20世紀の『ファウスト』 : ヴァレリーが書き残せなかった一冊の本

Paul Valéry, who had read Goethe’s “Faust” eagerly, wanted to write his own version of “Faust” in his later years. He almost finished “My Faust” (including “Lust”), a sequel to Goethe’s “Faust I”, and then attempted to write “Faust Part III,” a sequel to Goethe’s “Faust II”. However, under the situation, in which Paris was occupied by Germany and Nazi censors were closely watching, he was unable to actually work on “Faust Part III.” But from the “Cahiers” that have survived, it is possible to infer to some extent what Valéry was trying to write here. In “Faust II”, Goethe foresaw that the industrial revolution, capitalism, and modern technology would bring about a disastrous future for mankind. For Goethe, the real “devil” was not Mephistopheles, but these three. About a hundred years after Goethe, Valery saw that Goethe’s prediction was frighteningly true. What is more, the misery and inhumanity of the modern world seemed more ferocious than in Goethe’s time. Countries have become so intent on military and economic domination of the world that they have neglected cultural aspects, and as a result, while people lead industrious lives and enjoy a life of consumption, they have lost their human souls. Valéry writes that even Mephistopheles are obsolete in the modern world, and that it is mankind that is really frightening. With this insight, Valéry attempted to reveal in “Faust Part III” the enormous darkness in the modern world. In the end, however, “Faust Part III” could not be written. Whether this was because he was afraid of the Nazi censors or because he himself flinched in the face of the darkness of the awful modern world, we will never know.