This essay analyzes Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita as a philosophical and satirical novel that subverts traditional moral categories. It examines the dual nature of Woland — Bulgakov's Satan figure — who functions not as a tempter but as an instrument of justice in Soviet Moscow. The essay explores how Bulgakov uses demonic characters to criticize Soviet bureaucracy, atheism, and moral hypocrisy, while also protecting genuine artists like the Master. Drawing on key scenes and quotations from the novel, the paper argues that Bulgakov's central paradox is that evil, embodied by Woland and his retinue, proves more just and humane than the corrupt morality of Soviet society.
Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita is one of the most remarkable works of Soviet literature, standing alongside such masterpieces as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov.
The Master and Margarita impresses readers with its unity of philosophy, religion, and satire directed at Soviet society. It may also be considered one of the greatest philosophical novels of modern times. Bulgakov touches on enduring human problems: the relationship between the individual and society, and the values of his contemporaries. The novel's deep philosophical and ethical meaning is supplemented by bitter irony and witty, sarcastic description of Soviet Russian society.
Bulgakov's innovation in The Master and Margarita is unmistakable. In exposing the vices and lawlessness of Soviet Moscow, he does not choose the conventional method of relying on God and the forces of good to deliver justice. Instead, the instrument of justice is placed in the hands of demonic powers — in the hands of Satan himself, who tries sinners and apostates. This was a literary protest against an epoch of atheism, immorality, and a belief in impunity. Since Soviet morality had rejected a Judgment Day governed by God, Bulgakov set out to show what a Judgment Day governed by Satan might look like.
The characters of The Master and Margarita participate in two plot lines: ancient Jerusalem and Moscow of the 1920s. In both settings there is a struggle of good against evil, a battle against immorality in the name of justice and truth. This plot structure generates many paradoxes, as Bulgakov's dialectical narration and philosophical dualism contradict the conventions of classical plot development. Bulgakov's heroes unite traits of both evil and virtue, affirming his philosophical postulate that there is neither absolute good nor absolute evil.
The central figure of the novel, Woland — who embodies Satan — participates in both plot lines, ancient and modern, serving as the binding chain between past, imagination, and reality. Woland is not a traditional literary incarnation of Satan; he possesses qualities associated with both God and the Devil, though his demonic nature ultimately dominates. Bulgakov's Woland is closely related to Goethe's Mephistopheles, a connection confirmed by the novel's epigraph:
"… who are you, then?"
"I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good."
— Goethe, Faust
Woland's dualistic nature and his attributes of divine power make him a conflicting figure who reveals the contradictions of human existence. He demonstrates his omnipotence to everyone he encounters; he tells Matthew Levi, Christ's disciple, that he is equal to God: "Nothing is hard for me to do … you know that very well." (p. 358)
Bulgakov's image of Satan thus has nothing in common with the classic comic elements traditionally used to depict evil spirits. Satan's role in Bulgakov's writing extends far beyond temptation — his behavior in The Master and Margarita carries many divine elements: he punishes and rewards, preaches and condemns.
Woland's appearance, manners, and behavior all convey grandeur:
"He was wearing an expensive grey suit and imported shoes of a matching colour. His grey beret was cocked rakishly over one ear; under his arm he carried a stick with a black knob shaped like a poodle's head. He looked to be a little over forty. Mouth somehow twisted. Clean-shaven. Dark-haired. Right eye black, left — for some reason — green. Dark eyebrows, but one higher than the other. In short, a foreigner…" (p. 7)
"Two eyes were fixed on Margarita's face. The right one with a golden spark at its bottom, drilling anyone to the bottom of his soul, and the left one empty and black, like the narrow eye of a needle, like the entrance to the bottomless well of all darkness and shadow. Woland's face was twisted to one side, the right corner of the mouth drawn down, the high, bald forehead scored by deep wrinkles running parallel to the sharp eyebrows. The skin of Woland's face was as if burned for all eternity by the sun…" (p. 250)
Woland is multi-faced, as a devil must be, presenting himself differently to different people. He possesses the omnipotence of Satan, demonstrating black magic, predicting the future, and recounting the past. He also differs from classic literary images of Satan in that he does not act alone; he is accompanied by a retinue of lesser demons: Koroviev-Fagot, Azazello, Hella (a vampire-woman), and a cat-werewolf named Behemoth. These characters do not embody absolute evil either — they function as judges who adjudicate with irony and wit.
Furthermore, Bulgakov's demonism carries a deeper ethical message: do not judge by appearances. Woland's assistant Koroviev, for example, plays many roles — interpreter, choirmaster, swindler — yet in the final scene he is revealed to be a dark purple knight with a face of stone.
Woland's mission in the Soviet capital differs from the traditional function of evil in literature. Rather than tempting people, Woland and his retinue protect the virtues and morals of Muscovites by punishing those who violate the common laws of human ethics. He does not tempt good people; his actions are directed at punishing those who fail to follow moral norms. Woland exposes petty desires and mercantilism in order to stigmatize and ridicule them. His servants do not occupy themselves with tempting the virtuous — instead, they locate and punish confirmed sinners.
The evil spirits are responsible for a number of outrages in Moscow, both comic and tragic. Stepan Likhodeev, director of the variety theatre, was fortunate that Woland's assistants merely sent him to Yalta, even though he deserved a far harsher punishment. Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, chairman of the tenants' association, was also fairly dealt with for his bribe-taking. The relatively mild punishment of these characters reflects the fact that their vices, while real, are not mortal sins — they are common failings of a philistine, narrow-minded society in which material values take priority. These people are ultimately pitiable: they are no more than pawns and may be forgiven because they make no remarkable impact on social relations. They are simply the product of those relations.
In criticizing Soviet Russia's human failings, Bulgakov targets the Soviet bureaucratic system, which encouraged the spread of bribery and red tape at every level of society, from households to government offices. Chairmen of tenants' associations like Bosoy wielded unlimited power because of the chronic shortage of living space in Soviet cities. Such bureaucrats exploited scarcity in their own interests, profiting from people's misfortune. Woland's assistants punish these small-time swindlers more for sport than for any transformative purpose — Woland understands that punishing this class of person changes nothing, since they are a product of the Soviet regime itself. Moscow's rogues become victims of their own cupidity voluntarily, without any direct intervention from the demonic retinue.
"Hierarchy of guilt from petty sinners to Berlioz"
"Woland protects the Master and his manuscript"
"Evil and good as interdependent forces in Bulgakov's philosophy"
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