The Tragical History of Life and Death of Doctor Faustus

It is a play written by Christopher Marlowe, based on the German story 'Faust

Buch'. It was published eleven years after Marlowe's death.
There are two versions of the play:
The 1604 quarto, printed by Valentine Simmes for Thomas Law; also known as
the A text
The 1616 quarto, published by John Wright; also knows as the B text.
A major change between texts A and B is the name of the devil summoned by
Faustus. Text A states the name is generally "Mephastophilis", while the version
of text B commonly states "Mephostophilis".
Recent publications may be modified versions of the original play, because
Marlowe had no control over the play in performance.
Regarding the original German play, Marlowe introduced some changes to make
it more original, e.g. :
- Faustus's soliloquy, in Act 1, on the vanity of human science
-Good and Bad Angels
-The substitution of a Pageant of Devils for The Seven Deadly Sins
The structure of the play
The play is written in blank verse and prose. First version consists of thirteen,
while second version of sixteen scenes. At the beginning and at the end of a play,
there is a chorus which provides an introduction and conclusion of the play.
Using soliloquies, doctor Faustus expresses his inner thoughts and feelings
regarding his succumbing to the devil.

Doctor Faustus,as a character-- a well-respected German scholar, grows

dissatisfied with the limits of traditional forms of knowledgelogic, medicine,
law, and religionand decides that he wants to learn to practice magic. His
friends Valdes and Cornelius instruct him in the black arts, and he begins his new
career as a magician by summoning up Mephastophilis, a devil.
The character of Mephastophilis (spelled Mephistophilis or Mephistopheles by
other authors) is one of the first in a long tradition of sympathetic literary devils,
which includes figures like John Miltons Satan in Paradise Lost and Johann von
Goethes Mephistophilis in the nineteenth-century poem Faust. Marlowes
Mephastophilis is particularly interesting because he has mixed motives. On the
one hand, from his first appearance he clearly intends to act as an agent of
Faustuss damnation. Indeed, he openly admits it, telling Faustus that when we
hear one rack the name of God, / Abjure the Scriptures and his savior Christ, / We
fly in hope to get his glorious soul (3.4749). It is Mephastophilis who witnesses
Faustuss pact with Lucifer, and it is he who, throughout the play, steps in
whenever Faustus considers repentance to cajole or threaten him into staying
loyal to hell.
Yet there is an odd ambivalence in Mephastophilis. He seeks to damn Faustus, but
he himself is damned and speaks freely of the horrors of hell. In a famous
passage, when Faustus remarks that the devil seems to be free of hell at a
particular moment, Mephastophilis insists,
[w]hy this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Thinkst thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?
(3.7680)
Again, when Faustus blithelyand absurdly, given that he is speaking to a demon
declares that he does not believe in hell, Mephastophilis groans and insists that
hell is, indeed, real and terrible, as Faustus comes to know soon enough. Before
the pact is sealed, Mephastophilis actually warns Faustus against making the deal
with Lucifer. In an odd way, one can almost sense that part of Mephastophilis

does not want Faustus to make the same mistakes that he made. But, of course,
Faustus does so anyway, which makes him and Mephastophilis kindred spirits. It
is appropriate that these two figures dominate Marlowes play, for they are two
overly proud spirits doomed to hell.Mephistophilis introduces the history of
Lucifer and the other devils while indirectly telling Faustus that hell has no
circumference and is more of a state of mind than a physical location. Faustus
inquiries into the nature of hell lead to Mephistophilis saying: "Oh, Faustus, leave
these frivolous demands, which strikes a terror to my fainting soul".
--Although Mephistopheles appears to Faustus as a demon a worker for Satan
critics claim that he does not search for men to corrupt, but comes to serve and
ultimately collect the souls of those who are already damned. Mephistopheles is
already trapped in his own hell by serving the Devil.
His motivations for pushing so hard to keep Faustus may seem ambiguous, since
he admits to being miserable in Hell and to regret having forsaken God, but he
basically explains himself with the now-famous proverb: Solamen miseris socios
habuisse doloris (loosely translated, misery loves company).

2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIIqxnmQ_es
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mobXqbXIhOU