fbpx
Wikipedia

Faust

Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540).

Dr. Fausto by Jean-Paul Laurens
1876 'Faust' by Goethe, decorated by Rudolf Seitz, large German edition 51x38cm

The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis for many 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 the Holy Scriptures behind the door and under the bench, refused to be called doctor of theology, but preferred to be styled doctor of medicine".[2] Plays and comic puppet theatre loosely based on this legend were popular throughout Germany in the 16th century, often reducing Faust and Mephistopheles to figures of vulgar fun. The story was popularised in England by Christopher Marlowe, who gave it a classic treatment in his play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (c. 1592).[3] In Goethe's reworking of the story over two hundred years later, Faust becomes a dissatisfied intellectual who yearns for "more than earthly meat and drink" in his life.

Summary of the story

Faust is unsatisfied with his life as a scholar and becomes depressed. After an attempt to take his own life, he calls on the Devil 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. In Goethe'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 held for murder. However, Gretchen's innocence saves her in the end, and she enters Heaven after execution. 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 the eternal feminine. However, in the early tales, Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven; when the term ends, the Devil carries him off to Hell.

Sources

 
Pan Twardowski and the devil by Michał Elwiro Andriolli. The Polish folklore legend bears many similarities to the story of Faust.

The tale of Faust bears many similarities to the Theophilus legend recorded in the 13th century, writer Gautier de Coincy's Les 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.[4] A depiction of the scene in which he subordinates himself to the Devil appears on the north tympanum of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris.[5]

The origin of Faust's name and persona remains unclear.[dubious ] In the Historia Brittonum, Faustus is the offspring of an incestuous marriage between king Vortigern and Vortigern's own daughter.[6]

The character is ostensibly based on Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540), a magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen, Württemberg, who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509, but the legendary Faust has also been connected with Johann 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] and Leo Ruickbie[10] contest many of these[which?] previous assumptions.[clarification needed]

The character in Polish folklore named Pan Twardowski 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 in Kraków 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 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'sche Faustbuch (1599)
  • Dr. Fausts großer und gewaltiger Höllenzwang (Frankfurt 1609)
  • Dr. Johannes Faust, Magia naturalis et innaturalis (Passau 1612)
  • Das Pfitzer'sche Faustbuch (1674)
  • Dr. Fausts großer und gewaltiger Meergeist (Amsterdam 1692)
  • Das Wagnerbuch (1714)
  • Faustbuch des Christlich Meynenden (1725)

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 plays Mariken van Nieumeghen (Dutch, early 16th century, author unknown), Cenodoxus (German, early 17th century, by Jacob Bidermann) and The Countess Cathleen (Irish legend of unknown origin believed by some to be taken from the French play Les marchands d'âmes).

Locations linked to the story

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 the Chronik der Grafen von Zimmern, which was written c. 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]

In Christopher 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 the Duchy of Württemberg; others suggest an allusion to Marlowe's own Cambridge (Gill, 2008, p. 5)

Literary adaptations

 

Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

The early 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 (published c. 1604). Marlowe also borrowed from John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, on the exchanges between Pope Adrian VI and a rival pope.

 
Illustration by Harry Clarke for Goethe's Faust

Goethe's Faust

Another important version of the legend is the play Faust, written by the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The first part, which is the one more closely connected to the earlier legend, was published in 1808, the second posthumously in 1832.

Goethe's Faust 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, and Hellenic 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 true essence of life ("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 the classical gods, and meet with Helen 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's Faust is a genuinely classical production, but the idea is a historical idea, and hence every notable historical era will have its own Faust.

Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or, Immediate Stages of the Erotic

Mann's Doctor Faustus

Thomas Mann's 1947 Doktor 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 which Nazism rose in Germany, and Leverkühn's fate is shown as that of the soul of Germany.

Benét's The Devil and Daniel Webster

 
Faust and Lilith by Richard Westall (1831)

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 by Washington Irving. Benet's version of the story centers on a New Hampshire farmer by the name of Jabez Stone who, plagued with unending bad luck, is approached by the devil under the name of Mr. Scratch who offers him seven years of prosperity in exchange for his soul. Jabez Stone is eventually defended by Daniel 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, with Walter Huston as the devil, James Craig as Jabez and Edward Arnold as Webster. It was remade in 2007 as Shortcut to Happiness with Alec Baldwin as Jabez, Anthony Hopkins as Webster and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil.

Selected additional dramatic works

Selected additional novels, stories, poems, and comics

Cinematic adaptations

Early films

  • Faust and Marguerite, a short copyrighted by Edison Manufacturing Co. in 1900[15]
  • Faust, an obscure (now lost) 1921 American silent film directed by Frederick A. Todd[16]
  • Faust, a 14-minute-long 1922 British silent film directed by Challis Sanderson[17]
  • Faust, a 1922 French silent film directed by Gérard Bourgeois, regarded as the first ever 3-D film[17]

Murnau's Faust

F.W. Murnau, director of the classic Nosferatu, directed a silent version of Faust 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.

La Beauté du diable (The Beauty of the Devil)

Directed by René Clair, 1950, La Beauté du diable is an adaptation with Michel Simon as Mephistopheles/Faust as old man, and Gérard Philipe as Faust transformed into a young man.[19]

Phantom of the Paradise

Directed by Brian DePalma, 1974 - A vain rock impresario, who has sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for eternal youth, corrupts and destroys a brilliant but unsuccessful songwriter and a beautiful ingenue.

Mephisto (1981)

Mephisto (1981), directed by István Szabó, portrays an actor in 1930s Germany who aligns himself with the Nazi party for prestige.[20]

Lekce Faust (Faust)

Directed by Jan Švankmajer, 1994 – The source material of Švankmajer's film is the Faust legend; including traditional Czech puppet show versions, this film production uses a variety of cinematic formats, such as stop-motion photography animation and claymation.

Faust

Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov, 2011 – German-language film starring Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinsky, Isolda Dychauk.

American Satan

Directed by Ash Avildsen, 2017 – A rock and roll modern retelling of the Faust legend starring Andy Biersack as Johnny Faust.[21]

The Last Faust

Directed by Philipp Humm, 2019 – a contemporary feature art film directly based on Goethe's Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two.[22] The film is the first filmed version of Faust, I and Faust, II as well as a part of Humm's Gesamtkunstwerk, an art project with over 150 different artworks such as paintings, photos, sculptures, drawings and an illustrated novella.[23][24]

Musical adaptations

 
Feodor Chaliapin as Méphistophélès, 1915

Operatic

The Faust legend has been the basis for several major operas: for a more complete list, visit Works based on Faust

Symphonic

Faust has inspired major musical works in other forms:

Other adaptations

In psychotherapy

Psychodynamic therapy uses the idea of a Faustian bargain to explain defence 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 a false self more amenable to caretakers may offer a viable form of life, but at the expense of one's true emotions and affects.[27] For the psychotic, a Faustian bargain with an omnipotent self can offer the imaginary refuge of a psychic retreat at the price of living in unreality.[28]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Faustian" – 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; "a Faustian pact with the Devil". http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Faustian
  2. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainPhillips, Walter Alison (1911). "Faust". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 211.
  3. ^ "Christopher Marlowe". Biography. from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  4. ^ An 1875 edition is at: Coincy, Par Gautier de; Par M L'Abbé Poquet (1857). Les miracles de la Sainte Vierge (in French). Parmantier/Didron.
  5. ^ See, for example, this photo at: Ballegeer, Stephen (5 August 2006). "Notre-Dame, Paris: Portal on the north transept". flickr. from the original on 2016-11-29.
  6. ^ Nennius (2006). History of the Britons. Translated by J. A. Giles. Project Gutenberg.
  7. ^ Meggs, Philip B.; Purvis, Alston W. (May 10, 2016). Meggs' History of Graphic Design (Fourth ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-1187-7205-8.
  8. ^ Jensen, Eric (Autumn 1982). "Liszt, Nerval, and "Faust"". 19th-Century Music. University of California Press. 6 (2): 153. doi:10.2307/746273. JSTOR 746273.
  9. ^ Baron, Frank (1978). Doctor Faustus, from History to Legend. Wilhelm Fink Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7705-1539-4.
  10. ^ Ruickbie, Leo (2009). Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5090-9.
  11. ^ Schamschula, Walter (1992). "Pan Twardowski: The Polish Variant of the Faust Legend in Slavic Literatures: A Study in Motif History". In Birnbaum, Henrik; Eekman, Thomas; McLean, Hugh (eds.). California Slavic Studies: Volume 14. University of California Press. pp. 209–231. ISBN 9780520070257.
  12. ^ Geiges, Leif (1981). Faust's Tod in Staufen: Sage – Dokumente. Freiburg im Breisgau: Kehrer Verlag KG.
  13. ^ Goethe, Faust, Part Two, lines 12101–12110, translation: David Luke, Oxford World Classics, ISBN 978-0-1995-3620-7.
  14. ^ Pagel, Louis. Doctor Faustus of the popular legend Marlowe, the Puppet-Play, Goethe, and Lenau, treated historically and critically. p. 46.
  15. ^ "Faust and Marguerite". Library of Congress. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  17. ^ a b Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 249.ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  18. ^ "F.W. Murnau | German director". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  19. ^ Khan, Imran (18 November 2013). "'The Beauty and the Devil' and the Visual Feast". PopMatters. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  20. ^ Cunningham, John (2014). The Cinema of István Szabó: Visions of Europe. New York City: Columbia University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-231-17199-1.
  21. ^ "American Satan (2017)". from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  22. ^ "The Last Faust". www.imdb.com. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  23. ^ Feay, Suzi (2019-11-29). "The Last Faust: Steven Berkoff stars in Philipp Humm's take on Goethe". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  24. ^ Humm, Philipp. "The Last Faust - Ein Gesamtkunstwerk". philipphumm.art. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  25. ^ Malone, Paul M. Faust as Rock Opera in Icons of Modern Culture Series (2004)
  26. ^ Maierhofer, Waltraut Devilishly good: Rudolf Volz's Rock Opera Faust and Event Culture in Music in Goethe's Faust, Goethe's Faust in Music (2017)
  27. ^ Fosha, Diana (May 5, 2000). The Transforming Power of Affect: A Model For Accelerated Change. Basic Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-4650-9567-4.
  28. ^ Williams, Paul (2001). A Language for Psychosis: Psychoanalysis of Psychotic States. Taylor & Francis. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-4159-3325-4.

Sources

  • Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, edited and with an introduction by Sylvan Barnet. Signet Classics, 1969.
  • J. Scheible, Das Kloster (1840s).

Further reading

  • The Faustian Century: German Literature and Culture in the Age of Luther and Faustus. Ed. J. M. van der Laan and Andrew Weeks. Camden House, 2013. ISBN 978-1571135520
  • A philosophical interpretation: Seung, T.K. Cultural Thematics: The Formation of the Faustian Ethos. Yale University Press. 1976. ISBN 978-0300019186

External links

faust, this, article, about, german, legendary, character, other, uses, disambiguation, protagonist, classic, german, legend, based, historical, johann, georg, 1480, 1540, jean, paul, laurens, 1876, goethe, decorated, rudolf, seitz, large, german, edition, 51x. This article is about the German legendary character For other uses see Faust disambiguation Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust c 1480 1540 Dr Fausto by Jean Paul Laurens 1876 Faust by Goethe decorated by Rudolf Seitz large German edition 51x38cm The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures The Faust legend has been the basis for many 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 the Holy Scriptures behind the door and under the bench refused to be called doctor of theology but preferred to be styled doctor of medicine 2 Plays and comic puppet theatre loosely based on this legend were popular throughout Germany in the 16th century often reducing Faust and Mephistopheles to figures of vulgar fun The story was popularised in England by Christopher Marlowe who gave it a classic treatment in his play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus c 1592 3 In Goethe s reworking of the story over two hundred years later Faust becomes a dissatisfied intellectual who yearns for more than earthly meat and drink in his life Contents 1 Summary of the story 2 Sources 3 Locations linked to the story 4 Literary adaptations 4 1 Marlowe s Doctor Faustus 4 2 Goethe s Faust 4 3 Mann s Doctor Faustus 4 4 Benet s The Devil and Daniel Webster 4 5 Selected additional dramatic works 4 6 Selected additional novels stories poems and comics 5 Cinematic adaptations 5 1 Early films 5 2 Murnau s Faust 5 3 La Beaute du diable The Beauty of the Devil 5 4 Phantom of the Paradise 5 5 Mephisto 1981 5 6 Lekce Faust Faust 5 7 Faust 5 8 American Satan 5 9 The Last Faust 6 Musical adaptations 6 1 Operatic 6 2 Symphonic 6 3 Other adaptations 7 In psychotherapy 8 See also 9 Notes 10 Sources 11 Further reading 12 External linksSummary of the story EditFaust is unsatisfied with his life as a scholar and becomes depressed After an attempt to take his own life he calls on the Devil 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 In Goethe 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 held for murder However Gretchen s innocence saves her in the end and she enters Heaven after execution 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 the eternal feminine However in the early tales Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven when the term ends the Devil carries him off to Hell Sources Edit Pan Twardowski and the devil by Michal Elwiro Andriolli The Polish folklore legend bears many similarities to the story of Faust The tale of Faust bears many similarities to the Theophilus legend recorded in the 13th century writer Gautier de Coincy s Les 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 4 A depiction of the scene in which he subordinates himself to the Devil appears on the north tympanum of the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris 5 The origin of Faust s name and persona remains unclear dubious discuss In the Historia Brittonum Faustus is the offspring of an incestuous marriage between king Vortigern and Vortigern s own daughter 6 The character is ostensibly based on Johann Georg Faust c 1480 1540 a magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen Wurttemberg who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509 but the legendary Faust has also been connected with Johann 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 and Leo Ruickbie 10 contest many of these which previous assumptions clarification needed The character in Polish folklore named Pan Twardowski 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 in Krakow 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 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 sche Faustbuch 1599 Dr Fausts grosser und gewaltiger Hollenzwang Frankfurt 1609 Dr Johannes Faust Magia naturalis et innaturalis Passau 1612 Das Pfitzer sche Faustbuch 1674 Dr Fausts grosser und gewaltiger Meergeist Amsterdam 1692 Das Wagnerbuch 1714 Faustbuch des Christlich Meynenden 1725 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 plays Mariken van Nieumeghen Dutch early 16th century author unknown Cenodoxus German early 17th century by Jacob Bidermann and The Countess Cathleen Irish legend of unknown origin believed by some to be taken from the French play Les marchands d ames Locations linked to the story EditStaufen 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 the Chronik der Grafen von Zimmern which was written c 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 In Christopher 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 the Duchy of Wurttemberg others suggest an allusion to Marlowe s own Cambridge Gill 2008 p 5 Literary adaptations Edit Marlowe Faustus in the Huntington Library San Marino California Marlowe s Doctor Faustus Edit The early 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 published c 1604 Marlowe also borrowed from John Foxe s Book of Martyrs on the exchanges between Pope Adrian VI and a rival pope Illustration by Harry Clarke for Goethe s Faust Goethe s Faust Edit Main article Goethe s Faust Another important version of the legend is the play Faust written by the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The first part which is the one more closely connected to the earlier legend was published in 1808 the second posthumously in 1832 Goethe s Faust 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 and Hellenic 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 true essence of life was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhalt 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 the classical gods and meet with Helen 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 s Faust is a genuinely classical production but the idea is a historical idea and hence every notable historical era will have its own Faust Soren Kierkegaard Either Or Immediate Stages of the Erotic Mann s Doctor Faustus Edit Thomas Mann s 1947 Doktor Faustus Das Leben des deutschen Tonsetzers Adrian Leverkuhn erzahlt von einem Freunde adapts the Faust legend to a 20th century context documenting the life of fictional composer Adrian Leverkuhn as analog and embodiment of the early 20th century history of Germany and of Europe The talented Leverkuhn 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 Leverkuhn s spiritual mental and physical collapse and degradation are mapped on to the period in which Nazism rose in Germany and Leverkuhn s fate is shown as that of the soul of Germany Benet s The Devil and Daniel Webster Edit Faust and Lilith by Richard Westall 1831 Stephen Vincent Benet 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 by Washington Irving Benet s version of the story centers on a New Hampshire farmer by the name of Jabez Stone who plagued with unending bad luck is approached by the devil under the name of Mr Scratch who offers him seven years of prosperity in exchange for his soul Jabez Stone is eventually defended by Daniel 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 with Walter Huston as the devil James Craig as Jabez and Edward Arnold as Webster It was remade in 2007 as Shortcut to Happiness with Alec Baldwin as Jabez Anthony Hopkins as Webster and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil Selected additional dramatic works Edit Faust 1836 by Nikolaus Lenau 14 Faust 1839 Ludwig Hermann Wolfram Doctor Faust Dance Poem 1851 by Heinrich Heine Faust The Third Part of the Tragedy 1862 by Friedrich Theodor Vischer The Death of Doctor Faustus 1925 by Michel de Ghelderode Mephisto 1933 Klaus Mann Faust a Subjective Tragedy 1934 by Fernando Pessoa Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights 1938 by Gertrude Stein My Faust 1940 by Paul Valery Faust 67 1969 by Tommaso Landolfi Doctor Faustus 1979 by Don Nigro Temptation 1985 by Vaclav Havel Translated by Marie Winn Faustus 2004 by David Mamet Wittenberg 2008 by David Davalos Faust 2009 by Edgar Brau Faust 3 2016 by Peter Schumann Bread and Puppet Theater Il Dottor Faust 2018 by Menotti LerroSelected additional novels stories poems and comics Edit The Devil and Tom Walker 1824 by Washington Irving Faust 1855 novella by Ivan Turgenev The Cobbler and the Devil 1863 by August Senoa Fausto 1866 by Estanislao del Campo The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant 1954 by Douglass Wallop adapts the Faust theme to baseball The Recognitions 1955 by William Gaddis The Master and Margarita 1967 by Mikhail Bulgakov The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891 by Oscar Wilde Faust manga 1950 adaptation by Osamu Tezuka Faust 1980 by Robert Nye Mefisto 1986 by John Banville Faust comics 1987 2012 series of comic books by David Quinn amp Tim Vigil Eric 1990 by Terry Pratchett Jack Faust 1997 by Michael Swanwick Waves 2009 novel by Ogan Gurel Both Sides Now 2013 science fiction novella adaptation by Thomas Wm Hamilton Frau Faust 2014 Present by Kore Yamazaki Soul Cartel 2014 2017 by Haram and Youngji Kim Teeth in the Mist 2019 by Dawn Kurtagich This Ruler 2019 novel by Mark Duff Character Dr Stufa an anagram of Faust Faz amp Mef And Some Christmas Card Stories 2020 short story by John Thomas Faust as a young chemistry student out to feed the world The Master s Apprentice 2020 by Oliver Potzsch The Devil s Pawn 2021 by Oliver PotzschCinematic adaptations EditEarly films Edit Faust and Marguerite a short copyrighted by Edison Manufacturing Co in 1900 15 Faust an obscure now lost 1921 American silent film directed by Frederick A Todd 16 Faust a 14 minute long 1922 British silent film directed by Challis Sanderson 17 Faust a 1922 French silent film directed by Gerard Bourgeois regarded as the first ever 3 D film 17 Murnau s Faust Edit F W Murnau director of the classic Nosferatu directed a silent version of Faust 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 La Beaute du diable The Beauty of the Devil Edit Directed by Rene Clair 1950 La Beaute du diable is an adaptation with Michel Simon as Mephistopheles Faust as old man and Gerard Philipe as Faust transformed into a young man 19 Phantom of the Paradise Edit Directed by Brian DePalma 1974 A vain rock impresario who has sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for eternal youth corrupts and destroys a brilliant but unsuccessful songwriter and a beautiful ingenue Mephisto 1981 Edit Mephisto 1981 directed by Istvan Szabo portrays an actor in 1930s Germany who aligns himself with the Nazi party for prestige 20 Lekce Faust Faust Edit Directed by Jan Svankmajer 1994 The source material of Svankmajer s film is the Faust legend including traditional Czech puppet show versions this film production uses a variety of cinematic formats such as stop motion photography animation and claymation Faust Edit Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov 2011 German language film starring Johannes Zeiler Anton Adasinsky Isolda Dychauk American Satan Edit Directed by Ash Avildsen 2017 A rock and roll modern retelling of the Faust legend starring Andy Biersack as Johnny Faust 21 The Last Faust Edit Directed by Philipp Humm 2019 a contemporary feature art film directly based on Goethe s Faust Part One and Faust Part Two 22 The film is the first filmed version of Faust I and Faust II as well as a part of Humm s Gesamtkunstwerk an art project with over 150 different artworks such as paintings photos sculptures drawings and an illustrated novella 23 24 Musical adaptations Edit Feodor Chaliapin as Mephistopheles 1915 Operatic Edit The Faust legend has been the basis for several major operas for a more complete list visit Works based on Faust Mefistofele the only completed opera by Arrigo Boito Doktor Faust begun by Ferruccio Busoni and completed by his pupil Philipp Jarnach Faust by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre from Carre s play Faust et Marguerite in turn loosely based on Goethe s Faust Part 1 Faust Spohr one of the earliest operatic adaptations of the story with separate versions premiering in 1816 and 1852 respectively Hector Berlioz s La Damnation de Faust 1846 Havergal Brian s Faust 1955 6 set on Part I and in German Alfred Schnittke s Historia von D Johann Fausten composed between 1983 1994 and premiered in 1995 Rudolf Volz s Rock Opera Faust with original lyrics by Goethe 1997 25 26 Symphonic Edit Faust has inspired major musical works in other forms Faust Overture by Richard Wagner Scenes from Goethe s Faust by Robert Schumann Faust Symphony by Franz Liszt Symphony No 8 by Gustav Mahler Histoire du soldat by Igor StravinskyOther adaptations Edit Faust was the title and inspiration of Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps 2006 show Faustian Echoes by American black metal band Agalloch Faust Arp by English rock band Radiohead From the album In Rainbows The Small Print by English rock band Muse From the album Absolution Originally titled Action Faust it is an interpretation of the tale from the Devil s perspective Bohemian Rhapsody by English rock band Queen From the album A Night at the Opera Faust by singer songwriter Paul Williams from the original soundtrack of The Phantom of the Paradise Faust by English virtual band Gorillaz From the album G Sides Absinthe with Faust by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth From the album Nymphetamine Urfaust The Calling The Oath Conjuring the Cull and The Harrowing by American death metal band Misery Index The first five tracks from the album The Killing Gods A five song modern interpretation of Goethe s Faust Epica and The Black Halo by international power metal band Kamelot A two album interpretation of the tale Faust by American metalcore band The Human Abstract From the album Digital Veil Faust by horrorcore rapper SickTanicK feat Texas Microphone Massacre From the album Chapter 3 Awake The Ministry of Hate Faust Midas and Myself by American alternative rock band Switchfoot From the album Oh Gravity The Faustian Alchemist by Finnish black metal band Belzebubs From the album Pantheon of the Nightside Gods Randy Newman s Faust A rock opera written and co produced by Randy Newman with Don Henley as Faust Randy Newman as the devil James Taylor as the Lord Bonnie Raitt as Martha and Linda Ronstadt as Margaret Damn Yankees is a 1954 musical adaptation of the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant which set the Faust theme in the world of mid 20th century American baseball The stage musical was adapted to film in 1958 and for television in 1967 Crossroads starring Ralph Macchio as the Daniel Webster like savior of an elderly Blues harpist Faust a character from the video game franchise Guilty Gear Bard Guldvik Faust Eithun Norwegian drummer and convicted murderer known primarily for his work for black metal band Emperor In psychotherapy EditPsychodynamic therapy uses the idea of a Faustian bargain to explain defence 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 a false self more amenable to caretakers may offer a viable form of life but at the expense of one s true emotions and affects 27 For the psychotic a Faustian bargain with an omnipotent self can offer the imaginary refuge of a psychic retreat at the price of living in unreality 28 See also EditShinigami an Edo period rakugo work with a similar premise Jonathan Moulton also known as the Yankee Faust Robert Johnson Puella Magi Madoka Magica an anime franchise significantly inspired by Faust The Little Mermaid the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen that has a similar plot and themes and is often considered a child friendly retelling Notes Edit Faustian 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 a Faustian pact with the Devil http www thefreedictionary com Faustian One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Phillips Walter Alison 1911 Faust In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 10 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 211 Christopher Marlowe Biography Archived from the original on 23 March 2018 Retrieved 5 May 2018 An 1875 edition is at Coincy Par Gautier de Par M L Abbe Poquet 1857 Les miracles de la Sainte Vierge in French Parmantier Didron See for example this photo at Ballegeer Stephen 5 August 2006 Notre Dame Paris Portal on the north transept flickr Archived from the original on 2016 11 29 Nennius 2006 History of the Britons Translated by J A Giles Project Gutenberg Meggs Philip B Purvis Alston W May 10 2016 Meggs History of Graphic Design Fourth ed Hoboken NJ John Wiley amp Sons p 73 ISBN 978 1 1187 7205 8 Jensen Eric Autumn 1982 Liszt Nerval and Faust 19th Century Music University of California Press 6 2 153 doi 10 2307 746273 JSTOR 746273 Baron Frank 1978 Doctor Faustus from History to Legend Wilhelm Fink Verlag ISBN 978 3 7705 1539 4 Ruickbie Leo 2009 Faustus The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician The History Press ISBN 978 0 7509 5090 9 Schamschula Walter 1992 Pan Twardowski The Polish Variant of the Faust Legend in Slavic Literatures A Study in Motif History In Birnbaum Henrik Eekman Thomas McLean Hugh eds California Slavic Studies Volume 14 University of California Press pp 209 231 ISBN 9780520070257 Geiges Leif 1981 Faust s Tod in Staufen Sage Dokumente Freiburg im Breisgau Kehrer Verlag KG Goethe Faust Part Two lines 12101 12110 translation David Luke Oxford World Classics ISBN 978 0 1995 3620 7 Pagel Louis Doctor Faustus of the popular legend Marlowe the Puppet Play Goethe and Lenau treated historically and critically p 46 Faust and Marguerite Library of Congress Retrieved June 1 2022 Workman Christopher Howarth Troy 2016 Tome of Terror Horror Films of the Silent Era Midnight Marquee Press p 235 ISBN 978 1936168 68 2 a b Workman Christopher Howarth Troy 2016 Tome of Terror Horror Films of the Silent Era Midnight Marquee Press p 249 ISBN 978 1936168 68 2 F W Murnau German director Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 2019 06 16 Khan Imran 18 November 2013 The Beauty and the Devil and the Visual Feast PopMatters Retrieved 12 March 2021 Cunningham John 2014 The Cinema of Istvan Szabo Visions of Europe New York City Columbia University Press p 157 ISBN 978 0 231 17199 1 American Satan 2017 Archived from the original on 5 May 2018 Retrieved 5 May 2018 via www imdb com The Last Faust www imdb com 2 December 2019 Retrieved 2019 12 12 Feay Suzi 2019 11 29 The Last Faust Steven Berkoff stars in Philipp Humm s take on Goethe Financial Times London Archived from the original on 2022 12 10 Retrieved 2019 12 31 Humm Philipp The Last Faust Ein Gesamtkunstwerk philipphumm art Retrieved 2019 12 31 Malone Paul M Faust as Rock Opera in Icons of Modern Culture Series 2004 Maierhofer Waltraut Devilishly good Rudolf Volz s Rock Opera Faust and Event Culture in Music in Goethe s Faust Goethe s Faust in Music 2017 Fosha Diana May 5 2000 The Transforming Power of Affect A Model For Accelerated Change Basic Books p 83 ISBN 978 0 4650 9567 4 Williams Paul 2001 A Language for Psychosis Psychoanalysis of Psychotic States Taylor amp Francis p 23 ISBN 978 0 4159 3325 4 Sources EditDoctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe edited and with an introduction by Sylvan Barnet Signet Classics 1969 J Scheible Das Kloster 1840s Further reading EditThe Faustian Century German Literature and Culture in the Age of Luther and Faustus Ed J M van der Laan and Andrew Weeks Camden House 2013 ISBN 978 1571135520 A philosophical interpretation Seung T K Cultural Thematics The Formation of the Faustian Ethos Yale University Press 1976 ISBN 978 0300019186External links EditFaust BBC Radio 4 discussion with Juliette Wood Osman Durrani amp Rosemary Ashton In Our Time Dec 23 2004 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Faust amp oldid 1151893057, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.