Chapter 64 Reading Notes Holmont Culus--Reading "Faust"

The prevailing view is that Faust's assistant, Wagner, is a negative figure.He does not agree with Faust abandoning his study and turning to the nature of life; he does not like living people, but only loves the abstract concept of "man"; Stick to an idealized pattern.This kind of labor-saving and time-saving reading may be able to put aside many complicated issues and grasp the artistic image created by the author.But we should remember that Goethe is a great artist, his writing is by no means a concept-first writing, and each of his characters is also the embodiment of love from his heart, and the rich layers of characters are almost endless , any one-and-done grasp is impossible.

Wagner, who indulged in meditation and immersed in the pure spiritual world, was actually a part of Faust's personality. As Faust's loyal assistant, he stayed in that ancient study from beginning to end to engage in that abstract thinking activity .His appearance is pedantic and boring, but his heart has a passion no less than that of Faust, but this passion must be separated from secular life.It was in this kind of study, which seemed dark to outsiders, that Wagner, who was passionate and tireless, finally created a kind of crystal-Homonculus. Holmonculus is a perfect little guy who lives in a glass bottle.Like its creator, it also needs to be separated from the world at all times.But Holmenculus is different from Wagner, the fundamental difference is that it wants to grow all the time, and the only way to grow is to combine with life and obtain its own body; however, once incarnated, it will disappear in the body Never to be seen again.It seems that Wagner passed on his own contradictions to it, replacing the human body with glass, so that it can start a short and transparent miraculous existence.In the senses, Wagner is so disgusted with people that he is unwilling to develop relationships with them; in his conception, he believes that human beings have "great endowments", and he especially admires heroes like Faust's father.He is determined to create a superman that he dreams of day and night, that is to say, he wants to use the spirit itself to create a pure human being.Such a thing is certainly not impossible, but the "human" created by this method is not a real person, but a different body, which is the separation of human body and spirit.Wagner was intoxicated by his creation.The villain, who was forcibly separated by his scientific rationality, is extremely beautiful and can illuminate and see through things.Its powerful spiritual energy makes it anxious, and it wants to break through the glass bottle to develop, because only through development can it continue to exist.Such a wonderful image is reminiscent of the artist himself.The artist who sees life through the glass bottle is really fragile and powerful; the glass bottle will explode at any time, but the elf inside is not so easy to die, and reincarnation can happen at any time.Out of his deep love for the concept of "man", Wagner insisted on creating an ideal man to replace the vulgar world. He did not expect that once his creation became independent, it would immediately do the opposite, combining life with The world has become his highest pursuit, even at the expense of being smashed to pieces.This combination of self-deprecating and admiring portraits of the whole process is very moving:

"Goodbye! I'm so sad to say it. I want to see you, but I'm afraid I won't see you again." "Goethe Collection Volume One", translated by Luyuan, 283 pages, People's Literature Publishing House, 1999. -- Wagner Once independent, Holmenculus volunteered to take on the task of bringing Faust back to life.It is the light of the spirit that can guide mankind, and even Mephisto has to rely on its supernatural powers.It will evoke Faust's beauty, infuse him with spirit and courage.Besides that, he glows everywhere in order to incarnate himself as soon as possible, because it is going to grow!

"I've heard he's queer, half-born: nothing lacking in spirituality, but far from physical. So far he's gained weight only through glass; but incarnation is his first desire. "Volume I of Goethe's Collected Works, p. 320. How would Wagner feel? Maybe that's why he made it in the first place? How could an old philosopher like him be wrong? The way to communicate with life, otherwise there is no need for the glass bottle to exist.He wanted the world to see the purest spiritual spectacle, so he came up with such a brilliant move. The essence of Holmonculus is the invisible so-called "element", which cannot exist independently, and can only parasitize in the dark place in the body.Its independent existence was a queer notion in the profane brains of Wagner and Mephistopheles, and the crystallization of the light of a thousand years of human ideals.Its overwhelming magic power attracts all living things around it, and it finally rides on the back of Proteus to the center of the sea of ​​life, where it falls in love with Galatea, the daughter of the god of the sea. The bottle was smashed into pieces by the car and gained a new life like destruction.The pain of that passion, the beauty of the light, cannot be expressed in human language.Wagner's suppressed desire for many years was thus released.

"Long live the ocean/Long live the waves/You are surrounded by the holy fire/Long live the water/Long live the fire/Long live this rare occasion!" "Goethe Collection Volume One", page 326. Homonculos is an artistic manifestation of the contradiction between the body and the spirit. The two parties who dislike each other and are attached to each other interpret the history of spiritual development.The artist's deep gaze, nuanced experience, and contradictory expressions behind the poem make this image full of modern flavor reveal its classic heritage.Classics are not a realm that can be achieved by reason and wisdom alone. Classics are a kind of pious and somewhat mysterious perception. She can have different forms, but they remain the same.Goethe wrote "Faust" for sixty years, and Wagner also fiddled with those "elements" for sixty years in a dark laboratory.Once the creation with which the poet of genius has expended such painstaking care is presented, its unearthly brilliance will of course penetrate the reader's heart.

July 14, 2000 in Yingcaiyuan