WEBVTT 00:00:07.982 --> 00:00:10.572 The Devil has come to town. 00:00:10.572 --> 00:00:14.652 But don’t worry – all he wants to do is stage a magic show. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:14.652 --> 00:00:17.577 This absurd premise forms the central plot 00:00:17.577 --> 00:00:22.322 of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita." 00:00:22.322 --> 00:00:24.992 Written in Moscow during the 1930s, 00:00:24.992 --> 00:00:28.782 this surreal blend of political satire, historical fiction, 00:00:28.782 --> 00:00:30.632 and occult mysticism 00:00:30.632 --> 00:00:34.632 has earned a legacy as one of the 20th century’s greatest novels– 00:00:34.632 --> 00:00:37.122 and one of its strangest. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:37.122 --> 00:00:39.742 The story begins when a meeting between two members 00:00:39.742 --> 00:00:41.525 of Moscow’s literary elite 00:00:41.525 --> 00:00:45.315 is interrupted by a strange gentleman named Woland, 00:00:45.315 --> 00:00:47.705 who presents himself as a foreign scholar 00:00:47.705 --> 00:00:51.245 invited to give a presentation on black magic. 00:00:51.245 --> 00:00:55.485 As the stranger engages the two companions in a philosophical debate 00:00:55.485 --> 00:00:58.278 and makes ominous predictions about their fates, 00:00:58.278 --> 00:01:01.949 the reader is suddenly transported to 1st century Jerusalem. 00:01:01.949 --> 00:01:04.399 There a tormented Pontius Pilate 00:01:04.399 --> 00:01:08.699 reluctantly sentences Jesus of Nazareth to death. 00:01:08.699 --> 00:01:11.497 With the narrative shifting between the two settings, 00:01:11.497 --> 00:01:16.307 Woland and his entourage– Azazello, Koroviev, Hella, 00:01:16.307 --> 00:01:18.788 and a giant cat named Behemoth– 00:01:18.788 --> 00:01:21.428 are seen to have uncanny magical powers, 00:01:21.428 --> 00:01:23.648 which they use to stage their performance 00:01:23.648 --> 00:01:28.348 while leaving a trail of havoc and confusion in their wake. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:28.348 --> 00:01:32.780 Much of the novel’s dark humor comes not only from this demonic mischief, 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.660 but also the backdrop against which it occurs. 00:01:35.660 --> 00:01:39.660 Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same setting where it was written– 00:01:39.660 --> 00:01:43.310 the USSR at the height of the Stalinist period. 00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:46.889 There, artists and authors worked under strict censorship, 00:01:46.889 --> 00:01:50.299 subject to imprisonment, exile, or execution 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:53.679 if they were seen as undermining state ideology. 00:01:53.679 --> 00:01:55.879 Even when approved, their work– 00:01:55.879 --> 00:01:58.379 along with housing, travel, and everything else– 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:01.419 was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy. 00:02:01.419 --> 00:02:02.289 In the novel, 00:02:02.289 --> 00:02:06.509 Woland manipulates this system along with the fabric of reality, 00:02:06.509 --> 00:02:08.519 to hilarious results. 00:02:08.519 --> 00:02:12.749 As heads are separated from bodies and money rains from the sky, 00:02:12.749 --> 00:02:16.431 the citizens of Moscow react with petty-self interest, 00:02:16.431 --> 00:02:20.441 illustrating how Soviet society bred greed and cynicism 00:02:20.441 --> 00:02:22.111 despite its ideals. 00:02:22.111 --> 00:02:24.209 And the matter-of-fact narration 00:02:24.209 --> 00:02:27.919 deliberately blends the strangeness of the supernatural events 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.659 with the everyday absurdity of Soviet life. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:35.869 So how did Bulgakov manage to publish such a subversive novel 00:02:35.869 --> 00:02:38.234 under an oppressive regime? 00:02:38.234 --> 00:02:40.284 Well… he didn’t. 00:02:40.284 --> 00:02:43.484 He worked on "The Master and Margarita" for over ten years. 00:02:43.484 --> 00:02:45.424 But while Stalin’s personal favor 00:02:45.424 --> 00:02:48.904 may have kept Bulgakov safe from severe persecution, 00:02:48.904 --> 00:02:51.904 many of his plays and writings were kept from production, 00:02:51.904 --> 00:02:55.424 leaving him safe but effectively silenced. 00:02:55.424 --> 00:02:57.844 Upon the author’s death in 1940, 00:02:57.844 --> 00:03:00.034 the manuscript remained unpublished. 00:03:00.034 --> 00:03:03.884 A censored version was eventually printed in the 1960s, 00:03:03.884 --> 00:03:05.924 while copies of the unabridged manuscript 00:03:05.924 --> 00:03:09.214 continued to circulate among underground literary circles. 00:03:09.214 --> 00:03:12.674 The full text was only published in 1973, 00:03:12.674 --> 00:03:15.934 over 30 years after its completion. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:15.934 --> 00:03:19.754 Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship and artistic frustration 00:03:19.754 --> 00:03:23.474 lend an autobiographical air to the second part of the novel, 00:03:23.474 --> 00:03:26.104 when we are finally introduced to its namesake. 00:03:26.104 --> 00:03:30.454 "The Master" is a nameless author who’s worked for years on a novel 00:03:30.454 --> 00:03:34.164 but burned the manuscript after it was rejected by publishers– 00:03:34.164 --> 00:03:36.964 just as Bulgakov had done with his own work. 00:03:36.964 --> 00:03:41.214 Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s mistress Margarita. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:41.214 --> 00:03:43.807 Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned dream 00:03:43.807 --> 00:03:48.207 bears a strange connection to the diabolical company’s escapades– 00:03:48.207 --> 00:03:51.627 and carries the story to its surreal climax. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:51.627 --> 00:03:55.156 Despite its dark humor and complex structure, 00:03:55.156 --> 00:03:58.356 "The Master and Margarita" is, at its heart, 00:03:58.356 --> 00:04:02.406 a meditation on art, love, and redemption, 00:04:02.406 --> 00:04:05.233 that never loses itself in cynicism. 00:04:05.233 --> 00:04:09.593 And the book’s long overdue publication and survival against the odds 00:04:09.593 --> 00:04:14.060 is a testament to what Woland tells the Master: 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:17.297 “Manuscripts don’t burn.”