Faust now wants to prove to the Corpse that he is stronger and can never get enough. The pact he makes is based on this hubris. He asks defiantly: "What wilt thou, poor devil, give?" And Mephistopheles throws out bait after bait, but Faust - at least in the first part of the tragedy - will not allow himself to be carried away to the moment of saying he may linger because he is so beautiful. His will to overcome the mortification of a limited existence is too strong. On this adventurous trip, a sincere lover and her entire family are devastated and new life is sacrificed to old delusions of grandeur.
Source of text: PM Staatstheater Darmstadt
Further information: https://www.staatstheater-darmstadt.de
