Dr. Johannes Faust

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Dr. Johannes Faust is a puppet show in four acts from the pen of Karl Simrock from the year 1846. According to the title, the content refers to the Faust material .

people

Main people

be right

Appearances (without speaking)

Elevators

Elevator description
I. Doctor Faust recapitulates the futility of his life which he has wasted in his studies. Now he is ready to go to extremes and wants to devote himself to necromancy. His famulus presented him with a tome that was given by three unknown students. At the same time, Kasperle travels through the country as a vagabond. Wagner becomes aware of Kasperle and offers him work, wages and accommodation. From now on, Kasperle, Wagner and Faust will serve.
II. Faust begins to study the book that was left behind him. It reveals the art of necromancy. With this he summons eight demons, which he tests one by one. When asked how fast everyone is, he chooses Mephistopheles, who is as fast as human thought. Then the pact between Faust and Mephistopheles comes about. The doctor, who no longer wants to stay in Mainz, then orders Mephistopheles to take him to Parma. Then Kasperle appears, who finds the book left behind. In a stroke of hand, Kasperle conjures up the seven remaining demons. Testing and annoying the spirits, he chooses wood grouse for himself. Punch follows Faust on the back of a dragon to Parma.
III. The Seneschal of Parma, Don Carlos, is supposed to provide entertainment for the Duchess's festival and is desperately looking for ideas. Punch, falling from the dragon's back, lands right at Don Carlos' feet. Kasperle indicates that he is a servant of Faust. Don Carlos senses his chance to present a great attraction, as Faust proves his skills in front of the Duke and Duchess. When Faust appears, he conjures up various biblical heroes and heroines at the request of the Duchess. The doctor gains great favor through the play and is asked to come to the banquet table, but Mephistopheles warns Faust not to go with them. Mephistopheles fears a poison attack by the Duke and that the doctor will be exposed to the Inquisition. Meanwhile, Kasperle brags and practices conjuring demons on the streets of Parma, which stirs up fears in the people. He is left behind by Faust, who flees to Constantinople. Kasperle then returns to Mainz.
IV. Mephistopheles now served Faust for twelve years (strong time lapse). After these years, Faust realizes that even enjoying life does not give him pleasure. He longs for absolution and the grace of God. While Faust tries to save himself in faith, Mephistopheles uses one last trick and conjures up an illusion of Helena that prevents Faust from praying. Mephistopheles also complained about the early deadline. Kasperle, who now works as a night watchman to feed his child and wife, meets his old master again after twelve years. Kasperle, who is not recognized by Faust at first, demands his outstanding wages for old services, but he does not accept Faust's buttoned skirt as a pledge because Kasperle fears that the devil would fetch him if he wore it. In the next appearance, Mephistopheles appears again to finally claim Faust's soul. The voice of judgment exposes Faust to condemnation. The fate of Kasperle is found in his marriage to Gretl, so that the puppet show ends in quarreling, singing and dancing.

Formation of the puppet show

Karl Simrock's contribution of Fauststoff as a puppet show can be traced back to the influence of the folk book and the drama of Marlowe . Also possible, the puppet shows, the Schütz and Drehersche Gesellschaft, which Simrock sighted in the 1820s. Dr. Johannes Faust shows Simrock's typical way of working in free re-creation by rewriting, rewriting and rewriting the material, which affects the verse and prose form.

The text alternates between prose and rhyming verse forms. The verse form with its paired rhymes is therefore irregular. The verse, like the prose, has the function of monologue, dialogue or the burlesque and songs of the Kasperle. Prose and verse are proportionally distributed evenly in the text.

The nature of the puppet show is ambiguous. Dimensioned on Kasper , which is a continuous part of the puppet is a distinction between puppets and puppet theater . In the puppet theater, the puppet character is a secondary character in the role of the servant, while in the hand puppet theater it is the main character and carries out comic dialogues or beatings. Both the puppet in Simrock's puppet show is a servant and the funny person who takes or distributes a beating. Due to the mixture of the characteristics of the puppet show, it is hardly possible to distinguish between hand puppet shows and marionette theater.

Cinematic counterpart

The combination of puppet show and fist fabric is reflected in the way that Simrock left behind through the text, also in the cinematic implementation in Jan Svankmajer's Lekce Faust .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Simrock: Dr. Johannes Faust . Ed .: Uwe Lehmann. No. 99 . Hamburg reading books, Husum 2012, p. 3 .
  2. ^ Hugo Moser: Karl Simrock - Philological studies and sources . Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1976, p. 158 f .
  3. ^ Hugo Moser: Karl Simrock - Philological studies and sources . S. 159 .
  4. ^ Hugo Moser: Karl Simrock - Philological studies and sources . S. 121 .
  5. ^ Johannes Minuth: The puppet theater and its development history . Puppen & Masken, Frankfurt am Main 1996, p. 19 .