The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Faust, John

FAUST, foust or FAUSTUS, fâs'tus, Dr. John, German magician: b. Knittlingen, Suabia; d. Staufen 1538. The facts of his life have almost entirely disappeared amid the legends and fables in which they have become wrapped up. He appears to have been a charlatan and adventurer who traveled from place to place, putting himself forward as a physician, alchemist and astrologer, and as a great magician and enchanter. At Würzburg he professed that he could perform all the miracles that Christ performed, and at Wittenberg claimed that the successes of the imperial troops in Italy had been brought about by his magical powers. Among the credulous and ignorant he naturally found many to put faith in his claims and at last his name became associated with a whole series of marvels. The first literary work of which he is the subject was published at Frankfort in 1587, by Johann Spies, and professes to narrate the ‘History of Dr. John Faust, the Far-famed Enchanter, and Professor of the Black Art.’ Enlarged editions soon appeared and the book was translated into English (about 1587), Low German, Flemish and French. In it we find most of the famous stories associated with Faust's name; how he sold himself to the devil for a period of 24 years; how, by the aid of the fiend Mephistopheles, he and his attendant and pupil, Wagner, were able for this time to enjoy all sorts of sensual delights and to travel about performing the most marvelous exploits, and how at last, when the end of the fatal compact arrived, after a night of dreadful tempest, his body was found almost torn limb from limb, lying on a dunghill at the village of Rimlich, near Wittenberg. It was on the English translation of Spies' book that Marlowe's great tragedy, ‘The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,’ was based (1589). In 1599 the legendary history of Faust appeared at Hamburg in a new form, as narrated by G. R. Widmann, a zealous Lutheran, always eager to draw a lesson from the events with which he deals. In an altered edition of this by Pfitzer (1674) we first find the germ of Goethe's Margaret, the maiden whose fate is so tragically connected with that of Faust, in the great drama of the German poet. In the second part of his ‘Faust,’ Goethe has attempted a poetical solution of the legend. Through all vicissitudes he leads Faust to a point where at last he experiences the feeling of perfect happiness in devoting his intellectual faculties to the promotion of the welfare of his kind. Then he has attained the end which he has pointed out to Mephistopheles as the object of all his longings, and is removed from this life, not, however, to be lost, but to be saved by love, the “ever-womanly” that “leads us on high.” Goethe's famous poem attempts to show that man's longing after knowledge may lead him into many errors and failings, but cannot destroy his better nature. The story of Faust is essentially melodramatic and this, combined with its strong dramatic and spectacular features, has made it a popular story since the days of its first appearance in print. Marlowe, who followed the popular legend closely, recognized these dramatic elements and handled them with great skill. His drama, therefore, became one of the most successful plays in England and long held the boards. The legend of Faust took hold of the fancy of all Europe and traditions of the story were made from German into all the languages of the Continent. These formed the bases for countless stories founded upon the spectacular and miraculous elements in the Faust legend, which took strong hold of the religious fancy of the reformers from the days of Luther on. In these semi-religious, semi-pagan stories, Faust is ever represented as siding with or representing the forces of evil. So, therefore, when Goethe presents the salvation of Faust he goes contra to the whole spirit of the popular legend which always made the damnation of Faust the legitimate result of his compact with the devil. In his version, however, Goethe followed the brood of Faust stories of his day, many of which delighted in depicting the outwitting of the powers of evil and the ultimate salvation of him who had entered into relationship with them.

Goethe's ‘Faust’ was arranged for the stage by W. G. Willis in 1885. Among the various English translations of Goethe's ‘Faust’ that by Bayard Taylor is one of the most important. The opera of ‘Faust’ by Gounod was first produced in 1859. Lessing was attracted to the Faust story and essayed the subject in 1759 in his ‘Faust and the Seven Spirits.’ In 1778 Frederich Müller published parts of a drama of ‘Faust’ and Klinger published in 1791 a romance entitled ‘Faust's Life, Death and Journey to Hell.’ This was translated into English by Borrow in 1826. Goethe, who had long been attracted by the Faust story, published his first ‘Faust Fragment’ in 1790. The first completed part of ‘Faust’ appeared in 1808 and the second in 1832. It at once became popular in Germany and soon translations appeared in most of the languages of Europe. The most noted theatrical production of ‘Faust’ in English was that by Henry Irving of Will's adaptation. Two other well-known Faust tragedies in German were written, one by Klingemann (1815) and the other by Lenau (1836). This latter is full of the restless spirit of the age and is only overshadowed by Goethe's greater work. Rembrandt, Christoph von Sichem, Cornelius and Retzsch have illustrated the story of Faust. Naturally there is a vast amount of Faust literature of an explanatory historical and critical nature, the larger part of which has had its origin in Germany and the other Germanic countries. One of the best collections of the older Faust legends, stories and writings is that published by K. Engel in 1885.