July 1936

July 1936 stands as a decisive turning point in the long, tortured genesis of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. It was during this month that Bulgakov, laboring over the conclusion of his work, produced a chapter entitled 'Last Flight' which, for the first time, set down the ending that would remain essentially unchanged in the novel's definitive text. This chapter, dating from July 1936, differs little from the final version, yet it contains a crucial, explicit statement about the master's fate that would later be softened into the novel's famous enigmatic resolution.

The Composition of the Ending

Bulgakov had struggled for years with the question of what reward to give the master. The July 1936 chapter 'Last Flight' represents the first time he committed a definitive answer to paper. In this early version, the master is told directly and without ambiguity: 'The house on Sadovaya and the horrible Bosoy will vanish from your memory, but with them will go Ha-Nozri and the forgiven hegemon. These things are not for your spirit. You will never raise yourself higher, you will not see Yeshua, you will never leave your refuge.' This blunt pronouncement makes clear that the master's fate is not to ascend into the 'light' where Yeshua and the forgiven Pilate dwell, but to remain in a separate, more limited state of peace. An even earlier note, not included in the final text, had stated even more starkly: 'You will not hear the liturgy. But you will listen to the romantics...' These words reveal how painfully Bulgakov weighed the question of cowardice and guilt in considering the fate of his hero.

Thematic Significance and the Distinction Between Light and Peace

The July 1936 ending establishes a thematic link between Pilate, the master, and the author himself, connecting the historical and contemporary parts of the novel. The master, like Pilate, is guilty of a form of cowardice—he abandoned his novel, burned his manuscript, and retreated from the world. As a result, he does not 'deserve the light' but is granted 'peace' instead. This distinction, first articulated in the July 1936 chapter, would become the cornerstone of the novel's moral and metaphysical framework. The master's fate is not to join Yeshua in the radiant realm of truth, but to find a quiet, private refuge, a German-Romantic setting with Schubert's music and blossoming cherry trees, where he can live out eternity with Margarita. This resolution, while offering a form of happiness, is also a judgment: the master's artistic and spiritual failure has limited his ultimate reward.

The Evolution of the Ending

The July 1936 chapter was not the final word on the master's fate. In the 1938 typescript, the fate of the master and Margarita, announced to them by Woland, is to follow Pilate up the path of moonlight to find Yeshua and peace. However, in the 1939 typescript, the fate of the master, announced to Woland by Matthew Levi speaking for Yeshua, is not to follow Pilate but to go to his 'eternal refuge' with Margarita. When Woland asks, 'But why don't you take him with you into the light?' Levi replies in a sorrowful voice, 'He does not deserve the light, he deserves peace.' This definitive resolution, which Bulgakov arrived at after returning to his notes and revisions from 1936, lightened the severity of the earlier version with an enigmatic irony. The master is not to be seen as a heroic martyr for art or a 'Christ-figure'; Bulgakov's gentle irony is a warning against the mistake of equating artistic mastery with a sort of saintliness.

The Broader Context of the Novel's Composition

The July 1936 chapter was produced during a period of intense work on the novel, which Bulgakov had been writing in earnest since October 1932. The novel in its definitive version is composed of two distinct but interwoven parts: one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem. The Pilate story, which began as a single inset episode, had gained in weight and independence as Bulgakov's work progressed, becoming the centrepiece of the novel. The master and Margarita appeared relatively late in the process, with Margarita coming to dominate the second part of the novel. The July 1936 chapter, by establishing the master's final fate, helped to integrate these three stories—the Moscow satire, the Pilate narrative, and the romance of the master and Margarita—into a unified whole.