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Margarete/A Penitent
Wagner is Faust’s assistant in scholarship, a bright, clear, and striving man. Unlike Faust, however, Wagner has faith in the power of knowledge, reason, and science to satisfy humankind’s deepest needs, and he prefers his books to nature. Though Mephistopheles soon replaces Wagner as Faust’s assistant, Wagner makes another appearance in Part II of the drama. By that point, Wagner is himself the master at the university, rivaling even the great Faust in brilliance and fame. He is also working on an experiment in his laboratory, the unnatural creation of life from inorganic materials. Accelerated by the devil’s presence, the experiment is a success, yielding Homunculus. In the end Wagner remains (like Faust) isolated and troublingly concerned with violating the laws of nature. He represents the relative successes and dramatic human failures of the Age of Enlightenment.
Wagner Quotes in Faust
The Faust quotes below are all either spoken by Wagner or refer to Wagner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Night (Faust’s Study 1)
Quotes
Is parchment then the sacred fount,
and does one drink from it forever to slake our thirst?
There’s nothing you can gain refreshment from
except what has its source in your own soul.
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Part 1: Outside the City Gate
Quotes
Alas! it is so hard to find corporeal wings
that match those of the human mind.
Yet in all of us there is an innate urge
to rise aloft and soar along
when, lost in the blue space above us,
the lark pours forth its vibrant song,
when high above fir-covered crags
the eagle floats on outspread wing,
and when above the plains and lakes
the crane seeks out its native place.
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Part 2: Act 2: Laboratory
Quotes
[Homunculus’s vial is] rising, flashing, piling up—
another moment and it’s done!
A grand design may seem insane at first;
but in the future chance will seem absurd,
and such a brain as this, intended for great thoughts,
will in its turn create a thinker too.
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Wagner Quotes in Faust
The Faust quotes below are all either spoken by Wagner or refer to Wagner. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Night (Faust’s Study 1)
Quotes
Is parchment then the sacred fount,
and does one drink from it forever to slake our thirst?
There’s nothing you can gain refreshment from
except what has its source in your own soul.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1: Outside the City Gate
Quotes
Alas! it is so hard to find corporeal wings
that match those of the human mind.
Yet in all of us there is an innate urge
to rise aloft and soar along
when, lost in the blue space above us,
the lark pours forth its vibrant song,
when high above fir-covered crags
the eagle floats on outspread wing,
and when above the plains and lakes
the crane seeks out its native place.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Act 2: Laboratory
Quotes
[Homunculus’s vial is] rising, flashing, piling up—
another moment and it’s done!
A grand design may seem insane at first;
but in the future chance will seem absurd,
and such a brain as this, intended for great thoughts,
will in its turn create a thinker too.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
