Faust (/faʊst/FOWST,German:[faʊst]ⓘ) is theprotagonist of a classicGerman legend based on the historicalJohann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make adeal with the Devil at acrossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis formany literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works that have reinterpreted it through the ages. "Faust" and the adjective "Faustian" imply sacrificing spiritual values for power, knowledge, or material gain.[1]
The Faust of early books – as well as the ballads, dramas, movies, and puppet-plays which grew out of them – is irrevocably damned because he prefers human knowledge over divine knowledge: "He laid theHoly Scriptures behind the door and under the bench, refused to be calleddoctor of theology, but preferred to be styleddoctor of medicine".[2] Chapbooks containing variants of this legend were popular throughout Germany in the 16th century. The story was popularised in England byChristopher Marlowe, who gave it a classic treatment in his playThe Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (c. 1592).[3]InGoethe's reworking of the story over two hundred years later, Faust seduces a pious girl who then dies by suicide, but after many further adventures Faust is saved from damnation through the intervention of penitent women, including the girl whose life he ruined.
Faust is unsatisfied with his life as a scholar and becomes depressed. After an attempt to take his own life, he calls on theDevil for further knowledge and magic powers with which to indulge all the pleasure and knowledge of the world. In response, the Devil's representative,Mephistopheles, appears. He makes a bargain with Faust: Mephistopheles will serve Faust with his magic powers for a set number of years, but at the end of the term, the Devil will claim Faust's soul, and Faust will be eternally enslaved.
During the term of the bargain, Faust makes use of Mephistopheles in various ways. InGoethe's drama, and many subsequent versions of the story, Mephistopheles helps Faust seduce a beautiful and innocent young woman, usually named Gretchen, whose life is ultimately destroyed when she gives birth to Faust's illegitimate son. Realizing this unholy act, she drowns the child and is sentenced to death for murder. However, Gretchen's innocence saves her in the end, and she entersHeaven. In Goethe's rendition, Faust is saved by God via his constant striving – in combination with Gretchen's pleadings with God in the form of theeternal feminine. However, in the early versions of the tale, Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven; when the term ends, the Devil carries him off toHell.
The tale of Faust bears many similarities to theTheophilus legend recorded in the 13th century writerGautier 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 theBlessed Virgin.[4] A depiction of the scene in which he subordinates himself to the Devil appears on the northtympanum of theCathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris.[5]
The origin of Faust's name and persona remains unclear.[dubious –discuss] In theHistoria Brittonum, Faustus is the offspring of an incestuous marriage between kingVortigern and Vortigern's own daughter.[6]
The character is ostensibly based onJohann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540), a magician andalchemist probably fromKnittlingen,Württemberg, who obtained a degree indivinity fromHeidelberg University in 1509, but the legendary Faust has also been connected with an earlierJohann Fust (c. 1400–1466),Johann Gutenberg's business partner,[7]which suggests that Fust is one of the multiple origins to the Faust story.[8]Scholars such as Frank Baron[9]andRuickbie (2009)[10]contests many of these[which?] previous assumptions.[clarification needed]
The character in Polishfolklore namedPan Twardowski (Sir Twardowski in English) presents similarities with Faust. The Polish story seems to have originated at roughly the same time as its German counterpart, yet it is unclear whether the two tales have a common origin or influenced each other. The historical Johann Georg Faust had studied inKraków for a time and may have served as the inspiration for the character in the Polish legend.[11]
The first known printed source of the legend of Faust is a smallchapbook bearing the titleHistoria 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:
The 1725 Faust chapbook was widely circulated and also read by the young Goethe.
Related tales about a pact between man and the Devil include the playsMariken van Nieumeghen (Dutch, early 16th century, author unknown),Cenodoxus (German, early 17th century, byJacob Bidermann) andThe Countess Cathleen (Irish legend of unknown origin believed by some to be taken from the French playLes marchands d'âmes).
Staufen, a town in the extreme southwest of Germany, claims to be where Faust died (c. 1540); depictions appear on buildings, etc. The only historical source for this tradition is a passage in theChronik der Grafen von Zimmern, which was writtenc. 1565, 25 years after Faust's presumed death. These chronicles are generally considered reliable, and in the 16th century there were still family ties between the lords of Staufen and the counts of Zimmern in nearby Donaueschingen.[12]
InChristopher Marlowe's original telling of the tale, Wittenburg—where Faust studied—was also written as Wertenberge. This has led to a measure of speculation as to precisely where his story is set. Some scholars suggest theDuchy of Württemberg; others suggest an allusion to Marlowe's own Cambridge (Gill, 2008, p. 5)
Theearly Faust chapbook, while in circulation in northern Germany, found its way to England, where in 1592 an English translation was published,The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus credited to a certain "P. F., Gent[leman]".Christopher Marlowe used this work as the basis for his more ambitious play,The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (publishedc. 1604). Marlowe also borrowed fromJohn Foxe'sBook of Martyrs, on the exchanges betweenPope Adrian VI and a rival pope.
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Another important version of the legend is the playFaust, written by the German authorJohann Wolfgang von Goethe. TheFirst Part, which is the one more closely connected to the earlier legend, was published in 1808,the Second appeared posthumously in 1832.
Goethe'sFaust complicates the simple Christian moral of the original legend. A hybrid between a play and an extended poem, Goethe's two-part "closet drama" is epic in scope. It gathers together references from Christian, medieval,Roman, eastern, andHellenic poetry, philosophy, and literature.
The composition and refinement of Goethe's own version of the legend occupied him, off and on, for over sixty years. The final version, published after his death, is recognized as a great work of German literature.
The story concerns the fate of Faust in his quest for the binding force of nature ("was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält"). Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge, power, and enjoyment of life, he attracts the attention of the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles), who makes a bet with Faust that he will be able to satisfy him. Faust is reluctant, believing this will never happen. This is a significant difference between Goethe's "Faust" and Marlowe's; Faust is not the one who suggests the wager.
In the first part, Mephistopheles leads Faust through experiences that culminate in a lustful relationship with Gretchen, an innocent young woman. Gretchen and her family are destroyed by Mephistopheles' deceptions and Faust's desires. Part one of the story ends in tragedy for Faust, as Gretchen is saved but Faust is left to grieve in shame.
The second part begins with the spirits of the earth forgiving Faust (and the rest of mankind) and progresses into allegorical poetry. Faust and his Devil pass through and manipulate the world of politics and the world of theclassical gods, and meet withHelen of Troy (the personification of beauty). Finally, in anticipation of having tamed the forces of war and nature and created a place for a free people to live, Faust is happy and dies.
Mephistopheles tries to seize Faust's soul when he dies after this moment of happiness, but is frustrated and enraged when angels intervene due to God's grace. Though this grace is 'gratuitous' and does not condone Faust's frequent errors with Mephistopheles, the angels state that this grace can only occur because of Faust's unending striving and due to the intercession of the forgiving Gretchen. The final scene has Faust's soul carried to Heaven in the presence of God by the intercession of the "Virgin, Mother, Queen, ... Goddess kind forever ... Eternal Womanhood".[13] The woman is thus victorious over Mephistopheles, who had insisted at Faust's death that he would be consigned to "The Eternal Empty".
Goethe'sFaust is a genuinely classical production, but the idea is a historical idea, and hence every notable historical era will have its ownFaust.
Thomas Mann's 1947Doktor Faustus: Das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkühn, erzählt von einem Freunde adapts the Faust legend to a 20th century context, documenting the life of fictional composer Adrian Leverkühn, as analog and embodiment of the early 20th century history of Germany and of Europe. The talented Leverkühn, after contracting venereal disease from a brothel visit, forms a pact with a Mephistophelean character to grant him 24 years of brilliance and success as a composer. He produces works of increasing beauty to universal acclaim, even while physical illness begins to corrupt his body. In 1930, when presenting his final masterwork (The Lamentation of Dr. Faust), he confesses the pact he had made: Madness and syphilis now overcome him, and he suffers a slow and total collapse until his death in 1940. Leverkühn's spiritual, mental, and physical collapse and degradation are mapped on to the period in whichNazism rose in Germany, and Leverkühn's fate is shown as that of the soul of Germany.
Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" published in 1937 is a retelling of the tale of Faust based on the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", written byWashington Irving. Benet's version of the story centers on aNew Hampshire farmer by the name of Jabez Stone who, plagued with unending bad luck, is approached by the devil under the name ofMr. Scratch who offers him seven years of prosperity in exchange for his soul. Jabez Stone is eventually defended byDaniel Webster, a fictional version of the famous lawyer and orator, in front of a judge and jury of the damned, and his case is won. It was adapted in 1941 as a movie,The Devil and Daniel Webster, withWalter Huston as the devil,James Craig as Jabez andEdward Arnold as Webster. It was remade in 2007 asShortcut to Happiness withAlec Baldwin as Jabez,Anthony Hopkins as Webster andJennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil.
F.W. Murnau, director of the classicNosferatu, directed a silent version ofFaust that premiered in 1926. Murnau's film featured special effects that were remarkable for the era.[18] In one scene, Mephisto towers over a town, dark wings spread wide, as a fog rolls in bringing the plague. In another, an extended montage sequence shows Faust, mounted behind Mephisto, riding through the heavens, and the camera view, effectively swooping through quickly changing panoramic backgrounds, courses past snowy mountains, high promontories and cliffs, and waterfalls.
In the Murnau version of the tale, the aging bearded scholar and alchemist is disillusioned by the palpable failure of his supposed cure for a plague that has stricken his town. Faust renounces his many years of hard travail and studies in alchemy. In his despair, he hauls all his bound volumes by armloads onto a growing pyre, intending to burn them. However, a wind turns over a few cabalistic leaves, and one of the books' pages catches Faust's eye. Their words contain a prescription for how to invoke the dreadful dark forces.
Faust heeds these recipes and begins enacting the mystic protocols: On a hill, alone, summoning Mephisto, certain forces begin to convene, and Faust in a state of growing trepidation hesitates, and begins to withdraw; he flees along a winding, twisting pathway, returning to his study chambers. At pauses along this retreat, though, he meets a reappearing figure. Each time, it doffs its hat in a greeting that is Mephisto confronting him. Mephisto overcomes Faust's reluctance to sign a long binding pact with the invitation that Faust may try on these powers, just for one day, and without obligation to longer terms. Upon the end of that day, the sands of twenty-four hours having run out, after Faust's having been restored to youth and, helped by his servant Mephisto to steal a beautiful woman from her wedding feast, Faust is tempted so much that he agrees to sign a pact for eternity (which is to say when, in due course, his time runs out). Eventually Faust becomes bored with the pursuit of pleasure and returns home, where he falls in love with the beautiful and innocent Gretchen. His corruption (enabled, or embodied, through the forms of Mephisto) ultimately ruins both their lives, though there is still a chance for redemption in the end.
Similarities to Goethe's Faust include the classic tale of a man who sold his soul to the Devil, the same Mephisto wagering with an angel to corrupt the soul of Faust, the plague sent by Mephisto on Faust's small town, and the familiar cliffhanger with Faust unable to find a cure for the Plague, and therefore turning to Mephisto, renouncing God, the angel, and science alike.
Films published after 1945.
Woe to the Young (Greek:Αλίμονο στους νέους)
Directed byAlekos Sakellarios, 1961 – The story of a rich old man (Dimitris Horn), who wants to be young again so as to marry a young girl (Maro Kontou), and makes a deal with the Devil.[20]
The Christopher Marlowe play has been broadcast on radio many times, including:
A five-part adaptation by Martin Jenkins dramatized byJonathan Holloway was broadcast as part ofBBC Radio 4's15-Minute Theatre 18–22 February 2008. The cast includedJulian Rhind-Tutt as Faustus,Mark Gatiss as Mephistopheles,Thom Tuck as Wagner,Jasmine Guy as Gretchen/Demon and Pippa Haywood as Martha.
The Faust legend has been the basis for several major operas: for a more complete list, visitWorks based on Faust
Faust has inspired major musical works in other forms:
Psychodynamic therapy uses the idea of a Faustian bargain to explaindefence mechanisms, usually rooted in childhood, that sacrifice elements of the self in favor of some form of psychological survival. For the neurotic, abandoning one's genuine feeling self in favour of afalse self more amenable to caretakers may offer a viable form of life, but at the expense of one's true emotions and affects.[39] For the psychotic, a Faustian bargain with anomnipotent-self can offer the imaginary refuge of apsychic retreat at the price of living in unreality.[40]
— pertaining to or resembling or befitting Faust or Faustus; especially in insatiably striving for worldly knowledge and power even at the price of spiritual values; 'aFaustian pact with the Devil'.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Phillips, W.A. (1911). "Faust". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 211.| International | |
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