I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Growing up is hard…
We all have to do it one day even if we don’t want to, when we least expect it. And sadly, it’s not about changing your height…
We come to realize that we need to make decisions and be responsible for them.
We start to understand that life can be a fairytale only if we begin to write it with our own hands.
When does this revelation moment commence?
It can be a marriage proposal like in Tim Burton‘s movie – a moment you see you are not a little girl anymore but a wife-to-be.
It can be the death of parents and loved ones like in American McGee’s Alice, when there is no one in the world to look after you.
Or you can be desperate to reunite with your beloved and you’ll take whatever pill you’re offered and eat from whichever side of the mushroom to make it happen.
Well, I am speaking about Margarita from Bulgakov‘s Master and Margarita. To me she is the Alice that grew up but remained risky and adventurous. I am in no means comparing these two works of literature. I just want you to look at Margarita as once a very curious child like Alice, that is attracted to the unusual and has no fear while interacting with something magical.
She took the cream from Azazello like Alice took that “drink me” bottle with the same caution and the same excitement. While applying the cream she enjoyed observing the changes it was making to her body with an immense curiosity.
She let herself go and release her anger when she felt she had all the power to do so like Alice when she realized that she was dealing with a simple pack of cards.
You can see a lot of similarities between Alice and Margarita when you start thinking about it.
Most importantly she finds peace and serenity when her adventures are over and this time it wasn’t all for herself but also for someone she deeply cared about.
What do you think happened to Alice when she grew up?
ARTnCULTURA 