Comparative Cultural Studies

Lorna Fitzsimmons

• Publisher: Purdue University Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781612494739
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Faust Adaptations, edited and introduced by Lorna Fitzsimmons, takes a comparative cultural studies approach to the ubiquitous legend of Faust and his infernal dealings. Including readings of English, German, Dutch, and Egyptian adaptations ranging from the early modern period to the contemporary moment, this collection emphasizes the interdisciplinary and transcultural tenets of comparative cultural studies. Authors variously analyze the Faustian theme in contexts such as subjectivity, genre, politics, and identity. Chapters focus on the work of Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Adelbert von Chamisso, Lord Byron, Heinrich Heine, Thomas Mann, D. J. Enright, Konrad Boehmer, Mahmoud Aboudoma, Bridge Markland, Andreas Gössling, and Uschi Flacke. Contributors include Frederick Burwick, Christa Knellwolf King, Ehrhard Bahr, Konrad Boehmer, and David G. John. Faust Adaptations demonstrates the enduring meaningfulness of the Faust concept across borders, genres, languages, nations, cultures, and eras. This collection presents innovative approaches to understanding the mediated, translated, and adapted figure of Faust through both culturally specific inquiry and timeless questions.

Chapter 1

The Chapbook of Doctor Faustus as
Source and Model

Ehrhard Bahr

Abstract

In his article, “The Chapbook of Doctor Faustus as Source and Model,” Ehrhard Bahr traces the history of the Faust legend as documented by the anonymous Faust Book (1587) and its English translation of 1592, Christopher Marlowe’s tragedy Doctor Faustus, the Faust puppet play tradition of the eighteenth century, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Faust fragment of 1759, Goethe’s Faust drama of 1808 and 1832, and Thomas Mann’s novel of 1947. The discussion concentrates on the question of grace that is raised in the Faust Book of 1587 and determines the characterization of the protagonist as miserable sinner (chapbook), tragic “overreacher” (Marlowe), striving individual (Goethe), or modern artist (Thomas Mann).

The chapbook of Doctor Faustus is an outstanding example of influence in the history of world literature. As soon as the book appeared in print in Germany in 1587, it was reprinted sixteen times within five years to meet the demands of German readers. It was translated into Danish (1588), English (1588 or 1589, second edition, 1592), Dutch (1592), French (1598), and Czech (1611). The second edition in English appeared under the title The Historie of the damnable life, and deserued death of Doctor Iohn Faustus, Newly imprinted and in conuenient places imperfect matter amended: according to the true Copie printed at Franckfort, and translated into English by P.F. Gent. … Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin … 1592. The Historie served as source and model for Christopher Marlowe’s Tragicall History of D. Faustus, which was first published in 1604, Marlowe having died in 1593.

The German text, entitled Historia / Von D. Johann / Fausten / dem weitbeschreyten / Zauberer und Schwartzkünstler / Wie er sich gegen dem Teuffel auff eine benandte Zeit verschrieben / Was er hierzwischen für seltzame Abentheuwer gesehen / selbs angerichtet vnd getrieben / biß er endtlich seinen wol verdienten Lohn empfangen (History of D. Johann Faustus / the Infamous Sorcerer and Black Magician / How He Did Oblige Himself for a Certain Time to the Devil / What Strange Adventures Happened to Him / Which He Saw and Pursued / Until He at Last Got His Well-Deserved Reward), was printed in Frankfurt in 1587 by Johann Spies, a well-known Protestant publisher. The first print of the Faust Book was based on a manuscript in the Duke-August Library in Wolfenbüttel, Germany. The author was anonymous. This Wolfenbüttel text and the Spies text were largely identical, but according to H. G. Haile, who edited the Wolfenbüttel manuscript and translated it into English, some chapters were deleted and Christian admonitions were added to the printed version of the text (130).

The English term “chapbook” fits the Faust Book better than the German designation as Volksbuch, which was introduced by the German Romanticists who believed that there was a late medieval-early modern prose literature written “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” But this was not the case, since the lower classes were illiterate. Chapbooks were “cheap books,” written and printed for the entertainment and moral edification of the middle class and the urban nobility. They are now classified as prime examples of the popular literature of the sixteenth century.

There is no doubt that the fascination with the protagonist of the Faust Book originated from popular legends about the historical Faustus. There was indeed an historical Faust figure, or possibly several (Durrani 19–21), referred to in some primary sources, and there are numerous secondary-source references. One of the primary sources is an entry into the account book of the bishop of Bamberg in 1520, referring to a sum of money paid to Doctor Faustus for a horoscope. Another is a statement in the records of the city of Ingolstadt of 1528, registering the expulsion of Dr. Jörg (George) Faustus of Heidelberg from the city limits. An entry in the records of the city of Nuremberg of 1532 notes that Dr. Faustus, “the great sodomite and necromancer,” was refused safe conduct at Fürth. Two of these primary sources express doubt about the identity or moral character of the defendant. One describes him as “a certain man who called himself Dr. George Faustus,” while the other does not hesitate to call him by foul names (“Documents” 24–25).

The secondary sources consist of statements by contemporary authorities who have heard about Dr. Faustus, such as Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, and various other sources, such as local chronicles. Without exception they express their moral and religious repugnance and suspect him of dealings with the devil. According to the Tischreden, Luther stated that Faust, “who called the devil his brother-in-law,” would have destroyed him, if he “had given him even a hand.” Conrad Mutianus Rufus, a canon of the church, reports from Erfurt in 1513 that “a certain soothsayer by the name of George Faust, the demigod of Heidelberg,” had come to town, but “his claims, like those of all diviners, [were] idle.” In 1540 Philipp von Hutten reports that the predictions concerning the Welser expedition to Venezuela had been correct: “the philosopher Faust hit the nail on the head, for we struck a very bad year.” In his Locorum Communium Collectanea of 1563 Johannes Manlius quotes from the lectures of Philipp Melanchthon who said that he “knew a certain man by the name of Faust from [Knittlingen],” which was a small town near his birthplace. Melanchthon writes about the exploits of this Faust figure, among them his attempt to fly to heaven, which ended with his crash to the ground, almost killing him (“Documents” 23–31).

Most informative about the nature of the secondary sources is a letter by an abbot named Johannes Trithemius of August 1507 who claims to have happened upon Dr. Faustus on his travels. He reports that the sorcerer fled from the inn as soon as he heard of Trithemius’s arrival. There was nothing left to the abbot but to comment on the rumors that he heard about Dr. Faustus:

The man … who has presumed to call himself the prince of necromancers, is a vagabond, a babbler and a rogue, who deserves to be thrashed so that he may not henceforth rashly venture to profess in public things so execrable and so hostile to the holy church. … Certain priests in the same town told me that he had said, in the presence of many people, that he had acquired such knowledge of all wisdom and such a memory, that if all the books of Plato and Aristotle … had totally passed from the memory of man, he himself, through his own genius … would be able to restore them all with increased beauty. (“Documents” 22–23)

Other rumors that Trithemius reports from the city of Würzburg concern Faust’s blasphemous statements that Christ’s miracles “were not so wonderful, that he himself could do all the things which Christ had done, as often and whenever he wished.” From another town the abbot heard that Dr. Faustus had been appointed as schoolmaster, but was accused of lewd conduct with his students and had avoided punishment by flight (“Documents” 23). Trithemius had good reason to make exaggerated accusations, because he himself was suspected of practicing magic and wanted to assert his moral superiority. Most of his charges were based on second-hand information. It is obvious from his letter that the facts about Dr. Faustus had become the subject of legends already during his life time.

Scholars dealing with these primary and secondary sources have reconstructed the life of the historical Dr. Faustus, beginning with his birth ca. 1480 in either Knittlingen (Württemberg) or Helmstadt near Heidelberg (Mahal, Die Spuren; Baron). He is supposed to have studied at either Heidelberg or Wittenberg or even Cracow. Most of his alleged appearances were in southwestern Germany: Bamberg, Ingolstadt, and Nuremberg. The Chronica von Thüringen (ca. 1550) placed Dr. Faustus in eastern Germany and Bohemia. The fact that the various sources record either George or Johann as his first name seems to indicate that there were at least two different men involved to claim his name and reputation. Some scholars have even speculated about a father-and-son team (Durrani 19–21). It is thought that Faust suffered a violent death ca. 1540–41 in Staufen near Freiburg in the Breisgau region.

The Spies Faust Book of 1587, based on the Wolfenbüttel manuscript, is a compilation of material related to the protagonist available toward the end of the sixteenth century. Its anonymous author added tales about the exploits and adventures of other magicians as well as extensive quotations from learned sources, such as Hartmann Schedel’s Buch der Croniken, also known as Weltchronik, of 1493. What made the Spies Faust Book noticeable was the strong Lutheran message that it conveyed. Although written in simple language as a “Warning to All Ambitious, Curious, and Godless Men,” as the subtitle states, it was able to convey and explicate some of the fine points of Luther’s doctrine of justification. Modern editors of the chapbook have considered its author a well-educated man. The book was a popular success not only in Germany, but also in many other Protestant countries. In Germany the Faust Book of 1587 was succeeded by a series of new versions by identified authors: Georg Rudolff Widman in 1599, Johann Nikolaus Pfitzer in 1674, and an anonymous author who called himself “a man who loves Christianity” in 1725 (Schöne 1084–86). Goethe probably read Pfitzer’s version of 1674 and was acquainted with the 1725 version, but received his original inspiration from the puppet play of Doctor Faust, as it was presented at fairs.

The Spies Faust Book consists of 227 pages, not including an eight-page index of the chapter headings, and is divided into three parts of sixty-eight chapters in total. The first part deals with the protagonist’s birth as son of a peasant in Roda near Weimar. His uncle in Wittenberg raised him as his own child and sends him to the university to study theology. He received a master’s degree and became a Doctor Theologiae, as indicated by the capital D before his name in the title of the chapbook: Historia von D. Johann Fausten. But he soon called himself a Doctor Medicinae and became an astrologer and mathematician. After acquiring knowledge of sorcery, he goes to a great dense forest which is called the Spesser Forest near Wittenberg. There he conjures the devil who tries to intimidate him by a great storm in the forest, by a griffon or dragon, and by a fiery star that transforms into a glowing ball. When D. Faustus persists, the devil finally appears in the figure of a grey friar and agrees to visit him at his house the next morning (pt. 1, 2). Afterwards there are three disputations between D. Faustus and the Spirit, who reveals himself as Mephostophiles during the third meeting. During the first disputation, D. Faustus demands that the Spirit should be subservient and obedient to him, withhold no information which he might require, and tell him nothing untruthful in response to any of his questions. But the Spirit answers that he is not able to do so, unless he has permission from his “government and sovereignty” (pt. 1, 3). There is a hierarchy in hell that he is obliged to obey as a devil of low rank. During the second disputation, D. Faustus agrees to comply with the following demands: that he will agree to be the Spirit’s property, surrender himself with a document, defy all Christian believers, and renounce the Christian faith and resist any reconversion. During the final disputation, D. Faustus agrees to sign a contract stipulating that he chose the Spirit named Mephostophiles for his instruction and service and promises in return that after twenty-four years the Spirit might do with his “body, soul, flesh, blood and property” whatever pleases him (pt. 1, 6). The Faust Book presents the full wording of the contract or pact, written in blood in his own hand. It includes his explanation that he summoned the devil because he wanted “to speculate upon the Elementa” (pt. 1, 6), and did not have such skills nor did he expect to acquire them from his fellowmen.

As soon as the pact is signed, Mephostophiles begins to live in the form of a monk with D. Faustus, providing his master with food and drink and twenty-five crowns per week. Faustus has an assistant by the name of Christoph Wagner, described as “a reckless lout,” who is aware of the arrangement and eager to profit from it (pt. 1, 9). The assistant later becomes the protagonist of a spin-off, entitled the Wagnerbuch of 1593, which deals with the assistant’s separate pact with the devil (Wagnerbuch).

The first conflict with Mephostophiles occurs when D. Faustus wants to get married. Since matrimony is an institution of God, the devil opposes it. When D. Faustus does not listen, Satan himself appears and frightens him to death, reminding him of his pact. If he stays committed to Satan, Mephostophiles will provide him with all the women he desires. Evidently D. Faustus avails himself of this offer, as the text indicates (pt. 1, 10). There is even a Leporello list of the women recruited for him during the last years of his contract (pt. 3, 57).

But this “swinish and Epicurish life” (pt. 3, 57) does not distract D. Faustus from his inquisitiveness. He asks Mephostophiles about the fall of Lucifer, the place and regions of hell, and specifically about the torments of hell. The final question directed at his servant concerns his salvation: what would he do, if he were in his place? Mephostophiles answers that he would lean toward God and do everything not to cause God’s wrath. He thinks that God would even forgive him. But D. Faustus has denied God, and it is too late for him to be redeemed by the grace of God. Both D. Faustus and Mephostophiles agree not to touch upon this painful question again (pt. 1, 17).

The second part deals with D. Faustus’s travels through space (pt. 2, 25), his descent into hell (pt. 2, 24) and his travels in Europe, Africa, and Asia (pt. 2, 26–27). America is not mentioned due to the author’s reliance on Schedel’s Buch der Croniken. On his visit to Rome, the Lutheran bias of the Spies Faust Book is revealed. As D. Faustus observes the sinful life at the Pope’s palace, he asks: “Why did not the devil make a Pope of me?” He expresses the thought that he believed that he alone was “the devil’s swine or sow, but [the devil] will let me fatten for a while yet. These swine in Rome are already fattened and ready to roast and boil” (pt. 2, 26). As an invisible guest at the Pope’s dinner table, he plays pranks on him, absconding with his food and wine for a meal of his own on the Capitoline mountain.

The reports of his visits to the other European cities, including Paris, Vienna, and Prague, show evidence of the author’s liberal borrowings from Schedel’s Buch der Croniken. The story of his visit to Constantinople is informed by anti-Islamic prejudice. He appears before Sultan Suleiman II (r. 1520–66) in the disguise of the Pope and enters the Sultan’s harem to demonstrate his sexual prowess in the disguise of the prophet Mohammed. In Africa he travels to Cairo. India, Armenia, and Persia are mentioned among the Asian countries on his itinerary. From a high mountain, D. Faustus even means to see Paradise, guarded by “the angel Cherubin with his flaming sword” at the source of the four rivers Ganges, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates (pt. 2, 27).

The third and last part of the Faust Book deals with the adventures of D. Faustus at the court of the Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–56) and with merry pranks he plays upon other people. At the Emperor’s request, he makes the spirits of Alexander the Great and his wife appear (pt. 3, 33). This feat is later followed by showing Helen of Troy to his students (pt. 3, 49). During...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction to Faust Adaptations from Marlowe to Aboudoma and Markland
• Chapter 1: The Chapbook of Doctor Faustus as Source and Model
• Chapter 2: Adelbert von Chamisso’s Peter Schlemihl and the Quest for the Self
• Chapter 3: Lord Byron’s Faustian Plays Manfred (1817), Cain (1821), and The Deformed Transformed (1822)
• Chapter 4: Heine’s Doctor Faust, a Ballet Poem
• Chapter 5: Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus as Political Document
• Chapter 6: D. J. Enright and the Faust Theme
• Chapter 7: Is My Doktor Faustus the Last Opera?
• Chapter 8: Faust’s Dreams and Egyptian Identity
• Chapter 9: Repackaging Goethe’s Faust in Bridge Markland’s Faust in the Box
• Chapter 10: Imagining Faust in Recent German Historical Fiction
• Bibliography for the Study of the Faust Theme
• Index