SOURCE: Haber, Edythe C. “The Mythic Structure of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.” The Russian Review 34, no. 4 (October 1975): 382-409.

In this essay, Haber finds that Bulgakov's use of the mythic stories of Faust and Christ does not follow strict, linear interpretation but rather diffuses elements throughout to create a new mythic structure.

The first appearance of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita in 1966 and 1967¹ bestowed upon Russian literature one of its most beguiling yet puzzling works. From the first the novel was recognized both for its literary merit and for its enigmatic quality, and numerous literary scholars and critics took upon themselves the demanding yet exhilarating task of wending their way through the maze of plot and subplot, literary, religious, and socio-historical allusions. Some have explored the novel's genre, associating it with Menippean satire;² others have investigated its relation to the Faust legend, to devil lore, to the...