Gretchen In 'Mountain And Cave'

Faust claims to love Gretchen, but how can someone hurt the person they love? In the "Mountain and Cave" scene, Faust left Gretchen because he wanted to feel closer to nature, yet Mephistopheles believes Faust is stalling. Faust declines the thought and says his love for Gretchen is real, he says "However far, I'm near to her and crave her, she never is forgotten, never spent,", yet he goes back to her knowing he will destroy her. He describes Gretchen as a little hut that gets crushed by a water fall. Faust asks Gretchen to do something that is very dangerous- drug her mother; he gives her a sleeping potion to give to her mom, so he can sleep with Gretchen. Her response, "What would I not do for your sake?", Gretchen is so in love with Faust that she is willing to put her own mother in danger. She questions the potion and if it would bring any harm to her mother, Faust puts her mind at ease by saying "Would I advise it, darling, if she did?"; he tells her to put three drops in her mother's drink, but Gretchen puts too many drops of the potion in
Gretchen looked as Faust as her knight and shining amour, he could do no wrong in her eyes. Faust was right when he said he would destroy her; he's killed her mother, her brother, and he's the reason she went mad and killed their baby. Their relationship wasn’t healthy but toxic. Gretchen and Faust wanted different things out of the relationship; Gretchen wanted to feel wanted by someone, because of the emotional detachment from her family. Faust wanted feel contentment in his life, but Gretchen could not fulfill his needs. Even when he was dating Gretchen, there was not one moment when he felt satisfied with his life. Gretchen gave her all to Faust but it wasn’t enough for him. To Faust, Gretchen was nothing but a challenge to his malcontent life, their relationship had nothing to do with love but with