The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusDRAMATIS PERSONAE.THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUSFOOTNOTES:Copyright
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
Christopher Marlowe
DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
THE POPE. CARDINAL OF LORRAIN. THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY. DUKE OF VANHOLT. FAUSTUS. VALDES, ] friends
to FAUSTUS. CORNELIUS, ] WAGNER, servant to
FAUSTUS. Clown. ROBIN. RALPH. Vintner. Horse-courser. A Knight. An Old Man. Scholars, Friars, and
Attendants. DUCHESS OF VANHOLT LUCIFER. BELZEBUB. MEPHISTOPHILIS. Good Angel. Evil Angel.
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR FAUSTUS
Enter
CHORUS. CHORUS. Not marching now in fields
of Thrasymene, Where Mars did mate1the Carthaginians; Nor sporting in the dalliance of
love, In courts of kings where state is
overturn'd; Nor in the pomp of proud audacious
deeds, Intends our Muse to vaunt2her3heavenly verse: Only this, gentlemen,—we must
perform The form of Faustus' fortunes, good
or bad: To patient judgments we appeal our
plaud, And speak for Faustus in his
infancy. Now is he born, his parents base of
stock, In Germany, within a town call'd
Rhodes: Of riper years, to Wertenberg he
went, Whereas4his kinsmen chiefly brought him up. So soon he profits in
divinity, The fruitful plot of scholarism
grac'd, That shortly he was grac'd with
doctor's name, Excelling all whose sweet delight
disputes In heavenly matters of
theology; Till swoln with cunning,5of a self-conceit, His waxen wings did mount above his
reach, And, melting, heavens conspir'd his
overthrow; For, falling to a devilish
exercise, And glutted now6with learning's golden gifts, He surfeits upon cursed
necromancy; Nothing so sweet as magic is to
him, Which he prefers before his chiefest
bliss: And this the man that in his study
sits.
[Exit.]
FAUSTUS discovered in his study.7 FAUSTUS. Settle thy studies,
Faustus, and begin To sound the depth of that thou wilt
profess: Having commenc'd, be a divine in
shew, Yet level at the end of every
art, And live and die in Aristotle's
works. Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou8hast ravish'd me! 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
attain'd that9end: A greater subject fitteth Faustus'
wit: Bid Economy10farewell, and11Galen come, Seeing, Ubi desinit philosophus, ibi
incipit medicus: Be a physician, Faustus; heap up
gold, And be eterniz'd for some wondrous
cure: Summum bonum medicinae
sanitas, The end of physic is our body's
health. Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain'd
that end? Is not thy common talk found
aphorisms? Are not thy bills hung up as
monuments, Whereby whole cities have escap'd
the plague, And thousand desperate maladies been
eas'd? Yet art thou still but Faustus, and
a man. Couldst12thou make men13to live eternally, Or, being dead, raise them to life
again, Then this profession were to be
esteem'd. Physic, farewell! Where is
Justinian?
[Reads.] Si una eademque res legatur14duobus, alter rem, alter valorem rei,
&c. A pretty case of paltry
legacies!
[Reads.] Exhoereditare filium non potest
pater, nisi, &c.15 Such is the subject of the
institute, And universal body of the
law:16 This17study fits a mercenary drudge, Who aims at nothing but external
trash; Too servile18and illiberal for me. When all is done, divinity is
best: Jerome's Bible, Faustus; view it
well.
[Reads.] Stipendium peccati mors
est.
Ha!
Stipendium, &c. The reward of sin is death:
that's hard.
[Reads.] Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et
nulla est in nobis veritas; 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
sera, sera,19 What will be, shall be?
Divinity, adieu! These metaphysics of
magicians, And necromantic books are
heavenly; Lines, circles, scenes,20letters, 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 promis'd to the studious
artizan! 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, tire21thy brains to gain a deity. Enter
WAGNER.22 Wagner, commend me to my dearest
friends, The German Valdes and
Cornelius; Request them earnestly to visit
me. WAGNER. I will, sir.
[Exit.] FAUSTUS. Their conference will be a
greater help to me Than all my labours, plod I ne'er so
fast. Enter
GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL. GOOD ANGEL. O, Faustus, lay that
damned 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 treasure23is contain'd: Be thou on earth as Jove24is in the sky, Lord and commander of these
elements.25
[Exeunt Angels.] FAUSTUS. How am I glutted with
conceit of this! Shall I make spirits fetch me what I
please, Resolve26me 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 pleasant fruits and princely
delicates; I'll have them read me strange
philosophy, And tell the secrets of all foreign
kings; I'll have them wall all Germany with
brass, And make swift Rhine circle fair
Wertenberg; I'll have them fill the public
schools with silk,27 Wherewith the students shall be
bravely clad; I'll levy soldiers with the coin
they bring, And chase the Prince of Parma from
our land, And reign sole king of all
the28provinces; Yea, stranger engines for the brunt
of war, Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp's
bridge,29 I'll make my servile spirits to
invent. Enter
VALDES and CORNELIUS. Come, German Valdes, and
Cornelius, And make me blest with your sage
conference. Valdes, sweet Valdes, and
Cornelius, Know that your words have won me at
the last To practice magic and concealed
arts: Yet not your words only,30but mine own fantasy, That will receive no object; for my
head But ruminates on necromantic
skill. Philosophy is odious and
obscure; Both law and physic are for petty
wits; Divinity is basest of the
three, Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and
vile:31 'Tis magic, magic, that hath
ravish'd me. Then, gentle friends, aid me in this
attempt; And I, that have with concise
syllogisms32 Gravell'd the pastors of the German
church, And made the flowering pride of
Wertenberg Swarm to my problems, as the
infernal spirits On sweet Musaeus when he came to
hell, Will be as cunning33as Agrippa34was, Whose shadow35made all Europe honour him. VALDES. Faustus, these books, thy
wit, and our experience, Shall make all nations to canonize
us. As Indian Moors obey their Spanish
lords, So shall the spirits36of every element Be always serviceable to us
three; Like lions shall they guard us when
we please; Like Almain rutters37with their horsemen's staves, Or Lapland giants, trotting by our
sides; Sometimes like women, or unwedded
maids, Shadowing more beauty in their airy
brows Than have the38white breasts of the queen of love: From39Venice shall they drag huge argosies, And from America the golden
fleece That yearly stuffs old Philip's
treasury; If learned Faustus will be
resolute. FAUSTUS. Valdes, as resolute am I in
this As thou to live: therefore
object it not. CORNELIUS. The miracles that magic
will perform Will make thee vow to study nothing
else. He that is grounded in
astrology, Enrich'd with tongues, well seen
in40minerals, Hath all the principles magic doth
require: Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be
renowm'd,41 And more frequented for this
mystery Than heretofore the Delphian
oracle. The spirits tell me they can dry the
sea, And fetch the treasure of all
foreign wrecks, Ay, all the wealth that our
forefathers hid Within the massy entrails of the
earth: Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we
three want? FAUSTUS. Nothing, Cornelius.
O, this cheers my soul! Come, shew me some demonstrations
magical, That I may conjure in some lusty
grove, And have these joys in full
possession. VALDES. Then haste thee to some
solitary grove, And bear wise Bacon's and
Albertus'42works, The Hebrew Psalter, and New
Testament; And whatsoever else is
requisite We will inform thee ere our
conference cease. CORNELIUS. Valdes, first let him
know the words of art; And then, all other ceremonies
learn'd, Faustus may try his cunning43by himself. VALDES. First I'll instruct thee in
the rudiments, And then wilt thou be perfecter than
I. FAUSTUS. Then come and dine with me,
and, after meat, We'll canvass every quiddity
thereof; For, ere I sleep, I'll try what I
can do: This night I'll conjure, though I
die therefore.
[Exeunt.] Enter
two SCHOLARS.44 FIRST SCHOLAR. I wonder what's
become of Faustus, that was wont to make our schools ring with sic
probo. SECOND SCHOLAR. That shall we know,
for see, here comes his boy. Enter
WAGNER. FIRST SCHOLAR. How now, sirrah!
where's thy master? WAGNER. God in heaven
knows. SECOND SCHOLAR. Why, dost not thou
know? WAGNER. Yes, I know; but that
follows not. FIRST SCHOLAR. Go to, sirrah! leave
your jesting, and tell us where he is. WAGNER. That follows not necessary
by force of argument, that you, being licentiates, should stand
upon:45 therefore acknowledge your error, and be
attentive. SECOND SCHOLAR. Why, didst thou not
say thou knewest? WAGNER. Have you any witness
on't? FIRST SCHOLAR. Yes, sirrah, I heard
you. WAGNER. Ask my fellow if I be a
thief. SECOND SCHOLAR. Well, you will not
tell us? WAGNER. Yes, sir, I will tell
you: yet, if you were not dunces, you would never ask me such a
question; for is not he corpus naturale? and is not that mobile?
then wherefore should you ask me such a question? But
that I am by nature phlegmatic, slow to wrath, and prone to lechery
(to love, I would say), it were not for you to come within
forty foot of the place of execution, although I do not
doubt to see you both hanged the next sessions. Thus having
triumphed over you, I will set my countenance like a precisian, and
begin to speak thus:— Truly, my dear brethren, my master
is within at dinner,