He will also pursue magic because he has realized it is the only subject vast enough for his mind. He tells them that their advice has won him over: he will practice the magical arts.

The angels exit.įaustus thrills at the thoughts of the strange wonders he'll perform with his sorcery. The Good Angel tells Faustus to put the evil book of magic aside, and the Evil Angel tells Faustus to pursue magic will lead to power on earth. Wagner goes.įaustus declares that the advice of his friends will be helpful in the pursuit of magic. But with the help of magic, Faustus can become a demi-God.įaustus' servant Wagner enters, and Faustus bids him summon his friends, Valdes and Cornelius. Delighted by the art, he points out that even kings' powers are limited within territories. He reasons that all men sin, and so all men must die, and dismisses this doctrine as 'Che sera, sera.' He bids Divinity farewell. Divinity: Faustus reads in different places that the reward of sin is death, and that all men sin. Law, personified in the codifier of Roman law, Justinian: Faustus considers law a field with a petty subject. Medicine, personified in the ancient physician Galen: though Faustus has become a great physician, he still has no power over life and death. In likewise fashion he considers other disciplines. He has mastered this art and achieved its goals already. But when he reads 'to dispute well logic's chiefest end' (1.1.7) he says disdainfully, 'Affords this art no greater miracle?' (1.1.9). He considers logic, personified in Aristotle. Sitting alone in his study, Faustus considers the different fields of knowledge.

This is the man now sitting in his study. He has begun to study necromancy, the black arts, and loves magic more than theology. But alluding to the story of Icarus, the Chorus says that Faustus' 'waxen wings did mount above his reach' (l. Due to his great talent, he quickly completed his studies and became a doctor of divinity, known for his brilliance in theological matters. When he came of age he went to Wittenberg to live with relatives and study at the university. Faustus was born of ordinary parents, in Rhodes, Germany. The Chorus announces that the story will not be wars, love affairs in royal courts, or great deeds, but the tale of Faustus.

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