FAUST, PARTS 1 AND 2

1. What is the purpose and meaning of the “Prelude in the Theatre”? 2. Discuss the meaning of the “Prologue in Heaven” and its similarity to the biblical Book of Job. 3. In what ways does Goethe’s Mephisto differ from traditional portrayals of the devil? What philosophical principle does he […]

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The Romantic Movement in Europe, which began in the later years of the 18th century, came to dominate literature and thought during the first part of the 19th century. This movement was characterized by the intense assertion of freedom and imagination, by the glorification of individualism and the virtue of […]

Read more Critical Essays Faust and Romanticism

Despite the complicated plot and the numerous philosophical and literary digressions, a single main theme is evident throughout both parts of Faust and provides a unifying structure for the entire work. This is Faust’s dissatisfaction with the finite limits on man’s potential — the driving force that motivates him in […]

Read more Critical Essays The Main Theme of Faust — A Metaphysical Quest

Although Goethe was an accomplished dramatist and wrote Faust in dramatic form, it is unlikely that he actually intended it to be presented on the stage. The work’s full meaning and effect would be lost in a theatrical production since an understanding of Faust requires intensive study and rereading. In […]

Read more Critical Essays Theatrical Productions of Faust

Goethe himself once described the differences between the two sections of his poem by saying: The first part is almost entirely subjective; it proceeded entirely from a perplexed, impassioned individual, and his semi-darkness is probably highly pleasing to mankind. But, in the second part, there is scarcely anything of the […]

Read more Critical Essays The Relationship of the Two Parts of Faust

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of the rare giants of world literature. Throughout a long and full life he demonstrated his prolific genius in many different areas. Goethe composed literary works and established artistic principles that had a profound influence on his contemporaries throughout Europe, and which are still […]

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Gretchen is a simple, innocent, and pious maiden who develops into a figure of genuine tragic stature. She is essentially pure and innocent, but becomes a willing victim of Faust’s seduction due to loneliness, inexperience, resentment of her mother’s strictness, and an idealistic naivete that leads her to assume that […]

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Goethe’s Mephisto is very different from the crude devil of medieval legend and the original Faust story. He is a cultivated, witty, and cynical exponent of materialism and nihilism, and preaches a sophisticated doctrine of philosophical negation. Mephisto’s most outstanding characteristic is skepticism; the inability to believe in anything. Ironically, […]

Read more Character Analysis Mephistopheles

Faust is a learned German scholar who, at the beginning of the poem, is disillusioned and demoralized by his inability to discover life’s true meaning. Despite his worldly accomplishments he is assailed by frustration because the traditional and conventional modes of thought that he has mastered cannot help him to […]

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Summary A chorus of holy men, among whom are Pater Ecstaticus, Pater Profundis, and Pater Seraphicus, sing the praises of Heaven. A host of angels enters, bearing the immortal remains of Faust. Other angelic choirs join in the singing. They are joined by the spirits of children who died in […]

Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Act V: Mountain-Gorges, Forest, Cliff, Wilderness