LitWiki - User contributions [en]

Notes from Underground: Part 1, Chapter 1

2006-04-26T13:46:23Z

Canderson: /* Brief summary */

==Brief summary==
The narrator, referred to as the Underground Man introduces himself. He describes himself by saying "I am a sick man.... I am a spiteful man. I am a most unpleasant man. I think my liver is diseased" (1255). He goes on to express his refusal to treat this ailment out of spite, with the superstition of doctors and medicine that keeping his problems from doctors does the doctors themselves no harm. The Underground Man explains that, during his many years in civil service, he was wicked; "I used to be in the cvil service. But no more. I was a nasty official" (1255); but that he considers this wickedness a kind of compensation for the fact that he never accepted bribes. He almost immediately revises this claim, however, admitting that he never achieved genuine wickedness toward his customers, but only managed to be rude and intimidating as a kind of game. Writer Caolan Madden suggests that "we learn that the Underground Man has retired early from his civil service job after inheriting a modest sum of money" and that "the Underground Man only held onto his low-ranking job so that he would be able to afford food, not because he got any satisfaction from it". The Underground Man later notes that he is filled with conflicting impulses: wickedness, sentimentality, self-loathing, contempt for others. His intense consciousness of these opposing elements has paralyzed him. "Not only couldn't I become spiteful, I couldn't become anything at all: neither spiteful nor good, neither a scoundrel nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect" (1256). He has settled into his miserable corner of the world, incapable of wickedness and incapable of action, loathing himself even as he congratulates himself on his own intelligence and sensitivity. He adds that the weather in St. Petersburg is probably bad for his health, but that he will stay there anyway, out of spite. (Madden)

==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==Reference==

The Metamorphosis

2006-04-26T02:31:55Z

Canderson: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
Gregory Samsa is a traveling salesman who financially supports his family. He wakes up in the morning to find out he has been transformed into a Dung Beetle. He is in shock after his reality sets in and tries to figure out how he is going to get to work. Although they try to assimilate the change, his family is horrified and keeps Gregory locked in his room. Gregory eventually dies, leaving his family free.

==Study Guide==

===Chapter 1 Summary===
The first chapter of The Metamorphosis is the chapter that Gregory Samsa wakes up to find that he has morphed into a bug. The bug is never truly revealed and Kafka wanted it to be that way. Kafka said that a "concrete image would be too distracting and shut off sympathy" (Fleissner 225), so the true identity of the bug is left up to the reader.

Gregory's parents worry about him when he has not gotten up to go to work, so his family goes to his room and then Gregory's chief clerk comes to his house to see why Gregory has not come to work. Gregory hears that that the clerk has come to check on him so he tries to make it out of his room by turning the key with his mouth and when he opens door, he frightens his family and the clerk, sending the clerk running and sends his father into a frenzied state to put Gregory back in his room. Gregory’s mother faints when she sees him. His family stays away from him, careful not to disturb him or disturb themselves. Gregory eventually loses his human voice and takes on all appearances and actions of a bug. The chapter ends when “The door was banged to with the stick, and at last there was silence” (1976). This is when Gregory’s father successfully shoves him back to his room away from the rest of the family for the time being.

===Chapter 2 Summary===

After Gregor awakens he finds a bowl of sweet milk with slices of wheat bread. He soon finds that this food does not please him and leaves it alone. Later Grete brings in an assortment of food to find what he likes and discovers he can only eat the rotten stuff. For the next few days the routine was that Gregor would hide up under a couch whenever Grete brought in his food. Soon Gregor found enjoyment in crawling around on the ceiling and walls. Grete learned of this and decided to take the furniture out of the room so he could crawl easier. Grete and her mother began to take all the furniture out of the room and this made him upset. While trying to protect one of his pictures from being taken Gregor's mother saw him and fainted. This caused panic and Gregor left his room to follow Grete to get something to help their mother. When Gregor's father came home he got into a fight with Gregor in which he threw some apples at him striking him in the back.

===Chapter 3 Summary===

It has been a month since Gregory’s injury form the apple. He now resembles an “elderly invalid” and has trouble with mobility. Gregory’s parents and sister all have jobs now; his mother works as a seamstress, his father works at the bank and his sister works as a shop assistance. A new maid has also been hired. Gregory spends most of his days and nights sleeping and thinking about his family and his former job. His sister Meg begins spending less time with him and his appetite has begun to deplete. Three lodgers come to stay at his house. While they are there, the door where Gregory can see out of stays shut so he can not see out. One night, Meg plays the violin for the men. The door that is usually shut was left open by the maid and Gregory peeps out. The middle lodger spots him and is grossed out. He gives notice to Gregory’s parents that they will be leaving and that they do not intend to pay for their stay because of the filthy conditions. The next morning, the maid goes in to clean Gregory’s room and finds him dead. She informs his family and they decide to move to a smaller, less expensive apartment. The chapter ends with talk of finding Meg a husband.

==Major Themes==

===Alienation===
The theme of alienation plays a major role in the story because Gregory is alienated from his family and society before the metamorphosis occurs and even more so afterwards. Kafka uses the theme of alienation in this story to "comment on the human need to experience love and acceptance" (Hughes). Gregory's mother tells his boss when they first discover that something is wrong, "He's not well, sir, you can take it from me. What else would make him miss his train? Why, the boy thinks of nothing but his work! It makes me quite cross that he never goes out in the evening..." (1970). Before the metamorphosis, Gregory's work is what alienates him from his family and society.

After the metamorphosis, however, it is his distinct features that alienate him. One example of the alienation is that his family locks him in his bedroom. Gregory is not allowed to be a part of the family. Gregory then has to make the adjustment from being a man in the working world and traveling everyday, to being a prisoner in his own bedroom (Hughes). Another way that Gregory's family alienates him is that when they talk about him, they openly talk about his features in front of him because they think that he cannot understand what they are saying. "If he understood what we said...we might be able to come to an arrangement with him. But as things are..." (1995). They refer to Gregory as "it" rather than by his name. "It has to go...it's the only way, father. You must just try to get out of the habit of thinking that it's Gregory" (1995). In this way, the reader finds out that the family has stopped acknowledging Gregory as their son. The family also treats Gregory like an animal by the way that they feed him. Gregory's sister would bring in scraps from the table that the family wouldn't eat to feed him. "She brought him a whole selection of things, all laid out on an old newspaper, to see what he liked. There were some old half rotten vegetables; the bones from supper, covered with congealed white sauce; some raisins and almonds; a piece of cheese...two days old; a slice of dry bread..." (1978). The family treated him like an animal, rather than their son who got sick and needed his family to look after him.

===Guilt===
The theme of guilt is relevent to the story because it is a very powerful emotion. Gregory is upset that he can't go out and work because of what has happened to him. Even though the metamorphosis wasn't his fault, he still blams himself (Altshuler). Gregory also feels guilty because his family can't move on, literally and mentally. The thing that kept his family from moving on was "their feeling of utter dispair and the idea that they had been struck by a misfortune exceeding anything ever experienced within their entire circle of friends and relations" (1989). Gregory blams himself for this because if this tragedy hadn't happened, his family wouldn't feel the need that they had to move. Gregory also has a guilty feeling because he wants to see his mother, but he knows that he cannot because her reaction to seeing him would not be a good one. When Meg and her mother were moving furniture out of Gregory's room, the mother saw him on the wall. Her reaction was "in a shrill, strident voice, 'Oh God, oh God!' and with arms outstretched as if giving up altogether fell back on the couch and lay still" (1985). Gregory knew that his mother would not take well to seeing him like that, but he stayed on the wall just the same, to protect a painting.

===Novella===
Technically a theme, but more of a genre so to speak, that is unknown to most of us present day readers of Kafka is novella. "A novella is a short novel; a narrative work of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prose prose] fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. A common length is about 50 to 100 pages. The extra length is generally used for more character development than is possible in a short story, but without the much greater character and plot development of a novel. Novellas often are characterized by satire or moral teaching" (Wikipedia).

Satire: This is clearly evident as "[http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/index.php/The_Metamorphosis#Summary The Metamorphosis] is obviously a story about alienation. Gregor's life is dictated by his dead-end job and family responsibilities to the extent that even when he travels to different towns, he prefers to stay in his hotel room studying train timetables rather than experience what the new location has to offer. That isolation is mirrored in his relationship with his family, for whom he is the bread-winner but from whom he locks himself away at night. This alienation becomes so pronounced that, one day, he discovers himself to be literally no longer human. Gregor's earlier sentiment is reciprocated when his family begins locking and bolting the door shut behind him in his room. Late in the story, he briefly considers what it means to be 'human'; if he can be so moved by his sister's music then surely he cannot be an animal. And ultimately, his acceptance that he must go shows an act of genuine humanity" (Archer).

Moral Teaching: Try interpreting the story without Gregor's transformation. "In this interpretation, the other characters in the story would not see a man-sized beetle. Instead, they see a man so alienated from reality that he chooses to reject it totally. He is still a man, the same man they saw the previous day, but now he is crawling awkwardly on the floor and squeaking rather than speaking. He would prefer the shame of living as an insect to the hopelessness of living as a man. He would rather live in squalor and eat scraps from the rubbish than deal with the mind-numbing sameness of his life and accept responsibility for changing it. The abhorrence the family displays upon seeing him would still be the same - perhaps it would be even greater if they still just saw a man. They would be forced to accept the situation in the same way; still hoping [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/index.php/The_Metamorphosis#Gregory_Samsa Gregor] will put himself right before finally admitting the man they knew will never return. As nightmarish as the scenario presented in the book is, maybe the only thing worse than inexplicably transforming into a giant bug overnight is wishing you had" (Archer).

===Reversal of Roles===

At the begining Gregory is the one who supports his family. He is bringing home the money while his father sits in his chair and sleeps. This may have "crippled the father's self-esteem because he took over the father's position in the family" (Coulehan). After Gregory's transformation, the roles reversed and the father re-assumes his positon as the provider forthe family. Gregory now becomes weak and his father kills him.

===Loss of Humanity===

The theme of humanity is shown in the story by how it is taken away from Gregor. His humanity is slowly taken away from him throughout the story not just by his transformation into a bug. Gregor’s first link to humanity that is taken away was that of him being the bread winner for the family. “Gregors humanity, to the extent that his parents and sister acknowledge it, is inextricably tied to his function as economic provider.” (Rowe). Later in the story more is pulled away when Grete begins taking objects out of his room. This made Gregory reminisce about his human life. “They were clearing his room out, taking everything that was dear to him…”(p.1985). Here the last things that ever tied him to having a human existence were removed. When a person is inflicted with a severe illness it is easy for those around that person to be horrified by that person’s appearance (Rowe). The ill patient can not defend his or herself so the people around do not think about how the patient feels (Rowe). This causes the patient to lose their humanity (Rowe). Gregor is inflicted with a unique illness but the outcome is the same. The most famous occurrence of a patient losing their humanity is that of Terry Schiavo. Everybody had their own opinion of Shiavo’s fate. Schiavo could not defend herself or give her opinion of her fate. That situation was turned into a political circus and ultimately stripped Schiavo of her humanity. Rowe states that The Metamorphosis warns against this treatment of people with illnesses.

===Materialistic===

Modern Society is leading us down a path to care more about the material things rather than the things that truly matter. Gregory Samsa, the one person who cared more about his family than money, worked long hours at a job that he disliked not because of his love for the job, but so that his family could have a good life. His family on the other hand was enjoying a work free life. Mankind gets so caught up in the bureaucracy of society that we sometimes forget what what matters most. We get jobs so that we can buy the materialistic things we desire. This need for money and material things can change our mindset and forget what is truly important in our lives. In, The Metamorphosis, Gregory turns into some sort of insect, while this is something that is very dramatic and would be very hard to deal with, Kafka is trying to show how Gregory’s family rejects him, not only because of his appearance but because he can no longer go to work, no longer will his family be able live off the income he generates, no more material things without a little hard work. After the metamorphosis Gregory will no longer be able to fit into society, therefore his family begins to shun him. Not one of his family members ever tries to find out what happened and what could be done to fix it. One by one Gregory’s family members grow further away from him, forgetting all of the selfless deeds he did for all of them.

===Modern Spirituality===

Franz Kafka’s ''The Metamorphosis'' goes against what most writers would consider normal writing layout. His style is peculiar in that he places the climax at the beginning of the narrative-instead of at the end. By choosing to write in this fashion, Kafka steers his readers away from the traditional Aristotelian form of narrative (complication and denouncement) and instead creates his own form. ''The Metamorphosis'' is a brilliant novella that replaces the denouncement and conclusions one would normally expect with a form created from itself.
The first line of the novella proclaims Gregory’s death and the rest of the story a description of his slow dying: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect” (Bloom 19). Gregory’s metamorphosis is the truth of his life, and his consciousness has lied to him about himself.

===The Reality of Dreams===

Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” was written as perhaps a reflection of his own inner turmoil. His insecurities began with his appearance. As an adult, he never quite grew into his strikingly tall, slender frame: huge eyes framed with thick, dark brows: prominent nose above a melancholy mouth: or his narrow forehead fringed with straight black hair. In fact, his unique looks were a subject of interest to psychologists who felt that his features seemed to fit Kretschmer’s model of the asthenic-schizoid type, which is characterized by a furry crown of hair extending down the forehead: His portrait became sort of a caricature for the model (Baumer 2). Such a categorization made him feel even odder than he already felt. This resulted in his pulling away from the outside world and subsequently plunged him into a loneliness that plagued his entire life.

Kafka developed a mental illness that grew out of his forced isolation. He spent so much time by himself as a child that he could not fathom everyday life. He lacked the ability to interpret everyday demands and compromises such as those required of a job. Even simple exchanges between two people were a mystery to him. Looking for a way to escape his reality, he began living as though he were in a dream because in his dreams, he could be the person he wished he was. Franz Baumer describes Kafka as:
This charming person who, almost like a saint, like St. Francis, talked to fish, who pronounced himself a dream so as not to have his gross, material appearance disturb the state of sleep he considered far more real, who was always sympathetic in his relations to the world and people, who never lost his smile and could often be very witty, who possessed a strong sense of responsibility and dedication to his job (3).

It was soon after this realization that he wrote “The Metamorphosis,” which is how he views the life he must escape. He was noted as saying: “The taste for describing my dreamlike inner existence has pushed everything into the background where it has atrophied in a terrifying way and does not cease to atrophy. Nothing else can satisfy me” (Baumer 3). By morphing Gregory into a bug, instead of a happy child, he is giving the reader an image of how he sees himself.

Both Kafka and Gregory are trapped by their daily reality and dreams of freedom, just as both are destined to die a lonely and tortured death through their metamorphosis. Kafka, who always thought in images that have a powerful impact, was first and foremost a poet. “Kafka’s dreamworlds will reveal themselves as realities only to those who dare gaze into the terrifying depths of our age. The dream is only denser reality” (Baumer 11).

==Characters==

===Gregory Samsa===
A traveling salesman responsible for providing for his family. His metamorphosis into a insect leaves a stuggle between his human mind and insect needs. The metamorphosis also strengthens his family at the end.

===Mother===
Gregory's mother seems to be the weakest and hit the hardest by her son’s metamorphosis. The effect of this metamorphosis on her health is terrible. Every time she sees him, she has some sort of panic attack. Gregory’s father and sister try to protect his mother from him.

===Father===
Gregor's father more less plays the role of dictator in the story and this is due to his hostilities and interpersonal power dynamics in the family, This is evident with passages such as, "His father looked hostile and clenched a fist as if to force Gregory back into his room;" (1973). With Gregor single handedly maintaining the well being of the family his father is obviously a defeated man who is in a very unhealthy state. A man in which critic Jesse Lichtenstein suggests that recent business failure has seemingly sapped his vitality, and that he finds new confidence and better posture once the economic necessity engendered by Gregor's misfortune forces him to work again (Lichtenstein). In fact, with the story being arranged in three sections, two of the three end in chaos with violence inflicted upon Gregor from his father. As suggested by writer Johannes Pfeiffer, “the first brought about by the arrival of the chief clerk, ends with the father using his stick and newspaper to drive the monster his son has become back into his room (1975); the second, set in motion by the clearing out of the furniture, ends with the brutal bombardment of the son with apples” (1987) (Pfeiffer 53). This just goes to show that Gregor’s father wasn’t the most desirable father to have.

===Grete===
The sister of Gregory Samsa who feeds him and takes care of him. This however will change. She stops believing that Gregory is the bug and tells her family that it is time to move on with their lives.

===The lodgers===
Rent out a room in the Samsa's flat.

==Literary Interpertation==
Gregory ultimately becomes what his job is, a bug. He pesters and bugs his clients, just like a bug does to anyone else. It can also be psychoanalytically interpreted as the prevention of “the imminent rebellion of the son against the father. Gregory had become strong as a result of his father's failure. He crippled his father's self-esteem and took over the father's position in the family. After the catastrophe, the same sequence takes place in reverse: son becomes weak, and father kills him” (Coulehan).

==Study Questions==
#What sort of bug does Gregory Samsa change into overnight?
#What is the significance of Gregory's job? How does his job effect his family?
#How does the chief clerk from Gregory's job act towards the Samsa's and in general about the entire situation?
#What two people does Gregory think would be the "strongest" and most able to help get him out of bed in the morning? What do you think that this signifies?
#What family member feeds Gregory after he is changed into a bug?
#What is the outside weather like during the "Metamorphosis"? Does this climate help set the mood at all?
#What type of relationship does Gregory have with his sister Meg? How would you describe it?
#How does Gregory die at the end of "The Metamorphosis"?

==External Links==
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/metamorph/

==Works Cited==
Altshuler, Roman. "GradeSaver: ClassicNote: The Metamorphosis - Major Themes." www.gradesaver.com. 17 April 2006. GradeSaver. 17 April 2006 <http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/metamorphosis/themes.html>.

Baumer, Franz. ''Franz Kafka''. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1971.

Bloom, Harold. “The Metamorphosis”. ''Modern Critical Interpretations''. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988.

Coulehan, Jack. "The Metamorphosis". Bantam (New York)1997. <http://mchip00.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/kafka98-des-.html>

Hughes, Katherine. "Seperate and Alone: Alienation as a Central Theme in Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Kafka's Metamorphosis." 9 November 2002. 17 April 2006. <http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/metamorphosis/essay1.html>

Fleissner, Robert F. "Is Gregor Samsa a Bed Bug? Kafka and Dickens Revisited." ''Studies in Short Fiction''. Vol. 22, Issue 2 (1985): p 225.

"Novella". Wikipedia. 11 April 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 17 April 2006.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella>.

"Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' ". Ed. Archer, Lincoln. 25 October 2004. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/home/d/ BBC]. 17 April 2006.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3023065>.

Rowe, Michael. "Metamorphosis: Defending the Human." Literature In Medicine. Baltimore: Fall 2002. vol 21, 264-281

Lichtenstein, Jesse. "SparkNote on The Metamorphosis". 16 April 2006. 17 Apr. 2006. <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/metamorph/characters.html>

Pfeiffer, Johannes. "'The Metamorphosis.'" In Gray, 53-60.

[[Category:World Literature]]

2006-04-17T17:57:42Z

Canderson: /* Father */

The Metamorphosis

2006-04-17T17:42:44Z

Canderson: /* Novella */

The Metamorphosis

2006-04-17T17:34:22Z

Canderson: /* Works Cited */

2006-03-27T19:05:48Z

Canderson: /* Biography */

== Biography ==

Paul-Marie Verlaine was born March 30, 1844 in the town of Metz on the Eastern border of France. His father, a French army officer, brought the family to Paris when Paul-Marie was seven years old.

As a young man, Verlaine made several attempts at a normal life, studying law for a couple of years, working as an insurance clerk. He married a young woman named Mathilde in 1870, and they had a son, Georges. He socialized in "bohemian" crowds as well as at more upper-class salons. He became fascinated with the poetry of [http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/page.jsp?what=CharlesBaudelaire Baudelaire], and worked with a publisher to arrange the publication of his own first volume, [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://poetes.com/verlaine/index.php&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPaul%2BVerlaine%2B-%2BPoemes%2BSaturniens%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG Poemes Saturniens], in 1866.

Verlaine's sardonic, wistful early work had much in common with the impressionist art that was being invented elsewhere in Paris at the same time. His poems were neat, sparse miniatures of life's moments: first kisses, seashells, mimes on the street.

But Verlaine was uniquely open to the influences of his surroundings, and would soon evolve his style, and his life, through several phases. When Paris fell into revolutionary havoc in 1870, Paul Verlaine cast his lot with the Commune, and worked as a censor with the radical improvised government that held the city for only a brief time.

His next phase was completely apolitical. He received a letter from an unknown teenage poet named[http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/page.jsp?what=ArthurRimbaud Rimbaud] in 1871. Verlaine recognized Rimbaud's poetic talent and despite the fact that he was apparently heterosexual (or at least had been up to this time) fell madly in love with him. The two poets travelled together for a short time, and Verlaine helped Rimbaud become a literary celebrity in Paris. But when it became clear that Rimbaud was going to move on and leave Verlaine behind, the older poet could not stand the loss. A series of bitter fights ensued, and Verlaine ended up firing a gun at Rimbaud, injuring his wrist. Rimbaud pressed charges, sending Verlaine to prison for two years, before fleeing the world of literary fame in disgust.

After two years in jail Verlaine went through a Catholic phase, experimented with farming, and in 1881 published a book of mature, spiritually conservative book of poetry,[http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://verlaineexplique.free.fr/sagesse/sagesse.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPaul%2BVerlaine%2B-%2BSagesse%2B%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG Sagesse] ("Wisdom"), that sold better than any of his previous books and greatly increased his literary reputation.

But he would return to darker themes. He spent his later years drinking absinthe in Paris cafes and behaving bizarrely in front of admiring crowds. In 1894, two years before his death, he published a volume entitled "The Posthumous Book". His poetry became increasingly self-referential, and the cliched image of the absinthe-soaked celebrity poet became the central theme of his work. He died on January 8, 1896 at the home of a prostitute.

To read Verlaine's poetry from any of his life phases is a pleasing and enjoyable revelation. His life story seems fierce and self-indulgent, but his verses always betray a humble, affectionate touch and a humane sense of life. I once chose a book of original Verlaine poems printed alongside their English translations to teach myself French; his vocabulary is simple and the meanings are always clear.

== Works Cited ==

Paul Verlaine. Ed. Asher, Levi. Sep. 2001. Literary Kicks. 27 Mar. 2006. <http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/page.jsp?what=PaulVerlaine>

File:Paul-verlaine-190x240.jpg

2006-03-27T18:28:34Z

Canderson:

Verlaine

2006-03-27T18:17:03Z

Canderson:

== Biography ==

Paul-Marie Verlaine was born March 30, 1844 in the town of Metz on the Eastern border of France. His father, a French army officer, brought the family to Paris when Paul-Marie was seven years old.

As a young man, Verlaine made several attempts at a normal life, studying law for a couple of years, working as an insurance clerk. He married a young woman named Mathilde in 1870, and they had a son, Georges. He socialized in "bohemian" crowds as well as at more upper-class salons. He became fascinated with the poetry of Baudelaire, and worked with a publisher to arrange the publication of his own first volume, "Poemes Saturniens," in 1866.

Verlaine's sardonic, wistful early work had much in common with the impressionist art that was being invented elsewhere in Paris at the same time. His poems were neat, sparse miniatures of life's moments: first kisses, seashells, mimes on the street.

But Verlaine was uniquely open to the influences of his surroundings, and would soon evolve his style, and his life, through several phases. When Paris fell into revolutionary havoc in 1870, Paul Verlaine cast his lot with the Commune, and worked as a censor with the radical improvised government that held the city for only a brief time.

His next phase was completely apolitical. He received a letter from an unknown teenage poet named Rimbaud in 1871. Verlaine recognized Rimbaud's poetic talent and despite the fact that he was apparently heterosexual (or at least had been up to this time) fell madly in love with him. The two poets travelled together for a short time, and Verlaine helped Rimbaud become a literary celebrity in Paris. But when it became clear that Rimbaud was going to move on and leave Verlaine behind, the older poet could not stand the loss. A series of bitter fights ensued, and Verlaine ended up firing a gun at Rimbaud, injuring his wrist. Rimbaud pressed charges, sending Verlaine to prison for two years, before fleeing the world of literary fame in disgust.

After two years in jail Verlaine went through a Catholic phase, experimented with farming, and in 1881 published a book of mature, spiritually conservative book of poetry, "Sagesse" ("Wisdom"), that sold better than any of his previous books and greatly increased his literary reputation.

But he would return to darker themes. He spent his later years drinking absinthe in Paris cafes and behaving bizarrely in front of admiring crowds. In 1894, two years before his death, he published a volume entitled "The Posthumous Book". His poetry became increasingly self-referential, and the cliched image of the absinthe-soaked celebrity poet became the central theme of his work. He died on January 8, 1896 at the home of a prostitute.

To read Verlaine's poetry from any of his life phases is a pleasing and enjoyable revelation. His life story seems fierce and self-indulgent, but his verses always betray a humble, affectionate touch and a humane sense of life. I once chose a book of original Verlaine poems printed alongside their English translations to teach myself French; his vocabulary is simple and the meanings are always clear.

== Works Cited ==

Paul Verlaine. Ed. Asher, Levi. Sep. 2001. Literary Kicks. 27 Mar. 2006. <http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/page.jsp?what=PaulVerlaine>

World Literature

2006-03-27T17:40:39Z

Canderson: /* French */

Mostly dealing with Western World Literature, the following resources address mostly the [[Epic Poetry|epic genre]] and [[tragedy]] so far. More should be forthcoming.

== Anglo-Saxon ==
* [[Beowulf]]

== French ==
* [[Molière]]: [[Tartuffe]]
* [[Voltaire]]: [[Candide]]
* [[Baudelaire]]: [[Poet]]
* [[Mallarme]]: [[French Poet]]
* [[Verlaine]]

== German ==
* [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]: [[Faust]]
** [[Faust Summary, Commentary, Notes]]

== Greek ==
* [[Euripides]]: [[Medea]]
* [[Homer]]: [[The Iliad]] and [[The Odyssey]]
* [[Sophocles]]: [[Oedipus Rex]]

== Italian ==
* [[Machiavelli]]: [[The Prince]]

== Russian ==
* [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]

== Sumerian ==
* The epic of [[Gilgamesh]]

== Relevant Links ==
* [[Literary Terms]]

== Additional External Links ==
* [http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/worldlit.htm LitWeb] — San Antonio College’s World Literature outlines.
* [http://www.zeroland.co.nz/literature.html Literature on the Web] — Links to various world literature resources.
* [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/World_Literature/ World Literature] — from Open Directory.
* [http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/worldlit/ World Literature Online] — from Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.

==Works Cited==
"Stéphane Mallarmé." ''Books and Writers.'' http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mallarme.htm

[[Category:World Literature]]

World Literature

2006-03-27T17:37:40Z

Canderson: /* French */

Mostly dealing with Western World Literature, the following resources address mostly the [[Epic Poetry|epic genre]] and [[tragedy]] so far. More should be forthcoming.

== Anglo-Saxon ==
* [[Beowulf]]

== French ==
* [[Molière]]: [[Tartuffe]]
* [[Voltaire]]: [[Candide]]
* [[Baudelaire]]: [[Poet]]
* [[Mallarme]]: [[French Poet]]
* [[Verlaine]]: [[French Poet]]

== German ==
* [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]: [[Faust]]
** [[Faust Summary, Commentary, Notes]]

== Greek ==
* [[Euripides]]: [[Medea]]
* [[Homer]]: [[The Iliad]] and [[The Odyssey]]
* [[Sophocles]]: [[Oedipus Rex]]

== Italian ==
* [[Machiavelli]]: [[The Prince]]

== Russian ==
* [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]

== Sumerian ==
* The epic of [[Gilgamesh]]

== Relevant Links ==
* [[Literary Terms]]

== Additional External Links ==
* [http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/worldlit.htm LitWeb] — San Antonio College’s World Literature outlines.
* [http://www.zeroland.co.nz/literature.html Literature on the Web] — Links to various world literature resources.
* [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/World_Literature/ World Literature] — from Open Directory.
* [http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/worldlit/ World Literature Online] — from Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.

==Works Cited==
"Stéphane Mallarmé." ''Books and Writers.'' http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mallarme.htm

[[Category:World Literature]]

Faust

2006-02-28T23:00:37Z

Canderson: /* External Links and Resources */

[[Image:Faust.jpg|Faust|thumb|right]]''Faust: Part I'' written by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]

== Study Guide ==
Brief summaries, commentaries, and notes on ''Faust''.

=== Faust, Part 1===
#[[Faust: Prologue in Heaven|Prologue in Heaven]]
#[[Faust: Night (1)|Night (1)]]
#[[Faust: Outside the City Gate|Outside the City Gate]]
#[[Faust: Faust's Study (1)|Faust's Study (1)]]
#[[Faust: Faust's Study (2)|Faust's Study (2)]]
#[[Faust: Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig|Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig]]
#[[Faust: Witch's Kitchen|Witch's Kitchen]]
#[[Faust: A Street (1)|A Street (1)]]
#[[Faust: Evening|Evening]]
#[[Faust: Out Walking|Out Walking]]
#[[Faust: The Neighbor's House|The Neighbor's House]]
#[[Faust: A Street (2)|A Street (2)]]
#[[Faust: A Garden|A Garden]]
#[[Faust: A Summerhouse|A Summerhouse]]
#[[Faust: A Cavern in the Forest|A Cavern in the Forest]]
#[[Faust: Gretchen's Room|Gretchen's Room]]
#[[Faust: Marthe's Garden|Marthe's Garden]]
#[[Faust: At the Well|At the Well]]
#[[Faust: The City Wall|The City Wall]]
#[[Faust: Night (2)|Night (2)]]
#[[Faust: The Cathedral|The Cathedral]]
#[[Faust: Walpurgis Night|Walpurgis Night]]
#[[Faust: Walpurgis Night's Dream; or Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding|Walpurgis Night's Dream; or Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding]]
#[[Faust: An Overcast Day, a Field|An Overcast Day, a Field]]
#[[Faust: Night, Open Country|Night, Open Country]]
#[[Faust: A Prison|A Prison]]

==History==

==Timeline==

==Characters==

===Mephistopheles===
Mephistopheles, the Devil, is a cynic, and cuts things down to size with his quick wit. He calls the Lord an "old gent," satirizes the university faculty, teases the mythological creatures he meets, and ends scenes with comments that puncture inflated sentiments. In ''Faust'', Mephistopheles is the spirit of negation, "the spirit that always denies." In that respect, he is the exact opposite of God, who is the spirit of creation. Mephistopheles is a servant, both of God and of Faust, and has the soul of a servant, of a person who must obey but resents it and takes every opportunity to assert what domination he can. He is a servant of God because he is a part of Creation; he has to exist in order for good to exist. He is a servant of Faust because God allows it. But he isn't always willing to do what his master wants, especially at critical moments. He messes up orders, often with disastrous effects and thinks he knows better than his master how to woo women and takes over the wooing of Margarete. At the same time, he exercises his own authority when he can.

===Faust===
In Goethe's Play, Faust is the protagonist. Immediatly when reading the play, the reader begins to get a sense of who this character is. Faust is man who believes in Heaven and Hell, and also that there is a higher being, God, and the Devil. Faust is thought to be a smart, well-learned man by many. Though he seems to be intelligent, Faust is a bit nieve. For example, when Mephisto is attempting to strike up a deal with him for being his "servant", Faust assumes that Mephisto will just trust that he will keep his word. But Mephisto insists that there be in writing some sort of proof of their agreement. Also, when Wagner and Faust are walking through the dark and come across the black poodle, Faust has some sort of strange feeling about the dog. However, Wagner convinces him to think nothing of it and talks him into taking the dog home. Soon after this, the poodle begins getting larger turns into a hippopotamus-like creature. Mephisto then appears "out of" the dog.

===Wagner===
Wagner is a student of Faust's with a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is also somewhat "nerdy" and socially inept. Like Faust, he also despises the vulgarity of the real world and spends every waking hour engrossed in his studies.

===Margarete (Gretchen)===
Margarete is a young, modest, and religious woman of a lower class than Faust. She lives with her mother and helps out around the house. She is referred to as Gretchen, which is a shortened version of Margarete, many times throughout the story. Faust finds Margarete attractive and tells Mephistopheles to get her for him. At first, she refuses his advances, but eventually agrees to a love affair and thus begins her downfall. When Faust gets her pregnant, she is persecuted by society and cursed by her brother as he lay dying. Out of insane desperation, Margarete murders her mother and child and is thrown into prison. Faust and Mephistopheles attempt to rescue her, but discover that she is completely mad and are forced to leave her behind. As Mephisto and Faust leave the prison, a Heavenly voice says that Margarete's soul has been saved.

===Siebel===

Works in Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig and is sickened by the lovesongs that the other men sing. He threatens to take revenge on the "slut...who played him false" with "a rock heaved through her kitchen window" (1905).

===Altmayer===

===Frosch===

===Marthe===

===Lieschen===

A girl in Gretchen's village who is jealous of anyone that finds love. Since she is not allowed to have a beau, she takes pleasure in hurting others through gossip. Even though she only appears in one scene, her words regarding the pregnant Barbara have a devastating effect on Gretchen, who may be in the same condition herself.

===Valentine===

Gretchen's brother and a soldier. He started a fight with Faust and Mephisto after he found out about Faust getting Gretchen pregnant. He is killed by Faust after the encounter.

==Themes==

===Urge for Knowledge===
The most significant theme in ''Faust'' is the drive for mankind to understand what they do not know. Faust, in a way, is representing the entire human race: "He is able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, but must make errors before he can learn and grow" (Campbell 257). The human is naturally inquisitive about the world and the universe. Faust is unhappy because he can not find the answers to life, and he even contemplates suicide to end his despair. It is his “urge for knowledge" that is the driving force behind the play. His curiosity also forces Mephisto into the wager with God so that he can prove that humans are unhappy ''because'' of their intelligence.

==References in Popular Culture==
===Devil===
Mephistopheles is Goethe's devil. The devil is a fallen angel that became evil. The idea of a "Devil" is nearly universal with similar incarnations spanning Norse, Greek, Hindu, and many other religious sects. In the Norse mythology it is referred to as [[Loki]], and in the Greek pantheon [[Pan]].

===Easter===
Easter symbolizes the rebirth of Christ. The bells begin to chime and the chorus begins singing songs of praise at the same time Faust is about to poison himself. When he hears the chorus, Faust comes out of his stupor and does not go through with the act. This is like rebirth; Faust was so close to death but then he comes back to reality.

==Bible Refernces And Interpretations==
Line 59 “Do you know Faust?”

Job 1.8 “Have you considered my servant Job?”

This parallel sets the entire stage for the play. God and the Devil (Mephistopheles) make a bet about the fate of Job (Faust) if God removes his protection from around him and allows the Devil to use whatever means he wants to tempt him.

Line 95 “Dust he will eat..”

Genesis 3.14 “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt do, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”

This is an important verse and metaphor throughout the text. According to the history of the bible, the reason why Satan was cast down from heaven is because he refused to prostrate before the new creature (man) that was created, thus disobeying God’s command. After the war in heaven, Satan and those that fought at his side were cast down to hell and earth. After Satan induced Eve into biting the apple from the tree of good and evil, he was cursed as referenced in Genesis 3.14.
Faust tells the spirit that comes to visit him that “We’re equals, I know” (282) expressing his feelings of equal rank to the spirit being. Mephistopheles feels that humans “act more beastly than beast ever do” (46). The parallel made between the two lines shows a direct connection between how Mephistopheles feels that man should be condemned to the same fate as he is.

Line 2147-2148 “Go out into the fields right now, this minute, start digging and hoeing away, working hard.”

Genesis 3.19 “in the Sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
Genesis 3. 23 “The Lord god sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

Mephistopheles makes a reference to the curse that was placed upon Adam to till the ground and he would now have to work very hard for food which was at one time given to him in the garden of Eden. Mephistopheles uses it as a threat to Faust who immediately says that it is “not my sort of thing, humbling myself to work with a spade” (2155-2156). Fear is used in this case to get Faust to do what Mephistopheles wants him to do. He uses Fasut’s fear that he will be returned to the same life as he had before which would be a condemnation or punishment.

Line 288- 289 “Me, made in God’s own image, not even equal to you”

Genesis 1.26 “And God said let us make man in our image and after our likeness.”

Faust misinterprets the quote. He is saying that he was made in the image of God when the quote clearly refers to the God using the plural pronouns us and our when referring to the image. This parallel is both two fold. During the Romantic period writers would contemplate their singular relationship to God and the universe. It also would explain why Faust and Mephistopheles see the position of man very differently.

Line 1819-1822 “All theory, my dear fellow, is gray, and green the golden tree of life.”

Genesis 3.22 “and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

This line is important because Mephistopheles is speaking to a young, fresh, impressionable student. As he did in the story of Eve, the devil is uses the word gray which is a word meaning some confusion, doubt or haziness as when he told Eve in the bible that God had lied to her and it was not as cut and dry as God had said. This is the same way he is speaking with the college student saying that choosing another path will be better or the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Line 1829 “Eritus sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.”

Genesis 3.5 “Ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.”

At this verse Mephistopheles writes in the student’s book an encouragement, the very same encouragement he gave Eve was according to the bible to eat from the tree. With the college student he uses this same statement in the sense of seeking out knowledge which is two fold corresponding with the two natures that exist with in man.

==Critical Perspectives==

Just as Satan tempts Faust, he also tempts priests. Faust is tempted by the Devil. The devil is willing to do anything for Faust to make him happy:except make moral decisions. The Devil becomes Faust’s servant. He does so to get Faust’s soul, this occurs when Faust is finally truly happy. As soon as Faust becomes happy, he will die and the Devil will get his soul. Priests are also tempted by the Devil in the way of their vow for celibacy. Many priests are sexually tempted to sin and indulge their mortal yearning. Although they know that this indulgence is sin, the Devil makes the opportunity appear very promising and pleasurable. Faust has the same problem; the Devil says he will do anything for him to please him. Faust believes he can withstand the Devil’s temptations to become perfectly happy; so he accepts the Devil’s challenge. Faust begins with having the Devil make him young again, and then he sees a beautiful young lady and demands that she be his. Then failing to see the Devil’s trickery, he gives in to the Devil’s demise and “deflowers” her and she becomes pregnant. Faust then leaves and she goes crazy in her jail cell. Priests are often subjected to public reproach after committing their sins. Faust’s sin was not the sin that the Lord and the Devil bet on. Faust did not find a moment that he wanted to linger. The Devil fails to tempt Faust enough to take his soul.

==External Links and Resources==
* [[Faust Summary, Commentary, Notes]]
* [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/faust.html Study Guide for Goethe's Faust]
* [http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng109/FaustSG.htm Faust Study Guide]
* Another [http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/fauststudy.htm Faust Study Guide]
* [http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/faust122.asp Booknotes on Faust]
* [http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/index.php?title=Faust:_A_Prison&oldid=5468 Faust, Class Study Guide]

==Works Cited==

[[Category:World Literature]]
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust, Part 1. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Vol. 2. 8th Ed. Trans. Martin Greenberg. Sarah Lawall, et al, eds. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. [All primary text citations are taken from this edition unless otherwise noted.]

Faust

2006-02-28T22:54:37Z

Canderson: /* Mephistopheles */

[[Image:Faust.jpg|Faust|thumb|right]]''Faust: Part I'' written by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]

== Study Guide ==
Brief summaries, commentaries, and notes on ''Faust''.

=== Faust, Part 1===
#[[Faust: Prologue in Heaven|Prologue in Heaven]]
#[[Faust: Night (1)|Night (1)]]
#[[Faust: Outside the City Gate|Outside the City Gate]]
#[[Faust: Faust's Study (1)|Faust's Study (1)]]
#[[Faust: Faust's Study (2)|Faust's Study (2)]]
#[[Faust: Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig|Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig]]
#[[Faust: Witch's Kitchen|Witch's Kitchen]]
#[[Faust: A Street (1)|A Street (1)]]
#[[Faust: Evening|Evening]]
#[[Faust: Out Walking|Out Walking]]
#[[Faust: The Neighbor's House|The Neighbor's House]]
#[[Faust: A Street (2)|A Street (2)]]
#[[Faust: A Garden|A Garden]]
#[[Faust: A Summerhouse|A Summerhouse]]
#[[Faust: A Cavern in the Forest|A Cavern in the Forest]]
#[[Faust: Gretchen's Room|Gretchen's Room]]
#[[Faust: Marthe's Garden|Marthe's Garden]]
#[[Faust: At the Well|At the Well]]
#[[Faust: The City Wall|The City Wall]]
#[[Faust: Night (2)|Night (2)]]
#[[Faust: The Cathedral|The Cathedral]]
#[[Faust: Walpurgis Night|Walpurgis Night]]
#[[Faust: Walpurgis Night's Dream; or Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding|Walpurgis Night's Dream; or Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding]]
#[[Faust: An Overcast Day, a Field|An Overcast Day, a Field]]
#[[Faust: Night, Open Country|Night, Open Country]]
#[[Faust: A Prison|A Prison]]

==History==

==Timeline==

==Characters==

===Mephistopheles===
Mephistopheles, the Devil, is a cynic, and cuts things down to size with his quick wit. He calls the Lord an "old gent," satirizes the university faculty, teases the mythological creatures he meets, and ends scenes with comments that puncture inflated sentiments. In ''Faust'', Mephistopheles is the spirit of negation, "the spirit that always denies." In that respect, he is the exact opposite of God, who is the spirit of creation. Mephistopheles is a servant, both of God and of Faust, and has the soul of a servant, of a person who must obey but resents it and takes every opportunity to assert what domination he can. He is a servant of God because he is a part of Creation; he has to exist in order for good to exist. He is a servant of Faust because God allows it. But he isn't always willing to do what his master wants, especially at critical moments. He messes up orders, often with disastrous effects and thinks he knows better than his master how to woo women and takes over the wooing of Margarete. At the same time, he exercises his own authority when he can.

===Faust===
In Goethe's Play, Faust is the protagonist. Immediatly when reading the play, the reader begins to get a sense of who this character is. Faust is man who believes in Heaven and Hell, and also that there is a higher being, God, and the Devil. Faust is thought to be a smart, well-learned man by many. Though he seems to be intelligent, Faust is a bit nieve. For example, when Mephisto is attempting to strike up a deal with him for being his "servant", Faust assumes that Mephisto will just trust that he will keep his word. But Mephisto insists that there be in writing some sort of proof of their agreement. Also, when Wagner and Faust are walking through the dark and come across the black poodle, Faust has some sort of strange feeling about the dog. However, Wagner convinces him to think nothing of it and talks him into taking the dog home. Soon after this, the poodle begins getting larger turns into a hippopotamus-like creature. Mephisto then appears "out of" the dog.

===Wagner===
Wagner is a student of Faust's with a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is also somewhat "nerdy" and socially inept. Like Faust, he also despises the vulgarity of the real world and spends every waking hour engrossed in his studies.

===Margarete (Gretchen)===
Margarete is a young, modest, and religious woman of a lower class than Faust. She lives with her mother and helps out around the house. She is referred to as Gretchen, which is a shortened version of Margarete, many times throughout the story. Faust finds Margarete attractive and tells Mephistopheles to get her for him. At first, she refuses his advances, but eventually agrees to a love affair and thus begins her downfall. When Faust gets her pregnant, she is persecuted by society and cursed by her brother as he lay dying. Out of insane desperation, Margarete murders her mother and child and is thrown into prison. Faust and Mephistopheles attempt to rescue her, but discover that she is completely mad and are forced to leave her behind. As Mephisto and Faust leave the prison, a Heavenly voice says that Margarete's soul has been saved.

===Siebel===

Works in Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig and is sickened by the lovesongs that the other men sing. He threatens to take revenge on the "slut...who played him false" with "a rock heaved through her kitchen window" (1905).

===Altmayer===

===Frosch===

===Marthe===

===Lieschen===

A girl in Gretchen's village who is jealous of anyone that finds love. Since she is not allowed to have a beau, she takes pleasure in hurting others through gossip. Even though she only appears in one scene, her words regarding the pregnant Barbara have a devastating effect on Gretchen, who may be in the same condition herself.

===Valentine===

Gretchen's brother and a soldier. He started a fight with Faust and Mephisto after he found out about Faust getting Gretchen pregnant. He is killed by Faust after the encounter.

==Themes==

===Urge for Knowledge===
The most significant theme in ''Faust'' is the drive for mankind to understand what they do not know. Faust, in a way, is representing the entire human race: "He is able to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, but must make errors before he can learn and grow" (Campbell 257). The human is naturally inquisitive about the world and the universe. Faust is unhappy because he can not find the answers to life, and he even contemplates suicide to end his despair. It is his “urge for knowledge" that is the driving force behind the play. His curiosity also forces Mephisto into the wager with God so that he can prove that humans are unhappy ''because'' of their intelligence.

==References in Popular Culture==
===Devil===
Mephistopheles is Goethe's devil. The devil is a fallen angel that became evil. The idea of a "Devil" is nearly universal with similar incarnations spanning Norse, Greek, Hindu, and many other religious sects. In the Norse mythology it is referred to as [[Loki]], and in the Greek pantheon [[Pan]].

===Easter===
Easter symbolizes the rebirth of Christ. The bells begin to chime and the chorus begins singing songs of praise at the same time Faust is about to poison himself. When he hears the chorus, Faust comes out of his stupor and does not go through with the act. This is like rebirth; Faust was so close to death but then he comes back to reality.

==Bible Refernces And Interpretations==
Line 59 “Do you know Faust?”

Job 1.8 “Have you considered my servant Job?”

This parallel sets the entire stage for the play. God and the Devil (Mephistopheles) make a bet about the fate of Job (Faust) if God removes his protection from around him and allows the Devil to use whatever means he wants to tempt him.

Line 95 “Dust he will eat..”

Genesis 3.14 “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt do, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.”

This is an important verse and metaphor throughout the text. According to the history of the bible, the reason why Satan was cast down from heaven is because he refused to prostrate before the new creature (man) that was created, thus disobeying God’s command. After the war in heaven, Satan and those that fought at his side were cast down to hell and earth. After Satan induced Eve into biting the apple from the tree of good and evil, he was cursed as referenced in Genesis 3.14.
Faust tells the spirit that comes to visit him that “We’re equals, I know” (282) expressing his feelings of equal rank to the spirit being. Mephistopheles feels that humans “act more beastly than beast ever do” (46). The parallel made between the two lines shows a direct connection between how Mephistopheles feels that man should be condemned to the same fate as he is.

Line 2147-2148 “Go out into the fields right now, this minute, start digging and hoeing away, working hard.”

Genesis 3.19 “in the Sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
Genesis 3. 23 “The Lord god sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

Mephistopheles makes a reference to the curse that was placed upon Adam to till the ground and he would now have to work very hard for food which was at one time given to him in the garden of Eden. Mephistopheles uses it as a threat to Faust who immediately says that it is “not my sort of thing, humbling myself to work with a spade” (2155-2156). Fear is used in this case to get Faust to do what Mephistopheles wants him to do. He uses Fasut’s fear that he will be returned to the same life as he had before which would be a condemnation or punishment.

Line 288- 289 “Me, made in God’s own image, not even equal to you”

Genesis 1.26 “And God said let us make man in our image and after our likeness.”

Faust misinterprets the quote. He is saying that he was made in the image of God when the quote clearly refers to the God using the plural pronouns us and our when referring to the image. This parallel is both two fold. During the Romantic period writers would contemplate their singular relationship to God and the universe. It also would explain why Faust and Mephistopheles see the position of man very differently.

Line 1819-1822 “All theory, my dear fellow, is gray, and green the golden tree of life.”

Genesis 3.22 “and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

This line is important because Mephistopheles is speaking to a young, fresh, impressionable student. As he did in the story of Eve, the devil is uses the word gray which is a word meaning some confusion, doubt or haziness as when he told Eve in the bible that God had lied to her and it was not as cut and dry as God had said. This is the same way he is speaking with the college student saying that choosing another path will be better or the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Line 1829 “Eritus sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.”

Genesis 3.5 “Ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.”

At this verse Mephistopheles writes in the student’s book an encouragement, the very same encouragement he gave Eve was according to the bible to eat from the tree. With the college student he uses this same statement in the sense of seeking out knowledge which is two fold corresponding with the two natures that exist with in man.

==Critical Perspectives==

Just as Satan tempts Faust, he also tempts priests. Faust is tempted by the Devil. The devil is willing to do anything for Faust to make him happy:except make moral decisions. The Devil becomes Faust’s servant. He does so to get Faust’s soul, this occurs when Faust is finally truly happy. As soon as Faust becomes happy, he will die and the Devil will get his soul. Priests are also tempted by the Devil in the way of their vow for celibacy. Many priests are sexually tempted to sin and indulge their mortal yearning. Although they know that this indulgence is sin, the Devil makes the opportunity appear very promising and pleasurable. Faust has the same problem; the Devil says he will do anything for him to please him. Faust believes he can withstand the Devil’s temptations to become perfectly happy; so he accepts the Devil’s challenge. Faust begins with having the Devil make him young again, and then he sees a beautiful young lady and demands that she be his. Then failing to see the Devil’s trickery, he gives in to the Devil’s demise and “deflowers” her and she becomes pregnant. Faust then leaves and she goes crazy in her jail cell. Priests are often subjected to public reproach after committing their sins. Faust’s sin was not the sin that the Lord and the Devil bet on. Faust did not find a moment that he wanted to linger. The Devil fails to tempt Faust enough to take his soul.

==External Links and Resources==
* [[Faust Summary, Commentary, Notes]]
* [http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/faust.html Study Guide for Goethe's Faust]
* [http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/eng109/FaustSG.htm Faust Study Guide]
* Another [http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/fauststudy.htm Faust Study Guide]
* [http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/faust122.asp Booknotes on Faust]

==Works Cited==

[[Category:World Literature]]
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust, Part 1. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Vol. 2. 8th Ed. Trans. Martin Greenberg. Sarah Lawall, et al, eds. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. [All primary text citations are taken from this edition unless otherwise noted.]

Faust: A Prison

2006-02-28T22:49:55Z

2006-01-30T03:33:57Z

Canderson: /* Themes */

==Background==
''''Tartuffe'''' was written in 1664 during a time when the word of the Church was the word of law. Typically, the Church was very corrupt. The Company of the Holy Sacrament was a Catholic group who beleived in good deeds and have beliefs like the puritans. The were big on the placement of "spiritual advisors" into the homes of people. The group in particular did not like the play because it made Tartuffe, a spiritual advisor, a scoundrel and not a pious man.

==Themes==
Tartuffe offers many themes for one to explore among them are, the dangers of a heirarchy within a family, religious piety and how it can be exploited, and hypocrisy and its effects on the public's view of religion.

===Hypocrisy===
Tartuffe provides hypocrisy and is the hypocrite because of the religious morals he forces upon Orgon and his family, in which he is doing to satisfying for his own personal agenda. The element or idea of a 'masque' that he wears is present by Tartuffe always playing the role of an ever so pious(having, showing, or pretending religious devotion) man who has no desire for worldly goods. This is proven when Damis tries to speaks opposingly of Tartuffe to his father. Tartuffe becomes so completely humble and knowledgeable his status, uses this to turn Orgon against Damis. Tartuffe, however is unmasked towards the end of the play when he makes a pass for Orgon's wife Elmire after we learn that Orgon has given Tartuffe all legal right to his property. Some may also see the play as a criticism of religion and the character of Tartuffe is though to have possibly been based on some figure of the time, he is not only a hypocrite in himself, but may represent hypocrisy in the church of that period.

==Characters==
*'''Tartuffe'''
**The main antagonist of the play, his role as the hypocrite is concealed until very early on, though suspicion arises during the beginning of the play. He finds people's weaknesses and goes about any means necessary to get what he wants from them. His greatest flaw is his admiration of Elmire, which in the end reveals his true identity to everyone.

*'''Orgon'''
**Could be considered the protagonist, he has been utterly confused into believing that Tartuffe is a saint of some kind.
*'''Damis'''
**He is the son of Orgon and the stepson to Elmire. It is he who witnesses Tartuffe's lust for Elmire and tells his accounts to Orgon.

*'''Cléante'''
**A man of words, he tries to reason everything in life for the better. However, Madame Pernelle thinks that his words "aren't suitable for decent folk." (20)
*'''Dorine'''
**The lady's maid of Mariane , very "out of place" constantly interjecting with her opinion and very talkative, not the typical personality for a lady's maid. Dorine is also essential to the comical aspects of the play. It seems her main purpose in the play is for the comic relief.
*'''Mariane'''
** Daughter of Orgon, engaged to Valére, is the subject of controversy when Orgon decides that she is to marry Tartuffe.
*'''Elmire'''
**Orgon's second wife. She is presumably significantly younger than Orgon, as well. She is ultimately the one who brings out Tartuffe's corruptions by flirting with him with Orgon in concealed presence.
*'''Valére'''
**Engaged to Mariane
*'''Madame Pernelle'''
**Orgon's mother. She is the "Lady of the House", basically an old grandma who is jealous of the youth of her house and their vivacity. She also wants attention and for the people in the house to listen to her and her opinions.

==Critical Perspectives==

==Additional Resources==
* [[Tartuffe Summary]](Character:Mariane) Mariane is overcome with grief when her father tells her of his plans for her to marry the "scoundrel" Tartuffe. She is heartbroken and cannot imagine spending the rest of her life with such a man. Mariane almost lets her loyalty for her family come between her and her "true love" Valere. Marianne finally comes to the realization and lets her heart lead her in the right direction, straight to Valere.

Tartuffe Study Guide [http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng252/tartuffestudy.htm]

[[Category:World Literature]]