The Faces of Woland. A Literary Character Study
The Faces of Woland. A Literary Character Study

A Literary Character Study

Summary/Abstract: The objective of this article is to present the Author's own interpretation of Woland as one of the main characters of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, following his experience of creating a new Polish translation of the novel. The study was conducted on the basis of a deep analysis of the text of the novel. The article points out the roles in which Woland appears in relation with secondary and tertiary characters, as well as the mental and physical changes he undergoes. A number of comments relate to the accompanying clear changes in the stylistic registers in his statements. The The Faces of Woland. A Literary Character Study article includes a linguistic analysis of the many names that the narrator himself uses to describe the character. It also points out to the analogies to the works by other authors (such as Goethe, Gogol, and Poe). The article attempts to reconstruct the worldview represented by Woland, taking into account the multitude of elements that allude to particular philosophical, political, and ethical doctrines. All this leads to the conclusion that the devil of Bulgakov is a multidimensional and complex character that eludes all traditional, straight-forward interpretative schemes.

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