Faust
- This article is about the protagonist of several fictional works. For other uses see Faust (band) and Faust (Guilty Gear).
Faust or Faustus is the protagonist of a popular German tale that has been used as the basis for many different fictional works. The story concerns the fate of a learned gentleman named Faust, who in his quest for forbidden or advanced knowledge of material things, summons the Devil (represented by Mephistopheles), who offers to serve him for a period of time, at the cost of his soul.
An anonymous German author wrote the prose volume (chapbook) Historia von D. Iohan Fausten in 1587, which was translated into English by "P. F., Gent[leman]" in 1592 as The Historie of the damnable life, and deserved death of Doctor Iohn Faustus. This work was the basis for Christopher Marlowe's play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (published c. 1600) which, along with Jacob Bidermann's Cenodoxus (published c. 1602), served to inspire the later FaustTo book by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which may be considered the more definitive classical work.
Historical origins
The oldest story of a pact with the Devil is the story of Theophilus of Adana. Elements of his story appear in the story of Faust and in the story of Pan Twardowski.
The tale has some possible basis in a Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480-1540), who was born in the village of Knittlingen, Württemberg, and was granted a B.A. in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. This identity is not definite, and it may simply be that the name of "Faust" has 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.
"Faust's" poor reputation became legendary when while in prison, 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) Another very possible inspiration for Marlowe's Doctor Faustus is John Dee (1527-1609), who practised forms of alchemy and science and developed Enochian magic.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus appears to have been based almost entirely on the 1592 translation by "P.F.", with an additional borrowing from Acts and Monuments by John Foxe, in the exchanges between Pope Adrian and a rival pope.
The meme "Pact with the Devil" is a widespread cultural inheritance.
Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale
Drama
- Anonymous - Historia von D. Iohan Fausten (1587)
- Jacob Bidermann - Cenodoxus (1602)
- Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1604~1610)
- Dorothy L. Sayers's The Devil to Pay
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part One
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part Two
- Gertrude Stein's's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
- Michel Carre's Faust et Marguerite
- Mark Ravenhill's Faust is Dead
- David Mamet's Faustus
Opera
- 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
Music
- Queen's famous song, " Bohemian Rhapsody," was based on the tale of Faust.
- The third movement of Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande Sonate (published 1848)
- Hector Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust (1845-46) (sometimes performed in staged opera versions)
- 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 Walpurgis Night scene familiar from Goethe's Faust Part 1. The ballet or ballet music is often performed independent of 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 #1"
- "Mephisto Waltzes" (4)
- Part II of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906-07)
- 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.
- 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)
- Richard Wagner's Faust overture (1840, originally intended as the first movement of a Faust symphony)
- Art Zoyd's song Faust.
- The Fall's song Dktr Faustus (1986), also known as Faust Banana.
- Avant-garde/progressive black metal band Arcturus's album, La Masquerade Infernale (1997) alludes to the tale and is dedicated to the "Faustian spirit".
- Melodic power metal band Kamelot's albums, Epica (2003) and The Black Halo (2005) are a two-part adaptation of the Faust legend.
- Brian DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise (both the plot of the movie and a musical incorporated into the movie, titled "Foster", are based on the legend of Faust).
- British Rock band Muse's song 'The Small Print', from the album Absolution, describing the plight of Faust from the viewpoint of the Devil
- Popular British Black Metal band 'Cradle of Filth' have a song entitled 'Absinthe With Faust'on their 2004 'Nymphetamine' album.
- 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.
Poetry
Prose fiction
- Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita
- Adelbert von Chamisso's Peter Schlemihl's Remarkable Story (Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte, 1814)
- Tom Holt's Faust Among Equals
- Alfred Jarry's Faustroll
- Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus
- Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer
- Terry Pratchett's
FaustEric - Ivan Turgenev's Faust
- Douglass Wallop's The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
- Valery Bryusov's The Fiery Angel: the tavern scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 1, is spliced into the rest of Bryusov's storyline.
- Ed Kleiman’s “North End Faust"
- Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness"
- Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
- William Beckford's "Vathek"
Science fiction
Movies
- F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
- The Band Wagon
- Peter Cook and Dudley Moores Bedazzled (1967), remade in 2000.
- Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
- Jan Svankmajer's Faust (1994 film) (1994)
- I Was A Teenage Faust
- Rowdy Herrington's A Murder Of Crows
- Álex Ollé's Fausto 5.0
- István Szabó's Mephisto (1981 film)
- Stephen King's Needful Things (1993)
- Walter Hill's Crossroads (1986)
Musicals
Anime and manga
- Shaman King (A character in Shaman King, Faust VIII, is a descendant of Dr. Faust)
- Saber Marionette (The antagonistic ruler of the kingdom of Gartlant in Saber Marionette J)
- Faust Münchhausen (a villain seen in the Urotsukidoji movies)
Video Games
- 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)
- Dr. Faustus was a character in the cancelled Playstation 1 game, "Thrill Kill."
- Soul Edge series, Faust is the name of Siegfried Schtauffen's sword.
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.
- 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 fifth chapter of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta references Faust, and the deal he made.
Nonfiction
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.
"faust" is the name tag of a New Zealand player in the online game 'Battlefield 2' produced by EA Games. Faust is known to have a habit of flanking enemy lines to attack from behind and booby-trapping enemy vehicles, waiting for them to fill with players before destroying them, thereby getting easy kills. Faust is also known to favour a low death rate over a high kill rate.
See also
- Walpurgis Night
- The Brocken a.k.a. Blocksberg
- Brocken specter
- Jonathan Moulton, the "Yankee Faust"
- Pan Twardowski, the "Polish Faust"
Sources
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Edited and with and introduction by Sylvan Barnett (1969, Signet Classics)
External links
- Devilish Deeds in Staufen
- Pacts with the Devil: Faust and Precursors
- E-texts:
- Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at Project Gutenberg
- Tragical History of Dr. Faustus at Project Gutenberg (Quarto of 1604)
- Tragical History of Dr. Faustus at Project Gutenberg (Quarto of 1616)
- At Projekt Gutenberg-DE:
- Marlowe's Dr. Faustus
- Jan Svankmajer's Faust
Faust is also the German word for fist, although the name "Faust" may be related to Italian "Fausto" rather than the German word. Fausto is possibly derived from a 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 led to the sanctification of St. Bruno, an eye-witness to the macabre event.