The Master and Margarita

There exist many different opinions on whom is to be considered to be the main character(s) of The Master and Margarita. Since Bulgakov, in his letter to the government on March 28, 1930 wrote that he had burned his novel on the devil, many people consider Woland as the leading character.

Others find clues to indicate Koroviev as the main character. Often, they go rather far in their efforts using far-reaching analyses. Their conclusions are based on the fact, among others, that the master only shows up in chapter 12, and Margarita in chapter 19. Koroviev would then be the narrator of the story.

Ivan Bezdomny is also foten mentioned, since the novel starts and ends with him.

As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't have to be too complicated, To me, the title of the novel says it all, so my first choice for the main characters goes to the master and Margarita. And Woland too. Since he directs the action to a large extent, he should be in this part of the website too.

• The master
• Margarita
• Woland

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In this section are explained, per chapter, all typical notions, names of people and places, quotations and expressions from the novel with a description of the political, social, economical and cultural context.

Annotations per chapter