The Purpose For Irony In Goethe's Faust

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The Purpose for Irony, in Faust Have you ever been in a situation where the use of irony just made something a lot more dramatic? The tragic play, Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is the story of a scholar named Faust who makes a deal with the devil. Goethe uses various types of irony to imply a deeper meaning to the conflicts that occur in the plot. Goethe uses irony when Faust and Mephistopheles leave a box of jewels in Margaret's room. For example, Margaret questions who could have left them there: "whoever brought it here so cleverly could never be a godless person" (Faust 243. 2829-2830). Dramatic irony is present with the adjective "godless," because Margaret believes whoever left the jewels should be a good person, but in reality …show more content…

The "sun" is a symbolising a new beginning for Margaret since she is no longer seen as a respected virgin but as someone who has been going around sleeping with an older man who got her pregnant. During this time in German culture, it was seen as a disgrace for a woman to be sleeping with a guy if they weren't married and is she ended up pregnant she was considered to be a disgrace to her …show more content…

As an example, Margaret is confessing her love towards Faust and she says: "Dearest man, when I but look at you. I do not know what drives me to your will. Already I have done so much for you that little else remains undone" (Faust 317. 3518-3520). Dramatic irony is used in this quote to imply how Margaret is now questioning why she does so much for a guy she barely even knows anything about, it is ironic because the one who is leading her into sinning is the devil himself. A metaphor is being used when "I do not know what drives me to your will" meaning that Margaret is being controlled and she has no direction but the way she is being guided. In other words Margaret is not actually driving but rather that something is calling her to do the things Faust wants her to do. Furthermore, Faust is having a conversation with Mephistopheles were he claims he is more powerful. Faust tells

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