Goethes Faust: Representing Good and Evil - Essay Example

In a Christian perspective, desire and lust are largely related to the concept of evil, and in this perspective the utter evil is the sexual desire of a woman (Schulte et al. 34). Apparently, the enormous sexual appetite of Mephistopheles is not condemned; instead, it is viewed paradoxically. The devil, who is the great tempter, allows himself to be tempted, and by those who are remotely enticing (Goethe 99): In every limb they crumble at a touch, One knows all this, eyes and hands tell as much, And yet when these sluts play the tune, one dances!

Nevertheless, it is not astonishing that Mephistopheles, with his numerous transformations, has several positive attributes, or goodness, as well. Primarily he plays as a brilliant judge of Faust and reveals that the unrealistic vanities of his enemy, his absurd desires and ‘wisdom’ are unreasonable. Mephistopheles depicts himself as a strong supporter of sexual desire, of the worldly, and of greed. The endless struggle and determination of Faust truly merits the sarcastic remarks of Mephistopheles, because Faust is “A luckless egocentric without measure” (Schulte et al. 36). Furthermore, Mephistopheles attracts the readers’ empathy because he contradicts himself.

When he discovers that the mother of Gretchen has surrendered the jewels to the priest, which is a gift he had looted and Faust had offered to her, he begins to fume with anger. He says (Goethe 88): May the devil take me, I would say If I weren’t the devil myself.. When he discovers that the mother of Gretchen has surrendered the jewels to the priest, which is a gift he had looted and Faust had offered to her, he begins to fume with anger. He says (Goethe 88): May the devil take me, I would say If I weren’t the devil myself.

Mephistopheles is a contemporary rendition of evil, a contemplative devil. One may contest and claim that the different attributes of Mephistopheles can barely be viewed as evil or good. Mephistopheles represents not just the harmonious relationship between good and evil in a single entity, but also reveals that the good will not be present in the absence of evil. Evil is the indispensable requirement for good. The devil’s otherness should be an important element of human existence. The story ignores that fact, and hence the moral aspect of evil becomes unimportant.

Faust even represents good and evil like two peas in a pod. To remove the dividing line between good and evil is a technique for underestimating the horror of evil. Another technique is to increase the frequency of evil occurrences. If a lot of events can be filled with the idea of evil, every one of them becomes immaterial and unimportant. It is not treacherous, or interesting, anymore. The evil that takes place in innumerable types can obviously be more simply incorporated into a notion that treats good and evil as an important component of an entirety (Boyle 94).

Goethe’s drama uses both techniques. In its revolutionary rendition, evil triumphantly destroys any faith in humanity, a faith that humanity needs so as to discover its place in it. The multiple, if not limitless, characteristics of Mephistopheles, all the transformations he undergoes, could be interpreted as an indication that evil in the end