In the play Doctor Faustus, an ambitious scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Written by Christopher Marlowe, the work was first produced in 1592 in London, where it caused a sensation, influenced Shakespeare’s plays, and launched a cottage industry in books, music, and other arts about the man who risked eternal damnation for the chance to control reality.

Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England, in 1564 and died in a London brawl in 1593. Within that short lifespan, he attained multiple academic degrees from Cambridge University, served Queen Elizabeth I as a spy, was indicted on multiple occasions for criminal behavior, and penned several of the greatest plays of the age. Much of Marlowe’s life is shrouded in mystery; rumors swirled that he was a religious renegade and lived a debauched life. His death at 29 at the hands of fellow spies—who claimed the killing was an accident stemming from an argument over a debt—remains controversial.

Marlowe’s other works, including Tamburlaine, Edward II, The Jew of Malta, and The Massacre at Paris, influenced Shakespeare and other playwrights, but Doctor Faustus remains his best-known work. A tale of unbridled ambition and the folly of intellectual greed, the play is still produced on stages around the world and enthralls audiences to this day.

The ebook edition of the original 1604 printing, reproduced with notes by editor Thomas Crofts in 1994, forms the basis for this study guide.

Plot Summary

Doctor Faustus, a professor at the University of Wittenberg, becomes famous for his lectures on divinity, law, medicine, and logic; in debate, he is unchallenged. Having reached the limits of ordinary human knowledge, Faustus yearns for more.

His magician friends Valdes and Cornelius urge him to apply his great intellect to the task of conjuring; they teach him the basics. One dark evening he conjures up the demon Mephistophilis. Faustus offers his soul to Lucifer in exchange for 24 years of power to achieve whatever his heart desires. The devil accepts the offer but insists that Faustus write his pledge in his own blood.

At first stricken with doubt about his bargain, Faustus nonetheless carries through with it and commences a life of untrammeled pleasure, wealth, and glory. With Mephistophilis as his servant, he flies from city to city in Europe, enjoying the sites and reveling in local pleasures. On a lark, he and Mephistophilis break in to the pope’s private chambers, where, cloaked in invisibility, Faustus steals food from the pope’s dinner, taunts the pontiff, and punches him and members of his retinue until they flee in terror.

In Wittenberg stable boys Robin and Ralph obtain one of Faustus’s books of spells; they try to conjure but make a mess of it, calling up Mephistophilis; the demon, irritated by their impudence, puts fireworks in their pants and then turns Robin into an ape and Ralph into a dog.

Aided surreptitiously by Mephistophilis, Faustus entertains royalty with feats of conjuring. To the emperor’s delight, Faustus presents him with Alexander the Great; for the Duke of Vanholt and his wife, Faustus makes Helen of Troy appear. At every court, the rogue scholar is rewarded with riches.

Late in life, Faustus again doubts the wisdom of his pact with the devil. Fearing that hell is worse than he bargained for, he tries to repent, but the devil stops him. To distract himself on his final day, Faustus convinces Mephistophilis to grant him a final visit with Helen of Troy, whom he kisses. At midnight, demons carry him off to hell, his cries for mercy unanswered by God.