6/3/22, 7:34 AM Doctor Faustus: Symbols | SparkNotes

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Doctor Faustus
Christopher Marlowe

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Literary Devices
Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors

used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Blood

Blood plays multiple symbolic roles in the play. When

Faustus signs away his soul, he signs in blood, symbolizing the
permanent and
supernatural nature of this pact. His blood congeals
on the page, however, symbolizing, perhaps, his own body’s revolt
against what he
intends to do. Meanwhile, Christ’s blood, which
Faustus says he sees running across the sky during his terrible
last night, symbolizes the
sacrifice that Jesus, according to Christian
belief, made on the cross; this sacrifice opened the way for humankind
to repent its sins and be
saved. Faustus, of course, in his proud
folly, fails to take this path to salvation.
Literary Devices Symbols
Faustus’s Rejection of the Ancient Authorities

In scene 1, Faustus goes through

a list of the major fields of human knowledge—logic, medicine, law,
and theology—and cites for each an
ancient authority (Aristotle,
Galen, Justinian, and Jerome’s Bible, respectively). He then rejects
all of these figures in favor of magic. This
rejection symbolizes
Faustus’s break with the medieval world, which prized authority
above all else, in favor of a more modern spirit of free
inquiry,
in which experimentation and innovation trump the assertions of
Greek philosophers and the Bible.

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The Good Angel and the Evil Angel

The angels appear at Faustus’s shoulder early on in the

play—the good angel urging him to repent and serve God, the evil
angel urging
him to follow his lust for power and serve Lucifer.
The two symbolize his divided will, part of which wants to do good
and part of which is
sunk in sin.
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