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Chioveanu, 1

Isabela Cristina Chioveanu


Professor Drago Manea
Practical Course of English Language
June 25th 2015

United Spirits:The Interdependence of Faust and Mephistopheles in Goethes


Faust
The aim of this essay is to show the complementarity between Goethes Faust main
characters, Faust and Mephistopheles. In my opinion, they resemble the Chinese
philosophical concept of Yin-Yang, even from the symbol of this concept. Yin may be Faust,
the passive one, the bright side with a part of evil in it, and Mephistopheles may be Yang, the
active one with a kind of humanity in himself. The two ones make a whole, they cannot be
separated, as one exists in the other one.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 in Frankfurt am Main, into a wealthy
family. He studied classical languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew), and the modern languages of
the time (English, French, Italian), natural sciences, arts (music, painting, architecture),
philosophy, fencing and horse riding. With a rich store of knowledge, he begins his studies at
Leipzig, finalizing them at Strassburg in 1771 with a degree in Civil and Canon Law.
Goethe is fascinated by the medieval legend of Dr. Faustus and the real character of
the mystery behind the legend, magician and astrologist Johannes Faust, his existence is
documented in the archives of Bamberg in Germany, living between 1480 and 1540.
Johannes Manlius constitutes a collection of anecdotes, Locorum communium colectanea in
transposing adventurer Johannes Fausts story, which boasts its enchantments, the story being
told in the original by one of the leaders of the Reformation.(Vianu, VIII)
The motifs of the Faustian legend are known from ancient times, such as the rebellion,
the acquisition of knowledge and power, and also the pact with the devil in a Hebrew legend,
The Preacher Solomon, who presents him stealing from the devil Adramelech the stone of the
wise, which is another reference to knowledge acquisition motif mentioned above. After the

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devil puts Solomon to sleep, the devil throws the stone in the sea, but the wizards claimed it
by invoking the devil, making a pact with him, signed with their own blood.
Another version of the Faustian legend is Christopher Marlowes one, The Tragical
History of Dr. Faustus, a version more focused on morality and Christianity and on the denial
of God by signing the pact with the Devil and perpetual regret of both Faust and
Mephistopheles, a fallen angel:
Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Thinkst thou that I who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of Heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells,
In being deprivd of everlasting bliss? (Marlowe,

29)
Faust is stirred up by an evil angel who tells him that it is too late to cancel the pact,
but, in opposition, a good angel occurs, trying to return Faust on the good way. In the end,
Faust's spirit will go to hell, according to the pact. Mephistopheles is a Faustian alter ego as
he regrets, like Faust, joining the forces of evil, and they become spirits of the same clique,
they become a whole.
Tudor Vianu stated in his work, Studii de literatur universal i comparat that
Goethe's poem is the capital work of his life, containing the fruit of his experiences as a
person and artist and an icon of the whole development of modern society.1(Vianu, 258) This
work may enclose all genres, and yet none, for combining both epic and lyrical and the
dramatic. The beginning of work is bizarre, with a Dedication to the witnesseses of the poets
life, and with the Prelude on Stage, cautioning the public that they are not facing a normal
part of the time, continuing with the Prologue in Heaven, where the real action starts. It is
interesting that this Prologue, Mephistopheles, the devil, is in Heaven with God and the
Archangels, being accepted by them. This vision seems to me to be a modern one where the
good is not pure anymore and evil is not seen such a harmful force, as it is shown in
Marlowes work. After God and Mephistopheles entered into the pact of Fausts corruption,
the Creator gives an interesting reply on the vision of the demon:
You can appear freely too:

1 The quotation in original: rodul tuturor experienelor sale ca om i artist i o icoan a ntregii
dezvoltri a societii moderne.

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Those like you Ive never hated.


Of all the spirits who deny, its you,
The jester, whos most lightly weighted.
Mans energies all too soon seek the level,
He quickly desires unbroken slumber,
So I gave him you to join the number,
To move, and work, and play the devil.
But you the genuine sons of light,
Enjoy the living beauty bright!
Becoming, that works and lives forever,
Embrace you in loves limits dear,
And all that may as Appearance waver,
Fix firmly with everlasting Idea! (Goethe,

18)
This response highlights the demons superiority over the human being who, to work,
or more broadly say, not to fall into monotony, he needs an element that wakes him from that
state. If Faust was not satisfied with all that knew, this discontent was probably induced by
the Devil, Mephistopheles's intervention, since he appeared as a dog, he unexpectedly
changed Fausts life. However, when Faust tries to make translation of the Bible, he seems
indifferent to everything related to the world and life:
Its written here: In the Beginning was the Word!
Here I stick already! Who can help me? Its absurd,
Impossible, for me to rate the word so highly
I must try to say it differently. (Goethe, 53)

Mephistopheles sanctiones Fausts thinking and behaviour, giving it an unexpected


answer when Faust asked him what is his name:
A slight question
For one who so disdains the Word,
Is so distant from appearance: one
Whom only the vital depths have stirred.

(Goethe, 56)
Mephistopheles mocks not only the passivity of Faust, but also the mentality of
people in general, because man by nature is more interested in appearance and not the
essence of things, he is interested in putting words in a beautiful form, but not what lies
behind them. He mocks especially "scholars" who are just trying to look for the essence, but
are deceived by appearances.
Constantin Noica has an interesting view in his work Desprirea de Goethe on the
importance of the Devil in Goethes Faust, Mephistopheles is considered the active character,
who controls the worlds mechanisms through his interventions: But that will show the
efficacy of neutralizing the Devil! Just the fact that he's not "evil" will make him work
everywhere, investing him with divine powers, or in any case this prerogative to make the

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world move where God doesnt move hearts. Is the Devil not evil anymore? No, he is not,
since there is no good.2 (Noica, 183)
He goes further, saying that the Devil would be the main character of Goethes work,
which is doomed do everything through his intellect, without eros or reason. According to
this opinion, Mephistopheles resembles Faust, being complementary to him, with an
intelligence which always tends toward irony, like Fausts apparent desire for knowledge.
According to George Ohsawas The Unique Principle, Yin and Yang are contrary
forces which attract each other, they produce each other, just as Mephistopheles and Faust are
complementary: Fire is evidently Yang, and it has and must have the following
characteristics: constriction, gravity and centripetal force. In the effect, it possesses them all.
But air, the atmosphere, being Yin () due to its coolness, its dilation, and its eccentric
movement is completely in oppoistion to fire, Yang. () The fire, being less powerful and
smaller in size than the air, which is infinitely more vast, is attracted to the power above.
(Ohsawa, 19) They enforce one another and ones personality is reflected in another ones
one. Mephistopheles gives strength to Faust through his tests and Faust gives Mephistopheles
a human side. In fact, they were not a whole from the beginning, they become one, through
their actions.
Tudor Vianu notices that in the scene when the pact is entered into, it is interrupted by
the young student with a similar attitude toward knowledge as Fausts. The student, like
Faust, wants to study for the sake of doing so, not because it would enrich his spirit.(Vianu,
258) Faust wants, through this pact to be so happy, that he could tell the Moment Stay a
while! You are so lovely (Goethe, 70). Through everything that he goes along with
Mephistopheles, Faust experiences vulgarity, which is not attracted to, pure love for
Margaret, trying to help her when she was accused of infanticide but is she is executed.In that
2 The original quotation: Dar tocmai neutralizarea Diavolului i va arta eficacitatea! Tocmai faptul
c el nu e "rul" l va face s funcioneze peste tot, nvestindu-l cu prerogative divine, sau n orice caz
cu prerogativa aceasta de a pune lumea n act, acolo unde Dumnezeu nu pune n micare inimile. C
Diavolul nu mai e rul? Nu, nu mai este, de vreme ce nu exist nici binele.

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scene, Mephistopheles asked him to come with him, so he would not be executed along with
Margaret. Mephistopheles's action has a double meaning, as he may begin to care of Faust, or
he just wants to win pact with God, so he keeps Faust alive.
Noica sees the pact as implausible, because, in his view, the soul has no value for
Faust, he is already spiritually dead, and the pleasure, the purpose of this pact, is implausible
for the same reason. The hero sells something that has no value to him, the soul, in exchange
for something that does not interest him, the pleasure. There is neither tragic, nor dramatic,
and the pact is improbable, so it becomes just a game. (Noica, 183)
Back to the scene with the student, that is an important moment for the Devils
manifestation as Fausts complementary, as he literally takes on Fausts long gown on him.
Before the advent of the student, Mephistopheles gives a monologue summarizing all
Goethes Faust, referring to the passive nature of man (implicitly of Fausts) to despise
reason and clinging to appearances With those magic arts that blind you (Goethe, 76), and
human pleasures, which Mephistopheles will give to Faust according to the pact, but he will
die, and no demonic force will be needed for this, as Noica stated: The devil was a ghost, and
a pretext, and a name. We are alone. And we really, or we're falling apart, in becoming
nothingness even without the devils.3(Noica, 181). In front of the student, Mephistopheles
plays his role as a teacher, gives advices to him just like a parent, which makes him somehow
too human to be a demon.
If Faust can not bear encounters with his students, Mephistopheles takes this role not
to make them wait. In fact, the tests which Mephistopheles gives to Faust are made to make
him understand that the small pleasures in life are insignificant besides reason and knowledge
we can acquire through the human mind. Thus, at the end of the poem, when Faust asks
Mephistopheles to move Philemon and Bauciss house, he burnt it. Faust is deeply upset and
four Grey Women enter : Want, Guilt, Necessity, Care. The latter follows closely, for Care
3 The original quotation: Diavolul e o fantom, i un pretext, i un nume. Sntem singuri. i sntem
cu adevrat, sau ne prbuim, chiar i fr diavoli, n nefiina devenirii.

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should be present in all human undertaking. Faust realizes that the value of life lies in his
actions, and then he goes blind. As has created a thriving country, he is deeply satisfied
because thousands of people will dwell in the land which he snatched from the waves, he
utters the phrase that would cancel the pact with Mephistopheles and the expected Moment
stays in place. He collapses, being put in the pit by lemurs. He was not satisfied with the
possession, but more than that, the idea that his work will help other people. Mephistopheles
loses the bet, and the soul of Faust rises to heaven, being glorified by the sacred spirits,
among whom was Margaret.
Mephistopheles and Faust resemble the Yin-Yang concept through their personalities,
as one lie in each others being. Without the Devils help, Faust couldnt achieve that
perfect Moment and Mephistopheles couldnt gain that sort of humanity he had, without the
tests he gave to Faust, as their spirits coexist.

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Works cited
1. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust. E-book.
2. Marlowe, Cristopher. The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. E-book.
3. Noica, Constantin. Desprirea de Goethe. Bucharest: Humanitas, 2000. Print.
4. Ohsawa, George. The Unique Principle. E-book.
5. Vianu, Tudor. Studii de literatur universal i comparat. Bucharest: Editura
Academiei Republicii Populare Romne, 1963. Print

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