Summary of Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

Dr. Faustus is a sixteenth century play written by English playwright Christopher

Marlowe. It is based on an old German folktale. The play is written in five acts which
tells us about a German scholar Faustus who decides to sign his soul over to the devil
Lucifer in exchange for twenty-four years of service from his demonic servant,
Mephistopheles. When it was first performed, the play raised much controversy for its
subject matter. It has influenced many similar works and parodies.

Faustus is an ambitious German scholar who is trying to decide what subject to focus
his studies on. He is not satisfied with studying mundane subjects like theology, law,
or medicine and wishes to learn the dark art of magic. He is visited by two angels,
Good Angel and Bad Angel. Good Angel tries to persuade Faustus to abandon his idea
and read the Scriptures instead but he chooses to listen to Bad Angel, who encourages
him to pursue magic. He invites his magician friends, Valdes and Cornelius, to dinner.
The magicians encourage Faustus and tell him that he could use magic to become rich
and famous.

After dinner, Faustus draws a circle and chants an incantation to conjure up

Mephistopheles, a devil from hell. When Mephistopheles appears and asks Faustus
why he summoned him, Faustus replies that he would like the devil to be his servant
for life. Mephistopheles answers that he would have to ask permission from Lucifer,
the most powerful devil in hell who Mephistopheles serves before anyone else.
Mephistopheles tells Faustus that Lucifer was once one of God’s angels, but fell from
grace due to his pride. Faustus offers to give his soul to Lucifer in exchange for
twenty-four years of life with Mephistopheles as his servant. Mephistopheles goes
back to hell to deliver the message to his boss.

When Mephistopheles returns to Faustus, he tells him that Lucifer has agreed to the
deal and wants Faustus to make it official by signing a document in his own blood.
Faustus cuts his arm in order to sign the document, but the blood congeals. He
wonders whether this is a sign that he shouldn’t sell his soul, but when Mephistopheles
brings him some fire to melt the congealed blood, he decides to go through with it
anyway. After Faustus signs away his soul, the words “Homo fuge,” or “Flee, man,”
appear on his arm.

The two angels visit Faustus again. Good Angel tells him that it is not too late for
salvation and urges him to repent, but Faustus doesn’t want to give up his magic.
Mephistopheles talks to Faustus about astrology and the planets, but refuses to tell him
who created the universe because he does not want to say God’s name. Faustus starts
to doubt the course he has chosen, but Mephistopheles calls Lucifer and another devil
named Beelzebub to discourage him from repenting. They conjure up the Seven
Deadly Sins to entertain him and give him a book that teaches him how to transform
himself into any shape he likes.
The devils also take Faustus on a ride in a flying chariot, and he lands in Rome where
the Roman Pope Adrian is holding court with the cardinals of France and Padua, and
the King of Hungary. A German named Bruno is led before him in chains and claims
that he is the rightfully elected Pope of Rome. Adrian commands the cardinals to go to
his library and read what the Council of Trent has decided should be Bruno’s
punishment for illegitimately claiming to be the Pope. When they do, Faustus tells
Mephistopheles to follow them and put them to sleep before they can read the order.
Faustus and Mephistopheles then disguise themselves as the cardinals, and return to
Adrian. They tell him that the Council has decreed that Bruno be put to death. When
the Pope hands Bruno over to them, however, they free him and send him back to
Germany on a magical horse. Mephistopheles makes Faustus invisible so he can play
pranks on the Pope as he enjoys a feast.

When Faustus returns to Germany, the German emperor and empress thank him for
rescuing Bruno and ask him to perform magic for them. At their request, Faustus
conjures up the spirits of Alexander the Great and his lover. When Benvolio, a dinner
guest, scoffs at Faustus’s magical powers, Faustus retaliates by giving him horns.
Later, Benvolio and his friends, Martino and Frederick, ambush Faustus and cut off
his head as revenge for embarrassing Benvolio. However, Faustus immediately rises
from the dead and orders the devils to drag the three men through a muddy briar-
patch. After getting dragged, all three men have horns.

Meanwhile, Faustus’s servant, Wagner, has persuaded Robin, a local townsman, to be

his servant for seven years in exchange for teaching him some magic tricks. Robin and
his friend Dick try to conjure up free beer from the tavern, but get turned into animals
by Mephistopheles for their antics. The two men confront Faustus along with their
friend Carter and a horse-trader that Faustus had tricked with his magic, but Faustus
charms everyone into leaving him alone.

Wagner tells the other scholars at the university that he thinks Faustus is dying, since
he has willed Wagner all of his belongings. The scholars ask Faustus to conjure up
Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman who ever lived. He does, and decides to
make her his lover. Just before Faustus’s death, the two angels visit him one last time.
Good Angel shows him a glimpse of heaven and says that he could have gone there if
only he hadn’t gotten greedy. Bad Angel shows him a glimpse of hell and eternal
torment. Although Faustus begs not to be taken to hell, the devils arrive when the
clock strikes midnight and carry off his soul. When the other scholars find Faustus’s
dead body in the morning, they discover it has been torn to pieces. They decide to hold
a proper burial for him despite his sinning.

The central themes of Dr. Faustus are the soul, salvation, and damnation. The play is
also a moral lesson warning against the dangers of pride, and of sacrificing one’s faith
and spiritual goodness for power, wealth, knowledge, and other earthly things. The
play is the origin of the term “Faustian bargain,” a deal in which someone trades his or
her principles for material gain.