1a. What does Faustus tell the scholars he has done to himself? What do the scholars urge Faustus to do?
2a. Why does Faustus beg for the mountains and hills to fall upon him? What does Faustus want to be turned into?
3a. What will happen to Faustus now that "the date is expired" on his contract with the devil?
4a. What aspects of Faustus's personality make him a sympathetic character?
5a. Evaluate Marlowe's attitude toward knowledge. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
1b. What attitudes do the scholars express toward Faustus and the sin which he confesses?
2b. How does Faustus feel about the decision that he made? Why does he want to be turned into something else?
3b. With whom does the blame lie for Faustus's situation?
4b. What do Faustus's thoughts and feelings tell you about his character?
5b. With what modern technological and scientific advances would Marlowe probably find fault? How do these advances overstep the limits set on humans by God?
Chorus. What function does the chorus at the end of the play serve? Is the chorus helpful? Is it necessary? Do you agree or disagree with the viewpoint expressed by the chorus?
Soliloquy. Review the cluster chart you made in Literary Tools. What do the examples in your chart reveal about Faustus?
1. When Faustus recites his soliloquy, what is his state of mind?
2. What is your opinion of Faustus? Which lines from the soliloquy help to shape your opinion?
3. What is the advantage of presenting Faustus's state of mind in a soliloquy rather than a dialogue?
1. Imagine you are Lucifer. Write the contract that you want Faustus to sign.
2. Imagine you are Faustus and are writing to your colleagues from hell. Write a memo explaining what happened to you and giving advice so that your fellow scholars do not make the same mistakes you made.
3. Write a treatment for a science fiction film based on The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. A treatment is a narrative that tells the story line for a film. One possible approach would be to change the devils of Marlowe's play to aliens that give some of their power or knowledge to an earthling in exchange for giving up life on earth after a certain period of time expires.
Combining Sentences. Rewrite and revise the sentences below by combining their ideas. Write A in front of the sentences that use appositives.
1. Doctor Faustus was a fictional character. The character of Doctor Faustus was based on a real German magician named Georg Faust. Georg Faust gained fame during the early 1500s.
2. The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus was an English translation of a German narrative. The translation appeared in London in 1592.
3. A two-part Faust play was written by Goethe. Goethe was a German author and poet. Goethe wrote in the nineteenth century.
4. Goethe's Faust is unlike earlier versions of the tragic hero. Goethe's Faust is finally saved by angels.
5. Thomas Mann wrote Doctor Faustus. Doctor Faustus is a novel. Mann's novel was only loosely based on the Faust legend.
Researching the Faust Theme. The theme of selling one's soul to the devil is common in Western art and literature. Research one of the following treatments of the Faust theme: Johann von Goethe's drama Faust (1790), Washington Irving's story "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1800), Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937), Thomas Mann's novel Doktor Faustus (1947), the film Damn Yankees! (1958), and the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (1979), by the Charlie Daniels Band.
Research Findings on Faust Theme:
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