At the beginning, I liked the language of the poem; it had a nice rhythm and was enjoyable to read. I'm sure the original German is even better. But I couldn't get into the story, and the longer it went on, the more tedious it got. My copy only had part 1; maybe part 2 is better, but I don't feel like tracking it down at this point. Faust's deal with the devil makes no sense. Mephisto wa CliffsNotes for Faust are available online: Mephisto wanted to make a deal that he will give Faust a lifetime of happiness, if Faust in return will serve him in hell after he dies. Faust turns him down and makes a counter offer: He says he doesn't believe Mephisto can make him happy, but he invites him to try, and says that if Mephisto succeeds in making him happy, let that be the moment of his [Faust's] death.
Even if he doesn't believe that Mephisto can make him happy, why make a deal that has absolutely no benefit to him no matter how things turn out? Then, view spoiler [I don't understand why Faust decided to seduce and then abandon Gretchen. At the beginning, he says he loves her, and he seems to honestly feel that way. If that's the case, then why not simply marry her and have a nice life together? I relied heavily on CliffsNotes to try to make sense of this, and while it provided some interesting insights into the background of the poem, it did not clear up the issues I mentioned above among others.
Faust was victorious over Mephisto because, despite his errors and frustrations, he never lost his faith in life's essence and continued, in the face of adversity, to search for something higher than himself which alone could give his existence meaning. Like I said, I never read part 2, and it's possible that might have made a difference, but I just couldn't follow a character who makes totally illogical choices for no apparent reason.
It was also very unclear how much time was passing in between each scene change. In a couple places, Gretchen mentions how she hasn't seen Faust in ages, but it is unclear how long that was, and in most cases we don't even get a vague suggestion of time passing; we're just supposed to "know" without any kind of clue? Two stars for the pretty language. I can appreciate and admire the skill of the poet even if I don't like the poem. But if there's supposed to be a plot and characters, they need to make sense, otherwise it all falls apart, no matter how beautiful the stanzas. To be brutally honest, I was disappointed with Goethe's Faust.
Forgive me, but I will be blunt. As a character, I found Goethe's Faust, to be underdeveloped, without a real demonstration of the supernatural gains from his wager with Mephistopheles. Faust seemed to be just a brick in the wall, occupying a relatively insignificant place when surrounded and overpowered by an excessive tan To be brutally honest, I was disappointed with Goethe's Faust.
Faust seemed to be just a brick in the wall, occupying a relatively insignificant place when surrounded and overpowered by an excessive tangling of historic, political, cultural, mythological, religious and literary allegories, often given form in various characters , employed for the sake of employing them, and as the subject matter to show case a variety of poetic devices.
The mythological fiasco, I found intriguing because of my interest in Greek mythology, but much of it seemed irrelevant and I quickly found it tedious. The life and journey of Faust was a rushed psychedelic trip involving history and culture, paradoxically drawn out because of Goethe's crammed-in allegory.
I'm a fan of allegory, yet the plot falls victim to allegory, and this is what I found most unsatisfying with the text. Allegory is all well and good, but it should shine through a plot, not overshadow and compromise it. Hence I found almost everything in the book to be disjointed - the events poorly tied together.
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The result is that Faust becomes disembodied from the story, because there is no real story, but a hodgepodge of 'events' roughly stitched together. I'm comfortable reading classical literature, plays and poetry alike. Goethe's Faust tries too hard, in my opinion, to be a classic and a vehicle of allegory to cover the whole panorama of the West, biting off more than he can chew, and producing a work that falls short, with an underdeveloped protagonist and a disjointed plot.
I do not doubt it is better in German, but my critiques remain unaffected by translation. It is for stylistic reasons that I give 2-stars and not 1 - yet, as a story, I would be tempted to give it 1 star. In my view the text almost deserves three stars, for the sheer fact that Goethe shows great wit, ambition, knowledge, humour and creativity, in composing this work, and that I admire.
But such admiration is not enough for me to pretend that I found this work to live up to its reputation, or to be a well tied-together story, hence, 2 stars it is. In the final act of Part 2, I came to a plausible realisation that Goethe was projecting himself into the character of Faust.
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Both main characters are scholars who have grown disillusioned with their search for knowledge and make pacts with the devil; his service for the remnant of their lifetimes in exchange for their service for an eternity in hell, and of course realize this is a lopsided bargain much too late.
Doctor Faustus was better. Faust is disappointingly sluggish, stuffed with dull poetry and c A tragic play written in the s, Goethe's Faust bears many resemblances to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Faust is disappointingly sluggish, stuffed with dull poetry and crummy rhymes, difficult to follow, and has all kinds of Latin to translate.
It's also as sexist as you'd expect a work from the s to be, with the full gamut of a young woman being seduced, impregnated, and then not so much abandoned as forgotten by her lover. He apparently just had other stuff to do for a year. At least Goethe is sympathetic to her. Any other race is most noticeable by its absence. I suppose this is all standard fare for books of that era, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
Really I feel that if you've read one of these books you could check them both off of your to-read list, and that if you haven't read either Doctor Faustus will keep you more engaged. I think I am amazed that i have read this book, it was not my style, but I wanted to give it a try, because it is a classic and I wanted to know what it was about. I did not like it, way too much poetry, philosophy and not much of a coherent plot. The time thing confused me a lot, at one time Faust just met Helena and all of the sudden they had a son that wanted to go to war and in a matter of seconds he was dead and Helena was gone and Faust went on another adventure.
Hope I will read this book I think I am amazed that i have read this book, it was not my style, but I wanted to give it a try, because it is a classic and I wanted to know what it was about. Hope I will read this book in the future when I will be able to enjoy it and understand it fully, this time I just wanted to know what Faust end was, if his pact with the devil was bad or good. And the question is: If I would have the chance to make a pact with the devil, what would my answer be? Yes, a mind and soul filling life on earth, with a terrible afterlife or I would say no and just accept my mediocre life.
For now I think I just might say yes to greatness. I just don't like this verse stuff in general, although I think poetry has a place in storytelling, I am not sure storytelling has a reciprocal place in poetry--I find epic poems and verse taxing to read and without the linguistic or emotional payout of the metaphor of pure poetry and I am not pretentious enough to give this 5 stars because it's one of those books to which the pretentious give 5 stars.
Alright, the human desire for knowledge or fulfillment and not thinking of consequences and I just don't like this verse stuff in general, although I think poetry has a place in storytelling, I am not sure storytelling has a reciprocal place in poetry--I find epic poems and verse taxing to read and without the linguistic or emotional payout of the metaphor of pure poetry and I am not pretentious enough to give this 5 stars because it's one of those books to which the pretentious give 5 stars.
Alright, the human desire for knowledge or fulfillment and not thinking of consequences and then being upset when you are punished for crimes, but I didn't really gain much by reading this. I didn't find myself wanting to dig into what was being said.
I always end up wanting to like this kind of stuff much more than I do, and so I feel wrong to give this 2 stars because it's not like it's BAD , but I just don't like reading this verse stuff. I'm really torn on this one, I really want to give it 1 star, but the literature student in me says the "this is such a masterpiece in literature history, it's a shame that you couldn't appreciate this divine piece of work", but alas, I really did not like it, and right now I'm not even able to appreciate what Faust did to the literature either. Part 1 is acceptable, and understandable, but not my favourite cuppa' tea.
Part 2 on the other hand where such a abstract mess that I just read things wi I'm really torn on this one, I really want to give it 1 star, but the literature student in me says the "this is such a masterpiece in literature history, it's a shame that you couldn't appreciate this divine piece of work", but alas, I really did not like it, and right now I'm not even able to appreciate what Faust did to the literature either.
Ugh now I need to take a break from these works, because my brain can't handle it anymore. Running with the devil turns out to be a lot less fascinating than anticipated. Suspected something amiss, perhaps with my brain? Cuz for a smart guy like Faust, things really fail to add up. Forever divided from absolute knowledge! Because they're worms, see, and Faust would rather kill himself than liv Make good choices! Because they're worms, see, and Faust would rather kill himself than live a worm.
Faust s'posedly does know a lot, and is admired. His friend is all like, at least you tried, man! Then Faust goes home with a weird stray hound from hell and starts editing the bible? The balls on this guy. Faust says what he really wants is to know is everything, maybe like a supernatural being would.
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2 star ratings)
I'm pretty certain Wagner was dying to be his wingman, too. If he were going to be honest with himself. And tho he's more fun than Faust, which made me welcome him onto the scene, I'm not at all clear what Faust thought he'd be getting out of this demon? For whatever reason, Faust is super eager to go all art of the deal with the devil. I guess he hopes to get high on enlightenment? But what he actually seems to get is permission to go low. Like down to the bar to see how the drunken half live.
Maybe the answer to the existential dilemma of the human condition is to just, not care so much? And that's when, though Faust was all "pooh pooh" to the loving arms of a woman, he falls in love at first sight with the first chick he sees. And then he just screws her over and flits off to some orgy. Oh, but just before he goes, he kills her brother. So, during this orgy tho? Faust spends no time thinking of his girlfriend, who, offstage, is busy carrying, birthing, and drowning his baby.
By the time he comes down from what must have been a monster long trip and remembers to think of her, she's locked up in jail for baby murder. I found most of this entire situation less than emotionally affecting. But the scene where Faust goes to magically bust his girlfriend outta jail and she won't go?
Because she's lost her damn mind? That was a good scene, and chilling. And that's where part one ends. So, I turn to Part Two. Part Two is insane, and not in a good way. It just goes on and on and on, never once mentioning the girl and barely mentioning Faust either.
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Someone in here called this Homer fan-boy fiction, which made me LOL, because yes! Anyway, partway through Part Two, I just felt like something had to be wrong. Like with my brain. Because what is the point of all thissss?! So, I looked up a summary of Faust to check my understanding.
As I read it over, I was like uhuh, yes. Which, BTW, sounds WAY more entertaining, and like, a story that employs dramatic tension, rise and fall of action, and basically, normal story telling? I think I might hafta read that now. Well, that fell apart. The first third of this edition was witty and generally interesting.
The second third was where the lyrical structure got old and the story started to get a bit stretched. And then part one ended. Part two was heavily edited; my attempt to understand the summary of the missing sections had me wondering just what the heck Goethe was thinking. In serious need of an editing. I may try Marlowe's play on Faust.
The idea is interesting, if not the execution, and Mephistopheles c Well, that fell apart.
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The idea is interesting, if not the execution, and Mephistopheles comes off as likeable. That's a surprisingly frightening trait for the Devil to assume. Overall though, not worth the time. Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2 38 May 02, Faust - NO spoilers 60 76 Mar 29, About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust. Goethe's other well-known literary works include h Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer.
Goethe's other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Goethe was one of the key figures of German literature and the movement of Weimar Classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; this movement coincides with Enlightenment, Sentimentality Empfindsamkeit , Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism.
The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours, he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the Privy Councilor "Geheimrat" of the duchy of Weimar. Goethe is the originator of the concept of Weltliteratur "world literature" , having taken great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, Arabic literature, amongst others. His influence on German philosophy is virtually immeasurable, having major impact especially on the generation of Hegel and Schelling, although Goethe himself expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Goethe's influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a major source of inspiration in music, drama, poetry and philosophy. This conference seeks fresh perspectives on these issues. In particular, we invite contributions on the following topics: Sieben Kompositionen zu Goethes Faust, op. Ein musikalisches Characterbild, op. Papers will last thirty minutes, followed by ten minutes of discussion time. Proposals for individual papers should be no more than words.
The official languages of the conference are English and German. Abstracts should be sent to one of the following contact persons to arrive no later than Friday, 20 May Kildare Ireland [log in to unmask] Proposals will be selected by the end of June ; the full programme will be announced by September The conference organisers plan to publish a refereed volume of selected conference contributions. Musik in Goethes Faust: Diese Kompositionen umrahmen eine Vielzahl von Faust-Vertonungen, musikalische Bearbeitungen, die sich sowohl mit dem Liebesthema als auch mit dem Thema der Rettung von Gretchen und Faust befassen.