Faust (Goethe)

Overview

Faust is the verse drama by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) on the scholar who sells his soul to Mephistopheles. Part One (Der Tragödie erster Teil) was published in 1808 and contains the Gretchen (Marguerite) tragedy; Part Two appeared posthumously in 1832 (Wikipedia, "Faust, Part One"). In Marie's France the work was known largely through Gérard de Nerval's French translation and, above all, through Gounod's opera Faust (1859), which compresses the Gretchen story and which Marie knows far better than the drama.

Marie and this work

• 19 July 1876. After a poor performance of the opera, she is struck by the absurdity of Faust singing "Salut, demeure chaste et pure!" an hour before ruining the house, and concludes: "Il faudra lire le Faust de Goethe, peut-être la conduite du héros y est-elle motivée" (064.0003). The performance itself is Gounod's opera; the intention to read Goethe is hers.
• 28 July 1876. "Me voilà en Faust": scholar's study, old German desk, books and papers (064.0287; source footnote glosses the allusion).
• 12 August 1876, Moscow. Marie, writing of the nihilists, says "Méphistophélès pervertit Marguerite", casting the nihilists as the devil and the Russian people as Gretchen (064.0536; source footnote).
• September-October 1877. After reading the poem she was moved by Gabriel von Max's painting "Gretchen" (074.0370: the picture is "la personnification du poème de Goethe... que l'on ne peut l'admirer que si l'on a compris le poème qui aussi m'avait paru une... bizarrerie à la première lecture"), and thinks of Gretchen again on 18 September (074.0379) and 14 October, comparing Verdi's Aida to "la Gretchen de Max" (075.0305). Marie therefore did read the poem by September 1877, and found it strange at first.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Faust, Part One".
• Texts on Wikisource (German; French translation by Nerval) and Project Gutenberg, linked above.