Entry by Catherine Reith: Illustration for the theatre play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832): engraving (1874) by August von Kreling (1819-1876) - Faust and Marguerite spies by Mephistopheles - Faust and Margaret -

The image I have selected for my entry is an illustration of a scene in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play Faust. In the illustration above you see a nobleman speaking to a woman while there is a masked man in the background who looks like is eavesdropping on their conversation. The background around them looks somewhat like a stage as well the way the illustration is. There are two tall columns of the same design and similar decoration on both sides; you also see vine-like lines above that can almost be like curtains. I decided to use this image as my catalog entry not only because I found the image appealing to the eye but also because it reminded me much of another play we read in class when Tartuffe was attempting to seduce a married woman whose husband was eavesdropping on. The scene was depicted very similarly as to the one we looked at in class. Another reason for my selection of this entry is because it relates a lot to The Romantic era that we discussed in class. Many romantics appealed to this play because of the main Character FAUSTE and his relationship with himself and his identity he was interested in his mind and body which was very popular in that time. This was also a German play and Romanticism was very popular in Germany at that time.

Author: Catherine Reith