Faust and Moses (1)

Copyright, 1949, by Adolf F. Leschnitzer, New York

In his extensive treatise “Faust und Moses” (1a) Konrad Burdach shows that the figure of Moses strongly influenced Goethe's creation of Faust. Time and again from 1772 to the end of Goethe's life, i.e., for a period of six decades, one can trace a recurrence of Moses' figure in Goethe's mind. Ample evidence of this can be found in his letters, poems, in his other creative works and, also, in his scientific studies. Such preoccupation with Moses, together with an ever-changing conception of the Biblical figure, is demonstrable in Faust, not only in some casual details but also in the most significant parts of the work, viz., the great monologues which serve as pillars of the majestic literary construction that Goethe worked upon throughout his life. Thus, Burdach shows that the conceptions, memories and ideas directly traceable in such surprising detail to Goethe's preoccupation with Moses are components, or, rather, integral parts of the towering figure of Faust.

The Moses referred to here is scarcely the one of the Old Testament; he is rather the representation in rabbinical, Islamic, Christian lore, the Moses of theological and mystical meditation. It is the picture of Moses as portrayed for many centuries in the traditions of the Arabic and occidental civilizations whose imprint — influence would be somewhat of an understatement — Goethe's Faust bears.

At various points in his investigations, Burdach raises such questions as: Why did Goethe devote his attention so frequently and in such detail to the Moses figure? Where does this intense life-long interest come from? And time and again Burdach discovers further illustrative passages. Burdach's questions become especially pointed when he analyzes Goethe's first reference to Moses in a letter to Herder, dated July 7, 1772 in which Goethe writes:

… Courage and hope and fear change in my breast

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… poor man whose head is everything … I am now in Pindar … You'll know now