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

The Étudiant (Student), waiting for the Grisette (Working girl), reads her letter over and over again. When she arrives, their reunion is passionate, and the couple immediately embraces. Their lovemaking, full of noises and exclamations, catches the attention of the neighbour, Monsieur Prudhomme. Intrigued, he enters the scene and starts giving advice. Annoyed by the intrusion, the Étudiant fiercely asks him to stop bothering them, and passionately goes back to his intimate moment with the Grisette.

Glove-puppet

Adults

Monnier Henry

France

Paris

Student

Young girl

Sexual intercourse

Neighbour (man)

Argument

Comical

Erotic

Félicien Rops, frontispiece for Le Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé (1864).

French

Young woman

Monsieur Prudhomme

Letter

Off-stage voice

Situation comedy

Comedy of language

Scene of copulation

La Grisette et l'Étudiant

The Working girl and the Student

A marquis with a suggestive name (the Marquis de Coquencu, literally Marquis of Rooster-in-ass) exposes his run of bad luck to the audience: him and the Marquise (Marchioness) cannot conceive a child. He uses different tricks, such as stimulating drugs or increasingly bizarre sexual games to finally have an heir. However, the Marquise’s moods change from one extreme to the other; she beats the Marquis, and feigns a feeling of faintness to have an affair with the Domestique (Servant). In the second act, two new characters hide in the bushes to defecate, leading to numerous scatological jokes, most notably when the Marquise, pregnant, assures that she enjoys the smell of excrement to the point of asking the Marquis to bring them back to their place and cook them. The play ends with another domestic quarrel.

Rolland Amédée

Jean Duboys (Jean-Charles Du Boys)

Pornography

Licentiousness

Sexuality

Adultery

Scatology

Servant

Couple

Pregnancy

Farcical

Le Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé (1866 edition). Anonymous illustration.

Toucher de la merde c’est signe d’argent

Erotic scene

Aria

Defecation on stage

Seduction scene

Signe d'argent

Sign of money

Florestant – a young married man – left his wife in their house and went to see Urinette – a prostitute. However, neither Urinette’s touch nor his own imagination succeed in animating the young man. After several unsuccessful attempts, Urinette – desperate and furious – leaves Florestant alone and ashamed.

Lemercier de Neuville Louis

Vaudeville

Slang

Prostitution

Brothel

Félicien Rops, frontispiece for the Théâtre érotique de la rue de la Santé (1864).