Faust Parts 1 & 2
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About this ebook
Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price
A fresh, performable version by John Clifford of Goethe's 'unstageable' masterpiece.
God and Mephistopheles vie for the mortal soul of Dr Faust. Signing a pact with the nihilistic spirit, Faust is privy to knowledge unbound and sensual delights of which most men can only dream. But before long, the Doctor comes to realise that you should always be very careful what you wish for.
Goethe began working on Faust in about 1772-5. He published a first fragment of it in 1790, then the whole of Part One in 1808. He saw the first performance of Part One in Brunswick in 1829, and was still making minor revisions to Part Two shortly before his death in March 1832.
This two-part English version by John Clifford, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, was first performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in February 2006.
'A thoroughly modern interpretation, a litany of society's soul-selling compromises - sexual commoditisation, academic dumbing-down and capitalistic rapaciousness - that is entirely about today. It's frequently funny but never less than serious' - Guardian
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
<p>Johann Wolfgang Goethe, hijo de una familia de la alta burguesía, nació en Francfort en 1749, y murió en Weimar en 1832, universalmente reconocido y admirado. Entre una fecha y otra no sólo se extienden dos grandes revoluciones históricas, sino que la Ilustración, a través del <i>Sturm und Drang</i> y del clasicismo, ha dado paso al Romanticismo, que marcará el rumbo del hombre moderno. La vida de Goethe no se limitó a ser un reflejo privilegiado de todas estas conmociones, sino que participó activamente en casi todas ellas. Su novela de juventud <i>Las penas del joven Werther</i> (1774) causó sensación en toda Europa. En 1775 se estableció como consejero del duque Karl August en Weimar, ciudad que ya sólo abandonaría ocasionalmente. Un viaje a Italia (1786-88), durante el cual versificó su <i>Ifigenia en Táuride</i> (1787), y la amistad con Schiller moderaron su ímpetu juvenil, asentando el ideal humanista.</p> <p>Del clasicismo de Weimar que constituye una de las cumbres de la literatura alemana. Pero su curiosidad abarcó también la geología, la biología, la botánica, la anatomía y la mineralogía, como se ve en obras como <i>La metamorfosis de las plantas</i> (1790) o <i>Teoría de los colores</i> (1810). Su obra maestra en dos partes, <i>Fausto</i> (1772-1831), aglutina espléndidamente todas las etapas de su carrera. En <i>Poesía y verdad</i> (1811-1830) dejó testimonio de su juventud. Alba ha publicado también, a modo de crónica de su vejez, <i>El hombre de cincuenta años / Elegía de Marienbad</i> (1807; ALBA CLÁSICA núm. LVI) y la narración bocacciana <i>Conversaciones de emigrados alemanes</i> (1795; ALBA CLÁSICA núm.- LXXXV).</p>
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Reviews for Faust Parts 1 & 2
471 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Obviously a classic, but the second scene between the archangles, God and Mephistofoles is pure music.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust begins with a prologue set in Heaven. The scene is modeled on the opening of the Book of Job in the Old Testament. While the angels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael praise the Lord, Mephistopheles mocks human beings as failed creations because reason makes them worse than brutes. God tells Mephistopheles that he will illuminate his servant Faust. Mephistopheles wagers with god that he can corrupt Faust instead. With the assent of god Mephistopheles goes into action.In the next scene, Faust appears in acute despair because his intellectual studies have left him ignorant and without worldly gain and fame. In order to discover the inner secrets and creative powers of nature, he turns to black magic. Thus, he conjures up the Earth Spirit, the embodiment of the forces of nature. However, the Earth Spirit mocks Faust’s futile attempts to understand him. As he despairs of understanding nature, he prepares to poison himself. At that moment, church bells and choral songs announcing that “Christ is arisen” distract Faust from killing himself. Celestial music charms Faust out of his dark and gloomy study for a walk in the countryside on a beautiful spring day in companionship with his fellow human beings. Observing the springtime renewal of life in nature, Faust experiences ecstasy. At this moment, Faust yearns for his soul to soar into celestial spheres.This Easter walk foreshadows Faust’s ultimate spiritual resurrection. However, he must first undergo a pilgrimage through the vicissitudes and depths of human life. In a famous moment he proclaims that "two souls are dwelling in my breast". It is in this battle within himself that he becomes emblematic of modern man. As he battles Mephistopheles offers him a wager for his everlasting soul that will provide him a fleeting moment of satisfaction in this world. Mephistopheles commands a witch to restore Faust’s youth so that he is vulnerable to sensuous temptations. When Faust sees the beautiful young girl Margaret, he falls into lust and commands Mephistopheles to procure her. Mephistopheles devises a deadly scheme for seduction. Faust convinces Margaret, who is only fourteen years old, to give her mother a sleeping potion, prepared by Mephistopheles, so that they can make love. Mephistopheles makes poison instead; the mother never awakens.Unwittingly, Margaret has murdered her mother. Furthermore, she is pregnant by Faust and alone. When Faust comes to visit Margaret, he finds her brother, Valentine, ready to kill him for violating his sister. Mephistopheles performs trickery so that Faust is able to stab Valentine in a duel. Dying, Valentine curses Margaret before the entire village as a harlot. Even at church, Margaret suffers extreme anguish as an evil spirit pursues her.In contrast, Faust escapes to a witches’ sabbath on Walpurgis Night. He indulges in orgiastic revelry and debauchery with satanic creatures and a beautiful witch until an apparition of Margaret haunts him. Faust goes looking for Margaret and finds her, in a dungeon, insane and babbling. At this moment, Faust realizes that he has sinned against innocence and love for a mere moment of sensual pleasure. Even though it is the very morning of her execution, Margaret refuses to escape with Faust and Mephistopheles. Instead, she throws herself into the hands of God. As Faust flees with Mephistopheles, a voice from above proclaims, “She is saved!”Goethe will continue his drama with a second part, but the narrative from this first section has become one of the markers for the beginning of the modern era of human culture. I have previously written about some of the ideas in this drama in my discussion of "Active vs. Reactive Man". Translated by many over the two centuries since its original publication it has become a touchstone for the study of the development of the human spirit. It has also inspired other artists to create operas and novels based on the characters from Goethe's drama.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Found this very boring and couldn't make it further than about a quarter, but I think it may have just been an uninspiring translation. (George Madison Priest.)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this in January 1952 and said on Jan 20: Decided to read Faust despite the unfavorable atmosphere for reading presented by barracks life. It is almost stiflng in its beauty, and I wish I had a dead silent room to simply surrender my mind to it. The translation I am reading is Bayard Taylor's, which is in verse form, and quite literal--so that verbs are often at the end of sentences. As an example of clear beauty, romantic and untouched by sarcasm and cynicism I give you this from Scene 2 of the first Part: "Then would I see Eternal Evening gild The silent world beneath me glowing,On fire each mountain-peak, with peace and valley filled,The silver brook to golden rivers flowing..." I finished the first part on Jan 21, and said the second part is allergorical and I am afraid I shall get nothing from it, because conditons for studying are not good--or maybe it's just that I am not good at divining deeper, subtle meanings of things. I finished the book on Jan 23 and said: Finished Faust--got little out of the second Part.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While I do not care for Goethe, I do like MacDonald's rhyming translation. It makes it much better to get through it! Did this for Part II so that the Kindle could read the rhyming to me with the text to speech feature.