Category Archives: Life vs. Death

Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus deviated from the Elizabethan tradition of presenting plays on the subjects of love, war, or courtly transgressions. The prologue’s Chorus focused our attention on our “muse,” Faustus whose fate was of considerable interest to the newly protestant Elizabethan/Jacobean audiences. Faustus was a man of great intellect who sold his soul to the devil for god-like powers, only to waste both his powers and his soul for what seemed like trivial achievements.
Faustus was described as the son of lower class parents who had excelled tremendously at the University of Wittenberg and was granted a Doctorate in Medicine and Theology. In his first soliloquy Faustus informed the audience that he had reached the pinnacle of every subject that he had studied (including philosophy, medicine, law, and theology) and that the only thing left to expand his mind and abilities was necromancy. Faustus knew that pursuing necromancy was a fatal sin against his god but came to the conclusion that divinity was baseless because all humans commit sin and thus to adhere to a religion that punished sin was illogical. Faustus asked “What doctrine call you this? Que sera, sera” (What will be, shall be). Faustus focused his desires and decided through some contemplation (with spirits like the Good Angel and Evil Angel and the magicians Valdes and Cornelius) that he would sell his soul to the devil for ultimate power.
One of the most comical scenes was when Faustus first performed the incantations to summon the devil Mephistopheles who appeared as an ugly fiend, to which Faustus commanded that he return in the image of a Friar. This scene was both comical and heretical in Marlowe’s time and furthered what seemed like a highly secular, almost atheistic jest of a play. The pact that Faustus made with Lucifer enabled him to use Mephistopheles as his personal servant for twenty-four years. Throughout this period Faustus pursued and personified the seven deadly sins, that were also presented to the audience in a dumb-play, and achieved nothing of any worth. He managed to play a trick on the pope, summon the spirit of Alexander the Great for Charles the V, and garner fresh grapes for a German Duke’s wife.
In the end, Faustus stood the fool for his time ran out and Lucifer owned his soul. He was torn to shreds and dragged off to hell. Faustus achieved nothing during his time as a great necromancer except sleeping with succubi and performing party tricks, however a deeper issue was presented to the audience. The issue of eternal damnation which was and is a terribly frightening issue for devout Christians. I imagine that the audience, being very religious, was left with a sense of content at Faustus’ fate.