Doctor Faustus

Christopher Marlowe, Colin Teevan

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781849434133
• eBook ISBN: 9781849437981
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

Faustus's restless quest for knowledge and his insatiable desire for notoriety drive him to make a pact with the devil in return for the power to perform the black arts. The life-changing decision propels him into a heady, celebrity-obsessed world, as magician and illusionist to the rich and famous. Quenching sexual desires as his power grows, he must question whether the price was worth paying. This new adaptation combines Marlowe's original acts with a re-imagining by Colin Teevan. Firmly placing this classic story within a present context, the universal truths held in the 400-year-old cautionary tale resonate powerfully with the greed of today's consumer-led society.

SCENE 1

LUCIFER

Only this, gentles: we must perform

The form of Faustus’ fortunes, good or bad.

Nothing so sweet as magic is to him,

Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss,

And this the man that in his study sits.

SCENE 2

FAUSTUS

Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin

To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess.

Having commenced, be a divine in show,

Yet level at the end of every art,

And live and die in Aristotle’s works;

Sweet Analytics, ’tis thou hast ravished me!

(He reads.)

‘Bene disserere est finis logices.’

Is to dispute well logic’s chiefest end?

Affords this art no greater miracle?

Then read no more. Thou hast attained the end.

A greater subject fitteth Faustus’ wit.

Bid On kai me on farewell. Galen, come!

Be a physician, Faustus. Heap up gold,

And be eternised for some wondrous cure.

(He reads.)

‘Summum bonum medicinae sanitas.’

The end of physic is our body’s health.

Why Faustus, hast thou not attained that end?

Is not thy common talk sound aphorisms?

Are not thy bills hung up as monuments,

Whereby whole cities have escaped the plague

And thousand desp’rate maladies been eased?

Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man.

Wouldst thou make man to live eternally?

Or, being dead, raise them to life again?

Then this profession were to be esteemed.

Physic, farewell!

When all is done, divinity is best.

Jerome’s Bible, Faustus, view it well.

(He reads.)

‘Stipendium peccati mors est.’ Ha!

The reward of sin is death. That’s hard.

(He reads.)

‘If we say that we have no sin,

We deceive ourselves, and there’s no truth in us.’

Why then belike we must sin,

And so consequently die.

Ay, we must die an everlasting death.

What doctrine call you this, Che serà, serà,

What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu!

(He picks up a book of magic.)

These metaphysics of magicians

And necromantic books are heavenly:

Lines, circles, signs, letters, and characters –

Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires.

O, what a world of profit and delight,

Of power, of honour, of omnipotence,

Is promised to the studious artisan!

All things that move between the quiet poles

Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings

Are but obeyed in their several provinces,

Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds;

But his dominion that exceeds in this

Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man.

A sound magician is a mighty god.

Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity.

Wagner!

Enter WAGNER.

FAUSTUS

Commend me to my dearest friends,

The German Valdes and Cornelius.

Request them earnestly to visit me.

WAGNER

I will, sir.

Exit WAGNER.

FAUSTUS

Their conference will be a greater help to me

Than all my labours, plod I ne’er so fast.

Enter the GOOD ANGEL and the EVIL ANGEL.

GOOD ANGEL

O Faustus, lay that damnèd book aside,

And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul,

And heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head.

Read, read the Scriptures. That is blasphemy.

EVIL ANGEL

Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art

Wherein all nature’s treasury is contained.

Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky;

Lord and commander of these elements.

Exit ANGELS.

FAUSTUS

How am I glutted with conceit of this!

Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,

Resolve me of all ambiguities,

Perform what desperate enterprise I will?

I’ll have them fly to India for gold,

Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

And search all corners of the new-found world

For ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Characters
• Scene 1