To talk about Goethe, one has to talk about his masterpiece Faust.
The creation of Faust continued throughout Goethe's life.
At the beginning of the story, the devil Mephistopheles and God bet that to make a human, one of these "little gods of the world" who are "as strange as the day of the opening", Faust enters the fall.
Faust was a figure who was not satisfied with worldly achievements, and tried to explore and find the eternal beauty of human beings.
Mephistopheles placed all the temptations of the world in front of Faust and took him to experience them one by one.
In the eyes of this devil, there is nothing eternal in the world, and after some hard work, it will eventually return to nothingness.
"I am the spirit of eternal denial!" As long as everything is generated, it is natural that it will be destroyed, so it is better to do nothing. You call this destruction, sin, simply to put it mildly, evil, and this is the nature of my essence. ”
One can't help but think of a passage from Shelley's description of Ramses II's poem "Ozmandias":
"I am the king of all kings, and I dare to make the heavenly prince obey!" And there is nothing else, but when I see the ruins, the lonely flat sand is empty and reckless, stretching out to the desolate four directions."
Mephistopheles and Faust agreed to take Faust through "the glory of the nations and nations of the world", and when Faust said, "Stay for a moment, you are so beautiful", Faust's soul belongs to Mephistopheles.
Subsequently, Mephistopheles revived Faust's youth, taking him to appreciate the beauty of love and seeing a wonderful night of Valpugis.
After the love dissipated like morning dew, Mephistopheles found for him the cause of the Trojan War, helen, which revolved around the Greek epic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", symbolizing classical beauty.
But neither love nor classical beauty can fill Faust's heart, he still has something to ask for, and he is searching for something.
Then Faust embarked on a journey of pursuit of merit, which still could not impress Faust's heart.
Until the twilight of his life, when he was building fields around the sea and imagining the happy life of people after this immortal deed was achieved, Faust finally unconsciously said the phrase "Stay for a moment, you are so beautiful."
At this time, Faust had turned from self-interest to altruism, so when Faust's soul fell into hell, he was rescued by God and was able to enter heaven.
There is a strong religious atmosphere throughout the work, but the core of the story is people's pursuit of value and eternal beauty.
To understand Faust, you need to have a deep understanding of the background of the era in Europe at that time.
In his writings, Goethe incorporated reflections and explorations on the changes of the entire era.
Even in literary terms alone, Faust is a well-deserved masterpiece.
◎The picture comes from the Internet