INTRODUCTION

In A Nutshell
X
This one's got it all, folks: devils, damsels, and dastardly deeds. Doctor Faustus is
the story of a great scholar who decides a little magical mojo will cure his ennui. The
catch? He has to sign his soul over to the devil in order to get that mojo workin'.
The legend of Faustus was already well-known in Europe by the time Christopher
Marlowe turned it into a play in 1594. It had been making the rounds as a folktale in
Germany since the early 1500s, and was translated into English and published in
England in the 1590s as a chapbook (that's the Renaissance version of a pulp
paperback) entitled "The Historie of the Damnable Life, and Deserved Death, of
Doctor Iohn Faustus." So Marlowe had all kinds of sources to draw from when it
came to bringing the devil to life.
And boy did he ever bring him to life. We know Doctor Faustus was immediately
popular with audiences because it was actually published in 1604. That's something
that only happened if people were really clamoring for a printed version of their
favorite play. Apparently Doctor Faustus struck a chord or two in the hearts and
minds of its renaissance audience.
That might have something to do with its uniqueness. Doctor Faustusstood out from
the crowd by combining things we associate with medieval drama (like allegory) to
explore what we now think of as modern questions: What form should knowledge
take? What is the nature of true power? Should we believe in fate or free will?
At the time that 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.
So dig in to Doctor Faustus, and tackle the big questions. Then get back to Shmoop
to give us the skinny.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

John Faustus, an elite scholar who has already reached the limits of human
knowledge in the traditional academic disciplines, longs to "ransack the ocean for
orient pearl, / And search all corners of the new-found world," to probe "strange
philosophy" and "the secrets of all foreign kings" (1.1.81-82, 84-85).
That all sounds like a grand ol' time, right? Right. There's just one problem. In order
to ransack, search, and discover all that awesome knowledge, Faustus has to make
a deal with the devil. And we know those never end well.
Now, a modern person like you might say that knowledge is always a good thing, and
that seems to be what Faustus believes, too. But what Marlowe'sDoctor
Faustus forces us to consider is that knowledge almost always comes at a price.
Sure, we don't usually get (spoiler alert) torn limb from limb (like Faustus does) when
we learn something we shouldn't. And we don't get handed a one-way ticket to the
underworld like the one the not-so good doctor receives from his buddy Lucifer. So
the price of knowledge in Doctor Faustus might seem exaggeratedly steep.
But the price itself might be beside the point. The point of Doctor Faustusseems to be
that knowledge can be so seductive, so desirable, that we often don't consider the
cost—whatever it may be—until it's too late. So really, it's the question that matters
most: how far are you willing to go to know what you want to know?

How It All Goes Down

X
Doctor Faustus sits in his study, trying to decide what he should become an expert
in. Theology? Nah. Medicine? Nope. Law? As if. How boring. How pointless.
How about… magic? That sounds downright delightful. So it's time for Faustus to
have a chat with renowned magicians Valdes and Cornelius—they'll know the ins and
outs of the magical trade. His new teachers give him the scoop and it's time for
Faustus to get his magical groove on, all on his own.
For his first trick, he calls the devil Mephistopheles (uh, does anyone else think this is
the baddest of bad ideas?) and asks ol' Meph to be his servant. But Mephistopheles
serves Lucifer first and foremost, so Faustus makes Lucifer an offer he can't refuse:
he will sell his soul to the devil himself in exchange for twenty-four years of life with
Mephistopheles at his beck and call. Okay, remember what we said about calling
Mephistopheles being the baddest of bad ideas? We were wrong. This idea is way
worse.
Especially when Lucifer is all, yeah that sounds awesome. He agrees to Faustus's
bargain as long as he signs his soul away in a document written and signed in his
blood, which Faustus promptly produces. We're thinking maybe he should have
pursued that law degree after all…
Meanwhile, similar deals with the devil are going down among the town's peasants.
Faustus's servant, Wagner, has already procured his own "devil familiar" in the form
of an apprentice named Robin; now Robin and his friend Dick try their hand at
conjuring, with free booze as their goal. Boys.
Back to the main plot: Faustus is starting to have second thoughts about this whole
selling-his-soul-to-Satan shebang, so he considers repenting. He's even got a Good
Angel and a Bad Angel to try and convince him one way or the other. But the devils
that surround Faustus insist that he's already too far gone down the road to
damnation, so they distract him with talk of astrology and a show put on by the Seven
Deadly Sins.
Plus they woo him with travel. Mephistopheles takes Faustus on a wild chariot ride
through the heavens and around the globe, finally stopping in Rome, where Pope
Adrian is about to pass judgment on a rival German pope named Bruno. Faustus
saves Bruno (he has a soft spot for Germans) and spirits him back to Germany, then
torments the Pope by stealing his dishes and food during a feast. Not cool dude.
 Meanwhile, Robin and Dick stole a cup from their local tavern and then called on
Mephistopheles to protect them. Annoyed, he turns them into an ape and a dog
(certainly not worth the booze).
Now in Germany, Faustus gets props from the Emperor for saving Bruno. In turn,
Faustus impresses the Emperor with a few magic trucks, including putting horns on
the head of a nearby naysayer, Benvolio. Enraged by his humiliation, Benvolio enlists
his friends Martino and Frederick to help him kill Faustus in an ambush. Much to their
dismay, after they chop Faustus's head off, he is very much undead and has his devil
cronies drag Benvolio and crew through the mud. That'll teach 'em.
Back in Jolly Old England, Faustus sells an enchanted horse to a horse dealer.
When the man rides his new horse over the water, it changes into a bale of hay.
Whoops. As it turns out, the horse dealer is not the only townsperson Faustus has
wronged.
Robin, Dick, and a dude named Carter are also pretty peeved at the magician, so
they meet up in a tavern to plan their revenge. They demand to see Faustus while
he's hanging with the Duke and Duchess of Vanholt, for whom he's produced a castle
in the air and grapes out of season. It's not a good time for Faustus to handle his
bitter buddies, so he charms them into silence before they can call him out for any
wrong-doing.
Now nearing the end of his life, Faustus meets an Old Man (an allegorical figure) who
counsels him to repent and turn to God once again. Faustus sends Mephistopheles
to torment the Old Man, which is not exactly the nice-guy way to go.
On Faustus's last day of life, he confesses all his bad deeds to a group of scholars,
who promise to pray for the guy as he meets his end. Faustus's Good and Bad
Angels appear and show him a glimpse of heaven and hell. Terrified of Hell, Faustus
longs for time to stop, or for his soul to be mortal so that he will not have to suffer
eternally. But the clock strikes twelve and the devils who have followed him through
life enter Faustus's study to claim his soul. Yikes.
The next morning, the scholars find his body torn to pieces (yuck), and they decide to
give him a proper burial. After all, even though he was a major sinner, he was a
promising scholar in his day. Finally, the Chorus ends the play by interpreting
Faustus's story as a warning to the wise about the dangers of forbidden fruit. In other
words, don't sell your soul to the devil because, you know, he's going to come collect
at some point.

Doctor Faustus Themes

Philosophical Viewpoints: Predestination
Does man have a choice about whether or not he will reach heaven? Or is the fate of his
soul decided from the get-go, with him powerless to change it? At first, it seems like Doctor
Faustus is clea...

Religion
At the beginning of Doctor Faustus, the not-so-good doctor thinks the study of religion is a
plain old waste of time. But we're betting that by the end of it, he'll be singing a different tune
alto...

Sin
Just as Faustus refuses to take religious issues seriously, he laughs at the parade of the
Seven Deadly Sins in Act 2, Scene 3 of Doctor Faustus. But really, buddy, they're no
laughing matter, whic...

The Supernatural
Faustus hands over his soul for the ability to perform magic. Although he imagines using
magic to make himself as powerful as a god and as wealthy as a king, when it comes right
down to it Faustus'...

Wisdom and Knowledge

At the beginning of Doctor Faustus, Faustus takes a closer look at the collected wisdom of
centuries of scholarship and has only this to say: codswallop! Instead, he turns to magic not
only for the...

Cunning and Cleverness

Despite being a skilled scholar, rocking debates with his buds, and having some serious
chops in the medicine world, Faustus really wants to be known as a cunning magician. Yep,
a magician. Hey, wh...
Wealth
As Faustus does the whole should-he-or-shouldn't-he-deal-with-the-devil calculation (here's
an idea, Faustus: you shouldn't), the wealth that such a deal can bring him factors
considerably into his...

Power
A big motivator for Faustus's handing his soul over to the devil is his that he's jonesing for
some power, big time. But here's the rub: in order to gain that power, Faustus has to give it
all away...

DOCTOR FAUSTUS SUMMARY

How It All Goes Down
X
Doctor Faustus sits in his study, trying to decide what he should become an expert
in. Theology? Nah. Medicine? Nope. Law? As if. How boring. How pointless.
How about… magic? That sounds downright delightful. So it's time for Faustus to
have a chat with renowned magicians Valdes and Cornelius—they'll know the ins and
outs of the magical trade. His new teachers give him the scoop and it's time for
Faustus to get his magical groove on, all on his own.
For his first trick, he calls the devil Mephistopheles (uh, does anyone else think this is
the baddest of bad ideas?) and asks ol' Meph to be his servant. But Mephistopheles
serves Lucifer first and foremost, so Faustus makes Lucifer an offer he can't refuse:
he will sell his soul to the devil himself in exchange for twenty-four years of life with
Mephistopheles at his beck and call. Okay, remember what we said about calling
Mephistopheles being the baddest of bad ideas? We were wrong. This idea is way
worse.
Especially when Lucifer is all, yeah that sounds awesome. He agrees to Faustus's
bargain as long as he signs his soul away in a document written and signed in his
blood, which Faustus promptly produces. We're thinking maybe he should have
pursued that law degree after all…
Meanwhile, similar deals with the devil are going down among the town's peasants.
Faustus's servant, Wagner, has already procured his own "devil familiar" in the form
of an apprentice named Robin; now Robin and his friend Dick try their hand at
conjuring, with free booze as their goal. Boys.
Back to the main plot: Faustus is starting to have second thoughts about this whole
selling-his-soul-to-Satan shebang, so he considers repenting. He's even got a Good
Angel and a Bad Angel to try and convince him one way or the other. But the devils
that surround Faustus insist that he's already too far gone down the road to
damnation, so they distract him with talk of astrology and a show put on by the Seven
Deadly Sins.
Plus they woo him with travel. Mephistopheles takes Faustus on a wild chariot ride
through the heavens and around the globe, finally stopping in Rome, where Pope
Adrian is about to pass judgment on a rival German pope named Bruno. Faustus
saves Bruno (he has a soft spot for Germans) and spirits him back to Germany, then
torments the Pope by stealing his dishes and food during a feast. Not cool dude.
 
Meanwhile, Robin and Dick stole a cup from their local tavern and then called on
Mephistopheles to protect them. Annoyed, he turns them into an ape and a dog
(certainly not worth the booze).
Now in Germany, Faustus gets props from the Emperor for saving Bruno. In turn,
Faustus impresses the Emperor with a few magic trucks, including putting horns on
the head of a nearby naysayer, Benvolio. Enraged by his humiliation, Benvolio enlists
his friends Martino and Frederick to help him kill Faustus in an ambush. Much to their
dismay, after they chop Faustus's head off, he is very much undead and has his devil
cronies drag Benvolio and crew through the mud. That'll teach 'em.
Back in Jolly Old England, Faustus sells an enchanted horse to a horse dealer.
When the man rides his new horse over the water, it changes into a bale of hay.
Whoops. As it turns out, the horse dealer is not the only townsperson Faustus has
wronged.
Robin, Dick, and a dude named Carter are also pretty peeved at the magician, so
they meet up in a tavern to plan their revenge. They demand to see Faustus while
he's hanging with the Duke and Duchess of Vanholt, for whom he's produced a castle
in the air and grapes out of season. It's not a good time for Faustus to handle his
bitter buddies, so he charms them into silence before they can call him out for any
wrong-doing.
Now nearing the end of his life, Faustus meets an Old Man (an allegorical figure) who
counsels him to repent and turn to God once again. Faustus sends Mephistopheles
to torment the Old Man, which is not exactly the nice-guy way to go.
On Faustus's last day of life, he confesses all his bad deeds to a group of scholars,
who promise to pray for the guy as he meets his end. Faustus's Good and Bad
Angels appear and show him a glimpse of heaven and hell. Terrified of Hell, Faustus
longs for time to stop, or for his soul to be mortal so that he will not have to suffer
eternally. But the clock strikes twelve and the devils who have followed him through
life enter Faustus's study to claim his soul. Yikes.
The next morning, the scholars find his body torn to pieces (yuck), and they decide to
give him a proper burial. After all, even though he was a major sinner, he was a
promising scholar in his day. Finally, the Chorus ends the play by interpreting
Faustus's story as a warning to the wise about the dangers of forbidden fruit. In other
words, don't sell your soul to the devil because, you know, he's going to come collect
at some point.
 DOCTOR FAUSTUS
QUESTIONS
 Bring
on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right
answer.
X

1. Among modern newsworthy public figures, who would populate the parade of
the Seven Deadly Sins? Go ahead, go crazy. Your secret's safe with Shmoop.
2. The Chorus at the end of Doctor Faustus suggests that Faustus's story should
be a warning to the wise to "wonder at" but not get involved in "unlawful
things" that might tempt them to sin. Is this an appropriate moral for the story?
Why or why not? Do you think Faustus's story proves this point? How so? 
3. What do you think of the things Faustus asks Mephistopheles to do for him?
How do these things compare to what you would demand from someone with
Mephistopheles's power (who happens to be at your beck and call)? Do you
think Faustus made the most out of handing over his soul?
4. Some scholars believe that the comedic scenes in Doctor Faustuswere written
by people other than Marlowe, because they don't "fit in" with the rest of the
play. Based on what you've read, what do you think about this theory? And
how do you feel about the comedic scenes in general? Were they funny?
Jarring?
5. Why does Faustus keep making such bad choices? Why doesn't he ever learn
his lesson?
6. What do you think of Mephistopheles? He's a demon, sure, but is he
admirable in any way? Sympathetic? 
7. This play is based on a German legend that has been around for ages, and it's
a legend that still persists in many forms today. Why do you think the story is
so lasting?