Faustus’s story serves as a warning to those who would sacrifice righteous living for earthly gain. But Marlowe’s play is also a deeply symbolic analysis of the shift from the late medieval world to the early modern world--a time when the medieval view that the highest wisdom lay in the theologian’s contemplation of God was yielding to the Renaissance view that the highest wisdom lay in the scientist’s and statesman’s rational analysis of the world around them. Caught between these ideals, Faustus is both a tragic fool destroyed by his own ambition, and a hero at the forefront of a changing society. In Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe thoughtfully examines faith and enlightenment, nature and science--and the terrible cost of the objects of our desire.

This new edition of Marlowe’s classic includes a revised introduction, a history of the play on stage, and an updated bibliography by the editor, Sylvan Barnet of Tufts University. Also included are generous selections from the historic source of Doctor Faustus and illuminating commentaries by Richard B. Sewall, G.K. Hunter, David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen, and John Russell Brown. Introduction

Doctors Faustus
Textual Note
The Source of Doctor Faustus from The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus

Commentaries
Richard B. Sewall: The Tragic Form
G.K. Hunter: Five-Act Structure in Doctor Faustus
David Bevington and Eric Rasmussen: Faustus' Tragedy
John Russell Brown: Doctor Faustus at Stratford-upon-Avon, 1968
Sylvan Barnet: Marlowe's Doctor Faustus on the Stage

Suggested References