Janice Elizabeth Hansen a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty
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REDEEMING FAUSTUS: TRACING THE PACTS OF MARIKEN AND FAUST FROM THE 1500S TO THE PRESENT Janice Elizabeth Hansen A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Carolina- Duke Graduate Program in German Studies. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Ruth von Bernuth Ann Marie Rasmussen Jonathan Hess Thomas Robisheaux Gabriel Trop © 2016 Janice Elizabeth Hansen This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ii ABSTRACT Janice Elizabeth Hansen: Redeeming Faustus: Tracing the Pacts of Mariken and Faust from the 1500s to the Present (Under the direction of Ruth von Bernuth) This dissertation uncovers and analyzes the complicated history of the devil’s pact in literature from approximately 1330 to 2015, focusing primarily on texts written in German and Dutch. That the tale of the pact with the devil (the so-called Faustian bargain) is one of the most durable and pliable literary themes is undeniable. Yet for too long, the success of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust I (1808) decisively shaped scholarship on early devil’s pact tales, leading to a misreading of the texts with Goethe’s concerns being projected onto the earliest manifestations. But Goethe’s Faust really only borrows from the original Faust his name; the two characters could not be more different. Furthermore, Faustus was not the only early pact-maker character and his tale was neither limited to the German language nor to the Protestant faith. Among others, tales written in Dutch about a female, Catholic, late- medieval pact-maker, Mariken van Nieumeghen (1515), illustrate this. This dissertation seeks to redeem the early modern Faustus texts from its misreading and to broaden the scholarship on the literature of the devil’s pact by considering the Mariken and Faust traditions together. The first chapter outlines the beginnings of pact literature as a Catholic phenomenon, considering the tales of Theophilus and Pope Joan alongside Mariken of Nijmegen. The second chapter turns to the original Faust tale, the Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587), iii best read as a Lutheran response to the Catholic pact literature in the wake of the Reformation. In the third chapter, this dissertation offers a new, united reading of the early modern Faust tradition. The fourth and fifth chapters trace the literary preoccupation with the pacts of both Mariken and Faustus from the late early modern to the present. The dissertation traces the evolution of these two bodies of literature and provides an in-depth analysis and comparison of the two that has not been done before. It argues for a more global literary scholarship that considers texts across multiple languages and one that takes into consideration the rich body of material of the pact tradition. iv “Alles Gescheite ist schon gedacht worden; man muss nur versuchen, es noch einmal zu denken.” -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre “I’ll believe in anyone or anything […] that’ll batter these cursed Telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of Narnia. Anyone or anything, Aslan or the White Witch, do you understand?” “Call her up […]. We are all ready. Draw the circle. Prepare the blue fire.” --C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is indebted to the encouragement and support of many. First, to my advisor, Ruth, who has carefully read every word countless times and provided constructive and helpful guidance over the past eight years. Her excitement for the early modern drew me to the field and I have never looked back. To Ann Marie Rasmussen, for her unwavering support, challenging questions, and excellent suggestions. To Jonathan Hess, Thomas Robisheaux, and Gabriel Trop, for their interest, support, and helpful questions. To the librarians and archivists who have fostered and supported my interest in rare books and special collections, offering much encouragement—Eileen, Sandi, and Meghan. To the financial support of the Program of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at UNC; the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Duke; and the Duke Graduate School—their generosity has made it possible for this project to reach completion. To the Duke Data Visualization lab, for its help and support. To Dan Thornton, for encouraging me to continue pursuing Dutch. To Josh, for his thoughtful comments and questions. And last, but not least, to Dave, for his love and support and for not allowing me to give up, and to my daughters, Eleanor and Caroline, for their smiles that make the long days worthwhile. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ ix INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 Faustus and Mariken: The Beginnings of their Histories ...................................... 13 CHAPTER 1: THE SINNER’S ADVOCATE: MARY, THE DEVIL’S PACT, AND REDEMPTION ................................................................................................................. 18 The Processus Sathanae ........................................................................................ 22 Mary and the Devil in Late-Medieval Pact Literature .......................................... 27 Mary’s Intercession for Sinners in the Pact Texts ................................................. 54 CHAPTER 2: THE DEVIL AS THE EARLY MODERN ADVERSARY ...................... 63 The Creator of Virtual Worlds .............................................................................. 67 The Early Modern German Devils and Their Pact-Makers .................................. 71 The Early Modern English Devil and His Pact-Maker ......................................... 94 CHAPTER 3: JUST LIKE THE DEVIL: BECOMING TRANSGRESSION ............... 112 The Devil and Transgression ............................................................................... 115 Just Like the Devil: Faustus and Wagner Transformed ...................................... 123 Becoming the Devil: A Fascination with Transgression ..................................... 140 CHAPTER 4: MARIKEN AND HER HEIRS ................................................................ 148 The Early Modern Mariken ................................................................................. 151 Mariken in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries .......................................... 166 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 188 CHAPTER 5: FAUSTUS AND HIS SCHOLARS ......................................................... 191 vii The Early Modern Fausts .................................................................................... 194 Faust in the Nineteenth Century .......................................................................... 201 The Twentieth-Century Faust .............................................................................. 211 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 228 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 231 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 240 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The Wilfridus dialogue between Soul, Death, the Devil, an Angel, St. Mary, Christ, and God the Father on scrolls in a drawing of a death bed ..................................................... 19 Figure 2: Mariken in the grasp of the devil ............................................................................. 30 Figure 3: Moenen approaching Mariken ................................................................................. 38 Figure 4: The Devil approaching Theophilus ......................................................................... 38 Figure 5: Mary demanding the contract from Satan and returning it to Theophilus ............... 43 Figure 6: A Woman was Pope ................................................................................................ 49 Figure 7: Pope Joan Giving Birth ............................................................................................ 50 Figure 8: Pope Joan Giving Birth ............................................................................................ 51 Figure 9: Title page of the Wolfenbüttler Faust Book ............................................................. 72 Figure 10: English Faust Ballad ............................................................................................ 196 Figure 11: Faustus throwing flour into the water for Joost to collect. .................................. 209 Figure 12: Joost pulling Faustus through the window .......................................................... 210 Figure 13: Pact Literature Discussed in this Dissertation, 1330-2015 .................................. 232 Figure 14: European Pact Literature, 1330-1853 .................................................................. 235 ix INTRODUCTION In a single entry for January and February 1877, Louisa May Alcott writes of the influence Goethe’s Faust had on her writing: “Went for some weeks to the Bellevue, and wrote ‘A Modern