How Faust, First Part drew on Macbeth
A documented line of influence: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe demonstrably engaged William Shakespeare’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Macbeth
William Shakespeare · c. 1606
ShakespeareThe influenced
Faust, First Part
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808
RomanticismRelevance
6/10
On Faust, First Part’s page
- Faust's 'Witch's Kitchen' is Goethe answering the Macbeth witches he praised — the cauldron scene was directly in his mind
- Gretchen's madness borrows Shakespeare's signature image of guilt: the imagined bloodstain that won't wash off, straight out of Lady Macbeth's sleepwalk
- Read Macbeth first and you'll catch how Goethe is reaching for the same theatrical power — witchcraft, conscience, a hand stained by murder
On Macbeth’s page
- Goethe openly admired Macbeth's witches as a model of vivid drama — and they're hovering behind Faust's 'Witch's Kitchen'
- The cauldron and its hags were in his mind as he wrote his own scene of supernatural brew
- Even the guilt is Shakespeare's: Gretchen's mad fixation on the blood she sees on Faust's hand replays Lady Macbeth's 'out, damned spot'