Faust (The 100 Greatest Books-Easton Press)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts. Altho rarely staged in its entirety, it's the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages. Faust is Goethe's most famous work & considered by many to be one of the greatest works of German literature. Goethe completed a preliminary version of Part 1 in 1806. The 1808 publication was followed by the revised 1828–29 edition, which was the last to be edited by Goethe himself. Prior to these appeared a partial printing in 1790 of Faust, a Fragment. The earliest forms of the work, known as the Urfaust, were developed between 1772 & 1775; however, the details of that development are no longer entirely clear. Urfaust has 22 scenes, one in prose, two largely prose & the remaining 1441 lines in rhymed verse. The manuscript is lost, but a copy was discovered in 1886. Goethe finished writing Faust Part 2 in 1831. In contrast to Faust Part 1, the focus here is no longer on the soul of Faust, which has been sold to the devil, but rather on social phenomena such as psychology, history & politics, in addition to mystical & philosophical topics. The 2nd part formed the principal occupation of Goethe's last years. It appeared posthumously in 1832.