The Chorus in Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History Of Doctor Faustus performs many of the same functions as the Chorus in ancient Greek plays, as well as in other Elizabethan plays, such as the plays of William Shakespeare.

The primary function of the Chorus is to provide information to the audience that will help them to understand the play.

At the very beginning of Doctor Faustus, the Chorus provides information about Faustus himself—where he was born, where he went to school, how he excelled in theology, and his interest in the forbidden study of magic and "cursed necromancy"—and sets the scene for the play.

The Chorus serves essentially the same purpose in the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Pericles.

As a side note, in some versions of Doctor Faustus, Faustus's comic servant, Wagner, is assigned the Chorus's lines. It's likely that at some time in the performance history of Doctor Faustus the actor who played Wagner also played the part of the Chorus, and this doubling of characters made its way into printed versions of the play.

As the play continues, the Chorus advises the audience about changes of location, brings the audience up to date on Faustus's increasing fame and fortune, and describes any events involving Faustus that the audience didn't see for themselves. This occurs between scenes 6 and 7, and between scenes 9 and 10 .

CHORUS. Learned Faustus,
To know the secrets of astronomy,
...Did mount himself to scale Olympus' top,
...He now is gone to prove cosmography,
And, as I guess, will first arrive at Rome,
To see the Pope and manner of his court... (Chorus 2)

CHORUS. When Faustus had with pleasure ta'en the view
Of rarest things, and royal courts of kings,
He stayed his course, and so returned home;...
Now is his fame spread forth in every land;
Amongst the rest the Emperor is one,
Carolus the Fifth, at whose palace now
Faustus is feasted 'mongst his noblemen. (Chorus 3)

At the end of the play, the Chorus mourns the death of Faustus, and tells the audience the moral of the play.

CHORUS. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight,
And burned is Apollo's laurel-bough,
That sometime grew within this learned man.
Faustus is gone: regard his hellish fall,
Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise,
Only to wonder at unlawful things,
Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits
To practice more than heavenly power permits. (Epilogue)

What is the function of the chorus in Doctor Faustus?

The Chorus in Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, the inspiration for Goethe's Faust Parts I & II, serves two purposes. First, it is transitional and, second, it is expository. The first purpose of the Chorus is to provide transitions into and/or out of elements of the play, reminiscent of Greek Choruses.

The second purpose is to provide enlightenment into Dr. Faustus's behavior and character in addition to giving the audience information that Faustus himself doesn't have, thus serving in a prescient and foretelling capacity. The objective of the Chorus's function is to increase suspense as the audience moves through the saga with Dr. Faustus.