The Master and Margarita : An exercise in interpretation 3

Don't click away!

This delightful illustration might be mistaken for one of the "Petty Girls" artworks on a 1940 calendar, drawn by master George Petty himself but it is not. It does, and very accurately so, represent a scene from Bulgakov's book "The Master and Margarita".

What a joy to view this marvellous drawing. See how elated the two girls look!
On the background with a phallic broom firmly sticking out between her thighs is Margarita. She is waving, beckoning us for a closer look. (Click on the picture for a closer look!) The blond girl enjoying the bristles of the swine against her bare bottom is her housemaid Natasha. She clearly enjoys her ride on the bewildered pig who appears to be Nikolay Ivanovitch, her downstairs neighbour! Both girls are happy and feeling wild. Azazello’s cream has freed these beautiful witches, one from a marriage and her boring lover, the other from her servitude. Nikolay unfortunately has turned into a pig. But he too should be happy because he has been freed from a nagging wife and a boring existence.

For all three it is the happiest moment of their life. The tragedy is that two of them do not realize it and will forsake this moment of bliss and suffer for it.

Let's start with Margarita. She is at first introduced to us through the narration of the Master. He paints a rather platonic image of her. She is described as being kind, tender and taking motherly care of the Master.
But is she really this mother figure or is this how the (let’s face it) boring Master sees her? There is according to me a darker side to her, an aspect of his beloved, the Master does not know. She is after all, from the moment she starts an affair with him an adulterer living a life of lying and deceit.

We have to wait till the second part of the book to be introduced to her in a proper way. And lo and behold! From the moment, the Master disappears, after just three chapters, some hesitation at being summoned like a prostitute to the apartment of a stranger and the help of a magic rich yellowish cream from a glittering golden box, the real Margarita is unleashed and turned into the wild vixen she really is. She undresses, flies off with a broom between her legs and runs naked for nearly the whole second part of the book, Satan’s Spring ball and all, until, yes, you guessed it, she is reunited with the Master. From that moment she turns again into a Saintly mother Theresa look-alike and she chooses a romantic death united-forever à la Romeo and Juliette with her boring beau.Why this choice? Some critics, like the self-willed Ukrainian polemicist Alfred Nikolayevitch Barkov argue that Margarita actually spies on the Master and then turns him over to Stalinist authorities. There is after all one nasty little sentence on page 148 of the Penguin edition which is whispered and suggestive: “A quarter of an hour after she left me, there came a knock at my window…”If this is the case, then her choice of dying with her lover might serve as redemption for her terrible crime.

Another possibility might be that Bulgakov simply is not allowed to choose a life of diabolic debauchery for his Margarita. Too many of Bulgakov lovers and wives have been looking over his shoulder while he was writing and influenced the shape and the actions of the Master’s mistress. I can for instance very easily picture wife nr. 3 sulking on her bed, after proofreading, because poor Bulgakov’s Margarita still looks or acts too much like wife nr.2. I am afraid that the women in Bulgakov’s life had too much too say in the characterization of Margarita and that therefore she becomes a hotchpotch of characters ( Saint, Mother, Lover, Witch and Whore) instead of the well defined vixen she was planned to be.


Now let’s turn to Nikolay Ivanovitch, the neighbour of Margarita and Natasha dragged against his will into this adventure. We suspect that he secretly has been fantasizing about and spying on these two beautiful women. And they know it and they enjoy it. As soon as Margarita hears his steps coming home, she teases him sitting naked on the windowsill. No wonder this serious burgher man is stunned and collapses in awe. When Margarita has flown away, he rushes to gorgeous Natasha and makes her decent and indecent proposals. Poor Nikolay, naming his girl Venus, Queen or Princess is to no avail.Strange enough, the magical ointment that had such a positive effect on the two women, turns Nikolay instantly into a Pig. Probably this happens because the magical ointment was smeared on him by Natasha and not done by himself. And the cream turns you into what the user thinks about you. But this transformation is not as bad as it looks. Because being a hog mounted by a gorgeous naked babe riding trough the Russian night sky will turn out to be the most exciting moment of Nikolay’s life. Unfortunately at the moment he has to decide his future he does not have the guts to follow his Princess and he will forever regret that he has asked the Devil a return to his “normal life”.


Finally there is lovely Natasha.For me in the end, she is the real heroine and she becomes what Margarita could have been. Only Natasha chooses too remain a witch. Only Natasha, the housekeeper, seems to have understood that her newly gained life was a guarantee for eternal youth, fun and freedom. She grasps this unique opportunity with both hands and lives happy ever after!

Well done girl!

http://www.thepinupfiles.com

The Master and Margarita : An exercise in interpretation 2

This painting by Ilja Yefimovitsch Repin, (1909, oil on canvas 81 × 134.5 cm) displayed at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow does not represent “Gogol burning the manuscript of the second part of "Dead Souls". It represents Mikhail Bulgakov burning the first version of “the Master and Margarita”.

Why should we think so?

If we may believe Nabokov, the burning of the second part of “the death souls” was a positive moment seen from an artistic point of view. It was the result of Gogol’s final insight of what he was doing and what artist he had become. Neither satisfied him and true to himself, he committed his writings to the flames.

Bulgakov however burnt his manuscript simply because he was terrified. The mere knowledge of the existence of his book by the Communist authorities would have sentenced the author to death. Probably he expected Stalin’s security people to find him out in the coming hours and therefore he burned the pages of his work, to safe his life. The man in Repin’s picture is devastated. All the lost work, all the lost time…

Both Gogol and Bulgakov did fear the Devil. Few however can boast having him on the telephone as happened to Bulgakov on 17 April 1930.
Reacting to a letter Bulgakov wrote to the central Government complaining that the hostility of the literary establishment made it impossible for him to work, Stalin himself called the author and helped him obtain a position with the Moscow Art Theater.

But things did not improve. Only two of Bulgakov’s stage adaptations were granted a normal run. His own plays were not staged or were quickly withdrawn.

Obviously Bulgakov had some scores to settle.

The intrusion of Satan and his gang in the program of the Variety theatre and the taking over of the apartment at Sadovaya 50, allows the author to do just that: settle some private scores and ventilate his critique on matters that must have irritated and humiliated him constantly.

Let’s take them in turn.

The literary establishment, represented by Massolit chairman Berlioz is dealt with in the very first pages of the book. His beheading frees also half of the apartment at Sadovaya. The HQ of the Russian writers is described as nothing more than a posh restaurant and a place to receive some VIP treatment. The poet Ivan the Homeless, a thinly veiled caricature of Efim Pridvorov is send of to the psychiatric ward. This is after all standard procedure in Communist Russia for the unruly.

Next step is to send the other tenant of Sadovaya 50, Styopa “Stepan” Bogdanovich Likhodeev to Yalta. Exile and disappearing people in Russia? Not uncommon either.
The apartment is now ready for Woland and his retinue.

No disappearance without correct administration and so the devil’s settles matters with the housemaster Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy.
Boulgakov suffered crookedness of these tenants when looking for an apartment in the twenties and thirties
Again the usual Communist procedures: Bosoy is accused and arrested for accepting bribes and dealing in foreign money.

Styopa, send to Yalta is the Director of the Variety theatre.
Grigory Danilovich Rimsky, Variety theatre financial director is scared to death by a female ghoul and flees to Leningrad. Ivan Savelyvich Varenukha, the administrator of the Variety theatre is beaten up in the toilets and brought by Woland’s cronies to Sadovaya 50 where a naked cold girl with phosphorescent eyes awaits him.

Finally the Master of ceremony George Bengalsky, in a scene echoing the earlier beheading of Berlioz, is assaulted by Behemoth, the giant cat, who just tears of his head, splattering blood all over the scene of the Variety Theater.

Bulgakov humiliation is finally washed away in blood.

Master and Margarita group read kick-off post

Welcome to the group read of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita ( M&M).

I am neither an expert on Bulgakov nor a literary academic. Like most of you, I just enjoy a good book and I love spending my free time thinking over the lines of famous and infamous writers. I first read M&M in May this year and I went back to it several times since then. But that is the only advantage I might have and the sole reason I was allowed to co-lead this group.

From the first chapters of this marvellous book, you are dragged into a wild ride trough the Moscow of the thirties. It is therefore a good idea to take reading notes especially on the many different characters and locations. There are quite a few peripheral figures and it is important to keep track of them throughout the story in order not to get lost.
There are some excellent websites that can help, but they might give away too much and you better check them only after finishing your first reading.

What is M&M about? Let’s go straight to the essence. In his introduction to the book Richard Pevear mentions it briefly: It was the outrage at how Christ was portrayed in Soviet anti-religious propaganda that spurred Bulgakov to write M&M. As a reaction the writer reversed what was written in the atheist literature. He rewrote the “myth of Christ” as a reality and he scattered the “reality of Moscow life” by the intrusion of a mysterious and wicked stranger.

But of course this great book contains much, much more as you will find out!
There is Magic! There is Mystery! Romance is mingled with autobiographic elements and social critic. Philosophy, religion and history are served with a Russian sauce. It is often funny, sometimes spooky and occasionally even a bit erotic. There is, in short, enough for everybody.

Read it attentively. You might elucidate the mystery around the still unfound meaning behind the composer names Berlioz, Stravinsky and Rimsky. It has eluded critics since M&M first appeared in1966. Why, we could even make it our group objective!


Bulgakov wrote his book in the gloom of Stalinist terror and two “truths” appear in the lines of the book, two messages he wants to pass to his readers.
The first one is that “Cowardice is the most terrible of vices”. "Because all the rest comes from it", Bulgakov said to a friend. It is the cowardice of the people, as a group and as an individual, which is needed for dictatorial regimes to exist and to thrive. And the Soviet authorities apparently felt tackled by this quotation, because all references to this "worst of vices" were removed from the original magazine publication of The Master and Margarita.

The second one is “Manuscripts don’t burn”. Oppressive authorities cannot, will never, succeed in destroying the free mind. And if M&M has become that cult book that it is today, it is just because it is a proof of that truth. It is miracle that we are reading it, it was a miracle that it got printed, that it survived.

Today the fight is not over. People close to us are still exiled, imprisoned and assassinated just for their ideas and their writings. Still in Moscow some lunatics want to destroy the “Naughty apartment” where the Bulgakov museum is situated. Still at night secret gangs bleach the walls where admirers have expressed their love for the book. But still also, one shivers when, alone on the stairs of that dusky building at Sadovaya, a cold draft caresses your neck or whispers in your ear.

Enjoy the Magic!

http://www.masterandmargarita.eu
http://cr.middlebury.edu/public/russian/Bulgakov/public_html/

The Master and Margarita : An exercise in interpretation 1

This painting by Titian, from 1515 hanging in the Ria Doria Pamphilj in Rome, does not represent Salome with the Head of John the Baptist.
It represents a scene from Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece "The master and Margarita".
The severed head is that of Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, chairman of the Moscow literary association. The beautiful girl holding it on a plate is a tramdriver, member of the Russian Union of Communist Youth. The younger woman on the left is Anushka from Sadovaya street who has inadvertently broken a bottle of sunflower oil which caused the announced beheading of the man.
Why do I think so ?
The way Satan predicts the death of the chairman gives a hint : "Your head will be cut off..... by a Russian woman, a Komsomol girl. Google Woman + beheading and there it is : the myth of Salome and Saint John the Baptist. Another tip is that in a first draft of the book, this incident takes place on the 24 June, which is the name day of the same Saint.
The author wants to punish his character Berlioz for not believing in Jesus Christ. And he wants to do it in style. After dead by crucification, the beheading is after all the most visual way of killing someone in the Christian symbolism. It will resound several times again through the pages of the book.
But it is not Berlioz who represents Saint John the Baptist, it is naive and unspoiled Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev, better known as Ivan Homeless. Altough Ivan is a carricature of Efim Pridvorov, the atheist poet who so scandilized Bulgakov, he still gets a respectfull role in the book. His nickname "Homeless" might indicate that he is still in search of an identity, a higher purpose in life. He does not yet believe in God or the devil, but he does not believe in the system either.
In the Chase, that strange fast moving chapter, three important things happen. First with the scene of the huge tomcat walking on it's hindlegs and trying to jump on a tram, absurdity settles in to the novel on a larger scale. The Muscovites witnessing the scene, unlike Ivan, do not find it strange that the cat can pay for a tramticket. Ivan experiences "normality" now in a different way than the other citizens.

Then comes the baptism scene with the full submersion in the cold river. Baptism is the mystery that transforms the old sinful man into the new, pure man; the old life, the sins, any mistakes made are gone and a clean slate is given. Through baptism one is united to the Body of Christ by becoming a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
A new man comes out the water and that is why the author gives him new clothes. The old Western Ivan with the cowboy shirt, white trousers and black sneakers changes into a reborn one dressed in the Russian uniform of the peasant.

The third experience in his transformation takes place in the communal apartment he enters in his search for the devil. The apartment is deserted save a little girl and a naked woman washing herself in a tub. The naked woman reacts like an adulterer. Is she Herodiade, who is denounced by saint John? Is the little girl her daughter Salome? It is not clear. Ivan goes away, taking with him two props that will clearly identify him as a religious outcast: a candle and an icon.

Now, Ivan is ready to enter the temple of the literary establishment: Griboedov. Look at him! His burning candle in his hand and his icon attached to his blouse. Barefoot and in his tattered white Tolstoi shirt, looking like a ghost, acting like a drunk. He is now John the Baptist, the last prophet, the announcer of the Messiah. "Listen to me everyone! He has appeared. Catch him immediately; otherwise he'll do untold harm! "But it is not the Messiah he announces but his counterpart: the Devil.

The Master and Margarita : an inspiration for " Sympathy for the Devil" ?

( From Wikipedia )

Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet.
"Sympathy for the Devil" was written by singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, though the song was largely a Jagger composition. In a 1995 interview with Rolling Stone, Jagger said, "I think that was taken from an old idea of Baudelaire's, I think, but I could be wrong. Sometimes when I look at my Baudelaire books, I can't see it in there. But it was an idea I got from French writing. And I just took a couple of lines and expanded on it. I wrote it as sort of like a Bob Dylan song". In actuality at certain points the lyrics bear a striking resemblance to Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita .

Claude Ligny, gave the first french translation of the Master and Margarita in 1968 in an edition of Robert Laffont


The working title of the song was "The Devil Is My Name", and it is sung by Jagger as a first-person narrative from the point of view of Lucifer:

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste;

These opening lines reflect Jagger's direct inspiration by The Master and Margarita, with the book opening with the similar "'Please excuse me,' he said, speaking correctly, but with a foreign accent, 'for presuming to speak to you without an introduction.'" More references to the book are made in

I was round when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain/ Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands and sealed his fate;

, as this Bible passage is mentioned in the first chapters of "The Master and Margarita"
Backed by an intensifying rock arrangement, the narrator, with chilling narcissistic relish, recounts his exploits over the course of human history and warns the listener: "If you meet me, have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste; use all your well-learned politesse, or I'll lay your soul to waste." Jagger stated in the Rolling Stone interview: "...it's a very long historical figure -- the figures of evil and figures of good -- so it is a tremendously long trail he's made as personified in this piece."
At the time of the release of Beggars Banquet the Rolling Stones had already raised some hackles for sexually forward lyrics such as "Let's Spend the Night Together" [5] and for allegedly dabbling in Satanism (their previous album, while containing no direct Satanic references, had been titled Their Satanic Majesties Request), and "Sympathy" brought these concerns to the fore, provoking media rumours and fears among some religious groups that The Rolling Stones were devil-worshippers and a corrupting influence on youth.The lyrics' focus, however, is on atrocities in the history of mankind, including European wars of religion ("I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the Gods they made"), the violence of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the 1918 massacre of the Romanov family ("I stuck around St. Petersburg when I saw it was a time for a change, killed the Tsar and his ministers - Anastasia screamed in vain") and World War II ("I rode a tank, held a general's rank when the Blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank").
The lyrics also refer to the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. The recording sessions for the track were in progress when the latter was killed, and the words were changed from "Who killed Kennedy?" to "who killed the Kennedys?" These lyrics are also a bit of word play on one of the most famous passages by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in his book The Gay Science where, in section 125, entitled "The Madman" he writes:
"The insane man jumped into their midst and transfixed them with his glances. 'Where is God gone?' he called out. 'I mean to tell you! We have killed him, -- you and I!'"The song may have been spared further controversy when the first single from the album, "Street Fighting Man", became even more controversial in view of the race riots and student protests occurring in many cities in the U.S

Note : Bulgakov's apartment at Sadovaya 50

The communal flat at Sadovaya nr. 50, better known in Bulgakov’s masterwork “The Master and Margarita” as the Naughty Apartment houses today a museum commemorating the life and work of the famous Russian author. It is located about two blocks from Patriarshiye Ponds, the scene of the opening chapter of the novel, where the Moscow city government has erected a statue commemorating the artist and his novel. The once luxurious rental house, constructed by millionaire Ilya Pigit, owner of the tobacco factory Ducat, was refitted for the first working commune after the revolution. The communal flat № 50, where Mikhail Bulgakov and his wife lived in 1921 – 1924, became the prototype of that Odd Flat, where Voland with his court settled up, and from where the mysterious stairs led to another dimension. It is said that one can still feel the Devil presence when touching the walls.

For more, see the superb site devoted to the Master and Margarita :

http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/index.html

Study : Quinquae viae

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Quinque viae, Five Ways, or Five Proofs are five arguments for the existence of God summarized by the 13th century Roman Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas in his book, Summa Theologica. The five ways are; the argument of the unmoved mover, the argument of the first cause, the argument from contingency, the argument from degree and the teleological argument. Aquinas left out from his list several arguments that were already in existence at the time, such as the ontological argument of Saint Anselm, because he did not believe that they worked.

The Argument of the Unmoved Mover
The argument of the unmoved mover, or ex motu, tries to explain that God must be the cause of motion in the universe. It is therefore a form of the cosmological argument. It goes thus:
Some things are moved.
Everything that is moving is moved by a mover.
An infinite regress of movers is impossible.
Therefore, there is an unmoved mover from whom all motion proceeds.
This mover is what we call God.

The Argument of the First Cause
The argument of the first cause (ex causa), tries, unlike the argument of the Unmoved Mover, to prove that God must have been the cause, or the creator of the universe. It is therefore a form of the cosmological argument. It goes thus :
Some things are caused.
Everything that is caused is caused by something else.
An infinite regress of causation is impossible.
Therefore, there must be an uncaused cause of all that is caused.
This causer is what we call God.

The Argument from Contingency
The argument from contingency (ex contingentia):
Many things in the universe may either exist or not exist. Such things are called contingent beings.
It is impossible for everything in the universe to be contingent, for then there would be a time when nothing existed, and so nothing would exist now, since there would be nothing to bring anything into existence, which is clearly false.
Therefore, there must be a necessary being whose existence is not contingent on any other being or beings.
This being is whom we call God.

The Argument from Degree
The argument from degree or gradation (ex gradu). It is heavily based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It goes thus :
Varying perfections of varying degrees may be found throughout the universe.
These degrees assume the existence of an ultimate standard of perfection.
Therefore perfection must have a pinnacle.
This pinnacle is whom we call God.

The Teleological Argument
The teleological argument or argument of "design" (ex fine), which claims that everything in the Universe has a purpose, which must have been caused by God :
All natural bodies in the world act towards ends.
These objects are in themselves unintelligent.
Acting towards an end is characteristic of intelligence.
Therefore, there exists an intelligent being that guides all natural bodies towards their ends. This being is whom we call God

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

( second reading )

“Never speak to strangers,” warns the first chapter of this wonderful book, but that is exactly what Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, chairman of the Union of writers in Moscow, so carelessly does. The stranger happens to be Satan himself and when Berlioz boldly claims that Christ does not exist, the Devil with a cruel act, ironically not only proofs his existence but that of the anti-Christ as well. This then is the start of a wild chase through the Stalinist Moscow of the nineteen thirties and the beginning of one of the strangest stories which managed to get printed under the Soviet Totalitarian regime.

Written between 1930 and 1940, when Stalinist terror was at it worst, the content of the novel “The Master and Margarita” literally was life threatening to its author Michael Bulgakov. It is very likely that Bulgakov would not have survived their reprisals if the Soviet authorities would have discovered his manuscript. The author was very well aware of this and did indeed destroy a first version of his masterpiece out of precaution.

It is difficult to imagine what live must have been for an intelligent sensitive artist under Stalinist totalitarian regime. It would be something like Salman Rushdie writing the Satanic verses while living in Kabul!

If fighting back in the open was suicidal, how could you mentally survive such a situation? In the “Master in Margarita”, the narrative of Jesus condemnation offers already one option: to offer one‘s cheek and mumble with the crucified: “forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”.

Bulgakov however finds in M& M a third and safe way to ventilate his anger and frustration and he does so in a very entertaining way: he gets back at his tormentors by retaliating through his artistic creations. He sides with the Devil and his retinue and unleashes his destructive anger on his enemies.

Imagine for example that the blasphemous first chapter of M&M was indeed triggered by the iconoclastic poetry of the militant atheist Demyan Bedny.
Through his writing, the highly offended Bulgakov could get back at him through the viciously beheading scene of Berlioz. “You don’t believe in God?” “Whack there goes your stupid head!”

Again, a bit further in the book when Ivan Bezdomniy,Berlioz companion of the first chapter tries to explain what happened to the unbelieving Director of the psychiatric ward Bulgakov strikes again : “Tell your version of the truth and finish locked up as the schizophrenic moron you really are”.

One cannot but smile in sympathy with Bulgakov and applaud the humour he extracts from the terrifying environment of his daily life. Writing these scenes in the precarious safety of his flat must have been a therapeutic reaction to the author’s accumulated anger.

As we further pursue the Devil and his gang, we are introduced full speed to numerous situations, different locations and dozens of people.However, the moment we are introduced to them, most of the characters fall victim to the devil’s terrifying magic. People mysteriously disappear, they accidentally die, they are exiled to other cities, and they are imprisoned or locked up in an asylum. Everybody is guilty of something and is found out: Black market, foreign currencies exchange, briberies, etc.
The results of Satan’s acts mirror the consequences of indiscretions and carelessness in this Stalin era Moscow, where normality is imposed terror.
Together with the Muscovites, we are asking ourselves: "What is happening?"It seems that the Devil has arrived in Moscow and settled in an apartment on Sadavoya Street in the centre of the city. Again Bulgakov and his Devil punish the inhabitants of the apartment in the same way as what the Soviets did to the previous proprietors. Where are the original inhabitants of Saravoya 50 ? Obliterated? Forgotten? We don’t even remember their names after they are taken away by the secret police.

The Devil and his gang of cronies are settling scores with the custodians of the official literature in order to take over the presentation at the Variety Theatre.
The grand show of magic and grotesque carnival offered to the Moscovian public causes such havoc and mayhem that it unsettles Artistic Moscow to its deepest roots.

Once more Bulgakov exposes his revenge. He rips apart the entire Variety theatre top, these sycophantic puppets of the regime and makes fun of their audience. Bulgakov let’s his Satanic characters tear heads from bodies, hurl them to Yalta, chase them naked trough the streets of Moscow to uncover their greed and their evil stupidity.

But there is more. Satan has chosen Moscow as the location for his yearly Spring ball, the Gothic Society happening of the Underworld. Everything is ready although one key invitee is missing… a hostess to welcome the demonic guests. Beautiful (and married) Margarita has fallen in love with a writer who is called “the Master”. They have occasional secret rendezvous in the basement apartment of the artist. The Master is writing a story about Pontius Pilate. While Margarita is reconsidering her marriage and dreaming of a life with her artist lover, the Master like Bulgakov is pondering over the dangerous content of his work.One day the lover disappears and without Margarita knowing it, is locked up in the asylum. As we end the first part of the book, poor lonely Margarita caught in her marriage has to suffer in silence.The second part of Bulgakov’s starts with bringing beautiful Margarita and the Devil together. When the Devil offers her a way out of her unhappy romantic condition, she grabs this opportunity and this classy lady, in a flash, turns into a naked fury riding her broomstick over Moscow and out of pure anger, frustration and revenge destroys a complete building. This act, which again mirrors Bulgakov’s contained rage, Margarita’s wild ride trough the Russian night sky and her subsequent hosting of Satan’s spring ball, allows Bulgakov to paint the most superbly entertaining and spectacular theatrical scenes.
The Devil finds in Margarita an elegant hostess to his party. To reward her for her excellent performance at the grand Demonic Spring ball, the Devil reunites Margarita with her lover.The Master and Margarita is a great and entertaining book. The pace of narration is fast and the characters and settings are numerous. Fortunately the book is chopped in thirty or so short chapters as if the author wanted us to be able to catch our breath in this whirlwind of Russian literature.
But most of all we are reminded that M&M kept Bulgakov alive during these terrible years and offer us a beautiful insight in his silent resistance.

http://www.klassika.ru/read.html?proza/bulgakov/master97_engl.txthttp://lib.ru/BULGAKOW/master97_engl.txt_Piece40.01