1973/10/01 by A. Colin Wright · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Joseph Conrad and Literature #Impossibility #Interpreter #FAUST #Interpretation (philosophy) #Philosophy #Action (physics) #Literature #Art #Law #Political science #Linguistics #Computer science
paper · doi:10.2307/461648
openalex publication_date 1973/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
BULGAKOV'S NOVEL The Master and Margarita is a confusing combination of different elements: satire, fantasy, serious philosophical and religious questioning. 1 The variety of critical commentaries has already shown the impossibility of reducing it to one single interpretation. The action can be stated briefly. Satan, alias Woland, arrives in Moscow with two demonic henchmen, a thug Azazello and a tomcat Behemoth; plus an “interpreter,” Koroviev. Among bureaucrats, petty crooks, and those simply concerned with personal gain they cause havoc. 2 But they give aid and protection to a persecuted writer in an asylum, the Master, and to his love, Margarita, after she has agreed to act as hostess for Satan's Ball. A hack poet, Ivan Homeless, is brought to a deeper understanding of life and becomes a “disciple” of the Master. Central to the book is the Master's novel about Pontius Pilate, the chapters of which form part of Bulgakov's text and conclude simultaneously with the story about the Master in an epilogue. A strong connection with the Faust tradition is evident.