Faust: A Hero in Romanticism, Rejecting Enlightenment - Essay Sample

Introduction

Faust is a play full of tragic authored by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Goethe, 1980). Faust, in the play, is considered a hero in romance. In many instances, he goes beyond the idea of Enlightenment; he was getting and embrace the idea of Romanticism. This can be clearly be shown by how he falls in love with different girls such as Gretchen and Helen. Below are the three most instances where Faust rejects the ideas of the Enlightenment and embrace ideas associated with Romanticism.

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Faust Concentration on Love With Helen

When Faust meets a young girl by the name Margaret or Gretchen, he reduces his focus on enlightening about a supernatural thing that Mephistopheles is offering to him and get more emphasis on the love with the girl. Faust even realizes that his feeling that he has with Gretchen is beyond simple sexual desire. There is a lot of concentration towards the love that Foust has on Gretchen more than the Enlightenment he was seeking from Mephistopheles. The act of Romanticism in Faust has already won him by distracting him from his initial goal of finding happiness in nature.

Faust continues with the act of love by even taking some risk, such as sneaking into Gretchen's room where with the help of Mephistopheles, they are able to live some jewelry in the place for Gretchen. At seeing Gretchen in bed, Foust appreciates the nature for allowing a beautiful creature to exist. Foust ordering of Mephistopheles to have him ensure they meet up with Gretchen shows how he is diverging from his earlier goal of Enlightenment about nature and concentrate more on making Gretchen fall in love with her. One evening in Martha's garden, Gretchen and Faust meet formally for the first time, and Faust charms her with a lot of love. He even professes his love for Gretchen by singing her a love song. Foust's love for the Gretchen makes his first run away from her and start living in the forest for a time in the cave, fearing that too much presence with the girl will corrupt the girls with his feeling. His behavior of running away is however, confronted by Mephistopheles, who consider it to be foolish to hide from a woman who she truly loves. His hiding behavior was however, done with love for the girl since he thought that spending too much time with her is not a good thing for her, so it was an act of love and protection.

Faust Acceptance of Mephistopheles Offer

Faust also rejects the ideas of the Enlightenment and embrace ideas associated with Romanticism in the start of part one when he is offended by nature and its surrounding since he does not conform to the norms of the time. Though he has been a good scholar and alchemist, he does not feel the importance of that knowledge. Books and chemistry are no longer necessary for him and do not define his life anymore. Instead of Faust pursuing a good relationship with God and seeking his knowledge, he makes a deal with Mephistopheles, who is a servant of the devil. He can be observed to be a man of introspection since he has a strong feeling of emotions, which are characteristics of Romanticism.

Faust is fed up with a living, and he is the despair of the Enlightenment the world is offering. He even decide to take his own life but after hearing good sounding voices singing the chorus to announce Easter day he change the plan and stop the act of committing suicide. The decision to change the idea of committing suicide was accelerated by the sweet voices of the angel, and this can be seen as Romanticism in him. He also with his father had a lot of knowledge which he offered to people as help by treating them with medicine during the time of plague. He doesn't feel the importance of this Enlightenment he has and thinks that probably he did more harm than good with his crude medicine. The act of refusal on knowledge and Enlightenment he has and continue in making love with Gretchen can be seen as Romanticism and a reject on the ideas of the Enlightenment

The Act of Falling in Love With Helen

Faust go against the order of the emperor who had asked him to go and bring a girl by the name Helen of Troy and Paris. Instead of him just bringing the girl to the emperor she fall in love with her. He had a lot to enjoy during the journey of mysterious realm together with the Enlightenment he would get in the process but he is only smitten by Helen's beauty. He even attempts to jolt her which result to him been unconsciousness. Wagner with the help of Mephistopheles performs homunculus act of reading the mind of Faust while still in unconscious state which help them to know what is in his mind. His thought shows that he wants to travel to an ancient Greece to find Helen. Faust's thoughts are a clear indicator that he is not interested in Enlightenment but more of Romanticism. After Faust finds Helen, he goes beyond and lies to her that her husband Menelaus has the intent of killing her. He asks her to go together with him to Faust's castle, where he will offer protection for her. When they arrive in Faust's castle, the security, he had promise turn to be love, and they fall in love. These are all instances where Faust embrace the idea of Romanticism and reject Enlightenment, which he was faced with. This instance regards Faust character as a hero in Romanticism

Work Cited

Goethe's Plays, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated into English with Introductions by Charles E. Passage, Publisher Benn Limited 1 ISBN 0510000878, ISBN 978-0510000875 1980