At the rate I'm going, it will take me years to translate the whole of Faust, but I wanted to share some of my translation because it relates to Goethe's view of the German stage in his time. In the prelude to the play, Goethe shows a conversation amongst a director, a playwright, and a comic actor.
The director is most concerned with commerce rather than art. He asks the writer and actor what play they should do, not seeming to care much, so long as it pleases a paying audience. In a typical passage towards the beginning he says:
I very much want to please the crowd,
For as they live, they give us our living.
The posters are up, we've cried the play aloud
And everyone waits to see what play we're giving.
They're seated already, with expectant faces,
Wondering, now, what exactly our play is.
I know how to keep the people happy,
Though what this crowd expects no one knows.
Something to keep gramps there from feeling too nappy.
I bet he's seen some awful shows.
What shall we do that's fresh and new
And will have some meaning to it, too?
The writer, who is described as a dramatic poet, is an idealist. He wants nothing to do with the practicalities of the stage. Instead, he imagines a more exclusive drama that has spiritual meaning. He rails at the director, saying:
O do not talk to me about the crowd,
Or in an instant the spirit shall fly away!
For the masses, my head remains unbowed,
For they'd run for strudel soon as hear a play.
No, drive me to where heaven's silence is allowed,
Where only the poet and his friends can stay,
Where love and friendship our hearts unfold
And the Hand of God may our spirits mold!
The actor, who is described as a comedian, is even more cynical than the director. Still, he seems to understand what will make a good play. Bringing the playwright back to earth from his poetic flights of fancy, the actor asks:
Who will entertain the folks right here?
That's what they want, and they should get it.
A brave knave is the thing to fit it.
That's me, always ready to appear.
Who knows how to be pleasant and please,
Needs not be bitter about people's taste;
He wishes to bring in lots of fees,
By moving the masses with great haste.
Be only brave and master a smile,
Give into fantasy, and have a good cheer,
Believe, understand, and feel for a while,
But mark you well, with a laugh and a jeer.
The fact that the actor always does everything "with a laugh and a jeer" associates him with the character of Mephistopheles in the play proper, while the playwright's idealism makes him similar to Faust. Indeed, some productions double those roles in performance.
While I haven't completed the full translation, if you'd like to see more, please contact me. It would be great to see my translation of Faust actually performed!
