Introducing the Faust Legend

Author(s): Mildred Frederiksen

Source: The English Journal, Vol. 55, No. 7 (Oct., 1966), pp. 875-877
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
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Introducing the Faust Legend

Mildred Frederiksen
Departmentof English
Webster Groves High School
Webster Groves, Missouri

high school teachers, we

AS little
more than introduce

can do

to our
adolescent students certain patternsmyth, legend, archetype-in literature.
As a student matures, he will recognize
these patterns in his reading, and he will
understand more about their significance;
but it is our job to present now, on his
level, elementary aspects which he can
understand. The college teacher can
build on this foundation.
One of these patterns is the Faust
legend, and there is a wealth of resource
material on the subject. In American
literature anthologies, for example, we
find many of the elements of the legend
presented explicitly or by implication in
"The Devil and Tom Walker" and "The
Devil and Daniel Webster." We review
these elements for students who do not
recognize them: in both stories a man
wants something he is unable to get; the
devil is called or he spontaneously
appears in one guise or another and
makes his offer; to get what he wants,
the protagonist agrees to sign over his
soul to the devil ("the one condition
which need not be mentioned"); and in
the end the devil calls to collect. In "The
Devil and Daniel Webster" there is a

stated period of time for the contract

to run, and the document is signed in
blood-both usual conditions of the
arrangement. As we see in these two
stories, the devil sometimes succeeds;
sometimes the soul escapes.
There are some not-so-obvious but
interesting details which students may
miss. Why, for example, is there evidence
of cloven feet stamped on the tree in
which Tom Walker's wife's heart and
liver are found? When pupils learn that
the devil is said to have cloven feet, the
connection is clear; and they can better
understand why it is that Jabez Stone, in
the other story, does not like the looks
of the toes of the stranger's boots. In
both cases, the devil leaves a mark: a
fingerprint burned into Tom's forehead
and a scar where Jabez pricked his finger
to sign the contract. These marks suggest
the mark of Cain, the mark of evil,
another allusion that students should
recognize.
Both of these men sold their souls to
the devil literally. Because some students
do not make the extension, we must ask
what we mean even today when we say,
"He has sold his soul to the devil." Does
it actually happen as it does in the stories

875

876

ENGLISH

we have read? After members of the

class have cited some individuals,real or
fictional, who have compromisedtheir
conscience to get what they want, the
teacher can discussthe use of metaphors
like this one that are used as a kind of
literaryshorthand.
Students will probably ask about the
origin of such a legend. Although "selling one'ssoul"is as old as sin, the personification of the act has become centered
in an actual German magician called
Faust, who is mentionedin a 1507 letter
as a fool rather than a philosopher,as a
mountebank who should be whipped.
Legends formerly associatedwith other
magicians came to be associated with
his name, and he has become the symbol
of all practitionersof blackmagic.
There are two strands to the Faust
legend. The first one, which we have
been discussing,makeshim the representative of all those who risk their souls for
power, money, love, or youth. The second one presents Faust as a symbol of
humanpride (hubris) which is an offense
to deity. Instead of studying the god's
will and submitting himself to it, the
"Faust"seeks secular knowledge for his
own glory. This act, of course,puts him
in danger of destructionby the god he
challenges.
With guidance from the teacher, the
class will think of "Fausts"all the way
back to Adam, who wanted to be like
God, knowing good and evil. For such
pride he was expelled from the Garden.
Lucifer, in Milton's ParadiseLost, was
cast into Hell for trying to make himself equal to God. When the men of
Shinar began to build the Tower of
Babel, their purpose was to reach
Heaven; and as a punishment,God confoundedtheirspeech.
In Greek myth proud mortals also
meet sad fates. Prometheuswas punished
for stealing fire from the gods for man-

JOURNAL

holt. And Icarus, flying too near the sun,

lost his wings and fell into the sea.
Later, Frankenstein challenged God
by creating life, and his creation
destroyed him. Dr. Jekyll thought he
could control good and evil, and he lost
the power to be good. In a modem
play, The Physicists, by Duerrenmatt, a
scientist is afraid that modern man has
learned more than he should and so will
be destroyed. He commits himself to a
mental hospital to keep his discoveries
from the world, but "what's thought
cannot be unthought."
With this background, the students
can better understand the Faust implications in Chillingworth, who had "a pale,
thin, scholarlike visage." People in Boston said that "The fire in his laboratory
had been brought from the lower regions
and was fed with infernal fuel." Students
will recognize the allusion that associated
Chillingworth with "an eminent Doctor
of Physic, from a German university."
In Moby Dick the class reads of
Fedallah, whose name means "devil-god,"
who wore a turban of his own hair (to
hide his horns?) and stuffed oakum in
the toe of his boots. "I take that Fedallah
to be the devil in disguise," said Stubb.
It is not difficult to guess whose soul he
was after. Ahab, remember, had a scar.
In English literature, students may
read Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and
Milton's Paradise Lost in which they
learn in detail about Faust, Adam, and
Lucifer. Even Macbeth sold his soul to
the devil, and a good parallel can be
made between the ambiguity of Fedallah's prophecies and that of Macbeth's
witches.
Capitol puts out a record "Highlights
of Faust" which condenses the opera into
an hour of the most familiar songs. With
the words available (the libretto is provided with the record), students can
follow the story, an adaptation of
kind. Phaethon, because he was a mortal Goethe's Faust.
Each age writes the legend with its
daring to do a god's work in driving
the sun chariot, was struck by a thunder- own emphasis, and "Faust" seeks what-

INTRODUCING

THE

ever is valuable to the period: Renaissance knowledge or modern victory

in a ball game. He is damned or saved
as the attitudes of the time and the
character of "Faust" dictate. It is a story

FAUST

LEGEND

877

of many complicationsand can be read

on many levels. It is not too early in
high school for the student to get a
foundation for later, deeper understanding.

NCTE Election Notice

In accordancewith the Constitutionof the National Council of Teachers of English,
the Board of Directors at its meeting last Thanksgiving Day chose William F. Marquardt,CarltonNunan, Helen F. Olson, Erwin R. Steinberg,and John DeBoer as members of a Nominating Committeeto propose officersfor 1967.Through John J. DeBoer,
chairman,the committee offers these nominations:
For President: Albert H. Marckwardt, Professor of English and Linguistics,
Princeton University
For First Vice President (President-elect): Alfred H. Grommon, Professor of
Education and English, Stanford University
For Second Vice President (Program Chairman): Alvina Treut Burrows, Professor
of Education, New York University
For Trustees of the ResearchFoundation: (two to be elected)
Richard Braddock, Professor of English and Rhetoric, University of Iowa
G. Robert Carlsen,Professor of English and Education, University of Iowa
AlexanderFrazier,Professor of Education, Ohio State University
Thomas D. Jarrett,Dean of GraduateSchool; Chairman,Departmentof English,
Atlanta University, Atlanta
For Directors-at-Large:(six to be elected)
Robert A. Bennett, Specialist-Language Arts, San Diego Public Schools,
California
Neil Postman,Professor of English Education, New York University
Margaret M. Raine, Chairman, Language Arts Department, Cleveland High
School, Seattle, Washington
James Sledd, Professor of English, University of Texas
MarjorieSmiley, Professor of Education, Hunter College of the City University
of New York
Darwin Turner, Professorand Chairman,Departmentof English,North Carolina
A & T College, Greensboro
This slate will be presented for action at the meeting of the Board of Directors and
the Annual Businessmeeting in November. Other nomination(s) may be made by petition(s) signed by twenty directorsof the Council and presentedto the Executive Secretary of the Council, with the written consent of the nominee(s), before October 15.
When Mr. DeBoer moves the election of the committee's nominees, other nominations
may be made from the floor.