Editing Faust (section)

==Summary of the story==
Faust is unsatisfied with his life as a scholar and becomes depressed. After an attempt to take his own life, he calls on the [[Devil]] for further knowledge and magic powers with which to indulge all the pleasure and knowledge of the world. In response, the Devil's representative, [[Mephistopheles]], appears. He makes a bargain with Faust: Mephistopheles will serve Faust with his magic powers for a set number of years, but at the end of the term, the Devil will claim Faust's soul, and Faust will be eternally enslaved.

During the term of the bargain, Faust makes use of Mephistopheles in various ways. In [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s drama, and many subsequent versions of the story, Mephistopheles helps Faust seduce a beautiful and innocent young woman, usually named Gretchen, whose life is ultimately destroyed when she gives birth to Faust's illegitimate son. Realizing this unholy act, she drowns the child and is sentenced to death for murder. However, Gretchen's innocence saves her in the end, and she enters [[Heaven]]. In Goethe's rendition, Faust is saved by God via his constant striving – in combination with Gretchen's pleadings with God in the form of the [[eternal feminine]]. However, in the early versions of the tale, Faust is irrevocably corrupted and believes his sins cannot be forgiven; when the term ends, the Devil carries him off to [[Hell]].