Christopher Marlowe's 1592 drama follows the ambitious scholar Doctor Faustus, who strikes a bargain with the devil to gain unlimited knowledge and power for twenty-four years. The play explores the moral consequences of his choice as Faustus uses his newfound abilities for increasingly trivial pursuits while his damnation approaches.
Not marching in the fields of Thrasymene, Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens; Nor sporting in the dalliance of love, In courts of kings where state is overturn'd; Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds, Intends our Muse to vaunt her heavenly verse: Only this, gentles,--we must now perform The form of Faustus' fortunes, good or bad: And now to patient judgments we appeal, And speak for Faustus in his infancy. Now is he born of parents base of stock, In Germany, within a town call'd Rhodes: At riper years, to Wittenberg he went, Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him up. So much he profits in divinity, That shortly he was grac'd with doctor's name, Excelling all, and sweetly can dispute In th' heavenly matters of theology; Till swoln with cunning, of a self-conceit, His waxen wings did mount above his reach, And, melting, heavens conspir'd his overthrow; For, falling to a devili…Continue reading →
Browse all Drama · Renaissance works