Who is the novel The Master and Margarita dedicated to? Roman M

Mikhail Bulgakov’s work “The Master and Margarita,” recognized as a genius, still amazes even modern readers; it is practically impossible to find an analogue to a novel of such originality and skill.

Moreover, even modern writers It is difficult to identify the reason why the novel gained such fame and what is its main, fundamental motive. This novel is often called “unprecedented” not only for Russian, but also for world literature.

The main idea and meaning of the novel

The narrative of “The Master and Margarita” takes place in two time periods: the era in which Jesus Christ lived, and the period Soviet Union. Paradoxically, the writer combines these two very different eras and draws deep parallels between them.

After all, the main character of the work, the Master himself, writes a novel about Christian history, about Yeshua Ha-Nozri, Judas and Pontius Pilate. Bulgakov unfolds an incredible phantasmagoria, as separate genre, and extends it throughout the entire narrative of the novel.

Events happening in the present time in a most amazing way are connected with what once changed humanity forever. It's very hard to pick one certain topics, to which the novel could be dedicated, “The Master and Margarita” touches on too many sacramental and eternal themes for art, and especially for literature.

This is a revelation of the theme of love, unconditional and tragic, meaning of life, distortions in the perception of good and evil, this themes of justice and truth, madness and unawareness. It cannot be said that the writer reveals this directly; he creates a holistic symbolic system, which is quite difficult to interpret.

The main characters of his novels are so extraordinary and non-standard that only their images can serve as a reason for detailed analysis the concept of his already immortal novel. “The Master and Margarita” is written with an emphasis on philosophical and ideological themes, which gives rise to the extensive versatility of its semantic content.

"The Master and Margarita" - timeless

The main idea of ​​the novel can be interpreted in completely different ways, but for this you need to have high level culture and education.

The two key characters Ga-Notsri and the Master are peculiar messiahs, whose bright activities affect completely different time periods. But the Master’s story is not so simple; his bright, divine art is connected with dark forces, because his beloved Margarita turns to Woland to help the Master.

The highest artistry of The Master and Margarita lies in the fact that the brilliant Bulgakov simultaneously talks about the arrival of Satan and his retinue in Soviet Moscow, and how the tired and lost judge Pontius Pilate sentences the innocent Yeshua Ha-Nozri to execution.

The last story, the novel that the Master writes, is amazing and sacred, but Soviet writers refuse to publish the writer because they do not want to recognize him as worthy. The main events of the work unfold around this. Woland helps the Master and Margarita restore justice and returns to the writer the novel he had previously burned.

“The Master and Margarita” is an impressive, psychological book, which in its depth reveals the idea that circumstantial evil does not exist, that evil and vice are in the souls of people themselves, in their actions and thoughts.

75 years ago Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov last time with the tip of his pen he touched the manuscript of the brilliant novel “The Master and Margarita”, which became reference book for millions of readers.

Time has passed, a lot of water has flown under the bridge, but this great work, steeped in mystery and mysticism, still remains a fertile field for various philosophical, religious and literary discussions.

This masterpiece is even included in the school curriculum of several countries, although the meaning of this novel cannot be fully comprehended not only by the average student, but even by a person with a higher philological education.

Here are 7 keys to... unsurpassed romance“The Master and Margarita”, which will shed light on many secrets.

1. Where did the title of the novel come from?

Have you thought about the title of this novel? Why The Master and Margarita? Is this really love story or, God forbid, melodrama? What is this book all about?

It is known that a huge influence on writing famous work influenced by the passion of Mikhail Afanasyevich Germanic mythology XIX century.

It is no secret that the basis of the novel, in addition to Holy Scripture and Goethe’s Faust, was based on various myths and legends about the devil and God, as well as Jewish and Christian demonology.

The writing of the novel was facilitated by works read by the author, such as “The History of Relations between Man and the Devil” by Mikhail Orlov and “The Devil in Everyday Life, Legend and Literature of the Middle Ages” by Alexander Amfitheatrov.

As you know, the novel “The Master and Margarita” was edited more than once. Rumor has it that in the very first edition the work had the following titles: “Black Magician”, “Tour”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Engineer’s Hoof”, “Son of V.” and there was no mention at all of either the Master or Margarita, since central figure was supposed to be Satan.

It is interesting to note that in one of the subsequent editions the novel actually had a variant title such as “Satan.” In 1930, after the ban on the play “The Cabal of the Saint,” Bulgakov destroyed the first edition of the novel with his own hands.

He speaks about this himself

In the second edition, by the will of fate, Margarita and her Master appeared, and Satan acquired his retinue. But only the third edition, which is considered unfinished, received the current name.

2. The many faces of Woland.

Woland is rightfully considered one of the main characters of The Master and Margarita. He even in some way appeals to many readers, and upon a superficial reading it may seem that the Prince of Darkness is kindness itself and a kind of fighter for justice who fights against human vices and helps peace and love prevail.

Others consider Woland a prototype of Stalin. But in fact, Woland is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. This is a very multifaceted and difficult character to understand. This is the image, in general, that the Tempter should have.

This is, to some extent, a classic prototype of the Antichrist, whom humanity was supposed to perceive as the new Messiah. The image of Woland also has many analogues in ancient pagan mythology. You will also find some similarities to the spirit of darkness from Goethe's Faust.

3. Woland and his retinue.

Just as a person cannot exist without a shadow, so Woland is not Woland without his retinue. Azazello, Behemoth and Koroviev-Fagot are the executors of the devil's justice. Sometimes it seems that these colorful characters outshine Satan himself.

It is worth noting that they have a far from clear past behind them. Let's take Azazello, for example. Mikhail Bulgakov borrowed this image from the Old Testament books, which mention fallen angel, who taught people how to make weapons and jewelry.

Thanks to him, women mastered the “lascivious art” of painting their faces. That is why in the novel Azazello gives the cream to Margarita and with cunning encourages her to go over to the side of evil.

He's like right hand Wolanda, performs the most menial work. The demon kills Baron Meigel and poisons the lovers.

Hippopotamus is a werecat, a playful and amusing cat. This image is drawn from legends about the demon of gluttony. His name is borrowed from Old Testament, in one of whose books there was talk about sea ​​monster Behemoth, who lived with Leviathan.

This demon was depicted as a monster with an elephant's head, trunk, fangs, human arms and hind legs, like a hippopotamus.

4. Dark Queen Margot or a la Pushkin’s Tatiana?

Many who read the novel get the impression that Margarita is some kind of romantic character, the heroine of Pushkin or Turgenev’s works.

But the roots of this image lie much deeper. The novel emphasizes Margarita's connection with two French queens. One of them - everyone famous queen Margot, wife of Henry IV, whose wedding turned into bloody St. Bartholomew's Night.

By the way, this dark action is mentioned in the novel. Margarita, on the way to the Great Ball at Satan's, meets a fat man who, recognizing her, addresses her with the words: “bright Queen Margot.”

In the image of Margaret, literary scholars also find similarities with another queen - Margaret of Navarre, one of the first French women writers.

Bulgakov's Margarita is also close to belles lettres, she is in love with her brilliant writer- Masters.

5. Spatio-temporal connection “Moscow - Yershalaim”.

One of the key mysteries of The Master and Margarita is the place and time of the events taking place in the novel. You won't find any here exact date, from which you can count. There are only hints in the text.

The events in the novel take place in Moscow in Holy Week from May 1 to May 7, 1929. This part of the book is closely related to the so-called “Pilate chapters,” which describe the week in Yershalaim in 29, which later became Holy Week.

The attentive reader will notice that in the New Testament Moscow of 1929 and the Old Testament Yershalaim of 29, the same apocalyptic weather prevails; the actions in both of these stories develop in parallel and ultimately merge together, drawing a complete picture.

6. Influence of Kabbalah.

They say that Mikhail Bulgakov, when writing the novel, was strongly influenced by Kabbalistic teachings. This affected the work itself.

Just remember winged words Volanda: “Never ask for anything. Never and nothing, especially among those who are stronger than you. They will offer and give everything themselves.”

It turns out that in Kabbalah it is forbidden to accept anything unless it is a gift from above, from the Creator. Such a commandment contradicts Christianity, which, for example, does not prohibit asking for alms.

One of the central ideas of Kabbalah is the doctrine of “Or HaChaim” - “the light of life.” It is believed that the Torah itself is light. Achieving light depends on the desire of the person himself.

The novel also brings to the fore the idea that a person independently makes his own life choices.

Light also accompanies Woland throughout the novel. When Satan disappears with his retinue, the lunar road also disappears.

7. A lifelong novel.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov began the last manuscript of the novel, which subsequently reached us, back in 1937, but it haunted the writer until his death.

Every now and then he constantly made some changes to it. Perhaps it seemed to Bulgakov that he was poorly informed in Jewish demonology and Holy Scripture, perhaps he felt like an amateur in this field.

These are just guesses, but one thing is clear: the novel was not easy for the writer and practically “sucked” all the vitality out of him.

It is interesting to know that the last edit that Bulgakov made on February 13, 1940, was the words of Margarita: “So it’s the writers who are going after the coffin?”

A month later the writer died. According to Bulgakov's wife, his last words before his death
were: “So that they know, so that they know...”

No matter how we interpret this work, it is impossible to study it completely. This is such a deep masterpiece that you can unravel it forever, but never get to the bottom of it.

The main thing is that this novel makes you think about high things and comprehend important life truths.

On May 23, 1938, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov completed his novel “The Master and Margarita.” We invite Tabloid readers to familiarize themselves with interesting facts, as well as illustrations for the legendary novel made by Samara artist Nikolai Korolev. Let's begin with that…

...Bulgakov dated the start of work on “The Master and Margarita” in different manuscripts as either 1928 or 1929. In the first edition, the novel had variant titles: “Black Magician”, “Engineer’s Hoof”, “Juggler with a Hoof”, “Son of V.”, “Tour”. The first edition of “The Master and Margarita” was destroyed by the author on March 18, 1930, after receiving news of the ban on the play “The Cabal of the Holy One.” Bulgakov reported this in a letter to the government: “And I personally, with my own hands, threw a draft of a novel about the devil into the stove...”.

Work on The Master and Margarita resumed in 1931. Rough sketches were made for the novel, and Margarita and her then nameless companion, the future Master, already appeared here, and Woland acquired his own riotous retinue. The second edition, created before 1936, had the subtitle “ Fantasy novel"and variations of the names "Grand Chancellor", "Satan", "Here I am", "Black Magician", "Engineer's Hoof".

And finally, the third edition, begun in the second half of 1936, was originally called “The Prince of Darkness,” but already in 1937 the title “The Master and Margarita” appeared. June 25, 1938 full text was reprinted for the first time (it was printed by O. S. Bokshanskaya, sister of E. S. Bulgakova). The author’s edits continued almost until the writer’s death; Bulgakov stopped it with Margarita’s phrase: “So this means that the writers are going after the coffin?”...

Bulgakov wrote “The Master and Margarita” for a total of more than 10 years.

There is also one interesting meteorological correspondence that confirms the internal chronology of “The Master and Margarita”. Judging by press reports, on May 1, 1929, Moscow experienced a sharp warming, unusual for this time of year, as a result of which the temperature rose from zero to thirty degrees in one day. In the following days, an equally sharp cold snap was observed, ending with rain and thunderstorms. In Bulgakov's novel, the evening of May 1 turns out to be unusually hot, and on the eve of the last flight, as once over Yershalaim, a severe thunderstorm with rain sweeps over Moscow.

Hidden dating is also contained in the indication of the age of the Master, the most autobiographical of all the characters in the novel. The master is “a man about thirty-eight years old.” Bulgakov himself turned the same age on May 15, 1929. 1929 is also the year when Bulgakov began working on “The Master and Margarita.”

If we talk about predecessors, then the first impetus for the idea of ​​​​the image of Satan, as A. Zerkalov suggests in his work, was music - an opera by Charles Gounod, written on the plot of I.V. Goethe and amazed Bulgakov in childhood for the rest of his life. Woland's idea was taken from the poem by I.V. Goethe's Faust, where it is mentioned only once and is omitted in Russian translations.

It is believed that Bulgakov's apartment was searched many times by NKVD officers, and they were aware of the existence and contents draft"The Master and Margarita". Bulgakov also had a telephone conversation with Stalin in 1937 (the contents of which are unknown to anyone). Despite the massive repressions of 1937-1938, neither Bulgakov nor any of his family members were arrested.

In the novel, during the death of Yeshua Ha-Nozri, unlike the Gospel, he pronounces the name not of God, but of Pontius Pilate. According to Deacon Andrei Kuraev, for this reason (and not only for it), the Yershalaim story (a novel within a novel) should be perceived as blasphemous from the point of view of Christianity - but this, according to him, does not mean that the entire novel should also be considered blasphemous "Master and Margarita".

Woland in early editions the novel's name was Astaroth. However, this name was later replaced, apparently due to the fact that the name “Astaroth” is associated with a specific demon of the same name, different from Satan.

The Variety Theater does not exist in Moscow and never has existed. But now several theaters sometimes compete for the title.

In the penultimate edition of the novel, Woland utters the words “He has a courageous face, he does his job correctly, and in general, it’s all over here. It's time for us!”, referring to the pilot, a character later excluded from the novel.

According to the writer’s widow, Elena Sergeevna, last words Bulgakov about the novel “The Master and Margarita” before his death were: “So that they know... So that they know.”

In Moscow there is a house-museum “Bulgakov House”. It is located at st. Bolshaya Sadovaya, 10. In apartment No. 50 there is a museum telling about the life and work of the writer. There are also theatrical performances, original improvisations on the works of Mikhail Bulgakov.

Some oddities begin even when creating the novel. An interesting fact is that Bulgakov was prompted to write “The Master and Margarita” by A.V. Chayanov’s novel, which was given to him. entitled “Venediktov or memorable events of my life.” Main character novel - Bulgakov, who faces devilish forces. M.A.'s wife Bulgakova, Elena Belozerova, wrote in her memoirs about the strong impact of the coincidence of surnames on the writer.

Bulgakov wrote his novel in the atmosphere of Moscow in the 1930s: the destruction of religion and religious institutions and, as a consequence, the decline of spiritual and moral life. Naturally, in such years, an affair with biblical motifs was not accepted for publication, and Bulgakov tried to burn his creation. The resumption of work on the novel is attributed to the writer’s clash with diabolical forces, namely a conversation between Mikhail Afanasyevich and Stalin on the phone. After which, during the mass repressions of 1937-1938, neither Bulgakov nor his family members were arrested.

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” was not completed and was not published during the author’s lifetime. It was first published only in 1966, 26 years after Bulgakov’s death, and then in an abbreviated form magazine version. Because it's the greatest literary work reached the reader, we are indebted to the writer’s wife Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, who in difficult times Stalin times managed to save the manuscript of the novel.

In 2005, director Vladimir Bortko made an attempt to film Bulgakov’s work. The ten-episode series was shown on the Rossiya TV channel and was viewed by 40 million viewers. Here Interesting Facts about the film.

Valentin Gaft, who performed several roles in the television series minor roles, in Kara's unreleased film he played Woland himself. In turn, Alexander Filippenko, who played the role of Azazello in that film, was another representative dark forces- Koroviev.

The man in the jacket wears the uniform of a state security major (the rank corresponding to the rank of brigade commander of the Red Army) during the main action of the film and the uniform of a senior state security major (corresponding to the Red Army division commander) in the finale. This form worn by employees of the GUGB NKVD in 1937-1943. The man in the jacket is not mentioned in the novel; all episodes with his participation are the authors' find.

During the main action of the film, the investigator wears the uniform of a junior lieutenant of state security (corresponding to a senior lieutenant of the Red Army). In the finale, he has insignia - four cubes in his buttonholes - which have never been seen either in the Red Army or in the GUGB NKVD in the entire history of their existence.

Sergei Bezrukov, who played Yeshua, voiced the role of the Master, so that actor Alexander Galibin does not speak in his own voice throughout the entire film.

Oleg Basilashvili, who played Woland, voiced the role of the head of the secret guard of the Procurator of Judea Afranius, played by Lyubomiras Lautsevičius.

Despite the fairly wide timing, the film omitted some episodes from the original novel, for example, the announcement of the death sentence by Pontius Pilate in front of a crowd of people, Nikanor Ivanovich’s dream, the barman’s consultation with the doctor after visiting the “bad apartment”, the episode with Margarita in the trolleybus on the way to Alexander Garden, Margarita’s collision with an illuminated disk during the flight, Margarita’s conversation with the boy after the destruction of Latunsky’s apartment (most of the details of Margarita’s flight from Latunsky’s apartment to the lake were also missed, except for the meeting with Natasha on the hog), conversation with Kozlonogy over a glass of champagne. The details of the Sabbath scene were modestly presented, for example, there were no fat-faced frogs, glowing rotten mushrooms, or Margarita’s flight to the other side.

There is no episode of Margarita’s initiation into a witch in the novel, this is a discovery of the film’s authors, Woland and the Cat Behemoth playing chess (the chess pieces, according to Bulgakov’s novel, are alive), an episode of Woland and Margarita observing what is happening in the globe, a forest with parrots and Margarita’s flight at the Ball Satan, episodes with Abadonna, an enthusiastic conversation between Behemoth, Gella and Woland after the ball, Afranius’s meeting with Nisa, a conversation between Woland, Koroviev and Behemoth after the fire in Griboedov.

Woland in the novel is no more than 50 years old, and Oleg Basilashvili is ~75. Azazello's hair color is red, and Alexander Filippenko's hair color in this role is dark. Woland's eyes different color and one of them always looks straight, Basilashvili in this role has healthy eyes and the same color.

In some places, illogical edits have been made to the text. In episode 9, Pilate has a conversation with Matvey: “And now I need a parchment...”, “And do you want to take the last one away?”, “I didn’t say give it back, I said show me.” In the interrogation scene of Sempliyarov, he talks about a magician in a mask (as was the case in the novel), although in the film Woland appears in the theater without it.

In the interrogation scene of Yeshua, he introduces himself as Ga Nozri, and not Ga Nozri.

In episode 8, Koroviev hands the Master an obviously metal goblet (according to the text - a glass glass), the Master drops it on the carpet, Koroviev remarks: “fortunately, fortunately...”, although nothing broke.

12 years of work (1928-1940), 8 editions, 6 thick notebooks...

TO to the modern reader this novel came in the 60s. XX century. And he immediately attracted attention with the unusual plot, sharp satire and deep philosophical meaning. Yes, let's talk. Personally, I read this novel three times. In the first reading, I really wanted to know how things would turn out between the Master and Margarita, whether their love would withstand the trials that befell them, and whether Margarita would return to her husband. That's right, I read the novel as an exciting love story. The second reading was dedicated to the adventures of Woland and his company in Moscow; I read it as an exciting adventure book. Only the third time I read thoughtfully, consistently, meaningfully. This is the only way that both caustic satire and love story, and a biblical story.

The master lives in Moscow in the 30s. 20th century, writes a book about events that happened in biblical times, and at the same time freely communicates with Kant, Dostoevsky, Goethe. What is this - artistic technique, connecting three worlds, real, biblical and historical, or an attempt to show the truth of existence? Images supernatural powers in the novel are fantastic. But there is another fantasy in the work - satirical image in reality, in the spirit of the traditions of Gogol and Saltykov-Shchedrin.

The artistic composition of the novel represents three worlds - earthly, biblical and Eternity. IN earthly world The conflict between the Master and Berlioz unfolds. How dare he, Master, describe the life, suffering and death of Christ as historical fact? After all, according to Berlioz, chairman of Mossolit, there is no God. He and his retinue mercilessly deal with the Master, who dared to write not in the spirit of the dominant ideology. The biblical world is represented by conflict state power with the dissent of a wandering philosopher. And although Pontius Pilate has nothing personal against Yeshua Ha-Nozri, he does not dare not punish him, fearing a revolt of the mob. This is how the author of the novel shows two tragic deaths, and if Yeshua dies physically, then Pilate dies as a person. The third world, Eternity, is represented by the dispute between the Devil and God about man. In the novel, the author gives the Devil the name Woland and great powers, including the trial of sinners, but the fate of the Master and Margarita is arranged by God himself. The love of the Master and Margarita is shown very sincerely. She, Margarita, goes to the Master from a respectable house to the basement, into poverty, because she perceives spiritual kinship and joint creativity as true happiness. They both went into Eternity, because it is impossible for them to part. Bulgakov's pure natures are freed from violence and lack of freedom, but not from true love.

Similarity of conflicts in all three art worlds Bulgakov, their repeatability makes it possible to see main problem, the struggle between Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, spirituality and lack of spirituality.

The role of Woland in the novel is interesting. At first glance, he distinguishes between the true and the great (the love of the Master and Margarita, the Master’s feat, Pilate’s repentance), exposes vices (the death of Berlioz, the incident with a magic session in the theater, etc.), but does it mercilessly, inhumanly.

The destiny of mankind is a continuous search for truth. In his novel, Bulgakov tells us that we need to live by comparing our earthly affairs, thoughts and actions with the heavenly ideals of Goodness and Beauty. The scene of the Great Ball contains the main philosophical idea works: a person is free in his moral choice between God and the Devil, therefore, neither the ruling ideology nor the disasters experienced by humanity should exempt it from responsibility for good on earth.

I guess I’ll end my story with this main idea. about Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”

Despite the fact that the novel was written a long time ago and is classic work, he is still very popular among younger generation. Thanks to school curriculum Almost everyone knows this novel and who wrote it. "The Master and Margarita" is a novel created by greatest author, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov.

Indifference to the novel

In relation to this work it practically does not exist. In fact, readers are divided into two camps: those who love the novel and admire it, and those who simply hate it and also do not recognize Bulgakov’s genius. But there is a third, the smallest, category. This can probably only include small children. These are those who have not heard of the novel and do not know who the author is.

“The Master and Margarita” is one of the most extraordinary and mysterious. Many writers and literary scholars have tried to unravel the mystery of its popularity and success among the reader. No one has yet succeeded in achieving this.

It is not possible to recall and name many works that would generate so much controversy. They don’t stop talking about Bulgakov’s novel to this day. They talk about the biblical component of the plot, about the prototypes of the main characters, about the philosophical and aesthetic roots of the novel, about who the main character is, and even about the genre in which the work is written.

Three stages of writing a novel, according to B.V. Sokolov

The opinions of literary scholars regarding the history of writing “The Master and Margarita,” as well as the essence of this work, differ. For example, Sokolov, the author of the book “Bulgakov Encyclopedia,” divides the editions of the novel into three stages. He says that work on the work began back in 1928. Presumably, it was then that the author of the novel “The Master and Margarita” conceived it and wrote individual chapters began only in the winter of 1929. Already in the spring of the same year, the first complete edition was submitted. But then it was not yet directly said who the author of the book was, who wrote it. “The Master and Margarita” did not appear as the title of the work even then. The manuscript entitled “Furibunda” was submitted to the publishing house “Nedra” under the pseudonym K. Tugai. And on March 18, 1930, it was destroyed by the author himself. This is how the first stage of editions of the work, highlighted by Boris Vadimovich Sokolov, ends.

The second stage began in the fall of 1936. And at that time no one knew that the novel would be called as we are now accustomed to. Bulgakov himself, the one who wrote it, thought differently. “The Master and Margarita” is a work that received different names from its author: “He appeared” and “He appeared”, “The Advent”, “The Great Chancellor”, “Here I am”, “The Black Magician”, “The Feathered Hat”, “The Consultant’s Hoof” and “The Foreigner’s Horseshoe”, "Black theologian", and even "Satan". Only one subtitle remained unchanged - “Fantastic Novel”.

And finally, the third stage - from the second half of 1936 to the end of 1938. At first the novel was called “Prince of Darkness”, but then it acquired such a familiar name for us. And at the beginning of summer, in 1938, it was completely reprinted for the first time.

Nine editions, according to Losev

V.I. Losev studied the biography and work of Mikhail Afanasyevich for more than twenty years. He divides the story of writing the novel into nine parts, just like the author himself.

• The first edition is “Black Magician”. These are drafts of the novel, the first notebook, written in 1928-1929. It does not yet contain The Master and Margarita and there are only four chapters.
• The second is “Engineer’s Hoof”. This is the second draft notebook from the same years. This is like a continuation, the second part of the first edition of the work. There are only three chapters in it, but here the idea of ​​one of the most important parts of the novel has already appeared - this is the section called “The Gospel of Woland.”
• The third is “The Evening of Terrible Saturday.” Drafts, sketches for the novel, written in 1929-1931. There are also three chapters. And only the case in Griboedov reached the final version.
• The fourth is “Grand Chancellor”. The first complete handwritten edition. Margarita and her lover already appear here. But his name is not yet Master, but Poet.
• Fifth - “Fantastic novel”. These are chapters rewritten and completed in 1934-1936. New details appear, but there are no significant modifications.
• Sixth - “Golden Spear”. This is an unfinished manuscript, torn off at the chapter “Magic Money”.
• Seventh - “Prince of Darkness”. The first thirteen chapters of the novel. not here, and in general everything ends with the appearance of the main character. And Berlioz is called Mirtsev here.
• The eighth part is “The Master and Margarita”. Complete and mature handwritten edition of 1928-1937. And it was this version that was published by Elena Bulgakova’s sister Olga Bokshanskaya.
• The ninth is also “The Master and Margarita”. The latest and final edition, including all the latest additions and comments by Mikhail Afanasyevich. It was published after the death of the writer by Elena Sergeevna, his wife, in 1966.

Variant of the story of Belobrovtseva and Kuljus

In many ways, their version is similar to Losev’s, since they completely agree with the critic regarding the first edition. However, they call the second edition the chapters of the novel “The Engineer’s Hoof”, submitted to the Nedra publishing house. It is here that the Master, also called Fesey, appears for the first time. He plays the role of Faust even without Margarita. The third version, according to Belobrovtseva and Kuljus, is the “Fantastic Novel” written by Bulgakov in 1932, where the Master turns from Fesi into the Poet and Margarita already appears. They consider the fourth edition to be the 1936 edition, the one that was completed for the first time with the word “end.” Next comes the work of 1937 - the unfinished novel “Prince of Darkness”. And then the manuscript printed by O. S. Bokshanskaya. Already its editing by the authors is considered the seventh edition. And the eighth and last is the one that was edited by Bulgakov’s wife before his death and was published after his death.

The novel was published in the form in which we know it for the first time in the Moscow magazine in 1966. The work immediately gained popularity, and Bulgakov’s name never left the lips of his contemporaries. Then no one really had any questions about who the author of the work was, who wrote it. “The Master and Margarita” is a novel that made a great impression. And he still holds the brand.