GALINA SEDOVA’S BULGAKOV. XXIII.

Galina Sedova’s Bulgakov.

The Fantastic Love Story of Master and Margarita Continues.

 

“C’est très commun,” exclaimed the royal demon,

With a derisive smile upon his face.

“Your gift [the loose woman] could have been splendid,

But novelty’s the queen of these new times.

I think that even these walls have heard the tales

Of all these endless betrayals.”

 

Asmodeus’ Feast. Lermontov

 

Now, because novels are not written in a day (Master worked on his for more than a year and finished it in August of the next year), the troika had to linger in Moscow throughout all this time. Furthermore, the decision was made by Woland , who ordered the Troika to use this occasion to prepare the annual Spring Ball of the Full Moon, to take place in Moscow. Woland himself was expected in the city for the Grand Finale in May of the following year, linking his visit to the Russian Orthodox Easter, which in the year 1937 fell upon the month of May.

For this annual ball, they were to find the Queen-hostess: necessarily Moscow-born and named Margarita. Koroviev was made responsible for this, and, as we find out later, his choice was successful, like everything else that Koroviev was doing…

Bulgakov’s Margarita is a remarkable woman. She is not only “intelligent, beautiful, and proud,” but also loyal, brave, selfless, and, most importantly, interesting. The devil himself becomes interested in her, and registers his approval of her on several occasions.

“Yes, Koroviev is right: how whimsically has the deck been shuffled! Blood!”

And in a different place---

“Blood is a great thing!”

Blood… The question arises right away: what kind of bloodline does Bulgakov have in mind for his heroine? He is not a plagiarizer, so it cannot be a Tatiana Larina, or a Natasha Rostova, or an Anna Karenina, or devil take it!--- Queen Margot. You remember, of course, that even her housemaid Natasha calls Margarita, on account of her name, “My French Queen.” As for Koroviev, he tells Margarita that she is a descendent of a French queen of the sixteenth century, and calls that queen Margarita’s “great-great-great-great-grand-mother.” The first thing to ask, how come some four centuries have elapsed, yet only five generations separate them, rather than, say, twelve? A discrepancy here? Once again Bulgakov poses a puzzle for his reader. Bulgakov was a Russian writer. Whether or not he would leave for the West, whether or not he would stay in the West, the fact remains that having been born Russian, he would die Russian. A Russian writer would be thinking in Russian, whichever language he would be writing in, and he would be looking at the world as a Russian, too.

I am discharging the French great-great-great-great-grandmother to the care of Sherlock Holmes, and focus on the sixteenth century. What was it famous for, in Russia? What happened in Russia then? After all, don’t we know that some famous blood flows in Margarita’s veins. Woland with his “Blood is a great thing!” is not going to allow us to dismiss Koroviev’s banter about it as some lie, to “drown in a marsh,” like his circus attire.

Moving forward-- Eureka! Bulgakov leaves no doubt about it. No matter how many famous foreign “dusts” must Margarita meet at the ball, they are of no interest to her.

“…All their names got mixed up in her head, and the faces got glued together into one huge patty of dough, and only one face got painfully stuck in her memory, framed by a truly fiery beard,--- the face of Malyuta Skuratov.” …Who--- what a coincidence!--- lived in Russia in the sixteenth century. His name is inseparable from that of Ivan Grozny, and almost just as famous.

Psychologically, this moment is very interesting, as though Margarita’s soul remembers Malyuta Skuratov subconsciously via her ancestors.

On the other hand, at this so-called “ball of 100 kings” Bulgakov makes no mention of a single king. What is even more remarkable, Koroviev doesn’t introduce Margarita to her great-great-great-great-grandmother, or to any other French relatives of hers, for that matter.

Generally speaking, I do not think that Woland could become interested in some descendant of a profligate French queen:

“C’est très commun,” exclaimed the royal demon,

With a derisive smile upon his face.

“Your gift [the loose woman] could have been splendid,

But novelty’s the queen of these new times.

I think that even these walls have heard the tales

Of all these endless betrayals.”

Asmodeus’ Feast. Lermontov

 

Satan cannot be impressed with the old stuff; he requires novelty. When in Rome, do as Romans do. Which in this case means that the blood flowing in Margarita’s veins must necessarily be Russian blood.

(To be continued tomorrow…)