SOURCE: Gimpelevich, Zina. “Cases of Schizophrenia in The Master and Margarita.” Germano-Slavica IX, no. 1-2 (1995-1996): 65-77.

In the following essay, Gimpelevich examines Bulgakov's use of schizophrenia as a literary device in The Master and Margarita.

Sigmund Freud, the famous German psychologist, often attributed his discoveries in psychoanalysis to great literary works and their authors.¹ His sources ranged from folklore and drama to Shakespeare, and from Dostoevsky to Thomas Mann and Romain Rolland. At the present time psychoanalysis continues its interaction with literature, often using it as its working ground. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is considered in the present study as a typical case of such interraction because it contains so many instances of mental disorder. In the novel almost all cases of mental disease are either generally labeled as schizophrenia or have its typical features. Matt Oja also has noticed the significant role of...