The Disparity Between Man And Overman's Dr. Faust

Faust's own abominable actions towards his unfortunate mistress, Gretchen, and his later abhorred reaction towards this shows that only a complete change in character and outlook of his type could allow Faust to leave behind the putrid excesses of his past lust and decadence. "I love those who yearn for the impossible... / The deed is everything, the glory nothing" (10635-10638) could never be the words of any petty materialist or anarchist, and Faust was more than eager to sacrifice whatever possible individual "glories" may come with the former types in order to find his actual self, and what it lusted for in this undiluted essence. If we look back to Thomas Becket's denial of the dual political and religious position he was offered, we
can now understand the restraint he held in his power, and the amount of insight, foresight, and temperance that it requires.

Now if we consider the prior quote in the context of the drama, the disparity between man and overman is represented above by means of Faust's attitude after he accidentally, by misinterpretation of his command, murders an old peasant couple after lamenting upon a lack of proper ownership of their property.
As a result, his actions following this are not pragmatic or utilitarian, but directly passionate and emotional at its source. It is clear that he no longer gives heed to his formerly materialistic notions of glory through property, but instead seeks contentment through the action alone and the spiritually positive effect it has upon society and general well-being as a whole. Therefore, he begins his final Ascension to understand and fully prepend the life-affirming acts of effort, of determination, of grasping, and of ordering the world around him to his own character, in itself not an act for glory or even legacy, but that his conscious simply refuses him to follow any other direction. It is this manner of thought that allows for God to salvage him in disregard for his sins in the first part, therefore causing Mephistopheles to lose his bet, and for Faust to obtain his position as a being exalted from excess and errant passions, and towards nobility and
dedication.

It is for that exact reason that we grant these people their position and not anyone else, for they are the only ones who can bring those around him to his heights, while others, as mentioned earlier, will only spread false ideas based off of superficial interpretations of man and the world, complete with an inability to parse the meaningful facts, interpretations and plans with those that make up the majority— well meaning, yet ultimately ignorant and sentimental pleas given to those symptoms or issues that are immediately within their sight and proximity rather than those deep rooted issues that cause these secondary symptoms.
Attempting to solve political or social ills with the former mentality is akin to trying to cure a flu with fever reducer; whatever symptoms you alleviate for the time being will still leave the virus intact, and it will continue to exact its many degrading functions upon the human body, even strengthening its power, for the fever is indeed the agent that is meant to drive the disease to its knees, and removing its power, however discomforting it may temporarily be to the individual, can only heighten the lasting effects of the disease. It is this foresight that the overman must possess, and warn his progeny of even in the most attractive times, for without the Faust who can calm his pack of Grecian followers in the wake of a panic, they will only resort to an equally panicked and drastic
strategy.

This leads us to the defining characteristic— the raison d'être— of the overman's role in the world. There is no greater delight or passion on earth for the overman than this: to feel that he has imprinted his mind upon a people and on a generation. To feel that his sensations, his thoughts, his feelings, and his actions have become the blueprint for the lifestyle, the choices, and the beauty of a nation, an era, or the world in general. Whether we look through out history to find a Cæsar or a Napoleon seeking to solidify their dominion and their word with the bloody conquest of others, or a da Vinci or Galileo who graces the world with their visionary eye and crafts the world into their image before displaying this lofty perspective to others. Regardless of the exact nature of the deed and the personality, a people becomes his offspring.

Faust— "Of freedom and of life he only is deserving
Who every day must conquer them anew" (1476-1477)

In Goethe's Faust Part Two, the independent follow up to the first part of the story, the story shifts its emphasis from the more physical, personal, and materialistic themes of life and fulfillment, toward the more transcendent, spiritual and metaphysical aspects of existing and becoming, shown from the transformation of Faust from the lusty, pernicious, and deceitful man he was throughout his journey in Faust Part One, to a much more passionate, exalted, and perceptive one in Part Two, as a result of him severing the tie between him and Mephistopheles. This act alone bring about the idea of the quote, in that it was his own will and his own passion that brought him through these actions found in the play, in direct isolation and contradiction with Mephistopheles, who led Faust to engage in selfish and hedonistic deeds. Faust, realizing the absurdity of him trying to find the true essence of life in superficial and bodily pleasures, now acts with his volition in traveling to Greece, engaging with Helen of Troy, and eventually enacting the many deeds which allows him enter Heaven in the conclusion. This shows character of a man who does not attempt to adapt the external influences outside him into his own persona, but a person who rather reflects his own beauty, intellect, and willpower onto the