Faust is the protagonist of a popular tale that has been used as the basis for many different fictional works. It concerns the fate of a learned gentleman, Johann Faust, who summons the Devil, who in the tale is usually called Mephistopheles, and offers to sell him his soul if the Devil will serve him for a given period of time. A contract signed in blood is drawn up and is given the diabolical signature: ultimately, in most later versions of the tale Faust's soul remains his at the end of the devil's term of service.

The tale has some basis in history. Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approx. 1480 - 1540) was a German alchemist who lived in the village of Staufen, in the Breisgau in southern Germany. He was accused of practicing black magic and put to death in 1540. A German chapbook about his sins was translated into English in 1587, where it came to the attention of Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, in turn, was studied by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and as such the fictional Faust came to overshadow the historical Faust, about whom little is known.

Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale include:

Table of contents

1 Drama 2 Prose 3 Poetry 4 Opera 5 Music 6 Movies 7 Musicals 8 External links

Drama

• Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
• Dorothy L. Sayers's The Devil to Pay
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 1
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 2

Prose

• Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Marguerite
• Tom Holt's Faust Among Equals
• Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus
• Michael Swanwick's Jack Faust

• Alfred Jarry's Faustroll
• Terry Pratchett's Faust Eric

Poetry

• Heinrich Heine's Der Doktor Faust

Opera

• Charles Gounod's Faust (1859)
• Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868)
• Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust (1916-25)

Music

• Hector Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust (1845-46)
• Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song - Aus Goethes Faust* Es war einmal ein König
• Franz Liszt's A Faust Symphony (1854-57)
• Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906-1907)
• Alfred Schnittke's cantata Faust (1982-83)
• Franz Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814)

Movies

• F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
• The Band Wagon
• Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
• Jan Svankmajer's Faust (1994)

Musicals

• The Little Shop of Horrors

External links

• Faust: Context
• Devilish Deeds in Staufen
• Pacts with the Devil: Faust and Precursors
• E-texts:
  • At Projekt Gutenberg-DE:
    • Goethe's Faust, part 1
    • Goethe's Faust, part 2
    • Heine's Der Doktor Faust
  • Marlowe's Dr. Faustus
• Jan Svankmajer's Faust

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Faust is also the name of a German krautrock band. See Faust (band). Faust is also the German word for fist, although the name "Faust" may be related to Italian "Fausto" rather than the German word.\n