The Legend of Faust

1480 Person known in legends as ‘Faust’ born in southwest Germany
1483 Martin Luther, German translator of the Bible and father of Protestantism (Lutheranism) born
Studied magic at the University of Krakow, Poland
Alchemist, scholar who taught at the university and then reportedly sold his soul to the devil
1540 Dies

Other famous Fausts:

Christopher Marlowe’s (contemporary of Shakespeare) play, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (1604)
Thomas Mann’s Doktor Faustus (1950)
For more information on the Faust legend, see Faust Legends by D. L. Ashlimann

Historical Significance of/Why read Goethe's Faust:

- Tradition of Western Secular Thought

• Tribute to individualism and the problems it causes, the indulgence of self as a solace to suffering

• How to reinvent yourself in midlife

• Shift from philosophical rationalism (man as thinker) to historicism (man as doer)

• Faust torn between inner, outer life

• Poses universal questions: Where are secular humans supposed to be heading? What is man striving towards (and how does it affect the women in his life)? What's the point of it all? What can ultimate knowledge and power do to a man (and his knowledge of women)? What makes us human (or superhuman)?

- "Superman" (Übermensch, 490/15)

- Influence on other writers

- Great book, and therefore part of educated discourse about art and literature

Who is Goethe's Faust?

What does he want?

Why does he make a pact with Mephistopheles?

Other Characters:

Margarethe: Aka Gretchen (one of many nicknames for the name Margaret: Meg, Gretel, Peggy, Maggie, Margie, Marge, etc.)

Mephistopheles: One of the devil's many reputed names(2500/67). A shortened form of this name is Mephisto. According to the OED, Mephistopheles is a fiendish person, esp. one who traps another into adopting a disastrous or destructive course of action, and a tempter. Mephisto embodies IRONY:

Mephisto appears to Faust just as he feels closest to God.

• Mephisto = master of paradoxes, and his function = to personify dark side of creativity, divinity.
• IRONY = Only by working on the devil’s side can Faust create the good. By working w/the devil, he becomes a better man.

Vocabulary not annotated by Hamlin:

alembic (6825/194) = distilling apparatus

de trop (4750/139) = too much

epicene (4900/143) = having characteristics of both sexes, effete

fluttering flibbet (11670/332) = what Mephisto calls Faust's soul; in German, it is "die Flatternde, die Flüchtige" (literally the fluttering thing, the thing flying away)

Magister (355-65/12) = master's degree, combined with the equivalent of our B.A./B.S.

marmoset (Witch's Kitchen 2337 / 63) = a Central and South American type of monkey with claws

pyromantic sport (5987/171) = the spectacle of fire that Faust orchestrated probably with Mephisto's help at the end of Spacious Hall

sepulchral (5352/154) = relating to tombs

sutler-woman (10530/299) = a camp follower in war who sells food and washes clothes

tippet (5090/147) = long silken scarf

warp and weft (9416/266): lengthwise and crosswise threads on a weaving loom

Motifs in Faust I and II

1. Death and Rebirth

2. Striving to know universes

3. What is romantic about Faust?

4. Two Views of Faust

Warning: The links below contains spoilers!

Plot Outline:

Faust I is often described as a tragedy centered on character. Click here for a plot summary that contains spoilers.

Night (355/13)

"Outside the City Gate" (810/24)

Forest and Cave (3355 - 3365/93)

Marthe's Garden (3415/96 and 3510-20/98)

Night/Street in Front of Gretchen's Door (3705/105)

Cathedral (3785/108)

Walpurgis Night (4185 - 4205/119)

Dreary Day and Night (no line #s/126)

Dungeon (4505-15/130 and 4610/133)

Faust II departs from the pre-Romantic/Storm-and-Stress themes of Part I, and features more characteristics typical of High Romanticism. Much of the action is symbolic, conceptual, and at times, vividly imaginative. Click here and below for a plot summary that contains spoilers.

Part II in English from Project Gutenberg

Act III in Google Books

In German

ACT I

Charming Landscape (4615-4725)

2. Imperial Residence (4730-5060/139-46): (144-45/4890-5005: Meph., Chancellor, Emperor, Treasurer + Quartermaster, Marshal, Astrologer, Muttering all [6-7])

Spacious Hall/Carnival Masque (5065/147): (172-74: Marshal, Quartermaster + Page, Emperor, Meph., Treasurer + Another, Faust, Chancellor + Baron [7-10])

Pleasance (5987/171)

5. Dark Gallery (6175/176) (176-79/6180-6305: Faust, Mephistopheles [2])

6. Hall of Chivalry (6455/184) (184-86/6453-6565: Lady + Another, 2nd Lady + Others + Diplomat, 3rd Lady + Knight + Poet, 4th Lady + Young Lady + Savant, Fifth Lady + Older Lady + Astrologer, Sixth Lady + Oldest Lady + Faust, Knight + Courtier + Meph., Chamberlain + the Former [8-22])