Faustus: His Life, Death, and Doom: A Romance in Prose

by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger

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320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger was a German dramatist and novelist.

Klinger was born of humble parentage in Frankfurt. His father died when he was a child, and his early years were a hard struggle. He was enabled, however, in 1774 to enter the university of Gießen, where he studied law. Goethe, with whom he had been acquainted since childhood, helped him in many ways. In 1775 Klinger gained with his tragedy Die Zwillinge a prize offered by the Hamburg theatre, under the auspices of the actress Sophie Charlotte Ackermann (1714–1792) and her son the famous actor and playwright, Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (1744–1816). In 1776 Klinger was appointed Theaterdichter to the Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft and held this post for two years. In 1778 he entered the Austrian military service and took part in the Bavarian war of succession. In 1780 he went to Saint Petersburg, became an officer in the Russian army, was ennobled and attached to the Grand Duke Paul, whom he accompanied on a journey to Italy and France. In 1785 he was appointed director of the corps of cadets, and having married a natural daughter of the empress Catharine, was made praeses of the Academy of Knights in 1799. In 1803 Klinger was nominated by the emperor Alexander curator of the university of Dorpat, an office he held until 1817; in 1811 he became lieutenant-general. He then gradually gave up his official posts, and after living for many years in honourable retirement, died at Dorpat.

Klinger was a man of vigorous moral character and full of fine feeling, though the bitter experiences and deprivations of his youth are largely reflected in his dramas. It was one of his earliest works, Sturm und Drang (1776), which gave its name to this artistic epoch. In addition to this tragedy and Die Zwillinge (1776), the chief plays of his early period of passionate fervour and restless "storm and stress" are Die neue Arria (1776), Simsone Grisaldo (1776) and Stilpo und seine Kinder (1780). To a later period belongs the fine double tragedy of Medea in Korinth and Medea auf dem Kaukasos (1791). In Russia he devoted himself mainly to the writing of philosophical romances, of which the best known are Fausts Leben, Taten und Höllenfahrt (1791), Geschichte Giafars des Barmeciden (1792) and Geschichte Raphaeis de Aquillas (1793). This series was closed in 1803 with Betrachtungen und Gedanken über verschiedene Gegenstände der Welt und der Literatur. In these works Klinger gives calm and dignified expression to the leading ideas which the period of Sturm und Drang had bequeathed to German classical literature.

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Friedrich Klinger's "Faustus" is a brilliant little fable from the pen of Friedrich von Klinger a close friend of Goethe and a leading light of the legendary "Sturm und Drang" movement. Despite its stellar qualities, it is clumsy, repetitive and utterly humourless. Sad to say, in the 21st century, its appeal is only for those interested in the history of 18th century German literature.
Klinger describes his Faustus as being as dim-witted as Voltaire in that for all his self-proclaimed desire to observe humanity he refuses to see anything but he evil side. Klinger's novel then has the structure of Candide as the protagonist undertakes a lengthy journey with a Devil (Leviathan) in which he finds countless instances of the rich robbing the poor and evil men corrupting Venus. A visit to the corrupt and incestuous Papal Court of the Borgia's provides the climax for the Odyssey through evil. Throughout the trip, Faustus has constantly instructed the Devil to right wrongs and to provide relief to those who have suffered unjustly.
Once the visit to Rome is over, Leviathan provides a summing up before dispatching Faustus to the eternal fires of hell. He reveals that every time he has helped a victim at the request of Faustus, the only effect was to make the victim suffer even more. Leviathan explains to Faustus that in when he invoked the Devil, he had committed the fundamental error of attempting to play a different role from the one intended by God and of desiring to know things that God did not intend man to know. Leviathan then announces that Faustus will spend eternity in a Hell specifically created for him; that-is-to-say, Faustus will exist in a state of perpetual doubt as to what he understands.
"Faustus" is a clever work but is very tedious despite its brevity. It is really only for those with a strong interest in pre-Romantic German literature.

[Adam Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not the version of the tale I set out to read, this proved to be a very interesting tale.

Faustus sold his soul for money and pleasure along the pursuit of man's true nature. Traveling across Europe with his captive demon Leviathan, Faustus encounters many people of historical note.

One thing that did stand out for me was the accuracy of the Devil's prophesy in regards to the effects of the invention of the printing press.

Worth the read.