Faust, as a real person born between 1460 and 1470, was a German magician who appeared at times as a doctor, at other times as an astronomer or alchemist. His fame spread quickly as scenes depicting his exploits, in which he appeared alongside the Devil with whom, as the legends said, he had entered into a "mutual support and agreement pact."

In 1587, the printer Johan Spiess published a popular pamphlet titled The History of Doctor Johann Faust, magician and artisan of black magic. The success of this work foretold the prominent place that his hero would occupy in world literature, poetry, music, and theater; the first and most well-known theatrical version is found in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

In Goethe's work, Faust reveals the tragedy of man who struggles with Good and Evil, who insatiably desires to know all secrets and to provide answers to all of life's problems. The entire work appears as a clear circle whose circumference traverses the evolution of a rich human life, which tends incessantly forward, yet includes entire centuries and eras of civilization, nature and art, state and religion, heaven and hell, "all creation."