Goethe’s Faust is my first reading of a Faustian tale. I’ve been aware of the existence of numerous literary and musical compositions based on this medieval legend of a man selling his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited power, but they never interested me much. Yet, I felt I needed to read Goethe’s take because it has been called his masterpiece. Having read this, my first thought is that although Goethe’s Faust has retained the basic outline of the medieval legend, Goethe’s take is more personal. His real intention seems to be to provoke a discussion about conventional religion and conventional morality, and how ill-adapted those concepts are to understand human nature and God’s mercy.
Goethe’s Faust is a professor, a highly learned scholar of many disciplines. In part 1, we meet him in a state of extreme dissatisfaction with life. For all his intellect and learning, Faust hasn’t found fulfillment in life. The meaning of life has eluded him. He is torn between worldly desires and spiritual aspirations. His faith in God is dubious. He sees no path towards finding satisfaction and fulfillment. This is where the devil steps in. He tempts Faust with promises of worldly pleasures. Faust succumbs.
As Part 1 progresses, the devil learns Faust’s weakness to be lust. He happily helps Faust to fulfill his erotic pleasures by securing him a young, beautiful, and trusting woman. The devil’s plan is to secure Faust’s soul by letting him sin. But here the plan goes awry. Although Faust sins, he sincerely loves the girl and tries to save her from her doom. This repentant act may yet save his soul.
Goethe saw sinning as part of human nature. He didn’t believe in outright condemnation of sinners. He rejected that side of conventional religion. Goethe was of the view that those who sin cannot evade responsibility, yet he believed that if the motives were pure and if the sinner repents enough and acts to right the wrong, he could still receive God’s mercy. Salvation to Goethe was a direct contract between God and man. There was no intermediary. The church had no part in it because it was incapable of performing its office due to its notions of conventional religion and conventional morality. To Goethe, the Church didn’t understand either God’s mercy or human nature.
The church’s incapability is further examined through the tragedy of Gretchen. She was the young girl whom Faust wronged. Gretchen’s tragedy was not sinning, although she cannot escape responsibility for her actions. Her greatest tragedy was the harsh judgment conventional religion and morality pronounced on her, leading her to commit one sin upon another. Unlike the Church and society, God’s mercy is wide to those who truly repent for their sins, as shown at the end.
Part 2 was quite a contrast to Part 1. I was pre-warned to limit my reading to Part 1 because it is confusing. I intended to stick to Part 1, but when I finished, curiosity urged me to continue. So, I did. It was confusing, alright. I didn’t comprehend what Goethe was driving at. Nor could I work a connection between the two parts. But here is the thing. Confusing it may be, but it wasn’t boring. I read on without any difficulty. That was a new experience for me, reading on without understanding and not feeling bored! I do fully fathom now why Faust is called Goethe’s masterpiece.
The tale of Faust is dark and tragic. The story is interesting enough. But what I truly enjoyed was Goethe’s humour. It highly entertained me. So were his lyrical and rhyming verses. It was such a pleasure to read them. The dark tragedy became so much bearable thanks to Goethe’s skill in writing.
Rating: 4/5
