Theme of Faust

Theme of Faust

From the start it is evident that the career and destiny of Faust are to be endowed with universal significance . The whole meaning of human life is to be involved in the process of the tragedy . The position is stated by Goethe in little more than a hundred concise lines , but they suffice to describe the relationship of God and man , good and evil , and the peculiar character of the principal figure in terms necessary to the grand theme of the poem . Faust is , to be sure , a special case

, despite his symbolical value . He is an exceptional person that is why he is chosen by the Lord as an illustration of his contention . Faust from the beginning is recognized as having something of the superman about him something that lifts him out of the ordinary mundane sphere . His tragedy is the tragedy of an extraordinary person , possessing qualities which imperil as well as elevate . Not all mankind can , or should be , like him though he displays some attributes which mankind should foster and respect , and some which it should overcome (Peacock 58

Faust has titanic urge to understand what transcends the comprehension of celestial beings . All the four university faculties cannot achieve what they accept as impossible . It is , to be sure , God 's purpose that man should learn to know his true place in the universe , and this means not only the acquisition of understanding but also the recognition of its limits . The cause of man 's misery is the power of reason 'Vernunft der Schein des Himmelslichts , God 's own gift that distinguishes man from the animals . This attribute lifts man 's gaze towards Heaven and causes him to seek the meaning of its mysteries it is that which gives him self-consciousness , the power of discrimination , freedom of will

Faust , we find , is in despair , not because he uses his power of reason but because he has neglected his other powers and has in fact to learn their use (Smeed 45 . God 's gift to him has been a source of torment because it has prevented him from being of this earth . He must manifest his earthly and heavenly character together . Man is a hybrid being . That is his glory and his tragedy

There is a much greater significance in the Lord 's selection of Faust as an instance with which to refute Mephistopheles ' criticism than at first sight appears (Gillies 92 . The latter believes that he is a classic example of his own point of view , and indeed there is much to make him appear so . Yet the Lord chooses him . He thus becomes a symbol - a symbol , though an unusual individual . Mephistopheles , debating about him with the Lord , as Satan did about Job , declares that he is not only crazy , but half-conscious that he is . Not all men , the Lord implies , are as Mephistopheles alleges . Faust is an exception . His extreme nature , in fact , brings out the point which Mephistopheles makes negatively...