100 must-read books for college students

Chapter 59 A History of the Zeitgeist
Chapter 58 A history of the development of the spirit of the times: "Faust"

"Faust" is a poetic drama that Goethe devoted his whole life to. It took 60 years to create and runs through all of Goethe's writings.
Career.The whole play takes the thought development of the protagonist Dr. Faust as a clue, depicting his life of exploring the truth.faust was a

A scholar who is over half a century old, the devil Mephisto bet with the Emperor of Heaven that he is confident that he can lead him into a magic path.So the devil took Faust on a tour

world.Under the guidance of the devil, Faust drank the magic soup and rejuvenated. After experiencing the troubles of seeking knowledge, love tragedy, political

After disappointment and disillusionment in the pursuit of classical beauty, the reclamation was finally successful and the ideal kingdom began to be built.At this time, the centenarian Faust died
Yu felt satisfied.Faust's life is chasing

In his life of seeking truth and exploring endlessly, he went to heaven and earth, was born and died, and was never satisfied.Poetic drama through his image, art
It summarizes and looks forward to the future and destiny of mankind.

Disillusioned Poetic Drama

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749～1832) is the greatest writer and poet in the history of German literature, as well as a modern European writer.
outstanding representative of theIn more than 60 years of hard work, he has created a large number of excellent lyric poems, dramas and novels, and is known as the
The "Zeus" of German literature at the time.

From 1772 to May 1775 was the harvest period of Goethe's early creation.At this time, he became a representative figure of the Cyclonus movement, he
His early creations were a product of this movement.He wrote a large number of poems, plays and novels.

In 1794, Goethe and Schiller made friends, since then
, the two poets worked closely together for 10 years.They attempted to realize bourgeois humanitarian ideals through education and reform.in creation
They encouraged each other, not only co-wrote many aphorisms and ballads, but also completed some important creations of their own.
Played a major role in the formation of the "classical" literary period in Germany. From 1795 to 1796, the first part of "Faust" was completed, 18
In 29, the second part of "Faust" was completed.

Goethe's literary creation has made great achievements in poetry, novels, drama and so on.He is both a great poet and a great
Novelist and dramatist.His lyric poems "Song of May", "Mignon's Song", "Night Song of the Wanderer", and the novel "Youth"

Werther's Sorrows" and the poetic drama "Faust" have become immortal world famous works.

Based on Folk Tragedy in Five Acts

The poetic drama is based on the German folklore about Faust in the 16th century.Its body consists of two games and five stages of tragedy
, is divided into two parts, 12111 lines of poems.The frontispiece of the poetic drama has three small parts: "Poetry Presentation", "Stage Prologue", and "Heavenly Prelude"
.The first part has no sub-acts and has 25 scenes; the second part has 5 acts and also has 25 scenes.The whole play does not have a coherent storyline, but
Take the development of Faust's thought as the clue, throughout.

"Presenting Poems" is the poet's nostalgia for the past, and "Stage Prologue" expresses the poet's own literary and artistic views and writing intentions, which have nothing to do with the plot.

close. "Heavenly Overture" is the beginning of the plot, describing the disputes and bets between God and the devil Mephisto around "people".

Match.

This debate not only leads to Faust, the central character of the work, but also points out the whole
The basic theme of the play: whether people can overcome their own contradictions and the contradiction between human ideals and reality, and realize the ideals of life and society.

Goethe shaped Faust with Enlightenment thoughts, and concentrated on describing the process of Faust's constant pursuit of ideals.
A tragic stage, involving a very wide range of issues.The first part describes Faust's two stages of tragedy of knowledge and tragedy of life, and the second part
It is written in three stages of Faust's political tragedy, beauty tragedy and career tragedy.

The first stage is to write the tragedy of knowledge.Faust first appears as a half-century-old student living in a medieval study.

By.He devoted himself to the study of classics, and "has worked hard and thoroughly studied" medieval philosophy, law, medicine, and theology.

, Become a contemporary learned man.However, these knowledges seriously hinder people's individual liberation and rational needs.as a bourgeois
Faust, represented by Montenegro, hates the prison-like study life that violates nature, and feels painfully that the knowledge he has learned is of great importance to him.

Life and society are useless, and I have liquidated and denied my half-life accumulation of knowledge, and I don’t want to associate this harmful life with knowledge anymore.
knowledge and then teach others.In extreme depression and despair, he had the idea of ​​suicide.But the Easter bells and the choir

, summoning him to turn to life again.During the outing in front of the city gate, he saw the joyful crowd and received the bright spring, which made him even more excited.

The desire for life and the pursuit of joy in the world arise spontaneously.He boldly changed "In the beginning was the way" in the "Bible" to "

"From the very beginning, there is promise", showing Faust's dissatisfaction with the abstract thinking of old knowledge and his strong desire to enter the practice of real life

.

The second stage is to write the tragedy of life.Faust has a strong desire to pursue pleasure and lust. Under the leadership of the devil, he entered the
Enjoy the world.He rejuvenated after drinking the magic soup, which further enhanced his desire for pleasure.But at the Leipzig Hotel, he told the students
Disgusted by his drinking and rioting, he has no interest in nude dances between male and female demons during the devil's night tour.He knows how to eat, drink and play
The vulgarity of music, I think it is not beauty, not ideal.With the help of the devil, he met Grecin, a girl from a small bourgeois family.
like.Grexin's behavior of free love was criticized by feudal ethics and condemned by religious consciousness.Due to feudalism, religious power
Powerful, she was thrown into prison.Powerless to resist, she was driven mad and finally sentenced to death.

Faust felt great pain in his heart because of the death of Gretchen, and he deeply realized that love life can only satisfy one
The need for lust at the time does not enable him to obtain the love, freedom and creation of the road of individual liberation in his mind.In this way, in life

In the pursuit of thinking, eating, drinking, merrymaking and love disappointed Faust deeply. He realized that the low-level personal enjoyment of life is not beauty.
It's a tragedy.The tragedy of Faust's life embodies the concept of happiness of the emerging bourgeoisie and the asceticism of the Middle Ages.
The opposition between the two reflects the life pursuit of the bourgeoisie and its critique of feudalism and religion.

The third stage is to write about political tragedies.The tragedies of life did not dampen Faust's aggressive spirit.He was soon relieved of his grief
When they come out, they will "strive to pursue the highest existence", transfer from the personal "small world" to the "big world", and actively participate in the social life.
Go to social activities and engage in social and political work.The devil takes him to an "emperor's palace" to serve the feudal court.this
This feudal dynasty is a "misguided world", "a group of ugly people try their best to seize power, while illegal suppression is carried out legally".

", no officials are not corrupt, no officials are not evil, soldiers rob everywhere, churches wantonly plunder, and the country is in turmoil. Faust witnessed this
Everything, instead of rebelling, but accommodating and giving in, and even trying to serve the feudal court, trying to maintain its rule.he was wrong

Serving the feudal dynasty is regarded as a positive social activity, mistakenly thinking that this is the ideal pursuit of "supreme existence".but in system
In the eyes of the ruling class, Faust is just a tool for them and a magician for fun.

He could not save the fall of the Jian Dynasty.

The fourth stage is to write the tragedy of beauty.The failure of political life made Faust want to escape from reality.In his coma he was still obsessed with
Ancient Greek beauty Helen.The devil asked the "artificial man" to lead Faust to travel to the world of ancient Greek mythology to find Helen.in the devil
With the help of Faust and Helen, and gave birth to his son Euphorion.Euphorion is unrestrained and full of vitality
, constantly pursued, constantly soaring into the sky, to participate in the war of freedom and independence, and died because of flying too high and falling to the ground.

Helen therefore sadly disappeared, leaving only the clothes and veil in Faust's hands.Faust's pursuit of beauty also ends in tragedy.

The fifth stage is writing about career tragedies.After Faust's pursuit of classical beauty was disillusioned, he returned to the real world from the ancient world, and wanted to pursue more

High level needs.He refused the temptation of the devil's glory and wealth, and wanted to do a big business. He said, "Career is the most important thing, and reputation is the most important thing."
Empty words". Facing the turbulent waves of the sea, he suddenly became ambitious to conquer the sea, transform nature, and turn the sea into fertile land.

Build an ideal state for the people.With the help of the devil's magic, he quelled the civil strife in the small feudal dynasty he once served,

So he got a fief by the sea.He recruited migrant workers and led people to reclamation and reclamation on this land. After hard work,

Tens of thousands of acres of fertile land have been opened up, and the beach that has caused people to suffer so much has been turned into a paradise on earth.This great change filled Faust with
Joy and happiness.He also dreams of building an ideal society. How can this ideal be realized?it depends on people's efforts
Struggle to win, he said: "He who strives every day for freedom and life has the right to both." In the joy of dedicating himself to the cause of humanity

In the novel, Faust has given up the joy of life and the glory and wealth, and has no other needs. He "holds this premonition of high happiness, and now

While enjoying this highest moment", I couldn't help shouting "Stop, you are so beautiful! "After saying that, he fell to the ground and died.
ended his life of exploration.

Through the exploration of Faust's life, poetic drama negates the low-level needs of book knowledge that is divorced from reality and greed for personal sensory enjoyment,
Negating the political fantasy of relying on feudal forces to reform society and the utopian fantasy of using the beauty of classical art to change reality, and finally affirming

The ideal of a positive and enterprising life and the establishment of a happy society.The development of Faust's image and the exploration process of his life show the
The advanced elements of the emerging bourgeoisie are dissatisfied with the status quo, pursue the truth, and strive for self-improvement, which shows that as long as people work hard to practice
If you keep making progress, you will overcome the internal and external contradictions of people and realize the lofty ideals of life.The core idea and origin of poetic drama
The starting point is the humanism of the enlightenment period.

Goethe's epic cultural treasure

Goethe conceived "Faust" since his youth, and managed it bleakly and exhausted his efforts for more than 60 years.this 12
The 111-line poetic drama is a summary of his art and thoughts throughout his life, and it is also a rare treasure in the treasure house of human culture.

The whole poetic drama is an incomparably magnificent and strange world: literature and philosophy are intertwined, mythology and history interspersed;

In hell, the scenes are unpredictable and the images are grotesque; light and darkness coexist, happiness and pain are both; suddenly a storm suddenly rises

, sometimes the sun is shining; sometimes enthusiastically praised, sometimes bitterly ridiculed; there are both sincere folk songs and subtle morals.
Words... Goethe's unique art form highly summarizes the occurrence, development and end of the Enlightenment in Western Europe, and according to 19
The development of capitalism at the beginning of the [-]th century looked forward to the future of human society.

Heine said that Faust was "the personification of the German people".

"Faust" makes Goethe the "Zeus on top of Olympus" in the field of literature.The work will soon have worldwide influence
.Together with "Homer's Epic" and "Divine Comedy", it is called the three great epics in the history of European literature.People praised "it
It is a history of the development of the soul, a history of the development of the spirit of the times". Some of the famous sentences, such as "theory is gray, life

The tree of life is evergreen" and so on, have evolved into aphorisms. Among the few books that Lenin carried with him in exile, he was very fond of them.
I love this Faust.

(End of this chapter)