Despite the fact that the novel was written a long time ago and is a classic work, it is still very popular among the younger generation. Thanks to the school curriculum, almost everyone knows this novel and the one who wrote it. “The Master and Margarita” is a novel created by the greatest author, Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov.
Indifference to the novel
Indifferent people in relation to this work practically does not exist. In fact, readers are divided into two camps: those who love and admire the novel, and those who simply hate it, and also do not recognize Bulgakov's genius. But there is a third, the smallest, category. Probably only small children can be attributed to it. These are those who have not heard of the novel and do not know who the author is.
“The Master and Margarita” is one of the most extraordinary and mysterious prose works. Many writers and literary scholars tried to solve the riddle of its popularity and success with the reader. Until the end, no one has succeeded.
Not much can be recalled and called such works that would have generated so much controversy around itself. They still do not keep silent about Bulgakov’s novel. They talk about the biblical component of the plot, about the prototypes of the main characters, about the philosophical and aesthetic roots of the novel, about who is still the main character, and even about the genre in which the work is written.
Three stages of writing a novel, according to B.V. Sokolov
Opinions of literary scholars regarding the history of writing “The Master and Margarita”, as well as the essence of this work, differ. For example, Sokolov, the author of the book “Bulgakov Encyclopedia”, divides the editions of the novel into three stages. He says that work on the work began in 1928. Presumably, it was then that the author of the novel “The Master and Margarita” conceived it, and began to write individual chapters only in the winter of 1929. In the spring of the same year, the first full edition was handed over. But then it was not yet explicitly said who the author of the book is, who wrote it. "The Master and Margarita" even then did not appear as the name of the work. The manuscript titled “Furibunda” was given to the Nedra publishing house under the pseudonym K. Tugai. And on March 18, 1930, it was destroyed by the author himself. So ends the first stage of the editions of the work, highlighted by Boris Vadimovich Sokolov.
The second stage began in the fall of 1936. And at that time no one knew that the novel would be called as we are now used to. Bulgakov himself thought differently, the one who wrote. “The Master and Margarita” - a work that received different names from its author: “He appeared” and “He appeared”, “Coming”, “Grand Chancellor”, “Here I am”, “Black Magician”, “Hat with a Pen” , “Hoof of a Consultant” and “Horseshoe of a Foreigner”, “Black Theologian”, and even “Satan”. Only one subheading remained unchanged - Fantastic Novel.
And finally, the third stage - from the second half of 1936 until the end of 1938. At first, the novel was called “Prince of Darkness,” but then it nevertheless acquired such a familiar name for us. And at the beginning of summer, in 1938, it was completely reprinted for the first time.
Everything that happened to the novel further, Sokolov no longer considers the editors, but calls it copyright.
Nine editions, according to Losev
V.I. Losev studied the biography and work of Mikhail Afanasevich for more than twenty years. He divides the history of writing the novel into nine parts, as does the author himself.
- The first edition is “The Black Magician”. These are drafts of the novel, the first notebook written in 1928-1929. There is no Master and Margarita in it and there are only four chapters.
- The second is "The Hoof of an Engineer." This is the second draft notebook of the same years. This is a continuation, the second part of the first edition of the work. There are only three chapters in it, but here the concept of one of the most important parts of the novel has already appeared - this is a section called “The Gospel of Woland”.
- The third is “Saturday Night.” Drafts, outline for the novel, written in 1929-1931. There are also three chapters. And only the case in Griboedov reached the final version of them.
- The fourth is the "Grand Chancellor." The first full handwritten edition. Margarita and her lover are already appearing here. But his name is not Master, but Poet.
- Fifth - "Fantastic novel." These are chapters rewritten and written in 1934-1936. New details appear, but there are no significant modifications.
- Sixth - The Golden Spear. This is an unfinished manuscript torn off in the chapter “Magic Money”.
- Seventh - "Prince of Darkness." The first thirteen chapters of the novel. The love story of the Master and Margarita is not here, and in general everything breaks off on the appearance of the main character. And here Berlioz is called Mirtsev.
- The eighth part is “The Master and Margarita”. Complete and mature handwritten edition of 1928-1937. And it was this version that was printed by Elena Bulgakova’s sister Olga Bokshanskaya.
- The ninth is also the "Master and Margarita." The latest and final edition, including all the latest additions and comments by Mikhail Afanasevich. It was printed after the death of the writer Elena Sergeevna, his wife, in 1966.
History option Belobrovtseva and Culius
In many ways, their version is similar to that of Losev, as they completely agree with the critic about the first edition. However, they call the second edition the chapters of the novel “Hoof of an Engineer”, given to the publishing house Nedra. This is where the Master, whose name is Fesey, first appears. He plays the role of Faust even without Margarita. The third version, according to Belobrovtseva and Culius, is “Fantastic novel” written by Bulgakov in 1932, where the Master turns from Fesi into a Poet and Margarita already appears. The fourth they consider the 1936 edition, the one that was completed for the first time with the word "end". Next is the work of 1937 - the unfinished novel "Prince of Darkness." And then the manuscript printed by O.S. Bokshansky. Already its editing by the authors is considered the seventh edition. And the eighth and last is the one that was ruled by Bulgakov’s wife before his death and was published after his death.
The novel was published in the form in which we know it, for the first time in the magazine Moscow in 1966. The work immediately gained popularity, and Bulgakov’s name did not leave the lips of his contemporaries. Then precisely no one had a question about who the author of the work is, who wrote it. “The Master and Margarita” - a novel that made a great impression. And he still holds the brand.