Faust
Faust
Hubbert curve
Category="Alchemy"Category="Characters in written fiction" - This article is about the protagonist of several fictional works. For other uses see Faust (band) and Faust (Guilty Gear).
Faust or Faustus is the protagonist of a popular German tale that has been used as the basis for many different fictional works. The story concerns the fate of a learned gentleman named Faust, who in his quest for forbidden or advanced knowledge of material things, summons the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles, often also referred as Mephisto), who offers to serve him for a period of time, at the cost of his Soul.
Some scholars believe an anonymous German author wrote a prose volume (Chapbook) Historia von D. Iohan Fausten in 1587 (noting that the word 'historia' is Latin for German Geschichte, and implying a still earlier, independent source in the Latin language), which was then translated into English by a certain "P. F., Gent[leman]" in 1592 as The Historie of the damnable life, and deserved death of Doctor Iohn Faustus. The 1592 English work was then used as a model for Christopher Marlowe's somewhat more ambitious play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (published c. 1600) which, along with Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (published c. 1602), served to inspire the later Faust, Part 1 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which may be considered the more definitive classical work.
Historical origins
Although swearing by the name of a deity (or other lesser god) for divine intervention, as in a show of favor, is nothing new, the oldest story of a freely negotiated personal Pact with the Devil is the story of Theophilus of Adana. Elements of his story appear in the story of Faust and in the story of Pan Twardowski.The tale has some possible basis in a Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540), who was born in the village of Knittlingen, Württemberg, and was granted a B.A. in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. This identity is not definite, and it may simply be that the name of "Faust" has become attached to any number of legendary tales about a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer"), whose pride, vanity, and vile hucksterism would inevitably lead to his doom.
"Faust's" poor reputation became legendary when while in prison, in exchange for wine he "offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of Arsenic, which removed not only the hair but the flesh." Another very possible inspiration for Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of Alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus appears to have been based almost entirely on an unpreserved 1592 translation by "P.F.", with an additional borrowing from Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, in the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope.
The Meme "Pact with the Devil" is a widespread cultural inheritance.
Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
Drama
Opera
Music
- The third movement of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande Sonate (published 1848)
- Hector Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust (1845-46) (sometimes performed in staged opera versions)
- Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song - Aus Goethes Faust: "Es war einmal ein König"
- Charles Gounod's Ballet music from his opera Faust (1859). The ballet occurs as an interlude in the Fourth Act during the Walpurgis Night scene familiar from Goethe's Faust Part 1. The ballet or ballet music is often performed independent of the opera.
- Franz Liszt was fascinated by the Faust legend, particularly with the character of Mephistopheles. He wrote several musical works on this idea, including:
- Part II of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906-07)
- Murdoc Niccals, bassist of the British animated band Gorillaz, claims he had sold his soul to the devil so that the album Demon Days would succeed, and that his middle name was Faust.
- Modest Mussorgsky: "Mephistopheles' song of the flea", is just that: a version of the song that Mephistopheles sings in the tavern scene of Goethe's Faust, pt. 1.
- Randy Newman's Faust (1993)
- Alfred Schnittke's Faust Cantata (1982-83)
- Franz Schubert's
Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814) - Robert Schumann's
Scenes from Goethe's Faust (completed 1853) - Igor Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat (1918) tells the story of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that predicts the future of the economy.
- Richard Wagner's
Faust overture (1840, originally intended as the first movement of a Faust Symphony) - Art Zoyd's song
Faust. - The Fall's song
Dktr Faustus (1986), also known as Faust Banana. - Avant-garde/progressive black metal band Arcturus's album,
La Masquerade Infernale (1997) alludes to the tale and is dedicated to the "Faustian spirit". - Melodic Power metal band Kamelot's albums,
Epica (2003) and The Black Halo (2005) are a two-part adaptation of the Faust legend. - Brian DePalma's
Phantom of the Paradise (both the plot of the movie and a musical incorporated into the movie, titled "Foster", are based on the legend of Faust). - British Rock band Muse's song 'The Small Print', from the album Absolution, describing the plight of Faust from the viewpoint of the Devil
- Popular British Black metal band 'Cradle of Filth' have a song entitled 'Absinthe With Faust'on their 2004 'Nymphetamine' album.
- John Adams' new opera "Doctor Atomic" was originally commissioned as an American Faust telling, and the composer admits that the opera still retains Faustian elements. Its subject matter is Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.
Poetry
Prose fiction
Science fiction
Movies
Musicals
Anime and manga
- Shaman King (A character in Shaman King, Faust VIII, is a descendant of Dr. Faust)
-
Saber Marionette (The antagonistic ruler of the kingdom of Gartlant in Saber Marionette J) - Faust Münchhausen (a villain seen in the
Urotsukidoji movies)
Video Games
- Faustus is the name of a minor villain in Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
-
Guilty Gear series, "Faust" (Guilty Gear X, Guilty Gear XX)
Comic books
- The comic book Faust was published in the 80s and 90s by artist Tim Vigil and writer David Quinn. The book follows a story template similar to the opera Faust, but is an updated version. Rebel Studios, an independent label originally published it, but it was later picked up by Avatar Press and a subsequent sequel series was created. Both are extremely sexual and violent series.
- Dr. John Dee, a Renaissance scholar who was a likely inspiration for Marlowe's version of the "Faust" story, is a character in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.
Nonfiction
Pen name
"Minister Faust" is a Pen name for Canadian writer, broadcaster and activist Malcolm Azania; as Minister Faust, he wrote the Science fiction Novel and social Satire The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad.See also
Sources
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Edited and with and introduction by Sylvan Barnett (1969, Signet Classics) External links
- Devilish Deeds in Staufen
- Pacts with the Devil: Faust and Precursors
- E-texts:
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at Project Gutenberg Free eBook of Tragical History of Dr. Faustus at Project Gutenberg (Quarto of 1604) Free eBook of Tragical History of Dr. Faustus at Project Gutenberg (Quarto of 1616) At Projekt Gutenberg-DE: Faust, part 1 Goethe's Faust, part 2 Heine's Der Doktor Faust Marlowe's Dr. Faustus'' Jan Svankmajer's Faust
Faust is also the German Word for fist, although the name "Faust" may be related to Italian "Fausto" rather than the German word. Fausto is possibly derived from a Latin adjective ("faustus") meaning auspicious or lucky. There may also be a connection with the fustum (Latin for "doctor's staff") of Aesculapius and other doctors of the time, an item likely to have figured prominently in the Legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus, which led to the sanctification of St. Bruno, an eye-witness to the macabre event.