Dr Faustus-quotes

Aristotle’s tragic hero traits

(ill slip these in next too all of the relevant quotations)

• Anagnorisis

• nobel status

• Peripeteia

• catharsis

• strong/repressed emotions

• hamartia

• hubris

• wounded by experience

Anagnorisis

recognition or discovery on the part of the hero/change from ignorance to knowledge

Nobel Stature

• literally as it sounds

• think of ‘Great Chain of Being’ as F’s parents have him “come from base of stock”

Peripeteia

A sudden and unexpected change of fortune or reverse of circumstances (especially in a literary work)

Catharsis

In the audience the process of realising, and thereby providing relief from strong and repressed emotions

Hamartia

A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero- hubris is the most common form of this

Hubris

excessive pride - as seen with Faustus and his arrogance

Wounded by experience

literally he dies in the end 💀

CHORUS: “till swollen with cunning of a self-conceit, his waxen wings did mount above his reach, and melting, heaven conspired his overthrow”

• These lines indicate the fate that awaits Faustus by the end of the play

• sets the action of the play within a moral framework: the audience is invited to judge the hero

• reminds a modern audience of the beliefs and religious context of Marlowe’s time

• allusions to Greek mythology Icrarus + Daedelus who’s haramtria made him fly to too close to the end due to his

• CATHARSIS

CHORUS: “nothing so sweet as magic is to him, which he prefers before his chiefest bliss”

• brings together the opposing forces seen in the play: magical powers and heavenly salvation

• makes clear the significance of Faustus choice and it long term consequences

• Marlowe’s skill in concluding the chours, just before revealing Faustus for the first time, with the tension between the alliterative “so sweet as magic” and (at the end of the next line, for emphasis and with more sibiliance) “chiefest bliss”

"So soon he profits in divinity, / The fruitful plot of scholars graced, / That shortly he was graced with doctor's name, / Excelling all..."

• "Fruitful" – Positive adjective highlighting Faustus’ success, linking him to a tragic hero.

  • Edenic connotations – Biblical allusion suggesting sinfulness.

  • Learning as 'original sin' – Criticism of the Renaissance Man for elevating himself to God's level.

• Repetition of "graced" – Religious language in a secular context.

  • Emphasizes academic success – Reinforces Renaissance ideals.

  • Ironic – Renaissance Men sought to break from God, creating a conflict between individualism and religion.

• "Excelling" – Present participle verb reinforcing Renaissance ideals.

  • Challenges the Great Chain of Being – Suggests an attempt to surpass natural order.

  • Potential hamartia – Overreaching ambition leads to tragedy.

“parents base of stock”

• Faustus comes from a low-class background

• he goes against ‘The Great Chain of Being’ - therefore going against God’s plan for humanity

• foreshadows his downfall as he has already gone against God before

• immediately establishes his arrogance

• NOBLE STATURE

"enter Faustus in his study”

• cyclic structure

• idea that his end is foreshadowed as his thirst for knowledge becomes his down fall

• supporting quotation

example of dramatic irony in the opening-

FAUSTUS-

“was not that Lucifer an angel once?

MEPH-

“yes Faustus, and most dearly loved by God”

FAUSTUS-

“how comes it then that he is prince of devils?”

MEPH-

“O, by aspring pride and insolence, for which God threw him form the face of heaven”

the audience understands the dramatic irony with which F own fate is described apparently unknown to him

“the reward of sin is death” + “che sara sara”

• recites verses from Jerome’s bible - showing his scholar mind

• all human beinsg must inevitably sin, then must all die

• he already fails to consider repentance and mercy

• a fatalistic misinterpretation of Church doctrine

• In his opening monologue Faustus acknowledges that what will be, shall be, perhaps a reflection that his fate is pre-determined.

‘Tis magic, magic that hath ravish’d me’

• repetition “magic” highlights the hunger for necromantic knowledge

• “ravish’d”- associated with hunger - motif of greed? insatiable hunger for knowledge

“Reign sole king of all our provinces”

• adjective “sole” and “all” imply Faustus is also greedy for political power- something more autocratic than democratic

"A sound magician is a mighty god"

• Faustus wants to meddle with the ‘Great Chain of Being”

• his thirst for power immediately being negative because he wants to fiddle with religion

'This word 'damnation' terrifies not him'

Talks in the 3rd person, tries to prove his worthiness to Mephistopheles.

what is the purpose of the good and evil angles?

• traditional in morality plays

• The Good and Evil Angels symbolize Faustus’s inner conflict between salvation and damnation.

• The Good Angel urges repentance and faith, while the Evil Angel tempts him with power and knowledge.

• They serve as a dramatic device, externalizing Faustus’s conscience and making his moral struggle clear.

• Their presence reinforces Christian themes of free will, sin, and redemption.

• As the play progresses, the Evil Angel gains more influence, reflecting Faustus’s deepening downfall.

• Faustus repeatedly ignores the Good Angel, highlighting his arrogance and refusal to repent.

• They foreshadow his tragic fate, warning against unchecked ambition and turning away from God.

'These necromantic books are heavenly

Blasphemy and contrast in this sentence show the delusion in Faustus, and how he worships ungodly things

'Sweet Mephistopheles'
'My Faustus'

Faustus' admiration for Mephistopheles blurry the master-servant relationship and could be interpreted as homoerotic.

'Divinity adieu'

Faustus regards the study and devotion to religion as something trivial, yet this is exactly what he ends up doing, only his religious symbols are pentagrams, not a crucifix

‘yet art thou still Faustus, and a man’

• Human Limitation vs. Aspiration – Faustus realises he remains mortal despite his supernatural powers.

• Recognition of Mortality – He cannot escape death and divine judgment.

• Moment of Doubt & Regret – A brief awareness of his doomed fate.

• Tragic Irony – Despite seeking god-like power, he is still just a man, reinforcing his inevitable downfall.

"I'll have them fly to India for gold / Ransack the ocean for Orient pearl." + "pleasant fruits and princely delicates"

• "Gold" + "Pearl" – Symbols of wealth and status.

• "India" + "Orient" – Desire for exotic possessions, reflecting privilege and status.

• "Princely" – Links to the Great Chain of Being; Faustus desires a higher status.

• Materialism & Hypocrisy – Criticizes law as "external trash" while chasing wealth.

• Confirmation Bias – Faustus always wanted magic but needed justification.

• Themes – Materialism, greed, loss of intellect for profit, pessimistic view of humanity.

“O, what a world of profit and delight… is promis’d to the studious aristan”

• Tripartite sequence + "power" – Emphasizes Faustus' obsession with power.

• "Artisan" – Highlights his scholarly skill and education.

• "Promis’d" – Suggests entitlement; he believes hard study guarantees power.

• Power-Hungry – Views intellectualism as a means to gain dominance.

• Themes – Intellectual curiosity, misuse of intellect, greed, desire for power and control.

“here Faustus, try thy brains to gain a deity”

• Renaissance man - sees himself as on par with God due to the metaphor showing him as a Renaissance man - placing man at the centre of the universe

SCHOLAR: God's mercies are infinite. / FAUSTUS: But Faustus' offence can ne'er be pardoned!"

(juxtaposition between Faustus and the scholars - what Faustus could have become - it's possible to be a learned scholar without transgressing into Magic and necromancy - Tragic Protagonist whose hubris solely has caused his downfall.)

“let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, a hundred thousand, and at last be saved!”

• he knows his end is near and attempts to bargain

• shows his arrogant nature

• links to humanism? Marlow could be criticising the movement

• example of Faustus ANAGNORISIS

“the clock strikes eleven” “the clock strikes twelve” “thunder and lightening”

• dramatic stagecraft - time racing towards Faustus' inevitable demise - Classical Tragedy.)

• pathetic fallacy

“Faustus’s limbs all torn”

• adding in quote about Faustus’s tragic end

• WOUNDED BY EXPERINCE

“i would desire no better meat than a dish of ripe grapes” + “M Begone!” + “enter M with the grapes”

• dramatic stagecraft

• Faustus using (M) trivially and abusing his power to worthless ends - shows the limited reward from his previous pact

• ironic as M is actually the one who does all of the magic

• only using M for meer party tricks

“ill burn my books”

• sense of blame landing with the concept of the Renaissance Man and the transgressive rise of the individual

• thinks hes good enough to simply reverse what he just did

• silly billy move

“cut is the branch that might have grown full straight/and burned is Apollo’s laurel bough”

• Active, destructive verbs – connotations of sabotage

• Fate pre-determined / sealed

• Society/religion as forces that damned Faustus from the beginning

• Faustus as a Renaissance Man exploring intellectual limits

• Marlowe questioning whether Faustus was solely to blame

• People with 'forward wits' naturally push boundaries

• Conflict between Church restrictions and Renaissance intellectual freedom

“unlawful things:/whose deepness doth entice such forward wits,/to practice more than heavenly power permits’

(rhyme / plosive links him as a Renaissance Man transgressing against the church - verb "entice" - "unlawful things" - Marlowe is suggesting that temptation to push boundaries is going to be rife in an unstable society where religion is divided.)

"make all the maidens in our perish dance at my pleasure stark naked".

-       Crude, reflective of Faustus' desire for a wife. Mocks Faustus' lecherous and shallow desire

-       like Faustus robin wants to use magic to fulfill his sexual desires, he only wants to use magic for pleasure, moral order of lower class.

 

I can make thee drunk with 'ipocrase at any tavern in Europe for nothing, that's one of my conjuring works

-       One of Robin's conjuring tricks is simply getting Rafe drunk

-       Chiastic structure

Links to how foolish F is

‘ I had need it well roasted and good sauce to it, if I pay so dear”- Robin

use of the mutton highlights the stupidity of F’s decision

that I know he would give his soul to the devil for a shoulder of mutton” – Wagner

servants + master – he is playing the role of master and mirroring the main plot to reflect the down fall of F

"Shall I have Nan Spit [woman in the parish], and to my own use?"- Rafe

Rafe - vice - lust; not as bad as Robin as appears to have moral objections, but these are easily overruled; sidekick to Robin; parallel to F

Well,villains, for your presumption I transform thee into an ape and into a dog" (Mephistopheles to Robin and Rafe)

Robin and Rafe are punished by Mephistopheles for attempting to practice dark magic; suggestion that necromancy is delicate and dangerous; also hypocritical? Although M knows much more what he is doing

"How pliant is Mephistopheles/ Full of obedience and humility" (Faustus)

Strong relationship; sense of appreciation; F appears to think their master-servant relationship is effective

I am a servant to Great Lucifer...no more than He commands must we perform" (Mephistopheles)

Relationship with L made clear; L controls him

"That holy shape becomes a devil best" (Faustus)

Choosing M's appearance as a Franciscan friar; mocking/insulting/undermining Catholicism

"Why, this is Hell, nor am I out of it"

Sense of M’s internal suffering/torture

Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul/ For disobedience to my sovereign lord./ Revolt, or I'll piecemeal tear thy flesh"

M's harsh side; perhaps subtly showing his terror of Lucifer in his anger towards F's possible retraction of his oath

"great Mephistopheles"/ "my good Mephistopheles"/ "sweet Mephistopheles"

Emphasises F's admiration of him; he is held in very high regard by F

"I shall wait on Faustus while he lives,/ So he will buy my service with his soul"

Shows M's commitment to serving F, providing he gives his soul to Lucifer; Obedient at a price; greedy as has to get something out of deal; eager to impress Lucifer, whatever the cost; cares little for F and more for his/Lucifer's personal gain

F: "And what are you that live with Lucifer?" M: Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer."

Indicating M's constant depression (connected to Lucifer) - suggests his negative mental state and attitude