scene four, Faustus contemplates redemption: he remembers the thief on the side of Jesus at the crucifixion, and recalls thathe was saved, but the thief repented of his sins, which Faustus does not do—instead he falls asleep. This is the first inkling that a reckoning is close at hand for the "magician." Perhaps Faustus just does not care enough. When he has the power and opportunity to reverse his fate with a few words and a "right heart," he falls asleep.

In Act V, scene one, an Old Man appears and encourages Faustus to repent.

This would seem to me to be the climax: when all hangs in the balance, when it seems as if the Devil could ultimately lose Faustus' soul after all this. In learning the error of his ways, Faustus might still be able to go on with his life while looking forward to eternity with his sins forgiven. This is not, however, the case.

Even at the Old Man's urging, Faustus believes that there is no hope for him—that he cannot turn back because the Devil already owns his soul. By asking Helen of Troy to make him immortal, he gives away his last chance at redemption because he has not asked God instead.

The rest of the play is the "falling action" that moves toward the resolution of the plot. At the start of Act Five, scene two, Lucifer, Beelzebub and Mephistopheles arrive to take "possession" of Faustus' soul. Faustus does not repent.

The Good Angel appears again—this time to tell Faustus that he has missed his chance to redeem himself and his soul, and the Bad Angel also appears—to gloat. Still Faustus ignores the chance to plead for God's forgiveness.

Between 11:00 and 12 midnight, Faustus expresses his regrets. However, while he believes there is no hope, he does not even try—on the off chance—to repent. An ever-loving God might still hear his cry for help. He says nothig, and at the stroke of twelve, Mephistopheles takes Faustus with him, collecting Faustus' debt to the Devil.

Christopher Marlowe's play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is written in five acts and recounts the decision of the primary character, Doctor Faustus, to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for twenty-four years of service by Mephistopheles, Lucifer's servant. There are several elements of style that Marlowe incorporated into this play.

The play makes use of the Chorus, an individual or group who provides important information to drive the plot along. (It is the Chorus, for example, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that lets the audience know before the play begins the fate of the "star-crossed lovers.") The use of the Chorus is a long-standing part of ancient Greek dramas, and is made up of a...

"group of performers...who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action."

The Chorus presents the play's "theme" and provides narration where necessary.

The next element of style is the use of allegory in the plot, in which...

...characters represent abstract ideas and are used to teach moral, ethical, or religious lessons.

During the medieval period, church-based messages most often sermons, were infused with elements of drama were added to appeal to an audience that could not read. They were represented as miracle (and mystery) plays (which were often entertaining), and morality plays, often more serious. (These "dramas" were the precursors to the dramatic movement that would become so popular during the English or Elizaethan Renaissance.) The morality play was still popular during the Tudor period (which would have been the time of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I).

The main theme of the morality play is this: Man begins in innocence, Man falls into temptation, Man repents and is saved.

It is important to note, however, that in Marlowe's play of Doctor Faustus (which is a morality play), Faustus cannot—or will not—be saved.

An "antithesis" is also present. An antithesis deals with opposites: Lucifer is the antithesis of God. In this play, the Good Angel and the Bad Angels are the antithesis of each other, each trying his best to "win" Faustus' soul. Another element present is the "hamartia" which...

In a tragedy, the event or act that causes the hero's or heroine's downfall.

The cause of Faustus' downfall is the agreement he enters into with the Devil. Other elements are "tragedy" and "suspense," as well as comic relief. The final element is "catharsis." In terms of the morality play, this piece offers the audience a release based upon its witness of the experiences of the main character, found in pity for the protagonist or fear in his fate—for a similar fate might await each member of the audience depending upon how he (or she) lived his life. This acted as a "cautionary tale."

Dr. Faustus, believe it or not, can be categorized as a hero, only he would be a Tragic Hero.

He is a hero because, as all heroes denote, they are born with unique qualities, amazing potential, immense power and a wealth of knowledge. However, a TRAGIC hero uses all these innate elements to destroy himself, and make his life miserable.

In the case of Faustus, here we have a superbly intelligent scholar with tremendous influence among the academic community. He has a talent for arts, music, everything. He has a great job, he lectures, teaches, travels...he is the epitome of the Renaissance man: One who can do it all.

Yet, he completely overrules all these great qualities and opts for aspiring to "have it all" through becoming a magician. An illusionist that could bring about anything he ever thought of...but..for what reason exactly? He didn't even know himself!

He wandered through life, and even made that ridiculous pact with the devil, also not knowing exactly why, until he finally died in fear loneliness and misery. If anyone was a winner, was the devil himself.  Faustus was also victorious: Victorious in ending his quest of destroying his life.

Hence, here we have the typical tragic hero tale of a man too big for himself, and too smart for any capacity of common sense.

Faustus the character is what is known as a tragic hero.  Although he is intelligent and thoughtful, his overwhelming ambition is what causes him to make a decision that leads to his own failure.  Faustus dreams of using his God-given powers to be a magician and to gather wealth from all over the world.  He is a Renaissance hero in the sense that he has given up the idea of a God-centered universe in order to seek out his own individual needs and the world of forbidden knowledge.  All of this leads him to make his pact.  He agrees to “sell his soul” for his wealth and power, and uses his own doubts about God/hell to try to convince himself that his damnation isn’t going to be real.  Marlowe uses Faustus not only to show the negative side of ambition, but also to show the uselessness of the type of power that Faustus seeks out.  Once he has power, he doesn’t know what to do with it.  It’s a sort of “grass is greener” message.  It seems like a great idea, but once Faustus has it, he doesn’t want it.  He wastes his power and his time until the last moment, when he desperately tries to repent, but fails and remains the perfect form of the tragic hero.

Two ways Marlowe uses suspense in Doctor Faustus are to build fear and to build pity, which coincides precisely with Aristotle's definition of tragedy as drama with "incidents arousing pity and fear" (Poetics, Aristotle). One instance of fear-building suspense comes early on when Faustus challenges Mephistophilis by calling on the name of Christ, an act that instigates the appearance of Lucifer himself.

FAUSTUS. Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world.
[...]
Ah, Christ, my Saviour,
Seek to save104 distressed Faustus' soul!
Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS.

Lucifer's presence on stage has so terrified audiences that it is said they felt the place had been visited by Lucifer himself. This suspense was certainly calculated to increase audience fear.

In what some texts designate as Act V, Faustus' encounter with the Old Man and the Scholars, who try to encourage him to repent and express great sympathy and compassion for him, develops a high level of pity for Faustus as Marlowe uses the suspense in these encounters to show Faustus as repentant, frightened, alone, and ignorant--the one thing he is ignorant of--ignorant of knowing how to ask forgiveness and claim repentance, the ultimate ignorance that dooms him.

FAUSTUS. I do repent; and yet I do despair:
Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast:
What shall I do to shun the snares of death?
[...]
See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul, half a drop:  ah, my Christ!—
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!
Yet will I call on him: ...
Where is it now? 'tis gone: