Mephistopheles' suggestion in the Prologue to Faust that humans are a burden sets the stage for a crucial aspect of the play. The term “onerous” can be defined as being difficult to implement/satisfy, burdensome, or undesirably restrictive. Mephistopheles saw that the possession of reason and intelligence has made humanity unhappy, because it only uses its reason in a bestial and cruel way, and this troubles it. He continues to say that humanity suffers endlessly, so even he, the devil himself, is reluctant to antagonize them. Furthermore, the relentless search for truth as well as the goal of "complete" eternal truth are at the forefront throughout the play. This struggle and dissatisfaction felt by Faust with the limited limits of human potential is the driving force that motivates him in everything he does as he longs to find a way to progress beyond the limits imposed on him. human experience and perception. This attempt on Faust's part gives rise to numerous dichotomies throughout the story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The duality that torments Faust, as mentioned by the "two souls" that "inhabit" his bosom, is an expression of his personality torn. On the one hand, he wants to lead an earthly or worldly life full of wealth, fame, success and satisfaction of lustful desires. On the other hand, however, he aspires to reach the highest heights, both spiritually and intellectually, to surpass the limits of Earth and to know the unknown. This last desire is the one that will lead him to conclude a diabolical pact with Mephistopheles. This duality presents fascinating parallels with Schiller's concept of sensory and formal drives. It posits that the sensory drive comes from human physical existence as matter while being constrained by time and the evolution of that matter over that period. On the other hand, the drive for form is a function of the person anchored in himself. This drive is the rational nature of man and its aim is to give him freedom, so that he can bring harmony to the variety of things in the world. The formal impulse therefore also insists on truth and law. The sensory drive and the formal drive compete and dominate each other in the person. To maximize the potential of both motivations, Schiller argues that one cannot dominate or limit the other. Clearly, Faust seems to be struggling with a very similar conflict. He wants to completely penetrate and unite with the particular, but also transcend and unite with the universal/multiplicity. Simply put, Faust wants to be like a god because he is dissatisfied with his earthly life and craves the type of power and control over others that only a god can exercise. By selling his earthly soul to Mephistopheles, Faust is ready to separate it from his “brother”, as he calls him. From now on, all that will remain is a singular divine soul, constantly struggling towards a higher form of existence. The pact between Faust and Mephistopheles must first be preceded by the bet between Mephistopheles and God. During the Prologue, God mentions Faust as a man who is not debased by reason and who will ultimately be guided by his reason to the knowledge of the truth. However, Mephistopheles differs in his assessment of Faust's potential. He condemns Faust's current indecisive confusion, but God excuses it by saying, "Men make mistakes as long as they try." He claims that Faust will eventually achieve understanding and peace of mind. God and Mephistopheles make their bet in order toresolve this dispute. As long as Faust lives, Mephistopheles can try to influence and conquer him, but if his judgment of Faust proves incorrect, he will have to admit that “A good man with his groping intuitions! Always knows the path that is true and proper. "Now, the real pact between Faust and Mephistopheles will have potential consequences for the aforementioned bet between Mephistopheles and God. The premise is this: Faust swears that he will never express satisfaction with the present moment, but s he does so, he will hand over his soul to Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles is likely to give Faust unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. To Faust, these conditions seem extremely favorable, because he believes himself to be in a position where he cannot lose. He is in a state where he no longer believes that his mind is good enough and that nothing seems to bring him joy, pleasure or anything else; he ventures to think about power and potential becoming; God Faust wants Telos to be revealed, and that can only happen if Mephistopheles can satisfy him. For Faust, if he becomes God, he wins. And all it takes is a singular moment. Méphistophélès “wins” the pact so that Faust really wins. In other words, it's a bet Faust can't lose. As mentioned previously, Goethe establishes numerous dichotomies – reason versus animal desires, spirituality versus materialism, love versus lust – which are examined throughout the text, usually following Faust's sudden intervention. changes in mood or behavior. For example, Faust must commit several sins against reason to seduce Gretchen and thus fulfill his desire to find love. In these choices that Faust must make, Mephistopheles generally represents the more animal side of Faust's psyche, acting as a foil and tempter to the full range of human experience. Gretchen, on the other hand, is the part of Faust that is pure and innocent, appealing to Faust's more tender and loving side. Indeed, Faust is often torn between his desire for Gretchen and his love for her, causing these polarized forces to struggle within his consciousness for dominance. An example of the contrast between the two duos can be seen in the advice of Mephistopheles, helping Faust to deceive and bribe Margaret, making her believe that he loves her and, of course, that she comes to love him . Of course, this is all part of Mephistopheles' plan to trap Faust and win the bet by presenting Faust with this moment that will make him "linger a while." Now Faust, in a way, is trying to recreate Christianity. He translated the first passage of the Gospel of John and presents an ideology to the reader. The main point to remember throughout the piece, and quite similar to Hegel's, is that negation will bring hope. It is as if Faust was resurrected from religion, which reflects everyone's life and is a projection of human beings rather than something outside of human existence. Humans create God, and in the case of the play, the God created appears to be Faust. He sees the emptiness of the desire for religion. Once again, the mind, like everything else, is no longer enough, but rather Faust needs more: the power and potentiality to truly be God. Faust continues to learn that this experience of alienation is the driving force behind negation. Furthermore, through negation, errors must be appropriated instead of being brushed aside and forgotten. This action, in turn, can leave a person unanchored between a duality, much like Faust. Another important lesson is Faust's journey in which there is a tolerance of striving in different ways, as opposed to knowing the actual truth. Faust..