Bulgakov wrote his own literary censorship challenges into the novel through the story of Master and his lover, Margarita, ultimately showing that free speech cannot be oppressed.
Mikhail Bulgakov originally wrote The Master and Margarita during Stalin’s regime in 1930s Russia, but due to censorship, the novel wasn’t published until the ’60s. A master class in satire, this hilarious novel depicts the devil arriving in Moscow and wreaking (mostly harmless) havoc on the stuffy literary elite with his crew, which includes a giant vodka-drinking, talking cat demon. Bulgakov wrote his own literary censorship challenges into the novel through the story of Master and his lover, Margarita, ultimately showing that free speech cannot be oppressed.