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Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Good and Evil Angels:
The Good Angel and the Evil Angel that appear recurrently throughout Doctor Faustus are allegories for redemption and sin, the two paths which Faustus struggles to decide between.
They first approach Faustus in Scene 1 after his introductory soliloquy, following his expression of interest in learning to practice magic:
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.
The passage above reveals that the Good and Evil Angels operate as an allegory on two levels. First, they are physical manifestations of Faustus’s internal conflict. At the same time, these two characters are also very real, corporeal angels (in the world of the play)—each of whom has a duty to their respective lord to win Faustus over to their side. Both the Good Angel and the Evil Angel approach Faustus with a deep sense of urgency: his eternal fate is not only in his own hands, but in theirs as well.
The angels appear to Faustus for the second time in Scene 5, just before Mephastophilis appears with Lucifer’s acceptance of the bargain for his soul. As Faustus ponders the possibility that he might be about to make a big mistake, they each attempt to convince him to their side:
Good Angel: Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.
Faustus: Contrition, prayer, repentance – what of them?
Good Angel: O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.
Evil Angel: Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy, That makes men foolish that do trust them most.
Good Angel: Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.
Evil Angel: No, Faustus, think of honour and wealth.
As in their first appearance, the Good Angel tries to appeal to Faustus’s sense of morality and honor, while the Evil Angel inspires him to think of baser pleasures. At this point in the play, magic still holds mystery for Faustus, and the consequences of the bargain he is about to make are little more than an abstract concept. Because the Evil Angel is able to wrap his dark intentions in a pretty packaging by promising a material reward, his argument wins out, while the Good Angel’s fervent warnings fall on deaf ears.
The angels’ fourth (and final) appearance (also in Scene 5) occurs when Faustus is in the middle of yet another crisis of conscience:
Faustus: Ay, go, accursèd spirit, to ugly hell!
’Tis thou hast damned distressèd Faustus’ soul.
Is’t not too late? [...]
Evil Angel: Too late.
Good Angel: Never too late, if Faustus can repent.
Evil Angel: If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in pieces.
Good Angel: Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin.
The fact that the angels continue to appear to Faustus even after he signs his soul away is significant: Marlowe makes it clear throughout the play that Faustus has the option to repent, that he can receive redemption—his fate will only be sealed if he follows through on the deal right until the end. Crucially, while Faustus’s first encounters with the Good and Evil Angels always end with the Evil Angel getting the last word, during this final encounter, it is the Good Angel who speaks last. The Good Angel’s parting words leave the audience with the hope that Faustus might finally see the light, and seem to suggest that his frantic disavowal of magic at the end of the play comes from a place of true repentance.
Related Themes:
Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Good and Evil Angels:
The Good Angel and the Evil Angel that appear recurrently throughout Doctor Faustus are allegories for redemption and sin, the two paths which Faustus struggles to decide between.
They first approach Faustus in Scene 1 after his introductory soliloquy, following his expression of interest in learning to practice magic:
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.
The passage above reveals that the Good and Evil Angels operate as an allegory on two levels. First, they are physical manifestations of Faustus’s internal conflict. At the same time, these two characters are also very real, corporeal angels (in the world of the play)—each of whom has a duty to their respective lord to win Faustus over to their side. Both the Good Angel and the Evil Angel approach Faustus with a deep sense of urgency: his eternal fate is not only in his own hands, but in theirs as well.
The angels appear to Faustus for the second time in Scene 5, just before Mephastophilis appears with Lucifer’s acceptance of the bargain for his soul. As Faustus ponders the possibility that he might be about to make a big mistake, they each attempt to convince him to their side:
Good Angel: Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art.
Faustus: Contrition, prayer, repentance – what of them?
Good Angel: O, they are means to bring thee unto heaven.
Evil Angel: Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy, That makes men foolish that do trust them most.
Good Angel: Sweet Faustus, think of heaven and heavenly things.
Evil Angel: No, Faustus, think of honour and wealth.
As in their first appearance, the Good Angel tries to appeal to Faustus’s sense of morality and honor, while the Evil Angel inspires him to think of baser pleasures. At this point in the play, magic still holds mystery for Faustus, and the consequences of the bargain he is about to make are little more than an abstract concept. Because the Evil Angel is able to wrap his dark intentions in a pretty packaging by promising a material reward, his argument wins out, while the Good Angel’s fervent warnings fall on deaf ears.
The angels’ fourth (and final) appearance (also in Scene 5) occurs when Faustus is in the middle of yet another crisis of conscience:
Faustus: Ay, go, accursèd spirit, to ugly hell!
’Tis thou hast damned distressèd Faustus’ soul.
Is’t not too late? [...]
Evil Angel: Too late.
Good Angel: Never too late, if Faustus can repent.
Evil Angel: If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in pieces.
Good Angel: Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin.
The fact that the angels continue to appear to Faustus even after he signs his soul away is significant: Marlowe makes it clear throughout the play that Faustus has the option to repent, that he can receive redemption—his fate will only be sealed if he follows through on the deal right until the end. Crucially, while Faustus’s first encounters with the Good and Evil Angels always end with the Evil Angel getting the last word, during this final encounter, it is the Good Angel who speaks last. The Good Angel’s parting words leave the audience with the hope that Faustus might finally see the light, and seem to suggest that his frantic disavowal of magic at the end of the play comes from a place of true repentance.
Related Themes:
Scene 12
Explanation and Analysis—The Old Man:
The character of the Old Man in Doctor Faustus is an allegory for the abstract concept of virtue. His essential function in the play is to remind Faustus of the stakes involved in his decision to turn away from God, and present him with the option to choose a better path. Importantly, he appears after each time Faustus summons Helen of Troy, as though to counter his lustful delusions of grandeur and bring him back to goodness and reality:
Ah, Doctor Faustus, that I might prevail
To guide thy steps unto the way of life,
By which sweet path thou mayst attain the goal
That shall conduct thee to celestial rest!
Break heart, drop blood, and mingle it with tears,
Tears falling from repentant heaviness
Of thy most vile and loathsome filthiness,
The stench whereof corrupts the inward soul
With such flagitious crimes of heinous sins,
As no commiseration may expel
But mercy, Faustus, of thy Saviour sweet,
Whose blood alone must wash away thy guilt.
The Old Man’s deep and unwavering faith, and his encouragement to Faustus to turn away from sin, seem to reinforce the possibility that Faustus’s fate has not yet been sealed—he may still have time to save his soul. In the end, however, even the Old Man is disillusioned by Faustus’s proclivity for sin, and abandons him to choose his fate alone:
Accursèd Faustus, miserable man,
That from thy soul exclud’st the grace of heaven
And fliest the throne of His tribunal seat! [...]
My faith, vile hell, shall triumph over thee.
Ambitious fiends, see how the heavens smiles
At your repulse and laughs your state to scorn!
As an allegorical figure, the Old Man, in forsaking Faustus, forces the audience to confront the possibility that sometimes a person simply cannot be saved from himself.
Related Themes:
