Author

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, painted by Joseph Karl Stieler (1828).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, painted by Joseph Karl Stieler (1828). Source · Public domain

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist and natural scientist, born in Frankfurt and trained in law at Leipzig and Strasbourg. The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) made him famous across Europe, and from 1775 he lived at Weimar as a minister of the duchy, director of its theatre and friend of Schiller. He also wrote on the metamorphosis of plants and on colour. Faust occupied him for some sixty years, from the early 1770s until Part Two was finished shortly before his death.

Frequently Cited

“While Man’s desires and aspirations stir, He cannot choose but err.”
Faust, Part One, Prologue in Heaven (German l. 317)
“I’ve studied now Philosophy And Jurisprudence, Medicine,— And even, alas! Theology,— From end to end, with labor keen; And here, poor fool! with all my lore I stand, no wiser than before”
Faust, Part One, Scene I, Night (opening monologue)
“Two souls, alas! reside within my breast, And each withdraws from, and repels, its brother.”
Faust, Part One, Scene II, Before the City-Gate (German l. 1112)
“Part of that Power, not understood, Which always wills the Bad, and always works the Good.”
Faust, Part One, Scene III, The Study (German ll. 1335-1336)
“When thus I hail the Moment flying: “Ah, still delay—thou art so fair!” Then bind me in thy bonds undying, My final ruin then declare!”
Faust, Part One, Scene IV, The Study (German ll. 1699-1702)
“My worthy friend, gray are all theories, And green alone Life’s golden tree.”
Faust, Part One, Scene IV, The Study (German ll. 2038-2039)
“My peace is gone, My heart is sore: I never shall find it, Ah, nevermore!”
Faust, Part One, Scene XV, Margaret's Room (at the spinning-wheel)

On this site

Faust, Part One

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1808 · 19th Century · Drama

Faust, Part One opens with three frames: a verse Dedication, a Prelude at the Theatre in which a Manager, a Poet and a comic actor argue about what a play should be, and a Prologue in Heaven modelled on the Book of Job. There Mephistopheles mocks mankind, and the Lord permits him to tempt Doctor Faust, saying that man errs as long as he strives but that a good man keeps an instinct of the right way.

medium medical relevanceAmbitionScience / KnowledgeGuilt Sin