Composition of Goethe I. V

The tragedy "Faust" was written for a very long time and unevenly - for fifty-seven years. Full text Faust is divided into two large parts. The first includes the love story of Faust, who magically regained his youth, and the young girl Margarita. This story is traced from their first meeting to the death of Margarita. Two prologues open the tragedy: "Prologue in the theater" and "Prologue in heaven." The prologue in the theater connects the work with modernity and is devoted to a discussion of what should be staged in the theater in order to satisfy the tastes of the public. The second prologue, conveying the conversation between the Lord and Mephistopheles, refers the reader to the Bible, thereby indicating the enduring significance of the play's problems.

The text of the first part is divided into twenty-five scenes. Events begin with the monologues of Faust, an old scientist, about his deep doubts about the usefulness and truth of his knowledge, about disappointment in a fruitless science. These reflections turn into a determination to change your life and indulge in secret magical pursuits, which leads to the appearance in the life of Faust of the demon Mephistopheles, carrying with him the temptation with the promises of youth and the fulfillment of all desires. To understand the author's thoughts about the nature of Mephistopheles, the following dialogue between Faust and him is important:

Faust

"So who are you?"

Mephistopheles

- I am a particle of strength,

Desiring evil forever, doing only good.

Mephistopheles' answer should not be seen as a simple desire of the devil to deceive a person. With these words, Goethe conveys his philosophical understanding of the impossibility of the triumph of evil in the world - it is always transformed into good. Goethe wants to say that evil is temporary, it is constantly denied God's will doing good. It is this thought that explains the salvation of the criminal Margarita at the end of scene 25. This moral law of life was shared by Pushkin, Lermontov and others. prominent writers and thinkers. In the XX century M.A. Bulgakov used this dialogue as an epigraph to The Master and Margarita.

The second part of "Faust" was created in the XIX century (1806-1831). Unlike the first part, which was based on a love story, in the second part Goethe transfers the plot of the tragedy to conditional situations generated by ancient mythology and history. Antiquity, cradle modern humanity, intertwined in Goethe with Christian beliefs and symbols, images and ideals. The second part consists of five acts in which Faust ascends to the insight of the truth about the appointment. human life.

At the culmination of the fifth act, Faust proclaims the highest meaning of human life in labor and service for the benefit of people. Here's how he talks about great job for draining the swamp and creating a flowering region:

I am committed to this idea! Life years

Gone in vain; clear before me

The final conclusion of earthly wisdom:

All my life in the struggle of a harsh, continuous

Let the child, and the husband, and the elder lead,

So that I can see in the brilliance of wondrous power

Free land, my free people!

It was in this monologue that the words that became textbooks sounded:

Only he is worthy of life and freedom,

Who every day goes to fight for them!

Before the finale of the tragedy, Goethe leads Faust to a bold statement of the “highest moment” he has achieved as a “beautiful moment” - it lies in the creativity of man, his work, which bears fruit for subsequent generations. Faust begins to understand the purpose of a person in life - he must bring good to people. Having overcome pride and selfishness, Faust is not afraid of defeat in a dispute with Mephistopheles, because he knows that now he is invincible:

Then I would say: a moment,

You're great, hold on!

And the flow of centuries would not be bold

The trace I left!

In anticipation of that wondrous moment

I now taste my highest moment.

It would seem that Faust violated the contract, Mephistopheles triumphs:

Poor, empty, miserable moment!

But time is king; the last moment has come

The old man who fought for so long fell,

The clock is up!

Mephistopheles considered that he defeated Faust, taking his life, but the devil was not in control of the soul of a person if he makes a high choice in favor of people's happiness. Mephistopheles owns only the body of Faust, the angels descended from heaven carry away the immortal soul of Faust. The result of the tragedy is that man overcame temptation and evil was defeated.

Work on the tragedy "Faust" young J. W. Goethe began in 1771, repeatedly published separate fragments and completed in the year of his death, sealing the manuscript in an envelope and bequeathing it to be published only after his death.

"Once upon a time Goethe set out to translate the book of Job for the enlightened European public. He started it in his youth and finished it in old age. It turned out to be the well-known "Faust", the one that our intellectuals admire, for the most part and not suspecting that this is the book of Job translated for them.

Ukhtomsky A.A. , Intuition of Conscience: Letters. Notebooks. Marginal notes, St. Petersburg, "Petersburg writer", 1996, p. 286.

In the first versions, Faust is a young rebel, striving to penetrate the secrets of nature, to assert the power of his "I" over the world around him ...

Super brief content final version The tragedy "Faust" is as follows: the Lord and Mephistopheles make a bet: the latter will be able or not to take possession of the soul of Faust. Faust is a scientist. He is tired of what he has achieved (hereinafter the text is given in the translation of N.A. Kholodkovsky)

I learned philosophy
I became a lawyer, I became a doctor...
Alas! with diligence and hard work
And I penetrated into theology -
And I did not become smarter in the end,
Than before I was ... I am a fool of fools!
I'm a master and a doctor - that's it
Tom was in his tenth year;
Pupils and at random I drive by the nose at random -
And yet I see that knowledge is not given to us.
The chest withered from burning suffering!
Let me be smarter than different simpletons -
Scribbler, priests, masters, doctors, -
May I not suffer from empty doubts,
Let me not be afraid of devils and ghosts,
Let me go down to hell, I'm ready -
But I do not know joy
I'm looking for the truth in vain
But when I teach people
To teach them, to improve - I do not dream!
Moreover, I am poor: I don’t know, poor man,
No human honors, no different benefits ...
So the dog would not live! Years gone!
That's why I decided magic
Surrender: I wait for words and strength from the spirit,
To reveal the secrets of nature to me,
So as not to chat, working on trifles,
About what I don't know myself
So that I comprehend all actions, all secrets,
All over the world internal connection;
From my mouth so that the truth flows -
Not empty words random set!

Goethe, Faust, St. Petersburg, "ABC Classics", 2009, p. 19-20.

Usually, Faust's doubts and searches are interpreted as searches for the meaning of life. Here is a famous passage that is often cited and cited as an example of reductionism in scientific research:

Mephistopheles:

Appreciate the time: the days are gone forever!
But our order will give you the habit
Distribute jobs carefully.
Therefore, my friend, for the first time,
For me, it would be useful for you here
Logic course: although experience is risky,
Start to train your mind
As if in a Spanish boot laced,
So that he is quiet, without unnecessary thoughts
And without empty impatience,
Crawled up the stairs of thought,
To at random, in all directions,
He didn't run around here and there.
Then they will inspire you for the same purpose,
What is everywhere in our life, even in
For everyone clear and simple,
What did you know how to do before -
Like drinking, eating,
Need a command "one, two, three" always.
This is how thoughts are fabricated. With this you can
Compare at least a weaving machine, for example.
In it, thread management is difficult:
Now down, then up the shuttle scurries,
Invisibly, the threads will merge into the fabric;
One push - a hundred loops twist.
Like this, my friend
And the philosopher teaches you:
"This is so, and this is so,
And that's why it's so
And if the first reason disappears,
That and the second does not happen in any way.
His disciples are in awe of him.
But they will not be able to weave a fabric from threads.
Or here: wanting to study a living object,
To get a clear knowledge of him,
The scientist first expels the soul,
Then the object is divided into parts
And he sees them, but it's a pity: their spiritual connection
In the meantime, disappeared, carried away!

Goethe, Faust, St. Petersburg, "ABC Classics", 2009, p. 71-72.

Faust puts forward his own terms of the contract: Mephistopheles must serve him until the first moment, when he, Faust, calms down, content with what he has achieved ... Mephistopheles leads Faust through a series of adventures, tests, many of which are love ... At the end of the tragedy, Faust, aged and blind, having received a strip of coast, decides to drain it, make it habitable for people, here is his last monologue:

Swamp up to the mountains, infecting the air,
It is worth spoiling all the work by threatening.
Take away rotten water stagnation -
This is my highest and last achievement!
I will create a whole region vast, new,
And let millions of people live here
All my life, in view of the severe danger,
Relying only on your free labor.
Among the hills, in the fruitful field,
Herds and people will be free here;
Paradise will bloom among my glades,
And there, in the distance, let it violently bubble
Sea abyss, let the dam grind:
Fix every flaw in it.
I am committed to this idea! Life years
Gone in vain, clear to me
The final conclusion of earthly wisdom:
Only he is worthy of life and freedom,
Who every day goes to fight for them!
All my life in the struggle of a harsh, continuous
Let the child, and the husband, and the elder lead,
So that I can see in the brilliance of wondrous power
Free land, my free people!
Then I would say: a moment,
You're great, hold on!
And the flow of centuries would not be bold
The trace I left!
In anticipation of that wondrous moment
I now taste my highest moment.

Goethe, Faust, St. Petersburg, "ABC Classics", 2009, p. 456-457.

Usually this monologue is interpreted as the wisdom of Faust, who realized that it is not pleasure, not knowledge, not wealth, not glory, not love, experienced by him, that bestows the highest moment of existence...

The final:

Angels lift Faust - under the nose of Mephistopheles - to heaven.

Analysis of Goethe's work "Faust" allows us to conclude that it is the most ambitious, great and incomprehensible work in all world literature. The heroes of the work are so diverse, and the time frame is blurred and limitless, that the genre, composition and theme of the work are still the subject of controversy in the world of literary criticism. "Faust" analysis can be useful for students of grade 9 to prepare for literature lessons, test and creative work.

Brief analysis

Year of writing- about 1773 -1831.

History of creation- The work was written over 60 years. Starting at the age of 20, the author finished it a year and a half before his death. The idea of ​​the tragedy was influenced by the Sturm und Drang society (opposing feudalism in Germany), in which the author was a member.

Topic is the meaning of human existence.

Composition- form - a drama for reading, part 1 - 25 scenes, part 2 - 5 actions. The first part has fairly clear compositional elements.

Genre – philosophical tragedy, dramatic poem, play.

Direction- romanticism.

History of creation

"Faust" is the fruit of the writer's work, which lasted almost his entire life. Naturally, the work "grew" along with its author, it absorbed the system of views of European society for half a century. The story of the German warlock Faust, who really existed in the 16th century in Germany, was taken as the basis of their works by many writers, poets, composers, and artists.

However, Johann Goethe made this image as alive, feeling, thinking as possible, defined him as a person striving for the truth. The legends about Dr. Faust are rather gloomy, he is accused of apostasy from the faith, of practicing magic and sorcery, of resurrecting people, of an inappropriate lifestyle. According to legend, he performed tricks, healed the sick, and was a wanderer. Before Goethe, no one focused on the fact that the great scientist was looking for answers to eternal questions that he is great in his thirst for truth, he is faithful to the cause he has chosen.

The beginning of the writer's work on "Faust" fell on his twenty years of age. Then the future scientist and great writer did not know that he would create this work all his life, that it would become a great immortal masterpiece of all times and peoples. From 1773 to 1775, work on numerous scenes of the tragedy proceeded most favorably.

In 1790, the friendship of Goethe and Schiller led to the fact that the latter persuaded the poet to continue working on Faust and certainly complete this masterpiece. Between 1825-31, already at an advanced age, Goethe completed his life's work. He did not want to print it during his lifetime, the will indicated the desire to publish Faust after the death of the writer. In 1832, the entire work was published.

Topic

The meaning of human life, the structure of the world, love, power, money, unlimited desires and their consequences - this is only a part of topics that are touched upon by the author of Faust. Highlight main idea in such a large-scale work is quite difficult. The tragedy of Goethe teaches that absolute knowledge is not always good, a person is too weak a being to, having passed the devilish trials, keep his soul unharmed and pure.

Above idea"Faust" disputes of literary critics and critics still do not subside. The thirst for knowledge of the world, emotional, physical, intellectual, inevitably leads to the death of the soul, because going on about one's desires is a deliberate failure. Goethe filled the work with a serious philosophical issues, while the basis of the plot is folk legend. If we add to this ideas enlightenment and criticism of the Middle Ages - you get an absolutely unique creation - such was the tragedy "Faust".

Composition

"Faust" in its form can be attributed to the drama for reading, not all of its scenes are suitable for staging in the theater. The work has a transparent composition: initiation, prologue on earth (in the theater), prologue in heaven, the plot of the action, the development of events, the climax and the denouement. The second part of "Faust" is very abstract, it is difficult to single out obvious structural compositional elements in it.

The main feature of the composition of "Faust" is its multi-layered, focus on reading with a visual representation of what is happening "on the stage". The first part consists of 25 scenes, the second - 5 acts. Despite the complexity of the play, it is quite holistic in terms of meaning and art.

Genre

The author himself defined the genre of the work as a tragedy. Literary critics tend to consider Goethe's masterpiece a dramatic poem, because it is full of lyricism and deeply poetic. Considering that many scenes from Faust can be staged in a theater, the work can also be called a play. It should be noted that the work has a fairly clear epic beginning, so it will focus on certain genre quite difficult.

The plot is based on the legend of a medieval magician and a warlock.
John Faust. He was a real person, but already with his
life began to add up legends about him.
In "Faust" Goethe expressed in figurative poetic form your understanding
life. Faust is undoubtedly a living person with passions and feelings inherent in
other people. But being a bright and outstanding personality, Faust is by no means
is not the epitome of perfection. Faust's path is difficult. First he
proudly challenges the cosmic forces, summoning the spirit of the earth and hoping
compete with him in strength. The life of Faust, which unfolds before the reader
Goethe - this is the path of tireless quest.
Faust's father was a doctor, he instilled in him a love of science and raised in him
desire to serve people. But the doctor's father was powerless against
diseases affecting people. During the plague, young Faust, seeing that
paternal means can not stop the flow of deaths, turned with hot
prayer to heaven. But help did not come from there either. Then Faust once and for all
decided that it was useless to seek help from God. After this Faust
devoted himself to science.
This backstory of Faust we learn in the course of action. We are with the hero
we'll meet when he's done a big life path and came to
conclusion about the futile efforts. Faust's despair is so deep that
he wants to commit suicide. But at this moment he hears the pleas
people and decides to stay alive.
At a critical moment on the path of Faust, Mephistopheles meets. Here
you need to return to one of the scenes that precede the beginning of the action - to the Prologue
in the sky. In it, the Lord, surrounded by angels, meets with Mephistopheles.
The inhabitant of hell Mephistopheles embodies evil. The whole scene symbolizes the struggle
good and evil going on in the world.
Mephistopheles completely denies any dignity for a person.
The Lord recognizes that man is far from perfection, but still in the final
way to get out of the darkness. As such a person, the Lord
calls Faust. Mephistopheles asks permission to prove that Faust is easy
lead astray from the true path. The dispute between Mephistopheles and God is a dispute about
the nature and value of man.
The appearance of Mephistopheles before Faust is not accidental. Mephistopheles is not
looks like the devil from the naive folk tales. The image created by Goethe is full
deep philosophical meaning. Goethe, however, does not depict Mephistopheles
solely the embodiment of evil. He's actually "diabolically" smart.
Mephistopheles does not allow Faust to calm down. Pushing Faust to the bad, he,
without expecting it, awakens the best sides the nature of the hero.
Faust, demanding from Mephistopheles the fulfillment of all his desires, puts
condition:
As soon as I glorify a separate moment,
Screaming: "A moment, wait!" -
It's over and I'm your prey
And I have no escape from the trap.
The first thing he offers him is to visit a tavern where they feast
students. He hopes that Faust, simply put, will indulge in drunkenness and
forget about his searches. But Faust is disgusted by the company of bastards, and
Mephistopheles suffers his first defeat. Then he cooks him a second
trial. With the help of witchcraft, he returns his youth.
Mephistopheles hopes that the young Faust will indulge in feelings.
Indeed, the first beautiful girl, seen by Faust, excites
his desire, and he demands from the devil that he immediately grant him
beauty. Mephistopheles helps him meet Margarita, hoping that
Faust in her arms will find that beautiful moment that he wants
extend to infinity. But even here the devil turns out to be beaten.
If at first Faust's attitude to Marguerite was only crudely sensual,
then very soon it is replaced by more and more true love ...
Of course a lot, but for that everything is clear))

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 in Frankfurt am Main, Goethe received an excellent liberal arts education at home, studied at the Universities of Leipzig and Strasbourg. Start it literary activity had to form in German literature the Sturm und Drang movement, at the head of which he stood. His fame went beyond Germany with the publication of the novel The Suffering young Werther"(1774). The first drafts of the tragedy" Faust" also belong to the period of the sturmerism.

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 spiritual 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 Taurida", "Egmont", "Torquato Tasso". Upon returning from Italy to Weimar, Goethe retains only the post of Minister of Culture and Director of the Weimar Theater. 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, work on "Faust" took over sixty years, it covered the entire creative life Goethe and absorbed all the eras of his development.

Just like in philosophical stories Voltaire, in "Faust" the leading side is philosophical idea, only in comparison with Voltaire, she found embodiment 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, the life of Faust was overgrown with many legends.

The bookseller Johann Spies collected the oral tradition for the first time in 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 " tragic history life and death of Dr. 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 puppet theaters. Many German writers second half of XVIII 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, far from those accepted in contemporary literature, that's why The best way approaching him is a leisurely commented 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 on his true appearance 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 life experience 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 coastal 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 both the plot and the system of images, and art system generally. As a rule, the presence of a philosophical element in the content literary work implies an increased degree of conventionality in its art form, as has already been shown in Voltaire's philosophical story.

The fantastic plot of "Faust" leads 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 image of the conditions public life is present in tragedy only to the extent that it relies on historical legend. In the first part there are still genre sketches folk life(scene festivities, 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"Individualists born in the transition from the Renaissance to the New Age. He should be placed next to Don Quixote, Hamlet, Don Juan, each of which embodies one extreme of development human spirit. Faust reveals the most points of similarity with Don Juan: both strive into the forbidden realms of occult knowledge and sexual secrets, both do not stop before the murder, the irrepressibility of desires brings both into contact with the infernal 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 complemented by his servant Sganarelle, and Don Quixote is 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 criticism of Enlightenment optimism regarding the possibilities scientific knowledge and technical progress, criticism of the thesis of 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 - in artistic development this idea is the plot of the tragedy.

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: "In the general plan of the tragedy, Faust's disappointment [of the first scenes] is only a necessary stage in his doubts and search for truth" (" creative history"Faust" by Goethe, 1940).

It is significant that the same concept is formed from the name of Faust, as from the names of others literary heroes the same row. 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 two eternal human types, along with the Apollo type. The last one matches 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 Elba and Tajo at the same time as the birth of the Romanesque style in the 10th century ... Faustian - the dynamics of Galileo, Catholic Protestant dogma, 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 whole 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.