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Faust, Part 2

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, David Constantine (Editor), A.S. Byatt (Preface)

3.56 · rating details · 563 ratings · 23 reviews

A major new translation of one of the greatest dramatic-poetic works in all of German literature

A magnificent drama shaped by themes of redemption and salvation, Faust is the magnum opus of Goethe, "the last true polymath to walk the earth" (George Eliot). As his journey continues, Faust follows Mephistopheles through ancient Greek mythology. Deeply smitten by t...more

Paperback, 285 pages

Published June 30th 2009 by Penguin Classics (first published 1832)

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Jan 05, 2012

Robyn Blaber rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: drama, german-literature

Wow. I'm not sure that this play is aptly named. Though, Faust is in it, it doesn't seem to be an extension of the first play at all. The central character seems to be Helen of Troy (formerly Sparta). There is also the introduction of this weird homunculus (Faust's creation) asking all the hard metaphysical questions. Naturally he seeks the answers from the ancient Greeks... perhaps not the best place to look given the advantages of more modern philosophers. His voyage is interesting though...more

· see review

May 17, 2010

E.A. Bucchianeri rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, drama, faustian-fun

Goethe's "Faust" is arguably the most important milestone in Romantic literature. Taking the famous medieval legend of Dr. Faustus and his pact with the devil, Goethe adapted the tale of old, and transformed it into a great love story, and a probing poetical tract on the nature of good and evil, salvation and damnation, failing and striving, the innate search for truth and lasting fulfilment.

After his tragic love affair with Margareta in Part One, Faust is mystically restor...moreGoethe's "Faust" is arguably the most important milestone in Romantic literature. Taking the famous medieval legend of Dr. Faustus and his pact with the devil, Goethe adapted the tale of old, and transformed it into a great love story, and a probing poetical tract on the nature of good and evil, salvation and damnation, failing and striving, the innate search for truth and lasting fulfilment.

After his tragic love affair with Margareta in Part One, Faust is mystically restored by a band of elvin sprites during a glorious sunrise in the alps in Part Two, and he continues his quest to find that one moment of bliss that his soul cries out for, that one moment that will convince him to cease his constant striving and yearning for activity, which ironically, will seal his fate among the damned according to the agreement he made with Mephistopheles. With his diabolical companion, Faust sets out on new adventures and travels the world, often leaving destuction and confusion in his wake. He enters the employment of the Holy Roman Emperor, providing him with grand magical entertainments and helping him to defend the empire from its enemies. He also travels allegorically through poetic space and time to visit ancient Greece, the land of the legendary Helen of Troy and falls in love again. When this does not last, he attempts to build his own kingdom, and he envisions a future moment when he can see the glory of this kingdom established, a moment he wished would last forever. Does this wish damn Faust for all eternity? Who will win the battle for Faust's soul, the demons or the angels?

In contrast to the clear-cut plot of Part One, Faust Part Two is a confusion of strange allegories and cryptic scenes that can often prove tedious to read, and therefore it is no surprise Goethe's admirers found it difficult to comprehend and appreciate. In fact, not many readers continue on past Part One, and few universities include Part Two for their courses in German drama and literature, which is a pity. This work should not be overlooked. To begin with, it is useful to note that Goethe admitted he intended to incorporate 3000 years of history in this drama, and to one acquaintance he declared that the Faust text was filled with contrasts that would seem like an intriguing story with beautiful imaginative pictures to the general readers, while those who could understand the symbols behind Mozart's Masonic opera, "The Magic Flute", would be able to comprehend the deeper meanings hidden in his allegorical jumbles. Hence, appreciating this work and its dramatic riches requires a daunting amount of presupposed knowledge, not only of this mystic symbolism, theology and philosophy, but also ancient and more modern mythology, literature, drama, science, not to mention world history. As one Goethean scholar once declared, to study Goethe is an education in itself.

David Luke's translation is the most accessible to date, and he provides an informative introduction to get readers started with basic accounts of the historical events that inspired Goethe. There is also a glossary of the classical Greek and mythological figures of history to help the reader find their feet. A map of ancient Greece is included to allow you plot Faust's travels in addition to a chronological timeline displaying when he drafted the various scenes, numerous explanatory footnotes, and sketches of Goethe's early drafts of Part Two. This publication is a great starting point for an introduction, however, the information provided by Luke only scratches the surface of Goethe's text, for instance, the glossary provides information on the Greek legends and myths used in the plot, and it is up to the readers to figure out why Goethe changes many elements, but in all, it is well worth the effort. A great book if you love mulling over poetical conundrums.

E.A. Bucchianeri - author of "Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World" (less)

· see review

Sep 03, 2010

Khan rated it

· review of another edition

Faust II is in der Tat einer der schwersten literarischen Texte, die man lesen kann.

Ich hab die Reclam-Version gelesen mit den dazugehörigen "Erläuterungen und Dokumente" und bei Gott, dass muss man auch, ansonsten würde man nicht mal 1/3 des Textes verstehen.

Was mich wirklich gestört hat ist die Tatsache, dass die Geschichte nur zum Teil Faust involvierte. Meistens folgte man Mephisto, was einerseits gut, aber andererseits schlecht ist. In einem Stück namens Fa...moreFaust II is in der Tat einer der schwersten literarischen Texte, die man lesen kann.

Ich hab die Reclam-Version gelesen mit den dazugehörigen "Erläuterungen und Dokumente" und bei Gott, dass muss man auch, ansonsten würde man nicht mal 1/3 des Textes verstehen.

Was mich wirklich gestört hat ist die Tatsache, dass die Geschichte nur zum Teil Faust involvierte. Meistens folgte man Mephisto, was einerseits gut, aber andererseits schlecht ist. In einem Stück namens Faust möchte man mehr über den Charakter Faust erfahren, nicht?

Jedenfalls war dies eine Lernerfahrung, die ich nicht so schnell vergessen werde. Es sind eine Menge Anspielungen gemacht worden, die ich ansonsten ohne Kommentare nicht verstehen würde. Ich dachte ich war gut bewandert in griechischer Mythologie, aber nach Faust II weiß ich, dass ich jemanden aus dem 19. Jahrhundert nicht das Wasser reichen kann.

Die griechischen Anspielungen waren nur ein Teil des "Problems". Auch waren da viele Anspielungen auf die Göttliche Komödie. Ich hab die Göttliche Komödie noch gar nicht gelesen von daher haben die Anmerkungen auch nur wenig geholfen. Goethes Stück hat mich bereits bewegt Ein Sommernachtstraum parallel zu seinem Stück zu lesen.

Ich werde Faust II wieder lesen sobald ich mich in Shakespeare und die Göttliche Komödie eingelesen habe. Teile werde ich natürlich überspringen, wie zum Beispiel die riesen Allegorie des Mummenschanzes oder auch die Kriesszene im vierten Akt.

Was ich gemocht habe war Mephisto in so ziemlich jeder Szene. Vor allem gefiel mir seine Anmerkungen über die Sphinx und deren Reaktion. Nicht zu vergessen Mephistos "große Auflösung" am Ende des dritten Aktes. Also ich weiß nicht. Hat Goethe geglaubt, dass der Leser vergas als was sich Mephisto sich verkleidet hat? Er hat es uns buchstäblich gesagt während der Walpurgisnacht. Mephisto der lüsternde Teufel ist eine unterhaltsame Kreatur. Er war für mich der eigentliche Protagonist.

Faust selber war nicht von großem Interesse. Die Romanze mit Gretchen im ersten Teil war das Highlight für mich. Helena und Faust wiederum waren nur Mittelmaß. Deren Sohn hingegen hatte potenzial. Ich weiß Faust sollte ja mehr oder weniger der Hiob seiner Zeit sein, aber sonderlich moralisch finde ich die Geschichte nicht. All das Übel, wofür er verantwortlich war, wird ihm verzogen? Naja, Gottes Wege sind un...glaublich dämlich.

Ich kann nur jedem empfehlen den zweiten Teil zu lesen, der glaubt besonders bewandert in griechischer Mythologie zu sein. Es öffnet einen wirklich die Augen in der Hinsicht. Auch für Fans der Göttlichen Komödie ist dieses Stück etwas.

Ich selber bevorzuge auch weiterhin der Faust I oder Das Volksbuch vom Doktor Faustus. Dementsprechend gibt es einen Stern weniger für Faust II.

Übrigens, "Erläuterungen und Dokumente zu Faust II" ist doppelt so dick wie das eigentliche Büchlein. Ich hab nicht gespaßt, wenn ich von vielen Anspielungen gesprochen habe. Zitate zum Überdruss waren auch vorhanden.(less)

· see review

Oct 17, 2009

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

This is a very funny book. From a chattering brilliant mind. ...funny and brilliant as Melville.

I am reading this right now. It is hilarious, insane, wonderful. well not insane at all, just the mix/ meeting of the classical gods, pre-classical gods and our paltry contemporary icons coming together.

Deep quest of life meeting myths of life jambalaya. Sphinxes and ants and the devil all talk to each other. Everyone is invited to dinner. Just think of all your smartest cra...moreThis is a very funny book. From a chattering brilliant mind. ...funny and brilliant as Melville.

I am reading this right now. It is hilarious, insane, wonderful. well not insane at all, just the mix/ meeting of the classical gods, pre-classical gods and our paltry contemporary icons coming together.

Deep quest of life meeting myths of life jambalaya. Sphinxes and ants and the devil all talk to each other. Everyone is invited to dinner. Just think of all your smartest craziest friends getting together at one table. Beautiful chaos towards a higher song. Lots of beauty and funny bristling. The larger meanings will never be found. Too much going on in life.

There is this little 'Homunculus' in Faust 2, that I am in love with the idea of. Pre-microscope, sperm was thought to contain little fully formed men, little Homunculi. Pythagoras would not eat beans, as a vegetarian, because he thought the 'germ' inside the bean-the small nutrient seed that looks like a little curled up man, was indeed a man. I like the changing ideas of origin and myth all mixed together.

Goethe's 1790's Homunculus is a flame in a jar, an unformed man looking to be formed. The Homunculus guides Faust when the devil runs out of ideas. Its very funny. He is a beautiful metaphor for searching for creative being, for hope, for life.

This book is inspiring me to make art work. I love the idea of the symbol of the Homunculus, and what he represents-being the seed of creativity, the seed of growth, and that thing that drives us outward into the world.

Now since Goethe is the Shakespeare of Germany I am screwed out of the five star book experience, as I do not read German. Faust is written in a rhyming balanced poem play. So the flowing balance and play on words I do not get to expereince through translation. (Maybe one wish from a Genie would go to this...an instant understanding of german I could read Faust) So the 'fifth star' of the book cannon is not in my universe to see. Its just a beautiful theory which I can only imagine exists.

There is a good translation by Walter Kaufmann of Faust pt 1. I am really bummed he only translated parts of part 2. His translation has german and english on facing pages. I went through 5-6 translations looking for the best.

I looked hard for a good translation for Part 2. I looked through a lot of them. I have maybe 3 Faust II translations. I am reading the Oxford translation by David Luke. When there are unclear passages I look for the meanings by comparing with the Yale translation by Martin Greenberg.

It was funny to pick up an old translation and to read something written in the style of the King James Bible, or some really horrible sonorous prose that has practically no content in common with Goethe's words. This reminds me of American pop songs that are sung in Italian with the same orchestration and completely different lyrics. Its kind of preposterous. It has made me think a lot about how rare it must be to find a sensitive ingenious translator. they have to be smart, sensitive, a poet in their own right and heart. someone like the New Yorker art writer Peter Schjeldahl.(less)

· see review

Aug 24, 2011

Yair Ben-Zvi rated it

· review of another edition

A sublime and wonderful work. Stuart Atkin's translation commendably shows the power and grandeur of Goethe's masterwork in a complex but somehow still (mostly) accessible English rendition. Reading about the history of the work and of Goethe himself, it's not that it's a wonder that the work is what it is now, but rather that it was ever conceived and finished at all. The first part is wonderful, even in its linearity, but the second part transcends not only the form of the closet drama but ...more

· see review

Jan 02, 2009

Dave rated it

· review of another edition

Faust, Parts I & II, are together considered the most important work of literature in the German language. Unlike its predecessor, Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", where Faust sells his soul to the Devil, this one involves a wager between God and Mephistopheles (the Devil) about the value of creation. This plays out in the course of the two volumes to culminate in a perhaps surprising ending.

The first volume is relatively straight forward; the second is highly complex...more

· see review

Jul 28, 2011

Hilary rated it

· review of another edition

I love Goethe. I love Goethe's *Faust*. But there's a reason no one reads or performs Faust, part II. Written decades after he wrote Part I, near the end of his life, this is Faust, gone German Romantic. Which means it's...kind of unintelligible. I was reading it in German, and couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. So I went and found a copy in English in the library. And it made just as little sense as before. Not much happens except some thoroughly random stuff (Faust and Mephisto cr...more

· see review

Jul 29, 2011

Erin Panjer added it · review of another edition

I loved it but it just didn't seem to hold my rapt attention as Faust Part I did. Mostly because there were so many characters, and it was sometimes difficult to ascertain the exact meaning. Having said that it was magnificent the ideas involved. The poetry even translated was pure joy to read aloud, and it is terribly meaningful. Will have to pick it up again in a few more years when I'm a little older and wiser.

· see review

Dec 21, 2008

Gavin rated it

· review of another edition

Faust II is absolutely unreadable without heavily annotated editions and lots of commentary. An expansive, difficult text for which I only found a fondness after a graduate course and a paper. I suppose I am a better scholar for it, but not an easy or even enjoyable read for the most part.

· see review

Jun 13, 2011

Natalha rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-at-school

Unsere wunderbare Deutsch-Leistungskurs-Lehrerin hat mich mit ihrer Begeisterung für dieses Buch angesteckt. Vollgepackt mit Mythologie und Symbolik ist es für den durchschnittlichen Leser wohl schwer zu erfassen - ohne Anleitung hätte es mich wohl kaum so begeistert.

· see review

Mar 25, 2011

Brandon Figliolino rated it

· review of another edition

Does not Compare to Faust One

I had difficulty staying interested in the second half of Faust's tale. Part One entranced me with the Journey of Mephistopheles and Faust. Part Two had an explosion of characters that distanced me from Faust and ultimately made it less enjoyable than the first.

· see review

Jul 11, 2009

Anica rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Once you understood that he basically is only awake in act 1 and 5, you got it. LOL Act 2-4 is weirdness on its highest level but I still liked it. Although I guess Faust I is better to understand but we only saw the movie adaption of it.

· see review

Jul 22, 2009

Jay rated it

· review of another edition

Goethe unloads round after round of his education into your eyeballs. Cannot be read without a second book explaining what is happening. Lacks stage direction, to say the least. The story is incredible. The philosophy is intriguing. And between Faust's workers paradise, Mephisto's love of the eternal void, and Goethe's love/women/striving message- I'm pretty sure everything worth saying about our understanding of life on earth is somewhere in this play.

· see review

Jan 08, 2010

Aimee (Onyx) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Part One was really good. Part Two was a jumbly mess. If you're going to read Goethe, stop after Part One so you can keep liking him.

· see review

Dec 21, 2011

Teemu rated it

· review of another edition

Huge letdown after brilliant first part. Part two suffers because Goethe uses it as a vehicle to bring up characters from tales and lores and forgets that he has an excellent protagonist, Faust and just as good antagonist, Mephistofeles who get put aside. Instead of continuing the story of Faust, Goethe puts up talking heads who go on and on about things I couldn't make myself to get interested in.

Couldn't finish part two. So I don't exactly how brilliant is became in the end but I ...more

· see review

Nov 21, 2009

Jonathan added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

None

· see review

Jul 11, 2010

Josh Utterback rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, finished-in-2010

A tedious read. Not nearly as good as the first. Very scattered.

· see review

Jul 23, 2007

Moonburst rated it

· review of another edition

The second part of Faust is very strange and random, but not in a good way (unlike Lewis Carroll or Douglas Adams). The majority of the book was a lot like the wedding between Titania and Oberon in Part One, which was rather unnecessary to the plot. Overall, I did not enjoy the book much at all, and only finished it because I liked the first part well enough.

· see review

May 27, 2011

Brandon Figliolino rated it

· review of another edition

· see review

Nov 28, 2011

Victoria rated it

· review of another edition

I wish I could read this in the original. Translations are so frustrating. You can tell it's beautiful but you can't access the beauty.

· see review

Jul 01, 2008

Graydon rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mostly-read

Unlike the part one I struggled with this one. I dont think I am smart enough to take Faust to the next level in part two.

· see review

Jun 30, 2008

Tiddy rated it

· review of another edition

A classic, good read. I liked this translation of the Faust play.

· see review

Jan 26, 2010

Andrew rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: german

What's up with the huge Hellenic diversion?

· see review

Feb 06, 2012

Evan rated it

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Feb 05, 2012

Jared rated it

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Feb 01, 2012

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Jan 30, 2012

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About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer. George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, humanism, and science. Goethe's magnum opus, lauded as one of the peaks of world literature, is the two-part drama Faust. Goethe's other well-known literary works...more

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