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Goethe • “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet (from Frankfurt, Germany), playwright, novelist, and natural philosopher is best known for his two-part poetic drama Faust, (1808-1832) which he started around the age of twenty three and didn't finish till shortly before his death sixty years later. He is considered one of the greatest contributors of the German Romantic period.” • Educated both formally and informally. Learned Greek, Latin, French, and Italian by age 8. • At age 16, attended Leipzig University to study Law (as his father wished). • Was also writing at the same time. • While studying law, he also attended lectures in history, political science, anatomy, surgery, chemistry, etc. He had a lot of knowledge!
German Romanticism • Dominant movement of late 18th and 19th centuries. • Goethe’s literature was part of this movement. • Places value on humor, wit, and beauty. • Synthesis of art, science, and philosophy; sought to “unify art and society,” and looked to the Medieval period as an example of how to do this. • “Later German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the everyday world and the seemingly irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius.” • Music Flourished: Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert, Wagner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IRMYuE1hI
German Romanticism ArtMoonrise Over the Sea & Two Men Contemplating the Moon by Caspar Friedrich
Sturm & Drang • "Storm and Drive", "Storm and Urge, "Storm and Stress“ • is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s to the early 1780s • individualsubjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism imposed by the Enlightenment • The period is named for Friedrich Maximilian Klinger's play Sturm und Drang, which was first performed in 1777. • The protagonist in a typical Sturm und Drang stage work, poem, or novel is driven to action—often violent action—not by pursuit of noble means nor by true motives, but by revenge and greed. • Goethe was a proponent of this movement, but “Faust” is not considered of this genre.
Variations • FAUST: 6th cent., learned German doctor who traveled widely, performed magical feats, and died under mysterious circumstances. According to legend he had sold his soul to the devil (personified by Mephistopheles in many literary versions) in exchange for youth, knowledge, and magical power. Innumerable folk tales and invented stories were attached to his name. • The first printed version is the Volksbuch (1587) of Johann Spiess, which, in English translation, was the basis of Christopher Marlowe's play Dr. Faustus (c.1588). • Many versions followed, ranging from popular buffoonery to highly developed art forms. Spiessand Marlowe represent Faust as a scoundrel justly punished with eternal damnation, but Lessing instead saw in him the symbol of man's heroic striving for knowledge and power and therefore as worthy of praise and salvation. • Lessing's view of Faust as seeker was continued by Goethe in one of the greatest dramatic poems ever written. He enlarged upon the old legend, adding the element of love and the saving power of woman and giving the story a philosophical treatment. Goethe first came to grips with the theme in 1774 (in what is called the Urfaust). The first part of Faust appeared in 1808; it is more suitable for the theater than the more profound and philosophic second part (1833).
Morality Plays • “For the medieval and Renaissance mind, the Faust legend was a cautionary tale of what the ancient Greek's called hubris, a pride or arrogance that led the tragic hero to believe himself invulnerable to Fate or the power of the gods. Marlowe's Elizabethan dramatic version of the legend functioned as a sophisticated morality play, in which the audience learns to avoid the vices of the play's protagonist.” • Morality Play: an allegorical drama popular in Europe especially during the 15th and 16th centuries, in which the characters personify moral qualities (such as charity or vice) or abstractions (as death or youth) and in which moral lessons are taught. • Together with the mystery play and the miracle play, the morality play is one of the three main types of vernacular drama produced during the Middle Ages.
Where Goethe’s Departs • ”However, for the mind of nineteenth-century Romantic writers and artists, figures like Faust were heroes of another sort: Defiant rebel against stifling conventional morality whose hunger for experiences transgressing human limits were understood as the ultimate of human aspiration.” • Because Faust isn’t “punished” in the end– because his soul is actually spared– Goethe’s version departs from the typical “morality play” and represents a more MODERN take on the story.
Sources of the Story • “The tale of Faust bears many similarities to the Theophilus legend recorded in the 13th century, writer Gautier de Coincy'sLes Miracles de la Sainte Vierge. Here, a saintly figure makes a bargain with the keeper of the infernal world but is rescued from paying his debt to society through the mercy of the Blessed Virgin. A depiction of the scene in which he subordinates himself to the Devil can be seen at Cathedralede Notre Dame de Paris.” • The idea of a man making a pact with a devil was nothing new; what was new was the presentation of the story through Goethe’s eyes.
Sources, Continued • The first known printed source of the legend of Faust is a small chapbook bearing the title Historia von D. Johann Fausten, published in 1587. The book was re-edited and borrowed from throughout the 16th century. Other similar books of that period include: • Das Wagnerbuch (1593) • Das Widmann'scheFaustbuch (1599) • Dr. Faustsgroßer und gewaltigerHöllenzwang (Frankfurt 1609) • Dr. Johannes Faust, Magianaturalis et innaturalis (Passau 1612) • Das Pfitzer'scheFaustbuch (1674) • Dr. Faustsgroßer und gewaltigerMeergeist (Amsterdam 1692) • Das Wagnerbuch (1714) • Faustbuch des ChristlichMeynenden (1725) • The 1725 Faust chapbook was widely circulated and also read by the young Goethe.
Who is Faust? • Although it is debated, most scholars agree that Faust is a representation of Dr. Johann Georg Faust • He was a 15th century alchemist, astrologer, and magician during the German Renaissance. • “His life became the nucleus of the popular tale of Doctor Faust fromcirca the 1580s, notably culminating in Christopher Marlowe's play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus(1604) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust (1808).” • Unlike Marlowe’s play, Goethe’s version is written as a poem.
Alchemy • Faust, or Dr. Faustus, is referred to as an Alchemist. • Definition of ALCHEMY • 1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life • 2: a power or process of transforming something common into something special • 3: an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting • Faust is dabbling with “magic” here…
Prometheus [Background Knowledge] • Prometheus' story, which originates in Greek legend, it is the tale of a titan who steals fire from the gods. • Prometheus is a man who attempts to elevate his own status to that of a god by trying to gain knowledge that is exclusively available to the gods. • Prometheus was punished by being eternally chained to a rock at the top of the Caucasus mountains, and destined to have his liver torn out by a vulture, whereupon it would re-grow each day, and the punishment revisited…
Helen of Troy • Is referred to in the story. • In Greek mythology, she was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. • She was considered the most beautiful woman in Greece. • She was married to Menelaus, the brother of King Agamemnon of Mycenae (Sparta) • She was “abducted” by Paris, Prince of Troy, and this began the Trojan War. • She is famously known as “the face that launched a thousand ships.”
Faustian • Faustian: Term implies a situation in which an ambitious person surrenders moralintegrity in order to achieve power and success. • Translated as "fist" in High German, the name "Faust" suggests someone who resorts to extraordinary means to achieve goals, akin to if not actually including force; it also implies unusual tenacity and persistence.
Who is Faust? • The protagonist of this German legend. • Successful scholar who is unsatisfied with his life. • Makes a pact with the Devil: His soul for unlimited knowledge & worldly pleasures. • His legend begins as one to teach a lesson: Faust is damned due to his preference of worldly (human) over divine knowledge. • Goethe’s treatment is less a moral tale and more of one about the dissatisfaction of intellectual pursuits.
Heaven vs. Hell • In the story, Mephistopholes helps Faust to seduce a young woman (Gretchen), whose life is destroyed. • Gretchen’s innocence save her, and she is welcomed into heaven. • In the early versions of the story, Faust is damned to hell. He is corrupted beyond the point to which his sins can be forgiven. • Goethe’s version is different; Faust’s “eternal strivings” (he never gives up) are rewarded by God, and he is saved.
Faust, Part II • The second part of Goethe’s work is usually not read or performed due to its complexity (extensive background knowledge of Greek mythology is needed). • In part II, following Gretchen’s death, Faust immerses himself in worldly ideas and external gratifications. • He gets a position at the Imperial Court and is renowned for his public works, but he is still never satisfied. • He woos Helen of Troy • He dies bitter and disillusioned… but he is “saved.”
The Frankenstein Connection • The famous story by Romantic writer Mary Shelley shares themes with Faust and in turn Prometheus (see slide 13). • Both Faust and Frankenstein strive for the pursuit of knowledge and discovery. • Both are isolated in their studies. • Both long for companionship; Frankenstein seeks to create a being he can “teach,” while Faust requests the companionship of a woman– a real human connection. • Both take their hopes and dreams to extremes. • Both have a “whatever it takes” attitude. • Frankenstein’s wife Elizabeth is killed by her husband’s monster creation, while Faust’s Gretchen resorts to killing her child and ending up in prison. In both stories, the women in the protagonists’ lives pay for their deeds. • Neither see the long term consequences of their actions and pay dearly.
Characters • Heinrich Faust, a scholar • Mephistopheles, a Devil • Gretchen, Faust's love (short for Margaret; Goethe uses both forms) • Marthe, Gretchen's neighbor • Valentine, Gretchen's brother • Wagner, Faust's famulus (attendant) • SETTING: Begins in heaven, then moves to Faust’s world (his study). Although Faust has some excursions with Gretchen, the majority of the setting is confined to “microcosms”– Faust’s “local milieu”.
Themes & Messages • Dissatisfaction with the finite limits of man. • The importance of pursuit, of “striving.” • Personal satisfaction requires acceptance of human limitations. • “Good can arise from evil.” • Overall, the poem is rooted in OPTIMISM. [Although he dies bitter and disillusioned, Faust never stops believing in something higher than himself, and he never stops striving after knowledge of goodness and truth.]
