Faust characterization of the image of Mephistopheles. Who made a deal with Mephistopheles? Faust and Mephistopheles Mephistopheles work

What will happen to the world if all shadows are erased from it? Is the existence of good possible without its endless struggle with evil? Eternal questions with ambiguous answers are hidden between the lines of the world-famous and beloved tragedy of a genius literary skill Johann Goethe "Faust" One of the most interesting characters Mephistopheles is terribly indignant at the fact that, always desiring evil, he does good. In the struggle for the possession of the soul, his satanic majesty put all his black spells into play, but as a result he achieved an absolutely opposite result. He not only failed to drag the scientist into the abyss of temptation, but, on the contrary, helped him reach the goal to which the hero devoted his whole life.

Mephistopheles looks at the world of people with indulgence. He is sure that none of the mortals is worthy of God and the knowledge of truths. Possessing knowledge of the weaknesses of the human tribe, the prince of evil knows how to deftly manipulate people. With the help of his dark charms, he tempts, deceives, incites passions. The task of corrupting a scientist lost in life is another adventure for Mephistopheles, and he does not expect failure.

The image of Satan the tempter in the poem fascinates the reader. Mephistopheles has many faces: among an idle crowd of drunkards and jokers, he is a charming wit, composing funny verses on the go, for the palace nobility - a mask of a sorcerer and an omnipotent magician is in store, and for Faust, the devil is a wise mentor, and a skilled pimp, and a reliable bodyguard, and a crafty servant. He will find an approach to everyone and calculate where it is “thin”.

But Mephistopheles is not omnipotent. He himself knows about it. The reader will see his impotence at the end sad story. The heartbroken girl, who ended up in prison with the help of Mephistopheles, is awaiting execution, but categorically refuses to be released. Satan could wrest the unfortunate from the hands of the executioner, but only if she herself allowed it. But Margarita repented and is waiting for punishment for her sins. With this repentance, she saves her soul and exposes the impotence of Mephistopheles.

But the main defeat of the devil is the lost soul of Faust. Mephistopheles accompanied the scientist until his death. He misled his victim, tortured him with the torments of love, gave moments of voluptuousness, but nothing led the righteous hero astray. He continued his search for the truth. The intrigues of Satan turned Faust's life into a "different mode" and, thereby, helped him, already blind and on the edge of the grave, to see the long-awaited light - the true purpose of man. Such a long-awaited trophy - the soul of Faust - rises to the heavenly heights, and Mephistopheles, tormented by anger, is left with nothing.

Quotes

Fools are content
They see the meaning in every word.

You are slim and in all your glory,
Your appearance is arrogant, your gaze is scattered.
Everyone involuntarily believes in that
Who is the most arrogant.

I deny everything - and this is my essence.
Then, that only to fail with thunder,
All this rubbish that lives on earth is good.
Wouldn't it be better if they hadn't been born at all!
In short, everything that your brother calls evil -
The desire to destroy, evil deeds and thoughts,
That's all - my element.

Dry, my friend, theory is everywhere,
And the tree of life is lush green!

I am part of eternal power,
Always desiring evil, doing only good.

Learned the scientist's answer.
What is not for you - that is not.
What did not fall into your hands -
Against the truths of science.
What the scientist could not count -
That is a delusion and a forgery.

They do not understand how small children
That happiness does not fly into the mouth.
I would philosopher's Stone gave them
- The philosopher is missing.

Only in a small intimate circle
There is a place for mutual subtleties.
Here, you see, it's dark,
And it's better than half the world.

Making no mistakes, completeness
Uma you will not reach.

Goethe traveled a lot in his life. He visited Switzerland three times: this "paradise on earth" by the time of Goethe was repeatedly sung. Goethe also traveled to the cities of Germany, where he encountered an amazing phenomenon - puppet fair performances in which the main characters were a certain Faust - a doctor and a warlock and the devil Mephistopheles. It is with the national tradition that for Goethe the principles formulated by Aristotle lose the meaning of the eternal norm.

Italy was an indelible impression on Goethe. It became the starting point that determined a new - classical direction in Goethe's work. But she enriched the poet with such impressions that the going beyond the framework of the “Weimar classicism” system had already prepared.

In Venice, Goethe gets acquainted with the theater of masks. It seems to me that it was the image of this theater of masks that Goethe reproduced in Faust, or rather in Walpurgis Night in the first part and in the ball - masquerade at the emperor's court in the 2nd part. In addition, in the second part of the work, the place of the whole action is some kind of classical - antique Italian landscapes, and in many scenes, Goethe, stylizing, begins to express himself in the rhythm of the verses of ancient authors. And that's not to mention the plot...

As noted earlier, Goethe's travels in Germany led him to the concept of Faust. The theater presented the story of Dr. Faust and Mephistopheles as a cheerful, ironically satirical comedy. But after all, this is a theater, and it always reflects the thoughts, thoughts, and the very style of life of the people. And Goethe turned to written sources - chronicles and legends. Little was learned from the chronicles, but the legend told that once a boy was born to quite prosperous parents, but from the very early years he showed an impertinent disposition. When he grew up, his parents and uncle advised him to study at the theological faculty. But the young Faust "left this charitable occupation" and studied medicine, and along the way, "the interpretation of the Chaldean ... and Greek signs and letters." He soon became a doctor, and a very good one at that. But his interest in magic led him to summon a spirit and make a pact with it... It was a purely religious assessment of the situation; here Faust and Mephistopheles were finally and irrevocably condemned, and all those who heeded were warned and taught - instructed in a God-fearing life. Mephistopheles deceives Faust throughout the legend, and the island conflict could be formulated as follows: “the conflict between good and evil”, without further litigation, what is good and what is evil ... Mephistopheles, here represents the side of evil, offered knowledge and with him power, and all that was required of Faust was the renunciation of Christianity. Mephistopheles was just one of the demons, but the take away was not special.

Goethe translated this legend into contemporary soil. In Faust, a variety of elements turned out to be organically merged - 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 real-life scenes, for example, a description of a spring festivities on a day off; lyrical dates of Faust and Marguerite; tragic - Gretchen in prison or the moment when Faust almost ended his life by suicide; fantastic. But Goethe's fantasy is ultimately always connected with reality, and real images are often symbolic.

The idea of ​​a tragedy about Faust came to Goethe quite early. Initially, he got two tragedies - "the tragedy of knowledge" and "the tragedy of love." However, both of them remained unresolved. The general tone of this "great-Faust" is gloomy, which is actually not surprising, since Goethe managed to completely preserve the flavor of the medieval legend, at least in the first part. In "great-Faust" scenes written in verse are interspersed with prose. Here, in the personality of Faust, titanism, the spirit of protest, the impulse to the infinite were combined.

On April 13, 1806, Goethe wrote in his diary: "I have 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 world around him and the social structure, as well as the relationship between the ideal and reality.

In form it is a drama for reading, in genre it is a philosophical poem. There are no direct author's words, everything is given to the characters: monologues, dialogues, charades. It has a rather complex, but at the same time transparent composition. It begins with two prologues: 1. a prologue in the theater (for which the theater exists in particular, art in general - the director: the audience pays for tickets, the act: words, fame, the satisfaction of vanity, the answer of the author-Goethe: art exists to reveal to people the untried , an unknown way of expressing yourself creative personality, a way of knowing). 2. prologue in heaven, serves as an introduction that pushes you to the plot. The messenger of hell Mephistopheles appears before God, he declares that God made a mistake by creating people, that they are evil, insidious and need to be got rid of. A dispute arises between God and Mephistopheles, the result of which is an experiment. They conclude an agreement: to test people, they choose the old scientist Faust as an experimental subject. If Mephistopheles proves that man is insignificant, insidious, then God will destroy humanity. Faust becomes an experimental being, but responsibility for all people in the world is imposed on him. The prologue is followed by part 1 (a person's personal life), part 2 (a person and society) and an epilogue.

1 part: division goes on episodes and scenes. The beginning is the office of Faust, an 80-year-old man, he lived alone almost all his life. His life was reduced to knowledge captured in books, abstract knowledge. He knew practically nothing about the world outside the office. Faust is obsessed with the idea of ​​knowledge, he is close to death, he must admit that his life has been lived in vain. Because of this fear, he turns to the spirits of the elements, they appear, but no one can give an answer to his questions. He becomes more fearful and unbearable. Under the influence of fear, Faust leaves the office. He has nothing in common with the people who live near him. Goethe draws spring, a holiday, but nobody cares about Faust. Then a memory comes to him from adolescence. Faust's father was a doctor, and when his son was 14 years old, a terrible epidemic began. Elder Faust tried to save people, prescribed medicines, but even more people die from them. His intervention is not only useless, but disastrous. After that, Faust the son goes into seclusion.

In order not to collide with people, Faust goes into the field. Where a poodle sticks to him. The owner returns home and the poodle slips up to him. When midnight strikes, the poodle turns into Mephistopheles. He is trying to negotiate with Faust that he will fulfill all his desires, make him young if Faust signs an agreement with one condition: Faust will live until then. Until he says, “You are beautiful for a moment, stop, wait!”. Faust is not subject to the temptations that Mephistopheles tests him with. ON the image of eternal femininity, Faust is seduced and signs an agreement with Mephistopheles. Faust gets the opportunity to live a second life, a fundamentally different one. But he can be above people, watch them. He returns to the office, but only to leave forever. His student Wagner settled in his house. After the conclusion of the contract, they go to the city, to a tavern where students gather. Seduced by wine and fun, Faust does not give in (the song about the flea is a denunciation of favoritism). Then they go to the Witch's kitchen, where a cauldron is boiling, an owl and a cat are watching. This potion is drunk by Faust and youth returns to him. He pays attention to city holidays, he meets with Margarita (Gretchen). She is an unfortunate person, lives in the suburbs, pretty, modest, well-bred, pious, caring, she loves children very much. She has younger sister. When a rich young man comes up to her, compliments her, wants to see her off, she tries to deflect, saying that she is not beautiful and she becomes even more desirable for Faust. Mephistopheles advises to present an expensive gift (a box of stones), but his mother saw him first and she ordered her daughter to take it to church. For the second time, the casket was given not to Margarita, but to the neighbor Martha, who becomes Faust's accomplice and gives the jewelry to Gretchen when her mother was gone. The donor becomes mysterious and interesting for her, she agrees to a nightly date with him. The girl is virtuous, as evidenced by the song "The Ballad of the King of Ful", which she sang. Love, as Goethe shows it, is a test for a woman, moreover, it is destructive. Margarita unrequitedly loves Faust, becomes criminal. There are 3 crimes on her conscience (she dooms herself to complete loneliness) - she puts sleeping pills to her mother, on one unfortunate day her mother does not wake up from an overdose of sleeping pills, the duel of Valentine and Faust, Valentine turns out to be doomed, he is slain by Faust's hand, Margarita turns out to be the cause of the death of her brother, Margarita drowns the baby daughter from Faust in a swamp (chthonic environment). Faust leaves her, he is only interested in her as long as he achieves her. Faust forgets about her, he does not feel obligations to her, does not remember her fate. Left alone, Margarita takes steps that lead her to repentance, forgiveness. Her murder becomes known, and she is put in a dungeon, she, as a mother of a child killer, should be cut off her head.

At the end of part 1, an important episode "Walpurgis Night" appears. In the midst of fun, the ghost of Margaret appears before Faust, and he demands to be delivered to her. Mephistopheles fulfills and transfers Faust to Margarita's dungeon, he is overwhelmed with remorse and wants to save his beloved. But Margaret refuses, she does not want to follow Faust, since Mephistopheles is with him. She remains in the dungeon, the night is already ending, and the executioner should come with the first rays. Mephistopheles persuades Faust to flee, and then he obeys. At this time, a voice is heard from heaven "Saved." Margarita assumes all responsibility, pays with her life for her soul. When Faust dies, among the righteous souls sent to meet his soul, will be the soul of Margarita.

Physical, cosmological aspect, aspect associated with the category of "ideal". When Faust utters this phrase, the moment stops, time breaks, the axis of the earth shifts, the movement of the Sun changes, a great cosmic catastrophe has come, Faust does not notice this trap. To stop the moment means to reach the absolute, to know the ideal. And the nature of the ideal is that. That it cannot be realized, one can only strive for it. Thus, Mephistopheles violates the law of the universe ("philosophical trap"). Love is by no means unambiguous. What happens between Faust and Margarita is severe and cruel.

Image system

The image of Faust is contradictory at the very beginning - he is inspired, then he is tormented by doubts and later decides to commit suicide, thinking that his life was in vain. Faust is overcome by completely different, even opposite feelings and emotions. Such a period passes by one who understands that the surrounding reality is not the limit, it has no boundaries, which means that you need to fly, dive into the depths of the unknown. Faust personifies constant movement, constant work, through all this you can know not only the world around you, but also yourself.

Faust was obsessed with the knowledge of truth. Many are looking for it, sometimes subconsciously, but still looking. It does not matter what times are now - Faustian or modern, the inner essence seeks to free itself from lies, to receive truth, knowledge. He devoted his life to research, but realized that this would not give anything, would not lead to the truth, since it does not consist of facts, calculations and evidence. That is why Faust decided on such a risky act - to sell his soul to the devil.

Goethe's hero is ready to pay any price, he suffers, experiences ups and downs - this is a strong and strong-willed person who, in spite of everything, goes to what his soul desires. But to achieve something, it is not enough just to have inspiration and dreams, because you will have to go through a desperate path of trials and difficulties.

positive quality this character is the desire to be free and happy, as well as to help other people achieve this. The image of Faust is inextricably linked with the theme of the meaning of life, therefore, watching the hero, you begin to think about your own life, about its meaning and meaning, is there something valuable in it that Faust saw in his own? Is it also possible to surrender to dreams, the pursuit of something new and unrevealed? Faust lived carelessly, satisfying his desires, but when he had the opportunity to build a dam, he realized that he was born for this business, this is his real purpose and meaning of life. So in every person there is a gift that needs to be unearthed in oneself, revealed, so that it becomes a stepping stone, and then the basis for a new life.

Image Mephistopheles in "Faust" is quite complicated - along with the fact that it is the spirit of denial, the negative spirit, it is at the same time the spirit that is a true creator. And in this era, as Goethe says, what we call light and are accustomed to consider Creation appeared. The universe is not some kind of closed unity, where the parts are well applicable to each other, the universe is initially imbued with the principle of development, the principle of creation, creativity. The one-sided world of Lucifer was corrected by the introduction of the luminiferous principle into it, the presence of light corrected the world of matter and the world of nature created by Lucifer. The case of Lucifer would have ended in a fiasco if the Trinity had not illuminated his activity, had not given it meaning. This activity within matter, within life, is, as it were, illuminated by the light of the three hypostases, and thus Lucifer and his origin, his messenger on earth, Mephistopheles, all the time give movement to the action. At the same time, they want to create, create a kind of destruction, going into matter, going into darkness - and at the same time create an opportunity for the deity to illuminate human activity and give it meaning. 9 This is the philosophical construction, the mythological conception that Goethe puts into Faust. He breaks creative activity into two principles - on the one hand, there is Faust, on the other, Mephistopheles, who actually moves the action, he becomes the driving principle of Goethe's tragedy.

Faust sees for the first time Gretchen leaving the cathedral. The girl has just confessed, and we immediately understand that the most important feature of Goethe's heroine is her piety. She believes in God sincerely and with all her heart. The moral and the religious are one for her, but at the same time, it is impossible to find anything in Gretchen's character that would in any way resemble hypocrisy. And at the same time, it is an absolutely worldly nature. The heroine of Goethe is perfectly aware of her class position, evidence of this is her first brief conversation with Faust. Morality and worship of God go hand in hand with the established order of things in the world. It is unthinkable for a girl to go beyond her class. Although Faust is not a nobleman, Gretchen takes him for one, instantly realizing the difference between them13. This detail serves not only to faithfully convey the historical color, it is the essence of the character of Gretchen herself. Faust is delighted with the beauty of the girl, the physical attractiveness of the heroine is enough for him, and the first thing that captures him is simple lust. An educated hero does not think that Gretchen is a person and that her attention must be earned. Faust wants to possess Gretchen, and Mephistopheles is infinitely glad that lust has finally awakened in Faust, that area human psyche, which, in his opinion, is entirely controlled by Mephistopheles himself. But in this situation, the devil finds himself in an unenviable position, because Faust wants to use him as a banal pimp, to force him to engage in one of the most despicable professions in the Middle Ages. Faust is relentless, pandering, he says to Mephistopheles, is a diabolical occupation. The devil, of course, is humiliated, although he perfectly captures the nature of Faust's request. Everything goes according to his scenario, but it turns out that Mephistopheles has no power over the girl, because Margaret, who has just left the temple, is under the shadow of divine blessing. There. where the legislation of God is fully carried out, where creation is under the complete control of the divine mind, there is no room for the activity of demonic forces. And Mephistopheles indignantly states that Gretchen is an absolutely pure and innocent being.

Martha- this is a complete contrast to Gretchen, she does not grieve at all about the death of her unlucky husband and, having learned that he did not leave anything to her, she quickly forgets him. In addition, Mephistopheles, with his rather gallant behavior, attracts her attention to himself. In order to confirm the death of her husband, according to customs and legal norms, a second witness is needed, and he appears - this is Faust. The whole scene is a kind of quartet, it is played by two couples - Gretchen and Faust, Mephistopheles and Martha. Mephistopheles poses as a red tape trying to hit on Martha, and she is ready to marry him. The whole situation looks like a mixture of scenes - then Martha appears with Mephistopheles, then Gretchen with Faust. Gretchen falls in love with a handsome young beau. In the rendezvous scene, Faust does not yet have complete love, while this is only an erotic feeling, but already in the next scene - in a forest cave - Faust's passion merges with a sense of nature. Nature has an effect that elevates his feelings.

Elena- transferred to the tragedy from Greek mythology the perfect embodiment of beauty. Finding E. marks the triumph of Faust in his search for an absolute ideal. The images of E. and Paris are caused by Faust through magic, but the aesthetic ideal presented to him reveals new era in his existence. Faith in the beautiful, correlated with antiquity, inspired Goethe himself, who believed that by educating people in a sense of beauty, art would arouse in them the desire for freedom. E. in Goethe is the personification of the highest beauty sought by the hero, who has to go through the stages of approaching it, corresponding to the evolution of the concept of beauty among the Greeks. Faust sees three stages in the development of the images of ancient fantasy. The lowest is made up of images fantasy creatures(vultures, sphinxes, sirens). On the middle one are images of demigods, half-humans (centaurs), fantastic forest dwellers (nymphs). At the third, highest stage, Faust meets the philosophers Thales and Anaxagoras, who seek to understand the origin of the world. Only as a result of this journey, Faust is prepared for a meeting with E., symbolizing the highest beauty and spirituality. The third act of the second suit depicts the union of Faust and E., magically resurrected at the moment of her return after the defeat of Troy. In the scene "In front of the palace of Menelaus in Sparta," E. recalls episodes of his past life, as they are described in the Iliad. The union of Faust and E. is a symbol of the combination of classical antique and romantic medieval ideals, the union of beauty and intelligence. The fruit of this union is the boy Euphorion (in ancient myth, that was the name of the son of E. and Achilles), combining the features of his parents: harmonious beauty and restless spirit. According to Goethe, Byron was the contemporary poet who achieved this unity.

Homunculus- the image is unique, since only he alone manages to read Faust's thoughts, to see his dreams. Only he is able to lead the natives of the European North, Faust and Mephistopheles, through Hellas, and in it, born in a dark laboratory, he feels at home. Unlike the devil, who knows about ancient Greece only by hearsay, and the Christian medieval interpretation, where the ideal of beauty - Elena appears as a devil worthy to take part in obscene frenzy on Blocksberg, Homunculus knows everything about antiquity. knows Elena's pedigree. Greece is his native element.

Philosophical understanding of the image of the Homunculus as a symbol of human entelechy, a free spiritual essence, a monad endowed with the gift of anticipation, the ability to comprehend the world before any experience, entered German studies already in the 10s of the last century thanks to the works of G. W. Hertz 1 . Actually, this interpretation was prompted by Goethe himself, as evidenced by Riemer's entry dated March 30, 1833: “To my question, what did Goethe think when creating the Homunculus. Eckermann replied: Goethe wanted to represent entelechy, reason, spirit in this way. what it enters into life before any experience: for the human spirit already reveals the highest talent, we have by no means learned everything, we bring a lot with us. Peace to Himself A. G. Astvatsaturov Spirit flying in a flask. The figure of Homunculus in the second part of Goethe's Faust opened very early, he saw it before experience convinced him 2. How the entelechy of Homunculus was interpreted by Fritz Shtrikh, finding the roots of Goethe's understanding of the entelechy monad in Plato, Plotinus. Giordano Bruno and Kant, and. Leibniz, of course. Entelechy and monad for Goethe are interchangeable concepts. By monad Goethe meant

entelechy, which manifests itself under certain conditions. Monad - limited

individuality entelechy.

There is no doubt that such an interpretation is a worldview extract, to which, of course, the image of the Homunculus is not reduced, on the contrary, a comprehensive analysis will also contribute to the worldview deepening of this image, and if Goethe understands it as an entelechy, then his connection with others becomes especially important for her. figures of tragedy.

The homunculus is born after Faust's unsuccessful attempt to magically bring Helen and Paris back to life. After the explosion that threw Faust to the ground, he was transferred by Mephistopheles to his office, in which he hated. and exhausted, remains in oblivion. At this time, Wagner proceeds to the decisive stage of his alchemical experiment, the purpose of which is to create man artificially. Secondarily, the theme of alchemy appears in the tragedy.

12. Genre fairy tale romantic literature(at least three authors of the student's choice).

Romanticism(fr. romanticisme) - a phenomenon European culture V XVIII-XIX centuries, representing a reaction to the Enlightenment and the scientific and technological progress stimulated by it; ideological and artistic direction in European and American culture of the late 18th century - the first half of XIX century. It is characterized by the assertion of the intrinsic value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, the image of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters, spiritualized and healing nature. Since the further development of German romanticism is distinguished by an interest in fairy-tale and mythological motifs, which was especially clearly expressed in the work of the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm and Ernst Hoffmann, we will take a closer look at Heidelberg romanticism.

Heidelberg romanticism(German Heidelberger Romantik) - the second generation of German romantics. The main representatives are Achim von Arnim, Kleemenso Brentano, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, Ernst Hoffmann. The writers turned to the idea of ​​"folk spirit" and showed an increased interest in the national cultural and historical tradition. The idea of ​​national unity and the dissolution of individuality in the "people's body" dominates. The problem of overcoming the dualism of matter and spirit, nature and consciousness, feeling and mind is resolved in the artist's appeal to the national past, to mythological forms of consciousness, to deep religious feeling. Representatives of the school turned to folklore as the "authentic language" of the people, contributing to its, the people, unification. Growth national consciousness connected primarily with the rejection of state reforms, planted by Napoleon in the territories he captured. Within the framework of the Heidelberg school, the first scientific direction in the study of folklore took shape - the mythological school, which was based on the mythological ideas of Schelling and the Schlegel brothers.

The question of the relationship between literature and life is still one of the controversial ones. It is hardly possible today to accept the metaphor of Stendhal, who likened literature to a mirror. However, to deny that the writer's work is complex and sometimes in an unexpected way determined by the life around him, is also impossible. The history of romanticism as a literary trend is an excellent confirmation of this.

The era of romanticism is one of the most interesting and eventful periods in the history of mankind. French revolution, the formidable campaigns of Napoleon, redrawing the map of Europe, breaking the old way of life and centuries-old human relations - such was the time that the first romantics found.

However, the discrepancy between the ideals put forward by the new reality and the reality in which the romantics lived forced them to go into the world of subjective experiences, to oppose the beautiful and the imaginary to the prose of life. Hence - an irresistible, attracting interest in everything mysterious, unusual, mysterious and mystical. Hence the appeal to the personality of a person, the desire to influence, first of all, his feelings, to amaze the imagination. A literary fairy tale, along with the laws of the genre, which it cannot but follow, often borrows from the folk tradition one or another of its features in one or another combination; This, in particular, explains the diversity literary fairy tale. So, a literary fairy tale is a multidimensional phenomenon, on the one hand, preserving, thanks to the laws of the genre, continuity in relation to the folk tale, and on the other hand, subject to all sorts of influences, among which the most important is the influence historical era and influence of the author's will.

studying folklore, Propp noticed that in a fairy tale there are constants and variables. The constants include the functions of actors and their sequence. By function, Propp understands the action of a character from the point of view of his relation to the course of the action. In total, Propp identifies 31 possible functions in a fairy tale. At the same time, many functions are arranged in pairs (prohibition - violation, struggle - victory, persecution - salvation, etc.). Also, functions are logically combined according to the circles of actions of the characters of a fairy tale, i.e. in a fairy tale there are only seven characters: a hero, a pest, a sender, a donor, an assistant, a princess, a false hero.

Writer Brothers saw in the works of oral folk art their aesthetic samples, sources modern literature and the basis of its national character. their literary fairy tales combine the magical, fantastic, ghostly and mystical with modern reality.

German Retellings by the Brothers Grimm, as well as "Children's and Family Tales", brought to life the cheerful activity of the collector in many countries. The concept of "fairy tale" was assigned to a folk tale, but at the same time it also meant a literary tale. At the same time, attempts were made to determine the date of the literary tale. The priority belongs to J. Grimm, who saw the difference between a literary fairy tale and a folk tale in conscious authorship and in the humorous beginning inherent in the first.

The division of fairy tales into genres. The collected works of the Brothers Grimm present fairy tales that belong to different genres:

Fairy tales ("Rapunzel", "Three Serpentine Leaves", "Lady Blizzard"), which tells about various miracles, transformations, spells.

Tales about animals ("The Wolf and the Seven Kids", "Bremen and Street Musicians"), where, as in fables, certain traits of a human character are given to animals.

Everyday fairy tales ("Hansel and Gretel", "Clever Peasant Daughter"), stories that tell about different cases from real life.

Hoffman was a romantic painter. The nature of the conflicts underlying his works, their problems and the system of images, the artistic vision of the world itself remain within the framework of romanticism. Like the Jensen, most of Hoffmann's works are based on the artist's conflict with society. The original romantic antithesis of the artist and society is at the heart of the writer's attitude. With all his attempts to break out of it into the world of art, the hero remains surrounded by real concrete historical reality. Neither a fairy tale nor art can bring him harmony in this real world which eventually subjugates them. Hence the constant tragic contradiction between the hero and his ideals, on the one hand, and reality, on the other. Hence the dualism from which Hoffmann's heroes suffer, the two worlds in his works, the insolubility of the conflict between the hero and outside world in most of them, the characteristic biplane creative manner writer.

Hoffmann's tales, such as "The Golden Pot" (Der goldne Topf), "Little Tsakhes" (Klein Zaches), "Lord of the Fleas" (Meister Floh), etc., mark further development romantic identity. The romantic flight of fantasy is slowly but surely approaching the earth, earthly problems in them. The idea of ​​universal harmony here is consistently destroyed by the recognition of the disharmony of everyday reality. Its depressing, but indisputable stability, felt every hour in every detail, extinguishes hopes, gives rise to anxiety, overwhelms with fear. The artist's eye is no longer able to grasp the all-encompassing connection of things. Before his eyes, the world is splitting into two unmerged spheres. The famous Hoffmannian "two worlds" comes from the fatally and finally realized opposition of the ideal and reality, their practical incompatibility. What Tik only guessed about becomes an indisputable truth for Hoffmann.

Boy's magic horn(Des Knaben Wunderhorn. 1806-1808) - collection folk songs, published by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, who played in the story German culture no less important than the famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and the collection of German legends and folk books carried out by Görres. Like all the folklore activities of the German Romantics, the undertaking of Arnim and Brentano was inspired by by no means indisputable ideological prerequisites; the smack of nationalism (generated by anti-Napoleonic pathos) and the cult of patriarchy (opposed to the bourgeois way of life) are clearly felt in the collection. However, folklore turned out to be stronger than folklorists. The Boy's Magic Horn is a true treasury of German folk art, unique both in volume and genre diversity. Along with tendentiously selected religious spiritual songs of the 16th-17th centuries. (among them - Luther's psalms, the Catholic song of Jacob Balde and Friedrich Spee) the collection contains songs expressing the people's love for their homeland, soldiers' songs and songs of social protest, which embody the centuries-old hatred of the common people for the oppressors: feudal lords and churchmen. Many songs are ballad in nature, their heroes are noble robbers like Robin Hood, defenders of the poor and champions of justice. Wonderful love folk songs, authentic in their artlessness and marked by depth of feeling. Collections of folk songs were undertaken as early as the 18th century. (The most famous are the works of Herder and Burger in this area). The appeal of German poetry to emotional immediacy, song melody, manifested in the work of Uhland, Mörik, Lenau, Kerner, Storm, is decisively predetermined by this collection.

Faust as the voice of the era

Each era has its heroes, its mythological images. They express its spirit, its deep problems and questions, its searches. Having ancient roots, they appear every time in new clothes so that we can understand them and recognize ourselves in them. One of these heroes is Dr. Faust.

Surprisingly, the story of a warlock who lived in the 16th century, either in Prague, where his house is still shown, or in Heidelberg, or somewhere else, so interested many famous writers, including Christopher Marlo, Gotthold Lessing, Johann Goethe, that they dedicated almost their best works to him. Their Fausts are not similar to each other, and everyone has their own idea. But still…

We will talk about only one of these works - the tragedy of Goethe, perhaps the most profound and mysterious of all. And without pretending to be complete and complete, we will only try to touch the magical images of its main characters, whose charm, thanks to Goethe, was experienced by many poets, philosophers, and artists.

Goethe wrote "Faust" almost all his life. This is the spiritual confession of a man of the era to which we still belong. Motives intertwined in his book ancient myths and Old Testament stories, the legends of the Middle Ages sound in it, the ideas of the Renaissance and the thoughts of ancient natural philosophers are guessed. Faust is Achilles and Jason, Adam and Job, Solomon and Christ, Dante and Leonardo. But everything is whole and organically subordinated to one secret - the Destiny and the Way of Man. His endless search, ups and downs, behind which one great aspiration is guessed. Eternal tragedy Human tragedy human soul crucified between heaven and earth. Wandering in darkness in search of light. This is a hymn to the greatness of Man, and this is also a comedy of our pettiness.

Between heaven and earth

So, Doctor Faust. The magician and sorcerer who sold his soul to the devil for the sake of ... Indeed, for what? Maybe for the sake of riches and pleasures, for the sake of power and satisfaction of exorbitant ambitions? In medieval legends - just for the sake of it, but Goethe is different ... However, let's start in order.

The story of Dr. Faust is preceded by two prologues, one "in the theater", that is, on earth, the second - "in heaven". This already sets a certain duality for the whole story. And the prologues themselves contain a deep duality.

The poet and the comedian argue about what the viewer needs: poetry that elevates the soul, or something “more understandable”, eternal or momentary. The question remains open, but the director of the theater puts an end to the dispute, thereby setting the scale of the action:

Put the whole world on stage
A magnificent row of people and creatures -
And through the earth from heaven to hell
You walk with measured steps!

In the "Prologue in Heaven", very similar to the beginning of the biblical Book of Job, there are characters like those already mentioned. These are the archangels, praising God and the beauty of His Creation, and Mephistopheles, lamenting the bad earthly deeds. Duality of Heaven and Earth. And there is a third thing that unites these two opposites: God, embracing the heavenly and the earthly.

But what worries Mephistopheles?

I have nothing to say about suns and worlds:
I see only one human torment.
Funny god of the earth, always, in all ages
He is the same eccentric as he was at the beginning of the century!
He'd be a little better off.
When he could not own
That gleam of divine light,
What he calls reason: property is
He could only use one thing -
To be cattle from cattle!

The characterization is not flattering. Rough, perhaps, but essentially and very modern. However, much earlier, Augustine the Blessed in his “Confession” wrote: “If Adam had not fallen away from You, this sea brine would not have poured out of his womb, the human race, extremely curious, furiously arrogant, unstable shaky ...”

“God, is he talking about us?” someone will ask. "Yes," God nods wearily...

This definition marks one side of the tragedy. But still, God stands up for man and cites Faust as an example, speaking of him as his slave. This is very important: in this way, God claims that he did not leave Faust (we can assume that we are in his face), although he is called an atheist, that everything he does: all his throwing and searching, about which Mephistopheles complains, - this is part of the divine providence:

Lord.
He is my slave.

Mephistopheles.
But not like everyone else; he serves differently;
He does not want to eat or drink in an earthly way;
Like crazy, he is weak in mind,
What he himself feels in the midst of doubts;
Always immersed in my dreams
Then from the sky he wishes the best stars,
Then on earth - all the highest pleasures,
And there is nothing in it - neither close nor far -
Can't quench the gnawing sadness.

Lord.
While his mind still wanders in darkness,
But he will be illumined by the ray of truth;
When planting a tree, the gardener already knows
What flower and fruit from it will he receive.

We will see further that Mephistopheles, offering his services to Faust, acts with the blessing of the Lord. famous phrase, which he introduces himself to Faust and which Mikhail Bulgakov took as an epigraph to his novel, acquires a very deep meaning:

I am part of eternal power,
Always desiring evil, doing only good.

So, the adventure begins, and although the fate of the unknowing Faust is already predetermined by the Lord, our doctor has yet to live it, perhaps in the same way that we live our fate...

I deny everything - and this is my essence

In Mephistopheles, relying on medieval legends, we at first easily recognize " classic trait". However, he himself appears to be the nephew of the famous snake. The Spirit of Negation, as recommended to Faust:

I deny everything - and this is my essence ...

In short, everything that your brother calls evil -
The desire to destroy, evil deeds and thoughts,
That's all - my element.

Like all medieval devilish brethren, Mephistopheles chrome is a sure sign of the devil. Everything is clear: good and evil, eternal struggle... but not everything is so simple with Goethe. In the second part of Faust, the ancient sphinx, meeting with Mephistopheles, gives him the following characterization:

... You are a complete paradox.
You are what with the power of one
Both the righteous and the sinner need:
One to always resist evil,
Another, to completely fall under evil.

The spirit of doubt and unbelief, it does not oppose God at all, rather, it helps him, testing a person for strength (this brings Faust closer to the long-suffering Job): how strong is faith, and therefore the connection of a person with God? To what extent are we ready to follow our ideas and principles in practice, when our reason, having taken our fears and habits as its allies, whispers to us about the futility of any effort, any spiritual aspirations, and calls us to live only by earthly desires? But perhaps, being subordinated to a deeper one - the faith that lives in the heart, it gives the ability to know the world and effectively realize our dreams.

Oh, two souls live in my sick chest

What about our doctor? We have already heard what Mephistopheles thinks of him. Here is what he himself says:

I learned philosophy
I became a lawyer, I became a doctor...
Alas! with diligence and hard work
And I penetrated into theology, -
And I did not become smarter in the end,
Than before I was ... I am a fool of fools!

With these words the story begins. With this cry, the tragedy of Faust begins - a man who is disappointed in what he has achieved, disappointed in himself and in the world, a man who seeks and does not find, who asks and does not hear an answer ...

But what does Faust want? What is it striving for? More knowledge? Rather, he wants something completely different. He is disappointed in book science, unable to give satisfaction to his soul (in this sense, the opposite of Faust is his student Wagner, who revels in book wisdom). He turns to magic and contemplates the sign of the Microcosm, in which the inner, secret life of Nature is revealed, but contemplation is not able to satisfy him: Faust wants to unite with this life and live it, but cannot do this.

His soul is dual, like the soul ancient hero, combining earthly and heavenly, a hero who, living on Earth, must earn Heaven:

Oh, two souls live in my sick chest,
Alien to each other - and long for separation!
Of these, one dear land -
And here she likes, in this world,
The other is heavenly fields,
Where the shadows of the ancestors are there, on the air.

These words of Faust set the starting point for man's path to the divine. At the beginning of it is a man in whom the angelic and Mephistopheles struggle, at the end is the Deity, embracing and connecting all opposites, a living Microcosm - integrity, harmony, internal and external, to which Faust aspires. But now his soul is torn between the highest aspirations that equate man with the deity, and the realization of his own insignificance, his own imperfection and the futility of all aspirations and efforts.

Isn't it the same with us? Isn't that what we sometimes feel too? Do we recognize ourselves in these words of Faust:

Alas, only the spirit soars, having renounced the body, -
We cannot soar with bodily wings!
But sometimes you can't suppress
Innate desire in the soul -
Striving up when before us
Suddenly a lark flies singing ...

And don't we feel the disappointment and emptiness of everyday life when we return from these spiritual heights and look at life flowing around us as before? If yes, then Faust lives in us. And just like his soul, our souls, chained to the sensual world, the material, everyday world, strive for the unknown and not yet known. And the words of Faust are painfully familiar:

Strive for the high, the beautiful
The affairs of life interfere with us,
And if we managed to achieve the blessings of the earth,
We attribute the highest blessings to dreams ...

Secret care with heavy longing
Our heart weighs heavily, and torments us with grief,
And crushes us and happiness and peace,
Appearing every day under a new disguise.
We are afraid for the family, we feel sorry for the children, the wife;
Fire, poison we fear in the highest degree;
Before what does not threaten, doomed to tremble;
Not yet lost, we cry for the loss ...

Approaching the climax of the crisis, internal contradiction, Faust speaks of the emptiness of the world in which he cannot find himself. In everyday life, he sees only a game that is unable to captivate him. Wealth, love, power - all this is too small and insignificant for his aspirations. But then what can satisfy them?

The god that lives in my chest
All the depth of her worries:
He rules over the powers within her,
But it does not grant the forces an exit.

This is one of the main questions of Faust and perhaps of many of us. Yes, we can all live - and we live - in this world, we are connected with it by many of our desires, needs, fears. We eat, we drink, we work or we study... It is even possible that we like it. However, in what will we find true satisfaction that will give us a sense of the fullness of life? Are not our deepest aspirations and dreams? Isn't it their incarnation? And if we do not find an opportunity for them to come true, then what are we to do with them and what are we to do with ourselves? This is how it starts new life Faust:

But more than all of you from now on,
Patience is vulgar, I swear!

The well-known is remembered: “I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot: oh that you were cold or hot!

I hear the message, but I don't have faith!

But we are talking not only about knowledge and desires. Faust knows he is deeper than many, it is strange that this does not save him from disappointment. Moreover, despite his sophistication, he reaches the threshold of death, he already raises a glass of poison to kill himself, thereby denying life - a gesture already truly Mephistopheles. But what saves him? The sound of the Easter bell resurrects in him distant memories of what he lost along the way.

Oh no! I will not take a fatal step:
Remembrance softens all the torments!
O wondrous sounds, swim above me!
I shed tears, I put up with earthly life!

He returns to life under the “choir of students”, which brings the tragedy of Faust out of the plane of experiences of one person into the universal, global sphere:

Here we all languish
In a tough fight!
We all strive with our hearts
God, to you!

And just as the choir sings of Christ's Resurrection, the finale of the tragedy will sing the resurrection of Faust, who died on earth and ascended to Heaven. But it will be in the final. And now the tragedy of Faust is in disbelief. He knows, but he lacks faith. Maybe the same one that his beloved Gretchen possesses for all her naivety. It is no coincidence that she so easily and naturally guesses the nature of Mephistopheles.

This is another key duality of tragedy - the duality of mind and heart. No, Faust is not at all a “godless”, not a “warlock”, not an “Atheist of the Enlightenment”, the question of faith in God is very, very serious for him:

Who dares to name Him frankly?
Who can boldly confess:
Do I believe in Him?
Who with full feeling beliefs
Don't be afraid to say:
Don't believe in Him?

But perhaps his faith is too abstract and lacks vitality, that natural force that can only be born in the heart, where our two souls are united into one:

And I - I hear the message, but I do not have faith!
Should I be resurrected? Can I believe?
A miracle - faith is a beloved child!
Strive to the world of heaven, from where the message descends,
I dare not; there is no way for me...

So why does Faust make a bet with Mephistopheles? Not for the sake of earthly blessings: Faust does not need them, he understands their price too well:

Fruits that rot the moment they are plucked
And the tree is in bloom for a few minutes!

He is looking for much more than the satisfaction of momentary passions and desires. Disappointed in the path of knowledge, he wants to act, he longs to "fall to the nipples of nature", longs to plunge into life, to merge with it:

I'm not waiting for joy - I ask you to understand!
I will throw myself into a whirlwind of painful joy,
Loving malice, sweet annoyance;
My spirit, from the thirst for knowledge is healed,
Will open to all sorrows from now on:
What is given to mankind in its destiny,
To test everything, he must taste!

And in this search for experience, Faust is helped by his "restless companion" Mephistopheles. With a witch's potion, he awakens strength and aspiration in our hero, a kind of enthusiasm, with his charms giving the objects of this world the illusion of value. And the essence of their bet is this: Faust swears that nothing in this earthly world will not be able to give him such a feeling of fullness, such happiness that he would want to stop this “beautiful moment”, prolong it as long as possible. For for him this means slavery, captivity to the earthly, transient. He swears, but in the mysterious finale of his earthly journey he breaks his oath.

Whose life in aspirations has passed

And maybe the most great tragedy Faust is that he never found faith in striving for the "world of heaven." He stands firmly on his feet, an army of lemurs (perhaps a symbol of our physical body) is working on the realization of his project. Yes, probably very necessary, but ... very earthly:

I have known this light enough,
And there is no road for us to another world.
The blind man who proudly carries dreams
Who is looking for equals to us beyond the clouds!

Yes, he no longer asks, as at the beginning of his journey, about the meaning of dreams. He no longer summons spirits. Perhaps that is why the very “secret concern” that he once cursed comes to him and blinds him. And he himself turns out to be blind and no longer sees and does not understand the real significance of what is happening, hearing in the sound of the shovels of his undertakers the noise of great construction ...

And yet (to hell with it, in literally of this word) “the light burns brighter and brighter” in him, he is justified by God, his soul is taken by angels. Mephistopheles is left with nothing. The prophecy predicted by the Lord in the prologue is coming true. And the last words of the tragedy, performed by the "mystical choir" sound like a great solemn hymn, summing up the earthly life of Faust:

All fleeting -
Symbol, comparison.
The goal is endless
Here - in achievement.
Here is commandment
All truth.
Eternal femininity
Pulls us to her.

Faust is saved, because his life “was spent in aspirations,” the choir of angels sings, raising his soul to heaven, because for him “love itself does not get cold.” Gretchen's soul becomes his guide to higher realms. There they meet, there their journey continues. Isn't this what Faust really aspired to, without realizing it?

The book is over, the question remains: what are we striving for in this world, where everything is just “dreams about something important”?.. Maybe we will be able to believe more and more deeply than Faust did? Maybe faith will awaken our hearts and connect the thirst for distant horizons and the sense of the value of every moment of our life with its sufferings and joys? Will it connect lofty dreams and life, giving both the one and the other meaning?

to the magazine "Man Without Borders"

Mephistopheles- one of central characters tragedy - in a semantic sense is very ambiguous. M., on the one hand, embodies that world of impure, “devilish” power, with which Faust enters into an agreement, hoping to quench his thirst for immense knowledge and pleasure. However, M. also embodies "evil" as the source of contradiction, the beginning of anxiety, dissatisfaction, as an incentive to action. At the same time, M. is associated with the denial of everything inert, false in social institutions and in people's opinions, all the satirical elements in Faust. Finally, wanting to take possession of Faust's soul, M. constantly interferes in his actions, distorts one or another of his intentions, which often leads to a tragic outcome (so, along with Faust himself, M. is undoubtedly one of the culprits in the death of Margaret). Already in the Prologue in Heaven, the special significance of M. in tragedy is determined. The Lord God gives him permission to test Faust in order to awaken him to activity (“Out of laziness, a person falls into hibernation. / Go stir up his stagnation, / Turn around before him, languish and worry ...”). But in the same prologue, the lips of the Lord God predicted the final defeat of M. in the competition for the soul of Faust. In the first part of the tragedy, M. appears to Faust in a moment of spiritual turmoil and cruel doubts. He certifies himself as "a part of the power of that which is without number / Creates good, wishing evil to everything." This is the spirit of absolute negation. Having concluded an agreement with Faust, M. begins to tempt him. At first, he takes him to Leipzig, to the cellar, to a violent student feast, where M. mocks the feasting rude people. Then - to the witch's kitchen, where a fiery potion is being prepared, which should rejuvenate Faust and awaken in him a revelry of instincts. This scene, where the witch's assistants are animals, is replete with obscenities, but also with outright political allusions: the animals, the witches' assistants, carry M.'s crown split in two and jump with its fragments. Soon, it is M. who arranges the acquaintance of Faust with Margarita. In the second part of the tragedy, as the scene of Faust's activity expands, M. even more often changes his appearance, speaking in the most different roles. As before, he plays the role of a sarcastic denier, mocking everything outdated and inert; in those cases when he acts as an assistant to Faust, he again - as in the first part - often and maliciously distorts his will. Initially, Faust and M. find themselves at the court of the emperor, M. becomes the court jester. To replenish the empty treasury, he proposes to the emperor to issue paper money under the fantastic security of underground riches and treasures. Then he takes part in the search for the Trojan Helen, experiences various adventures in the world mythological creatures of antiquity and, taking on the guise of the ugly Phorkiad known from ancient myths, guards the peace of the couple in love - Faust and Helen - in a secluded castle. The role of M. in the fifth, final act of the tragedy is peculiar. When Faust receives a maritime region as a gift from the emperor, which he planned to turn into a flourishing country, M., using his trust, begins to boldly host here. M. shamelessly engaged in robbery and piracy; he plays a particularly sinister role in the fate of an elderly married couple - Philemon and Baucis. Faust offers them new lands, wants to move them to another place, while M.'s henchmen, breaking into the old people's hut, force them out. Old people die, their hut burns to the ground. The final episodes of the second part are painted with tragic irony. Blinded and decrepit, Faust still dreams of draining the swamps, of great deeds, but M. (this time the overseer supervising the work) orders the lemurs, his henchmen, not to erect an embankment, but to dig Faust's grave. After the death of Faust, M. finally tries to take possession of his soul, but the choir of angels announces the justification of Faust.

A person has always been attracted by the unknown, and he also always wanted to fulfill his desires, even those that do not fit in his head. For such purposes, he needed the support of higher powers, good or evil - it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to get your way. Such was the deal between Faust and Mephistopheles.

A little about Dr. Faust

If you ask any person who made a deal with Mephistopheles, then in response you can hear one name - Faust, largely thanks to Goethe's poem, which was studied by everyone school curriculum. But in fact, the work of the German classic wrote on the basis of real facts, that is, his character had a real prototype.

Johannes Faust was a sorcerer and alchemist, physician and theologian, astronomer and all-round scientist. He was born in Swabia, where he studied. In the end, he got to black magic. Somehow, the Seventh Book of Moses fell into his hands. The doctor studied this black Bible for a long time and decided to try to command the dark forces. Finally he performed the ritual, Faust and Mephistopheles signed the deal.

Years later, the doctor will repent, but the agreement with the dark forces, signed with blood, cannot be terminated. The closer the retribution was, the worse Faust felt at heart.

The legend of the magician in art

So, who made the deal with Mephistopheles, we already know. The legend was widespread in Europe in the sixteenth century. It was often staged in puppet theaters, the Englishman Christopher Marlo created his own version of the drama - “ tragic story Doctor Faust. After Goethe wrote the drama Faust, the plot ended up in Russia, where Pushkin borrowed it. Charles Gounod created the opera Faust in the nineteenth century. Why did artists turn to the problem of the famous alchemist? Probably because Faust and Mephistopheles entered into an agreement that many thought about. The struggle between good and evil, the relationship between man and nature, the confrontation in the soul is always actual topic. But for any benefits over time you have to pay. Let this time be very far away, but it will come sooner or later. And whether the payment of those imaginary pleasures is worth it, everyone needs to decide on their own.

Mysterious ritual

How did the deal with Mephistopheles go? Legend has it that Faust performed the ritual described in the book of magic. The doctor drew in the office big circle using chalk and compass. In it, he drew two more smaller circles, the space of which he filled with ritual signs. At midnight, Faust stood in the center and cast a spell. Suddenly, an ape-like creature appeared and reported that it had come to serve him. But the alchemist drove him away and cast another spell. Then another creature appeared, which resembled a ram. But this servant Johannes drove away, and he continued to read the spell. After the third spell, a lame man entered the office, introducing himself as Mephistopheles.

The devil told what he could give Faust: travel in space and time, money, success, the love of women, secret knowledge. The doctor liked this, but first he asked about the payment for this pleasure. Mephistopheles wanted one thing - a signature on parchment that stipulated that Faust would give him his soul. After a certain period (24 years), during which Mephistopheles will unquestioningly serve a person, the doctor's soul goes to hell. After some hesitation, Faust agreed and signed the contract with his blood. The deal went through!

Characteristics of Faust

Today we know about the death of Dr. Faust, the one who made a deal with Mephistopheles. A professor at the University of Wittenberg once told his students that his death hour was approaching. He told them that 24 years ago he gave his soul to the devil and now the hour of reckoning has come. The students considered Johann Faust sick, so they hurried to leave the audience. But at night the cries of “Kill! They're killing!" made them come back here. They found the lifeless and disfigured body of the teacher in a room spattered with blood. The professor lived around 1480-1540. At first he stubbornly studied theology, and then he abandoned it and began to study magic, often divining.

Goethe draws Faust as a man of high spiritual aspirations, intelligent, active, erudite. He wants to serve people, help them realize their dreams, achieve harmony. He has a successful medical practice, and he is ready to heal not only the bodies of his patients, but also their souls. And signing the contract with blood, he thinks not only about himself, but about all the people on the planet. The characteristic of Faust suggests that he is a passionate and emotional person: he is instantly carried away by the beautiful Margarita.

The image of Mephistopheles

The characterization of Faust and Mephistopheles helps to look deeper into the order of things, to understand the problem that is taking place. The devil is unbelief and the denial of all that is good. But we must give him his due: Faust's companion is sane, very reasonable, intelligent, gallant. Outwardly, it looks like a common person. But it is his behavior that betrays himself. Mephistopheles considers a person and his life limited, insignificant. It has a cynical explanation just in case. This is evil in the understanding of Goethe, this is what he wanted to convey to people in his work.

Other characters in Goethe's poem

So, we know who made the deal with Mephistopheles, we also know what the main characters of Goethe's Faust were. But besides them, there are other heroes: Margarita, the Lord God, Martha.

The Lord God is the personification of light and goodness, infinite love, grace. In the prologue to the poem, he argues with the devil, arguing that man will shame Satan. God believes that his creation will choose the good, the truth, and not the deceitful grace promised by the devil.

Margarita is a bright and touching image. Beloved Fausta is really good: she is chaste, shy, honest, believes in God. She works hard and hard and would make a wonderful wife and mother. But she feels the devil's essence and is afraid of Mephistopheles. Faust, although he understands that he will destroy the girl, cannot resist desire. As a result, the family of the disgraced Margarita is destroyed, her brother dies at the hands of the doctor, and she herself goes crazy and drowns the child. But while awaiting execution, she refuses help from Faust, whom she loves very much, and asks God for salvation. Her soul will go to heaven.

Pure and kind Margarita is the exact opposite of Martha, who, in her relationship with Mephistopheles, is guided by prudence and hypocrisy.

Faust and his philosophy

Goethe's poem is based on a medieval legend about a deal between a man and the devil. However great poet introduced into it his vision of the eternal problem - the relationship of good and evil, morality and money, unbridled desires and moderation, light and darkness. This complex work on which he worked for more than sixty years.

Although Mephistopheles is negative character, he is exactly what life cannot exist without. Without skepticism, a departure from moral customs, from established rules, progress as such is impossible. This is exactly the case when evil turns out to be good in reality. Faust is a man, by what he has. He wants more and in the end he gets it. And although the price for this is too high, he himself understands that he has ruined himself and many others, but the goal has been achieved: the life of society is developing. Dr. Faust shows how contradictions coexist in one person, asserting which Goethe believed.

Instead of an afterword

Truly immortal, like Shakespeare's Hamlet. It helps to look at the essence of life, to overestimate one's values, because having achieved everything, the doctor remains dissatisfied. But belated remorse does not change anything: you have to pay for everything.