Why should you read "The Master and Margarita"? - Alex Gendler
-
0:02 - 0:05The Devil has come to town.
-
0:05 - 0:09But don’t worry – all he wants to do
is stage a magic show. -
0:09 - 0:14This absurd premise forms the central plot
of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, -
0:14 - 0:16"The Master and Margarita."
-
0:16 - 0:19Written in Moscow during the 1930s,
-
0:19 - 0:25this surreal blend of political satire,
historical fiction, and occult mysticism -
0:25 - 0:29has earned a legacy as one of the 20th
century’s greatest novels– -
0:29 - 0:31and one of its strangest.
-
0:31 - 0:36The story begins when a meeting between
two members of Moscow’s literary elite -
0:36 - 0:39is interrupted by a strange gentleman
named Woland, -
0:39 - 0:42who presents himself as a foreign scholar
-
0:42 - 0:45invited to give a presentation
on black magic. -
0:45 - 0:50As the stranger engages the two companions
in a philosophical debate -
0:50 - 0:52and makes ominous predictions
about their fates, -
0:52 - 0:56the reader is suddenly transported
to first-century Jerusalem. -
0:56 - 0:59There a tormented Pontius Pilate
-
0:59 - 1:03reluctantly sentences Jesus of
Nazareth to death. -
1:03 - 1:06With the narrative shifting between
the two settings, -
1:06 - 1:10Woland and his entourage– Azazello,
Koroviev, Hella, -
1:10 - 1:13and a giant cat named Behemoth–
-
1:13 - 1:16are seen to have uncanny magical powers,
-
1:16 - 1:18which they use to stage their performance
-
1:18 - 1:23while leaving a trail of havoc
and confusion in their wake. -
1:23 - 1:27Much of the novel’s dark humor comes
not only from this demonic mischief, -
1:27 - 1:30but also the backdrop
against which it occurs. -
1:30 - 1:34Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same
setting where it was written– -
1:34 - 1:37the USSR at the height of the
Stalinist period. -
1:37 - 1:41There, artists and authors worked
under strict censorship, -
1:41 - 1:44subject to imprisonment, exile,
or execution -
1:44 - 1:48if they were seen as undermining
state ideology. -
1:48 - 1:50Even when approved, their work–
-
1:50 - 1:53along with housing, travel,
and everything else– -
1:53 - 1:56was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy.
-
1:56 - 2:01In the novel, Woland manipulates this
system along with the fabric of reality, -
2:01 - 2:03to hilarious results.
-
2:03 - 2:07As heads are separated from bodies
and money rains from the sky, -
2:07 - 2:11the citizens of Moscow react with
petty-self interest, -
2:11 - 2:16illustrating how Soviet society bred greed
and cynicism despite its ideals. -
2:16 - 2:20And the matter-of-fact narration
deliberately blends -
2:20 - 2:22the strangeness of the supernatural
events -
2:22 - 2:26with the everyday absurdity
of Soviet life. -
2:26 - 2:30So how did Bulgakov manage to publish
such a subversive novel -
2:30 - 2:32under an oppressive regime?
-
2:32 - 2:34Well… he didn’t.
-
2:34 - 2:38He worked on "The Master and Margarita"
for over ten years. -
2:38 - 2:40But while Stalin’s personal favor
-
2:40 - 2:43may have kept Bulgakov safe
from severe persecution, -
2:43 - 2:46many of his plays and writings
were kept from production, -
2:46 - 2:50leaving him safe but effectively silenced.
-
2:50 - 2:52Upon the author’s death in 1940,
-
2:52 - 2:54the manuscript remained unpublished.
-
2:54 - 2:58A censored version was eventually
printed in the 1960s, -
2:58 - 3:01while copies of the unabridged manuscript
continued to circulate -
3:01 - 3:03among underground literary circles.
-
3:03 - 3:07The full text was only published in 1973,
-
3:07 - 3:10over 30 years after its completion.
-
3:10 - 3:14Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship
and artistic frustration -
3:14 - 3:18lend an autobiographical air to the
second part of the novel, -
3:18 - 3:20when we are finally introduced
to its namesake. -
3:20 - 3:25‘The Master’ is a nameless author who’s
worked for years on a novel -
3:25 - 3:28but burned the manuscript
after it was rejected by publishers– -
3:28 - 3:31just as Bulgakov had done
with his own work. -
3:31 - 3:35Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s
mistress Margarita. -
3:35 - 3:40Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned
dream bears a strange connection -
3:40 - 3:42to the diabolical company’s escapades–
-
3:42 - 3:46and carries the story to
its surreal climax. -
3:46 - 3:49Despite its dark humor and
complex structure, -
3:49 - 3:57"The Master and Margarita" is, at its heart,
a meditation on art, love, and redemption -
3:57 - 3:59that never loses itself in cynicism.
-
3:59 - 4:04And the book’s long overdue publication
and survival against the odds -
4:04 - 4:08is a testament to what Woland tells the
Master: -
4:08 - 4:11“Manuscripts don’t burn.”
- Title:
- Why should you read "The Master and Margarita"? - Alex Gendler
- Speaker:
- Alex Gendler
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-should-you-read-the-master-and-margarita-alex-gendler
The Devil has come to town. But don't worry– all he wants to do is stage a magic show. This absurd premise forms the central plot of Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita." Its blend of political satire, historical fiction and occult mysticism has earned a legacy as one of the 20th century's greatest novels– and one of its strangest. Alex Gendler explores the subversive novel.
Lesson by Alex Gendler, directed by Adriatic Animation.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:12
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