Faust part one

lsquo;The hour is come, as master of my fate,
To prove in man the stature of a godrsquo;

The medieval myth of Faustrsquo;s pact with the devil preoccupied Goethe for most of his working life and in the thirty years during which he worked on Part One he reshaped the legend to dramatize his own very personal concerns as a poet. His version depicts Faust as the greatest scholar of his age, master of every branch of learning ndash; from philosophy and law to medicine and theology ndash; only to recognise that the true secrets of existence remain hidden from mankind. To gain this knowledge, he must sacrifice the very thing that makes him human: his own soul. Reflecting Goethersquo;s preoccupation with the exhilaration and terrors of human creativity, Faust offers an ironic perspective on the constant striving in the Age of Enlightenment to challenge the limits of manrsquo;s advancement through art and science.

Philip Waynersquo;s translation brings Goethersquo;s poetry powerfully to life. His introduction sets the play in the context of its creatorrsquo;s own life of endeavour and achievement.

FAUST - PART ONE

Dedication
Prologue in the Theatre
Prologue in Heaven
Night - Faust's Study (i)
Faust is disconsolate; he conjures up the Earth Spirit, but without power to detain him. Faust and Wagner, his 'Famulus' or Servitor. *Faust broods again, and desires death. Bells and voices in the Easter Dawn prevent him from taking his life.

Outside the City Gate
Various citizens, soldiers; then Faust and Wagner; they meet the mysterious Poodle.

Faust's Study (ii)
Faust, more peaceful, studies St. John; but he is disturbed by the Poodle, which assumes a menacing shape; Faust compels Mephistopheles to appear, from the form of the Poodle; he interrogates Mephistopheles who is trapped, but rescued by spirits, who lull Faust to sleep.

Faust's Study (iii)
Mephistopheles returns, and, with full argument, the wager is made.*

{Mephistopheles and the Freshman#93;

#91;Mephistopheles and Faust Set Out#93;

Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig
Drinking party. Fiery pranks by Mephistopheles: Faust is introduced here to a first degree of worldly grossness. Mephistopheles causes mirage in which the two disappear.

Witch's Kitchen
Faust is repelled by this second degree of devilment; but he is enraptured with a vision of woman's beauty, and he accepts the rejuvenating potion.

A Street
First encounter with Margareta; Faust demands her of Mephistopheles.

Evening
Mephistopheles leaves Faust alone in Margareta's room, in her absence. The devil places a casket for her; she returns, and finds the jewels.

A Walk
Mephistopheles is irate because Margareta's mother has given the jewels to a priest.

Neighbour's House
Margareta and Martha her neighbour. Mephistopheles tells Martha of the death of her husband and arranges a return with Faust.

A Street
Faust gives reluctant consent to the ruse of Mephistopheles.

In Martha's Garden
Faust's first love-scene with Margareta; Mephistopheles entertains Martha - the famous "quartet," in and out of the scene.

A Summer-House

Forest and Cavern
Faust, alone, feels a return of purer aspiration, but is tempted back to amorousness by Mephistopheles.

Margareta's Room
Her heart is troubled, and she sings sadly at her wheel.

Martha's Garden
Second love-scene; Margareta questions Faust's beliefs; Mephistopheles scoffs at this, and gloats over the approaching night.

At the Well
A neighbour-girl's gossip strikes appalling fear into the heart of Margareta.

A Shrine in the Ramparts
Margareta's remorseful anguish and

Książka "Faust part one"