Doctor Faustus Study Guide

Doctor Faustus Study Guide What's Inside magician and wizard at a time when witchcraft was feared and condemned by Catholics and Protestants alike. The play was first published in 1604 with the more lengthy title The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The extended title calls attention to j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1 the play's genre but also provides a contrast. Doctor Faustus is not the typical well-to-do hero of a tragedy. In fact, he's a commoner, which suggests that no one is immune to tragedy. a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 4 h Characters ................................................................................................... 5 k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 9 d In Context c Scene Summaries .................................................................................. 15 g Quotes ........................................................................................................ 29 l Symbols ..................................................................................................... 32 The Renaissance In the 1300s European civilization began its transition out of the church-dominated Middle Ages into a period that m Themes ...................................................................................................... 33 b Motifs .......................................................................................................... 35 e Suggested Reading ............................................................................. 36 embraced a secular, more humanistic view of the world. This period, called the Renaissance, was a cultural, intellectual, and artistic movement beginning in Italy and spreading across western Europe over the next few hundred years. It ended with the religious Thirty Years' War in central Europe (1618–48). The era's passion for classical-based art and learning was sparked by rediscovery of the literature of Greece and Rome. j Book Basics The Renaissance reached England around 1550 and hit its peak during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603) and AUTHOR King James I (1603–25). Christopher Marlowe was born in the Christopher Marlowe early years of the English Renaissance. His life and work were YEAR PUBLISHED 1604 profoundly influenced by its historic wave of new ideas and discoveries in science, art, religion, and philosophy. He became a Free-Thinker, part of a group of intellectuals—noblemen, GENRE courtiers, and commoners—who formed an underground club, Tragedy the School of Night, that embraced new ideas and rejected old ones. Passionate in pursuit of knowledge often dangerously in ABOUT THE TITLE conflict with church dogma—for example, pointing out The title Doctor Faustus refers to the play's protagonist as well inconsistencies in the Bible—the Free-Thinkers were labeled as the historic figure Dr. John Faustus—an English version of atheist and targeted for suppression and death. Doctor the name Johann Fausten—who was a self-proclaimed Faustus was written in and for this time, reflecting this darker Doctor Faustus Study Guide In Context 2 side of the period's boundless pursuit of knowledge. In the result, numerous plots were hatched, backed by Rome, to spirit of the Free-Thinkers, Faustus is a skeptic and intellectual dethrone the queen by force. This included excommunication who goes too far to acquire forbidden knowledge, violates from the church by the pope in 1570—a grave step that made heaven's laws, and is damned for it. supporters of the papacy automatic enemies of the queen. Reflecting England's religious climate in the latter part of the The Religious Climate Doctor Faustus reflects contemporary controversies over religious faith. During the Renaissance in Europe, there was a great upheaval within the Roman Catholic Church called the Protestant Reformation. Throughout the Middle Ages (5th 16th century, Doctor Faustus takes humorous aim at Catholicism and the pope. Most notably, in Act 3, Scene 1 Faustus visits Rome—seat of the Roman Catholic Church—after selling his soul to Lucifer for limitless power and knowledge. The doctor proceeds to use magic to torment the pope, which would have delighted his Protestant audience. century to the Renaissance), the Catholic Church governed the Doctor Faustus also explores the weighty consequences of lives of people throughout western and central Europe. The rejecting religious beliefs and the merits of holding fast to calendar year revolved around religious rituals and conventional values. Despite Queen Elizabeth's attempt to observances, and church teachings were the sole guide in establish a religious middle ground upon which all English matters of ethics, the meaning of life, and what to expect in the Protestants might stand, religion was not exempt from the afterlife. Heresy, or disagreement with church teachings, was spirit of skepticism at the heart of the Renaissance. Though, dealt with harshly. questioning religious doctrine often invited accusations of However, in the swiftly changing world of the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church struggled to maintain a stable and unifying framework for people's spiritual and material lives. Individuals within the church were questioning certain practices and doctrines. Among the most outspoken and influential was a German theologian named Martin Luther. He was deeply troubled by church doctrine that accepted money blasphemy. In his pursuit of knowledge, Faustus rejects reliance on earlier, accepted authorities, including the Bible and divine revelation. He strikes out on his own, to discover dark, hidden knowledge. However, in the play's closing moments, Faustus realizes that his skeptical questioning of sacred doctrine and rejection of religion have damned him to a fate he cannot escape. in exchange for traditional acts of penance performed by a Also woven into the play is the issue of human free will versus sinner as atonement. These exchanges were called predestination—a hot subject of religious debate, advanced by indulgences. In 1517 Luther tried to spur debate on the issue in Protestant theologian John Calvin (1509–64). Calvin preached his famous document the Ninety-five Theses. To spread his that salvation comes through divine grace alone and that, for ideas, he made clever use of a new device: the printing press. each person, the outcome is predetermined by God. An Unexpectedly, his protest against church doctrine snowballed individual's choices and actions merely fulfill what has already into a zealous call for reform that split the church into warring been divinely fixed. In the character of Faustus, Marlowe hints factions: Protestants and Catholics. at the possibility that the doctor is unable to choose a different In Marlowe's England this split was keenly felt by the majority of people. Catholicism had held sway in England until 1534, when King Henry VIII launched his own religious revolution, broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and established himself as the head of the Church of England. Between Henry's death in 1547 and Elizabeth I's rise to the throne, England first tilted violently toward Protestantism and then as violently toward Catholicism. At last Queen Elizabeth cast the church as an independent, "middle-ground" entity. It leaned toward Catholicism in structure but blurred the doctrinal lines between Protestantism and Catholicism and recognized the monarchy—not the pope in Rome—as its leading authority. As a path, that his God-given nature shapes his choices and actions. For example, in Act 2, Scene 3 the Evil Angel states with certainty, "Faustus never shall repent." Yet Marlowe keeps the fundamental question open by inviting sympathy for a man who may have chosen his own wicked path but refuses to repent. He states in the epilogue, "Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight." Doctor Faustus Study Guide In Context 3 Magic and Religion Mephastophilis's Name Religion was eventually banned from the Elizabethan stage Mephastophilis, also spelled Mephostophilis or because of its sensitive nature. Doctor Faustus was the last Mephistopheles, is a devil in medieval German mythology. The play from this period to deal directly with a religious topic. character appears in Marlowe's English-language play with the However, as the play demonstrates, Elizabethans blurred the name spelled Mephastophilis. German author Johann Goethe, line between religion and magic. Religion involves faith or belief inspired by Marlowe's and other Faustus stories, gave the evil in the supernatural and the existence of good and evil. In spirit to whom Faust sells his soul the name Mephistopheles in Elizabethan England, as well as in much of Europe, this went his play Faust (1808–1832). Noting that the names of devils in hand in hand with the belief in witches and witchcraft. the Middle Ages were often based on Hebrew words, a Goethe Renaissance interest in alchemy, astrology, and magic tended scholar believes the name is made up of the Hebrew words to support this belief. Furthermore, the first printed books were mephitz, meaning "destroyer," and tophel, meaning "liar." religious in nature, and many circulated ideas about witches, deals with the devil, and magical abilities. In parts of Europe witches were hunted, tortured, and killed by the thousands. Performance and Reception The hysteria did not reach these heights in England, though Queen Elizabeth passed a harsh witchcraft law in 1562. The The first known record of Doctor Faustus is an entry in the character Doctor Faustus, who makes a pact with a devil and Stationers' Register, a British record book. Before the becomes a magician, was seen as a witch by Elizabethan existence of copyright laws, this register allowed stationers, or audiences. Yet his downfall and fate were viewed in light of publishers, to document their legal right to publish a book, play, redemption, salvation, and eternal damnation, all of which are or other written work. Doctor Faustus was registered in Christian ideas. December 1592. However, all London theaters, including the Rose—the playhouse most associated with productions of The Real Doctor Faustus Marlowe's plays—had been closed since June, due to a plague epidemic. With the exception of a short-lived reopening in 1593, the Rose was closed until January 1594. By that time The legend of a man selling his soul to the devil comes out of Marlowe was dead. Wittenberg, Germany, in the early 1500s. John Faustus—an English version of the name Johann Fausten—was a self- The first record of the play's performance is during London's proclaimed magician and wizard. This bold claim was made at 1594–95 theatrical season, when it was performed at least a a time when witchcraft was feared and condemned by dozen times by the Admiral's Men, an acting troupe. Over the Catholics and Protestants alike. The punishment was death by next two years, the play enjoyed a continuous run of burning at the stake. During his lifetime, Faustus was performances, as well as a revival in 1602. Beginning in 1604, denounced by his contemporaries Martin Luther and German printed versions of the play were steadily published and Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon. distributed. Nevertheless, as the century progressed, the play's stage popularity began to wane. By 1642 all theaters in When he died, the rumor swiftly spread that he had been killed England were closed and remained so for the next 18 years. by the devil. A manuscript account of Faustus's life and death was published by Johann Spies in 1587. The Historia von Over time Marlowe and Doctor Faustus might have been Johann Fausten became a best seller. A year or two later, a forgotten but for a compiled volume of the playwright's works translation appeared in England. This English Faust Book (also published in the late 1700s. Interest in Doctor Faustus was known by the more lengthy title The History of the Damnable gradually revived. During the 1800s it came to the notice of the Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus) provided the Romantics, with whom its theme of intellectual overreaching basis for tragic scenes in Marlowe's play, while its comedic resonated. This was followed by several revivals of the play in scenes appear to have been freshly invented. the 20th century, during which Faustus's internal struggle with the dark side mirrored the century's fascination with the pitfalls and rewards of individuality and self-determination. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Author Biography 4 Marlowe's Doctor Faustus has been widely influential. Several by his death at age 29, works such as Tamburlaine the Great authors have written their own variations on the Faustus (1587), The Jew of Malta (1592), and Doctor Faustus (1604) legend. These include German writer Johann Wolfgang von firmly established him as one of the finest writing talents from Goethe, who developed it into a much longer two-part play the golden age of English literature that occurred during the (completed in 1832) that ends with Faustus going to heaven Renaissance. rather than hell. English author Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) features scientist Victor Frankenstein, who becomes Marlowe was the eldest son of a shoemaker and was one of obsessed with bringing the dead back to life and produces a nine siblings. Despite the family's limited income, he received a monster as a result of his excessive ambition, which results in first-rate education. After receiving a scholarship to attend the disaster. Thomas Mann, also German, wrote a novel called renowned King's School in Canterbury for his last two years of Doktor Faustus (1947) set in modern times in which an artist grammar school, he earned another scholarship to Corpus makes a deal with the devil to enhance his artistic genius and Christi College at Cambridge University. There he studied from winds up losing his mind. 1580 to 1587, honing his skills in Latin translation and poetry and writing his first plays. He gained his bachelor of arts in From amateur and professional stage performances to operas, 1584 and a master of arts (MA) three years later. Intriguingly, radio plays, and film versions, Doctor Faustus continues to his MA was initially withheld based on a dangerous rumor. fascinate audiences with the mythic appeal of its story of power and temptation, high-flying ambition, and self- Reportedly Marlowe had been absent from the university on destruction. More recent stage productions, which remain occasion to study at the English Catholic seminary in Reims, especially popular in England, have included English actors France. Politics and religion were inseparable in English Jude Law as the doctor (2002) and Kit Harrington of Game of government, and the prevailing religion during Queen Thrones fame in the leading role (2016). Elizabeth's reign (1558–1603) was Protestantism. Catholics were persecuted, and there were numerous Catholic plots to assassinate the queen. Study at the Catholic seminary would A Note about the Text Two distinct forms of the play Doctor Faustus survive, designated as the A-Text and B-Text. The A-Text was first published in 1604, more than 10 years after Marlowe's death. The B-Text was first published in 1616. The B-Text is significantly longer than the A-Text, with additions, including characters, by two playwrights commissioned to revise the play. Experts generally agree that the shorter A-Text is the have implied Marlowe meant to enter the priesthood, disqualifying him from receiving his MA and placing him under suspicion of treason. Nevertheless, his MA was awarded due to government intervention. The university received a letter from Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council stating that Marlowe had been employed "in matters touching the benefit of his country" and "had done Her Majesty good service, & deserved to be rewarded for his faithful dealing." The exact nature of that service remains unclear. text most representative of Marlowe's intention. All editions of the play derive from either of these two texts. Literary Career a Author Biography Marlowe's literary career spanned less than six years. In that short time, writing for the theater, he emerged as the first great author of blank verse and changed English drama forever. Family and Education Blank verse is non-rhyming verse written in a rhythm of stressed and unstressed syllables. The most commonly chosen rhythm is iambic pentameter, which features 10 Born in Canterbury, England, around February 26, 1564, syllables to a line, with the stress on every other syllable. In Christopher Marlowe shares his birth year with playwright poetry and prose, blank verse is intended to create a sense of William Shakespeare and one of the forerunners of modern grandeur by producing a formal rhythmic pattern with a science, Galileo. While Marlowe's literary career was cut short musical flow. Marlowe's skillful use of blank verse in his twopart play Tamburlaine the Great transformed English poetry Doctor Faustus Study Guide and brought a new level of maturity to Elizabethan theater. Authors such as Shakespeare would build on Marlowe's Characters 5 h Characters literary achievement, using blank verse throughout their plays. Marlowe himself authored seven plays, including one of the most acclaimed in the English language, Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus Untimely Death Doctor Faustus, a brilliant theologian from the university in Wertenberg, Germany, has also mastered the subjects of logic and medicine. An ambitious, inquisitive man of the The events culminating in Marlowe's untimely death began with an accusation of atheism, meaning that he did not believe in the existence of God. Marlowe belonged to a close circle of intellectuals—noblemen, courtiers, and commoners—who called themselves the Free-Thinkers. They formed an underground club, the School of Night, which met to discuss a wide range of subjects, many considered dangerous by the church and crown and therefore forbidden. A serious charge leveled at the Free-Thinkers was that of atheism, which the church considered heresy, or contrary to the church's beliefs. The penalty, if convicted, was to be burned at the stake. Whether Marlowe truly subscribed to atheism or not remains open for debate. Multiple individuals accused him of it, although their motives were questionable. In particular Thomas Kyd, a fellow playwright, confirmed the accusation, but only under torture after his own arrest. Marlowe was arrested for Renaissance, he is driven to seek beyond the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the medieval world. His restless intellect leads him to the acquisition of dark knowledge: knowledge of the secrets of the physical universe, as well as the forbidden art of magic and the unlimited power and knowledge it promises. Disregarding God's authority, he arrogantly imagines all the great and noble things he will accomplish with this dark power. However, Faustus's grand visions never materialize. He lacks the moral strength to use magic wisely or for good. The lowest, most petty impulses in his nature emerge, and his sweeping visions of greatness fade. He becomes wealthy and famous for performing mediocre tricks and is prone to use magic to abuse others. Despite his degree in theology, Faustus is a skeptic concerning realms of the spirit. He turns his back on God, labels hell "a fable," and refuses every chance to repent and save his soul. atheism on May 20, 1593, but released with the provision that he report daily to the authorities. On May 27 a formal charge was presented in writing to the Privy Council. However, Mephastophilis Marlowe was killed three days later—stabbed above the right eye—in what was described as a scuffle over a food bill as he Mephastophilis describes himself as one of the "unhappy ate and drank with three men: a high-ranking government spirits that fell with Lucifer" when God threw that former angel agent and two others with links to espionage, or spying on a out of heaven. As a result, he is "forever damned with Lucifer." foreign government. What was at the heart of Marlowe's Acting as an agent for the "prince of devils," Mephastophilis murder is still debated. Whether it was his alleged atheism or facilitates Faustus's damnation. He recruits Faustus, oversees simply a falling out among friends, it ended Marlowe's life his blood pact with Lucifer, and makes sure the doctor remains suddenly and tragically on May 30, 1593. loyal to hell for the next 24 years. Contrary to a traditional figure of pure evil, Mephastophilis presents a surprising Marlowe left behind an impressive body of work surpassed in portrait of the damned that is both villainous and tormented. Elizabethan tragic drama solely by his contemporary He deceives, manipulates, and threatens Faustus, especially Shakespeare. However, with the exception of the two-part when the doctor leans toward repentance. Yet Mephastophilis Tamburlaine the Great, published anonymously in 1590, can be truthful and is capable of suffering. He candidly tells Marlowe's works came into print only after his death. Faustus that he has come to collect his soul for Lucifer and then warns Faustus just as honestly about the nature of hell and what a doomed soul can expect. He callously admits that he inflicts fiendish pain on the damned, but he also reveals his own agony. He has seen the face of God and tasted eternal bliss and is therefore "tormented with ten thousand hells / In Doctor Faustus Study Guide being deprived of everlasting bliss." Mephastophilis goes so far as to advise Faustus, prior to him making his pact with Lucifer, to "leave these frivolous demands, / Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!" Lucifer Lucifer is the cunning and cruel manifestation of eternal damnation. Mephastophilis introduces Lucifer to Faustus as his master, the "prince of devils." He then relates his history as an angel who grew in pride and insolence until God "threw him from the face of heaven." As an angel, Lucifer was not content to serve God but wished to take his place. His kingdom now is hell, and he works against God, corrupting humans, luring them into sin, and capturing their immortal souls to populate his realm for eternity. The soul of Faustus—an intellectual, a learned scholar, and a theologian—is a prestigious catch, and Lucifer is more than willing to make a pact to ensnare it. The doctor describes Lucifer's countenance as "terrible," or fearful to look upon. Lucifer is a clever and merciless manipulator who wields fear as a tool to get what he wants. Characters 6 Doctor Faustus Study Guide Characters 7 Character Map Mephastophilis Contemplative devil Infernal master The Evil Angel Lucifer Spirit of evil Prince of devils Voice of corruption Earthly master Claims soul Voice of Doctor Faustus conscience Proud, ambitious scholar Master The Good Angel Spirit of good Teacher Teacher Main Character Other Major Character Minor Character Wagner Clumsy would-be magician Cornelius Valdes Learned magician Learned magician Doctor Faustus Study Guide Full Character List Character Doctor Faustus Mephastophilis Lucifer Characters 8 Clown The clown is a simple peasant victimized by Wagner's amateur conjuring. Faustus, a doctor of theology, sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for unlimited knowledge and the services of the devil Mephastophilis for 24 years. Cornelius Cornelius is a learned magician and friend to Faustus. Along with Valdes, he helps tutor Faustus in the rudiments of magic. Mephastophilis, a devil and collector of damned souls for Lucifer, serves Faustus for 24 years, until the doctor's soul is claimed and he is sent to hell. Covetousness Covetousness is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Covetousness represents an excessive desire to possess wealth, material goods, or power. Duchess of Vanholt The duchess of Vanholt is wife of the duke of Vanholt, a patron of Faustus. Faustus delights her by making grapes appear in winter. Duke of Vanholt The duke of Vanholt is Faustus's admiring patron and husband of the duchess of Vanholt. Emperor Carolus the Fifth Emperor Carolus the Fifth, also known as Emperor Charles V, is Faustus's admiring patron for whom he conjures Alexander the Great and his paramour. Description Lucifer, once an angel and dearly loved by God, rebelled and was thrown out of heaven. He is the prince of devils and collects human souls, including the soul of Faustus, to populate his kingdom of hell. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great is a famous Macedonian king and conqueror from the 4th century BCE. Spirits who resemble him and his paramour, or mistress, are conjured by Faustus at the request of Emperor Carolus the Fifth. Envy Belzebub Belzebub is Lucifer's companion prince in hell and appears with Lucifer to bolster Faustus's resolve to pursue his study of magic. Envy is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Baliol is one of two minor devils conjured by Wagner to scare the clown. The Evil Angel Baliol The Evil Angel argues in favor of Faustus's continued pursuit of black magic, which ultimately sends Faustus to hell. Belcher Belcher is one of two minor devils conjured by Wagner to scare the clown. Friar The friar leads several other friars in singing a dirge to drive off the invisible Faustus and Mephastophilis as they torment the pope. Cardinal of Lorraine The cardinal of Lorraine is an attendant to the pope. He is present when Faustus plays several pranks on the pope while invisible. Gluttony Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Gluttony is the sin of greed, especially for food and drink. Chorus The chorus provides commentary that helps the audience interpret the play. The Good Angel The Good Angel argues in favor of Faustus's repentance and the salvation of his soul. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Helen of Troy Helen of Troy is the unparalleled beauty whose abduction sparked the Trojan War. Faustus conjures her at the request of the three scholars and takes her for his lover. Horse-​courser The horse-​courser, or horse trader, is cheated and abused by Faustus, using magic. Knight at the emperor's court The knight attends the emperor's court. After he expresses skepticism about Faustus's conjuring abilities, Faustus causes horns to appear on the knight's head. Plot Summary 9 First scholar The first scholar is one of three scholars who are admiring friends of Faustus. They ask him to conjure Helen of Troy, and in Faustus's final hours, he tells them of his pact with the devil. Second scholar The second scholar is one of three scholars who are admiring friends of Faustus. They ask him to conjure Helen of Troy, and In Faustus's final hours, he tells them of his pact with the devil. Third scholar Lechery Lechery is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Lechery is the sin of excessive lust. The third scholar is one of three scholars who are admiring friends of Faustus. They ask him to conjure Helen of Troy, and In Faustus's final hours, he tells them of his pact with the devil. Sloth Old man The old man is a godly elder troubled by Faustus's continued pursuit of dark knowledge. His pleas that Faustus repent and save his soul are rebuffed. Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Sloth is the sin of apathy. Valdes Valdes is a learned magician and friend to Faustus. Along with Cornelius, he helps tutor Faustus in the rudiments of magic. Vintner The vintner is the victim of a prank by Rafe and Robin that ends with the appearance of Mephastophilis. Wagner Wagner is Faustus's faithful servant. He uses what he grasps about magic to torment the clown. He also provides commentary that helps the audience interpret the play. Wrath Wrath is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Wrath is the sin of excessive anger. Paramour The paramour is the mistress of Alexander the Great, a famous Macedonian king and conqueror from the 4th century BCE. Spirits who resemble them both are conjured by Faustus at the request of Emperor Carolus the Fifth. Pope The pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Faustus, while invisible, embarrasses him with mean-​spirited pranks in front of his banquet guests. Pride Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins personified and shown to Faustus. Rafe Rafe is one of two stablemen to clumsily employ magic as a prank and, to their dismay, accidentally summon Mephastophilis. Robin Robin is one of two stablemen to clumsily employ magic as a prank and, to their dismay, accidentally summon Mephastophilis. k Plot Summary Doctor Faustus Study Guide Act 1 Plot Summary 10 most certainly damned already, he hardens his heart and begins questioning Mephastophilis on the nature and movement of heavenly bodies. However, when he asks, "Who Doctor John Faustus is introduced by the chorus, whose role is made the world?" the devil refuses to answer, stirring up to both explain and to facilitate transitions in the play. Here the Faustus's doubts once more. Just as the doctor calls upon chorus explains that his story is not a sweeping tale of warfare Christ to save his soul, Lucifer appears, accompanied by or love at court. It is the tale of a man of lowly birth who in later Belzebub, his companion prince in hell. To draw Faustus back years is raised by a kinsman while attending school in from the brink of repentance, they appeal to his thirst for Wertenberg. The young man proves to be a brilliant religious knowledge and enthrall him with a display of the Seven Deadly scholar but, swollen with pride, turns away from traditional Sins. areas of study to explore necromancy, or black magic. As Faustus sits in his study, he pages through various texts on logic, medicine, law, and religion. Dismissing them one by one, Act 3 he turns at last to a book of magic. The power and authority promised by mastering this art appeals to Faustus. In spite of Faustus has studied diligently and now uses his dark powers to warnings from the Good Angel that appears, he resolves to travel to Rome, where he visits the pope. Bidding study magic. He engages his German friends Valdes and Mephastophilis to make him invisible, he harasses the pope as Cornelius to teach him all the basics he needs to know about he entertains guests, flinging fireworks among them, stealing the "damned art" of necromancy. food and drink, and boxing the pope's ears. Sometime later, in a demonstration of his conjuring skills, Faustus summons up the devil Mephastophilis—"an unhappy Act 4 spirit that fell with Lucifer," the prince of devils, when God threw him out of heaven. Mephastophilis explains that by In the years that follow, Faustus travels throughout Europe, dabbling in magic, Faustus risks corruption of his soul. He then appearing at the courts of kings and earning an impressive warns of the torments of hell that await him if he allies himself reputation for wit and knowledge of the black arts. Eventually with Lucifer. Undaunted, Faustus sends the devil back to his Emperor Carolus the Fifth invites Faustus to his court and master with an offer: the soul of Faustus in exchange for 24 begs him to conjure up Alexander the Great. While the years of service from Mephastophilis. emperor is duly impressed by the feat, a knight mocks the doctor's skill. In retaliation Faustus gives him a pair of horns on Act 2 his head, a sure sign that the knight has been cuckolded by his wife. Mephastophilis returns to Faustus with the news that Lucifer Continuing his travels, Faustus performs further feats of magic, has agreed to the deal, provided Faustus will write and sign the including a dishonest and cruel prank on a horse-courser (a deed for his soul in blood. Faustus proceeds as instructed, but dealer in horses). Later, he entertains the duke and duchess of the moment it is done, the words Homo fuge appear like a Vanholt at court by producing grapes in winter. brand on his arm. Latin for "Fly, O man!" they seem to be a warning. Unsettled, Faustus tries to imagine where he could run—certainly not to God, who would throw him into hell for Act 5 what he has done. To distract Faustus and strengthen his determination, Mephastophilis showers him with rich gifts and As the final act opens, Faustus is conjuring beautiful Helen of devilish entertainment and then provides all the books Faustus Troy for a group of admiring scholars. However, the 24 years desires on spells and incantations. allotted to the doomed doctor are winding down, and soon it will be time to forfeit his soul. An old man appears and begs A while later, Faustus wavers in his decision and considers him to repent and ask God's forgiveness. Though briefly renouncing magic and repenting. Then, recalling that he is tempted, Faustus instead reaffirms his vow to Lucifer in blood. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Then, to fortify his resolve, Faustus asks Mephastophilis to summon back Helen of Troy to be his lover. During his final hours, Faustus reveals his fate to three fellow scholars. They implore him to call on God for help, but Faustus insists it is too late. He has rejected God, blasphemed, and been in a pact with Lucifer for too long to expect mercy. Faustus begs the scholars to leave him and is alone when the clock strikes eleven. In mounting terror and despair, Faustus begs Lucifer to spare him or for Earth to bury him and hide him from the wrath of God. But Faustus's destiny is fixed. The clock strikes twelve, and Lucifer's minions appear in order to drag the doctor's soul off to hell. Plot Summary 11 Doctor Faustus Study Guide Plot Summary 12 Plot Diagram Climax 7 Falling Action 6 Rising Action 8 5 4 9 3 Resolution 2 1 Introduction Climax Introduction 7. Lucifer sends his devils to drag Faustus's soul to hell. 1. The chorus introduces proud, ambitious Doctor Faustus. Falling Action Rising Action 8. The chorus confirms Faustus's soul is damned and fame 2. Faustus is dissatisfied with accepted branches of lost. knowledge. 3. Faustus determines to study black magic. 4. Pursuing dark knowledge, Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer. 5. Faustus uses his new power to play pranks and gain fame. 6. Faustus rejects every chance to repent and save his soul. Resolution 9. The chorus warns that imitating Faustus will also end badly. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Plot Summary 13 Timeline of Events Early 16th century Doctor Faustus rejects the study of traditional branches of knowledge in favor of studying magic. Moments later Faustus ignores the Good Angel's dire warnings to turn away from the path to damnation. Shortly afterward The Good Angel and the Evil Angel try to sway Faustus to good or evil. That evening Faustus engages his friends Valdes and Cornelius to instruct him in the basics of magic. Later, on a winter's eve Faustus uses his conjuring skills to summon a devil, Mephastophilis. That same evening Faustus offers Lucifer his soul in exchange for 24 years of service from Mephastophilis. Later, at midnight Lucifer accepts Faustus's offer. The pact is written and signed with Faustus's blood. After signing Faustus learns the nature of hell, the secrets of the physical universe, and the ways of magic. Some while later Faustus questions his life path, but Lucifer lures him on with a display of the Seven Deadly Sins. Over time Doctor Faustus Study Guide Plot Summary 14 Faustus's knowledge of the dark arts grows. He travels throughout much of Europe by magic. St. Peter's feast day Faustus travels to Rome and, while invisible, plays pranks on the pope and his banquet guests. As time passes Faustus's fame spreads. He conjures Alexander the Great for the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V. In his last years Faustus uses his magic to trick a horse trader. Soon after Faustus make grapes appear in winter for the duke and duchess of Vanholt. As time runs out To impress three admiring scholars, Faustus conjures Helen of Troy. Soon after An old man tries to convince Faustus to save his soul before it is too late. Soon after Faustus rejects the final chance to repent and save his soul and takes Helen of Troy as his lover. Later Faustus confesses to the scholars that he is in league with Lucifer and damned both body and soul. His final hour Overcome by terror and remorse, Faustus begs Lucifer to spare him and calls on God's mercy. Twelve midnight Lucifer's devils come for Faustus and carry him off to hell. Doctor Faustus Study Guide c Scene Summaries Scene Summaries 15 ambition. Again, Marlowe—through the chorus—draws on the tradition of Greek mythology, comparing Faustus's downfall to that of the boy Icarus. The boy's father, Daedalus, makes him a pair of wings from feathers and wax. He warns Icarus not to fly Prologue too close to the sun, as the heat will melt the wax. Forgetting his father's wise warning, Icarus recklessly flies higher and higher. The wax melts, the feathers scatter, and Icarus falls to Summary his death. Similarly, Faustus will fly too high and be destroyed Introducing the play, the chorus announces that no tale of Besides looking back to antiquity, the prologue spotlights the warfare, romance in a king's court, or heroic deeds will be humanistic values of the Renaissance that the play will explore. presented. Instead the audience will witness the story of In contrast to the Middle Age's God-centered view of Faustus, a common man of low birth from a town called existence, the Renaissance placed the human at the center of Rhodes, in Germany. Coming of age, Faustus went to live with importance. Humanists stressed the individual's potential for relatives in Wertenberg, attended the university, and studied self-direction, goodness, and rational existence without divine theology. He excelled in his studies and soon earned his oversight. The chorus states that Faustus, in his self-conceit, degree along with the title of "doctor." Then pride and ambition will turn away from "heavenly matters of theology" to focus led him down the path of black magic. Like mythological Icarus upon "cursèd necromancy." This pursuit involves speaking with who soared too near the hot sun on wings of wax and feathers, the dead in order to predict the future. As the chorus states, he Faustus went too far in his pursuit of limitless knowledge. prefers this to "his chiefest bliss," meaning his hope of for it. salvation—the deliverance from sin. And so the stage is set for This man, the chorus concludes, feeds upon and craves what magic has to offer. He now sits in his study. a confrontation between a Renaissance man who rejects God's authority and the Middle Ages belief that God's laws govern all and must be obeyed. Analysis This Renaissance emphasis on the individual inspires another break with medieval tradition, whose literature celebrated Christopher Marlowe's use of a chorus to introduce the play historic, saintly, or heroic figures. In Doctor Faustus the chorus reflects the Renaissance era's deep interest in classical Greek makes it clear that the audience will be watching a play not drama. In that tradition, the chorus is a group of actors that, about great or legendary figures, but about an ordinary man. with singing, dancing, and choral odes, describe and comment This idea resonated with a Renaissance audience that believed on the play's unfolding plot. They also serve as the voice of the in the potential and value of the everyday human. everyday citizen passing judgment on the tragedy playing out before them. As in Doctor Faustus, this tragedy would likely In the later B-Text version of the play, the university where spring from the protagonist's defiance of the gods and the Faustus studies is called Wittenberg. limitations their divine laws impose on humankind. Over time the role of the chorus decreased in Greek drama. The group provided less commentary and was less important Act 1, Scene 1 to the plot. Eventually, the choral interludes became a pleasant diversion for playgoers to enjoy between acts. During the Renaissance the dramatic role of the chorus was revived, but its participants were reduced to a single person, as in Doctor Faustus. Summary Alone in his study, Faustus contemplates what line of scholarship he will pursue. He has earned a higher degree in Marlowe's chorus introduces Doctor Faustus, sketches out his theology but suspects his interests may have changed. He first personal history, and states that he is doomed by pride and considers the study of logic, or reasoning, whose foundation is Greek philosopher Aristotle's Analytics. Yet the main goal of Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 16 logic seems to be the art of debating well. Having mastered the will want to study nothing else. The two agree to help Faustus skill already, Faustus impatiently rejects this line of study. learn the rudiments of the art, expecting that he soon will outshine them. Though anxious to begin that night, Faustus Next he looks to medicine, noting a quotation from Aristotle: asks his friends to dine with him first. "Where philosophy ends, medicine begins." Faustus mentions Galen, a physician of ancient Rome, considered the most prominent of famous doctors. Faustus knows there is good Analysis money in practicing medicine and fame to be acquired for discovering some wondrous cure. Yet he is already an The knowledge and wisdom of the past inherited by the accomplished physician and finds no satisfaction in his Renaissance flowed from men such as Aristotle (philosophy), success—he is still simply Faustus. Galen (medicine), and Justinian (law) and from the Bible Turning to the field of law, the doctor turns to Roman Emperor Justinian, whose works form the basis for the study of law during the Renaissance. But Faustus dismisses this, as well. He decides law is a profession too tedious and narrow in scope, with only trivial aims. Rejecting it, he arrives full circle, judging (theology). Faustus has been "ravished" by the works of Aristotle but is certain there is more to know. The ancient authorities on medicine and law seem to him equally limited. Faustus uses faulty logic, based on an incomplete reading of a Bible verse, to reject continued study of theology. that the formal study of religion best fits his ambitions. Picking Romans 6:23 reads, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift up St. Jerome's translation of the Bible, he reads a line of of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Faustus verse: "The reward of sin is death." It occurs to him that concentrates only on "the wages of sin is death," leaving out humankind is fated to sin and so fated to die an everlasting the rest of the sentence, which focuses on the "gift" of eternal death. In light of this the study of theology also seems life through Christ. Instead, Faustus looks only at "everlasting pointless and unable to satisfy his yearnings. death." This is a most pessimistic interpretation, devoid of Having eliminated the three main subjects studied at a Renaissance university, Faustus turns to the "metaphysics of magicians" (the study of what is considered beyond the known world) and necromancy. This unorthodox line of scholarship hope. As a master of the subject of theology, Faustus should have known better. However, he is bent on studying magic and is willing to engage in self-deception to do so, such as basing his decision on half of a Bible verse. promises money, pleasure, power, respect, and influence. This conveniently allows Faustus to discard religious studies as Faustus notes that an accomplished magician "is a mighty easily as philosophy, medicine, and law. He treats the idea of god," and he dreams he will become omnipotent, or all- sin lightly, observing, "We must sin, and so consequently die." powerful, greater than emperors or kings. Faustus decides in It's a rather clinical view of the process, a view detached from favor of magic and promptly sends his servant, Wagner, to the damning nature of sin. He coolly continues, "Ay, we must invite two friends, Valdes and Cornelius, to visit. They can help die an everlasting death," as if this has no meaning for him him in his studies. personally. This foreshadows Faustus's fall, when he will give in Alone once again, Faustus is confronted by the Good Angel to sin and marginalize its spiritual consequences. and the Evil Angel. The Good Angel begs Faustus to put aside The doctor's longing to study magic appears potentially his blasphemous book of magic and read the Bible instead. admirable. He yearns to expand the frontiers of human The Evil Angel urges Faustus on his ambitious course of study. knowledge and to do great things with his power. His list of Once they leave, Faustus argues aloud for all the benefits of goals is impressive and lends his character an idealistic pursuing magic, all the splendid things he will accomplish with grandeur. However, he also fantasizes about the vast wealth its power. and fame he will acquire; the worldly delights he will explore. When Valdes and Cornelius arrive, Faustus tells them he has become possessed with the idea of practicing magic. Valdes assures Faustus that his intelligence guided by their experience and books will bring them all fame and privilege. Cornelius adds that once Faustus sees what magic can do, he These less worthy desires will undermine his more noble goals. In time he will use his knowledge and power only for selfserving pleasure and profit, amusing tricks, and petty revenge. For all his scholarship, Faustus has failed to assimilate the wisdom—a gift he could glean from many works in the Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 17 past—that greed for power never ends well. If he had keenly at debates, introducing his arguments with the familiar considered this, he might have recognized and guarded scholarly phrase sic probo—meaning "Here is my proof." against the corrupting influence of unlimited power. Faustus turns to Valdes and Cornelius to help him in his studies. The two scholars reveal a personal sense of intellectual Anxious to get started, he is impatient with the idea of self- superiority by addressing Faustus's servant Wagner as "sirrah," conducted study. This indicates that, for Faustus, the pursuit of an address reserved for inferiors. When they demand Wagner knowledge is secondary to the objective of power and wealth. tell them where Faustus is, he challenges their right to insist He is willing to take a shortcut to possess them, just as he is that he knows. The ensuing exchange provides a closer look at willing to delude himself with his flawed interpretation of the Wagner's character. biblical verse. Wagner has the intellect and education to engage the scholars The Good Angel and Evil Angel are also introduced in this in a dispute using logic. He does not appreciate being treated scene. They appear to be physical embodiments of true spirits as an inferior and impudently plays the scholars for fools, using as well as representatives of Faustus's conflicted conscience. wordplay to obscure the truth of where Faustus is at the Within the play they establish the universal conflict between moment. His impatience with these two representatives of good and evil. They then proceed to work consistently as a traditional learning mirrors Faustus's impatience in this arena, pair, speaking in a call-response pattern. In the beginning the as expressed in the previous scene. Wagner's logic is flawed Good Angel is first to speak. However, when they appear a last but clever enough to confuse the scholars. He is not only time near the end of Act 2, Scene 3, the Evil Angel speaks first, having some fun, but also protecting Faustus. He knows that suggesting Faustus has crossed a line, slipping closer to the scholars will not approve of his master's guests. This damnation and further from redemption. Even so, as in this first establishes Wagner's role as a rather clever, very loyal, and scene, the Good Angel stubbornly insists that Faustus may yet protective servant to Faustus. In some respects he acts as a be saved if he rejects magic and repents by expressing his double for Faustus, albeit in the form of a servant. His outlook sorrow and remorse for his sins. and actions will often reflect those of his master, as they do in this scene. He will also step into the role of the chorus on occasion. Act 1, Scene 2 Act 1, Scene 3 Summary Two nosey scholars come looking for Faustus at his residence. Summary Wagner engages them in a bit of verbal sparring before telling them his master is at dinner with Valdes and Cornelius. The Faustus has sufficiently mastered the art of conjuring to call up scholars take this as bad news, knowing the doctor's guests a devil one winter's evening. Consulting a book of spells, he are infamous practitioners of "that damned art." They fear that draws circles, signs, and symbols. He writes Jehovah's name Faustus may be practicing magic as well. Gloomily, they go off backward and forward and then rearranges it to form different to inform the head of the university, faintly hoping he will be words. He shortens the names of the saints. Then chanting in able to rescue Faustus from this grave mistake before it is too Latin, he invokes the powers of heaven and hell, calling upon late. the devils of Hades, the Holy Trinity, the spirits of fire, air, water, and Earth, Belzebub, and Demogorgon (a demon). He commands that Mephastophilis appear. Analysis The concern of the two scholars illustrates Faustus's respected status at the university, where knowledge and mental agility are prized. They seem to miss his presence most When a devil shows up, Faustus judges him "too ugly to attend on me" and sends him off to change his shape into something more pleasing. He sarcastically suggests that the guise of an old Franciscan friar would be appropriate. He's delighted when the devil immediately departs, and he anticipates that "this Doctor Faustus Study Guide Mephastophilis" will be an obedient, humble servant. Scene Summaries 18 Mephastophilis off to assume a more pleasing form, he takes a cheap shot at Catholicism, suggesting that the devil return as Mephastophilis appears and asks Faustus what he wants of an old Franciscan friar—a shape that suits a devil best. him. When Faustus demands that the devil serve him, Franciscans are a Catholic Christian religious order founded by Mephastophilis explains that he cannot without permission St. Francis of Assisi. They advocate a life of preaching, from his master, Lucifer. He has not come in response to penance, and poverty. The unpopularity of all things Catholic Faustus's summons but on his own. He is intrigued to assess made this mockery of the Franciscans delightful to English the condition of Faustus's soul, which he hopes to obtain. The audiences of the Renaissance. It also reveals Faustus's low doctor's conjuring is a sure sign of a man in danger of being opinion of a religious order whose values and practices are in damned. opposition to his own. While members of the order share In answer to Faustus's questions, Mephastophilis describes the nature of Lucifer as a fallen angel, his status as prince of devils, and how God threw him out of heaven for pride and insolence. Mephastophilis explains that he, being one of Lucifer's followers, was damned with him. Reflecting on the everlasting knowledge with others, Faustus gathers it for himself. While they seek to redeem their souls through penance, Faustus seeks to damn his soul through sinfulness. While they are content to live in poverty, Faustus desires to acquire vast wealth. torment he endures being separated from God, Mephastophilis Mephastophilis quickly clarifies that he answered Faustus's warns Faustus to turn back from the course he has chosen. summons not as a servant, but as a collector of souls. This Dismissively, Faustus tells him to return to his master, Lucifer, establishes Mephastophilis as powerful in his own right, though and offer his (Faustus's) soul in exchange for 24 years of he is also in service to Lucifer. As a collector of souls, service from Mephastophilis, who must do whatever he asks. Mephastophilis fits the traditional religious idea of devils and Faustus also notes that during this time he wishes to live a life demons employed in corrupting goodness and luring souls into of "voluptuousness," one filled with pleasure and luxury. He hell. However, this traditional perception is given a twist when wants an answer by midnight. Once the devil departs, Faustus Mephastophilis describes himself as one of the "unhappy contemplates all that he will do with his anticipated power. He spirits that fell with Lucifer." He declares that he is tormented will be emperor of the world, capable of great feats, such as by his separation from God. This capacity for suffering is joining the continental coastline of Africa to that of Spain. unexpected. So terrible is his hellish existence that he warns Faustus to give up pursuit of magic. This impulse to do a Analysis Some time has passed, and Faustus has been diligently damned soul a good turn is equally surprising in a devil. The result is a complex character, both powerful and tortured, full of evil intentions yet capable of fleeting compassion. studying the art of conjuring. The spell he cites in Latin begins Blinded by pride and ambition, Faustus cannot or will not by calling on the gods of Acheron (Hades) and the threefold accept that he is in danger. Until Mephastophilis corrects him, spirit of Jehovah (the Holy Trinity) to aid him. This blasphemy is he mistakenly believes that his abilities as a conjurer were so all the more shocking coming from a theologian. Once again, powerful they brought the demon to him. It is not Faustus's Faustus's bold use of it calls into question the depth of his power but the vulnerability of his soul that has caused former religious convictions. The doctor ends his incantation Mephastophilis to appear. Faustus accepts the idea of demons with more blasphemy by sprinkling around holy water and hell, but only in a most objective, detached way. Once he ("consecratam aquam") and making the sign of the cross. Holy sends off Mephastophilis with his message for Lucifer, Faustus water, which has been blessed by a priest, is used in Catholic claims that he would sacrifice "as many souls as there are religious ceremonies, such as baptism and last rites, and is stars" to get the knowledge and power he desires. He considered a powerful spiritual weapon. continues to indulge his fantasy of being a "great emperor of In response to the incantation, Mephastophilis materializes, and his shocking appearance leaves no doubt that he is a devil and a product of hell. As such, he establishes for the audience that hell is real and a terrible place. When Faustus sends the world," so powerful he can shift Earth's geography as he wishes. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Act 1, Scene 4 Scene Summaries 19 nosey scholars, he now assumes a superior attitude and talks down to the clown, again recalling Faustus's arrogance and sense of entitled superiority. Summary Variations of the A-Text and B-Text identify the clown as Robin, a character who otherwise appears for the first time in Wagner engages in some banter with a clown, or peasant, by Act 2, Scene 2. calling him "boy." Insulted, the fellow asks how many "boys" he has seen with beards like his. Wagner then asserts that the fellow looks unemployed and hungry enough to sell his soul to Act 2, Scene 1 the devil for some meat to eat. He tries to recruit him to become his servant, but the clown seems unwilling. So Wagner threatens him with magic—to turn all the clown's lice into evil Summary spirits that will tear him to pieces. When this fails, he forces money on the fellow that the man tries to return. In frustration Faustus waits in his study for Mephastophilis's return. He is Wagner calls up two devils, Baliol and Belcher, who chase the troubled by doubts about the choice he has made. On the one terrified clown. After a few moments, Wagner sends the devils hand, he knows he will be damned for delving into magic. One away. Now the clown, impressed by Wagner's demonstration, the other, it may be too late to turn to God again—it seems consents to serve Wagner if he will teach him to summon impossible that God could love him. Abruptly, he realizes he devils, too, and other feats of magic. would rather fulfill his own ambitious desires anyway, so he may as well continue serving Belzebub. The Good Angel and Analysis Evil Angel appear once more to argue for and against repentance. The Good Angel asserts it is not too late for Faustus to renounce magic, repent, and attain heaven. The Evil As the play progresses, an alternating pattern of serious and Angel argues this is an illusion, not to be trusted. He urges comic scenes becomes apparent, with the comic scenes Faustus to keep in mind the honor and wealth he will gain offering a parody by providing a mocking imitation of the through his use of magic. preceding serious scene. These scenes serve to ridicule the presumed greatness of Faustus's achievements as he masters The angels depart, and Faustus resolves to continue his black magic at the price of his soul. In this scene Wagner pursuits, believing that no god can hurt him as long as demonstrates that even the unschooled can summon devils. Mephastophilis is beside him. At that moment the devil returns with the news that Lucifer has agreed to Faustus's proposal: In a bit of comic relief, Wagner's actions once again reflect the he may buy 24 years of service from Mephastophilis and a life previous events involving Faustus. Mimicking his master, of luxury and pleasure for the price of his soul. There is one Wagner engages a clown (meaning a rustic fellow or peasant) provision. To demonstrate his commitment to the agreement, to be his servant. Determined to convince the fellow to serve Faustus must write and sign the contract in his own blood. him, Wagner employs insults, crude logic, and bribery. When Faustus asks what value his soul has for Lucifer, Traditional means of persuasion prove too weak to be Mephastophilis replies that it will add to Lucifer's growing effective. Like his master, Wagner decides that the only way to kingdom. Asked if he, as a devil who tortures damned souls, get what he wants is through magic. suffers pain, Mephastophilis admits that he suffers as much as In the previous scene (Scene 3), Faustus conjured a devil. In this scene Wagner conjures Baliol and Belcher to frighten the clown. Just as Faustus hopes to engage the services of those human souls. Then to distract Faustus from any misgivings, the devil reminds him of the great rewards tied to a pact with Lucifer. Mephastophilis through magic, Wagner hopes to engage the Slashing his arm, Faustus proceeds to write the contract in services of the clown through intimidation by magic. Wagner blood, but soon the blood congeals, making it impossible for also mimics the two scholars, the intellectual snobs from Act 1, him to continue. Briefly he wonders what this portends. Then Scene 2. While he objected to the pompousness of the two Mephastophilis brings hot coals to liquefy the blood again, and Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 20 Faustus can complete the contract. Signing it, he announces in find a loophole in their agreement when the time comes to Latin, "It is finished." Instantly, the words Homo fuge! (Fly, O forfeit his soul. He insists that the pact be written and signed in man!) appear, etched on his arm. Though it seems a dire Faustus's blood. Blood, the body's source of life, represents warning, Faustus cannot think of anywhere to go. Certainly the soul. Used in a blood oath, it becomes a link between God would not offer him a safe haven. Faustus and Lucifer and binds Faustus's soul to hell. As his soul's representative, the doctor's blood seems determined to As a diversion, Mephastophilis lavishes crowns and fine prevent him from completing the contract. It congeals so he clothing on Faustus and swears "by hell and Lucifer" that the cannot write. So intent is Faustus on making the dark deal that doctor shall have everything he desires. As hoped, Faustus he only fleetingly worries that this is a bad sign worth heeding. confirms the contract, and Mephastophilis accepts it on behalf His blood is wiser than he, in another instance of Faustus of Lucifer. Then, at Faustus's first command, Mephastophilis failing to interpret the information before him correctly if it describes the dreadful nature of hell. Nevertheless, Faustus challenges his desires. says, "I think hell's a fable," and asserts that he has no fear of damnation. The doctor's final words upon signing the pact echo those spoken by Jesus Christ as he died when crucified on the cross. Changing the subject, Faustus commands that Mephastophilis Consummatum est is Latin for "It is finished." From Christ's lips, "fetch" him a wife. The devil returns with another devil dressed the phrase meant that he had fulfilled ancient prophesy and as a frightful woman. When Faustus rejects her, the work God, his father, had sent him to do; salvation was Mephastophilis begs him to give up all thoughts of marriage. assured to those who believed. From the lips of Faustus, Instead he can have the most beautiful mistresses, whomever however, the phrase means something completely he desires. Then, to gratify Faustus's thirst for learning, the different—his salvation is now firmly in jeopardy and his devil gives him an all-inclusive book of knowledge to study damnation assured. about spells and incantations, astronomy and astrology, and the natural sciences. Once the pact is finalized, Faustus engages Mephastophilis in a round of questions. The topic is hell, just as it was during Analysis their first encounter. Faustus appears fascinated by the subject though skeptical that hell is real. In Act 1 Mephastophilis explained that, because he is damned, hell is all In his opening soliloquy, Faustus reveals the corruption that around him. It is wherever he is. This time, instead of describing already taints his soul. The doctor is having second thoughts hell as a psychological state, Mephastophilis provides a more about the path he intends to follow. His initial impulse to turn traditional description of a place "under the heavens ... where back to God is overshadowed by despair. Surely God cannot we are tortured and remain forever." Surprisingly, since he is love him. In a moment of self-awareness, he admits that he is talking to a devil and has signed his soul over to Lucifer, ruled by his appetite for the things dark magic can offer. This is Faustus says, "I think hell's a fable." This statement from a the "god" he wants to follow. For the love of Belzebub, he scholar who has studied the nature of God and religious belief would build "an altar and a church" and ritually murder newborn raises questions: Did Faustus ever believe, or did he lose his babies in tribute to him. Turning his back on God in this way, faith along the way? Is his lust for power so extreme that it has Faustus embraces evil and rejects the divine goodness and possessed him to the point of shutting out everything else? As mercy he once accepted as a theologian. The battle for the play progresses, Faustus will struggle to deny the reality of Faustus's soul resumes when the Good Angel and Evil Angel hell and the peril to his soul. As the certainty of hell grows, he return. Faustus joins in their call-and-response but refuses to will fight a desperate but losing battle to find or rekindle his be persuaded in favor of repentance and redemption. He faith and save himself through repentance. stubbornly prefers to exchange the spiritual gifts of heaven for earthly honor and wealth. By the time Mephastophilis shows up, Faustus is mentally and spiritually prepared to enter into the pact with Lucifer. Lucifer takes no chances that a scholar such as Faustus will Act 2, Scene 2 Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 21 Summary Summary Robin, an ostler (a person who works with horses), has stolen Once again, Faustus is wavering in his decision to follow magic, one of Doctor Faustus's books of spells and intends to try his fearing damnation. Mephastophilis declares that the heaven hand at conjuring. A fellow ostler named Rafe comes to inform the doctor imagines is not as glorious as man, for whom it was him that a gentleman requires their services, but Robin shoos made. Contrary to the effect the devil intended, Faustus turns him away with a warning that he is about to do something risky. this statement into a reason to renounce magic and repent. Seeing the book, Rafe remarks that Robin cannot read. Robin replies that, with luck, he can read well enough to seduce his At the mention of repentance, the Good Angel and Evil Angel mistress. Rafe learns that Robin is using a powerful book of appear. The Good Angel assures Faustus that God will still pity spells and has been practicing some minor magic. Robin him if he repents, while the Evil Angel claims that God cannot. promises him a spell for beguiling the kitchen maid, Nan Spit, Faustus asserts that God will pity him if he repents, to which anytime he wishes. Thrilled at the prospect, Rafe agrees to the Evil Angel replies, "Ay, but Faustus never shall repent." assist Robin in his conjuring. The angels depart, and Faustus admits that repentance feels impossible because "[his] heart's so hardened." He bemoans Analysis Comic relief again contrasts with the seriousness of the preceding scene in which Faustus deeds his soul to Lucifer in exchange for power and knowledge. Robin is as uneducated as Faustus is scholarly in matters of magic. He has not studied it, but stolen a book about it from Faustus. He cannot read but intends to try conjuring anyway. His ambitions are not lofty, as are Faustus's, but boorish and vulgar. Magic as an exalted subject to be seriously pursued is reduced by a lout to something trivial and low. Once more, the actions of a minor character seem to point out that anyone with the right book the fact that whenever he mentions salvation, faith, or heaven, the refrain "Faustus, thou art damned" echoes in his ears like thunder. He feels he might have committed suicide by now, except for the fact that the "sweet pleasure" that magic offers has "conquered [his] deep despair." So thinking, Faustus resolves yet again to never repent and calls upon Mephastophilis to discuss the nature of the cosmos. The discussion goes well until Faustus asks who made the world. Mephastophilis refuses to answer. He reminds Faustus that, in his fallen state, he should think more about hell, which he calls "our kingdom," and he can't tell Faustus anything that goes against it. can perform magic of some kind without limitless knowledge or Faustus is shaken into wondering if it's too late for his soul. loss of his soul. The Evil Angel appears and states firmly that it is. The Good Variations of the A-Text and B-Text identify Robin as an ostler (A-Text) or as the clown (B-Text). In addition the B-Text lists the second character as Dick instead of Rafe. There are variations as well in the placement of this scene within the play. Some A-Texts place it later, after Act 3, Scene 1, displacing the Angel follows with assurances that it's never too late. The Evil Angel promises that devils will tear Faustus to pieces if he repents, while the Good Angel vows they will never cut his skin. Confused and terrified, Faustus cries out for Christ the Savior to save his wretched soul. chorus. Some B-Texts place this scene after Faustus views the Hearing Faustus's appeal to Christ, Lucifer, Belzebub, and Seven Deadly Sins. Nevertheless, several authorities have Mephastophilis appear. Lucifer bluntly tells Faustus that he is agreed that a scene was missing at this point in both versions beyond salvation through Christ's intervention. He then warns of the text and Marlowe likely intended this scene to fill that Faustus to never again invoke Christ's name or think of God. gap. To do so is against the pact Faustus made with him. Faustus asks Lucifer's pardon and vows to obey. To reinforce the Act 2, Scene 3 doctor's resolve, Lucifer parades before him personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Covetousness, Wrath, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, and Lechery. The display appeals to Faustus's baser appetites, prompting him to exclaim, "Oh, this feeds my soul!" Lucifer promises that hell holds all such manner of Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 22 delights. He then gives Faustus a new book of spells to peruse, inability to answer to signal that the deal Faustus has made for which the doctor gratefully accepts, and reminds him to "think unlimited knowledge may fall short on its promises. This raises on the devil." the possibility that Faustus has been duped into selling his soul for very little in return. Analysis By refusing to answer the doctor's final question, "Who made the world," Mephastophilis all but admits the supremacy of God Faustus is struggling to rekindle his faith; to find reasons to over Lucifer. Lucifer dared to challenge this supremacy and renounce magic and repent. The mere sight of the physical was cast from heaven for it. Mephastophilis, as Lucifer's ally, heavens suggests to him that a real heaven exists and must be was cast out as well. His pride will not let him admit, even by too wonderful to forego. Yet the doctor wants to be convinced inference, that he was mistaken. If only God could make the otherwise. He does not turn to the Bible or a priest for wisdom world, then Lucifer, logically, must be an inferior entity. and encouragement. He complains to Mephastophilis and then allows himself to be persuaded to continue in his evil ways, justifying them with the idea that he may repent at the last minute and be saved. "Be I a devil," he says, "yet God may pity me ... if I repent." The Evil Angel knows Faustus better than he knows himself and observes, "Ay, but Faustus never shall repent." Faustus's next twinge of conscience brings him closer than ever to the brink of repentance. This time Lucifer shows up to frighten Faustus into honoring the pact. He then rewards the doctor with personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins. More than entertainment for Faustus, they represent the sins he will indulge in over the course of 24 years. Pride is the first and most glaring of these. In pride of ambition, Faustus and Lucifer Faustus proves the Evil Angel right. Hardening his heart once are alike. Their desire for godlike power leads to defiance of more, he resolves never to repent, but to pursue the "sweet divine power and is the most important step in their damnation. pleasures" and refrain from despair. He turns his thoughts to Envy plays into this high-flying ambition. Faustus envies those astronomy, though he calls it "divine astrology." In the 16th who possess knowledge and power that is hidden from him century the term could apply to both fields of study; little and will do whatever he must to acquire it. The doctor will also differentiation was made between the two. His first question to participate in lechery with "the fairest courtesans" and Helen of Mephastophilis on the topic receives a disappointing answer. Troy; in wrath to punish enemies; and in avarice (i.e., The devil recites the traditional view held by academia—a very covetousness), gluttony, and sloth as he acquires vast, useless old, Earth-centered description of the "heavens [planets] wealth and overindulges in the forbidden arts and sensual above the moon," based on ideas developed by the Greek pleasures. astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy in the 2nd century. This view had been challenged by 16th-century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. He theorized that the sun, Act 3, Chorus not Earth, was the center of our system of planets. During Marlowe's time, the idea that Copernicus could be right was still being debated. Faustus scolds Mephastophilis for Summary providing an answer Wagner could have thought up. His next question seeks answers concerning the erratic motion of certain spheres, or planets—another unresolved question during Marlowe's lifetime. Mephastophilis offers a vague response: variation in phenomena related to movement among spheres is "because of their unequal motion with respect to the whole." Faustus seems to give up this line inquiry in frustration, stating, "Well, I am answered." In other words, it's an answer—not a good one, but an answer. His disappointment is clear. Thinkers of Marlowe's day could not provide a definitive answer. Therefore, Marlowe uses the devil's unwillingness or Assuming the role of the chorus, Wagner explains that Faustus has dedicated himself to the pursuit of limitless knowledge. He has mastered astronomy, gained power to match that of the Olympian gods, and is now out gathering knowledge of geography. He next stops in Rome with the aim of seeing the pope and taking part in the day's holy Feast of Saint Peter. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Analysis In the true spirit of the Renaissance, Faustus has flung himself headlong into acquiring the knowledge he seeks. Faustus now travels in a dragon-drawn chariot. As described in the Scene Summaries 23 which the pope agrees. He then makes the sign of the cross, only to have his ears boxed by unseen hands. At the pope's direction, the friars begin a dirge to curse the evil spirit. In response Faustus and Mephastophilis beat them and throw fireworks among them before leaving. prologue, he is soaring to dangerous heights like mythic Icarus. The dragon is a Christian symbol of evil, paganism, and Satan. Faustus's ambition is unrestrained. Analysis The day he chooses to visit Rome and the pope is significant. In the true spirit of the Renaissance, Faustus has been on a The Feast of Saint Peter (also known as the Feast of Saint learning spree, realizing his ambition to gather knowledge of Peter and Saint Paul) is an annual public holiday in the Holy the universe. It has been an exhilarating experience, and City. It honors two of the original disciples of Christ credited Faustus is filled with a heady sense there is more out there, with establishing the Christian church and its teachings. Peter waiting for him to discover. Though he has asked is considered the first pope. This feast day would have deep Mephastophilis to bring him to see the pope, the devil's significance for the current pope. descriptions of Rome make Faustus eager to explore. However, the devil turns the doctor's thoughts from this The B-Text designates the speaker for this scene as the intellectual pursuit by tempting him with the chance for some chorus, not Wagner. wicked fun, specifically the childish torment of the pope. The ease with which Mephastophilis draws Faustus into the Act 3, Scene 1 scheme highlights a weakness in the doctor's character that will undermine all his lofty dreams. In spite of his intellect and high-minded scholarship, Faustus has a streak of pettiness and love for sensual pleasure that Mephastophilis will exploit to Summary Doctor Faustus recounts the course of his recent travels with Mephastophilis. He highlights memorable places of beauty or significance: Trier, Germany; Paris and the coast of France; the path of the Rhine River; Naples and Campania, Italy; the poet Virgil's tomb; Venice and Padua, Italy. He then asks if Mephastophilis has brought him to Rome, as commanded. The devil assures Faustus this is so and they are in the pope's private chamber. He then describes the high points of the surrounding city, such as the Tiber River, the four main bridges, the castle, and so on. Intrigued, Faustus eagerly suggests they go off and explore Rome. But Mephastophilis bids him to stay until he sees the pope, promising they'll have some fun. Faustus agrees and, in preparation, asks the devil to make him invisible. The pope enters accompanied by the cardinal of Lorraine and attendant friars. A banquet is waiting. To the embarrassment of the pope and confusion of all, their conversation is interrupted with snide comments by a disembodied voice. Dishes of food and cups are snatched by invisible hands. The cardinal suggests this is a soul escaped from purgatory, to keep him bound to Lucifer and doomed to hell. In this scene Faustus uses the marvels of magical powers to pull meanspirited pranks. The brightness of his noble aspirations is beginning to darken, and the corrupting influence of unbridled power is beginning to show. Faustus's attack on the pope is overtly anti-Catholic, which would have delighted playgoers in Protestant England during the Renaissance. The pope is humiliated by Faustus's high jinks, which include grabbing his food and drink and striking him. The monks are portrayed as chanting nonsense that does nothing to stop Faustus's antics: he and Mephastophilis "beat the Friars and fling fireworks among them." Beliefs specific to Catholicism are mocked. These include the existence of purgatory from which a soul might escape. In Catholicism purgatory is a place or state of being in which souls are made pure through suffering before going to heaven. Protestants reject the idea of purgatory, so the cardinal of Lorraine's explanation that there must be a runaway ghost from purgatory in the room would have been amusing to them. They also reject the sign of the cross, such as the pope makes to invoke God's protection from the evil pestering him. This practice involves tracing a cross from forehead to chest and shoulder to shoulder. Protestants of the time viewed the Doctor Faustus Study Guide practice as superstitious. Scene Summaries 24 knowledge and power, his instincts for its use are no more noble or moral than the instincts of a couple of ridiculous A third ritual, which Faustus refers to as "bell, book, and lowlifes. candle," is the Catholic ritual of excommunication, in which a person may be excluded permanently from the Christian When Robin and Rafe summon Mephastophilis, he is outraged Church. In this ceremony a death bell is rung, sounding the by their silliness. He appears not as the obliging servant to death of the person's soul. Then, the Holy Bible is shut, cutting Faustus, but as the proud and powerful demon—the "monarch the person off from the word of God. Lastly, a candle is of hell"—who snares souls for Lucifer. This is the snuffed out, banishing the person's soul to eternal darkness. Mephastophilis who will mercilessly work to send Faustus to Marlowe has made a mistake here by confusing his doom. His punishment for Robin and Rafe's audacity is both excommunication with exorcism. The correct process for amusing and a reminder of his role of demonic destroyer as he getting rid of evil spirits or devils is exorcism. transforms them into an ape and a dog to emphasize their lowliness and foolishness. The B-Text later expands this scene to exaggerate the unflattering qualities of the pope and his guests. In doing so it reflects the growing antagonism in Protestant England toward the papacy's claims of supreme authority in western Europe. Act 3, Scene 2 Act 4, Chorus Summary The chorus explains that Faustus has enjoyed all he cares to Summary see of the world and has returned to Germany. His friends have welcomed him home and have been amazed by the wideranging knowledge of astrology, the world, and magic the Robin and Rafe have been using Doctor Faustus's book to do doctor has acquired. Faustus's intellectual prowess has made some conjuring. Robin holds up the proof of their success: a him famous "in every land." Emperor Carolus the Fifth has stolen silver goblet. Just then a vintner (wine merchant) invited the doctor to visit his palace and demonstrate his art. approaches, demanding payment for the goblet. Robin and Rafe deny having the item and secretly pass it back and forth while the vintner searches each of them. Then Robin insists on Analysis searching the vintner, uttering an incantation while he does so. The result is the appearance of a disgruntled Mephastophilis, Faustus's pursuit of knowledge seems at an end. He has who has traveled all the way from Constantinople to answer achieved the power and acclaim he desires. His friends and the summons. Finding that the call came from these two lowly nearest companions take delight in the stories of his travels villains, the devil angrily turns Robin into an ape and Rafe into a "through the world and air." He is admired and sought after. dog. However, this is only for his cleverness. He dines with royalty, but only to entertain them with demonstrations of magic. The Analysis chorus tells no stories that reflect the grand and noble aspirations that Faustus once held of becoming emperor of the world. Robin and Rafe again provide some comic relief while making a point. In two previous scenes Faustus has been treated to a The chorus announces that Faustus is now at the palace of parade of the Seven Deadly Sins and, with Mephastophilis's Emperor Carolus the Fifth. The name Carolus is the Latin form help, has played low pranks on His Holiness, the pope. of the name Charles. Carolus the Fifth is Charles V, king of Similarly, Robin and Rafe use magic to tease and torment a Spain and Holy Roman emperor. The Holy Roman Empire was lowly wine merchant. Though the subjects of these pranks a group of smaller kingdoms in western and central Europe differ in social rank, the pranks themselves are equally mean- collectively ruled by an emperor from 800 to 1806. spirited and petty in nature. The point is that for all Faustus's Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 25 This chorus scene appears only in the A-Text and was shifted disappeared. Mephastophilis shows the man where Faustus from its position after Faustus's visit to Rome in Act 3, Scene 1, lies fast asleep. When the man's shouts do not rouse the where it appeared to be out of place. doctor, the horse-courser grabs Faustus's leg and pulls. To his horror, the leg comes off, and the terrified man runs away. Act 4, Scene 1 Faustus and Mephastophilis are enjoying the results of this latest prank when Wagner enters. He announces that the duke of Vanholt wishes Faustus to visit. The doctor and devil immediately depart. Summary At the court of Carolus the Fifth, the emperor challenges Faustus to prove his celebrated knowledge of conjuring. He promises Faustus will not be harmed in any way for performing magic. Faustus agrees, and the emperor requests that the doctor raise Alexander the Great and his paramour from their tombs. Faustus explains that he cannot raise their physical bodies, which have long since turned to dust, but will make them appear as spirits. Throughout this exchange between Faustus and the emperor, a knight has interjected snide, skeptical comments. Now he mocks Faustus openly and leaves, having no desire to witness Faustus's conjuring. The doctor promises to get even with him soon. Mephastophilis ushers in Alexander the Great and his paramour. To the emperor, the two beings appear alive and tangible. Once they leave, Faustus asks that the unpleasant knight be called back. The man returns, unaware that a pair of horns has sprouted from his head. The emperor points them Analysis The emperor promises Faustus that he will not be harmed in any way if he demonstrates his "knowledge of the black art." His protection is necessary during this time in Europe where people believed in and feared witches and burned them at the stake. Any suggestion of being in a league with the devil invited punishment. Emperor Carolus the Fifth is a man of enormous power and authority. Yet Faustus has been invited to his court to perform parlor tricks. This is the reputation the doctor has earned—far from the exalted status he once imagined. The emperor expects nothing less, and Faustus meets his expectations. The emperor's request to see Alexander the Great serves no purpose but to feed his royal vanity. Nevertheless, Faustus, with the help of Mephastophilis, proudly conjures the conqueror and his paramour and basks in the emperor's praise. out, saying they are a sure sign the man is married and has However, suggestions by a knight that Faustus is little more been cheated on by his wife. Furious, the knight demands than a fraud touch a nerve. Faustus has acquired wealth and Faustus undo this magic. After savoring his revenge, Faustus fame, but he has wasted his power and sold out his lofty goals does so and leaves the court. for pleasure and self-aggrandizement. His great ambition has Faustus returns to Wertenberg, Germany. Once home, he is approached by a horse-courser (horse trader) who asks to buy his horse. With a little persuasion, Faustus finally agrees but withered. The doctor's petty revenge on the knight—making horns spring from the man's head—reveals that, on some level, Faustus recognizes this truth and resents having it pointed out. adds slyly that the horse-courser must not ride the horse into Faustus next strikes a devious bargain with the horse-courser. water. After the man departs, Faustus frets over the waning Like other comic scenes, this parodies more serious action in days of his life and the doom that is pending. He draws some the play. Faustus tells the horse trader honestly and clearly comfort from the New Testament story of a thief's last-minute that he must not ride the horse into water. But in doing so, he redemption as he hung on a cross next to the crucified Jesus deliberately sets an irresistible trap. Faustus understands Christ. So thinking, the doctor falls asleep in his chair. human nature and knows that the man will ignore his warning Some while later, the horse-courser returns, wet and crying, to Faustus's home. He tells Mephastophilis that he wants back his 40 dollars. Thinking Faustus's horse had magical qualities that water would reveal, the man had defied the doctor's warning and ridden the animal into a pond. The horse had promptly simply because he has been warned. Faustus again abuses his power with the "fake leg" joke he plays on the horse-courser. The doctor has much more power and intelligence than the man he deceives, and as a result, the practical joke feels like a cheap trick—more pathetic than clever. Doctor Faustus Study Guide Despite the price he is paying for access to dark knowledge, Scene Summaries 26 power, he performs tricks for them at their command. the forbidden study of black magic, he seems unwilling or unable to put it to any good use. What Faustus fails to The doctor's explanation of how grapes may be obtained understand is that he has similarly fallen into a trap set by demonstrates existing, though imperfect, knowledge of the Mephastophilis. Early on, the devil just as honestly and clearly world and describes the division between the Northern and explains the truth about hell and the horror of eternal torment. Southern Hemispheres. However, "India, Saba, and farther Faustus, enraptured by his own outsized ambitions, ignores the countries in the east" ("east" referring to the Middle East) do advice. This allows Mephastophilis to help Faustus make his not lie in the Southern Hemisphere any more than Germany deal with Lucifer. The demon entraps the doctor's soul and does. This problem is addressed in the later B-Text when works very hard to keep Faustus ensnared. Faustus states that these countries "have fruit twice a year." At this point in the play, the A- and B-Texts begin to differ. The With this scene, the B-Text aligns once again with the A-Text. B-Text expands its account of Faustus's practical joking into However, in the B-Text the scene has been expanded for four additional scenes. The story lines converge once more comic effect to include the reappearance of characters such with events in the A-Text's next scene (in the B-Text, Act 4, as Robin and the horse-courser. Scene 6). The B-Text's additional scenes were most likely authored by playwrights other than Marlowe. Act 4, Scene 2 Act 5, Scene 1 Summary Summary In a brief soliloquy Wagner expresses concern that his master The duke and duchess of Vanholt have been enjoying Faustus Yet it seems odd to him that, for a man about to die, the doctor and Mephastophilis's company. Addressing the duchess, who is feasting, drinking, and partying to excess with university is pregnant, Faustus asks what he might provide in the way of students. a delicacy to please her. She replies that she craves a dish of ripe grapes—something impossible to get at this time, during winter. Faustus says she shall have it and sends off Mephastophilis. The devil returns moments later with the best grapes the duchess has ever tasted. She asks how Faustus obtained them, when grapes are available only in summer. The doctor explains while it is winter here, it is summer in some far intends to die soon. Faustus has given him all his possessions. As Wagner departs, Faustus enters with three scholars. They have been dining together, and the scholars now beg Faustus to conjure up the peerless beauty Helen of Troy. Seeing that they are sincere in their interest, Faustus consents. With the help of Mephastophilis, Helen appears in all her glory, to the awe and delight of the scholars. They depart happy men. countries of the world. He only must send a "swift spirit" to An old man enters as the scholars are leaving. He offers fetch the grapes. With thanks, the duke and duchess promise Faustus yet another chance to repent. Though the doctor's to reward Faustus well for this great kindness. sins are heinous, he still may be saved through the mercy of Jesus Christ, the Savior. Disbelieving and in despair, Faustus Analysis takes a dagger offered by Mephastophilis, intending to commit suicide. The old man begs the doctor to stop, declaring that an angel hovers over him, ready to grant him grace. Faustus This brief scene further accentuates the trivial uses to which senses some truth in this and asks the old man to go away Faustus puts his magic. Conjuring grapes in winter bears little while he ponders it. The old man leaves with a heavy heart. resemblance to his original ambitions to be "emperor of the world" and "make bridges through the moving air" or to change Faustus teeters on the verge of repentance until the configuration of continents by joining Africa to Spain (Act 1, Mephastophilis calls him a traitor to Lucifer and threatens to Scene 3). Instead of dominating kings and other figures of tear him apart. With apologies, Faustus declares he will Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 27 reaffirm his vow in blood and, cutting his arm, writes. Then he a mortal sin involving deliberate and complete abandonment of commands Mephastophilis to torment the old man who dared all hope for salvation. An individual intentionally rejects the tempt him to break his pact with Lucifer. However, the old possibility of God's mercy and grace. Despair not only cuts off man's faith is strong, and Mephastophilis predicts that no all hope of escape, it encourages surrender to sinful earthly torment can touch his soul, only his body. Faustus then asks pleasures. Faustus willfully turns his back on God once more, the devil to bring back Helen to be his lover, which the devil reaffirms his bargain with Lucifer in blood, and gives in to his does gladly "in a twinkling of an eye." Bedazzled by her beauty lust for Helen. In taking Helen for his paramour, Faustus once and her kiss, Faustus swears she will be his one and only again trivializes his power. All his early grand aspirations have paramour. When Faustus departs with Helen, the old man (who shrunk to the pursuit of sensuous, self-indulgent pleasure. His has returned) is threatened by devils. However, as despair is complete. Mephastophilis expected, his faith remains strong and unshaken by their abuse. While there is little difference between the A-Text and B-Text in this scene, the B-Text cuts the final lines when the old man returns and mocks the devils attempting to harm him. Analysis The scene opens with Wagner, still in the role of Faustus's Act 5, Scene 2 faithful servant, speaking as a choric narrator (taking the place of the chorus). He relates what Faustus has been doing and confides his personal fears for his master's well-being. Summary Through his description of Faustus's eating, drinking, and carousing, it becomes clear that the doctor has reached new Faustus is spending the final evening of his life with the three lows in his corruption. While Faustus apparently realizes that scholars. They detect something is wrong. Faustus sighs and his time is nearly up, he seems interested not in repentance, seems frightened by something they cannot see. He speaks of but in indulging in as much sensuality as possible before going eternal death. The scholars question Faustus until he to hell. confesses he has "damned both body and soul" by an excess The scholars enter the scene discussing their latest topic of debate: which lady in all the world was the most beautiful. While they no doubt applied their scholarly gifts for logical dispute to the debate, the topic itself is trivial. These scholars would deny any resemblance between themselves and characters such as Wagner, the clown, or Robin and Rafe. However, their everyday interest in the topic of women and of sin. They counsel him to ask God for mercy, but the doctor says his sins are worse than that of the serpent when it tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. He then confides he has rejected God, blasphemed, and sold his soul to Lucifer and Mephastophilis. The scholars are horrified and baffled about how to help Faustus, except to pray. The doctor sends them away for their own safety as the clock strikes eleven. lustful response to the appearance of Helen—though In despair Faustus implores time to cease so that midnight will eloquently expressed—demonstrates they are more similar to never come. He now craves time to repent and save his soul. these characters than they would probably want to admit. But even as he reaches for heaven, he can feel hell pulling him Education has not altered the scholars' ordinary interests or down. Faustus calls on Christ and then on Lucifer to spare him. added nobility to their characters. They are just three guys He pleads for the mountains and hills to fall on and hide him. fascinated by a beautiful woman. When they do not, he begs his soul to be torn from his body by In this scene the Good Angel and Evil Angel are replaced by the old man. He enters as a force for good, encouraging a violent storm brewing in the clouds so that his soul may ascend to heaven. Faustus to "break heart, drop blood, and mingle it with tears." The clock strikes eleven thirty. In growing terror Faustus tries In other words, with a blood offering and the tears of true to make a deal with God. In the name of Christ, whose death repentance, Faustus may yet save his soul. Nevertheless, paid for all sins, Faustus pleads that God affix a limit to his Faustus chooses despair and wails, "Damned thou art, Faustus, punishment in hell. A hundred thousand years is not too long, if damned! Despair and die!" Christian belief holds that despair is at last he will be saved. He then curses the fact he has a soul Doctor Faustus Study Guide Scene Summaries 28 at all, curses his parents for giving him life, and then, more Revelations describes the Apocalypse, the end of the world, honestly, curses himself and Lucifer for his fate. The clock during which God destroys evil and evildoers and rewards strikes twelve. Thunder and lightning erupt, and devils appear. those who are righteous, or morally worthy, by allowing them to In a panic Faustus renounces magic, crying out he will burn his enter a new, divine kingdom. books. But he is too late, and the devils drag him off to hell. Next Faustus blames influences beyond his control—namely the stars—for his impending doom. Heavenly bodies were Analysis thought to exude an invisible, ethereal substance that affects a person's character and destiny. He implores these heavenly The time for Faustus to pay the price for dark knowledge has spheres to do what God will not: to free his soul. When nothing come. Despite several chances to repent and save his soul, he changes, he tries to bargain with God, to reduce the length of has stubbornly stayed on the path to damnation. His former his time in hell. Cursing the fact that he even has a soul, he mastery of theology—which tells him hell is terrifyingly fervently wishes that Greek philosopher Pythagoras's theory of real—has not served him well. With defiance, he has deceived the transmigration of souls were true. This is the notion that himself into thinking hell is a fable or not so bad. Now that its the soul, after the body dies, moves on to another body. existence, with all the horror that it holds, becomes minute by Depending on the quality of that previous life, the soul would minute more real, Faustus cannot help but confess to someone begin a new existence in a human, animal, or spirit state. what he has been up to. The scholars are shocked at the lengths Faustus has gone to for the sake of knowledge. They, too, are men of the Renaissance who deeply value learning, but they would not consider taking the same route that Faustus has. Though they encourage him to repent and promise to pray for his soul, they fearfully leave him as if doubting even God's mercy is enough. At the last moment, Faustus vows to burn his books if only God will spare him. This was traditionally considered proof that a magician was abandoning magic. Unfortunately, the promise comes too late. Faustus never does overtly, without excuses or evasion, admit his sins, renounce his pact with Lucifer, and ask forgiveness and mercy from God. He stubbornly has traveled a highway to damnation, all the while seeking an unmarked off- Rather than take the direct path to repentance that the Good ramp, an escape route, rather than taking the clearly marked Angel and old man have described, Faustus begs time to stop, road to salvation. to give him time to repent. Quoting from the poet Ovid's Amores, he cries, "Oh run slowly, slowly, ye horses of the night!" There is verbal irony in this quote. The speaker in the Epilogue poem lies in the arms of his lover and prays for the slow arrival of dawn so his time with that person will not end. It is a cry of ecstatic love. Faustus is pleading for more time for a different Summary reason. Rather than renouncing magic outright, Faustus seems to beg for more time to make up his mind, enjoy life, or find a The chorus confirms that Faustus is in hell. Like the branch of loophole in his deal with Lucifer. tree that has grown twisted and unhealthy, his twisted, When time fails to slow for him, Faustus reaches body and soul for heaven, but something pulls him down. He finds that he is trapped between salvation and damnation. As a theologian, he understands how deeply he has offended God and the consequences of God's wrath. Once again, he despairs and unhealthy life has been cut off. His chance for great achievements and immortality has been destroyed. The chorus warns that, while it may be interesting to consider the life path Faustus chose, the wise will understand it is dangerous to follow in his footsteps. begs the mountains to fall on and hide him. His plea echoes a Bible passage from the Book of Revelations 6:16–17: "And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?'" In the Bible, the Book of Analysis While assuring the audience Faustus is in hell, the chorus sums up all he has lost in the line "And burnèd is Apollo's laurel bough." The Greek god Apollo is associated with knowledge, Doctor Faustus Study Guide art, poetry, and oracles. In ancient times a wreath of laurel, which was Apollo's symbolic tree, was awarded to victors in Quotes 29 ravished me." athletic competitions and poetry contests. The laurel is also associated with eternity or immortality, as the leaves never wilt. — Doctor Faustus, Act 1, Scene 1 While Faustus might have enjoyed triumph and immortality through fame, this has been destroyed by his twisted The motivation for Faustus's pursuit of dark knowledge, the ambitions, which have led him to the burning fires of hell. forbidden study of magic, is established in this statement. Though the chorus blames Faustus for his "hellish fall" and "fiendful fortune," it also expresses sympathy for the man whose potential for greatness was never realized. He is "the branch that might have grown full straight." The final line suggests that Faustus was punished by God for practicing "more than heavenly power permits." This echoes the prologue, Faustus has reviewed all traditional paths to knowledge—logic, medicine, law, and religion—and finds them unfulfilling; he thirsts for something more. He tells his friends and accomplished magicians Valdes and Cornelius that his mind and imagination are seized by the desire to study necromancy. He then asks them to teach him the art of magic. in which the chorus states that, like Daedalus and his son Icarus, the doctor "did mount above his reach" and the "heavens conspired his overthrow." In other words Faustus is doomed from the start for seeking "unlawful things." His life serves as a warning to seek knowledge carefully and be wary of the pitfalls of pride and ambition. "For when we hear one rack the name of God, / Abjure the scriptures and his saviour Christ, / We fly in hope to get his glorious g Quotes soul." — Mephastophilis, Act 1, Scene 3 "Till, swoll'n with cunning of a selfconceit, / His waxen wings did mount above his reach, / And This is Mephastophilis's first appearance in answer to Faustus's conjuring. He tells Faustus that the magician's spell is not the reason he has appeared. He is not obligated to do so. melting, heavens conspired his Rather, Faustus's use of conjuring is a sure sign that he has overthrow." for the taking. This offers a servant of Lucifer an opportunity rejected God and religion and therefore his soul is likely ripe too good to ignore. — Chorus, Prologue The chorus introduces proud, brilliant Faustus by comparing "Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it." him to the mythic character Icarus. Icarus's father, Daedalus, made him artificial wings of feathers and wax, allowing him to — Mephastophilis, Act 1, Scene 3 fly. In spite of his father's warnings, Icarus foolishly flew too close to the sun. His wings melted, and he plummeted to his Faustus ignorantly assumes that because Mephastophilis is in death. As the comparison suggests, Faustus ignores all dire his presence, then the devil is out of hell, even though he is warnings to repent and give up his evil pursuits. His thirst for forever damned. Mephastophilis explains that he has seen the knowledge leads to his destruction. face of God and tasted the eternal joys of heaven. Now that he is deprived of these, he is in hell, no matter where he goes. Rather than take to heart the devil's counsel to abandon the "'Tis magic, magic that hath pursuit of black magic—to "leave these frivolous Doctor Faustus Study Guide Quotes 30 demands"—Faustus sends Mephastophilis off to negotiate a Faustus has told Mephastophilis that he wants a wife. To deal with Lucifer. discourage the notion, Mephastophilis presents him with a devil dressed up as a dreadful woman. Faustus rejects her, as expected. Mephastophilis then asks Faustus to think no more "But Faustus, thou must bequeath it solemnly / And write a deed of about marriage. This request is due to the sacred nature of marriage. It is a union blessed by God and involves a religious ceremony, so as a devil, he wishes no part of it. gift with thine own blood, / For that security craves great Lucifer." — Mephastophilis, Act 2, Scene 1 "Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven, / But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears: / 'Faustus, Lucifer has agreed to give Faustus 24 years of power and thou art damned!'" limitless knowledge in exchange for his immortal soul. To make the pact binding, he demands that the doctor write it up like a contract and sign it in his own blood. Blood is the bodily fluid — Doctor Faustus, Act 2, Scene 3 that maintains life. Lucifer believes he will have Faustus more securely in his power if he is in possession of the doctor's Throughout the play Faustus suffers pangs of doubt about his blood. unholy chosen path. Time and again there are chances for him to turn back. Yet each time he considers repentance and entertains hopes of salvation, something reminds him that he is "Come, I think hell's a fable." hopelessly damned. As fearful as this is, Faustus next recalls "the sweet pleasure" he has gained in pursuit of power and — Doctor Faustus, Act 2, Scene 1 knowledge. So believing himself beyond forgiveness or reprieve, he hardens his heart and continues down the path. Lucifer has accepted Faustus's offer, and Faustus has written and signed the pact in blood. He then asks Mephastophilis about the nature and whereabouts of hell. However, though he's talking to a resident of hell and has just signed a pact with "Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just." Lucifer, Faustus dismisses hell's reality. Mephastophilis answers, "Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind," but — Lucifer, Act 2, Scene 3 Faustus continues to insist it is an old wives' tale. Since physical sensation cannot survive death, Faustus cannot imagine pain exists in the afterlife. At this moment in the play, he fails to grasp the spiritual torment that hell will be. In a moment of dreadful doubt, Faustus calls upon Christ to save his soul. Lucifer appears to chastise him and dissuade him from breaking their pact. He tells Faustus that Christ, being fair, cannot pardon Faustus. He knows what the doctor has "Tut, Faustus; marriage is but a done and must judge him accordingly. ceremonial toy. If thou lovest me, think no more of it." "Confound these passions with a quiet sleep: / Tush, Christ did call — Mephastophilis, Act 2, Scene 1 the thief upon the cross." Doctor Faustus Study Guide — Doctor Faustus, Act 4, Scene 1 Faustus is reflecting on his condemned state, knowing that his time to die is drawing near. His thoughts are darkened with Quotes 31 "Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me / And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!" despair that he hopes a restful sleep will dispel. He tries to comfort himself with thoughts of a thief crucified on the same — Doctor Faustus, Act 5, Scene 2 day as Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament of the Bible. Known as the Good Thief or Penitent Thief, the man had led a sinful life but expressed belief in Christ's divinity while In his last hour of life, Faustus grows certain that Lucifer has dying. As a result, he is mercifully forgiven his sins, and his soul made redemption of his soul through Christ unattainable. All is called into heaven. Faustus's last hope is that he will be that is left is God's just punishment for his evil ways. He begs granted mercy the same way. Earth to hide him. It is a foolish notion born of desperation, as religion teaches that God is all-knowing and all-seeing. Faustus's words echo biblical text from the Book of Revelation "Was this the face that launched a 6:16—"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and thousand ships / And burnt the from the wrath of the Lamb" (the "Lamb" being Christ, the topless towers of Ilium?" Lamb of God). — Doctor Faustus, Act 5, Scene 1 This is an allusion to mythological Helen of Troy, over whom the Trojan War was fought. At Faustus's request, hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and "Ugly hell, gape not! Come not, Lucifer! / I'll burn my books—ah, Mephastophilis!" Mephastophilis has summoned the beautiful Helen. Her abduction by Trojan Prince Paris from her husband, the king of — Doctor Faustus, Act 5, Scene 2 Sparta, sparked the 10-year conflict between Greece and Troy. More than a thousand ships set sail from Greece to avenge the wrong. Mephastophilis summons Helen to tempt Faustus, Faustus's time is up, and Lucifer's devils have arrived to drag appeal to his baser nature, and thereby reinforce his him off to hell. At last Faustus comprehends in full what is dedication to Lucifer. going to happen—hell is real, and he is doomed to spend eternity in it. In a final, frantic bid for escape, he vows to burn his books of spells, a traditional gesture by magicians to prove "Gentlemen, farewell. If I live till they were renouncing magic. morning, I'll visit you; if not, Faustus has gone to hell." "Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, / And burned is — Doctor Faustus, Act 5, Scene 2 Apollo's laurel bough / That Faustus has at last confessed his involvement with Lucifer to sometime grew within this learned three scholars who once applauded his magic skills. Appalled man." and frightened for him, the scholars urge him to pray for God's mercy as they will pray for him, also. Faustus sends them away just as the clock strikes eleven—one hour before his scheduled death. — Chorus, Epilogue Doctor Faustus Study Guide The chorus closes the book on Faustus saying that, just as the crooked branch of a healthy tree must be pruned, so Faustus, Symbols 32 Angels grown twisted by his choices, has been cut off from life. Apollo's laurel bough refers to the crown of laurel worn by victorious athletes in ancient Greece. It is a symbol of great As symbols, the Good Angel and the Evil Angel personify the ability and achievement, such as Faustus sometimes exhibited. conflict between the opposing values of good and evil and It is also a symbol of immortality through fame—a status represent the spiritual battle taking place for Faustus's heart Faustus achieved at the cost of his soul, which now burns in and soul. The angels also symbolize Faustus's inner turmoil as the fires of hell. he wrestles with his pride and ambition on the one hand and his conscience and fear of damnation on the other. The angels stand for the two warring aspects of his mind and as such l Symbols engage in a perpetual debate. In Act 2, Scene 1 the Good Angel urges Faustus to "think of heaven and heavenly things" while the Bad Angel counters with "think of honor and wealth." Later, in Act 2, Scene 3, the Evil Angel is convinced that it is "too late" Books for Faustus to repent. The Good Angel retorts, "Never too late, if Faustus can repent." In a broader sense the two angels illustrate the dividedness of human nature, the internal tug-ofwar between a human's noble and moral aspirations and that Books scattered throughout the play represent various same human's ignoble and immoral passions. avenues of learning as well as Faustus's attitude toward the knowledge and wisdom each offers. In Act 1 he peruses books representing traditional subjects of study during the Renaissance: logic, medicine, law, and theology. These books Blood represent the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the medieval past. Tossing the books aside, Faustus rejects their subject matter and dismisses their value. What they offer is old-fashioned, too limited in scope, or something he has already mastered. Faustus, hungry for new knowledge, picks up a book on necromancy, a branch of magic in which someone makes the dead appear in the form of spirits in order to manipulate the present or predict the future. This promise of hidden knowledge appeals to Faustus. Once he signs his pact with Lucifer, Mephastophilis gives him a better book, filled with spells and incantations, as well as the secrets of astronomy. astrology, and the natural sciences. However, neither book contains wisdom. As a result they represent Faustus's foolish entry into forbidden realms of study, where he is showered with knowledge while losing his soul. In a final act of despair, Faustus vows to burn his books, signaling that he means to give up necromancy. The wisdom of rejecting magic in favor of salvation does not come from a book but from the hard reality that magic has brought him to the doorstep of hell. In general blood is a symbol of life and life's connection to God—the divine source that animates the body. In Doctor Faustus it represents the doctor's soul, and thus his link to the devil, but also the only path to Faustus's salvation. In Act 2 Mephastophilis insists that the deed to Faustus's soul be drawn up in the doctor's blood, underscoring the blood's supernatural nature. It is blood that secures the link between Faustus and Lucifer as the doctor literally hands over the physical and spiritual essence of his divine nature to the devil. This causes Faustus's soul to be bound to hell. Yet while blood still courses through Faustus's veins, he lives and may therefore repent. In his blood oath to Lucifer, Faustus says, "I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood / Assure my soul to be great Lucifer's." But his own blood acts independently of him. Midway through the writing of his pact with Lucifer, Faustus's blood congeals to the point where he cannot get enough to continue writing. The doctor has time to wonder what this portends and to ask, "Is [my blood] unwilling I should write this bill?" Then Mephastophilis provides hot coals that liquefy the blood once Doctor Faustus Study Guide Themes 33 more. As the blood represents Faustus's soul, it appears that guidance of wisdom can be used for good or evil. He looks to his soul is not yet damned but is fighting for survival. the forbidden knowledge of necromancy, the practice of Something within Faustus is righteous enough to resist what speaking to the spirits of dead people, to fulfill his desire to the doctor is about to do by signing the pact. Throughout the know more than traditional sources of knowledge can teach play he must be convinced to keep his bargain. In Act 5 when him. He is further seduced by the power and wealth magic Mephastophilis fears that Faustus may repent, he frightens promises. His desire to push the boundaries of human Faustus into renewing his blood oath to Lucifer. knowledge is without guiding wisdom. Nor does he acquire wisdom along the way. His grand boasts of all he will do with The sacred significance of blood appears at the end of the his newly acquired dark knowledge of magic fizzle into mean- play and represents atonement through Christ. The old man spirited pranks and self-serving tricks to gain fame and money. pleads with Faustus to shed one drop of blood to mingle with He discovers no universally applicable truth. He is never wise tears of repentance, to save his soul. Later Faustus enough to heed the council of the Good Angel, the old man, or despairingly wishes he could "gush forth blood, instead of even Mephastophilis. When devils at last cart him off to his tears." As his death draws near he sees "where Christ's blood doom, he has a head full of facts and information. Too late he streams in the firmament." This alludes to the blood Jesus acquires the insight that might have saved him: hell is real, and Christ shed on the cross to wash away the sins of the world. In he has damned himself to it. other words Faustus is not yet beyond mercy and deliverance. All that is required is repentance and a blood oath to God. Pride and Ambition m Themes The theme of pride and ambition is linked to the theme of Knowledge over Wisdom knowledge over wisdom. The synthesis of these two themes has an intoxicating effect on Faustus. His intellectual pride, or arrogance, makes him impatient with even the most revered authorities of the past, such as Aristotle, a philosopher, Galen, There is an important distinction between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts, information, and skills through education and experience. It is only a tool and offers no insights into the meaning of life. Wisdom comes from the useful synthesis of facts, information, and skills into a deeper and more truthful understanding of life and relationships. In the true spirit of the Renaissance, Doctor Faustus thirsts for knowledge. In his unbridled pursuit of it, he rejects what may be learned from even the wisest men of the past, specifically the brilliant Greek philosophers Aristotle and Galen and the Byzantine emperor Justinian, who rewrote Roman law. Though he is a doctor of divinity, he also dismisses what theology and the Bible have to teach. Impatient and dissatisfied with the past's accumulated knowledge, he craves to know more. This quest leads to his downfall primarily because Faustus has not acquired—and does not search for—wisdom. As Faustus demonstrates, knowledge without the moral a philosopher and physician, and Justinian, a specialist in law. Faustus's ambition is to know more than all their accumulated knowledge and wisdom can teach him. For this reason, he turns to the study of magic. He fantasizes that by mastering this field of study, he could become a god and command a vast realm, limited only by his imagination. He never considers using his knowledge for any kind of greater good. In his pride and ambition, Faustus has a kindred spirit in Lucifer, whose history mirrors his own. In the beginning Lucifer, the highest ranking angel in heaven, was full of wisdom and perfect in his beauty. But he became filled with pride and desired to be God, instead of a servant to God. For his pride and insolent ambition, God threw Lucifer and his followers out of heaven. Lucifer went on to establish his own kingdom: hell. Like Lucifer, Faustus's first great sin is pride. It leads to his rejection of God, his pact with the devil, the many additional sins he commits, and his final damnation. Like Lucifer's, Faustus's pride-driven ambitions are never Doctor Faustus Study Guide Themes 34 realized. Worse, they are reduced to something trivial and low. damnation. He seems committed to his doom, ultimately Lucifer uses his power to corrupt and add souls to his hellish unwilling or unable to alter his chosen course. kingdom. Faustus uses his power to play pranks, con simple folk, and gain fame by entertaining royalty with magic. He never uses his power to better himself or the world, nor does he fulfill his initial desire to rule Earth. In fact, his conjuring tricks are, at Destiny versus Free Will best, impressive versions of those pulled off by Wagner, Rafe, and Robin. The theme of destiny versus free will is related to that of damnation versus salvation. Faustus appears unable to repent. Damnation versus Salvation Even in moments of greatest despair, when he teeters on the brink of repentance, he ultimately pulls back and renews his allegiance to Lucifer, assuring his doom. Too late he renounces pursuit of magic in the last line of the play with a final, Throughout the play, Faustus finds himself at the crossroads desperate cry, "I'll burn my books." Playwright Christopher of eternal death and eternal life: damnation and salvation. Marlowe uses Faustus's apparent helplessness to explore the Damnation is eternal separation from God. Salvation is a idea of predestination posed by French-born Protestant merciful gift of God to one who repents and asks forgiveness. theologian John Calvin. Calvin reasoned that God, being Sin, an immoral act that violates divine law, is the defining omniscient, knows from the outset who will be saved and who factor that leads to one state or the other, depending on the will not. Therefore, human action and choice are not the keys relationship of the sinner to their sin. If a person shows to salvation. That end is predetermined. Whatever action or repentance—appropriate remorse and sorrow for their choice a human makes has been set up in advance by God. sins—salvation is still possible. If not, damnation is inevitable. This suggests that no matter how free Faustus seems in his choice to pursue magic or reject redemption, he is simply In Act 1 Faustus's failure to consider both sides of this equation playing out a script already written. His natural defiance and initiates the path to his doom. Based on an incomplete reading rebellion guide him to fulfill his destiny. of a Bible verse from the book of Romans (6:23), he falsely reasons that sinful humans are destined for eternal death. On the other hand Marlowe also suggests that Faustus may Therefore, his only escape may be through pursuit of magic, as have a choice. On numerous occasions in the play, he "a sound magician is a mighty god." Faustus overlooks the considers the possibility of asking God to forgive his sins, second half of the verse, which emphasizes salvation and allowing him to change his spiritual path from damnation to one God's offered gift of eternal life. The doctor concentrates on of salvation. The Good Angel, the Bad Angel, Mephastophilis, the half that justifies the path to damnation he yearns to the old man, and other characters chime in to encourage him pursue. As a consequence he will struggle with ideas of to save himself or give in and go to hell. Faustus himself goes repentance and salvation throughout the rest of the play. back and forth, until it is too late. The question remains: is Faustus helplessly driven by destiny or doomed by his own Mephastophilis makes it clear in his descriptions of hell's poorly exercised free will? Marlowe provides no definitive torments that defying God is the road to eternal suffering. answer but weaves the two possibilities into his play. However, However, the Good Angel and the old man make it equally to believe that Faustus has no choice denies the more pitiable clear that Faustus can save himself if he will repent and accept aspects of his character. The doctor's intelligence, skepticism, God's mercy. As he tries to decide between damnation and deeply human desire for knowledge incite choices and (sticking to his deal with the devil) or accepting the "gift ... of actions that anger heaven and fate him to be destroyed. eternal life" (by showing proper repentance to God), Faustus is forced to question his character and motivations, often at the expense of his lust for power and his fantasy of his own superiority. Yet once he has sealed the deal with Lucifer, Faustus audaciously continues down the path to his Doctor Faustus Study Guide Motifs 35 Good versus Evil b Motifs The push-and-pull conflict between good and evil is a Aspiration motivating force throughout Doctor Faustus. Faustus personally embodies the concepts of good and evil. As a theologian, he represents the good or spiritually uplifting study of divinity. However, he abandons theology to pursue forbidden knowledge, falling prey to sin. His noble intentions for acquiring power through magic soon give way to fancy tricks bought with his soul. Whenever he wavers in his commitment to evil, Mephastophilis finds it easy to tempt him back from the good of repentance by appealing to his baser nature. Whether it's a book of hidden knowledge or the beautiful Helen of Troy, Supporting the theme of pride and ambition, the motif of aspiration draws attention to Faustus's failed goals as a master of magic. Before his study begins, the doctor muses over the "world of profit and delight, / Of power, of honor, of omnipotence" that will be his. He fantasizes that "a sound magician is a mighty god," and he will command spirits to gather for him all the treasures and secret knowledge in the world. He will be its emperor. Even the land and sea will obey his command when he joins the continent of Africa to Spain. Mephastophilis knows just what to give Faustus to hold on to his soul. Lucifer, too, knows how to beguile Faustus and quiet Once the pact with Lucifer is made, Faustus eagerly accepts his conscience. He invokes visions of the Seven Deadly Sins, to an all-embracing book of knowledge from Mephastophilis. which Faustus exclaims, "Oh, this feeds my soul." However, Faustus never even approaches fulfilling his lofty goals. Soon his search for knowledge is overshadowed by his Every prick of conscience expressed by Faustus signals a new skirmish. Faustus is mentally and spiritually torn by desire and fear: desire for salvation and desire for unholy knowledge; fear of damnation and fear that it is too late to repent. This conflict misuse of power. His intellectual aspirations give way to baser desires for wealth, fame, and sensual pleasure. Mephastophilis makes quick use of these low impulses to keep Faustus enthralled and his soul shackled. is embodied by the Good Angel and the Evil Angel. They appear at times when Faustus seems close to renouncing magic and asking God's forgiveness for his defiance and heresy. The two angels act as counselors, offering advice, warnings, and arguments intended to persuade the doctor toward salvation or damnation. Power without Conscience This motif supports the themes of knowledge over wisdom and good versus evil. Power wielded without conscience can be Other characters echo Faustus's inner struggle as well. In Act dangerous. The promise of wielding power free of conscience 5 three scholars beg Faustus to conjure the spirit of Helen, the can corrupt the human heart. Faustus is a master of divinity, world's most beautiful woman. He complies, and they enjoy it. but he demonstrates early on that he lacks the goodness and Soon after, the same men shift gears instantly when he admits wisdom necessary to handle power well. At the beginning of to them how he has sold his soul to Lucifer. Now they offer to Act 2, before signing over his soul to Lucifer, Faustus briefly pray for Faustus,"that God may have mercy upon [him]," but it wonders if he is taking the right path. Should he "think of God is too late. Mephastophilis is perhaps the most surprising and heaven" or "trust in Belzebub"? In a flash of self- representation of this theme. While as Lucifer's minion he is awareness, he realizes that his "appetite" aligns more with clearly a servant of evil, he is a demon with feelings and the serving Belzebub than with serving God. Without a twinge of occasional impulse for good. He devotedly serves Lucifer, but conscience, he says that for the sake of gaining knowledge of he is tormented by his separation from God. He scouts for the dark art of magic, he will "build an altar and a church [to souls to add to hell's population, but in Act 1 he warns Faustus Belzebub] / And offer lukewarm blood of new-born babes." to "leave these frivolous demands, / Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!" With this unexpected mix of good and evil, Mephastophilis breaks the mold of the traditional fiendish villain. After signing away his soul, Faustus is granted the power he desires but is not instinctively driven by conscience to use the power wisely or for good. He neither improves himself nor the world with this gift but wantonly gathers fame and riches by Doctor Faustus Study Guide performing magic tricks. He uses his power to humiliate anyone he pleases. With a glaring lack of conscience, he declares that for the love of Helen, he would see his own city of Wertenberg plundered. Faustus once imagined the dominion of magic stretching as far as his mind could conceive. The corrupting influence of power without conscience quickly reduces that grand vision to a repertoire of pointless magic stunts. Hell Representing damnation, despair, and the fall from God's grace, hell is a dominant motif in Doctor Faustus. In Christian terms the existence of hell is a result of humankind's original fall from grace through sin. It is a place of final judgment for the wicked. For Lucifer, hell is his domain, and as Mephastophilis explains, he gathers souls to "enlarge his kingdom" (Act 2, Scene 1). For the damned, it is a place of eternal death. Mephastophilis describes hell as a physical place "under the heavens" and "within the bowels of these elements / Where we are tortured and remain forever." He also describes a psychological or spiritual hell—a state of permanent separation from God and therefore from the "eternal joys of heaven" and "everlasting bliss." Though a doctor of divinity, Faustus insolently states, "I think hell's a fable," yet the idea of hell persistently intrudes on his dark pursuits and troubles his mind. Ultimately Christopher Marlowe allows the true nature of hell to remain ambiguous, but its reality is undeniable as Faustus cries out in the end, "Ugly hell, gape not!" before being dragged off by devils. Suggested Reading 36