Faust: A Legend of Modern Times

3054 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Faust romantic essay

As the children of a melting pot culture of British, French and German influences, the American consciousness is uniquely poised to reflect upon the impact of one of the most prevalent and oft-retold legends of the modern age: Faust. German in origin but moreover a culmination of various historical figures and indigenous lore, the story of Faust is that of a man who sells his soul to the devil for youth, wealth, pleasure, power or whatever else the writer in question can think to attribute to him. The legend's themes touching so frequently on the subjects of the supernatural and the struggle of good and evil in a Christian mythological setting, it is little wonder that the story has caught the attention and inflamed the imagination of literally hundreds of storytellers from all over Europe and, more recently, North America. Enjoying in excess of five centuries of exposure through books, plays, opera and film, not to mention its basic concepts permeating to the depths of modern speech and expression, Faust is indeed one of the most notable singular legend of modern times. Yet Faust is a malleable figure, gaining influence just as much as it gave, to finally become an amalgam of half a dozen countries' sensibilities.

Faust was also a real person. Although accounts vary, in his translation of Goethe's Faust (pub. 1803-1833; trans. pub. 1961) Walter Kaufman is able to pinpoint the real Johann Faust's birth to around 1480, in the town of Knittlingen, Württemberg, near Stuttgart in modern-day Southeast Germany (12). He is thought to have studied magic -a field still regularly taught at many schools of the time-- at the University of Cracow in Poland, and is said to have been a colleague of Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchthon, alth...

... middle of paper ...

...". Mystica, The. Paragraphs 3-9. 09 November 2003.

Marlowe, Christopher. Doctor Faustus. Ed. Irving Ribner. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1985. 87.

Mason, Eudo C. Goethe's Faust: Its Genesis and Purport. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967. 389.

McLean, Adam. "Alchemical Drama of Goethe's Faust, The". Alchemy Website, The. Paragraph 2. 27 November 2003.

Montgomery, Paul. Review Notes and Study Guide to Goethe's Faust. New York: Monarch Press, 1963. 5.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. "Wanderer and His Shadow, The". Gay Science: With a Prelude in German Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs, The. Trans. Josephine Nauckhoff and Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge University Press, 2001. 237.

Young, T. Personal interview. Rec. 19 November 2003.

Show More
Related

  • Sammy in Updike's A&P

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character in John Updike's short story “A&P” is Sammy. The story's first-person context gives the reader a unique insight toward the main character's own feelings and choices, as well as the reasons for the choices. The reader is allowed to closely observe Sammy's observations and first impressions of the three girls who come to the grocery store on a summer afternoon in the early 1960s. In order to understand this short story, one must first recognize the social climate of the era, the age of the main character, and the temptation this individual faces.

    Read More

  • "The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The Devel and Daniel Webster" - Two Modern Faustian Legends

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Faustian legend is a story in which a character trades something of great personal value to the devil in order to receive personal gain. Since this type of literature originated in the Fourth Century it has spread throughout the world. Two relatively recent versions of this legend are “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Vincent Benét. These stories show many similarities as well as a few differences. While both Benét and Irving present similar themes in setting of the tales and motivation in the Faustian character, they do differ in the nature of that character and their visual presentation of the Devil.

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. “A&P”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 864 - 869.

    Read More

  • Rebellious to Responsible in John Updike's A&P

    2044 Words  | 5 Pages

    The lives we live today encompass many moral aspects that would not have been socially acceptable fifty or more years ago. John Updike’s short story, A&P, addresses these issues of societal changes through a 1960’s teenager point of view. This teenager, Sammy, spends a great deal of his time working at a local supermarket, observing customers, and imagining where his life adventures will take him. Through symbolism and setting, Updike establishes the characters and conflicts; these, in turn, evolve Sammy from an observational, ignorant teenager, promoting opposition to changing social rules, into an adult who must face reality.

    Read More

  • Use Of Setting And Point Of View In John Updike's A & P

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is important to realize that Sammy’s 19-year old depiction of his surroundings might be skewed, but the story still maintains Updike’s basic use of this setting. Updike choses the dull setting of an A&P grocery store as a symbol, a microcosmic example of the societies tendency to conform. Also, the readers can easily relate to a grocery store. This A&P resides in a town where “the women generally put on shirt or shorts or something before they get out of their car into the street,” Sammy explains. Seeing a girl walking around wearing only a bikini in such a public place looks outrageous. “If you stand at our front doors you can see two banks and the Congregational church and the newspaper store…” The town is a conventional one. Updike turns this familiar, mundane piece of American life, and makes it extraordinary.

    Read More

  • Faust Thesis

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faust, Drew Gilpin. The epublic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Random House Inc., 2008

    Read More

  • Nietzsche

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    Magnus, B, Higgins, K. (1997), The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche, New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Read More

  • Hip-Hop as a Cultural Movement

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that emerged from the dilapidated South Bronx, New York in the early 1970’s. The area’s mostly African American and Puerto Rican residents originated this uniquely American musical genre and culture that over the past four decades has developed into a global sensation impacting the formation of youth culture around the world. The South Bronx was a whirlpool of political, social, and economic upheaval in the years leading up to the inception of Hip-Hop. The early part of the 1970’s found many African American and Hispanic communities desperately seeking relief from the poverty, drug, and crime epidemics engulfing the gang dominated neighborhoods. Hip-Hop proved to be successful as both a creative outlet for expressing the struggles of life amidst the prevailing crime and violence as well as an enjoyable and cheap form of recreation.

    Read More

  • Hip Hop Subculture

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hip hop is a subculture and global movement that started in the South Bronx, New York City during the late 1970s. In a post-civil rights era, where deindustrialization dominated, where racism and discrimination still existed, hip hop gave discriminated youths a chance to voice their opinions, and address their struggles in America. It created jobs for African-Americans and has forever transformed America’s politics and culture. Since then, it has only spread worldwide. The culture of hip hop has made its way to other countries such as Germany, South Korea, Australia, Africa, etc., becoming a global phenomenon. The issue, however, is that hip hop is often misunderstood, and seen only as the stereotypes society and mainstream hip hop perpetuates.

    Read More

  • Existentialism: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wyatt, C. (2010). Friedrich Nietzsche. In Tameri Guide for Writers. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/nietzsche.shtml

    Read More

  • A Divided Self: The Many Facets of Faustus

    2087 Words  | 5 Pages

    Having attained all that he desires from the knowledge of man, Marlowe’s character Faustus turns to the only remaining school of thought that he feels he must master which is the art of necromancy. In his pursuits, he manages to summon the devil Mephistopheles, arch demon of hell, and strikes a deal to trade his immortal soul with Lucifer in exchange for being granted an infinite amount of power and knowledge that extends even beyond the limits of human understanding. However in the process of negotiating the terms of his pact, it becomes clear that Faust is in a constant state of uncertainty in terms of whether he should repent and forsake the arrangement or simply go through with it. This underlying theme of internal struggle is introduced very early and reappears in later acts with the appearance of established binaries that suggest a theme of division not only among the character of John Faustus, but within the written text as a whole. This suggests that Faustus is meant to serve as a symbol for the divided nature of man and the consequences of failing to negotiate the struggles that are a result of the divided self.

    Read More

  • Special Treatment for Celebrities: The Law Should Apply to All

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ng would change at all if we do not denounce the injustice and unfairness to the law agencies, we can make all take a part in this and put an end to the so-called celebrity favors.

    Read More

  • The Condition of Youth in Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience

    2685 Words  | 6 Pages

    Von Goethe, Johann W. “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” Romanticism. Ed. John B. Halsted. New . . York: Walker Publishing Company, 1969.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Austen, Glyn. “The Strange Ambiguity of Christopher Marlowe and Dr Faustus: Glyn Austen examines the powerful paradoxes of Dr Faustus in the light of its literary and intellectual context.” The English Review 14.1 (2003): 2

    Read More

  • The Concept Of Romanticism In Faust By Johann Wolfgang Von Faust

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first appearance of Faust in the story finds him having doubts about himself and the worth of his time spent in education. Undeterred by this depression, we see his pride has not diminished as he declares he is “cleverer than these stuffed shirts, these Doctors, M.A.s, Scribes and Priests, I’m not bothered by a doubt or a scruple, I’m not afraid of Hell or the Devil” (Goethe 633). Turning to magic to fill the void in his life, Faust conjures a spirit, but shrinks back from it in fear. In the ensuing argument between them, Faust asserts that he is the spirits “equal” (Goethe 637). Mephisto’s second visit at Faust’s residence leads them to having a drawn out discussion over the proposal of Mephisto serving Faust in exchange for his soul. Common sense might ask why a person would willingly discuss a deal with the devil knowing that it probably won’t end well. This instance would have to be answered that the imperious pride of Faust made him “so rash that he would give no heed to the salvation of his soul He thought the devil could not be so black as he is painted nor hell so hot as is generally supposed” (Fischer 107). In spite of his vast education, Faust’s pride pulls him into wagering his soul with Mephisto and causing the deaths of others and his

    Read More

More about Faust: A Legend of Modern Times

Open Document