Styopa Likhodeev Character Analysis in The Master and Margarita

On the second day of the novel, Styopa, the director of the Variety theater, wakes up in the apartment he shares with Berlioz nursing a terrible hangover. He is flabbergasted to see Woland sitting in his room (though Woland’s identity is not revealed till later); Woland informs Styopa that he has agreed to let him perform at the Variety. Styopa is then shown a contract that seems to have his own signature on it, seemingly proving the stranger’s story to be true. Woland also tells Styopa that he will be taking over the apartment and that there is no longer any room for him there; in an instant, Styopa is transported to Yalta, thousands of miles away. Styopa tries to telegram his workplace but the staff are baffled: there is no way he could have travelled so far in such a short time.

Styopa Likhodeev Quotes in The Master and Margarita

The The Master and Margarita quotes below are all either spoken by Styopa Likhodeev or refer to Styopa Likhodeev. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

And then the bedroom started spinning around Styopa, he hit his head

against the doorpost, and, losing consciousness, thought: ‘I’m dying...’

But he did not die. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw himself sitting on something made of stone. Around him something was making noise. When he opened his eyes properly, he realized that the noise was being made by the sea and, what’s more, that the waves were rocking just at his feet, that he was, in short, sitting at the very end of a jetty, that over him was a brilliant blue sky and behind him a white city on the mountains.

Not knowing how to behave in such a case, Styopa got up on his trembling legs and walked along the jetty towards the shore.

Some man was standing on the jetty, smoking and spitting into the sea. He looked at Styopa with wild eyes and stopped spitting.

Then Styopa pulled the following stunt: he knelt down before the unknown smoker and said:

‘I implore you, tell me what city is this?’

‘Really!’ said the heartless smoker.

‘I’m not drunk,’ Styopa replied hoarsely, ‘something’s happened to

me... I’m ill... Where am I? What city is this?’

‘Well, it’s Yalta...’

Styopa quietly gasped and sank down on his side, his head striking the

warm stone of the jetty. Consciousness left him.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 84-85

Explanation and Analysis:

Styopa Likhodeev is the director of the Variety theater and lives in the same place as Berlioz (who by this point has been decapitated by a tram). In this chapter, he wakes to find Woland sitting in his room, or informs Styopa that he agreed the previous day to host Woland’s show and give up his apartment for the strange foreigner. This comes at the end of the chapter and is a clear demonstration of Woland and his gang’s supernatural capabilities. Done with toying with Styopa, they transport him instantly to Yalta—which is thousands of miles away from Moscow. Because it’s impossible for him to have travelled so far in so short a time, his colleagues at the theater think they are being pranked when Styopa tries to contact them. The passage also has a darkly comic purpose: by making Styopa disappear, Bulgakov gestures towards the way dissenters in the Soviet Union could be made to disappear too, here one day and gone the next.

Styopa Likhodeev Character Timeline in The Master and Margarita

The timeline below shows where the character Styopa Likhodeev appears in The Master and Margarita. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The Ambiguity of Good and Evil Theme Icon

The Danger and Absurdity of Soviet Society Theme Icon

Styopa Likhodeev, Berlioz’s flat mate and director of the Variety theater, wakes with a terrible hangover.... (full context)

Styopa, suffering under the weight of his headache, tries to call out for Berlioz to bring... (full context)

The stranger explains that he has been waiting for an hour for Styopa to wake up—apparently the two men had arranged to have a meeting. “Here I am!”... (full context)

Memories of the night before start to return to Styopa as he eats the breakfast and drinks the vodka—but none of them chime with the... (full context)

Woland proceeds to recount the previous day’s events for Styopa. Apparently, Woland had visited Styopa and agreed a contract for seven performances at the Variety... (full context)

Styopa asks to look at the contract. When Woland produces the document, Styopa is amazed to... (full context)

Styopa decides to telephone Rimsky to check if what Woland says is true. Rimsky confirms that... (full context)

Styopa calls out to Grunya to ask what the black cat and the tall man are... (full context)

The tall man with the pince-nez talks with a goatish voice, telling Styopa off for drinking too much and abusing his position in aid of “liaisons with women.”... (full context)

Suddenly the cat shouts “Scat!” Styopa feels a knock on the head and loses consciousness, thinking that perhaps he is dying.... (full context)

At the same time that Styopa is transported to Yalta, Ivan wakes up groggily in the clinic. He presses a button... (full context)

Nikanor heads up to Berlioz and Styopa’s apartment, which is no. 50 and on the fifth floor. Using his own set of... (full context)

...be sitting in a deceased man’s study and, furthermore, that he received no notice from Styopa about his loan of the apartment to Mr. Woland. Koroviev tells him to look in... (full context)

...as he protests incoherently about Koroviev. He is astonished to find no contract, letter from Styopa, rental money, or theater pass in his his briefcase. As he is led away from... (full context)

...Magic and its Full Exposure.” Neither man has met Woland, and both are annoyed that Styopa, who yesterday had come running into the office “like crazy” to get the performance contract... (full context)

...from a police authority; it suggests that a shoeless man claiming to be Director Likhodeev (Styopa) has been detained in Yalta as a “mental case.” Rimsky and Varenukha assume this to... (full context)

...mentions “Woland” and “hypnosis,” asking Rimsky and Varenukha to confirm the man in Yalta is Styopa. The two men are baffled, assuming that Styopa must be drunk. (full context)

...Varenukha’s amazement, a third telegram then arrives with a piece of photographic paper clearly showing Styopa’s handwriting and signature. This, says the telegram, is proof that it’s from Styopa and adds... (full context)

...telegrams in an envelope and instructs Varenukha to take them to the authorities. Rimsky phones Styopa’s apartment and manages to get through; Koroviev informs him that Styopa has gone for a... (full context)

...Rimsky receives yet another telegram, this time asking for five hundred roubles and saying that Styopa intends to fly back to Moscow the next day. Rimsky sends the money to the... (full context)

...characters drag Varenukha down Sadovaya street and into apartment no. 50, which Varenukha recognizes as Styopa’s apartment. Suddenly he is confronted by a naked woman (Hella), who insists on giving him... (full context)

...him on why he hadn’t returned earlier, Varenukha spins him a story appearing to explain Styopa’s disappearance, alleging that the theater director had had a night of drunken debauchery, sent the... (full context)

...of the Variety theater wanting to buy tickets for Woland’s next performance that evening. With Styopa, Rimsky, and Varenukha all missing, the Variety’s bookkeeper, Vassily Stepanovich Lastochkin, is surprised to find... (full context)

...he is too scared to talk about what happened to him. They also track down Styopa, who is returning to Moscow on a flight from Yalta. They can find no trace... (full context)

The investigators theorize that Berlioz was made to kill himself through hypnosis. When Styopa returns and tells his story, they assume that he too has been a victim of... (full context)

...by. Georges Bengalsky never returns to the theater, and weeps anxiously every spring full moon. Styopa moves to another town and becomes the manager of a food store. Rimsky takes a... (full context)

Styopa Likhodeev Character Analysis

Styopa Likhodeev Quotes in The Master and Margarita

Chapter 7 Quotes

Styopa Likhodeev Character Timeline in The Master and Margarita