Новац и морал у роману "Мајстор и Маргарита" М. А. Булгакова
Money and Morality in the Novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes the influence of money on the morality of characters in the final novel of the 20th-century Russian writer Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov. Through the motif of money, Bulgakov aligns himself with realist writers who, in their works, pointed to the destructive power of money and portrayed the absolute decadence of society under its influence. In the novel “The Master and Margarita”, the motif of money intertwines with other themes: lust, betrayal, lack of freedom, injustice, avarice, hypocrisy, cowardice, corruption, fear, but also love, loyalty, and faithfulness. By examining this motif from various angles and through the analysis of epithets that accompany it (such as passion for money, illusion of money, hidden money, cursed money), the paper also seeks an answer to Woland’s question: Has the population of Moscow changed, or, more fundamentally, has human nature changed? Through the analysis of the text and the actions of Bulgakov’s characters, we gain deeper insights into human nature and the ambivalent influence of money on it: on the one hand, there are characters whose behavior is governed by money, and on the other, those who believe in eternal values and reject the prevailing power of materialism.

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