This course offers an intensive experience of two of the world’s great literary masterpieces: Goethe’s Faust, and Mikhail Bulgakov’s Faust-novel The Master and Margarita. Both are challenging, rich, and profound. Goethe’s classic is a distillation of all the great themes and forms of Western literature, but also one of the world’s great spiritual texts, an extended meditation on the trials encountered by those who strive to cross

the threshold, and must come to terms with the evil in themselves and the world. Bulgakov’s novel, written during the Stalinist Terror, was published only recently, but it has quickly become one of the most beloved and widely read works of Russian literature. It is simultaneously cryptic, highly esoteric, deeply moving, and hysterically funny.

The course will begin with background lectures on the Myth of the Magus, the historical Dr. Faustus, the Faust chapbooks, Christopher Marlowe’s revolutionary drama, the philosophy and theology of evil, and the evolution of consciousness. We will then devote a full day to each part of Goethe’s Faust, and a full day to Bulgakov. On the final day, we will have an open, wide-ranging discussion of the meaning of Faustian striving, both in these texts, and in our own lives.

This course should appeal to anyone who wishes to practice the high art of literary interpretation, study important topics in the evolution of human consciousness, and grapple with some deep philosophical questions regarding good vs. evil, religion vs. spirituality, and, ultimately, what it means to be human. No particular preparation is assumed or required.

Students should be sure to read both works once carefully before arriving in Wilton. If at all possible, please obtain the Norton Critical Edition of Goethe’s Faust, translated by Walter Arndt, and the Vintage edition of The Master and Margarita, translated by Burgin and O’Connor.

Eurythmy with Cezary Ciaglo. Charcoal drawing with Iris Sullivan.

Materials fee: $15

FREDERICK AMRINE is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of German Studies at the University of Michigan, and an internationally recognized Goethe scholar. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Cambridge University, and Harvard University, where he also taught as a member of the faculty. He has been a student of anthroposophy for his entire adult life, and he has both translated Steiner and lectured widely on anthroposophical topics. Fred has often taught for both Antioch College and the Waldorf Institute of Southeastern Michigan, which is directed by his wife, Margot. He has won major awards for teaching at the University, where he has taught these works for many years in the context of Great Books. Both Fred’s sons attended Waldorf school K-12 in Ann Arbor.