0:00:02.143,0:00:04.733 The Devil has come to town. 0:00:04.733,0:00:08.813 But don’t worry – all he wants to do [br]is stage a magic show. 0:00:08.813,0:00:14.478 This absurd premise forms the central plot[br]of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, 0:00:14.478,0:00:16.483 The Master and Margarita. 0:00:16.483,0:00:19.153 Written in Moscow during the 1930s, 0:00:19.153,0:00:24.793 this surreal blend of political satire, [br]historical fiction, and occult mysticism 0:00:24.793,0:00:28.793 has earned a legacy as one of the 20th [br]century’s greatest novels– 0:00:28.793,0:00:31.283 and one of its strangest. 0:00:31.283,0:00:35.693 The story begins when a meeting between[br]two members of Moscow’s literary elite 0:00:35.693,0:00:39.476 is interrupted by a strange gentleman [br]named Woland, 0:00:39.476,0:00:41.866 who presents himself as a foreign scholar 0:00:41.866,0:00:45.406 invited to give a presentation [br]on black magic. 0:00:45.406,0:00:49.646 As the stranger engages the two companions[br]in a philosophical debate 0:00:49.646,0:00:52.439 and makes ominous predictions [br]about their fates, 0:00:52.439,0:00:56.110 the reader is suddenly transported [br]to first-century Jerusalem. 0:00:56.110,0:00:58.560 There a tormented Pontius Pilate 0:00:58.560,0:01:02.860 reluctantly sentences Jesus of [br]Nazareth to death. 0:01:02.860,0:01:05.658 With the narrative shifting between [br]the two settings, 0:01:05.658,0:01:10.468 Woland and his entourage– Azazello, [br]Koroviev, Hella, 0:01:10.468,0:01:12.949 and a giant cat named Behemoth– 0:01:12.949,0:01:15.589 are seen to have uncanny magical powers, 0:01:15.589,0:01:17.809 which they use to stage their performance 0:01:17.809,0:01:22.509 while leaving a trail of havoc [br]and confusion in their wake. 0:01:22.509,0:01:26.941 Much of the novel’s dark humor comes [br]not only from this demonic mischief, 0:01:26.941,0:01:29.821 but also the backdrop [br]against which it occurs. 0:01:29.821,0:01:33.821 Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same [br]setting where it was written– 0:01:33.821,0:01:37.471 the USSR at the height of the [br]Stalinist period. 0:01:37.471,0:01:41.050 There, artists and authors worked [br]under strict censorship, 0:01:41.050,0:01:44.460 subject to imprisonment, exile, [br]or execution 0:01:44.460,0:01:47.840 if they were seen as undermining [br]state ideology. 0:01:47.840,0:01:50.040 Even when approved, their work– 0:01:50.040,0:01:52.540 along with housing, travel, [br]and everything else– 0:01:52.540,0:01:55.580 was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy. 0:01:55.580,0:02:00.670 In the novel, Woland manipulates this [br]system along with the fabric of reality, 0:02:00.670,0:02:02.680 to hilarious results. 0:02:02.680,0:02:06.910 As heads are separated from bodies [br]and money rains from the sky, 0:02:06.910,0:02:10.592 the citizens of Moscow react with [br]petty-self interest, 0:02:10.592,0:02:16.272 illustrating how Soviet society bred greed[br]and cynicism despite its ideals. 0:02:16.272,0:02:19.700 And the matter-of-fact narration [br]deliberately blends 0:02:19.700,0:02:22.080 the strangeness of the supernatural [br]events 0:02:22.080,0:02:25.650 with the everyday absurdity [br]of Soviet life. 0:02:25.820,0:02:30.030 So how did Bulgakov manage to publish [br]such a subversive novel 0:02:30.030,0:02:32.395 under an oppressive regime? 0:02:32.395,0:02:34.445 Well… he didn’t. 0:02:34.445,0:02:37.645 He worked on The Master and Margarita [br]for over ten years. 0:02:37.645,0:02:39.585 But while Stalin’s personal favor 0:02:39.585,0:02:43.065 may have kept Bulgakov safe [br]from severe persecution, 0:02:43.065,0:02:46.065 many of his plays and writings [br]were kept from production, 0:02:46.065,0:02:49.585 leaving him safe but effectively silenced. 0:02:49.585,0:02:52.005 Upon the author’s death in 1940, 0:02:52.005,0:02:54.195 the manuscript remained unpublished. 0:02:54.195,0:02:58.045 A censored version was eventually [br]printed in the 1960s, 0:02:58.045,0:03:01.185 while copies of the unabridged manuscript [br]continued to circulate 0:03:01.185,0:03:03.375 among underground literary circles. 0:03:03.375,0:03:06.835 The full text was only published in 1973, 0:03:06.835,0:03:10.095 over 30 years after its completion. 0:03:10.095,0:03:13.915 Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship [br]and artistic frustration 0:03:13.915,0:03:17.635 lend an autobiographical air to the [br]second part of the novel, 0:03:17.635,0:03:20.265 when we are finally introduced [br]to its namesake. 0:03:20.265,0:03:24.615 ‘The Master’ is a nameless author who’s [br]worked for years on a novel 0:03:24.615,0:03:28.325 but burned the manuscript [br]after it was rejected by publishers– 0:03:28.325,0:03:31.125 just as Bulgakov had done [br]with his own work. 0:03:31.125,0:03:35.375 Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s [br]mistress Margarita. 0:03:35.375,0:03:39.628 Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned [br]dream bears a strange connection 0:03:39.628,0:03:42.368 to the diabolical company’s escapades– 0:03:42.368,0:03:45.788 and carries the story to [br]its surreal climax. 0:03:45.788,0:03:49.317 Despite its dark humor and [br]complex structure, 0:03:49.317,0:03:56.567 The Master and Margarita is, at its heart,[br]a meditation on art, love, and redemption 0:03:56.567,0:03:59.394 that never loses itself in cynicism. 0:03:59.394,0:04:03.754 And the book’s long overdue publication [br]and survival against the odds 0:04:03.754,0:04:08.221 is a testament to what Woland tells the [br]Master: 0:04:08.221,0:04:11.458 “Manuscripts don’t burn.”