There have been a lot of comparisons of Anakin Skywalker to characters from Shakespeare - anakinside1 did a very nice job referencing Othello. But what strikes me as odd is that I have never truly seen any comparisons of Anakin to Faust. In light of the entire saga, that makes much more sense.

1. Comparing Anakin to a Tragic Hero only works for the PT, because a Tragedy ends with the downfall of the Hero. Thus, that fails to take into account the OT, which depicts the Hero's redemption.

That postulate prohibits me from comparing Anakin to Marlowe's handling of the legend as the sole Faustian influence, but it does allow me to bring in both Marlowe and Goethe as possible influences.

For those unfamiliar with the tale: Dr. Faustus or Faust, depending on the nationality of the teller, was a medieval magician who sold his soul to Mephistopheles for knowledge and power. In Marlowe's version, he was offered twenty-four years of earthly pleasure and power before being carried off to Hell. End of Story: Moral: Exceeding your place in society is dangerous. In Goethe's version, something very different happens: Faust becomes redeemed. This is partly due to the fact that Marlowe wrote in the Renaissance and Goethe was one of the great Romantic poets, but even he follows in the penstrokes of Lessing, who was the first to postulate that Faust could be saved. Goethe, however, makes the point in a far more artistic way.

Let us consider:

Prequel Trilogy as Marlowe's The Tragical History and Deserved Damnation of Dr. Faustus .

Faustus: Our Hero: Faustus was intelligent, learned in religion, and skillful. Those were admirable qualities in the Middle Ages, when Marlowe sets his drama.

Here we have Anakin, a good man who wants to do good things: help the Jedi get their ship fixed, free the slaves, offer his share of winnings from the pod race to others, and take care of his mother. These are all very admirable qualities in a man.

But something happens that causes the shift from a desire to use your knowledge and power to do good into a desire to obtain selfish ends. This is presented in both examples as a dissatisfaction with life and self. Faustus wants more knowledge, because what he knows does not make him happy. Anakin wants more power so he can "try" to control more things in his life and make them the way he wants them; in short, his power as a Jedi did not make him happy.

Enter the Devil: Mephistopheles, who is always portrayed in text and on stage as charming, suave, understanding - in short, all the qualities you don't want in evil, because it makes evil likeable.

Palpatine appears as one who is humble, honorable, and even noble. He ascends to the Supreme Chancellorship on a platform of ending corruption in the Senate (which he does by robbing it of power and disbanding it). Even knowing what he became (because we saw the end first), he is still a very likeable person.

Seduction: The Devil's Waltz: The seduction begins slowly, with both Mephisto and Palpatine befriending the Hero. They offer words of guidance and encouragement. They build the Hero's confidence while at the same time undermining those who remind the Hero of the "good." In Faustus, we see this through short scenes where the "angel and devil" appear "on the shoulder" to give asides, which are meant for us to see as Faustus' heard and mind debating the merits of Mephisto's words.

For Anakin, we see how Palpatine twists the words and actions of the Jedi to further the distrust that Anakin already has for them - especially after Obi-Wan informs him that he is to spy on Palpatine for the Council.

The Contract: Mephisto presents Faustus with a contract that he is to sign in his own blood in order to gain the knowledge and power he seeks. Anakin's contract is signed in the blood of the Jedi he kills: Mace Windu and those in the Temple. And while some would say, "That's it for you...you're damned." Marlowe and Lucas both present opportunity for the Hero to turn back: The angel still comes to Faustus' side and begs him to repent; Padme runs to Anakin's side and begs him to come back. Both refuse.

Damnation: Even during the twenty-four years of power on Earth, Faustus is denied what he truly wants. He wants knowledge of Heaven, but Mephisto reminds him that his contract forbids discussing God. He wants love, but he is reminded that love is of God, so he can't have that - but he can have lust.

Anakin wants to order the Galaxy and have Padme. Well, she dies in childbirth (more on that later), and his turning does not bring order to the Galaxy; in fact, it moves from one Civil War to another. But even before that, after he signed the contract, Palpatine slyly admitted that he did not know the secret to preserving life, but he was sure "they could find it."

The Original Trilogy: the last scene of Part I and the Second Part of Goethe's Faust. (and the last few minutes of ROTS because it fits nicely into my organizational theory)

Death of the Lover: At the end of Part I, Gretchen, the woman who truly loved Faust despite his nature, dies in a prison - put there because she, in a fit of insanity brought on after Faust killed her brother and poisoned her mother, which led her to kill her infant (his son). Mephistopheles drags Faust away and puts him in a deep sleep so he forgets this. Faust hears a voice from behind him saying it's not too late for him...

Padme dies in childbirth, saying that Anakin still has good in him. Anakin is "put to sleep" and Darth Vader rises in the metal shell.

The Hero Sleeps, the Devil Dances: During this time, the "good" in Faust is subverted by Mephisto's guile. He tricks Faust into presenting paper money to the German emperor to solve a fiscal crisis, mocking the Emperor's greed. He is persuaded to help reclaim land lost to the sea by using his power to support the Emperor in a war against a rival.

Vader supports the Emperor in a war against the rival - the Rebel Alliance, using his power to strike at them without mercy. He also supported the Emperor's greed by offering a visible symbol of power: power he helped to consolidate, thereby allowing the Emperor to remain further behind the scenes while Vader represented "evil" in the galaxy.

The Redemption: Faust is redeemed when a beatific vision brought on by a series of alegorical characters (the last being "Care" who strikes him blind) gives him the knowledge of how to reclaim the lands form the sea: he drains the swamps and gives all the land that had been given him by the Emperor to the peasantry. In that joy, he dies And because his act was one of true selflessness, he ascends into Heaven, and Mephisto is left with a worthless piece of paper.

Anakin is redeemed when he chooses to give all he has left - his life in the metal body - to his son. He knows that if Palpatine dies, he will die, but he chooses to give life to someone who showed him compassion without ever having a reason to do, and in so doing he redeems himself. This removes the blindness Anakin had from his devotion to the Emperor, blinded by his grief and self-loathing, I would wager as much as by his desire for power. Thus, Vader dies and Anakin is awakened to one last bit of joy - seeing his son with his own eyes, before he dies and returns to the Force - going to "Heaven" The Emperor is left falling to his death through a really large hole in his Throne Room.

That's my take. If this were an essay or an academic paper, I'd probably spend more time bringing specific quotes from the texts, the movies, and scholars to make my point more thoroughly. But as this is not an essay, I'll leave it at that.

I think my next blog will be lighter in subject, but we shall see.

May the Force be with you.