Dr. Faustus - Plot Overview - Practice Questions

In the Prologue, who introduces the story of Doctor Faustus?

The Chorus

To which Greek mythological character is Faustus compared in the Prologue?

Icarus

What fields of learning does Faustus consider before he turns to magic?

Logic, medicine, law, and theology

Which characters instruct Faustus in the dark arts?

Cornelius and Valdes

When he first summons Mephastophilis, how does Faustus ask him to appear?

In the shape of a Franciscan friar

What is the name of the ruler of hell in Doctor Faustus?

Lucifer

How long does Faustus demand that Mephastophilis serve him?

Twenty-four years

How does Faustus sign his compact with Lucifer?

In his own blood

What is the meaning of the words that appear on Faustus's arm in Latin?

"Fly, man"

Who agrees, under threts, to become Wagner's servant?

Dick (The clown)

What does Mephastophilis refuse to tell Faustus?

Who made the world

Why does Mephastophilis refuse to answer this question? ("Who made the world?")

He says that the answer is "against our kingdom"

Which city does Faustus visit extensively in scene 7?

Rome

What trick does Faustus, while invisible, play on the pope?

He steals dishes of food and disrupts the pope's banquet

Which historical figure does Faustus conjure up for the emperor to see?

Alexander the Great

Which character is publicly skeptical of Faustus's powers?

Benvolio (the knight)

Who tries to persuade Faustus to repent just before he reseals his pact with Lucifer?

An old man

What happens to the horse that Faustus sells to the horse-courser?

It turns into a heap of straw when it goes in the water

What does the horse-courser think he is removing from Faustus's body after Faustus wakes?

His leg

What does Faustus fetch for the Duchess of Vanholt?

A dish of grapes

Where, according to Mephastophilis, is hell?

Everywhere that heaven is not

What famous beauty does Mephastophilis present to Faustus in scene 12?

Helen of Troy

What happens to Faustus at the end of the play?

He is carried off to hell

Who was the reigning English monarch during Marlowe's whole life?

Elizabeth I

After his death, accusations surfaced, alleging that Marlowe was...?

He was an atheist, violent and cruel, and a homosexual

Doctor Faustus is a scholar from...?

Germany

Who was Faustus's servant?

Wagner

At the beginning of the play, Faustus expresses...?

Frustration that he has mastered much conventional knowledge without gaining satisfaction

In "negotiations," Faustus asks the devil for...?

24 years more of life, and power

Who is Faustus advised by?

A good and bad Angel

After Faustus signed the contract with the Devil, what was the first thing he asked Mephistophilis to give him?

A wife

At the play's beginning, Faustus feels that he has accomplished all he can in what field?

Law, medicine, and theology

How does Marlowe's Doctor Faustus differ from a traditional Greek tragedy?

He is a common man rather than a hero

How long does Faustus offer to be punished, if his soul could be saved afterwards (go to heaven)?

100,000 years

The two scholars who arrive to see Faustus express their wish to (???) him.

Reclaim

True or false?

To show off his magical abilities, Faustus makes a pair of horns appear on an emperor's head.

False

True or false?

When Mephistophilis threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into an ape and a dog, they think it sounds like fun.

True

True or false?

When Faustus started worrying that his time was running out, he didn't sleep for eight days.

True

What happens after Faustus cries out for Christ to save him?

The Devil appears to distract him

Who takes one of the books from Faustus' library?

Robin

True or False? Faustus feels bad for hurting the friars.

False

True or False? He is told he can think about God and Heaven, but he must remember he is bound to Lucifer

False. He must NEVER think about God or Heaven when in the bounds of Lucifer

Who is summoned by Robin in the last scene of Act III?

Mephistophilis

What did Lucifer parade in front of Faustus?

The seven deadly sins

Who did Faustus cry out to for help?

Jesus Christ

Faustus is most like what sin?

Pride

While Faustus (unseen) is bothering the Pope, why do the friars bring out a bell, a book, and a candle stick?

They are used in/symbols of excommunication

Why does Mephistophilis think that heaven is "not so fair ... As thou or any other man" ?

Because it is was created for mankind

Why does Faustus decide to quit studying medicine?

He cannot bring people back from the dead so there is no point