how it seems to exhibit the merit of a good literary work which can appeal the readers across different times and cultures?
Goethe’s Faust is based around two supernatural wagers. The first of these wagers occurs in the Prologue and sets up the overarching conflict of the narrative. The scene opens in heaven with two contrasting visions of the world below. The angels give God a report that his creation is beautiful. They paint scenes of the powerful forces of nature and the ways in which God’s magnificent creation reflects his benevolence and glory. Each angel represents a particular cyclical process of the earth: the sun, night and day, and the power and calm of weather. All of these connote the completeness of God’s creation and God himself. Mephistopheles, however, offers a different view. His viewpoint comes not from a view of nature but that of humanity. Mephistopheles does not look at the world and see beauty and goodness; instead, he looks at the world and sees the misery of humankind.
Goethe also raises the question of the humanness of God. In contradistinction to the omnipotent and omniscient God of Calvinism and the Protestant Reformation, Goethe’s God displays very human characteristics. God must have his own faith in humanity in order to make the wager with Mephistopheles, and the reader understands that the drama of the play depends on whether God’s gamble does or does not pay off. Even Mephistopheles notes that he enjoys conversing with God because of God’s humanness.
The Prologue also has some political symbolism. Scholars have noted that one should not take the scene as a theological statement of God’s relation to man, but rather as a political allegory. The feudal court, over which a benevolent God reigns, is a staple theme in Renaissance drama, and Goethe borrows from those themes here. By this reading, God is the king, and Mephistopheles, instead of playing the part of a powerful evil creature, is more of a court jester meant to entertain both the audience and the king.
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