Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two. Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages. Faust calls itself "A Tragedy" right enough, but it might just as well be described as a musical comedy -- it's ripe with comic passages, features many songs, and lacks a tragic ending. And Faust isn't a classic tragic figure, either. In fact, his characteristic yearning for experience and knowledge created a type for the romantic age still known as the Faustian hero. The villain of the piece -- Mephistopheles -- is one of the most likeable characters in the play. His yearnings draw him toward the heavens, yet he is also powerfully attracted to the physical world.