Dr. Faustus
Dr.
Faustus is the title character of Christopher Marlowe's influential 1592 play about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power.
The name has become shorthand for anyone who makes a catastrophic bargain, trading something precious for short-term gain.
He made a Dr. Faustus deal with the lobbyists.
The story derives from German legend and was later adapted by Goethe as Faust.
- bookBound written work
- hubrisRuinous excessive confidence
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- tragic heroCharacter whose flaw causes ruin
- PrometheusFire-stealing benefactor of mortals
morality play · good angel · Renaissance humanism · blood · free will · skull · Mephistopheles · soliloquy · forbidden knowledge · magic circle · seven deadly sins · damnation · eternal damnation · Protestant Reformation · theological debates · Icarus · Lucifer · Christopher Marlowe
- cautionary talesIcarus, Prometheus, Pandora, King Midas, Midas
- FaustianMephistopheles, Goethe, devil pact, forbidden knowledge, pact
- MarloweDoctor Faustus, Mephistopheles, blank verse, overreacher, Cambridge
- Mad Scientistsmad scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau, Frankenstein
- allegoryAnimal Farm, Narnia, The Little Prince, religious allegory, political allegory
Dr. FaustusEveryman
Archetypal human figure
Saint Augustine · Mary Magdalene · Saint Paul · the elect · Job
Dr. FaustusJesus Christ
Christianity's central deity
Abraham · Moses · Job · Isaac · Saint Anthony
Dr., doctors, doctoral, doctorate, doctorates, Faust, Faustian