Gnostic toposes in tragedy «Faust» by J.W. Goethe

Abstract

The article examines the question of the Gnostic essence of the image of Faust, which is the key for the disclosure of gnostic motives in the German culture of the New Age, since the subsequent awareness of culture itself was refracted precisely through the prism of the image of Faust as the mainstream for German culture. Since the key to the development of German Faustianism and the formulation of the Gnostic constant of German culture was the embodiment of J. W. Goethe’s spiritual quests, which were reflected in «Faust», the author analyses the tragedy from the point of view of actualising Gnostic toposes in it which are cultural constants that took shape on the basis of the worldview of historical Gnosticism that carry the cultural and genetic code. The two pairs Faust – Gretchen and Faust – Helena are considered in detail as a single dyad Faust – Sophia, and the path of Faust as the path of the Gnostic comprehension of the mystery.