Doctor Faust Character

Doctor Faust was a researcher/ scientist who was obsessed with learning but a deal with the devil progressively changes his character. The deal with the devil is that the devil will serve Faust on Earth if Faust will serve him in the afterlife. Faust agrees and there the story truly begins.
In the beginning Faust is seen as a lonely professor who studies science. One could only imagine the books piled high and most of them being covered in dust, along with some chemistry bottles sitting around with different colored potions in them. On Easter morning Faust contemplates suicide but the ringing of the church bells stop him suddenly as he begins to reminisce on the innocence of childhood. He is coerced into leaving his secure surroundings of books and bottles to join the Easter revelers. Faust tells Mephistopheles, upon returning to his room, that if he tells him “ Linger on. You are so fair! Put me in Fetters straight away, then I can die for all I care!” because Faust realizes that Mephistopheles is evil and does not want to be part of that.
After Faust declares that Mephistopheles can stay around in order to keep himself on a straight and narrow path he tells the devil that he wants the girl, Gretchen, and demands that Mephistopheles help him to get her. This is ironic because not a few hours before he told the devil that having him around would help keep him on the straight and narrow path.
After Mephistopheles helps Faust see the girl then the girl and Faust both are infatuated with each other. This could be because Faust has spent his life surrounded by books and has not ventured out into society to meet many beautiful women. The same is true for Gretchen. She has spent her whole life in a confessional having nothing to confess. Faust’s character begins to change here into a more demanding and less caring person. He even lies to Martha, Margaret’s neighbor so that he can be with Margaret at Martha’s house. He goes with Mephistopheles to Martha’s house as a witness as to her husband’s death. When Gretchen’s brother is murdered because he comes home to see what is going on with his sister Faust does not seem to be overly afraid of what could happen to himself as a participant in the murder. Faust then travels with Mephistopheles to a place where witches are flying and the devil tells him not to look down or he will die. Faust does not look down and survives only to learn that his beloved Gretchen is in prison for giving birth to a child while she was not wed. He and Mephistopheles go to the dungeon to rescue Gretchen perhaps because Faust feels remorse for what he has done to her. Faust apparently does not feel so sorry for her that he is willing to risk his own life for her though because he rides off into the night without her after he frees her.
In the second half of the play there is little change in Faust’s behavior. Four spirits come to visit him and he is frightened of the one who was able to get in, Want. If he were of the same character as in the beginning of the play he would have been curious about it and asked it questions. When Want gets into the room and the other three, Guilt, Distress, and Care, do not the author is obviously making a statement about Faust’s character having fallen from the high standards set in the beginning.
It is obvious in the end that although Faust dies a peaceful death in sleep and his soul is carried off to heaven that he was not the upright individual that he once was. This could be a lesson that although human beings do not always do the right thing if their faith is strong they will reap the rewards.