Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“Faust: Part One” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (3/5)

Faust (Part One)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
ISBN 0-19-283595-5

Faust is a play written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is available for purchase from http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0192835955/.

The particular translation I read was done by David Luke. According to reviews, it is the best available translation; I can see this being so as an immense about of the rhyming has been brought back into the translation.

The story follows the devil Mephistopheles as he, after making a bet with God, makes the acquaintance of Heinrich Faust, a scholar in pursuit of basically all knowledge. Faust and Mephistopheles make a trade in that so long as Faust is alive, Mephistopheles will do his every command; the catch is that after Faust is dead, he must do the devil's every command.

Part One of the play largely seems to follow Faust's seduction of Gretchen with the assistance of Mephistopheles. It also demonstrates how his "love" for Gretchen is tainted by the work of a devil; it illustrates his gain and loss of Gretchen, as well as the slow loss of himself.

The only thing that I really didn't like about the play is the immense amount of dialogue required for a little amount of plot. The dialogue probably served larger purpose 200 years ago when all the cultural references and beliefs remained, but now I know them not.

Overall, I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It probably would have gotten a better rating had I understood all the references. Nonetheless, I recommend this to fans of literature or plays.