Mephisto

The novel follows Hendrik Höfgen, a talented and ambitious actor with left-leaning sympathies, who abandons his conscience to ingratiate himself with the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis).

Höfgen's rise to fame and social status is juxtaposed with his moral corruption and betrayal of his principles, friends, and lovers.

The story is a thinly disguised portrait of German actor Gustaf Gründgens and explores themes of opportunism, moral compromise, and the Faustian pact with evil.