Bulgakov's Fesiya is Goethe's Faust?

Goethe
Distorted Image by An(other) Englishman in Germany

A recent commentator, Thomas, from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium asked me a difficult question about my novella's dependence on Bulgakov:

You said your "story relies more on Bulgakov's retelling of Goethe's story in his inimitable magnum opus, The Master and Margarita".

Actually I've always been enormously intrigued by Boelgakov's work, and in particular by its relation with Goethe and the Faustian theme. The formal and "superficial" allusions are clear enough, but could you tell me more about the deeper substantive and thematic relation, beyond the central appearance of Satan as such for example, and the love between the Master and Margarete? Thanks a lot for any information on that point.

I don't actually know very much about that, but the question got me thinking:

I'm no expert, and thus offer no depth, but Margarita seems the one bargaining with Satan (Woland) over the Master and his manuscript.

That looks like a reversal of roles, but I'd need to re-read with that in mind to see what is implied by this reversal.

The Master seems oddly un-Faustian, weak-willed and dependent. If there's a Faust in this tale, it would appear to be Margarita, except that she's playing both roles -- Faust and Gretchen.

But you've probably already noticed these things . . .

And he likely had, for he replied:

Thanks for your interesting reaction, Jeffery!

Recently I read in a Boelgakov comment that in the primitive version of the novel, the Master was a certain Fesija, a savant who was concerned with medieval satanic arts, and standing much closer to the Goethean Faust. This figure of Fesija is supposed to have been inspired by the religious philosopher Pavel Florenski (1882-1937), who was arrested in 1928.

Later on the Master became in the first place Boelgakov himself (or maybe Gorki).

Do you know something about these things?

I admitted my ignorance:

No, I knew nothing about those things. Thank you! I'll look into this.

I did as I said I would and looked into this, finding:

In Bulgakov's early versions of the novel the part of the Master was played by Fesiya, a wise man who was interested in the devilry from the Middle Ages and the Italian Renaissance. Fesiya was occupied with demonic powers much more than later the Master, he was much closer to Goethe's Faust. Fesiya was probably inspired by the philosopher Pavel Alexan-drovich Florensky (1882-1937), who was arrested in 1928.

I found that information on the website Master and Margarita, a site I'm familiar with, though I wasn't familiar with this particular page.

See? One really can learn something new each day . . .

The Master and Margarita: Bulgakov's Christology

Pilate, Centurion, and Yeshua

Illustration by Charlie Stone

Literary critics who have commented on Bulgakov's masterpiece, The Master and Margarita, have often noted the very human Jesus portrayed therein. But Bulgakov's Yeshua -- as he is called in the novel -- has some rather mysterious qualities. He seems capable of reading people's minds and predicting the future.

For instance, he knows what Pilate is feeling and thinking:

"The truth is, first of all, that your head aches, and aches so badly that you're having fainthearted thoughts about death. Not only are you too weak to talk to me, but you're even having trouble looking at me. That I, at this moment, am your unwilling executioner upsets me. You can't think about anything and only the only thing that you want is to call your dog, the only creature, it seems, to whom you are attached. But your sufferings will soon end, and your headache will pass." (Bulgakov, Master and Margarita, tr. by Burgin and O'Connor, p. 17)

Pilate's headache is soon over, as Yeshua notes:

"Well, then, it's all over," said the prisoner, looking kindly at Pilate, "and I am very glad that it is. I would advise you, Hegemon, to leave the palace for a short while and take a stroll somewhere in the vicinity, perhaps in the gardens on Mount Eleon. There will be a thunderstorm . . ." the prisoner turned and squinted his eyes at the sun, ". . . later on, towards evening. The walk would do you good, and I would be happy to accompany you. Some new ideas have occurred to me which may, I think, be of interest to you, and I would be especially happy to share them with you since you strike me as being a very intelligent man." (Bulgakov, Master and Margarita, tr. by Burgin and O'Connor, p. 18)

While this latter prediction may be nothing more than an observant man's close scrutiny of meterological conditions, and though Yeshua does go on to say that he knew about the dog from Pilate's unconscious gesture of "petting," Bulgakov's Yeshua seems extraordinarily prescient. Left unexplained is how Yeshua could know that Pilate was thinking about death.

Yeshua's powers remind the reader of Wolands ability to read people's minds and foretell the future -- though we learn much more of the latter's abilities in these respects -- and if Woland is Satan, then who is Yeshua?

Bulgakov was writing in an especially repressive period of Soviet history, so we cannot expect him to have expressed his views explicitly. However, he does at one point early in his book's first chapter refer to Jesus as "Jesus Christ" when describing a conversation between Berlioz and Bezdomny:

This conversation, as was learned subsequently, was about Jesus Christ." (p. 4)

In this conversation, Berlioz asserts that Jesus never existed, and he criticizes Bezdomny's poem -- which was written to satirize Jesus -- as having depicted a Jesus who seemed too real. A few paragraphs later, Woland joins the two in conversation and asserts that Jesus had lived:

"Keep in mind that Jesus did exist." (p. 12)

But which Jesus? The "Jesus Christ" about whom the conversation turned? Woland's story of Yeshua's appearance before Pilate seemingly portrays a very human Jesus . . . but we have already seen enough to raise some a question about that.

But for now, I leave the question open.