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The Character of Mephistopheles in Faust
Mephistopheles, from the epic poem Faust, by Goethe, is one of the most interesting characters if examined carefully. Much like today's crude interpretations of the devil, Mephistopheles was a skeptic, a gambler, self- confident, witty, stubborn, smart, creative, tempting and of course, evil. There were very ironic things about him. Though he was evil, he was a force of goodness. The evil in him was portrayed in the negative aspects of Faust's personality, which showed that no matter how powerful the Lord was, the devil would always have an impact on a persons life and decisions.
Mephistopheles was very much of a skeptic and a gambler. In the "Prologue in Heaven", Mephistopheles bet the Lord that he could turn Faust against him and make him do evil. This was ironic because most people would never dream of speaking to the Lord in this way. This showed that Mephistopheles was self- confident and witty. He was very set in his ways and beliefs and found it difficult to believe that God could keep total control over Faust, or any one else for that matter.
Though Mephistopheles was a skeptic when it came to many things such as natural phenomenon of life, he did believe the Lord when he told Mephistopheles that he had power. Mephistopheles even preached this word to people. After speaking to one of Faust's students, he wrote in his yearbook. It said: "Eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malorum ", meaning "You shall be like God, knowing good and evil". (line 2075) This is a quote from the book of Genesis 3:5 of the Bible. By Mephistopheles saying this quote, he was admitting that God had power and did know what good and evil were. He also believed that he could overcome God, therefore saying that he was more powerful than the Lord.
Mephistopheles was very smart and creative when it came to luring in his victims of evil. In "Outside the City Gate", Mephistopheles disguised himself as a dog and followed Faust home. Faust knew this dog was evil. He said the dog was "circling around" him and "a wake of fire's streaming behind him" (lines 1175-1179). Every time Faust would begin reading the Bible, the dog would bark as a sign of disbelief and wrongs about it. The next day, in Faust's study, the devil showed up again, but this time in the form of a nobleman tempting Faust to "a life of limitless wealth and pleasure" in return for his soul for eternity.
Setting: The setting of the story takes place in Germany during the Holocaust. In the story the family lives in Berlin, Germany which is a very large city in Germany. As history shows us Berlin was partially taken by the Nazi’s and was the split between the Nazi’s territory and the USSR, US, and Great Britain territory. The family moved out of the city and into wide open land called the “Out-With”.
The first victims of satire in Faust are Satan and God, who appear in somewhat small-scale form in an early scene that parallels the Book of Job. In Goethe's Heaven reigns "The Lord," to whom a trio of archangels ascribe creation. Enter Mephistopheles, and all semblance of seriousness is lost. Introduced as a demon, and arguably THE Devil, he is witty, cynical, and in general a caricature of what religionists throughout the ages have labeled pure evil. The Lord proceeds to give Mephistopheles permission to go to his "good servant" Faust,...
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel in which Atwood creates a world which seems absurd and near impossible. Women being kept in slavery only to create babies, cult like religious control over the population, and the deportation of an entire race, these things all seem like fiction. However Atwood's novel is closer to fact than fiction; all the events which take place in the story have a base in the real world as well as a historical precedent. Atwood establishes the world of Gilead on historical events as well as the social and political trends which were taking place during her life time in the 1980's. Atwood shows her audience through political and historical reference that Gilead was and is closer than most people realize.
The godless man of old was a scholar, a relentless pursuer of knowledge and science at a time that this pursuit was still not considered entirely trustworthy. Moving towards the Enlightenment, European society was backing slowly away from the conservative church and towards intellectual curiosities, however being that the church still was powerful and people highly superstitious, such advancements were often met with suspicion. A scholar or scientist at this time, especially if not tied closely enough with the church, straddled the line between cautious acceptance and persecution. Simply put, in a time of great religious change, scholars were a sign of the changing times and were in a precarious position because of it. So for the Faust of Mephisto to be a stage actor is most fitting, because in the early years of the Third Reich, they occupied a rather similar position. Consider: rather than the religious upheaval occurring from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, pre-war and Nazi Germany was experiencing a political one. The democracy of the Weimarer Republic gave way to the politics of the National Socialist party, which affected the theater greatly. Nazism had an agenda to change the country’s physical and ideal aesthetic, and popular theater was a very useful propaganda tool, considered by Hanns Johst, president of the German writer’s union and creator of the famous
With each rule that governs their lives comes a punishment for disobeying it. Though being unable to express any sort of individuality is difficult for the women of Gilead, the thought of being hung at a ‘Salvaging’ or t...
Faustus was neither tricked nor deceived, rather his conceit and over-reaching desire for knowledge assured him a place in Hell. If but for an instant he was to look past his pride, he would have seen Mephistopheles’ hidden approbation for heaven in his discourse on the cosmos, amongst the numerous other omens the Doctor was presented with. It was only in his final hour, after laying his soul to waste, Faustus was able to see his responsibility in condemning himself to Lucifer. As the final line Faustus screams while being dragged to hell implies, “I will burn my books,” he has finally acknowledged his egotism, which rested in intellect.
This principle from the Bible is used throughout ‘The Handmaids Tale’, the principles being that it is the idea of both assemblages that a women’s duty is to have children and that it is acceptable for a man to be angry if a women can not produce a child. Both these beliefs show that in jointly the Bible and ‘The Handmaids Tale’, women are completely defined by fertility and are classed as ‘walking wombs’. ‘The Handmaids Tale’ recreates the selected stanzas from the bible with Jacob, Rachel, Leah and the two handmaids. The tale is an Old Testament story about surrogate mothers, on which the novel is based. The section gives biblical precedent for the several practices of Gilead, by doing this it paves the way for Atwood to comment on patriarchy where women are undervalued and abused in all walks of life. The idea is also expressed later when we discover the ‘Red Centre’ governmentally known as the ‘Rachel and Leah Centre’. As the basis of the novel it is replicated many times throughout the text, for example, it is found in the family reading before the monthly ceremonies, and in Rachel’s plea ‘give me children, or else I die’. This clearly lays emphasis on the threat to the Handmaids life. By failing to produce a child, they will be classed as Unwomen and sent to the Colonies to die.
Having a child in Gilead was no longer a pleasurable activity, but a privilege, and children were considered valuable commodities as well. Like categories of fruits and vegetables, children were divided into two categories based on their health: “keepers” and “unbabies”, just as women were deemed “woman” or “unwoman” based on their fertility. “There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law” (Atwood 61). In Gilead, procreation is industrialized and the handmaids are reduced to one essential function: reproduction. All other aspects of the women’s sexuality and individualism are outlawed and repudiated. When called to meet with the Commander, Offred ruminates:
In conclusion, it is essential that fear is conquered in order to survive. Fear manifests when the boy’s lives are on the line, and fear of the beast confirms the nature of evil. Fear is an unpleasant emotion with the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. It is important to realize that society as it is can manifest many fears, but to survive one must conquer them. Our fears can range and vary at many different levels: from fear of the dark, and to fear for your life. To become better people, we must not let our fears consume us and instead, overcome them.
In Gilead most of the wives can no longer have children. Keeping a town alive requires reproduction. In order to do this the government groups all the women able to have children together. They are called handmaids and they are basically like a mistress, “they are continual reminders of the Wives’ failures to conceive” (Callaway 55). When the handmaids go to the commander’s room there is only one thing it is for. They are trying to get pregnant. During the intercourse of the commander and the handmaid the wife is in the room watching. Not only does she watch but she holds the handmaids hand. “Serena Joy grips my hands as if it is she, not I, who’s being fucked” (Atwood 94).
Having attained all that he desires from the knowledge of man, Marlowe’s character Faustus turns to the only remaining school of thought that he feels he must master which is the art of necromancy. In his pursuits, he manages to summon the devil Mephistopheles, arch demon of hell, and strikes a deal to trade his immortal soul with Lucifer in exchange for being granted an infinite amount of power and knowledge that extends even beyond the limits of human understanding. However in the process of negotiating the terms of his pact, it becomes clear that Faust is in a constant state of uncertainty in terms of whether he should repent and forsake the arrangement or simply go through with it. This underlying theme of internal struggle is introduced very early and reappears in later acts with the appearance of established binaries that suggest a theme of division not only among the character of John Faustus, but within the written text as a whole. This suggests that Faustus is meant to serve as a symbol for the divided nature of man and the consequences of failing to negotiate the struggles that are a result of the divided self.
The first appearance of Faust in the story finds him having doubts about himself and the worth of his time spent in education. Undeterred by this depression, we see his pride has not diminished as he declares he is “cleverer than these stuffed shirts, these Doctors, M.A.s, Scribes and Priests, I’m not bothered by a doubt or a scruple, I’m not afraid of Hell or the Devil” (Goethe 633). Turning to magic to fill the void in his life, Faust conjures a spirit, but shrinks back from it in fear. In the ensuing argument between them, Faust asserts that he is the spirits “equal” (Goethe 637). Mephisto’s second visit at Faust’s residence leads them to having a drawn out discussion over the proposal of Mephisto serving Faust in exchange for his soul. Common sense might ask why a person would willingly discuss a deal with the devil knowing that it probably won’t end well. This instance would have to be answered that the imperious pride of Faust made him “so rash that he would give no heed to the salvation of his soul He thought the devil could not be so black as he is painted nor hell so hot as is generally supposed” (Fischer 107). In spite of his vast education, Faust’s pride pulls him into wagering his soul with Mephisto and causing the deaths of others and his
Mephistopheles’ motivation is the fact that he wants to win his bet that he made with the Lord. He believes that Faust is at a part in his life where he is confused, unsatisfied, and does not know what to do with his life, which is perfect timing for Mephistopheles to lead Faust down the evil path to hell. Faust is full of angst because he has mastered subjects like philosophy and medicine, but he thinks that he has not done anything for mankind. This leads him to learning magic so he can have the power of the universe, which leads him to a crossroads because this is going against God. He becomes hesitant at first when he begins wagering with Mephistopheles, but in time, we see that Faust has changed and keeps going to Mephistopheles before making decisions.
The problem of domestic violence in our society is indecent, almost forbidden, and so is surrounded by many fantasies and legends.
Besides Faustus, another significant character in the story is Mephistophilis. The most interesting aspect of Mephistophilis’s character is that he has mixed motives. At the beginning of the story, it is clear that he wants to play a role in Faustus’s damnation: