1749 - 1832

Frankfurt; Weimar; 2 years in Italy
interested in the classics

1774 The Sorrows of Young Werther

the all-around-genius:
writes, is a statesman, paints, does science, …
is revered all over Europe

grand opus: Faust I and II
 

Faust

historical Faust: Doctor Johann Faustus:
about 1480 – 1540, magician and wandering scholar

“Volksbuch” – folk book about this figure:
Historia von D. Johann Fausten, by Johann Spies, 1587

Christopher Marlowe’s (1564 – 93) Faust:
The Tragicall Historie of Doctor Faustus
 (staged 1594, publ. 1605)

Goethe: “Urfaust” (1772-75):
adds the story of Margarete (Gretchen)
Faust I (1797 – 1806)
Faust II (rest of his life, mostly 1825 – 1831)

many treatments after Goethe,
including operas
Thomas Mann: Doktor Faustus