Doctor Faust is disillusioned with academic disciplines. He learns black magic and makes a deal with the devil Mephistopheles, promising him his soul if the latter accepts to serve him for twenty-four years. Faust’s new domestic servant, Casperle, also learns to summon demons, and engages the services of the devil Auerhahn. However, he refuses to sell his soul to him. During the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Parma, Faust makes the Ancient Testament appear before them and attempts to seduce the duchess. But he is pursued by her husband, the Inquisition and the outraged people, because Casperle has used his links with the devil to carry out miracles. Faust flees to Constantinople and Auerhahn brings Casperle to Mainz. The final act relates Faust’s damnation. He does penance, but he is doomed when Mephistopheles promises him the most beautiful woman in the world – Helen of Troy. Faust is carried off by demons, while Casperle, now a night watchman, takes his revenge on his wife at the end of the play, for the domestic violence she inflicted on him.

String marionette

Not specified

Simrock Karl

Germany

Bonn

Printed

Scholar

Necromancy

Magic

University

Monkey

Pluto

Crow

Mainz

Perlicke

Drink

Pigtail

Dragon

Seduction

Inquisition

Italy

Couch

Vanity

Repentance

Nightwatchman

Lust

Future punishment

Spousal abuse

Tragic

Humorous

German

Monologue

Dilemma

Off-stage voice

Tragic irony

Misunderstanding

Comic Equivocation

Aside

Lazzi

Song

Pact with the devil

Versified passages

Dream

Apparition

Pyrotechnics

Chase

Theatre within the theatre

Domestic scene

Dance

Doctor Johannes Faust

Doctor Sassafras is pleased to have a client as hypochondriac as Steinreich. This rich and selfish man forbids his niece Marie from continuing to see his secretary Schreiber, whom he dismisses. Steinreich envisions a more beneficial match for his niece. Doctor Sassafras makes a deal with the devil to summon Death. Schreiber then attempts suicide, but a gravedigger saves him, as Death is detained in Sassafras’ enchanted chair. The Devil realises that his pact with Sassafras is detrimental to him and breaks their contract. Death comes fetch the doctor, who turns to God and hopes for His mercy. In the meantime, Steinreich converted: he has become charitable and, most importantly, no longer opposes Marie and Schreiber’s union.

Young audiences

Pocci Franz von

Munich

Medicine

Knödel

Usurpation

Surgery

Prestige

Wealth

Champagne

Misery

Forced marriage

Hypochondria

Cemetery

Faust

Bible

Suicide

Sentimentalism

Religion

Farcical

Satirical

Comical

Pathetic

Burlesque

Title page in the original edition of Pocci's comedies

oder Doctor, Tod und Teufel

Doctor

Kasperl

Secretary

Death

Devil

Peasant

Domestic servant

Gravedigger

Parody of formal language

Dialect as a social marker

Allegory

Light effects

Philosophical dialogue

Final wedding

Doctor Sassafras

A painter named Schmierpinsel is at an award-winning ceremony. In his absence, Casperl, his servant, pretends to be the painter to a lady who wants to have her portrait made. Casperl takes a down payment, then paints a donkey’s head and hits the outraged woman with the canvas. Upon his return, Schmierpinsel is called at the police station. After his statement, the police chief, Karrnpichler, interrogates Casperl. The latter smears paint on the police chief's face before throwing him out.

Portrait

Painting

Originality

Genie

Cheekiness

Stammering

Outrage

Wine

Beer

Interrogation

Tavern

Ein malerisches Lustspiel

Lady

Police Superintendant

Word for another

Brawl

Address to the public

Comic stuttering

Slaps

Casperl als Porträtmaler

Casperl portrait painter

A dove is saved from a vulture by the knight Theobald and finds shelter in the knight’s daughter’s (Agnes) lap. At this moment, their neighbour – a widow called Rosalinde – and her daughter Emma come to ask for Theobald’s protection against Ulrich von der Wart, who wants to grab her land. As a token of friendship, Agnes gives Emma her dove. Ulrich has hired a robber to break into Theobald’s castle to put it to the fire and the sword with the help of his group. The robbers dress as pilgrims and stop at Rosalinde’s place. But Casperl, Rosalinde’s servant, uncovers their plot and tells his madam. Theobald, his family and servants would have been lost had Emma not thought of sending the dove to Agnes, with a message to warn them. The robbers find themselves powerless. Theobald besieges Ulrich’s castle, and the latter is killed during the fight.

Gangster

Middle Ages

Widow

Knighthood

Justice

Rapacity

Friendship

Pilgrimage

Morality

Castle

Crusades

Seat

Dramatic

Illustration by Franz Pocci for the first edition of the play

Nach einer Erzählung von Christoph Schmid in vier Aufzügen dramatisch bearbeitet