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In 1587 Johann Spies published a German chapbook about the saga of Johann Faust, who made a pact with the devil in his quest for knowledge. The chapbook offered the story as a cautionary tale. Christopher Marlowe used an early English translation to create a play about the tragedy of Faust’s quest. English actors took Marlowe’s play to Germany and adapted it to German tastes during the period when Puritans closed down English theaters. Eventually Germans adapted it as a puppet play, in which a comic character (Pikelhäring at first, later Hanswurst or Casper) appears as double of Faust and dominates the play. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe worked with later editions of the chapbook and various versions of the puppet play to create over the course of 60 years his Faust: A Tragedy, which became the German national epic par excellence. The course will follow these developments, reading excerpts from each stage of the developing saga. It is recommended that students purchase an edition of Goethe’s work (either the translation by David Luke (ISBN-13 978-0199536214 and 978-0199536207) or the older translation by Bayard Taylor (ISBN-13: 978-0486821887). The instructor will provide other materials.

Instructor Byron Stuhlman is a retired Episcopal minister with a doctorate in theology and is the author of six books. He was a member of the faculty of Hamilton College and the General Theological Seminary. Prior to moving to Maine, he taught at the Mohawk Valley Institute for Learning in Retirement (Utica, NY). Byron has served as the chair of the CSC board and chair of its curriculum committee as well as teaching a good number of courses.