A short Essay
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:49 pm
Faust
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Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Faust (disambiguation).
Faust (Latin Faustus) is the protagonist of a popular German tale of a pact with the Devil, assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540). It has been used as the basis for many different fictional works, most notably by Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Klaus Mann, Thomas Mann, Clive Barker, Charles Gounod, Hector Berlioz, Arrigo Boito, Oscar Wilde, Terry Pratchett, Mikhail Bulgakov, Fernando Pessoa, Anne Rice, and Michael Swanwick.
Contents [hide]
1 General plot
2 Origin
3 History
4 Origin of Mephistopheles in Faust
5 Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
5.1 Drama
5.2 Opera
5.3 Classical Music
5.4 Popular Music
5.5 Musical "Faustian pacts"
5.6 Poetry
5.7 Prose fiction
5.8 Film
5.9 Musicals
5.10 Anime and manga
5.11 Video games
5.12 Comic books
5.13 Nonfiction
5.14 Television
5.15 Pen name
5.16 Drum Corps
6 See also
7 Sources
8 External links
[edit]
General plot
The story concerns the fate of a learned scholar named Faust, who in his quest for the true essence of life ("was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhaelt"), summons the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles, often also referred to as Mephisto), who offers to serve him as long as Faust lives. Mephistopheles may receive Faust's soul, but only when Faust has attained the zenith of human happiness. In the second Part of the Faust tragedy (Faust 2), Faust really does have the pleasure to experience the latter, however, Mephisto, trying to grab Faust's soul when the protagonist dies, is burnt down by the empowering force of love. Faust deserves to go to heaven, because of his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding ("man must strive and err") that exceeds the limits set for human beings.
[edit]
Origin
While most scholars believe the story of Faust originated in northern Germany, committed to print in 1587 with the publishing of a little chapbook bearing the title Historia von D. Iohan Fausten, other scholars are quick to note that historia is Latin for Geschichte (German word for story or history) and Iohan is Latin for Johann. The choice of languages may imply the existence of an even earlier, independent source in Latin, such as that which Jacob Bidermann used for his treatment of the legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus.
There are other theories of origin for Faust. In the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century a Dutch play attributed to Anna Bijns appeared which may offer a template for the Faust legend. Mary of Nijmeghen dramatizes the story of a young woman convinced by a demon, One-Eyed Moenen, to sell her soul to learn the seven liberal arts. She lives a dissolute life for some time until, moved by a morality play, she regrets her bargain and seeks forgiveness. Unlike Faustus, Mary repents and, after a long penitence, receives her reward in heaven.
In either case, the little chapbook, already in circulation in Northern Germany, found its way to England where it was translated into English by a certain "P. F., Gent[leman]" in 1592 as The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus (unpreserved). It was this work that Christopher Marlowe used for his somewhat more ambitious play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (published c. 1600). Additionally, Marlowe borrowed from Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, on the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope. Another possible inspiration of Marlowe's version is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.
Along with Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (published c. 1602), Marlowe's version served to inspire Goethe's later Faust, which may be considered the more definitive classic work.
[edit]
History
The Faust tale is a variation of the story about a negotiated pact between man and the devil, involving human hubris and diabolic cunning; the oldest extant version is the tale of Theophilus of Adana.
The origin of the protagonist's name and persona remains unclear. It is widely assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540), a dubious magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen, Württemberg, who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. According to one account Faust's poor reputation became legendary while he was in prison, where in exchange for wine he "offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of arsenic, which removed not only the hair but the flesh."(Barnett) Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon are said to have alleged Faust's companionship with the devil.
However, it is also possible that the name "Faust" (German for "fist") is related to Italian "fausto". Fausto is possibly derived from the Latin adjective "faustus", meaning "auspicious" or "lucky". There may also be a connection with the fustum (Latin for "doctor's staff") of Aesculapius and other doctors of the time, an item likely to have figured prominently in the Legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus, which also was an influence on Goethe's version.
The name of "Faust" has since become attached to any number of legendary tales about a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer"), whose pride, vanity, and vile hucksterism would inevitably lead to his doom. Similarly, the adjective "faustian" has come to denote any acts or constellations that involve human hubris leading to doom.
In Polish folklore there exists a tale with a Pan Twardowski in a role similar to Faust's, which seems to have originated roughly at the same time. It is unclear if and to what extent the two tales have a common origin or influenced each other. The figure of Pan Twardowski is supposedly based on a 16th century German emigrant to Kraków, then the Polish capital, possibly John Dee or Edward Kelley. According to Melanchthon, the historic Johann Faust had studied in Kraków, as well.
[edit]
Origin of Mephistopheles in Faust
It may be a mere coincidence, but the parts of speech found in the word Mephistopheles bear an uncanny resemblance to the Greek phrase "me Fisto philos" (μη Φιστо φιλος), translating out to "I am someone not friendly to Fistus" (where Fistus is homophonous to Faustus).
[edit]
Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
[edit]
Drama
Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1604~1610)
Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (1602)
Gotthold Lessing's play, Doktor Faustus, mentioned in a contribution to a magazine (1759), but otherwise left unfinished and collected and published posthumously (1784) in its original, incomplete form
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust
Christian Dietrich Grabbe's Don Juan und Faust (1829)
Nikolaus Lenau's Faust (1836)
Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
Fernando Pessoa's Fausto Tragédia Subjectiva (Faust Subjective Tragedy)
Dorothy L. Sayers' The Devil to Pay
Václav Havel's Temptation
Clive Barker's The Damnation Game
Michel Carre's Faust et Marguerite
Mark Ravenhill's Faust is Dead
David Mamet's Faustus
David M. Nevarrez's "The Pact" (playlet) and The Damnable Doctor Faustus
[edit]
Opera
Henri Pousseur (music) and Michel Butor (libretto), Votre Faust (1961-68), opera for five actors, four singers, thirteen instruments, and electronic music, in which the audience decides by vote the course of the action at several points. Pousseur has also composed several "satellite" works related to this opera: Miroir de Votre Faust (Caractères II) for solo piano and (optional) soprano (1964-65), Jeu de Miroirs de Votre Faust for piano, soprano and tape (1964-65) Echos de Votre Faust for mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, and piano (1961-69), Les Ruines de Jéruzona for mixed choir and "rhythm section" (1978), La Passion selon Guignol for amplified vocal quartet and orchestra (1981), Parade de Votre Faust for orchestra (1974), and Aiguillages au carrefour des immortels for 16 or 17 instruments (2002)
Konrad Boehmer's Doktor Faustus (1983), libretto by Hugo Claus
Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868)
Havergal Brian's Faust
Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust (1916-25)
D'Hervé's Le Petit Faust
Charles Gounod's Faust (1859)
Sergei Prokofiev's opera based on Bryusov's The Fiery Angel
Ludwig Spohr's Faust
Heinrich Zoellner's Faust`
Alfred Schnittke's Historia von D. Johann Fausten
Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
Hector Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust
[edit]
Classical Music
Hector Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust (1845-46) (sometimes performed in staged opera versions)
Sarasate's "Faust Fantasy" is a showpiece for violin and piano based on the Faust story.
The second movement of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande Sonate (published 1848)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song — Aus Goethes Faust: "Es war einmal ein König"
Charles Gounod's Ballet music from his opera Faust (1859). The ballet occurs as an interlude in the Fourth Act during the Walpurgisnacht scene familiar from Goethe's Faust Part 1. The ballet or ballet music is often performed independently from the opera.
Franz Liszt was fascinated by the Faust legend, particularly with the character of Mephistopheles. He wrote several musical works on this idea, including:
Faust Symphony (1854–57)
"Two Episodes based on Lenau's Faust," the second of which is the famous "Mephisto Waltz No. 1"
"Mephisto Waltzes" (4)
Part II of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906–07)
Modest Mussorgsky: "Mephistopheles' song of the flea", is just that: a version of the song that Mephistopheles sings in the tavern scene of Goethe's Faust, pt. 1.
Randy Newman's Faust (1993)
Alfred Schnittke's Faust Cantata (1982-83)
Franz Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814)
Robert Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust (completed 1853)
Igor Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat (1918) tells the story of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that predicts the future of the economy.
Richard Wagner's Faust overture (1840, originally intended as the first movement of a Faust symphony)
John Adams' new opera Doctor Atomic was originally commissioned as an American Faust telling, and the composer admits that the opera still retains Faustian elements. Its subject matter is Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.
In 2006 the German composer Ernst Heckel and the English writer Richard Bunting published a modern rock musical titled "Faust".
The texts of the Dutch composer Alexander Comitas' Walpurgisnacht, a piece for fanfare band and choir, come from Goethe's Faust.
In their 2006 show, Phantom Regiment, a Drum and Bugle Corps, played original music to depict the story of Faust.
[edit]
Popular Music
Frank Zappa's "Titties & Beer", from the album "Zappa in New York" and others, has the Devil stealing the protagonist's large-breasted girlfriend and their beer, and demands he make a deal to get them back. This so perturbs the Devil that the opposite of Faust's gamble happens.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra's album Beethoven's Last Night includes Faustian references; Beethoven in a deal with Mephistopheles must choose between his, possibly fictional, tenth symphony or his soul.
Gothic rock band Mephisto Walz, probably based on Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.
Art Zoyd's song Faust.
The Fall's song Dktr Faustus (1986), also known as Faust Banana.
The Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
Avant-garde/progressive black metal band Arcturus's album, La Masquerade Infernale (1997) alludes to the tale and is dedicated to the "Faustian spirit".
American/Norwegian melodic power metal band Kamelot's albums, Epica (2003) and The Black Halo (2005) are a two-part epic based on the Faust tale, though not the same story.
Murdoc Niccals, bassist of the British animated band Gorillaz, claims he had sold his soul to the devil so that the album Demon Days would succeed, and that his middle name was Faust.
British Rock band Muse's song 'The Small Print', from the album Absolution, describes the plight of Faust from the viewpoint of the Devil. The song's working title was "Action Faust".
Popular British metal band 'Cradle of Filth' have a song entitled 'Absinthe With Faust' on their 2004 'Nymphetamine' album.
Racebannon, a heavy/experimental band from Indiana, released an album entitled Satan's Kickin Yr Dick In. It describes a man who desires success as a pop star selling his soul to the Devil and the consequences of his actions.
Brazilian death metal band Mystifier released a song on their album Wicca/Göetia entitled "The True Story about Doctor Faust's Pact with Mephistopheles".
Norwegian Black Metal act "Emperor" briefly contained a member who used the pseudonym Faust, he was imprisoned for murder in 1993 and has since been released.
Greek death metal band Septic Flesh's last album, Sumerian Daemons, contains a song called Faust.
German kraut-rock band Faust, a founder of industrial and electronic rock.
Faust is a B-side on the Gorillaz album G-Sides.
Faust Flag is the pseudonym for the drummer of The Pop Culture Suicides, which features ex-Marilyn Manson guitarist Zim Zum.
The Phantom Regiment drum & bugle corps' 2006 program was named "Faust", and is an abstract telling of the story.
Randy Newman's Faust (1993)
Jazz outfit Benevento/Russo Duo have a song entitled 'Mephisto'.
Swedish Melodic Death Metal band Arch Enemy have a song titled 'Sinister Mephisto' on their second album, 'Stigmata'.
[edit]
Musical "Faustian pacts"
Blues legend Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his skills with the guitar.
Like Robert Johnson, violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini was also said to have sold his soul in exchange for his musical skills.
[edit]
Poetry
Heinrich Heine's "Der Doktor Faust"
Carol Ann Duffy's "Mrs Faust"
Delmore Schwartz's "Faust in Old Age"[1]
Dale Pendell's "Pharmako Gnosis"
Paul Celan's "Death Fugue"
[edit]
Prose fiction
William Beckford's "Vathek"
Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster"
Valery Bryusov's The Fiery Angel: the tavern scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 1, is spliced into the rest of Bryusov's storyline.
Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita
Adelbert von Chamisso's Peter Schlemihl's Remarkable Story (Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, 1814)
Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness"
William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!"
Carl Deuker's On the Devil's Court
Philip K. Dick's Galactic Pot-Healer
Samuel Adams Drake's Jonathan Moulton and the Devil
João Guimarães Rosa's Grande Sertão: Veredas (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands)
Thomas Harris's Silence of the Lambs
John Hersey's Too Far to Walk
Herman Hesse's Demian
Tom Holt's Faust Among Equals
Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker"
Ed Kleiman’s “North End Faust"
Alfred Jarry's Faustroll
Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera
Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus
Klaus Mann's Mephisto
Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer
Terry Pratchett's Faust Eric
Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire"
Anne Rice's "Memnoch the Devil"
Stendhal's The Red and the Black
Michael Swanwick's Jack Faust
Ivan Turgenev's Faust
Douglass Wallop's The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
Zoran Živković's Time-gifts
Matthew Lewis's The Monk
Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley's If at Faust You Don't Succeed
Film
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Forbidden Planet (1957) Based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, but in which high technology in the service of the id plays the role of the Devil.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moores Bedazzled (1967), remade in 2000
Richard Burton and Nevill Coghill's Doctor Faustus (1967)
Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Phantom of the Opera (1983)
Jan Svankmajer's Faust (1994)
I Was A Teenage Faust
Rowdy Herrington's A Murder Of Crows
Ãlex Ollé's Fausto 5.0
István Szabó's Mephisto (1981 film)
The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
Stephen King's Needful Things (1993)
Walter Hill's Crossroads (1986)
Angel Heart (1987)
David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997)
Brian Yuzna's Faust: Love of the Damned (2001)
Tombstone (1993)
Alex Ollé & Isidro Ortiz 's Fausto 5.0 (2001)
Egon Lomack's Faust and Furious (2003)
James McTeigue and the Wachowski brothers's V for Vendetta (2005)
Eric Leisers's Faustbook (2006)
George Lucas's Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Michael Mann's Thief (1981) Although not completely alluding to Faust, the deal that Frank (played by James Caan) makes with Leo (played by Robert Prosky) could be that of Faustian nature.
Gore Verbrinski's Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (2006), With Davey Jones as the devil and Captain Jack Sparrow offering his soul in return for the Black Pearl and later trying to escape from the bargain.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Jan Å vankmajer's Faust
Silent Hill (2006), in which a victimised child makes a pact with Satan in the guise of her former self to reek vengeance on the religious fanatics who wronged her. The demon's side of the bargain is not revealed.
Musicals
Randy Newman's stage musical Faust.
Little Shop of Horrors, as well as the movie version of the stage version, Little Shop of Horrors.
The comedy-musical Damn Yankees.
Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise has songs that allude to the tale of Faust, such as Faust and Beauty And The Beast.
The musical play Disco Inferno.
Anime and manga
Shaman King features a character who raises the dead to bring back his love. This character is a direct descendant of Faust (and thus is known by most as Faust VIII).
Saber Marionette (The antagonistic ruler of the kingdom of Gartlant in Saber Marionette J)
Faust Münchhausen (a villain seen in the Urotsukidoji movies)
Deel Faust (The impish kid Devil General of Wind in "Devil (&) Devil")
Elfen Lied (As a child, the protagonist makes a bargin with a vision of herself, in which she agrees to destroy all humanity so that she may create a home for herself.)
Monster (In episode 59 of the Anime, a character makes a reference to introducing Faust to Mephistopheles)
Video games
Stauf, the main character in The 7th Guest is an anagram of "Faust".
The 'Big Boss' of the Dead End Gang gang in Vendetta is called Faust. He blows poisonous green fumes from his mouth as a special attack.
Faustus is the name of a minor villain in Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
Guilty Gear series, "Faust" (Guilty Gear X, Guilty Gear XX)
Max Payne, in which the mob member Jack Lupino is attempting the "Faustian deal".
Dr. Faustus was a character in the cancelled Playstation 1 game, "Thrill Kill."
In the Soul Calibur series, Faust is the name of Siegfried Schtauffen's first sword. Additionally the character Nightmare is what Siegfried becomes after laying hands on the demon blade and losing his soul.
Faust is a secret boss in the Playstation 1 game "The Legend of Dragoon"
Faust is a notorious monster (in this case, a giant arcane "doll" (robot) creature) in Final Fantasy XI.
Faust: The Seven Games of the Soul (PC Game - very loosely based on Goethe's Faust).
In the opening cutscene of the PlayStation 1 game Xenogears, one of the computer operators reports that Deus has accessed the 'Control System Faust', which it uses to alter the Eldridge's course.
In the computer game FreeSpace 2, the Faust is a class of vessels intended for scientific research.
Panzer Faust and Iorn Faust are weapons in the Phantasy Star Online series.
Mephisto is the boss in Diablo 2, Act III.
Comic books
The comic book Faust was published in the 80s and 90s by artist Tim Vigil and writer David Quinn. The book follows a story template similar to the opera Faust, but is an updated version. Rebel Studios, an independent label originally published it, but it was later picked up by Avatar Press and a subsequent sequel series was created. Both are extremely sexual and violent series.
Felix Faust is a magical supervillain in the universe of DC Comics. He appeared first in 1962 as an adversary of the Justice League of America.
Jack Faust was the name of a magician in Alan Moore's series Promethea, and is also referred to in other books from the America's Best Comics imprint.
In Help!, Volume 2, Number 1, February 1962, Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder produced "Goodman Goes Playboy." In it, Goodman Beaver sells his soul to Mephistopheles in order to gain the material and sexual benefits that were extolled monthly in Playboy magazine. This comic strip, however, was legally suppressed by the creators of Archie Comics because it disparaged their cartoon character and his companions.
Dr. John Dee, a Renaissance scholar who was a likely inspiration for Marlowe's version of the "Faust" story, is a character in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The first time we see William Shakespeare, he is in a tavern talking to Christopher Marlowe, and he mentions the success of his book on Dr. Faustus. Additionally, the character of the Scarecrow quotes Marlowe's play of Faust ('It is a comfort in wretchedness to have companions in woe').
In the Hong Kong comic strip The World of Lily Wong one of the main characters, Stuart Wright, once worked at a very immoral advertising agency called Faust Associates. Their company logo resembled a devil.
The fifth chapter of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta references Faust, and the deal he made.
In the anime/manga Shaman King, one of the subcharacters is called Faust VIII and is portrayed as a depressed, secluded person with the skeleton of his dead wife in his coat.
A humour webcomic adaptation of Faust, by Claus Thomsen.
The character Spawn created by Todd McFarlane is very similar to the Faust tale.
Nonfiction
Bertrand Russell's essay "A Free Man's Worship"
Oswald Spengler's book "The Decline of the West" labeled Western society as 'Faustian'
Peter Gowan's book "The Global Gamble - Washington's Faustian Bid for World Dominance"
Herman Kahn's book The Year 2000 characterized 20th century Western Man as being faustian. It is debatable whether he was referring to continual striving or to a bargain in which man overcomes physical limitations and loses his "soul."
Television
In the 2000 Family Guy episode "Running Mates", Brian is reading Stewie to sleep when Stewie interrupts, instructing that when reading Faust, one must read the part of Mephistopheles in a scary voice.
Pen name
"Minister Faust" is a pen name for Canadian writer, broadcaster and activist Malcolm Azania; as Minister Faust, he wrote the science fiction novel and social satire The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad.
Drum Corps
The 2006 show of the Drum and Bugle Corps Phantom Regiment is entitled "Faust" and is based on the folktale. It includes such works as, Scythian Suite by Sergei Prokofiev, Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, Piano Concerto by John Corigliano, and Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") by Gustav Mahler.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Faust (disambiguation).
Faust (Latin Faustus) is the protagonist of a popular German tale of a pact with the Devil, assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540). It has been used as the basis for many different fictional works, most notably by Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Klaus Mann, Thomas Mann, Clive Barker, Charles Gounod, Hector Berlioz, Arrigo Boito, Oscar Wilde, Terry Pratchett, Mikhail Bulgakov, Fernando Pessoa, Anne Rice, and Michael Swanwick.
Contents [hide]
1 General plot
2 Origin
3 History
4 Origin of Mephistopheles in Faust
5 Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
5.1 Drama
5.2 Opera
5.3 Classical Music
5.4 Popular Music
5.5 Musical "Faustian pacts"
5.6 Poetry
5.7 Prose fiction
5.8 Film
5.9 Musicals
5.10 Anime and manga
5.11 Video games
5.12 Comic books
5.13 Nonfiction
5.14 Television
5.15 Pen name
5.16 Drum Corps
6 See also
7 Sources
8 External links
[edit]
General plot
The story concerns the fate of a learned scholar named Faust, who in his quest for the true essence of life ("was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhaelt"), summons the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles, often also referred to as Mephisto), who offers to serve him as long as Faust lives. Mephistopheles may receive Faust's soul, but only when Faust has attained the zenith of human happiness. In the second Part of the Faust tragedy (Faust 2), Faust really does have the pleasure to experience the latter, however, Mephisto, trying to grab Faust's soul when the protagonist dies, is burnt down by the empowering force of love. Faust deserves to go to heaven, because of his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding ("man must strive and err") that exceeds the limits set for human beings.
[edit]
Origin
While most scholars believe the story of Faust originated in northern Germany, committed to print in 1587 with the publishing of a little chapbook bearing the title Historia von D. Iohan Fausten, other scholars are quick to note that historia is Latin for Geschichte (German word for story or history) and Iohan is Latin for Johann. The choice of languages may imply the existence of an even earlier, independent source in Latin, such as that which Jacob Bidermann used for his treatment of the legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus.
There are other theories of origin for Faust. In the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century a Dutch play attributed to Anna Bijns appeared which may offer a template for the Faust legend. Mary of Nijmeghen dramatizes the story of a young woman convinced by a demon, One-Eyed Moenen, to sell her soul to learn the seven liberal arts. She lives a dissolute life for some time until, moved by a morality play, she regrets her bargain and seeks forgiveness. Unlike Faustus, Mary repents and, after a long penitence, receives her reward in heaven.
In either case, the little chapbook, already in circulation in Northern Germany, found its way to England where it was translated into English by a certain "P. F., Gent[leman]" in 1592 as The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death of Doctor Iohn Faustus (unpreserved). It was this work that Christopher Marlowe used for his somewhat more ambitious play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (published c. 1600). Additionally, Marlowe borrowed from Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, on the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope. Another possible inspiration of Marlowe's version is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.
Along with Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (published c. 1602), Marlowe's version served to inspire Goethe's later Faust, which may be considered the more definitive classic work.
[edit]
History
The Faust tale is a variation of the story about a negotiated pact between man and the devil, involving human hubris and diabolic cunning; the oldest extant version is the tale of Theophilus of Adana.
The origin of the protagonist's name and persona remains unclear. It is widely assumed to be based on the figure of the German magician and alchemist Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540), a dubious magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen, Württemberg, who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. According to one account Faust's poor reputation became legendary while he was in prison, where in exchange for wine he "offered to show a chaplain how to remove hair from his face without a razor; the chaplain provided the wine and Faustus provided the chaplain with a salve of arsenic, which removed not only the hair but the flesh."(Barnett) Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon are said to have alleged Faust's companionship with the devil.
However, it is also possible that the name "Faust" (German for "fist") is related to Italian "fausto". Fausto is possibly derived from the Latin adjective "faustus", meaning "auspicious" or "lucky". There may also be a connection with the fustum (Latin for "doctor's staff") of Aesculapius and other doctors of the time, an item likely to have figured prominently in the Legend of the Damnation of the Good Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus, which also was an influence on Goethe's version.
The name of "Faust" has since become attached to any number of legendary tales about a charlatan alchemist (some claim "astrologer and necromancer"), whose pride, vanity, and vile hucksterism would inevitably lead to his doom. Similarly, the adjective "faustian" has come to denote any acts or constellations that involve human hubris leading to doom.
In Polish folklore there exists a tale with a Pan Twardowski in a role similar to Faust's, which seems to have originated roughly at the same time. It is unclear if and to what extent the two tales have a common origin or influenced each other. The figure of Pan Twardowski is supposedly based on a 16th century German emigrant to Kraków, then the Polish capital, possibly John Dee or Edward Kelley. According to Melanchthon, the historic Johann Faust had studied in Kraków, as well.
[edit]
Origin of Mephistopheles in Faust
It may be a mere coincidence, but the parts of speech found in the word Mephistopheles bear an uncanny resemblance to the Greek phrase "me Fisto philos" (μη Φιστо φιλος), translating out to "I am someone not friendly to Fistus" (where Fistus is homophonous to Faustus).
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Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
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Drama
Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1604~1610)
Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (1602)
Gotthold Lessing's play, Doktor Faustus, mentioned in a contribution to a magazine (1759), but otherwise left unfinished and collected and published posthumously (1784) in its original, incomplete form
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust
Christian Dietrich Grabbe's Don Juan und Faust (1829)
Nikolaus Lenau's Faust (1836)
Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
Fernando Pessoa's Fausto Tragédia Subjectiva (Faust Subjective Tragedy)
Dorothy L. Sayers' The Devil to Pay
Václav Havel's Temptation
Clive Barker's The Damnation Game
Michel Carre's Faust et Marguerite
Mark Ravenhill's Faust is Dead
David Mamet's Faustus
David M. Nevarrez's "The Pact" (playlet) and The Damnable Doctor Faustus
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Opera
Henri Pousseur (music) and Michel Butor (libretto), Votre Faust (1961-68), opera for five actors, four singers, thirteen instruments, and electronic music, in which the audience decides by vote the course of the action at several points. Pousseur has also composed several "satellite" works related to this opera: Miroir de Votre Faust (Caractères II) for solo piano and (optional) soprano (1964-65), Jeu de Miroirs de Votre Faust for piano, soprano and tape (1964-65) Echos de Votre Faust for mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, and piano (1961-69), Les Ruines de Jéruzona for mixed choir and "rhythm section" (1978), La Passion selon Guignol for amplified vocal quartet and orchestra (1981), Parade de Votre Faust for orchestra (1974), and Aiguillages au carrefour des immortels for 16 or 17 instruments (2002)
Konrad Boehmer's Doktor Faustus (1983), libretto by Hugo Claus
Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868)
Havergal Brian's Faust
Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust (1916-25)
D'Hervé's Le Petit Faust
Charles Gounod's Faust (1859)
Sergei Prokofiev's opera based on Bryusov's The Fiery Angel
Ludwig Spohr's Faust
Heinrich Zoellner's Faust`
Alfred Schnittke's Historia von D. Johann Fausten
Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress
Hector Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust
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Classical Music
Hector Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust (1845-46) (sometimes performed in staged opera versions)
Sarasate's "Faust Fantasy" is a showpiece for violin and piano based on the Faust story.
The second movement of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande Sonate (published 1848)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song — Aus Goethes Faust: "Es war einmal ein König"
Charles Gounod's Ballet music from his opera Faust (1859). The ballet occurs as an interlude in the Fourth Act during the Walpurgisnacht scene familiar from Goethe's Faust Part 1. The ballet or ballet music is often performed independently from the opera.
Franz Liszt was fascinated by the Faust legend, particularly with the character of Mephistopheles. He wrote several musical works on this idea, including:
Faust Symphony (1854–57)
"Two Episodes based on Lenau's Faust," the second of which is the famous "Mephisto Waltz No. 1"
"Mephisto Waltzes" (4)
Part II of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906–07)
Modest Mussorgsky: "Mephistopheles' song of the flea", is just that: a version of the song that Mephistopheles sings in the tavern scene of Goethe's Faust, pt. 1.
Randy Newman's Faust (1993)
Alfred Schnittke's Faust Cantata (1982-83)
Franz Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814)
Robert Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust (completed 1853)
Igor Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat (1918) tells the story of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that predicts the future of the economy.
Richard Wagner's Faust overture (1840, originally intended as the first movement of a Faust symphony)
John Adams' new opera Doctor Atomic was originally commissioned as an American Faust telling, and the composer admits that the opera still retains Faustian elements. Its subject matter is Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.
In 2006 the German composer Ernst Heckel and the English writer Richard Bunting published a modern rock musical titled "Faust".
The texts of the Dutch composer Alexander Comitas' Walpurgisnacht, a piece for fanfare band and choir, come from Goethe's Faust.
In their 2006 show, Phantom Regiment, a Drum and Bugle Corps, played original music to depict the story of Faust.
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Popular Music
Frank Zappa's "Titties & Beer", from the album "Zappa in New York" and others, has the Devil stealing the protagonist's large-breasted girlfriend and their beer, and demands he make a deal to get them back. This so perturbs the Devil that the opposite of Faust's gamble happens.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra's album Beethoven's Last Night includes Faustian references; Beethoven in a deal with Mephistopheles must choose between his, possibly fictional, tenth symphony or his soul.
Gothic rock band Mephisto Walz, probably based on Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.
Art Zoyd's song Faust.
The Fall's song Dktr Faustus (1986), also known as Faust Banana.
The Charlie Daniels Band's 1979 hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
Avant-garde/progressive black metal band Arcturus's album, La Masquerade Infernale (1997) alludes to the tale and is dedicated to the "Faustian spirit".
American/Norwegian melodic power metal band Kamelot's albums, Epica (2003) and The Black Halo (2005) are a two-part epic based on the Faust tale, though not the same story.
Murdoc Niccals, bassist of the British animated band Gorillaz, claims he had sold his soul to the devil so that the album Demon Days would succeed, and that his middle name was Faust.
British Rock band Muse's song 'The Small Print', from the album Absolution, describes the plight of Faust from the viewpoint of the Devil. The song's working title was "Action Faust".
Popular British metal band 'Cradle of Filth' have a song entitled 'Absinthe With Faust' on their 2004 'Nymphetamine' album.
Racebannon, a heavy/experimental band from Indiana, released an album entitled Satan's Kickin Yr Dick In. It describes a man who desires success as a pop star selling his soul to the Devil and the consequences of his actions.
Brazilian death metal band Mystifier released a song on their album Wicca/Göetia entitled "The True Story about Doctor Faust's Pact with Mephistopheles".
Norwegian Black Metal act "Emperor" briefly contained a member who used the pseudonym Faust, he was imprisoned for murder in 1993 and has since been released.
Greek death metal band Septic Flesh's last album, Sumerian Daemons, contains a song called Faust.
German kraut-rock band Faust, a founder of industrial and electronic rock.
Faust is a B-side on the Gorillaz album G-Sides.
Faust Flag is the pseudonym for the drummer of The Pop Culture Suicides, which features ex-Marilyn Manson guitarist Zim Zum.
The Phantom Regiment drum & bugle corps' 2006 program was named "Faust", and is an abstract telling of the story.
Randy Newman's Faust (1993)
Jazz outfit Benevento/Russo Duo have a song entitled 'Mephisto'.
Swedish Melodic Death Metal band Arch Enemy have a song titled 'Sinister Mephisto' on their second album, 'Stigmata'.
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Musical "Faustian pacts"
Blues legend Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his skills with the guitar.
Like Robert Johnson, violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini was also said to have sold his soul in exchange for his musical skills.
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Poetry
Heinrich Heine's "Der Doktor Faust"
Carol Ann Duffy's "Mrs Faust"
Delmore Schwartz's "Faust in Old Age"[1]
Dale Pendell's "Pharmako Gnosis"
Paul Celan's "Death Fugue"
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Prose fiction
William Beckford's "Vathek"
Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster"
Valery Bryusov's The Fiery Angel: the tavern scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 1, is spliced into the rest of Bryusov's storyline.
Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita
Adelbert von Chamisso's Peter Schlemihl's Remarkable Story (Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, 1814)
Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness"
William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!"
Carl Deuker's On the Devil's Court
Philip K. Dick's Galactic Pot-Healer
Samuel Adams Drake's Jonathan Moulton and the Devil
João Guimarães Rosa's Grande Sertão: Veredas (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands)
Thomas Harris's Silence of the Lambs
John Hersey's Too Far to Walk
Herman Hesse's Demian
Tom Holt's Faust Among Equals
Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker"
Ed Kleiman’s “North End Faust"
Alfred Jarry's Faustroll
Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera
Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus
Klaus Mann's Mephisto
Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer
Terry Pratchett's Faust Eric
Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire"
Anne Rice's "Memnoch the Devil"
Stendhal's The Red and the Black
Michael Swanwick's Jack Faust
Ivan Turgenev's Faust
Douglass Wallop's The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
Zoran Živković's Time-gifts
Matthew Lewis's The Monk
Roger Zelazny and Robert Sheckley's If at Faust You Don't Succeed
Film
The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989)
F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Forbidden Planet (1957) Based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, but in which high technology in the service of the id plays the role of the Devil.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moores Bedazzled (1967), remade in 2000
Richard Burton and Nevill Coghill's Doctor Faustus (1967)
Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Phantom of the Opera (1983)
Jan Svankmajer's Faust (1994)
I Was A Teenage Faust
Rowdy Herrington's A Murder Of Crows
Ãlex Ollé's Fausto 5.0
István Szabó's Mephisto (1981 film)
The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
Stephen King's Needful Things (1993)
Walter Hill's Crossroads (1986)
Angel Heart (1987)
David Lynch's Lost Highway (1997)
Brian Yuzna's Faust: Love of the Damned (2001)
Tombstone (1993)
Alex Ollé & Isidro Ortiz 's Fausto 5.0 (2001)
Egon Lomack's Faust and Furious (2003)
James McTeigue and the Wachowski brothers's V for Vendetta (2005)
Eric Leisers's Faustbook (2006)
George Lucas's Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Michael Mann's Thief (1981) Although not completely alluding to Faust, the deal that Frank (played by James Caan) makes with Leo (played by Robert Prosky) could be that of Faustian nature.
Gore Verbrinski's Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (2006), With Davey Jones as the devil and Captain Jack Sparrow offering his soul in return for the Black Pearl and later trying to escape from the bargain.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Jan Å vankmajer's Faust
Silent Hill (2006), in which a victimised child makes a pact with Satan in the guise of her former self to reek vengeance on the religious fanatics who wronged her. The demon's side of the bargain is not revealed.
Musicals
Randy Newman's stage musical Faust.
Little Shop of Horrors, as well as the movie version of the stage version, Little Shop of Horrors.
The comedy-musical Damn Yankees.
Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise has songs that allude to the tale of Faust, such as Faust and Beauty And The Beast.
The musical play Disco Inferno.
Anime and manga
Shaman King features a character who raises the dead to bring back his love. This character is a direct descendant of Faust (and thus is known by most as Faust VIII).
Saber Marionette (The antagonistic ruler of the kingdom of Gartlant in Saber Marionette J)
Faust Münchhausen (a villain seen in the Urotsukidoji movies)
Deel Faust (The impish kid Devil General of Wind in "Devil (&) Devil")
Elfen Lied (As a child, the protagonist makes a bargin with a vision of herself, in which she agrees to destroy all humanity so that she may create a home for herself.)
Monster (In episode 59 of the Anime, a character makes a reference to introducing Faust to Mephistopheles)
Video games
Stauf, the main character in The 7th Guest is an anagram of "Faust".
The 'Big Boss' of the Dead End Gang gang in Vendetta is called Faust. He blows poisonous green fumes from his mouth as a special attack.
Faustus is the name of a minor villain in Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
Guilty Gear series, "Faust" (Guilty Gear X, Guilty Gear XX)
Max Payne, in which the mob member Jack Lupino is attempting the "Faustian deal".
Dr. Faustus was a character in the cancelled Playstation 1 game, "Thrill Kill."
In the Soul Calibur series, Faust is the name of Siegfried Schtauffen's first sword. Additionally the character Nightmare is what Siegfried becomes after laying hands on the demon blade and losing his soul.
Faust is a secret boss in the Playstation 1 game "The Legend of Dragoon"
Faust is a notorious monster (in this case, a giant arcane "doll" (robot) creature) in Final Fantasy XI.
Faust: The Seven Games of the Soul (PC Game - very loosely based on Goethe's Faust).
In the opening cutscene of the PlayStation 1 game Xenogears, one of the computer operators reports that Deus has accessed the 'Control System Faust', which it uses to alter the Eldridge's course.
In the computer game FreeSpace 2, the Faust is a class of vessels intended for scientific research.
Panzer Faust and Iorn Faust are weapons in the Phantasy Star Online series.
Mephisto is the boss in Diablo 2, Act III.
Comic books
The comic book Faust was published in the 80s and 90s by artist Tim Vigil and writer David Quinn. The book follows a story template similar to the opera Faust, but is an updated version. Rebel Studios, an independent label originally published it, but it was later picked up by Avatar Press and a subsequent sequel series was created. Both are extremely sexual and violent series.
Felix Faust is a magical supervillain in the universe of DC Comics. He appeared first in 1962 as an adversary of the Justice League of America.
Jack Faust was the name of a magician in Alan Moore's series Promethea, and is also referred to in other books from the America's Best Comics imprint.
In Help!, Volume 2, Number 1, February 1962, Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder produced "Goodman Goes Playboy." In it, Goodman Beaver sells his soul to Mephistopheles in order to gain the material and sexual benefits that were extolled monthly in Playboy magazine. This comic strip, however, was legally suppressed by the creators of Archie Comics because it disparaged their cartoon character and his companions.
Dr. John Dee, a Renaissance scholar who was a likely inspiration for Marlowe's version of the "Faust" story, is a character in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The first time we see William Shakespeare, he is in a tavern talking to Christopher Marlowe, and he mentions the success of his book on Dr. Faustus. Additionally, the character of the Scarecrow quotes Marlowe's play of Faust ('It is a comfort in wretchedness to have companions in woe').
In the Hong Kong comic strip The World of Lily Wong one of the main characters, Stuart Wright, once worked at a very immoral advertising agency called Faust Associates. Their company logo resembled a devil.
The fifth chapter of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta references Faust, and the deal he made.
In the anime/manga Shaman King, one of the subcharacters is called Faust VIII and is portrayed as a depressed, secluded person with the skeleton of his dead wife in his coat.
A humour webcomic adaptation of Faust, by Claus Thomsen.
The character Spawn created by Todd McFarlane is very similar to the Faust tale.
Nonfiction
Bertrand Russell's essay "A Free Man's Worship"
Oswald Spengler's book "The Decline of the West" labeled Western society as 'Faustian'
Peter Gowan's book "The Global Gamble - Washington's Faustian Bid for World Dominance"
Herman Kahn's book The Year 2000 characterized 20th century Western Man as being faustian. It is debatable whether he was referring to continual striving or to a bargain in which man overcomes physical limitations and loses his "soul."
Television
In the 2000 Family Guy episode "Running Mates", Brian is reading Stewie to sleep when Stewie interrupts, instructing that when reading Faust, one must read the part of Mephistopheles in a scary voice.
Pen name
"Minister Faust" is a pen name for Canadian writer, broadcaster and activist Malcolm Azania; as Minister Faust, he wrote the science fiction novel and social satire The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad.
Drum Corps
The 2006 show of the Drum and Bugle Corps Phantom Regiment is entitled "Faust" and is based on the folktale. It includes such works as, Scythian Suite by Sergei Prokofiev, Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, Piano Concerto by John Corigliano, and Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection") by Gustav Mahler.
