What ended the life of Faust. "Faust

Year: 1800 Genre: tragedy

Main characters: scientist Faust, God and Mephistopheles

The tragedy begins with a dedication in which the author recalls the years of his youth. He remembered his first love, first dates. Good friends also come to his visions, among them are those who have a good life, and those who are "uprooted and deceived by fortune." They discuss what is the role of theater in society.

The poet is sure that this kind of art is bestowed by God himself and cannot be speculated on. After all, these are people's feelings, experiences. The director doesn't agree at all. For him, there is only a technical side, he invites his interlocutor to use all the benefits of the theater in order to attract as many people as possible to it. The director is sure that many will come here not to feel spiritual feelings, but just for fun. Knock about in the crowd, digest dinner calmly sitting on a chair, and sometimes laugh. The poet was given the task to come up with something in the shortest possible time that would attract many people here. But he does not agree with this, because his job is to feel subtly, to pass experiences through himself. And then the comedian throws up the idea that jokes need to be inserted into the work urgently, because this is the main thing for a theatrical production.

In the prologue "In Heaven" the Lord is talking with his archangels. They talk about how life on earth goes on as usual. The seas are raging, the Earth is spinning and the sun is shining. Mephistopheles alone does not agree with this. He says that before his eyes there are only torments of people who do not know how to manifest themselves in this life. God tells him about Dr. Faust, about his spiritual quest.

There seems to be a bet between Mephistopheles and the Almighty that people like Faust can be swayed to the side of evil, depravity and deceit. And here we have Faust himself. He is not satisfied with his knowledge. He does not understand why he taught so many different sciences, because they did not satisfy his thirst to know the unknown. Now he is attracted to black magic. He pins his last hopes on her. But again, not getting what he expected, he decides to drink a cup of poison. The fun of people who celebrate the Resurrection of Christ distracts the doctor.

At this point, the reader is introduced to Wagner, Faust's student. The teacher considers him slightly incapable of science, he is rather fed up with the hero. Therefore, when Mephistopheles appears on the horizon in the form of a capable student, Faust is simply crazy about him. But this is later. And now Wagner and his teacher are walking around the city. The third scene describes the color of folk festivals. Young boys look at girls. They flirt with them. Older peasants are walking in the square. Everyone is happy to see Faust, they treat him with great respect, because he is a very talented doctor. This does not appeal to him himself, and he returns to his house with Wagner.

A poodle dog appears on his doorstep, which soon turns into Mephistopheles. In the fourth and fifth chapters, in Faust's office, he gets acquainted with evil spirits. The Doctor signs a pact with Satan. He gives him his soul, in exchange for understanding all the delights of life. Faust is young again, handsome, full of strength and hope. On the painted cloak of the devil himself, he flies to a new life. The contract is sealed with blood, and if the doctor decides to ask Mephistopheles to stop the moment, he will forever fall into his network. Next are the scenes where the doctor rotates in all sorts of dissolute circles, taverns, booze. Encounters with evil spirits, witches, strange animal-like helpers of the devil.

The turn of the first bliss is coming. A young girl, Margarita, whom Faust begins to seduce with all sorts of gifts with sweet speeches. The girl's brother decides to avenge the desecrated honor of his sister, but Satan kills him. They, along with the doctor, run away from the city. Margarita poisons her mother and drowns her newborn daughter in the river. She herself is now waiting for the verdict in shackles in a dungeon. And Faust flies to Satan's ball on Mount Broken, because Walpurgis Night is coming soon. The mountain is teeming with all sorts of evil spirits, but our hero is already accustomed to such an environment. Suddenly, in one of the shadows, the doctor recognizes Margarita. With Mephistopheles, he flies to the dungeon to prevent her death. But although she is no longer in her right mind, she rejects the power of evil.

part 2

The second part begins with Faust sleeping in a beautiful meadow, near him the elves sing. The heroes are already at the court of one of the emperors. The imperial treasury is getting thinner and it is getting harder in the country. Mephistopheles pretends to be a jester. They were invited to introduce paper, which sooner or later will enable people to enrich themselves with gold from the bowels of the earth. People believe and give their money in the hope of getting much more. Entertainment, festivities, balls. On them, Faust is represented as a sorcerer. He has a magic key with which he can enter the ancient eras. He brings the ideal of human beauty to Helena and Paris to the ball. Faust falls in love with Elena. But there is a sudden explosion and she disappears. Now the doctor's goal is to find the one that captivated his mind. During this period, Mephistopheles returns Faust to his workshop.

But the doctor is torn through the ages to find Elena. He succeeds. They have a son who dies young, and Elena also flies away with her son. Now Faust needs to help Mephistopheles protect the emperor, whom they once visited. And then the doctor wants to build a dam for one piece of land, which, due to constant flooding, is not fertile. But the old people who live in the place where they want to build a dam do not want to leave these lands.

Mephistopheles brutally kills them. The doctor is appalled by what has happened. Here he is again old, in his workshop. Grief befell him - he became blind. But his hearing does not fail, he hears the sound of shovels, the sound of a hammer. Faust is sure that work is underway to build a dam. But the evil spirits are digging his grave. The doctor rethought his life. He says that the most valuable thing is free people on a free land, and he wants it to be like this forever. At the same moment, he falls to the ground. His soul flies out, but the angels pick it up. Mephistopheles curses himself. In another world, Faust meets Margarita, she becomes his guide in another world.

With his tragedy, the author wanted to convey to the reader the idea that all earthly blessings that hurt people around are more evil. After all, making life easier for yourself at the expense of others is wrong. Everything must be done honestly and with respect for people.

Picture or drawing of Goethe - Faust

Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary

• Summary Zero class Koval

  One day, a new teacher, Marya Semyonovna, arrived at the village school. But, the children did not accept her and treated her with apprehension. It seemed strange and unusual to them that Marya Semyonovna

• Summary Zakhoder Rusachok

  The hare Rusachka had a friend Tadpole, who lived in the pond. They often had fun together. One day Rusachok discovered that his friend had grown up and turned into a Frog.

• Summary of the Countess de Monsoro Dumas

  Life is a difficult thing, but you need to know how to love it, otherwise it will simply be impossible to live normally. Sixteenth century - or rather the end of this century. France. At this time, very interesting and dangerous events take place there.

• Summary of Paustovsky Collection of Miracles

  In the story of K.G. Paustovsky, the hero sets off on a journey to Lake Borovoe together with the village boy Vanya, a zealous defender of the forest. Their path lies through the field and the village of Polkovo with surprisingly tall peasants.

• Summary of Yakovlev Bagulnik

  Silent boy Costa constantly yawns in the classroom. The teacher Evgenia Ivanovna is angry with him and thinks that Costa is showing disrespect to her.

In this tragedy, we see three actions of the introduction. The first describes the close friendship of Goethe's once living friends, all those with whom he worked on the work "Faust".

In the next act, we see a dispute between three members of the society working in the theater, but occupying different positions.

The director claims that the main thing is service: jokes, situations, passions. The comedian agrees with him. The poet sees everything from the other side, he is against the use of art as entertainment.

At the end of the dispute, the director disperses everyone to their jobs.

The archangels glorify the Lord for his miracles, but Mephistopheles does not agree with them, explaining that life is very difficult for people. He says that God gave them reason in vain, but the Lord, pointing to Faust, explains that people can learn to use reason. The Lord gives Faust to Mephistopheles to make sure of his words. The game of good and evil begins.

Faust is a great scientist. He, littered with his instruments and scrolls, is trying to comprehend all the secrets of creation and the laws of the world. Faust is not sure that he will understand everything and whether he will understand anything at all, despite the fact that

he owns many sciences, among which: medicine, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology. He makes attempts to communicate with the spirits, who once again explain to Faust that all his actions are insignificant. The scientist comes to visit his friend - Wagner (student), but this visit does not bring joy to Faust. The schoolboy annoys the scientist a little with his stupidity and pomposity, and Faust puts him out the door. Faust is overshadowed by the realization of futility, because his whole life was put on something that he could not comprehend. Faust wants to drink poison, but at that moment the Easter holiday begins and Faust does not dare to die in it.

People are walking, all classes and generations are gathered here. Free communication of people, funny jokes, bright shades of colors, all this makes it possible for Faust to join the walking group of townspeople. Wagner walks with the scientist. In the city, Faust is a fairly revered person, everyone admires his success in medicine, but still this does not calm the scientist. He wants to know all the mysteries, earthly and unearthly, in order to be able to get close to the truth itself. On the way, they notice a beautiful poodle, Faust takes him to him. The scientist again gains strength and studies the new testament. The doctor tries to translate it, and he translated the first line as "In the beginning it was business." The poodle, like any other dog, is very active and constantly distracts its new owner.

Mephistopheles descends from heaven in the form of a student. For Wagner, the new interlocutor is not very interesting. The student laughs at people and, after putting Faust to sleep, disappears.

Mephistopheles soon visits the scientist again. This time he appears in the form of a dandy and persuades Faust to sign an agreement on giving his soul to the devil. Mephistopheles takes the scientist on a journey on his cloak. Faust is younger and stronger. He falls in love with Margarita, but soon it ends in tragedy.

Mephistopheles brings Faust to the German Imperial Palace.

Faust is resting in the meadow. He is still worried about the death of his beloved and he executes himself for her death.

The grandeur of the imperial palace is a cover for the poverty of the townspeople. Mephistopheles is a devil, and in order to improve the mood of people, he distributes papers to everyone on which it is written that the treasury will issue the amount that is written on it. Soon all this will certainly clear up, but for now everyone is rejoicing and feasting. Everyone reveres the devil and the doctor, because poverty is over. Mephistopheles gives Faust a key that allows the doctor to enter the unknown magical land of fairy-tale characters.

The doctor snatches two girls from this country, he explains to them that one of them is so beautiful that she is an ideal woman, the goddess of beauty. But soon the women disappear as they were caused by an illusion.

Faust is sad.

The room is decorated in the Gothic style. This is where Mephistopheles brings Faust. This room is the doctor's former laboratory. Disorder is everywhere. Having driven away the scientist's students, he notices only one in the farthest corner. The student is trying to create a man in a flask. The experience is going well. Mephistopheles and Homunculus drag Faust to another world. The Doctor is fascinated by the beauties of this world, they whirl in beautiful visions. Homuncle reports that he will never be able to understand happiness with peace.

The next scene shows Helen at the door of Menelaus' palace.

She doesn't know what to expect. Elena must accept her death, but fog comes and she finds herself in the palace and meets Faust. The Doctor falls in love with Elena and their first child, Euphorion, is born. Euphorion soon disappears. In parting, they hug and Elena disappears.

Mephistopheles brings Faust back to real time and offers him a celebrity. Faust rejects his proposals. The doctor wants to build his world somewhere in the ocean on a small island, Mephistopheles does not give him this opportunity, explaining that the king over whom they scammed gave money to the townspeople and is now in serious danger and needs help.

The devil and the doctor help the king.

Faust still wants to get what he previously asked the devil. But in the place that he chose, Phelemon and Baucis live. Faust offers the old men another house, but the hut dwellers refuse. Faust asks Mephistopheles for help and he solves his problem in his own style. The guards kill the old men, and the guest who happens to be visiting at that moment suffers the same fate, and they burn the hut to the ground. Faust is overshadowed by the actions of Mephistopheles.

Faust is old and blind, still drawn to the desire to build a dam. He hears that the work is going on and soon his dream will come true. But all this is a mirage, a joke of Mephistopheles. The dam is not being built; Faust's grave is being dug in this place.

Faust understands that he then translated the New Testament correctly, and as soon as he thought about it, he fell into a hole.

The devil rejoices, but the angels descended from heaven take away Faust, because he has seen the light of the soul. In paradise, he meets Gretchen. She accompanies him on a new path...

The tragedy opens with three introductory texts. The first is a lyrical dedication to the friends of youth - those with whom the author was associated at the beginning of work on Faust and who have already died or are far away. “I again thankfully recall everyone who lived on that radiant noon.”

Then comes the Theatrical Introduction. In the conversation of the Theater Director, the Poet and the Comic Actor, the problems of artistic creativity are discussed. Should art serve the idle crowd, or be true to its lofty and eternal purpose? How to combine true poetry and success? Here, as well as in Initiation, the motif of the transience of time and irretrievably lost youth resounds, nourishing creative inspiration. In conclusion, the Director gives advice to get down to business more resolutely and adds that all the achievements of his theater are at the disposal of the Poet and the Actor. “In this wooden booth, you can, as in the universe, go through all the tiers in a row, descend from heaven through the earth to hell.”

The problematics of “heaven, earth and hell” outlined in one line is developed in the “Prologue in Heaven” - where the Lord, the archangels and Mephistopheles are already acting. The archangels, singing the glory of the deeds of God, fall silent at the appearance of Mephistopheles, who, from the very first remark - “I came to you, God, for an appointment ...” - as if fascinates with his skeptical charm. For the first time in the conversation, the name of Faust is heard, whom God cites as an example as his faithful and diligent servant. Mephistopheles agrees that “this Aesculapius” “is eager to fight, and loves to take on obstacles, and sees a target beckoning in the distance, and demands stars from the sky as a reward and the best pleasures from the earth,” noting the contradictory dual nature of the scientist. God allows Mephistopheles to subject Faust to any temptations, to bring him down into any abyss, believing that his instinct will lead Faust out of the impasse. Mephistopheles, as a true spirit of denial, accepts the argument, promising to make Faust crawl and "eat shoe dust." A grand struggle of good and evil, great and insignificant, sublime and base begins.

The one about whom this dispute is concluded spends a sleepless night in a cramped Gothic room with a vaulted ceiling. In this working cell, for many years of hard work, Faust comprehended all earthly wisdom. Then he dared to encroach on the secrets of supernatural phenomena, turned to magic and alchemy. However, instead of satisfaction in his declining years, he feels only spiritual emptiness and pain from the futility of what he has done. “I mastered theology, pored over philosophy, hammered jurisprudence and studied medicine. However, at the same time, I was and remain a fool for everyone, ”he begins his first monologue. Unusual in strength and depth, Faust's mind is marked by fearlessness before the truth. He is not deceived by illusions and therefore sees with ruthlessness how limited the possibilities of knowledge are, how incommensurable are the mysteries of the universe and nature with the fruits of scientific experience. He laughs at the praises of Wagner's assistant. This pedant is ready to diligently gnaw at the granite of science and pore over parchments, without thinking about the fundamental problems that torment Faust. “All the beauty of the spell will be dispelled by this boring, obnoxious, limited scholar!” - the scientist speaks in his hearts about Wagner. When Wagner in presumptuous stupidity pronounces that man has grown to know the answer to all his riddles, an irritated Faust stops the conversation. Left alone, the scientist again plunges into a state of gloomy hopelessness. The bitterness of realizing that life has passed in the ashes of empty studies, among bookshelves, flasks and retorts, leads Faust to a terrible decision - he is preparing to drink poison in order to end the earthly share and merge with the universe. But at the moment when he raises the poisoned glass to his lips, bells and choral singing are heard. It is the night of Holy Easter, Blagovest saves Faust from suicide. “I have been returned to the earth, thank you for this, holy hymns!”

The next morning, together with Wagner, they join the crowd of festive people. All the surrounding residents revere Faust: both he and his father tirelessly treated people, saving them from serious illnesses. The doctor was not frightened by either the pestilence or the plague, he, without flinching, entered the infected barracks. Now ordinary townspeople and peasants bow to him and make way. But even this sincere confession does not please the hero. He does not overestimate his own merits. On a walk, a black poodle is nailed to them, which Faust then brings to his home. In an effort to overcome the lack of will and discouragement that have taken possession of him, the hero takes up the translation of the New Testament. Rejecting several variants of the initial line, he stops at the interpretation of the Greek "logos" as a "deed" and not a "word", making sure: "In the beginning was the deed," the verse says. However, the dog distracts him from his studies. And finally, she turns into Mephistopheles, who for the first time appears to Faust in the clothes of a wandering student.

To the host's wary question about his name, the guest replies that he is "a part of the power of that which does good without number, wishing evil to everything." The new interlocutor, in contrast to the dull Wagner, is Faust's equal in intelligence and power of insight. The guest condescendingly and caustically chuckles at the weaknesses of human nature, at the human lot, as if penetrating into the very core of Faust's torments. Having intrigued the scientist and taking advantage of his drowsiness, Mephistopheles disappears. The next time, he appears smartly dressed and immediately invites Faust to dispel the melancholy. He persuades the old hermit to put on a bright dress and in this "clothes characteristic of rake, to experience after a long fast, which means fullness of life." If the proposed pleasure captures Faust so much that he asks to stop the moment, then he will become the prey of Mephistopheles, his slave. They seal the deal with blood and go on a journey - right through the air, on the wide cloak of Mephistopheles...

So, the scenery of this tragedy is earth, heaven and hell, its directors are God and the devil, and their assistants are numerous spirits and angels, witches and demons, representatives of light and darkness in their endless interaction and confrontation. How attractive in his mocking omnipotence is the main tempter - in a golden camisole, in a hat with a rooster feather, with a draped hoof on his leg, which makes him slightly lame! But his companion, Faust, is a match - now he is young, handsome, full of strength and desires. He tasted the potion brewed by the witch, after which his blood boiled. He knows no more hesitation in his determination to comprehend all the secrets of life and the pursuit of the highest happiness.

What temptations did his lame-legged companion prepare for the fearless experimenter? Here is the first temptation. She is called Marguerite, or Gretchen, she is in her fifteenth year, and she is pure and innocent, like a child. She grew up in a wretched town, where gossips gossip about everyone and everything by the well. They buried their father with their mother. The brother serves in the army, and the younger sister, whom Gretchen nursed, recently died. There is no maid in the house, so all household and garden chores are on her shoulders. “But how sweet is the eaten piece, how expensive is rest and how deep is sleep!” This artless soul was destined to confuse the wise Faust. Having met a girl on the street, he flared up with an insane passion for her. The procurer-devil immediately offered his services - and now Margarita answers Faust with the same fiery love. Mephistopheles urges Faust to finish the job, and he cannot resist it. He meets Margaret in the garden. One can only guess what kind of whirlwind is raging in her chest, how immeasurably her feeling is, if she - up to that very righteousness, meekness and obedience - not only gives herself to Faust, but also puts her strict mother to sleep on his advice so that she does not interfere with dates.

Why is Faust so attracted to this particular commoner, naive, young and inexperienced? Maybe with her he gains a sense of earthly beauty, goodness and truth, which he previously aspired to? For all her inexperience, Margarita is endowed with spiritual vigilance and an impeccable sense of truth. She immediately discerns in Mephistopheles the messenger of evil and languishes in his company. “Oh, the sensitivity of angelic guesses!” - drops Faust.

Love gives them dazzling bliss, but it also causes a chain of misfortunes. By chance, Margarita's brother Valentine, passing by her window, ran into a pair of "boyfriends" and immediately rushed to fight them. Mephistopheles did not back down and drew his sword. At a sign from the devil, Faust also got involved in this battle and stabbed his beloved brother to death. Dying, Valentine cursed his sister-reveler, betraying her to universal disgrace. Faust did not immediately learn about her further troubles. He fled from the payback for the murder, hurried out of the city after his leader. And what about Margarita? It turns out that she unwittingly killed her mother with her own hands, because she once did not wake up after a sleeping potion. Later, she gave birth to a daughter - and drowned her in the river, fleeing worldly wrath. Kara did not pass her by - an abandoned lover, branded as a harlot and a murderer, she was imprisoned and awaiting execution in stocks.

Her beloved is far away. No, not in her arms, he asked for a moment to wait. Now, together with the inseparable Mephistopheles, he rushes not somewhere, but to Broken itself - on this mountain on Walpurgis Night, the witches' sabbath begins. A true bacchanalia reigns around the hero - witches rush past, demons, kikimors and devils call to each other, everything is embraced by revelry, a teasing element of vice and fornication. Faust does not feel fear of the evil spirits swarming everywhere, which manifests itself in all the many-voiced revelation of shamelessness. This is a breathtaking ball of Satan. And now Faust chooses a younger beauty here, with whom he starts dancing. He leaves her only when a pink mouse suddenly jumps out of her mouth. “Thank you that the mouse is not gray, and do not grieve so deeply about it,” Mephistopheles condescendingly remarks on his complaint.

However, Faust does not listen to him. In one of the shadows, he guesses Margarita. He sees her imprisoned in a dungeon, with a terrible bloody scar on her neck, and grows cold. Rushing to the devil, he demands to save the girl. He objects: was it not Faust himself who was her seducer and executioner? The hero does not want to delay. Mephistopheles promises him to finally put the guards to sleep and break into the prison. Jumping on their horses, the two conspirators rush back to the city. They are accompanied by witches who sense imminent death on the scaffold.

The last meeting of Faust and Margarita is one of the most tragic and heartfelt pages of world poetry.

Having drunk all the boundless humiliation of public shame and suffering from the sins she committed, Margarita lost her mind. Bare-haired, barefoot, she sings children's songs in prison and shudders at every rustle. When Faust appears, she does not recognize him and shrinks on the mat. He desperately listens to her crazy speeches. She babbles something about the ruined baby, begs not to lead her under the axe. Faust throws himself on his knees in front of the girl, calls her by name, breaks her chains. At last she realizes that before her is a Friend. “I can’t believe my ears, where is he? Get on his neck! Hurry, hurry to his chest! Through the darkness of the dungeon, inconsolable, through the flames of hellish pitch darkness, and hooting and howling ... "

She does not believe her happiness, that she is saved. Faust frantically urges her to leave the dungeon and run. But Margarita hesitates, plaintively asks to caress her, reproaches that he has lost the habit of her, “has forgotten how to kiss” ... Faust again pulls at her and conjures to hurry. Then the girl suddenly begins to remember her mortal sins - and the artless simplicity of her words makes Faust go cold with a terrible foreboding. “I lulled my mother to death, drowned my daughter in a pond. God thought to give it to us for happiness, but gave it for trouble. Interrupting Faust's objections, Margaret proceeds to the last testament. He, her desired one, must necessarily stay alive in order to dig “three holes with a shovel on the slope of the day: for my mother, for my brother and a third for me. Dig mine to the side, put it not far away and attach the child closer to my chest. Margarita again begins to be haunted by the images of those who died through her fault - she imagines a trembling baby whom she drowned, a sleepy mother on a hillock ... She tells Faust that there is no worse fate than "staggering with a sick conscience", and refuses to leave the dungeon. Faust tries to stay with her, but the girl drives him away. Mephistopheles, who appeared at the door, hurries Faust. They leave the prison, leaving Margarita alone. Before leaving, Mephistopheles throws out that Margarita is condemned to torment as a sinner. However, a voice from above corrects him: "Saved." Preferring martyrdom, God's judgment and sincere repentance to escape, the girl saved her soul. She refused the services of the devil.

At the beginning of the second part, we find Faust, forgotten in a green meadow in an uneasy dream. Flying forest spirits give peace and oblivion to his soul, tormented by remorse. After a while, he wakes up healed, watching the sunrise. His first words are addressed to the dazzling luminary. Now Faust understands that the disproportion of the goal to the capabilities of a person can destroy, like the sun, if you look at it point-blank. The image of the rainbow is dearer to him, “which, with the play of the seven-color variability, elevates to constancy.” Having gained new strength in unity with beautiful nature, the hero continues to climb the steep spiral of experience.

This time, Mephistopheles brings Faust to the imperial court. In the state where they ended up, discord reigns due to the impoverishment of the treasury. No one knows how to fix things, except for Mephistopheles, who pretended to be a jester. The tempter develops a plan to replenish the cash reserves, which he soon brilliantly implements. It puts securities into circulation, the pledge of which is declared to be the content of the earth's interior. The devil assures that there is a lot of gold in the earth, which will be found sooner or later, and this will cover the cost of papers. The fooled population willingly buys shares, “and the money flowed from the purse to the vintner, to the butcher's shop. Half the world is washed down, and the tailor's other half is sewing new clothes. It is clear that the bitter fruits of the scam will sooner or later affect, but while euphoria reigns at the court, a ball is arranged, and Faust, as one of the sorcerers, enjoys unprecedented honor.

Mephistopheles hands him a magic key that gives him the opportunity to penetrate the world of pagan gods and heroes. Faust brings Paris and Helen to the emperor's ball, personifying male and female beauty. When Elena appears in the hall, some of the ladies present make critical remarks about her. "Slim, big. And the head is small ... The leg is disproportionately heavy ... ”However, Faust feels with his whole being that before him is the spiritual and aesthetic ideal cherished in its perfection. He compares the blinding beauty of Elena with a gushing stream of radiance. “How dear to me the world is, how full, attracting, authentic, inexpressible for the first time!” However, his desire to keep Elena does not work. The image blurs and disappears, an explosion is heard, Faust falls to the ground.

Now the hero is obsessed with the idea of ​​finding the beautiful Elena. A long journey awaits him through the depths of epochs. This path runs through his former working workshop, where Mephistopheles will transfer him to oblivion. We will meet again with the zealous Wagner, waiting for the return of the teacher. This time, the scientist pedant is busy creating an artificial person in a flask, firmly believing that "the former survival of children is an absurdity for us, handed over to the archive." Before the eyes of a grinning Mephistopheles, a Homunculus is born from a flask, suffering from the duality of his own nature.

When at last the stubborn Faust finds the beautiful Helen and unites with her and they have a child marked by genius - Goethe put Byron's traits into his image - the contrast between this beautiful fruit of living love and the unfortunate Homunculus will come to light with special force. However, the beautiful Euphorion, the son of Faust and Helen, will not live long on earth. He is attracted by the struggle and the challenge of the elements. “I am not an outsider, but a participant in earthly battles,” he declares to his parents. He rushes up and disappears, leaving a luminous trail in the air. Elena hugs Faust goodbye and remarks: “The old saying comes true on me that happiness does not get along with beauty ...” Only her clothes remain in Faust’s hands - the bodily disappears, as if marking the transient nature of absolute beauty.

Mephistopheles in seven-league boots returns the hero from harmonious pagan antiquity to his native Middle Ages. He offers Faust various options on how to achieve fame and recognition, but he rejects them and tells about his own plan. From the air, he noticed a large piece of land, which is annually flooded by the sea tide, depriving the land of fertility. Faust has the idea to build a dam in order to “recapture a piece of land from the abyss at any cost.” Mephistopheles, however, objects that for now it is necessary to help their familiar emperor, who, after a deception with securities, having lived a little to his heart's content, faced the threat of losing the throne. Faust and Mephistopheles lead a military operation against the enemies of the emperor and win a brilliant victory.

Now Faust is eager to begin the implementation of his cherished plan, but a trifle prevents him. On the site of the future dam stands the hut of the old poor - Philemon and Baucis. Stubborn old people do not want to change their home, although Faust offered them another shelter. In irritated impatience, he asks the devil to help deal with the stubborn. As a result, the unfortunate couple - and with them the guest-wanderer who dropped in on them - suffers a ruthless reprisal. Mephistopheles and the guards kill the guest, the old people die of shock, and the hut is occupied by a flame from a random spark. Experiencing once again bitterness from the irreparability of what happened, Faust exclaims: “I offered me change with me, and not violence, not robbery. For deafness to my words, curse you, curse you!”

He is feeling tired. He is old again and feels that life is coming to an end again. All his aspirations are now focused on achieving the dream of a dam. Another blow awaits him - Faust goes blind. It is enveloped in the darkness of the night. However, he distinguishes the sound of shovels, movement, voices. He is seized by violent joy and energy - he understands that the cherished goal is already dawning. The hero begins to give feverish commands: “Get up to work in a friendly crowd! Scatter in a chain where I point. Picks, shovels, wheelbarrows for diggers! Align the shaft according to the drawing!”

Blind Faust is unaware that Mephistopheles played an insidious trick with him. Around Faust, not builders are swarming in the ground, but lemurs, evil spirits. At the behest of the devil, they dig a grave for Faust. The hero, meanwhile, is full of happiness. In a spiritual outburst, he utters his last monologue, where he concentrates the experience gained on the tragic path of knowledge. Now he understands that it is not power, not wealth, not fame, not even the possession of the most beautiful woman on earth that bestows a truly supreme moment of existence. Only a common deed, equally needed by everyone and realized by everyone, can give life the highest fullness. This is how the semantic bridge is stretched to the discovery made by Faust even before the meeting with Mephistopheles: "In the beginning there was a deed." He understands that "only the one who has experienced the battle for life deserves life and freedom." Faust utters intimate words that he is experiencing his highest moment and that "a free people on a free land" seems to him such a grandiose picture that he could stop this moment. Immediately his life ends. He falls down. Mephistopheles looks forward to the moment when he will rightfully take possession of his soul. But at the last minute, the angels carry away Faust's soul right in front of the devil's nose. For the first time, Mephistopheles loses his temper, he goes on a rampage and curses himself.

Faust's soul is saved, which means that his life is ultimately justified. Beyond the edge of earthly existence, his soul meets the soul of Gretchen, who becomes his guide to another world.

Goethe finished Faust just before his death. “Forming like a cloud”, according to the writer, this idea accompanied him all his life.

retold

Goethe's Faust - summary

Tragedy (Translated by Boris Pasternak)

dedication

The author "gratefully" recalls his youth, friends and loved ones, to whom he once read the first lines of Faust. Unfortunately, now “the circle that was so small has broken up”: someone has died, someone has gone to a foreign land. The author is "chained by an unprecedented force" to "images surging from outside",

Theatrical introduction

The director of the theatre, the poet and the comic actor reveal different attitudes towards the theatre. The director is concerned only with the commercial success of the play. He needs to sell as many tickets as possible, and for this "the novelty must be introduced into the repertoire." He notes that the audience most often goes to the theater not for the sake of a lofty idea, but to show off outfits, to kill time, to "show off with a judgment taken from a magazine." The director advises the poet and comic actor:

Bring down in a pile, sliding on top, What will turn up, for a change. It is impossible to amaze with an excess of thought, So surprise with a lack of connection.

The comic actor values ​​audience worship and fame above all else. He knows how to achieve this: “There is no abyss with talent. Connect only in each role imagination, feeling, intelligence and passion and humor a sufficient share. He does not consider it necessary to preach "high matters" to the audience, since they need a very unassuming repertoire:

Throw a grain of truth into the fermented fiction, And it will be cheap and angry Your drink will seduce everyone.

The poet strives to create a work that will remain for centuries, momentary success is indifferent to him: "outward brilliance is calculated for a moment, but the truth passes into generations." The poet dreams of the return of the days of youth, when any person is overwhelmed with creative forces, he strives to carry this feeling through his whole life. It is unpleasant for the poet that the director and the actor make such low demands on the level of the repertoire:

Dripping vulgarities is a great evil.

You are completely unaware of this.

The craft of mediocre rogues,

As I see it, you are highly respected...

Stool, look for another slave!

But your power over the poet is weak.

He rushes into battle, and loves to take on obstacles, And he sees a goal that beckons in the distance, And he demands stars from the sky as a reward And the best pleasures from the earth, And for a century he will not be happy with his soul, No matter what the search leads to.

The Lord believes that Faust, no matter what it costs him, "will break out of the darkness." Mephistopheles promises to "convert Faust to his faith." He asks the Lord to give him Faust "for training" in order to put him to the test. The Lord allows Mephistopheles to do this with Faust (as with a representative of all mankind), knowing in advance that Mephistopheles will lose the argument:<Фауст>get out of the loop." The Lord is very kind to Mephistopheles, invites him to bequeath him. Mephistopheles remarks: “We get along without spoiling relations with him, it’s a wonderful trait for an old man to think so humanly about the devil.”

First part

In a cramped Gothic room with a vaulted ceiling (his study), Faust is sitting in an armchair reading a book. The scientist is dissatisfied with the "barren bookish science" he teaches. Faust feels guilty towards the students whom he "leads for hoc" because, in his opinion, his own knowledge is shallow. Not finding answers to his questions in traditional science, Faust turned to magic. He wants to comprehend the "universe internal connection." Faust dreams of embarking on a long journey for the truth and taking with him the “Creation of Nostradamus”. He opens the book and sees the sign of the macrocosm:

The darkness that tormented the soul disperses. Everything clears up like a picture. And now it seems to me that I myself am a god And I see, examining the symbol of the world, the Universe from edge to edge.

However, this is just a sign. Faust laments that he has again found himself "aside" in front of the "sacred bosom" of nature. On another page, Faust finds a sign of the earthly spirit (according to the teachings of mystics and alchemists, every object obeys some kind of spirit), admits that he is closer and more desirable to him. Faust utters a spell and summons the Spirit. His appearance is disgusting. The spirit is unhappy that Faust was afraid of him. But the scientist pulls himself together, calls the Spirit "the active genius of being", his "prototype". However, the Spirit declares that the prototype of a person can only be a spirit that the person himself will be able to know, and disappears.

Faust is visited by his student Wagner to take a "recitation lesson" (Wagner studies ancient languages, ancient authors and rhetoric). Wagner considers it necessary to have a good command of the word, otherwise he will not be able to "manage an unfamiliar flock." Faust believes that “where there is no gut, you won’t help later”, meaning that it is impossible to write a strong sermon mechanically, adhering only to the rules of rhetoric, without illuminating your work with a sincere feeling coming from the heart:

And the one who is poor in thought and assiduous, Droops in vain retelling
Phrases borrowed from everywhere, Limiting the whole thing to excerpts, He, perhaps, will create authority Among children and stupid fools, But without a soul and high thoughts There are no living ways from heart to heart.

In the rays of imaginary brilliance We often soar in thought in breadth And fall from the weight of the pendant, From the load of our voluntary weights. We drape in all ways Our lack of will, cowardice, weakness, laziness... Isn't my life passing in dust Among these bookshelves, as in captivity?

Faust remembers how much effort he spent to pick up the keys to the locks on the doors of the secrets of nature, but she guards these doors too jealously. The scientist expresses despair over the futility of any human effort to rise above everyday life. Faust's attention is attracted by a vial of poison. He wants to drink the poison and prove that "man's determination will stand before the gods" (that is, that he will be able to overcome the fear of death). Faust raises the glass to his lips. A bell rings. A choir of angels sings Easter songs. Faust puts his glass aside. He recalls how good the Easter hymns filled his soul in childhood, how sincerely he prayed, how he “wept, reveling in the happiness of tears.” Since then, although Faust has long been an unbeliever, with the bright Resurrection of Christ, he associates everything “that is pure and bright.”

Crowds of walkers are heading out of town. Wagner prefers to stay away "from the amusements of the common people." Faust, on the other hand, enjoys great popularity among the people: the doctor is revered as a deliverer from diseases, who does not disdain the mob, who is not ashamed to go into a poor house and help the sick. Faust himself blames himself for treating people without having an accurate knowledge of medicine, without checking whether every patient to whom he gave his drugs was cured. But among ordinary people he feels very natural, they approach the doctor and thank him. Faust confesses to Wagner:

But two souls live in me, And both are at odds with each other. One, like the passion of love, is ardent And greedily clings to the earth entirely, The other, all behind the clouds, would have rushed out of the body.

Faust dreams of a magical cloak so that, by wearing it, one could freely travel around the world. Suddenly, Faust notices a black dog, which first circles around them, and then runs up to the scientist. It seems to Faust that "the flame behind him snakes along the ground." Wagner objects that this is an ordinary poodle, only very smart.

Faust's workroom

Faust enters with a poodle. He tells the dog to be quiet as he gets to work. Faust translates Scripture into German. He searches for the best equivalent to the first phrase, sorting through “In the beginning there was the Word”, “In the beginning there was the Thought”, “There was in the beginning the Force”, and stops at “In the beginning there was the Deed”, a kind of motto of his life. The poodle howls, behaves uneasily. Faust begins to suspect that he has introduced evil spirits "under the vault". Spirits are crowding in the hallway, trying to rescue the demon (in the form of a black dog) to freedom. Faust utters a conspiracy from the dog and notices that he does not have any effect on the poodle. The dog begins to bristle wool and hides behind the stove only when Faust utters a spell from evil spirits. From behind the stove, the demon comes out in its real form - Mephistopheles. Faust asks his name. Mephistopheles is presented as "a part of the power of that which does good without number, wishing evil to everything." Faust contemptuously remarks that his strange guest "doesn't get along with the Universe in business ... harms her in small things." Mephistopheles notes with regret that he did not manage to kill a person from the world with earthquakes, floods, or floods - "life is always available." At this, the demon asks permission to leave. Faust invites Mephistopheles to continue to visit him. Mephistopheles cannot find a way out of Faust's room (a pentagram is drawn above the entrance, and the demon cannot bypass it). Then he stays to show Faust his art. Faust is surrounded by spirits and put to sleep. While Faust sleeps, Mephistopheles disappears. Waking up, Faust decides that he dreamed the whole scene with the devil and the poodle.

Faust's working comiata (second scene)

Although Faust rejected suicide, he remains dissatisfied with life. “I am too old to know only fun, and too young not to desire at all. What will give me light that I myself do not know? he complains to Mephistopheles. He curses "a lie without measure", "self-conceit", "the slander of a family man", "the power of gain", "holy love, impulses and intoxication with wine", "the patience of a fool". Mephistopheles explains that "no matter how bad the environment, but everyone is alike, and a person is unthinkable without people." He offers Faust "to walk the path of life together", promises to render "services" to the scientist: to give something "which the world does not see". In payment, Mephistopheles demands to "repay" him in the afterlife (that is, to sell his soul). It is important for Faust not to receive unimaginable benefits, but to comprehend the meaning of human life through his own experience and experiences. He agrees:

...when in peace I listen to the flattery of praises, Or indulge in laziness or sleep, Or fool myself with the passions of the ladies, - Then let death come to me in the midst of pleasure! ..

As soon as I glorify a separate moment, Shouting: “A moment, wait!” - It's over, and I'm your prey...

Mephistopheles receives an IOU from Faust. The demon explains to the scientist that all his aspirations for knowledge are meaningless, all the same, people live in hopeless darkness: “Do you achieve great benefit with the truth that, say, you can’t jump over your forehead?” Mephistopheles invites Faust to go on a journey. Faust leaves to get ready. At this time, a student arrives from a remote province to ask the famous doctor how to become a scientist better and faster. The student vaguely but sincerely strives for knowledge. Mephistopheles dresses up as Faust and begins to describe to the student the “charms of education” - how at first they will discourage him from doing everything “at random”, but they will teach him to decompose “into three steps and into a subject and a predicate”, then the philosophy teacher will explain “what was the first and second and was the third and fourth. However, the path of cognition will become a dead end if a person hastens to “de-soul the phenomena, forgetting that if the animating connection is broken in them, then there is nothing more to listen to.” Mephistopheles, who knows the intricacies of teaching at universities, knows in advance the futility of the path that the student will follow. The young man aloud goes over the names of the faculties where he could get an education - legal, theological, medical. Mephistopheles consistently dissuades the young man from each of them, explaining that any of these sciences is divorced from reality: “the theory is dry”, but “the tree of life is green”. The stunned student retires to ponder at his leisure everything said by the "great doctor Faust". Mephistopheles and Faust set off to travel the world with the help of a "flying" cloak.

Auerbach cellar in Leipzig

Faust and Mephistopheles find themselves in the company of revelers in a tavern. New visitors are treated to wine, teased about their important appearance. However, sharp-tongued Mephistopheles fends off all the "exercises in sharp wits" of the regulars of the tavern. Mephistopheles promises every reveler whatever he wants (i.e., any wine). He drills a hole in the table in front of every drinker, from which wine pours into mugs. Mephistopheles is mistaken for a magician. Soon one of the revelers, Siebel, accidentally spills wine on the floor. The wine is on fire. Siebel yells that it is "fire from hell". Mephistopheles pacifies the flames with a spell. Faust and Mephistopheles are chased away. A fight breaks out. But Mephistopheles and Faust disappear with the help of magic, and the revelers freeze with knives in their hands, looking at each other in bewilderment.

witch's kitchen

A large cauldron stands on the fire of a low hearth. In the vapors rising above him, changing ghosts flicker. At the cauldron, the female monkey removes the foam and watches that the cauldron does not boil over. A male monkey with cubs sit side by side and bask. A witch arrives to, at the instigation of Mephistopheles, brew a witch's potion for Faust. Through sorcery, Faust regains his youth. In the magic mirror, Faust sees the image of the most beautiful of women.

Marguerite (or Gretchen) passes by Faust. Struck by her beauty, he tries to talk to the girl, but she dodges and leaves. Faust asks Mephistopheles to help him meet Marguerite as soon as possible. Mephistopheles, referring to the fact that Gretchen had just left the church (i.e. confessed), declares that he has no power over her. Faust instructs the demon to get a gift for Margarita and decides to get a date with her as soon as possible. Mephistopheles goes to the church in search of some ancient treasure buried nearby.

In a small tidy room, Margarita preens, going to visit a neighbor. She recalls the meeting with Faust, notes to herself that he must be a noble gentleman. When the girl leaves, Faust and Mephistopheles secretly enter her room. They bring the girl a gift - an old box full of magnificent jewelry. Faust is struck by how poorly, but neatly cleaned Margaret's room, everything here seems to him her "miraculous hand" turned into a royal "chamber". Margarita returns, uninvited guests are hiding. The girl notices the box, tries on a pair of precious earrings, dreams that such a beautiful thing belongs to her:

They immediately seem much more beautiful. What is the use of our natural beauty, When our attire is poor and miserable. Out of pity we are praised in our rank. The whole essence is in the pocket, Everything is a wallet ...

On a walk

Mephistopheles is beside himself: Margarita's mother, a very religious woman who lives by usury, took the entire jewelry box to the church "to the heavenly intercessor as an offering." She explained her action to her daughter by the need to get rid of the “unrighteously”, “uncleanly” acquired wealth. The priest gladly accepted the gift, explaining to the woman that “the church, with its digestion, swallows states, cities and regions without any harm. Unclean or pure what is given, she will digest your gift perfectly. Faust decides to give Marguerite a new gift and act through her neighbor, who often has a girlfriend.

house neighbor

Marta (Margarita's neighbor) yearns for the long gone V. distant countries to her husband. She is tormented by uncertainty, it would be easier for her if she had a certificate of his death.

Margarita comes to Martha, tells her friend that she found a new jewelry box in the closet. Martha advises Gretchen not to tell her mother about this, dresses up the girl.

There is a knock on the door. Mephistopheles enters. He greets the beautiful Margarita as he would greet a noblewoman (which does not correspond to the girl's origin). Mephistopheles is presented as a "messenger of troubles." He notifies Martha that her husband died in a foreign land, leaving her not a penny, having spent everything on a slut. Martha, crying, asks if Mephistopheles has a certificate of her husband's death. Mephistopheles explains that to obtain such a certificate, the testimony of two witnesses to the death of a person is sufficient, and he is called together with Faust to give such testimony. At the same time, Mephistopheles asks that Margarita be present during Faust's visit. Martha takes it upon herself to arrange it.

Mephistopheles explains to Faust that in order to get an official pretext for meeting Margarita, he must put his signature on the document on the death of Martha's husband (without knowing this for sure). For Faust, such a forgery is unacceptable, but Mephistopheles quickly convinces him to give up his principles.

Margarita arm in arm with Faust and Martha with Mephistopheles stroll through the garden. Margarita tells Faust about her monotonous, rather bleak life. She works a lot around the house: they have no servants. Margarita has a brother in the soldiers, and her beloved younger sister has died. The father has been dead for a long time. Faust admires the sincerity and innocence of the beautiful Marguerite. He declares his love to her, asks not to be afraid of anything, repeats "about the immense that before which words are nothing, about the joy that will bind our hearts."

Gazebo in the garden

Margarita and Faust, secluded in the gazebo, kiss, declare their love to each other. Martha comes up with Mephistopheles (whom the "widow" is constantly trying to convert to the righteous faith, that is, to hint that he definitely needs to marry and, best of all, to her). They warn the couple in love that it's time for them to leave, otherwise gossip will creep around the city.

Forest cave Faust refers to the earthly spirit, thanks him for the fact that he "gave him the use of nature, gave him the strength to admire her." Faust regrets that “in addition to the thrust upwards, which makes me related to the gods, a low companion was given to me. I can’t do without him, in spite of shamelessness. Mephistopheles makes fun of his need for solitude in the wilderness, while Margaret wept her eyes out for him. The girl is very upset that, in her opinion, Faust abandoned her. Faust explains that he is trying to lull the "sensual hurricane" into himself. In addition, it is not enough for Faust to love Gretchen alone. He gets great pleasure when he looks at living beings and sees “brothers” in them, when, hiding in a cave, he looks “inside himself, like in a book” and sees “mysteries and darkness of miracles” there. Mephistopheles continues to “taunt” Faust, convinces him to go to Margarita without too much reflection: “Why are you timid, fool, when the devil himself is not your brother?”

Gretchen's room

Gretchen is alone at the spinning wheel. She sings a song that she does not find peace, cannot think of anything but Faust, dreams, having conquered fear, to unite with her beloved.

Martha's Garden

Margarita asks Faust to become more pious and observe the rites of the church. Faust's unbelief grieves her. Faust expounds to his beloved his views on religion. He denies a personal god, deifies nature. Margarita feels a vague dislike for Mephistopheles, cannot figure out why she "doesn't like" Faust's friend, who, it seems, did nothing wrong to her. However, in the presence of Mephistopheles, the girl has “such an emptiness in her heart” that it seems to her that she has fallen out of love with Faust. Margarita invites Faust to come to her at night, but fears that her mother will wake up. Faust holds out to his beloved the sleeping pills given to him by Mephistopheles, persuades him to quietly give them to his mother - then she will sleep soundly all night and will not interfere with them. He assures the girl that these drops are harmless. After Marguerite leaves, Mephistopheles (who was eavesdropping on the whole conversation outside the door) ridicules Faust's reverent attitude towards Gretchen, her naive persuasions, "teaching the faith", warns Faust not to "soften up".

By the well

Liechen tells Gretchen about their friend Barbara. While the pious girls were sitting at the spinning wheels, Varvara started an affair with a guy, became his mistress, got pregnant, the guy ran away, and the incident became known in the city. Now Varvara will face shame, although the guy was found and forced to marry her. Gretchen, returning home, is horrified to think what to do for herself - after all, she is in the same position as the unfortunate Barbara. However, Margarita does not regret what she has done: “what lured the heart was so strong and light!”

On the city ramparts, Gretchen prays in the deepening of the fortress wall in front of the statue of the Sorrowing Mother of God, asking to save her "from the pangs of shame."

Night. The street in front of Gretchen's house Valentine, a soldier, Gretchen's brother, having learned about the misfortune of his sister (the whole city speaks of Gretchen's shame), returned to stand up for her honor. Valentine intends to kill his sister's lover and thereby put an end to her torment.

Faust appears with Mephistopheles. They are looking for a treasure, because Faust is embarrassed to go to Gretchen without gifts. Mephistopheles sings a frivolous song about the end of girls' dates with their loved ones (parodying Ophelia's song from Hamlet):

You will enter him as a girl, But you will not leave as a girl.

Valentin steps forward. He challenges his sister's offenders to a fight. Mephistopheles fights against Valentine. It reflects all the blows of the soldier. It seems to Valentine that he is fighting "with the devil himself." Mephistopheles mortally wounds Valentine and, fearing the police and the criminal court, disappears with Faust. ,

Gretchen and Martha run to the noise. Dying Valentine tells his sister that he died standing up for her honor, which she so stupidly lost. He predicts that Gretchen will soon go hand in hand, people will despise her, "shun like the plague." The fallen girl "will not be able to wash off the stigma of the curse on her forehead on earth." Valentin accuses his sister that she "she herself struck him with dishonor from around the corner", and dies.

Church service with organ and singing. Gretchen in the crowd. Behind her, an evil spirit whispers to the girl that her life has changed radically since she became Faust's mistress. There are no more clear thoughts, bright prayers, no more begging for forgiveness for the poisoning of the mother.

Gretchen, like Faust, thought that the sleeping pill she had given her mother on the night of their first intimacy was harmless. Only Mephistopheles clearly realized that it was poison. Margarita took the blame for her mother's death on herself.

The evil spirit repeats that Margarita's soul is doomed to burn in a hellish flame, that there will no longer be any light or air in her life, only shame, and the righteous will be afraid to lend a helping hand to her. Gretchen collapses.

Walpurgis Night

In the mountains of Garda, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to ride a broomstick. Faust replies that it is more pleasant for him to feel the ground with his feet, since he likes to "listen to avalanches and landslides." Spring makes him younger. They meet a Will-o'-the-wisp. According to popular beliefs, a wandering light is a creature that lures travelers into swamps and destroys them. But for Mephistopheles, the will-o'-the-wisp turns out to be a friendly force and helps to get through "the edge of phantasmagoria, the enchanted area deeper into the mountains."

Mephistopheles announces that "in the bowels of the mountains, King Mammon (the personification of the power of gold) ascended to his throne." Faust admires the majestic appearance of the mountains. Nearby one can hear “the rumble and hubbub of the carnival”, “howling, hooting and singing of a terrible pandemonium, rushing in the distance to its annual Sabbath”. They meet witches and sorceresses, goats and pigs. Among the honored guests of the witches' coven are a general, a minister, a wealthy businessman, a writer. Faust dances with a young beautiful witch, talks to her about apples, alluding to Eve's paradise apple, a symbol of the fall (and the consequences that follow from this). Soon, a pink mouse jumps out of his partner's mouth while singing, and Faust stops dancing. He steps aside, and a wonderful vision appears before his eyes: a sad Gretchen is standing on a mountain, with stocks on her feet. Faust thinks that Gretchen is dead. Mephistopheles is trying to convince Faust that this is an optical illusion, that everyone sees in this mirage the image of his beloved, and so on. Faust recalls his guilt towards Marguerite. Podliza appears and announces that they will now give the premiere performance "in an amateur performance."

Soy on Walpurgis Night, go gold wedding

It's a nasty day. Field

Faust, after fantastic fun on Walpurgis Night, returns to gloomy reality. In desperation, he tells Mephistopheles that Margaret "begged for a long time" and is now in prison. He accuses the demon of amusing Faust, hiding the girl's position, while the unfortunate Gretchen suffered beatings and humiliation.

Faust orders Mephistopheles to rescue Marguerite. He explains that since Faust is the real cause of Gretchen's misfortunes (he seduced the girl and then left her), he must save her.

Night in the field

Faust and Mephistopheles rush on black mines "without looking ahead", "to the place of execution."

Mephistopheles puts the guard to sleep and arranges for Faust to enter the prison cell. Faust with a bunch of keys in front of an iron door. Inside, he hears Gretchen singing a song from the perspective of her murdered daughter. Margarita killed the child she adopted from Faust in order to avoid disgrace, but then went mad with grief. Faust is trying to take his beloved out of prison, promising never to leave her alone again, to hide her in a safe place, to become her support. But Margarita does not recognize him. Faust falls on his knees in front of her, loudly calling her name. Gretchen's consciousness clears up, but she is in no hurry to escape from the dungeon. Margarita clings to her beloved, asks him to be affectionate and passionate with her. She loses precious time asking Faust to get their child out of the pond. It seems to Gretchen that the girl sometimes floats to the surface, and then she can be caught by grabbing the handle. Margarita asks Faust to dig three graves: for her mother, for her brother and for her, so that she can take her daughter with her and fall asleep forever, clutching the child to her chest. Margarita does not believe that she will be happy again with her beloved: she is afraid of his cold. She does not want to run free, she imagines her mother unwittingly poisoned by her. Marguerite manages to keep Faust near her almost until dawn. She is happy to be executed. Margarita submits to God's judgment and does not accept deliverance from the hands of Faust (and in fact - Mephistopheles, that is, Satan). Not looking for physical salvation, she thinks only about spiritual salvation, atonement for guilt by death. Mephistopheles, who appears, takes Faust by force, explaining that Margarita will have to be left in the cell: "she is condemned to torment." But the Voice from Above, as if in response to Mephistopheles, announces: “Saved!”

Second part Act one

The beautiful countryside of Faust lies on a flowering meadow. He is tired, restless and trying to sleep. A round dance of small charming spirits flutters in the air. Faust's dream is aggravated by suffering due to the death of Gretchen and the consciousness of his guilt before her. The bright spirit Ariel calls on the elves to ease Faust's agony: forgetting the past will help him return to the present. Faust wakes up, meets the new day with a surge of fresh energy. He sees a rainbow. According to Faust, nature is a mirror of the spiritual world of man. His soul at this moment is like a rainbow.

Imperial Palace The State Council is waiting for the emperor. Courtiers splendidly dressed enter. The emperor ascends the throne, the astrologer becomes to his right. It turns out that the royal jester has died. His place is taken by Mephistopheles. A murmur is heard in the crowd. Nobody likes the new jester. The chancellor, the head of the military forces, the treasurer, the caretaker of the palace take turns making reports to the emperor. Their content is approximately the same: all officials are doing their best for the cause of the emperor, but for some reason in all state affairs there is complete desolation and discord. There is no money in the treasury. The emperor asks if the jester has no complaints. Mephistopheles replies that it is a sin for him to complain when everything is so good in the state. He proposes to look for ancient treasures buried in abundance around the palace, but for now issue paper money (not backed by gold), put it into circulation and thus immediately pay off all possible debts. The emperor likes the project, but he turns to an astrologer for advice. He, under the dictation of Mephistopheles, makes an approving speech, referring to the "special" position of the planets. Everyone, led by the emperor, goes to dig holes and look for treasures. The emperor, in joy, orders a carnival. Left alone, Mephistopheles says:

They do not understand how small children, That happiness does not fly into the mouth. I'd give them a philosopher's stone - The philosopher is missing.

Masquerade

The herald summons representatives of Greek mythology. Graces, parkas, furies appear. On horseback enter Fear, Hope and Reason, who considers her two sisters "the worst scourges and executions of the human race." Mephistopheles appears under the mask of Zoilo-Tersites (Zoilo-Tersites is the embodiment of evil envy, his name is made up of a combination of the names of the Greek critic Zoilus, who criticized Homer, and the character of the Iliad, Thersites, a malicious ugly screamer).

Plutus, the god of wealth, arrives. His chariot is driven by his beloved son, the Charioteer Boy, the poet, the embodiment of creativity and extravagance. The boy snaps his fingers, scattering mountains of treasure around him. The crowd rushes to pick up jewelry, but instead of pearls and gold, people clutch in their hands "a handful of swarming beetles" or butterflies. Herald proclaims:

Who waited for innumerable good, Sobers up from dreams at once: All "the boy's speeches are leprosy And all gold is tinsel.

The retinue of Plutus is made up of fauns, satyrs, nymphs, giants and gnomes. Faust is hidden under the mask of Plutus, and Mephistopheles is again under the mask of the Skinny Miser. Women from the crowd scold and curse Skinny. Plutus, getting off the chariot, repeats the trick of enriching the crowd, and again people randomly rush to the ghostly gold. But the staff of Plutus turns into flames. The crowd is pushed back. Skinny Miser promises to give gold bars any shape. The Herald calls for the Miser to be kicked out of the palace, as he is "an immoral brat". At this time, Pan (the ancient Greek god of forests and groves, a lover of peace and carelessness) enters. The retinue of Plutus surrounds the great Pan, everyone sings his glory. Under the mask of Pan hides the emperor. Bending carelessly over the fire (he wants to inspect the fiery fountain created by Plutus), Pan does not notice how his beard lights up. An uproar rises. From the beard, the dress of Pan the Emperor lights up, then the costumes of other masks. The palace is on fire. Plutus casts a spell to cast mist on the palace and summon clouds that rain down.

Garden for festivities Faust and Mephistopheles kneel before the emperor. They ask him to forgive them for their imaginary fire. The emperor is not angry with Mephistopheles the jester. He liked the masquerade. Mephistopheles calms the emperor, flatters him, predicts to become the king of "all elements and beginnings." The chancellor, the head of the military forces, the treasurer, the caretaker of the palace take turns making reports to the emperor.

Joyful news. All debts are repaid by issuing paper money. The subjects are happy. Prosperity in the country. The emperor does not understand when they managed to do all this. The chancellor reminds him that during the masquerade, the emperor, dressed as Pan, personally signed the first treasury bill, which was then duplicated. The emperor is amazed at his indiscretion, but does not protest. He thanks Mephistopheles for the beneficence rendered to his state, appoints him the keeper of the state bowels. Satisfied, Mephistopheles leaves. The emperor instructs the courtiers to keep an eye on him. An old jester appears. Mephistopheles hurriedly thrusts counterfeit money on him so that the jester buys himself an estate, does not appear at court and does not interfere with the intrigues of the devil.

dark gallery

Faust requires Mephistopheles to call the beautiful Helen of Troy and her kidnapper Paris from the realm of the dead. The fact is that the subjects of the emperor now have a lot of money, and they want to have fun. Faust promised to show a performance involving the spirits of mythical characters. Mephistopheles refuses, explaining that Helen is a character in ancient Greek myths, while he himself is a devil from the Middle Ages. He advises Faust to go to the mysterious ancient goddesses - Mothers. These fantastic goddesses create ideal images of all things. Mephistopheles supplies Faust with a key-guide to the realm of the Mothers. He advises Faust: "Transfer from the world of forms born into the world of their prototypes." Mothers will not notice the approach of Faust. Faust must quickly get close to the altar, on which the fire is burning, and touch the tripod with the key. The key will engage with the tripod. Then Faust must hurry away so that the Mothers do not have time to notice the robbery. Together with the tripod, Faust must sneak into the hall, where all the entities in the world crowd, and call Paris and Elena. Faust stamps his foot and disappears. Mephistopheles worries if Faust's journey will go without complications.

brightly lit halls

From Mephistopheles they demand the performance promised to the emperor with the spirits of Paris and Helen. But Faust never returns. Mephistopheles rather clumsily tries to switch the attention of the assembled spectators to something else. He undertakes to help everyone who, having heard about his incredible tricks, turns to him for advice (how to remove freckles, how to treat frostbite, how to return a lover, etc.).

Knight's Hall

Faust returns from the realm of the Mothers with the spirits of Paris and Helen. The show starts. Mephistopheles takes a place in the prompter's booth ("my vocation is a whisper, a subterfuge, the devil is a born prompter").

Faust takes the stage. With the help of a spell, Faust brings the images of Paris and Helen onto the stage, without making them, however, real. Spectators succumb to illusions and perceive skillfully created images as real living people. Ladies admire the heavenly beauty of the young man, men try in every way to reduce this impression, ridiculing the bad manners of the “former shepherd boy” and his lack of masculinity” (“how will he be in armor?”). When Elena appears, men are taken to admire her, and the ladies seek out and discuss the shortcomings of her appearance. Faust is captivated by the beauty of Helen. He can't imagine life without her anymore. When Paris lifts Helen in his arms, intending to carry him away, Faust, furious, orders him to stop. Faust remembers that he himself is the author of this pantomime, that he is clutching a magic key in his hand. Faust is in a hurry to master the beautiful, but it does not come so easily. Faust tries to grab Helen and keep the vision, but it slips away. An explosion follows, and the spirits of Paris and Helen dissolve into thin air.

Act two

Cramped Gothic room with high ceilings in the form in which he left it, setting off on a long journey, Faust Mephistopheles emerges from behind the curtain. Faust lies motionless on the old great-grandfather's bed. For many years, ever since Faust left his office, the doors had been tightly locked. Mephistopheles dresses in Faust's cloak, rings the bell, the doors of the office swing open by themselves. An astonished famulous (an assistant professor from among the senior students) approaches the office with a staggering gait. Mephistopheles asks him about Wagner taking Faust's place. According to Mephistopheles, "in the rays of his fame, the last glimpse of Faustian glory disappeared." But the famulous does not agree with such a judgment. He calls Dr. Wagner a model of modesty, waiting for many years for the return of his great teacher. Wagner jealously kept Faust's office intact. Now he is on the verge of a major scientific discovery, leading a reclusive lifestyle. Famulus is removed.

The bachelor appears. This is a self-confident young man, fairly fed up with the traditional teaching of sciences. The bachelor declares: “As a boy, with my mouth open, I listened to one of the bearded ones in the same chambers and took his advice at face value. All of them filled my innocent mind with carrion. Noticing Mephistopheles and mistaking him for the returned Faust, the bachelor irreverently tells him that everything has changed in the world, but the doctor has remained the same. The bachelor no longer intends to tolerate his "ambiguity" and will not let him "make fun" of himself. Mephistopheles reproaches the bachelor for actually calling his teacher a fool, ironically invites him, now so "experienced", to become a professor himself. The Bachelor answers:

All experience, experience! Experience is nonsense.

Experience will not cover the value of the spirit.

Everything we have learned so far,

Not worth looking for and not worth knowing.

Mephistopheles notices that he himself has long suspected this. The Bachelor is surprised that "Faust" admits his mistakes. He praises his teacher for progressive thinking. The bachelor scorns old age and the way old people pretend to be significant people when they themselves have practically become “nothing”. The bachelor sees the purpose of young life in the motto: "The world was not before me and was created by me ... On the way, my light is my inner light." The bachelor leaves. Mephistopheles considers the bachelor an ordinary bluster: the devil knows for sure that there is nothing new in the world. He takes this youthful arrogance calmly: “You are destined to go crazy. In the end, no matter how the must ferments, the end result is wine.”

Medieval laboratory

Mephistopheles visits Wagner in the laboratory, who is busy creating a man (Homunculus) in a flask. It seems to Wagner that in the end he managed to "deliberately break the secret seal of nature". The homunculus from the flask reminds its creator so that he does not accidentally break the glass: "The natural universe is cramped, while the artificial needs isolation." The flask slips out of Wagner's hands and, flying over Faust, illuminates him. The homunculus retells Faust's dreams aloud: many naked women by the forest pond, and among them is the beautiful Elena. The homunculus reproaches the northerner Mephistopheles (a character of gloomy medieval mythology) for not understanding the cheerful legends of antiquity, while the ideal of Faust, a passionate admirer of nature, is “forest, swans, beautiful nakedness”. The homunculus fears that Faust, having returned from the world of visions and dreams to reality, will die of anguish in a gloomy laboratory. He invites Mephistopheles to rush Faust to some more suitable limits for his worldview, he promises to time this movement to the classical Walpurgis Night. Homunculus decides to fly to the ancient Greek city of Pharsalus (the city was famous for the fact that the decisive battle between Julius Caesar and Pompey took place here in 48 BC). There, thirsty for struggle, Faust will feel in his place. Mephistopheles, referring to the many civil wars during which Roman dictators like Pompey and Caesar overthrew each other, asks:

Leave! Not a word about centuries of struggle!

I hate tyrants and slaves...

As if everyone is raving about liberation,

And their eternal dispute, to be more precise, -

Enslavement is a dispute with enslavement.

Classic Walpurgis Night.

Farsal fields. Darkness Faust wanders around Greece, trying to meet the highest embodiment of beauty - Helen. Having set foot on the soil of classical Greece, Faust gains strength: “having risen from the ground, I, like Antaeus, stand” (Antaeus is the son of the goddess of the Earth Gaia, who possessed strength only while he touched the ground with his feet).

In Upper Pene, Faust goes through several stages in the development of the fantasy of the ancient Greeks, culminating in the creation of the ideal image of Helen. The lowest level is made up of images of fantastic creatures (sirens, vultures, sphinxes). Faust asks them to show him the way to Helena, but they are powerless to help him.

At Lower Peneus At the next stage of Faust's wanderings, demigods, half-humans (centaurs), fantastic forest dwellers (nymphs) appear before his eyes. The centaur Chiron advises him to become more reasonable, to back away from Elena, reminding him that she did not bring happiness to anyone who wanted to possess her. Chiron brings Faust to Manto, daughter of Aesculapius (the god of healing). Manto "the one who wants the impossible is sweet." She points out to Faust the descent into the depths of Olympus to the goddess Persephone (the queen of the underworld of the dead). Once Manto had already shown this way to the singer Orpheus, so that he would bring his wife Eurydice out of the kingdom of the dead. Manto advises Faust to be "smarter" than Orpheus (who looked back at Eurydice as they surfaced, which was not to be done).

At the headwaters of the Peneus, as before, mythological creatures (gods, sirens, vultures, pygmies, dwarfs, etc.) explain the evolution of the earth's surface in different ways. Some believe that the changes occurred slowly and gradually, others cause the changes by earthquakes. Here Faust meets the representatives of human thought, the philosophers Thales and Anaxagoras, who seek to understand the origin of the world. Fa-les adheres to the point of view that "in everything big there is gradualness, and not suddenness and instantaneity." Anaxagoras, on the other hand, believes that "the trail of eruptions is mountains of zigzags." Anaxagoras causes a rain of stones falling from the moon, and, "shaking the earth's way of life", goes crazy.

Mephistopheles penetrates to the forkiads (characters of Greek mythology; the embodiment of senile deformity, the three of them had one tooth and one eye, which they passed on to each other as needed). Mephistopheles deceives himself into the form of one of the forkiads, takes the tooth and eye, and leaves.

The rocky bays of the Aegean Sea Homunculus, Mephistopheles and the philosopher Thales go to the inhabitants of the deep sea (Nereus and his beautiful Nereid daughters) to ask for advice on how it is best for the Homunculus to be born. Proteus (an old man in the service of the god of the seas Poseidon, who had the gift of divination and the ability to take on various forms) advises the Homunculus to consistently develop from the simplest to the complex:

Be content with the simple, like a creature of the seas. , Swallow others, the weakest, and fat. Successfully eat off, prosper And gradually improve your appearance.

Beautiful Galatea floats in a shell turned into a chariot drawn by dolphins, past her father Nereus. The homunculus breaks his flask on the throne of Galatea and thereby connects with the embodiment of beauty and achieves the fulfillment of his dream of becoming a man. He merges with the sea and begins the path of gradual transformations leading to the creation of a full-fledged person. Thus, the Homunculus, as it were, symbolically repeats the path of Faust himself.

Act three

In front of the palace of Menelaus in Sparta By means of magic, the Spartan queen Helen was resurrected at a moment that corresponds to her return to her husband's house after the defeat of Troy. Elena relives everything experienced then. She recalls various episodes of her past life related to the Trojan War. Menelaus strictly ordered Elena to prepare an altar and a knife upon her return. The queen does not know who will be sacrificed, she suspects that her husband will take her life for all the disasters that her beauty brought to him and his soldiers. However, she decides to hold on courageously, no matter what is destined for her. Posing as an old maid, a forkiad approaches Elena, under the mask of which Mephistopheles is hiding. Phorkiada recalls how many love stories are drawn to Elena, asks if Elena really lived in two guises in Troy and in Egypt, and that Achilles from the kingdom of the dead came to her on a date. Phorkiada hints to the queen that Menelaus will not spare her and her servants, paints the usual cruelty for the king, which he committed with other people. Elena asks the forkiad to suggest if there is a way for them to escape. She offers to be transported by magic to a beautiful medieval castle, where Faust will be waiting for Elena. After some hesitation, Elena agrees.

The inner courtyard of the castle, surrounded by rich quaint buildings of the Middle Ages

Faust dressed as a medieval knight, his pages and squires greet Helen and her retinue. Faust respectfully declares his love for the queen, asking permission to "recognize her as his mistress." Elena chooses Faust as her husband. They understand each other perfectly. The army of Faust successfully repels the attack of the army of Menelaus, who is trying to take away the beautiful Helen.

From the marriage of Elena and Faust, the boy Euphorion-on is born, a symbol of the combination of ancient beauty (Elena) and modern intelligence, the spirit of dissatisfaction and quest (Faust). Euphorion is a poet. He is a very lively and mobile child, a fidget, constantly striving to "reach heaven." Parents are afraid that he might fall and be maimed, they ask Euphorion to "restrain the violent force."

Euphorion is growing up fast. Here he is already standing on top of a high rock in the garb of a warrior. He is no longer "an outside spectator, but a participant in earthly battles." Euphorion jumps "into the boundless expanse", his head shines, a luminous trail in the air stretches behind him. The chorus proclaims: "This is the end of the new Icarus." A beautiful young man falls lifeless at the feet of his parents. The body disappears. A halo in the form of a comet rises to the sky, a lyre, a tunic and a cloak remain on the ground. Funeral singing is heard. Elena says goodbye to Faust:

The old saying comes true on me, That happiness does not get along with beauty. Alas, the connection between love and life is broken.

Elena disappears into the air, together with her son again goes to the kingdom of the dead. In the hands of Faust, Elena's dress remains - a symbol of perfect beauty, the understanding of which he achieved by joining the world of antiquity. But the searching spirit of Faust cannot rest on this either. Elena's dress turns into a cloud that takes Faust up to return to the familiar world.

Phorkiada picks up Euphorion's clothes and turns into Mephistopheles. From now on, he will "rent a genius outfit to poets."

act four

Mountain landscape

High rocky ridge. A cloud swims up, settles on a flat ledge of a mountain, Faust emerges from the cloud. He realized that the absolute ideal is unattainable. He is full of desire to live and act, - now not for himself, but for the good of other people. Faust recalls the "love of sad days of old loss."

Mephistopheles flies up to Faust in seven-league boots. Now Mephistopheles is trying to arouse in Faust a thirst for glory, he advises to found a big city, to build himself a luxurious palace "for seductive girlfriends." Faust remarks:

It's not about fame. My wishes -

Power, property, dominance.

My aspiration is work, work.

Faust wants to become a wise adviser to the emperor, taking care of the affairs of the country, and a commander (although by his own admission, he knows nothing about military affairs). However, Mephistopheles finds a witty way out of the situation: he recruits a whole tribe of highlanders (known for their fearlessness) to the general staff, and a motley rabble eager to fight in the army. Three strong men stand at the head of the army. The first is Raufebold, a young, lightly armed warrior, in a colorful outfit, youthfully hot.

Admin added 04/27/2012 at 11:57
The second is Gabebald, middle-aged, well-armed, richly dressed, whose main occupation in war is plunder. The third is Galtefest, elderly, heavily armed, without extra clothes, busy in the war in order to "save good from wasting."

On the front mountain spur, the Scouts report to the emperor that betrayal and distrust of the ruler are ripening in his troops. Many troops go over to the side of the "false gift". The emperor tries to decide the outcome of the battle by challenging the opponents' emperor to single combat. Faust appears, accompanied by the Three Strong. Faust conveys to the emperor a bow from the Sabine magician, whom the emperor saved many years ago from execution by the Inquisition. On his behalf, Faust offers the emperor help and introduces the Three Strong into battle. They will be supported by an army of highlanders. Mephistopheles seized the uniforms and weapons of warriors of past times from the museum for arming the troops. The enemy army, at first trembling, soon straightens out and goes on the attack again.

Black crows, messengers of misfortune, are circling over Mephistopheles. The emperor is disappointed in Faust and Mephistopheles, leaves them in a tent to confer with the real commander in chief. But Mephistopheles comes up with a cunning plan. He sends ravens to the mountain lake. Through the birds, Mephistopheles conveys the order to the mermaids to “arrange a flood by some deceitful method”. He is sure that the female coquetry of mermaids will tell them some tricky way out: "Women have in reserve the means of making the essence out of appearance."

The enemy's resistance soon weakens: "what is courage against a flood?" Mephistopheles sends ravens to the dwarves and gives the order to give the army "a flame, inexpressible in words, a white-hot limit, so that everyone, having seen it, will become crazy." The enemy army is on the run. Faust is a hero.

The tent of the hostile emperor Gabebald and the candienne Aileboita seize the goods left in the tent of the emperor of the opponents. Appeared bodyguards of the true emperor are trying to prevent them, but Gabebald and his girlfriend are hiding with impunity. The bodyguard himself does not understand why he did not beat the insolent man: his hand did not rise by itself. The real emperor appears. He thanks his close associates for the battle won, distributes awards and new appointments. For some reason, in a conversation with each of the characters, the speech eventually comes down to feasts and a feast. The archbishop expresses fear that the emperor is in league with Satan. He miraculously won a battle in which the enemy was obviously stronger. The archbishop recalls how the emperor freed a heretic from the court of the church (alluding to the Sabine magician). However, according to the archbishop, all this can be settled by signing a large donation to the church with the transfer of the lion's share of the lands seized as a result of the war. Among other things, the archbishop demands that Faust be forced to pay the Pope a tax from the sea shores granted to him by the Emperor. The fact is that Mephistopheles intends to drain these shores and create fertile lands on them. The emperor is dissatisfied with the fact that in fact he had to unsubscribe all the spoils of war to the church.

act five
open area

On the seashore there is a hut of "ideal spouses" - old people Philemon and Baucis. From all sides it is surrounded by a "thick garden". This is the fruit of the activities of Faust and Mephistopheles to drain coastal lands. The Wanderer, whom they saved from certain death many years ago, comes to the spouses.

The three of us at a table in the garden The Stranger does not recognize the surrounding places. Baucis says that the drainage works are going in some kind of “unclean” way: “Just for the sake of appearance, during the day, thousands of artisans beat with copra: a strange flame at night erected a pier for them.” Now a magnificent palace of Faust has been built on the shore. He intends to evict Philemon and Baucis because their hut interferes with its further construction. They stubbornly refuse to leave their homes and move to a new home "on the land of the lowlands." The couple pray to be left alone.

Faust, very old, strolls through a vast country garden on the banks of a wide and straight canal. Faust is greatly annoyed by the protracted feud with the old men Philemon and Baucis. He does not understand their intractability, he wants to add their piece of land to his possessions at all costs and demolish the old hut.

Mephistopheles, at the head of a rich merchant fleet, returns to Faust. Faust asks him for advice on how to deal with the old man. Mephistopheles promises to settle everything, to negotiate with the old people about moving to a new house with the help of magic and suggestion.

Deep night

Guard Linkey notices from the tower that sparks are flying in the linden grove surrounding the old people's house. A big fire starts. Linkei prays that Philemon and Baucis have time to escape.

Arriving Mephistopheles says that the old people did not open to him when he knocked on their door to talk about the resettlement. Mephistopheles and the Three Strongs broke open the door and began to take things out. The old people breathed their last in fear.” Their guest, the Stranger, resisted and was killed. The house caught fire from the spark, the corpses burned in the fire. Faust curses Mephistopheles: he wanted to solve the matter by peace, and not by violence. Faust feels guilty for the death of the old people.

Four gray-haired women appear before Faust. These are allegorical figures of Lack, Guilt, Care and Need. Faust in his current position is no longer afraid of the usual everyday hardships and anxieties. However, Care tries to prove to him that he hastened to believe that nothing else can disturb his peace. Faust triumphs over her, his spirit is unbroken even after Care blinds him:

Nights of shadows thickened around me,

But the light inside me did not go out.

Sleepless thought and longing for fulfillment...

Large courtyard in front of the palace

Mephistopheles acts as overseer of the construction work, which is led by the blind Faust. Lemurs do not dig a trench, as Faust ordered, but could dig him. But Faust is not broken. Before his death, he manages to tell about what became for him the most important conclusion of life:

Here is the thought to which I am devoted, The result of everything that the mind has accumulated. Only he who has experienced the battle for life, deserves life and freedom. So, every day, every year, Working, fighting, joking with danger, Let the husband, the old man and the child live. A free people in a free land I would like to see on such days. Then I could exclaim: “A moment! Oh, how beautiful you are, wait! The traces of my struggles are embodied, And they will never be erased. And anticipating this triumph, I am now experiencing the highest moment.

Faust is dying. The lemurs pick it up and lay it on the ground. Mephistopheles partially recognizes her defeat: Faust wanted to keep the moment that Mephistopheles was never able to give him. But the devil intends to fight for Faust's soul.

Position in the coffin

Mephistopheles and the lemurs guard the moment when Faust's soul leaves the body in order to intercept it and present it with a contract backed by blood. The soul never flies. The terrible mouth of hell opens next to the body. The devils are visible. They, too, are waiting for the soul to fly out, ready to grab it, to prevent it from “flying up.”

Suddenly, a radiant light is shed on Faust, coming from above. This is the heavenly host, the angels who flew in for the soul of Faust. Angels, moving apart in breadth, gradually occupy the entire space. Mephistopheles and the devils retreat. Even Mephistopheles admires the bright angels, almost falls in love with them, almost changing his "hereditary foundations."

Angels rise to the sky, carrying the immortal essence of Faust. Mephistopheles is annoyed with himself.

Mountain gorges, forest, rocks, desert

After Faust has gone through his life, his sins are forgiven and he is justified, and in his face - all of humanity (in the Prologue in Heaven, the Lord allowed Mephistopheles to experiment on Faust as a representative of all mankind). All figures of the final scene represent various degrees of spiritual purification and recognize the high value of a person with all his mistakes and delusions. Pater exstaticus (The ecstatic Father) is in a state of mystical ecstasy and longs for painful torture to prove that the flesh no longer weighs down his spirit. Pater profundus (Deepened Father) is in the lower part of the mountain, inhabited by hermits: he is still close to earthly life, but in love for nature draws strength for purification. Pater seraphicus (the angelic Father) is at a higher level of purification than the profound Father, thanks to which he already contemplates angelic souls. the appearance of ghosts, died, being sinless, and went to heaven). Pater seraphicus lets the souls of babies go up: "grow without end, as the spirit grows up, growing up, in the presence of the creator." Angels soar, carrying the immortal essence of Faust:

The lofty spirit is saved from evil by God's work: "Whose life in aspirations has passed, We can save Him."

The Soaring Mother of God moves towards them. The choir of penitent sinners sing her glory. In the choir - Mary Magdalene (who deserved the forgiveness of Christ by washing his feet with tears and wiping them with her hair), the Samaritan Wife (to whom Christ gave water, after drinking which she never felt thirsty again - the water of true faith), Mary of Egypt (a harlot who decided to repent and brought into the temple by the Virgin Mary). All of them unanimously pray to the Mother of God to forgive the sins of Gretchen, "in her life only once she sinned out of ignorance." Margarita is happy to be reunited with Faust: “the long-beloved, irrevocable has returned, we no longer torment with grief.” Forgiveness Gretchen relieves Faust of his guilt towards the girl. Our Lady allows Gretchen to introduce Faust into the circle of angels.

The mystic choir sings:

Everything fleeting is a Symbol, a comparison. The goal is endless Here - in the achievement. Here is the commandment of the whole Truth. Eternal femininity Pulls us to her.

Love and mercy purify women and bring them closer to the Virgin Mary, the embodiment of eternal purity, the intercessor of all sinners, the giver of life.

In a cramped Gothic room with a vaulted ceiling (his study), Faust is sitting in an armchair reading a book. The scientist is dissatisfied with the "barren bookish science" he teaches. Faust feels guilty towards the students whom he "leads by the nose" because, in his opinion, his own knowledge is shallow. Not finding answers to his questions in traditional science, Faust turned to magic. He wants to comprehend the "universe internal connection." Faust dreams of embarking on a long journey for the truth and taking with him the “Creation of Nostradamus”.

He opens the book and sees the sign of the macrocosm:

The darkness that tormented the soul disperses.
Everything clears up like a picture.
And now it seems to me that I myself am a god
And I see, examining the symbol of the world,
Universe from end to end.

However, this is just a sign. Faust laments that he has again found himself "aside" in front of the "sacred bosom" of nature. On another page, Faust finds a sign of the earthly spirit (according to the teachings of mystics and alchemists, every object obeys some kind of spirit), admits that he is closer and more desirable to him. Faust utters a spell and summons the Spirit. His appearance is disgusting. The spirit is unhappy that Faust was afraid of him. But the scientist pulls himself together, calls the Spirit "the active genius of being", his "prototype". However, the Spirit declares that the prototype of a person can only be a spirit that the person himself will be able to know, and disappears.

Faust is visited by his student Wagner to take a "recitation lesson" (Wagner studies ancient languages, ancient authors and rhetoric). Wagner considers it necessary to have a good command of the word, otherwise he will not be able to "manage an unfamiliar flock." Faust believes that “where there is no gut, you won’t help later”, meaning that it is impossible to write a strong sermon mechanically, adhering only to the rules of rhetoric, without illuminating your work with a sincere feeling coming from the heart:

And the one who is poor in thought and assiduous,
Dripping in vain retelling
Phrases borrowed from everywhere
Limiting the whole thing to excerpts,
He might create authority
Among children and stupid fools,
But without a soul and high thoughts
There are no living paths from heart to heart.

Faust also came to the conclusion that it is impossible to draw enough true knowledge from books. "The key of wisdom is not on the pages of books", the truth must be sought in the recesses of one's own soul. As for the “spirit of the times” (ancient folios), which Wagner reveres, Faust considers it to be the spirit of “professors and their concepts, which these gentlemen inappropriately pass off as true antiquity.” The few who managed to penetrate into the essence of things, the Holy Inquisition diligently burns at the stake. Wagner leaves. Faust reflects on how much he overestimated his abilities, imagining himself to be "divine", that is, capable of comprehending the secrets of the universe. For example, Faust was able to force the spirit to appear to him, but failed to keep it.

In rays of imaginary brilliance
We often soar in thought in breadth
And we fall from the weight of the pendant,
From the load of our voluntary weights.
We drape in all ways
Your lack of will, cowardice, weakness, laziness ...
Doesn't my life pass in the dust
Among these bookshelves, as in captivity?

Faust remembers how much effort he spent to pick up the keys to the locks on the doors of the secrets of nature, but she guards these doors too jealously. The scientist expresses despair over the futility of any human effort to rise above everyday life. Faust's attention is attracted by a vial of poison. He wants to drink the poison and prove that "man's determination will stand before the gods" (that is, that he will be able to overcome the fear of death). Faust raises the glass to his lips. A bell rings. A choir of angels sings Easter songs. Faust puts his glass aside. He recalls how good the Easter hymns filled his soul in childhood, how sincerely he prayed, how he “wept, reveling in the happiness of tears.” Since then, although Faust has long been an unbeliever, with the bright Resurrection of Christ, he associates everything “that is pure and bright.”

At the gate

Crowds of walkers are heading out of town. Wagner prefers to stay away "from the amusements of the common people." Faust, on the other hand, enjoys great popularity among the people: the doctor is revered as a deliverer from diseases, who does not disdain the mob, who is not ashamed to go into a poor house and help the sick. Faust himself blames himself for treating people without having an accurate knowledge of medicine, without checking whether every patient to whom he gave his drugs was cured. But among ordinary people he feels very natural, they approach the doctor and thank him. Faust confesses to Wagner:

But two souls live in me
And both are not at odds with each other.
One, like the passion of love, ardent
And greedily clings to the earth entirely,
The other is all for the clouds
So it would have rushed out of the body.

Faust dreams of a magical cloak so that, by wearing it, one could freely travel around the world. Suddenly, Faust notices a black dog, which first circles around them, and then runs up to the scientist. It seems to Faust that "the flame behind him snakes along the ground." Wagner objects that this is an ordinary poodle, only very smart.

Faust's workroom

Faust enters with a poodle. He tells the dog to be quiet as he gets to work. Faust translates Scripture into German. He searches for the best equivalent to the first phrase, sorting through “In the beginning there was the Word”, “In the beginning there was the Thought”, “There was in the beginning the Force”, and stops at “In the beginning there was the Deed”, a kind of motto of his life. The poodle howls, behaves uneasily. Faust begins to suspect that he has introduced evil spirits "under the vault". Spirits are crowding in the hallway, trying to rescue the demon (in the form of a black dog) to freedom. Faust utters a conspiracy from the dog and notices that he does not have any effect on the poodle. The dog begins to bristle wool and hides behind the stove only when Faust utters a spell from evil spirits. From behind the stove, the demon comes out in its real form - Mephistopheles. Faust asks his name. Mephistopheles is presented as "a part of the power of that which does good without number, wishing evil to everything." Faust contemptuously remarks that his strange guest "doesn't get along with the Universe in business ... harms her in small things." Mephistopheles notes with regret that he did not manage to kill a person from the world with earthquakes, floods, or floods - "life is always available." At this, the demon asks permission to leave. Faust invites Mephistopheles to continue to visit him. Mephistopheles cannot find a way out of Faust's room (a pentagram is drawn above the entrance, and the demon cannot bypass it). Then he stays to show Faust his art. Faust is surrounded by spirits and put to sleep. While Faust sleeps, Mephistopheles disappears. Waking up, Faust decides that he dreamed the whole scene with the devil and the poodle.

Faust's workroom (second scene)

Although Faust rejected suicide, he remains dissatisfied with life. “I am too old to know only fun, and too young not to desire at all. What will give me light that I myself do not know? he complains to Mephistopheles. He curses "a lie without measure", "conceit", "the seduction of a family man", "the power of gain", "holy love, impulses and intoxication with wine", "the patience of a fool". Mephistopheles explains that "no matter how bad the environment, but everyone is alike, and a person is unthinkable without people." He offers Faust "to walk the path of life together", promises to render "services" to the scientist: to give something "which the world does not see". In payment, Mephistopheles demands to "repay" him in the afterlife (that is, to sell his soul). It is important for Faust not to receive unimaginable benefits, but to comprehend the meaning of human life through his own experience and experiences. He agrees:

When at peace
I will listen to the flattery of praise,
Or indulge in laziness or sleep,
Or fool yourself with the passions of the ladies, -
Let then in the midst of pleasure
Death will come to me!
As soon as I glorify a separate moment,
Screaming: “A moment, wait!” -
It's over and I'm your prey...

Mephistopheles receives an IOU from Faust .. The demon explains to the scientist that all his aspirations for knowledge are meaningless, all the same, people live in hopeless darkness: “Do you achieve great benefit with the truth that, say, you can’t jump over your forehead?” Mephistopheles invites Faust to go on a journey. Faust leaves to get ready. At this time, a student arrives from a remote province to ask the famous doctor how to become a scientist better and faster. The student vaguely but sincerely strives for knowledge. Mephistopheles disguises himself as Faust and begins to describe to the student the “charms of education” - how at first someone will be discouraged from doing everything “at random”, but they will be taught to lay out “into three steps and into a subject and a predicate”, then the teacher of philosophy will explain “what was the first and second and was the third and fourth. However, the path of cognition will become a dead end if a person hastens to “de-soul the phenomena, forgetting that if the animating connection is broken in them, then there is nothing more to listen to.” Mephistopheles, who knows the intricacies of teaching at universities, knows in advance the futility of the path that the student will follow. The young man aloud goes over the names of the faculties where he could get an education - legal, theological, medical. Mephistopheles consistently dissuades the young man from each of them, explaining that any of these sciences is divorced from reality: “the theory is dry”, but “the tree of life is green”. The stunned student retires to ponder at his leisure everything said by the "great doctor Faust". Mephistopheles and Faust set off to travel the world with the help of a "flying" cloak.

Auerbach's cellar in Leipzig Faust and Mephistopheles find themselves in the company of merry revelers in a tavern. New visitors are treated to wine, teased about their important appearance. However, sharp-tongued Mephistopheles fends off all the "exercises in sharp wits" of the regulars of the tavern. Mephistopheles promises every reveler whatever he wants (i.e., any wine). He drills a hole in the table in front of every drinker, from which wine pours into mugs. Mephistopheles is mistaken for a magician. Soon one of the revelers, Siebel, accidentally spills wine on the floor. The wine is on fire. Siebel yells that it is "fire from hell". Mephistopheles pacifies the flames with a spell. Faust and Mephistopheles are chased away. A fight breaks out. But Mephistopheles and Faust disappear with the help of magic, and the revelers freeze with knives in their hands, looking at each other in bewilderment.

witch's kitchen

A large cauldron stands on the fire of a low hearth. In the vapors rising above him, changing ghosts flicker. At the cauldron, the female monkey removes the foam and watches that the cauldron does not boil over. A male monkey with cubs sit side by side and bask. A witch arrives to, at the instigation of Mephistopheles, brew a witch's potion for Faust. Through sorcery, Faust regains his youth. In the magic mirror, Faust sees the image of the most beautiful of women.

Street

Marguerite (or Gretchen) passes by Faust. Struck by her beauty, he tries to talk to the girl, but she dodges and leaves. Faust asks Mephistopheles to help him meet Marguerite as soon as possible. Mephistopheles, referring to the fact that Gretchen had just left the church (i.e. confessed), declares that he has no power over her. Faust instructs the demon to get a gift for Margarita and decides to get a date with her as soon as possible. Mephistopheles goes to the church in search of some ancient treasure buried nearby.

Evening

In a small tidy room, Margarita preens, going to visit a neighbor. She recalls the meeting with Faust, notes to herself that he must be a noble gentleman. When the girl leaves, Faust and Mephistopheles secretly enter her room. They bring the girl a gift - an old box full of magnificent jewelry. Faust is struck by how poorly, but neatly cleaned Margaret's room, everything here seems to him her "miraculous hand" turned into a royal "chamber". Margarita returns, uninvited guests are hiding. The girl notices the box, tries on a pair of precious earrings, dreams that such a beautiful thing belongs to her:

They immediately seem much more beautiful.
What is the use of our natural beauty.
When our outfit is poor and miserable.
Out of pity we are praised in our rank.
All the essence in the pocket,
Everything is a wallet...

On a walk

Mephistopheles is beside himself: Margarita's mother, a very religious woman who lives by usury, took the entire jewelry box to the church "to the heavenly intercessor as an offering." She explained her action to her daughter by the need to get rid of the “unrighteously”, “uncleanly” acquired wealth. The priest gladly accepted the gift, explaining to the woman that “the church, with its digestion, swallows states, cities and regions without any harm. Unclean or pure what is given, she will digest your gift perfectly. Faust decides to give Marguerite a new gift and act through her neighbor, who often has a girlfriend.

Neighbor's house

Marta (Margarita's neighbor) yearns for her husband, who has long sailed away to distant lands. She is tormented by uncertainty, it would be easier for her if she had a certificate of his death.

Margarita comes to Martha, tells her friend that she found a new jewelry box in the closet. Martha advises Gretchen not to tell her mother about this, dresses up the girl.

There is a knock on the door. Mephistopheles enters. He greets the beautiful Margarita as he would greet a noblewoman (which does not correspond to the girl's origin). Mephistopheles is presented as a "messenger of troubles *. He notifies Martha that her husband died in a foreign land, leaving her not a penny, having spent everything on a slut. Martha, crying, asks if Mephistopheles has a certificate of her husband's death. Mephistopheles explains that in order to obtain such a certificate, the testimony of two witnesses to the death of a person is sufficient, and he is called together with Faust to give such testimony. Martha takes it upon herself to arrange it.

Street

Mephistopheles explains to Faust that in order to get an official pretext for meeting Margarita, he must put his signature on the document on the death of Martha's husband (without knowing this for sure). For Faust, such a forgery is unacceptable, but Mephistopheles quickly convinces him to give up his principles.

Margarita arm in arm with Faust and Martha with Mephistopheles stroll through the garden. Margarita tells Faust about her monotonous, rather bleak life. She works a lot around the house: they have no servants. Margarita has a brother in the soldiers, and her beloved younger sister has died. The father has been dead for a long time. Faust admires the sincerity and innocence of the beautiful Marguerite. He declares his love to her, asks not to be afraid of anything, repeats "about the immense that before which words are nothing, about the joy that will bind our hearts."

Arbor in the garden Margarita and Faust, secluded in the arbor, kiss, declare their love to each other. Martha comes up with Mephistopheles (whom the "widow" is constantly trying to convert to the righteous faith, that is, to hint that he definitely needs to marry and, best of all, to her). They warn the couple in love that it's time for them to leave, otherwise gossip will creep around the city.

Forest cave Faust refers to the earthly spirit, thanks him for the fact that he "gave him the use of nature, gave him the strength to admire her." Faust regrets that “in addition to the thrust upwards, which makes me related to the gods, a low companion was given to me. I can’t do without him, in spite of shamelessness. Mephistopheles makes fun of his need for solitude in the wilderness, while Margaret wept her eyes out for him. The girl is very upset that, in her opinion, Faust abandoned her. Faust explains that he is trying to lull the "sensual hurricane" into himself. In addition, it is not enough for Faust to love Gretchen alone. He gets great pleasure when he looks at living beings and sees “brothers” in them, when, hiding in a cave, he looks “inside himself, like in a book” and sees “mysteries and darkness of miracles” there. Mephistopheles continues to “poke fun at * Faust, convinces him to go to Margarita without too much reflection: “Why are you timid, fool, when the devil himself is not your brother?”

Gretchen's room

Gretchen is alone at the spinning wheel. She sings a song that she does not find peace, cannot think of anything but Faust, dreams, having conquered fear, to unite with her beloved.

Martha's Garden

Margarita asks Faust to become more pious and observe the rites of the church. Faust's unbelief grieves her. Faust expounds to his beloved his views on religion. He denies a personal god, deifies nature. Margarita feels a vague dislike for Mephistopheles, cannot figure out why she "doesn't like" Faust's friend, who, it seems, did nothing wrong to her. However, in the presence of Mephistopheles, the girl has “such an emptiness in her heart” that it seems to her that she has fallen out of love with Faust. Margarita invites Faust to come to her at night, but fears that her mother will wake up. Faust holds out to his beloved the sleeping pills given to him by Mephistopheles, persuades him to quietly give them to his mother - then she will sleep soundly all night and will not interfere with them. He assures the girl that these drops are harmless. After Marguerite leaves, Mephistopheles (who was eavesdropping on the whole conversation outside the door) ridicules Faust's reverent attitude towards Gretchen, her naive persuasions, "teaching the faith", warns Faust not to "soften up".

By the well

Liechen tells Gretchen about their friend Barbara. While the pious girls were sitting at the spinning wheels, Varvara started an affair with a guy, became his mistress, got pregnant, the guy ran away, and the incident became known in the city. Now Varvara will face shame, although the guy was found and forced to marry her. Gretchen, returning home, is horrified to think what to do for herself - after all, she is in the same position as the unfortunate Barbara. However, Margarita does not regret what she has done: “what lured the heart was so strong and light!”

On the city rampart, Gretchen prays in the deepening of the fortress wall in front of the Statue of the Sorrowing Mother of God, asking to save her "from the pangs of shame."

Night. The street in front of Gretchen's house Valentine, a soldier, Gretchen's brother, having learned about the misfortune of his sister (the whole city speaks of Gretchen's shame), returned to stand up for her honor. Valentine intends to kill his sister's lover and thereby put an end to her torment.

Faust appears with Mephistopheles. They are looking for a treasure, because Faust is embarrassed to go to Gretchen without gifts. Mephistopheles sings a frivolous song about the end of girls' dates with their loved ones (parodying Ophelia's song from Hamlet):

You will enter him as a girl,
But you won't be a girl.

Valentin steps forward. He challenges his sister's offenders to a fight. Mephistopheles fights against Valentine. It reflects all the blows of the soldier. It seems to Valentine that he is fighting "with the devil himself." Mephistopheles mortally wounds Valentine and, fearing the police and the criminal court, disappears with Faust.

Gretchen and Martha run to the noise. Dying Valentine tells his sister that he died standing up for her honor, which she so stupidly lost. He predicts that Gretchen will soon go hand in hand, people will despise her, "shun like the plague." The fallen girl "will not be able to wash off the stigma of the curse on her forehead on earth." Valentin accuses his sister that she "she herself struck him with dishonor from around the corner", and dies.

Cathedral

Church service with organ and singing. Gretchen in the crowd. Behind her, an evil spirit whispers to the girl that her life has changed radically since she became Faust's mistress. There are no more clear thoughts, bright prayers, no more begging for forgiveness for the poisoning of the mother.

Gretchen, like Faust, thought that the sleeping pill she had given her mother on the night of their first intimacy was harmless. Only Mephistopheles clearly realized that it was poison. Margarita took the blame for her mother's death on herself.

The evil spirit repeats that Margarita's soul is doomed to burn in a hellish flame, that there will no longer be any light or air in her life, only shame, and the righteous will be afraid to lend a helping hand to her. Gretchen collapses.

Walpurgis Night

In the Harz mountains, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to ride a broomstick. Faust replies that it is more pleasant for him to feel the ground with his feet, since he likes to "listen to avalanches and landslides." Spring makes him younger. They meet a Will-o'-the-wisp. According to popular beliefs, a wandering light is a creature that lures travelers into swamps and destroys them. But for Mephistopheles, the will-o'-the-wisp turns out to be a friendly force and helps to get through "the edge of phantasmagoria, the enchanted area deeper into the mountains."

Mephistopheles announces that "in the bowels of the mountains, King Mammon (the personification of the power of gold) ascended to his throne." Faust admires the majestic appearance of the mountains. Nearby one can hear “the rumble and hubbub of the carnival”, “howling, hooting and singing of a terrible pandemonium, rushing in the distance to its annual Sabbath”. They meet witches and sorceresses, goats and pigs. Among the honored guests of the witches' coven are a general, a minister, a wealthy businessman, a writer. Faust dances with a young beautiful witch, talks to her about apples, alluding to Eve's paradise apple, a symbol of the fall (and the consequences that follow from this). Soon a pink mouse jumps out of his partner's mouth while singing, and Faust stops the dance. He steps aside, and a wonderful vision appears before his eyes: a sad Gretchen is standing on a mountain, with stocks on her feet. Faust thinks that Gretchen is dead. Mephistopheles is trying to convince Faust that this is an optical illusion, that everyone sees in this mirage the image of his beloved, and so on. Faust recalls his guilt towards Marguerite. Podliza appears and announces that they will now give the premiere performance "in an amateur performance."

Dream on Walpurgis Night, or the golden wedding of Oberon and Titania

The director of the theater announces that the organizers of theatrical performances are resting today: "the stage will be all around, mountains, fragments of rocks." Cheerful forest spirits - kobolds - are dancing. Ariel (spirit of air) plays the flute. Oberon tells Hymen, the god of marriage, to dissolve family ties "in order to live even more closely the rest of the time." A piper plays behind the mountain. He makes himself felt not by art, but by noise and impudence. Guests arrive who have come to shine in society at a golden wedding. An unformed spirit (writer) believes that he soars high, but in fact he cannot put together a couple of lines. The orthodox criticizes the Greek gods from Christian positions, calling them devils. The northern artist says that his brush is stingy with paints, but he will someday go to Rome and paint a bright canvas. The purist angrily denounces the "unchastity" of the gay circle of witches, especially the young beauties who flaunt their naked bodies. The weather vane, turning in one direction, kindly bows to the "cream of society", and turning in the other direction wishes them to fall through the ground. Muzaget (an admirer of the Greek muses) finds the northern witches dearer than the "virgins of Parnassus" (that is, the muses themselves). The former genius of his time reveals complete mediocrity, inability to become the "spirit of the new time." A secular person opposes hypocrites: “The more false the empty saint, the more aimless the argument with him; even Broken debauchery is a chapel for him ”(it is believed that“ Walpurgis Night ”and the witches' Sabbath take place on Mount Broken). The dogmatist believes that if "the devil is a kind of object, then he himself is someone" (the metaphysical school of philosophy proceeds from the fact that once a concept exists, then objects of reality must correspond to it). The idealist believes that everything that exists is a product of his consciousness: “I am the content of being and the beginning of all things. But if this coven is me, then there is little flattering here. The realist recognizes as real only those phenomena that he can perceive with his five senses. However, the phantasmagoria he sees makes him feel insecure about his philosophy. A supernaturalist, a supporter of the existence of a supersensible world comprehended by intuition and faith, for the first time sees devils with his own eyes at the Sabbat. Dodgers are in a hurry to serve "ours and yours." The “close-minded” complain that they have not been able to adapt to the new conditions. A shooting star lies in a dunghill and asks for help to get up. The darkness dissipates. Morning comes.

It's a nasty day. Field

Faust, after fantastic fun on Walpurgis Night, returns to gloomy reality. In desperation, he tells Mephistopheles that Margarita "begged for a long time" and is now in prison. He accuses the demon of amusing Faust, hiding the girl's position, while the unfortunate Gretchen suffered beatings and humiliation.

Faust orders Mephistopheles to rescue Marguerite. He explains that since Faust is the real cause of Gretchen's misfortunes (he seduced the girl and then left her), he must save her.

Night in the field

Faust and Mephistopheles rush on black mines "without looking ahead", "to the place of execution."

Jail

Mephistopheles puts the guard to sleep and arranges for Faust to enter the prison cell. Faust with a bunch of keys in front of an iron door. Inside, he hears Gretchen singing a song from the perspective of her murdered daughter. Margarita killed the child she adopted from Faust in order to avoid disgrace, but then went mad with grief. Faust is trying to take his beloved out of prison, promising never to leave her alone again, to hide her in a safe place, to become her support. But Margarita does not recognize him. Faust falls on his knees in front of her, loudly calling her name. Gretchen's consciousness clears up, but she is in no hurry to escape from the dungeon. Margarita clings to her beloved, asks him to be affectionate and passionate with her. She loses precious time asking Faust to get their child out of the pond. It seems to Gretchen that the girl sometimes floats to the surface, and then she can be caught by grabbing the handle. Margarita asks Faust to dig three graves: for her mother, for her brother and for her, so that she can take her daughter with her and fall asleep forever, clutching the child to her chest. Margarita does not believe that she will be happy again with her beloved: she is afraid of his cold. She does not want to run free, she imagines her mother unwittingly poisoned by her. Marguerite manages to keep Faust near her almost until dawn. She is happy to be executed. Margarita submits to God's judgment and does not accept deliverance from the hands of Faust (and in fact - Mephistopheles, that is, Satan). Not looking for physical salvation, she thinks only about spiritual salvation, atonement for guilt by death. Mephistopheles, who appears, takes Faust by force, explaining that Margarita will have to be left in the cell: "she is condemned to torment." But the Voice from Above, as if in response to Mephistopheles, announces: “Saved!”