Faust, his life, deeds, and descent into hell

The fate of the German poet and writer Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger (1752-1831) unfolded in a very unusual way. A friend of Goethe in his youth and a comrade in the literary movement 'Storm and Stress', he lived in St. Petersburg from 1780. Here, he successfully advanced in the service of the Cadet Corps and created works in accordance with the 'storm and stress' tradition. The most prominent of these was his novel 'Faust, his life, deeds, and descent into hell' (1791). Reinterpreting the folk legend of Doctor Faustus, the writer combines the image of a medieval alchemist with the historical figure of Johann Faust, a printer and assistant to Gutenberg. A fierce defender of Enlightenment ideals, the hero makes a deal with the devil for the sake of universal happiness and goes through all the circles of the feudal hell of pre-Lutheran Europe. Placing the action in distant times, Klinger at the same time emphasizes the connection of Faust's tragedy with the situation of an intelligent and active person in his contemporary society. Thus, not daring, like Goethe, to delve into the mysteries of the human soul, the writer creates a socio-philosophical novel that sums up the entire Enlightenment era.