Faust, Part One

Faust is on a street at the start of Scene 10, where he sees a woman, Margareta (hereto after referred to as Gretchen, as Goethe uses both names), pass by. Faust offers to escort Gretchen and she refuses, telling Faust she can “get home on my own two feet” (I.10.2607-08). After she leaves, Faust expresses how taken he is with her beauty. Mephistopheles enters and Faust tells her about seeing Gretchen, who Mephistopheles tells him just made her confession at church. Mephistopheles says, “She’s a poor innocent little thing,/ […] I’ve no power over her” (I.10.2624-26). Faust is absolutely determined to have Gretchen in his bed straight away, though Mephistopheles instead suggests he’ll enjoy it more if he must wait longer for it to happen. Nevertheless, Mephistopheles promises to take Faust to Gretchen’s room, though she’s currently visiting a friend who lives next door. Faust says he wants to bring a gift, and Mephistopheles says he “know[s] some interesting places/ Where buried treasure’s left its traces” (I.10.2677-78).

Scene 11 takes place in the evening, where Gretchen is in her room. She muses about the gentleman she saw today (Faust), who she did think was handsome, before leaving. Mephistopheles and Faust enter and Faust is rapturous with joy and love about being where Gretchen lives and surrounded by all her belongings: “I was resolved, my lust brooked no delay—/ And now in dreams of love I wilt and melt away!” he says (I.11.2722-23). 

Mephistopheles warns that Gretchen will be back any minute and gives Faust a box full of gifts to leave for her, including “enough/ Jewellery in there to seduce a queen” (I.11.2736-37). They quickly leave (after Faust expresses some doubt about giving her the gifts), and Gretchen returns. She finds the gifts and is taken with them but does not believe they’re hers: “Whose can these wonderful things be?” she asks (I.11.2795). She says that as a young woman, beauty is not enough, and “gold’s all they care/ about,” but “for us poor folk there’s none to spare” (I.11.2803-05).

Scene 12 is set on a promenade, where Faust is pacing in thought. An angry Mephistopheles enters and tells Faust that a priest has taken all the jewels he gave Gretchen. Gretchen’s mother saw the jewels and “knew soon enough/ that there was something unholy about that stuff” (I.12.2821-22), forcing Gretchen to hand everything over to the church—much to Gretchen’s chagrin. Mephistopheles says that Gretchen can’t get the jewels or Faust out of her mind, and Faust tells Mephistopheles to bring her more gifts to replace the ones she lost. Faust says Mephistopheles should get to know Gretchen’s friend next door, and Mephistopheles comments that Faust is “just like all the lovesick fools I know” (I.12.2862).

Scene 13 takes place at the neighbor Martha’s house. Martha, alone, is lamenting her husband, whom she said left her and could very well be dead, though she needs a death certificate to prove that. Gretchen enters and tells Martha about the second box of gifts, which Martha says she should hide at her house so Gretchen can keep the gifts without her mother finding out. Gretchen wonders, though, who bought the jewelry, and says she thinks “there’s something funny about it” (I.13.2895).

Mephistopheles then arrives at Martha’s house and comes in, flattering Gretchen by calling her a “fine lady” (I.13.2903). Mephistopheles tells Martha that he knew her husband and that he has passed away. He tells Martha a tale of her husband, whom he said had poor luck and took another lover, and found treasure that has since gone missing. While he’s telling this tale, Mephistopheles also tells Gretchen that she “deserve[s] to be married straight away” (I.13.2946). When Gretchen says she’s too young, Mephistopheles suggests she takes a lover instead, but Martha says “that’s not the custom in this country, sir” (I.13.2949).

Martha asks for evidence of her husband’s death, and Mephistopheles says that when two witnesses both testify to it, it’s officially declared. He says that he and a companion (Faust) will testify before a judge, and promises to bring his friend here. He asks that Gretchen be there to meet Faust when Mephistopheles brings him, and they all agree that the men will come back that evening.

Back on the street in Scene 14, Mephistopheles tells Faust of the plan, but Faust objects to telling the judge about the husband’s death when they have no proof, and bearing false witness. Mephistopheles says that Faust has made plenty of declarative statements in his career about the world and God, which he didn’t know any more about than he does about Martha’s husband’s fate. Mephistopheles promises Faust that he will be able to turn “Gretchen’s mind/ With vows of love” (I.14.3054-55), and Faust relents to the plan.