What Defines Protagonist’s Identity in the Master and Margarita and Kiss of the Spider Woman?

Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita and Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman are concentrated with developing humans’ identities, through ambiguous speeches and culpable actions. Conversely to Puig’s protagonist Molina who sacrifices himself for love, Bulgakov creates the master whose egocentric desires for public recognition leads to loss of inspiration and eventually to self-destruction, which as a result makes him apathetic towards the world. These modernist texts were written during regime period, therefore all the characters suffer from despotism of others – in more control. Manuel Puig who didn’t support Juan Perón, the president of Argentina in 1970s, was oppressed in his home county, and forced to leave it. Similarly to Puig, Mikhail Bulgakov suffered from Soviet regime in Russia; by 1927 he experienced hard criticism that he was too anti-Soviet, thus by 1930s he couldn’t get his works published, due to censorship. Therefore both works portray protagonists in jeopardy, hence helping the reader to examine protagonists’ human weaknesses and victories over others. In both works the characters within the texts are challenged on their faith and desires, to show the strength and abilities of human kind.

The titles and character’s names in each novel hints to the reader of the enigmatic characters’ identities and conflict with society. The opening lines contrast Bulgakov’s exactness (minuteness) and Puig’s narrative flow. Unlike to Puig’s work, The Master and Margarita’s title concentrates on the love story of two protagonists, whereas Kiss of the Spider Woman suggests (insinuates) a contradictory meaning, which doesn’t, become clear until the end. Moreover every name in The Master and Margarita clues the reader of that character’s qualities. For example, Bulgakov names the protagonist “the master” his name is never capitalized, hence it’s not a name, this generalization demonstrates that he’s an everyman artist. Like Bulgakov, the master suffers from... [continues]

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