Faust, Part One

Faust starts off with a Dedication, as Goethe speaks of “visitors from the past” who “haunt” him and bring back memories of the past (I.1.1-5). He references “happier days” and wonders about his old companions’ fates (I.1.9). Goethe speaks of his “long unwonted yearning” for the “spirit-realm” of his past, and describes the feeling of his memories flooding back, as his “stern heart melts to love again” (I.1.30): “All I now possess seems far away/ And vanished worlds are real to me today,” he ends (I.1.31-32).

The second prologue of the piece is the “Prelude on the Stage,” which is a conversation held between the Director, the Poet, and the Clown about what the upcoming play, set in Germany, should be. The Poet says that the play should “[live] for prosperity” rather than try to please the masses (I.2.74), while the Clown says the audience must be entertained, and the play should include “reason, sense, feeling, passion,” but “let a good vein of folly still run through it” (I.2.87-88). The Director, meanwhile, pushes for “spectacle,” and says if they “let the crowd stare and be amazed […]/ You’ll win their hearts, and that’s to win the prize” (I.