A Kierkegaardian Analysis of the Dichotomy Created Within Faust in the Context of Paradigm Shifts
Loading...
Authors
Solomon, Phoebe
Issue Date
2012
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Theater -- Miscellaneous
Alternative Title
Abstract
While I was hashing out details for my SIP proposal, I explored several concepts that
could serve as the structure for my research. I knew that I wanted to include a metal art
component, making a piece or many pieces representing certain themes or moments from a single play or several plays I selected. I examined the concept of hope, belief in the impossible, blindness, succumbing to temptation, types of mortality and immortality, the search for knowledge, etcetera. My attention was directed toward Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe's Faust. This story contains elements of each theme I wanted to address, and so much more. What strikes me most about Faust is his haughtiness, and rampant, vocal dissatisfaction with his condition in life. He thirsts for endless nowledge, writes his degrees off as insufficient, and ultimately makes a tragedy of his own life once he does receive super human "knowledge," powers from the Devil. Goethe's Faust is a warning and a message- Be careful what you wish for ... it might come true. Faust's transition turns a curious scholar into a maniacal manipulator of nature, designer of his own end. Faust is arguably the clearest temporal indicator of cultural modernity. So many themes, phrases, lyrics have been derived from elements of the story, notably the concept of making a deal with the devil. In the lens of Christianity (and tangentially, Seren Kierkegaard), "earthly satisfactions must indeed have seemed the product of a pact with the devil" as a theme throughout Goethe's Faust and Kierkegaard's pseudonymous writings about states of existence.
What is more thrilling than reading the story itself, is examining subsequent analyses and
drawing my own conclusions and revelations during the research process.
However, the most consistent thrill of this project was constructing the sculpture. The
design and build process was equal parts cerebral and physical. Much consideration was put into each element of the physical structure by way of symbolism, metaphor, aesthetic, and
functionality in order to manifest the metal in a way that supported themes I chose to exhibit.
Description
50 p.
Citation
Publisher
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.