Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Doctor Faustus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Temptation, Sin, and Redemption
The Bargain
The Renaissance Individual
Fate vs. Free Will
Education, Knowledge, and Power
Summary
Analysis
The Chorus enters and delivers the Prologue. He begins by assuring the audience that the play will deal with neither epic, nor heroic, nor courtly matters, but merely with “the form of Faustus' fortunes, good or bad” (Prologue, 8).
The chorus's modest claims contrast with Faustus's soaring ambition. The tragedy will focus upon the fortune of a single individual.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
The Chorus summarizes Faustus's biography, including his humble origins, precociousness as a student, interest in necromancy, and eventual fall from grace, comparing him to Icarus, whose “waxen wings” (Prologue, 20) melted when he flew too close to the sun.
Faustus's humble origins exemplify the Renaissance individual's ability to rise to power from nothing. But at the same time, the allusion to the myth of Icarus brings to light the folly of excessive ambition for an individual.
Themes
Literary Devices
Quiz
Test Yourself
