The Master and Margarita (1967) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• The Master (Мастер): An author who has written a novel about the meeting of Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Jesus of Nazareth). Put away in a psychiatric clinic, where Bezdomny meets him. Very little is known about this character's past other than he had no point in his life until he finally met Margarita.
• Margarita (Маргарита): The Master's lover. Trapped in a passionless marriage; devoted herself to The Master, who she believes is dead. Does not appear until second half of the novel, where she serves as the hostess of Satan's Grand Ball on Walpurgis Night. She is named after Faust's Gretchen – whose real name is Margarita – as well as Marguerite de Valois. Marguerite was the main character in an opera, Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer which Bulgakov particularly enjoyed, and a novel by Alexandre Dumas, père, La Reine Margot. In these accounts the queen is portrayed as daring and passionate. The character was also inspired by Bulgakov's last two wives, the first of whom loved action and was physically daring, while the last was devoted to his work in the same way as Margarita is to the Master.
• Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz (Михайл Александрович Берлиоз): Head of the literary bureaucracy MASSOLIT, sentenced by Woland to death for his atheistic sentiment. He bears the last name of the French composer, Hector Berlioz who wrote the opera the Damnation of Faust. Got hit by a streetcar, as Woland predicted - got his 'head being severed by women'.
• Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov: A young, aspiring poet. His pen name Bezdomny means "homeless". Initially a willing tool of the MASSOLIT apparatus, he is transformed by the events of the novel. Witnesses Berlioz's death and nearly goes mad, but later meets The Master in asylum and decides to cease his atheistic poetry once and for all.
• Stephan Bogdanovich Likhodeyev: Director of the Variety Theatre and Berlioz's roommate. Often called by diminutive name Styopa. For his dishonest deeds, was thrown to Yalta by Behemoth without anything in order to free apartments for Woland.
• Grigory Danilovich Rimsky: Treasurer of the Variety Theatre. At one point, Rimsky is ambushed by Varenukha (who has been cursed with the dark form of a vampire by Woland's order). He barely escapes the encounter and he is forced to flee to the train station to get away. The night of Woland's performance is the same night that Rimsky and vampires meet.
• Ivan Savelyevich Varenukha: House-manager of the Variety Theatre. He is turned into a creature of darkness but is forgiven by the end of Walpurgistnacht - restoring his humanity.
• Natasha: Margarita's young maid, later turned into a witch.
• Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy: Chairman of the House Committee at 302B Sadovaya Street (former residence of Berlioz). For his greed and trickery, was deceived by Koroviev and later arrested.
• Woland (Воланд): A "foreign professor" who is "in Moscow to present a performance of 'black magic' and then expose its machinations". The exposure (as one could guess) never occurs, instead Woland exposes the greed and bourgeois behaviour of the spectators themselves. Satan in disguise.
• Behemoth (кот Бегемот): An enormous (said to be as large as a hog) black cat, capable of standing on two legs and talking. He has a penchant for chess, vodka and pistols. In Russian, "Begemot (бегемот)". The word itself means hippopotamus in Russian as well as the Biblical creature. A demon in disguise, able to take human form for short time.
• Koroviev/Fagotto (Коровьев / Фагот): A purported "ex-choirmaster"; this may imply that Koroviev was once a member of an angelic choir. Woland's assistant, capable of creating any illusions. Unlike Behemoth and Azazello, does not use violence at any point.
• Azazello (Азазелло): A menacing, fanged and wall-eyed member of Woland's retinue, a messenger and assassin, may be one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse. Possible reference to Azazel. In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Enoch 8:1-3, Azazel is the fallen angel who taught people to make weapons and jewelry, and taught women the "sinful art" of painting their faces. This explains Azazello giving Margarita the magical cream.
• Hella (Гелла): Beautiful, redheaded succubus. Serves as maid to Woland and his retinue. Remarked as being "perfect, were it not for a purple scar on her neck" – the scar suggesting that she is also a vampiress.
• Abadonna: The pale-faced, black-goggled angel of death.
• Pontius Pilate (Понтий Пилат): The Roman Procurator of Judaea, a procurator in this case being a governor of a small province.
• Yeshua Ha-Nozri (Иешуа Га-Ноцри): Wanderer, "mad philosopher", as Pilate calls him, whose name means Jesus of Nazareth, though some commentators dispute the "of Nazareth" interpretation.
• Aphranius: Head Of the Roman Secret Service in Judaea.
• Matthew Levi: A Levite and former tax collector. Follower of Yeshua.
• Joseph Kaifa: The High Priest of Judaea.
• Judas Iscariot (Иуда Искариот): Testified against Yeshua thus causing him to be sentenced to death; later killed on Pilate's orders.
• Ivan Nikolaevich: Theater director
• Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy: Chairman of a tenants' association in Moscow.
• Arkady Apollonovich: Add a description of this character.
• Archibald Archibaldovich
• Maximilian Andreevich
• Griboedov
• Kuzmin
• Styopa
• Vassily Stepanovich
• Praskovya Fyodorovna
• Frieda
• Margot: Nickname for Margarita
• Stravinsky
• Riukhin
• Likhodeev
• Stepan Bogdanovich
• Poplavsky
• Ivanushka
• Sofya Pavlovna
• Amvrosy
• Mark
• Caesar
• Anna Frantsevna
• Latunsky
• Annushka
• Anna Richardovna
• Pavel Yosifovich
• Andrei Fokich
• Khustov

Quotes edit see section history

show spoilers

• “'Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil,'”

  Woland - to Bezdomny and Berlioz causing much confusion

• “Штаны коту не полагаются, мессир, - с большим достоинством ответил кот, - уж не прикажете ли вы мне надеть и сапог? Кот в сапогах бывает только в сказках, мессир. Но видели ли вы когда-нибудь кого-нибудь на балу без галстуха? Я не намерен оказаться в комическом положении и рисковать тем, что меня вытолкают в шею!”

  Begemot

• “Бритый кот - это действительно безобразие, тысячу раз согласен признать это.”

  Begemot

• “-Королева... ухо вспухнет... Зачем же портить бал вспухшим ухом?.. Молчу, молчу... Считайте, что я не кот, а рыба, только оставьте ухо.”

  Begemot

• “Приятно слышать, что вы так вежливо обращаетесь с котом. Котам обычно почему-то говорят ты, хотя ни один кот никогда ни с кем не пил брудершафта.”

  Begemot

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Moscow
• Sadovaya Street
• Judea
• Bengalsky
• Bald Mountain
• Kiev
• Yalta
• Massolit
• Varenultha
• Gethsemane
• Lower City
• Armushka
• Kanavkin
• Leningrad
• Sanhedrin
• Kiriath
• Bronnaya
• Jaffa
• Alexandrovsky Garden
• Pushkino
• Tverskaya
• Patriarch's Ponds

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Bezdomny: Ivan Nikolaievich Bezdomny's name literally translates as: Homeless or Without House.
• Behemoth: Cat Behemoth's name literally translates as: Hippopotamus.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Possession, and followed by The Handmaid's Tale.

Preceded by Бегущая по Волнам / Рассказы (She Who Runs on the Waves / Short Stories).

Preceded by The Origins of Totalitarianism, and followed by The Rosy Crucifixion: Sexus, Plexus, Nexus (The New Traveller's Companion).

Preceded by Lord of the Flies, and followed by Bluebeard.

Preceded by Continental Drift, and followed by In Cold Blood.

Preceded by The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, and followed by Tales of the City.

Preceded by One Hundred Years of Solitude, and followed by Pilgrimage.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Mikhail Bulgakov (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Ion Covaci (Translator)
2. Ion Vartic (Afterword)
3. Erik Egeberg (Translator)
4. Janez Gradišnik (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #130)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PG3476.B78
• Dewey: 891.7342

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › Russian
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Foreign Language Fiction › Russian

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia: The Master and Margarita
• Wikipedia: "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stone. Song lyrics influenced by the book.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Pilate and Others (IMDb): "Pilatus und andere - Ein Film für Karfreitag", a 1972 German drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1967 novel The Master and Margarita (focuses on the parts of the novel set in biblical Jerusalem)
• The Master and Margaret (IMDb): a 1972 Italian-Yugoslav film directed by Aleksandar Petrović.
• The Master and Margarita (IMDb): a 2005 Russian television production of Telekanal Rossiya (10 episodes in total)

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history