Slow blogging/Human Relationship
I apologize for not blogging much this week. I have been working on two papers for my grad program, one on the Faust legend where I addressed one of the oft-unmentioned costs of Faust’s bargain. Thomas Mann makes it explicit in his Doctor Faustus : The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend where his Faust-figure is forbidden love as part of his pact: “A total chilling of your life and of your relations to humans lies in the nature of things—indeed it already lies in your nature.” As part of his bargain with the devil, Adrian Leverkühn, Mann’s Faust, must renounce human relationships.
And while Goethe does not make this prohibition explicit, the tragedy of the First Part of his Faust involves how his actions lead to the dishonor and death of the one woman he truly loves, whose image provides him with a vision of domestic happiness. Like Leverkühn, Goethe’s Faust too must spend his life on earth without really relating to his fellow man. And that must truly be a bleak — and empty — existence.
I believe that human relationships are the very stuff of life; they make life worth living. Indeed, I would argue that all movies, indeed, nearly all great stories which truly move us have, at their core, a compelling relationship. I had hoped to blog more on this as I wrote, but that paper (as well as another) took a lot out of me and words did not seem to flow so easily this week.
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…Mann’s Faust, must renounce human relationships.
Wasn’t that the plot of Jeffrey?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 24, 2007 @ 1:49 am - March 24, 2007
Where’s Bruce? Supreme Empress-General Pelosi passed Pork-and-Surrender. Bush (verbally, morally) ripped her to pieces. – Bruce, is everything OK with you?
Comment by Calarato — March 24, 2007 @ 11:03 am - March 24, 2007
#1 – Actually, it is more like the plot of “Mefistofele,” Boito’s opera based upon the work of Faust.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — March 24, 2007 @ 12:28 pm - March 24, 2007
Write the best paper you can possibly write. Leave it all on the page. Then you’ll have plenty to pick from to offer the blogosphere.
Comment by Jeremayakovka — March 24, 2007 @ 4:42 pm - March 24, 2007
#3 – Yeah, but I was trying to avoid an obscure reference.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 25, 2007 @ 1:13 am - March 25, 2007
From PJM: “We no longer question their patriotism” (because they question it themselves).
Comment by Calarato — March 25, 2007 @ 10:03 am - March 25, 2007
Speaking of, see Busoni’s Doktor Faustus, by far the best (musically) Faust opera. I can’t abide Gounod’s travesty (though that’s redundant).
Comment by rightwingprof — March 25, 2007 @ 3:05 pm - March 25, 2007
Another musical recommendation: Schumann’s oratorio Szenen aus Goethes ‘Faust’. It’s my favorite of the Faust settings.
Comment by HardHobbit — March 25, 2007 @ 7:15 pm - March 25, 2007
I actually like Gounod’s “Faust,” but until you’ve seen Samuel Ramey sing in “Mefistofele,” you haven’t experienced GRAND opera!
Houston staged Boito’s “Mefistofele” three times in the past 10 years, and each time it was better than before. If you love chorale operas, it is hard to beat Boito.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — March 25, 2007 @ 11:48 pm - March 25, 2007