Chorus:
So much he profits in divinity
That shortly he was graced with doctor's name,
Excelling all, and sweetly can dispute
In th'heavenly matters of theology. (Prologue.1518)

Becoming a doctor of divinity in a medieval
university was a process that took almost
fifteen years. Yep, you read that right. First you
had to study the classics, and in the end you
had to study the Bible in detail. So the fact that
Faustus has this degree means he's smart.
We're talking genius level here, folks.
FAUSTUS
Is to dispute well logic's chiefest end?
Affords this art no greater miracle? (1.1.8-9)

Faustus is trying to decide which body of
knowledge is worth his time by discovering
what the goal of each discipline is. See, the
problem with logic is that the whole point is to
make you a good debater.

FAUSTUS
The end of physic is our body's health. (1.1.16)
BAD ANGEL
Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art
Wherein all Nature's treasure is contained.
(1.1.72-73)

Although by referring to "Nature's treasure" the
Bad Angel seems to be holding out the promise
of wealth to Faustus, he could also be referring
to the knowledge of Nature. Medieval and
Renaissance scholars often described Nature
as a book whose secrets could be discovered
by the careful reader.
FAUSTUS
How am I glutted with conceit of this!
Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,
Resolve me of all ambiguities.
[…]
I'll have them read me strange philosophy
And tell the secrets of all foreign kings. (1.1.7678, 84-85

Faustus's quest for knowledge transforms into
a need to learn the "secrets of all foreign
kings," suggesting how much Faustus's desire
for knowledge is tied up with his equally strong
need to have power.
FAUSTUS
O, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor and omnipotence,
Is promised to the studious artisan!
All things that move between the quiet poles
Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings
Are but obeyed in their several provinces,
but his dominion that exceeds in this
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.
A sound magician is a demigod. (1.1.52-59)
CORNELIUS
He that is grounded in astrology,
Enriched with tongues, well seen in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require.
Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowned
And more frequented for this mystery
Than heretofore the Delphian oracle. (1.1.131136)

Faustus's friend tells him he's already well
suited to learn magic because of his education
in astrology, languages, and alchemy.
FAUSTUS
Did not he charge thee to appear to me?
MEPHISTOPHELES
No, I came now hither of mine own accord.
FAUSTUS
Did not my conjuring speeches raise thee? Speak.
MEPHISTOPHELES
That was the cause, but yet, per accidents. (1.3.4144)
FAUSTUS
Tell me what is that Lucifer, thy lord?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Arch-regent and commander of all spirits.
FAUSTUS
Was not Lucifer an angel once?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Yes, Faustus, and most dearly loved of God.
FAUSTUS
How comes it, then, that he is prince of devils?
MEPHISTOPHELES
O, by aspiring pride and insolence,
For which God threw him from the face of heaven. (1.3.60-66)
FAUSTUS
I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live
To do whatever Faustus shall command,
Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere
Or the ocean to overwhelm the world.
EMPEROR
Wonder of men, renowned magician,
Thrice-learned Faustus, welcome to our court.
This deed of thine, in setting Bruno free
From his and our professed enemy
Shall add more excellence unto thine art
Than if by powerful necromantic spells
Thou couldst command the world's obedience.
(4.1.47-53)
FAUSTUS
I'll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,
And search all corners of the new-found world
For pleasant fruits and princely delicates. (1.1.8084)
The riches that Faustus imagines are all from
exotic, foreign lands, and ones that had all recently
been discovered by Europeans: India, the Orient
(Asia), and the "new-found world" (the Americas).
These riches would've been tough to get and,
therefore, more expensive, but Faustus's desire for
them also suggests that he wants to be like a
conqueror or explorer. His desire is like an explorer
to exploit the wealth of the new world.
 Could that mean he's also power hungry, too?

FAUSTUS
Had I as many souls as there be stars,
I'd give them all for Mephistopheles.
By him I'll be great emperor of the world
And make a bridge through the moving air
To pass the ocean with a band of men.
I'll join the hills that bind the African shore
And make that country continent to Spain,
And both contributory to my crown.
The Emperor shall not live but by my leave,
Nor any potentate in Germany. (1.3.100-109)
The spirits tell me they can dry the sea
And fetch the treasure of all foreign wrecks,
Yea, all the wealth that our forefathers hid
Within the massy entrails of the earth.
Then tell me Faustus, what shall we three want?
(1.1.137-141)
FAUSTUS
 Ha, ha, ha! Faustus hath his leg again, and the
horse-courser a bundle of hay for his forty
dollars. (4.4.40-42)


Faustus's interaction with the horse-dealer
doesn't exactly make him look like a good
person. He has tricked the poor guy into paying
forty bucks for an enchanted bundle of hay
(that currently looks like a horse) for no other
reason than he thought it was funny
FAUSTUS
I'll have them fill the public schools with silk,
Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad.
(1.1.88-89)

Hey, that's not such a bad goal, right? Faustus
seems downright charitable here. Silk is an
expensive fabric, which tells us that Faustus
wants to help impoverished scholars enjoy a life
more luxurious than the one to which they're
accustomed.
RELIGIOUS THEMES
FAUSTUS
If we say that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.
Why, then, belike we must sin
And so consequently die.
Ay, we must die an everlasting death.
What doctrine call you this? Che serà, serà?
What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu! (1.1.41-47)

mankind is predestined to sin, and is therefore
headed to hell. He also thinks that, because of
this, studying religion has no point. This tells us
that Faustus is not interested in knowledge for
its own sake—only for how it can benefit him.
MEPHISTOPHELES
For, when we hear one rack the name of God,
Abjure the Scriptures and his Savior Christ,
We fly in hope to get his glorious soul;
Nor will we come unless he use such means
Whereby he is in danger to be damned. (1.3.4549)

Swearing or cursing God—draws devils around
you who will to try to win your soul for the Dark
Side. A person always opens a space in his
heart for the devil when he sins, but by
swearing, he announces it to the world,
basically advertising to evil spirits that his soul
is theirs for the taking.
FAUSTUS
Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me
What good will my soul do thy lord?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Enlarge his kingdom.
FAUSTUS
Is that the reason why he tempts us thus?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris. (2.1.38-41)
 to the unhappy it is a comfort to have had company in
misery."

Mephistopheles's Latin response to Faustus's
question translates into "to the unhappy it is a
comfort to have had company in misery." (In
other words, "misery loves company.") This is
basically a warning from Mephistopheles to
Faustus to turn back from his intended course
of action, since it implies that hell is miserable.
But Faustus ignores it. He's really good at
ignoring people.
DEFINITION OF HELL
MEPHISTOPHELES
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed
In one self place, but where we are is hell,
And where hell is, there must we ever be.
(2.1.118-120)

Ever read Paradise Lost? In that piece, Satan
declares, "Myself am hell." Like that
declaration, Mephistopheles's description
moves close to defining hell not as a place, but
as a state of the soul. Those souls that are
separated from God by their sins are in hell no
matter what physical place they are in. It's
everywhere.
COMPARISON OF HELL AND MAN
MEPHISTOPHELES
But think'st thou heaven is such a glorious thing?
I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair
As thou, or any man that breathe on earth.
FAUSTUS
How prov'st thou that?
MEPHISTOPHELES
'Twas made for man; then he's more excellent.
(2.3.5-9)
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE
FAUSTUS
Now tell me who made the world?
MEPHISTOPHELES
I will not.
FAUSTUS
Sweet Mephistopheles, tell me.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Move me not, Faustus.
FAUSTUS
Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Ay, that is not against our kingdom;
This is. Thou art damned; think thou of hell.
FAUSTUS
Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world. (2.3.66-74)
SEVEN DEADLY SINS
PRIDE
I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like
to Ovid's flea. I can creep into every corner of a
wench. (2.2.110-111)

Pride probably begins the parade of the Seven
Deadly Sins because folks thought it was the
root of all sin. For example, many believed that
at the beginning of creation, the devil fell from
heaven because of his pride, because he didn't
want God ruling over him. Pride's refusal to
"have any parents" is probably an allusion to
that event.
COVETOUSNESS

I am Covetousness, begotten of an old churl
(selfish) in a leather bag; and, might I now
obtain my wish, this house, you, and all should
turn to gold, that I might lock you safe into my
chest. O my sweet gold! (2.3.120-123)

having everything isn't enough; Covetousness
wants it all to turn to gold, too. We guess greed
only creates more greed.
ENVY

I am Envy. I cannot read and therefore wish all
books burned. I am lean with seeing others eat.
O, that there would come a famine over all the
world, that all might die and I live alone.
(2.3.126-129)
WRATH

I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother. I
leaped out of a lion's mouth when I was scarce
an hour old and ever since have run up and
down the world with this case of rapiers (Sharp
sword), wounding myself when I could get none
to fight withal.(2.3.132-134)

The lesson to be learned from Wrath seems to
be that it hurts the angry person as much as
the person he's angry at, since Wrath wounds
himself when he has no one to fight with
GLUTTONY
I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead, and the
devil a penny they have left me but a small
pension, and that buys me thirty meals a day and
ten bevers—a small trifle to suffice nature.
(2.3.139-142)

Gluttony is the sin of eating and drinking in
excess. Gluttony, for example, eats thirty meals
a day and ten "bevers," or snacks, but is still
ready for more.
SLOTH

I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank.
Heigh-ho! I'll not speak a word more for a king's
ransom. (2.3.152-154)

THIRD SCHOLAR
'Tis but a surfeit, sir; fear nothing.
FAUSTUS
A surfeit of deadly sin that hath damned both
body and soul. (5.2.36-38)

When Faustus complains that he's sick, the
Scholars, drawing upon their medical
knowledge, conclude that Faustus probably has
an excess of something in his body. Back then,
they thought that an excess of something like
blood or bile was the root cause of a disease.
Faustus turns their idea on its head, though, by
acknowledging that he possesses an excess—of
deadly sin, that is.
[Enter Devils, giving crowns and rich apparel to Faustus. They
dance, and then depart. Enter Mephistopheles.]
FAUSTUS
What means this show? Speak, Mephistopheles.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind
And let thee see what magic can perform.
FAUSTUS
But may I raise such spirits when I please?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these.
. (2.1.81-89)