The Master and Margarita is a masterpiece of Russian literature, where the present and the past are intertwined. The author worked on his creation most of his life and eventually gave readers a grandiose and unique work full of colors. A variety of heroes, attracting attention with their fantasticality and unusualness. This is a novel by Bulgakov, where various topics are raised with all its problems, which is what we will write about.
As we have already said, in his novel Bulgakov raises various problems, which, with the help of his characters, their images and actions, the writer reveals them and looks for solutions. Thus, the novel The Master and Margarita reveals such problems as the problem of choice, the problem of good and evil, the problem of love and loneliness, the problem of creativity and morality. Let's look at everything in more detail.
Reading Bulgakov's work, we notice the first problem that the writer raises and this is the problem of choice. Bulgakov constructs the plot in such a way that his fate and the laws by which life will develop depend on each character. The writer gives each of his heroes the opportunity to change their lives for the better, but not every one of them takes this chance. But everyone is faced with a choice. This is Margarita, who needs to choose a life with her husband in wealth, or live with a poor Master. This is also the choice that Pontius Pilate had to make. The choice that Ryukhin and Bezdomny had to make. Having finished reading Bulgakov’s work, we saw that each of the heroes still made his own personal choice and it was correct for each in its own way.
The key issue in the novel is the moral problem, when each person must determine for himself what is good and what is bad, take the path of betrayal or remain true to his ideals, be a coward or take the just path. All heroes, at some point in their lives, decide moral issues for themselves, choosing one path or another. So Pontius must decide for himself whether to acquit the innocent or impose a death sentence. The master must make a choice either to abandon his work, submitting to censorship, or to defend his own novel. Margarita needs to decide to be with her husband or to share her fate with her beloved Master. At the same time, all the characters are faced with the moral side of the problem.
Another of the eternal problems that Bulgakov revealed was the problem of good and evil. This topic has interested many writers and has been relevant at all times. Bulgakov also did not stay away from the problem of good and evil and revealed it in his own way, using the lives and choices of his characters. The author embodies two different forces that must be in balance and cannot exist without one another in the images of Yeshua from Yershalaim and Woland. We saw that the two forces are equal and stand on the same level. Woland and Yeshua do not rule the world, but only coexist and confront, arranging disputes. At the same time, we can safely say that the struggle between good and evil is eternal, since there is not a single person in the world who has not committed a sin, just as there is no one who has never committed good in his life. The main thing is to be able to recognize these two forces and choose the right path. It is the novel that helps readers understand what is good and what is evil.
The author did not stand aside from the problem of creativity. Already from the first pages we notice the raised problem of false and real creativity. This topic was also exciting and painful for Bulgakov. Apparently this is why many readers and literary scholars see Bulgakov himself in the image of the Master.
Reading the work, we see members of MASSOLIT who care not about what to write, but about how to fill their pockets. The author portrays writers for whom the restaurant located on the ground floor has always been a temple of culture and its landmark at all times. But a true writer is a Master, in his image a real artist of the pen is depicted, who wrote a truly good work. But the mediocre Massolites did not appreciate her, and what’s more, they drove the character to madness. However, the author says that the time will come and the hack will be punished, higher powers will reward everyone for their deeds. The work emphasizes that manuscripts do not burn, which means that every person who has associated himself with literature must treat creativity responsibly. Justice was restored thanks to Woland and his retinue. The entire hotbed of lies and hackwork was on fire. And even if a new building is built, new hacks will come, but for a while the truth has triumphed. And real talents now have a little time to bring their masterpieces to the world.
Love is a feeling that worries everyone, and the problem of love was also revealed in the novel The Master and Margarita. Love is truly a strong feeling that pushes people to do different things. Bulgakov reveals the theme of love through the images of two heroes: Margarita and the Master. But there are obstacles to their common happiness. Firstly, the heroine’s marriage, and secondly, the Master’s stay in a psychiatric hospital. But the love of the heroes is so strong that Margarita decides to make a deal with the devil. She sells her soul to him, if only he would return her loved one. How do we see love in the novel? First of all, this is love, which does not make heroes worse or better, it simply makes them different. The writer's love is selfless, selfless, merciful, eternal and faithful.
M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” is a complex, multifaceted work. The author touches upon the fundamental problems of human existence: good and evil, life and death. In addition, the writer could not ignore the problems of his time, when human nature itself was breaking down. The problem of human cowardice was pressing. The author considers cowardice one of the biggest sins in life. This position
expressed through the image of Pontius Pilate. The procurator controlled the destinies of many people. Yeshua Ha-Nozri touched the procurator with his sincerity and kindness. However, Pilate did not listen to the voice of conscience, but followed the lead of the crowd and executed Yeshua. The procurator chickened out and was punished for it. He had no peace day or night. This is what Woland said about Pilate: “He says,” Woland’s voice was heard, “the same thing, he says that even under the moon he has no peace and that he has a bad position. This is what he always says when he is not sleeping, and when he sleeps, he sees the same thing - the lunar road and wants to go along it and talk with the prisoner Ga-Notsri, because, as he claims, he did not say something back then, a long time ago , the fourteenth of the spring month of Nisan. But, alas, for some reason he fails to take this road and no one comes to him. Then, what can you do, he has to talk to himself. However, some variety is needed, and to his speech about the moon he often adds that most of all in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory.” And Pontius Pilate suffers for twelve thousand moons for one moon, for that moment when he became cowardly. And only after much torment and suffering Pilate finally receives forgiveness.
The problem of excessive self-confidence and lack of faith also deserves attention in the novel. It was for lack of faith in God that the chairman of the board of the literary association, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Berlioz, was punished. Berlioz does not believe in the power of the Almighty, does not recognize Jesus Christ and tries to force everyone to think the same way as him. Berlioz wanted to prove to Bezdomny that the main thing is not what Jesus was like - bad or good, but that Jesus as a person did not exist in the world before, and all the stories about him are simply fiction. “There is not a single Eastern religion,” said Berlioz, “in which, as a rule, an immaculate virgin would not give birth to a god, and the Christians, without inventing anything new, in the same way ripped off their Jesus, who in fact never existed in alive. This is what we need to focus on.” No one and nothing can convince Berlioz. Woland and Berlioz could not convince him. For this stubbornness, for self-confidence, Berlioz is punished - he dies under the wheels of a tram.
On the pages of the novel, Bulgakov satirically depicted Moscow residents: their way of life and customs, everyday life and worries. Woland is interested in what the inhabitants of Moscow have become. To do this, he arranges a black magic session. And he concludes that not only greed and greed are inherent in them, mercy is also alive in them. When the Hippopotamus tears off Georges Bengal's head, the women ask him to return it to the unfortunate man. And Woland concludes: “Well,” he responded thoughtfully, “they are people like people, they love money; but this has always been... humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well, well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing problem has only spoiled them.”
The novel "The Master and Margarita" - Fr. great love, about loneliness, about the role of the intelligentsia in society, about Moscow and Muscovites. It reveals itself to the reader in an endless variety of topics and problems. And therefore the work will always be modern, interesting, new. It will be read and appreciated in all centuries and times.
“The Master and Margarita” is a work of fantastic realism, leading the tradition from Goethe, Hoffmann, Gogol, Veltman. A realistic depiction of reality is combined with phantasmagoria and diabolism; satire is intertwined with deep psychologism and lyrical emotional tonality.
In the novel, events unfold in three philosophical and temporal planes: the real present is a satirical depiction of the morals and customs of Moscow in the 1920s-1930s. and a dramatic story about love and creativity, about the Master and Margarita; a fantastic plan - the adventures of Woland and his retinue in modern Moscow; the finale of the novel, in which Woland’s retinue is carried away into the sky and into infinity, turning into knights; both the Master and Margarita go into infinity; the historical plan is represented by biblical stories: on the one hand, this is a book that Master writes, on the other hand, Woland transports him into the depths of historical biblical time with his devilish will.
The satirical aspect of the novel is associated with the writer’s depiction of modern Moscow and its inhabitants. Bulgakov shows many typical features of Moscow inhabitants. In the scene in the variety show, the lack of spirituality, vulgarity, money-grubbing, and greed of Muscovites are exposed. A phantasmagoric image of an institution singing in a choir appears as a satirical symbol of the uniformity of thoughts and feelings of the “citizens” of the country; a grotesque image of a suit signing papers without its owner, Prokhor Petrovich. The activities of MASSOLIT with its ticket offices, dachas, vouchers, with its “best in Moscow” restaurant, where the barman sells sturgeon of “second freshness”, with a mandatory membership card, “brown, smelling of expensive leather, with a wide gold border” are illuminated with a satirical light “, without which a writer is not a writer at all, even if it is Dostoevsky.
Satire in the novel occurs wherever Woland and his retinue find themselves. They are the ones who are cruel to evil, they reveal it, ridicule it, mock it. The fantastic and satirical, intertwined, create an absurd, phantasmagoric picture of Moscow in the 1930s.
The philosophical layer of The Master and Margarita includes several problems. One of the main ones is the problem of creativity and the fate of the writer.
In The Master, Bulgakov embodied his attitude towards creativity, his thoughts about creativity. The master is completely at the mercy of his imagination, he is not of this world. He is an ascetic: “days and weeks fly by outside the windows of the apartment, seasons replace each other - but the Master does not raise his head above the manuscript.” The novel does not promise him success or recognition. He is destined only to experience the shortest minute of triumph: “Oh, how I guessed right! Oh, how I guessed everything!” - he will triumph when he hears Bezdomny’s story about Pontius Pilate. The fate of the Master reveals the philosophical essence of creativity - contempt for miserable vanity, vanity, pride, continuity of the spiritual connection between the present and the past, selflessness.
It is no coincidence that Bulgakov calls his hero a Master, and not a writer. The master is even offended when Ivan Bezdomny exclaims: “Oh, you’re a writer!” - The master “darkened his face, shook his fist at Ivan, then said: “I am a master.” A master is more than a writer. There are several shades of meaning here: respect for perfect mastery of skill, dedication, service to a higher spiritual task, in contrast to the social order of craftsmen-writers of the 20s and 30s. It is believed that there is a hint of closeness to the Order of Freemasons, as indicated by the Master’s cap with the letter “M”.
In difficult conditions, the Master is supported by love. With the power of love, Margarita is trying to cure fear, which is difficult to do, since this is not an individual mental illness, but a disease of the times - the action takes place in the 30s - the years of terrible repression.
The second problem is retribution for good and evil. Since in real life one cannot expect justice, Bulgakov nominates Woland as an instrument of retribution. Woland is the force that “eternally wants evil, but does good.” Bulgakov's Woland is not opposed to Yeshua. He objectively does good, punishing informers, spies, and swindlers. Woland restores justice by returning the burned manuscript to the Master, giving him peace as a reward for his creativity.
The philosophical aspect of the novel is also connected with the biblical chapters - the depiction of the duel between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate, who are antagonists. Yeshua is an internally free person, although externally he is weak and frail. Pontius Pilate is personally brave, he is an excellent commander, but he is afraid of power. He is spiritually unfree, and this determines his actions. Material from the site
The story of Yeshua and Pilate is presented by Bulgakov as a drama of ideas. Humanly, Pilate sympathizes with Yeshua, he is even ready to have mercy on him. But this is only until it comes to the power of Caesar. When Yeshua declares that the time will come when there will be no rule of Caesars, his fate is sealed. The fear of Caesar turns out to be greater than Pilate himself. He shouts to drown out this fear: “I don’t share your thoughts! The kingdom of truth will never come!” Pilate screams to drown out his own doubts. The image of Pilate is tragic, since in him potential opportunities turn out to be blocked by slavish cowardice.
Yeshua appears as the embodiment of the pure idea of faith and goodness. The idea of goodness turns out to be weak in everyday practice, but it is capable of supporting a person’s spirit. Bulgakov did not share the utopian hopes of achieving the triumph of justice only with words. Since Yeshua’s speech contains no words about punishment, Bulgakov takes the idea of retribution beyond the image of Yeshua and includes Woland in the image. Yeshua, defenseless in earthly life, is strong as a herald of human ideals. The story of Yeshua and Pilate embodies the philosophical idea of guilt and retribution. Pilate is punished with immortality. His name is not glorified by his exploits; it became a symbol of cowardice and pharisaism. Immortality of this kind is worse than death.
The fantastic adventures of Woland and his retinue, the spiritual duel of Yeshua with Pontius Pilate, the fate of the Master and Margarita are united by the motive of faith in justice. Justice ultimately triumphs, but it is achieved with the help of devilish power. Bulgakov, in his contemporary reality, did not see a real force that could restore justice.
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The novel "The Master and Margarita" is one of the most interesting works I have read. And the author of this work, Mikhail Bulgakov, certainly raises very important and relevant topics that are and will be encountered to this day in our world. The work shows two sides of the coin of our life, it exposes the evil that is hidden behind sycophancy, brings out all liars, and shows us that evil is not something abstract and something that cannot be seen, but evil is done and it is hidden in people .
“The Master and Margarita” is not just a work about evil spirits, but a story of love, creativity, and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Every person on our planet is aware of this eternal war of two opposing forces. Just as the thinkers of previous generations realized it. Bulgakov is convinced that everything begins with faith. God is good, and the devil is evil. Which side a person will suddenly find himself on is decided by someone other than himself. These decisions are observed by Woland, one of the main characters of the novel. He punishes everything that has deviated from goodness with the help of his retinue. I think that punishment for the evil of people was carried out only for the sake of justice. Is Woland to blame, for example, for the death of Berlioz or for the fact that Ivan Bezdomny went crazy? It seems to me that people themselves are to blame for their failures. And the author warns the reader and leads him on the right path. The hell we created, in our hearts, in our souls, and in our homes. This is what contributes to the madness in our world. Nothing goes unpunished - the author proves to the reader. Woland, in a conversation with Levi, says an interesting thing to Matvey: “... what would your good do if evil did not exist, and what would the earth look like if the shadows disappeared from it?” By this, Bulgakov makes it clear that without darkness there will be no light - this is necessary for a full life. And, undoubtedly, these two forces must be in balance. Also, this work talks about such an eternal and probably immortal theme as: love. The Master’s love for Margarita (and vice versa) makes me believe that true and true love can survive all the terrible moments that come their way together. Also, I am (more likely proud than condemned) surprised by Margarita’s determination that she was able to leave her luxurious life, in money and endless wealth, to live with the Master - supporting him in all her endeavors, seeing talent in him and not giving in what Woland's tricks? I really liked her words when she told her husband that she was leaving him:
Forgive me for disturbing you, but I have to tell you terrible news... No, I don’t dare... My gloves whistled in the cafe today. So funny! I put them on the table and... I fell in love with someone else.
In his brilliant novel M.A. Bulgakov touched on a huge number of eternal topics and questions. The novel “The Master and Margarita” is a work that, from the very first pages, amazes the reader with its unusualness and depth. His work teaches not only that one should not succumb to all evil tricks, but also to love, create, dream, fight to be right and, most importantly, to believe that good can always defeat evil, but for this, each person must not let go hands.
Each author puts his soul into his works, his vision of certain issues that face humanity at this stage of its development or were centuries ago. The number of these very questions varies: in some works there may be two or three of them, in others - more than ten. One of such multi-problem works, in my opinion, can be considered the novel by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”.
In this book, one of the most interesting is the image of Margarita. The main character of this novel combines such traits as vengefulness and mercy, cruelty and self-sacrifice. It looks strange, but without shadow there is no light. Ideal people cannot be found because they do not exist. Everyone has both dark and light sides. Mercy and self-sacrifice appeared the moment the Master’s beloved learned Frida’s story.
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Despite the strict ban, Margarita showed special attention to this guest of Woland's ball. Frida committed a sin by killing her child, for which she was punished. Her life became a nightmare, turning every night into the worst moments of her existence. A young woman looking for salvation found it in the person of the main character, who sacrificed her desire, which could be used in the name of saving the Master. Margarita spent this desire on a guest of the devil's ball, with whom life brought her together for the first time. Isn't this mercy and self-sacrifice?
There is an opinion that many people do not like the novel “The Master and Margarita” because the evil in it is not the devil, but the people themselves. I agree with this opinion, because I believe that Woland is not a negative character. He is, rather, a neutral character who exposes human vices and punishes people for their atrocities. A very indicative moment in Variety associated with money falling from the ceiling. Spectators began to catch them, excitement grew, the words were heard: “What are you grabbing? It’s mine! It was flying towards me!” Everyone tried to get a bigger and sweeter piece. I believe that Satan's goal was to try to understand whether people had changed during the period that he was away from our world. The session of black magic summed up the entire journey of the sir and his retinue: “... people are like people. They love money, but that has always been the case... Well, they are frivolous... well, well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their door hearts... ordinary people... In general, they resemble the old ones..."
Many works by various authors also reveal such a problem as creativity. In this work, she is shown through the image of the Master. This man quit his job to write a novel and poured his soul into it. He later admitted to a homeless man that after his novel was criticized by Latunsky, “joyless autumn days” came. The main character differed from the members of the Massolit organization in that he was more concerned about creativity rather than the well-being of his acquaintances.
I believe that the main secret of the success of this novel is that Bulgakov managed to combine a fantastic plot and deep philosophical subtext. Each reader will find in this work problems that are close to him.
Updated: 2017-08-16
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