The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Klaus Mann’s Input into Doctor Faustus

Durrani argues that Thomas Mann’s novel Doktor Faustus was preceded by a remarkably similar novel written by his son seven years earlier. Verbal parallels between the two novels are frequent, and the underlying ethos is remarkably similar: in both texts, an immoral artist, desperate for success, ignores the political realities of his time and fails to use his position to influence society in a positive manner. After identifying close parallels and comparing the authorial perspective, Durrani produces some startling evidence to show that Thomas Mann not only borrowed details from Klaus’s work, but also incorporated much data from his son’s biography into his portrayal of the tragic hero of Doktor Faustus.