Depicting the Importance of Evil for Mankind In Faust, the role of Mephistopheles depicts Goethe’s view of the nature of evil. Mephistopheles is depicted as witty, materialistic, contradicting, and cynical. Goethe also portrays evil as being arrogant when Mephistopheles responds to the Lord by saying, No, nothing, Lord--all’s just as bad as ever. I really pity humanity’s myriad miseries, I swear I hate tormenting the poor ninnies (ll. 56-58) ...When corpses come A-knocking, sorry, Master’s left the house; My way of working’s the cat’s way with the mouse. (ll. 80-82) Mephistopheles does not have any religious or moral values, and believes that mankind can find lasting happiness through animalistic pleasures. Goethe’s view of evil is deleterious …show more content…
During this scene, Faust is disgusted with the animalistic rituals and mysterious atmosphere of the environment however his attention is grasped by what he sees in the mirror. Faust is aroused by the figure of a female body which he sees in the mirror and is even more excited when ingests a potion that makes him young and sexually appealing. Mephistopheles states, With that stuff in him, old Jack will Soon see a Helen in every Jill (ll. 2405-2406). In other words, Mephistopheles is saying that Faust will perceive every female he sees as sexually attractive. Noticing Faust’s excitement, Mephistopheles see this as an opportunity for him to gain Faust’s soul. Goethe uses this scene to foreshadow both the potential of evil in keeping Faust’s soul and in showing Faust the way of living of a “higher” individual. Goethe portrays a glimpse that lust is an evil force that can cause a person to abandon their morals and principles as well. Goethe also makes it evident that Faust desired to experience sexual attraction before ingesting the potion. This symbolizes man’s invitation of evil into one’s life is key to changing their spiritual