirmative intonations. His remarks sound like axioms: “Never ask for anything! Never anything, and especially with those who are stronger than you, they themselves will offer and give everything themselves, ”why chase in the footsteps of what is already over?”

As a result, it becomes obvious that the philosophical essence of the epigraph, considered from many different positions in the action of the novel, received actual confirmation in the epilogue. The facts that resulted from the “execution of the sentence” (the rest of the Master and Margarita, the release of Pilate, the reassessment of values ​​by Bezdomny, the commotion among the inhabitants of Moscow) best of all prove the correctness of the thought contained in the lines of the epigraph.

REFLECTIONS ON THE BOOK READ (Based on the novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”)

I recently re-read Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. When I opened it for the first time, I almost ignored the Yershalaim chapters, noticing only satirical episodes. But it is known that, returning to the book after some time, you discover something new in it, which escaped attention last time. Again I was carried away by Bulgakov's novel, but now I was interested in the problem of power and creativity, power and personality, the problem of human life in a totalitarian state. I discovered the world of Yershalaim chapters, which explained to me the philosophical views and moral position of the author. I also looked at the Master in a new way - through the prism of the biography of the writer himself.

The twenties were the hardest for Mikhail Afanasyevich, but the thirties turned out to be even more terrible: his plays were forbidden to be staged, his books were not published, he himself could not even get a job for a long time. The newspapers published devastating “critical” articles, letters from “indignant” workers and peasants, carefully selected representatives of the intelligentsia. The main slogan was: “Down with Bulgakovism!” What was Bulgakov accused of then! He allegedly stirs up national hatred with his plays, denigrates Ukrainians and sings of the White Guard (in Days of the Turbins), disguising himself as a Soviet writer. Writers who seriously considered formlessness a new form of revolutionary literature said that Bulgakov was a too cultured writer, boasting of his intelligence and skill. In addition, the literature began to assert the principle of party spirit, classism, “the writer's worldview, closely connected with a clear social position” (N. Osinsky about the “White Guard”). But Bulgakov considered the events of reality not from a political or class point of view, but from a universal one. Therefore, he, who defended the independence of creativity from the state, from the dominant ideology, was doomed to “crucifixion”. Poverty, street, death were prepared for him by the totalitarian state.

At this difficult time, the writer begins work on a story about the devil (“The Engineer with a Hoof”), into whose mouth he put the sermon of justice, making him a champion of good, fighting the “forces of evil” - Moscow inhabitants, officials. But already in 1931, Satan does not act alone, but with a retinue, a hero appears - a double of the author (Master) and Margarita (Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova was her prototype). The novel "The Master and Margarita" acquired autobiographical features: the fate of the Master is in many ways similar to the fate of Bulgakov himself.

The master wrote the novel not by order of the “party and government”, but by the call of his heart. The novel about Pilate is the fruit of a creative flight of thought that knows no dogmas. The master does not compose, but "guesses" the events, not taking into account the guidelines - hence the fury of the "Sanhedrin" of critics. It is the rage of those who have sold their freedom against those who have kept it to themselves.

Never in his life did the Master encounter the world of writers. The very first collision brings him death: a totalitarian society has crushed him morally. After all, he was a writer, and not a writer "to order", his work carried seditious thoughts in those days about power, about a person in a totalitarian society, about freedom of creativity. One of the main accusations against the Master was that he wrote the novel himself, he was not given "valuable instructions" about the theme of the work, characters, events. The writers of MASSOLIT (that is, RAPP, and then the Union of Writers of the USSR) do not even understand that real literature, real works are not written to order: “Without saying anything about the essence of the novel, the editor asked me who I am and where I came from , why nothing was heard about me before, and even asked, from my point of view, a completely idiotic question: who advised me to write a novel on such a strange topic? - tells the Master about his conversation with the editor of one of the magazines. The main thing for the Massolithites is the ability to write an “opus” on a given topic in a coherent manner (for example, the poet Bezdomny was instructed to compose an anti-religious poem about Christ, but Bezdomny wrote about him as a living person, but it was necessary - as a myth. Paradox: write a poem about a person who, according to the customers, did not exist at all), have a suitable “clean” biography and origin “from workers” (and the Master was an intelligent person, knew five languages, that is, he was an “enemy of the people”, at best - “rotten intellectual”, “fellow traveler”).

And now the instruction was given to start persecuting the “bogomaz” of the Master. “The enemy is under the wing of the editor!”, “an attempt to smuggle the analogy of Jesus Christ into the press”, “strongly hit the pilatch and that bogomaz who took it into his head to smuggle it into the press”, “militant bogomaz” - such is the content of the “critical” (and simply slanderous) articles about the work of the Master. (How can one not recall the slogan “Down with Bulgakovism!”.)

The campaign of persecution achieved its goal: at first the writer only laughed at the articles, then he began to be surprised at such unanimity of critics who had not read the novel; Finally, the third stage of the Master’s attitude towards the campaign to destroy his hard-won work came - the stage of fear, “not fear of these articles, but fear of other things that are completely unrelated to them or to the novel,” the stage of mental illness. And then the logical result of the persecution followed: in October, there was a “knock” on the Master’s door, his personal happiness was destroyed. But in January he was “released”, the Master decides to seek refuge in the Stravinsky clinic - the only place where smart, thinking people can find peace, escape from the horrors of a totalitarian state, in which an extraordinary thinking personality is suppressed, free creativity independent of the dominant ideology is suppressed .

But what “seditious” (from the point of view of the state) thoughts did the Master express in his novel, what made the new Sanhedrin seek his “crucifixion”? It would seem that the novel about events almost two thousand years ago has no connection with the present. But it seems so only with a superficial acquaintance with it, and if you think about the meaning of the novel, then its relevance will be undeniable. The master (and he is Bulgakov's double) puts into the mouth of Yeshua Ha-Nozri a sermon of goodness and truth: Yeshua says that power is not absolute, it cannot control people; that all people are kind by nature, only circumstances make them cruel. Such thoughts are seditious from the point of view of the Rappovites and the Massolithites, the rulers and their henchmen. People are kind, but what about the “enemies of the people” then? Power is not needed, but the power of the party, what to do with it? Hence the attacks against the Master; “biblical dope”, “illegal literature”. The master (that is, Bulgakov) publishes a new version of the Gospel, a real and detailed earthly history. And Yeshua in the novel does not look like the “Son of God”. He is a person capable of experiencing both indignation and annoyance, afraid of pain, he is deceived and afraid of death. But he is extraordinary internally - he has the power of persuasion, he relieves pain with words, and most importantly, Yeshua knows no fear of power. The secret of his power is in the absolute independence of his mind and spirit (which everyone except the Master does not have). He does not know the shackles of dogmas, stereotypes, conventions that bind those around him. He is not affected by the atmosphere of interrogations, the currents of power coming from Pontius Pilate. He infects his listeners with inner freedom, which is what Kaif's ideologue is afraid of. It is to her that he owes the fact that truths hidden from others are revealed to him. The Master has the qualities of Yeshua (because he created him), but he does not have the tolerance and kindness of a wandering philosopher: the Master can be evil. But they are united by intellectual freedom, spiritual freedom.

According to Yeshua, there are no evil people in the world, there are people in the grip of circumstances, forced to overcome them, there are unfortunate and therefore hardened, but all people are good by nature. The energy of their kindness must be released by the power of the word, and not by the power of power. Power corrupts people, fear settles in their soul, they are afraid, but they are afraid not for their lives, but for their careers. “Cowardice is the biggest vice in the world,” Yeshua said, referring to the lives of those who are in power.

In the very first of the Yershalaim chapters of Bulgakov's novel (that is, in the Master's novel about Pilate), manifestations of true freedom and unfreedom come face to face. Yeshua Ha-Notsri, arrested, brutally beaten, sentenced to death, in spite of everything, remains free. It is impossible to take away his freedom of thought and spirit. But he is not a hero and not a "slave of honor." When Pontius Pilate prompts him with the answers necessary to save his life, Yeshua does not reject these hints, but simply does not notice and does not hear them - they are so alien to his spiritual essence. And Pontius Pilate, despite the fact that he is a powerful procurator of Judea and in his hands the life or death of any inhabitant, is a slave to his position and his career, a slave to Caesar. To cross the line of this slavery is beyond his strength, although he really wants to save Yeshua. He turns out to be the victim of the state, and not a wandering philosopher, internally independent of this state. Yeshua did not become a “cog” in a totalitarian machine, he did not give up his views, and Pilate turned out to be this very “cog” for whom it is no longer possible to return to real life, it is impossible to show human feelings. He is a statesman, a politician, a victim of the state and at the same time one of its pillars. In his soul, the conflict between the human and political principles ends in favor of the latter. But before that he was a brave warrior, did not know fear, appreciated courage, but he became an apparatus worker and was reborn. And now he is already a cunning hypocrite, constantly wearing the mask of a faithful servant of the emperor Tiberius; fear of an old man with a “bald head” and a “hare lip” reigned in his soul. He serves because he is afraid. And he fears for his position in society. He saves his career by sending to the next world a man who conquered him with his mind, with the amazing power of his word. The procurator turns out to be unable to escape from the influence of power, to rise above it, as Yeshua did. And this is the tragedy of Pilate, and indeed of every person at the helm of power. But what is the reason that Bulgakov's novel was published only three decades after it was written? After all, the satire of the Moscow chapters is not so “seditious” even from the standpoint of Stalin's time. The reason is in the chapters of Yershalaim. This part of the novel contains philosophical reflections on power, freedom of thought and soul, in the same place the “tops” of the state are outlined in detail, and the “bottoms” are briefly. In the chapters about Moscow, Bulgakov sneers at ordinary inhabitants, satirically depicts the middle managers. Two truncated pyramids are obtained, which the author combines into one with the help of Woland's words at a session of black magic. Ordinary people are similar to the former ones (just like the people of power). The rulers are still far from the people, they cannot do without legions of soldiers, secret service, ideologists who keep people in a state of blind faith in the Great Theory, god or gods. Blind faith works for power. People, blinded, fooled by "great ideas", dogmas, brutally crack down on the best representatives of the nation: thinkers, writers, philosophers. They are cracking down on those who have retained internal independence from the authorities, those who do not agree to be a “cog”, who stand out from the general mass of impersonal “numbers”.

Such is the fate of a thinking person in a totalitarian state (it does not matter the time and place: Judea or Moscow, past or present - the fate of such people was the same). Yeshua was executed, the Master was morally crushed, Bulgakov was hounded...

Although the power of Caesar is omnipotent, peaceful speeches that reject violence and destruction are dangerous for ideological leaders; they are more dangerous than the robbery of Barrabban, as they awaken human dignity in people. These thoughts of Yeshua are relevant even now, in the age of rampant violence and cruelty, in the age of a fierce struggle for power, when the interests of a particular individual, an ordinary person, are often trampled on by the state. The teachings of Yeshua remained alive. This means that there is a limit to the seemingly unlimited power of Caesars - emperors - leaders - “fathers of nations” before life. “The temple of the old faith goes out. Man will pass into the realm of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all.” The totalitarian state will be powerless before the individual.

MY FAVORITE BOOK BY M. A. BULGAKOV

I have read many works by different writers. But most of all I like the work of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. Unfortunately, he died in 1940. All of his works are original in style and structure, they are all easy to read and leave a deep imprint on the soul. I especially like Bulgakov's satire. I have read such books as "Fatal Eggs", "Heart of a Dog" and, in my opinion, Bulgakov's most remarkable book, "The Master and Margarita". Even when I first read this book, I was overwhelmed by a huge amount of impressions. I cried and laughed at the pages of this novel. So why did I like this book so much?

In the thirties of the XX century, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov began work on his main book, the book of life - "The Master and Margarita". He made the greatest contribution to the literature of the Soviet period by writing such a wonderful book.

“The Master and Margarita” was written as “a novel within a novel”: chronologically, it depicts the thirties in Moscow, and also gives a historical plan for events taking place two millennia ago.

It seems to me that such a peculiar plot was given by Bulgakov in order to compare the psychology of people, their goals, their desires, in order to understand how society has succeeded in its development.

The novel begins with a meeting at the Patriarch's Ponds of the chairman of MASSOLIT Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz and the young writer Ivan Bezdomny. Berlioz criticized Bezdomny's article on religion for the fact that Ivan outlined Jesus in his article in very black colors, and Berlioz wanted to prove to people that "Christ really does not exist and could not exist." Then they meet a very strange man, apparently a foreigner, who, with his story, takes them two millennia back to the ancient city of Yershalaim, where he introduces them to Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri (a slightly modified image of Christ). This man is trying to prove to writers that there is Satan, and if there is Satan, then, therefore, there is Jesus. The foreigner says strange things, predicts to Berlioz his imminent death by cutting off his head, and, naturally, writers take him for a madman. But later the prediction comes true and Berlioz, who has fallen under a tram, cuts his head. Ivan is perplexed, tries to catch up with the departing stranger, but to no avail. Ivan tries to understand who this strange man is, but he understands it only later, in a lunatic asylum, that it is Satan himself - Woland.

Berlioz and Ivan are only the first to suffer at the hands of the devil. Then something incredible happens in the city. It seems that Satan has arrived to spoil everyone's life, but is it really so? No. It's just that every millennium the devil himself comes to Moscow to see if people have changed during this time. Woland acts from the side of the observer, and all the tricks are done by his retinue (Koroviev, Behemoth, Azazello and Gella). The performance in the variety show was arranged by him only in order to evaluate people, and he concludes: “Well ... they are people like people. They love money, but it has always been... Mankind loves money, no matter what it is made of... Well, frivolous... well, well... the housing problem only spoiled it...” As a result of Satan’s actions Woland and his retinue in Moscow reveal deceit, greed, arrogance, deceit, gluttony, meanness, hypocrisy, cowardice, envy and other vices of Moscow society in the thirties of the XX century. But is the whole society so low and greedy?

In the middle of the novel, we meet Margarita, who sells her soul to the devil in order to save her loved one. Her boundless and pure love is so strong that even Satan Woland himself cannot resist it.

Margarita was a woman who had wealth, a loving husband, in general, everything that any other woman could dream of. But was Margarita happy? No. She was surrounded by material wealth, but her soul suffered from loneliness all her life. Margarita is my ideal woman. She is a strong-willed, persistent, courageous, kind and gentle woman. She is fearless, because she was not afraid of Woland and his retinue, proud, because she did not ask until she herself was asked, and her soul is not devoid of compassion, because when her deepest desire was to be fulfilled, she remembered poor Frida who was promised salvation: Loving the Master, Margarita saves the most important thing for him, the goal of his whole life is his manuscript.

The master was probably sent by God to Margarita. Their meeting, it seems to me, was predetermined: “She carried disgusting, disturbing yellow flowers in her hands ... And I was struck not so much by her beauty as by the extraordinary, invisible loneliness in her eyes! Obeying this yellow sign, I also turned into an alley and followed in her footsteps...”

The misunderstood souls of the Master and Margarita find each other, love helps them to endure, to pass all the trials of fate. Their free and loving souls finally belong to eternity. They were rewarded for their suffering. Although they are not worthy of “light” because both have sinned: the Master did not fight to the end for the purpose of his life, and Margarita left her husband and entered into a deal with Satan, they deserve eternal rest. Together with Woland and his retinue, they leave this city forever.

So who is Woland anyway? Is he a positive or a negative character? It seems to me that he cannot be considered either a positive or a negative hero. He is part of that power that "always wants evil and always does good." He personifies the devil in the novel, but with his calmness, prudence, wisdom, nobility and peculiar charm, he destroys the usual idea of ​​\u200b\u200b"black power". That's probably why he became my favorite character.

The complete opposite of Woland in the novel is Yeshua Ga-Notsri. This is a righteous man who came to save the world from evil. For him, all people are kind, "evil people do not exist, there are only unfortunate ones." He believes that the worst sin is fear. Indeed, it was the fear of losing his career that made Pontius Pilate sign Yeshua's death warrant and thus doom himself to torment for two millennia. And it was the fear of new torments that did not allow the Master to finish the work of his whole life.

And in conclusion, I want to say that not only do I really like the novel The Master and Margarita, but it also teaches me not to be like all the negative characters in this novel. It makes you think about who you are, what is going on in your soul, what good you have done to people. The novel helps to understand that one must be above all troubles, strive for the best and not be afraid of anything.

MY FAVORITE NOVEL IS “MASTER AND MARGARITA” BY M. A. BULGAKOV

so who are you, finally? -I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.

J. W. Goethe. "Faust"

Evening Moscow... Walking by the Patriarch's Ponds, I notice that even today, as many years ago, "the sky over Moscow seemed to have faded, and the full moon was clearly visible in the height, but not yet golden, but white"; looking around, I see bustling people, and the lines from the novel come to life: “One day in the spring, at the hour of an unprecedentedly hot sunset, in Moscow, on the Patriarch’s Ponds ...” I don’t know why, I’m waiting for a man in a checkered jacket to appear and start a conversation with me reminiscent of the one that greatly surprised Berlioz and Bezdomny - the heroes of M. A. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita.

I re-read this book several times, and today I again have a desire to remember it, to reflect on its heroes, their destinies.

In the history of mankind, especially at turning points, there is a fierce struggle, sometimes invisible at first glance, between the highest manifestation of the human spirit - honor, duty, mercy and cowardice, betrayal, baseness.

It is difficult for a person to find true moral guidelines at this time.

A friend comes to the rescue - a good, smart book. In Russia, there has always been a dream of a Great Book that will help transform the world. For many centuries, Russian writers have been worried about eternal moral problems: good and evil, faith and unbelief, life and death, love and hate.

Bulgakov's work absorbed the high humanistic traditions of Russian literature and was a deep generalization of human thought and anxious searches. “The Master and Margarita” is an amazing book open to everyone who is not indifferent to the fate of mankind, who poses eternal questions: why is life given to a person and how should he use this gift of God.

The novel is based on the gospel story of Jesus Christ, in which the author is interested not so much in the religious aspect as in the moral, human one.

“Cowardice is undoubtedly one of the most terrible vices,” Pontius Pilate heard the words of Yeshua in a dream. He feels sorry for the accused, he tries to hint to Ha-Nozri how to answer during interrogations in order to save his life. The procurator feels a terrible split: now he shouts at Yeshua, then, lowering his voice, confidentially asks about the family, about God, advises to pray. Pontius Pilate will never be able to save the condemned, then he will experience terrible pangs of conscience, because he violated the moral law, defending the civil law. The tragedy of this man is that he is a faithful servant of the authorities and is not able to change her. He wants to save the doctor who took off his headache, but to break the chains of slavery beyond his strength.

A “doctor”, a “philosopher”, a bearer of peaceful sermons, Yeshua believed that “there are no evil people in the world”, there are unhappy people, that any power is violence against people, that is, the world should be ruled not by evil, but by good, not by faith, but truth, not power, but freedom. And in the face of painful death, he remained firm in his humanistic preaching of universal kindness and free thinking.

And if Bulgakov had only limited himself to the gospel story, then, having learned a lot of new and instructive things from the history of Christianity, we would not have been able to fully understand the idea of ​​the inviolability of human values. But the novel gives us, the readers, an amazing opportunity to connect the distant years of the procurator Pontius Pilate and yesterday (today) day, because it combines both biblical chapters and a narrative about the events of the thirties, the difficult and contradictory times of our country.

Many years have passed since that terrible period of Stalinist repressions, persecution of the individual, but from the pages of Bulgakov's novel people appear whose fate was crippled by that terrible time when it was difficult for true talent to break through, as happened with the Master. The air of the thirties, the atmosphere of fear, of course, was present on the pages of the novel, causing a depressing impression.

Particularly striking is the scene in the theater when Woland scatters banknotes (of course, counterfeit) and “changes clothes” for the assembled spectators. These are no longer people, but some kind of people who, having lost their human face, forgetting about everything in the world, grab these banknotes with trembling hands.

It remains only to regret that there was no other force than Woland and his gang, which could resist all that dark, evil that was and is, unfortunately, in this world.

When meeting the Master for the first time, we, together with the poet Ivan Bezdomny, notice his restless eyes - evidence of some kind of anxiety in the soul, the drama of life. A master is a person who feels someone else's pain, is able to create and think outside the box, but in accordance with the official opinion. But the world, where the writer presents his offspring, serves not the truth, but power. It is impossible to forget how the Master - the victim of a denunciation - comes to the windows of the basement, where the gramophone is playing. He comes in a coat with torn buttons and an unwillingness to live and write. We know that the buttons were cut during the arrest, so we can easily explain to ourselves the state of mind of the hero.

Bulgakov had too many reasons to doubt that all people are good, as Yeshua believed. Terrible evil was brought to the Master by Aloisy Mogarych and the critic Latunsky. And Margarita turned out to be a bad Christian in the novel, as she avenged evil, however, in a feminine way: she broke the windows and smashed the critic's apartment. And yet mercy for Bulgakov is higher than vengeance. Margarita smashes Latunsky's apartment, but rejects Woland's proposal to destroy it. A fantastic turn of events allows the author to unfold before us a whole gallery of very unattractive characters. Satan Woland punishes for unbelief, lack of spirituality, unscrupulousness, but at the same time, with the help of his retinue, returns decency, honesty and severely punishes evil and untruth.

Yes, the world is difficult and sometimes cruel. The life of the Master is also not easy. He did not deserve the light, but only peace in the world of shadows. He did not go, like Yeshua, to Calvary for his truth. Unable to overcome this many-sided evil in the life around him, he burns his beloved offspring. But, fortunately, "manuscripts do not burn." On the ground, the Master left a student, the sighted Ivan Ponyrev, the former Homeless; on earth there was a novel that was destined for a long life. Real art is immortal, omnipotent.

And love? Isn't it an overwhelming feeling? For those who lost faith in love, Bulgakov inspires hope. Margarita deserved eternal love. She is ready to make a deal with Woland and becomes a witch for the sake of love and loyalty to the Master. “I am dying for love. Oh, right, I would lay my soul to the devil to find out whether the Master is alive or not,” says Margarita. The choice of her path is independent and conscious.

Why is the novel called The Master and Margarita? Bulgakov believed that creativity, work, love are the basis of human existence. The main characters of the work are the spokesmen for these beliefs of the author. The master is a creator, a person with a pure soul, an admirer of beauty, he cannot imagine his life without real work. Love transformed Margarita, gave her strength and courage to accomplish the feat of self-sacrifice.

And Bulgakov, together with his favorite characters, affirms faith amid unbelief, deed amid idleness, love amid indifference.

If this unusual person appeared now, I would tell him that as long as a person has a conscience, a soul, the ability to repent, mercy, love, a desire to seek the truth, discover it and follow it to Golgotha, everything will be as it should, everything will be right.

And the moon was still floating over the world, however, now it was “golden with a dark horse - a dragon” ..

All the same, people were in a hurry somewhere.

MODERN SOUND OF M. A. BULGAKOV’S NOVEL “MASTER AND MARGARITA”;,

Mikhail Bulgakov, an author whose work for many years reflects the acute problems of our time, has recently become available to a wide range of readers. And those questions that the author raises in an unusual, mystical-fantastic form in the novel “The Master and Margarita” are just as relevant now as they were at the time when the novel was written, but did not appear in print.

The atmosphere of Moscow, its original and unique world, where the fates of the characters are intertwined from the first pages of the novel, captures the reader, and the eternal question about the confrontation and unity of Good and Evil sounds in the epigraph of the work. And the author’s ability, against the background of pettiness and meanness of life, betrayal and cowardice, meanness and bribery, to punish or generously forgive, to put global problems next to the most insignificant - this is what makes the reader, together with the author, love and admire, blame and punish, believe in reality extraordinary events brought to Moscow by the Prince of Darkness and his retinue.

Bulgakov simultaneously opens the pages of Moscow’s everyday life and a tome of history: “In a white cloak with a bloody lining, shuffling with a cavalry gait,” the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, enters the pages of the novel, “the darkness that came from the Mediterranean Sea,” covers the city hated by the procurator, everything disappears into thunderstorms over Yershalaim, an execution is carried out on Bald Mountain ... An execution of Good, an execution that reveals in all its nakedness the worst vice of mankind - cowardice, behind which lies cruelty, cowardice, and betrayal. This is the execution of Yeshua Ha-Notsri, Christ, exaltation through suffering and forgiveness - isn't it the leading thread of it that appears before the reader in the novel - the love of the Master and Margarita? And the cowardice of the cruel procurator, and his retribution for cowardice and meanness - is this not the embodiment of all those vices of Moscow bribe-takers, scoundrels, adulterers and cowards, punished by the almighty hand of Woland?

But if Good in the novel is light and peace, forgiveness and love, then what is Evil? Woland and his retinue play the role of a punishing force, and Satan himself in the novel is judging Evil, but also punishing Evil. What and who is the Evil that Bulgakov portrays satirically and fantastically?

Starting with the house manager Nikanor Ivanovich, funny with his ostentatious decency, but in fact “burn out and a rogue”, the author describes “Griboedov’s House”, exposing writers, and, finally, moves on to the spectacular sector - under the pen of a skillful writer, it shrinks, as if “ashes” are falling ”, as at a ball at Satan, from the figures of “those in power”. And their true identity is revealed - the vices of espionage, informing, gluttony hover over the great city - totalitarian Moscow. Fantastic allegories imperceptibly lead the reader to a critical moment - a ball with Satan on the night of the spring full moon. “And there was a vision in the garden at midnight...” Thus ends the description of the Griboedov restaurant to the desperate cries of “Hallelujah!”. The punishment of vices is preceded by the truth suddenly revealed at the ball: the “guests” of Satan are pouring in a wave - “kings, dukes, suicides, gallows and procuresses, scammers and traitors, detectives and molesters”, a global vice is pouring in a wave, foaming in pools with champagne and cognac, going crazy from the deafening music of the Johann Strauss Orchestra; massive marble, mosaic and crystal floors pulsate under thousands of feet in an outlandish hall. Silence sets in - the moment of reckoning is approaching, the judgment of Evil over Evil, and, as a result of punishment, the last words sound over the hall: “The blood has long gone into the ground. And where it spilled, bunches of grapes are already growing.” Vice dies, bleeding to resurrect tomorrow, for it is impossible to kill Evil with Evil, just as it is impossible to eradicate the eternal contradiction of this struggle, shrouded in the mystery of moonlit nights...

And these poetic, lyrical, filled with fantasy, filled with silver light or a noisy thunderstorm, moonlit nights are an integral part of the fabric of the novel. Every night is full of symbols and mysteries, the most mystical events, prophetic, dreams of heroes occur on moonlit nights. “A mysterious figure hiding from the light” visits the poet Bezdomny in the clinic. Covered by mysticism and the return of the Master. “The wind rushed into the room, so that the flame of the candles in the candelabra fell, the window flung open, and in the distant height, the full, but not the morning, but the midnight moon, opened. A greenish handkerchief of night light lay on the floor from the window sill, and Ivanushkin's night guest appeared in it, extracted by Woland's dark and imperious power. And just as the Master has no rest on moonlit nights, so the hero of Judea, the rider Pontus Pilate, torments twelve thousand moons for a mistake made in one night. The night that took place two thousand years ago, the night when “in semi-darkness, on a bed covered from the moon by a column, but with a moon ribbon stretching from the steps of the porch to the bed”, the procurator “lost touch with what was around him in reality”, when realized the vice of his cowardice, for the first time set off along the luminous road and went along it straight up to the moon. “He even laughed in his sleep with happiness, before that everything turned out perfectly and uniquely on the transparent blue road. He was accompanied by Bungui, and next to him was a wandering philosopher. They were arguing about something very complex and important, they did not agree on anything, and neither of them could defeat the other. There was no punishment! Did not have. That's the beauty of this journey up the ladder of the moon." But all the more terrible was the awakening of a brave warrior who did not chicken out in the Valley of Maidens, when the furious Germans almost killed the Ratslayer-Giant. The more terrible was the awakening of the hegemon. “Banga roared at the moon, and the slippery, as if packed with oil, blue road failed in front of the procurator.” And the wandering philosopher disappeared, uttering the words that decided the fate of the procurator after millennia of atonement for sin: “I forgive you, hegemon.” Millennia later, the Master met his hero and ended the novel with one last sentence: “Free! Free! He is waiting for you!"

Forgiveness descends on souls who atoned for sin through suffering and self-sacrifice. It is not light that is granted, but the peace of the love of the Master and Margarita, an extraordinary feeling carried by the heroes through all the obstacles of life. “Who said that there is no real, eternal, true love in the world?” In an instant, Margarita fell in love with the Master, long months of separation did not break her, and the only thing valuable for her in life was not well-being, not the brilliance of all the amenities that she possessed, but the burnt pages of the “thunderstorm over Yershalaim” and the rose petals dried among them. And the extraordinary freedom of pride, love, justice of Margarita, the purity and honesty of the Master gave the lovers a “wonderful garden” or “eternal shelter”. But where is it? On the ground? Or in those mysterious dimensions where the triumph of Satan's ball took place, where in the night naked Margarita flew over “a water mirror in which the second moon floated”?

The moonlit night unites the mysteries, erases the boundaries of space and time, it is terrible and intoxicating, boundless and mysterious, cheerful and sad... Sad for the one who suffered before death, who flew over this earth, carrying an unbearable burden. “The tired one knows it. And without regret he leaves the fog of the earth, its swamps and rivers, he surrenders with a light heart into the hands of death, knowing that only she will calm him down. And the night is mad, “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. It brings down streams of light on the earth, hides the reincarnation of Woland, who leaves the world of people, who has accomplished his mission on earth, who has dealt a blow to Evil with his powerful hand. It leaves the earth, personifying darkness, as it was left two thousand years ago by a wandering philosopher, who with death took the light with him. But the eternal struggle between Good and Evil continues on earth, and their eternal unity remains unshakable.

M. A. BULGAKOV. “MASTER AND MARGARITA” - MOMENTS OF TRUTH

The whole set of existing books can be conditionally divided into two groups: books for the soul and just for reading. With the second, everything is clear: these are various love stories in bright covers, detective stories with loud names. These books are read and forgotten, and none of them will become your favorite desktop. Everyone has their own definition of the first. A good book means a lot to me. After all, a smart work can give a person much more than just the opportunity to have a good time. It pushes the reader to think, makes you think. You discover good books suddenly, but they stay with us for life. And rereading them, you discover new thoughts and sensations.

Following these arguments, Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" can safely be called a good book. Moreover, my review of this work could consist only of exclamation and question marks: the feeling of admiration and admiration for the work of the Master is so strong, it is so mysterious and inexplicable. But I will try to plunge into the abyss of mystery called "The Master and Margarita".

Turning to the novel again and again, each time I discovered something new. Any person, reading this work, can find for himself what is interesting to him, what excites and occupies his mind. You need to read the novel “The Master and Margarita”, and then ... romantics will enjoy the Love of the Master and Margarita as the purest, sincere, desired feeling; worshipers of God will hear a new version of the old Yeshua story; philosophers will be able to rack their brains over Bulgakov's mysteries, because behind every line of the novel is Life itself. The persecution of Bulgakov, censorship of the RAPP, the inability to speak openly - all this forced the author to hide his thoughts, his position. The reader finds and reads them between the lines.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is the apotheosis of all the work of Mikhail Bulgakov. This is his most bitter and most sincere novel. The pain, the suffering of the Master from not recognizing him is the pain of Bulgakov himself. It is impossible not to feel the sincerity of the author, his true bitterness, sounding in the novel. In The Master and Margarita, Bulgakov writes in part the history of his life, but calls people by other names, describing their characters as they actually existed. His enemies are written out in the novel with evil irony, turning into satire. Rimsky, Varenukha, Styopa Likhodeev, "devoted" workers of art who sow only bad taste and falsehood. But Bulgakov's main opponent in the novel is Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, chairman of MASSOLIT, read - RAPP. That's who decides the fate of the literary Olympus, that's who decides whether a writer is worthy of being called "Soviet". He is a dogmatist who does not want to believe in the obvious. It is with his consent that works that do not meet the ideological standards of writers are rejected. Berlioz broke the fate of the Master and many others who did not seek petty joys and devoted themselves with all their passion to their work. Who is taking their place? The author takes us to the House of Writers, where the main life is in full swing in the Griboyedov restaurant. The writer wastes all his ardor on petty intrigues, on running around the offices, on eating all sorts of delicacies, and so on. That is why we see an almost complete absence of talented literature during the reign of Berlioz.

Somewhat different, unusual Bulgakov appears before the readers in the chapters devoted to Yeshua. We see the similarity of this biblical character with the author. According to contemporaries, Mikhail Bulgakov was an honest, sincere person. Just like Yeshua, he brought kindness and warmth to his loved ones, but, like his hero, he was not protected from evil. However, the writer does not have that holiness, the ability to forgive weaknesses, there is not that gentleness inherent in Yeshua. With a sharp tongue, merciless satire, evil irony, Bulgakov is closer to Satan. This is what the author makes the judge of all those who are mired in vice. In the original version, the Great Prince of Darkness was alone, but, restoring the burnt novel, the writer surrounds him with a very colorful retinue. Azazello, Koroviev, the cat Behemoth were created by the Master for petty pranks and tricks, while the sir himself has more significant things to do. Bulgakov shows him as the arbiter of destinies, gives him the right to punish or pardon. In general, the role of black forces in The Master and Margarita is unexpected. Woland appears in Moscow not to encourage, but to punish sinners. He comes up with an unusual punishment for each. For example, Styopa Likhodeev escaped with only a forced trip to Yalta. The director of the variety show, Rimsky, was punished more severely, but he was left alive. And the most difficult test awaits Berlioz. A terrible death, a funeral turned into a farce, and, finally, his head in the hands of Messire himself. Why is he punished so harshly? The answer can be found in the novel. The biggest sinners, according to the author, are those who have lost the ability to dream, to invent, whose thoughts follow a measured path. Berlioz is a convinced, inveterate dogmatist. But there is a special demand from him. The chairman of MASSOLIT manages the souls of people, directs their thoughts and feelings. He is entrusted with selecting books on which future generations are brought up. Berlioz is from the breed of those pseudo-writers with whom Bulgakov fought all his life. And the Master takes revenge on his enemies, forcing the heroine of the novel, Margarita, to defeat the hated House of Writers. He takes revenge for persecution, for persecution, for his broken destiny, for desecrated works. And it is impossible to condemn Bulgakov - after all, the truth is on his side.

But not only dark, gloomy feelings the author put into his favorite creation. “Love jumped out in front of us... and struck us both at once...” These words open the kindest, brightest pages of the novel. This is the love story of the Master and Margarita. The faithful assistant, the wife of the writer Elena Sergeevna, was reflected in the image of Margarita - the most sensual image. Only the love of Bulgakov's half-holy half-witch saved the Master, and Woland gives them well-deserved happiness. Having gone through many trials, but having kept their love, the Master and his Muse leave. And what is left for the reader? How did the novel-life end?

“This is how it ended, my disciple... - the last words of the Master. They are addressed to Ivan Homeless. The poet has changed a lot since we met him on the first pages of the novel. Gone was the former, incompetent, insincere, false Ivan. The meeting with the Master transformed him. Now he is a philosopher eager to follow in the footsteps of his Master. That's who remains among the people and will continue the work of the Master, the work of Bulgakov himself.

Every page, every chapter of the novel made me think, dream, worry and resent. I discovered a lot of new and interesting things. The Master and Margarita is not just a book. It's a whole philosophy. Bulgakov's philosophy. Its main postulate can probably be called the following idea: each person must, first of all, be a thinking and feeling person, which for me is Mikhail Bulgakov. And if, as R. Gamzatov said, “the longevity of a book depends on the degree of talent of its creator,” then the novel The Master and Margarita will live forever.

The master is waiting for Margarita.
"When the storms ended and the stuffy summer came, the long-awaited and beloved roses appeared in the vase"

"... On January 31, 1967, when the first publication of the philosophical novel "Master and Margarita" was completed, my Nadenka was only 15 years old ... Only a year and a half later I got the magazine "Moscow" by appointment in the queue at our library of Central Television. for two nights, and at the age of 50, night vigils are no longer so fruitful.Therefore, I then received only a general idea of ​​​​the novel, which was spoken of by all intelligent Moscow and Russia, as an unusual, multilayered (Christian metaphor, philosophy of good and evil, demonic phantasmagoria and satire on our bureaucrats, ideal lyrics and fate that inspired one disinterested modern creator)...
Then Nadyusha successfully completed the final, compulsory 8th grade exams ... She continued her huge (400 drawings) series for "War and Peace", enthusiastically read the three-volume Brockhaus edition of Byron's works, 8 volumes of Shakespeare. She created her own reading of The Little Prince, a series of drawings Memories of Warsaw, Ballet, East, Hellas, Pushkiniana.
Therefore, I did not even dare to think to draw the attention of the too young and overworked Nadya to the novel “The Master and Margarita” ... /.../
In the autumn of 1967 /.../ in Moscow for the first time they gave Nadia a reading of symbolist poets, pre-revolutionary satirists, and most importantly, they gave her a book bound from two Moscow magazines, the book Master and Margarita ...
Nadyusha suddenly changed and matured!..
She put aside all other dreams and series of drawings, bombarded me with requests to get everything she could about Bulgakov, and somehow immediately and enthusiastically began to create her swan song “The Master and Margarita”. […] Her plan seemed grandiose to me, and I doubted that she could fulfill it. He seemed to me unbearable for her and premature. After all, she was 15 years old at that time ... And although Nadya wrote in letters to friends that “there was absolutely no time to draw” ... she worked hard and with inspiration.
The four-layer nature of the novel suggested to her four graphic techniques: pen on colored backgrounds, watercolor fills, felt-tip pen, pastel and monotype. The integrity of the solution was preserved. She prepared for this work carefully. I also read the collection of Mikhail Bulgakov that I brought from the library. […]
Now I, and all our relatives, friends-mentors are delighted with the “Master”, who has been hushed up for so long. And for the first time, Nadyusha revealed the charm of Bulgakov's talent to me. The drawings were amazing... Nadya made over 160 compositions during the year. […]

Somewhat earlier natashkinus laid out portraits of the characters in the novel performed by Nadya. A few more scenes follow...
Both portraits and scenes are from a small album released in Moscow in 1991 ("Nadya Rusheva. Portraits and scenes from Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita"), published by the State Literary Museum together with the Studio of the Soviet Culture Fund.
I don’t know who selected fragments of the text of the novel as captions for the drawings - whether Nadia herself, or someone after her ... but I gave the drawings with the comments that were selected in the album.

Berlioz. Homeless. Consultant.

"And just at the time when Mikhail Alexandrovich was telling the poet about how the Aztecs sculpted the figure of Vitzli-Putsli from dough, the first person appeared in the alley."

The first meeting of the Master and Margarita.

"She was carrying disgusting, disturbing yellow flowers in her hands..."

Gella and the barman.

"They opened it immediately, but the barman shuddered, backed away and did not enter right away. It was understandable. The girl opened the door, on which there was nothing but a coquettish lace apron and a white tattoo on her head. On her feet, however, were golden shoes."

From sketches on themes of the novel.

"The novel was flying to the end, and I already knew that the last words of the novel would be: "... the fifth procurator of Judea, the horseman Pontius Pilate ..."

Departure of spectators from Variety.

"Lady in pink lingerie ... jumped from the pavement to the sidewalk,
trying to hide in the entrance, but the flowing public blocked her way, and the poor victim of her frivolity and passion for outfits, deceived by the firm of the filthy Fagot, dreamed of only one thing - to fall through the ground.

Margarita reads the Master's manuscript.

"Completely joyless days have come. The novel was written, there was nothing more to do ..."

Margarita snatches the manuscript from the stove.

"Crying out softly, with her bare hands, she threw the last thing left in the stove onto the floor, a pack that was taken up from below."

Meeting of Margarita with Azazello in the Alexander Garden.

The redhead looked around and said mysteriously:
"I was sent to invite you over tonight."

Flight of Natasha on a hog.

"... Slowing down, Natasha caught up with Margarita. She, completely naked with disheveled hair flying through the air, flew astride a fat boar ..."

Ball with Satan.

"The ball fell on her immediately in the form of light, along with it - sound and smell.
... A man in a tailcoat towering in front of the orchestra, seeing Margarita, turned pale, smiled, and suddenly raised the entire orchestra with a wave of his hand. Without interrupting the music for a moment, the orchestra, standing, bathed Margarita with sounds.

Dinner after the ball.

“After the second shot, drunk by Margarita, the candles in the candelabra flared up brighter, and the flame increased in the fireplace. Margarita did not feel any intoxication.
... - That's what I don't understand, - said Margarita, and golden sparks from the crystal jumped in her eyes, - couldn't you really hear the music and the roar of this ball outside?
- Of course, it was not heard, queen, - Koroviev explained, - this must be done in such a way that it was not heard. It needs to be done more carefully."

Return of the Master.

“She kissed him on the forehead, on the lips, pressed herself against his prickly cheek, and tears, long held back, now ran in streams down her face. She uttered only one word, repeating it senselessly:
- You you you...

"Farewell!"

The Master and Margarita saw the promised dawn.
It started right there, right after the full moon..."

The novel "The Master and Margarita" is dedicated to the history of the master - a creative person who opposes the world around him. The history of the master is inextricably linked with the history of his beloved. In the second part of the novel, the author promises to show "true, faithful, eternal love"....

I would like to talk about perhaps the most significant work of Mikhail Bulgakov "Master and Margarita". The Master and Margarita is a historical and philosophical novel. It differs from others in that it contains, as it were, two novels. The chapters of these novels...

Not finished in 1940, The Master and Margarita is one of the most profound works of Russian literature. For the most complete expression of his ideas, Bulgakov builds his composition as a combination of the real, the fantastic and the eternal. Such...

Bulgakov's talent as an artist was from God. And the way this talent was expressed was largely determined by the circumstances of the surrounding life, and by how the fate of the writer developed. In the early 1920s, he conceived the novel "An Engineer with a Hoof",...

“The most terrible question in Moscow is the housing problem,” M. A. Bulgakov once wrote. Indeed, in Soviet times, the writer was forced to constantly seek refuge in the capital. But his "housing problem" did not spoil, just as it did not spoil his favorite characters ....

All guys! We danced at Satan's ball. At devils in a frying pan You will be like crucian carp Famously fry tap dancing For the betrayal of Rus'! Satan is tired of walking - The candles go out, the ball is over ... Igor Talkov The current glory of Bulgakov's novel ...

Mikhail Bulgakov touched upon a wide range of issues in The Master and Margarita.

The scene at the Variety Theater is one of the highlights of the novel. In the famous "session of black magic" Woland exposes human vices, which, despite the changed external surroundings, have remained the same. In many classical works, the devil is the personification of evil. In Bulgakov's novel, the devil appears in Moscow to understand how the townspeople have changed internally. It is no coincidence that the theater "Variety" became the place for the development of events. The most motley audience gathered in it to get a portion of spectacles. The author clearly points out that the "Variety" is not a temple of art, but a farce. With simple tricks, cheap tricks and stupid jokes of the entertainer Bengalsky.

Woland's retinue shows tricks that reveal the true thoughts and motives of the audience. One by one, we see the incarnations of “mortal sins”: greed in the scene with enchanted banknotes, vanity in the “ladies’ store”, pride and fornication in the image of Sempleyarov, who arrogantly demanded to expose tricks, but was exposed himself. Various temptations appear before the audience, to which they easily and joyfully succumb. The devil is the master of temptations that awaken the worst vices in people.

With each new trick, the audience is more and more addicted. When money begins to fall from the ceiling, people quickly turn from joyful excitement to bitterness, a fight breaks out. The unlucky entertainer tried to intervene and was punished. But not by Woland, but by the public itself: “Tear off his head! - said someone sternly in the gallery. The devilish retinue instantly fulfilled this wish. Who knows how far the distraught public could go, but "even mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts." Woland saw everything he wanted. People remained the same, prone to vices, frivolous, but the feeling of pity and compassion is not alien to them. After this scene, Woland retired, leaving the audience to his "assistants". The audience quickly recovered from the shock and happily continued to participate in the devil's entertainment.

In this chapter, Bulgakov wanted to show that people are different, they cannot be unambiguously called good or bad. The author also emphasized the features of the historical time in which the events of the novel developed. The shortage in stores, the struggle for communal rooms and the housing problem, "which spoiled the Muscovites" - all this is the key to understanding what is happening in the Variety Theater. Modern people, like their predecessors, are prone to greed, hypocrisy, hypocrisy. Depending on the realities, certain vices come to the fore, but this is typical of a person. "Ordinary people" - this is exactly the conclusion Woland makes during his experiment. The audience from the "Variety" is the personification of petty vices that are often found among a wide variety of people. The author shows real, incorrigible sinners at the ball of Satan.