History Literature / TheMasterAndMargarita

* OffWithHisHead: Berliuoz the atheist is decapitated in a streetcar accident.

* MismatchedEyes: One of Woland's eyes is bright green, the other one is black. Apparently MarilynManson was also inspired by the book.

On their way, they cross the path of MASSOLIT, a bureaucratic association of talentless writers pumping out trash mass-production literature extolling social order -- in fact, the book begins with Woland's encounter with publisher Mikhail Berlioz and poet Ivan Bezdomny[[hottip:*:Bezdomny is a pseudonym meaning Homeless]]. Woland is curious about the Soviet denial of religion and the supernatural and mocks Berlioz' atheism, giving him a [[ShameIfSomethingHappened warning which he chooses to dismiss]]. Shortly after, Mikhail dies in a freak accident and Ivan is commissioned into a madhouse due to realizing the truth about Woland and his involvement. Ivan then meets the titular Master, a nameless novelist whose novel about Pontius Pilate did not pass Soviet censorship, prompting him to burn it and leaving him emotionally crippled. Meanwhile, the Master's former love Margarita Nikolayevna, seeking reunion with him, agrees to act as the queen of Woland's upcoming carnival.

Among Russian critics, this novel is one of the most favorite targets of the EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory syndrome, although a story featuring both Jesus and Satan as characters arguably had it coming. It has also seen a lot of adaptations, two of them in Russia (after the fall of the Soviet Union) and plenty abroad. The 2005 miniseries by Vladimir Bortko (famous for a massively popular 1988 adaptation of Bulgakov's earlier ''HeartOfADog'') was perhaps the most faithful to the original text, although it was somewhat of a disappointment on the technical side, particularly in regards to questionable casting choices.

* HeroicSociopath: Woland, for some sense of heroic.

* {{Troll}}: Woland leans much more towards this than to the more dignified TricksterArchetype.

* LouCypher: In German folk legend, Woland is an old nickname for the Devil, and Mephistopheles in Goethe's ''Faust'' goes one time by this moniker.

* ShoutOut: Particularly to Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe's drama of ''{{Faust}}''.

First of all, this has nothing to do with any of the Masters from certain [[Series/DoctorWho television]] [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer shows]], which the novel predates by more than twenty years. And now that we have established that, let's move on.

* Troll: Woland leans much more towards this than to the more dignified TricksterArchetype. And yet, even in the midst of

On their way, they cross the path of MASSOLIT, a bureaucratic association of talentless writers pumping out trash mass-production literature extolling social order -- in fact, the book begins with Woland's encounter with publisher Mikhail Berlioz and poet Ivan Bezdomny. Woland is curious about the Soviet denial of religion and the supernatural and mocks Berlioz' atheism, giving him a [[ShameIfSomethingHappened warning which he chooses to dismiss]]. Shortly after, Mikhail dies in a freak accident and Ivan is commissioned into a madhouse due to realizing the truth about Woland and his involvement. Ivan then meets the titular Master, a nameless novelist whose novel about Pontius Pilate did not pass Soviet censorship, prompting him to burn it and leaving him emotionally crippled. Meanwhile, the Master's former love Margarita Nikolayevna, seeking reunion with him, agrees to act as the queen of Woland's upcoming carnival.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: For everyone but the literary critics. The Master and Margarita get reunited, probably [[DiedHappilyEverAfter for all eternity]]. Pontius gets saved from DevelopmentHell and can at last reconcile with Yeshua. And Woland reconciles with his true nature and admits that even in a [[WretchedHive society he considered worthy of nothing but mockery and ridicule]], there are some souls whose plight may touch even the Devil's heart.

On their way, they cross the path of MASSOLIT, a bureaucratic association of talentless writers pumping out trash mass-production literature extolling social order -- in fact, the book begins with Woland's encounter with publisher Mikhail Berlioz and poet Ivan Bezdomny. Immediately after the meeting, in which Woland mocks the official atheism of the Soviet citizens, Mikhail dies in a freak accident and the Ivan is commissioned into a madhouse. Ivan then meets the titular Master, a nameless novelist whose novel about Pontius Pilate did not pass Soviet censorship, prompting him to burn it and leaving him emotionally crippled. Meanwhile, the Master's former love Margarita Nikolayevna, seeking reunion with him, agrees to act as the queen of Woland's upcoming carnival.

->''I am part of that force which wills forever evil and works forever good.''\\

--> '''Woland'''

->''Would you remove all trees and living things from the world to realise your fantasy of basking in naked light?''

* DevilInPlainSight

* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Woland, who may have inspired Mick and Keith to write that tune

* NarratorAllAlong: It is implied, at various times and depending on the translation that the Master/Woland/Berlioz wrote some/all/none of the book. EpilepticTrees spring up occasionally that suggest Behemoth, Azazel, Margarita, etc. are somehow in on this as well.

* ShoutOut: Particularly to JohannWolfgangVonGoethe's drama of ''{{Faust}}''.

* TakeThat:

* YouCantGoHomeAgain

* MotiveRant: Totally averted -- Woland and his pals never bother to explain their motivations when they behead[[hottip:*:though [[IGotBetter it gets put back]][==]]], beat and kidnap people, burn a restaurant and, in general, wreak havoc. They're the devil and his servants, after all.

* BrotherhoodOfManimals: Behemoth, a demon who takes the form of a giant tomcat, buys tram tickets; everyone feels like something is really wrong but nobody can put their finger on it.

* BrotherhoodOfManimals: Koroviev, a demon who takes the form of a giant tomcat, buys tram tickets; everyone feels like something is really wrong but nobody can put their finger on it.

* YourMileageMayVary: With regards to the casting choices.

* ActionGirl (Margarita, after her transformation into a witch)
* AffablyEvil (Woland)

* AssholeVictim (many of these in Moscow)
* [[ATeamFiring A-Team Firing]]: During a showdown between Behemoth and the Moscow police, a firefight ensues in which ''nobody'' gets injured - in a ''tiny room''. However, Behemoth's terrible marksmanship is established in an earlier scene when he tries to show off.
* AuthorAppeal (Bulgakov's portrayal of the Soviet writer society; arguably also the theology, which he took interest in)
** There's also a lot of naked women in the book.
* BiggerOnTheInside (Woland's ballroom)

* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS (Margarita made the Master a cap with the letter "M" on it)

* DarkChick (Hella)
* DarkIsNotEvil (the book plays with this trope repeatedly)

* DecoyProtagonist (Ivan the poet. The Master and especially Margarita are introduced relatively late in the book)
** The Master first appears a third of the way through the novel, in a chapter [[LampshadeHanging entitled]] ''Enter the Hero.''

* DumbassNoMore (Ivan the poet in the epilogue)
* EnfantTerrible (Behemoth, a feline version)
* {{Epigraph}}: see the quote at the top of the page; it sets the main theme for the rest of the novel

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep (the Master deliberately abandoned his name)
* FakingTheDead (Behemoth)
* FiveBadBand (Woland, Behemoth, Korovyev, Azazel and Hella)
* ForeignMoneyIsProofOfGuilt: One character gets arrested because the police find foreign currency in his apartment. He had accepted a bribe from Woland, in rubles. Woland then anonymously called the police, who found the currency, now mysteriously American dollars.
** Possession of foreign currency was indeed a crime in the Soviet Union at that time.
* GiantMook (centurion Marcus "Ratkiller")
* HeroicBSOD (Ivan the poet - although he is not the hero, but rather a JerkAss who eventually redeems himself - when he realizes Woland is Satan)

* IntellectualAnimal (Behemoth, though he is actually a demon in the form of a large black cat)

* LoveableRogue (Korovyev and Behemoth)
* MegaNeko (Behemoth)

* MismatchedEyes - one of Woland's eyes is bright green, the other one is black. Apparently MarilynManson was also inspired by the book.
* MotiveRant (totally averted: Woland and his pals never bother to explain their motivations when they behead[[hottip:*:though [[IGotBetter it gets put back]][==]]], beat and kidnap people, burn a restaurant and, in general, wreak havoc. They're the devil and his servants, after all)

* OnlySaneMan: (Ivan gets institutionalized after discussing his actual, literal meeting with Satan with a psychiatrist)
* OurVampiresAreDifferent (Hella)
* PetTheDog (ruthless - if somewhat sympathetic - Pontius Pilate has a dog, the only creature he loves)

* RightHandCat (Behemoth)

* {{Satan}} (Woland, literally)

* SelfInflictedHell (Berlioz, who believes in nothing, gets nothing after death)
* SelflessWish (Margarita wants more than anything else for the Master to be returned to her, but when Satan offers to grant her one request, she instead asks for mercy for one of the damned souls she met at his ball.)
* ShoutOut (Particularly to ''{{Faust}}'')
* ShowWithinAShow (the Master's novel)
* SmiteMeOhMightySmiter (Matthew Levi; it accomplishes nothing)
* SmugSnake (lots of bureaucrats and high-ranking functionaries in the Moscow storylines, Caifas in the Jerusalem storyline)
* SympathyForTheDevil (literally - it's ''this'' book which inspired the Rolling Stones song, after all)
* TakeThat (towards Russian society; possibly also towards many individuals on whom the [[AssholeVictim asshole victims]] [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory were supposedly based]])

* TalkingAnimal (Behemoth)
* ThatCameOutWrong - in the original and translations to Slavic languages ("Bezdomny" means "Homeless"), Ivan's phone call to the MASSOLIT goes like "It's Ivan, the homeless! I'm calling from the insane asylum!" No wonder the conversation is ''short''. ("Homeless" is actually his pen name, while his real name is Ivan Ponyrev.)
* TheBrute (Azazel)
* TheHunter (hilariously subverted with Ivan the poet, whose attempt to track and stop Woland and his servants ends very abruptly and anticlimactically)
* TheMessiah (literally - Jesus/Yeshua in the Jerusalem storyline)
* TheThirties (no, not TheGreatDepression -- the Soviet thirties, when [[JosefStalin Stalin and his cadre of fanatics were consolidating their power]].)
** Technically it's the 20's, with NEP and some degree of liberalization... And a huge amount of attendant hypocrisy.
*** There are references to the NEP and liberalization, but also references to people disappearing in purges. Critics generally argue that the novel is a mashup of TheSovietTwenties (when it was begun) and the Thirties.
* TooSoon (in its home country, at least)
* {{Trickster}} (Korovyev and Behemoth)
* TwoLinesNoWaiting (Moscow and Yershalaim)

* CaliforniaDoubling: since Moscow doesn't look much like its 1930s self nowadays, they used the generally more well-preserved St. Petersburg instead

* TheMovieOfTheBook: Well, the ''television series'' of the book, but much of that still applies
* YourMileageMayVary: with regards to the casting choices

* {{Narm}} (although it's actually deliberate)

->I am part of that force which wills forever evil and works forever good.\\

->Would you remove all trees and living things from the world to realise your fantasy of basking in naked light?\\