Doctor Faust - who is he? Johann Faust Medieval style laboratory.

"Faust" is a work that declared its greatness after the death of the author and has not subsided since then. The phrase "Goethe - Faust" is so well known that even a person who is not fond of literature has heard about it, perhaps without even suspecting who wrote whom - either Goethe's Faust, or Goethe's Faust. However, the philosophical drama is not only the invaluable heritage of the writer, but also one of the brightest phenomena of the Enlightenment.

"Faust" not only gives the reader a bewitching plot, mysticism, and mystery, but also raises the most important philosophical questions. Goethe wrote this work for sixty years of his life, and the play was published after the death of the writer. The history of the creation of the work is interesting not only for the long period of its writing. Already the name of the tragedy opaquely alludes to the physician Johann Faust, who lived in the 16th century, who, by virtue of his merits, acquired envious people. The doctor was credited with supernatural powers, supposedly he could even resurrect people from the dead. The author changes the plot, supplements the play with characters and events, and, as if on a red carpet, solemnly enters the history of world art.

The essence of the work

The drama opens with a dedication, followed by two prologues and two parts. Selling your soul to the devil is a story for all time, in addition, a curious reader is also waiting for a journey through time.

In the theatrical prologue, an argument begins between the director, the actor and the poet, and each of them, in fact, has his own truth. The director is trying to explain to the creator that it makes no sense to create a great work, since the majority of viewers are not able to appreciate it, to which the poet stubbornly and indignantly disagrees - he believes that for a creative person, first of all, it is not the taste of the crowd that is important, but the idea of ​​​​the creativity.

Turning the page, we see that Goethe sent us to heaven, where a new dispute is brewing, only this time between the devil Mephistopheles and God. According to the representative of darkness, a person is not worthy of any praise, and God allows you to test the strength of your beloved creation in the person of the industrious Faust in order to prove the opposite to the devil.

The next two parts are an attempt by Mephistopheles to win the argument, namely, the devilish temptations will come into play one after another: alcohol and fun, youth and love, wealth and power. Any desire without any obstacles, until Faust finds what is worthy of life and happiness and is equivalent to the soul that the devil usually takes for his services.

Genre

Goethe himself called his work a tragedy, and literary critics called it a dramatic poem, which is also difficult to argue about, because the depth of the images and the power of Faust's lyricism are of an unusually high level. The genre nature of the book also leans towards the play, although only individual episodes can be staged on the stage. The drama also has an epic beginning, lyrical and tragic motifs, so it is difficult to attribute it to a specific genre, but it will not be wrong to say that Goethe's great work is a philosophical tragedy, a poem and a play all rolled into one.

Main characters and their characteristics

1. Faust is the protagonist of Goethe's tragedy, an outstanding scientist and doctor who knew many of the mysteries of science, but was still disappointed in life. He is not satisfied with the fragmentary and incomplete information that he owns, and it seems to him that nothing will help him come to the knowledge of the higher meaning of being. The desperate character even contemplated suicide. He enters into an agreement with the messenger of the dark forces in order to find happiness - something that is really worth living for. First of all, he is driven by a thirst for knowledge and freedom of spirit, so he becomes a difficult task for the devil.
2. "A particle of power that wished eternally evil, doing only good"- a rather controversial image of the trait of Mephistopheles. The focus of evil forces, the messenger of hell, the genius of temptation and the antipode of Faust. The character believes that “everything that exists is worthy of death”, because he knows how to manipulate the best divine creation through his many vulnerabilities, and everything seems to indicate how negatively the reader should treat the devil, but damn it! The hero evokes sympathy even from God, to say nothing of the reading public. Goethe creates not just Satan, but a witty, caustic, insightful and cynical trickster, from whom it is so difficult to look away.
3. Of the characters, Margarita (Gretchen) can also be singled out separately. A young, modest, commoner who believes in God, Faust's beloved. An earthly simple girl who paid for the salvation of her soul with her own life. The main character falls in love with Margarita, but she is not the meaning of his life.

Topics

A work containing an agreement between a hardworking person and the devil, in other words, a deal with the devil, gives the reader not only an exciting, adventurous plot, but also relevant topics for reflection. Mephistopheles is testing the protagonist, giving him a completely different life, and now the “bookworm” Faust is waiting for fun, love and wealth. In exchange for earthly bliss, he gives Mephistopheles his soul, which, after death, must go to hell.

1. The most important theme of the work is the eternal confrontation between good and evil, where the side of evil, Mephistopheles, is trying to seduce the good, desperate Faust.
2. After the dedication, the theme of creativity lurked in the theatrical prologue. The position of each of the disputants can be understood, because the director thinks about the taste of the public that pays money, the actor - about the most profitable role to please the crowd, and the poet - about creativity in general. It is not difficult to guess how Goethe understands art and on whose side he stands.
3. Faust is such a multifaceted work that here we even find the theme of selfishness, which is not striking, but when discovered, explains why the character was not satisfied with knowledge. The hero enlightened only for himself, and did not help the people, so his accumulated knowledge over the years was useless. From this follows the theme of the relativity of any knowledge - that they are unproductive without application, resolves the question of why the knowledge of the sciences did not lead Faust to the meaning of life.
4. Easily passing through the temptation of wine and fun, Faust does not even realize that the next test will be much more difficult, because he will have to indulge in an unearthly feeling. Meeting the young Marguerite on the pages of the work and seeing Faust's insane passion for her, we look at the theme of love. The girl attracts the protagonist with her purity and impeccable sense of truth, in addition, she guesses about the nature of Mephistopheles. The love of the characters entails misfortune, and in the dungeon Gretchen repents for her sins. The next meeting of lovers is expected only in heaven, but in the arms of Marguerite, Faust did not ask to wait a moment, otherwise the work would have ended without the second part.
5. Looking closely at Faust's beloved, we note that young Gretchen evokes sympathy from readers, but she is guilty of the death of her mother, who did not wake up after a sleeping potion. Also, through the fault of Margarita, her brother Valentine and an illegitimate child from Faust die, for which the girl ends up in prison. She suffers from the sins she has committed. Faust invites her to escape, but the captive asks him to leave, surrendering completely to her torment and remorse. Thus, another theme is raised in the tragedy - the theme of moral choice. Gretchen chose death and God's judgment over running away with the devil, and in doing so saved her soul.
6. The great legacy of Goethe is also fraught with philosophical polemical moments. In the second part, we will look again into Faust's office, where the diligent Wagner is working on an experiment, creating a person artificially. The very image of the Homunculus is unique, hiding a clue in his life and searches. He yearns for a real existence in the real world, although he knows something that Faust cannot yet realize. Goethe's intention to add such an ambiguous character as the Homunculus to the play is revealed in the presentation of entelechy, the spirit, as it enters into life before any experience.

Problems

So, Faust gets a second chance to spend his life, no longer sitting in his office. It is unthinkable, but any desire can be fulfilled in an instant, the hero is surrounded by such temptations of the devil, which are quite difficult to resist for an ordinary person. Is it possible to remain yourself when everything is subject to your will - the main intrigue of this situation. The problematic of the work lies precisely in the answer to the question, is it really possible to stand on the positions of virtue, when everything that you only wish comes true? Goethe sets Faust as an example for us, because the character does not allow Mephistopheles to completely master his mind, but is still looking for the meaning of life, something for which a moment can really delay. Aspiring to the truth, a good doctor not only does not turn into a part of an evil demon, his tempter, but also does not lose his most positive qualities.

1. The problem of finding the meaning of life is also relevant in Goethe's work. It is from the seeming absence of truth that Faust thinks about suicide, because his works and achievements did not bring him satisfaction. However, passing with Mephistopheles through everything that can become the goal of a person's life, the hero nevertheless learns the truth. And since the work refers to, the main character's view of the world around him coincides with the worldview of this era.
2. If you look closely at the main character, you will notice that at first the tragedy does not let him out of his own office, and he himself does not really try to get out of it. Hidden in this important detail is the problem of cowardice. Studying science, Faust, as if afraid of life itself, hid from it behind books. Therefore, the appearance of Mephistopheles is important not only for the dispute between God and Satan, but also for the person being tested. The devil takes a talented doctor outside, plunges him into the real world, full of mysteries and adventures, so the character stops hiding in the pages of textbooks and lives anew, for real.
3. The work also presents readers with a negative image of the people. Mephistopheles, back in the Prologue in Heaven, says that God's creation does not value reason and behaves like cattle, so he is disgusted with people. The Lord cites Faust as a counter argument, but the reader will still encounter the problem of the ignorance of the crowd in the pub where students gather. Mephistopheles hopes that the character will succumb to fun, but he, on the contrary, wants to leave as soon as possible.
4. The play brings to light rather controversial characters, and Valentine, Marguerite's brother, is also a great example. He stands up for the honor of his sister when he gets into a fight with her "boyfriends", soon dying from Faust's sword. The work reveals the problem of honor and dishonor just on the example of Valentine and his sister. The brother's worthy deed commands respect, but here it is rather twofold: after all, dying, he curses Gretchen, thus betraying her to universal disgrace.

The meaning of the work

After long joint adventures with Mephistopheles, Faust still finds the meaning of existence, imagining a prosperous country and a free people. As soon as the hero understands that the truth lies in constant work and the ability to live for the sake of others, he utters the cherished words “Instant! Oh, how beautiful you are, wait a bit" and dies . After the death of Faust, the angels saved his soul from evil forces, rewarding his insatiable desire for enlightenment and resistance to the temptations of the demon in order to achieve his goal. The idea of ​​the work is hidden not only in the direction of the main character's soul to heaven after an agreement with Mephistopheles, but also in Faust's remark: "Only he is worthy of life and freedom, who goes to battle for them every day." Goethe emphasizes his idea by the fact that thanks to overcoming obstacles for the benefit of the people and self-development of Faust, the messenger of hell loses the argument.

What does it teach?

Goethe not only reflects the ideals of the Enlightenment era in his work, but also inspires us to think about the high destiny of man. Faust gives the public a useful lesson: the constant pursuit of truth, knowledge of the sciences and the desire to help the people save the soul from hell even after a deal with the devil. In the real world, there is no guarantee that Mephistopheles will give us plenty of fun before we realize the great meaning of being, so the attentive reader should mentally shake hands with Faust, praising him for his stamina and thanking him for such a quality hint.

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• Faust. Tragedy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The tragedy of `Faust` is the life work of the great German poet I.-V. Goethe. The first sketches date back to 1773, the last scenes were painted in the summer of 1831. Doctor Faust is a historical person, a hero...
• Faust Tragedy, Goethe I.. The tragedy opens with three introductory texts. The first is a lyrical dedication to the friends of youth - those with whom the author was associated at the beginning of work on Faust and who have already died or ...

Indeed, this mystical and gothic tragedy has found crowds of fans around the world, and the names of the heroes have become household names. In Russia, the translation of the work about the warlock, which was created for about 60 years, was carried out by Nikolai Kholodkovsky and other representatives of the literary diaspora.

In addition, the tragedy "Faust" was a favorite book that borrowed a non-trivial plot to create "The Master and Margarita". Although the author of "The Heart of a Dog" used to say that he had no prototypes, researchers agree that Satan is insanely similar to "part of that force that always wants evil and always does good" -.

History of creation

The great German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe worked on his brainchild "Faust" almost all his life, so readers trace the change in the poet's worldview under the yoke of the era, which begins in his work with "Storm and Onslaught" and ends with romanticism.

This work, which brought Goethe laurels of honor, was conceived by the author at the age of 22-23, and he finished it just before his death. Of course, the writer has other worthy works that made up the literary heritage, but it was Faust that became the pinnacle of German poetry.

The master of the word was inspired by ancient folklore; according to legend, Faust had a prototype who lived in the first half of the 16th century. The real Johann Georg Faust is a semi-legendary wandering doctor and warlock whose biography has become a burning topic for literary writings.

Therefore, Goethe is not at all an innovator, because a work called “Stories about Dr. Johann Faust, the famous sorcerer and warlock” was published back in 1587. In addition, Jacob Michael Lenz, Friedrich Maximilian Klinger and other writers relied on the image of a charlatan, and theater figures often used this character for pantomimes and puppet shows.

According to legend, the young Faust received a bachelor's degree in theology, and then began to study "practical magic" at the University of Krakow. After Johann comprehended the "elements of science", he went to wander the world, where, before the eyes of a shocked public, he pretended to be a magician and said that he was able to work miracles, as well as restore the works of ancient philosophers from the depths of his own subconscious, or.

It is quite natural that the authorities did not like the adventures of Johann, who instilled all sorts of nonsense in passers-by. Therefore, Faust was soon expelled from Ingolstadt, and then the higher authorities in charge of Nuremberg forbade "the great sodomite and necromancer Dr. Faust" to enter the city. Goethe could not help but be inspired by such a colorful character, but on the literary pages he called the main character Heinrich, and not the name of his namesake.

In the period from 1774 to 1775, Goethe wrote the work Prafaust, presenting the main character to readers as an obstinate rebel who wants to comprehend the secrets of the universe. In 1790, bookstore habitues saw an excerpt from Faust, and the first part was not published until 1808. The first part of the tragedy is characterized by fragmentary and self-sufficient scenes, while the composition of the second is a single whole.

Goethe began the second part of the tragedy 17 years later. It is worth saying that it is difficult for an unprepared reader to perceive, because Goethe plunges lovers of literature not only into an extravagant plot, but also into philosophical reflections, mystical associations and unsolved riddles. The poet shows the "spectators" the life of his contemporary society. Thus, the owner of the book feels the inseparable connection between the present and the past.

The episode "Helen", which was conceived back in 1799, was completed by the poet in 1826, and four years later Goethe sat down to write the "Classical Walpurgis Night". In the middle of the summer of 1831, shortly before his own death, the writer completed his seminal work. Further, the unsurpassed genius sealed the creation in an envelope and bequeathed to publish it only after his death: the second part of Faust was published in 1832, in the 41st volume of the Collected Works.

Image and plot

The biography of the fictional Faust is shrouded in an aura of mystery. It is known that his whole life is a relentless search. The father of the protagonist was a doctor, who instilled in his offspring an unlimited love for science.

Despite the subtleties of healing, Faust's parent could not save all the patients. During the plague, thousands of patients died every day. Then Faust turned to heaven with a prayer that God would stop the flow of death. But since the young man did not wait for help, he rejected religion and began to immerse himself in science. If you look at Faust's workroom, you can see a lamp, glass flasks, test tubes, books and chemicals.

The author introduces readers to Faust on the first pages of the work. Goethe immediately immerses readers in philosophy, in a dispute about the values ​​of mankind and considers the problematics of "heaven, earth and hell." In the first scene, the archangels, Mephistopheles, and God appear before the eyes of the bookworms. Between representatives of different instances of good and evil, a dialogue arises in which the name of Faust was first mentioned.

The ruler of heaven assures the tempter that the doctor is a faithful slave, and Mephistopheles notices the contradictory nature of the hero, giving him the following characterization:

“And he rushes into battle, and loves to take on obstacles, and sees a goal beckoning in the distance, and demands stars from the sky as a reward and the best pleasures from the earth.”

Then God gave Mephistopheles the opportunity to tempt Faust, believing that the young man's intuition would lead him out of any impasse. It is noteworthy that the tempter meets the doctor when he has already passed his difficult life path.

The evil spirit appeared to Faust when he was contemplating suicide, for he was disappointed in his efforts. It should be noted that Mephistopheles, like Woland, is not at all like a devil from naive folk legends. For example, in the work "The Night Before Christmas" the owner of horns and hooves does not shine with quick wits, while the ruler of hell is devilishly smart and does not appear to readers as an exceptional embodiment of evil.

Mephistopheles, who wants to emerge victorious from the bet, pushes Faust to bad deeds, but unexpectedly, the protagonist in the “moments of trials” discovers positive aspects. The first thing the debater suggests to his new acquaintance is to go to a local tavern for a feast of students. The devil hopes that Faust will spend his time idly in the company of strong drinks and forget about his research, but it is not so easy to break Faust, because this hero does not accept the society of alcohol lovers.

Then, with the help of witchcraft, the devil returns Faust to youth in the hope that the main character will succumb to romantic feelings. Indeed, the doctor falls in love with the beautiful Margarita, but even here Mephistopheles was defeated, because this passion of the scientist is then replaced by true love.

Screen adaptations

The tragedy about the struggle between good and evil has become a favorite topic for directors, so avid moviegoers have seen more than one adaptation of the famous Faust. We list the most popular of them.

"Faust" (1926)

German film director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was inspired by the German legend and presented the public with the silent film of the same name. The plot of the film is not much different from the immortal original: Archangel Michael and Satan, who boasts that he can seduce any mortal on earth, make a bet, the subject of which is the famous alchemist Faust.

It is noteworthy that the filmmaker was based not only on the work of Goethe, but also on the work of another writer, the English poet Christopher Marlo. The leading roles went to actors Jöst Ekman Sr. (Faust) and Emil Jannings (Mephistopheles).

"Beauty of the Devil" (1950)

The Frenchman Rene Clair made a film based on Goethe's tragedy, seasoning the original plot with a free interpretation. The picture tells how the cunning Mephistopheles offers Professor Faust to get youth and beauty, and he agrees without hesitation. Now the main goal of Mephistopheles is to quickly get the soul of his patient.

The brilliant cast included Michel Simon, Gerard Philip, Paolo Stoppa, Gaston Modo and others.

"Faust" (2011)

The Russian director also kept up with the trends and impressed cinema lovers with his vision of Faust, and the creator of the film received the Golden Lion award for his creation at the 68th Venice Film Festival.

The plot revolves around the first part of the poetic work, and the audience enjoys the love line between Faust and Marguerite. Alexander Sokurov allowed such actors as Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinsky, Isolde Dyuhauk and Hanna Schigulla to try on memorable images.

Quotes

"Manage yourself, make a decision,
At least at the cost of destruction."

“What is known is of no use,
One unknown is needed.

“But again lack of will, and decline,
And lethargy in thoughts, and confusion.
How often is this mess
Enlightenment is coming!”

"Let the whole century alternate
Happy rock and bad rock.
In tireless all the time
Man finds himself.

“Learn to succeed honestly
And attract thanks to the mind.
And trinkets, booming like an echo,
It's a fake and no one wants it."

Faust

Faust

FAUST Johann - doctor, warlock, who lived in the first half of the 16th century. in Germany, the legendary biography of which was already formed in the era of the Reformation and has been the subject of numerous works of European literature for several centuries. Data on the life of historical F. is extremely scarce. He was apparently born around 1480 in the city of Knittlingen, in 1508, through Franz von Sickingen, he received a teaching position in Kreuznach, but had to flee from there due to the persecution of his fellow citizens. As a warlock and astrologer, he traveled around Europe, posing as a great scientist, boasted that he could perform all the miracles of Jesus Christ or “recreate from the depths of his knowledge all the works of Plato and Aristotle, if they ever died for mankind” ( from a letter of the learned abbot Trithemius, 1507). In 1539 his trace is lost. In the Renaissance, when faith in magic and the miraculous was still alive, and, on the other hand, science liberated from the bonds of scholasticism won outstanding victories, which was portrayed by many as the fruit of the union of a daring mind with evil spirits, the figure of Dr. F. quickly acquired legendary outlines and wide popularity. . In 1587 in Germany, in the publication of Spies, the first literary adaptation of the legend about F., the so-called. “folk book” about F.: “Historia von Dr. Johann Fausten, dem weitbeschreiten Zauberer und Schwartzkunstler etc.” (The story of Dr. Faust, the famous wizard and warlock). The book includes episodes dated at one time to various sorcerers (Simon the Magus, Albert the Great, etc.) and attributed to F. In addition to oral tales, the source of the book was modern writings on witchcraft and "secret" knowledge (books by the theologian Lerheimer, a student of Melanchthon: “Ein Christlich Bedencken und Erinnerung von Zauberey, 1585; book by I. Vir, a student of Agrippa Nettesheim: “De praestigiis daemonum”, 1563, German translation 1567, etc.). The author, apparently a Lutheran cleric, depicts F. as a daring wicked man who entered into an alliance with the devil in order to acquire great knowledge and power (“Faust grew eagle wings for himself and wanted to penetrate and study all the foundations of heaven and earth.” “Nothing else is reflected in his falling away , as arrogance, despair, audacity and courage, similar to those titans, about which poets narrate that they piled mountains on mountains and wanted to fight against God, or similar to an evil angel who opposed himself to God, for which he was overthrown by God how arrogant and vain"). The final chapter of the book tells about the "terrible and terrifying end" of F. : demons tear him apart, and his soul goes to hell. Characteristically, F. was given the features of a humanist. These features are noticeably enhanced in the edition of 1589. F. lectures on Homer at the University of Erfurt, at the request of students calls the shadows of the heroes of classical antiquity, etc. The predilection of humanists for antiquity is embodied in the book as a “godless” connection between the lustful Faust and Beautiful Helen. However, despite the author's desire to condemn F. for his godlessness, pride and daring, the image of F. is still fanned with a certain heroism; the whole Renaissance era is reflected in his face with its inherent thirst for unlimited knowledge, the cult of unlimited possibilities of the individual, a powerful rebellion against medieval quietism, dilapidated church-feudal norms and foundations.
The English playwright of the 16th century took advantage of the folk book about F. Christopher Marlo, who wrote the first dramatic treatment of the legend. His tragedy "The tragical history of the life and death of Doctor Faustus" (ed. in 1604, 4th ed., 1616) (The tragic story of Doctor Faust, Russian translation by K. D. Balmont, M., 1912, earlier in magazine "Life", 1899, July and August) depicts F. as a titan, seized with a thirst for knowledge, wealth and power. Marlo enhances the heroic features of the legend, turning Faust into a bearer of the heroic elements of the European Renaissance. From the folk book, Marlo learns the alternation of serious and comic episodes, as well as the tragic ending of the legend of Faust - the ending, which is associated with the theme of F.'s condemnation and his daring impulses.
Apparently, at the beginning of the 17th century, the tragedy of Marlowe was brought by English wandering comedians to Germany, where it was transformed into a puppet comedy, which is gaining significant distribution (by the way, Goethe owes a lot to her when creating his Faust). The folk book also underlies G. R. Widman’s lengthy work on F. (Widman, Wahrhaftige Historie, etc.), published in Hamburg in 1598. Widman, in contrast to Marlo, strengthens the moralistic and clerical-didactic tendencies of the “folk book”. For him, the story of F. in the first place - a story about the "terrible and disgusting sins and misdeeds" of the famous warlock; he pedantically equips his presentation of the legend of F. with “necessary reminders and excellent examples” that should serve to the general “instruction and warning”.
In the footsteps of Widmann went Pfitzer (Pfitzer), released in 1674 his version of the folk book about F.
The theme of F. received exceptional popularity in Germany in the second half of the 18th century. among the writers of the Sturm und Drang period (Lessing - fragments of an unrealized play, Müller the painter - the tragedy "Fausts Leben dramatisiert" (Life of Faust, 1778), Klinger - the novel "Fausts Leben, Thaten und Hollenfahrt" (Life, deeds and death Faust, 1791, Russian translation by A. Luther, Moscow, 1913), Goethe - the tragedy "Faust" (1774-1831), Russian translation by N. Kholodkovsky (1878), A. Fet (1882-1883), V. Bryusov ( 1928), etc.). F. attracts writers-sturmers with his daring titanism, his rebellious encroachment on traditional norms. Under their pen, he acquires the features of a "stormy genius", violating the laws of the surrounding world in the name of unlimited individual rights. The Stürmers were also attracted by the "Gothic" flavor of the legend, its irrational element. At the same time, the sturmers, especially Klinger, combine the theme of Faust with sharp criticism of the feudal-absolutist order (for example, the picture of the atrocities of the old world in Klinger's novel: the arbitrariness of the feudal lord, the crimes of monarchs and the clergy, the depravity of the ruling classes, portraits of Louis XI, Alexander Borgia, etc.) .
The theme of F. reaches its most powerful artistic expression in the tragedy of Goethe, translated into all languages ​​of the world. The tragedy reflected with considerable relief the whole versatility of Goethe, the whole depth of his literary, philosophical and scientific searches: his struggle for a realistic worldview, his humanism, etc.
If in Prafaust (1774-1775) the tragedy is still fragmentary, then with the appearance of the prologue In Heaven (written 1797, published in 1808), it acquires the grandiose outlines of a kind of humanistic mystery, all the numerous episodes of which are united by the unity of artistic design. Faust grows into a colossal figure. He is a symbol of the possibilities and destinies of mankind. His victory over quietism, over the spirit of denial and disastrous emptiness (Mephistopheles) marks the triumph of the creative forces of humanity, its indestructible vitality and creative power. But on the way to victory, F. was destined to go through a series of "educational" steps. From the “small world” of burgher everyday life, he enters the “big world” of aesthetic and civic interests, the boundaries of the sphere of his activity are expanding, they include more and more new areas, until the cosmic expanses of the final scenes are revealed in front of F., where the searching creative spirit of F. merges with the creative forces of the universe. Tragedy is permeated with the pathos of creativity. There is nothing frozen, unshakable here, everything is movement, development, incessant "growth", a powerful creative process that reproduces itself at ever higher levels. In this regard, the very image of F. is significant - a tireless seeker of the "right path", alien to the desire to plunge into inactive peace; the hallmark of Faust's character is "discontent" (Unzufriedenheit), forever pushing him on the path of relentless action. F. ruined Gretchen, because he grew eagle wings for himself and they draw him outside the stuffy burgher chamber; he does not close himself in the world of art and perfect beauty, because the realm of classical Helena turns out to be just an aesthetic appearance in the end. F. yearns for a great cause, tangible and fruitful, and he ends his life as the leader of a free people, who builds his well-being on free land, winning nature's right to happiness. Hell loses its power over Faust. The indefatigably active F., who has found the "right path", is honored with a cosmic apotheosis. Thus, under the pen of Goethe, the old legend about F. takes on a deeply humanistic character. It should be noted that the final scenes of Faust were written during the period of the rapid rise of young European capitalism and partly reflected the successes of capitalist progress. However, Goethe's greatness lies in the fact that he already saw the dark sides of the new social relations and in his poem tried to rise above them.
At the beginning of the XIX century. the image of F. with its Gothic outlines attracted romantics. A number of romantic artists (Delacroix, Cornelius, Retsch - Retzsch) illustrated Goethe's tragedy. F. - a wandering charlatan of the 16th century. - Appears in Arnim's novel "Die Kronenwachter", I Bd., 1817 (Guardians of the Crown). The legend of F. was developed by Grabbe (“Don Juan und Faust”, 1829, Russian translation by I. Kholodkovsky in the journal “Vek”, 1862), Lenau (“Faust”, 1835-1836, Russian translation by A. Anyutin (A . V. Lunacharsky), St. Petersburg, 1904, the same, translated by N. A-nsky, St. Petersburg, 1892), Heine (“Faust” (a poem intended for dancing, “Der Doctor Faust”. Ein Tanzpoem ..., 1851) and others). Lenau, the author of the most significant development of the theme of F. after Goethe, portrays F. as an ambivalent, vacillating, doomed rebel.
In vain dreaming of "connecting the world, God and himself", Faust Lenau falls victim to the machinations of Mephistopheles, in which the forces of evil and corrosive skepticism are embodied, making him related to Goethe's Mephistopheles. The spirit of denial and doubt triumphs over the rebel, whose impulses turn out to be wingless and useless. Lenau's poem marks the beginning of the collapse of the humanistic concept of the legend. Under the conditions of mature capitalism, the theme of F. in its Renaissance-humanistic interpretation could no longer receive a full-fledged embodiment. The "Faustian spirit" flew away from bourgeois culture, and it is no coincidence that at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries. we do not have artistically significant adaptations of the legend of Faust. In Russia, A. S. Pushkin paid tribute to the legend of F. in his wonderful Scene from Faust. With echoes of Goethe's "Faust" we meet in "Don Giovanni" by A. K. Tolstoy (the prologue, the Faustian features of Don Giovanni, languishing over the solution of life - direct reminiscences from Goethe) and in the story in the letters "Faust" by J.S. Turgenev. In the XX century. The most interesting development of the theme of faustism was given by A. V. Lunacharsky in his drama for reading Faust and the City (written in 1908, 1916, published by Narkompros, P., in 1918). Based on the final scenes of the second part of Goethe's tragedy, Lunacharsky draws F. an enlightened monarch, dominating the country he conquered from the sea. However, the people patronized by F. is already ripe for liberation from the bonds of autocracy, a revolutionary upheaval is taking place, and Faust welcomes what has happened, seeing in it the realization of his long-standing dreams of a free people in a free land. The play reflects a premonition of a social upheaval, the beginning of a new historical era. The motives of the Faustian legend attracted V. Ya. Bryusov, who left a complete translation of Goethe's Faust (part 1 published in 1928), the story The Fiery Angel (1907-1908), and the poem Klassische Walpurgisnacht (1920).
The legend of F. has enriched not only fiction. In music, the theme of F. was developed by Berlioz, Gounod, Boito, Wagner, Busoni, and others. etc. In Russia - Vrubel (panel triptych). Bibliography:
Faligan Z., Histoire de la legende de Faust, P., 1888; Fischer K., Goethes Faust, Bd I. Die Faustdichtung vor Goethe, 3. Aufl., Stuttgart, 1893; Kiesewetter C., Faust in der Geschichte und Tradition, Lpz., 1893; Frank R., Wie der Faust entstand (Urkunde, Sage und Dichtung), B., 1911; Die Faustdichtung vor, neben und nach Goethe, 4 Bde, B., 1913; Gestaltungen des Faust (Die bedeutendsten Werke der Faustdichtung, seit 1587), hrsg. v. H. W. Geissler, 3 Bde, Munchen, 1927; Bauerhorst K., Bibliographie der Stoff- und Motiv-Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, B. - Lpz., 1932; Korelin M., Western legend about Dr. Faust, Vestnik Evropy, 1882, book. 11 and 12; Frishmut M., Faust type in world literature, Vestnik Evropy, 1887, book. 7-10 (reprinted in the book: Frishmut M., Critical essays and articles, St. Petersburg, 1902); Beletsky AI, The legend of Faust in connection with the history of demonology, "Notes of the Neophilological Society at St. Petersburg University", vol. V and VI, 1911-1912; Zhirmunsky V., Goethe in Russian Literature, Leningrad, 1937. See also the articles dedicated to the writers mentioned in this article.

Literary encyclopedia. - In 11 tons; M .: publishing house of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Friche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .

See what "Faust" is in other dictionaries:

Faust, Johann Portrait of Faust by an anonymous German artist of the 17th century Date of birth: approximately 1480 Birthplace ... Wikipedia

- (German Faust) 1. the hero of the folk book "The Story of Dr. Johann Faust, the famous sorcerer and warlock", published in Frankfurt am Main by Johann Spies (1587). F. is a historical person, information about this figure has been preserved very ... ... literary heroes

Doctor Faust is the hero of a medieval legend, a warlock and an astrologer who sold his soul to the devil. In Goethe's tragedy Faust, he is depicted as an inquisitive seeker of truth, a fighter for freedom and the power of the human spirit. The popularity of the image created by ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

And husband. Borrowed. Reporter: Faustovich, Faustovna. Derivatives: Fasya; Ustya. Origin: (Lat. faustus happy.) Name day: Feb. 19, May 4, June 6, July 25, July 29, Aug. 15, Aug. Dictionary of personal names. Faust Happy (lat.); ... ... Dictionary of personal names

The greatest German poet, scientist, thinker Johann Wolfgang Goethe(1749-1832) completes the European Enlightenment. In terms of the versatility of his talents, Goethe stands next to the titans of the Renaissance. Already the contemporaries of the young Goethe spoke in chorus about the genius of any manifestation of his personality, and in relation to the old Goethe, the definition of "Olympian" was established.

Coming from a patrician-burgher family of Frankfurt am Main, Goethe received an excellent education in the humanities at home, studied at the Leipzig and Strasbourg universities. The beginning of his literary activity fell on the formation of the Sturm und Drang movement in German literature, at the head of which he stood. His fame spread beyond Germany with the publication of the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The first sketches of the tragedy "Faust" also belong to the period of the storming.

In 1775, Goethe moved to Weimar at the invitation of the young Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who admired him, and devoted himself to the affairs of this small state, wanting to realize his creative thirst in practical activity for the benefit of society. His ten-year administrative activity, including as first minister, left no room for literary creativity and brought him disappointment. The writer H. Wieland, who was more closely acquainted with the inertia of German reality, said from the very beginning of Goethe's ministerial career: "Goethe will not be able to do even a hundredth of what he would be glad to do." In 1786, Goethe was overtaken by a severe mental crisis, which forced him to leave for Italy for two years, where, in his words, he "resurrected."

In Italy, the addition of his mature method, called "Weimar classicism" begins; in Italy, he returns to literary creativity, from his pen come the dramas Iphigenia in Tauris, Egmont, Torquato Tasso. Upon his return from Italy to Weimar, Goethe retains only the post of Minister of Culture and Director of the Weimar Theatre. He, of course, remains a personal friend of the duke and advises on the most important political issues. In the 1790s, Goethe's friendship with Friedrich Schiller began, a friendship unique in the history of culture and creative collaboration between two equally great poets. Together they developed the principles of Weimar classicism and encouraged each other to create new works. In the 1790s, Goethe wrote "Reinecke Lis", "Roman Elegies", the novel "The Years of the Teaching of Wilhelm Meister", the burgher idyll in hexameters "Hermann and Dorothea", ballads. Schiller insisted that Goethe continue to work on Faust, but Faust, the first part of the tragedy, was completed after Schiller's death and published in 1806. Goethe did not intend to return to this plan, but the writer I. P. Eckerman, who settled in his house as secretary, the author of Conversations with Goethe, urged Goethe to complete the tragedy. Work on the second part of Faust went on mainly in the twenties, and it was published, according to Goethe's wishes, after his death. Thus, the work on "Faust" took over sixty years, it covered the entire creative life of Goethe and absorbed all the epochs of his development.

Just as in the philosophical stories of Voltaire, in "Faust" the philosophical idea is the leading side, only in comparison with Voltaire, it was embodied in the full-blooded, living images of the first part of the tragedy. The genre of Faust is a philosophical tragedy, and the general philosophical problems that Goethe addresses here acquire a special enlightenment coloring.

The plot of Faust was repeatedly used in contemporary German literature by Goethe, and he himself first met him as a five-year-old boy at a performance of a folk puppet theater that played out an old German legend. However, this legend has historical roots. Dr. Johann-Georg Faust was an itinerant healer, warlock, soothsayer, astrologer and alchemist. Contemporary scholars such as Paracelsus spoke of him as a charlatan impostor; from the point of view of his students (Faust at one time held a professorship at the university), he was a fearless seeker of knowledge and forbidden paths. The followers of Martin Luther (1583-1546) saw in him a wicked man who, with the help of the devil, performed imaginary and dangerous miracles. After his sudden and mysterious death in 1540, Faust's life became full of legends.

The bookseller Johann Spies first collected the oral tradition in a folk book about Faust (1587, Frankfurt am Main). It was an edifying book, "an awesome example of the devil's temptation to ruin the body and soul." Spies also has a contract with the devil for a period of 24 years, and the devil himself in the form of a dog that turns into a servant of Faust, marriage with Elena (the same devil), the famulous Wagner, the terrible death of Faust.

The plot was quickly picked up by the author's literature. The brilliant contemporary of Shakespeare, the Englishman K. Marlo (1564-1593), gave his first theatrical adaptation in The Tragic History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faust (premiered in 1594). The popularity of the story of Faust in England and Germany in the 17th-18th centuries is evidenced by the processing of drama into pantomime and puppet theater performances. Many German writers of the second half of the 18th century used this plot. G. E. Lessing's drama "Faust" (1775) remained unfinished, J. Lenz in the dramatic passage "Faust" (1777) portrayed Faust in hell, F. Klinger wrote the novel "The Life, Deeds and Death of Faust" ( 1791). Goethe took the legend to a whole new level.

For sixty years of work on Faust, Goethe created a work comparable in volume to the Homeric epic (12,111 lines of Faust versus 12,200 verses of the Odyssey). Having absorbed the experience of a lifetime, the experience of a brilliant comprehension of all epochs in the history of mankind, Goethe's work rests on ways of thinking and artistic techniques that are far from those accepted in modern literature, so the best way to approach it is a leisurely commentary reading. Here we will only outline the plot of the tragedy from the point of view of the evolution of the protagonist.

In the Prologue in Heaven, the Lord makes a wager with the devil Mephistopheles about human nature; The Lord chooses his "slave", Dr. Faust, as the object of the experiment.

In the opening scenes of the tragedy, Faust is deeply disappointed in the life he devoted to science. He despaired of knowing the truth and now stands on the verge of suicide, from which he is kept by the ringing of Easter bells. Mephistopheles enters Faust in the form of a black poodle, takes his true form and makes a deal with Faust - the fulfillment of any of his desires in exchange for his immortal soul. The first temptation - wine in Auerbach's cellar in Leipzig - Faust rejects; after a magical rejuvenation in the witch's kitchen, Faust falls in love with the young townswoman Marguerite and, with the help of Mephistopheles, seduces her. From the poison given by Mephistopheles, Gretchen's mother dies, Faust kills her brother and flees the city. In the scene of Walpurgis Night, at the height of the witches' sabbath, the ghost of Marguerite appears to Faust, his conscience awakens in him, and he demands from Mephistopheles to save Gretchen, who has been thrown into prison for killing the baby she gave birth to. But Margarita refuses to run away with Faust, preferring death, and the first part of the tragedy ends with the words of a voice from above: "Saved!" Thus, in the first part, which unfolds in the conditional German Middle Ages, Faust, who in his first life was a hermit scientist, acquires the life experience of a private person.

In the second part, the action is transferred to the wide outside world: to the court of the emperor, to the mysterious cave of the Mothers, where Faust plunges into the past, into the pre-Christian era, and from where he brings Elena the Beautiful. A short marriage with her ends with the death of their son Euphorion, symbolizing the impossibility of a synthesis of ancient and Christian ideals. Having received seaside lands from the emperor, the old Faust finally finds the meaning of life: on the lands reclaimed from the sea, he sees a utopia of universal happiness, the harmony of free labor on a free land. To the sound of shovels, the blind old man pronounces his last monologue: “I am now experiencing the highest moment,” and, according to the terms of the deal, falls dead. The irony of the scene is that Faust takes Mephistopheles' henchmen as builders, digging his grave, and all Faust's works on arranging the region are destroyed by a flood. However, Mephistopheles does not get the soul of Faust: the soul of Gretchen stands up for him before the Mother of God, and Faust escapes hell.

Faust is a philosophical tragedy; in the center of it are the main questions of being, they determine the plot, the system of images, and the artistic system as a whole. As a rule, the presence of a philosophical element in the content of a literary work implies an increased degree of conventionality in its artistic form, as has already been shown in Voltaire's philosophical story.

The fantastic plot of "Faust" takes the hero through different countries and eras of civilization. Since Faust is the universal representative of humanity, the whole space of the world and the whole depth of history becomes the arena of his action. Therefore, the depiction of the conditions of social life is present in the tragedy only to the extent that it is based on historical legend. In the first part there are still genre sketches of folk life (the scene of folk festivals, to which Faust and Wagner go); in the second part, which is philosophically more complex, the reader is given a generalized-abstract review of the main epochs in the history of mankind.

The central image of the tragedy - Faust - the last of the great "eternal images" of individualists, born in the transition from the Renaissance to the New Age. He must be placed next to Don Quixote, Hamlet, Don Juan, each of which embodies one extreme of the development of the human spirit. Faust reveals the most moments of similarity with Don Juan: both strive into the forbidden realms of occult knowledge and sexual secrets, both do not stop before killing, the irrepressibility of desires brings both into contact with hellish forces. But unlike Don Juan, whose search lies in a purely earthly plane, Faust embodies the search for the fullness of life. Faust's realm is boundless knowledge. Just as Don Juan is completed by his servant Sganarelle, and Don Quixote by Sancho Panza, Faust is completed in his eternal companion, Mephistopheles. The devil in Goethe loses the majesty of Satan, a titan and a God-fighter - this is the devil of more democratic times, and he is connected with Faust not so much by the hope of getting his soul, as by friendly affection.

The story of Faust allows Goethe to take a fresh, critical approach to the key issues of Enlightenment philosophy. Let us recall that the critique of religion and the idea of ​​God was the nerve of the Enlightenment ideology. In Goethe, God stands above the action of tragedy. The Lord of the "Prologue in Heaven" is a symbol of the positive beginnings of life, true humanity. Unlike the previous Christian tradition, Goethe's God is not harsh and does not even fight evil, but, on the contrary, communicates with the devil and undertakes to prove to him the futility of the position of complete denial of the meaning of human life. When Mephistopheles likens a man to a wild beast or a fussy insect, God asks him:

Do you know Faust?

- He is a doctor?

- He is my slave.

Mephistopheles knows Faust as a doctor of sciences, that is, he perceives him only by his professional affiliation with scientists, for the Lord Faust is his slave, that is, the bearer of the divine spark, and, offering Mephistopheles a bet, the Lord is sure in advance of his outcome:

When a gardener plants a tree
The fruit is known in advance to the gardener.

God believes in man, that's why he allows Mephistopheles to tempt Faust throughout his earthly life. For Goethe, the Lord has no need to intervene in a further experiment, because he knows that a person is good by nature, and his earthly searches only ultimately contribute to his improvement, exaltation.

Faust, by the beginning of the action in the tragedy, had lost faith not only in God, but also in science, to which he gave his life. The first monologues of Faust speak of his deep disappointment in the life he lived, which was given to science. Neither the scholastic science of the Middle Ages, nor magic give him satisfactory answers about the meaning of life. But Faust's monologues were created at the end of the Enlightenment, and if the historical Faust could only know medieval science, in the speeches of Goethe's Faust there is a criticism of enlightenment optimism regarding the possibilities of scientific knowledge and technological progress, a criticism of the thesis about the omnipotence of science and knowledge. Goethe himself did not trust the extremes of rationalism and mechanistic rationalism, in his youth he was much interested in alchemy and magic, and with the help of magical signs, Faust at the beginning of the play hopes to comprehend the secrets of earthly nature. The meeting with the Spirit of the Earth reveals to Faust for the first time that man is not omnipotent, but negligible compared to the world around him. This is Faust's first step on the path of knowing his own essence and its self-limitation - the plot of the tragedy is in the artistic development of this thought.

Goethe published "Faust", starting from 1790, in parts, which made it difficult for his contemporaries to evaluate the work. Of the early statements, two draw attention to themselves, which left their mark on all subsequent judgments about the tragedy. The first belongs to the founder of romanticism F. Schlegel: "When the work is completed, it will embody the spirit of world history, it will become a true reflection of the life of mankind, its past, present and future. Faust ideally depicts all of humanity, he will become the embodiment of humanity."

The creator of romantic philosophy, F. Schelling, wrote in his "Philosophy of Art": "... due to the peculiar struggle that arises today in knowledge, this work has received a scientific coloring, so that if any poem can be called philosophical, then this is applicable only to "Faust" by Goethe. A brilliant mind, combining the profundity of a philosopher with the strength of an outstanding poet, gave us in this poem an eternally fresh source of knowledge ... "Interesting interpretations of the tragedy were left by I. S. Turgenev (the article" "Faust", a tragedy, 1855), American philosopher R. W. Emerson ("Goethe as a Writer", 1850).

The largest Russian Germanist V. M. Zhirmunsky emphasized the strength, optimism, rebellious individualism of Faust, disputed the interpretation of his path in the spirit of romantic pessimism: history of Goethe's Faust, 1940).

It is significant that the same concept is formed from the name of Faust, as from the names of other literary heroes of the same series. There are whole studies of Don Quixotism, Hamletism, Don Juanism. The concept of "Faustian man" entered cultural studies with the publication of O. Spengler's book "The Decline of Europe" (1923). Faust for Spengler is one of the two eternal human types, along with the Apollo type. The latter corresponds to ancient culture, and for the Faustian soul "the pra-symbol is pure boundless space, and the "body" is Western culture, which flourished in the northern lowlands between the Elbe and Tajo simultaneously with the birth of the Romanesque style in the 10th century ... Faustian - the dynamics of Galileo, Catholic Protestant dogmatics, the fate of Lear and the ideal of the Madonna, from Beatrice Dante to the final scene of the second part of Faust.

In recent decades, the attention of researchers has focused on the second part of Faust, where, according to the German professor K. O. Konradi, “the hero, as it were, performs various roles that are not united by the personality of the performer. allegorical".

"Faust" had a huge impact on the entire world literature. Goethe's grandiose work had not yet been completed, when, under his impression, "Manfred" (1817) by J. Byron, "A Scene from Faust" (1825) by A. S. Pushkin, a drama by H. D. Grabbe " Faust and Don Juan" (1828) and many continuations of the first part of "Faust". The Austrian poet N. Lenau created his "Faust" in 1836, G. Heine - in 1851. Goethe's successor in German literature of the 20th century T. Mann created his masterpiece "Doctor Faustus" in 1949.

Passion for "Faust" in Russia was expressed in the story of I. S. Turgenev "Faust" (1855), in Ivan's conversations with the devil in the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov" (1880), in the image of Woland in the novel M. A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita" (1940). Goethe's "Faust" is a work that sums up the Enlightenment thought and goes beyond the literature of the Enlightenment, paving the way for the future development of literature in the 19th century.