Doctor Faustus author. The tragic story of Doctor Faustus. Life after death

The young man’s thirst for knowledge turned out to be considerably spoiled by his vanity. At the age of 25, he awarded himself the title of master, or more precisely, a whole magnificent title: “Master George Sabellicus Faustus the Younger, fount of necromancy, astrologer, successful magician, palmist, aeromancer, pyromancer and outstanding hydromancer.” In those days, to obtain the title of master, it was necessary to comprehend university knowledge before the age of twelve; this academic degree was the equivalent of a doctor of science. Our young warlock wanted everything at once.

Johann Faust traveled extensively throughout Germany, calling himself “the philosopher of philosophers” and praising his supernatural memory - supposedly all the works of Plato and Aristotle are contained there. He made a very good living by drawing up horoscopes and demonstrating various tricks at fairs. Faust is first mentioned in the city records of Gelnhausen, where in 1506 he appears with “magic” tricks. He was engaged in alchemy, fortune-telling, and treatment according to healer’s recipes. Despite the fact that, judging by historical sources, he was unable to accomplish anything outstanding, Johann acquired high-ranking patrons - these were the knight Franz von Sickingen and the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg.

In 1507, on the recommendation of the knight von Sickingen, Faust received a position as a school teacher in the city of Kreuznach (now Bad Kreuznach), but was soon asked to leave his post. Not because he continued to study witchcraft, but for pedophilia. In the same year, the name of the sorcerer is mentioned in an indignant letter from the abbot of the Spongheim monastery, a very famous scientist Johann Trithemius, to the court astrologer and mathematician of the Elector of the Palatinate Johann Firdung: “The man about whom you are writing to me... who has the audacity to call himself the head of the necromancers is a vagabond , an empty talker and a swindler."

It is strange that such an obvious adventurer still considered it necessary to receive an academic education and enter the University of Heidelberg, where he was not the last student. Unless, of course, the Johann Faust mentioned in the lists is the one who interests us.

Evidence of the appearance of Johann Faust in various German cities is quite numerous. In 1513, the prominent German humanist scientist Conrad Mutian Rufus met with him in one of the taverns in Erfurt. In 1520, Faust drew up a horoscope for the bishop of the city of Bamberg, for which he received a good sum of 10 guilders. It is known that he tried to teach at several universities, but did not stay anywhere for long - either at his own request, or because of the hostility of his colleagues. However, the thirst for knowledge still played a role, providing Faust with a good reputation by the end of his life as a capable and energetic scientist. At the end of the 1530s, colleagues already spoke of him with respect, especially noting his knowledge of astrology and medicine. But after 1539 his trace is lost.

According to the version that people in Germany like to tell tourists, Faust died in 1540 in one of the hotels in Württemberg. Allegedly, on this day a storm broke out in a clear sky: furniture fell in the hotel, invisible steps rumbled, doors and shutters slammed, blue flames burst out of the chimney... In the morning, when all this Armageddon ended, his disfigured body was found in Faust’s room. According to the townspeople, it was the devil himself who came to take the soul of the warlock, with whom he entered into an agreement 24 years ago. Modern researchers prefer to explain the death of the scientist as an explosion during an alchemical experiment.

There is a hypothesis that there were actually two Fausts: one of them, Georg, was active from 1505 to 1515, and the other, Johann, in the 1530s. This could explain the contradictions in the scientist’s biography and numerous inconsistencies regarding his origin and education. According to other versions, the prototypes of Faust could be Pope Sylvester II, Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon and Johannes Trithemius.

Life after death

Legends that the famous astrologer and alchemist sold his soul to the devil began to take shape during the lifetime of the historical Johann Faust. Why did they start talking about him? It is very likely that the savvy magician was actually a PR genius: he could not only support legends about himself, but also compose them himself, and also have a good “agent network” throughout Germany and adjacent regions. And the fact that among these stories there were some that didn’t fit into any gates at all - Goebbels also said that the more monstrous the lie, the easier it is for people to believe in it.

A Dominican monk, he taught at a Dominican school in Cologne (among his students was Thomas Aquinas). He composed commentaries on all works of Aristotle known at that time. In addition to theology, he was interested in the natural sciences, and created several large-scale works systematizing all the knowledge collected at that time in zoology, botany, mineralogy, and astronomy. He was engaged in alchemical experiments, and for the first time managed to obtain arsenic in its pure form. Invented logarithms. For his encyclopedic knowledge he received the respectful nickname Doctor Universalis (Comprehensive Doctor). In the twentieth century, he was canonized by the Catholic Church and proclaimed the patron saint of scientists.

Like all alchemists, Albertus Magnus was also considered a magician. He was credited with the authorship of several occult works, which, however, is now considered dubious. But the authorship of the “Small Alchemical Code” - a kind of Bible of alchemists - is undeniable. According to legend, he managed to create an artificial man - a homunculus.

The degree of veracity of such legends can be judged at least by the most famous ones. So, they said that he was accompanied everywhere by a black poodle who could turn into a person - supposedly it was the demon Mephistopheles himself. It was also believed that the German emperor owed his victories in Italy solely to the magical art of Faust, and not to the tactical skills of his commanders. And in Venice and Paris, at the court of King Francis I, Faust allegedly even tried to ascend into the air. True, to no avail.

The stories themselves about the pact with the devil have been known for a long time. One of its first interpretations is the early Christian “The Tale of Eladius, who sold his soul to the devil,” from which the Russian “The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn” of the 17th century grew. Our domestic hero chose, with the help of a demon, to make a military career rather than a scientific one, and his story has a happy ending: God forgives the repentant sinner.

Less than half a century had passed since the supposed death of Johann Faust, when he became a character in the popular “The Story of Doctor Faustus, the Famous Wizard and Warlock” (“People's Book”), published in 1587 in Germany. In it, the hero is credited with legends that told about a variety of famous warlocks: from the legendary Simon Magus, who competed in miracles with the Apostle Paul himself, to Albertus Magnus and Cornelius Agrippa.

The popularity of the story of Faust is connected not only with its fascination, but also with the fact that in it the people of the Renaissance found confirmation of their fear of progress: science in those days developed rapidly, through trial and error, and ordinary people simply did not have time to realize the changes, preferring shy away from everything they couldn’t understand. Aren't these strange people, scientists, too insolent, trying to penetrate the secrets of nature, is this desire from God or from the devil? The nameless author of “The Story of Doctor Faustus” is convinced that the hero was destroyed not by the desire for knowledge as such, but by pride, the desire to become like God, having learned all the secrets of heaven and earth, and unscrupulousness in means - instead of painstakingly working independently, as instructed Christian morality, the scientist resorted to the help of the enemy of the human race. For this, the hero is severely punished: in the finale, demons drag him to hell.

"The Story of Doctor Faustus" with great success I walked throughout Europe, overwhelmed by approximately the same sentiments. It is possible that the Russian author of “The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn” also read it. It was retold in French by the historian and theologian Pierre Kaye, as befits a theologian, who decisively condemned Faust for atheism and witchcraft. It was Kaye who introduced the ancient beauty Helen into history, whose shadow our doctor calls up as a visual aid during a lecture on Homer and falls in love with her.

The legendary warlock also came to court in England, the homeland of the famous “learned magicians” Roger Bacon and John Dee. Christopher Marlowe (the same one who is credited with the authorship of all or some of Shakespeare's plays) wrote the play “The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus” (1604) using the same material. He condemns the hero and at the same time admires him: the talented and enthusiastic Faust is a real man of the Renaissance, who paid for the “appropriation of the powers” ​​of God. His story is reminiscent of the fate of the ancient god-fighter Prometheus.

By the way, it was Marlowe who was the first to call the demon with whom Faust communicated Mephistopheles.

Most of all, the legend of Faust was popular, of course, in its homeland. German authors, as befits respectable burghers, more often gave the hero the features of a moral outrager, punished for the sin of witchcraft, than of a Renaissance titan. The exception was the writers of the pre-romantic period of “Storm and Drang” (1767-1785), fascinated by Faust’s rebellion.

Among the authors of Sturm und Drang was Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who essentially created the canon of the legend - the grandiose tragedy Faust, which he wrote almost his entire life, from 1774 to 1831. The writer built an almost universal text, managing through Faust's quest to show not only the fate of a man of science, but also - more broadly - man in general, with his doubts, fears, weaknesses - and true greatness.

Doctor of Philosophy, natural scientist. He was educated at Oxford and Paris universities. He studied optics, astrology, and alchemy, largely contributing to the transformation of the latter into chemistry. Anticipated many discoveries of the future (gunpowder, telephone, aircrafts, cars), developed a project for a utopian state governed by an elected parliament. For his scientific achievements he received the nickname Doctor Mirabilis (The Amazing Doctor).

Due to disagreements with the scholastics, Bacon was proclaimed a warlock. This fame greatly spoiled his life: for example, he was excommunicated from teaching at Oxford University and placed under the supervision of Franciscan monks, whom Bacon was forced to join in order to whitewash himself. However, he did not stop pursuing science, nor did he stop attacking the clergy, for which he was accused of heresy and imprisoned for more than 20 years.

In fact, Goethe retells the legend of Faust in the form in which it was known in folklore only in the first part of the poem. The second part is Faust's travels in space and time, from ancient Sparta to Mount Brocken in Germany, where the witches' Sabbaths took place on Walpurgis Night. The space of the poem grows in breadth and depth, from Heaven to Hell, more and more new people appear on the stage characters- in a word, Goethe paints an incredibly diverse world that a person has to learn and transform throughout his life, without stopping there for a second. That is why the soul of Faust must go to the devil when the scientist wants to stop the moment.

But Goethe changes the ending of the legend: at the last moment Faust is carried to heaven by angels. His soul is saved thanks to the mercy of God, who forgives other sins, and the prayers of Gretchen, who was destroyed by Faust. This is a demonstration author's position: Man’s desire to become equal to God is not a manifestation of pride, but a natural desire, because he was created in his image and likeness.

Faust after Goethe

Doctor Faustus, in Goethe's interpretation, came to the court of writers of the Romantic era. Their favorite hero was a rebel, a frantic freedom fighter, who knows no sleep or peace, who doubts and is always dissatisfied with something - with himself, with others, with the world, with God. The romantic revolutionary differs from the “model of a person who is completely dissatisfied” by Dr. Vibegallo with a huge supply of vital energy, gigantic charisma and an unshakable conviction that freedom, including freedom of knowledge, is an inalienable human right. The fact that this right, as they say, “has nuances,” became clear to humanity much later.

However, the romantics knew how to deal with eternal plots in an unconventional way; their “fan fiction” is quite worthy of existing next to the “canon” (if Goethe’s poem is considered such). Christian Dietrich Grabbe in the drama “Don Juan and Faust” (1829) brings together a scientist and a ladies' man: they are united by love for the same woman, and this is no coincidence - after all, both of them spent their whole lives in eternal searches, and what exactly to look for - for romantics it doesn’t matter, the main thing is the process. Well, Heinrich Heine, in his “dancing poem” Doctor Faustus (1851), generally turns the pretentious “titan of the Renaissance” into an operetta hero who abandons all high impulses in the name of burgher family values. In fact, this is the first parody of the plot of the legend.

Goethe's tragedy "Faust" "Faust" - final a work for the European Enlightenment. Just as Defoe's Robinson Crusoe was a philosophical prologue to the 18th century, so Goethe's Faust can be called philosophical epilogue. Goethe's tragedy concentrates all the most important questions that confronted the enlighteners of the 18th century. And the most important of the problems is the problem of MIND. The artistic understanding of the complex process of cognition of truth, the problem of the relationship between theoretical knowledge, words and deeds come to the fore; thoughts - and reality. Work on the tragedy lasted about 60 years; this is one of the most daring expressions of personal origin in art. The 1st Dedication “Here you are again, fickle shadows...” (written June 24, 1797) indicates that at the heart of the book there are deeply personal motives. The book arises from personal experiences and experiences. And in the book itself, the individual takes upon himself the entire burden of unresolved questions in an effort to give an answer to main question eras - what is a person? Creative history The idea first arose in Strasbourg, prompted by interest in national creativity, German antiquity. In the collected works in 1790, an unfinished passage was published - the so-called “Fragment”. Enriched with a number of scenes that significantly changed original plan, "Faust" was published in 1808 under the title "Faust, The First Part of a Tragedy." The 2nd part was published in its entirety in a posthumous collected work in 1833. The legend of Faust captivated writers as folk art product and as a work close in content and form to Shakespeare's theater. Seen in Faust rebellious personality, striving for infinite knowledge and boundless happiness; a person who crosses the boundaries of what is permitted. Faust's personality combined the titanism of the spirit, protest, and impulse towards the infinite. Folk legend about Doctor Faustus The historical Faust, who was probably named Georg, was born in 1480 in Württemberg and died in 1536 or 1539. He early attracted attention with magic tricks, practiced witchcraft, taught, cast horoscopes, led a disorderly lifestyle, was expelled from Nuremberg and Ingolstadt, and unexpectedly disappeared and reappeared. Even during his lifetime, legends began to swarm around this strange personality. In the legend about Doctor Faustus he was already called Johann, and in the second third of the 16th century the history of his deeds and life was recorded and published in 1587 by a Frankfurt book publisher Shpisom How " The story of Doctor Johann Faust, the famous sorcerer and warlock" The book includes facts and fiction, schwanks and stories about witchcraft, thoughts about heaven and hell, and stern admonitions. Faust makes an agreement with the devil because he wants to know what moves the world and what this world rests on. Faust of the “People's Book” is a greedy for knowledge, insatiable in pleasures, daring and arrogant nature. The son of a peasant, he becomes a doctor of theology, then medicine, an astrologer, a mathematician, and finally, not satisfied with the boundaries set for man by religion and the data of the sciences of that time, he turns to magic in the hope that with its help he will be able to “explore all the foundations of the earth.” and the sky." Since this has proven impossible through the divine, let it be achieved through the devil. The main thing is to know the essence and fullness of life, to subjugate the world to your human power - even at the cost of life and eternal torment. This is the meaning of the contract between Faust and Mephistopheles and all its subsequent implementation. Having concluded the agreement, Faust immediately began to find out from Mephistopheles the origin and structure of the world, earth and the entire universe, the location and content of hell and heaven, the origin of man and his relationship to transcendental forces. Almost the entire first half of the book is devoted to this. Mephistopheles’ information about the world itself is still medieval in nature. But the point is not in them, but in the immense breadth of the hero’s interests, in his intense desire to find out, to extract everything from the devil, in general and in all particulars. After 8 years, during which he “engaged in research, teaching, questioning and debate,” Faust decided to become familiar with the world directly. He flew around Asia, Africa, Europe, “saw so many lands that it is impossible to describe.” The narrator, a stern Lutheran, seeks to inspire readers: one cannot stretch one’s aspirations too broadly; therefore Faust is taken away by the devil. “Be submissive to the Lord, resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” says the warning epigraph. Various versions of the legend were in circulation. In England as early as 1590 Christopher Marlowe created a tragedy based on Shpisov’s “The Story of Doctor Faustus.” The tragedy depicts a hero who is equally greedy in both the thirst for knowledge and the thirst for pleasure. Faust's daring claims to omnipotence in the universe bring him into conflict with those already in power. cosmic forces- with God and Satan. God punishes him for his apostasy and arrogance; the devil makes him a victim of his satanic machinations. This play was performed in Germany by traveling acting troupes. Such a performance in early years saw Goethe. "Ur-Faust" The first handwritten edition (1773 - 1775) is mainly the story of Faust and Margaret. It is well known that it was written under the impression of a real event - after hometown The poet was publicly executed for infanticide, Margarita Brand. The hero of the fragment bears little resemblance to the legendary Faust. This is young Henry. It is not simple casual acquaintance, arranged meetings, sensual attraction, secret extramarital affair; the love of Faust and Margarita appears as a concrete manifestation of some deep essential forces of Nature. They are guided by faith in the human right to freely, without false conventions, reveal their natural essence. And already in the 1st version of Faust, the tragedy of the scientist emerges, who, due to doubts about the sufficiency of his knowledge, calls upon the earthly spirit in order to join the world creative process. Mephistopheles is simply present here as partner And How antagonist Faust. So, here (in Ur-Faust) there are two tragedies - tragedy of knowledge And tragedy of love. Not satisfied with book teaching, Faust rushes into life. But fatal circumstances lead to the death of his beloved. This is perhaps the most tragic of all the creations of young Goethe. "Witch's Kitchen" and "Prologue" After Proto-Faust (with a break of 13 years) there was “ Witches kitchen"(1788). A fantastic element appeared in the previous text, which will then be developed in the scenes of “Walpurgis Night”, “Classical Walpurgis Night”, and in the final scenes of the tragedy. After the appearance of “The Witches’ Kitchen,” the story with Margarita began to signify one of the stages in the hero’s life, which was followed by other stages, later developed in the second part of “Faust.” The new scenes largely relegated Margarita's story to the background. And the central conflict becomes martial arts between Faust and Mephistopheles. In order to clarify the entire set of ideas to which he planned to subordinate all the aspirations of Faust and all the machinations of Mephistopheles, Goethe conceived “ Prologue in the sky", where the Lord God and Mephistopheles debate about Faust. Everything that follows happens to Faust is played out before the eyes of the Lord God himself. Drama takes on the features of a mystery; the entire universe serves as a theater. The tall spectator is present throughout the entire development of the action, although his presence is almost not manifested in any way. The same should have been set up for “ Theater prologue"(follows immediately the Dedication). He must point out that everything that follows is a performance created through the efforts of the Poet, Actor and show organizer. And so, before the eyes of the audience, human fate completes its circle, waiting for the highest judge to pronounce his sentence on her. At the end of the 1st part, a voice from above will be heard “Saved” - but this only applies to Margarita. Faust will be sentenced at the end of the 2nd part, where the plot frame will close. In the Prologue, two opposing ideas about man collide. For Mephistopheles, human life is sheer vanity: Poor man! He is so pathetic in his suffering, Why should I torture a poor man? But for God, man’s searches and tossing are legitimate; they lead to the perfection of man. He is convinced that he is right and places his slave, Faust, at the disposal of Mephistopheles: While his mind is still wandering in the darkness, But he will be illuminated by a ray of truth... He serves me and it's obvious And he will break out of the darkness to please me. When a gardener plants a tree, The fruit is known to the gardener in advance. And Mephistopheles, according to God’s desire, must act as an instigator, forever encouraging a person to new activities, because “out of laziness, a person falls into hibernation”: The man is weak; submitting to destiny, He is glad to seek peace - because I will give him a restless companion: How the devil teases him, let him excite him to action! In Mephistopheles’ speech, man is humiliated (relegated to the level of a small creature; it is no coincidence that the comparison with the “long-legged grasshopper”). Behind these words is the centuries-old assessment of man as weak, worthy only of humility and obedience, unarmed in the face of nature. God, as the supreme Judge, is ready to recognize human weakness, the possibility of erroneous choices, and delusions. But these misconceptions are a necessary and inevitable stage in the search for truth, which elevates a person. Look at the death of Faust, everyone! May his fate turn away the wise From the reserved realm of knowledge, Whose depth are brave minds It will lead you into temptation - to do deeds of darkness. Christopher Marlowe "The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus" The story of a scientist who sold his soul to the devil and was destroyed by him is known to us thanks to Goethe. In his interpretation, Faust is a true Renaissance man, a powerful mind obsessed with knowledge and dreaming of serving humanity. In other versions of this story, the famous doctor is just a run-of-the-mill charlatan or a poor lost soul. If only the real-life prototype of Faust knew that his fate would become a symbol... The story of Faust is one of the most popular urban legends in Europe. And, like all urban legends, it has “confirmations” in reality. On one of the houses in the German city of Wittenberg hangs a sign with the inscription: “Johann Faust (c. 1480 - c. 1540), astrologer, alchemist, lived here between 1525 and 1532.” His name appears in the lists of students at the University of Heidelberg for 1509, as well as in the lists presented for the degree of bachelor of theology. It’s as if nothing extra was even added to the biography of this medieval scientist. Except for the pact with the devil. Adventurer and Warlock The real Johann Georg Faust was born around 1480 ( modern researchers also called 1466) in the tiny German town of Knitlingen (principality of Württemberg). Although researchers differ on this point: sometimes the towns of Simmern, Kundling, as well as Helmstadt near Heidelberg or Roda are considered his place of birth. He apparently came from a wealthy family, although who his parents were is unknown. Young Johann obviously had enough money and time to get a good education - mostly on his own. According to another version, he studied magic in Krakow, where in those days it was possible to do this completely freely. In any case, he was always interested in the occult sciences. A learned monk who studied the works of Arab mathematicians and astronomers in Barcelona, ​​which maintained ties with the Cordoba Caliphate. He was one of the first Europeans to become acquainted with Arabic numerals and actively promoted them in scientific circles. He restored and improved the abacus (counting board), studied the structure of the celestial sphere, and developed the design of the astrolabe. Teacher of the future Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. Thanks to the latter's patronage, he made a career that culminated in his election as Pope in 999. There were rumors that Gilbert studied Arab works not only on mathematics, but also on magic and astrology, and also communicated with the devil himself, who allegedly helped him take the papal chair after the scientist beat him at dice. According to the same information, he was predicted that the devil would seize him when he was in Jerusalem - and he tore him to pieces while the Pope was reading mass in the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem. However, there was someone to support these rumors, because Gilbert had many enemies: among the clergy he became famous not only for his learning, but also for his active fight against simony (the sale of church positions) and concubinage (the custom of clergy keeping mistresses, contrary to celibacy).

Faust by Rembrandt.

IN European culture Faust, like a jack-in-the-box, pops up every time the topic of technological progress and all the phobias associated with it becomes a hot topic. That's why new wave interest in the story of the unfortunate (or happy, depending on how you look at it) doctor arose at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, during the “steampunk” era of modernity. Faust and Mephistopheles appear in Valery Bryusov’s mystical novel “The Fiery Angel” (1908) - however, only as episodic characters, the “tester of the elements” Doctor Faust and his companion the monk Mephistopheles. In the play “Faust and the City” (1908) by Anatoly Lunacharsky (who was not only the People’s Commissar of Education, but also a writer), the hero naturally becomes not only a conqueror of nature, but also a revolutionary, welcoming a revolution in his happy country by the sea. Thomas Mann, in his novel Doctor Faustus (1947), tells the story of the gifted musician Adrian Leverkühn, who suffers from syphilis, and one day the devil appears to him in a vision and announces that his illness symbolizes a deal with the forces of evil. It is difficult to understand whether this deal is real - or whether the hero simply sees her as delusional. However, all the predictions of the Prince of Darkness come true: Leverkün brings misfortune to everyone he dares to love.

It is Charles Gounod’s opera “Faust” (the same one from which Mephistopheles’ famous aria “People Die for Metal” comes) that is staged in Paris Opera in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. The features of Faust can be discerned in the hero of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray: Dorian, like the medieval scientist, is seduced eternal youth in exchange for a soul. Close relatives of Faust include Byron’s Manfred and even Doctor Frankenstein: with the former, our scientist is united by the “spirit of denial, the spirit of doubt,” with the latter by the desire to know the laws of life itself and the awareness of the danger of this very knowledge. In addition, Goethe's Faust creates a homunculus - an artificial man, just as Victor Frankenstein creates his monster.

Science fiction writers also remember the famous doctor, who has turned into a symbol, both appropriately and inappropriately. In Philip K. Dick’s “The Restorer of the Galaxy” (aka “The Potter’s Wheel of the Sky”), the alien Glimmung, who intends to raise the temple of an ancient civilization from the bottom of the demonic sea of ​​Mare Nostrum, is constantly compared with Faust. Clive Barker, in his debut novel The Cursed Game, writes the story of a modern Faust: the main character, boxer Marty Strauss, released from prison, becomes a bodyguard for the millionaire Mammolian, who once owed something to a powerful being, either a man or a demon... In fact, Barker's story is about how “everyone is his own Mephistopheles,” carrying a personal hell in his soul.

Johann Trithemius in the world Johann Heidenberg (1462 - 1516)

The monk, who spoke indignantly about the swindler Faust in one of his letters, is quite suitable for the role of the prototype of Faust. A Benedictine monk, elected abbot of the Spongheim monastery, increased the latter's library from 50 to 2000 books and made him respected scientific center. Among his students are Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus. One of the most significant works of Trithemius is “Steganography,” which was subsequently included in the “Index of Prohibited Books.” At first glance, the book talks about magic - how to use spirits to transmit information over long distances. However, with the publication of the decryption key, it became clear that the scientist had encrypted in the book nothing less than a textbook on cryptography. Its very name became the name of an entire cryptographic branch - the art of transmitting hidden messages by non-disclosure of the very fact of transmission (a textbook example of steganography is the use of sympathetic ink). Perhaps the love for this kind of jokes became the reason for rumors about the abbot selling his soul to the devil.

Science fiction writers are very fond of the ancient plot of a deal with the devil - for such a story you can find a lot of witty solutions: how can you outwit the “father of lies”, for example? Actually, Faust is not very popular in such stories, except perhaps in the form of a parody. The novel by Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley “If You're Unlucky with Faust” (aka “If You're Not Succeeding as Faust”), the second part of the “Red Demon Trilogy,” begins, like Goethe's poem: with an announcement of the competition between the forces of Light and Darkness for the soul of a mortal. True, this mortal turns out to be not the reflective Faust, but a bandit named Mac Bludgeon - this is where it all begins. And Terry Pratchett (well, how could we be without him!) in the book “Eric and the Night Watch, the Witches and Cohen the Barbarian” describes the misadventures of the novice magician Eric, who, instead of a demon, accidentally summoned poor fellow Rincewind from another world.

Michael Swanwick based on Goethe's story created a large-scale alternative history, Jack/Faust. According to his version, Mephistopheles was a powerful alien from a parallel dimension who endowed Faust with all possible technical knowledge in exchange for the promise that he would destroy humanity with the help of this knowledge. As a result, unprecedented technological progress hits Europe: electricity, railways, antibiotics - and more and more new types of weapons.

Filmmakers also did not pass by the famous legend. In particular, Goethe's poem was filmed as a silent film in 1926 by the German director Friedrich Murnau, the creator of Nosferatu - a Symphony of Terror. Of the films that are not film adaptations, one cannot fail to note the wonderful mystical detective story “Angel Heart”, in which Robert De Niro’s hero, Louis Cypher, also responds to the name “Mephistopheles”, like the devil in the comic book and film “Ghost Rider”. A variation on the theme of Faust - and the story of the protagonist of Terry Gilliam's painting "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus", to whom the devil granted immortality and eternal youth in exchange for the soul of his daughter. Jan Svankmajer's film "The Lesson of Faust" is a poetic philosophical parable about our contemporary who became a famous doctor, getting used to his role with the help of magical puppet theater. Like the best examples of “devilish” stories, this one is about how hell is very close to us, and the progress of humanity is not good if it leads us into the world of illusory, puppet values. Well, what about such a popular topic without film trash? It was directed by the famous nightmare creator Brian Yuzna, called "Faust - Prince of Darkness." Here Faust, who sold his soul to the devil, is resurrected after death and becomes a maniac killer, an avenger like the well-known Raven from the film of the same name.

In the anime Shaman King there is a character named Faust VII - a relative of the famous alchemist, and a necromancer magician himself. Doctor Faustus also appears in the Guilty Gear series of games - however, he did not sell his soul to the devil, but “only” went crazy when a little patient died under his scalpel.

A native of Cologne, he received an excellent education at the University of Paris. After graduation educational institution traveled throughout Europe, giving lectures on theology in different places, but never staying anywhere for long, also because he regularly infuriated the clergy with his caustic satires. Agrippa fought with the church not only in word, but also in deed: he once saved an old woman, declared a witch, from the fire, entering into a theological dispute with the judges and winning. However, he understood not only theology, but also jurisprudence, medicine, as well as alchemy and the occult.

An atheist means he sold his soul to the devil; for medieval clergy this logic was ironclad. Therefore, they said that Agrippa mastered the secret of turning any substance into gold, but it was the devil’s gold: supposedly the coins with which he paid in taverns turned into manure after his departure. It was also as if he knew how to be in different places at the same time and communicate with the dead, and the books he wrote had a soul and could subjugate the will of their owner.

Who was Faust - the first of the swindlers, a successful hoaxer, a reckless adventurer, a talented armchair scientist? Judging by historical chronicles, the latter is the least likely. What we can say for sure is that Faust has long become a symbol. A symbol of the greedy search for knowledge, a symbol of the desire to put Reason and Progress above all. A symbol of our civilization, in a word. You can gasp in horror that the alpha and omega of our world order has become a man who made a deal with the devil; you can sigh in admiration: a common person who dared to do something like this! Obviously, the age of Faust gave us a lot of good - and a lot of bad. It is equally obvious that it will end someday. But it’s unlikely in our lifetime.

Faust - the hero of a German medieval legend, a scientist who entered into an alliance with the devil Mephistopheles for the sake of knowledge, wealth and worldly pleasures. One of the “eternal images” of world culture and the most famous character of the era of the Reformation and Enlightenment, the most mysterious and controversial character in European civilization: a symbol of the daring of the human mind - and the personification of doubts about the necessity of this daring, a monument to the indomitable desire for the unknown - and a constant “question mark” “about the boundaries of this aspiration, about the limits of what is “permissible” during human intervention in the life of Nature and the Cosmos.

This hero, firmly embedded in our understanding of the appearance of Goethe's Faust, had his own literary predecessors and real prototypes. From the depths of centuries there is a legend about a man who, with the help of Satan (an angel cast into hell because of his pride - the main biblical sin! - and the desire to be equal in power with the Creator), also decided to challenge the Lord, mastering the secrets of the world and his own destiny. For this he did not even spare his immortal soul, which was promised as payment to the master of the underworld: the apocrypha about Simon the Magician, the legend about Theophilus (Theophilus), Old Russian story about Savva Grudtsyn. Some historical data have also been preserved: entries in German church books, lines from letters, notes from travelers indicate that a certain Doctor Faust was born in the city of Knitlingen (County of Württemberg) in 1480, and in the city of Staufer (Breisgau) in 1536 or 1539. who practiced magic tricks, witchcraft, taught, and compiled horoscopes. He led a disorderly life, was expelled from Nuremberg and Ingolstadt, and in the age of Luther, Hutten and Paracelsus, unexpectedly, like a ghost, appeared here and there, delighting or outraged the German public.

Even during his lifetime, legends began to swarm around this strange personality, which were layered with ancient legends about magicians, anecdotes about wandering students and charlatans, motifs from early Christian lives, medieval demonological literature and church scholarship. Popular rumor spoke with complacency about his tricks, for example, the following:

Faust rode out, holding his sides,

From the Auerbach cellar,

Sitting astride a barrel of wine,

And everyone around saw it.

He comprehended black magic,

And the devil was rewarded for this.

They treated him more harshly clerics. This is what the illustrious Abbot of the Spongheim Monastery, Johann Trithemius, told the court astrologer and mathematician of the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1507: “The man about whom you are writing to me... has the audacity to call himself the head of the necromancers ( love for the dead) - a tramp, an idle talker and a swindler... So, he came up with a suitable title, in his opinion, “Master George Sabellicus, Faust the Younger, a storehouse of necromancy, astrologer, successful magician, palmist ( fortune telling), an aeromancer, a pyromancer and an outstanding hydromancer..." the priests also told me that... he boasted of such knowledge of all sciences and such a memory that if all the works of Plato and Aristotle and all their philosophy were completely forgotten, then he. ..from memory he would completely restore them and even in a more elegant form,” and, having appeared in Würzburg, he “no less arrogantly said in a large meeting that there was nothing worthy of surprise in the miracles of Christ, that he himself was taken at any time and how much want to do once and everything that the Savior did.”

The name of Johann Faust, bachelor of theology, appears in the rolls of the University of Heidelberg for 1509: he is sometimes mentioned as Faust, who studied magic in Krakow, where it was taught openly at that time. The ruins of a castle on the edge of Wittenberg, which is still called the house of Faust, have also been preserved. It was said that he declared himself “the philosopher of philosophers,” and that he was always accompanied by “a dog in whose guise the devil was hiding.”

In the second third of the 16th century, these stories were written down, and in 1587 the Frankfurt book publisher I. Spies published the first of a series of “folk books” on this topic - “The Story of Doctor Faustus, the Famous Sorcerer and Warlock.” It talked about how a scientist named Faust entered into an agreement with the devil, because otherwise he could not find out “what moves the world and on what this world moves”; that at the imperial court he evoked images of the ancients, he showed students Helen of Sparta, because of whom the Trojan War broke out and with whom the sorcerer himself subsequently entered into a love affair, that before his death he repented of what he had done, but this did not save Faust from the clutches of the devil, who dragged him away daring into the underworld.

The legend of Faust - a brave obstinate and desperate experimenter, an epicurean and an atheist, an adventurer and seeker of knowledge in the XVI - XVII centuries, when in people's minds and in public life A particularly intense struggle flared up between the dictates of dogma and the principle of freedom of search, which attracted the whole of Europe, like the taste of a forbidden fruit.

The greatest success awaited “The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe, an outstanding English playwright and poet of the 16th century, a member of the London circle of philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians and geographers, which friends called the “little Academy”, and the enemy called the “school of atheism”, which sounded the most terrible accusation. And although the dying torments of the repentant Faust - Marlowe were so terrible, and his every minute expectation of the moment of reckoning was described so eloquently that one could not help but sympathize with the hero, the author’s edifying conclusion was perceived with understanding:

No Faust. His horses are terrible

Let him make us all convinced

How a brave mind is defeated.

When he breaks the law of heaven.

This play, which immediately became popular in England, was also performed throughout Germany by traveling acting troupes. And after, as a result of the theatrical reform of the zealous champion of clarity and verisimilitude in the art of the classicist Johann Christoph Gottsched, the appearance of such characters on the “big” German stage became impossible, the tragedy of Faust became the “highlight” of the repertoire of puppet theaters. This is exactly the kind of puppet play in early years“It sounded and rang in me in every way,” Goethe later recalled.

In his youth, he begins work on his famous tragedy "Faust". Its first part was suggested to him by another event that Goethe witnessed; the condemnation to execution of Susanna Margareta Brandt, an unmarried servant who killed her newborn child for fear of public contempt, and this was accompanied in those cruel times by a shameful public ritual. The poor woman sincerely believed before her death that she, having succumbed to sin at the instigation of the devil, had really become a witch.

The desperate plight of such unfortunates became the theme of a number of Sturm und Drang plays. Faust’s daring also could not help but excite the “stormy geniuses” with their cult of unique individuality, breaking out of the shackles of the generally accepted: “The Life and Death of Doctor Faustus” by F. Muller. “Hellish Judges” by J.M.R. Lenz, “The Life of Faust, His Deeds and Death in Hell” by F.M. Klinger. In the last novel, which was banned for a long time due to the “rebellious spirit”, attacks against the church and monasticism, Faust is identified with one of the pioneer printers Johann Faust (Fust), assistant and rival of I. Gutenberg. And the book - the highest gift of the Enlightenment - is interpreted in it not only as an instrument for knowing the truth, but also as an instrument for its distortion for the sake of self-interest and vanity - the “diabolical” in man.

...First part Goethe's Faust, published in full in 1808, the tragedy of the death of the seduced Margaret, so well known to us, is also a “Sturmer” challenge to the winglessness of predestined existence, the ant’s zeal, the embodiment of which was the scientist Wagner; this is throwing off from oneself, in the pursuit of a joyful feeling of the fullness of being, the shabby clothes of old age, apathy, false traditions, prohibitions and prejudices, armchair learning (“Theory, my friend, is sulphur. But the tree of life is ever green”). The throwing off is so cheerful, bright, full of play and young strength - even with the help of Mephistopheles, who here is not so much a seducer as a fulfiller of desires, a comrade in pranks, an assistant in adventures... But this is also the tragedy of the self-realization of the individual in his collision with that who may be the victim of our desires, eternal problem natural boundaries set by conscience before the insatiability of our aspirations...

The result of the first part: the soul of the trusting Gretchen, who unwittingly sinned in the impulse of reckless, inconsiderate love, was “saved” by heaven, and Faust, who is experimenting with life, is suppressed by an inescapable burden of guilt. But it is precisely this feeling of guilt, these the pangs of repentance because of the evil that he caused to another, and not sadness about his own fate, is what is fundamentally important that distinguishes Goethe’s Faust both from the fearless, skeptical and mocking Mephistopheles, and from a long series of folklore and literary predecessors of the hero (including including Marlowe's Faust).

However, the author of the great tragedy does not put here the point of the inevitable return of the repentant Faust to a state of peace, to humility, which interrupts the flight of human aspirations. The son of the Age of Enlightenment, he, like several earlier Lessing in their dramatic fragments on a Faustian theme, cannot recognize as false, criminal or “against God” the search for the soul and mind given to man - from God.” The whole point, apparently, is the purpose of these quests. Which, in fact, Goethe explains in the Prologue in Heaven, which precedes the tragedy. There, the Lord, not without condescending good nature, listens to the opinion of the “rogue and merry fellow” Mephistopheles that he, the Creator, in vain called man from the darkness of non-existence and endowed him with a divine spark - reason, a prerequisite for spirituality, for with it, the messenger of hell assures, even the best among people, “cattle live like cattle,” obeying their irresistible egoistic instinct, ready for a moment of earthly pleasures to give up both the eternal movement “forward and upward” and the immortality of the soul in heaven, returning to their “pre-divine” state - “animality” and darkness the underworld.

The Lord, for whom (as for Goethe) the devilish is also an indispensable component of the universe, sends Mephistopheles (“part of the power that does good without number, desiring evil to everyone”) to “excite” the beleaguered and disappointed scientist Faust (“out of laziness man falls into hibernation, go, stir up his stagnation") and, like the enlighteners, confident in good essence the creature he inspired, claims that, despite all the devilish temptations, man “himself, of his own free will” will “break out of the dead end” of an unworthy existence.

In the second part(written, with the exception of individual episodes, in 1826-1831), the mature Faust continues to wander in search of that moment of supreme satisfaction with existence when he wants to exclaim: “Stop, moment , You’re wonderful!” - and thereby, following his agreement with Mephistopheles, give his soul to Satan and perish physically and spiritually. (Isn’t it true that this condition of a pact with the devil is unusual? After all, for all previous Fausts, the hour of reckoning was also the hour of disappointment - not one went to hell with the feeling of a happily lived life).

And now Goethe’s Faust is taken out of the city walls, scientists’ offices, the society of burghers and burghers into the boundlessness of human history, into the play of time and space, into the mixture of eras and civilizations. Unlike the first part with its full-blooded folklore images, rich folk verse, rough anecdotes intertwined with the touching melodrama of a bourgeois novel, free-flowing monologues, diversity of street remarks, with its tart taste, strong smells and bright colors, there is no flow of real life of a medieval city, fusing together modest burgher everyday life, simple faith and fantastic superstitions.

But there is mystery, where the arena of action is the whole world, and the mover is not the onslaught of impatience, but the exploratory spirit of man, where metaphor, allegory, and symbol reign. It is difficult to subordinate the diversity of the second part, each of the scenes of which is already an independent drama of a single storyline. Faust's romance with Helen the Beautiful, summoned from time immemorial, the birth and symbolic death their son Euphorion... Faust in the role of Plutos - the god of wealth, scattering paper money - a replacement for gold, a sign of the impending loss of the natural properties of the object... The burning of the hut of Philemon and Baucis, who interfered with Faust's construction plans, is a metaphor for the death of the patriarchal idyllic world under the onslaught of civilization ... Reflections on nature and art, the meeting of Christianity and antiquity, historical nostalgia and the capitalization of society, the price of progress and the desire for the Absolute colliding with the Particular, the problems of industrial labor and social prospects - this and much more are touched upon by the genius of Goethe in the second part of Faust "and still feeds the philosophical and aesthetic thought sons of European culture...

And the main result of the tragedy is in the verdict of the Lord, who saved the soul of Faust from the devil when he, it would seem, had already lost his bet to Mephistopheles. For he experiences the highest satisfaction not in a moment of personal glory or pleasure, but in the contemplation of “a free people on a free land,” happy in the space he, Faust, conquered from the sea. However, Care has already blinded the elder Faust, and he mistakes the sound of the shovels of his gravediggers for the creative noise of the builders (which gives reason to speculate about the utopianism or prematureness of the dreams of Goethe's hero). But still, his insight is exciting and beautiful, it defines a high final goal human existence as love for one's neighbor and service to him. It is no coincidence that many, including modern researchers, interpret Faust as a “Christian” tragedy.

In the first part of Faust, preference is given to “living life” (“action”) rather than book wisdom (“word”). The second part proves that the altruistic-noble is still the main thing in the “dual” human nature, created by God (“light”, “spirit”), and the devil (“darkness”, “matter”), and through the mouth of the Lord the earthly being good is glorified for independent search (“Whose life has been spent in aspirations, we can save him”).

The reflection of Goethe's Faust will henceforth lie on almost all the heroes of the multi-volume multilingual Faustiana of the XJX-XX centuries, which included lines of novels, stories, short stories, dramas, poems, essays, among many, by A. Chamisso and G. Heine, F. Harem Lorca and G. Hauptmann, G. Hesse and our Pushkin, who expressed “Byronic” dissatisfaction with the monotony of boring philistine days in his “Scenes from Faust” in the spirit of rebellious romanticism of the beginning of the last century. The same hero - in his violent passions, searches or repentance - is depicted in hundreds of works of artists and musicians (Charles Gounod's opera "Faust", Alfred Schnittke's cantata "The History of Doctor Johann Faust" are vivid examples of this), he does not leave the theatrical and stage, he appeared on film and television screens, his voice never ceases in radio broadcasts.

However, the 20th century, which fully demonstrated the power of the human mind and desire for action, also forced us to doubt their absolute value. In the 30s, a frightening brown mutant appears - Faust in the Nazi interpretation - a “superman”, a “truly German” hero, a bearer of the idea of ​​group egoism. From a feeling of protest in front of his offensive and merciless aggression, the exquisite hero of the unfinished dramatic poem by Paul Valéry (“the last classic French literature”, as lovers of the elegant called him) “My Faust” (published in 1941), which tries not to act, but to escape from the “abomination” of existence into a “game of intellect” and “pure art”. However, a few years later, Thomas Mann, in the famous novel Doctor Faustus (1947), returned To the theme of the boundless individualism of the “pre-Enlightenment”, “pre-Hegean” Faust, using the example of his main character - a composer who was ready to sacrifice all the multicolor and warmth of being and his own soul in the name of possessing superhuman creative power - shows the collapse of such an attempt, the “diabolical” impasse of universal loneliness in The end of such a path is not into the world, but from the world.

When, in the second half of the 20th century, on the wave of unprecedented achievements of scientific and technological progress, which fully revealed its destructive power, in European and American literature When a Faust of renunciation is born, a Faust of refusal to daringly penetrate into the secrets of nature, then in cultural studies persistent voices about the end of the “Faustian era”, the era of man’s enlightenment desire to master the mysteries of existence, begin to be heard more and more clearly.

Meanwhile, “Russian “Faustism”, since the time of I. S. Turgenev, who fell in love with Goethe’s hero (the story “Faust”), suffering from an acute Hamlet-like complex of doubts and pangs of conscience, colored by the dreams of Russian symbolists of the turn of the century about eternal ideals and trying to reconcile “leader” and “mass” in the utopian drama by A.V. Lunacharsky’s “Faust and the City” (1916), where Faust the builder drives away Mephistopheles and advocates for the rule of people, already in the 30s prophetically prepared for the entry into the arena of world culture a new Faust, driven not by Reason, but by Heart.

It's about about the hero of M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” (1929-1940, published 1965), who was long called Faust in the author’s drafts, a kind of modern hypostasis of Christ, sacredly believing in the good Word, in “manuscripts that do not burn” , - and afraid of action, always constraining and subjugating someone, always limiting someone. Too afraid, so much so that his faithful Margarita acts instead of him and for him, and the Master himself in heaven deserves (unlike Goethe’s Faust) not “light”, but only “peace”. However, the appeal of Bulgakov’s hero to the invariably altruistic moral imperative of man is significant for our pragmatic age, and, perhaps, it is from here that the new chapter of the endless journeys through world history of this eternal questioner about the meaning begins human life, the restless Doctor Faustus?

I.-V. Goethe "Faust"

1. Why is a “Theatrical Introduction” needed in a tragedy? Comment on the poet's monologue

Go, look for another slave!

But your power over the poet is weak...

2. How are “Theatrical Introduction” and “Prologue in the Sky” related to each other and to the tragedy?

3. Why doesn’t Mephistopheles allow Faust to stay with Margarita?

Follow me or I'll leave.

My business, you know, is my side.

Condemned to torment!

Follow me quickly!

4. Why does the Spirit respond to the words of Faust

O active genius of existence,

My prototype!

answers:

Oh no, similar to you

Only the spirit that you yourself know -

5. Is there a contradiction in the resolution of the ending of Goethe's Faust?

So, continuing the topic about medicine and art, I decided to make a small selection of the most famous doctor in the world and part-time warlock Faust.
Johann Faust (ca. 1480-1540)- doctor, warlock, who lived in the first half of the 16th century. in Germany, whose legendary biography took shape already in the era of the Reformation and has been the theme of numerous works of European literature for a number of centuries

Mikhail Vrubel.
Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles

Portrait of Faust by an anonymous German artist of the 17th century

The legend of Doctor Faust, a warlock scientist who sold his soul to the devil, arose in Germany in the 16th century. Johann Faust is a historical figure. From 1507 to 1540, his name appears repeatedly in various documents. In 1909, Faust was mentioned among the students of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Heidelberg. On February 12, 1520, in the income and expenditure book of the Bishop of Bamberg it is noted: “10 guilders were assigned and granted to the philosopher Doctor Faustus for drawing up a horoscope.”
However, there is very little specific biographical information about Faust. There is an assumption that he was a so-called “wandering schoolboy,” that is, one of the representatives of the medieval intelligentsia who received a university education, but did not have permanent employment and moved from city to city in search of temporary work. Faust became famous as an expert in the occult sciences, a predictor and compiler of horoscopes.

Rembrandt, engraving "Faust"

The legend that Faust sold his soul to the devil arose during his lifetime. Faust himself did not refute these rumors, but, on the contrary, supported them. One of Faust’s contemporaries, the physician Johann Wier, who knew him personally, writes: “I have one acquaintance, his beard is black, his face is dark, indicating a melancholic structure (due to a disease of the spleen).

When he once met Faust, he immediately said: “You look so much like my little kuman that I even looked at your feet to see if I could see long claws.” It was he who mistook him for the devil, whom he was waiting for and usually called him a kumanik. The reality of the deal with the devil at that time was not in doubt by anyone. Another acquaintance of Faust, the theologian Johann Gast, wrote: “He had a dog and a horse, which, I suppose, were demons, because they could do anything. I heard from people that the dog sometimes turned into a servant and delivered food to the owner ".

Faust died in 1540. One of the historical chronicles, written twenty-seven years after his death, says: “This Faustus performed so many wonderful deeds during his life that they would have been enough to write an entire treatise, but in the end the evil one still strangled him.” And During Faust's life and after his death, many stories about him circulated among the people. They existed both orally and in written form, and these notes were considered the notes of Faust himself. In 1587, in Frankfurt am Main, the book publisher Johann Spies published a book entitled “The Story of Doctor Johann Faust, the Famous Sorcerer and Warlock,” with the subtitle which stated: "Mostly extracted from his own posthumous writings."

So...The image of the legendary Faust is significantly different from his historical prototype. In Spies's book, for the first time, the main idea of ​​the legend of Doctor Faustus was clearly expressed - the thirst for knowledge, for the satisfaction of which the scientist is ready to sacrifice his soul, renounce God and surrender to the devil. The author of the book writes that Faustus had a “quick mind, inclined and committed to science,” and “he took wings like an eagle, he wanted to comprehend all the depths of heaven and earth.” To do this, Faust entered into an alliance with the devil, and he assigned to him an unclean spirit named Mephistopheles, who was supposed to fulfill all the desires of the scientist and answer all his questions.
text from Wikipedia

"People's Book"

Title page of the “People's Book” During the Renaissance, when the belief in magic and the miraculous was still alive, and, on the other hand, outstanding victories were won by science liberated from the bonds of scholasticism, which many saw as the fruit of the union of a daring mind with evil spirits, the figure of Doctor Faustus quickly acquired legendary shape and widespread popularity. In 1587 in Germany, in the publication of Spies, the first literary treatment of the legend of Faust, the so-called “people's book” about Faust, appeared: “Historia von Dr. Johann Fausten, dem weitbeschreiten Zauberer und Schwartzkünstler etc.” (The story of Doctor Faustus, the famous wizard and warlock). The book contains episodes that were once associated with various sorcerers (Simon the Magus, Albert the Great, etc.) and attributed to Faust. The source of the book, in addition to oral legends, was modern works on witchcraft and “secret” knowledge (books by the theologian Lerheimer, a student of Melanchthon: “Ein Christlich Bedencken und Erinnerung von Zauberey”, 1585; a book by I. Vir, a student of Agrippa of Nettesheim: “De praestigiis daemonum”, 1563, German translation 1567, etc.). The author, apparently a Lutheran cleric, portrays Faust as a daring wicked man who entered into an alliance with the devil in order to acquire great knowledge and power (“Faust grew eagle’s wings and wanted to penetrate and explore all the foundations of heaven and earth.” “His falling away means nothing nothing but arrogance, despair, insolence and courage, similar to those titans about whom the poets tell that they piled mountains upon mountains and wanted to fight against God, or similar to an evil angel who opposed himself to God, for which he was overthrown by God as impudent and vain"). The final chapter of the book tells of Faust’s “terrible and terrifying end”: he is torn apart by demons, and his soul goes to hell. It is characteristic that Faust is given the features of a humanist. These features are noticeably strengthened in the 1589 edition.
Cahier's Faust
In 1603 Pierre Caillet published a French translation of the folk book about Faust.

Faust gives lectures on Homer at the University of Erfurt, at the request of students he evokes the shadows of heroes of classical antiquity, etc. The humanists’ passion for antiquity is personified in the book as the “godless” connection between the lustful Faust and the Beautiful Helen. However, despite the author’s desire to condemn Faust for his atheism, pride and daring, the image of Faust is still shrouded in a certain heroism; in his person the entire Renaissance era is reflected with its inherent thirst for limitless knowledge, the cult of unlimited personal possibilities, a powerful rebellion against medieval quietism, dilapidated church-feudal norms and foundations.

Marlowe's Faust
The English playwright of the 16th century used the folk book about Faust. Christopher Marlowe, who wrote the first dramatic adaptation of the legend. His tragedy “The tragical history of the life and death of Doctor Faustus” (published in 1604, 4th ed., 1616) (The tragic history of Doctor Faustus, Russian translation by K. D. Balmont, Moscow, 1912, previously in the journal "Life", 1899, July and August) depicts Faust as a titan, seized by a thirst for knowledge, wealth and power. Marlowe amplifies heroic traits legends, turning Faust into a bearer of the heroic elements of the European Renaissance. From the folk book, Marlowe learns the alternation of serious and comic episodes, as well as the tragic ending of the legend of Faust, an ending that is associated with the theme of the condemnation of Faust and his daring impulses.

Widmann's Faust
The people's book also underlies G. R. Widman's lengthy work on Faust (Widman, Wahrhaftige Historie etc.), published in Hamburg in 1598. Widman, in contrast to Marlowe, strengthens the moralistic and clerical-didactic tendencies of the “people's book.” For him, the story of Faust is, first of all, a story about the “terrible and disgusting sins and misdeeds” of the famous warlock; He meticulously equips his presentation of the legend of Faust with “necessary reminders and excellent examples” that should serve as a general “education and warning.”

Faust in the 18th century
Pfitzer followed in Widmann's footsteps, publishing his adaptation of the folk book about Faust in 1674.

The theme of Faust gained exceptional popularity in Germany in the second half of the 18th century. among writers, the period of “storm and stress” [Lessing - fragments of an unrealized play, Müller the painter - the tragedy “Fausts Leben dramatisiert” (Life of Faust, 1778), Klinger - the novel “Fausts Leben, Thaten und Höllenfahrt” (Life, deeds and death Faust, 1791, Russian translation by A. Luther, Moscow, 1913), Goethe - tragedy “Faust” (1774-1831), Russian translation by N. Kholodkovsky (1878), A. Fet (1882-1883), V. Bryusov ( 1928) and others]. Faust attracts sturmer writers with his daring titanism, his rebellious encroachment on traditional norms. Under their pen, he acquires the features of a “stormy genius”, trampling upon the laws of the surrounding world in the name of unlimited individual rights. Sturmers were also attracted by the “Gothic” flavor of the legend, its irrational element. At the same time, the Sturmers, especially Klinger, combine the theme of Faust with a sharp critique of the feudal-absolutist order (for example, the picture of the atrocities of the old world in Klinger’s novel: the arbitrariness of the feudal lord, the crimes of monarchs and clergy, the depravity of the ruling classes, portraits of Louis XI, Alexander Borgia, etc.) .

"Faust" by Goethe
summary and radio play

The theme of Faust reaches its most powerful artistic expression in Goethe's tragedy. The tragedy reflected in significant relief all the versatility of Goethe, all the depth of his literary, philosophical and scientific quests: his struggle for a realistic worldview, his humanism, etc.

If in “Prafaust” (1774-1775) the tragedy is still fragmentary, then with the advent of the prologue “In Heaven” (written 1797, published 1808) it takes on the grandiose outlines of a kind of humanistic mystery, all the numerous episodes of which are united by unity artistic design. Faustus grows into a colossal figure. He is a symbol of the possibilities and destinies of humanity. His victory over quietism, over the spirit of negation and disastrous emptiness (Mephistopheles) marks the triumph of the creative forces of humanity, its indestructible vitality and creative power. But on the path to victory, Faust is destined to go through a number of “educational” steps. From the “small world” of burgher everyday life he enters the “ Big world" aesthetic and civil interests, the boundaries of the scope of his activity are expanding, more and more new areas are included in them, until the cosmic expanses of the final scenes are revealed to Faust, where the searching creative spirit of Faust merges with the creative forces of the universe. The tragedy is permeated with the pathos of creativity. There is nothing frozen or unshakable here, everything here is movement, development, constant “growth,” a powerful creative process that reproduces itself at ever higher levels.

In this regard, the very image of Faust is significant - a tireless seeker of the “right path”, alien to the desire to plunge into inactive peace; A distinctive feature of Faust's character is “discontent” (Unzufriedenheit), which always pushes him onto the path of tireless action. Faust destroyed Gretchen, because he grew eagle wings and they draw him beyond the stuffy burgher's upper room; he does not confine himself to the world of art and perfect beauty, for the kingdom of classical Helen ultimately turns out to be just an aesthetic appearance. Faustus longs for a great cause, tangible and fruitful, and he ends his life as the leader of a free people who free land builds his well-being by winning back nature’s right to happiness. Hell loses its power over Faust. The tirelessly active Faust, who has found the “right path,” is awarded cosmic apotheosis. Thus, under the pen of Goethe, the ancient legend of Faust takes on a deeply humanistic character. It should be noted that the final scenes of Faust were written during the period of the rapid rise of young European capitalism and partially reflected the successes of capitalist progress. However, Goethe's greatness lies in the fact that he already saw the dark sides of new social relations and in his poem tried to rise above them.

Ary Scheffer (1798-1858)
Faust and Margarita in the Garden, 1846


Frank Cadogan Cooper "Faust" - Margaret Possessed by an Evil Spirit in the Cathedral
The image of Faust in the era of romanticism
At the beginning of the 19th century. The image of Faust with its Gothic outlines attracted romantics. Faust - a traveling charlatan of the 16th century. - appears in Arnim's novel “Die Kronenwächter”, I Bd., 1817 (Guardians of the Crown). The legend of Faust was developed by Grabbe (“Don Juan und Faust”, 1829, Russian translation by I. Kholodkovsky in the magazine “Vek”, 1862), Lenau (“Faust”, 1835-1836, Russian translation by A. Anyutin [A. V. Lunacharsky], St. Petersburg, 1904, the same, translated by N. A-nsky, St. Petersburg, 1892), Heine ["Faust" (poem intended for dancing, "Der Doctor Faust". Ein Tanzpoem..., 1851) and etc.]. Lenau, the author of the most significant development of the theme of Faust after Goethe, portrays Faust as an ambivalent, hesitant, doomed rebel.

Vainly dreaming of “uniting the world, God and himself,” Faust Lenau falls victim to the machinations of Mephistopheles, who embodies the forces of evil and corrosive skepticism, which makes him similar to Goethe’s Mephistopheles. The spirit of denial and doubt triumphs over the rebel, whose impulses turn out to be wingless and worthless. Lenau's poem marks the beginning of the collapse of the humanistic concept of the legend. In the conditions of mature capitalism, the theme of Faust in its Renaissance-humanistic interpretation could no longer receive full embodiment. The “Faustian spirit” flew away from bourgeois culture, and it is no coincidence that at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries. we do not have significant artistic adaptations of the legend of Faust.

Tatiana Fedorova “Faust and Mephistopheles” 1994

Faust in Russia
In Russia, A. S. Pushkin paid tribute to the legend of Faust in his wonderful “Scene from Faust.” We encounter echoes of Goethe’s “Faust” in “Don Juan” by A.K. Tolstoy (prologue, Faustian features of Don Juan, languishing over the solution to life - direct reminiscences from Goethe) and in the story in letters “Faust” by J.S. Turgenev.

Faust by Lunacharsky
In the 20th century The most interesting development of the theme of Faust was given by A.V. Lunacharsky in his drama for reading “Faust and the City” (written in 1908, 1916, ed. Narkompros, P., in 1918). Based on the final scenes of the second part of Goethe's tragedy, Lunacharsky portrays Faust as an enlightened monarch ruling over the country he conquered from the sea. However, the people under Faust’s tutelage are already ripe for liberation from the bonds of autocracy, a revolutionary coup takes place, and Faust welcomes what has happened, seeing in it the fulfillment of his long-standing dreams of a free people on a free land. The play reflects a premonition of a social revolution, the beginning of a new historical era. The motives of the Faustian legend attracted V. Ya. Bryusov, who left a complete translation of Goethe’s “Faust” (Part 1 published in 1928), the story “The Fire Angel” (1907-1908), as well as the poem “Klassische Walpurgisnacht” (1920

Faust Alexandra Zhumailova-Dmitrovskaya

The tragedy of I. V. Goethe “Faust” was written in 1774 – 1831 and belongs to the literary movement of romanticism. The work is the main work of the writer, on which he worked throughout almost his entire life. The plot of the tragedy is based on the German Legend of Faust, the famous warlock of the 16th century. The composition of the tragedy attracts special attention. The two parts of Faust are contrasted: the first depicts the doctor’s relationship with the spiritually pure girl Margarita, the second depicts Faust’s activities at court and his marriage to the ancient heroine Helen.

Main characters

Heinrich Faust- doctor, scientist disillusioned with life and science. Made a deal with Mephistopheles.

Mephistopheles- the evil spirit, the devil, bet with the Lord that he could get Faust’s soul.

Gretchen (Margarita) – beloved of Faust. An innocent girl who, out of love for Henry, accidentally killed her mother, and then, having gone crazy, drowned her daughter. She died in prison.

Other characters

Wagner – Faust's disciple who created the Homunculus.

Elena- Ancient Greek heroine, beloved of Faust, with whom she had a son, Euphorion. Their marriage is a symbol of the union of the ancient and romantic principles.

Euphorion – the son of Faust and Helen, endowed with the features of a romantic, Byronic hero.

Martha- Margarita's neighbor, a widow.

Valentine- soldier, Gretchen's brother, who was killed by Faust.

Theater director, Poet

Homunculus

Dedication

Theatrical introduction

The director of the theater asks the Poet to create an entertaining work that will be interesting to absolutely everyone and will attract more spectators to their theater. However, the Poet believes that “sprinkling vulgarities is a great evil,” “the craft of mediocre scoundrels.”

The director of the theater advises him to move away from his usual style and get down to business more decisively - to “deal with poetry in his own way,” then his works will be truly interesting to people. The director provides the Poet and Actor with all the possibilities of the theater in order to:

“In this plank booth
You can, as in the universe,
Having gone through all the tiers in a row,
Descend from heaven through earth to hell."

Prologue in the sky

Mephistopheles appears to receive the Lord. The devil argues that people “illuminated by God’s spark” continue to live like animals. The Lord asks if he knows Faust. Mephistopheles recalls that Faust is a scientist who is “eager to fight and loves to take on obstacles” while serving God. The devil offers to bet that he will “take away” Faust from the Lord, exposing him to all sorts of temptations, to which he receives consent. God is sure that the scientist's instincts will lead him out of the dead end.

Part one

Night

Cramped gothic room. Faust sits awake reading a book. The Doctor reflects:

“I have mastered theology,
Poored over philosophy,
Jurisprudence hammered
And he studied medicine.
However, at the same time I
He was and remains a fool."

“And I turned to magic,
So that the spirit appears to me when called
And he discovered the secret of existence."

The doctor’s thoughts are interrupted by his student Wagner unexpectedly entering the room. During a conversation with a student, Faust explains: people actually know nothing about antiquity. The doctor is outraged by Wagner’s arrogant, stupid thoughts that man has already grown to know all the secrets of the universe.

When Wagner left, the doctor reflects on the fact that he considered himself equal to God, but this is not so: “I am a blind worm, I am the stepson of nature.” Faust realizes that his life is “passing in the dust” and is going to commit suicide by drinking poison. However, at the moment when he brings the glass of poison to his lips, bells ring and choral singing is heard - angels sing about the Resurrection of Christ. Faust abandons his intention.

At the gate

Crowds of people walking, including Wagner and Faust. The old peasant thanks the doctor and his late father for helping to “eliminate the plague” in the city. However, Faust is ashamed of his father, who, during his medical practice, gave people poison for the sake of experiments - while treating some, he killed others. A black poodle runs up to the doctor and Wagner. It seems to Faust that behind the dog “a flame is snaking across the land of the glades.”

Faust's work room

Faust took the poodle to his place. The doctor sits down to translate German New Testament. Reflecting on the first phrase of scripture, Faustus comes to the conclusion that it is translated not as “In the beginning was the Word,” but “In the beginning was the Deed.” The poodle begins to play around and, distracted from work, the doctor sees how the dog turns into Mephistopheles. The Devil appears to Faust dressed as a traveling student. The doctor asks who he is, to which Mephistopheles replies:

"Part of the strength that is without number
He does good, desiring evil for everything."

Mephistopheles chuckles at human weaknesses, as if knowing what thoughts torment Faust. Soon the Devil is about to leave, but the pentagram drawn by Faust does not let him in. The devil, with the help of spirits, puts the doctor to sleep and, while he sleeps, disappears.

The second time Mephistopheles appeared to Faust in rich clothes: in a camisole made of karamzin, with a cape on his shoulders and a rooster feather on his hat. The devil persuades the doctor to leave the walls of the office and go with him:

“You will be comfortable here with me,
I will perform any whim."

Faust agrees and signs the contract in blood. They set off on a journey, flying through the air on the Devil's magic cloak.

Auerbach cellar in Leipzig

Mephistopheles and Faust join the company of merry revelers. The devil treats drinkers to wine. One of the revelers spills a drink on the ground and the wine catches fire. The man exclaims that this is hellfire. Those present rush at the Devil with knives, but he puts a “dope” on them - people begin to think that they are in a beautiful land. At this time, Mephistopheles and Faust disappear.

Witch's kitchen

Faust and Mephistopheles are waiting for the witch. Faust complains to Mephistopheles that he is tormented by sad thoughts. The devil replies that he can be distracted from any thoughts by a simple means - running a normal household. However, Faust is not ready to “live on a grand scale.” At the request of the Devil, the witch prepares a potion for Faust, after which the doctor’s body “gets hot” and his lost youth returns to him.

Street

Faust, seeing Margarita (Gretchen) on the street, is amazed by her beauty. The doctor asks Mephistopheles to introduce him to her. The devil replies that he just overheard her confession - she is as innocent as a small child, so the evil spirits have no power over her. Faust sets a condition: either Mephistopheles arranges a date for them today, or he will terminate their contract.

Evening

Margarita reflects that she would give a lot to find out who the man she met was. While the girl leaves her room, Faust and Mephistopheles leave her a gift - a jewelry box.

On a walk

Margarita's mother took the donated jewelry to the priest, as she realized that it was a gift from evil spirits. Faust orders Gretchen to be given something else.

Neighbor's house

Margarita tells her neighbor Martha that she discovered a second jewelry box. The neighbor advises not to say anything about the mother’s find, starting to put on jewelry gradually.

Mephistopheles comes to Martha and reports the fictitious death of her husband, who left nothing for his wife. Martha asks if it is possible to get a paper confirming the death of her husband. Mephistopheles replies that he will soon return with a friend to testify about the death, and asks Margarita to stay too, since his friend is an “excellent fellow.”

Garden

Walking with Faust, Margarita says that she lives with her mother, her father and sister have died, and her brother is serving in the army. The girl tells fortunes using a daisy and receives the answer “Loves”. Faust confesses his love to Margarita.

Forest Cave

Faust is hiding from everyone. Mephistopheles tells the doctor that Margarita misses him very much and is afraid that Henry has lost interest in her. The devil is surprised that Faust so simply decided to abandon the girl.

Martha's Garden

Margarita shares with Faust that she really doesn’t like Mephistopheles. The girl thinks that he might betray them. Faust notes the innocence of Margarita, before whom the Devil is powerless: “Oh, the sensitivity of angelic guesses!” .

Faust gives Margarita a bottle of sleeping pills so that she can put her mother to sleep, and they can be alone longer next time.

Night. Street in front of Gretchen's house

Valentin, Gretchen's brother, decides to deal with the girl's lover. The young man is upset that she has brought shame upon herself by having an affair without marriage. Seeing Faust, Valentin challenges him to a duel. The doctor kills the young man. Before they are noticed, Mephistopheles and Faust hide and leave the city. Before his death, Valentin instructs Margarita, saying that the girl must take care of her honor.

Cathedral

Gretchen is present at church service. Behind the girl, an evil spirit whispers to her thoughts that Gretchen is guilty of the death of her mother (who did not wake up from the sleeping potion) and brother. Besides, everyone knows that a girl carries a child under her heart. Unable to bear the obsessive thoughts, Gretchen faints.

Walpurgis Night

Faust and Mephistopheles watch the Sabbath of witches and sorcerers. Walking along the fires, they meet a general, a minister, a rich businessman, a writer, a ragpicker witch, Lilith, Medusa and others. Suddenly, one of the shadows reminds Faust of Margarita; the doctor dreamed that the girl was beheaded.

It's a nasty day. Field

Mephistopheles tells Faust that Gretchen has been a beggar for a long time and is now in prison. The doctor is in despair, he blames the Devil for what happened and demands that he save the girl. Mephistopheles notices that it was not he, but Faust himself who ruined Margarita. However, after thinking, he agrees to help - the Devil will put the caretaker to sleep, and then take them away. Faust himself will have to take possession of the keys and lead Margarita out of prison.

Jail

Faust enters the dungeon where Margarita is sitting, singing strange songs. She lost her mind. Mistaking the doctor for an executioner, the girl asks to delay the punishment until the morning. Faust explains that her lover is in front of her and they need to hurry. The girl is happy, but hesitates, telling him that he has lost interest in her embrace. Margarita tells how she put her mother to death and drowned her daughter in a pond. The girl is delirious and asks Faust to dig graves for her, her mother and brother. Before her death, Margarita asks God for salvation. Mephistopheles says that she is condemned to torment, but then a voice comes from above: “Saved!” . The girl is dying.

Part two

Act one

Imperial Palace. Masquerade

Mephistopheles appears before the emperor in the guise of a jester. The State Council begins in the throne room. The Chancellor reports that the country is in decline, the state does not have enough money.

Party garden

The devil helped the state solve the problem of lack of money by pulling off a scam. Mephistopheles put into circulation securities, the collateral of which was gold located in the bowels of the earth. The treasure will one day be found and will cover all expenses, but for now the fooled people are paying in shares.

Dark gallery

Faust, who appeared at court as a magician, tells Mephistopheles that he promised to show the emperor ancient heroes Paris and Helen. The Doctor asks the Devil to help him. Mephistopheles gives Faust a guide key that will help the doctor penetrate the world of pagan gods and heroes.

Knight's Hall

The courtiers await the appearance of Paris and Helen. When an ancient Greek heroine appears, the ladies begin to discuss her shortcomings, but Faustus is captivated by the girl. The scene of the “abduction of Helen” by Paris is played out in front of the audience. Having lost his composure, Faust tries to save and hold the girl, but the spirits of the heroes suddenly evaporate.

Act two

Gothic room

Faust lies motionless in his old room. The student Famulus tells Mephistopheles that Wagner, who has now become a famous scientist, is still awaiting the return of his teacher Faust, and is now on the verge of a great discovery.

Laboratory in a medieval spirit

Mephistopheles appears to Wagner, who is at the awkward instruments. The scientist tells the guest that he wants to create a person, since, in his opinion, “for us, the former existence of children is an absurdity, archived.” Wagner creates the Homunculus.

The homunculus advises Mephistopheles to take Faust to the Walpurgis Night celebration, and then flies away with the doctor and the Devil, leaving Wagner.

Classic Walpurgis Night

Mephistopheles lowers Faust to the ground, and he finally comes to his senses. The Doctor goes in search of Elena.

Act three

In front of the Palace of Menelaus in Sparta

Landed on the shores of Sparta, Helen learns from the housekeeper Phorkiades that King Menelaus (Helen's husband) sent her here as a victim for sacrifice. The housekeeper helps the heroine escape death by helping her escape to a nearby castle.

Castle courtyard

Helen is brought to Faust's castle. He reports that the queen now owns everything in his castle. Faust directs his troops against Menelaus, who is coming at him with war and wants revenge, and he and Helen take refuge in the underworld.

Soon a son, Euphorion, is born to Faust and Helen. The boy dreams of jumping so “that he might inadvertently reach the heavens in one leap.” Faust tries to shield his son from trouble, but he asks to leave him alone. Having climbed a high rock, Euphorion jumps from it and falls dead at the feet of his parents. Grieving Helen says to Faust: “The old saying comes true on me, That happiness does not coexist with beauty,” and, with the words “Take me, O Persephone, with a boy!” hugs Faust. The woman's body disappears, and only her dress and bedspread remain in the man's hands. Helen's clothes turn into clouds and carry Faust away.

Act Four

Mountain landscape

Faust floats on a cloud to the rocky ridge, which was previously the bottom of the underworld. A man reflects on the fact that with the memories of love, all his purity and “best essence” goes away. Soon Mephistopheles flies to the rock on seven-league boots. Faust tells Mephistopheles that his greatest desire is to build a dam on the sea and

"At any cost in the abyss
Conquer a piece of land."

Faust asks Mephistopheles for help. Suddenly the sounds of war are heard. The Devil explains that the Emperor, whom they had previously helped, is in dire straits after the discovery of a securities scam. Mephistopheles advises Faust to help the monarch return to the throne, for which he can receive the seashore as a reward. The Doctor and the Devil help the Emperor achieve a brilliant victory.

Act five

Open area

A wanderer visits the elderly, loving married couple Baucis and Philemon. Once upon a time, the old people already helped him, for which he is very grateful to them. Baucis and Philemon live by the sea, nearby there is a bell tower and a linden grove.

Castle

The aged Faustus is outraged - Baucis and Philemon do not agree to leave the seashore so that he can bring his idea to life. Their house is located exactly on the site that now belongs to the doctor. Mephistopheles promises to deal with the old people.

Deep night

The house of Baucis and Philemon, and with it the linden grove and bell tower, were burned. Mephistopheles told Faust that they tried to drive the old people out of the house, but they died of fright, and the guest, resisting, was killed by the servants. The house caught fire accidentally from a spark. Faust curses Mephistopheles and the servants for being deaf to his words, since he wanted a fair exchange, and not violence and robbery.

Large courtyard in front of the palace

Mephistopheles orders the lemurs (grave ghosts) to dig a grave for Faust. The blind Faust hears the sound of shovels and decides that these are the workers making his dream come true:

“They put a limit to the frenzy of the surf
And, as if reconciling the earth with itself,
They are erecting, the shaft and embankments are being secured.”

Faust orders Mephistopheles to “recruit countless workers here,” constantly reporting to him on the progress of work. The Doctor reflects that he would like to see the days when a free people worked in a free land, then he could exclaim: “In a moment! Oh, how wonderful you are, wait!” . With the words: “And anticipating this triumph, I am now experiencing the highest moment,” Faust dies.

Coffin position

Mephistopheles waits for Faust's spirit to leave his body so that he can present to him their agreement, backed by blood. However, angels appear and, having pushed the demons away from the doctor’s grave, they carry Faust’s immortal essence into the sky.

Conclusion

Tragedy I. In Goethe, “Faust” is a philosophical work in which the author reflects on the eternal theme of the confrontation in the world and man between good and evil, reveals issues of human knowledge of the secrets of the world, self-knowledge, touches on issues of power, love, honor, justice that are important at any time and many others. Today, Faust is considered one of the pinnacles of German classical poetry. The tragedy is included in the repertoire of the world's leading theaters and has been filmed many times.

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