Theatre
Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808
Synopsis
In heaven, Mephistopheles wagers with the Lord that he will lead the scholar Faust away from the right path. Faust, growing old, despairs of having learned nothing of worth despite all his studies. A black poodle that has followed him on a walk turns out to be Mephistopheles, who offers to serve him on earth; Faust accepts, laying down a wager: he will belong to him the day he wishes to hold on to a moment of happiness. Made young again by a witch, he meets the young Margaret, called Gretchen.
Context
A first version of the play, known as the Urfaust, came into being in the early 1770s; a fragment appeared in 1790, the first part in 1808, and the second, completed in the summer of 1831, was published in 1832, a few months after Goethe's death. The first part was staged in full in Brunswick in January 1829; the two parts were staged together in Weimar in 1876, with heavy cuts, and performed without cuts for the first time in 1938 in Dornach, Switzerland. Gérard de Nerval published a French translation of it in 1828, at the age of twenty.
Who it is for
A tragedy in two parts, written for the most part in rhymed verse, rarely performed in full.
Prizes and reception
The play that draws the largest audiences on German-language stages, and one of the most quoted in the language.