Omar Abd-ElNasser - Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus- Study Guide

The title Doctor Faustus refers to the play's protagonist as well as the historic figure Dr. John Faustus—an English version of the name Johann Fausten—who was a self-proclaimed magician and wizard at a time when witchcraft was feared and condemned by Catholics and Protestants alike. The play was first published in 1604 with the more lengthy title The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The extended title calls attention to the play's genre but also provides a contrast. Doctor Faustus is not the typical well-to-do hero of a tragedy. In fact, he's a commoner, which suggests that no one is immune to tragedy.

Overview

Author

Christopher Marlowe

Year Published

1604

Type

Play

Genre

Tragedy

About the Title

Plot Summary

Act 1

Doctor John Faustus is introduced by the chorus, whose role is to both explain and to facilitate transitions in the play. Here the chorus explains that his story is not a sweeping tale of warfare or love at court. It is the tale of a man of lowly birth who in later years is raised by a kinsman while attending school in Wertenberg. The young man proves to be a brilliant religious scholar but, swollen with pride, turns away from traditional areas of study to explore necromancy, or black magic.

As Faustus sits in his study, he pages through various texts on logic, medicine, law, and religion. Dismissing them one by one, he turns at last to a book of magic. The power and authority promised by mastering this art appeals to Faustus. In spite of warnings from the Good Angel that appears, he resolves to study magic. He engages his German friends Valdes and Cornelius to teach him all the basics he needs to know about the "damned art" of necromancy.

Sometime later, in a demonstration of his conjuring skills, Faustus summons up the devil Mephastophilis—"an unhappy spirit that fell with Lucifer," the prince of devils, when God threw him out of heaven. Mephastophilis explains that by dabbling in magic, Faustus risks corruption of his soul. He then warns of the torments of hell that await him if he allies himself with Lucifer. Undaunted, Faustus sends the devil back to his master with an offer: the soul of Faustus in exchange for 24 years of service from Mephastophilis.

Act 2

Mephastophilis returns to Faustus with the news that Lucifer has agreed to the deal, provided Faustus will write and sign the deed for his soul in blood. Faustus proceeds as instructed, but the moment it is done, the words Homo fuge appear like a brand on his arm. Latin for "Fly, O man!" they seem to be a warning. Unsettled, Faustus tries to imagine where he could run—certainly not to God, who would throw him into hell for what he has done. To distract Faustus and strengthen his determination, Mephastophilis showers him with rich gifts and devilish entertainment and then provides all the books Faustus desires on spells and incantations.

A while later, Faustus wavers in his decision and considers renouncing magic and repenting. Then, recalling that he is most certainly damned already, he hardens his heart and begins questioning Mephastophilis on the nature and movement of heavenly bodies. However, when he asks, "Who made the world?" the devil refuses to answer, stirring up Faustus's doubts once more. Just as the doctor calls upon Christ to save his soul, Lucifer appears, accompanied by Belzebub, his companion prince in hell. To draw Faustus back from the brink of repentance, they appeal to his thirst for knowledge and enthrall him with a display of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Act 3

Faustus has studied diligently and now uses his dark powers to travel to Rome, where he visits the pope. Bidding Mephastophilis to make him invisible, he harasses the pope as he entertains guests, flinging fireworks among them, stealing food and drink, and boxing the pope's ears.

Act 4

In the years that follow, Faustus travels throughout Europe, appearing at the courts of kings and earning an impressive reputation for wit and knowledge of the black arts. Eventually Emperor Carolus the Fifth invites Faustus to his court and begs him to conjure up Alexander the Great. While the emperor is duly impressed by the feat, a knight mocks the doctor's skill. In retaliation Faustus gives him a pair of horns on his head, a sure sign that the knight has been cuckolded by his wife.

Continuing his travels, Faustus performs further feats of magic, including a dishonest and cruel prank on a horse-courser (a dealer in horses). Later, he entertains the duke and duchess of Vanholt at court by producing grapes in winter.

Act 5

As the final act opens, Faustus is conjuring beautiful Helen of Troy for a group of admiring scholars. However, the 24 years allotted to the doomed doctor are winding down, and soon it will be time to forfeit his soul. An old man appears and begs him to repent and ask God's forgiveness. Though briefly tempted, Faustus instead reaffirms his vow to Lucifer in blood. Then, to fortify his resolve, Faustus asks Mephastophilis to summon back Helen of Troy to be his lover.

During his final hours, Faustus reveals his fate to three fellow scholars. They implore him to call on God for help, but Faustus insists it is too late. He has rejected God, blasphemed, and been in a pact with Lucifer for too long to expect mercy. Faustus begs the scholars to leave him and is alone when the clock strikes eleven. In mounting terror and despair, Faustus begs Lucifer to spare him or for Earth to bury him and hide him from the wrath of God. But Faustus's destiny is fixed. The clock strikes twelve, and Lucifer's minions appear in order to drag the doctor's soul off to hell.

Characters

Doctor Faustus

Doctor Faustus, a brilliant theologian from the university in Wertenberg, Germany, has also mastered the subjects of logic and medicine. An ambitious, inquisitive man of the Renaissance, he is driven to seek beyond the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the medieval world. His restless intellect leads him to the acquisition of dark knowledge: knowledge of the secrets of the physical universe, as well as the forbidden art of magic and the unlimited power and knowledge it promises. Disregarding God's authority, he arrogantly imagines all the great and noble things he will accomplish with this dark power. However, Faustus's grand visions never materialize. He lacks the moral strength to use magic wisely or for good. The lowest, most petty impulses in his nature emerge, and his sweeping visions of greatness fade. He becomes wealthy and famous for performing mediocre tricks and is prone to use magic to abuse others. Despite his degree in theology, Faustus is a skeptic concerning realms of the spirit. He turns his back on God, labels hell "a fable," and refuses every chance to repent and save his soul.

Mephastophilis

Mephastophilis describes himself as one of the "unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer" when God threw that former angel out of heaven. As a result, he is "forever damned with Lucifer." Acting as an agent for the "prince of devils," Mephastophilis facilitates Faustus's damnation. He recruits Faustus, oversees his blood pact with Lucifer, and makes sure the doctor remains loyal to hell for the next 24 years. Contrary to a traditional figure of pure evil, Mephastophilis presents a surprising portrait of the damned that is both villainous and tormented. He deceives, manipulates, and threatens Faustus, especially when the doctor leans toward repentance. Yet Mephastophilis can be truthful and is capable of suffering. He candidly tells Faustus that he has come to collect his soul for Lucifer and then warns Faustus just as honestly about the nature of hell and what a doomed soul can expect. He callously admits that he inflicts fiendish pain on the damned, but he also reveals his own agony. He has seen the face of God and tasted eternal bliss and is therefore "tormented with ten thousand hells / In being deprived of everlasting bliss." Mephastophilis goes so far as to advise Faustus, prior to him making his pact with Lucifer, to "leave these frivolous demands, / Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!"

Lucifer

Lucifer is the cunning and cruel manifestation of eternal damnation. Mephastophilis introduces Lucifer to Faustus as his master, the "prince of devils." He then relates his history as an angel who grew in pride and insolence until God "threw him from the face of heaven." As an angel, Lucifer was not content to serve God but wished to take his place. His kingdom now is hell, and he works against God, corrupting humans, luring them into sin, and capturing their immortal souls to populate his realm for eternity. The soul of Faustus—an intellectual, a learned scholar, and a theologian—is a prestigious catch, and Lucifer is more than willing to make a pact to ensnare it. The doctor describes Lucifer's countenance as "terrible," or fearful to look upon. Lucifer is a clever and merciless manipulator who wields fear as a tool to get what he wants.

Symbols

Books

Books scattered throughout the play represent various avenues of learning as well as Faustus's attitude toward the knowledge and wisdom each offers. In Act 1 he peruses books representing traditional subjects of study during the Renaissance: logic, medicine, law, and theology. These books represent the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the medieval past. Tossing the books aside, Faustus rejects their subject matter and dismisses their value. What they offer is old-fashioned, too limited in scope, or something he has already mastered.

Faustus, hungry for new knowledge, picks up a book on necromancy, a branch of magic in which someone makes the dead appear in the form of spirits in order to manipulate the present or predict the future. This promise of hidden knowledge appeals to Faustus. Once he signs his pact with Lucifer, Mephastophilis gives him a better book, filled with spells and incantations, as well as the secrets of astronomy. astrology, and the natural sciences. However, neither book contains wisdom. As a result they represent Faustus's foolish entry into forbidden realms of study, where he is showered with knowledge while losing his soul. In a final act of despair, Faustus vows to burn his books, signaling that he means to give up necromancy. The wisdom of rejecting magic in favor of salvation does not come from a book but from the hard reality that magic has brought him to the doorstep of hell.

Angels

As symbols, the Good Angel and the Evil Angel personify the conflict between the opposing values of good and evil and represent the spiritual battle taking place for Faustus's heart and soul. The angels also symbolize Faustus's inner turmoil as he wrestles with his pride and ambition on the one hand and his conscience and fear of damnation on the other. The angels stand for the two warring aspects of his mind and as such engage in a perpetual debate. In Act 2, Scene 1 the Good Angel urges Faustus to "think of heaven and heavenly things" while the Bad Angel counters with "think of honor and wealth." Later, in Act 2, Scene 3, the Evil Angel is convinced that it is "too late" for Faustus to repent. The Good Angel retorts, "Never too late, if Faustus can repent." In a broader sense the two angels illustrate the dividedness of human nature, the internal tug-of-war between a human's noble and moral aspirations and that same human's ignoble and immoral passions.

Blood

In general blood is a symbol of life and life's connection to God—the divine source that animates the body. In Doctor Faustus it represents the doctor's soul, and thus his link to the devil, but also the only path to Faustus's salvation. In Act 2 Mephastophilis insists that the deed to Faustus's soul be drawn up in the doctor's blood, underscoring the blood's supernatural nature. It is blood that secures the link between Faustus and Lucifer as the doctor literally hands over the physical and spiritual essence of his divine nature to the devil. This causes Faustus's soul to be bound to hell. Yet while blood still courses through Faustus's veins, he lives and may therefore repent.

In his blood oath to Lucifer, Faustus says, "I cut mine arm, and with my proper blood / Assure my soul to be great Lucifer's." But his own blood acts independently of him. Midway through the writing of his pact with Lucifer, Faustus's blood congeals to the point where he cannot get enough to continue writing. The doctor has time to wonder what this portends and to ask, "Is [my blood] unwilling I should write this bill?" Then Mephastophilis provides hot coals that liquefy the blood once more. As the blood represents Faustus's soul, it appears that his soul is not yet damned but is fighting for survival. Something within Faustus is righteous enough to resist what the doctor is about to do by signing the pact. Throughout the play he must be convinced to keep his bargain. In Act 5 when Mephastophilis fears that Faustus may repent, he frightens Faustus into renewing his blood oath to Lucifer.

The sacred significance of blood appears at the end of the play and represents atonement through Christ. The old man pleads with Faustus to shed one drop of blood to mingle with tears of repentance, to save his soul. Later Faustus despairingly wishes he could "gush forth blood, instead of tears." As his death draws near he sees "where Christ's blood streams in the firmament." This alludes to the blood Jesus Christ shed on the cross to wash away the sins of the world. In other words Faustus is not yet beyond mercy and deliverance. All that is required is repentance and a blood oath to God.

Themes

Knowledge over Wisdom

There is an important distinction between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts, information, and skills through education and experience. It is only a tool and offers no insights into the meaning of life. Wisdom comes from the useful synthesis of facts, information, and skills into a deeper and more truthful understanding of life and relationships.

In the true spirit of the Renaissance, Doctor Faustus thirsts for knowledge. In his unbridled pursuit of it, he rejects what may be learned from even the wisest men of the past, specifically the brilliant Greek philosophers Aristotle and Galen and the Byzantine emperor Justinian, who rewrote Roman law. Though he is a doctor of divinity, he also dismisses what theology and the Bible have to teach. Impatient and dissatisfied with the past's accumulated knowledge, he craves to know more. This quest leads to his downfall primarily because Faustus has not acquired—and does not search for—wisdom.

As Faustus demonstrates, knowledge without the moral guidance of wisdom can be used for good or evil. He looks to the forbidden knowledge of necromancy, the practice of speaking to the spirits of dead people, to fulfill his desire to know more than traditional sources of knowledge can teach him. He is further seduced by the power and wealth magic promises. His desire to push the boundaries of human knowledge is without guiding wisdom. Nor does he acquire wisdom along the way. His grand boasts of all he will do with his newly acquired dark knowledge of magic fizzle into mean-spirited pranks and self-serving tricks to gain fame and money. He discovers no universally applicable truth. He is never wise enough to heed the council of the Good Angel, the old man, or even Mephastophilis. When devils at last cart him off to his doom, he has a head full of facts and information. Too late he acquires the insight that might have saved him: hell is real, and he has damned himself to it.

Pride and Ambition

The theme of pride and ambition is linked to the theme of knowledge over wisdom. The synthesis of these two themes has an intoxicating effect on Faustus. His intellectual pride, or arrogance, makes him impatient with even the most revered authorities of the past, such as Aristotle, a philosopher, Galen, a philosopher and physician, and Justinian, a specialist in law. Faustus's ambition is to know more than all their accumulated knowledge and wisdom can teach him. For this reason, he turns to the study of magic. He fantasizes that by mastering this field of study, he could become a god and command a vast realm, limited only by his imagination. He never considers using his knowledge for any kind of greater good.

In his pride and ambition, Faustus has a kindred spirit in Lucifer, whose history mirrors his own. In the beginning Lucifer, the highest ranking angel in heaven, was full of wisdom and perfect in his beauty. But he became filled with pride and desired to be God, instead of a servant to God. For his pride and insolent ambition, God threw Lucifer and his followers out of heaven. Lucifer went on to establish his own kingdom: hell. Like Lucifer, Faustus's first great sin is pride. It leads to his rejection of God, his pact with the devil, the many additional sins he commits, and his final damnation.

Like Lucifer's, Faustus's pride-driven ambitions are never realized. Worse, they are reduced to something trivial and low. Lucifer uses his power to corrupt and add souls to his hellish kingdom. Faustus uses his power to play pranks, con simple folk, and gain fame by entertaining royalty with magic. He never uses his power to better himself or the world, nor does he fulfill his initial desire to rule Earth. In fact, his conjuring tricks are, at best, impressive versions of those pulled off by Wagner, Rafe, and Robin.

Damnation versus Salvation

Throughout the play, Faustus finds himself at the crossroads of eternal death and eternal life: damnation and salvation. Damnation is eternal separation from God. Salvation is a merciful gift of God to one who repents and asks forgiveness. Sin, an immoral act that violates divine law, is the defining factor that leads to one state or the other, depending on the relationship of the sinner to their sin. If a person shows repentance—appropriate remorse and sorrow for their sins—salvation is still possible. If not, damnation is inevitable.

In Act 1 Faustus's failure to consider both sides of this equation initiates the path to his doom. Based on an incomplete reading of a Bible verse from the book of Romans (6:23), he falsely reasons that sinful humans are destined for eternal death. Therefore, his only escape may be through pursuit of magic, as "a sound magician is a mighty god." Faustus overlooks the second half of the verse, which emphasizes salvation and God's offered gift of eternal life. The doctor concentrates on the half that justifies the path to damnation he yearns to pursue. As a consequence he will struggle with ideas of repentance and salvation throughout the rest of the play.

Mephastophilis makes it clear in his descriptions of hell's torments that defying God is the road to eternal suffering. However, the Good Angel and the old man make it equally clear that Faustus can save himself if he will repent and accept God's mercy. As he tries to decide between damnation (sticking to his deal with the devil) or accepting the "gift ... of eternal life" (by showing proper repentance to God), Faustus is forced to question his character and motivations, often at the expense of his lust for power and his fantasy of his own superiority. Yet once he has sealed the deal with Lucifer, Faustus audaciously continues down the path to his damnation. He seems committed to his doom, ultimately unwilling or unable to alter his chosen course.

Destiny versus Free Will

The theme of destiny versus free will is related to that of damnation versus salvation. Faustus appears unable to repent. Even in moments of greatest despair, when he teeters on the brink of repentance, he ultimately pulls back and renews his allegiance to Lucifer, assuring his doom. Too late he renounces pursuit of magic in the last line of the play with a final, desperate cry, "I'll burn my books." Playwright Christopher Marlowe uses Faustus's apparent helplessness to explore the idea of predestination posed by French-born Protestant theologian John Calvin. Calvin reasoned that God, being omniscient, knows from the outset who will be saved and who will not. Therefore, human action and choice are not the keys to salvation. That end is predetermined. Whatever action or choice a human makes has been set up in advance by God. This suggests that no matter how free Faustus seems in his choice to pursue magic or reject redemption, he is simply playing out a script already written. His natural defiance and rebellion guide him to fulfill his destiny.

On the other hand Marlowe also suggests that Faustus may have a choice. On numerous occasions in the play, he considers the possibility of asking God to forgive his sins, allowing him to change his spiritual path from damnation to one of salvation. The Good Angel, the Bad Angel, Mephastophilis, the old man, and other characters chime in to encourage him to save himself or give in and go to hell. Faustus himself goes back and forth, until it is too late. The question remains: is Faustus helplessly driven by destiny or doomed by his own poorly exercised free will? Marlowe provides no definitive answer but weaves the two possibilities into his play. However, to believe that Faustus has no choice denies the more pitiable aspects of his character. The doctor's intelligence, skepticism, and deeply human desire for knowledge incite choices and actions that anger heaven and fate him to be destroyed.

Good versus Evil

The push-and-pull conflict between good and evil is a motivating force throughout Doctor Faustus. Faustus personally embodies the concepts of good and evil. As a theologian, he represents the good or spiritually uplifting study of divinity. However, he abandons theology to pursue forbidden knowledge, falling prey to sin. His noble intentions for acquiring power through magic soon give way to fancy tricks bought with his soul. Whenever he wavers in his commitment to evil, Mephastophilis finds it easy to tempt him back from the good of repentance by appealing to his baser nature. Whether it's a book of hidden knowledge or the beautiful Helen of Troy, Mephastophilis knows just what to give Faustus to hold on to his soul. Lucifer, too, knows how to beguile Faustus and quiet his conscience. He invokes visions of the Seven Deadly Sins, to which Faustus exclaims, "Oh, this feeds my soul."

Every prick of conscience expressed by Faustus signals a new skirmish. Faustus is mentally and spiritually torn by desire and fear: desire for salvation and desire for unholy knowledge; fear of damnation and fear that it is too late to repent. This conflict is embodied by the Good Angel and the Evil Angel. They appear at times when Faustus seems close to renouncing magic and asking God's forgiveness for his defiance and heresy. The two angels act as counselors, offering advice, warnings, and arguments intended to persuade the doctor toward salvation or damnation.

Other characters echo Faustus's inner struggle as well. In Act 5 three scholars beg Faustus to conjure the spirit of Helen, the world's most beautiful woman. He complies, and they enjoy it. Soon after, the same men shift gears instantly when he admits to them how he has sold his soul to Lucifer. Now they offer to pray for Faustus,"that God may have mercy upon [him]," but it is too late. Mephastophilis is perhaps the most surprising representation of this theme. While as Lucifer's minion he is clearly a servant of evil, he is a demon with feelings and the occasional impulse for good. He devotedly serves Lucifer, but he is tormented by his separation from God. He scouts for souls to add to hell's population, but in Act 1 he warns Faustus to "leave these frivolous demands, / Which strike a terror to my fainting soul!" With this unexpected mix of good and evil, Mephastophilis breaks the mold of the traditional fiendish villain.

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