Faust characters

Appears from the start

A celebrated scholar who has mastered the established fields of learning but feels that none has brought him genuine understanding. Restless, isolated, and close to despair, he turns to magic in the hope of reaching truths beyond ordinary study.

Appears from the start

A mocking devil who appears before the Lord and claims that Faust can be led away from his striving. He receives permission to test the scholar, confident that human appetite and confusion will make his task easy.

Also known as Gretchen

First appears in chapter 7

A young woman whom Faust approaches in the street. Modest, direct, and wary of the unfamiliar gentleman, she refuses his offer to escort her and returns to the small household she shares with her mother.

Appears from the start

Faust's learned assistant, diligent and conventional in his scholarship. He values the accumulation and transmission of knowledge that Faust has come to find empty, making him an earnest contrast to his master's spiritual hunger.

Appears from the start

A vast spirit associated with the living forces of the earth. Faust summons it in his study and briefly believes he has reached an equal, but the spirit rejects that claim and leaves him shaken.

First appears in chapter 4

A novice scholar who comes to seek Faust's academic guidance. Mephistopheles receives him in Faust's gown and gives a cynical parody of advice about university study and professional learning.

First appears in chapter 6

The supernatural keeper of a kitchen where a potion can restore Faust's youthful appearance. Her grotesque ritual and household bewilder Faust, while Mephistopheles treats the proceedings as familiar business.

Also known as Martha

First appears in chapter 10

Margarete's neighbor, a sociable widow troubled by the unexplained absence of her husband. She helps arrange a meeting between Margarete and Faust after Mephistopheles offers supposed news about the missing man.

First appears in chapter 19

Margarete's soldier brother. Returning home after her pregnancy has become public, he is furious about the injury to the family's honor and waits outside to confront the man responsible.

First appears in chapter 17

A young woman who talks with Margarete at the well about another unmarried woman's pregnancy. Her harsh gossip forces Margarete to recognize how completely her own circumstances and judgments have changed.