In the rational history of Europe. Johann Wolfgang yon Goethe is cardinal to the development of Romantic thought. which was modern-day in his twenty-four hours. Goethe attempted to see the universe in a new visible radiation ; he reconsiders old inquiries of good and evil. every bit good as inquiries about human nature. The narrative of Faust allows such considerations. Romantics strive for something beyond their range. beyond anyone’s range. Contentment is non their end. One topographic point that we see Faust’s nisus is in his conversation on “unrest” with Wagner ( 699-702 ) .
Merely as Wagner illustrates the normal faculty members who thinks that books hold all the replies he needs. Faust as a Romantic has come both to recognize the restrictions of what’s in books and to be unwilling to accept those restrictions. Wagner thinks Faust should bask the repute he has as a physician among the provincials. but Faust knows the repute is a fake. He and his male parent were in truth helpless against the depredations of the pestilence ( although they evidently at least comforted the sick ) .
Faust’s aspirations permit him to do a deal with Mephistopheles. particularly since a portion of the stake involves Mephistopheles’ belief that Faust will finally bask contentment. Rather than seeking cognition. which had been a end of the Faust of German and English tradition. Goethe’s Faust seeks experience and feeling. This besides makes his quest apart of the Romantic tradition. The Romantic hero must near life’s enigmas by active engagement. non by contemplation.
When Faust and Mephistopheles see the enchantress for her medical specialty. what Faust wants is youth. so that he can see what he may hold missed while he was absorbed in his surveies. And what he comes to desire so is Margaret. the provincial amah who looks like a beauty to the revitalized adult male. The Romantic has religious ends. but they’re normally outside of conventional faiths. We see this most straight in the scene between Gretchen and Faust. She wants him to be a Christian. but Faust’s spiritualty can non be contained by tenet.
To follow this Romantic yarn. think of Christianity as a revealed faith. embraced by the European and German society of the clip. It made many late eighteenths and early 19th century people feel safe and secure. You can see how this image of comfort might fall outside of the Romantic’s nisus. since he seeks a enigma beyond the conventional. The Romantic hero must be willing to interrupt free of bounds. no affair the effects. Another cardinal romantic feature is a religion in nature as a originative beginning. as both a beginning of comfort and energy.
Faust expresses his enthusiasm early when he contrasts the value of sing nature with the unresponsiveness of books ( 685 ) . What impresses him about Easter is the regenerating force of spring instead than the narrative of Jesus ( 695-6 ) . It is the elevated spirit of nature that he credits with leting him to perforate Gretchens bosom. and that he credits with giving him the comrade Mephistopheles 747-48 -48 ) . Conclusion Besides a religion in nature. romantics idealize childhood and adult females. seeing in them a pureness and honestness of emotions that are hard to achieve in the rational and big universes.
This romanticism can be seen in Goethe’s plotting. as he has the church bell remind Faust of his childhood so that the character does non perpetrate suicide early in the drama. Besides. the love matter with Gretchen leads to the drama’s flood tide. References Faust Supplemented Study Guide: Retrieved from World Wide Web hypertext transfer protocol: //faculty. sou’-west. Tennessee. edu/llipinski/ENGL2320T201/content/lesson18_handout. htm Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Faust. Publisher. Oxford University Press. 1998.
