Doctor practices Magic..
When a professional like Doctor changes it's way of Doctory and nourishes his Dream to become a powerful person then he meets his tragical end, this story is described in this book by Marlowe.
Doctor Faustus, a well-respected
German scholar, grows dissatisfied
with the limits of traditional forms of knowledge—logic, medicine,
law, and religion—and 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.
Despite Mephastophilis’s warnings about the horrors of
hell, Faustus tells the devil to return to his master, Lucifer,
with an offer of Faustus’s soul in exchange for twenty-four years
of service from Mephastophilis. Meanwhile, Wagner, Faustus’s servant,
has picked up some magical ability and uses it to press a clown
named Robin into his service.
Mephastophilis returns to Faustus with word that Lucifer
has accepted Faustus’s offer. Faustus experiences some misgivings
and wonders if he should repent and save his soul; in the end, though,
he agrees to the deal, signing it with his blood. As soon as he
does so, the words “Homo fuge,” Latin for “O man, fly,” appear branded
on his arm. Faustus again has second thoughts, but Mephastophilis bestows
rich gifts on him and gives him a book of spells to learn. Later,
Mephastophilis answers all of his questions about the nature of
the world, refusing to answer only when Faustus asks him who made
the universe. This refusal prompts yet another bout of misgivings
in Faustus, but Mephastophilis and Lucifer bring in personifications
of the Seven Deadly Sins to prance about in front of Faustus, and
he is impressed enough to quiet his doubts.
Armed with his new powers and attended by Mephastophilis, Faustus
begins to travel. He goes to the pope’s court in Rome, makes himself
invisible, and plays a series of tricks. He disrupts the pope’s banquet
by stealing food and boxing the pope’s ears. Following this incident,
he travels through the courts of Europe, with his fame spreading
as he goes. Eventually, he is invited to the court of the German
emperor, Charles V (the enemy of the pope), who asks Faustus to
allow him to see Alexander the Great, the famed fourth-century b.c. Macedonian
king and conqueror. Faustus conjures up an image of Alexander, and
Charles is suitably impressed. A knight scoffs at Faustus’s powers,
and Faustus chastises him by making antlers sprout from his head.
Furious, the knight vows revenge.
Meanwhile, Robin, Wagner’s clown, has picked up some
magic on his own, and with his fellow stablehand, Rafe, he undergoes
a number of comic misadventures. At one point, he manages to summon
Mephastophilis, who threatens to turn Robin and Rafe into animals
(or perhaps even does transform them; the text isn’t clear) to punish
them for their foolishness.
Faustus then goes on with his travels, playing a trick
on a horse-courser along the way. Faustus sells him a horse that
turns into a heap of straw when ridden into a river. Eventually,
Faustus is invited to the court of the Duke of Vanholt, where he
performs various feats. The horse-courser shows up there, along
with Robin, a man named Dick (Rafe in the A text), and various others
who have fallen victim to Faustus’s trickery. But Faustus casts
spells on them and sends them on their way, to the amusement of
the duke and duchess.
As the twenty-four years of his deal with Lucifer come
to a close, Faustus begins to dread his impending death. He has
Mephastophilis call up Helen of Troy,
the famous beauty from the
ancient world, and uses her presence to impress a group of scholars.
An old man urges Faustus to repent, but Faustus drives him away.
Faustus summons Helen again and exclaims rapturously about her beauty.
But time is growing short. Faustus tells the scholars about his
pact, and they are horror-stricken and resolve to pray for him.
On the final night before the expiration of the twenty-four years,
Faustus is overcome by fear and remorse. He begs for mercy, but
it is too late. At midnight, a host of devils appears and carries
his soul off to hell. In the morning, the scholars find Faustus’s
limbs and decide to hold a funeral for him.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Doctor Faustus.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.
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