Part I

The tragedy that strikes Gretchen across three generations: her mother, brother, and newborn baby — all fall at the hands of Faust and Mephistopheles. It seems odd that he fell in love with a girl so fast (let alone one around 14 years old), but I won’t judge it based on the sign of the times. I’m convinced this plot was set up in a way so that we can see where Faust’s selfish folly has its broad impact.

That Gretchen would refuse to escape with Faust says a lot about her conscience and morality than Faust’s. She wishes to serve her time and pay for the crime — in this case a beheading.

To me, it doesn’t seem as though Faust is that interested in the whereabouts of his child, other than the fact that it has resulted in blood in his hands. He’s quick to blame Mephistopheles, but when you think about it, Faust is the one who conceives of the ideas that germinate to the actions that unfold.

Part II

Shifting to suddenly serving the emperor feels like a sharp change in the plot without much explanation. In the grander scheme of the tragedy, I an see where Goethe wanted to address some of the sins Faust will be wrestling with, though as a book it reads tersely.

The introduction of fiat currency also seems to come out of nowhere, but I do think he captured the zeitgeist accurately around the hesitation of paper currency. Even President Andrew Jackson was suspicious of this type of currency in the 1820s-30s.

Goethe has a tendency to convey various carnivals, like in Walpurgis Night and Spacious Hall.