Editing Faust, Part Two (section)

===Act V===
An indefinite time has passed since the end of the previous act, and Faust is now an old but powerful man favored by the king. Using dikes and dams to push back the sea, Faust has built a castle on the reclaimed land. Upon seeing the hut of an old peasant couple, [[Baucis and Philemon]], with a nearby chapel, Faust becomes irritated that these two structures do not belong to him, and orders them removed. Mephistopheles, overinterpreting Faust's orders, murders the old couple. The personification of Care breathes upon Faust's eyes, making him blind. Upon disclosing his plans to better the lives of his subjects, motivated perhaps out of guilt, he recognizes the moment of sheer bliss which he would seek to prolong, and drops dead. Mephistopheles, finding that Faust has lost his wager, tries to claim his soul. Although Mephistopheles has won his bet with Faust, he has lost the wager he made with God in the Prologue to Part I that Faust could be deterred from righteous pursuits. Angels suddenly appear, dropping rose-petals on the demons, who flee. Mephistopheles stands his ground, however, and, under the aphrodisiac influence of the roses, lusts after the angels, who whisk away Faust's soul while he is thus distracted.
[[File:La Mort de Faust (no caption).jpg|thumb|Death of Faust (1870) by [[Émile Bayard]]]]
The scene abruptly changes to a wilderness inhabited by holy [[anchorite]]s: "Mountain-gorges, Forest, Rock, Desert". ''Pater Profundus'' discloses the parable of nature, which is a harbinger of divine love. The angels bearing Faust's soul appear in heaven. After the enraptured Doctor Marianus extols the [[eternal feminine|Eternal Feminine]], the virgin Mary, ''Mater Gloriosa'', appears from on high. Three biblical holy women, ''Magna Peccatrix'' (the Great Sinneress, Luke 7:36), ''Mulier Samaritana'' (the Samaritan woman, John 4), and ''Maria Aegyptiaca'' (''Acts of the Saints''), plead for Faust's soul, while ''Una Poenitentium'' ("a penitent", formerly Gretchen) also pleads for grace and offers to lead the reborn Faust into the higher spheres of heaven. ''Mater Gloriosa'' grants her wish.

The ''Chorus Mysticus'' ends the drama:
<poem style="margin-left: 2em;">All that is transient
Is parable only:
The unattainable
Here becomes reality:
The indescribable,
Here is done:
Woman, eternal [''das Ewig-Weibliche'', "the eternal female"],
Beckons us on.</poem>