The Tragedy of Faust 3

"Hear. Of that girl I'd have possession"

50 x 35 cm. Rapidograph inks on Schoelleshammer G4 illustration paper.

Faust & Mephistopheles. Street sketches

Faust encounters Margareta whom he recognises from the mirror. He demands her of Mephistopheles who subsequently attempts to seduce Margareta with a secret gift of jewels. Margareta however, upon finding the jewels in her apartments, passes them to her mother who gives them to a priest. Mephistopheles, returning during the night to see how his overture has been received, is irate at Marageta's honesty, but perceives her voluptuous dreams for Faust and, amused, turns this to his own advantage, casting her amourous feelings to Faust as the prduct of his own meddlings. Faust is wholly decieved and further corrupted. he begins to ponder upon lust.

Margareta expresses her uneasiness regarding Mephistopheles to her mother. Later, having made love to Faust, Margareta asks him about his belief's but Faust evades the topic. Her worst fears are confirmed when she over hears local girls exchanging gossip about Mephistopheles outside the church and she flee's weeping to a statue of the Madonna.

Enter Margareta's brother Valentine. Outraged by the shame Faust has brought upon his now pregnant sister, he challenges him. Faust is loath to fight the brother of the woman he loves but defends himself and when Mephistopheles puts a curse on Valentine's arm, deadening it, Faust mortally wonds the younger man against his intention. Valentine sinks heavily to the ground and Mephistopheles drags Faust away. With his dying breath, Valentine curses his sister.


There were originally plans for two further illustrations carry the weight of this passage. The first was Faust seducing Margareta in a heavily floral garden and the second was Valentine dying in the street. Of these, I was more interested in the first, indeed, it was one of the first idea's I had when reading the books. The image never happened because I couldn't find any one who suited the part of Margerata, in the end I asked Mette's friend Melanie to pose for the dungeon image but I didn't have the courage to ask her to pose with me in a romantic character (I'm shy with women)

This image (the one shown above) was never finished because I left Margareta's face blank as a consequence of not having found a suitable model. The street is a real street in Prague which Mette and I visited with a Brazilian friend in 1995.

Margareta sketches

Valetine's death sketches