The Character Arc of Goethe’s Faust

The Faust of Part 1 is a bad man. He ruins a young girls life completely. He has killed Her mother and brother, he gets Gretchen pregnant and then deserts her. He’s a bad man, a solipsist who can’t get in the mind of others, he doesn’t seem to empathize because he’s too concerned with himself. This is the pessimistic Goethe writing Part 1. Part 2 is the optimistic Goethe, where Faust beaks his solipsism and by doing so, realizes the divinity within himself to do good for the other for its own sake. In the end, it’s in the gift of giving where Faust finds his transcendence, that moment is what he traded his soul to the devil for, and Mephisto has already h/as begun digging his gave, but attending angels diverts the devil’s attention, and Faust is born up. His soul is saved. A lot more happens, it’s a saga, that coves philosophy, poetry, aesthetics, religion. Like all great books, it’s about everything.