Doctor Faustus : Characters
Doctor Faustus is a notable literary work by Christopher Marlowe. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Doctor Faustus.
Characters
Doctor Faustus: A brilliant man, who seems to have reached the limits of natural knowledge. Faustus is a scholar of the early sixteenth century in the German city of Wittenberg. He is arrogant, fiery, and possesses a thirst for knowledge. Faustus decides to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for earthly power and knowledge and an additional 24 years of life. He proceeds to waste this time on self-indulgence and low tricks. Faustus is the absolute center of the play, which has few truly developed characters.
Mephistopheles: A devil of craft and cunning. He is the devil who comes at Faustus’ summoning, and the devil who serves Faustus for 24 years. Not only does Mephistopheles get Faustus to sell his soul; but he also encourages Faustus to waste his twenty-four years of power.
Wagner: Servant to Faustus. He steals Faustus’ books and learns how to summon demons.
Good Angel and Evil Angel: Personifications of Faustus’ inner turmoil, who give differing advice to him at key points.
Valdes and Cornelius: Friends to Faustus, who teach him the dark arts. They appear only in Act One.
Lucifer: Satan. He appears at a few choice moments in Doctor Faustus, and Marlowe uses “Lucifer” as Satan’s proper name.
Beelzebub: One of Lucifer’s officers. A powerful demon.
Clown / Robin: Robin learns demon-summoning by stealing one of Faustus’ books. He is the chief character in a number of scenes that provide comic relief from the main story.