Faust and the Juxtaposition of Good and Evil Essay -- Literary Analysi

In Faust Part One, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, uses different characters in his play, like God, Mephistopheles, and Gretchen to portray the juxtaposition of good and bad. We be introduced to Faust, who as a mere human makes mistakes throughout the play under some influence of the devil. Therefore it is difficult to write him off as a completely evil being. However, Destros argument is extremely useful in helping to interpret Fausts character in a very levelheaded manner. Destro believes that Faust is a tragic hero for the purposes of the play, but as a person Faust is bad because of his actions and lack of enlightenment up until the near end of his life. Faust was a very narcissistic character who caused death and despair because of his carelessness and for that he is bad. Although Faust does show feelings of remorse and guilt in the dungeon scene, for studyity of the play, he is flawed and though Mephistopheles manipulated him, Faust had the office to maintain control over his own actions and urges therefore he is a bad or negative character. Faust is a fairly troubled individual. That is a major part of the play. Faust is not like typical humans of his time he is very curious, self-righteous and extreme and as Destro says, Faust has his own interpretation of morality that are not exactly typical (Page 60). Which helps the reader to understand Fausts character can be seen as highly problematic from an ordinary moral daub of view which is why Faust, regardless of his guilt allow never fully change and the pursuit of trying to gain moral clarity and substance will lead to nowhere because he is already very flawed (Destro 60). Essentially, Destro means that Faust was doomed because of his personal views and his desire to ga... ...ity in hell, unable to ever experience wonder again. Works Cited1. Andre, Alt, Peter. Mephistopheles Principles On the Construction of Evil in Goethes Faust I. Modern Language Review Vol. 6.1 (2011) 149-63. Print.2. Destro, A lberto==. The Guilty Hero, or the Tragic Salvation of Faust. A Companion to Goethes Faust move II and I. Rochester, NY Camden House, 2001. 56-75. Print.3. Colavito, Carl N. Educating for Democracy Lessons from Goethes Faust Colavito, Carl Nicholas. Diss. University of Florida, 2010. Miami Dissertation Abstract, 2010. Print.4. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von, and Peter Salm. Faust, First Part. New York Bantam, 1962. Print.5. Murray, Chris. Review Essay Give It Up in Despair Coleridge and Goethes Faust.Romanticism The Journal of Romantic Culture and upbraiding Vol 15.1 (2009) 1-15. Print.