a look into the depths of goethe's faust

7/29/2019 A Look Into the Depths of Goethe's Faust

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A Look Into the Depths of Goethes FaustBy Mark L. Dotson

Goethe's Faust is a deep, deep tale, wrought in the bowels of the collective unconscious.For years, it has fascinated me. The following commentary is the result of much studyand contemplation of the great man's work.

In the Prologue in Heaven, the angel, Raphael, exclaims:

The sun is chanting his ancient song,In contest with the brother spheres

Goethe is setting the stage for the conversation between God and Mephistopheles. Thefirst line above refers to the Pythagorean teaching of "the harmony of the spheres," where

each sphere in the solar system emits a musical tone, which harmonizes with the tones ofall other spheres, forming a beautiful, harmonious music. In the second line, we see thatGoethe is veering away from this notion of a harmonious universe, for the sun's song is at

odds with the other spheres'. It is as if the sun wants to sing the prettiest song so that he

may be revered above all the other spheres. Thus, the Heaven where God andMephistopheles will discuss the man, Faust, is not the orderly, harmonious universe of

orthodox Christianity. Rather, it is a universe of contention, where polar forces are in

eternal conflict.

The next few lines read:

Rolling with thunder steps along,Down the predestined course of years.

This passage, compared with the previous one, shows that contention of the opposites is amajor theme. Above, we saw that the music of the spheres will not be harmonious. But,

even though there is no concord between the spheres, the sun is rolling down a course of

"predestined years." Here is an element of orderliness. Perhaps Goethe is saying that,

even though we live in a contentious universe, there are destinies to be fulfilled, there arepaths of harmony that may be discovered.

Goethe has the sun in motion, thus presenting a geocentric planetary system. Of course,

this was the accepted view prior to Copernicus' heliocentric theory. I doubt very much,however, that Goethe is giving us a cosmology lesson, especially since the geocentric

theory was in much disrepute by his day. Could it be that the sun is a metaphor for theultimate fulfillment of man's inner struggle, or perhaps a symbol for the light of truth?

There is precedent for such solar-symbolism in alchemy, a subject that Goethe was much

involved in.

In alchemy, Sol represented the gold that the alchemists sought to make, as opposed to


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Luna, or the base metals. Many believe that the alchemists were actually describing a

process of self-transformation. The alchemical processes of the Middle Ages and the

Renaissance, are really, according to some, psychological processes which we passthrough on the way to self-realization. The gold, or the sun, corresponds to this state of

fulfillment.

Alchemy is replete with symbols of the contention of opposites. When the conjunction of

opposites occurs, one has found the gold, or the state of self-realization.

His presence gives the angels might,

Though fathom it none ever may;

And Thy sublime works still are bright

With splendor of Creation's day.

Raphael ends his speech with the idea that the contention of the opposites will never be

fully understood. The universe, regardless of how mysterious it may be, is still a

marvelous place. The presence of contention is really a good thing. As with Hegel,negation is something that is quite necessary in our world. Without negation, there is no

upward movement.

In the discussion between the Lord and Mephistopheles, the latter says something that isbecoming clearer to me as I read through Faust. Referring to humanity, Mephistopheles

says,

Their lives would be a little easier

if You'd not let them glimpse the light of heaven--

they call it Reason and employ it only

to be more bestial than any beast.

His contention is that humans, or "little gods," as he calls them, would have been better

off if God had not given them the gift of Reason. If they had simply been created asanimals without reasoning faculties, they would have lived gentle, peaceful lives in a

state of naturalness. Instead, he says, they are worse than any animal.

Goethe had no idea what would take place in the twentieth century, what with two world

wars, the Holocaust, and other atrocities. I'm not so sure he was totally in the dark,

however, for there were atrocities in his day as well. He knew that mankind containeddarkness as well as light. Perhaps he was answering thinkers of the Enlightenment, who

painted such a rosy picture of man.

Those we usually consider as being evil, such as Adolf Hitler, probably started out with

lofty ideals about the way life should be. It was only later that they sank into the mire of

savagery.

Mephistopheles uses another image to explicate his argument:


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they're like those crickets with long legs

who won't stop flying though they only hop, and promptly

sing the same old song down in the grass again.And if they'd only keep lying in the grass--

they stick their noses into every dirty mess!

Crickets and grasshoppers try to leap as high as they possibly can. In the end, though,

they fall back into the grass and sing the same old song. A very apt image, I must say!

The higher they jump, the farther they fall. Humans strive, at times, to reach unattainableideals. Many times, we fall flat on our faces. We end up in a morass of despair and

disillusionment. Does this mean that we should stop striving? Certainly not. Sometimes

we succeed. One goal attained is worth all the effort. Certainly, we despair and lose hope

sometimes, but this is who we are. We are not perfect all the time, and we are not beastsall the time.

Faust is a man who strives for happiness and the good life. His dissatisfaction with life

has led him to enter into a pact with Mephistopheles, who has promised to supply himwith all he desires. Mephisto believes that if Faust continues on this course, he will be

damned. The agreement ensures that both men get what they want.

Faust is seeking that which is really unattainable. There is no perfect happiness or

contentment. Yes, we should continue to strive for ideals. I think that by striving, weproduce the mental energy we need to survive. But we must learn to live with the fact that

we will be forever striving and never reaching goals of perfection.

And swift beyond where knowledge ranges,

Earth's splendour whirls in circling flight;

In contrast to the geocentric symbolism of Raphael's speech, Goethe alludes to the

heliocentric view by having Gabriel speak of the earth "in circling flight." As I mentioned

earlier, I don't think the mention of cosmology is meant be taken literally. As I've beenreading about Goethe's intellectual life, I am discovering that he was very much in tune,

not only with Romanticism, but also with the Renaissance, especially those thinkers who

exhibited an uncompromising belief in individualism, and in human potential. This imageof the earth, in all its splendor, whirling around the sun, seems to represent the plight of

the individual who searches for truth. Just as the earth circumambulates the sun, we, as

truth-seekers, seem to go around in circles in our journey. In Jungian psychology, muchemphasis is placed on the alchemical process, circumambulatio, or the

"circumambulation of the self." Jung believed that the quest toward individuation was

circular, which is why many cultures create mandalas, or circular drawings, to symbolizethe process of self-realization. Goethe's image of the earth, whirling around the sun,

perhaps in search of light, is a wonderful metaphor for the circumambulatio.

Another thought comes to mind about this image: perhaps Goethe is trying to relate howhumans are free to roam where they may, but that this freedom is determined by a certain

destiny which must be fulfilled (the circumscribed orbit of the earth). The Romantics


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believed in unfettered freedom of the human will; I am wondering whether Goethe may

have been trying to mediate this notion by saying, "Yes, we are free, but it is a freedom

which is circumscribed, not absolute." This would certainly be in agreement with hisbelief in the conjunction of opposites.

Goethe seemed to be of the opinion that Nature and mankind were meant to be inharmony. The passage above reminds me of the Hermetic doctrine, As above, so below,

i.e., the connection between the microcosm and macrocosm. The image of the solar

system is the macrocosm, but there is a parallel image already alluded to above, i.e., manas microcosm. Man is a "universe in miniature," according to this doctrine. The idea is

found in symbolic traditions all over the world, especially in the esoteric teachings of the

Renaissance. Goethe, who had a fascination with esoteric philosophy, must have

incorporated the idea into his work.

The passage subtly implies that Goethe, as a participant in the Romantic movement,

believed in the individual and his freedom, albeit circumscribed. Also, because he was

using concepts from alchemy and other esoteric philosophies, it shows that he clearlyrejected institutional Christianity. I think Goethe could easily be described as a

Renaissance man as well. His interest, again, in individualism places him alongside suchluminaries as Giordano Bruno, Pico della Mirandola and Da Vinci, who were also

interested in esotericism.

Continuing with the Prologue in Heaven, the archangel, Michael, utters these words:

And rival tempests roar and shatter,

From sea to land, from land to sea

Here, I think we have yet another picture of man the microcosm. Goethe is presenting aview of the nature of man that would later become popular in the guise of Freud's

psychoanalysis, and Jung's analytical psychology.

Goethe is describing man as a being whose life-experience is characterized by "rival

tempests." The human experience is one of conflict. There is little doubt concerning that.

The greatest philosophers and poets have realized this. Just as sunny days give way tothunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes, and these, in turn, give way again to sunny

days, the human being experiences an incessant procession of pain and pleasure, peace

and turmoil, love and hate, calm and rage, etc. Inner forces are constantly ebbing andflowing. Tomorrow may bring a formidable bout with depression, only to find oneself,

the next day, thinking how wonderful life is.

In the age of Goethe, many believed that the light of Reason would lead man down the

primrose path to Utopia. They failed to understand that humans also have a dark side, or a

"Shadow," as Jung put it. The polar opposites, which are innate in man, are at war. This is

what Goethe was trying to tell his contemporaries, but the masses failed to heed hiswarning. It would take several bloody wars, and millions of lives being snuffed out, to

mitigate the enthusiasm of Enlightenment thinking.


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The manner in which storms travel from sea to land, and from land to sea, leads me to

think of how my own tempests seem to ebb and flow from consciousness tounconsciousness. A hurricane, for example, when it comes ashore, is usually very

destructive. However, when it once again moves out to sea, we forget about it, and it

eventually dies out. Isn't this the way it is with an inner storm? We are conscious ofturmoil, depression, rage, etc. But, inevitably, the disturbance flows back into

unconsciousness, where it either lies dormant for a time, or simply dies.

And, raging, form a circling fetter

Of deep, effective energy.

This passage, I think, is very important. The path of both inner and outer storms iscyclical. Actually, I believe Goethe would say that the motion of Nature, as a whole

(microcosm/macrocosm), is cyclical. The give and take of the polar opposites produces a

"circling fetter," a circular chain, of energy. This sounds very much like "Chi" in Taoism.

I am also thinking of a Gnostic symbol which has enjoyed some popularity on television(X-Files and Millennium), the Ouroboros. The Ouroboros is a snake biting its own tail.

According to Cirlot, "the Ouroboros . . . is symbolic of self-fecundation, or the primitiveidea of a self-sufficient Nature -- a Nature, that is, which, ala Nietzsche, continually

returns, within a cyclic pattern, to its own beginning" (Cirlot 247). From what I have read

about Goethe, he was most definitely a man who believed in self-fecundation and self-sufficiency. The references to cyclical paths of self-realization are many. Another that

comes to mind is the Zen Circle.

The primary point that I think Goethe is trying to make is that the experience ofhumankind is not linear, as most Westerners like to think. Also, it is not one-sided, with

Reason as our helmsman. Rather, our path is one that ebbs and flows cyclically,

sometimes dark, sometimes light, sometimes calm, sometimes tempestuous. Self-fulfillment can only come when we recognize and accept these aspects of ourselves.

Earlier, I described Goethe as a Renaissance man. I said he was both a proponent of

individualism and a student of esotericism. I compared him to Giordano Bruno, Pico

della Mirandola and Leonardo da Vinci. One thing I failed to mention is that Goethe wasalso a skilled scientist, as was da Vinci and other Renaissance intellectuals. The

interesting thing about it, however, is that Goethe's scientific methodology was quite

different than what we call the "scientific method" today. I am of the opinion that hismethodology can be harmonized with his esoteric interests.

Returning to Faust, the opening scene called Night has Faust seated at his desk, restlessand troubled. He is a great intellectual; he has studied philosophy, medicine,

jurisprudence, etc., but has not found what he is looking for. He has realized that

systematic knowledge, the product of discursive thinking, is not satisfying his hunger for

truth. He must transcend this kind of thinking; he must get to the inner core ofknowledge. Faust seeks a different way of perceiving the outside world. I believe he is

seeking an unmediated perception of Nature. Faust desires to stand beside the archangels


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in the Prologue in Heaven. He longs to share their experience of the Ineffable, which is

probably more akin to The One of Neoplatonism. He says,

So I'll discover what it is that binds

The world together, so that I'll find

The forces stirring in the seed,And from spinning, empty words be freed.

Faust believes the perception of truth, that he is longing for, is not to be found in apersonal deity, as in Christianity. Rather, truth lies in Nature herself, in the "forces

stirring in the seed." He desires to know what "binds the world together." So, even though

we have already seen many allusions to a world of conflicting opposites, still there is a

unity, and there is a something that brings about this unity. The words of discursivethinkers are "spinning, empty," but in this One (for want of a better word to describe "that

which unites") there is a path to truth as it is in itself. This, obviously, is a form of

pantheism or panentheism. Perhaps Faust's vision of the moon suggests the nature of the

alternative form of perception he is seeking. It begins with images of light, a motif wehave already seen in the sun-symbolism of the Prologue:

O glowing moon . . .

Faust believes that in the macrocosm one can discover truth concerning the microcosm.Hence, when one attempts to sense Nature as it is in itself, one gains self-knowledge,

that, in my opinion, is what Faust (and Goethe) really wants. Faust believes that Nature

and man are one, thus allowing man to learn about himself through Nature. Nature is not

to be studied so that we can stuff computer hard-drives full of scientific data, analyze it,sift through it, and catalog it. Rather, Goethe believes that Nature should be studied so we

may gain self-knowledge.

Furthermore, the basis of Faust's frustration stems from his inability to derive self-

knowledge from discursive reasoning alone. I believe Goethe is telling us we need to

transcend discursive reasoning, not jettison it altogether, and to unite it with a higherepistemology, which comes when we truly attempt to see Nature as it is. In this, Goethe

foresaw, somewhat, the phenomenological method that would later arise in philosophy.

Faust experiences a camaraderie with the moon that opens up new vistas of

understanding:

Ah, could I on mountain height,

Roam in thy softly tender light,

O'er the fields at twilight trail,Drifting with spirits of hill and dale;

Then freed from knowledge and its pain,

Bathed in thy dew, my health regain.

There is an experience one can have with Nature that is unexplainable. It can only be


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hinted at in poetry. Goethe understood this very well. He knew the link between Nature

and the mind of man. He was aware that such an experience could free one from the

fetters of discursive reasoning, which tended to reduce the quest for truth to empiricalobservation only. Imagination plays a key role in a deeper epistemology. Faust dreams of

roaming the mountain peaks of the moon in the soft, tender light. To skip through hill and

dale at twilight, with spirits at his side, and finally being baptized in the moon's dew,which is regenerative. To truly study a plant, a rock, or the planets, we must use our

imagination to get at the inner truth of the thing. Measurement is fine, but we should not

stop there.

When I studied Heidegger in college, I learned about a kind of thinking that belongs to

the being of a thing. In this belonging-togetherof being and thinking, thinking thinks on

being. It does not evaluate and analyze a thing; it experiences it as that which emergesout of hiding. This seems to be the kind of perception that Faust is looking for.

The vision of the moon seems to be the first of several intuitive perceptions that Faust

experiences in the early stages of the tragedy. Next, he encounters the sign of theMacrocosm.

Ha! At this one burning glance what ecstasy

Courses through my senses once again!

I feel a youthful holy joy of life,

Quivering through every nerve and vein!Was it a god who wrote this sign, which stills

My inner tumult, fills

My troubled heart with joy,And with mysterious force reveals

The power of Nature which about me steals?

The sign of the Macrocosm is "a diagram of the organization of the cosmos in terms of

the four elements, the arrangement of the planets, and the relationship of human, natural,

and divine spheres" (Brown 53). It is very similar to mandalas used in TibetanBuddhism, and other parts of the world. It is a symbol that has obviously touched Faust

very deeply.

In the sign, Nature encompasses everything and everything is Nature. There is anopposition between Nature and the anima mundi. This sign hearkens back to the

opposition we saw in the Prologue in Heaven, where Raphael's harmony and Michael's

storms were synthesized. There is no doubt now that Faust is leaning toward apanpsychist/panexperientialist view of the universe. It is the "power of Nature" which

fills his heart with joy and frees him from the chains of a strictly systematic approach to

truth. It is more than just an experience of universal order. Faust claims the sign points to"Creative Nature."

At the end of the vision, Faust calls out for "illimitable Nature." This is very different

than simple allegorizing of Nature's beauty. Faust seems to view Nature, not as a


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stepping-stone to a transcendent deity, but as God (whatever we may mean by that) here

and now before our senses.

Next, we find Faust musing on the sign of the Macrocosm, and then considering the signof the Earth-Spirit.

Toward the end of his soliloquy on the Macrocosm, he seems to be having a

transcendent, holistic experience, a kind of mystical union with Nature:

How toward the Whole all things are blending,

Each in the other, living, growing!

How heavenly forces, soaring, descending,

Are in and out of golden buckets flowing,While fragrant blessings, lightly winging

From heaven through the earth, are bringing

Harmonies which through the Whole are ringing!

But in the very next breath, he exclaims,

What a pageant!

But, alas, only a show!

With this statement, Faust has gained a very important insight. Previously, we have

discovered that he rejects a strict adherence to discursive reasoning and learning in favor

of an experiential view of Nature. It appeared to me, for a time, as if he believed in a kind

of pantheism, where he viewed Nature as the All-in-All. But here, he seems to be sayingthat the quest for deeper knowledge in Nature is merely a pipe-dream.

Faust has sought knowledge his entire life. He believed that knowledge was the key tohappiness. Later on, he thought that a mystical union with Nature would bring

transcendence. But with the decision that the wonders of Nature are mere pageantry,

Faust is caught in yet another opposition, i.e., between the experience of transcendenceand that of existing in a world of limitation. This opposition is affirmed later on in

Outside the City Gate, where he says,

Alas! Two souls within my breast abide,And each from the other strives to separate;

The one in love and healthy lust,

The world with clutching tentacles holds fast;The other soars with power above this dust

Into the domain of our ancestral past.

During his meditation of the sign of Macrocosm, Faust asks, "Am I a god? My spirit

grows so clear!" During the transcendent experience, it seems as if one really is a god.

Problems melt away, or seem to be trivial compared with the ecstasy one is feeling. Butthis is only temporary. Soon, Faust realizes that we all must continually strive in this


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world; we must suffer because we are limited beings:

Where shall I grasp thee, illimitable Nature?Where, ye breasts! from which all life doth flow,

To which my withered soul must strive?

Earth and heavens ye sustain,Ye flow, ye nourish--yet must I long in vain?

This verse hints again at a Neoplatonic worldview; it seems like emanationism, where allthings flow from the One. The main point, however, is that Faust feels his striving has

been worthless. He realizes his limitations. He has an insatiable desire for knowledge.

The knowledge he seeks is not acquired in books or universities. No, Faust yearns for the

secret knowledge (gnosis) of the inner workings of the cosmos. His angststems from hisinability to obtain it.

Faust then begins to contemplate the sign of the Earth-Spirit, which he prefers to the

image of the Macrocosm. At the sight of this symbol, he feels a different kind of energywithin him. He feels a closer relationship with the Earth than he does with the universe at

large. This is because the Earth is his home.

The desire for transcendence is a purely normal human emotion. But overemphasizing it

results in social isolation, and possibly even mental imbalance (I am thinking here of thestrangeness of the Desert Fathers). I think Faust is learning that one must not only strive

for the transcendent experiences; one must also pursue a rich sensory experience of the

world, even though one must undergo both joy and pain while doing so. Of course, these

are two personalities within us, the one striving against the other. We tend to viewconflict as something negative. But is it really? I believe we need conflict. Soul is born in

the midst of fire. It forms the middle-region between these two.

Continuing withNight, Faust has just finished conversing with Wagner, a pedant who

represents the kind of learning the former has thoroughly rejected. Faust refers to him inone place as "Earth's most miserable son." I believe, however, that he may be referring to

his own misery as well.

In the story of Faust, groundwork is being laid, unbeknownst to Goethe, for what we

today call existentialism. This is a broad subject, which would require more than this

mere article to explicate. I will try to deal with one or two points of similarity. Thefollowing passage seems to be an appropriate place to begin:

In that holy moment I seemed to be

So little, yet so very great,Thou didst thrust me cruelly

Back into the uncertainties of human fate.

Whose teaching shall I heed?What shall I shun?

Shall I obey each inner urge?


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Alas! Our deeds, as well as sorrows, one by one

Clog the current of our life's deep surge.

This passage comes just prior to Faust's close encounter with suicide. I believe he is

referring to the Earth-Spirit when he says, "Thou didst thrust me cruelly . . ." Just before

Wagner knocked on the door of his study, Faust had two very powerful experiences, thatI have already discussed (the Macrocosm and the Earth-Spirit). There is a very curious

exchange with the Earth-Spirit, where the spirit says, "Thou resemblest the Spirit thou

canst understand--not me!" Faust then says,

Not thee?

Whom then?

I, image of the godhead!And not like thee?

What does the spirit mean? Faust is quite confused by this statement. His insatiable desire

for knowledge has brought him to a point where he feels elevated above the pedanticscholar (someone like Wagner), and perhaps equal to Nature herself. He has felt a kind of

mystical union with Nature. Perhaps the "spirit which thou canst understand" is noneother than Faust himself. Perhaps the Earth-Spirit is trying to get him to see that self-

knowledge is the most important kind of knowledge one can ever attain.

We know from Faust's own words that his vision was at its height at the point of

Wagner's knock. Has Faust realized the importance of what Socrates knew so well, i.e.,

know thyself?

Returning to the main passage first quoted, I definitely think Faust is referring to his

encounter with the Earth-Spirit. He has learned that he cannot fully transcend Nature, i.e.

he cannot completely understand the inner workings of Nature. This revelation upsetsFaust's idealized presuppositions of what it means to know. It makes him feel as if the

universe has cruelly mistreated him by casting him into a sea of uncertainty. He is unsure

as to which teachings to follow. Furthermore, his ethical foundation has been destroyed;he is uncertain about good and evil. Faust considers this a horrible fate. He seemed to

think that if he could just get in tune with Nature, all would be well. But the words of the

Earth-Spirit catapult him into a state of despondency.

Uncertainty, doubts concerning one's existence, angst, and a relative ethic: these are a

few of the catchwords of existentialism. These experiences, however, produce self-

knowledge, which is much more important than the quest for transcendence. The Earth-Spirit is trying to show Faust that he is better off trying to understand himself than the

entire cosmos. These same topics would later be dealt with quite thoroughly by

Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Sartre, et al. I tend to think that Goethe had much to do with theway their existential self-examination began.


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Faust's despair has brought him to the brink of suicide. Just prior to this, he gazes around

the musty walls of his Gothic study at the various accouterments and objects which

surround him: old dusty books and scrolls, a skull, medical instruments, measuring tools,a dim lamp, etc. These all represent his fruitless quest for knowledge. Nature will not

allow herself to be revealed through the use of these paltry items. Faust says,

I stood at the door, you should have been the key;

Though fashioned well, ye raised no latch for me.

Obviously, Faust had put great trust in the scientific method at one time. He felt as if it

would open to him the secrets of the universe. His words to the old skull shows his

present state of mind:

Why grin, you hollow skull, except to say,

That once your brain, perplexed like mine,

Yearning for Truth, pursued the light of day,

Then in the dusk went wretchedly astray?

He has come to the point where he believes all humans who strive for Truth inevitablylose their way, ending life in despair. He thought he had arrived at the true path when he

was engaged in discursive reasoning and the scientific method; he had thought that a

union with Nature was the key to knowledge; and he had believed that the Earth-Spiritpointed the way. But now, all Faust's striving seems futile.

The opposing images of light and dusk are quite interesting here. Whereas we usually

find light contrasted with darkness, here Goethe utilizes the image ofdusk. Dusk is atwilight time, just before total darkness falls. It is gloomy, murky; it is sometimes

difficult to see; the shadows grow long; etc. Faust is here experiencing a going-down, a

journey toward Hades and the shades. This is the Metaxy, the place of Soul, thatintermediate region between contrarieties, ruled by Hades and Persephone.

Faust has abandoned the quest for transcendent knowledge. He is despondent because herealizes his life has been wasted. He is beginning to contemplate his own death. The

journey through Hades is a confrontation with death. Death is change, transformation,

passing from one state to another. In the Perennial Philosophy, as Leibniz (and later

Aldous Huxley) called it, death is closely associated with esoteric initiation into theHigher Mysteries. Plutarch wrote,

At first there is wandering, and wearisome roaming, and fearful traveling

through darkness with no end to be found. Then there is every sort ofterror, shuddering and trembling and perspiring and being alarmed. But

after this a marvelous light appears, and open places and meadows await,

with voices and dances and the solemnities of sacred utterances and holy

visions. In that place one walks about at will, now perfect and initiated andfree, and wearing a crown, one celebrates religious rites, and joins with

pure and pious people. Such a person looks over the uninitiated and


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unpurified crowd of people living here, who are packed together and

trample each other in deep mud and murk, but who hold onto their evil

things on account of their fear of death, because they do not believe in thegood things that are in the other world. Quoted in Stobaeus, Anthology

4.52.49

Even the Greek words for death and initiation ( teleutan and teleisthai) closely resemble

each other. This is no accident. Now, in this frame of mind, Faust catches sight of a phialof poison sitting on a shelf. Even though he has supposedly relinquished the idea of union

with Nature, Faust begins to wonder if death itself might not lead to a mystical state of

bliss:

Why suddenly within me is all as fair and bright

As when moonbeams flutter in a darkling woodland space?

Not only is he equating death with moonlight in a dark place, but he goes on and relates it

with "a newer day," "another shore," a "new pathway through the air," and to "newerspheres of activity." Furthermore, he expresses death as

This higher life, this godlike bliss . . .

So, once again, Faust has experienced images of transcendence and mystical vision, but

this time while contemplating his own suicide.

He really doesn't want to take his own life. What he really wants is to become his true

self. His musings are filled with pictures of rebirth and transformation, and it is these

very images which startle him just before he drains the cup:

Christ is arisen!

Joy be to the Mortal

Whom corruptibleClinging, inherited

Imperfection imprisoned!

Faust realizes that the Easter message is what he really desires. It is not the religious

aspect that stops him from killing himself. Rather, it is simply the images of rebirth,

which have inspired mankind since the dawn of time. It really has nothing to do withChrist, other than what archetypal motifs are contained within the Christ-myth. These

powerful images bring Faust a sense of peace for only a brief time. Soon, he will make

his pact with Mephistopheles.

Toward the end of Scene II: Faust and Wagner are strolling outside the gate of the citywhen Faust catches sight of a curious-looking black dog. It is running around in circles,

coming nearer and nearer to them. Perhaps intuitively, Faust senses some malevolent

purpose in the dog's presence:


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He's drawing a magic coil--it seems to me--

For future bondage round our feet.

He seems to be quite alarmed when it draws even closer:

The ring grows smaller . . . he is almost near!

Then Faust says something quite strange. He calls for the dog to "come here to us!."Furthermore, he now decides that it is "just a well-trained dog, that's all."

Initially, Faust has some sort of intuitive experience. The dog, I think, may represent theimminent encounter with unconscious forces, which Faust is soon to face in his pact with

Mephistopheles. He viscerally senses the danger in the dark maelstrom about to envelop

him, but, when he allows Wagner to sway him towards "a more reasonable explanation,"Faust disregards the vision. He even allows the dog to follow him home.

The circle being drawn by the dog is very significant. As a symbol, the circle is of greatimportance. According to J.E. Cirlot, author of A Dictionary of Symbols,

Enclosing beings, objects, or figures within a circumference has a double-

meaning: from within it implies limitation and definition; from without, it

is seen to represent the defense of the physical and psychic contentsthemselves against the perils of the soul threatening it from without, these

dangers being, in a way, tantamount to chaos, but more particularly to

illimitation and disintegration.

At the moment, Faust is outside the dog's circle. But soon, it will overtake him. Perhaps

his vision of the dog running in circles is a projection of his mind, trying to defend itselffrom unconscious contents that have the ability to destroy him.

Whether consciously or unconsciously, Faust seems to be beckoning the dark forces to

come to him. As was discussed earlier, he greatly despairs because of his inability to

fathom the secrets of being in the universe. He has an insatiable desire to know; he will

ultimately attempt to sate that desire by delving into the world of darkness, i.e., theunconscious.

Faust enters his study with the dog trailing behind him. An air of optimism fills his mind,demonstrating, once again, that "two souls within my breast abide:"

The love of man revives in me,The love of God is stirred again.

But, as Faust is musing on love and goodness, the black dog is snarling and sniffing about

the study. This is just another example of the polaric play of opposites. Faust beginstalking about reason and hope, while the animal is there beside him, reminding him that,

beside reason, love, and hope exists a snarling, and very unlovely, bestial nature. Faust


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says,

Stop snarling, dog! Your noise is out of key!

The barking is a cacophonous clamor compared to the splendid thoughts running through

the mind of Faust. Will he ever realize that he cannot escape the contrary nature existingalongside what he deems good and beautiful within himself?

Apparently so, for in the next few words, he is hurled back into reality:

Who is Mephistopheles?

After Faust has exorcised the spirit from the dog, a figure steps from behind the stove,clad as a traveling scholar. It is interesting to note here that Mephistopheles appears in the

guise of a scholar, especially since we have learned that Wagner represents that which

Faust has rebelled against, namely, discursive reasoning and learning. Why does

Mephisto adopt such an appearance? I think he is portrayed this way because he carriesFaust's shadow, i.e., the negative side of his personality. Even though the figure of

Mephisto conveys much more than simply Faust's distaste for pedantry, this is,nevertheless, an initial point for recognizing and understanding what Mephistopheles

means in the story.

Just prior to the exorcism, there are spirits outside the study that make an interesting

statement concerning Mephistopheles:

For he has already doneMuch to profit us, each one.

If Mephistopheles is supposed to be the Devil, as in Christian jargon, then why do thespirits say he has been of great profit to them? What he represents is not just profitable to

the spirits, but to Faust as well. For an explanation, we need to return for a moment to the

Prologue in Heaven to examine a statement made by the Lord to Mephistopheles:

Mankind's activity can languish all too easily,

A man soon loves unhampered rest;

Hence, gladly I give him a comrade such as you,Who stirs and works and must, as devil, do.

Herein is contained Goethe's explanation for evil in the world. He believes that good andevil are two equally opposing forces. As in Hegel, there is no development without both

poles striving against each other. Man languishes, without conflict to keep him

developing, to keep him striving. If there were no friction in our lives, we would nevergain self-knowledge, and we would never develop.

Mephistopheles is the spirit of negation. He represents the contradictions, the rejections,

the refusals, and the denials within us all. He is the archetypal shadow, in Jungian


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terminology.

Nietzsche differentiated between the Apollinian and the Dionysian. He chargedChristianity with overemphasizing the Apollinian. He and Goethe were both saying that

Western culture has ignored the dark side of human nature. Mephistopheles is really the

dark side of theAnthropos, the divine original man of Western society (Christ).

Thus, what does it mean, in Western mythology, to sell your soul to the Devil? It is much

the same thing as what Nietzsche meant by his admonition for us to make room for theDionysian elements. It is the same thing Jung meant when he suggested we get to know

our shadow, thereby allowing commerce between the conscious and unconscious.

During the conversation regarding Mephistopheles' name, the latter describes aManichaean-like cosmogony:

But I'm part of the Part which at the first was all,

Part of the Darkness that gave birth to Light,The haughty Light that now with Mother Night

Disputes her ancient rank and space withal,And yet 'twill not succeed, since, strive as strive it may,

Fettered to bodies will Light stay.

This is clearly a distortion of the Biblical account of creation. Whereas in Genesis, light

is created by divine fiat, here light is born of "Mother Night." Mephistopheles identifies

with the Darkness, saying he is but a part of it. Again, I think this points to his role as

shadow-figure and negator. Originally, all was one. This could point to a time whenconsciousness was undifferentiated. At some point in history, a "fall" occurred, i.e.,

consciousness fragmented from unconsciousness. This could have been when the Greeks

began overemphasizing the Apollinian, as Nietzsche described in The Birth of Tragedy.Or it could have happened when mankind gained an awareness of right and wrong.

Regardless of how it happened, what we now see is a conflict of opposites.

After his pact with Mephistopheles is complete, Faust is plunged into a dark world

populated by some very strange characters. It's a lot like the real world, I suppose.

Their first stop is Auerbach's Tavern, where they encounter a lively drinking-party. Thisis an interesting scene, but, in this article, I wish to deal with their visit to the witch's

kitchen. Here is the description of the scene given to us by Goethe:

A low hearth with a cauldron on the fire; various figures appear in the

vapor rising from it. A She-Ape sits beside the cauldron, skimming it andwatching it, lest it boil over. The Buck and Young Apes are sitting beside

her and warming themselves. Ceiling and walls are decorated with the

most grotesque utensils of sorcery.


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This certainly seems like a strange place to pay a visit. The symbolism, however, is very

rich and enlightening. First of all, in this scene I think Goethe is psychologically

preparing the reader for what will soon transpire between Faust and Gretchen. What wewill see in the witch's kitchen are symbols that coincide with the darker aspects of Eros.

There are several interesting images here. The cauldron could be the unconscious mind,and the vapors rising from it could be its contents rising up into consciousness. It makes

sense that monkeys would tend the pot, since "scimians generally symbolize the baser

forces, darkness, or unconscious activity" (Cirlot 212). There could, however, be a doublemeaning here. In China, monkeys are said to bring success and good health (ibid.). Of

course, as we know, the Faust story is replete with this kind of dualism.

I think it is significant that the She-Ape is watching the cauldron, "lest it boil over." Doesthe She-Ape correspond to some sort of sentry in the psyche that watches over the rising

"vapors" lest they bring about psychological imbalance (a boiling over)? Perhaps the She-

Ape is the same kind of image as the witch.

Traditionally, the witch has been associated with what Carl Jung called the "negative

anima." Jung believed the psyche is composed of both male and female elements.According to Jung, the anima (Latin for "soul") in its darker aspects has been

metaphorically presented in many stories throughout history as a witch (e.g. Hansel and

Gretel). Encountering and integrating one's anima (for a man, anyway) is the beginningof the development of the soul. One must face the negative element as well as the

positive so that one may attain individuation, according to Jungian theory.

Upon entering the witch's kitchen, Faust is confronted with evil. Here is the paraphernaliaof Satanism and sorcery. For a European who has been raised in the Christian Church,

these things represent the ultimate blasphemy against God. But, if we take Jung's ideas as

worthwhile, this may have been just what Faust needed to begin his journey to self-knowledge. I suppose this is all similar to Nietzsche's idea about the Dionysian and

Apollinian elements being incorporated.

In the witch's kitchen, Faust occupies himself by gazing into a mirror:

What am I seeing in this magic mirror? A form whose beauty is divine! O

lend me, Love, your fleetest wings and lead me to Elysium!

Here, in the house of the witch and her grotesque apes, in the midst of supreme ugliness,

Faust has a vision of the most beautiful woman he has ever encountered. Now, he longs

for the potion Mephisto has promised that will make him thirty years younger. As Faust'sdesire mounts, the cauldron begins to boil. This is the unconscious. At a point when

Faust's desire is the greatest, the cauldron boils over. Unconscious contents are rising into

consciousness.

Faust seems to have encountered the feminine element in the psyche. In the witch's

kitchen, we have a double-image of the feminine: the witch, and the beautiful woman in


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the mirror. This is simply more of the same kind of dual imagery we have found

throughout the Faust story.

According to the witch, before Faust can drink the potion, he must be "prepared." The

preparation consists in the drawing of a magic circle and the recitation of spells and

incantations. This part of the scene begins to look a little familiar. It strikes me as beingquite similar to the Catholic Mass. We may not think of the Mass in the same way we

would a magic ritual, but there are similarities, and there are similar goals in mind. In a

Mass, the faithful must be prepared to partake of the cup and the bread. The Churchbelieves there is great power in the ritual, power that replenishes one's spiritual strength. I

think what may happen in rituals of this sort is a kind of raising oflibido, not in the

Freudian sense, but in the Jungian as psychic energy. I know it's possible because I have

had experiences where I felt terribly drained and depressed. Then, I would hear a certainsong, or see a certain film, or read a certain story, and all would be better. The depression

would lift and life would be enjoyable again. It may have something to do with the power

of myth, as Joseph Campbell talked so much about. There is an energy in stories, music,

art, and rituals (the acting out of stories) that rejuvenates ones entire experience.

The cup, of course, calls to mind the Grail of Arthurian lore, which says that whosoeverdrinks from it shall live forever.

According to an ancient legend, the Grail was fashioned by the angels from a jewel thatdropped from the head of Lucifer when he was being hurled into the abyss. I don't know

what to make of that, but it's interesting, nevertheless. There is definitely a polarity there.

Surely, the cup signifies a quest, ala Parsifal. I suppose this is the quest for self-

knowledge, which is what Faust is really about.

It is said by depth psychologists that the encounter with the feminine is one of the first

experiences on the road to self-realization, along with the encounter of one's shadow. Ithink Faust has now experienced both. He has projected his shadow onto both Mephisto

and Wagner. Now, after the feminine has been met in the mirror, Gretchen will be the

recipient of this projection.

What Mephisto doesn't realize is that the process of ebbing and flowing occurring in

Faust actually brings about a metamorphosis in human consciousness, which leads one to

discover one's true self. Little does he know that, in his attempt to capture the soul ofFaust for eternity, the latter will actually be changed for the better, and will become a sort

of Nietzschean Ubermensch.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche describes a three-fold process of transformation

that mirrors the evolution of consciousness that Faust is passing through. In the section

entitled, "Of the Three Metamorphoses," Zarathustra describes what will become hisanswer to the apprehension created by the death of God. Nietzsche begins:

I name you three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit shall become

a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.


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These metaphors describe various stages in the transformation of human consciousness.

Just as we pass through physical stages on our way to adulthood, Nietzsche proposes that

we pass through various stages of consciousness. We are constantly becoming. We arenot static creatures. In fact, for Nietzsche, nothing is static; all is in flux; there is no

imperishable Being; all is becoming. This process is not necessarily linear. It seems to be

more cyclical in nature.

Goethe also believed in cyclical becoming. I think he would agree (as would Nietzsche)

with something G.K. Chesterton said in his study of Chaucer:

Up to a certain time life was conceived as a Dance, and after that time lifewas conceived as a Race (Chesterton 158-159).

He is referring to the general philosophy in Medieval times, where life was thought of as

one thing balancing another (the Dance), as opposed to how life was viewed after the

Renaissance, when one's life consisted in chasing after objects (the Race). In the race, the

dancer loses his balance. The only way they recover it is by chasing objects. The formeris cyclical, the latter linear. We're still chasing objects today.

At this time, I will examine a few metaphors from Nietzsche's Zarathustra, particularly

the images of the Three Metamorphoses, and compare my interpretation of them withseveral statements in Faust. The primary point in doing this is to compare Faust's

transformation with Zarathustra's three-fold process of becoming.

Let's look at a statement by Zarathustra:

I name you three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit shall become

a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child" (Nietzsche 54).

Here, Nietzsche gives us a tripartite process whereby consciousness evolves. Just as wepass through physical stages on our way to adulthood, Nietzsche proposes that we pass

through various stages of consciousness. We are constantly becoming.

What does the image of the camel mean? A camel is a beast of burden. Whencommanded, it kneels down to accept heavy loads. It seems to possess a sense of duty in

bearing what it is ordered to bear. It can go days through the desert without water. The

camel-image seems to refer to the human tendency to confront what is difficult for us outof a sense of duty. We do not will what we do at this stage, but do "what we ought to do."

We are not free to make our own decisions because we give our will over to what we

believe are our duties. Nevertheless, by doing "what we ought" we challenge ourselves,paving the way for further refinement.

Can we find a stage in the life of Faust where we see such a tendency? I think so. Prior tohis pact with Mephisto, Faust is bound by his duties as Master and Doctor. He bears the

weight of teaching his students truth, but yet he knows in himself that he can never touch

certainty. In Night, he says,


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. . . for nearly ten years I have led my young students a merry chase, up,

down, and every which way-- and find we can't have certitude.

Here we find Faust in the latter stages of the camel. For most of his life, he has carriedthe heavy burden of duty on his back, in the belief that, through his scholarly studies and

his teaching, he would truly discover the inner workings of the universe. He experiencesdeep despair, which is, however, a precursor to transformation:

. . . I get no joy from anything, either, know nothing that I thinkworthwhile, and don't imagine that what I teach could better mankind or

make it godly.

Later in the story, Faust tries to commit suicide, but, upon hearing the music and singing

of Easter morning, desists.

Zarathustra makes the statement,

What is the heaviest thing, you heroes? so asks the weight-bearing spirit,

that I may take it upon me and rejoice in my strength (Nietzsche 54).

In bearing the heaviest burdens, the camel-spirit becomes lofty in its strength. In

comparison, Faust has become a bit arrogant in his quest for truth, believing

himself to be superior to his peers in knowledge:

I well may know more than all those dullards, those doctors, teachers,officials, and priests. . .

Arrogance is a mode of thought that is normal for one who has undertaken to know thesecrets of the universe. But it must not be allowed to dominate one's thinking. If

permitted to fester, it will halt the process of becoming:

Is it not this: to debase yourself in order to injure your pride? To let yourfolly shine out in order to mock your wisdom (Nietzsche 54)?

Zarathustra asks if it is not a heavy burden "to feed upon the acorns and grass of

knowledge and for the sake of truth to suffer hunger of the soul?" For someone who has

devoted much time to the search for truth and understanding, it is a very heavy burden todiscover that all our so-called wisdom and knowledge is fleeting. The seeker longs for a

person, a book, or some other foothold that can lead him or her to the bedrock of truth. Itis burdensome because one discovers there is no such absolute foundation. One mustconsume what small morsels of truth one can find on the cold, damp ground. One must

suffer hunger of the soul when the understanding comes that all so-called truths are really

uncertain.

This is exactly what Faust is feeling when he decides to begin practicing magic. Now, he

is on the very threshold of transformation.


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Continuing with my comparison of the images of transformation in Faust and

Zarathustra, I would now like to see if I can discover whether Faust exhibits thecharacteristics of Zarathustra's lion. Zarathustra says:

But in the loneliest desert the second metamorphosis occurs: the spirit here

becomes a lion; it wants to capture freedom and be lord in its own desert

(Nietzsche 54).

This transformation comes because of solitude. Zarathustra had traveled to the mountainswhere he lived alone for ten years. The seeker of truth who carries the burden of

uncertainty will eventually need solitude. Not actually literal solitude, but a separation in

thought from those who still adhere to mainstream modes of thought. Only in solitudecan genuine creation be brought forth.

By his decision to abandon discursive reason and learning, Faust has separated himselffrom the mainstream. He is no longer a participant in the "herd mentality." His thoughts

are now flying to and fro, searching for possible ways to fulfill his longing for truth.

A primary step in his development is the resolve to begin practicing magic. The

important point is not that magic is necessarily a viable path to truth, but that Faust makes

a choice that is not influenced by mainstream thought. Choosing something that belongs

to him personally elevates him to a new level. Herein is another parallel withexistentialism.

After making the pact with Mephisto, which he enters into willingly, Faust passes over

into the realm of the lion. He now experiences a kind of freedom that is strange to him.He even finds it a bit lewd (e.g. the drinking at Auerbach's wine cellar), but this is alsopart of the process. According to Nietzsche, the Dionysian and Apollinian forces must be

balanced, and then transcended. This involves an interaction with one's dark side, which

Mephisto, and all that he offers, represents.

The lion is a mighty, noble warrior, and a vicious killer. It is noble in the sense that it

craves freedom. It desires to create its own freedom, but it must kill to get it. Later in the

story, Faust kills in an attempt to do away with obstacles that stand in his path. He puts to

death old ways of thinking, which is what the killing symbolizes. He wants Gretchen atall cost. He will stop at nothing to get her. Gretchen represents the goal he seeks, i.e.,

self-realization/individuation.

Who is to be the lion's victim?

It seeks here its ultimate lord: it will be an enemy to him and to itsultimate God, it will struggle for victory with the great dragon (Nietzsche

54-55).


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The great dragon, which the lion will battle for its freedom, is called "Thou Shalt." The

lion's foe is the spirit of commandments, i.e., when others seek to instruct us in what we

must believe and accept as truth. Faust's enemies are the established mode of discursivethinking and reasoning, and the spirit of commandments embedded in the Church.

The lion cannot create new values. However, its might is needed to capture freedom foritself. After the dragon has been mauled by the spirit of the lion, what then? The lion

must understand that now there is no guiding hand of a transcendental God, or the firmfoundation of a realm of absolute Ideas. There is no external authority. Now, the lion is

alone; it is responsible for itself. There are no more laws, no more duties for it to bear. Is

this not the greatest burden?

Faust is also alone in his responsibility. By making a pact with Mephisto, he willingly

relinquishes his claim to salvation. It is up to him to keep striving, to keep creating his

own freedom, even though he is encountering a side of himself that is very sinister. Now,

in order for Faust to be able to create new values for himself, he must undergo yet

another transformation. Next, we will look at Zarathustra's image of the child.

So far, we have seen several parallels of transformation between Nietzsche's Zarathustra

and Goethe's Faust. The latter has passed through the stages of camel and lion, and is

now ready to proceed on to the next level, that of the child.

As was said earlier, the lion is victorious in its battle with the Great Dragon; the dragon

has been slain, thus "Thou Shalt" has been slain. The lion has declared its freedom from

being told what to think and what to believe. It has created freedom for itself.

Faust has professed his freedom by saying "No" to the mainstream modes of thought. His

pact with Mephisto is his declaration that he will no longer serve the Great Dragon.

One thing remains: the lion is not capable of creating new values for itself. It is merely a

warrior. Its talent lies in destruction. For creation, another metamorphosis must take

place: the lion must become a child. Zarathustra says,

But tell me, my brothers, what can the child do that the lion cannot? The

child is innocence and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a sport, a self-

propelling wheel, a first motion, a sacred Yes (Nietzsche 55).

In his quest for knowledge of the universe, Faust has stepped into a universe of freedom

and constant experience, much like the universe of a child:

If ever I stretch upon an idler's bed,

Then let my doom descend!

The pact states that Mephisto will provide incessant experience for Faust until the day he

feels satisfied. On that day, Mephisto will collect what belongs to him.


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How is this like the child metaphor in Zarathustra? The child is innocence. It has no sense

of what life was like when the dragon was still alive. There is no guilt because there is no

awareness of Thou Shalt. It knows only becoming--awaking each day to discover a newidea, a new game to play, a new world to explore. Now Faust is this child. He awakes

each day to a new adventure and a new way of thinking about his world. His objective is

self-realization, toward which he is daily becoming. All is flux, all is process.

The child is forgetfulness. It has forgotten the heavy burdens of duty and the longing forfreedom. Now, it constantly abides in freedom. It has forgotten the golden scales of the

dragon. It has forgotten the ancient ways of the past, the so-called eternal values and

standards. It lives only for the moment. Again, this is Faust after the pact. He allows theshackles of "Thou Shalt" to drop from his hands and feet. The idealism he once believed

in is gone like last year's leaves. Now, he relishes the freedom of the moment, the

freedom to think and do things, which, before the pact, he would have thought outrageousand obscene.

By his affirmation of freedom, Faust has loudly voiced the sacred Yes of the child.Before, the spirit had no will of its own. It was controlled by the beliefs of others, by the

beliefs of the herd. But the sacred No was spoken by the lion. Faust now has no sense ofduty; he is not impelled to act in any other way than the behavior he chooses. The sacred

Yes was needed in order for creativity to be unleashed, for new values to be invented.

The child is a new beginning. When long-held beliefs have been called into question by

the camel, and then destroyed by the lion, one enters a new epoch. After a time, thevalues one has created for oneself become obsolete. These must not be allowed to

become sacred cows. Ultimately, they must be destroyed and replaced by new values.

The spirit of the camel will question whether these beliefs are still viable. If not, the spirit

of the lion will destroy them. Then comes a new beginning, the spirit of the child, whowill bring about the creation of new values. This cyclical process never ends, unless one

becomes stagnant, i.e., if one ceases to create by returning to a notion of static being.

After Faust's pact with Mephisto, he enters this new beginning. His values are nowcompletely his own. He is not depending on society at large for moral guidance. What he

deems good and acceptable will be tested in the crucible of life. There, his decisions will

be put to the test. The crucial point, however, is that he is choosing what is best forhimself. No matter what the outcome, the ability to choose his own lifestyle, his own

beliefs, and his own thoughts, is what propels him along the path of self-realization. It is

a path every individual must travel alone.

The child has no knowledge of anything eternal or transcendent. There is onlyspontaneity and creative play, that is, until we adults pound our values into them. After

enculturation is complete, they are fortunate if they ever break free from the Thou Shalts

of the herd.

Faust is one of the fortunate ones. His disgust for the common ways of thinking andlearning has opened up new vistas for him. Even though he has made a deal with a being


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that is considered evil in the eyes of the masses, he risks all for freedom and creativity.

He doesn't accept the belief that the Devil, an eternal being, is battling an eternal deity for

eternal souls. He pits his beliefs against the beliefs of the herd in the hope that he willfind truth, and be transformed by it. Faust is risking being lost for eternity if he is wrong.

Nevertheless, he is compelled by a longing for individuation.

The child is a self-propelling wheel. At this stage of transformation, the child possesses

the will to power, or the power to roll its own wheel. Creation is the wheel that ispropelled along by the will. As long as it is understood that all is Becoming, the wheel

continues to roll along.

In a life that is becoming, all is not always pleasant and rosy. The responsibility to createone's own values is sometimes accompanied by the pain that follows failure. The ability

to choose does not mean that all decisions are correct. This, however, is the way the

wheel turns. Becoming is in the turning itself, not in correct or incorrect decisions.

Faust must face the pain that is caused by his relationship with Margarete. Throughexperiencing both the pleasure and the agony of his love for her, he will learn more about

the human heart than all the books in the world could teach him.

Think of how the earth continually creates and re-creates. Every spring, new life bursts

forth. There is a period of growth, decay, and then death. Creators always pass throughsuch periods. The child represents growth, i.e., the growth of new realities. The camel

eventually doubts these realities (decay), and the lion destroys them (death). Then, once

more, the child creates new ones, and the process begins all over again. Thus is the life ofbecoming for Faust and for all of us who struggle for truth and freedom.

Finally, I will discuss Faust's belief or disbelief in God. In the scene called Marthe'sGarden, Margarete begins to question Faust about his views on religion:

Margarete: Tell me, dear, in what do you believe? Although you are a good and

loveworthy man, religion means little to you, that I know.

Faust:Let that be, my child! You feel my love, is it not true? For those I love, I'd lay mylife down too; I would rob no one of his faith and trust.

Margarete: That's not enough! One must believe, one must!

Faust:Must one?

Even though Faust has rejected the herd mentality, which includes the requirement thatone believe in the tenets of Christianity, he still falls in love with Margarete, who

believes in them adamantly. She wants to control Faust's thinking because she thinks he

will be condemned to an eternal punishment if he refuses. She wants what she thinks is

best for him. She doesn't understand the process of self-realization whirling within him.Faust knows full well what it would mean for him to return to the static and narrow views


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of the Church; he knows that the process would cease. Perhaps he even wishes he had

never become involved with Margarete, but, intuitively, he knows that their relationship

is part of the process. So, he must learn to balance his love for her with his desire forindividuation. This is a very difficult thing, but one that must be accomplished.

Faust is not an atheist. Even though he has rejected the Christian concept of God, he hashis own view, which he has formulated from his own life experiences. Later in the scene,

Faust attempts to explain why he does not fit into Margarete's mold of what a religiousperson should be:

Who would dare to say, "I do not believe in Him?"

Experiencing Him everywhere. . .

This entire passage sets out Faust's religious viewpoint, which seems to be a sort ofpantheism or panentheism. Primarily, I think he is saying that God is everywhere and in

everything. Happiness, heart, love, God, Faust says he cannot name it.

Feeling is all!

The feelings we experience when we gaze at a true work of art, or when we look at thestars at night, or when we look into our lover's eyes. Call it what you will, says Faust, this

is his idea of God.

The name is only sound and smoke

Which fogs the glow of Heaven.

Margarete tells him he has no sound Christianity. Then she begins to rail on him for his

association with Mephisto. This is quite interesting. We know Mephisto representsFaust's dark side or his shadow, using the Jungian term. Margarete doesn't like him at all.

She refuses to accept the fact that all human beings have a dark side. She denies her ownshadow. She projects her own dark side onto Mephisto. She wants Faust to stay away

from him. He, however, recognizes the necessity of Mephisto:

Such queer fish must also be.

Faust has reconciled himself to his dark side, which is a giant step in the process of self-

realization. Margarete still has far to go on her journey.

Why did Faust fall in love with Margarete in the first place, seeing they have dissimilaraspirations? In my opinion, the Jungian idea of projecting the anima onto a beautiful

woman makes much sense. Faust was searching for his own soul in her.

In everything there is tragedy. All good things must run alongside the bad. Faust hasfound his true love, but he must endure her immaturity and lack of understanding in the

matters of becoming.


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Bibliography

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust, A Tragedy, Part One. Trans. Alice Raphael. New

York: Holt, 1963

Cirlot, J.E.A Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Dorset, 1971.

Brown, Jane K. Goethe's Faust: the German Tragedy. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1986.

Chesterton, G.K. Chaucer. Faber: New York, 1932.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. This Spake Zarathustra. London: Penguin, 1961.

a look into the depths of goethe's faust

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