Faust

Faust is a drama written by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). There are two parts, of which the first was published in 1808, and the second in 1832.

Goethe’s Faust was one of Edith Wharton’s favorite books (Wright 82). She “discovered in his writings a mind whose sensibilities matched her own” (Benstock, No Gifts from Chance 31).

Goethe was interested in the subject of Faust- an alchemist, scholar, and magician of the sixteenth-century- all his life. There were legends told that Faust made a pact with the devil and sold him his soul, so the legend became the basis for Goethe’s work.

The literary character of Faust in Goethe’s drama is a successful scientist hungry for knowledge, but nothing can satisfy his curiosity. The devil, Mephistopheles, takes his chance and offers Faust a pact. Faust agrees to sell his soul to him in exchange for knowledge, magical power and earthly pleasures. Faust makes use of the pact in various ways. He seduces a beautiful, young girl named Margarete, also called Gretchen, with Mephistopheles’ help and engulfs her and her family in misery. However, at the end of Part 1, Gretchen is saved by God, and Mephistopheles and Faust flee. Part 2 then also provides a positive ending for Faust, who is graciously saved by God as well.

There were also some earlier works based on that legend, such as Christopher Marlowe’s Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus. The German writer G.E. Lessing also wrote a Faust play. However, Goethe’s Faust is his most famous work.

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