The Faust Legend | J. W. Smeed (essay date 1975)
J. W. Smeed (essay date 1975)
SOURCE: "Faust As a Character and a Type: Changes in Interpretation and Motivation," in his Faust in Literature, Oxford University Press, 1975, pp. 14-33.
[In the following excerpt, Smeed traces the development of the Faust character in literature: from a wicked, grasping trickster, to an overreacher lusting for knowledge, to a noble character striving for a knowledge that will correct the injustices of the world.]
Le magicien coupable et maudit—l'esthète ambitieux—le 'génie original' tumultueux et passioné—le surhumain ou l'homme intégral selon Goethe—le blasé romantique—l'utopiste d'un monde meilleur—Faust est cela tour à tour, selon le tempérament du poète et l'idéologie en faveur aux diverses époques.1
Geneviève Bianquis' list is not complete, but it is a useful corrective to the view that the sole or main motivation of most Fausts is...
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