Who is Yeshua. The image and characteristics of Yeshua in the novel The Master and Margarita essay. See what "Yeshua ha-notsri" is in other dictionaries

The image of a traveling philosopher, whose quotes touch the strings of the soul, is the key in the novel The Master and Margarita. Along with the main characters of the classic work, Yeshua Ha-Nozri teaches the reader wisdom, patience and understanding that there are no evil people, and the devil is not at all the quintessence of vice.

History of creation

The name of a colorful character, like most of the details of the novel, has a certain meaning. Yeshua is another pronunciation of the name Jesus. Ha-Nozri is translated as "from Nazareth".

All this hints that the reader is facing a recognizable hero of the Bible. But the researchers found evidence that in the person of the philosopher Bulgakov portrayed only partially. It was not the task of the author of the novel to reproduce the events connected with the son of God.

One of the prototypes of Yeshua was Count Myshkin from the novel The Idiot. The characteristic of the hero coincides with the character of Bulgakov. Myshkin is a calm and moral man who seems eccentric to those around him. Researchers of Dostoevsky's work call the hero "the personification of Christian virtue."

According to Bulgakov's biographers, it was from this vision of Christ that the writer started, creating the image of Ha-Notsri. The Bible portrays Jesus as the son of God capable of performing miracles. In turn, both writers (Bulgakov and) wanted to show in their novels that Jesus existed in the world and brought light to people, without using mystical abilities. To Bulgakov, far from Christianity, such an image seemed closer and more realistic.

A detailed analysis of the biography of Yeshua confirms the idea that if Jesus was used by the writer as a prototype of Ha-Nozri, then only in general milestones of history. The philosophy of the wandering sage differs from the dogmas of Christ.

For example, Yeshua rejects the idea that a person can contain evil in himself. The same attitude towards the neighbor is found in. This is another reason to assert that the image of Yeshua is collective. The biblical character claims that society as a whole (and each person in particular) can be evil or good.

Yeshua did not set himself the goal of spreading his own philosophy, the traveler does not call people to be his disciples. A man is horrified when he finds the scrolls written down by an associate. This behavior is fundamentally different from the behavior of Christ, who tries to spread the doctrine to all people he meets.

Image and plot

Yeshua Ha-Notsri was born in the town of Gamla, located on the western slope of the Golan Upland. Nothing is known about the boy's parents, only a passing mention is made that Yeshua's father arrived in Gamla from Syria.

The man has no relatives. The philosopher has been wandering around the world for many years and tells those who wish about his own outlook on life. A man has no philosophical school or students. The only follower of Yeshua was a former tax collector.

The first in Bulgakov's novel, oddly enough, Yeshua mentions. Talking with new acquaintances at the Patriarch's Ponds, the magician draws a portrait of the enlightened in front of the audience:

“This man was dressed in an old and torn blue chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. Under the left eye, the man had a large bruise, in the corner of his mouth - an abrasion with dried blood ... "

It was in this form that Yeshua Ha-Nozri appeared before the Roman prefect. In the drafts, Bulgakov mentions the man's long red hair, but this detail was later removed from the novel.

The ingenuous philosopher was seized and declared a criminal because of the sermons that Yeshua read in the markets of Yershalaim. The representative of the law was struck by the insight and kindness of the arrested person. Yeshua intuitively guessed that Pontius Pilate was suffering from pain and dreaming that the torment would end:

“The truth, first of all, is that your head hurts, and it hurts so much that you cowardly think about death.”

The procurator was no less impressed that Yeshua was fluent in Aramaic, Greek and Latin. A passionate interrogation suddenly turned into an intellectual conversation between two educated and out-of-the-box thinkers. Men argued about power and truth, kindness and honor:

“The time will come when there will be no power of Caesars or any other power. Man will pass into the realm of truth and justice, where no power will be needed.”

Realizing that the reason for the arrest was the stupidity and narrow-mindedness of the local population, Pontius Pilate is trying to reverse the judicial investigation. The procurator hints to the philosopher that he needs to reject his own beliefs in order to save his life, but Yeshua is not ready to give up his own view of the future.

In this act, everyone, even the guards, see the courage of a man who remains true to himself until his last breath. But the procurator is not ready to risk his career because of a smart and kind traveler, therefore, despite the sympathy, the execution will take place.

Those sentenced to death are led to Bald Mountain, where the crucifixion will take place. Resigned to his fate and not resisting, Yeshua is nailed to wooden boards. The only thing Pontius Pilate could do was give the order for the philosopher to be quickly stabbed in the heart with a knife. Such an act will save the glorious Ha-Notsri from prolonged torment. In the last moments of his life, Yeshua speaks of cowardice.

“…he was not verbose this time. The only thing he said was that among the human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important.

The body of the teacher is removed from the cross by Matthew Levi. The man curses God and Pontius Pilate for the death of a friend, but what has been done cannot be returned. The prefect of Judea gives the order to bury the body of the philosopher, thus rewarding the wise hermit as he deserves.

But death is not the end for Yeshua. The philosopher visits a new acquaintance in his dreams, where the procurator and Ha-Notsri talk about things that excite them and look for the meaning of life. The last mention of the philosopher is again connected with Woland. Ha-Notsri sends Levi Matvey to the black magician with an order.

“He read the essay and asks you to take the Master with you and reward him with peace ... He asks that the one who loved and suffered because of him should also be taken.”

Screen adaptations

In 1972, director from Poland Andrei Vajda presented the audience with a motion picture called Pilate and Others. Inspired by Bulgakov's work, Vajda decided to film a part of the plot dedicated to the relationship between Pontius Pilate and Yeshua. The action of the film is moved to Germany in the 20th century, the role of a wandering philosopher went to Wojciech Pszoniak.

The classic film adaptation of the famous novel was released in 1988. The director from Poland, Maciek Wojtyszko, again took up the shooting of such a complex and multifaceted story. Critics noted the talented play of the cast. The role of Yeshua was played by Tadeusz Bradetsky.

The Russian film version of The Master and Margarita was released in 2005. The director of the film, Vladimir Bortko, emphasized the mystical component of the film. But the part of the plot dedicated to Yeshua also occupies a significant place in the film. The role of Ga Notsri went to actor Sergei Bezrukov.

In 2011, the premiere of the adaptation of The Master and Margarita took place, the shooting of which ended in 2004. Due to copyright disputes, the film's premiere was delayed by 6 years. The long-awaited debut was a failure. Actors and roles looked, by modern standards, naive and unnatural. The role of Yeshua in the film went to.

Recently, Hollywood filmmakers have paid attention to the classic work. Most scenes of the American film will be filmed in Russia. The planned budget for the film adaptation is $100 million.

Quotes

"There are no evil people in the world, there are only unhappy people."

"It's easy and pleasant to tell the truth."

"The past doesn't matter, find yourself in the present and rule the future."

“Agree that only the one who hung it up can probably cut the hair?”

"God is one. I believe in him."

Yeshua is tall, but his height is human
by its nature. He is tall in human
standards. He is a human. There is nothing of the Son of God in him.
M. Dunaev 1

Yeshua and the Master, despite the fact that they take up little space in the novel, are the central characters of the novel. They have a lot in common: one is a wandering philosopher who does not remember his parents and has no one in the world; the other is an unnamed employee of some Moscow museum, also completely alone.

The destinies of both develop tragically, and this they owe to the truth that is open to them: for Yeshua, this is the idea of ​​goodness; for the Master, this is the truth about the events of two thousand years ago, which he "guessed" in his novel.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri. From a religious point of view, the image of Yeshua Ha-Notsri is a deviation from the Christian canons, and the master of theology, candidate of philological sciences M.M. Dunaev writes about this: “On the tree of lost truth, refined delusion, the fruit called “The Master and Margarita” also ripened, with artistic brilliance, voluntarily or involuntarily, distorting the fundamental principle [Gospel. - V.K.], and as a result, an anti-Christian novel came out, “gospel of Satan”, “anti-liturgy”" 2 . However, Bulgakov's Yeshua is an artistic image, multidimensional, its evaluation and analysis are possible from different points of view: religious, historical, psychological, ethical, philosophical, aesthetic... The fundamental multidimensionality of approaches gives rise to a plurality of points of view, gives rise to disputes about the essence of this character in the novel.

For the reader opening the novel for the first time, the name of this character is a mystery. What does it mean? "Yeshua(or Yehoshua) is the Hebrew form of the name Jesus, which in translation means “God is my salvation”, or “Savior”" 3 . Ha-Notsri in accordance with the common interpretation of this word, it is translated as "Nazarene; Nazarene; from Nazareth", that is, the native city of Jesus, where he spent his childhood years (Jesus was born, as you know, in Bethlehem). But, since the author has chosen an unconventional form of naming a character, non-traditional from a religious point of view, the bearer of this name must also be non-canonical. Yeshua is an artistic, non-canonical "double" of Jesus Christ (Christ in Greek means "Messiah").

The unconventionality of the image of Yeshua Ha-Nozri in comparison with the gospel Jesus Christ is obvious:

Yeshua at Bulgakov's - "a man of about twenty-seven". Jesus Christ, as you know, was thirty-three years old at the time of his accomplishment of the sacrificial feat. Regarding the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, indeed, there are discrepancies among the church ministers themselves: Archpriest Alexander Men, referring to the works of historians, believes that Christ was born 6-7 years earlier than his official birth, calculated in the VI century by the monk Dionysius the Small 4. This example shows that M. Bulgakov, when creating his "fantastic novel" (the author's definition of the genre), was based on real historical facts;

· Bulgakov's Yeshua does not remember his parents. The mother and official father of Jesus Christ are named in all the Gospels;

Yeshua by blood "seems to be a Syrian". The Jewish origin of Jesus is traced back to Abraham (in the Gospel of Matthew);

· Yeshua has only one disciple - Levi Matthew. Jesus, the evangelists say, had twelve apostles;

· Yeshua is betrayed by Judas - some barely known young man, who, however, is not a disciple of Yeshua (as in the Gospel Judas is a disciple of Jesus);

· Bulgakov's Judas is killed on the orders of Pilate, who wants at least this to appease his conscience; the gospel Judas of Carioth hanged himself;

· After the death of Yeshua, his body is stolen and buried by Matthew Levi. In the Gospel - Joseph of Arimathea, "a disciple of Christ, but secret from fear from the Jews";

the nature of the preaching of the gospel Jesus was changed, only one moral provision was left in the novel by M. Bulgakov "All people are kind", however, the Christian teaching is not reduced to this;

The divine origin of the Gospels has been challenged. About the notes on the parchment of the student - Levi Matthew - Yeshua in the novel says: “These good people… didn’t learn anything and mixed up everything I said. I generally begin to fear that this confusion will continue for a very long time. And all because he incorrectly writes down after me.<...>He walks, walks alone with goat parchment and writes continuously. But once I looked into this parchment and was horrified. Absolutely nothing of what is written there, I did not say. I begged him: burn your parchment for God's sake! But he snatched it out of my hands and ran away";

It does not say about the divine origin of the God-man and crucifixion - an expiatory sacrifice (Bulgakov’s executed "sentenced ... to hang on poles!").

Yeshua in The Master and Margarita is, first of all, a person who finds moral, psychological support in himself and in his truth, to which he remained faithful to the end. Yeshua M. Bulgakov is perfect in spiritual beauty, but not external: "... was dressed in an old and torn blue 4chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye, and an abrasion with dried blood in the corner of his mouth. The man brought in looked at the procurator with anxious curiosity.. Everything human is not alien to him, including he feels a sense of fear of the centurion Mark Ratslayer, he is characterized by timidity, shyness. Wed the scene of interrogation of Yeshua by Pilate in the novel and in the Gospel of John and Matthew:

Mark, with one left hand, like an empty bag, lifted the fallen man into the air, put him on his feet and spoke in a nasal voice: ...

1. The best work of Bulgakov.
2. Deep intention of the writer.
3. A complex image of Yeshua Ha-Nozri.
4. The cause of death of the hero.
5. Heartlessness and indifference of people.
6. Agreement between light and darkness.

According to literary critics and M. A. Bulgakov himself, The Master and Margarita is his final work. Dying from a serious illness, the writer said to his wife: “Maybe this is right ... What could I write after the “Master”?” And in fact, this work is so multifaceted that the reader can not immediately figure out which genre it belongs to. This is a fantastic, and adventurous, and satirical, and most of all a philosophical novel.

Experts define the novel as a menippea, where a deep semantic load is hidden under the mask of laughter. In any case, such opposite principles as philosophy and fantasy, tragedy and farce, fantasy and realism are harmoniously reunited in The Master and Margarita. Another feature of the novel is the displacement of spatial, temporal and psychological characteristics. This is the so-called double novel, or a novel within a novel. Before the eyes of the viewer, echoing each other, two seemingly completely different stories pass. The action of the first takes place in modern times in Moscow, and the second takes the reader to ancient Yershalaim. However, Bulgakov went even further: it is hard to believe that these two stories were written by the same author. Moscow incidents are described in living language. There is a lot of comedy, fantasy, devilry. In some places, the author's familiar chatter with the reader develops into outright gossip. The narrative is built on a certain understatement, incompleteness, which generally casts doubt on the veracity of this part of the work. When it comes to the events in Yershalaim, the artistic style changes dramatically. The story sounds stern and solemn, as if it were not a work of art, but chapters from the Gospel: “In the early morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan, in a white cloak with a bloody lining, shuffling gait, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, entered the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great. ..". Both parts, according to the writer's intention, should show the reader the state of morality over the past two thousand years.

Yeshua Ha-Nozri came into this world at the beginning of the Christian era, preaching his doctrine of goodness. However, his contemporaries failed to understand and accept this truth. Yeshua was sentenced to the shameful death penalty - crucifixion on a stake. From the point of view of religious figures, the image of this person does not fit into any Christian canons. Moreover, the novel itself was recognized as "the gospel of Satan." However, Bulgakov's character is an image that includes religious, historical, ethical, philosophical, psychological and other features. That is why it is so difficult to analyze. Of course, Bulgakov, as an educated person, knew the Gospel perfectly, but he was not going to write another sample of spiritual literature. His work is deeply artistic. Therefore, the writer deliberately distorts the facts. Yeshua Ha-Nozri is translated as a savior from Nazareth, while Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Bulgakov's hero is "a man of twenty-seven years old", the Son of God was thirty-three years old. Yeshua has only one disciple Levi Matthew, Jesus has 12 apostles. Judas in The Master and Margarita was killed on the orders of Pontius Pilate, in the Gospel he hanged himself. With such inconsistencies, the author wants to emphasize once again that Yeshua in the work, first of all, is a person who managed to find psychological and moral support in himself and be faithful to her until the end of his life. Paying attention to the appearance of his hero, he shows readers that spiritual beauty is much higher than external attractiveness: “... he was dressed in an old and torn blue chiton. His head was covered with a white bandage with a strap around his forehead, and his hands were tied behind his back. The man had a large bruise under his left eye, and an abrasion with dried blood in the corner of his mouth. This man was not divinely imperturbable. He, like ordinary people, was subject to fear of Mark the Ratslayer or Pontius Pilate: “The one who was brought in looked at the procurator with anxious curiosity.” Yeshua was unaware of his divine origin, acting like an ordinary person.

Despite the fact that in the novel special attention is paid to the human qualities of the protagonist, his divine origin is not forgotten either. At the end of the work, it is Yeshua who personifies the higher power that instructs Woland to reward the master with peace. At the same time, the author did not perceive his character as a prototype of Christ. Yeshua concentrates in himself the image of the moral law, which enters into a tragic confrontation with legal law. The protagonist came into this world with a moral truth - any person is kind. This is the truth of the entire novel. And with the help of it, Bulgakov seeks to once again prove to people that God exists. A special place is occupied in the novel by the relationship between Yeshua and Pontius Pilate. It is to him that the wanderer says: “All power is violence against people ... the time will come when there will be no power of either Caesar or any other power. A person will pass into the realm of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all. Feeling a grain of truth in the words of his prisoner, Pontius Pilate cannot let him go, fearing that this will harm his career. Under the pressure of circumstances, he signs Yeshua's death warrant and greatly regrets it.

The hero tries to atone for his guilt by trying to convince the priest to release this particular prisoner in honor of the holiday. When his idea fails, he orders the servants to stop the torment of the hanged man and personally orders to kill Judas. The tragedy of the story of Yeshua Ha-Nozri lies in the fact that his teaching was not in demand. People by that time were not ready to accept his truth. The protagonist is even afraid that his words will be misunderstood: "... this confusion will continue for a very long time." Yeshuya, who did not renounce his teachings, is a symbol of humanity and perseverance. His tragedy, but in the modern world, repeats the Master. Yeshua's death is quite predictable. The tragedy of the situation is even more emphasized by the author with the help of a thunderstorm, which also completes the storyline of modern history: “Darkness. Coming from the Mediterranean Sea, it covered the city hated by the procurator... An abyss descended from the sky. Yershalaim disappeared - the great city, as if it did not exist in the world ... Darkness devoured everything ... ".

With the death of the protagonist, the whole city plunged into darkness. At the same time, the moral state of the inhabitants inhabiting the city left much to be desired. Yeshua is sentenced to "hanging on a stake", which entails a long painful execution. Among the townspeople there are many who want to admire this torture. Behind the wagon with prisoners, executioners and soldiers “was about two thousand curious people who were not afraid of the hellish heat and wanted to be present at an interesting spectacle. To these curious ... now curious pilgrims have joined. Approximately the same thing happens two thousand years later, when people strive to get to the scandalous performance of Woland in the Variety. From the behavior of modern people, Satan concludes that human nature does not change: “... they are people as people. They love money, but it has always been ... humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether it is leather, paper, bronze or gold ... Well, frivolous ... well, and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts.

Throughout the novel, the author, on the one hand, draws a clear line between the spheres of influence of Yeshua and Woland, however, on the other hand, the unity of their opposites is clearly traced. However, despite the fact that in many situations Satan appears to be more significant than Yeshua, these rulers of light and darkness are quite equal. This is the key to balance and harmony in this world, since the absence of one would make the presence of the other meaningless.

Peace, which is awarded to the Master, is a kind of agreement between two great forces. Moreover, Yeshua and Woland are driven to this decision by ordinary human love. Thus, Bulgakov considers this wonderful feeling as the highest value.

Yeshua Ga-Notsri is the main character of the novel created by the Master. In the person of this hero, Bulgakov wanted to portray the biblical Jesus Christ. Yeshua, like Jesus, was betrayed by Judas and crucified on a cross. However, the author in his novel points out significant differences between Christ and his character. There is no mysticism in the image of Yeshua. He is depicted as a completely ordinary person who is able to experience fear caused by the upcoming physical violence. Bulgakov's hero is a wandering philosopher who sincerely believes that every person is inherently good, and soon there will be no other power on earth but God. On the other hand, Yeshua is endowed with extraordinary strength, he heals Pilate of a headache. At the same time, despite the fact that this hero is the focus of the forces of light, Bulgakov notes, in fact, everything was completely different from what is written in the Bible.

Yeshua himself admits this. He says that he somehow looked into the notes on parchment, which were made by his student Levi Matthew, and was horrified. What was written there was not at all what Yeshua was actually talking about. Thus, the author emphasizes that the Bible should not be unconditionally believed, since it was written by people. Yeshua died completely innocent, he did not betray his beliefs. And for this he was awarded the Light.

Updated: 2012-08-28

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In July 1989, the 7th International Symposium dedicated to Dostoevsky's work took place in Ljubljana. The Serbian literary critic Milivoje Jovanovich made an interesting report at it, which stated that Svidrigailov, a character from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, served as the prototype for Woland from Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. This bold and promising hypothesis led me to think of a different, much more obvious parallel between other heroes of Dostoevsky and Bulgakov. I checked the texts of the two works and saw that my guess turned out to be productive. We are talking about one of the most controversial characters in Bulgakov's novel - Yeshua Ha-Nozri from the Jerusalem chapters of The Master and Margarita. It seems to me that my assumption will help to unravel the mystery of the hero Bulgakov and clarify the degree of his correlation with the historical Jesus Christ in the intentions of the author himself, who worked on the novel until the last hours of his life, but did not have time to complete it.

So, it is more than likely that the protagonist of Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" - Prince Myshkin - served as the prototype of Bulgakov's Yeshua. If you compare Yeshua with Prince Myshkin, you immediately notice that both heroes have in common their pronounced quixotic features. Myshkin’s views are characterized by one of the most profound researchers of Dostoevsky as follows: “The prince assures ugly and evil people that they are beautiful and kind, convinces the unfortunate that they are happy, looks at the world lying in evil, and sees only one “image of pure beauty”” . But equally Yeshua assures Pilate that there are no evil people; it is enough to talk to any person, and he will understand that he is kind. This striking similarity in the characters of the two heroes is even more emphasized by a number of almost complete parallels between them. Their number, as well as the repetition of key words in the descriptions of both heroes and their behavior, excludes the possibility of a coincidence.

Let's look at other parallels:

This striking similarity is further emphasized by the fact that two other key characters in Bulgakov's Jerusalem chapters are counterparts of equally key characters in The Idiot. The image of the only disciple of Yeshua, Levi Matvey, is actually written off from Rogozhin, and the image of Judas Iscariot - from Ganya Ivolgin.

Both heroes are hot-tempered, with a hot temper. Both leave their former main passion - money (Matvey threw money on the road - p. 440) for the sake of one idea - in fact, for the sake of love. Psychologically, both can be characterized as monomaniacs.

Here are the next two characters:

We see that here, too, Bulgakov, as in the case of Rogozhin-Levy Matvey, undoubtedly borrows the external features of the image of Ganya, describing his Judas, in order to once again show the relationship between Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Prince Myshkin.

What is the meaning of this parallelism? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand what Dostoevsky wanted to say by creating the image of his hero. It is obvious that Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin (it is unlikely that this coincidence with Tolstoy's name and patronymic is accidental) is a Christ-like figure. This is Christ, from whom his Divine essence was taken away - just a very good person, a great teacher of morality, like the Christ whom Tolstoy began to preach a little later. It is characteristic that the teaching and prophesying hero of Dostoevsky, like his namesake writer, is a completely non-church and non-church person. The concept of the Church for him is very abstract, and the Christianity he professes is rather of a dreamy quality. He denounces Roman Catholicism and talks about the advantages of Orthodoxy, but at the same time he does not go to church himself (having appeared at the funeral of General Ivolgin, for the first time (!) He gets to the Orthodox funeral service).

Yes, outwardly he resembles a somewhat romanticized Christ. As Mochulsky, already quoted above, writes: “Compassion, forgiveness, love, humility, wisdom - these are the features of Christ the Prince.” The prince is deprived not only of selfishness, but also of self-esteem. He is selfless, humble, compassionate and chaste.

But what does such a Christ bring to mankind? He can offer neither redemption nor salvation - only good and right words. But we see that no one hears these words and does not want to hear them. Moreover, the very presence of Prince Myshkin serves as a catalyst for the manifestation of the worst human traits, the most unattractive qualities. Nobody takes him seriously - even those who treat him with sympathy. He fussily tries to fix everything and reconcile everyone, but evil only multiplies around him. He does one ridiculous act after another, wishing for the best, but actually condoning the worst in a person. Ultimately, the concentration of evil around him reaches such an extent that he himself actually dies in it, forever losing his mind and consciousness. This happens in a house where a picture that kills faith hangs on the wall - a naturalistic image of a dead - not resurrected Christ.

In Bulgakov's Jerusalem narrative, we see the same hero placed in a pseudo-evangelical context. In the same way, he is perceived by the people around him as a fool. Likewise, he fusses and does ridiculous things, and his presence catalyzes evil in everyone he comes into contact with. Like Myshkin, he speaks good and sublime words that no one hears and no one takes seriously. His only student is absolutely not going to follow the advice of his teacher, radiating only rejection, enmity, anger and hatred into the world around him. Such a teacher is not able to lead anyone, and even more so, he cannot save anyone.

The image of Prince Myshkin was created by Dostoevsky in order to serve as an argument “from the contrary”. If Christ is not God, then no matter how attractive his personality, no matter how exalted his teaching, it is all in vain, for the whole world lies in evil(1 Jn 5:19), and man can neither redeem nor save himself. The great Russian writer brilliantly proved this by an example of the appearance of the ideal in terms of human qualities: the kind, honest and sincere Prince Myshkin (“the brightest”, as Lebedev calls him) in the dark depths of St. Petersburg.

Bulgakov sharpened this example even more. The double of Prince Myshkin (we see that his character traits are the same as those of the hero of Dostoevsky) appears in ancient Jerusalem, and appears there instead of Christ. We remember that the "Jerusalem chapters" of Bulgakov's novel are presented as a "gospel from Satan", who creates that false image of Jesus, which he would like to slip on people instead of the genuine and living Gospel image. Being a highly cunning and inventive being, Satan understands that the image he has falsified must be attractive - otherwise he will not be able to complete his task. But there is no main thing in it: Yeshua Ha-Notsri is not God, which means that he is not able to defeat evil and overcome death. It all ends with his ridiculous death on the cross and burial in a common grave. No resurrection was foreseen, not promised, and it is not expected by anyone - there is not even a conversation about it. People who were imbued with sympathy for the wandering preacher and considered themselves his disciples can only console themselves with revenge, which he himself rejected.

The mistake of both Prince Myshkin and Yeshua Ha-Notsri is that they do not want to notice the fallen human nature, but they see and preach only a kind of vague god-likeness (“an image of pure beauty”) of each person. In the worldview of both there is no place for sin, and, consequently, for real redemption. The prince's exclamation that "beauty will save the world" remains only a typical quixotic statement. Darkness and gloom, thickening, absorb the transient human beauty, enslaved by lust and passion. No less than anything else, she needs redemption. Unlike these literary characters, the real Christ, the Son of God, knew about sin and redemption. He came into the world to overcome sin and make atonement.

So, the prototype of Yeshua Ha-Notsri is not the historical Jesus at all, as Woland assured Ivan Bezdomny and Mikhail Berlioz, but the hero of Dostoevsky's novel. Emphasizing the borrowing of his Yeshua, endowing him with the features of another literary character and putting the story about him into the mouth of Satan, Bulgakov, as it were, warns the reader not to succumb to the deception of the devil and, despite the seeming reality of historical descriptions, not to perceive Yeshua as a real historical person. This is also served by fairly transparent allusions, bringing together the fictional writer of the ancient Yershalaim and the very specific Moscow of the times of the bloody Stalinist dictatorship.

Bulgakov undoubtedly continues the line of Gogol-Dostoevsky in Russian literature. And he continues it not only stylistically. The son of a professor at the Theological Academy, Mikhail Bulgakov, is a Christian writer, “by contradiction” proving the Divinity of Jesus Christ, opposing it both to Soviet mythologism and to the humanism that gave birth to it, because both of them are inspired by the prince of this world, who appeared to celebrate his Sabbath , to the terrible Stalinist Moscow that had just blown up the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The Master and Margarita is quoted from the edition: Bulgakov M. Novels. L., 1978. “Idiot” is quoted from: Dostoevsky F. M. Idiot (2 volumes). Paris: YMCA-PRESS, b. d.

Bulgakov could not imagine that the generation of Soviet intellectuals of the sixties, brought up in fantastic religious ignorance, would accept a hoax, transparent to his contemporaries (who still remember the “Law of God” at the gymnasium), at face value.