FAUSTS ALPTRAUM WOODEN PIECES SKIN
FAUSTS ALPTRAUM WOODEN PIECES SERIES

So, again, don't jump to any simple conclusions about either the Christian or the pagan imagery in this play-both are there simply as building blocks to create Goethe's vision of the potential of human development.įaust is constructed of several scenes or acts. No traditional Christian would replace concepts such as morality and spiritual goodness with human development through emotional experience, but for Goethe, this is the path of the developing human being. Clearly, this is non-Christian use of Christian imagery. Then, along comes Mephistopheles and his bet to lure Faust on to more experiences and eventual human spiritual growth. Only the sounds of traditional Christianity, the choir of angels and church bells of Easter, prevent his death. This totally frustrates him, as we see when he is rejected by the Earth Spirit and tries to kill himself. He has developed his intellect as far as he is able, and he is not able to cross the gap to spiritual development. In fact, Mephistopheles will be useful to Faust's development because: '.man's activity can easily abate, He soon prefers uninterrupted rest To give him this companion hence seems best Who roils and must as Devil help create.'Īnd indeed, Faust has nearly killed himself shortly before Mephistopheles enters his life. The reasonable Lord of Goethe's imagining explains that Mephistopheles may try to lead Faust astray, but in the end he will lose, because: 'A good man in his darkling aspiration Remembers the right road throughout his quest.'įaust will make mistakes, but he will never forget that his goal is to develop and learn and grow. However, the Bet in Heaven in Faust is perfectly rational and makes good sense. The Book of Job's purpose is to show the impossibility of human beings ever comprehending the mystery of God's ways. It is based on the dialogue between God and Satan in the Book of Job, but its purpose is very different.

FAUSTS ALPTRAUM WOODEN PIECES SKIN

The Walpurgis Night, for example, is indeed a Witches' Sabbath, and those are typically nasty damnable things, as is this one, but Faust is able to go there, enjoy its fantastic illusions, and then escape with his skin and his sanity.Īn interesting mix of the old and the new is the Bet in Heaven in the Prologue to the play. Always think about the entire play, instead of focusing too much on any single part.

So be careful not jump to conclusions about what Faust means. In the earlier version of the Faust story, Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, Faustus does not get away with his bet with the devil, but is hauled off to hell in the end. This is not a traditional Christian story. It is the stuff of folklore and ballads and even saints' lives.īut intertwined with Margaret's traditional story is the story of Faust who makes a bet with the devil, does all sorts of nasty and/or illegal stuff, and gets away in the end in the name of human evolution towards higher levels of being. A good girl is seduced into evil ways, commits sins, becomes insane, is condemned to die, repents at the end and is saved and taken off to heaven. Parts keep looking familiar, yet the whole is not.įor example, Margaret/Gretchen is a traditional Christian story character. I have prepared a synopsis of the story, below, to help you sort out the story line of Faust.įaust is an eclectic, thoroughly romantic mixture of traditional Christianity, the Old Testament, medieval magic and alchemy, folklore and witchcraft, and a non-Christian evolutionary philosophy of human development. This was intentional, and was intended to represent the fragmentary nature of experience, but is not easy on the reader. However, to a reader, Faust, like many romantic works, seems at first like bits and pieces tossed together. This is fine in theory, and even makes good sense on stage when interpreted by actors. The romantics shunned this 'artificial' form in favor of a more 'organic' or natural form that developed out of the experiences of the characters themselves. For example, Tartuffe takes place in one room at one time with a single focused action, that of Tartuffe tricking Orgon. This loose structure is based on the Romantic rebellion against the French classical insistence on the unities of form.

FAUSTS ALPTRAUM WOODEN PIECES SERIES

Faust I and Faust II are the culminating works of his long, fruitful life.įaust's structure is deliberately fragmentary, a series of scenes loosely strung together instead of tightly integrated acts. He was revered in his lifetime as a true genius, a master of many forms of writing, a lawyer, a scientist, a great humanist. Consequently, he belongs on any world literature reading list and is worth some effort to appreciate. Goethe is not very widely read in America these days, but in many other countries he is considered a world class author, along with Shakespeare, Dante and Homer.

Fausts alptraum wooden pieces