The theme of Duerer’s “Melancholia” in “Doctor Faustus” by Th. Mann

Abstract

Medieval and Renaissance views on the relationship between mathematics and melancholy are considered as well as the theme of interconnection of mathematics, music and melancholy in “Doctor Faustus” by T. Mann. In the novel this relationship is embodied in a theme of the Duerer's engraving «Melancholia», that accompanies its hero throughout all novel. Mann, familiar with cultural experience of nazi Germany, sees in the music, created under the sign of melancholy, a step to the union with a devil. The magic square represented on Duerer's engraving and symbolizing mathematics as a «merge of reason to magic» serves as an antidote to this influence of melancholy.