When he asks his servant devil Mephostopilis, the secrets of the universe, he gets what he calls “freshman” answers. Instead, he performs parlor tricks for the Emperor and plays practical jokes on the Pope. within the scenes that follow, the reader never sees him even attempt to reach these goals. Magic lures him with the offer of data without work or study, and Faustus sells his soul to the devil reciprocally for twenty-four years during which he will have everything he wants.įaustus begins with grand plans: to free his country, to assist the poor, and to form himself master of the planet.

Christopher Marloweĭoctor Faustus, a scholar famed the planet over, thinks that he has reached the bounds of data in philosophy, medicine, law, and theology, and he hungers for power. within the morning, the students find Faustus’s limbs and choose to carry a funeral for him. in the dark, a number of devils appear and carry his soul off to hell. On the ultimate night before the expiration of the twenty-four years, Faustus is overcome by fear and remorse. Faustus tells the students about his pact, and that they are horror-stricken and resolve to wish for him.

Faustus summons Helen again and exclaims rapturously about her beauty. An old man urges Faustus to repent, but Faustus drives him away.

He has Mephastophilis call up Helen of Troy, the famous beauty from the traditional world and uses her presence to impress a gaggle of students. But Faustus casts spells on them and sends them on their way, to the amusement of the duke and duchess.Īs the twenty-four years of his effect Lucifer come to an in-depth, Faustus begins to dread his impending death. The horse-courser shows up there, along with side Robin, a person named Dick (Rafe within the A text), and various others who have fallen victim to Faustus’s trickery. Eventually, Faustus is invited to the court of the Duke of Vanholt, where he performs various feats. Faustus sells him a horse that turns into a heap of straw when ridden into a river. At one point, he manages to summon Mephastophilis, who threatens to show Robin and Rafe into animals (or maybe even does transform them the text isn’t clear) to punish them for his or her foolishness.įaustus then goes on together with his travels, playing a trick on a horse-courser along the way. Meanwhile, Robin, Wagner’s clown, has picked up some magic on his own, and together with his fellow stablehand, Rafe, he undergoes a variety of comic misadventures.

Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe