Faust leads a destitute life as a scholar, until he lay hands on a book of black magic. He then sells his soul to the devil Mefistofeles, in exchange for services. Demons also appear to Kasper, whom Faust’s famulus – Wagner – has recently hired. But Kasper adamantly refuses to sell himself to the devil. Mefistofeles takes Faust and Kasper to Parma to lead a loose life. After living in luxury for twelve years, Faust is abandoned by Wagner, who disapproves of his way of life. Faust repents, but eventually gives in to carnal temptation when Mefistofeles presents him the fair Helen, whom he knew in Ancient Greece. Everyone rejects Faust. Kasper, now a night watchman, finds him out in the street within curfew hours and wants to throw him behind bars. But Faust’s final hour has come, and he is taken away by demons.

String marionette

Not specified

Geisselbrecht Johann Georg

Germany

Printed

University

Scholar

Wittenberg

Philosopher's stone

Foreign languages

Laziness

Sorcery

Necromancy

Perlicke

Middle Ages

Crow

Pluto

Coffee

Penitence

Eroticism

Future punishment

Tragic

Burlesque

German

Comödie vom D. Faust ; Schauspiel von dem Doctor Faust

Oder : Der große Negromantist

Faust

Christoph Wagner

Kasperl

Mephistopheles

Devil

Auerhahn

Vizibuzli

Helen of Troy

Night watchman

Monologue

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Tragic irony

Song

Macaronism

Misunderstanding

Lazzi

Word for another

Thunderbolt

Apparition of the Devil

Word reiteration

Pact with the devil

Dream

Versified passages

Bawdy equivocation

Doctor Faust

Charon asks Pluto – the ruler of the underworld – to make devils deliver more souls to him. In Wittenberg, Doctor Faust dreams of knowing everything there is to know and learns necromancy: he then makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles. They leave together for Prague, where they make Alexander the Great and his wife Padamera appear. When he is back in Wittenberg, Faust wants to repent, but Mephistopheles tempts him by offering him the fair Helen of Troy. In the end, during a dinner with his students, everyone abandons Faust: he knows that his final hour has come. At midnight, he will be damned.

Hell

Scatology

Prague

Judeophobia

First page of the play in Johann Scheible's Das Kloster, 1847

Charon

Angel

Pickelhering

Student

Noble

Alexander The Great

Prologue

Dilemma

Appearance

Address to the public

Doktor Johann Faust

Doctor Faust is disillusioned with academic disciplines. He learns black magic and makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles, promising him his soul if the latter accepts to serve him for twenty-four years. Faust’s new domestic servant, Casperle, also learns to summon demons, and engages the services of the devil Auerhahn. However, he refuses to sell his soul to him. During the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Parma, Faust makes the Ancient Testament appear before them and attempts to seduce the duchess. But he is pursued by her husband, the Inquisition and the outraged people, because Casperle has used his links with the devil to carry out miracles. Faust flees to Constantinople and Auerhahn brings Casperle to Mainz. The final act relates Faust’s damnation. He does penance, but he is doomed when Mephistopheles promises him the most beautiful woman in the world – Helen of Troy. Faust is carried off by demons, while Casperle, now a night watchman, takes his revenge on his wife at the end of the play, for the domestic violence she inflicted on him.

Simrock Karl

Bonn

Magic

Monkey

Mainz

Drink

Pigtail

Dragon

Seduction

Inquisition

Italy

Couch

Vanity

Repentance

Nightwatchman

Lust

Spousal abuse

Humorous

Off-stage voices

Comic Equivocation

Aside

Pyrotechnics

Chase

Theatre within the theatre

Domestic scene

Dance

Doctor Johannes Faust

Casperl wants to immigrate to America, but is cast ashore on an African island populated by cannibals. There he meets the German naturalist Gerstlmaier, who at first mistakes him for a parrot and ends up hiring him as a servant. But the cannibals capture him while he is sleeping. He swears not to drink any more beer if he manages to escape, whereupon the god Neptune frees him and allows him to return to Europe on the back of a dolphin. Casperl is then abducted by a large bird which releases him in the market place of his hometown, where his arrival causes general panic. Casperl has sworn not to drink any more beer, so he goes to the tavern to drink several to celebrate his return home.

Doctor Faust

Oder : Der große Negromantist

Doktor Johann Faust

Doctor Johannes Faust

Casperl unter den Wilden

Ein culturhistorisches Drama in zwei Aufzügen