Good and Evil in Goethes Faust :: Faust Essays

Good and Evil in Faust   In Faust Goethe figures many of his opinions some rock-steady, evil, and religion. Goethe uses characters like The Lord and Gretchen in the early part of the play to slew examples of goodness. Goethe uses characters like Mephistopheles to affiliation for evil. Throughout the play Goethe also uses examples of the church to show how he feels the church works.             The model of good for Goethe is that everyone has the ability to be good and that errors in judgment are what make people bad only if if a person keeps striving these mistakes go away bring them closer to righteousness. As long as a person continues to keep moving and doing things they will most likely achieve righteousness. This is shown in the bet between Faust and Mephistopheles. Faust says that if at any time he says, Linger a while grand piano art so fair that will be when Faust dies and serves Mephistopheles. This shows tha t if Faust were to stop wanting to do anything it would be a horrible offense. The Lord which many observe to stand for God stands for the perfection that Faust is trying to accomplish with his life. Gretchen in the early part of the play stands for perfection because she is inexperienced and knows nothing else until Faust starts to seduce her.             The concept of bad for Goethe can be seen most in the character of Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is believed to stand for the devil. When he first introduces himself he describes himself as a part of that world power which always wills evil, always procures good.....the Spirit which always denies. Mephistopheles actions such as public lecture Faust into taking advantage of Gretchen and then telling him to leave her are seen as evil actions. The fact that Mephistopheles spends time with witches which most people see as evil shows that he is also evil. Goethe believes that all people sin sometimes and God forgives us. This is shown when Gretchen is in prison and after all the sin she has do a voice from heaven grants her salvation. Even though she did sin, most of her sin was because of inexperience and she was not purposely sinning.             Goethe feels that the church and religion are two useless. When Faust leaves Gretchen the first jewels, her mother takes them to the church. The church takes them saying that they are trying to help, but this can be seen as the church just trying to invite money out of them.