19. Margarita

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Follow me, reader!

This is one of the few cases where the narrator addresses the reader directly. The narrator seems to prepare the reader for some great expose.

Margarita

The name which Bulgakov gives to  his heroin recalls that of Gretchen (the German diminutive of  Margarete), the young girl ruined by Faust in the drama written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1794-1832). In the novel itself are also made references to Marguerite de Valois (1555-1615), spouse of the French king Henri IV, also known as la reine Margot.

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The house stands untouched to this day

This sentence could have been true in 1940, but probably it isn't anymore. In my search for Margarita's house I came out on a house in Taneevukh ulitsa (now called Maly Vlasevski pereulok) no. 10. It corresponds quite nicely with the description in the novel, at least it did until 1964, when it was demolished.

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The dread Antonia Tower

The Antonia Tower was a fortress  in ancient  Jerusalem. It housed  the Roman garrison in the city and was the place where the Roman procurator normally stayed on official visits. It was named by Herod the Great (?75 BC-04) in honour of the Roman general and triumvir Mark Antony (85 BC-50 BC), who ruled the eastern third of the empire.

The Has-monaean Palace

The Hasmonaean dynasty, under the lead of Simon Maccabaeus (-135 BC), ruled over Judea from 140 to 34 BC. The Has-monaean palace was situated west in the Upper City. From the roof, the Xystus, one could address the people gathered on the huge square below.

The trolley-bus

This public transportation vehicle was in use in my younger years in Belgium too, but it has disappeared from our streets. In Moscow however these electric buses which, like trams, are driven by overground electrical cables, are still popular. Because they run on tires, rather than tracks, they are more manoeuvrable than trams.

The Manege

The Manege is a building next to the Kremlin and the Alexander Garden. Originally it was a riding academy built after the war with Napoleon. Later it was used as a  concert hall. In 1867 Hector Berlioz and Nikolai Rubinstein gave a concert there for a public of 12.000 people. Abandoned after the revolution, it served in Bulgakov's time as a garage and warehouse for  the Kremlin. It was completely restored as a permanent art-exhibition space, but it got totally destroyed by a fire on March 14, 2004. It was completely repaired again and on February 18, 2005, it re-opened with the exhibition which was planned for the day it burned down.

Click here to see a 360° photo of the Alexander Garden and the Manege

Lovelace

In the Russian text the name Lovelace is written in a Cyrillic translitteration ловеласе: "...в этом ловеласе нет ничего дурного" or "...there's nothing bad about this Lovelace".

Lovelace was the main character in the novel Clarissa, or the history of a young lady written by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), which was very popular in Russia. Clarissa may well be the longest novel in the English language. The full volume of its third edition, the edition most extensively revised by Richardson, spans over one million words.

Lovelace is a womanizer who is more and more impressed by Clarissa Harlowe, a beautiful and virtuous young lady whose family has become very wealthy only in recent years. He finds it difficult to keep convincing himself that truly virtuous women do not exist. His growing passion for Clarissa forces him to extremes and eventually he rapes her. Today Lovelace is the equivalent of Don Juan or Cassanova in Russian.

Clarissa, or the history of a young lady can be downloaded in 9 volumes at the Project Gutenberg website.

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I'd pawn my soul to the devil

Again Woland's suite appears when invoked through the thoughts of a Muscovite. Margarita's appeal is more direct than Berlioz's in the first chapter.

You want to arrest me?

Margarita's reaction reflects the terror which existed in the Soviet Union: she is prepared to be arrested even though she has committed no crime..

A very distinguished foreigner ... a street pander

It was very common for the secret police to use sex to entrap foreigners or extract secrets from them. Margarita naturally assumes that this is what she is meant to do.

Oh God!

This is a quite funny reaction, given the circumstances and the company. So note Azazello's reaction to Margarita's words:

“Oh, God! ...”
“Please, no excitements and exclamations,” Azazello said, frowning.

I must give myself to him

These words contain a double pun: Margarita persists in thinking she is being drafted to work for the NKVD; at the same time in traditional witch-lore, communion with the Devil always meant sexual intercourse as well.

The name "Niura"

According to Alyona Rudko, a fan of this website from Rostov, Russia, is Niura, just like Annushka, an informal diminutive of the name Anna.

When Woland, in Chapter 2, said to Berlioz that "Annushka has already spilled the oil," he indicated that there was no way back. His death is planned, there is no escape possible. The name Annushka symbolized the irreversible destiny.

The variant of this name, Niura, "carved on the back of the bench in big letters" could mean that the decision of Margarita is also final and irreversible. Her death is now planned, there is no possible escape for her neither.



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