Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

DOCTOR FAUSTUS

                   -Christopher Marlowe

         

          Doctor Faustus is the story of a great scholar who decides a little magical mojo will cure his ennui. He has to sign his soul over to the devil in order to get that mojo working'. Marlowe was writing, a Protestant church reformer named John Calvin had developed a theory about human salvation called Predestination. This theory said that each human being was fated from the beginning of his or her life to be damned or saved. It raised questions about exactly how much control a person had over his or her own salvation.

          Faustus grapples with this same question at the beginning of the play, and eventually arrives at the shaky conclusion that he's damned no matter what he does. The way he handles this belief is the subject of the rest of the play. All along characters like the Good Angel and the Old Man try to convince Faustus that he does have a choice; they insist that he can repent and turn to God again. Are they right? That's a question only you can answer, because Marlowe is annoyingly coy.

          Doctor Faustus, a respected German scholar, is bored with the traditional types of knowledge available to him. He wants more than logic, medicine, law, and religion. He wants magic. His friends, Valdes and Cornelius, begin to teach him magic, which he uses to summon a devil named Mephistopheles. Faustus tells Mephistopheles to return to his master, Lucifer, with an offer of his soul in exchange for twenty-four years of having Mephistopheles and all his knowledge of magic at his beck and call. Mephistopheles returns to Faustus with a contract for his soul, which Faustus signs in his own blood. As soon as he signs the contract, words appear on his arm, which give him doubts about what he has just done. Mephistopheles calms Faustus' doubts by giving him valuable gifts and a book of spells to learn.

                   Later, Mephistopheles answers all Faustus' questions about the nature of the world, and refuses to answer only when Faustus wants to know who created the universe. This sets off yet another series of doubts in Faustus, but Mephistopheles and Lucifer quiet those doubts by bringing in the seven deadly sins in human form to dance for Faustus.

                   Mephistopheles then takes Faustus on a wild chariot ride through the heavens, landing in Rome, where Faustus torments Pope Adrian for his passing judgment on a rival pope by making himself invisible, stealing Pope Adrian's food and smacking his ears. He becomes famous for this and is invited to visit the German Emperor, Charles V, who is the enemy of Pope Adrian. Faustus impresses the emperor by conjuring up an image of Alexander the Great. One of the emperors' knights’ sneers at Faustus' magical powers and Faustus punishes him by making antlers sprout from his head. Meanwhile, Robin, the clown of Faustus' servant, Wagner, has picked up some magic on his own and, with a stable hand named Rafe, uses his new magical skills to get free booze, and even summons Mephistopheles, who threatens to turn them both into animals. Their misadventures add to the comic relief of the play.

                   Faustus travels to England, where he sells an enchanted horse to a horse dealer. When the man rides his new horse over water, it turns into a bale of straw. The Duke of Vanholt hears about this and invites Faustus to visit him and his wife, the duchess. The horse dealer shows up, along with Robin and Rafe, vowing to get even. Faustus casts a spell of silence on them so they cannot speak of his wrongs, and sends them on their way, which amuses the Duke and Duchess of Vanholt.

                    As the end of his contract approaches, Faustus begins to dread his impending doom, and has Mephistopheles call up Helen of Troy so that he might impress a group of his colleagues. An old man urges Faustus to repent and turn back to God, but he sends Mephistopheles to torment the old man, and drive him away. Faustus then summons up Helen again so that he might immerse himself in her ancient beauty. But time grows short. Faustus, filled with dread, confesses his misdeeds to a group of his colleagues, who vow to pray for him.

                   On the final night of his life, Faustus is overcome by fear and remorse. He begs for mercy, but it is too late. The clock strikes midnight and a group of devils enter Faustus' study to claim his soul. The next morning, his colleagues find his body torn limb from limb, and decide to give him a proper burial.