The Spiritual and the Worldly in the Faust Legend

1. The Spiritual and the Worldly in the Faust Legend David Pan Humanities Core Course Winter 2011, Lecture 1

2. Top ten ways to avoid plagiarism (and improve your writing) • Respect your sources. • Stay calm because you can do it (Professor Jack Miles, Humanities Core lecture, Fall 2010). • Participate in the entire drafting process. • Contact your discussion section leader about your problem. • Contact the course director. • Recall that the consequences of plagiarism are, at a minimum, an “F” on the assignment and a letter to your Associate Dean for your file and can extend to an “F” for the quarter or, in egregious cases, suspension or dismissal from the university. • Calculate that the odds against this 20-word string being exactly the same as another 20-word string are 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1. • Remember that, even if you don’t get caught, you’ll get caught next time. • Remember that you will get caught. • Cite your sources.

3. The Faust legend stages a conflict between spirituality and materialism in early modern Europe. • The Faust myth originates in a conflict between Christian ideals and the worldly focus of natural science. • The 16th century Faustbuch has an ambiguous structure in which it depicts a worldly, individualist project in order to then condemn it. • The deterioration of the religious framework of the Faust legend allows Goethe to create a new, worldly frame for the Faust story.

4. The Faust legend stages a conflict between spirituality and materialism in early modern Europe. • The Faust myth originates in a conflict between Christian ideals and the worldly focus of natural science. • The focus on the divine in the monotheistic traditions leads to a subordination of the material and social world to a spiritual or intellectual world. • Advances in the natural sciences threaten the Church by suggesting that its authority, based in scripture, might be replaced by the authority of knowledge gained from observation of the world. • The historical Faust embodies the debate between natural science and the church because he is both a wandering scholar and a charlatan.

5. The focus on the divine in the monotheistic traditions leads to a subordination of the material and social world to a spiritual or intellectual world. This World Other World Sensual-Practical Intellectual Moral Epicurus: All knowledge comes from sense experience Abraham is told to sacrifice material life for the sake of a spiritual ideal. God’s uses his otherworldly power to help the Hebrews Rabbinical Judaism focuses on scholarly debate of the Torah Epictetus argues that bodily concerns are not as important as one’s attitude. • Maimonides sees intellectual rather than physical, social, or moral development as true goal of life. • Christ sacrifices his bodily existence in order to then be resurrected into a spiritual existence. • In Islamic submission to God, God’s judgment in the afterlife becomes the primary guide for actions in the world.

6. 1492 Martin Behaim constructs a terrestrial globe 1528 Paracelsus published his Kleine Chirurgie, the first authoritative manual dealing with surgery. 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus publishes De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, which explains heliocentrism. 1560 Battista Porta explains the structure of the eye in Magia Naturalis and invents the Camera Obscura. 1590 Zacharias Jansen builds the first microscope. 1591 Giordano Bruno argues for infinity and homogeneity of the universe in De immenso et innumerabilis seu de universo et mundis. 1600 William Gilbert publishes De magnete, explaining electricity and magnetism. 1632 Galileo Galilei defends heliocentrism in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems 1486 Heinrich Kramer publishes Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). 1515 The Lateran Council decrees in De impressione librorum that no work may be printed without permission from the ecclesiastical authority. 1537 Martin Luther attacks Faust’s relation to the devil in his Tischreden. 1546 scholar and printer Etienne Dolet is hanged and burned for publishing heretical books. 1587 Historia von D. Johann Faustus published as pro-Lutherian condemnation of Faust’s pact with devil. 1600 Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for heresy. 1616 Inquisition threatens Galileo Galilei with punishment for teaching the Copernican system. 1633 Church condemns Galileo and he recants Advances in the natural sciences threaten the Church by suggesting that its authority, based in scripture, might be replaced by the authority of knowledge gained from observation of the world. Natural scientific discoveries Church reactions Source: Classen, Albrecht. “New Knowledge, Disturbing and Attractive: The Faustbuch and the Wagnerbuch as Witnesses of the Early Modern Paradigm Shift.” Daphnis 35.3-4 (2006): 515-535. Williams, Neville. Chronology of the Expanding World, 1492-1762. New York: McKay, 1969.

7. The historical Faust embodies the debate between natural science and the church because he is both a wandering scholar and a charlatan. • Perhaps born in Knittlingen, Wuerttemberg, around 1480 (Martin Luther born in 1483). • Studied perhaps in Heidelberg or in Cracow. • Reported to have lectured in Erfurt. • Wanders and practices astrology, alchemy, and medicine. • Reportedly dies in 1540 in Staufen, Breisgau. The historical Johann (or Georg) Faust was a wandering scholar/astrologer/doctor. Source: Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. Doctor Faust. 1650-52. Fondazione Magnani Rocca, Corte di Mamiano, Italy. Artstor. Web. 22 December 2010. Palmer, Philip Mason and Robert Pattison More. The Sources of the Faust Tradition: From Simon Magus to Lessing. New York: Haskell, 1965.

8. The historical Faust embodies the debate between natural science and the church because he is both a wandering scholar and a charlatan. Contemporary references to Faust describe him as a fool and necromancer. • August 20, 1507, letter from Johannes Tritheim to Johannes Virdung: “Master George Sabellicus, the younger Faust, the chief of necromancers, astrologer, the second magus, palmist, diviner with earth and fire, second in the art of divination with water. […] he ought to call himself a fool rather than a master.” • October 3, 1513, letter from Conrad Mutianus Rufus to Heinrich Urbanus: “a mere braggart and fool.” • May 10, 1532, entry in the records of the city council of Nuremberg: “Safe conduct to Doctor Faust, the great sodomite and necromancer, at Fuerth refused.” • 1537 (published 1566), Martin Luther, Tischreden: “Much was said about Faust, who called the devil his brother-in-law” • January 16, 1540, letter from Philipp von Hutten to his brother Moritz von Hutten:”Therefore I must confess that the philosopher Faust hit the nail on the head, for we struck a very bad year.” • 1563, Johannes Manlius, Locorum Communium Collectanea, quoted from Philipp Melanchthon: “the host with several others went into his bedroom and found him lying near the bed with his face turned toward his back. Thus the devil had killed him.” • 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten: “he could not abide to be called Dr. of Divinity, but waxed a worldly man, and named himself and Astrologian, and a Mathematician, and for a Shadow, sometimes a Physician, and did great Cures; namely with Herbs, Roots, Water, Drinks, and Clysters” Fear of threats to Christian principles + Fascination with progress of natural sciences = Popularity of Faust myth Source: Palmer, Philip Mason and Robert Pattison More. The Sources of the Faust Tradition: From Simon Magus to Lessing. New York: Haskell, 1965.

9. The Faust legend stages a conflict between spirituality and materialism in early modern Europe. • The Faust myth originates in a conflict between Christian ideals and the worldly focus of natural science. • The 16th century Faustbuch has an ambiguous structure in which it depicts a worldly, individualist project in order to then condemn it. • The popularity of Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587) [the Faustbuch] depends upon a fascination with the new possibilities for discovery, invention, but also abuse, opened up by the advance of the natural sciences. • The Faustbuch functions as a condemnation of Faust through its framing of the story, not the story itself. • When the authority of the church declines, the framing commentary falls away and the 18th century theatrical versions of Faust become farces.

10. The popularity of Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587) [the Faustbuch] depends upon a fascination with the new possibilities for discovery, invention, but also abuse, opened up by the advance of the natural sciences. The Faustbuch recounts the devil’s pact and Faust’s adventures. Table of Contents Chap. II. How Dr. Faustus began to practise his Devilish Art, and how he conjured the Devil making him to appear, and meet him on the Morrow morning at his own House. 5 Chap. III. The Conference of Dr. Faustus with this Spirit Mephistophiles, the Morning following, at his own House. 8 Chap. XXVIII. How Dr. Faustus play'd a merry Jest with the Duke of Anhalt, in his Court. 48 Chap. XXIX. How Dr. Faustus, with his Company, visited the Bishop of Salisburg's Wine Cellar. 50 Chap. XXX. How Faustus feasted his Guests on Ash - Wednesday. 52 Chap. XXXI. How Dr. Faustus conjured the four Wheels from the Countryman's Waggon. 54 Chap. XXXII. How four Jugglers cut one anothers Heads off, and set them on again, and Faustus deceived them. 56 Chap. XXXIII. How Dr. Faustus wrote the second time with his own Blood, and gave it to the Devil. 57 Pact with the Devil The Faustbuch episodes recount the ways in which Faust rejects Christian ideals in his tricks and travels. Adventures with magic Source: The surprizing and damnable life, and deserv'd death of Doctor John Faustus. London: printed by L. Nisbet; and are to be sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, [1750?]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Cengage Learning, 1 June 2004. Web. 21 December 2010.

11. Instead of subordinating his desires to the demands of God, Faustus pursues physical pleasure outside the bounds of spiritual restrictions. Faustus is not allowed to marry because marriage is “ordained of God” and places sexuality under the laws of the divine order. Quoth Mephistophiles, to this I answer thee, Thou canst not marry; for Wedlock is a chief Institution ordained of God, and that thou hast promised to defy, as we do all. Dr. Faustus fell into despair with himself, fearing, if he should motion Matrimony any more, then the Devil would tear him to pieces. (18) When Dr. Faustus called to Mind that his Time from Day to Day drew nigh, he began to live a Swinish and Epicurish Life: Wherefore he commanded his Spirit Mephistophiles to bring him seven of the fairest Women that he had seen in all the Times of his Travel; which being brought, first to one, then another, he lay with them all, insomuch that he liked them so well, that he continued with them all manner of Love, and made them to travel with him all his Journies; these Women were two Netherland, one Hungarian, one Scottish, two Walloon, and one Franklander. And with these sweet Personages he continued long, yea, even to his last End. (62-63) His life of sensual pleasure is framed in the narration by reminders of his eventual bad end. Faustus is content to live a “Swinish and Epicurish Life,” and the text describes his seven different women. Source: The surprizing life and death of Doctor John Faustus. To which is now added, the Necromancer: or, Harlequin, Doctor Faustus. As Performed at the Theater Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. Likewise, the whole life of Fryar Bacon, the Famous Magician of England: And the merry Waggeries of his Man Miles. Truly translated from the original copies. London: printed and sold by Edw. Midwinter, at the Looking-Glass on London-Bridge, 1740?. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Cengage Learning, 1 June 2004. Web. 21 December 2010.

12. The Faustbuch functions as a condemnation of Faust through its framing of the story, not the story itself. The title page of Historia von D. Johann Faustus foregrounds the plot of the story but also provides a commentary that condemns Faust from a Christian viewpoint. Story of Dr. Johann Faust, the notorious magician and necromancer, how he sold himself to the devil for a period of time, the strange adventures he saw and undertook, until he at last received his just reward. Multiple chapters from his own writings collected and printed as a terrifying example and heartfelt warning to all self-conceited, cunning, and godless people. Source: “Title page of the Historia von D. Johann Fausten, published in 1587 by Johann Spie.” Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia, 29 September 2008. Web. 20 December 2010, my translation.

13. The Faustbuch functions as a condemnation of Faust through its framing of the story, not the story itself. The narrator of Historia von D. Johann Faustus criticizes Faust’s turn to the temporal world and warns others not to follow his example. Whoever only has the temporal in light And for the eternal has no sight Surrenders to the devil day and night Had better keep his soul in sight. (Historia 23) And thus ended the whole History of Dr. Faustus’s Conjuration, and other Acts that he did in his Life; out of which Example every Christian may learn; but chiefly the Stiff-necked, and High-minded, may thereby learn to fear God, and to be careful of their Vocation, and to be at Defiance with all devilish Works, that God hath most precisely forbidden. (Surprizing, 1740?, 78-79) The turn away from spiritual ideals in favor of materiality becomes the object of critique in the narrator’s commentary. The narrator presents the church viewpoint at the end of the story by warning the “Stiff-necked and High-minded” against “devilish Works.” Source: Historia von D. Johann Fausten: Text des Druckes von 1587. Ed. Stephan Füssel and Hans Joachim Kreutzer. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1988. My translation. The surprizing life and death of Doctor John Faustus. 1740?. See slide 11.

14. When the authority of the church declines, the framing commentary of the Faustbuch falls away and the 18th century theatrical versions of Faust become farces. 1723 preface criticizes the “Dullness and Barbarism” of those who viewed a man of learning as a “Conjurer.” From the preface to Necromancer: or Harlequin Dr. Faustus (1723) He was born in Germany, about the Beginning of the 14thCentury, a Period of Dullness and Barbarism. Monkery and Imposition prevail’d much stronger than, perhaps, then ever will again: And Knowledge was in so few Hands, that an uncommon Share of Learning, or uncommon Qualifications, were sufficient to make a Man thought aConjurer. (Rich v-vi) Final lines of The Necromancer, or Harlequin, Dr. Faustus (1740) Doctor waves his Wand, and the Scene is converted to a Wood; a monstrous Dragon appears, and from each Claw drops a daemon, representing divers Grotesque Figures; several Female Spirits rise in Character to each Figure, and join in Antick Dance. As they are performing, a Clock Strikes, the Doctor is seized, hurried away by Spirits, and devour’d by the Monster, which immediately takes Flight; and while it is disappearing, Spirits vanish, and other Daemons rejoyce in the following Words: Now triumph Hell, and Fiends be gay, The Sorc’rer is become our Prey. [At the End of the Chorus the Curtain falls. FINIS (Surprizing, 1740?, 87-88) The scene is conceived as theatrical farce, making fun of the whole notion of demons and witches. Demons have the final word in the play. Source: [Rich, John.] The vocal parts of an entertainment, called the Necromancer or Harlequin Doctor Faustus. As perform'd at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. To which is prefix'd, a short account of Doctor Faustus; and how he came to be reputed a magician. London: printed and sold at the Book-Seller's Shop, at the Corner of Searle-Street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields and by A. Dodd at the Peacock, without Temple-Bar, [1723]. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Cengage Learning, 1 June 2004. Web. 20 December 2010. The surprizing life and death of Doctor John Faustus. 1740?. See slide 11.

15. The Faust legend stages a conflict between spirituality and materialism in early modern Europe. • The Faust myth originates in a conflict between Christian ideals and the worldly focus of natural science. • The 16th century Faustbuch has an ambiguous structure in which it depicts a worldly, individualist project in order to then condemn it. • The deterioration of the religious framework of the Faust legend allows Goethe to create a new, worldly frame for the Faust story. • Goethe can conceive a new ethic for Faust at a point where the witch-hunts have subsided and the earlier Faust myth has turned into farce. • By shifting the framing of the Faust story into the world of drama, Goethe creates an aesthetic rather than religious framework for the play. • As in the aesthetic frame, the Christian frame of the play merges the eternal with the worldly.

16. Goethe can conceive a new ethic for Faust at a point where the witch-hunts have subsided and the earlier Faust myth has turned into farce. Development of Faust legend Historical Faust attracts interest as the rise of natural sciences triggers into a Church campaign against heresy. • 1480 Historical Faust born • 1540 Historical Faust dies • 1587 Historia von D. Johann Fausten • 1604 Marlowe, Dr. Faustus • 1684-88 Dr. Faustus, Made into a Farce • 1723 Harlequin Dr. Faustus • 1749 Goethe born • 1772-75 Goethe writes Urfaust Numbers of witch trials and executions in Saxony (“Saxony”) Establishment of Faust legend coincides with witch-hunts and religious condemnation of practical knowledge. Faust legend turns to farce as witch-hunts decline (Knellwolf 166-81). Goethe sets up a new moral framework for Faust that replaces the Christian one. Source: Knellwolf King, Christa. Faustus and the Promises of the New Science, c. 1580-1730: From the Chapbooks to Harlequin Faustus. Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2008. “Saxony.” Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition. Ed. Richard Golden. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006.

17. Goethe’s life spans a period in which Enlightenment ideas created a new focus away from religion and toward society • 1749 Goethe born August 28 in Frankfurt on Main. • 1765-68 Studies law in Leipzig. • 1768-69 Brief conversion to Christianity. Studies alchemy. • 1772 Practices law in Wetzlar. Begins work on Faust. • 1774 The Sorrows of Young Werther. • 1775 Accepts ducal appointment at the court of Weimar. • Works for two decades to reopen a silver mine. • Approves the execution of a single mother for infanticide. • 1786-88 Travels to Italy. • 1788 Takes Christiane Vulpius as mistress. • 1790 Essay in the Elucidation and Metamorphosis of Plants. • 1794 Begins work with Friedrich Schiller. • 1795-96 Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship. • 1806 Completes Faust I. Marries Christiane Vulpius. • 1808 Faust I appears. • 1832 Completes Faust II. “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Dec. 2010. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 22 Dec. 2010.

18. By shifting the framing of the Faust story into the world of drama, Goethe creates an aesthetic rather than religious framework for the play. In the “Prelude in the Theater,” the Manager and the Poet have opposing interests. MANAGER. Above all, let there be sufficient action! They come to gaze and wish to see a spectacle. If many things reel off before their eyes, So that the mob can gape and be astounded, Then you will sway the great majority And be a very popular man. The mass can only be subdued by massiveness, So each can pick a morsel for himself. A large amount contains enough for everyone, And each will leave contented with his share. Give us the piece you write in pieces! Try your fortune with a potpourri That’s quickly made and easily dished out. What good is it to sweat and to create a whole? The audience will yet pick the thing to pieces. (89-103) POET. Oh, speak no more of motley crowds to me, Their presence makes my spirit flee. Veil from my sight those waves and surges That suck us down into their raging pools. Take me rather to a quiet little cell where pure delight bloomsonly for the poet, Where our inmost joy is blessed and fostered By love and friendship and the hand of God. Alas! What sprang from our deepest feelings, What our lips tried timidly to form, Failing now and now perhaps succeeding, Is devoured by a single brutish moment. Often it must filter through the years Before its final form appears perfected. What gleams like tinsel is but for the moment. What’s true remains intact for future days. (51-74) Source: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust, First Part, trans. Peter Salm. New York: Bantam, 2007. This and all subsequent references to this text refer to the line numbers in this edition.

19. The Comedian merges the material interests of the Manager with the ideal perspective of the Poet. COMEDIAN. Reach for the fullness of a human life! We live it all, but few live knowingly; If you but touch it [wo ihr’s packt], it will fascinate. A complex picture without clarity, Much error with a little spark of truth – that’s the recipe to brew the potion whence all the world is quenched and edified. The fairest bloom of youth will congregate to see the play and wait for revelation; then everytender soul will eagerly absorb some food for melancholy from your work. First one and then another thing is stirred, so each can find what’s in his heart. (167-79) Life and Knowledge Grasp of reality and Fascination Error and Truth Quenching and Edifying Spectacle and Revelation Variety and Depth

20. The Christian frame of the play follows the structure of the aesthetic frame. The Angels and Mephistopheles have opposing static conceptions. RAPHAEL. The sun intones his ancient song in contest with fraternal spheres, and with a roll of thunder rounds out his predetermined journey. His aspect strengthens angels, but none can fathom him. The inconceivable creations are glorious as from the first. (243-50) MEPHISTOPHELES. Forgive me, but I can’t indulge in lofty words, Although this crowd will hold me in contempt; My pathos certainly would make you laugh, Had you not dispensed with laughter long ago. I waste no words on suns and planets, I only see how men torment themselves. Earth’s little god remains the same And is as quaint as from the first. He would have an easier time of it Had you not let him glimpse celestial light; He calls it reason and he only uses it To be more bestial than the beasts. (275-86) Raphael praises the permanence of celestial events. Mephistopheles stresses the futility of human striving

21. The “Prologue in Heaven” establishes a new framing story for Faust in which striving in the material world is not a temptation but the basis for salvation. The Lord merges the angelic with the demonic through “Becoming” I am glad to let you have apparent freedom; I hold no hatred for the like of you. Of all the spirits that negate, The rogue to me is the least burdensome. Man’s diligence is easily exhausted, He grows too fond of unremitting peace. I’m therefore pleased to give him a companion Who must goad and prod and be a devil.— But you, my own true sons of Heaven, Rejoice in Beauty’s vibrant wealth. That which becomes will live and work forever; Let it enfold you with propitious bonds of Love. And what appears as flickering image now, Fix it firmly with enduring thought.(336-49) Noting the danger that human activity flags and humans often prefer to rest rather than to strive, God designates the devil as the companion who stimulates humans in their desires so that they continue striving. God designates the angels as those who take pleasure in the beauty of this activity and then transform it into something lasting. God does not demand faith but links love to “becoming.”

22. The Faust legend stages a conflict between spirituality and materialism in early modern Europe. • The Faust myth originates in a conflict between Christian ideals and the worldly focus of natural science. • The focus on the divine in the monotheistic traditions leads to a subordination of the material and social world to a spiritual or intellectual world. • Advances in the natural sciences threaten the Church by suggesting that its authority, based in scripture, might be replaced by the authority of knowledge gained from observation of the world. • The historical Faust embodies the debate between natural science and the church because he is both a wandering scholar and a charlatan. • The historical Johann (or Georg) Faust was a wandering scholar/astrologer/doctor. • Contemporary references to Faust describe him as a fool and necromancer. • The 16th century Faustbuch has an ambiguous structure in which it depicts a worldly, individualist project in order to then condemn it. • The popularity of Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587) [the Faustbuch] depends upon a fascination with the new possibilities for discovery, invention, but also abuse, opened up by the advance of the natural sciences. • Most of the Faustbuch consists of stories of his adventures with the devil. • Instead of subordinating his desires to the demands of a religious order, Faustus sets himself apart by pursuing physical pleasure outside the bounds of spiritual restrictions. • The Faustbuch functions as a condemnation of Faust through its framing of the story, not the story itself. • The title page of Faustbuch foregrounds the plot of the story but also provides a commentary that condemns Faust from a Christian viewpoint. • The narrator of the Faustbuch criticizes Faust’s turn to the temporal world and warns other not to follow his example. • When the authority of the church declines, the framing commentary falls away and the 18th century theatrical versions of Faust become farces. • The deterioration of the religious framework of the Faust legend allows Goethe to create a new, worldly frame for the Faust story. • Goethe can conceive a new ethic for Faust at a point where the witch-hunts have subsided and the earlier Faust myth has turned into farce. • By shifting the framing of the Faust story into the world of drama, Goethe creates an aesthetic rather than religious framework for the play. • In the “Prelude in the Theater,” the Manager and the Poet have opposing interests. • The Comedian merges the material interests of the Manager with the ideal perspective of the Poet. • As in the aesthetic frame, the Christian frame of the play merges the eternal with the worldly. • The Angels and Mephistopheles have opposing static conceptions. • The “Prologue in Heaven” establishes a new framing story for Faust in which striving in the material world becomes the basis for salvation.