Following in the footsteps of books read.

When I graduated from school, the study of “The Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov was already part of school curriculum on Russian literature.

But the book was still hard to get. I remember that we had one volume for five hooligan girlfriends.

I have read. Attentively and with sincere interest. But when it came time to write an essay on this novel, for the first time I wrote not a lot of words for five or six pages, but one short phrase: “I read it, I can answer all the questions about the text, but I can’t formulate my attitude towards the work.” And she received a well-deserved two. The only bad mark in essays during my entire studies.

Then I re-read the novel, having matured, but the feeling of confusion remained. I did not experience the admiration that others spoke about with aspiration.

Confusion– that’s exactly the word. Four storylines, each of which has a special tone and semantic load, and could exist on its own. A mixture of many literary genres. A very original twist in the portrayal of usually clearly predictable “evil - good” characters. Unconventional coverage of biblical events. And, forgive me for this phrase, blurry brightness personalities in the novel. Who is really the central figure in the novel?

And here’s what’s surprising: all four plot lines flow in intersecting streams for a long time, and in the end they suddenly quickly and furiously intertwine into a whirlpool and fall like a waterfall into the sea. If “Woland’s ball” was the peak, then the epilogue relaxes, fills with calm and some kind of peace. It’s like it’s all over, and it ended well….

But the aftertaste and a lot of questions remain...

I looked for Bulgakov himself in the heroes. It seemed to me that the author must portray himself in someone. I read an opinion that Bulgakov portrayed himself as a Master. And then I did something that I do very rarely (based on one novel): I became interested in his biography and other works. “Notes of a Young Doctor” allowed me to get at least a little closer to understanding the secret of Mikhail Afanasyevich’s personality. I read other works with interest, and could not agree with the fact that Bulgakov is a weak, rather weak-willed, albeit talented Master.

In general, it seemed to me like a background against which the story of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Margarita, “written” by Bulgakov with special love and care, shone more brightly.

Regarding the image of Margarita, I have more than once entered into heated discussions on the topic: can she be considered that same delightful ideal of sacrificial love, for the sake of which one would even go to the stake, even to the Devil.

I have expressed bewilderment more than once: why was she sitting with her dried mimosa next to her unloved husband when her Master disappeared??? I can’t imagine how you can not dig your nose into the earth, not go crazy with worry and anxiety, not look for Him, without fearing anything in the world. Just the thought that suddenly he needs me, but I’m not around at that moment, would not allow me to drink, sleep, or eat until I find him and make sure that his life is in order.

The outburst of anger with which she destroyed the apartments of the offenders is also incomprehensible. Well, I definitely wouldn’t have time for this if I knew (or even just hoped) that I was about to meet my long-awaited loved one. And then, when they were given peace, I again tried it on myself and felt sad: is peace needed in eternity? Master - perhaps. He lives in the world of his novels and will not be bored. And Margarita?

And then I remember Nezhdana Yuryeva’s poem from the cycle “Basement, lilacs, cigarettes...” with the lines “I love you so much, my Master... why.. am I dreaming of Woland more and more often at night?”.:)

In any work, we often look for ourselves in the characters - we recognize our own traits, or admire, noticing in the image what we would like to have in ourselves. I didn’t find my image in The Master and Margarita. At all. I returned to this novel several times at different periods of my life, and kept looking for “my” clothes both among the comical Muscovites and among the mythical characters born of the author’s imagination.

By this point, I know that more than anything in the world I would like to “live” in the novel… as Pontius Pilate’s dog. The one that helped him forget a little about the exhausting headache...

Woland’s phrase, which has become an aphorism, that “you should never ask for anything from the powers that be” also seemed somewhat controversial to me.

Although one can expect such support and justification for the sin of Pride from the Devil. But the question is simpler: if you never ask for anything, HOW will this “someone” even know that you exist in the world?

Those. Roughly speaking, how does Putin know that Vasya Pupkin from the village of Toporishche needs anything at all in this life?

Perhaps my words lead to the idea that I do not like the novel as a whole, but in fact this is not the case.

In fact, the novel gave me a lot. Starting from the desire to walk around “Bulgakov’s” Moscow, from the Patriarchal bench, repeating the path of Ivan Bezdomny, trying to guess where exactly that very basement could be located...

And ending with the first understanding of the integrity of the universe, in which Evil exists within the whole, and not “on the other side.” Perhaps this is my subjective perception, into which all sorts of shreds of world teachings and religions later “settled down”...

About the film adaptation by V. Bortko.

Sometimes the film adaptation disappoints, erasing both the plot and the images. This was the case, for example, with the English series about Sherlock Holmes, where Watson, contrary to all my expectations, turned out to be an elderly man with an absurd character. “In The Master and Margarita”, only Koroviev, performed by A. Abdulov, was slightly inconsistent, but he charmed me so much that when I last read the book, I already saw Koroviev-Abdulov in my imagination. It seems to me that everything worked out.

I will be happy to listen to any opinions on the topic of “The Master and Margarita”; I will be grateful for competent information about the history of its creation, and points of view, even diametrically opposed ones. Thank you.

In this chapter we will consider the origin of some names. We rely on the information available in the scientific literature on this issue.

Azazello

Azazello is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a member of Woland's retinue, "a demon of the waterless desert, a demon killer."

The name Azazello was formed by Bulgakov from the Old Testament name Azazel (or Azazel). This is the name of the negative cultural hero of the Old Testament apocrypha - the book of Enoch, the fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry. Thanks to Azazel, women have mastered the “lascivious art” of painting their faces. Therefore, it is Azazello who gives Margarita a cream that magically changes her appearance.

In the book by I.Ya. Porfiryev’s “Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events” (1872), most likely known to the author of “The Master and Margarita,” noted, in particular, that Azazel “taught people to make swords, swords, knives, shields, armor, mirrors, bracelets and various ornaments; he taught to paint eyebrows, to use precious stones and all kinds of ornaments, so that the earth was corrupted."

Abadonna

Abadonna is a character in the novel The Master and Margarita, a demon of war.

Translated from Hebrew - “destruction, destruction; kingdom of death; destroyer”; in the New Testament he appears to be a special spiritual being as the angel of the abyss; "His name in Hebrew is Avadon, and in Greek Apollyon"

He obviously owes his name to the story of the writer and historian N.A. Polevoy (1896-1946) “Abadonna” and especially the poem by the poet Vasily Zhukovsky (1783-1852) “Abbadona” (1815), which is a free translation of the epilogue of the poem by the German romantic Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803) “Messiad” (1751-1773) ).

The hero of Zhukovsky's poem is an Old Testament fallen angel who led the angels' rebellion against God and was thrown to earth as punishment. Abbadona, doomed to immortality, seeks death in vain: “Suddenly a planet lost in the abyss flew into the sun; the hour of destruction had come for it... it was already smoking and glowing... Abbadona flew towards it, hoping to collapse together... It scattered in smoke, but, ah! Abbadon did not die!

Alexander Ryukhin

Alexander Ryukhin - character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", poet, member of MASSOLIT. Prototype A.R. served as poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930). Bulgakov often played billiards with him. The memories of Bulgakov’s friend, playwright S.A., are preserved about this. Ermolinsky (1900 - 1984): “If Mayakovsky was in the billiard room at that time and Bulgakov was heading there, the curious would rush after them. Of course - Bulgakov and Mayakovsky! Just then a scandal will break out.

They played with concentration and efficiency, everyone tried to show off their shot. Mayakovsky, as far as I remember, played better.

From two sides to the middle, said Bulgakov.

It happens,” Mayakovsky sympathized, walking around the table and choosing a comfortable position. - You will finally get rich from your aunts Manya and uncle Vanya, build a country house, and a huge billiards table of your own. I will definitely visit and train.

Thank you. What a house it is!

Why not?

Oh, Vladimir Vladimirovich, but the insecticide will not help you either, I dare to assure you. Your Prisypkin will build a country house with its own billiards on our bones.

Mayakovsky rolled his horse's eye and, holding a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, shook his head:

Absolutely agree.

Regardless of the result of the game, they said goodbye amicably. And everyone left disappointed."

Aloisy Mogarych

Aloisy Mogarych is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita,” a journalist who wrote a denunciation against the Master and subsequently settled in his basement in one of the Arbat alleys.

The image of Aloysius rhymes with the image of Judas in the Yershalaim chapters of the novel. The combination of the Latin name with the Russian vulgarism “mogarych” (drinking after making a deal; “mogarychit” - “to trade in disrupting the Mogarychs; to mess around”) is a frequent Bulgakovian technique that creates a comic effect.

Prototype by A.M. served as Bulgakov's friend, playwright Sergei Aleksandrovich Ermolinsky (1900-1984). In 1929, Ermolinsky met Maria Artemyevna Chimishkian (born in 1904), who at that time was friends with Bulgakov and his second wife L.E. Belozerskaya. After some time, the young people entered into a legal marriage and rented a room in house No. 9 on Mansurovsky Lane, which belonged to the family of theatrical layout artist Sergei Sergeevich Topleninov, one of the prototypes of the Master. This wooden house became the prototype of the home of the Master and Margarita.

The plague is Annushka, who spilled sunflower oil and thereby indirectly caused the death of Berlioz. Bulgakov's favorites female name for characters from the urban philistinism, in addition, an important role in his choice was probably played by the fact that the tram “A” running along the Boulevard Ring was called “Annushka”.

Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov

Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, chairman of the “acoustic commission of Moscow theaters”.

The hero's surname translated from French means “simple”, “ordinary”, “stupid”.

The surname "Sempleyarov" is derived from the surname of Bulgakov's good friend, composer and conductor Alexander Afanasyevich Spendiarov (1871 - 1928). The second wife of the writer L.E. Belozerskaya recalls meeting Spendiarov and his family in early 1927 and cites a diary story from his daughter Marina (1903 - 1984): “My dad and I were at the Bulgakovs’. Lyubov Evgenievna asked in advance what daddy’s favorite dish was. I said: “Hill grouse with red cabbage." In the morning I was looking for dad to tell him the Bulgakovs' address... I remember his voice on the phone: "Is that you, Maryushka? Well, what are you doing? Well, tell me the address... Okay, I’ll come, baby." When I arrived, Mikhail Afanasyevich, Lyubov Evgenievna and dad were sitting around the table. Dad was sitting with his back to the light against the backdrop of the Christmas tree. I was struck by the fact that he was so sad, drooping He was all within himself, in his dark thoughts and, without leaving his dark little world at that time, he spoke, looking at his plate, about the troubles he had accumulated. Then, somehow unexpectedly for all of us, he switched to praising Armenia. It was felt that in the hustle and bustle of Moscow he missed her."

Archibald Archibaldovich

Archibald Archibaldovich is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, director of the Griboedov House restaurant.

Prototype A.A. served as Yakov Danilovich Rosenthal (1893-1966) (nicknamed “Beard”), in 1925-1931. - director of the restaurants of the Herzen House (in the novel parodied as the Griboedov House), the House of the Writers' Union (Vorovsky St., 56) and the House of Printing (Suvorovsky Boulevard,

About the prototype A.A. The colorful memories of the founder of the Theater Workers Club, B.M., have been preserved. Filippova: “The restaurant of the TR club was headed by an enthusiast of the establishment, a favorite of all muses, J.D. Rosenthal, nicknamed by the actors the Beard: the abundant vegetation bordering its eastern face fully justified this. According to the recollections of friends and acquaintances of the legendary permanent director, who worked for ten years in the restaurant before the war itself, he had an impressive height, a representative appearance, a thick black Assyrian, conical, large, chest-length beard.”

Afranius is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, the head of the secret guard, directly subordinate to the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate.

The prototype of A. was Afranius Burr, who is described in detail in the book “Antichrist” by the French historian of religions E. Renan (1823-1892). Extracts from this book are preserved in Bulgakov’s archive. Renan wrote about the “noble” Afranius Burra, who held the post of praetorian prefect in Rome (this official performed, among others, police functions) and died in 62. He, according to the historian, “had to atone for a death full of sorrow, his criminal desire to do a good deed, while at the same time reckoning with evil."

According to L.E. Belozerskaya, the nickname of Pilate’s dog is formed from her name: Lyubov - Lyuba - Lyuban - Lyubanga - Banga (L.E. Belozerskaya - Bulgakova. Memoirs. M., 1989, p. 161). The end of a name can confuse the reader and misindicate the gender of the dog. However, in one place in the novel it is said “he” about Bang, and towards the end he is called a “pointy-eared dog”.

Baron Meigel

Baron Meigel, a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", has several literary and at least one real prototype from among Bulgakov's contemporaries.

This real prototype is the former Baron Boris Sergeevich Steiger, a native of Kyiv, who in the 20s and 30s worked in Moscow as an authorized representative of the Board of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR for foreign relations. At the same time, Steiger was a full-time employee of the OGPU-NKVD. He monitored Soviet citizens who came into contact with foreigners and sought to obtain from foreign diplomats information that was of interest to the Soviet security authorities.

Behemoth is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a werecat and Woland's favorite jester.

The name Behemoth is taken from the apocryphal Old Testament book of Enoch. In the study by I.Ya. Porfiryev's "Apocryphal Tales of Old Testament Persons and Events" (1872), in all likelihood familiar to Bulgakov, mentioned the sea monster Behemoth, together with the female one - Leviathan - living in the invisible desert "to the east of the garden where the chosen and the righteous lived."

The author of “The Master and Margarita” also gleaned information about Behemoth from the book by M.A. Orlov's "The History of Relations between Man and the Devil" (1904), extracts from which are preserved in the Bulgakov archive. There, in particular, the case of the abbess of the Loudun Monastery in France, Anne Desanges, who lived in the 17th century, was described. and possessed by “seven devils: Asmodeus, Amon, Grezil, Leviathan, Behemoth, Balam and Isacaron,” and “the fifth demon was Behemoth, who came from the rank of Thrones. His stay was in the womb of the abbess, and as a sign of his exit from her, he must was to throw it up a yard. This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant head, with a trunk and fangs, his hands were of a human shape, and his huge belly, short tail and thick hind legs, like a hippopotamus, reminded him of his name. .

In the scene of the game of chess, Woland exclaims, addressing the cat Behemoth: “How long will this booth under the bed continue? Get out, damned Hans!”

Hans - from German “goose, fool”; here - "fool, or fool." At the courts of reigning persons or simply noble persons, there were often official positions of jesters. Thus, addressing Behemoth this way, Woland simply calls the cat by his regular position as Satan’s court jester.

Varenukha Ivan Savelievich

Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha, administrator of the Variety Theater, who turned into a vampire after Gella’s kiss.

The word "varenukha" means "a drunken drink made from a brew of vodka and honey with berries and spices", "brew", "soul park". The combination of the funny surname and simple-minded character of this character with the terrible role of the “vampire gunner” gives a farcical character to the “story” into which a narrow-minded administrator accidentally ended up. The farce is enhanced by the comparison of Varenukha with Cupid flying out the window from the financial director’s office.

Var-Rabban

The name of the robber released by Caiaphas in the form “Barabbas” (Aramaic “son of the father”) is named in all 6 canonical Gospels; in Farrar this name is transliterated in two ways: “Bar-Abba” and “Bar-Rabban”; the latter spelling, erroneous, is used by Bulgakov.

Woland is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, who leads the world of otherworldly forces. Woland is the devil, Satan, “prince of darkness,” “spirit of evil and lord of shadows” (all these definitions are found in the text of the novel).

Woland is largely focused on Mephistopheles "Faust" (1808-1832) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), including the operatic one from Charles Gounod's (1818-1893) opera "Faust" (1859).

The name Woland itself is taken from Goethe’s poem, where it is mentioned only once and is usually omitted in Russian translations. This is what Mephistopheles calls himself in the Walpurgis Night scene, demanding that the evil spirits give way: “The nobleman Woland is coming!” In the prose translation by A. Sokolovsky (1902), the text of which Bulgakov was familiar with, this passage is given as follows:

"Mephistopheles. Look where you've been taken! I see that I need to put my master's rights into action. Hey, you! The place! Mr. Woland is coming!"

In the commentary, the translator explained the German phrase “Junker Voland kommt” as follows: “Junker means a noble person (nobleman), and Woland was one of the names of the devil. The main word “Faland” (which meant deceiver, crafty) was already used by ancient writers in the sense of the devil ".

Bulgakov also used this last name: after a session of black magic, the employees of the Variety Theater try to remember the name of the magician: “- In... It seems like Woland. Or maybe not Woland? Maybe Faland.”

As amended 1929-1930 The name Woland was reproduced in full Latin on his business card: “Dr Theodor Voland.” In the final text, Bulgakov abandoned the Latin alphabet: Ivan Bezdomny on the Patriarchs remembers only the initial letter of the surname - W ("double-ve").

This replacement of the original V (“fau”) is not accidental. The German "Voland" is pronounced like Foland, but in Russian the initial "ef" in this combination creates a comic effect, and is difficult to pronounce. The German "Faland" would not be suitable here either. With the Russian pronunciation - Faland - the situation was better, but an inappropriate association arose with the word “halyard” (it denotes the rope used to raise sails and yards on ships) and some of its slang derivatives. In addition, Faland did not appear in Goethe’s poem, and Bulgakov wanted to associate his Satan with “Faust,” even if he had a name not very well known to the Russian public. Rare name it was necessary so that the average reader, not experienced in Demonology, would not immediately guess who Woland was.

The third wife of the writer E.S. Bulgakova recorded in her diary the reading of the initial chapters of the latest edition of “The Master and Margarita” on April 27, 1939: “Yesterday we had Faiko - both (playwright Alexander Mikhailovich Faiko (1893-1978) with his wife), Markov (head of the Moscow Art Theater) and Vilenkin (Vitaly Yakovlevich Vilenkin (born in 1910/11), a colleague of Pavel Aleksandrovich Markov (1897-1980) in the literary department of the Moscow Art Theater) Misha read “The Master and Margarita” - a huge impression. They immediately asked to set a date for the continuation. after reading - who is Woland? Vilenkin said that he guessed, but he would never tell. I suggested that I write to him, and we will exchange notes. He wrote: Satan, I am the devil. also play. And he wrote on his note: I don’t know. But I took the bait and wrote to him - Satan.”

Bulgakov was undoubtedly quite satisfied with the experiment. Even such a qualified listener as A.M. Fayko did not immediately guess Woland. Consequently, the mystery of the foreign professor who appeared on the Patriarch's Ponds will keep most readers of The Master and Margarita in suspense from the very beginning. In early editions, Bulgakov tried the names Azazello and Veliar for the future Woland.

Woland's literary pedigree, used by Bulgakov, is extremely multifaceted. The devil in “The Master and Margarita” has an obvious portrait resemblance to Eduard Eduardovich von Mandro, the infernal character in A. Bely’s novel “The Moscow Eccentric” (1925), given to Bulgakov by the author. According to the definition given by A. Bely in the preface to the novel “Masks” (1933) from the same epic “Moscow” as “The Moscow Eccentric”, Mandro is a combination of “a kind of Marquis de Sade and Cagliostro of the 20th century.” In the preface to “The Moscow Eccentric,” the author argued that “in the person of Mandro, the theme of the “Iron Heel” (the famous novel by Jack London (John Griffith) (1876-1916), which appeared in 1908 (the enslavers of humanity) becomes obsolete." White disguises the infernality of his character in every possible way, leaving the reader in the dark whether Mandro is Satan.

Gella is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita".

G. is a member of Woland's retinue, a female vampire.

Bulgakov took the name “Gella” from the article “Sorcery” of the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, where it was noted that in Lesvos this name was used to call untimely dead girls who became vampires after death.

Georges Bengalsky

Georges Bengalsky is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", an entertainer at the Variety Theater.

The surname Bengalsky is a common stage name. It is possible that Bulgakov was guided by one of the episodic characters in the novel by Fyodor Sologub (Teternikov) (1863-1927) “The Little Demon” (1905) - the dramatic artist Bengalsky.

The direct prototype of Zh.B. served as one of the entertainers who performed at the Moscow Music Hall (from which the Variety Theater was largely copied) Georgy (or Georges) Razdolsky.

However, Zh.B. there was another prototype, very well known to Bulgakov. This is one of the two leaders of the Moscow Art Theater, Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858-1943), in " Theatrical novel"impressed in the image of one of the two directors of the Independent Theater - Aristarkha Platonovich, who was almost always abroad. Bulgakov did not like Nemirovich-Danchenko and did not hide this, in particular, in letters to his third wife E.S. Bulgakova, whose sister Olga Sergeevna Bokshanskaya (1891-1948) was Vladimir Ivanovich’s secretary.

Ivan Bezdomny

Ivan Bezdomny (aka Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev) is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, a poet who in the epilogue becomes a professor at the Institute of History and Philosophy.

In early editions: Antosha Bezrodny, Ivanushka Popov, Ivanushka Bezrodny, etc., a pseudonym typical of the era, formed according to a popular ideological template: Maxim Gorky, Demyan Bedny, Mikhail Golodny, etc.

One of the prototypes of I.B. there was a poet Alexander Ilyich Bezymensky (1898-1973), whose pseudonym, which became a surname, was parodied in the pseudonym Bezdomny. The 1929 edition of The Master and Margarita mentioned the monument " famous poet Alexander Ivanovich Zhitomirsky, who was poisoned by sturgeon in 1933,” and the monument was located opposite the Griboedov House. Considering that Bezymensky was from Zhitomir, the hint here was even more transparent than in the final text, where the Komsomol poet remained associated only with the image of I. B.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri

Yeshua Ha-Nozri is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, going back to Jesus Christ from the Gospels.

Bulgakov encountered the name “Yeshua Ga-Notsri” in Sergei Chevkin’s play “Yeshua Ganotsri. The impartial discovery of the truth” (1922), and then checked it through the works of historians. The Bulgakov archive contains extracts from the book of the German philosopher Arthur Drews (1865-1935) “The Myth of Christ”, translated into Russian in 1924, where it was stated that in ancient Hebrew the word “natsar”, or “natzer”, means “branch” " or "branch", and "Yeshua" or "Joshua" - "help to Yahweh" or "God's help."

True, in his other work, “Denial of the Historicity of Jesus in the Past and Present,” which appeared in Russian in 1930, Drewe preferred a different etymology of the word “natzer” (another option is “notzer”) - “guard”, “shepherd” , joining the opinion of the British biblical historian William Smith (1846-1894) that even before our era, among the Jews there was a sect of Nazarenes, or Nazarenes, who worshiped the cult god Jesus (Joshua, Yeshua) “ha-notzri”, i.e. "Guardian Jesus"

The writer’s archive also preserves extracts from the book “The Life of Jesus Christ” (1873) by the English historian and theologian Bishop Frederick W. Farrar. If Drewe and other historians of the mythological school sought to prove that the nickname of Jesus Nazarene (Ha-Nozri) is not of a geographical nature and is in no way connected with the city of Nazareth, which, in their opinion, did not yet exist in Gospel times, then Farrar, one of the most prominent adherents of the historical school (see: Christianity), defended traditional etymology.

The question aroused great interest: how to pronounce the name Yeshua correctly? In the film by V. Bortko it clearly sounds: “Yeshua Ha-Nozri”, and in the work of M.A. Bulgakov we see "Yeshua Ha - Nozri".

Researchers of Bulgakov’s novel pay a lot of attention to analyzing aspects related to both gospel motifs and the personality of Jesus Christ. The most contradictory information from various sources is presented, allegedly indicating Bulgakov’s departure from the evangelical traditions; however, this does not lead to any results that are at least somehow closer to the revelation of Bulgakov’s plan. It does not and cannot lead to it - it turns out, from the point of view of the correspondence of the details of the plot of the “Yershalaim” chapters with literary sources, the author’s fiction in this case is practically absent.

Let's start with the name of the central character of the "Yershalaim" chapters. Alexander Men called Christ Jesus the Nazarene, Bulgakov called the name Yeshua Ha-Notsri, unusual for the Slavic ear, Yeshua Ha-Notsri.V.Ya. Lakshin, for example, commented on Bulgakov’s choice: “The very cacophony of the plebeian name of the hero - Yeshua Ha-Nozri, so down-to-earth and “secular” in comparison with the solemn church - Jesus, is, as it were, intended to confirm the authenticity of Bulgakov’s story and its independence from the gospel tradition.” . However, this is not quite true; Of all the researchers who studied this issue, S.A. came closest to the truth. Ermolinsky, who claimed that Bulgakov took the name of Christ from the Talmud: “I think the name Yeshua also arose from there - Yeshua Ha-Nozri (“outcast” from Nazarene, it seems so).”

Indeed, the name "Yeshua" is the true name of Christ in Aramaic; This is exactly what the Virgin Mary named her Son. Only it means in the Savior’s native language not “outcast”, but “messiah”, “savior”. "Jesus" is the version of this name in the Greek language in which the Gospels were written, and in which there is no sound corresponding to the Russian "sh", Aramaic and Hebrew - "shin". So there is nothing “discordant and plebeian” in this historical name. As for the second name - “Ha-Notsri”, it actually appeared in the Talmud, in the so-called. “anti-legend of Christ”, and in several spellings - “Nozri”, “Nozeri”, “Nosri”. What was unexpected was that the word “notzri” is so widespread in Hebrew that it is included in even the smallest dictionaries; Moreover, it is directly relevant not only to the author of this work, but also to the majority of its potential readers, since it means ... “Christian.” "Ha" is the definite article in Hebrew.

There are two opinions regarding the etymology of the word “notsri” itself. Many, including G.A. Lesskis believe that it comes from the name of the city of Nazareth in Galilee, where Christ was supposedly born. But the whole point is that, most likely, the city itself with that name did not yet exist in New Testament times, as historians of Christianity point out. Some of them, in particular A. Donini, very convincingly prove that the name Ha Nozri comes from the name of the Nazarene sect, and not the city of Nazareth: “Neither the name Nazarene nor the nickname Nazarene can in any way be associated with the name of the city of Nazareth , which is also not mentioned by any author. The nickname that was given to Jesus - Nazarene or Nazarene - simply means “pure”, “holy” or even “scion” - this is how various characters in the Bible were called. Linguistic connection between the words “Nazarene” and “Nazareth” is impossible on Semitic soil.”

The same conclusion follows from an analysis of the text of the Gospel of John, where, along with the mention of the city of Nazareth, Christ is spoken of as a Nazarite; from a comparison of the texts of the corresponding verses, it is clear that the name “Ha Nozri” comes from the word “Nazarene”, and not “Nazareth” (and especially not “Nazarene”, which is an arbitrary distortion).

Much has been written about the fact that the word “Nazarene” was used to describe Jewish sectarians who lived in desert places, did not cut their hair, did not drink wine, and ate locusts. And, since in Bulgakov studies it is customary to refer to the works of F. Farrar, examples can be given from there: “Talmudists constantly call Jesus Ha-Nozeri; [...] Palestinian Christians at that very time were known under the name Nuzara (singular Nuzrani) ". And here is the place where Farrar speaks not about Christ, but about John the Baptist: “From an early age, the young Nazarite had a desire for a lonely life.” And the famous manuscripts of the Qumran caves, found in 1952 in Israel, contain data dating back to the 1st century BC. mentions of the Nazarene sect.

Regarding the spelling variant of the name "Ga-Nozeri", our domestic scientist, Doctor of Philosophy A.M. Karimsky in his commentary to the book by D.F. Strauss's "Life of Jesus" somewhat clarified Farrar's data and put the final point on this issue. Moreover, the conclusion of this passage is so interesting for this case that it is simply impossible not to quote it:

"Nazarites (from the Hebrew "nazar" - to refuse, to abstain) - in Ancient Judea ascetic preachers who took a vow of abstinence from wine and cutting their hair. Subsequently, Nazariteism became closer to the Essenes movement and may have had some influence on Christian asceticism. In early In Christian literature, the term "Nazarene" without sufficient reason began to be considered as a designation of a resident of Nazareth, a Nazarene. Already in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles it is attached to Jesus Christ (*). This is the meaning of the inscription on the table, which, according to John, Pontius Pilate commanded. attach on the crucifix: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” The synoptics omit the word “Nazarene”, so a discrepancy is found in the artistic images of the crucifixion: either, in accordance with Luke, there is a trilingual inscription - in Greek, Latin and Hebrew - “This is the King.” Jewish" or the Latin abbreviation "INRI", meaning Jesus Nazareus Rex Judaeorum and coming from the testimony of John."

(*) One phonetic inaccuracy should be taken into account here. The word “Nazarene” is more correctly pronounced “notzrim” (as Christ and his followers are called in the Talmud). The discrepancy is due to the fact that the Hebrew letter “tsade” did not have a Greek analogue and was transmitted through “s” or “z” (Robertson A. The Origin of Christianity. M., 1959, p. 110). By the way, M.A. Bulgakov was more precise, giving Jesus of Nazareth the name Yeshua Ha-Nozri in the novel “The Master and Margarita.”

In addition, John’s Jesus is not at all the son of a virgin, as in Matthew or Luke. He is called the son of Joseph of Nazareth; John also knew about his mother and brothers.

Numerous conjectures are being made about this passage from Yeshua’s dialogue with Pilate: “Where are you from? - From the city of Gamala.” Since the very existence of Nazareth in the 1st century AD. It is doubtful that Bulgakov used the name of a nearby city, which is mentioned, in particular, by F. Farrar: “The rebellion, under the leadership of Judas from Gamala (in Galilee) and the Pharisee Saddok, swept the entire country, subjecting it to the destruction of sword and fire.” Further, Farrar writes about Christ: “He spoke in the dialect of His native Gamala, close to Nazareth and taken for Syrian Athens.”

As established by Kyiv researcher M.S. Petrovsky, all the historical realities of the Gospel period present in the novel were taken by Bulgakov from a commentary on a separate publication published before the revolution famous play"King of the Jews", written by a member of the royal family, Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov.

Joseph Kaifa

Joseph Kaifa - a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a Jewish high priest, president of the Sanhedrin.

Image of I.K. goes back to the chairman of the trial of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Gospels, whose name in Russian is transcribed either as Joseph Caiaphas, or as Joseph Caiaphas. The first option was adopted in the Synodal translation and is found in early editions of Bulgakov's novel.

Threat of Pontius Pilate I.K. has its source in the work of the French historian Ernest Renan (1823-1892) “Antichrist” (1866), which tells about the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the troops of the future Roman emperor Titus (39-81) in 70. An extract from this book with listing the legions that took part in the siege and storming of the city. Renan wrote that "with Titus were four legions: the 5th Macedonica, the 10th Fretensis, the 12th Fulminata, the 15th Apollinaris, not counting the numerous auxiliary troops brought by his Syrian allies, and many Arabs who came for the sake of plunder." .

Judas of Cariath

Judas from Kiriath is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, going back to Judas Iscariot of the Gospels, who betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver.

Bulgakov turned Judas Iscariot into Judas from Kiriath, following the principle of transcription of gospel names used in Sergei Chevkin's play "Yeshua Ganotsri. An impartial discovery of the truth" (1922) (see: Christianity). Chevkin had Judas, the son of Simon from Kerioth, and Bulgakov made his hero Judas from Kiriath. The writer’s archive contains an extract of this name from the book of the English historian Bishop Frederick W. Farrar “The Life of Jesus Christ” (1873).

Chevkin gave a very unconventional interpretation of Judas’ behavior, largely anticipating the subsequent development of this image in literature and art of the 20th century, in particular, in the famous rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” (1969) (librettist Tim Raie). The author of “Yeshua Ganotsri” emphasized: “History teaches that if from any conspiratorial organization one of its members goes to the side of the enemies or simply leaves the organization, then there is always either wounded pride, or disappointment in the ideas, goals of the organization or the personality of the leader, or the ancient struggle for the female, or all this together in various combinations. Sometimes, however, greed is mixed in, but not as a cause, but as a consequence.” In Chevkin's play, Judas' betrayal is caused by a combination of all the above reasons, and one of the main motives for betrayal here is Judas' jealousy of Yeshua because of Lazarus' sister Mary.

Koroviev-Fagot

Koroviev-Fagot is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, the eldest of the demons subordinate to Woland, a devil and a knight, who introduces himself to Muscovites as a translator for a foreign professor and a former regent of a church choir.

In the Moscow chapters, Koroviev, like Behemoth, plays the role of a jester. His nickname, Fagot, speaks to this. In addition to associations with a musical instrument, supported by a common appearance Koroviev, the expression “dire des fagots” in French means “to speak absurdities,” and the word “fagotin” is a buffoon, in Italian it means “a clumsy person.”

The surname Koroviev is modeled after the surname of the character in the story “The Ghoul” (1841) by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1817-1875) of the state councilor Telyaev, who turns out to be the knight Ambrose and a vampire. It is interesting that Ambrose is the name of one of the visitors to the Griboedov House restaurant, who extols the virtues of its cuisine at the very beginning of the novel. In the finale, the visit of Behemoth and Koroviev-Fagot to this restaurant ends with a fire and the death of the Griboyedov House, and in the final scene of the last flight of Koroviev-Fagot, like Telyaev in A.K. Tolstoy, turns into a knight.

Koroviev-Fagot is also associated with the images of the works of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881). In the epilogue of The Master and Margarita, among those detained, “four Korovkins” are named due to the similarity of their surnames with Koroviev-Fagot. Here I immediately remember the story “The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its Inhabitants” (1859), where a certain Korovkin appears. The narrator's uncle, Colonel Rostanev, considers this hero one of his close people. The colonel “suddenly started talking, for an unknown reason, about some Mr. Korovkin, an extraordinary man, whom he met three days ago somewhere on the highway and whom he was now waiting for to visit him with extreme impatience.” For Rostanev, Korovkin “is such a person; one word, a man of science! I rely on him like a stone mountain: a conquering man! As he speaks about family happiness!” And then the long-awaited Korovkin appears before the guests “not in a sober state of mind, sir.” His costume, consisting of worn out and damaged items of clothing that once made up quite decent clothing, is reminiscent of the Koroviev-Fagot costume.

Lavrovich Mstislav

Mstislav Lavrovich, writer, member of the editorial board of the magazine where the Master showed his novel, participant in the persecution of the Master. It is assumed that “the surname of Lavrovich echoed the surname of the playwright Vishnevsky (laurel - cherry).”

Levi Matvey

Levi Matvey - a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a former tax collector, the only student of Yeshua Ha-Nozri.

L.M. dates back to the Evangelist Matthew, to whom tradition attributes the authorship of the “logia” - the oldest notes about the life of Jesus Christ, which formed the basis of the three Gospels: Matthew, Luke and Mark, called synoptic.

In the novel, Bulgakov seems to reconstruct the process of creating L.M. these “logies” - the primary distortion of the history of Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Pontius Pilate, which was then multiplied in the canonical Gospels. Yeshua himself emphasizes that L.M. "Wrongly records after me."

Madame Petrakova

Antonida Porfiryevna Petrakova, the wife of the famous fiction writer Petrakov - Sukhovey, who was with her husband in the Griboedov restaurant on the day of the fire. One of the stylistic features of Bulgakov's prose is to give colorful, memorable names to passing, episodic characters in the novel, who could have been left completely nameless, which enhances the colorfulness of even a cursory sketch - a portrait.

Margarita Nikolaevna

Margarita Nikolaevna is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, the Master’s beloved.

The main prototype of Margarita was the third wife of the writer E.S. Bulgakov. Through her, Margarita is connected with the heroine of the early 30s play “Adam and Eve” - Eva Voykevich. E.S. Bulgakova wrote in her diary on February 28, 1938: “M.A. read the first act of his play “Adam and Eve,” written in 1931... In it our triangle is M.A., E.A. ( E.S. Bulgakova’s second husband, military leader E.A. Shilovsky (1889-1952), I.” Here Bulgakov served as the prototype for academician Alexander Ippolitovich Efrosimov, and Shilovsky for Eva’s husband, engineer Adam Nikolaevich Krasovsky. This is probably why Margarita’s husband was made in the novel. engineer.

In literary terms, Margaret goes back to Margaret of Fausta (1808-1832) by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832). Some details of the image of Margarita can also be found in the novel by Emilia Mindlin (1900-1980) “The Return of Doctor Faust” (1923) (see: Master). For example, the golden horseshoe that Woland gives to Margarita is obviously connected with the name of the Golden Horseshoe tavern in this work (here Faust first meets Margarita).

The name "Margarita" translated from Latin means "pearl".

The Master is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a historian who became a writer.

The Master is largely an autobiographical hero. His age at the time the novel takes place (“a man of about thirty-eight” appears in the hospital before Ivan Bezdomny) is exactly Bulgakov’s age in May 1929 (he turned 38 on the 15th, 10 days after the Master and his beloved left Moscow).

The newspaper campaign against the Master and his novel about Pontius Pilate is reminiscent of the newspaper campaign against Bulgakov in connection with the story "Fatal Eggs", the plays "Days of the Turbins", "Running", "Zoyka's Apartment", "Crimson Island" and the novel " White Guard". The Bulgakov archive contains extracts from the newspaper "Working Moscow" dated November 15, 1928, where, under the heading "Let's hit Bulgakovism!" speeches were presented in the Moscow Party Committee at a meeting of communists working in the field of art, held on November 13. In the introductory In a word, the chairman of the Committee on Arts P.M. Kerzhentsev (Lebedev) (1881-1940) accused the then chairman of the Main Art Department of pandering to Bulgakov: “Comrade tried in vain. Svidersky abdicate the blame for staging “Running.” In vain he appealed to the decisions of higher authorities - they supposedly allowed it. The meeting remained unchanged in its opinion, which was further strengthened when Comrade. Svidersky, backed up against the wall, declared:

I personally stand for the production of “Running,” even if there is a lot in this play that is alien to us, so much the better, it will be possible to discuss.”

The hero's name seems to have been lost, only the title or rank remains, the assignment of which at the end of his novel is accompanied by a kind of coronation - a crowning with a black cap with the letter "M".

The absence of a name for this character and its replacement with the word Master speaks of the closeness of the author and his character: Bulgakov signed his early works with various pseudonyms, including “Em”, “M. Unknown”, “Stranger”, “Mag”.

The word “master” itself did not appear immediately instead of a name: initially the hero was called the Poet. There was also a “working” name Faust.

The word "master", surprisingly capacious and polysemantic, contains many meanings, and all of them are to some extent applicable to the image of the main character of the novel.

The first and most common meaning of the word “master” is “a person who has achieved the highest art in his field.” The greatest painters of former times are called masters. Bulgakov's hero fully deserved this name.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Berlioz is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, chairman of MASSOLIT.

MASSOLIT, located in the Griboyedov House, by analogy with the association MASTKOMDRAM (Workshop of Communist Drama) can be deciphered as the Workshop (or Masters) of socialist literature.

The organization headed by M.A.B. parodies the literary and dramatic unions that actually existed in the 20s and early 30s. In addition to MASTKOMDRAM, these are RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers), MAPP (Moscow Association of Proletarian Writers) and others, focused on supporting the postulates of communist ideology in literature and art.

Some features of the portrait of M.A.B. reminds famous poet, author of anti-religious poems, including "The Gospel of Demyan", Demyan Bedny (Efim Alekseevich Pridvorov) (1883-1945). Like Bedny, M.A.B. “he was short, well-fed, bald, carried his decent hat like a patty in his hand, and on his well-shaven face were glasses of supernatural size in a black horn-rimmed frame.” Horn-rimmed glasses are added to the portrait of the author of “The Gospel of Demyan,” and Poor’s traditional pie hat has been transformed from a winter hat into a summer hat for the season (although summer hats are not usually called that).

Horny glasses connect M.A.B. not only with an imaginary foreigner like him in Torgsin (see: “The Master and Margarita”), but also with another real prototype - the chairman of RAPP Leopold Leonidovich Averbakh (1903-1939). A hint of this surname in a veiled form is present in the episode when Woland treats M.A.B. And Ivan Bezdomny with exactly the kind of cigarettes that Bezdomny wants - “Our brand”. In this regard, an association arises with the scene in Auerbach’s cellar from Faust.

(1808-1832) by the great German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832), where Mephistopheles instantly provides visitors with the type of wine they desire. Here we must keep in mind the practical identity of the surnames Averbakh and Auerbach.

Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy

Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy is a character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, the chairman of the housing association at building 302 bis on Sadovaya, where the Bad Apartment is located.

In the early edition of the novel N.I.B. was called Nikodim Grigorievich Poroty, making one recall the author of the apocryphal Nicodemus Gospel, who expounded in particular detail the story of Pontius Pilate.

N.I.B. completes the long series of fraudulent house managers in Bulgakov's work, begun by the "lamb chairman" in "Memories...", Shvonder in "Heart of a Dog" and Hallelujah-Burtle in "Zoyka's Apartment" and continued by Bunsha-Koretsky in "Bliss" and "Ivan" Vasilievich".

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate - Roman procurator (governor) of Judea in the late 20s - early 30s. AD, during which Jesus Christ was executed. Pontius Pilate is one of the main characters in the novel "The Master and Margarita".

At first glance, Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate is a man without a biography, but in fact all of it is present in a hidden form in the text. The key here is the mention of the battle of Idistavizo, where the future procurator of Judea commanded a cavalry turma and saved the giant Mark the Ratlayer from death, surrounded by the Germans. Idistavizo (translated from ancient German - Valley of the Virgins, as mentioned by Bulgakov) is a valley near the river. Weser in Germany, where in 16 the Roman commander Germanicus (15 BC - 19 AD), nephew of Emperor Tiberius (43 or 42 BC - 37 AD), defeated the army of Arminius (Germanus) ) (18 or 16 BC - 19 or 21 AD), leader Germanic tribe Cherusci (Chevrusci).

Sokov Andrey Fokich

Sokov Andrey Fokich - a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a bartender at the Variety Theater.

In Sokov’s mouth were put the immortal words in Russia about “sturgeon of the second freshness.” In the summer of 1995, we happened to read an advertisement in one of the Moscow kiosks: “Beer of the second freshness.”

The episode when Sokov learns from Woland and his retinue about his illness and imminent death, but refuses the offer to spend his considerable treasures, accumulated not by righteous labors, but at the expense of the same “sturgeon of the second freshness,” on the joys of life, is clearly inspired the book of the English historian Bishop Frederick Farrar “The Life of Jesus Christ” (1873), well known to Bulgakov.

Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev

Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev - character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", director of the Variety Theater.

As amended in 1929 by S. B.L. was called Garusya Pedulaev and had as his prototype Bulgakov's Vladikavkaz acquaintance, the Kumyk Tuadzhin Peizulaev, co-author of the play "Sons of the Mullah", the history of work on which is outlined in "Notes on Cuffs" and "La Bohème".

B. Sokolov points out that in the early editions of Styopa Likhodeev was called Garasey Pedulaev and was based on a Vladikavkaz acquaintance Bulgakov. The change in the name of this Bulgakov character may have been caused by the oxymoronic contrast between the surname Likhodeev and the patronymic Bogdanovich, i.e. "given by God"

Stravinsky

Stravinsky - character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", professor, director of a psychiatric clinic.

One of S.'s prototypes from among Bulgakov's contemporaries was Professor Grigory Ivanovich Rossolimo (1860-1928), director of the clinic of the 1st Moscow State University, who headed the laboratory of experimental psychology at the Neurological Institute. However, S. also had a literary prototype - psychiatrist Ravino from the story “The Head of Professor Dowell” (1925) by Alexander Belyaev (1884-1942). The surname Ravino probably also came from Rossolimo.

Regarding the professor’s surname, which coincides with the surname of the famous composer Igor Stravinsky, B. Myagkov makes an interesting assumption: “The very image of the fictional hospital with its persistently emphasized wonders of automation acquires a fabulous folklore intonation, clearly also associated with the surname of I. Stravinsky, the author of the most popular in the 20s. e years of ballets on a Russian theme: “The Rite of Spring”, “Petrushki”, “Weddings”, “Firebirds”. That is, this clinic is a kind of hut on chicken legs, with a window made of unbreakable glass, into which Homeless (Ivan - like the fabulous Ivanushka) tries in vain to jump out, and sliding walls instead of doors" (B. Myagkov. Bulgakov Moscow. M., 1993 ).

Woland's guest at the Midnight Spring Ball, an Italian poisoner from the island of Sicily. Aqua tofana is a medieval colorless and tasteless poison, the secret of which has been lost.

Tuzbuben

The dog is a bloodhound that was used in the investigation of events at the Variety Theater. Researchers believe that the dog's name contains an allusion to the famous bloodhound Tref, who was used to capture Lenin in 1917.

Frida is a character in the novel "The Master and Margarita", a participant in Satan's Great Ball.

F. asks Margarita to put in a word for her before the prince of darkness and stop her torture: for thirty years now F. has been putting on the table at night the handkerchief with which she strangled her baby.

The Bulgakov archive contains an extract from the book “The Sexual Question” (1908) by the famous Swiss psychiatrist and public figure, one of the founders of sexology, August (Auguste) Forel (1848-1931): “Frieda Keller - killed a boy. Konietzko - strangled a baby with a handkerchief.” .

Frieda Keller, who served as the prototype for F., is a young seamstress from the Swiss canton of Saint-Gallen, born in 1879. Initially, she earned only 60 francs a month. As Forel notes: “In pursuit of big earnings, on Sundays she acted as an assistant in a cafe, where the married owner persistently pestered her with his advances. She soon moved to a new store with a monthly salary of 80 francs, but when she was 19 years old, the owner of the cafe, who had long been making attempts on her, took her under a plausible pretext to the cellar and here forced her to give herself to him, which was repeated two more times. In May 1899, she gave birth to a boy in a hospital in St. Gallen.” Frida Keller placed the child in an orphanage, from where, however, he had to be taken away upon reaching the age of five.

M.A. Bulgakov creatively used the techniques of naming characters, taking into account the traditions of Russian classical literature, the trends of contemporary Newspeak, passing through the prism of his own perception the anthroponymic reality of his time. The choice of an anthroponymic unit was regulated by ethics, pragmatics, aesthetic rules of artistic creativity, the nature of the event being described, and the author’s attitude towards the choice of the name of a literary character.

One of the main characters of the novel, the embodiment of Satan, the head of the world of otherworldly forces. The character's name is taken from Goethe's Faust and is focused on Mephistopheles, the spirit of evil and demon. The author eloquently described Woland's appearance, attributing to him all sorts of defects: one eye is black, the other green, teeth with platinum and gold crowns, eyebrows one higher than the other, a crooked mouth.

The main character of the novel, the Master's secret lover, his comrade-in-arms and assistant. In the novel, only her first and middle names are known. Margarita Nikolaevna is a beautiful housewife of about thirty who lives in the center of Moscow and is married to a wealthy military engineer. She does not love her husband, and they have no children.

One of the main characters, the nameless hero of the novel, is a Muscovite, a former historian who wrote a novel about Pontius Pilate and the last days of the life of Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Margarita’s lover. The master was a highly educated man who knew several foreign languages. When he was lucky enough to win a large sum in the lottery, he decided to give up everything and do what he loved. It was then that he wrote his historical novel, into which he poured his whole soul.

A character in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, as well as main character, written by the Master of the novel, going back to the Gospel Jesus Christ. According to the Synodal Translation of the New Testament, the nickname Ha-Nozri can mean “Nazarene.” Being one of the key characters in the novel “The Master and Margarita”, he is the ruler of the forces of Light and the antipode of Woland.

A minor character in the novel, aka Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, is a poet and member of MASSOLIT, a student of the master, later a professor at the Institute of History and Philosophy. At the beginning of the novel, this character does not appear in in the best possible way. This is a broad-shouldered, reddish young man in chewed trousers, black slippers and a checkered cap. As a member of MASSOLIT, he wrote an atheistic poem about Jesus Christ, which turned out to be quite plausible.

A minor character in the novel, a member of Woland's retinue, the eldest of the demons under his command; a devil and a knight in one person, known to Muscovites as a translator or regent for a foreign professor. He introduced himself under the name Koroviev and had a strange appearance: barely noticeable eyes, a thin mustache, a cap on his head, and a checkered jacket.

A minor character in the novel, a member of Woland's retinue. His name goes back to the fallen angel from Jewish mythology, Azazel, who lived in the desert. Bulgakov only used his name in the Italian manner. According to legend, it was he who was the standard bearer of the army of hell and was distinguished by his ability to seduce and kill. It was not without reason that when Margarita met him in the Alexander Garden, she mistook him for an insidious seducer.

A minor character in the novel, a huge black werewolf cat, a member of Woland's retinue, as well as his favorite jester. The hero's name is taken from the Old Testament book of Enoch. On the one hand, he is an incomprehensible example of divine creation, and on the other, he is a traditional demon, the henchman of Satan. In the novel, Behemoth is also found in the guise of a huge cat with a mustache, who could walk on hind legs, and in human form, as a short fat man in a torn cap and with a cat's muzzle.

A minor character in the novel, a member of Woland's retinue, is a very beautiful female vampire. Her name was taken by the author from the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. This was the name given to girls who died early on the island of Lesvos, who later turned into vampires. Outwardly, she is very attractive, with green eyes and red hair.

A minor character in the novel, the director of the Variety Theater, who lives in a “bad apartment.” Together with Berlioz, he occupied apartment No. 50 in building 302 bis on Sadovaya Street. He was one of the victims of Woland's gang.

A minor character in the novel, the financial director of the Variety Theater, in which Woland and his retinue performed. The character's full name is Grigory Danilovich Rimsky. The author described his appearance as follows: thin lips, an evil gaze through horned glasses, a gold watch on a chain.

A minor character in the novel, the administrator of the Variety Theater in Moscow, punished on the “private initiative” of Azazello and Behemoth. The character's full name is Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha. During his twenty years of service in theaters, he had seen everything, but such a performance, which was staged by members of Woland’s retinue and a series of inexplicable events, came as a surprise even to him.

A minor character in the novel, writer and chairman of MASSOLIT, the first victim of Woland and his retinue in Moscow. Full name: Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz. Unlike his namesake, the famous composer, he is not only not musical, but is also his “anti-double”.

Minor character in the novel, procurator of Judea, real historical figure. A characteristic detail in the hero’s appearance is a white cloak with a bloody lining, which symbolizes the connection between holiness and blood. One of the most important moral and psychological problems in the novel is connected with this hero - this is a criminal weakness that led to the execution of an innocent man.

A minor character in the novel, the chairman of a housing association in a house on Sadovaya, distinguished by greed and bribery. The full name of the hero is Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy. He was Berlioz's neighbor and worked as a canteen manager. The author described the hero’s appearance as follows: a fat man with a purple face.

A minor character in the novel, Margarita's housekeeper, is a beautiful and intelligent girl who, like the hostess, turns into a witch and follows her to Woland's ball. The full name of the heroine is Natalya Prokofievna. Natasha is among the uninvited guests to the ball. Her vehicle was her neighbor from the bottom floor, Nikolai Ivanovich, who she turned into a hog.

A minor character in the novel, Margarita's neighbor from the bottom floor, whom the housekeeper Natasha turned into a fat hog. Secretly from his wife, he invited Natasha to be his mistress, promising big money in return.

A minor character in the novel, a sinner invited to Woland’s ball; child killer saved by Margarita. This is a young woman of about twenty who once strangled her unwanted child with a handkerchief, for which she was punished with the highest possible punishment. Every morning, for thirty years, they brought her that same scarf as a reminder of her deed.

Annushka

A minor character, a wizened woman who accidentally broke a liter bottle of sunflower oil on a turntable. It was on this spot that Berlioz later slipped and fell under a tram. She lived in the apartment 48 next to him in building 302 bis on Sadovaya Street. She was scandalous and had the nickname “Plague”. She was arrested for trying to pay with the currency that Azazello gave her, but was soon released.

Sokov Andrey Fokich

A minor character, a bartender at the Variety Show, in whose cash register, after Woland’s performance, one hundred and nine rubles turned out to be pieces of paper. He decided to go to Woland, where they again became chervonets. There he was told that he had savings of two hundred and forty-nine thousand rubles in five savings banks and two hundred gold tens under the floor at home. They also said that he would die in nine months. Woland and his retinue advised him not to go to the hospital, but to waste this money. He did not heed the advice and died nine months later, as predicted.

Aloisy Mogarych

A minor character, friend and neighbor of the Master. I wrote a complaint against him that he kept illegal literature in order to move into his rooms. Soon he managed to evict the Master, but Woland’s retinue returned everything back. At the end of the novel he becomes the financial director of Variety instead of Rimsky.

Levi Matvey

A minor character, a tax collector in the book of the Master, a companion and disciple of Yeshua. He took his body down from the cross after the execution and buried him. At the end of the novel, he comes to Woland and asks him to give peace to the Master and Margarita.

Judah of Kiriath

A minor character, a traitor who handed Yeshua over to the authorities for money. He was killed by order of Pontius Pilate.

Archibald Archibaldovich

A minor character, the head of the restaurant in the Griboedov House. He was a good leader, his restaurant was one of the best in Moscow.

Baron Meigel

A minor character serving the entertainment commission. He ended up as a spy at Woland's ball, where he was killed.

Doctor Stravinsky

Minor character chief physician psychiatric clinic where the heroes of the novel, such as the Master and Ivan Bezdomny, were treated.

Georges Bengalsky

A minor character, an entertainer in a variety show, whose head was torn off by Woland's retinue, but then returned to its place. He spent four months in the clinic and quit the variety show.

Sempleyarov Arkady Apollonovich

Minor character, chairman of the acoustic commission. He is married, but often cheats on his wife. He was exposed for his betrayal at a performance by Woland's retinue. After a scandal at the performance, he was sent to Bryansk and appointed head of a mushroom procurement center.

Latunsky

A minor character, a critic who wrote a critical article about the Master's novel. After Margarita became a witch, she flew into his luxurious apartment and started a pogrom there.

Prokhor Petrovich

A minor character, the chairman of the main entertainment commission, who disappeared after a visit from the hippopotamus cat. The remaining suit continued to work. After the police arrived, Prokhor Petrovich returned to his suit.

Vasily Stepanovich Lastochkin

A minor character, an accountant from a variety show who was arrested while trying to hand over the proceeds after the performance.

Poplavsky Maximilian Andreevich

A minor character, Berlioz's uncle from Kyiv, who came to Moscow in the hope of taking possession of the living space of his deceased nephew.

Ryukhin, Alexander

A minor character, one of the writers. Accompanied the poet Ivan Bezdomny to a psychiatric clinic.

Zheldybin

A minor character, one of the writers. He was involved in organizing Berlioz's funeral.

Since the first edition, the attractiveness of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel has not ceased; representatives of different generations and different worldviews turn to it. There are many reasons for this.

One of them is that in the novel “The Master and Margarita” the heroes and their destinies force us to rethink life values ​​and think about our own responsibility for the good and evil that is happening in the world.

The main characters of "The Master and Margarita"

Bulgakov’s work is a “novel within a novel”, and the main characters of Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” in the part that tells about Satan’s stay in Moscow are Woland, The Master and Margarita, Ivan Bezdomny.

Woland

Satan, the Devil, “the spirit of evil and lord of shadows,” the powerful “prince of darkness.” Visited Moscow in the role of “professor of black magic.” Woland studies people, trying to reveal their essence in different ways. Having looked at the Muscovites in the variety theater, he concludes that they are “ordinary people, in general, they resemble the old ones, the housing problem has only spoiled them.” Giving his “great ball”, he brings anxiety and confusion into the lives of the townspeople. He unselfishly takes part in the fate of the Master and Margarita, revives the Master’s burned novel, and allows the author of the novel to inform Pilate that he has been forgiven.

Woland takes on his real guise, leaving Moscow.

Master

A former historian who renounced his name, who wrote a brilliant novel about Pontius Pilate. Unable to withstand the persecution of critics, he ends up in a psychiatric hospital. Margarita, the Master's beloved, asks Satan to save her beloved. Woland also fulfills the request of Yeshua, who read the novel, to give the Master peace.

“The farewell is over, the bills are paid,” and the Master and Margarita find peace and an “eternal home.”

Margarita

A beautiful and intelligent woman, the wife of a “very important specialist”, who needed nothing, was not happy. Everything changed the moment I met the Master. Having fallen in love, Margarita becomes his “secret wife,” friend and like-minded person. She inspires the Master to have a romance, encourages him to fight for him.

Having made a deal with Satan, she plays the role of hostess at his ball. The mercy of Margarita, asking to spare Frida instead of asking for herself, Latunsky’s defense, and participation in Pilate’s fate soften Woland.

Through the efforts of Margarita, the Master is saved, both leave the Earth with Woland’s retinue.

Homeless Ivan

A proletarian poet who, on instructions from an editor, wrote an anti-religious poem about Jesus Christ. At the beginning of the novel, “an ignorant” person, narrow-minded, believes that “man himself controls” his life, cannot believe in the existence of the Devil and Jesus. Unable to cope with the emotional stress of meeting Woland, she ends up in a clinic for the mentally ill.
After meeting the Master, he begins to understand that his poems are “monstrous” and promises to never write poetry again. The master calls him his student.

At the end of the novel, Ivan lives by his real name - Ponyrev, he became a professor, works at the Institute of History and Philosophy. He has recovered, but sometimes he still cannot cope with incomprehensible mental anxiety.

The list of characters in the novel is large; everyone who appears on the pages of the work deepens and reveals its meaning. Let us dwell on the most significant characters in Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” for revealing the author’s intention.

Woland's retinue

Fagot-Koroviev

The senior assistant in Woland's retinue, he is entrusted with the most important matters. In communicating with Muscovites, Koroviev introduces himself as the secretary and translator of the foreigner Woland, but it is not clear who he really is: “a magician, a regent, a sorcerer, a translator, or the devil knows who.” He is constantly in action, and no matter what he does, no matter who he communicates with, he grimaces and clowns around, screams and “yells.”

Fagot's mannerisms and speech change dramatically when he speaks to those who deserve respect. He speaks to Woland respectfully, in a clear and sonorous voice, helps Margarita manage the ball, and looks after the Master.

Only when last appearance on the pages of the novel, Fagot appears in his true image: next to Woland, a knight “with a gloomy and never smiling face” rode on a horse. Once punished for many centuries as a jester for a poor pun on the theme of light and darkness, he has now “paid his account and closed it.”

Azazello

Demon, Woland's assistant. The appearance “with a fang protruding from the mouth, disfiguring the already unprecedentedly vile face”, with a cataract on the right eye, is repulsive. His main duties involve the use of force: “punch the administrator in the face, or kick his uncle out of the house, or shoot someone, or some other trifle like that.” Leaving the earth, Azazello takes on his real appearance - the appearance of a demon killer with empty eyes and a cold face.

Cat Behemoth

According to Woland himself, his assistant is “a fool.” He appears to the residents of the capital in the form of a “huge, like a hog, black, like soot or rook, and with a desperate cavalry mustache” cat or a plump man with a physiognomy similar to a cat’s. Behemoth's jokes are not always harmless, and after his disappearance, ordinary black cats began to be exterminated throughout the country.

Flying away from the Earth in Woland's retinue, Behemoth turns out to be "a thin youth, a demon page, the best jester that has ever existed in the world."
Gella. Woland's maid, vampire witch.

Characters from the novel The Master

Pontius Pilate and Yeshua are the main characters of the story written by the Master.

Pontius Pilate

Procurator of Judea, cruel and domineering ruler.

Realizing that Yeshua, who was brought in for interrogation, is not guilty of anything, he becomes imbued with sympathy for him. But, despite his high position, the procurator could not resist the decision to execute him and became cowardly for fear of losing power.

The words of Ha-Nozri that “among human vices He considers cowardice to be one of the most important things,” the hegemon takes personally. Tormented by remorse, he spends “twelve thousand moons” in the mountains. Released by the Master, who wrote a novel about him.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri

A philosopher traveling from city to city. He is lonely, knows nothing about his parents, believes that by nature all people are good, and the time will come when “the temple of the old faith will collapse and a new temple of truth will be created” and no power will be needed. He talks about this with people, but for his words he is accused of an attempt on the power and authority of Caesar and executed. Before execution, he forgives his executioners.

In the final part of Bulgakov’s novel, Yeshua, having read the Master’s novel, asks Woland to reward the Master and Margarita with peace, meets Pilate again, and they walk, talking, along the lunar road.

Levi Matvey

A former tax collector who considers himself a disciple of Yeshua. He writes down everything that Ga-Nozri says, presenting what he heard according to his understanding. He is devoted to his teacher, takes him down from the cross to bury him, and is going to kill Judas of Cariath.

Judah of Kiriath

A handsome young man who, for thirty tetradrachms, provoked Yeshua to speak out about state power in front of secret witnesses. Killed by secret order of Pontius Pilate.
Caiaphas. Jewish high priest who heads the Sanhedrin. He is accused by Pontius Pilate of executing Yeshua Ha-Nozri.

Heroes of the Moscow world

Characteristics of the heroes of the novel “The Master and Margarita” will be incomplete without a description of the characters of literary and artistic Moscow, contemporary to the author.

Aloisy Mogarych. A new acquaintance of the Master, who introduced himself as a journalist. Wrote a denunciation against the Master in order to occupy his apartment.

Baron Meigel. An employee of the entertainment commission, whose duties included introducing foreigners to the sights of the capital. “Earpiece and spy,” according to Woland’s definition.

Bengal Georges. Entertainer of the Variety Theater, known throughout the city. A person is limited and ignorant.

Berlioz. Writer, chairman of the board of MASSOLIT, a large Moscow literary association, editor of a large art magazine. In conversations he “discovered considerable erudition.” Denied the existence of Jesus Christ, and argued that a person cannot be “suddenly mortal.” Not believing Woland's prediction about his unexpected death, he dies after being run over by a tram.

Bosoy Nikanor Ivanovich. The “businesslike and cautious” chairman of the housing association of the building in which the “bad apartment” was located.

Varenukha. “A famous theater administrator known throughout Moscow.”

Likhodeev Stepan. The director of the Variety Theater, who drinks heavily and does not fulfill his duties.

Sempleyarov Arkady Apollonovich. Chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters, who insists during a black magic session at the Variety Show on exposing the “technique of tricks.”

Sokov Andrey Fokich. Little man, a bartender at the Variety Theater, a swindler, a scrounger who does not know how to get joy from life, who earns unearned money from sturgeon of the “second freshest”.

A brief description of the characters will be needed in order to more easily understand the events of the summary of the novel “The Master and Margarita” and not get lost in the question of “who is who.”

Work test

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" is one of the most mysterious works in the whole world.

The Master is an amazing character who is difficult to understand. His age is about thirty-eight years old. It is surprising that his name and surname remain a mystery throughout the entire story. Naturally, “Master” is a kind of pseudonym for the hero. That’s what Margarita called him for his writing talent and creative abilities.

The author describes him as a dark-haired man with a sharp nose and an anxious look. A gray thread at his temples and a lonely strand of hair falling on his forehead indicated that he was constantly busy and far from adolescent.

The master was very simple and poor. He is alone in Moscow, without family and friends. By training, he was a historian who worked in a museum several years ago, knew five languages ​​perfectly and was involved in translations. Like any writer, he did not like noise and turmoil. He kept many books at home.

The reader learns that the Master was married earlier, but does not even remember her name. This means he probably didn’t love her at all. Or maybe his creative nature is affecting him.

The master quits his job and begins to write a novel about Pontius Pilate; he suffers a lot because of his novel. There is an opinion that Bulgakov's novel is autobiographical. The master is unhappy, and his fate is as tragic as the fate of the writer.

Only Margarita admired the Master and his novel to the last. The destruction of the dream associated with the novel had a catastrophic effect on the Master’s condition.

Only true love became a gift for a lonely writer. But even the love bonds that connected him with Margot could not give him the strength to fight further. He gives up. Finding himself in a psychiatric hospital, he lives with melancholy and despondency. For his obedience and humility, the Universe gives him another priceless gift - eternal peace, shared with his beloved. I would like to believe that the example of the Master shows that someday every work will be rewarded. After all, if you remember, the novel “The Master and Margarita” itself also did not immediately appear in the public eye.

This is how it ends famous story about the true love of the Master and Margarita. As you know, true love is rewarded with eternal peace.

Essay about the Master

Bulgakov's novel “The Master and Margarita” is distinguished by the original characterization of its heroes, but one of the most important and striking characters is the Master.

The author does not give the author's first or last name, but Margarita always calls him Master, justifying this by the fact that he has extraordinary writing abilities. Its description is given in the 13th chapter. It is known about him that he is about 38 years old, he has dark hair, a sharp nose and always anxious eyes. When the Master and the Homeless One met, he was wearing a black cap with the letter “M” embroidered; he was pale, looking sick, and wearing a hospital gown.

Unlike Margarita, the Master was a poor man. Living in Moscow, he had almost no acquaintances, no relatives at all, and was completely alone in this city. It was difficult for him to communicate and find an approach to people. Despite his poverty, the Master is a fairly educated person; he is a historian by training, knows five foreign languages: English, French, German, Latin and Greek, and previously also worked as a translator. Because of his illness, he turned into a nervous and restless, suspicious person. The master is a writer, he keeps many books and writes his own, the novel “About Pontius Pilate”.

He begins work on his work after winning a large amount, 100 thousand rubles, in the lottery. He moves to another apartment and begins to write, leaving his job at the museum. At the end of his work, he tries to print the novel, but it doesn’t work out for him, and the Master thinks to give up, but Margarita insisted on printing it. After the release of the work, the Master was subjected to a huge barrage of criticism, which broke him. He gradually began to go crazy, he began to hallucinate, and began to fear many simple everyday things. For all that the affair caused him, the Master decides to burn it. As a result, he ends up in Professor Stravinsky's psychiatric clinic, where he remains for 4 months before meeting Woland and Margarita. As a result, Satan restores the burned manuscript of the novel “About Pontius Pilate” and transfers the souls of lovers to another world, where they will find peace and be alone with each other.

The Master appears to the readers as a powerless, unfocused and weak character, but at the same time kind, honest, loving and beloved. For all this, he is destined for a reward: eternal peace and eternal love.

Option 3

In the novel by M. Bulgakov, there are two main characters, judging by the title, the Master and Margarita. Nevertheless, in the first chapters of the novel there is not a word about either the Master or his beloved. The Master first appears before the reader only at the very end of chapter 11, and in chapter 13, almost in monologue form, he presents his entire story to Ivan Bezdomny at once.

From this story of a neighbor in a madhouse, the poet learns about the circumstances that led him to hospital bed. The master refuses to give his name and immediately says that he no longer expects anything from life: after this his confession takes on a special tragic sound.

The master refers to people whose interests are far from material life. He came to writing a novel after going through quite a significant life path– at the time of the story, he looks about 38 years old, according to Ivan Bezdomny. And before that, he was also engaged in work of an intellectual nature - he worked in a museum. The Master speaks reluctantly about his past life. Having won one hundred thousand on the bond, the Master began new life. A historian by training, as well as a translator, thanks to what seemed to him to be a happy accident, he got the opportunity to leave the service and devote all his energy and time to writing a novel about Pontius Pilate. The main value for the Master was creativity: the days spent writing the novel became the happiest days of his life.

Despite the fact that the Master looks like a man not of this world, from his story it becomes clear that nothing human is still alien to him: he mentions the “beautiful gray suit” in which he went for a walk, and the restaurant where he dined, and the cozy atmosphere that he created in his basement. The master was not withdrawn into himself, although before meeting Margarita he lived alone, having no relatives anywhere and almost no acquaintances in Moscow. Communication was replaced by books and the world, which he perceived in all sounds, smells and colors: he loved roses, the extraordinary smell of lilacs and the greenness of its bushes, the linden and maple trees near the house.

The sense of beauty that was characteristic of him gave him the opportunity to receive a lot of joy and pleasant moments from life. And this feeling did not allow him to pass by Margarita, although, as he admits, he was struck not so much by her beauty as by the extraordinary, unprecedented loneliness in her eyes. The meeting with Margarita became a gift of fate for the Master: she changed his life and, one might say, his death. It was thanks to Margarita that the Master received the peace in eternity that his soul, tormented by the earthly sufferings of the last months of his life, so longed for. The Master’s secret wife took revenge on him and on the critics who began to persecute him for “pilatchina” after the publication of the chapters of the novel: having turned into a witch, she destroyed the apartment of the critic Latunsky.

The Master himself is not very good at understanding people. In the world of literature, he does not expect a catch and, having written a novel, goes out into life without expecting anything bad. He doesn’t even realize that Aloysius Mogarych, with whom he became friends shortly before his arrest, became the reason for his removal from the basement. He also does not believe in the strength of Margarita’s love for him: he confesses to Ivan that he hopes that she has forgotten him. As a man of genius, the Master is simple-minded and trusting; he is easily frightened and thrown out of balance. He is unable to fight for his rights.

The Master's story is largely autobiographical: Bulgakov was also persecuted by Soviet critics, forcing him to write on the table and destroy his works. Became catchphrase“Manuscripts don’t burn,” said by Woland when returning the novel to the Master, which he burned in the stove in a fit of despair, can also be attributed to the fate of “The Master and Margarita.” The novel, unpublished during Bulgakov’s lifetime, came to the reader after his death and became one of the most widely read books of our time.