Scenes from the novel "The Master and Margarita". The role of the “black magic session” scene in the ideological and artistic structure of Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" - essay "Scene in a variety show"

The image of the devil is a frequent occurrence in the works of world classics. Goethe, Lesage, Gogol and others gave him their understanding. Traditionally, the devil performs two missions: tempts and punishes a person.

In M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita,” the devil appears to check whether the townspeople have “changed internally.” The scene in a variety show is of great importance for answering this question. Woland's retinue demonstrates various miracles, and the encounter with fan-tastic fiction exposes many human vices. To begin with, Fagot demonstrates a trick with a deck of cards. Having delighted the audience, he publicly announces that the cards are “in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three-ruble note and the summons to appear in court in the case of paying alimony to citizen Zelkova.” Parchevsky becomes “all crimson with amazement,” because his true nature was previously hidden under the mask of decency. Bassoon does not rest on this and brings to the attention of the public that Parchevsky is a big fan of the game of poker.

One of the climaxes of the episode is the rain of money. Suddenly, money begins to fly into the hall from under the dome. The author’s description of the public’s reaction to such “precipitation” is full of irony. Someone crawls in the aisle, someone climbs onto a chair with their feet and begins to catch pieces of paper. People begin to rush at each other, each trying to score as much as possible more money. After all, you don’t need to earn them, they appeared unexpectedly, on their own, you can spend them on anything, and be completely happy from it.

Next, Wolandov's retinue decides to surprise the audience by tearing off the head of the entertainer Bengalsky. It is here that the audience shows pity and sympathy, still characteristic of them, begging the artists to forgive the hapless entertainer. Woland makes a conclusion about them: “People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts. ordinary people...in general, they resemble the previous ones... housing problem I just ruined them...”

The public's temptation does not end there: a ladies' shop opens on the stage of the variety show. At first, timid, and then seized by passion, women begin to grab everything in a fantastic store, without any trying on, regardless of their size and taste. There is even a man who is afraid of missing out on a chance and, due to the absence of a wife, also begins to buy women's clothing.

Unfortunately, all successful acquisitions later melt away on the ladies, and this has symbolic meaning. The nakedness of bodies here is tantamount to the nakedness of the soul, demonstrating greed, materialism, greed. People are controlled by selfish, momentary desires.

The “guest of honor” of the evening, chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, comes out with a demand to immediately expose the tricks. But they expose him himself. He turns out to be not at all as honorable a person as he imagined himself to be to others. Instead of meetings of the acoustic commission, Sempleyarov, as it turns out, visits the artist of the traveling regional theater, Militsa Andreevna Pokobatko, who, thanks to Sempleyarov’s disposition, gets her roles. In honor of Arkady Apollonovich, a march sounds at the end of the episode: His Excellency Loved poultry And took Pretty girls under his protection. Woland takes the position of a spectator studying the moral state of society, and comes to unfavorable conclusions: vices such as greed, cruelty, greed, deceit, hypocrisy are eternal.

The man who suddenly appeared in Moscow and his retinue managed to do a lot of things that shocked the imagination of the average person in four days, but the most incredible and scandalous incident was the incident at the Variety Theater.

This episode is skillfully woven into a special satirical and everyday layer of the novel, associated with the storyline of Woland, who appears wherever moral and ethical principles are violated. The whole atmosphere of the stage in the Variety Show is both real and phantasmagoric. Under bursts of laughter, hooting and applause from joyfully excited spectators, horrific things happen, a number of monstrous experiments are carried out, tests of humanity and heartlessness, greed, honesty, decency, meanness, deceit, mercy...

Piting the audience of the Variety Theater (where, as compere Bengalsky put it, half of Moscow had gathered) with evil spirits, the writer seems to be exploring whether they contain moral support whether they are able to resist temptation, the temptation to sin, whether they can rise above the gray everyday life, distract themselves from gossip, apartment squabbles, intrigue, self-interest.

Careful reading of this chapter helps the reader to uncover the secret of Woland’s visit to Moscow in the 30s and to guess the purpose of his visit. Appearing on the stage of the Variety Theater as a “famous foreign artist", "magician and sorcerer", "Monsieur" Woland does not entertain the audience, but, on the contrary, he himself gazes intently at it. (“I’ll tell you a secret... I’m not an artist at all, but I just wanted to see Muscovites en masse, and the most convenient way to do this was in the theater... I just sat and looked at the Muscovites.”) He is primarily concerned with the question , has the “Moscow population” changed? At first glance, yes: “...The townspeople have changed a lot... outwardly... like the city itself, by the way.” However, Woland is interested in “a much more important question: have these people changed internally? »

And so a session of black magic unfolds, masterfully performed by Koroviev-Fagot and the cat Behemoth. After a trick with cards, “someone, confused, discovered in his pocket a pack, tied up in a banking way and with the inscription on the cover: “One thousand rubles.” The astonished public was not excited by the miracle of the appearance of money, but only by one thing - whether they were real chervonets or fake. When the “money rain” began to fall, “... merriment, and then amazement, gripped the entire theater. Everywhere the word “chervontsi, chervontsy” was buzzing, screams were heard... Some were already crawling in the aisle, groping under the chairs. Many stood on the seats, catching fidgety, capricious pieces of paper.” Tension grows in the hall, a scandal brews, and a fight breaks out. With subtle irony, Bulgakov depicts how Soviet citizens selflessly and tenderly “love money”: “Hundreds of hands rose, spectators looked through pieces of paper at the illuminated stage and saw the most faithful and correct watermarks. The smell also left no doubt: it was the incomparable smell of freshly printed money.” The epithets “the most faithful and correct”, “incomparable to anything in charm” attract attention - this is how they speak about something very dear and cherished. And the reaction to the “revelations” of Georges of Bengal, who demanded the disappearance of these “allegedly monetary pieces of paper,” seems natural. The public suggested tearing off his head, which was done with lightning speed. The deliberately naturalistic scene of the head being torn off shocks the audience. People, amazed by their own herd cruelty, came to their senses: “For God’s sake, don’t torture him! - suddenly, covering the uproar, sounded from the box female voice..." He was joined by a choir of women and male voices: “Forgive, forgive!..” And here Woland intervenes for the first time: “Well... they are people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well, well, and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... In general, they resemble the old ones... the housing problem only spoiled them... - And he loudly ordered: “Put on your head " These words of the prince of darkness, which have already become textbook, carry both contemporary political overtones to Bulgakov and deep philosophical meaning. Yes, over the past almost two thousand years, people have “changed little internally.” How similar the crowd in ancient Yershalaim during the announcement of the verdict is to those who thirst for “bread and circuses” in the Variety Show: “Then it seemed to Pontius Pilate that the sun, ringing, burst above him and filled his ears with fire. Roars, squeals, groans, laughter, and whistles raged in this fire.”

But the slightest manifestation of humanity in a person - mercy - reconciles the author (and, oddly enough, Woland) with people, makes him believe in the moral nature of man. The theme of goodness and mercy, running throughout the whole book, is very clearly indicated in this chapter.

The episode in the Variety Theater also has another “... very relevant and also philosophical meaning”: “socialist theorists believed that the establishment socialist relations will lead to fundamental changes in the moral as well as mental nature of man... The experiment was a failure...” (G. Lesskis).

Life is open to Bulgakov’s all-seeing Woland without blush and makeup. Woland's piercing ironic gaze is close to the author, who considers individual person and all of humanity from a certain distance - cultural, temporal - trying to reveal the moral essence of people. With the help of mysticism and fantasy, Bulgakov ridicules everything that has turned away from goodness, has been lied to, corrupted, morally emasculated, and has lost the eternal truths.

Thus, the twelfth chapter, being the culmination storyline"Woland - Muscovites", plays very important role in revealing the philosophical and political subtext of the novel, reflects its stylistic richness and originality.

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Analysis of the episode “In Variety” from M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

The greatest achievement of M. A. Bulgakov is the novel “The Master and Margarita”. This is a special work in which the writer managed to fuse together myth and reality, satirical everyday life and a romantic plot, truthful depiction and fantasy, as well as irony and sarcasm. Bulgakov showed in his work four different worlds: earth, darkness, light and peace. Yershalaim in the twenties of the 1st century and Moscow in the twenties of the 20th century - here earthly world. The characters and times described in them seem to be different, but the essence is the same. Enmity, distrust of dissident people, and envy reign both in the distant times of slave-owning Rome and in Bulgakov’s contemporary Moscow.

The vices of society are exposed by Woland, in which the author artistically reinterpreted the image of Satan. Woland occupies Bulgakov's novel significant place, but no one except the Master and Margarita recognizes him as Satan. Why? The fact is that ordinary people do not allow the existence of something inexplicable in the world. In Bulgakov's portrayal, Woland absorbed many of the features of various spirits of evil: Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer and others. But most of all Woland is associated with Goethe's Mephistopheles. Both of them are “part of that force that always wants evil and always does good.” But if Mephistopheles is a cheerful and malicious tempter, then Bulgakov’s Woland is much more majestic. Sarcasm, not irony, is his main feature. Unlike Mephistopheles, Woland provides the sophisticated with the opportunity to choose between good and evil, giving them a chance to use their good will. He sees everything, the world is open to him without rouge or makeup. He ridicules and destroys, with the help of his retinue, everything that has deviated from goodness, has lied, become corrupted, has become morally impoverished, has lost high ideal. With contemptuous irony, Woland looks at the representatives of the Moscow philistinism, at all these businessmen, envious people, thieves and bribe-takers, at these petty crooks and gray inhabitants who are tenacious at any time.

Of great importance in this regard is the scene in the Variety Hall, or the so-called “black magic session”. The episode begins with the appearance on stage of the most famous entertainer in Moscow, Georges Bengalsky. His stupid jokes, claims to wit - all that the author himself calls “nonsense” serve only as a background for the appearance of Woland. In sharp contrast to the entertainer with all his appearance and behavior, the black magic specialist quietly orders: “The chair is for me,” and, sitting down in it, immediately utters a phrase that is, in essence, the key to understanding the entire episode, as well as the determining reason for Woland’s appearance in Moscow: “Tell me, my dear Bassoon... what do you think, the Moscow population has changed significantly?” And Fagot-Koroviev, answering this question, immediately notes how exactly people have changed. But Woland is not interested in external attributes, but in whether the townspeople have changed internally, whether they have become better.

Trying to answer this question, Bulgakov's Woland turned the Variety Hall into a research laboratory human weaknesses. “The Foreign Consultant” shows tricks, and the way people react to them reveals to him and to us, the readers, the very essence of people.

First of all, this episode exposes the greed of the public and its petty-bourgeois vulgarity, which are especially evident at the moment when “money rain” fell on the astonished spectators. People, in an attempt to grab some money for themselves, lose their human appearance: “Some were already crawling in the aisle, groping under the chairs. Many stood on the seats, catching fidgety, capricious pieces of paper.” People were ready to attack each other because of money. And here each of us involuntarily recalls the words of the famous aria of Mephistopheles: “People die for metal. Satan rules the roost there."

Thus, once again we can draw a parallel between Mephistopheles and Woland, and threads stretch from the scene in the Variety Show to the scene of Woland’s ball, when a whole string of the most notorious and selected scoundrels, thieves, murderers and swindlers passes before us.

Here, in Variety, we see the most ordinary people. They are different: there are both good and bad. They're just people. A woman appears on stage to collect free shoes. She got them for free, but she also asks: “Won’t they reap?”

The audience present at the black magic session was united by a passionate love of money, excessive curiosity, distrust and passion for revelations. Yes, the citizens have changed a lot in appearance. But internally they are people like people. “Well, frivolous people, well, mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts, ordinary people.” The possibility of easy money is intoxicating, money incites anger, brings out the already accumulated large quantities there is stupidity in the minds of citizens. And Fagot tears off the head of the chatterbox Bengalsky own initiative. This ugly proposal came from the gallery. Even when the severed head called for help from the doctor, no one came to the rescue. And only one compassionate woman from the box shouted: “For God’s sake, don’t torture him!” The audience nevertheless turned out to be merciful and asked Fagot to forgive the unfortunate entertainer and put his stupid head back on.

People were excited and scared by what they saw. Bengalsky's severed head made a terrible impression on them. But as soon as Woland offers women to dress for free in a ladies' store in Parisian fashion, the public immediately forgets about the unpleasant incident. It turns out that people are easy to bribe with some generous offer. People forget other people's misfortunes too quickly.

Along with the selfish and cruel Muscovites, there was one “caring” husband in the hall. During the free distribution of ladies' clothing, he came on stage and asked to give something to his sick wife. As proof that he was really married, the citizen was ready to present his passport. The statement was met with laughter. Was this man really that caring? Of course not. He, like everyone else, was possessed by the thirst for profit. But the reaction of the audience is very indicative. People, trying to get more, do not believe in good feelings others.

And yet, after all the checks, Woland concludes that Muscovites are “people like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones..."

Thus, the episode in Variety clearly exposes the vices of the people of that time. In the words of Woland, Bulgakov says that people have not changed in their souls: they still love money, are frivolous, sometimes cruel, and sometimes merciful. It was so in the time of Christ, and in the time of Bulgakov, and it is so now.

The scene in the Variety Show carries the most important semantic load in the novel. Firstly, it allows the reader to better understand the essence of Woland and clarifies why he appeared in Moscow.

In addition, in this episode, as in a distorting mirror, the author gives us the opportunity to see himself. Perhaps, having understood who we really are, we will be able to change at least a little and become better, kinder, more noble. The author, showing the revolutionary reality of the 30s of the 20th century against the background of human history, correlates this time with eternal humanistic values.

In M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita,” the devil appears to check whether the townspeople have “changed internally.” The scene in a variety show is of great importance for answering this question. Woland's retinue demonstrates various miracles, and the encounter with fan-tastic reveals many human vices. To begin with, Fagot demonstrates a trick with a deck of cards. Having delighted the audience, he publicly announces that the cards are “in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three-ruble note and the summons to appear in court in the case of paying alimony to citizen Zelkova.” Parchevsky becomes “all crimson with amazement,” because his true nature was previously hidden under the mask of decency. Bassoon does not rest on this and brings to the attention of the public that Parchevsky is a big fan of the game of poker.

One of the climaxes of the episode is the rain of money. Suddenly, money begins to fly into the hall from under the dome. The author’s description of the public’s reaction to such “precipitation” is full of irony. Someone crawls in the aisle, someone climbs onto a chair with their feet and begins to catch pieces of paper. People begin to rush at each other, each trying to collect as much money as possible. After all, you don’t need to earn them, they appeared unexpectedly, on their own, you can spend them on anything and be completely happy about it.

Next, Wolandov's retinue decides to surprise the audience by tearing off the head of the entertainer Bengalsky. It is here that the audience shows pity and sympathy, still characteristic of them, begging the artists to forgive the hapless entertainer. Woland makes a conclusion about them: “People are like people. They love money, but this has always been the case... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous... well... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the old ones... the housing problem has only spoiled them...”

Unfortunately, all successful acquisitions later melt away on the ladies, and this has a symbolic meaning. The nakedness of bodies here is tantamount to the nakedness of the soul, demonstrating greed, materialism, greed. People are controlled by selfish, momentary desires.

The master is waiting for Margarita.
“When the thunderstorms ended and the sultry summer came, the long-awaited and beloved roses appeared in the vase.”

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

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

Berlioz. Homeless. Consultant.

“And just at the time when Mikhail Alexandrovich was telling the poet about how the Aztecs sculpted a figure of Witzli-Putzli from dough, the first man appeared in the alley.”

The first meeting of the Master and Margarita.

"She carried in her hands disgusting alarms yellow flowers..."

Gella and the bartender.

“They opened the door for him immediately, but the barman shuddered, backed away and did not enter right away. This was understandable. The door was opened by a girl who was wearing nothing but a flirtatious lace apron and a white tattoo on her head. However, she had gold slippers on her feet.”

From sketches on the themes of the novel.

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

Departure of spectators from Variety.

"The lady in pink lingerie... jumped from the pavement onto the sidewalk,
trying to hide in the entrance, but the flowing public blocked her path, and the poor victim of her frivolity and passion for clothes, deceived by the company of the filthy Bassoon, dreamed of only one thing - to fall through the mud."

Margarita reads the Master's manuscript.

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

Margarita snatches the manuscript from the stove.

“With a quiet cry, she threw the last thing left there out of the stove onto the floor with her bare hands, a pack that had settled underneath.”

Meeting of Margarita with Azazello in the Alexander Garden.

"The redhead looked around and said mysteriously:
“I was sent to invite you to visit this evening.”

Natasha's flight on a hog.

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

Satan's ball.

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

Dinner after the ball.

“After the second glass that Margarita drank, the candles in the candelabra burned brighter, and the flames in the fireplace increased. Margarita did not feel any intoxication.
... “What I don’t understand,” said Margarita, and the golden sparks from the crystal danced in her eyes, “was it really possible that you couldn’t hear the music outside or the roar of this ball in general?”
“Of course it wasn’t audible, Queen,” Koroviev explained, “this must be done in such a way that it is not audible.” We need to do this more carefully."

Return of the Master.

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

"Farewell!"

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

Scenes from the novel "The Master and Margarita". The role of the “black magic session” scene in the ideological and artistic structure of Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

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Analysis of the episode “In Variety” from M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”