Faust, Part One

The first part of Faust officially begins, after the Prologue, with Faust sitting restlessly in his study and complaining about the state of his life and his pursuit of knowledge. He says that he “take[s] no pleasure in anything now” (I.4.370) and “see[s] all our search for knowledge is vain,/ And this burns my heart with bitter pain” (I.4.364-65). Faust instead turns to magic to help him, calling on spirits to “show me many a secret sight” and “grant me a vision of Nature’s forces” (I.4.379-82), so that his questions about the world can be answered and he can stop “peddling in words that mean nothing to me” (I.4.385).

Faust opens a book of magic by Nostradamus and first sees the Sign of the Macrocosm, which gives him a sense of “sudden ecstasy” but leaves him unfulfilled (I.4.430). He then turns to another page and sees the Earth Spirit, who he connects with and summons. When the Earth Spirit appears, however, Faust cowers in fear, and the Spirit tells Faust he is not the spirit that Faust seeks: “You match the spirit you can comprehend:/ I am not he,” the Earth Spirit says, vanishing (I.4.512-13). 

Faust collapses in despair when he hears a knock at the door, and Wagner, his academic servant, arrives. The two men argue about knowledge and its pursuit; Wagner wants to continue his scholarly pursuits and seek Enlightenment, while Faust tells him he should instead “learn to ply an honest trade” and “drop the pursuit of words” (I.4.548-53). Wagner says he’ll call on Faust tomorrow to talk further, on Easter Sunday, and when he leaves Faust delivers a long monologue about his despair that the Earth Spirit has rejected him. In his misery, Faust sees a flask of poison and resolves to kill himself, saying that he will “step gladly over this great brink,/ And if it is the void, into the void to sink!” (I.4.718-19).

As Faust puts the cup of poison to his lips, however, a chorus of Angels appears and starts singing about Christ’s Resurrection. The angels’ song inspires Faust to reverse his decision and stay alive, reminding him of his childhood and inspiring him to declare that he “love[s] the earth once more” (I.4.784).

Scene 5 takes place outside the town wall, where townspeople are setting out on country walks and gossiping about the others in town. Faust and Wagner set out on their walk with them, and the townspeople praise Faust and are excited that he’s there, as Faust’s father helped the town when it was infected by plague. As Faust walks on, though, he tells Wagner that the townspeople are mistaken and he “feel[s] mocked by their adulation” (I.4.1030), as the potion that his father made poisoned people instead of making them well.

Wagner says that Faust should not let this trouble him, as his father’s actions were practiced with a “good conscience and good will” (I.4.1058). The two talk about Reason and nature, as Faust muses about the beauty of nature and his desire to fly through the air and see it, while Wagner says he’s only moved by the “pursuit of intellectual things” (I.4.1104). Faust says that “Division tears my life in two” between wanting the world and wanting to transcend it (I.4.1113), and he calls on a spirit to come and carry him away to a far-off land. Wagner warns Faust against this, as there are demons flying around that “bring men danger in a thousand forms” and “love to lie and cheat” (I.4.1128-39).

Faust spots a black poodle and is instantly taken by it, thinking it’s a spirit. Wagner, however, convinces Faust it’s just a regular dog, and the two men pass back through the gates into the town. 

Faust goes back to his study with the black poodle still following him, and gets angry that the poodle won’t stop growling and running around while he’s trying to work. Suddenly, though, he sees the poodle beginning to grow and change shape, and realizes that it is some sort of beast or “hobgoblin.” Spirits gather in the passage outside and say that an “old hell-lynx” is trapped inside (I.6.1262), and vow to help him as he sets himself free. Faust tries to defeat the beast by using magic and summoning spirits, but it does not work and the poodle becomes Mephistopheles, who’s dressed as a “medieval wandering student” (I.6.1322).

Mephistopheles introduces himself and his penchant for destruction and evil (“Destruction, sin, evil in short, is all/ My sphere,” he tells Faust) (I.6.1343-44), and expresses his regret that he hasn’t been able to destroy the Earth. Faust tells him to go away and “look for something else to do” (I.6.1384), and Mephistopheles says he’ll leave but will return so they can talk further. The only issue, however, is that Mephistopheles can’t leave, as Faust has a pentagram drawn on his floor (but with a small enough error that Mephistopheles could get in), and so Faust invites him to stay a little while longer. Mephistopheles gathers spirits to sing to Faust, which puts him to sleep while Mephistopheles escapes. Faust wakes up and wonders if seeing Mephistopheles was just a dream.

In Scene 7, Faust is sitting in his study when Mephistopheles returns. He is dressed as a cavalier and tells Faust that he can “be ruled by me” and “learn what the good life can be” (I.7.1541-43). Faust expresses his anxiety and discontentment with his life and Mephistopheles tells him he knows that Faust tried to commit suicide, but stopped himself. A chorus of invisible spirits sings that Faust has “destroyed/ the beautiful world” and must “begin new/ ways of living” (I.7.1608-22), and Mephistopheles says he’ll “wholly devote” himself to Faust (I.7.1645). He tells Faust, “And if you are satisfied/ I shall be your servant, always at your side!” (I.7.1647-48). 

Faust asks what Mephistopheles wants in exchange, and Mephistopheles suggests he wants Faust’s soul in hell when he dies: “In this world I will bind myself to cater/ For all your whims,” he says, and “when we meet in the next world […]/ Wages in the same kind will then fall due” (I.7.1656-59). Faust thinks that’s fine and asks if Mephistopheles can really comprehend a “human spirit’s high activity,” and if he will give him such things as “food that still leaves one unsatisfied,” a girl with a “roving eye,” and “a meteoric fame/ That fades as quickly as it came” (I.7.1677-85). Mephistopheles says he can, and Faust eschews Mephistopheles’ suggestion that he might want just “quiet satisfaction” instead (I.7.1691), saying he does not want to be lulled into “self-sufficiency” and “base inaction” (I.7.1692-95). If he does ever “lie down in sloth” (I.7.1692), Faust tells Mephistopheles he can die right then and Mephistopheles can have his soul.

Mephistopheles asks Faust to sign the deal with his blood, which Faust does, but insists he won’t renege on their agreement. Faust tells Mephistopheles that he wants to “strive with all my energies” and “slake hot passions in” with Mephistopheles’ help (I.7.1743-50), and wants more than just “mere pleasure” (1765). He tells Mephistopheles, “My mind shall grasp the heights/ And depths” of human feeling, “my heart know all their sorrows and delights” (I.7.1772-73).

Mephistopheles suggests that Faust bring a Poet along to help him, but Faust refuses. Mephistopheles goes along with what Faust wants, and suggests that they’ll start by going away. One of Faust’s students knocks on the door and Mephistopheles tells Faust to go and get packed, disguising himself as Faust instead. After Faust leaves, Mephistopheles says to himself that Faust is “mine” and that he will “drag him through life’s wastes” and make him “struggle like a bird stuck fast” (I.7.1856-62). Mephistopheles says, “Even without this devil’s bond that he has signed/ [Faust is] doomed to perish nonetheless!” (I.7.1866-67).

The student, a new arrival, and Mephistopheles talk about his future, as Mephistopheles suggests various courses of academic study to the student, like philosophy, theology, and medicine. Mephistopheles brings up issues with each one, however, and says that the student should “just let self-confidence carry you along” (I.7.2021). The student is grateful for Mephistopheles (as Faust)’s “wisdom” and leaves, planning to come back again. 

Faust reenters and expresses anxieties about Mephistopheles taking him out into the world, because of his “beard,” “age,” and that he’s “no good on the social stage” (I.7.2056-57), but Mephistopheles promises that this will change and he will “learn savoir-faire when you learn confidence” (2063). Mephistopheles tells Faust that they will leave by spreading their cloaks and flying away.