Faust and Mephistopheles, by Harry Clarke (1925)
Faust is a dramatic duology by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and an adaptation of the 16th century folk legend about the eponymous sorcerer that supposedly sold his soul to the devil.
The first part is far better known than the second.
- Faust: First Part of the Tragedy (1808): Faust makes a deal with the demon Mephistopheles and engages in a love affair with the innocent Gretchen which has dire consequences for the latter.
- Faust: Second Part of the Tragedy (1832): More incredible adventures of Faust and Mephistopheles, until Faust grows old and Mephisto makes ready to collect his prize.
Tropes present in both parts of Faust:
- The Bet: Two of these form the impetus of the story. First, Mephistopheles wagers with God that he can draw God's favorite human, Faust, away from righteousness. Second, Faust wagers with Mephistopheles that the devil can never make Faust feel a moment of such sublime happiness that he wishes for time to stand still - if Mephistopheles succeeds, Faust will die instantly and serve Mephistopheles in Hell. While Faust loses his bet with Mephistopheles, that moment of happiness was caused by Faust's good deeds later in life, meaning that the ultimate winner of the wagers is God, who takes Faust's soul up to Heaven.
- Big Bad: Mephistopheles, AKA Satan, is responsible for everything with his manipulation of Faust.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Mephistopheles openly addresses the audience in several scenes and even inserts some occasional meta commentary on himself as a mythological/fictional character.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mephistopheles, often at the expense of the humans that surround him. It doesn't come across very well in some translations, but when it does it renders him by far the most entertaining part of the play.
- Deal with the Devil: Though Faust's contract with Mephistopheles here is a wager, not a trade.
- Familiar: As his part of his deal with Faust, Mephistopheles becomes Faust's permanent companion and servant. In other words, he is Faust's familiar.
- The Ingenue: Gretchen, the innocent young girl whose love eventually plays a part in redeeming Faust.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After all of his scheming, trickery, and manipulations, Mephistopheles eventually manages to fulfill Faust's condition, and wins the wager, claiming his soul. Except, the transcendental moment that Faust experienced was caused by his good deeds - meaning that while Mephistopheles won the wager with Faust, he lost the wager he had with God, as he had failed to lure Faust away from righteousness, meaning that Faust's soul instead belonged to God and would go to Heaven, meaning that all of Mephistopheles' actions were for naught.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: This is generally one of the earliest works to portray the devil this way - a suave, intelligent, and cultivated Deadpan Snarker. One of his first lines calls attention to how sharply he's dressed.
- Lighter and Softer: The most famous version of the Faust story ends with Faust's salvation rather than damnation and fall into Hell.
- Protagonist Title: Ironically, many theatrical posters and book covers of Faust feature Mephistopheles and not the main character who is, you know, right there in the title.
- The Remake: Goethe certainly knew Doctor Faustus and to a degree the duology is a remake of the Marlowe play.
- Satan: While in previous embodiments of the Faust tale Mephistopheles was a devil, Goethe suggests that he may just be the Devil.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Goethe is the first author that has Faust go to Heaven.
