Faust

Faust is the protagonist of a popular tale that has been used as the basis
for many different fictional works. It concerns the fate of a learned
gentleman, Johann Faust, who summons the Devil, who in the tale is usually
called Mephistopheles, and offers to sell him his soul if the Devil will
serve him for a given period of time. A contract signed in blood is drawn up
and is given the diabolical signature: ultimately, in most later versions of
the tale Faust's soul remains his at the end of the devil's term of service.

The tale has some basis in history. Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approx. 1480 -
1540) was a German alchemist who lived in the village of Staufen, in the
Breisgau in southern Germany. He was accused of practicing black magic and
put to death in 1540. A German chapbook about his sins was translated into
English in 1587, where it came to the attention of Christopher Marlowe.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, in turn, was studied by Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe, and as such the fictional Faust came to overshadow the historical
Faust, about whom little is known.

Works which retell or allude to the Faust tale include:

Drama

   * Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
   * Dorothy L. Sayers's The Devil to Pay
   * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 1
   * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust Part 2

Prose

   * Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Marguerite
   * Tom Holt's Faust Among Equals
   * Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus
   * Michael Swanwick's Jack Faust

   * Alfred Jarry's Faustroll
   * Terry Pratchett's Faust Eric

Poetry

   * Heinrich Heine's Der Doktor Faust

Opera

   * Charles Gounod's Faust (1859)
   * Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (1868)
   * Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust (1916-25)

Music

   * Hector Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust (1845-46)
   * Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song - Aus Goethes Faust* Es
     war einmal ein Kšnig
   * Franz Liszt's A Faust Symphony (1854-57)
   * Alfred Schnittke's cantata Faust (1982-83)
   * Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (1906-1907)
   * Franz Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade (1814)

Movies

   * F. W. Murnau's Faust (1926)
   * The Band Wagon
   * Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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Faust is also the name of a German krautrock band. See Faust (band). Faust
is also the German word for fist, although the name "Faust" may be related
to Italian "Fausto" rather than the German word.

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