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I just finished reading Goethe's Faust (the Martin Greenberg translation for those who may be curious). However, I am a bit disappointed in the ending due to Faust's soul being saved by God in the end. I think that it is great for Faust that his soul was saved in the end, and it's a happy ending, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. Faust is advertised as a tragedy, and I went in expecting it to be a tragedy.

I thought that Part 1 perfectly encapsulates a tragedy with Faust and Gretchen being in love, and in the end Gretchen dying and her soul being saved while Faust seems to be damned to hell with Mephistopheles. Thus, their souls will forever be apart.

However, I wasn't the biggest fan of Part 2. I felt as though Faust didn't really love Helen and only lusted after her. Since Helen ended up following their son into the underworld, I thought that is what would have tempted Faust's soul to go to hell. However, that wasn't what happened and his soul ended up being saved.

I guess my question is how could one consider Faust a tragedy since it appears to have such a happy ending? I know that there are parts of the story that are tragic, but I don't know if I would consider it a tragedy. If there is anything that could let me gain a better appreciation for the ending of Faust, I'd also appreciate that as well.

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    Part One was originally published as Faust. Eine Tragödie (Faust: A Tragedy). Volume 2 was eventually published as Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil ("Faust. The Tragedy's Second Part"). So there are a few different questions there. Why was the first part called a tragedy? Why was the second part likewise named in that way? Was the word tragedy retained purely for commercial considerations or did Goethe consider it a tragedy? Disregarding the subtitle, is the second part actually a tragedy according to whatever definition you prefer?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jan 18 at 12:03
  • If I take the definition of tragedy from webster: "a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror" with this definition the key is the "disastrous conclusion" which I feel as though the first part satisfies while the second part does not which is why I feel that Faust in its entirety is not a tragedy.
    – Steven Creech
    Commented Jan 18 at 17:24

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