Faust . . . Whew!

I had always wanted to read von Goethe's classic Faust. It gets referenced alot in historical and biographical works. It seems to be a foundational work in Western thought. I knew that it had some kind of allegorical connection to the Book of Job. And I knew that, one day, I would read it.

So, about a year ago, I picked it up, and began to read. It took me about a year to get through it. It was easy to put down and forget about for periods of time. I was cognizant of reading entire passages, and groups of pages, without really getting what was going on.

I was surprised to find that it is written as a play, and also in a poetic form. There is a rhyme in every single line. I marveled at the translator, who, by recreating it in English from the original German, did so while setting forth the rhymes as in German. This struck me as perhaps more brilliant than von Goethe's putting it to paper in the first place!

The work was begun circa 1810, in Germany, and completed in 1832. This is a period of time in German history, when my forbears, the Gottlied Durr family, were contemplating a move to the United States. I did wonder about this factor as I read. What was it in German life, that brought about such a great piece of literature, at the same time that many Germans were leaving their homeland for a better life across the Atlantic?

The piece does seem to be infused with a lot of cynicism. The primary theme has to do with the relationship of Mephistopheles (Satan) and the protagonist, Faust. Faust is like so many of us - wanting more out of this life: love, wealth, fame, power. He promises his allegiance to Satan, if he could produce a romantic liaison with the object of Faust's affections, the virtuous Gretchen. The meeting comes about, ultimately resulting in the deflowering of Gretchen. From there Faust's life begins to degrade morally, in parallel with his stunning ascension to power and wealth.

But even here, I am not sure if I am getting all of this right! The middle part of the book detours into all these dialogues between mythological characters, peppered with biblical and historical references. There is a storyline developing in the Heavenly places, that parallels Faust's own life. A classic "good versus evil" theme permeates, but there is ample gray area here. The life promoted by Mephistopheles is none other than a conventional ladder of success most coveted in modern Western culture. Work hard, meet the right people, hang out with the best looking women and most powerful men, worry not about moral ambiguity; go for the gusto and live the good life.

Mephistopheles makes a strong, convincing case for living this life, while portraying the virtuous life as boring, vain, of no point. Indeed, the most interesting and engaging character in Faust is the Devil himself! And as such, the story prefigures the modern era's Western collapse, resulting from a decaying moral code.

But . . . I may be totally wrong here. I did manage to jot down some very powerful points made. Here is a sample of some of my favorites:

It's true, at last we all depend
On creatures we ourselves created.

And, this from one of the "Four Grey Women", the one named "Worry":

Whom I once possess will ever
Find the world not worth endeavor;
Endless gloom around him being,
Rise nor set of sun he's seeing.
Be each outer sense excelling,
Still is darkness in him dwelling;
He cannot through any measures
Make him lord of any treasures.
All luck turns into caprices;
Him midst plenty hunger seizes.
Be it joy or be it sorrow,
He postpones it till the morrow,
Waiting for the future ever
And therefore achieving never.

It is full of excellent prose and wisdom like this, but you have to be very diligent to catch it when your eyes pass over it.

I had thought the book a tragedy, and this is how I expected it to end. Yet, we find the "immortal part" of Faust being taken up to Heaven, while his mortal part is being dealt with by the demons in the underworld. This of course does not square with orthodoxy. His soul, too, is unconscious upon leaving his body. As it is being heralded upward, it does not awake. In many ways it seems a highly impersonal entity. It is just some living part that is aware of nothing. We have the sense that, once dead, Faust is indeed, gone. He is dead, and thus is no more. His immortal part is with us, yet inanimate. And is this not what our senses tell us anyway?

So, I'm not sure what the whole point was. The man spent his life in league with the devil, and ends up "saved" anyway.

It sounds like another reading is in order, and participation in a Faust disussion group! But if you want to fill your repertoire with the greatest works in history, definitely read Faust!