Editing Goethe's Faust (section)

==''Faust, Part Two''==
[[File:Titelblatt Faust II 1832.jpg|thumb|''Faust II'', first edition, 1832]]
[[File:Faust (Goethe), Erstdruck 1832.jpg|thumb|Cover of the first edition of ''Faust Part Two'', 1832]]
[[File:1876 'Faust' by Goethe, decorated by Rudolf Seib, large German edition 51x38cm, from Tamoikin Art Fund.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|1876 ''Faust'', large edition (51×38cm)]]
{{main|Faust, Part Two}}
Rich in classical allusion, in ''Part Two'' the romantic story of the first Faust is put aside, and Faust wakes in a field of fairies to initiate a new cycle of adventures and purpose. The piece consists of five acts (relatively isolated episodes) each representing a different theme. Ultimately, Faust goes to Heaven. He had lost his wager with Mephistopheles, that he would never seek to remain in a transcendental moment and have it prolonged forever. However, God had won his wager from the Prologue (and thus Faust's soul) as the transcendental moment was derived from his righteous pursuits. Angels, who arrive as messengers of divine mercy, declare at the end of Act V: "He who strives on and lives to strive / Can earn redemption still" (V, 11936–7).