The scholar Faust, despairing at the limits of his knowledge and life, enters into a pact with Mephisto, the devilish seducer: he receives youth and worldly fulfillment in exchange for his soul. On his travels, he meets a young girl named Gretchen and begins a passionate relationship. Faust’s actions throw her life into turmoil: her mother and brother die, Gretchen despairs, kills her child, and is imprisoned. Faust flees with Mephisto—Gretchen is left behind.