The Legend of Faust

1
The Legend of Faust

• Early Modern Period in Germany (1350-1600) also
  gave rise to legends.
• Early Modern Legends are folk heroes, not
  warriors or chieftains. Different society.
• Like earlier legends, folk heroes also exist on
  the margins of recorded history.
• Examples Till Eulenspiegel
• Johann Faust

2
The Legend of Faust

• The historical Georg Faust is a shadowy
  character, probably lived c. 1480 1538.
• He is a contemporary of Martin Luther.
• Historical documents mention a Faust in
  Heidelberg, Knittlingen, Wittenberg, etc., but
  may refer to different individuals.
• Faust seems to have been an astrologer and
  alchemist of ill-repute not uncommon!

3
The Legend of Faust

• Faust was a Renaissance Man, one active in all
  branches of arts and sciences.
• Many similar characters from the period
• Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus)
• Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo Galilei (Italian)
• Cornelius Agrippa (German)
• John Dee (English)
• Copernicus (Czech)
• Unlike these, Faust seems to have been more of a
  swindler than a real scientist.

4
The Legend of Faust

• The Faust Legend is a conglomeration of these
  characters and earlier medieval accounts of
  Wizards and Sorcerers
• Merlin the Magician
• Simon Magus
• Theophilus
• The Faust Legend arose about 70 years later
  as a loose collection of stories associated with
  Faust. Oral Transmission.

5
The Legend of Faust

• First Version of Faust was published by Johann
  Spies in Frankfurt in 1587
• Historia von
• D. Johann Fausten
• dem weitbeschreyten Zauberer und Schwarzkünstler
• An independent manuscript version from Nürnberg
  may be slightly older.
• Spies presented a moralistic tale from a staunch
  protestant perspective.

6
The Legend of Faust

• The one defining element of all versions of the
  legend is the Pact with the Devil.
• An ancient idea, found in a number of classical
  and medieval works.
• Faust fascinated Renaissance audiences because
  his pact called into question the great advances
  of the age humanism, science, art, philosophy.

7
The Legend of Faust

• The Spies Chapbook of 1587 (Volksbuch) presents
  Fausts life as a warning not to seek forbidden
  knowledge or experience.
• The Chapbook constructed as a frame tale
• opening chapters discuss his sinful pact w/
  Mephisto
• concluding chapters discuss the consequences
• Inside chapters list Fausts adventures.
• Very episodic, entertaining, little moralizing.

8
The Legend of Faust

• The Spies chapbook established a number of
  elements that are conventionally retained in
  other versions of the legend
• Fausts career as a scholar and astronomer
• His frustration with limitations of human
  knowledge
• His turn toward necromancy to aid his search for
  knowledge
• His pact with the evil spirit (Mephostophiles)
• Cosmological discussions of and journeys to
  heaven and hell
• Visitations by various demons and spirits for
  amusement
• Travel through European countries and capital
  cities

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The Legend of Faust

• A visit to the Imperial Court of Charles V. as a
  Magician
• A visit to the Pope in Rome, where he mocks the
  Pontiff
• 10. Pranks played on the other courtiers of
  Charles V.
• 11. Further pranks played on all manner of people
  horse traders, inn keepers, peasants, Jewish
  peddlers, etc.
• Riotous living with his students drinking and
  carousing!
• The conjuration of classical heroes, esp. Helen
  of Troy
• Failed attempts by pious men to return Faust to
  the Lord
• A marriage to (a demon in the form of) Helen of
  Troy
• Fausts despair as his appointed time draws to a
  close
• Fausts gruesome death presented as a warning to
  others

10
The Legend of Faust

• The Spies chapbook was, to judge from
  translations and new editions, very popular.
• English Version (EFB) appeared in 1592
• The
• Historie
• of the damnable life, and deserved death of
• Doctor John Faustus,
• Newly imprinted, and in convenient places
  imperfect matter amended according to the true
  Copie, printed at Franckfort, and translated into
  English by P. F. Gent.leman.

11
The Legend of Faust

• A selection of chapters from The Damnable Life
  (EFB) is printed on pp. 92-145 of the Signet
  Classic edition of Marlowe.
• Suggested Reading for class!
• The EFB is a close translation of Spies, but it
  contains new material used by Marlowe.
• New versions of the legend typically add new
  episodes appealing to later societies.

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The Legend of Faust

• Marlowes drama cannot be dated exactly he may
  have used the German version, or only the
  English, or some combination
• The Tragicall History of
• the Life and Death
• of Doctor Faustus.
• Marlowe died in 1593, but the first printing of
  Doctor Faustus was in 1604. A later printing in
  1616 contained a number of differences.

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The Legend of Faust

• After Marlowe, a number of other editions were
  written in Germany
• 1599 Expanded Chapbook edition by Widmann
• 1674 New additions by Pfitzer (love for a village
  girl)
• 1725 The well-meaning Christians childrens
  story
• 1650-1750 English comedians presented a version
  based on Marlowe throughout Germany this was
  also the basis for the beloved Faust puppet play.
• 1759 G. E. Lessing wrote fragments of a Faust
  drama this was the first version to save Faust
  from damnation!

14
The Legend of Faust

• Later versions of Faust legend in Germany
• (Storm-and-Stress to Classicism)
• 1778 Fausts Life by Maler Müller
• 1791 Fausts Life, Deeds, and Ride to Hell by
  Klinger
• 1770-1808 Faust, Part One, by J. W. Goethe
• 1833 Faust, Part Two by Goethe (publ.
  posthumously)
• Goethes work is a masterpiece of world
  literature, extremely influential on all
  subsequent versions of the legend.