Faust

Summary

Dominique Pagani makes Faust the figure of modern man, the eternally dissatisfied one who seeks a satisfaction he never finds1. He often returns to the pact: Faust will only give his soul to the devil if he can say to the moment "Stay, thou art so fair"2. He presents him as a scholar let down by all his knowledge, who turns to the occult sciences3,4. He stresses that even Helen does not hold him, that she vanishes and that redemption comes from Margaret5. He also notes that Faust, old and blind, finally finds the happy moment in a collective work, the building of a dam6,. He comments on the study scene where Faust translates the opening of the Gospel of John and settles on "the deed". He links this figure to the "Faustian moment" in music, a moment of expectation that is never fulfilled7. For him, Faust is not an exceptional hero: he illustrates the infinity of human desire, "in you and me"8.

1. 1#4.9 Angélique (by Nerval)14 Jun 2018 · 1:39:39
2. 2#3 Nomad or sedentary? The case of Nerval6 Jun 2021 · 13:27
3. 3#9.18 Twilight of the Gods, or from repetition to liberation3 Apr 2021 · 42:19
4. 4Worldliness in Clouscard: the clash of worlds?9 Jul 2023 · 48:05
5. 5#18 What is musical in music25 Mar 2021 · 25:08
6. 6#3 The myth of the noble savage in Rousseau23 Sept 2014 · 38:00
7. 7#1 Schubert and the master singers3 Dec 2020 · 25:41
8. 8Worldliness in Clouscard: desiring what? Through whom?3 Sept 2023 · 28:15

Summary produced automatically from 20 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.