"It is the artist's lofty mission to shed light on the depths of the human heart." So speaks Schumann, himself an artist, in one of his Davidite articles.
The true artist is born into this life with a soul attuned to the Beautiful. We use this term not in the modern superficial meaning, but in the manner of the old Greeks, implying that which is perfection, harmony and completeness in the man, as well as in the universe.
Such minds are the flower of humanity. Existence would be a cold, lifeless thing, like the earth without its sun, were it not for these creative souls, the poets, painters, sculptors, writers and musicians, who are continually bringing into objective form one or another aspect of the Beautiful.
So well did the ancients understand the laws of well-being that the study of the Beautiful, in its deepest sense, was an important part of their education. Plato advised that music and gymnastics be the two first essentials acquired — music to produce harmony and equilibrium of character, which is soul expansion, and gymnastics to develop strength and symmetry of form. These ideas were carried out to a great extent in their dramas, which were intended to educate the masses. By impersonating gods and goddesses they really partook of their substance, and called out in themselves spiritual powers which were godlike. "What a man thinks that he becomes," is an axiom running through all the ancient religions. Could the operas and dramas of to-day be interpreted by actors equally conversant with the true philosophy of life, the thought of the world would be changed as by magic. They would become in reality true priests and priestesses of their art.
Victor Hugo says: "It is in the theatre that the public soul is formed." The picture that the stage presents to-day is somewhat appalling. I fully believe that many a one takes up this profession with a lofty purpose, but finds himself unable to sustain that purpose under the mental pressure of the race, which has a morbid craving for novel diversions. Sooner or later the artist inevitably succumbs and becomes the common-place puppet of the public. The work of regenerating the stage and drama will be the mission of some strong and lofty soul, fully conscious of his purpose, who dares to do what he knows to be true.
Let us carry our thought into the operatic world. Many of the best masters of music have found extreme difficulty in getting desirable material for their operas. This was the reason why great Beethoven never wrote but one opera, "Fidelio." Gluck and Mozart drew much of their inspiration from Greek mythology, which offers abundant resource. Strangely enough, one of the most popular operas with the matter-of-fact public of the present day is a mystical one, "Faust." We refer to the opera whose music was written by Gounod over forty years ago. Doubtless the two foremost reasons for its great popularity are these: because it deals with the most human, if one of the deepest problems, connected with humanity, and because it has a musical setting that could not be surpassed in its treatment of the subject. True, as now given, the opera of "Faust" is merely a fragment from the complete tragedy of "Faust." For a thorough comprehension of the opera one should read Goethe's entire poem.
Coupland styles this masterpiece of the great German poet as "the mystery-play of the nineteenth century." Founded on the Faust and Magus legends, opportunity was open to Goethe to weave around the characters of the drama all his deep knowledge of alchemy, philosophy, mythology and mysticism. The character of Doctor Faust reveals the evolution of that most complex of all problems, the soul's growth and final "birth into beauty."
A few days before his death Goethe wrote Von Humboldt: "More than sixty years ago the conception of 'Faust' lay clear before my youthful mind." The first part was completed in 1775, but the second part was not finished until the year 1831. Thus the experience of a genius' lifetime was woven into the poem. It is quite evident that Goethe was a strong admirer of and believer in ancient Greek philosophy. In the second part of the poem, founded on the Magus legend, he reveals a clear insight into what were termed the "Mysteries."
To fully grasp the meaning of the work one must also be a student of this ancient philosophy.
It would seem that Goethe had planned that this poem should be performed like AEschylus' plays as a trilogy. He also covers his meaning in much the same way as AEschylus did by personifying as nature-spirits, etc., the powers which work in man's nature. It is a marvel that this great work has not been dramatized into successive parts. Given under proper management and interpreted by students competent to understand and bring out the true beauties hidden therein, a series of most unique, instructive and beautiful performances could result.
The opera of "Faust" is slightly changed from the original work. Many of the wittiest, most caustic and significant conversations between Mephistopheles and Faust are omitted. The "Prologue in Heaven" furnishes the clue to the poem — indeed, without it, much of the meaning would be obscured. Some of the translators omitted it because many considered it impious. As, however, the modern mind labors under no such delusion, a brief synopsis of the Prologue is subjoined. The quotations are from the translation by Anna Swanwick.
The Lord is giving an audience to some of the angels, who have charge of the several spheres of the Universe, and amongst them is Mephistopheles. He evidently does not have an audience with the Lord very often, and expresses his pleasure in this manner:
"Since thou, O Lord, approachest us once more,
And how it fares with us, to ask art fain,
Since thou hast kindly welcomed me of yore,
Thou see'st me also now among- thy train.Of suns and worlds I nothing have to say,
I see alone mankind's self torturing pains.
Better he might have fared, poor wight,
Had'st thou not given him a gleam of heavenly light;
Reason he names it, and doth so
Use it, than brutes more brutish still to grow."
Upon hearing this, the Lord asks Mephistopheles if he has nothing but blame to give — if nothing ever does seem right to him on the earth. Mephistopheles answers, "No, everything is in miserable plight." The Lord then inquires whether Mephistopheles knows his servant, Faust. "The Doctor?" says Mephistopheles, contemptuously. He is rather cynical about Dr. Faust's being a servant of the Lord, and points out in a flippant manner Faust's ambition and selfishness. The Lord replies to this:
"Though now he serves me with imperfect sight
I will ere long conduct him to the light."
Mephistopheles then wagers that he can lead Faust away from the Lord. The Lord allows this, saying, "that so long as Faust lives on earth it is not forbidden Mephistopheles to tempt him." "But," he adds, "after Mephistopheles has diverted this mortal spirit from his primal source," and used all his powers to drag him down, that he will still be obliged to own that a good man, even in the last depths of sin, will retain his consciousness of right." Mephistopheles delightedly affirms that he can win the wager, and adds:
"Excuse my triumphing with all my soul,
Dust he shall eat, aye, and with relish take,
As did my cousin, the renowned snake."
The Lord answers:
"I ne'er have cherished hate for such as thee.Ever too prone is man activity to shirk;
In unconditioned rest he fain would live;
Hence this companion purposely I give
Who stirs, excites, and must as devil work."
Heaven closes, leaving Mephistopheles soliloquizing thus:
"The ancient one I like sometimes to see.
And, not to break with him, am always civil —
'Tis courteous in so great a Lord as he
To speak so kindly even to the devil."
Although this interview has been the subject of much discussion, to students of the Universal Wisdom as expounded by Mme. Blavatsky and her successors there is no impiety conveyed. On the contrary, it is pregnant with meaning.
When Lucifer fell to earth and endowed man with celestial fire, man became the dual being we now see — one part constantly aspiring toward union with its divinity, the Lord, the other caught in the mad whirl of the animal desires, becoming the devil, or the God in man perverted.
"The throne of Satan is the foot-stool of Adonai."
The tragedy of "Faust" can be taken as symbolical either of what occurs in the soul of the whole human race, or in the individual only. For the sake of simplicity, we will suppose the latter. Faust then represents a lofty soul, capable of wonderful achievement, still chained to his lower nature. Until he is completely emancipated from those desires he will have as his constant companion the devil, who is the synthesis of all that is evil in his nature.
The play opens showing Faust a man about fifty years of age, seated in his dimly lighted, narrow Gothic chamber. He is surrounded by shelves, hemmed in with dusty volumes, worm-eaten and musty. Boxes and instruments used for alchemy and magic are piled around in confusion. Faust is a man who has lived an austere, good life in the abstract, and has an intellect cultivated to an abnormal extent — indeed, that is where the danger point has been reached.
Discontented, restless, he feels that, notwithstanding his extraordinary knowledge, there is yet something he fails to grasp, and what that is he cannot fathom. He concludes to leave it all and take his own life. As he is raising a phial of poison to his lips he is stopped by hearing the ringing of bells and a chorus of angels singing.
It is Easter night, and the music takes him back to his childhood days; his mood softens, and he relinquishes the idea of death.
Faust's complex character, revealed later on, is well brought out in these lines which he utters:
"Two souls, alas! are lodged within my breast,
Which struggle there for undivided reign:
One to the world, with obstinate desire,
And closely cleaving organs, still adheres;
Above the mist, the other doth aspire
With sacred vehemence to purer spheres."
From this period the duality in Faust's Soul becomes more and more apparent. At times the higher nature resumes its reign, then again he will be overcome by the most torturing desires. He soon becomes a prey to his morbid reflections, regrets that he did not die as he had decided, and in one great outburst of bitterness, curses the whole world he has hitherto known. With that curse he shuts off the higher nature, the devil takes this opportunity to appear, has no difficulty in making a compact with Faust, and from that time never leaves him.
Faust reveals his reason for leaving a good, blameless life and taking up an entirely contrary mode of living when he says to Mephistopheles:
"Vainly I have aspired too high;
I'm on a level but with such as thou.Rent is the web of thought, my mind
Doth knowledge loathe of every kind.
In depths of sensual pleasure drowned
Let us our fiery passions still.
Excitement is the sphere for man."
The reaction has begun. A man possessed of an ardent, brilliant mind like Faust, with lofty aspirations, cannot realize his highest possibilities by shutting himself away from humanity and its needs. So long as we are members of the human race we share willingly or otherwise its weal or woe.
The world is held by desire. But what is the cosmic law of affinity or attraction in the lower kingdoms becomes something very much more in man. He has the power to control desire, to love what and where he chooses. But how little is this principle understood. When desire is mastered by man, transmuted, and purified, he is raised to the plane of Divine Love, the power which holds the universe. This "obstinate desire" as Faust terms it, that has all these years been suppressed, but not conquered, flames out and takes complete mastery of him for the while. He craves "to know in his heart's core all human weal or woe," mad excitement, agonizing bliss.
Mephistopheles agrees to furnish him with the necessary experiences. As the initiative he promptly restores Faust's youth by taking him to the Witch's Kitchen. Here Faust is served with the draught which accomplishes the deed, and is shown in a mirror a vision of beauty, Marguerite.
The devil would appear in a different guise to each man. Naturally Faust's devil would be an astute, intellectual subtle entity made still more powerful by Faust's yielding. Mephistopheles represents the constricted narrow, false-hearted extreme lowest limit of the male quality in Faust — the antithesis to the divinity within, embodied selfishness, without one iota of the Beautiful or the Spiritual heart-force. That lofty aspirations are still potent in Faust is shown in his eager search for the Beautiful. His constant falling in love with beautiful women is for the reason that they appeal to his heretofore undeveloped, tender, sympathetic, intuitional faculties.
Goethe brings out very clearly throughout the poem that even Mephistopheles has his limitations. He quite frequently has to call on other powers to aid him in his undertaking. There are times when Faust completely leads and controls Mephistopheles, the latter seemingly unconscious of it; though in the Tragedy of Marguerite, the guiding power is Mephistopheles. Faust becomes inflamed with passion by the beauty of Marguerite, Mephistopheles adds fuel to the flame, brings about a meeting between them, suggests to Faust how to win her, and throughout plays his part untiringly. At times the purity and innocence of Marguerite appeal to the better qualities in Faust's complex nature, then he suffers bitter pangs of remorse and struggles to break the connection between Mephistopheles and himself. He feels the guiltiness of bringing harm to such an angel. But Mephistopheles' wily insinuations are yet too strong for Faust, and he yields.
The first meeting between Marguerite and Faust occurs at a village dance. Faust sees Marguerite passing along on her way to church. The gaiety of the peasants showing the pleasures and delights of youthful love afford a striking picture as a contrast to the religious purity of Marguerite. This scene reminds one very forcibly of the one in "Zanoni," where Glyndon is tempted to break his vows by being drawn into a peasant's revel — although the motives of the two characters are unlike.
The sound and rhythm of dance music act as a maddening exhilarator upon youth. Gounod caught the appropriate musical setting to this opera and this waltz of the villagers, which is heard repeatedly through the opera, has a very peculiar effect. The sensuous music of the love passages between Marguerite and Faust is almost too realistic. The thrilling majestic music of the prison scene, and finale, make a fitting climax to the work, uplifting the auditors to a higher plane.
Under the instruction of Mephistopheles, Faust becomes a very clever wooer, and soon Marguerite has become entirely under the influence of his magical powers. What happens now to Marguerite need not be lingered over. It is her misfortune to suffer the saddest of all tragedies which can occur to a woman. Unable to stand the scorn of the villagers when the truth becomes known, and broken down by remorse at the death of her brother, who is killed by Faust, she becomes insane and kills her babe.
Faust is ignorant of the horrors Marguerite is passing through, for he has been enticed away, with little difficulty, by Mephistopheles. They attend a wild night on the Brocken, Walpurgis Night. In the midst of the revels Faust sees the phantom shape of Marguerite in such utter despair and woe, that his nobler qualities are once more aroused and he resolves to return and save her.
Mephistopheles, alarmed for his safety, and fearing that he may lose this Soul, by virtue of a noble deed, tries to dissuade him from going. Faust remains firm, and the devil has to yield to the stronger Soul.
Faust finds Marguerite imprisoned, awaiting her execution, a total mental wreck. He is unnerved at the mischief he has wrought. After much pleading he makes her understand that he has come to take her away, and as she is about yielding to his wishes, she discovers Mephistopheles is with him. Her aversion to Mephistopheles is so great that the shock restores her reason. She refuses to go with them and appeals to Heaven for aid. Mephistopheles cries, "She is judged." A voice from Heaven says, "Is saved." As Faust disappears with Mephistopheles, a voice from within is heard calling to Faust.
This Tragedy of Faust is one that must appeal strongly to the hearts of men and women. It sounds the deepest, saddest note in the whole gamut of experiences. So long as men are dominated by desire and women remain negative to their own powers, just so long will this old story be played in the minor key.
Marguerite represents the type of womanhood which has been the product of the dark cycles. A beautiful, simple-minded, undeveloped woman. Pure at heart for she shudders whenever Mephistopheles appears as Faust's companion. Still the devil influences her in several instances, notably so in feeding her vanity by the present of the jewels, and again when he works on her emotions in the church scene, by depressing her with remorse to the extent that she becomes insane. Yet selfishness never dominates her as it does Faust. If Marguerite had been Faust's equal or superior in culture and intellect, she would have become his inspiration and guide, her influence ultimately killing the devil in Faust.
But woman must have raised herself to a knowledge of what she is, wherein her true power lies, before she can preserve the true equilibrium which should exist between man and woman. And the work before woman to-day is to study, to analyze, and to understand her emotional, psychic nature in order that she may master and control it.
When this is done and the union with her higher intuitional faculties is accomplished, then her spiritual Soul will envelope her like a mantle of light, she will fulfill her destiny, and become the living epitome of the Beautiful. But until this has come about as a natural process for all, the majority of women will continue to suffer and learn from experience. A great shock is sometimes necessary to awaken the sluggish soul, and this happened to Marguerite, her true self became the conqueror and she died with the glory of divinity about her.
The Opera closes leaving us with rather vague notions as to Faust's future. But the second part of the poem completes the history of this remarkable character.
That Goethe fully intended the higher type of woman to be represented, as the necessary complement to Faust, is shown in the second part, which is based on the old Magus legend. Faust conjures up the phantom of Helena, the most beautiful of women, falls in love with her, and from that union springs the child Poetry.
Helena representing the highest type of the Beautiful, is uninfluenced by Mephistopheles, he loses his power over Faust, for the latter has ascended to an advanced sphere of action. He gradually loses his vitality and soon ceases to be much more than an automaton.
Ultimately Faust loses Helena, who is the phantom only, not the reality, and discovers the real purpose of life as he is about to die. He realizes then that "man is made for man," and that "all efforts must be glorified by consecration to the service of humanity."
The vision of Marguerite, now become a purified saint, greets Faust as he dies, and bears him upward, while the Mystic Chorus sings:
"The Indescribable
Here it is done.
The woman-soul leadeth us
Upward and on."
The majority of the enduring Operas contain something more than appeals to the mere appreciation of the beautiful music, fine singing and acting, and gorgeous stage embellishments. And that something is the underlying, mystical thread that is in reality the Soul of the Opera.