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British Drama

Notes have—a hero of the new modern world, a world free of God, religion, and the limits that these
imposed on humanity. Faustus may pay a medieval price, this reading suggests, but his successors
will go further than he and suffer less, as we have in modern times. On the other hand, the
disappointment and mediocrity that follow Faustus’s pact with the devil, as he descends from grand
ambitions to petty conjuring tricks, might suggest a contrasting interpretation. Marlowe may be
suggesting that the new, modern spirit, though ambitious and glittering, will lead only to a Faustian
dead end.

10.2.3 Power as a Corrupting Influence

Early in the play, before he agrees to the pact with Lucifer, Faustus is full of ideas for how to use the
power that he seeks. He imagines piling up great wealth, but he also aspires to plumb the mysteries
of the universe and to remake the map of Europe. Though they may not be entirely admirable, these
plans are ambitious and inspire awe, if not sympathy. They lend a grandeur to Faustus’s schemes
and make his quest for personal power seem almost heroic, a sense that is reinforced by the eloquence
of his early soliloquies.
Once Faustus actually gains the practically limitless power that he so desires, however, his horizons
seem to narrow. Everything is possible to him, but his ambition is somehow sapped. Instead of the
grand designs that he contemplates early on, he contents himself with performing conjuring tricks
for kings and noblemen and takes a strange delight in using his magic to play practical jokes on
simple folks. It is not that power has corrupted Faustus by making him evil: indeed, Faustus’s
behavior after he sells his soul hardly rises to the level of true wickedness. Rather, gaining absolute
power corrupts Faustus by making him mediocre and by transforming his boundless ambition into
a meaningless delight in petty celebrity.

Example: In the Christian framework of the play, one can argue that true greatness can be
achieved only with God’s blessing. By cutting himself off from the creator of the universe, Faustus
is condemned to mediocrity. He has gained the whole world, but he does not know what to do with
it.

10.2.4 Magic and the Supernatural

The supernatural pervades Doctor Faustus, appearing everywhere in the story. Angels and devils
flit about, magic spells are cast, dragons pull chariots (albeit off stage), and even fools like the two
ostlers, Robin and Rafe, can learn enough magic to summon demons. Still, it is worth noting that
nothing terribly significant is accomplished through magic. Faustus plays tricks on people, conjures
up grapes, and explores the cosmos on a dragon, but he does not fundamentally reshape the world.
The magic power that Mephastophilis grants him is more like a toy than an awesome, earth-shaking
ability. Furthermore, the real drama of the play, despite all the supernatural frills and pyrotechnics,
takes place within Faustus’s vacillating mind and soul, as he first sells his soul to Lucifer and then
considers repenting. In this sense, the magic is almost incidental to the real story of Faustus’s struggle
with himself, which Marlowe intended not as a fantastical battle but rather as a realistic portrait of
a human being with a will divided between good and evil.

Creation of Good and Bad Angels
The Good Angel and the Bad Angel are characters derived from the medieval morality plays like
The Castle of Perseverance. They are sometimes regarded as an externalization of the thoughts of
Faustus. This is a twentieth-century view. The Angels are independent absolutes, one wholly good
and one wholly evil. They appear in Doctor Faustus like allegorical figures of a morality play. They
reflect the possibility of both damnation and redemption being open to Faustus—the good angel

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