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By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) A Study Guide |
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. Plot Summary, Part 1 By Michael J. Cummings...© 2004 ........In heaven the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael exalt the Lord and all creation. But Satan, called Mephistopheles, decries the works of the Lord–in particular humankind–as he always does. ........Then the Lord asks, “Do you know Faust?” ........“The doctor?” Mephistopheles says. ........“Indeed.” ........Faust is a scholar and wizard whose good works as a university teacher and as a physician to the downtrodden have earned him heaven. He is proof that the world has worthy men. But Mephistopheles mocks Faust for his dedication to God and suggests that his ceaseless thirst for knowledge is a weakness that could cost him his eternal soul. The Lord concedes that Faust is in turmoil over his attempts to understand the deepest mysteries of the universe. But, the Lord says, “I will one day lead him to the place of heavenly light.” Taking that statement as a challenge, Mephistopheles wagers that he can bend the will of Faust away from God–presumably by providing him the knowledge he seeks–and thereby win his soul for all eternity. ........It’s a bet. The Lord grants Mephistopheles permission to tempt Faust, saying that even in his darkest moment Faust will be conscious of the righteous path. ........The scene switches to earth–to Faust’s study. Faust laments that though he has studied philosophy, medicine, law, and theology he really knows nothing about the inner workings of the universe. Even his magic–powerful as it is–fails to lift the veil of mystery. On the brink of despair, he considers suicide. However, it is Easter morning, a time of hope and renewal, and the hubbub of strollers passing a  window
distracts him and tempers his gloom. With his assistant, Wagner, he takes
a walk in the invigorating spring air. An ominous black poodle circles
them warily, then follows them home. In his study, Faust reads from a Bible–In
the beginning was the Word (from the Gospel
of John, Chapter 1, Verse 1)–causing the dog to bark and howl.
Realizing it is possessed, he recites magical words that force the supernatural
presence to manifest itself. It is Mephistopheles, who appears in the garb
of a scholar. Although Mephistopheles does not immediately reveal himself,
Faust guesses his identity. They talk philosophy and, as the visit concludes,
Faust invites him to return. Spirits conjured by Mephistopheles then sing
Faust to sleep and make him dream of earthly pleasures.
........The following day, Mephistopheles offers to show Faust the secrets of the world and let him experience the profoundest pleasures. In return, when Faust dies, he must surrender his immortal soul to Mephistopheles. Faust agrees on one condition: The adventure must culminate in a moment when he experiences the highest, most exquisite pleasure attainable by man. After Mephistopheles accepts the condition, they sign a pact in blood. Faust believes he has struck a bargain, for he doubts that human souls live eternally. Moreover, because his present life is miserable, what does he have to lose? ........Off they go, traveling through the air. They first visit Auerbach’s Cellar, a tavern in Leipzig (Goethe frequented a Leipzig tavern called Auerbach's), where four men are drinking and singing. Taking a gimlet from the landlord’s toolbox, Mephistopheles bores holes in a table and makes wines flow from them into the glasses of the revelers. They are delighted at first. But when spilled wine turns to fire, they accuse him of sorcery and attack him with knives. Mephistopheles parries with a spell that transfixes the men; they believe they are in a vineyard. After lifting the spell, he disappears with Faust, leaving the men dumbfounded. But the experience only disgusts Faust; playing tricks on drunkards is not his idea of ennobling activity. ........Mephistopheles decides it is time to shock Faust with a genuinely extraordinary experience: regaining his youth. After they materialize in the kitchen of a witch, where four monkeys sit at a bubbling cauldron, Faust–gloomy and downcast in the eerie surroundings–suddenly quickens with excitement when he stares into a looking-glass. Gazing back at him is a wondrously beautiful woman. Oh, to be young again! Oh, to experience and fulfill youthful longings. ........When the cauldron boils over, flames shoot up the chimney and scorch the witch as she descends from above. After scolding a female monkey tending the cauldron, she notices her visitors and is overjoyed to learn that one of them is her master, the devil himself. Eager to do his bidding, she concocts a magical liquor that will erase thirty years from Faust’s life. When he drinks it, he instantly becomes a handsome young nobleman, and Mephistopheles says that henceforth every woman whom he meets will look to him like Helen of Troy. (In writing the witch scene, Goethe drew inspiration from Shakespeare's Macbeth–in which witches tempt Macbeth to commit murder–and mythological accounts of Helen of Troy, the incomparably beautiful wife of a Greek king whose abduction by a Trojan started the Trojan War.) ........Out on a street, Faust becomes infatuated with a passerby, Margaret, who is nicknamed Gretchen. When he confronts her, she demurely turns away and walks on even though Faust intrigues her. Faust vows to seduce this comely maiden. When she visits her neighbor Martha, he steals into Gretchen's room and leaves her a casket of jewelry provided by Mephistopheles. Later, when she returns and discovers the casket, its contents–a chain, gems, and earrings–dazzle her, but her mother regards them as suspect and donates them to a priest to adorn a shrine of the Virgin Mary. Mephistopheles curses this turn of events and ridicules the church as a devourer of wealth. Meanwhile, Margaret wonders about the gift-giver. Who was he, an admirer? Faust asks for more jewels, and Mephistopheles provides them. ........After Margaret receives them, she keeps them a secret from her mother. Thanks to the machinations of Mephistopheles, Faust meets Margaret and woos her in a garden at Martha’s house while Mephistopheles dallies with Martha. Margaret is overcome with joy that a young nobleman finds her attractive. Faust, meanwhile, is torn between love and lust, but Mephistopheles sees to it that lust conquers. Soon, Faust and Margaret lie together, and she becomes pregnant. Faust, however, has disappeared, and Margaret–though pining for him–regrets her sinful behavior. She prays for forgiveness to the Mother of Sorrows, the Virgin Mary. ........Eventually, Faust yearns anew for Margaret's body. When he and Mephistopheles return to her home, Margaret’s brother, Valentine–angry over the theft of her sister’s virginity–confronts them. In a sword fight, Faust kills Valentine. But the commotion has attracted neighbors, and Faust and Mephistopheles flee. ........A year passes. Faust–still eager for knowledge and experience–descends to a new low when he attends an annual nocturnal gathering of sorcerers and evil spirits, called Walpurgis-nacht (Walpurgis Night), in the Harz mountain chain of Germany between the Weser and Elbe Rivers. (According to German folklore, Walpurgis-nacht occurred on April 30 on Brocken Mountain, a 3,747-foot granite mountain in the Harz chain. Walpurgis derives from the name of a Roman Catholic saint, Walburga, an English-born Benedictine nun who ministered in Germany in the Eighth Century. After she died, some Germans mistakenly identified her with Waldborg, a goddess of fertility.) ........But a fraction of his former self surfaces when he thinks of poor Margaret (Gretchen) and has a vision that she has been imprisoned. Guilt-ridden, he persuades Mephistopheles to help him rescue her. After riding magic steeds to the prison in darkest night, they gain entry to a dungeon–thanks to Mephistopheles’ wiles–and Faust enters her cell. Sitting in a bed of straw in a corner, she awaits execution for drowning the baby that Faust fathered, an act that has driven her insane with guilt. But she regains her sanity upon recognizing Faust’s voice. When she rises, her chains miraculously fall off. Dawn creeps toward the horizon, and Faust urges her to flee with him. However, though fearing death, she refuses to leave, realizing that she must pay for her crime. When Mephistopheles appears, she perceives him as an evil spirit and throws herself on the mercy of God, begging angels to descend from heaven to protect her. A voice from above says, “She is redeemed.” Mephistopheles and Faust disappear. . By Michael J. Cummings...© 2004 ........Faust reclines at twilight in a verdant field. Spirits of the air circle about him, singing and playing harps. For a moment, he knows peace and tranquillity. ........In the morning, he awakens with renewed vigor and the will to carry on–but at a measured, less impassioned pace. Meanwhile, Mephistopheles masquerades as the new court jester of an emperor in deep financial distress that threatens to undo him. Mephistopheles points out that the country is rich in unmined gold, and ears come to attention. But further details about the country’s buried wealth are interrupted by an entertainment. ........In the morning, while the emperor basks in his sun garden with members of his court, a marshal reports that the financial crisis has ended. When Faust and Mephistopheles–no longer disguised as a jester–present themselves to the emperor moments later, the emperor’s treasurer credits them for the miraculous financial turnaround. It seems that paper money, backed by the gold reserves in the ground, has appeared all over the country. Everyone rejoices. ........Later, in a dark walkway, Faust tells Mephistopheles that the emperor wants him to conjure the spirits of Paris and Helen of Troy. “We made the emperor rich,” Faust says, “and now we must amuse him.” Mephistopheles says Faust can acquire the power to work such a wonder from the Eternal Mothers, who live deep within the earth. He gives Faust a magic key that transports him to their abode. ........When he returns to the court, Faust performs the task, causing the images of Paris, Helen, and a Greek temple to appear. Helen’s beauty overwhelms Faust. When he tries to enter the scene, an explosion knocks him unconscious and the images disappear. So, too, does the emperor and his court, for Faust–still unconscious–now lies on a couch at his home. ........Meanwhile, Wagner has been working magic of his own. While conducting laboratory experiments, he has created a tiny man–small enough to fit into a phial–named Homunculus. When the creature hovers over Faust, he sees into his dreams of Greece and Helen and warns Mephistopheles not to awaken him; the shock of finding himself in his mundane surroundings could kill him. Instead, Faust must be taken to Greece for participation in a festival celebrated by the spirits of Greek myth. There will be sensuous witches to entertain Mephistopheles. All but Wagner then ride the wind to Greece. ........Their destination is the plain of Pharsalus, where Caesar defeated Pompey in 48 B.C. in a decisive battle during the Roman Civil War. Erichtho, a witch of Thessaly, roams the fields. There, the phantoms of ancient times have pitched tents and kindled fires under a rising moon. Erichtho sees a strange light in the sky, heralding the arrival of Faust and his companions. ........After they go their separate ways, Faust meets Chiron the centaur (mythological creature that was half-man and half-horse). Chiron is wiser than most humans and was a tutor of Hercules, Achilles, and Asclepius (Greek god of healing). Faust rides on his back while Chiron tells stories of ancient Greece. When Faust describes his adoration of Helen and bids Chiron speak of her, the centaur says he once carried her on his back, like Faust. The centuries have not dimmed her beauty, he says; she remains young, her figure beyond compare. ........Meanwhile, Mephistopheles romps with witches, and Homonculus travels in search of the secret to becoming fully human. (Homunculus may represent the efforts of alchemists to change common metals into gold, develop an elixir that confers perpetual youth, and alter the substance of other ordinary things into something extraordinary.) Two ancient sages–Anaxagoras and Thales–advise him, and they further consult with creatures of myth. Homunculus learns that there is only one way for him to achieve his goal: let time and nature do it for him. So he hurls himself into the sea, there to evolve as did primordial life forms. (This is an interesting foreshadowing of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.) ........Faust and Mephistopheles travel to Sparta, home of King Menelaus, who has returned from the Trojan War with Helen. While he celebrates the Greek conquest of Troy, Helen and a chorus of captive Trojan women fret about what will be done with them. Mephistopheles, in the guise of a hag, tells them Menelaus means to kill them. However, he says, they can save themselves if they submit to the protection of a great lord of the north, who is Faust. Terrified, they flee with Mephistopheles to Faust’s castle. There, over time, Faust woos and wins Helen. ........When Mephistopheles warns that Greek soldiers are marching on the castle, Faust sends his own army against them while he and Helen flee to Arcadia, a pastoral region in southern Greece. There, they live peaceful, secluded lives and raise a son, Euphorion, who is gifted with intelligence and good looks. But because he inherits Faust’s restless curiosity, he yearns to explore beyond the woods and thickets and cliffs that confine him all around. One day, he begins to climb a rock face. Although his parents caution him lest he fall, he continues on, attracted by the roar of the unseen ocean. At the top of the precipice, overcome with the ecstasy of the moment, he hurls himself into the air and, like Icarus of old, achieves momentary flight, then falls to his death. Soon afterward, Euphorion’s voice calls out to Helen from the depths of Hades; he fears abiding the afterlife alone. A mother cannot let the plaints of a child go unanswered, and so she bids farewell to Faust, embracing him for the last time. If Persephone (queen of Hades) must have Euphorion, she must also have Helen. ........While Faust grieves, Mephistopheles importunes him to embark on another adventure, one filled with earthly pleasure. But Faust has changed; he seeks a challenge to test him, and he can think of none better than to reclaim land from the sea and put it to productive use. It so happens, Mephistopheles says, that the same emperor whom they saved from a financial crisis owns such land and needs help in a war. After Mephistopheles and Faust bring him victory, the emperor grants Faust land for his project. ........All goes well and Faust wishes to acquire more property on which an impoverished elderly couple, Baucis and Philemon, live in a cottage. But they refuse to leave even though Faust promises to relocate them to a grande estate. Without Faust’s knowledge, Mephistopheles and his henchmen kill the old couple and burn their property. Faust is deeply remorseful. Four Gray Women born of the smoke and fire visit Faust at midnight. They are Want, Blame, Need, and Care. Three of them warn Faust that he will soon die. Faust tells Care that he now realizes that man cannot know everything about life; he must content himself with limited knowledge. Care then blinds him. But Faust, undaunted, carries on with his project. ........When spirits of the dead under the command of Mephistopheles dig Faust’s grave, Faust’s ears mistakenly tell him that the digging is actually the work of laborers continuing his reclamation project. Overjoyed, he says he is experiencing the great moment he has been looking for all along; it is his profoundest moment of happiness. Mephistopheles misinterprets Faust’s words, thinking he has made good on his promise to give Faust a moment of highest ecstasy. But Faust is happy because his project will benefit humankind, not himself. Faust dies, at age 100, and the Lord claims him for heaven. After angels receive him and escort him to the Virgin Mary, Margaret appears and acts on his behalf. Mary allows him to ascend to the highest realm. Mephistopheles is defeated. .  Characters . Protagonist: Faust Antagonist: Mephistopheles .. The Lord Raphael, Michael, Gabriel Archangels. Faust Scholar, medical doctor, and magician. Mephistopheles The devil. Wagner Faust's assistant. Margaret (Also Called Gretchen) Young woman who attracts Faust. Valentine Brother of Margaret. Martha Margaret's Neighbor. Homonculus Tiny man created by Wagner. Emperor Ruler of a domain saved by Mephistopheles and Faust. Helen of Troy Mythological figure of extraordinary beauty. Euphorion Son of Faust and Helen of Troy. Numerous Other Mythological Figures Witches, Spirits, Soldiers, Students Tavern Revelers . The action takes place in Heaven, on earth on the European continent, and in chimerical locales. . Type of Work and Publication Dates . Faust is both an epic poem and a play. Goethe wrote Faust primarily in verse in a wide range of meters and stanza formats. Part I of Faust was published in 1808; Part II, in 1832. .
Themes
. The climax of a literary work can be defined as (1) the turning point at which the conflict begins to resolve itself for better or worse, or as (2) the final and most important event in a series of events. The climax of Faust occurs, according to the first definition, when the guilt-ridden Faust pities the imprisoned Margaret (Gretchen) and attempts to rescue her. This episode represents a major turning point in his life and foreshadows his ultimate salvation. According to the second definition, the climax occurs when Faust finally realizes his highest moment of happiness–a moment that Mephistopheles promised to give him from the beginning in return for Faust's immortal soul–but Faust's moment of happiness comes when he does good on behalf of humankind, not evil on behalf of his own self-gratification. Consequently, the Lord accepts Faust into heaven. . Influence of the Book of Job . As one of his sources, Goethe used the Book of Job in the Old Testament of the Bible. In Chapter I of that book, Satan challenges the Lord, boasting that he can make Job–an upright, pious, and prosperous servant of God–reject the Lord. The Lord then allows Satan to interfere in Job’s life in an attempt to envenom him against the Lord. Over time, Job loses his possessions, his children die, and he suffers ill health. However, he remains faithful to the Lord (Yahweh). Eventually the Lord restores his possessions twofold and gives him ten more children--seven sons and three daughters. Job lives to a very old age. . Influence of the Faust of History and Legend . Goethe based his work in part on the life of Johann Georg Faust, (1480-1540), a magician, astrologer, and perhaps a teacher who performed feats of magic and told fortunes. Legends about him flourished, often depicting him as evil. According to the Faustbuch, published in 1587, he traded his immortal soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and 24 years of pleasure. English playwright Christopher Marlowe based a play, The Tragicall [Tragical] History of Dr. Faustus, on the Faust legend. French composer Hector Berlioz wrote an opera, La Damnation de Faust (The Damnation of Faust, based on it. Many other literary and musical works also also derived from the Faust legend. . Influence of Homer and Other Writers . Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey served not only as writing models for Faust but also as sources of information about mythological figures. In particular, the quest of Odysseus (Roman name Ulysses) for knowledge and experience on his journey home parallel Faust’s quest on his journey to heaven. Goethe also based various scenes and characters on Shakespearean models and also drew inspiration from such epics as Vergil's Aeneid and Dante's Divine Comedy. . Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (approximate English pronunciation: YO hahn VOLF gahng fon GER tuh) was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1749 and studied law in Leipzig before turning to literature. He was the greatest German writer of his age and is viewed today by many scholars as the greatest German writer of all time. His output was enormous: He wrote poetry, novels, plays, critical commentaries, and science works on optics and anatomy. He studied law, philosophy, art, architecture, and the Greek myths. He was a major figure in the Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) literary movement characterized by a rejection of many classical literary conventions (in particular the three classical unities adhered to strictly by French writers but often ignored by William Shakespeare), by great passion and enthusiasm, by disquiet and impatience, and by an exposition of folk themes. He deeply admired the works of Shakespeare. Faust is Goethe's most famous and most widely read work. . Complete Texts English: www.levity.com;
Study Questions and Essay Topics 1. Why does Goethe's Faust
remain timely and relevant in the modern world?
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