Flower Divination.
From his own experience, Goethe had to think deeply about the existence of women, who have a powerful effect, like vinegar added to milk that instantly coagulates to make cheese.
For Goethe, this was a theme that he should pursue for the rest of his life: the existence of women who solidify his blood and create works of literature.
I think “Faust” is a striking example of this.
With Goths ancestry (Goethe and Goths are only one letter apart. Note 1.), he felt no attraction to the male-first triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and found it more meaningful to seek salvation in a woman who was like the earth.　
Therefore, he returned to the proposition of who at any cost atoned for the sin of Eve, the beginning of woman.
By the time he completed the first part of Faust in 1808, the Holy Roman Empire, including the Duchy of Weimar, which he served, had disappeared two years earlier.
The Industrial Revolution was underway in England, and the United States gained independence.
It was a time of great change in the modern era. While living in old Europe, Goethe could not help but feel the world entering a new era.
Who redeemed the sins of women, who made up half of the human race, was a big question for him. How does the Bible answer that?
Romans 5:12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned-
verse14. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. Even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
Paul attributes the introduction of sin into the human race to Adam alone, affirming that he is the pattern for the One to come, Jesus, who died on the cross to redeem for his sins.
In other words, in the Bible, sin entered the entire human race through Adam alone, and Eve's sin is not an issue at all.
But when Eve first ate the forbidden fruit, she encouraged her husband to do so.
Goethe writes: “For the first time, Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and she encouraged her husband to do the same.“A single bite of the apple, taken carelessly, could bring endless suffering to the whole world.”
In the modern era, when women's rights are respected, it is only natural that the issue of sin, which has been overlooked until now, is also considered important.
Goethe objected to women speaking out in public, but it is clear from the power structure of Europe at the time that women played an important role.
So, when he was a young man, he began writing “Faust” on a whim, he was shocked by the execution of Suzanne Margareta Brandt for infanticide, which took place near his home, and he seems to have woven his own experience of love into the rough outline of Faust.
In other words, Margarete, the heroine of “Faust”, was doomed to die. For Goethe, Margarete is the same as Jesus, who redeemed for the sins of all mankind. And just as Jesus did, Margarete has no sin.
The uniquely Christian theme of the forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of an innocent lamb, became for him an important life-long work, including his atonement.
Now, thanks to Mephistopheles' mediation, they have a successful date. It is then that Margarete tells Faust about her sister who died when she was very young.
She tells him that she raised her like a real mother, giving the milk and sleeping with her at night, and she proves before Faust that she is already fully capable of fulfilling her role as a mother, without even being aware of it.
For the rejuvenated Faust, who desires to know every inch of her young body, this would be a scene in which he would have difficulty restraining his desires.
But now he plays the gentlemanly young man. Then Margarete takes one of the aster flowers in the garden, plucks its petals, and murmurs,
“Like, hate, like, hate, like.” And plucking the last petal, she says, “He loves me after all.”
She leaves the desires of her young body to god's choice. The title of this painting is “Flower Divination.” Still this divination, in which there are only two choices, can also be called a lottery.
In the Bible, lots are recognized as an effective means of hearing God's voice. On the other hand, Faust seeks only to win her according to his desire.
But here, he is gentle enough to confess to her, “I love you,” but then he continues, “You may take that divination of flowers as the word of the gods. But do you know what it means to love?”
Margarete, astonished at the gravity of the situation, says, “Shaking comes over my body.”
Faust continues: “I cannot put into words what I feel. But let my eyes and grasped hands tell you what I cannot put into words." He tells her that action is the heart of who he is.
But Margarete, whose mind is not quite attuned to her physical growth, is unaware of the feminine charms she exudes, and when she is alone, she says, “I'm like a silly child. Still, what points about me does he love?“
She is completely unaware of the feminine charm she exudes. In creating the character of Faust, Goethe set his beliefs to the gods of nature and the spirits of the earth.
As a member of the administration of the Duchy of Weimar, which belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, it was probably not appropriate to make a Christian who colluded with the devil to deceive the people.
And when Faust summons him early in the play, the earthly spirit says to him, “You are only like the spirit you think you are. You don't resemble me one bit.”
Faust, who had been a magician in his own right, is severely dismayed by these words.
But now that he has Margarete almost in his grasp, he says confidently, “O sublime spirit of the earth! You have freely given me what I asked for. It was not in vain that you showed me your face in the burning flame.“
At this moment, he attributes this earthly spirit's work to the auspices of the aster flowers growing out of the earth. He is convinced that nature is a good friend who responds to his needs.
Whether or not this idea is Goethe's own, he also has Faust say in the final scene, “And if I could stand as a man before nature, life would be worth a thousand pains.” (Part II, Midnight Scene)
Goethe sympathizes with Rousseau, who exclaims, “Return to nature! “And was himself a natural scientist. Therefore, he studied light, which he relied on most when observing nature, and wrote his own “Theory of Color.“
He was, so to speak, a man of the “eye,” a realist, and a politician. Meanwhile, Margarete was so enamored with the man of her dreams at a flower reading, in there appeared that the serpent of old said,
“Poor thing, your petals have fallen. Is it true that this flower tells you he loved you when it was falling?　Does that young man, Faust or whatever he is, not just want your young body?”
Then Margaret twisted her mouth and said, "Oh, kind snake, thank you for your advice, but even if I don't pick these flowers, they will eventually wither and die.
But because I plucked it while it was still beautiful, God was pleased to be on my side. Besides, is it wrong to love this man and hope to hold his child in my chest?"
This scene is my creation, but it is possible, given Goethe's intention to have Margaret redeemed for Eve's sins and her executed like Christ.
In this painting, I used the color of ripe grapes, the same color as Mary of Nazareth, for the color of Margaret's clothes.
The color of Mary's clothes foreshadows the color of the Savior Jesus who will be born of her, while the color of Margaret's clothes is the same as the sweet wine that intoxicated Faust.
Goethe himself was a fan of sweet red wine. They are intoxicated by this gift of nature for a while.
This painting, from the "Garden" scene in Goethe's Faust Part I, represents how Margarete, through Astor's divination of the flowers, believes the word of the Spirit of the Earth and, together with Faust, strays from the path of God.
Note 1: His friend Herder, a German literary scholar and theologian, ridiculed Goethe as a descendant of the Goths.
However, Goethe himself did not like the pun associated with this name.
That is probably because Goths is the root of the word Gothic, which means illiterate or barbaric.
Thence, Goethe himself does not recognize this theory.　　　　　　　


August 2024　 Oil 910mm×1167mm
☆

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