Doctor Faustus is a play written by Christopher Marlowe and published in the year 1604. Faustus was a German scholar and was dissatisfied with the knowledge he had. He was attracted towards magic. So his his friends Valdes and Cornelius started to teach him magic which was used to summon a devil named Mephistopheles. Faustus then offers his soul to Lucifer who is the master of Mephistopheles and in return he wants to enjoy a life where he has sovereign knowledge, powers and sensual powers for a period of Twenty-four years.
Mephistopheles then tells him that he severs Lucifer who will approve his proposal. Lucifer approves his proposal and Faustus signs it with his own blood. But as he signs the contract, words start to appear on his arms which produces doubts in his mind. But at that point of time Mephistopheles calms him and gives him some valuable gifts, and book of spells.
All the questions of Faustus regarding the nature and world were answered, except one. He was very eager to know that who created this Universe? Mephistopheles refuses to answer this question which creates yet another doubt in Faustus. To clear his doubts Mephistopheles takes Faustus on a Chariot they go through the heavens and land into Rome. He tortures Pope Adrian there for passing judgement on a rival Pope. After becoming famous for what he has done, he gets an invitation from the German Emperor Charles V, who was Pope Adrian’s enemy. He impresses the emperor by conjuring an image of Alexander The Great. A Knight of the Emperor smiled contemptuously at Faustus and he punishes him by making antlers come out of his head.
In the meantime, Wagner who was the servant of Faustus had a clown named Robin. Robin does some magic and uses it to freeze booze. He even tries to conjure Mephistopheles, who frightens to turn both of them into animals. This adds some comedy to the play.
Faustus then sells his enchanted horse to a horse dealer in England. The horse turns into a bale of straw when he rides it over the water. The Duke and Duchess of Vanholt invite Faustus when they hear about this incident. The horse dealer also shows up, but Faustus casts a spell on him so that he couldn’t speak of his wrongs. This amuses the duke and Duchess a lot.
As the time passes, and his life is about to end he goes back to his native place Wittenberg to past his last few days with his friends and family. On the last night of his life, Faustus is full of fear and begs for mercy. But by that time it was too late. He wishes that time could stop there itself and that night would never have an end. The next morning his family and friends found his body torn apart and they decide to give him a proper burial.
