Faust

My Soul be Damned for the World’: New Historical Research Unveils the History, Legend and Drama Surrounding Faust

Read about the man behind one of the central myths of the modern world, the man who reportedly sold his soul to the devil, in E.A. Bucchianeri’s new historical figure analysis, “Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World: Volume I” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com).

Ideal for those interested in the history, legend and drama surrounding the historical figure of Faust, aficionado and academic alike, “Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World” is a comprehensive exploration in two volumes. Bucchianeri retraces the life of this enigmatic figure through time from the history of the real Dr. Faustus in the 1480s, to the early 1600s and his transformation to a character in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s drama in the 1750s to 1832.

Bucchianeri’s analysis includes new insights into the life, times and contemporaries of the historical Faustus, a study of Faustian folk tales, Marlowe’s Elizabethan drama, Faustian puppet plays and glimpses into the fragments of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Faust drama. The second volume features a more in-depth account of Goethe’s masterpiece and detailed, original analysis. Bucchianeri writes:

His contemporaries, who witnessed first hand his nefarious lifestyle, considered they had sufficient proof to determine he was a man willingly heading down the wide path to perdition. However, the most startling information concerns Faustus’ ominous revelation that the devil was his “brother-in-law,” stated in Luther’s Tischreden and supported by Wier’s document based on information gleaned from the reports of personal acquaintances. Hence, Faustus, undaunted by the publication of Trithemius’ letter (1507) in 1536, dared to confirm he had advanced beyond the level of a scarlet sinner - he was a conscious follower of the Prince of Darkness.

Therefore, it is not difficult to comprehend the upsurge in legendary and didactic material following his death. Faustus, who embraced evil and shunned righteousness, became the foremost symbol of the misuse of free will, that sublime gift from God with its inherent opportunity to choose virtue and reject iniquity. “What shall a man gain if he has the whole world and lose his soul,” (Matt. 16: v. 26) - but for a notorious name, the ethereal shadow of a career, and a brief life of fleeting pleasure with no true peace? This was the blackest and most captivating tragedy of all, few could have remained indifferent to the growing intrigue of this individual who apparently shook hands with the devil and freely chose to descend to the molten, sulphuric chasm of Hell for all eternity for so little in exchange. It is a drama that continues to fascinate today as powerfully as when Faustus first disseminated his infamous card in the Heidelberg locale to the scandal of his generation. In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the choice between these two absolutes also falls to us.

Read the chilling and utterly fascinating research surrounding the figure and legend of Faust in “Faust: My Soul be Damned for the World: Volume I.”