“The art of pleasing is the art of deception.” This is a quote by Luc de Clapiers that truly applies to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s Faust, Part I. Through the use of his characters, Goethe shows how one can easily be caught in the tangling web of deception. Throughout the course of the story, several characters are deceived by one another. It seems as if the deception follows a trickling down pattern. It first starts with God allowing Mephistopheles to tempt and deceive Faust. Then we move into Faust being deceived by Mephistopheles, or the devil. The deception, then flows through Faust and comes out to end with poor Gretchen.
The story of Faust, Part I begins in heaven with God, the angels, and Mephistopheles, also known in this story as the devil. Mephistopheles is having a conversation with
…show more content…
He is immediately smitten with her and he tells Mephistopheles that he wants her. Mephistopheles is hesitant at first because Gretchen is a pure soul. She just was leaving church when she met Faust. Faust is determined that he wants to be with Gretchen. Mephistopheles condones Faust’s wishes and makes it possible for Gretchen and Faust to meet again. From the very beginning, Faust and Gretchen’s relationship were predestined as no good. Essentially, Faust deceives Gretchen and turns her away from her pure and moral ways. She falls for Faust and believes he can do her no harm. In the end Faust ends up impregnating Gretchen. This results in Gretchen killing their child and getting her thrown in jail. This situation in today’s life might not be this extreme, but it can definitely relate to some today. So many people get involved with relationships that become toxic for them. One person will deceive the other from the start. They may make themselves out to be such a wonderful person from the start, but it could end in negative tragedy and lead them down the wrong roads in life as we witness in Faust, Part