The Norton Critical Edition of Goethe's Faust, translated by Walter Arndt and edited by myself, first appeared in 1976. The opportunity to undertake this greatly revised and expanded edition after a full quarter century is most welcome. Much good work has been done on Goethe's drama during the past several decades, especially by scholars in the United States. Faust's importance for the study of literature at university level has been demonstrated in many ways, not least of these a continuing interest in this Critical Edition and Norton's decision to undertake the present revision. I have devoted considerable time and effort during the past year or so, which witnessed celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Goethe's birth on August 28, 1999, to preparing this new edition. A few words about this effort may be helpful to readers.

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The Norton Critical Edition of Goethe's master-piece is again based on the distinguished translation of Walter Arndt and includes Parts I and II complete. The "Interpretive Notes" by the editor have been greatly expanded and set in a larger, more readable type.

"Contexts" includes selections from Goethe's correspondence, working plans, and other writings relevant to the evolution of the drama. Excerpts from his conversations with Eckermann concerning the composition of Part II are included. Also included are several illustrations to Part I by Eugene Delacroix and Peter Cornelius, as well as visual sources used by Goethe from Giorgione, Correggio, and Raphael. "Comments by Contemporaries" includes eleven early assessments of Faust, among them--new to the Second Edition--excerpts from Wilhelm yon Humboldt, Henrik Steffens, Thomas Carlyle, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

"Modern Criticism" has been thoroughly revised to reflect recent developments in Goethe scholarship, especially in the United States. The ten contributors, all new to this edition, are Stuart Atkins, Jaroslav Pelikan, Benjamin Bennett, Franco Moretti, Friedrich A. Kittler, Neil M. Flax, Marc Shell, Jane K. Brown, Hans Rudolf Vaget, and Marshall Berman. Also included is a recent poem by John Hollander, "What the Lovers in the Old Songs Thought."

Pretace

The Text of Faust. A Tragedy

　The Tragedy's First Part

　　Watpurgis Night

　　Walpurgis Night's Dream or the Golden Wedding of Oberon and Titania. Intermezzo

　The Tragedy's Second Part in Five Acts

　　Act Ⅰ

　　Act Ⅱ

　　Classical Walpurgis Night

　　Act Ⅲ [Helena. Classical-Romantic Phantasmagoria]

　　Act Ⅳ

　　Act Ⅴ

Interpretive Notes

Contexts

　Selected Illustrations for Faust

　The Composition of Faust

　Goethe on Faust

　　From Goethe's Autobiography

　　From Italian Journey

　　Faust Plan of 1800

　　From Goethe's Correspondence with Schiller, 1794-1801

　　Outline of the Contents for Part Two

　　Second Sketch for the Announcement of the Helena

　　From Goethe's Letters and His Conversations with Eckermann

　Comments by Contemporaries

　　Wilhelm yon Humboldt·[Response to the Newly Published Fragment of Faust]

　　Henrik Steffens·[First Impression of Faust]

　　August Wilhelm Schlegel·[Review of the Fragment of 1790]

　　Friedrich Schlegel·/On Hamlet and Faust as Philosophical Tragedies]

　　Friedrich Wilhehn Joseph Schelling·[On Faust as Tragicomedy]

　　Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel·[Paraphrase of Faust, from The Phenomenology of Mind[

　　Madame de Stael·"Faustus"

　　[Thonras Carlyle]·[First Notice of Faust in English]

　　Heinrich Heine·[Faust]

　　Margaret Fuller·"Goethe"

　　Ralph Waldo Emerson·[General Remarks on Goethe]

Modern Criticism

　Stuart Atkins·[Survey of the Faust Theme]

　Jaroslav Pelikan·Faust as Doctor of Theology

　Benjamin Bennett·Interrupted Tragedy as a Structural Principal in Faust

　Franco Moretti·[Goethe's Faust as Modern Epic]

　Friedrich A. Kittler·[Faust and Discourse Networks]

　Neil M. Flax·The Presence of the Sign in Goethe's Faust

　Marc Shell·The Economics of Translation in Goethe's Faust

　Jane K. Brown·[The Spirit of Water: Faust, Part Two, Act II]

　Hans Rudolf Vaget·[The Ethics of Faust's Last Actions]

　Marshall Berman·[Faust as Developer]

　John Hollander·What the Lovers in the Old Songs Thonght

Johann Wolfgang yon Goethe: A Chronology

Selected Bibliography