The record-union., 1897-11-05

lures. and taking Faust" as the an
tithesis of the old patriarch he leads
the play TO logical conclusions Let
us consider brief outline. Here is
the old Doctor Faust with speculative
theories, on all questions, whether sur
face or occult. He has no balance
wheel of religious faith, and against
the incarnated agent of evil, ..Mephis-
| topheles," he can muster only his un-
aided intellect.
| Think little; admit demonism, and
you are forced intimately to acknowl-
edge the existence Of a power outmeas-
ured only by God himself Mephisto
knows Faust's weakest point. He of
fers him restored youth, and with it it's
restored love dreams. He shall be sat
isfied He shall live his loves over To
the gray haired patriarch waiting with
complacency the final calling, this
would have been no temptation. To
the dissatisfied and cynical Dr. Faust,
with no spiritual awakening, this was
the one temptation that was irresist-
ible. He freely mortgages his life to
Mephisto, conditioned on the fulfill
ment of this pledge, and consents that
after he shall realize to safety his
| wishes, Mephisto-
May chain him down.
To the black bottom of despair
Mephisto insists on written pledge,
whose signature shall be "a single drop
of blood and adds, grimly, quite a
peculiar juice is blood"
The compact completed, presto!
change! The gray-bearded DR.. Faust
| in an instant becomes a very finely en-
| dowed young man of the world. He
| is led to places of carousal where his
master lends zest by his ready magic
/ \ side scene and the witches charms
are tried. A magic glass is placed be-
fore him, and on it's face is mirrored
| the fateful face that charms him
There is but little delay, and the mag
| ic picture gives place to the matchless
/ Margaret.
| Now let us look at this sweetest
drawn and most beautiful character
A beautiful school girl, just from the
presence of her father -confessor. Alb
soutely innocent, absolutely free of
moral taint. An artless peasant girl
and the most easily impressed Link
ed for her downfall is the rejuvenated
Faust and the prince of darkness.
What follows is the natural sequence
The casket of jewels, the protestations
of love, while the mother is easily oc-
cupied by Mephisto, do their work and
the crime of all crimes is committed
Even Mephisto himself has compunc-
tions, and says: 'I wish I had some
thing worse to curse as my heart de-
sires. When Faust cajoles him, he
says: s"Oh, to the devil I'd give my
self instanter, if I We're not already
hei"
The whole picture of Marguerites
fall, sad as it is, is drawn with con-
summate art. The better nature of
| the rejuvenated Faust revolts against
deserving the poor, beautiful peasant
girl, but Mephisto attends to that
Remorse is one of the most fruitful
agents of the underworld
Then follows on Margaret's part, the
counterpart of remorse-despair And
yet her despairing is not without hope.
Her faith finds a firm bridge through
its sadness
The anger of Valentine at the be-
trayal of his sister is very natural and
we'll drawn Here the direct aid CT
the demon in the sword contest adds
murder to the crimes of Faust. The
blunt soldier in his dying words up
braids Margaret. There is no oppor-
tunity left out of exploiting the in
fernal alliance
THE LAST SCENE CONES.
The poor heartbroken Margaret is ac-
cused of infanticide, thrust into prison
and is awaiting execution. Faust is
compelled to flee'to avoid arrest on the
charge of killing Valentine He and
his Internal accessory pass Walpurgus
Night in the HartZ Mountains Re
morse brings him back in the night,
and with his Internal ally he is able to
enter the prison and offer liberty TO
Margaret. The loss of her brother and
the weight of her shame have 50
preyed upon the poor girl that positive
relief comes from partial insanity. She
recognizes her lover but the stain of
her brothers blood is to her mind still
lingering on his hands. The greater
relief than insanity is near, and sane
enough to pray she passes the eternal
gates a forgiven soul.
AS she passes the voice of Mephisto.
no longer a pleader, but now in com
mand, says to Faust, Come, thou, to
me-"
This is the great saving clause Of
this masterwork. Without a clear con-
ception of religious verities. Goethe
comes to the logical conclusion of the
eternal equities. The work is a master
piece Of art Written for the stage no
element of spectacular effect is neg
lected. Taken altogether. 1t is logical.
Effect follows cause, and yet there is
notably lacking the impression that the
author reached equitable conclusions
from an enthusiastic determination q
do so. If there is a moral triumph in
the outcome, he- records no evidence of
satisfaction in reaching it. The closing
of Mephistos mortgage on the soul Of
Faust is merely to the author a harvest
of Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye,
but turn to ashes on the lips"
One word more on that class of au-
thors who appropriate supernal en-
vironments simply to exploit demonism
The result. no matter how artfully or
even reverently handled, is always 20
the advantage of the devil Milton
grand old Roundhead and Puritan that
he was, fell unconsciously into the rut
His grand and massive Paradise Lost
was to him a secondary consideration.
He felt compelled to write il in order
to write what to him was the acme ef-
fort, his Paradise Regained" Yet
who for a moment viii place the latter
work as anywhere within challenging
distance of the former? Paradise
Lost lives because it deserves to live,
and yet unconsciously Milton makes Of
Lucifer the grand character of the
work From the fallen angel comes
language and word painting that isn't