Characters of the "Master and Margarita". The main characters of the novel Bulgakov

The novel by Mikhail Bulgakov is a truly amazing and brilliant work of his time. For many years it did not come out because of its acute sociality. Many characters of the "Master and Margarita" are written off from real people, prominent figures of the Soviet Union and the close circle of the writer himself, because of which he was constantly on the verge of arrest. Most Bulgakov heroes endowed him with hated human traits.

History of the creation of the novel

The exact date of work on the novel is unknown. In some rough drafts of Bulgakov 1928 is indicated, in others - 1929. It is absolutely certain that in March 1930 the writer burned the first edition of the work. This was due to the prohibition of the play "Kabala svjatosh."

Now the existing title of the novel appeared only in 1937, before that Bulgakov called his work "Fantastic Novel" (second edition) and "Prince of Darkness" (third edition).

The novel was fully written in the early summer of 1938, but Mikhail Bulgakov made corrections to it until his death. In total, work on the main work in life was conducted for more than ten years.

Unfortunately, the writer did not manage to see his work published. The first publication of the novel took place in 1966 in one of the literary journals. The work was heavily curtailed, but thanks to Bulgakov's wife, the creation of "The Master and Margarita" still became world famous. Roman-testament of the great writer has gained immortality.

The main characters of the "Master and Margarita"

The writer himself after the destruction of the first edition of the book pointed out that he burned the novel about the devil. Woland, in fact, is the main driving force of the work. He is without a doubt an important character.

Along with Satan, the main characters of the novel are Master and Margarita, despite the fact that they appear far from the very beginning of the book. The master appears only in chapter 12, Margarita and then further - in the nineteenth.

There are many hypotheses in the philological world as to who is the leading character. Proceeding from the title of the work and positioning in the book of Woland's image, we shall single out only three main figures.

Woland

For the first time the reader meets Woland at the very beginning of the book. And immediately his image creates an ambiguous impression. The features of his character, which can be deduced from his actions, completely coincide with external features. By itself, he is a dual figure, hence the eyes of different colors, and eyebrows of different heights. Cynical and cunning, he is both generous and noble.

Not surprisingly, Berlioz and Ivan, the first to see Professors Woland, were confused and confused in their conflicting feelings. The stories that this strange citizen tells do not find rational explanations from listeners.

But Woland arrived in Moscow not at all in order to lead the narrative. He has a very definite purpose, which the devil's suite helps him to accomplish. They arrange a real chaos in the capital. Theater "Variety" has become a place for sessions of black magic. The ladies were promised new dresses, in the end they ran away from there in one underwear. The untold riches falling from the ceiling, then turned into priceless pieces of paper.

The purpose of coming to sinful land Woland and his retinue considered punishment for not fulfilling the biblical commandments. In general, this is probably the first image of the devil in literature, striving to balance good and evil, light and darkness.

To other characters Messire said that he came to Moscow to study the recently found manuscripts, to conduct a session of black magic and a ball.

It is at the ball Woland reveals his true face. Satan himself appears before the reader. Taking his assistants, he hides in the next world the next day.

The origin of Woland is not immediately clear. Poet Homeless is wondering if his new acquaintance is a foreigner, since everything in the professor gives out an alien: the image, the manner of speaking, his actions.

Mikhail Bulgakov borrowed the name of the main character from the poem "Faust" Goethe. Woland, or Faland is one of the names of the devil. Many researchers agree that the prototype of Satan was the leader of the people himself, JV Stalin, in which, just like in Woland, the tyrant and good-natured got along.

The retinue of the prince of darkness calls him "sir" and "lord", so the reader does not immediately recognize the name of Woland.

Master

The master is a graduate historian, who always dreamed of writing. After winning the lottery, he had such an opportunity. He became the creator of the novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, in his own way comprehending the evangelical events, but almost reached the point of insanity after his work was criticized in the dust.

The name of the hero is not mentioned in Bulgakov's book. The nickname "Master" was given to him by Margarita, his beloved. However, he was uncomfortable with such treatment. He always avoided situations when he had to call himself. To the poet Ivan Bezdomnykh, he declares that he does not have a first and last name.

External features of the character are absent. Obviously, he is attractive, but the melancholy in his eyes erases all the outer gloss. He is about forty years old, he is dark-haired and always clean-shaven, even in the hospital.

The reader will also understand the fact that the Master was decommissioned from Bulgakov himself, and relations with Margarita are very similar to his life with his third wife, Elena Sergeevna. The master, like Mikhail Bulgakov, burns his novel, and Margarita, like Elena Shilovskaya, saves his remains.

The age of the two creators and their relationship with literary critics also coincide, as Bulgakov himself was repeatedly mocked and persecuted for his works.

The novel does not describe exactly how the Master enters the psychiatric hospital. Some literary critics believe that these are the defects of the last edition of the novel, others insist that the writer thus makes a reference to the repression of the 1930s, when a person could disappear irrevocably.

Margarita

Margarita Nikolayevna - a friend of the Master, separated from her beloved. She gladly agrees to Woland's offer to become a queen at the ball, as he promised to fulfill one of her wishes. Margarita passionately dreamed of reuniting with the Master, which ultimately was due to Satan.

The reader does not know the name of Margarita until the middle of the novel, the Master hides his beloved.

Margarita is a collective image, absorbed much from Gretchen (Faust of Goethe) and the wife of the writer Elena Shilovskaya. In particular, the described meeting of the Master and Margarita is an exact copy of Bulgakov's acquaintance with his wife.

Some researchers see in Margarita the features of the French queens (Margarita de Valois and Margot of Navarre), and in the text there is a reference to their similarity (Koroviev's phrase about the kinship of the heroine with the French royal court).

Margarita is depicted in the novel as a beautiful but bored wife of a wealthy person who acquires the meaning of life after meeting with the Master.

NA Bulgakov made his main character a symbol of love and sacrifice, a muse and support of the writer, ready to give his life for the sake of his beloved.

Demonic characters

Woland and his retinue often are not themselves the driving force behind all the unrest in Moscow. Sometimes they are just observers. There are only five in the city of Satan. Each has its own mission, its task.

Koroviev-Fagot plays the role of conductor and interpreter, he is the equivalent of his master's right hand. His name consists of two parts. Koroviev - a derivative of the name of the hero of the story "Village Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants." Bulgakovsky Koroviev has a dozen features of Korovkin, invented by Dostoevsky. The second part of the name is by the name of the musical instrument. Here the writer was guided by the external data of the hero, because, like the bassoon, the Bulgakovite demon is thin, tall and can triple to fulfill the errand of the master.

Koroviev-Fagot appears to the characters of the book as an interpreter, then a regent, then a skilled swindler. The true person, the demon and the devil, does not open immediately. But the attentive reader will pay attention to how the hero appears in the narrative. It literally arises from the red-hot Moscow air (according to legend, a terrible heat is a harbinger of the arrival of evil forces).

Cat Behemoth - a hero who can try on any shape. This character, symbolizing debauchery and gluttony, is also Woland's favorite entertainment, his buffoon.

Bulgakov this character was introduced exclusively for a satirical and humorous note, woven into the complex philosophical and moral meaning of the novel. This is said and all the actions that Cat Behemoth did (shootout with detectives, a chess game with Messire, a shooting competition with Azazello).

Gella is a character who can execute any assignment. A female vampire is an indispensable servant of Woland. In the novel, she is depicted as a green-eyed girl with long red hair, which freely moves through the air. This gives it a special resemblance to a witch. Introducing his servant Margarita, Woland points to her quickness, helpfulness and understanding.

It is assumed that many vampire traits of Gella, Bulgakov spied in the story "Ghoul" by A. Tolstoy. From there, smacking and clicking with teeth, a devilish kiss, because of which Varenukha stopped casting a shadow and became a vampire. Gella - a character who was the only one of the whole suite of Woland did not participate in the scene of the last flight.

Azazello acts as the link, the recruiter for the black affairs of Messire. Absolutely unattractive character, short height, with reddish, protruding in different directions, hair, bulging fang. Finish the image of lacquered shoes, bowler on his head and striped suit Azazello. And Margarita, who first saw him, calls the hero a robber mug.

Abaddon exists somewhere in the background and differs from the rest with his sympathetic attitude both to the world of evil and to the world of good.

Biblical characters

The biblical part of the novel "The Master and Margarita" was written by Bulgakov on the basis of the Gospel of Matthew, but he uses Aramaic names, which he considers historically accurate (Jeshua instead of Jesus).

The biblical story is divided in the writer's novel into three parts. The first tells Woland at the Patriarch's Ponds, the second dreams the poet Bezdomny, the third reads Margarita. In the biblical chapters there are many references to the Soviet system of power and government.

The characters of the Master and Margarita are Afranius (chief of the secret police of Pilate), Judas (a resident of Yershalaim who betrayed Yeshua), Joseph Kaifa (the priest who sent Yeshua to be executed), Levi Matvey (a disciple of Yeshua who took him from the cross), Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, as well as several other heroes.

Pontius Pilate

The procurator of Judea is called upon to determine the fate of Yeshua Ha-Nozri, who is doomed to be executed. He is a tough and powerful person, he decides to interrogate the accused. During this dialogue, Pontius Pilate was completely enamored by Yeshua, but despite the miracles shown to him (Ha-Nozri cured the migraine of the procurator), the death penalty was confirmed.

Because of his sympathy for Yeshua, Pilate decides to revenge. He orders to kill the man who framed Ga-Nozri under the blow of the Sanhedrin.

Pontius Pilate and Yeshua imbued each other with inexplicable feelings, because of which the first one suffered for the rest of his life. He understood that he had signed his own verdict to a real miracle. Therefore, his whole physical and unconscious life was imprisoned, which he created for himself. During the last flight of Satan, Woland asked his opponent to grant Pilate freedom, which he did.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri

The biblical story in the novel differs from the Gospel in many aspects, which Bulgakov did not take into account. Yeshua is depicted as an ordinary person who has the gift of an empath, pursued by crowds of fanatics and followers. Actually because of their misinterpretation of Yeshua's sermons, the latter was on the verge of death. Yeshua tells Pontius Pilate about one particularly persistent persecutor who has warped his words. His name is Levi Matvey. Master and Margarita eventually got the long-awaited peace thanks to him.

Most literary scholars describe Yeshua as Woland's antipode. However, there is one more, more amusing version. Jesus is not at all a prototype of Yeshua. The hero of Bulgakov is the embodiment of hypocrisy, a mask that was put on by a spirit with different guises. Perhaps this version was born because of the writer's religious preferences. He was not an ardent atheist, but he did not adhere to church orders.

Jeshua differs from the evangelical Jesus by the details of birth and life, as well as worldview. He positions himself as a philosopher, although the novel does not specifically state this. Yeshua asserts that all people are kind, Jesus in the Gospel says that good and evil exist together in the heart of man.

The author's attitude to the character is quite unambiguous. Bulgakov sympathizes with him and approves of the generosity and humanity of Yeshua, but does not recognize his divinity in him and sees no sense in self-sacrifice.

Moscow characters

The characters "Masters and Margaritas" are mostly written off from real people, and in some cases are sharp parodies of them. For example, Archibald Archibaldovich's prototype was Jacob Rosenthal, the manager of the restaurant at Herzen's house (in the novel there is the restaurant of Griboedov's house).

In the novel, the reader sees a parody of the director of the Moscow Art Theater Nemirovich-Danchenko in the person of Bengalsky, whose fate is the embodiment of the writer's hatred of cynical political "sub-images" (he was beheaded).

Some characters, the writer did not even bother to change names. For example, in Annushka you can find a neighbor of Bulgakov, and Dr. Kuzmin was in fact his doctor.

Also, Bulgakov uses talking names (Likhodeev, Bogohulsky, Bosoy), which acts as a direct characterization of the characters. "Master and Margarita" - not the first novel of the writer, in which he uses prototypes. For example, in the White Guard he painted the image of Nikolka Turbin from his own brother.

Mikhail Bulgakov is an amazing writer, capable of singing a beautiful love story, a theme of freedom in one work, answering exciting philosophical questions and subtly, with just one hint, drawing satirical sketches whose heroes were people intolerant of him.