Doctor Faustus

Faustus has mastered every subject his university can teach, and none of them can make him more than a man. So he turns to magic, calls up the devil Mephistophilis, and signs a contract in his own blood: twenty-four years of power, and then his soul belongs to Lucifer. Angels, friends, and a stranger all tell him it is not too late to repent. The question the play never lets go of is why he cannot, or will not, turn back before the clock strikes twelve.

What happens in Doctor Faustus

A Chorus introduces Faustus, a man of humble birth who rose to become a celebrated doctor at Wertenberg (Wittenberg) and has now turned to magic. Alone in his study, he weighs logic, medicine, law, and theology and rejects them all. He reads two Bible verses about sin and death, concludes that everyone must be damned, and chooses necromancy, while a Good Angel and an Evil Angel argue over him. His friends Valdes and Cornelius offer to teach him, and that night he conjures the devil Mephistophilis, who says that devils come to anyone who abjures God and that he himself is never out of hell. Faustus offers his soul to Lucifer in exchange for twenty-four years with Mephistophilis as his servant. Meanwhile his servant Wagner bullies a Clown into service, a comic echo of the bargain. Mephistophilis returns with Lucifer’s terms, and Faustus writes a deed of gift in his own blood. The blood congeals, and when he finishes, the words Homo, fuge (fly, O man) appear on his arm, but devils distract him with crowns and rich clothes. Mephistophilis answers his questions about hell and the heavens but will not say who made the world. When Faustus calls on Christ, Lucifer himself appears, frightens him into a new vow, and entertains him with a show of the Seven Deadly Sins. Faustus then travels, plays invisible pranks on the Pope in Rome, raises a spirit in the shape of Alexander the Great for the German Emperor, puts horns on a scoffing knight, cheats a horse-courser, and fetches grapes in January for the pregnant Duchess of Vanholt. In comic scenes between these, the ostler Robin steals one of his conjuring books. As his time runs out, Faustus shows his students the spirit of Helen of Troy. An Old Man begs him to repent, and he nearly does, but when Mephistophilis threatens him he renews his vow and takes Helen as his lover. On his last night he confesses to the scholars, who leave to pray for him. Alone, he begs for time and mercy through his final hour, and at midnight devils carry him away.

Where and when Doctor Faustus happens

Chapter by chapter summary + why it matters

1. 1

   Prologue: The Scholar Turns to Magic

   The Chorus introduces Faustus, whose learning has swollen into pride, like waxen wings that mount above his reach. In his study he rejects logic, medicine, law, and theology for magic, while the Good and Evil Angels pull at him and Valdes and Cornelius promise to teach him. That night he conjures Mephistophilis, who admits he is never out of hell, and Faustus offers his soul to Lucifer for twenty-four years of power. Two scholars fear for him, and Wagner bullies a Clown into service with a comic threat of devils.

   Why it mattersFaustus builds his case for magic on half-read Bible verses, the first sign that he hears only what he wants to hear. The Clown who would sell his soul for a well-roasted shoulder of mutton makes the real bargain look cheaper.

2. 2

   The Bond in Blood, and Rome

   Faustus wavers, then writes a deed of gift in his own blood; the blood congeals, the words Homo, fuge appear on his arm, and devils soothe him with crowns and rich apparel. Mephistophilis talks about hell and the spheres but refuses to say who made the world, and when Faustus calls on Christ, Lucifer arrives, extracts a new vow, and shows him the Seven Deadly Sins. The Chorus describes Faustus riding a chariot drawn by dragons to learn astronomy. In Rome, made invisible, he snatches food and wine from the Pope’s table, boxes his ear, and beats the friars who sing a curse against him.

   Why it mattersEvery warning sign is answered with a show or a gift, a pattern that repeats until the last scene. The Rome scene shows how quickly unlimited power shrinks into schoolboy pranks.

3. 3

   Chorus: Tricks at Court and in the Stable Yard

   The Chorus says Faustus returned home famous and is now feasted by the Emperor, Carolus the Fifth. The ostler Robin steals one of Faustus’s conjuring books, and when he and Ralph cheat a Vintner of a silver goblet, an irritated Mephistophilis arrives from Constantinople and transforms them into an ape and a dog. At court Faustus raises spirits in the shapes of Alexander the Great and his paramour and plants horns on a knight who mocked him. He sells a horse-courser a horse that turns into a bottle of hay, and fetches grapes in January for the Duchess of Vanholt.

   Why it mattersFaustus spends his power entertaining the rich and fooling the poor. His brief line calling himself a man condemned to die shows that he never stops counting the years.

4. 4

   Helen and the Last Hour

   Wagner reports that his master has given him all his goods, and at the scholars’ request Faustus shows them the spirit of Helen of Troy. An Old Man begs him to repent; Faustus is moved, but Mephistophilis threatens to tear him to pieces, and he renews his vow and asks for Helen as his lover. On his last night he tells the scholars the truth and sends them away to pray, then lives through his final hour as the clock strikes eleven, the half hour, and twelve, until devils carry him off. The Chorus closes with a warning against practicing more than heavenly power permits.

   Why it mattersThe final soliloquy stretches one hour into the play’s greatest poetry, as Faustus tries to bargain with time itself. The Old Man, whose soul the devils cannot touch, shows the choice Faustus did not make.

Characters and how they connect

Character Relationships who connects to whom, and the themes that bind them

Themes in Doctor Faustus what the novel is really about

Symbols & motifs

Important quotes

The ending of Doctor Faustus, explained

The last scene slows the play down to a single hour. After the scholars leave to pray, the clock strikes eleven and Faustus starts to bargain with time itself. He begs the spheres of heaven to stand still, adapts a Latin line from Ovid’s Amores, where a lover begs the horses of the night to run slowly so that his night with his mistress will last, and then tries to leap up to God and feels something pull him down. He sees Christ’s blood streaming across the sky, one drop of which would save him, but when he calls on Christ he feels his heart torn and begs Lucifer to spare him. He asks the mountains to fall on him, the earth to swallow him, and the stars to draw him up like mist. At the half hour he pleads to be saved after a thousand or a hundred thousand years in hell, then wishes he were a beast whose soul would simply dissolve. He curses his parents, then himself and Lucifer. As midnight strikes and the devils enter, his last offer is the one he never made in time: to burn his books. The Chorus calls him a branch cut off before it could grow straight and warns the wise against unlawful things. Readers have argued for centuries about why Faustus cannot repent. One reading sees a Calvinist trap, in which Faustus was never among the saved and his hardened heart is the proof. Another points out that the play gives him chance after chance, since the Good Angel and the Old Man both say it is never too late, and that he is damned because he despairs of mercy, which the theology of Marlowe’s day counted as a sin in itself. A third treats Faustus as a Renaissance overreacher whose hunger for knowledge and power is heroic even as it destroys him. The ending supports all three readings, which is why it still unsettles audiences.

Common misreadings

Test yourself

Flashcards flip, self-grade, and the deck remembers what you know

Faustus is the smartest man at his university, but he is bored with everything he has learned. He decides to use magic and calls up a devil named Mephistophilis. He signs a contract in his own blood: the devil will serve him for twenty-four years, and then his soul will belong to hell. Angels and an old man keep telling him he can still say sorry to God and be saved. But Faustus is scared and keeps choosing tricks and fun instead, like stealing the Pope’s dinner while invisible. When his time runs out, he begs for more, but at midnight the devils come for him.

Compare & connect the story universe

Adaptations. Doctor Faustus (1967, Film directed by Richard Burton and Nevill Coghill).

Discussion & essay prompts for class, or your next paper

Key questions students ask

• Why does Faustus sell his soul to the devil
• What does Mephistophilis mean by this is hell nor am I out of it
• Could Faustus have repented in Doctor Faustus
• What happens at the end of Doctor Faustus
• What does was this the face that launched a thousand ships mean
• What is the difference between the A-text and B-text of Doctor Faustus