Magic has long fascinated mankind. Most people have to work long, hard hours and find that they get very little in return for it. How nice it would be to get whatever you want without having to work for it. How much nicer still to get whatever you can imagine – and to be able to get those objects as if they appear out of nowhere.
Magic has been part of the literature of Western civilization since ancient times. The myths of the ancient Greeks, for example, contain stories about a Golden Fleece (in the story of Jason) that can miraculously heal the sick, a monster (the Medusa) whose looks can turn people into stone, and the food of the gods (ambrosia) that can give immortality to humans. The stories of miracles in the Old Testament of the Bible, such as Moses parting the Red Sea, are also ancient stories of magic. During the Middle Ages the Persians created numerous tales about flying carpets, lamps containing genies, rings that could make the wearer invisible, and other magical objects. Such tales soon became popular throughout Western Europe as well. Of course, the idea of having one's wish granted – whether a Greek god or a Persian genie grants the wish – also appeals to all of us. We all have dreams and desires – many of which are beyond the realm of possibility.
In Marlowe's play magic, of course, plays an important role. We might even say that there is a theme regarding magic and what it promises. The important question to ask here is this: what exactly does Faustus wish for? What is that he wants and, more importantly, is the price he has to pay worth it? The price he pays is his soul. Are the 24 years of having Mephastophilis serve him and grant all of his wishes worth the price of his soul?
One of the ways to determine Marlowe's view about magic is to examine what Faustus wishes for and compare (or contrast) that to what he actually gets. The entire play seems to be one extended example of dramatic irony. At the beginning of the play, on more than one occasion, Faustus lists what he hopes to accomplish through the use of magic. But how many items on that list does he actually get? And how many of those items are even worth the price of his soul? If he were to get all of them, would that then be worth the price of his soul?
The first list of wishes or desires appears in the first scene:
(88)
(89)
A second list appears at the end of the third scene:
Not all of these wishes are entirely selfish. The desire to protect Germany and the city of Wittenberg from the enemies of Germany would be helpful to everyone in that nation. But Faustus wants to protect Germany only because he wants to rule it. He wants power. He thinks he should be king of that land. This obviously is an example of his ambition and pride. The Deadly Sins of greed and gluttony are also suggested by the list. The idea of learning foreign philosophy is not necessarily evil, but Faustus also wants to learn the secrets of foreign kings. If he knows their secrets, then he can defeat them.
The reader should notice that the second list of wishes is even greater and more ambitious than the first. Faustus is no longer content with being just the king of Germany. He now wants to be emperor over the entire world. The reason Faustus revises his goal is that he has now accomplished one act of magic.
He has conjured the devil Mephastophilis to appear before him. However, as mentioned previously, even that act was not really evidence of any real magic or power by Faustus. But Faustus is so glutted with the idea of power that he ignores the warnings by the devil. Faustus believes that he can make Mephastophilis do whatever he wants. This has caused his imagination to run wild. Faustus sees no end to his power.
In fact, the second list is all about power and ambition. The smaller wishes or desires from the first list become less important to Faustus. Power is what he really wants. Of course, the irony of the situation, as noted previously, is that Faustus himself has no real power.
Faustus begins to learn about magic (in Scene 1) from two minor magicians named Cornelius and Valdes. They basically promise Faustus that, through the power of magic, he will obtain beautiful women (lines 127-29) and great treasures (lines 130-32). In other words, they promise that Faustus will be able to satisfy his desires of lust and greed. The power of magic, then, is closely associated with the Seven Deadly Sins. Pride (and possibly Envy), Greed, Lust, and Gluttony are definitely associated with the wishes that Faustus makes. And since Faustus does not actually work to achieve these goals, we might even say that Sloth is indirectly suggested as well. In a sense, then, Marlowe appears to be suggesting that the desire for magic is the desire to engage in acts of sinfulness.
One of the first requests that Faustus makes after signing a contract with the devil is to have a wife. Faustus desires "the fairest maid in Germany" because he is "wanton and lascivious" (Scene 5, lines 139-40). The words wanton and lascivious indicate lust, not love. Faustus wants to satisfy his lust. He only cares about the appearance of the woman, not her personality and certainly not her virtue.
Mephastophilis refuses to give a wife to Faustus. His reason is that marriage is "a ceremonial toy" (line 147). What Mephastophilis actually means by this is that marriage is a sacrament. It is a ritual or ceremony that is performed inside a church, a house of God. Christians believe that God gives his blessing to the bride and groom in such a ceremony. Obviously, Mephastophilis cannot grant any wish that is connected with God in any way. Instead, Mephastophilis offers Faustus "the fairest courtesans"
(line 149), meaning the most attractive of prostitutes. Faustus wants a wife, but he can only get a whore. Already at the beginning of his 24-year period Faustus is finding out that his magic, his power, may actually give him less than he wants. Without making a deal with Mephastophilis, he could have had a wife. In fact, he certainly does not need a devil to help him find a prostitute. On the other hand, God's blessing will be denied to him as long as he continues to live up to his contract with the devil.
Being a powerful magician does have its limitations.
Toward the end of the end of the play, when the 24 years is nearly over, Faustus still feels the need to satisfy his lust. He asks Mephastophilis to bring him Helen of Troy (in Scene 12). Helen had the reputation of being the most beautiful woman in the world. She was married to a Greek king named Menelaos, but she ran away with a Trojan prince named Paris. The Greek king became angry, and he convinced all the armies of Greece to attack Troy. This conflict, called the Trojan War, forms the story of The Iliad by Homer (c. 800 BC).
As a side-note, the reader should be aware that the most famous passage from this play occurs when Faustus first sees Helen (lines 80-99). The passage is a poem in praise of Helen's beauty.
The importance of this scene to the overall play is to show that Faustus is still a creature steeped in sin. He is still a creature moved by desire, not reason.
Another question that a reader might ask is this: what is Helen anyway? The real Helen lived around 1200 BC. Faustus is living around 1600 AD. Helen has been dead, then, for nearly 3000 years. Is she a ghost? Actually, she may be worse than that. Back in the first scene, when Cornelius and Valdes informs Faustus about the wonders that magic will bring to him, Valdes states that the spirits (meaning devils) will be their servants and will sometimes appear in the form of beautiful women (lines 122-28). Thus, the Helen that Faustus meets is actually a devil.
The satisfaction of his desires, then, is only an illusion. Faustus cannot have the real Helen. He satisfies his lust with a devil. And that was probably the best act he accomplished with his magic during the entire 24-year period. For that, he gave up his soul.