Information AboutFaust |
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(circa 1650 )]] Faust ( German for " Fist ") or '''Faustus''' ( Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky") is the protagonist of a classic German Legend in which a medieval scholar makes a Pact With The Devil . The tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works, such as those by Christopher Marlowe , Goethe , Thomas Mann , Hector Berlioz , Franz Liszt , Oscar Wilde and Charles Gounod . The name "Faust" has come to stand for a Charlatan Alchemist (some claim " Astrologer and Necromancer ") whose pride and vanity lead to his doom. Similarly, the adjective " Faustian " has come to denote acts or constellations involving human Hubris which lead eventually to doom. HISTORICAL FAUST See Also: Johann Georg Faust The origin of Faust's name and persona remains unclear, though it is widely assumed to be based on the figure of German Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540), a dubious magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen , Württemberg , who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. According to one account, Faust's infamy became legendary while he was in prison, where in exchange for wine he "offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of Arsenic , which removed not only the hair but the flesh" ( Barnett ). In Polish Folklore there is a tale with a Pan Twardowski in a role similar to Faust's, and seems to have originated at roughly the same time. It is unclear if and to what extent the two tales have a common origin or influenced each other. The figure of Pan Twardowski is supposedly based on a 16th Century German emigrant to Kraków , then the Polish capital, possibly John Dee or Edward Kelley . According to Melanchthon, the historic Johann Faust had studied in Kraków, as well. SOURCES OF THE FAUST LEGEND See Also: Faust chapbooks The first recorded ''Faust'' committed to print is a little Chapbook bearing the title ''Historia von D. Iohan Fausten'' published in 1587 . The book was re-edited and plagiarised throughout the 17th century.
With Marlowe's The Tragical History Of Doctor Faustus of 1604, it also received an early literary treatment. Plays and comic puppet theatre loosely based on the legend were popular throughout Germany, often reducing Faust to a figure of vulgar fun. The 1725 chapbook was widely circulated, and also read by the young Goethe . It has been suggested Jacob Bidermann used such an earlier source for his treatment of the legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus (published c. 1602 ). Possibly related tales of a Pact Between Man And The Devil include that of Theophilus Of Adana , and the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century a Dutch play attributed to Anna Bijns , '' Mary Of Nijmegen ''. MARLOWE'S DOCTOR FAUSTUS See Also: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus The early Faust chapbook, while already in circulation in Northern Germany, found its way to England, where it was translated into English by "P. F., Gent {Link without Title} " in 1592 as ''The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus''. It was this work that Christopher Marlowe used for his more ambitious play, '' The Tragical History Of Doctor Faustus '' (published c. 1600 ). Marlowe also borrowed from Acts And Monuments by John Foxe , on the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope. Another possible inspiration of Marlowe's version is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of Alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic. GOETHE'S FAUST See Also: Goethe's Faust Goethe's ''Faust'' inverts and makes greatly more complex 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; ending in a Faust who is saved, carried aloft to heaven, as Mephistopheles looks on. The legend of Faust was an obsession of Goethe's. Although by no means a constant pursuit, the composition and refinement of his own version of the legend occupied him for over sixty years. The final version, not completely published until 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 and power, he attracts the attention of the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles ), with whom Faust makes a deal to serve him until the moment that Faust attains the zenith of human happiness, at which point Mephistopheles may take his soul. Goethe's Faust is pleased with the deal, as he believes the moment will never come. In the first part, Mephistopheles leads Faust through experiences that culminate in a lustful and destructive relationship with an innocent and Nubile woman named Gretchen. Gretchen and her family are destroyed by Mephistopheles' deceptions and Faust's desires and actions. The story ends in tragedy as Gretchen is saved and Faust is left in shame. The second part begins with the spirits of the earth forgiving Faust (and the rest of mankind) and progresses into rich allegorical poetry. Faust and his devil pass through the world of politics and the world of the classical gods, and meet with Helen Of Troy (the personification of beauty). Finally, having succeeded in taming the very forces of war and nature Faust experiences a single moment of happiness. The devil Mephistopheles, trying to grab Faust's soul when he dies, is frustrated as the Lord intervenes – recognizing the value of Faust's unending striving. Goethe's ''Faust'' was the source material for at least two successful operas: '' Faust '' by Charles Gounod and '' Mefistofele '' by Arrigo Boito ; and major works for soloists, chorus and orchestra such as the "dramatic legend" '' The Damnation Of Faust '' by Hector Berlioz , Robert Schumann 's '' Scenes From Goethe's Faust '' and the second part of Gustav Mahler 's Symphony No. 8 . OTHER FAUSTS - "Faustus" was also an anti-Christian adversary in some of Saint Augustine 's writings. - Doctor Faustus (Thomas Mann Novel) - The Amercian Modernist Gertrude Stein wrote the Libretto for an operatic version of the Faust legend, '' Doctor Faustus Lights The Lights '' (1938), in which Faustus struggles with modernist anxieties about the Enlightenment ; he sells his soul for the knowledge of how to make "white electric light", with which he inadvertently abolishes the difference between day and night, eventually falling into a perpetual darkness. The text has been staged by many of the United States Avant-garde theatre artists. - Randy Newman wrote a modern musical version of the Faust story similar to Goethe's, in which God and the Devil vie for the sole of Henry Faust, a schizophrenic college student. See Randy Newman's Faust . -The computer game Seven Games Of The Soul is also known as Faust, and features an old black man named Marcellus Faust as its protagonist. The plot of the game has Faust investigating the lives of various members of a carnival and judging them while attempting to confound Mephisto, a version of Mephistopheles. - In the Legacy Of Kain game series, Blood Omen 2 features a vampire named Faustus, who is an enemy of Kain , the game's main character. - In the manga and anime Shaman King , one of the characters is a descendant of Faust. He learns necromancy from his ancestor's writings, and uses it to control skeletons and his dead wife's body. He seeks to gain power to bring his wife back from the dead. - In 2003 the Russia n Progressive Rock band Little Tragedies released a double Concept Album called ''New Faust'', where Faust is not only the character of a national drama who is conflicting with the society, but also a man of the universe seeking ways to clean his soul and acquire a spirit. - In 2006 The Phantom Regiment drum and bugle corps devoted their show to the emotional story of Faust, which it is also named for. - In the Video Game Guilty Gear , A character named Faust is displayed as a tall man wearing a brown bag over his head. His dress and choice of weapon (A giant Scalpel) indicate him as a doctor. - Switchfoot 's CD Oh! Gravity has a song entitled "Faust, Midas, and Myself". - In the book, play and film ''Thursday's Fictions'', a character named Wednesday is offered eternal life in a Faustian bargain by the antagonist, Saturday , but he turns her down. Keith Gallasch, ''Dancefilm: Spiritual Odyssey', RealTime 80, August-September 2007, accessed September 5, 2007: ''Allen puts the film’s narrative into spiritual perspective: “Thursday was searching for eternal life through her dancers, through personal immortality, a western version of the eastern notion of reincarnation. Wednesday is offered immortality by Saturday as a Faustian bargain: ‘I’ll give you the dancers and what your mother wanted.’ But Wednesday says, ‘No, I’m just going to be in the moment with the dancers and preserve them but I don’t need to go on. Wednesday can let go, and he can die.”'' SEE ALSO
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