The Romanticism of Faust
Romanticism is a period during the early nineteenth century where literature and fine arts were based on imagination, personal emotion and freedom from any form of rules. One of the leading authors that exhibit this in his writing is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. One particular story that exemplifies this is Faust which was written by Goethe. In the story, the main character, Faust, actually shows parts of imagination, personal emotion and free of rules. An example of personal emotion can be seen in the beginning of Part I. Faust is feeling depressed that despite having “a Master of Arts degree, on top of that a Ph.D.” (122-3) has pretty much done nothing for him but make him old and weary. Faust was so depressed that he almost committed suicide by drinking poison. He is not satisfied with what he has obtained. Faust is yearning for more. He wants to be young again. To feed his hunger for his desires, Faust wants to turn to magic to obtain all of his wants. However, in order to do this, he must give his soul to the Mephisto, the devil himself. At Mephisto’s side, Faust got his youth, but he still wanted more. This time Faust wanted a companion. “Get me that girl, do you hear, you must!” (2411) Faust demanded Mephisto. Faust ran into a young girl in the street and immediately took a liking to her. However, Mephisto could not hand the girl over to Faust right away because Mephisto “must have two weeks at least to spy out a propitious occasion.” (2434-35) Displeased by this answer, Faust goes out and uses his freedom and imagination to woo the young girl named Margrete or Gretchen. Faust ends up winning the heart of Margrete, with Mephisto’s help, by leave expensive jewelry in her closet and no trouble at all, Faust even gets Margrete pregnant. Through the influence of the Romanticism era, the author of Faust, Goethe creates a drama driven on personal emotion, imagination, and the power of to do whatever one desires to entertain the masses. With Faust as the main