The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is undoubtedly Marlowe's most famous play. The story is an old one that has been told and retold throughout the centuries. The oldest known source is a medieval version from Germany. During the Romantic age, another German, Johann Goethe, wrote a poetic version that he completed in 1832. And during the Modern Age, yet another German, Thomas Mann, wrote a novel of the Faust story in 1947. Moreover, there have been a number of variations based on the story, such as the American short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937) by Stephen Vincent Benet or the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglas Wallop. This novel became even more popular when it was adapted into an American musical entitled Damn Yankees (with a stage version produced in 1955 and a movie version in 1958). However, the best known version of the Faust story is the one by Christopher Marlowe.
The story itself concerns a man who desires knowledge and power. He wants more than he is capable of achieving on his own. So, he makes a deal with the devil. He promises to give the devil his soul in exchange for 24 years of power. For 24 years the devil will serve Faustus and grant Faustus any wish that he makes. But at the end of 24 years, Faustus must die, and his soul will belong to the devil.
During the Middle Ages and even during the Renaissance, people believed in devils and evil magic. Many people back then would believe this story literally. They would believe that such events could actually happen. Today, most people might see this story more figuratively. They would see Faustus's choice of making a deal with the devil as being symbolic of someone choosing evil actions over good. Regardless of which way a person views it, the story is a fascinating one.
Marlowe's version presents an interesting mixture of Medieval and Renaissance ideas. During the Middle Ages, most people believed that they should be content with their circumstances. They should not be too concerned with the earthly world since earthly or bodily existence was merely a temporary situation. All earthly existence was merely a preparation for a life in heaven, a life with God. To want too much, to try to obtain too much, or to believe that one deserved more was linked with the sin of pride. Pride, of course, is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. It is usually considered the worst or most serious of the sins because it is the sin that Lucifer, the chief of the devils, is associated with.
The student might remember the comment made by John, the carpenter, in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale." John is worried that Nicholas has become crazy by studying too much and by trying to learn the private secrets of God (by studying astrology). The carpenter's comment that such action is wrong reflects the medieval view. Man should place limits on his learning. There are some things that man should not know.
Of course, that notion changed significantly in England during the Renaissance. The intellectuals of that time viewed their world with man at the center. Man was capable of achieving great deeds through the power of his own mind and abilities. Man could control his own destiny. As noted earlier, such a view had both positive and negative results. On the positive side, the Renaissance was an age of intellectual brilliance where, indeed, great accomplishments occurred in the humanities and other areas. Man learned to enjoy himself and did not feel trapped by the limits of earthly existence. But on the negative side, man could become too proud of his accomplishments and too sinful in his enjoyment of life. Man could become too vain, too proud. Man could become a creature full of sin.
The character of Faustus in Marlowe's play reflects both these positive and negative qualities. In this sense, then, he really is a genuine Renaissance man.
The student should also note that Marlowe's Faustus exists in two different versions. The older version, known as the A text, is shorter than the other. The longer version is the B text. Both versions were printed after Marlowe's death. The student should note that plays were not originally written for publication. Acting companies would often add or delete scenes and make other significant changes to suit their own purposes. However, for some of the plays from the Renaissance, edited or "changed" copies may be the only versions that exist. The editors of The Norton Anthology of English
Literature have selected the shorter A text printed in 1604 for their anthology. However, many serious scholars of Marlowe’s work indicate that the longer B text of Faustus printed in 1616 appears to reflect Marlowe's original more closely. Nevertheless, the lesser A text still contains all of the pertinent themes and concepts of the play; and the following comments are in direct reference to that A text.