Doctor Faustus

Mephistopheles acts as a kind of intermediary between Dr. Faustus and Lucifer. He's the one who keeps Faustus happy with all the goodies he was promised in return for his mortal soul, such as...

Renaissance, as we know, was a widespread cultural and educational movement in history during which the old conventions of medieval age were dissolved followed by liberation in all arenas of life...

The main cause of Dr. Faustus's downfall is his hubris, or overweening pride. Faustus has a pretty good life, overall, but he's still not satisfied. He wants power; he wants to be renowned the...

In Scene XIV of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, we meet Faustus speaking with two or three Scholars about the subject of "fair ladies". The Scholars had chosen Helen of Troy as the most...

At the beginning of the play, the Chorus informs the audience that Faustus is "glutted ... with learning's golden gifts" and that he "surfeits upon cursed necromancy." In other words, Faustus has...

In some senses, it's both. On the one hand, Faustus's damnation is tragic because he could've been a great man without having to sell his soul to Lucifer. There was simply no need for it. But...

"Homo fuge" is simply the Latin for "Fly, man!" These words appear on Faustus's arm after he makes his diabolical pact with the Devil, selling his soul in return for twenty-four years of incredible...

Morality plays were Christian plays first performed by traveling troupes during the Middle Ages to communicate a moral message about sin and salvation. They kept audiences entertained with vivid...

From a theological perspective, Faustus’s fall begins the moment he gives his soul to Mephistophilis and continues until he is dragged into the depths of hell (and presumably for a little longer,...

The message of Doctor Faustus is that a deal with the devil is an exercise in futility. When Faustus makes his bargain with Lucifer to have access to Mephistophilis's powers for twenty-four years...

The greatest irony in Dr. Faustus is his hubris(excessive pride), and his faith in his own mortal powers to command the service of devils. in the end, he is torn limb from limb, and his soul is...

The five conditions Faustus lists are as follows. First, he wants to be a spirit in "form and substance." Second, he demands that Mephistophilis be his servant and obey his commands. Third, he...

The Good Angel and the Evil Angel in Marlowe's Dr Faustus are physical manifestations of the good and evil impulses that battle for supremacy in Faustus's conscience. Bringing the two competing...

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus uses both blank verse and free verse to set the rhythm for the tale. Blank verse simply means that the lines do not rhyme; although it does follow iambic...

Doctor Faustus has a very notable tragic flaw in his character which eventually leads to his downfall: he is so blinded by ambition, greed, and vanity that he loses himself and forgets the true...

Christopher Marlowe wrote The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus in about 1590, at a time when England was at the height of its Renaissance, in the latter part of the reign of...

Faustus is misled by the devil, because that is what the devil does—he is the Prince of Lies. But primarily and overwhelmingly, Faustus is willfully blind to his situation—he wants power, which is...

In Christopher Marlowe’s play, much as in a Greek tragedy, Faustus is brought down by a fatal flaw. There is an element of his character that is destined to clash with the proper workings of the...

Doctor Faustus is both a morality play and a Renaissance drama, since the two are not mutually exclusive categories of drama. The play shows a man selling his own soul for power when all the normal...

Faustus' character experiences some degree of change over the course of the play, but crucially not enough change to save him from his terrible fate. Initially, Faustus is a restless man, deeply...

Doctor Faustus ends with the title character being savagely ripped to pieces by evil devils before his soul his dragged down to Hell, where it will spend eternity in the company of Lucifer and all...

In scene 5 of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the title character signs the contract giving Lucifer his soul in exchange for twenty-four years of Mephistophilis's obedience to do whatever...

Dr. Faustus is riven with internal conflict throughout the play. He craves worldly fame and success and is prepared to sign up to a devilish bargain in order to obtain them. Yet he never feels...

The words consummatum est are also ironic because in the Vulgate Latin text of the Gospel of John (19:30), these are the last words that Jesus speaks before he dies on the cross: cum ergo...

To understand these lines from Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, you first need to appreciate the circumstance in which he finds himself. He has sold his soul to the devil in order to obtain...

In order to arrive at some understanding on this complex question, let's take each separate element and analyze each as well as possible in this very limited format.FIRST: Marlowe was Protestant...

In the play, it can be argued that the dramatic characterization of Faustus' tragic irresolution demonstrates an important, universal principle: for every action, there is a consequence. Thus,...

This play cannot be viewed as solely being about the Renaissance age. Rather, Marlow presents the clash of Renaissance values and medieval values in this play and through the person of Doctor...

In the prologue to Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the chorus says of the protagonist, His waxen wings did mount above his reach, And, melting, heavens conspired his overthrow. This is a reference to...

The deal that Faustus makes with Mephistophilis—twenty-four years of earthly power in exchange for his soul—might seem, on the face of it, like a good one. Faustus is itching to exert more power...

The irony of Faustus' career lies in his tragic dilemma because while he signed away his life in blood for unlimited command of the cosmos, he was thereafter limited by Lucifer's constraints and,...

This quotation is part of an early discussion between Faustus and Mephistopheles regarding what Faustus will be able to receive in exchange for his soul. Faustus has achieved everything one could...

Drama and poetry are two distinct literary forms that, when combined, can create a powerful literary work in its own right. Dramatists like Christopher Marlowe and his contemporary, William...

In the first line of the indicated passage of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Faustus shows his arrogance. This character trait can only be understood in reference to the overall context. Faustus has...

The play Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe can be considered both a morality play and a tragedy. The protagonist, Doctor Faustus, chooses to practice sorcery and invokes the help of demons to...

As to whether Faustus is misled about or willfully self-blinded to his situation, it is difficult to argue either of these points from the text. Marlowe's text makes it rather clear that Faustus is...

Faustus in the world of Marlowe First, you need to observe Faustus in his element to be able to decipher him. He lived in 16th century (Renaissance) Europe. These were times when academia began to...

Faustus makes his bargain with the devil because he is bored and dissatisfied with the extent of his knowledge. He has studied law, medicine, philosophy, and divinity. He has excelled in all and...

In Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, written in about 1589-1592, Wagner is identified as Doctor Faustus's servant. In some published editions of the play, Wagner is also referred to as a...

If we look at the broad definitions of comedy and tragedy, we understand that a comedy is a play in which nobody dies, even if bad things do happen. A tragedy is a play in which the stage is...

Doctor Faustus isn't a hero. He performs no heroic deeds and, in fact, bargains away his soul for an eternity for a short time with more power. He is the protagonist of the story and perhaps the...

In Doctor Faustus, Beelzebub is the chief of the demons, ranking only below Lucifer, the devil himself. In the play, Faustus pits the Christian God against Beelzebub and openly pledges his loyalty...

Knowledge is a key theme in Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus. The titular protagonist craves knowledge so obsessively that he strikes a bargain with the devil to obtain it. Marlowe draws a...

The fate of Dr. Faustus can be interpreted from both angles. To a large extent, it depends on one's personal beliefs. On the face of it, it does seem that Faustus only has himself to blame for his...

Irresolution is the lack of deciciveness or purposeiveness. Irresolution plagues Hamlet when he cannot decide whether to believe in the ghost and act on the ghost's demand for revenge or not....

Both of these elements are certainly present in Marlowe's Dr Faustus. The element of peripeteia in a drama—or, indeed, any other literary work—represents a turning point for the character, or a...