• Graphic Design

Conor Smyth

The Faustian Bargain

‘The Faustian Bargain’ is inspired by the power and magic of the story of Faust, the man who, in a pact with the Devil, trades his soul in return for a period of total knowledge and absolute power. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) worked on this poetic drama in bursts from his twenties until the end of his life, continuously reshaping the perpetually fascinating legend. My study probes the nature and process of human striving and questions the assumed divisions between good and evil, while also investigating the genealogy of morals which led us to where we are currently. It traces the line of descent from the fall of cultures such as Ancient Greece, to the birth of Christianity, to the rise of atheism in the late eighteenth century and the nihilism it resulted in, finally paving the way for cultural Capitalism and the consumer centred society that goes hand in hand with it, which we find ourselves in today.

thefaustianbargain.com