Why is Faust one of the most valuable and influential works in the history of European and even world literature? (2)
Faust is Goethe's most important masterpiece. It is a vivid epitome of the cultural development in the 300 years from the Renaissance to the beginning of the19th century during the rise of the European bourgeoisie. It is called the four classic novels of European literature together with Homer's epic, Dante's Divine Comedy and Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is not only a masterpiece of enlightenment literature, but also one of the most valuable and influential works in the history of European and even world literature.
Faust is a masterpiece created by Goethe in his whole life, which combines the great power of poetry with the infinite depth of philosophical thought. Faust is a household name in Europe. It is said that he is a travel scholar, proficient in astrology, fortune telling and alchemy. There are many legends about Faust in German folk. The core of these legends is that Faust entered into a contract with the devil and pursued all kinds of knowledge and enjoyment of life with the help of magic. When the contract expired, the devil took his soul. Goethe fundamentally transformed this legend, comprehensively and deeply excavated and developed this material, and spent nearly 60 years before and after writing the poetic tragedy Faust.
Faust is a rhyme written in various poetic styles, including two parts. Faust in the play is the representative and mentor of all mankind. What he pursues is the prospect of human development. The development of Faust can be divided into five tragic stages: the first part is the tragedy of knowledge and the tragedy of love; The second part is political tragedy, beauty tragedy and career tragedy.
In the first Prelude to the Sky, Mephistopheles, the demon, made a bet with Tiandi: He believed that Faust was insatiable and could lure Faust into the magic path. God believes that people will inevitably get lost in the process of fighting for it, but good people will eventually find a bright way in the dark. The Emperor of Heaven accepted the devil's bet: he thought that people's spirits were easy to languish and they were eager for comfort, and the devil could stimulate them. In this gamble, the devil will eventually fail and admit defeat.
At the beginning of the tragedy, Faust, who was over half a century old, stayed in his study all day. However, he became more and more aware of his lack of knowledge and had the impulse to "clear the fog of all knowledge", but he didn't know where to seek it, so he was in great pain and even wanted to commit suicide by taking poison. This is the so-called intellectual tragedy. Demon Mephistopheles took advantage of the situation and made a contract with Faust: he served as Faust's servant and tried his best to meet all Faust's needs. However, at the moment when Faust expressed satisfaction, slavery was lifted and Faust's soul was always owned by the devil.
Mephistopheles took Faust to the witch's Dan room, and Faust regained his vitality after drinking medicinal liquor. Faust fell in love with the girl at first sight, and Mephistopheles helped him get love. As a result, Gan Xiqing poisoned his mother because of overdose, and his brother died by Faust's sword to stop their tryst. Gan Xiqing was insane and killed his parents. This love ended in tragedy.
The second part begins with Faust coming to the court to help the emperor improve the society. However, the court was corrupt, and the emperor only sought pleasure. Faust could not fundamentally save this dynasty and change this society. This is the "political tragedy".
Knowing that Faust was good at magic, the emperor asked him to call the Greek beauty Helen. Faust summoned Helen and Paris by magic, and was moved and conquered by Helen's beauty. However, the love between Helen and Paris made Faust touch Paris with a magic key. As a result, after a roar, everything disappeared and Faust fainted to the ground.
Mephistopheles took Faust back to his study. Wagner, Faust's former teaching assistant, made the artificial man "Homer Kurrus". Seeing that Faust dreamed of Helen, he took Faust and Mephistopheles to find Helen. Faust married Helen and gave birth to a son, O 'Fuliang. However, O 'Fuliang kept jumping and developing since he was born. As a result, he fell to the ground dead. As a symbol of classical beauty, Helen combined with Faust and ended in failure. This is the tragedy of beauty.
Finally, Faust got a fief with the help of the devil, and Faust began his creative career of transforming nature. In order to realize his determination to build a utopian paradise on earth, he told Mephistopheles to recruit workers in various ways. At this time, Faust 100 was blind. He heard the sound of shovels and shovels and thought he was digging trenches, but in fact the devil was digging his grave. He found the future and future of mankind with the beautiful vision of "free people live in free land" and felt satisfied.
So Faust fell to the ground and died, and the demon Mephistopheles tried to take his soul. At this time, the angel came down to earth and took away Faust's soul, saying, "Whoever strives for self-improvement will be saved in the end." The whole play ends with "eternal woman, take us away". With the help of the devil, Faust experienced a process of exploring the meaning of life and the mysteries of the universe, and finally realized the fundamental meaning and highest purpose of life. Faust is grand in conception, complex in content, huge in structure and changeable in style. It integrates realism and romanticism, combines realistic description with imaginative imagination, contemporary life with ancient myths and legends, and is good at arranging scenes, assigning characters, being harmonious in the times, satirizing and eulogizing, diverse in forms and mottled in colors, reaching a very high artistic level.