"All extraordinary men, who have accomplished great and astonishing actions, have ever been decried by the world as drunken or insane." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in , by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is part of a 14-volume set originally published in 1901-1902. (1832), is a tragic play in two parts about a man, Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for earthly gains. This play is considered by many to be Goethe's major work and still reaches the largest audiences on German-language stages.