Faust - Softcover

Von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1501087606 ISBN 13: 9781501087608

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: Faust. Der Tragödie erster Teil (translated as: Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy) and Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil (Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy). Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages. Faust is Goethe's most famous work and considered by many to be one of the greatest works of German literature. Goethe completed a preliminary version of Part One in 1806. The 1808 publication was followed by the revised 1828–29 edition, which was the last to be edited by Goethe himself. Prior to these appeared a partial printing in 1790 of Faust, a Fragment.

About this title

About the Author:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German writer and statesman. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him are extant. He studied law in Leipzig from 1765 to 1768. In 1770, he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems. In late 1792, he took part in the battle of Valmy against revolutionary France, assisting Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar during the failed invasion of France. In 1832, Goethe died in Weimar of apparent heart failure.

Review:

Douglas Langworthy s new translation of Goethe s Faust fills an important void in American translations of German drama and presents a version of this masterpiece suitable for the stage and classroom. It is immensely readable: in place of Goethe s rhyming knittelvers, which can sound like Dr. Seuss to American ears, Langworthy provides a rhythmic and colloquial blank verse that feels both classical and contemporary. Langworthy has expertly trimmed the gargantuan text while maintaining Goethe s structure. Usually in the classroom, and on the rare occasions Faust is performed on the American stage, attention is paid only to the early first part of the play, which ends in Gretchen s death. This ignores the picaresque and philosophically profound second part, where Goethe expands the Faust legend almost logarithmically. This translation, which was originally made for New York s Target Margin Theatre, has a momentum, even in the sprawling second half, which makes it Goethe s grand design accessible for undergraduate students and possible to produce on the American stage. --Walter Bilderback, Dramaturg, The Wilma Theater

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1501087606
• ISBN 13: 9781501087608
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 134