Faust

Drama · Allegory · Tragedy

First published: 1808
Print length: 737 pagesW.W. Norton, 2001

Description

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic two-part play, written mostly in rhymed verse. Its second part broadens beyond the fate of Faust's soul to address social, political, and historical questions alongside psychological, mystical, and philosophical concerns. This expansive range gives the drama both an individual center and a much wider field of inquiry. Widely regarded as Goethe's magnum opus, Faust also holds a major place in German literature. The work's two-part design and varied concerns make it a large-scale drama whose reach extends across public life, inner experience, and metaphysical thought.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Dense · Lyrical · Ornate · Poetic

Pace

Variable

Tone

Cerebral · Dark · Earnest · Philosophical

Structure

Episodic · Fragmented

Focus

Character · Ideas · World

Emotional intensity

5 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 5 / 5
Ideas: 5 / 5
Structure: 5 / 5
Background knowledge: 4 / 5

Themes

AmbitionKnowledge and truthMoralityPowerRedemptionReligion and faith

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, critic, natural scientist, statesman, and theatre director whose range made him one of the most influential writers in the German language. Closely associated with Weimar Classicism, he worked across lyric poetry, drama, fiction, autobiography, reflective prose, and scientific inquiry. His writing combines close observation with philosophical reach, often tracing how desire, feeling, education, and experience shape a life. The Sorrows of Young Werther concentrates this method in an intimate, emotionally charged epistolary novel, while Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship examines self-formation through a broader social world. Faust, his most celebrated drama, expands an individual moral and psychological struggle into an inquiry encompassing mysticism, politics, history, and society. Goethe’s autobiographical writing likewise treats personal memory as part of an intellectual and artistic development. What distinguishes the body of work is this movement between inward experience and large systems of thought, joined to a sustained interest in nature, art, and the cultivation of the self.

Series

[Goethe's Works · Book 3

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: W.W. Norton
Language: English
ISBN: 9780393972825

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