In this blog post, I offer a simple, unbiased commentary on Goethe’s poetic drama ‘Faust’.
Work Commentary
Since this poetic drama ‘Faust’, to which Goethe devoted his entire life, may require some explanation for readers, I have provided a simple, unbiased commentary. This article is intended to aid general readers in appreciating the work and is not meant to replace scholarly research. If you need a more detailed understanding, I recommend consulting annotations or commentaries.
The Legend of Faust
The story that served as the basis for the poetic drama ‘Faust’ is said to be an account of the wanderings of a magician named Johann Faust, who is said to have actually lived during the 15th and 16th centuries; however, there is very little evidence to support this as a true story. Rather, the view that the legend was created by adding various intriguing tales of magic to the life of a real person is more persuasive. According to the oldest account of the legend, published in 1587 in Frankfurt am Main—Goethe’s birthplace—the story goes as follows.
Born in Rodda near Weimar as the son of a farmer, Faust stayed with relatives in Wittenberg, where he studied theology at the university and earned a doctorate in theology. Driven by his innate intelligence and thirst for knowledge, he went on to study medicine and earned a doctorate in medicine as well; after studying mathematics and astronomy, he even turned to magic in his quest to explore the origins of all things in the universe. However, realizing that this was utterly impossible through human effort alone, he resolved to make a pact with the devil, Mephistopheles, in order to fulfill this desire.
In the middle of the night in the forest, Faust summoned the devil through magic and proposed a pact, but was told that the permission of the Prince of Darkness was required. After obtaining the demon king’s permission, the demon agreed to lend Faust his powers for 24 years. They sealed a blood pact under the condition that Mephistopheles would become Faust’s servant, while Faust would renounce God, become an enemy of Christ, never return to God, and surrender his soul to the devil after 24 years. It is said that when the blood pact is sealed, blood flows to form the words “O homo fuge!” (“Flee, O man!”).
In the first few years after the contract, Faust stays in Wittenberg and experiences bizarre events. During this time, he develops a desire for a life of pleasure and wishes to marry, but Mephistopheles uses every means at his disposal to dissuade him. While pleasure and depravity are the devil’s domain, marriage belongs to the realm of God from a Lutheran perspective, so Mephistopheles approaches the matter of marriage with caution. The two then tour Heaven and Hell, visit the Papal Palace in Rome and Constantinople, and even perform strange magic tricks before Emperor Charles V.
It is said that winged horses and a magical cloak were used for these aerial journeys. After completing his eight-year journey and returning to his hometown of Wittenberg, Faust, following the advice of a devout neighbor, resolves to change his ways and break his contract with the devil, but fails due to the devil’s interference. In despair and regret, he tries to distract himself with sensual pleasures and recalls how, at a student banquet in the past, he had used magic to summon Helen of Troy, the Greek beauty.
His longing for Helen flares up again, and Mephistopheles eventually grants his wish. Faust and Helen fall passionately in love and even have a son; the boy is a precocious child prodigy with prophetic powers, which brings the couple great joy. However, the 24-year term of the contract was already drawing to a close, and Faust fell into deep regret and despair over the sins he had committed. After spending one last evening with his friends, offering them words of warning and farewell, he died in a storm; his soul became the devil’s possession, and it is said that Helen and their son also vanished after his death.
Although there are various other variations, the above is a general outline of the widely accepted legend. This legend demonstrates that the belief in magic, which was widespread among the common people at the time, was understood as a betrayal of Christianity—particularly Lutheranism—and it can be interpreted as a tradition that emphasizes the victory of the Lutheran perspective in its conclusion. How Goethe treated this legend can be examined through the works of Enlightenment thinkers such as Lessing.
The Significance of Goethe’s ‘Faust’
The Faust legend has three distinctive features. First, the protagonist possesses a titanic character and seeks to indulge every desire; second, since these desires cannot be fulfilled through God’s power or light, he must ally himself with the devil to achieve them; and third, the tragic ending in which the protagonist perishes and his soul is condemned to eternal hell.
It is true that the young Goethe was captivated by this first characteristic—namely, the image of a being possessing colossal and burning desires. Goethe began writing ‘Faust’ in 1773, when he was twenty-four years old and attending the University of Strasbourg; this was during the ‘Sturm und Drang’ (Storm and Stress) literary movement. Goethe subsequently moved through the Classical and Romantic periods, finally completing the work in 1831, one year before his death.
Through Faust, a giant driven by burning desire, Goethe presents not merely a narrative of individual character but an archetype representing humanity as a whole. Goethe’s message is that the image of a human being who ceaselessly strives and seeks self-improvement must never perish but must be redeemed. His ‘Faust’ is not the growth story of a single individual but an interpretation of human nature in general, while simultaneously revealing Goethe’s perspective on nature and God.
Therefore, Goethe’s ‘Faust’ is a work that seeks to depict humanity’s attempt to understand God, to grasp the world through that understanding, and to strive to lead a true life in accordance with God’s will. From this perspective, the pact with the devil is merely a means to attempt a true life; since it is a means, the logic follows that it does not in itself constitute a reason for Faust’s downfall. Ultimately, Goethe’s Faust is portrayed as a redeemed being.
Furthermore, through this work, Goethe artistically expresses his personal experiences—from his youth to his later years—as well as the cultural and intellectual realities of the era in which he lived. In other words, ‘Faust’ can be described as an epic narrative that integrates Goethe’s personal life with the ideas of his time.
The Fundamental Idea of ‘Faust’
As mentioned earlier, the core element Goethe identified in the Faust legend is titanism—that is, a titanic conception of humanity. This includes the longing and striving to possess everything and reach the very foundation of the universe, as well as the perspective that even the resulting experiences of corruption, hedonism, and despair are ultimately part of the path leading to heaven. For this reason, Faust is ultimately portrayed as a redeemed being.
The “Celestial Overture” is the passage where Goethe most clearly reveals the fundamental ideology of ‘Faust’. Here, the entire universe—ruled by the three archangels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael, who are the lords of the cosmos—is understood as a unified whole, and all things are described as sublime and solemn, just as they were at the beginning of time. However, it is stated that even the angels do not know the fundamental principles underlying all order, harmony, and change.
Goethe views human activity as having a tendency to become too easily complacent and seek comfort; to stimulate and elevate this state, he introduces Mephistopheles, who mocks human reason. While humans wander in their quest for self-improvement, they are not satisfied with earthly life alone and harbor within themselves a higher purpose in life. Therefore, human life cannot be defined solely by earthly demands but must align with the fundamental principles of the universe and the order of nature.
From this perspective, Goethe views humanity as inherently destined to be redeemed to a pure state; while Faustian and Mephistophelean elements coexist within human nature, he believes that the Faustian element ultimately prevails.
