ABSTRACT
The story of Faust, from start to finish, is that of a search for the ideal — and, of course, of the often misguided paths which that search takes. Faust vacillates between hubris and humility in his search for understanding. Certainly, Faust travels in the 'Klassische Walpurgisnacht' in the belief that it is possible. Faust's career could be described as the failure to adopt that sense of self-limitation, as the all human concern and commitment'. Indeed, Phorkyas induces Faust, with almost predictable punctuality, to forget the consummate 'Augenblick' and to desire something grander, something more his own. The frequency of the play-within-the-play motif in Shakespeare, Calderon, and Faust reflects the extreme self-consciousness of such texts with regard to this trait. Through Acts IV and V, Faust's attention shifts from the past to the future, and the search for the ideal is more or less displaced by a desire for domination.
