Previous
The Renaissance Individual
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Doctor Faustus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
In addition to the Renaissance more generally, the Protestant reformation and questions surrounding the changing nature of European Christianity in Marlowe's time have a profound influence on Doctor Faustus. One such question that the play tackles is the issue of predestination. According to Calvinism (a branch of protestant Christianity started by John Calvin), people are predestined to be either saved in heaven or damned in hell. In other words, they are born fated to go to one or the other and there's nothing they can do to change that.
One overarching question in Marlowe's play is whether Faustus' fall from grace is his own fault or whether he is fated to be damned. (The question can be extended also to Lucifer and his renegade angels-turned-devils: were they fated to fall from heaven to hell?) Faustus seems to choose his own path, voluntarily agreeing to his deal with Lucifer. And he appears to have the choice to repent at any moment in the play. But, according to a Calvinist interpretation, such free will is an illusion, as these “choices” are already predetermined by God. Even the two versions of the play can't seem to agree on an answer. In a crucial line, the A-text has the Good Angel tell Faustus it is “Never too late, if Faustus will repent,” (V, 253). The B-text reads, “Never too late, if Faustus can repent.” In one version, the only question is whether Faustus “will” or will not repent. In the other, it is questionable whether Faustus even has the option (“can” or can't he repent?). Regardless, that the play engages in this kind of questioning at all suggests that there may be limits to and constraints upon free will.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme…
Fate vs. Free Will ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Fate vs. Free Will appears in each scene of Doctor Faustus. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
How often theme appears:
scene length:
Get the entire Doctor Faustus LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Fate vs. Free Will Quotes in Doctor Faustus
Below you will find the important quotes in Doctor Faustus related to the theme of Fate vs. Free Will.
Prologue Quotes
...Till, swollen with cunning, of a self-conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach,
And melting heavens conspired his overthrow.
For falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted more with learning's golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy. (20-25)
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In the Prologue, Chorus gives a brief introduction to Doctor Faustus, telling his history before the start of the play. Faustus, like Marlowe himself, was of low birth, and his rise to power and scholarship are an echo of the playwright's own career. He says that the play will merely contain the subject of "Faustus's fortunes, good or bad." The Chorus then details how Faustus rose as an academic and became lifted up by his excellence in divinity, until, as the quote asserts, Faustus became prideful and obsessed with learning more and more. Compared to the Greek myth of Icarus Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur lab
Scene 3 Quotes
I am a servant to great Lucifer,
And may not follow thee without his leave;
No more than he commands must we perform. (40-42)
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Doctor Faustus has conjured devils by profanely writing God's name backwards and by uttering incantations. Such a scene would have been extremely shocking to Renaissance audiences, who in general believed wholly in Christianity and would have perceived the performance itself as blasphemous and even dangerous. There are stories of audience members fainting during the play, and even of extra, unaccounted-for devils appearing on the stage. Mephistophilis first entered as a hideous devil, but Faustus instructed him to leave and return dressed ironically as a Franciscan friar. When Mephastophilis asks what is desired of him, Faustus gives the instruction to obey Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae vo
Scene 13 Quotes
On God, whom Faustus hath blasphemed? Ah my God—I would weep, but the devil draws in my tears! gush forth blood, instead of tears—yea, life and soul! O, he stays my tongue! I would lift up my hands, but see, they hold them, they hold them! (27-31)
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Continuing to try and help Faustus, the Scholars tell him to call on God. This quote is in Faustus's response. He believes that since he has blasphemed God, he will not be saved. His sins are so great to him that he believes he cannot repent, and that the devils are literally holding him back from doing so. He can't weep, since the devil draws back his tears. He cries out about blood, presumably Christ's, along with regret for using his own blood to sign the bargain, but here he does not formally repent, since the devil "stays his tongue." Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Veli
O I'll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down?
See, see where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul, half a drop: ah my Christ. (69-71)
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The Scholars have left the stage, and Faustus is alone soliloquizing; there is one hour left before the deal expires. After feeling his hands pulled down (in the quote above), here Faustus wants to leap up to God, but cries out "Who pulls me down?" He then sees visions of Christ's blood in the sky. The image overwhelms him, and he recognizes that "One drop" would save his soul, even "half a drop." Faustus recognizes God's saving power and what he needs to do to be saved, but he still does not do it. His cry to Christ is an Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Op
