Woland

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Woland (Russian: Воланд, romanized: Voland) is a fictional character in the novel The Master and Margarita by the Russian (Soviet) author Mikhail Bulgakov, written between 1928 and 1940. Woland is the mysterious foreigner and professor whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling and turns the world upside-down. His demonic entourage, which includes witches, succubi, and a gigantic talking cat, his role in the plot, and the fact that Voland is a (now outdated) German word for a devil or evil spirit, all imply that he is, in fact, the Devil. More controversial interpretations see him as the Apostle Peter (based on Jesus’ remark to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan") or even the Second Coming of Christ. Edward Ericson argues that Woland is essentially "the Satan of orthodox (specifically Russian Orthodox) Christian theology [...] He is both a tempter of men and an unwitting instrument of divine justice, a being who owes his existence and power to the very one he opposes." In conceiving of Woland, Bulgakov draws heavily from the figure of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust, a connection made explicit by the use of an epigraph from the poem at the beginning of the novel. Additionally, the name Woland itself is derived from a name by which Mephistopheles refers to himself during the Walpurgisnacht scene: squire Voland (German: Junker Voland). Other allusions to Goethe's Mephistopheles include Woland's cane with the head of a poodle and his limp. Another influence on Woland is Charles Gounod's opera Faust.