Faust Prologue in Heaven

Author’s Background
 A story of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 Born on August 28, 1749, died on March 22, 1832
 Poet, playwright
Background of the work
 Two part dramatic work. Part 1 was published on 1808 and Part 2 on 1832 after
the author’s death
 Sometimes considered as Germany’s greatest contribution to world lit.
Characterization
Faust- intelligent, learned but bitter dissatisfied with the limitation of human knowledge
Mephistopheles- the devil himself, the spirit of negation
The Lord- creator of earth, God
Raphael- archangel, sings for the sun
Gabriel- archangel, sings for the revolution of the earth, night day and surging of the sea
Michael- sings for the storms that sweeps from land to sea and back again
Setting
The story took its place on the heavenly host.
Plot
 the 3 archangel are beholding and celebrating the Lord’s creation
 Mephistopheles enters heaven uninvited
 Mephistopheles tells the Lord the bestial and cruel ways of mankind
 The Lord counters these criticisms of humanity by citing Faust
 Mephistopheles proposes a bet
 The Lord let the devil tempt Faust
 The agreed upon the bet
 The Lord tells the devil to return invited if he succeeds damning Faust
 After their conversation, the Lord invites the archangels to delight and urges
them to be in solid thoughts
 The heaven closes and the devil was left alone
Styles of the author
Conflict- MAN TO HIMSELF
Flashback- Mephistopheles was a servant of God till he saw such bestial and cruel
ways of mankind then revolt from God
Fore Shadowing- God had anticipate that the devil would never damn Faust.
Cultural Implication- Theological underpinning, biblical allusion
Themes
 Supremacy and Power- one supreme being and ultimate power
 LOVE- redeemer of sins
 Faith- a lead for goodness and glory, one should have faith
 Temptation- when faith is not given value, something would put in danger
Implication of the title
Faust is a morality tale of sin and damnation, human striving for divine and salvation
through grace
This suggests how one person urges to be as knowledgeable as the Lord and accept in
the end that there is one true Supreme Being.