Works

The Master and Margarita

Citation Formats

General Reference

Literature Atlas. "The Master and Margarita." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-master-and-margarita.

APA Style

Literature Atlas. (n.d.). The Master and Margarita. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-master-and-margarita

BibTeX

@misc{literatureatlas-the-master-and-margarita,
  author = {Literature Atlas},
  title = {The Master and Margarita},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-literature.interactiveatlas.org/works/the-master-and-margarita},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in a Moscow magazine in 1966 and 1967 by his widow Elena Bulgakova; the manuscript was first published as a complete book in 1967 in Paris, and a samizdat version incorporating the officially censored parts appeared in Frankfurt in 1969. The novel satirizes Soviet bureaucracy and state atheism through a visit by the devil, manifested as Professor Woland, and his entourage to the officially atheist Soviet Union, combining supernatural elements with satirical dark comedy and Christian philosophy in a way that defies categorization within a single genre. Many critics consider it one of the best novels of the twentieth century and the foremost of Soviet satires.

Facts

Composed, From (Year)

from 1928 1

Composed, To (Year)

to 1940 1

Written 1928-1940; published posthumously and censored in a Moscow magazine 1966-1967, first complete book edition Paris 1967.

Cross-Tradition Connections