Dr Faustus, Christopher’s Marlowe, is an Elizabethan drama that appeared in 1604.

Conventional religious ideology of the Middle Ages is intertwined with Renaissance thought,

where man is the center of everything. This paper will show that even though Lucifer offered

Dr Faustus more opportunities than the good Angel, Dr Faustus could have decided to be a

good man.

Marlowe’s main character Dr Faustus is an Elizabethan tragic hero, who is an

intelligent man seduced by the power that obfuscated his mind. Dr Faustus is seen as an ideal

of humanism, but one of his weaknesses was a lack of belief in God’s power. Signing the

blood contract with the Devil himself is a symbol of stepping away from God and his mission

as a monk. At the beginning, he was a man who learned everything that he could. Not being

amazed by his achieved knowledge, Dr Faustus wanted to know more: “O what a world of

profit and delight, of power, of honor, of omnipotence Is promised to the studious artisan! All

things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command: emperors and kings Are

but obeyed in their several provinces, nor can they raise the wind, or rend the clouds; But his

dominion that exceeds in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man: A sound magician is

a mighty god.” (Christopher Marlowe, 53-63) Black magic or necromancy was the next step

for him to do, even he did know that it was not good for him. Marlowe describes, in his

drama, two angels who were sitting on Dr Faustus shoulders. The Angels appear at Faustus’s

shoulder early in the play, the good Angel urging him to serve God and the evil one to follow

his lust and to serve Lucifer. Two angels symbolize the division of his subconscious, to do

good or to sunk and sin. After choosing the “right” decision, Mephistopheles appears in front

of him. Asking for power, he signs a contract with Lucifer, which should last twenty-four

years in replacement for his immortal soul. Not knowing what the Devil has on mind, Dr
Faustus gild his time by mocking people around himself. One of those was mocking of the

Pope in Rome. It symbolizes the separation between the Roman-Catholic and Protestant

church, which happened 1517. in Wittenberg: “Fifty years earlier the Church of England had

declared its independence from the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope in

Rome. The conflicting beliefs which led to this division continued to be debated for the rest of

the century (and after), and have clearly left their mark on Doctor Faustus.” (Cambridge

Authors, 2021) Twenty-four years flew by and Dr Faustus did not do anything helpful with

his magic, even though he could. In the meanwhile, two other characters, Gretchen and the

old man, were given to help Dr Faustus to go back on the good path. Gretchen asked God for

forgiveness, but Faustus did not. The breaking point where the reader starts blaming Faust for

his deeds is when he leaves Gretchen in the prison and it is his downfall, his mark for eternity.

At the end, realizing that regret and God’s blessing could have helped him, he was drawn

down into hell.

Christopher Marlowe brought us a protagonist who did not know the difference

between good and bad. Faustus’ soul is not damned until the last few moments where he

could have asked God for forgiveness, but instead he chooses to believe there is no time to

repent and becomes the victim of his own fate. Dr Faustus contains a strong message that can

be interpreted through Christian values that God’s position should not be challenged or

through Renaissance way of thinking that with knowledge comes great power. Everyone has

free will and Faustus’ free will led him to damnation, he chose not to be good.