Title: A Cultural Study of the Water and Fire Imageries in Faust and Goethe’s View of Nature

Abstract: Goethe, as a naturalist, discussed extensively scientific and philosophical problems in his literal works. Fire and water, two of the four elements in Ancient Greek philosophical thought, often were explored by Goethe to express his view of Naturphilosophie, while simultaneously referring to contemporary affairs. The controversy between two rival theories about the formation of rocks, Plutonism and Neptunism, was integrated into Faust II, Act 2, where Goethe tried to mediate between these two theories by means of literature. This article discusses Goethe’s mediation between fire and water along with two extreme natural views, Plutonism and Neptunism, from three perspectives: Goethe’s personal standpoint in the controversy between Plutonism and Neptunism; the artificial creation of the Homunculus; and the hymn for the symbol of water, the sea, and the forces of nature brought out by the alliance between the sea and fire. Goethe’s prediction of the disadvantages caused by revolution and industrialization will also be revealed.

Keywords: Faust, Johann Wolfgang von, water, fire, view of nature

Author: Yue Zeng, Ph.D candidate, School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, Beijing, China.