The modern reader may find it a little strange that Marlowe's play contains four scenes (Scenes 2, 4, 6, and 8) that do not pertain directly to the character of Faustus at all. These scenes are for comic relief – to provide humor in an otherwise serious or tragic play. The inclusion of such scenes was a common dramatic convention in Renaissance drama. The student should note that public performances of these plays were for the educated and uneducated alike. Illiterate commoners usually expected crude humor – usually concerning sex – in any play they attended. Even some of the plays by Shakespeare contain such scenes.
In Marlowe's play the scenes not only provide humor. They also serve a thematic purpose. The first two comic scenes concern Wagner, the servant to Faustus, and function as a parody to the scenes involving Faustus. A parody is a comic or mock version of a serious work of art. In scene 4, Wagner hires a "clown" (meaning a rustic, an illiterate country oaf), just as Faustus had hired Wagner. And just as Faustus had conjured up Mephastophilis (in Scene 3), Wagner conjures up two minor devils that chase the Clown around the stage. Wagner uses magic for slapstick, for physical comedy. He uses magic for a silly purpose. Yet, thematically, this scene criticizes the way Faustus uses magic. Marlowe is essentially saying that Faustus, too, is using magic for a silly or nonsensical purpose.
The second two comic scenes (Scenes 6 and 8) also function as a parody like the scene with Wagner and the Clown. In these scenes a clown named Robin steals the book of magic belonging to Faustus because Robin wants to find a spell or incantation that will help him sleep with his master's wife. He wants to satisfy his desire, his lust. However, Robin does not succeed. When he tries to perform magic, Mephastophilis appears and throws firecrackers at Robin and his companion Rafe. Mephastophilis then turns Robin into an ape and Rafe into a dog as a punishment. Once again, physical humor appears in these scenes. And Robin also becomes a parody of Faustus. Robin has behaved sinfully and is punished for it. Faustus also will be punished, in a far worse way, for his sin.