Goethe’s Faust, Part One (1808) Third 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 • Auerbachs Kellar (Auerbach’s Cellar) ¶ Having set out on the quest to provide the philosophe Faust with a transcendent affective experience, Mephistopheles and Faust first arrive in Leipzig, whose ancient university (Universität Leipzig) enjoys an international reputation for quality. Our author, Goethe, studied law at Universität Leipzig, which is in the eastern German state of Saxony. ¶ The Leipzig episode affords Goethe an opportunity to continue his advocacy for greater patriotism on the part of young German men. By being hard-drinking party-animals and eschewing lectures and homework, the students Faust encounters in the city squander the opportunities that the prestigious university offers. Instead of studying hard in an attempt to become smart and skilled — the better to make Germany great — they hang out at Auerbach’s Cellar, a pub, which has existed since the fifteenth century and is still going strong. ¶ According to Mephistopheles, so long as the students’ “hangovers aren’t too intense” (line 2165) — and so long as “the landlord gives them credit” (line 2166) — they continue to treat every day as “a holiday” (line 2161). ¶ Of course, by contrast with the unpatriotic German students in Faust, Part One, all Georgia Southern students are committed to making America great; thus, they don’t party, whether at bars or elsewhere, and they certainly always attend lectures; submit homework (such as Write Now exercises) on time; and generally honor the major financial commitment that, through the University System of Georgia, our state’s taxpayers make to their higher education, the assumption being that, upon graduation, the students will contribute to Georgia’s economic and cultural success. ¶ A version of the scene set in Auerbach’s Cellar also occurs in the Faust legend, a text that (as we discovered in a prior lecture) Goethe used as a base when creating his literary work, Faust, Part One. However, Goethe’s Dr. Heinrich Faust is much more passive when at the pub than is the Faust character that the legend presents. ¶ At Auerbach’s Cellar, the reader is introduced to four carousing students — Altmayer, Frosch (“frog”), Siebel, and Brander — who engage in loudly singing a “political song” (line 2092) about the “Holy Roman Empire” (line 2090), an alliance of microstates (including some German ones) that, at the time Faust, Part One debuted, had recently fallen apart, primarily due to the French leader Napoleon’s military campaigns. ¶ The students then turn to other themes, the first being a misogynistic view of women as sexually loose and unfaithful. The student named Siebel declares, “She [a typical woman] leads me a dance; she’ll lead you [any other man] one, too” (line 2110). (Make sure that you understand the meaning of misogynistic.) ¶ Additional songs follow, including one about a poisoned “cellar rat” (line 2126) with a “belly, round and fat, \ Just like Doctor Luther” (lines 2128-2129). This piece may be a satire on Protestantism, understood as originating in Germany with Martin Luther, who, in a theological debate in Leipzig in 1519 (before he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church), argued that the Pope did not enjoy special power and status. In general, Goethe (like Voltaire before him) was skeptical about both the Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions, the two major instances of organized Christianity in Western Europe. ¶ Initially, the student Brander assumes that Faust and Mephistopheles are “strolling players” (line 2178) — that is, itinerant actors. Mephistopheles offers to procure high-quality alcohol for him and his inebriated buddies; that way, they will not have to continue imbibing cheap booze.

1 ¶ Enthusiastically, Brander selects a luxury French sparkling wine: “Champagne for me is fine” (line 2270). Even as he makes the request, he indicates awareness of a lack of German patriotism on his part, saying, “We can’t always shun what’s foreign \ … \ Real Germans can’t abide a Frenchman, \ And yet they gladly drink his wine” (lines 2270, 2272-2273). ¶ Many Americans claim to be highly patriotic, yet they continually purchase foreign vehicles, foreign clothes, and more. (How many items of your clothing were made by Americans in America, using American cloth?) Major American companies, such as Apple and Nike, outsource the bulk of their manufacturing to China and other cheap-labor countries. Services, too, are regularly outsourced. ¶ For his part, having a taste for sugar, the student Siebel requests a sophisticated sweet wine called Tokay, produced largely in Hungary, using a fairly complicated viticultural (i.e. grape-growing) technique. ¶ Frosch is the sole student who opts for a German beverage: “I drink Rhenish. \ The Fatherland [Germany] grants those best gifts to us” (lines 2264-2265). The reference is to predominantly white wines produced from Rhine River vineyards. Being a northerly locale, the Rhine is challenging for wine-production; thus, considerable scientific skill has developed respecting what grape varieties to grow where, as well as how to process the harvested crop. Furthermore, a complex taxonomic system exists, with the rarest (and sweetest) type of wine being classified as Trockenbeerenauslese (German for “chosen dried berries”). ¶ As the students become ever more drunk, Faust determines that alcohol will not afford him the transcendent affective experience he seeks. He tells Mephistopheles, “I’d like to leave here now” (line 2296); however, prior to departing, Mephistopheles performs an act of “hocus-pocus” (line 2307), causing the students to believe that they are no longer in the pub but instead a vineyard, where they use (what some critics identify as) homosexually suggestive language, such as Brander’s comment to Siebel, “I’ve … got your nose in my hand!” (line 2323). ¶ The point here may be that the macho nature of German culture prevents men from opening up to each other. Alcohol — perhaps even an excessive amount of alcohol — is needed to create some degree of meaningful homosocial interaction. ¶ Certain sociologists and psychologists observe a similar situation among American men. Typically, one American guy will not ask another about his deep wellbeing; thus, “sports talk” becomes a substitute for meaningful interaction. When two American guys attempt to communicate, “How ’bout them Braves?” is more likely to be the question than “How are you really feeling?” Only when American guys get drunk might such a statement as “Bro: I love you, man!” emerge. ¶ Goethe’s point is that the default macho isolation and standoffish-ness in German culture is fundamentally unhealthy and can have deleterious social consequences. Some historians argue that, in the early- to mid- twentieth century, Germany’s macho culture was a consequential contributor to the rise of Hitler and Nazism. ¶ The next page opens by presenting a graphic summary of some key elements within the Auerbach’s Cellar episode. Any of the material in the image may appear on your exam.

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II • Witch’s Kitchen (or Hexenküche in German) ¶ Faust’s rejection of alcohol as a means to gain affective transcendence prompts Mephistopheles to introduce him to drugs at a kind of pharmaceutical-production facility called the Witch’s Kitchen or Hexenküche). They fly there “[r]iding on a barrel” (line 2330). ¶ Mephistopheles hopes that some or other drug will yield a desirable outcome, such as making Faust feel “[t]hirty years” (line 2342) younger. Mephistopheles’s relative lack of power again becomes manifest: he admits to being unable to produce effective drugs, which require “[a] calm mind’s busy years” (line 2372) to research, test, and manufacture. ¶ Mephistopheles does indicate that another, radically different lifestyle choice can keep one feeling young, namely: laboring in a “field” (line 2353) (that has been fertilized with one’s own “manure” [line 2359]) to grow one’s own “purest fare” (line 2357) or nutritious food. One thinks perhaps of the following sentences from the New York Times of April 22, 2020: “In 1943, when food was scarce during World War II, Americans were urged to grow their own crops wherever they could. It’s estimated that 20 million victory gardens flourished in the United States that year, and New York City alone produced 200 million pounds of tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots and lettuce.” ¶ The Witch’s Kitchen contains a potion-filled cauldron bubbling on a fire, as well as a family of “ape creatures” (line 2484), which may imply the pharmaceutical industry’s historic use of non-human primates (NHPs) as laboratory test-animals. In our time, the US annually uses around 65,000 NHPs for biomedical research and other forms of scientific experimentation. ¶ Initially, the witch is absent, but the cauldron’s boiling over causes her to appear. Mephistopheles explains to her that the shift to modernity means that, by contrast with his former persona, he must now dress as contemporary humans do, aspiring to present himself as “a gentleman” (line 2511). Old markers, such as “horns” and a “tail” (line 2498) have become unacceptable. His non-human legs and feet are features he finds difficult to hide; thus, he wears “[f]alse calves and false in-steps” (line 2502). ¶ The Witch — also referred to as a “doctor” (line 2358)— agrees to administer a liquid drug to Faust; however, Mephistopheles insists that the philosophe should not consume it as an “unprepared” (line 2526) human. Thus, a ritual must be staged, a central element of which involves the Witch’s drawing a circle on the floor and declaiming from a large book. Faust criticizes the Witch’s “wild gestures” (line 2533) and “tasteless trickery” (line 2534), yet he does enter the circle and, furthermore, imbibe the drug-containing, fire-emitting cup that the Witch provides.

3 ¶ Mephistopheles indicates to Faust that while the drug will initially cause him “to sweat” (line 2594), its ultimate, positive effect will be on his libido (or erotic feelings): “[Y]ou’ll find, with deepest pleasure, \ How Cupid [sexual desire] stirs, and … leaps” (line 2597-2598). This outcome may be compared to how major US pharmaceutical companies market erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs to mature men. Around one in ten men suffers from ED; and prior to the introduction of generic equivalents Pfizer’s Viagra (“little blue pill”) annually yielded sales of $1.8 billion per year for the New York-based “Big Pharma” company. ¶ The Witch insists that her “science … \ Is hidden from the rabble [regular folks]” (line 2569), suggesting that the pharmaceutical industry is less than transparent about its drug research, production, and pricing. Certainly, the circle and related aspects of the administration of the Witch’s libido-enhancing drug suggest the significant budgets that Big Pharma firms devote to direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. For example: in 2015 the Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly corporation spent $222 million to advertise its ED pill, Cialis. ¶ One effect of the Enlightenment was consequential advances in pharmaceutical discoveries, and today Germany remains a leading player in the global industry, being home to such major entities as Merck Group (founded in 1668, early in the Enlightenment). ¶ Here is a graphic that conveys some data pertaining to the Witch’s Kitchen episode.

¶ Prior to his drug-consumption in the circle, Faust spends time with a “magic mirror” (line 2430) or Zauberspiegel in the Witch’s Kitchen. Rather than see his own reflection in the mirror, he witnesses “as if through a mist … \ The loveliest form of Woman” (lines 2435-2436). ¶ Goethe’s presentation is designed to put the reader in mind of a passage from the New Testament book called St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. While not all biblical books attributed to Paul were, in fact, authored by him, scholars know that he did write the two epistles (or letters) to the early Christian community in Corinth, a city in Greece. ¶ In Verse 12 of Chapter 13 of First Corinthians, Paul asserts, “For now [upon earth] we see [perceive God] through a glass [mirror], darkly; but then [after Jesus’s second coming] face to face.” The implication is that while, during her/his earthly existence, a Christian cannot fully perceive God, she/he should, nevertheless, strive to follow God’s ways, as exemplified by Jesus. In other words: when looking at her/his reflection in a mirror, a striving Christian should see, day by day, an increasingly godly version of herself/himself. ¶ Especially given his middle-aged state of life, Faust should, however dimly, be recognizing in the mirror a version of himself shaped by moral thoughts and practice. Instead, he conjures up a two-dimensional

4 fantasy image of a woman. We call this all-too-common type of exercise the objectification of woman, and it occurs in advertising and pornography, among other venues. Were the imagined woman to appear in the flesh, Faust would readily exploit her, despite Christian precepts to the contrary. ¶ Faust’s lust cares not at all about the woman’s identity, life-experiences, or feelings; thus, it lacks sympathy. It privileges Faust’s sentiment alone. It treats the woman as an object or thing rather than as a person. ¶ Even before taking the Witch’s libido-targeting drug, Faust finds the objectified woman exciting. He declares, Ist’s möglich, ist das Weib so schön? The question translates (from German) as “Is it possible: Can Woman be so lovely?” (line 2437). ¶ The mirror incident sets up the next major phase in Mephistopheles’s guidance of Faust. Until this point, Faust’s experiences have been congruent with the 1965 hit-lyric by the Rolling Stones, “I can’t get no satisfaction \ ’Cause I try and I try and I try and I try.” However, the clear message emanating from the mirror is that physical intimacy with a woman will likely produce a transcendent affective experience for Faust.

III • Faust Meets Margaret/Gretchen ¶ After exiting the Witch’s Kitchen, Faust encounters, on a street, a female person who he characterizes as a Fräulein (“young woman”) and a Kind (“child”). Having rejected his attempt to engage with her, she exits. When Mephistopheles arrives, Faust instructs him, “[Y]ou must get that girl for me!” (line 2619). ¶ Later, we learn that her name is Margaret, although those close to her use a familiar form of that name: Gretchen. (Compare how, in English, Elizabeth may be rendered as Liz, Beth, or Betty.) ¶ Mephistopheles reveals that Margaret has just come from making her confession, a practice in Roman Catholicism whereby an individual regularly lists for a priest the sins that she/he has committed — whether in word or deed, or by omission — since the last confession. Inside Roman Catholic churches, one finds confessionals (also known as confession boxes). A typical confessional in an enclosed structure, providing privacy; within it, a key feature is a partition that separates the priest from the confessing individual. ¶ Goethe objected to the confessional because it provides the priest (and, by extension, the church) with intimate knowledge about — and, thus, significant power over — the confessing individual. In addition, he held that it pushes Christians into an understanding of themselves as sinful. Certainly, the Margaret we first meet in Faust, Part One seems an honorable, responsible, and even selfless person. ¶ With Margaret’s father dead, the family is somewhat stretched financially, even though it owns its house. Her mother seems fundamentally unengaged with housework, perhaps the result of depression or even psychosis following on from being widowed and, in addition, enduring the death of a young daughter. Margaret’s brother, Valentin, “is a soldier” (line 3120), and there being no resources to hire even a part- time maid the household tasks fall to Margaret, who explains: “I sweep, knit, sew, \ And cook; I’m working early and late” (lines 3111-3112). ¶ In the late twentieth century, the French philosopher Michel Foucault’s three-volume study, The History of Sexuality, characterized the confessional as a technology of church power: “one of the West’s most highly valued techniques for producing truth.” ¶ Foucault claimed, “Western man [i.e. the human being brought up in the Western World] has become a confessing animal.”

5 ¶ According to Foucault, the Roman Catholic church designated sex as a “privileged theme of confession.” Thus, influenced by Roman Catholicism, Western societies grew to perceive sex as sinful, smutty, and dirty. (Consider, for example, the term “dirty joke.”) By contrast, Eastern religions tend to celebrate sex as a wholesome gift from God. ¶ When Faust threatens Mephistopheles that he will break off their “pact” unless Margaret is his by “midnight” (line 2638), Mephistopheles underscores the limits of his power, claiming that he will need at least two weeks because the “lovey child” (2655) Margaret “won’t be taken by storm” (line 2657). ¶ At this juncture, we should underscore that the middle-aged Faust’s intense, demanding lust for the young Gretchen is a problematic instance of the convention known as the May-December relationship, whereby an old or old-ish man (“December”) covets a young woman (“May”). ¶ During the first half of the nineteenth century, most European jurisdictions recognized eleven as the age of consent for both females and males; and Faust remarks that Margaret is “older than fourteen” (line 2625). However, various elements in Faust, Part One strongly suggest that Faust’s desire is repugnant. ¶ When Margaret visits a neighbor, Mephistopheles and Faust sneak into her bedroom with a “casket” (line 2731) of “trinkets” (line 2735) — a “jewel box” (line 2792) designed to surprise and impress her as part of a wooing strategy. Once within the small but tidy space, Faust’s erotic imagination evokes a fanciful tableau of Margaret as a “child” (line 2713) in her bed. Later in the story, addressing Mephistopheles, he will insist that a sexual encounter between him (Faust) and Margaret must occur on that bed. Arguable, this scenario implies pedophilic impulses on Faust’s part. ¶ As we conclude this lecture, it is important to clarify that Goethe is not condoning Faust’s thoughts, schemes, and actions with respect to Margaret. Indeed, the opposite applies. Goethe wishes to demonstrate the depravity of Faust’s erotic ambitions in an effort to insist that moral impropriety, especially in regards to young women, can have no place in any future unitary German nation. ¶ Here is a graphic summary of some essential points from the text’s initial presentation of Margaret/Gretchen.

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