Faust's life, deeds and journey to hell

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Faust's life, deeds and journey to hell is a novel by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger from 1791 . Klinger as well as Goethe , whose Faust I is better known today, probably came into contact with the then very popular Faust material in the form of puppet shows and other displays as a child (cf. Johann Georg Faust ).

There is evidence that Klinger worked on the novel between 1790 and 1791, possibly even earlier. The first edition appeared in 1791 by Johann Friedrich Hartknoch in Leipzig. In order to deceive the censors, however, Johann Friedrich Kriele was given as the publisher in St. Petersburg.

In the " Sturm und Drang " (a literary movement around the time of the French Revolution , which Klinger gave her name), the original Faust figure turns from a black magician and disreputable blasphemer into a spokesman for the titanic sense of self and freedom, which is part of the religious Tradition as well as the antimystical reasoning is critical.

Klinger's rather passive Faust, who has to experience the consequences of any too clear insight into human nature, seems to be part of the tradition of satires about the Age of Enlightenment , such as Voltaire's Candide (1759). - Goethe, on the other hand, tried to take the negative from the well-known Faust material and to condemn neither Faust nor the world in which he lives.

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Faust, who dealt with metaphysics , theology and morals in long studies and still has no answer to his question about the meaning of life , and even cannot even support his family despite his invention of the art of printing , conjures up the powers of hell. He makes the following bet with Leviathan , a prince of the underworld and, because of his hatred of the human race, the darling of Satan: The devil will be his servant as long as he lives and lead him behind the secrets of human existence, for which he uses his soul unless Faust shows him a person who is good at heart.

The two then embark on a journey that takes them to the most varied of places and situations, although in the end the devil is always right and he constantly shows his companion the evil in people, even in a hermit . Faust only wants to spend the night with him when they are on the way from Frankfurt to Mainz to visit his family, but the prince of Hell tempts him until it is easy for the pilgrim, who has sprung from his dark power, the clergy for plenty Alcohol consumption and physical proximity to convince them of the idea of ​​murdering the two travelers in their sleep for their money. Just as the man, with his knife drawn, is bent over his fist, he opens his eyes. In anger he orders his servant to burn down the hut along with the hermit and the woman.

Once in his hometown, the formerly poor printer gives his family plenty of presents, pays debts and even saves a friend from prison with financial support from hell, but to his regret has to see again and again that his fellow men do almost everything for money. Not only does gold help him achieve his goals, but Leviathan's eloquence also helps. So he convinces z. B. the abbess of a nunnery said that it was essential for her further career in her office to enable Faust to cohabit with the nun Clare, otherwise she would soon take over her place as abbess if her reputation is not ruined. For fear of being tormented by them after their dismissal because of their strict treatment of the other nuns, the servant finally agrees, and so Faust comes to the desired night and the associated revenge on the archbishop, who once spurned the Bible he had printed would have.

As the journey progresses, Faust's image of man becomes increasingly clouded. He has to watch how people let themselves be carried away again and again to ethically and morally reprehensible deeds by lust for power and money. Finally, after a long journey that takes them from Germany via France and England to Italy , the two reach the climax of their journey and - as planned by Leviathan - the place of Faust's final destruction. The time spent with the devil has increasingly dulled Faust. He uses his power increasingly rare to vigilantism to practice, but at the Vatican he should not raise one last time.

Due to their special appearance and the abilities of the underworld prince, they are quickly admitted to the Vatican and there gain a position from which it is possible for them to see the intrigues and conspiracies. Leviathan shows his companion what evil machinations are going on even in the place that should actually be a fortress of good. When he feels attacked by the Pope in his dignity as prince of Hell, he reveals his true form, which does not prevent them - even encourages them - to keep talking to him and even to propose an alliance to him, which angered the devil so much that he kills the Pope in front of Faust and leaves Rome for his homeland together with Faust. Once there, he informs the completely shattered Faust about the invariably negative consequences of his deeds and finally kills him, only to return triumphantly to hell and subject him to the most embarrassing punishment for a philosopher of his kind , namely eternal doubt .

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