The Rudolf Steiner Archive

7. Goethe’s “Faust” as a Revelation of His Worldview

Article in the “Neue Hamburger Zeitung” dated February 14, 1902

[ 1 ] Dr. Rudolf Steiner spoke on this topic last night at the local Theosophical Society. From the speaker’s remarks—which are of interest even to those who do not share these views—we gather the following:

[ 2 ] The true spiritual leaders of humanity differ from other people in that we return to them time and again and continually draw valuable lessons from their writings. But only a few are called to this role of leadership. Among them is Goethe, the artist and bearer of a worldview that opens up infinite perspectives. He is a profound, mystical soul who, in Faust, set down what he could only convey to humanity through symbols. Admittedly, this work has been little understood. The first part is admired as the great, brilliant work of an outstanding poet, while the second has found only a few discerning readers. Even an aesthetician like Fr. Th. Vischer called the second part a cobbled-together piece of work from old age. Only those who have grasped and understood the revelations of inner life, as they appear in the mystical works of all ages, can draw from the second part of Faust, this profound wellspring. Goethe himself states that this part of the work must be judged quite differently from the first, just as he points out that in old age one inevitably becomes a mystic.

[ 3 ] As early as the 16th century, popular legend contrasted the figure of Luther—who sought the truth with the Bible in hand—with Faust. Faust sought the truth in the “book of the world” and wanted to build upon it, relying on his understanding of nature. Such a personality does not hurl the inkwell at the devil’s head, but is instead drawn to him. Goethe, shaped by the spirit of his time and his own character, was mature enough to comprehend this Faustian thirst for knowledge. For him, the time had come to draw truth from nature; after all, even as a seven-year-old boy, he had sought to establish his own cult of nature! And for him, the highest level of knowledge of nature is at the same time knowledge of humanity.

[ 4 ] The first part of Faust shows how Goethe, as a man, confronts nature—and the universe. But Faust is unable to break free from the material world and, in the first stage of his development, falls into grave sin. Which paths should Faust take in the future? His journey to Italy opened up a new world to Goethe. On classical soil, the secrets of an ancient, noble art were revealed to him. At the same time, he eagerly pursued the laws of nature. Now Goethe was ready to have Faust embark on a profound inner journey of development: the second part of Faust tells this story. At the emperor’s court, Faust appears in the guise of Pluto, who was venerated in ancient mysticism as the god of life and death. Goethe knew precisely how an understanding of life can spring from death. Faust shows the emperor Helen and Paris, the eternally living, eternal archetypes of those who have overcome life and come to know death. Faust finds these archetypes in mothers. Just as in Greek symbolism the appearance of a female figure signifies the attainment of a deeper level of consciousness, so too are the mothers in Goethe’s work a symbolic representation of the deeper layers of consciousness into which the human being descends—a representation of the depths of one’s own soul, from which self-knowledge is drawn. But when Faust tries to grasp these archetypes, they flutter away; he has not yet advanced far enough to attain the full inner experience. In the Homunculus, we are to behold a product of pure knowledge. The homunculus cannot yet live, but it can serve as a guide on the path of life to where Goethe himself has been led: to ancient Greece, to find there the real Helen, who can now stand before his soul as a figure of experience. Euphorion, whom Faust creates, represents the highest level of consciousness that can be attained at this stage.

[ 5 ] At the beginning of Act 4, Faust appears as a consummate mystic. He has reinterpreted the best of his inner self as immortality. Whoever has awakened the highest humanity within himself faces the world as a completely new person, and so Faust strives for comprehensive activity in all fields. Once more he becomes a sinner, but then he appears on a higher level—that of material blindness. Yet all the more richly does the soul shine with its eternal radiance. Now Faust has become entirely spirit within the body. Faust’s ascent through the stages signifies a series of inner processes and opens the perspective toward immortality. The hymn of the Pater ecstaticus is a paraphrase of Fichte’s “I am eternal in all finitudes.” Here, the radiance of truth within the human being is revealed. During Faust’s ascension, Goethe once again seeks to symbolize the higher powers of knowledge through a female figure, this time the Mater dolorosa. The Chorus mysticus also demonstrates that Goethe intended the development in the second part of Faust to be understood as symbolic and mystical. The eternal feminine, which draws us to it, represents the deeper forces of our consciousness. Only those who attain eternity while still in the realm of temporality will truly possess it. Thus, Goethe concludes the second part of his Faust as a true theosophical mystic. The words are spoken from a higher vantage point:

Whoever strives with all their might, we can save them.

and

Only he deserves freedom as much as life itself who must win it anew each day.