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Introducing the Faust LegendAuthor(s): Mildred FrederiksenSource: The English Journal, Vol. 55, No. 7 (Oct., 1966), pp. 875-877Published by: National Council of Teachers of EnglishStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/812176

Accessed: 26/01/2009 22:00

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Introducing

the Faust

Legend

Mildred

Frederiksen

Department

of

English

Webster Groves HighSchool

Webster

Groves,

Missouri

AS

high

school

teachers,

we

can

do

little more

than

introduce

to

our

adolescent students

certain

patterns-

myth,

legend,

archetype-in

literature.

As

a

student

matures,

he

will

recognize

these

patterns

in his

reading,

and he

will

understand more

about

their

significance;

but it is our

job

to

present

now,

on

his

level,

elementary

aspects

which he

can

understand. The

college

teacher

can

build on this foundation.

One of these

patterns

is the Faust

legend,

and

there

is

a

wealth of

resource

material

on

the

subject.

In

American

literature

anthologies,

for

example,

we

find

many

of

the elements

of

the

legend

presented explicitly

or

by

implication

in

The Devil and Tom Walker and The

Devil and Daniel Webster.

We review

these elements

for students

who

do

not

recognize

them:

in

both

stories a man

wants

something

he is unable

to

get;

the

devil is

called

or he

spontaneously

appears

in one

guise

or

another

and

makes

his

offer;

to

get

what

he

wants,

the

protagonist

agrees

to

sign

over his

soul to the

devil

( the

one

condition

which

need not

be

mentioned );

and

in

the end the devil calls to collect. In The

Devil and

Daniel Webster

there

is

a

stated

period

of time for

the

contract

to

run,

and

the document is

signed

in

blood-both

usual

conditions

of the

arrangement.

As

we see in

these

two

stories,

the devil

sometimes

succeeds;

sometimes the soul

escapes.

There are

some not-so-obvious

but

interesting

details which

students

may

miss.

Why,

for

example,

is

there

evidence

of

cloven feet

stamped

on

the tree in

which

Tom

Walker's

wife's heart and

liver

are found? When

pupils

learn

that

the devil is said to

have cloven

feet,

the

connection

is

clear;

and

they

can

better

understand

why

it

is

that

Jabez

Stone,

in

the other

story,

does

not

like the

looks

of

the toes of the

stranger's

boots.

In

both cases, the devil leaves a mark: a

fingerprint

burned into Tom's

forehead

and

a

scar where

Jabez

pricked

his

finger

to

sign

the contract. These marks

suggest

the

mark of

Cain,

the mark of

evil,

another

allusion

that

students should

recognize.

Both of these men

sold their

souls

to

the

devil

literally.

Because some

students

do

not

make

the

extension,

we

must

ask

what we

mean even

today

when we

say,

He has sold his soul to the devil. Does

it

actually happen

as it does

in

the stories

875

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ENGLISH

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we

have

read?

After members

of the

class

have

cited some

individuals,

eal

or

fictional,

who have

compromised

their

conscience

to

get

what

they

want,

the

teacher can discussthe use of

metaphors

like this one

that

are used

as

a

kind

of

literary

horthand.

Students

will

probably

ask about the

origin

of such a

legend. Although

sell-

ing

one's soul s as old as

sin,

the

person-

ification

of

the act

has

become centered

in

an actual German

magician

called

Faust,

who

is

mentioned

n a

1507 letter

as

a

fool

rather than

a

philosopher,

as

a

mountebankwho should be whipped.

Legends

formerly

associatedwith other

magicians

came

to be associated with

his

name,

and he has

become the

symbol

of

all

practitioners

f black

magic.

There are

two

strands to

the

Faust

legend.

The

first

one,

which

we

have

been

discussing,

makes

him

the

represen-

tative

of all

those

who

risk

their

souls for

power, money,

love,

or

youth.

The

sec-

ond

one

presents

Faust as

a

symbol

of

humanpride (hubris)which is an offense

to

deity.

Instead

of

studying

the

god's

will

and

submitting

himself to

it,

the

Faust

eeks

secular

knowledge

for his

own

glory.

This

act,

of

course,

puts

him

in

danger

of

destruction

by

the

god

he

challenges.

With

guidance

from

the

teacher,

the

class

will

think

of Fausts

all

the

way

back to

Adam,

who wanted

to

be like

God,

knowing

good

and

evil.

For

such

pride he was expelledfrom the Garden.

Lucifer,

in

Milton's

Paradise

Lost,

was

cast into

Hell

for

trying

to make

him-

self

equal

to

God. When

the men of

Shinar

began

to build the Tower of

Babel,

their

purpose

was to

reach

Heaven;

and as

a

punishment,

God con-

foundedtheir

speech.

In

Greek

myth

proud

mortals

also

meet

sad fates. Prometheuswas

punished

for

stealing

fire

from the

gods

for

man-

kind. Phaethon, because he was a mortal

daring

to do

a

god's

work in

driving

the sun

chariot,

was

struck

by

a

thunder-

holt.

And

Icarus,

flying

too

near

the

sun,

lost his

wings

and

fell

into the sea.

Later,

Frankenstein

challenged

God

by

creating

life,

and

his creation

destroyed

him. Dr.

Jekyll

thought

he

could control

good

and

evil,

and he lost

the

power

to be

good.

In

a modem

play,

The

Physicists,

by

Duerrenmatt,

a

scientist is afraid

that modern man

has

learned

more

than he

should

and

so will

be

destroyed.

He commits himself to a

mental

hospital

to

keep

his discoveries

from

the

world,

but

what's

thought

cannot be

unthought.

With this

background,

the students

can

better understand the Faust

implica-

tions

in

Chillingworth,

who

had a

pale,

thin,

scholarlike

visage. People

in

Bos-

ton said

that The

fire

in

his

laboratory

had

been

brought

from

the lower

regions

and was fed with

infernal

fuel.

Students

will

recognize

the

allusion

that associated

Chillingworth

with an

eminent

Doctor

of

Physic,

from

a

German

university.

In

Moby

Dick the class reads

of

Fedallah, whose name means devil-god,

who

wore

a

turban

of his own hair

(to

hide his

horns?)

and stuffed oakum

in

the toe

of his boots. I take

that

Fedallah

to

be

the devil

in

disguise,

said Stubb.

It is

not

difficult to

guess

whose

soul

he

was after.

Ahab,

remember,

had

a

scar.

In

English

literature,

students

may

read Marlowe's Doctor Faustus

and

Milton's Paradise Lost in which

they

learn in

detail

about

Faust, Adam,

and

Lucifer. Even Macbeth sold his soul to

the

devil,

and a

good

parallel

can

be

made between the

ambiguity

of Fedal-

lah's

prophecies

and that

of Macbeth's

witches.

Capitol

puts

out

a record

Highlights

of

Faust

which condenses

the

opera

into

an

hour of the most familiar

songs.

With

the

words available

(the

libretto is

pro-

vided

with the

record),

students can

follow

the

story,

an

adaptation

of

Goethe's Faust.

Each

age

writes the

legend

with

its

own

emphasis,

and

Faust seeks what-

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INTRODUCING THE FAUST LEGEND

877

ever is

valuable

to the

period:

Re-

naissance

knowledge

or

modern

victory

in a ball

game.

He

is

damned

or saved

as the

attitudes

of the

time

and

the

character of Faust dictate. It is a

story

of

many

complications

and

can be

read

on

many

levels.

It is

not

too

early

in

high

school

for

the student to

get

a

foundation

for

later,

deeper

under-

standing.

NCTE

Election

Notice

In

accordancewith the

Constitution

of

the

National

Council of Teachers

of

English,

the

Board of

Directors at its

meeting

last

Thanksgiving

Day

chose

William

F.

Mar-

quardt,

Carlton

Nunan,

Helen F.

Olson,

Erwin

R.

Steinberg,

and

John

DeBoer as

mem-

bers

of

a

Nominating

Committeeto

propose

officers

for

1967.

Through

John

J.

DeBoer,

chairman,

he

committee offers

these

nominations:

For President:

Albert H.

Marckwardt,

Professor

of

English

and

Linguistics,

Princeton

University

For

First Vice President

(President-elect):

Alfred

H.

Grommon,

Professor of

Education and

English,

Stanford

University

For Second Vice

President

(Program

Chairman):

Alvina

Treut

Burrows,

Professor

of

Education,

New York

University

For Trusteesof the ResearchFoundation:(two to be elected)

Richard

Braddock,

Professor of

English

and

Rhetoric,

University

of

Iowa

G. Robert

Carlsen,

Professor of

English

and

Education,

University

of

Iowa

Alexander

Frazier,

Professor of

Education,

Ohio State

University

Thomas D.

Jarrett,

Dean

of Graduate

School;

Chairman,

Department

of

English,

Atlanta

University,

Atlanta

For

Directors-at-Large: six

to

be

elected)

Robert A.

Bennett,

Specialist-Language

Arts,

San

Diego

Public

Schools,

California

Neil

Postman,

Professor

of

English

Education,

New York

University

Margaret

M.

Raine, Chairman,

Language

Arts

Department,

Cleveland

High

School, Seattle,Washington

James

Sledd,

Professor

of

English, University

of Texas

Marjorie

Smiley,

Professor of

Education,

Hunter

College

of the

City University

of

New

York

Darwin

Turner,

Professor

and

Chairman,

Department

of

English,

North

Carolina

A

&

T

College,

Greensboro

This

slate will be

presented

for

action at the

meeting

of

the

Board of

Directors

and

the

Annual

Business

meeting

in

November.

Other

nomination(s)

may

be made

by

peti-

tion(s)

signed

by twenty

directors of

the

Council

and

presented

to

the

Executive Secre-

tary

of the

Council,

with the written consent of

the

nominee(s),

before

October

15.

When Mr.

DeBoer

moves the

election

of the

committee's

nominees,

other nominations

may be made from the floor.