The Challenges of Interpreting The Master and Margarita

1. The Devil's Pact and the Lure of Reality (Roman a Clef)
   • The Walpurgis Night and Walpurgis Night's Dream
   • Mann's Mephisto
   • Bulgakov and Stalinist Moscow
   • Mikhail Bakhtin: "The spirit of carnival liberates the world from all that is dark and terrifying. All that was frightening in ordinary life is turned into amusing or ludicrous monstrosities. Fear is the extreme expression of narrow-minded and stupid seriousness, which is defeated by laughter. Complete liberty is possible only in the completely fearless world."

2. Who the Hell is Michael Bulgakov?
   • Short Biography
   • Socialist Realism
   • Bulgakov's Letter to Stalin

3. Relating the Novel to Goethe's Faust

4. Relating the Pontius Pilate Story to the Story of the Master and Margarita

5. Understanding Evil and the Devil in Master and Margarita

6. Self-Reflexivity