Why should you read "The Master and Margarita"? - Alex Gendler
-
0:08 - 0:11The Devil has come to town.
-
0:11 - 0:15But don’t worry – all he wants to do
is stage a magic show. -
0:15 - 0:20This absurd premise forms the central plot
of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, -
0:20 - 0:22"The Master and Margarita."
-
0:22 - 0:25Written in Moscow during the 1930s,
-
0:25 - 0:31this surreal blend of political satire,
historical fiction, and occult mysticism -
0:31 - 0:35has earned a legacy as one of the 20th
century’s greatest novels– -
0:35 - 0:37and one of its strangest.
-
0:37 - 0:42The story begins when a meeting between
two members of Moscow’s literary elite -
0:42 - 0:45is interrupted by a strange gentleman
named Woland, -
0:45 - 0:48who presents himself as a foreign scholar
-
0:48 - 0:51invited to give a presentation
on black magic. -
0:51 - 0:55As the stranger engages the two companions
in a philosophical debate -
0:55 - 0:58and makes ominous predictions
about their fates, -
0:58 - 1:02the reader is suddenly transported
to first-century Jerusalem. -
1:02 - 1:04There a tormented Pontius Pilate
-
1:04 - 1:09reluctantly sentences Jesus of
Nazareth to death. -
1:09 - 1:11With the narrative shifting between
the two settings, -
1:11 - 1:16Woland and his entourage– Azazello,
Koroviev, Hella, -
1:16 - 1:19and a giant cat named Behemoth–
-
1:19 - 1:21are seen to have uncanny magical powers,
-
1:21 - 1:24which they use to stage their performance
-
1:24 - 1:28while leaving a trail of havoc
and confusion in their wake. -
1:28 - 1:33Much of the novel’s dark humor comes
not only from this demonic mischief, -
1:33 - 1:36but also the backdrop
against which it occurs. -
1:36 - 1:40Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same
setting where it was written– -
1:40 - 1:43the USSR at the height of the
Stalinist period. -
1:43 - 1:47There, artists and authors worked
under strict censorship, -
1:47 - 1:50subject to imprisonment, exile,
or execution -
1:50 - 1:54if they were seen as undermining
state ideology. -
1:54 - 1:56Even when approved, their work–
-
1:56 - 1:58along with housing, travel,
and everything else– -
1:58 - 2:01was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy.
-
2:01 - 2:07In the novel, Woland manipulates this
system along with the fabric of reality, -
2:07 - 2:09to hilarious results.
-
2:09 - 2:13As heads are separated from bodies
and money rains from the sky, -
2:13 - 2:16the citizens of Moscow react with
petty-self interest, -
2:16 - 2:22illustrating how Soviet society bred greed
and cynicism despite its ideals. -
2:22 - 2:26And the matter-of-fact narration
deliberately blends -
2:26 - 2:28the strangeness of the supernatural
events -
2:28 - 2:32with the everyday absurdity
of Soviet life. -
2:32 - 2:36So how did Bulgakov manage to publish
such a subversive novel -
2:36 - 2:38under an oppressive regime?
-
2:38 - 2:40Well… he didn’t.
-
2:40 - 2:43He worked on "The Master and Margarita"
for over ten years. -
2:43 - 2:45But while Stalin’s personal favor
-
2:45 - 2:49may have kept Bulgakov safe
from severe persecution, -
2:49 - 2:52many of his plays and writings
were kept from production, -
2:52 - 2:55leaving him safe but effectively silenced.
-
2:55 - 2:58Upon the author’s death in 1940,
-
2:58 - 3:00the manuscript remained unpublished.
-
3:00 - 3:04A censored version was eventually
printed in the 1960s, -
3:04 - 3:07while copies of the unabridged manuscript
continued to circulate -
3:07 - 3:09among underground literary circles.
-
3:09 - 3:13The full text was only published in 1973,
-
3:13 - 3:16over 30 years after its completion.
-
3:16 - 3:20Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship
and artistic frustration -
3:20 - 3:23lend an autobiographical air to the
second part of the novel, -
3:23 - 3:26when we are finally introduced
to its namesake. -
3:26 - 3:30‘The Master’ is a nameless author who’s
worked for years on a novel -
3:30 - 3:34but burned the manuscript
after it was rejected by publishers– -
3:34 - 3:37just as Bulgakov had done
with his own work. -
3:37 - 3:41Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s
mistress Margarita. -
3:41 - 3:45Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned
dream bears a strange connection -
3:45 - 3:48to the diabolical company’s escapades–
-
3:48 - 3:52and carries the story to
its surreal climax. -
3:52 - 3:55Despite its dark humor and
complex structure, -
3:55 - 4:02"The Master and Margarita" is, at its heart,
a meditation on art, love, and redemption -
4:02 - 4:05that never loses itself in cynicism.
-
4:05 - 4:10And the book’s long overdue publication
and survival against the odds -
4:10 - 4:14is a testament to what Woland tells the
Master: -
4:14 - 4:17“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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