Doctor Faustus Power Quotes Page 3

Aw, Faustus wants to bring the whole world together. That's kind of sweet. Oh, wait. This is not some high-minded idea about the value of community. Nope, Faustus is all about having power over all the nations. So sure, he wants to bring the world together, but only under his rule. That's not so warm and fuzzy.

Robin is not as easily bought as Faustus, who was quick to sign away his soul for the power he believes Mephistopheles can give him. Wagner's use of two devils to frighten Wagner into submission foreshadows Mephistopheles tactics later in the play, when he threatens Faustus with dismemberment by spirits if he renounces his pact with the devil. Even though dismemberment by spirits was always how Faustus's life would end. The moment he signed that contract the deal was sealed.

Faustus's contract with Lucifer is written "in manner of a deed of gift" (2.1.58), a document that assigns ownership of something away from one person to another. Mephistopheles insists that Faustus write the document and then also read it aloud, probably to help give it all the pomp and circumstance needed to make the whole deal legit. Of course we think it's totally not legit. The absurdity of giving away a soul in a deed of gift raises the possibility that other similar transactions—like slavery, for example—are equally absurd.