Outline
The novel is a re-shaping of the Faust legend set in the context of the first half of the 20th century and the turmoil of Germany in that period. The story centers on the life and work of the composer Adrian Leverkühn; his extraordinary intellect and creativity as a young man mark him as destined for success, but Leverkühn desires true greatness. Leverkühn strikes a Faustian bargain for creative genius: he intentionally contracts syphilis, which deepens his artistic inspiration through madness. In a scene strongly reminiscent of Ivan Karamazov's breakdown in Dostoevsky's novel, Leverkühn is subsequently visited by a very clever devil who says, in effect, "that you can only see me because you are mad, does not mean that I do not really exist." Leverkühn forges a deal with this Mephistophelean character: his soul, in exchange for twenty-four years of genius. His madness - his daemonic inspiration - leads to extraordinary musical creativity that parallels the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg.
Leverkühn's last creative years are increasingly occupied by his obsession with the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment. Leverkühn feels the inexorable progress of his neuro-syphilitic madness leading towards complete breakdown; in self-conscious imitation of certain of the Faust legends, Leverkühn calls together his closest friends to witness his final demise: at a chamber reading of his cantata "The Lamentation of Doctor Faust," he ravingly confesses his demonic pact before collapsing, incoherent. His madness reduces him to an infantile state in which he lives under the care of his relatives for another ten years.
The story is narrated by Leverkühn's childhood friend Serenus Zeitblom. Much like Settembrini and Naphta in “The Magic Mountain” the “serene” humanist Zeitblom and the tragical Leverkühn represent the dualism of the German character, its Apollonian (reason, democracy, progress) and Dionysian (passion, tragedy, fate) aspects. Writing in Germany between 1943 and 1946, Zeitblom describes the rise and downfall of Nazi Germany in parallel with his account of Leverkühn's life. Clearly Leverkühn's pact with the devil symbolizes Germany's "selling of its soul" to Hitler, and vice versa.
The interplay of layers between the narrator's historical situation (the demise of Nazi Germany), the progressive madness of Leverkühn, and the medieval legends with which Leverkühn self-consciously connects himself makes for an overwhelmingly rich symbolic network. The novel is not, however, mere political allegory, though readers have sometimes tried to reduce it to that; while it is doubtless a commentary on the madness of extremist politics, it is also a commentary on the artistic process, creativity, and the artistic life. Most of all, it is an extremely powerful piece of fiction whose power lies precisely in an ambiguous complexity that cannot be meaningfully reduced to a single interpretation.
Read more about this topic: Doctor Faustus (novel)
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