Analysis of Goethe's tragedy “Faust. Analysis of the work “Faust” (Goethe) Describe the ideological and philosophical content of Goethe’s tragedy Faust
JUST READ THIS TO ME, I WILL NOT WRITE IT OUT AS I REMEMBER
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
“Faust, Tragedy” (more often just “Faust”) is a philosophical drama for reading, which is considered the main work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Contains the most famous version of the legend of Doctor Faust.
Goethe worked on the concept of Faust for 60 years of his life. The first part was written back in the 1790s, was completed in 1806, published two years later and was revised several times by Goethe during reprints. Goethe worked on the second part in his old age; she saw the light after his death, in 1832. In 1886, the text of “Prafaust,” composed by Goethe in his youth, in 1772-1775, was discovered.
In form it is a drama for reading, in genre it is a philosophical poem.
There are no direct author's words, everything is given to the characters: monologues, dialogues, chaotic parts. It has a rather complex, but at the same time transparent composition. It begins with two prologues: 1. prologue in the theater (why does theater exist in particular, art in general - the director: spectators pay for tickets, act: words, fame, satisfaction of vanity, the author's answer - Goethe: art exists to reveal to people the untested , an unknown way of self-expression of a creative personality, a way of cognition). 2. prologue in heaven, serves as an introduction that pushes towards the plot. The messenger of hell, Mephistopheles, appears before God; he declares that God made a mistake by creating people, that they are evil, insidious and need to be gotten rid of. A dispute arises between God and Mephistopheles, which results in an experiment. They conclude an agreement: to test people; the old scientist Faust is chosen as a test subject. If Mephistopheles proves that man is insignificant and treacherous, then God will destroy humanity. The prologue is followed by part 1 (a person’s personal life), part 2 (a person and society) and an epilogue.
Part 1: divided into episodes and scenes. The beginning is the office of Faust, an 80-year-old man who has lived alone almost his entire life. His life was reduced to knowledge captured in books, abstract knowledge. He knew practically nothing about the world outside the office. Faust is obsessed with the idea of knowledge, he is close to death, he must admit that his life was lived in vain. Because of this fear, he turns to the spirits of the elements; they appear, but no one can answer his questions. He becomes more scared and unbearable. Under the influence of fear, Faust leaves the office. He has nothing in common with the people who live next to him. Goethe paints spring, a holiday, but no one cares about Faust. Then a memory from his adolescence comes to him. Faust's father was a doctor, and when his son was 14 years old, a terrible epidemic began. The elder Faust tried to save people, prescribed medicines, but even more people died from them. His intervention is not only useless, but also disastrous. After this, Faust the son goes into seclusion.
In order not to run into people, Faust goes out into the field. Where the poodle pesters him. The owner returns home and the poodle slips towards him. When midnight strikes, the poodle turns into Mephistopheles. He tries to agree with Faust that he will fulfill all his wishes and make him young if Faust signs an agreement with one condition: Faust will live until then. Until he says, “You are wonderful for a moment, stop, wait!” Faust is not subject to the same temptations that Mephistopheles experiences him with. Faust is seduced by the image of eternal femininity and signs an agreement with Mephistopheles. Faust gets the opportunity to live a second life, a fundamentally different one. But he can be above people, watch them. He returns to the office, but only to leave forever. His student Wagner settled in his house. After concluding the agreement, they go to the city, to the tavern, where students gather. Seduced by wine and fun, Faust does not give in (the song about the flea is an denunciation of favoritism). Then they go to the Witch’s kitchen, where the cauldron is boiling, an owl and a cat are watching. Faust drinks this potion and his youth returns to him. He pays attention to city holidays, he meets Margarita (Gretchen). She is an unhappy person, lives in the suburbs, pretty, modest, well-mannered, pious, caring, she loves children very much. She has a younger sister. When a rich young man approaches her, compliments her, and wants to see her off, she tries to deflect, saying that she is not a beauty and she becomes even more desirable to Faust. Mephistopheles advises giving an expensive gift (a box with stones), but the mother saw it first and she ordered her daughter to take it to church. The second time, the casket was given not to Margarita, but to the neighbor Martha, who becomes Faust’s accomplice and gives the jewelry to Gretchen when her mother was away. The donor becomes mysterious and interesting to her, she agrees to an overnight date with him. The girl is virtuous, as evidenced by the song “The Ballad of the Ful King” that she sang. Love, as Goethe shows it, is a test for a woman, and it is also destructive. Margarita unrequitedly loves Faust and becomes criminal. She has 3 crimes on her conscience (she dooms herself to complete loneliness) - she pours sleeping pills into her mother, one unfortunate day her mother does not wake up from an overdose of sleeping pills, the duel between Valentin and Faust, Valentin turns out to be doomed, he is struck down by the hand of Faust, Margarita turns out to be the cause of her brother’s death, Margarita drowns Faust's baby daughter in a swamp (chthonic environment). Faust abandons her, he is interested in her only while he is pursuing her. Faust forgets about her, he does not feel obligations to her, does not remember her fate. Left alone, Margarita takes steps that lead her to repentance and forgiveness. Her murder becomes known, and she is put in prison; as the mother of a child killer, her head must be cut off.
At the end of Part 1, the important episode “Walpurgis Night” appears. At the height of the fun, the ghost of Margarita appears before Faust, and he demands to be taken to her. Mephistopheles carries out and transfers Faust to Margarita's dungeon; he is overwhelmed by remorse and wants to save his beloved. But Margarita refuses, she does not want to follow Faust, since Mephistopheles is with him. She remains in prison, the night is already ending, and the executioner must come first light. Mephistopheles persuades Faust to run away and then obeys. At this time, a voice from heaven “Saved” is heard. Margarita takes full responsibility and pays for her soul with her life. When Faust dies, among the righteous souls sent to meet his soul will be the soul of Margarita.
Physical, cosmological aspect, aspect associated with the category “ideal”. When Faust utters this phrase, the moment stops, time is torn, the axis of the earth shifts, the movement of the Sun changes, a great cosmic catastrophe has occurred, Faust does not notice this trap. To stop a moment means to achieve the absolute, to know the ideal. And the nature of the ideal lies in this. That it cannot be realized, one can only strive for it. Thus, Mephistopheles violates the law of the universe (“philosophical trap”). Love turns out to be far from simple. What happens between Faust and Margarita is harsh and cruel.
Part 2: More difficult because it is more abstract. Faust and Mephistopheles find themselves at the court of a certain emperor. The emperor, who seemingly has power, is not at all omnipotent and has full control over himself and his subjects. External threats, internal economic difficulties. Faust appears and instills in the emperor the idea that an adviser will appear who can help cope with these difficulties. But being at court gives Faust practically nothing, even though he is in favor. To cope with the crisis, Mephistopheles suggests printing banknotes. For Faust, his stay is associated with two important moments: a reward from the king - a strip of land cut into the sea and a meeting with Helen the Beautiful (Part 2 is aimed at antiquity). In the second part there is a parallel with Walpurgis Night only with ancient creatures (sphinxes, chimeras). Elena appears against this background. Before us is a maid of honor, not the first youth and beauty. And at first she does not make a strong impression on Faust. But he is inclined to see eternal femininity in her, Elena becomes the legal wife of Faust, they have a son. An amazing son, this young creature of amazing beauty and charm, gifted by nature, Eufarion (euphoria, bliss, aspiration to the sky). We love our parents to bits. Their life is colored by the constant fear that they will lose him and will not be able to keep him on earth. These fears are coming true. Having become an adult, Eufarion asks his parents to let him go. He does not return to earth, he dissolves into the ether. There is a polar divergence in the destinies of Faust's children.
The entire amplitude of human life rests on human mortality.
His student, Wagner, thinks that science should provide practical solutions to problems, that it should be useful, and he creates an artificial person. Comparison with the powerful God - nature, man, as Goethe shows, created by God, is imperfect (he dies, suffers, doubts), but maybe man, created by man, will be perfect?
Wagner manages to create an artificial man, grown in a flask, there is a small man, but an adult. He tries to free himself, gets out, but turns out to be unviable.
“Faust on the Seashore” (last third of the second part). Faustus decides that he will use his reward for the benefit of people. He will give it to those who will be happy with it. Faust has a new idea of life. Thinking about others, living for generations gives a sense of perspective. Faust by this time is so old that he cannot do anything on his own, he is frail, weak and blind. Faust demands from Mephistopheles that this strip of land be expanded and secured so that a large number of people can prosper there. In this regard, the problem of man and nature arises, the transformative power of culture on this earth under the leadership of Faust is digging graves and at the edge of the earth there is a grave for Faust himself.
“The Myth of Philemon and Baucis” - loving spouses who died on the same day and the Gods, as a reward, turned the husband into an oak tree and the wife into a linden tree. According to Goethe, they live on this cape and go to work every day. The ringing of the bells makes Mephistopheles grind his teeth, but cannot do anything with them and persuades Faust to move them, since they bother him. He swears that they won't lose anything, but he scared them so much that they died on the spot.
Faust lives to his last day and it seems to him that he has understood the secret of why to live. He believes that happy people, worthy of glory and freedom, will live on a well-maintained land. The meaning of life is to go to battle every day for glory and freedom. And having understood this thought, then I would say “You are beautiful for a moment...” (in the conditional mood). Nevertheless, death overtakes Faust, and next to him is Mephistopheles, but legions of souls of the righteous rush to intercept Faust’s soul to save his soul, God, forgetting about humanity. Remembers a person. Among the perfumes is Margarita. Everything in the world is in motion - the struggle of contradictions and unity.
The dispute over Faust always walks a fine line, on the edge of a knife, and the existence of humanity is on this line and it is necessary to maintain balance. BUT evil turns out to be not only not omnipotent, there is a contradiction in itself (in the image of Mephistopheles) he speaks of himself as part of that force that seeks and desires evil, but contributes to the creation of good.
10. “Faust” by J. V. Goethe in the context of world culture (from the Book of Job to “Doctor Faustus” by T. Mann).
He worked most of his life, namely, sixty years. The work was included in the golden fund of literature. We also suggest that you read a summary of Faust if you have read the full version and want to remember the main plot points or characters. Let's begin the analysis by looking at the history of the creation of this famous work.
History of creation
In 1744, Goethe had an idea for a plot; he wanted to tell about the essence of human existence. The creation was completed a year and a half before his death. The real fate of the poet influenced the creation of the play. He experienced several love affairs and believed that love is a higher power.
The prototype of the main character is a real character, a warlock. When analyzing the play "Faust", one should also take into account the genre uniqueness of the work. This is a tragedy. The play "Faust" was disassembled by contemporaries into quotes that became phraseological units.
Composition and issues
The work consists of two parts. The first has 25 scenes, the second has 5 actions. In the first part, a clear time frame is established - the action takes place in medieval Germany. And in the second, the space expands significantly to the ancient era. The introduction, which consists of 3 scenes, is striking in its unusualness, and they are also the beginning. In them we learn the subsequent plot lines.
The play "Faust" raises not only eternal questions, but also social ones. Faust vehemently criticizes the current society of selfish people who live by emotions. The issue of the German education system is raised, which, according to the author, will not lead to anything good.
The eternal conflict between good and evil is revealed.
Subjects
An analysis of Goethe's play "Faust" would be incomplete without a clear understanding of the theme of the tragedy. Let's consider these points in more detail.
Second love line with Helen. Everything that happened seemed to Faust like a dream and something incredible. It was then that he realized that his earthly love was for Margarita, and Helen still seemed unattainable to him.
2. Theme of morality. The knowledge of an ordinary person was not enough for Faust, he tormented himself, sought peace of mind and made a deal with Mephistopheles. It was that Faust is alive as long as humanity is alive.
Main characters
Since you probably read the entire work, you remember all the main characters, but let’s pay attention, nevertheless, to the key characters and their brief descriptions. Use these images in your analysis.
Faust is a doctor, an intellectually developed person striving for heavenly knowledge. For which he is ready to do anything.
Mephistopheles is the devil and companion of Faust. Cynic.
Margarita is the doctor's beloved, a timid girl with a big and kind heart.
Analysis of the play "Faust"
The love line emphasized Faust's personal qualities. Their relationship with Margarita was passionate, but also illegal, which was considered unacceptable in their village. After Faust's fight with the girl's brother, who was killed, the Doctor and the devil flee the village, leaving Margarita completely alone. Abandoned and frustrated, she drowns the baby in a pond. But reason returns to Faust when his beloved ends up in prison. At that moment, she already refuses his help and gives up her life to the will of God.
Faustus cannot get enough of what he already knows. But he gives his soul not only for himself, but also so that others can comprehend the truths of existence. Throughout the entire work, the doctor is a fighter against evil. Only at the end of the tragedy does peace come to his soul.
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The love for everything mystical in man is unlikely to ever fade away. Even if we ignore the question of faith, the mysterious stories themselves are extremely interesting. There have been many such stories over the centuries of existence of life on Earth, and one of them, written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, is “Faust.” A brief summary of this famous tragedy will introduce you in general terms to the plot.
The work begins with a lyrical dedication, in which the poet remembers with gratitude all his friends, family and loved ones, even those who are no longer alive. Next comes a theatrical introduction in which three people - a Comic Actor, a Poet and a Theater Director - are arguing about art. And finally, we get to the very beginning of the tragedy “Faust”. The summary of the scene called "Prologue in Heaven" tells how God and Mephistopheles argue about good and evil among people. God is trying to convince his opponent that everything on earth is beautiful and wonderful, all people are pious and submissive. But Mephistopheles does not agree with this. God offers him a bet for the soul of Faust - a learned man and his zealous, immaculate slave. Mephistopheles agrees, he really wants to prove to the Lord that anyone, even the most holy soul, is capable of succumbing to temptation.
So, the bet is made, and Mephistopheles, descending from heaven to earth, turns into a black poodle and tags along with Faust, who was walking around the city with his assistant Wagner. Having taken the dog into his house, the scientist begins his daily routine, but suddenly the poodle began to “puff up like a bubble” and turned back into Mephistopheles. Faust (the brief summary does not allow us to reveal all the details) is at a loss, but the uninvited guest explains to him who he is and for what purpose he has arrived. He begins to seduce Aesculapius in every possible way with various joys of life, but he remains adamant. However, the cunning Mephistopheles promises to show him such pleasures that it will simply take Faust’s breath away. The scientist, being sure that nothing can surprise him, agrees to sign an agreement in which he undertakes to give Mephistopheles his soul as soon as he asks him to stop the moment. Mephistopheles, according to this agreement, is obliged to serve the scientist in every possible way, fulfill his every desire and do everything that he says, until the very moment he utters the cherished words: “Stop, just a moment, you are wonderful!”
The contract was signed in blood. Further, the summary of “Faust” dwells on the scientist’s acquaintance with Gretchen. Thanks to Mephistopheles, the aesculapian became 30 years younger, and therefore the 15-year-old girl absolutely sincerely fell in love with him. Faust also became inflamed with passion for her, but it was this love that led to further tragedy. Gretchen, in order to freely go on dates with her beloved, puts her mother to sleep every night. But even this does not save the girl from shame: rumors are circulating around the city with might and main, which reached the ears of her older brother.
Faust (the summary, keep in mind, reveals only the main plot) stabs Valentin, who rushed at him to kill him for dishonoring his sister. But now he himself faces mortal reprisal, and he flees the city. Gretchen accidentally poisons her mother with a sleeping potion. She drowns the daughter born of Faust in the river to avoid human gossip. But people have known everything for a long time, and the girl, branded as a harlot and a murderer, ends up in prison, where Faust finds her and frees her, but Gretchen does not want to run away with him. She cannot forgive herself for what she has done and prefers to die in agony than to live with such emotional burden. For such a decision, God forgives her and takes her soul to heaven.
In the last chapter, Faust (the summary is not able to fully convey all emotions) again becomes an old man and feels that he will soon die. Besides, he was blind. But even at this hour he wants to build a dam that would separate a piece of land from the sea, where he would create a happy, prosperous state. He clearly imagines this country and, having exclaimed the fatal phrase, immediately dies. But Mephistopheles fails to take his soul: angels flew from heaven and won it from the demons.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Weimar was called the “second Athens”; it was the literary, cultural, and musical center of Germany and all of Europe. Bach, Liszt, Wieland, Herder, Schiller, Hegel, Heine, Schopenhauer, Schelling and others lived here. Most of them were friends or guests of Goethe. Which were never translated in his huge house. And Goethe jokingly said that Weimar had 10 thousand poets and several inhabitants. The names of the great Weimarans are known to this day.
Interest in the work of J.-V. himself continues. Goethe (1749-1832). And this is due not only to the genius of the thinker, but also to the colossal number of problems he posed.
We know a lot about Goethe as a lyricist, playwright, writer, but we know much less about him as a natural scientist. And even less is known about Goethe’s own philosophical position, although it is precisely this position that is reflected in his main work – the tragedy “Faust”.
Goethe's philosophical views are products of the Enlightenment itself, which worshiped the human mind. Goethe's vast field of ideological searches included the pantheism of Spinoza, the humanism of Voltaire and Rousseau, and the individualism of Leibniz. “Faust,” which Goethe wrote for 60 years, reflected not only the evolution of his own worldview, but also the entire philosophical development of Germany. Like many of his contemporaries, Goethe took on fundamental philosophical questions. One of them - the problem of human cognition - became the central problem of the tragedy. Its author does not limit himself to the question of the truth or untruth of knowledge; the main thing for him was to find out what knowledge serves - evil or good, what is the ultimate goal of knowledge. This question inevitably acquires a general philosophical meaning, for it embraces knowledge not as contemplation, but as activity, the active relationship of man to nature and man to man.
Nature
Nature always attracted Goethe; his interest in it was embodied in many works on the comparative morphology of plants and animals, physics, mineralogy, geology and meteorology.
In Faust, the concept of nature is built in the spirit of Spinoza's pantheism. This is a single nature, creating and created at the same time, it is “the cause of itself” and therefore it is God. Goethe, interpreting Spinozism, calls it universal spiritualization. Actually, the point is not in the title, but in the fact that in the poet’s worldview, an understanding of nature is combined with elements of an artistic perception of the world. In Faust this is expressed very clearly: fairies, elves, witches, devils; Walpurgis Night seems to personify “creative nature.”
Goethe's concept of nature became one of the methods of figurative understanding of the world, and Goethe's God is rather a poetic decoration and the many-sided embodiment of nature itself. It should be noted that Goethe deliberately somewhat simplifies and coarsens Spinozism, giving it a mystical connotation. Most likely this happens under the influence of the cosmocentrism of ancient philosophy: Goethe, like the Greeks, wants to feel and cognize nature immediately, holistically and vividly, but he does not find another, non-mystical, way to this. “Uninvited, unexpected, she captures us in a whirlwind of her plasticity and rushes with us until, tired, we fall out of her hands...”
In posing the problem of man's relationship to nature, Goethe's ideas are much further than the French materialists, for whom man is simply a part of nature, its product. Goethe sees the unity of man and nature in the concrete transformation of reality; man was created to change nature. The author of the tragedy himself - all his life - was a researcher of nature. Such is his Faust.
Dialectics
"Faust" does not simply represent the unity of poetry and philosophy, but rather something similar to a philosophical system, the basis of which is completely dialectical. Goethe appeals, in particular, to the laws of contradiction, interdependence and at the same time confrontation.
So, the main character of the tragedy is Faust and Mephistopheles. Without one there is no other. To interpret Mephistopheles purely literary, as an evil force, a demon, a devil, means to immeasurably impoverish him. And Faust himself cannot at all be the central hero of the tragedy. They do not oppose each other in their views on science in the sense of logical-theoretical knowledge; Faust could well have said the famous “theory is dry, my friend, but the tree of life grows lushly green.” But for Faust, the sterility of science is a tragedy, for Mephistopheles it is a farce, another confirmation of human insignificance. Both see the shortcomings of humanity, but understand them differently: Faust fights for human dignity, Mephistopheles laughs at him, for “everything that exists is worthy of destruction.” Denial and skepticism, embodied in the image of Mephistopheles, become the driving force that helps Faust in his search for truth. Unity and contradiction, continuity and dispute between Faust and Mephistopheles constitute a kind of axis of the entire semantic complex of Goethe's tragedy.
The originality of the drama of Faust himself, as a scientist, is also internally dialectical. He is not at all the unconditional personification of good, because the confrontation with Mephistopheles passes through his soul, and he sometimes gains the upper hand in Faust himself. Faust, therefore, is rather the personification of knowledge as such, in which two paths, two choices - good and evil - are hidden and equally real for the possibility of affirming truth.
In Goethe, the metaphysical opposition of good and evil is, as it were, removed or likened to an undercurrent, which only at the end of the tragedy bursts to the surface with the brilliant insights of Faust. The contradiction between Faust and Wagner looks more obvious and obvious, which reveals a difference not so much in goals as in the means of knowledge.
However, the main problems of Goethe's philosophical thinking are the dialectical contradictions of the process of cognition itself, as well as the dialectical “tension” between knowledge and morality.
Cognition
The image of Faust embodies faith in the limitless possibilities of man. Faust's inquisitive mind and daring are the opposite of the seemingly fruitless efforts of the dry pedant Wagner, who isolated himself from life. They are antipodes in everything: in the way of work and life, in understanding the meaning of human existence and the meaning of research. One is a scientific recluse alien to worldly life, the other is filled with an insatiable thirst for activity, the need to drink the entire capacious cup of existence with all its temptations and trials, ups and downs, despair and love, joy and sadness.
One is a fanatical adherent of the “dry theory” with which he wants to make the world happy. The other is an equally fanatical and passionate admirer of the “evergreen tree of life” and runs away from book science. One is a stern and virtuous Puritan, the other is a “pagan”, a seeker of pleasure, who does not bother himself much with official morality. One knows what he wants and reaches the limit of his aspirations, the other strives for the truth all his life and comprehends the meaning of existence only at the moment of death.
Wagner has long become a household name for hardworking and pedantic mediocrities in science. Doesn't this mean that Wagner no longer deserves respect?
At first glance, he is unlikable. At the beginning of the tragedy, we meet him as a student of Faust, who appears in a rather dramatic form: in a nightcap, dressing gown and with a lamp in his hands. He himself admits that from his solitude he sees the world, as through a telescope, at a distance. Frowning, looking at the peasant fun, Faust behind his back calls him “the poorest of the sons of the earth,” “a boring weasel” who greedily seeks treasures among empty things.
But years pass, and in the second part of Faust we meet Wagner again and hardly recognize him. He has become a venerable, recognized scientist, working selflessly to complete his “great discovery”, while his former teacher is still searching for the meaning of life. This cracker and scribe Wagner finally achieves his goal - he creates something that neither ancient Greek nor scholastic scholarship knew, which even the dark forces and spirits of the elements are amazed at - an artificial man, a Homunculus. He even establishes a connection between his discovery and the scientific achievements of future times:
They tell us "madman" and "fantastic"
But, having come out of sad dependence,
Over the years the thinker's brain becomes skillful
The thinker was artificially created.
Wagner appears as a bold thinker, ripping off the veils from the secrets of nature, realizing the “dream of the sciences.” And even if Mephistopheles speaks of him, albeit poisonously, but enthusiastically:
But Dr. Wagner is a different matter.
Your teacher, glorified by the country, -
The only teacher by vocation,
Which increases knowledge daily.
Living curiosity about him
Attracts darkness to listeners.
From the top of the pulpit he announces
And with the keys himself, like the Apostle Peter,
Unlocks the secrets of earth and sky.
Everyone recognizes his scholarly weight,
He rightfully outshines the rest.
In the rays of his fame he disappeared
The last glimpse of Faust's glory.
At the time when the second part of Faust was being written, such a characteristic was considered by G. Volkov, the author of an original study of the spiritual atmosphere of Germany at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, could almost literally be attributed to the philosopher Hegel of the Berlin period of his life, who achieved recognition and fame, “crowned with official laurels and unofficial adoration from students.”
The name of Hegel is known even to those who are not strong in philosophy, but his universal dialectical theory is incomprehensible, “dry” for the uninitiated; but she is truly an accomplishment.
We do not know whether Goethe consciously hints at Hegel, but it is well known that they were quite closely acquainted for many years; G. Volkov draws a parallel: Faust (Goethe himself) - Wagner (Hegel):
“Goethe’s life... is full of bright events, passions, stormy whirlpools. She seems to sparkle and gush with springs, underground springs of desire - she is all an adventure, an exciting romance... his life is a bright night fire by a forest lake, mirrored in the quiet waters. Whether you look into the fire or into the lightning of its reflection, everything equally firmly catches your eye and fascinates you.
Hegel's life itself is just a bad photograph in which the fire of the ideas overwhelming him looks like a static and pale spot. From this “snapshot” it is difficult to even guess what it depicts: burning or smoldering. His biography is as pale in external events as the biography of any ordinary school mentor or conscientious official.
Heine once called the elderly Goethe “the eternal youth,” and Hegel was teased as a “little old man” from childhood.
The ways and means of knowledge, as we see, can be different. The main thing is to move the process of cognition. Without a knowing mind there is no man.
“The beginning of being is in action” - this is Faust’s great formula.
Goethe's “Faust” is also one of the first debates on the topic: “Knowledge and morality.” And if so, then it is the key to today's moral problems in science.
Faust: Parchments do not remove thirst.
The key to wisdom is not on the pages of books.
Who strives for the secrets of life with every thought,
They find their spring in their soul.
The praise for “living” knowledge put into Faust’s mouth reflects the idea of two possibilities, two ways of knowledge: “pure” reason and “practical” reason, fed by the pulsating spring of the heart.
Mephistopheles's plan is to take possession of Faust's soul, to force him to accept any of the mirages as the meaning of human life on earth. His element is to destroy everything that elevates a person, devalues his desire for spiritual heights, and to overthrow the person himself into dust. In this pathos, in a vicious circle, for Mephistopheles the whole meaning of existence. Leading Faust through the full gamut of earthly and “unearthly” temptations, Mephistopheles is convinced that there are no holy people, that any person will definitely fall for something, somewhere, and that knowledge itself will lead to a devaluation of morality.
In the finale, it would seem that Mephistopheles can triumph: Faust mistook an illusion for reality. He thinks that by his will people are digging canals, turning yesterday's swamp into a flourishing land. Blinded, he cannot see that it is the lemurs who are digging his grave. A number of moral defeats and losses of Faust - from the death of Margarita to the death of two old men, allegedly sacrificed to the great idea of universal happiness - also seem to confirm the victory of the destructive concept of Mephistopheles.
But in fact, the finale is not a triumph, but the downfall of Mephistopheles. The truth triumphs, obtained by Faust at the cost of severe trial and error, the cruel price of knowledge. He suddenly realized what was worth living for.
Only he is worthy of life and freedom,
Who goes to battle for them every day,
All my life in a harsh, continuous struggle
Child and husband and elder - let him lead,
So that I can see in the brilliance of wondrous power
Free land, free my people,
Then I would say: A moment,
You're great, hold on, wait!..
This moment of human weakness is an indicator of Faust’s most naive fortitude.
Mephistopheles does everything in his “inhuman” powers to prevent the rise of man with the help of knowledge, to detain him at the stage of analysis and - after testing by illusions - to overthrow him into the wrong. And he achieves a lot. But the mind overcomes the “devilish” principle in knowledge.
Goethe retains his Enlightenment optimism and addresses it to future generations when free labor on a free land becomes possible. But the final conclusion arising from Goethe’s “optimistic tragedy” (“Only he is worthy of life and freedom who goes to battle for them every day...”), future generations also managed to turn into evil, fixated on “battle” and “struggle” , paying with millions of lives for seemingly bright ideas. Who will now show us the source of optimism and faith in the power and goodness of knowledge?
It would be better if we remembered other words:
Oh, if only, on a par with nature,
To be a man, a man for me!
Philina.I
All-world literature and culture in modern times. mortgages of Ukraine -2001r., No. 4 p.30-32
This term has other meanings, see Faust (meanings). Faust Faust ... Wikipedia
Faust (tragedy by Goethe)
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Books
- Faust. Tragedy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The tragedy "Faust" is the life's work of the great German poet I.-W. Goethe. The first sketches date back to 1773, the last scenes were written in the summer of 1831. Doctor Faustus is a historical figure, a hero... Buy for 605 UAH (Ukraine only)
- Faust. Tragedy. Part One, Goethe Johann Wolfgang. The tragedy "Faust", the pinnacle of J. V. Goethe's work, was published in Germany two centuries ago and was repeatedly translated into Russian. In this book, the German text is printed along with...
