Monthly Archives: December 2022

Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar but one dissatisfied with his life who therefore makes a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works that have reinterpreted it through the ages. Faust and the adjective Faustian imply a situation in which an ambitious person surrenders moral integrity in order to achieve power and success for a delimited term. Translated as “fist” in High German, the name “Faust” suggests someone who resorts to extraordinary means to achieve goals, akin to if not actually involving force; it also implies unusual tenacity and persistence.