Concept
Goethe's Faust
Overview
Faust ( FOWST, German: [faʊst] ) is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two. 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 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 of Faust, which has been sold to the devil, but rather on social phenomena such as psychology, history and politics, in addition to mystical and philosophical topics. The second part formed the principal occupation of Goethe's last years.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
Varnhagen himself will not bring up your fourth volume to the right size; hardly beyond 380 pages, I should think; yet what more can be done? Do you remember Fraser's Magazine for October, 1832, and a Translation there, with Notes, of a thing called Goethe's Mahrchen? It is by me; I regard it as a most remarkable piece, well worthy of perusal, especially by all readers of mine.
Thomas Carlyle, The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1834-1872, Vol. I
States what Goethe's Faust is; the author is tied to Goethe's Faust in the knowledge graph.
Schubart warmed himself with this idea; and talked about it in his cups, to the astonishment of simple souls. He even wrote a certain rhapsody connected with it, which is published in his poems. But here he rested; and the project of the Wandering Jew, which Goethe likewise meditated in his youth, is still unexecuted.
Thomas Carlyle, The Life of Friedrich Schiller Comprehending an Examination of His Works
The author is tied to Goethe's Faust in the knowledge graph.
The second part of Faust has been a battlefield of controversy since its publication, and demands fuller attention. Its fate may be compared with that of the latest works of Beethoven.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Autobiography
Close in meaning to Goethe's Faust; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed Goethe's Faust
- Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)
- Thomas Carlyle
- George Henry Lewes
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Muhammad Iqbal
- Carl Jung
- Lucian Blaga
Related ideas
- History
- Walter Kaufmann (philosopher)
- Heaven
- Reactionary
- Suicide
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Pentagram
- Psychology
- Politics
- Soul
- Masterpiece
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- The Times
Place in the tradition
Part of Lebensphilosophie.