Faust: Positive or Negative
The Faust legend, as with other great legends, has many interpretations. In Goethe’s Faust: Part One, the protagonist’s character is questioned, and this uncertainty contributes to the number of interpretations the story has. It is unclear whether or not Faust is a positive or a negative figure. In the story, Faust gets pulled into a journey of deceit and sin. As long as Faust followed the Devil, he became closer to his own downfall. Alberto Destro argues that a moral hero lives his life according to the ordinary “moral” point of view. Destro claims that Faust cannot be considered a moral hero, but instead a negative figure because Faust does not follow the ordinary “moral” point of view. I agree with his claim that Faust is a negative figure, and my paper will build upon the argument that Faustian ethic, which include striving for self-realization, leads to disaster. Much evidence is taken from the final scene of Faust I, “Dungeon.”
Destro claims that Faust is negative because he is a “superman” and turns his back on the judgments and values of the community to pursue self-realization. Destro lays out three premises: first, he says that if Faust was “superman,” then he cannot be considered a moral hero, but a moral villain; second, he says that if Faust is a moral villain then he is a negative figure; third, he states that Faust is a “magician,” “robber,” and “instigator of murderers.” But if we look deeper into Destro’s claim, then we see that he trying to state that Faust isn’t a negative character because of the things he is—“robber”, “magician,” and “instigator of murderers”—but it is his ethical perspective that makes Faust a negative character. It is the set of values he accepts that make h...
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...r. "The 'Salvation' of Faust-by Goethe." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Schuchard, G. C. L. "The Last Scene in Goethe's Faust." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Wells, B.W. "Goethe's Faust." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter, 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Works Cited
Destro, Alberto. "The Guilty Hero, Or: The Tragic Salvation of Faust." Trans. Charles Hindley. MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter, 2001. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Henkel, Arthur. "The 'Salvation' of Faust-by Goethe." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Schuchard,, G. C. L. "The Last Scene in Goethe's Faust." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
Wells, B.W. "Goethe's Faust." MLA International Bibliography. Book Chapter, 2010. Web. 20 Jan. 2012.
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Goethe, Johann W. V. “Faust.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: 1800-1900. Eds. Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack. 2nd ed. Vol. E. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002. 774. Print.
Bishop, Paul. "The Guilty Hero, Or: The Tragic Salvation of Faust." A Companion to Goethe's Faust: Parts I and II. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2001. 56-75. Print.
Faust, Drew Gilpin. The epublic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Random House Inc., 2008
Goethe, Johnann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Trans. Elizabeth Meyer and Louise Bogan. Forward by W.H. Auden. New York: Vintage, 1990.
Commentary Against Absurdity in Faust & nbsp; Goethe's "Faust" could be called a comedy as readily as it is subtitled "A Tragedy." In the course of the play, the author finds comic or ironic ways to either mock or punish religionists, atheists, demons, and deities. Despite the obvious differences between these, Goethe unites them all by the common threads of ego and ridiculousness. Thus, the play as a whole becomes more of a commentary against absurdity than against religion. The first victims of satire in Faust are Satan and God, who appear in somewhat small-scale form in an early scene that parallels the Book of Job. In Goethe's Heaven reigns "The Lord," to whom a trio of archangels ascribe creation.
At First the article Touches on the questioning of what Faust is. In summery, Faust is the protagonist of an old German story about a guy who is actually really successful, but at the same time is somewhat dissatisfied with his life life. He had a serious lust for earthly happiness, alo...
Wyatt, C. (2010). Friedrich Nietzsche. In Tameri Guide for Writers. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/nietzsche.shtml
...n cooperation. It is also interesting how this problem expands into Goethe's Faust and Italian Journey and seems to be the basis of a greater theme in his literature. The question of Goethe's appropriation of nature could be whether he subscribes to a mechanical or magical philosophy in MacLennan's terms. Either master to nature or companion, Goethe's relationship with nature is dynamic and complex.
transformation of the lives of others as well as his own. In this respect, the lesson of the Romantic hero is comprised less of romance than of utility. Following the trends of the Goethe’s contemporary evolving society, the means by which Faust succeeds in accomplishing his goals are largely selfish, brutal, and unethical. This is perhaps Goethe’s single greatest reflection on the modern nature of heroism.
Watt, Ian. Myths of Modern Individualism: Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan, Robinson Crusoe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1996.
Von Goethe, Johann W. “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” Romanticism. Ed. John B. Halsted. New . . York: Walker Publishing Company, 1969.
Okerlund, A.N. "The Intellectual Folly Of Dr. Faustus." Studies In Philology 74.3 (1977): 258. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
The Romanticism period is marked by changes in societal beliefs as a rejection of the values and scientific thought pursued during the Age of Enlightenment. During this period, art, music, and literature are seen as high achievement, rather than the science and logic previously held in esteem. Nature is a profound subject in the art and literature and is viewed as a powerful force. Searching for the meaning of self becomes a noble quest to undertake. In the dramatic tragedy of “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, we find a masterpiece of Romanticism writing that includes the concepts that man is essentially good, the snare of pride, and dealing with the supernatural.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The Sorrows of Young Werther. Trans. Elizabeth Mayer and Louis Bogan. 1774; New York: Random House, 1970.
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