''Faust'' is a

tragic Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as '' Faust, Part One'' and ''

Faust, Part Two ''Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil in fünf Akten.) is the second part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was published in 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Only part o ...

''. Nearly all of Part One and the majority of Part Two are written in rhymed verse. Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages. ''Faust'' is considered by many to be Goethe's ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' and the greatest work of German literature. The earliest forms of the work, known as the ''Urfaust'', were developed between 1772 and 1775; however, the details of that development are not entirely clear. ''Urfaust'' has twenty-two scenes, one in prose, two largely prose and the remaining 1,441 lines in rhymed verse. The manuscript is lost, but a copy was discovered in 1886. The first appearance of the work in print was ''Faust, a Fragment'', published in 1790. Goethe completed a preliminary version of what is now known as ''Part One'' in 1806. Its publication in 1808 was followed by the revised 1828–29 edition, the last to be edited by Goethe himself. Goethe finished writing ''Faust, Part Two'' in 1831; it was published posthumously the following year. In contrast to ''Faust, Part One'', the focus here is no longer on the

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

of Faust, which has been sold to the devil, but rather on social phenomena such as

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

, history and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, in addition to mystical and philosophical topics. The second part formed the principal occupation of Goethe's last years.

Nomenclature

The original 1808 German title page of Goethe's play read simply: "Faust. / Eine Tragödie" ("Faust. / A Tragedy"). The addition of "erster Teil" (in English, "Part One") was retrospectively applied by publishers when the sequel was published in 1832 with a title page which read: "Faust. / Der Tragödie zweiter Teil" ("Faust. / The Tragedy's Second Part"). The two plays have been published in English under a number of titles, and are usually referred to as ''Faust'', Parts One and Two.

''Faust, Part One''

The principal characters of ''Faust Part One'' include: * Heinrich Faust, a scholar, sometimes said to be based on Johann Georg Faust, or on

Jacob Bidermann Jacob Bidermann (1578 – 20 August 1639) was born in the Austrian (at that time) village of Ehingen, about 30 miles southwest of Ulm. He was a Jesuit priest and professor of theology, but is remembered mostly for his plays. He had a talent f ...

's dramatized account of the ''Legend of the Doctor of Paris'', '' Cenodoxus''; see also

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles i ...

, the Devil * Gretchen, Faust's love (short for Margarete; Goethe uses both forms) * Marthe Schwerdtlein, Gretchen's neighbour * Valentin, Gretchen's brother * Wagner, Faust's attendant ''Faust, Part One'' takes place in multiple settings, the first of which is Heaven. Mephistopheles (Satan) makes a bet with God: he says that he can lure God's favourite human being (Faust), who is striving to learn everything that can be known, away from righteous pursuits. The next scene takes place in Faust's study where Faust, despairing at the vanity of scientific, humanistic, and religious learning, turns to magic for the showering of infinite knowledge. He suspects, however, that his attempts are failing. Frustrated, he ponders suicide, but rejects it as he hears the echo of nearby

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

celebrations begin. He goes for a walk with his assistant Wagner and is followed home by a stray

poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle var ...

. In Faust's study, the poodle transforms into Mephistopheles. He proposes a wager to Faust: If Mephistopheles can grant Faust a moment of transcendence on Earth, a moment that he wishes to remain forever, then he will instantly die and serve the Devil in Hell. Faust does not believe that Mephistopheles can accomplish this and accepts the wager. When Mephistopheles tells Faust to sign the pact with blood, Faust complains that Mephistopheles does not trust Faust's word of honor. In the end, Mephistopheles wins the argument and Faust signs the contract with a drop of his own blood. Faust has a few excursions and then meets Margaret (also known as Gretchen). He is attracted to her and with jewelry and with help from a neighbor, Marthe, Mephistopheles draws Gretchen into Faust's arms. With Mephistopheles' aid, Faust seduces Gretchen. Gretchen's mother dies from a sleeping

potion A potion () is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word ''potus'' which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically ...

, administered by Gretchen to obtain privacy so that Faust could visit her. Gretchen discovers she is pregnant. Gretchen's brother condemns Faust, challenges him and falls dead at the hands of Faust and Mephistopheles. Gretchen drowns her illegitimate child and is convicted of the murder. Faust tries to save Gretchen from death by attempting to free her from prison. Finding that she refuses to escape, Faust and Mephistopheles flee the dungeon, while voices from Heaven announce that Gretchen shall be saved – "" – this differs from the harsher ending of ''Urfaust'' – "" – "she is condemned."

''Faust, Part Two''

Rich in classical allusion, in ''Part Two'' the romantic story of the first Faust is put aside, and Faust wakes in a field of fairies to initiate a new cycle of adventures and purpose. The piece consists of five acts (relatively isolated episodes) each representing a different theme. Ultimately, Faust goes to Heaven, for he loses only half of the bet. Angels, who arrive as messengers of divine mercy, declare at the end of Act V: "He who strives on and lives to strive / Can earn redemption still" (V, 11936–7).

Relationship between the parts

Throughout ''Part One'', Faust remains unsatisfied; the ultimate conclusion of the tragedy and the outcome of the wagers are only revealed in ''Faust, Part Two''. The first part represents the "small world" and takes place in Faust's own local, temporal milieu. In contrast, ''Part Two'' takes place in the "wide world" or ''macrocosmos''.

Translations

In 1821, a partial English verse translation of ''Faust'' (Part One) was published anonymously by the London publisher Thomas Boosey and Sons, with illustrations by the German engraver

Moritz Retzsch Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch (December 9, 1779 - June 11, 1857) was a German painter, draughtsman, and etcher. Retzsch was born in the Saxon capital Dresden. He joined the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1798 under Cajetan Toscani and Józ ...

. This translation was attributed to the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Frederick Burwick and James C. McKusick in their 2007 Oxford University Press edition, ''Faustus: From the German of Goethe, Translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge''. In a letter dated 4 September 1820, Goethe wrote to his son August that Coleridge was translating ''Faust''. However, this attribution is controversial: Roger Paulin, William St. Clair, and Elinor Shaffer provide a lengthy rebuttal to Burwick and McKusick, offering evidence including Coleridge's repeated denials that he had ever translated ''Faustus'' and arguing that Goethe's letter to his son was based on misinformation from a third party. Coleridge's fellow Romantic Percy Bysshe Shelley produced admired fragments of a translation first publishing Part One Scene II in ''The Liberal'' magazine in 1822, with "Scene I" (in the original, the "Prologue in Heaven") being published in the first edition of his ''Posthumous Poems'' by

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

in 1824. * In 1828, at the age of twenty, Gérard de Nerval published a French translation of Goethe's ''Faust''. * In 1850, Anna Swanwick released an English translation of ''Part One''. In 1878, she published a translation of ''Part Two''. Her translation is considered among the best. * In 1870–71, Bayard Taylor published an English translation in the original

metres The metre (British spelling Despite the various English dialects spoken from country to country and within different regions of the same country, there are only slight regional variations in English orthography, the two most notable va ...

. * Calvin Thomas: ''Part One'' (1892) and ''Part Two'' (1897) for D. C. Heath. * Alice Raphael: ''Part One'' (1930) for Jonathan Cape. * Guo Moruo: ''Part One'' (1928) and ''Part Two'' (1947) into Chinese. * Philosopher Walter Kaufmann was also known for an English translation of ''Faust'', presenting Part One in its entirety, with selections from Part Two, and omitted scenes extensively summarized. Kaufmann's version preserves Goethe's metres and rhyme schemes, but objected to translating all of Part Two into English, believing that "To let Goethe speak English is one thing; to transpose into English his attempt to imitate Greek poetry in German is another." * Phillip Wayne: ''Part One'' (1949) and ''Part Two'' (1959) for Penguin Books. * Louis MacNeice: In 1949, the BBC commissioned an abridged translation for radio. It was published in 1952. In August 1950, Boris Pasternak's Russian translation of the first part led him to be attacked in the Soviet literary journal '' Novy Mir''. The attack read in part,

... the translator clearly distorts Goethe's ideas... in order to defend the reactionary theory of 'pure art' ... he introduces an aesthetic and individualist flavor into the text... attributes a reactionary idea to Goethe... distorts the social and philosophical meaning... Olga Ivinskaya, ''A Captive of Time: My Years with Pasternak'', 1978. pp. 78–79.

In response, Pasternak wrote to Ariadna Èfron, the exiled daughter of

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

There was some alarm when my ''Faust'' was torn to pieces in ''Novy mir'' on the basis that supposedly the gods, angels, witches, spirits, the madness of poor Gretchen and everything 'irrational' was rendered too well, whereas Goethe's progressive ideas (which ones?) were left in the shade and unattended.

* Peter Salm: ''Faust, First Part'' (1962) for Bantam Books. *

Randall Jarrell Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914 – October 14, 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—a position that now bears the title Poe ...

: ''Part One'' (1976) for Farrar, Straus and Giroux. *

Walter Arndt Walther Arndt (8 January 1891 in Landeshut, Silesia, now Kamienna Góra, Poland – 26 June 1944 in Brandenburg) was a German zoologist and physician. A curator at the in Berlin, and a professor, he was executed for being critical of the Nazi ...

: ''Faust: A Tragedy'' (1976) for W. W. Norton & Company. *Stuart Atkins: ''Faust I & II, Volume 2: Goethe's Collected Works'' (1984) for Princeton University Press. * David Luke: ''Part One'' (1987) and ''Part Two'' (1994) for Oxford University Press. * Martin Greenberg : ''Part One'' (1992) and ''Part Two'' (1998) for Yale University Press. He has been credited with capturing the poetic feel of the original. * John R. Williams: ''Part One'' (1999) and ''Part Two'' (2007) for Wordsworth Editions. * David Constantine: ''Part One'' (2005) and ''Part Two'' (2009) for Penguin Books. * Zsuzsanna Ozsváth and Frederick Turner: ''Part One'' (2020) for Deep Vellum Books, with illustrations by Fowzia Karimi.

Historic productions

Part One

*May 24, 1819: Premiere of selected scenes. Castle Monbijou, Berlin *January 29, 1829: Premiere of the complete ''Part One''. Braunschweig *In 1885, the Irish dramatist W. G. Wills loosely adapted the first part of ''Faust'' for a production starring Henry Irving as Mephistopheles and

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

as Margaret at the Lyceum Theatre, London. *In 1908, Stephen Phillips and J. Comyns Carr freely adapted the first part of ''Faust'' for a production at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

. It starred Henry Ainley as Faust, Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Mephistopheles and Marie Lohr as Margaret. *1960:

Deutsches Schauspielhaus The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It was established in 1901 by the renowned stage actress Franziska Ellmenreich. Theatre managers Notable actors Marco Albrecht, Ingrid ...

, Hamburg: Directed by Peter Gorski, and produced by Gustaf Gründgens (who also played Mephistopheles), with Will Quadflieg (Faust), Ella Büchi (Gretchen),

Elisabeth Flickenschildt Elisabeth Ida Marie Flickenschildt (16 March 1905 – 26 October 1977) was a German actress, producer and author. She appeared in dozens of German language films and television productions between 1935–1976. Flickenschildt was born in Hamburg ...

(Marthe), Max Eckard (Valentin), Eduard Marks (Wagner), Uwe Friedrichsen (Student). The film of this performance was very successful. *1989: Fragments from ''Part One''.

Piccolo Teatro di Milano The Piccolo Teatro di Milano (translation: "Little Theatre of the City of Milan") is a theatre in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1947, it is Italy's first permanent theatre, and a national "teatro stabile", or permanent repertory company, and is conside ...

: Director Giorgio Strehler, scenographer Josef Svoboda *October 26, 2006: Teatro Comunale Modena, Italy: Directed by Eimuntas Nekrošius; complete playing length (with intervals): 4½ hours

Part Two

* 2003 of Ingmar Thilo; with Antonios Safralis (Faust), Raphaela Zick (Mephisto), Ulrike Dostal (Helena), Max Friedmann (Lynceus), and others * 2005 Michael Thalheimer at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin, with a.o. Ingo Hülsmann, Sven Lehmann, Nina Hoss and Inge Keller * 1990: Fragments from ''Part Two''. Piccolo Teatro di Milano: Director Giorgio Strehler, scenographer Josef Svoboda

Entire piece

*1938: World premiere of both parts, unabridged, at the ''

Goetheanum The Goetheanum, located in Dornach, in the canton of Solothurn, Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement. The building was designed by Rudolf Steiner and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It includes two performa ...

'' in Dornach, Switzerland *July 22–23, 2000: The Expo 2000 Hanover performance: Directed by Peter Stein; both parts in their complete version, with Christian Nickel and

Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...

(the young and the old Faust), Johann Adam Oest (Mephistopheles), Dorothée Hartinger, Corinna Kirchhoff and Elke Petri. Complete playing length (with intervals): 21 hours

In music and film

* In 1814

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

set a text from ''Faust'' Part I, scene 18 as " Gretchen am Spinnrade" ( 118; Op. 2). It was his first setting of a text by Goethe. Later Lieder by Schubert based on ''Faust'': , 367,

440 Year 440 (CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Anatolius (or, less frequently, year 1193 ''Ab urbe ...

and 564. * Robert Schumann's secular oratorio '' Scenes from Goethe's Faust'' (1844–1853) * Hector Berlioz's "légende dramatique" ''

La damnation de Faust ''La damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "''légende dramatique'' ...

'' (1846) * Franz Liszt's ''

Faust Symphony ''A Faust Symphony in three character pictures'' (german: Eine Faust-Symphonie in drei Charakterbildern), S.108, or simply the "''Faust Symphony''", is a choral symphony written by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Go ...

'' (1857) *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's opera ''

'' (1859) *

Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, best ...

's opera ''

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libre ...

'' (1868; 1875) * The second movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906) sets the text of the final scene of part II of Goethe's Faust. * Ferruccio Busoni's opera ''

Doktor Faust ''Doktor Faust'' is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time o ...

'' (1916) * F. W. Murnau's film ''

'' (1926) is based on older versions of the legend as well as Goethe's version. * Peter Gorski directed Gustaf Gründgens in the 1960 film, ''

''. * Randy Newman's musical ''

'' (1993) * Jan Švankmajer's film ''

'' (1994) * Rudolf Volz's ''Rock Opera Faust'' with original lyrics by Goethe (1997) * American metal band Kamelot's CDs '' Epica'' (2003) and '' The Black Halo'' (2005) are based on ''Faust''. * Alexander Sokurov's film ''

'' (2011) * American band Agalloch's '' Faustian Echoes'' EP is directly based on Goethe's work and contains direct quotations from it. * Philipp Humm's modern art film '' The Last Faust'' (2019) is directly based on Goethe's ''Faust'' and is the first film made on Faust part I and part II.

Notes

External links

* (German) * (German) * (1912 English translation by Bayard Taylor) * *
''Faust''
available at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, scanned illustrated books
''Faust'', Part II
available at digbib.org (German)
''Faust'', Pt. 1
available at Google Books (1867 English translation by John Wynniatt Grant)
''Faust'', Pt. 1
available at Google Books (1908 English translation by

Abraham Hayward Abraham Hayward Queen's Counsel, Q.C. (22 November 1801 – 2 February 1884) was an English man of letters. Life He was son of Joseph Hayward, and was born in Wilton, Wiltshire, Wilton, near Salisbury, England, Salisbury, Wiltshire. After ...

with illustrations by

Willy Pogany William Andrew Pogany (born Vilmos András Pogány; August 24, 1882 – July 30, 1955) was a prolific Hungarian illustrator of children's and other books. His contemporaries include C. Coles Phillips, Joseph Clement Coll, Edmund Dulac, Harvey Du ...

) * * (multiple languages, including English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Faust, Goethe 1808 plays 1832 plays Fiction about the Devil Epic poems in German German plays adapted into films Heaven in popular culture Plays adapted into ballets Plays adapted into operas Plays by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Tragedy plays Walpurgis Night fiction