The 18th century, which ended with the Great French Revolution, developed under the sign of doubt, destruction, objections and passionate belief in the victory of the mind over superstitions and prejudices, civilization over barbarism, humanism over tyranny and injustice. Therefore, historians call it the century of the Enlightenment. The ideology of the Enlighteners triumphed in an era when the old medieval way of life was crumbling and a new, bourgeois order, progressive for that time, was forming. The Enlightenment ardently defended ideas cultural development, self-government, will, defended the interests of the masses, branded the yoke of feudalism, backwardness and conservatism of the Church.
The stormy era gave birth to its titanites - Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau in France, Lomonosov in Russia, Schiller and Goethe in Germany. And their heroes - at the end of the century, Danton, Marat, Robespierre rose to the stands of the revolutionary Convention in Paris.
The artistic tastes of the era were different. The bizarre baroque still reigned in architecture, the Alexandrian verses of the tragedies of Racine and Corneille sounded from the theater horses. But more and more popularity was gained by works, the heroes of which were people of the "third pledge". In the middle of the century, the genre of a sentimental novel in letters emerged - readers with excitement followed the correspondence of lovers, experiencing their troubles and troubles. And in Strasbourg, a group of young poets and playwrights appeared, then entered the literature under the name "Storm and Pressure". The heroes of their works are brave loners who challenge the world of violence and injustice
Goethe's work was a kind of result of the century of the Enlightenment, the result of his searches and struggles. And the tragedy "Faust", which the poet created over thirty years, repulsed the movement of not only scientific and philosophical ideas, but also literary directions... Although the time of action in "Faust" is not defined, its scope is infinitely expanded, the whole complex of ideas clearly correlates with the era of Goethe. After all, the first part of it was written in 1797-1800 under the influence of the ideas and realizations of the Great French Revolution, and the last scenes were written in 1831, when Europe experienced the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Restoration
Goethe's tragedy is based on the folk legend of Faust, which arose in XVI century, its hero is a rebel who wants to penetrate the secret of nature, which opposes the church's idea of \u200b\u200bslavish obedience and humility. In a fantastic form of grievances, Faust embodied the forces of progress that could not be stifled among the people, just as it was impossible to stop the course of history. Goethe was close to this seeker of truth, not satisfied with German reality
The enlighteners, including Goethe, did not reject the idea of \u200b\u200bGod, they only questioned the doctrines of the church. And in "Faust" God appears as the supreme mind, which stands above the world, above good and evil. Faust, as interpreted by Goethe, is first of all a scientist, which questions everything - from the structure of the world to moral norms and rules of behavior. Raphael is an instrument of knowledge for him. The means of scientific research in Goethe's time were so imperfect that many scientists would agree to sell their souls to the devil in order to understand how the Sun and the planets or the human eye are arranged, why there are plague epidemics and what was on Earth before the appearance of man. Faust's rebellion, his inner torment, repentance and insight, which consists in the fact that only work for the benefit of humanity makes a person invulnerable to boredom and despondency - all this is the artistic embodiment of the ideas of the Enlightenment, one of the geniuses of which Buvete.
STATE EDUCATIONAL
ESTABLISHMENT
HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
ST. PETERSBURG STATE
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMY AND FINANCE "
Department in English and translation
Philosophy Abstract
On the topic of:
"Philosophical problems of" Faust "by I. Goethe"
Performed:
2nd year full-time student,
Group L - 201
Kasatkina Ksenia
St. Petersburg
2011
- Introduction. P. 3
- Chapter 1. Stages of development of the problem of self-knowledge
and the world by man. P. 4-5 - Chapter 2. The emergence of the image of Faust. P. 6-7
- Chapter 3. Philosophical problems in tragedy
Goethe's Faust. P. 8-11 - Conclusion. P. 12
- List of references. P. 13
Introduction.
Many philosophers and writers have pondered and reflect on the problem of knowing oneself and the world by man. There are many theories and opinions regarding this problem. A person began to know the world and himself and continues to do it in stages, and each stage has its own characteristic features. The problem of human cognition of the world is covered in many works. But not all of them are as vivid and memorable as J. Goethe's tragedy "Faust". In his tragedy, Goethe reflects on more than one problem, but, in my opinion, he pays more attention to the problem of knowing himself and the world by man. That is why I want to single out this philosophical problem from the rest, and tell about it more than about others.
Chapter 1. Stages of development of the problem of knowledge of oneself and the world by man. 1
Modern civilization has gone through more than one stage in its development. The period, which is commonly called the New Time, began after the Renaissance, when culture began to free itself from the power of the church and a person again, as in antiquity, realized himself in the center of the world.
Man has always been the protagonist of culture. The development of human self-awareness is inseparable from thinking about human nature. "What is man?" "- many thinkers tried to elucidate this issue. Some believed that human nature is due to the fact of the Fall, others saw it in the rationality of man as a creature, and others in its sociality. At earlier stages of development, this question existed in another form - “What does a person depend on?” The ways of his understanding remain relevant in our time.First mythology, and later religion gave their answers to this question.
In the early stages of myth-making, man was dissolved in nature, he was completely dependent on it, but already by rituals he tried to influence it. In the era of heroes, this desire acquired the features of real deeds - ancient Greek heroes fought with the gods. This suggests that a person has risen to the next stage in the development of self-awareness, realized himself as a creature capable of standing up for himself. 2
After the finalization of Christianity, a person began to depend on the church. During the Middle Ages everything was subordinated to religion - culture, society, state, unbelief was persecuted and severely punished. During this period, a legend was formed about the contract between man and the devil, in which a man tried to outwit the devil, and later with his help to find and comprehend himself. This became a symbol of a change in worldview.
In the era of the Enlightenment, the worldview finally changed. Now thinkers were puzzled by another question - “What depends on a person?”, And the answer was unexpected: both the world around him and himself depend on the person. This discovery made the problem of comprehending the human essence, perhaps, the most urgent issue of cultural studies.
Philosophers of the Enlightenment considered man from various positions, highlighting one characteristic of human nature: a rational or sensory beginning, individual or social being, conscious or mechanical action. Thus, the question of the essence of man in the Age of Enlightenment was considered from various positions, each of which was undoubtedly important. Man cognized and cognizes himself and the world not only from a scientific point, but also from a spiritual point, the instrument of knowing the world of which is art. Its figurative nature has always served as the basis for ideas about the world that are more holistic than those with which scientific knowledge operates.
Chapter 2. The emergence of the image of Faust. 3
With the formation of a new anthropocentric civilization, the need for self-consciousness of the European man began to form. The plot of the Faust legend had a folk origin and expressed an old dream of a strong and free man.
The image of Faust had prototypes that appeared during the development of Christianity - these are the New Testament Simon the Magus, Cyprian and Justin of Antioch, and Theophilus. The first to embody the legend of Faust in a finished literary work was Johann Spies. His book was titled “The Story of Doctor Johann Faust, a famous sorcerer and warlock, how he signed a treaty with the devil for a certain period of time, what miracles he observed at that time, performed and worked himself, until finally his well-deserved reward came. Mostly extracted from his own posthumous writings and printed in order to serve as a frightening and disgusting example and a sincere warning to all godless and insolent people. " In this work, Faust was condemned by the author for atheism, but the fate of the hero was told in it so colorfully and vividly that one could enjoy the narrative, contrary to the moral teachings of the author. Pious work not only did not deprive Doctor Faust of his former popularity, but even increased it.
Spies's story about Faust summed up the fifty-year historical and folklore development of Faustian and recorded in detail the Faustian plot, as well as outlined the main circle of issues that are associated with the crime and punishment of the daring hero.
The fate of the second book about Doctor Faust, published in 1599, was the same as the fate of the book of Spies. No matter how sluggish the learned pen of the Honorable Heinrich Widmann was, no matter how overloaded his book was with condemnatory quotations from the Bible and the Church Fathers, it nevertheless quickly won a wide circle of readers, since it contained a number of new legends about the glorious warlock that were not included in the narration of Spis ...
The legend of Faust is the story of the connection between a proud person and evil spirits. Catholic monks and Lutheran pastors denounced him in every possible way, tried to prove that he was a miserable, unfortunate charlatan, died an agonizing death and was doomed to eternal torment in hell. But despite this, popular rumor attributed to him supernatural feats, brilliant victories in disputes and clashes with enemies, happiness in love. And although all legends also began with the fact that Faust entered into a conspiracy with the devil, in many cases unknown authors tended to sympathize with the hero and admire him with enthusiasm, rather than condemn and curse him.
It was these features of the legend that inspired one of Shakespeare's predecessors, the remarkable English playwright Christopher Marlowe, who wrote The Tragic Story of Doctor Faustus in 1588.
Contrary to the judgments of Lutheran theologians and moralists, Marlowe explained the actions of his hero not by his desire for carefree pagan epicureanism and easy profit, but by his insatiable thirst for knowledge. Thus, Marlowe was the first to return this popular fiction to its former ideological meaning, obscured by the legends of the official church.
Chapter 3. Philosophical problems in Goethe's tragedy "Faust". 4
The peak of the literary trend and the transformation of the image of the medieval warlock was the tragedy of Goethe's Faust. In the image of Faust, the author combined all the philosophical problems of the Enlightenment, and this image became a symbol of the philosophical quest of the era, the main trends of which were the dissemination and popularization of scientific knowledge.
Goethe summarized the current problems of the era and examined it using the example of one person, using the example of Faust. Goethe used a "wandering plot", but saturated it with contemporary philosophical content, showing in the hero's fate a generalized and large-scale image of human fate.
The opposites colliding in the world in tragedy are embodied in two mythological images - the Lord and Mephistopheles. The first expresses goodness and creation, the second - negation and destruction. Traditionally, in legends, the images of God and the Devil are symbols of good and evil fighting for the human soul. But Goethe reinterprets this opposition from the standpoint of contemporary philosophy.
A dispute arises between the Lord and Mephistopheles about the capabilities of the human person. Mephistopheles - expresses the medieval, obsolete idea of \u200b\u200bman - oddly enough, it was recently the point of view of the church. Mephistopheles considers a person insignificant, pitiful, subordinate to the flesh, prone to sin. The Lord presents another point of view. Man is the crown of creation, the beloved creation of God. The Lord expresses humanistic views on a person - he believes in his ability to strive for good and fight for it.
Goethe's God is knowledge, truth and Universal Reason. God personifies the highest principle, but does not interfere in the life of people and only occasionally pronounces a sentence on them. God trusts man, gives him freedom of choice.
The embodiment of evil in the work is Mephistopheles. But his role is at least twofold. In his attempts to awaken the base in Faust, he acts as a devil-tempter. In Christian ideology, the devil is not equal to God, he is the absence of grace, darkness, lack of light. In Goethe, this trait acquires a philosophical understanding. Always and in everything, Mephistopheles is a negative force. By his denial of the existing, Mephistopheles constantly not only tempts Faust, but also pushes him to search for something new, thereby contributing to the transition to new stages in the development of self-consciousness. The proud Faustian impulse, combined with the Mephistophelian decisiveness in practical matters, turns out to be the lever that ultimately leads Faust to movement, search and development.
At the beginning of the tragedy, we see Faust as a scientist of advanced age, when he cursed his dreams of glory, and most of all, his vulgar patience - this marks the moment of awakening of self-consciousness. The turning point has come. Faust saw the enemy of his development - inner isolation and aimless absorption of other people's knowledge. True spiritual development is in the opposite direction - in purposeful cognition, productive thinking and vigorous activity. Being in such a state of mind, he concludes an agreement with Mephistopheles.
The essence of Faust's pact with Mephistopheles is that Mephistopheles will receive the soul of Faust in his power if he feels completely satisfied. This will mean that a person is insignificant in his aspirations. Faust needs youth to search and test. The first thing that Mephistopheles does for Faust is to restore his youth and strength.
From that moment on, each episode of the tragedy becomes, as it were, an experiment, a breakdown of the forces of Faust in the stream real life... Mephistopheles invites Faust to first get acquainted with the "small world", that is, people in their private life, and then enter the "big world" - state life, the sphere of public life. On the path of external life, consciousness can stop at the level of family life, but it can also reach a state, wider scale.
In the tragedy, Goethe both accuses and justifies his heroes. The author shows that when social and individual clash, a person must make a choice. In the episode with Margarita, Mephistopheles laughs at what appears to be conventions in love. However, society does not allow violation of its age-old foundations - and Goethe leaves us to reflect on their essence. The justification for the heroes is their ability to recognize guilt and their ability to take responsibility for their actions. At the everyday level, the question of happiness turns into questions about the ways to achieve it, about sin and atonement. It turns out that these concepts cannot be abolished by Mephistopheles' mockery.
In addition to the metaphysical side, which Mephistopheles represents with his wiles, evil in the work has another real side. These are social and social conditions of human life. For Goethe, evil is the remnants of society, habits, prejudices and stable patterns of behavior. And in the second part of the tragedy, Goethe expands his understanding of the real side of evil. This part of the tragedy is replete with Goethe's caustic allusions to the political situation of his time and expresses educational criticism of the failure of monarchical regimes in Europe. Evil is the state apparatus and the imperial power, whose aspirations are very low and consist in prosperity and entertainment. Goethe vividly depicts a historical dead end - the intentions of the authorities do not lead to the prosperity of society, the people live in poverty, the state does not develop either economically or socio-culturally.
Passing trials, Faust is gradually purified, passing to a higher and higher level of self-awareness. Faust is close to absolute power. And even at this stage of development, which few people reach, he remains subject to well-established social patterns of behavior. Inadvertently, he becomes the killer of Philemon and Baucis, without giving a direct order to kill them.
At the end of the tragedy, Goethe draws his hero as a deep old man. But, despite his old age, close death, Goethe's Faust still looks optimistically into the future, still affirms the activity of human action as the most important principle of human life.
Faust at the end of his life does not utter the phrase “Stop a moment, you are wonderful!”, In his last monologue he dreams of a time when he can see his people happy. For Faust, incomplete immersion in the individual blessings of life, not receiving pleasure was an end in itself, and the search and improvement was a constant struggle.
Goethe created the image of an integral personality, but at the same time showed the complexity of the essence of man as such. The contradictions between the personal and the public, between reason and feelings, become a tragic condition for human existence. Throughout life, a person resolves them and, constantly making choices, develops. The man of the Enlightenment is endowed with will, but not always his choice, as Goethe shows, leads to positive consequences.
The medieval treaty of Faust and the Devil takes on a new interpretation in Goethe's tragedy, is endowed with a different, symbolic meaning. And the point is that movement is the only way life exists. Stopping leads to regression and degradation.
Goethe in his work affirms faith in man, in the unlimited possibilities of reason for development. The struggle according to Goethe becomes the vital law of eternal becoming, which, in turn, becomes an eternal test.
Faust, as he is shown in the tragedy, is a titanic personality, equal in power to the capabilities of the heroes of the Renaissance. Faust is not a warlock, not a magician, as he appears in the legend, he is, first of all, a free man, striving by the power of his thoughts to penetrate the secrets of life. Faust, as a true man, is dissatisfied with what has been achieved, uncomfortable. In this Goethe sees the guarantee of the eternal perfection of the human person.
Goethe showed in Faust the same features that worried the philosophers - the enlighteners, but in a contradictory unity: Faust thinks and feels, he is able to act mechanically and at the same time is capable of making deep, conscious decisions. He is an individual striving for freedom, and at the same time, the meaning of life is found in actions for the benefit of other people. But the most important discovery of Goethe is Faust's ability to search and develop in the face of tragic internal contradiction.
Conclusion.
Summing up, I can say that the problem of knowing oneself and the world by man is described in Goethe's tragedy "Faust" in great detail. Moreover, within its framework, two other philosophical problems are considered - the confrontation between good and evil, as well as the problem of choice. Goethe managed to reveal these philosophical problems concerning the whole world, using the example of just a few heroes, combining the characteristic features of these problems from all stages of their development into one work, and also introduce new ideas into thinking about the problem of the struggle between good and evil, rethinking it, relying on its time.
It is not surprising that of all the books based on the legend of Faust, written by different authors, Goethe's tragedy "Faust" has become the most famous, and has remained in the memory of more than one generation. It can be considered a "guide" to philosophical problems, since Goethe covers many problems at once, and all of them are described so interestingly that they instantly prompt thought to anyone who picks up his book.
List of references:
1. Anikst A.A. Goethe and Faust. From conception to accomplishment. - Moscow, "Book", 1983 - 271s.
2. Zhirmunsky V.М. The Legend of Doctor Faust - M: Science, 1978
3. Locke J. Experience of human understanding // Man. M., 1991
4. Russell Bertrand. The history of Western philosophy and its connection with political and social conditions from antiquity to the present day - Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk University Press: 1994.- 393 p.
Results of the Enlightenment: "Faust" by I. V. Goethe.
The greatest German poet, scientist and thinker Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749–1832) completes the European Enlightenment. In terms of the versatility of his talents, Goethe stands next to the titans of the Renaissance. Already the contemporaries of the young Goethe spoke in chorus about the genius of any manifestation of his personality, and in relation to the old Goethe the definition “Olympian” was established.
Coming from the patrician-burgher family of Frankfurt am Main, Goethe received an excellent home liberal arts education, studied at the Leipzig and Strasbourg universities. The beginning of it literary activity fell on the formation in German literature of the movement "Storm and Onslaught", at the head of which he stood. His fame went beyond Germany with the publication of the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). The first sketches of the Faust tragedy also belong to the period of the assault.
In 1775, Goethe moved to Weimar at the invitation of the young Duke of Saxe-Weimar who admired him and devoted himself to the affairs of this small state, wanting to realize his creative thirst in practical activity for the good of society. His ten-year administrative activity, including as first minister, left no room for literary creativity and brought him disappointment. From the very beginning of Goethe's ministerial career, the writer H. Wieland, who is more familiar with the inertia of German reality, said: “Goethe cannot do even a hundredth part of what he would be glad to do”. In 1786, Goethe was overtaken by a severe mental crisis, which forced him to leave for Italy for two years, where, according to him, he was “resurrected”.
In Italy, begins the addition of his mature method, called "Weimar classicism"; in Italy he returned to literary creation, from under his pen came out the dramas "Iphigenia in Taurida", "Egmont", "Torquato Tasso". Upon returning from Italy to Weimar, Goethe retains only the post of Minister of Culture and Director of the Weimar Theater. He, of course, remains a personal friend of the Duke and provides advice on the most important political issues. In the 1790s, Goethe's friendship with Friedrich Schiller begins, a friendship and creative cooperation between two poets of equal size, unique in the history of culture. Together they worked out the principles of Weimar classicism and encouraged each other to create new works. In the 1790s, Goethe wrote “Reinecke Fox”, “Roman Elegies”, the novel “The Teaching Years of Wilhelm Meister,” the burgher idyll in hexameters “Hermann and Dorothea,” ballads. Schiller insisted that Goethe continue to work on "Faust", but "Faust. The first part of the tragedy ”was completed after the death of Schiller and published in 1806. Goethe did not intend to return to this idea any longer, but the writer IP Eckermann, who settled in his house as a secretary, and the author of Conversations with Goethe, urged Goethe to end the tragedy. Work on the second part of "Faust" went on mainly in the twenties, and it was published, according to the wishes of Goethe, after his death. Thus, work on "Faust" took over sixty years, it covered the entire creative life Goethe and absorbed all the periods of his development.
Just as in the philosophical stories of Voltaire, in "Faust" the leading side is the philosophical idea, only in comparison with Voltaire it found embodiment in the full-blooded, living images of the first part of the tragedy. The Faust genre is a philosophical tragedy, and the general philosophical problems to which Goethe addresses here acquire a special enlightening coloring. The story of Faust was repeatedly used in modern German literature by Goethe, and he himself first met him as a five-year-old boy at the performance of a folk puppet theater playing an old German legend. However, this legend has historical roots... Dr. Johann-Georg Faust was an itinerant physician, warlock, diviner, astrologer and alchemist. Modern scholars such as Paracelsus spoke of him as an impostor charlatan; from the point of view of his students (Faust once occupied a professorship at the university), he was a fearless seeker of knowledge and forbidden paths. The followers of Martin Luther (1583-1546) saw him as a wicked person who, with the help of the devil, performed imaginary and dangerous miracles. After his sudden and mysterious death in 1540 the life of Faust was overgrown with many legends.
The bookseller Johannes Spies first compiled oral tradition in a folk book about Faust (1587, Frankfurt am Main). It was an edifying book, "a frightening example of the devil's temptation to destroy body and soul." Spies also has an agreement with the devil for a period of 24 years, and the devil himself in the form of a dog, which turns into a servant of Faust, marriage with Helen (the same devil), Famulus Wagner, the terrible death of Faust.
The plot was quickly taken up by the author's literature. Shakespeare's brilliant contemporary, the Englishman C. Marlowe (1564–1593), gave his first theatrical adaptation in The Tragic Story of the Life and Death of Doctor Faust (premiered in 1594). The popularity of the history of Faust in England and Germany of the 17th – 18th centuries is evidenced by the processing of drama into pantomime and performances of puppet theaters. Many German writers second half of the XVIII centuries have used this plot. The drama of G.E. Lessing "Faust" (1775) remained unfinished, J. Lenz in the dramatic fragment "Faust" (1777) portrayed Faust in hell, F. Klinger wrote the novel "The Life, Acts and Death of Faust" ( 1791). Goethe took the legend to a whole new level.
For sixty years of work on "Faust" Goethe created a work comparable in volume to the Homeric epic (12,111 lines of "Faust" versus 12,200 verses of the "Odyssey"). Having absorbed the experience of a lifetime, the experience of brilliant comprehension of all eras in the history of mankind, Goethe's work rests on ways of thinking and artistic techniques that are far from those adopted in contemporary literature, so the best way to approach it is a leisurely commented reading. Here we will only outline the plot of the tragedy from the point of view of the evolution of the protagonist.
In the Prologue in Heaven, the Lord makes a bet with the devil Mephistopheles about human nature; the object of the experiment, the Lord chooses his "slave", Doctor Faust.
In the first scenes of the tragedy, Faust is deeply disappointed in the life he devoted to science. He despaired of knowing the truth and now stands on the verge of suicide, from which the ringing of Easter bells keeps him from going. Mephistopheles penetrates Faust in the form of a black poodle, assumes his true appearance and makes a deal with Faust - the fulfillment of any of his desires in exchange for his immortal soul... The first temptation - wine in Auerbach's cellar in Leipzig - Faust rejects; after magical rejuvenation in the witch's kitchen, Faust falls in love with the young town woman Margarita and seduces her with the help of Mephistopheles. From the poison given by Mephistopheles, Gretchen's mother dies, Faust kills her brother and flees the city. In the scene of Walpurgis Night at the height of the witch's coven, the ghost of Margaret appears to Faust, his conscience awakens, and he demands from Mephistopheles to save Gretchen, who was thrown into prison for the murder of the baby she had born. But Margarita refuses to run away with Faust, preferring death, and the first part of the tragedy ends with the words of a voice from above: "Saved!" Thus, in the first part, which unfolds in the conditional German Middle Ages, Faust, who in his first life was a hermit scientist, gains the life experience of a private person.
In the second part, the action is transferred to the wide external world: to the court of the emperor, to the mysterious cave of the Mothers, where Faust plunges into the past, into the pre-Christian era, and from where he brings Elena the Beautiful. A short marriage with her ends with the death of their son Euphorion, symbolizing the impossibility of synthesizing ancient and Christian ideals. Having received the seaside lands from the emperor, the old man Faust finally acquires the meaning of life: on the lands reclaimed from the sea, he sees the utopia of universal happiness, the harmony of free labor on a free land. To the sound of shovels, the blind old man utters his last monologue: "I am now experiencing the highest moment," and under the terms of the deal he falls dead. The irony of the scene is that Faust takes Mephistopheles' henchmen who are digging his grave for the builders, and all Faust's efforts to equip the region were destroyed by the flood. However, Mephistopheles does not get the soul of Faust: the soul of Gretchen stands up for him before the Mother of God, and Faust avoids hell.
"Faust" is a philosophical tragedy; in the center of it are the main questions of being, they determine both the plot and the system of images, and art system generally. As a rule, the presence of a philosophical element in the content literary work suggests an increased degree of conventionality in his artistic form, as has already been shown by the example of Voltaire's philosophical story.
The fantastic plot of "Faust" guides the hero through different countries and eras of civilization. Since Faust is the universal representative of humanity, the entire space of the world and the entire depth of history becomes the arena of his action. Therefore, the image of the conditions of social life is present in the tragedy only to the extent that it is based on the historical legend. In the first part there are still genre sketches of folk life (a scene of a folk festival, to which Faust and Wagner go); in the second part, philosophically more complex, the reader is presented with a generalized abstract survey of the main eras in the history of mankind.
The central image of the tragedy is Faust - the last of the greats " eternal images”Individualists born in the transition from the Renaissance to the New Age. He should be placed next to Don Quixote, Hamlet, Don Juan, each of which embodies one extreme of the development of the human spirit. Faust reveals most of all the moments of similarity with Don Juan: both strive into the forbidden areas of occult knowledge and sexual secrets, both do not stop at murder, the irrepressibility of desires brings both into contact with hellish forces. But unlike Don Juan, whose search lies in a purely earthly plane, Faust embodies the search for the fullness of life. Sphere of Faust - unlimited knowledge. Just as Don Giovanni is complemented by his servant Sganarelle, and Don Quixote by Sancho Panza, Faust receives completion in his eternal companion, Mephistopheles. The devil in Goethe loses the majesty of Satan, the titan and the fighter against God - this is the devil of more democratic times, and with Faust he is connected not so much by the hope of getting his soul as by friendly affection.
The history of Faust allows Goethe to approach key issues of educational philosophy in a new way, critically. Let us recall that criticism of religion and the idea of \u200b\u200bGod was the nerve of the educational ideology. In Goethe, God stands above the action of tragedy. The Lord of the “Prologue in Heaven” is a symbol of the positive beginnings of life, true humanity. Unlike the previous Christian tradition, Goethe's God is not harsh and does not even fight against evil, but, on the contrary, communicates with the devil and undertakes to prove to him the futility of a position of complete denial of the meaning of human life. When Mephistopheles likens a person to a wild beast or a fussy insect, God asks him:
Do you know Faust? - He's a doctor? - He's my slave.
Mephistopheles knows Faust as a doctor of sciences, that is, he perceives him only by his professional affiliation with scientists, for the Lord Faust is his slave, that is, the bearer of the divine spark, and, offering Mephistopheles a bet, the Lord is sure in advance of his outcome:
When a gardener plants a tree, the Fruit is known to the gardener in advance.
God believes in man, only for this reason he allows Mephistopheles to tempt Faust throughout his earthly life. For Goethe, the Lord does not need to interfere in further experiment, because he knows that man is good by nature, and his earthly searches only contribute in the final analysis to his perfection, elevation.
Faust, however, by the beginning of the action in the tragedy, lost faith not only in God, but also in science, to which he gave his life. Faust's first monologues speak of his deep disappointment in his life, which was devoted to science. Neither the scholastic science of the Middle Ages nor magic give him satisfactory answers about the meaning of life. But Faust's monologues were created at the end of the Enlightenment, and if historical Faust could only know medieval science, Goethe's Faust criticizes the enlightenment optimism regarding the possibilities of scientific knowledge and technological progress, criticizes the thesis about the omnipotence of science and knowledge. Goethe himself did not trust the extremes of rationalism and mechanistic rationalism, in his youth he was much interested in alchemy and magic, and with the help of magic signs Faust at the beginning of the play hopes to comprehend the secrets of earthly nature. The meeting with the Spirit of the Earth for the first time reveals to Faust that man is not omnipotent, but negligible in comparison with the world around him. This is the first step of Faust on the path of knowing his own essence and its self-restraint - the artistic development of this thought is the plot of the tragedy.
Goethe published Faust, beginning in 1790, in parts, which made it difficult for his contemporaries to evaluate the work. Of the early statements, two draw attention to themselves, which left an imprint on all subsequent judgments about the tragedy. The first belongs to the founder of romanticism F. Schlegel: “When the work is finished, it will embody the spirit of world history, it will become a true reflection of the life of mankind, its past, present and future. Faust ideally depicts the whole of humanity, he will become the embodiment of humanity. "
The creator of romantic philosophy F. Schelling wrote in The Philosophy of Art: “... due to the kind of struggle that arises today in knowledge, this work has received a scientific coloration, so if any poem can be called philosophical, then this is applicable only to "Faust" by Goethe. A brilliant mind, combining the thoughtfulness of a philosopher with the power of an outstanding poet, gave us an eternally fresh source of knowledge in this poem ... ”Interesting interpretations of the tragedy were left by IS Turgenev (article“ Faust ”, tragedy, 1855), American philosopher R. W. Emerson (Goethe as a Writer, 1850).
The largest Russian Germanist VM Zhirmunsky emphasized the strength, optimism, rebellious individualism of Faust, challenged the interpretation of his path in the spirit of romantic pessimism: “In the general concept of the tragedy, the disappointment of Faust [the first scenes] is only a necessary stage of his doubts and searches for truth” (“ Creative story Goethe's Faust, 1940).
It is significant that the same concept was formed on behalf of Faust as from the names of others literary heroes the same row. There are whole studies of quixoticism, Hamletism, Don Juanism. The concept of "Faustian man" entered cultural studies with the publication of O. Spengler's book "The Decline of Europe" (1923). Faust for Spengler is one of two eternal human types, along with the Apollo type. The latter corresponds to ancient culture, and for the Faustian soul “the primordial symbol is pure infinite space, and the“ body ”is western cultureblossoming in the northern lowlands between the Elbe and the Tahoe at the same time as the birth romanesque style in the X century ... Faustian - the dynamics of Galileo, Catholic Protestant dogma, the fate of Lear and the ideal of the Madonna, from Beatrice Dante to the final scene of the second part of Faust. "
In recent decades, the attention of researchers has focused on the second part of "Faust", where, according to the German professor KO Konradi, “the hero, as it were, plays different roles that are not united by the personality of the performer. This gap between the role and the performer turns him into a purely allegorical figure. "
"Faust" has had a tremendous impact on all world literature. Goethe's grandiose work was not yet completed, when under his impression appeared “Manfred” (1817) by J. Byron, “Scene from“ Faust ”” (1825) by Alexander Pushkin, drama by H. D. Grabbe “ Faust and Don Juan ”(1828) and many sequels to the first part of“ Faust ”. Austrian poet N. Lenau created his "Faust" in 1836, H. Heine - in 1851. Goethe's heir in 20th century German literature T. Mann created his masterpiece "Doctor Faustus" in 1949.
Passion for "Faust" in Russia was expressed in the story of Ivan Turgenev "Faust" (1855), in the conversations of Ivan with the devil in the novel by F. Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov" (1880), in the image of Woland in the novel MA Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita” (1940). Goethe's "Faust" is a work that summarizes the enlightenment thought and goes beyond the literature of the Enlightenment, paving the way for the future development of literature in the 19th century.
The eighteenth century that ended with the Great French Revolution developed under the sign of doubt, destruction, denial and passionate belief in the victory of reason over superstition and prejudice, civilization over barbarism, humanism over tyranny and injustice. Therefore, historians call it the Age of Enlightenment. The ideology of the enlighteners triumphed in an era when the old medieval way of life was crumbling and a new, bourgeois order, progressive for that time, was taking shape. The figures of the Enlightenment ardently defended the ideas of cultural development, self-government, freedom, defended the interests of the masses, branded the yoke of feudalism, inertia and conservatism of the church.
The stormy era gave birth to its titans - Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau in France, Lomonosov in Russia, Schiller and Goethe in Germany. And their heroes - at the end of the century, Danton, Marat, Robespierre rose to the stands of the revolutionary Convention in Paris.
The artistic tastes of the era were diverse. The artsy baroque still prevailed in architecture, the Alexandrian verses of the tragedies of Racine and Corneille sounded from the stage. But more and more popular works, the heroes of which were people of the "third estate". In the middle of the century, the genre of a sentimental novel in letters arose - readers with excitement followed the correspondence of lovers, experiencing their sorrows and misadventures. And in Strasbourg, a group of young poets and playwrights appeared, which entered the literature under the name "Storm and Onslaught". The heroes of their works are brave loners who challenge the world of violence and injustice.
Goethe's work was a kind of result of the Age of Enlightenment, the result of his searches and struggles. And the tragedy "Faust", which the poet created for more than thirty years, reflected the movement of not only scientific and philosophical ideas, but also literary trends. Although the time of action in "Faust" is not defined, its scope is infinitely expanded, the whole complex of ideas clearly correlates with the era of Goethe. After all, the first part of it was written in 1797-1800 under the influence of the ideas and achievements of the Great French Revolution, and the last scenes were written in 1831, when Europe experienced the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Restoration.
Goethe's tragedy is based on the folk legend of Faust, which arose in the 16th century. Her hero is a rebel, seeking to penetrate the secrets of nature, opposing the church's idea of \u200b\u200bslavish obedience and humility. In a semi-fantastic form, the image of Faust embodied the forces of progress that could not be stifled among the people, just as it was impossible to stop the course of history. Goethe was close to this seeker of truth, not satisfied with German reality.
The enlighteners, including Goethe, did not reject the idea of \u200b\u200bGod, they only questioned the doctrines of the church. And in "Faust" God appears as the highest mind, standing over the world, over good and evil. Faust in the interpretation of Goethe is, first of all, a scientist who questions everything - from the structure of the world to moral norms and rules of behavior. Mephistopheles for him is an instrument of knowledge. The means of scientific research at the time of Goethe were so imperfect that many scientists would agree to sell their souls to the devil in order to understand how the sun and the planets or the human eye are arranged, why there are plague epidemics and what happened on Earth before the appearance of man.
Faust's rebellion, his torments, repentance and insight, which lies in the fact that only labor for the benefit of humanity makes a person invulnerable to boredom and despondency - all this is an artistic embodiment of the ideas of the Enlightenment, one of the geniuses of which was Goethe.
An essay on literature on the theme: Philosophical tragedy of I. V. Goethe "Faust" - an expression of the advanced educational ideas of the era
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- The philosophical depth of Goethe's great creation, as we know, was appreciated by such outstanding thinkers of the Goethe era as Schelling and Hegel. But they limited themselves to brief general judgments. Meanwhile, wide circles of readers felt that “Faust” requires clarification both in general and Read More ......
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- The ideas of the Enlightenment had a significant impact on the development of social thought. With all national characteristics The Enlightenment had several general ideas and principles. There is a single order of nature, on the knowledge of which not only the successes of sciences and the well-being of society are based, but also moral and religious perfection; faithful Read More ......
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- ... What does it mean to know? This is where the difficulty lies! Who will call the baby the correct name? Where are those few who have known their age, They did not hide their feelings or thoughts, With mad courage they went to meet the crowd? They were crucified, beaten, burned ... Goethe Read More ......
As noted earlier, Goethe's travels in Germany led to the idea of \u200b\u200bFaust. Goethe translated this legend into contemporary soil. In "Faust" there were organically merged various elements - the beginning of drama, lyrics and epic. That is why many researchers call this work a dramatic poem. "Faust" includes elements that are different in their artistic nature. It contains scenes of real life, for example, a description of a spring folk festival on a day off; the lyrical dates of Faust and Margarita; tragic - Gretchen in prison or the moment when Faust almost ended his life by suicide; fantastic. But Goethe's fiction is ultimately always connected with reality, and real images are often symbolic in nature.
The idea of \u200b\u200bthe tragedy of Faust came to Goethe early enough. Initially, he got two tragedies - "the tragedy of knowledge" and "the tragedy of love." Moreover, both of them remained insoluble. The general tone of this "great - Faust" is gloomy, which is generally not surprising, since Goethe managed to completely preserve the flavor of the medieval legend, according to at least in the first part. In "great - Faust" scenes written in verse are interspersed with prosaic ones. Here, in the personality of Faust, titanism, the spirit of protest, an impulse to the infinite were combined.
On April 13, 1806, Goethe wrote in his diary: "I finished the first part of Faust." It is in the first part that Goethe outlines the characters of his two main characters - Faust and Mephistopheles; in the second part, Goethe pays more attention to the surrounding world and social order, as well as the relationship between ideal and reality.
We met Mephistopheles already in the "Prologue in Heaven". And here it is already clear that Mephistopheles - the devil will not be a completely negative character, since he is sympathetic even to God:
Of the spirits of denial, you are the least of all
I used to be a burden, a cheat and a merry fellow.
And it is the Lord who gives the order to Mephistopheles:
Out of laziness, a person goes into hibernation.
Go, stir up his stagnation ...
Goethe reflects in Mephistopheles a special type of person of his time. Mephistopheles becomes denial incarnate. And the 18th century was especially full of skeptics. The flowering of rationalism promoted the development of a critical spirit. Anything that did not meet the requirements of reason was questioned, and mockery struck down more than angry denunciations. For some, denial has become an overarching life principle, and this is reflected in Mephistopheles. His remarks cause a smile even over what to laugh at, in principle, you don't need to: How calm and light it is!
We get along without spoiling our relationship with him.
The old man's lovely trait
So human to think about the devil
But as already noted, Goethe does not paint Mephistopheles exclusively as the embodiment of evil. He is smart and perceptive, he criticizes very reasonably and criticizes everything: dissipation and love, craving for knowledge and stupidity:
The nice thing is that it takes the target away:
Smiles, sighs, meetings at the fountain,
The sorrow of longing with a word, gimp,
Which is always full of novels.
Mephistopheles is a master at noticing human weaknesses and vices, and it cannot be denied that many of his stinging remarks are true:
Oh faith is an important article
For power-hungry girls:
Of the godly suitors
Meek husbands come out ...
Mephistopheles is also a pessimistic skeptic. It is he who says that human life is a pendulum, man himself considers himself "the god of the universe." It is these words of the devil that seem to me to be indicators that Goethe is already abandoning rationalist concepts. Mephistopheles says that the Lord endowed man with a spark of reason, but there is no benefit from this, for he, a man, behaves worse than cattle. Mephistopheles' speech contains a sharp rejection of humanistic philosophy - the philosophy of the Renaissance. People themselves are so wicked that the devil does not need to do evil on earth. People are great at this and without it:
Yes, Lord, there is shameless darkness
And the poor man is so bad.
That even I spare him for as long as I can.
But nevertheless, Mephistopheles deceives Faust. Indeed, in fact, Faust does not say: "A moment, wait a second!" Faust, carried away in his dreams into the distant future, uses the conditional mood:
Free people in a free land
I would like to see on such days.
Then I could exclaim: “An instant!
Oh, how wonderful you are, wait a little! "
Faust in the eyes of Mephistopheles is a mad dreamer who wants the impossible. But Faust was given a divine spark of search. Throughout the entire poem, he searches for himself. And if at first he despairs that he cannot become god-like, then at the very end of the work he says: Oh, if only, with nature, on a par,
To be human, human to me ...
In my opinion, each of us is given this spark of search, a spark of the path. And each of us dies, spiritually dies, at the moment when he no longer needs anything, when time as a stream ceases to matter. The dispute between God and Mephistopheles is the decision of each of us where to go. And they are both right, oddly enough. And God is well aware of this. The search expiates the mistakes, and that is why both Faust and Margarita find themselves in paradise.