Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus: author

Born in Canterbury in 1564 – the same year as Shakespeare – Marlowe studied at Cambridge before beginning his career as a playwright. He was immensely popular in the Renaissance era, second only to Shakespeare himself, and wrote a total of seven plays before his untimely death in 1593 after being stabbed under mysterious circumstances. While the popular consensus is that Marlowe was stabbed during a simple bar fight, some suspect that he was in fact a secret agent, and that his execution was planned! How sinister!

Doctor Faustus: summary

German scholar Doctor Faustus believes that he has learned everything that conventional human studies have to offer, and so decides to delve into magic. A Good and Evil Angel appear, with the Good Angel telling Faustus not to pursue sorcery, and the Evil Angel arguing that it’s a good idea. Faustus goes ahead, summoning Mephistopheles, eventually settling on an offer to propose to Lucifer; in exchange for his soul, he will receive 24 years of immense power and knowledge.

Lucifer accepts Faustus’ offer, and the agreement is signed in blood. Faustus is warned of the dangers and has second thoughts once more, but Mephistopheles provides him with riches, and gives him a book of spells. Faustus continues to ignore the Good Angel and agrees not to think of God again after intimidation from Mephistopheles.

In the meantime, Robin – the play's clown – has found one of Faustus’ books, using it to learn magic of his own. He casts several unfortunate spells, humorously mishandles the books power, and even comically summons a frustrated Mephistopheles.

Faustus travels around Europe, using his magic to impress people and play tricks. He steals food and boxes the ears of the Pope while invisible, summons Alexander the Great to impress Charles V, and punishes a knight for laughing at him by making him grow antlers. When a group complain to the authorities, Faustus dazzles the Duke with magic and sends the angry mob away, humiliated.

With Faustus’ time running out, he becomes concerned, but still doesn’t repent, only choosing to do so when it is far too late. Once his time is up, a group of devils arrive at midnight, dragging him down to hell. The Chorus reminds us of the wasted potential of Faustus and asks us to heed the moral lessons learned from his downfall.

Doctor Faustus: characters

Let's take a look at some of the important characters in Doctor Faustus.

Doctor Faustus

The play’s tragic hero – a scholar with supreme intelligence – who becomes bored with the confines of regular knowledge and resolves to delve into evil magic. Faustus makes a pact with Lucifer, selling his soul for 24 years of limitless power. He indulges in his newfound knowledge, only realising his mistake when his time is up, leading him to desperately try to repent before being dragged down to hell.

Mephistopheles

After Faustus delves into magic and necromancy, Mephistopheles is the devil that he summons, the motives of whom are unclear.

On one hand, he serves Faustus, distracting and mocking him when he attempts to repent, and ultimately aims to collect Faustus’ soul for Lucifer.

On the other hand, he tells Faustus he hates his role, and initially tries to warn Faustus of the eternal suffering of Hell. In this way, he can also be seen as a tragic figure, forced to carry out his role in the pact despite the misery it causes him.

Good Angel and Evil Angel

Whenever Faustus is uncertain, and has conflicting emotions, the two angels appear and provide their input. The Good Angel offers Faustus the chance to repent, while the Evil angel attempts to convince him to sell his soul.

The Chorus

As the narrator of the story, the Chorus provides insight to the audience from outside of the narrative, and teaches us the moral lessons of the story.

Robin

The Stable hand that stumbles across a magic book and engages in multiple comic escapades that act as the comic subplot against Faustus’ serious magic.

Doctor Faustus: setting

Doctor Faustus is primarily set in Wittenberg, Germany, which is forever remembered as the home of Martin Luther - the leading figure in the Protestant Reformation.

Faustus also travels around the globe, stopping off in Rome, Spain and even visiting the stars. Marlowe is no stranger to interesting locations, but don't be fooled - the majority of the play is actually set within the confines of Faustus' study in Wittenberg.

Doctor Faustus: themes

Let's take a look at some of the key themes in Doctor Faustus.

Sin vs repentance

The play sees Doctor Faustus engaging in the worst sin possible in Christianity – pledging his soul to the devil – creating the expectation that Faustus will be damned to hell once his 24 years are up.

However, the opportunity for redemption in Christianity shines through, as Faustus is repeatedly offered the chance to repent and be accepted by God. All he would have to do, in theory, is ask God for his forgiveness. He repeatedly refuses to do this, and it is only when he has refused the chance of redemption multiple times that God turns his back and Faustus can no longer be saved

Free will vs fate

Did Faustus make his own choices when it came to eternally damning himself? It certainly seems so. The Good Angel gave him many chances to repent and he didn’t take them, so it seems likely it was all his own fault. However, Calvinist theology would argue that Faustus’ free will was an illusion all along, and that his path had already been chosen by God.

What’s more, different versions of the text suggest different things. In the A text, the Good Angel says it isn't too late for Faustus 'if he will repent’ (A text, Act 2, Scene 2) – suggesting that the choice is his – and in the B text the Good Angel says it isn't too late for Faustus ‘if he can repent’ (B text, Act 2, Scene 2), implying that he may not have a say in the matter at all. The question must be asked: did Faustus have a say in his fate, or not?

Medieval world vs Renaissance world

One of the key themes in Doctor Faustus is the battle between Medieval and Renaissance values. Religion was firmly at the centre of all things in Medieval Europe – the individual was of less importance than God – and those who sinned would be condemned and sent to hell.

Doctor Faustus, with his desire to push his knowledge to the extreme outside of the confines of religion, is representative of the quintessential renaissance man. Despite this, he is firmly within a Medieval world, and is punished by God as a result. This clash of values can be viewed in different ways.

Is Marlowe implying that those who attempt to push the limits will be punished for it, and therefore cautioning against the reckless ambition of Faustus? Could he instead be showing us a sympathetic, tragic hero, unfairly punished for attempting to achieve greatness in line with Renaissance thinking? It's a hot topic, and definitely up for debate!

Doctor Faustus: important quotes

Let's analyse some of the key quotes within the text.

Here Faustus quotes the first book of John in the Bible, which says that the reward of sin is death. Faustus argues that everybody sins at some point in their life, and as the result of all sin is death, all that Christianity can offer us is death. Faustus uses this to justify selling his soul to Lucifer.

What's more important is the following line in the first book of John – which Faustus conveniently forgets to recite – which says that once we confess our sins God will be 'faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9)¹.

Marlowe implies that as long as Faustus were to confess and repent, he would be saved. Faustus ignores this possibility of redemption, foreshadowing the rest of the play, where he will disregard the Good Angel's pleas for him to repent.

Mephistopheles gives Faustus a clear warning that hell is terrible, but Faustus wilfully ignores it, implying that he is making his own decision to be ignorant about the danger he is in.

In his assertion that 'hell's a fable' we also see Faustus portrayed as the typical non-religious man of the Renaissance era, who believes in human progress outside of the confines of traditional religion, placing him as a Renaissance figure in a Medieval world.

This quote brings attention to the role the chorus plays in teaching the moral lesson of the play, as they insist that Faustus was full of potential and could have grown into something more, like a branch that has been cut before it could fully grow.

The use of the word 'might' also links the quote to the free will argument as it suggests that Faustus was not doomed by God from the start, and instead made the choices that led to him being carried off to hell.