In The Master and Margarita, Bulgakov creates a world of parallel narrative planes with intriguing similarities between characters in each plane. One of the most interesting such doubles is the example of Margarita and Afranius. Although this connection may be surprising at first, there is plenty of compelling evidence to prove the conclusion that Bulgakov purposefully intended these two characters to be a pairing. I will show that this evidence is found both in the parallel between the similar surroundings of each character and in the striking parallelism of the two characters' function in the novel.
In chapters 24, following the midnight ball, Margarita and Woland are relaxing in Woland's bedroom. The first time Margarita met Woland, he had been lying down; however, he is currently “sitting in his nightshirt on the bed” (236). Woland asks Margarita if “they [wore] you out completely,” but she denies it. Woland nevertheless insists that she “drink up” and “sit down” to restore her strength. After Begemot's little scene, Woland and Margarita resume their business, which is right now for Woland to reward Margarita for her services at the ball the previous evening. Later in the chapter, Woland offers a prophecy in which he tells the Master that the Pilate novel will surprise him, but that nothing terrible will happen. The prophecy, of course, hints at Woland's own intentions. Finally, just as Margarita is about to leave, Woland surprisingly takes the gold and diamond horseshoe from under a pillow and insists Margarita take it, even though she refuses at first.
In chapter 25, which not-coincidentally follows the previous scene, Bulgakov shifts to Jerusalem, where Pilate is waiting for Afranius to return from the execution. Wherea...
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...t cowardice was the worst of human sins, even though it really was “Hail to the merciful hegemon.”
The contrast between the moral and evil services of Margarita and Afranius perhaps alludes to the inherent wrongness in blindly obeying a higher power. Afranius is never troubled by the question of right and wrong and subserviently obeys the power of Pilate's office without question, perhaps leading him to his moral demise in his growing desire to manipulate others and attain power. On the other hand, Margarita is motivated in a purely moral sense by her love for the Master. She obeys Woland not because of his power, but because of her own desire to save the Master and his work. After considering all the evidence of the similarities between the two characters, we must surely realize that Bulgakov set up this ironic contrast between Margarita and Afranius purposefully.
Furthermore, Anna, the woman who Dmitri is having an affair with, is married as well. And when she had began to think
After killing Lizaveta, Raskolnikov feels a sense of guilt and disappointment. He begins to realize maybe he is not above society, and that he is not the great savior he believes he is. Sonia has betrayed
New Criticism is described to focus on values on the individual’s work’s meaning. This approach which is a close analytic reading of the text, is the approach I will be using. I chose to analyze both stories Life of a sensuous women and Hedda Gabbler. I will apply these texts to compare/contrast in terms of character and how it affects the themes in the story.
A long time ago, before man had mastery of the elements, the world was split in three. In this world, there was the fiery continent, the bottomless ocean and the infinite sky. No life could exist on the world for the land was too hot, the ocean too fierce and the sky was but a void.
thee! Naught that I am, Not for their own demerits but for mine fell slaughter
In life, there are few events such as love and death that serve as a transforming experience and makes an individual realize that he has not lived the way he should have. In the following essay, I will examine how love and death serve as the major themes in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “The Lady with the Little Dog” and “Shampoo”, by transforming the world views of the main characters. By examining the life and death of Ivan Ilyich, the love story between Gurov and Anna, and the story of George, a hairstylist who uses his charm and occupation to seduce beautiful women, I will analyse whether people are truly capable of change after going through life changing experiences such as the approach of death and the idea of love.
Often times in literature, we are presented with quintessential characters that are all placed into the conventional categories of either good or bad. In these pieces, we are usually able to differentiate the characters and discover their true intentions from reading only a few chapters. However, in some remarkable pieces of work, authors create characters that are so realistic and so complex that we are unable to distinguish them as purely good or evil. In the novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky develops the morally ambiguous characters of Raskolnikov and Svidrigailov to provide us with an interesting read and to give us a chance to evaluate each character.
works of literature have tremendous amounts of similarity especially in the characters. Each character is usually unique and symbolizes the quality of a person in the real world. But in both stories, each character was alike, they represented honor, loyalty, chivalry, strength and wisdom. Each character is faced with a difficult decision as well as a journey in which they have to determine how to save their own lives. Both these pieces of literatures are exquisite and extremely interesting in their own ways.
The conflict between good and evil is one of the most common conventional themes in literature. Coping with evil is a fundamental struggle with which all human beings must contend. Sometimes evil comes from within a character, and sometimes other characters are the source of evil; but evil is always something that the characters struggle to overcome. In two Russian novels, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, men and women cope with their problems differently. Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment and the Master in The Master and Margarita can not cope and fall apart, whereas Sonya in Crime and Punishment and Margarita in The Master and Margarita, not only cope but pull the men out of their suffering.
“I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin, or to be against God's will.”
Another point, similar to the patriarchal society is the subservient role of women at the time. Subservience is the act of without question doing the will of another, as they were seen as inferior. This was a slave-like position, but one that women held. In this case, Katherine has been put through tests till Petruchio, her husband, saw her honesty and trustworthiness as satisfactory. He throws her dresses on the ground starve her and even keeps her awake at night, till she is loyal.‘I am ashamed that women are so simple, To offer war where they should kneel for peace; Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway, When they are bound to serve, love and obey.’ This shows how women were expected to bow-down to men, hence force they were seen to have a subservient
Never to outrage, or murder, always flee treason, also by no means to be cruel, but to give mercy unto him that asketh mercy; also to do to ladies, damsels, and gentle women succour upon pain of death – also, no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law for the world’s goods(Schofield 96).
The story of the Romanovs is almost like a that of fiction. It has been the subject of debates for many decades. Filled to the brim with myth and mystery, powered by deception and treachery, continued by the romance and beauty of the princess, and set up against the backdrop of revolution and world war. There is much speculation as to whether or nor the twelve-year-old Anastasia Romanov famously escaped the carnage of her whole family. Theories arose as to whether Anastasia and her brother, Alexei Nikolayevich, might have survived.
Characterization is key in establishing the theme of Waiting for Godot. Vladimir and Estragon seem to have two modes of existence: together and by themselves. One critic observes, "As members of a cross-talk act, Vladimir and Estragon have complementary personalities" (Esslin 29).
The story “The Lady with the Dog”, by Anton Chekhov describes the secret love affair between Anna Sergeyevna and Dmitri Gurov, who were both to other individuals. Gurov is a banker in Moscow who was married at a young age, and never truly loved his wife. Thus, he had been unfaithful to her for a long time. While Anna, who lived in S--- also felt that her marriage was a mistake, but was faithful until she arrived at Yalta. “They believed that faith had brought them together, and so they could not fathom why they were both married to different indviduals; and it was as though they were a pair of birds of passage, caught and forced to live in different cages.” (Chekhov, 270). From gaining knowledge about the backgrounds of the two lover’s marriage, it is evident that Chekhov uses