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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...
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...". 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.
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.
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.
Faust, Drew Gilpin. The epublic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New York: Random House Inc., 2008
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.
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.
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s version of the Faust Legend in the works of “Young Goodman Brown” is considered to be a significantly different version when compared to the common Faust Legend. The article that I found discussing this subject is, The Rewriting of the Faust Myth in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, “Young Goodman Brown.” By Hubert Zapf. A brief summery as to what this essay is about, Zapf’s entire thesis is filled with information and facts that all leads up to the analyzing of the common use and application of the Faust legend in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown”, and how it compares in contrast to other “Faust users”. The points made through out Zapf’s essay consist of what the Faust legend originally is and how Hawthorne used it differently in his story, “Young Goodman Brown”. Zapf is analyzing the similarities, differences, and symbolism of Hawthorne’s version of Faust compared to the traditional out look of the Faust as well as the differences when compared with “Young Goodman Brown”. The comparing of this information is a way for Zapf to show that, “Both the transgression and the price to be paid are symbolically expressed in the central element of the Faust Myth” and to really show that that Hawthorne was using his own version of Faust (19). My own opinion of this essay confides with the fact that I agree the use of the Faust legend in the works of Hawthorne has the foundation of Faust, however there are some differences as well.
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.
Wyatt, C. (2010). Friedrich Nietzsche. In Tameri Guide for Writers. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/nietzsche.shtml
...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.
Von Goethe, Johann W. “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” Romanticism. Ed. John B. Halsted. New . . York: Walker Publishing Company, 1969.
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.
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
Doctor Faustus, also referred to as The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe. This play is based on a German story where a man sells his soul to the devil in quest for knowledge and power (Sales 340. The protagonist in this play is Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus was hungry of power and knowledge and in search for them; he sold his soul to the devil. At first, he was very happy with the praise he received from the people as they considered him a hero. Later on, Faustus learns that he committed a grave mistake of selling his soul to the devil for twenty-four years. Even though he felt remorseful for his mistakes, it was already late for him. He is later found by his fellow scholars dead and torn from limb to limb. Faustus was a heroic fool who only thought of power and never thought of eternal damnation.