Time Schedule:
Jane K Brown
GERMAN 349
Seattle Campus
Selected major works (especially Faust) of Goethe, whose literary, philosophical, and scientific achievements are examined as integral parts of his quest for meaning, wholeness, and universality, and whose impact on Western thinking is traced up to Thomas Mann and C. G. Jung.
Class description
Ger 349: Faust and the Devil in Literature and Music
This course investigates how pacts with the devil appear in our culture and the special connections of this tradition with music. We will look in detail at Marlowe's tragedy Dr. Faustus at Goethe's Faust, Parts I and II (1808 and 1832), at some Faust operas and films of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Bulgakov's comic novel The Master and Margarita. We will explore how the legend of the pact with the devil came to represent the West's view of itself and of the dangers inherent in our advancing scientific knowledge. Several short exercises, two papers and a take-home final.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
