dr faustus workbook

DR FAUSTUSBy

Christopher Marlowe

An A level English Workbookby

Julia Geddes

~ Wessex Publications ~

Other workbooks in this series include:

A level GCSEThe Miller's Tale I'm the King of the CastleThe Franklin's Tale The Lord of the FliesThe Wife of Bath's Tale and Prologue War PoetryThe Merchant's Tale MacbethThe Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale An Inspector CallsThe Prologue to the Canterbury Tales To Kill a MockingbirdMuch Ado About Nothing Of Mice and MenHamlet Romeo and JulietMeasure for Measure Twelfth NightKing LearThe Merchant of VeniceThe Winter’s TaleThe Poems of John DonneThe Poetry of Edward ThomasPoems of Seamus HeaneyMean TimeThe Whitsun WeddingsHigh WindowsDead Sea PoemsSongs of Innocence and Songs of ExperienceChoice of Christina Rossetti’s VerseThree Victorian PoetsSelected Poems by John KeatsWordsworth - PreludeWomen Romantic PoetsHigh WindowsThe World’s WifeSelected Poems of John ClareGreat ExpectationsJane EyreMansfield ParkThe Handmaid’s TaleGulliver’s TravelsDublinersReturn of the NativeHard TimesA Passage to IndiaTess of the d’UrbervillesCaptain Corelli’s MandolinEnduring LoveSnow Falling on CedarsThe Great GatsbySpiesCold MountainWise ChildrenPossessionEdward IIA Doll’s HouseThe RivalsThe Glass MenagerieMurmuring JudgesThe Country WifeDr FaustusThe Duchess of MalfiA Street Car Named DesireVolponeA Woman of No ImportanceAll My SonsDeath of a SalesmanThe School for ScandalEnglish Language TopicsEnglish Critical AppreciationCommunications - Semiotics and the MediaEnglish Language Change

About the Author of this Workbook

Julia Geddes has taught English Literature to advanced and degree level for a number of years. She has a BA honoursdegreee in English and Philosophy and an MA in English Literature from the University of Leeds. She has a widerange of teaching experience in secondary, further and higher education and is currently a moderator for GCSEEnglish and English Literature and an examiner of ‘A’ level English Literature. This is her seventh Wessexpublication.

In her spare time she enjoys circuit training, running and cycling. She also plays the piano and is a keen gardener.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

The contents of this publication remain the copyright property of the publishers. They may be copied onlywithin the purchasing institution. Any copying beyond these limits is illegal.

©Wessex Publications

All materials available from:

Wessex PublicationsElwell House

StocklinchIlminster

Somerset TA19 9JFTel/Fax: 01460 55660

or by [email protected]

The material in this package is fully photocopiable for use within thepurchasing institution. In addition, you will, of course, need a copy of DrFaustus.

We recommend that students read the play at least once through first on theirown or as a group in order to get a sound grasp of the text and the characters.The Workbook examines the text and presents the student with ideas,questions, and activities to help her/him develop her/his own understandingand interpretation of it. Sections are also included on Marlowe himself;Religious Belief in Tudor England; English Renaissance culture andtheology; Prologue; Characterisation; Theological context; Writing aboutLanguage. Essay questions to help students prepare for the examinations arealso included.

It will be necessary to photocopy the Workbook for each student. You couldgive each student a guide to keep, but we suggest that you spiral bind orstaple them and retain them for future use. The answer boxes may, of course,be used but you will probably prefer students to answer in their notebooksfor reasons of cost. However, the size of each box will enable students togauge how much to write and will make it easier to discuss answers withindividuals and groups.

The Workbook is written and presented in a similar way to OpenUniversity/Open College materials and is intended to be interactive andstudent-centred. The package is far more than a revision aid or potted guide.Its purpose is both to support the student and enable her/him to work ather/his own pace.

Using the Materials

About the Workbook

Teacher Guide

Dr Faustus

by Christopher Marlowe

The Workbook is written for the student. It can be used in a variety of waysincluding:

• alongside classwork and group work led by the lecturer/teacher/tutor

• individual supported-self study (flexible learning) work in class

• individual work carried out at home

• paired or small group work

• revision work.

The CD provides you with three versions of the workbook:

• the complete workbook with questions, answer boxes and author's responses

• the workbook with tasks and answer boxes only

• the author's responses only.

Each of the above may be loaded onto your school/college Intranet or printed offseparately. This will give you complete flexibility to use the materials as you see fit.

The pack is not intended as a substitute for the teacher/lecturer. In our view it isessential that she/he supports the student throughout by providing:

• an introduction to Marlowe's work

• explanation when needed

• guidance and support individually and within small groups

• regular checks of the student’s work.

Note

All quotations from the play itself are shown with speech marks and in Italics.Tasks are written using New Times Roman font, and the author's suggestedcomments / answers / responses to them are given in a different font (Arial) toenable students to pick them out more easily.

The Lecturer’s/Teacher’s Role

Using the CD version of the Workbook

Student Workbookby

Julia Geddes

~ Wessex Publications ~

DR FAUSTUSBy

Christopher Marlowe

CONTENTS

Page

1. Using the workbook 1

2. The author – Christopher Marlowe 2

3. The question of religious belief in Tudor England 4

4. English Renaissance culture and theology 5

5. Prologue 6

6. The Play - Scene by scene 8

7. Characterisation 49

8. Themes and Issues 55

9. Redemption versus Damnation - the theological context of the play 61

10. Dr Faustus and the Morality Play 63

11. How to write about language 64

12. Essay questions 66

Dr Faustus Using the workbook

www.wessexpublications.co.uk - 1 -

The workbook examines various aspects of Dr Faustus and you will beasked to complete tasks on each of these areas as you progress throughthe different sections. All the tasks are designed to help you lookcarefully at the play and to come to an appreciation of its meaning andsignificance as a piece of literature. In addition to work in theworkbook itself it is advisable to keep your own, fuller notes, in anotebook or ring binder. These will be an important revision aid if youare going to answer on this text in an examination.

Some of the tasks require quite short answers and where this is the casea box is provided in the workbook where you can write down yourresponses if you wish. Some questions may require a fuller responseand it would be best if you wrote your comments or answers in yourown notebook or file.

This workbook addresses the social and historical context of the playthat many examination boards require you to focus on in your study ofdrama texts. At the end of the workbook you will find a number ofspecimen essay questions of the kind that you might find set for AS orA2-Level English Literature (or an examination of similar standard).These titles and questions would also be suitable for courseworkassignments on this text. If you are going to answer on this text in anexamination it would be very useful to you to practise writing answersto several of these and have some idea of how you would tackle any ofthem.

God luck and happy studying.

* * * * * *

Doctor FaustusFrom the title page ofthe 1616 edition

1. USING THE WORKBOOK

Dr Faustus Christopher Marlow 1564-1593


Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564two months before Shakespeare into afamily of very similar standing andinfluence. His father was a shoemakerwho prospered during Marlowe’s youthand became parish clerk in the parish of StMary Bredman in 1585. Marlowe went toCorpus Christi College, Cambridge on ascholarship and graduated in 1584, andproceeded to the MA in 1587. It wasabout this time that ‘Tamburlaine’, one ofhis first plays, was acted by the LordAdmiral’s Men. However, Marlowe hadalready begun to acquire a less than favourable reputation through hisassociation with rather radical thinkers led by Sir Walter Raleigh andthe suspicion that he had leanings towards Catholicism. It wasreported that the young and intellectual noblemen, of which Marlowewas one, jested in their studies at ‘both Moyses and Our Saviour, theOld and the New Testamentes,. . . and the scollers taught, among otherthings, to spell God backwards’.(1) In the light of the Elizabethans’fear for the security of the Church and State, it is understandable thatthis popular view of Raleigh and his colleagues predominated. Thepowers that be could not afford to be tolerant in the face of religiousscepticism.

(1Marlowe was probably the most outrageous of the group making nosecret of his dissension from orthodox thought. He was accused by hisformer room mate Kyd of holding ‘monstruous opinions’ and hisaccount in a letter to Sir John Pickering, the Lord Keeper, correspondswell with the independent witness of one Richard Baines who accusedthe dramatist of having said:

‘. . . That Moyses was but a Jugler, and that one Heriots beingSir W. Raleighs man Can do more than he.’

‘. . . That the first beginning of Religioun was only to keep menin awe.’

‘. . . That Christ was a bastard and his mother dishonest.’

‘. . . That he had as good Right to Coine as the Queen ofEngland, and that he was acquainted with one Poole a prisonerin Newgate who hath greate skill in mixture of mettals . . . .’(2)

1 Robert Parsons, Responsio ad Elizabethae Edictum.

2 Harleian MS.6648 fols 185-6.

2. CHRISTOPHER MARLOW 1564-1593

Born 1564

Cambridge 1584

Friendship withRaleigh

Marlowe the rebel

Dr Faustus Christopher Marlow 1564-1593


Baines has never been satisfactorily identified hence the motive for thislibel remains a mystery. Kyd however, who had himself been arrestedand tortured, can be forgiven for his apparent betrayal as he must haveknown that a few days before his letter was written Marlowe had beenmurdered in an apparent pub brawl.

It is recorded that after a dispute about payment in a Deptford publichouse a scuffle ensued followed by ‘divers malicious words’ both men,that is Marlowe and Ingram Frizar, drew their daggers:

‘. . . and so it befell in that affray that the said Ingram, indefence of his life, with the dagger aforesaid of the value of12d. gave the said Christopher then and there a mortal woundover his right eye the depth of two inches and the width of oneinch; of which mortal wound the aforesaid Christopher Morleythen and there instantly died.’(3)

Frizar was a servant of Sir Thomas Walsingham and within a month hewas pardoned for the murder. Elizabethan moralists seized withdelight on Marlowe’s death and claimed that ‘hee even cursed andblasphemed to his last gaspe and together with his breath an oath flewout of his mouth.’(4)

Thus Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s one potential rival was deadat the age of 29 having already written his own epitaph in his play ‘DrFaustus’:

‘Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,And burned is Apollo’s laurel bough’

Dr Faustus, Epilogue, 11. 1-2

* * * * * *

3 John Bakeless, The Tragicall History of Christopher Marlowe (Harvard, 1942), 156.

4 Thomas Beard, Theatre of Gods Judgement (1957), Ch. XXV

Murdered 1593

Dr Faustus Religious Belief in Tudor England


Marlowe’s reputation for atheism survived his death on May 30th 1593.Four years later Thomas Beard wrote of Marlowe that ‘he denied Godand his sonne Christ, and not only in word blasphemed the trinite, butalso wrote books against it, affirming our Saviour to be but a deceiver,and Moses to be but a conjurer and seducer of people, and the HolyBible to be but vaine and idle stories, and all religion but a device ofpollicie’ 5.

Thus we can see that Marlowe’s reputation was not buried with himbut to determine how accurate a view this is of the playwright it isimportant to look at the whole question of religious belief in TudorEngland. It is worth noting that religious dissent of any kind wasdangerous at this period in history. Government censorship ensuredthat matters of religion were presented in an acceptable manner. In1559 a royal proclamation required local officials to ensure that noplays were performed, in public or private, which dealt with ‘mattersof religion or of the governance of the estate of the common weale’ Inthe 1570’s and 80s it was ordered that even stricter controls overperformances should be enforced on local stage productions and in1586 the government introduced a new licensing system forpublications requiring authors and printers to secure the approval of theArchbishop of Canterbury before printing any text.

By 1606 the state had banned the use on stage (though not inpublications) of the name of God, Christ, the Holy Ghost or theTrinity. Thus, it seems that Marlowe’s work must have been affectednot just by the official censorship of the authorities, but also by theself-censorship of the author, his collaborators and revisers. Wecannot then regard Marlowe’s plays as unambiguous evidence of hisown opinions.

The Renaissance period was, however, a time when intellectual debateembraced discussions concerning atheism. It is in fact a period inwhich ancient ideas, stimulus from abroad and the arguments of anti-atheist writers fed speculation, religious doubt and possible doctrinalheterodoxy – that is to say not following the orthodox view. Hence wecan see that the ‘atheistic’ beliefs attributed to Marlowe are notexceptional, but were something body politic was at pains to crush. InMarlowe’s plays we see him outlining many of the arguments of anti-Christian thought and in consequence presenting a challenge to therigid ideologies of the time.

5 Thomas Beard, The Theatre of Gods Judgement, London 1597, 147-8.

3. THE QUESTION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF INTUDOR ENGLAND

Marlowe – atheist?

Religious dissentin ElizabethanEngland

The Elizabethantheatre and God

Renaissancethought

Dr Faustus English Renaissance Culture and Theology


The Renaissance period was an era characterised by exploration andchange. The various voyages of discovery opened up a larger worldand new insights for the Englishmen at home. Intellectually men wereat pains to understand the universe and writers like Marlowe did battlewith superstition, traditional obscurities and confusion that seemed toparalyse scientific thought and obscure truth. Marlowe is reported tohave persuaded men ‘not be afeard of bugbearers and hobgoblins’.

Elizabethan theology was greatly influenced by Augustine of Hippowho lived from AD 353 – 430. Augustine’s writings included twobooks of supreme value. Confessions and De Civitate Dei (The City ofGod) a defence of the Christian Church and its place in the world. Histeaching and writings became a touchstone of orthodox Christiandoctrine. The Augustine view of man was that, like angels before him,he was created with the power to move upward to God, in fulfilment ofthe purpose for which he was made, or downward to degradation andmisery. He was firmly committed to the idea of moral autonomy.Augustine argued in his writings entitled ‘The Problem of Free Choice’that: -

‘The will sins if it turns away from the unchangeable good which iscommon to all, and turns towards a private good, whether outside orbelow it…. Thus a man who becomes proud, curious, and self-indulgent, is caught up in another life, which compared to the higherlife is death’

Thus, he argued that the root of all evil lies in the impulses of pride andegoism. He saw pride as the beginning of all sin and the beginning ofpride is to fall away from God. When we look at the way Marlowepresents Faustus it is possible to see the Augustinian definition ofmoral evil being represented in dramatic form. In Faustus we see aman whose pride and egoism lead him to fall away from God. Hisambition, it appears, is to be his own god and to revel in super-humanpowers. In so doing, we see him fulfilling the Augustinian definitionof original sin, that of pride and self love.

* * * * * *

4. ENGLISH RENAISSANCE CULTURE ANDTHEOLOGY

Most Elizabethansbelieved that man,like the angels,was created withthe power to moveupward to God

Marlowe agreedthat the root of allevil is pride

Dr Faustus Prologue


Having read the prologue that is spoken by the chorus, make notes onwhat you learn about Faustus’s background and his character.

Here are some points I noted: -

The chorus asserts that this play will not be concerned with theexploits of the gods or of kings but will focus on a relatively lowlycharacter, one of the common weal – Faustus. We learn that Faustuscomes from humble origins, being born ‘of parents base of stock’ andlived in a small town in Germany. He was an able boy and ultimatelyattended the university at Wittenberg. Here he studied divinity andbeing an apt scholar he was ‘grac’d with doctor’s name’. It appearsthat he was well respected for his ability to ‘sweetly…. Dispute/In th’heavenly matters of theology’ but this was not enough for Faustus.His pride in his intellect could not be satisfied with these debates andso he fell to studying necromancy. Faustus’s conceit and arrogance isimaged through the death of Icarus who flies too close to the sun andwhose wings melted. Marlowe asserts ‘His waxen wings did mountabove his reach’ but like Icarus on melting ‘heavens conspir’d hisoverthrow’.

5. PROLOGUE

TASK 1

Dr Faustus Prologue


The allusion to Icarus, a reference that would have been familiar to anElizabethan audience as he was seen as a symbol of self-destructiveaspiration, can be seen as representative of Faustus’s career. Thealternative between ‘cursed Necromanice’ and his chiefest bliss’ ispresented as the object of Faustus’s deliberate choice. Hence thestage is set for the life and death of Dr. Faustus, a man who prefers ‘adevilish exercise….. before his chiefest bliss’ As the chorus leavesFaustus is revealed to us in his study.

* * * * * *

Dr Faustus The Play –Scene 1


Scene One

Having re-read Faustus’s opening soliloquy make notes on howFaustus sums up his life’s history to date.

Here are some ideas to add to your own: -

As we are introduced to Faustus he appears to be dissatisfied with theresult of all his learning. He questions the idea that to argue well isthe end of logic because he says if that is all then ‘read no more, thouhast attain’d that end’. He asserts that ‘A greater subject fittethFaustus wit’. Faustus toys with the idea of developing his knowledgeof medicine and so ‘be eterniz’d for some wondrous cure’. However,as he reflects on this idea he comes to believe that he has alreadyattained this goal but he remains limited by the fact that he is only ‘aman’.

Faustus dismisses these thoughts of being an esteemed physicianand asks ‘Where is Justinian?’ – this is a reference to the sixth century

6. THE PLAY – SCENE BY SCENE

TASK 2



emperor who codified Roman law. Once again, he meditates on thepossibilities open to him in this study of the law, but dismisses them aswork that ‘fits a necessary drudge’. He then sets his sights on divinitybut once again comes to the conclusion that as we are all sinners wemust ‘die an everlasting death’ divinity cannot offer him the glory thathe seeks. Thus, he turns to necromancy, that is the study of the darkarts. His language at this point becomes more emotive, as heconsiders ‘a world of profit and delight’. He asserts that ‘All things thatmove between the quiet poles/shall be at my command’ and so hedelights in the idea of his power expanding outward and being farabove that of emperors or kings. Thus, he concludes that ‘A soundmagician is a mighty god’ and so he directs his thoughts towards thisend.

Now consider how we as an audience/reader react to Faustus’sreasoning.

Faustus seems to me a man who refuses to accept the limitationsimposed on him by narrow intellectual debate. In this sense he seemsalmost magnificent as he determines to break away from the acceptedreasoning of the time. He seems to resent his servitude to the dry andbarren learning, being aware the years he has spent in thought haveleft him still unsatisfied. There is a pathos in Faustus’s position as weare confronted by a man who having reached the mountain-top isclearly oppressed by the fact that he is earth bound and can never

TASK 3



reach the skies that he hankers after. Faustus refuses to accept theconditions of his human nature and the object of all his studies havebeen to transcend them. In his rejection of each branch of medievallearning – logic, physic, law, divinity, we see a man who refuses toaccept that he cannot obtain infinity. The fact that he plunges into thepractice of magic can be seen partly as recklessness after his formerpatience and partly as consolation in that he has to accept that hislife’s study will never give him the knowledge he craves, nor will it givehim the superhuman power he desires. So from the outset of the playwe see a man who is both learned, proud, egocentric, but also pitiful inhis desire to understand the universe and wield a god-like power.

Consider what form Marlowe uses in this opening speech and itssignificance.

You will have noted that this opening speech is written in iambicpentametre, a formal, ten-syllable line. The imagery is quite incidentaland relates to the central question that of study, learning andknowledge. The overall impression then is very controlled; this is nota passionate outburst, but a reasoned and logical thought process.The only time the pace changes is when Faustus resolves to turn tomagic, otherwise the verse form reflects Faustus’s logic and hisreasoned argument.

Now consider what you think is the impetus behind Faustus’s desires?

continues over

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It seems to me that Faustus is urged on by an overwhelming sense ofdissatisfaction. This speech sees him surveying a life-time spent intrying to make reason adequate to infinity and he is forced to acceptthat he has been unsuccessful. Thus, he allows himself to become avictim of his own ambitions and desires as he imagines the power,honour and omnipotence that could be his if he focuses his mind onthe supernatural arts. In his delusion and arrogance he imagines a lifein which ‘All things that move between the quiet poles/shall be at mycommand’. This self-motivated ambition and a desire for knowledgeact as a catalyst to Faustus’s study of magic and to his ultimatedownfall.

Now read lines 63-76 and make notes on the significance of the goodand bad angels.

Here are some points I noted.

Marlowe dramatises through the good and bad angel the idea ofchoice which characterises the structure of the play. The evil angel isan embodiment of the conflict and alternatives that continue to faceFaustus. Up to this point in the play, Faustus has been his owntempter and his obsession with power has over-shadowed thedangerous aspects of the magical books. However, with the goodangel’s warning there can be no avoiding the issue and he is told quiteclearly ‘gaze not on it less it tempt thy soul’. What he is reading weare told is ‘blasphemy’. Faustus is, however, driven by his desire formaterial power and so when the bad angel suggest that he ‘Goforward’ and ‘Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky,/Lord andcommander of these elements’, he allows himself to revel in fantasticflights of imagination.

TASK 6



The angels then serve to dramatise the idea that not only does Faustushave the opportunity to choose between good and evil, but that thechoice is his own and is not constrained. Throughout the play we seethe angels function as messengers who present contrasting images toFaustus’s mind and will. One tempts by deceit, the other protects byadmonishment, but ultimately only Faustus the man can make thedecision.

Look now at Faustus’s response to these angels and make notes onhow Marlowe develops his character at this point in the play.

Faustus’s first response is to asset ‘How am I glutted with conceit ofthis!’, thus, illustrating that he is lured by the notion of obtaining suchpower. He then launches into a flight of fancy that seems to put thebad angel’s suggestions to shame by comparison. He is, it appears,seduced by dreams of wealth and power and in consequence we seehis language become quite exalted as he details what delights thespirits he conjures will fetch him. He claims he will ‘have them fly toIndia for gold/Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,/and search allcorners of the new-found world/For pleasant fruits and princelydelicates’. It is interesting to note that Faustus’s dreams and desiresinclude no one but himself. He does not yearn to overthrow legitimaterulers nor does he seek the lives of other human beings. Marlowethen is presenting to us only one victim and that is Faustus himself.His desire is the usurpation of God and so like Lucifer, his sin is thesin of angels.

Now look carefully at what Faustus says to Valdes and Cornelius andmake notes on how he presents himself to these ‘gentle friends’.

TASK 7

TASK 8



On the entry of these two characters, we learn that they have forsometime been attempting to lead Faustus into forbidden ways ‘know’,says Faustus, ‘that your words have won me at last/To practice magicand the concealed arts’. He is anxious, however, not to appear toopliant and so he adds that ‘Yet not your words only, but mine ownfantasy’ have led him to this decision. He makes it quite clear to themthat he is no humble seeker after knowledge and he dismisses hisprevious study, finally asserting that ‘Divinity is the basest of thethree’. Thus, we see him laying out a scheme in which his ownpersonal fame and honour are to be the main concerns. Thesefriends, it appears, are content to accept him on these terms and theyfeed his ego by painting a glowing picture of the possibilities that lieopen to them if, Valdes adds rather ominously, ‘learned Faustus willbe resolute’.

Having read to the end of the scene, what is your impression of Valdesand Cornelius and how do you think they intend to use Faustus interms of personal gain?

TASK 9



It seems to me that neither Valdes nor Cornelius intend to runthemselves into danger. They are, it appears, only dabblers inwitchcraft and they have never become masters or slaves of thespirits. When Faustus demands ‘Come show me somedemonstrations magical’, Valdes offers to be his teacher ‘First I’llinstruct thee in the rudiments/and then wilt thou be perfecter than I’.They are then keen to form a partnership with Faustus because hispotentialities far exceed their own, but we are left in no doubt that theymean to use Faustus to attain their own ends and have no intention offorfeiting their salvation for supernatural gifts. These two can be seenthen as the devil’s agent luring Faustus along the road to selfdestruction, as they assert ‘Faustus may try his cunning for himself’and so he goes to conjure alone and apart from a passing referenceby the student we hear no more of these ‘gentle friends’.

* * * * * *



Scene Two

In scene two we hear two scholars wondering what has happened toFaustus, who they say used to ‘make our schools ring with sic probo’.They meet with Wagner, Faustus’s servant and they learn that Faustusis now keeping company with Valdes and Cornelius. Their responseserves to confirm what we, the audience already suspect, that he has‘fallen into that damned art’ which it appears these two are alreadyfamous for. The scene concludes with the two scholars leaving to seekthe Rector who may be able to save Faustus before it’s too late.However, it is made quite clear to us that this is unlikely as the firstscholar asserts ‘I fear me, nothing will reclaim him now’.

Make brief notes on this scene, as you see fit.

* * * * * *



Scene Three

Re-read lines 1-36 of this scene and make notes on your response toFaustus at this point in the play:

It is at this point that we see Faustus attempting to apply his magicalskills and ‘try if devils will obey thy hest’. There is, however, still amoment of hesitation when he asserts ‘Then fear not, Faustus, to beresolute’ this qualm is but a fleeting emotion and is soon dismissed ashe conjures a devil to appear. He blasphemously demands that thedevil he has called return, in the shape of ‘an old Franciscan friar’,because he asserts ‘That holy shape becomes a devil best’, in this wesee Faustus’s wilful desire to insult the heavens and to assert hisaspiring pride and insolence. He arrogantly interprets the devil’sdeparture to his own expertise, convincing himself that Mephastophilisis ‘Full of obedience and humility’. ‘Such is the force of magic and myspells’ that he believes he can give himself the title of ‘conjurerlaureate’, one who can command the great Mephastophilis’. Thus, wesee Faustus infatuated by his apparent skill and puffed up with prideand conceit. The teaching of the church insists that the root of all sinis pride and here we see Faustus displaying his proud arrogance bothhere on earth and in the face of heaven.

Now read through the first interview between Faustus andMephastophilis up to line 115 and make notes on how this exchangecan be seen as a more potent warning than the one administered by thegood angel.

TASK 10

TASK 11



We have seen Faustus exulting in the pliant servility of the devil hehas summoned and congratulating himself on his own abilities. He iscompletely unabashed by Mephastophilis’s assertion that the reasonfor his appearance was not because Faustus’s speeches raised him,but because of Faustus’s willingness to blaspheme God. He says‘when we hear one rack the name of God/Abjure the scriptures andhis saviour Christ/We fly, in hope to get his glorious soul’.

Faustus’s response reveals a man who is intent on making himselfappear fearless in the face of apparent terror. He defiantly insists thatthe word “’damnation’ terrifies him not’. However, both he and theaudience are unprepared for Mephastophilis’s response to Faustus’snext question ‘Was not that Lucifer an angel once?’ What we see isMephastophilis is a momentary flash of pain as he recounts the fallfrom grace. He passionately asserts, ‘Thinks’t thou that I, who saw theface of God/ And tasted the eternal joys of heaven/Am not tormentedwith ten thousand hells/In being deprived of everlasting bliss?’ For abrief second we and Faustus are allowed to see into Mephostophilis’stortured soul and momentarily he is no longer the tempter but a visiblewarning to any who follow his path. He concludes with the heartrending words ‘O Faustus, leave these frivolous demands,/Whichstrike terror to my fainting soul’. Mephastophilis has then defined hellby its most spiritual and agonising suffering that is alienation fromGod. Faustus, however, is too conceited and obsessed with the ideaof power to heed this dreadful warning. In this way, Marloweunderlines the fact that Faustus must accept complete responsibilityfor his fall.



Consider Faustus’s response to Mephastophilis lines 85-end of thescene and make notes on what motivates Faustus’s desire to secure acontract with the devil.

Faustus arrogantly dismisses Mephastophilis’s terror and sets himselfup as an example of ‘manly fortitude’. What drives him on is hisrapacious desire for power wanting he says to ‘live in allvoluptuousness’ and have Mephastophilis fulfil his every command.His self-aggrandisement is not to be satisfied by, small glories, but hedesires to be ‘great emperor of the world’. Thus, we see himabandoning any personal responsibility, being blinded by visions ofpower and glory and scorning any possibility of spiritual salvation.

* * * * * *

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Scene Four

This scene provides a comic interlude after the serious machinations ofthe previous exchange. What we see here is a parallel at a lower levelof what is happening to Faustus. However, unlike Faustus, this boyRobin is impoverished and in need of sustenance, Wagner says of him‘I know the villain’s out of service, and so hungry that I know he wouldgive his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton, though it wereblood-raw’. This man, it seems has some cause to sell his soul,although it appears he is rather unwillingly pressed into Wagner’sservice. Faustus, in contrast is a willing fool who is to ignore allwarnings and is bent on self destruction. This comedy then, serves toundercut the grandeur of Faustus’s dreams by making them appear asfoolish as the parody that takes place between Robin and Wagner. Italso illustrates that one doesn’t have to be a learned doctor to be able tosummon up devils, thus, demonstrating that Faustus’s magic is of nospecial consequence.

Make brief notes on the scene for your file, as you see fit.

* * * * * *



Scene Five

Once again, we see Faustus in his study as his resolution seems towaiver. Look at this first of his many temptations to repent and makenotes on how he continues on his road to destruction.

Faustus questions ‘What boots it then to think of God orheaven?’/Away with such vain fancies, and despair; Despair in God,and trust in Beelzebub!’ He believes that any retraction would be abackward step, but the irony lies in the fact that what is backward forFaustus is forward for the rest of humanity in a search for spiritualfulfilment. Faustus despairs in God because he is quite clear that hewill not feed his desires. He is in fact disarmingly honest abouthimself, as he recognises that ‘The god thou serv’st is thine ownappetite’, but this new religion is more forceful than his former one andso he determines to build an alter and church to Beelzebub’ andmakes the exaggerated claim, ‘And offer lukewarm blood of new-bornbabes’.

Having read the exchange between Faustus and the Good and BadAngels, what is it do you think that obliterates the repeated urgings ofthe Good Angel to think on heavenly things?

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Faustus it appears is determined to be deaf to any idea of repentanceand it only takes the Evil Angel to make a simple suggestion to ‘thinkof honour and of wealth’ to sway Faustus away from any thought of‘heaven and heavenly things’ and for him to summon up visions ofpower and wealth, this time alighting on Emden, an important port inNorth West Germany, which was in the sixteenth century theheadquarters of Europe’s largest merchant fleet. Thus we can seeFaustus allowing avarice to inform his decision.

Now look at lines 31 from the entry of Mephastophilis to 82 and makenotes on the significance of the contract and the congealing ofFaustus’s blood.

It appears that Lucifer cannot be satisfied with just the word ofFaustus, he must have a signed contract. Thus, it appears that thedevil is not as powerful as Faustus believes and when he questionsMephastophilis on ‘what good/will my soul do thy lord?’ He is told thatto the unhappy, ‘it is a comfort to have had companions in misfortune’.Once again, Faustus is oblivious to these warnings and overtdescriptions of everlasting torment. As he writes his blood congealsand quite appropriately the devil brings him fire to make it flow again;but even before he returns Faustus has rejected the warning that isimplicit in the phenomenon. He then concludes the contract with thewords ‘Consummatum est’ meaning it is finished. Thus, the contractof damnation is completed with the last words Christ uttered on thecross and Marlowe daringly fuses Christ’s final sacrifice for man’s sinwith Faustus’s sacrifice of his soul.

There follows a warning at the close of this contract in the form of thewords ‘Homo Fuge’ meaning Fly, O man. What do you feel is thesignificance of these words and Mephasptohilis’s reaction to them?

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Once again, Faustus is given a warning, but he believes it is now toolate to repent as he asserts ‘Whither should I fly?/If unto God, he’llthrow me down to hell’. However, in reality it appears that the conflictthat has been set in motion as a result of these words only serves tosuggest that the devil, even after the contract has been signed, hasnot taken complete control of his victim. It appears that he must stilldraw Faustus away from every temptation to turn back to God. HenceMarlowe creates dramatic irony as it is made clear to the audiencethat the Devil does not have absolute power, a point Faustusrepeatedly fails to understand. Thus, Mephostophilis says, ‘I will bringhim somewhat to delight his mind’ and we are told the devils appearwith concrete symbols of wealth. Faustus continues to be seduced byimages of wealth and each time he is tempted to return to the path ofrighteousness the devils’ delights become more alluring. Faustus’schoice is not a single moment, but a series of moments and each timehe is free to choose which path he wishes to take. However, he onceagain remains faithful to the god of his own appetite.

Now read on to line 116 where Faustus makes his first request with hisnew found power, that of wanting a description of hell. What doesFaustus’s rejection of this description illustrate about himself as acharacter and his obsession with wealth?

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Here are some points I noted:

Mephastophilis gives Faustus an orthodox response to his questionwhich includes the notion not only of an inward, spiritual state, but alsoan external location. Faustus’s reaction is to dismiss this informationwith the assertion ‘I think hell’s a fable’. Once again, we see Faustusbehaving like a blind fool who is instrumental in creating his ownblindness. Mephastophilis’s reply ‘Ay, think so still, till experiencechange thy mind’ goes unheeded by Faustus, because his mind is seton the prospect of unprecedented wealth and temporal glory. At thispoint in the play Faustus is deaf to any warnings of prophecies, but itis made clear to us that experience will change his mind.

Look now at Mephastophilis’s description of hell and comment on thepicture that is presented to us.

Mephastophilis imagines hell as a place with no boundaries. It is allencompassing because he says ‘Where we are is hell/And where hellis, there must we ever be’. What is presented both to us and toFaustus is the fact that hell is not so much a place but a condition, aneverlasting torment, in keeping with 16th Century views of damnation.

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In the light of this description, how do you respond to Faustus’sinsistence that ‘these are trifles and more old wives tales’?

It seems to me that what Faustus refuses to see is that hell is what hesees before him. Mephastophilis makes it quite clear that ‘I amdamn’d and now in hell’, but Faustus sees only what is on the surface,that is Mephastophilis ‘sleeping, eating, walking, disputing’ he fails toacknowledge that hell is not a fable, but an inevitable reality and whatis more, it is a choice. However, if an individual makes that choice, itis made quite clear to him that he must suffer the inevitableconsequences of his decision.

Look now at Faustus’s second request, that is his desire for a wife.What do we learn about the power of the devil from what ensues in thisscene?

Mephastophilis dismisses Faustus’s request out of hand saying ‘talknot of a wife’. The devil is clearly uncomfortable with this suggestionand presents Faustus with the spectacle of a women devil. He thenmakes every attempt to dissuade Faustus from his desire by offeringto supply a series of beautiful courtesans. The truth is that the devil

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cannot supply a wife, because marriage is a Christian sacrament, aninstitution established by God. Thus, we see the limitation of thedevil’s power in that he is impotent to provide anything sanctioned byGod. Hence Faustus’s bargain to have the devil grant him whateverhe demands has constraints upon it from the outset, another pointFaustus fails to see.

Faustus’s next request is to ‘have a book where I might see allcharacters of planets of the heavens, that I might know their motionsand dispositions.’ ‘Lines 162-187’. Once again, however, Faustus isdissatisfied. What is the result of this request in terms of Faustus’sstate of mind?

What we see here for the first time in Faustus, is a conflict ofconscience, which arises from his meditations on the heavens. Hecalls out ‘When I behold the heavens, then I repent/And curse theewicked Mephastophilis,/Because thou hast depriv’d me of those joys’.The irony comes, however, in Mephastophilis’s reply that ‘Twas thineown seeking Faustus, thank thyself’. This is, of course, what Faustushas been unable to see. He is quick to blame the devil for leading himastray, but what he cannot, as yet, comprehend is that the choice wasentirely his own.

Now look at the way the spiritual conflict is heightened with theentrance of the Good and Bad Angels and make notes on what itreveals about Faustus’s struggle and what it is that enable him to keephis resolve not to repent.

continues over

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Faustus is presented with opportunity to repent and it seems that hispresent struggle is one of many, but each time his thoughts movetowards God, the devils have proffered the means by which he couldtake his own life. Suicide being considered a sin before God and onewhich automatically results in everlasting torment.

Faustus admits to being very close to despair and coming close tocommitting the ultimate sin, but each time he is saved by the principleof pleasure which forms the main story of his existence. Thus hisspiritual conflicts are temporarily dissolved because ‘sweete pleasureconquer’d despair’. Hence we see just the memory of pleasure isenough to strengthen Faustus’s resolve not to repent. Thus Marlowereaffirms the weakness of Faustus’ nature in that he is unable to seeanything beyond immediate gratification and earthly glory.

Re-read the astrological debate that takes place between Faustus andMephastophilis and consider the importance of where this discussionleads and the implications it has for the initial bargain.

The discussion proceeds logically as Faustus demands informationconcerning the movement of the planets to that of the movingIntelligences and then finally to the Supreme Being, the catalyst toeverything else. Faustus demands to know the answer to the mostsignificant question: ‘Who made the World?’ but Mephastophilisrefuses to answer and warns him, ‘Move me not Faustus’. Once

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again we can see that the contract has failed, as the devil is powerlessto tell him anything that works against the kingdom of the damned.His only advice is, ‘Thou art damn’d; think thou of hell’. The situationis characterised by pathos as Faustus is made to see that the finalends of knowledge are to him unapproachable.

What do you feel is the significance of this astronomical episode interms of the conflict between good and evil in the play so far?

Here are some ideas to add to your own:

• Faustus no longer completely ignores the promise of heaven.

• He who was once eager with anticipation now expressesdiscontent with the knowledge the devil can give him.

• We see the devil having to become more insistent in terms ofcommitment and resolve from Faustus. It appears that the bait ofpleasure is not always sufficient to assuage Faustus’s suffering.

• Faustus’s life is now characterised by a pattern of fear andpleasure. He now lives in fear of the devil’s threats of physicalpain but he also continues to be lured by new pleasures.

• We are made to see the fundamental irony of Faustus’s life that ofthe contrast between the actual accomplishments of his magicalcareer and the original dreams of wealth, honour and power thatacted as a catalyst to that career.

In the next section with the entry of the two Angels Faustus comescloser to repentance than anywhere else in the play. It is clear that hisstruggles are causing him pain as he cries out, ‘O Christ, my saviour,my saviour,/Help to save distressed Faustus’ soul’. His cry however,brings Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephastophilis to his side. Look at theexchange that takes place here and make notes on what is ironic aboutFaustus’s position.

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Faustus is visibly frightened by the arrival of the devils believing that,‘they are come to fetch thy soul’. In consequence he avows, ‘Never toname God or to pray to him/To burn his scriptures, slay hisministers,/And make my spirits pull his churches down’. In beggingtheir pardon and uttering these blasphemous words he renews hissubmission to the devil. Thus ironically Faustus, who believed hewould force spirits to obey his every command, makes himself theirobedient slave.

Faustus is now treated to a display by the seven deadly sins whoperform before him to gratify Faustus’s whims. He responds with thegreatest delight blasphemously asserting that the ‘sight will be aspleasant to me as paradise was to/Adam the first day of his creation’.Faustus then is told not to talk ‘of paradise or creation, but mark theshow’, in other words he must focus only on the appearance ofpleasure but seek not to find true satisfaction.

Re-read the section in which the seven deadly sins appear andcomment on what Faustus is presented with in this section.(Lines 280 – end of the scene).

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Here are some ideas to add to your own:-

• Pride is the first sin that is paraded before Faustus, interestingly itwas considered by religious thinkers of the time to be the worst sinas it displayed a disdain of God and made man appear to himselfas of greater worth than the Holy Trinity. It introduces itself asdisdaining to have any parents thus it has severed any earthlylinks with the possibility of unconditional love. Pride nowcompares itself to Ovid’s flea the allusion being to the poem the‘Song of the Flea’ by Ovid in which the poet asserts his envy of theflea’s freedom of movement over his mistress’s body. There ishowever, an irony here in that although Pride, like the flea, asserts,‘Indeed I do – what do I not’ there is no possibility of true fulfilment,each pleasure described is momentary. Through the use of thecomparison with the flea it is suggested that Pride make falseliberties but will always be a detested quality.

• Covetousness is the second sin and once again it is presented asteetering on the edge of civilised society. It was created, it says,by an old miser in his old leather purse and its obsession is withwealth and possession.

• Wrath is another parentless quality who asserts that when itcannot fight with anyone else, it spends its time wounding andattacking itself. Wrath says, ‘I was born in hell’ and then offers awarning that one should beware ‘for some of you shall be myfather’. Hence he implies that anyone has the potential to bringwrath into being.

• Envy is portrayed as filthy and stinking being the progeny of achimneysweeper and any oyster-wife and Faustus is keen todismiss this sin as it calls on him to ‘Come down, with avengeance’.

• Gluttony is again without parents but details a lineage of food andwine concluding with a desire for Faustus to, ‘bid me to supper’.Faustus is naturally alarmed at the thought and replies quitevenomently, ‘No I’ll see thee hanged.’ To which Gluttony replies,‘Then the devil choke thee.’ Although Faustus appears unmovedby this retort it carries with it a sense of his possible future.

• Sloth is as must be expected too lazy to speak and so appearsonly fleetingly before Faustus.

• Lechery is the last and it asserts that it prefers a small quantity ofvirility rather than a large portion of impotence. Lucifer dismissesthis sin but before it departs it asserts, ‘the first letter of my nameis lechery’, this would have been a familiar jest to an Elizabethanaudience implying perhaps that lechery is only the beginning ofwhat may be possible if this sin is allowed free reign.

It is interesting to note Faustus’s response to this spectacle he says,‘O this feeds my soul’ a very strange assertion in the light of what hehas just seen. He is, of course, viewing what he has seen as an



amusing interlude, but Lucifer makes it quite clear that these are quitetypical of what he may hope to experience himself in hell. Lucifernaturally dresses up what hell has to offer saying, ‘in hell is all mannerof delight.’ The scene concludes with Faustus once again satisfied bythe illusion of pleasure and grateful for a book which will enable him totransform into whatever shape his fancy takes a liking to. The ironylies in the fact that this seems far removed from Faustus’s initialdesires. It appears then that he has sold his soul to the devil fornothing more than an illusion of power and what he is left with is theability to turn himself into different shapes rather like a performingclown.

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Scene Six

Re-read this scene in which Robin and Rafe discuss the possibilitiesthat open up before them as they look at one of Faustus’s conjuringbooks. Having stolen this book Robin asserts that he intends ‘tosearch some circles for my own use’. This it appears is to ‘make all themaidens in our parish dance at my pleasure stark naked before me…’Rafe is soon persuaded to believe in Robin’s abilities when he ispromised Nan Spit, the kitchen maid for his delight.

Now consider the purpose of this comic scene in connection with theFaustus plot.

It seems to me that Marlowe is using the comic scenes as an ironiccommentary on Faustus’s bargain and use of power. Marlowe makesit quite plain that these are foolish, ill-educated men whose commandeven of their native tongue is limited as we hear Robin say, ‘Why themost intolerable book for conjuring…’ - meaning in fact incomparable.These low-life characters are however, shown to be able to play tricksthat are essentially no different from those performed by the learne’dFaustus. They differ only in the fact that rather than cravingdistinguished courtesans, they desire simple whores. Instead ofHelen of Troy whom Faustus conjures later in the text the men herespeak of Nan Spit. Marlowe seems to be insisting then that Faustus’scontract is not in itself unusual, it can in fact be made by anyone. Theresults are however, the same; a contract with the devil leadsinevitably to the loss of human dignity and order. Thus we seeMarlowe using the parody to make clear in the simplest terms the realnature of Faustus’s bargain. It is we see empty and hollow leadingonly to self-destruction and degradation.

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Scene Seven

The chorus has told us of Faustus’s exploits. He has it appears,attempted to ‘know the secrets of astronomy’, but to attain thisknowledge he is seated in a ‘chariot burning bright’, but ironically‘Drawn by the strength of yoked dragon’s necks’ not quite thetransport for a demi-god one might argue. We find Faustus now inRome at the court of the Pope accompanied by Mephostophilis.

Having read Scene VII what irony do you find here in Faustus’sbehaviour and apparent satisfaction?


Faustus describes his journeying to us describing what he has seenand the pleasure he has taken in his travels. However, as readers it ispossible to see his restlessness as another example of a man who isbound by his own mortality. His journeying fails to satisfy his originalaspirations. Instead of becoming the all-powerful commander of theworld Faustus is seen as nothing more than a rather foolish practicaljoker. He is allowed to play tricks on the Pope, snatching away hismeat and wine and in time schoolboy fashion speaking out of turn inthe Pope’s hearing. All of this is performed whilst under the cloak ofinvisibility, thus he is able to realise every child’s dream that of beingable to insult authority without being found out. Here we have thenthe man who dreamed of controlling lives and having power over allearthly rulers being no better than a curt jester. The scene ends withFaustus flinging fireworks at the Friars and running away, not onemight argue one of the greatest feats performed by a mighty ruler!

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Scene Eight

We are presented once again with a comic interlude as Rafe and Robinattempt to gull the Vintner. However, their use of Faustus’s bookresults in the arrival of Mephostophilis who is less than pleased tohave been forced to travel from Constantinople to answer theirpleasure. The scene concludes with the low life characters beingtransformed into an ape and a dog.

Consider the significance of this transformation and its connectionwith Faustus’s situation.

It is once again affirmed that having the power to conjure devils doesnot mean that one has the power to command once they haveappeared. Like Faustus these men are ultimately bullied by the deviland the result of their encounter is a physical representation of whatFaustus must endure spiritually, that is the loss of human dignity.

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Scene Nine

The Chorus in the form of Wagner has told us of how Faustus’s famehas ‘spread forth in every land’, and we now find him at the palace ofCarolus the Fifth.

Having read this scene again what do you note of Faustus’s powers?


Faustus is presented to us not as a man of super-human powers butmore as a court entertainer. The knight derisively asserts, ‘he looksmuch like a conjuror.’ When he is asked to bring forth both Alexanderthe Great and his paramour Faustus confesses that, ‘It is not in myability to present before your eyes the true substantial bodies of thosetwo deceased princes.’ He can only raise up spirits that resembleAlexander and his lover. It is quite clear to us, of course, that hecannot in fact even perform this trick as it is Mephostophilis who hasthe power to produce these illusions not Faustus. Even his revengeon the knight is performed vicariously and he must bid Mephastophilis‘transform him straight’ when he removes the horns from his head.

Here we have then the man who looked forward to controlling the livesof all earthly rulers being no more than a puppet at the court of anEmperor performing tricks, and Marlowe presents us with a man whocreates illusions second hand through the real power ofMephastophilis. Thus Faustus appears to be locked into a career ofbuffoonery and there seems very little to separate him from the low lifecomedy characters of Robin and Rafe.

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Scene Ten

We are presented in this scene with yet another comic deceit as Faustusgulls a horse-dealer into buying a bale of hay disguised in the form of ahorse. He does warn him not to ride it into water as this, it wascommonly believed, would dissolve a witch’s spell. The Horse-dealertakes no heed of this advice and is made to part with another fortypounds as Mephostophilis creates the illusion of Faustus’s leg comingaway in the dealer’s hand as he tries to wake Faustus from his sleep.

Having read this scene you will have noted the horse-dealer assertionas he leaves him saying, ‘Well Sir. Now am I made man forever.’Make notes on how Faustus reacts to this assertion in the speech thatfollows L.23-29.

The parting words of the dealer act as a catalyst to Faustus’s thoughtson his own situation as he contemplates his fate. He questions ‘Whatart thou, Faustus, but a man condemned to die?’ If we compare thisto his earlier struggles it seems only a feeble stirring of hisconscience, but nevertheless we have to see its importance in termsof the fact that Faustus is moved to contemplate his fate in the midstof a comic deceit. It is also significant the way in which Faustusresolves his conflict. We see him moving from despair, which hefreely admits to as he says, ‘Despair doth drive distrust unto mythoughts’, to presumption saying, ‘Tush, Christ did call the thief uponthe cross.’ He is here recalling St Luke’s Gospel who relates Christ’swords of comfort to the crucified thief telling him he shall be with himin paradise.

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It is interesting to note here how Marlowe has introduced a familiarElizabethan theological concept that despair and presumption are thetwo greatest obstacles to redemption and ultimate salvation. TheElizabethan audience would have been aware of the sermon that told oftwo kinds of faithless men, those who despair of forgiveness and thosewho gamble on Christ’s mercy, hoping for last minute absolution fromtheir sins. These then were seen as the two extremes in which men sinagainst hope as they shut out the means by which the Holy Ghost canwork on man.

Thus it is made clear to us that Marlowe is underlining the quality ofFaustus’s career. He is it seems intent on choosing the way todamnation. We see him struggling with his spiritual conflict but thepath he chooses to resolve that struggle is one that an Elizabethanaudience would see as the route to eternal damnation. What we haveto remember here is that Faustus’s choice is not irrevocable until hisdeath and it is this that adds to the tragedy of his situation. Marlowe isthus able to maintain one of the main dramatic tensions of the playbecause we are constantly reminded of the possibility of Faustus’srepentance.

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Scene Eleven

Scene eleven presents us with yet another tableau of Faustus conjuringsmall delights for the rich man’s table. Once again we are asked toconsider the differences between what Faustus believed he was goingto be able to do when he struck his bargain with the devil. If we lookback to Scene One Lines 81-99 we hear him declaring he shall havespirits who will, ‘… fly to India for Gold,/ Ransack the ocean for orientpearl,/ And search all corners of the new found world/For pleasantfruits and princely delicates’. However, the reality is that his poweramounts to no more than commanding spirits to bring grapes to theDuchess of Vanholt.

Hence it is made clear to us once again that there is a fundamentalirony in terms of the contrast between what Faustus thought he wasgoing to achieve in his magical career and his actual accomplishments.

Make brief notes on this scene, as you see fit.

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Scene Twelve

This scene opens with the words of Wagner who prepares us forFaustus’s impending doom as he tells how he believes, ‘My mastermeans to die shortly/For he hath given to me all his goods!’ However,rather than prepare himself for death in sombre mood we learn thatFaustus carouses amongst the students.

After the illusion of Helen of Troy on stage the scholars thank Faustusfor his vision saying, ‘Happy and blest be Faustus evermore.’ Thedramatic irony is once more made clear to the audience as the very factthat Faustus is able to produce these insubstantial shadows is becausehe has become spiritually bereft and is certainly not blessed.

Look now at the old man’s admonition and consider the effect it has onFaustus as he moves closer to his final agony.

The old man attempts to lead Faustus out of the wilderness where his‘most vile and loathsome filthiness,/The stench whereof corrupts theinward soul/With such flagitious crimes of heinous sins, As nocommiseration may expel’. He offers to ‘guide thy stops unto the wayof life’. This however, results in Faustus again falling into the sin ofdespair, he is not able to direct his thoughts towards salvation.

In a moment of agony he questions what he has done and asserts,‘Damned art thou Faustus, damned; despair and die!’ It is at this pointthat Mephastpohilis gives him a dagger to perpetrate the ultimate sin

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against God that of taking one’s own life. He is prevented however,by the intervention of the Old Man who insists that all he need do is‘call for mercy, and avoid despair’. At this point in the play then wesee Faustus wavering and Marlowe reaffirms one of the central issuesof the play, that of choice.

Now look at Faustus’s attempt at repentance and comment on why heis unable to break his bargain with the devil.

Faustus says, ‘I do repent, and yet I do despair/Hell strives with gracefor conquest in my breast.’ What we see here is a man who is unableto bring himself to fully trust in God’s mercy and so his repentance isempty.

In contrast look now at Faustus’s response to Mephastophilis when heaccuses him of treason and threatens to tear his flesh.

Faustus’s tone here is quite different to the one we hear when heattempts to look toward God. He pleads with Mephastophilis to‘Pardon my unjust presumption’ and he recklessly offers to renew his

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former vow with his blood. What is revealed here is an ironic inversionof the threefold process of Christian repentance. We see Faustusacknowledge his offence, then he appeals for mercy and pardon andresolves by the renewal of his vow not to offend his lord again. Henceit is possible to see Mephastophilis as a kind of substitute Father-Confessor, but instead of giving Faustus penance to do for his sin hesuggests some pleasure to gratify Faustus’s desires.

We are also asked to consider the irony of Mephastophilis’sconfession that, ‘I cannot touch his soul,/But what I may afflict hisbody with, I will attempt’. Here then we have the admission fromMephostophilis that he is in fact powerless to reach Faustus’s soulwhilst he still lives. However, what he can produce are illusions asneither he nor Faustus have the power to conjure real people, but onlyevil spirits who are disguised as them.

Re-read Faustus’s response to Helen of Troy and comment on theirony of his description.

Faustus is overwhelmed by Helen’s beauty and as he looks on her heasserts, ‘Here will I dwell, for heaven be in these lips’. Here then wehave a man who at the climax of his magical career sees heaven in aspirit’s lips, an illusion he has already referred to as ‘heavenly’ (line75). What Marlowe presents here is a man then who is completelyunable to distinguish between heaven and hell.

Now read the rest of Faustus’s apostrophe to Helen and comment onhow the irony is working in the rest of this speech. It is worth notingthat Helen of Troy was often used by the Elizabethans as a symbol ofdestructive beauty and sinful pleasure. You must look closely at thelanguage and the ironies implicit in the imagery.

continues over

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Here are some ideas to add to your own.

• What Faustus sees in Helen is not what the audience is able tosee. If we look closely at the language we see that it ischaracterised by images of fire ‘flaming Jupiter’ and heavenly blissand immortality, ‘Sweet Helen make me immortal’ and ‘Here I willdwell, for heaven is in these lips’. Thus it is possible for us to seethrough the combination of these opposing images the destructivereality that lies beneath the illusion of Helen that provokesFaustus’s unrealisable passion.

• If we look closely at each precise image that is presented toFaustus we will see a series of ironies developing: Faustus says,‘Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,/And burnt thetopless towers of Ilium?’ It is possible to see this as a statement ofFaustus’s fate in that Helen who caused Troy to burn, will in factdo the same for Faustus.

• Faustus says, ‘Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss,’ butironically the only immortality attained through the kisses of ademon lover is an eternity in hell.

• ‘Her lips suck forth my soul,’ Faustus declares but a soul that issucked out cannot be given back again and what Faustus is reallyseeing is hell not heaven in her lips.

• ‘Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter/When he appeared tohapless Semele,’ says Faustus but the reality is that the flames ofHelen will consume Faustus and contribute to his final destructionas he is sucked into the flames of hell.

• Helen is ‘More lovely than the monarch of the sky/In wantonArethusa’s azured arms’ but like Arethusa Faustus will come tohold the burning stars in his arms and feel the full force of theirfiery pain.

• It is noticeable that in a play that deals so directly with heaven andhell we have, as yet had very little reference to the flames ofdamnation. Marlowe, it seems has been saving this for theultimate ironic moment just when Faustus seems to have reachedthe peak of his aspiration the language is characterised by thefires of hell producing both dramatic imagery and dramaticallusion. It could be suggested then that the point at whichFaustus embraces the demonic Helen is a visual representation ofFaustus’s union with hell.

• The scene concludes with Faustus being abandoned by the OldMan who describes him as, ‘Accursed Faustus, miserable man’.Once again the language reiterates the image of fire as he refersto ‘this furnace’ where ‘God shall try my faith’ and the Old Manleaves Faustus to his chosen course asserting, ‘Hence to hell, forhence I fly unto my God’, and so we are left with the contrast theold man embraces God whilst Faustus is left to his owndamnation.



Scene Thirteen

Re-read this scene up to the departure of the scholars and make noteson the way Faustus is presented in these last moments before his finalagony.

Here are some ideas to add to you own:

• Faustus asserts ‘now I die eternally’ and the scholars beg him tothink on God and his mercies, but once again Faustusdemonstrates his pride. He claims that he has committed anoffence that can never be pardoned. ‘The serpent that temptedEve may be saved, but not Faustus’. Thus, we see a man whorefuses to recognise that he is simply a frail and vulnerable humanbeing who could, if he so chose, be saved from externaldamnation. Rather he chooses to imagine an impossibility that theserpent whose choice of damnation was always permanent, maybe saved.

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• Faustus is now presented to us as a man who cannot repent, hecannot pray, he struggles and suffers, but feels bound by the devil.In desperation he calls out that the devil ‘Stays my tongue’.

‘I would lift up my hands, but see, they hold them, they hold them.’Here we have then the terrible irony of the man who arrogantlydismissed Mephastophilis when he described the sufferings of hell, theman who believed he had gained super-human powers and who is nowreduced to cowering and moaning as he contemplates eternal alienationfrom God. There is a terrible tragedy in Faustus’s realisation of whathe has lost as he says ‘both Germany and the world – yea heaven itself– heaven, the seat of God, the throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joyand must remain in hell for ever - hell, ah, hell forever. Sweet friends,what shall become of Faustus, being in hell forever?’ Marlowepresents us with a pathetic character whose mind is torn with fear andanxiety, which find expression in the illusion of the devil coming tofetch him. Thus, we are asked to look on this character and considerhis sin and we have to recognise that Faustus’s sin is not that ofmalicious action, but it lies in the vacillations of his will and intellect.

Re-read lines 59-89 and make notes on the emotions and sufferings ofFaustus in these last moments before his final damnation. Lookcarefully at the language and consider Faustus as you see him now inrelation to the way he was presented at the outset of the play.

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• If you recall Faustus at the beginning of the play you willremember a man who was arrogant, proud and full of ambition.He was a man who deliberately chose the devil and continuallyrejected both fact and reality. You see him now in his final agonyonce again alone in his study after twenty-four years of conceitand illusive power. What you now see before us is a man limitedby time and his own mortality. The twenty-four years of life can belinked to the twenty-four hours of the day in that both order, limitand determine man’s life and actions.

• In the opening lines we hear Faustus, like Edward II, another ofMarlowe’s characters, battling against time. His futile struggle



serves to reinforce Faustus’s rebellion against reality and Marloweemphasises this in the dramatic action as the clock chimes at thehalf hour making it quite clear both to us and to Faustus that timemoves on and cannot be halted. Faustus then, like Edward II,asks the impossible that time should cease and this requestserves to emphasise the point that the whole of Faustus’s magicalcareer has been focused on the realisation of the impossible.

• As Faustus is forced to realise that he cannot conquer time hemakes a last desperate attempt to embrace God as he says, ‘I’llleap up to my God! Who pulls me down?/See see where Christ’sblood streams in the firmament!/One drop would save my soul,half a drop: ah my Christ!’. What we are presented with here is theirony of a man who refused to acknowledge the warning of his owncongealing blood when he signed the contract with the devil, butwho now sees the message of redemption only when it is too late.As he calls out to Christ the devil strikes at his heart and in his fearand terror Faustus pleads for the mercy of the devil rather than themercy of God.

• The intensity of Faustus’s struggle is made more apparent by theway Marlowe structures the verse as we see Faustus being tornbetween thoughts of God and thoughts of the devil. A clearexample can be seen in the lines ‘O I’ll leap up to my God! Whopulls me down’ and ‘Yet I will call on him – O spare me Lucifer’.

• Once Faustus is focused on the devil all he can then see is thewrath of God and he tries desperately to involve the aid of theelements whom he once thought to command. Marlowe uses anecho here of renaissance spiritual texts when he has Faustusinvolve the mountains and the hills. They were often used todescribe the last judgement and plight of the fever-ridden butunrepentant sinners. Faustus begs them to fall on him to ‘hide mefrom the heavy wrath of God’.

Read now to the end of the Faustus’s monologue and make notes onyour response to the way Marlowe presents Faustus’s final end.

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In his last moments we hear Faustus longing for extinction or to beturned into ‘some brutish beast’ whose soul could be dissolved in theelements. Once again, there is a terrible irony in this desire from aman who once took such delight in sensuality begs only to bereleased into the unfeeling elements. It is made clear to us that it isnot death that Faustus fears, but the consequences of his choice andfor the first time the fetters are lifted from his eyes and he sees clearlythat he must accept the responsibility for what he has done. At first helooks for a scapegoat as he cries ‘Cursed be the parents thatengendered me’, but then he finally recognises the truth ‘Ah Faustus,curse thyself…’ Faustus may see the truth, but he is impotent tochange the course he must now follow and Marlowe builds up to thefinal climatic moment by the sound of the clock’s striking twelve andthe crashing of thunder and lightning as Faustus is harried awaybleating that ‘I’ll burn my books’. Hence, the play concludes with thevictim of his own arrogant conceit and pride being caught in thetangled web he has woven for himself. Marlowe leaves us in no doubtthat Faustus has doomed himself to hell by the perversity of his ownwill.

The play concludes with the return of the chorus to the stage to issue asubtle warning to those ‘Whose deepness doth entice such forwardwits,/To practice more than heavenly power permits’.

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Dr Faustus Characterisation - Faustus


FAUSTUS

One very notable aspect of this play is that on the whole it featuresonly one significant character. We do, of course, have the low lifecharacters in the comic scenes, the scholars at the university and therepeated appearances of Mephastophilis, but we have to accept thatthis play is focused solely on one character that of Faustus.

At the beginning of the play Faustus is presented to us as a whollyegocentric man, a man who will not accept things as they are and onewho wallows in the delusion of self-importance.

Return to the play and makes notes on your response to Faustus as youlook back at his twenty-four years of self-gratification.

Here are some ideas to add to your own

• Doctor Faustus can be seen as a man who brings tragedy andsuffering crashing down on himself, because of his ambitions anddesires. Throughout the text the dramatic light is focused solelyon Faustus, a man who does not inflict suffering upon others nordoes he receive pain from them. He is simply the victim of his ownconscious wilfulness. Faustus is forced to suffer as a result ofspiritual loss. He is presented with a choice either to follow thepath of righteousness which may not bring worldly acclaim, butdoes lead to spiritual salvation or to follow the route of eternaldamnation for a short period of personal gratification. Faustus is,however, no fool and on our first meeting with him he is presentedas a learn’d doctor who is ‘excellent perfect in the holy scriptures’.We also learn that he has dabbled in magic before becoming aDoctor of Divinity and that he ‘waked a worldly man’ hence in theinterests of worldly pleasure, we find him at pains to conjure and‘know the secrets of heaven and earth’.

• The character we are presented with is one that is filled with prideand carries an egoistic ambition to become his own god. He doesnot, it appears, pursue knowledge for the sake of truth, but forpower and super-human power. He is a man who is dissatisfiedwith the limitations imposed on him as a mortal and so he castsaside his study of Divinity in favour of the magic that he deludeshimself will make him into a demi-God. Divinity teaches man thathe must accept his mortality, but for Faustus this is not to betolerated and so we see him calling up the Devil to satiate hisappetite for power and glory.

7. CHARACTERISATION



• Insolence and pride characterise Faustus at this early point in theplay as he calls Mephastophilis and then arrogantly asserts ‘Howpliant is this Mephastophilis,/Full of obedience and humility!/Suchis the force of magic and my spells….’

• Mephastophilis soon disabuses Faustus of his pretensions whenhe tells him that ‘when we hear one rack the name of God,/Abjurethe scriptures and his Saviour Christ,/We fly, in hope to get hisglorious soul’. This however, does not deter Faustus and we seehim as vain and foolish when he refuses to be afraid of the worddamnation arguing ‘I confound hell in Elysium’. Marlowe takesFaustus to the very edge of self-delusion and reveals him to be anextremely egoistic and boastful fool. He is even warned by theDevil himself about the pain of everlasting torment but he simplyreprimands Mephastophilis for his cowardliness and continues onhis road to destruction.

• Faustus is left to struggle with his uncontrolled appetite and acomplete lack of humility. In one of his moments of suffering hecomes to admit that ‘The God thou serv’st is thine own appetite’ ,but this is not enough to enable him to turn from his path of self-destruction. Faustus it seems is easily satisfied with immediategratification of his sensual desires and whenever he finds himselftormented by an uncomfortable conscience he is distracted byillusions conjured up by Mephastophilis that tear him away fromany course that might lead to repentance. Thus, we see him asweak and rather shallow as he wallows in his hedonistic pursuitand revels in idle fantasies.

• What we are finally presented with is a man who, as he succinctlysums up himself, ‘for the vain pleasure of four and twenty yearshath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity’. He is ultimately forced toaccept that he had traded higher values for lower ones and thewages of his sin is to be eternal torment.

• On one level Marlowe paints a picture of man’s vulnerability andfoolishness such that we as readers can empathise with his state.However, one might question whether Marlowe really expects usto see this man as a representative of mankind. This man, itseems, exists outside of the common weal having exceptionalintellectual attainments, an extraordinary flight of imagination andambition, a delight in exploring the forbidden realms of magic anda conscious arrogance in the face of the divine order. In thissense he is singled out as an individual. However, there are twoimportant aspects to Faustus’s character that do give him a moreuniversal persona. The first of these involve his goals of wealth,honour and power, which he foresees as attainable throughgeographical and military expeditions. These fit easily into theexpectations of the Elizabethan age with their voyages ofdiscovery and their growing awareness of continents beyond theboundaries of European shores. The second is the idea ofsensuality, Faustus’s desire to have a life of ‘all voluptuousness’.This is again something that can be recognised as a humanquality as played out by the low life characters in the comic



scenes. Thus, it is possible to see Faustus’s plight as one that isuniversal to all mankind when faced with the possibility of choice.

• It is also possible to recognise the human imagination in Faustus’squest for super-human knowledge and power, an obsession thatusually carries with it the seeds of its own destruction. Hence wesee a complicated mix in the presentation of Faustus, a man whoon the one had seems to exist outside of the realms and mankind,but is also characterised by qualities and weaknesses that areexhibited by the most common of men. It is possible to argue thenthat Faustus for all his individuality still represents some aspects ofthe everyday man. His predicament may be extraordinary, but hisbehaviour is at times recognisable as fundamental to the commonman. He embodies to a certain extent human aspiration, thedesire to escape inhibitions, to explore beyond the limits, to controland defy mortality. He is his own worst deceiver, worst enemy andworst tempter and this is his tragedy that Faustus’s blindness isself-imposed and he wilfully destroys himself – he is both thevictim and the executioner.

Dr Faustus Characterisation - Mephastophilis


Mephastophilis

Mephastophilis is an interesting character as although he appears toFaustus as a mere slave he is in fact an unusual and quite complexdevil. At various points in the play, when Faustus is tempted torenounce evil, we see Mephastophilis employing his cunning to attainFaustus’s soul for Lucifer. He flatters Faustus’s pride and feeds hisarrogance and superficiality by providing illusions and sensualpleasures that delight Faustus and leave him temporarily satisfied.Mephastophilis also terrifies Faustus when he is drawn towards God,although as an audience, we are always made aware of the fact that theDevil is ultimately powerless in the face of God. This is not, of course,ever revealed to Faustus who remains blind to this simple fact.Mephastophilis is, however, a rather unusual devil in that hemomentarily displays the terrible loss that he suffers to Faustus as hedescribes not only Lucifer’s fall from grace, but his own pain andsuffering.

Now go back through the text and find examples for yourself whereMephastophilis employs his cunning.

Now look carefully at lines 65-83 and make notes on the effect of thepresentation of Mephastophilis here.

In these lines we see Mephastophilis temporarily moving out of therole of tempter. He openly states it was pride and insolence that threwLucifer from the face of God and those who fell with him are,‘Unhappy spirits’. However, the warning to Faustus moves beyond

TASK 40

Dr Faustus Characterisation - Mephastophilis


mere description as Mephastophilis asserts ‘Thinks’t thou that I, whosaw the face of God,/And tasted the external joys of heaven,/Am nottormented with ten thousand hells/In being deprive of everlastingbliss!’. In those lines we have revealed to us the depths of spiritualpain and agonising suffering. Mephastophilis tells Faustus ‘Why thisis hell, nor am I out of it’. Thus, hell is defined as being allencompassing in that it is defined as everlasting alienation from Godand so we hear Mephastophilis cry out ‘O Faustus, leave thesefrivolous demands,/which strike terror into my fainting soul’.

What we have here is both a terrible warning to Faustus who we knowwilfully rejects it, and also an articulation of the pain of spiritual lossand the empty wilderness in which such beings are left to wander.This presentation of a Devil in this way was unique to Marlowe asnever before had English drama revealed a Devil who urged his victimto save his soul.

Now look through the rest of the text and consider your own responseto the way Marlowe presents Mephastophilis and his function in theplay as a whole.

Dr Faustus Characterisation – The Comic Characters


The Comic Characters

Throughout the text the comic scenes serve to underline the falsity ofFaustus’s belief that he is somehow special and more powerful than therest of mankind. We are presented with characters who are foolish andlimited in their vision, but who are also able to conjure devils even ifthey do end up being abused by them. These characters lust afterpleasures and delights in the same way as Faustus and we are asked tolaugh at them in an open way, whilst at the same time, making usaware that Marlowe is in fact mocking Faustus’s arrogance.

Look back at the comic scenes and make notes on the way they act as aparody of Faustus’s situation.

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Dr Faustus Themes and Issues


In identifying some central themes of the play it is important toremember that these, like the characters, are open to interpretation.You may find that different critical books focus on different thematicareas and one book may stress certain areas while another attachesmore importance to others. Having said that it is possible to seeemerging from the play certain key ideas and issues.

Here are some themes and issues that can be identified in the play.

CHOICE

LUST FOR POWER

HUMAN FRAILTY

REDEMPTION V DAMNATION

PRIDE/EGOTISM/ARROGANCE/AMBITION

LOSS

Let’s have a closer look at these ideas and the importance they have inthe play as a whole.

8. THEMES AND ISSUES



Choice

This is probably the most important theme in the text as the playconcerns itself with one man’s choice between good and evil.However, what this play makes quite clear is that this choice is not pre-determined or influenced by outside forces. It is Faustus’s own,unconstrained choice. What Marlowe emphasises is the burden ofhuman responsibility as Faustus is presented as his own worst enemy.He tempts himself well beyond anything that the devil can offer. TheEvil Angel bids him ‘think of honour and of wealth’ (Act 1, Sc 5, L21), but Faustus’s flights of fancy go far beyond this as he dreams ofthe material power that will be open to him when he strikes his bargainwith the devil. Thus, it is made quite clear all the way through the playthat Faustus always had a choice and he could have at any timerepented of his sins, but his tragedy lies in the fact that he is always tooblind to realise this.

Now look back through the play and find examples of the wayMarlowe presents the question of choice and comment on what itreveals of Faustus’s character each time he is tempted to repent.



Lust for Power

When we are first introduced to Faustus we are presented withsomeone who aspires to be more than a man. We see him lingeringover his books of magic contemplating his personal power over all theworld. He deliberates on ‘what a world of profit and delight,/Ofpower, of honour, of omnipotence/Is promised to the studious artisan!’Faustus’s aspiration then is to command ‘All things that move betweenquiet poles’ and to achieve this he believes he need only ‘try theirbrains to gain a deity’. Hence we see Faustus’s predilection for powerfrom the very outset and in consequence he chooses to ignore that suchmagic contains danger as well as pleasure. Faustus’s dreams of powerand wealth inflate his language and lead him to conjure Mephostophilisto satiate his obsessions. It is interesting to note, however, that unlikeother characters in English drama Faustus does not seek to attaindestructive power, neither does he have ruthless political ambitions.Marlowe presents us with only one victim, that of Faustus himself,who desires not to deprive others of their life or dignity, but only tofulfil his own personal pleasure at the expense of usurping God.

Now look back through the play and consider the way Faustus employshis power and make notes on how Marlowe reinforces the idea thatFaustus’s sin is that of a fallen angel, that of turning his face from Godand everlasting grace in exchange for twenty-four paltry years ofillusive power.



Human Frailty

Faustus is a man who resents most deeply the fact that for all hislearning he is still bound by his mortality and an overwhelming senseof powerlessness. When we first meet him in his study he dismissesthe study of the law as fit only for a ‘mercenary drudge/Who aims atnothing but external trash’ and settles on the idea that his own study‘divinity is best’. However, this is not enough to satisfy his soaringpride and so, as we know, he commits himself to dabbling innecromancy.

Faustus appears proud, arrogant, self-deceived and puffed up with hisown conceit, however, Marlowe never lets us lose sight of the fact thathe is human. Hence, we see his frailty being exposed with each flashof conscience. As Valdes has asserted he can be powerful ‘If learnedFaustus will be resolute’, and for a time he is. However, as the playprogresses we see more and more of Faustus’s vulnerability as hebecomes stricken with fear as he contemplates the terrible bargain hehas struck.

Look back through the play at the points at which we see Faustus beingtormented with the choice he is constantly given and comment on howMarlowe makes this character extremely human and vulnerable inthese scenes.



Pride, Arrogance and Ambition

These adjectives really sum up the nature of Faustus’s fall. Heembraces all of these sins throughout the text. At the beginning of theplay we are presented with a man who is weary of orthodox learningand who fearlessly seeks to understand all there is to know about theworld through his study of necromancy. However, once power is his,Faustus abandons any pursuit of worthy deeds in favour of gratifyinghis own personal pursuit of pleasure.

In his first meeting with Mephastophilis he displays both arroganceand pride as he asserts ‘Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee?Speak!’. When Mephastophilis disabuses him of this belief he goes onto castigate him for cowardliness as he speaks of the horrors of eternaltorment, Faustus says ‘Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude’, wordsthat will of course come back to haunt him. Faustus’s ambition, as weknow, is to attain not just wealth and honour, but he wishes to be‘great emperor of the world’ and to spend his twenty-four years in‘pleasure and in dalliance’.

Look back through the text and make your own notes on the ways inwhich Marlowe reveals these qualities of Faustus’s character and whatform and shape they take.



Loss

One of the central issues in this play is the idea of loss and Marlowecouches this in the form of the medieval idea of a lost soul. From theoutset of the play it is made clear to us that all is hell that is not withinheaven’s bourne, hence Mephastophilis tells Faustus ‘Why this is hell,nor am I out of it’. Hell then is seen as all encompassing, it ‘hath nolimits, nor is it circumscribed.…/for where we are is hell,/And wherehell is, must we ever be’. At this point in the play Faustus is still self-assured and he arrogantly embraces the idea of hell insisting, ‘How,now in hell? Nay, and this be hell, I’ll willingly be damned here.’However, as the play progresses we see Faustus growing desperate ashe comes to realise that all his desires, ambitions and learning arebarren in the face of spiritual loss. The early part of the play hints atthe depths of vulgar triviality into which Faustus will ultimatelydescend. Having renounced salvation Faustus is forced to pay thewages of sin and in the final reckoning both he and the audience areexposed to the reality of what he has lost. In this last hour before thedevil appears to harry away his soul Faustus is still haunted by thepossibility of redemption which lies beyond his reach. We are leftwith an image of a man who as Mephastophilis insists is, ‘now lost …no hope of heaven’. Here then is the greatest loss mankind can suffer,that of the damnation of his immortal soul.

Look back through the play and make your own notes on the wayMarlowe presents Faustus’s fall and the significance of the loss of theimmortal Soul.

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Dr Faustus Redemption versus Damnation


It is important to consider this play in the light of sixteenth centuryviews of redemption and damnation. There is no doubt that throughoutthis play it is the conflict between the forces of good and evil thatprovide the major dramatic tension. Marlowe emphasises this conflictby personifying it in the form of the Good and Bad Angels who outlinethe alternatives that Faustus is faced with. In the sixteenth centuryangels and devils were not thought to be just images created to signifythe vacillations of the human mind. They were in fact thought of asreal spiritual beings who had been created by God and who had beengiven certain powers and functions, one particular one being toinfluence by suggestion although not to limit the mind of man.Interestingly Marlowe does not direct Faustus’s attention towards theGood and Bad Angels as dramatic entities. Faustus never speaks toeither of them directly, nor does he show any awareness of them beinga physical presence. Thus we can see that Marlowe is not reallycreating them in the accepted form of the of the day but more asspiritual forms that articulate Faustus’s own thoughts. In modernterms we might say they are his conscience and they are confined tomerely attempting to sway Faustus’s will either to the side of good orto evil. By creating the angels in this way and moving away from theconventional portrayal of angels at this period in history Marlowekeeps Faustus at the centre of the conflict. Thus the end result of thispresentation is to underline the central issue of the play that it isFaustus’s own choice that ultimately leads him to eternal damnation.

The Elizabethans believed in purgatory, the place where all souls wentwhilst they were waiting to go either to heaven or hell. This place wascharacterised by sorrow and lamenting but also by hope that soon theywould fly up to heaven and spend eternity with their creator. They alsobelieved in a hell of everlasting torment, a place of fire and eternalsuffering, a place where, as Mephastophilis asserts, ‘we are torturedand remain forever’. Marlowe however, takes this one step furtherwhen he has Mephastophilis insist that ‘Hell hath no limits, nor iscircumscribed/In one self place’. Thus we see Marlowe’s visionmoving beyond the idea of boundaries as is made quite clear to Faustusas he is told, ‘… when all the world dissolves,/And every creature shallbe purified,/All places shall be hell that is not heaven’.

Thus Marlowe makes Faustus’s tragedy of moral choice even moreharrowing. Throughout the drama the conflict between salvation ordamnation is held in precarious balance and it is not decided byexternal forces but the battle is fought in Faustus’s own mind. Thus bykeeping the focus of the struggle locked within one man Marlowepresents to us the terrible burden of Faustus’s humanity which formsthe root of his suffering. There is no doubt at the end of this play that

9. REDEMPTION VERSUS DAMNATION – THETHEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF THIS PLAY

Conflict betweenGood and Evil

Faustus’sconscience

Purgatory

Moral choice

Dr Faustus Redemption versus Damnation


Faustus is forced to accept the unavoidable responsibility for his freelymade choices. As such Marlowe leaves us with a character who isneither hero nor villain but simply a man, who like all men, in keepingwith Christian theological teaching, must face a universal order that farexceeds anything the mind of man can conjure. Thus it is possible tosuggest that Marlowe moves beyond the conventional view of angelsand to a certain extent the limitations of hell in his drama. However,there is no doubt at the end of the play that Marlowe does not mock theChristian theologies. He may have been accused of being an atheistbut as this play closes we are left in no doubt about the agony andtorment that Faustus allowed himself to be drawn into when he madehis bargain with the devil.

* * * * * *

Dr Faustus Dr Faustus and the Morality Play


Having read Dr Faustus we can see that Marlowe’s play concernsitself with the central theological concepts of evil and suffering and inthis respect links can be made with the tradition of the morality play.Hardin Craig has defined the morality play as ‘the presentation of manin the prelapsarian (before Adam’s fall into sin) situation, where he isdestined to die in sin unless he be saved by the intervention of divinegrace and by repentance’.6 It is possible to apply this definition to DrFaustus however, as has already been discussed Faustus is not simplyan ordinary man, the type that was generally presented in the moralityplays. Faustus is a far more complex individual and as such his fatemoves Marlowe’s play beyond the morality tradition.

Faustus is presented to us as an individual, one who has attained greatlearning and a man who does not seek to harm others only to gainpower for his own pleasure. He is a man who embodies thefundamental experience of mankind, being himself characterised bypride, arrogance, wilfulness and hubris. These are the qualities thatMephastophilis admits that Lucifer and all the fallen angels are guiltyof and in this sense it is possible to see Faustus’s fall more allied to thefall of angels than the everyman of the morality play. The tragedy ofFaustus is that he had enormous potential but his pride and arrogancedrove him to believe he could attain the impossible. He is certainly anextraordinary man but in many ways it is this that ultimately leads tohis defeat.

It is possible to see why an Elizabethan audience might see Dr Faustusas just another morality play because it does, of course, deal with aman who is destined to die in sin unless he can allow himself to besaved by divine grace. However, as modern readers we must take intoconsideration the enormous depth and universality that is presented tous in the character of Faustus and so be aware how Marlowe’s playmoves beyond the basic morality convention.

* * * * * *

6 ‘Morality Plays and Elizabethan Drama’ S.Q., I (1950), 67

10. DR FAUSTUS AND THE MORALITY PLAY

Evil and suffering

Pride before thefall

Dr Faustus How to write about language


This is an area of study that you may find challenging. Here are someideas you might like to keep in mind when addressing this question.

• Two key words to keep firmly in mind are how and why. That is tosay how is the playwright using language and why has he chosen touse a particular image or symbol.

• An examiner is looking for more than just an identification offigurative language. He/she is expecting a student to be able todiscuss the way language is working. For example, as the playopens, we hear Faustus say ‘O what a world of profit anddelight,/Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,/Is promised to thestudious artisan!’ These words not only illustrate Faustus’sarrogance and obsession with wordly acclaim but they also conveya sense of his pride and over-reaching desire for earthly glory.

• In a later speech we hear Faustus assert ‘How am I glutted withconceit of this!’ This in itself is ironic because the phrase literallymeans drunk with the thought and to be drunk is to be removedfrom one’s normal rational thought. It also implies the idea of beingsatiated which is, of course, what Faustus will never be; he willremain empty and dissatisfied. Thus we can see Marlowedeveloping both plot and character and foreshadowing future eventsall within one line.

• It is always useful to remind yourself of the technical terms used todescribe figurative language such as:

• alliteration• assonance• antithesis• hyperbole• metaphor• simile• oxymoron• rhetoric• personification• imagery• symbolism• onomatopoeia.

There are, of course, many others but the main thing to remember isthat if you are going to use this language you must understand howand why the playwright has chosen to employ it.

11. HOW TO WRITE ABOUT LANGUAGE

Ask ‘how’ and‘why’

Discuss the waylanguage works

Comment onhidden meanings

Know thetechnical terms

Dr Faustus How to write about language


In scene three Mephastophilis cries out:-

‘Why this is hell, nor am I out of it,Think’st thou that I, who saw the face of God,And tasted the eternal joys of heavenAm not tormented with ten thousand hellsIn being deprived of everlasting bliss!’ (77-81)

What do you notice in these lines? - Make notes on how language isbeing used.

You may have noted Marlowe’s use of alliteration in ‘Think’st thou’ and‘tormented with ten thousand hells’ which serves to heighten thetension and emphasises Mephastophilis’s sense of alienation,loneliness and spiritual void. The enormity of suffering is illustratedthrough the use of ‘ten thousand hells’ and is contrasted with theimage of ‘everlasting bliss’. Hence in these four lines we are given apicture of the agonies of hell so terrifying that only the most foolish ofindividuals could fail to be afraid. In this way, Marlowe makesFaustus’s fall more horrifying and his arrogance and pride morebelievable.

You may wish to look back through the text and attempt some closeanalysis of the language. When you feel ready move on to the lastsection which offers various types of examination question.

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TASK 41

Dr Faustus Essay questions


1. From your reading of the play and the presentation of the Character of Mephastophilis,what do we learn about sixteenth century attitudes to hell and damnation?

2. Dr Faustus is a man who can be seen to bring tragedy and suffering crashing down onhimself because of his ambitions and desires – how far do you agree with this view ofFaustus as presented in the play?

3. How far do you feel Marlowe presents an orthodox view of eternal damnation through thecharacter of Doctor Faustus?

4. Can Faustus be defined by the terms hero or villain? Discuss.

5. Faustus has been described as both the victim and the executioner. How far do you agreewith this view of Marlowe’s presentation of him throughout the play?

6. Remind yourself of Faustus’s last monologue lines 60-115 from ‘Ah Faustus to – ahMephastophilis’. What does Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus in this last section of theplay reveal about the tragedy of his twenty-four year bargain with the devil?

7. Look back at the comic scenes and comment on their significance in the play as a whole.

8. Discuss Marlowe’s use of irony in ‘Dr Faustus’.

9. In what ways do you feel that Marlowe moves beyond the conventional morality play? Inyour answer you should consider the dramatic presentation of the angels and the play’sending.

10. How does Marlowe present Faustus’s ambition throughout the play?

11. What do you consider to be the tragedy of Doctor Faustus?

12. What have you found interesting in the presentation of Mephastophilis in Marlowe’s play‘Doctor Faustus’?

13. In the light of your knowledge of sixteenth century theological teaching how conventionaldo you find Marlowe’s presentation of Faustus.

14. The loss of a soul is considered to be one of the central themes of this play. Howeffectively do you feel Marlowe presents this loss to his audience?

15. How effectively does Marlowe dramatise the conflict between salvation or damnation inhis play ‘Dr Faustus’? In your answer you should consider sixteenth century views of helland damnation.

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12. ESSAY QUESTIONS

dr faustus workbook

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