The Master and Margarita , which Bulgakov began writing in 1928 and which was finally published by his widow in 1966, twenty-six years after his death, led to an international appreciation of his work. The book contributed a number of sayings to the Russian language, for example, “Manuscripts don’t burn” and “second-grade freshness”. A destroyed manuscript of the Master is an important element of the plot. Bulgakov had to rewrite the novel from memory after he burned the draft manuscript.
The novel is a critique of Soviet society and its literary establishment. The work is appreciated for its philosophical undertones and for its high artistic level, thanks to its picturesque descriptions (especially of old Jerusalem), lyrical fragments and style. It is a frame narrative involving two characteristically related time periods, or plot lines: a retelling of the gospels and a description of contemporary Moscow.
The novel begins with Satan visiting Moscow in the 1930s, joining a conversation between a critic and a poet debating the existence of Jesus Christ and the Devil. It develops into an all-embracing indictment of the corruption, greed, narrow-mindedness, and widespread paranoia of Soviet Russia. Published more than 25 years after Bulgakov’s death, and more than ten years after Stalin’s, the novel firmly secured Bulgakov’s place among the pantheon of great Russian writers.
‘Say at last – who art thou?’
‘That Power I serve
Which wills forever evil
Yet does forever good.’
Goethe, Faust
Woland
Woland is Satan in the disguise of a “foreign professor” who is “in Moscow to present a performance of ‘black magic’ and then expose its machinations”. This exposure never occurs; Woland instead exposes the greed and bourgeois behaviour of the spectators themselves.
Koroviev
Also known as Fagotto, he is described as an “ex-choirmaster”, perhaps implying that he was once a member of an angelic choir. He is Woland’s assistant and translator, and is capable of creating any illusion. Unlike Behemoth and Azazello, he does not use violence at any point. Like Behemoth, his true form is revealed at the end: a never-smiling dark knight
Azazello
Azazello is a menacing, fanged and wall-eyed member of Woland’s retinue, a messenger and assassin. His name may be a reference to Azazel, the fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry, and taught women the “sinful art” of painting their faces (mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Enoch 8:1ñ3). This connection could explain the magical cream he gives to Margarita. He also transforms into his real shape in the end: a pale-faced demon-assassin with black empty eyes.
Hella
Hella is a beautiful, redheaded succubus. She serves as maid to Woland and his retinue. Described as being “perfect, were it not for a purple scar on her neck” ó the scar suggesting that she is also a vampiress.
Behemoth
An enormous demonic black cat (said to be as large as a hog) who speaks, walks on two legs, and can even transform to human shape for brief periods. He has a penchant for chess, vodka, pistols, and obnoxious sarcasm. He is evidently the least-respected member of Woland’s team ó even Margarita boldly takes to slapping Behemoth on the head after one of his many ill-timed jokes, without fear of retribution. In the last chapters it appears that Behemoth is a demon pageboy, the best clown in the world, who paid off his debt by serving Satan in his Moscow journey. His name refers to both the Biblical monster and the Russian word for hippopotamus.
Woland and his entourage
Woland’s walking stick- bamboo, silver rings,
polimer clue
Beret – linen
Shoes – wingtip with leather sole
Sword – steel, cooper
Banch – bamboo, pine, brass nails
130 mm height, 230 mm length
March – April 2014
The Master and Margarita
The Master
An author who wrote a novel about the meeting of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus of Nazareth), which was rejected by the Soviet literary bureaucracy, ruining his career.
Margarita
The Master’s lover. Trapped in a passionless marriage, she devotes herself to the Master.
April 2020