All that is solid melts into air

Two weeks ago I read Marshall Berman’s ‘All that is solid melts into air’ – I focused in particular on the chapters than were concerned with J.W. Goethe’s ‘Faust’. Though I found Berman’s book to be readable it seemed a far better endeavour to read Faust rather than another person’s interpretation or even summary of the play. Generally I avoid reading plays, the legacy of high school Shakespeare means that I prefer to watch plays; I was therefore surprised by how accessible Faust is. Reading the actual work enabled me to appreciate how influential the play is to all forms of the modern arts; furthermore viewed simply as a piece of literature Faust is immensely enjoyable- the interaction between the protagonists, and the language used mean that belying its Aesop fable style tale of morality the play is quite simply a hoot.

On a serious level it is for me a work about the human condition, about want, need, desire, progress, envy, innocence, lust, greed, beauty, even history – off hand I cannot think of a human emotion not touched upon and I suspect that examples of all of the 7 deadly sins are readily available. At its crux is the tale of a disillusioned man selling his soul to the devil in return for emancipation for want of a better word. There are therefore religious elements to the play – the fight for good and evil, saved and damned but possibly Goethe realised that to write the human condition so well there needed to be a foil, or a pinnacle of one side of the human condition. The devil is the standard by which people are compared; he is not a character designed to be ridiculed or admired- he is simply the devil.

The story of Faust and Gretchen in Part One is a love story, a tragic love story that in many ways is the antithesis of what love actually is. Maybe the characters do display some form of love for each other but from the start it is made very obvious that Faust is infatuated and lusts after Gretchen whilst she is won through gifts and praise. Gretchen however is the innocent corrupted, the virgin soiled, life ruined – she herself murders the child fathered by Faust. The love story in many ways is a forerunner of the more obvious destruction that takes place in later scenes. Faust, if symbolically taken to represent man’s greed or development, is seen as destroyer of the simple, ‘honest’ life. Though this is an extremely simplistic overview of the play there are many subtle nuances which are ignored by this statement. Faust, the modern man, the explorer, developer, educator, scientist is also the destroyer - friend of the devil. It is possible that through Faust Goethe was making a more general statement about how advances in modern life must be seen for what they actually are and not too readily viewed as the answer to all prayers. Though a simple love story Goethe is really able to illustrate the thrust of his play; through his destruction of Gretchen’s life Faust feels little regret, indeed no real lasting regret – he does not learn from his actions but rather relives them on a grander scale. Magic tricks are used to create ghost money to provide false economy to a kingdom – the jewels used to bed Gretchen are used in this way to court an Emperor and allow others to perpetuate the destructive love circle of Faust and Gretchen. Whilst within this Kingdom the greed and almost self delusion of Faust is made evident, he plummets to further lows chasing after Helen of Troy because he lusts after her – despite her being a spirit and dead.

Throughout the play the devil is a source of amusement. Mephistopheles is obviously not to be trusted but he does not tell Faust what to do - he presents opportunities and suggests schemes; he moves the pawns in the play to broker situations but it is left to Faust to determine the course. Characters such as Gretchen do resist the devil but they are destroyed; if taken as development Faust is a force to be reckoned with – one which seemingly cannot be stopped. I wonder actually whether Goethe was not writing a play about the human condition but rather warning mankind about the tendencies of the human condition, this being why this play has had such a lasting legacy and is still very relevant.