And I didn’t read it - whether in history or in a fairy tale, -
May the path of true love be smooth.
W. Shakespeare
M. Bulgakov believed that life is love and hate, courage and passion, the ability to appreciate beauty and kindness. But love... comes first. Bulgakov wrote the heroine of his novel with Elena Sergeevna, his beloved woman who was his wife. Soon after they met, she took on her shoulders, perhaps, most of his, the Master’s, terrible burden, and became his Margarita.
The story of the Master and Margarita is not one of the lines of the novel, but its most important theme. All events, all the diversity of the novel, converge towards it.
They didn’t just meet, fate collided with them on the corner of Tverskaya and Lane. Love struck both like lightning, like a Finnish knife. “Love jumped out in front of them, like a killer jumps out of the ground in an alley...” - this is how Bulgakov describes the emergence of love among his heroes. These comparisons already foreshadow the future tragedy of their love. But at first everything was very calm.
When they first met, they talked as if they had known each other a long time ago. A violently flared love seemed like it should burn people to the ground, but she turned out to have a domestic and quiet character. In the Master's basement apartment, Margarita, wearing an apron, took charge while her beloved worked on a novel. The lovers baked potatoes, ate them with dirty hands, and laughed. They didn’t put disgusting things in the vase yellow flowers, and roses beloved by both. Margarita was the first to read the finished pages of the novel, hurried the author, promised him fame, and began to call him Master. She repeated the phrases of the novel that she especially liked loudly and in a sing-song voice. She said that this novel was her life. This was an inspiration for the Master; her words strengthened his faith in himself.
Bulgakov very carefully and chastely talks about the love of his heroes. She was not killed by the dark days when the Master's novel was destroyed. Love was with them even during the Master’s serious illness. The tragedy began when the Master disappeared for many months. Margarita thought about him tirelessly; not for a minute did her heart leave him. Even when it seemed to her that her beloved was no longer there. The desire to find out at least something about his fate overcomes reason, and then the devilish war begins, in which Margarita participates. In all her demonic adventures, she is accompanied by the loving gaze of the writer. The pages dedicated to Margarita are Bulgakov’s poem in honor of his beloved, Elena Sergeevna. With her, the writer was ready to make “his last flight.” This is what he wrote to his wife on a gifted copy of his collection “Diaboliad”.
With the power of her love, Margarita returns the Master from oblivion. Bulgakov did not invent a happy ending for all the heroes of his novel: everything remained as it was before the invasion of the satanic team in Moscow. And only for the Master and Margarita, Bulgakov, as he believed, wrote a happy ending: eternal peace awaits them in the eternal home that the Master was given as a reward.
Lovers will enjoy the silence, those they love will come to them... The Master will fall asleep with a smile, and she will forever protect his sleep. “The Master walked silently with her and listened. His restless memory began to fade,” - this is how the story of this tragic love ends.
And although in last words- the sadness of death, but there is also the promise of immortality and eternal life. It is coming true these days: The Master and Margarita, like their creator, are destined long life. Many generations will read this satirical, philosophical, but most importantly - lyrical love novel, which confirmed that the tragedy of love is the tradition of all Russian literature.
The novel "The Master and Margarita" is considered one of those brilliant creations, which you can read repeatedly, and each time you find in it something new, previously unnoticed. The work as a whole is a complex structure that includes different eras, various philosophical questions and even different worlds: earthly and otherworldly. Along with the biblical, the central storyline in the novel is the development of the relationship between the Master and Margarita. Their love runs like a red line through the entire work, uniting good and evil, vulgar and divine, people and the devil into one whole. So why was the Master’s passion for a woman tragic? In this essay I will try to answer this question.
This is how Bulgakov describes the meeting of the main character with his subject future love: “Thousands of people were walking along Tverskaya, but I guarantee you that she saw me alone and looked not only anxiously, but even as if painfully. And I was struck not so much by her beauty as by the extraordinary, unprecedented loneliness in her eyes!” - Master tells Ivan Bezdomny. And further: “She looked at me in surprise, and I suddenly, and completely unexpectedly, realized that I had loved this woman all my life!”; “Love jumped out in front of us, like a killer jumps out of the ground in an alley, and struck us both at once! That’s how lightning strikes, that’s how a Finnish knife strikes!” From these lines it becomes clear to the reader that the feelings of the heroes were not superficial, not fleeting, but deep and all-consuming.
The Master and Margarita are married people, but they family life I was unhappy before meeting each other. Maybe that's why the heroes are looking for what they lack so much. Margarita in the novel became beautiful, generalized and poetically A woman who loves. Without this image, the work would lose its appeal.
Master in real life – talented person, who discovered a passion for writing and decided to write a novel about Pontius Pilate. We can say that the image of the main character is a symbol of suffering, humanity, a seeker of truth in the world around us. He wanted to create a novel, but his creation was not accepted by critics. Mental suffering broke the writer, and he never saw his work, at least in his “earthly life.”
Love appears to the Master as an unexpected gift of fate, saving him from loneliness and melancholy. The instantly flared passion between the characters turns out to be long-lasting. Little by little, the fullness of feeling is revealed in it: there is tender love and an unusually high spiritual connection between two people. The Master and Margarita are present in the novel in inextricable unity. When main character in a mental hospital he tells Ivan the story of his life, his entire narrative is permeated with memories of his beloved.
Why did love break out between the Master and Margarita, and what place did this woman take in his life? Perhaps both heroes found in each other what they were looking for in others to no avail. Their feelings have withstood many tests. Neither the joyless everyday life when the Master's novel was not accepted by critics, nor the serious illness of the main character, nor his sudden disappearance extinguished the love. Margarita finally breaks up with her husband, with whom she was connected only by a feeling of gratitude for the good done. On the eve of her meeting with the Master, she experiences a feeling of complete freedom for the first time. A woman is ready to do anything for her lover: “Oh, really, I would pledge my soul to the devil just to find out whether he is alive or not!”
Margarita and the Master gave their souls to the devil, became victims of temptation, and therefore they did not deserve the light. Yeshua and Woland rewarded them with eternal peace. The lovers wanted to be free and happy, but in real life this was impossible. Goodness, love, creativity, art exist in the “earthly” world, but they are not allowed to break out, they have to hide in other dimensions, seek protection from the devil himself - Woland. Bulgakov described heroes full of joy and life, ready to give everything for the sake of love, even their own soul. The Master and Margarita at the end of the novel find each other and find freedom. Then why is their love tragic, despite the fact that their dreams have come true? The Master and Margarita wanted to love not for, but in spite of, and therefore were not understood by the outside world. With their feelings they challenged the whole world and heaven. Yes, they found their paradise somewhere there, but for this they stepped over themselves, they died, and only after death did their dreams come true. And all this happened thanks to Woland - the devil in human form. As a result, the Master received not light, but eternal peace, not real bright love with its joys and experiences, but eternal peace with his beloved woman in another world.
The novel “The Master and Margarita” closely intertwines themes of history and religion, creativity and everyday life. But the most important place The novel is occupied by the love story of the master and Margarita. This story line adds tenderness and poignancy to the work. Without the theme of love, the image of the master would not be possible to fully reveal. Unusual genre works - a novel within a novel - allows the author to simultaneously distinguish and combine the biblical and lyrical lines, develop them fully in two parallel worlds.
Fatal meeting
The love between the master and Margarita flared up as soon as they saw each other. “Love jumped out between us, like a killer jumps out of the ground... and struck us both at once!” - this is what the master tells Ivan Bezdomny in the hospital, where he ends up after the critics rejected his novel. He compares the surging feelings to lightning or sharp knife: “So lightning strikes! This is how amazing a Finnish knife is!”
The master first saw his future beloved on a deserted street. She caught his attention because she was "carrying disgusting, disturbing yellow flowers." These mimosas became a signal to the master that his muse was in front of him, with loneliness and fire in his eyes.
Both the master and the unhappy wife of a rich but unloved husband, Margarita, were completely alone in this world before their strange meeting. As it turns out, the writer was previously married, but he doesn’t even remember his name ex-wife, about which she doesn’t keep any memories or warmth in her soul. And he remembers everything about Margarita, the tone of her voice, the way she spoke when she came, and what she did in his basement room.
After their first meeting, Margarita began to come to her lover every day. She helped him work on the novel, and she herself lived from this work. For the first time in her life, her inner fire and inspiration found their purpose and application, just as the masters listened and understood for the first time, because from the first meeting they spoke as if they had parted yesterday.
Completing the master's novel became a test for them. But already born love he was destined to pass this and many other tests in order to show the reader that a real kinship of souls exists.
Master and Margarita
Real love the master and Margarita in the novel are the embodiment of the image of love in Bulgakov’s understanding. Margarita is not just a favorite and loving woman, she is the muse, she is the author’s inspiration and his own pain, materialized in the image of Margarita the witch, who in righteous anger destroys the apartment of an unjust critic.
The heroine loves the master with all her heart, and seems to breathe life into his small apartment. My inner strength and she gives energy to her lover’s novel: “she chanted and loudly repeated individual phrases... and said that this novel was her life.”
The refusal to publish the novel, and later the devastating criticism of the unknown passage that ended up in print, equally painfully wounds both the master and Margarita. But, if the writer is broken by this blow, then Margarita is overcome by insane rage, she even threatens to “poison Latunsky.”
But the love of these lonely souls continues to live its own life.
Test of love
In the novel "The Master and Margarita" love stronger than death, stronger than the master’s disappointment and Margarita’s anger, stronger than Woland’s tricks and the condemnation of others.
This love is destined to pass through the flames of creativity and the cold ice of critics, it is so strong that it cannot find peace even in heaven.
The characters are very different, the master is calm, thoughtful, he has a soft character and a weak, vulnerable heart. Margarita, on the other hand, is strong and sharp; more than once Bulgakov uses the word “flame” to describe her. Fire burns in her eyes and brave, strong heart. She shares this fire with the master, she breathes this flame into the novel, and even the yellow flowers in her hands resemble lights against the backdrop of a black coat and slushy spring. The master embodies reflection, thought, while Margarita embodies action. She is ready to do anything for the sake of her beloved, and sell her soul, and become the queen of the devil's ball.
The strength of the feelings of the master and Margarita is not only in love. They are so close spiritually that they simply cannot exist separately. Before their meeting, they did not experience happiness; after parting, they would never have learned to live separately from each other. That is why, probably, Bulgakov decides to end the lives of his heroes, in return giving them eternal peace and solitude.
conclusions
Against the background of the biblical story of Pontius Pilate, the love story of the master and Margarita seems even more lyrical and poignant. This is the love for which Margarita is ready to give her soul, since she is empty without her loved one. Being insanely lonely before they met, the characters gain understanding, support, sincerity and warmth. This feeling is stronger than all the obstacles and bitterness that befalls the fate of the main characters of the novel. And it is precisely this that helps them find eternal freedom and eternal peace.
Descriptions of love experiences and the history of relationships between the main characters of the novel can be used by 11th grade students when writing an essay on the topic “The Love of the Master and Margarita”
Work test
Love story of the Master and Margarita
Many critics believe that the Master repeats the life of the author, since M. A. Bulgakov was also a historian by training and once worked in a museum. His manuscripts were also rejected and not allowed to be published. In the novel, the Master wrote a brilliant work about last days Yeshua Ha-Nozri, but his work was not only refused to be published, but also subjected to harsh criticism. After this, the Master burned his novel, lost faith in himself and became seriously ill. He spent some time in a psychiatric hospital, where he met the failed poet Ivan Bezdomny.
This hero was indifferent to family joys. He couldn't even remember his ex-wife's name. But everything changed when he met Margarita. Despite the fact that she was married, this young, beautiful and wealthy Muscovite fell in love with the talented writer and his book with all her heart. She became not just the Master’s beloved, but his reliable and faithful assistant. However, the relationship of this couple was not simple. They were destined to go through many trials. Even the “yellow flowers” that Margarita had in her hands at their first meeting warned them about this.
If the Master is the personification of creativity in the novel, then Margarita is the personification of love. For the sake of her beloved and the success of his work, she first left her legal husband and then sold her soul to the devil. Azazello introduced her to Woland. He prepared a cream for her, using which she turned into an invisible witch and flew at night. But true love has no barriers. In the guise of a witch, she took revenge on the critic Latunsky, who slandered a passage from the Master’s novel, and then accepted Woland’s offer to be the queen at the Sabbath of Satan.
She endured all the trials with dignity in order to meet the master. For this, Woland reunited them again and returned a copy of his work to the master, adding that “manuscripts do not burn.” Noticing that the lovers were surrounded by pathetic, hypocritical and worthless people, Woland decided to take them into his retinue. For the sake of their love, the master and Margarita agreed to renounce earthly life and move to another dimension, where the master could continue to create. Thus, they perpetuated their love, which later became an ideal for many people living on earth.
The novel “The Master and Margarita” is dedicated to the history of the master - creative personality, opposed to the surrounding world. The master's story is inextricably linked with the story of his beloved. In the second part of the novel, the author promises to show “true, faithful, eternal love.” The love of the master and Margarita was just like that.
What does “true love” mean, according to M. Bulgakov? The meeting of the Master and Margarita was accidental, but the feeling that connected them until the end of their days was not accidental. It’s not for nothing that they recognize each other by the “deep loneliness” in their gaze. This means that even without knowing each other, they felt a great need for each other. That is why a miracle happened - they met.
“Love struck us both at once,” says the master. True love powerfully invades the life of those who love and transforms it! Everything everyday and ordinary becomes bright and significant. When Margarita appeared in the master’s basement, all the little things in his meager life began to glow from within, and everything faded when she left.
True love is selfless love. Before meeting the master, Margarita had everything that necessary for a woman to be happy: a handsome, kind husband who adored his wife, a luxurious mansion, finance. “In a word... was she happy? - the writer asks. - Not a single minute!.. Well necessary was this woman?.., she needed him, the master, not a Gothic mansion at all, and not a separate garden, and not money.” All material goods turn out to be insignificant compared to the opportunity to be close to your loved one. When Margarita had no love, she was even ready to commit suicide. But at the same time, she does not want to harm her husband and, having made a decision, acts honestly: she leaves him a farewell note, where she explains everything.
True love, therefore, cannot harm anyone; it will not build its happiness at the expense of the misfortune of another person.
True love is selfless. Margarita is able to accept the interests and aspirations of her lover as her own, lives his life, helps him in everything. Master announces a novel - and this becomes the content of Margarita’s life. She rewrites the finished chapters, tries to keep the master calm and happy, and in this she sees the meaning of her life.
What is “ true love"? This definition is revealed in the second part of the novel, when Margarita is left alone and has no news about the master. She is completely immersed in anticipation, she literally finds no place for herself. At the same time, she is not only true to her feelings, but also does not lose hope of meeting. And for her it is completely indifferent in what world this meeting will take place.
“Eternal” love becomes when Margarita passes the test of meeting with otherworldly forces. Margarita fights for the master. Attending the Great Full Moon Ball, Margarita, with the help of Woland, returns him. Next to her lover, she is not afraid of death, and beyond the mortal line she remains with him. “I will protect your sleep,” she says.
But no matter how overwhelmed Margarita is with love and concern for the master, when the time comes to ask, she asks not for herself - for Frida. And not only because Woland advises not to ask for anything from those in power. Love for the master is organically combined in her with love for people, the severity of her own suffering is with the desire to relieve others from the suffering.
Love is associated with creativity. The fate of love is intertwined with the fate of romance. As love grows stronger, a novel is created, and therefore the work is the fruit of love, and the novel is equally dear to both the master and Margarita. And if the master refuses to fight, then Margarita causes destruction in the apartment of the critic Latunsky.
But love and creativity exist among people who know neither one nor the other. Therefore, they are doomed to tragedy. At the end of the novel, the master and Margarita leave society, where there is no place for high spiritual impulses. The Master and Margarita are given death as peace and rest, as freedom from earthly ordeals, grief and torment. You can also perceive it as a reward. Here is the pain of the writer himself, the pain of time, the pain of life.
M. Bulgakov’s novel, having survived decades of oblivion, is still addressed to us today, in our time. “Real, true and eternal love” - this is the main essence defended by the novel.
