Faust: The Second Part of The Tragedy

Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy (German: ''Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil'') is the second part of Goethe's Faust. It was published in 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Because of its complexity in form and content, it is usually not read in German schools, although the first part commonly is. It can be seen as one of the most difficult works of World literature, requiring an extensive knowledge of Greek mythology. In fact, a saying even emanates from this fact: "do not go to the library to read Faust II without necessity." Only part of Faust I is directly related to the legend, which goes back at least to the beginning of 16th century (thus is older than Marlowe's play). The "Gretchen"-plot, although now the most widely known episode of the Faust legend, was of Goethe's own invention. In Faust II, the legend of Johann Faust (at least in a version of the 18th century, which came to Goethe's attention) already contained Faust's marriage with Helen and an encounter with an Emperor. But certainly Goethe deals with the legendary material very freely in both parts.