Goethe’s Faust, Part One (1808) Second Lecture Please note: while you must focus on the highlighted material to prepare for your exam, you do not need to worry about the line numbers! I • Faust’s Depression & Potential Attempted Suicide ¶ Having experienced the Prelude on Stage (a conversation between a Director, Dramatist, and Comedian) and the Prologue in Heaven (initially a conversation between three archangels; then a conversation between Mephistopheles and God), the reader next encounters the philosophe Dr. Heinrich Faust himself, situated in his home-study, a venue replete with Enlightenment artifacts, from books to scientific equipment. ¶ This episode is called Scene 1; and Faust — who has soured on the academic life of teaching and researching — characterizes his study as a “hollow darkened hole of brick” (line 399). At a later point, he reflects that he has “expended” all his efforts “uselessly” (line 1809) by means of a lifelong focus on scholarly endeavor in his study. ¶ A key source for Goethe’s character Heinrich Faust, PhD, is a real-life individual: Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480-1540), who practiced the class of black magic known as necromancy (which requires communicating with the dead) and also attempted to perform alchemy (i.e. the conversion of base metals into gold). ¶ The stories attaching to that individual — not least a contention that he sold his soul to the devil — may be more fanciful than real, but they became the stuff of multiple literary texts, not least the German- language Faust Book (1587), penned by an anonymous author. It inspired the English-language play The Tragical History of … Doctor Faustus (pictured on the top-right corner of this page), written by Christopher Marlowe, one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. For Faust, Part One, Goethe adapted significant details from these works. ¶ Scene 1 opens with Faust’s complaint that a human “can know — nothing” (line 364), despite years of dedication to scholarly inquiry. We learned, of course (in Prologue in Heaven), that humans possess much less reason than God, meaning that God’s creation, manifest as the universe, is ultimately beyond their comprehension. Indeed, it is also beyond the comprehension (much superior to humankind’s) of which archangels are capable. ¶ Bathed by moonlight (as opposed to sunlight, symbolically associated with the Enlightenment), Faust declares that, having become disillusioned with Enlightenment methods, he has now opted for “Magic art” (line 397), perhaps a refence to necromancy, an approach that enjoyed some currency in the Medieval Era but was rejected by Modern Era natural philosophers (i.e. scientists), such as Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton. ¶ In a last-ditch attempt to gain conclusive insights into the workings of the universe, Faust consults an image associated with pre-Enlightenment thought, namely, the Macrocosm. The image attempts to diagram the ordered, harmonious relationships between essential elements within the cosmos. It exists in a book that Faust attributes to Nostradamus (1503-1566), a French astrologer, mystic, and seer. ¶ Although initially excited by the Macrocosm, assuming that it will explain “the deepest works of Nature” (line 440), Faust concludes that it is “[m]erely a picture” (line 454); thus, he becomes indignant. However, he suddenly espies another image: that of the Geist der Erde or “Spirit of Earth” (line 461).

1 ¶ Finding himself deprived of moonlight and lamplight, Faust “summon[s]” (line 476) the Geist der Edre to appear. While this entity represents just the earth, as opposed to the entire universe (represented by the Macrocosm), it nonetheless proves an instance of the Sublime, overwhelming Faust and informing him that he lacks ability to comprehend its actions, which affect humans from “[b]irth” to “tomb” (line 504). The bottom line is that, operating alone, Faust cannot make progress towards his goal of greater comprehension. ¶ Disappointed by both the Macrocosm and the Geist der Erde, Faust next finds himself interrupted by a young man named Wagner, who serves as his famulus — that is, a student- attendant, resident in the professor’s home. Wagner believes that Faust has been “declaim[ing]” (line 522) or reciting aloud, with expression, lines from some or other Classical Greek tragic drama. (You will recall how the Enlightenment identified with the Classical civilizations that emerged in Greece and Rome.) ¶ Wagner worries aloud that being “penned in [one’s] study” (line 530) does not properly equip one to “lead men” (line 533), although he does acknowledge that book-learning is useful when composing effective speeches, a necessary tool for any leader. Faust’s disenchantment with academic study becomes clear in his responses. He asserts that an effective leader must “feel” in his “soul” (lines 534-535) that which he conveys to the public; absent such affectivity, all the book-learning in the world amounts to little more than a “heap of dying ash” (line 541). ¶ Having asserted that humanity’s intellectual endeavors across the centuries can been seen as “[a] pile of sweepings” or “a puppet show” (lines 582-583), Faust encourages Wagner to get some sleep, and the famulus departs, remarking that the next day is Easter Sunday. ¶ Alone again, Faust experiences a gamut of thoughts and feelings. At one juncture, he deems himself “more than Angel” (line 618); then, he admits to struggling in “Man’s uncertain state” (line 329) and being “no god” but a “worm that writhes in dust” (line 652-653). He recalls his late father, a physician and philosophe — “a gloomy, honorable man” (line 1033) — whose rational scientific experimentation in a “dark workshop” (line 1039) or laboratory he (Faust) has long tried to continue. However, he also muses, “What from your Father you’ve inherited, \ You must earn again” (lines 682-683) ¶ Becoming increasingly despairing, Faust notices one of his father’s medical supplies: a “phial of rare potion” (line 690) — that is, a flask containing a liquid poison, an “[e]xtract, with deadly power” (line 694). He decides to imbibe it and, so, “turn [his] back … \ On all [that] Earth’s lovely Sun might promise” (lines 708-709). Many scholars interpret this statement as a declaration of intent to commit suicide. ¶ Just as Faust’s raises the phial to his lips, a Choir of Angels declares the inception of Easter Sunday by singing, “Christ has arisen!” (line 738). As if struck by force, the phial falls from Faust’s hand. ¶ Although Faust acknowledges hearing the angelic “message,” he also admits, “faith fails me.” Yet he does recover the will to live: not because of the Christian salvation associated with Easter Sunday but, instead, because of an affective (i.e. emotional or sentimental) memory of “childish feelings” — specifically, the joy of being awoken (presumably by his mother), when a child, during the Easter school- break (“spring’s idle holiday” [line 780]), with the prospect of “wandering through woods and fields” (line 776). II • Faust Ventures Outdoors & Meets a Black Dog ¶ With Faust still living, saved from a suicide attempt (or, at least, a potential suicide attempt), Scene 2 begins. Faust will oblige Wagner to accompany him to a liminal (i.e. in-between) location, just outside the gates of the city in which they reside (perhaps based on Goethe’s birthplace, the German city of Frankfurt, then a “free imperial city”).

2 ¶ Before witnessing Faust and Wagner (professor and student, respectively) outdoors, the reader experiences some of the city’s laboring-class citizens, plus some visiting Volk from the surrounding countryside (the nearby “mountain height” [line 916]), enjoying Easter Sunday festivities. Notably, their focus is not Jesus or Christian devotion; by contrast, it is “[f]ierce tobacco” and “strong beer” (line 830), as well as casual sex. ¶ Some of the overheard conversation is highly suggestive; for example, one apprentice (i.e. trainee craftsman) opines that “[t]he [woman’s] hand that wields a broom on Saturday, \ Gives the best caress” (lines 844-845) on Sunday. ¶ Respecting folkways, one particularly notable aspect of the festivities is farm-workers “dancing madly” (line 953) “[u]nder the linden-tree” (line 952), also known as the lime tree (although a different species from the citrus lime tree). In Germany, a linden tree associated with dancing is known as a Tanzlinde. Across much of pre-Christian (i.e. pagan) Europe, the linden or lime tree was considered a phallic (i.e. penis-like) symbol of fertility. Often, maypoles were constructed from linen wood. ¶ Clearly, despite the Easter Sunday celebration being nominally about Christian salvation, the reality is that sexually charged pagan practices persist; indeed, the reader discovers that the dancing may result in “many a ... man \ Cheat[ing] his wife” by committing adultery. Of course, Jesus declares (in Matthew 5:27- 28), “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: \ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” This linden-tree dance scene prefigures Faust’s later sexual exploitation of Margaret/Gretchen. ¶ Although Jesus preached turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) and loving one’s enemies (Matthew 5:44), another individual, a “citizen,” uses Easter Sunday to praise “war and war’s display” (line 861); while a young woman expresses sexual desire for a “soldier” (line 881) as an ideal male type. ¶ Conversing with Wager, Faust is cynical about organized Christianity — that is (in this case) the Roman Catholic Church. He contends that it fails to improve bad housing and bad work conditions. The Germany of Faust’s day is characterized by “low houses, dully made” and “work [employment regimes], where [ordinary people are] constricted” (lines 923-924). In other words, the Church chooses not to be an agent of the social gospel. It may talk Jesus’s talk, but it does not walk Jesus’s walk. ¶ In Chapter 25 of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus insists that, in order to achieve eternal life, Christians have no choice but to practice such actions as feeding the poor and taking in immigrants and strangers. Jesus does not require proof-of-insurance before providing healthcare, and he does not reject immigrants. He concludes (in verse 40), “Inasmuch as ye have done it [deliver universal healthcare; or welcome immigrants; etc.] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Please notice how many of these challenging demands on Jesus’s part — demands that we in the US regularly fail to observe — are recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel. ¶ As they perambulate (i.e. walk around) the zone just outside the city gate, Faust and Wagner meet an “Alter Bauer” (old farmer), who offers Faust “fresh ale” (line 986) or “foaming drink” (line 991) — that is, beer — in gratitude for Faust’s father’s having delivered medicine to “every house of sickness” in the city during a past period of fever-inducing plague. ¶ Afterwards, addressing Wager in private, Faust recalls accompanying his father on the mission, but he takes no satisfaction or pride in the effort because the medicine — “our hellish pills” (line 1050) — generally had no effect: again and again, “the patient died” (line 1048). Here, the reader is reminded of the limits of human science; while the Enlightenment yielded genuine advances in knowledge, it also regularly fell short or (in Faust’s words) “drowned in a sea of error” (line 1065). We can readily think of the difficulties in the early-twenty-first century of formulating a vaccine to prevent Covid-19.

3 ¶ As evening descends, Faust posits the natural Sublime, imaging an eagle “widely soar[ing]” over “steep, pine-filled peaks” (lines 1096-1097). For his part, by contrast, Wagner reverts to thoughts of rational study: the human mind “lead[ing] \ Us on, from book to book, and page to page” (lines (1104- 1105). Faust responds by declaring that “[t]wo souls, alas, exist in my breast” (line 1112), probably a reference to the rationality/affectivity dichotomy. ¶ Heading homeward, through the city gate, Faust and Wagner encounter a “black dog” (line 1148), which follows them. Faust permits it to enter his study, where it transmogrifies (i.e. changes shape), reveling itself to be Mephistopheles. ¶ Prior to witnessing the dog’s alteration, Faust, in a patriotic move, contemplates translating the New Testament “[i]nto my beloved German” (line 1223). Focusing on the first line in St. John’s Gospel — “In the beginning was the Word” — he determines that a better statement would result by replacing “the Word” with “the Act” (line 1237). This incident foreshadows the various actions that Faust will attempt under guidance of Mephistopheles, whose promise to Faust is the delivery of “both action, and passion” (line 1630). ¶ Once Mephistopheles gains his standard form, he explains to Faust that his dog-shape allowed him to enter the house. His standard form would have been turned back by the incomplete “Pentagram” (five-point star) engraved into the wood of the “doorsill” (lines 1395-1396) — that is, the threshold — of Faust’s front door. One German Volk tradition holds that the pentagram or Drudenfuss (“devil’s [or demon’s] foot”) wards off evil spirits. Later, Mephistopheles summons a rat to gnaw away the threshold pentagram. In general, Mephistopheles demonstrates certain limits; indeed, at one juncture he admits, “I’m not all- knowing” (line 1582), and at another he deems himself “second-class” (line 1641) in comparison to other supernatural beings. ¶ Although Faust is a rational philosophe, his house manifests elements of Volkstum (i.e. folkdom), such as the Drudenfuss. III • Faust’s Pact with Mephistopheles ¶ When in his standard form within Faust’s house, Mephistopheles cannot readily exit, due to the pentagram. He causes some “tender spirits” (line 1439) to appear; their singing induces a sense of pleasure and relaxation — and then a state of sleep — in Faust, whose normal life of study (according to Mephistopheles) yields nothing more than “monotony” (line 1438). ¶ When Faust awakens, Mephistopheles, “dressed like young nobility” (line 1535), encourages him to forsake his rational, academic existence and “experience Life, with me” (line 1543). ¶ Continuing the conversation, Mephistopheles informs Faust that he knows about his near-suicide. In response, Faust expresses despair at how society measures a man’s worth in terms of his ability to gain “[w]ife and child, lands and name [reputation],” plus “Mammon” or material wealth (lines 1598-1599). In Matthew 6:24, Jesus declares, “No man can serve two masters. … Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” ¶ Ultimately, Faust and Mephistopheles negotiate a pact. Faust agrees to be Mephistopheles’s “servant” (line 1656) “on the other side” (line 1658) — presumably, a reference to the afterlife. In return, Faust demands a transcendent affective experience on earth —what he calls a “Moment” (line 1699) in which “the depths of sensuality \ Satisfy [his] burning passion” (lines 1750-1751). Specifically, he seeks an experience so satisfying that it will cause him to say, “Ah, stay a while! You are so lovely” (line 1700). Mephistopheles assures Faust that the actions he will provide will afford the philosophe opportunities to “nibble at everything” (line 1761) — that is, have multiple affective experiences — until he discovers what completely satisfies him.

4 Verweile doch! du bist so schön! Stay a while! You are so lovely! ¶ To seal the deal, Mephistopheles requires a kind of written contact: “A few lines from [Faust], at the least” (line 1715). Although offended — and angry — that Mephistopheles will not “take Man’s word” (line 1717), Faust does sign a paper, using “a drop of [his] blood” (line 173). ¶ Faust must prepare himself to journey with Mephistopheles in search of the “so lovely” affective experience, whatever that might be. He repairs to his bedroom to pack, and meanwhile Mephistopheles disguises himself as Faust in order to honor a commitment in the philosophe’s diary to give academic and career advice to a young student, probably on the cusp of his freshman year at university. We can see individual as representative of males in the rising generation in Germany — arguably, Goethe’s core intended audience for Faust, Part One. First Reading Ends Here • Second Reading Begins ¶ Wearing Faust’s academic robes, Mephistopheles counsels the student, who, thus far, has gained “little pleasure” (line 1882) from scholarly pursuits. Mephistopheles encourages him to study for “[f]ive hours every day” (line 1956) and to build his studies upon “the Collegium Logicum” (line 1911) — i.e. courses in logical reasoning — to be followed by “Metaphysics” (line 1949). Arguably, the latter term refers to the core university curriculum completed by students before they declare a major in a specific discipline or “faculty” (line 1969). ¶ Mephistopheles advises the student to avoid either “Law” (line 1969) or “Theology” (line 1982), believing that professionals in those fields manipulate words to create and maintain “Systems” (1998) that distort truth. ¶ Ultimately, Mephistopheles endorses “Medicine” (line 2011), citing the crass reason that qualifying as a physician would permit the student to “[g]rasp” women’s bodies — precisely the kind of behavior by men in authority that, in recent years, the #MeToo movement has highlighted. Note: our author, Goethe, is not endorsing such behavior; by contrast, he is using irony to condemn it. ¶ The exchange between Mephistopheles and the freshman student provides Goethe with an opportunity to imply that, as the German microstates increasingly consolidate (mindful of the threat of the French leader, Napoleon), they need to address what and how German universities teach. Goethe sees major flaws in higher education; he believes that it yields “Systems” — whether in law, religion, or healthcare — that are not fit for purpose in a modern nation. Goethe wants Germany to become a leading modern nation-state. ¶ Once the student leaves Faust’s home, Faust accompanies Mephistopheles (on a kind of flying-carpet ride) to the city of Leipzig in eastern German, where they interact with students already advanced in their courses of study at the University of Leipzig, Germany’s second-oldest university (founded in 1409; see the image on this page). Like the Enlightenment philosphe Gottfried Leibniz before him, Goethe attended that institution. ¶ Rather than manifesting a laser-focus on learning in order to prepare for the patriotic duty of building a better Germany, the students at this highly prestigious university turn out to be party animals, squandering the golden opportunity to gain knowledge and qualifications to make Germany great by hanging out in bars. Obviously, Georgia Southern students find this kind of conduct hard to understand. ¶ In our next lecture, we will consider Faust’s sojourn in Leibniz, centered at a pub called Auerbach’s Cellar. Then, we will examine subsequent incidents: (1) Faust’s experience in the Witch’s Kitchen, a type of drug-production facility; (2) Faust’s meeting with Margaret (also known by the familiar name of Gretchen), a beautiful, humble, naïve, and vulnerable young woman, with whom Faust falls in lust. •••

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