Western European stream·Works of Goethe·Faust (Parts I and II)·Faust I (1808)·Scene IX — Promenade

Source context

Theme

Mephistopheles' triumphant cynicism over Faust's abandonment of Gretchen's jewels to the Church — the adversarial will feeding on moral compromise

Soul-faculty

Intellectual Soul

Steiner

not engaged in the GA corpus

Cross-tradition

• Augustinian theology of concupiscenceThe Church's absorption of the jewels mirrors the Augustinian diagnosis of institutional religion substituting external acquisition for inner transformation, a structural parallel to Mephistopheles' observation that the hierarchy consumes what the soul relinquishes.
• Kabbalistic concept of the QliphothThe scene's dynamic — adversarial intelligence exploiting the gap between spiritual aspiration and moral failure — exhibits cross-tradition congruence with the Kabbalistic doctrine of Qliphothic forces that feed on the soul's misaligned desires and abandoned goods.

(Faust, walking thoughtfully up and down. To him Mepuis-

TOPHELES. )

MEPHISTOPHELES.

B* all love ever rejected! By hell-fire hot and un- sparing | I wish I knew something worse, that I might use it for swearing | | Faust. What ails thee? What is 't gripes thee, elf? A face like thine beheld I never.

_ MEPHISTOPHELES.

I would myself unto the Devil deliver,

If I were not a Devil myself !

| Faust. Thy head is out of order, sadly :

It much becomes thee to be raving madly.

Scene LX. 173

MEPHISTOPHELES.

Just think, the pocket of a priest should get The trinkets left for Margaret!

The mother saw them, and, instanter,

A secret dread began to haunt her.

Keen scent has she for tainted air;

She snuffs within her book of prayer,

And smells each article, to see

If sacred or profane it be ;

So here she guessed, from every gem,

That not much blessing came with them. 'My child," she said, " ill-gotten good Ensnares the soul, consumes the blood. Before the Mother of God we'll lay it; With heavenly manna she 'll repay it!''' But Margaret thought, with sour grimace, 'A gift-horse is not out of place,

And, truly! godless cannot be

The one who brought such things to me." : A parson came, by the mother bidden:

He saw, at once, where the game was hidden, And viewed it with a favor stealthy.

He spake: "That is the proper view, —

174Faust.
Who overcometh, winneth too. The Holy Church has a stomach healthy: Hath eaten many a land as forfeit, And never yet complained of surfeit : The Church alone, beyond all question, Has for ill-gotten goods the right digestion." Faust. A general practice is the same, Which Jew and King may also claim. MEPHISTOPHELES. Then bagged the spangles, chains, and rings, As if but toadstools were the things, And thanked no less, and thanked no more Than if a sack of nuts he bore, — Promised them fullest heavenly pay, And deeply edified were they. Faust. And Margaret ? MEPHISTOPHELES. Sits unrestful still, And knows not what she should, or will ; A Scene LX. 175 Thinks on the jewels, day and night, But more on him who gave her such delight. \ Faust. The darling's sorrow gives me pain. Get thou a set for her again! The first was not a great display. MEPHISTOPHELES. O yes, the gentleman finds it all child's-play ! Faust. Fix and arrange it to my will; And on her neighbor try thy skill! Don't be a Devil stiff as paste, But get fresh jewels to her taste! MEPHISTOPHELES. Yes, gracious Sir, in all obedience! [Exit Faust. Such an enamored fool in air would blow Sun, moon, and all the starry legions, To give his sweetheart a diverting show. [ Exit.

176faust.
X. THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE,"

JSON: /api/sources/goethe-works/faust/faust-i/12-scene-9-promenade.json