of it is absolutely opposed to his. Goethe is as far from Marlowe's
theological position as _Peer Gynt_ is, and indeed there is a
considerable similarity between Ibsen's great play and Goethe's. As the
drama develops, it is true that the love of Faust becomes sensual and
his curiosity morbid; but the tragedy lies no longer in the belief that
sense and curiosity are in themselves wrong, but in the fact that Faust
fails to distinguish their high phases from their low. We have already
seen that the _Erdgeist_ which first appeals to Faust is too great for
him, and it is there that the tragedy really lies. The earth is not an
accursed place, and the _Erdgeist_ may well find its home among the
ideals; but Wagner is neither big enough nor clean enough to be man's
guide.

The contrast between the high and low ideals comes to its finest and
most tragic in the story of Margaret. Spiritual and sensual love
alternate through the play. Its tragedy and horror concentrate round the
fact that love has followed the lower way. Margaret has little to give
to Faust of fellowship along intellectual or spiritual lines. She is a
village maiden, and he takes from her merely the obvious and lower kind
of love. It is a way which leads ultimately to the dance of the witches
and the cellar of Auerbach, yet Faust can never be satisfied with these,
and from the witch's mouth comes forth the red mouse--the climax of
disgust. In Auerbach's cellar he sees himself as the pagan man in him
would like to be. In Martha one sees the pagan counterpart to the pure
and simple Margaret, just as Mephistopheles is the pagan counterpart to
Faust. The lower forms of life are the only ones in which Martha and
Mephistopheles are at home. For Faust and Margaret the lapse into the
lower forms brings tragedy. Yet it must be remembered also that Faust
and Mephistopheles are really one, for the devil who tempts every man is
but himself after all, the animal side of him, the dog.