1. Goethe’s Faust
LIT 181
Hour 11

2. Last time we spoke of
Germany in the 18th Century, and Goethe’s life in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Weimar
The history of Faust – the person and the literature
The kind of devil here – what Mephistopheles represents
Goethe’s understanding of life & art as botanical, organic processes
Faust = striving, Mephisto = resistance
The bet: M. can’t show F. a moment so good F. would like it to last forever. M. thinks he can.

3. Faust, Part I The “Microcosm” The time = the 16th Century
The place = Leipzig, German Saxony
We will be dealing with events that occur between here and the Harz mountains, our guide for the most part will be Mepistopheles

4. Dedication Pp. 175-76 Remembering through art
Old visions cause the poet to grow emotional, to fear and tremble: the theater is a means for her/him to deal with open wounds and unfinished psychological business of the past
This and the following scene are meant to give the audience a chance to get to their seats without missing any of the action.

5. Prologue in the Theater
Tripartite Universe: Manager / Poet / Jester (Goethe had jobs as each)
What does each want?
Art for art’s sake
Laughter
Action that will bring in the crowds and make the cash register ring
Final line: “travel with reasonable speed from heaven through the world to hell.”

6. Prologue in Heaven Tripartite arrangement of the universe continues
Raphael / Gabriel / Michael – each represents a different realm of creation
Mephistopheles introduces himself: what is his personality like? How does he describe God? Does God laugh? Why (not)?
How does the Lord deal with him?

7. Quote 1 – p. 3
“Do you know Faust?... He's my servant!... Since, though confused, he serves me still, I'll lead him on toward a clearer view. Man is doomed to err as long as he is striving.”
The Lord, speaking to the devil
What’s the devil doing in heaven? Do you know of any other work where God speaks with the devil?
Explain the last line above – Faust is the representative of “striving,” how does this apply to him?

8. Mephistopheles makes a wager
Mephistopheles seems to be a bettin’ man.
Why is it not a good idea that Mephistopheles bets with God? (p. 3)
Read the Book of Job, I:

9. 7: The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come
7: The LORD said to Satan, "Whence have you come?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8: And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 9: Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nought?

10. 10: Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11: But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse thee to thy face." 12: And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand."

11. “Becoming”
Faust as kinesis: movement, change, energy – expressed in the German verb “werden” = “ to become” – in other words, to change
Top of p. 5 – the Lord equates “Becoming” with divine love, as it “eternally moves and lives”
Faust becomes, strives, moves, lives – he is the human embodiment of this tendency

12. Quote 2 – p. 5
“I like to see the Old Boy now and then... It's very decent of so great a lord to gossip with the Devil like a man.”
What do you think of the tone Mephisto takes here?
Tripartite structure?

13. Night Saturday night before Easter
Faust: he’s studied everything and finds it all worthless (7)
Quote 3:
“Now I have studied philosophy, medicine and law and, unfortunately, theology, wearily sweating, yet I stand now, poor fool, no wiser than I was before; I am called Master, even Doctor, and for these last ten years have led my students by the nose – up, down, crosswise and crooked. Now I see that we know nothing finally.”

14. Night (cont’d) Now he’s turned to magic (8)
And conjures up the earth-spirit (11)

15. Telluric / chthonic nature
The twin eyes of Osiris Bastet and Sekhmet
Telluric nature: producing, nuturing, multiplying => the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet
Chthonic nature: destroying, annihilating, dissolving => the Egyptian cat goddess Sekhmet

16. The Earth Spirit Chthonic and telluric nature combined = all of nature
“terrible apparition”
Quote 4: “I am the womb and the tomb, an eternal ocean, a changing, glowing life in ferment: thus working on the roaring loom of time, I weave God’s living garment.”

17. Weaving & Spinning
The activities of spinning and weaving appear as symbols and metaphors again and again in the text.
Refers to passage of time and productivity, also of sadness and loss

18. The Earth Spirit departs
Earth Spirit puts Faust in his place:
Subjectivity of perception -> Kant
Quote 5:
“You resemble the spirit which you comprehend, not me!”
Faust is very subjective: a very Romantic trait

19. Wagner – Faust’s Famulus
Wagner interrupts – he’s boring and pedantic
Quote 7: Art is so long, and life is short: “ars longa, vita brevis” (aphorism by Hippocrates)
Opposite of Faust – W. wants to be omniscient (15)

20. Quote 6: p. 13 Faust is speaking with Wagner regarding oration:
“Unless you feel it, you will never achieve it. If it doesn’t flow from your soul with natural and easy power, your listeners will not believe it.”
Faust always champions the natural, spontaneous – he is for change, becoming, striving, developing

21. Faust wants to commit suicide
Finds a vial of poison and in despair wants to end his life
Interrupted by the sound of Easter morning songs
He is saved by thoughts of his youth, and he cries out his despair

22. Outside the Town Gate We find out about Faust’s father.
Quote 8, p. 32 :
“You know the one impulse only. It's better if you never learn the other. Alas, there are two souls that live in me...”
In every person there are such dichotomies. What, for example?
A poodle follows Faust home…

23. Poodle

24. Faust’s Study (I)
Faust begins translation of John, I:1 – “En arche en ho logos ”
The problem of how to translate “logos” – it yields “word,” “thought,” “power,” “deed.”
Faust = man of action (Sturm und Drang): “deed!”
The poodle doesn’t like this, Faust conjures, poodle morphs, and from behind the stove in a puff of smoke emerges….

25. Mephistopheles “so that was the poodle’s kernel?”
Quote 10: “What is your name?” “Now that seems to me rather petty in one so scornful of the Word…”
Quote 11: “A part of that power that always wills evil and always works good… I am the spirit that always denies… ”

26. “… a good thing, too, for all that exists deserves to be destroyed… So everything that you call sin and destruction, in short, evil – these are my proper element.”

27. Faust = striving Mephistopheles = hindering
Remember our muscle-man – how does he get those big biceps??? By tearing down muscle! Or our tree branch – how do you take care of it? By feeding, nurturing, and PRUNING! = cutting & destroying, which stimulates growth.

28. Mephistopheles as Magician
M. cannot depart from the room because of a magical sign at the door – so he calls out his minions and they
1) put Faust to sleep
2) enable the devil to escape

29. Faust’s Study (II) Pp
Mephistopheles and Faust discuss experience : Faust doesn’t know, but he thinks experience isn’t such a big deal.
M. (50): “I’m not a high-ranking devil, but if you’d like to try your luck with me in a new life, I’ll gladly put myself at your disposal – go where you will, do what you’d like to do, be your companion…”

30. Faust’s Study (II) – cont’d
Faust: “What must I do in return?”
M.: “The debt can be handled on quite a long term…I’ll bind myself to your service here and do everything you ask of me; then when we meet over yonder, you shall do as much for me as I’ve done for you.”
This is the old-fashioned pact, and Faust rejects this. He wants a wager:

31. Quote 12: the Wager:
“If I ever rest on a lazy bed of ease, then let me die at once. If you can beguile me with blandishments, satisfy me with what I am, or deceive me with pleasure, let that be my last day… If I ever say to any moment: ‘Linger -- you are so wonderful!’ Then you may throw me in chains. I’ll be ready for the earth.”

32. What is the sense of this?
The bet is that M. will show F. a moment that he wants to last forever – that means, for things to just freeze and not change any more.
But! Faust is change, he represents dissatisfaction with anything that just stands there and doesn’t change. So by definition he cannot be satisfied.
Therefore, the devil really has no chance of success, although he will try. In the scientific metaphor, this is something akin to expecting a plant not to grow or a force not to exert itself: by the laws of nature, these things happen, and to expect anything else is dooming oneself to disappointment.

33. The wager is made:
Faust tells Mephistopheles that he does not fear losing: (53) “My action is not rash, I’ll not regret it. As soon as I stagnate, I become a slave” = no more “werden” – no more “becoming”
He signs in blood

34. They prepare to travel
While Faust is preparing, a student shows up for advising.
Mephistopheles plays the professor/advisor.
You will like this part of the text!
What does M. say about Words? (62)

35. Quote 13
“You can’t steer clear of everything that’s foreign. Often the best things come from far away. A German hates the French with all his heart and yet he gladly drinks their wine.”

36. Auerbach’s Cellar in Leipzig pp. 65-79
First things first: Mephisto takes Faust out to Auerbach’s Cellar in Leipzig, to get him drunk – for Mephistopheles, this is the first step toward sublime experience – but of course Faust has no interest in such a banal kind of experience, but wants real life – for which he would prefer sobriety.

37. The Witch’s Kitchen pp. 80-91
Quote 15 (89): “…the perfect contradiction remains as much a mystery to the wise as to the fools. My friend, the art is old and new. It’s been the custom in all ages through three and one, and one and three to hide the truth and propagandize error. Untroubled, they chatter and teach it in the schools – and why concern yourself with idiots? When he hears words man’s likely to believe that they convey ideas and have meaning.”

38. The Witch’s Kitchen (cont’d)
Quote 14:: “What do I see? What a heavenly picture shows itself in this magic mirror! O love, lend me your swiftest wings and lead me straight to her… Is it possible that she can be so beautiful? Do I not see in this reclining body the very essence of heaven? ‘Earth has not anything more fair.’”
Quote 16: “With that drink in your belly, you’ll think you’re seeing Helen of Troy in every woman you meet.”

39. A street
Beginning of the “tragedy” part of Faust, often called the “Margaret-tragedy.”
Faust sees Margaret, falls for her with the potion in his belly (is this potion at all like the one Tristan and Iseult drank?)
She is a good girl – but Faust must have her!

40. Evening, a neat little room
Where Margaret lives
Meph. has stolen jewels and is tempting her with them.
How can a poor, young girl be tempted (Margaret is probably around 14 years old).

41. Quote 17, p. 99
“If only these earrings were mine! I look entirely different with them on. What good are beauty and young blood? It’s fine if you can have them, but just the same people let you alone or praise you in half-pity. Everyone strives for gold, everyone clings to gold. Alas, we poor folk!”

42. The Neighbor’s House (102)
Martha – friend of Margaret, she is only too willing to act as go-between for her affair with Faust.
Mephistopheles appears and reports that he has met Martha’s husband: he has died and sends his greetings.
They arrange for a meeting…. The rest is history.

43. Faust and Words:
Quote 18: “When I feel this great emotion, this tumult, and try to name it, but cannot; when my mind searches the world for words to call this flame that burns me, this thing that must be eternal – is that nothing but a devilish playing with lies?”

44. Gretchen’s Room
Gretchen is alone at her spinning wheel: she is deeply troubled and sings to herself:
Quote 19:
“My peace is gone – my heart is sore – I shall find it never, no, never more.”

45. Martha’s Garden The Gretchen Question: Quote 20
“Tell me: what do you think about religion? How long since you have been to Mass or Confession? Do you believe in God?”

46. Quote 21 Faust’s response: the insufficiency of words :
“Who dares name him? Who can declare: I believe in him? Who can feel and be bold enough to say: I don’t believe in him? Does not the all-encompassing, the all-supporting embrace and uphold us, you, me and Himself? Does not the sky arch over us? Does not the earth stand firmly below us? “

47. Quote 21 (cont’d)
“Do not the eternal stars arise, looking down kindly upon us? When we gaze into each other’s eyes, is there not a surging in your heart and head, formed by the eternal mystery, invisibly and visibly about you! Fill your great heart with that, and when you’re wholly overcome by the feeling, then call it what you will: call it joy, or heart, or love, or God! I have no name for it! Feeling is everything; the name is sound and smoke beclouding the glow of heaven.”

48. At the Well Place where women meet – center of women’s power in a town
Gretchen hears about a friend who is pregnant and she becomes inwardly disturbed.
Gretchen is now isolated, outside the power and social relations of her peers, and must face her troubles all alone.

49. Night in the Street In Front of Gretchen’s House
Quote 22: “Already I foresee the time when every decent person in the town will turn away from you, you slut, as though you were a rotting carcass. And then your heart will despair when they look you in the eyes.”

50. In the Cathedral: Service, Organ and Choir
Quote 23:
“Wrath seizes you! The trumpet sounds! The grave quakes! And your heart, recreated, trembles forth, from the peace of ashes toward fiery torment!”

51. Walpurgis Night Witch’s sabbath Early morning hours of May 1st
Faust and Mephisto ascend the Brocken in the Harz Mountains – M. wants F. to experience the power of the dark side

52. The Brocken

53. Walpurgis Night on the Brocken
Faust dances away his cares, but his conscience won’t let him forget Margaret
He sees strange figures on the mountain: the witch with the red mouse, & the Proctophatasmist, a satire on the Berlin enlightened philosopher, Friedrich Nicolai…

54. Proctophantasmist, pp. 158-59
Quote 24:
“Damned rabble! How dare you! Haven’t I proven conclusively that ghosts don’t have ordinary feet -? But here you’re dancing like mortals!”
“…Now he’ll sit down in the nearest puddle, for he knows his trouble and how to cure it: the leeches at his bum will phlebotomize his muddle, and he’ll recover from these spirits and from spirit.”

55. A Gloomy Day in a Field
Faust, close to despair, realizes perhaps some of the horror he has caused through his realtionship with this evil being, Mephistopheles.

56. Night in the Open Country

57. A Dungeon
Margaret awaits her execution for having been found guilty of murdering her baby. She seems insane… but she does have a moment of lucidity, in which she takes responsibility for her actions!

58. Quotes 25. “I give myself up to the judgment of God.”
26. “She is saved!” -- why is she saved??? It seems as if Mephisto is always wrong!
Deus ex machina – God from the machine

59. Faust, Part II The “macrocosm”
Similar ideas and concepts, but on the metaphysical/theoretical level – big stuff!
Time and space have no limitations
Faust travels all over (and into!) the world
Faust travels through time back to Greece, woos and “weds” Helen of Troy, has a child, finds a project, finds the “meaning of life,” and dies. – Does the devil win in the end???