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Doctor Faustus
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Scenes 6-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Scene 6 Summary: “The Same”
Faustus tells Mephistophilis that when he gazes at the beauty of the night sky, he wants to repent. Mephistophilis insists that Earth was made for man, who is more glorious than the sky. Faustus wavers; the Good and Evil Angels reappear. The Good Angel begs Faustus to repent, assuring him that God will pity him; the Evil Angel insists that God will do no such thing. Faustus hems and haws; the Good Angel realizes that Faustus can never repent. The angels depart.
Faustus realizes that he is too far gone ever to return to God. Already he has conjured Homer and other ancients to entertain him; he’ll stay the course. He orders Mephistophilis to discourse with him on the heavens; the demon dutifully explains the planets’ positions and orbits. When Faustus realizes that Wagner can describe these facts as well, he hankers for deeper knowledge.
He asks whether the planets have civilizations; Mephistophilis replies that they do. He asks why there aren’t more conjunctions and eclipses; the demon says this is due to the unequal motions of heavenly bodies. He adds that there are nine heavens, or spheres, including the planets, the sky, and God’s heaven.
Faustus asks who made the world; Mephistophilis refuses to answer, as this violates their contract. Irritated, Faustus dismisses the demon and grumbles once again that it’s too late for him to repent. The two angels appear: The Evil Angel agrees that it’s too late, while the Good Angel retorts that there’s still time. The Evil Angel says that if Faustus repents, he’ll be torn apart by demons, but the Good Angel insists that repentance will free him from devils. The angels depart.
Faust intones, “Ah, Christ, my Saviour, / Seek to save distressed Faustus’ soul” (27). Instead of Christ, the devils Lucifer, Belzebub, and Mephistophilis appear. Lucifer tells Faustus that Jesus will not help him because Faustus is given to Lucifer. The devil chastises Faustus for praying to God, which breaks his covenant with hell; Faustus apologizes and resolves instead to kill ministers and destroy their churches. Lucifer compliments him for this.
The devil brings forth the Seven Deadly Sins to entertain Faustus. The first, Pride, speaks haughtily of what he can do to people, then complains that Faustus’s study isn’t perfumed or arrayed properly. The second, Covetousness, wishes that everyone in Faustus’s house, and the house itself, be turned to gold so that Covetousness might possess it.
The third Deadly Sin is Wrath, born from the roar of a lion and running about the world spoiling for a fight and wounding itself when there was none to find. The fourth sin, Envy, tells Faustus that since it can’t read, it wants all books burned, and that when it’s hungry, it hates to see others eating. The fifth sin, Gluttony, inherited what it thinks is a small pension, since it only affords 30 meals and 10 snacks per day.
The sixth sin is Sloth; it barely deigns to describe itself to Faustus, insisting instead that it be carried back to its place of idleness. Finally, the seventh Deadly Sin presents itself, adding humorously that “the first letter of my name begins with Lechery” (29).
Faustus thanks Lucifer for showing him the sins in which he now can indulge. Lucifer gives Faustus a book that will teach him how to change “into what shape thou wilt” (30). Faustus wants to see hell; Lucifer agrees to take him there at midnight. Everyone departs.
Wagner enters and announces that Faustus, having made recent strides in understanding the universe, will travel to Rome and visit the pope.
Scene 7 Summary: “The Pope’s Privy-Chamber”
Faustus and Mephistophilis travel magically through Europe, flying to Paris, Trier, Naples, Venice, and other famous cities. They arrive in Rome at the pope’s private chambers. Mephistophilis describes the city’s bridges, castles, and other attractions, and Faustus wants to see them at once, but the demon says he should first observe the pope and his entourage. Faustus wants to be “invisible, to do what I please / Unseen of any […]” (32), and Mephistophilis makes him so.
The pope enters with his retinue of monks; he’s accompanied by the cardinal of Lorrain. They sit for a banquet. Faustus, invisible, taunts them and snatches food from their plates. They look about but see no one; a monk suggests it’s a ghost from purgatory seeking pardon. The pope agrees and prepares to address the issue by crossing himself. Faustus chides the pope for doing so, and the pope nervously responds by crossing himself again. Faustus warns the pope not to do that anymore; instinctively, the pope crosses himself a third time, and Faustus cuffs him in the ear. The pope and his retinue run from the room.
Mephistophilis says that the monks will excommunicate Faustus, cursing him “with bell, book, and candle” (33). Faustus doesn’t care; when the monks return to curse him, he and Mephistophilis punch the friars and toss fireworks among them, scattering them.
The chorus appears and tells of Faustus’s return home, where his friends learn of his adventures and admire his newfound knowledge. Emperor Charles V learns of Faustus’s exploits and treats him to a feast at court.
Scene 8 Summary: “An Inn-Yard”
Robin, a horse wrangler, has stolen one of Faustus’s conjuring books and wants to make the village maidens dance naked for him. His friend Ralph notes that Robin can’t read, but Robin insists that he can, and that, with the magic book, Ralph can get Nan the kitchen maid to do what he wants. They decide to ignore their work duties and depart to try out the book.
Scene 9 Summary: “An Inn”
Robin steals a silver goblet and regards it as a sign of his impending magical prowess. The winemaker enters and demands to be paid; Robin, who has hidden the goblet, lets the vintner pat him down and do the same to Ralph. The vintner, still suspicious, demands an explanation; Robin replies by intoning a charm from the book. Almost by accident, he causes Mephistophilis to appear. The demon, perturbed to be called here from far away, places fireworks in the boys’ pants, causing them to yelp and jump about.
Hoping to be rid of all this, Ralph hands the goblet back to the vintner, who leaves. Mephistophilis, petulant, wonders how two simple boys can command him. Robin offers him sixpence for a meal and asks him to go. Insulted, Mephistophilis transforms Robin into an ape and Ralph into a dog.
Scene 10 Summary: “The Court of the Emperor”
Faustus visits the emperor’s court, where Carolus the Fifth, a fan of Alexander the Great, asks Faustus to conjure the ancient conqueror and his paramour and thus prove that he is as great a magician as people declare. Faustus says he can’t bring them back to life but he can create simulations of them.
A knight in attendance mocks Faustus, suggesting he’ll believe it when he finds horns on his head. Faustus conjures both Alexander and his paramour—down to the mole on her neck—as well as horns for the knight’s head. The knight demands that Faustus remove the horns, but Faustus dallies, taunting him. The emperor asks Faustus to show pity and remove the horns, for the knight “hath done penance sufficient” (42). Faustus obliges. The emperor promises Faustus a large reward for his performance.
Scene 11 Summary: “A Green; Afterwards, the House of Faustus”
The years go by, and Faustus wants to return to his university at Wittenberg. On his way, a horse courser (meaning horse dealer) approaches him and, knowing of Faustus’s fame, offers to buy his horse for $40. They dicker over the price—the courser insists he has no more money to offer—and Mephistophilis intervenes, telling Faustus to accept the offer, as the man is honest but has no wife or child. Faustus relents but warns the courser never to ride the horse through water. Perplexed, the courser says that, if the horse becomes ill, he’ll bring him back for a diagnosis.
Faustus bemoans his approaching doom and hopes that, if he repents, he’ll be accepted by God. Back at home, he falls asleep.
The horse courser appears, wet and in tears. Suspicious that Faustus had withheld important information about the horse, he had ridden it into a pond, where the horse promptly dissolved into a bundle of hay. He wants to confront Faustus and get his money back, but Mephistophilis insists the doctor is sleeping—he’s had no sleep for a week—and can’t see him now. The horse courser goes to Faustus anyway, calls to him, even shouts in his ear, but Faustus is insensible. Finally, the courser pulls on Faustus’s leg, which wakes him up.
Faustus, upset, wants Mephistophilis to call for the police. The courser offers Mephistophilis $40 more to let him go but admits the money is back at his inn. Mephistophilis simply tells him to leave.
Wagner announces that the Duke of Vanholt has summoned Faustus. This is an honor, and Faustus and Mephistophilis depart for the duke’s court.
Scene 12 Summary: “The Court of the Duke of Vanholt”
The duke and his wife receive Faustus, who entertains them with feats of magic. The duke enjoys himself, but his pregnant spouse stays quiet. Faustus says, “I have heard that great-bellied women do long for some dainties or other” (47), and offers her any food she wishes. She asks for grapes, out of season during the winter, but using Mephistophilis’s powers, Faustus produces a bunch for the duchess. He explains that his magical servant retrieved them from somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s summertime—and the lady tastes the grapes and proclaims them the best she’s ever eaten. She and the duke agree to provide Faustus with a great reward for his magical services.
Scenes 6-12 Analysis
Scenes 6-12 describe Faustus’s many adventures as a demon-powered man of the world. With Mephistophilis always at his side to provide magic as needed, Faustus zips through Europe, visiting its most famous spots, entertaining royalty, punishing those who irritate him, and conjuring whatever suits his fancy.
Faustus asks Mephistophilis why there aren’t more eclipses, and the demon answers that the planetary orbits are uneven. This was, at the time, an advanced concept that called into question the mechanical perfection of God’s heavens, which made Catholic clergy uneasy. Faustus also wants to know whether other planets have civilizations; the demon answers that they do. This, too, might be considered heretical; after all, if there are many places in the heavens that contain beings with souls, then the Vatican is no longer at the center of the universe. Eight years after Doctor Faustus premiered, the church burned Friar Giordano Bruno at the stake, in part for suggesting that God created many civilizations beyond Earth.
Marlowe, a highly educated man, knew the latest trends in astronomy, a field newly arguing, against tradition and scripture, that the sun was at the center of the heavens, not the Earth. As a Crown operative with an ear pinned to the wall of political intrigue, Marlowe was no doubt aware that recent scientific discoveries might be considered heretical. Fortunately for him, England had turned away from Catholicism and embraced Protestant beliefs, which had more room for strange surmises about nature. In addition, Marlowe puts these ideas into the mouth of a demon, which distances them from Christian doctrine.
In Scene 7 Faustus reviews his first magical trip through Europe, listing the many places he and Mephistophilis have visited. This description, a brief form of storytelling, entertains the audience with visions of exotic travel without the need for expensive stage sets. All that’s required is one set, that of the pope’s private chambers.
Within those rooms, Faustus becomes invisible and taunts the pope and his retinue. The playwright wants the professor to demonstrate his animosity toward God without insulting the newly powerful Church of England, so he has Faustus make fun of the Catholic pope. These scenes are meant to be comical to the majority-Protestant audience.
During the Elizabethan era, plays were submitted to the government for approval before they were staged. That the court censor approved Doctor Faustus, despite its extended mockery of the pope, demonstrates that even during the era’s truce between Catholics and Protestants, the Protestants held sway over England, and Catholics were relegated to second-class status.
As Scene 7 continues, the pope’s monks return to excommunicate, or exile, Faustus with a rite known informally as the “bell, book, and candle” (33). This refers to the finale of the ritual when a bell is rung, a holy book is closed, and lit candles are dashed to the floor. The person so cursed is ostracized from Catholic society. The phrase “bell, book, and candle” also was used by Shakespeare in his play King John, and it has appeared over the centuries in song and story, more recently in 1954’s comedy-romance film Bell, Book, and Candle about the adventures of a jealous witch.
Scenes 8 and 9 are devoted to the antics of two stable hands, Robin and Ralph. Robin has stolen one of Faustus’s books on magic; he can’t read, but that little detail doesn’t slacken his faith that he will soon be able to conjure up naked dancing women. His friend Ralph, equally gullible, joins him in a quest to do magic. Somehow, Robin can interpret the book, and he haphazardly gets its magic to function. The lads conjure Mephistophilis and are rewarded with fireworks at their rears, not to mention the demon’s promise to turn them into animals.
These comical scenes remind the audience that anyone, from the lowliest work hand to the most vaunted intellectual, can fall prey to greed and arrogance. Overly eager, the lads hurriedly enter into magical transactions with little knowledge of the risks and pitfalls; the more they risk, the worse the price they must pay. Their ambitions are much smaller than those of Faustus, who has overlooked the extreme danger to his immortal soul.
Carolus the Fifth, who receives Faustus in Scene 10, was Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who ruled from 1519 to 1566, during the time of Johann Fausten’s exploits. Charles’s domain extended from Spain and Italy north through Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands; it included Spain’s possessions in the Western Hemisphere and around the world. At the emperor’s request, Faustus calls forth Alexander the Great. This necromancy is presented as a crowning achievement in Faustus’s career as a magician. Of course, Mephistophilis is the real magus, but Faustus collects the credit. To be feted by Charles V was an accomplishment indeed, and Faustus’s dark magic gets him the acclaim he always craved.
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By Christopher Marlowe
